Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned in the story so far...

Terror. That deep, dark, twisting being that lives in the pit of your stomach, always waiting to claw its way up to the surface of your mind. Do not let the terror grip you. Force it back into yourself. Force it past your clenching stomach, past the intestines that squirm in the fear you feel and force it into your feet, let it run through your veins, carried by the very blood you fear will be spilled. Allow that blood to flow into your arms and into your racing heart, but do not let that fearful screaming blood into your brain. For that shall ensure your death.

She could feel it… the cold hand of terror…it clenched at her as she sat there staring at the blood stained figure that lay prone next to her right leg. She could hear her teammates in the background. The abnormally soft sounds that they made provided some comfort to her, some, but not much. Her throat was dry and her mind raced, trying to find some explanation, any explanation as to what had happened here. Suddenly, there was a warm hand on her back. She jumped in surprise, her foot lashing out, slamming into the body. The corpse rolled over slowly until it lay on its side. Deep gaping holes where soft golden eyes once rested, gazed up at her. The mouth that used to smile kindly at tiny village children was twisted into a sick mockery of that smile, and held in place with tiny methodically stitched threads. Flies swarmed over the broken carcass, over the once soft skin, over the calloused hands and muscular legs, across the too large feet. Anger, pain, rage, loss. Terror.

Sakura's eyes dulled slightly as she stared into those twin caverns. The hand clenched, newly formed claws digging into her shoulder as Naruto hissed "Baa-chan" under his breath. The pain of having her flesh sliced open did not register and Sakura sat there, blood seeping through the heavy material of her shirt and over Naruto's piercing fingers.

"Bastards…I'll skin them alive…those…fucking bastards!"

"Naruto. Let go of Sakura's shoulder, you're hurting her."

"Shit! Sakura! Gomenesai!"

"Sai, go report this to the council. Action must be taken immediately. Find Jaraiya as well. This was the work of Akatsuki. He needs to know that they are active and probably still in Fire country. I'll sweep the perimeter. Naruto, set up camp and when I get back we'll perform the burial rights for Tsunade and lay her to rest."

"What?! Kakashi-sensei! You mean we aren't going to hunt down those bastards right now? We should go now! Before they get too far!"

Sakura stood slowly and turned. The front of her shirt was soaked and blood began to run down her left arm as her former sensei and teammate argued. "Kakash-sensei! If we don't leave now we'll be too far away to catch up!" Kakashi's visible eye swiveled around to rest upon Sakura's haggard figure. "Naruto, Sakura is in no condition to track any one right now, let alone kill an S Class criminal." Naruto turned to stare at Sakura then also. He winced as he saw a drop of crimson drip to the ground. The claws on his left hand were covered in her blood. It was him. He had been the one that had hurt her. Naruto's eyes, angry and red, softened as he realized what he had done to the medic. To his teammate. To Sakura. His Sakura.

Kakashi took Naruto's silence as agreement and squatted slightly, preparing for that first burst of speed that would propel him out of the shaded clearing and into the tall redwood trees surrounding them. He shouted a last order at his former students as he pushed off the ground. "Naruto, set up camp and get Sakura cleaned up. I'll be back within two hours." And with that the copy ninja was gone, leaving the two teenagers alone.

"Sakura- chan? Sakura? Come on Sakura." Naruto said as he pulled his smaller teammate along by the uninjured arm. Sakura did not resist the pull at all. Naruto turned to the right and started walking briskly in the direction of the large pond he had seen before they had discovered the corpse. No. Before they had discovered Tsunade. Naruto shook his head to clear his mind. Kakashi was right, there was no way that the kunoichi could travel in this condition. As the two figures neared the pond Naruto let go of her hand and began to unzip his heavy orange jacket. He let it drop to the ground in a wrinkled heap. He turned to his teammate and reached up to grip the zipper of her shirt. As he pulled the zipper down, revealing more and more of the crimson stained flesh and chest wrappings he whispered slowly, "Sakura-chan. Don't worry, please don't worry. Everything will be alright. Nothing is going to happen. We'll get them, Sakura. I will make them pay. Those bastards will pay."

Terror. The one thing that a person should never feel. Sakura could feel it. It was slowly working its way through her body. Who? Who could have killed Tsunade? Her teacher? The fucking Hokage? No. Not who. What? No human being would have killed another living creature in that way.

Naruto slowly pushed Sakura's ruined shirt off of her shoulders, and gently pulled it down her limp arms, letting it fall on top of his own discarded jacket. He gripped her hand again and pulled her towards the water. "Sakura-chan….I swear, we'll get them. And after they're dead we can get him back. Sasuke."

Sasuke. The name. His name sliced through the chains that terror had wrapped around her brain. It brought forth another emotion. Rage. Pure, unadulterated rage flowed through the girl.

How dare he? How dare he leave? How dare he try to kill Naruto? How dare he? How dare he not be there to protect his friends? Friends? What friends? You two were never his friends. You were just pawns. Things to take up space, objects to make him excel. And Tsunade? How dare they kill her teacher? She would make them pay. She would not leave this to anyone. Not Naruto. Not Kakashi. Not…him. It was her turn to rage. To let the emotion out in the violent motions and sadistic acts of revenge.

Naruto felt the muscles in Sakura's hands ripple and suddenly her grip tightened. His gaze flashed up to her face and he felt a faint sense of relief. She was back. Sakura could not be tainted by this. She would not change. Not the one constant in his hectic life. His relief turned to surprise as the grip tightened further, crushing the bones in his hand.

"Naruto…" His eyes flickered up to his teammate's face as he hissed in surprise and pain. She smiled at him. Not the normal smile. Not the "Good Morning Naruto-kun!" smile. It was a twisted, sadistic smile. Her eyes flashed up at him dangerously. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun." And with that, she pulled him forward and slammed her fist into the side of his head.

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