Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its affiliates.
Ignoring the fresh and stinging cut on her cheek, Sakura continued to run faster than she had ever pushed her body before
Ignoring the fresh and stinging cut on her cheek, Sakura continued to run faster than she had ever pushed her body before. Knowing she could and should heal it, lest it become infected became moot as she also knew that it would distract her, and right now the only she could do to stay alive, was run.
She knew that these precious moments before they realised she had gone were the most crucial. Her mouth was slowly drying out as her body slowly started to shut down, her leg muscles ached as did her entire torso, her arms were locked and seemed to move out of habit to her running style.
Her body was telling her to slow down, and if she didn't do it out of choice, it would make the decision for her. She snarled at her weakness, however it would be exactly the same even if she had a decent amount of chakra, chakra she couldn't use otherwise they would have been able to feel it. Despairing as she felt herself stumble over a tree root in her haste, she almost wailed to herself at her idiocy.
"Don't look back," she kept mumbling to herself, looking back slowed her down and she was almost there, the last thing she needed was to be caught just as she reached her goal. Swallowing deeply Sakura pushed herself further through the dense forest, her pace and excitement doubled by the knowledge of home so close to her grasp after what seemed like eons of torture.
Gasping at the remembrance of that cell made her stop; she looked back and clutched at her aching waist. They should have caught up to me by now, she mused to herself, her mind fuzzy from exhaustion and her vision slightly impaired she fought her bodies pressure to sit down and shook her head trying to clear her head only to make it worse.
Wishing desperately for any kind of nourishment for her sore throat, even snow, she panted harshly and wondered why they weren't following her. She knew they were to come after her, there was no way they would not let her go without a fight, she was their leverage after all, something she admitted with complete bitterness.
'Leverage', she tried to growl but her throat wouldn't allow her, the word echoed around her head as she tried to make her brain figure out what was going on between their twisted brains. Why would they give up their leverage? Especially when talks of war were on the rise. They wouldn't be planning to let her go, so why would they let her get this far….
Shock rocked through her head and Sakura almost fainted, panicking, Sakura urged her shattered body into a jog before demanding it into a run, tears threatening her eyelids Sakura continued to run.
Through the darkness of the forest slowly changed in front of her, small circles of light floated in as the trees started separating and less foliage blocked her path, she panted harshly while trying to swallowing almost making her choke. The bright sunlight burst into her face as she ran into a glade that looked utterly out of place in the dark forest.
She slid onto the dewy grass as she tried to stop her body in motion, the light impaired her vision for a few seconds, and she took deep breathes trying to slow down her beating heart. She looked around wildly, panting harsh and fast.
"So glad you could join us, Haruno."
Sakura's eyes closed with acidic acceptance as she saw what she had hoped wouldn't happen.
They had beaten her here.
"Sakura!"
She opened her eyes and turned to look at her team, Naruto had yelled out her name, his voice was filled with happiness and worry; he looked as though he wanted to smile but the fact of the matter was he still had to be on his guard. Kakashi had yelled out her name, although it had been drowned out by Naruto, he only looked worried, his body was taut and she knew his mind was on overdrive. He wanted her away from the enemy as soon as possible.
She noticed Sai and Yamato weren't with them, she gasped and fearing the worst she turned to look at them, she looked around briefly and noticed that he wasn't under their feet. Sighing with relief she turned back to her people. She noticed Chouji was there, he was standing as though he wanted to block anything that wanted to pass him. She looked behind him and noticed that Shikamaru was lying in the grass, the small dent in the grass made her realised he had been pushed back by something.
Crying out she noticed Ino who was lying in Shikamaru's arms, she was knocked out and the cuts and bruises on her body make Sakura realise Ino had gotten angry, "Ino!"
Sakura didn't care about the fact that her body was protesting, all she knew was that she had to make it to her friend. She didn't even make four steps before she was knocked back onto her behind.
"Sakura!" She heard Naruto yell, followed by a growl and another yell, "Sasuke! What do you want with her?"
Groaning, Sakura pushed her body up from the deliciously cool grass; she sat up on her knees and ignored the shaking of her limbs. Looking at her friends, Kakashi, Naruto and Chouji all standing ready for a fight, Shikamaru looking after Ino, something she knew was not only for her peace of mind, Sakura reached out a hand and gently she found a wall of Chakra blocking her path.
She locked eyes with her friends, one by one, Chouji looked away quickly to keep his eyes on the opposing side, she saw Shikamaru who nodded and glanced down at Ino. She met Kakashi's eyes, the Sharingan was swirling with suppressed anger, and it reassured her, she knew he wouldn't let her go without putting his life on the line.
It took a while but she finally looked at Naruto who's eyes was flickering back between herself and Sasuke, she was glad he hadn't answered to the Kyubi inside of him, the last thing she needed was to try and calm down a demon while escaping from the Uchiha's.
Naruto turned his head back to her and held her gaze, he was blazing with anger and she didn't blame him.
Two of his best friends were behind a wall of Chakra he couldn't break, one by choice and one by force, it was enough to drive a saint to violence.
Anger built up inside of her and with a growl she pounded a fist against the wall. The attention was brought upon her as a smash came from the wall, she reared back slightly from the pressure of the Chakra, however she recovered and pounded again on the wall, she repeated the action and slowly tears started to trickle down her cheeks, "Naruto!"
She kept pounding her tired fists on the wall, a stupid action but nevertheless it made her feel something other than complete desperation. She heard him call out her name and cried out in despair as he was pulled back by Kakashi as he tried to get to her. The wall was thicker than she thought.
Slowly she stopped pounding, long, uneven strands of her greasy hair had gotten into the disgusting hollows of her neck, pushing them back she stood up, hearing her name called she turned again and recognition lighted up her eyes for a split second, it had been Naruto who had called her name, but it was Gaara who she recognised.
He looked impassive as ever and it pleased her, it meant he wasn't completely worried, if Gaara was worried, then it was time to panic, at least that was what she had learnt from previous experience.
"Leverage."
The word was drawn out by the significantly older Uchiha, she never learnt his name, or had seen his face. She felt her whole body stiffen at that disgusting word and turned to look at the two standing a few metres away from her.
They were both dressed in black, Sasuke she noticed still had that blasted Katana, a weapon she had grown to hate and would have loved to smash into itty bitty pieces right in front of him. The Uchiha symbol was placed proudly on their back, a symbol she had grown to hate, much like the shape of their Sharingan.
Everything about them disgusted her, from their impassive faces, to their casual stance, as though being faced with at least five able-bodied ninja was something they did everyday.
She heard the word muttered by Kakashi with shock, followed by a growl of anger, however he was cut off but Naruto again who had yelled it with utter rage.
"Leverage? Are you insane? Sakura used as leverage, she's a human being there's nothing more important than life, what could you want to trade her for-"
"Naruto!" The blonde was stopped immediately by Kakashi who had figured out what they wanted to trade for. The Sharingan user turned to look at Sakura who was smiling bitterly, the disgust levels he felt for himself at his inability to look after them rose, he turned away from her and glared at the last of the Uchiha clan with a surprising potency.
Sakura turned to Naruto, her smile faded and he watched her mouth two words that shocked him into utter stillness.
She was the leverage they needed for him.
They were going to trade her for him, something they knew he would do in a heartbeat and something he knew would be almost impossible for the rest of Konoha to handle. If he was in the hands of them, their power would control him, and the fox inside him.
His body shook under the realisation of what importance this moment was. And it was a choice he found almost impossible to make.
Sakura's life, or Konoha.
The realisation that he would have to pick between one of his very best friends and the country he had sworn to protect was numbing, he moved his head slowly to look at Sakura. Tears were pouring down his face, and he knew she was at the point of exhaustion, she was underfed, and cuts, fresh and old marred her skin. Black rings beneath her eyes indicated her non-existent sleep pattern, her hair was unclean, it looked as though it had grown and finally irritated with it, Sakura had tried to cut back to it normal shortish length but had failed.
Her clothes were filthy and the gloves she had used were almost completely destroyed, her shoes were missing and her bandages were withered to nothing.
And she was blaming herself for what she was putting them through.
Naruto wanted to yell at her, he wanted her to stop apologising; he wanted to hug her and tell her that they would get through this, he wanted to tell her that they would be a team again, they would bring back Sasuke and together they would live.
But that ship had sailed.
His face screwed up in pain, Sasuke was a lost cause, he wasn't just a missing-nin anymore, he had performed the ultimate treason against Konoha. Naruto stiffened and pointed a finger at the man he had considered his best friend, his rival in everything. He swallowed deeply.
The other Uchiha whom Naruto hadn't known had fed Sasuke a bunch of pathetic lies explaining that it was Konoha the city that had been the cause for the destruction of the Uchiha clan. Obviously Sasuke had not taken the news lightly and over time he had been poisoned against the very people that had risked their lives to try and save him from himself.
Stealing Sakura away and treating her like a rabid animal was more than Naruto could take, especially since he knew Sakura still felt something for Sasuke and he had used that emotion, something Naruto had destroyed the Hokage's office over.
Still pointing he glared at his old friend, "If this is how the Uchiha's treat people who care about them then why the hell should I come over to you, if this," he pointed to the battered form of Sakura, "is how you are going to treat people if you win this war then you can forget it, I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say I will never let you get you're hands on the demon inside of me."
He was still shaking but he noticed Sakura smiling as he talked, he knew he had made the right decision.
He turned to look back at the Uchiha's, Sasuke looked angry, while the other looked amused, "really? Is that so, hm. Well then if you're sure, then I guess Haruno has no use in this world."
Naruto blanched and he felt Gaara stiffen next to him, Kakashi had whipped his head around in panic.
Team Asuma was still holding their guard, Shikamaru had made eye contact with the Kazekage a few moments ago, while still trying to revive Ino, and Chouji was braced to protect them although he noticed that the ultimatum of Sakura's death had shaken him.
Laughing slightly at their panic, as he knew he would kill her, the elder Uchiha walked over the girl he had kept under lock and key for the past few months. The Chakra shield he had put up effectively stopped anyone from stopping him as that other loud girl had found out the hard way, something that had almost made him shiver with pleasure, although the look in the boys eyes who was holding her made him wonder slightly.
He noticed Naruto trying to fight his way through the shield, an impossible task. Kakashi was taking a better approach and trying to think of ways around it, the panic surrounding his body indicated he wasn't having much luck.
However the Kazekage, although stiff did not look worried. He had thought that maybe he did not care about Haruno as much as the others, although that had changed the minute he had enforced her death, he noticed his eyes had opened more, and he had begun to take this more seriously. The sand around him had started to swirl faster-
The elder Uchiha's Sharingan swirled faster and he let out a loud "no." Although he knew it was too late, he felt Sasuke spring into a fighting stance but the shield was still up, and Sakura was on the other side.
Gaara was holding onto her body gently and his sand was still swirling around them, he wasn't smiling, something that bugged him. It was obvious this kid was not normal, even though his demon had been extracted from his body. It must have taken an enormous amount of Chakra to get through the shield undetected, and slowly he watched Gaara sink to the ground with Sakura still in his arms.
"Sasuke." He felt his younger protégé walk quietly behind him, "she would make a formidable asset to our team, we need more medic-nin and it would make sense to have her work for us."
He watched the Konoha ninja hover around them asking them if they were both alright. Like a true medic ninja, she asked after everyone else first before confirming herself. He watched her turn to look at him; he smirked at the fire in her eyes and felt Sasuke move slightly. She would indeed make a favourable asset to his plan.
"What's you're choice Sakura?"
He watched her stiffen, she turned from the Kazekage's face to look at him, and he almost laughed at her glare, a mother's glare. She would be perfect. Slowly he reached out a hand, his fingers spread and his palm faced the ground.
The Konoha ninja watched in terrified awe as strings of chakra disentangled themselves from the wall and wer sucked back into his body via his hand. When the last vestiges of his chakra had entered his body, the Uchiha wiggled his fingers slightly; he turned his attention back to his adversaries and grinned, although he knew they couldn't see him.
The pink haired girl was still sitting in the Kazekage's lap; something he knew irked the boy behind him. While Sasuke felt no love for Haruno, he also thrived on attention. He thrived on being noticed, something, despite the annoying way she gave it, she had always given it.
"Well Sakura?" Madara grinned at the acceptance in the boys voice, Sasuke seemed to think Sakura's heart leant more to one person. The fairytale. Sasuke had rarely ever been wrong; he always had the facts to justify his means.
He watched the girl struggle slightly before standing, pleasure erupted behind his mask as she started walking towards them, he had never remembered smiling this much, not even Naruto holding her by the arms trying to stop her, fazed him.
He heard her whisper the same words twice over, and the shock of a kunai knife hurtling towards him was enough to scatter the two Uchiha.
He had never felt so thankful to have a mask, the pleasure on his face had faded, as had Sasuke's smug grin. His eye swivelled onto the panting, enraged pink haired kunai thrower.
"Fuck off."
He clicked his tongue in slight irritation. That was a new phrase she had learnt. He relaxed his body, and stood back as he watched Sasuke bristle. Rejection had never been his strong suit, Madara watched the two argue and started to pay attention to the words rather than their body language, he already knew their history well enough.
"You were always the weakest link." Her quiet voice had gotten to Sasuke, as well as her verbal abuse. Weakness was also something Sasuke found hard to accept, especially when a girl that could barely stand was calling him weak.
"You worked in a team only when it suited you, and now together, we are stronger than you could ever hope to be. Whats the point in being singularly strong Sasuke, when the whole of Konoha fights as one?" Madara frowned at her words; she was calling him strong, but weak at the same time. He watched the girl shake as Sasuke ignored her, the longer strands of hair that plastered to her neck swayed gently in the wind, despite the grime; he knew she was rather pretty.
"…he is more than you could ever hope to be," she pointed to Naruto, and he saw visible anger on his protégés face, comparison was another bad thing in Sasuke Uchiha's life.
"…not just as a ninja and not as a man, but as a human being. He has everything worth protecting and he hasn't got any members of his family at all – because of you're family!"
She voice slowly rose to a shout; her hand movements indicated her frustration and rage at the two of them standing opposite her. Madara watched her hair move and her green eyes narrow in her rage.
"He has a home, he has his pride," her tone became almost scornful as she tried to unpick their motives. "…he has friends; he has me as his family! What do you have?"
She asked a genuine question but never gave them time to answer. "You're precious Sharingan?" Her body straightened as her condescension for them reached greater heights. "How lovely for you. But guess what, it counts for nothing."
Her eyes gleamed, their dullness eradicating as her rage brightened her whole body, "because I swear, if you come to Konoha with every attempt to rid it of its existence…"
She looked both of them in the eye; her glare was no longer that of a mother, "you will die."
She punched out every word slowly as her breathing slowed to normalcy. Her glare softened into a bitter smile, "and the worst thing is Sasuke, the two of you are so overcome with you're quest for power, you're greed at thinking you know whats right, that you wont even have really lived."
"I'm a ninja Sakura, ninja are born for power."
"No Sasuke." Her whisper was raspy, "Ninja are born to kill. We kill to survive; we kill to protect the many so that humans may live. We kill to keep the peace. It is ironic, violence to end war, but then I guess the fact that you've become so pathetic... is ironic too."
The two stared at each other, Sakura's eyes were narrowed, while Sasuke's face was twisted in anger. Clicking his tongue, Madara jumped up into the nearest tree, surprising the Konoha ninja, "come Sasuke, It seems family loyalty is not as important to them as it is to you and I. Ironic, since you claim to 'be a family'"
If they were affected by his words they didn't show it, he commended them for it. He turned and started his way back to the base, Sasuke only a few seconds behind him.
Sakura had taken one last glare from Sasuke before he left. She sunk to the ground as soon as they left and scrunched her fingers into the grass. She enjoyed it for a few moments before Naruto hugged her from behind. Unable to stop the tears she let them leak out and rested her head into his neck, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Naruto."
His arms tightened around her while Kakashi came forward with a water bottle after tending to Gaara, "thank you Sakura. Thank you so much."
End.
That was a mission and a half. Based upon the Naruto chapters 398/399. Of course I'm being biased and am not angry at Konoha. If anyone has any questions, concerns, comments please review.
Hope you enjoyed it