Yellow chakra flickering off of his skin, igniting the air around him, Naruto knew that he was going to win. With his adrenaline blinding every doubt in his mind, he quickly side-stepped another one of Madara's attacks, turning on his heel and swinging his leg, effectively landing a solid kick on Madara's back.
If he could've, he would've grinned, maybe even let out an exhilarated laugh, but he didn't even have the energy to crack a smile. He was running on sheer willpower at that point; his body had been exhausted far beyond his breaking point, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't even give Madara the time to steady his balance before he was on him again, throwing punches and kicks, generating a couple of rasengan here and there.
As long as he kept Madara busy, it would give Kakashi and his father enough time to think of a plan; and they desperately needed one at this point. Naruto knew that if he didn't land a fatal blow soon, all of his attacks would have been for naught.
Dodging a blast, Naruto threw himself to the ground, rolling out of the way. He had a new rasengan already charged-up and in his hand by the time he was on his feet again. As he ran towards Madara he threw his arm forward, letting out a frustrated shout.
The moment he extended his arm fully, his rasengan met another one of his blasts head-on.
The explosion shook the ground, sending Naruto flying only to land roughly on the hard ground before skidding to a stop.
Coughing up dirt and dust while struggling to see through the smoke, Naruto shook his head to dislodge the debris that had blinded his vision. Before he could stand up on his feet, he barely noted when a person flashed across his eyes, stepping in front of them before taking a defensive stance.
"Naruto-kun! Are you hurt?"
At the sound of her voice he panicked, images of Pein flashing through his mind; her blood stained into the back of his memory stubbornly.
"Hinata," he forced the words out, coughing to clear his windpipe, "you need to get out of here. Now." His words were rushed, desperate even as he staggered forward into the smoke, reaching out for her blindly. As he grabbed a hold of her vest, his hand quickly found her arm. "You need to go — "
"I'm not going anywhere." She spoke, her voice stern as she shook her arm out of his grasp to resume her position.
"Hinata, please I'm begging you," grabbing hold of her hand, he held it tightly, his voice imploring her to look at him, "you're not safe here."
"Neither are you."
Before he could reply he could feel the air turn hot around them, the sound of static growing louder.
Just before the blast destroyed the ground they stood on, he'd grabbed her tightly around the waist and jumped out of the way, sending them both tumbling across the ground.
To his surprise, he found her back up and on her feet before him, her stance already set up again. "Do what you need to do, Naruto-kun," she stated, her voice much softer this time, "but I'm staying."
He didn't have time to come up with another angry retort or desperate plea. Madara had flashed in front of Hinata in an instant, causing Naruto's panic to momentarily take over as he rushed towards her.
He watched in horror as Madara moved his arm to strike her in the chest with blinding speed — Naruto knew that there would be no way for her to get out of the way in time. But to his shock he watched as she hit his forearm with enough strength to move his arm to the side only barely.
Helplessly, Naruto watched as Madara's arm cleanly pierced through her left shoulder, his pale hand drenched in her blood as it exited her body.
He couldn't help the scream that erupted from him as he charged.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," as Madara spoke, his deep voice shaking Naruto down to the core, he gripped Hinata's neck tightly with his opposite hand, placing her directly in between himself and Naruto, "that is, unless, you want her to die."
Letting his rasenshuriken dissipate he watched angrily as Madara used her as a human shield. "Let her go!" He barked angrily, his fury battling against his fear inside of him. Hinata couldn't die, she just couldn't.
He'd been helpless to protect her once before, and he absolutely refused to sit by and watch her get hurt again. He was going to save her, and that was that.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata's voice held surprising strength as she called out to him, forcing the words through her already-restricted windpipe, "you need to attack, now."
"Hinata, I — I can't alright, I just can't!" He shouted toward her in frustration. Just why did she have to show up? What was she trying to accomplish other than get herself killed for his sake!? Why the fuck couldn't he ever protect her?!
He could only watch with confusion and concern as she raised her right arm ahead of her and — with one of Madara's hands around her neck and another still planted firmly through her shoulder — sharply began striking his arms at different points.
"Naruto, now!" Her voice was strained, the air forcing itself out of her lungs to form the words.
That's when he noticed her intentions.
As her palms began striking Madara's arm, her hits slowly rising up toward his shoulder, he released her neck and yanked his other arm out of her chest in one fell swoop, throwing her backwards roughly before she could hit his chakra points any farther up his arm.
Running forward Naruto caught her body, the impact causing him to stumble backwards slightly.
"Naruto, now!" She coughed the words out in a hoarse voice, one hand placed over her wound, which was now fiercely gushing blood.
Placing her down gently behind him Naruto turned toward Madara and charged him, shouting angrily as he charged up his rasenshuriken. As he approached the man, he realized that Hinata really had done some damage; the old Uchiha's right arm was handing by his side, seemingly useless.
Only feet away from his target, he watched Madara lift up an arm and fire a blast directly toward him.
The last thing he registered before unconsciousness claimed him was the searing pain across his skin, and Hinata's piercing scream from behind him.
"Fill me in."
"Things were bad—really bad. Naruto got the kyuubi extracted and almost died. He's fine now; we got it back."
"We?"
"Not 'we' exactly. Obito."
"Why would he do that?!"
"He's on our side now. I think? I don't know exactly but — "
The sound of a loud explosion shook the ground, causing Sakura to stumble slightly, falling to the ground and landing on her knees. She was so exhausted. She had almost completely depleted her chakra reserves but she couldn't stop now; they were so close. They could see the battle in the distance and they would be there any moment now, they just had to keep going.
"Come on," to her surprise, she was hoisted back onto her feet quickly — she idly wondered why Sasuke didn't just leave her behind, after all the main battlefield was just up ahead, he could've just gone on without her. "We've got to hurry."
Pulling her arm slightly, to prompt her to start moving again, Sasuke stared at her with an intense look in his eye. Sakura's first instinct was to flinch back at his scrutinizing gaze, but she couldn't focus on anything else but the current moment.
"What else?" Sasuke asked loudly, waiting for her to fall back back in step with him before sprinting towards the battle.
"Kakashi is in bad shape and…" she hesitated, forcing her tears back, "and Guy-sensei is dead. I don't know what happened to the Fourth or Gaara, but things aren't looking good."
Another blast shook the ground.
"And that's Naruto, right?" Sasuke asked, referring to the tremors in the ground.
Sakura turned her head toward their destination and nodded. Before she could verbally confirm his assumption she felt her blood run cold.
Suddenly, Naruto's voice echoed through the night, ringing loud and clear above all other noise.
Sakura could just barely make out Hinata's small, lithe figure, dangling in the air with Madara's hand piercing her chest.
"No," she whispered, eyes wide. "Oh no, no…"
"Is that the Hyuuga?" Sasuke asked. Sakura couldn't see his face but she was imagining his eyes lit bright red, staring intently ahead of them.
"I — oh god. Yeah." Blinking back more tears Sakura struggled to move her legs faster. They needed to get there now.
As they ran Sakura clasped her hands together; if she could even garner up a little chakra before they got there, then maybe she'd be able to help save Hinata.
Closing in on the fight, Sakura ignored the tightness in her chest and the painful burning in her muscles as she zeroed-in on Hinata's location.
Naruto was just setting her down when he turned and charged Madara, preparing to land another attack. It was just seconds before his rasenshuriken struck the man when she felt her body get jerked back roughly.
Suddenly, a blast so intense that it caused Sakura's ears to sting with pain shook the area, the aftershock throwing her off her feet and into Sasuke's chest. His grip on her tightened more when the force threw them both backward roughly.
With his arms holding her tightly to him, Sakura found herself utterly disoriented as they tumbled and slid across the rocky ground. She could feel her clothes tear and her skin rip slightly each time they bounced against the hard ground. Tucking her chin to her neck she clenched her teeth together and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for it to stop.
When they slammed hard against a large sheet of rock, Sakura felt all the wind get forced out of her lungs upon impact. As their bodies came to a halt Sasuke immediately released his hold on her, his hands clutching tightly at his chest, a look of intense pain on his face.
"Sa…suke…" she gasped as she forced her shaky arms to lift her up off the ground. When she finally met his eyes she felt her breath once more fly out of her body as he threw himself toward her again, pinning her to the ground and using his own body as a shield.
She wasn't able to say another word when she felt another large force slam into them, the sound reverberating through her aching ears.
Coughing up more smoke, Sakura tried hard to refill her lungs with oxygen, struggling to steady her breathing. But when she finally opened her eyes, and when her lungs finally began to cooperate, she could only manage a gasp as she turned herself around in Sasuke's grip and stared at him.
A large stone slab had been knocked off the rock they had slammed into and had fallen down atop of them, only to successfully pin Sasuke to the ground.
"Sasuke," she cried, "what did… why did —?"
"Shut up," he bit through clenched teeth, "just shut up."
As she took note of his left leg, bloodied and only half-visible from under the rock, Sakura gasped, her hand shooting up to her mouth. There was just something about seeing Sasuke injured that set her on edge and caused her panic to shoot through the roof.
"Help me," he gasped, "get this thing off of me."
She'd began to shake her head before he'd even finished speaking. "Sasuke, I can't. I don't have enough chakra to fix your leg right now."
"I didn't say to heal me," he snapped, still out of breath, "just to get it off of me."
"I heard you, but if I move it and don't heal you, you'll lose your leg," she shouted back at him, frustrated at his stubbornness, "or worse, you'll bleed out and die!"
"Sakura — "
"Damnit Sasuke! For once just don't pretend to be invincible!" She cried, her fist slamming against the ground as she crouched beside him.
At the sound of another blast, her head shot toward where she knew Naruto was fighting Madara. When she realized that through the smoke and debris she couldn't see any of them, she began to panic again.
"I have to go," she said hurriedly, pushing herself up and onto her feet, "I have to help them; Hinata and Naruto."
"Sakura, no," before she took a step, Sasuke had grabbed her ankle roughly, effectively holding her into place, "you can't. You'll get yourself killed."
"I didn't hear you complaining about me being here a minute ago," she snapped at him, glaring at his hand that was keeping her hostage.
"Well, a minute ago I wasn't trapped under a damn rock!" He spat back at her, pulling her leg back towards him slightly.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" She shrieked. Now was not the time for this. His stubbornness wasn't going to get just himself killed, but all of them if he didn't cut it out. "I'm not weak! I can do this!"
"I never said you weren't — "
"Then why are you acting like I'm this fragile little girl — "
"I don't want to lose you!"
And for a split-second everything stopped. Her head was full of silence and clarity and she could hear her heartbeat as it raced in her chest. Her mind wanted to chastise her for listening to his empty words, but as she stared at his face — his desperate, hopeless, panicked face — her anger immediately dissipated.
"If you go out there," he resumed, still shouting the words at her, "and if you get caught in the crossfire and killed, I just," he paused, letting out a frustrated groan, "I don't know what I'll do! I can't protect you like this, Sakura."
"I… Sasuke-kun…"
"Please," he pleaded, showing her a side of himself she never thought she'd see; a side she was sure didn't even exist anymore, "please just stay."
With her mind fuzzy Sakura let her instincts take over. Falling ungracefully to her knees she reached out toward him, grabbing his face between her hands and pressing her lips against him.
The moment she initiated the kiss, his hand released her leg and wrapped around her waist, deepening the kiss and pulling her close.
Then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over and Sakura had jumped back, ripping herself out of his grip. Staring back at his face she tried to force the guilt down as she looked at his shocked, betrayed expression.
"I'm sorry Sasuke-kun."
As she turned and ran, she couldn't block out the sound of his desperate and angry voice shouting out toward her. Even if he never forgave her, even if she died, she figured that as long as he knew that she still loved him, maybe it would all be okay in the end.