Sakura couldn't tear her eyes from the crimson Sharingan fixated on her beaten form.
"It… can't be…" quivering lips muttered.
"What can't?" a calm, smooth voice answered.
The silhouette on the bench leaned towards Sakura. She was too stunned to move anywhere.
"S… S-Sasuke-kun?"
Chains clattered as the silhouette stood up and started walking towards her.
The kunoichi's mind suddenly returned full force and was flooded by memories, feelings, thoughts and… fear. Sakura couldn't help backing up to the wall, away from Sasuke. She hadn't even seen him yet, but she was certain that it was him walking towards her. Her mind had chosen to completely ignore the fact that he had once been a teammate, a comrade… a friend. He was an enemy now, and a powerful one. One that wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
A small beam of moonlight was coming from the small barred window and fell in the center of the cell.
The silhouette slowly stepped into it to reveal the form of Sasuke Uchiha.
He tilted his head in some kind of mild surprise. His crimson gaze faded back to midnight black.
He took another step towards the pinkette. She involuntarily flinched and brought her chained together wrists to her front protectively.
The Uchiha's lips curled up in a dark smirk as he silently brought his own arms from behind him for Sakura to see.
His wrists were also shackled, but separated with an elbow-length iron piece.
Obviously so he could not perform any seals. Sakura understood the silent message: "I won't hurt you for now. I can't even if I wanted. But not because you stir something within – because I'm currently physically incapable of harming you."
She visibly relaxed and Sasuke's smirk widened.
"This is interesting. I didn't expect our next meeting to be in a jail cell." he said.
The kunoichi simply stared at him.
"Why are you here, Sakura?" he asked evenly as his expression went to his usual blankness.
Sakura looked at him with mild irritation.
"Isn't it obvious? I was captured." she muttered.
Sasuke's eyes widened by a fraction.
I wonder what's going on in her head… She's never spoken like that to me before.
"Of course… For what?" his question sounded.
Sakura narrowed her eyes. Her mind started racing.
He's my enemy now! Who knows what kind of information I may betray to him without even knowing! But…he's also my goal! I didn't go through all this just to drive him away! He's practically landed in my hands! Now is my chance! I have to try…I have to persuade him…I'd best just be honest with him…
"I trudged into former Sound territory, Sasuke-kun." she answered firmly.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Sound? What in the world would she be doing in Sound?
"What would you ever want with the former Hidden Sound village?"
"I went… I was on your trail, Sasuke-kun." Sakura tried her best to keep her eyes on his.
"I was trying to find you. Word was, "Falcon" had gone on a wild goose chase." she managed to bring out a smirk.
How did she find that out? I specifically ordered "Falcon" to tell absolutely no one about our plans! Oh, if Karin opened her big mouth again…But does it matter now?
The Uchiha didn't let his inner worries show.
"My team was looking for something, Sakura. And I know that it was there. I'm curious as to how you found out that that something was not there?"
Sakura sighed sarcastically.
"Sasuke-kun. I knew you haven't changed."
Sasuke frowned at this.
"You're still quite rash. You never even bothered to check if your sources were trustworthy."
"My judgment has nothing to do with it."
His face darkened then. His eyes dropped to the floor.
"This whole plan is a holdup. It's only stalling my revenge…"
Sakura's firm façade diminished.
"Your revenge? But… you killed your brother already, didn't you--"
"Shut up!" Sasuke silenced her. Though his head was turned away, Sakura sensed something wasn't right. His face seemed angry… almost hurt. As if he was regretting something deeply.
"But--"
"You know nothing of this!" Sasuke snapped. His hand clenched into a fist within the shackles which clattered softly.
"You know nothing…! Nothing about all of it. But it doesn't matter now… nothing does…"
Not until his voice died down did Sakura notice how defeated the young Uchiha looked. He was slouching, his shoulders were slumped in surrender. His posture betrayed him. His body was covered in bruises, beaten, much like hers, but to a lesser extent. His clothes were dirty, torn in some places, and by the way he carried himself she could tell he had been in the cell for a lot longer than she first thought. But his appearance was not what worried her, it was the way he seemed… broken. As if his will was stolen from him. It scared her – her Sasuke-kun, seeing him like that… It was never a good thing to see a broken shinobi.
It was as though Uchiha Sasuke had finally… given up. Him – the Uchiha clan's survivor, the avenger, the one with iron will, the one that never gave up. The one whose hatred and desire for vengeance had proven stronger than strength itself, stronger than bonds, stronger than his comrades, stronger than… everything.
Sakura hadn't noticed when her eyes had welled up.
"Sasuke-kun, what has the world done to us?" Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
The young Uchiha turned his gaze towards the moon visible through the small barred window.
"It doesn't matter anymore. After tomorrow, nothing will. Ever again."
"Tomorrow?" Sakura echoed.
"Sasuke turned his eyes to her, an eerie, broken smirk twisting his lips.
"Tomorrow they execute us."
The kunoichi's eyes went wide with shock.
So, that's what that Sound bastard meant!
She didn't even try to stop the poisoned words that slipped through her gritted teeth.
"The fucking bastards!"
With that she willed her beaten body to stand up straight and put a leg between the chains on her wrists.
Inner Sakura, observing the absurdity of the whole situation, had decided to step in and for once be the voice of reason. Sakura couldn't analyze, come up with any sort of plan. All she knew was that she had to get out of there.
Oh, if they think they can beat me…I refuse to just let them kill me here, not until I bring Sasuke-kun back! I don't care who gets in my way, I'm walking out of here with him!
Her chakra was nearly drained, and she had half-expected it to be, if those Sound scum had any common sense. But through the few hours of sleep she had got on the ground of the freezing cell, she had regained a little bit of it and was now vigorously trying to channel it to her hands and foot.
She pulled. She actually yanked her wrists, as if yanking hard enough could somehow make the chains break. She pressed her foot against them, trying with all her force to destroy those goddamned pieces of metal that were restricting her movements.
Sakura had been wrenching and pulling at her chains for at least ten minutes filled with constant rattling until Sasuke, who had meanwhile found his way back to the bench, turned to look in her direction with disinterest.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked quietly.
Sakura paused her attempts to look at him.
"What does it look like?"
She made an especially hard pull that left her panting.
The Uchiha simply raised an eyebrow.
Sakura resumed her struggles at full force.
"Well, if you wish to just sit here and rot until they come to rip your guts, then be my guest. It wouldn't be my fault if you've given up on your own stupid life! I, on the other hand, don't want to die!"
She strained against her shackles again.
Sasuke just continued to eye her.
"We both know your attempts are useless. Even if you somehow manage to break the metal, how do you plan to get out of this cell? And if you somehow manage to do even that, how do you plan to walk two steps without them coming to gut you as you move?"
Sakura didn't answer, and continued to draw her chakra to her hands as she pulled at her chains.
"You're wasting your time." Sasuke added.
"Oh yeah? Well then, tell me of some better uses for my time!"
He answered nothing.
"As I thought. Sasuke-kun, you can just wait for your death. But I can't. I will never forgive myself. I would never forgive myself if I let the two of us die without even trying!"
Sasuke's lips parted in surprise at her words.
Sakura had meant every one. And the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She was angry with Sasuke, for giving up, just like that. She was angry with her goddamned shackles, at that moment she was angry with the whole world.
"Bah! Nothing is impossible if you're pissed off enough!"
Sakura remembered her shishou's angry shouts when she was once again losing to her own apprentice in poker.
They were one of the biggest truths she had ever heard.
She charged the last of her chakra to her hands. They glowed a pale blue and she could almost feel the metal weakening under her strength.
She was strong now. She would never again crumble under someone else's strength.
Who is the weak one now? Huh, Sasuke-kun?
A long, loud growl escaped Sakura's throat as she yanked the chains with everything she had.
Sasuke's eyes widened as she roared almost animalistically and the cell was filled with the loud rattling of the chains which broke into pieces.
His stunned gaze followed them when they hit the stone floor.
Sakura fell on her knees, breathing heavily.
"Sakura…"
She turned to him, giving him a small, exhausted smile.
His expression, however, only turned angry.
"You're an idiot! What were you thinking?! Everything alive within a two kilometer radius must have heard that noise! Now they're going to…"
The sound of someone quickly unlocking the heavy door cut Sasuke's rants short.
He sent Sakura a "you are so dead" glare as the door was kicked open.
"What the fuck is going on here?" the blonde Sound shinobi barked.
I'm so busted, I'm so busted, I'm so busted…
Sakura couldn't have even dreamed of a more perfect opportunity – the door was unlocked, which meant she had the full freedom to escape. Now, if only that Sound bastard would let her…
Thinking quickly, she managed to hide her now free hands behind her just as her captor landed his eyes on her.
He noticed she'd moved, and guessed she must have stumbled over her own shackles.
"Nobody told me the Hokage's apprentice would be such a waste. You might want to be careful, dearie, or you'll kill yourself before we have the chance to."
Hokage's apprentice? Sakura and I sure have been out of touch for a while…
As the Sound nin mocked her, Sakura poked her brain for a way to somehow take him out with no chakra, no strength and no weapon.
Think! Analyze him, search for weak spots…
She sized him up, taking every detail in for some kind of clue.
He's tall…That usually means a weak upright stance…He's standing with his legs close, so that means he's not stable…If I can disable his legs, I might have a chance!
She suddenly crouched on all fours and swept her right leg towards the Sound nin's ankles.
But before she even finished the swing, he had already jumped out of the way.
"You really are a sneaky little bitch!" she heard his voice next to her and turned to face him. Her speed was greatly reduced by her beaten-up, drained state and before she even tried to punch him in the jaw, he grabbed her arms in one big hand.
What was I thinking? I can't beat him! Not like this! But I can't just give up! This may be my only chance to escape, to save myself! And Sasuke-kun, too.
Sakura struggled in his tight grip, but that got her nowhere.
"Tsk! You and your Uchiha friend have been nothing but trouble. And I'm finding myself tired of you both. I'm sure no one will bitch, so I'm thinking of gutting you two right now! What do you think, blossom?"
He twisted her arms behind her back and pulled out a kunai.
"Let me go, you bastard!" she hissed.
"Very well." the Sound nin snickered and started aiming the kunai at her throat.
Suddenly, Sakura saw in perfect clarity her own situation.
She was defenseless in the hands of a strong enemy who was going to kill her within seconds. And Sasuke wasn't going to do anything. He didn't even seem to care.
She didn't want to die like that. She didn't want to die in a cell away from her home, from Konoha, failing the mission of her life.
As Outer Sakura stood and trembled in fear, Inner Sakura took over and screamed words that had not been spoken for years.
"Help me, Sasuke-kun!!"
She felt the cold metal at her throat and her scream escalated in a pitch.
But the kunai never sliced. Her death never came.
A long silent moment passed until the kunoichi felt the Sound nin had frozen behind her. She didn't dare to breathe.
Her captor then fell away on his back, eyes snapped shut.
When Sakura's mind returned to her, she moved her gaze to Sasuke's form.
Spinning crimson Sharingan shone in the dim light and told Sakura all she needed to know.
Sasuke stood up and his hand subtly ran across his sheathed Kusanagi sword.
He looked at Sakura, his crimson gaze fading back to black.
"Let's get out of here."