Here is the revised chapter 2!
Sakura laid on her back in the grass, motionless, defenseless, hopeless. She was extremely hungry. The growls of her stomach and pains of hunger had subsided into a numb emptiness. It's as if her stomach knew that it wasn't getting food and that she would die in that field; so it just... gave up.
She had tried to make her way back to Konoha after Sasuke took Naruto away, but she didn't even make it to the forest before she collapsed from exhaustion and the strain on her wounds. Still laying in that wretched field, she had watched the sun rise, set, then rise again. Sleep was not an option as a result of the scene of Naruto's capture playing and replaying in her head, all through the night and well into the morning. She sighed sadly as she thought of where the recent situation left her. She was all alone. Her and Kakashi were all that was left of the original Team 7. Naruto and Sasuke were two of the most important people in her life; and now, they were both gone.
As she gazed sadly at the sky above her, she saw an eagle fly by overhead. Tears escaped from her eyes, rolling down her face and sinking into the soil beneath her. She thought of all of the times Naruto had put his life on the line trying to save her. She thought of all of the times he had thrown all his dreams and life goals away, just to make sure he protected her.
'Because I was too weak to protect myself.'
She tried again to turn over and stand, but she only fell back to the ground in pain, still feeling the effects of Sasuke's chidori senbons.
"Sasuke-kun." she grabbed a fistful of grass as she spat out the name of her childhood crush like venom on her tongue, completely consumed by the hatred she felt for him boilng inside of her. All those years ago, he had left her in Konoha, depressed, needy, heartbroken, lonely. And now, he had done it again, and it hurt much much worst.
Sakura laid in the grass looking up at the clear, blue sky, feeling the breeze lightly tousle her hair. The serenity of the weather far from matched her sullen mood.
'I really am hopeless, aren't I? How can I even call myself a ninja?'
The truth is, she was the weakest member of Team 7, and she definitely wasn't strong enough to defeat Sasuke. If the two were to fight, anyone who bet on Sasuke, even if it was Tsunade, would clearly win. He'd beat her in a heartbeat.
'Naruto has done everything and more for me. He has put his dreams and aspirations aside, fully willing to throw it all away, just to make sure my worthless life continues.'
Her body shook as she sobbed into the dirt.
'What have I done for him? Look at me now, powerless, just pitifully sobbing into the dirt. I can't even save myself. What can I do for him?'
Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps running in her direction. It had taken her and Naruto about a day to catch up to Sasuke, and based on the movements and current position of the sun, she had been lying here for about a day and a half, so the footsteps she heard were most likely back-up Konoha ninja.
"Sakura!" she heard the voice of her sensei cry out. She used all her remaining strength, still weak from the senbons, to lift her head and see that it was Kakashi and Hinata, with an activated Byakugan, who had come to her rescue.
"Kakashi-Sensei." she sighed. She was again making someone go out of their way to rescue her.
"Sakura, what happened? Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked, getting right to the point as he lifted the wounded kunoichi onto his back.
"S-Sasuke-kun... took him." she muttered weakly as she allowed herself to be carried, piggyback, by her sensei. She heard Hinata mutter 'Naruto-kun' worriedly under her breath, and she knew Hinata had not come to see her. Sakura sighed in annoyance as she remembered her revelation that Hinata was in love with Naruto.
"H-he's not dead, is he?" asked a sullen Hinata.
Sakura shook her head from left to right to reassure Hinata of him being very much alive.
She tactfully left out the part about him screaming in complete agony as he was taken away.
"Naruto." she sighed sadly as his cries of agony's, still fresh in her mind, rang in her head. She shut her eyes tightly, preventing the tears that filled her eyes from falling.
"It's no use. He belongs to me now."
'What did that even mean?' she thought as she piggybacked Kakashi back to Konoha, Hinata at their side.
"Kakashi..." she felt herself growing weary, and knew she would soon black out. "Sasuke, has a new jutsu." she informed him with heavy eyelids.
"Do you know anything about it?" Kakashi inquired. Sakura remembered Sasuke slamming a seal onto Naruto, causing him to fall to the floor in excruciating pain.
She shook her head.
"He's going to use it to... to control Naruto. It's called-" she closed her eyes as lack of food and blood loss stole away her consciousness, memories of Naruto's screams still ringing in her ears.
"Saimin no Jutsu."
Sakura rubbed her eyes as she awoke, preparing them for the light that would flood them as they opened. As she slowly opened her eyes and looked around, she saw she was in a Konoha medic tent, due to rebuilding still being in progress. She crawled off her cot and peeked outside the tent entrance to see that, based on the position of the sun, it was about early afternoon. She looked to see none other than Kakashi sensei sitting outside her tent as well, reading one of his pervy books as he seemingly waited for her to awaken.
'What am I doing here?' she asked herself, almost instantly recieving an answer when her most recent memories flooded her brain. She frowned regretfully as she remembered how she had been unable to rescue Naruto.
"Kakashi-sensei?" she said, alerting him to her conciousness. He slowly lifted his head from the book as if getting his last bits of the engaging words in before acknowledging the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Sakura." after dragging his eyes from the book, his attitude transformed to stern and serious as he put the book down and stood from his seat outside her tent. He ignored the pain in his butt, inflicted from having sat on the ground for so long, as he made his way inside her tent. "How are you feeling?"
Sakura shrugged at the copy nin as she absentmindedly began to twirl her hair before responding.
"There's a hole in my leg from Sasuke's attack, but other than that, I'm fine." Sakura stated with a forced smile as she tried, and failed, to lighten the mood. Kakashi sat, unamused by her statement.
"I don't mean to sound hasty due to you having just woken up and all, but I need you to tell me exactly what happened in the valley with you Naruto and Sasuke."
Sakura's forced smile immediately fell as memories of Naruto's painful capture filled her mind.
'That day.' she looked at her hands, and saw they were shaking. 'That moment that I watched Sasuke take Naruto.' Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. She closed her eyes in an attempt to contain her tears.
Sakura stared at her hands as she sadly relayed the events of Naruto's capture in great detail. She regretfully relived the traumatizing memory as Kakashi, listening attentively, did not miss a single syllable.
"You and I both know you will never be strong enough to kill me."
Sakura scowled as her mind conjured the memory of Sasuke's condescending tone as he spoke to her.
"So he says you have to kill him to save Naruto?" Kakashi asked suddenly, reminding Sakura of his presence as she had gotten lost in her memories.
She nodded sadly in reply to his question.
"Sakura." he said sounding determined but hesitant. He was obviously deep in thought, contemplating something important. "Naruto is my student, and a hero of Konoha. I don't know exactly how powerful Sasuke has become, but if I could, I would kill him in a heartbeat if it meant saving Naruto." Sakura continued to stare at the floor, her head in her knees, as she continued to listen to Kakashi speak.
"I've watched Naruto grow and advance so much, and to see all of his hard work go to waste, or be used for any purpose that he doesn't desire is completely unacceptable. I would be glad to defeat Sasuke and free Naruto from the jutsu. It's almost my duty."
Sakura sighed.
'Kakashi sensei is right. He's definitely strong enough to face Sasuke in battle and even has a chance of winning. I don't even have a shot at lasting more than five minutes.'
"But..." Kakashi said suddenly. "You are Naruto's friend, and comrade. You two have been through things that I can't even begin to comprehend. All the times he's laid his life down for you proves how special you are to him and I know you wish you could've done more to show him you care in return.
The masked ex-Anbu laid a strong hand on Sakura's good shoulder as he spoke his next words.
"And it is for that reason, Sakura, that it is your duty, not mine, to defeat Sasuke, and repay Naruto for all the times he has saved you." Sakura's head shot up, surprised at his words.
"Me?" she asked frantically as she began to nervously play with her light pink hair.
"What can I do against Sasuke?"
"Sakura, you have the drive, and determination to save Naruto, just as Naruto had the drive and determination to save Sasuke." Kakashi explained. "Naruto's desperation to rebuild his friendship with Sasuke by bringing him back to the village is what made him so powerful. It is your will to bring Naruto back that will make you powerful enough to defeat Sasuke."
Sakura looked down as she contemplated his words, letting them sink in. Could she really ever be as strong as Naruto? Strong enough to defeat Sasuke?
"Remember Sakura, now that Naruto is under Sasuke's control, you may have to get through him before you can get to Sasuke." Sakura tried and failed to imagine driving a kunai into her pure-hearted, innocent, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, friend. "You need to learn to do that, not only without killing him, but also without hesitating either." Sakura gulped at the unfathomable thought of facing Naruto in combat.
"Though it is your job to ineveitably kill Sasuke, as you and Naruto's sensei, I am going to do my part, by making sure you succeed in your task to rescue Naruto." he looked at the floor, hesitating with his next statement.
"Sakura... I'm going to give you my Sharingan."
Ok, so I wrote this story two years ago and I am well aware that if Sakura were to fight Sasuke the way they are NOW in the manga, she would lose :( However, I do believe that in the setting of the story, she could defeat Sasuke with the right training. Lol, anyway hope you enjoyed.
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