(A/N: I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update. I had finals, but now I am free. I would love to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed, even my silent readers. You are all so encouraging! Anyways please forgive me if I made any mistakes, I was unable to contact my beta. But I won't keep you waiting any longer so without further ado, chapter three!)


The pair was walking rather slowly, as civilians do, down the dirt road. The trees on either side of them stood tall and proud, majestic in their sense of being larger than life. The plush, green leaves glistened with morning dew.

Sakura gazed up at them in silent awe. It wasn't often that she was able to take the time to appreciate nature this way. Usually when on a mission, the goal was to do it as quickly as possible. At home she kept busy at the hospital, especially lately. She had to keep her mind off things.

Neji walked beside her, equally as silent, but seemed to be unaffected by the beauty of the scenery. He had switched his usual Jounin attire with a navy blue yukata. His headband had been replaced with a generic, dark scarf, over which he wore a plain, straw hat. Unlike her he got to keep his Konoha sandals.

Sakura's own outfit was ridiculously impractical. She'd had to get rid of her bandages, along with her ninja headband. Her flak vest and shorts had been replaced by a long, wine-colored kimono. White petals were intricately woven into the soft material. On her feet she wore uncomfortably stiff socks with geta sandals that pinched her toes with every step.

Luckily, since the resort was so secluded from any major villages, they would not have to disguise themselves in transformation jutsu. It wasn't hard by any means, simply bothersome to pretend to be somebody else.

But that's what she'd been doing lately anyway, right?

Walking through the narrow forest gave her time to bear her thoughts. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the reminiscent feeling of going on missions. Sakura had been so heavily dependent on her hospital work that she had forgotten the relief of slowing down, unwinding. It was sweet relief and she found herself welcoming it once again.

She took a deep breath. Not being confined to the too white walls of the hospital would be nice for a change. Sometimes the death and blood would become too stifling for her to handle. She had isolated herself within the hospital's laboratory, focusing more on uncured diseases and unexplainable phenomenons of the human body.

The hospital had been empty lately, thankfully.

Sakura wasn't someone to be so easily grossed out. But she just couldn't stomach the thought of blood and decay, she feared it now more than ever. It made her job as Konoha's top doctor all the more difficult.

As she gazed at the trees towering above her head, she noticed a bush rustling about ten yards ahead. Her eyes focused on the spot, and after a few moments it rustled again. This time, through the leaves she saw dark clothing and the glint of something metallic. Casually, she hooked her hand through Neji's elbow and leaned close to his ear.

"There's someone hiding in that bush at two o'clock," she said, pointing with her eyes.

Neji pulled his hat low over his eyes and activated his byakugan. His eyes scanned the forest thoroughly before he deactivated his bloodline limit and fixed his hat. He leaned down to whisper in his partner's ear, looking every bit the affectionate husband. "There are four more. One in the tree just above him, and the other three are on the other side of the road."

Her eyes now easily picked out each form. "Do you think they're ninja, or just bandits?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Probably bandits. Chunin level at best," he murmured. "When they attack, you take the two on your side, and I'll take care of the others. Most likely their plan is to surround us, stay behind me."

They approached the spot where the bandits would likely begin the attack. Sakura counted down the seconds in her head: four, three, two, one... Sure enough, the five jumped out at that moment. So predictable.

Sakura feigned surprise, immediately hiding behind Neji. She peered over his shoulder as he held up his hands and crouched before her.

One of the masked men took a step forward. He was the largest of the five, and stood at least two heads taller than Sakura herself. He pointed a dull kunai in their direction before he spoke.

"Hand over your valuables, and we might let you pass on through." Behind him she could hear the obnoxious guffaws of his accomplices. She fought back the urge to roll her eyes. Typical bandits.

"Please, we do not carry anything of value. Let us pass and-"

"Who's the lovely lady?" He cut in abruptly, completely ignoring the Hyūga. "Her kimono seems to be valuable. Why don't we take it off 'er." His friends snickered at the apparent joke. The bandit stepped around Neji before standing in front of Sakura, flashing her a toothy grin.

"Hey there baby, my name's Matsuda. What's yours?" He looked down at her with vibrant, yellow eyes. She stared at them. What a peculiar color they were. They were abnormally bright.

She blinked. "U-Um, well..." she stammered purposefully, avoiding his gaze. That was weird. She could've sworn his eyes had somehow changed.

Sakura hid well behind her role, but anger slowly made its way through her and it was taking all of her willpower to keep from punching him into next week.

Neji seemed to have noticed because he stretched his arm between them, "Do not involve my wife."

Matsuda's crude comments irked him to no end. It disgusted him to watch a young woman so blatantly disrespected. He clenched his teeth fully prepared to activate his bloodline limit. He wasn't to keen on the idea of blowing their cover, but if it would shut that chauvinistic asshole up then so be it.

The bandit held his kunai to Sakura's neck. "Hey, boys, I think we've found ourselves-" before he could finish that thought, he was sent careening backwards, a cloud of dirt following closely behind.

The four bandits turned to Sakura in shock. She stood with angry, green eyes narrowed into slits, fists raised, and jaw clenched. They smiled smugly before charging at her with various training weapons.

She scoffed, "Fucking idiots," she reached into her garter holster and produced four scalpels, "like that'll work on me," she threw them with practiced ease, nailing them each in their jugular before they erupted into clouds of smoke.

Shadow clones.

She felt Neji move behind her, both now back to back.

"Where are they?" She whispered.

No reply.

Sakura turned her head before grabbing hold of his shoulder and giving him a ruff jolt "Neji," she hissed.

His back was still to her, but from what she could see his head was tilted downwards. She felt a sudden wave of fear wash over her. She spun him around before gasping and taking a shaky step backwards. His eyes were gouged out and he was smiling at her. It was a sinister smile.

"Sakura," he breathed, letting her name roll off of his tongue. His voice was the same, yet so different. It was laced with false sugar and sweet malice. He held up a shaky wrist and pointed at her, showing her a row of rotted, razor sharpened teeth. "you're..." He leaned in close to her ear, "dead."

She let out a shocked sob as he curled his jagged nails around her throat. No, it couldn't be Neji. It must be a genjutsu. But then why couldn't she break it? She tried to dispel the jutsu, but to no avail.

He tilted his head to the side, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Naughty, naughty," he grinned up at her widely, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Something wasn't right.

Suddenly she felt heavy, her limbs stopped working and it took an incredible amount of energy to just twitch her finger. Mustering up the rest of her oxygen she screamed, hoping for someone to hear her.

It was fruitless.

But that didn't mean she would give up."Unh," she fought in his grip as her eyes blurred in and out of focus. Her vision began to turn grey. The view before her was set ablaze. The edges of her view went bleary. Neji tightened his hold, "ugh," he let out a sardonic laugh at her futile attempts.

"I like it when you struggle," he purred.

Naruto. She clenched her teeth, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. His sunny smile and promising thumbs up flashed through her head. He had made her a promise back when they were genin. The promise of a lifetime. She couldn't remember a time when he had gone back on his ninja way. Not once had he given in, not once.

How disappointed would he be if he saw her right now. How incredulous the whole situation. She could already imagine the headline and article of Konoha's newspaper.

Haruno Sakura, best medic of all the great nations, successor of the Hokage and future sannin, dead.

She would have laughed had her windpipe not been in the midst of being crushed.

But either way, that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Her comrade was out fighting the others and she had to do her part to.

She would not fail.

With renewed determination she tapped into her Yin seal. Sakura sent chakra pulsing through the pathway towards her carotid artery. She converted her chakra into fire before burning all of the nerve endings in his hand.

She stumbled to the ground, coughing up blood as he wrenched his hand from her throat. For a split second she saw a crack in his disguise. His intense eyes rolled into his head, replacing the bloody sockets. They weren't lilac like Neji's, but a dark, smoky purple.

The world warped, the trees swirled, and the sky darkened eerily.

She smirked weakly.

So, it wasn't genjutsu since it affected him too. He must physically be there with her for him to withdraw from her attacks. It must be a form of sleep paralysis. A limbo. If she could recall, Madara had used something similar, but she had a feeling this would be slightly different.

He had created an alternate universe, that much was certain. He even replicated the surroundings perfectly. But when had she gotten trapped? She had been careful, hadn't she?

Well, whether she had been or not. She had to be careful now.

He could bend her emotions using Neji's appearance. Despite her outward dislike towards him, Neji was still her friend, a comrade. One she would protect no matter the cost.

She stood up on shaky legs and wiped the blood from her mouth.

"I want to make you a deal," he said.

She narrowed her eyes and laughed dryly. "You sure do have a weird way of showing it. But either way," she held a healing green hand to her throat, "I'd never make a deal with you."

He waved his hand dismissively. "I was only trying to seclude you from your clingy partner."

That wasn't what she meant, if he needed her then why would he try to injury her? It couldn't be just to keep her from running away. By the force of his choke hold it certainly didn't seem like he was simply trying to incapacitate her. He must be a misogynist.

"I'll give you-"

"No."

By the looks of it, he seemed very agitated with her answer. "Fine. I guess I'll have to do it the hard way," he bit out. His purple iris' began to bleed into the untainted sclera. She looked at him in confusion.

Those eyes.

It must be a kekkei genkei. One she had never heard of before. They were so surreal. It was odd, she could've sworn she'd read about every bloodline limit in existence. In fact, it's required common knowledge amongst Konoha.

She held up a fist in preparation.

Matsuda looked down at her small form. "All you kunoichi, pathetic." He hissed, "you all strive to be stronger, smarter, but you'll never surpass us men. We were born superior."

She clenched her teeth. He was playing on her weak spot. "Fuck you," she spat, "you're not a man, you're a monster."

He growled in approval, "don't mind if I do." He flickered behind her.

She turned around, not allowing him even a moment to react before aiming her knee up his groin. He caught it just in time, but not without consequence. She shattered the bones in his hand. Both of his hands now immobile at his sides.

Sakura showed no mercy. She jumped up into the air, building up the force for what was sure to be a monstrous attack. She narrowed her eyes as her foot collided with the false earth. The dirt cracked and shook beneath her. Where'd he go?

Above, right, behind, below...

Left.

She bolted right and dashed up a tall redwood. Matsuda followed closely behind, getting ready to give her a paralyzing kick to her spine.

She grabbed hold of the closest branch; swinging in a three-sixty, ready to ricochet his kick. The wood began to splinter beneath her hand. Before it could break, she let go. Pumping chakra into her legs, she went feet first, ready for the impact of colliding with her enemy.

However, he didn't give her a chance to land a hit. With all the force he had, he swung his foot straight into her stomach.

Her back connected painfully with the tree. Spitting up blood, she looked up at him in fury. Her fiery green eyes held him to his spot, daring him to make his next move.

"You're a fiesty one, hm?"

Her back ached. She attempted to get up.

Nothing.

Each time she tried to get up, she would always be knocked back down. By no means was her opponent stupid and she found herself rethinking her combat decisions. Before... when she had looked for him. Why had she turned her back on him?

Her shishou had taught her to always keep her eyes on her opponent. So why...

He was controlling her. "How did you..."

"My dear girl." He grinned so wide it was inhuman,"it's not me who's controlling you," he licked his lips, savoring his next words as if they were a dirty secret, "it's you."

There was a shift in the atmosphere. Her stomach churned as anxiety slowly spread throughout her limbs. She licked her lips as they became like sandpaper. Sweat began to bead at her forehead. Ivory skin paled to an ashen grey as once rosy cheeks became poisoned and weary.

The words she was trying to speak never came out.

"You poor thing." He continued to degrade her, "look at you shivering like a leaf in the wind." The sadistic grin he wore never faltered.

She simply watched in horror as someone emerged from a tree. It was...

It was her.


He caught the fist of his opponent, crushing it in his hand. The man grunted before leaping backwards.

Sakura had been knocked unconscious by Matsuda, leaving him to deal with the other four. So far he had taken out one.

They proved to be quite an annoyance. Their fighting style had probably originated from one of the smaller villages amongst Konoha. Mediocre at best.

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō." Neji didn't miss a beat as he sent the man an onslaught of his 64 palms technique.

He whirled around as the remaining two ran his way.

"I'll kill you," the smallest of the two jumped in the air, sending Neji a barrage of senbon. The Hyūga scoffed as he dodged the needles effortlessly.

"Bring it on."

The bandit ran head on, teeth clenched and fists raised.

"Shōtei!" He cut off the chakra network closest to the man's heart, killing him instantly.

He whipped his head to his motionless partner who lay on the ground. Her lips were blood-stained and he feared the worst. Never had he witnessed such a powerful illusion. He assumed she had been lured into a genjutsu. Neji had sorely underestimated their skill, even as he struck the last bandit with his gentle fist. All four scattered the ground with their lifeless bodies.

One left. He clenched his fists involuntarily as he searched for the last chakra signature. He seemed to have slipped out of range. Turning his eyes towards Sakura, Neji noticed a lilt in her chakra. It was different. It was churning, abnormal.

His eyes narrowed in realization. It was Matsuda's chakra. It flowed through her pathways erratically, latching itself around her brain and heart. It was quite rare, but he recognized the jutsu. It was called Otodama.

The enemy would render their opponent unconscious and battle them for their mind. The loser would be sent to a limbo in the subconscious, and the winner would obtain the new vessel or regain it.

But the jutsu could only be used if one had the bloodline called bashirisuku. He had thought it had died out years ago, especially since this particular kekkei genkei was man-made. That was the rumor anyway.

Neji quickly ran over to his partners still form. He racked his brain for a solution. Uncle Hirashi had informed him of the forbidden jutsu. The wielder must have to have a considerable amount of chakra to even cast it, let alone battle within the subconscious.

He ran his fingers under her chin, sending in a pulse of his energy to disrupt the jutsu.

Almost immediately, Sakura sat up gasping for air. Her glassy eyes opened to look at him.

And he saw it.

Fear.

Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her small form with a gentleness that surprised even him. She reminded him of a startled deer. She was so strong, yet he felt as though taking any sudden movements would paralyze her.

The place she had been taken to... it was a gripping reality that delved into the mind's inner most fears. For Sakura's current mental state, it was unhealthy, damaging. The jutsu could have completely wiped away what little remained of her personality.

It bordered on fatal.

To be quite honest, he was at a loss.

Neji stood quietly, holding his partner close. He would not reprimand her for being careless. For he had been the careless one.