Chapter 3: The Battle
Note: Still don't own Naruto.
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Sakura lunges at the blonde Akatsuki with a fist empowered by an enormous amount of chakra. The moment that her fist made contact with the blonde's face, the impact broke his jaw and made jagged tears all over his cheeks, revealing skin and muscle to the eye of others.
"SAKURA! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" The exhausted Uchiha exhorted, still trying to gather enough energy to stand on his feet but struggling miserably.. 'What in Kami's name is she thinking? Does she not know who she's dealing with? And WHY is she even here?' He doesn't even know where to begin questioning her.
"Y-you again?!" Blood spewed out of the blonde's mouth as he attempts to speak with his broken jaw. She really did a number on his face. He lays there, numb and broken as Sakura walks closer to him. He was just as beat as Sasuke was and the Uchiha fan clay bomb was his last ditch effort in killing the raven once and for all..well...second to the last ditch effort.
"Deidara." She replied with an assertion, acknowledging him as the man who had tried to kill not only Gaara, but Naruto and Sasuke as well. She tightened her leather gloves on her hands as she prepares for the final blow. One quick and powerful punch to his abdomen, or anywhere on his body for that matter, will end his legacy as the annoying blonde Akatsuki 'man'.
'Deidara? That's his name? It's even girlier than his hair!' Sasuke thought to himself. He couldn't be useful in this situation so he figured he could be entertained by watching the irritating man die.
"Heh." Deidara, the blonde man's name was finally revealed, busted out into laughter as he tears out the stitches on his chest over his heart. "You should be proud of yourself, taking down two Akatsuki is an honor, Sakura. People will surely remember that accomplishment long after you die."
'Die? What the hell is he talking about? HE'S the one that's going to die, not me' She thought as confused as ever.
'She...she killed another Akatsuki? Her? Sakura?' Sasuke was slipping in and out of consciousness but was conscious enough to hear Deidara say that it was Sakura who had killed, or is going to kill, TWO Akatsuki members when he was about to die just trying to take down one and failed. He felt a tinge of envy but he also felt a sense of pride because it was Sakura who was about to kill two Akatsuki when he couldn't even get one.
It was as if he could read her thoughts when Deidara grinned widely and said, "You can kill me but I won't go out without a BANG!"
Sakura stops in her tracks as she stands there confused as she watches the man put clay to the mouth that was once stitched up over his heart.
'That's fucking disgusting...Akatsuki is full of freaks' She thought to herself but then as she sees Deidara starting to glow white, she knew that she and Sasuke are in deep shit.
She quickly turned her head back to Sasuke and sees that Sasuke's stiffened body, knowing that Sasuke had figured out the same thing. They were all going to die if she doesn't do something and fast.
She ran towards Sasuke and used her superhuman strength to carry the boy in her arms. She darted out of the forest, running as fast as her legs could possibly run, but she was no Sasuke.
Speaking of Sasuke, he was stunned to say the least, because he couldn't bring himself to believe that Sakura had just saved him and that Sakura is carrying him in her arms and that Sakura had put her life in danger instead of abandoning him so that he could live.
"Don't worry Sasuke-kun. I won't let you die like this" was the last thing Sasuke heard before he passed out from fatigue.
Sakura ran for as far as she possibly could until her legs collapsed. She had no idea whether or not they were far enough but the light was growing bigger and closer to them. She drew as much chakra as she possibly could, knowing that the more chakra she had the higher the chances this jutsu might save their lives, quickly formed seals, bit her thumb, and summoned a mini Katsuyu to absorb both her and Sasuke in the slug's body.
BOOOOOOOM!
The light covered the entire sky and forest, devastating the entire area, disintegrating all life surrounding the slug, and left nothing but dust and dirt.
The slug spat out the pair and Sakura took a look around her. She was relieved when she realized that her jutsu had worked.
"Thank you Lady Katsuyu for saving us." She told the slug.
"Anytime Sakura-chan." The slug replied back and POOF! She disappeared.
Sakura looked around and saw a small cave that survived the explosion and started to carry Sasuke to their new destination.
When they arrived, she dropped on her knees and she examined the exhausted raven haired boy on the ground. He had passed out due to chakra exhaustion and the battle between him and Deidara.
She slowly removed his tattered shirt so she could examine his wounds further and at least try to help heal him. Much to her expectations, he was covered in bruises and burn marks, severe burn marks at that, but it was nothing she couldn't fix - if she had the chakra to do so. She remembered that the summoning of Katsuyu had taken up an incredibly large amount of chakra, chakra that was reserved for emergencies, chakra that was already limited due to her trying to reach the Yin seal.
'It doesn't matter. I will have to do whatever I can.' She shook her head to regain concentration as she desperately gathered chakra into her palms and started healing the battered up Uchiha.
Slowly, the bruises started to fade and skin grew over the burned areas of his body. Excruciatingly slow. That Deidara did major damage on the Uchiha but Sakura was not going to stop until he is back on his feet again so she could knock him down and bring him home. She began to feel woozy as her chakra level approached a dangerous low. He wasn't healed 100% but it was the absolute best that she could do without actually killing herself.
She started a small fire and pulled his body close to it. His shirt was already tattered to a point of no return and it was getting increasingly cold in the cave. She did what she had to do and she laid by his side and held him to her, giving him the warmth that he desperately needed in order to not die of hypothermia in his weak state. She glanced at the entrance of the cave and realized that it was long past midnight. She wondered if her teammates were worried about her. Little do they know, she had found what they have been looking for and he was laying in her arms.
As exhausted as she was, she was not going to let him out of her sight. She struggled to stay away as her eyes drooped and she fought to keep her eyes open.
Suddenly, she feels a wetness in her arms and the man beside her started to tremor. His eyebrows were pinched together and his face looked distressed as he muttered incoherent words.
'A nightmare…' She thought as she held the man closer to her body, putting her fingers through his hair, stroking it slowly as she tries to relieve him from his dark dreams.
"Shh..shhhh...it's okay" she whispered as she lightly hummed a tune to try and soothe Sasuke.
He had stopped shaking a few minutes after and his eyes started to flutter open, slowly, but they were opening. He had never felt so relaxed and comfortable before. The smell of cherry blossoms and strawberries were filling his senses and a warm glow covered his body. Then, he stiffens. He couldn't fathom what was going on.
Sakura notices his stiff body and realized that the man she was once holding was now awake. Words tried to find their way to her mouth but she just sat there dumbfounded but trying to calm herself enough to explain the situation.
Sasuke jolted and sat up as fast as he can, putting maybe a foot of distance between them. Fear ran down his body, not because of her, but because he had actually liked having her hold him. How did he not wake up when she touched him? How long were they lying like that? Why is there a part of him that wishes he was still in that same position with her and holding her instead?
"What did you do?" he snarled at her. A part of him told him that it was too harsh, but he had to shut out all emotions and be on his top guard again.
Still dumbfounded, she tried to find the right words to say to him but all she could do was ramble on nonstop, as if she was a twelve year old girl again. "I-I was on a mission t-to find you S-Sasuke-kun... To bring you home... T-To convince you to come home with us and then w-we could help you find I-Itachi…. b-be-because Tsunade-Sama said that we were going to take him down... s-so we wanted to help you get your r-revenge... I-I was on my own and I-I heard an explosion and I didn't want anyone to get hurt so I-I ran and then I-I saw you were badly hurt and I wanted to help you but then D-Deidara...D-Deidara started eating clay and then there was a bright light...a-and I didn't want you to die so I-I grabbed you and r-ran and then I took you here a-a-and your shirt was torn a-a-and it was cold...s-so I healed you and laid next to you to k-k-keep you warm s-so you wouldn't...so...you wouldn't die from hypothermia...P-p-please don't be made at me Sasuke-kun."
Between her rambling and the sad, frightened face she had, and the shaking of her hands as she looked away trying to explain the situation to him, he couldn't help but feel a little bit warm on the inside. She had saved him three times in the span of a few hours and actually held him throughout the night. Just as those feelings came back up again, he had to shut them out because he knew he couldn't be bothered to feel any emotions that were not of hatred and anger.
"I never asked you. You had no right to interfere with my business Sakura." He scowled.
"B-but...you were going to die…" She looked into his onyx eyes as she tries to understand why he was so upset.
"That is none of your concern." He continued looking into her emerald eyes with his emotionless stare.
'None of my concern? How can he still think that after EVERYTHING?' Her body started to fill with annoyance and anger.
"How can you say that Sasuke-kun? Did you expect me to just leave you there? To die?" She replied back to him in a colder tone.
"How I live is not your business and whether or not I die is still none of your business. You have no right to barge in on my fight." He scowled.
"None of my business? We are friends, Sasuke. Even though you left and 'cut your bonds' or whatever, it does not make us, or me, care about you any less than we, or I, do. I don't want to see you die Sasuke. I had to save you." Sakura had confidence in her stern words.
"We are NOT friends Sakura. I am not your friend and you are not my friend. My sins have nothing to do with you. So go home and go play house with your friends back in Konoha." He snarled. Guilt was rising in his body but he had to say anything he needed to in order to get her away from him.
Tears started to build up in her eyes but she had mastered the art of holding back tears due to years of crying over the boy in front of her. She knew that he couldn't and didn't mean what he had said. She knew that he had said all of it so that she wouldn't get in his way of his dark path. She knew him too well.
"I will go back home to Konoha. But you will go back with me Sasuke Uchiha." She stood up as she stared dead into his deep onyx eyes. She had to complete this mission whether it was to take him home willingly or forcefully. She still wasn't fully recovered from her chakra overuse and she didn't have any sleep that night while she was watching him, but she was not going to let him slip out of her fingers this time.
"Hn." Sasuke managed a small smirk. He reached for his kusanagi only to realize that he had lost it in his fight with Deidara. He stood up and readied his body for the cherry blossom's attacks.
With no weapons on Sasuke and extremely low chakra on his part, and with Sakura low on chakra as well, the two knew that this fight was going to be a very interesting one.
"You're such an annoyance." He spoke in a low, cool tone and a tiny little smirk not leaving his face.
'Annoyance" A snarky smile creeped up her face as her chakra-charged fist made contact with the floor.
The battle has begun.
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Author's Note: Please leave some reviews. I really really need feedback to see where I can improve and which way I should go with my story. Thanks :)! New chapter coming up soon in a few hours or so...I'm writing it as we speak! Smut in a chapter or so!
