When Sakura finally managed to break the oppressive shroud of unconsciousness once again, she became immediately aware that something was very wrong. It only took a moment for her to realize, though, that the problem had to do with a certain someone, or a lack-there-of.

"Lee?" she whimpered pathetically, peeling apart her eyelids to scan the dark room frantically. Lee was nowhere to be seen, and Sakura began to panic, her heart speeding dangerously. The once numbing pain in her back was much fainter now, more of a nuisance then real pain, so she pulled herself from her bed. Limping slightly, Sakura made her way over to her window and drew back the curtain. Immediately, she understood why her seemingly constant visitor wasn't with her.

Acrid smoke filled her lungs as she leaned out the window. Coughing violently, she winced at the pull of her weary muscles. A whole city block was ablaze, the orange flames swallowing much of her beloved village. There were various dark shapes that flitted across the village, colliding occasionally. Sakura sucked in a breath as she watched the battle below.

Rogue ninjas were everywhere, setting fire to buildings and fighting with Konoha shinobi. A shrill beeping flooded her room, and she jerked her head towards her door, where black smoke was curling around her door like a lover's embrace. Sakura quickly leaned forward, stretching out all her muscles, before throwing on her slightly tattered, bloodstained clothes and weapon belt and sprinting out the door. That's when the sprinklers went off.

The hallway was chaos, with patients who could walk running in a confused mass, and those who couldn't being pushed by nurses on gurneys. The harsh spray of the sprinklers made it hard to see where you were going. Judging by the way many people were rushing away from the stairs, the fire was on the floor below. Thinking quickly, Sakura cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled.

"Get to the roof! I'll get you down from there!" Some people immediately froze, but soon were caught up in a wave of bodies who were doing as Sakura had said. Fighting her way against the crowd, she struggled to reach the stair well. Once there, she began sprinting down the stairs and right into the fire.

Covering her mouth and nose with her hand, Sakura burst through the door at the next floor and quickly surveyed her surroundings. Angry flames licked their way up the curtains, and were busy consuming files at the nurse's station.

She ran, dodging the flames when they reached for her, and opened the first patient room.

Empty.

She continued this procedure through the whole hallway, being sure to check the bathrooms as well. Finding no one on that floor, Sakura ran down the stairs to the ground floor. The heat here was intense, blistering her skin painfully. No one was in the main area and all the rooms were empty except for one. A young girl, about six years of age was huddled with a young, female nurse in the corner. Flames surrounded them, and the window was just out of the circle of flame. The sprinklers were doing nothing to diffuse this inferno, and Sakura knew she had to act quickly.

Cursing, Sakura leapt up to grab the ceiling fan, hissing when the wood burned her fingers. She spun the fan and propelled herself into the circle with the two girls.

"I'm going to vault you over the flames," she told the nurse comfortingly. The nurse simply nodded, seemingly too stunned to speak. The young girl instantly clung to Sakura's legs when removed from the nurse. Sakura grabbed the young woman by the waist, told her to curl her legs up, and pushed her up and over the wall of fire.

The nurse landed in a heap, but quickly pulled herself up to catch the young girl. Sakura had to pry the girl's fingers from her skirt before tossing her gently to the nurse. Using the fan once again as a tool, Sakura leapt over the flames and led the two girls out into the hallway, just as the ceiling gave in behind them. She looked back to be sure the girls were okay before leading them up the stairs. She left them at floor four to continue her search.

"Go to the roof," she urged them. The fourth floor hadn't been touched by flames yet, and Sakura did a quick sweep of it and found no one. It was the same with the rest of the floors, and she finally made it to the roof. The roof was packed, and Sakura worried for a moment that she wouldn't be able to get everyone off.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated of stringing a thin thread of chakra, and let it dangle to the ground. She tied it around her waist, and started letting people climb down the rope, holding herself in place by focusing chakra in her feet.

After nearly ten minutes everyone was off the roof but a young, brunette woman of about twenty. Just as Sakura was about to lower her down, the ground beneath her buckled. A loud crashing sound followed as the roof fell from beneath them, and they were thrown from the building.

The woman screamed loud and long and they plummeted to the earth below. Stretching, Sakura grabbed her by the back of her shirt and stuck her left foot to the building behind the with the little chakra she had left. She could hear people shrieking from below as she held onto the building precariously. Closing her eyes tightly, Sakura concentrated on controlling her chakra as she walked slowly down the building, the young woman writing frantically in her grasp.

Exhausted, Sakura knew she couldn't carry them both all the way to the ground. Stringing together another rope of chakra, she tied it around the woman's waist and lowered her to the ground carefully. The woman was two stories up from the ground when Sakura's vision began to fade. Quickening her pace, she practically dropped the young woman into waiting arms before her chakra supply gave out, and she plummeted towards the earth.