Fourth chappie? Fifth? Argh, too lazy to look.

Anywayz. Here's the new chapter- fifth/fourth, I don't know. :-/

Disclaimer: ...BLARGH.

--Sanded Silk--

Sakura leapt nimbly from one rock to another, landing painfully on the other side. Rubbing her hip, she limped to the house. Cautiously, she peeked around the wall to see if the coast was clear. She saw a large group of men, wearing the same uniform, eating and laughing raucously. A dog, large and brown, lay sleeping at the edge of the table. It was bone-thin, and breathed unevenly.

Soldiers from Suna, guarding the frontier!

Just as she was about to slip away, the dog cracked an eye open. The other eye flew open as well, and it jumped to its feet, barking loudly. Sakura winced openly as all eyes of the soldiers turned to her.

The dog lept at her, straining the chain that kept it attached to the table. The chain pulled the table over, and the food flew off the table. Sakura barely caught a flying loaf of bread and a corked jug of- water?- and turned tail, running for her life for the river.

Gunshots rang out; in front of her. Huh?

She looked up, eyes and mouth open wide. Naruto/Sasuke had awoken, and was shooting at her. Sakura felt a large wave of exasperation as she turned and ran in another direction. If he had been armed, why did he not shoot her earlier? Not that he had the chance...

Ignoring her logic, she pressed on up the hill. A gunshot rang out extremely close to her, and the jug of water in her hand exploded. She let go immediately, squeaking. As she continued upwards, she began to wolf down the bread under her arm, picking small pieces off of the large hunk.

When she reached another small house, she closed her eyes and burst through the door. Thankfully, it was empty. It was scantily furnished, and another door was visible at the opposite side of the single-roomed house.

Sakura looked back, and listened intently. The voices shouting and the sound of a single dog barking were getting closer rapidly. She didn't have much time left.

Wow, I never thought this would come in handy in such a situation... Sighing, Sakura took out the tiny can of pepper spray from her back pocket and sprayed the floor and walls. Covering her mouth and nose, she sprayed the air as well, until every last speck of pepper had been used up.

Satisfied, she ran out the other door, wolfing down the rest of the bread. As she ran, she heard the sounds of a dog barking turning to the sound of a dog whining, and the sound of men shouting turning to the sound of men sneezing crazily. Sakura bit back a fit of giggling, and pressed on.

After a few hours of walking, Sakura flopped down on a patch of green, lush grass that lined the small road she had been following. Turning back was not a choice now, because she had forgotten the way, and turning back would only mean facing those soldiers and Naruto/Sasuke again, which she really didn't want to do.

Sighing, Sakura leaned back until she was lying on the grass, her head cushioned by her arms. She stared at the cloudless sky, tired and soar. She pressed a hand to the sceptre belted against her hip, and winced. Hopefully, she would make it to the palace by the end of the day, and get rid of the stupid hunk of gold pressed against her hip, which had caused her so much pain and frustration and patience, plus a night's good rest. And a few meals. And both of her hips. And her ankle. And...

Sakura continued her mental rant, until she saw an airplane flying extremely low overhead. Sakura jumped up. If she could find an airport nearby, maybe she could get some food and a decent chair to sit in for a minute or two. Or maybe...

Sakura followed the plane, and watched where it landed, which appeared to be in the middle of the mountainous ground she was on. An airport in the middle of a mountain?

Sakura sighed. There went her hopes for a good meal and a chair.

She walked to the area where the airplane appeared to have landed, and found herself at the edge of a man-made plane. How was something like this going to help her in her situation?

Sakura sighed, dejected, and turned to leave. Then, a light bulb went off above her head. Sakura smirked evilly, turned around, and flopped down into the grass. She began to move her arms and legs together, pressing all ten fingers and all ten toes into the ground, as she scooted along in the tall grass, her stomach millimeters from the ground.

Moving quickly, she watched the pilot of the newly-landed airplane leave his airplane. Careful not to be spotted, she crawled to the still-opened door and lunged in, closing the door securely behind her as quietly as possible.

Aware that she was short on time, Sakura swiftly walked around the airplane, looking for the pilot's room, which wasn't hard to find. She walked into the room, cautiously looked around to make sure it was empty, closed the door behind her, and sat down. She stared at the controls for a moment, trying to figure out which button/switch controlled what.

Luckily, the pilot had left the airplane with the key still in the trigger. Maybe he planned on flying somewhere else after a quick stop at this airport.

Sakura turned the key, and the engine roared to life. She could hear men outside shouting, and quickly began to skim the buttons and switches again. She found one that said "Accelerate", and pulled the lever down halfway. The airplane jerked, and began to roll down the runway.

Breathing unevenly, Sakura pulled the lever all the way down, and the airplane vroomed into full speed. Clenching her teeth, Sakura pressed the buttons surrounding the words "Take Off", not bothering to consider the possibility that other things might have had to been done before direct take off. She grasped both sides of the steering wheel, and gasped as she felt the plane lift off above the ground.

Sakura quickly pushed the button that was labeled "Sheathe Wheels", and felt the rumble of the wheels as they groaned and retreated into the belly of the airplane. Leaning back, Sakura felt a short period of relief wash over her, plus a quick burst of pride and triumph. What a story this would make to tell her grandchildren; the life-risking adventures of Haruno Sakura in her mission to help the enemy king.

Finally, Sakura began to feel worried. Was she going in the right direction? Did the airplane have enough fuel to power her trip to Konoha, and her foreseen period of time taken to look for a good place to land the stupid thing?

Sakura blinked twice, and slowly peeked over the edge of the windshield at the ground. The entire foresty mountain was completely unrecognizable from the heights of the airplane. Plus, it made her dizzy.

Suddenly, she realized she was getting closer to the ground. She leaned back with a small cry, and looked around to see if anything she was doing had caused the sudden dip. She realized that when she leaned over the wheel, she had subconsciously tipped the top half of the wheel away from her, causing the plane to lower.

Sakura rapidly tipped the top half of the wheel towards her stomach, and felt her ears pop painfully as she quickly went higher into the air.

After rubbing her ears momentarily with one hand, she tipped the wheel back into the regular, straight position, and sighed. Her heart was pounding, she realized, and her skin felt cold and sweaty. Her stomach had shot up her throat, and she swallowed rapidly to rid the feeling. She shifted her grip slightly on the airplane, and sighed loudly. This was going to be one long ride.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting crash sounded from her left. Sakura jumped, and, carefully avoiding the steering wheel, leaned over to peek out of the windshield at her left. Something had exploded there, but what?

A whistling sound formed at her right, followed by another loud crash. Sakura looked down, frowning, and saw the source of the crashes. She was probably flying in the wrong direction, because a bomb squad headquarter was underneath her, and she did not remember seeing any of those on her way inland. Cannons were at the ready, and following her every movement. Every once in a while, a bright flash appeared at the nose of the cannon, and a crash sounded frighteningly close to her.

They're shooting at me!

The realization nearly have Sakura a heart attack. Her own country, trying to shoot her down... this was insane. But then again, it wasn't really their fault.

Sakura sighed. The airport she had stolen the plane from must have tracked the direction she had flown off in, and contactd the bomb squad she was being attacked by at the moment. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Sakura gritted her teeth and began to swerve to the right and to the left in no particular pattern. She slowed and accelerated without any clue of what she was doing. The only thing on her mind was to pass this squad alive.

That thought was crushed, however, when an extremely loud crash resounded behind her. The floor and the seat she had been sitting on vibrated crazily. The air filled with smoke, and a sudden wave of heat washed over her from behind. With a sickening feeling in her stomach, Sakura realized that she had been hit.

Grappling with fear, Sakura struggled to stay calm. Sakura forced herself to think calmly, and decided to stay in the plane to the end. If she tried to escape with a parachute- which was the only way to escape- she would definitely be spotted, and since she would be falling slowly, she would be too much of an easy target to shoot down, which was probably what the bomb squad was planning to do. Sakura looked down at the grassy plane she was probably going to crash into. The grass looked tall enough for her to hide in. If she got out, she would be able to hide for awhile and wait for things to calm down. Hopefully.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura unclasped the buckles of the seatbelt that held her to the seat and grasped harder onto the handles of the steering wheel, watching the ground grow closer and closer. This was it.

With the loudest crash she had ever heard in her life, Sakura was thrown from her seat. The large metal pieces that formed the plane fell apart, sliding from the grip of the iron nails that held them together and falling apart. The glass of the windshield shattered and fell away. Shielding her head with her hands, Sakura made a run for the opening that the shattered winshield provided.

As she ran, a piece of metal fell from above and dug painfully into her rib. Blood spurted from the fresh wound, and poured in small tricklets down her hip and thigh to her calf. Sakura cried out, and felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she threw the metal away from her. Pressing a hand to the wound, Sakura shielded her face with her other arm and continued her run, clambering over the control tables and ignoring the levers and buttons as they dug painfully into her ankles and legs.

Once she was outside, she ducked behind the plane and ripped multiple strips of cloth from her pant legs. She tied the ends of the strips of cloth together to form an extra-long strip of cloth, and wound the strip around her abdomen to staunch the bleeding.

As soon as she was satisfied that the strip was tight enough around her abdomen to staunch the bleeding and to not leave a trail of blood behind her, Sakura lowered herself slowly to the grass and lay there for a bit, panting and biting her lip to keep from whimpering.

When she felt ready to move, she began to crawl slowly away from the wreckage and into the nearby forest. Slowly, she proceeded, inch by inch, pain shooting through her body with every movement. Often, Sakura stopped to lay down and to force herself to be calm. Finally, at the edge of the forest, Sakura got up and ran into the woody shades. She ducked down into the brush, cupping her hand over her wound to keep it protected from the dirt, and looked behind her. The plane was consumed in flames, and men were around it with hoses, trying to put out the fire.

Turning back around, Sakura stared into the forest and trudged in, breathing hard. This really was going to be one long day. And a story worth telling her grandchildren, if she lived through.

Sakura put a hand to her hip to make sure that the sceptre was still in place, and limped into the welcoming darkness.

A/N: -whew- My sister's whining to get on the computer, so I had to wrap this one up quickly. Sorry. :-/

Thanks, and please REVIEWWW!!

--Sanded Silk--