Author's Notes: Thank you everyone for the wonderful feedback from the last chapter. I was honestly worried that you all wouldn't like my little plot-tangent, but you did, and that makes me very happy.

Quote for Chapter 7: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."—Winston Churchill.

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Title: Catch 22

Rating: T (or PG-13)

Summary: Sakura isn't weak because she lacks strength. She is weak because they protect her. Sakura-centric

Pairings: None (yet)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Spoiler Alert: This chapter is entirely fanfiction. You're safe…for now.

Chapter 7: The Courage to Continue

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Stealing a boat hadn't been easy.

Sakura managed to reach the coast after two days of traveling. Truthfully, it was a couple hours run, but neither of them could travel that fast, especially with Shikamaru being a dead weight.

The kunoichi waited for all of the people on the docks to clear before choosing a small rowboat that could be easily operated by one person. She hauled Shikamaru into the wooden vessel and pushed off from the dock. Everything seemed to be going her way until three kunai settled themselves in her back. Sakura felt the instant burn of poison and cursed to herself, nearly crying. Everything was going wrong.

Sakura didn't stop paddling until they were miles out of sight of the continent, and floating in the ocean completely alone.

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Two days later, their small boat hit shore. Sakura believed that they were back in Fire Country if nothing else due to the lush vegetation she could see beyond the sand. She must have rowed past Water Country completely. That in itself was a tragedy. While Konoha and Mist weren't exactly the best of allies, they weren't enemies either. Sakura was counting on getting help in Mist's hospital. At this point, however, it was going to be a shorter trip to walk the rest of the way to Konoha than backtrack to Mist.

Sakura looked at the sun to find west. Once she started traveling in that direction, she would hit a familiar patch of land, and she would know where she was. Sakura had been in so many places around Konoha on her way to missions and for training trips with Tsunade that she was pretty familiar with the land.

She began to walk slowly, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. She could feel the sting in her back from where the poison was spreading. She wasn't worried so much for herself, though. Shikamaru had lived with this poison in his system for two weeks. Any day might be fatal. The only silver lining she could see was that it was a slow acting poison, and apparently exhausting her energy trying to heal him hadn't been for nothing. She knew he was in pain though, his pinched face told her that.

The coast slowly gave way into forest as the day progressed. Sakura felt her legs protesting from Shikamaru's weight, and the chakra she had to use to fully support him was draining her. He'd been entirely unconscious since they'd landed on shore. That was fine with her, though. It meant he wasn't feeling as much pain. She could only hope he was dreaming good things. Things about home.

Konoha was all she could think about. She thought about each of her friends, all of the teachers, Tsunade, Shizune…She tried not to think about Danzou. When she thought about returning home to Danzou, her heart constricted painfully. Sakura just hoped that Tsunade had woken up in the two months that she'd been gone.

She even thought about Akihiko. His ring was in her weapon's pouch, and it bore a heaviness in her mind. The first few days underground, the guilt had nearly eaten her alive. The very first time she'd surfaced for food, she dragged his cold body to the nearest grove of trees and buried him beneath the prettiest one. It was stupid, she knew, to risk being caught like that, especially when she had Shikamaru depending on her. She could save the hazel-eyed man from vultures feeding on his corpse, but that was the only thing she could do for him. Sakura didn't know how many times she'd silently cried over his death when she knew her teammate was unconscious. It hurt. It hurt more than words could express.

Nightfall came, but the kunoichi walked until she was sure it was past midnight. There was a small clearing, and Sakura set Shikamaru down so that a sturdy oak tree supported his back. Her blood dripped on his clothes and she cursed. She'd expended so much energy healing him that her body hadn't healed her own wounds. She looked down at herself and realized her situation was getting worse as well. Blood stained the side of her stomach and her shoulder, her two deepest wounds that kept reopening. She hadn't done much to them except made them clot over, considering she was trying to conserve energy for Shikamaru. Even now she had to conserve that strength. His poison was far worse than a little blood loss.

Sakura took the last soldier pill out of her pouch and shook Shikamaru awake. Soldier pills would hopefully give his body more energy to metabolize the poison quicker.

"Hm?" He murmured, his eyes barely opening, the rest of his body staying limp.

"I need you to eat this. It will help."

He took one look at the pill before his eyes shifted back to her. "You need it." He said softly.

"Please eat it." Sakura looked at him pleadingly. "I can't—I won't—let you die here. I won't be able to take it if we don't walk into the village together. So please." Her hopes soared when she saw his mouth open a fraction, and she had to pry it a little ways apart so she could fit the pill between his teeth. He chewed slowly and swallowed, falling back asleep. Even though eating soldier pills was like taking a shot of adrenaline, his body was too exhausted to deal with it.

As Sakura's hand pulled away from her friend's mouth, she noticed her hand shaking. The poison she'd taken was spreading as well. She had to get them home, even if she didn't make it, she'd be damned if Shikamaru didn't get to the hospital in time.

Sakura sat down and leaned against the same oak tree, her bloody shoulder touching his, and napped for a few hours to regain energy. It must have been the anxiety that made her only stay asleep for a little bit, otherwise she would have slept like the dead for days.

Green eyes groggily opened at dawn the next morning. The poison in her back (and down her left arm, now) stung like none other. Sakura was forced to ignore it as she stood up and shook out her sore muscles. The world spun for a bit, and the kunoichi leaned on the tree for support until the vertigo faded. There was a small pool of blood where she'd slept last night, forcing her to realize her own condition.

Sakura bit her lip hard and swung one of Shikamaru's arms over her shoulders. It took her several tries before she could get him off the ground. When she finally did, it was blood, not sweat, that dripped down her face. A wound on her forehead had opened up this time.

It took several more hours—painful, worrying, exhausting hours—of walking through dense forest, not following a trail at all, before Sakura finally found a familiar patch of land. A sob erupted from deep in her chest. And then another. She knew where she was now! And it was so close to the main road that led to Konoha. All she had to do was get on that road and someone would find her for sure!

"We're almost there, Shikamaru." Sakura said, stumbling through the forest as fast as she could. "Just hold on."

Sakura saw the dirt road ahead and stumbled onto it, breaking through a few bushes to do so. Sakura took a moment just to breathe for a moment and catch her breath. She could feel Shikamaru's breath slowing down, and her back and now both arms felt like they were being hammered with kunai.

"Sakura?"

Said woman turned, shocked, to meet the equally shocked and horrified faces of none other than Sabaku no Temari and Kiba, who was probably acting as Temari's guide in Shikamaru's absence. She noted how strange Kiba looked without his canine companion, but ignored that when his familiar scent wafted towards her on a breeze. He smelled like Konoha. Like home. Sakura felt relief wash through her like fresh air. They were found! They were found! It was all going to be okay!

Her body must have sensed that there was no longer any danger, because that's the same moment she felt it shut down on her. The world tilted, and the last thing Sakura remembered was seeing the ground get closer and hearing footsteps rushing over to her.

She was unconscious before she hit the dirt.

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Sakura's eyes briefly opened to darkness. The mere smell was enough to identify this place by, that sterile, too clean smell. She was in the hospital. When had she…? She'd been carrying Shikamaru here, but her memory got fuzzy after a certain point. Her sore body ached from the trip, and she felt an exhaustion bone deep.

She felt relief coarse through her when she realized she'd made it back, or at least somewhere where they could get help. Hopefully this was Konoha. Sakura's vision started to tunnel and sleep was claiming her again.

Hopefully…

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When Sakura woke up the second time, it was daylight, and she found that she was now wearing a respirator. She should have gained back some chakra by now, but she didn't feel her levels getting any higher. That was worrisome.

The next thing she noticed was that her room was not empty. Sai leaned against the doorframe, Kakashi was reading on the windowsill, a couple doctors she didn't recognize, and Naruto…

Had he been let out of jail? Probably not, considering that there were four Root members in the room, and they were keeping a close eye on the blond.

The third thing she noticed was that she couldn't feel chakra from anyone in the room.

"…why can't you heal her?" Naruto was yelling at the doctors.

"The matter is very complex, Uzumaki." The doctor said his name like a curse, which Sakura mentally growled at. When she was out of this bed, she was going to have a long talk about respecting the people who saved your ass over and over and over again. "It is going to take time."

"Like hell! Sakura-chan would have had this figured out hours ago!"

"Unfortunately, your Sakura-chan is not able to even move, let alone operate on herself."

"Who appointed such an idiotic doctor like you anyway? Sakura-chan should have the best!"

The man bristled. "I am the best doctor on the continent on this matter, appointed by none other than Danzou-sama himself!"

This time, Naruto's hackles rose. "You liar! The best doctors on the continent are both in comas!" His voice broke on the word coma. Sakura saw her teammate shift his weight to the balls of his feet in what she'd come to recognize as attack mode. The others must have seen it as well, because Kakashi rose, and the Root members put their hands on their weapons.

"Listen here, Uzumaki…" The doctor began to yell.

"Naruto…" Kakashi said, moving forward trying to placate the teen.

Sai muttered something derogative.

Sakura whispered, "Na…ruto…" which shouldn't have been heard over the shouting match in the room, but with the Kyuubi's hearing, Naruto froze and whipped his head around. His azure gaze was wide as he stared into her dull green. Suddenly, it was like the rest of the room disappeared, and she could only feel her best friend's eyes looking directly into hers. She saw his muscles visibly relax, and, while still looking a little shocked, he smiled a bit.

"Sakura-chan…" He said in a calm tone.

And the room immediately became chaotic. The doctor pushed Naruto out of the way, shining a penlight into her eyes, telling the Root members to "get that demon out of the room." Naruto began to yell, reaching out for her as he was pulled back by his captors. Sakura weakly lifted a hand, and their fingers brushed for a mere second before he was carried off. There was a heart wrenching "SAKURA-CHAN!" and Sakura's world faded around her once more.

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Sakura spent the next days drifting between wakefulness and sleep. She didn't know how many days had passed, but one thing was very clear to her.

She wasn't getting better.

Was it the poison she'd taken into her system? It couldn't be, because poison was a simple matter for a lot of doctors. If it was poison she would have been out of the hospital in less than a day. No…she couldn't figure it out.

She was going over the symptoms in her head. She couldn't feel chakra, could barely move, couldn't…

She fell asleep again.

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The nightmares started, and it was a continuous cycle of horror. She dreamed of Danzou's Sharingan eye. She dreamed that they killed Naruto. She dreamed she had really been raped. She dreamed that she didn't save Shikamaru.

When she woke up again, it was in a cold sweat, sheets tangled around her legs, and there was a nurse at the door telling her friends that she was no longer allowed to have visitors. Ever.

Then she fell back into dreamland, and the nightmares repeated all over again.

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She wasn't sure if she was awake or dreaming, but it was dark, and she was still lying in her hospital bed. She heard quiet murmuring, and the word "unauthorized." Sakura was about to whisper something in the darkness when a substance entered her body via IV, and she had been sure at the time they had just given her an acid to liquefy her insides.

Sakura screamed, but then her voice closed off and she blacked out.

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"Help me!" Sakura screamed from her place on the hospital bed.

"No one can hear you, slut." Danzou said, grabbing her hair and lifting her off the bed by it. "Scream all you want."

"Somebody help!"

He was tearing her clothes off with a kunai, slicing through the fabric so he didn't have to take the time to take it off of her. Sakura could feel the hot tears flowing down her face as she stared into the single Sharingan in front of her. He was really going to do it. Sakura tried to hide her nakedness from him, but he pinned her down to the bed with a single hand. Sakura's limbs now felt too heavy to move.

"Scream my name, bitch." He said before—

"NOOOOO!"

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By the time Sakura woke the next time, she knew it was the first time in a long time. She didn't know how long she slept, but it felt like an eternity, with nightmares haunting her every dreaming step. She should be getting better by now. Why wasn't she getting better?

A hand brushed away hair from her forehead, and it was wet from how much she'd been sweating. The blankets were at the foot of the bed.

"Sakura…" Kakashi breathed out. It was nighttime, and he looked rather tense. Sakura vaguely remembered in the back of her mind that she wasn't supposed to have visitors, so he must have snuck in here. He was looking into her barely opened eyes, and somehow she knew that he knew she was awake. "You've been asleep for almost two weeks."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. Why hadn't they figured it out yet? Surely it wasn't that difficult!

"Shikamaru hasn't made it out yet either."

Mentally, Sakura began to cry, looking for the strength of her inner. She barely coughed once, and then her body betrayed her and she was coughing up the foulest blood she'd ever tasted. It was like it had been tainted…

Kakashi hit the Call Nurse button and disappeared out of the window. Nurses raced in, and that doctor she'd only seen on her first day here. There was another sensation that her blood was boiling inside of her skin, and then…

Nothing.

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There were red eyes in her room.

At first, Sakura froze in fear, thinking about Danzou and the mission and her near rape, but then she realized that there were two of them. There was only one person left in the world with two Sharingan eyes.

Sasuke-kun…what are you doing here?

But her thought process didn't get any further than that.

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"…doing here?"

"I could ask you the same."

Sakura opened her eyes. It was dark again, and there were two silhouettes in her room. She still, after all this time, couldn't sense their chakra.

"I heard…and I just wanted to see for myself." That voice…Sasuke was here? "So this is what has become of Team 7…"

"It's approaching the three week mark since she's been like this." And…Kakashi? He sounded haggard. "Why are you even in the village?"

"The time is coming to take my revenge. I came to talk to the dobe."

A small part of Sakura lamented that he wasn't here to see her, but then her other half reminded her that he was here, standing in her hospital room.

"I wouldn't worry too much, he's going to help you."

Sakura heard the vague amusement in Sasuke's voice, and imagined him lifting a brow when he asked, "Oh? And how are you so sure?"

"Because Danzou did this to Sakura."

There was a tense silence and then, "You're sure?"

"No, but there's been…past evidence." Kakashi sighed. "They've kept things so under wraps, the only person that can tell us is Sakura."

She felt both of their eyes swivel to her. I'm awake, damn it!

"What's…?"

"No one knows," Kakashi confessed. "But I have a feeling Naruto was right, Sakura could have figured this out within five minutes."

"…they're keeping her here?"

"Undoubtedly. If I'm right and Sakura told the village what Danzou has done to her, they'd likely stage a coup. I think they're trying to shut her up, not to mention Shikamaru. He's in the same condition."

"I'll be back tomorrow. There's someone…"

Sakura heard no more.

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"…Danzou…"

She heard the name in her sleep, and a rush of fear sent her catapulting awake. Well not really. It was more like a faster opening of her eyes than usual, especially since the said man had just been about to kill her in one of her dreams.

"…ke-kun, her chakra just spiked." It was a feminine voice that she didn't know.

"Sakura?" That was Kakashi's voice. He walked over to her and looked into her barely open eyes. "She's awake, but who knows for how long?"

"Karin," That was Sasuke's voice. "Can you tell what triggered it?"

"I'm not sure, but it may have been that man's name. Danzou…wait! It spiked again!"

It was unnerving how someone she didn't know could sense her so well, and she couldn't sense anything at all.

She heard more footsteps, and Sasuke came into her line of vision, lit only by the moonlight. "What did he do, Sakura?"

Kakashi sighed. "It's no use, she can't talk."

Sakura's vision was tunneling. "Is she falling asleep again?"

"She's fighting it."

With the most strength she could manage, Sakura only managed to touch a finger to Kakashi's glove, but it was enough to draw his attention her way again. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

There was a pause, and Kakashi nodded. He lifted his hitai-ate up to reveal his own Sharingan eye.

"What are you doing?" The woman asked.

The Sharingan began to spin in a hypnotic way. "I'm taking away her nightmares."

That night, Sakura didn't dream.

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The dreamlessness gave Sakura time to wander around in her own head and explore her thoughts. Tsunade was going to kill her for getting like this, although it was clear that the Godaime hadn't woken up either, and her coma had been far longer than Sakura's.

It was dawn when Sakura awoke, and she raced inside her head to figure out what was the matter with her body. Obviously she was going to have to do this on her own, because no one else was helping her get better.

If someone was to keep her in a near constant sleep, then the only way to do that was a strong sedative. And it would need to be given to her constantly. Throughout the day, twenty-four/seven. The only way to do that without getting the nurses suspicious was through the IV…

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

She painfully slowly reached across her body and ripped the IV out of her arm, breathing hard after the fact. She stuck the needle in the mattress beside her arm to make it look like it was still going into her skin. She got back into her regular sleeping position and blacked out almost instantly.

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Sakura woke again. It was twilight, and she guessed it was the same day, but there was no way to be sure. She felt…better. There was a definite improvement in her chakra levels. And she felt better mentally, too, since she wasn't bombarded with so many nightmares.

Let's see, if things had been the same as when she left them, about now should be the changing to the night shift, which meant the halls were relatively empty. She would need to get out of here…and fast.

Painfully, she sat up and eased her legs to the floor. She stood up shakily and stumbled, becoming agitated that her muscles had weakened from disuse. She stumbled over to the door and opened it a crack to peek out. That was…odd. They had put her on the one hallway that didn't have a security camera.

The cameras weren't a problem, Sakura knew them so well that she could avoid them without much effort. It was the night staff she was worried about. They were probably roaming the halls, and she didn't have much time before they found out that her bed was empty.

She retreated to the emergency staircase, which was rarely used. It had no cameras, and could safely get her to the bottom floor. What she really was going to hate was the physical strain. Well, she thought optimistically. At least I'm not going up them.

And she descended, she kept her chakra as hidden as possible, which was a simple feat considering that she didn't have much. She thought this was unfair, considering she'd been sleeping for so long.

The nurse at the front desk was chatting away with a male nurse, and Sakura retreated into the women's bathroom. If she opened a door that led outside, she'd be right in front of a camera, not to mention she would trigger the attention of the night staff. All entrances to the hospital had an alarm on them at night so that the sparse staff could attend to patients who came in at night, and make sure no one was leaving unauthorized.

The windows had no such mechanisms.

It was probably why Kakashi, Sasuke, and whatsherface had been able to sneak in and out as often as they had. Since Sakura would probably die if she jumped from her third-story window in her present condition, she'd retreated to use one of the ones on the first floor. There was one in the women's bathroom that she might be able to reach if she struggled a little.

The medic paused to catch her breath and control her adrenaline rush once she was safely locked in the public restroom. The sky was darker now, stained a red/black, like dried blood. Sakura stood on the toilet and eased open the window. She was almost embarrassed to find that hoisting herself out took a lot more effort than it normally would.

Oh she was going to kill Danzou.

She dropped into a grassy area outside the building, feeling shocks of pain traveling up her leg from the fall. She stumbled and fell, only barely managing to keep herself from crying out. With no small use of the wall, she pulled herself into a standing position. Now…where to go? She couldn't go to her apartment, they'd probably look there first, and she couldn't involve anyone around her for fear of them getting blamed for conspiracy or kidnapping. Kakashi and Sai's places were out then. She could always go to Naruto's, since he was most likely still in jail, but ruled that out as well. His apartment was almost clear across town.

Okay, so where would Naruto go if he was in this situation? Well, he would go straight to Ichiraku, and wouldn't care if he could be found or not.

And that gave her an idea.

Two civilians wouldn't be suspected of taking a ninja. And Ichiraku was in walking distance from here. She tried to run, and ended up looking very ungraceful. Sakura stuck to the shadows, and entered the alley behind the restaurant feeling as though she was going to collapse at any moment. She knocked on the back door.

Ayame answered confusedly, although her eyes widened in pure shock when she saw the young teenager at the back door. The brunette opened her mouth, presumably to call for help or say the other girl's name, but Sakura slapped a hand over her mouth before she could. Black spots appeared in front of her vision, and if Ayame denied her this, she was done for.

"Hide me." Sakura pleaded. "They can't…find…" She stumbled and grabbed onto the doorframe. The waitress caught her before she could fall completely to the floor.

"Father!" Ayame called. "I need your help with some…ah…beef!"

Teuchi entered the back, also confused, when he saw Sakura slumped in his daughter's arms. Ayame shushed him quickly.

"We need to hide her!" Ayame whispered. Had it been any other girl from any other team, they might not have been so willing. As it was, this was Sakura, who they'd watch grow up since she was twelve. There was no way they would deny her something this big.

"Tell only…Kakashi." Sakura told them weakly when she felt her body being settled on a small cot. She didn't get their response though, because she was out like a light.

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Sakura woke up weakly to find Ayame kneeling beside her.

"I have some broth if you think you can drink it."

Sakura raised herself to her elbows and sipped at the spoonful of beef broth. It was so good that Sakura's eyes watered a little.

"The entire city is looking for you." She gave Sakura another spoonful before the younger girl fell back on the cot. Her escape had taken more out of her than she would have liked to admit, but she could feel her strength gradually returning. "Don't worry, you're safe here."

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The next evening, they gave Sakura a full bowl of ramen…with noodles this time. It was all Sakura could do not to tackle the old man to get to it. It would be the first real food she'd had in weeks. She'd only been up for about ten minutes, but she felt rested. She could probably stay up with them until they closed shop in a few hours. It wasn't ideal, but it was progress.

She'd polished off the broth, sitting on her cot, when there was a hurried knocking at the back door. Ayame came in, and the two women exchanged looks. The search for Sakura had gone off the deep end, and Danzou ordered a thorough search of the city. Root members were searching businesses and homes for the pink haired medic, and Sakura had no doubt that her apartment had already been ransacked.

Sakura fingered the butcher knife she kept next to her cot. She wasn't sure that she could hold her own against a Root member, but better to try than just be taken away. Surprisingly, Ayame let the person in without protest, and it was Kakashi who rushed into the room. He spotted her, and she saw the relief in his one eye. He kneeled in front of her, and Ayame left to give them time to talk.

"Yare, yare, Sakura." Kakashi said. He sounded so tired that Sakura's eyes watered a little. The bag under his eye betrayed that he'd been awake for a long, long time. Probably searching for her. "You're going to make an old man out of me."

"I wouldn't do that, Kakashi-sensei." She suddenly laughed through her tears. "Besides, you're already old."

And she hugged him, glad that she was found.

"Sakura…how…?"

Sakura pulled away from him. "It's in the IV. You've got to get it away from Shikamaru. It's what's keeping him in the hospital."

"A sedative?"

Sakura shook her head. "Something stronger, I think. I don't think it is entirely legal."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. He was pissed.

"When you get it away from Shikamaru, bring me a sample, I might be able to figure out what it is."

"Sakura…"

"Oh, and tell Naruto that I'm okay, I can't imagine how worried he is…"

"Sakura…"

"A change of clothes would be nice too…"

"Sakura…" And when she opened her mouth to speak again, Kakashi shushed her. "Sasuke wants to talk to you."

"I figured. It's all right, I'll talk."

"…what will you tell him?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "Everything."

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Right after nightfall, there was a curt knock at the back door. Sakura thought that Sasuke would have waited later to come, but he had always been a little unpredictable anyway. She felt for chakra first before opening the door. It seemed a little…strange to her, but she hardly remembered what his chakra was like anyway. She knew it wasn't a Root member though, and that eased her fears a little.

Sakura opened the door and saw Sasuke on the other side. He looked a tad annoyed, hand on hip, in a very relaxed, almost lazy posture. She knew better than to judge him by his appearances though. One false move and he could kill her before she could move a centimeter. Sakura moved to the side to let him in, noticing something wrong when he passed by her. Sakura couldn't describe it really, he walked like Sasuke, had all the facial expressions of Sasuke, even tilted his head in the same manner. But he didn't feel like Sasuke. It was a different presence, a less intense presence and more of a serene one.

"You're not Sasuke." Sakura said after she closed the door. It was fact, and onyx eyes turned to face her.

"Don't be stupid."

And there it was confirmed, because Sasuke called her annoying. Naruto was the only person he called stupid.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She may have gotten most of her chakra back, but she still didn't have the energy to put up with this crap. "Drop the henge."

And suddenly his voice changed into a lighter tone. A broad grin spread across the faux-Sasuke's mouth. "I can't believe he was right, you really didn't fall for that." There was a watery adjusting of features before a shark-toothed man stood before her. She recognized him instantly.

"We've fought before."

"That's right, Princess. But don't worry, I'm on your side this time."

"I suppose Sasuke couldn't be bothered to come?" She couldn't place the exact moment when she'd dropped the suffix, but it seemed like her mouth would no longer add the –kun to Sasuke's name.

"He's talking with that blond kid."

Sakura frowned. Of course he was. He probably thought Naruto would be a better ally than she, who knew the Hokage Tower like the back of her hand and could topple mountains with her pinky toe. Chauvinist.

"Anyway, he sent me to find out the details and whatnot. You know, about Danzou."

The mere name sent chills up her spine. She sat down on the cot that Ayame had gotten for her and leaned against the wall. Suigetsu followed suit, and she noticed he lacked Zabuza's sword.

The medic told him about her mission to map out the other continent, leaving out the facts of just why Danzou had sent her there. It really wouldn't do for Sasuke to know that Danzou had nearly raped her. That would make her seem weak in his eyes, even if he knew that she'd been subdued by the Sharingan. No, she wanted in on his plan.

She finished the story and Suigetsu nodded. He stood, saying, "I should get back, you know how impatient Sasuke is."

Sakura nodded back, and watched him leave. She could only hope that Sasuke didn't find anything suspicious. Then again, screw Sasuke. She'd join in the rebellion with or without his permission.

Later, she would reflect that she didn't know why she was so scared of her former teammate finding out the whole truth.

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It was midnight, and Sakura was doing one-handed pushups to regain some of the muscles in her arms. She'd slept most of the day to get her energy back, and now she had some to spare. Teuchi and Ayame had gone home about an hour ago, and Sakura had Ichiraku to herself.

She felt a presence enter the room—she'd never know how, since everything was locked and he hadn't made a sound—but Sakura relaxed and kept doing pushups.

"Sasuke." The pink haired teen greeted, not looking up at him. She saw his ninja sandals in the corner of her vision though.

"You lied." And there was that baritone that Sakura used to crave. In a way, she still craved it, but fought the urge to shudder almost too well.

"I have no reason to lie." And really, she hadn't lied, she'd just…left out a few details.

"You. Lied."

Sakura stopped her exercise and stood, shaking out her arms. She looked at the Sharingan wielder. "I did no such thing."

"Then explain to me why Danzou kept you inside the village for months, and then decides to send you on the most dangerous mission possible."

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know how his mind works." But in reality, she knew. It was to shut her up, to keep her from talking. She should have died on that continent, but obviously Danzou didn't know her that well.

He crossed the room in three strides, standing before her now. Sakura looked up to his face, but then snapped her head down to his chest when she'd caught a glimpse of red.

"Sakura, look at me."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

There was a slight pause, and Sakura watched the boy breathe through the gap in his shirt. "You're afraid of the Sharingan."

"I am not afraid of your damn eyes."

"Then look at me."

Still, Sakura did not look up.

"I know about Danzou's Sharingan." This fact surprised Sakura somewhat. "Madara, Kakashi, and I are the only other ones who have them. Since I know Madara hasn't made contact with you, and Kakashi could never scare you that badly, it only stands to reason that man did something. Now what did he do?"

Sakura's shoulders slumped slightly. "Does it really matter?" Sasuke stiffened a little before her, as if surprised that she was actually confessing to something. Not to much, but at least to something.

"What did he do?"

Sakura's eyes hardened, even though she was giving the full brunt of her determination to Sasuke's chest. "It doesn't matter. You're going to take your revenge no matter what I say."

"True."

"I still want to be in on the coup."

"No."

Sakura growled. "No?"

"You're still weak." Sakura didn't know if he meant weak in general or weak from her weeks lying in bed, but either way she took offense.

"That is a bullshit reason." Sakura said. "You think you're the only one that carries a grudge? You're the only one he's hurt? He nearly—" Sakura abruptly closed her mouth. She'd gotten into rant mode and had almost said too much. Sakura took a calming breath. "I will be in on this with or without your permission."

"You'll kill yourself."

"Don't underestimate me."

"The dobe won't allow it."

"He learns from the best." Sakura said dryly.

"In your state, you have no chance."

This time, Sakura hesitantly looked into Sasuke's eyes, still stained with the red of the Sharingan. She gulped when it brought back a lot of memories, but otherwise her face remained determined. "I do not fear those who are beneath me."

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Author's Notes: Hooray for the reappearance of Sasuke! I was so happy to be able to put him back in the story again, since he's just been so absent for most of it. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! As always, review and tell me what you think!