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"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

-J.K Rowling

Against the Sun: Chapter 7

Divided

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She relished in mornings with him. Every minute, every second she had with him was a gift, and she wasn't going to waste it. Moments were made sweeter when she could watch him sleeping peacefully; the angles of his face looked so much softer as he slept soundly, vulnerably, the comfort of having him lying safe in her grasp, the steady rise and fall of his chest reminding her that he was real and he was hers. Everyone always wished there was a certain moment in time that they could make last forever, and that was hers.

As she watched him now, she realized how foolish she had been last night. Everything had just come to a boiling point - the pressure from the attacks, from him not speaking to her while she tried to find some way to protect her heart. She loved him, and she worried about him so damn much. It seemed that every time her mind was telling her to give up on him, her heart forced its way in and made sure there was a reason to wait just a little longer. And it was so worth it.

She stretched her hand over his chest, snuggling back into his side and preparing to make another attempt at falling asleep. But Sasuke's tired voice made its way to her ears before she could even close her eyes.

"Sakura?" His grip around her tightened and she smiled.

"I'm here."

He let out a breath and turned to face her, a soft, drowsy expression on his face. He said nothing more, just stared at her, admiring her features, running his hand down her side, really just enjoying her presence. Because they both knew that he was going to have to leave soon, coming to her in the first place had been a risk. But one he'd needed to take in order to salvage their relationship.

She leaned over, placing a soft kiss against his lips, "I'm sorry."

He rose an eyebrow, but he didn't need any explanation. He didn't want her to be sorry. She was scared, worried, and didn't know how else to deal with it. He should be the one begging for her forgiveness; ignoring he because he thought it would be easier. "Me too."

She leaned in to kiss him again, his hands threading into her hair. But the sweet moment was broken by the shrill scream of someone outside. Instantly, both of their instincts kicked in and they tensed, body alert.

"What was that." She was out of the bed and dressed in seconds, moving to the window. Everything was silent, there was little to no movement outside. Normally she would have attributed that to the time - it was still early in the morning - but the area was too quiet, too still after such a scream.

Sasuke was beside her, already dressed, his eyes flicking around the buildings, the area in the distance. If Sakura was anywhere near the prospect of danger, he had to know what it was. But there was nothing - other than the one scream, the village was silent, the roads were empty. He half expected that the scream was from a woman who had fallen, or was scared by something. In the middle of wartime, it wasn't abnormal for shinobi to be alert at even the smallest noises.

He moved slightly in front of Sakura, pushing her away from the window as he did a last sweep of the area he could see. "Doesn't look like anyth-" His eyes caught a silvery string that had attached itself to the window across the street. A chakra string. And it looked like whoever was using it was on the roof.

From the look on Sakura's face, she saw the strings too. What the hell was going on?

"Alert the othe-" A sudden explosion threw them both against the opposite side of the room, the glass of the window spraying inward. Sasuke grimaced and stood up, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears as he squinted through the dust that had been stirred up, trying to locate Sakura. He threw some debris out of the way and crouched down at her side. She looked stunned, and there was blood trickling down the side of her face. He frowned, hands cupping her face to hold her still as he looked for the source.

Her hand lifted, green with her chakra, and she pressed it to her hairline. "I'm okay," she assured him, forcing a weak smile to her face. "It's just a scratch."

He frowned, but trusted her, helping her stand as they moved to the edge of the room. The explosion had taken out the wall and part of the floor, where she could see into the room below them. Even as they stood there, they could see and hear multiple explosions happening all down the street. They stared in shock. What the hell was going on?

Sakura heard a faint groan from the room below them, and she sent a panicked look to Sasuke. If someone was down there, she needed to help them. But Sasuke couldn't be seen - he had to get out of here. "You need to go." She said frantically, locking eyes with him.

"Not a chance."

He didn't look ready to leave, and she didn't want him to, but things had changed drastically. They weren't expecting someone to attack the village - they weren't expecting to have to fight while in the safety of Kirigakure. She realized that no where was safe in war time. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. They just had to fight.

She heard the groan again, louder this time, and she knew she couldn't waste anymore time. She had to get down there. "Sasuke, please." She said quickly.

His eyes were hard, mad at her for suggesting he leave when she knew he would want to protect her. And that was exactly why she'd done it - he couldn't be seen here, not by any of the other Kage's or their men. By anyone other than herself, Naruto and Tsunade, it just wasn't safe. He couldn't stay and defend her when his presence could be compromised and his entire reason for leaving be pointless. All of this time spent away from him would be for nothing if one of the other Kage's captured him or worse... killed him.

"Please." She begged, giving him the most serious look she could muster.

"I'll see what I can do."

Before she could say anything else, Sasuke had disappeared. Damn him and his cryptic words. She knew he would watch her from a distance, just to make sure she was all right. To him, her safety was more important than his own, and she hated that. She was not breakable or weak. She was very capable of holding her own in a battle and he knew that. He knew what she could do and he still had to watch her.

Without another thought towards him, she jumped down into the lower room, immediately seeing a body to her left. A woman. She could tell without needing to check that the woman was dead. The moans of pain were coming from the other side of the bed, hidden beneath rubble from the walls and the mattress. He'd tried to protect himself, but was seconds too late.

She made quick work of removing the debris, throwing it into the corner until the man was visible and she could assess him. Her hands started working immediately, the faint green glow materializing around her hands as she discovered what she needed to mend. A broken rib, minor internal bleeding that could easily be fixed and a lot of charred skin.

"You're going to be okay." She soothed in her professional 'I know what I'm doing' voice. He managed to nod, and she immediately snapped his rib back into place. It was better when no warning was given, when expecting pain, patients would only work themselves up and imagine it to be worse than it really would be. This way, it was done quickly and before he really knew what was happening. While he did let out a louder cry of pain, she knew that this was better for him. She stopped the bleeding, mended the skin that she could, but tried to conserve her chakra. "Get to the hospital." She commanded. She'd patched him up enough that he could get there himself - but there was too much to do.

"Ryuka, where is she?" His voice was hoarse, eyes watering from either the dust and debris or the fear of what happened to Ryuka. Sakura grimaced and sent a brief glance back to the body crumpled against the wall. The man gasped and closed his eyes, slamming his head back into the wall like her death was his fault.

"There's nothing you could have done," she assured him, firmly gripping his arm and forcing him to a standing position. "You're a shinobi. You're strong." She met his eyes, trying to instill determination in him to keep going. "Get to the hospital. Live, for her."

He nodded once, squeezing his eyes shut before taking off at a run toward the hospital.

She watched him for a moment, to ensure that he continued heading in the right direction, then moved herself to the gaping hole in the side of the building to survey the damage in the streets. When she'd looked out the window before, chakra strings had been strung between the two buildings. Whoever did this had done a lot of planning, and a lot of setting up. Why hadn't the night guards noticed? Were they even alive anymore?

A wave of panic washed through her when she realized that Hinata was meant to be part of the night watch, filling in for Tenten. Her mind was racing with possibilities, none of them particularly good, when a voice interrupted her.

"Sakura-san!" She looked across the way, only to see Shikamaru and Kiba there, and in between them, an injured Ino.

She wasted no time before getting across the street, jumping with hard earned strength in between the buildings. That was when the destruction really sunk in. The buildings had been rigged for at least two blocks, what was left of them crumbling and struggling to remain in tact, at the end of the road, she could see the Hokage Tower, a chunk missing from the wall. What was the hospital like? Had the struck there as well?

Her attention turned back to her three friends as she landed. "What happened?"

"She was right at the window when the explosions started." Shikamaru said, a clear note of panic etched into his voice. "Troublesome woman.."

She frowned as she took in the left side of Ino's body, mostly coated in small shards of glass, her blood flowing seamlessly from so many different points. Sakura's main priority was to make sure that Ino wasn't going to bleed out in front of her. And while she knew Ino would hate her for it, it wasn't to ensure the pretty state of her face. She used a slight push of chakra to expel the shards in one swoop, then sent another wave, a slower one, closing the cuts so they wouldn't bleed, but they weren't fully healed yet.

She continued to remind herself that she needed to conserve her chakra and get to the hospital - there was going to be a lot of healing today. She nodded to Shikamaru, planted Ino in his waiting arms and stood, jumping away from their room the same way she'd come in.

Sakura felt her heart seize in her chest as the hospital came into view. Half of it had collapsed, the building piling into nothing but rubble at the base. She could still hear people working inside, still hear cries of pain as the medics tried to save lives. She didn't know the extent of the explosions, but a look around the village made her think they'd gone off everywhere.

They were definitely going to need her.

The hospital reeked of dust, charcoal, and burnt flesh. She dully noted that there were a few shinobi dedicating themselves to making the standing wing of the hospital safe for the patients and healers, clearing the dust, stabilizing the structure, moving debris.

Sakura was surveying patients immediately, barking orders to some nurses that were running around with no direction, pointing out the less severe cases to be handled and sent on their way. The beds were filling up - burn cases, trauma cases, lacerations - all signs of damage done only by the explosion and not by a direct attack. Were their enemies waiting for them to scramble before they would strike?

They were in a state of chaos, so why hadn't they attacked yet?

"Sakura-san!" One of the Mist medics shouted, leaning frantically over her patient. She ran to her side, added her chakra to the mixture and stabilized the patient before moving to the next bed, setting a leg and healing the punctured skin before moving on again. Her mind was running a million miles an hour, flitting around the room and not stopping to break.

It wasn't until she felt the first signs of chakra exhaustion that she looked at the time. It had been just after noon, and she'd tapped into her chakra stores and continued on. She wasn't going to let anyone die if she could help it. Not from such a cowardly attack.

She was vaguely aware of people telling her to rest, to take a short break and allow herself some time to breathe, but she brushed them all off. She would not rest until Tsunade herself came to tell her that there was nothing more she could do there. She was also aware of the light she was slowly losing. The hospital's destruction eliminated the use of any and all machines that could have been beneficial, which also meant the lights. Time was working against her, as it always seemed to be.

Never enough time to do anything; to save lives, to be with Sasuke, to defend their village, to defend the world.

She didn't see it coming until it was already on her - the fatigue, the exhaustion, everything caught up and forced her to wobble. She steadied herself against the crumbling hospital wall, but it wasn't enough. She sent a frantic look to one of the nurses, who's eyes widened in surprise. She collapsed to the ground, legs no longer strong enough to keep her upright. Something cushioned her fall, and she could faintly hear people calling her name, coaxing her back, but she couldn't respond.

She couldn't move at all.

xx

"We increased out scouts, how could they not notice a Zetsu getting into our village?" The Raikage always had a temper, but in light of the recent events he'd become more irrational than ever. It was all the other Kages could do to keep him from lashing out. "He's making a statement of our weakness, proving that he can get to us no matter where we are!"

Gaara's calm voice toned in next, "The villagers are all safe behind the inner walls now, is this right? We need to move our efforts back into camp. To be ready to move at a moments notice." His eyes turned to the Mizukage. "An event like this is exactly why I was against moving so close to one of our villages."

The Mizukage narrowed her eyes. "Do not think I don't care that my village has been devastated. These are my people that have been injured."

"And it was also your prompting that brought us here." Tsunade spoke for the first time since their meeting had convened. "We need to regroup and solidify our defenses."

Mei's face had turned an angry shade of red, and she took a deep breath before speaking. "Gaara is right. We need to move away from the village."

"Bringing the fighting elsewhere is ideal. He must be close by - he would want to watch his work." The Tsuchikage was hovering again, his preferred method rather than sitting in his chair. "We should send our tracking squads around the area to see if they can pick up on his trail."

"B would have sensed him." His voice was gruff, frustrated, as they all were. Some were just better at masking their emotions than other. The Raikage turned his attention to the Hokage and frowned. "Though if the two jinchuuriki were together it would be a more formidable defense than all of our shinobi put together. Where has Naruto been?"

Tsunade steeled her jaw. "He is working to find Madara on his own terms. There is little I can do to force him to stay."

"You're his Kage! Give him orders!" His voice was rising, the anger becoming more evident. they were all looking to place blame on each other, but in reality there had been no way to anticipate the attack, no one was at fault. If they continued to point fingers the unity they'd created to combat Madara would break, and they would be left fighting as single entities again.

"If I force him to stay he won't be happy. He won't work to the best of his ability; he'll feel trapped." Her own voice was rising in turn, and she struggled to calm her emotions. She hated dealing with the Raikage when he was in a combative mood. "If this is where B feels he is needed, then we welcome his help, but Naruto feels his help is needed elsewhere."

"With another one of our enemies?" Tsunade looked to Mei, jaw clenching. She knew that Naruto's carelessness would be discovered somehow, and now it had. She only wished that the events wouldn't be brought to light in front of their council.

The Tsuchikage and the Raikage both looked to their female counterparts. "What?"

Mei rose her chin with an air of superiority. "Sasuke Uchiha was spotted fleeing the scene after the initial explosions, and Naruto was with him. If that doesn't prove his guilt then I don't know what else will."

The Raikage's anger, no longer being held in check unleashed in the form of his fist cracking down on the table. It splintered under the force, forcing the table the break under the stress and leave the attention solely on him. "Sasuke Uchiha is a deserter. An enemy of the Allied Forces!"

Gaara toed some of the wood fragments away, narrowing his eyes at the explosive man. "There is no proof he was directly involved with what happened."

"How much evidence do you need? He hasn't been seen in months, and now he's spotted running from an attack on my village! What other business could he have here?"

"This is a matter to be asking the Hokage about." The Tsuchikage spoke calmly, those his eyes were narrowed slightly in her direction. "Do you know anything about this?"

Tsunade let out a sigh and gestured to the broken table in front of them all. "It was for this reason the subject was never brought up in council." Despite the angry glare from the Raikage, she continued. "Sasuke Uchiha saved Konoha from Madara. He turned against him when we needed him and aided in the defeat of Orochimaru. Since the events of that day, he has been working with us to track down Madara, and it was only recently that Naruto decided to lend his talents to help an old comrade."

"Working with us? You cannot say us when none of the other Kage's had knowledge of this!" Mei smirked. Tsunade had set herself up to be ripped apart. It was foolish to hide something of this magnitude from the leaders who are meant to be your allies.

"I did." Four surprised looks were turned on the youngest Kage. "It was a strategic decision to avoid inner conflict that the information was hidden from the rest of you." Tsunade rose a curious brow at his words. Why was he defending something that she was at fault for?

"Sasuke is a member of the Akatsuki! He attacked my brother, he attacked me! There is no chance of forgiveness for him, not from Kumo. It doesn't matter who knew of his involvement." Lightning was starting to crackle around the Raikage's fists. He was a sight to behold in battle when his anger was channeled, but now, when they were trying to have a civil meeting... it was disastrous.

"A..." The Tsuchikage made a weak attempt to diffuse his temper. "If he is truly helping us then-"

"He can't be trusted! Why would someone change his allegiances so quickly after years of being molded into the killer he is. Madara is controlling him! He will turn against us!"

"Enough." Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. The other four Kages looked at him, all with varying expressions of distaste and frustration. "Sasuke Uchiha is of little concern to us. Until he proves himself an enemy, he is not to be killed."

"Your leadership has become questionable, Kazekage." The Raikage bit out from clenched teeth. Gaara's sand swirled around his feet, anticipating the Raikage to lash out. But he remained in his seat, glaring daggers at the other Kage.

Gaara ignored his comment and continued to address the other three. "We will move what we can back to the camps, but those too injured to move will remain in the village until they're stable. A sensory team will be dispatched to scout the surrounding area for signs, B will accompany them." His attention turned to Tsunade. "Contact Kakashi, see if they've found anything since their departure."

Tsunade nodded and stood, finding that Gaara's direction was the end of the meeting. The other Kages stood as well, and just before they left, Gaara spoke again. "If anyone has an issue with the way I am running things... you can speak with me privately."

The Raikage scoffed as he left the room, stomping through the sound barrier and disappearing into the streets. The other Kage followed closely behind, but it was Tsunade that hung back. She watched Gaara silently as he maneuvered his sand to gather the broken pieces of the table.

He was so young to be leading an army, but she knew that his youth had nothing to do with his talent. And he was talented, she knew he was, and she also knew that the youth of their villages would be leading them some day, and leaving responsibility to them wasn't a bad thing. Gaara would re-unite the villages despite the altercation they were having. He would overcome tempers and personal vendettas and he would make them realize who their real enemy was. They couldn't fight Madara if they were all too busy fighting each other.

"Why did you do that?" She asked after a moment.

Gaara moved the table into an organized heap before speaking. "Konoha is one of my strongest allies, and Naruto is a trusted friend. If you both believe that Sasuke is on our side, then I do too." He turned to face her. "However, in the future, I would request that all information about potential allies is brought to my attention."

Tsunade smiled weakly and nodded before breezing from the room. Naruto's powerful bonds were always working to benefit his village.

xx

She hadn't felt the sting of chakra exhaustion since the morning after her battle with Sasori. Her limbs were aching, body resisting consciousness as she fought to open her eyes.

"Send word to the Kazekage."

She recognized the voice of her mentor, her leader. She heard footsteps echoing down the hall and then there was a hand on her forehead, gentle, caring, and she felt the soothing balm of chakra as it flooded through her aching head.

"Tsunade?" She croaked, making an attempt to open her eyes. It was bright - too bright, and she couldn't keep them open for more than a couple of seconds.

"I'm right here, Sakura." Another wave of chakra pushed through her system, re-vitalizing her body, giving her energy. "You were amazing in there. The nurses won't stop talking about how many lives you saved."

She blinked her eyes open, not even registering Tsunade's praise. "Where's Naruto? And Sasuke? Did they make it away?"

Tsunade frowned thoughtfully, but nodded. "Just after the attack." A beat. "I sent Kakashi after them. To keep tabs on their whereabouts and report to us on a more regular schedule. I can't determine a plan of any kind if I don't know what they're doing."

Sakura let out a relieved breath. Sasuke wasn't discovered, the two of them had made it away and now they had Kakashi with them to watch their backs. "How long have I been out?"

"Two days."

"Two days?!" She shot up, feeling the dizziness assault her without warning, but she tried to power through, struggling against the restraining hand that was forcing her back down.

"You can't move yet. Focus on regaining your strength."

Frustrated, Sakura remained still. She wanted to reprimand herself for pushing so far and wasting precious time in recovery, but she had saved countless lives because of it. If this was her punishment, then she would work through it as fast as she could. "How many did we lose?"

Tsunade's face flickered for a moment, with something close to the intention to tell her, but then she shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Focus on getting better." She repeated.

"How many?"

She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. It was just like Sakura to know how many people they all failed to save rather than the ones that they did save. "Don't do this to yourself."

"Please," Tsunade lifted her eyes to her old student and felt a familiar tug on her heart strings. She reminded her so much of herself when she was that age - determined, stubborn, passionate. It's why she was so hard on her all of the time. Sakura had the potential to do great things that not even she realized yet, and Tsunade was going to nurture that promise in every way possible. But if she kept beating herself up over every loss of life she was going to be stuck.

She let out a breath, but spoke nonetheless. "The losses were extensive."

Sakura turned her face to the window. From the official Hokage robes hanging on the back of the door, Sakura had deduced not long ago that she was in Tsunade's private room. It was interesting that all four walls were still in tact. Their enemy didn't want precise deaths to affect the army, they wanted chaos and death on a larger scale.

"Anyone from Konoha?" She didn't really want an answer. Knowing that her friends and comrades were killed in such a meaningless attack was going to be more debilitating than being attacked herself. A look at the Hokage proved that there were; her eyes were downcast, the reality of their losses maybe sinking in for the first time. "Tsunade-"

"Izumo. He was found crushed underneath the hospital's destruction. Two of our own medics died in the initial blasts. The civilians..." She gave a terse shake of her head and straightened up. "There was no way to anticipate the attack - no way to save them."

Sakura grimaced but nodded. Death was a part of life, a part of their jobs. It was the only real thing you could count on not changing because it was waiting at the end of every road. But the attack still didn't make sense to her. How had they managed to get inside the village without detection? "Were there casualties in the night watches?"

"None." Tsunade cleared her throat and lifted a paper from behind her. "The report states that 'a Zetsu clone was found disintegrated in the rubble.' So they managed to get in again."

"But why?"

"Make the ants scramble before you step on them. That's what Madara wants. He wants us to be disorganized, to be a mess when he decides to strike." Her eyes narrowed slightly and she put the paper back down, "but we'll be ready."

Sakura relaxed slightly, realizing how exhausted her body really was. Even working herself up over the outcome of the explosion had her head spinning. Her eyes began to droop, despite the mass of questions she had. What was the army doing now? Was the hospital okay? Had the Zetsu been dealt with properly? Were they taking defensive measures to ensure that the Zetsu wouldn't get in without setting off some kind of defensive trap?

"Rest, Sakura. I'll keep you updated."

With a relieved sigh, she closed her eyes, knowing that despite how much she wanted to fight the exhaustion she would only be hurting herself and those around her.

xx


This section is going to be formally known as my apology section because I have been terrible at updating.

I want to thank each and every one of you readers for sticking with this story and putting up with my erratic updating. You are all my inspiration to keep writing and make every word worthwhile. I'm lucky to have supporters that continuously urge me to keep going.

-EM