Withering Cherry Blossom

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recap

Little did the unconcious cherry blossom know was that Deidara was heading in her direction and would soon find her if she didn't awaken soon. As Deidara ran in her direction he could feel her faint chakra far off in the distance. The blonde Akatsuki smirked at himself as he parted his lips to speak over the pouring rain...

"Gotcha yeah..."

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Chapter 7: Resolution

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As the rain continued falling from the darkened sky and thudding against the already wet forest floor, Sakura let her eyes flutter open for only a moment and then closed them again when the roaring thunder cracked through the sky. The ex-kunoichi felt numb from her legs up, exept for the pain emitting from her back, ankle and wrist. The side of her usually cream coloured face was dirty from her lying on it and the mud staining her cheek.

Sakura wished that she had woken up from a bad dream and that Itachi wasn't trying to kill her. She knew that it was all true and the wounds she had were enough proof to convince herself. Sakura's cloak was now soaked with water which made it harder to stand up. The cherry blosssom took in a deep breath before carefully standing up, using her good arm she pushed herself off of the ground. When Sakura was fully standing up, she felt chakra closing in on her.

The ex-kunoichi could tell that it was from one of the Akatsuki members but who? Sakura wasn't exactly sure who the chakra belonged to, she limped away from the spot where she was unconcious and hid behind a tree almost 20 feet away from her original spot. She took in laboured breaths and clutched onto her right arm while peering around the tree trunk. Sakura remembered to mask her chakra so that the Akatsuki wouldn't be able to find her that easily.

Deep inside Sakura knew that even if she managed to hide her chakra, she would still be captured and more than likely killed. The very thought made her want to cry her eyes out and hope that someone,
anyone would rescue her from the Akatsuki. In an instant her ears picked up the sound of laughing nearby, and she slowly peered around the trunk and saw one of the Akatsuki members.

A gust of wind flew by and made the Akatsuki member's woven hat fly off. Showing his long blonde hair put in a high ponytail and dancing with the wind. Now her life was in grave danger and Sakura knew it,
if she didn't somehow get away from Deidara she would surely die by his hands. Gathering all of her courage, Sakura began to slowly limp away from where she had spotted Deidara. The ex-kunoichi made her way behind another tree far away from the Akatsuki member and let her body lean against the tree trunk.

When she peered around the trunk once again, Sakura saw Deidara looking around and running in different directions. The petal haired woman hid behind another tree and with each tree she hid behind,
Sakura got further and further away from Deidara. Just when Sakura thought she was out of danger something unexpected happened...

The ex-kunoichi began to walk backwards and as she did so, Sakura was stopped by something. Her emerald eyes widened as she turned to face whatever or whoever was behind her. Just when she thought she had gotten away from him, Sakura was sadly mistaken... Red sharingan eyes looked into emerald. Uchiha Itachi was standing behind her with a kunai in hand and a smirk grazing his lips. Itachi swiped the kunai at Sakura but she dodged and was now kneeling on one knee.

"I never did finish your punishment..." The Uchiha calmly spoke.

"I guess this will have to make up for it..."

Sakura knew that she didn't stand a chance against Itachi, especially since hadn't equiped herself with any weapons. He ran in her direction a kunai held high above his head ready to attack. Sakura rolled to the left and was able to dodge the kunai from coming down on her head, instead it cut open her right shoulder. Red crimson blood seeped out from the new wound and dripped to the forest floor staining it.
The kunai which inflicted the wound on Sakura's shoulder was coated with her blood.

Itachi smirked at the cherry blossom as he neared her. Sakura was growing weary and could feel her chakra dicipating with every attack her body endured. She knew that she wouldn't last much longer.
The elder Uchiha threw his kunai at the ex-kunoichi and watched her dodge it. He was on her in a second and landed a punch to her gut causing Sakura to cough up blood. When Itachi pulled his fist away Sakura fell the wet forest floor, her breathing shallow.

Sakura turned over so that her face was looking at the sky above. The rain fell harder and mixed with her blood from the kunai wound on her shoulder. She winced in pain and looked over at Itachi who was taking out a new kunai from his holster. Sakura made a quick movement which aided her in escaping the soaring kunai aimed for her. She ignored the pain in her ankle as she ran through the forest, trying to get as far away as possible from Itachi.

Sakura didn't go unnoticed as the older Uchiha was hot on her trail. If he looked at the ground red blood was staining it and making a trail for Itachi to follow. Sakura heard the rushing of water up ahead as she continued to run for her life. Itachi took out a kunai and saw the cherry blossom in the distance trapped in between him and a rushing river. The ex-kunoichi turned only to be met with a kunai to her leg.
She screamed out in pain as Itachi removed the kunai from her now bleeding leg...

Itachi threw away the kunai and kicked the female Akatsuki into the air. Sakura soared into the air and was met with Itachi's foot landing a kick to her stomach and plumetting her to the ground. The impact caused Sakura to cough up blood until their was a pool of crimson red liquid being washed away by the falling rain. When she made contact with the wet forest floor Sakura felt her ribs break. Her vision was blured and blood was dripping from her chin which she wiped off with the back of her hand.

It all seemed to go in slow motion as Itachi gave one last punch to her gut. Sending Sakura flying backwards and submerging into the rushing river. With the last ounce of her strength the ex-kunoichi swam to the surface and let out a muffled cry before being carried of by the river's current. Itachi watched as her pink hair disappeared in the distance until it was a mere spek. He turned around and headed towards the Akatsuki hideout where he would tell the members of Sakura's demise.

As the river carried the female Akatsuki off Sakura couldn't help but feel weak once again like when she was Genin. Her body was cold and it felt as if her breath was being taken from her, because it was becoming harder and harder to breath with each passing minute. Sakura could feel herself slipping away from life and closer to death. Her wounds were deep and stung whenever water rushed into them.
Sakura was loosing alot of blood and she knew that she wasn't going to live to see tomorrow...

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Sasuke sat on his bed staring at nothing in particular. He shifted his gaze to look out the window where the dark clouds covered the sky and rain pelted on the glass of his window. Sasuke didn't feel like training today,
actually he hadn't trained for almost 5 days now. Ever since he saw Sakura working with his brother made him sick to his stomach and wonder... why? If Tsunade found out about her joining the Akatsuki and betraying Konohagakure she would surely execute Sakura if they ever caught her.

He didn't tell anyone that Sakura was an Akatsuki member, not even Naruto his best friend since childhood. The question that really bothered the young Uchiha was... 'did Sakura fall in love with his elder brother?' Sasuke shook his heads to get rid of that horrible question that never seemed to leave him alone. The sound of thunder filled the sky and blocked out the sound of the loud thudding rain. The dark sky lit up for a split second before it went back to being dark and cloudy.

Sasuke picked up a picture frame from his bedside nightstand and looked at it. A photo a team 7 was framed and kept safe right beside Sasuke's bed. Kakashi had both his hands on his and Naruto's shoulders while Sakura stood in the middle of them smiling a true genuine smile. Even though Sakura joined his brother in the Akatsuki, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to hate her. I mean he should be angry that his former teamate betrayed her hometown and was now considered an enemy...

Sasuke placed the photo back on his nightstand and let himself fall to onto the soft bed. He stared blankly at the ceiling and listened to the cracking of thunder outside and the lighting to brighten up the sky for a moment.
The young Uchiha could hear the voices of villagers shouting over the sound of the rain. Sasuke rolled his eyes and thought that they were probably caught in the storm or something and making a raket for nothing. He was mistaken and came to his senses when one of the male villagers shouted...

"A single Akatsuki member was spotted near Konoha!"

That was enough to get Sasuke up and running for the front door. Once outside the rain instantly soaked him and his clothes began to stick to his body. Sasuke was met with atleast 10 villagers all shouting and screaming that an Akatsuki member was in Konohagakure. As Sasuke made his way through the villagers he noticed Naruto ready to leave and find the enemy. The young Uchiha ran towards the blonde haired ninja and stopped directly behind him.

"Naruto I'm coming with you..."

The kyubi holder nodded his head and both began running towards the area where the villagers saw the Akatsuki member. The two shinobi had to slow down their pace due to the wet ground and the pouring rain. Sasuke was now ahead of Naruto and breathing alot due to all the running he was doing...

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Sakura felt the cold water splash her face which made her cough. The female Akatsuki opened her emerald orbs and was with more water to her face. She tried to swim towards the rocks but her cape was too heavy that it pulled her in a different direction. Sakura was sore all over especially the kunai wounds thanks to Itachi.

She felt so weak and helpless... something Sakura hasn't felt for sometime... It made her angry that she would let Itachi simply get the best of her. Sakura hated that she was weak once again, showing her emotions that she tried so hard to hide from everyone. The ex-kunoichi didn't want to move becuase of her broken ribs, causing her pain everytime a wave of water hit her body. Sakura wanted to cry out but she couldn't seem to find her voice anymore...

The voices of people screaming filled her ears and she now knew that she was near a village, but which one? Sakura knew that if the village captured her she would be executed now that she was an S-class criminal.
Footsteps soon after filled her ears and a tight grip on her arm told her that she someone has found her. Once her body hit the ground she fell unconcious her eyes fluttering open to catch a glimpse of onyx orbs.

Sasuke and Naruto found the Akatsuki member but little did they know it was Sakura. Her woven hat was still on her head and covering her face, her cape now wrapped tightly around her body. Being Naruto he wanted to see exectly who they had caught and slowly removed the hat. The pale face of Haruno Sakura was visible and made Naruto drop down to his knees as Sasuke stared wide eyed at her. She looked quite cut up and her breathing was shallow...

"Sa... Sakura-chan..." The blonde nin whispered.

He scooped up the rosette haired ex-kunoichi and began to walk towards Konohagakure. Sasuke was walking beside the loud mouthed blonde and looking Sakura over from top to bottom. Sasuke feared that Tsunade would have to execute Sakura now that they had found her. When they entered Konoha all the villagers stared at Haruno Sakura and began gossiping to one another calling her a traitor. Sasuke ignored their harsh words towards his former teamate and continued towards Hokage tower.

On the way towards the Hokage tower both boys were met with Yamanaka Ino. She ran towards Naruto and Sasuke but when she leyed her blue eyes upon the Akatsuki in Naruto's arms she stopped dead in her tracks. She slowly made her way towads the body of her best friend and widened her eyes.

"Sakura?"

"Why... how..."

Both shinobi walked past the confused kunoichi and soon arrived at the Hokages tower where they would have to hand her over to Tsunade. Sasuke knocked on the wooden door and enetered with Naruto when the Godaime gave word. Like usual she was hidden behing stacks of papers and chugging down her sake. Naruto opened his mouth to speak but the Uchiha interupted him before he could say a word.

"Tsunade-sama we have found an Akatsuki member..."

The hokage stood up from her chair and made her way towards the two shinobi. When she scanned the Akatsuki member in Naruto's arms she dropped the bottle of sake she was holding and ran towards him. The Kyubi holder placed Haruno Sakura on the floor and stepped aside to make room for the Godaime. Tsunade was on her knees, tears threatening to fall at the sight she saw before her. The hokage's pink haired apprentice on the verge of death and apart of the Akatsuki, leying on her office floor blood staining the carpet.

Tsunade broke and let all the past pain flow out of her along with the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She checked for a pulse and felt a faint heartbeat in her apprentice's wrist. Tsunade formed a few handseals until her hands were glowing a dark blue. She placed her hands on Sakura's cut up body and let the chakra flow into her. Some of Sakura's wounds closed up and her ribs were no longer broken,
but the kunai wound to her leg and shoulder were too deep to heal with chakra.

"Shizune!" The hokage shouted.

In an instant her assistant was in the room and listening to what the Godaime was telling her to do. She told her to call the paramedics and take her to Konohagakure hospital for treatment. The paramedics burst through the hokage's doors and had a stretcher with them, carefully placing the petal haired ex-kunoichi on it they were gone as soon as they came. Naruto and Sasuke followed behind them and into the large Konoha hospital, though they wouldn't let them in the room where Sakura was in they just stayed in the waiting section.

They waited an agonizing 2 hours before the medics came out with blood staining there hands. One of the female medics walked up to the two anxious nins and parted her lips to speak.

"She has suffered from alot of blood loss but she should be fine..."

Relief washed over Sasuke and Naruto from the news that they were hearing. Naruto stood up and began to walk towards the room where Sakura was staying but was stopped by the medic nin grabbing the collar of his shirt and tugging him backwards.

"No one is allowed inside her room until she has fully recovered..."

Naruto groaned and headed out of the hospital with Sasuke leaving soon after. He walked home and immidiately went to bed thinking about the situation Sakura was currently in. The vilage would surely want to have her executed after she joined the Akatsuki and was now captured and injured. That night Sasuke couldn't seem to sleep but instead ley awake with a million unanswered questions in his head.

Hour after hour passed before Sasuke glanced at his digital clock. It read 12:30 a.m. He tried his best to fall asleep but it was futile, more and more questions clouded his brain. How would Sakura react when she awakens in Konohagakure hospital?

When she sees her friends again and mostly Sasuke...?

Would she try to escape or would she let herself be executed?

Would Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki come looking for her or would they abondon her?

Sasuke had no answers to these questions and simply tired himself out just thinking about it. He soon found himself drifting in and out of sleep until his eyes were shut and his breathing evened out. The young Uchiha wished that this was all just a nightmare and when he awakened in the morning everything was back to normal. Sakura had never been taken, she was still the same old happy kunoichi that he knew so well...

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The sound of beeping could be heard throughout Sakura's hospital room as she ley unconcious with an i.v. attached to her wrist and a bag filled with clear liquid entering her veins. A screen showing her heart rate was situated beside the bed and made a loud beeping noise every second. Sakura had been unconcious for almost 5 hours and nurses made their ways in and out of her room. The voices of people in her room filled her ears but the only one she recognized was the Godaime's.

Sakura slowly parted her lips and tried to speak but nothing came out. She tried again but this time it was a faint whisper that no one seemed to notice. A lone tear made its way from her eyes to her cheek as she was finally able to utter a name before falling into darkness once again.

"Tsu... Tsunade-sama..."

The hokage heard her apprentice say her name but by the time she turned to look at her, Sakura was unconcious again. Tsunade had been looking after Sakura for a while and desperately needed a break,
though she refused to leave until Sakura opened her eyes. The Godaime wanted to be the first person that Sakura saw when she finally opened her emerald orbs. Tsunade saw the single tear that Sakura had shed and used her thumb to wipe it away from her cheek.

The Godaime noticed that Sakura's face was pale and her cheeks lost their rosy tint. Her breathing was laboured and the kunai wounds on her shoulder and leg kept opening up. Crimson blood seeped through the white bandages that were wrapped around the wounds. Tsunade began unwrapping the soiled bandages and putting new ones around the open wounds, this time she used twice as much and tied it a little more tighter.

Exaughsted. Tsunade wiped the sweat off of her forehead with a cloth and headed out of Sakura's room. A nurse was always present in the room which Sakura stayed in to keep an eye on her. It was already three o'clock in the morning and Sakura was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon...

Some of the villagers had asked the Hokage what she would do when Sakura awakened. To tell you the truth Tsunade had absolutely no idea whatsoever. Sakura was her apprentice but she did betray Konohagakure after all. If the majority of the village wanted Sakura executed then she would have no choice but to do it. This pained Tsunade to even think that she would be able to kill her apprentice that was more a daughter to her.

The Godaime closed her almond eyes and opened them again. She would have to check up on Sakura later in the afternoon, when she was well rested and restored her chakra that she used on Sakura.
Tsunade walked out of the hospital and onto the streets of Konoha. The storm had passed by and the moon was beginning to set as the sky became lighter. When she entered her office, Tsunade sat at her desk still stacked with unfinished paperwork and leyed her head on the top of her desk.

Upon closing her tired eyes Tsunade fell asleep and would occasionally knock over some papers and sake cups. Though she never woke up and instead repeated the name of her apprentice's name over and over again, in her head and out loud. Shizune had come in with a think blanket and placed it over Tsunade's sleeping form and picking up the fallen items strewn all over the floor. She gave the Godaime a solemn smile before quietly exiting the room.

Leaving Tsunade asleep and dreaming about her Haruno Sakura who had surpassed her one year ago. Her smile that could melt the coldest of hearts and her laughter that would make anyone's day better.
Her lips formed into a smile as Tsunade dreamed about good old days with the petal haired kunoichi...

"Sakura..."