I have been more on top of things lately since I don't have school for the next two weeks (winter break). I figure that by the time I upload this chapter, school will have already started.
So with that, enjoy this next chapter. XD!!
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Sakura whimpered as her shoulder grazed a tree in her attempt to dodge Itachi. The rough bark made stinging scratches along Sakura's soft skin. She wished she had found her way to the guys' place. If she had, then she wouldn't be in the predicament she was in now.
Itachi swept passed Sakura again, and she dodged his kunai, and then that was when it hit her. He was toying with her. If he really wanted Sakura dead that instant, she would have been dead. Now all she could do was hope the guys could get to her before Itachi completed his deed.
They don't know...
Sakura gasped in fear as all realization came down upon her at once. The only way she could survive, was if she survived herself. There was nobody to save her this time. She was the one to finish what she had done.
"Hey!" Sakura screamed at Itachi. "I won't let you get me this time. There's no way I will. I will defend myself to the end!"
Sakura threw her shurigan as hard and as fast as she could in Itachi's direction. To Sakura surprise, Itachi dodged them at the very last second with an ungodly speed that was too fast for any human.
"No..!" Sakura cried softly as Itachi stood in front of her. He smirked.
"Having fun yet?" he asked, his voice cool, emotionless.
"..." Sakura's eyes slanted.
Now's your chance!
Sakura moved as fast as she could possibly could, and it was not enough. Itachi was gone again. "Stop toying with me!" Sakura shrieked.
What are you thinking?!
"Damn it, Itachi! If you want me dead, kill me now!"
Itachi did not respond, he only continued to graze Sakura with small cuts that stung like mad.
Run...
Sakura did not have the capacity to think any longer. All she could think was, I've got to get away.
She darted as fast as she could. She ran and ran, trying to get away.
Didn't I just pass that tree? She thought in agony. Am I going in circles?
She stopped running and turned to find Itachi standing right behind her.
"What do you want?" Sakura asked, darkly.
"Your power."
"...but your stronger than me."
"How naïve you are."
She grunted. "How naïve you are."
"...hmmnnn..."
There was a pause, and then Itachi became alert. He left abruptly without so much as a threat of return.
"What?" Sakura asked aloud, confused.
"Sakura-chan!"
"Naruto?"
"Sakura-chan." He sounded relieved.
"Naru-" Sakura cut off. Her eyes began to fade in and out of focus, and all of a sudden, it was hard to stand. Was something wrong? What was going on? She lost her balance, and fell to her hands and knees. Was Naruto helping her? She couldn't tell. Why is to world spin...spinning...
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"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, breaking the dead silence of the family library. Kakashi looked up from his book. It was odd for Sasuke to do such a thing. It was to be expected of Naruto, not Sasuke.
"Yeah?" Naruto replied, exeedingly curious.
"Can you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Naruto was confused. Sasuke was acting very strangely. He had an odd look in his expression, almost like he was worried about something, which was very uncharacteristic of the cold shinobi.
"Sakura's blood. I think she's hurt somewhere."
"Oh really?" Kakashi said cooly. "And how is it that you can smell it, and how you even noticed it, without me or Naruto so much as had the faintest that she was in the reach of our senses. I believe she's at least ten miles from here. My reach is a minimum of three miles. I doubt yours is much longer."
"I'm going out." Sasuke said cooly as he stood up and strode out of the room.
"Do you suppose we should follow him, Kakashi?" Naruto asked catiously. "Will Sasuke be alright on his own?"
"...let's follow him."
Naruto didn't have a chance to slip on his shoes, when Sasuke shot past him, a blur of black, blue, and pink.
"Yo!" Naruto shot at Sasuke. "What happened to her this time?" Naruto did not get his answer because Sasuke had already made it all the way down the hall into Jiraiya's room.
"Jiraiya-sama-" Sasuke began, but was cut off when Jiraiya held up his hand.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, the fear very evident in his eyes. "Can we save her?"
"Yes, of course...maybe."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke's head was spinning. He didn't know what to do, all he knew, was that Itachi had been there and that Sakura had been left uncontious on the forest floor. She had had her suitcase of clothes with her, and when he found her, they were spilled all over the ground. It was obvious that there had been a fight, and Sakura had a countless amount of cuts all over her frail body.
"Jiraiya," Sasuke pleaded. "What can we do? She can't...die."
"I can probably save her." Jiraiya knodded to the door. "Let's go check out the damage. If I know Itachi well enough, there is a lot of poison flowing through her blood right now."
Sasuke grimaced as he followed Jiriaya into the medical room.
"So," Jiraiya began as he got out some disinfectant and anti-poison solutions. "Since when have you been so interested in this girl. I used to think that you wanted nothing to do with her, after all, she is a human girl; definitely not worthy of the last great Uchiha." There was a glint in Jiraiya's eye that said he knew a lot more than what Sasuke thought.
"I'm not interested in her." Sasuke shot. " It's just that, the guys...you know. They're all friends...we can't have her dying on us, you know, after so long and not having a friend." Sasuke stopped as he realized that Jiraiya knew everything. "I-" He began, but his mouth was left agape as he became speechless.
Jiraiya chuckled while Sasuke's brow furrowed in frusteration. "How long have you known?" Sasuke asked softly.
"Since the time you fell in love with the girl."
"I don't-" Sasuke stopped, deep in thought. Do I love her? He thought curiously. What are these feelings? "I wouldn't say I love her." Sasuke said to cover himself.
"Okay..." Jiriaya laughed. "These wounds aren't leathal, I was playing with you."
"YOU- YOU WHAT?!" Sasuke roared. "How dare you!" Sasuke darted out of the room and nearly trampled Naruto on his way.
"Jeez." Naruto sighed. "He must have to really go." He and Jiraiya chuckled.
"How is she doc?" Naruto asked, looking down at Sakura's frightened face, contorted in pain. "She don't look so good."
"She is poisoned, but it's nothing I can't handle. It a simple poison, easy for someone of my stature." Naruto knodded in agreement and he continued to look down at this shinobi.
Naruto knew that there was something very unique about her, but he hadn't expected her to break Sasuke. That was truly something special. Of all the people at the numerous schools the guys had been at, none could even get Sasuke to speek a word to them. But what got Naruto, was the fact that Sakura had been targeted by Itachi. That was the only difference between Sakura and the other girls. Aside from the fact that Sakura was an amazing shinobi.
Could Sasuke have fallen in love with Sakura after he felt the need to protect her from his evil brother? That must be it. Naruto agreed with himself. There's no other possibility.
"How is she?" Naruto asked, peeri g down at the unconsious shinobi. "She's going to make it, right?"
"Of course." Jiraiya replied as he cleaned his hands off. "But I wasn't able to remove all of the toxins from her body. Right now she is in a ressesion. Her body is fighting against the poisons. She should be burning up with a fever, but instead her core body heat has dropped. I've done everything in my power to help her. Right now, all we can do is keep her warm and watch over her until she recovers."
Naruto knodded and stood to go. "I'll go get a few blankets and a find a room for her to stay."
"Thank you." After a moment, Jiraiya paused in the middle of picking up his tools. Naruot had left, but he still felt a prescence either in the room or right by it, and it wasn't Sakura. "Sasuke," Jiraiya called. He smirked as Sasuke stepped in from beyond the door. "Will you take Sakura somewhere where she will stay warm and comfterble?"
"Hai." Sasuke replied. He gently picked Sakura up and walked out.
A warm place... Sasuke thought. As he was contemplating, he ran into Naruto.
"Oi, Sasuke." Naruto asked.
"What?" Sasuke answered.
"Can Sakura stay in your room? Kakashi refused his, and mine is usually pretty cold, but yours would work, right?"
Sasuke paused for a moment then he knodded. "She can stay in my room."
Naruto chuckled to himself as he walked away. What a matchmaker you are, Naruto, He thought.
Sakura finally came to in the early hours of the morning. I'm so cold, She thought. But this warmth, it's so nice. She snuggled closer to it, and was surprised to find her source of warmth was a living body. Then all of the memories from before flooded into her mind. Did Itachi kidnap me? Sakura thought desperately. She was so disoriented that she couldn't feel the cloth of her clothes on her skin and it only made her panic further.
She tried to move, but her body was too weak to do so. All she managed to do was wiggle her fingers. Her body trembled as the fear built inside her. As if the body behind her had read all her thoughts, it reacted and reached around Sakura. It wrapped it's fingers gently around Sakura's shoulder and rolled Sakura over to face Sasuke.
"Don't be afraid." Sasuke whispered, pulling Sakura in close. He rested his chin on her head, and it was long before Sakura was completely relaxed again.
"Did you save me?" Sakura asked quietly after awhile when her mind wasn't so hazy.
"Yes and no."
"Who else?"
"Jiraiya."
"He fought Itachi?" Sakura asked, confused.
"No, you were poisoned. He cleaned out a lot of your blood out and removed the poison."
"Hmnn..." Sakura replied. All she wanted to do was lay here in Sasuke's arm and absorb his body heat. Why was she so darn cold?
Eventually Sakura fell asleep again and she lay peacefully wrapped up in Sasuke. It almost looked like Sasuke was hoarding Sakura to himself. Like he was the only one allowed to enjoy this pink haired girl, the only one allowed to hold her...Sasuke shook out thoughts of Sakura. He was here to keep her warm, to help her survive. His brother obviously wanted her dead, but Sasuke wasn't going to allow it. He was going to do whatever it took to keep his brother from succeeding in his plans.
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E.O.C.!!!!
So i would like to request nobody to say, "Upload soon!" or "Hurry and Upload." It only annoys me and it makes me want to take longer to upload. I will upload when i have time. Like i have said many times, i am a busy person, i have a lot of stuff to do. I upload as fast as i can. Im just as exited to upload for you to read my story as you are. So please be patient and let me upload at my own pace.
Tanks!! Sakura
