A/N: Wow! Thank you everyone for all those reviews, it really made me feel good and warmed my heart that you like that chappie so much. I've even managed to make a few of you cry. (sorry if you didn't want to cry but it was supposed to be a sad chappie ;P) Well this chapter is diffrent than you would expect. This is the part where.. wel you see it yourself ^^. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 10:

The trees were getting blurry and black spots appeared before her eyes. Sakura shook her head wildly, trying to rid her vision of them whilst she struggled to remain standing. Her hands were placed firmly against the bark of the tree. With all her strength, she pushed herself further into the woods, leaving a blood trail behind.

She needed to get out of here, she didn't have enough chakra to heal herself and she still felt the faint chakra of the one pursuing her. She tripped and fell onto the ground, closing her eyes tight, and coughing up the blood that was filling her airway. Clenching her hands she felt the fallen leaves clinging to her as if they were a second skin.

The footsteps were getting louder and the chakra signature was closer than before. She had to get away from here otherwise it wouldn't end well on her part. Pushing herself up she forced her legs to move, she stumbled but stubbornly she got up again, moving away from the person following her. An alert tingle in her head made her jump to the left, avoiding the kunai which had been thrown at her.

She struggled to get up and moved a few inches away when a hand closed around her throat and tossed her backwards. She landed on her side, her head hitting the ground with a sickening thud. She closed her eyes in pain and felt her mask being grabbed and tossed away.

She opened her eyes warily seeing a blurry black coat with something red. The same hand grabbed her throat again, yanking her off the ground and holding her in the air. Her hands weakly came up to struggle but she simply didn't have the strength anymore. A smirk was placed upon her lips when she noticed that the red head currently holding her was heavily bleeding himself.

The man scowled, tightening his hold on her throat. "You ruined everything! I had them and you had to come and ruin everything I've worked for. You even killed Konan!"

"D-don't forget to mention I-Itachi," Sakura said smirked, the blood in her mouth making it hard for her to talk, not to mention the hand squeezing so tightly around her throat.

"I'll make you scream just like your father did when I killed him." Sakura said nothing but the hatred inside her welled up, spitting at Pein and hitting him straight in the face.

"Fuck you!" She spat out.

Pein's eyes narrowed dangerously and he threw her on the ground once again. She landed close to her mask, her own blood splattering on the smooth white surface.

Flashback

"I give you the mask of a fox, referring to your stealthy ability to sneak upon targets and get away again without being seen. When you are lost or in a dangerous position, remember why I have given you this particular mask."

Sakura nodded, holding the ANBU mask Ibiki had just given her. She smiled at him. "I'll remember."

Flashback

'Thanks Ibiki, I finally understand what you mean.' Sakura ground her teeth together when a kunai was pushed into her lower back. Kicking her legs up, she hit Pein right in his stomach and causing him to stumble backwards. Pulling out the kunai she threw it on the ground, her hands now racing towards creating the last seal to summon the last amount of chakra from her system.

"Till we meet again," Sakura coughed victoriously before she disappeared in a swirl of petals.

She faintly heard the angry growl of her opponent, but the moment she hit the ground again, she collapsed. Her vision was darkening and the last thing she saw was a small girl, screaming before everything went blank.

When Sakura finally woke up, she felt that she was lying on something soft and she was covered by a silken blanket. A small delicate hand was touching her bandaged one, the little thump stroking her uncovered skin soothingly.

Footsteps were heard outside the room she was in and she could feel two people coming towards her. The door opened and the hand caressing her skin vanished. The sound of rustling clothes filled the air, and they were soon followed by a heavy voice, it sounded warm and concerned. A soft, sweet voice followed soon after.

"Has she woken up yet, Akira?"

"No father, she's been like this for a week now. Do you know who she is?"

"No, I asked around in the village but no one seems to know just whom this pinked haired woman."

"Well we'll just have to wait until she wakes up then."

Another voice filled the air, but this one seemed a bit annoyed, and slightly angered.

"With all due respect my lord but I don't think it was a good idea to bring a wounded kunoichi into your house. Who knows just who's after her or she could even be one of those rogue nin's for all we know."

"She isn't bad! I have a good feeling about her." The same small hand touched her again, this time brushing some pink hair strands away from her face. "She makes me feel safe."

"That might be so lady Akira, but…"

"Don't question my daughter's instinct, she's saved us multiple times because of it. If she has a good feeling about her then I will not question it."

"Forgive me my lord, it was not my place to question Lady Akira."

"Damn right it wasn't," the soft voice near her mumbled. It wasn't heard by the other two people it seemed because no one reacted to it. Somebody walked away, leaving Sakura in a room with the other two people who were taking care of her.

"Father she will be alright, won't she?" Her voice sounded softer, a hint of fear and concern held within it.

"Let's hope so sweetheart, lets hope so."

Footsteps moved away from her, a door soon closed and Sakura was left alone. She couldn't open her eyes no matter how hard she tried. Her body was exhausted but she'd heard the little conversation all to well. She inwardly sighed and tried to move her hand but failed to do so.

Trying to do something else, anything to distract herself, she focused on the chakra signals around her, checking out her surrounding as best she could without the aid of her sight. She could feel 5 chakra signatures within the place, but she sensed nothing dangerous. They all seemed to be civilians. Sakura relaxed a little, there wasn't any signature nearby setting off her alarms and it seemed that the little girl she last seen had taken her home, and saved her life with that action. Feeling sleep slowly creeping over her senses once again, she decided to give in and once again fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

The second time Sakura awoke, she could feel the soft breeze of the wind on her face. She was still in the bed she was in when she first had woken up, but this time there wasn't a hand stroking her skin. She hadn't felt anything but now her wounds itched, ached with agony and pain and all she wanted to do was to cut off everything so she wouldn't feel it anymore.

Sakura groaned softly, turning her head slightly to the side. A rush of footsteps signalled the approach of someone coming her way and soon the same small hand she'd felt when she had first woken up touched her right cheek.

"Miss, can you hear me?"

Sakura nodded briefly, opening her eyes slightly to meet violet ones, reminding her so much of her red haired team mate, Nami. The girl was wearing an old fashioned dress, but one look at it and you knew she was of a high family. Her black hair was pulled into a low ponytail, revealing her slender neck. Looking at her Sakura realised the girl couldn't be older than eight.

"What's your name?" The girl asked, a soft smile playing on her lips and the look in her eyes surprised Sakura the most. She was relieved. Thinking that these people wouldn't bring her to any harm, she decided to tell her, her real name, she owed them her life after all.

"Sakura," Sakura croaked, her throat was sore, as if she walked days in the dessert while drinking not a single drop of water and croaky from disuse.

"I'm Akira," the black haired girl smiled. She touched her hand again, the warmth of her skin sinking through the bandages wrapped around it and onto her hand. She squeezed her hand gently, her smile widening softly.

"You gave me quite a scare Sakura-san when I found you lying in the woods far from the village. I called my father and together we brought you here into our home. I've been taking care off you since then."

"How long?"

"That was two weeks ago."

Sakura nodded, smiling a bit towards the child who beamed back at her. So she'd been unconscious for two weeks huh? That meant they'd probably already sent a search team to look for her. They might already have declared her dead after all this time. It wouldn't surprise her that much if they had, if she remembered the place she was in before she'd teleported a few miles away, it was splattered in her own blood and some of Peins' to. She wondered what Tsunade would do when she found out that she was gone? Her team would mourn for her, she knew that for sure. Even though she'd only met the lot two years ago, she had a pretty close bound with them, was close enough them to see them as good friends, but despite her best efforts she couldn't love them like she'd been able to when she was younger.

And her mother, she would be all alone now. Determination welled up in her, she had to go back. Her mother relied on her. And Ino… she remembered the conversation she'd had with her when she got back from her solo mission. She knew Ino wouldn't take it well if she disappeared for good, and besides Sakura needed her. Like Ino needs Sakura, Sakura needed Ino, she was the thin thread that was always there to keep her sane.

She tried to push herself up, her wounds stretching, and giving her a new wave of pain. She hissed and was pushed back against the soft mattress with soft push from a small hand on her shoulder.

"You mustn't push yourself to hard Sakura-san. Your wounds aren't healed well enough and one wrong movement could open up the stitches."

Sakura sighed, knowing the little girl was right and she hadn't the chakra to heal them still either. The girl's smiled widened again when she saw the woman before her give up her struggle and decide to play along. She didn't know why but the moment she'd laid her eyes upon this pink haired female she felt a sudden connection, something she'd been waiting for, for so long. It was as if she knew her and yet she didn't. Somehow she knew she could trust this girl, her green emerald eyes were comforting to her even though they were slightly darkened.

"Are you hungry Sakura-san? You must be since you haven't eaten for two weeks. I'll ask Kei-kun to make some food for you." Even before Sakura could answer the girl, she had already left the room.

Even though Sakura wasn't really hungry, she shook her head smiling a little, she remembered being a bit like herself when she was that age. She pushed herself up, letting her back rest against the head of the bed she was laying on. She closed her eyes briefly willing away the pain before opening them again. The pink haired female scanned the room, her eyebrow's raising amusedly while she let her gaze wander further. It seemed she had landed in a mansion after all. She was laying on a king sized bed, curtains the perfect shade of red, were bound to each pole with gold colored ropes. On her right there was a chair, drawn away from the make-up table that stood against the wall not far from here. The wall long window was pushed open, revealing the slightest bit of the balcony Akira was standing on moments ago. The curtains hanging there seemed to be made of silk, slowly dancing on the soft melody of the wind itself.

Right before her bed was an old fashioned couch by the looks of it and the large cushions lying on either corner of the thing made it look quite comfy to just sit on while reading a book. On the other side of the room was no window, only a small table with a vase, currently holding a beautiful bouquet of red roses and a closet, the biggest Sakura had ever seen so far. And that was saying alot since she was best friends with the female in the leaf village who owned the most clothes ever, Ino. She would just love this place, Sakura knew it.

She turned her head again when the big oak door opened. Akira was holding a small tray in her hands. She huffed slightly when she saw Sakura now sitting straight up.

"I told you not to move."

"If I recall the words it was actually 'don't push your self to hard'," Sakura replied, her voice still hoarse."

The girl looked up surprised, only to let out a giggle before placing the tray carefully on her lap. "You've got me there, just be careful."

The girl turned her head away, her eyes saddened. Sakura didn't know why but she felt extremely guilty, she hoped she hadn't upset the girl. Moving her own hand upwards she touched the small hand. The girl flinched visibly and turned her head only to look into the smiling face of the woman she had saved.

"Thank you."

Akira smiled back, a blush staining on her cheeks. She helped Sakura to eat the food she had brought for her, let her drink some water before she ordered Sakura back to sleep. That was the routine for the next two days. She would come into the room, speak with Sakura about everything, her life, her family, how her mother had left them when she was still a small child to her obsession for painting and riding in the woods. She asked Sakura about everything too. Where she came from, what she was etc. Sakura answered them with most of the full truth, although letting out the part when she was part of team 7. And when she was done talking, she would get up and let Kei-kun make some food for her, their own personal chef. She would come back, sitting there next to her and painting while Sakura would eat her food. They would talk awhile before Sakura went back to sleep, only to be woken up for dinner.

Sakura had met their butler, Jun also. He wasn't a really bad man, even though he was cold towards her, he was just protecting the family he had served his whole life and Sakura really couldn't blame him. She had also met Yuuki, Akira's personal maid. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, reminding her of her best friend Ino. But unlike her, Yuuki was shy and only talked when it was necessarily. Her father whose name is Hiro, was away on a business matters a lot, he'd just come back from his travel two days ago before Sakura arrived.

On the fifth day, Sakura was sitting in the garden with Hiro, drinking a cup of tea and simply enjoying the beautiful day. Sakura was mostly healed up, the minor injuries already healed, but the big ones still held the painful ache when she moved to fast or stretched too far. She had pulled the stitches on her back a few times, earning the wrath of Akira upon her when she found out. Even though she was a medic, she didn't want to heal these wounds since they lay in fatal positions and one wrong move with her chakra she could damage herself even more, besides the family was quite interesting, reminding her of her own when she was young expect for the her mother hadn't left her.

Akira was riding in the woods, or so Hiro had told her. But when a high pitched scream peirced the air, Sakura stood up alarmed. The father looked terrified and Sakura quickly told him to get her a horse. Sakura ran up the wall to get her katana, and Hiro complied with Sakura's command. Jumping off the balcony seconds later Sakura ran and grabbed the black furred horse Hiro had gotten for her. Riding at full speed towards the chakra signature of Akira she now felt one other along with her. 'Shit, it seems he has found me then.' Begging her horse to go faster, the pair moved in record time.

She was right in time to pull Akira on her own horse before she was hit by a fire ball. The black haired girl was crying, clutching tightly to Sakura. She quickly scanned Akira for any wounds, and when she hadn't found any she sighed relieved. Concentrating on the signal around her, she could sense Pein was not far behind.

Stirring her horse around the trees, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She had put this caring family in danger when she'd stayed and let them take care of her. Alarm bells went off in her head and quickly she dodged the kunai that had been aimed at them. She knew she couldn't fight him while she had to protect Akira as well.

Giving the girl a reassuring squeeze she placed the reins into her small hands. "Whatever happens, whatever you may hear, I want you to ride as fast as you can and don't look back alright. There is a town a few miles north from here. From there you should know the road back to your home."

"But Sakura-san what about you?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine. Now go!"

Sakura jumped up onto the horses back before grabbing the rather low hanging branch with one hand and swinging herself up. Concentrating chakra into her feet, she was still in perfect balance. Her eyes flamed with hatred and pulling out her katana she waited for Pein to arrive. He was much weaker than before, but then again so was Sakura.

Much like the deadly dance they'd done last time they met, they dodged each others attacks, each trying to out smart the other one. But when Sakura's feet slipped away, Pein grabbed his chance and slammed the girl hard into a tree. Gritting her teeth, Sakura closed her eyes when she felt her wounds open up once again. Her shirt was slowly becoming wet from her blood, and Sakura only had a second to think before having to dodge the kunai which had been aimed at her heart.

Jumping away she ground her teeth together. With every move she made, her back was protesting painfully. She had to finish this now, otherwise he might come back for Akira and her father and they certainly didn't deserve that at all.

Her hands raced over the twelve seals again, Pein's eyes widening when he noticed the same dangerous spike of her chakra that had nearly killed him last time. But he was already too late. Sakura released her genjutsu, this time only stopping when she was bordering on critical. She opened her eyes, wiping away the blood from her mouth that had trickled down. Grabbing her katana she walked towards the bloodied form of Pein. Stopping in front of him she raised her katana, her eyes locking with his.

"This is for my father," she said coldly before slitting his throat and stabbing him in the heart. Pulling her katana out of Pein's corpse, she whipped the blood off on her pants before sliding it back into its saya. It was time to go back to Konoha, she had stayed away long enough. Turning her head to look behind her, she silently said goodbye to Akira and Hiro before turning around and making her way towards her village.

It seemed she had landed in the land of Grass and travelling back towards Konoha would take her a week in her condition. Dried blood decorated her skin, both hers and Pein's, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to see the Hokage monument of her village, her mother smiling brightly whenever she paid a visit and mostly Ino and her team. She wondered how they were now they thought she was dead. She snickered softly, she really would give them all a shock when she would walk into the village wouldn't she?

But when she reached the village a week later, she raised an eyebrow at the fact that everything was so quiet. Masking her chakra she slipped into the woods of the training grounds, she had a feeling they would be there. Her feeling was confirmed when she saw almost the entire village out for her funeral. A small smile was placed upon her lips. She was really loved then huh? She felt a bit bad for making her mother cry that way but she wanted to hear the speech Tsunade had prepared.

The thing's she said about her, only made her smile widen and she watched slightly confused when her former Shishou was done, everyone seemed to shed a tear a two for her. She looked at her appearance. She had cuts everywhere, her clothes were torn, blood soaked bandages were wrapped around her big back wound since she didn't want to remove them and dried blood lay everywhere and still there was the slowly streaming blood from the wound she had on the side of her head, where she had torn it open when she woke up with a start. Yup, she really would give them a scare.

When she saw the man move to carve the first letter of her name into the smooth surface of the memorial stone, she finally spoke up, stepping forward but still leaning against the bark of the tree looking at the floor the entire time she spoke.

"A person who is being placed onto that stone is dead, and the last time I checked, I was still breathing and I'm pretty sure I can still feel my heart beating."

When she was done, she looked up, locking her emerald eyes with the honey coloured ones of her former mentor who looked back in complete shock. She smirked inwardly, stepping forwards while the whole village looked at her amazed.

Sakura bowed slightly, a few more drops of blood falling onto the ground before she stood straight once again. "Sorry I'm late, got some things I had to take care off," a smirk playing on her lips the entire time.

But out of the many ways Sakura thought of how Tsunade would react, she never thought in a million years it would be this one… she fainted.

To be contiued...