Chapter Warning: Brief mention of groping.

Chapter Eight - Part One

We made it out alive,

but at what cost?

We may never know.

Their luck runs out quickly. In an attempt to leave to gather water, Sakura is stopped in her tracks by a kunai with an explosive tag. She barely has a moment to think before she's throwing herself over the nearest body to protect them. Pain races over her back, but she doesn't spare that another thought. A groan from Shikamaru indicates that he's still alive. One from Choji rolls over.

"Come out, come out." It's said in a sickly sweet voice. "Come out, pinkie." Sakura recognizes the voice; a low growl escapes past her lips. "Pinkie, I'm not playing games~ You can come out or we can come in." There's a pause followed by laughter. The implication is not lost on her.

Disgusting, vile creature.

"We c-can't stay in here," Shikamaru grunts. "It'll have to be the three of us against the three of them." Sakura slowly rises off the body she managed to cover. Sasuke's sweaty shirt is clinging to his body, pale skin shuttering with each shaky breath he takes.

"We set up traps."

Sakura spits at the ground, getting rid of the dirt that managed to enter. "Let's put them to use." She pulls out her summoning scroll knowing that her naginata will be of some use in this situation. Hopefully. She sees Choji gulp, eyes firmly on her hands as the small puff of smoke takes place and her weapon is ready in her hand. "If we work together, we'' be okay." Sakura is firm in her belief. "Follow our lead."

And the three of them walk out from their hiding place.

"I'm a little disappointed," the cocky Sound nin from earlier in the day states. "I was hoping it'd only be her, but I guess you two would make good appetizers."

A gross feeling claims Sakura's skin, leaving her aching for water to shower. That's exactly what she plans to do after these guys are defeated. "Sorry to disappoint," she responds with a raised eyebrow. "But you know how it is, right? Being disappointed." Sakura sees the annoyed look Shikamaru sends her. Perhaps, if she were less angry, she would have responded better.

"I like a girl with fire." The Sound nin is cut by his female teammate.

"We're not doing this," she snaps before turning her eyes to Sakura. "We want your scroll, little girl. Give it to us now and we may let you live."

"Not happening," Shikamaru states. "Especially not when troublesome shinobi are involved."

Their oddly bandaged teammate steps forward. "Patience, Kin. Zaku might be on to something. There's something particular about this girl. Something familiar." A dangerous aura erupts from his person causing Sakura to barely repress a shiver.

He's probably the most dangerous, Sakura thinks as she eyes the machines around his wrists. What the hell are those things?!

"Now that you mention it," the boy, Zaku, starts. "She does seem familiar..."

"You met me earlier today, asshole."

His eyes flash with amusement. "Of course, of course." Sakura bites back a snarl when his eyes roam over her body, leering as he did hours previously. "But your chakra seems familiar. Have we met before today?"

"I would never forget a nasty little creature like you," Sakura spits.

"Temper, temper."

Sakura tilts her head. "Allow me to show you true temper." She flips her naginata towards a barely seen wire and cuts it. Satisfaction fills her when a rain of kunai come upon the Sound nin at too fast a pace in every direction. The grunts and cries are like music to her ears.

"You clever little bitch," Zaku snarls. "I was going to be nicer about killing you, but you've royally pissed me off." He yanks the weapons out and drops them to the ground, glaring at Sakura as if she were the very bain of his existence. "Let's move," he snaps at his teammates.

"Now, Shikamaru!" Sakura yells. There's a grunt from her left followed by several explosions. She hears the female Sound nin scream, seeing through the smoke as the older girl is thrown backward. The briefest flicker of sympathy appears in the pit of Sakura's stomach when the girl doesn't get back up.

"Watch o - " She doesn't hear the rest of Shikamaru's warning when something like a large gust of wind slams into her, knocking the breath out of her. She goes flying.

When Sakura becomes aware of herself, she doesn't see Shikamaru or the other Sound nin. A sense of dread crawls over her skin when she realizes it's just her and the creep called Zaku. He's grinning at her, longer than average tongue licking his lips. Briefly, Sakura considers him as terrifying as the Sound nin she fought earlier.

That was a joke of a fight and she knows, deep in her heart, she got off easy.

"Just you and me, pinkie. No teammates or allies to protect you."

Sakura gets to her feet, dropping into a defensive position. "How unfortunate," she replies. "For you."

"Let's dance, girlie. I'm gonna' enjoy this." He moves for her, kunai aimed directly at her stomach. "Let's see how long you last." She leaps back, hands flying to perform the hand signs to create clones. One to distract, one to get behind him, and then there's her; using the distraction to disappear into the ground.

Yamato-sensei told me not to use this unless I was desperate. I don't know how Shikamaru and Choji are, Naruto is still missing, and Sasuke and Ino are probably still out cold. She senses his sudden stop, probably wondering where she went and that's when she moves to trap him. Arms appearing above the ground, her arms, she wraps them around his ankles and yanks as hard as she can.

His shocked cry sounds pleasing to her ears and she pulls and pulls until she feels it's safe enough. Slowly, like waking up from a bad dream, Sakura appears above the ground, standing over Zaku with a small, but triumphant grin. "What are you going to do now?"

"You're a dead one," he growls up at her. The ground trembles, barely, and Sakura fights back the urge to shudder. "When I'm out of here, I'll kill you."

Sakura stares down at him and, pushing chakra to her feet, she kicks him in the face as hard as she can. The crunch of his nose, the blood spilling over his upper lip, leaves her satisfied enough to turn and leap away. She counts herself somewhat lucky to have dealt with that quickly.

Moments like these are few and far between.

Shikamaru is bleeding from three wounds down the left side of his back, but he's conscious. The remaining male Sound nin, Dosu, if Sakura recalls correctly, is trapped in his shadow clone jutsu. Ino's form is slumped on the ground, not in the location she was left in. Choji is on the groud, unmoving. Sakura's glad to see his chest rise and fall steadily. Sasuke is still out cold despite the swirling dark purple and blue chakra over his form.

"You would attack your own teammate," the female Sound nin yells. "What the hell kind of bastard does that?" And that's when it hits Sakura. Ino has taken over the body of the female enemy. She glances at Ino's body, looking over it, and notices the thin trickle of bleed running down the corner of her mouth.

It's in the same exact place in the host body.

"You poor Konoha shinobi think too much of bonds," Dosu shakes his head. "Sound shinobi have no need to keep them. We are all tools in this world. Pawns that are moved and sacrificed in order to advance the queen. We take our orders seriously. Kin is but a mere pawn. She, like all others, can be replaced."

Disgusting.

Sakura drops down behind Dosu, looking at Shikamaru over the boy's shoulder, and nods. Tip-tap. A startled gasp leaves Dosu and then he's slouching. A moment later and Shikamaru is releasing his jutsu. Sakura doesn't bother to catch the boy. He's an enemy.

"Let's tie them up," Sakura tells him. "Quickly. I don't know how long until the other guy - Zaku? - gets back."

"Make sure to tie them tight," Ino says, forcing the body she's controlling to lift up the unconscious boy.

Sakura pulls out both metal wire and rope from her hip pouch. "The wire is for their hands and ankles. The rope is for their arms." She's quick to use them on the boy, working around his awkward metal wrist covers, and makes sure they're biting into the skin tightly. His feet are easy to work with.

"I can take the pain," Ino tells her when she hesitates. "Knock her out the moment I release the jutsu." And Sakura does after hearing Ino cry "Release!" With both Sound shinobi bound and out in the open, Sakura moves past Ino and Shikamaru, sending a silent apology to Choji, and heads directly for Sasuke.

"You really think you can beat me so quickly, pinkie?"

A sudden chill takes over Sakura.

He has her by the hair and, with both her pouches ripped away from her, she has nothing to fight back with. Shikamaru is supporting a badly wounded Ino. Ino, her precious friend and rival, has taken great offense to the boy when he wrapped his arm around Sakura's neck, groping her with his free hand. Sakura's shaking.

But not from fear.

Anger has her trembling the way she does. Anger at being caught far too quickly after having dealt with him. Anger at herself for thinking things would look up if he was unable to escape the ground. There's nothing she can do now. Even with his teammates still out cold, Shikamaru doesn't have the energy to use his jutsu again and with Naruto still missing, she's stuck in this position.

"I'm going to beat you so hard, you'll end up begging me to end it." He tightens his grip on her hair. "I'm going to pull out this pretty hair handfull by handfull. I'm going to watch you bleed to death."

Pain flares in Sakura's shoulder, so ripe and shocking that her vision blurs for a moment. Her left hand is currently useless, broken fingers crushed under a steel heel. She jerks in his hold, a cry ripping from her throat. "You son of a bitch," she snarls at him, head jerking to the left a bit to glare up at him as best she can.

"If I had a mother I cared about, that might have hurt my feelings." She feels her head yanked back, the sharp cold metal of a blade is pressed against the delicate skin of her neck. "One cut, but not too deep." The blade slides against her neck gently but leaves behind a dull sting. Like receiving a paper cut. "I want to enjoy this."

Sakura grits her teeth. The woman from before, the one that bit Sasuke, was playing with me. God, she let me hit her. She was tooling with me. She balls her good hand into a fist and slams it against the ground, feeling helpless. I can't perform my jutsu without both hands. Where is Naruto?! Sakura glances to her right. The dark purple and blue chakras surrounding Sasuke are far more violent than before.

If her naginata weren't lost somewhere in the forest, she'd gut him then and there. If she could move, of course. I'm going to die at the age of 12, she thinks. And I haven't done anything to prove my worth to them.

"How can you daydream at a time like this, pinkie? You must really not care anymore. And here I was hoping you'd still have some fight left it you~" Sakura's self-pity is quickly replaced by agitation. "What was it that you said to me earlier today? Something about confidence being my undoing?"

She's about to reply when a rush of violent chakra claims the clearing. It sends shivers down her spine. She even feels Zaku falter behind her.

"Let go of her."

If the circumstances were different, Sakura might have cheered at seeing Sasuke awake and standing. But the reality of the matter sinks in rapidly. There are strange markings covering half of Sasuke's exposed skin and one of his eyes is gleaming a sickly yellow color. His lips are twisted into a snarl and the swirl of tainted chakra only adds to his demonic look.

"Let go of her," Sasuke repeats as he takes a step forward.

The blade returns to Sakura's neck. "Make me." It's cocky, but there's a brief underline of fear in those words.

You idiot, Sakura thinks. Because if there's one thing she has learned about Sasuke over the course of a few months it's that he is unforgiving. Unforgiving to those who harm people he has grown to cherish in ways beyond comprehension at times.

It's sort of a blur after that.

She's freed from Zaku's grasp and falls forward only to be caught by a grim-faced Shikamaru. Sakura manages to roll her head to the side and see a barely conscious Ino sending her a thumbs up from her place near Choji. She's about to call out to her friend when a sickening crack fills the air. Sakura jerks in Shikamaru's hold, neck popping when she looks over to Sasuke where he has Zaku pinned to the ground, his arms pulled back at an awkward angle. His shoulders are clearly dislocated.

There's a maniac grin on Sasuke's face.

I have to stop him. He looks deadset on killing Zaku and Sakura, who would otherwise let him do it, all things considered, has to stop him because this isn't the Sasuke she's come to know on a personal level. This isn't the Sasuke she and Naruto go get lunch and dinner with after training. This isn't the Sasuke who pushes her to do better during their spars. There's something wrong with him.

"Let me go," she whispers to Shikamaru.

"You don't know what you look like right now," Shikamaru snaps at her. Snaps. "God, Sakura, you're a mess."

She would have hit him if it weren't for the truth. She more than likely looks as bad as she hurts.

"If I don't stop him, he'll be consumed." Sakura shifts in his hold, leaning up. Shikamaru tightens his grip on her before relenting. "I have to stop him. He's not Sasuke."

"I hate when you're right sometimes," he tells her.

Sakura's on her feet and running for Sasuke as soon as Shikamaru steads her on her feet; going as fast as she can. A few feet away and she launches herself at him, tackling him to the ground a few good feet away from an unmoving Zaku, uncaring of the pain that flares through her left hand. The moment their bodies hit the ground, she does her best to press all her weight down on him, her legs circling his and her arms pressed against his chest.

"Get off me!"

"Stop it, Sasuke-kun. Just stop it. He can't fight back anymore." Sakura can feel the telltale signs of tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. God, she hates seeing him like this.

He struggles under her weight, nearly sends her flying off twice, before abruptly stopping. Sakura slowly sags against him, not caring what Ino and Shikamaru must be thinking at this moment. They have an unconscious teammate to worry about anyway.

"You're h-heavy, Sakura."

Sakura lifts her head, staring down at him with a tiny smile. His skin is clear although far more pale than normal and his eyes are normal. He looks seconds away from passing out again but she can't let him do that with Naruto still missing. They have to go find him together.

"Are you calling me fat?" She jokes in place of asking how he is.

Something - understanding, maybe - flashes across his eyes. "No."

She gots off him after that. The moment she's off him, she cradles her injured hand close to her chest. It hurts a lot and she knows there's nothing that can be done until they reach the tower. "Shikamaru," she calls over her shoulder. "What scroll do they have?"

"Heaven."

"Then both our teams get to advance to the next round," Sasuke states. He gets up, swaying briefly, before offering her a hand. "We need to find - "

Crash!

Boom!

Dust covers the clearing. Sakura feels Sasuke press up against her, protecting her from the debris the comes with it. She's grateful in a way, but the small squeak she releases when he puts pressure on her injured hand has him tense immediately.

"How hurt - "

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke!"

Thank goodness.

Things start to look up when Team Seven and Team Ten make it to the tower in the center of the forest by night time without any more run-ins. Zaku and his teammates were left tied up in wire and rope with no scroll, no supplies, and in the middle of the clearing. Easy pickings, really, for the large wildlife in the forest. Sakura chooses to not to feel sympathetic in that moment.

After promising to find them later, Sakura says 'good-bye' to Shikamaru and Ino, wishing Choji a quick recovery in the process, and follows after Naruto and Sasuke to a private room where they can open their scrolls without witnesses. The familiar white smoke is replaced with their former Academy instructor.

"Looks like you kids have been through some rough times," Iruka smiles gently. "And since you got here," he pauses briefly, eyes widening, "six days in advance, you have time to rest and heal up." He eyes the way Sakura is holding one hand to her chest. "Sakura, please go see a medic after we're done. That hand looks terrible."

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." The boys, along with Shikamaru and Ino, have told her to get her hand checked out first when they reach the tower. "Hopefully, it's well enough to use by the end of the week."

Iruka nods; satisfied. "There are rooms set up for each team. Three beds, a mini-fridge, one bathroom with a shower, and supplies to clean yourself and your weapons. There is also a very small laundry matt at the end of the hall. Please be aware of your surroundings and I would advise you to stick together as much as possible."

"Why?" It's Naruto who asks this. He's been surprisingly quiet up until then.

"We're going to be among enemies, idiot." Sasuke crosses his arms over his chest, clearly annoyed. "We need to be on guard."

But Naruto doesn't seem to understand. "But we made it to the tower! What are they going to do?! Attack us - "

"That's a high possibility," Sakura interrupts, remaining calm. "Nowhere was it stated or even said that we have to refrain from attacking each other while in the tower. Who knows where Kakashi-sensei is right now."

"There will be guards posted around the tower," Iruka is quick to add, "but caution is key. If your gut tells you to back off, back off." He sighs. "Just be careful. Your room is out those doors, up the stairs, and at the end of the hall near the laundry matt. Your names are on the plack next to the door."

"Where's the infirmary?" Sasuke asks quickly.

"Three doors down from this room."

Sakura sees Sasuke nod out of the corner of her eye.

"You guys have made it this far! Don't give up!" He's gone seconds later.

"Let's go to the infirmary first," Sasuke tells them. "For Sakura's hand and..." he trails off but Sakura understands. Naruto had been filled in bits and pieces and they can discuss everything that has happened once they're in their room for the night.

The walk is mostly silent save for Naruto's occasional hum.

"The good news is that the bones can be mended easily."

Sakura nods slowly. "And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that there's a two week minimum healing time in which you do not do any heavy lifting with that hand but seeing as the next round of the exams start this Sunday, that's not going to happen. So, your options are as follows: you drop out of the tournament to allow your hand the time to heal or you wear a hand brace."

"Dropping out of the tournament is out of the question," Sakura replies immediately. "But how does the hand brace work? I read a book a couple of years ago about some braces that can affect certain chakra affinities or block the chakra paths in the palm."

The medic nods. "In many cases, it's intended to keep the wearer from using their chakra to prevent further injury. Different reasons call for different braces. You suffered broken bones and damaged nerves in your hand, but the brace is intended to minimize the damage you may receive during this portion of the exam. You will still be able to use your chakra but try not to allow your hand to be hit too often."

"So, she'll still be able to kick some ass?!" Naruto pumps his fist into the air. "Hell yeah!"

Sakura finds herself smiling. "Thanks, Naruto."

"It'll take me about five minutes to heal your hand." The medic looks over at the boys. "Would you like me to take a look at you two as well?"

"I'm fine," Naruto gives the medic a thumbs up. "Just dirty. Nothing a shower can't fix."

Sasuke gives a tight-lipped head shake. Sakura sends him a look of confusion, but he steadfastly refuses to look at her. She doesn't push it. For now, at least.

"I'm surprised we didn't see Shikamaru's team," Naruto muses out loud. "They were in pretty bad shape when we got here."

"Nara-san's team was dealt with quickly. They're resting in their room." That's all the medic offers and Sakura can respect that. Even if both teams are Konoha, this is a competition after all and the medics must remain unbiased in regards to all teams. Also, it goes against conduct.

And so her hand it healed in a comfortable silence. The medic hands Sakura the black brace. It's soft on the outside but firmer on the inside when she slips it on. It looks like a bulky fingerless glove. Sakura draws chakra into her hand, frowns at the slight tinge, and wiggles her fingers. The tinge dulls soon enough.

"Do you know where your room is?"

Sakura nods.

"Good. I wish you three a pleasant evening."

It's a dismissal if she's ever heard one.

The room assigned to them is bare save for the three beds, a relatively dusty mini-fridge, some supplies placed on each bed (including a set of clothes), and a door leading to what she assumes is the bathroom. The room looks like it's only been recently used. While the air is stale, the bed sheets are clean. She can only hope the bathroom is the same way.

"Not bad," Naruto says. "They could have added a window.

Sakura nods in agreement. "Dibs on the bed near the corner," she states quickly, rushing forward to claim the bed despite Naruto's yell and Sasuke's snort of amusement. She throws herself half on it, near the pillow, and sighs. At least we won't be sleeping outside tonight.

"Dibs on the first shower," Sasuke calls.

She sits up. Sasuke has claimed the bed right next to her. "Dibs on the second shower."

"Dibs on the fridge!" Naruto yells.

Sasuke and Sakura share an amused look. "Sure, Naruto." She grins at him. "Let's all clean up and eat something and then we can discuss what happened in the forest."

"I want to know the full story. Who was that Sound guy?!"

"A nuisance," Sasuke answers curtly.

Hell yeah, he was!

"Go shower, Sasuke-kun."

One-by-one, they shower and change into the spare clean clothes provided for them; simple dark blue long-sleeve shirts and black shorts. Hand-me-downs, but they're clean and Sakura's not going to complain about the lack of style. She just hopes her clothes will survive the wash or she'll be stuck using the spare clothes for the next round.

The bottom, clear plastic container of the mini-fridge is filled with mini bottles of water. There are fruit cups and vegetables on the first shelf along with snack cups and sealed containers of food. The top shelf is empty. Sakura laughs at the whole ordeal, something neither Sasuke nor Naruto appreciates, and grabs a bottle of water. She's not hungry anyway.

"What happened to you?" She asks once they all settle into their respective beds for the night. "You were just...gone." It's more than likely past midnight, but Sakura's not tired one bit.

"A giant snake attacked me," Naruto tells them. "It destroyed a whole bunch of tree and then managed to swallow me up! I tried to get it to let me out but my weapons were useless against it."

Sasuke snorts. "Then how did you manage to get out?"

"I made it explode with a bunch of my shadow clones." Naruto shivers dramatically. "Being inside a snake is gross. It's all gooey and pudgy and I hated every minute of it."

"I don't think anyone would appreciate being swallowed by a snake."

"There were a lot of smaller snakes trying to eat my face and then more spiders!" Naruto flops down onto his pillow. "I hate spiders."

"We know."

Naruto groans. "What about you two?"

Sakura bites her lip, looking at Sasuke. "We encountered a Sound nin, a woman, who is far above genin level. Above chunin and even jounin. She attacked us after swallowing her scroll whole."

"She swallowed it whole?!" Naruto shoots back to a sitting position. "What the hell?!"

"Her jaw unhinged like a snake," Sasuke states, arms crossed over his chest. "I was almost inclined to give her our scrolls just so we could leave but it was clear she wasn't interested in the scrolls at all. She just wanted to attack us."

She wanted to attack you. "She targeted Sasuke-kun." Sakura continues despite the tense stare coming from Sasuke. "It's clear from the start. She mostly attacked him while batting the rest of us away like flies. I think she sent the snakes after Naruto to keep him from getting back to us. And then she..." She trails off, looking at Sasuke.

He looks uncomfortable. "She bit me."

"Why the hell would she bite you - " Naruto's cut off by a knock on the day.

"Who would be knocking at a time like this?" Sasuke asks as he gets out of his bed to open the door.

"Hello, my cute little student~"

"Finally!" Sakura throws her covers off her and stands up, hands on her hip. "Sensei, where have you been? You should have met us here earlier!"

Kakashi actually chuckles at her. The audacity... "I had to take care of a couple of things," he addresses them all. "But I came here as soon as I was done. I wanted to check up on you three. You made it here quickly along with some bumps in the road."

"I was swallowed by a giant snake!"

"My hand was crushed."

"I was bitten by a crazy lady."

Their sensei stares at all of them with something unreadable before he shakes his head. "Okay, storytime. Tell me everything that happened. Don't hold back any details. Since you don't really have to do anything for a few days, we can stay up tonight."

"Are you staying in the tower, sensei?"

"Yes. I'm rooming with Might Gai. You'll meet him soon enough. My room is located on the third floor. The second door on the left." He walks fully into the room and sits on the edge of Naruto's bed. "Just in case you need me. I'll be around."

"Who needs sleep?" Sakura asks as she relaxes. "Get comfy, sensei. We have a lot to share."

In the end, Kakashi stays most of the night. He remains mostly silent as the storytelling commences, nodding here and there or making soft humming noises. Occasionally, he looks ready to interrupt one of them but refrains from doing so. When they reach the topic of the Sound woman, their fight against her along with Team Ten, and how she ends up biting Sasuke when he's down for the count, Kakashi expresses concern.

"It left behind this mark," Sasuke tells all of them. He turns away from them for a bit and pulls on the bottom of his shirt to show all of them. "I felt sick after she moved away and then I felt...really angry and then I passed out." Silence follows that before he nudges Sakura.

"I fought the woman, but she was only toying with me, sensei. She is very clearly beyond jounin level. Snake summons, terrifying genjutsu, A-Rank or S-Rank, and the way she fights is scary. She was indulging me and her goal was Sasuke. I only escaped because of that teleportation jutsu you taught us. It really did save us. Shikamaru and I found this uprooted tree and placed traps around it, but our luck didn't last very long. A team from Sound showed up..." Sakura looks down at her hands. The next bit makes her uncomfortable

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

"They said my chakra seemed familiar, but I don't understand how that works. How can chakra seem 'familiar,' sensei?"

Kakashi rolls her shoulders. "Someone people are very intuned with chakra and, therefore, they can separate people by their chakras."

"But I never met any of them before the first encounter before the written exam."

"It's hard to explain, Sakura. You may have crossed paths with them at some point before the exams. Foreign shinobi have been coming to Konoha for over a month for the exams. You could have walked passed them without thinking." His words do not ease the dread she feels in the pit of her stomach.

Hope you guys enjoyed this update. If you have the time, please review.

~i-just-really-love-sakura