---Sorrows of Yesterday---

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Naruto.

Some people are wondering what was with the last chapter's ending…

Chapter 10: Beautiful Fear

"Where's Kagome and Sasuke?" Sakura clutched the ends of Neji's scorched shirt, desperately trying to catch his attention.

Neji whipped his head around, hair flying. His hair band had long since snapped into the fire, "I don't know! I've just got orders from Tsunade-sama to find water, or something of that sort!"

The pink-haired kunoichi let out a worried growl and raced off again, shrieking as another tree gave way.

Villagers were screaming in the distance while dark shadows leapt by, causing more destruction.

"I've got to find Naruto and Kakashi-sensei first!" Sakura burst off into a sprint to the direction of Naruto's apartment. 'I can only hope that Sasuke's strong enough to protect Kagome. No, he'll be fine...' Yet, Sakura still bit her lip, that little ounce of doubt in her heart, 'But what if they're hurt?'

Hinata rushed by, Byakugan activated, "I don't see any water in sight! Maybe everyone can turn on their taps?"

"Wait!!!" Shikamaru yelled, gaining their attention, "Don't get water!"

This sent everybody to a halt, "What are you, crazy? How do we put out the water then?"

"It's an oil and gas explosion!" Shikamaru tried to explain. "If you add water, then it'll just make it worse!"

After hesitating for a moment, people resumed screaming and Neji and Hinata now rushed to report to Tsunade.

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"What the hell is going on here?" Sasuke was now wide awake and up, hand on his holster.

They were staring at the blown down wall and the terror that unfolded in the streets.

"Kagome? Where are you?" He kicked away a chunk of wood that had lit on fire and whipped around at the sound of footsteps.

"Sorry," Kagome exclaimed breathlessly. "I had to get my weapons." She was in her fighting attire now.

Sasuke slammed one of his still intact doors shut, changed, and then got out. "Let's go! We have to find out what's going on!"

Nodding, Kagome followed Sasuke down to the streets.

"I can smell gas!" Kagome shouted ahead of her. "I don't' think we'll be able to put this out with water!"

Sasuke nodded, kicking aside a discarded metal pole.

"Tenten!" The Uchiha came to a halt at the sight of the kunoichi, "What's going on?"

"Tsunade-sama says it's an invasion!" Tenten wiped a layer of sweat off her forehead.

"From what village?"

"The village hidden in the stone! We've never actually been in good terms with them." Tenten frantically shook her head, for some reason actually carrying a blanket with her. When a fire lit again nearby, she covered it with the blanket and started stomping on it, successfully putting it out.

"Have you received orders from her?" Kagome finally cut in.

Tenten faced the miko. "Yes, the whole village has! The Jounins and the ANBU have to find the enemy, while the Genins and some Chunins have to lead the village to safety. The rest of the Chunins have to try and put out the fire! It's a bit messed up though, some shinobi with special abilities will do different things too. Honestly, everybody is just doing what suits them."

"Neji's the only Jounin, ne?" Sasuke confirmed.

"Hai, and you know, you would've become one two, if you were not gone for a year."

He shrugged, not seeming to care.

"But I've really got to go help with the fire," Tenten explained, gesturing to her charred blanket, "It's the only thing I could find that would put it out."

Sasuke and Kagome nodded. "So, what are you doing Sasuke?" Kagome asked, as Tenten scurried away.

"We find the Stone-nin. I'm not going to waste my time trying to put out the fire if it's just going to be re-lit again," Sasuke growled, jumping off without warning, Kagome following close behind.

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"The hidden village in the stone attacked us…why?" Shizune shouted to Tsunade, who was trying to fend off the fire inside the tower.

"I don't know! Put out the fire now, worry later!"

"Tsunade-sama!" Gai-sensei stuck his head into the quickly burning door. "We can't seem to locate Sasuke and that other girl!"

Tsunade looked up. "I think they'll be fine!" 'At least I hope so…'

"Tsunade-sama!" Kakashi sprinted in this time.

"What's the report?"

"The fire is gas and oil, the whole entire village is nearly destroyed! We've managed to salvage half the Uchiha district, the Hyuuga manor, a bit of the marketplace, some training grounds, and the academy, but nothing else is looking very well!"

"Good enough! Keep on going! Now! And you, Kakashi, should be finding the enemy, not putting out fire!"

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"Naruto!" Sakura kicked the door down. What was left of it… "Naruto, are you in here!" she nearly screamed.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran out to where she was yelling. "Do you have anything to put the fires out with?"

She shook her head rapidly. "But we can't use water! Could you find some blankets or something to smother it with?"

"Not a problem, Sakura-chan!" Naruto beat down a flame on his sleeve and grinned at her for a more reassuring feel, "I'll be fine. Besides, this is good training, ne?"

"Just take care of yourself…please." Sakura whispered.

"Yeah, I will." He hugged her, and then went off.

Sakura thought of her team, and the whole village as her family.

Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji…her brothers.

Hinata, Ino, Tenten…her sisters.

Lee…her love.

And she would do anything in her power to protect them, just like they always do to her. She knew they thought the same about the family too. So whenever something went wrong, everyone would plunge into a state of worry about the other.

Sakura stared into the burning, empty apartment for another minute before turning around and racing back out into the streets. 'I hope nobody is injured…' The kunoichi stopped for a moment and bit her lip. 'If they are, then I can help them.'

Now, Sakura would be scouting for anybody who was hurt. Besides, that was her job as a medic-nin.

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"We need to find a way to smother these flames," Neji explained.

"I know that!" Shikamaru frowned and fidgeted as he went into deep thought.

"Umm…Neji-nii-san…" Hinata whispered frantically, shaking his arm.

"What?"

"Would sand work? Sand or dirt?"

Shikamaru immediately snapped out of his thoughts, "That's it!"

The two turned towards their other friend.

"Somebody needs to find Gaara, and somebody needs to find him fast, before the village burns down."

Nodding in understanding, Hinata and Neji quickly went off to find a source of fast communication.

"Hurry it up guys…The village is slowly burning down…" He muttered under his breath, taking another glance at the havoc, gleaming light reflecting in his eyes before he raced off to see if he could locate Chouji.

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"They have to be around here somewhere." Sasuke explained to Kagome.

Calm down. Just calm down, relax, and think of a plan…

"Think about it," Kagome tried to sort it out, "If there are enemies setting all these explosions, they would want to set something off near either buildings that haven't been blown yet or near a lot of people."

"But what would their objective be then?" Sasuke frowned, "To kill people, or to destroy the village?"

Kagome shook her head. "I don't know."

Reviews would be appreciated.

Tenshi-Battosai