Sacrifice

Summary: When Naruto and Sasuke came back they didn't expect a heroic parade but a warm welcome from Sakura. So you can just imagine how they'd feel when they came through the gates beaten and tired but there was no Sakura to greet them. Why?

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto

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Last Chapter…

She then looked up at Sasuke and smiled at him. Sasuke smirked at Sakura's genuine smile and felt that she looked more beautiful than she had ever looked.
"Thanks Sasuke, thank you for saving me" Sakura said.
"Anytime" Sasuke said.

Sasuke's last image from far away was Sakura being stabbed and taken away before darkness overcame his senses.

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Tenth Chapter: Suicidal

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A loud bang was heard in the office of Konohagakure's Hokage. As the door swung open, the force almost breaking the door off its hinges, a pair of swirling Sharingan was seen.

Sasuke's fisted hands banged on Tsunade's wooden desk when he stormed in.

"Where the hell is she?!" Sasuke shouted.

Tsunade kept on her narrowed pupils on the heavily bandaged Uchiha and tried to remain calm.

The hellfire superiors in the room thanked the heavens when they noticed that Tsunade kept calm. Two powerful Shinobis going berserk was gonna be too much to handle.

"I believe we could answer that" Isamu voiced out.

Sasuke turned his Sharingan towards the three hellfire superiors.

"Why hasn't anyone gone to rescue her? WHY?!" Sasuke shouted to them.

"Lower you're voice Uchiha-san; we're only respecting her wishes." Kyouhei said, his hand was unconsciously gripping a bloodied scroll.

"You talk as if she's dead!" Sasuke cried.

"Akahomura is a hostile and…vile organization. She might have been tortured for information or killed out of whim or maybe even…even…"

"Raped?!" Sasuke finished for Etsuko who was choking on the last word.

"That's why we have to rescue her fast! Who knows what they might be doing to her!" Sasuke shouted.

Isamu suddenly stood up and snatched the bloodied scroll Kyouhei had been holding and thrusted it onto Sasuke's chest.

"Tell that to Sakura!"

Sasuke grabbed the scroll and noticed that it was the scroll that Sakura gave Sasuke before he passed out.

He opened it and instantly noticed the messy writing and concluded that she had little time to write this and it must've been when he was fighting that Manabu guy.

After reading the scroll Sasuke clutched the scroll hard and tight.

"What the fuck is she thinking?!" Sasuke seethed.

Tsunade tried to calm him down, "Sasuke, there must've been a good reason for Sakura to not want to be rescued."

"She's a tactical planner in HellFire; her intelligence and strategic skills had saved her team's lives and the organization on more than one occasion. She has the most unbreakable willpower I have ever seen a person to posses; she will never give up. So don't underestimate my pupil Uchiha." Etsuko said in a menacing voice and a glare that looked eerily similar with Tsunade's glare.

Tsunade never failed to notice this and blinked.

Suddenly Isamu laughed, "Sakura's favourite teacher had always been Etsuko, and she always said that Etsuko reminded her of her past mentor."

"Tsunade?" Sasuke said.

"Yeah, she said that my way of teaching and the colour of my hair reminded her of you, Hokage-sama. Her bond with you must've been very deep since she speaks so highly of you." Etsuko said.

Tsunade smiled.

"You really didn't think that Sakura would not talk of her life here in Konoha did you? She'd tell us everything about her friends and people and places whenever she gets the chance and she's always happy reliving the memories." Kyouhei said.

Sasuke looked at the calm faces of the people around him and fury welled inside of him, "She thinks she's gonna die" he said in a monotone voice.

Everyone in the room looked at him and in a shaky voice Etsuko asked, "How would you know?"

Sasuke looked in her eyes and saw guilt among other emotions swirling.

Etsuko looked at Sasuke squarely in the eyes and made her posture rigid, "How would you know?!" her voice rising.

Kyouhei looked at her sister in curiosity and mild concern; he knows that her favourite pupil was captured by the enemy but they knew Sakura and she wouldn't be so cowardly as to give up.

He scanned his sister's figure as he saw how tense her shoulders was and her balled fists at her sides were tight that he imagined her fingernails digging into her palm's flesh which would eventually draw blood.

Then something clicked in his mind and his hypothesis was only proven right as he saw his sister's face configure into that of a guilt expression.

Etsuko grabbed Sasuke by his throat, "What did she say to indicate this to you?! What did she say?!"

"Etsuko that's enough."

Etsuko immediately released Sasuke from her vice-like grip once Kyouhei's calm but commanding voice entered her ears.

She just glared at the ground and mumbled a quick apology but still avoided Kyouhei's heated gaze.

Etsuko flinched when Kyouhei placed a hand on her shoulder, "Etsuko, what is it?! Was it something you said to Sakura? Or was it something you did?"

Etsuko broke down and buried her head in her hands. She rigorously shook her head as she mumbled 'it's my entire fault' ominously like a broken record.

"The day HellFire recruits came I met her early in the morning to give her, her assigned duties. We had a couple more minutes and she asked me a favour I will forever regret fulfilling."

Etsuko had to swallow down the massive contraction in her throat given to her by the immense guilt she was feeling but continued shakily anyway, "I taught her the last bit of that stupid Jutsu. She was practically begging me for it and…and I thought that it was just a way to feel power, to feel like she's improved considering this was a…a-"

"Suicidal Jutsu" Isamu finished, his eyes wide and you could just see a trickle of sweat gong down the side of his face.

"She…I…you're suicidal Jutsu isn't the only one she knows…" Isamu said in a quaky voice.

Everything was beginning to make Sasuke angry, he was thinking how irresponsible and stupid these people could be by teaching her something so dangerous and lethal to her own life.

"I-I taught her one too…Just a few months ago, that combined with yours could be potentially destructive." He whispered.

Kyouhei's tired eyes closed themselves and he shook his head, he sighed, "And with mine she might as well be a walking bomb powerful enough to annihilate an entire village."

Etsuko's pupils shrunk and she watched his brother with pale face and fogged eyes.

"I taught her a suicidal Jutsu that not only kills the mediator but anyone and anything within a 10 mile radius. It might not seem much but she knows how to combine Jutsus to make a more powerful one and I predict that's what she's trying to do." Kyouhei explained.

Tsunade shook her head, "I thought Sasuke and Sakura had a long spar before she was captured. Surely she's out of chakra and will eventually take days to recuperate and I think her captors won't even let her do that."

Kyouhei nodded, "Hokage-sama's right but knowing Sakura she'll definitely find a way to secretly store chakra-"

"NO!"

Just then Tsunade banged her fists on her own desk as she stood up with panic stricken eyes. Everyone just looked at her as she looked at everybody; "We have to get her back quickly before she performs her suicidal Jutsu" she then began writing on a mission briefing scroll.

Sasuke looked at Tsunade, "But you said she won't have enough chakra to-"

"I swear when she comes back I'm never teaching her any more Jutsus that could be used against her or even close to it!" Tsunade cried.

It was then that Sasuke remembered the eerily glow on her forearm when he last saw Sakura. He then looked at the gem on Tsunade's forehead and figured that it was a chakra storing Jutsu that Sakura may well have the right amount of chakra to make herself a living bomb.

"Isamu, assemble the most elite and have them assemble at the gates prepared." Isamu nodded after getting his command from Kyouhei.

Kyouhei then turned to Etsuko, "Etsuko pull yourself together and prepare our back up. We might have to commence the plan sooner than expected if everything falls apart. It might be a bit too early but maybe we might be able to keep Sakura alive."

Etsuko then composed herself then left the room with Isamu.

"That girl's unbelievable, not only is she amazing at handling complicated jutsus but she's quite reckless with them too."

Tsunade lifted her head from her writing, "I could never imagine my apprentice to be so…unpredictable." She whispered.

Kyouhei smiled a sad smile, "People tend to change once they join my organization. Whether it be for the best or not is up to the people around that person and themselves. I suppose she's change for the best but some attributes she's developed can be deemed better not to be possessed at all; like her new found cold attitude and her unexpected recklessness."

Tsunade nodded, "But one thing she'll always have is the will to fight for other people's sake. I think that way of thinking has been strengthened during her time in HellFire and at times it could be a good factor but I think to a very committed person like Sakura it could be dubbed the death of her."

Kyouhei scoffed, "What an unbelievable girl indeed."

Sasuke could only agree whole heartedly at what they said, often what he found most irritating about her is that she cares too much and cares for the wrong things that doesn't deserve it…or people.

Like me

Tsunade rolled up the scroll and tossed it to Sasuke, "Sasuke, find everyone on that scroll and bring them here immediately .I want you to tell them be ready for a big mission."

Sasuke nodded then poofed out of sight.

Kyouhei nodded towards Tsunade as a sign of farewell and good luck then walked out f the room to brief his own team.

-x-

Tsunade looked around to the people in her office.

Team 10 looked raring to go. Ino was looking serious at Tsunade and Shikamaru was standing tall beside Ino. Chouji was smirking and looked determined in his ninja armour.

Team 8 was in the same boat as well. Hinata was claded in her form fitting ninja clothes wearing a blank expression Neji would be proud of. Shino was being his usual isolated self but anyone can see that his attention was on Tsunade fully. Kiba was smirking and crouched down with Akamaru who was also serious about this mission.

(A/N: We all know that Kurenai is too preoccupied and Asuma is…well let's just say that from where he is I bet he's so proud of how his team have grown.)

Team Gai looked as serious as anyone in the room. Ten-Ten with her various weapons and scrolls attached to her, determined to get Sakura back. Neji looked passively at Tsunade but his hands were fisted beside him. Lee was crouched down with a determined expression on his face and for once he wasn't spewing his youth speeches since he knew how serious the atmosphere was in the room. Even if he had found another love he still looked up highly at Sakura and he was itching to save her.

Gai was standing next to a tense Kakashi which was surprisingly not reading his porno book.

The new team 7 was the most intense in reference to their chakra. Naruto's chakra could be easily seen with a tint of orange which was also the Kyuubi's chakra but he has long over controlled the Kyuubi. Sai was wearing a blank look whilst holding hands with a shaking Fuubuki. Ever since Sakura's capture she had been unstable and can only pull herself together when Sai was holding her.

Kakashi was standing tall and serious and was mildly surprised that right after his mission he caught wind of Sakura's return. His mood had been lifted only to be have his spirit crushed once again when he heard she had also been capture by the rogue nins who attacked the village the day before his arrival.

He had long felt guilty of not seeing Sakura as she truly was and only paid attention to Sasuke and Naruto. He had hoped to make up for his stupid mistake and that he will be forgiven for what he had cruelly made her go through. -The isolation that the two boys in team 7 felt that the only female girl in the team should never had to feel.

"Yamato is currently unavailable because he's still in the hospital due to his severe injuries he received during his mission he just arrived from yesterday. He sends his apologies lady Tsunade" Kakashi explained.

Tsunade only nodded and felt proud nonetheless to the faithful and loyal loving friends who were more than ready to save Sakura.

Her gaze landed on Sasuke who's face was blank and cold as usual which was completely opposite of what he looked like only minutes before when his face was full of emotions.

Sasuke was no longer furious but more agitated to go.

He felt that it was his fault for not saving Sakura but instead having her save him instead. Wasn't the princess supposed to be the one to be saved instead and the knight the one doing the saving?

He guessed that over the years, as Sakura grew into a woman, fairytales seemed to be outdated and often proven wrong. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing Sasuke had yet to choose.

But for now his mind is only set on one thing and, like his revenge, he wasn't going to rest until Sakura is safe and out of the clutches of death.

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