A/N: I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the story. It makes me smile to know that you all are getting addicted just like me. Hehe, well here is another dose to feed your crave.

P.S. Thanks withloveagain for pointing out some of my grammar/spelling mistakes. I don't have anyone to read this before I post so it's nice for others to help. I'll probably go through all my chapters maybe tomorrow and fix any that I see. Thanks again for the help.

Enjoy! :)

After she watched the last horse disappear from sight, Sakura walked back into the house. Her body was shivering from the cold and the rain and she tried to rub her hands against her arms to bring back the circulation. Shizune was standing near the door. She must have seen her run out and was holding a blanket out for Sakura.

"Thank you, Shizune."

She smiled as the dark haired women wrapped her up. Today was a complete nightmare for her. Right now all she wanted to do was crawl up the stairs and into her bed. The thought of sleep sounded so perfect right now. But her body was so hyped up that she knew she probably wasn't going to sleep tonight. Sakura mindlessly pushed through the crowd of people in the greeting room, making her way over to the ledge by the window. She sat down and watched as the rain pelted the screen. Lightning lit up the sky every so often. She pressed her fingertips to the glass. What would happen if they came back without Ino? What would happen if none of them came back? Sakura could feel the tears brimming at the edge of her eyes. She needed to be strong. No more tears.

"Sakura?"

A shy and quiet voice broke her mental thoughts. She turned to see the soft eyes of Hinata. The poor girl looked so afraid and tired. She was probably woken up by Naruto and dragged here.

"Hey Hinata, are you okay?"

"Umm, yes. I was just wondering if you were okay. With everything going on and all."

"Oh, yes, I shall be fine."

Hinata sat on the window ledge with Sakura, twiddling her fingers together. She felt bad for the girl, being dragged into this mess and all. She rubbed Hinata on her back and the girl smiled at her.

"Would you like to get some rest in my bed? You look tired."

"Oh that's very sweet of you Sakura, but I wouldn't want to impede. You should get some rest."

"Heh, I doubt I'll be getting much sleep tonight, Hinata. Really, you can take my bed and I can wake you when Naruto comes back."

Hinata just gently nodded her head. Both the girls got up from the ledge and Sakura walked her upstairs. She brought the girl to her room and let her crawl into her bed. She kind of wished she could join her, but she wanted to wait for the search party to come back.

"Thank you, Sakura."

"It is really no problem. At least one of us can get some sleep."

Hinata giggled and curled up in the bed. Sakura quietly left the room, shutting the door behind her. Her back leaned against the door. Eyes closing she breathed heavily. She pulled at the blanket that was still wrapped around her frame. She started to head back downstairs, but her eyes traveled down the hall to her sister's room. The chatter downstairs had died down from earlier. It was getting late out and she wondered if some of the people that came were passed out in the guest room. Walking down the hall she entered into her sister's room once more. She tried to take everything in again. The messy covers on the bed, the clothes haphazardly thrown around, and then the brush upon the vanity. She picked up the brush, running it through her damp hair. Thoughts traveled to her sister. Her perfectly blonde hair. The way she would always tease Sakura, but in the end still love and care for her. A smile lit up Sakura's face. She set the brush down and looked at her hair in the mirror. Well at least it was combed out, even if it didn't look perfect. Just then she noticed a piece of paper sticking to the side of Ino's mirror. Her brows furrowed as she pulled the paper off and upon looking at it further, noticed it was actually a picture. It was of both Ino and Shikamaru. They were walking down a sidewalk with Ino clinging happily to Shikamaru's arm. He had a cigarette poking out of the corner of his mouth but a smirk was on his lips as he looked down at the girl he adored. Sakura looked saddened. She wondered if Shikamaru knew about all of this and was out looking for her as well. She kept staring at the photo, remembering the day she saw him sneaking into Ino's room. Then it hit her. She looked over at the window, then around the room at the clothes that were thrown all about. Shikamaru! Sakura quickly placed the picture on the desk, running from the room. Quickly she took the stairs down and made a dash out the front door. There was still one horse left. She looked behind her, wondering if anyone saw her bolt out the front door. Nobody had followed.

The smell of hay hit her nose almost immediately as she opened the large doors. The chestnut horse that she favored so much was sticking his head out of the stall once more. She ran over to him, grabbing the bridle from the hook. The chestnut backed up slightly frightened by her antics.

"Hold still boy. We need to find Ino, before she does something stupid!"

The horse accepted the bit easily. Sakura didn't even bother with a saddle. She needed to get to Shikamaru's house before it was too late. Who knows? Ino could be already gone, but she needed to check anyways. She hopped up upon his back and galloped off into the night, the cold hitting her body instantly and the rain pricking at her skin. She could hear her name being called out behind her somewhere in the dark, but she wasn't about to turn around.

The search party had returned empty handed about an hour after Sakura had left. As they brought their panting steeds into the Hatake estate they pulled up short of the stable as Tsunade and Shizune came running from the house.

"Kakashi! Sakura, she just left! She didn't even tell anyone where she was going!"

"What? Which way did she take off?"

"She started to head out of town. The storm is picking up, Kakashi. She could be hurt!"

Tsunade's voice was shaky with worry. Both of her daughters were gone now and her poor nerves couldn't take anymore.

"Dammit!"

Kakashi cursed under his breath. The night was getting worse. The wind was picking up and the rain was becoming heavier. He started to pull his horse towards the outskirts of town, but the chief of police stopped him.

"Sir! I advise staying here! It's too dangerous out right now. We won't be able to find either of your daughters in this kind of weather. We need to get inside!"

Kakashi looked hurt. He wanted to badly go after his daughter, but he understood what the officer was saying. They needed to wait until morning.

"I guess your—"

He was cut off as one of the horses went flying past him. Kakashi squinted trying to figure out who it was. He looked back and noticed just Sasuke and Naruto still there. Itachi had taken off, pushing his horse towards the outskirts of town.

"I'm not going to sit here as well."

Sasuke growled out. He dug his heels in taking off after his brother. Naruto just shrugged.

"Well I'm not going to sit here like a lump on a log! See ya!"

The blonde took off after the Uchiha brothers. Kakashi just shook his head. He looked back at the officer who shook his head at him.

"Sir, I do not—"

But Kakashi wasn't going to hear of it anymore. This was his daughter. He would risk his life for her if it came to it.

Sakura's knuckles were turning white. Her body shivering against the cold. It wasn't much farther and she would be at Shikamaru's house. She needed to press on. Pressing her forearm to her eyes she tried to wipe away the water that was blinding her. Lightning flashed in the sky and her horse suddenly stopped, rearing up as thunder boomed loudly in the sky.

"Whoa! Steady boy!"

Sakura screamed out as she pulled on the reigns. Her horse calmed and she dug her heels in once more. He huffed as he dug his hoofs into the muddy ground. Shikamaru lived just on the outskirts of town. Sakura could hear the roar of water as she neared the bridge. Upon normal circumstances the bridge was fine. But the wind was so strong that it was splashing water over the bridge. Sakura slowed her horse as she came up to it. She looked to the side of the bridge down into the dark depths of water. The current was running rapidly down slope. She tried not to think what would happen if she fell in.

"C'mon boy, only a little farther."

Her horse pranced around, not wanting to cross the bridge. Sakura had to urge him forward steadily.

"Easy does it."

She was about halfway across. Almost to the other side. Then the sky lit up again and the thunder that followed was so loud Sakura's ear drums started to ring. The chestnut reared up once more, pawing at the sky.

"Whoa, whoa!"

There was no saddle to stop her as she slide down across the slick horses back. Her fingers were too cold to grip the bridle anymore and she plopped down upon the ground with a huff. The air was knocked out of her and her world was starting to spin around her. She saw the back end of her horse as he took off across the bridge to safety. Slowly she stood up on the slick surface of the bridge, but was knocked down as a cascade of water hit her from the side. She coughed, trying once again to regain her stance. Yet again she was knocked down. She was losing the battle against the water. She coughed, once again clinging to the wood of the bridge. Then a huge wave came over the side and easily deposited the small girl over the side.

"Sakura!"

She heard her name being called out. Naruto? What, was he doing out here? She tried to surface above the water, but it pushed her back down. The current pressed against her. Such a strong force against such a small girl. She had no chance. Her hands kept paddling upwards, trying to reach the top. It was so hard though. Her skirts were so heavy with water that they kept pulling her under. She finally surfaced once more. Gulping in as much air as her lungs would allow. She started to paddle towards the banks. She saw a dark figure move among the trees. Something dropped off the dark figure and jumped into the water before she went under again. She felt something scrape her leg and she screamed out in the water, her lungs filling with the cool liquid. Her shoulder hit something hard and her left arm went numb. So this was how she was going to die? A watery death. Well there could be worse ways to go she thought. Her body was so weak she had finally given up, letting the current carry her. Then, out of nowhere, she felt strong arms wrap around her torso. She felt rising. Was she dead already? Maybe she was ascending to heaven? Then the bitter feeling of the cold night air and the piercing cold of rain hit her face. She felt herself being dragged away from the water.

"Sakura! Is she alright?"

"Quick, help Itachi out of the water."

Sakura could feel the mud against her skin as she was dragged onto solid ground.

"She's not breathing!"

Naruto exclaimed. She could sense the worry and fear in his voice.

"Move aside."

Itachi… she could feel a pressure against her chest. She wanted to scream out for whoever it was to stop it! She didn't like the pressure. Before she was in such a serene state and now this. Just let her die peacefully. Then the warmth of someone's lips pressed against hers. She could taste salt on their lips. They felt so familiar as well. Then the pressure again, and again with the kiss. Gurgling she coughed, water spurted from her lips and she inhaled deeply.

"Sakura!"

She looked around. Her father was kneeling at her head along with Naruto. They both held caring looks. Then she looked to her left. Sasuke was holding onto her hand so tightly. His face was emotionless but she could see fear within his eyes. Then she looked to her right. Itachi's eyes were scanning her quickly. Trying to process if anything else was wrong with her.

"Her calf, it's bleeding. We need to get her somewhere quick. She's loosing quite a bit of blood and she won't last long in this weather."

"The Nara house is just down the way. We can take her there."

Her father announced. Sakura felt so cold, colder than before. Her body started to shiver uncontrollably.

"Let's go."

Itachi's arms pulled her up from the ground, pressing her against his chest. She looked up at him. His face was so trained and tense. She was lifted upwards onto a saddle. She could feel the warmth of somebody's body against her back. An arm wrapped securely around her waist as they took off. It felt like an eternity as they carried on. She could feel herself being pulled down from the saddle once more, but back in the strong arms. Knuckles pounded hard on the Nara house.

"Hello?"

Shikamaru's tired voice answered. Then his face quickly registered shock.

"Kakashi…w-what are you doing here?"

"Shikamaru, we need help. Sakura she—"

"Shikamaru, who is it?"

A familiar female voice answered from behind him. Shikamaru's face paled as Ino came up beside him. She too paled as she took in their visitors.

"Ino?"

Kakashi questioned, exasperated.

"Father, what are you doing here? I-I mean…oh my goodness, is that Sakura?"

"We need to come in, she's hurt badly."

Sasuke's cool voice answered with a hint of anger.

"Uh yeah, come right in."

"Where are you parents, Shikamaru?"

"Umm, well, they are out of town."

Kakashi started to fume as he looked down at the young man. Ino clung to his side, trying to hide behind from her father's wraith.

"I need blankets and bandage if you have any."

Itachi laid Sakura down upon a couch, calling out the necessary items he was going to need. Sakura grimaced as her shoulder touched the surface, pain shooting through her arm. She kept shivering.

"I-I-Itachi…"

She whispered out. A heavy think blanket was set down upon her and she heard the loud rip as her skirt was torn.

"She's got a large gash on her calf. Do you have any anti-bacterial medicine?"

"Yeah, I'll grab it."

Shimakaru disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a glass bottle filled with a clear liquid. Itachi quickly took it and moved to her calf. He looked towards his younger brother.

"I need you to hold her down, this won't be pleasant."

Sasuke nodded, moving to Sakura's side. She looked at him with tired eyes, just wanting to fall asleep. His arms wrapped around her torso. His dark orbs searched her glassy emerald ones. Ino gasped as she looked over Itachi's shoulder at Sakura's calf. There was so much blood.

"Hold her still."

Sakura suddenly felt a sharp and excruciating pain. It felt like her calf was on fire. A scream erupted from her throat and she reached out, grabbing hold of Sasuke's arm and squeezing for dear life. Her body lashed out, trying to fight the pain, but strong arms held her down. She started to gasp, her eyes flashing wide.

"Stop! Please!"

She cried out in pain. Her leg started to go numb and her body quickly relaxed. Itachi started to wrap her calf in gauze. Sleep started to claim Sakura and her eyes fluttered. Fingers trailed softly across her forehead, moving her hair to the side. She looked up at Sasuke, her hand still grasping his arm.

"Don't leave me…"

She whispered out. Sasuke just shook his head and whispered back.

"Never."

A/N: You know, I started to titter to myself evilly as I saw some of your reviews. Noticing that you all were figuring out that Ino ran to Shika. Oh how it made me titter! :P