Hey everyone! Sorry again for the wait, and I won't even make any excuses, but you should know there won't be any updates for at least a month or so. My exams are coming up and I need to focus on that. The good news, however, is that after my exams I can kick back and relax, so that means more updates more regularly! So enjoy this chapter!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, unfortunately.

Contradicted

Chapter Eleven: Uncontrolled Damage

You may, perhaps, recall the moment I talked about Gaara and Naruto. How Naruto saved Gaara from himself, how he was the hero.

The hero.

It's such a heavy, meaningful word, isn't it? To be a person that saves the day. Hero. In our world, it's the only way to die without being forgotten. Die a hero.

Basically, die young and powerful, die protecting your teammates, protecting Konoha, and get the mission done.

It's a tall order, being a hero, dying a hero. Hero. Kami, who made that word up? They ought to be strangled. Jeez. The idiot obviously never thought of the consequences of coming up with a word like hero. If you're not a hero, you're just a nobody, or you're known for all the wrong reasons.

But Naruto…he's a hero all right. He probably doesn't even realize it. He just swoops in, saves the day and gives that lopsided grin of his. All he thinks is that's he's doing the most obvious thing you can do. Lending a helping hand. And that's what makes him the true hero.

But if Naruto's the real hero, and he's the one in trouble, who's supposed to save him?

Sasuke? Gaara? Kakashi?

Me?

While chasing after Akatsuki, who had already done so much damage to an entire ANBU Squad?

Reality, sometimes, utterly sucks.

Because that night, three years ago, I faced the probability that I was going to lose Naruto. My Naruto, my hero, my brother.

And that night, I lashed out. I cried.

And I couldn't stop screaming.

Three years ago

24th November

Sabaku no Gaara was a very anti-social person. No one blamed him for it. He had spent his childhood hated, lied to and sheltered. His early teenage years were spent killing for a hobby. He hated the world, and the world, in return, hated him back.

Except Uzumaki Naruto. He set things right. Showed him another path, one that didn't involve genocide and the general destruction of the Earth and all the living things on it; one that involved having friends. So Gaara started himself a new life, at the ripe age of twelve, slowly making himself into the person he is today.

But he was still very anti-social. He didn't have friends; he didn't really call them friends. Instead, he had a list of "Important People" in his head, and told himself that he would always protect them.

His brother, Kankuro, who had helped and guided him to the title of Kazekage, was on the list, and so was his sister Temari, who had always looked after him during this period. Also on the list was his student, the woman who brought him his coffee every night—because, damn, he wouldn't survive without caffeine—and, of course, the entire nation of Suna. Obviously.

But also on his list were two Konoha ninjas. More specifically, a medic and a demon holder, just like him.

Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto.

And the moment Hatake Kakashi slammed into his office, holding the small blond brat in his arms, his normally calm face tense and flickering with alarm, Gaara's heart dropped and the foreign feeling took over him.

By the time Kakashi had managed to utter the words, "We're in trouble." Gaara was on his feet and throwing orders down the phone to his brother. Within a minute, Hiro had been moved to the hospital (with the promising threat of, "Keep him alive or Sakura will have your head!" thrown at the alarmed medic from Kakashi), and within another minute, they gathered at Suna's gates, with five extra Jounins, two of which were Kankuro and Temari, two of which were Suna's best medics, racing across the desert to the ever distant forest.

When they only found the Hyuuga, as well as the remains of Itou Leiko, that foreign feeling did nothing but grow. It took them all night to find the others.

It was only when they eventually found a severely injured Sakura and the Uchiha, notably without Naruto, did Gaara finally identify that foreign feeling that seemed to be getting ever more prominent.

It was fear.

For the first time in his life, Gaara was scared.

25th November

10.30 a.m.

White.

This whole waking up to white thing was getting annoying, Sakura thought dimly. Her eyes were half open, apple orbs peeking out from eyelashes, only halfway focused. The ceiling blurred and refocused several times, but the fact remained.

It was white.

"You're awake!" an unfamiliar voice cried. "Thank Kami, you had us all worried for a while there. The amount of blood you lost—honestly, I don't know how you survived…"

Sheer dumb luck, Sakura thought sarcastically. Or, maybe, I don't know, the fact I'm a medic means I can control my chakra flow perfectly and direct it instantly to any wounds?!

"Anyway, we healed you up very nicely, you should be able to get up and move about in a couple of days…" the voice rambled on. Sakura sighed; half thinking she should probably open her eyes properly and look somewhere other than the white ceiling. She honestly didn't know how Naruto dealt with it, being in the hospital so often—NARUTO!

Panic and nausea hit her all at once. She sat up quickly—too quickly, her head spinning and her eyes blurring. The chatty nurse gasped in surprise.

"Haruno-san! Please, you shouldn't be moving!"

"When did I arrive here?" Sakura demanded, swinging her legs from the bed, bare feet touching cold tiles.

"Um, just a few hours ago—please, Haruno-san, you can't move yet—"

Sakura ignored her, eyes focusing on the clock opposite her bed. 10:35. It had been hours since Akatsuki…and Naruto…

Her eyes caught sight of jet-black hair, her line of vision snapping to the bed under the clock. The suddenly frail-looking form of Hyuuga Neji lay within the crisp white sheets, eyes shut and skin pale. The steady beep of the heart monitor soothed Sakura's nerves, letting her know that he was alive and all right.

If only she could say the same for Naruto.

"Where's Hiroshi?"

The nurse blinked, "Uh, just here, Haruno-san—wait! Don't get up! Oh Kami…"

Sakura ignored the poor, harassed nurse, yanking the IV tube from her arm and walking over to the small blond in the bed next to hers. There was no infectious smile now, no bright green eyes sparkling with mischief. Sakura felt her heart sink at the sight of the small teenager lying there, unconscious—

"He's comatose." The nurse told her softly.

Sakura shut her eyes, willing back the tears. There was no time for this, no time to think of the horrors Hiro-kun would be suffering in his Mangekyou induced coma. Once she had deemed it safe again, her eyes flickered open and she reached towards Hiro's rucksack that lay beside his bed. Bringing out the pink tattered bunny that Hiro never traveled without, she took his hand and curled it around the bunny.

But seeing Hiro lying there, completely motionless, a hand curled around that bunny, a tear slid down her cheek.

She was going to murder Uchiha Itachi.

10.56 a.m.

The Kazekage's office was silent. And this wasn't from the lack of occupants either; three men occupied the large space.

The first was the Kazekage himself, Sabaku no Gaara. He was sat on his chair at his large desk, as he did everyday, with a slight difference. There was no paperwork taking place today, despite the large pile that continuously grew. No, he simply sat there, tense and severely pissed off.

The second was Hatake Kakashi. He sat on the window seat, nonchalantly picking at his tank top. To any normal person, he would seem completely at ease. Only those who knew him well noticed the way the muscles in his arms would flex, the way his lazy dark eye kept darting around the room. There was no ease in this man.

The third man was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. It was very obvious as to what he was feeling: his continuous pacing back and forth proved it. Dark eyes glared at the floor and fists clenched and unclenched. The restlessness of this particular Uchiha showed what the other two men were feeling: tension and the need for blood.

So when the double doors slammed open, needless to say, all three men were immediately on their feet.

It turned out to be a certain pink haired kunoichi.

"Why the hell are you still here!" she shouted, her green eyes dark with anger and anxiety.

"Sakura!"

"Why aren't you tracking them?" she demanded.

"Sakura…" Kakashi sighed, "We can't just chase them. This is Wind territory, we need permission."

"…What?" Sakura hissed, and all three males had to suppress a wince. She rounded on Gaara, "You're the Kazekage! Why haven't they got permission yet?!"

"Sakura," Gaara started in a placated tone (as much as an emotionally stunted Kazekage could placate anyway), "It isn't that simple. The council needs to grant permission as well, and they're a bit skeptical about letting some of their best ninjas chase after Akatsuki, especially for someone from a different Country."

"Damnit, that's just stupid!" Sakura snapped, "Aren't we your allies?!"

Sasuke sighed at his team's resident medic, "Sakura, this is bad enough as it is. Don't make this even more difficult."

"NO!" Sakura yelled angrily, "No, you're the ones making this difficult—you're the ones making this harder than it really is!" she rounded on Gaara and Kakashi, her voice now adopting a deadly whisper, "This is Naruto we're talking about. Naruto."

The way she said his name, with such love and importance, hit the three men in the face. They had known what they were dealing with, they had known Sakura would react like this, they had known they should've been long gone, chasing down Akatsuki and Naruto, but her words still hit home.

"HARUNO!" Sasuke snapped, adopting what Leiko always –used to— call his I'm-the-Captain-so-listen-to-me voice. "Stand down!"

Sakura's head snapped to the onyx eyed Uchiha, disbelief in her apple eyes.

"Stand down." He repeated, his voice becoming slightly softer and tinted with pity.

Slowly, Sakura stood up straight, apple eyes giving away the betrayal she felt, and whispered, "Yes, Captain, sir."

The air was thick with tension, and awkward silence reigned. To be told to stand down was often an embarrassing affair for shinobis, mostly because it meant you were behaving extremely irresponsible. It was also a harsh reminder that you always answered to those more powerful than you, and to a shinobi, that was often a ruthless blow to the pride.

Sakura had never been told to stand down before. Ever. By anyone. Not Kakashi, or Tsunade, or, until now, Sasuke.

It took her a moment to recover and remember what had caused her to reach such a state. Luckily, at this point, a quick knock resounded on the door.

"Enter." Gaara said sharply, his jade eyes still on Sakura.

Kankuro entered. He had a weary face. Sakura trembled, trying to squash the rampage of emotions swelling up inside her, trying hard to remain professional. Being told to stand down was having its affect on the rule-abiding kunoichi.

"Gaara," he had hesitantly, "The council has made their decision."

There was a tense pause. All eyes were fixed on the puppet master.

"They won't allow us to send a rescue team. They say this is Konoha's problem, as Akatsuki will no longer be on Wind territory by now."

"What!" Sasuke said angrily. "That's bullocks!"

"I know. I'm sorry, I did all I could." Kankuro replied, his eyes betraying his anger, while his face remained impassive.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, "So, one of my team is dead, another comatose and another poisoned; and the one in most danger—the most dangerous is terms of the demon—is being allowed to be taken away and probably murdered on a mere whim of a council?! We waited for nothing then!"

"Uchiha," Gaara cut across calmly, the warning clear. Sasuke fell silent, but his onyx eyes conveyed everything. The redhead turned to his brother; "I'm putting you and Temari in charge of the village. Do you understand?"

"Gaara?" Kankuro said in surprise.

Gaara calmly picked up his gourd. "Sakura, get your weapons and first aid kit. We'll meet you in the lobby."

Sakura didn't bother to question him; she understood what he was doing. And finally! Something was getting done! She hurried out of the room.

Gaara turned to Kakashi. "Have you contacted the Hokage?"

Kakashi nodded. "She's very concerned. Two ANBU teams are on their way as we speak."

The Kazekage nodded, satisfied. "Good. In the mean time, it's about time we got that idiot back."

"Gaara!" Kankuro exclaimed, "You'd be disobeying the council—you could lose your Kazekage title!"

"I'm not disobeying them. I only need their permission while we give chase in Wind. They are no longer here. I am merely accompanying my allies on a standard Search And Rescue mission."

Kankuro gaped for a moment, before his pride caught up with him and he straightened himself out. "Yes, Kazekage-sama," he smirked, "Kick some ass for me."

"You can bet on that." Gaara growled as he swept from the room, Sasuke and Kakashi at his heels.

12.45 p.m.

The midday heat was harsher than Sakura could remember, and this was with being under the shade of the trees and foliage. She could feel her t-shirt sticking to her body, soaked with sweat as they leapt from branch to branch. Pakkun was ahead of her, leading the way with his nose.

"You okay Sakura?" Kakashi murmured into his microphone from somewhere behind her.

"Yeah. Just hot."

"We'll take a quick break—" Gaara suggested, but was quickly cut off.

"No!" Sakura growled, "No, we've wasted enough time. I've trained for long distance running, I can manage!"

Gaara opened his mouth again, but this time Sasuke interrupted. "Leave it, she's right. I didn't have her running laps around the village for nothing."

They could barely see each other, running with at least two trees between them, but Sakura managed to catch Sasuke's satisfied look from in between the leaves. Scarily enough, she knew he was proud of her, of how she was fighting and holding herself in this ordeal. He was right to be proud. Five years ago, she would've just cried.

Sakura shook her head and looked back towards Pakkun. They had been running for almost two hours in unbearable heat that just seemed to be getting worse. No breaks, very little provisions. This was going to be tough.

Against her will, her apple orbs swiveled sideways again, taking in Sasuke's lean form moving gracefully over the branches. She wondered how he was holding up. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. His team was falling apart, with only two standing, one comatose and the other dead. And all that at his older brother's hand. It was a wonder the black haired Captain hadn't completely flipped yet.

5.35 p.m.

Static.

Sakura hated static. Static represented problems. Malfunctions. Disconnected from your teammates.

It reminded her of the day before, of Leiko's screams of pain before the radio turned to static…

"Kami." Sakura growled, tapping the earphone impatiently. Eventually, the static gave way to voices.

"Sakura? Sasuke? Kakashi-san? Kazekage-sama? Bloody static—"

"Shikamaru!" Sakura cried happily.

"Sakura! Good. Look, we're coming up to the forest—"

"Stop!" Pakkun suddenly yelped, skidding to a stop on a branch high above her. Sakura almost tripped over herself, trying to stop halfway from leaping off the branch she had one foot planted on.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru questioned in her ear.

"Hang on, one second Shika." She muttered, looking up at Pakkun. Kakashi landed smoothly beside her, also looking up at Pakkun as he scrambled down the branches and slipped, Kakashi catching him easily.

"I'm smelling a lot of horribly tainted chakra. A lot. As in, there must be pools of the stuff. But that's not all. I'm smelling something bigger, more furious and a hell of a lot more dangerous. To be honest, I'm just a tad terrified to get closer."

"The Kyuubi." Gaara said calmly, gracefully jumping down on the branch next to theirs, Sasuke following.

"We would've sensed something that potent, wouldn't we?" Sakura asked.

"My nose is far more sensitive than your ability to sense chakra. You'll feel it within the next fifteen minutes."

"I don't understand. No one can sense the Kyuubi's chakra, that's why a lot of people don't know about Naruto. Why can you smell it now?" Sasuke questioned.

There was silence, as everyone contemplated this. Sakura bit her lip, and on pure reflex, looked up to Kakashi for an answer.

He had it. He had the answer. She could tell from the way his eye had suddenly darkened and his stance changed. And it worried her.

"Kakashi?" she whispered.

"I should've realized sooner. Kami, I'm an idiot."

"Kakashi, just—"

"They're trying to take Kyuubi." He said.

"What? What d'you mean?"

"Take Kyuubi? Like, how? Make him turn? Control him? What?"

"Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi cleared his throat, stopping the barrage of questions. "They, to put it crudely, want to forcibly eject the Kyuubi from Naruto's body."

There was silence again, this time as they stood there in shock. Finally, Sakura's voiced the question they all wanted to the answer to.

"Would…would he survive?" her voice trembled. She was afraid of the answer. Everyone was.

"…No."

Haruno Sakura knew, at that very moment, that some things were worth pushing yourself beyond the limits, no matter the damage, no matter the impending doom of death. To Sakura, the one thing, one person worth death, was Uzumaki Naruto.

Which was why Sakura whirled around and hurtled at break neck speed towards Akatsuki, forgetting her fatigue and uncaring for the danger ahead.

She just ran.

And she couldn't help but feel comforted when she felt Sasuke's presence right by her.

Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if we had left earlier. If they had left without me, even. Just gone and tracked them down.

The fight would've taken place earlier.

The blood would've been spilt faster.

But even then, I know we would've been too late. They had a day head start after all. It was irrational of us to think we had enough time to stop them. That Shikamaru and the others stood a chance of helping, when even we didn't.

We never stood a chance.

Naruto never stood a chance.

He was long gone by the time we caught up.

We were too late…