(XI) The Loop In Time.


I LOVE MY MOM
No matter what we go through
No matter how much we argue.
Because in the end,
she's always there for me.

-Sakura Haruno-


Choji POV:

Grrrrrrrgg

"Eh- Choji? I think you better go get something to eat while we wait," Shikamaru suggested. Waiting here at the hospital for Hitomi-san's results made me forget about my food for a while, but I don't really mind.

"Nah- It's fine Shikamaru. I'll wait for the results first…" I informed him, my hand rubbing my stomach.

"Cho, just go and eat. Please…" Ino half heartedly pleaded with unshed tears in her baby blue eyes, "While you're at it, bring me some chocolates."

I looked around the room me and my friends were patiently sojourning in. Noticing Sakura curled up in a ball on a chair with Naruto and Sasuke by her side, I sighed and nodded my head at my two best friends.

"Come on Choji, Hana and me will go with you," Shino told me whilst I got up from my chair and the three of us headed down to the hospital's cafeteria. As we walked , I zoned out on the two love birds at my side.

We'd been in the hospital for hours ever since we got the news and rushed here at once. Right now it's almost 2 am and yet we still haven't been informed about Hitomi-san's health. What we've been told was that Sakura's mom was on her way home from their choreography studio when her car was knocked over by a truck driven by a drunk driver. All 29 of us are here, including Lee, Chisayi, Konohamaru, Udon and Shizashi. Teens in ball gowns and tuxes running into the hospital in the middle of the night were apparently an entertaining and shocking sight here. Our parents soon arrived as well along with Hinata in her casual wear because she had left the ball way too early. We ended up crowding the waiting rooms, but no one actually cared about that. Minds are in midst of exploding from the excruciating bid for the health results. Sakura hadn't cried at all, but she hadn't spoken a single word either. Yahiko was comforting Konan while trying to keep himself composed and Sasori was… in a whole different universe of his own. It hurts seeing my friends like this. Without a doubt the ones most affected by this are the 7 girls who just got back. Every time, someone always somehow ends up like this and it's what they've been trying to get away from for 5 years…

"Hey cutesy! What do you need?" the sweet voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I noticed that I was already at the cashier.

Rubbing the nape of my neck awkwardly with my left hand I gave my order, "Two bags of chips and…Just a sec." I craned my head to search for those two who were supposedly to be with me right now. Spotting them at a table talking, I hollered over at them, "Hey Hana! How many chocolates do we need?"

She turned around to face me with a weak smile, "There's 30 teenagers and I don't know how many adults. Just buy some."

"Che. Nice help you were," I muttered to myself as I faced the girl standing behind the counter once more, "and 30 chocolates."

She giggled as she punched in my order at the computer and then her flirtatious eyes locked with mine. I searched my surrounding, thinking she might be flirting with some other boy behind me. When I saw none, it only made me feel more awkward. No girl had ever flirted with me before.

"Here you go," she handed me my food with a smile, "Come back some time."

Her cheeks were turning the slightest shade of pink and I felt my face heating up. Nervously, I took the bag containing our food her and said, "Uh- yeah…"

"Hey Cho, everything ok?" I felt someone approach me from behind and place a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, Shino. Let's go."

I turned my back on the girl and made my way towards the waiting room with Hana and Shino. But, before I fully left the canteen, I glanced over my shoulder at her and I saw her waving furiously. Grinning, I waved back and I heard her say, "Bye Cho!"


Sakura POV:

She would survive.

Tick
Tock

She will survive

Tick
Tock

She'll stay alive!

Tick
Tock

"What is taking so long?" I groaned into my palms which covered my face. Tears stung my eyes but I refused it because I know my mom will survive this! Pulling my natural pink locks, I groaned again. Feeling a hand rubbing my back, I looked up and saw Mikoto-san and Kushina-san by my side.

"Why do these things always have to happen?" I asked no one in particular as I raised my legs on to my chair and buried my face into the skirt of my ball gown, "Why is it always us?"

"Sakura, honey, things happen, no one can do anything about it." It was Kushina-san voice.

I felt movement and someone occupying the seat next to me. "She'll be fine Ok? Hitomi will be fine."

Their voices sounded so unsure, so lost… My heart pounded in fear. Fear of losing my mom just like Gaara, Temari and Kankuro lost theirs 5 years ago right after that tragedy … Shaking my head away from those thoughts, I surveyed my surrounding. Friends and family crowded the waiting room. Each and every one of them white faced, blood running cold, overwrought… Heeding all these didn't help make me feel any better at all. It only made me worse.

Just when paroxysms of rage itched to leak out and make me demand my mom's condition, I saw my dad come out of the operating room. He was one of the surgeons assigned to my mom. Without even thinking about it, I untangled myself from the chair I was sitting in and was by his side in an instant.

"Dad, please tell me mom's ok," I eyed him as he slumped into a chair and eclipsed his face in his hands. Holding on to his brown hair tightly he replied, his words barely apprehensible. But, to me? It kept echoing in my head, loud and clear, causing me to freeze in place and stare at nowhere. Oxygen and blood drained out of my body.

She's in a coma and I don't know if she'll even survive it or for how long she'll be in this state.

She's in a coma…

... if she'll even survive it

… how long she'll be in this state

If she'll survive it…

Coma…

"No…" My heart compressed in my chest as the words rung in my ear more and more, "NoNo. NO!" My knees trembled and gave out, but I felt arms around me, not allowing me to fall. I didn't need to see to know. It was Sasuke, but right now I couldn't care less.

"Sakura everything will be Ok," I heard him console me as he carried half my weight while we stood so that I wouldn't crash to the ground. Emotions rush through me. The ones I've been so intent on keeping intact but the bad news hit me harder than anything possibly could. It shattered me mentally and I couldn't suppress them anymore. Sasuke pulled me closer into an embrace and burying my head in his chest I shed bitter tears.

"It's always the same. Someone always ends up like this," I choked out as I sobbed and sobbed, my clenched hands resting on his body. I sensed one of his arms secure around my waist and his other hand grappling my head to his thorax. It felt comforting but I just couldn't stop crying. Then out of nowhere I felt numb and cold. As if something was pulling me into darkness. I struggled to stop my eyes from flittering, but it didn't work so instead of fighting it… I succumb to it.

"SAKURA!" I heard several voices yelling before I fell, unconscious.


Tuesday:


Sasuke POV:

Sakura had woken up from unconsciousness around noon on Sunday and I was there by her side when she did. It's surprising that she ate, even if just a little. She came to school on Monday and today, but even so she barely spoke to anyone. Her emerald eyes no longer have that glimmer. It's plain, dull green now. Her hair doesn't bounce or flow, her skin is paler than usual. In other words, she's a mess and so is everyone else in our group. We haven't been like this since that day. Five years pass and now it's happening again…

"Sasuke."

Fan girls have been pestering the girls more than usual, but instead of beating the crap out of them, they just ignore the devils. Any other day me and the guys would have been grateful that they're not getting into fights. But somehow these past two days it just doesn't seem right.

"Sasuke!"

Right now we're here at the second Akatsuki practices and we've just been put into our teams. Sakura, Naruto and I are in one group with Kakashi as our mentor. It's surprising that not even Naruto had enough energy to be happy about it. It sucks. Being like this sucks. I just hope Hitomi san wakes up soon…

"SASUKE!"

I jolted up when I felt someone pushing me off of my seat. "What do you want dobe?"

"Look! Over there," Naruto said pointing over towards the training grounds where the girls were training. All the boys were to sit by the bleachers today and watch the girls perform their techniques. Pretty boring if you ask me.

"What about it? It's just the girls training," I pointed out flatly. He smacked my arms and I glared at him. "Look closer teme! Those fan girls are confronting them again."

This caught my attention and I strained my eyes towards the field. There I saw Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Matsuri and Sari standing in a line and in front of them were 7 fan girls. It was the devils' pose. Karin was in the center whilst Yansai, Gairi, Ami, Faye, Yamana and Fumiko stood beside her. It looked pretty intense and I was definitely not getting a good feeling about this. Those fan girls will just get beaten into a pulp if they get into a fight with our girls in this situation. Deadly aura surrounded all of them…

I made eye contact with the rest of the boys in our group, "Guys?"

"Let's go," Neji agreed and altogether we rushed down the bleacher without another word. However before we could even lay a foot on the training ground, a hand blocked our way.


Normal POV:


"Boys, let them be," Madara Uchiha said monotonously, blocking the boys' path leading to the training ground.

"Are you crazy?" Naruto yelled at him, trying to go around Madara without success.

"Oji-san, let us go," Sasuke ordered impassively and with a glare. Akatsuki soon gathered around Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Kankuro, Kiba and Gaara, preventing them from going any further into the trainings grounds.

"Guys, listen. We've been warning those little devils the past week, they got beaten up by the girls as well," Kisame tried to explain to them.

Itachi spoke up grimly as well, "It's them who are looking for trouble."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kankuro demanded.

"They need to learn their lesson," Sasori answered with a grunt.

Gaara's face misshape in anger, "That's crazy! They'll get injured! Have you forgotten what it was like five years ago?"

"No one has forgotten Gaara. But listen to what those fan girls of yours are telling to the girls," Tsunade instructed calmly, while she came up to join them at the foot of the bleachers.

Everyone did as they were told and they heard Karin's insults. "No P-I-N-K-Y! You listen to me! You're just as weak as you're mother! She's so fragile she can't even wake up from a lame coma! And don't even get me started on your dad. He's supposed to be the best surgeon yet he can't even save the life of his own wife! It's PATHETIC!"

"You guys are useless bitches! All you're good at are stealing other girls' boyfriends!" Fumiko's yells could be heard all around.

The boys and the Akatsuki members growled under their breath in anger and murmurs erupted from the rest of the students sitting in the bleachers. Madara angled his head to observe the girls in the training grounds before he spoke up.

"Now you see? Someone needs to teach those girls a lesson."

"But-," Kiba started to protest but Tsunade held up her right hand, "No Kiba. Those insults are unforgivable and you know it."

"There's no stopping our girls now. Just let them handle it un," Deidara reasoned with them.

"Troublesome, but their right," Shikamaru yawned. He then looked over at the girls and noticed something, "They're seething. If you intervene, you'll be the one ending up injured."

"Hn. This is going to hurtful…" Neji folded his arms and kept his eyes on the 14 girls out in the training field.

BOOOM!


Sakura gave the secret look to her friends and they nodded their heads. Whilst she put on her black, fingerless gloves, her friends got into a stance, ready to jump away when given the signal. A cold, deadly gust of wind blew by, causing the girls' hairs to sway away.

"NOW!" Sakura yelled on the top of her lungs and she aimed her punch to the ground in front of her. The fan girls in front of them were clueless, but the Hinata, Tenten, Matsuri, Ino, Temari and Sari weren't. They knew what was going to happen and they jumped back several feet. Before the devils' pose could even comprehend, Sakura's hand made contact with the ground.

BOOOOOOM!

Gasp and cries of shock burst from the bleachers when they heard the explosion. Once the smoke and dust enveloping the training ground dissipated, their shock was increased beyond limits. The ground was uprooted and in pieces, standing in the middle of it all was a destructive looking Sakura. Her friends were behind her, in fighting stances, unaffected by the sudden massacre. However, Karin and her squad were on the ground, injured from the looks of it. They slowly got up, coughing.

"WHY YOU! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Karin screamed in frustration and ran towards Sakura, fists aiming to hurt the pink haired girl. Sakura just stayed there, impassively waiting for the red head to come to her. Once the she was in her reach, Sakura grab hold of the girls hand and swung herself around. She ended up twisting the red head's hand behind the girls' own back. A shriek of pain from Karin raided the ears of everyone around them, but Sakura didn't even flinch.

"NEVER insult my family," Sakura told her in a menacing tone which sent shivers down Karin's back. She twisted the red head's hand once more and another cry of pain was heard. Karin's friends rushed to help her, but were soon blocked by Sakura's friends.

"No, you're fight is with me," Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Matsuri and Sari informed them simultaneously. Karin's devils faltered a bit but agreed other wise and soon enough, the girls were engaged in their own battles. Karin was obviously going against Sakura, Hinata vs. Faye, Ino against Yamana, Temari and Ami, Matsuri vs. Yansai, Tenten against Gairi and Sari up against Fumiko. The girls were fighting with the fan girls of the ones they love…


"A cross dresser can't fight," Gairi mocked Tenten.

The girl in twin buns smirked as she reached into her weapons' pouch. Slipping a shuriken in between each of her fingers, Tenten quickly threw the star like weapons toward the annoying little devil. She didn't aim it at any parts of the girl particularly, but rather just close to touching the frail body jus so she could scare her and make her point clear. And it worked like a charm.

Gairi's high pitched shrieks filled Tenten with pride, "YOU IDIOT! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!"

"Oh so now you're telling that that I can kill you? I though you said I can't even fi-," Tenten's mocking was cut short when Gairi slapped her.

Tenten clenched both her fists and teeth. "You're going to pay." And with that she punched the girl in the guts, causing her to fly backwards and hit the ground. Clutching her belly, Gairi stood up and glared at the brunette. Without wasting time Gairi aimed a kick to Tenten's shin, but the brunette avoided it by jumping back.

"Seriously? Now that's pathetic," Tenten goaded the girl, "a five year old could aim better than you."

"TSK! Baka! You can't win against me," Gairi retorted.

"Insults hurts doesn't it?" The brunette in twin buns stated more than questioned. It only infuriated the other girl. Kicks and punches were soon being passed back and forth.


"Get out of my way!" Ami growled at Temari while she tried to punch her. It was, however, blocked without much effort on Temari's part.

The girl in four pig-tails sardonically yawned, "Man, even Shikamaru gives a better fight than this and that's saying something considering he's so lazy."

"CHA! SHIKA-KUN IS NOT LAZY!" Ami raised her leg to boot Temari in her face. The dirt blonde haired girl saw this and before the other girl's limb could make contact with her face, she ducked down and using a single hand, she struck the girl's stomach and slammed her down to the ground.

"You're an idiot to say he's not lazy," Temari pointed out grimly, "I've known him since I was a kid and he's the laziest person I've ever met."

Ami rolled away from Temari and stood up. In a blink of an eye she charged at the girl with killing intent. Temari just rolled her eyes whilst she just stood there, noting the girl's movement. She saw Ami's left fist twitching, ready to punch. With a triumphant smirk, Temari placed her left hand on her hip and using her right hand, she impeded the blow.

"BAKA!" Ami yelled, out of breath and tired.

Without waiting a single second, the girl in four pig-tails thrust her fist towards Ami's jaw line.


Matsuri seized the nearest fighting pole just as her opponent grasped the another stick.

THWACCK!

The short haired brunette blocked Yansai's attack using her pole. Matsuri entangled her pole with Yansai's own and with massive force, she was able to remove it from her opponent's grip. She caught the pole in mid air and grinned at Yansai. "Not gonna work on me girlie."

"Tch, Oh yeah?" Yansai asked with an air of confidence. She quickly dropkicked Matsuri's hand that was holding her pole, causing the girl to release it out of pain. Now it was Yansai's turn to grin, "You were saying?"

The brunette didn't falter, "It's not yet over." With that she swung her pole at her antagonist, resulting in Yansai losing her footing and falling on her butt. In a haste to dodge Matsuri's next attack, Yansai only ended up hitting her head on the ground. "Uugghh!" she got up rubbing her aching skull, "BITCH!"

"Pfft! It was your own fault," Matsuri notified, "you're too clumsy for your own good."

Frustrated and gripping the pole with both hands, Yansai lunged forward, nailed one end of her pole on the ground, and used it to prop her herself up to calcitrate the smirk off of the brunette's face. Unfortunately, her limb only made contact with the pole used by Matsuri to thwart her onslaught. The brunette then jabbed Yansai on the shoulder with the end of the pole in her hands. It wasn't a hard hit, but the other girl still stumbled backwards in contact.

"I already told you it would not work on me."

"I hate you Matsuri!"

"Feeling is mutual."

The two rivals charged at each other with a barrage of pole attacks. There was neither room for mercy nor forgiveness for their hatred pumped in their veins.


"You can't win against me blondie!" Yamana exclaimed as she fell on her face when she tried to lunge at the said blonde, "Ugh!"

"Already am baka," Ino stated whilst she checked if her perfectly manicured nails were chipped, "and I didn't even do anything!"

The dark haired girl snarled in aggravation and thrust a blow to the blonde's thorax. It failed yet again when the blue eyed blonde stepped aside. Blood boiling even more, Yamana charged once more. This time she aimed to punt the other girl in the rib cage. Dodging it again, Ino looked up to the sky and sighed, "You're not much of a duelist are you? I mean come on, I'm the one who's always worrying about my looks and you're the one who's supposedly the tough one. Yet, here we are dueling and I'm already victorious without any effort."

Yamana spit on the ground and wiped her chin with the back of her hand. Standing in front of Ino, she spoke with hostility, "For years all I wanted was Kiba's attention, but I never succeeded. Then you come along with your friends and you become his whole world. If you were in my shoes, how would you feel?"

"Oh Kami-sama! How many times do we have to tell you that we're all just friends! We have been since birth. There's nothing more. Besides I like some other guy…" Ino explains to the dark haired girl out of annoyance. She had had enough of these fan girls and their lame false accusations.

"You might like another guy but Kiba likes you," Yamana growled and clenched her fist to the point it turned white. Ino was taken aback.

"Y-you're lying, Yamana. Kiba doe-,"

"No Ino, I'm not lying. Because of it, I feel like I could KILL you," the dark haired girl cut off Ino's talking. She watched the blonde's face contort from confusion to shock to pain.

When she heard the words come out of the other girl's mouth, Ino's mind was filled with hidden, agonizing memories. She didn't try to push them back down to the darkest pit of her brain. No. Instead she let them flow and resurface. It's been years…

Manami…

Friends…

Kiba…

blood. So much blood…

Namitaki…

fights…

rivers of tears…

As more and more flashbacks cross her mind, more and more tears roll down the blonde's flushed cheeks. Painful memories… Ino pulled on her hair and screamed in remorse and mortification. Her knees buckled and she just let herself fall. She shielded her face with a curtain of her long hair and just sat there trying to calm herself down. Everyone at the bleachers and Yamana just watched her sudden breakdown with curiosity. The girl couldn't be in pain since Yamana couldn't even lay a finger on her. So what was the problem?

"Hey blondie! What's wrong with you?" the dark haired girl asked. There was no chagrin in her tone. They observed while the blonde girl shoved herself off of the ground, wiping away dried tear stains from her face. On her feet again, she tied her lose hair into a tight bun and spoke up in a tone ringing with danger, "I'm not letting any more fan girls to hurt my friends. None of us will tolerate it!"

Positions were switched now. It wasn't Yamana who was attacking, it was Ino. But, unlike the dark haired girl, Ino was able to punch and kick the girl. The nice, innocent girls are long gone…


Hinata did a 360 degree turn and drop-kicked Faye on her cheek. Hair disgruntled in the process, Hinata steadied her petite body and glared at her opponent, now lying on the dirt. "Don't ever say that again," the Hyuuga heiress said maliciously.

Caressing her bruised cheek, Faye repeated what she said in hopes of infuriating the raven haired girl even more. "You're sister is a slut!"

Not liking what the girl labeled her younger sister as, Hinata clenched her hand and aimed a blow at the girl's nose, but she stopped it in mid air due to what that said girl mentioned next.

"Naruto doesn't like you. He kissed another girl at the Ball on Saturday."

Allowing the information to sink into her brain, the Hyuuga heiress drew back her hand and let it limp on her side. Taking note of Hinata's displeasure, Faye decided that belittling was her best weapon in this fight since she couldn't physically hurt the heiress.

"An orange haired girl danced with him after you left. He let her kiss him. Naruto had been asking around for this girl the past two days, Hinata. He wants her not you. You have no chance against her. Or me in that case."

Ignoring her antagonist's blabbering, Hinata surveyed her surrounding and friends' battles. She saw that Tenten and Temari are already finished with theirs, Ino is enraged and Matsuri isn't even breaking a sweat in her pole fight. Her eyes landed on Sari who dodged Fumiko's pummeling. Wasting no time Sari took advantage of Fumiko's imbalance and smashed the girl to the ground, ending their fight. Hinata let her wandering eyes search for Sakura, but before she could find her pink haired friend, she felt the presence of a punch being aimed at her. Snapping away from her thoughts, the heiress acted in a blink of an eye and blocked the attack with her arm.

"That's a third rate thing to do Faye," Hinata told her opponent and in return the girl just snarled at her. Rolling her eyes, Hinata gathered up all her anger in her final blow, causing Faye to black out then and there.


Back at the bleachers, students and teachers alike are stunned beyond belief. Their jaws are agape, eyes bulging out of their sockets and breaths held in.

"Talented bunch," Madara stated with amusement, "those 7 deadly girls…"

"Che. More like 7 charms," Tsunade grunted, still intently watching the fights.

Madara angled his head to look at Tsunade, "And why so?"

"They have boys fawning over them wherever they go. Considering their young, beautiful and strong? Not that surprising," the blonde, big busted principal answered.

"I think they'd make really good Akatsuki members," The Uchiha spoke his mind, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Well, you are the leader of Akatsuki. If you say they would, then maybe so."

"Look over there. Isn't she your apprentice or something?"

Tsunade landed her eyes on the person Madara had been pointing at. It was Sakura. A grin tugged on Tsunade's lips when the pink haired teen cracked a huge boulder with a light punch. Karin was already curled up into a ball, whimpering in fear. After writhing Karin's arm behind her back, Sakura didn't even need to lay another finger on the red head. Why? Seeing the ground and boulders being pulverized by a single punch from Sakura scared the wits out of the red headed girl. Tsunade would bet on her life that Karin would at least think twice before angering Sakura now. And that's saying something considering the big busted woman always loses her bets.

"Well... d'you think we should intervene now? Looks like those little devils have learnt their lesson," A chuckle escaped from Madara's lips but as soon as it came, it was gone. Uchiha's don't do chuckling.

"Heh. They'll need surgeries," Tsunade laughed at her own exaggeration and signaled for the Akatsuki members to stop the fights between the 14 girls.


THAT NIGHT IN THE HOSPITAL:

.

A tear sled down the cheek of a certain pink haired girl as she sat down on the chair next to her sleeping mom's bed. She observed her mother's chest move up and down from breathing.
Breathing
… a sign that she's not dead at all. It was reassuring but her being in a coma and with no knowledge of when she'll awake or even if she would… the thought struck her hard. She shouldn't be a pessimist in situations like this! Her mom will survive this. She can't not wake up. That'll be insane. Right…?

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK!

The door creaked opened and light from the hallways illuminated the dark room. A head popped in from the side of the door, "Sakura?"

That voice! It couldn't be could it? Sakura turned her head to look at the person who called out her name. A gasp slipped out of the teen's mouth.

"No way…"


Well what do you think? I'd been too lazy to write down this chapter so i don't think it's that good. But oh well. SO anyways, who's the late night visitor? What were those memories that raided Ino's mind during the fights? WHO is Manami and what has Namitaki to do with all these? What part does Kiba play in this wild past? xD oh and who was the girl flirting with Choji?