explosive

Author's note1: Believe it or not, explosive is almost done. :o I'm thinking probably four more chapters after this one.

If you care: I wish I could go into another world. Just not be kidnapped. Or forced to kill people. Or watch Itachi Uchiha die, because it's a shame when someone that beautiful kicks the bucket.

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"Sir? Shouldn't we chase after them?"

". . . No. . ."

"But- but, why?"

". . . Ino would be mad if I killed them without her."

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011:

((let's rock this bitch))

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The world looks different when it's covered in glitter.

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Sakura was huffing and puffing (but wasn't blowing any houses down) as she ran from Hearts castle, one hand clamped over the bullet wound in her upper arm. Kakashi ran beside her, urging her on. "Where can we stop?" she gasped out as they entered the city once more.

"Not here," he replied, seeming hardly out of breath. "We need to get out of the city."

"W-what?" Sakura exclaimed. "We won't be able to get in again!"

"I have my way of getting in," Kakashi replied as they navigated the darkened alleyways. "Besides, won't we be storming the castle and getting inside to retrieve Sasuke?"

"Don't talk about him like he's inconsequential," Sakura huffed.

"Nice vocabulary," Kakashi said. "He's very consequential to you, isn't he?"

"I guess . . ." Sakura thought about it. Of course she cared about Sasuke. Why else would she be desperately trying to rescue him?

Wait. Kakashi had asked her if Sasuke was important to her. And she said yes. The bastard.

"How are we getting out?" she asked the Knave, changing subjects.

"Front gate!" he said cheerfully. "No one expects you to go through the front gate."

". . . Are you shitting me?"

"Sakura, what would I gain from pooping on you? Think rationally."

"I could say the same to you!"

"No you couldn't. I'm a Wonderlander, therefore I am perfectly rational. You're the mad one."

"Okay, Kakashi."

They came to the front gate. The bridge was drawn, naturally, and guards swarmed in front of it.

"Kill me. Kill me now."

"Sakura, please, again with the irrationality. Why would I kill you when I just risked my life to save you?"

"Save me?"

"That's what I did, right? Back when you were trapped with Naruto?"

"I was not trapped."

"Can we continue this later? I've got some guards to destroy. You just sit out, since your left arm is wounded."

Sakura clutched at her wound. "I can still shoot. They didn't get my gun arm," she said.

Kakashi pulled out his gun. "Okay, then you go and turn that fancy lever over there." He pointed to the 'fancy lever' by the drawn bridge. It was indeed fancy. It had been decorated with jewels and ribbons. Sakura gave up on sanity.

"Ready? Good! Start running when I distract them!" Kakashi ran out into the clearing, gun drawn, yelling in Korean.

The guards turned towards Kakashi and decided he was insane, collectively laughing. Sakura noticed as she sprinted out behind them that each was exactly the same; hair, height, you name it. It was quite disturbing.

She stopped at the fancy lever, and tugged on it hard, trying to turn it. The bridge groaned and lowered some. She bit her lip and tugged some more. Suddenly, every single one of the guards turned at the exact same time and said at the exact same time, "Hey! She's turning the gate!" Then Kakashi switched to Spanish and they turned back to him, laughing once more. If Sakura wasn't in a hurry, she might've stopped and stared, open-mouthed.

She lowered the bridge all the way. The people camped out behind it jumped in surprise and joy, yelling, "Hey, we can get in!" They began to stream into the city, trampling the guards. Sakura jumped out of the way to avoid being stomped on. "Thank the Queen!" somebody yelled as they charged into the city. Sakura wondered with a sinking feeling if they would all be killed.

Kakashi pushed through the crowd, saying to her, "Sakura, your blood is dripping onto your shirt!"

"It's red already!" she snapped, and clamped a hand down on the wound once more. Her adrenaline was disappearing and she was finding that the wound hurt very much.

She and Kakashi pushed through the crowd, trying to get outside the city. "Was this why you wanted to go through the front gate?" she yelled at Kakashi over the noises of the crowd of moving people. He merely smiled underneath his mask.

They made it out onto the grassland, which was now practically deserted. The only person there was the guard who Sakura had encountered before, saying to no one, "On and off, for days and days," over and over again. "He's an odd one, don't you think?" Kakashi said, jerking a thumb at him.

Sakura nodded, but her mind was full of questions. "Where did you learn Spanish and Korean? Where are we going? Where are-"

"Slow down, partner," Kakashi interrupted, holding his hands out in front of him. He stopped in the middle of the field, the brightness and noises from the city of Hearts washing over them. "We're going back to Old Tortellini Ville because that's where Neji, Shikamaru, and Hinata are. And I learned those languages from teachers."

Sakura frowned. "That's not what I meant."

"Well, that's what I meant," Kakashi said, striding forward. "And you should say what you mean. That's what the last Mad Hatter used to say. And he meant it."

Sakura had no comment.

It was still the middle of the night, and the further away they got from the city of Hearts, the darker it got. "Um, are there animals and stuff out?" she asked, a little nervous.

"They are certainly animals, but I have no idea what you mean by stuff."

Sakura decided that conversing with Kakashi was just too difficult.

She remembered that Old Tortellini Ville was just a few hours from Hearts castle, thankfully. It was still nighttime when she and Kakashi reached the town, like it had been when she first entered it. She started walking up to it more stealthily, until Kakashi asked her with an amused tone, "What are you doing?"

"We're wanted criminals here!" Sakura whispered. "We can't just waltz up there!"

"Yes, dancing to the gate would be quite silly," Kakashi said and Sakura resisted the urge to smack him. "But we're not criminals anymore, Sakura; Shikamaru took them to court and won, I think."

". . . You think."

"Yes, I do think. Most people can."

I am going to kill Sasuke for getting me into this mess, Sakura thought, because everything was Sasuke's fault.

Since Old Tortellini Ville was a master in security, there was no gate, only a fence about one foot tall surrounding the town. As Sakura and Kakashi crossed over the fence, a man who must've been on watch greeted them with a howdy and a tip of his hat. "Howdy," Kakashi said back, tipping his own cowboy hat. Sakura suddenly wished she had one.

"Where are the others?" she asked Kakashi, eyes darting around as she expected someone to try and arrest them at any moment. Nobody did, probably because nobody was out.

"In Chouza's inn," he said, and then frowned. "In Chouza's inn. In inn."

"C'mon, let's go," Sakura said, grabbing Kakashi and pulling him in the direction she thought the inn was in. Inn was in. Wow. It did sound weird.

She identified the place by the loud noises coming from the inside. Looked the place was exactly the same as she had left it.

. . . Well, it had only been about three days, but whatever.

Sakura swung the door open. Nobody paid attention to her. Everyone was busy taking part in a typical bar scene; loud talking and laughing, the occasional fist fight or gun fight. Her eyes swept across the room, searching for a glimpse of her friends, but couldn't find any. "Where are they?" she asked Kakashi.

He shrugged. "Probably in their rooms. C'mon, let's go upstairs."

Sakura followed him upstairs and quickly located the room she and Hinata had been staying in. She stopped and knocked on the door, barely explaining herself to Kakashi. The door creaked open the slightest amount to reveal a silver eye.

"Hinata?" Sakura said.

The door was flung open and the White Rabbit beamed at her, pulling Sakura in for a quick hug. "What are you doing here?" she asked Sakura, seeming pleasantly surprised.

Sakura shrugged. "Well, I wanted to see you guys, I guess."

Hinata flashed another smile, and then looked towards Kakashi, giving him a quick nod. He nodded back. Hinata walked over to the room right next to hers and knocked on the door. "Neji, Shikamaru, wake up!" she said.

The door was opened a few moments later to reveal a sleepy Dormouse. "Hinata, what- Hey!" he exclaimed upon seeing Sakura. Then his eyes noticed her arm. "Alice, you're hurt!"

Sakura nodded, all of a sudden feeling a bit woozy. Wait. Did he just call her Alice?

She was ushered into Shikamaru's room and sat down on his bed. Neji was sitting up in the one opposite her, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. (He looked positively adorable.) "Hello," he said to her. "Hello," she said back.

"Tell us everything," Hinata said. "How did you get back here?" Then her eyes drifted down to Sakura's arm. "Well, maybe after we get that bandaged up."

"That would be helpful," Sakura said.

Shikamaru pulled out some bandages from his pack and a small blue bottle. He poured a little bit of the contents of the bottle on Sakura's wound, which made her hiss in pain. "Disinfectant," he explained, and then tightly wrapped the wound in bandages. (He had torn off the sleeve of Sakura's shirt.)

Sakura gingerly poked it, but decided that wasn't a good idea. "How long will it take to heal?" she asked, thinking that she didn't have any time to waste by recovering.

Shikamaru shrugged. "If you say a few prayers, maybe just a couple days."

" . . . Um, okay."

Sakura said a few prayers in her head. (As in, she thought 'a few prayers'. Leave her alone. She's tired. She had a rough day.)

"If you all don't mind, I'm going to retire," Kakashi said, poking his head in the door. "Sakura can explain things for me." His head disappeared and the door was closed.

"Stupid Kakashi," Hinata muttered. "He always disappears."

"I heard that," the Knave called from the other side of the door.

Hinata rolled her eyes.

"So, how did you get back here, Alice?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura sighed. "Long story. I woke up in the Red assassins hideout. . ."

And she told them everything. Escaping. Seeing Gaara. Going into the city of Hearts. Finding out that she was an Alice. (They were surprised, but had suspected that something was wrong with their memories.) Meeting Sasuke and Kakashi. The Finger. Escaping the city of Hearts. When she was done talking her throat felt dry and Hinata passed her a canteen of water. Sakura took a long sip, saying, "I need to take care of that whole Red assassins thing. Do you think explaining to them that I'm an Alice would work?"

"No," Neji said. "I think you should use that to your advantage."

"How so?" Sakura said, frowning (and stifling a yawn).

Shikamaru and Hinata seemed to understand why perfectly well. "From our memories of you, you're actually friends with Karin," Hinata said. "You've been together practically since birth."

Sakura could see where they were going. "Oh!" she gasped.

Then promptly fell asleep.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I bet you anything Kakashi didn't let her sleep on the way here."

"Hey! I can still hear you!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The entrance to the massive skyscraper that was home to the Red assassins was still in ruins, but unlike when Hinata and Neji visited, workers were out taking care of it, hauling away rubbish and figuring out how to rebuild it. Sakura fingered her gun in her holster nervously. Despite the insistence of her friends that she wouldn't get harmed or asked any questions, she was still apprehensive. Most people felt that way when revisiting a place where they had killed several people.

After a good night's sleep, Sakura had been reunited with her pack and was able to take a much needed shower. (Indoor plumbing in a place that didn't have cars?) She had changed into one of the clean pairs of clothes she had packed, a simple green tunic that was comfortable and easy to move in. She had also replaced Sasuke's gun with the one she had first gotten, which Shikamaru had said was the better of the three handguns. The submachinegun sat on the other side of her holster, more for intimidation than anything else because she wasn't exactly sure how to use it.

Her arm was healing up quite nicely due to her prayers, but it still hurt to move it. Luckily it wasn't her dominant arm. Her shooting was entirely unaffected, and Neji had even complimented her on it.

Shikamaru stood a little ways in front of the group, talking to a man who was standing guard and explaining why they were there. Kakashi had not come, saying he'd rather not take chances, since Sakura was supposed to kill him and the Queen might see fit to just do it herself. The rest of them had agreed with that sentiment. Neji and Hinata were off doing another favor for Sakura. They were traveling fast, but wouldn't be back until nighttime.

Sakura had asked her companions to refer to her by her real name, but for the time being they were going to call her Alice, since they didn't want to make the Red Queen suspicious. Sakura actually liked the name Alice, but since she wasn't planning on becoming a permanent resident of Wonderland she figured she'd better stick with her Earth name.

Shikamaru motioned at her. "We can go in," he said, and she strode forward to enter the towering skyscraper.

Inside it was just as Sakura remembered; glass everywhere, and disturbing, never-ending crowds of walking people. A man led them through the complex, not talking to them. In fact, nobody talked and the place was utterly silent, even with all the people crowded in.

They were led to a different place than Sakura had been taken to to see Karin; she figured, with a slight wince, that that room was in ruins.

This room had no throne, only a table set with ten or so chairs. The Red Queen Karin was sitting in one, and popped up as soon as Sakura entered. "Alice!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? After that last freak out I didn't expect to see you for a month."

"I needed to talk to you, Karin," Sakura said, trying to seem as congenial as possible.

"About what?" Karin nodded to Shikamaru, who nodded back.

"About- about Sasuke," Sakura shifted nervously.

"Oh, him?" Karin said rather carelessly. "He's been doing a rather odd job of running this country, hasn't he? That's why so many people wanted him dead, you see."

"Yeah, he's quite the unconventional ruler," Sakura said, recalling the slaughter in the church with a small shudder. "But, um, I don't really want him to die."

Karin lifted an eyebrow. The guards in the room placed a hand on their guns. "Why didn't you just say so?" Karin asked, and the guards relaxed. "Um, well I guess I was a little shocked," Sakura said, trying to seem as sheepish as possible.

"Yes, well, no matter," Karin said dismissively. "We can drop that mission."

"I don't want Kakashi to die either," Sakura said quickly.

"Him, too," Karin said, and Sakura let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Now what else is so important that you had to bring your little friend, too?" Karin asked, gesturing towards the Dormouse.

"Um, well, about Sasuke, there's a slight problem," Sakura began. "See, he's kinda not supposed to be Queen and I really want to get him off the throne. Without hurting him," she added immediately.

"Really?" asked Karin, her interest piqued. "You'll have to tell me the details later, Alice. So, what's my role in getting dearest Sasuke off the throne of Hearts?"

"He's in Hearts castle, duh," Sakura said, laughing a little nervously. "So we need more people if we want a chance of breaking through the castle and getting him back. Before we thought the four of us could sneak in easily but the security has increased a lot and so it would be much harder for us to get out alive."

"Oh, I see," Karin said. "You want the army?"

"Yes!" Sakura said breathlessly.

"Well, of course you can use it!" Karin said brightly. "Hell, I'll even join you!"

"Great!" Sakura said happily.

"May I ask where said army is?" Shikamaru said from the back.

"You may," Karin said.

There was a pause.

". . . Where's this army?"

"You know those people always walking around pointlessly?" Karin said. "They're my army. If I give the word, they'll immediately go into battle form.

"All of them?" Sakura asked, quite astonished.

"All of them," Karin acquiesced. "When is this storming of the castle?"

"Whenever you can get your army ready," Shikamaru said.

Karin shrugged. "These guys are quick. I can have them at Hearts castle by this evening."

Sakura had thought it would take much longer, and so let out a "Wow!" Karin smiled. "In fact, I can tell them to get ready now!" She let out a series of whistles. Suddenly, thumping and voices could be heard from outside the room. The noise was tremendous.

"So, are we pretty much ready to go storming or are there some other things we need to take care of?" Karin asked.

Sakura smiled. "We need to check back with Hinata and Neji, but we're practically ready."

"What are they doing?" Karin asked.

"Getting some more help."

Karin let out a smile. "Perfect. I love having overwhelming odds against the enemy."

"S- Alice and I will take our leave until this evening, then," Shikamaru said.

Karin gave a small wave. "Try not to die until then!"

As they turned to go, Shikamaru said quietly to Sakura, "Are you ready, Sakura?"

"Yeah," she said determinedly. "Let's rock this bitch."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Hinata and Neji had gone to ask the rebel Hearts army if they would help Sakura and her cause.

About half of the army had joined the rebels and the other half had stayed with at the city of Hearts. With the Red army on their side, Sakura was sure that they had an even match in terms of numbers, but if they could get the rebel army to join, they would certainly have an advantage.

For now, though, the Red army marched towards the city of Hearts, marched in perfect unison with stony faces and not a sound, save for the clunking of their boots. Sakura marched along with them, her face just as stony and her mouth just as silent. A sense of gravity had settled over the entire group; this was war they were entering, and most didn't even know why. But the Red assassins did not question their leader. She had led them through much and to glory. They owed her. They would give anything for her.

The two of Sakura's companions walked beside her with the same sense of solemnity. To them, this was their chance to get their lives back, an opportunity to take back the city they had grown up in and loved. And they were soldiers. No soldier ever wanted to lose.

They marched steadily without slowing until it was nighttime and the trees gave way to long grasses. Sakura could see the lights of the city in the distance and hated it. Some small part of her wished that she could turn tail and run and leave Sasuke and her responsibilities behind. But she couldn't do that. He would die if she didn't get him back. And she could not abandon her friends, not when they were so close to getting their city back.

The army stopped for the night; it was a good idea for them to be well rested for the battle tomorrow, and attacking at night when the guards were more and expecting an attack was idiotic.

They had just finished setting up camp when two dark haired fellows came running back along with several thousand soldiers.

"We did it!" Hinata breathed to Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kakashi. She didn't even need to say anything; the small smile on Neji's face was alert enough of the news.

Everyone was smiling as they heard, especially the Red assassins, who very much liked the idea of their chances of dying lessening. With the arrival of the rebel Hearts army, the mood in the camp was lifted some. The White Queen, leader of the rebel army, met with her blood colored counterpart along with Sakura (who Karin had insisted come).

"We are ready to strike at any moment," the White Queen informed the two other women, her gaze intense. "It is time to take back our castle."

Karin let out a small smirk. "Oh, hells yes," she announced. "I do so adore battles."

The armies went to sleep around twelve with the intention of attacking the Explosives at eight the next morning. Despite the fact that Sakura knew she should, she could not fall asleep. Her mind was whirling with the knowledge that she was about to attack a city, an attack she had instigated. If she told herself of just two weeks ago that she would be part of a battle in a fantasy land she would've raised an eyebrow and said, "Me? But I'm not athletic and I don't believe in that sort of stuff." But here she was, and she did believe now. She was a completely different person from two weeks ago; she was a killer, she was an outsider, she was a girl with the power to move armies. And to think that it had all been the fault of Sasuke. He was the one who had gotten captured, after all-

But no. It was all her fault. She didn't have to go and save him. She could've hid in a corner somewhere, but she had decided to play Mrs. Hero, and that wasn't as bad as she made it sound. Maybe it was also her fault because maybe, just maybe, she cared for him a little more than she thought. But only a little.

Beside her, Hinata couldn't sleep either, thinking about how much she'd changed over the past two weeks.

Morning dawned all too soon, and Sakura was shaken awake gently by her bunny companion. Looks like she had managed to fall asleep after all. She couldn't remember when it had happened, but then again you never did.

She gathered her things and followed Hinata outside their tent to find a camp bustling with activity. People's nerves were on edge from anticipation about the upcoming battle.

They set off marching again, going for barely an hour before they reached the city of Hearts. The gate was open, for people were still streaming inside from all around the outside of the city. They screamed when they saw the huge advancing army. Guards in the barracks readied their weapons with panicked expressions.

And Sakura's army advanced into Hearts city.

They were ready.

The war for Sasuke Uchiha had begun.

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It's starting; can't you see?

The end of the journey, the end of you and me

Are you sure you are ready?

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I feel like this chapter is short and rushed, and probably because it is. Sorry. :( But are you guys ready for the big finale next chapter(s)?