Part One
Chapter Eleven; Outrunning the past
(Sakura's Pov)
I opened my eyes, noticing the glow of sunshine that lit up the entrance of the cave I had stayed in over night, the flames of the fire I had started the night before reduced to a pile of smoking ash. I groaned and slowly stood, healing the injured muscles in my legs from my constant running yesterday.
"So what's the brilliant plan now?" I spat sourly, pulling my traveling pack back in its place as I finger-combed my hair absentmindedly, perhaps I should have thought this out better, I was going to lose everything, hah, and I didn't even have anywhere to go.
Now, we forget everything those humans taught you, you're weak and pitiful the way you are. Too much kindness, too much of that pitiful sage in you. The growling voice of the Jubi bounced off the walls of my mind, and I couldn't suppress a shiver. I wasn't sure what the beast was talking about, but I never really did. I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, where would I go?
"First things first." I sighed, carefully untying the navy silks of my headband as I pulled it from my long locks, they seemed to become more silver for some reason, but I didn't ponder on it as I looked down at the shimmering metal in my hands, lovingly tracing the leaf symbol on it's plate, before a kunai appeared in my hand, and I bit back tears at the nauseating noise of metal against metal, looking away, unable to watch as I disrespected my beloved village so.
When I looked back down a thick, jagged line had been dragged through the emblem, and I dropped to my knees, hands digging into the soil of the cave desperately. I resisted the urge to cry out when pebbles dug into my fingers, splitting my fingernails, as I dropped the headband into the hole I pushed a pile of dirt over it, standing to wipe the tears from my eyes and the dirt from my hands.
"I have heard of an old woman, a puppet master from Suna, Chiyo. I guess we'll go there first." I spoke slowly; the breaking of my heart couldn't be heard over my footsteps as I disappeared through the entrance of the cave, sucking in the sweet morning air.
The sinister laughs of the ten-tailed beast making my heart break more, if possible, but something else told me to remain calm, some other side of my mind telling me I was on the path I needed to be on, no matter how dark it seemed, or how unjustifiable, as long as I was protecting those I loved… I would walk through darkness for eternity.
(Sasuke's Pov)
I closed my eyes, unable to listen to the words of the old man this village considered Hokage, my hands fisted tightly, Naruto had broken out into tears beside me, and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes.
He never knew Sakura, he never tried to know Sakura, he just spewed on about himself all the time. He doesn't know that she likes sweets, or that she loves flowers, he never knew her at all! He just adopted some weak little infatuation for her all circling around her shallow need to attach himself to pretty women, he never knew her, he never knew Sakura Haruno.
Neither did you, you merely knew her as a child. A snickering voice echoed through my mind, a dark thought, my insecurities bubbling forward, but I pushed them back, hands fisting into the fabrics of my shorts.
I sucked in a breath to calm myself, trying to retract my sharringan, it wasn't like the byakugan, he couldn't see through solid objects, so he was just wasting chakra waiting for the damn old man to call us into his office, what the hell was that old bastard doing with the Nara kid? What would he know about Sakura- He's never even talked to her!
"Sasuke… Can you believe she left…? She didn't even say goodbye!" Naruto wailed like a moron, his face shoved into his hands, which was probably best because I'm certain if he had looked at me I would have killed him with my glaring.
Oh she said goodbye all right, and I'll make her pay for it.
"You're- h-hands are b-bleeding Sasuke-San." A soft voice stuttered from beside, I presume it was the Hyuga girl who couldn't speak a sentence if her life depended on it, why was she here anyway?
I looked down to my hands to see that my fingernails had dug into the skin of my hands, leaving bleeding crimson cuts on its surface. I closed my eyes and sucked in another breath through clenched teeth. My blood ablaze with anger and determination. Sakura will be brought back to the village, even if I have to drag her kicking and screaming. Every moment they waste is a moment for her to get further away, it's been over twelve hours since she defected, she could be halfway out of the Fire Nation or further by now!
"Naruto, Sasuke." A drab voice questioned as a spiky head of hair popped out of the doorway, Nara looking calm and lazy as always, I felt my eyes narrow viciously at his as I shot up from my seat, shoving him out of my way as I stepped into the room, noticing we weren't the only one's here…
A ninja in a clad green full body jumpsuit and another that seemed to be a Hyuga by his milky white eyes as well as Kiba Inuzuka, The Hyuga looking impassive and uncaring, and Green clad ninja looking determined and overly energized and Kiba looked like he didn't care either way.
"It seems Haruno Sakura has defected from the village. Now… since she is a civilian with no formal family, we can't send out a group of Jonin, seeing as she's left just as all of the contestants for the Chunin exams have, there are high chances she'll meet a few unfriendly ninja on her way, if you plan to catch her, the five of you can go and try to retrieve her… but if you haven't done so by noon, we'll be forced to mark her a missing nin." He spoke, his eyes sad, but I felt the urge to punch him in the fucking face.
How can he say that since Sakura is an orphan not from a clan that her life isn't important? I snarled but felt the dobe's hands clutching to the back of my shirt, prepared to throw his orange and blue clad self through a window and lunge, he paused and lent forward, "Sasuke, if you do that we won't be allowed to go, we need all the help we can to get Sakura-Chan back, just calm down." He whispered.
I snarled but straightened back into a defensive stance with my hands in my pocket, but that didn't stop me from glaring at the old man who wasn't doing anything about my lost fucking teammate who could be lying in a ditch dead somewhere because she was found by some-
Calm. I sucked in another breath to try and calm myself down.
I needed to remain calm to catch Sakura. Patience.
(Sakura's Pov)
Damn it… I didn't make it far enough, I could feel chakra presences nearing, namely, Sasuke, Naruto and Shikamaru, the rest seemed familiar but I couldn't exactly place them. Why would Shikamaru be in the group? He didn't even know me, well- only through Ino and even then he didn't seem interested in speaking with me. I suppose that means the teams were short, and I know they wouldn't send a proper team out to get me, I'm as plain as paper to the village, easily forgotten. But it's best that way; it means too many people didn't have to miss me.
I snarled and ducked out of the way of a low hanging tree branch, checking my chakra reserves, which wasn't exactly a problem, considering the Jubi was more than willing to compensate with what I didn't have.
There's a secondary group approaching the team chasing us, their levels are past Chunin, I'm assuming the Konoha ninja are splitting up. The Jubi growled restlessly, the voice not effecting me as much as usual, I offered a nod and fisted my hands, repeating the mantra 'they can protect themselves, they can protect themselves,' I needed to break the bonds between us, or they would never let me go. I had to do it, I had to do it, I had to do it. If I popped out of no where and tried to save the day it would only make it worse.
No matter how much I repeated it still fucking hurt to have to say. I had to do it. Whatever was inside me clearly was unstable and I couldn't afford to be weak anymore, if I let it loose- it could hurt everyone I've ever loved. Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi-Sensei (Even if he was a jackass) Ino, and my greatest love of all, Konoha.
Don't blame your insanity on me, girl. It's the way your own blood reacts to my power. Perhaps you're more bloodthirsty than you're willing to admit.
I chose to ignore that.
Soon I was at the Valley of the End, pausing atop Madara Uchiha's stone head, staring at the gap in awe, I've never seen it before, but I shook away the awe and began to cross, looking warily at the forest on the other side of the great falls.
"SAKURA!"
I flinched as I heard a voice, but quickly dropped any kind of emotion from my eyes, turning around to see Sasuke- his eyes the same crimson as before, his chest heaving in deadly pants. I had to push back everything I had to stare impassively at the Uchiha.
(Narrative Pov.-.)
The air was tight, the sounds of rushing water filling the silence. Two sets of eyes, bleak jade meeting a fiery crimson, not a word spoken between the two. Sasuke's inky locks swayed with the tossing winds as his hand clenched into fists at his sides, his shoulders shaking slightly in rage, adrenaline pumping like fire through his veins.
"Sasuke, I don't want to have to hurt you." Her voice was even, uncaring, her hand forming a tiger seal as Hanami appeared before her, chakra strings connecting to the wooden masterpiece in less than a second, her eyes flashing dangerously, "But I will if I have to."
His lips curved up into a sneer, "You're weak Sakura. Don't kid yourself."
She didn't allow his words to faze her, she knew he was coming from a place of hurt, and while he may mean it, he didn't direct it to hurt her. She sucked in an unnoticeable, calming breath, assuring herself she was properly connected with Hanami as the colossal puppet dodged an oncoming kunai with the long, thin blade that shot from its wooden palm. "Too slow, Sas-u-ke." She whispered, her eyes turning to blazing slits as he charged.
Quickly jumping back she maneuvered Hanami to catch his extended fist, using it as leverage to throw him into a large boulder, sparing as much momentum as possible. She didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't allow herself to be captured or injured too badly, she needed to remain level-headed.
Sasuke's eyes swirled crimson and she felt herself instinctively flinch as he stood, wiping the rubble from his shirt nonchalantly, his stride to her was long, powerful, as if she hadn't just thrown him through solid rock. She had to quickly dodge the coming fireballs, using Hanami to block the brunt of the attack; she had proofed the wood so fire wouldn't affect it as much as possible.
"Stop being an idiot, Sakura." Sasuke growled, appearing behind the pinkette, who scrambled to get away from his hand, although she wasn't quick enough and it curled around her throat, she quickly used Hanami to attack him from behind, landing a rough blow to his lower back, enough to assure that he would be pissing blood tonight.
Sasuke let out a strangled cough, pumping a small amount of healing chakra into her throat to ease some of the pressure and pain, her eyes were slightly watery from a small lack of oxygen, but otherwise she was fine. She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, panting slightly to catch her breath.
Sasuke didn't give her a second, came charging at her, as a good ninja should, her time of weakness becoming his time of opportunity. His fist connected with her stomach and she couldn't bite back the gasp that escaped her lips, the only thing keeping her stomach from spilling her lunch was the pain of her lower rib cracking, the pain blurring her vision for a moment, Sasuke's foot connecting with the pinkette's collar bone, a loud crack echoing through the valley as she whimpered under the pain, she bit down on her lip, snarling and flicking her index finger forward, A loud crack echoed through the air as Hanami's mouth sprang open, senbon pouring from the secondary metal tube in the wooden puppets throat.
Sakura ducked out of the way, rolling gracefully across the ground as Sasuke's fist connected with the ground where her head once was, his eyes a blazing crimson as he yanked out some of the senbon needles that had buried themselves into his back.
Sasuke's hands were a blur as he went through several complex hand seals, as he took stance fire poured before him, an immense fireball slowly forming, one of his best jutsu, the Uchiha were best known for fire jutsu. Hence the uchiwa fans.
She hissed and quickly ducked away from his oncoming attack, although it didn't stop the fire from singing her clothing, her left arm took the brunt of the damage, a harsh burn stood bleeding.
From the remainder of his immense flames, Sasuke stepped forward, looking down at the pinkette with unmasked fury in his eyes as he looked down at her, she closed her eyes, prepared for a harsh attack, a sad smile tugging at her cheeks as she curled a hand around her burn, flinching slightly as she attempted to heal it, burns however were complex to heal, and her skills still weren't very honed at all, she was more of a paper-ninja, she could do all hand seals, create jutsu after seeing it just once without a qualm, it was using it in combat that caused her problems.
"You're coming back to the village." His tone was harsh, biting, eyes narrowed and cruel as he grabbed the small girl from the scruff of her shirt, lifting her up effortlessly, she didn't even toss, staring down at him from her ascended position with bleak eyes, although he could see the pain she was trying to mask, it did nothing but bring a sneer to his face as he pulled back his fist, preparing to knock her out with a finishing blow when something cool and slick wrapped around the base of his elbow, and he was forced to look back, seeing Sakura's puppet standing, out of it's fingertips a tendril of cool metal had snaked around his arm, and was now slowly pulling him backwards, he turned and looked back to the pinkette, his crimson eyes finally flinching down to her hands, where he could see her manipulating the puppet with her fingertips, although her eyes never left his, determination burning brightly in jade orbs.
He yanked his arm forward, hearing the chord snap, but it bit into his arm, the slick liquid becoming almost acidic, he was forced to release the pink haired kunoichi in his grip, his teeth immediately clenching with anger as he tore the sleeve off his arm, tossing it to the ground where it continued to fester through the earth, turning back to her before drawing a kunai, she was panting, holding on to her wounded arm, fingers twitching and curling as she manipulated the large puppet, it met Sasuke's kunai with a katana, metal sparked through the air.
Sasuke was moments away from landing a blow, when he was forced to pause in his tracks, his muscles no longer working, the puppet before him stilled instantly, katana inches away from his exposed throat, soft, melodic laughter erupted behind him, and he felt his body moving against his will, he was forced to turn away from the puppet and face his pink haired comrade, her eyes shielded by her silvery bangs, blood dripped down her wounded arm like some kind of grotesque fountain, the laughter was coming through her cracked and bloody lips, skin an unhealthy shade of white usually reserved for cadavers, her Cheshire grin was almost beautiful with angst as she held him in place with chakra strings, the other hand connecting to the wooden puppet behind him, which he was practically at the mercy of at the moment, his sharringan blazed furiously, but she wasn't looking him in the eyes, so he couldn't capture her in genjustu.
"You're so pathetic. If you want me so bad, come get me."
Hanami's large wooden hand expertly smacked against the nerves on the base of his neck, like Sakura herself had done the night before, and Sasuke fell to the ground, Sakura slowly raised her head to the sky, grateful her bangs had covered them as she wiped away the tears that had been pouring from them freely, she looked to her unconscious comrade, and dropped to her knees, an anguished whimper escaping her lips as rain began to fell, she raised her palms to the sky, willing it to wash not only her blood, but her teammate, her friend, her first love's blood from her form as well.
-X-X-X-
Soaking silver locks fell into Kakashi's eyes as he hurriedly made his way through the expanse of trees along with the small medical squad, who had split into groups to meet with the wounded genin, Naruto and Pakkun steadily moving beside the silver haired ex-ANBU as they made their way to the Valley of the End, where they had been heading before the rain fell, and they began loosing Sakura's scent.
Kakashi's visible charcoal eye drifted to the orange clad genin beside him worriedly, the whiskered youth was shaking, apparently Sasuke had branched away from him and found her first, because the only reason they were heading in the right direction, or what they thought to be was the right direction, was because they'd caught glimpse of one of Sasuke's fireballs.
"What will they do to Sakura-Chan..?" The blonde questioned, caecilian blue eyes locked forward as he clenched his fists, willing his heart to stop hitting his rib cadge so hard, but that didn't stop the anxious shaking that wracked through his body. His two teammates could have killed each other by now… Or Sasuke could be dead and Sakura gone, vice versa…
"She'll get a slap on the wrist…" He spoke slowly, his voice screaming to the blonde that he was trying to be sensitive to his feelings, "If she's to return before she's claimed a missing nin…" His words trailed off as they arrived at the valley, the smell of blood, rain, and smoke filled the air, the Jonin quickly scoped the area, much of the stone form of Madara Uchiha was destroyed, blood and weapons scattered the area, she bent down to pick up a scrap of blue fabric, hardly recognizable from the holes that seemed to be burnt into it, his eye narrowed, trying to better inspect the item, when he released a yelp and was forced to release it, looking down at his gloved hand only to see a hole had been eaten into his gloves, "Acid." He concluded, bending down to face his ninken, "Pakkun, do you smell Sakura?" He questioned, eyes narrowed slightly as he heard a muffled groan not far off.
Until Naruto's loud, rather clumsy footsteps brought his attention to the blonde, head hung down, blonde locks hiding his eyes, Sasuke's limp, pale form being supported by Naruto who'd taken it upon himself to drape Sasuke's arm around his shoulder as the blonde supported him with an arm around his waist.
The Jonin's hands shook as he watched Naruto's head raised eyes full of painful tears, "Is Sasuke-"
"He's alive." Naruto shot back blandly, the silver haired male slightly taken aback, never having heard him talk in that tone before; the Jonin swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down at the little brown ninkken before him, whose head bowed slightly as it let out a low whimper.
"Sakura's gone." Kakashi stated softly, watching as Naruto offered a small nod, walking slowly back the direction they had come, as his students forms retreated, Kakashi's hands pulled a photograph from his pocket, yellowed and wrinkled with age, the rain leaving darkened splotches on it as he looked forward to the crying skies,
"I'm sorry Rin, Obito… Sakura."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o00oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o the next chapter will be Sakura's Pov, and then a time skip should come… So… Yeah, everything should be pretty cool.
-Sakura-Centic