Chapter 13

The Second Wind

There was a very long moment of silence as everyone just continued to stare at Temari, alive… Of course, then their attention turned from her, to the person helping to prop her up in the doorway.

"Hokage-dono?" The Leaf ANBU called out in surprise.

"Temari…?" Shikamaru whispered, his whole attention focused on her. He had still yet to notice Tsunade or anyone else, for that matter. He took a small step forward, stopping. He was afraid she'd disappear.

Temari gave a small smile, "Hello."

"Temari!" Shikamaru rushed forward, grabbing a hold of her. She let out a small gasp of pain as he clutched her to him. "Temari…you're alive."

"Hai…" Temari gasped out, though tears stung her eyes. "Hai, Shikamaru. Still very much alive." Shikamaru continued to cling to her, his face buried in her neck as tears rushed from his eyes. Apparently he could still cry. He breathed in her scent, reveling in the warmth and feel of her once again. Something he had thought he'd lost.

Shikamaru pulled back from hugging her before capturing her lips with his. When he pulled back, he leaned his forehead against hers. They peered into each other's eyes as Shikamaru whispered, "I love you."

Temari smiled, "I love you to, baka." She began to stumble on her legs and Shikamaru immediately picked her up in his arms, cradling her to him. He gave her a lopsided grin. "Che. Women. You're all so troublesome."

Temari grinned back.

"Shikamaru." This was the Hokage. She looked at him sternly. "I do believe I said I wanted all of you here immediately. What is the meaning of this? Where are Neji, Sasuke, Hinata, and Naruto?"

Shikamaru blinked, his mind completely in a fog. He still couldn't comprehend anything that had just happened, or even believed that it had happened. Luckily, Kakashi took over.

"All four of them went after Sakura after being ordered back here."

"So they disobeyed my orders." Tsunade gave an annoyed and angered sigh.

"Temari…" Kankuro began, "How on earth…did you survive?"

Temari gave a weak smile as Shikamaru continued to hold her. "It was Sakura-chan."

"Nani?" The group chorused.

Tsunade cut in. "How can I explain this?" She gave a loud sigh as she began pacing, apparently forgetting that four of her strongest shinobi had just left Konoha and become missing-nin. "Well, I suppose it all begins with an explanation as to how Sakura did it. You see Sakura has a special…ability, well not even that really. It's like a blood trait only different. It is no jutsu and it relies solely on healing chakra. If she had not been trained as a medic I don't think she could have pulled it off."

"Tsunade-dono, what are you saying?" Lee asked, not comprehending.

"Well, you see, I noticed it for the first time with her healing of Ino. Ino shouldn't have survived. But she did because Sakura gave her part of her life energy. That time it was her need to save her best friend that did it. You see, for some strange, unknown reason, Sakura has the ability to…give her life energy away."

"How is that possible?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, not necessarily give…" Tsunade shook her head, a confused and irritated look on her face, as if she couldn't quite think of the right words. "It's more like someone's supreme need for healing that draws it out of her. She doesn't really know how to control it, and she can't harness the power. It comes and goes. It won't work all the time and she can barely control when it does or to what extent."

"So…Sakura-chan gave Temari-dono part of her life energy?" Shino concluded.

"Hai." Tsunade nodded. "However, it was only a little bit, just enough to keep her alive until she was delivered here, and I don't believe Sakura even knew she did it. It was such a minimal little thing that Ino didn't even realize Temari was alive until you were all long gone. Then she, Choji, and Tenten rushed Temari here as fast as they could. Luckily I had come here to speak with Gaara-dono and performed the necessary healing that still needed to be done."

Shikamaru stiffened as he continued to hold Temari. Sakura…you saved her. All this time I've hated you and you're the reason she's alive…Shikamaru looked down at his hands. Dear god, what have I done? He felt guilt assail him. If I had known Temari was still alive…I would have pretended we never got the order from Tsunade. I would have kept on going to search for you…

"So Sakura-san…she saved her?" Shikamaru croaked out from his dry throat.

"Hai."

Hearing those words confirm his thoughts, Shikamaru's stomach plummeted. He didn't say anything, merely stared at the ground. Suddenly a hand tipped his face, and Shikamaru found himself looking into Temari's eyes. She gave him a confident, silent message that told him he needed to do the right thing.

"Well, now that you are all here, we can head back to Konoha." Tsunade began, her voice gruff. "Neji Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, and Sasuke Uchiha will be named as missing-nin."

"Hokage-sama." Shikamaru began, "Please, don't do that. They were only trying to save Sakura." Temari placed her hand over his and gave it a small squeeze of encouragement.

"But they disobeyed my orders."

"Then Hokage-sama…I'm going to have to disobey your orders as well."

"What?" Temari furrowed her brows at him, "Why?"

"I didn't know that Sakura-san saved Temari's life. I owe her a large debt that I can't repay. I must go save her from the Akatsuki."

Tsunade watched him with hard eyes. They softened slightly as she saw the resolve there. She then turned to Gaara. "Kazekage, I cannot give him a mission. I hired him on to you to order around. Its your call."

Gaara watched him with his emotionless face—and then a small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "I should make you stay here as payment for almost getting my sister killed."

Shikamaru nodded.

"But I'm sending you on a new mission. I want you to go find Sakura Haruno and rescue her from the Akatsuki. You will take Kankuro, Ino, Kiba, and Kakashi."

"Hai." Shikamaru nodded.

"But I want to go!" Lee whined.

Tsunade grumbled, "You're needed here, you baka. Don't be an insubordinate." She then turned to Shikamaru: "If you meet up with that idiot Naruto and the others, take them with you—and give them a few lumps on the head for putting me through this. I'm going against the council in this, and I'll need all of your support when it's over." She gave a loud sigh as she shook her head, "The rest of you are needed here to help compensate for the sand ANBU that were killed by you earlier."

Choji gave a grunt. "Yeah, well they attacked us first. It shouldn't count."

Tsunade resisted the urge to laugh.

They haven't given up on you, Sakura-chan. Hang in there.

The first thing Sakura did when she awoke was take in a deep breath. Her whole body still ached, though it was now only a mild soreness. Hot tears slipped from her eyes and slid down the well-known tracks on her dirty face. She was facedown in what looked like another cell. This one, however, was different. When she breathed in, she realized she was not on the cold ground.

The scents that assailed her were merely a musty smell of mold, sweat…and the one scent that Sakura had never thought to smell again. Sasuke. Her hands were not tied together, nor were her feet. She braced herself with her hands, pushing herself up into a sitting position. The bed beneath her creaked on its bedsprings as she looked around, noticing offhandedly that her wrist and the other major injuries she had sustained were no longer present. She supposed she had Kabuto to thank for that.

However, her wounds were the last things on her mind as she looked around the room. Like the cell she had been in before, it mainly consisted of nothing more than four walls, and the only light came from an overhead light, which flickered on and off, giving a gloomy, half hazard sheen to everything instead of actually lighting the room.

The bed took up most of the space, with a small trunk placed at the base. Sakura crawled on the bed over to the edge, grabbing the trunk in her hands and hauling it up onto the blanket. The room was freezing, and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms to get the feeling back into them as she pulled the blanket around herself, breathing in Sasuke's scent.

Then she opened the chest.

Her eyes began welling up with tears once more as she saw what was inside. Sasuke's old shirt, with the Uchiha Clan's sign on the back, along with his kunai pouch and arm bands.

She gave a feeble smile as she wiped the tears from her eyes and picked up the last object in the box. It was a picture frame. She ran her thumb over the right corner of the picture, as she looked it over. It was of Sasuke and his family. His mother and father stood tall and proud, and a young little Sasuke was grinning up at her, his eyes full of hope and dreams and excitement.

Sakura finally realized that someone in the picture was missing. She looked to see that there seemed to be a crease in the picture, as if it had been folded back. She slipped it out of the frame and flipped the corner over.

There stood Itachi.

He was young then, thirteen. And yet he had the eyes of an old man. Ancient and hardened by tough times and horrible deeds. He wore his black outfit and his hair was much like Sasuke's had once been. His eyes were a deep, almost charcoal gray, though they still glinted deep blue. It was a beautiful and mysterious color.

But it doesn't matter. I don't care how beautiful his eyes are. He killed Temari…She folded the edge of the paper back, gazing longingly at Sasuke's picture. She pulled his shirt out of the trunk and slipped it over her shoulders, hugging it to herself as the blanket fell to her waist. She gave a small, weak smile as she continued to watch Sasuke's picture, curled up on the bed he used to sleep in, trapped in the same hell he had once been in.

And you always said we could never be together because we were so different, because I was so weak and you were so strong…Sakura merely ran her fingers along the edge, tracing Sasuke's face.

And yet…Orochimaru needs me more than he needs you now, doesn't he? And I am more useful to Itachi than you ever were, even when you must have wished for his attention when you were younger.

I have become a strong shinobi, an ANBU captain! Her eyes hardened slightly as she gripped the picture in her hands.

…I became everything you wanted, Sasuke-kun…

…I wonder…if you ever find me…

…

…

…

…will you love me?

Silence ensued her question. Of course, she had not expected an answer. The door swung open and Kabuto walked inside. He gave her a cheerful smile as he placed a bowl of rice in front of her.

"Eat up."

Sakura didn't touch it as she rubbed her still slightly sore wrist. "…the Akatsuki will come for me, you know. I'm being used as bait for the Kyuubi. Even Orochimaru cannot stand against the Akatsuki. And I am sure their leader can easily deal with Tomokazu, or Itachi can kill him." Can he?

Kabuto gave a small laugh. "Don't you get it? You were traded to Orochimaru-sama by the Akatsuki. They decided that the gift Orochimaru is going to give them is much more valuable than you or the Kyuubi."

"You mean…?" Sakura whispered, recognition donning. She felt the world's fool. So, Itachi and the others had been using her. They'd merely been housing her there as a bargaining chip!

Suddenly a thought came to mind. "Then why did Tomokazu place a silencing jutsu on Deidara and—"

Kabuto snorted. "That idiot wouldn't have let you go, unlike the others. Tomokazu-san merely kept him away long enough to get you out of there."

Sakura hung her head and whispered, "What is Orochimaru going to give up that is more important than the Kyuubi to the Akatsuki?"

Kabuto gave a grim smile. "If you heal Orochimaru's arms, I am sure he will show it to you."

Sakura merely watched him. "…is Tomokazu here?"

"Even if he is not, that does not mean that you can escape." Kabuto answered flatly. "Your chakra and strength are both completely gone."

"Hai." Sakura snapped. She knew that already.

"I'll come get you in a few hours to heal Orochimaru-sama's arms." Kabuto walked to the door, opening it as he began heading outside.

"And to think, I once valued you as a friend." Sakura spat.

Kabuto hesitated at the door, before answering back coldly. "My life is more valuable to me than friends." Then he shut the door. The movement rocked the light, and it finally flickered off for good.

Sakura sat there, in complete darkness, holding Sasuke's picture to her heart and wishing and praying that he would somehow find her.

"How far into Stone do you think this Deidara guy's house is?" Naruto asked as he, Hinata, Neji, and Sasuke continued to zip through the trees. He frowned at the lack of response, but decided that the others were trying to keep their energy for running.

Getting to Sakura-chan was the most important thing in the world at that moment.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata ventured softly, seeing his gaze darken and turn frustrated.

"Hai?"

"…There's something I n-need to t-tell you." Hinata began, fiddling with her fingers even as they continued running. "I m-mean since we're…we're…" Together now. She couldn't get herself to say those words. "Um…well, acquainted w-with each other I…I th-thought that maybe…we c-could just…t-talk a little…"

She saw Naruto shoot her a quizzical look and she blushed a deep red.

"N-Never mind."

Naruto grinned at her. "Ne, Hinata-chan, of course we can talk. We're talking right now."

"Oh." Hinata nodded. "R-right."

Sasuke looked back at them, pretending like he hadn't heard the whole conversation. Naruto, you're an oblivious idiot, like always. He rolled his eyes and only just managed to keep from sighing in annoyance like he used to do when they were younger.

Neji merely cleared his throat loudly. "Uzumaki, you guard our rear."

"Hai." Naruto nodded. "Got it." He fell back behind them about ten feet to do as he was told.

"N-Neji-san?" Hinata began, wondering if she was going a bit too far as she spoke. She didn't even wait for a response, because she knew she probably wouldn't get one. And she also knew that if she waited any longer she'd lose all the courage she had been gathering to herself. "D-Do you like S-Sakura-chan?"

"I do not believe that is any of your business, Lady Hinata."

"R-Right."

"I think that was a reasonable question." Sasuke began casually. "Why don't you answer it for us? It can't hurt." Sakura is mine, Hyuga. Back off. He waited for an answer, scanning Neji's face with his own eyes.

"You wish to know what I think?" Neji began slowly, turning to look back at him. "…"

Hinata and Sasuke both looked up at him, waiting for his answer expectantly.

…

…

…

"I think Uchiha should get to the front and scout ahead." Neji answered snippily. "And Lady Hinata, you go behind myself, to see if you can see anything that I miss."

"H-Hai." Hinata blushed.

Sasuke snorted as he jumped ahead of them, disappearing into the distance.

Hinata and Neji continued running, the silence stretching.

Hinata knew better than to say anything. Sakura was a touchy subject where her cousin was concerned. Hinata had already known the answer to the question she had asked. She had merely wanted to see how Neji would react.

Hinata walked down the hallway of the main house in the Hyuga compound, slipping open the door to the training area. She stepped outside in her training outfit, but stopped when she saw who was there.

Neji and her father, Hiashi, were training even more rigorously than they had before. Both of them were breathing deeply, their shoulders heaving. Hinata shouldered her small training pack further onto her shoulder, afraid to catch their attention and distract either one of them.

Suddenly Hinata looked outside of the compound to see a familiar pink-haired kunoichi begin to walk across the street to where Hinata was. She jumped off of the porch with a small smile as she began walking across the edge of the training circle. "Sakura-chan!"

The moment he heard her name, Hinata saw Neji turn to look, his face expectant.

Hiashi took the moment of distraction and slammed one of Neji's Tenketsu points, sending him across the compound. He immediately got up, rubbing his sore shoulder as he looked around quickly to see if Sakura had seen him fall.

"You shouldn't let things distract you, Neji." Hiashi began lecturing.

It was at this time that Sakura actually entered the compound.

Hiashi gave a small smile, his eyes shining with curiosity as he continued, "Even a beautiful woman."

Hinata swore that she saw Neji blush, but it was gone in a second, before anyone else seemed to notice it. She looked to see Sakura raising an eyebrow in confusion. She got over it, however, as she bowed respectively to Hiashi.

"Hiashi-san. Hinata-chan and I are going to be out training today, if that is alright."

"It is fine." Hiashi nodded, calling after Hinata as she and Sakura left the compound. "Do not burden Sakura-san, Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed deeply as Sakura merely gave her an encouraging smile and they left. Hinata felt Neji's Byakugan watching them as they heading down the street.

Tsunade began surveying the Sand shinobi with Gaara, who was helping Temari walk around. Tsunade found it rather cute, to see the Kazekage helping around his older sister around as if she were a little girl.

The shinobi they passed bowed respectively with a 'Kazekage-dono, Hokage-dono, Temari-dono.' The other Leaf shinobi who had stayed with Tsunade and would be helping Gaara after her departure followed behind them, watching the Sand Jônin who were training with fascination.

"Hokage-dono!"

Tsunade turned to see Hiashi walking towards her, his pupil-less eyes blazing angrily. She was a bit taken aback as he confronted her.

"Is what I have heard indeed true?"

"Nani?"

"Have both Neji and Hinata-chan left the village to become missing-nin?"

Tsunade gave a weak smile. "They aren't classified as missing-nin, Hiashi-san. Do not worry."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed slightly. "But they did indeed disobey your orders, did they not?"

"Well, yes but—"

"I see." Hiashi nodded to her stiffly. "I guess it was correct in my assuming that Hanabi-chan would be a better heir for the Main Branch than Hinata-chan."

"Now wait a moment," Shino began, eyes narrowed. He had heard the conversation. "Hinata would uphold the Hyuga Clan name honorably."

"Hai." Lee grinned, "Hinata-chan is a wonderful shinobi and very strong! She would honor the Hyuga name." He then turned his attention back to the Sand shinobi. He twitched as if wanting to rush down and join them. "And Neji is one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha!"

Choji continued to munch on a bag of potato chips. "Yeah…" He swallowed as he grabbed another handful.

"I do not believe your input was asked for." Hiashi answered coldly.

"You aren't thinking of disowning her or Neji are you, Hiashi-san?" Tsunade raised one eyebrow in challenge.

"It is my right to do so, as the head of the Main Branch of the Hyuga Clan."

"She's your daughter, and he's your nephew!" Lee sputtered.

"You can't disown Neji!" Tenten cried out. She tried to silence herself, but she felt all her pent up emotions begin to surface again. Even after what he had done to her, after her betrayal…she still loved him.

Hiashi merely stared at them coldly, before turning back to Tsunade. "I am heading back to Konoha as you ordered."

"Hai." Tsunade nodded. "You have my leave to go. I shall be back in Konoha in a few days."

"Very well, Hokage-dono."

He walked out of the room without another word.

Sakura opened her eyes wearily a few hours or so after Kabuto's departure. She breathed in Sasuke's scent once more, giving a tiny, contented smile. A moment of happiness, disappearing in an instant as she looked around her prison cell.

She knew Kabuto would be coming for her soon. He would take her back to Tomokazu if she didn't agree to heal Orochimaru's arms.

Dear god no! Please no. Nononononononono…

Sakura clenched her eyes shut as she tried to forget about the pain Tomokazu had caused. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were trembling uncontrollably. There would be no relief for her, not from that pain. He could make it last forever. It was worse than the Mangekou. She didn't know how or why, but she would rather face an eternity of the Mangekou than whatever Tomokazu had done to her.

Not that, anything but that. Please no…

She stared into the pitch-blackness, and an evil demon began taunting her, forcing its evil thoughts into her head, where they squirmed around, trying to force her into action.

Just heal his arms then. It will stop the pain. You'll be free of the pain if you heal him.

"No!" Sakura whispered fervently to herself. "I'll never heal his arms. I'd become a traitor to Konoha, a traitor to everything I believe in as a shinobi…"

But you'd never have to deal with the pain.

"Everyone would hate me." Sakura tried to convince herself, shaking her head furiously. "I'd hate myself. I'd never do that. I'd rather die than betray Konoha."

That can be arranged.

After all, if you died, it's not like anyone would care.

It's not as if you matter to anyone.

You'd just be helping those ANBU by getting yourself killed. Then they wouldn't have to search for you any longer.

Then they wouldn't have to waste their time with you.

Sakura flinched, closing her eyes in despair. When Kabuto came for her, she'd just fight him! She'd fight him and escape and…She gave a small sigh. She'd never be able to escape from Sound. Even if she could defeat Kabuto—which was close to impossible in her condition—than she'd still have to deal with the entire Sound village…and Tomokazu.

She rather thought she'd prefer the army of sound shinobi.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open. At the moment her card hand was completely useless, but she had a card hidden in her sleeve. If she used it, well, she'd at least end with a pair.

Sakura bit her lip as she breathed in deeply, trying to force her mind into acceptance.

The sacrifice of a shinobi's life for their village is a great honor. She mouthed the words to herself, trying to make them real and tangible. To die in order to protect their village is what all shinobi live for. It's their duty and job.

That's why Tsunade-sensei taught me this jutsu. To protect the people I love.

To protect Konoha.

She gave a feeble, if not shaky, smile of triumph as she thought of the look on Orochimaru's face. Wouldn't he be surprised when he saw that he hadn't won? To see that after all he and Tomokazu had done, he'd still failed. His arms would still be dead.

She wondered fleetingly if she was really just taking the easy way out. Dealing with all the pain of Tomokazu's jutsu would make her strong.

Sakura didn't care; she wanted to be selfish for once. She was weak and pathetic. She'd known that all along. As along as she accepted it, she'd have no regrets.

"I know I said that I was stronger now, Sasuke-kun, but I guess I was just fooling myself." Sakura whispered, pulling his picture out, even though she couldn't see it in the dark. She rubbed the corner of it with her thumb.

"I'm afraid of Tomokazu. I know I shouldn't be, shinobi shouldn't be afraid, but I am. Dear god every time I think about what he did to me I start shaking. I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, I have to do this." She wondered why on earth she was confessing everything to him.

She placed the picture inside of her shirt, next to her heart.

"I'm so sorry for everything, to everyone. All I've done is hurt people. Maybe if I were dead…maybe it would fix everything…" Sakura whispered, as she began the first hand sign.

She could feel the small amount of chakra stirring inside of her. It was wonderful, the fact that the suicide jutsu took close to no chakra at all. It made it easier to use, when everything else went wrong.

"Ino, Tenten, Hinata, I'll miss you guys. You were my best friends…" Sakura began, feeling tears well in her eyes as she finished the second sign. She began to feel the effects begin. Her body was going cold, as if she had just opened a window on a cold night. It hit her face and she let out a small sigh of relief.

"Choji, Shino, Kiba, Lee. I don't know why, but you guys stuck with me all the time. You believed in me and trusted in my abilities when I doubted myself. Thanks."

The cold was slowly washing through her.

"Tsunade-sensei, when everyone else said I was weak, when I hated myself because of it, you brought me hope. You taught me to become a medical shinobi, and I'll never forget that."

A sudden fatigue was also taking over as she finished the third hand sign slowly.

"Sasori, Kisame, you guys made staying at the Akatsuki actually bearable." She blinked, her lids becoming heavy.

"Kakashi-sensei, you taught me so much. I'll never forget the bell test." She let out a tired laugh as she urged her tired hands into the fourth hand sign.

"Shikamaru…I'm so sorry. Even if you hate me, you were a great friend. I don't blame you. I only wish I could bring Temari back."

She tried to open her mouth to continue speaking, but she realized that it took too much energy to do so. Her lips felt numb and cold.

Naruto, you big idiot. You were one of the first people who accepted me for who I was. I loved you for it, you know.

She closed her eyes completely, taking in smaller, slower breaths.

Neji, Deidara, I know that you felt more for me than I did you, and I'm sorry I couldn't love you.

She finished the fourth hand sign, beginning the fifth.

Mother, father, don't cry. I've always loved you, and without you I never would have had the strength to become a shinobi in the first place.

The bones in her hand seemed to stiffen and the joints ached. She merely furrowed her brow as she forced herself to continue. After finishing the fifth hand sign she stopped for a moment, eyes filling with tears.

Suddenly the swirling red of the Mangekou flashed into her mind. She gave a small smile as the tears rushed down her cheeks.

The time he had given her the bed, the first kind thing she'd ever seen him do.

She felt her body begin to manually shut itself down. It was becoming harder and harder to think.

The feel of his hand as he traced her jaw, when she'd told him she'd heal his eyes on the roof.

Her shoulders sagged and her arms ached. She wanted to go to sleep.

…His lips on hers as they kissed. Even then she'd known it was wrong, but she hadn't stopped him.

As she felt herself begin to fade away, her last few thoughts were pleasant ones.

How could something so wrong feel so right?

…Itachi…

…

…

…

…I'm sorry.

She blinked back the last few tears as she forced her hands to begin the final hand sign.

(A/N: Not really much to say, is there? Wow, just after the wonderful reunion between Temari and Shikamaru, everything gets depressing again. That's life I guess.

And I think the chocolate really helped. After all, I got this chapter to you pretty quick. (Big smile) I'm enjoying this immensely. Even I don't know how each little individual scene is going to turn out, so it's fun to twist the ideas to fit with the main theme.

Isn't it cute that Itachi is the last thing she thought of? I know you are all probably cursing and hating me right now for that cliffhanger and want to come to my house to beat the next chapter out of me (so does my sister) but I guess everyone will just have to wait a little bit longer. But poor Sakura! She thinks that the Akatsuki traded her to Orochimaru willingly. Tsk. Tsk. Tomokazu is such a meany.

Not much.

I hope you're enjoying it!

Review, review, review!

P.S. Happy New Year! (Maybe I'll write the next chapter as a New Year's present. It'll probably be extra long, just because I love you guys and appreciate all of your reviews and I really, really, REALLY appreciate the fact that you guys like my story so much.)