(AN) Consternations! A word with you all: I'm sure many of you have noticed that I started writing this story back in 2007 before I took a long break. As such, I'm still working on the plot line I came up with back then, even though the anime/manga has progressed a LOT since then. Please humour me and my actions in this story!
Also, please be informed that I'm really not up to date on the series – like actually, I watched Naruto Shippuden episode 51 last week – and so some things may feel as if they clash with the original story on a rather intense level. But this is fanfiction - so creative liberties, ya know? =P
Again, this chapter is written differently from the rest of my story and it is super big! Please enjoy! (and I apologize in advance for all the lines – a necessary evil!)
Sakura ran through the entrance of the cave, the sound of her sandaled feet slapping against the puddles underfoot reverberating within the cavern. The inside of the base was dank, cool, and had an unnerving eerie feel to it that Sakura tried to push away, not wanting anything to interfere with her frame of mind.
She could hear the thunder rumbling outside as the loud boom made its way through the cavern, rolling throughout the tunnelled area as if it were more than just a sound but its own solid entity, filling up the space around her while she ran.
Her feet splashed through more puddles as she pushed harder, deeper into the cave, vaguely aware that the tunnel was bringing her and Naruto further down; down into a moist cavern with water lethargically dripping down the walls, slowly pooling on the rock bottom and pushing outward, creating a thin sheet of water to be displaced with every step they took.
Did this water pool here all the time, or did it only do this when it rained as it did now? Sakura figured that there was too much of it to just be rain water and that there must be a body of water somewhere nearby that had eroded parts of the mountain and managed to slip through its cracks.
The area was humid, the air tugging at her lungs like she was somehow able to breathe underwater. Why establish a hideout here? The mountain's insides were beautiful in its eeriness, but the sluggish feeling the atmosphere bestowed upon her was incredibly disconcerting.
Maybe training down here gave one a better appreciation for open air and oxygen.
She skid to a stop as they approached a three pronged fork in the cavern pass, water shooting up and dancing around her shins before falling back down in a wave of trickling droplets. Water sprayed and rippled beside her as Naruto came to a stop next to her, his breathing long and deep as if he too needed to adjust to the density of the air.
For a moment the only sound that accompanied their breathing was of smaller water droplets dripping from their hair and clothes, rolling down their skin and falling into the thin layer of water below. Their small echoes were overpowered by the faint sound of more rolling thunder.
"Small bases like those are known to have only several rooms, with a particularly large one in the center. We should look there first." Sakura surmised, running a hand through the grass beside her.
"Center path?" Naruto questioned, his fingers flexing next to him as if he'd spent the entire sprint with his hands clenched in fists. Perhaps he had, because looking down at her own hands she realized she had done the same.
She felt as if every part of her body was overclocked, preparing for the battle she knew was only moments away even if they picked the wrong path to traverse.
Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha.
Had they really thought this through enough?
Had she?
If they wanted to get Sasuke out of this hideout alive, they needed to kill Orochimaru.
The very idea that the two of them thought they even had a chance would be laughable to many. Orochimaru was a Sannin. Add that fact to the news that Sasuke had already escaped her and Naruto twice already and Sakura was more than aware that this upcoming battle was anybody's game.
But she wouldn't back down. She wouldn't and Naruto wouldn't.
They were in this to save their old teammate. They would do whatever they could to keep Orochimaru away from him. She would save him and Sasuke would have to acknowledge that she wasn't weak anymore.
And if Orochimaru still got to Sasuke...
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, his breathing having somewhat adjusted to the cavern's climate.
Sakura pulled herself out of her thoughts – they had no more time to think.
"Center path," she confirmed, focusing her gaze straight ahead, "let's go end this."
Naruto ran through the cave, barely a pace behind Sakura, determination hardening his normally easy going demeanour.
Sasuke wouldn't get away from them again; if he was in this hideout he'd be cornered. He'd either leave with Team Seven or...or...
'Three strikes and you're out.'
Naruto didn't like the second option. And he especially didn't like the third option so he kicked his speed up a notch, splashing past Sakura as he ran towards the end of the tunnel.
The ground beneath him began to dry, the water either having not made it this deep into the mountain base or the ground had begun to incline. Naruto didn't really care for the specifics as he approached two huge double doors.
His heartbeat kicked up a couple thousand notches.
'Sasuke-teme... we're going to get you out of here. You better not have lost to Orochimaru already! I'll kick your ass!'
Naruto braced his hands against the doors and looked back at Sakura who had come up behind him. Her eyes were hard and serious as she looked back at him and nodded her head once.
They both knew the stakes of this fight. They'd talked every angle back by the riverbed, making sure they covered every possible way this battle could turn. Naruto hated worst case scenario thinking but... things didn't get much more dangerous than this and it paid to be prepared.
Whatever was going to be on the other side of this door...Naruto figured it was the first and last time in his life he'd ever find himself praying to see Orochimaru.
Because if Orochimaru was there, it would mean Sasuke was still Sasuke.
Steeling himself and knowing Sakura was doing the same, Naruto shoved open the doors.
"Ne, Sakura-chan..." Naruto gulped as he rolled a couple pebbles around in the palm of his hand, "What do we do if we get there and... the teme isn't the teme anymore?"
Sakura sighed and turned her luminous green eyes on him, her expression sad but resolved.
"You know what we have to do if that happens, Naruto."
"Shit, I know," Naruto admitted with a frustrated growl, throwing a pebble into the river, "I just... don't know if I can do that."
Sakura's eyes softened and she shifted a little bit closer to him on the grass, not touching him but giving him the comfort of her presence. He was grateful. He felt all kinds of wrong right then, thinking about his old teammate's body being taken over by that snake-bastard. Thinking about having to fight Sasuke when he wasn't... Sasuke. A part of him desperately wanted to cry.
"I know what you mean..."
Naruto looked sharply at Sakura as she leaned forward onto her knees, wrapping her arms around herself.
"I spent... a long time feeling convinced that I was in love with him," she whispered, her eyes appearing to be focused on nothing in particular as she gazed out at the water. "And then I spent a long time hating him for things he said to me."
Naruto felt a tug on his heart, remembering the day years ago he'd seen her run past him, tears in her eyes. He'd stupidly thought she'd been rained on. God, he wanted to smack himself now.
"I trained and trained because I wanted to prove to him that I was strong, that I wouldn't fall apart on a mission and that you two wouldn't have to continue to constantly save me," Naruto opened his mouth to interject and tell her that he never hated protecting her, but she continued speaking.
"But then he left and I was so mad. So I trained and trained more so I could go and rescue him and he could see my skills." She laughed, a wry smile whispering across her lips before disappearing as if it had never been there at all, "and here we are, but my orders and my options are to rescue him or kill him. And he doesn't want to be rescued."
"He doesn't want to be killed, either."
"I think... if it meant dying as himself, maybe he'd prefer death over that jutsu."
Naruto was silent a moment as he rolled the remaining pebbles around in his hand. He wondered about that. Sasuke... Sasuke would probably want to fight to the end and not be mercy killed by his old friends, if he even still considered them as such. Naruto tightened his fist around the pebbles.
"I just... no matter how angry I was with him, I never dreamed about chasing him down to kill him. I knew that was an extremely possible outcome when we accepted this mission and I was prepared but... I honestly never thought it would come to that. To this."
Sakura looked up at him, her jade eyes suddenly pleading with him. Naruto stared back at her, completely confused at why she would look at him like that.
"I don't want to kill him." Naruto's blue eyes widened in shock as he started to understand where she was going; why she was looking at him so desperately.
"But I will if it comes to that," Sakura whispered, her voice unwavering even as a small amount of moisture began to build up in her beautiful eyes, "So please, Naruto... forgive me."
"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto tripped over her name as he reached for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her in close to him. He held her tightly, burrowing his nose in the softness of her damp hair as she shook gently in his arms.
Naruto was shocked. Sakura... Sakura thought he wouldn't forgive her if she had to kill Sasuke for the sake of this mission? God, he accepted this mission too!
"Sakura-chan..." he whispered, "what are you talking about? There'd be nothing to forgive! This is hard for us both!"
Sakura shifted slightly out of his arms, her eyes still focused anywhere but at him.
"I just thought – I mean, you know how mad at him I am. I... I didn't want you to think that I purposefully destroyed your bond with him out of spite if I killed him."
"I would never think that, Sakura-chan. Never."
Sakura gifted him with a small, grateful smile that faded away far too quickly.
"We'll have to kill Sasuke if Orochimaru performs that jutsu," Sakura said the words she had spoken earlier as she looked straight into his eyes.
Naruto sighed and frowned as he chucked the rest of the small stones into the rushing river.
"He won't be Sasuke anymore. It'll be Orochimaru who only looks like Sasuke."
Sakura felt a waft of cool, stale air as the huge double doors swung open, revealing an enormous room encased in the mountain's walls, large stone support pillars scattered about.
Shadows danced across the chamber, cast by the torchlight that sprung out from the walls at consistent intervals. The flames stirred in the light, almost non-existent breeze. There had to be some sort of wind tunnel located nearby in the mountain.
She glanced around the room, trying to discern movement that wasn't caused by the flickering flames. Sakura quietly stepped further into the chamber, walking at a slow, guarded pace alongside Naruto.
Her eyes leaped left and right, attracted to the illusions cast by the fire.
As Sakura made it towards the center, she began to doubt her guess that Orochimaru and Sasuke would be in this room, let alone this hideout.
"Tch." Naruto breathed out as his eyes darted around the room. He appeared incredibly ill at ease, as if the dejection and doubt that had started to assault Sakura hadn't quite made it to him yet.
Sakura turned to take one last look about the cavernous chamber, her eyes skipping over the flames' moving shadows.
A cold chill crept up the kunoichi's spine as her eyes darted back a few feet and focused on a particular shadow.
A shadow that was not moving.
Quickly, Sakura reached into her pack and pulled out a kunai, throwing it up in front of her as she jumped back closer to Naruto, getting his attention. There was no point in being slow or subtle – the figure had to already know they were there.
Naruto turned around sharply, startled by her sudden movement. His blue eyes took in her battle stance and quickly he followed suit, throwing up his fists and following her gaze to the shrouded figure across the room.
A dark chuckle, low and eerie reverberated amidst the pillars. The shadowy figure advanced towards them, approaching the light of a flame and Sakura gripped her kunai tighter.
A low growl emanated from Naruto as the firelight splashed across the figure's face, revealing yellowy eyes with black slit pupils.
"Ah, how nice to have surprise guests," Orochimaru hissed ghoulishly as he stepped further into the torchlight, revealing his purple lined eyes and pale face framed by long black hair.
Sakura felt a strange, disturbing relief flit through her as she noted his body. It was the Sannin's body that he'd possessed the last time she'd encountered him. He hadn't stolen Sasuke's.
Her relief washed away as she attempted to prepare herself for this close encounter with Orochimaru, who was appearing to be at his most sadistic as he continued to speak in his snake-like voice.
"Unfortunately I've only set the table for two." A disturbing grin appeared on his face, "how rude of me."
"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto barked, unable to stand still and quiet any longer.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed menacingly, even as that unnerving grin remained on his lips.
"How rude of you. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." In a flash, Orochimaru threw out his arm and launched a barrage of kunai at the two Konoha shinobi.
Deflecting some and jumping out of the way, Sakura whipped her head up to glare at the Sound-nin, who continued to stand, relaxed and frightening in the light of the fire.
Orochimaru's amber eyes crossed the chamber and settled on Sakura, who knelt on the stone ground, armed and ready for another attack from him.
"You see," he drawled, a slight hiss ever evident in his voice, "You're interrupting something rather private. Between me and my apprentice."
"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled from the other side of the chamber. Sakura could imagine him standing and frantically looking around, trying to locate their old teammate. She wouldn't look to verify her imaginings herself, however. Her eyes were stuck staring back into amber, unwilling or unable to look away.
"Hn."
Sakura's eyes snapped open wider at the familiar sound. Another figure slowly began to immerge from the darkness behind the Sannin.
"Sasuke..." she whispered as the Uchiha stepped into view, several yards behind and to the side of Orochimaru. His left arm was slipped into his shirt with his wrist hanging out at the front, the very image of laid back and relaxed.
Sakura's eyes rose to meet his and she knew from the subtly angry heat in his eyes he had noticed where she had previously been looking.
She also suspected that he was wondering whether she was going to announce his flaw to Orochimaru.
She tried her best 'Seriously, Sasuke?' look, which was not at all like her Naruto one. This one had no humour to it; only thinly veiled distaste that he would think so little of her.
'I'm not that stupid or that cruel, Sasuke!' Sakura's mind screamed as she tried to focus her attention on both Sasuke and Orochimaru, 'Please show me a sign that you at least notice that much!'
Sakura could feel Naruto's attention pushing past her and boring a hole into Sasuke and his fake aloofness. She knew he couldn't possibly be that laid back about this whole ordeal. Could he?
"Sasuke." Naruto ground out, "come back to Konoha with us."
"Hn." Both Sakura and Naruto were familiar with that sound said in that particular way. It meant No.
Apparently, Orochimaru also picked up on Sasuke's finality and a small smile appeared on his lips, as if he found the pitiful attempts of Team Seven to get Sasuke back to be most amusing.
"Kill them, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru ordered, that smile still on his lips and his head slightly tilted to one side, his expression giving Sakura the feeling that he was preparing to thoroughly enjoy their slaughter at the hands of their old teammate, "and then we can continue our chat."
The distinctive sound of metal sliding against its sheath echoed throughout the hall as Sasuke pulled out his sword.
Sakura tensed. Was Sasuke actually going to take that order from Orochimaru?
Sakura's eyes flicked to the Sannin. What good would it serve Sasuke to kill them both right now?
And suddenly, as Sasuke's sword was fully drawn, Sakura knew what was going on.
It would do Sasuke absolutely no good to kill her and Naruto at this time. They all knew that the Konoha-nin wouldn't go down without a fight and two against one, no matter how good Sasuke had proved himself to be, were not good odds.
Orochimaru was looking to kill three birds with one stone. Destroy the Konoha shinobi, who consisted of a world class medic-nin and a Jinchuuriki, and exhaust Sasuke to the point that taking over his mind and body would be ridiculously easy.
'Does he think that making Sasuke kill his old teammates will weaken his mind enough to let Orochimaru take him over?' Sakura glared her green eyes at the Sannin.
Sasuke was smart; he had to see through this plan.
As Sasuke lurched forward towards his target, Sakura leapt to her feet and dashed to the side. Not taking the chance to look over at Naruto and see if he had come to the same conclusion, Sakura went on hope that he would remember their earlier conversation and Sasuke would do what she thought he would.
"Okay," Naruto leaned on his bent knee as he sat on the grass, "next scenario. We make it to the hideout and the teme's already fighting Orochimaru."
Sakura nodded; this was a very possible situation they could run into in the hours to come.
"Then we help him kill Orochimaru; it's not part of our mission, but it helps Konoha out a lot."
"That's the best idea." Naruto agreed, "It would be way too complicated if we tried to grab the teme and go." He looked at Sakura, "and dangerous." Naruto added.
Sakura gave him a small smile, glad to know that he was acknowledging reckless plans for what they were.
A moment later Naruto growled and dug the fingers of one hand into his still wet hair. Sakura suspected she knew what he was thinking.
"We're going to end up helping him," Sakura squeezed some water out of her own hair, "He's not going to want it, and if we succeed there's no guarantee we'll be in any shape to subdue him afterwards."
Naruto grumbled and rested his forehead on his arm.
"This mission sucks."
Sakura couldn't help but agree. Everything had worked out so much simpler in her dreams.
Naruto watched Sasuke lunge, sword drawn, directly at Orochimaru. He'd seen this coming about a millisecond ago, shortly after he'd noticed Sakura jump to her feet and prepare to run somewhere.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as Sasuke's sword pierced straight through him, unbelievably sharp and a deadly blow.
The surprised look melted away as the Sannin dissolved into a pile of hissing snakes. Sasuke jumped back and slashed through a snake that lunged at him.
The snakes were everywhere, and Naruto was experiencing a creepy tingling sensation that was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"
Naruto landed closer to Sakura as he watched Orochimaru emerge from behind the pillar the blond had been previously standing against. The boulder he had replaced himself with had a kunai embedded in the back.
"Ah, so it's come to this." Orochimaru spoke, an evil look on his face, "you disappoint me, Sasuke-kun."
Naruto's eyebrow twitched.
"Would you just shut-UP?" He blurted out. Breathing deeply and feeling angry that everything really had come to 'this', he shouted "We're taking Sasuke back to Konoha!"
"I'm not going anywhere, dobe." The Uchiha's cool voice came from behind the blond.
Naruto grit his teeth and Orochimaru just quirked his lips. "No, he's not." He agreed.
"Sen'eijashu!" Orochimaru punched his hand forward, and from the sleeve of his shirt hissing snakes erupted.
Naruto dodged and rolled across the ground, before quickly getting up upon remembering all the snakes that were still slithering around. Creating several clones, Naruto sent his copies out on pest control. There was no telling what kind of dangerous venom those serpents had in their fangs and Naruto was so not in the mood to get poisoned again.
Naruto looked around and noticed how the snake jutsu attacked Sasuke. 'No wonder the attack was so easy to dodge; it wasn't aimed at me!'
Naruto caught a glimpse of pink as Sakura flipped back off of one of the support columns, throwing several shuriken behind her and tacking a large snake to the stone. The snake released a pained screech and Sakura looked up and caught Naruto's eyes.
He nodded; they needed to take out Orochimaru. Sasuke may have felt like he could fight this battle on his own, but everyone but him seemed to be aware that the odds were stacked high against him, especially with the condition of his left arm.
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto sent dozens of his copies careening into the battle alongside him. Armed with kunai, they hacked at the snake heads even as the clones began to be demolished and disappear in puffs of smoke as the snakes fought back with the swords in their mouths.
'Almost there!'
Naruto leapt over a snake head and skid down the neck of an adjacent serpent, kunai out and ready as he rapidly approached the Sannin. Orochimaru's amber eyes darted to him and he hissed in irritation as Naruto flipped the blade more firmly into his hand and slashed.
The metal cut through the sleeve of Orochimaru's attacking arm but barely sliced the skin as Naruto was thrown off. Flipping in the air, Naruto managed to plant his feet downwards and dig his hand into the ground, creating some friction to slow him down before he collided with a support pillar. The blond didn't know whether the pillars actually served a purpose other than to be creepily decorative, but he didn't want to take his chances and bring the whole mountain down on them.
Getting back up onto his feet in a flash, Naruto charged back into the fray.
Sasuke was in a vicious sword fight with the Sannin, only Orochimaru's sword seemed as if the hilt was in his throat.
The thought 'fuckin' creepy' made an appearance in Naruto's mind before a shot of pink blasted into the fight and Sakura skid beneath the clash of swords, bracing her palms on the rough ground and kicking her leg up into the Sannin's stomach.
Orochimaru lurched back as Sakura sprung from the ground, her gloved fist going for a well aimed shot to the Sound-nin's jaw. Orochimaru ducked the punch and aimed a low kick for Sakura, his goal to knock out her footing clear. Sakura jumped over the swipe and swung her knee at his head, but he slid back out of range.
Sakura pushed forward, pursuing the Sannin as he continued to dodge her attacks with relative ease, having already sucked his sword back into his throat. Naruto was almost in range to join the combat, his hand reaching into his weapons case and slipping several shuriken between his fingers when he saw it.
Sasuke had moved in closer to the two battling shinobi and pulled back his sword to strike. He'd have a perfect shot at the Sannin's heart – if he went through Sakura to get the blade there.
Panic rose inside of the blond when he realized he wouldn't make it in time to shove the kunoichi – his kunoichi – out of the way. Fuck, was Sasuke serious?
"Sakura-chan!" he shouted out, hoping that his fear tinged words would reach her and cause her to dodge Sasuke's attack.
Sakura heard Naruto's fear laden voice shout out her name at the same time she caught the shadow of Sasuke's sword, poised to strike, dancing off the stone ground in her peripheral vision.
As fast as she could, Sakura ducked and rolled onto the ground as Sasuke's blade shot past her, a millimetre from where her head had been not even a second ago. Sakura's jade eyes widened more as she caught several uneven strands of pink flit past her, the torchlight catching on her hair.
Sakura braced her hands against the ground as she rolled to a stop, hardly registering Naruto throw several shuriken at Orochimaru who had resumed his battle against Sasuke after somehow dodging the Uchiha's strike. Her shocked eyes were still focused on the ground where she'd been standing a moment ago; where she was sure several strands of her hair had fluttered to the ground.
'Sasuke... Sasuke would have killed me to get a hit on Orochimaru.' Sakura let that thought sink in as a snake leapt from Orochimaru's sleeve and sliced Sasuke's right arm with its fang. Of course Orochimaru wouldn't care about poisoning Sasuke to weaken him – the Sannin would have all the immunities to the venom once he took over Sasuke's body.
'He-He was seriously going to do it. Was he trying to actually kill me back at the bridge, too?' Sasuke whipped around and rammed the hilt of his sword into Naruto's gut, knocking the breath out of the blond and pushing him out of the battle once more.
Sakura flinched as she crawled up onto her knees, but felt relief course through her as Naruto did the same, touching his stomach lightly before putting his hands together for a jutsu. He was okay.
A few quick hand movements and a large shuriken appeared in his grip. He slipped his hand through the center hole, spun back and threw the weapon with incredible force.
The blade whirled towards Sasuke and Orochimaru as the two continued to viciously aim blows at each other. Sasuke wasn't letting Orochimaru get enough time to put his hands together for a jutsu, and Sakura was beginning to suspect that Sasuke's fire release jutsus were the only ninjutsu that her old teammate was capable of doing one-handed. That in itself was still impressive.
The shuriken rapidly approached the battling nin and both took note, jumping back from their fight to let the weapon fly past between them. Sakura watched as the shuriken whizzed between the two and then shattered into dozens of smaller shuriken at the clap of Naruto's hands.
The small deadly weapons spun out and began to whirl towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru's tongue slipped out of his mouth before sliding down to lick his lips, almost as if he enjoyed the deadly thrill of a new jutsu he'd never before encountered.
Sakura shuddered at the thought.
Finally standing, Sakura watched in alarm as Orochimaru deflected and dodged many of the shuriken but still managed to suffer several gashes from the small weapons that had made it through his defences.
Sasuke grunted in pain and Sakura glanced over at him, surprised to see some of Naruto's deflected shuriken impaled in his chest. Sheathing his sword, Sasuke began to jerkily tear the weapons out, his anger almost palpable.
She needed to get back into the fight; she needed to kill Orochimaru before he harmed anyone else and took over Sasuke's body. She would be strong.
Sakura whipped a kunai out of her case and threw it at the Sannin, whose attention had been temporarily diverted from Sasuke to Naruto, who had proven that his skills would be a nuisance for Orochimaru's plans if he wasn't dealt with.
Orochimaru dodged the small blade and caught Naruto's kick, throwing the Kyuubi container down onto the ground before spinning around to fight Sakura once more. His snake-like eyes were narrowed in angry slits and Sakura could tell that he was beginning to lose his patience with this battle.
'Yeah, well, so am I!' Sakura thought as she swung her fist and it finally collided with Orochimaru's jaw, sending the Sannin skidding back on the cold, hard ground. He got back up to his feet, wiping a trace amount of blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
Sakura tried to control the fear that was slowly beginning to bubble up inside of her as Orochimaru's gaze fixed on her, murderous intent radiating from him. The Sannin was finally finished with these games. This whole situation was no child's play to her.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"
Sakura whirled around as countless fireballs burst into the chamber from Sasuke; it was obvious the Uchiha had also reached his last straw of patience with the way this fight was going.
The fireballs whipped towards her, the flames crackling angrily as they seemed to track her every movement. There was no dodging these burning balls – she had to either take the hit or find a way to disperse them.
Sakura wasn't the only one experiencing this problem; the fireballs were homing in on both Orochimaru and Naruto, as well. Naruto was using his Uzumaki Formation with his clones to help destroy the attacking flames.
Focusing chakra into her hands in hopes of dispersing the flame, Sakura threw up her left palm to catch a blazing fireball as it swirled towards her. The flame disintegrated as it made contact with her chakra, but she hissed in pain as sharp metal dug into her palm.
There were shuriken hidden within some of the flames.
'Shit!' Sakura panicked as she attempted to sidestep another fireball, 'My method for dealing with this jutsu isn't going to work if there are shuriken hidden within the fire!'
The fireball she had dodged came roaring back at her, but before she could prepare for the impact Naruto collided with her, scooping her up into his arms and jumping away as the flame exploded against one of his shadow clones.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as Naruto skid to a stop, dust and gravel being kicked up into the air by his feet as his arms still clutched her tightly to his frame.
"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" He asked her as his concerned blue eyes looked her over, his chest heaving up and down while he struggled to catch his breath. His gaze caught on the small shuriken embedded in her palm.
Quickly, Sakura pulled the metal weapon from her hand and healed her palm as Naruto set her down.
"I'm okay," She assured him as she looked at the image of Orochimaru and Sasuke as they faced off, several yards away from each other. Sasuke was breathing hard, and Orochimaru looked as if he'd suffered several burns and cuts from Sasuke's fire release jutsu. Sasuke's body was definitely in better shape.
"Fuck, I have a bad feeling about this," Naruto confessed in frustration as Orochimaru's long tongue darted out of his mouth and slithered across his lips maliciously. Sakura noticed several snakes slithering stealthily across the stone ground behind Sasuke.
Sakura agreed. The whole atmosphere made her palms begin to sweat. 'Something really, really bad is going to happen...'
"So what is it?" Naruto questioned after a fairly long moment of mutual silence, both nin just staring out at the river as several leaves danced across the top of the slowly rushing current.
"What's what?" Sakura asked, turning to look at Naruto while she tried to keep her voice as even as possible and not reveal that she knew that there were things still left unsaid.
"The failsafe of Plan B," Naruto said for her, his blue eyes suspiciously piercing through her, "every plan has that thing."
At her questioning eyebrow, Naruto elucidated, "That thing that's sort of hard to do, so nobody wants to do it, but it solves the biggest problem. I get the feeling that you have one," Naruto frowned and pouted slightly in disappointment, "and that you're not telling me."
Sakura's eyes slanted sadly as she looked at her love; her best friend.After a moment, Sakura looked back out at the river, her jaw set determinately.
"No matter what, I have to get close to Sasuke." She finally said, her eyes never leaving the river.
"Okay," Naruto nodded, accepting that she did have a plan that she hadn't wanted to bring up, "but why, Sakura-chan?"
Orochimaru swiftly lifted his thumb to his thin lips and, staring in horror, Sakura watched as he bit into the pad of his finger, drawing blood, before slamming his hand down onto the stone ground and calling out a summon.
"Naruto!" Sakura called out as the ground shook slightly, rocks of different sizes crumbling from the chamber's roof and crashing to the ground beside them. A large snake filled the gap between the Konoha shinobi and Orochimaru and Sasuke.
The snake hissed, bearing it's fangs at her and Naruto angrily, its rattling noise echoing throughout the room.
Shit, there wasn't a lot of dodging space for a snake that big, especially wedged as it was between two pillars. If she could use her strength... Sakura shook her head in frustration.
"Naruto, I can't use my enhanced strength in here!" Sakura called out to her blond teammate, whose blue eyes were busy sizing up the snake and its potential to harm them. He looked at her now, his gaze quizzical as if his mind was lagging a bit once it caught up to her words.
"I can't risk bringing this whole mountain down on us," realization dawned on Naruto's face and his expression got a little more grim, "Plus I think there's a river pressed up against this place – if the mountain cracks we could drown before we suffocate."
And wasn't that a reassuring thought. Although, speaking of reassuring, why put a summoned snake in a place where it has little moving room? The snake seemed to be able to do little more than hiss at them ferociously and act as a wall.
Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat.
Act as a wall.
"Naruto!" She frantically called out, and she watched him grit his teeth together tightly as they both saw Orochimaru move to place his hands together to begin forming a jutsu. Sasuke was struggling slightly behind the large serpent, the smaller snakes seeming to have wrapped themselves around his legs and secured him in one spot.
"Fuck, I see him!"
Naruto ran towards the large snake, getting a substantial head start on her.
'That snake that bit Sasuke must've had venom in it that's weakened Sasuke's mind for Orochimaru! There's no way... we'll never make it through that snake in time to stop Orochimaru's jutsu!' Sakura clutched her fist to her chest, her eyes frantically dancing about the room desperately searching for an alternative solution. 'Unless...'
Sakura pushed off the ground and sprinted full force towards Naruto.
"No matter what, I have to get close to Sasuke." She finally said, her eyes never leaving the river.
Naruto skid to a stop a couple feet from the snake's body and close to a pillar. Whipping around, he called out her name and laced his fingers together, holding his hands down low as she charged towards him.
Naruto knew what she had to do.
Not stopping her momentum, Sakura ran the last few steps towards Naruto and jumped into his hands, using his push off and her own force to hurl herself up slightly over the snake's head and towards the pillar.
Focusing chakra into her feet, Sakura secured herself to the column and ran up and across the side of it and past the serpent wall, not risking enough time to look back and catch Naruto's concerned expression as he watched Orochimaru's hands move.
Naruto's heart was pounding violently in his chest. Each thud felt pronounced as it seemed to wrack against his bones and shake his very core.
He watched as Sakura cleared the snake and ran across the stone support column, her jade eyes fiercely determined and focused on Sasuke's struggling form.
His whole world seemed to slow down and time existed only in heartbeats.
*THUD*
His heart pounded again as he watched Orochimaru's hands move, forming his jutsu that would allow him to take over the teme's body.
*THUD*
Sakura jumped off the pillar and landed on the hard ground, her feet skidding back on the small pieces of displaced rock that were scattered around. She dug her fist into the ground, slowing her skid down and pushing her forward as she raced towards Sasuke.
*THUD*
Her heart shook in her chest; she desperately wanted to spare a glance at Orochimaru and see how far he was into his body stealing jutsu but she couldn't, she really couldn't, because she had no time and every second counted.
*THUD*
"No matter what, I have to get close to Sasuke." She finally said, her eyes never leaving the river.
"Okay," Naruto nodded, accepting that she did have a plan that she hadn't wanted to bring up, "but why, Sakura-chan?"
Naruto watched as Orochimaru seemed to be finishing up his jutsu.
'Sakura-chan... she's not going to make it in time!'
*THUD*
Naruto turned his attention to Sakura, but he couldn't see her behind Sasuke. The teme's head was slowly turning, as if he'd finally noticed the kunoichi scrambling towards him.
*THUD*
Naruto's oceanic eyes widened and his mouth went dry. Sasuke's right arm reached back and his hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword. The metal began to slide out of the sheath, the torchlight glinting off of the cool steel.
'NO!'
Naruto could not let this happen; he could not watch it happen right in front of him while he stood, helplessly trapped behind a snake.
*THUD*
Naruto threw his hand down and began focusing a mass amount of chakra in his palm as he ran towards the snake. He had to do something. Anything.
*THUD*
Sakura was almost there. Sasuke began to turn towards her as she thrust out her hand. His face was the picture of anger, and she caught the glint of his blade as it turned alongside him.
So close.
She had to do this. She could not fail. This was what the mission had come to. She would accept it and she would succeed. She would be strong.
*THUD*
Sasuke's eyes shot open wider and a pained growl was ripped from his throat as he staggered only slightly.
Sakura had no more time.
*THUD*
In his peripheral vision, Naruto caught Orochimaru's host body slump to the ground.
'NO!'
Naruto punched his arm forward, his palm full of dangerous crackling and focused chakra colliding with the snake. The snake hissed and flailed, unable to pull away from Naruto's blow as it remained wedged between the two pillars.
*THUD*
Naruto couldn't bring himself to care for the snake's discomfort; he entirely planned to go through the summoned creature in order to reach Sakura.
*THUD*
A gasp escaped Sakura's lips as Sasuke's eyes changed, the onyx spinning and warping into amber with black slits as she closed in on him.
"No matter what, I have to get close to Sasuke." She finally said, her eyes never leaving the river.
*THUD*
Naruto burst through the snake and cried out as he watched the fully unsheathed blade thrust forward.
"SAKURA!"
"Okay," Naruto nodded, accepting that she did have a plan that she hadn't wanted to bring up, "but why, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura's hand pushed through the remaining centimetres that separated her from Sasuke's body.
From Orochimaru.
'It shouldn't have had to come to this...'
"Because I'm going to stop his heart."
Sakura dug her finger tips into Sasuke's chest; directly atop his heart.
As she shot her chakra into Sasuke's organ she looked directly into Orochimaru's snake-like eyes as they widened. She could tell he'd tried to move his left arm, his right one being occupied with something she hadn't spared the time to take much more note of, and tear her hand from him. But he couldn't – she'd rendered that arm useless.
And now Orochimaru would die, only seconds after having taken control of a new body.
Sasuke's body. The Uchiha was gone now. Sakura would end Orochimaru's life just as abruptly as the Sannin had ended her old teammate's.
It was like an ocean was rushing and churning in her ears as her blood pumped through her and she released her fingers from his chest. Vaguely, in the distance, she thought she heard someone call out her name.
Naruto ran and ran and godDAMMIT his running wasn't fast enough as Sasuke fell back with a force, dragging his bloodied sword down with his body onto the stone cold floor.
Stone cold like the blood pumping through Naruto as he pushed himself harder to reach Sakura – to catch Sakura.
Sakura watched as Orochimaru fell back, dead in Sasuke's body from a stopped heart.
She watched his sword clatter to the ground beside him, covered in blood and dripping onto the gray stone ground.
Blood? Whose blood was that? She'd watched Sasuke and Orochimaru fight and she hadn't seen Sasuke slice anyone with that blade. Oh God, had Sasuke hit Naruto while she had been tumbling across the ground? Her heart continued its painful pounding and she hurt all over.
'No...Naruto was perfectly fine when he boosted me over the snake so I could run across the column. Then... whose blood is that?'
Sakura took in a ragged breath as she stumbled back and wrapped her arms around her stomach.
Blood. Why was there blood?
Her arms felt sticky and warm, a harsh contrast to the freezing coldness she felt all over. She looked down at her hands, covered in blood as she clutched her midsection.
'W-what?'
Sakura slumped down onto her knees and pulled a hand away from her, mesmerized and confused as she watched droplets of blood drip from her hand and fall to the ground below.
That was not her blood. She would have felt something if that was her blood.
Slowly, fearfully, Sakura looked down at the spot her hand had previously been covering.
Her red shirt was drenched in blood; a tear in the cloth evident at the side of her stomach.
Blood. Her blood.
The pain suddenly washed over her and she cried out, pulling her hand back to her wound as she fell back, no longer able to hold herself upright as she became aware of her injury, her blood loss, her lack of adrenaline as she looked with hazy eyes at Sasuke's dead body slumped on the ground across from her.
'Oh God,' Sakura thought of Naruto as she fell back, slowly, painfully slowly. He had to still be behind that snake. Would he know what was happening? Had that been his voice she could somewhat recall hearing moments earlier? 'Naruto, oh God, I'm so sorry...'
Sakura finally fully fell back, but her head didn't connect with the rocky ground. A warm, large hand was cushioning her.
Sakura looked up and smiled gently and apologetically into Naruto's panicked blue eyes. Those beautiful, beautiful eyes that she wouldn't have minded a couple more decades of opportunity to look into.
Naruto slid down onto the ground and caught Sakura's head before she hit the ground and gave herself a concussion or worse, split open her skull.
There was so much blood.
"Sakura-chan?" His voice was hoarse and his heart was caught in his throat as he tried to speak. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her midsection; her hands pressing into her sword wound. Her blood slipped through her fingers and dripped down her side onto the ground beneath her.
"S-Sakura-chan?" He tried again, his voice still weak with disbelief as he looked down into her cloudy jade eyes and noticed her apologetic smile. Why was she smiling?
Naruto's whole body shook. Fear, panic, and adrenaline – they were all present within him as he pleaded with her to say something to him. Anything. Not just keep smiling that scary, apologetic smile at him.
"N-Naruto," she spoke, her voice so soft and quiet that he found himself leaning in closer so he could make sure he caught her words. "I'm s-sorry...about all t-this."
Naruto's eyes burned as tears began to form.
"Not your fault, S-Sakura-chan," He told her as his tears dripped from his eyes and landed on her bleeding form. "Come on," he encouraged her, trying to crack a smile, "you gotta heal yourself. We need to head back to Konoha together and debrief Tsunade-baachan. Okay? So...come on."
Sakura's jade eyes stared at him sadly as she flinched and gasped at the pain in her side. Naruto panicked. There was absolutely nothing he could do. She was the medic-nin. He had zero training in these sorts of things. When they made it back to Konoha together, he'd make her teach him.
"T-Tell me what to do, Sakura-chan," He begged her; he felt like he was drowning. "How do I h-help you?"
Sakura grimaced as she reached her hand up to cup Naruto's cheek and noticed the blood that was rolling down her wrist. She stopped her movement and let her arm drop down to the ground beside her.
She opened up her mouth as if to speak but closed it again after taking a ragged breath. She shook her head, ever so gently.
"I'm s-sorry, Naruto."
Sakura was sorry for a lot of things.
She was sorry she hadn't had that chance to make love to him the way she'd wanted to.
She was sorry she was finding herself incapable of getting the words "I love you" out of her throat. Every time she tried to, she wanted to scream in pain and moisture welled up in her eyes.
She was sorry she hadn't paid more attention to what Sasuke was doing with his right arm.
She was sorry that she noticed the sword being unsheathed by Sasuke in the first place and, body stealing jutsu aside, it had been Sasuke himself who had ultimately wounded her.
She felt cold, incredibly cold, everywhere along her body but her head that was rested in the warmth of Naruto's palm.
He looked so panicked and so scared and she desperately wanted to wipe that look away from his pretty eyes.
She was sorry that, when she thought about do-overs and if she could redo those last few minutes would she, that she knew she wouldn't have done anything differently. If she hadn't gone at his heart, Orochimaru would've had a new body, and she and Naruto would probably be well on their way to being dead right now.
She preferred looking up at Naruto as he knelt there, very much alive.
And so she shook her head at him and told him she was sorry, hoping that maybe he could use those beautiful eyes of his and read her mind.
"NO!" Naruto choked out. He would not accept 'I'm sorry'. NO.
Naruto touched his other hand that wasn't supporting her head to her face and caressed her cheek softly as he leaned over her.
"No, Sakura-chan, don't do this to me!" He pleaded with her, his heart aching and hurting as if someone had an iron grip around it. This wasn't the way this mission was supposed to go.
They weren't supposed to have killed Orochimaru, but they did, and Naruto couldn't find a single fibre in his being that felt any remorse over that.
They weren't supposed to have lost Sasuke, but they did, and Naruto could find it in himself, somehow, someway, to accept that it was a risk Sasuke had taken when he left the village. A risk Sakura and Naruto had accepted as a possibility when they'd accepted this mission. Naruto would find a way and be able to accept his death.
They weren't supposed to lose Sakura. The very thought was wracking at his soul. He wouldn't be able to accept this. Every fibre in his body was screaming no, not her. Not the love of his life; not the girl he dreamed about. Not this amazing, intelligent, wonderful girl he finally had.
No.
"Sakura-chan, c'mon, listen to me." He scraped the words from his throat, "you're strong, you hear me? So strong. You trained and got strong for the t-teme, right? You spent all those years training to prove you were strong to him, right?"
Sakura's jade eyes just stared up at him, cloudy with fatigue and blood loss, a confused look swimming within them.
"Well I'm telling you you proved to Sasuke that you're strong." Naruto swallowed and tried to hold back more of his tears from slipping down his cheeks. "And now it's my turn, okay? I'm selfish and I want a turn. So c-come on, Sakura-chan. Hold on for me, live for me and prove to me that you're strong!"
Naruto's body shook more as he looked down at her slowly closing eyes. Had she even heard what he'd said?
A quiet sob wracked his body.
All of this – what her life had become, the skills she had painstakingly obtained – it had all been for Sasuke. So she could prove to him she wasn't the weakling shinobi he had thought she was and would amount to be.
All of her life – except Naruto.
Naruto had been her friend through it all, concerned about her and caring about her well-being. Caring about what she was doing to herself when she trained so hard and so long. He loved her.
He came back into her life after two years and he still loved her.
And what had she done for him? She guessed that was another thing to feel sorry for – all the things she hadn't yet had the chance to do with him and for him.
She'd healed him, touched him, loved him and was now preparing to die in front of him.
Could she really do that to him? Could she really just give up now that she'd accomplished her mission?
No, she couldn't. She didn't want to.
And plus, Naruto wanted her to prove to him that she was strong. And she was. She'd known as much for awhile now.
Sakura closed her eyes and tried to focus what chakra and energy she had left into her hand.
Her left hand glowed green with healing chakra as she slowly, painfully dragged it up her body towards her bleeding wound.
She didn't know whether she'd succeed in proving to Naruto that she was strong.
She didn't know if she'd survive this.
But damned if she wasn't going to try for him. For Herself.
(AN) You win some and you lose some, I guess. We'll find out next chapter how Sakura fares with her wound. ='( I hope this chapter tugged on your heart strings and maybe had you on the edge of your seat for a bit. I aspire to write in a way that can cause that to happen.
With regards to the fight scene, I've been seeing it in my head for weeks now, but the really hard part was being able to take those images and write them down the way I saw them. I hope you enjoyed this one! It was difficult to find the right words to describe the video in my head.
Wow and THANK YOU! To everyone who reviewed my story this week! I am so flattered and glad that people are reading this and are enjoying my work. Big hugs go out to: SoccerGirl8, Mangaka Shuzen, Footster26, Adam, vaishy9, 9-tailed reaper, WhenDshitHitsDfAn, jman377355, ChaoticSerenity10, DarkAngelLida, always-kh, NorthernLights25, Hinan Nightbreeze, LinkOOT, saveme57, and Pyr00tje for reviewing!
Please leave me a review if you can! They are greatly appreciate and well loved ^_^
If this chapter got you down, hop on over to my profile (and while you're there, vote in my poll!) and take a look at my very first one-shot, "Distractions"! The title is 50% plot related, 50% because it was distracting me from writing this.
Until next chapter!
Ps. Big thanks to Narutopedia for being super awesomely useful. =D
~dancer-me