CHAPTER 29

Working at the hospital the last couple weeks had not been as bad as Sakura had expected. She had been mostly at the emergency room and with her hands full. She'd caught a glimpse of Kabuto twice and had moved away to remain unnoticed between patients or other health professionals until he left. She was glad that she had been able to avoid him, but she was well aware that she wouldn't be able to keep that up for long.

At least, after almost a month in Konoha, Sakura finally managed to pull off a good enough mission report from her time in Suna. She had tried her best to make it as believable as possible, highlighting Suna's potential so that Danzo would not even consider breaking their alliance. In the end, the whole mission report summed a total of two hundred pages of handwritten intel and observations.

Sakura happily walked towards Danzo's bunker with her huge report under her arm. Her eyes came upon – for the umpteenth time – the new face of Danzo on the Hokage mountain… which was in the exact place where her shishou's face had been in her past life. Sakura repressed a scowl at the sight and then decided to just focus on the task at hand.

She entered the huge bunker and walked down the hallways until she was standing in front of Danzo's office. Sakura hadn't been in his presence ever since she came back to Konoha and wasn't sure she was ready to see him once again. Nonetheless, Sakura knocked on his door without a second thought.

Better get through with this as soon as possible.

"Come in." a deep voice echoed from the other side of the door and Sakura opened up to enter. She quickly walked a couple steps into the room, noticing that there were the regular two root ANBU individuals standing on each side of Danzo. She also noted that on a further side of the room was Sasuke, who had apparently been reading a jutsu scroll but now had his eyes focused on her.

"Danzo-sama." Sakura greeted, ignoring the contempt that rose within her.

"State your business, Haruno."

"Hai." Sakura nodded once. "I've finished the report of my mission to Suna. I've been as thorough as possible and included every detail that I considered could make an impression on what they're doing." Sakura stopped for a moment and wondered if Danzo would even read it. She considered this for a moment, and decided to add an opinion of her own. "If I may, sir. After all the time I spent there, I really think that Suna is a beneficial alliance to Konoha. On top of all the intel I gathered, the Kazekage seems to be someone who wants to establish long term peace and-"

"Leave the report on my desk." Danzo snapped and Sakura immediately shut up and did as he said. Before she could think about leaving, Danzo spoke again. "Too bad that we won't be sure about Suna now."

"S-sir?" Sakura frowned, but felt apprehension build inside of her. What was he even talking about?

"A messenger bird from Suna came yesterday in the afternoon." Danzo said with a straight face. "The Kazekage was abducted by the Akatsuki."

"What?!" Sakura's eyes widened. She knew that this would happen and she had been preparing for that moment. However, she had actually expected Danzo to send a team right away. Actually, she had expected him to send her because of her connections in Suna. She frowned… maybe Danzo had already taken measures without her finding out about that. "Was a team sent?"

"No." Danzo said, his voice low and his eyebrows knitted into a frown. She could tell that he was displeased by the way she was speaking to him.

"Why not?" Sakura barely kept her voice from shaking in anger as she tried to gather herself, forcing the rage down and trying to keep from snapping at Danzo. However, that didn't stop the fear from making her thoughts fuzzy and her heart beat faster. If Gaara dies because of Danzo's selfishness…

"I was still not sure about them." Danzo answered. "I was not going to risk Konoha shinobi for an ally that could've actually been a threat."

"Sir…" Sakura clenched her fists. "I assure you that they mean well. They're being honest." she took a deep breath in and looked at Danzo once again. "Please send a team, sir. I volunteer to be a part of it. Just… please."

"Why is it that you're so adamant on helping them?" The muscles on Danzo's face tightened as he narrowed his eyes. He inspected Sakura and she had to bite her lip at the sight; he was truly an intimidating person. "Your village is not Suna. Your loyalites should lie here."

"It's to be expected." Sasuke intervened and Sakura almost jumped in surprise; she'd completely forgotten that he was there. She was honestly relieved to stop being under Danzo's scrutiny for now. "Sakura was there for two years on a mission to establish peace and it would be a waste of two years of her life if everything ended just like that." Sasuke stood up swiftly and walked towards Danzo. Sakura had always known that Sasuke held himself in an exceedingly fearless manner, but she couldn't stop being surprised at how swiftly and confidently he moved and talked around Danzo. "Besides, it could really do more harm than good to make an alliance with another village and deny help on a High Priority Emergency. Not only could Suna hold a grudge against us, but other villages might find out about it and would hinder our possible future interactions. Also, it would be in our best interest to help them out during this moment of need; they'd also be in debt with us."

By now, Danzo was completely ignoring Sakura and eyeing Sasuke intensely. Sakura squirmed in her place. Would Danzo react badly because of Sasuke's interruption? She couldn't help but be slightly afraid for him, but at the same time she tried to appease herself. After all, Sasuke had been on his own with Danzo for over two years and surely knew how to handle himself.

"I never said I intended on not sending any help." Danzo said and a smirk appeared on his lips. "It would indeed be a bad move to not help them now. However." Danzo's eyes trailed back to Sakura. "I would like for my shinobi to answer on their own."

Sakura gulped. Danzo had clearly been wanting to see how she answered. She didn't know if it was because he was slightly suspicious about Sakura – he always was suspicious about everyone anyways – or because he had simply wanted to see how she would manage such a situation. He had obviously disliked the way she'd talked to him. Before Sakura could even try to utter 'Hai', Danzo turned his head to look back at Sasuke and then spoke up with an authoritative voice.

"Sasuke. Since your own teammate is volunteering for this mission, I'll assign Team Kakashi for retrieving the Kazekage." Danzo said as he stood up and handed a folder to Sasuke. "It will work in your favor that Haruno knows her way around Suna and the people who live there. This mission will be A-ranked, might even be S-ranked. I expect the three of you to complete it effectively. Hatake Kakashi will be in charge of this mission, so find him and hand him the folder. I will send a second team that you're familiar with and they will probably be an hour or so behind you."

"Hai!" the two of them answered and moved to walk out of Danzo's office.

"And Haruno." Danzo said and Sakura froze just as she'd reached the double doors. "Mind your mouth when you're in my presence."

"Hai!" Sakura swiftly turned around and bowed lowly, her body tensing at the knowledge that she'd angered him. She truly needed to be more careful. "Forgive me, sir!"

Danzo jerked his head towards the open door, signaling that she was to go, and Sakura immediately left. As soon as the door shut behind them, Sakura exhaled in relief. Being in the presence of that man was something she doubted that she would ever become used to. As she walked down the hallway next to Sasuke, she suddenly felt his eyes on her. She knew he wanted to say something about what had happened in the office, but she was not in the mood so she ignored him – as much as she could anyways.

Her mind was occupied by thoughts of Gaara. The messenger bird had arrived the day before and they were only going to set off now. They were incredibly late. In her past life, Team Kakashi had been sent a whole 18 hours earlier. Would they make it now? Would Gaara die for real this time? She couldn't get rid of the knot that had built in her stomach. Just as they got to the ground floor and entered the entrance hall, Sasuke spoke up and pulled her from her worries.

"Seriously?" there was an annoyed edge in Sasuke's voice.

"What…?" Sakura didn't look at him and walked past the doors and out to the street.

"Is that how you handle yourself in front of the Hokage?" Sasuke's hand grabbed Sakura's forearm, expecting her to stop and look at him. She did and she was met with the unexpected view of Sasuke's stern but worried eyes. He wasn't really angry at her… he'd been afraid that she would get into a bigger mess. When Sasuke noticed that she wasn't saying anything else, he spoke once again – his voice not aggressive but still serious. "You're smarter than that, Sakura."

"I… I know. I'm…" Sakura frowned. Sasuke was right. She did know how to behave in a more composed and level headed manner. Somehow, Danzo's presence along with her concern about Gaara hadn't allowed her to react properly. She understood why Sasuke was not pleased with her and she was honestly slightly impressed by how he always managed to keep his composure. She finally sighed and admitted softly. "I'm just worried."

"Hey." Sasuke squeezed her arm softly for a moment before letting her go. His voice was softer than previously and she could tell that he was trying to reassure her. She was proven right when he later added "He'll be fine. We'll find him."

"I… thank you." Sakura felt a small smile tug on her lips. His gesture had actually helped her relax even if a little.

"I'll go notify Kakashi, let's meet at the gates in an hour."

"Thanks." Sakura nodded at him and he waved once before leaving her sight.

Sakura immediately went home, forcing all of her worries out of her mind as she packed her travelling pack and her medical supplies. She was more than aware that she could not afford to lose focus and leave something behind. She double-checked that she had what she usually needed and triple-checked that she'd put the antidotes in her medical pouch. She hadn't been preparing those vials – or trying to remember their composition from back in her past life – during so many hours for nothing. As soon as she was ready she walked down to the first floor of her house and found her mother in the living room. Sakura swallowed the lump that had been on her throat ever since her encounter with Danzo and immediately put on a calm and happy façade.

"You're leaving on a mission, Sakura?" Mebuki asked.

"Yeah. I probably won't be back for a week."

"You seem tense." Her mother noted. Sakura flinched and then dropped the act. No matter how hard she tried, nothing ever got past her mother. She seemed to know Sakura's every gesture and note the slightest anomaly in her behavior and body posture. Was it like that with all mothers or was Sakura's a particularly perceptive one? "Is it a difficult mission?"

"…A-rank." Sakura said, purposefully hiding the fact that it was most likely S-ranked. There was no point in making her mother worry more than she already would.

Mebuki was not one to worry easily. Sakura had learned that she had an uncanny ability to trust in her daughters abilities and decisions, something that had only gotten more apparent ever since she travelled back in time – which was no wonder given that she acted like a now twenty two year old woman instead of a teenage girl. So, when Sakura saw the faint frown on her mother's expression, she felt her heart drop to her stomach. She could handle her father being worried, but her mother being worried only made Sakura feel worse about it.

"I see." Mebuki's eyes focused on the floor and she exhaled softly. "Be careful."

"I will. Don't worry, mom." Sakura gave her mother a short and tight hug before running out the door and towards the gates.

When she got there, she found that she was the first one. It made her stomach churn in anticipation and impatience. Sakura frowned as she clenched and unclenched her fists as she stepped around in circles. Her mind started whirling around, imagining all the possible scenarios in which Gaara died permanently and she blamed herself her whole life for it.

It's not that Sakura hadn't anticipated this day would come, because she'd known for sure that it would. However, since she hadn't been in Suna at the time she'd had no choice but to let things happen. Despite that, she had at least expected Danzo to send someone out there as soon as the message arrived. …Now that she thought about it, why had she assumed such a thing? Sakura had never thought of Danzo as a selfless person and she was pretty sure that there was no ounce of gentleness inside of him. Sakura knew that there hadn't been much she could've done without raising suspicion – something that with her luck she'd probably managed anyways – but she still couldn't help but feel useless. Useless because she'd known about the attack but hadn't been able to say a thing. Useless because she had not done anything to encourage Danzo to take action earlier. Useless because Gaara was in danger and she was standing around at the gates of Konoha.

Every five seconds, Sakura would glance back into the village and huff in exasperation.

Damn! Where are they? They better hurry!

Sakura felt the urge to run out of there and fetch her team mates at once. However and despite her anxiousness, she was able to realize that she was actually over reacting. Sadly, there was not much she could do about it when worry was eating her alive. Soon enough – only five minutes after she'd arrived – Sasuke and Kakashi flash-stepped in front of her.

"What took you so long?" she asked with barely hidden annoyance.

"We were supposed to meet half an hour from now, Sakura." Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but Sakura simply frowned in return. She was obviously in too much of a hurry to actually care about anything else. "I already briefed Kakashi on our mission and he read the folder Danzo-sama handed to us."

"Good." Sakura said and shortly nodded once at Kakashi in greeting. "Let's go then."

Sakura didn't wait for their reply as she turned around and ran out of the village. The rest of her team followed, Kakashi with rolled eyes and a sweat drop on his temple. Sasuke didn't seem particularly bothered by her actions, and simply followed without another word.

Sasuke had known Sakura ever since they were twelve and he'd seen her going through all kinds of situations. He liked to think that he knew her well enough. And it was truly something when she reacted like that. He had only seen it a handful of times; when Orochimaru was after them in the forest of death, when she snapped at Naruto after Tsunade's death, and just before she left to Suna on her long term mission.

Sasuke threw her a couple glances as they dashed through the trees on Konoha's lush green forests. He noticed that she was looking ahead with a lost look in her eyes, barely acknowledging her surroundings. Her face was blank and void of any expressions, and Sasuke immediately knew what was in her mind. If she were to be worrying or imagining future scenarios there would be a small frown on her face – at the very least. So, given the lack of expression, the only plausible reason he could think was for her to be remembering something.

Sasuke assumed that she was thinking about the Kazekage. He could tell that she'd become close to Gaara – he still didn't know how close though – and assumed that her edgy demeanor would remain intact during the whole mission. Sasuke hated to think this way, because he could relate to what she was feeling. But her emotions may prove to be an issue, because it could put all three of them in danger.

-x-

"Sakura."

Gaara's voice greeted her without turning around to see if it was actually her, since he probably could recognize her presence while asleep. The young Kazekage was sitting on top of the tower and looking down at Suna, that was currently covered by the red light of dusk. Sakura quietly approached him and sat down at his side. After a couple moments she decided to take a look at him. She was surprised to notice that there was an unusual softness in his eyes and that it seemed almost vulnerable instead of gentle.

"What happened?"

"It's… village issues." Gaara answered without meeting her eyes. There had been an unspoken rule of never speaking about their respective villages' issues ever since they met. It had somehow made it easier for them to not take any gambles when it came to their responsibilities to their respective homes.

"Gaara." Sakura spoke softly and her hand came to rest on his shoulder. "I can tell that there's more to it. If you want to talk about it… you can trust me, you know? "

Gaara stayed silent for a long while, his eyes taking in the scenery of his hometown. Sakura looked at him for another moment and then finally decide to simply sit by his side in silent support. She had assumed that he wouldn't speak about what was on his mind, but she was wrong. After a good two minutes of silence, Gaara spoke once again.

"It's the council." His voice was small, almost a whisper. Probably afraid that he would be overheard and that the council would give him another headache. "They're… not fond of me."

"It's because of the Shukaku, isn't it?" Sakura voiced out her guess in an equally faint voice. They had talked about the beast a couple times before, so it was not an uncomfortable subject between them.

"It is." Gaara sighed, his troubling expression deepening after admitting what it was all about. "After almost two years of leadership, I've come to realize that I'm not the leader of this village. It's just… a façade. The council doesn't trust me. They are afraid of me and probably hate me. I'm positive that they only allowed me to become Kazekage so that they could keep me under a tighter surveillance."

"Maybe that's true…" Sakura trailed off. "But you shouldn't let it pull you down. You're still the leader of the village, no matter what they think of you."

"I'm not truly the leader. It's all fake!" Gaara scowled and closed his eyes tightly, his hands closing into fists at his sides. "I'm just a puppet for them… they just want the people to be content because of who my father was. Do you know how many times I've tried to make changes or plan programs for our village or our shinobi system? Countless times… and they've been in vain each time. They are not giving me any space to do anything."

"You're the Kazekage as far as everyone knows, and if you earn their respect and admiration, the council will have no choice but to acknowledge you as the rightful leader. You have to prove to everyone that you are just as capable of looking after Suna as each Kazekage before you. Prove that you're better, because you are. Prove that you are the rightful leader and then the council will have no choice but to listen to you."

"Sakura…" Gaara's eyes softened and his hand softly touched Sakura's for a moment before retreating back. "You're the only one who trusts me like this. Not even my own siblings do. Actually, it's not fair when you talk like this. I feel forced to try even harder when I know you expect so much of me."

"I've had an advantage." Sakura waved him off. "I got to know you when you were already Kazekage. It's expected that I would have an easier time trusting you."

"No, you didn't." Gaara shook his head and Sakura raised an eyebrow in question. "Back at the chuunin exams. I noticed that, ever since we first met, you hadn't been afraid of me. When you escorted us back to Suna, you were the only person in the whole party who wasn't even the slightest fearful of me. It was a slight difference, but after being around people who feared me all my life it was easy to know. Already back then you seemed to be the only one who saw me as an equal, as a person. It made me actually wonder if I could get to other people as well." Gaara was quiet for a moment. "Why? Why weren't you ever afraid of me?"

"I…" Sakura knew that it was mainly because she'd known him from her previous life. However, she was also aware of another reason of why she'd quickly accepted his reality. "I guess it's because I was friends with Naruto already. I guess it helped me not fear the power within you and see beyond the control that the Shukaku had over you."

"All of that. You treating me like an equal, trusting me, not fearing me…" Gaara's voice was a hushed whisper by now. "It's meant more than you can imagine."

Sakura smiled and her eyes locked with his. There was a glossy glint in his eyes and Sakura wondered if Gaara was going to cry, but he simply smiled in a genuinely grateful manner and then put one of his arms around her. Sakura simply leaned into his shoulder and sighed in happiness. After a couple minutes, she felt Gaara shuffling next to her and she moved back as he retreated his arm. Sakura watched as he pulled his sleeve upwards and revealed a small thread knotted wrist-band on his wrist. He slowly and carefully removed it, took Sakura's hand and placed it on her open palm.

"I know that you're leaving in a week... but I think I'm going to give you this now." He said with a small smile on his lips. "It's something that I've been wearing for most of my life and I want you to have it."

"What?" Sakura's eyes widened. There was no way Gaara could give her something so meaningful. They were good friends… but to give such a gift… it felt as if Sakura was stealing from him. "I couldn't!"

"I want to give this to you."

"I…" Sakura frowned for a moment and looked into Gaara's determined eyes. He wanted to give it to her… and she suddenly realized that it would be much more unkind for her to refuse. Deciding that she would actually like having something from him in case they didn't meet for a long time, Sakura accepted the gift as she closed her hand around it. A smile stretched on her lips. "Thanks."

"Want me to…?" Gaara motioned at the item on her hand.

"Oh, yeah! Go ahead."

Sakura stretched her arm forward as Gaara tied the wrist-band around her arm. Gaara seemed deep in thought as he slowly and patiently put it around her own arm. When he finished, Sakura noticed that his hand lingered there wrapped around her wrist for a couple seconds longer than it should have. Despite that, Sakura didn't think about it and enjoyed peaceful atmosphere as much as she could.

At that moment she hadn't thought much of it, but when she parted ways with him that day she started speculating. Had the gift truly been a token of their friendship? He had never said it was. Sakura didn't like reading too much into things – something she usually did anyways – but she couldn't help but wonder if it had meant something more to him.

There was a lingering feeling that something had remained unsaid that day, but neither Gaara nor her mentioned the gift again.

-x-

Sakura had been worried to death about Gaara. They had taken off a whole 18 hours later than in her previous life, so at first it had seemed impossible for them to reach the Akatsuki and Gaara on time.

The first time Gaara had been abducted, Team 7 had gotten to Suna first and had healed Kankuro before departing once again. Thankfully, this time Chiyo had learned from Sakura how to extract poison with water and chakra, so Sakura wasn't particularly worried about that. Also, Sakura now had something of Gaara's and that it probably would be enough to track down his scent and find the hideout.

The problem was that in her previous life, Chiyo and Naruto had been present while Sasuke hadn't. It didn't only mean that they would have to fight with one less shinobi, but it also meant that the outcome could be different from last time because the Kyuubi was not there at all. It would be safer to have more manpower with them when they encountered the Akatsuki, but Sakura didn't want to risk getting to Gaara too late.

Sakura had been hoping that they would somehow travel faster and get to Suna in time to get reinforcement and go back to Gaara, but she had finally accepted that they simply had not enough time. Actually, Sakura wasn't even sure that they would get there before the extraction ended. After considering all her options for a while, Sakura decided that the best course of action would be to head towards the hideout immediately. As Team Kakashi leapt from tree to tree, she turned her head to the silver haired man.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura called, purposefully adding the suffix in front of Sasuke, and the whole team stopped at once.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked turning to face her.

"I have something of Gaara on me." She took her wrist-band off and gave it to Kakashi. "I think that it should still have some of his scent."

"Let's give it a try." Kakashi said and did a couple hand signs before slamming his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

"Huh? What is it?" Pakkun frowning face appeared after the smoke dissipated. "This better be important because I was in the middle of a meal."

Kakashi started explaining the situation and the Ninken immediately sniffed on the wrist-band. He frowned in confusion and then moved to Sakura and sniffed her too. Sakura assumed that her scent had become mixed with Gaara's and that Pakkun needed to smell her too in order to separate both scents. He moved back towards the item and took in the scent one last time. He finally nodded.

"All right. Let me see if I can find it." Pakkun announced and then took a couple steps back to start sniffing the air around them.

"Sakura." Sasuke's deep voice sounded from behind Sakura and she turned around to look at him. His eyes were boring into her own, but she could see that there was a concerned glint in them. "You should focus more."

"I..." Sakura frowned and tightened her fists. "I know I should. I'm just too worried… I can't help it."

"Emotions shouldn't get in the way of a mission."

"I know that." Sakura barely kept herself from snapping at him, but his eyebrows slightly rose meaning that he could sense her frustration. Sakura knew that Sasuke was right and that he was only pointing it out so that she would have a better performance. She took a deep sigh in to clear her thoughts a bit. She didn't really think that she would be unable to fight though… it was just travel for such a long time that allowed her mind to drift off to her concern. "Don't worry, they won't get in the way when the time comes."

"I found him." Pakkun appeared in front of them before Sasuke could say anything else.

Pakkun took off and swiftly moved through the trees at a fast speed, closely followed by the Konoha shinobi. In a rare moment of clarity, Sakura inwardly wondered why she'd never questioned how come a being with such short legs could run that fast. However, her bliss was soon over when the thought was forgotten and her worries came back.

They leapt through the forest for the rest of the day and Sakura had been drifting in and out of her musings all along. Every once in a while, she would look at Kakashi and Sasuke and then take a moment to sense their surroundings.

When it was soon to be dawn, Sakura allowed her chakra to spread for a moment and almost jumped when she sensed a flicker of chakra just a couple trees ahead. Sakura was aware that things could turn out ugly, but they were too close now and she was sure that the encounter would be inevitable anyways.

Team 7 jumped down into a clearing and they all stopped dead in their tracks. In the middle of a clearing, dressed with a black cloak with read clouds, was Itachi. His posture was relaxed, but his whole attention was clearly directed at them. Sakura felt Kakashi curse under his breath to her right, and could feel Sasuke's shock to her left. Pakkun walked a couple steps back, knowing that a difficult battle would soon engage.

"Itachi!" Sasuke's roared next to Sakura and she frowned. She remembered that Itachi had been a clone in her past life and quickly allowed her chakra to spread. She felt his chakra signature of the Akatsuki member in front of her, but it felt slightly truncated. It was barely different from the one she'd come to know and probably no one would've felt the difference, but Sakura did. It was a clone.

"Little brother." Itachi's low voice was soft when he locked eyes with Sasuke.

The hairs on the back of Sakura stood at how angry Sasuke's chakra felt next to her. Based on Kakashi's shift of posture, he was suddenly also very aware of the younger Uchiha's reaction as well. Sakura's sensitivity on chakra had truly developed a lot ever since the war and she was extremely uncomfortable standing next to Sasuke at this point. One part of her was screaming at her to either run away or attack him, while the more rational one was aware that he was her ally.

Without wasting another second, Sasuke jumped forwards, his hands making signs at huge speed. Three steps later, he was blowing a huge fire ball from between his fingers. Itachi was apparently caught in the attack, but he soon jumped through the flames and aimed a kick at Sasuke, who had been standing to close to the fire.

Sakura immediately jumped into action, and as Sasuke blocked Itachi's attack, she came from behind him with a chakra enhanced punch. Itachi's sharingan caught the unusual amount of energy in her first and he swiftly moved out of the way, simultaneously throwing Sasuke towards Sakura. Sakura's eyes widened and she managed to retreat her fist just in time to avoid cracking Sasuke's ribs, but instead he crashed on her and they almost fell before regaining their footing.

Kakashi had engaged Itachi in a taijutsu battle, both throwing attacks back and forth and their sharingans blazing as they caught each other's movements. However, Sakura could see that Kakashi's movements were slower and he barely dodged some of the attacks, which meant that Itachi would get the upper hand anytime.

Sakura tried to lock eyes with Sasuke, but he didn't seem to be even aware of her presence, his whole attention on his older brother. Damn it, Sasuke. Instead, she locked eyes with Kakashi who had just jumped back panting, and he immediately got her message. Sakura took out several senbon out of her pouch and jumped high in the air before throwing them at Itachi, a move which was obviously read by his eyes and was blocked with his kunai. However, Sakura had planned for this to be a mere distraction, and Kakashi was behind Itachi the next second. He aimed a kick as this back, but Itachi managed to turn around in time to block the attack. Despite that, he didn't move in time to remain on his feet and slightly stumbled backwards.

Sasuke took the chance when he saw it and jumped at Itachi as he finished the hand signs.

"Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu!"

A huge dragon made of fire was summoned and it started circling around Itachi and Kakashi. Sakura's eyes widened, noting that their sensei was still there. In a split second she molded her chakra into threads, which got stuck to the jonin that had been running away from the flames. Sakura pulled with all her might to get Kakashi away from there in time. Just before she managed to get him out of the ring of fire, Itachi threw a kunai at Kakashi. Sakura's eyes widened; they were too far apart for her to do anything about it and Kakashi was tied up in her chakra threads and wouldn't be able to block it. Thankfully, Kakashi's sharingan read its path and he shifted in order to avoid a fatal wound to his neck. When he managed to land safely next to Sakura – apart from the kunai imbedded deeply into his shoulder – anger bubbled inside of her and she jerked her head towards the younger Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" she snarled. "You almost burnt Kakashi too!"

If Sasuke heard her complain, he didn't give any indication of doing so and instead ran in a circle around the fire dragon. He was clearly trying to take Itachi down at all costs, something that she hadn't seen him do in this timeline. Sakura clenched her fists and spoke to Kakashi without turning to look at him.

"Stay there and don't take that kunai out."

Sakura took off after Sasuke and squinted her eyes in order to see if Itachi was still in there. She saw that the ring of fire had faded on one side and that Sasuke was running into it. Cursing, she followed at top speed and peeked into the enclosed space. Sasuke and Itachi were throwing punches and kicks at top speed, a speed that Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to read in time to respond. After all, she was the only one in there without a sharingan.

Sakura knew what she was supposed to do, but she couldn't do it when Sasuke was in and out of her way constantly. She took out several senbon and held them in between the fingers of one hand. On her other hand, materialized her chakra strings once again and carefully attached them to Sasuke's back. Sakura threw her poison imbedded senbon at Itachi and, just before they reached their target, she pulled Sasuke to the left and away from Itachi.

Itachi's eyes widened at the sudden movement and he moved at a fast speed. However, Sakura had been expecting his speed and had only moved Sasuke away when the needles had been less than a meter away from Itachi, so one of the senbons got stuck in his thigh.

Sasuke landed behind Sakura and she could feel his eyes glaring daggers into her back, because he had obviously not liked being pulled away like that. She blatantly ignored him and ran at Itachi, chakra coating her fists. Sakura was on him in the next second and aimed a punch at his face. She knew he would block – because he was just too fast – and when he did, she twisted her hand and took a hold of his wrist. Her other hand did the same with his other one, chakra flowing carefully through her muscles, making her strength too much for him to break out of her hold. Sakura felt Itachi narrow his eyes at her – because she was most certainly not looking into them – and his hands caught her forearms. She was suddenly flipped around so that he was bending down to her and she was on her knees.

Sakura heard Sasuke running towards them from behind her – and she could feel his chakra flaring in something that no longer seemed angry, but was just as intense – and she decided that it was now or never. Sakura tilted her head upwards in a movement that would've seemed like she was trying to overpower him, and spoke into his ear just loud enough for him to hear.

"I need to talk to you about Madara." Sakura whispered, hoping that the original Itachi would get her message. "Find me on our way back to Konoha."

She assumed that Itachi must've heard her, but he didn't flinch, freeze or give any other indication that he had. Sakura pushed chakra into her legs, stood up and turned them around. Itachi was still holding on to Sakura, but he was now in between her and Sasuke. Sasuke locked eyes with Sakura, understanding clear in them, and he nodded. He then unsheathed a tanto sword that had been strapped to his back and jerked it to his right.

"Chidori Nagashi!" He scowled with barely contained anger and sparks started gathering around his sword.

Itachi's eyes widened when he realized what Sasuke was going to do. He tried to break free from Sakura's hold, but she pushed more chakra into them to keep him in place. When Sasuke was closer, she pushed chakra to her feet and then swirled Itachi around. She let go of him in Sasuke's direction, and Sasuke raised his tanto sword.

Itachi took out a kunai out and slashed along Sasuke's arm, just as he stabbed Itachi's lower stomach with his tanto sword. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock at the fact that he had actually managed to lethally injure Itachi. He then yanked his sword out of his brother and kicked him on the stomach, a low growl emitting from his throat. Itachi landed a couple feet away from Sasuke and Sakura immediately rushed to see him, a sudden and irrational fear that he had been the real one settling in.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called as he ran to her, probably distrusting the fact that Itachi had seemed to fall so easily. He came up from behind her and then looked down at his brother's body… which was not Itachi. "What…?"

"He's a fake." Kakashi said stopping on Sakura's other side and looking at the foreign man's face. "No wonder. He was too easy to beat."

Sakura nodded absentmindedly, her eyes darting between Sasuke and the fake body. Sasuke's eyes were wide and staring down at who should've been his brother. Sakura could see the frustration building up inside of him, tightening the muscles on his face and neck. After a couple seconds of tense silence, Sasuke turned around sharply and violently flung his tanto sword towards the forest.

"FUCK!"

Sakura frowned and turned around to watch Sasuke as he kneeled on the ground. His whole body was tense and he was panting slightly from emotional strain, so Sakura decided not to bother him. She turned towards Kakashi and put her hand on his injured shoulder softly.

"Let me take a look at this."

"Aa."

Kakashi and Sakura sat on the ground and she started healing the muscles that joined his neck and the back of his shoulder. As she healed him, she slowly took out the kunai that was deep in his shoulder, trying to prevent Kakashi from losing any more blood. The both were quiet as she worked on him, their eyes purposefully avoiding Sasuke to give him some privacy. Despite that, Sakura couldn't help but throw a glance or two at him, concerned about his current state of mind.

Obviously, Sasuke would be affected. This had been the first time he'd encountered Itachi ever since the day of Danzo's appointment as Hokage… at least according to Sakura's knowledge. Not just that, but he had probably thought for a moment that he had a chance at killing him. In the end it had turned out to be a mere clone.

"Sakura." Kakashi called out to her. "Leave the wound like that."

"I'm not done."

"I know." Kakashi turned around and took a hold of her wrist. "I can tell that it's a complicated wound and you still have to heal Sasuke. You suffering from chakra exhaustion will not do us any good if we want to get to Gaara in time. I'll be able to move around just fine like this."

Sakura took another look at this half healed wound. It still needed treatment, but it probably wouldn't bleed even if he moved a lot. She finally nodded and stood up, wanting to heal Sasuke next.

"We better set up camp." Kakashi mentioned looking at the red colored sky. "I'll get some firewood."

"Ok."

Sakura walked towards where Sasuke was sitting on the floor. His body seemed now slightly more relaxed than before, his elbows propped on his bent knees. His back was more curved than usual, signaling weariness and surrender. Sakura slowly sat down on his right side, where his injured arm was, and turned to look at his face. His eyes were down cast and there was an unusual shadow under them… he looked defeated.

Sakura looked at his injured arm and decided that Sasuke had been too reckless. She had kind of expected him to, but she was still a bit irked about it. His recklessness had still left their team in a bigger disadvantage for when it came to fight against Sasori and Deidara. If things went wrong and if their injuries got in the way.. maybe Gaara would die. Maybe they would die. Sakura forced the ugly thoughts away, but was not successful and felt nervousness build at the base of her stomach. Deciding that she needed a distraction, she turned to look at Sasuke again.

"Hey." She spoke softly, but he didn't answer. She quietly decided to put her hands on his arm and then allowed her healing chakra to flow into him. They were silent for a while.

"I really thought…" Sasuke trailed off, his voice small.

"I know." Sakura whispered. Another minute of silence passed as she thought over his actions. He had been too reckless and had acted on his own, putting their mission as risk. "If you ever encounter him… you should rely more on your team mates."

"No." Sasuke answered immediately. "I can accept some help… but this is my revenge."

"Sasuke, we just want to help. You can't honestly expect us to stand by and watch you fight an S-class criminal on your own." Sakura frowned.

"Well, I'm not asking for your help." Sasuke clicked his tongue. "For example, you pulling me out of the way with chakra threads was out of place."

"Out of place?" Sakura gaped at him; she couldn't believe how proud he was. "I was only pulling you out of the way because I didn't want you to get poisoned!"

"I didn't need you to do that! I didn't need any of you to risk your lives in this fight!" Sasuke glared at the ground, his frustration from the previous events still present.

"This mission was assigned to our team and we're supposed to complete it as a one!" Sakura hissed and her hands unconsciously stopped healing Sasuke's arm. "Besides, it's not all right for us to risk our lives in this fight, but it's all right for you to risk Kakashi's like that?"

"I knew he would get out of there in time."

"You didn't know that, Sasuke." Sakura tried to keep her anger at bay. Not only was her mind filled with worries from their upcoming fight when they got to Gaara. The thought of Sasuke disregarding the lives of his team for his revenge only reminded her of when he'd almost killed Karin in order to get his revenge on Danzo. "If I hadn't intervened he might've gotten caught in the fire jutsu with Itachi."

"I couldn't just let the chance pass." Sasuke snapped and his whole body turned to face Sakura, conflict clear in his demeanor. "This was a risky fight from the start! He was right there!"

"Would you let me die then?"

"…What?" Sasuke's scowl melted from his face and was replaced by confusion.

"Would you let me die if it meant killing Itachi?" Sakura couldn't keep her voice from rising. Her mind filled with the memories of the day that Sasuke had attempted to kill her, the day that he had betrayed his team and lost his sanity over revenge. Was this Sasuke truly that different?

"What the fuck are you talking about, Sakura?!" Sasuke growled.

"What would you have done if Kakashi had gotten lethally injured? Or I had?" Sakura jerked her arm to the side in an annoyed gesture. "Would it have been worth it? And this man wasn't even Itachi!"

"I know that already!"

"You don't get the point!" Sakura snapped. "You're just allowing your feelings to get the best of you! You're endangering the mission!" And Gaara's survival…

"How am I supposed to not be emotional about this?! You would never understand!" at this point, Sasuke was uncharacteristically yelling.

"Well, I think that you should learn to follow your own advice." Sakura finished her sentence and then became aware of how she was acting. Her own worries about Gaara – a good friend that might die that day – and her fear of Sasuke turning out just like in her past life had gotten the best of her.

Sakura's shoulders dropped and her eyes softened a bit. Sasuke's eyes were wide as he looked down at her with something that seemed like disbelief and disappointment. Sakura was about to say something else, but Sasuke exhaled loudly in anger before standing up and stomping away from her.

Sakura remained on her sitting position for another minute or two. Her hands ripped up the grass and left it in piles next to her sides. She didn't remember ever having such an argument with Sasuke, and it only deepened her troubles. She finally stood up and walked to where Kakashi had set up camp. The jonin was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to the fire where a couple of fish were cooking. Sasuke was sitting on the other end, his body posture screaming for everyone to leave him alone and his eyes fixated on the fire as he slowly ate his food.

The meal was quiet, tension clear in the air. Sakura wondered if Kakashi had heard their exchange, because he seemed to know that something had happened between the two of them. He said nothing though, probably knowing that he needed to let his students figure it out on their own. After excruciating long minutes, the three of them had finished their dinner. Sakura put the fire out and then offered to take the first watch. Sasuke immediately said that he would take the last watch, which Sakura took as a clear indication that he didn't want to talk to her at all – not even while changing shifts.

When Kakashi and Sasuke were dozing inside their sleeping bags, Sakura wrapped herself tighter in her own. After worrying about Gaara and their upcoming encounter for a while, her mind went over Sasuke's general reaction to the subject of Itachi and his revenge. If that day's events were any evidence, Sasuke was probably not ready to know the truth about the massacre. If he were to find out that Danzo – his mentor – had planned the whole massacre and that his brother was just a pawn… another victim… he would probably lose his mind. She didn't even want to think about what he would do against the Hokage or the village if it came to that.

A/N: OK! So here's the chapter. It's the first part of the mission to retrieve the Kazekage… what did you think about it?

What about Danzo? What about Sakura's feelings regarding the kidnapping of Gaara? Her flashback? What about the fight against Itachi? Her argument with Sasuke afterwards? I want to hear everything! Your input and support always makes my day!

Anyways, thank you all for reading! And special thanks to MonochromeAce for revising the chapter so fast!