Behind

Premise: Sasori was a puppeteer, a manipulator, that's why he could see right through her the moment he met her, "Sakura, join me and the Akatsuki. We can promise you something your teammates never could…to never be left behind."

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


Chapter 29: Home

'Funny,' Sakura thought, 'you think about the people you hate just as much as you think about the people you love.'

Sakura fluttered her eyelids open as though she had just woken out of dream, as though the word that had echoed across the field was still echoing through her head. The sun's rays filtered in all around her and she inhaled the scent of the quickly fading dawn, of the wind that had whistled in her ears and of the sandalwood that still minutely lingered on her cloak. The grass around her swayed gently, mimicking the passage of time as the leaves in the distance rustled in suspense. She could hear it in the distance, the now calming sound of battle. She could hear the rushing of the waves as they pounded down on the earth and she wondered if Kisame was finally having his fun.

Sakura inhaled again and frowned as she noticed, as she perceived his scent, as she found that she had never forgotten exactly what her teammate smelt like. How trivial… it broke the serenity that had filled her soul.

"I wanted him to hate me forever because that would mean that he would forever love my memory."

"Naruto…" The words left her lips before she could even give an ounce of resistance. She frowned slightly at the fact that her voice was soft, almost full of wanting. The sun warmed her cheek and she wished ever so much that she didn't have to face Naruto in the brilliance of what he represented. She was losing her purpose. But what was her purpose now. Her eyes strayed to the sky as the splashing colors of dawn faded out to the crisp clear blue that it shouldn't have been. She didn't have to look at him and that blue already reminded her of his eyes.

"Sakura-chan…" This time his words were not yelled and desperate, but softly spoken with an edge of pleading tainting the caress of sound. She hated it because she knew that he had only responded in kind to her own broken and messed up plea. She was weak. Haruno Sakura would always be weak.

Sakura looked down from the sky and she let her emotions wash off of her face. Naruto wasn't one to pick up on the subtleties. It was a good thing Kakashi-sensei hadn't been able to make it to their playing field.

"I should have known that you would have been the one to come up against me." Sakura bared her teeth in a smirk; of course she had known whom they would choose to fight her, whether it be chosen explicitly or implicitly. She hadn't expected, of course, for him to come alone… but then again she had hoped it was so. Naruto was always the one to take the emotionally challenging fights; most of the time he was the only one who could handle them. She wondered if he would be able to handle it this time as well. She was only barely scraping by.

"Sakura-chan, I'm here to bring you back home."

Home

Somewhere on the battlefields a shark was stalking his prey, meandering gracefully through the waters and using the fluid to his utter advantage. It was his element, and it did not matter weather the water was calm or if it flowed around him, all water was his to wield. Quicker and faster than his opponents, the shark would strike with deadly accuracy and even deadlier intent. This shark did not just rely on its teeth, but with a sweeping touch of his weapon men fell and rarely recovered, no longer as resilient as before. Blood would be split on the plains, the smell only enticing the shark to hunt even more.

Genma cursed as he looked into the coal eyes of the demon that was before him. Kisame was a close range fighter; Genma was a long ranged. If the man before them had been any other opponent then this fight would have ended quickly, but no, it was not the case. Never did the easy times come when you needed them most. The man had an almost impenetrable barrier of water surrounded him. Genma's own weapons were being used against him and it was frustrating beyond all belief. He found himself wondering if he would be able to get home to his wife… alive.

Neji was emotionally disturbed. He couldn't look at Kisame without seeing Sakura and then Lee and then his broken Tenten. He knew that this wasn't the mindset that was proper for fighting such a tragic foe. He knew that if he didn't up his game, he would end up just like his friend. He didn't even want to think about how Tenten would be like if he didn't return. But it was impossible; Neji just couldn't get close to the man. Neji was a close ranged fighter and Gai opened up all the only opportunities that he could take. Never before in his life had Neji appreciated just how strong and intelligent his sensei was. It didn't show often, but just the fact that Gai-sensei was on par with the copy nin should have told him years ago. The man was a tiger and Neji cursed at the fact that he could only hopelessly follow along. Neji knew though, that one strike of his technique could turn this whole entire battle around. Hoshigaki Kisame was too reliant on his massive amounts chakra.

Gai barely had to think. All he had to do was remember. The man was all about the love that he had ever felt and that pool of memories was where he drew his strength. As long as he had his memories, he had his eternal youth. Gai remembered all of those he had lost and most recently the boy who had turned into a man despite the words of others. Tears dapples at the corners of his eyes, but the man did not cry. One chakra gate after another opened within his system. Directly or indirectly he would rid the world of those that would destroy, so brutally, a strong and capable man such as Lee. It wasn't about revenge, but sometimes Gai wished that it were. "Hoshigaki Kisame, you… will never do that to a youthful child ever again!"

Kisame grinned, but didn't say anymore. He was enjoying his fun while it lasted. The Samehada swung through the air as two men came charging at him and small senbon went flying. The battlefield, where his name was known, was and would always be… his home.

Home

Somewhere on the battlefields laughter would ring through the air as fireworks burst in a grandeur show of light and smoke. They were falling, instead of soaring, from the sky down to the ground to impact the spectators more so than any other display ever seen. The master grinned, it was a big impact indeed and he was proud of his work. He was the one that was soaring; he was the one that was free in the sky. The laughter would soon coil upon itself and more fireworks would be launched, and as the number of spectators decreased due to exhaustion or strain in light of the masterpiece, the fireworks only got more magnificent more deadly. Smiles would litter the explosive master, much more than just the one of any ordinary artist.

Chouji was exhausted. The strain of increasing his size in order to destroy the man in the air was having its effect on his body and he could feel himself dropping in weight rapidly. He didn't care if they won the fight; Chouji never really cared directly for those kind of petty things. All that matter to the man was the fact that both of his teammates would get back safely. Chouji swung his hand at the man, ignoring the burn marks that were plastered on his skin. Nothing mattered to Chouji other than the fact that Ino and Shikamaru had to come back alive, not even his own life.

Hinata's stamina had given out on her. Deidara had that kind of effect with his constant explosions and his obvious set up that he had staged in order to wear them down one by one. She was already in the back lines being protected by her two teammates, the two people who she cared about the most in the world. An explosion had shot shrapnel of wood right across her face, scratching at one of her eyes. She felt useless and blind but the veins of her byakugan were still activated and she still yelled out to the others were dense balls of chakra were building up. She was constantly giving away her position, something that Shino and Kiba were trying to stop her from doing. But Hinata wasn't useless and she hated being protected at the cost of her teammates lives, so she continued to yell and continued to run hoping that just one word out of her mouth would be able to save someone's life, even if she could no longer fight.

Shino was in constant worry, but he was smart and he rarely showed what he felt on his face. His bugs were everywhere, the were listening to Hinata, trying to interfere with all of the bombs that Deidara had implanted in the forest prior to their arrival. The strong smell of smoke didn't hinder his bugs, but he found himself distracted more often than not. He hated it, but he was smart, so he stayed calm and tried to respect the fact that Hinata was putting herself in danger while helping. She wasn't a little girl; he had to remember that, now more than ever. His bugs were getting close to Deidara and were engulfing him slowly. Shino was patient, but time right now might've not been on his side.

Kiba was fast and he was teaming up with Akamaru, the trees, Chouji, anything he could use in order to get that one blow. Kiba wasn't going for the man, but for the bird that the explosives user was riding on. Deidara would always have an advantage in an area that he had previously chosen, but bringing him to the ground would increase their chance of survival and that was all that Kiba cared about. They had to all survive because he wouldn't be able to stand life without his teammate and he couldn't even fathom dying because that would have torn those that he cared about apart. They needed to all survive.

Deidara cackled against as his bird soared and the wind flowed through his long blonde hair. Freedom was at his fingertips and he only had to give one last bang in order to escape, but he knew that he couldn't. If the fight wasn't good enough, if there was not enough chance that the Akatsuki would think he was dead, his escape would've been short lived… and then there was Sakura. What would happen if he were to suddenly leave his battle now? Their goodbye had been short and simple, in a way he was glad and in a way he regretted it. He had had fun when he had been with her and he wondered if he would ever get that sense of home ever again.

Home

Somewhere on the battlefield, three geniuses were weaving between the trees using every bit of their knowledge to even the slightest of advantages. Strings of an untouchable nature would push and pull the limits of tacticians; shadows would quiver in the shades of the canopies, coming to life in ways that shadows did not normally linger; earth, water and the noticeably more intense surge of lightning would rip through unnatural, preserved and powerful wood. And the lightning master would have to delve into his pockets; his friend and his friend's wife never meant so much to him as he clicked open the lid of one of five vials, stabbing it into the shadow user's twitching leg. However, soon wood would not be the most of their problems; the shadows, earth, water and lighting would have yet to meet the force of metallic sand.

Shikamaru and Kakashi were desperate as sweat dripped down their foreheads. Shikamaru wasn't incredibly strong, but his shadows were. However, the vulnerable positions that his technique put him in could not be compensated by the copy nin. Shikamaru knew that he could fight without the Shika-Ino-Chou combination of his life, but the over bearing fear of losing just one, or maybe even two of the three left him with openings that shouldn't have appeared. He was smart and level headed, but since the other night he hadn't been able to sort everything out right. Shikamaru knew that although he was paired up with one of the most brilliant men in the history of Konoha that that man was just as twisted at he was.

Kakashi wasn't distracted for the most part, but he was frustrated. He couldn't copy jutsus from their opponent; the man had none to give. The poison that was permeating the air around them was oppressive and never in his life did he appreciate the mask that he was wearing so much. Shikamaru was agitated, but that wasn't an important factor… the man they were fighting was obviously unfocused too. Kakashi didn't want to think about why Akasuna no Sasori was constantly looking in the direct of Sakura. Kakashi couldn't even think about Sakura without a cold sweat breaking out across the surface of his skin.

Sasori was sitting as the chakra strings did their work far below. His eyes tracked his opponents, but they weren't all that focused. As long as neither of the two got close to his main body, nothing would matter. It wouldn't even matter if they had unless they had managed to land the proper blow. Sasori wondered if his fake heart would stop from the electricity of the chidori and then wondered why that thought had come up at all. He looked over the canopy of leaves and believed that he could see short pink hair flying in the wind.

Home

Somewhere on the battlefield, two brothers were reunited under a brand new day. Both brothers were of fire-ridden eyes marred only by glimpses of a spinning black abyss, and more blood and pain on their hands and hearts than any time before. Love and hate circulated in the warming air as the last fan met the missing fan. Soon neither emotion would be distinguished from the other as the wind continued to mingle between the two tragic foes, one who knew all and one who sought to know. The fire sparked. And then burned.

Itachi coughed and back stepped.

Sasuke continued to attack.

They were each other's home and hell.

Home

On this battlefield, two old friends were once again standing face to face both less innocent than the time before, both less naïve and yet both more hopeful in only the passing of several days. The pink and blonde shades of their hair melded in with the rising sky. Green orbs blinked in apprehension, "Will you give me your all this time Naruto?"

"If that's what it takes to bring you home Sakura-chan."

"You're mistaken Naruto, I already am home."

"Sakura-chan…"

"I am."

Naruto's fists clenched as he willed himself not to screw his eyes shut in pain and agony as he stared at the girl he had loved with all his heart. He still loved her, he just wasn't in love with her anymore and somehow he hoped that the change had taken no part in her defection. "Damn it Sakura-chan! If it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get!" Naruto gathered his chakra in a rush and snapped his head up to look at his female teammate.

Sakura's lips pulled into a wide smirk as the kyuubi rushed out of the trees and towards her. Tendrils of red chakra swirled all around him and Sakura couldn't help but grin even more at the wondrous display of raw energy. "Time to see what it's like not to be the one standing beside the kyuubi," Sakura muttered as she slammed her foot into the ground.

Naruto leapt into the air and came down on her with sharpened claws. Sakura parried his blow with a simple kunai and threw him off to the side with a flick of her wrist. The joint ached from the effort but Sakura couldn't help but sigh out in utter exhilaration. He was actually taking her seriously; it was alleviating knowing that they, or at least he, finally somewhat understood. Naruto drew out two of his own kunai and tossed them at her. Dodging them cost Sakura the movement that she had needed to prevent the thousand clones from appearing. "I'll take you back Sakura-chan, even if it's by force," Naruto whispered from the back of the massive group as they began to charge at her.

That was when Sakura realized that the red chakra around Naruto was almost absolutely controlled by the boy. Naruto had managed to reign in even just a small portion of the kyuubi's power for his own and Sakura understood just how impressive her friend had become in his two years of absence with Jiraiya. 'But there's still something about the kyuubi that he can't control,' Sakura thought as she slammed her fist into the ground and proceeded to eliminate her opponents one by one. 'I just need to touch him one more time to see,' Sakura continued to think as she pulled a kunai out of her pouch.

She chucked the weapon with enough force for it to rip through at least three of his clones before slowing down too much to be of any threat. Sakura made her way towards the trees and with her incredible, enhanced strength she ripped one of the tree out of the ground by its trunk. Using the tree at a weapon she swiped at the many nuisances that were still trying to tire her out. Nothing would be as big of a nuisance as Deidara and his stupid explosives.

Naruto shuddered as his clones popped out of existence one by bloody one. He could feel how every single one of them had 'died' and just knowing that Sakura didn't hesitate in putting a hole in his chest, or lopping of his head was making him convulse more than he had ever intended. Had Sakura learned how to detect chakra enough to be able to tell the real one from all of the fakes? No, that prospect was impossible and that thought made Naruto want to cry in despair. For the first time in facing Sakura, Naruto felt true fear and dread drain through his blood; she really wasn't the same Sakura who had left them a year ago.

It took her less than five minutes to rid of his thousand clones. Naruto had felt and seen enough of his pink-haired friend to know that she no longer fought like a Konoha nin, she fought like a powerful, blood seeking S-class missing nin. "So Naruto? Is that all you have for me? I'm not even close to being drained of my chakra," Sakura taunted the smirk still pulling at her lips as she dropped the damaged and singed tree onto the ground with a loud rumble.

Naruto hated the expression. A snarl came out of his lips, "I'll kill them all, every single last one of them for doing this to you."

"You're going to have to kill me first," Sakura stated as her hands flashed through a series of seals. Naruto couldn't see them, but that didn't matter, he doubted that he would have recognized the technique. That was more of Kakashi-sensei's style in retaliation. Naruto just went with the flow.

And that was exactly what Naruto did when walls of earth came up around him and began to collapse upon his trapped form. "Shit!" Naruto bellowed as he used a burst of the kyuubi's chakra to leap through the rubble as it crumbled down on him. By the time he was on top of the pile, Sakura had fully disappeared from view below. "Double shit," Naruto scowled as he looked around the clearing. Off in the distance he saw half, globes of flashing lights. "Deidara… I hope the others are okay."

"You should be worrying more about yourself Naruto," Sakura sighed as she stood behind him, her back turned to his back. Naruto stiffened; he hadn't sensed her standing there at all. "I think Itachi just made a lucky guess that time back then," Sakura muttered, "I was an earth type in the end."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto asked as he shifted his eyes across the horizon again. A gust of wind from the high altitude pushed his blonde hair into his bright blue eyes.

Sakura shrugged, "Nothing I guess. Just an old memory in light of what will be happening today."

"What will be happening today?" Naruto asked.

"I will be the one to leave you behind," Sakura stated softly, only emphasizing the 'you' as she turned and took a swipe at his neck. Her fingers grazed his shoulder and he had managed to dodge her attack, but that one touch was all that she had needed. "Take me seriously Naruto. I know the tajuu kage bunshin is pretty up there on the list in tactics, but that was the first jutsu you ever learned. I must be more worthy to you than that."

Naruto had leapt back down to the ground to escape her chakra scalpel and had turned to parry Sakura's attack to his collarbone as she ran at him with chakra-laden fists. Naruto winced from the cut on his shoulder as it healed quickly and tossed his kunai at her moving form. "I am taking you seriously, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura jumped and soared through the air coming down at the ground with her fist. Her eyes snapped up and locked onto his blue-eyed ones as he leapt up above the carnage as it occurred. Landing on the ground once again Naruto only managed to stop a blow to the gut with his hand. Naruto look in a deep breath as some of the bones in his hand shattered from the impact of her fist and jumped backwards just as Sakura receded as well. Sakura watched as his inert red chakra raced down to his hand and began to heal the physical damage that she had caused, "Interesting," Sakura mumbled as her eyebrow raised, "What a contradictory energy."

Naruto stood up straight as he regarded the girl in the dirt covered Akatsuki cloak in front of him. He saw something glimmer in her eyes and sucked in a deep breath of air as he recognized the twinkle, it was the same one she would have gotten three years ago in concern for her teammates. He couldn't but let the hope suddenly bloom in his heart, "Sakura-chan…"

"Hm, Naruto?" Sakura asked as she rubbed her knuckles out of habit. They didn't hurt at all, the gloves that Sasori had given her prevented that from happening, but it was a habit that she had picked up during contemplation in the light of battle. It gave off an air that she was preparing physically rather than mentally in her strategy. It was a habit that Itachi, Deidara, Kisame and Sasori would have picked up on immediately. Obviously, Naruto didn't have a clue.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Sakura asked as she looked up at Naruto with a grin on her face, she could not believe what she was hearing.

"We're all so sorry Sakura-chan. I know what its like… to be left behind and abandoned by the people that you love. I was a child who was hated by my own village, who was shunned for something that I couldn't have prevented. I know what its like when people think that your nothing, when you're dead last. I know what its like to have people leave you behind, abandon you…"

"You have no idea Naruto," Sakura snickered before bursting out in a laugh, "You have no idea at all. You didn't love us before you met us, sure you wanted to be a part of us, you wanted to be accepted by us but you didn't start loving us until we were actually friends." She hated how much feeling she was giving out to him, hated the fact that she couldn't keep it all inside when it came to the kyuubi. Hated the fact that despite him not having any idea about her, that she couldn't help but understand him. Maybe she hadn't habituated to Naruto's speeches after all.

"That isn't true Sakura-chan, I loved you."

"Just as how I loved Sasuke? That doesn't convince me at all Naruto," Sakura smirked as she shifted her stance ever so slightly, "You know nothing." Her knees were slightly bent in a movable crouch, one hand was held in front of her defensively, and the other one was placed behind her palm up, hidden from Naruto's view.

She would tell herself later that those were the words that made her spur on her plan and nothing else. She hadn't planned a head of time for it to come to this, she would convince herself of this. But in the end, she needed to just acknowledge her weakness. After all the rest of her Akatsuki group had.

To any normal observer, the stance Sakura took would have been taken for one of battle and immediate retaliation, but Sakura manipulated this thought to her advantage. She began to concentrate, 'now is the time, I can make the time now,' she thought. Energy trickled down to the tips of her hidden fingers.

"Then just tell me Sakura," Naruto whispered only holding in his frustrated snarl. He clenched his hand and only slightly noted the fact that it was still bruised and in slight pain.

He had never felt so weak in his life. If anything the last time he had felt this way was when he had almost lost Sasuke to Orochimaru after the chuunin exams. That had been what had pushed him to get stronger, to go off and travel with Jiraiya for two years, so that he would never have to be faced with losing his best friend ever again. He never would have guessed that the journey to keep the ones he loved would have pushed one of them away.

Sakura scowled as sweat began to gather at her brow, 'one minute,' she thought as she kept her eye contact with the kyuubi. She needed to make the use of energy and this would be the only chance she would be able to get. "You were my family out of my family. You weren't just my friends. You were my brothers and although Sasuke moans and groans that losing his family to death is the worst fate of all, losing your family because they CHOOSE to leave you behind is just that much worse. Now do you understand?" Sakura knew that she was digging in a pile of lies, no one needed to know the real Itachi and his motives, and she would take the knowledge that he had bestowed on her to her grave.

"But you don't hate us…"

Sakura blinked and raised her eyebrow, "What makes you think that?" Sakura asked, 'two minutes.' She was successfully keeping him talking and distracted enough not to notice.

"Because you didn't kill us Sakura-chan. You could have killed us and you didn't, you don't hate us…"

"Wouldn't you rather I hate you?" Sakura asked slowly.

"Why would I want that Sakura-chan?" Naruto mumbled as he took a step forward, reaching out for her with his now normal hand. The claws were gone and so were the bruises. He froze as Sakura snarled as him and flicked her exposed wrist. He didn't want to go back to fighting her; he didn't want to end it the way Tsunade said that it would have to end.

Sakura bit her lip, 'three minutes,' "There is a thin line between love and hate Naruto," Sakura whispered.

"That is total bullshit Sakura-chan and you know it. Why are you even talking about such cliché things anyways?"

Sakura closed her eyes softly for just a fleeting moment in thought and remembrance, letting a soft smile grace her lips before she snapped them back open. Letting down her guard down now that she was so far was the stupidest thing she could do. Concentration was the key, 'four minutes.' "You really never will understand then. But I suppose it's understandable, only those who are like me can linger on a thought like that. You can't do that can you Naruto?"

"Neh? Sakura-chan?"

"Wh-, if… you become the Hokage Naruto… if again comes the time when you have to debate if you truly will do anything for your village, remember me… okay?"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto stated confidently, "You will be there for me when I become Hokage. I'm going to take you back home."

Sakura shook her head softly, "No, no I'm not. You can't, I won't let you."

And that was when he felt it, a great build up of chakra flared into life in front of him as the hand that was hidden behind her back was brought forward. Naruto's eyes widened in terror as green light bled out his cerulean blue irises, "Impossible…" he muttered as he gaped at the glowing ball of energy, "the rasengan?"

Sakura grinned, "That's right Naruto," sweat droplets ran down her face from the exertion, "Although it's different… I can do it too and you know that I won't miss my mark Naruto. So what will it be? You or me? Your defected 'friend' or the future of your village, your want, no, need to be Hokage? Are you going to let me kill you right now or will you be strong enough to kill me?" Her green eyes turned stone cold; he could see nothing in their emerald depths, all he could see was the mass ball of swirling chakra in her palm.

"Sakura-chan, no!"

"I won't miss my mark Naruto, it's time for you to decide!" Sakura screamed as she shifted her stance once again. The glowing ball of green chakra flared.

Naruto cursed as the world around him slowed, he saw her take her first steps, and he made the seals on reflex. One clone audibly formed into life beside him with a loud poof and in the next instant his palm was filled with swirling blue chakra. Red clouds danced in front of his eyes as he swallowed deeply and tried to cry out to her. Sakura was there, she was right in front of him and although Naruto willed for himself not to do it, to stop his hand before it landed on its target all he could feel was blood splashing on his face as her attack hit him square in the chest.

His blue eyes widened in shock as her chakra surged through him. It raced through his pathways like electricity and made a direct path for the seal on his stomach and then he bit his lip and clawed at his chest in pain as the kyuubi's chakra fought with all of its might to counter the influx of foreign energy. He fell backwards, landing squarely on his back as he clutched tightly to his heart. His chest lifted into the air as all of the breath was drained away from him and when the pressure could build no further, Naruto slumped back down onto the ground.

And then the pain faded away.

And he looked up, bleary eyed.

There was no blood on his jacket. So where had the blood on his face come from?

Naruto looked further down his body.

All he could see what a crumpled mess of bloody pink.


Next Time on Behind

"Oh god Sakura-chan you're still alive, I thought I had…"

"I need you to do something for me Naruto, one last wish for a former friend."

"Put me beside him please, I just… I just need to be beside him please…"


Secret's Corner

The countdown that Sakura does is mentioned previously while she was talking to Itachi. It only takes her five minutes now to complete the technique.

Meh... This chapter... I liked the Naruto and Sakura fighting scene LOL

Sorry for the immense lateness... forgive me now for the next chapter