My o my! What a long wait for a chapter! Apologies for the lateness, the week between Christmas and New Year I was without internet or computer and I had a spot of writers' block over the details of the conclusion of this chapter -.-' but! Things begin to move in this chapter! ^-^ [Finally! Lol]

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Go No Further

Part 35: The Lunge Of The Blade

"Sakura-taichou, there you are!" She turned back around to see Akihiko and Taiki waving at her from a little way back down the street,

"Hey, guys, how are you both doing?" She responded as they caught up a little,

"Not bad, haven't seen you for a while, though, Captain, where have you been? Its boring training without you," Taiki rolled his eyes at his teammates complaints although he couldn't quite blame him for them,

"Ahaha, sorry about that, there were a few things that Tsunade-sama wanted me to work on specifically, so..."

"Ah! When can we get back to training, then? I know Raiden's still out of it, but..."

"Don't worry, there'll be time for plenty of training soon – I'll let you know as soon as I'm free but until then, work hard! I won't go easy on you!" Both of them grinned broadly at the kuniochi's declaration before she shooed them away, her expression becoming significantly more sullen as her two ever-cheerful teammates wandered off – her instinct told her that it wouldn't be long before she faced Sanosuke again and she worried for what the battle might mean. She continued to amble down the dark street, her mind far away as he swiftly caught up to her,

"Hmm, taking a midnight stroll?" Sakura couldn't help but involuntarily roll her eyes slightly, as she shifted her gaze over to him, he was eyeing her from behind his book,

"Its nowhere near midnight," She wasn't much in the mood for playful jousting right now, but thought it unwise to betray her feelings,

"Hmm well, its closer to midnight than it is morning!"

"You need a saying to remember it, now? Don't tell me you're going senile already!"

"Oi, Sakura-chan, you can be so cruel sometimes! You just looked exhausted from training earlier, I would have thought that you'd already be at home, resting," She could sense his eye on her and she hoped that she was projecting the right image, she didn't trust herself to meet his gaze but she was sure he could see her smile; they continued to wander down the quiet side streets of Konoha as she considered her answer,

"Hmm, just taking a walk to clear my head,"

"Naruto seems to finally be taking you seriously,"

"Heh, yea...I didn't think I was ever going to get to fight him...I guess it was a good idea to get him to help with my training,"

"A difficult admission..? Seems like you're growing up," She could more than easily detect the sarcasm in his voice,

"There's no need to be petty just because I called you senile...in fact, I didn't even call you anything of the sort, I merely wondered if it might be the case," Sakura sighed as she lifted her key from her pocket, her apartment building just in front of her, "Sorry, anyway," Even if she did feel like calling him an irritating old man (irrespective of the fact he wasn't really old), he was still her senior and petulance wasn't an easily forgiven sin. She planned on turning around to bid him a farewell but found him apparently planning on following her up, she eyed him carefully for a moment,

"Kakashi?"

"Hmm? Oh, do you mind if I come in for some tea? I haven't any left in my apartment and I wouldn't mind a cup before bed," She raised an eyebrow,

"Uh..."

"You haven't any either? Aah, that's a problem," She rolled her eyes, unsure how to get rid of him without being rude, although her mouth worked before her senses could,

"I do have tea, but..."

"Great!" He motioned for her to move on up the stairs as she complied, unsure what really he was after – even if they socialised the most with each other, they were still reserved enough for it raise a significant question mark over why he might want to join her for tea at this hour; or rather, demand they had tea. She knew him (and their relationship) well enough to know what would be least likely for him to want after such an invitation, but he was a mysterious man; she unlocked her apartment door and slipped of her sandals as Kakashi did the same, closing the door behind him,

"So what sort of tea do you want? I have green, oolong or jasmine," She rummaged in a few cupboards dragging out her small pot and two cups, as she set the kettle to boil; she tilted her head in his vague direction as he hadn't yet answered, only to find him stood right beside her,

"What's on your mind, Sakura?" She sighed lightly, turning away from him in a silent signal he instantly recognized,

"I...I just..." He couldn't quite stop himself from reaching out and dropping his hand onto her shoulder, his book long since pocketed, "...Can't help but wonder what it'll mean if I don't defeat him...aside from the obvious, of course; what are his underlying motives? Who'll stop him if I can't?" He squeezed her shoulder lightly,

"No one person can do everything...even if he can't be defeated by us, then his lackeys can be, and that gives us options. But, besides that, you won't fail, I have absolute faith in you," She snorted lightly,

"Oh yeah..?" He squeezed her shoulder tighter still, resisting the urge to close the remaining distance between them, able to sense her need for comfort but unwilling and unable to think about what he might do to help; he sufficed with tugging her around to face him, she resisted a little but turned anyway.

"You were, once, one of my prized students, and even now, as a fellow Leaf and my friend - I know your capabilities and they are many..."

"First you're going senile and now you're going soft? I don't believe it," Her playful teasing was thin and they both heard it,

"Come back alive, Sakura," She raised her head allowing their eyes to lock;

"...Kakashi..." Said nin wasn't sure why she suddenly felt so very close to him and the room equally small, but he couldn't seem to step back, if anything he wanted to step closer; his natural instinct to protect her, irrespective of her abilities, rarely faltering, even now – wishing there was something he could say or do to erase her worries. As soon as the moment occurred, it ended with a fierce knocking on her front door; Sakura tugged away, their eyes connecting again for a moment before she walked away, partially glad to be free of the stifling atmosphere. The harsh knocking returned, distracting Sakura's mind from thoughts of an entirely too confusingly reassuring (but somehow distant) Copy-Nin,

"Ye-"

"Sakura-sampai! You must hurry..!"

...

"A-are you serious?" Tsunade couldn't prevent her eyes widening in shock,

"Absolutely, Hokage-sama,"

"You want me to give up two of my best shinobi, just like 'that'?" The man nodded, smiling lightly,

"Yes...they worked very well together and were able to communicate effectively, and somewhat...subtly," He thought back to their little display behind the marquee, it made for an amusing show even if he was already aware of their relationship, "You will be well compensated, of course,"

"Compensated how? The loss of such shinobi cannot be justified in money,"

"Then what would satisfy you?" He cocked his head slightly, obviously listening, his smile still fairly creepy and Tsunade wanted nothing more than to never again set eyes on him,

"To see the back of you for good. My shinobi are not for sale, not for any price or bargain – you will leave my village immediately and not return, if I see you back here or attempt in any way to procure them, you will feel first hand my wrath...as well as theirs. They are not for sale and that's final! Do I make myself clear?" The man sighed,

"Aah, he did say that you would probably be obstinate about it,"

"You don't know the meaning of the word...Kotetsu!" Said shinobi popped his head around the door,

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"Escort this man out of my village, will you?" Kotetsu looked confused for a moment before gesturing with his hand,

"This way, please..." He redirected his attention back to the Godaime, before he left, "Uh, there is one other appointment, he's been quite insistent – he says that it's very urgent,"

"Haa...fine, send him in," Tsunade shoved a few spare sheets aside, her irritation at the man's petulance barely subsiding, how dare he think he could waltz in here and demand Kakashi and Sakura were sold to him as bodyguards...Kami-sama, what was the world coming to? Fool...thinking he understood them or that he could have unquestioned access to them having observed them at the tournament; the door opened again before she could continue and a young-ish man stood in front of her – he looked to be in mid-twenties although was dressed in a formal kimono,

"Konbanwa,"

"Konbanwa, Hokage-sama, I am aware its late, thank you for seeing me," Tsunade cocked her head slightly, curious as to what someone who was so young but who spoke and dressed so formally may want. He smiled politely as could as he thought back to the words his master had spoken to him the day previous, just after they'd entered the Land of Fire:

'Just think, Senri, about what would happen to the balance of power throughout the world as a whole if we, we – our little crime network took out the second most powerful ninja in the world – think about what that would mean! We could shake the very foundation of the ninja system and shove those fat-cats from their seats! Of course, fighting Sakura will be a delightful side track that should have well deflected suspicion, but more importantly, lowly little us will take out the Hokage!

Senri focused his chakra to his back and activated the woven seal in his haori – just as Sanosuke appeared, standing behind him with a tagged kunai in one hand and a smoke bomb in the other, a huge windmill shuriken strapped to his back, the Hokage only just had time to leap to her feet and dodge the kunai thrown at her, she grabbed hold of it and clashed blades with the taller man who grinned at the gnash of blades,

"Godaime Hokage, eh? Its an honour to battle with the genius medical ninja herself," Tsunade gritted her teeth,

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sanosuke leapt backwards and Senri had already made space by tucking himself into a corner and keeping quiet,

"A friend, I suppose, but one with a grudge not easily forgotten!" Just as Sanosuke had spoken the last of his sentence, there was a blinding flash of yellow appeared between himself and the Hokage's; stood before them, was a young man, gleaming in golden chakra and with an immense seal over his stomach,

"I think you should just stop right there,"

"My, my, who do we have here?" Sanosuke smirked as he took a step towards Naruto, who immediately created three shadow clones, "You must be the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki...this will be fun, then!" Sanosuke threw himself forward as he and Naruto exchanged a few kicks and punches, "I've wanted to fight a jinchuuriki – I hear the monsters are quite powerful," Naruto growled slightly, easily displaying his anger, as one of his kage bunshin leapt in to strike from behind but its kick was caught; Shizune suddenly burst into the room, a number of ANBU behind her,

"Tsunade-sama!" Sanosuke slid backwards, rising to his full height as the ANBU prepared to strike,

"Ah, save it-"

"The one you will be fighting is me," Sakura stepped through the doorway of Tsunade's office and the ANBU blocking it, most of whom stepped backwards in surprise, allowing her walk further into the room; the kuniochi stood facing her nemesis keeping her posture in epitome of boredom, Sanosuke turned to face her, his grin feral; Kakashi appeared at the window, ready to provide assistance to any in the room – no one moved for a moment.

"I will deal with this one - have the ANBU squads out looking for any other enemies, I doubt they would bring only two to take on Konoha," One of the ANBU at the door disappeared off to round up the teams;

"You underestimate me and my might, Sakura-chan," She merely smirked at his arrogance,

"And you appear to underestimate me..." Sakura leapt forward and they clashed kunai, "You don't seriously think you could have a serious fight with the Hokage here, do you? She could beat you even if you were alone, but yet you have the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, the Copy Nin any number of ANBU and myself here to fight you as well – and you think you can win?" She raised a slender eyebrow in belittling disbelief and Sanosuke threw his weight down his arm and forced her back and he jumped back a pace as well,

"My skills are more superior than you know – our little play-fight in the forest showed you but a minor fraction of the strength I possess,"

"Is that so? Then I have little to fear then," His face flushed with anger and he growled slightly,

"Grr, I will make you see how wrong you are, and I will make you beg to take those words back!" Sakura eyed him carefully, before she lunged forward, leaning so that he would strike just as she predicted and so it threw her to the side and she landed with her back to the window, Sanosuke turning slightly to face her again,

"How about we take this somewhere a little more roomy, hmm? Its a bit cramped in here," Sakura leapt back up onto the windowsill and threw a shuriken at him which whipped past his face, nicking his ear, "Come on, what are you waiting for?" Sanosuke looked hesitant to leave, he'd been reminded that the key point of the mission was to take out Tsunade – even though his desire was to fight and defeat Sakura – but he did know that opportunity-wise, fighting Sakura could be put off where fighting the Godaime could not. But she really knew how to push his buttons and he wanted nothing more than to pummel her into the ground,

"Well? Are you scared?" She cocked her head to the side, her face a picture of innocence – only serving to infuriate him further, he struggled to reign in the frown he wished to contort his face into; "C'mon Sano-chan, I thought you wanted to fight?"

Kakashi had been looking carefully between Sakura and the enemy nin, silently memorising their mannerisms and he had to admit, it was amusing watching Sakura trying to rile up Sanosuke – not only was her behaviour unusual for the kuniochi, but he could see the internal battle in Sanosuke – trying to ignore the woman's words, yet being undeniably affected by them. Kakashi was tempted to join in hen-pecking the other space-time user, but he knew his words would break the spell Sakura had cast over Sanosuke, and his interference would only return the enemy's mind to his real purpose. Sakura continued her goading and taunting and eventually he snapped,

"Fine, bitch, we will fight and I will prove your master!"

"Are you so sure?" Sanosuke growled slightly, and Sakura giggled before leaping out of the window, her laughter growing louder, "Hurry up, then!" Sanosuke leapt out of the window in a blur of movement, his previous mission forgotten in a haze of masculine pride.

They stood facing each other as Sanosuke reached slowly around to his pouches with both hands and withdrew tens of kunai, each with a small white tag attached; Sakura had lead him to one of the more secluded training grounds, as far away from the centre of Konoha as she could realistically manage.

"I will make you pay, kuniochi, doubtless you think you have an advantage over me, but you don't know anything," Sakura didn't make any sign of acknowledgement as she remained in her half crouch, ready to either strike or evade at a moment's notice. She too reached around for her tantō, which would react to her chakra and she twirled it in her hand for a moment; Sanosuke threw his handfuls of tagged kunai in a wide arc and Sakura had to leap up and deflect a number of the them from striking her as the came to rest in a messy litter all around the pink-haired kuniochi.

She knew about this – she'd read and been told that this was a favourite trick of the Yondaime's, but having such a huge number of potential coordinates to jump to, the enemy wouldn't be able to predict where the user might be at any given moment and so force the enemy nin on to such a defensive that their loss would catch them completely unawares. It was a good strategy and worked well where there were a large number of enemies to fight but it was less likely to pay as well for a one-on-one – or against someone who'd had the opportunity to study, in fairly good detail, the same aspect of the Fourth's tactics.

But Sakura was not such a fool as to assume that her enemy would duplicate everything exactly, especially as he was dealing with another space-time user; he disappeared and Sakura took a chance in whirling around with her tantō outstretched to catch him. He ducked beneath her blade and slashed at her with his own kunai, just slicing through the skin over her ribs; she darted back, he did seem a little less blundering than before; Sakura began to direct her chakra to her tantō, she'd been working on it and had thought back to when she was in Getsugakure and had faced one of the ninja Shabadaba had hired who could turn flesh to stone with a touch and wondered if she could apply a similar principle.

Obviously there was no one she could practice on, but she had tried with other organic materials and found the principle was possible; she was planning on leaving her space-time usage as more of a back-up plan, using it when Sanosuke would think she wasn't going to. Sakura had to wait for him to come to her, with so many options for him, running in would only waste her energy; she organised her chakra, ready to activate her space-time jutsu anyway – she knew it would be needed before long.

Sanosuke crouched, eyeing her, she had about four tagged kunai behind her and the vast majority in front; there was only one kunai close to her left flank and all on her right side were not only out of reach of mutual strikes, but all within good view of her – she'd chosen her spot well, there was little opportunity for Sanosuke to truly catch her by surprise here. Sakura formed the seals for exploding clay clones in a split second and sent two rushing off towards him each approaching from two and ten o'clock in a sweeping arc.

Sanosuke paused to fight the one on his left which reached him first and he attempted to kick it away from him, apparently not realising that it was a bunshin bakuha and it detonated; blasting everything in its immediate vicinity far away from him – including the second clone, and its detonation was triggered. Sakura span on her heel and her sword clashed with Sanosuke's, he looked roughed over and had a few scrapes, but apparently, his timing and ability to jump was nothing to laugh at;

"You are a sneaky woman, Sakura, I'll give you that," She smirked,

"And you are not very observant," She threw the weight on her arm holding her tantō so that it forced their blades into an arc, twisting them around to the undersides and she swivelled, throwing a sharp kick to his chest, her foot charged with chakra. Sanosuke was slower at teleporting, this time, her foot connected and she felt the bone buckle beneath her; he thrust one of his kunai into her thigh, however, before he jumped to a safe distance; she looked around immediately for him, finding him a good ten meters away, where one on his kunai lay limp on the ground, having since been blasted there by the explosions of the clones.

Sakura didn't have time to think clearly or begin to heal her leg wound before Sanosuke charged again, his hands forming seals as he ran, he drew his hands apart revealing a tiny, thin wire-like stream of gleaming chakra, which, as he drew his hands further apart, grew in length until it was a good two meters in length – it looked and sounded as though it was wire made of lightening chakra. He darted forwards again and Sakura was forced to act quickly, it was not something her doton nature could realistically compete with so she immediately formed hand seals for a simple genjutsu, making it appear as though she'd run forward to meet him and had activated her space-time jutsu so that as he threw his 'whip' forward, it merely phased through her.

He teleported to one of the kunai close to where the real Sakura was, away from the illusionary one, just as the kuniochi had predicted and she turned, slashing at him with her chakra charged tantō, the tip of the sword slicing through the skin on the top of his wrist and hand. The flesh immediately began to solidify and change in colour as it slowly mutated into earth through the almost viral manipulation of her chakra.

Sanosuke stared at his hand, which had been where his chakra whip was attached, which immediately dissipated as his hand stopped responding to his urges to move and mould chakra. Within seconds his hands had taken on the exact likeness of earth and his other hand gripped it in worriment and comfort, just as he might have done if his hands had suffered a burn, but instead of providing a comfort to him, the fragile hand and wrist crumbled, leaving him with only a stump, his right wrist and hand having crumpled to dust, lost in in the earth below.

"Y-you..."

"You are arrogant, Sanosuke, did you really think you had learned all there was to know about me in our brief fight, those weeks ago? You're a fool," Sakura formed the hands seals for a Goukakkyuu no jutsu, lifting her hand to her mouth as she drew her chakra into her chest and forcefully exhaled it in one, Sanosuke leaping away to one of the other tags, but a number of which – those closest to the fireball had been destroyed.

He'd done his best to fire-proof his tags, but they couldn't withstand a full-power Goukakkyuu at close range – only those not fully engulfed in flame would have survived; but he was now on the defensive, Sakura had removed his ability to use hand seals and he couldn't be sure where half of his tags were – or which ones had survived the kuniochi's last attack. Shit, he was in a bad state – he didn't want to admit it, but he'd underestimated her – seriously underestimated her and it it could well cost him his life if he made any more stupid mistakes.

Calming himself as they faced each other yet again, both pausing to re-analyse the situation and catch their breaths, Sanosuke watched her, from his couched state on the balls of his feet, she looked out of breath and had used a lot of chakra, but she hadn't used her space-time technique, why? Was she unable to do so, at this time? Had something happened which rendered her unable to use that particular jutsu? Since the few minutes travel to here from the Godaime's office?

Nothing he could think of, she obviously hadn't been low on chakra or she couldn't have used all of her prior flashy, chakra consuming moves, so what could it be? She moved again, this time, pulling out a shuriken with a wire attached from the pouch at her waist, she didn't immediately throw it, however, as she stepped slowly towards him, picking her way through the roughed over earth; her leg ached and still oozed blood, but it was the least of her current concerns.

"Why did you go immediately for the Hokage? Who are you working for?" His eyes flashed only in defiance,

"I work only for myself,"

"A likely story, there is no such thing as 'working only for yourself' in this world, whether you like it or not or whether you acknowledge it or not, you follow someone else's orders and someone else's will."

"He would be nothing without me!"

"Of course, there cannot be a leader without subordinates," The pink-haired kuniochi was now stood in front of Sanosuke, there being only two or so feet between them; Sakura holding the shuriken in one hand and her tantō in the other, her chakra was dangerously low but she was assured enough by the fact of his inability to form hand seals. Sakura was preparing to lunge her blade for the final and fatal strike just as Sanosuke suddenly pushed himself upright, a kunai in his hand before Sakura could blink and he thrust the blade through her chest, thankfully, her instinct and muscle-memory causing her twist at the last second that he didn't pierce her heart.

Before she could retaliate, he was gone and behind her, the windmill shuriken's tip aiming for a deadly strike but it never reached, instead, the blade made contact with a body that Sanosuke hadn't been aware was even in the vicinity.

Sakura flashed around, the seconds afforded by Kakashi, had saved her life, but possibly at the cost of his own.

"Shit," Tsunade slammed her fist down on the desk as Sanosuke and Sakura disappeared, "Kakashi go after them and don't let Sakura out of your sight," Kakashi was gone so fast his 'hai' of acknowledgement became disembodied. Naruto marched over to the man still stood in the corner, Senri waited for the boy, now clad in orange and black (as his golden chakra covering dissipated) the Kaminari no kuni ninja slowly pulled a short sword from his belt and stood defensively as Naruto approached.

Shizune remained close to the door, manipulating her chakra and waiting for an appropriate moment to strike, releasing a non-toxic gas which would knock their enemy unconscious for a number of hours. Naruto and Senri began to exchange a few kicks and punches for a little while, but Naruto was too swift for the respective ametuer and brought his elbow swinging around to connect with Senri's temple, flinging him to the left.

As the blonde shinobi followed up with a sharp kick to his ribs, the enemy nin bowling to the floor as Shizune exhaled a cloud of the gas, her expert chakra manipulation allowing her to exhale just enough to engulf the nin as Naruto leapt back to prevent himself being caught and rendered unconscious.

"Naruto, take this nin to Ibiki and have him begin interrogation as soon as possible, then go to the hospital and have them prepare for casualties; Shizune, go and liaise with the ANBU squads and see if they have found any other intruders into or around Konoha,"

"What about you, Tsunade-sama?" The darker haired kuniochi asked just before the Godaime disappeared out of the still open window, Naruto too looked up as he hoisted the limp form of Senri onto his shoulder preparing to take him to the interrogation squad,

"I'm going after Sakura and Kakashi...have an ANBU team back me up, Shizune,"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," The Godaime nodded and was gone, as were the other two Leafs, the urgency of the situation belied by the quiet of the Konoha evening.

Sakura collapsed to her knees as she struggled to break Kakashi's fall, her hands finding the wound on his side as she directed the last of her chakra into her medical ninjutsu,

"Shit, Kakashi, what did you do that for? You're almost dead!" He'd leapt in the way of what was sure to have been a fatal strike to the kuniochi and in the process managed to thrust a chidori through the enemy nin's chest – taking advantage of the element of surprise before Sanosuke could transport away. Sakura had dropped both weapons in her hands to as to catch Kakashi before he fell, the shuriken Sanosuke had wielded struck the Copy Nin in the ribs, severely breaking a number of his upper right-hand sided ones.

"It was...your blind spot..." She looked over to his face, his blood streaked hair grim under the weak light of the moon; he gingerly lifted one hand up, dropping it onto the small of her back, his mis-matched gaze hazy, but gentle – his clouded mind just registering his amusement at how irritated she'd be with him later, upon seeing that he'd used his sharingan as best he could to predict Sanosuke's physical movements.

"Don't worry...don't waste your chakra on an old man past his prime,"

"You're not old and I'm not letting you die! Y-you mean too much...to...m-" She could sense his wound beginning to close, but he had lost a lot of blood, she looked back up to him again, their eyes connecting, Sakura half wishing to tear her eyes away, afraid of what she might silently say,

"Wha? What could I possibly mean...to you..? That you'd..." For the first time in a long time, Sakura had no answer. She continued to look at him as her chakra slowly drained making her fuzzy-headed and unable to properly think about his question, highly aware, however, of the fact that a number of potential answers flittered through her mind and the ones which seemed most appropriate, were frightening.

But before she could muster a response, the last of her chakra drained and her eyelids grew too heavy to hold open; she slumped forward across the man she'd been in the process of healing, her consciousness leaving her just as he slid his hand up to rest on her mid back, keeping her close; Kakashi himself barely treading the line of wakefulness as he felt Tsunade's presence approach.