Chapter Twelve

Naruto ran through the tunnels. They were dark, the only light was provided by a few torches that lined the stone walls. He was being followed closely by Kakashi, Kiba and Hinata. He could sense her chakra signature growing closer; it was barely there but he could feel her. They rounded a corner and could see a big steel door at the end of the tunnel.

Naruto's heart leapt in his throat as they neared the door. This was it the moment he had been longing for, he was finally going to bring Sakura home. "It's all clear, we don't have much time," Hinata said, stepping forward. Naruto already had pushed the door open.

They were met by darkness. Just a small bit of sunlight from a small opening in the caves ceiling provided any light to the damp cell. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they did what he saw made him sick to his stomach. There was his Sakura hanging chained, lifelessly.

"Sakura-chan," he called out lightly. He stepped further into the room looking around. There were discarded kunai, shuriken, chain whips and katanas littering the floor crusted in dry blood.

"My god," Hinata gasped as she walked in. Hey eyes filled with tears and she took in Sakura's appearance, she didn't even look alive. Kiba was closely behind her, he cursed under his breath putting his hand on Hinata giving her a comforting squeeze.

Naruto was frozen, he could feel himself losing control, he could feel the rage building and the need for revenge was almost too overwhelming. Kakashi stepped forward, coming to Naruto's side. He knew now wasn't the time to be emotional. They had a mission to do and they needed to get Sakura out of there before they were found. The two other teams of Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Sai and Ino were distracting the Akatsuki members while they freed and got Sakura to safety. Kakashi knew they couldn't hold them off for long.

"We don't have time for this now Naruto, I know it's hard to see but we need to stay focused and get her out of here," Kakashi looked over at Sakura and felt his stomach turn, she looked on the edge of death. He had seen a lot of things but seeing his young student hung up like some sick prize was another thing he was going to wish he could forget. "Let's bring her home Naruto."

"Alright," Naruto spoke mostly to himself. They all stepped further into the room and could smell the scent of burnt flesh and blood, it was everywhere in the small room suffocating them. They all thought she must have been unconscious; she didn't make a single move since they entered and did nothing to acknowledge them. Then she shocked them all by lifting her head up slowly to look at them.

Her face, neck and chest were caked in blood, some dry and some fresh. Half her face was bruised and swollen. She had a huge gash above her right eye, her cheeks shrunk in. Cuts and slashes littered her arm and legs along with welts and burns. Not one patch of visible skin was left unmarred.

They thought there might have been a look of joy, relief, anything really but her face gave nothing away. She just looked through them with cold dead eyes. She stood up as straight as she could and tried her best to put on a brave face. Her eyes slowly traveled to each of them before she hung her head in submission. Her voice broke them all out of there haze. Her voice was hoarse and scratchy, like it hurt to speak a single word.

"What's in store for today?"

That's when they pieced together her lack of enthusiasm for finally being rescued. She didn't believe it was actually happening. The way she spat at them when she talked and the look of pure hatred in her eyes had spoken for itself.

"Sakura-chan I'm here. It's really me," Naruto spoke softly walking closer to her. She looked at him, cocking her head to the side. She looked at him for a few moments before it seemed to dawn on her that Naruto had finally found her.

She smiled brightly at him, "Naruto-kun?"

"Yes its me, I'm going to get you out of here okay," Naruto promised, caressing her cheek before moving to rid her arms of the chains. He ripped the shackles off and Sakura's body fell forward into Naruto's arms. "I'm taking you home, Sakura-chan," he whispered, kissing her head.

She pulled herself away for his chest lightly with shaky hands. "Naruto-kun, I knew you'd come. I-" Sakura's voice was cut short. Naruto looked at her confused. She gasped painfully looking down. Naruto followed her gaze and saw a rod coming out of her stomach. Sakura looked back up at him with startled eyes. "Naruto," she whispered before another came right through her chest. Her body went limp, her knees buckled and Naruto fell to his knees on the ground with her. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes locked with Pain's and the cruel smile on his face.

Sakura was awakened from her peaceful sleep by Naruto's screams. She sat up quickly and looked over to find Naruto tossing around in his sleep crying out. She quickly took his shoulder, shaking them lightly, "Naruto-kun!" When he did not awake from his dreams Sakura shook him a little harder. She kept calling out his name but nothing seemed to be able to break through his dream. She did the only thing she could think off, she slapped him, hard.

Naruto sat up quickly clutching his chest and gasping for air. He looked over at Sakura confused with tear filled eyes. "Sakura-chan," he sobbed, reaching over and grabbing her, pulling her into his arms. His hold on her was tight, any tighter and she might not be able to breathe. "You're here," he sighed burying his face in her hair.

Sakura had never seen Naruto like his before. He was shaking like a leaf, his breathing was erratic and she could hear his heart hammering in his chest. Whatever he was dreaming of must have really scared him. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his shoulder lightly, "It's okay Naruto-kun. It was just a nightmare. None of it was real." She rubbed her hand up and down his back and waited for his breathing to return to normal. His grip loosened a bit, not much but just a but for her to pull back a few inches and look at his face.

"Only it was real Sakura-chan. They hurt you for years and I wasn't able to stop it. When we found you," he paused taking a painful breath squeezing his eyes shut. "I'll never be able to forget it. It will haunt me till the day I die."

"Naruto-kun, you got me out and brought me home. You saved me, you never gave up on me," Sakura whispered, placing her head against his.

"In my dream though I couldn't save you. They killed you right in my arms, I watched all the life drain from your eyes. What if they come and I can't protect you," Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper. Sakura looked at him in shock. Not that the thought hadn't crossed her mind. She had nagging thoughts in her head that one day they might come and finish the job, but in every scenario Naruto came to her rescue. Sakura smiled at him sadly, he may not be able to protect her, nothing in life was guaranteed but she still trusted him wholeheartedly.

He had trails of wet tears down his face, his normally happy radiant eyes looked dull and tormented. "Oh Naruto-kun," she whispered. "You can't always protect everyone. Sometimes things happen that are out of your control. But now we have each other and I don't know about you but I plan on defending you till my last breath," Sakura promised, running her hand methodically through Naruto's hair. "I'd like to see them try and take us on now that we're together, they don't stand a chance," Sakura smiled lightly. She dreamed of one day having revenge on the ones that had taken her up and tormented her daily for years.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at how serious Sakura was. Sakura moved from Naruto's arms and went to climb out of bed when Naruto's hand grabbed her tugging her back. "Where are you going," he pleaded with a worried look on his face. Sakura pulled her hand away standing from the bed. She smiled at him reassuringly leaning forward to kiss the top of his head.

"I'll be right back," Sakura said calmingly as she quickly made her way to the bathroom. She grabbed a towel and ran it under some cold water before wringing it out and turning to leave the bathroom. She walked quickly back into the bedroom when she smacked right into something firm. Naruto's arms shot out to steady her.

"Sorry I couldn't just sit there. I needed to see you," Naruto said softly looking down at her. Sakura didn't say anything, just took his hand and guided him back to bed. Sakura sat Naruto on the side of the bed and brushed some of the hair off his forehead. She took the wet towel and brought it up to Naruto's head, holding it there for a moment before patting lightly one each side of his face. She moved down his neck and down to his chest. She heard Naruto let out a big sigh as he began to relax a bit more.

He looked up at her and smiled sheepishly but she could see the anxiety in his eyes. She spun around to walk back to the bathroom but Naruto yanked her arm, pulling her right onto his lap. Her legs straddled his as they sat on the side of the bed. Naruto took the towel and threw it on the ground, his eyes never leaving hers. Sakura smiled at him and moved her hands up to run them through his hair. Naruto's eyes closed and he leaned his head forward to rest on her shoulder.

Sakura wasn't sure how long they sat there. She felt Naruto's breathing even out and when she felt his body leaning more into her she knew he was asleep. She took naruto's arms and gently took them off her waist. She slowly stood up and held Naruto in place by his shoulders. She laid Naruto back on the bed and moved to pick his feet up and got him comfortable before walking over to Naruto's half of the bed and crawling in. She laid down next to him and Naruto subconsciously moved closer to her. Sakura smiled to herself as Naruto laid his head on her chest and threw his arm over her stomach. Sakura wrapped her arm around his shoulder and continued to play with his hair.

Naruto moaned in his sleep nuzzling his head deeper into her chest. "I love you Sakura-chan."

Sakura froze and waited for him to move or say anything else. He didn't however, he was fast asleep. Sakura felt her heart pounding in her chest. It had been a long time he had told her that. The last time he said it was at the training grounds the first time he took her out of the hospital. When he told her she thought he was trying to comfort her, be the person she could lean on. She wondered if he really did love her or if it was just his guilt. Either way Sakura felt a warm cross over her chest.

"Naruto-kun," she whispered. She waited for a reply, anything to indicate that he was awake or listening. He didn't make any moves; he was peacefully back to sleep. Sakura took in a big shaky breath, "I love you too." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

*one week later*

Sakura flopped down in her chair at her desk. It was only halfway through her shift and she had managed to finish all her work. She looked out her open door and saw most of the nurses standing in small groups talking or working on catching up on paperwork. Sakura sighed resting her head on the desk, she didn't like to be bored. It was best if she kept her head busy and didn't let her mind wander.

She heard a light knock on her door and whipped her head up to see who was at her door. Shizune stood there with a cautious smile. Sakura sighed relaxing back into her chair. "Shizune, sorry you startled me," Sakura apologized embarrassed. She wondered if people would ever look at her the way they did before, everyone just tip-toed around her.

"No need to apologize, Sakura. I was just coming to tell you you could take off early if you want. Pretty slow day here," Shizune smiled at her looking over at the clock. It was only eleven and her shift wasn't due to end for four more hours.

"You sure," Sakura asked standing from her desk. Shizune just nodded at her smiling before getting called away by one of the nurses in the hall. Sakura sighed and walked out of her office shutting the door behind her. She walked out of the hospital sighing as she felt the cool wind hit her face. She looked around and saw the streets were fairly filled with people. She took a deep breath before walking down the steps.

Naruto walked her to and from work everyday, he trained while she was at the hospital. If his training ever ran over she would just go and wait with Tsunade in her office or Naruto would send Kakashi in his place to bring her to the training grounds. She had been back in the leaf for six months today. Naruto wanted to celebrate with a big homemade dinner, he had been planning it all week. Sakura felt herself coming back a bit more everyday. She knew Naruto might get a little upset but today she was going to take another big step. She was going to walk through the village on her own. It may seem a bit silly for a nineteen year old to be thinking of walking by herself as some kind of huge step but for her it was..

Sakura sucked in a deep breath and started to make her way down the road. She was going to the training ground to watch Naruto for a bit then maybe they could go get lunch at Ichiraku's. She smiled to herself as she briskly walked through the streets. She could feel peoples eyes on her, and hear people whispering. It must be weird to see her without Naruto or Kakashi, she hadn't been seen alone once since being back. She put her head down and sped up her pace. Once she neared the training fields she started to slow down she picked up her head looking around and didn't see Naruto or Jiraiya anywhere.

Sakura checked some of the other training fields and found them empty as well. She figured they must have stopped early and went to get a bite to eat. She turned around and froze. Neji, Tenten, and Rocklee were only a few yards away. She cursed herself for not being more alert; she was so focused on trying to find Naruto that she let her guard down. She felt her heart drop in her stomach, they were walking closer and Sakura involuntarily took a few steps back. They stopped and looked uncomfortable.

Sakura shook her head, getting herself to come back to reality. She couldn't keep doing this if she wanted people to stop looking at her like she was broken. They were her fellow Ninja and this was their usual training field. They weren't in disguise and they weren't going to hurt her. Sakura forced a smile and lifted her hand up waving awkwardly.

Lee was the first one to respond waving so hard his arm might pop off, "SAKURA-CHAN! HELLO," he yelled smiling wide. Tenten slapped her forehead shaking her head at her teammates' energy. She looked back at Sakura smiling apologetically and Neji just looked at her with mild interest. Sakura walked towards them, stopping a few feet away.

"Hey guys.. Long time," Sakura spoke quietly, not really knowing how to make conversation with them.

"Yes Sakura-chan, it has been a while but you still look as youthful as ever," Lee smiled sticking his thumb out. Sakura chuckled, shaking her head at the scary similarities between him and his sensei that seemed to just amplify with time.

"You look good. How are you holding up," Tenten asked. She quickly looked at the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"No, it's fine," Sakura interjected quickly. "I'm.. doing the best I can. Just have to take it day by day," Sakura sighed. They all nodded at her response and a moment of silence fell over the three.

"Where's Naruto," Neji asked. He noticed right away that his presence was missing but he just realized Kakashi was nowhere to be found either.

"Oh, I'm not sure. That's what I was doing actually, he must have finished his training early today." Neji nodded his head as he continued to analyze her behavior. "Well I'm going to go, it was nice seeing you guys again," Sakura said politely before walking back towards the village.

"She looks good considering everything, don't you think," Tenten asked looking over at Neji. He grunted in response before turning and getting ready to begin their training.