Chapter 14

Naruto sat in his now torn apart apartment. When Sakura left he lost it flipping furniture over, throwing things, he even punched a few holes in the wall. He sat on the stairs to their bedroom with his head in his hands. He heard the door to the apartment open and his head shot up hoping it was Sakura. He hung his head when he saw it was only Jiraiya.

Jiraiya whistled lowly as he looked around at the carnage. He walked over to the steps sitting on one a few below the one Naruto sat on. "They're leaving in a couple minutes if you plan on going," Jiraiya said looking over his shoulder at Naruto.

"She left," he whispered. He looked up at Jiraiya with tears in his eyes. "I really messed up pervy-sage. I don't think she's coming back."

"She'll be back. That girl looks at you like you're the sun. She just needs some time to cool down," Jiraiya said, patting his knee. "You should really get going before they leave without you."

"I'm not going. I need to stay here and see if I can fix things," Naruto sighed looking around his apartment. He had a lot of cleaning to do. He summoned a few clones, even his clones were heartbroken as they walked around picking up the downstairs. They sat there in silence for maybe an hour or so watching the clones work.

"For what it's worth, I don't think they'll kill the Uchiha boy," Jiraiya spoke up breaking the silence.

"I'm more worried that he'll kill one of them," Naruto admitted looking down at his sensei. "Then there will be no coming back from that."

Jiraiya nodded his head in agreement. "You eat yet," Jiraiya asked standing from the step.

"I cooked for Sakura but we didn't really eat," Naruto sighed thinking back on the train wreck that was dinner. "I was going to give her the necklace tonight that we got back on that mission to the wave country."

Jiraiya leaned forward patting his shoulder, "Lets go get something to eat and give your girl a little more time to cool off. We can go to Tsunade's after and you can get her to hear you out."

Naruto pushed himself off the step and looked around. His clones had almost finished putting everything back in its place. He grabbed his jacket off the rack by the door and followed Jiraiya out.

People stared and whispered as Sakura walked through the village and towards the Hokage's tower. It was like Sakura had risen from the dead. The fire was lit in her once again she held her head up and paid no mind to anyone she passed. She walked into the tower and quickly navigated her way to the halls and to Tsunade's door. She didn't bother knocking. She just walked in slamming the door behind her.

Tsunade looked up and rolled her eyes, "You two have gotten way too comfortable. I am still your Hokage."

Sakura walked right up to the desk slamming her hands down. "I need to go on the retrieval for Sasuke Uchiha." Tsunade opened her mouth to argue but Sakura cut her off, "You will let me go on this mission. You owe me that much."

Tsunade looked at Sakura in shock. "Sakura I.. I don't think it's the best thing for you. You're still fragile right now and I don't want to put your progress at risk," Tsunade tone was tight.

"You think sending Naruto-kun out to get himself killed while I sit here and twiddle my thumbs will do any good. They'll need a medic anyway. I'm ready," Sakura's voice was hard and firm. "We both know Sasuke would kill Naruto without a second thought. If I'm here tucked away and he dies I will never be able to forgive you," Sakura's voice shook with emotion. "Please Lady Tsunade," Sakura pleaded.

Tsunade looked over at the clock and sighed, "They're supposed to be meeting at the gate in a couple minutes before leaving. You better hurry." Sakura smiled at her letting out a breath of relief. She walked over to the window getting ready to leap out when Tsunade called out to her. Sakura turned around and saw her headband in her outstretched hand. She hadn't seen it since the night she was taken, she thought it was lost. "It was found in the street outside your house. I've been holding on to it for you," Tsunade smiled.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," she whispered, grabbing it before turning and leaping out the window. She leapt quickly across the rooftop determined to keep Naruto safe. She looked down at her headband and smiled, it had been a long time since she felt like she had any control. She got closer and could see the group standing by the gate. She jumped down and looked around. She immediately noticed Naruto's presence missing. She felt a little guilty but the overwhelming feeling of relief casted a shadow over it.

"Sakura? What are you doing here," Kakashi asked shocked to see her there.

"I'm your medic," Sakura said, tying her band around her head. She looked around at everyone's startled faces. "What do you suddenly all know medical ninjutsu," she asked defensively, everyone redirected to look somewhere else and shook their heads . "Tsunade sent me, so we all set?"

Kakashi looked over his old student and could see a slight change in her. She was on edge but she had that spark back in her eyes. "Naruto coming," Kakashi asked.

"No," was all she said looking him directly in the eye. Kakashi nodded and looked over a confused Shikamaru and shrugged his shoulders. Tenten exchanged an anxious glance with Neji. Kiba just looked at Sakura in amusement, there was no way in hell Naruto knew where she was right now. Sasuke had been one of the main reasons they got into the big fight all those years ago, it seemed their lost teammate was still a rough topic.

"Well let's get going, we have to meet up with the Suna team in a couple hours and then we'll be tracking down Sasuke Uchiha. It will be a long night, I hope you all rested up," Shikamaru said looking at Sakura out of the corner of his eye.

He turned and ran, jumping up onto the tree branch Neji and Tenten followed closely behind. Sakura took one last look back at the village before running out the gate following her team. They traveled a few miles when Kakashi jumped forward so she was right beside Sakura.

"I'm assuming Naruto does not know you're here," Kakashi said mildly, casting a sideways glance at her. He was confused how she managed to slip away from the blonde. They were practically attached at the hip.

"No he does not. He told me he was coming, we got into a big fight. And here I am," Sakura chuckled dryly. She felt her chest tighten think of their exchange.

"He decided not to come," Kakashi pointed out.

"I told him I didn't want him to, we both said things and I left. I guess he decided not to come after all," Sakura sighed in relief.

"Yet you're still here. Why? Why didn't you just turn around and go back to Naruto," Kakashi asked. They were nearing the base camp they were meeting Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara at. They jumped down Kiba, Neji, Tenten and Shikamaru going to meet the sand siblings while Sakura and Kakashi hung back.

"Naruto always sees the good in people even when it's not there," Sakura said painfully. "He won't ever see Sasuke for how dangerous he truly is. I won't let him get himself killed. Even if it can't stop Sasuke and he kills me or one of us. Maybe Naruto-kun will finally realize how dangerous Sasuke really is."

Kakashi looked at Sakura for a moment before nodding his head, "I see you've thought about this a lot."

"It was one of the many ways they liked to mess with me. I watched Naruto-kun die by Sasuke's hand too many times. I won't let it become a reality," Sakura vowed.

"Alright," Kakashi said, reaching out patting her shoulder. The two started walking towards the group. The sand siblings were all shocked to see Sakura there. They had heard the rumors. Temari and Kankuro went to help out when they went to retrieve her but they had yet to see her. She looked more slender, fragile. Her hair longer coming just below the middle of her back, it was tied back with her headband. They were surprised to see her there but definitely more surprised not to see Naruto.

"Sakura, it's great to have your talents back with us," Gaara said diplomatically. His eyes calculated each movement she made, seeing if she was indeed ready to be here.

"Thank you," Sakura bowed her head slightly. "So any intel on Sasuke's whereabouts? He moves quickly, if we waste anytime we could lose any traces of him," Sakura wanted to get right to business. She didn't want the attention on her.

"He received word that he's not too far from here. Itachi has been spotted a lot around here quite recently and Sasuke has been trying to get information," Kankuro explained. "We believe he is in a small village within a couple miles of here."

"We better get going then," Shikamaru nodded. The sand siblings led as they ran through the trees. They came up to a clearing and good hear metal clanging. The siblings stopped right on the edge of the clearing and let everyone catch up. There stood Sasuke a few yards from Kisame both had their swords drawn. He looked over at them and frowned in disinterest before turning his attention back to Kisame. Kisame looked over annoyed to see who else was joining in. Kisame smiled wickedly as his eyes trained on Sakura.

Sakura was frozen, she stopped breathing and felt her heart racing as she looked at Kisame in horror. She sucked in a shaky painful breath. She was not expecting to run into the Akatsuki, she wasn't ready. Kakashi walked closer to Sakura standing slightly in front of her.

Kisame could sense her terror and let out a thunderous laugh. He threw his sword over his shoulder and started walking towards the group. "Well, well. Finally came out to play I see," he called out to the pink hair girl.

"Hey don't walk away from me," Sasuke yelled as Kisame ignored him walking towards the others.

"I already told you Itachi's not feeling like any brotherly bonding time. Scram," Kisame's tone was bored. "We missed you pinky," Kisame called out waving cheerfully. Sasuke looked between the two in confusion. He was ignoring him to talk to Sakura, his blood boiled.

Sakura took an involuntary step back. Kakashi looked over his shoulder at Sakura worried, hoping she'd be able to pull it together. He knew it was a bad idea as soon as he saw her at the gate but he couldn't go against the hokage.

"Hey guys! Look who's come out of hiding," Kisame called out looking towards the other end of the clearing. Two figures emerged from the trees. Deidara and Sasori walked out smiling widely. "I think she missed us, just look at her shaking with excitement," Kisame laughed. Sasori and Deidra walked to stand next to Kisame.

Diedara began molding and shaping pieces of clay, "She must miss out hospitality."

Sasori cocked his head to the side and let out a small chuckle, "Ready to come home little leaf warrior?"

"No," Sakura whispered out trembling. They all turned to look at Sakura who was taking several steps back clutching her chest. She looked like she was about to be physically ill. Kakashi frowned. He turned back to face their enemy and pulled down his mask revealing his sharingan, "Enough talking."

Just like that the battle began. Everyone moved but Sakura was stuck in place, she looked around and everything was happening in slow motion. Kisame was fighting Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru. Deidara was toying around as usual, running off into the forest followed closely by Gaara, Temari, Tenten and Neji. Kankuro and Kakashi were fighting Sasori's puppets. Time stopped as she watched her fellow ninja fighting. Sakura heard her name being called but it seemed so far away. Then she felt someone standing behind her. She turned slowly and saw Sasori's true form standing behind her.

Naruto and Jiraiya spent an hour or so at the ramen stand talking while Naruto wallowed in ramen. Jiraiya had managed to convince him that they could patch all this over. Naruto kept running over their fight in his mind. He was going crazy, he just needed to find Sakura.

He stood from his seat and stretched his arms over his head, "Alright Jiraiya you think Sakura has calmed down enough yet?"

Jiraiya laughed, nodding his head putting money down on the counter, "That girl used to be able to hold a grudge till she was blue in the face. She has a big soft spot for you kid. I'm sure she had cooled down enough by the time she got to Tsunade's office."

Naruto smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. They walked through the village. The streets were a lot more sparse at night. The moon was high in the sky lighting up the village. They walked to the tower making idle chit chat. Naruto could feel his stomach in his throat as he walked through the main doors. Shizune was standing outside Tsunade's door talking to a village official. She smiled at them before turning back to finish her conversation.

She stopped mid sentence and her head whipped over to Jiraiya and Naruto, "Naruto? What are you doing here," Shizune asked in a worried voice.

"I came to apologize to Sakura-chan. Hopefully she is willing to forgive and come home," he said sadly knocking on Tsunade's door.

"What's going on," he heard Jiraiya asked Shizune in a confused tone.

"Come in," Tsunade called out. Naruto pushed open the door walking in his eyes searching for Sakura but she was nowhere to be found. His confused eyes met Tsunade's shocked eyes. "Naruto, why aren't you on your mission," her voice sounded panicked.

"Me and Sakura-chan got into a big fight. I really messed un Baa-chan," he sighed heavily. He looked around and didn't see her bag or any trace of her. "Please don't tell me you got her that apartment," his voice was filled with anxiety.

Tsunade opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish. She ran her hands down her face. She looked up and saw Jiraiya enter with a look of dread on his face, Shizune trailed behind with her head hung down.

"Naruto.. Sakura came to me and asked me to go on the retrieval mission. She convinced me to let her go," Tsunade said slowly. She watched Naruto's face go from confused to worried to pissed.

"Baa-chan how could you let her go! What were you thinking," he yelled. He felt sick to his stomach. "You said to yourself she's not ready!"

"You didn't see the way she came in here. She made it seem like she wanted to go to go with you! I had no clue you weren't going or I never would have allowed it," Tsundade yelled back standing up, pacing. "Jiraiya Naruto go now. They were meeting Gaara and his siblings near a small village in between the leaf and sand village."

Naruto ran out of the office Jiraiya hot on his trail. They ran through the front gate and Naruto couldn't keep his thoughts under control. He was angry, worried, scared.

"What the hell was she thinking," Naruto growled, running as fast as he could. "How could she still go when she saw I wasn't there?"

"I can't be sure but she probably thought she was protecting you. She's always been protective over you, and she doesn't trust that Uchiha boy" Jiraiya sighed, running by Naruto's side. He looked over and could see his student was barely holding it together. "Listen everything will be fine. We'll go and make sure your girl is safe and we'll bring home Sasuke," Jiraiya said cheerfully.

Naruto pushed himself harder and prayed that Sakura would be alright until he could get there. Now doubt she was strong and cunning on the battlefield, but she had also grown more reckless since her capture. She wasn't afraid of getting hurt.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura screamed. Naruto broke his concentration and whipped his head in the Direction of Sakura's scream. He saw her running towards him. He ran to her almost falling backwards as she rushed into his arm. He pulled back looking over every inch of her. He noticed her clothes were torn and her right shoulder was burned badly.

"Sakura-chan? What the hell are you okay," he breathed out worried.

"I did it," she yelled laughing wildly. "I finally did it!" She held up two bells that were usually tied to Kakashi's waist. He looked at her shocked before looking over her shoulder to find Kakashi slowly walking over.

Naruto smiled at her and kissed her quickly before congratulating her, "I knew you would get them eventually." Sakura beamed before kissing his cheek and bounding around bragging to Jiraiya. Naruto smiled watching her before turning to Kakashi with a pissed expression. "What the hell Kakashi. She looks like she just went ten rounds not training."

"Listen, we were training as usual and things got more intense. I charged up a chidori and she just started running directly at me. I figured it was a clone or substitution tactic she normally tries. Even then I still only aimed for her shoulder. She just jumped at me barely even phased as my attack hit her. She cocked back and hit me for all she was worth. Trust me I got the worst end of the deal," Kakashi said rolling his shoulders.

Sakura panted as she looked around. Kisame had fallen back into the woods while Shikamaru and Kiba pursued. Sasuke laid on the ground semiconscious, Kakashi was trying to get to his feet and Kankuro was faced down a few yards away unmoving. Sakura ran over to check him. She knelt down and rolled him over checking his pulse. It was there but barely. She was just about to summon chakra to her hand when she saw bright red out of her peripheral. She moved her head to the side and gasped. She grabbed Kankuro jumping to the side just in time to miss a blast of fire.

She hopped a few times trying to avoid Sasori's flames. She felt the flame lick her leg and winced at the intense heat. She took cover behind a rock putting down Kankuro's body. She quickly moved her hands over Kankuro doing as much as she could. She heard Sasori laughing, all of a sudden two wires came from around the rock wrapping around her body and trapping her against the rock. She struggled to free herself. She pulled as hard as she could but couldn't get the wires to break. She heard a hissing sound and looked to the side to see a purple mist coming from around the rock.

"Poison," She cursed, sucking in one last breath of clean air. She struggled harder against the bindings. She heard Kakashi calling her name. She looked down at Kankuro and vowed that she would not let them die like that. A little poison was not going to be what finally killed her. She wiggled her wrist and managed to get enough room to reach into her bag. She grabbed a Kunai and managed to cut the bottom one she felt herself getting light headed as she continued to hold her breath. She freed herself of both the wires and dropped down grabbing Kankuro jumping away and placed Kankuro next to a passed out Sasuke.

She put him down and heard her name being called. She looked over and saw yellow and orange emerging from the opposite side of the clearing. She stood up and looked at him. She couldn't help the smile that made its way to her lips. He was running towards her when she heard the sound of metal wheezing through the air.

"SAKURA-CHAN," Naruto yelled. She looked to the side just in time for Sasori's wire to go through her side before gripping the ground. He flew forward, turning to go after Naruto.

"So nice of you to join," Sasori called out sinisterly. Naruto stopped running and got into a defensive stance. Sakura felt the fear creeping up making her breathing stop. She grabbed the wire and started yanking it in desperately. Sasori was only a few feet from Naruto then he jolted to a stop. He looked over his shoulder and saw Sakura holding the wire. Naruto had a surprised look on his face. Sakura could see his move moving but couldn't hear what he was saying.

She smiled widely before yanking it back as hard as she could. "Go to hell," Sakura yelled as she pulled him back toward her and put the rest of her chakra into her punch. The punch hit was a resonating crack. This body flew apart in pieces. Sakura stumbled forward. She looked down at the cylinder that contained his heart. She put her foot on it lightly before crushing it into the ground.

Sakura felt exhausted. She felt a rush of air as her legs gave out. Before her knees could hit the dirt she felt two arms surrounding her pulling her in. She looked up and all she could see through her blurry vision was yellow. She smiled reaching up, touching the soft yellow cloud. She blinked hard a few times clearing up her vision. "Naruto-kun," she whispered as he came into focus.

"Sakura-chan thank god you're okay," his voice cracked in relief. He pressed his forehead to hers. He pulled away kissing her head inhaling the scent of her hair. He helped Sakura to her feet and she held her at arms length to look over her injuries. She had a few scrapes on her face and there were gashes on her arms and legs. She had a big slice in her side and parts of her clothes were shinged.

There was a rustling and they both looked over to see Sasuke struggling to get up. It all happened quickly. Sakura was suddenly out of his arms and she was on top of Sasuke, her knees pinned his arms to the ground and she held a kunai to his throat. Sakuke freed one of his arms covering the blade with his hand headbutting Sakura. Sakura fell back on her before scrambling to her feet as Sasuke rose to his. They both ran at each other but never made contact. Naruto flung them both backward. Sakura landed on her back several yards back coughing while Sasuke flipped and landed on his feet.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, frowning. Sasuke looked around and saw the other leaf and sand Ninja coming together. Most of them were tired and injured but still he was in no state to deal with all of them. He looked at his old teammates before turning and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sakura painfully pushed herself on her elbow looking at Naruto's back with a stunned expression. Kakashi knelt by her, helping her to her feet. She coughed a few more times feeling the wind knocked out of her. Naruto whipped around to meet her glare, "What the hell was that?"

"Sakura-chan I'm sorry I didn't mean to," Naruto apologized, feeling an overwhelming guilt for hitting Sakura.

"Screw you! You didn't mean to," she bit out. "When are you going to start treating him for what he is? "

"Sakura-chan," Naruto sighed. "He is our teammate, he is our friend. When are you going to realize that," he yelled back stalking forward. "I'm sorry I didn't want to hurt you but I was just trying to protect you both. You're not supposed to be here anyway! What the fuck were you thinking," Naruto yelled in her face.

"I'm not supposed to be here? You're the one who shouldn't be here. You just let him get away," Sakura screamed, gesturing to where Sasuke was moments ago. "Last time I checked you weren't the Hokage yet and it's not up to you to make those kinds of decisions," Sakura hissed poking his chest.

"She only gave you permission because she thought I was going to be here," he yelled in her face. Sakura stepped back flinching. "Fuck Sakura-chan I'm sorry, you just had me so worried. Something bad could have happened and I wouldn't have been here to protect you," Naruto stressed, rubbing his face.

"You would willingly throw your life in danger for Sasuke Uchiha. The person who turned his back on us for a little bit of power," Sakura chuckled. "You say you need to protect me but who would I have if Sasuke killed you," her voice cracked. "I'm terrified that he will be the one who kills you. What then," She asked a tear slipping down her cheek.

Naruto looked at her sadly. He reached out and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered. Sakura looked around and could see everyone watching the exchange tensely. She looked back at Naruto who was staring down at her with pity.

"I did just fine without you. You ever hit me again and I'll break both your arms" she sneered. She glared at Naruto coldly as she looked at the ground, guilty. She walked away, stopping at Sasori's remains. She looked down at his head. She felt her blood boiling but she also felt a huge sense of pride wash over her. She knelt down and looked at his face once more before crashing her fist through his head shattering it to pieces. One down.