Karui, Jinora, and Yamato had hopped into a peculiar fight. People from Konoha that she couldn't recognize were fighting clones of themselves. They were struggling quite a bit from what Karui could see. There was no telling how long they'd been there and if their injuries were indicative of anything, they'd be here for a while more if she didn't intervene.

The consequences of losing the Kazekage would be great. If one jinchuuriki's life was put in danger, then so were the others. Killer Bee would be locked up for god knows how long and Karui couldn't fathom a fate as horrible as that for anyone. Especially not a sensei she so dearly loved.

Yamato called out to the eccentric looking group. What she guessed were the real people and not the doubles retreated from the fight to stand beside him. Karui and Jinora exchanged glances before giving a battle cry as they rushed onto the rocky field. Jinora flew through seals faster than the speed of light, puffed her cheeks, and blew out a breath so powerful that it created a tornado. The doppelgangers were able to catch onto the technique in time and unfortunately were able to gather chakra to their feet to stay in place. No matter. Karui had something up her sleeve.

She held her sword up to eye level and scaled her potential range. She had only one shot for this to work. She threw her sword in an arc with the aid of her chakra. The body doubles jumped – as she anticipated – and she smirked as her plan was set in motion. Quickly, she flew through the seals of a lightning jutsu and ran towards the figures. Jinora wasn't far behind, having already caught onto her plan.

Jinora, with more wind jutsus, pushed the doppelgangers further and further back towards the body of water. Karui found it hard to keep her chakra balanced enough for her jutsu to remain undetectable. It wasn't for naught that the team they were tasked with relieving were so banged up. Their doppelgangers were doing everything in their power to prolong their battle.

They stood on the surface of the water anticipating her next move. Jinora let up on her attacks and drew back to stand behind Karui. Karui submerged her hand underwater secretly and released the lightning technique upon the doppelgangers. Their figures dissolved into burnt ashes. Surprisingly, she had no lingering feelings about it. Even if one of them had turned out to be the real version, she didn't think she would regret what she had done.

The group headed towards a location with the familiar locations of their search party. Jinora kept in close stride with Karui, stealing glances every other moment or so. She kept her head facing forward to avoid the upcoming lecture she was sure Jinora would subject her to. She didn't want to forgive. She didn't want to forget. And she damn sure didn't want to talk to Sakura. Jinora usually avoided talking to either of them about their relationship at all. Why she was being so persistent about having a civil conversation now was beyond her.

"We're coming up on the Akatsuki hideout. Be cautious of your every move. We know nothing about our enemies," Yamato shouted over the whipping winds.

Karui braced herself. This would probably be the hardest battle she'd ever fight. She'd be lucky to make it out alive. They set a faster pace as they traveled further into the forested area. The mysterious sounds of the animals nearby soothed her. They were the white noise she needed to calm down.

Coming upon the scene was frightening. Not because there was anything gory in front of them, but because of the anticipation. Jinora ran over to release the seal sticker and Sakura followed behind her with a chakra infused punch. The time in between waiting for the dust to settle was the most stomach knot inducing wait of her life. Everybody was on edge.

The dust cleared to reveal several dark figures in coats decorated elaborately with red clouds outlined in white stitches. The atmosphere shifted. Everybody settled into a fighting stance, one side anticipating the other's move. Just as the cloaked figures looked like they were about to start something, their bodies stiffened almost as if they had been momentarily taken over by an outside force.

Gaara, sandwiched in the middle of all the chaos, lay there unconscious with the last dregs of his chakra being extracted. Karui felt her body move forward. All she could see was Killer Bee in this situation if she didn't act accordingly.

The Akatsuki vanished in a cloud of dust. They were all suspicious of the attack they were sure was coming, but they had no time to wait. Sakura was the first to make a move. Gaara's wellbeing was the top priority and, being a medic, she wanted to administer emergency aid as quickly as possible. Karui and Jinora followed suit. They had more chakra to spare and lent it to Sakura who appeared as if she'd seen a ghost.

Silence surrounded the scene. Not even Naruto – whom Karui had come to know as irrehensibly loud – watched in careful consternation. He noticed the struggle Sakura had with extracting Gaara's chakra to keep his heart beating and offered his own. A half hour of complete silence passed. Sweat collected on Sakura's brow. Karui, disgruntled and tightlipped, was in awe of the hard work her teammate was putting in. Sometimes, she forgot how hard her friend had trained to become the kunoichi she was today.

Sakura stopped her chakra flow and wiped the sweat from her forehead. When Gaara's eyes flickered open, a loud whoop rang through the group. The tension escaped from their hearts like running water. Naruto hugged Sakura from behind excitedly. A few others that Karui wasn't familiar with clapped her on the back and sang her praises.

All Karui could focus on was the way Sakura hadn't even bothered to acknowledge anything going on around her. Her face remained blank. Her hands were shaking. Uncertainty wavered in her glassy eyes. .…

The procession for Gaara's return was swift. His village needed him and appearing weak to the Akatsuki or any of the other villages would only cause further damage.

Sakura patched him up rather quickly. Thank god the Akatsuki had decided to flee. She didn't know if she'd have been able to fight in her state of mind. Her hands were still shaking from her fight with Sasori. Chiyo-baa-sama's body had been removed from the battlefield and was in the process of being properly fashioned for her upcoming funeral. Suna nin came to pick up and dispose of Sasori's body.

She watched as they placed a heavy wool blanket over his puppet body. The sound of his last words played through her mind as she watched the nin flicker away. What a senseless death. Everything had been for naught in the end. Sasori and Chiyo had loved each other up until the very end of their lives and what had that left them both with? A life full of heartbreak and mistrust that could've been easily quelled if not for the fate the village had created for the little family and Gaara.

Sakura struggled to keep her composure as they waved Gaara off. Weariness spilled into every pore of his body. She could tell that it was hard for him to even be standing. Naruto and Gaara briefly shared words of encouragement between each other. She was thankful for the strength that returned to the blonde's body. His distress coming on the trip was palpable and she feared that it would only become worse if Gaara hadn't been able to pull through.

The rescue party headed out towards the vast, desert wasteland. Rock Lee and Gai chirped happily about youth as they picked unwilling partners to carry on their backs the entire way home as a demonstration of a friendly, youthful competition. Neji rejected Lee's offer, but TenTen, with her poor aching feet, happily obliged him.

The overall jovial attitude of the group was nice. They needed a break after such a stressful battle. But Sakura was far from okay. Her nerves were like landmines. If someone happened to glance at her the wrong way she was sure she'd explode.

A rough hand clasped around her wrist. She hadn't noticed she'd almost tripped until the hand brought her back up to standing position. She peered up at the hand's owner to see none other than Sasuke. When had he fallen to the back of the group to walk with her?

He waited until she righted herself to walk again. He kept an even pace with her. Try as she might, she couldn't deny the comfort it brought her. Even if he was only lingering in the back to avoid the boisterous group up front, she was glad to have someone by her side.

Night soon fell. Exhaustion swept over the search party in waves. Even the biggest loudmouths like Lee and Naruto were tuckered out.

Camp was set up rather quickly for how bone tired they all were. There wasn't a moment where someone wasn't yawning. By the time dinner was served, Sakura had all but disappeared from the campsite. She hadn't even bothered to give some lame excuse for leaving. She needed to be alone, so she left.

She nestled into a tall tree and pinched herself every time her stomach greedily growled after catching a whiff of the campfire stew. Control. Control. Control. She needed it. How else was she going to live with the fact that she, a medical ninja, had killed someone by her own hand.

Closing her eyes for a few moments did nothing to ease her grief. Either Sasori's or Chiyo's deaths replayed in her mind in fragmented pieces. Some memories played with a hyper focus on their mouths, sometimes their blood, and others were just her hand digging into Sasori's heart.

She clenched her hand in fear. You're a monster. You killed them. You killed them both.

A lump formed in her throat. Her selfishness had cost two lives in battle. She needed to be punished. Harshly. Swiftly. With no time limit.

Sakura fixed herself in time to feel a familiar chakra sitting at the bottom of the tree.

Sasuke.

He inspected her inquisitively with those dark, mysterious eyes of his. She felt naked under his gaze. She felt that if she looked into his eyes any longer that he'd be able to unravel all her secrets.

She turned, hoping he'd go away. He flickered onto a branch near her. Still as quiet and unapproachable as ever. He tilted his head like that of a dog as he examined her. Sakura wrapped her arms around herself shyly. She never liked how easily he was able to decipher her.

"Dinner was served."

"I know," she replied while avoiding his eyes. She heard him step closer to her on the branch.

"Naruto was wondering where you were."

"I'm not lost."

A brief pause ensued. Sakura was being snappy. She didn't know why. Sasuke was making harmless statements. Maybe she'd just become used to the venom that stung his every word.

She took a chance and peeked at him. He was holding an intense gaze. His dark, probing eyes reading her as if he were scanning a paper in the office. Sasuke moved again to sit right next to her. Sakura did the best she could to control the heat rising on her face.

"You're angry with your team," he said, bordering between a question and a statement of finality.

Sakura scoffed. He always swooped in acting like he knew everything.

"I'm not angry with them," she huffed.

"Neither of you are talking to each other."

"So? Do you talk to Naruto every day?"

Sasuke looked absolutely appalled. Sakura simply rolled her eyes as she looked up at the starry night sky.

"The dobe's different."

"How so?" she quipped.

Sasuke looked stuck for a moment. He shook his head and lifted from his perch on the branch. "Tch. Whatever. I came here to tell you that Kakashi received news of another Akatsuki attack. Asuma's team was sent out to handle them."

"Where are they located?"

"A bounty station near the outskirts of the Land of Fire."

Sakura nodded and returned to stargazing. She listened as his footsteps faded into silence. She took a deep breath as she watched the stars twinkle sporadically.

I can't let this happen again.

….

Morning came quicker than anyone hoped for. They were packed and moving again before the sun rose and the heat was absolutely unbearable. Jinora had been keeping an eye on Sakura for a while now. Karui wasn't giving either one of them the time of day.

Jinora usually tried to stay neutral on most things between her friends especially since their breakup, but this was ridiculous. Karui was within reason to be holding a grudge, but she'd never known the girl to be so unforgiving. She guessed she could understand. When Sakura was in love, she could be overbearing and extremely needy. Remembering the days of their relationship brought up harsh memories of Karui's discomfort and Sakura's emotional dependency.

The truth of the matter was that Karui had been assaulted and Sakura's seemingly innocuous display of affection had triggered her. Jinora knew that even with all the girl's years of therapy that she would forever be haunted by the situation.

Sakura on the other hand was in the beginning stages of spiraling. She was isolating herself so no one noticed, but Jinora was no fool. She kept stealing glances at the pink-haired girl who straggled at the back of the party.

The boy, Sasuke, had been traveling beside her for most of the trip. He was messing up Jinora's plan of sliding in and addressing Sakura privately. She rolled her eyes and sighed. It was obvious she wouldn't be able to shake him, so she might as well do something now.

Jinora drifted towards the back of the group until she was tree hopping next to Sakura only a few inches apart.

"You're doing it again," Jinora whispered as best as she could.

Sakura didn't bother to turn in her direction. "Doing what?" she asked, annoyance resting in every syllable.

"You know what I mean."

"I don't," she said between clenched teeth.

Sasuke peered over in their direction curiously. Sakura, eyebrows tilted downward, kept her eyes forward.

"So I'm going to ask you again. Doing what?"

"You want me to yell it out in front of all of your friends?" Jinora snapped, becoming indignant.

Sakura's eyes widened for a moment, taking in the anger of her friend's tone. She sighed as she regained her speed. They moved in silence for a few minutes. There was a lot that needed to be said with so little time. Jinora caught Sakura's wrist as they hopped onto another tree branch.

"When's the last time you ate?"

Jinora watched as Sakura's mouth twisted in disgust. She cut her eyes and snatched her arm away. Sakura leapt closer up to the front of the group with Sasuke not too far behind her. Jinora – in shock and slightly disappointed – could only hope that someone, anybody would be able to get through to her.

Hmm. Don't really know what to say about this chapter. Everything's going to get worse but I'm kind of 'meh' about this chapter. Let me know you guys' thoughts.