A/N: Not much to say for this chap :) I'm not too good at writing fight scenes but hopefully it's ok. I know it's a bit weird that basically Sakura can suddenly talk to trees but don't worry, it won't be that much of a big deal later on as other aspects of the Mokuton appear (hint: growing trees lol). I just didn't want her to suddenly get her powers, instead having to slowly develop them.

Anyways, as always, enjoy!

[Chapter 10]

She snatched her hand off the tree and as if a switch had been flicked, her mind was clear again. Whatever it was, it had come from the tree.

"Sakura! Are you ok?" Kakashi appeared next to her in a cloud of smoke.

She looked around with frantic eyes, like a deer trapped under headlights.

"Run!" She nearly screamed in terror. "We need to run!"

Kakashi didn't seem to get it though.

"Sakura, calm down. Tell me what's wrong," he said, crouching down to face her.

She was still shaking.

"Where are they? Where are Naruto and Sasuke. We need to go!"

Something in the trees caused Kakashi to stand up from his crouching position and turn his head, and Sakura followed his gaze.

Suddenly, she was being knocked off her feet by Kakashi. She flew backwards, hitting the tree she'd just moved away from with an impact that knocked the air out of her.

Instantly the feelings and voices attacked again.

DANGER! HERE! TOO LATE! DEAD! they said.

With some pain, she turned to see the figure of a man facing off against Kakashi. The newcomer was tall, with long, flowing blue hair and eyes so dark there didn't seem to be a pupil. He reminded her slightly of Sasuke, although where her teammate was pale, he was tanned, his skin a beautiful shade of bronze.

He wore a black tank that showed off his well-defined shoulders and arms and loose fitting pants. He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen and his appearance gave her an odd feeling of safety.

The man smirked.

"I assume you are the ones who killed the messenger?"

His voice was like honey, soft and smooth, rolling over her like a wave. It was calming too, like the sun shining down on her skin on a warm summer day. Sakura felt herself relax. There was nothing to be worried about. She peacefully leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes.

GENJUTSU! FAKE! ILLUSION! RUN! the voices screamed in her head.

Sakura bolted upright, the genjutsu breaking off of her. Sasuke and Naruto shared the same sleepy expression which seconds before had been on her face. Only Kakashi was unaffected, still standing across from the nin.

Kakashi shot her a quick glance across the clearing.

"Wake them up," he signed, almost too fast for her to catch the meaning.

"Kiri sent you, I assume," Kakashi stated, addressing the man. "We found your spy weeks ago."

She had to break Naruto and Sasuke out of the genjutsu, and fast. They were across the clearing from her, still up in the trees. Between them stood Kakashi and the foreign nin.

The blue-haired man shrugged. "You have no proof he was ours and you won't find any."

Kakashi didn't reply, instead silently lifting up his headband. She couldn't see his face but the Kiri-nin's eyes widened in excitement.

"Ah, so you're the one they call Sharingan-no-Kakashi," he said, grinning. His teeth were pointed, Sakura noticed with a shiver of fear.

Suddenly the two sprung into motion, meeting in the centre of the clearing in a battle of blows almost too fast for her eyes to follow.

Taking this as her cue, Sakura quickly melted back into the surrounding forest and sprinted in a large semi-circle around the clearing. She had to make her way to Naruto and Sasuke.

She was so focused on her goal she almost didn't notice the kunai sent her way. At the last second an accidental brushing of a tree gave her a brain-shattering warning though.

MOVE! DUCK! MOVE!

She tumbled to the ground awkwardly, the kunai cutting a faint scratch along her arm. Her heart pounding she stayed there for a moment. The pain of the cut didn't even register due to the adrenaline flooding her veins. Thank god for whatever the fuck the voice in her head was, without it she'd be dead. She'd figure out what it was later, for now she'd accept that it was saving her life.

The kunai lay embedded in a tree trunk about a metre away. It had a curved blade, something unique to the weapons made in Kiri. It was made for stabbing and thrusting, less for slicing. Deciding not to forgone any weapon she grabbed it and kept running.

Within moments she'd made it to where Naruto and Sasuke lay dozing on a tree branch. Taking a deep breath she steeled herself and sent chakra to her feet, climbing up the trunk.

She kneeled beside Sasuke first. The academy had said that to break another out of a genjutsu all you had to do was send a jolt of chakra to the victims system to disrupt it. Steeling herself she pushed chakra down to her hand and lightly placed it on Sasuke's chest. She pushed the chakra onwards, outwards.

With a jolt, Sasuke sat upright, his forehead almost banging into hers. His eyes were wild and confused.

"You were put under a genjutsu," she said.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to curse. "I need the sharingan," he murmured bitterly beneath his breath.

Sakura pretended she hadn't heard. "I'm going to go wake Naruto up," she said, standing up from her crouch and flying to the next branch where Naruto slumbered. She repeated the same process and within seconds all three of them stood grouped together.

Within the clearing, Kakashi and the Kiri-nin fought on.

"Kakashi's trying to draw him away from here," Sakura noticed. Indeed the fight was moving away from them and into the forest.

"He doesn't think we can help," Sasuke said, scowling.

"Well what are we waiting for," Naruto said loudly. "We need to help him! We're stronger than he thinks!"

"I don't know if we can, guys," Sakura said, unsure. "We'd probably just be a burden to him cause he'd have to protect us too."

"Whatever, we can definitely handle one guy," Naruto replied confidently.

Sasuke seemed more rational though. "We'll follow but not engage for now," he ordered curtly. The other two didn't protest and the three made their way through the trees.

Sakura could see smoke rising up from several of the trees around them, indicators that one of the two ninja had used some type of Katon jutsu.

Cautiously they approached the still-ongoing fight.

Both nin had sustained injuries. The Kiri-nin's left arm hung by his side but Kakashi was limping and had all his weight on one leg as they disengaged. That was bad, Sakura thought anxiously.

All three genin watched nervously as the two experienced ninja clashed again in a show of sparks flying from kunai and split second replacements.

Kakashi cut down a clone of the Kiri-nin only for the Kiri-nin to stab him in the back, revealing yet another nin. Kakashi ducked under a swipe of the other's kunai before shunshining behind him and following up with a counterattack.

And then within just seconds the unthinkable happened. The Kiri-nin unleashed a water jutsu and disappeared from sight. He reappeared moments later behind Kakashi and tapped a single finger to their sensei's head. Kakashi collapsed like a puppet with its string cut.

Sakura's heart stopped beating. Sasuke swore under his breath.

The Kiri-nin smiled, an expression both beautiful and dangerous.

"You can come out now kiddies," he said in a sing-song.

That was the last thing Sakura wanted to do. Could she run? No, she wasn't fast enough. She was a snail compared to this nin. And whatever he wanted… She was sure it was the packet Kakashi had killed the innkeeper for. Whatever it was, it was important. Which meant she couldn't allow the nin to find it. Besides, Kakashi was their only chance to win. Hopefully he was only under a genjutsu. If not, well…

Sakura dropped out of the trees and to the ground, landing in a crouch. She tried to hide her fear.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Naruto and Sasuke drop down as well.

"Is he dead," she asked loudly, her voice betraying none of her nerves. The man stood to gain nothing from lying, so maybe he'd tell them.

"Oh, rest assured, he's alive," the shinobi responded in his soft, honey voice. "Just under a simply genjutsu I created."

That was good news, Sakura thought determinedly. That meant they had a chance as long as she could reach Kakashi and jolt him with chakra. Hopefully that would do the trick.

"We need to free Kakashi from the genjutsu," she determinedly whispered back to Sasuke and Naruto without taking her eyes off the man.

The foreign nin heard her.

He chuckled. "Oh, really? Well I won't stand in your way then," he said, taking a large step away from Kakashi and leaning back against a nearby tree.

He looked completely relaxed, his frame lithe and his hands resting behind his head.

"Go for it," he said cheerfully, waving a hand at Kakashi. Sakura frowned, it couldn't be that easy right.

Naruto rushed forward without any doubts. "You bastard," he yelled at the nin.

Sakura watched, unbelieving, as Naruto crossed the forest in large bounds. Then suddenly he stopped, darting backwards.

"Naruto?" she questioned under her breath. There was nothing in front of him.

Naruto had begun rolling around, trying to avoid some invisible threat. A genjutsu, she realized. It wasn't real, the Kiri-nin was just toying with them. He still stood there against the tree, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Naruto," she screamed, rushing to his side.

Suddenly the world around her went black and she was falling, falling. Sakura screamed and then she was actually falling. She knew she was still in the forest, logically her brain screamed that she was still in the forest, but it didn't feel like it. It felt like there was no ground beneath her feet, that there was nothing but darkness.

She tried disrupting her chakra system. The darkness disappeared and she was back in the forest again. She breathed a sigh of relief and then spun to face the Kiri-nin.

He scowled. "Foolish girl," he reprimanded.

The forest disappeared, only to be replaced by a hellish dimension. Fires burned around her and the sky was streaked with red lines.

"There's no point in trying," his voice boomed from everywhere around her, echoing out in the distance.

Sakura tried to disrupt her chakra network again, but this time nothing happened. He'd cast more than one layer of genjutsu on her.

She had to get to the trees, she realized. She had to get to those voices. Suddenly the surrounding around her changed. She was underwater. She gasped, feeling water fill her throat.

It wasn't real, she told herself. It felt real though, she could feel herself slowly asphyxiating.

The trees! Blindly she just forced her body in the general direction she remembered the trees being. The water was replaced by ground again but suddenly the sky was raining blood and there were body parts falling down to the ground. A finger hit her in the face and bounced off, leaving a smear of blood and she screamed. She dove to the side to avoid another obstacle and suddenly she felt herself hit something solid. The voices were back instantly.

It's not real. It's not real. It's not real they reassured her. There wasn't anything of the urgency they'd displayed before. It was so odd but she could feel the fakeness of the world created by the illusion. She could even see the real forest underneath it, as if the genjutsu was simply a translucent veil cast on reality.

She took a deep breath. She couldn't let the Kiri-nin know that the illusion wasn't affecting her anymore though. She stumbled around a bit more, all while making sure to stay touching the tree.

How would she get to Kakashi, she thought desperately. Foremost she needed to break him out of the genjutsu. But just sending him a jolt of chakra wouldn't be enough, would it? Every time she'd tried on herself the Kiri-nin had simply cast another layer of genjutsu on her almost right away.

Was there some way to transfer the voices in her head and the clarity they brought to him? No, it hadn't seemed like he could hear them before, and it would be nothing less than foolish to act on the assumption that she'd be able to let him hear the voices.

She'd have to go with her first plan. She'd get close enough to him to send a jolt of chakra. Hopefully, Kakashi wasn't unconscious, only trapped in the genjutsu, and he wouldn't be too disoriented when he came out. That would allow him to avoid any new genjutsu cast on him.

She let go of the tree and took a step in his direction. Instantly the calming presence inside her head disappeared and the genjutsu engulfed her surroundings. She panicked. She was falling again. Falling, falling, falling forever.

By pure luck she hit the tree again and suddenly her mind and vision cleared, she could see again.

She couldn't leave the tree without becoming hopelessly disoriented, she realized.

Take me. Take me with you, the voices whispered.

But there was no way she could take the entire tree with her though, that was just foolish. She'd have to completely unroot it. Unless…

Sakura made a big show of diving away from a falling boulder in the genjutsu. As if by accident, she pretended to crash into one of the branches of the tree. Flailing, she grabbed a thin branch and slid it up her sleeve. Thank god she'd chosen to wear a long-sleeve shirt today. If she'd still been wearing one of those silly dresses she'd used to…

As she'd expected, even though she wasn't touching the tree anymore the branch did the trick. The real world solidified and the voices in her head whispered praise.

Yes! Clever child!

Taking one last breath, she moved towards where she knew Kakashi lay.

It was a slow progress. She couldn't give away that the genjutsu wasn't affecting her anymore, meaning she had to act like she would've without the Voice.

The Voice. She'd decided it to call it that in the meantime. There would be time to figure out what it was later.

Throwing herself to the ground and pretending to squirm and roll and desperately paw at her clothes in response to the thousands of little insects and bugs the genjutsu had created around her, Sakura slowly but steadily made her way towards Kakashi.

She might not be able to go directly to him, but if she could get close enough she could make a sudden dive towards him, hopefully waking him up before the Kiri-nin could stop her.

Minutes ticked by. She was almost there. She prayed that the Kiri-nin wouldn't get bored and kill them on the spot. God knew it would be easy enough to send a well-aimed kunai their way.

Finally, Sakura knew she was within reach of Kakashi.

She steeled herself. Then, waiting for a well-timed weapon to come falling from the sky in the genjutsu, she dove towards him.

Instantly, the genjutsu disappeared and she knew the Kiri-nin had caught on to her intentions. But it was too late.

As soon as she made contact with her sensei she sent a burst of chakra, much stronger than she'd used to wake Naruto and Sasuke up.

She could hear a kunai whistling towards her and she turned in shock, helpless and too slow to stop it.

Then suddenly there was a figure in front of her, snatching it out of the air.

She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Kakashi's familiar vest.

She'd done it.

The fight was over in mere minutes. She wasn't sure how Kakashi did it, but after waking him from the genjutsu he was somehow faster, stronger. It was clear to anyone watching that he had the upper hand.

Within half a minute he'd forced the Kiri-nin to lose control over the genjutsus he'd cast on Naruto and Sasuke and the two boys stumbled out of the haze they'd been in instantly, coming to her side at the edge of the battle to watch.

Then, as the Kiri-nin started to unleash various jutsu, Kakashi used his sharingan to copy each and every single one of them. His opponent's face contorted with fury and his strikes started becoming less precise.

Seconds later the fight was over.

The Kiri-nin collapsed to the ground, his throat slit with a kunai. His body hit the ground with a thump and then the forest was silent again,

Looking to her side, she saw that Naruto was staring white-faced at the scene before him and even Sasuke seemed a bit shaky.

She wondered why she wasn't reacting at all. When she'd seen Kakashi killing the innkeeper she'd been scared out of her mind, after all. Now she felt calm though. She was no stranger to blood and death. She felt ancient, almost. As if she'd lived a thousand years.

The branch, she realized, she was still carrying it. For a moment, she debated against throwing the stick away. But it was better to keep it for now. She needed the calm and clarity. She'd deal with everything later.

The sound of Kakashi hitting the ground as well broke her out of thoughts. Her sensei weakly slumped to the ground, coming to rest unconscious next to the dead Kiri-nin.

Sakura immediately hurried worriedly over to his side. What if he'd been poisoned? Admittedly, Kiri-nin almost never used poison as a weapon, but there was always the chance. She flashed back through the battle, trying to remember when it might have happened, but couldn't.

Kneeling at his side, she checked his pulse. It was steady. It was probably just exhaustion and the strain of using the sharingan.

"We need to get somewhere safe," she said, turning back to Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke immediately shook himself out of whatever trance he'd been in.

"We're near a small village. I saw it as we passed this morning. We can carry him there and find an inn to rest until he wakes up."

Naruto didn't move.

"Naruto," Sakura called loudly. "Come on."

The blonde shook his head slowly and gave them a weak smile. "Sorry, it's just the first time I've seen someone die in front of me."

Sakura nodded. "I know. We need to move though. There's always the chance that he wasn't alone, even though it didn't seem like he had a team."

Naruto nodded and moved towards the three of them.

"Sasuke, can you and Naruto take turns carrying Kakashi-sensei on your backs?" Sakura asked. "I'll take your bags. I just don't think I have the strength to lift him."

The black-haired boy nodded. Together with Naruto, she managed to lift Kakashi and place him on Sasuke's back. It was hard, she noted, moving an unconscious person. They were too limp, too unresisting. Sasuke let out a soft grunt as he adjusted Kakashi's position on his back.

"You alright?" She asked softly.

"Hn. Let's go."

Sakura cast one last look at the Kiri-nin's corpse behind her. The blood stained the forest floor in a small pool around him. He was even more beautiful in death.

She turned around and walked forward.