Since our ensemble cast has been split up, this story will alternate between a few characters' point of view.

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Thank you for reading!

-Sakura's POV-

A bunch of members from Group A, me included, decided to join forces during the final trial, at least until we're the only ones remaining. That way we can prevent anyone from being fatally injured.

The ones we were worried would carelessly hurt others were Hidan, Kisame, Gaara, Temari, and maybe even Suigetsu. The latter we weren't completely sure about because he'd proved to be a decent person over the past couple months, but he was honest about willing to do almost anything for the money. Gaara's monstrous when it comes to fighting and his sister's always quick to follow his lead. Kisame and Hidan had likely paired up and they're the types to enjoy hurting others so they were our main priority.

Other than those mentioned, the only people not in our group were Neji and Hinata. Both of them took off into the jungle the moment Dr. Uchiha told us to begin.

No one dared speak as we snuck through the trees and brush as quickly and quietly as possible with our numbers. In the beginning, Hidan and Kisame started a fight with Gaara and Temari, but it didn't last long before the foes separated and ran off in different directions. The rest of us naturally stuck together.

Not even ten minutes after the trial began did we come under attack. A surprised cry came from behind me and I turned to see that Gaara had tackled Matsuri to the ground. The petite girl swiftly escaped his grasp, put some space between them with her hands up in a defensive position, and plastered a glare onto her face. Then Tenten, who was the closest to where Matsuri had been standing, dodged a hit from Temari before swiftly moving to retaliate.

A few of us moved to assist them, but froze when Naruto suddenly gasped from the head of the pack, "It's Hinata!"

My heartbeat picked up when I turned to see a look of distress on his features as he searched the surrounding trees with focused eyes, "She's hurt!" He shot off in a sprint and the rest of us were torn between helping defend against the Subaku siblings and following the Uzumaki boy.

Matsuri spoke as she and Gaara slowly circled one another, "Go. We can handle this."

My brow furrowed, "But-"

Tenten cut me off, swiftly dodging another hit, "We'll be fine, just go!"

Ino and I glanced at one another and hesitated a moment before ultimately following everyone else in pursuit of Naruto. My mind reeled as we caught up with the rest of the group. It didn't make sense to me how he was able to tell if Hinata was in trouble or not, but with everything else that's occurred over the last twelve weeks, I've learned not to question anything.

There were no words exchanged as we traveled for multiple minutes before Kiba suddenly barked out in a gruff voice, "I smell blood!" It was only this morning when he told us his sense of smell had finally shown signs of strengthening how Orochimaru had told him it would.

Then, there was a loud explosion and the arena went black. I ran into someone's back and nearly toppled backwards, but whoever they were reached back to grasp my wrist and keep me upright.

It became still and silent for a few moments before I noticed a faint light in the distance. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a fire burning below a large hole in the ceiling. Everyone seemed to notice it at the same time because we ran toward it all together.

I stared in disbelief when we finally reached the edge of a clearing and saw Neji rushing toward a downed Hinata. My eyes darted to the side when movement caught my attention. but I wasn't quick enough to warn anyone before our group was descended upon by over twenty police officers or soldiers, dressed in full riot gear. I couldn't tell which it was. Maybe they were some type of special forces.

My hand instinctively grasped onto Ino's, but when I turned to look at her, she was being pulled away. Tears rose in her eyes as she tried to both fight the two people off and keep a hold of me. When I readied myself to attack, I was suddenly shoved forward onto the ground. A growl rumbled from my chest and I tried to free my wrists, but they were quickly put into metal cuffs.

"Sakura!"

My eyes shot back up to Ino's as she cried my name out with tears rolling down her cheeks. Whoever had tackled me to the ground pulled me up to my feet and I used the "gift" I'd been given by Orochimaru to snap the cuffs, kick the person behind me away, and dash toward my best friend in hopes of saving her.

My entire body felt hot with rage and adrenaline as I fought past multiple others and I made it within a yard of her before a blazing pain suddenly erupted in the back of one of my calves. With the speed I was moving, suddenly being stopped threw me roughly to the ground and I looked back to see that I'd actually been shot. A deep bullet wound was bleeding heavily and I winced when I tried to get back up. The pain was unbelievable.

Someone suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me upright and for a moment I fought because I thought it was one of the soldiers that were attacking us. When I looked over, though, I was shocked to see that it was Sasuke. I gingerly let him wrap an arm around my back to help support some of my weight and we struggled away from the massive brawl that was happening. My eyes watered as I watched Ino being dragged away.

"Hinata! Hinata, get up!"

Both Sasuke and I looked over to see Naruto fighting against three different people to try and reach our still-downed friend. Neji had been tackled off of her and she lay on her back, unmoving, as the flames grew closer and closer to her body.

I desperately tore myself away from the Uchiha boy assisting me, "Go! I'll be fine. They need you." He gave me an unreadable look before heading back into the fray.

A medic hurried over to Hinata and blocked my view, so I looked up to verify if my hypothesis had been correct. The loud sound rumbling throughout the area was indeed a helicopter in the process of landing atop the giant arena's roof.

"I don't wanna hurt you any further than you already are, so please come quietly." My head jerked to the side to see a soldier approaching with his gun raised. His face was covered by a mask, bulletproof I assume, but I could see that he had an unhappy frown on his lips.

My leg screamed at me in pain when I tried to get up, only to fall back down onto my bottom. I hesitantly raised a hand in a silent request to wait a moment, "Where are you taking us?"

The man lowered his gun slightly, "To be looked over by a psychiatrist. We need to verify if it's safe for you to be among the public."

My eyes widened in disbelief, but I didn't fight him as he helped me to my feet and clasped some cuffs over my wrists. He whispered just loudly enough for me to hear as he waved over a few medics, "Just pretend you can't break them, okay?"

I stared at him with a million different questions running through my head. Why were we being treated like we're the bad guys? Aren't we the victims here? I was helped out of the arena in the same direction Ino was taken before being placed in the back of an armored truck and strapped down to the seat I was in. A medical grade tourniquet was tied around my leg, above the bullet wound, but other than that I wasn't offered any aid.

Ino and I wordlessly sat in fear as one after another, our friends were forced into the truck with us. There were only eight seats, but I saw multiple other trucks just like this one when they brought me outside so it was likely they intended to capture each and every participant of The Program.

The Uchiha brothers, Naruto, Kisame, Hidan, and Neji were placed in ours before a soldier joined us in the back of the truck and then it was in motion.

It was silent for a while, but it became impossible for me to hold in my concerns so I whispered in a hopeful voice, "...Hinata?"

We all turned to look at Neji. He shook his head with his jaw clenched before turning an intense glare onto Hidan.

Hidan glared right back, "You would've done the same thing if you needed the prize money as much as I do. Don't look at me like that."

Naruto barked in a menacing voice, one I never thought I'd hear from someone so bubbly, "There is no prize money, you asshole! There never was."

Everyone was stunned by his outburst, me included, but a part of me kind of already assumed that was the case. Especially after realizing Hinata was somehow involved with Madara and Masumi.

The truck got silent again before Hidan replied in a surprisingly regretful voice, "So, I might've just killed her…for nothing?"

"It's unbelievable you only regret it because you aren't getting paid, you fucking monster," Ino spat out in disgust.

Neji finally spoke, "There's a chance she could make it, but Suigetsu…There's no way he survived that." Both he and Hidan turned to look at Kisame, but the man couldn't respond because the soldiers had put a muzzle on him, likely because of his terrifying appearance. The look in his eye wasn't nearly as somber as it should've been though.

Tears rose heavily in my eyes and I averted my gaze down to my bleeding leg, trying to keep it from bouncing anxiously because it stung like crazy.

"Aren't you gonna help her? She literally got shot, dude." Naruto yelled at the guard.

If I could free my hands to raise them in a calming matter, I would've, but I couldn't so I just had to vocally reassure my blonde friend, "I'm fine, Naruto. It barely even hurts anymore."

That was a lie, but with all that just happened, no one needed another thing to worry about. Besides, how can I possibly complain about a bullet wound when Suigetsu was just murdered? He may have been a little too driven by the prize money, but my sister really liked him. They'd been M.A.T. partners when she was still alive and she said he was incredibly misunderstood. She'd gone as far as vowing to reach out to him once The Program was over because their bond had grown so strong.

Now they're both dead.

The guard spoke in a slightly hushed voice and I realized it was the same one that'd cuffed me the second time, "Your friend is alive. She's being life-lined to the hospital for surgery."

We looked over at him in shock, but he continued in a more loud and firm voice, "Your wound will be treated once we arrive since it's not life threatening. Please be silent until then."

All was quiet for a moment, but then Naruto ignored his request, "What about Madara? What will happen to him and the other instructors?"

The soldier remained silent for a very long time before letting out a sigh of defeat and speaking in a whisper like before, likely so those driving wouldn't hear, "Dr. Uchiha and Masumi Hyuuga escaped, but the others were arrested."

Hidan barked out in an angry voice, "Hyuuga? Masumi's Hinata's mom?!"

Naruto cut in before anyone else could respond, "That woman is not her mother." He was so angry that it felt like he'd personally been insulted.

"Well what the fuck then?"

Naruto struggled against the cuffs holding his arms down, "Why don't you mind your own damn business before I come over there and beat your ass!"

My mouth was moving before I could stop it, "No…I want to know, too."

This time, everyone turned to stare at me.

"The Program's over, so I want to know what she was so afraid of."

The eyes in the truck turned back to Naruto, who frowned with a glare, "I'm not gonna spill Hinata's secrets just because she's not in danger anymore."

Ino spoke in a sad voice, "So she really was in danger, then? I was hoping she'd been over-reacting."

I frowned, a pang of sadness aching my chest. Even if I don't know the details, I still feel guilty that I'd doubted her for even a second. Even members of Group A who never spoke to her could tell that she'd been struggling with something from day one.

"I'll say this once and then I don't want to talk about it anymore: Hinata has been risking her life this entire time, and not just for herself. If she dies because of this, I will personally kill you, Hidan. I swear it." The air got tense as the two young men stared at one another. The murderous intent in the air was almost palpable.

Finally, the truck became silent.

It was obvious I wasn't the only one surprised by how serious Naruto seemed about his threat. I wasn't aware he and Hinata were that close. Of course everyone knows that he's her closest friend out of everyone in The Program, but vowing to commit murder is on a whole different level of loyalty. I don't know if I'd be capable of murdering Orochimaru and he killed my sister! Since I was given such strong body modifications, I probably have the physical ability to do it, but I probably wouldn't be able to mentally convince myself to go through with it.

Hours later, we arrived at our destination and my heart dropped when I saw the sign outside the intimidating building: Konoha Asylum.