Sakura's entire being felt wrong. It was as if her mind was completely disconnected from her body and floating above them at a dizzying height. She felt like she was drifting along with the clouds and how she wished it was the truth. At least then, she wouldn't have to face the shambles that her life seemed to have fallen into.
"Sai, where are you taking us?" She finally asked, trying her best to hide the wariness that threatened to seep into her voice. But as soon as the question slipped past her trembling lips, she knew her doubts had encroached onto each syllable.
Sai's eyes never strayed from their place on the distant trees ahead, lit softly in the moonlight that seemed to taunt her with a false sense of tranquility. The gentle breeze that flowed between them as they soared aboard the ink bird made Sakura want to curse. How could the world be so calm when everything she knew was falling apart at the seams?
She waited anxiously for Sai to answer, the hairs on her arm rising with each passing second, but the comforting sound of a trusted friend's voice never came. Instead, she only felt her heart shatter when his face twisted into an expression she could no longer recognize.
Suddenly, it was as if everything moved in slow motion. Even in the murkiness of night, she could see herself clear as day, dodging an ink tiger that charged towards her. When the animal disappeared, splattering blank specks across her cheeks, Sakura twisted around only to find Sai poised with his scroll and primed for another attack.
To her left, she could feel Sasuke do the same. His onyx hair fell into his eyes as he stood opposing the flow of the wind, single arm raised in a defensive stance. Slowly, he backed up until they stood side-by-side. To anyone, it was clear that they were a deadly pair. But with Sasuke unable to store chakra and their bodies flying at the mercy of Sai's ink bird, they both knew they were at a disadvantage.
"We need to get to the ground," Sasuke said urgently.
Before Sakura could acknowledge the statement, the drawings on Sai's scroll roared to life and charged them. Sasuke and Sakura sprung into action, dodging and striking as if performing a delicate dance. Their moves, though quicker than any eye could track, were carefully calculated as they avoided moving too closely to the edge of the bird.
As they fought, Sakura caught Sasuke's eyes and understanding flowed between them. He threw himself in front of her, shielding her from Sai's barrage of attacks, as she rushed to Sachie and Souta's side.
"What's happening?" Sachie demanded, fear heavy in her tone. "I thought he was on our side!"
"I did too," Sakura replied, devoid of emotion despite the commotion developing in her mind.
With Souta's help, she swung Sachie's other arm over her shoulders and hoisted the girl to her feet. Souta, Sakura could see now that he faced her, looked angry and hurt at the same time. All traces of the young boy who was filled with relief from finally achieving his freedom were gone. In its place, she could only see the hollowness of a man disheartened far too many times.
With Sachie secured between them, Sakura's gaze flickered across the ink bird to find Sasuke still facing off with Sai. Even in his state of chakra deprivation, he seemed lethal, leaping past each ink animal at an inhuman speed as he reduced them to nothing more than black splotches at his feet.
After meeting Sasuke's eyes with a nod, Sakura turned to the twins. "We're going to jump."
"Are you insane?" Souta demanded as he protectively began to tug Sachie away from Sakura's grasp. Her grip on the girl only tightened.
"Look," Sakura tilted her chin towards a tree in the distance, so tall it could graze the ink bird as they flew by. "We'll jump into that tree. Follow my lead and we'll be fine."
"You can't be seri—"
"Souta," Sachie's tone was so heavy, they both jumped in surprise. When Souta's alarmed eyes turned to face her, Sachie continued. "Listen to her."
Giving him no time to respond, Sakura clasped her hands tighter around the young girl's frail body and quickly led the twins to the edge of the bird. She timed her landing as she eyed the swiftly approaching tree.
"When we get to the ground, I want you both to run as far as you can. It looks like Root is after Sasuke so they won't waste time chasing you both. Not yet at least" Sakura looked over Sachie's head at the boy beside them, "Souta, remember what I told you?"
He nodded in acknowledgement and she returned the gesture. With one last look at Sasuke to confirm that he would follow suit soon after, she leaped from the bird and pulled the siblings along with her.
The sharp, stinging wind brought tears to her eyes as their bodies rushed towards the canopy of leaves. Sakura tightened her hold on Sachie and channeled chakra to the soles of her feet when the tree was finally within reach. They fell through the leaves, branches leaving tiny cuts along their limbs, until Sakura's shoes finally reached a large branch.
She willed the chakra at her feet to grip tightly to its surface as her upper body fought to stabilize the dazed twins who clung onto her. Thankfully, Souta's shinobi training also taught him some semblance of chakra control as he clung clumsily to the branch, eyes wide in disbelief that they somehow didn't crash straight to the ground. Behind them, Sakura could hear the shuffling of leaves as Sasuke undoubtedly followed them. With a nod towards Sachie and Souta, she jumped from branch to branch, bringing them lower and lower.
"Go!" Sakura commanded as soon as their feet touched the grass below.
Sachie's jaw dropped as she began to protest, "No! What about—"
" Go. Now, " the pinkette repeated, more insistently this time. "I'll be okay, I promise. I'll find you both later."
Her gaze met Souta's and he nodded, determination clear in his face as he wordlessly confirmed that he remembered what she told him back in the Re-education cell. He only needed to get them to Konoha and Kakashi-sensei would take care of the rest, Sakura thought to herself. But she knew the hard part was far from over.
From what Sakura could tell, Root was focused on Sasuke which meant the twins would likely not be pursued, for the time being at least. If Sakura and Sasuke could hold off Sai from calling reinforcements for long enough, they could give the twins, and hopefully themselves, enough time to escape. She swallowed nervously at the next thought. That would also mean she needed to find a way to defeat Sai and with how her fight with Yamato went, Sakura could feel the confidence leaking from her body with each passing minute.
Sachie threw her arms around Sakura and with a final whisper of "be careful," the twins were off and disappearing behind looming forest trees as Souta supported most of his weakened sister's weight. Her heart felt heavy as she watched their retreating figures. She could only hope that they would be okay, she couldn't bear to see the disappointment on either of their faces again.
A soft thud sounded from beside her and she twisted to find Sasuke, crouched slightly to break his fall and chest heaving with heavy breaths. But he had no time to rest. Sai was right on his heels, landing directly in front of them. In a fraction of a second, Sai unrolled his scroll, summoned a myriad of ink beasts, and unleashed them towards the two Shinobi.
The two sprung into action, throwing punches and kicks that reduced Sai's jutsu into nothing but black splatters on the ground below. Sakura plunged her fists through several ink animals at once and easily drew closer to where Sai stood with his hand rapidly sketching as he worked to continue casting his jutsu.
Sakura knew that Sai's ultimate goal was to keep her at a distance. While Sakura excelled in close-range combat, Sai's technique required that he maintained distance between him and his opponents. Naturally, their fighting styles made this battle one that Sakura knew could easily tip in either favor. If Sakura could get close enough to him to deliver a punch, she could easily win. But if Sai succeeded in keeping her away with his ink beasts, she would run out of chakra in time.
Grimacing in pain, Sakura whirled around to shake an ink tiger from where its teeth clamped down on her shoulder. She gripped it by the scruff and threw it over her body before slamming it into the earth below. The ink animals were attacking at a rapid pace now as she continued to fight them off. Glancing quickly at Sasuke, she found his back facing hers as he continued to take on the beasts charging him.
Sasuke was trying to hide it, but Sakura could see past the mask he wore. Sweat beaded on his forehead and drenched his shirt and his breaths were loud and ragged. Any other day, Sasuke would have no issues in a battle like this but in his chakra-deprived state, Sakura knew that he would soon reach his limit.
With renewed conviction, Sakura set her sights on Sai as he stood across the clearing. Her stomach twisted as she took in his form, staring down menacingly at where she and Sasuke defended themselves against his jutsu. It was almost impossible for her to believe her eyes even as his specialized ink visibly stained her hands black.
"Sai!" She shouted as a last-ditch effort, fists clenching so hard she shook. "Snap out of it! We're friends!"
Sai's face remained unchanging as he stared her down, so much like the emotionless boy she met for the first time and with no traces of the friend she came to know. Her gaze trained on him as she continued to knock incoming assailants from the path that she burned towards him, desperate to reach him both physically and emotionally.
"Sai, please!" Sakura was begging now as she drew closer to where he stood. "Why are you doing this?"
His cold, dead stare seemed to look right past her as he responded, "Why do you continue to protect a criminal?"
Sakura could see Sasuke stiffen at the corner of her eye, pausing just enough in his fight to allow an ink tiger to latch onto his forearm. Slamming the animal to the ground, he fought fruitlessly to shake it from his limb, succeeding only in drawing more blood to the surface of the bite wound. Sakura tore her eyes from Sai and rushed towards Sasuke before hooking her fingers into the tiger's jaw. With a grunt, she pried its teeth open until the animal dissipated in a burst of ink.
Now freed, Sasuke immediately launched back into fighting, using his legs to kick and defend as he pressed his injured and bleeding arm to his side. Without a second thought, Sakura wrapped her fingers around his wrist and willed her Byakugou seal to grow. The black lines snaked around their bodies, connecting them until they shared a single stream of chakra. When their eyes met again, Sakura almost gasped as the brilliant red of his Sharingan stared back at her.
The mangled skin on his arm began to heal rapidly as the pair turned to face Sai. Sasuke's eye was a swirl of black and red as he settled his gaze on the man across the clearing. Before Sakura could react, he unleashed his powers.
"Amaterasu," Sasuke spoke in a cold, monotonous voice.
Black flames engulfed the trees surrounding Sai as he desperately ran, zipping between the trunks with no time to summon an ink animal to escape upon. The fire chased him at a rapid pace until a tendril caught his sleeve and ignited his arm in flames. At Sai's screams, Sakura could no longer watch.
"Sasuke, stop!" She gripped his wrist harder, hoping to communicate her desperation to spare Sai's life.
But Sasuke ignored her, his eyes staring straight ahead.
She tugged his arm, twisting him until they were face-to-face. "Please," tears sprung to her eyes as she begged. "Please don't kill him."
Sasuke's eyes were lethal as they met hers but her grip on him only tightened. After what felt like forever, he finally extinguished the charcoal flames and the screams subsided. Sakura rushed to Sai's side where he was sprawled, unconscious from smoke inhalation, among the charred grass. Angry, red welts decorated his skin and the fabric of his clothing was melted beyond recognition.
With a grimace, Sakura summoned chakra to her palms and channeled it in a stream throughout Sai's body, creating a new layer of skin that covered the burns. She focused next on his lungs, healing the tissue damaged from the smoke of soot of the black flames. For a second, a professional disconnect overcame her senses but as she finished the healing, the sensation of hurt and betrayal began to return with such strength that her head spun.
"You okay?"
Sakura's blurred vision cleared to find a concerned Sasuke towering over where she knelt beside Sai's unconscious and newly-healed body. The previous intimidating glare in his eyes now replaced with a look that made her chest twist. With a nod, she slowly rose to her feet only to find herself stumbling as her body unwittingly began to tilt. A hand gripped her waist to steady her and her heart thudded rapidly at the nostalgic feeling on his fingers on her body.
"I think I'm almost at my limit," Sakura finally responded as she reluctantly pulled away from his touch, now feeling more stable on her feet.
While Sakura's chakra typically stretched much further than what she used since they made their escape from Re-Education, Sasuke's visual prowess drew upon more of her reserves than expected. With the use of his Rinnegan and Amaterasu combined with the fighting and healing, she knew she was almost at the end of her chakra stores.
Sasuke nodded briefly in response to her statement before scanning his eyes across the clearing in search of hidden enemies. Satisfied when he found none, his gaze returned to Sakura where they stayed for what felt like hours. It was Sakura who broke eye contact first as she surveyed Sai's body on the ground.
"I can't believe it. First Captain Yamato and now Sai. It doesn't make any sense," she whispered underneath her breath as her head slowly shook.
If Sasuke heard her, he chose not to acknowledge her words, and only watched her with a solemn look and an unrecognizable expression. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, ready to tell him that they should keep moving in case more Root members were searching for them, when a shout from deep within the forest rang in her ears.
"Souta," Sakura said simply when she recognized the voice. Her wide eyes met Sasuke's.
Without another word, the pair took off running in the direction of the sound, hearts beating as rapidly as their feet carried them. It didn't take long for them to reach the source of the noise. As the scene in front of her began to unfold the closer Sakura got to it, her heart threatened to beat right past her ribcage and a terror settled in her bones. Sachie was convulsing on the ground as a frightened Souta gripped her shoulders in desperation.
With a little too much force, Sakura pushed Souta away and knelt beside the girl. Vomit and white foam pooled from Sachie's mouth as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her tiny body was shaking uncontrollably and the trembling didn't cease even when Sakura willed an enormous amount of chakra into her veins. As she continued to run glowing palms across her patient, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Poison," Sakura stated when Souta's frightened eyes found her.
"How?" he demanded.
"It was probably on the kunai used to cut her earlier. I'm going to extract it but I'm going to need you to hold her steady."
Souta did as he was told and Sakura began to weave her fingers across Sachie's body in search of the source of poison. Her expert hands inspected each limb until finally they rested right above Sachie's neck. As she suspected, the kunai Yamato used to slice Sachie's throat was laced with the substance and it now coursed rapidly through Sachie's bloodstream.
Gritting her teeth, Sakura began to swirl the poison. Using the powers of her medical ninjutsu, she manipulated the viscous liquid and gathered all traces of it into a ball before sending it to the surface of Sachie's skin. As the poison began to leave Sachie's veins, her body arched disturbingly from the ground and a scream of horror escaped her lungs.
"Hold her tighter!" Sakura commanded just as Souta began to loosen his grip on his sister, likely terrified at what he saw.
Bruises formed on Sachie's throat where the poison bubbled to the surface and her convulsions began to climb in intensity. Beside her, Sakura could vaguely sense Sasuke kneel down to help hold Sachie's body in place.
Even as Sakura's chest squeezed painfully at the sight before her eyes and her mind fogged with fear, her medic brain worked almost entirely on its own. Her years of training guided her hands as they expertly extracted each drop of poison. There was a calmness to her movements despite the hurricane that swirled in every part of her body and Sakura found herself surging with gratitude for the intense training that Lady Tsunade had put her through to prepare her for such dire situations.
Finally, Sachie's body began to still as the swirl of poison hovering above her grew in size. As the liquid continued to form in a bubble before her, Sakura's fears were confirmed. Whatever poison this was, it was the same one that the Root member had used to end his own life when she fought him in the forest on her way back to Konoha. But even if she had seen this poison before, one unfortunate fact still remained. The substance itself was a complete mystery.
With the bubble of poison now at its largest, Sakura stood and tossed it aside before watching as it splattered on the ground in a puddle. As soon as she did so, Sakura could feel the dizziness return to her head. Quickly, she sat herself back down in hopes that no one would notice her sudden show of weakness. But when she felt Sasuke's heavy gaze on her, she knew she could never fool him.
"Is she going to be okay?" came Souta's voice, softer than she had ever heard it before.
Sakura nodded, "I think so. I got most of the poison but I need to double check. I'm not familiar enough with it to be sure."
Inhaling deeply, Sakura straightened her back and continued her medical ninjutsu. Glowing palms traveled the length of Sachie's body beginning at her feet and then across her abdomen. Sakura closed her eyes in concentration, willing her mind to drown out the ragged and wheezing breaths coming from Sachie's lips. As the young girl's lungs rattled audibly in her struggle to inhale, Sakura felt her hands begin to tremble. Something was wrong.
As if on cue, Sachie's body began to convulse again. Sakura channeled even more chakra to her hands, desperate to find the remainder of the poison within the girl's body. But no matter how hard she searched, she could find none. She racked her brain for answers, clutching at every possible strand that could lead to an explanation. To her dismay, her efforts came up empty.
"You said you got most of the poison!" Souta accused.
Sakura could only stare at him. He was frazzled beyond anything she had ever seen. He looked like a feral animal with his brown hair in disarray and eyes wild. With one hand, he gripped Sachie's wrist like a lifeline while his other palm was placed between Sachie's head and the ground, protecting her from harm as her body continued to seize.
"Do something!"
Souta's shout finally brought Sakura to her senses as she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She willed as much chakra as she could to her palms, feeling it surge so powerfully in her body that it felt like her chest was ready to burst.
"Sachie, Wake up!" Sakura begged as she poured everything she had into saving the girl.
The pink-haired medic was sobbing now as she gritted her teeth and screamed with effort. All she could do now was pump as much chakra into the girl's heart as possible in hopes that her healing jutsu would travel throughout Sachie's body and expel whatever remained of the poison. Sakura was at her wit's end. For the first time since the war, she could feel every last drop of hope drain from her body.
Suddenly, an eerie silence enveloped the group. Sachie had stopped convulsing and was lying still—far too still—on the ground. A loud ringing filled Sakura's ears as she stared down the unseeing eyes of the girl she had grown to care for. Her brown eyes were glassy and looked straight ahead, all signs of life gone.
No, no, no, no, no. Sakura's head was screaming for her to do something, anything, but her body refused to obey, frozen in place as horror coursed through her veins. Through her palms, she could feel each one of Sachie's organs shut down, too damaged from the time the poison had spent in her body. Her blood was now rejecting every medical technique. Sakura's own body felt ice-cold as her eyes stayed locked on Sachie's face.
"What are you doing?" Souta demanded when the green glow on Sakura's palms flickered away. "Keep healing her!"
"I—" Sakura couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, finding that the remnants of her strength were lost. Her throat tightened painfully and her vocal chords froze.
Meeting Souta's panicked eyes, she could only shake her head, not trusting herself to speak. Whether it was because she was still stunned from the events unfolding before her or because she feared putting the truth into words that prevented her from speaking, she couldn't be sure. The only thing she knew was that she failed and there was nothing she could do to fix it. Sakura could only sit and listen helplessly as Souta's pained cries filled the forest. Sachie was dead.
Sasuke had never seen his pink-haired teammate look so hopeless. He always knew her as someone who would fight with an endless amount of tenacity, rivaled only by Naruto's annoying optimism. But as he watched her now, sitting motionlessly in the grass with wide eyes and tear-stained cheeks, he could no longer find that girl from his memories. The thought alone was frightening.
Sakura's trembling only increased as Souta's wails grew louder. While Sasuke had barely known the girl, the grief of those who did seeped through to him. The boy clutched his sister's hand in a vice grip as if it was possible for him to pull her back to life through sheer physical force. The image was all too familiar to Sasuke and despite his best efforts, a pang formed in his chest, reminding him of the ever-present wound that lived deep within him from the events of his youth.
A shuffling in the distance caused Sasuke to stiffen as he tuned his ears to the sound to find fast-approaching footsteps. Someone had called for reinforcements after all and they would be upon the trio in a matter of minutes. They needed to move now but as he watched the two sprawled beside Sachie's rigid body, Sasuke knew that even getting them up would be a hard feat.
"They're coming, we need to go," he said, breaking the silence that consumed them when Souta's cries finally subsided.
Souta's eyes didn't budge from Sachie's face as his shoulder remained hunched and defeated. Sasuke repeated his instruction, louder and with more authority this time but his words fell on deaf ears. Neither of the pair on the ground moved and when Sasuke went to grab Souta's arm, the boy shook him off and shot him a glare filled with daggers.
Souta spoke through his teeth, enunciating every syllable in his warning, "Don't fucking touch me."
"If you got captured here, she would have died for nothing. She wouldn't want that."
"You don't know the first thing about her!" Souta shot up from the ground and angrily gripped Sasuke by the collar of his shirt. But it would take more than that to faze the Uchiha.
"I don't need to," Sasuke answered, voice cool and collected.
From the short time that he was in Souta's presence, Sasuke could gather that the boy was smart; smart enough to know that Sasuke was right even if he refused to face the truth. He knew that there was nothing more he needed to say to convince Souta when the brown-haired boy released the fabric of Sasuke's shirt and trained his sorrowful eyes back on the face of his sister on the ground before falling back on his knees beside her.
Satisfied that Sasuke at least got Souta on board for the time being, he turned to Sakura. He needed to use her chakra again. From the looks of it, she was running dangerously low but she should at least have enough for him to transport the three of them someplace safe. But when his eyes fell on her, he felt his chest constrict painfully.
Sakura had not moved an inch from her position on the grass, hands still trembling at her side and eyes wide with shock. Kneeling down beside her, Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently before repeating that they needed to move. However, she showed zero indication of hearing him, not even acknowledging his touch.
"Sakura, let's go. I need your help to make a portal." When she remained frozen in place, eyes facing forwards and unseeing, Sasuke repeated her name again with a warning that Root members were quickly approaching.
Slowly, he watched as her expression morphed to one he knew so well. It was a face that greeted him each time he looked in the mirror ever since the day his entire family was taken from him. He recognized the haunted look in her eyes, the angry furrow of her brows, and could even feel the pressure in her jaw from how tightly she clenched her teeth. Sakura wanted revenge.
"Let them come," she finally spoke, voice so filled with hatred that it was almost unrecognizable. "I'll kill them all."
In a flash of pink, Sakura was on her feet and ready to rush towards the source of approaching footsteps. Sasuke immediately clutched her forearm, holding her in place and she tried fruitlessly to shake him off. Any other time, she would have succeeded in overpowering him but in her frazzled state of mind and low chakra reserves, he was winning.
"Let me go!"
Sasuke's fingers only tightened their hold as she tried and failed again to escape. Desperate to free herself, Sakura now resorted to prying his fingers from her arm with her other hand, her fingernails digging painfully into his skin and she fought against his vice grip.
"Let go!" She shouted again as she continued to wriggle from his grasp, "I'm going to kill them!"
Sasuke's gaze on her remained steady as he asked, "Why?"
She whipped her head up until their eyes met, likely stunned that he would even have to ask such a question when he witnessed first hand every event that unfolded since their escape.
"Because they killed her," Sakura's voice stumbled over the words. Taking notice, she straightened herself up as a renewed conviction sparkled in her green eyes. "I want to make them pay for what they did."
"And then what?" Sasuke asked callously, grip tightening again where he clutched her arm.
"What?"
"You kill them and get your revenge, and then what?"
"I—" She paused, voice trailing off as she took in the meaning of his words.
Sasuke's gaze on her remained steady as he studied the emotions that flashed across her face. Anger, confusion, hurt, and finally understanding as the weight of his words settled heavily on her shoulders. He knew that this conversation held a sense of nostalgia for them as it paralleled the words she told him the night he abandoned the village and left her on that bench.
For the first time, it was Sasuke who had to put out the fire of revenge that burned within his teammate. It was now his turn to convince her to see a different path. As her struggles against his hold began to subside, Sasuke knew he had struck a chord in her.
"Sakura, you know that I know this feeling better than anyone and I'm telling you right now that it's not the answer. We need to go." He allowed his voice to soften just slightly, so subtle that Sakura would be the only one who could ever catch his change of tone.
Her green eyes glistened with unshed tears as she studied his face, her gaze flickering across his features. Slowly, her arms finally relaxed and abandoned their offensive positions where she held them readied for battle. Sasuke released a shaky breath as relief flooded his system and loosened his grip on her arm. When his own hand settled back at his side, his fingers twitched in protest against the absence of warmth from them. He quickly shook the feeling away.
To his surprise, she reached for him again and intertwined their fingers before closing her eyes. Black tendrils creeped from her arm onto his and the familiar buzz returned. Sasuke would never admit it aloud but the feeling of her chakra pulsing through his system brought a comfort he never wanted to lose. It felt like a warm embrace, something he never knew he even wanted, much less needed, and the feeling terrified him. Sakura, he thought to himself, terrified him.
A kunai knife zipping past him missed the tip of his ear by a hair and ripped him from his musings. Souta leapt to his feet on instinct just as Sasuke whirled towards the source of the assault. In the distance, he could make out the approaching figures of Root members. From what he could see, their numbers far exceeded that of what they've fought so far. Sai had brought them closer to another Root hideout than they realized.
He swiftly met Sakura's eyes and she nodded, signaling that he could begin to use their shared chakra reserves. Activating his Rinnegan, Sasuke summoned a portal and watched as the purple object swirled beside them. He could feel Sakura shake beside him and he knew that this was the last of her chakra. This was their final chance to escape.
"Let's go," Sasuke directed towards Souta as he began to tug Sakura towards the portal. When he couldn't hear Souta follow them, he turned to find him hovering above his sister's body.
"We have to take her with us," he spoke quietly, still seemingly in disbelief.
"We can't," responded Sasuke.
"We can't leave her here!" Souta's earlier crestfallen demeanor was replaced by an anger that seemed to burst from his body but Sasuke was unfazed.
"We can and we will." He knew he was being harsh, his tone was callous and insensitive, but Sasuke also knew they had no time to waste as weapons continued flying in their direction, missing them through sheer luck alone as they made no effort to dodge the onslaught of attacks.
"Souta," Sakura began, "I don't have enough chakra to transport four bodies. We have to leave her." The kunoichi's voice broke at the last sentence as she, too, came to terms with abandoning Sachie in an unknown forest.
The young boy only glared at her with a venom so potent, even Sasuke could feel the hatred radiating from his body. Wordlessly, Souta crouched down and began to attempt to lift Sachie from the ground but struggled as the dead weight of her body did him no favors.
"Souta, please," Sakura continued. "Let's—"
"NO!" He shouted, springing to his feet. "You don't get to tell me what to do. She died because of you ."
Beside him, Sasuke could feel Sakura stumble backwards in shock before quickly shaking the feeling away and collecting herself. Her stare on Souta steeled and Sasuke couldn't help but sigh in relief when the traces of the determined girl he knew began to return to her features.
As Sakura stalked to where Souta stood, hauling Sasuke along with her, he could feel her summon the tiniest amount of chakra to her free hand. Without allowing time for Souta to protest or escape, she gripped his arm with chakra-lined strength and yanked him towards the direction of the portal. Souta struggled against her grip, flailing his arms wildly as a string of obscenities launched past his lips.
Following Sakura's lead, Sasuke tugged them to their destination by her hand. Souta continued to protest loudly, resorting to gripping Sakura's wrist so harshly in an attempt to break away that Sasuke could see the skin turn red and irritated. However, his efforts were in vain, no match for the strength that Sakura exuded through her chakra.
As kunai and shuriken continued to assault the trio, Sasuke stepped through the portal and dragged the pair along with him. With one last look at the young girl on the ground, pale and rigid in death, Sasuke bid her a silent farewell. She may have just been a stranger but the guilt ate at his insides just the same. Yet another innocent life was taken because of him. It was a sobering reminder that he would never be able to redeem himself after all and that fact, he realized, was one he needed to learn to live with.
A/N
Welcome back and apologies for the delay. I hope that making this chapter a bit longer than my usual updates made up for it! Please let me know what you think! I'll try my best to update in about a week.
P.S. I see a lot of new readers so hi and thank you for your support! I mainly use Twitter under the username ArtfullyPoetic so if you're ever curious about the progress of my next chapter or if you're interested in seeing my art, please follow me there!
Thanks all!