The hand removed itself from over her mouth. Their faces were close now.

"SA-KU-RA!" It was louder than before. If they got any closer they'd see her for sure.

Their voices broke the dream-like state she was in. The young man next to her furrowed his brow and looked sharply in the direction of the calls.

Sakura stared at his profile now, at a loss of words.

Could it be?

"Come with me," the young man said decisively. He helped her up by the shoulders and moved them out of the moonlight. He found a tree nearby that could hide both of them. Sakura speechlessly allowed herself to be hidden. One arm was around her protectively as he watched the ANBU nins walk closer to where they had just moments ago been.

If I scream now they'll hear me.

Sakura opened her mouth ready to scream, but nothing came out. She had hesitated.

"Over here! Look at this." cried the ANBU nin to the ANBU captain.

"Her mask..." said the ANBU captain solemnly. He slowly knelt down to pick it up.

The ANBU shinobi shared a moment of silence as they hung their heads for a prayer.

One ANBU cleared his throat and began quietly, "We better report this to Hokage-sama. She won't be pleased."

I'm not dead yet! I can go back to Konoha. Just one scream- they'll hear me. Just one.

Sakura opened her mouth again.

Do it!

"Next time we'll be prepared. We didn't know his Sharingan could still work so well in the dark."

Sakura felt like someone knocked the breath out of her body. Her mouth closed and she felt the pressure of her heart thumping hard. She looked at the chest of the man she was pressed against. Then she squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at his serious face.

Sharingan. So it wasn't just my imagination...

"Alright, let's go bring the bodies of the others—"the ANBU tripped over something in the dark.

"Hey, what's this!?" he exclaimed as he reached into his back pocket for a flashlight.

"God," said the other as they shone the light on another unconscious comrade. Sakura realized she had entirely forgotten about her unconscious teammate.

"Okay, let's gather the three other bodies and bring them back home. Their families deserve some closure," the captain said.

"What about Sakura?"

"We'll send the hunter nins to look for her body later. It's too dangerous for us now in this weather and darkness. Let's hurry."

"Yes, sir," said the other ANBU as he dragged his comrade's arm over his shoulder and carried him.

The two ninjas nodded at each other and disappeared into the forest.

After a few moments, Sakura felt the body of the young man shift. He let her go and she stood up, now facing him. He had a good few inches over her in height, not like when they were kids.

"You didn't scream." His voice was still flat, but it was gentler than she remembered it.

"I wanted to...but I couldn't..." Sakura whispered. For some reason she felt tears starting to swell up in her eyes again.

She sniffed and her fingers brushed away the tears.

The young man hesitated. "Stop crying."

"I'm sorry," she sobbed harder, "Sasuke..."