Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners, and if any part of this fiction resembles that of another, it is purely coincidental.

A/N: Again, this is a very twisted sequel to my story "His Doorstep." So really, it would be a good idea to read that story first, as parts of this story will make references to it. And incase if you get a little confused, this chapter is focused mainly on the aftermath of "His Doorstep."

Shackled

Chapter Three

Semblance

Only in her dreams was she unable to push aside the pain, push aside the knowledge of the truth. And so, as Sakura slept, she did not dream of flowers and butterflies. Instead she dreamt of the past, and the darkness it contained . . .

The darkness of the night welcomed Sakura as she walked away from his doorstep. Small tears of hopelessness trailed down her cheeks, crystal rivers forever frozen in time. Bright green eyes watched, but could not see, as the buildings slowly came and went. Her trained mind screamed for an end to the show, but her heart, her betraying heart, would not allow her to overcome her emotions and block the pain.

In the end, she still questioned why she had dared to tell him, even when she knew he belonged to another. Was it a moment of weakness, or was it a moment of truth? Either way, the outcome still stung. Sakura could have laughed at herself then, of course it hurt. But what else could she have expected? Was she selfish enough to take him away from the one woman he had finally found comfort with, just so she wouldn't be lonely anymore?

The answer to everything was still clear in her mind, the only salvation she had.

He deserved to know.

After everything that had happened, after every life saving and life threatening event that had happened, Naruto deserved to know that she had cared for him through it all. She would stand on the sidelines and watch as his happiness grew, and know that she had finally done the right thing.

Time itself seemed to slow down a notch as Sakura processed the events within her mind. Everything between her arriving at Naruto's home, to her leaving it, seemed as though it was a dream. If she pinched herself hard enough, would she wake up? Or would she find that this was her life, and that she had to deal with it. Her life was so much less then grand, and when tomorrow came, she would have to pretend that it still was.

After all, Sasuke was finally back in their lives again. She supposed that there was always that to be happy about. And she was happy that Sasuke had unexplainably come back to them.

When Sakura finally made it to her small complex, she gave a sigh of relief. Within the four walls she could block out the world around, and pretend that Naruto had chosen her, instead of Hinata. Selfish, it was selfish of her to do that, but she didn't care anymore.

With heavy steps she made her way to her bedroom and fell down on her soft bed, mentally and physically drained from the evening's events. She knew that she had just put a strain on their friendship, but knowing Naruto, he would get over it as soon as she treated him to some ramen. A small smile touched her lips before sleep took over her body, as one thought came to her mind.

Eventually.

The next morning Sakura awoke not to the sound of her alarm clock blaring into her ears, but instead into a world she couldn't comprehend. Just as time had seemed to slow down during the night, the opposite happened, and time speed up faster than Sakura could keep up with.

The shrieks of pain were bloody.

The screams for help had shook her foundation.

The cause of the end to Konoha's reign terrified her.

Orochimaru had finally made his move against them, he had finally come to claim what he thought he deserved. Along with him, stood his troops glaring down at the village with sadistic glee. Sakura would never forget that sight. One body, one form, one man, stood out first amongst them, first in line, first to shed blood.

Sasuke, the ultimate betrayer. Sasuke, whom they had thought had finally come back to them, had instead played all of Konoha for a fool.

Sakura found herself at the hospital, helping injured ninja after injured ninja. The casualties overwhelmed her. But she had to stay focused, had to fight in her own way, she had to be strong for the ones still fighting.

It was a battle, a war. Many things at stake, Konoha's future, the freedom of their lives. Ninja's fell, all fighting to secure the lives of innocents, each fighting their ninja way.

However, the blame she focused solely upon herself. She should have known! She. Should. Have. Known.

Rage bubbled within her, blinding her from her surroundings. Konoha had become a lake of crimson, and it was her fault. Her eyes and wishful heart had blinded her from the obvious. Sasuke was no longer himself, but instead something much more sinister. And it killed her, because she had not seen the truth when it had been so openly presented to her. She had ignored it all. And Konoha had paid the price for her blind ignorance.

Her mother had paid the price. Her mother!

She would no longer hear her mother's laughter at her silly antics, she would no longer be welcomed home with warm smiles and heartfelt hugs. It was all gone, and she had never been given the chance to say good bye. With a heavy heart, and fire burning brightly inside her, Sakura couldn't bring herself to help out at the hospital any longer. As if her will had been broken, and her hands metaphorically tainted with her mother's blood, she couldn't force herself to believe that she could do any good trying to attend to injured comrades. And so, as the fire burned brighter and hotter by the moment, Sakura took up a position within the front line. Partly she fought to help save Konoha, but mostly, to being vengeance to the ones who had taken everything from her.

Voices of the dead haunted her, unrelenting in their vengeful wrath.

Mocking her, they seemed to point their fingers and say it was all her fault.

This war was unlike the fairytales of her past, bad guys did have a chance to win. And so, as the end of the war drew near, Sakura watched with dark eyes what she feared most. This is what we've been reduced too?

Sakura's body tensed, she wanted to have justice, but the scene unfolding before her frightened her.

"No, not like this." Sakura breathed out, afraid for the two men standing in the distance. She did the only thing she could think of, and ran for them.

She saw a flash of light, and then felt pain. Mom? Have I done right?

Kakashi stared at her, even as the helplessness of the situation was baring down on them all.

She was going to die, their Sakura was going to die.

Naruto howled with a mixture of rage and sadness somewhere in the distance.

Kakashi continued to stare, unable to take his eyes away from the gape in her side. He was unable to connect the pieces, and why it was Sasuke's arm that was protruding form her body. It all seemed so unreal, because, really, Sakura couldn't die. She wasn't allowed to die, he needed her not to die.

Sakura new it wasn't a good thing when the body grew numb, when you no longer felt the pain. Because as long as you feel the pain, it means your alive. So when her body began to grow numb, and the pain started to cease, she knew her life had started to count the seconds before it would begin to shut down. Slowly, painfully, Sakura tried to send a reassuring smile toward Kakashi, and hoped he would understand why she had jumped between the two of them.

It had been an act of foolishness she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to watch as the men she loved kill each other. In the few seconds where they had both started to charge at each other with their own chidori's screaming loudly into the night air, it had taken her but a moment to place her body in direct harms way. She didn't regret it, she wanted them to live.

Even if she wasn't allowed to be happy, even if her life would be cut short. She wanted them to live, and to be happy.

Green eyes began to close, as darkness wrapped around her like a fine veil of velvet. In her semiconscious state, she couldn't remember what had happened. Why her heart felt heavy, why her body ached and screamed with every jarring movement; she couldn't remember any of it. And so, as the strings of sleep pulled tighter, she did not feel obliged to disagree.

Slowly, Sakura's senses came back to her in a florish of activity. Happy chirping of birds flying overhead alerted her to the knowledge that something was wrong. Images around her slowly came to focus in a vivid world of bright and color. The complete opposite of what Konoha had been reduced to. Briefly, she wondered if she had died, and wandered away to some valley between Heaven and earth. The heaviness of her heart, and the stinging in her side caused her to think otherwise.

Weakly, she brought her hand to rub at her forehead to try and ease some of the strain away. Wincing slightly at the sting in her side, she gave up and let her hand fall back down to the grassy earth. Another indicator that something was wrong.

"Wh . . . where am I?" Sakura questioned painfully, her throat screamed with the effort to produce sound. With a slight wince, she reasoned that it felt like she had gone about a week without water, and then downed a glass of sand.

Her throat hurt.

Her body hurt.

Her heart hurt most of all.

The tears came almost immediately, wetting her checks even as her throat screamed for substance.

Where was she! Her eyes quickly scanned the scene in hopes of spotting someone who could answer her questions. But the quick scan turned up nothing; not a single person was nearby. She was alone in this different place she didn't recognize, completely alone. The tears came more forcefully, wrecking her body without abandon.

A bitter taste came to her mouth as she remembered the look in Sasuke's eyes as he charged at Kakashi. Eyelids grew heavy once again, and Sakura welcomed the peace sleep would give her.

"Wake up now, or I'm leaving you behind."

Sakura awoke early the next morning to Kakashi not so gently tapping her forehead. Swatting the offending hand away Sakura mumbled groggily, "Go 'way."

The tapping didn't let up, or go away. It was interrupting her sleep, and so was dubbed her new enemy.

"I'm serious, wake up or stay behind."

The answer came to her in the form of water, iced water to be correct. Furious green eyes snapped open the instant the cold spread over her limbs. The water drenched her clothing, and made it cling to her body like a second skin.

Using her arms as leverage, Sakura magically forced herself into a sitting position. Her eyes felt as if a year's worth of sleep depravation was weighting her eyelids down. The temptation to lay still and sleep her life away seemed a very promising idea. Situating herself in a better position, Sakura brought a hand up to swat away a few errant stands of hair from her face.

"Well," Kakashi chirped, "time to leave!"

Sakura managed a weak glare toward him before she too stood and stretched out her sore muscles. Closing her eyes, a smile formed on her face. Yes, it was time to leave.

Tbc.

Fanfic by inca

A/N: I cannot honestly say that I am all too happy how this chapter turned out. But after many a hours staring at it, going "huh?" I decided to finally give up and just post it.