Author's Note: Wow, thanks for all the reviews, you guys! And as a note, there was a reason I had Sakura use a poisoned syringe as opposed to normal medic nin techniques such as using her chakra to cut arteries. Sakura never was strong with close range combat, and a syringe can be thrown, much like the needles, and is a good mid-range to long range attack. The only reason she used it for short range in the prologue was because of the circumstances. Another reason is that the syringe was a bloodless way to kill her enemy, which was a requirement from Tsunade. And on another note, Sakura was also hit with some of her poison, which was only enough to paralyze her. Had she still be capable of movement, she would have fought back instead of agreed, as I'm sure you know. But you were right, Only Secret, that Sakura would normally cut arteries and such with her knowledge of human antimony. But she also has acquired knowledge in poisons (such as when she created antidotes for the poison Kankuro was inflicted with 2 and a half year after Sasuke left). That's where I got that from. I hope that clears up some things!

Sacrifice: Wilted Blossom of Spring

Chapter 1: Self Immolated

"Sakura, you need to stop moving."

The pastel haired girl turned her blank gaze toward Tsunade. She was more than a Hokage to Sakura-- she was her mentor. Shame radiated through her blood vessels as her superior pulled the remnants of poison from her body; she had managed to let down Tsunade on her first mission, even if it was successful. Fixating her gaze on the floorboards, Sakura began counting the mistakes she had made in her 'maiden voyage' as a Jounin.

She could have, and should have, taken out her objective first. All she would have needed to do was throw the syringe with an apparatus connected to it she could use from a distance to force the poison into his body. There had been no real point in taking out the people protecting him until afterward with an opening such as that. When she had fallen on her own needle and taken a bit of the newly concocted toxin, she could have avoided it by rolling to the side.

'I could have just said no…Sasuke-kun and Naruto didn't need my help in the end.'

This was what haunted her the most about the willing sacrifice. When Sakura had redressed and appeared on the roof of the building, her comrades were waiting for her with minor cuts and abrasions. She had been the only one with injuries that required medical assistance. Everyone else had been perfectly fine, waiting diligently for her during the last ten minutes of the mission.

She had given away her morals and values—her innocence—for no apparent reason in the end. Sakura had sacrificed her virginity for a hollow threat.

'Even if I had refused… would he have still raped me?'

The thought sent chills down her spine, causing her to shiver just as Tsunade finished extracting the toxic acid inside her body. A small vile of antidote was placed into Sakura's trembling palm before the Hokage left her side to sit behind her desk. Warm honey eyes stared down the lackluster woman with curiosity and worry. Tsunade would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly perturbed at Sakura's sudden lack of vivacity. The way she smoothed out her tan skirt to increase its coverage of her legs and how her eyes remained transfixed on the floor caused the Hokage's worry meter to advance from skeptical to highly suspicious.

'What happened to you, Sakura?'

"Sakura…"

Her head snapped up suddenly, plastic smile plastered upon her face. "Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"Have a mission report ready for me tomorrow." She responded, her voice hesitating. "And… make sure you visit your comrades. They're worried about you."

"Oh, they have no reason to worry about me. I'm going to be fine Tsunade-sama! They need their rest anyway—most of the fighting was on their end of things, I just went in and…" Sakura paused as the memories flashed through her head. "... assassinated the target."

Tsunade sighed. "I know it's not your duty to perform those tasks; I'm a medic nin as well. I'm your teacher. But Sakura you have to understand, you were the only candidate for this particular task."

"I understand, I'm going to be fine." Sakura stated, the plastic smile still on her face. "I'm going to rest up for a while and then I'll file the mission report in the morning."

Shooting up in bed for the fifth time that night, Sakura finally succumbed to fact—she wasn't going to be sleeping tonight. Her heart and thoughts were far too jumbled and broken. Disastrous deeds had occurred that night; she wasn't sure which was worse or weighed more heavily on her heart. Her mind was refusing to register the phantoms that came with murdering another human, and instead focused directly on the filth that had infiltrated her body.

She felt dirty.

It took everything in Sakura not to get out of bed and shower for the sixth time that night. Her skin was already raw from repeated scrubbing with a brush; her hair had thinned out considerably from her insistent brushing. For once in her life she found a practical use for foundation—it covered bruises well, even if it did disappear while she was sweating during missions or training.

Crawling from her bed, Sakura stripped herself from her clothing and peered into the full body mirror connected to her door. Sea green eyes flowed over her curves in the mirror, hating every inch of the body she had been so proud of. She hugged herself against the chill in the room, her eyes searching for any bruise or hickey she had missed covering with foundation and powder. All that she saw was red, bloody masses where she'd scrubbed the hardest in the shower—around her neck, down her chest to her stomach, her thighs…

'Maybe… if I look this way, they'll look away with disgust and it will never have to happen again.'

Most nights Sakura would wish someone lived with her—tonight, she couldn't be happier to be eighteen and living alone.

She placed her clothing back on and pulled open a window before sitting at the desk in her room. Taking an empty scroll and her brush and ink, Sakura began documenting the mission with the meticulous detail she was notorious for. Later she would need to question Sasuke or Naruto on their participation, but for tonight she could scrawl out her portion of the story.

"Something was wrong with Sakura."

It hadn't been a passing comment; it was a statement demanding a response while being delivered in a bored, monotone voice. Sasuke cocked and eye open to the man beside him, waiting for his continuation on the subject. The blonde didn't respond immediately, being far too engrossed in his late night meal. It was ritual for the team to stop for ramen after a mission, no matter the hour. Tonight it was just the two of them—Sakura would have been there, but Kakashi had whisked her off to see Tsunade before she could order.

Finally placing his second bowl down and ordering a third, Naruto turned to his dark haired counterpart. "It was her first kill. I think anyone would be reacting that way."

"Hn." Sasuke poked at his ramen, deep in thought with a glacier-like face. "She would have said something to us when it was done, not just walk past like she didn't see us."

"That was a bit strange." A chopstick was used to add emphasis to his words. "But I think she was in shock. Maybe we should stop by Sakura-chan's place before heading home, just to check on her."

Sasuke gave him a weird look. "It's three in the morning, you moron. She's probably sleeping off her injuries."

"It wouldn't be the first time we've all met that early in the morning." Naruto countered.

"Hn."

"You're the one who's so worried, Sasuke. You brought up the subject." Naruto smirked.

The glare he received for that comment forced a triumphant grin to his face. Naruto went back to finishing his third bowl of ramen, ordering a fourth and then diving into that one with gluttonous intent, never taking an eye off Sasuke. He had been acting strangely lately when it came to Sakura, and no one but Naruto had taken notice to it.

It wasn't everyday Uchiha Sasuke asked Haruno Sakura to train with him, especially not before an exam like the Jounin exam—nor was it everyday you heard him stating some form of concern over the pink haired woman.

Naruto smiled.

As he raised his hand for a fifth refill, Sasuke's straight lips pulled up into a mischievous smile. Naruto pulled his hand back, looking at his partner and contemplating his intentions. That smirk hadn't appeared much since they brought Sasuke back from Orochimaru, and it still caused Nartuo's blood to run cold. Of course, there was no malice or homicidal intent in the smirk, but it still meant something unpleasant was about to unfold.

"It was supposed to be Sakura's treat tonight." Sasuke stated, turning toward Naruto. "Since she's not here and next mission you would be paying, that means you're paying for the meal tonight. If I were you I'd only eat as much as I could afford."

"Sasuke, you bastard!" Naruto screamed. "I thought you were paying!"

"When did I say I was?"

Naruto raised a chopstick, and then put it back down. "I just assumed! Wait, where are you going? Sasuke!"

His cry fell to deaf ears—Sasuke was already gone.

'Cheapskate.'

"Oi, Naruto!" came a familiar voice. "Back from your first mission as a Jounin?"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried, pushing his empty bowls out of view. "You came to treat me to ramen!"

"I'm so stupid!" Sakura screamed at herself, tossing the closest object to her—a porcelain vase given to her by Naruto as a birthday gift—across the room.

It shattered into pieces, and she cursed herself again. That had been her favorite vase; she had been saving it for the day Sasuke turned up at her door with flowers. Sakura sighed and pulled her knees up to her chin, her expression falling blank once more. She no longer had hope in such a whimsical fantasy—it died that night.

Intertwined with her own self hatred, she had disposed of unearthly hopes and dreams that she no longer deserved. The image she now painted for her future was bleak; the face of Uchiha Sasuke was no longer within it. She was the only one there, with a backdrop of black.

The clock across the room chimed seven times; Sakura sighed. She hadn't slept a wink, and her body ached from its malnourished state of insomnia. Every time her eyes closed, she saw him tearing her Jounin jacket off. When she'd twitch and writhe in between her sheets, she could feel his hands and mouth exploring her most sacred places. She remembered the face he made once he realized she was a virgin.

Suddenly she felt dirty again.

She couldn't hold it in anymore—the sobs just started on their own.

"You really should close your windows. It's too cold to have them open this early in the morning."

Sakura jolted from her position and turned to face the window, feverously wiping her eyes before she stood up and trotted over. Peeping out, her eyes scoped out the last man she wanted to see, his hands nonchalantly placed in his pockets and a devious scowl imbedded on his face. She could feel her face falter and contort with her emotions before she put them back under control.

"Since when does it matter if I have my window open or not? The breeze felt good."

She winced. That was cold—very unlike her.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, taking in what she looked like.

'Terrible.'

There was no other word for it, and that was him trying to be polite about it. If he didn't know any better, Sasuke would say she hadn't slept at all that night and she had just got done crying. Which, he thought, wasn't that far off the realm of possibility. He closed his eyes and then shook his head— something was definitely wrong with Sakura if she spoke so coldly and offensively without adding 'Sasuke-kun' somewhere in her first statement to him of the day.

"Why are you outside my window in the first place?"

That pulled him out of his stupor. "Mission or not, you and I were supposed to practice jutsu at six. You never showed up so I came looking for you. I wasted a good hour that I could have been practicing defending myself against medic nins with shuriken and kunai target training."

"I'm sorry." Sakura stated, finally sounding more like herself. "I was up finishing the mission report."

A scroll came flying up to her, and she caught it with prime accuracy. "That's the other half of the mission report from my angle of things. Just give Tsunade your report and that one instead of trying to rewrite it to yours."

Sakura only nodded in response. Sasuke looked to the side, debating within himself if he should ask her what was bothering her or why she looked so horrendous. Now didn't seem like the time, and being Uchiha Sasuke, it wasn't like him to care in the first place. It was true he'd changed since being brought back from Orochimaru three years earlier, but that didn't mean every part of him changed. He was still the ice block he had been before, just softer around the edges and more aware of his surroundings.

"I'll go practice with the moron. It should be fun pulling him out of bed this early." Sasuke stated, that mischievous grin on his face as he imagined how angry Naruto would be. "I expect you to be ready to practice tomorrow morning."

"Aa." Sakura stated, turning around and shutting her window.

'What is wrong with you, Sakura? Your not acting like yourself at all. What happened to you those ten minutes you were away from Kakashi?'

Sasuke shrugged off his uneasy feeling and continued on down the road—Naruto would be a good replacement training dummy to ease his frustrations. The thought brought his smirk back. It was always fun to mess with his friends head, and he made for good conversation time to time. As long as they could stay off his anxiety over Sakura's sudden change in personality, everything would be okay.

Author's Notes: I won't lie. I wasn't going to update until I had ten reviews but that didn't happen before I was told we wouldn't have power tomorrow so I thought, oh well. I'll just aim for 20 before the next chapter comes up (knowing me I'll update again anyway). I hope this chapter lived up to expectations. Also, I have no idea if I even came close to giving Sasuke a good character in this—I've been so nervous about writing his character, I hope I didn't slaughter him. The same goes for Naruto and Tsunade. I can write Sakura because of how I twisted her. shrugs Please review!

Love and hugs—

Crystal Renee