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Chapter Five: Descisions
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Did I disappoint you, or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
-- "One"; M.J. Blige ft. U2
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Gaara turned just in time to see an unconscious Sakura being dragged away by a man in black with knife wounds on his arms, probably from Sakura herself. He gave an inhuman roar, prompted by Shukaku, and leapt after the man, moving faster than he'd ever moved in his life. We're going to kill him for stealing our little cherry blossom, Shukaku shouted inside his mind. Gaara couldn't agree more, but damn it, the guy was faster than he was.
He ran even faster, breaking the branches he leapt onto in his anger and quickness. Suddenly, the man disappeared. Gaara stopped in disbelief and horror. He'd lost her. The pink-haired kunoichi that he loved was gone, just like his other loved ones. The familiar feeling of loss and emptiness entered his heart, but was quickly consumed by absolute rage. He let out another roar, louder this time, that seemed to echo across the forest.
Damn it all, he thought. That fucking ninja... "DAMN IT!" Gaara shouted, running his hands through his unruly red hair. Hyuuga, he remembered silently, trying to cut through his rage and failing miserably. Hyuuga was hurt, and he was on his team. Besides that, Sakura would be easier to find if there was more than one person trying to find her...
Gaara ran back to their camp, where Neji was grimacing in pain, the Fuuma Shuriken lying on the floor. The Hyuuga genius was standing, though, and bleeding freely. Gaara quickly searched in the bags for bandages and handed them to Neji, who accepted them with a nod of thanks. The silence between them stretched miles, and the atmosphere was taut and tense, even though it was dampened by rain. "We have to find her," Neji said tonelessly after he was finished bandaging himself.
Gaara didn't move. "I lost her." He sounded hollow.
Neji winced, fully appreciating Sakura's healing powers and wishing more than ever that she was there. "It's not your fault."
Gaara didn't say anything, but was glaring at the ground with particular menace. And as he did, he saw something. A scroll. He picked it up curiously, glancing at it suspiciously. "Hyuuga... did you bring any scrolls?"
"No..." Neji walked over to him. "Did you or Sakura?"
"No." Gaara turned it over, and his black-rimmed eyes widened at the design on the scroll.
The Uchiha fan.
He ripped the scroll open, and Neji read aloud. "You two are pathetic. I'm going after Sakura as you read this. Don't try to follow; you'll only mess things up more. Stay where you are and wait for me to bring her back... although you might not see her once I get her.
-- Uchiha Sasuke"
"He's been following us this whole time?" Gaara hissed. "I thought Byakugan could see anything."
Neji glared at him. "He took off too fast, remember? Sakura thought she saw him, didn't she? And--" his pearl-colored eyes widened. "She knew... remember earlier today, when she came back from bathing and she was all hazy and distant? She knew the whole day, and she never told us anything."
Gaara's expression was horrifically angry. "She wanted to protect him... damn it, she probably still loves him."
Neji frowned, remembering her hurt. "No, I don't think she really does. He must have done something that confused her... apologized, or something, then asked her not to tell anyone she was here... you know Sakura, she would obey."
Gaara was silent for a minute, but then his fist clenched tightly. "She kept touching her lips."
Neji scowled, realization dawning on his features. "The Uchiha..."
"...kissed her," Gaara finished, his sand rising from the gourd threateningly.
"And, of course that would make her feel confused... after all, he thought she was annoying, before, didn't he?" Neji was talking to himself more than Gaara, but he felt his grip on the scroll tighten. Fucking Uchiha. He was messing with her... manipulating her. A kiss from her first love must have made Sakura practically melt. But Neji was angry about more than Sasuke's manipulation. He kissed Sakura... he kissed my Sakura... 'My'? Where did that come from? He used his kiss to take advantage of her...
Gaara growled dangerously, just barely keeping his sand under control. "We have to find her first. Before the Uchiha does."
Neji nodded, a dark look on his face. "Let's go."
They took off at the same time.
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Sakura awoke to a stinging pain in her neck. Her body felt heavy... so heavy she felt she could hardly move. She managed to lift her neck slightly, only to see various figures in black. Gradually, realization struck through her daze. She was chained to a metal slab made to look like a bed."L... let me go!" she shouted weakly.
The figures laughed. "She is pretty... you were right," one said, reaching out a black-gloved finger to caress her cheek. Sakura bit the finger, and the man laughed again, cruelly. He smashed her head against the hard metal bed, intensifying her headache, and she groaned. "Feisty, too... though we can take care of that."
As they turned, Sakura took stock: she was alive, thank Kami-sama or God or whoever for that. She was weak, and very hard to move. Her chakra... seemed gone. "What the hell?" she breathed. "Why can't I use my chakra?"
The man leaned over and brushed a lock of pink hair from her face. "That's a secret, love. Sorry." His hand moved to her neck, and he took it, squeezing gently. "Such a pretty little neck," he said almost reverently. "It wouldn't take much force to break it... to snap it in half..."
"I won't give you the chance," Sakura hissed angrily.
The man pressed harder, and she forced herself not to choke and show weakness as his thumb dug into her windpipe. "Give it up, lovely. You're not a match for me, not with your chakra gone and hands and feet strapped down."
Sakura mustered the worst, dirtiest, most hateful look she could and shot it at the man, hoping her expression conveyed all of her anger. The man let go of her neck and rapped her smartly on her slightly large forehead. "Now, now, love. You look prettier when you're not scowling." And with another bout of annoying laughter, the shinobi were gone, shutting a door behind them and leaving Sakura alone to ponder her fate.
Most likely they'll kill me, she thought miserably. Well... unless they want to toy with me. Ugh. She frowned. No, Sakura... don't think that. You'll find a way out of here.
Damn right we will!
Eh...? You have an idea?
...no. But we damn well will get out of here anyway!
Sakura sighed. This could take a while.
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Neji and Gaara ran through the trees, tracking Uchiha. "I can sense his chakra signature," Neji said, barely containing his anger. "He went this way. He must know where they're taking her somehow... his chakra seems confident."
Gaara said nothing, merely glared at whatever they passed by.
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Sasuke stood outside the compound, masking his chakra signature as he had done so many times before. She was inside somewhere. He knew it, and he wasn't about to let the other two idiots get her first. That note had been a stroke of his pride, and he soon regretted it... they probably were already on the move, even with Hyuuga's wound.
The Uchiha formed some handsigns and sunk into the ground, going under the building. He moved along the rows of rooms until he caught a familiar chakra signature... except it was very weak. His brow furrowed in concern and anger as he focused his chakra carefully. His head popped out of the ground first, and he looked around carefully for any signs of video cameras or people. He only saw a shock of pink hair. Reassured, Sasuke lifted his entire body out of the ground, stepping behind Sakura.
The jade-eyed girl stiffened when she sensed a presence behind her. "Try and kill me," she hissed venomously, fists clenched.
"Why would I do that?" He drawled, smirking slightly as he came into the dim light left by a candle on the side of the room.
"Sasuke?" She looked relieved and scared all at once. "Why... how...?"
He smirked and activated his Sharingan just in case, looking around the room. He was proud of his kekkei genkai, but the Byakugan would have worked a lot better in this.
Sakura suddenly gasped. "Neji-kun and Gaara-kun!"
Sasuke's red eye twitched. -kun again. Damn it all.
"Are they okay?" she asked frantically. "Neji-kun... he had that Fuuma Shuriken, and..."
"I don't know, and I don't care," he said angrily, pulling out a kunai and working on her bonds. "You shouldn't either."
Sakura looked shocked. "Sasuke, they're my teammates! I can't just not care, and you're horrible for thinking that!"
Sasuke leaned over her and kissed her lightly. "You don't need to care for them. Not with me here."
Sakura frowned and turned her head away. Inner Sakura was telling her to go ahead and make out with the guy... something she'd supposedly wanted since being a genin. I only wanted the attention. I only wanted people to notice me. She smiled wanly to herself. I'm just like Naruto in that sense, I guess. Ano... I thought I really loved Sasuke. I was so stupid... "No," she said simply as her hands and legs were freed. She massaged her wrists and slowly felt her chakra coming back to her usage. It must have been something in the bonds.
Sasuke, who had been about to pick her up, hesitated, his eyes thunderous. "What?"
"I said, 'no'." Sakura got up calmly, looking at him. "Sasuke, I appreciate you rescuing me. It's extremely nice of you, and it appears that I underestimated your caring for me. But, Sasuke, I know now that I didn't love you back then." She held up a hand, as Sasuke showed every sign of interrupting. "And no, I don't think I love you now, either. Not if you're so heartless you can't understand that I need to help and protect and care for my teammates. We can be friends, Sasuke. But not more."
Uchiha Sasuke stood stock-still, but his eyes were burning into her.
She looked at him sympathetically. "I'm... I'm sorry, Sasuke," she whispered, reaching up to put a hand on his shoulder. He grabbed her hand. Hard. She yelped as he squeezed harder, and looked at him with rage and fear dancing in her eyes.
It almost happened in slow motion.
He raised his hand... Sakura's eyes widened... an explosion rocked the building... Gaara and Neji stood outside the room... distant footsteps and yells could be heard... Sasuke's hand going down... Gaara's cry of "SAKURA!"... Neji's angry shout of "UCHIHA!"...
His hand hit her face.
And then all hell broke loose.
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I know this isn't as long as my other chapters, but I had a little writer's block on this one. Whew. So now, Sakura, Neji, and Gaara will have to fight Sasuke and the assassins! Oh, dear!
And by the way, I'm starting to take votes on whether it's GaaSaku or NejiSaku. It's DEFINITELY not going to be SasuSaku. Sorry, Sasuke fans, but I don't really like that couple.
