Sakura was having a wonderful dream, no, she was having the best dream. And she knew it was a dream, but she was glad all the same. It was a break from the bleak reality she had been trudging through the last three months, so why not indulge herself?
She was a genin once more, seated between her teammates and sensei at Ichiraku. Naruto sat on her left, ranting about his future position as the Hokage between bites, sometimes mid-bite to her disgust. His obnoxious enthusiasm was irresistible though, and while Sakura put up a show of total displeasure, she loved it.
Kakashi was reading his book on Naruto's left, not really interested in the bowl of Ramen in front of him. But Sakura knew that he was interested in the conversation because he hadn't turned one page the whole time they were there, and she appreciated it.
Sasuke was pretending to glare at the back wall without listening on her right, but he would interject every now and then. She felt giddy every time she saw him look over at them from the corner of his eye. Sakura divided her time between arguing with Naruto and trying to involve Sasuke in the conversation.
Suddenly, the genin Sasuke turned and grabbed her shoulders, his eyes intent and angry, shaking her firmly, harshly whispering for her to wake up.
She snapped her eyes open, and found herself in the older Sasuke's grip, still in the cell where Kabuto had left her, "Sa…sa-su-ke?"
"Sakura, there's no time to talk, let's go," Sasuke hauled her up, and pulled her towards the door. She took a few steps past the threshold before she swooned, her vision blurring.
The next thing she knew, she was hanging over Sasuke's shoulder. "Wha…what," she started, feeling disoriented. Sasuke studiously ignored her, barging through the door, and jumping up the stairs. Soon they were racing through a maze of hallways, and Sakura briefly pondered on how he knew his way through it. She sighed and shook her head, wriggling around to get more comfortable. Her head still felt a little foggy, but she assumed it was just a side-effect of Kabuto's jutsu and concentrated on regaining her mental sharpness.
"You can let me down now, you know," Sakura informed him, a moment or two later, huffing slightly at the indignity of being treated like a sack of potatoes.
"Not now, you'll only slow me down," was his answer. Sakura fixed her best glare and tried to burn a whole through Sasuke's back. She shrugged it off after a moment, choosing to count her blessings instead.
He could have ignored her instead of saying something for one. She was alive, had her chakra back, and Kabuto's jutsu didn't seem to be having any lasting negative effects for another. Third, Sasuke wasn't with Kabuto or Madara, he was safe, and he was still with her. And despite his arrogance, he was carrying her because he was, in one way or another, concerned about her well-being, even if it was only because he didn't want her slowing him down. For that matter, he could have just left her and escaped on his own!
Sakura paused, as the partial realization from earlier returned to her. Sasuke had been taken somewhere by Madara: So how did Sasuke escape?
A very small nagging worry began to form in her gut. Kabuto's words floated back to her, "I'll be sure to tell Naruto of your contribution, and Sasuke's re-dedication to our cause".
Sakura felt a little sick at the direction her thoughts were taking her, What if…what if he is back on their side? What If he doesn't plan on escaping with me? What if he's just taking me to them right now?Sakura swallowed thickly, afraid to ask him because she feared his answer. What else did they want with her anyway? Why was she still alive if all they wanted for her to heal Sasuke and take the nine-tails chakra?
He reached a wooden door when he stopped to ask her if she could walk, and after she nodded her affirmation, set her down carefully, watching to be sure she could do it. It annoyed her slightly, but she hoped it was a sign that he cared about her and hadn't returned to their side.
Sasuke pushed the door open slowly, his body pressed up against it with a kunai in hand, choosing to be cautious. He quickly walked out after his search provided no targets. Sakura hurried after him, staring fixedly on his back, warring with herself over asking him about what happened. She knew that sooner or later she would have to, but she selfishly wished to prolong the time they had together just in case he was her enemy again.
As they rounded a corner, Sakura looked more at their surroundings. She discovered that they were in some sort of cave, sparsely placed lamps provided the only light, and beyond their reach, the shadows crept about menacingly. She stepped a little quicker to stay closer to Sasuke, unable to shake the feeling that someone or something was watching them from their hiding place in the darkness.
They rounded another turn, and Sakura saw a dot of light ahead. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she realized what it was, He is coming with me; we are getting out of here!
The opening became larger and larger as they raced towards it, the blue sky and green trees bidding them to run all the faster. But as they entered the last spacious cavern before the exit, Sakura stopped dead in her tracts, her eyes threatening to pop out of her head, and her jaw trying to reach her feet. Tentatively, as if afraid her speech would dispel the sight before her, Sakura whispered, "Captain…Yamato?"
Sasuke spun on his heel when he heard her stop and whisper something. He stormed angrily toward her when he saw her just standing there, "We don't have time to waste Sakura!" He grabbed her wrist and yanked, but Sakura remained rooted in her spot. She glared at him as she calmly informed, more like ordered, him to help her rescue the wood-element user.
Sasuke took a deep breath and shut his eyes, remaining perfectly still. Sakura worried a little about what he was going to do, but she let out a breath of relief when he turned to the man trapped in the wall. She said, "Use your Sharingan to see what's happening to him."
"I know," he snapped, his patience having been drained by this little detour. After a few moments of examination, he turned back to Sakura, "It's sending chakra into him and then taking it back out, but that's not all, it's taking more than just his chakra, there's something else it's taking from him. It goes through…," he paused a brief second as he wondered if the inhuman creature in the wall really was a Zetsu, but since he didn't have another name he continued, "…Zetsu, and from Zetsu it goes through a short-range dimensional portal. It's not far from here, and there's an enormous amount of chakra."
Sakura raised an eyebrow in question, and Sasuke sighed, "It's all one type – just separate." He narrowed his eyebrows slightly as he thought of how to explain it before adding, "It's kind of like Naruto and his clones…"
At the mention of Naruto, Sasuke drifted off as he seemed to remember something, but shook his head not a moment later, returning to the present. He walked forward, motioning for Sakura to join him, "I'll give you directions, and you use your chakra to separate him from the Zetsu's chakras."
Sakura took her place and prepared her scalpels while Sasuke activated his Sharingan. "At your three 'o clock is a major vein of chakra. Sever the smallest vessels around it but be sure to replace it with a bubble of your chakra within five seconds of each disconnection, or you'll trip a sensor."
Sakura barely nodded as she sent her chakra into the stone, easily locating the vein Sasuke told her about. She creased her eyebrows in concentration, sending her chakra out as a probe that sent her pictures of the internal structures back, like echolocation. She severed all two hundred plus of its branches in less than two minutes, tying a knot of her chakra over the severed ends as she cut.
Sasuke then directed her to the next one, and the one after that. He never showed an outward expression to her work, but inside he was impressed. You weren't kidding, were you? I can't believe I'm even thinking this, but…You've grown up Sakura.