A/N: Hi! waves
Yes a new record! I've posted the last chapter yesterday and today there's already the next! Okay that's the chapter I told you to wait for before killing me so I might explain one or two things by now (readers take out kunais or shuriken muttering death threats) but thinking about it maybe I should just shut up…
Chapter seven
Ino and Sakura were still running through the forest and got closer to a mountain again, although if one would see them he or she would rather think of the two just stumbling around. Sakura suddenly felt a freezing cold creeping into her heart, paralyzing her body and only allowing one thought: 'Sasuke.' Ino stopped next to her. "Sakura?" The pink-haired leaf-nin only shook her head not wanting to speak since it was like if she would say that she felt he was dead it seemed to her like killing him herself. Suddenly the ground underneath them shook before it broke away completely and they fell into a dark hole. "Ouch." Ino muttered cursing under her breath just like Sakura did. She looked up to the hole they fell through and then looked around in the dark cave asking "Where are we?" Sakura shrugged and stood up "In a dark cave I would assume." Ino gave her a half-annoyed glare but stood up as well sighing. She straightened herself as she turned to explore the cave though Sakura could see that her eyes were still red. Most likely they looked alike: red eyes from crying, covered with dirt, bruises and scratches all over the body and really exhausted. So they carefully sneaked through the cave which had a few small holes through which moonlight shone into the darkness.
They went through the cave for quite a while when suddenly footsteps, that definitely weren't their own footsteps, echoed through the long dark tunnel. Sakura stopped in her tracks and tried to figure out who it was. She heard at least two, four, no at least six persons getting closer and the sound of clinking weapons. Since they both didn't know where this tunnel would lead them – it could also be a dead end – Sakura hid behind some solid rocks in the darkest corner they could find. The unknown persons came closer and now the pink-haired girl could see that they were shadow-ninjas. Then two of them stopped in the tunnel doing something Sakura couldn't see while the other four walked on. Sakura felt panic rise in her chest, as soon as the four passed them they would be trapped from both sides. Ino slightly shifted her position and whispered to Sakura "As soon as they have their backs to us I'll use my shintenshin-no-jutsu to replace the mind of one of them with mine and then I'll force them to retreat while you take care of my body, okay?" Sakura nodded slowly although reluctantly. "But be careful, I don't want to lose you, too." She whispered afraid of the thought of Ino dieing, too. Ino nodded "Don't worry about that – I'm always careful."
The shadow-ninjas came closer and closer and with every step they took Ino and Sakura ducked deeper into the shadows as if they could fuse with the surrounding darkness this way. Then when the shadow-ninjas went past them Ino quickly formed seals and one of the shadows stopped while her body fell to the ground caught by Sakura who laid Inos body over her shoulder to carry her. The Ino-shadow-ninja took out a kunai and brought it up to her throat threatening "You'd better retreat or your comrade is dead!" While the Ino-shadow-ninja had the attention of the other shadow-ninjas Sakura sneaked with Inos body over her shoulder away. Suddenly a cloud covered the moon and it went pitch black in the whole cave. From behind Sakura could hear a muffled outcry. And only moments later she felt a wet, warm liquid soaking into her clothes. Immediately she put Ino down and felt the warm liquid running over her hands as well. Then the moon appeared behind the clouds again and a pale light illuminated the scene in front of her eyes. One of the shadow-ninjas had driven the kunai of the Ino-shadow-ninja right into her throat because in the darkness Ino hadn't been able to see the attack coming and since her real body was connected with the body she occupied her real body suffered the same fatal wound. Sakura couldn't believe it: Ino was dead. Her blonde friend with whom she used to bicker especially over Sasuke or other rather trivial things was dead.
Horrified Sakura stared at the form of Ino in her arms unable to stop herself from crying and unable to move. When her legs couldn't bear her weight anymore she simply sank to the ground staring at the shadows in front of her. The biggest guy of the shadow-ninjas stopped in front of her and laughed cruelly before saying in a harsh voice "How pathetic! Just look at you! And you call yourself a ninja. Well, all will be over soon." With that he grabbed a kunai but stubbornness rose inside Sakura once more as she shouted "No!" with all of her left strength and ran away. The shadow-ninja laughed saying to his comrades "Fine then, we'll wait sixty seconds before going after her." He counted slowly down before he commanded "Okay! So let's hunt our pink-haired prey!"
Sakura ran along the dark tunnel though she couldn't see where she was running because of the tears that filled her eyes. Suddenly she heard a voice calling her name. "Sakura." Looking around for the source of the noise and trying to blink her tears away she stumbled over a stone, fell to the ground and twisted her ankle. Quickly she got up again and started running or at least tried to run with her twisted ankle when the voice, a voice she knew very well, called her name again. "Sakura!" She looked around hoping to see him. She hoped that much to see him but at the same time she feared, knew that he – Sasuke – was dead. So she said "You're dead." Trying to ignore his voice to concentrate on surviving. But the voice didn't go away – in fact he insisted that he still was alive. After a few more steps and a few more meters Sakura wasn't able to run away and broke down where she stayed as the shadow-ninjas came closer. "This time I really need your help Sasuke-kun, why are you not here?" Sakura whispered weakly. "Sakura! I'm right in front of you! You just have to open your eyes!" The shadow-ninjas stopped in front of Sakura ready to kill her as she whispered "But my eyes are open." On which the voice only responded "Then wake up."
Sakura blinked staring into the darkness of the cave as it began to melt away so that she stared into equal dark – although not frightening at all – onyx eyes. Confused she noticed that she was in her bed and sat up staring at Sasuke in disbelief. He looked at her with a somewhat worried expression. Just then she realized that she was crying and touching her left cheek she felt the cut, that she had received at the very beginning – was gone. Feeling even more confused she looked around seeing that she was back in their room. "Sakura." Sasuke said calmly but nevertheless she flinched. "It's okay, you only had a nightmare." He continued as she finally calmed down a little although her heart was still poundering like mad. Then she nodded and looked at Sasuke asking "What happened?" He sighed. "Well… in the juice you drank was a sleeping drug from Kiba and you fell asleep only a few minutes later. Then in the middle of the night you suddenly cried out in your sleep and when I came down you've been talking and crying at the same time as if you had a nightmare so I woke you." Just when he had finished Sakura hugged him relieved that it had been only a dream. At first Sasuke was a little startled being hugged out of the sudden but then he smiled a little and hugged her back lightly. When she eventually had completely calmed down he asked her what exactly she had dreamed and she told him while clutching his hand, as she feared that she wouldn't be able to relive it otherwise…
After a while she had finished her story but was still subconsciously holding his hand. Even when he stood up to go back to sleep. Feeling her grip tighten he looked at her raising an eyebrow but she didn't look at him and stared at her blankets instead. He instinctively knew what was wrong. "You're afraid to have another nightmare like that, right?" he asked carefully kneeling down beside her bed. Sakura weakly nodded new tears forming in her eyes. Gently Sasuke made her lay down in her bed while saying "Don't I'll stay here until you're sleeping without having any nightmares, okay?" Sakura nodded relieved and smiled tired as her eyelids grew heavy but before falling asleep she whispered "But please don't tell anybody about it." The Uchiha prodigy nodded reassuring "I won't." Gently he brushed away her last tears and waited. When she was finally sleeping he noticed that she still held his hand tightly. Not wanting to wake her he stayed there for the whole night.
TBC
A/N: So you see I'm not that evil, I didn't really kill them… I hope you don't hate me… I really hurried to post this chapter so that all of you won't have to wait so long…
Anyway thanks to causeiambetta, kImYuRI, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, sasuke-latias, nejifan, iM a AweOmE gUrL, Shy-Princess, fire.elve, sehellys and InoYamanaka91 for reviewing.
disappears in a poof of smoke