A/N: Thank you soooo much for the reviews..wow..im like happy that I got so many. I love reading them, and im grateful that you all took the time to comment. It means a lot to me! Like always, I make these chapters for you readers, but this time I REALLY made this chapter for you guys. I put in everything I could to make it great…Not like I don't all the time..but.haha.

Warnings: Nothing that I can think of.

Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series would I be typing this story right now? Ya never know…but anyways..there it is.

Please Enjoy!

Behind The Smile

Chapter 25:One Thing Leads to Another

(o)

(o)

(o)

His seemingly contemplative, yet stern pink eyes met Sakura's.

Sakura kept her emerald eyes trained on Koizumi waiting for a response, an action, anything. She got none.

It was then that she felt the presence to her right, the source to which caused her transitioned eyes. Itachi, whose Sharingan still wasn't activated, his emotionless sharingan focused on Koizumi. It was the other presence to her left side that surprised her; she had to restrain herself from turning full body as she watched Sasuke step right next to her, his deep obsidian gaze trained ahead. She continued looking at him for a while, an unreadable expression crossing her face as a watery substance twinkled in her eyes. Just as soon as the moment had come, it was gone as she removed her gaze, closing her eyes breifly in a blink before re-opening them to look on at Koizumi.

Thank-you, Itachi, Sasuke

The room was deadly silent. Not even the calm, slow breaths from either individual could be heard. Only the last, long, exhale of a sigh that escaped her lips.

It seemed to go in slow motion as she took her first running stride towards Koizumi.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Kakashi watched as Tsunade ran out of one emergency room and went into another. For that brief moment he caught a glimpse of her face. She looked extremely tired, yet determined. If this continued, she would need to be the one in an emergency room.

It had been a few hours since he had returned to Konoha. He found that all the shinobi were in worst state than they had thought. Including Naruto, who was by far in the worst possible condition.

Kakashi wanted to take his mind off of things, so he took out his infamous "Icha Icha Paradise" manga. But unlike all the other times, his prized book did nothing to calm the chaos in his head, to even out his worry. He found himself not able to focus on the book at all whatsoever. Letting out a small, long sigh, Kakashi coveted his book in his back pocket.

As he leaned back, exposing his face to the bright light that hung limply from the wall above him, the faint traces of bags could be seen under his eyes, although it did nothing to down the his handsome looks, it was very noticeable.

As a few more minutes passed, he found his eyelids growing heavy. It was then that the usual enigmatic sensei remembered he hadn't slept for more than thirty hours. He didn't take time to rest, and he had taken two trips from Konoha and back, in an endless sprint. The continuous ticking of the clock eventually lulled the exhausted sensei into a dreamlike state.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

As she aimed a punch, Koizumi easily caught it. With amazing speed, Sakura brought her leg up from the side, using her knee to deliver a powerful blow to the side of his head. Koizumi went flying towards a nearby wall. Before he collided, Itachi was already on him delivering a few attacks of his own, right as he finished, it was Sasuke's turn. Koizumi met Sasuke's emotionless gaze as the Uchiha let a moment pass without action. Without a sound, Sasuke spun around, bringing his leg up to deliver a graceful kick, which finalized Koizumi's journey to the wall.

They all landed next to each other, waiting for Koizumi to emerge. Koizumi simply picked himself up from the crater formed at the bottom of the wall, walking slightly towards them. He seemed unhurt, and at the same time, upset. It was evident by his stance that he was going to start fighting now.

Sakura lowered herself into an unrecognizable stance. As she did so, a thin pink ring of chakra appeared on the ground around her, slightly flaring out like a flame. She closed her emerald eyes, reopening them to reveal glowing pink. She sensed as Itachi and Sasuke stepped back, seemingly deciding to let her fight the battle on her own. If she needed help they would provide it.

Sakura was grateful for that. Besides, the two Uchiha brothers were in no shape to battle again, they were severely injured, nonetheless exhausted, weak. She was lost on how the two came up with the idea that they would be able to fight, but knowing their blood, the Uchiha Clan, they would somehow manage it. Sakura diverted her eyes back to Koizumi. She scanned the area with her senses as she observed Koizumi in the motion of disappearing. It was silent as she waited, trying to predict which direction he would come from.

The right.

Sakura gracefully sidestepped, leaving a pink impression of chakra where she once was, however breif. Koizumi still had his arm outstretched as his he gazed at her unemotionally from the corner of his eyes. Again he disappeared.

This time Sakura was ready to counter-attack. She stilled herself, closed her eyes, again predicting his movement. At the same time, she summoned a bit of chakra into her palm. When her eyes shot open, they were glowing brightly as she shoved her fist upward, towards Koizumi who had just appeared. When it looked like her attack had made contact, with his amazing speed and skill, Koizumi met the chakra with his own. A small explosion in the midst of it caused the two to jump away from each other.

Sakura let out a small grunt of pain as she looked to the back of her hand. It was singed from the blow. She had been careless. It worried her how she wasn't in complete control of her chakra. She didn't know her limit, or what she could do, or how to do it. Maybe she could get ideas from Koizumi. Sakura kept her eyes trained on him in the midst of the smoke. She observed him, his cool stance, calm, not in the least bit scratched or trace of imperfection. He had waited till the last moment to react, and that still provided him plenty of time. It again reminded Sakura of how powerful he was.

She had to watch him carefully, do more than attack and dodge. She needed to map him, study his use of the Shiyuki. If what he said about her was true, Sakura would be able to overpower him somehow. She just had to be patient, observant.

Sakura gracefully jumped to the side to avoid the small shuriken stars that were throw at her. But immediately Sakura enforced her Shiyuki, letting a barrier of her own chakra surround her like a cylinder. A huge gush of wind sparked against the barrier immediately. It was divided in two by Sakura's barrier, moving past her towards the wall. A huge slashing noise was heard as the strong wind continued cutting through the huge cement wall. It kept on traveling through the forest as far as she could see. It was incredible.

She didn't see him do the hand seals, and he obviously didn't utter the words, she needed to figure out how he did that. Although it probably was mostly due to the amazing amount of speed. She had no time to think as Koizumi was upon her again. Sakura aimed a punch, her hand surrounded in a pink chakra. But Koizumi caught it with his own. A searing pain shot through her arms from Koizumi's strong grasp. He squeezed tighter, using his own chakra to painfully dispel the chakra in her hand.

Sakura swiftly brought out a kunai ready to strike Koizumi, who took out his own as well. Their kunai's clashed, letting out little sparks that disappeared as soon as they appeared.

So Koizumi had one of Sakura's fists caught in his, while their free hands were struggling to overpower the other. The whole time their eyes never left the others, as they calmly glared into each others eyes. Koizumi however seemed to have the upper hand when it came to strength, as he slowly began to overpower her. Sakura tried to keep a stoic face, but she wasn't able to stop the bead of sweat that formed on the side of her head. Koizumi however, seemed to be having no trouble at all. His face was completely stoic. No indication of strain whatsoever. Was he still toying with her? Had he really been toying with Sasuke and Itachi as well? Did she underestimate his power?

"What happened to the Sakura-sama all those years ago? As a child you displayed more powers, more potential. What have you been doing all these years? Fawning over a man?" Sakura listened to the tone of his voice. It held no amusement nor mockery. It seemed an honest, genuine question. One that irritated her.

She knew what he was talking about. She clearly remembered that night, the fire their hometown. She still didn't really believe it was her. But their was no mistaking it. Koizumi would have no reason to lie, and there was no way her brain could have made that all up to that excruciating detail.

It upset her that he was right. She had lost it over the years, even though she couldn't control her powers that night, at least she got a taste of it. She would have been able to tap into her power at will, learn how to use it. But she had been to sensitive, letting her mind bury the memory in an inaccessible place. Even when she could have strengthened herself in other way, had chose to fawn over a boy. Particularly one boy. One young man.

She dared not let her eyes search for him. But as her mind wandered back to Koizumi's prying question, it began to make her wonder what she had been doing all these years. Had she let him dictate what she wanted to be? Had she the desire to only become a ninja because she had found he was to be one? Was that the only reason then? What was the reason now? Why did she want to become stronger? Surely it couldn't be for him..could it?

If she had remembered the events that occurred all those years ago in Radiant garden, would she have been different? Would she had fallen in love with Uchiha Sasuke? Would she had even become a ninja? Would she still be less than what she wanted to be?

As she repeated these questions in her head, her gaze lowered away from Koizumi's. He seemed to have lessened his push on the kunai, maybe to allow her room to think? What was the purpose of asking her these things now? What was he trying to do?

Sakura shook her head trying to rid herself of these thoughts, it was only going to bring her down. He was just trying to fool her like he did Sasuke and Itachi, and look what happened to them. That's what he was doing, right? He didn't care about what happened to her right?

Sakura shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. There was no turning back now. She would prove that she was stronger. She would get in touch with her bloodline limit like she did all those years ago. Her pink gaze shot up with a newfound determination.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

It had been about thirty minutes or so since he had fallen asleep, but to Kakashi it had only seemed like seconds before he was awoken by a weight plopping down on the seat beside him. Kakashi opened one of his eyes to lazily gaze at Might Guy/Gai. He opened both of his eyes as he observed the state the enigmatic sensei was in. He was leaning forward, elbow on each knee, hands clasped together, staring down towards the floor at nothing in particular. He looked as if he was about to cry.

For both of them, none of the shinobi in the emergency rooms were there students any longer, as that had been for a few years. But this group of former rookies had formed a bond with the sensei's that could never be broken. They still regarded them as just that, vice-versa. They were all like family. Coincidentally, Kakashi had declined the offer to train another team, as did Gai.As did all the other sensei's.

Three of Gai's "students" were in critical condition, where as for him, it was only one. Even though his other students were in far more danger Kakashi couldn't help but sympathize.

"They could still die…"Gai started. Kakashi kept his eyes trained on him. He was about to lean forward until Gai continued. Kakashi kept his stance, leaning back, one arm outstretched alone the railing of the bench. "This is by far the worst situation any of these kids have been in." Gai still couldn't help but call them kids, despite the fact they were all around the age of 18. "Why them, why not us? Where did we go wrong?"

Kakashi's eyes traveled downward, looking at nothing in particular. An image of Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura appeared in his head. It was the picture of them all standing next to each other. Even Sasuke had a slight smile on his face.

As soon as that image appeared, the three students separated, each being thrown in with another image.

Along with Sasuke came the images of Orochimaru and the Sound. Another came with the burning image of Sasuke and the curse seal.

As Sakura appeared in his head, the Akatsuki appeared next to her. The scenes at the clearing in the forest came too. He remembered the state she was in as he found her in the forest with the huge hole in her abdomen.

The fiery image of the Kyuubi appeared behind Naruto.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Tsunade hurried into the room to look at the medical staff with their hand placed on various places of Naruto's body. Which was hardly recognizable. He was continuously bleeding. Bright lights were emanating from them. They had been doing this for hours, they all looked exhausted. She recognized Shizune as her head shot up to look at her.

"Hokage-sama! I don't know how he's still alive, he has no chakra at all! He's freezing cold, and his body's not responding to treatment!He's lost way too much blood, even if we were to close up his wounds, were not even sure he would survive!" Tsunade's eyes traveled to Naruto's abdomen, the seal which once held the Kyuubi was no longer there.Her eyes widened, as a gut wrenching feeling overcame her. Shizune continued as she regained her breath. "Without chakra his body won't help him do anything! We are doing the best we can to keep his internal organs working, but we don't know how long we can last! His body is trying to shut down!"

As soon as that was said, the machine with Naruto's vitals started beeping wildly, along with all the other machines hooked up to him.

"Shit!" One of the men yelled. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to put more chakra into Naruto, which he didn't have.

"Blood pressure's dropping dramatically by the second!" A women started.

"The blood won't stop!" Another cried.

"He's not breathing!"

"He's going into shock!"

"Damnit Naruto!" Tsunade cried as she dropped next to him. She did a long series of handseals. "Fuin: Kai!" A sort of seal started to appear on her head. Yet only part of the seal was revealed, signifying it wasn't her genesis regeneration. But she was using part of her stored chakra. Which was still a danger to herself.

She slammed her fists into Naruto's body, and as it looked like that would harm Naruto, her fists repelled back as a bright, blue light emerged.

"Ts-Tsunade-sama…" Shizune awed. She had never seen Tsunade use that before, had she just recently learned this? An overwhelming amount of chakra was being used on Naruto, which she had never seen used in a healing chakra. A blue light surrounded Naruto's body like a second layer of skin. It was similar to the effects of the Kyuubi as slowly, all of Naruto's wounds disappeared.

However, he still wasn't breathing.

During the process, surprisingly, Naruto's eyes slightly opened. They were unfocused, his pupils not even visible. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. His eyes slowly closed again before the slight whisper was drowned out by all other sound.

"Sakura-chan."

Another noise joined the continuous beeping of the machines. The long, flat beep that signified his heart had stopped beating.

..ooo000ooo000ooo..

Sakura's eyes widened as she found herself falling towards the ground, she barely managed to break the fall with her hands.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and she had this horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked up expecting Koizumi to already be attacking her, but suprisingly he had stopped. He was a few feet away from her. Why wasn't he attacking her? What was going- Sakura had to focus on trying to push herself off the ground. But as soon as she did so, she collapsed to the ground again.

She was dizzy, feeling horribly sick. It was hard to breath. And it confused her. What was going on? Why was she feeling this way?She couldn't think at all. It felt like her heart had been ripped out .She slowly looked over to Sasuke who had paused completley in his movements, he stood stall, yet there was a slight curve to his back as it seemed he fought the urge to hunch over. She could see his eyes, wavering greatly as they remained downcast.

Did Sasuke feel it to?

"Sakura." Sasuke called. His voice surprisingly calm, void of any emotion. Icy cold. She let her surprised emerald gaze transition up to his, which was focused elsewhere even as he spoke to her. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair before bringing it down to rub his neck. This was a sign that he was overly frustrated.

"Get up."

She wasn't able to speak anything, she continued to look up at him a while longer, the corners of her eyes rimming with tears. She didn't know what it was that had made her collpase. Her gaze lowered to the ground, wavering greatly as she focused on no spot in particular. It was the red drop of liquid falling to the ground in her periphreal vision that transitioned her gaze to Sasuke. He looked like he could collapse right then and there; he had broken ribs, wounds all over his body, most noticeable the deep gashes in his arm and side, which were still bleeding. He was still standing, like a true shinobi.

"All these years you claim to have been trying to become a better ninja." He said nothing else to her as he released a breath before activating his Sharingan. His eyes traveled to find Koizumi. And without another word he attacked.Itachi took a glance at Sakura before joining Sasuke in the battle against Koizumi. Anyone who saw what condition they were in would beleive the two brothers were morons. They definately would not last long at all.

And they were fighting because of her. Because she was too weak to fight whatever emotions were bringing her down. Because of her, they could die.


Thanks for Reading!

Um this chapter didn't progress much, neh? should i start using lesser detail? P Hope that doesn't seem to half-ass, having to do with squeezing in in between school and all.

Is Naruto really dead? gasps..you shouldn't always assume since i cut off the scene.

But yea I'll try to get the next chapter out real soon Again, Ideas would be helpful!.