Chapter 20

The smooth handle of her axe is worn from her ancestors use, leaving grooves for her hand to slide into. It's heavy, even by Sakura's standards, but she only uses chakra to summon it. She can manage the weight if she uses both hands. The blade, when propped on the ground, spans up to her hipbone.

"Try blocking." Sasuke commands as he unsheathes his sword. He doesn't give her much time to react. Flashing in front of her like lightning, Sakura heaves her weapon upwards to block is bade just in the nick of time.

His pressure is brutal, and if it were kunai on kunai, Sakura's wrist would have probably broken. The axe is hefty and it doesn't take much effort for her defend. Pressing back forcefully, Sakura pushes Sasuke away and swings her blade. It's a sluggish, embarrassingly slow strike that a child would be able to escape if need be.

Sasuke jumps lands atop it, forcing the metal into the snow and leaving her wide open. Sakura expects a hit, a kick, or a push—anything to knock her down into the cold. Sasuke settles for chiding.

"Just work on dodging for now. Your attacks are too slow."

There's a crunch to her left and she sees his clone as it starts to attack. It's easier to move her body around her weapon instead of swiping it back and forth, so she thrusts her form around the staff and uses the handle to deflect his kusanagi once more.

The clone disperses and Sasuke emerges behind her, jabbing his hilt into her lower back. He's broken through her barrier yet again, expertly and silently.

She groans in frustration, because they've only just started and he's already bested her twice. "This is ridiculous. What am I doing wrong?"

"Everything," Sasuke drawls, not bothering to coat his words with sugar. She's light on her feet and agile, but keeping up with her weapon is a hindrance to her body instead of an extension of it. "Choke up on the handle and try using one arm."

The wood is not wrapped in hide here so it's not as smooth. Small splinters bite into her skin. She's used to the unblemished metal of kunai and shuriken, not this beast of a thing. The small stabs remind her of plucking weeds and wrapping dog leashes around her wrist; the laborious excursions Genin participated in to callous their palms and increase their muscle. It is almost a foreign feeling, and Sakura is disappointed that she's fallen so far behind yet again.

Medical ninja need soft hands. Don't worry. She says to herself. She has the hands of a healer.

Bracing the length of the rod under her arm, Sakura lifts the heavy hatchet onehandedly and prepares to protect herself from an upcoming onslaught. It's the first time Sasuke has ever sparred with her, and she isn't sure what to expect.

At first, Sakura ran. Sasuke was fast though, and even his clones were a force to be reckoned with. The snow made her slip and slide. Every time her knee hit the ground, she was narrowly avoided getting pierced with a sword or slammed with a foot, not getting a second to pause.

She supposed she should be grateful that Sasuke was dealing serious blows—he'd originally settled for the unsharpened edge of his sword and his bare hands to signal she'd been caught. Now, they're playing "first blood". It's…enthralling.

When weaving her battleax became too tedious, Sakura planted its head into the frost and anchored herself around the neck, thrusting her feet out as she smashed into all four of her teammates illusions. Sasuke watches her twist around the haft as smoke from his clones waft round, creating a vortex-like effect as if she'd trained with her weapon since childhood, and not a half hour.

It was as he'd originally thought. She was quick to learn.

With her long left leg outstretched, she pivoted and slung her axe once more, aiming for Sasuke's abdominals. The edge of the blade did not slice his flesh, but it did send an electrified jolt to his skin, which forced him back a step. Sakura would be able to use that to her advantage in the final round of these Exams—it was a safeguard against humans.

However, Sakura's throws were still a little lopsided and she was severely undertrained. Maybe she didn't feel threatened enough. Would she work better under pressure?

With a rough jerk, Sasuke pulled at her wrist and slung her behind him, forcing her weapon away from her grasp. It flew a yard away from her body, sticking its blade in the faux earth. She was on her stomach, splayed out in a mess of upturned foliage and thick clumps of frosty dirt. Sasuke flickered towards her. He was careful not to expend too much of his severely prisoned chakra.

She rolled away from his stomping foot, letting her eyes convey her shock as he cratered her previous resting place. It was as if a kill switch had been activated within Sasuke. He turned his sword to its correct position, sharp side down, walking slowly to Sakura as she stood.

Her heart was hitting the walls of her chest so loudly that she couldn't hear the crushed snow beneath Sasuke's boots as he advanced. It was suddenly as if she couldn't breathe—as if the life-giving oxygen that was so incredibly abundant around her was sucked from their environment.

Assessing the situation, Sakura counted the steps she'd have to take to get to her battleax. Three strides to the left and then with her weapon, she could block his blows.

That was easier said than done.

With the bangles around his wrists, hidden under his sleeves, Sasuke was about as strong as he was as a Genin. Sakura knew that even then, he would still be able to deal a lot of damage.

Time stilled for only a moment before Sakura pounced, throwing herself at her hatchet just as Sasuke's kusanagi sliced through the air. Her wooden handle fended off the sharpened steel, trembling under his intense pressure.

Curling his body around her defenses like a snake ready to strike, Sasuke braced his knife-edge onto the throat of her axe and planted his foot into the soft flesh of her stomach. Her grasp broke and yet again she was detached—but this time she held her ground and did not fall. Her boots spread a trail out of the sloshy snow.

"What's your problem?" She yelled, running full force ahead with pumping arms.

It was as if he were fending off a bull. Sasuke sidestepped the rampaging kunoichi, amused that she could so get riled up so easily. As she clambered by, she drew her axe once more and copied his moonlight technique, raising her body off the ground and pressing her own booted foot into the stone-like muscle of his gut.

He was not like Sakura. Sasuke was well versed in taking a hit. The moment the soles of her shoe slammed against his middle, Sasuke wrapped his hand around her ankle and threw her beneath him, pinning her in place with his knees and hand.

His fist rose for a punch that was as lethal as the earth-denting kick from earlier. As his arm reared back and his resolve hardened, something snapped deep within Sakura.

Flashbacks tormented her head—post-traumatic stress from months ago when his artificial hand was real, buzzing with a Chidori and aimed to kill. She did not try to dodge—her body had turned paralytic and limp under the impending blow.

It seemed as though not every Sasuke was a Sasuke she could trust.

Sakura flinched from his hand as his own body seized, watching the way her loose strands of hair backlashed from the powerful outburst of his untouched hit.

He let his fist hit the ground beside her ear as he straddled her, taking in the look fear and uncertainty that bloomed across her features. Sasuke was neither angered nor upset. Her reaction was expected, normal, no matter what hormonal dreams suggested otherwise.

"You're afraid of me."

Sakura's eyes snap open, forcing liquid to pour out and follow the shape of her overheated cheeks. Was she crying? She hadn't meant to. "No, I—"

"I tried to kill you, that time." Sasuke continues, saying the phrase so easily. There was no point in dancing around the truth any longer. He'd been inside of her head, after all.

When she looks back to his face, Sasuke sees that her eyes turn a shade darker. When she stares at him—really stares at him, in the way that only she could do, he felt stuck. He falls into the seafoam green like he's drowning in a pregnant ocean of aquatic life—all flecks of yellow and emerald and mint. How could she trap him when he was the one holding her down?

"It's not that I'm…afraid of you," She begins earnestly, turning her head from the scrutiny of his glare. "I…I just haven't gotten over our battles. I don't know why I feel like this. I tried to kill you too—and you don't seem afraid of me in the least."

That wasn't true, though. Sasuke was scared of her—maybe not in the same ways, but he was scared nonetheless.

The Uchiha were greatly devoted to the people they loved and cared for. So much so that it literally shaped the way their body took in chakra and the way their minds comprehended things. The despair of a loss manifested true darkness.

He could not stop the affections growing between him and Sakura. It was so different from the love of family, from the love of friendship. Sasuke didn't have a family to lose anymore and Naruto was the strongest person he'd ever known. If something happened to Sakura…

Something always happened to Sakura.

Cutting through his thoughts, Sakura speaks with a tremble to her voice. She is cold, and she is upset. "I…I have no right to be scared."

It was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. He glowers down at her form, watching the tears dance on the rims of her eyes. Her nose is red. Her lips are chapped and frowning. She looks so miserable and guilty, and Sasuke finds himself even more frustrated that before. Of course, she had the right to be scared. Every ounce of anger that she kept bottled up belonged to him alone. She should hate him.

Sakura should be afraid, and Sasuke shouldn't be afraid…and fuck it was all so bothersome. They didn't deserve this torture. Dropping his forehead onto hers with a thunk, Sasuke closes his eyes and pleads.

"If you promise not to be scared of me, I promise not to be scared of us."

When she was younger, Sakura had placed a pink marble in a glass jar and sealed the lid. Some days, if she spun it around fast enough, a whirlpool would form, forcing the water to rebound from the walls and crash back into itself. It looked like a tornado or a tsunami, spinning and spinning and spinning.

Us, us, us, us…

The same current twirled in the core of her body now, colliding in and out together as her mind tried to process the dramatic switch from unwanted contact to very wanted contact.

The face of the man she loved was near. Sasuke's nose touched her own, sweeping down as if he were going to kiss her. Instead, he exhales. It is the fire of his clan. The heat fills her nostrils, her throat and her chest, warming up every extension of her body.

Together they would work on things. They just needed time. The Jōnin Exams was not the time.

Just as the space heated between them, a whirring sound flew over the pair. Sasuke tumbled down from his high rapidly, wrapping his hands around Sakura's shoulders. They rolled from the new attack, narrowly avoiding an upsurge of pure energy that hummed around them. The backlash wave sizzled Sasuke's exposed skin, peeling back the thin outer layer.

It seemed as though the final robot had arrived.

Sakura was rarely wrong. She scored top marks on every test, was an amazing investigator, and was lucky in surmises and assumptions. This was not a piece of paper with a "yes" or "no" answer in front of her. It also was not another ball-shaped android.

This robot resembled a woman.

The plates that wrapped around the original frame weren't anatomically correct, but it had curves and dips that resembled a female in essence. Two arms, two legs, a mess of wires and cords that sprouted from the cranium to resemble hair…it was strange to look at, and powerful to boot.

"I've found you," it says, moving her mouth up and down like a puppet.

Freezing in their places, both Sasuke and Sakura recognize the voice instantly. The same one allowed them to communicate internally:

"CYLAN,"

"You are surprised. Good." The robot spewed in monotone, waving its hands over the field.

Sakura thought that, perhaps this was where a monologue came in. You know; the part where the evil villain laughs like a raving lunatic and explains the basis of their schemes.

Sasuke didn't have time for such nonsense. He had dealt with Naruto's incessant banter for far too long. The man had the urge to hit something, and they were both so close to finishing this round that he couldn't be bothered with hesitations.

Wiping his mouth, Sasuke draws his sword and charges, running faster than Sakura's eyes can follow.

The two weave in and out of the sky—CYLAN in defense and her partner in offence. Metal clashes against metal, causing sparks to fly. The embers sizzle out when they fall to the snow. With one powerful surge, Sasuke tears through CYLAN's armor with a powerful kick, sending her barreling into a plume of frost.

Sakura' hand encloses on the shaft of her battleax just as another bolt of CYLAN's energy tumbles towards her. It forces the fine hairs on her skin to stand at attention as static bounces around.

The ball of energy looked as if CYLAN had captured the sun itself. It was hot, cold and painful all at once. With an unpracticed twist, Sakura protected herself from the starfire by hiding behind the upturned blade of her weapon.

The snow beneath her gave way to a dark cavern out of nowhere. She was suddenly weightless as she dropped, falling into the obscurity and landing painfully on her side. Water flooded the gaping hole she'd been forced into and filled her lungs and mouth, drowning Sakura alive.

"I'm the one that controls this place." CYLAN warns as she lowers her mechanical arm to halt the water that surrounded Sakura. "I control every rock, every raindrop, every inch of terrain. I know the inner workings of you and your partners mind. I know every weakness, every attack, and every thought that passed between the two of you." It aimed its canon-like arm directly to Sasuke in that moment. "You cannot win." Another burst of energy whipped through the air.

Although the bracelets kept Sasuke's attacks and jutsu very basic, he was still a brutal ninja. His chakra reserves were severely low, however. Only enough for one chidori and maybe a few bursts of his katon would be able to squirm though.

Thinking quickly, he charged the robot once more and threw a kunai down into the freshly formed pool, making sure his metal threads were connected. Being able to modify the environment around was an extreme disadvantage. No matter what, Sasuke knew that he and Sakura shouldn't be separated. No matter what, CYLAN knew that's precisely what she needed to do.

Sakura arises from the water loudly, hacking up every drop she'd inhaled. Her fingers bled from the grip she'd had on Sasuke's weapon, but it was not a deep enough wound to bother healing. The sounds of battle fill their environment, but Sakura knows her words will echo.

"You've been playing us this entire time?" She yells, vomiting once more and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

CYLAN's canon morphs back into a human-like wrist and forearm, and it robotically turns her head towards the pink kunoichi. It's as though CYLAN has no qualms with showing Sasuke it's back.

"Sakura Haruno, the logical one. Age: 20, Weight: 105 and IQ is 156. Beware of all physical blows. Self-healing capabilities along with superior thought processing." It spouts, as if a sheet of paper was flapping right in front of her face. "You bore me."

Before Sakura can defend herself, Sasuke's chidori chirps to life. It's a sound that she's come to hate, but in this moment, she relishes the tweeting. Robots and electricity didn't mix well, and Sasuke was powerful enough to deal the final blow—the hit that will send Sakura back to her comfortable bed and the sterile halls of the hospital.

He makes no movement to run towards the enemy. Instead, he says, "bansho tenin" and suddenly CYLAN is the one coming at him. A magnetic force pulls the robot in, right directly into Sasuke's open, surging palm.

When his hit lands and the twittering birds dissipate, Sakura allows herself to breathe again. Her steps are languid as she walks closer to inspect the damage, heaving her axe over her small shoulder. Sakura's in medic mode, eyes training on Sasuke's bandaged arm that was cradled deep into the enemy's chest. His artificial limb was more sensitive than his original arm, so the searing heat of a lightening attack would certainly deal him his own bout damage.

It's as though a weight had been lifted from her. They were finally finished—a simple ten-minute melee was all it took to kill of CYLAN and send them home.

However…the dome did not dissipate around them. The too-thick snow was still under her feet. The off-blue sky was still stretched out above them—and it wept. Heavy drops of rain slowly started to drizzle out, landing heavily on the crown of her head and the curve of her shoulders. Sasuke and Sakura were motionless, taking in the odd scene.

There's a digital groan.

It starts out low, like the humming of an oscillating fan on a hot summer's day. Slowly, the sound grows louder, cackling into a repeated, record-like laugh that did not belong anywhere but a cheesy sitcom. The dimmed light in CYLAN's goggles blinked to life, shining a brighter red than Sasuke's sharingan.

Sakura tightens the grip on her handle and takes a step back, warning Sasuke. "She's still active."

Sasuke knows this, and he can do nothing about it. His arm is buried far into CYLAN, nestled between jagged iron tines and freshly frayed wires. He's tangled within her, and the coils keep wrapping and healing around his limb, trying to connect him permanently it to her form.

"Sasuke, back away," Sakura says slowly as her feet move backwards.

It's of no use. As hard as Sasuke jerks, his arm his unmoving; it's ensnared between the two mounds of CYLAN's sternum. The weight that had been raised from Sakura's chest slammed back full-force as the realization surrounded her. She scrambles to him, wrapping her fingers around his bandages. The hole closes unhurriedly, giving Sakura a view of the cords that are attaching back into themselves and the collocating metal within.

"Go," He says, wrapping his right hand around his elbow. "This isn't going to end well."

Sakura can't leave him—there's no way she could turn away. The laughing is getting louder, more foreboding. Soon Sasuke's arm is going to be completely engulfed.

The kunoichi has been trained in these sorts of situations. Men have come to her with failing bodies, women have entered her hospital with detached limbs, and children had been rushed through her emergency room with split flesh.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura plants her foot onto CYLAN's inactive, but gradually waking body, and places her small hands over Sasuke's elbow.

"We've got two choices," She says, watching the opening heal up. "I can remove your arm and cauterize the wound, or I can rip it out and heal the damage."

She can feel his hand tense. It wasn't as if he had a deep connection with his dominant arm—he had lost it against Naruto and wandered for months without one. Still, it was rather convenient. He looks at her.

"It's your call, doc."

As soon as the words come out, Sakura kicks away from Cylan and shreds the wrappings and pale skin into ribbons of gore and blood. His warmth stains her calf and palm as she sends her healing chakra to the laceration just as soon as the wound forms.

It was pain one moment—brutal, excruciating, the foreign feel of bone meeting air—and then it was as if it was enveloped in a fluffy cloud of medication. Sasuke watches CYLAN fly off into the distance and land face first as Sakura stitches up his skin, keeping her eyes on their enemy. Her brows are knit together in concentration.

"I've never seen anything like that." Sakura says hastily. Sasuke notices the slight tremble in her words. Sakura could be scared and brave all at the same time. "We have to keep our wits about us or this won't end well."

Her hands finish healing and she rips off her left sleeve, destroying the fabric into long strips that will protect his newly connected flesh. It's all done so quickly, Sasuke can't help but be impressed.

There's finally movement. The cyborg rises to her feet. Showing off her unmarred sternum, CYLAN raises its canon-like arm towards Sasuke and Sakura and fires another shot. Pressing Sakura to his chest, Sasuke uses his rinnegan and travels to the other side of the field.

"It's going to take more than that to take me down."

As it approaches, rolling on wheels that jutted out from her heel, Sasuke forms his hand signs. Sakura recognizes that it's his Katon and smiles triumphantly. Even after his space-time ninjutsu, there was still enough chakra in him to melt their enemy. His chest expands against her breasts as his lungs fill.

It was like a dragon had burst forth. She was not on the receiving end of the flames, but her breath caught as though the attack had been aimed right to her.

It was beautiful—all reds and yellows and oranges—blooming into a phoenix flower that would incinerate anything that it came into contact with. Sakura feels the combustion all around her—her skin is uncomfortably warm and it's as though the wetness of her eyeballs is being completely zapped by the heat.

Her back is searing, even though Sasuke's hand is wrapped around her and she's as deep into his chest as possible. She feels the material of her shirt start to melt like sugar candy, proving that the Uchiha flame could destroy almost anything. Her long braid is scorching at the ends. When the heat his gone and the air rushes back around her, she moves away from Sasuke and covers her wrapped chest as her top falls to the floor.

Sakura knows that she will not be able to get close enough to CYLAN on her own to land a good enough hit, and the chakra she's accumulated would go to waste if she pumped it all though her legs to match the speed.

Sakura decided to protect Sasuke. CYLAN had armor and could regenerate—Sakura's body could sustain heavy damage and she could heal herself faster than she could heal Sasuke. There was no other option to take.

"My eyes see everything." CYLAN says as Sakura tucks her head under Sasuke's chin. "You're covering his vital organs."

Sasuke is taken aback. He looks down at Sakura, through the mess of wet, pink locks, and sees that her face is full of pure hatred.

For some reason, even though he's come to know a different Sakura, Sasuke's first thought was that she pressed into him for comfort. It was the opposite case. This kunoichi would take all of the blows. She would heal all of Sasuke's injuries, and together they would defeat the strongest adversary they've come across since the start of The Jōnin Exams.

"Use me, Sasuke." She says, and even it's just as mind numbing as the first time she said it.

CYLAN warps forwards and Sakura blocks the blow with her axe, letting Sasuke use his sword to swipe at the wires that keep its synthetic limbs attached. He severs one connection before they're pushed back, and they slide into the damp slush from beyond.

The cyborg charges up another starburst, sending the shockwave directly towards the two. By now, it's easy enough to dodge.

"Do you have any ideas?" He asks.

Sakura's eyes were always assessing, as if she were gifted with the sharingan herself. "She regenerates quickly, but if we rip her apart, her limbs can't grow back."

That sounded good enough.

Sasuke lifts Sakura into the air as CYLAN's foot hits the ground. He parries, slamming the back of his elbow into its cranium and billowing out another onslaught of Uchiha flame. It seems he has more chakra than he'd originally thought.

Sakura lands behind him and heaves her axe directly to CYLAN's middle, rolling over the tops of her teammates arms in the process.

Sasuke remembers all of the contact they shared as adolescents. For the longest time he'd just assumed Sakura was too slow and too weak to defend herself—but he realizes that he hadn't really ever given her a chance. She was practiced and effective.

"Aim for her left arm, I'll get the right." Sakura bosses.

Sasuke nods and powers ahead, keeping a firm grip around Sakura's midsection. He dips down and throws Sakura upwards just as CYLAN slides along the earth. She'd been aiming for Sakura's feet.

The lithe kunoichi comes down with a heavy fury. With one heavy lob, CYLAN's arm detaches like a hot knife through butter. The android shrieks in anger as Sakura slams the poll of her hatchet down, shattering iron into fragments of miniscule specks.

"You'll pay! You'll regret that!"

Sasuke barely has enough time to haul Sakura out of the way. CYLAN points her canonized arm towards them and approaches all at once. The cylinder presses into the small of Sakura's back as it powers up another fatal blast, forcing Sasuke to palm the barrel and direct it towards the sky as it goes off.

Suddenly, the rain stops and the lands scatter back into the gridlines from only a day before. The air grew still, chokingly still, like oxygen was scarce. Their chests heave up and down as they suck in their breaths, scanning the area.

Sakura brushes her bangs from her face, and pulls back the loose strands. She lets her fingertips dance around her locks, noting that the ends are sizzled and the long strands of her braid had melted into a short, shoulder-length hairdo. She scowls.

"I was…" Sasuke begins, letting his sharingan move wildly around as he forces out his words. "…hoping you wouldn't notice."

"Oh, believe me, I noticed." Sakura's voice is steady and calm as she examines the area. Her senses were strained as she choked on the atmosphere—it left her lightheaded and dizzy.

Sasuke feels something approaching…something that even his eyes could not find.

"Watch it," He says—but it's too late. Sakura yelps as she's plucked away by an unknown force. The pull knocks what little air she has out as she struggles against her invisible enemy.

Thrashing around like a wild animal, Sakura uproars, swinging her legs out as her axe falls helplessly to the floor. Sasuke reaches out towards her but a barrier has been erected—it feels rough like the bark of a tree, but everything's invisible and all he can see is Sakura as she chokes to death only a few feet away. Her hands wrap around the object that's pressing her trachea as she struggles to breathe.

Why am I always getting choked? She thinks morbidly.

The bangles around Sasuke's wrists groan in protest as he builds up his chakra and forms lightening in the palm of his hand. It crackles around, scorching the cloth of his shirt just before he plunges into the tree bark and breaks it down.

There was no thread tugging at her this time. This was not a faux death. This was not a gentle pull on her soul. It was as if Satan's claws were wrapped around body, tugging her down to the pits of hell with him. Everything burned—her eyes bulged out dangerously and her nails had split from her pressure. Even her strength did not help.

As her bloodied fingertips slid across the smooth metal of the camouflaged robot, Sakura screamed. This was not a game; this was not a fun little match that would decide her fate as a shinobi. She was losing consciousness as oxygen refused to flow to her extremities.

Through her bleary eyes, she sees Sasuke as he breaks through an unobservable barrier. There's only one thing that made sense out of all of this. If she were offed, CYLAN would have free reign over Sasuke. He'd all but expanded every ounce of chakra.

If she had to choose her own life over his, she would choose his every time. Sakura could heal. Right? "Go through me,"

Sasuke snaps the wristlets that sapped his chakra. They fragment around and fade into data, fading as Sasuke dealt with the rush of power that flowed through him.

"I don't need to,"

Sasuke was forcing lightening into a ball at the tip of his finger. He'd stolen the move from Suigetsu in the heat of this battle. Suigetsu's Water Gun now belonged to Sasuke, and the Lightening Pistol formed its first bullet.

"You'll miss." She says. Sakura—as small as she was—was bigger than CYLAN. The cyborgs body was completely shielded from his angle, even if he could see it.

"I won't."

This does not feel like a tragic end. It's a necessary death, and one that would be incredibly burdensome on Sasuke's hand.

Sending every ounce of her chakra to her bare navel, Sakura creates a safety net. Sasuke watches as it glows mint green. It flickers, because she's losing cognizance and falling into oblivion.

"Aim here… I can heal it back…but I'm…"

When her stomach dims once more, Sasuke makes his choice.

The path of the ninja was not an easy one. Too often, Sasuke had ignored Sakura's pleas and suggestions. She was an intelligent young woman who knew how to react and respond in difficult situations. She was a shinobi, a fighter, a warrior in every sense of the word. When his bullet flies from his fingertip, Sasuke watches as the voltage passes right through her, praying that she was as right as she'd ever been.

He promised that he wouldn't hurt her again.

But, he also promised not to doubt her, too.