Amnesia

Chapter 5: When Everything Goes Wrong

It was barely a week after Naruto had left and she was bored out of her mind. She still had to stay in her plain, boring hospital room and it was sending her increasingly insane. She had all the time in the world to think and all she thought was 'I can't remember anything'.

The memories that Sasuke showed her plagued her mind and her dreams, such a contrast to how Naruto had described her. Her two teammates were so different from each other, on other ends of the moral spectrum. She didn't know who to believe.

Then there was Kakashi, her supposed team leader, she'd barely seen him when he was here – though he did hate hospital. She possibly scared him off too, trying to look under his mask.

As for her other friends, she'd had no visitors. Apart from when people were ordered to come and see her, when she first woke up, nobody else had bothered to see her again. That made her think that Sasuke's visions of her were a more realistic picture of her recent self, but she really hoped that wasn't true. She wouldn't even have wanted to be friends with herself, if that were the case.

She had been younger though, younger than she looked now. She had looked in the mirror. That was a shock. She hadn't pictured herself growing up like she had, although she still had the forehead, which was about all she could concentrate on in her reflection.

It had been strange, like seeing into the future and being shown what you'll look like in ten years time. That would have been fine, if she hadn't missed all those years of when she grew up. Her childhood. Gone. Or that's what it felt like anyway. All she could do was speculate and imagine and those thoughts were never positive. She couldn't even pin down her most recent memory. It was just confusing to think about.

Naruto took her mind off of this. That's why this week had felt far, far longer.

At least Ino checked on her more often, but Tsunade's visits were infrequent with no logical pattern. The Hokage was supposed to be her mentor and whatever that consisted of, she needed right now. Her mother hadn't been back to see her either, so Ino was her only real comfort – and she wasn't always that comforting.

As if on cue with her thoughts, Ino entered the room and asked cheerfully, "How's my special patient?"

Sakura shook her head. She had learnt that anything Ino said was not in any way meant to be a compliment (unless she wanted something from her). Calling her 'special' was not meant nicely.

"Bored out of my mind. When is Naruto back?" she grumbled, well aware she'd asked the same question several times.

"I've told you, I know nothing about his mission, you don't need your boyfriend at your side at all times you know," Ino answered blankly.

Sakura pouted. "Firstly, he is not my boyfriend. Secondly, I'm only bored because he was here almost 24/7 and now I'm left on my lonesome most of the day, and thirdly, I don't believe you."

Ino shook her head and walked up to the bed. "Well personally, I don't want to spend all day with you."

Sakura frowned, whenever she brought up Naruto, Ino or Tsunade got clever and evasive with their words. "You're ignoring me."

"I'm talking to you now," Ino replied with a smile that irritated Sakura almost as much as the sarcastic reply.

"Spoken like a true doctor," she muttered back.

"You are a doctor."

"Ino! Just tell me what mission he had and why it is so dangerous!"

She was worried about Naruto, the way he'd rushed off, so soon after he had just been in a hospital room himself. What was so important that he had to leave immediately? There were plenty of ninjas in Konoha.

Ino shook her head slowly, less teasing. "Sakura-"

"Sakura," the Hokage walked through the door and addressed her student, interrupting the younger medic. "You've been here long enough without any side effects. You can stay with Ino for a while if you want, but you no longer need to stay in a hospital bed all day." With that, the sannin turned and headed for the door.

"Wait, Tsunade-sama," Sakura spoke politely.

Tsunade stopped with one hand on the door handle, but didn't look back at her.

"When will Naruto and Kakashi be back?" Sakura questioned, a little desperately, but not minding that she sounded it because she was feeling increasingly agitated.

"I don't know," Tsunade answered plainly. Leaving no room for reply, she left the room and pulled the door closed.

Sakura sighed and lowered her head. "Why won't anyone tell me?"

Ino looked at her friend. "That's because we don't know. Missions vary in time and some you just can't guess at."

"Well why is Tsunade avoiding me then?" she grumbled, smoothing her bed sheets beneath her fingers.

"She's a busy woman. Now stop being a worrywart and accompany me to my house." Ino smiled at her and gestured to the door with a tilt of her head.

Well, at least she got to get out of this depressing hospital room.

Sakura's eyes widened at the huge household she entered. "Wow, Ino, is my house this big?"

The blonde laughed, quite cruelly in fact. "Nah, Sakura, you have little apartment. I'm a member of one of the top clans in Konoha...and I still live with my parents."

Sakura laughed back. "At least I'm all grown up and moved out."

Ino shrugged, not caring. "Well, I get more free stuff, have more storage space for clothes and have my own cook! We did talk about sharing a bigger apartment together though."

"So I could be your cook?" Sakura smiled.

"No offence, but you have terrible cooking skills. No skills at all in fact."

Sakura pouted and her friend grinned.

"I on the other hand, am a great cook."

Sakura's pout deepened. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Nope!" Ino answered happily, leading her along a hallway to the foot of the stairs.

Before they could head upstairs, a man with spiky blond hair on the top of his head and a long ponytail down his back greeted her. "Hello, Sakura. I'm Ino's father, Inoichi, how are you feeling?"

Sakura nodded politely, looking up at the taller man, addressing the household owner, "Nice to meet you. I'm fine thanks. How are you?"

He smiled back at her. "I'm well thank you. I'm sorry to hear about your brain injury. Would you like me to take a look?"

Sakura was silent for a moment. "...Are you a surgeon?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No no, I don't need to cut you open don't worry."

Was he a mind reader or something? Because that was exactly what she was thinking. "OK," she agreed slowly, not sure where he was going with this, but he seemed trustable.

He stepped forward and placed a hand on her head. She swallowed. What was he going to do?

"Relax," he said calmly.

She closed her eyes and suddenly a whole range of memories flashed through her head. It wasn't like Sasuke's memories he had shown her, she could really feel this, it wasn't painful, but it made her head feel weird. All these memories were recent too - her and Ino, her and Naruto and then it went black.

It was over in less than a minute. She opened her eyes to see Ino's father withdrawing, sharing a look with his daughter that Sakura couldn't read.

"Well?" Sakura looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Inoichi gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry, Sakura, at the moment I cannot find your older memories. If they're in there, they are pretty deep."

Well she wasn't really expecting much more from magic hands, she smiled regardless. "OK, thank you anyway."

Ino nudged her before racing up the staircase. "Come on, Sakura!"

Running up the stairs, she followed the cheery blonde to a room at the top of the landing. She cautiously pushed the door, that Ino had entered, further open and then stepped in the room to see her friend flop on a big bed casually. Sakura stood there, taking in all the details of the large bedroom.

"Come on, Forehead, sit down," Ino encouraged, glancing at her.

Pointing to a set of wooden double doors, she asked, "What's behind those doors?"

Ino smirked. "My walk in wardrobe and closet, what else?"

Of course it was. Shaking her head, Sakura sat on the bottom of bed, still taking in what was around her.

Ino sat up slowly and gave her a funny look. "What are you doing?"

Confused, Sakura replied, "What?"

Ino shrugged. "You usually sit on the floor."

Sakura raised an eyebrow and glanced at the floor. Ino didn't let her sit on the bed? Was she too lower-class for her expensive friend or something? Looking back at her Ino, she frowned when she saw the blonde holding in a laugh.

"Oh, Forehead, you're so gullible, even more so than before." Ino grinned, highly amused.

"You're a terrible person, Ino," she muttered back.

The blonde just smiled and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I know."

Well, at least this had been a lot better than being stuffed in a hospital room all day.

Sakura had a tour of the house, they had a great lunch and they talked together just like old friends - it had been a lot of fun. It was a great distraction from her thoughts and situation.

Sakura smiled as her friend twirled about in her walk in wardrobe with pretty dresses and dainty shoes. "Thanks for this, Ino."

Ino stopped spinning and smiled. "It's fine, Forehead, you know I'm such a great friend and everything, besides, it's no bother, you can have the spare room. By the way, we're going to a party tonight."

"We are?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. That was news to her.

Turning her attention back on the dresses, Ino grinned. "Yep!"

It was already getting quite late, she thought it would be bedtime soon..."What will I wear?" she said unenthusiastically, seeing if she could swindle her way out of it. "I have no appropriate clothes."

Ino scanned the dresses with a thoughtful expression, pulling out a dress. She held it up for her friend to see and asked, "How about this?"

Sakura gazed at the material. "Isn't that a bit...short?"

Ino smirked. "Short? Noo, you've worn shorter believe me, try it on with some heels, it'll look good."

The blonde then pulled out a pair of high heels from behind her back and grinned.

Sakura looked at her awkwardly before sighing. She wasn't going to get out of this one.

Sakura walked, rather uncomfortably, beside Ino as they headed towards the party. Why she agreed to come, she didn't know. Why she agreed to wear the dress and heels, she didn't know either. The little black dress she had borrowed showed off much more of her skin than she was comfortable with, and the high heels (while miles shorter than those that her friend was currently wearing) were a nightmare to walk in.

Ino stopped walking and looked back at her friend, a smirk growing across her face. "Sakura...why are you walking like a flamingo?"

Sakura frowned. "This dress is too short, Ino, I think you were lying when you said I've worn shorter."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Still on about that? Don't worry, Forehead, my dress is even shorter. All attention will be on me, believe me."

Winking, the blonde pulled her friend along until they reached a run-down looking building. They entered it and to Sakura's surprise, for such a small place, it was packed. Loud music was bursting out of speakers from somewhere in the room. Ino casually walked in and winked at a boy on a nearby table and he immediately got up. She then signalled for Sakura to sit down and walked off with said boy.

Great. Ditched already. She wasn't at all surprised. Sitting down, Sakura watched as her friend and this boy disappeared into the crowd.

She sat there for a few minutes. Maybe she could get out now. She might not find her way back to Ino's house that easily, but going outside beat staying here – although she didn't feel very comfortable walking in what she was wearing, nor could she even move about very well in these heels.

"Looking hot, Sakura!" a voice from the crowd shouted.

Sakura looked around to see a brown haired boy sit down opposite her - she recognised him and was sure she knew his name, it was...

"Kiba."

To Sakura's relief, Ino returned and signalled for Kiba to get up.

"Aww, come on, Ino, I was just having a little fun." The boy ginned, showing off a set of white, fang-like teeth. Kiba reminded her a bit of an animal when he smiled, his eyes were sharp and his hair wild.

Ino was having none of it. She stood there with her hands on her hips, until the male decided to move. Once he stood up, she pushed passed him and sat down, scooting to the middle of her seat. "Hitting on Sakura? No way dog boy, clear off."

Yes, he reminded her a bit of a dog (in the kindest way possible), his teeth were very canine-like, perhaps that's where he got the nickname 'dog boy'... Ino called him 'dog boy', her 'Forehead', she often referred to Naruto as 'lover boy', maybe Ino was one of those people who went around giving people (usually mean) nicknames.

She wasn't quite sure about anything with Ino. One minute she felt like the blonde was her best friend, and the next, like she was an acquaintance or even an annoyance at best. Their friendship was exhausting, but somewhat exciting to her. She would have never done this without a big, enthusiastic push.

With a lazy smirk shot in Sakura's direction, Kiba wandered off back into the crowd.

Ino shook her head and Sakura smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't worry, Forehead, we stick together. Here drink up," Ino answered with a smile, sliding a very large glass of alcohol her way, her smile increasing as her friend's eyes widened.

Sakura looked at the drink sceptically, simply stating, "I don't drink."

Ino smirked. "I may have been lying about the dress, but believe me, Sakura, your alcohol tolerance is so high you have drinking competitions with the Hokage. Just drink one, if you feel no different, which you won't, we'll grab another."

Sakura nodded slowly, bringing the glass to her lips. She was interested, and old enough to drink, so she'd just have one small taste.

Seven glasses later and she now believed Ino. Her alcohol tolerance was high! She was quite enjoying this... Ino, however, was slightly tipsy.

"You know, Sakura! I should have hit you over the head sooner... You're waaay more fun now! You don't usually let me drink this much - and you are sooo into Naruto now." The blonde winked, speaking a little too loudly, a slight slur to her tone.

Sakura didn't know what to do with Ino. She didn't feel like walking alone with her drunken friend outside, but maybe she could get some advantages out of her friend's current stupor.

"So Ino, where's Naruto?" she questioned casually, sipping her drink.

The blonde giggled. "Who knows."

"Well what is he doing?" she pressed on.

"He and Kakashi are chasing Sasuke somewhere."

Sakura's eyes widened. What? Isn't that really dangerous? Sasuke is trying to kill Naruto! Why would they chase him? "Why, Ino?"

Ino smiled lazily at her. "Bless Naruto, he got all riled up when Sasuke had hurt you. He wants to go and get him in case you never get your memories back, then he can't hurt you."

Sakura just stared at her friend. Why was he allowed to do this?! Why would the Hokage, her friends, let him do something so daft?

"Chillax, Sakura, Naruto is like...strong," Ino mumbled before falling face forward.

As Ino's head hit the desk, Sakura's nerves grew tenfold. Nice. Ino was unconscious and the brain-damaged girl with no fighting skill, who gets lost in Konoha, needed to get them to Ino's house.

To her relief, she spotted Kiba in the crowd. She waved at him to come over.

He smirked and walked up to the table. "What's up, Sakura?"

Trying to smile politely, she pointed to Ino. "Kiba, can you please help me get her home?"

Kiba nodded."Sure thing, Sakura, as long as you come back to my house later."

Her eyes widened. What?

Seeing the look on her face, he laughed. "Kidding, but you'll owe me one, all right?"

That was not a funny joke...but at least he agreed. She could finally go to bed. She felt rundown with all this alcohol and newfound knowledge of the dangerous situation Naruto and Kakashi were in. Sakura nodded and stood up.

Kiba picked up the unconscious Ino, easily carrying her over his shoulder (despite the fact that he seemed tipsy himself) and they headed out of the bar.

As soon as they were walking down the street, Sakura smiled in relief, glad to be out of the claustrophobic building.

Note to self: Never go to a party alone with Ino again.

"You look nice tonight, Sakura," Kiba told her, glancing over the shoulder Ino wasn't draped over.

Note to self: Wear a longer dress.

"Thanks..." she answered awkwardly.

Kiba smirked. "You're welcome, babe."

Babe? Sakura wrinkled her nose at the name. As she looked at him, she wasn't sure if he was just messing with her.

He must have noticed, because he laughed. "Don't worry, Sakura, I always talk to you like this. You usually hit me."

Note to self: Hit Kiba.

That made perfect sense.

All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air in front of him. "Hold on, Sakura."

She paused, looking at him in confusion when he handed her Ino and took what looked like a fighting stance in the middle of the street.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to balance her unconscious friend on her own feet, but leaning the blonde's body against hers, to carry her weight.

Stepping in front of them protectively, he frowned and growled out, "Trouble. Sakura, when I tell you, you run to the Hokage Tower, got it?"

Sakura's eyes widened at his tone and order. "You're kidding? In these shoes, in this dress and carrying Ino, you want me to run?"

Kiba didn't look back at her. "Yes. Listen, Sakura, you're in danger. Put Ino down, I'll protect her. Now, run!"

Placing her friend on the ground, Sakura ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction, completely baffled, but trusting her dead-serious friend. She heard an explosion behind her but didn't stop to look back. She only picked up the pace as she imagined some kind of fight erupting between Kiba and God knew who.

"Tell Tsunade I'm gonna need Akamaru!" Kiba shouted after her, a slight panic to his voice.

What in the world was going on? Why was she in danger? And what was an Akamaru? Some kind of weapon? A drug? A medic? She shook her head, concentrating on running as fast as she could, stumbling every now and then in her footwear.

Ino would never get her to wear high heels again.

Sakura kept glancing up at the Hokage Tower, glad she was going to somewhere with a visual guide, although she probably wasn't choosing the fastest route. If only she could jump across the roofs like Naruto.

She'd managed to choose a dead route. There was nobody was about as she rushed through darkened streets, her heart beating rapidly as fear of the unknown overtook her body.

She didn't make it back to the Hokage Tower.

She sensed nobody around her, but suddenly everything went black.

Sakura woke up, bemused. She really hoped she got drunk and Ino took her home, then she had some terrible, alcohol-induced dream. She blinked several times, she was in a dark room, but she wasn't on a bed. The floor beneath her was cold stone.

"Sakura."

Her eyes widened - Sasuke! She shot up into a sitting position before scrambling up from the floor and turning around in a disoriented circle. Looking around, she couldn't see anything, there was no light. She walked in a circle again, until she stopped dead when in front of her she could just about see the outline of Sasuke.

She swallowed as he opened his eyes - the red of his pupils were the only visible thing in the room.

"S-Sasuke?" she stammered nervously.

She wasn't quite sure, but she assumed he was smirking.

"Why am I here?" Sakura questioned.

Naruto was supposed to be after him! Why did Sasuke get back into Konoha when her team were out looking for him? They were OK, right? They had to be. Naruto had told her he would be.

"I changed my mind, maybe you are worth kidnapping. Nice dress by the way," he answered darkly.

She felt sick, moving as far back as she could and pulling her dress down as far as possible as she moved, she attempted to get away from the Uchiha.

Then she heard something behind her, a low hiss - a snake? Quickly turning on her heels in fear, she backed away from the noise. Straight into Sasuke. His arms snaked around her and she froze.

A low chuckle emitted from him. "See? Resistance is all well and fun, but this won't be so bad either. I doubt you would have been a match for me anyway."

She struggled to pull away but couldn't escape his grip. Slamming her heel down onto his foot, she managed to loosen his hold on her. She ran blindly towards the nearest wall until she felt the stone with her outstretched palms.

Fumbling around, she searched for a door handle as he cursed behind her. In luck, she found a door, pulling as hard as she could. She yanked the dark frame open before sprinting through the newly revealed hallway.

This whole place was stone. It looked like an underground lair, although the ceiling above her was a long way up. She ended up in a wide corridor and began running in the first direction she faced. It wasn't long before he was in front of her. How could she get out of such a mess?

The corridor she was in now was still incredibly dark, but the odd torch dotted along the wall allowed her to see him slightly better. Further down, it looked like every so often, more torches lined the walls.

She didn't really want a better visual though, he towered above her, his stance powerful and his face still dark apart from those dangerous eyes. She could see his smirk though and she took a step backwards.

"Where's Naruto?" she asked, her voice shaky.

Maybe if she could just talk long enough for someone to rescue her.

His smirk widened and shrugged. "He's slow today. He's usually here by now."

That meant he was safe...right?

"What about Ino and Kiba?"

"Dead."

Sakura froze, dread filling her. "No...I don't believe you."

He grinned wickedly. "Do you really think an unconscious girl and her drunken protector would be any match for me?"

"But...why?" she asked, her voice quieting.

Did she just get her two friends killed?

"They got in my way," he said simply.

No... He wouldn't, he couldn't... he wouldn't!

"I don't believe you!" Sakura shouted, anger consuming her at his lack of respect for other's lives, her friends' lives, his ex-friends lives.

He smirked again and walked forwards. "Want me to show you?"

For every step forward he took, she walked backwards two, desperately not wanting to see that memory. "No."

"Are you sure? It was quite entertaining," he answered wickedly.

His eyes began to spin and images flashed in front of her eyes - as she ran off, Sasuke attacked Kiba, stabbing him through the stomach with his sword before turning on the defenceless blonde. Sakura shut her eyes tightly in an attempt to drown out the images. It was her fault, she got them killed... It was her stupid brain injury! If she didn't hit her head then none of this would have happened.

As she opened her eyes again, he was right in front of her. Fighting the tears beginning to form, she stared at him with hatred-filled eyes.

When he saw this, his smile dropped a little. "Come on, Sakura, you love me right?"

"Hell no," she spat at him.

"That's not what you told me the last time I saw you."

His eyes spun again and she saw more recent memories, she was a lot older, trying to...go with Sasuke? Why would she do that? All of a sudden, it was her sneaking behind him, she cried as he turned on her and strangled her, but Naruto saved her... Despite everything, she smiled at that, Naruto always saved her.

He would save her now too, she knew it. She believed he would somehow find her in this horrible place and be her guiding light in the dark.

Smiling more confidently, she clenched her fist. "You know what, Sasuke? You're a messed up boy who can't let things go. You think you're in control and that you know what you want, but I've got a news flash for you...you don't."

He scowled dangerously and brought a hand up to her neck. "Would you like to repeat that?"

Sakura didn't flinch. "Picking on the defenceless brain-damaged girl? How noble of you. Can you not beat Naruto in a fair fight? Is that why you've been running all these years, you're just weak and-"

His grip tightened and it was incredibly hard to breathe. Sasuke's eyes shone dangerously with anger, as she struggled to take in air. She reached up with her own hands and attempted to pull his hand from around her neck, but could only feel her feet lifting off the ground.

Her vision began to grow blurry and she felt herself losing consciousness. Her eyes were shut tightly, as he choked her, she was unable to free herself from his hold.

All of a sudden, Sasuke was barrelled away from her and she fell to the hard ground. She coughed and spluttered, her breathing erratic, as she as took in much-needed air. Someone was by her side in an instant, helping her to her feet. The corridor swayed through her hazy vision but she watched as a flash of black and orange ran past her.

Her eyes widened. Naruto! She blinked until the spots in front of her eyes cleared and she could see her friend more clearly.

"How dare you hurt, Sakura-chan!" Naruto growled, sounding dangerously angry, a sharp contrast to his usual tone. His fists were in tight balls by his sides.

Sasuke just smirked at the enraged blond. "Hurt? We were just having a little fun. She even got all dressed up for me."

Sakura frowned. As Naruto turned to look at her, she shook her head. He smiled, only to be punched in the stomach, bending over forwards at the force of the blow.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted before attempting to run to him.

It was Kakashi who held her back. "Sakura, please stay out of the way. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

She nodded, trusting Naruto. Despite the horrible feeling in her gut, she allowed herself to be pulled backwards before Kakashi walked forward to face the young Uchiha also.

That was until she saw something sharp flying towards her face, Kakashi was back in front of her in an instant, her in his grip as he pulled her away. She let out a breath as the weapon thrown in her direction landed in the wall past her, but as she glanced behind her, she saw some kind of paper on the end of the metal.

She knew what it was the second it burst into flames and she heard the dreaded 'ssss'. Kakashi hastily carried her away again as an explosion erupted.

Her eyes were shut tightly as the tremor shook the walls and floor around her. They were underground. The whole ceiling was going to collapse on top of them if they were not careful. The path behind them was now blocked by rubble. Neither of the fighting males seemed to notice though, and Kakashi didn't try to help again. It seemed Sasuke would target her if the older man did try and intervene.

Kakashi stood in front of her protectively, holding his arm out slightly behind him, silently ordering her to stay still. They were effectively trapped in the corridor.

She saw Kakashi reach up and move his Konoha headband up from his eye, she didn't know why, so turned her concentration back to Naruto. She felt way too close to the fight, despite being behind her friend, but leaned around his one side to see what was happening anyway.

Sakura watched in horror as they fought, it looked so painful, she could barely keep up with the movements as they hit and kicked each other. She thought the fight between Naruto and Kakashi was bad, but this made her want to be sick.

She didn't need her memories to tell that they had fought like this before. Just the way they moved, she could see they had a bond, good or bad, she wasn't sure. Ninja techniques were not something she was acquainted with, she almost felt cheated when both of them seemed to take fatal blows, only to burst into smoke and suddenly be somewhere else. Witnessing this wore her out physically, her eyes darting between them as they danced around, seeming to gradually move away from them.

She didn't know who was winning - Naruto, hopefully.

The fighting seemed to drag on forever, but even as they moved further away from them, she didn't feel safe. After a mid air clash, both of the males were barrelled backwards towards the floor. Naruto skidded as his feet connected with the ground. He came to a halt a couple of meters in front of her. Sasuke landed similarly further down the corridor and both of them raised their heads at the same time.

She watched a blue ball of light form in Naruto's hand by his side, only to have her eyes drawn to Sasuke as he seemed to do something similar, a deafening sound of...birds coming from his direction? Her eyes widened when both Naruto and Sasuke seemed to summon a massive amount of energy in their hands, it ever-growing as they charged at each other.

The whole corridor lit up a blue and white, no longer the dark cavern and a fight by torch light.

As they collided, Sakura felt Kakashi's strong grip pull her downwards, somehow into the rock that was beneath them. Another ninja trick, presumably, one she was glad for this time. The explosion above them was muffled, but still enough to be deafening.

While she didn't want to be underground, it sounded a lot better than being above it. Her heart was rapidly pounding against her ribcage, as she waited for the thunderous impact of the two ninja, and the after effects of falling cave debris, to tone down.

When all she could hear was the sound of her harsh breathing, Kakashi spoke, "You're OK, Sakura."

Her head shot up, she was OK, Kakashi was OK, but... "Naruto?" she replied worriedly.

As Kakashi re-opened the rock that was above them, she wasn't greeted by immediate light. He pulled her up and out of the hole, through a layer of dirt and dust, and her eyes widened at what she saw. The whole corridor had collapsed in places, natural light shone through various cracks in the walls and ceiling.

When Sakura spotted Naruto lying in amongst a pile of rubble, she sprinted to his side without hesitation.

"Naruto!" she yelled at his unmoving form, feverishly pushing smaller bits of rock away him that surrounded his body, attempting to wake him.

He wasn't responding.

"Oh, Sakura, if only you could remember how to heal, then you might be able to save him," Sasuke said his last words before disappearing into complete darkness further down the tunnel. He didn't speak loudly, but it was loud enough to have the words repeating in her head again and again.

Sakura panicked. Right! Remember how to heal. Channel her chakra down her arms, into her hands...what the hell was chakra? Placing her hands to his head, she tried to make them glow green just like she had seen the other medics do. Nothing happened.

Tears began to form in her eyes as she sat there hopelessly.

Then he opened his eyes and looked up at her, speaking softly. "Don't cry, Sakura-chan."

She looked back at him, unable to control her weeping. "I'm sorry, Naruto, this is my fault."

He smiled comfortingly. "No it isn't... You look awfully pretty by the way."

Sakura wiped her eyes and smiled slightly before she explained lamely, "Ino made me go to some party."

Naruto chuckled weakly, still smiling. "That sounds about right."

When he stopped laughing, she met his gaze. His face fell, becoming more serious as he stared into her eyes.

Concentrating as hard as she could, Sakura shut her eyes. She would save Naruto, because he meant everything to her, and no brain injury was going to stop her.

Author Notes:

I remember this chapter wasn't so popular with some readers. I can see why. I've put quite a bit more work into it...especially the fight scene, but fighting wise, it's still quite lazy. I am bad with fight scenes in general – Sakura not being able to keep up with the movements is a bit more of an excuse to not go into all sorts of jutsu detail. I do apologise for that though.

The majority of these old author notes were lots of boring facts about my life at the time of posting this, so I've just cut all that out.

Even though this chapter is so old now, and I still don't think the plot has found its feet at this point, I'm still interested in your thoughts on it. If you're someone who has a lot of questions, some may be answered in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!