Title: The Mission From Hell
Author: JackieLupin
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama owns all!
Rating: Light R for suggestive language, swearing, and battle scenes. And maybe some sex later on.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THIS STORY: This is an AU, which means an "Alternate Universe." In this story, Sasuke never left Konoha and never attacked Naruto at the hospital after the Chuunin Exams. Also, I'm making The Hidden Sand Village an ally of Konoha; therefore, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro did NOT attack the Hokage Sarutobi with Orochimaru, and the fight between Team 7 and Gaara/Shukaku never happened. However, Orochimaru did manage to kill the Sandaime, so Tsunade is now Godaime. Sakura has trained underneath Tsunade for four years, so Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and the Rookie 9 are now 17 years old, while Neji, Tenten and Lee are 18. Yamato-taichou and Sai are also around, but probably won't have major roles in this story.
If you have any questions, please contact me and I'll do my best to set everyone on the right track! Thanks!
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CHAPTER FIVE
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That morning, Sakura awoke bright and early, well rested from her long, almost uninterrupted night of sleep. For once the heat didn't bother her as she ran through sets of stretches and drills outside in the warm morning air. It was partly due to the excitement burning in her chest, and also the fact that Naruto, that conniving little teammate of hers, had been quick enough to snatch Kakashi's Icha Icha book out of his hands just as she woke up and take off with it tucked securely away underneath his arm. Kakashi had managed to get it back within the minute, but still, Naruto had just achieved something great; stealing something precious from Kakashi when no one else had dared or been able to before.
Even that had earned a small smile from Sasuke.
She had to smile at that. Maybe, just maybe, this mission would be good for him. This was one of their first missions in a long time where they were forced to spend time in each others company for hours on end. Back at Konoha, Sasuke would only show up at training, kick Naruto's ass a couple of times, and then retreat back to the Uchiha mansion to do Kami knew what. At least here he was stuck near them, and maybe, just maybe, Sakura could use that to her advantage. Side mission, she thought, Break Uchiha Sasuke. Then she giggled. Not to mention coerce him into noticing me.
But then she stopped. I want him to notice me for my skills, not for my body!
Sakura blushed at the thought.
Maybe both? Hey, he could respect me and still think I am beautiful!
And with that, Sakura doubled the number of drills outside with her kunai, her muscles twisting and burning, but it felt good. After the drills were done, she shrugged off her shirt, sweating, and tightened her sandals on her feet. Then she started off on a light jog up the mountain side, only slightly reinforcing her sandals with chakra, just so she could keep her balance on the sliding rocks and gravel that rolled out from underneath her weight. She raced to the summit in record time, the sweat running down her back and face in rivulets. Belatedly, she hoped that there was a nearby oasis she could bathe in, or she'd be stuck sticky and smelly for the rest of the day.
But she needed this training. The almost physical torture helped to take her mind off of Sasuke and the mission for at least a couple minutes, and it felt good to stretch her legs again without having to worry about pacing herself for a long journey. In the days that she had been gone, she hadn't had much training. Sure, she had fought in the alley in the nearby village, but that didn't count. She had been fighting for her life, not fighting against her own body to grow stronger.
When she reached the peak of one of the smaller mountains jutting out from the much larger chain, Sakura was surprised to see Sasuke already there, sitting on the ground and reaching towards his foot with his arm, stretching the back of his calf muscle. When he became aware of her presence, he glanced up and held her gaze for a few long moments.
Sakura stood there awkwardly, and it took a while before she found her voice and murmured, "Sorry Sasuke, I didn't know you would be up here."
He regarded her quietly for a moment, and then shook his head, a slight smirk stretching his lips. "Don't be. If you want, we can spar."
She about had a heart attack. Sasuke offering to spar with me is some kind of recognition! If he didn't think I was strong enough, he would not have wanted to waste the time on me! Some of her excitement must have showed, because he frowned and added, "I won't go easy on you, Sakura."
The way he said her name made her shiver, though she blamed it on the sweat cooling on her back due to the cooler air at this altitude. "I don't want you to go easy on me," Sakura countered, "Don't hold back."
Sasuke nodded and pulled himself to his feet. Dusting off his shorts, he approached her, stopping when he was about fifteen feet away. Sakura watched him intently and at the first flash of red in his eyes, she lowered her gaze and fixed her eyes on his hands hands. One sign, she thought, waiting for him to attack her first. Crouching down slightly, Sakura crossed her left arm across her chest and withdrew a kunai, knowing his sharp eyes would immediately spot that. Her hidden weapon was the slight amount of chakra that had been reassigned to the soles of her feet and hands. He wouldn't be able to spot that small trace of chakra even with the Sharingan if he was too busy concentrating on the kunai, and even though it wouldn't give her much power, Sakura wanted to use all of her abilities that she could to gain a slight edge on her teammate.
In the blink of an eye, Sasuke appeared behind her and swung at her with his fist. Sakura quickly dodged it and kicked out her leg, but she wasn't aiming for Sasuke like he had predicted. When he lunged to the right to avoid her leg, Sakura had already changed direction and slammed her foot into the ground. If Sasuke wasn't such a strong shinobi, he would have fallen on the impact of the earth. Instead, he only flew back a couple of feet.
She stood up straight, already waiting for his next move. They were both panting, the heat of the sun and the previous drills and exercises taking their toll on bodies not suited for a desert environment. Sakura flexed her arm, waiting for Sasuke to attack again. Her secret was out with the chakra, so she didn't hesitate to send more chakra to her limbs to strengthen her already super strong hits.
Sasuke smirked. "You're too predictable," he said, before appearing behind her again, trying to startle her.
She swung at him and missed. "So are you!" she yelled back, blocking the hit he sent in return with her forearm. A sudden line of pain drew across it, and Sakura jumped back in surprise. He had a senbon! A long, thin scratch ran across her arm, bleeding freely. In mere moments, her chakra had already healed the scratch.
Sakura scowled; she had to get him, but how? Then it hit her, the only jutsu that had worked on Neji might be able to work on the Uchiha heir as well!
Throwing a kunai at Sasuke, Sakura was able to buy just enough time to reach into her pouch, withdraw a handful of senbon, then infused them with her chakra. "Take that!" she screamed, then aimed all fifteen at her teammate. She saw Sasuke's eyes widen in shock in the split second before the senbon would have impacted his body. But then Sasuke disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Sakura cursed her bad luck. She almost had him! Since the senbon were infused with her chakra, she would have been able to temporarily paralyze Sasuke's body. Medic-nin, afterall, did have an impressive arsenal of skills on manipulation of the human body.
One of the last lesson's Tsunade had ever taught her, besides the infamous Genesis Rebirth Jutsu, was how to use her chakra like a sharp edge of a weapon. In theory, the chakra would be able to sever through bones and arteries from a good distance away from the enemy. However, Sasuke was a teammate, and Sakura could never use this on any of her fellow Konoha shinobi. So instead, taking a leaf out of Shikamaru's book, Sakura withdrew the chakra from the senbon stuck haphazardly in the sand and waited for Sasuke, eyes closed but body ready.
Sakura felt his chakra signature near hers slowly. He was wary of her, since she made no move to attack him. She waited, her heart hammering in her chest. She hoped this worked... Just as Sasuke landed a hit on her shoulder with his hand, Sakura allowed her chakra to concentrate and flow over and through her shoulder. Her chakra seeped through her skin and into his, effectively numbing his entire arm. He was her teammate; though she was capable of permanent paralysis, she only temporarily numbed his arm.
Sasuke jumped back a few feet, face incredulous. "You can use raw chakra like that?" he demanded, rubbing his arm.
She nodded and shrugged. "Tsunade-sama taught it to me. It acts as a defense and offense, but it absorbs a lot of chakra."
"Can you teach me?" His eyes, for once, held some expression that Sakura couldn't quite identify, but his voice held enough traces of pleading to assuage her. Inside, she was jumping up and down over her victory; even with the Sharingan, Sasuke had not seen what she was doing. The chakra flow in her body hadn't been redirected, it was just there, so the slight movement of the buildup in her shoulder would not have been really important. She had proved her skills to him today!
Outwardly, Sakura was calm. "Alright," she teased, "But no using it on me!"
Sasuke scoffed. "You used it on me!" He flexed his arm, trying to regain the feeling. "Can you undo this?"
"Sure. C'mere." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. He walked closer to her until they were inches apart and held out the offending arm right in her face. Sakura turned bright red and avoided looking at his face, instead trying to focus her chakra through her arm. By using the chakra to heal, she was able to sooth all of the muscle cells in this arm. "Careful, this might tingle." He was so close to her that she itched to reach out, wrap her arms around him, bury her face in his shoulder. She remembered how he had clenched her to him in the town that Maeno burned, but it wasn't an embrace. Sasuke had only grabbed her to steady himself and make sure she wasn't in the way if there were shinobi's waiting in ambush... but oh, how she wished that he had done it some other time, in some other way...
"Sakura, your face is red. Are you getting a sunburn?" Sasuke asked when she was done 'fixing' his arm, though he was smirking.
Her head snapped up to glare at him. "Thanks, Sasuke," she said sarcastically. He knew she was blushing. He knew she was affected by his presence.
His eyes suddenly roamed over her body, taking in all of her appearance; from the uneven strands of pink hair tucked away behind her left ear to the pale freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose to the swell of her breasts, her toned stomach, and down over her rounded hips to her feet and then back up. She sucked in a breath, unsure over his intentions. But when Sasuke's eyes reached hers once more, he looked confused.
"Sakura..." he began quietly, "I'm-"
But whatever he was about to say was cut off when Naruto came stumbling up the mountain, shouting, "SAKURA-CHAN! SASUKE-TEME, WHERE ARE YOU?!" at the top of his lungs. Naruto had just sucked in a huge breath of air, readying himself to scream it again, but Sasuke beat him to it and hit the poor blond in the side of his face with his punch."Naruto, you dobe!" Sasuke shouted angrily, the black strands of hair falling into his eyes as he stalked over to where Naruto lay in a tangle of limbs to stand over him, "What are you doing?!"
Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at the way Naruto cowered underneath the Uchiha's heavy glare. "But teme!" he yelled back, "Kakashi sensei wanted me to come and get you two! Igarashi-san is going to update us on the mission! Don't be pissed at me, you bastard!" And with that, the blond launched himself at the dark haired teen. Both went sprawling to the ground, twisting and turning to try and punch the other.
She couldn't help but feel disappointed, though. Whatever Sasuke had been about to say was important, that she knew... Sakura shook her head and left her teammates sprawled out on the mountain cliff, making her way down the mountain alone. Just when she thought she may have been making progress with Sasuke, it was interrupted... Like the saying, 'for one step forward, there are two steps back.' She reached the mouth of the cave about ten minutes later with Naruto and Sasuke, still arguing, following closely on her heels. Together they entered the cave and, crossing the large space filled with tents and campfires for the men, women and children, entered the largest tent belonging to Igarashi. They were met inside by Kakashi, who, taking in their grimy appearance, could only shake his head in exasperation.
"Come on, you three," the Copy Ninja said, leading them into the larger section of the tent where Igarashi was waiting, seated at a long table. On the table was an assortment of pastries and bread for breakfast, as well as three jugs of exotic juices and a pitcher of water. He greeted them and motioned with a calloused hand for them to sit down, and Team 7 did, then waved over Hirotoro Kado, who was carrying a large map in his hands. He unfolded it and then held it up in front of them, tacking it to the rock. Naruto gasped and half rose out of his seat, eyes glued to the parchment.
Sakura peered at it curiously; the map was the entire layout of Iwate, from the financial districts to the tourist attractions and even street upon street of office buildings, apartments, and theaters. A large river ran right through the center of the city, and surrounding it were various ports and harbors that led directly to the Western and Eastern gates of the cities. A large building in the center of Iwate proved to be the government building. Bingo. That was where Maeno Montaro was. She felt adrenaline course through her veins. If they could reach him, wipe him out... but they could not rush on in blind, they would need a plan, and they would need to know how many men Maeno had in his control... She wished Sai had been invited on this mission; he was a great asset for espionage and infiltration missions such as this with his undetectable ink animals.
Igarashi Benjiro allowed them to inspect the map for a few moments in silence. "This is the blueprint and layout of the entire city of Iwate. Although the interiors of the buildings are not very detailed, I have in my possession maps of both the financial buildings and of the government building if you require them. And now, to get down to what you've come here to do. However, our archives on Maeno Montaro are extremely limited. He moved to the city nearly... three years ago with a guild of merchants, and to this day, we still don't know much about his past or origins. The guild said they came from Wave Country with Maeno, but I suspect otherwise."
"Did he have any bodyguards with him?" Kakashi asked curiously when Igarashi took a breath.
"Yes, but that is not unusual in Iwate. After all, Hirotoro, while also my advisor and friend, was the bodyguard assigned to me many years ago. In Iwate, usually the upper class and the merchants hire them to protect themselves. Although Iwate doesn't have a high crime rate itself, there are many secret missions sent by the main shinobi villages to meddle around or to kill a merchant here and there. However, since we only can speculate about the assassinations and their origins, we are unable to keep it at bay. But since Maeno first came to the city, the attack rate has doubled. The civilians only see accidents, a trip down a flight of stairs. But to any trained shinobi, those were no accidents, they were assassinations, and pointed to very skilled killers. Then one night, three months ago, I was awoken by Hirotoro and together we fled Iwate when Maeno and his shinobi overtook the government building." Igarashi stopped and sighed, then gestured around the cave, "These are all of my men who managed to escape in time."
Sakura glanced around the cave. There were maybe less than a hundred individuals, not counting the housewives and children, and none of them seemed fit to be shinobi. With a pang, Sakura realized that they were mostly civilians, new to this kind of lifestyle. Many looked haggard and gaunt, and Sakura knew the reason behind Igarashi's plea for help. It wasn't for himself... he was worried for his people.
"For weeks now Maeno and his government has plagued Iwate. From what my sources are telling me, the tax laws have been raised enormously, and those who can't pay them have been jailed. They've imposed a curfew on the city, restricted all business affairs outside of Wind Country, and have locked the gates. The only way out of the city is to gain a pass from Maeno himself, and he hasn't given any. Twelve men and women have been murdered already for protesting the curfew, including a little boy. Maeno must be stopped; Iwate is suffering, and I cannot hide in the hills forever waiting for an opportunity."
Sakura looked at Naruto. They killed a boy... Her teammate reached over and grasped her hand with his, though his blue eyes, locked on Igarashi, were hard and icy. Maeno had to be brought down, that was for sure. But Iwate, from what both Tsunade and Igarashi had told them, was very large. Making it to the government building might be difficult, especially if all the gates were locked. Not to mention if Sound was really involved... then this would become a stronghold base for Sound to attack Konoha and Suna!
Kakashi stood up and bowed to Igarashi. Hurriedly, Team 7 also stood and copied his movements. "Igarashi-san," their teacher said, "We will do everything in our power to take Maeno out of Iwate. But we would also welcome any help we can get. If any of your men were willing to join us, we could help train them just enough to be able to hold their ground. Also, our suspicions that Sound is involved in Iwate have been proved correct. Two of my team were attacked by Sound shinobi in the village yesterday, the day before Hirotoro Kado sought us out."
"That does prove a problem..." Igarashi got to his feet and bowed back. "My thanks, Hatake Kakashi. For now, I am afraid, all I can offer you is food and a place to stay. Later on this evening we will discuss any plans possible to turn Maeno Montaro out of power. For now, you and your students may do whatever you feel necessary to prepare yourselves. I won't lie to you; I expect Maeno Montaro to be surrounded by very powerful individuals, if you say he is involved in Sound. This fight will not be easy."
Kakashi inclined his head. "Arigato, Igarashi-san. Might we see the maps of the financial and government offices?" Then he turned to them. "C'mon you three."
When the Copy Ninja was given the maps, he led Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke over to where they had slept the previous night. Stoking the dying fire gently, he handed each of them a map. Sakura took hers, feeling the worn parchment underneath her fingers. She unrolled it and gazed down at the government building's layout. "There's an inner wall around the building," she said quietly to Sasuke, pointing it out, "That really complicates things. The controls are probably inside it too." He leaned closer to her to peer down at it, and Sakura's breath caught in her throat when his shoulder accidentally touched hers.
"Where is the tower to deactivate the controls?" Sasuke asked, his tanned index finger tracing the outline of the large wall.
Sakura couldn't help the small tingle that raced up her spine. If his finger touched her like that... Then she shook her head. Stop it, Sakura! As inconspicuously as she could, she released her hold on the map and allowed Sasuke to take it and inched away from him. His presence affected her too much, and Sakura did not want Sasuke to know it.
Kakashi knelt down beside them, one large hand on Sakura's shoulder to steady himself. Sakura smiled up at her teacher as Sasuke pointed out to him what she had shown him. "There is no way we could scale that wall without the controls being turned off. According to the key in the corner, those dotted marks around the wall mean that there is an anti-chakra coating on it. No shinobi could climb it."
Their ex-sensei frowned. "That does prove difficult. We'll have to find some way around it... An espionage team could take it out..."
"But Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, "We aren't the best at espionage, and I doubt that a four-man squad alone could secure that entire building. If we separated, then possibly it could be done, but that would leave us spread to thin. Maybe we can call that ANBU group to come help us break in! Tsunade-sama said she would keep it behind for us!"
From across the cave, Naruto snorted, head buried in his map of the financial district. "We don't need ANBU!" he laughed, "They're a bunch of snot-nosed Hyuugas!"
"Naruto!" Sakura admonished, shocked at his words, "Not all Hyuugas are bad you know! Neji and Hinata are so different from their family!"
Beside her, Sasuke stiffened. "Hinata may be alright, but Neji is a Hyuuga, through and through," the Uchiha growled, crossing his arms over his chest and glowering at the dirt floor, "He's arrogant and overconfident, and he's only a jounin because he's a Hyuuga."
Sakura snarled at him as well, "Neji is not a bad person! Yeah, he's overconfident and arrogant to you two, but when you really get to know him, he's very funny and has a great personality." She didn't quite know why this argument over the Hyuuga Clan had suddenly surfaced, but for Sasuke and his Uchiha Clan, the feud between them had lasted many years. But then she shook her head; they couldn't afford this distraction!
Kakashi stood and began to form the seals for his Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Pakkun suddenly appeared on the cave floor in front of them, scratching the back of his pug ear. "Yes?" he asked irritably.
The older shinobi only sighed at the pug's tone of voice. "I need you to contact Tsunade-sama," he explained, "We'll be needing any back-up she can provide us. Remind her of the Teleportation Jutsu I also left for their use. When they land in Wind Country, I will need you to guide them here."
Pakkun yawned and nodded once, then with a poof, disappeared.
Naruto frowned up at Kakashi. "What was his problem?" he asked curiously, "Usually he's not that pissed off."
Kakashi only laughed. "Ignore Pakkun. He was probably only sleeping at my apartment. He hates being woken up for missions, but he's the smartest of my Ninken dogs."
Sakura looked around the cave after silence fell over them again; Sasuke had taken over the map she had been studying, and Naruto was nearly sitting on the one of the financial buildings while he rummaged through his pack for food. Sakura was positive the map of the financial buildings would not be useful on their future assault of Maeno, so instead she stood up, walked to the mouth of the cave and gazed across the horizon. Having the ANBU team provide backup would make their job much more easier. The ANBU were a specially trained squadron used for assassinations and espionage missions, so this would be a walk in the park for them. Not for the first time, Sakura realized how far she had yet to go in her career as a shinobi if she wanted to make it into ANBU. She was a great shinobi, but she lacked the large chakra reserves that would make her formidable.
Sighing, she sat down on a boulder and wrapped her arms around her legs. She wasn't sure why all of a sudden she was so upset, but she blamed it on Sasuke. This entire mission seemed at times to be doable, but right now, she doubted her abilities. Except for Shikamaru and Tsunade-sama, no one had complimented her skills much before.
This stupid mission was taking her on an emotional roller coaster. She lost all control of her thoughts and emotions... And right now she wished that the mission was over so she could return to Konoha and hide in the safety net that her friends outside of Team 7 offered her. Sure, she liked Sasuke wherever she went, but in Konoha she was not vulnerable.
Closing her eyes, Sakura leaned her head against her knees and allowed her chakra to flow within her body and out of it in an attempt to sooth herself. But when she did, out of her misery she felt a massive trace of chakra in the distance. Her head snapping up, her emerald eyes focused in on the horde of shinobi quickly heading their way.
She jumped to her feet and raced back into the cave. "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" she roared, "WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!" The guards posted above her cried their warning as well.
But her sensei had already felt the threat; the women and children were being ushered into the back of the caves, hopefully to an exit or a place to hide in the deep tangle of catacombs and tunnels. Naruto was standing beside her a second later, tying his hitai-ate around his forehead.
"You ready, Sakura-chan?" he asked her, a wicked gleam in his eye. He longed for the battle, something that Sakura had always thought of as a bloodlust. But Naruto enjoyed the adrenaline that battle brought.
"Hai." Sakura closed her eyes for a moment and gathered her chakra. She had depleted almost a quarter of it from the sparring with Sasuke and then moments before when she allowed it to flow unrestrained. But it would have to do. Besides, her kunai and senbon would come in handy. Slipping her hand into her pouch, she withdrew three senbon and fixed them in her fist.
Igarashi entered the cave, his two bodyguards from before close to his heels. Gone was the burgundy robe and instead, Igarashi wore a chuunin's vest and standard pants. Around his head was a Suna hitai-ate. Wrist guards covered black gloves, and on his feet were boots. Tucked safely away in a boot, Sakura noticed, was a small blade. From the markings on the hilt, she recognized a special chakra blade, just like her prized senbon were.
Team 7, Igarashi and his two bodyguards, as well as five other men, civilians from the looks of it, stood in front of the mess of caves. The guards had abandoned their posts to join them, but the odds were still not in their favor. Sixteen against a mass of thirty enemy shinobi was suicide, even if all the men were jounin rank or higher.
Her breath caught in her throat as the shinobi made their presence known. The enemy stood in front of them; Sakura spotted their hitai-ates and grimaced in distaste as she double-checked their allegiance. Sound, and they weren't even trying to hide it. So Tsunade-sama's suspicions were correct. Orochimaru was involved in this. She surveyed the group critically; most appeared to be chuunin level or higher, due to the variety of weapons and the strength each individual chakra signature was emitting. One shinobi carried a large, one bladed scythe that instantly made Sakura wary. It was most likely covered in a poisonous substance from the sticky gleam that the midday sun cast over it
For a moment, all simply looked at the opposing party. Sakura frowned when she caught the incredulous looks that the group of men shot at her; they thought her weak! Grimly, she grinned wickedly. She would teach them.
Then, in a blur too fast to see for most civilians, the Sound shinobi leapt at them, hoping to catch them off guard. One of Igarashi's men fell with the first swipe of the enemy's kunai, rolling to the ground and clutching his bleeding wound desperately. It was all Sakura could do to first shove the Sound-nin away from the wounded civilian with a kick and block another blow from a different nin simultaneously, but the man was able to pull himself to his feet and escape.
With a roar of fury, Naruto leapt away from her side and threw himself at a group of three who were attempting to surround them. They dodged his initial blow, but then the Bunshin's of Naruto got to work; they were forced to retreat. Sasuke, who had rounded the corner of the cave with impressive speed had also thrown himself into the fray. Side by side, he and Naruto worked together and turned many shinobi onto the defensive.
But she couldn't stop to admire her teammates' handiwork, not with civilians in danger. Sakura took a deep breath, focused her chakra in her hands, and then, quickly sprinting over to the part of the cave where the villagers had escaped, threw two punches against the cave wall, praying to Kami that the entire thing wouldn't collapse. But her punches turned out to be in just the right places, for the mouth of the cave trembled and held, but huge boulders blocked the enemy's way to the men. So now that they were safe... The senbon she held in her hand were thrown, causing the shinobi that they hit to instantly drop to the ground. With a slight pull of her chakra, the senbon currently imbedded in the man's neck dislodged themselves and flew back into her grip.
One down, she thought, taking a moment to glance around the cave. All of her men were still standing, even the civilian who had been wounded. Thanks, no doubt, to her team, only fifteen Sound shinobi were left standing. A sudden movement behind her and drew her attention, but it was too late. She raised her arms in front of her body to protect her-
A chakra-enhanced kunai sneaked past her defense and connected with her side. With a cry of pain, she hit the gravel and boulders a couple of feet away, cradling her injury. "Dammit!" she swore, struggling to get to her feet, angry at herself for not being more alert. The agony made her movements slow and sluggish, but she couldn't heal the wound, not right yet anyway. The shinobi who had slashed her was advancing with the intent to kill. On her knees, she raised her kunai, her last defense.
"Sakura!" she heard Sasuke shout from somewhere in the flurry of activity and battle from her left, and with effort, Sakura turned her head to look at him, taking her eyes off of her opponent. The Uchiha leapt in front of her and with one swift, furious motion, slashed the shinobi's chest and killed him. Turning around, he yanked Sakura to her feet and dragged her with him, his kunai still ready in his right hand. "We've got to retreat," he yelled to her over the clashing of knives and the various shouts of curses and jutsu, "We can't win this one. I saw two other shinobi leave, probably to get reinforcements. If we want to survive past today, we have to leave!"
As Sasuke kept guard, Sakura, mulling over what her teammate had just told her, ripped open her shirt along her right side and, with a hand glowing with gentle chakra, began to knit together her torn flesh. Thankfully, the cut was long and shallow and was not too serious, but it had bled a lot. Even now she was feeling slightly woozy from blood loss and exhaustion. After all, they had been fighting nonstop for hours. Igarashi's men must be feeling it too.
Then she froze, her hand over her closed but now raw flesh. "Sasuke!" she cried out to him, and he turned around, his eyes flashing around furiously, looking for a target. "I have an idea!" Sakura grabbed his sleeve and tugged him towards her, "Let's get Naruto! I have an idea that could save us!"
He nodded once and followed her. Together they took off through the battlefield, ducking underneath kunai and shuriken and senbon and all other kinds of weapons towards Naruto, who wasn't hard to spot. Since his favorite jutsu was the forbidden Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, all Sakura had to do was look for a plethora of yellow hair and shouts of insults at his enemies. She spotted him near the mouth of the cave, fighting off the second wave of enemy shinobi with Kakashi.
They didn't have much time; the reinforcements were already here.
But Naruto was busy, and Kakashi was holding off a number of them by himself. She had to ask Sasuke, her last option. "I need you to cover me," she said, grabbing his shirt in her fists, making him look down at her, "I'm going to cast a genjutsu over the entire cave."
He looked slightly apprehensive. "Do you have enough chakra to pull it off?" Sasuke asked her, unconvinced. His Sharingan eyes were darting back and forth, making sure no stray shinobi spotted them and attempted to kill them.
Even though Sasuke had a point, she nodded. This had to work. If not, chakra exhaustion would knock her cold and she would be a liability to her team. But if she didn't cast the genjutsu, then Igarashi's men would die. So which to choose? To be selfish and choose her team? Or to sacrifice themselves so that Igarashi had another chance to save the people of Iwate? "I'm sure," she said softly. She would sacrifice herself if need be. That was the shinobi way.
Sasuke sighed, then nodded. "C'mon," he said, gripping her small hand in his tightly. They raced to the rear of the cave where the fighting was the thinnest, where Sasuke sat her down with gentle hands before pulling out his katana and standing guard over her. She stared at his back for a few moments, hoping that he would understand how much she cared for him, even if he was an apathetic, socially confused bastard. Sakura smiled, then resolved herself for what she was about to do.
Sakura took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes, reaching inside of herself for every last ounce of her chakra. Her last hope before forming the seals for the complex jutsu was that her team would survive. They had survived worse before, but it had been luck that saved them. Against Zabuza, their first mission, luck and imagination had won over the incredible odds against them. She survived in the Forest of Death thanks to Rock Lee and Ino and her team. It was luck that they appeared. But now she could not count on her friends. Now, she was going to be the one to save them all!
Her chakra was concentrated and ready to go.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu!" she whispered.
The genjutsu usually used by ANBU would be most effective against, at most, a squad of four. But Sakura had changed it to encompass a much larger group of shinobi, adding an aspect of medical ninjutsu that would not only confuse them, but make their delusions last much longer. Every last drop of her chakra invaded the cave and searched for all the Sound shinobi. One by one, they grew disoriented and fell victim to Igarashi's men. For every shinobi that the genjutsu affected, Sakura's strength waned and she grew weaker. Her chakra was seeping out of her body at an alarming rate, but she had them. A little less than thirty Sound shinobi fell and died. The stragglers that had managed to dispel Sakura's powerful genjutsu turned tail and fled the scene to regroup.
She sagged to the floor as the shinobi vanished, her head swimming as her body attempted to hold on to the last of her chakra, but it was like gripping air. She felt so empty, so drained. A blur of shouts of victory filled her head and Sakura could not bite back the groan of pain as they echoed in her head. Her body felt like it was going to implode, and a sudden pressure on her arm just frustrated her where it was meant to calm her.
"Sakura," a voice called out softly, and Sakura dimly recognized Kakashi's gentle lilt, "Hang on, Sakura. You depleted your chakra with that genjutsu." He gently leaned her forward up against him in an attempt to check her back for injuries. She buried her face in his vest and waited, limply leaning up against him, waiting for sleep to overtake her and her chakra levels to rebuild.
"Sakura-chan, you baka!" she heard Naruto yell down at her from her other side, "You could have killed yourself! Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?!"
She only chuckled at the obvious concern in Naruto's voice. One hand felt around for his and then gripped it. "Don't worry about me," she rasped quietly, "I knew what I was doing."
Her teammate only huffed, and then wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "You know I'll always worry about you, Sakura-chan, just as you will always worry about me!"
"I'll always worry about your head," she teased sleepily, her breaths already evening out and her body welcoming the gentle lull. She was so tired... and the darkness of sleep was very inviting to her worn body right now. Just before she gave in to her body's demands, she heard a soft whisper.
"Sleep, Sakura."
It was Sasuke.
-
"Hey, how're you feeling?"
Sakura groaned and rubbed her eyes as the voice woke her up from her healing sleep. "Whatisit?" she mumbled.
It was Naruto's face that stood over her, for the first thing Sakura could make out as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with aching limbs was the bright yellow hair. The second thing she noticed was that he was smiling, but it was rather forced.
"What is it?" she repeated, pushing herself into a sitting position. The ground suddenly whirled, and she was forced to close her eyes for a moment against the sudden dizzy spell. When it passed, Sakura grabbed Naruto's sleeve. "What is it?!"
"We need your help," Naruto admitted softly, helping her to her feet, "Hirotoro was wounded pretty badly, and you're the only one who knows how to heal. Has your chakra recovered enough for it?"
Sakura nodded, leaning on her friend for support as they slowly made their way out into the mouth of the cave. "Enough to stop the bleeding and help speed up the healing process," she said, her heart in her throat. She didn't want to lose Hirotoro. Not one more death due to Maeno, not again.
She spotted him, lying down on a pallet, his weathered face very pale, covered by a blanket adorned with stains of blood. Igarashi, looking slightly disheveled and tired, was sitting down next to his friend and partner, and not too far off stood Kakashi, his Icha Icha book nowhere to be seen. Next to Kakashi was Sasuke, who was cleaning his kunai to busy himself with something. When Igarashi saw her and Naruto, he managed a smile.
"Anything you can do will help," the lord of Iwate said quietly.
With a nod, Sakura sat down in front of Hirotoro, her eyes glancing over his body to assess the damage done. Apart from a few cuts on his arms and torso, he was relatively unharmed, but she knew, by the darkness of the stain over his abdomen, where the fatal injury lay. Gingerly removing the blanket, Sakura bit back a grimace of sympathy. A large weapon had been run through his abdomen and, from the jagged edges of skin and tissue, twisted. That son of a bitch!
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Focus, she told herself, and gathered chakra into her hands. Gently, she placed her hands on Hirotoro's abdomen and carefully stopped the bleeding of the major organs, knitting up the flesh and sewing shut the damage. But she had only healed the internal mess... now to stitch the entire wound closed to prevent infection, or he would die, internal bleeding cured or not.
Using the last of her chakra that could be expended, Sakura closed the wound as best as she could. She only had time to smile faintly upon seeing that all that remained of Hirotoro's wound was a pale pink scar, the grateful smile Igarashi sent her way, and the expressions of awe on her teammates faces before the dizzy spell returned again.
This time, Sakura did not fight it; she closed her eyes and slumped over, waiting for it to pass. But a grip manipulating her body forced her eyes open.
Sasuke picked her up despite her vehement protests. His rough hands that had killed countless before were surprisingly gentle as he manipulated her arms around his neck to support her weight. With a small grunt, he straightened up with her body cradled in his arms. Sakura froze in his grasp, mind growing dizzy from the overload of her senses. His scent, his warm, the feel of his arms supporting her made her feel woozy. This isn't supposed to happen, Sakura thought, I'm not supposed to feel this way! I thought that if I stayed far, far away, I wouldn't like Sasuke anymore. Then he has to go and act like he cares!
"You should know better than to overexert yourself," Sasuke chided her, shaking her away from her thoughts. Their faces were inches away, but he refused to look at her, instead concentrating on the ground in front of him as he brought her back to her bedroll.
Sakura glared at him. "I won't let any more people die needlessly," she snapped back, wanting him to put her down.
His chest raised and then fell sharply in a sigh. "Sakura," he murmured, shaking the hair from his eyes, "That girl... in the village... that wasn't your fault. There was nothing you or anyone else could have done..."
"If we had gotten there sooner-"
"Then we all might have been killed. We don't know what we're up against! Maeno's hired thugs were strong, but I doubt he sent out his strongest force yet. He'll wait, until we're cornered."
He was far too close to her. Their cheeks were nearly touching, and every accidental touch was torture for Sakura. "I don't like waiting," she admitted angrily, turning her head away from his face to avoid contact, "I'd rather hunt than be the hunted."
Sasuke grunted his agreement.
"Then we had better be the ones that find him."
-
End of Chapter Five! I have a surprise for you (and not to mention Sakura) in the next chapter, and the first person to guess what it is gets... a cookie! I also want to thank all of you who have reviewed! And please continue to review!
-Jackie