Chapter 22
The masked man tilted his head to the side as he observed Sasuke and his protective stance. Sakura shivered when she felt his eyes move to her once again. She clutched the back of Sasuke's shirt and sighed deeply.
I am not going to be of any help here. I'm almost out of chakra and I'm exhausted. They're going to want me to leave while they cover my escape…
Kakashi gave her a knowing look over his shoulder, eyes assessing her form.
"Well, are you going to help me get her or not?" Orochimaru's tone pissed off the purple haired woman.
"This seems to be a mess of your own making, snake. Why should we help you?"
"Konan, enough. He is still of use to Akatsuki. However, that being said, his foolishness is his own."
Itachi and Shisui stepped in front of Sasuke and Kakashi. Itachi gave Kakashi a glance and Sakura found herself picked up and carried away with such speed that she felt like her stomach was left behind. Kakashi gently rubbed the leg he was holding while his sleeve became soaked with Sakura's silent tears.
Sakura was asleep in a chair next to Tsunade, awaiting her team's return. She hadn't even made it to the Hokage's office before she passed out from exhaustion and chakra depletion.
She came to in a state of panic and instantly jumped up without assessing her surroundings. "Sit down, Sakura, you need to conserve your strength." Tsunade's calm voice helped her to relax. She blinked rapidly, trying to wake up all the way.
The first time she tried to speak caused her to have a coughing fit from lack of moisture in her throat. Tsunade silently handed her a steaming cup of tea and Sakura drank it greedily, eyes roaming the office. Gaara was seated on a couch meditating, Kakashi was leaning against the opposite wall staring at her intently, and Naruto was seated next to Kakashi with his hand in his hair.
"What did I miss?" Kakashi gave her a small smile and Naruto slowly walked over to her, engulfing her in a gentle hug. Gaara was the one to speak up.
"You have been out for about 3 hours, you were already unconscious when Hatake brought you in. He refused to put you down before your Hokage healed your wounds." Gaara paused here and Kakashi chuckled sheepishly.
"Your team has yet to arrive but Team Gai was sent as back up for them as soon as you two arrived. Hatake has sent Pakkun out to gather intel for us." Gaara's eyes were focused on her as he spoke. Naruto had let her go and was now pacing, obviously upset that he could not go and help his friends.
Sakura's lips puckered in contemplation. She reached inside her pouch and pulled out her scroll. "Shishou, I was able to seal the body of the woman who helped Danzo escape. Pakkun could tell that she smelled like the other experiments and warned us before we went into battle."
Sakura handed over the scroll, continuing to speak. "I am not sure if the body will rapidly decay once it is taken out of the scroll. Knowing how messed up Orochimaru is, there is probably some sort of agent that will stop us from gathering intel. Whoever works on the body will have to be super careful with preserving it first."
An ANBU immediately entered the room when Tsunade took the scroll. "Take this to Shizune right away, tell her everything that Sakura has said before you give it to her. Also, start level 3 emergency procedures, and tell the Jonin squad leaders to come to my office. We must start evacuating the vulnerable before anything happens." Tsunade stood and looked out at Konoha, eyes assessing every weakness.
With a poof the Anbu was gone and Sakura could feel the tension in her body coil tighter. She stood up slowly and went to sit down next to Gaara. He took one look at the expression on her face and sighed. He gently put his arm around her in a rare show of affection and spoke softly.
"Sakura, I know you're worried about your team but we need you to be clear headed." He pulled her closer and Sakura could feel Naruto and Kakashi looking at them in disbelief and suspicion.
"The Akatsuki have been biding their time and this would be a great opportunity for them to strike. You need to rest so that you can help when they do attack." Sakura nodded and leaned on the red-head. She looked up at the two across from her and snorted.
"Oh, come on, you two! Gaara and I became really good friends when I was in Suna," her smile grew when Naruto gave her a happy smile but it quickly fell as Kakashi spoke.
"As sweet as that is Sakura, if Shisui comes in here and sees you cozying up to the Kazekage, you are both going to get an earful. Gaara, I appreciate you taking care of my student when she was on an extended solo mission, but you two look like a couple right now. Be careful how you allow yourself to be with her, for your sake and hers."
Gaara gave a short nod and Sakura rolled her eyes. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Pakkun jumped through the open window. Kakashi took two long strides and kneeled in front of his heavily panting ninkin.
Everyone leaned in when he started speaking. "I did what you asked and tracked down the Uchiha group. When I got there, the three of them were fighting a purple haired woman and a man in a mask. Sasuke was fighting the woman alone while Shisui and Itachi fought the masked man." He broke off as he was still trying to catch his breath.
Sakura pulled out a bottle of water from her pouch and handed it to Kakashi. He nodded gratefully as he summoned a bowl and filled it up. Pakkun drank rapidly before continuing his report.
"It was… really scary, Kakashi. The chakra of the masked man smelled evil and old. He is not someone that is going to be easily defeated. The only advantage that those three have is that they work flawlessly together. As I was running back here I came across another scent, the scent of the men with the metal in their faces. They are already in Konoha, but I don't know what they are waiting for."
As soon as Pakkun mentioned Pein several things happened at once. Kakashi summoned the rest of his pack, Sakura pulled her gloves on and went to stand next to Tsunade, and the Jonin team leaders appeared in the room.
Explosions shook all of Konoha as the attack started. Smoke could be seen rising from six different areas in the village. Sakura huffed when the smell of smoke and fire reached her sensitive nostrils.
The Jonin leaders had left the office about an hour ago. Tsunade, Gaara, Sakura, and Naruto all watched as the chaos unfolded in front of them. The sound of Kakashi's dogs baying could be heard on the wind.
"Tsunade-sama…" Sakura gritted out as more explosions went off.
"Not yet, Sakura, we need to wait and you know that. If we go charging in right away then we won't be able to save those who need us, and we won't be able to surprise the enemy."
The building shook as something massive landed right in front of it. "What the hell do we do about that monstrous multi-headed dog that is now staring right at us?" Sakura's voice dripped with sarcasm and Tsunade did not hesitate to smack the back of her head.
Sakura grunted but otherwise did not move as the beast bared its fangs at them. "Gaara and Naruto, you are not to fight until towards the end. You are the trump cards and we cannot have Shikaku or Kurama taken. You have both come so far with using their power and I refuse to be the Kage that loses either of you."
With that Tsunade threw off her jacket and jumped from the window. Sakura followed suit without even blinking.
"Sakura, you will be my second. Follow up my hits and do NOT leave any openings for this beast. I want it gone within ten hits! Got it?"
"Yes, Shishou!"
Tsunade dodged as a colossal paw came swinging down at her. Sakura smirked, watching the paw come her way and charged her chakra. She caught it and proceeded to swing the beast around in an arc. She released it and threw it into the forest, away from the majority of the buildings. She doubled over as a wave of fatigue hit her and glanced at Tsunade as she descended on it. A powerful punch from Tsunade had the dog rolling over several times.
Just as Sakura regained her footing, the Hokage's personal guard flanked her. Sakura sighed with relief.
I am pitiful. I don't know how much help I can be here. I'll have to let them back her up.
Movement in front of her had Sakura pulling out a soldier pill and downing it before her new opponent spoke. "Where is Naruto Uzumaki?"
"I wouldn't tell you even if I knew," Sakura snarled as she lunged at one of Pein's puppets standing in front of her. Sakura's fist was blocked with so much force that she was spun around.
She used the momentum to swing her leg at her opponent's torso. He moved out of the way so she barely clipped him but her chakra caused him to fly straight into the side of a building. He stood up and started to summon another animal.
"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Sakura teleported in front of him and started jabbing at him with chakra blades. He dodged just as quickly, so she devised a simple but effective plan in her head. Just as he got into a pattern of dodging she snapped her foot towards his knee. He blocked the kick with his hand and threw her straight into the air. She started to smirk but then panicked as she realized he was now behind her.
He swung his leg at her and she raised her arms to defend herself. The kick had her hurtling towards the earth at sickening speed. This is gonna hurt! Just as she braced for impact, another body slammed into her. She looked up and smiled at the familiar silver hair.
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" He grunted as he put her down, and she was soon sniffed and scented by the whole pack.
"The pack heard you and would not stand by as you fought alone. They see you as one of them, Sakura. Now, let's take this guy out as fast as possible." Sakura nodded and fell into a defensive stance.
"Let's do the assassination formation that you taught us when we were Genin," Sakura mumbled. Kakashi grinned deviously and nodded once.
Sakura ran straight at the man and slid between his legs. He whirled around and tried to stomp on her torso, but she twisted out of the way just as Kakashi's Chidori ran through the man's heart. Blood splattered across her face and body and she gagged as some of it got in her mouth.
She sputtered and glared at her chuckling companion. Bull came up and gently licked the blood off her face, giving her a concerned look. "Thank you, Bull, I'm fine. Your AMAZING leader has a fetish for women covered in blood."
Kakashi stopped laughing and kneeled down in front of her. He reached out and thumped her nose so hard that she squealed.
"I don't appreciate your joke, Sakura. You know I have a fetish for women who are tied up," he winked and she turned beet red. Sakura opened her mouth to reply but snapped it shut again, being whisked away right before another explosion went off.
The destruction to Konoha was unbelievable. Sakura could only watch in horror as Naruto fought the final Pein. She was beyond exhausted and only sheer willpower was keeping her awake right now. Gaara was seated next to her on the ground helping her stay upright. Many others were surrounding her but she was incapable of healing anyone. She looked around and people smiled at her, knowing what she was thinking.
Kiba and Hinata were a little to her right watching the battle intensely. "Do you think he'll be okay?" Hinata was shaking with fear. Kiba put his arm around her.
"It's Naruto, the number one knucklehead of Konoha. Of course he'll be fine!" Akamaru barked in agreement and Sakura smiled.
Kakashi came and sat on her other side and whispered in her ear, "Your team should be returning soon. For some reason their opponents left suddenly." Sakura gave him a grateful look and then leaned against him before passing out once again.
"Ugh, my head is killing me. This is even worse than the time that Tsunade and I went to Su-," Sakura's ramblings were cut off by a hand slapping over her mouth painfully. A muffled groan was heard before Sakura cracked her eyes open to peer at her assailant.
Tsunade was looming over her with a scary gleam in her eye. "Sakura, we agreed to never talk about that incident, ever." Sakura nodded jerkily and gasped for air when the hand released her. She glanced around the hospital room and let out a sigh of relief. Gaara, Naruto, Kakashi, and her team were all in here. They were safe.
"You all look like hell," she croaked and winced as she sipped some of the water that was handed to her.
Sasuke snorted, "We look half as bad as you do. Seriously, did you use all of your reserves and then some today?" She smiled sheepishly and glanced at Shisui who looked at her with a guarded expression.
"What is the status of the village? What did I miss while I was out?" Sakura's quick questions made Itachi smirk. "I am glad that you are alright, Sakura. We were all very worried about you," he offered her a quick smile and she was beyond grateful for the hidden message.
"Worried about ME?! At least you knew I was safe once Kakashi took me to the village! My nerves were killing me the whole time you all were gone! I don't like being separated from my team when an enemy like that is around!" The bed dipped down as Naruto sat next to her.
Tsunade sighed before answering her questions. "The village is… Well, it is a mess and we are lucky that all of it wasn't destroyed. I've already called in a few favors and have some contractors coming in to rebuild. It'll take about five months to fix everything if our calculations are correct."
Her age was showing as she talked and Sakura tried to get up to comfort her. She was firmly pushed back down by Shisui.
"Don't you dare get up. You've passed out twice today, and I do not need to worry about you more than I already am." His jaw clenched as he hesitantly pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. The exhaustion in his eyes had the urge to fight leaving her.
"I agree with Chichi this time, Sakura. As much help as you were, don't you dare do anything that reckless again. You could have fainted in the middle of battle!" Tsunade sat down heavily on one of the chairs.
A week into repairs and Sakura was fed up. She hadn't had any time with her friends. No time with her teammates. No time for anything except cleaning up Konoha and healing the injured. Ino was currently helping her clean up a section of the civilian district that held mostly businesses.
"UGH, Ino, I can't take this anymore! I haven't gotten to see anyone since I was discharged from the hospital!" She threw a particularly large beam into the trash pile so viciously that it snapped in three pieces.
Ino dusted off her outfit and gave Sakura a knowing look. "So Uchiha hasn't talked to you in a whole week? Haven't even seen him in a week even though you live in his apartment?"
At her affirmative nod Ino scowled. "What a jerk! I get that he is mad at you and concerned for you, but he has no right to treat you like you killed his favorite pet!"
Ino grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her all the way back to the Yamanaka's home. "So, Sakura, I know you haven't seen him in a week but how is your relationship going?"
Sakura blushed and looked around to make sure they were alone. "We almost had sex Ino-pig and, DAMN. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it when we finally do the deed." Sakura laughed as Ino spewed her drink all over the counter.
"YOU HAD SEXY TIME WITH HIM AND HE HASN'T TALKED TO YOU IN A WEEK! THAT RAT—," Sakura clamped her hand on Ino's mouth to make sure no one heard her yelling.
"That's not even the worst part," Sakura wailed.
Ino wisely stayed quiet as she listened to the rest of the story. "Right as we were actually about to do it, someone came knocking on the door! I haven't had a moment with him SINCE then! We have both been sexually frustrated this entire time! What if he is done with me and he doesn't know how to tell me he wants to break up!?"
Ino smacked Sakura on her forehead. "Snap out of it, Forehead! There is no way that he is going to leave without getting a proper taste first. The man would be an idiot. Let's have lunch and discuss a few things. It'll make you feel better."
Just as they finished eating, Konohamaru visited the house to tell Sakura that she was needed in the hospital lab. Sakura nodded and immediately teleported herself in front of the building. She briskly walked to the room Shizune occupied. As she opened the door, the stench of decay made her grab a mask to cover her nose and mouth.
She looked over and noticed two things simultaneously. Shizune was elbows deep in the corpse that she had recovered and Shisui was guarding the entrance she just walked through.