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Chapter Eight: Inner Strength

"We're here," stated Hinata.

"Where is it?" Naruto asked, squinting.

Hinata pointed to the ground.

"I don't see it…" Naruto said lamely.

Shikamaru sighed. "It's underground, Naruto."

Realization dawned on Naruto. "Ohhh…so how do we get down there?"

"Is there an opening, Hinata?" asked Temari.

Hinata nodded. "Hai. It's very discrete; it's hidden among the bushes right there."

Shikamaru nodded. "Let's go."

"Don't worry, Sakura, we're coming!" Naruto yelled.

"Shut-up, Naruto!" said Shikamaru.

Naruto looked sheepish. "Sorry…"

Shikamaru sighed. "Okay, this is what we're going to do…"

"Itachi."

Said man was on his hands and knees, panting. His eyes felt like they were on fire, and his body felt weak. Mangekyou Sharingan always did this to him.

"What, Kisame?"

"Why do you keep using that if it makes you so damn weak?" Kisame wrapped Itachi's arm around his neck and helped him up.

"It usually doesn't."

"Then what happened?"

Itachi stole a glance at the pink-haired kunoichi on the floor. Her eyes were wide with terror, and every few moments she would whimper. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Blood was spurting from a wound in her stomach.

"She defeated my Mangekyou Sharingan."

"What?! How?" asked an incredulous Kisame.

"I don't know. I've never seen it before. Not even the copy-nin Kakashi could beat it. And here this little girl threw me out of her mind." Itachi motioned for them to leave. Before the iron door swung shut, Itachi said, "It was like there were two of her in her own mind. The first time I did it to her, everything was fine. But then she made me angry, and she still wouldn't give me the answer I was seeking. So I showed her my Mangekyou Sharingan again. But it only lasted two days. By the third day she was in it, another one of her appeared. It warned me to get out of her mind, and when I didn't she started glowing green, and after a few moments a wave of chakra hit me, and the next thing I knew I woke up next to her, here."

Kisame shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"No, impossible. I don't know how she did it, but she'll pay."

Kisame looked at the bleeding kunoichi and thought, It looks like she already did.

"I almost forgot, Itachi. The plan's changed. A group of Konoha shinobi are here."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "So?"

"The leader ordered us to evacuate. He doesn't want us to fight this time."

"What?"

"I know. I even went so far as to question his order, especially since the Kyuubi holder is among them, but he went into one of his 'moods' and, well….you know how he gets."

"What is he thinking?" Itachi asked out loud.

"I don't know, but we have to leave now. They'll be here in less than five minutes."

Itachi nodded, knowing he was in no condition to fight anyways.

"Do you see anyone, Hinata?"

"Only one person. They're in a small room. It doesn't look like their moving, though." Hinata gasped.

"What is it, Hinata?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"It-it's Sakura!"

Naruto was about to take off, but was stopped by Sasuke's cold, hard voice.

"Where is she?"

Hinata gulped as she told him.

Before anyone could say anything else, Sasuke had disappeared.

Shikamaru turned to Temari. "Temari, since both of our jutsus are better used outside, we'll stand watch out here." Temari nodded. Shikamaru turned to Naruto, Sai, and Hinata. "You three be on your guard. Hinata says she doesn't see anyone, and I don't sense anyone either, but these are Akatsuki members here, so expect anything."

"Hai!"

The two boys followed Hinata, using her Byakugan to find Sakura.

Sasuke ran so fast that it looked as if he had disappeared. When he heard that Sakura wasn't moving, his heart stopped beating for a few moments, and then sped up quickly, making him pant.

Despite the wind and rushed past him in the cool corridors as he ran, sweat dribbled down his face. He didn't have time to make up excuses about why he was so worried about Sakura. He was surprised to find that he didn't want to make up excuses. He admitted that he genuinely cared about her, but only as a friend. Or at least, that's all that he would admit at this moment.

After a few seconds he found himself in front of an iron door, bolted shut. He could sense a low chakra behind this door, and it was ebbing slowly away. He felt panic rise inside of him, but he kept a calm exterior.

He unbolted the door, and it opened slowly, with an eerie squeak. It was extremely dark inside, and not that big at all. The smell of blood invaded his senses, and he had to swallow quickly to avoid heaving.

He heard a whimper, and his obsidian eyes were drawn to a corner. He saw a flash of pink and not even a second later he was by her side. He saw where the blood was coming from; there were several wounds on her stomach. It looked like someone had repeatedly stabbed her.

At the sight of her bloody body, his Sharingan had immediately activated. Sasuke had to calm himself down so he wouldn't scare her.

He saw that she was awake, or better yet conscious, but she didn't seem aware of anything. Her skin was pale and icy cold to the touch.

"Sakura," he whispered. He could barely sense her chakra anymore. He quickly ripped off a piece of his robe and put it on her wounds and applied pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

She whimpered when he pressed on her wounds. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

He heard the others' footsteps in the corridor and yelled at them to hurry up. A mere second later, Naruto's blond head poked through the door.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled, and ran over to her. He knelt beside Sasuke. "What happened?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know. I found her like this."

The others appeared in the room. Hinata gasped and covered her mouth. "Sakura!"

Sai whispered, "No…"

Tears were shining in Naruto's eyes. "Will she be okay?"

"Of course she will idiot! How can you even ask that?"

"You're right, Sasuke. She'll make it."

Hinata used her Byakugan to check for any more injuries. "Sakura had many bruises that are affecting her chakra flow. The main source of her blood loss are the wounds in her stomach."

"Damnit…she's got to snap out of it and heal herself!" Sasuke said, still applying pressure to her wound.

"But she is awake!" Naruto argued, looking at Sakura's wide open eyes.

"Look at her, idiot! Her mind might be conscious, but she's not 'here'!"

"Oh…" Naruto said. "What can we do to help her if we don't know what's wrong with her?"

Sasuke sat back and whispered, "I know what happened."

They all waited for him to continue. "Itachi…"

Sasuke looked at Sai. "Go back and inform Shikamaru of this. Tell him and the Sand kunoichi to go back to Konoha and tell Tsunade what happened. Tell her to come as soon as possible."

Sakura whimpered, and tears formed in her eyes.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "Wake up, Sakura! It's me, Naruto!"

Sakura didn't respond, but whimpered again.

"Sakura!"

"Naruto…it won't work. She's seen Mangekyou Sharingan."

Naruto felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. "Man-gek-you…Sha-rin-gan?" He said each syllable slowly, as if not being able to believe it.

"You've seen what it does to people, Naruto. Both Kakashi and myself were subjected to it, and only the healing power of Tsunade brought us back. Sakura needs Tsunade."

Naruto nodded, and gulped. Hinata came over and knelt beside Naruto. Hinata took a deep breath, and laid a hand on Naruto's back for comfort. Hinata was surprised that she couldn't feel herself blushing. She supposed that it was because Naruto needed her to be strong, so she was strong for him.

"We've got to get her out of here," Sasuke said. He gently turned her on her back, and put his arms under her back and knees. He lifted her gently, and gritted his teeth when he heard her whimper in pain, tears coursing down her cheeks to fall upon his arms.

"Sakura," he whispered, looking into her eyes. "Wake up, please."

Sakura didn't respond.

Naruto and Hinata stood up and walked beside Sasuke.

"Naruto…"

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"Take Sakura while I do something."

"Do what?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"None of your business."

Hinata glanced between the two of them, concerned.

"You're going after Itachi, aren't you?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, but lifted Sakura in the air to hand over to Naruto. Naruto folded his arms and refused to take her.

"I'm not letting you abandon her again, Sasuke."

Sasuke glared at him, his Sharingan becoming visible.

Naruto glared back.

Both glared at each other in silence before they heard Hinata's quiet voice.

"Please…let's just get Sakura to safety. She'll die if she doesn't get help."

That snapped them both out of it.

Sasuke ground his teeth in frustration. "Fine." He walked out of the room, careful not to jar Sakura any more than necessary.

Naruto and Hinata quickly followed, both showing concern for their friend.

When they arrived outside, Sasuke gently set Sakura down. Sai was there, and upon seeing nothing new, went and kept watch for them.

Sasuke looked at his arms. They were covered in blood. Her blood. Sasuke swallowed as the metallic scent wafted towards his nostrils. He began to feel nauseous, but swallowed the bile that formed in his throat and concentrated on helping Sakura.

"Hinata, go get some water. Naruto, go help her." They both nodded, knowing that this was no time for arguments.

He gently peeled back the wet shirt, being careful when it stuck to her, the blood like glue on her skin. She groaned, but Sasuke continued. He cut her shirt all the way up to her chest, so that her wounded stomach was exposed.

Sasuke was, for once, thankful that he had watched some of Kabuto's twisted experiments. During them, he had gained quite a bit of knowledge about healing. Although he had never attempted to heal before, Sasuke knew the basics without using chakra.

Looking at the red wounds on Sakura's flat stomach, which started to bleed again, scared him. Sasuke knew that she would die from blood loss within two days if he didn't stop the bleeding now.

He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. He swore. Where is that damn water?

As if on cue Hinata and Naruto showed up, and Sasuke grabbed a canteen full of water. "It's clean, right?" he asked.

"Hai," Hinata said.

Sasuke poured the water gently over Sakura's wounds, cleansing them. He began to wipe away the dried up blood, and the new blood. Once he was done, he bandaged them and hoped that the blood would clot and that they would stop bleeding.

The sun was starting to set when Sasuke finished. Naruto and Sai quickly built a fire to ward off the coming chill while Hinata stood watch.

Through the long night Sasuke stayed by Sakura's side while she entered a feverish state. Her eyes still remained wide with fright, but her whimpering died down to every few minutes.

Sasuke replaced the cloth on her forehead with a new, cool one. Sasuke began to feel concern…for a friend.

He bent his face towards Sakura and activated his Sharingan. If the Sharingan can knock people out, then maybe it could also revive them, he thought. No, he hoped.

He forced Sakura to look directly into his eyes. At first, nothing happened. But then her eyes went wide, and they started blinking. She screamed, and brought her hands up to push him away.

Sasuke grabbed on her arms, pinning them to the ground.

"Sakura, it's me. Sasuke." He whispered.

But Sakura still resisted. Her whole body squirmed as she tried to break free, reopening her wounds.

"Damnit, Sakura! It's Sasuke!"

"No it's not!" she said in a hoarse voice.

"Sakura…it's me." He whispered.

Sakura looked at him. "I won't fall for it again, Itachi. It's useless."

Sasuke felt like he had been punched in the gut at the name "Itachi."

He clenched his jaw. "I'm not Itachi, Sakura. He's gone. He can't hurt you again."

Sakura didn't say anything, but kept trying to fight him off.

At the sound of yelling and scuffling, Naruto came running. "Sakura! You're awake! Sasuke get off her!"

Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. "N-Naruto?" Her head turned to see the blond grinning.

"You'd better believe it's me!"

"Sakura, I'm glad you're awake." Sai had calmly walked over, and was smiling his ever-present smile.

Hinata shyly stepped forward. "I'm glad you're awake, too, Sakura," she said quietly.

Sakura immediately stopped struggling and turned to Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke?" Sasuke let go of her and folded her arms.

"Hn."

Sakura smiled, but then frowned when she placed a hand on her stomach and then looked at her hand. It was covered in her blood.

Suddenly memories assailed her, and she cried out from the pain as well as the recollection of what happened.

After a few moments, she calmed herself down.

She gritted her teeth against the pain, and looked at the three others. "I can't heal myself. My chakra's been depleted, so I need you guys to help me."

"Tell us what to do," Naruto said. The others nodded.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "I need you to stop the bleeding." At first, Sasuke didn't know what she meant, but then realization dawned. He hated to even think about doing it, but he knew that it was the only option left. Tsunade wouldn't arrive in time to heal her, and none of them knew how.

"Sai, Naruto!"

"Yes?"

"I need you to hold her down."

"What for?" asked Naruto.

"I need to cauterize the wounds so they'll stop bleeding." Sasuke set about removing the blood-soaked bandages and threw them on the fire.

Naruto gulped, but remained calm. He turned to Hinata. "Hinata…plug your ears and don't look."

Hinata didn't question him, and did as she was told, her back to them as she went off to stand watch.

Sai placed a stick in Sakura's mouth so she had something to bite down on.

Sasuke swallowed, but remained calm. He concentrated his chakra into his right palm, and soon it began to glow a reddish-orange. It soon began to take on the shape and look of fire. After several moments he gritted his teeth and touched the biggest wound. Sakura's eyes went wide and she screamed a blood-curdling scream, which rang through the forest, scaring off any animals within a hundred yards.

Sasuke was sweating profusely. Naruto and Sai each had a hold of one her hands, as she squeezed them. Sasuke fervently wished that she would pass out, but Sakura refused to do so. In her mind, it would be the same as giving up, giving in to the pain. And she swore that she wouldn't do so. She would show everyone how tough she had become by enduring it.

When Sasuke moved on to the next wound, Sakura didn't scream again. She bit down as hard as she could on the stick, and gripped Naruto and Sai's hands like a vise.

Finally the grueling task was done. Sakura spit out the stick, panting. Her arms feel weakly to her sides, and sweat ran down her face. But still she didn't give in.

Naruto smiled. "I'm proud of you Sakura."

Sai nodded in agreement. "You were strong."

Sakura smiled weakly in return. "Th-thank you."

Sakura's shimmering jade eyes turned to Sasuke, as if expecting a compliment from him too. Sasuke just narrowed his eyes.

"Get some rest." Sakura looked disappointed, but the look passed.

"Hai, Sasuke. And thank you for helping me," she returned.

He gave the barest of nods.

Naruto growled at Sasuke. "Can't you show her the least bit of respect after all that she's been through?"

Sasuke ignored him and sat against a tree, his eyes tilted towards the sky.

"You're a heartless bastard, Sasuke."

Still Sasuke ignored him. Naruto's eyes glittered dangerously.

"I want you gone by morning. I don't want to ever see you with Sakura again. You're nothing but a toxic poison to her. It's because of you that she's lying over there in pain, and you can't even give her a slight recognition." Naruto knew that he would later regret his harsh words, but at the moment he was too mad to care. "Leave right now. When we meet next Sasuke, I will win."

Naruto turned around, but before he left Sasuke spoke in a quiet tone. "I know."

Naruto turned to face him. "Know what?"

"That Sakura was hurt because of me. I won't ever come near her again, and I'll make her hate me if that's what it takes to keep her safe from me."

Naruto's face softened. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I spoke rashly and out of anger. Sakura wouldn't want you to be alone and despised. She could never hate you, Sasuke. You should know that by now." Naruto's voice quieted as she said the last few sentences.

Sasuke lowered his head, as if he was being chastised. "Naruto…" Sasuke looked up. "I've discovered something."

"What is it?"

"I can't break the bonds that were formed years ago, no matter how hard I try."

Naruto didn't know what to say, so he let Sasuke continue. "I thought that if I broke the bonds that I could become strong, but I was wrong. While the bonds were my weakness, they were also my strength."

"So what are you going to do, Sasuke?" asked Naruto quietly.

Sasuke waited a few moments to answer. "I'm going to defeat Orochimaru, and Akatsuki."

"Does this mean that you'll come back to Konoha?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No, idiot. I made a vow that I would not return home until I had avenged my clan by killing Itachi. I won't break that vow now, or ever. Even if I have to die trying." Sasuke looked at the stars. "It's my curse, my path to follow."

Naruto looked angry again. "So you're going to abandon us again?"

"I didn't say that."

"So what are you saying?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, and frowned, as if it was hard for him to speak the words. "I'm saying that you and Sakura are welcome to join me on my quest. Become team 7 once again."

Naruto beamed. "You mean it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared. "Just shut-up already, will you?" Sasuke had had quite enough heart-to-heart for the day, and had to maintain his cool disposition, after all.

Sasuke's words didn't phase Naruto. He just kept grinning like an idiot until an idea occurred to him. "Oh, I'd better tell Sakura!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto, but a smirk graced the corners of his lips. Sasuke's thoughts turned to Sakura, and how much stronger she'd gotten. He soon felt himself begin to drift off to sleep, where his dreams were plagued by a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

………………………………...

Naruto had ran over to Sakura to tell her the news, but he found her already asleep. He didn't have the heart to wake her up, so he took a blanket from his pack and laid it over Sakura.

Then he went and sat down next to Hinata.

A blush crept into her cheeks at Naruto's nearness. "I-I'm glad that Sakura's okay now," she said, in an attempt to break the silence.

Naruto nodded. "Me too."

"You care about her a lot, don't you?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Of course I do."

Hinata swallowed her pride, and found courage to ask, "Do you love her?"

Naruto looked at Hinata for a moment before tearing his gaze away and staring into the fire. "I used to think I loved her, but now I see it as a childhood crush. I do love her, but not in the way that I love…someone else."

"O-oh," Hinata said. Her eyes were downcast as she contemplated who the other person might be.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Naruto stood up.

He didn't seem like his normal cheery self and it bothered Hinata. "Is-is something bothering you, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Hinata to blush even more and gulp loudly.

"It's nothing. Sorry if I worried you, Hinata. Hey, will you do me a favor and watch over Sakura while I get some rest?"

"S-sure. G-good night, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and headed off towards the tent. Hinata sat quietly for a few moments, trying to decide who Naruto loved, when a voice disturbed her thoughts.

"Hinata?"

It was Sakura.

Hinata quietly made her way over to Sakura. "Yes?"

"You love Naruto, don't you?" Sakura smiled at Hinata's blush.

Hinata decided it was time to finally admit it to someone. Maybe if she talked about it, the feelings wouldn't hurt so much.

"Yes."

Sakura smiled even deeper. "I think he loves you too," she whispered.

Hinata's violet eyes got round as saucers before quickly shaking her head. "No he doesn't."

"What makes you think that?" Sakura asked, sitting up and wincing.

"You should rest. Don't strain yourself," Hinata said, partly out of concern and partly to change the subject.

"Don't worry I know my limitations," Sakura reassured her. Sakura let Hinata get away with changing the subject, for now. If Hinata wanted to talk to her about it, then Sakura would wait until Hinata was ready to bring it up herself.

"Thank you for coming to rescue me, Hinata."

"You're welcome, Sakura. I'm glad that you're going to be okay," Hinata replied.

"But you didn't have to. You could have refused such a dangerous mission, but you didn't. That took courage, and a lot of backbone. You should be proud of yourself, Hinata. Someday I hope to become as brave as you are."

Hinata shook her head, blushing. "I'm not brave. I wish that I was as strong as you are, Sakura. Then maybe he'll notice me."

"Hinata, you may have the best eyesight, but you're blind. Naruto does notice you. Do you remember, all those years ago, during the Chuunin exams, when you fought Neji?"

Hinata nodded.

"Naruto cheered you on, and made a vow to defeat Neji because he'd hurt you."

Hinata remained silent, lost in memories.

Sakura decided not to prod any further. "Hinata, you can go and get some rest. I'll be fine here."

"I'm fine, Sakura. I'd rather be have some company for awhile if you don't mind."

"Okay. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind at all. It would be nice to have some female companionship every so often."

The two female kunoichi spent the rest of the night talking as teenage girls were wont to do.

Whew sorry about the late update. I've decided to extend this story for a few more chapters I'm thinking. So I won't end it so soon! Review and tell me what you think and please point out any mistakes that I have made and I will try to correct them! Thanks!

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