Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

He got stronger.

Pushing closely against the wall, she held her breath and watched. The other Akatsuki had broken away, and were watching Sasuke fight his brother.

They were evenly matched. Both had Sharingan activated--something she hadn't even heard of before. Itachi...treating his brother as an equal.

Almost.

She knew he could end it any time he wanted. Mangekyou Sharingan wasn't something he'd just forgotten because his little brother was around.

God, her feet were killing her, but Sakura refused to sink to the ground. If she did, she doubted she'd ever get up again.

I can hit harder, she thought inanely, watching the two Uchiha fighting in close range. Itachi had finally turned enough that he was facing her and, knowing that there was no way he could miss her, made a face at him. Predictably, he froze, and earned a powerful punch from Sasuke as a reward. Before anyone could turn to see what had shocked him, Sakura dodged back behind the wall. Her foot caught on rubble, and she fell over, scraping her elbow on the ground. She held her breath, and began squirming further away.

She did not want to die just because she snuck out to catch a fight.

Nobody followed her, though she knew without a doubt that they heard.

What to do, what to do.

Sasuke's fine, she told herself, edging away from the hole in the wall. The best thing to do now would be to secure a way of escape.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Preferably, now. Before Psycho got her killed.

The only problem with that idea, though? The side of the gap she was on was a dead end. She slid herself closer to the opening, pressed up against the wall, and peeked. Itachi wasn't looking at her. Sasuke was facing the other way. None of the other Akatsuki were even aware she was there and going to make a run for it.

It was lucky none of the other prisoners lived more than an hour. If she got away, it was going to be hell for anybody else to try. They might even reinforce security. To a whole two guards.

She tucked her right foot under her, balanced on the ball of her foot, and swore she could feel it breaking in half. Then she sucked in a breath, tucked in her head, and used her foot to push herself forward, rolling to the other side of the gap. And then had to cry. Practical uses aside, her ability to combat Mangekyou Sharingan was impossible to use when she had to keep moving. It was, basically, dropping into a trance at an instant's notice.

A trance meant not to move. If she went into one, she didn't know how long it would be until she woke up. And there was a chance that she wouldn't wake up before someone killed her.

And her feet really hurt now.

One breath. Sakura pushed herself back against the wall, drew in another breath, and another. She wasn't going to fall down now. She wasn't going to black out now. Sasuke was right there.

He saw her.

Immediately, she scrambled away, and prayed that he didn't recognize her. She was crying. She didn't want that to be the first thing he saw. A bruised, battered Sakura, with broken hands and feet, and crying tears of pain. She continued to push herself further down the hallway, using her arms to drag herself along. There was someone on their way. She could hear footsteps.

What's he doing there? Did he have to take a potty break or something? She and her inner self thought in unison.

She took a deep breath, drew herself up, planted her feet under her. And waited.

One, two...now!

He turned the corner, and Sakura launched herself at him, elbowing him in the stomach hard enough to send him flying through the wall.

If she was lucky enough to be a goddess, Sakura imagined herself to be Master God now.

The hole lead to outside...and the noise was masked by Chidori. She was home free. All she had to do was escape, find out where she was, find a hospital, and make it to Kohona in time to warn Tsunade about the war. And not get caught by Akatsuki.

Cake.

She hoped someone would tell her parents when she died. And maybe buy some flowers to put on her grave.

She creapt to the ninja she'd knocked down, and checked his pulse. Still alive, barely. "Sorry," she mouthed, and then put him out of commission. If he'd woken up, he might have told someone. Chances were, they were going to find out. But she didn't want it to be easy.

Luckily, they were going to kill her tonight. They might not look too hard.

But she didn't run away, now that she was marginally home free. She stuck low to the ground, pulled herself along, and followed the wall--but not close enough that she'd go the way of her guard. If she died tonight, it was not going to be because Sasuke dropped a wall on her.

When she neared the area Itachi and Sasuke were at, the chirping sound of Chidori doubled--literally.

As some kind of design effect on the building, there were gate-like cutouts around the top few feet of the wall. Sakura was not above taking advantage, and stood up to peek.

Kyoten Chiten. She recognized the technique immediately. It was a contest of strength...and Sasuke was hurt. There was no way he'd win.

There was no way Sasuke could lose here, she immediately denied, shaking her head sharply--and nearly losing her balance. He's just holding back. He trained with Orochimaru. He will not die here.

He was really losing ground here.

She tried praying.

Please, please, please don't let Sasuke die. He still has to revive his clan. That was his dream. He can't die here.

She deliberately forgot that apparently Sasuke didn't want that anymore, since he was Orochimaru's brand new body-to-be. Voluntarily.

Please, please, please.

Sasuke.

He was seconds away from dying, and knew it. Sakura saw his eyes look one way and the other, trying to find a way to run.

One breath. Her broken hands quickly formed the seals.

Then Itachi watched in shock as, instead of Sasuke, his Chidori came down on Sakura.

Note: For continuity purposes, this chapter (Summer) is being cut in half. So I guess instead of 6 chapters, there'll be 7. And if you're worried, of course Sakura is still alive. Also I looked up the replacement technique on wikipedia, and it said you had to be nearby for it to work. I generally try to write as honestly as I can.

Also, if she can defeat Mangekyou Sharingan, walking on broken feet and using broken fingers to form hand seals is possible. Just need a lot of will power.