Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto.

She closed her eyes. Of course Sasuke was here. Why wouldn't he be? She rose from her crouch, barely paid attention to her feet protesting. "Have you seen Naruto?" She asked, but didn't put much hope in it.

"He's with the Hokage."

Damn.

She nodded. "I'll get going then."

"I'll go with you," Ino said immediately. "I'm needed out there. They can take care of Hyuuga."

Sakura glanced at Shikamaru, who nodded, and smiled. "All right. Try not to slow me down."

"With those feet? I'll leave you in the dust."

As always, Ino was the first to underestimate her. Sakura kept pace easily. Sasuke's name was a mantra in her head, tearing her apart.

Would the Sasuke outside be her Sasuke? Or Orochimaru with a new face? It had been, after all, three years. Sasuke had seen Itachi. And he'd left her, because he had somewhere to go. Something that had to be done.

And ten to one, that wasn't impregnating some likely girl who wouldn't die in this particular war.

Was it giving up his body? Itachi was still alive.

"Pay attention, Forehead Girl!" Ino's voice cut in. "You're going to get yourself killed."

Damn. Ino was right, she had to focus. Worrying wasn't going to help anyone. All she could do what deal with the problem in front of her. And conserve as much chakra as she could until she got there.

"Sakura!"

She glanced around, and in return was able to see a kunai before it hit her in the face. Irritation snapped, and she caught it, and returned it with enough speed and force to send it straight through the Sound ninja's neck, where it caught on a wall behind him. Then she looked at the one who warned her, and sighed in relief. Yamato. The only one who would have been a more welcome sight would be Kakashi. Or Orochimaru's head on a pike. But Yamato was nice.

"Yamato!" She called back, skidding just enough to make a very sharp turn. She pulled to a stop beside him--and Ino, having nothing better to do, apparently, followed suit. "Where's Sasuke?" She didn't pay as much attention to her own safety as she should have--Yamato was hardly one to let her get killed. She really was secure in the "love" of her friends. Maybe that was why she rarely had to be strong.

As expected, Yamato deflected an attack on her while Ino finished the ninja off. Then, content with a certain lack of Sound nin--thanks, in part, to another appearance from Kiba and Shino, who had gradually worked their way over in search of their missing teammate--he pointed her in the right direction. Typical, she thought. The middle of this mayhem. And Tsunade wanted her to go there?

Not like we have anything better to do.

But as Sakura started in that direction, Yamato stopped her with a hand. "Sakura. Uchiha Itachi is over there."

Que complete and utter heart attack. She turned to stare at the ANBU in horror. "He's not supposed to be here. I told him Naruto wasn't going to be here."

He blinked.

She shook her head, not even looking at him. Chances were, he wasn't going to believe her anyway. "All right. I'll deal with him if I see him. But I need to get to Sasuke." She slanted a glance in Ino's direction. "Ino-pig! I'm going on ahead. Stick with Yamato." And before her rival/friend could come up with a response, she'd already taken off. She didn't have time for Ino to come up with an answer, she reasoned to herself. Especially since she was on the losing side of a grappling match until Yamato ended it by thrusting one of his kunais under the Sound nin's armpit.

Maybe she'd hear her friend's response after the war. If they both survived, she imagined she'd hear a lot about it.

But right now she had something more important to think about. Not just why Itachi was here. But also, how was she supposed to get by him to get to Sasuke?

Finding Itachi was more difficult than finding Sai on one of his "off" days, when it didn't take you more than three or four hours to find him. Since she was on orders, and didn't have the time to find him--though she did run into Kakashi, and waved at him on her way by--she dismissed him from her mind, and hoped that Yamato had either been imagining things, or someone had given him false information. Or maybe he'd been joking. She thought he had a wicked sense of humor sometimes.

Running through a battlefield, she decided, that got thicker the closer she was to where she was going, was something she would have preferred to do with a pack. She was willing to accept six or seven of Naruto's Kage Bunshins, and if one Naruto was hard to handle, that many amounted to a migraine. As it was, she only had about enough chakra for that many Kage Bunshins, if she really pushed it. Then, of course, she'd end up keeling over, and wouldn't even make it to Sasuke. So she was perfectly prepared to just keep on scrapping until she got there.

She had all the time in the world--provided it was under thirty seconds.

She smiled to herself. No sweat.

If she thought about what she had to do, her feet hurt less. If she didn't think at all, they didn't even seem to hurt. If she didn't pay attention, projectile weapons and other assorted jutsu reminded her why it was important she did. The closer to Sasuke she got, the fewer allies she had. She hadn't seen anyone since Kakashi. But eventually, her diligence paid off. Even if the right side of her face hurt, thanks to a fire jutsu she was too busy trying to dodge to recognize. Eventually, she saw Sasuke.

Cutting through Leaf Jounin like they were nothing.

Worse than nothing.

Gone.

What was it, she wondered now, that Tsunade had expected her to do?

"Orochimaru!"

Oh. Tsunade's voice. But it was further away, and Sasuke didn't even glance up. Not that he would have, if he was really Orochimaru, but it was possible. Or was it? Was it really possible that the one who was killing them wasn't Orochimaru in Sasuke's body, but really Sasuke?

Did it really matter one way or another?

Her hand went into the pouch at her side, reaching for a kunai. She only had a couple left. Should have sweet-talked Yamato out of his. He had, after all, other weapons at his disposal. His bloodline limit was useful. She sucked in her breath, strengthened her resolve, and threw one of her kunais, the only one that still carried a sack of explosive tags. Before it hit him--quite a while before, actually--he disappeared. Not Kawarimi no Jutsu, but his own speed. He could probably keep up with Lee in a footrace now.

He reappeared less than a second later--almost right on top of her, if she hadn't jumped back immediately after he disappeared. And knew, airborn, that if he chose, she wouldn't touch the ground again.

He chose.

Shishi Rendan.

Not enough strength in her kick, she thought critically. She couldn't outmove him.

The sound of her ribs breaking echoed in her ears, and with the ending of his little combo, he left her for dead--or, if not dead, inoperable. He really didn't think much of her, did he? She smiled sarcastically, and, content in his stupidity, picked the last kunai out of her bag. It had an explosive tag attached. And--she looked--he wasn't even looking that way. She rolled silently to her feet, and didn't bite her mouth through to keep quiet because that would have hurt more. He still wasn't looking. So.

She threw the kunai toward the scattered tags, knowing that Sasuke thought they were intended for him. He always was so sure he was the center of the universe.

The kunai hit, ignited. "Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu." And as Sasuke turned, his black eyes wide in shock, a hole was blown in the giant snake, spliting it in half.

It screamed. Were snakes supposed to scream? She wondered. It also flailed on the ground for a while before finally keeling over.

A very cold smile was on her face when she looked at Sasuke. A look that said, "Yeah, I did it; what are you going to do about it?" A look she knew he never saw on her face before. "Who knew," she said sarcastically, "those summons of your really aren't giant worms. Sai's never going to buy this."

He looked thrilled to hear it. "Still alive?"

She slanted a grin at him. "You should know by now, Sasuke-kun, that Team Kakashi never gives up. That's our way of the ninja."

Never give up. Never back down. If Naruto could just see me now.

The main difference between Sasuke and his big brother? Itachi was impressed by backbone. He was impressed when you could stand up to his Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke...wasn't. Because that meant that he'd have to respect Naruto, and that just wasn't his thing. And in this case, he'd have to respect Sakura, which would really rub his ego raw.

"You're so childish," she said, finally delivering her first blow. A punch that had enough power to break a few of his ribs, and if it wasn't laced with chakra, would have shattered even more of her bones. It was also laced with enough power to send him flying, because she knew that if she tried to follow it up with a barrage of punches, he'd ignore the pain to kick her in the solarplexus.

She wasn't an idiot. She tended to guard against things that would make her stop breathing.

Like that boulder flying at the back of her head. She kicked it back with just enough power to send it flying--instead of break it in half. As it was, there was a dent. She was tired.

"I'm childish?" Sasuke asked, and blocked a punch when she swung at him.

"Yes," she insisted, "I only stalked you. You're still trying to get revenge. It's been seven years. Get over it, already! Or do it, and come home. Even Itachi came home, and he thought he had nothing to return to!"

He caught her wrists with enough force to break them. "Are you even sure I'm Sasuke?"

"Yes." She smiled at him charmingly. "Orochimaru has a longer tongue. And..." here she stomped on his foot, "he would have finished me off by now. You're still soft!"And before he could react, he took an elbow to the collarbone. Which was as high as she could reach and do damage, because he was tall now.

And having delivered the final verbal blow, Sakura knew full well that he was going to kill her. So the smile that she gave him was the smile of an angel.

Note: This chapter was a pain in the butt. Really. And that last sentence means I have to cut the chapter in half, because there's no way I can cut another scene and tack on in "just a second."

The question, of course, that is going through everyone's minds is: Where's the SasuSaku? I don't know. Next chapter, maybe?

The other question is: Where's Naruto? But, of course, you'll probably see him around. Maybe. I don't know. I thought you might even see Sai this chapter, but mentioning him was fun enough.

Isn't it funny how Sakura's fighting with Sasuke? He just wanted to "teach her a lesson" for trying to blow him up, but she kept getting up, and then she insulted him, attacked him, and now she's mocking him. Oh, what a relationship is that.

And so you know, I think I'm going to have a sequel to this fanfic. Maybe I'll call it "A New Year," you think? Dunno if it'll be a collection of shorts, or if it'll actually have a plot, or what. But we'll see, yeah? Look forward to it.

Hopefully, there'll only be one chapter left. Pray, guys. It's an Endless Summer.