The only thing Sakura knew was that she was about to drown. The impact of her landing in the pool below slapped the right side of her so hard that she could still feel her ribs trobbing as she was now being tossed in a cyclone of water and foam. She was tumbling beneath the surface of the water so harshly that it was hard for her to get a grasp of which way was up. Everytime she managed to take a breath of air she also took in a wash of water. As she was shoved back below the surface she did her best to cough out the water and not breathe it back in.
Desperation set in. Her lungs were burning. She didn't know how long she was being tossed in the rapids, but it felt like an eternity even though it was really just three minutes so far.
THUMP!
Sakura screamed beneath the water in pain. She had been slammed against a rock. At the moment of impact she felt something crack in her side, and she knew immediately that it was a rib. As the current stretched her body around both sides of the rock, she was left in limbo until the current finally pushed her in one direction. Clawing with her hands to get to the surface, she gasped a deep breath before being shoved back down.
The rapids were so strong that she couldn't use her chakra to get a grip. The only thing she could do was wait until she had reached further down the stream where the current would be less strong, if that should be the case.
As Sakura rounded a bend in the river, she did not see that there was a second, but much smaller waterfall up ahead. When she reached it, she felt herself being sucked down before being slammed against a shallow riverbed. Sakura couldn't tell at the time, but the branches of a broken tree that lay wedged between the river stones had scratched her legs so that they bled like little papercuts.
Sakura's end seemed near as the current again swept her away, and though many would think that she'd be contemplating her death, this kind of situation just doesn't allow for it. Being tossed in the rapids only put one emotion into Sakura's heart, and that emotion was the will to live.
No... she felt in her heart as she was dragged under. I'm going to live...
There were no thoughts of Itachi, Naruto, Sasuke, or Kakashi, just her pure instinct of fighting to live.
Get out... she said to herself. That's all she could say, and as Sakura fought the current she suddenly found strength within herself to defeat a growing tide of despair. Pushing herself out of the water, she did her best to scout ahead.
Up ahead she could see the river split into two directions. Which one she would take, Sakura didn't know until she felt it rip her down the left path.
Several more minutes insued. Swimming from side to side, Sakura tried hard to dodge the rocks that lay in her path. Then she saw it: a branch. Up ahead, there was a tree that hung its branches low enough over the water.
This is it, she thought. My last chance.
Going with the current Sakura slowly made her way to the side of the river that would bring the branch into her path. As she timed it in her head, Sakura used whatever energy she had left to concentrate chakra on her hands.
There! she thought as she shot her hand up and snatched at the branch, but it missed. The second hand shot up after she passed it, and somehow this time she managed to latch onto the tree as it bounced with the weight of her.
With the pressure of the river now breaking against her, Sakura pulled up her other hand to get a better hold. Following along the branch she inched her way to the side of the river where a high bank blocked her path. Swinging her leg up onto the bank, Sakura used her remaining strength to pull herself up and over the edge, before rolling over in exhaustion.
Peeking open her eyes, Sakura only saw the blur of sunlight through the trees as she could once again hear the sound of birds in the forest mixed with the sound of rushing water. Her breathing was fast and her body was cold, but as her mind passed into darkness, Sakura knew that the sun would take care of these things while she slept.
Things were not going too well on Kakashi's side. As they lay there debating over the next move, Naruto was getting impatient.
"Forget about us already! Just go find Sakura!" yelled Naruto as he sat next to Lee.
The party had not yet moved from the plains as they were trying to think of their next move. Being that Naruto and Lee were unable to walk, the team was debating whether to leave them behind.
"No, Naruto," said Kakashi. "This is a rescue mission. What's the point of a rescue if we end up losing two more of our own?"
"If only Ino were here..." mumbled Lee.
Upon their departure from Konoha, Tsunade could not find a medical shinobi to accompany the team. Being that Ino was out on a mission, they could not afford to wait for her and were forced to leave on a dangerous mission such as this without a medical shinobi as a precaution. Now, however, the team was regretting the decision made in haste.
"Well, this argument is about to either grow bigger or diminish, because here comes the rest," said Neji, nodding over to where Akatsuki and Jiraiya were walking from.
As Naruto was the first to burst into his reasoning, Jiraiya shook his head.
"It's great that you want to give up everything for Sakura, Naruto," said Jiraiya, "but what do you think you would do if you were me and I were you?"
"It doesn't matter," said Naruto. "If Sakura goes, we lose Sasuke forever."
"You still consider him your friend, even after all he had done to Sakura?" asked Deidara.
Naruto looked to the ground. He had almost forgotten what had happened.
"He's protecting her..." said Itachi after a moment of silence.
The shock of the news made Naruto shake his head to hear it again.
"Wh-What?" Naruto asked as the others remained silent to listen to his reasoning.
Itachi looked down at Naruto and no one else.
"He's protecting her..." Itachi continued. "There was a moment back there when I noticed that Sasuke was not running away from us... but from Orochimaru... From what I've seen, Sakura was trusting him, and she would not do that without good reason."
Everyone stared at him blankly. They could not see what he was saying. Realizing that he would have to explain further, Itachi battled his silent nature and thought of how to phrase his reasoning.
"When I first came upon them, the body language between Sasuke and Sakura was non-threatening. When he was leading her across the plains, she did not resist, nor did she look tired from resisting. When Orochimaru showed up however, Sasuke could have taken the opportunity to enact his revenge."
"But he threatened Sakura in front of us," said Neji.
"Yes, but I could see in his eyes that it was an empty threat," said Itachi. "What I'm saying is that Sasuke had the opportunity to kill Sakura when Orochimaru arrived, but instead he ran away. As I chased after them, Sakura did not try to resist. It was as if they had an alterior motive for running..."
Everyone was silent.
"...and that is why I did not chase after them just now... My presence maddens Sasuke, so much to the point that he just might do something stupid to Sakura. Also, if I had really made a move to attack Sasuke back there, Orochimaru might have just killed Sakura himself to eliminate Sasuke's distraction, rather than risk Sasuke getting killed by me. When he disappeared with Kabuto instead though, I knew that he had left Sasuke to finish what he had started, making me think that Orochimaru did not realize what was happening... In essence, Sasuke is setting himself up for failure in Orochimaru's eyes to save her..."
Jiraiya stood there with his arms crossed. Soon after, he spoke.
"So... what we've learned is that Orochimaru still fears losing Sasuke's allegiance and dares not to cross him in case he rebels..."
"We've also learned that Sasuke is not yet lost," said Naruto, looking up at Deidara.
"So if that's the case, what do we do next?" asked Kakashi, scratching his head. "We shouldn't get too close, but there's still a risk that Orochimaru might show up and kill her if he figures things out, and I don't think Sasuke would be able to handle things then."
"Either way, where we need to be is with Sakura, but I didn't see her with Sasuke when the snake struck. Did you?" asked Kisame to Itachi.
Itachi shook his head.
"Well," said Kakashi. "Here we go again..."
Motioning, Kakashi summoned his pack of ninja dogs. After explaining the situation they took off towards the waterfall and jumping from rock to rock, sniffed out Sakura's last notable impression.
As the team walked slowly across the plain with Naruto and Lee hobbling in tow, Pakkun returned.
"Kakashi," said Pakkun. "Sakura's scent disappears right around the center island of the waterfall. There's no trace of her in the forest behind."
"Hmmm, so she went down the river, huh?"
"There's just one problem..." said Pakkun, lowering his head.
When the group finally made it to the waterfall, they saw what gave Pakkun such a solemn face. Staring over the edge, they peered down at the rough waters far below.
"Whoah," said Deidara. "I didn't see that before..."
Itachi's stomach wrenched. He knew in his heart that Sakura went down those falls.
"Even for a shinobi, that is some fall to survive," said Kakashi taking a deep breath.
"Sakura-chan..." whispered Naruto.
The sheer volume of water pressure that slammed down below was too overwhelming. In their hearts they all knew that a waterfall such as this was strong enough to pin somebody to the bottom and drown them.
As Kakashi looked over to the other side, he could see one of his dogs shake its head, indicating that there was still no luck on that end.
"Well," said Kakashi. "We'll have to walk down the river's sides until we catch her scent."
"If we find her..." said Neji under his breath.
Lee was silent and he was tearing. To have come so far and find Sakura's soul taken by nature's force was worse than it being taken by an enemy, because to him it seemed more preventable.
"Right," said Deidara. "Here's what we'll do. Lee and Naruto can ride with me on the bird. I don't have much explosives left, but I have just enough to make one big enough to carry three. Don't do anything stupid and everything should be fine."
Itachi nodded to Kakashi who agreed, and as Deidara's tiny figurine of a bird transformed into a giant one, Kakashi helped Lee and Naruto get onto its back to take off.
"Stay behind the group!" shouted Kakashi to Deidara. "If there's an attack, you won't be able to get out as easily!"
"Hai!" yelled Deidara.
"So!" said Deidara to the two sitting behind him. "Welcome aboard! If you fall off, tough shit!"
Sasuke was bounding down the side of the river looking for Sakura. As he saw the rapids get more and more treacherous his heart sunk, but when he saw the second waterfall, it dropped into his stomach. Coming to a fork in the river, Sasuke paused to decide which way to go.
Looking for signs, Sasuke could find none, so he studied the river's current before deciding that he should try the left. Before he continued on he looked to the direction he came from and could feel that something was not far behind. His instincts told him that it wasn't Orochimaru, but nevertheless, he knew that he shouldn't wait for it to catch up.
Sasuke continued down the river for several more minutes before coming to the tree that Sakura had used to pull herself out. Noticing that there was blood upon the branch, Sasuke's eyes soon caught hold of a pink tinge.
Sakura... he thought, picking up his pace to get there sooner.
When Sasuke got close, he could see that it indeed was her, lying there asleep with exhaustion.
Crouching down, Sasuke brushed the hair from her face.
"Sakura..." he whispered as he gently shook her.
"...Mmmmm..." moaned Sakura. Opening her eyes, she eventually made out his face. "Sasuke-kun... are you ok?"
"I'm fine, are you ok!?" he practically shouted at her.
"I'm fine... What happened to you?" she asked, rubbing her face.
"Orochimaru let me go thinking that I was going to finish you off. I don't have much time."
Sakura's eyes opened wide. She looked like she was gonna be sick. Rolling over to the edge of the river she vomited.
"...euuuhhh...what a ride..." she mumbled, remembering how much water she had swallowed.
"We need to go," said Sasuke as he watched her cup some water and bring it to her mouth for a rinse.
"Mmm.." agreed Sakura.
Grabbing back onto the branch, Sakura pulled herself up but found that her muscles felt as if they were made of ramen noodles. Her strength was pretty much gone and her chakra was definitely drained.
Sasuke, noticing the change in movement, knelt down to indicate to her to get on his back.
"Arigatou, Sasuke-kun..." mumbled Sakura as she was quickly dispelled back into sleep.
We're not far from Konoha, thought Sasuke. If I hurry, I can get her there by nightfall.
Giving a little jump to shoulder her better, Sasuke began to bound north towards Konoha.
"Aaaaah, CRAP..." said Deidara when they came to the fork in the river. Down below, the others were just as discouraged.
Kakashi looked to the other side of the river to where half of his team of ninja dogs were stopped, awaiting orders.
"Well Kakashi," said Pakkun, "we haven't picked up her scent as of yet. What's your decision?"
Looking at the current, Kakashi felt that the left would be the best bet.
"Left seems to be the way to go, but, I don't think we should forsake the right side in case she did end up going that way...We'll split up," said Kakashi.
"Alright," said Jiraiya. "Who should go where?"
"Hmmm... Jiraiya, you should probably stick with Naruto and keep the Kyuubi in check."
"Mmmm," said Jiraiya, nodding in agreement.
"Well, since there's less of a chance that they'll be on the right, take the injured down that path. I think the rest of us should go down this way," suggested Kakashi. "Do you think Deidara will be able to watch the two and fight if need be?"
"You greatly underestimate Deidara..." interrupted Kisame. "He was chosen for Akatsuki due to his excellence in calculation and assassination skills. He fights a battle like one would in chess, by playing offense and defense simultaneously. Did you forget he managed to take down Gaara?"
"Ok," said Jiraiya. "You guys can go that way and I'll take the two buffoons with me and Deidara. If anything happens, signal Deidara or something."
"Actually, if we get attacked, we shouldn't signal you at all. Putting Naruto at risk to get killed is what Orochimaru would want, and it would risk our lives considering his irrational behavior," said Kisame.
Everyone nodded in agreement before parting ways. As Kakashi, Itachi, Kisame, and Neji followed the left side of the river, they could hear Naruto arguing at the top of his lungs to Jiraiya below on why they weren't going down the more likely path.
"Hmph," said Kisame looking over his shoulder, "I'm glad that idiot is gone."
As the sun was setting behind the mountains, Sasuke was beginning to recognize the forests near Konoha. In his mind he was hoping that the ANBU weren't lurking in the area. If Konoha found out about him helping Sakura, it would definitely reach Orochimaru's ears.
"Mmmm..." mumbled Sakura, finally awake. "Where are we?"
"We're almost to Konoha. Can you walk?"
"Hai..." said Sakura climbing down. "Arigatou, Sasuke-kun. I can make it back from here..."
Sasuke nodded and turned his back to leave.
"S-Sasuke-kun..." stammered Sakura.
Sasuke stopped.
"...Are you sure you don't want to come back?..."
Sasuke was silent for a moment. After a while, he turned around and gave her a hug.
Sasuke felt like his heart was bleeding. He couldn't say in words how lonely the path he had chosen really was. He was almost always alone, and almost always thinking about home in Konoha. However, as they stood there in silence, Sakura could not see that Sasuke's face was troubled with memories. He still felt in his heart that his path lay with Orochimaru, atleast for a while. He simply couldn't just go back to Konoha after all that had happened. Even more so, his heart still burned for revenge, and this feeling would not change, not even for Sakura.
Releasing her, Sasuke once again turned to leave. This time however, Sakura did not say anything. She knew his decision and knew that she could not stop him.
"Arigatou..." she whispered in sadness.
Sakura could see Naruto's face in her mind and knew that his heart would break all over again when she finally saw him. As she watched Sasuke's image fade into the shadow of the trees, she did not turn to go to Konoha until he had completely vanished.
As sunset cast a golden light upon the trees, Sakura walked for about a half hour with a heavy heart, pondering as to where her future lie. Sasuke was still lost to revenge, Naruto and her would still feel that emptiness from losing him, and as for Itachi, she didn't know what would happen to them when she got back. Questions burned through her mind like a fiery blaze. Would she leave with him? Would she stay in Konoha? And then there was that ever realistic question: Even if she did want to go with him, would he let her?
A pain seared through Sakura's heart. It wasn't really pain but rather the memory of pain, the pain that she felt the last time Itachi left her in Konoha. Even if she didn't think it would happen again, she knew that there was a more than fair chance that it would.
Stopping suddenly, Sakura tilted her head in thought. Up until this moment, there was one question that she was missing, something they were all missing, and that was: "Why didn't Orochimaru try to obtain her again if he hadn't found out that she couldn't heal him? Why did he let Sasuke go? Did he figure it out?"
Sakura felt her gut wrench. Something was wrong. Immediately taking off into a sprint, Sakura rushed as fast as she could towards Konoha.
No... she thought. No...
Coming to the edge of a hill so that Sakura could make out the lights of Konoha in the distance, she ran down the side and continued on until she came into a huge clearing.
I've reached the outer training grounds! Sakura thought to herself.
However, as Sakura came out into the open air, her realization came true. Skidding to a hault, Sakura stopped breathing.
Standing before her like an ominous sign was Kabuto and Orochimaru.