Chapter Seventeen: Formation: Complete. And a Fracture Appears in Fragile Bonds

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sakura backed away from the approaching enemies. She was out of chakra...Smirking wryly, she thought about how Naruto--with his near infinite chakra supply--made the Kage Bushin look easy. But she was learning first hand just how draining the jutsu could be. In fact...she didn't know how she was standing...

A Byakugan wielder took another step forward.

Smirking, Sakura reached for an explosive tag. If she was going down, she was bringing a few of them with her.

Sakura suddenly felt jarred and strained...like a puppet on a string...

She was crouching now, her fingers closed in a familiar seal--as was Kabuto and every one of his 'creations'.

"Hey! Forehead Girl! I know it's hard, but try not to do anything stupid."

"Ino!" Sakura cried gratefully as Shikamaru released her.

"Choji! Ino! Go!" The Nara ordered.

Choji nodded as he bounded from the nearby tree: "Partial Expansion Jutsu!"

Ino smirked, forming another seal: "Mind Destruction Jutsu!"

The nearest Sharigan-wielder pounced on his comrade and began to beat him as Choji swept through their ranks--Shikamaru releasing his jutsu mere fractions of a second before the Akamichi slammed into them.

But when he got to Kabuto, he found himself attacking a log...

He had gotten away again.

"Sakura, medical transport is on their way!" Shikamaru told her when they had finally finished clearing through the enemies--leaving most alive for Tsunade to deal with, they tied them up with chakra-wire and left them for ANBU Black Ops to take care of.

"Sakura, go home. You've been here for hours." Tsunade finally said.

Sakura hesitated...she still had some work to do on Tsurara and Hebi. And Ryuu still had a nasty cut along his side she wanted to heal before it scarred. Not to mention Sasuke's battered lungs and ribcage.

"Sakura, you're out of chakra, covered in blood, injured yourself, and you've been working on them for four hours. Do I really have to tell you this isn't good for your health?" Tsunade said, planting her hand on her hip.

Conceding, the kunoichi nodded and left her friends and comrades in her master's capable hands.

But as she was washing her hands, she realized how far her home really was...the other side of the village. And it was already...

And then she remember something else...

Sai opened his door and stated, "Hey, Ugly." before he realized exactly how...

Well, to be honest, she looked like hell: She was blood-stained, dirty, her hair was caked in mud and Kami only knew what else, she was scuffed, cut, bruised, and obviously running low of chakra, sleep, and food.

"I know...I know you don't really like me...but could I stay just for tonight? And I can always stay at Ino's if..."

He stepped aside.

"Hag, it's almost one in the morning. Ino would kill you."

"Thank you." She whispered as she stepped inside.

For all of his...subtlties...Sai could accomodate his comrades with suprising efficiency.Within fifteen minutes, he hadgotten her several towels, showed her to the bathroom, andgotten her a clean set of sweat pants and a T-shirt. Shortly after that, he had a cup of tea ready for her while she waited for dinner. And within half an hour, she had showered, changed, eaten, and was sleeping peacefully in his bed. She had protested at first, but he insisted on the couch...to the point of threatening to paint a spider to chase her to the bedroom. (A little known fact about Haruno Sakura: Her fear of spiders.)
Sasuke was released early the next morning and was on his way to see Sakura when a door across from the crowded street opened...and Sakura stepped out.

In the same outfit she had worn two nights early.

With Sai.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke disappeared into the crowd.

And he actually thought they had a chance.

TBC