Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
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"Get down!"
That was the only warning Sakura got before a fire storm ripped through the medic's tent and she was thrown meters back into the open road of a deserted Konoha district.
The world around turned hazy and she scarcely recognize the environment through the fires. Then the shock began to wear off and was replaced by a searing pain down her right arm. From the ground Sakura couldn't see the wound, only feel the dizzying pain of a third degree burn.
Slowly, with practiced caution she rose to her feet, and then started a mental tally of her other wounds. A lateral flesh wound sliced open her left leg, some shrapnel needed to be removed and bandaged. But first priority called for her to search the area for the cause of the explosion.
The ground around her had been raised and where there were once buildings stood now only rubble remained. Sakura could not see anyone standing, enemy or otherwise. Shizune had been in the tent with her and dozens of injured allies. This thought sent her stumbling forward, around the ruins hoping beyond hope to find some sign of the poison expert.
"Shizune! Shizune! Goddamit someone answer me!"
PING PING
Sakura's ears perked up of the light sound of metal against metal. She strained her ears to locate the source but human ears were limited in tracking.
"Please wait! I'm summoning help!" Sakura yelled into the open air.
Quickly she performed the signs for her summoning technique. A poof of smoke appeared and Kakashi's dog Akino manifested inside it. He looked over at her then came forward to nuzzle her uninjured leg with his head in greeting. Sakura could only manage a strained smile at the pup.
She knelt down to speak to him. "I'm sorry Akino, I know you must have been on patrol with Kakashi but I need you to help me find people who've been buried under the rubble."
"I'll do what I can. But are you okay?" The ninken spoke heavily with worry and indicated her arm with his nose. Sakura petted him in response and smiled.
"Of course. Now I need you to find the source of that sound."
Sakura waited a moment and sure enough another ping ping sounded on the edge of her hearing. Akino wasted no time and took off in a north eastern direction. Sakura struggled slightly to match the pup's pace but kept moving forward as the noise grew louder.
Akino stopped just short of a large wooden column covered by several sections of wall. He barked loudly and another ping ping responded from below him. Sakura went to work immediately; she focused chakra into her hands and began the process of lifting the wall off of the beam. When it was thrown away and the dust cleared Sakura was face to face with her friend.
"Shizune! Are you all right?" Sakura knelt by the human shaped hole in the ground where Shizune held a senbon and a kunai in each hand, the source of the tapping.
"A laceration across my chest, some difficulty breathing but once that wooden beam is gone then I'll be great." Shizune said slightly breathless. Sakura nodded her understanding and went to one end of the column.
"Hold tight. Akino, I lift and you pull. Okay?"
Akino barked in the affirmative and bit down on the collar of Shizune's white coat. Sakura lifted the entire thing using the power in her legs while Akino pulled Shizune quickly out of the way before Sakura set the beam back down. She rejoined the pair as Shizune gingerly stood up, testing her limbs for damage. There were no visible wounds on her friend but that didn't eliminate internal bleeding.
Shizune surveyed the damage around them quietly; a slow burning fire was still going at the centre of where their tent had stood minutes before. She seemed to be in a little shock herself but Sakura used her distraction to probe her chest with chakra.
Sure enough there was internal bleeding. Sakura began healing her insides but standing up-right would prevent a complete job.
"What do you think happened?" Shizune whispered.
Sakura knew what she meant. There was no possible way that the enemy had broken through the gate of the village yet and the fact that Akino had been on patrol was more than proof of that. It's possible they were bombed from above but that also didn't make sense with Sai patrolling the skies. Sakura shook her head in frustration, it all seemed senseless.
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter right now. We need to look for other survivors of the explosion and wait for a message from the Hokage."
"You're right. With Akino here we should be able to find any survivors quickly. But Sakura, you should take care of those injuries."
"I'll take care of my leg for now. I can't waste any chakra on the burn though, just in case." Sakura gave Shizune a little smile to reassure her.
She knelt down and tended to the gash that a shard of glass was imbedded in. Sakura steadied her breathing then inhaled one final time and ripped the glass out with an exhale. She grunted slightly as blood pooled on the ground behind her. With a small surge of chakra Sakura sealed the wound until it stopped bleeding and all that remained was an angry line of forcefully sealed tissue.
She could not move the area too much or it would reopen. Sakura wrapped it up with the bandage from her thigh to better hold things together.
"Alright there. It's a field job but it will have to do until we regroup with-."
"Sakura down!"
Shizune shoved Sakura hard to the ground when a wave of fire rose over them. But it wasn't like a regular fire; its shape and direction were too controlled, blown from a source instead of flaming wildly. Sakura knew instantly what was coming next. Using her chakra enhanced leg she kicked Shizune far from herself as a short bladed shuriken emerged from the fire's roaring depths. It sliced through the air where Shizune had been crouching seconds before and made a full circle, returning to its wielder.
Sakura moved immediately when the fire began to recede and rushed over to where she had kicked Shizune, Akino followed dutifully at her ankles. She cringed finding Shizune sprawled out against some debris and blood seeping into her hair. Her head must have hit the cement. Sakura checked her pulse and was relieved she was only unconscious and that her kick hadn't accidentally killed a friend.
"Akino, I need you to go get help. Find one of the generals, tell them that I've located one of our targets and will engage them until backup arrives."
Akino took off towards the village gate. Hopefully the smoke and fire will attract someone faster than Akino can run. Sakura pulled off and balled up what was left of her medic's coat and placed it under Shizune's head. She marched far from her, back to what was the middle of a road.
"Hello Sakura."
Shinobi Rule #237: The medic must not be a hindrance to their team. In the event that the rest of the team is compromised, then it is up to the medic to complete the mission at all costs.
Sakura faced her attacker squarely on. She would take up this mission and fight her hardest to see it through to the end no matter what.
"Sasuke."
-X-
When Kakashi saw the explosion in the Uchiha district the instinct to find Sakura momentarily consumed him. Konoha's only medical tent had been moved from the forest to the deserted area after the frontline had been pushed back repeatedly. It was no longer safe for them outside the village. But he had to stick to his patrol unless otherwise directed by the Hokage. Currently all of the war room generals had important positions on the battlefield that were integral to winning this war.
But something had to have gone wrong to cause such a large explosion especially when the enemy had yet to breach the village. Of that he was sure.
"Kakashi." He looked back at Akino who usually remained silent while travelling with the pack.
"Sakura's summoning me." He explained.
"Go."
If he wasn't worried before then he definitely was now. But as long as she could summon dogs he could maintain his composure and focus on the task at hand. Nonetheless, Kakashi pushed himself faster, after reinforcing the seals on this ninjutsu he would go to her.
-X-
"No 'kun' this time Sakura? Have you finally gotten over me?" He chuckled darkly at her expense.
Sakura averted her eyes from his. She took in the symbolic black and red cape that billowed around his form and the sheathed sword in his hand. It wasn't easy to look straight at his face with the danger of those blood red eyes capturing her own. But she saw enough to piece together a young looking man with very short hair and a befitting aristocratic bone structure.
Sakura replied thoughtfully. "Things change all the time and despite those eyes you've been gifted with, you are blind."
The only indication that she angered him was the slight tightening of his fist. It amazed her that such a powerful and experienced shinobi as himself would let his emotions show so transparently.
"Be quiet. You're nothing but an insignificant little girl who is standing in her grave." He spat out each word.
Sakura had to keep riling him up, keep him talking and hopefully buy more time for herself.
"I found it. The mission report from fourteen years ago. Uchiha Itachi was ordered to massacre his entire clan to prevent a coup against the Konoha government. The entire record was sealed away and hidden from sight until Naruto became Hokage and purposely sought it out. He knew everything then and then I knew and then everyone knew." She continued to ramble. "When Itachi was confirmed dead, Naruto ordered for his name to be added to the cenotaph and then awarded him a medal of valour."
"That's enough!" Sasuke yelled as he charged toward her, drawing his sword.
Sakura searched the ground for the nearest weapon but there was nothing in sight that would match the power of his sword. She did the next best thing. Punching the ground hard forced the earth to fracture and explode upward.
"That trick won't work on me!" Sasuke jumped into the air to avoid the pit Sakura made and descended rapidly with a downward arc of his blade.
He expected to feel sword against flesh but instead he hit a thick wall. Sakura erected a wall of sand and cement particles, effectively separating her from Sasuke. The wall immediately began to crumble and out came Sakura's fist; laden with chakra it struck his sword dead on. The force of the punch pushed him a few feet away from her and Sakura flipped several times to put more distance between them.
Sasuke tried to remain unfazed but truthfully he was shocked at seeing a variation of Gaara's sand shield technique being used by her. How did she know how to do a technique that was essentially a bloodline limit? He glared over at the small pinked-haired nuisance that kept her eyes firmly planted at his collarbone.
"Naruto couldn't understand how your brother the martyr sacrificed himself to stop Madara and you end up disgracing him anyways. He literally gave his life for everyone in Konoha…especially for you. Then you turn around and unleash havoc on the very place he was trying to save. Isn't that ridiculous?" Sakura gave a small laugh that was far too stressed to be real.
"How did you learn that jutsu Sakura?" He asked slowly, like he was addressing a child that was too stupid to understand it any other way.
Sakura ignored his question and countered with one of her own.
"What's your plan here Sasuke? You went after the medics first. There was no point to that."
It was hard for Sakura to keep her eyes from finding his, it would be much easier to read him if she could see his whole face. He chuckled once more and Sakura realized she was losing control over the conversation and therefore over the situation.
Sasuke smiled up at her. "I came for you. Isn't that what you've always wanted? You don't need to kick up a fuss."
The smile was unnatural and unnerving. It also meant he was calm now. Teasing was never a good sign when dealing with the enemy. It meant he knew he had an upper hand.
"Naruto won't come. He may have said he wanted to fight you one last time, but that was years ago. His responsibilities as the Hokage come before everything else now."
"We'll see about that. When I use you to lure him away from the war, for your sake he'd better come." It was Sasuke's first mistake. Now Sakura knew his true intentions without having to resort to advanced interrogation techniques.
"You'd have to capture me first Sasuke." Sakura smiled at her ex-teammate.
-X-
Sakura landed one last punch on Sasuke's sword, it broke apart into several shards. It didn't slow his movements though and he retaliated with a kick to her side. Unable to do much besides absorb the blow, she slid across the ground, scraping her skin on pavement along the way before coming to a halt.
Wasting no time Sakura was back on her feet and ready to counter Sasuke's kunai with her own. They clashed back and forth, equally matched in this area of combat. But Sakura had to keep her eyes on his feet and prevent them from straying too far upwards.
Thankfully, Kakashi had trained with her since the age of eighteen to prepare for a battle against a sharingan wielder and learned that the feet were a dead giveaway for the next move.
The tenseness that thrummed through the muscle just before he turned or crouched were all followed by Sakura's trained eye. The hard part was anticipating where his arms would strike. Usually Sakura could predict her enemy's arm movements but with Sasuke, who varied technique so often made the task difficult and allowed him to earn a few cuts on her.
Sakura reeled backwards as one of those cuts landed on her forearm. Ignoring the sting, she threw her kunai at Sasuke then flew toward him with a chakra scalpel. He parried her hand but made the mistake of making skin contact allowing Sakura to sever a single charka channel in his arm.
Sasuke immediately moved away from her to assess the damage to his arm. Sakura withdrew just as quickly. Her chakra was starting to give from so much use. She watched as Sasuke attempted to mold chakra in the lower half of his arm but nothing happened. He wouldn't be able to again unless there existed a person more skilled than herself in chakra line construction.
"The only person who can reverse the damage done to your arm is me. I wouldn't have thought it before but you can't defeat me Sasuke."
He didn't seem fazed at all by her. "You're wrong. I've already beat you."
Sasuke held up his uninjured hand and snapped two fingers. In the peripheral of Sakura's vision she saw the shadow of a person jump through some of the wreckage over to an unconscious Shizune. Sakura could clearly see a kunai being raised and held against her neck.
She zeroed in on the person holding her friend hostage. It was a skeleton of a woman, her cheeks were sunken and her entire face sallow looking. Sakura remembered her as the woman travelling with Sasuke when he was sixteen, Karin.
The sickly woman held the blade still but her entire body shook with small trembles and she mumbled the same sentences over and over: "I did it Sasuke! Are you proud of me? Are you proud of me? I got the bitch."
The woman had lost or was losing her mind. Karin had never left Sasuke's side this entire time and staying with someone so completely self-absorbed, driven by hate had led to her current condition.
It would be impossible to love a monster sane.
Sakura tore her eyes away from her and refocused on Sasuke. It didn't take long for her to realize that if she left with him at twelve then she would be exactly as Karin is now… if not already dead.
Sasuke was boiling over with arrogance at having cornered Sakura into surrender. Without any other option she unclipped the weapons pouch around her waist and threw it to the ground. He had won. She could never allow Shizune to die.
Sasuke closed the distance between them in several strides and stood right in front of her. His hand came up to caress her cheek in a disturbingly loving way. Sakura felt sick and turned her head to look away.
She prayed silently for help to arrive soon. She needed strength when this man made her feel weak.
Sakura desperately wanted to see Kakashi because for once she wasn't sure she would make it home to him on her own. She didn't want to be Karin, couldn't let herself become a pawn to this revenge crazed man.
"Look at me Sa-ku-ra." Sasuke cooed to her before forcing her face towards his. It took a second for her to meet his blood red eyes and then she lost all control. Her mind spun away with those three tomoes.
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A/N: This one was pretty difficult to write. At first I was thinking that it was too long and I should make it into several parts but then I felt that my snapshots shouldn't always be at the 1000 word mark, so you get this slightly longer one instead. Hope you enjoyed.