All rights to Naruto belong to Mishashi Kishimoto.
Sakura found refuge under a large tree in the forest. She disregarded the moss and algae that surrounded her and got to work on attending to her teammates. Her hands shook with fear for their lives as she tried to patch up the loose cuts on their skin. She put wet towels on both of their heads since they were both running a concernedly high fever.
After she finished this, she realized that there was not much else that she could do but wait for them to awaken. However, she could not risk being idle, so she got to work on a few traps that would at least stall an offender enough for her to realize a surprise attack. She knew that she could not do much with her injured ankle, but she tried her best to conceal her limp.
Sakura frequently glanced back at her two friends, especially Sasuke. With each passing minute, there seemed to be more and more dark fumes erupting from that weird mark on the back of his neck. Sasuke looked indescribably uncomfortable, but even in his unconscious state he gritted his teeth as to not make a sound.
After Sakura was done with the few basic traps she had time to set up, she went back to her boys and sat in front of them. She could not tell how long she had been sitting there, just staring at their faces, but before she knew it, the area around her had already started to darken with the setting sun. Sakura's eyes started to fall with exhaustion.
She heard a rustle in the bushes behind her and immediately sprang awake again. She drew a kunai from her pouch and turned slowly towards the intruder, stepping out from underneath the haven of the large tree. Instead of a dangerous opponent like she might have expected, a small squirrel came rushing out of the bushes towards her, making her breathe an immediate sign of relief.
However, that was before she realized that the squirrel was running straight towards one of her traps. Against her better judgment, she sprung away from her two friends and landed right in front of the squirrel, effectively halting it. She questioned herself on why she did not just throw a kunai, since leaping into the open left her vulnerable to attack.
Shoot, why did I do that? She asked herself. She rolled her eyes at her own idiocy and focused her attention on the squirrel that was in front of her. Its eyes were wide with curiosity and a certain degree of fear due to the fact of her being of an exponentially larger size.
"If food's what you want, I don't have any for you." She said simply, feeling a bit silly for talking to an animal that probably couldn't understand her. She was about to turn around to check on the condition of her trap before she noticed a small white wrapping on the squirrel's back. Stepping forward cautiously, she set her eyes on the cryptic pattern on the squirrel's back. It was one that she was very familiar with.
Before the squirrel had time to act, Sakura had scooped it up and quickly disposed of the paper bomb by attaching it to a kunai and flying it into a neighboring tree. Upon impact, an explosion sent the tree crashing down and the dirt of the ground around her to swirl into a monstrous hurricane of dust. She covered her eyes with her forearm, still keeping the poor creature that she had just saved cradled to her breast. She wondered who would be so cruel to exploit innocent life in order to get to her.
"Well, well, well, it looks like the little girl saw through our little trap." Said a penetrating voice through the wall of smoke in front of her. Sakura could not help but let out an audible gasp as she jumped backwards, careful not to trigger the hazards she had created to protect herself.
As the smoke cleared, she could make out three distinct figures, each of them approaching her with caution despite the imperceptible barrier between them. Then, as the color returned to their figures, the first thing that Sakura caught a glance of was their Hitai-ate. A musical note was displayed proudly in the middle of the steel plating, boasting its significance over her.
The Hidden Sound? She thought to herself. She had never encountered a Sound ninja in battle before, and this fact made her shiver and cradle the squirrel closer for support. However, the squirrel, who was struck with fright as its perpetrators closed in, forced its way out of Sakura's grip and disappeared into the bushes.
Once again, Sakura was completely alone.
Sakura clenched her teeth and stuck her hand in her back pocket, pulling out a kunai and flicking it around her index finger in an attempt to threaten them. However, both she and they knew that nothing she could have done would cause them to retreat.
"What do you want?" She asked, securing her stance in front of her two friends.
"Nothing to do with you. So, if you don't mind, please step aside. It is Sasuke who we want to fight." The mummy man said. His face tilted to the side in a way that should not have been humanly possible, and that sent shivers running down Sakura's spine. However, she refused to relent.
"He's injured, and even if he wasn't, I wouldn't allow him to fight you. Either leave or…"
"Or what, little girl? I can blow you away with a single jutsu; you're hardly a match for even one of us." The dark-haired male said, his eyes wide with frustration and mockery. She was not unaccustomed to getting those kinds of looks from her past tormentors.
"Zaku, remember our mission." The mummy muttered to his teammate. He was met with a furious glare.
"I know, Dosu. Stay out of this." He said before he turned back to Sakura. "You're really making me mad now, Pinky. Step aside or I'll move you." He threatened. Sakura had no words to respond with, but she held her ground, meeting his glower with her own. "Okay then." He said as he prepared to impel towards her.
"Hang on, Zaku." The man called Dosu said as he stepped forward and uncovered a patch of grass that she had dug up. She scowled at him, but did not fret. "This kind of grass does not grow in this part of the forest, and the discoloration gives away an obvious trap. If you are going to set a trap, it's best to make it less noticeable." He said, a slight condescending tone appearing in his voice.
"You're right." Sakura said. "Or maybe the conspicuousness is the trap." Right as she said her last word, an explosion went off, right from underneath the ground.
What would be the actual point of digging a hole if someone were to climb out of it? She was in no condition to dig one so deep that they would not be able to, so she decided on an alternative: there would be a stash of paper bombs inside the hole, so if someone were to lift the ground cover, they would immediately activate. Smoke filled the area, which made it harder for her to see the position of her opponents. She frowned at this, not thinking that her plan would give her less of a vantage point.
"Hey, not bad." She heard a mocking voice say; one that sounded like it came from that Zaku guy. However, this voice did not come from in front of her, but from above her. She quickly turned her gaze upward to see that the three of them had descended from the trees and were coming towards her. She quickly tore her kunai into the wire she had set up beside her, releasing the log from above.
The presence of the obstacle did not faze them in the slightest, and Dosu just blew it to pieces without a second thought. Sakura grinned at this, knowing what would happen next.
As the log broke, a net of thin wires entrapped all of them, sending them to the ground as if the strings were made of a heavy metal. That was because she had her own chakra infused into it. It was a risk, for she had never done something like that before. Kakashi had taught her how to fuse chakra into her own body parts, so she thought that a chakra-net would make a much more efficient weapon that just regular wire. Sakura knew that she had to take this opportunity to escape.
However, the net did not hold them for long; Sakura found this out when she heard a piercing sound permeate through the air, making her cover her ears. Nevertheless, she still saw the net that she had tried so hard to make be swept away by a burst of wind. Her eyes widened as she realized that all of her traps had been activated. There was absolutely nothing she could do then to escape the situation.
Zaku stood up first, his face turned downwards so that she could not see an expression. However, she could see that his shoulders were moving up and down rapidly, as they would be doing if he was either laughing or crying. She had a large sense of doubt in her mind that he was even remotely sad.
Her assumption was correct because in the next moment, he burst out into a maniacal laugh that made her stagger back a little bit, closer to her two teammates that could not provide her the support she needed.
Zaku laughed for a full minute, even making his own teammates look at him as if he were crazy. When he finished, he set his eyes right upon her. He was smiling a killer's smile; his eyes were wide with anger and antagonism. There was actually a cut over his right eye, and it seemed to be bleeding substantially. However, he made no move to apply pressure or cover it up and just let the blood exude from his wound and stain his shirt.
In all honesty, it made him look even more like a psychopath.
"Now you're gonna die, Pinky." He said in a demonic voice as he slowly came towards her. Against her better judgment, Sakura moved out from underneath her shelter, refusing to back down from someone who threatened her and her friends. She knew that she had no choice but to fight him, and if her boys had taught her anything, it was that it was best to face a problem head-on.
However, Sakura knew her odds against them. They were bigger, and most likely stronger, than her. She would be lucky to take even one out, but the fact that there were three was concerning. She had to be clever rather than try to best them in strength.
Zaku still crept towards her, like a serial murderer closing in on his prey. The other two stood behind him, looking a little peeved that he was taking his own sweet time about his revenge. This gave Sakura a small opening.
Dexterously, she attached a paper bomb to a kunai with one hand a flung it at her opponent, quite aware that he was more than capable of dodging it. When he did so, a satirical smile graced his face.
"Is that all-?" He started before an explosion was set off behind him, effectively making him turn to realize his mistake. It was then that Sakura infused her chakra into her feet to spring her forward.
"Leaf Hurricane!" She said as she delivered a spinning side kick to Zaku's jaw, sending him into the tree adjacent to her with a dramatic thud. He slowly slid down the tree and looked as though he had passed out.
Hm, that was easier than I thought. Sakura thought to herself. However, she had no real time for praise before a sudden piercing wind cut through her skin and sent her flying back towards her teammates, almost making her lie directly inside the tree with them. Sakura slowly rose to her feet, aware of the aches and pains that scoured her body.
She heard a strange ringing noise and held her ear in discomfort. It was similar to the high-pitched noise one would hear after an explosion, but this caused her gnawing pain. She withdrew her hand from her head to see that it was covered in blood, making her eyes widen as she hyperventilated out of fear.
The sound made her slightly lose her balance, but she struggled to keep herself standing. She looked directly towards Dosu, who seemed to be smirking behind his wrappings. If Sakura had any more strength within her, then she would have tried to smack it off of his face.
"What did you do to me?" Sakura asked as she tried to focus on his figure, which became increasingly blurry by the minute.
"Sound may not be tangible, but it is one of the body's worst enemies. When your ear is hit with such a piercing sound, your brain starts to lose balance quickly. I must commend you on your resilience thus far. However, your evasion will not happen again." He said as he readied the contraption on his arm once more.
Sakura braced herself to jump away from the dangerous vibrations that he would emit, but she suddenly found herself on the ground with a sharp pain in her ankle. The situation she had been in must have numbed her pain for her own survival. However, she was now vulnerable because her ankle could not take any more pressure on it. If she was lucky, it had not been completely shattered with the jumping around that she had to do.
Sakura started to feel the aftereffects of the adrenaline, quickly bringing her into exhaustion. The girl, who Sakura had noticed had not been named yet, started to cackle evilly as she looked at Sakura's weakened state. Out of her periphery, Sakura saw Zaku stumble a bit from the tree that she had kicked him into. He never took his demented eyes off of her, and he looked at her as if he wanted her to die a most painful and cruel death, which he probably did.
"Let me finish her." Zaku growled out. "I'll make her regret ever messing with us." Another smile appeared on the maniac's face. Sakura tried to pull herself up using her upper body, but her ankle would not cooperate. "Oh, so she can still move?" Zaku asked as he took slow strides towards her. "I'll make sure to change that." Zaku said as he pointed his palms straight at her.
Sakura felt her heart rate quicken as she realized that she might be at the brink of death. Everything that she had worked for, everything she had struggled to achieve, was all for nothing. In the end, she did not become a revered ninja like she had hoped. She was nothing but a failure.
No…She thought to herself. That's not true…
She had still made so many good friends over the course of her journey. She had become so close to Naruto that he was basically her best friend, something that he had never been before. When she had seen the smile that was on his face when she had decided to give him her time, she realized how spoiled she had really been. He had become a constant in her life, and he would never be able to understand how much his presence meant to her.
Lee had been the single most inspiring person throughout her entire journey. Not only was he reliable and patient, but he was also supportive when no one else had been. He was the first one to believe in her when the whole world tried to tell her that she would not amount to anything. If anything, Lee had made her who she was.
She had even gotten on genial terms with Sasuke, who she knew had hated her for her tenacity in gaining his affections. She had never stopped to look at him as a person, which was ironic for someone who claimed to be in love with him. Her journey had made her consider other people's feelings before her own, and she realized now that a part of being teammates is the will to abdicate everything one has for the wants of another. If Sasuke had taught her anything other than how to deal with assholes, it was how to be mature and how to stop relying on emotions to do the fighting.
Then…there was the Hyuuga. He was not someone she was even remotely fond of, and he did nothing to encourage her to be who she was. However, even she had to admit that he had had a profound impact on her perception of herself. He made her see that if one wants to achieve greatness, they will have to put in their hard work and effort. If it was not for his blundered logic, she might not have had the same motivation to carry out her goal.
All of them – they had made a deep impression in her. They were not people whom she wanted to disappoint, and definitely not people she wanted to see hurt. At that moment, when she was struggling to look at death in the face, she had never felt more blessed that her life had turned out the way it did. If the time had come, she would die happily.
However, she refused to believe that time had come. Not when her friends were injured and in need.
Sakura struggled to get to her feet, staggering a little to keep her weight off of her injured ankle. Dosu and Kin looked surprise at her ability to move, but Zaku ultimately seemed unaffected by her attempts to resist him. She saw a small vortex appear around his palms and knew that she had to do something in order to counteract his attack.
Sakura readied a position she knew Lee would never approve of. She had only seen him do it a couple of times, but she was a quick visual learner. She knew that she would never be able to pull it off with the same kind of speed that Lee had, but it was the only shot she had.
At the first instance of the sharp dissonance, Sakura had collected any remaining chakra she had in her and leaped out of the way before spinning a bit on the pad of her uninjured foot before propelling herself toward her enemy.
Her technique was flawed, she decided as her body gained proximity to her opponent's. She would never be able to accomplish what Lee had done without practice and guidance. The fact that she did not know the Eight Gates did not help either. So, instead of making a poor imitation of the move, she made it her own.
"Lotus-style: Primary Blossom!" She yelled as she infused her chakra into the top of her foot to kick Zaku into the air. His teammates' eyes followed accordingly, but if she pulled this off right, she would deal with them later.
It was the slight moment of hesitation she had when she was deciding what to do next that Zaku had gained control of the situation again. He had blown her back with another wave of sound, but not before Sakura had used the last of her strength to kick him towards the ground, just as Lee did with his Front Lotus. As she descended from her position, she could not help but inwardly smile, for she impacted him right in his face.
The only thing that had stopped her head from making an impression in the ground was the fact that the girl, who had been silent the entire time, had caught her by her hair, leaving her body to absorb the excruciating pain of the forest floor.
The black-haired girl pulled at her ponytail with great force, and she could feel a few strands of her pink locks being ripped out of her head. Through her blurry eyes, she could vaguely see the red that covered her injured ankle. It was pointed in a peculiarly abstruse angle – one that must not have been natural. She dared not move it for fear that she would injure it more than she already had.
"What a shame, you little brat." The Sound kunoichi tsked as she continued to pull harder on Sakura's hair. "You've caused my team a great deal of trouble, and I can't say I'm fond of your persistence." Another tug ensued. "But I'm pretty sure that Zaku would want to finish you off himself when he wakes up."
Despite the massive headache she was getting, she could still bite back with her own comment. "That was what he said before, but look at the heap he is in now." She remarked as she looked towards Zaku; his face was in the dirt and he struggled to move his limbs. However, much to Sakura's disdain, he was still conscious. She grimaced at her circumstances, knowing that there was a small chance that she was going to get out of the situation with the damage she had done to their teammate.
"Kin, keep her under control. No one knows what else she has up her sleeve." The mummy said as he crept closer and closer towards the tree where Sasuke and Naruto laid. Sakura strained her neck to look at the imposing figure as he walked agonizingly slow in order to cause Sakura a long, dreadful pain. Sakura felt her tears flow down her cheeks at her hopelessness. With the kunoichi holding her hair and her friends unconscious, she was completely helpless.
She had failed them…again.
No… A voice said from within her. It's not over until you're dead. They are trying to hurt your friends. The voice sounded like Inner, but it was much deeper, much more solemn. It sounded more like a monster than the sarcastic, perverted, humorous ego that she had known all of her life. Kill them…
The voice growled so low that Sakura almost though that she had mistaken its words. She could not do that! They were people, just like her. She would not become like them; she refused to become as bloodthirsty as they were.
They are trying to get to Sasuke and Naruto. Kill them! The voice said as Dosu reached the opening to her refuge. Unless you truly want them to die…
No! I'll never let them die…
Sakura brought out her kunai and clutched it tightly in her hands. Kin had noticed this and smirked, bemused at the pitiful attempts to combat her.
I'll never let them die…
"You really think that is going to do anything? You're more stupid than-" Her sentence was suddenly cut short as she was sent tumbling backwards from the lack of support he could hold onto. The only things that she saw before she hit the ground were the strands of blossom-pink hair that ruffled in the movement of her hands. Sakura did not turn back to see the old part of her fall to the ground and get swept away by the wind. She brought a hand to her neck and rubbed it, familiarizing herself with its bareness. She then stood up slowly, her opponent's eyes following her every move.
You better not let them die. The voice reiterated again with solemn authority.
Kunai in hand, Sakura sprang towards her offender, who was still on the ground in shock. Once she had gotten over her initial paralysis, she had pulled out a kunai for herself and blocked Sakura's attack, but was not balanced enough to prevent herself from falling onto her back. She looked up at Sakura's face as she struggled to keep her sharp object from penetrating her skin. The girl's eyes, still their normal jade green, had been filled with an emotion that Kin had never imagined the girl could exhibit.
Sakura could feel herself hyperventilating as her muscles implored her to stay down. However, she did not have the mind to listen to them. After she had gotten Kin on the ground, she quickly sprang up and made her way straight for Dosu, who had been diverted from his endeavor because of the commotion behind him. Sakura was not as fast as she would have liked, since all of her chakra was depleted, but she was able to push her muscles to the limit in order to approach him.
Dosu quickly brought the metal device on his arm up, effectively blocking her attack. Sakura, however, had anticipated this, and kicked him in the back of the leg with her uninjured foot so that he lost his balance. Then, in a volatile decision, she quickly took a swing at the man, not expecting it to have had the impact that it did.
She had slashed through his eyes.
Dosu fell to the floor, holding his face and moaning with pain. His fur coat attached to the back of him was stained with the blood that pooled around him. He did not dare to detach his hand from his eyes for fear that he would bleed out.
"Dosu!" Kin cried out as she watched her teammate fall to the floor. She was not as worried about his safety as she was for her own. How could that small girl, as injured as she was, have enough strength to even continue fighting? Now's my chance. She's probably drained of all the chakra she has. She has no chance against me. She thought sinisterly as she carefully took out her senbon.
Sakura was still staring at the flailing body of her, her unseemly-cut hair shading her eyes. She looked down at the kunai who had cut through his flesh to see that his blood was slowly dripping off of it. The sight made her breath catch in her throat. She wanted to cry, to kneel down beside him and say that she was sorry. However, he was the enemy, and what she did was right in order to protect those she cared about.
Good…now take care of that one. The voice dictated to her just as Kin charged towards her with the intent to kill. Sakura only narrowly dodged the senbon that were thrown at her, but she was not quick enough to stop Kin from tackling her to the ground. Kin clutched the senbon in her hands as she forced them close to Sakura's face, against her violent protests. Kin managed to drag the needles down her left cheek and her throat, making three identical claw marks in their wake. Sakura cried out in pain as she tried even harder to push the girl off of her.
Black filled her vision as she struggled to stay awake, already knowing that she had gone well-passed her limit. Kin was about to take another stab at her when Sakura grabbed her wrist, effectively halting her assault.
"How do you even have strength left to fight?" Kin cried with frustration. "Just be a good girl and die!" Kin finally managed to stab all three of her senbon into Sakura's right shoulder, and had the puncture been any more accurate, it would have torn through her artery. Regardless, Sakura was still bleeding profusely.
Along with the black dots that already hindered her focus, her vision became blurry from the tears of her pain. She gritted her teeth to prevent her from wailing out loud; she would not give her opponent that satisfaction.
Through her struggle, she managed to crane her neck towards her friends, both still knocked out and oblivious to what was happening. Sasuke winced in severe pain as his hand unconsciously went to his neck, where it was still emitting that strange purple fume. He looked so vulnerable. She had never seen Sasuke like that before, nor did she ever fathom that he could look like that.
I'll never let them die…
She then focused her attention on her assailant, who was using all of her strength to claw at Sakura. Sakura noticed it in her eyes: she was afraid, just like her. It was probably due to her attack on her teammate, which even scared Sakura herself. However, she had no room for pity against an enemy, and if she was trying to harm her, than she would sure as hell defend herself.
Sakura grabbed Kin's wrist again, and with all remaining strength she had left, she twisted her wrist and sent her own senbon into the base of her neck. It was a dangerous blow, but the wound was not deep enough to be fatal. Kin staggered back, first out of shock, but then out of pain. In her panic, she unfortunately ripped out all of the senbon from her neck, thus making it bleed profusely. Kin started to choke on her own blood as it started to drip out of her mouth. She was fading in and out of consciousness, just like Dosu beside her.
Despite her victory in getting Kin off of her, Sakura had no time to rest. In the next moment, she was covering her ears and screaming as a huge gust of wind and a dissonant screech entered her ears. Her hand left her open shoulder wound, leaving it with nothing to stop her from bleeding out. However, this was not concern to Sakura as she remained withered on the floor from the attack. She curled herself into a protective ball as if it would block out the horrible sound. However, nothing she could do could assuage the pain that was brought upon her. She had no more strength to do anything.
"It's time to die, you brat!" A voice screamed, and although Sakura could not see the owner, she knew it was Zaku, who had seemed to regain his consciousness.
Suddenly, the incursion stopped, allowing Sakura to finally breathe again. However, this relief did not last for long, as the pain that wracked Sakura's body had finally begun to take a toll of her. She could feel herself falling out of consciousness, which numbed the pain that she felt on her shoulder and everywhere else.
The last thing she heard before she blacked out was an agonizing scream. The last thing she saw was a faint trail of a purple fume.
When Sakura had awoken, she was in someone's arms. She listened to the heartbeat of the person next to her, which was too fast to be anywhere near the state of calm. Her whole body felt numb, as if she was in temporary paralysis. Her chest felt heavy as though she had been underwater for hours.
Sakura made a futile attempt to move her arms, which only ended in a sharp sting of pain. Sakura visibly grimaced, which alerted the person next to her. The arms around her tightened softly, yet cautiously in case any sudden movement would harm her.
"Sakura-chan? Can you hear me?" A familiar, yet blurry voice called out to her. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but her that felt so dry that the only thing that resonated from her was a fit of coughs. The person next to her called out for the others to help her. It was then that she took the chance to open her eyes. To her relief, she saw no other than her own teacher, Rock Lee.
"Sakura-chan!" Another voice exclaimed as it made its way over to her. She could tell just by the volume that it was Naruto, who immediately skidded to her side. Although her eyes were still sensitive to the light, she could make out his messy blonde hair and his worried face. Naruto gave a huge sigh of relief at the sight of her green eyes, which reassured him that she was okay. "You scared us, Sakura-chan! What would we have done if something happened to you?" There were tears in Naruto's eyes; Sakura wished she had the strength to reach up and wipe them away.
"Naruto…" Sakura croaked out, barely audible to herself, "are… are you and Sasuke… alright?" Sakura breathed out. Naruto shook his head frantically to try to rid his eyes of his tears.
"Don't worry about us, you idiot! You almost died!" Naruto exclaimed. "I don't even know what happened! I only remember fainting after some snake-lady bit Sasuke on the neck, and the next thing I know, Teme and Freak Eyes are standing outside in the clearing and Bushy Brow over here is trying to stop you from bleeding." Sakura turned her gaze towards the other sitting next to her, making him look down at her worriedly.
It then all came back to her. She remembered cutting her hair to try to keep Dosu away. She remembered the injuries she had afflicted on her enemies, all the bloodlust that she had felt within her. She remembered that voice in her head, which had only a small resemblance to Inner, telling her to kill in order to live.
Sakura's eyes shot open and she started to hyperventilate, scaring the two boys beside her. They tried to restrain her before she hurt herself more. However, Sakura could not think about the pain when all she saw on the ground around her was blood. She was unsure if it was hers or her enemy's, but regardless, it scared her to no end.
"What have I done? What have I done?" She repeated incessantly as she flailed against her two friends.
"Sakura-chan! Stop!" Naruto cried as he tried to restrain her. It took a few moments before Sakura had finally calmed down, and she had immediately turned towards Naruto and buried her face into his chest.
"What have I done?" She repeated again as her body shook with sobs.
Despite her grief over her inhumane actions, there was a part of her – a small part that she wished was not there – that took pride in her fight.
Hello everyone! I know I said that I would be out for longer, but I wasn't really doing anything, so I decided to pick up this story again! Thank you all for the support you have shown me over the past few months, because it truly means a lot to me to have such supportive readers.
What do you guys think of this new side of Sakura? I thought that it would add a little bit of drama to the story because of her growing internal conflict. Please tell me what you guys think, because it would really be appreciated. Also, tell me if you like these longer chapters, or would you rather them be shorter?
Anyway, I hope that everyone is having a fantastic day wherever you are and that you all have a very Happy Holidays! See you guys next time!