Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto. Sadly, I never will. Even if it went up for sale, I couldn't come up with enough money to buy it even if I had 3 years to collect the money... So much for that dream. :(

I want say a huge thanks to all my reviewers, followers, and/or favoriters(is that even a word?)! You have no idea how much even something as small as a review means to me! Heck, even a view means a ton! Thanks so much for making it this far in my story! I honestly never believed I'd make it this far... Hopefully you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 12; Reality Strikes

The two ninja paused at the entrance of the Hidden Leaf, gasping for breath. They had come as quickly as possible to deliver the dark news. Exchanging a glance, they both broke into a desperate dash for the Hokage Residence, where Lady Tsunade was waiting.

Tearing through town without bothering to respond to any of the citizens calling out to them for whatever reason, the two ninjas arrived at the building in a matter of minutes. They continued their dash and darted inside to find the Fifth Hokage.

"Lady Hokage!" Kiba yowled as he burst in the door, Akamaru close at his side. Shino was only a few paces behind him.

Tsunade turned, her brown eyes filled with a mix of annoyance and curiosity. Those eyes widened when she realized who it was. "Shino? Kiba? What are you doing here?! How are you back from your mission so early? Where are Hinata and Naruto?"

Kiba acted as if he were about to respond, but only broke into a fit of panting, just like Akamaru. He just didn't have enough breath to share the news.

Shino was able to get enough air sooner. "Lady Tsunade… We have something tragic to report…"

The Hokage's eyes widened. No… They can't mean… No, it has to be something else… "What is it?!"

"Naruto and Hinata… They've both disappeared."

"Disappeared?!" Please tell me it isn't the Akatsuki… Or someone else who wants the Nine Tail's Power…

"And…" Kiba added, "There was a lot of Naruto's blood at the scene… Far more than someone alive could afford to lose…"

What?! Naruto is dead?! "Is there any chance he could have survived?!"

Kiba hesitated, then murmured, "Doubtful. Really, really doubtful."

Tsunade glanced away. No… Not another one… She shivered at the memory of the other two she had cared about, who had been torn away from her. Her kid brother and her lover… Those two had shared a dream with Naruto; to be Hokage one day. She had truly believed that Naruto could do it…

"Uh, Lady Tsunade? That isn't the worst of it," Kiba said softly. Behind him, Akamaru whimpered.

This caught the Hokage's attention. "What do you mean, not the worst of it?!"

Shino interjected there. "There was one other main scent that Kiba found at the scene. And it belonged to Sakura Haruno."

Sakura slowly came to. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. Pulling herself to her knees, the pinkette glanced around.

She was still in the cave. Outside, she could see the silhouettes of the trees through the misty rain. And next to the opening sat Sasuke Uchiha, staring out into the rain.

His muscular form was only that against the rain; a form. His back was to her. Any part of his face was blocked by his raven hair. Perfectly motionless, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if he had been turned to stone. But if she listened carefully, she could hear his steady breathing through the pounding of the rain.

"You're awake." His words pierced through the silence around them.

"Yup." Sakura responded. She shakily drew herself to her feet, fighting the sorrow that swelled in her heart. Leaning against the wall, she gazed at his silent back. "When are we leaving?" she quietly asked.

"Once the rain lightens up."

She nodded, although he wouldn't be able to see it. As she thought about it, the fact that it was raining made perfect sense. They were extremely close to the Land of Rain, where it always, well, rained. It was surprising that there had been a dry spell at all. Rain shouldn't have been unexpected.

"Why can't we go now?" Sakura grumbled. This cave was giving her claustrophobia with how stuffy it was… She just wanted to go back home… Or at least her new home. Waiting wasn't her friend right now.

Bluntly, he stated, "Because you could use the rest."

"I feel fine! Let's go already. We might as well take advantage of the weather; few will be out in the insufferable rain." Sakura responded hotly.

"At least heal yourself a little first," he murmured distantly. Sakura couldn't help but feel irked towards his aloofness. He was treating her like a little child. But the pinkette didn't argue and just set herself to the busying task of healing the wounds she had received during the battle.

The moment that she done healing her scratches and bruises from the brutal battle, Sakura shot to her feet. She was ready to get the heck out of this place. But a wave of light-headedness washed over her, making her feel nauseous. Apparently she had a lot less chakra than she thought…

Shaking the feeling away, Sakura took a few wobbly steps. She glanced over at Sasuke, hoping that he hadn't noticed her exhaustion. He would surely make her stay and rest… But the dark ninja hadn't even moved an inch. He sat there silently, a silhouette against the endless downpour outside.

"Done. Let's go!" Sakura told him. She had regained her footing and was adjusting to the queasiness she was feeling. Hopefully he wouldn't really notice…

Without a word, he stood up and turned to face her. His black eyes gleamed coldly at her like twin shards of shadow. "Then let's go back to Orochimaru."

"Oh… Right…" Sakura trailed off, realizing just what she would get to come home to.

Without another word, Sasuke turned and stepped out into the rain. In a matter of seconds he was thoroughly soaked, his raven hair hanging down in heavy spikes. But not even the icy rain could change those cold eyes of his.

Sakura took a step uneasily towards him. "Wait, Sasuke? Can… Can we do something before going back?" she murmured quietly.

Uchiha hesitated, then growled, "What?"

"Can… Can we go back to Konoha? Just really quickly… But I just want to know… Uh…"

His icy gaze softened the slightest bit, barely enough to be noticed. "To see if they realize what happened; to see the effect of your actions."

She nodded hesitantly, her emerald gaze on the ground. Her soft pink hair hung down in her face.

After an uneasy pause, Sasuke grunted, "Hn." But Sakura knew it was his way of saying 'yes'.

"Thanks…" she murmured, puzzling why he would agree to something like this. He didn't seem as unbearable as she thought him to be… With a shake of her head, the pinkette dismissed those thoughts. No. He was a rogue who had tried to kill her countless times; he had proven to be a danger to her home town on numerous occasions and didn't give a thought to the wellbeing of his old friends. Now wasn't the time to be thinking such soft thoughts.

He said nothing and turned back to the rain. Without another word, the two ninjas raced off into the mist downpour and headed out in the direction of Konoha.

The announcement had pained every inch of her, but the Fifth Hokage had to do her duty. She had to protect this village in which she loved and inform them of what had happened.

Now the entire village knew the truth; Sakura Haruno had betrayed the village by killing their hero, Naruto Uzumaki. She had become a rogue and was to be captured at any cost, regardless of whatever excuses she made. And if necessary, every shinobi had the order to kill her.

But every part of Lady Tsunade screamed that there had to be some mistake. Sakura, her sweet apprentice, a rogue? It didn't make any sense! But she knew not to doubt the nose of an Inuzuka. That clan knew its tracking skills. If Kiba and Akamaru had smelled Sakura there, then she was there, without a doubt.

Silently, the Hokage prayed that they wouldn't have to kill her. If she could just talk to Sakura to find out why… It wouldn't excuse the kunoichi's crime, but it would settle some of the uneasy in the Hokage's heart.

But she had other matters to attend to, like explaining to the Hyuga clan what happened to their leader's oldest daughter. They were outraged by the word of what happened, not to mention heartbroken. Hinata had proven to her entire clan that she really was the rightful heir of the clan. Her father had doubted her because she had been too weak, even rejecting her as clan heir and selecting her younger sister take her place. But Hinata wouldn't give up; she continued to grow strong by training furiously with her cousin Neji. At last, the clan had accepted her once again as the rightful heir, only to lose her now.

Of course, Neji Hyuga had come right away and demanded to know exactly what happened. When he heard of what happened to Sakura, he demanded that he be put on the team that would hunt her down. Lady Tsunade said she would consider the request, since she hadn't created the team yet, but said nothing more.

Now, the second day of knowing the stressful news was drawing to a close. With a deep sigh, the Fifth Hokage reached for her bottle of sake. She took a sip, allowing the liquid to flow down her throat, before setting the bottle back down.

What sort of a mess was Sakura in to get her to actually kill Naruto? What could have happened? Silently, the kunoichi cursed her luck. Why had she been foolish enough to send her apprentice in? What the heck did Orochimaru do? Too many questions with no answers. It was all the Hokage could do to keep from screeching her frustration to the sky.

But doing that wouldn't do anything to help the situation. She was swimming in her frustration and exhaustion. The Sakura-retrieval team would have to wait until tomorrow. So Tsunade just took another regretful gulp of her sake.

It felt so good to be out of the rain at last… But Sakura still didn't feel any better about where she was going.

Here, at the edges of Konoha, she lurked with her partner. Why she was waiting she didn't know. But she couldn't bring herself to come any closer. To actually enter the village was far too dangerous, but she couldn't even bring herself to come any closer than where she was; the top of a hill that supplied a decent view of the village, yet was a few miles away.

From the shadows of the trees, Sasuke watched her. His impatience was obvious, and not because of a failed attempt to try and hide it. He wanted her to know how he was feeling. He had expected her to at least do something more than just stare out at the village in the distance, and clearly he didn't think that this was worth his time. Ebony eyes glared out at her, waiting for her to finish staring at the large village.

Ignoring his irritated glower, Sakura gazed out at the village. She could see the faint silhouettes of the many people in Konoha milling about through the streets. Her heart throbbed to be with them, safe and sound back home. But she couldn't. It wasn't her home anymore. Not after what she did… Even if they never found out, she couldn't bring herself to go back with the knowledge of what she did. She could never bring herself to do it. The guilt would kill her.

Sighing deeply, Sakura closed her emerald eyes. "Ok, I'm ready now…" she murmured, then turned back to look at Sasuke. Only he wasn't there. "Hello?" she asked, glancing around. But there wasn't a sign of his existence.

He abandoned me? That good for nothing—

"Sakura Haruno," a deep voice growled.

The pinkette's green eyes widened. Slowly she turned toward the voice. Before her stood a single shinobi, his leaf headband gleaming in the afternoon light. His hard eyes stayed fix on her face, a kunai firm in his hand.

"I—" She started to say.

Before she had a chance to finish, the shinobi—a jounin from the village which she recognized—interrupted her. "Sakura Haruno," he repeated, "you are under arrest for the murder of Naruto Uzumaki."

They know?! She took a slight step back, her eyes fixed firmly on the jounin's face. "Wha—"

"Don't lie. We know the truth." He glared at her; Sakura recognized disgust in his eyes towards her. She didn't know how, but they knew the truth.

Sakura glanced around to see that three more ninjas had materialized out of the nearby forest. Sakura was almost completely surrounded. If she had any hope of getting out of her, she had to move now.

Bunching her muscles, the kunoichi lunged backwards. She twisted around in midair and raced into the forest behind her. But she heard the sounds of pursuit behind her and knew that they were on their way.

The trees flashed past as Sakura scrambled from branch to branch. She tore through the forest, keeping her pursuers in her peripheral vision. But she couldn't shake them, no matter how hard she ran. Luckily, she knew the terrain very well and knew what areas to avoid. Yet she still they clung right on her heels.

Sasuke, where the heck are you?! Sakura wailed in her head. Her partner had abandoned her… He left her to die here in the hands of the Hidden Leaf.

Rounding a bend, Sakura skidded to a halt in alarm. Right in front of her were five shinobi, all of them wielding weapons and pointing them towards her. She turned and saw her pursuers land right behind her. She was trapped.

Before she had a chance to move again, two of the shinobi surrounding her threw shuriken at her. The blades whizzed past her, almost nicking her arms. But the path of the weapons caused them to circle around her multiple times, pulling the thin strings attached to the blades. Those strings wrapped tightly around Sakura, pinning her arms to her side and her legs together. Before the kunoichi had the chance to try and break free, chains replaced the strings. She was caught.

They dragged her through the forest none too gently. Closer and closer to Konoha they brought her. But she said nothing. She knew what was going to happen. She knew that her master would come running the moment she heard the news about Sakura. She knew that she could try to explain herself. And she knew that it would determine her fate.

From the shadows, a lone man watched. His onyx eyes stayed fixed on the Leaf shinobi and their prisoner, watching and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Sakura had accused him of abandoning her. Uchiha knew that much. He didn't even have to ask her to know that she had done it. She never trusted him in the first place. But he had sensed the oncoming ninjas and disappeared to avoid being seen. He didn't have the chance to warn Sakura of what was happening. It all happened to quickly. Now he just had to bid his time and wait for the right moment to free his partner.

The shinobi stopped in a clearing and positioned themselves around the pinkette, prepared to hold off any attack until the Hokage arrived. Sakura just crouched in the center silently, making sure that she had enough chakra to break the chains should it prove necessary. In their haste to capture her, the Leaf ninjas hadn't used chakra absorbing chains. The ones they had used shouldn't take too much chakra to break.

Lady Tsunade didn't keep the pinkette waiting for long. She appeared at the edge of the clearing only minutes after they arrived. Breathing deeply to catch her breath, the Hokage studied her apprentice, bound in chains at the center of the clearing. Sakura's bright green eyes met her master's brown ones, waiting for her to speak.

After a slight hesitation, the Hokage's gaze hardened. "Sakura Haruno. You are under arrest for the murder of Naruto Uzumaki," she announced formally to the kunoichi.

Sakura strained against the chains and responded, "Let me explain!"

Her brown gaze softened the slightest bit. "Sakura… No explanation could explain away this crime. You killed the hero of Konoha. No reason is good enough."

"What? No! Just let me—"

The Hokage shook her head ever so slightly. "Take her back to the Leaf for interrogating. This isn't over—not yet, anyway." Without another word, the Hokage turned and strolled back towards Konoha.

Sakura crouched there, her eyes wide and full of shock. "Give me… A chance…" she whispered hollowly. Her gaze fell to the ground. Why won't you listen to me?! Just give me a chance to explain! She whimpered to herself. But her teacher, her master, her sensei didn't come back. Lady Tsunade had gone.

A tug at the chains brought Sakura back to the present. She snapped her head up and dug her feet into the ground. She couldn't let them capture her… Not like this. Not if the Hokage wouldn't even listen.

The kunoichi channeled her chakra to her arms, feeling the monster strength surge up inside of her. After enough of it had built, she strained against the chains as hard as she could, using as little chakra as necessary to break the metal links. They creaked in protest but only lasted a matter of seconds before shattering. Sakura punctuated this with a loud, "Cha!"

The shinobi tugging at the chains stumbled back at the sudden release of pressure. All of the others tensed and pulled out their weapons, caught off guard but still ready to fight to bring this rogue down. Sakura knew that she couldn't take them all on… She was as good as trapped. They knew it, she knew it. It was only a matter of time.

Six shuriken whizzed past Sakura's ear from behind her. She flinched but they weren't aimed at her. The pinkette watched as the weapons imbedded themselves deep into several of the shinobi in front of her. They all fell to the ground in agonizing pain.

Turning, Sakura stared over her shoulder at the one who had stepped out of the shadows. He stood, his spiky raven hair ruffled by the breeze. Muscular arms and chest rippled under his high-collared white shirt. Blazing red sharigan glaring out on his enemies. It was Sasuke Uchiha.

"S-S-Sasuke! I thought you—"

His strong words interrupted the pinkette. "Sakura."

Her eyes met his. "What?" she asked quietly.

"Run."

A/N; Poor Sakura... I'm so evil to her... Well, here's another chapter! Hope it met your expectations!

I really hate to say this, but I'm having serious writer's block on this story... I know a little of what I want to happen, but not enough!:(
Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm giving up on this story. I've found the only options with a writer's block is to either wait however long it takes to get ideas back or to push through it. I'm choosing the later, so no promises about how amazing the next chapters are going to be in relation to the former ones (although I'm not sure if any of them are awesome.)

Despite my evil writer's block, I'm aiming to update 2 weeks from today; that is a Tuesday. Most of my chapters have been uploaded on Tuesdays I've noticed, so that's my aim.

Got Questions?

If you're confused on anything at all in the story, feel free to ask! I don't want any confused people walking around. No matter how stupid you think the question is, ask away! After all, the only stupid question is a question not asked. (Don't forget that I have the right to not answer any questions… don't want to give away any surprises I have in the future!)

Review, if you please!

I'd really appreciate if you'd review. Tell me what you think I should change, any ideas you have, etc… I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Have a wonderful 2 weeks waiting for the next chapter!

-Cynder7777