Yah! Let's just get on with the chapter! Messages to follow!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 4

"Sakura-san, it's time."

She opened her eyes to Shin's voice—somber and soothing—and turned her head to face him, watching silently as he unlocked her cell door for the last time. Sighing, Sakura threw the covers off her and sat up with her arms out in front of her, feeling the metal handcuffs press against her wrists as Shin slowly locked them in place. But this time, she made no comment, no witty remark. She didn't even bother correcting him about the honorific. She wasn't in the mood, and, from what she could tell, neither was Shin. It was quite sad, really.

She took a deep breath. "Shin?"

"Yes?"

"Naruto," she said steadily as she got to her feet, her voice masking her anxiety, "he isn't here, is he?"

Shin shook his head "no" as he gently guided Sakura out of her cell and through the winding hallways, his hand on her shoulder, down a path she'd never been through before. And for some reason, she could almost swear that the walls were closing in, the hallway becoming increasingly narrow with every turn. She felt nauseous. But the building was probably designed this way on purpose, she realized, a simple reminder that there was no hope, that this was the end. And though she hated to admit it, it was working. Even the lights were gradually dimming as they approached the execution room.

And yet, Shin was able to find his way with ease, leaving Sakura to wonder how often he had taken this route, to wonder how many more times he would take it during his lifetime—arriving as a pair, leaving alone. She grimaced. How morbid.

"Why?" Shin suddenly asked, noticing the look on Sakura's face, misinterpreting it for disappointment. He stopped. "Would you like him to be?"

"No, of course not," she said, resolute, taking a step forward, prompting Shin to continue leading her down the hallway. She gave him a small smile. "It's better this way. Really."

According to Shin, people were technically allowed to view the execution from the other side of a glass window; though, not many people did. And Sakura could only guess why. She may have been terrified, going in alone, but she knew Naruto's presence would only make matters worse. Besides, even though it may have been selfish, she told him not to come herself; she told him she didn't want the last thing she saw to be Naruto's face as he watched her die. It would be too much for her heart to bear—and, even if he wouldn't admit it, it would be too much for his, too.

She closed her eyes, knowing—trusting—Shin would guide her safely, remembering how long she'd fought to convince Naruto to agree to her request. She almost laughed. Naruto was always so stubborn. But, then again, so was she. They did nothing but argue that day he visited—calmly, then wildly, then hysterically. But in the end, she won; though, both knew it wasn't a victory, not really.

"Shin?" Sakura said softly when she felt him squeeze her shoulder as they came to a stop, finally opening her eyes. Immediately, she noticed the glass window, about five feet long and four feet wide, the light from the execution room illuminating the darkened hallway. She shuddered, noticing a table with thick leather straps when she stole a glance through the window, and felt her heart begin to race. It looked dirty, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder how many other criminals had died on that same table. She turned to Shin. "Don't—don't leave, okay?"

He gave her shoulder another squeeze. "I wouldn't even if I could."

Carefully, Shin opened the door and led her inside the execution room where two men in long white coats stood waiting, their expressions austere. Pointing to the table, they instructed Sakura to lie down and secured the leather straps tightly around her arms and legs. Except for her head, which she could only move from side-to-side, she was completely immobile. However, a wave of panic washed over her when she turned her head and saw that Shin was no longer beside her, relieved when she realized he was standing on the other side of the glass window, a small smile on his face, which she half-heartedly returned. She didn't even notice he left the room.

A dull clang on her left recaptured Sakura's attention, turning just in time to see one of the men place a metal tray on a stand and prepare the method of execution: death by lethal injection. It was almost ironic, and she couldn't help but think, How fitting. She swallowed, her heart pounding as the other man wiped her arm with alcohol. But, she reminded herself, it would be painless, and in less than three minutes she'd feel nothing at all. There was a slight pinch as she solemnly watched the clear substance being injected into her arm, relaxing once the needle was removed. Three minutes, she told herself, three minutes, and it would all be over.

But something was wrong.

At first, it was just a minor burning sensation at the site of injection, which was normal. However, within seconds the burning increased, causing unbearable pain that spread throughout her whole body. Tears welled in her eyes as Sakura began to struggle against her restraints, panicking when she felt her throat swell up, felt her heart palpitate. She could barely breathe. She could barely think. And yet, she knew one thing was certain: this was the elders' doing. And it was cruel. Suddenly, her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, but she gathered enough strength and forced herself to turn her head towards the window. She had to let Shin know that she was in trouble, that he had to stop this, that—

"Shin!"

They were killing him. The elders were there, and they were killing him, his bloody hand reaching out to her, screaming her name as he fell to the ground, leaving five, bright streaks of red against the window. And though horrified, Sakura remained silent—her last scream spent, her only friend dead, her hope gone. All she had left was pain—throbbing, pulsating pain. She closed her eyes.

"Are you sure it won't hurt, Sakura-chan?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Maybe I should be there, just to make sure."

"Naruto, we already went over this. Everything's going to be fine. I'll—I'll be fine."

"But what about the rest of us?"

Sakura woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for air as she sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. She was trembling, and she couldn't stop trembling. She wanted to cry. It felt so real.

"Bad dream?"

She jumped. It was Shin. His back was facing her, but all she could picture was the Shin from her dream—screaming, bleeding, dying. Her voice shook. "Y-yeah."

There was a pause. "It's okay," he said gently, turning his head slightly so he was looking at her through the corner of his eye, "to be afraid, you know." However, Sakura didn't answer, averting her gaze, thinking only of swelled throats and red streaks. It was just a dream, she told herself, just a dream. Shin continued, "But, if you need someone to talk to, so you can get your mind of off—well, I have nowhere else to be."

Sakura looked up, practically hearing the smile in his voice. She almost wanted to laugh. Almost. "You're," she said carefully, finally saying what's been on her mind—bothering her, puzzling her—for the past few months, "you're not like the other guards. You treat me differently, kindly. Why?"

Shin finally turned around, and she saw that she was correct. He was smiling. "Well, if we're being frank, Sakura-san," she made a face, "Sorry. I mean, Sakura." He chuckled. She relaxed. "Anyway, you probably don't remember this, but you healed my father a while ago. I think you just about to finish your training under Tsunade-sama at the time. But even then, your skills were incredible. You saved my father from death. And I've always been grateful for that." He paused. "But even if that never happened," he said earnestly, "I don't think I would have treated you any differently than I do now."

"You think so?"

"I know so." There was that smile again. "But you don't give yourself enough credit, you know. You've been nothing but kind yourself, not only towards me but to your other guards as well, regardless of how they treat you. And no matter what the others may say, or what you may believe, you're not a criminal." Sakura raised a brow. "Okay, well, at least, you're not a bad person."

Her eyes widened. His cheeks flushed. They both looked away.

"Shin?" she asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Y-yes?"

"About what you said earlier, about getting my mind off tomorrow," she said, finally smiling herself, "I'd like that."

If his memory served him correctly, Sakura's cell would be on the left after the next turn. That whole day Sasuke and Naruto did nothing but plan her escape. Though, it was rather simple: find her cell, break her out, take down anyone who gets in the way—and so far, so good. Sasuke already knocked out the few guards who crossed his path with ease, not even breaking a sweat. It was just finding the exact jail cell that was causing him a slight problem, taking more time than he expected.

Why don't you just let me go? Naruto constantly asked him. After all, he'd visited Sakura countless times; it would have been easier for all of them. But Sasuke said no, telling him that it was fine, that he didn't care how long it took for Naruto to teach him the layout of the prison, that he would be able to manage—because it had to be him. And though Sasuke may have had a rocky start, taking one or two wrong turns here and there, he was sure he was on the right path now. And just as he anticipated, once he made the next turn he was immediately met with a guard.

However, the guard's reaction was too slow, knocked unconscious before he could even raise his weapon. Sasuke smirked as he reached for the guard's key ring and quietly unlocked the cell door after finding the correct key. It was almost too easy.

And there she was.

She was under her covers, on her side and sleeping soundly, as if she was completely unaware that her execution was only hours away. He walked closer. He almost couldn't believe it. It had been half a year since the last he'd seen her. And from what he could tell, her hair had grown longer, and she had gotten thinner. But that didn't matter—because he made it; because she was breathing; because she was alive.

"Sakura," he said, gently shaking her, "wake up."

She groaned, her eyes still closed as she shifted to her other side so she was facing him. "S-shin?" she said drowsily, "Is—Is it really time already?"

His eyes widened. Shin?

"No, Sakura," he said with a tint of annoyance, pushing the thoughts of whoever this Shin was to the back of his mind. "It's me."

Sakura squinted her eyes open as her hand rubbed her right eye. "Sasuke-kun?" She shook her head and closed her eyes once more. "I—I must be dreaming again." He rolled his eyes, placing his arm on her shoulder again, shaking her as he told her otherwise. She blinked. She gasped. She threw her arms around him. "Sasuke-kun! I'm—I'm not dreaming! You're here! And I can't—I didn't think I'd ever—Why—You baka, I told you to run!"

She was crying hysterically now, her words incoherent and muffled against his shoulder. And though he knew they didn't have much time, Sasuke said nothing, allowing her to cry as he carefully wrapped his arms around her, continuing to hold her even when the tears had ceased. But as much as he wanted to give in to his selfishness and stay in that position, he knew they couldn't. They had to move, and reluctantly, Sasuke forced himself to pull away. "Sakura," he said, "we don't have much time. We have to go."

"Go? You mean—?"

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet, not caring that she was barefoot as he dragged her out of her cell. They had lost enough time already. "Yes. I'm getting you out of here."

This time, now that it was his second time walking—running—through the halls, Sasuke made no mistakes, taking all the right turns, going down all the right paths. No alarms had gone off, no guards had seen them. Everything was working out perfectly. Even Sakura, barefoot, fatigued, and weakened from her months of detainment, was able to keep up. They were almost free, almost—

"Sakura?"

The voice came from behind, but it was unfamiliar to Sasuke. He cursed under his breath, figuring he should just pick Sakura up and make a run for it. But to his surprise, she pulled away from his grip before he could do so, forcing him to stop.

"Shin!"

Sasuke tensed. Shin? Turning around slowly, Sasuke found himself face to face with a uniformed man who looked just a few years older than him—tall, brown hair, green eyes—his expression of shock mirroring the one on Sakura's face. So, Sasuke realized, Shin was one of her guards. He scowled, and instinctively took Sakura's wrist, pulling her behind him.

"What are you doing?" Shin finally asked, torn from his daze, gazing at Sakura over Sasuke's shoulder. "Is this—is this the Uchiha?"

"Shin, I can explain," she said, her voice pleading, her mind trying to come up with something, anything, so she could make him understand. She shook her head. "No, I can't. I wish I could, but there's no time. Shin, I'm sorry. You have to believe me. I—"

"Hit me."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

Shin took a step forward, prompting Sasuke to take one back. He pursed his lips, taking a glance at the Uchiha before turning his attention back to Sakura. "There's an easier way out of here. Only the guards know about it. Go back this way and make a left. At the end of that hall there will be stairs. Take them. Just keep going straight until you see a red door. That will be your exit. You two have fifteen minutes. But that's all the time I can give you." He paused. "So hit me."

Sasuke felt Sakura try to pull away from his grasp again, but he tightened his grip. "Sakura," he said warningly, "are you sure we can even trust him? It could be a trap."

However, she didn't answer him, uncurling his fingers around her wrist with her free hand, and walked towards Shin, ignoring Sasuke's protests. Of course he had no reason to trust him, but she did.

"Tell your father," she said as she stood in front of Shin, "I said, 'hello.'"

He smiled and nodded. "Will do."

She raised her fist tentatively, closing her eyes to stop the tears from falling. "Thank you, Shin."

And though Sakura couldn't use all of her strength, she knew her punch was enough to give them the time they needed to escape the prison. As she stared at down at Shin's semi-unconscious body she suddenly felt Sasuke take her hand as she heard him say under his breath, "This guy better be telling the truth or we're going back to kick his ass."

She laughed.

But just like Shin promised, to Sakura's satisfaction and Sasuke's chagrin, within minutes they found the red door and were free.

"Naruto, what are you doing?"

The sun was just starting to rise, the sky quickly turning from black to blue as the birds began to chirp within the trees. And despite the delays, Sasuke and Sakura made it to the designated meeting spot in the forest outside the village gates just in time. There he saw Naruto sitting at the base of a tree, but rather than seeing two backpacks filled with the things he instructed him to gather for their journey, Sasuke counted three.

"What does it look like, teme?" Naruto asked as he stood up and quickly approached the two, unable to hold his excitement as he lifted Sakura off the ground into a bear hug, making her squeal in delight as he twirled around. "I'm coming with you guys! Oh, Sakura-chan, I can't believe it! You're finally out of those damn handcuffs!"

Sasuke scowled. "This wasn't part of the plan, Naruto."

Naruto paused, gently dropping Sakura to the ground, and turned to Sasuke. "So? Who cares if it wasn't part of your plan?" he asked indignantly. "Did you think I'd really just let you two leave without me?"

Beat.

"What about becoming Hokage?"

"I don't care about that anymore!" Naruto exclaimed, though by the look on his face both Sasuke and Sakura knew he was lying. His shoulders slumped. "But, we're—we're a team, Sasuke," he said, softly this time, getting teary-eyed. "We're Team Seven. You can't just leave me."

Sasuke huffed, running a hand through his hair. He was running out of patience. "Naruto, listen, you're not—"

"Sasuke-kun, stop."

The two boys turned their heads to look at their teammate, who placed her hand on Sasuke's shoulder, pulling him away from the blonde. Naruto smirked and wiped his eyes. "See?" he said in triumph, "Sakura-chan agrees with me."

However, Sakura shook her head and moved closer to him. "No. That's not it," she said lightly, giving him a small smile, "Sasuke-kun is right. You have to stay."

"But—!"

"You have to listen to me, Naruto," she said sternly, interrupting him, prompting him to shut his mouth. "You know the truth, about the massacre, about me. You can't leave. Things need to change, and you have to be the one to change them." She took Naruto's hand and squeezed tightly, feeling a lump growing in her throat. God, she thought, she was going to cry again. "But you were right, too. We are a team. And even though we'll be far apart, we'll always be a team. This isn't going to be forever, I promise. Konoha is my—our home, and we," Sakura paused and looked to Sasuke who nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder, "we will come back."

Naruto gulped, blinking away his own tears. "You promise?"

Pulling him into an embrace, Sakura nodded and whispered in his ear, "It's the promise of a lifetime."

So I thought this was going to be the last chapter, but it came out longer than I anticipated, and there's still one more part left, so I'm going to write an epilogue, which will be short and sweet and out soon! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and how this story played out.

I've been asked some questions about the future of this fic, but I will address all questions in the Epilogue!

And as always, read and review!

GhostofYou