~A/N: I never thought I'd say it, but the day that I'm finally excited for filler! ANBU Kakashi arc starts this week...and guys IT'S GOT YAMATO IN IT! My poor baby, I miss him. Also it has little Itachi which is probably going to rip my heart out. And Minato. And the Third. And (probably) angsty Kakashi. So basically this arc will probably give me lots of feels, but I'm still excited.

Also, I'm taking this science fiction and fantasy writing class, and I have to have a complete rough draft of a short story done and submitted by the end of this week so the rest of the class can read and critique it over the course of next week. I'm actually a little nervous. Hopefully they're like you guys haha.

Anyway, that had absolutely nothing to do with this story, I just felt like I hadn't talked to you guys in awhile and I missed you. so carry on!

Forty-Seven: Inner Strength

Kakashi did his best to keep his emotions under control as he and Shikamaru flew back to Silver City as fast as they could without causing any sort of permanent damage to themselves. Kakashi could have gone faster, but he knew Shikamaru was tired, and even though he wanted to get to Sakura as fast as possible, he knew it wouldn't be wise to tire Shikamaru to the point where he couldn't fight. And he still needed to hear the shadow user's theory.

They'd been running at full speed for nearly five hours when Kakashi first noticed that the ponytailed genius was beginning to falter. Shikamaru was a trooper to have put up with his fatigue for this long, Kakashi knew, and he also knew that if it wasn't for the possibility of Sakura being alive and in danger, he would have ordered the younger shinobi to stop long ago.

"Maybe we should break for the night," the silver-haired jonin said, landing on a tree branch.

"I'm alright," Shikamaru said, but he was panting. "If there's a chance I'm right, we really don't have time to waste."

As much as Kakashi wanted to agree with him and continue on their way, he knew Shikamaru wouldn't last much longer. And he was going to need the shadow user.

Kakashi sighed. "If Sakura is alive, and the enemy hasn't killed her yet then they're not going to. At least not while they need her alive for some reason."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we don't still need to hurry," Shikamaru protested.

The emotional side of Kakashi agreed, but somehow his sense of duty still prevailed. "If she's alive, her life isn't in any danger unless she either gives them information or becomes more trouble than she's worth."

"Yeah but just because they aren't going to kill her doesn't mean we've got time to spare! Who knows what they could be doing to her while we're just sitting around!"

Shikamaru couldn't understand why Kakashi was being so cold—especially after showing so much more emotion than he'd even seen the man exhibit at the mention of the smallest possibility Sakura could be alive.

Kakashi clenched his fists at his side, digging in hard enough to draw blood before he realized what he was doing. Still, he couldn't stop the slight trembling that overtook his body at the thought of Sakura suffering alone for so long.

"You think I don't realize that?" he said quietly. "But it's no use hurrying back if you're in no condition to fight. We'll need your brains to figure this one out, Shikamaru. I'm—" he faltered, "I'm too close to this one. I'm letting my emotions get in the way."

Shikamaru nodded in solemn understanding. "I understand. Just let me rest for a few hours and take one of Sakura's emergency soldier pills. You're really not supposed to take as many as I have, but I'm sure Sakura wouldn't have made something that could actually kill me."

Kakashi sat down. "While we're resting, you can tell me what you've come up with so far."

"And how is my little cherry blossom today? Hm?" Taya asked as she waltzed into Sakura's prison.

That was the thing Sakura hated most about Taya. She was always acting, and that made her hard to read. Kaoru, for all his strength, would never have made it as a ninja, because when he walked into a room, he made his intent perfectly clear. Sakura had only known one ninja who was able to pull that off, and Kaoru Shiba was no Naruto Uzumaki.

"Ooh, it looks like Kaoru was especially vicious with you today. Looks like he's getting frustrated, eh? That poor man. He doesn't understand how women like us work. It takes a different kind of pressure, neh?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. She hated herself for it, but despite everything she'd been put through, it was that woman's condescending attitude that got to her the most. It seemed stupid when her life was literally hanging by a thread, but she couldn't help it. It was a complex that went all the way back to her days as a relatively useless genin.

"Not talkative today? Hm, I guess you never are. Very well then, shall we get on with our little game, Cherry?"

Sakura closed her eyes in anticipation of the pain she knew was about to invade her head. She wasn't going to give Taya the satisfaction of seeing her pain either, but unlike Kaoru, the dark-haired woman knew this. Taya simply smirked before making a few hand signs and letting her consciousness slip into Sakura's.

Sakura grimaced as she felt the foreign presence make contact with her own, but her well-constructed mental barriers held. Sakura had discovered early on that unlike Ino's mind jutsu—which was a kekkei genkai—this woman's power relied on chakra manipulation. It was much like the barrier that Sakura had had so much difficulty in breaking early in her mission with Kakashi.

Kakashi.

Images of time spent with a silver-haired man laughing by her side flooded her brain, temporarily causing her to lose her concentration and let Taya slip past the first row of barriers.

Sakura frowned, annoyed at herself for her lapse in focus. Taya, on the other hand, grinned.

"Oh, that's interesting. If I'm not mistaken, that was that old teammate of yours that you were thinking of just now. That Copy Ninja."

Sakura could see Taya's form clearly in her mind now. It seemed like getting past her first defense put her into view. She'd always known that the mind user took some sort of physical appearance in her head, but Sakura had always been strong enough to keep her far enough out that she never saw. It was unnerving to see the form of someone else inside her own consciousness. She felt violated. She wanted her out.

Silly, that's why I'm here! Have you forgotten about me already? Just because I'm not as active as I was when you were a child?

Sakura gasped as the shadowy figure materialized next to her final row of mental barriers.

Inner Sakura!

Of course it's me! Did you think I'd gone away when you grew up? Just because you didn't need me as much anymore? Who do you think was making all those snarky internal comments?

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, before realizing that she and Inner Sakura had never really spoken before, per say. It was more of Inner Sakura just voicing the thoughts that Sakura herself was too afraid to say out loud. Still, she figured if Inner Sakura was inside her head, all she should have to do is think her sentences.

Of course that's all you do! Sheesh, how can you possibly survive as a ninja? You can't handle anything on your own!

Sakura rolled her eyes—or at least she imagined that she did. She did plenty of things on her own now. It wasn't the same as when she was a genin.

Yeah, that's great and all, but you sure could use a little help now.

Sakura agreed, but unfortunately that was out of the cards. She didn't know exactly what kind of jutsu or trick Taya had used to fake her death, but Sakura had been able to see a flash inside of the mind jutsu user's head the last time she'd tried to break open Sakura's mind, and the pink-haired medic had seen the corpse that was supposedly her. It was good—good enough to fool Tsunade.

Well, we're not out of it yet. You've still got me. Let me fight this bitch.

As appealing as that thought sounded, Sakura wasn't sure she wanted to take that risk. She couldn't leave her mind undefended. It held too many secrets the enemy needed—and it was the only reason she was currently alive. Despite the pain she was going through—and it was agonizing—Sakura had no real desire to die.

I don't want to die either, but this can hardly be called living. I don't know how much more of this abuse you can take. Great ninjas have broken under less physical and emotional duress that you've been under.

Sakura grinned. Yeah, but you've been helping with that too, haven't you?

Inner Sakura shrugged. Yeah, so what if I have. I'm you, so I know. I know you're nearing your breaking point, and I also know that if something's going to get to you first, it's going to be this mind chick. Physical pain can be ignored as the body goes numb, but mental pain is harder to deal with. And once she's broken down this last row of barriers, there's nothing to stop her from taking everything you know about the mission, and even about Konoha.

Sakura sighed. She didn't really have a choice. She couldn't risk any harm falling on Konoha or her friends because of her. If that happened, she would never be able to rest in peace.

So what do we need to do?

Inner Sakura grinned. I thought you'd never ask.

"I see you have an interesting line of defense there, on top of your immaculate chakra control. No wonder you have such strong barriers. The only reason I was able to break through them was because you lost your concentration for a second there," Taya said, taking a step toward Inner Sakura.

We don't have much time, Inner Sakura said. I'm going to have to fight her.

Like hand-to-hand combat? We're inside my head.

Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. Yes. This is all taking place inside your head, so you're just visualizing it this way to make it easier for your mind to rationalize what's going on. I imagine your vision looks somewhat like a battlefield because you're a shinobi. If you were a baker or something then we'd probably be in a bakery. I don't have time to explain all the details to you. But you just have to trust me. I need you to give me all your strength. I'm stronger than you in here, but I'm still just a fragment of your consciousness. I don't have your chakra control. And we're going to need it in order for this to work.

I don't think I understand, Sakura thought, but it didn't matter, because one second she was looking out at Inner Sakura on her mind battlefield, as she was now calling it, and the next she felt her consciousness melding again, and suddenly she knew.

Oh. So I'm you. And you're me. Not Outer Sakura and Inner Sakura. Just Sakura.

If Inner Sakura were still around, Sakura imagined she would've said something along the lines of now you're getting it.

Sakura knew what she had to do then. It was so simple when she thought about it, and with the combination of Inner Sakura's strength in this world and her own chakra control, they just might be able to pull it off.

"Oh? Do you have a plan?" Taya taunted. "Try whatever you like, but I can assure you, little girl, you're no match for me."

Sakura smirked. "You wanna bet? My teacher's always making bets, but I've got a better record than she does."

I'm only going to get one shot at this. I've got to time everything perfect, or she'll survive. And if she survives and discovers my trick, she'll be able to counter it, and then I really won't stand a chance.

"Well, are you going to fight me? After all that talk?"

Sakura closed her eyes in concentration, imaging a kunai in her right hand. Her fingers curled around the hilt, and she grinned. "Of course I am. I've fought this long. It would be a shame to give up now."

Taya returned the smile with an equally ferocious one of her own. "I couldn't agree more. You are the first person to break past my chakra barrier, and I wouldn't expect any less of you now. It would be a disappointment, after I've finally found an opponent who presents a challenge to me."

"Well then, I'd hate to keep you waiting," Sakura said as she charged the dark-haired woman.

"Ah, ah. Not so fast."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she hesitated—not long, but just long enough to be thrown back against her barrier with a thunderous crunch.

"What?"

Standing before her, in standard uniform, with hair messy and unkempt as always, was Kakashi Hatake.

"Kaka…shi?"

Kakashi didn't waste any time or offer an explanation as to why he was in her head. He simply rushed at her and proceeded to slam her repeatedly into the barrier until it broke.

Finally, Sakura got over her shock enough to come to her senses and force him back, but she couldn't bring herself to use her kunai. There was something wrong. The Kakashi before her seemed real, but the real Kakashi would be helping her, not breaking down her last barriers so that she was the only thing standing between Taya and the information she so greatly desired.

Taya laughed. "What's the matter? You were talking so big before. Now it looks like you can't live up to it."

Sakura gasped. It was suddenly becoming hard to breathe. She knew the Kakashi standing before her wasn't real, yet everything about him seemed so right. There were no mistakes, no small tell to signal her mind that this was wrong. It even smelled like him.

"It's easy to fight against a likeness of a friend in the real world, but you underestimate the power of the mind, my little cherry. This isn't a shadow clone I created. We're in your mind, so this Kakashi is as real as anything else in here—including you or me. In fact, the only reason you saw me as my physical form was because that was the connection your mind made to my presence. He came from your memories too, and he's the same as your Kakashi in every way, so that's why it's so hard for you to kill him."

Sakura shook, gripping the kunai tighter with both hands. Taya had explained the Kakashi standing before her, and yet she still couldn't bring herself to kill him. How weak was she? She thought she'd gotten over this.

"This is your worst fear, isn't it? Him dying? I had my suspicions when you gave your life to save his, but I could never be sure until now." Taya cackled, taking obvious pleasure in seemingly having finally broken the pink-haired medic.

"Now, if you're not going to kill him, I think I'll be taking your mind now."

Still Sakura made no move to stop her. She was frozen in place, shaking from head to toe. Taya's grin grew even wider.

"You're mine now, little girl."

Another step closer. She was almost to the broken barrier.

"I win."

Now!

Sakura lunged forward, pressing all of her strength into the kunai and pushing it straight through Kakashi's chest. As the weapon struck, the real Sakura used Taya's momentary lapse in concentration to lurch the two combatants back into Taya's mind—away from her memories and any secrets that would threaten the village.

Kakashi's—Taya's—eyes widened in surprise as Sakura dug the blade in deeper, only this time, the real Sakura infused a bit of her own chakra.

"I know how your trick works, Taya. And I know how to stop it."

A quick burst of chakra to the brain. In order to steal from Sakura's mind and transfer the knowledge back to her own, Taya's own mind would have to be unprotected to allow the information to pass through.

"I win," Sakura hissed.

Kakashi's wide-eyed face morphed into Taya's, before the world started to spin, and Sakura found herself being spit back out.

"Y—you…clever…little girl."

Sakura opened her eyes just in time to see Taya's yellow ones gaze at her once before they glazed over and the dark-haired woman fell to the ground.

The final image she'd seen of Kakashi before striking the killing blow stuck with her, and Sakura felt, more than heard, the scream tear through her body.

She had won, yes, but at what cost?