A/N: Just another thanks to everyone who has alerted and reviewed this story. Oh...and a big, big thank you to Kaze and Kiba and EbonyEye for recommending this story through their own works. I owe you two so much for getting the word of With Every Beat out there. I can't begin to thank you enough.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and as always, I do not own Naruto. That privilege belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
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Her heart was pounding fiercely, the sound thumping in her ears as she ran full out towards the monstrous creature in the distance. Sai and Itachi ran beside her, neither having said a word since they left the clearing. After Sasuke announced it was Madara he disappeared in a blur. She wasn't even sure if he teleported or if he used his body flicker technique, all she knew was he was gone in a single blink of her eye. Kakashi began shouting orders to the shinobi around them and she paused long enough to send him a nod then she was off as well.
A fierce fireball blew into the sky followed quickly by a strong tremor shaking the ground they ran upon. Sakura wasn't sure what she should be praying for at that moment. Tsunade-sama and the Raikage had left the base and could very well be fighting that monster. Naruto and Killer-Bee could be there fighting against Madara. Sasuke...her emotions were so conflicted when it came to him. Should she be praying for his safety? His victory? Was he actually fighting against Madara or was it a trick to lure them all there?
No matter the answer to that last question she never hesitated in her stride as she ran. They dashed into the thickets of the forest, taking the shortest route to the great hulking beast that still stomped around the hillside. As they got closer, she could feel the menacing chakra it exuded. The powerful evil was easy to detect and made her skin crawl. It was worse than when she had felt Naruto's chakra change due to the kyuubi. That alone scared her more than anything. If this creature possessed a chakra more powerful than the kyuubi then did they even stand a chance against it?
She knew they were close now. Peering through the treetops was the only way to catch a glimpse of the beast. The trees began to thin out and Sakura could now see the feet and legs of the massive creature as it moved slowly around the hill. The chakra was much heavier now. She felt every breath was an effort to even take in.
Her troop of three burst through the treeline and paused at the sight before them. A clearing had been made in the once thick forest as trees and boulders had been crushed under the massive weight of the tailed creature. Small fires still burned all around the area and there was no sign of life left in the forest. Sakura stood in frightful awe of the creature before them. It rose to towering heights; its ten tails swirling dangerously behind it. The odd-colored mix of chakra clung to it's form and seemed to move as waves on the shore. The chakra created a fuzzy haze around the creature, leaving it's features hidden for the most part but there was no denying its massive jaws as it opened its mouth and screamed. Sakura had to press her hands tightly against her ears to try and muffle the deafening sound.
Her eyes searched the area quickly. Off near the edge of the hillside, towards the cliff that overlooked the large plains below, Sakura could make out the fallen forms of two people. She glanced at the creature again, noting his attention was still on something else, before darting towards the figures- being sure to keep a wide berth from the monster.
As she grew closer her heart plummeted in her chest when saw the thick blond hair of her shishou kneeling on the ground. Adrenaline coursed through her veins pushing her faster towards the form of her fallen master. Relief flooded her body when she arrived at her side and saw her conscious and trying to heal the Raikage.
"Tsunade-sama, are you okay?" Sakura panted beside her.
The hokage turned surprised eyes to her student. "Sakura! What are you doing here?" her last word trailed off as she saw Uchiha Itachi standing beside her student. The bright glow of her chakra dimmed for a moment as she was thrown off balance by the stunning sight.
Sakura caught her shishou's glance and rushed to reassure her. "He's fine Tsunade-sama; he's with me."
Tsunade just gaped at her revelation; the confusion apparent in her eyes.
"I'll explain later. What's going on?" Sakura asked.
The hokage took a moment to compose herself before she turned her attention back to the fallen Raikage.
"Naruto's left the island we had him on, along with Killer-Bee. The Raikage and I were on our way to stop them when Madara showed up with this...this...thing here!" she nodded her head in the direction of the monster behind them. "He had that monster attack us. We were able to avoid it for a while but the Raikage tried to fight back against it. In one sweep of his tails he did this."
Sakura studied the unconscious form her master was trying to heal. Chakra burns peppered his skin leaving the flesh missing in some areas. Both his legs were obviously broken and his breathing was fast and shallow. Sakura noted his chest wasn't rising evenly and reasoned the ribs and one of his lungs were probably crushed on that side. It was a horrible injury and there was no way to repair it on the battlefield. The most they would be able to do is restore his lung function for now.
"I thought I was going to be next but...something...came flying at the creature and Madara and they turned their attention to it. I dragged the Raikage over here and have been trying to heal him. I have no idea who or what is fighting that thing but they're doing good considering how strong he is."
Sakura had a damn good idea who was currently fighting the creature and sent up a quick prayer for his safety.
"Tsunade-sama, Kaka-sensei is leading the rest of the troops this way. What should we tell them to do."
"We need all the man power we can get to fight..."
Tsunade broke off her sentence as a fine tremor began under ground. It was different than the shock waves they felt whenever the massive creature would jump or stomp the ground. A muffled sound began to reach Sakura's ears and she walked to the edge of the cliff, searching for the source of the ever growing sound. Itachi came to stand next to her. As they scoured the terrain below them, without finding anything, a frown developed on Itachi's face. She saw him activate his sharingan and had she not been studying his face, she would have missed the brief widening of his eyes for his voice betrayed nothing as he spoke again.
"Hokage-sama, perhaps you should have Kakashi-san divert the troops to the plains below us."
"Why would I do that?" she asked. The skepticism apparent in both her face and her words.
"Because of that."
Sakura watched a large hole erupt from the ground as countless bodies pushed themselves out of it. They fell out in droves, stumbling over each other in their haste to make it to the surface. From the distance that separated them, Sakura thought they almost looked like ants tumbling from a mound. As the large group began to spread out, their form took on a more familiar shape. It was Zetsu's replicas. She couldn't stop the shocked gasp that tore from her lips. The sheer number of them was amazing. Thousands...perhaps tens of thousands of them now littered the once barren plain. From her perch on the cliff above them, she watched them file into large groups. Sunlight gleamed off their pale bodies and she felt a shiver of fear run through her at the terrifying sight the massive army afforded her.
"Tsunade-sama." Sakura whispered as her master looked over the edge with her.
"Dear Kami." her shishou uttered. "Katsuyu," Sakura watched a miniature clone of her master's summons crawl from beneath her top. "relay this new information to Inoichi now and tell him to contact Kakashi."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama."
A menacing chuckle came from behind them. Madara stood near the group of shinobi, his arms lax at his side. Directly behind him, the monster stared into their shocked faces. The menacing chakra swirling around the beast seemed to beat with anticipation at attacking them. No situation that Sakura had ever been through could have prepared her for the pure fear that froze her soul in front of these enemies.
"Oh Sakura-chan you're back! And what's this? You brought my old friend Itachi with you!" Madara clapped and spoke in the deceptively cheerful voice he once used as Tobi. His hands slowly fell to his side once more as he straightened himself and spoke lowly in his normal voice once again. "You know how much I've missed you."
Sakura couldn't even find her voice to speak. No whimper even passed her lips. Fear had her paralyzed. Itachi took a step forward, bringing himself into her line of sight. She felt a small pulse of his chakra flow through her and she found the strength to curl her fists tightly. Her nails bit into the skin of her palm and she felt her blood trickle from the wounds. The pain was helping her focus and she squeezed even tighter as Itachi began to speak.
"Madara, where is my brother?"
"Oh he's back there somewhere..." he said with an absent sweep of his hand. "He's not exactly a top priority of mine right now. I could have used him for a bit longer but thanks to you I've had to step up my plans."
"So I see. You've activated the Gedo Mazo without the full chakra of the eight or nine tails sealed within it."
"Well, those last two jinchuriki are a handful. I was able to retrieve part of the beasts chakra but unfortunately it isn't enough to finish my plans. I need the full chakra of the eight and nine tails so I'll just be using this to get them." Madara said, sweeping his hand backward to indicate the creature behind him. "Now, if you all don't mind, I really need the location of those two jinchuriki. Time is of the essence you see."
"Fuck off." Tsunade spat. "You really think we'll tell you a damn thing?"
"Considering what you're little pupil there went through without speaking I should think not. That doesn't matter though; they'll come to me on their own."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
Madara tilted his head to the side, as if searching for something, before chuckling darkly. "I'd be glad to show you."
With a wave of his hand the creature let out another ear piercing growl; the sound waves from it alone making the group dig their heels into the ground to keep from flying away. Sakura saw the creature shift and two of the tails began their descent towards the group. Sai pulled out his ink and pad quickly but Sakura knew it wouldn't be in time for them all to escape. The size of the beasts tails made jumping them impossible and as they had their backs to a cliff, there was no where to run. She instinctively closed her eyes as the chakra powered tail bore down on them.
A large crash sounded in front of them. Sakura opened her eyes to see two figures blocking the massive tails from reaching the group. A battle cry from the left rang out before huge tentacles crashed into the creature sending him flying back several yards. The tremor that ripped through the ground when the beast fell nearly sent Sakura to her knees. Trees were upended in its wake.
"I thought I felt a familiar chakra. Nice to see you again Naruto."
Sakura whipped her head up at the name of her friend. She was so stunned before by the quick intervention she had not taken a good look at her saviors, though it would have taken more than a glance to recognize his form. Yellow chakra flickered like flames around his body. His arm was extended, as if to stop the beast's tails, but his chakra had been wrapped around the tails holding them away as if they were arms themselves. Beside him she could see Sasuke through a thick chakra built skeleton. A sword from the skeletons hand had also pushed against the tails protecting the group of shinobi they stood in front of. For a brief moment, Sakura found herself feeling like a genin all over again. Her two team mates standing in front of her, protecting her like they used to do. Her heart clenched at the powerful memory the image evoked.
"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked without turning around.
"Y-yes, I'm fine." she managed to whisper.
"It's really not polite to ignore people." Madara called from across the clearing.
Naruto continued to ignore him and turned his head slightly to observe his best friend. He wasn't sure what was going on, but the fact that Sasuke stood beside him, protecting the others like they used to do, sent a surge of hope through his chest. Now wasn't the time to figure out what happened but he could still feel the anger and pain that ripped through Sasuke. He was surprised when Sasuke turned his gaze to him. Orange met red as they stared into one another eyes for a moment. Naruto measured the weight behind those sharingan eyes as he searched for some indication as to what he would do. Sasuke answered him with a slight nod of his head. Naruto couldn't stop the smirk that came to his face.
"Sai, get everyone out of here please."
"Can you handle this?" Sai asked in genuine concern.
Naruto began forming a rasengan with the kyuubi's chakra as he turned to look at his comrades. "Yeah, besides...I won't be alone."
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Sakura hated to leave him. Kami, she just wanted to be there by his side to make sure he was okay; but she knew if she stayed around she would be a hindrance to Naruto. There was no way she was at a level where she could stay and fight with him. Whatever power he was using to fight with now was incredible; she just hoped it was enough to defeat Madara.
"There's Kakashi and the troops. I'm going to set us down in front of him." Sai called out as he commanded his drawn hawk to change course. As they landed, she saw Kaka-sensei step away from the following shinobi to greet them. A moment later, the bird carrying Tsunade-sama and the injured Raikage landed beside them.
"Tsunade-sama, what are your orders?" Kakashi asked directly.
"Just over that ridge is an army of Zetsu's replicates. We have to stop them. With the vast numbers they possess, if they get through they could wipe out an entire nation."
"Understood. Shikaku has already had Inoichi contact Gaara-sama. They are on their way to assist as well."
"Excellent." Tsunade answered.
"I have other information as well. Thanks to Sakura's knowledge, three groups have been able to block the jutsu used by Kabuto on our fallen allies. Chiyo-san, Hyuuga Hizashi, and the Third Raikage are now fighting alongside us. They were given the current information by Gaara-sama and are already on the way here."
"Where'd you get that knowledge Sakura?" Tsunade asked quickly but shook her head as she finished. "Never mind, we'll discuss it later. I'm going to return to the base with the Raikage. He's still badly injured and I need to get somewhere I can heal him uninterrupted; plus I need to relieve Shikaku of command." Tsunade said as she jumped back atop the bird. "Be careful everyone." she said but her gaze rested on Sakura as she flew off.
Sakura could see the worry in her shishou's eyes but their discussion would have to wait.
"Sakura." Kakashi called.
"Yes Kaka-sensei?"
"Where is Itachi?"
"He's fighting Madara with Sasuke and Naruto."
Kakashi's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Naruto's here?"
"Yes, Killer-Bee-san as well and it looks like Naruto gained another new power. It's strange...it feels like the kyuubi's chakra but also like his as well. I don't really know how to describe it." She saw the smile behind her sensei's mask as she talked about their other team mate. She looked beyond his shoulder and saw the faces of Sasuke's new team mates smiling back at her.
"Sensei, what are they doing here?" she asked pointing to the two non-allied shinobi.
"Hey, I thought you'd need all the help you could get blossom." Suigetsu said with a smirk. Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously at the missing-nin and he held his hands up in surrender.
"Hey, kidding kidding." he said as an apology. "I figure if Madara get's his way we're all fucked so I might as well help stop him now. Plus, I just really wanna kill something, and Zetsu's creepy anyway; I've never liked the plant bastard."
She studied him carefully but he seemed to be telling the truth. Besides, she told herself, what could he possibly do in the middle of thousands of shinobi.
"Sasuke-san has decided to fight this battle from the opposite side so I shall too. You're leader also possesses the sharingan so if I should lose control of myself I believe he will be able to calm me as Sasuke-san does." Jugo said with conviction. While Sakura couldn't understand what would possess him to follow Sasuke as obediently as he did, considering the gentle nature she had seen from his personality so far, she knew they would need every able bodied man to fight in this war. She nodded her head tersely to the pair and turned back to her sensei.
"Everyone move out." Kakashi called to the troops and everyone began running towards the ridge. As they ran towards the approaching army, Sakura pulled her gloves from her pack and slipped them on her hands. She was somehow comforted by the familiar feel of the worn cloth rubbing against her skin. Kakashi let out three sharp whistles as they descended the ridge and the mass of shinobi behind them parted into a formed pattern.
The identical faces of Zetsu came into focus as the army rushed upon them. A thunderous battle cry could be heard as the two groups clashed.
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Naruto panted for breath as he allowed the kyuubi's chakra to fade. The creature they were fighting was ridiculously strong and was taking every hit they threw at it and still returning his own. Madara continued to use his space-time traveling jutsu and was avoiding their attacks so far. Naruto noticed that while he was excellent at avoiding them, he had yet to really attack them. He was unsure yet if this meant he was weak in fighting or if he was holding back, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
While Killer-Bee was still fighting the monster in his full-tailed beast form, Sasuke was fighting Madara. Sasuke hadn't spoken to him yet but he was screaming at Madara most of the time. It was obvious he heard the truth about Madara's part in the Uchiha massacre as his best friend asked poignant questions about that night while he fought.
Naruto quickly bit his thumb and summoned Fukasaku, one of the great sage toads, to him.
"Do you have it ready?" Naruto asked.
Fukasaku unraveled the large scroll in his hands and presented it to Naruto. "Of course my boy, they're ready."
"Great." Naruto quickly summoned his clone and dispelled the technique, allowing the nature energy his clone had built to flow into his body. The orange markings appeared around Naruto's eyes and he created two clones. Once he had his fuuton rasenshuriken developed, he waited for an open moment to grab Sasuke. He got his chance as Sasuke once again charged Madara only to fly through him as he became untouchable. Naruto's clone grabbed Sasuke's arm and jumped back far with him.
"Sorry Sasuke but you can not get hit with this." the clone said as he felt Sasuke attempt to shrug him off. Naruto threw his rasenshuriken at Madara, who stepped to the side to avoid it. He didn't notice the jutsu expanding as it swirled violently next to him quick enough and it sliced into his leg before he could teleport away.
"What was that?" Sasuke asked as he stared at the odd jutsu.
"A technique I developed. I can explain later but whatever you do, do not allow it to hit you okay? You won't be able to form chakra if you do."
Sasuke looked skeptical about Naruto's revelation but nodded his head in agreement anyway.
Madara appeared before them again now with blood trailing down his leg and his hands in fists as his side.
"You will pay for that jinchuriki." he muttered darkly.
"Bring it old man!" Naruto screamed at him as he began forming more rasengans and charging the oldest Uchiha.
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Sweat was pouring down her forehead but Sakura didn't pause as she pounded into the earth again, crushing the dozen or so replications that fell in the newly made crevice.
The army seemed to be never ending. Even with the great strength the shinobi army had, they were having a difficult time with the sheer volume of enemies they faced. They were vastly outnumbered and she was feeling the strain of that disadvantage now. For every replication she took down, three more took its place. Jutsus of every nature flew around the battlefield, some intermingling with others to cause even more damage to the identical enemies.
Sakura winced as one of the Zetsus clawed through the sensitive skin of her thigh before she grabbed his neck in one hand and applied her chakra strength to the grip, crushing his neck in a second. Thankfully, the wound wasn't so deep as to cause her problems with blood loss. There was simply no time to heal anything that wouldn't be life threatening. Pain she could deal with and she did as she ran at another replica, crushing his rib cage with a single punch before dashing to the next.
She could see Kakashi fighting near her. His nickname the 'Copy Cat Ninja' apparent in his fighting during this battle. She could never recall seeing so many different jutsus being preformed by one person before. Though she knew about his ANBU background and heard the stories spoken about him, watching him fight against the massive army was an astonishing sight to behold. She had never been more proud to be his student than right then.
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Sasuke held his hand to his bleeding eye as he tried to catch his breath. Fighting against Madara was proving to be the hardest battle he had ever fought. He wasn't even fighting against the older Uchiha alone and he was still no closer to understanding how to kill him. Sasuke was still surprised at how well he could fight alongside his former team mate. The determination he had to kill Naruto had disappeared for the moment as the near blinding rage he felt for Madara swept over him. The twisted lies Madara told and the convenient truths he left out of his story about Itachi still rang too loudly in his mind. This man before him, a member of the Uchiha clan, had taken his own sword to the throats of his clansmen.
And for what?
An ancient grudge he held for the clan? A grudge he had against people who were long dead and buried? He helped Itachi murder the entire clan in one night to fulfill his long standing hatred for the way they shunned his ideas in the past. He set the kyuubi on Konoha in hopes to destroy it. He was the one trying to get the Uchiha clan to start a war with Konoha.
One of the most shocking things was what he heard Naruto scream at Madara as he charged him.
"You ripped the Kyuubi out of her...you tried to kill my mother! You're the reason they did what they did! You're the reason they're dead!"
Since when did Naruto know anything about his parents?
Madara killed his parents?
Another wave of pain ripped through his head and he clenched his eyes shut for a moment. He had once again tried to use Amaterasu on Madara while his attention was focused on Naruto but he was somehow able to escape the flames within his own dimension once again.
How were they supposed to defeat someone they couldn't even touch?
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Sakura flinched as her battered body flew into the ground after one of the replicas landed a particularly strong punch to her abdomen. As he rushed her again, she managed to pull a kunai out of her pack and rolled out of the way as he approached. Nimbly jumping to her feet, Sakura pulled his head back by his hair and slit his throat. His body didn't even hit the ground before she threw the kunai straight into the chest of another replica.
Thousands of the replicas lay dead on the ground but so many more remained. They were overwhelmed and the fatigue was beginning to show on all of their faces.
She back flipped out of the way as another one threw himself at her. In mid air she pulled a poisoned senbon from her pouch and launched it at him. Too late, she noticed the other one waiting for her and rose her arm to defend against the oncoming punch. No pain registered with her and she opened her eyes to see a puppet slicing through the attacking replica.
"This is a familiar scene isn't it Sakura."
She turned to the familiar voice and smiled wide at the face that greeted her.
"Chiyo-baa-san!"
A deafening battle cry rose over the chaos of the battlefield. Thousands of shinobi ran into the crowd, swinging their weapons and slicing through the invading army. A large wave of sand rolled over the white menaces, crushing them under the immense pressure the heavy sand brought. Gaara stood, arms crossed, at the top of the ridge surveying the area.
Sakura could have wept with relief.
Help had finally arrived.
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It was an old habit that he hadn't fully purged from his system.
That's what Sasuke told himself as he flew towards Naruto, grabbing him around the waist and pulling them far back from the dragon like chakra tentacles that were trying to devour Naruto.
The pair landed heavily a few meters back. Rolling away from each other, they panted for breath as they laid still for a moment. Each was thinking furiously of a way to stop the madman before them. Naruto thought back over the conversation he had both with his mother and father. He searched his memories carefully, looking for any hint his parents might have given him as to how to defeat Madara.
He turned to look at Sasuke lying beside him. The Uchiha was in much the same condition as he was. Both were covered in their own blood, various cuts from Madara's kunai littered their bodies, sweat beaded their foreheads, and they both wore the same look of frustration.
They turned to watch as Itachi attacked Madara once again. Though he had been a member of Akatuski for many years, and had thus worked beside the older Uchiha, he seemed to have no more knowledge about how to fight the man than they did. As Itachi slipped through Madara's transparent body once again, Madara grabbed him by the back of his collar and threw him into the oncoming path of the incomplete tailed beast. Though it had already happened two other times, Sasuke couldn't stop the grimace that ran across his face as he watched his brother die under the trampling paws of the hulking beast.
It would be a few moments before Itachi's body rose once again and the former team mates racked their brains for a plan.
"Son of a bitch." Sasuke muttered heatedly. "If I could just get my hands on him for a second."
A second?
Naruto's eyes widened as a thought came to mind. With the both of them it could be possible.
No, it would definitely work.
It had too.
"Sasuke, do you have enough chakra left to use your flicker technique?"
Sasuke didn't turn towards the blond jinchuriki but continued to observe Madara as he answered. "Yeah."
"Good, cause we've probably only got one shot at this."
Sasuke finally turned his curious eyes onto Naruto. "What do you have in mind?"
Naruto dispelled his sage mode and once again pulled from the kyuubi's chakra, allowing the yellow flaming chakra to cover his body.
"We're finally gonna see who's faster."
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"Come on Sakura, get up and keep moving!"
With great effort, Sakura rose to her feet and followed after Chiyo-baa-san as she manipulated her puppets to slice through four more replicas that stood in their way. Every step now was a taxing effort. Sakura was not even this worn out from her battle with Sasori; although, their job was nearly complete.
With the help of Gaara and his troops, almost all of the replicas had been defeated. The once peaceful plains were covered in a mound of bodies; stacked several high in some places. What little grass that could be found on the ground was soaked in the blood of the enemy...and of their allies. As Chiyo continued to cut away at the opposing army, Sakura had become concerned with searching all the bodies she could see for any of their troops.
When she came across one, she immediately ran her chakra through their system to see if they could be healed. Unfortunately, most of the time it was too late. The truly sad part, she felt, was that she had to leave them there for the time being. It wasn't feasible to send their body back to the base, not while they were still engaged in combat. So, much to her displeasure, she would have to leave the fallen shinobi and continue searching the others.
She was so concentrated on searching for her fellow shinobi that she didn't see Chiyo had stopped walking, so she promptly ran into her back.
"Ugh, sorry about that Chiyo-baa-san, but why did you stop?" Sakura asked as she walked around her. All around the battlefield, the Allied Forces Shinobi stood looking around them. Some were barely standing as the exhaustion and injuries took their toll on their bodies. Sakura watched as Kakashi walked over to Gaara with his sharingan still visible. The two talked briefly as they scanned the area before them.
A murmur began through the thousands of shinobi. Quiet at first, it quickly gained momentum as the same words slipped from peoples lips.
"Have we beat them all?"
"Is it over?"
"Have we truly won?"
The hopeful words began washing over everyone and a joy that had not been felt in weeks overtook the crowd. Someone cheered and the masses followed. Hands were raising in the air as the group believed the war had been won.
Sakura did not join in the celebration. She knew that there was still one fight ongoing and its outcome meant everything.
She carefully kept her eyes trained on Gaara and Kakashi. They were still looking in the distance...in the direction she knew Naruto and Sasuke were fighting Madara. Their faces held neither joy nor sorrow. Instead, they kept their expressions blank, quiet observers to the battle she could neither see nor hear. She watched as Kakashi ordered a member of the Hyuuga clan to join him and Gaara in their observations. As he activated his byakugan, his face betrayed that which he could see. Now slack jawed at the battle he witnessed, his face showed the fear he held for those participating in the final battle.
Sakura turned to ask something of Chiyo-baa-san but was interrupted by a huge explosion in the distance. A large cloud of black smoke filled the air, marking the area she had last seen her team mate. A cry, like that of a wounded animal, filled the air. The shinobi on the battlefield all fell silent.
Everyone was watching the area where the explosion went off, waiting desperately for some clue as to what happened. Sakura gripped her arms tightly as the fear crawled up and down her spine.
Was Naruto okay?
Did he win?
Was he...
Was Sasuke...
Tears pooled in her eyes from the images her own mind painted. Waiting for answers was the worst form of torture she could endure. She needed to know, had to know...were they coming back? She tried to search her body for the strength to dash to where they were. She just had to see them. If they were...
"My fellow shinobi," Gaara's smooth voice rang out, catching the attention of every man and woman present. Sakura looked up to see a smile on his face and a tear streaking down his cheek.
"The war has been won."