Hey, come on, snap out of it!

Sakura thought she had heard something, but honestly couldn't seem to make herself care. Not when her mind and body felt as if it was surrounded by cotton.

*Big fluffy, warm, comfy cotton balls,...*, she smiled inwardly, ready to fall back into oblivion.

Seriously? Focus already, you're making us look bad!

*... all fluffy, bunny, cotton candy,...*

This is ridiculous. Focus you idiot! No wonder they think we're weak!

As the word registered through her hazy mind, vibrant green eyes snapped open, anger clear on her features as Sakura got ready to pummel into next year the morons who had dared to call her 'weak'.

Well, it's about time!

Sakura felt a bit confused at seeing a clone of herself standing right in front of her. With her short pink hair, jade green eyes, her confident pose with her fists resting against her hips, the red top, black shorts covered by a white medic skirt, the black ninja boots and leather gloves; it was a perfect replica of her stubborn and angry personality. The only distinct difference between her and the being standing in front of her was the black ink carvings on her wide forehead. This was her Inner.

Sakura's Inner had appeared right after Ino and her had become friends. Sakura had looked up to Ino, her beauty, her confidence, how she fought back, refusing to be looked down on. Ino had been her role model and best friend. At some point, they had become rivals when both had sought out Sasuke Uchiha's interests, but after a few years of being partnered up with the moody teen, and sharing everything as teammates, she had realized that she couldn't see him as anything more than a little brother. Naruto and Sasuke were the brothers she never had, and with that realization, Sakura had made peace with Ino, getting her precious best friend back.

Of course, it's only when Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya at the age of 13 that her Inner started to reflect in her personality. By then, she had already gotten over her crush for Sasuke.

The dark haired teen hadn't taken the departure of his best friend well. He had become a prideful jerk, and in a bout of rage, had thoroughly pointed out each and every little aspect of her personality and physique that made her a useless and weak Kunoichi.

She had cried for days, until Ino had barged into her room to remind her that pitying herself wasn't going to help her kick the younger Uchiha's ass for being such a prick towards a lady. The next morning, Sakura had walked up to the Hokage and demanded that she make her her apprentice. Sakura had been greatly surprised when a few weeks later Sasuke had apologized, but that had only steeled her resolve to surpass him and Naruto.

Not once did Tsunade show mercy. The pink haired Kunoichi had came home bruised and battered, exhausted physically and mentally, unable to rest as she read scrolls after scrolls of medical jutsus that Tsunade would drill her on the next day. As her training under the Slug Princess continued, her Inner's presence grew stronger, more ferocious, becoming a bigger part of her personality. She was her ultimate psychological shield, and right now, Sakura's subconscious was telling her to move her ass before she carelessly got them killed.

Her Inner could only appear in front of her when she was trapped inside her mind; trapped in a Genjutsu. Not wasting anymore time, the young woman formed the 'Release' hand-sign in order to free herself from the illusion.

Really? I thought we were supposed to be smart.

When Sakura noticed that she was still in this dark space with her Inner, she glared at her double.

*What are you saying?*

What's the last thing you remember?

*We were chased around by those undead shinobis, but we got caught because …*

Sakura's eyes widened in realization. She had been caught by that coward and pathetic excuse of a shinobi. She was already low on chakra, and had been dragged down by those chakra-sealing chains. After that, she had started fighting back, taking advantage of her free leg to wreak havoc around her, closing in on the mastermind behind the attack, ready to rip him to pieces, before getting caught in his genjutsu.

*How long have we been out?*

Barely three hours. We haven't had time to recuperate, and seeing how a lot of our chakra points have been sealed off, we won't be able to shake off this illusion.

Sakura started biting her nail, a nervous habit she had picked up from her Shishou. From what she had noticed when she had healed Naruto, those seals would prevent her from forcing her chakra points open. She needed a foreign chakra to open them up for her. Now the problem was that she was trapped in this illusion, and needed chakra to get out of it, but how to do that when your chakra points were sealed?

*What do you suggest?*

What makes you think I've found a solution?

*Because you're my subconscious, and even if I was consciously out for a while, we both know that we're too stubborn to give up because of such a silly predicament.*

Point taken. All right, here's what I came up with…

After what seemed like hours of debating over the plan, Sakura could only look at her grinning Inner with apprehension.

*This is a really twisted idea.*

Twisted? You're also insulting yourself; you do know that, right?

*I'm not even sure if it'll work!*

When have my ideas ever let us down?

Sakura looked at the evil glint in her Inner's eyes before answering:

*Never. But they're always reckless.*

Acting as bait with a clone of Naruto and Sasuke was my last idea, and it got those goons far from our teammates.

*Yeah, and look at the mess it got us both into.*

That was the only way to make sure that Naruto and Sasuke were safe, and you know it!

Sakura could only let out a long sigh at her Inner's growing anger. Her double was right. Their pursuers had been roaming close to their hiding spot. Leading them away from the cave had been the only way for her to assure her teammates' safety.

*I just hope those two idiots actually made their way back to Konoha.*

Even if they did, Naruto will heal faster than Sasuke, and we both know that unless Shishou breaks every bone in his body, he's gonna come searching for us.

*If he comes searching for us, I'll personally break each and every bone in his body for being so recklessly stupid. Which reminds me, I still need to scold Sasuke-kun for straining his eyes like that.*

Yeah. I love them too.

Sakura gave her Inner a small smile, hoping that her two boys had managed to reach Konoha safely.