Her Experience

by Tiny.Dncer

Sakura has been taking care of her sick civilian mother alone since she was 8. But now a full fledged ninja placed on team 7, she must learn how to stop holding herself back and let her team in, although, that proves challenging when her teammates are the wild and childish Naruto Uzumaki and her cold closed off long time crush, Sasuke Uchiha. (Better explanation inside.)

26. Kazekage Rescue Mission

A/N: Sorry for the wait!

"Inner Sakura..."

"Sakura's thoughts..."

Memory...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

---

Sakura forgot what it was like to be in the mission assignment room with Naruto, but she got her refresher very quickly.

Lady Tsunade offered them a low rank escort mission, taking a young mother and her son to a small village about two days away. They weren't people of importance, they'd made the request incase of bandits along the way.

"Eh! That mission?! No thanks!" Naruto immediately dismissed, full of indignation at such an offer.

"Eh?! What kind of response is that?! Well?!" Tsunade growled dangerously.

Kakashi started sweating, wishing Naruto would shut up and keep it to himself for once, cause as team captain and former sensei, it'd be his head on the chopping block for Naruto's rude behavior.

Iruka sighed, holding his head in his hands. And here he'd thought Naruto had matured, but he supposed he really hadn't…

Sakura immediately had Naruto in a headlock, raking her knuckles against his scalp.

"Sorry Shishou, I'll sort him out!" She said quickly a grimace on her face.

"He's got no idea how dangerous it is to piss her off! He can't get away with talking to her the way he did Lord Third! Shannaro!"

The Third was more sensible…" Naruto grumbled.

"What did you just say?!" Tsunade asked dangerously, while Kakashi shakily grabbed the mission assignment she was holding out.

"Would you shut up!" Sakura shouted, her arm tightening around Naruto's head, in reaction to the vein throbbing dangerously in her Master's forehead.

The door very suddenly slammed open. "Hokage-sama, it's really bad!" Sakura recognized the alarmed Kunoichi as one belonging to the coding department, from the copious amount of time she'd spent in Tsunade's office, seeing all sorts of ninja pop in and out.

"What is it? Why are you so loud…" Tsunade muttered, making Sakura think the Hokage might currently be suffering from a light hangover.

"Suna's Kazekage has been taken by an organization called the Akatsuki! We just received the message!"

Sakura and Naruto both stiffened, their eyes widening. Sakura forgot to breathe for a long second.

"Gaara-kun…? They…The Akatsuki got him?! But…he's so strong, and he's the Kazekage…if they got to him, what's going to stop them from…" Her eyes slid over to her recently returned teammate.

Naruto wore an expression somewhere between anger, fear, and anxiety. Gaara…? Those guys back from that inn again…they took Gaara?! His fists tightened as his sides as he shook a little. It could only be expected…Gaara and he were the same. They had a bond with each other, understood each other in ways no one else would—except for maybe the other seven tailed beast carriers.

Seeing him wear that expression caused a knot of resolve to tighten in her stomach. "I'll stop them all myself if I have to! I'm not letting anyone put Naruto through that much pain! I'm not gonna let them make him feel like he's nothing more than the beast he carries! Shannaro!"

Tsuande closed her eyes. She needed to think and for that she needed it not to be so bright and loud…having those drinks the previous night may not have been the best idea…if she'd known she'd be facing a situation like this, she'd have never done it. At least she didn't think she would. The problem was multipart. For one, most other teams had been sent out, so there weren't many other options than Team Kakashi. They were all skilled powerhouses, capable of an S-rank, which only added to the pros of sending them…but the cons…would this just be handing Naruto over to the Akatsuki? Could he be cool and rational enough to take them on without letting himself get caught? And Sakura…she wouldn't doubt her against almost anyone, except the Akatsuki. After all, they were powerful enough to capture a Kage…and Sakura, even if she knew how to work around it, was severely handicapped by her seal progress. Plus, could Sakura keep her cool if the Akatuski they came across was Itachi? But she was low on alternatives and out of time. Being Hokage was all about making hard choices, and here was a prime example. Besides, she had no doubt both of them would argue until they were blue in the face to be sent out to save their friend.

Tsunade jerked the paper she'd been handing Kakashi away from Kakahsi's grasp. "…Right, Team Kakashi, I will tell you your new mission. You are to go immediately to Suna, find out the situation, and relay it to Konoha…After that, follow the orders of Suna and back them up."

---

"Well…off we go!" Naruto said brusquely, tightening the straps of his backpack.

"We're heading out Shishou." Sakura said, nodding seriously.

"Ah…Sakura, come here a sec." Tsunade ordered. Sakura blinked, but quickly complied, stepping to the side with Tsunade while Naruto and Iruka spoke with each other.

"What is it Shishou?"

Tsunade sighed. "I don't need to give you this warning again—"

"Don't mess up the seal."

"Even though you have a way to handle it—"

"Stay calm and level headed to avoid a reaction. Shishou are you ok?"

"Just…stay safe. You better come back alive and well, kid."

Sakura's eyes widened before she smiled a little. It really did feel like something her mother would have said…she'd long ago accepted that Tsunade was like a step-mother, or adoptive mother…especially since she knew her mom approved (at least she did in her dream).

"Don't worry Shishou, I will." She smiled.

"Tsunade! Something terrible has happened…" Tsunade looked up to see Jiraya, who had dropped down from nowhere, to check on Naruto. "Suna's Kazekage…"

"I know." Tsuande sighed. "I'm about to send these guys off to aid them now."

Jiraya moved closer to Tsunade with a serious look on his face, and Sakura took that as her cue to rejoin Naruto and Kakashi, still talking to Iruka.

Jiraya leaned in whispering in her ear, "you do know about the thing between the Akatsuki and Naruto, right?"

Tsunade sighed, closing her eyes. "You wanna get in the way of him saving his friend and fellow jinchuriki?" Tsunade muttered back.

Jiraya hummed an affirmation, before calling Naruto over to him. When the blonde rushed over, Jiraya threw an arm around his shoulder. "Be careful when it comes to the Akatsuki."

"They've got something against me so, this time I'm coming after them." Naruto growled.

"Yeah, you've gotten stronger and all…but when you feel as though you're about to lose control, get a grip on yourself or you'll mess up. Becoming hot-headed too fast its your bad habit."

Naruto bit his lip, his eyes narrowing sadly. He knew how dangerous it could be when he lost control…apparently last time, he nearly killed Jiraya…he really was a monster.

"Naruto, I know you know, but…don't use that jutsu."

Naruto frowned, his brows furrowed. "I know…"

Sakura watched Naruto's tense back, as Jiraya hurried over to her and Kakashi, leaning into her sensei.

"Kakashi…make sure Naruto doesn't do anything stupid. He's all yours."

"Yeah…" Kakashi agreed seriously.

Sakura glanced between the two of them before looking back at Naruto's tense back. She didn't know what Jiraya had said to Naruto, or what had rendered her typically lackadaisical sensei so serious. All she knew was that this mission was dangerous, even more so for Naruto. And she would never let the Akatsuki get him. They'd have to go through her first, and she would drag them down with her, no matter what.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, let's get a move on!" Naruto barked, speed walking away from the gate. They were wasting time. Gaara needed them.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura agreed, her fists tightening against her backpack straps. Gaara was their friend, and he needed them…plus she couldn't shake the memory of the Suna chunin at the shelter in the Demon Desert. Many in Suna may not have cared that Gaara was missing…they might not try to save him, which meant they needed to hurry even more, because if Suna wouldn't save him, it was all on them.

---

They set a fast pace, Naruto in the lead. The ground raced beneath them as they hopped from tree to tree, a blur of green, until Sakura caught sight of a person walking leisurely below them, carrying a giant fan on their back.

"Temari!"

"Based on how calmly she's walking, she must not know yet…"

Temari looked up at the sound of her name, reflexively grabbing for her fan, until she saw the orange, pink, and grey blurs of Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi rushing towards her. She regarded them as they drew near, a shiver of apprehension racing through her. She couldn't explain it, but she had a very bad feeling…she wasn't superstitious, but her mug had cracked earlier when she'd stopped on the road for a snack, and the speed those three were moving at…the bad feeling was just getting worse and worse.

Sakura leapt down to the forest floor, followed by Kakashi and Naruto.

"You must not have heard yet—something's happened to Gaara-kun!" Sakura explained immediately without preamble.

"Yeah, the Akatsuki got him." Naruto growled darkly.

"What?!" Temari shouted. "Gaara…" She knew she had a bad feeling. She bit her lip, glancing down. How had this happened? Why hadn't Kankuro stopped them?!

"It'll take three days to reach Suna from here. Let's hurry." Kakashi said firmly, drawing Temari from her thoughts.

"Ok."

They took to the trees again, this time with the addition of Temari.

Naruto was still in the lead, thoughts of the akatsuki and Gaara racing through his mind.

To take Naruto with us is the supreme order given unto us by the Akatsuki.

Because of the nine-tailed demon fox, right? What do you want with it? To control it? Turn it into a weapon?

Naruto pushed off the branch he was on with so much force, he cracked the bark, shooting himself far ahead of the others.

"Naruto, just because I said to hurry, doesn't mean you should split up the team. Don't get so heated, didn't Jiraya-sama just tell you that?" Kakashi admonished.

"I can't stand it!" Naruto growled. "Why they're after me and Gaara…I hate it so much! Just because we have monsters sealed inside us, they see us as monsters too! I can't stand them looking at us whatever way they feel like!" His voice was steadily growing in volume the more upset he got. His jaw clenched hard, thinking about how desolate and sad Gaara used to look.

"He and I…we're the exact same…and he was…fighting, he was more lonely than I was!" It was like he could see it. Both of them as kids, two children, alone and crying. But then Iruka was there, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder…and Gaara was still alone. Then Sakura and Sasuke stood on either side of him, Kakashi behind him next to Iruka…and Gaara was still alone. "He was targeted by the Akatsuki…just like I was, but…" But Kakashi had tried to preemptively intercept them, and Sakura and Sasuke tried to stop them, and Jiraya rescued them all…and Gaara, who had been there to help him? "Why is it always him alone that has to have such a hard role?! Always him alone?!" He voice was becoming more ragged, along with the burning in his eyes. "That's why I can't just slow down and take my time! This time for sure, I want to save him!"

Hearing the way Naruto was talking about her brother, the way he was crying for him…it almost brought Temari to tears too. She should have been there more for her baby brother. She shouldn't have let him be so alone, she shouldn't have let her father isolate him so much…Naruto…thank god there was someone like him who could empathize with Gaara…thank the gods for Uzumaki Naruto.

Sakura remained silent, thinking about how much Naruto and Gaara had been through. To turn out the way they had…they were both incredibly strong people. And she wasn't going to let anyone hurt either of them on her watch. Despite how she knew it would exhaust her, she picked up her pace.

"Naruto." He glanced back at her call. "I don't know how good the Akatsuki's intel is. If they know you and Gaara-kun are friends, they might use this as a lure for you, which means we might encounter Uchiha Itachi."

Naruto's brows furrowed. "How do you figure?"

"You're his target." She answered evenly, managing to keep the bite that came with those words out of her voice. "The thing is, this could be an opportunity for us too."

"What do you mean?"

"There's something weird about Itachi…I…I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but I feel like there's something we're missing…" Her research into that matter had hit a dead end.

"So you're saying if we run into him…what? You wanna conduct an interview?" This really wasn't the time for something like that. Besides what else was there to know? Itachi murdered his entire family, tortured Sasuke, and was part of the organization that wanted to abduct him and turn the monster he was carrying into a weapon. What else was there?

Sakura pursed her lips, trying to keep her temper in check.

"I get he's worried but he doesn't have to be such an asshole about it, damnit!"

"A ninja's job isn't just about fighting or rescuing. Gathering intel's important too." Sakura answered tersely with forced patience. "Motive's important. Sasuke-kun wants to kill Itachi for what he did, enough to join Orochimaru to gain the power to do it." Saying it out loud sent a painful stab through her. She didn't know if that would ever stop. "Orochimaru offered him that power, but really he just wants Sasuke-kun's body. And all we have left is six months. Unfortunately, he's dropped off the face of the planet. Konoha has no clue where he is." Sakura's face grew dark, her eyes stormy. They were running out of time…but her research hadn't been entirely dead ends… "Orochimaru had ties to the Akatsuki. He was formerly a member."

Naruto's eyes shot wide in surprise. Had he really?! How did Sakura know that?

Kakashi's brow furrowed. He knew Sakura had been doing some independent research into Itachi, but he hadn't realized—though on second thought, he probably should have—that she'd also looked into Orochimaru.

"Where did you get that information, Sakura?"

"You know I've been looking into things on my own, Kakashi-sensei. These past two years, I haven't just been training with shishou. I did some digging through her notes, reports, and files, and researched outside when the rare chance presented itself."

Temari raised an eyebrow. Despite her distress over her brother, she couldn't help feeling impressed. In just two and a bit years, Sakura had mastered medical ninjutsu, the Fifth Hokage's enhanced strength, performed well enough at the chunin exams for Gaara to recommend a double promotion to jonin, advanced to chunin with flying colors, and was ballsy enough to sneak glances at the very short tempered Fifth Hokage's files and notes? That girl was good…really good.

"That's…grounds for a treason charge Sakura." Kakashi admonished quietly.

"Shishou won't banish me for peeping at files she left out in the open. If anything she'd consider it a wasted opportunity and lack of resourcefulness if I hadn't." Sakura dismissed.

"So…Orochimaru used to be one of those guys…" Naruto muttered.

Sakura nodded. "In other words, what I'm trying to say is this: as we get closer to the akatsuki, we get closer to information about Orochimaru. And if we get closer to Orochimaru, we get closer to Sasuke-kun."

"Right! I gotcha." Naruto agreed seriously. She was right. They were running out of time and they had to save Sasuke…but first, Gaara.

Sakura's fist tightened. "I have to get as much information on Orochimaru as I can, so we can save Sasuke-kun! Then after that, we'll deal with the one who tore our team apart in the first place, torturing Sasuke-kun and targeting Naruto…we'll deal with Itachi! This time, I'll save them both! Gaara-kun too!"

---

Sakura was breathing heavily by the time Suna's walls came into view. She was utterly exhausted—Naruto really had them pushing their speed limits. She took some solace in the fact that she wasn't the only one panting and sweating. Temari and even Naruto seemed to be struggling as well.

"Temari-sama! You were with them?! Thank goodness! We have been waiting! Please, this way!" A Kunoichi stationed at the wall shouted to them, when they approached.

"Right!" Naruto shouted, barely slowing down. Sakura tried not to audibly whimper, wishing they could just take a second to at least catch their breaths, but Gaara had already been missing three days. They were low on time and she understood the urgency. With one forceful breath of air into her burning lungs, she followed after Naruto without another seconds hesitation.

"…he protected all of us, but…Kazekage-sama was abducted. After that, Kankurou pursued them, but he was wounded…" The Kunoichi hurriedly filled them in.

Temari's heart nearly stopped. "What?! They got Kankurou too?!" Her heart hammered with panic.

"Yes, he was caught by the enemy's poison. And we have no way to neutralize it…at this rate he only has half a day at most. He's in treatment room 3."

Naruto's eyes widened, his teeth clenching. He remembered Kankurou being really tough, Shikamaru said he was jonin…the Akatsuki really were dangerous.

"Shit!" Temari nearly shrieked. She might lose both her brothers!

Sakura felt her exhaustion fade, replaced by the buzzing calm of needing to save a patient.

"Temari, let me take a look at him. I'll examine him!" Sakura said, seamlessly entering her medical persona—calm, confident, and firm but with urgency.

Completely forgetting how tired she was, Sakura raced ahead of Naruto, Kakashi, and the Suna Kunoichi, with Temari only a step in front of her. They sprinted into the hospital and through the corridors, running straight for medical treatment room 3.

"Kankurou!" Temari shouted desperately as they charged into the room, startling the five people surrounding the bed. Sakura threw her backpack off to the floor as she headed straight for Kankurou.

Naruto and Kakashi came skidding through the door after them. One of the people standing around the bed, an old shriveled lady, gasped. "The white fang of Konoha!"

"Eh?" Kakashi jolted in surprise, as the old woman charged at him, but she was intercepted by Naruto, who blocked every punch and kick she threw.

She was vicious enough for Naruto to feel the need to summon a shadow clone to throw her off. The woman leapt away, glaring at Kakashi and Naruto.

"Why are you going after Kakshi-sensei so suddenly, you wrinkly old hag?!" Naruto shouted. Still…he had to admit that for an old lady, she was tough.

"I still remember that time…That white fang of Konoha! My son's enemy…I will get revenge for him today!" The old lady hissed.

"Ah! No, I'm not…" Kakashi tried to explain hastily, his hands held up in front of himself as placation.

"Hey!" Sakura barked, drawing all the attention to her temporarily. "I don't know what this is about, but work out your grudges outside! There's a patient here that needs immediate care!" Her voice held so much authority that one would think this was her hospital, not that she was a visiting ninja from another village.

Before the old woman could do anything to counter, an equally shriveled old man stepped in front of her and held up his arm. "She's right, sis. Besides, take a look at him. There's a strong resemblance, but he isn't the White Fang of Konoha. The White Fang died, remember? You wept when you heard because it meant you would never get your revenge."

"Huh?!" The woman squinted at Kakashi for a second before bursting into laughter. "Of course I knew that! I was just having a senile moment! Hahahaha!"

"Whew…" Kakashi sighed.

Sakura tuned out whatever was happening and stepped up next to Kankurou, tying her hair up into a ponytail as she went. She glanced up at the two medics on the other side of the bed.

"Any diagnosis?"

"He's poisoned, but we can't figure out what with. Chiyo-sama is a poison expert and even she can't figure it out…" One medic filled in, while the other eyed Sakura skeptically. She was just a young girl, barely even fifteen. Was she even a medical ninja?

"Let me take a look at him." Sakura stated. It wasn't a request. But whether the Suna medics wanted to grant her access or not became irrelevant when Temari, their superior, practically a princess, answered in their stead.

"Please do." Sakura had been able to speed up Gaara's recovery when she was thirteen and barely knew medical jutsu. She'd been training with Tsunade and could only have gotten better since then. And clearly the Suna medics couldn't help. Sakura was her brother's only chance.

Sakura nodded, and opened Kankurou's eye lid, making note of how blood shot his eyes were and the miosis of his pupils. She withdrew a flashlight and shined it in his eyes, noting the lack of response in any way.

"Excessive miosis, unresponsive to light…might indicate the presence of a heavy alkaloid."

Sakura laid a hand on his forehead immediately noting the high temperature and sweaty skin.

"Fever…"

She opened his mouth, and was greeted by the sight of severally swollen tonsils. She stuck to fingers into his mouth, hitting his uvula and causing him to gag.

"Gag response intact…"

"H-Hey! you're—" One of the medics gasped.

Sakura pulled her fingers out of his mouth, examining the abnormally thick texture and pale color mixed in with his saliva.

"Mucus mixed with saliva, heavy white blood cell loss indicating active immune response…"

"Who are you?!" The skeptical medic demanded, shocked by her immediate physical examination. What was going on? Was she even a medical ninja? Why hadn't she used her chakra to examine him?

Sakura glanced up at him with serious eyes. "I'm a Konoha medical shinobi, Haruno Sakura." Sakura looked back at Kankurou and placed her ear to his bandaged chest, listening to his weakened heart beat.

"They seemed to have used a heavy metal based toxin. It's the type that acts upon the muscles and destroys the cells."

"You…You got all that from one brief examination?"

"But…you didn't even scan him with chakra." The two Suna medics were floored as to how she could have formed a diagnosis so easily.

"His medical records, please."

"R-Right." The medic quickly handed over a clipboard with Kankurou's chart, as well as a small slip of paper. "This is the list of the toxic ingredients we've been able to identify. As you can see there are many blanks…"

"I can predict the general outcome, knowing it's base…" Sakura continued while she read through his chart and the identified ingredients. "The cardiac muscle will continue to weaken until it collapses, sending him into cardiac arrest. Based on the sound of it, he doesn't have long. His heart could give out at any time so it's unlikely we'll be able to concoct an antidote before that happens."

Temari's eyes widened, a vice like grip squeezing her heart. "You don't mean…So you can't do anything?! No please! There has to be something—"

"Temari, take a breath. I didn't say there was nothing I could do, I said we wouldn't be able to make an antidote in time." Sakura answered gently, her eyes still trained on Kankurou's chart as she ran through treatment options in her head.

"The poison's too complex to leave up to a generalized antidote. Suna is renowned for its poison experts, which means they're also skilled at antidote concoction, but this one has them stumped. If an antidote's off the table, then the only option is to neutralize the poison with chakra, or extract the poison. Chakra neutralization would be the ideal, since it's more effective, but it would require an obscene amount of chakra for a such a complex poisoning this far along, and it takes a long time to read and morph the chakra into the correct neutralizing substance while inside the body…time neither Kankurou nor Gaara-kun has. That leaves extraction. It's not a perfect answer. It'll be impossible to extract all of it, plus the procedure would be very painful on the patient. And with how deep the poison's taken route, it'll be incredibly taxing on the medic…Because of that, it's not a method that's even taught in medical training programs. It's not even a full blown procedure, just something Tsunade-sama and Shizune said was theoretically possible… so it's unlikely these two would be able to help me…but it should buy me enough time to make an antidote. And that'll be a lot easier with an actual poison sample…alright. extraction it is."

"I'm going to extract the poison. It's quite a crude treatment, but it's the only option we have left. Please assemble the following items, immediately."

"Roger!" The two older Suna medics snapped to attention. As far as they had been concerned, there hadn't been any other options left. They'd given up. And they never heard of extracting the poison directly, they hadn't even known that was possible—was it even a real procedure or was she making this up on the spot?

"I'm gonna need several basins of distilled, anti-microbial, medical grade water, as well as empty basins to use as a receptacle for the poison. We need to remove his bandages and lower his pants just a little so I have full access to his vital organs. I also need some clean towels." She took a deep breath, taking quick stock of her available chakra. "Temari, I need to warn you. To my knowledge this procedure has never been done before and only exists in theory, though it's the only feasible option I can think of. Do you want me to proceed?"

"Yes! If there's even a small chance of saving him, then please take it!" Temari answered desperately.

Sakura nodded and the two medics hurried to get everything prepped. Sakura took the time to do a quick meditation, in the hopes of bolstering her chakra if only a little, performing the chakra control exercise Tsunade had taught her when Sasuke left the village.

"What do you need us to do, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked gravely, making Sakura look back at the audience she'd completely forgotten about.

"There's nothing you can do for this, Naruto. During the procedure it would be best if you all wait out in the hall."

"But—"

"Come on Naruto, this isn't either of our area of expertise. We don't want to be in the way." Kakashi intervened. It was just further evidence of Naruto's growing maturity that he didn't whine or continue to fight. "We'll be right outside waiting for you, Sakura."

"Thank you sensei." She really did love having her team again.

"As Kankurou's former captain and an adviser to the Subaku family, I, must insist on staying." A big burly man that Sakura recognized as the Sand sibling's jonin captain, spoke.

"Very well. If you're in here though, I'm putting you to work. You're going to have to help hold him still during the procedure."

The two elders followed Naruto and Kakashi out, but not before the old woman, Lady Chiyo, glanced back at Sakura. The girl was shockingly competent and skilled for one so young. The authority she held when she walked into the room left no space for doubt or questioning, so much so that the older, more experienced medics of Suna almost immediately defaulted to her leadership. And it was evident she was willing to try anything to save her patient, even going so far as to try a procedure that had never been done before. That competency, skill, and confidence reminded her a lot of her old, hated rival, the slug queen Tsunade.

The Suna medical ninja weren't incompetent and had even tapped in another medic to aid them in preparation for the procedure. It took less than seven minutes for them to have assembled and prepped everything. If the situation were any less dire, she almost would have wished it had taken them longer so she had a bit more time to meditate and generate more charka. But they were racing the clock and there was no time to waste. The chakra she had available would just have to do.

Sakura gently laid her hand to rest on top of the water in the basin and focused her chakra into it, creating a film of surface tension to allow her to hold the water in her palm. She lifted the water out of the basin, and turned to the medics, Temari, and Baki.

"This will hurt and he's going to try and fight it. You need to hold him still. Make sure he doesn't move or I won't be able to isolate the poison and draw it out."

"Right." All three of them chorused, each taking hold of a limb or part of Kankurou's body to hold still.

Sakura nodded and placed one hand against his torso to keep him still, before pressing the bubble of water into his chest above his heart. Still connected to and manipulating the water with her chakra, Sakura carefully infused her energy with his cells, before rapidly rotating it, mimicking a centrifuge. She could sense the poison separating from the cells, and it was taking all of her focus not to overdue it and start separating the blood from the plasma or physicalizing the energy and tearing apart his heart by accident. She could feel Kankurou's muscles jerking against her hand, and knew he was trying to writhe and fight against them, but she couldn't spare it an ounce of her concentration. She trusted Temari, Baki, and the medical ninja to hold him in place. Sensing that she'd separating most of the poison from the heart's muscular cells, she pulled her hand up off his chest, bringing the water bubble out of his body with the movement.

The water now held a murky purple substance, swirling around with the residual speed from her chakra-made centrifuge.

"No way…" One of the medics gasped in shock. He'd never expected this procedure to work—he certainly hadn't expected a fifteen year-old girl to be the one who succeeded in pulling it off.

"Is that the poison?" One of the other medics asked, equally as surprised as his comrade.

Sakura nodded, depositing the mixture in an empty basin.

"Another!" She ordered, indicating the now empty basin that formally held the water. She had to purge the poison from all vital organs before they could allow themselves a breath just yet.

Again and again, Sakura poured water and chakra into the lungs, liver, bladder, kidneys, stomach, and intestines, and extracted the poison from each cell of the organs. It was tiring, the sweat beading on her face—more than once, one of the Suna medics had to wipe her face to keep the sweat from rolling into her eyes or onto the patient. She was down to just twelve percent of her chakra by the time she'd gotten the majority of the poison out, and there were still traces of it left.

Sakura set the last traces of poison she extracted down into the last empty basin, staring at the swirling purple toxin. She sighed and wiped at the sweat on her brow.

"I've directly extracted the majority of the poison. That buys us some time. His life is no longer in danger."

The Suna medics let out quiet exclamations of awe. Temari fell against the wall, relief hitting her like a tsunami, as she sank to the floor.

"Way to go Sakura!" Naurto cheered, pounding into the room, from right outside where he, Kakashi, Chiyo, and her brother had been waiting.

"But we're not out of the woods yet. There are still traces of toxin left that can only be neutralized at this point with an antidote. If left, it could cause nerve damage or brain hemorrhage." Sakura cut in before they could get too comfortable. Poison victims were never fully safe until an antidote, antivenin, or antitoxin had been administered. "I should be able to concoct an antidote from the traces of poison I extracted."

"Got it. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." One of the medics said. This girl may have been the best medic they'd ever seen, to pull off what she just had. He'd gladly let her take the reins and assist however she needed.

"Well then, first I'll need a full inventory list of all the medicinal herbs you have access to in this village."

"I'll bring it immediately!" One of the Suna medics darted from the room to find what she'd asked for.

"Kankurou will need a clean set of bandages."

"Yes, right away!" Another medic leaned in, throwing away the old bandages and replacing them with fresh ones.

"After that, prepare an IV drip. He needs rehydration. Also set aside some of the extracted toxin, I'll need it later." Sakura ordered calmly, completely at home and in control in the medical treatment room.

Naruto couldn't help staring, his mouth slightly ajar. Sakura had always been pretty, but right now, she looked completely beautiful. He'd been wrong when he said she hadn't changed much. Sakura never used to be this confident about anything. Not battles. Not her own brilliant intelligence. Definitely not her medical skill. The amount of times she used to constantly warn them that her diagnosis couldn't be trusted, her treatments might not work, or her antidotes might be ineffective. Sakura never trusted herself this much before. Now that she did, now that she was so calm, cool, and collected, fully confident in her abilities, it was like her physical beauty radiated off her in a powerful manner.

Sakura pulled out her pony tail, shaking her hair out as it pooled against her shoulders. She was already working through roughly what family of ingredients she should be looking at for the antidote.

"You remind me of the slug queen, Tsunade…to think that a girl like you would randomly show up here…"

Sakura felt her insides lighten at the comparison. "If only I could be as skilled as shishou! And I remind this lady of her! Shannaro!"

"Thank you, Tsunade-shishou is my master and trained me hard. And it was her order that sent me here, so I can't really say it was random."

Chiyo's eyes narrowed as her head dropped just a bit. So her rival had taken an apprentice? And was now ordering that apprentice to aid Suna…times really had changed…was she anything more than just a relic of the past now?

"Here's the list of ingredients you asked for." The medic cut in, handing Sakura a folded slip of paper.

"Thank you very much." Sakura opened the note, her eyes skimming over the available medicinal herbs. It was a longer list than she was expecting, given the harsh dessert climate, but there were still a good amount she'd have to make do without.

"If you'd excuse me, Chiyo-sama, I need to get to work on this antidote." Sakura turned to the medics. "Would one of you please lead me to your green house?"

"Of course, I'll take you." One eagerly volunteered.

"Thank you. The rest of you should keep an eye on Kankurou and monitor his vitals. If he wakes up, make sure he doesn't more around too much, or he might spread the remaining traces of poison."

"Understood!" The two chorused.

Sakura smiled before turning to Kakashi, who nodded at her, signaling for her to do what she needed to. Nodding back, Sakura turned and followed the Suna medic out of the exam room.

---

The green house was far more flourishing than Sakura had expected, which was good news. She quickly got to work, piping some of the extracted poison onto a jutsu formula and sending chakra into the paper, watching how the poison spread and shifted colors in response.

"You were right about it being metal-based." The Suna medic observed.

"Which is fascinating, since many of the more common poisons found and used in Suna are derived from scorpions, pit vipers, or a few forms of cacti. Metal bases are more common in Ame, Ishi, and Iwa."

"This poison was developed by Sasori of the Red Sand. The grandson of Chiyo-sama, who you met earlier. She was and still is Suna's foremost expert in poisons and taught her grandson everything she knew. His skills must have only grown since he left."

"I wonder…if he developed a metal based toxin because his environment changed…maybe he spent a lot of time in Ame, Ishi, or Iwa. Or maybe he had a lot of exposure to someone from one of those villages…"

"I see…part of what makes it so complex is that it's using a heavy metal base while maintaining carryover elements of a more traditional Suna poison. There is scorpion toxin in here, as well as some poisonous cactus juices. But there's also a complex mix of metals, minerals unsustainable to the body, as well as some other poisonous elements." Sakura assessed, adding a touch more chakra to centrifuge the poison.

"Is it even possible to make an antidote for a poison this complex?" The medic asked uncertainly, scratching at his head.

"For sure." She had no doubt about it. "For every poison there is a way to counteract it. If the user felt confident enough to bring this out into battle, it's because they have an antidote for themself, should it somehow get turned against them. No one who uses poison would ever let one see the light of day if they themselves couldn't cure it." Shizune had taught her that.

Sakura focused back on the jutsu formula and her steady release of chakra, helping to separate and break down the poison. The poison drop segmented itself into twenty-six sections, some droplets tiny while others were much larger, the color and hue shifting droplet to droplet.

Sakura cut her chakra with a small exhale of relief and studied the segmented drops on the paper.

"So these are the primary toxic components. If we identify and neutralize these, we should be able to come up with the correct ingredient combination, from there it'll just be a matter of ratio assessment."

The Suna ninja stared down at the poison in shock. There were so many components…and these were just major groupings, each its own mix of ingredients…complex didn't even begin to cut it. And the chakra control it took to break down a poison to this small a level…Haruno Sakura was going to be a big name in the medical ninja community. He could feel it.

The green house door opened and they were joined by one of the other medics who'd been helping with Kankurou's procedure.

"I came to help with—oh my gods! What is that?!" The medic stared down the several unnaturally colored beads of liquid filling the jutsu formula on the table.

"That's the broken down poison extracted from Kankurou-sama. Sakura-san separated it out."

The new medic had no response passed an awed low whistle. He wasn't even sure what he was more impressed by. The complexity of the poison, or Sakura's skill in extracting and breaking it down.

"We don't have a lot of time, so let's get to work. I'm sorry, we were so tight on time earlier that I didn't get the chance to ask your names…"

"I'm Kimura Kazuma." The medic who'd lead her to the green house said.

"And I'm Ueda Hatori." The new comer greeted.

"Nice to meet you both. As you heard earlier, I'm Haruno Sakura. Kimura-san, you take these 8 drops," she said, pointing to the beads of liquid in varying shades of red. "Given the colors, these are going to be animal based—most likely venoms from different kinds of scorpions or snakes, but don't discount the possibility of fish either. He's likely traveled and picked up a few new sources for his poisons."

"Right!" Kazuma nodded, immediately turning to harvest the herbs they knew countered most scorpion and pit viper venoms.

"Ueda-san, you take these eight," Sakura pointed to the green hued drops on the paper, "these are from different plant sources."

"I'm guessing I shouldn't limit myself to the idea that these are all going to be native to Suna." Ueda muttered.

"Best not to." Sakura agreed.

"Alright then."

With the labor divided, Sakura took the last ten drops and got to work. These ones were larger, accounting for the majority of the poison's toxicity, and metal based, which meant in general they were harder to neutralize. But she wasn't going to let that deter her. If Kankurou had been poisoned, there was a chance Gaara had been as well. They needed to find an antidote and fast.

It took them five hours. Sakura worked with an efficiency that floored Kazuma and Hatori. Even more so because she was writing out all the math, chemical compositions, and additional notes, long hand. She had barely touched her drops, just doing page after page of calculations and diagrams. But then when she did finally set down her paper and create and drop a neutralizing mix, she was never wrong. Any trial and error had somehow been done on paper, ensuring that there was no waste of ingredients. Unlike both of them, who had jumped right into testing different mixes and seeing what happened, and then adjusting the math from there. They all finished around roughly the same time, which was even more impressive because Sakura had the harder compounds to neutralize, as well as more of them.

"So now we just mix all of our mixtures." Hatori said, stifling his yawn…they'd been working non-stop for several hours, and it was exhausting. He didn't know how Sakura was doing it, since the extraction procedure must have eaten into her chakra, and she'd gone right into it after traveling for three days at top speed just to get there.

"I don't think that would work…" Sakura murmured her eyes skimming over pages of her notes. "The ratio would be off, and there isn't enough of some herbs to waste on lots of trial and error."

"We always have had a hard time growing tomoshirisou." Kazuma noted, sadly.

"Yeah, the climate makes it hard to cultivate a lot of medicinal herbs…" Hatori agreed.

Sakura eyed the white flowered plant in thought. "Let me see the notes you two took. Based on the original droplet size, I think I might be able to determine the ratio of each and scale the antidote mixture ratios from there."

"But we already used the original droplets." Kazuma pointed out.

Hatori's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean you remember the original size and hue of all of them, do you?!"

Sakura blinked at them, blankly. "Should I not?"

"Highly skilled, highly intelligent, highly creative, beautiful, and has a photographic memory? Leave something for the rest of us why don't you?" Kazuma joked.

"Trust me, you've got all the luck you want." Sakura muttered, blushing a little as she looked back at her notes. If there was one thing she was always in low supply of, it was luck.

Kazuma shook his head in exasperation, while Hatori simply sighed, before they both handed over their notes. Sakura read over them, her eyes darting back and forth with each line. She laid there notes on the table and began making a new set of calculations, drawing out new diagrams, piecharts, and ingredient lists.

an hour later, Sakura set down her pen, her eyes darting over her notes once more. "I think…I think this is it. Ueda-san, can you set up a new jutsu formula? Kimura-san, would you get a fresh sample of poison?"

"Roger!" They both chorused, setting about their tasks while Sakura began grinding herbs, boiling different liquids, and adding powders.

Hatori cleaned up and safely disposed of the old jutsu formulas before laying out a blank new one. Kazuma dropped a large fresh drop of poison into the center and both turned to Sakura, who they clearly looked to as their leader at the moment, despite her being at least five years younger and from a completely different village.

"All set."

"Ok." Sakura said, leaning back from her amber colored concoction. "Let's give this a shot." She piped up a few milliliters of liquid from the beaker, and dropped a single drop onto the purple poison sitting on the jutsu formula. The poison turned a pale yellow color, before it smoked and dissipated, barely leaving a wet spot on the paper.

Sakura stared in disbelief for a second before breaking into a wide smile. "It's ready!"

"Hell yeah! I did it! Shannaro! I broke the unbreakable poison even an expert couldn't beat! Tsunade-shishou, Shizune-senpai, you two would be so proud of me! I can't believe I did it!"

Kazuma and Hatori let out awed gasps. In just a little over seven hours, with only one attempt, Sakura had cracked the poison that eluded them for the past three days…and she'd done it without any rest or break. That girl was amazing!

---

"Be sure to drink it all." Sakura said, holding the mug to Kankurou's lips and tipping it slowly into his mouth.

He wanted to gag—it tasted dreadful, but he did as Sakura instructed. Temari, Naruto, and Baki looked on anxiously, while Chiyo and her brother, Ebizou, watched with a more calm resignation. Kankurou finished the liquid, coughing a bit and holding his burning chest.

"It'll burn for a few minutes, but that'll pass. You'll be fine now. Don't move around until the numbness passes, and get some sleep. Your body hasn't had a proper rest in three days due to the poison, and with the stress both it and the extraction put on your organs, you need sleep to properly recover."

Kankurou looked down at his trembling hand. He couldn't just sit here, Gaara was…

"Don't worry about Gaara-kun. We're going to get him back." Sakura interrupted, as if reading his mind.

"Damn straight we will! We're getting Gaara back right now! Believe it!" Naruto shouted, swinging his pack on, picking up Sakura's from the ground where she'd tossed it, and holding it out for her.

Kankurou stared at them both, remembering his brother's words from when he first took his role as Kazekage.

To work hard and make your own path, that is the only way. Without running away to lonely isolation…if I do that then sometime, maybe I'll be just like him…Connections with other people…up until now, for me that was only hatred and the intent to kill. But now even I understand something…sadness and suffering, and joy…they can all be shared with someone else. Compassion, love, care, and kindness make you strong, and courageous…Uzumaki Naruto, he knew the same feeling. Suffered as I do. And so he taught me that I could change the way I live…Sakura…sees past the darkness in others, and offers them a warmth they didn't know existed…Even in my most monstrous state, she treated me as someone worthy of kindness…Of love…Connecting. Loving. It's thanks to those two, I finally understand what these words mean.

"Uzumaki Naruto…Sakura…please save my brother." Kankurou begged hoarsely.

Naruto's lips twitched into a smirk. "Leave it all to me! Because I will be Hokage someday too! So I'll secure an advance favor from the Kazekage!" He stated boldly.

"Gaara-kun's our friend, we'll rescue him no matter what!" Sakura agreed with a reassuring smile, as she secured her pack on her shoulders, though internally she was torn. She knew they needed to leave immediately, but she was already exhausted and starving. She was debating on the merits of popping a food pill already.

None the less, Sakura followed Naruto out the door, Kakashi trailing behind them.

---

Baki stopped them outside the hospital.

"If you wait a little, we can have a skilled ninja here too, to accompany you."

"Really…" Kakashi trailed off. As appealing as the offer was, they'd already received word from Tsuande while Sakura had been working on the antidote, that Team Gai was on the way for backup. And he doubted they could afford to wait a little. Even if they could, it would be a hard sell for Naruto and Sakura…well, maybe Sakura would be willing, since she must be pretty tired at this point, but she was just as determined to save Gaara as Naruto was.

Temari appeared at the hospital door. "I'm going too!" She declared fiercely. Now that one of her brothers was safe, she had to make sure the same could be said of her baby brother. Gaara had just started connecting to others, just started letting people in. They all finally had a proper sibling relationship, and there was no way in hell she was gonna lose that now!

"Temari, stay here and work on the defense of the country's border." All eyes shot up to the old woman standing on the roof of the hospital, talking down to them. "From the shinobi of the Sand, I am more than enough of a representative."

"But…! Lady Chiyo!" Temari protested.

"That would be too much for you…" Baki agreed. The woman was old. Wrinkly-old. She couldn't possibly hold her own against the strength of the akatsuki.

"Don't treat me like a retired fossil!" Chiyo barked leaping down from the roof.

"She jumped?!" Naruto shouted, while Sakura stepped forward in concern. But there was no need. Chiyo landed perfectly fine, like the ninja she was and always had been.

"I've wanted to give my cute grandson some love for a while now…" Chiyo declared seriously.

"…grandson?" Sakura questioned.

"That's right Sakura-chan! You were busy with healing Kankurou and finding an antidote and stuff! So, apparently the guy that poisoned Kankurou is named Sasori of the Red Sand and he's this granny's grandkid. Oh! And bushier brows sensei's team is on the way to give us some backup. Oh! And Kakashi-sensei is the son of this guy called The White Fang of the Leaf—awesome name, right?—and he killed Granny's son, which is why she went totally batshit crazy when she saw him."

"That was a very rapid fire catch up session, thanks." Sakura murmured dryly.

"I have so many questions…what possessed Tsunade-sama to send us back up? She wouldn't have done that without a reason. Kakashi-sensei never mentioned his dad before…but he said everyone he cared about was dead. That must have included his father…I wonder when it happened. He's not showing signs of depression or sadness, so it must have been long enough for him to move on from—as much as possible. Although he doesn't look thrilled at having Lady Chiyo accompany us."

"Well…I suppose that's settled then, let's get moving." Kakashi sighed.

The four took off without further discussion.

---

Sakura kept up her chakra meditation exercise in the hopes that it would help her recharge her energy faster. It was difficult, she felt completely depleted. They'd only traveled a few hours before she couldn't keep it up anymore.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I know we don't have time, but I can't keep going like this." She spoke up, when she felt her legs growing rubbery.

Kakashi slowed to a stop, as did Chiyo. Naruto was more hesitant to do so, traveling a few more leaps before reluctantly stopping.

"I get that you're tired, Sakura-chan, but we don't have time for this!" Naruto growled in frustration.

"Hold it Naruto. More than any of us, Sakura has been going non-stop since we left on this mission. That medical procedure must have required a large amount of chakra, and then she went right into making an antidote, and then immediately left. Whether you needed it or not, we both got a break. She didn't. It'll do us no good to run into the Akatsuki with one or all of us drained. Especially if that one is our only medic." Kakashi chided.

"I'm sorry…I know we don't have time. Just give me an hour. And some food. I'll be good to go. Just give me an hour…"

"You don't have to apologize for this Sakura. You can have up to three hours, but we'll need to go after that." Kakashi answered evenly.

Sakura shook her head. "We don't have time for that. Just an hour is fine." Sakura insisted setting her pack down and leaning back against the trunk of a tree. She closed her eyes, feeling her chakra pulse through her, imagining her smaller reservoir filling drip by drip…and she fell asleep.

---

Sasuke was sitting next to her on the tree trunk, her head was on his shoulder and their hands were intertwined. Naruto, Kakashi, and Chiyo were nowhere to be found. So obviously, she was dreaming again.

She didn't move right away. As much as it ached, she wanted to stay in this moment, just the two of them, him letting her rest against him. Would this ever become a reality? She wasn't sure…she wasn't even entirely clear on what his feelings for her were. Had she read too much into his parting thank you? She didn't even know if him asking her not to die while he was gone was real or whether she just dreamed it up. When Sasuke came back, there was no guarantee he would let her do something like this.

"I know you're awake, Sakura." He spoke softly, and as always, her name sounded so…intimate when he said it.

"Funny, since it's actually just the opposite. I'm asleep right now." Sakura murmured, still not moving.

Sasuke seemed to consider that for a second. "That's alright. If it's this or nightmares, I'd rather this be what you see when you're asleep."

"Glad to know the Sasuke-kun in my head loves me, at least."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked, leaning his head against hers.

"What?"

"It's amazing how stupid you can be about some things."

"Jerk."

"I never pretended like I wasn't one…"

"You're right," Sakura agreed, "it's more like you pretend that you are one."

"Hn…" There was a long pause, stretching through the minutes in comfortable silence.

"Why are you here, Sasuke-kun? Normally when I dream about you, it's for some kind of pep talk."

"Is that all I am for you? A motivational speaker?" Amusement glinted in his eyes, though she couldn't see it, with her head resting against his shoulder. She could hear it in his tone though.

"Unrealistic, huh? That's how I know it's a dream."

"I'd do it for you." He said seriously, after a long moment. "Pep talks…if that's what you needed…motivational speaking, I'd do it for you." There was another long pause and then, "I dream about you like this…"

"Huh?" Sakura blinked in surprise. Did she really want to hear that Sasuke dreamed about her so much that her head invented him saying it? It was cruel. It made it all feel too real.

"When I dream of you…sometimes I'm just watching you do something. Dance or study…sometimes, you're taking care of me. Sometimes we're kissing…or more…and sometimes, it's just like this. Resting with you." His eyes grew stormier. "They're dreams I shouldn't be having…no matter how good they feel. It's not safe yet. To dream about you like that."

Sakura almost wanted to groan. This was why these dreams were always so confusing. Her dream Sasuke was too realistic. When he said those sorts of things, it was like it was the real Sasuke visiting her in her sleep, not one her head invented. And it wasn't fair. It was making her expect Sasuke to have certain feelings for her that he may not actually have.

"What are the chances you're astral projecting yourself into my dream?"

Sasuke picked his head up off of hers, turning to give her a flat look. She moved for the first time as well, lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him. They both held each other's gaze, and Sakura felt mesmerized by the darkness of his irises. It felt so real…so much like the real thing.

"Tch. Like I said, stupid." Sasuke muttered looking away. Faint traces of amusement and annoyance still in his eyes.

Sakura sighed and settled her head back on his shoulder again. "Yeah. It was a pretty dumb question." It didn't seem like the dream was coming to an end just yet, and she was desperately trying not to let her mind linger too long on what the "or more" was when Sasuke dreamed about her. "Gaara-kun's been kidnapped by the Akatsuki…we're on our way to go save him."

She felt Sasuke tense against her. Maybe she'd picked the wrong conversation topic. To Sasuke, the akatsuki meant Itachi.

"You still call him that?" Sasuke asked tensely.

Sakura's eyes widened. "That's what's making you anxious?!"

Sasuke turned his face away, hiding the slight flush of his cheeks, but Sakura's soft hand gently turned his face back to her.

"Is that really making you anxious, when you're the one I'm dreaming of and holding hands with?"

"I don't have the right, but…You're entitled to…I wouldn't blame you. I don't like the idea of it. But if there was someone else…I can't be mad. I left you. Expecting you to wait…it's not fair."

"Sasuke-kun, I wouldn't know how to move on from you if I tried. I don't owe you anything. And it's not because of some feeling of personal obligation that I'm in love with you. I saw how you were, Sasuke-kun, behind the anger and revenge and darkness. I saw how deeply you cared for others. How much you helped me…I just…I fell in love with you Sasuke-kun. It's like falling into a really deep well without any chakra. I can't just climb out of it and walk away. And…maybe it's all just sweet nothing that I'm reading into too much, but you've given me enough to not want to try and climb out. That well might become a grave…I might be buried alive by my feelings for you, but…I think…I think they're there to stay."

Sasuke stared at her for a long moment before leaning in, his lips pressing firmly against hers. One hand came up, gently cupping her face while the other squeezed their interlocking fingers. Sasuke, or at least her dream Sasuke, was a very passionate kisser. Everything with him always felt intense and this was no different. And gods was he good at it. She wondered how Sasuke got so good at kissing, before remembering that this was a dream which meant her mind was supplying this. And that lead her to the very embarrassing line of thought as to why her mind was so good at this.

"Ah crap! Am I as perverted as Kakashi-sensei and Naruto?"

She felt a slight shift and her eyes flew open.

---

Kakashi had only just landed on the branch she was resting on, reaching out to shake her awake when her eyes snapped open, totally alert. She didn't say anything, just stared Kakashi down.

"I wanted to wake you to see if you were ok…you were starting to look a little flushed." He forgot how light of a sleeper she was.

"I'm fine." She answered quickly, making Kakashi raise his one visible brow. "So it's been an hour?"

"An hour and a half."

"What?!" Sakura shot up off the branch. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?! We don't have time to waste! Let's get moving!"

Kakashi was still a little suspicious, but said nothing more on the matter. Intense dreams were a part of this stage of development…and life from there on out.

"Finally!" Naruto called, picking up and taking off immediately.

"Kids these days, always in such a hurry." Chiyo muttered.

"Maybe so, but they have good reason." Kakashi followed after them, Chiyo trailing close behind.

"Naruto!" Sakura called.

"What is it Sakura-chan?"

"Did Jiraya-sensei ever explain why the Akatsuki was waiting three years to go after you?"

Naruto searched his memory, but shook his head. "No, he never said anything about it."

"I don't get it. Why did they wait three years and give you a chance to get stronger?"

Kakashi had been thinking a lot about that question as well, since she first mentioned it. "Maybe it was that they couldn't take action, rather than choosing not to. He always had Jiraya-sama at his side." It was the only answer he could think of.

"Well, from what I've gathered, I heard there were other reasons." Chiyo supplied. "It requires a considerable amount of preparation to separate a tailed beast from the man it's sealed within. I assume that's what hampered their effort."

"Separate it? Is that possible?!"

"I thought they wanted the individuals who held the tailed beasts to turn them into some kind of weapon…but, you mean to tell me they don't want the individual at all?"

"But if the tailed beast is sealed within them…maybe the way the seal works doesn't allow for full integration with the body but…" The memory of how quickly Naruto healed, of the way neither he nor Gaara could accept chakra transfers, bothered her.

"The tailed beasts are a monstrous formation of chakra. During the Great Ninja War, every Hidden Village attempted to acquire their power for military purposes. They competed to obtain these beasts. However, no one can control such power beyond the ability of men. I've yet to know of why the Akatsuki attempts to acquire such power…it is too dangerous."

Sakura bit her lip in anxiety, glancing at Naruto's saddened expression. She hated how sad he looked. Hated that there were people who thought of him and Gaara as nothing more than boxes holding a powerful weapon.

"Why? What do they want with the tailed beasts? If it's for a weapon, then why? Their organization seems to be made up of missing ninja from more than just one Hidden Village, so who is it specifically they're out to get? Maybe if we could find out where their leader's from…but if a ninja the likes of Itachi is an underling…I'd really hate to meet the leader…"

"Everyone halt!" Kakashi ordered suddenly.

Sakura looked up to see a man in a black coat with red clouds, his Konoha hitai-ate had a cut slashed through it.

"Think of the devil and he shall appear…well, at least now I can start getting some answers."

"…Right from the beginning…" Kakashi muttered. This was bad news.

"…This guy…those eyes…" Chiyo was old enough, with enough battle experience to recognize the famous sharingan.

"Uchiha Itachi!" Naruto growled.

"Itachi…Ho, this is the child who killed his entire family…?" Chiyo questioned.

"It has been a while, Kakashi-san, Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan." Itachi greeted calmly.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she studied Itachi.

"That's a normal sharingan, like Sasuke-kun's…it's not the Mangekyo."

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Itachi. "Not just me, but even Gaara?! I'll beat you all down!"

Kakashi saw Itachi's arm shift, and it immediately clicked what would come next. "Everyone, don't look directly at his eyes! It's dangerous!"

Sure enough Itachi raised his fingers in front of his face, forming a hand sign.

"Well if we can't look at him, then what are we supposed to do?!" Naruto demanded.

Kakashi recalled what Gai had told him, when he asked the green beast how he managed to go up against him.

"Judge his movements from the movements of his body and feet. Itachi's genjutsu is an ocular based jutsu. In other words, it's a vision type. You'll be fine if you avoid eye contact."

Sakura watched how Itachi dropped his fingers and shifted his arms.

"It's difficult, but it's not that different from what Tsunade-shishou taught me…I can do this. It's tough, but I can do this."

"Hm…the Uchiha clan. It's been a long time since I've fought a sharingan. Well…there's no need to be overwhelmed. There are many tactics for fighting this eye jutsu." Chiyo explained, sagely.

"What should we do?!" Naruto asked.

"If it's one on one, surely run. If there's a pair, attack from the rear."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked blankly.

"If it's two on one, even if one get's caught in the genjutsu, there's one more to go behind the opponent. If they hit the real body, the genjutsu is unravelled. Even if that's impossible, they can help their partner breakout of the genjutsu themselves. That is, if there are multiple opponents, one person can divert attention and the other can move behind, to the sharingan's blind spot, and attack."

"But that nightmare hell scape…"

Kakashi spoke as if reading her mind. "Well…that's alright for a normal genjutsu level, but in this case, it will be a lot more trouble."

"What do you mean?" Chiyo asked.

"He uses an ocular jutsu that surpasses the original sharingan, called the Mangekyo Sharingan. If you are struck by that jutsu, his genjutsu can affect you in an instant. There is no canceling the effects of that jutsu."

"That's Kakashi-san for you. That, after having been affected by my Tsukuyomi just once." Itachi said calmly.

"That's not all…" His observations coupled with Sakura's research on the Sharingan had really been enlightening, but before he could say anything more, Sakura took a small step forward.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about him using that jutsu on us this time though."

"Sakura…" Kakashi warned, but she didn't look his way, her eyes remained trained on the leaf symbol of Itachi's hitai-ate.

"How are your eyes doing, Itachi?" Sakura asked boldly.

Itachi's eyes widened incrementally before narrowing. How did she know? The first time he met her, he couldn't tell if she was incredibly stupid or incredibly smart. Now he was positive it was the latter, but how had she figured that out?

"The Mangekyo Sharingan puts extreme strain on the optic nerve, slowly degrading it until you go blind, directly proportionate to how often you use it."

"Sakura-chan…impossible, you…" Itachi's gaze was now solely fixed on Sakura. Given the language she was using, she must have gained some formal medical training. But there wasn't any medical book that would have information on the Mangekyo in it. She was different too…last time, she'd barely looked at him, and when she had, it was with almost as much hatred and hostility as his little brother. This time, from what he could make out, there was a coldness in her eyes but also a curiosity. She was looking at him like a puzzle she was missing pieces to, and he didn't know what to make of that change in demeanor.

"Additionally, the Mangekyo is a separate jutsu entirely from the sharingan, requiring the user to have the sharingan first, and then evolving that into the Mangekyo through a specific set of circumstances. In other words, it takes however much chakra the sharingan requires and then much more additionally to use…" Sakura assessed.

"That doesn't mean I won't use it." Where had she gotten that information? The mangekyo was a secret even amongst the Uchiha's. The only possible place it might be mentioned was in the Naka shrine, but still, a sharingan was required to decode any of it. Even if she had somehow discovered the shrine, she wouldn't have been able to read any of the tablets there. So where…?

"Yes it does. Because if what Lady Chiyo said is accurate, your Akatsuki members are trying to separate the one tails from Gaara-kun. If tailed beasts are a giant masses of chakra, the sealing jutsu used to enclose them into a person must be incredibly strong, and the longer the beast has been inside the person, the more intertwined their chakra networks are likely to be. That means to separate one from the other, it would require a lot of chakra—maybe as much as the beast itself, and a lot of time…more than just a single person would have. So, you're either coming from or going to your cult members to help with this…which means you've either used a lot of chakra already, or are saving it to use…you can't afford to pull out the Mangekyo right now…"

Chiyo and Kakashi both stared at Sakura in shock. Chiyo couldn't believe how quickly the girl had figured that all out. She'd only just told her about the tailed beast removal minutes before, and she hadn't gone into detail—the girl just reasoned all that out on her own so quickly…and it made sense.

Kakashi knew her intelligence shouldn't come as a shock at this point, but it had been a while since he'd seen it in action…more than that though, he was worried about what she might do…Sakura had shown patterns of recklessness in the past, and he just prayed that pattern wouldn't come into play here. Naruto was already enough of an impulsive wild card.

Naruto had less of a reaction. He knew since day one that Sakura was smart and was used to her spewing information she'd deduced. His glare was trained on Itachi, his fists trembling with rage.

"…You've blatantly acknowledged me. Do you respect me as an enemy now, Sakura-chan?" He asked curiously. The girl wasn't just very smart, she was brilliant.

"It's not respect. It's curiosity."

"What is there about me to be curious about? I doubt my little brother wants you taking this much of an interest in me."

Rage flared through her at the mention of Sasuke. "How dare he, after all he did to Sasuke-kun! I'll—no wait. He's trying to get a rise out of me…he's trying to gauge my feelings for Sasuke-kun…but why? Why does he care how I feel about his brother? If he's trying to find another way to torture him, then it's Sasuke-kun's feelings that are important…so why is he trying to gauge mine?"

"How dare you talk about Sasuke after what you put him through!" Naruto growled.

Sakura took another step forward. "See, this is why I'm curious about you. You're fishing for my feelings about Sasuke-kun. Why? Do you care? But if you do, why would you make him relive the massacre in the Tsukuyomi? Why murder your entire family in the first place?"

"Sakura…" Kakashi hissed, wary of revealing too much. Though, it occurred to him that the majority of Itachi's attention was squarely on his pink haired student. Was she doing this on purpose? Trying to make herself the distraction?

Itachi didn't falter of waiver. Not on the outside. But internally, his mind was racing. He hadn't realized how obvious he had been—he thought he hadn't been obvious at all, trying to subtly wheedle out Sakura's feelings for Sasuke. It had been easy to see what they were, back when he first met her, but were they still the same after Sasuke defected? He hoped they were…his brother deserved someone loving, caring, and kind, as she had shown herself to be before. He would need it. But he couldn't blame her if her feelings changed…still, she was dangerously smart and too curious. She was picking a scab that was best left alone.

"You want to know how I feel? Then invade my mind, like last time. You won't have to look far to get your answer." Sakura challenged boldly, looking directly into his eyes. "But I have an answer I want, and I'll do whatever I have to, to get it."

Itachi raised a brow curiously. "And that is?"

"Why didn't your parents fight back?"

This time, he couldn't hide his reaction. His head jerked, his eyes widening. How did she know that? Where was she getting her information from? She was getting too close to the truth…he didn't need the mangekyo to learn what else she'd discovered, or where she'd discovered it from, though that kind of genjutsu took a lot of chakra, and wasn't as strong when cast by a regular sharingan…

Naruto had no idea what the hell was going on. But it occurred to him that Itachi was distracted…and wasn't this what the hag had said? If facing the Sharingan in pairs, one distracts while the other attacks from behind? Sakura was probably doing this intentionally, waiting for one of them to go for it, so why keep her waiting? He quietly cast a shadow clone, having it sneak off.

Kakashi's eyes widened, shooting to Sakura in shock. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Betting on myself." She answered quietly, her gaze unwaveringly locked with Itachi's.

Kakashi grimaced under his mask, his brows furrowing. Reckless. She was being reckless…but there was a logic to it. She was using the opportunity to the fullest. She wanted answers Itachi had, so she was trying to get them. But she was also trying to force his hand. She kept throwing out information to gauge his response and rattle him, maybe hoping to push him into extreme measures to shut her up. After all her training with genjutsu simulations, cast by the strongest genjutsu expert Konoha currently had, Sakura could recognize and break incredibly strong genjutsu…maybe even one enhanced by the sharingan. She trusted herself to get out of whatever he cast. Except the Tsukuyomi. That was unbreakable. But she'd broken that one too with her curse, which she now had some level of control over. If Itachi used the Tsukuyomi, she was the only one with the chance of escaping it without traumatizing damage. And using it would tire Itachi out too much to fight the rest of them effectively, giving them a shot at winning, as well as potentially sabotaging the Akatsuki's efforts, if Itachi had yet to meet up with them and help with the extraction. Plus she was drawing all of his attention…Kakashi understood exactly what Sakura was doing, down to the deepest layer. It was smart, but that didn't mean it wasn't reckless.

"I'd be very interested to learn how you discovered that, Sakura-chan." Itachi answered quietly.

"Then you'll have to find out by force. Or trade me an answer for an answer." Sakura wasn't going to back down. Not when she finally had the chance to put some of the pieces together…and if it gave her teammates a chance to attack all the better…in this case, even though it went against all the rules of medical ninja, she didn't mind being the distraction.

Itachi studied her carefully. She was playing a dangerous game. She'd set it up so that even his next move was going to reveal information to her. Particularly if he opted not to try and take answers by force. Well…he'd rather not, but she left him no choice. Besides, she seemed to have made a grave miscalculation. He didn't need the Tsukuyomi to get inside her head. His Sharingan could do that on their own. And she was already locking eyes with him. She brought this on herself.

He cast the genjutsu.

---

Sakura was back in her dream, sitting on the tree branch with Sasuke, their hands intertwined, her head resting against his shoulder. Everything repeated itself just the way she'd dreamt it earlier. The conversation, the movements…

"What's going on? Did I fall asleep again? Am I having a repeated dream? No…that's not it because…" Images of Itachi flashed through her mind. "Right. I challenged him directly. Guess he went with getting answers for himself…I didn't think he could get into my head without the Mangekyo…Opps. Still, that means this is a genjutsu…so I should be able to break it…"

"I just…I fell in love with you Sasuke-kun. It's like falling into a really deep well without any chakra. I can't just climb out of it and walk away. And…maybe it's all just sweet nothing that I'm reading into too much, but you've given me enough to not want to try and climb out. That well might become a grave…I might be buried alive by my feelings for you, but…I think…I think they're there to stay." She was saying, her dream continuing to play out despite the awareness she now had.

Itachi watched the dream play out curiously. She hadn't been kidding when she said he wouldn't have to go far to see how she felt. This was the first thing on her mind after their encounter, which was current. She must have just dreamed this. He could understand her need to keep restating that this was a dream…the Sasuke in it was frighteningly realistic. If he didn't know better, he would have also shared her theory of astral projection. But she did still love him though. That was good. He'd need it. Now to find out where she'd come across her information.

Everything around Sakura grew blurry, including Sasuke. She had the distinct feeling things were moving in reverse around her, and then she was standing on the blood stained floor of Mikoto and Fugaku's bedroom. Sakura walked to the blood splattered wall, staring at the staining pattern.

"If this is a genjutsu, and my own mind, I should be able to interfere with the chakra enough to gain some control—to be able to speak and move how I want without breaking it…I want to see his reaction to this." It was minute, unfeelable, the small spike of chakra she wedged into his, but she no longer felt trapped by the confines of her memory…

"You used your left hand." She spoke out loud, surprising Itachi. Most of the time, people didn't realize they were in a genjutsu…they just thought they were having flashes of memory. Apparently Sakura wasn't fooled though. It was even more impressive that she'd somehow garnered enough control to speak freely, without completely breaking the jutsu…in a sharingan enhanced genjutsu no less.

"They didn't fight you. There's no sign of battle other than the blood. They were both Jonin, one was captain of the police force. You wouldn't have been able to subdue them so easily. There'd be signs of a struggle. But there are none."

"So it was a deduction." He spoke quietly, feeling stifled by the mere memory of that night.

"An accurate one, based on your response. Why didn't they fight back?"

"Parents grow foolishly sentimental when it comes to their child." He stated in a cold detached voice.

"Maybe so. But not if they have another child to protect. They wouldn't have just given in without trying to protect Sasuke-kun, unless they were convinced he'd be ok." Sakura countered.

"That's a presumption. You didn't know my mother and father."

"I met your mother. I just turned eight but she thought I was eleven—I was using a henge jutsu. She wanted to introduce me to you. Thought we'd get along well. She was quite the warm, caring, doting mother."

Itachi looked away from the bloodstains, outwardly calm but internally in turmoil.

"She definitely loved Sasuke-kun and would have done anything to ensure his safety…it must be a mom thing…So why didn't she fight you? Or try and escape?"

"You're presuming a lot about my family from one encounter you had with my mother." The words tasted bitter to him, because he knew they were empty. His mother had been one of the most kind, caring people he knew.

"I have evidence. Don't you want to know what it is?"

The blurring only lasted a second this time, before she was sitting on the floor of Sasuke's childhood bedroom, in front of his desk, reading through his journal, her notes on the sharingan and healing doujutsu based damage next to her.

"Sasuke-kun was more sensitive and observant then any of you gave him credit for. He wrote a lot about how lovely Mikoto-san was."

"You read his journal…" Smart move. One he doubted very many considered given how young Sasuke was at the time. If they even noticed the journal, they probably would have figured it was filled with inane childhood nonsense. But she had taken the time to read it just incase. She truly did love his little brother. And from what he could make out of the notes next to her, this must have been her sharingan research.

"He knew your sharingan had changed, but couldn't figure out why. He asked your dad if there was another form of Sharingan. He also asked your dad if he hated you…He didn't, by the way."

"…His mistake…" Itachi said coldly. Invading her memories like this backfired. He got his answers, but they only served to rattle him and set him more on edge. And she was too astute, she definitely noticed.

"Sasuke-kun mentioned Shisui too…your best friend you were accused of murdering? You had a very strong reaction to that…it scared Sasuke-kun. But it takes a lot to rile you up, doesn't it? You weren't as detached as you seemed. So…"

Itachi didn't let her finish. His gaze on her was hard and cold, and then he broke the genjutsu.

---

He whirled around just in time, slamming his fist into Naruto's shadow clone, who had come at him from behind, and then kicked backwards hard, sending the real Naruto flying back towards his teammates. He was a little annoyed with himself. He'd shown too much of his hand, letting Sakura get to him like that…so much so that he fled. He should have knocked her out at least to try and counter some of her building suspicions, but in his haste to stop her from reading him, he'd revealed himself even more by simply ending his genjutsu to get away from her.

"Damn! I thought I had him!" Naruto growled. "You ok, Sakura-chan? Did he get you?"

"I'm fine! I've trained a lot with genjutsu, so I'm used to it. Sorry! My distraction wasn't enough."

"I thought I had him on the ropes, damnit! I freaked him out, I'm sure of it, but I didn't get as many answers as I'd hoped…but his behavior definitely doesn't line up. He broke the gejutsu instead of knocking me out. Up until this point, he's conversed instead of attacked. He even uses honorifics…For someone ruthless enough to murder his whole clan and torture his little brother, it really doesn't make sense. And his reaction to seeing his parents room…as far as I'm concerned, he's all but confirmed there's more to what happened that night…"

"That's enough you two." Kakashi cut in, stepping forward and uncovering his own sharingan. His kids had tried a smart move, their teamwork had been great. But it was too reckless for both of them. Naruto was Itachi's target and emotionally volatile at the moment, and curse aside, Sakura as a medical ninja shouldn't be filling the role of decoy. "Last time I was unprepared. I'm not like that this time. This won't go the same way it did then."

Naruto pushed himself off the ground and smirked. "If you think I'll be the same as before as well, you're making a huge mistake!"

"Naruto, I'll handle him. Both of you step back." Kakashi ordered. Sakura's psychological warfare may have been gaining some results, but Itachi had caught on, and wouldn't let it continue. And they didn't have any more time to waste.

"What?!" Naruto barked. "If I don't get to fight again, where's the teamwork—"

"No, this time I want you to cover me. Really I want to say "Hurry ahead" brashly, but…even with me as his opponent, I can't handle him by myself." That appeased Naruto a little, making him smirk and nod. "Sakura, you understand your role here, don't you?" Kakashi asked sharply, clearly unhappy with her earlier, recklessly issued challenge.

Sakura dropped her head a little in shame before nodding. "Yes, sensei." As a medical ninja, she should have never put herself at risk like that. She knew that. Sh'ed taken a calculated risk. His message was loud and clear. Don't do that again. For now, she should step back and let her teammates handle this.

Itachi's arm moved until it was pointing at Naruto. "We'll kindly ask you to come with us, now, Naruto-kun."

"There it is again. Asking instead of attacking or taking by force…and really politely at that…Why?"

Naruto definitely didn't see it that way. He glared at Itachi, his teeth clenched tightly, nearly growling.

"You'll have to go through me first!" Kakashi ran at Itachi, who blocked his punch with ease.

A blur of black and red rushed passed the two, running straight for Naruto.

"A shadow clone!" Kakashi shouted…when had Itachi cast it? He hadn't even seen him do it! More than that, he wasn't even sure if he was engaging with the real one, or the clone.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, meeting Itachi head on and thrusting his ball of swirling chakra into his stomach. He disappeared in a burst of smoke. Naruto's eyes widened. So the one Kakashi was fighting had to be the real one. Naruto turned to inform Kakashi of that, but when the smoke cleared, Sakura, Chiyo, and Kakashi were all unconscious and Itachi was no where to be seen. What the hell was going on?!

Sakura groaned, and Naruto whipped to face her, seeing her struggling to get up.

"Sa-Sakura…chan…" Naruto's voice trailed off as Sakura rose, and suddenly…wasn't Sakura anymore. Itachi was standing in her place. The same thing happened to Chiyo and Kakashi…in place of his team, three Itachi's stood.

Naruto hurled Kunai into the Itachi's that used to be Sakura and Chiyo. They both went flying back with the force of the impact, but then they began to break apart, dissolving into a murder of crows. Naruto watched as they flew around, forming into Itachi's torso and head.

"Damnit! Even though I wasn't looking at his eyes! Shit…this is genjutsu, how…?!"

"It's not just these eyes that can use genjutsu. If I just have one finger, that is enough."

Naruto glared at Itachi, recalling when he asked him to come with him, pointing a finger…

"Guh," So that was when?

"Don't worry. I won't use the Mangekyo Sharingan. Or rather it's more correct to say that I can't use it at the moment…Sakura-chan was right you see." Itachi brought his hands into a seal. "Alright…Now, just drop off to sleep for me."

If it was genjutsu, he should be able to break out of it. Jiraya spent at least a month of their training teaching him how to break out of genjutsu.

They'd been traveling on a barge to get to some new mountain village.

"Alright Naruto, there's a skill to breaking free when you're caught in a genjutsu."

"Hey Pervy-sage! More importantly than when I'm under a genjutsu, teach me how to cast a genjutsu!"

Jiraya sighed in frustration. This kid was definitely not meant for genjutsu.

"Right Naruto, genjutsu is something that works on your opponent's five senses to control the chakra flowing through and linking their cranial nerves. It is a jutsu that requires a high level of intellect.

"Yeah, I don't get it at all…that sounds more like Sakura-chan's thing."

"Nobody said you have to understand how to use genjutsu! Besides, you were never really a genjutsu type in the first place."

"Eh? Really? Then why bother talking about it! That's enough about genjutsu! It's time for the next step in my training!"

"It doesn't work like that, kid. Since some of your enemies will be genjutsu users, you must know how to deal with genjutsu!"

"Eeeeeeeh…" Naruto whined in frustration. This sounded boring. But Sakura would probably be giving him a long lecture about its importance if she were here, and might even punch him for being disrespectful to his sensei, so he should probably pay attention.

"Right, if you're caught in a genjutsu, you must try your best to stop your chakra flow. While in a genjutsu, the chakra in your head is controlled by your opponent. If you use more power to disrupt your chakra flow, you cancel the genjutsu."

"What if even that doesn't work?" Naruto asked.

"Then someone must be touching your body, and placing their chakra into yours to disrupt the flow…"

He hadn't sat through that long explanation for nothing. Naruto brought his palms together in front of his face, calling on his chakra to try and overpower the genjutsu.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!"

Itachi watched Naruto's efforts to break the genjutsu. He'd grown. Undeniably. But not enough. Sakura was clearly the more adept one when it came to genjutsu. "Still too weak…" He murmured the hand sign still held up in front of his face.

His crows darted at Naruto from all sides, melting away and becoming shuriken.

"Gaaah!" Naruto gasped, as the shuriken sliced and stabbed him. But this was just a genjutsu, he could overcome it!

The skin on the right side of his face began to peel off, until the left half of his face was replaced with the demonic face of Sasuke's monstrous curse form.

"Gaaah!" Naruto screamed. His right hand shot up and wrapped around his own neck, choking himself. He grabbed onto his own hand, trying to stop himself from crushing his own windpipe.

"Since I missed killing you last time…" The Sasuke half of his face spoke.

From the fabric of his sleeve, Sakura's head emerged, glaring at him with piercing green eyes. "…Why didn't your stop Sasuke-kun? Even though I trusted you…you promised you'd bring him back…"

He could't take in air. Each word she spoke felt like a kunai to the heart. The fabric of his left sleeve twisted and grew until Kakashi's masked face sprouted from the folds.

"You couldn't protect your comrades, could you? Even though I had faith in you…you let me down." Naruto was sweating, breathing heavily.

His hand trembled, pulling away from the wrist he was strangling himself with. On his palm was Gaara's eye. "It's always you who profits…you're always the only one getting the good luck…"

His eyes stung with tears at being confronted with his failure.

"Guh!" He felt a sharp jolt to his system, and his eyes snapped open. He was standing in the clearing, Sakura and Chiyo's hand on his shoulder, Kakashi facing down Itachi.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Kakashi called.

"…I…"

"It's alright now. It was genjutsu. Whatever you saw or heard wasn't real." Sakura said gently, comfortingly.

"It seems he doesn't just use doujutsu."

Naruto glared in Itachi's direction, this time making sure to avoid his eyes, just to be safe.

"Right, it's time we end this. Put your all into it, Naruto." Kakashi ordered sternly.

Naruto stared at Kakashi, remembering what he said in the genjutsu…was that really how he felt? Had he really let his sensei down when he failed to bring Sasuke back?

A light sting blossomed on his cheek from where Sakura had gently slapped him.

"Snap out of it. Whatever happened in that genjutsu wasn't real. You need to get a hold of yourself, Naruto." Sakura said firmly. His wide eyed gaze settled on her, and all he could think about was how he couldn't keep his promise to her…but why wasn't she looking at him with hostility? Why did she look so concerned about him? Now that he thought about it, never, not once had she gotten mad at him for breaking his promise. Was she just repressing it?

"Sakura-chan…I…"

"Snap out of it. We have to save Gaara-kun remember. Everything else will come after that. First let's save Gaara-kun."

Naruto blinked. She was right. He'd fulfill his promise to her no matter what. He'd save Sasuke. But first, he'd save Gaara…Gaara was the one in immediate danger. They had to help him!

"Naruto, I'll show you how to fight him." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded, assuming a battle stance. They had to get passed Itachi.

Itachi's hands fiew through signs. "Fire style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" A huge ball of flame erupted from Itachi's mouth, tearing through the ground towards them and torching the nearby greenery.

Sakura, Naruto and Chiyo leapt out of the way, smoke and stone clouding the area. Sakura looked at the decimated path the fire had left, searching for her sensei. All she saw was what looked like a crack in the ground. Sakura couldn't help smiling. He really did love that jutsu.

Kakashi burst out of the ground in front of Itachi with an upper cut, but Itachi leaned back, dodging the punch and grabbed on to Kakashi's sleeve. He shoved the punch downwards while punching out at Kakashi, who shifted to duck under the fist. Kakashi looked up, locking eyes with Itachi, and then he was standing on a desolate rock, his body elongating strangely while flames ate up his legs.

Itachi watched, his eyes narrowing. He knew something had been off. "Indeed, you are a skilled jutsu user. Because you concealed yourself with that earth style jutsu, I didn't see until it was too late."

Outside of the genjutsu, Kakashi, latched onto Itachi's sleeve, grabbing tightly.

"No wonder…I wouldn't expect you to be affected by the genjutsu when you're just a shadow clone…" Itachi murmured, as the real Kakashi crawled out fo the hole in the ground he'd been hiding in.

"Handle him and my clone, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered.

"Got it!" Naruto charged at Itachi, a shadow clone at his side and a huge rasengan in their hands. "Giant Rasengan!" They chorused, thrusting the sphere of chakra into Itachi and the Kakashi clone.

"A…Amazing!" Sakura breathed. She'd never seen Naruto make a rasengan that big before…

Kakashi's clone vanished on contact, and Itachi, blood dripping from his mouth as he took the attack head on, grinned, confusing Naruto and Kakashi both.

Kakashi and Naruto stood staring down in confusion at the body that had been Itachi, Sakura and Chiyo coming up to join them.

"What the hell?" Naruto grunted.

Sakura knelt, examining the corpse that was most definitely not Itachi.

"This…This is…" Chiyo murmured, aghast.

"The residual chakra in his system is nothing like Itachi's." Sakura announced, her chakra carefully scanning over the body.

"I had a bad feeling about it in the middle…" Kakashi muttered.

"It wouldn't be…he…"

"You know this person?" Kakashi questioned, glancing at Chiyo.

"Yeah. Yuura. He's a jonin from my village."

"From Suna? What does it mean that he's here?"

"Even I don't know."

"It's possible he was a member of the Akatsuki." Sakura posited.

"No way…He's been working hard as a leader for four whole years." Chiyo denied.

"Was he impersonating Itachi with a Henge?"

"No, Naruto. That was no mere impersonation. This level of jutsu is far above that. The giant fireball technique is an Uchiha clan signature. And the one he used was the real thing." Kakashi pondered for a long minute…really he hated the implications of what this meant. "Whatever that jutsu was, it allowed the Akatsuki to use someone else's body as a conduit for their own power remotely. Beaten to the punch again…looks like the real one is already at the hideout…His objective was to delay us and gather information. Those bastards really do have good jutsu."

Sakura swallowed hard, her heart beating just a little too fast. "These guys…have a jutsu that powerful? These are the people after Naruto? I…I don't know how I could possibly be able to protect him from people like this…My only hope is the seal, I can't let it break. I have to complete it. If I want to save Naruto and Sasuke-kun, that's the only chance I've got."

"Indeed, this was clearly stalling. There's no mistake about it. They've already started extracting the bijuu!" Chiyo declared, making Sakura's mind reel to a stop and take a sharp one eighty.

"They've already started?! That means Itachi was using that jutsu while aiding with the extraction?!"

"What the hell?! How much chakra does he have?! Actually…maybe that's why he couldn't use the Mangekyo. Maybe that jutsu that lets you use another person as a conduit for yourself works dependent on how much chakra you give it, limiting certain abilities when you give it less. Still, to have enough chakra to allow the conduit to use three powerful genjutsus, a huge fire style ninjutsu, and have an active sharingan running the whole time, while giving a percentage of chakra to the extraction…that's still a ridiculous amount…Fuck I'm so screwed!"

"Perhaps they want to use the one tails, Shukaku, to make a new jinchuuriki." Chiyo concluded.

"Why would they want that?! Why go through that much effort, instead of simply trying to recruit, subjugate, or force current jinchuuriki's into doing whatever they're trying to do." Sakura countered, feeling frustrated by her lack of understanding as to what their endgame was.

"Maybe they need someone more willing." Chiyo suggested.

"Right now, there's no time to debate. We have to hurry and save Gaara." Kakashi cut in.

"Yes." Chiyo agreed.

Sakura glanced at Naruto who was staring down at Yuura in stoney silence.

"Tell me honestly…" Sakura started, before pausing and biting at her lip, it had been bothering her since their conversation earlier and she needed to know. "If…If a bijuu is removed from the jinchuuriki, they…the jinchuuriki…they die, don't they?"

Kakashi wouldn't meet her gaze, and Chiyo seemed reticent to do so as well. Still, she answered.

"Yes. If the bijuu is extracted, the vessel dies."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, his fists tightening. He hated it. He hated it so much, how they viewed him and Gaara as expendable. The only thing important about them was the monsters they carried, nothing but cases to be shattered to reach the prize. It made him sick, and so freaking angry!

"Those…" Sakura's eyes burned with infuriated tears. Those robed power hungry freaks were going after Naruto and Gaara. Those creepy assholes were targeting her teammate and friends. "Those fucking murders…" Her voice shook with a mix of sadness and rage.

Naruto closed his eyes for a second, feeling a very faint flicker of relief. Sakura viewed Jinchuuriki's as people. He and Gaara were unquestionably human in her mind—more than that even. They were friends. Maybe even family. And if anyone killed them in cold blood, to her it was a murder as much as any other, to any other human. It may not seem like anything at all to anyone else, They may even see it as rather morbid, but for Naruto, who spent his whole life being looked at with hateful, mistrusting, eyes…eyes that would happily see him dead, Sakura calling the Akatsuki murders for hunting Jinchuuriki meant the world. Her crying for him and Gaara, even though he hated to see her cry, meant the world. For every asshole who wanted to chalk him up to nothing but the nine tails, and go after him for it, there was Sakura, who would punch every single one of them in the face for even thinking it. She really was the best.

"You always were quick to anger and even quicker to worry…but don't this time, cause I already told you…I'm gonna rescue Gaara!" Naruto declared with a forced smile.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried, her tears spilling over. "It's not just Gaara-kun I'm worried about! It's both of you, damnit! But I swear I won't let them hurt you! If they come after you, I'll kick their asses to whatever layer of hell they crawled out of, shannaro!" She didn't care if she lacked the power to do so. No matter how strong they were, she'd make them sorry they ever considered hunting down her teammate!

His smile became slightly less forced at her words. She really was amazing. "Come on, let's hurry. Gaara needs us." Naruto said, pulling on the strap of his pack and walking past their group surrounding Yuura.

---

They traveled quickly, taking minimal breaks. It was a struggle for Sakura, but she made the most of the breaks they took and was loath to request more knowing how Gaara's life was in danger.

Naruto was growing more anxious by the second, pushing forward with an energy and speed that seemed almost primal. Sakura was also anxious, and only growing more so, but she didn't have the energy and stamina to keep pace with Naruto. Still, she traveled fast, pushing herself hard, so that she was only a little bit behind him, with Kakashi and Chiyo bringing up the rear.

Finally, they reached a river, lined by trees and rocky caves, one of which had a large wooden gate and some sort of seal on it. In front of it was Gai's team.

"You're late, Kakashi." Gai admonished smugly. His rival may be cool, but he always beat him when it came to punctuality.

"Eh, well, we ran into a bit of trouble along the way." Kakashi answered casually as he landed on the river, causing ripples in the water around him.

"…you better not be talking about me, Kakashi." Chiyo muttered. A few of their rests and breaks had been allowances to her in her old age, she was sure of it.

"Naruto-kun! Sakura-san!" Lee greeted, ever the enthusiast.

"Yo!" Naruto barked out. Normally he'd be ecstatic to see Lee again. And Neji, and even TenTen. But right now, his only thoughts were of Gaara.

"Your team always was the first to get places." Sakura greeted with a warm smile, which TenTen returned happily and turned Lee into a blushing mess.

"Who's that old lady?" Gai asked.

"Ah…an advisor from Suna." Kakashi explained.

"Right! Let's go for it Kakashi!" Gai cheered with his glinting smile.

The eight of them and Pakkun, who'd lead team Gai there at Kakashi's behest, stared up at the giant boulder with the seal on it, blocking the door. The character written on the seal was "Kin (forbidden)," preventing anyone from just smashing through.

"Well I think I'll just disappear, since I'll just be in the way if I stay. I wouldn't really be of any help." Pakkun grunted.

"Good work, Pakkun." Kakashi dismissed. The dog vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the eight humans to work out what came next.

"Right! First off, this barrier, Kakashi. How do we take it out?" Gai asked.

"This particular kind is called a "Five Point Barrier," created by tokens with "Kin" written on them placed in five points in the vicinity of the blocked area. So there are four other tokens somewhere around here. To remove the barrier, all of them must be simultaneously detached."

"So where are they? How do we find the others?" Naruto questioned, more impatient than ever, now that they were so close.

"Neji."

"Understood. Byakugan!" The veins around Neji's eyes bulged as he called out his heightened sight, scanning the surroundings. "Found them. On top of a rock about 500 meters north-east of here. On the trunk of a tree on a river bank 350 meters south-east. On a wall of rock about 650 meters north-west. Inside a grove about 800 meters south-west."

"Right! That's within range of our radios!" Gai beamed, unzipping his pack and pulling out five wireless in-ear comms. "While we're taking Neji's directions, we can keep in contact, find the location of the tokens, and coordinate the removal timing."

Team Gai, and Kakashi clipped on the radios.

"Radio placement, ok!" TenTen checked.

"Speed wise, my team is faster." Gai said, volunteering them to handle the four tokens. "But will you have enough power to break through the boulder?"

Kakashi exchanged a quick glance with Sakura before turning back to Gai. "We'll manage."

"Alright! Just what I'd expect from my rival! The frequency is 174. Wait for our message!" Gai said, flashing a thumbs up.

"I leave it to you." Kakashi agreed, setting his radio to the right frequency.

"Team Gai! Let's go with the full power of youth!" Gai shouted enthusiastically. "Scatter!" And they were gone.

It only took them a few minutes, though to Naruto and Sakura it felt like hours, standing there, anxiously staring at the boulder blocking their way to their friend. The only thought in either of their minds was Gaara. Sakura tugged on her leather gloves in preparation, but once that was done, she had nothing to fill the space, and her body defaulted as it always did to dancing or stretching. Her foot traced wide, delicate, circles on the water's surface.

"Naruto, Sakura, Lady Chiyo, once the barrier is removed, we're going in with a buttonhook formation. Understood?"

Naruto and Sakura chorused their anxious affirmatives, while Chiyo gave a firm nod.

"I'm in place!"

"Same here!"

"Me as well!"

"Set and ready to go!"

Kakashi heard all of team Gai's check ins, before setting himself in place on the boulder in front of the token. "Alright everyone. On three. One, two…three!" Kakashi ripped off the token, and from the tearing sound in his ear, team Gai had as well. "Sakura!" Kakashi called, leaping off the boulder.

Sakura leapt lightly up off the water twisting beautifully a few times in the air before driving her fist into the face of the rock, using momentum to minimize the amount of chakra needed.

The rock shattered on impact, just like it had throughout her training sessions with Tsunade, when the Sanin had her decimating boulders, each one larger than the next.

Sakura quickly shifted to the left side of the opening where Lady Chiyo stood along the wall, while Kakashi and Naruto took the right. On Kakashi's signal they moved in, sliding inside along their respective sides of the wall.

There were only two Akatsuki present, a strangely stooped one with the bottom half of his face covered by cloth, and a blonde one with his hair in a high ponytail sitting casually on Gaara's chest. Gaara remained unresponsive, clearly unconscious but possibly worse, a strange, large white bird looming over them.

"Well then, which of you is the jinchuuriki, I wonder…hmmm?" The blonde one asked casually.

Sakura ignored the two akatsuki in favor of trying to asses Gaara. "Unresponsive to noise. Can't make out chest movement from how that asshole is sitting on him—how dare he disrespect Gaara-kun like that!—signs of bruising, which is uncommon for Gaara-kun and doesn't bode well…it doesn't look good…are we…are we too late? If…If he's…dead…it's beyond my capability to save him…unless I can get to healing him with in ten minutes of the flat line, but even then the chances are low, and…I don't know if…if it's possible for a jinchuuriki to survive without their tailed beast after it's been removed…I mean, if their chakra networks are that closely integrated, from infancy…the host's body might not know how to function without the bijuu's presence…"

Naruto didn't have medical knowledge or a patient to save. All he could see was that Gaara was hurt because of these guys, and one of them was enough of an asshole to sit on him while declaring that they were going after their next target now—him. And he was Pissed.

"You bastards! I'll smash you to pieces!" Naruto shouted, his voice sounding more…primal than usual.

"…That one…" The strangely stooped one with a gravely voice hissed.

"Well, seems like it, hmmm…" The blonde agreed.

"Gaara! What the hell are you just laying there for! Get the hell up!" Gaara gave no response. "Hey! Gaara, are you listening to me?!"

Sakura felt like her heart was shattering, hearing Naruto screaming so desperately for his friend. Gaara's lack of response confirmed her worst fears. They'd been too late. She felt her eyes prickling again.

"It's not fair! He was making so much progress! There are people in Suna who look up to him, and rely on him! He is the Kazekage! His village needs him! His siblings need him! They're both worried sick! Kankurou nearly died trying to save him! They just started being a family—they shouldn't have to lose him now!"

"Stop, Naruto…you should understand…" Kakashi murmured gravely.

"Yeah, Yeah, don't you get it?" The blond drawled. "He's super dead, mm?"

Naruto's expression was almost feral. His features looked more animalistic and fox-like. His canine teeth elongated, his eyes red with slit-like pupils, and dark whiskers on his face.

Sakura wasn't sure what was upsetting her more, seeing Gaara dead or Naruto losing it because Gaara was dead. Either way, she wanted to kill the rude blonde using Gaara's corpse as a mat.

"Give him back…" Naruto growled. "Give Gaara back right now!" Naruto only managed three steps forward before Kakashi was in front of him.

"Calm down. Remember what Jiraya-sama told you. If you go rushing in there without thinking, they'll destroy you." Kakashi said firmly.

The stooped Akatsuki glanced at Gaara. "I'll look after this one. It seems like that Jinchuuriki wants to take this one back."

"Sensei…this'll probably make you angry, but…I'll handle the Jinchuuriki, mm?"

"The assignment is one person to one beast, don't push it, Deidara."

"If an artist doesn't get high levels of inspiration, his sentiments are dulled, Sasori-sensei. It's said that the kyuubi jinchuuriki is considerably strong…mm."

"What? You call those explosions fine art? Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future…eternal beauty." Sasori countered sharply, with his gravely voice.

"They involve the same skilled labor, I respect you, but fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of explosion."

"Wh…What kind of people are these?" Sakura murmured. They had just came from murdering a person, Deidara was sitting on his corpse, they were facing down four enemies and…they were just casually having a philosophical debate about what constituted fine art? She had her own opinion about the topic, but it was probably the farthest thing from her mind in this situation.

"Stop playing around, bastards!" Naruto screamed, withdrawing a sealing scroll from his weapons pouch and calling out a giant shuriken. Naruto hurled the giant shuriken at the two Akatsuki, but they made no move to dodge, continuing their conversation. A scorpion-like tail shot out from Sasori, smacking the projectile out of the air.

"Deidara, you little shit…are you trying to piss me off?"

"Well then, I was right when I said it'd probably make you angry, mm?" Deidara answered calmly.

"Without even glancing at the shuriken, he deflected it…that tail…it looks like a scorpion's but, it's not organic. It looks like…it's made of wood…like Kankurou's puppets. And Suna are expert puppet masters…but if that's a puppet, where's the puppet master? I don't see any chakra strings…"

"My fine art is explosions." Deidara said, standing up as the white bird next to him scooped up Gaara in its mouth. "Completely different from your little puppet show! mm."

Sasori still didn't move, but the tail suddenly shot at Deidara, who jumped backwards and up onto the bird.

"See you, sensei."

The bird enclosed Gaara more tightly in its mouth before taking off and flying over their heads and out of the cave.

"Wait the fuck up!" Naruto shouted, immediately giving chase.

Deidara smirked, looking back at Naruto. "That's it!" This was working out just as he'd hoped.

Kakashi quickly made to follow, annoyed by how reckless and rushed Naruto was acting. He never did stop to think, did he? But he skidded to a stop at the cave opening. If he chased after Naruto, that left Sakura and Chiyo alone with one of the Akatsuki—the one who nearly killed Kankurou…would Sakura be alright on her own against an Akatsuki member? Whether she would or wouldn't. He was out of options. Naruto was their target, so he couldn't leave Naruto alone with one of them…besides she wasn't totally alone, Chiyo was there.

"Naruto and I will handle the one outside. Sakura, Lady Chiyo, take care of this one…but Sakura, until team Gai gets back try not to overdo it, and once they do, fallback." He turned to go but paused once more. "I know you have methods, and you likely don't need this warning, but…stay calm."

"I know, Sensei."

Kakashi pushed his anxiety away and took off after Naruto.

It was just Chiyo and Sakura left against a deadly member of the Akatsuki, the puppet master, Sasori. The show was about to begin.

---

Author's note: Alright so there are a lot of conversations that were minorley changed here. Since Sakura in this story already knows what a jinchuuriki is, knows Naruto is one, knows Gaara is one, knows the Akatsuki are after them, and has met Itachi, a lot of the conversations in the manga/anime are to catch Sakura up on events. So now those have been changed to catching each other up/showing that familial love and worry Sakura has for Naruto and how much it means to him. The anime/manga doesn't include too much of the antidote making process and the nitty gritty of the medical procedure Sakura's doing on Kankurou so I really wanted to get into that. But because I follow Sakura there, there are a few scenes where Kakshi and Naruto get information about Sasori, Deidara, and Team Gai that I didn't include, so check back to the anime/manga for that if you want. Obviously the dream was added. I didn't have a particular reason for including it other than I just really like writing them. I love writing the Sakura/Sasuke interactions and since they're apart from each other for A WHILE, dreams are sort of the only way to get them together, and I feel like it's that whole "connected thoughts and feelings" things that they always use to describe the relationship between the two. It's not mind reading or interacting with the real person, but they're both sort of subconsciously key'd into each other. So for example, in this chapter's dream sequence, while the dreams aren't real interactions and Sasuke isn't aware of Sakura's dream, the Sasuke in the dream is really what Sasuke feels and thinks about her and the situation deep down. And it's that way for both of them. That's why they're always so thrown off by how real the other seems in the dream. That was a convoluted explanation, but I hope you followed it. The Itachi encounter also went differently. In the anime/manga, Itachi doesn't really react to Sakura-although he still knows who she is to report to the Akatsuki later so ? -in this, since they've met and Sakura's suspicious of his motives, they obviously interact. I don't want Itachi to seem too OOC. I'm including his internal thought process and I hope it doesn't come off like he's visibly readable cause he's not. Throughout all of it, very little outwardly changes for him, because he's very good at hiding his thoughts and feelings, kind of like Sakura is (or used to be). The only reason Sakura's picking up on any of it is because she's looking really really hard for it. And even then, it's not like she's getting all that much other than confirming that there's more to the massacre than there appears to be.

Next up is the Sasori fight. I actually really like this battle in the anime/manga, so there's probably not too much I'm going to change other than altering Sakura's fighting style a little and including a bit more of how hard maintaining the seal during this fight was. If you start getting bored while reading it, that probably is a chapter you can skip because it's not going to be very different from what's already there, although who knows cause I haven't started it yet, so it might be very different...I guess we'll see.

Anyway, thanks for all the favs/follows/and reviews! Please keep it up! Thank you for reading this far! :)