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Reminder: Sakura's clothes; a red, hooded short-sleeve top, black fingerless gloves, low-heeled, knee-high black boots , and black shorts. To complete the outfit, she wrapped a red shawl around her hips.
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Special thanks to my Beta-Reader: GreyHowler
Sasori fired his flamethrowers at Sakura. Just quickly enough, she pulled a rock from the ground to block the attack. The fire danced around the edges of the rock and splayed out in all directions, trapping the fighters in a circle of flame.
Sakura dropped the rock and looked around her quickly. All hiding places and escape routes were completely obliterated now. Sasori noticed the fire as well and switched tactics to use his Water Stream Shooters. He aimed at Sakura again, but instead of using another rock to block the attack, she dodged at the last second. The high-powered burst of water extinguished the fire just behind where Sakura had been standing. She ran through the opening, jumped to the nearest unburned tree limb, and sprinted through the trees.
Sasori gritted his teeth, then used his Water Jutsu to put out another batch of flames before following Sakura.
He did not put out all of the fire, so it continued to spread through the forest, making it difficult for Sakura to hide. Now she had two enemies to worry about: Sasori and the fire. She needed to finish the battle right away or she wouldn't be able to make it out of the area before the fire surrounded her again.
The smoke wafted through the trees, becoming thicker and thicker with each passing second. Sakura paused for a moment to cough the smoke out of her lungs before taking a ragged breath and continued on. If she didn't hurry, death would be her only option and she didn't like any of her three options.
Sasori managed to catch up to her as she took her breath and flung his poison coiled rope from his puppet body at her. She managed to avoid a fatal injury, but the poison covered weapon managed to slice across her side before it thudded into the tree branch next to her.
"Damn it!" Sakura cursed as she pressed a hand against her side to stem the torrential blood flow. She quickly grabbed her last antidote, before the poison paralyzed her and stabbed her arm with the needle. The liquid slowly spread through her bloodstream just as she was feeling her muscles tense up.
Before Sasori could do anything else, Sakura quickly grabbed the coiled rope and yanked it towards herself, pulling him along with it. Using her monstrous strength, she was able to shatter Sasori's puppet body, sending his core of living flesh out of the body.
Believing to have won the battle, Sakura receded her curse mark. She quickly began searching for the coiled rope, intending to use the rest of the poison to make another antidote. The smoke was starting to get too thick for Sakura to breath and she started to cough. She needed to get out of there soon or risk having lung damage.
Sakura found Sasori's coiled rope and was about to pick it up, but stopped when she suddenly felt a presence behind her. She turned around to attack, but froze the moment she felt something slam into her torso.
"Your mistake for letting your guard down." Sasori spoke.
"Nngh!" moaned Sakura. She was unable to heal her wounds as the sword in embedded in her stomach was laced with poison, shutting her system down.
"Same goes for you." Sakura replied, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She grasped the sword tightly, preventing Sasori from pushing the blade further.
Sasori frowned, "What do you-Gah!"
As the groan left his lips, Sasori's head fell forward and saw another blade, this one sticking out of his own chest. He coughed and drops of blood spattered his chin.
"I see…You used yourself as bait…-so your clone-… could take the opportunity-…to attack me from behind…" Sasori said as he realized what she had done. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the clone as she stepped back, pulling the katana with her. She disappeared with an audible poof.
Sasori collapsed to his hands and knees, blood pouring out of the hole in his chest. He coughed violently several times, spewing blood all over the surrounding ground. Slowly he stopped coughing and sank to the ground, dead. Sakura stared at Sasori's body, for a few seconds before she too collapsed on the ground the sword still sticking through her torso.
xXx
Several miles away, an explosion wracked both the air and ground as Deidara attempted to kill Sasuke with his most powerful attack: suicide.
The groups of Hebi and Leaf ninja searching for Sasuke and Sakura each saw, heard, or felt the impact and rushed toward it.
Somewhere near the explosion, Suigetsu was busy searching for something in his pocket. He took out a scroll, Sasuke had given him and immediately noticed that a painting of a snake had disappeared.
"No way!" he yelled and quickly took a tiny bottle contained with Sasuke's blood out of his pocket. He placed a drop of Sasuke's blood on the scroll to summon Manda, one of Orochimaru's snakes. The giant snake popped up, but was lying oddly on the ground. As he watched, Suigetsu saw a heavily injured Sasuke crawl out of the snake's mouth.
"Wow! You're all torn up! Who did you fight?" Suigetsu asked as he rushed over to Sasuke and kneeled next to him down.
Before Sasuke could say anything, Manda cursed Sasuke with his dying breath for using his Sharingan to control him and use him as a shield.
"Ah, he died." Suigetsu said blandly and looked up at Manda. "Animals should be treated nicer."
"Found you!" Karin yelled as she approached Sasuke and Suigetsu with Jugo running beside her.
"You used Manda and a Jutsu to fly into different space, but why are you so torn up?" Suigetsu asked.
"Right before I left, Manda and I received the hit. My opponent was a member of the Akatsuki. He was stronger than I thought…" Sasuke replied.
"Wait, where is Sakura?" Jugo asked after he looked around and realized she wasn't there.
Sasuke looked around and noticed Jugo was right, before answering the question, "She was also fighting a member of the Akatsuki."
"What?! We better find her!" Suigetsu yelled and stood up.
"I'm here!" Sakura yelled as she approached them with her summoned cat, Denka running beside her. When she saw Sasuke's injuries, she sped up until she reached his side and immediately began to heal him.
"Sakura…" Denka whispered. He wanted to inform the rest of her friends of her injuries, but Sakura shook her head slightly at him.
"Are you okay?" Suigetsu asked worriedly.
"Y-yeah. I just had trouble escaping from the burning forest." Sakura stuttered avoiding eye contact with him.
"Hmpf, you were able to defeat an Akatsuki?" Karin asked. She was jealous of Sakura. She had wanted to be the one to heal Sasuke, but Sakura jumped ahead of her.
"You were fighting against a member of the Akatsuki in that?" Suigetsu asked as he pointed to the thick column of smoke rising above the treetops.
He watched for a few seconds as the smoke column grew wider; the fire was spreading rapidly through the forest.
"Yeah. He was using a flamethrower Jutsu. It was a little hard to fight him when all you could see was smoke and fire." Sakura answered, still not making eye contact. She was too worried about Sasuke's situation.
"What is Denka doing here?" Sasuke asked and looked at the summoned cat.
"I asked Denka for help to get me out of the forest and to track you." Sakura replied and looked at her cat. "It was too hard to see through all that smoke, but that aside… look at you. You're a mess. Are you okay? What happened?"
"Sakura, you can heal Sasuke later. We should get out of here first. The fire and the explosion will track too many people." Suigetsu spoke.
They all agreed and retreated to the nearest town's safe house where Sakura tended to Sasuke's wounds.
"Did anyone get any leads on Itachi?" Sasuke asked while Sakura was busy bandaging his forehead.
Suigetsu and Karin shook their heads. Sakura had been too busy fighting Sasori and had died before she could ask him about Itachi. But Jugo was able to find a lead through the help of animals.
"You are going to rest, right now. We are going after you are fully recovered." Sakura demanded. Seeing no way out of this, Sasuke didn't argue back and decided to listen to Sakura.
After Sasuke finally fell asleep, Sakura stood up and walked up to a corner. She leaned her back against the wall and placed her hand on her face.
"Sakura…." Denka whispered and looked anxiously at her.
"Are you okay?" Jugo asked and walked over to stand next to her.
"Y-yeah. I just overused my chakra." Sakura answered with a fake smile. She slowly kneeled down on the ground and removed the medical pouch she was carrying.
"You should rest too, Sakura." Suigetsu said.
"I'm okay, really…" she replied. Denka walked closer to Sakura and put his paw on her thigh. He noticed she was sweating and breathing heavily.
"Hmpf, weak…" Karin whispered softly.
Suigetsu overheard her and glared at her, but decided to stay quiet. He was too concerned about Sakura to argue back. As they watched Sakura dug through her medical pouch and took all kinds of herbs out along with a bottle containing a purple liquid.
"What is that?" Karin asked with her hand on her hip.
"Poison….A special kind of poison. The Akatsuki, Sasori, attaches this to all of his weapons. I'm making an antidote." Sakura answered.
While Sakura was busy making the antidote, Denka and Suigetsu watched her work, while Jugo patrolled and Karin took a walk in town to fetch some supplies.
After a while, Sakura finally finished making the antidote. Karin came back at about the same time with some supplies.
Coincidently, Sasuke woke up when she entered the room. Karin tried to say something to Sasuke, but was cut off when Suigetsu said to her,
"Took your damn time getting back."
Sakura sighed as Suigetsu and Karin started to fight again, but suddenly Jugo's murderous impulses began to manifest. Karin and Suigetsu stopped arguing and jumped up on Jugo to restrain him. They shouted at Sasuke to calm Jugo down and he immediately used his Sharingan to eradicate the urges.
"I'm sorry." Jugo apologized once he calmed down.
The moment he activated his Sharingan, Sasuke noticed something was odd and looked at Sakura.
"Sakura…" he started, but got cut off when Karin suddenly gasped loudly. She closed her eyes and began focusing, clenching her eyes and fists with the force of her concentration.
"What's wrong?" Jugo asked.
"They're definitely getting closer….no doubt about it…." Karin mumbled with her eyes still closed; "There seems to be several of them…..One of them's definitely not human…..a dog, maybe….."
"They're tracking us by scent…." Karin continued mumbling. She opened her eyes and shouted at them, "We've been followed!"
"If there are as many people as you said, then odds are it's the Leaf." said Sasuke.
"Of all times…..why now?" Sakura whispered in a frustrated tone. She suddenly felt heavier and slowly fell to the ground.
"Sakura!" Denka yelled the moment he saw her body lean forward. Sakura's breath became heavier, ignoring Denka's shout. Everyone was stunned at her sudden collapse and simply stared at her for a few seconds.
Suigetsu walked up to her; he helped her sit and let her lean against him. He placed his hand on her forehead to see if she was burning up, but nothing; she wasn't feverish.
"You are running out of time!" Denka shouted, just loud enough for the others to hear.
"Tell me what's going on!" Sasuke demanded and glared at her, "Where is the real you?"
Everyone looked at Sasuke, confused. They didn't understand what he meant by that. Sakura of course, knew what he was talking about;
"You noticed it, huh…" Sakura replied and looked at Sasuke, "The moment you activated your Sharingan to calm Jugo down, you noticed it."
"What is she talking about, Sasuke?" Karin asked.
"You're a clone…." Sasuke said.
The moment he said those words, Karin began to concentrate to look for the real Sakura, but Sakura requested her to not to bother. She, with the help of her summoned cat, Hina had hidden her presence along with her chakra.
"Where is the real you, Sakura?!" Sasuke, raising his voice.
"Where Sasori and I fought." Sakura answered.
"Wait, you're still in that fire?" Suigetsu asked worriedly. She took a deep breath before telling him the truth;
"I did win the battle between me and Sasori, but I'm in critical danger. I can't hold this clone for much longer.
"Why haven't you healed yourself?" Suigetsu asked.
"I can't. My body can't move and I have trouble controlling my chakra." she answered and looked up at Suigetsu whom she was leaning on, "Even if I could heal, I would die anyway."
"Why?" Jugo asked.
xXx
Right after defeating Sasori;
Sakura collapsed on the ground. She couldn't move. The poison had paralyzed her.
'Is this the end for me?' Thought Sakura, 'I'm sorry Sasuke…..I don't think I'll be able to keep my promise to stay by your side….'
Sakura slowly closed her eyes. She thought back on everything that had happened before and after she left the village. An explosion at the edge of her hearing snapped her out of her thoughts.
'That's where Sasuke and Deidara are!' Sakura slowly pulled her hand closer to her mouth. She bit her thumb, drawing blood, and placed it on the ground,
'I can't give up!' she thought.
"Summoning Jutsu!" she shouted. Hina and Denka appeared next to her in a puff of smoke. They were delighted to see her again, but were immediately concerned when they saw her condition. After summoning her cats, Sakura cast a Clone Jutsu.
The clone appeared and walked up to Sasori's weapon and gathered enough poison to make an antidote.
"Denka, can you please guide….my clone out of the burning forest and…..and bring her to Sasuke? I need to….to make sure he is okay…" Sakura spoke as she struggled to breathe.
"What about you? Don't you need to worry about yourself? We can help you…" Denka asked.
"I can't move….The poison is paralyzing….me. It's going to…take some time to make the antidote. Once my clone helps Sasuke….she'll make the antidote….and bring it here with your help, Denka…."
"What should I do?" Hina asked.
"I need your help to….hide my presence and use….use Wind Jutsu to shield us from the fire…and blow away the smoke so we can breathe….please?" Sakura pleaded.
Even though they were not pleased with the situation, Hina and Denka decided to listen to her request; Denka managed to lead the clone out of the fire, but something was troubling him.
"I can't sense Sasuke's presence." He finally said.
This made Sakura even more worried. She looked around the forest. She didn't know which way the explosion came from. She came up with another idea,
"Do you remember Suigetsu?"she asked Denka,"The one you hissed at?"
"Hmpf, yeah I remember him," Denka replied.
"Can you track him and bring me to him?" she asked.
Denka did so and brought her to Suigetsu, who was with Sasuke and the other two.
Sakura held back the situation she was in and only said, "I have been infected by Sasori's poison. I have the antidote right here," She answered and held the bottle high up to show them. "But now the problem has become even bigger now that the Leaf ninjas are here."
Sasuke was worried and angry at the same time. "Why haven't you told me this sooner?!"
"I was counting on something else, but I haven't been able to awaken it….yet…" Sakura answered, lowering her eyes in shame and disappointment, "I'm sorry…."
"We'll head back," said Sasuke as he stood up. Suigetsu and Jugo also prepared themselves to head out, but not before scolding Sakura for keeping this to herself.
"Karin, I need you to f-"
"No, Sasuke," Sakura cut Sasuke off, "Hina is masking my presence. With the Leaf on the search, it would not be wise for her to stop for Karin to find me. The Leaf might find me first." she gave the antidote to Denka to pass it on to Sasuke and continued,
"Denka can lead you there while Karin focuses on the Leaf to avoid encountering them."
"Hmpf." Karin didn't like to follow Sakura's orders; she only listened to Sasuke, but she decided to stay quiet and obey this time, after seeing Sasuke in such a bad mood and didn't want to make it worse by disagreeing.
"Why can't you show us the way, Sakura?" Suigetsu asked, but she suspiciously stayed quiet. He wanted to ask what was wrong but before he could, the Clone Jutsu was released, "That's why…." he muttered irritatedly.
"We need to hurry!" Denka shouted.
xXx
~To Be Continued~
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