Chapter 10
Karin didn't mind the snow; it was enchanting in its own way. The sunlight danced on the surface, sending sparkling flecks into the air like tiny diamonds. She became so engrossed in the shimmering display and the rainbows of color that twinkled around her that she almost missed the subtle fluctuation of energy creeping into her periphery.
It was so faint that she wondered if it was something new or merely residual from their earlier encounters. Taking a moment to center herself, she focused on the familiar signatures of Sasuke's former teammates, her eyelashes fluttering with a hint of confusion.
"Sasuke? They've made contact."
He didn't slow his pace. Instead, he leaped gracefully over mounds of snow, the pure, untouched blankets collapsing beneath his weight and losing their brilliance. "Are they engaging?"
Karin pursed her lips, a sense of unease creeping in. There was something distinctly…odd about the trio. "Yes, but…with each other."
At this, Sasuke halted, his fur-lined coat billowing behind him, stirred by the cold wind. "…Each other?" The weight of his words hung in the air, thick with anticipation and dread.
Karin closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the chaotic swirl of colors clashing in her mind. Amid the bright flashes of yellow and orange, she spotted the familiar medicinal green she had come to recognize—it was Sakura, desperately fending for herself against unseen attackers. The urgency in the colors intensified, and Karin's heart raced as she sensed Sakura's erratic movements. Halting suddenly, Karin shot a panicked look toward Sasuke.
"They're fighting Sakura—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Sasuke vanished, leaving only a chill of dread hanging in the air. The weight of worry settled heavily on Karin's chest.
There was a raw fury fueling her punches, Jugo realized, a ferocity that radiated from her very core. Each swing of her glowing fists was a testament to the unbridled anger that coursed through her veins. It was a power that seemed almost otherworldly, a monstrous strength that only those consumed by such rage could wield. With every strike, she unleashed a tempest of energy, leaving Jugo in awe of the force that transformed her into a relentless force of nature.
He would have preferred to watch, had she not been attacking them.
"Sakura, it's me!" Naruto's desperate plea fell on deaf ears. Nothing he'd said had resonated. All either man could do, at this point, was juke and dodge the onslaught.
Sakura's bare hand slammed into the earth with a deafening crack, the ground buckling and sending shockwaves through the snow. Jugo watched, wide-eyed, as the pristine white landscape rushed to fill the gaping hole she left behind. Bloodied knuckles glinted in the sunlight as she rose, fury etched across her face, her jaded eyes locking onto Jugo.
Instinct kicked in, and Jugo dropped to his knees just in time to dodge the full force of her swing. The air rippled around him as her fist whistled past, the sheer force sending him tumbling into the slush, snow and ice scattering like shrapnel. Just as her foot arced toward his ribs, Naruto lunged forward, grabbing Jugo and yanking him out of the path of destruction.
"Jugo, my man, you're gonna need to stay on your feet! I don't know what's going on, but if she lands a hit, you're meeting your maker."
Naruto's voice cut through the chaos, urgency lacing his tone. He knew all too well how deadly the pink-haired kunoichi could be. Beneath her seemingly slight frame was a coiled mass of sinew and muscle, primed for unleashing chakra-enhanced strength that could shatter bones. Her punches were devastating without it—and lethal with.
A pulsating bubble of reddish-orange chakra enveloped Naruto, stretching his whiskers as he felt the surge of energy ripple through him. Determination ignited within him as he squared his shoulders, stepping between his partner and the dazed-looking Sakura.
"I know you're in there," He said, rushing forward to sweep his leg under hers. She fell onto her back, rolling away from his mighty stomp. Naruto was faster than her. He grabbed the back of her covering with a heaving tug, but Sakura dipped out of the cloak and twisted, punching through it in Naruto's blind spot.
The kyuubi flew backwards, gathering snow and soil into a pile above his head. Sakura didn't not stop. She lept towards him and slammed down, but, Instead of flesh, she broke through the frozen soil beneath.
Turning left, then right, Sakura looked towards the sky before realizing that Naruto had burrowed underground. Emerging in a plume of frosty chunks of mud, the yellow-haired shinobi attempted an uppercut.
Lithe and slender, the woman backflipped away before he made contact.
"Damn it Sakura, what's going on?"
With Jugo behind and Naruto ahead, Sakura angled herself so she could see both. Her head moved side-to-side, eyeing each as if they were enemies.
"We are getting nowhere," Jugo hesitated. "Neither of us are taking this as seriously as we should."
"I don't want to hurt her, she's my friend."
"Right now, your friend wants to hurt you."
Naruto knew this was not Sakura. If the fighting was not his first clue, the cloudy look in her eye was his second. Her face held no emotion, her punches were not pulled. It was as if something took over.
That chakra from before…
Naruto looked around the demolished land. There were no more chakra orbs, no more trembles under his feet. Had Sakura absorbed it, somehow? Even then, what kind of chakra could manipulate someone in this way?
The glint of a kunai caught his eye. Turning before the object could graze him, Naruto flipped onto his hands and sent a few of his own back, watching metals collide. Jugo made his move, swinging a grotesquely morphed appendage towards her. She didn't run, raising her forearms and hands to stop his hit without moving so much as an inch.
Mouth agape, the orange-haired ninja hung suspended in midair, as if time had come to a standstill. In an instant, Sakura seized his wrist and spun with explosive force, launching him like a frisbee across the field beyond.
Naruto sprinted toward Sakura, his chakra flaring behind him in vibrant ribbons of energy. But before he could reach her, Sasuke shot forward like a lightning bolt, tackling him to the ground. They tumbled through the snow, a whirlwind of limbs and adrenaline, until Sasuke pinned him down, his sword unsheathed and gleaming in the light.
"Talk!" Sasuke snapped, his voice sharp as a blade, eyes narrowed with intensity.
Naruto struggled beneath him, desperation flaring. "She's not herself! We have to help her!" But the urgency in his voice only seemed to amplify Sasuke's resolve.
Without warning, Sakura's leg whipped through the air like a cannonball. Sasuke reacted intuitively, shoving Naruto out of the way just in time. He somersaulted several paces to the side, narrowly dodging the crushing blow that could have shattered him.
But she didn't pause. With an almost magnetic pull, Sakura advanced on him, her movements a blur as she unleashed a flurry of strikes. Sasuke barely had time to process the chaotic barrage of limbs coming at him from all directions. He was fast, deftly evading her attacks, but anxiety gnawed at him—one slip-up could be catastrophic to either himself, or her.
Dropping low to the ground, Sasuke focused intently, watching as Sakura coiled like a spring, her body tensing with lethal intent. Before he could fully comprehend her next move, she planted her palm on the ground and exploded upwards, a powerful upward strike aimed directly at him.
Instinct kicked in. Sasuke's body responded without hesitation, summoning a glowing rib cage that formed around him, just in time to absorb the impact. The force of her strike reverberated through the air, a shockwave that sent debris flying and echoed like thunder across the battlefield.
Clenching his teeth, Sasuke tastes blood and blinks away the haze gathering at the corner of his eyes. As dust settled and adrenaline coursed through his veins, Sasuke knew they were racing against time.
Something was wrong.
Sasuke examined her, flaring his kekkei genkai to life. He saw her irises a moment before they hid behind her lids. She backed away, taking in the others as they started to move closer.
"Knock it off, already!" Naruto shouted as Karin prepared to unleash her chains.
Hope flickered in Karin's mind—if she could restrain Sakura, they might be able to knock her out and bring her back to herself. But as she focused, a chilling realization washed over her.
The ancient chakra pulsed deep within the minty swirl of Sakura's natural lifeforce, a dark undercurrent that shouldn't have been there. "Something's controlling her," Karin exhaled.
Panic ignited in Naruto's eyes as the gravity of her words settled in. They weren't just fighting a friend; they were battling an unseen force that had taken hold of her. The stakes were higher than they ever imagined.
"What do we do?" Suigetsu asked, readying his sword. "She can reattach her limbs, right? Let's take her legs and maybe we can figure it out."
"You're not cutting her legs off!" Naruto's voice broke like the fractured ground beneath them, a desperate plea rising in the chaos. "If we all attack at once, maybe…"
Sakura spun around as she watched the five figures advance, looming ever closer. She kept her gaze locked on their feet, determined not to fall into the hypnotic trap of the Uchiha's piercing eyes. Each step they took felt like a countdown, and with each passing moment, the weight of their impending confrontation bore down on her.
In a last, hopeless bid, the kunoichi pulled a single kunai from her pouch and placed it on her jugular.
Everyone froze.
"Call her bluff," Suigetsu insisted, stepping forward with a surge of bravado. But before he could go any further, Sasuke yanked him back just as the woman pressed deeper, sending a trickle of blood flooding down her throat. The thin liquid slowed as it rolled across her clavicle, already affected by the chilly air.
"What do we do?" Naruto beckoned, pitifully. His shoulders rose and fell as he fought to control his emotions.
Sasuke moved in a breathtaking display of speed and precision, faster than anyone else on the battlefield. The movement was fluid and seamless, a burst of chakra radiating out in a way that made his body blur and blend into his surroundings. He knew he could engage her, ensnare her in the hypnotic pull of his sharingan, and unravel the ancient magic gripping her.
With a swift motion, Sasuke flipped her onto her back, pinning her in a heartbeat. His mind raced as he kept her close, strategically avoiding the explosive force of her punches and kicks that had nearly overwhelmed them before. Every movement was a calculated risk—if he could distract her, force her to defend, she would eventually tire.
Every punch he sent towards her was expertly blocked, smacked away with efficiency. Summoning susanoo's arm, Sasuke planted his boot between her legs and spun her onto her back, smacking the kunai away.
Twirling around him like a dancer, Sakura inverted herself, capturing Sasuke's face between her thighs. The forearm of susanoo pressed firmly against him just in time, a simple blockade she squeezed with relentless strength. Sasuke fell onto his back, with Sakura perched above him, maintaining her crushing grip.
Naruto approached from behind, his heart racing as he prepared to intervene.
"Fight it, Sakura!" Sasuke demanded, his voice laced with urgency. With deliberate precision, he used his right hand to unbuckle the pouch strapped to her thigh. As he loosened it, Sakura's instincts kicked in; she reached for one last weapon, her fingers curling around the hilt of a knife.
In a heartbeat, she brought the blade down, mere inches from Sasuke's eyes. His breath caught in his throat, frozen in a moment of dread. He was helpless to defend himself, caught between the need to protect and the risk of hurting her.
Sakura!" Karin's voice echoed with urgency, a plea laced with dread as she feared she was witnessing the end of the Uchiha beneath a blade. Chains spilled from her body, yet she remained in place, her other hand gripping her wrist tightly. She was paralyzed, unable to summon the strength to move forward.
"Sa-s'ke," Sakura struggled to speak, her voice trembling with effort. He felt the warmth of tears land on his face as he fumbled with the last buckle.
"You're doing great," he encouraged, urgency in his tone, flinging her pack toward Jugo, who deftly intercepted it. "Just hold on for a moment."
"Hurry," The woman begs. "Stop me,"
Naruto yanked Sasuke's ankles, freeing him from underneath Sakura right as she plunged her weapon into the ground. Sasuke hopped up, taking a few steps back. The man bounced, shedding his coat as he prepared for a tighter fight.
The two met with violent force, each strike resonating through the air like thunder. Sakura moved with a fluidity that took Sasuke by surprise, her body twisting and bending in ways he never thought possible. A backflip here, a swift twist there—she danced around him like a wisp of smoke, elusive and uncatchable.
When her elbow crashed into his shoulder, he reacted on instinct, lifting her effortlessly overhead before slamming her down into the ground with a force that would have stunned a lesser kunoichi.
"Watch it!" Naruto shouted, urgency cutting through the chaos as Sakura scrambled away, narrowly dodging the boot aimed at her.
Sasuke glanced up just in time to evade a fierce double kick aimed squarely at his chin, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "I know what I'm doing," he gritted out, determination hardening his resolve as the fight intensified around them.
It was a perilous dance, each move charged with raw intensity. Sakura unleashed her strength with every strike, her determination palpable. For Sasuke, this moment was a crucible; his entire life had revolved around the pursuit of power, the relentless drive to hit harder, to dominate. He had never been forced to temper his strength before, to consider the consequences of his blows or the safety of his opponent.
Now, faced with her, he wrestled with the painful realization that he couldn't simply give in to his instincts or let his bloodline take over. The stakes were far too high. As he parried her powerful attacks, he felt the weight of his choices—each movement was a tightrope walk between aggression and restraint.
Orochimaru's subjects had been mere bodies to be swept aside, but Sakura was a force of nature, fierce and unwavering. Each clash between them was a reminder of what he stood to lose, of the bonds they shared that transcended this brutal contest. In that moment, he wasn't just fighting an opponent; he was battling the darkness within himself, grappling with the very essence of who he was meant to be.
In the chaos of their struggle, they had inadvertently edged closer to the treeline. Beyond it, the soft trickle of water beckoned to Sasuke. He knew that if he could get her beneath the surface, her movements would slow—she'd have to focus on breathing rather than keeping her eyes downcast.
With a decisive grip, Sasuke wrapped his arm around her midsection and flickered them to the riverbank. They crashed through the icy surface, shattering the ice around them.
The shock of the freezing water sent a jolt through Sasuke's body, momentarily disorienting him. He began to backstroke, activating his sharingan to locate Sakura amidst the turmoil. Just then, he felt a surge of warmth beneath him. With explosive force, Sakura propelled herself upward, her speed and power causing the water around them to boil.
Her speed, and power, caused the water around them to boil.
Sakura propelled herself out of the lake, striking Sasuke and pushing him to the edge. She unleashed a flurry of blows, her speed catching him off guard. How does she have this much stamina? he wondered.
"Stay close!" Naruto shouted from beyond the ridge.
Sasuke wiped the water from his brow and closed the distance with quick, precise movements. Gripping the front of her shirt, he drove her back against a tree just off the water's oak fissured, splitting from his might. The back of her head snaps back violently, her eyes roll for a moment before settling back in place.
Sasuke captures them.
The sudden change of bright, winter landscape to the quiet, dull recess of the mind would have been disorienting if Sasuke hadn't done so hundreds of times. Breaching consciousness, with all of its inner cogs and mechanisms, was a painful and uncomfortable process. Sasuke found himself staring at a vast, dark space. He used his senses–listening for any disturbance, looking for anomalies. He almost didn't notice the hand reaching for him—massive, monochrome, and unsettlingly still.
It hovered in the oppressive darkness, stretching to consume him. Diving away, Sasuke felt the weight of confusion pressing down as he watched the rest of Sakura emerge from the void. She loomed above, a towering figure of gray, her features sharp and pupiless, as if carved from stone.
"Get out!" her voice echoed, a dissonant blend of desperation and fury.
"Sakura?" he called, the name slipping from his lips. She swayed in slow motion, her hands moving to cover her ears, as though trying to block out his voice.
"Why are you here? I don't want you here!"
"I'm going to help," Sasuke worked to keep his voice bland. "There's something controlling you. Where are they—"
"There is no they! It's all around me!" Her voice crescendoed, resonating with an intensity that sent shivers down his spine.
In that moment, he dared to truly look at her. A putrid, hazy miasma coiled around her head and shoulders, swirling like a hoard of insects. This was no mere illusion; she was sentient, her essence tangled in anguish, a reflection of an unseen struggle.
"What… are you?" Sasuke muttered, disbelief creeping in. He'd never seen anything like it. His mind raced, grappling with the surreal sight before him. Kurama was a tangible entity inside Naruto, but what resided in Sakura?
The apparition opened her eyes, and he was momentarily blinded by the shocking brilliance of her fern-green irises, vibrant yet haunting. Her face contorted, a volcano on the brink of eruption.
With a furious roar, the gray Sakura slammed her hands down onto the ground, the impact reverberating through the air. The force thrust Sasuke out of her mind, flinging him into a void where echoes of her despair lingered, leaving him grasping for answers in the suffocating black.
Sasuke took in air quickly, blinking around at the frosty scene he'd left only moments before. Somehow, some way, Sakura had been able to thwart his sharingan and kick him out of her mind.
The woman struggled against his susanoo arm, flailing and fighting, paying no mind to her bleeding fingernails and gouged skin. Her face was flushed, her eyes lowered once more hiding from his view.
Watching Sakura struggle under his force, hurting herself as she fought to escape, Sasuke felt helpless. There was not a jutsu, a trick or a ruse he could use to save Sakura without shattering her body or her mind. He could not fix it. He could not help her. She, inexplicably, refused his entrance to her consciousness and it left him without another option.
Yes, he could break her. He could force himself in, kill the guardian that roamed her head and risk permanently damaging her psyche. Or perhaps, he could knock her out. It would give the group a chance to figure out what is happening.
Is this how Sakura felt?
…when he was consumed by Orochimaru's curse-mark?
…when he woke up with her arms wrapped around him, bruised and bloody?
…when her desperate pleas echoed in his mind, begging him to return…to return to her?
A thought ignited within him, clawing its way to the surface.
In all those moments, Sakura had pulled him from the depths of his despair—even if only for a fleeting second. Her touch, her voice, her unwavering presence shattered the spells that had ensnared him, reminding him of what it meant to feel.
Sasuke reached around her, fingers tangling in the soft tendrils of her flowing pink hair, drawing her closer. Still, she fought against him, the rough bark of the tree tearing at her skin. He cradled her head gently in his hand, pressing his forehead to hers, his heart aching with an unspoken plea.
With a tenderness that belied the turmoil inside him, he smoothed his lips against hers, kissing the fierce kunoichi who had always been his light.
He'd hoped that it would shock her out of hiding. That the glimpse she'd given him, as she stopped her kunai from plunging into his skull, would burst forth and take back control of her body.
Eyes widening, Sakura looked forward, falling into the trap of Sasuke's sharingan once more.
A/N: Hello everyone. I have not updated this story since January, and I am so very sorry for that. While I had several chapters ahead of what was originally planned, my laptop bit the dust and I was unable to access the files until it was replaced. It eventually lost on my list of priorities-to combat this, I have transferred my files into a document service that I can access online. Thank you to all who have continued to find interest in my words, and works. Please, enjoy!
