(A\N: Traumatizing Sasuke in this chapter was very fun and that's only warning regarding what's about to come that you're getting. I regret, nothing. :))
Sakura was back in her cell. Chakra suppression seals were painted all over her, her left hand was tied to her bed with handcuffs. Danzo said he needed to set the stage before she could truly become one of them, so he sent her back to her cell. Two Root members were guarding her, they changed once every 6 hours, but the previous guards would not leave her room until the new ones appeared to take their place. So there was no chance of escape. Not that escaping would do her any good, a seal was placed on her, a counter measure in Danzo's own words. It would keep her from talking.
God she had been so stupid! She knew the one thing you do when in the hand of enemies is not, under any circumstance, edge them on. Never give the enemy a reason to retaliate or find a weakness. But she still did it...It was because of that damn poison Danzo gave her. It messed with the hormones in her brain to the point she couldn't think rationally. He either targeted her cortisol or adrenaline intake. Either way, it worked because Sakura revealed exactly how much she cares about Naruto and Sasuke.
Now she was stuck here, no matter what she did from here on out she would never see Sasuke or Naruto or Kakashi or Tsunade or Shizune or Ino or...anyone at all. She was stuck here, forever. There was no way out of the Root...Any strategy that came to mind blew up in her face. There was no way Danzo will ever allow her out of his sight.
It was hopeless.
...
The village was on high alert. The Godaime's apprentice had been kidnapped from her own house in the dead of the night. Tsunade had dispatched teams of Inuzukas and sensors to look for her. Sakura Haruno had to be found no matter what. Team 7 had been doing border patrols for the past 3 days, hoping to catch her assailants when they leave the village. Tsume Inuzuka informed everyone that she was still in the village, as her dogs could not track her farther than the apartment. It was like she vanished in thin air. In response, Kakashi took Naruto and Sasuke out of the village, keeping Pakkun with them at all times just incase they catch her scent, or any scent for that matter when she leaves the village.
Naruto and Sasuke had been out of their minds with worry. Jumping from place to place, looking for any sign of their teammate. Sasuke even asked his brother to lend him some crows for the search, and now team 7 had aerial view at all times. They were moving constantly, eyes in all directions and listening for any sounds. If they as much as saw a flash of pink, Naruto and Sasuke would dash in that direction.
The hardest was nighttime, Kakashi had a lot of trouble making the boys rest. If it was up to them, they would scour the perimeter day and night, with no care for their well being. Kakashi even tried telling them that Sakura wouldn't want them to be like this, but that strategy blew up in his face.
"She can yell at us all she wants when we have her back." said Sasuke and Naruto nodded in agreement.
That attempt at making the boys sleep made them stay awake the whole night. Since then, Kakashi avoided mentioning Sakura at all. Looking at the night sky during his watch shift, Kakashi sighed. He hoped they find Sakura soon, because if not, he fears Team 7 might fall apart.
...
Sasuke woke up at the caw of a crow. He had fallen asleep during his shift. So careless. Snapping up he saw the bird circling above him and his eyes widened. They found her. He ran at Kakashi and Naruto and shook them both awake.
"Teme wha-" started Naruto.
"They found her. Itachi's crows found her. We need to go, now." said Sasuke and team 7 snapped into action. They followed Itachi's crow through the forest surrounding Konoha until they found a group of 6 Oto nins, one of them was holding the end of the rope that was tied around Sakura. She was moving sluggish.
Wasting no time, team 7 descended on the enemy. Naruto created a hundred clones that all jumped down simultaneously. Sasuke, used some of the clones as literal stepping stones, jumping from one blonde head to another until he reached the Oto nin that was holding Sakura. With sword in hand he jumped down and severed his arm from his shoulder. He expected the Oto nin to retreat after such a grievous injury, but he was surprised when the guy just kept on attacking him. As such he couldn't get Sakura away, who was so sluggish, she just fell down on her knees. Another shinobi grabbed Sakura and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before running away.
Damn it, I don't have time for this. Thought Sasuke as he was locked in combat with the injured guy. Backflipping away, he set a massive Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, that unfortunately, only managed to dispel a couple of Naruto's clones, since the guy dodged. The shinobi came at him, tanto raised to strike and Sasuke met him in the middle. They exchanged blows until three Naruto clones came from behind and tackled the guy. Two of them were restraining his legs, while another bit his remaining arm.
"Sasuke! Go get the guy that has Sakura-chan! We'll handle this guy." said one of the clones. Sasuke ran away with a nod, following the guy at the edge of the clearing, near that guy was Kakashi, battling against two kunoichi. Sasuke ignored them completely and went after the shinobi that took his teammate, with a viciousness he didn't know he possessed, he fired up a chidori and drove his hand through the man's lower back. The Oto nin fell down, choking on his own blood, but hell if Sasuke cared, he only had eyes for Sakura, who he propped against a nearby tree.
"Sakura! Are you ok? Can you speak?"
Sakura groaned. "Poisoned...no...chakra."
Sasuke cursed. "Ok, ok. I'll try to get us away. Hopefully if we get-" Sasuke didn't get to finish his sentence as he was forced to dodge with Sakura an incoming barrage of shuriken. Sasuke jumped away and placed Sakura at the base of another tree before turning around to see an Oto kunoichi that escaped Naruto's barrage of clones. Sasuke grit his teeth before running at the enemy with his sword raised. The woman elongated her limbs similar to Orochimaru and tried to bind him. He jumped under the noodle like limb to dodge and took away two of her finger on the way down. He rushed at the woman with his sword and attempted to cut her down, but she batted away all of his attacks with her kunai. Wrapping her free arm around Sasuke's sword, she yanked the weapon from his arms and threw it away. Seeing this, the Uchiha jumped away and used Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu. He decided to keep his distance, and kept a stream of Katon jutsus coming her way. Wave after wave, the woman dodged his fire with ease. However his merciless barrage scorched the earth, specifically the wilted grass and created a smoke screen. Using this to his advantage, Sasuke charged in the smoke with a chidori. He saw the back of his opponent and went after her with the intent to kill.
However, what Sasuke didn't realize was that he wasn't the only one taking advantage of the smokescreen. The Oto kunoichi used the smoke to sneak to Sakura's location and grab her. Thus, when she turned around to look at Sasuke, his hand went through both Sakura and the enemy's chest. Sasuke's eyes were as wide as saucers as he gazed at the scene before him.
"Sas...ke...kun..." murmured Sakura as blood dribbled down her chin.
"S-Sakura..."
Shakily she raised her hand and cupped his cheek. "It will...b-be...al-lright..." with that she slumped forward.
Sasuke retracted his hand, letting the Oto kunoichi fall dead, he lowered himself and Sakura down. Tears were streaming down his face. "No...No, no, no, no, no, no! NO! W-wake up! Sakura wake up! Please! Don't do this to me! Wake up! Sakura please! SAKURA!" he sobbed as he looked at her green eyes, now dull and devoid of life. "S-Sakura...please...please don't leave me too..."
"What the hell happened?!" exclaimed Naruto as he reached them. The Oto nins having fled once their target was killed.
Sasuke lifted his head to look at them and Kakashi gasped as he saw the Mangekyō Sharingan. This only made Sasuke sob harder. Naruto fell to his knees as reality caught up with him.
"No. No ,no, no, no! This can't be happening! Sasuke please tell me this isn't what I think it is." tears started streaming down the blonde's face. "Please."
"I'm sorry."
...
Sasuke felt empty as he reached his apartment. After the disaster of a rescue mission, team 7 reported to the Hokage what had happened. Upon hearing that her precious student was dead, Tsunade screamed at them to get the hell out of her office. She refused to listen to anything more they had to say. Kakashi had shunshined away as soon as Tsunade dismissed them, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to walk away alone. The blonde refused to even look at him, not that he could blame him. Everything was his fault. Sakura was gone, because of him.
He entered his bathroom and ripped the bloody shirt off. He threw it at the wall in a fit of rage. Sasuke fell to his knees as sobs wracked him. He screamed and wailed on his bathroom floor, letting his tears fall freely. He cried in a way he hasn't since the massacre. He couldn't get her lifeless eyes out of his mind. Eyes that just a few days ago, were brimming with life, shining in a way that was unique to Sakura. Her last words to him kept on repeating in his head. She hasn't called him Sasuke-kun since the academy...Of course she would use terms of endearment in her last moments...that was so...Sakura.
"Sas...ke...kun...It will...b-be...al-lright..." Lies...nothing will ever be alright again. Not with her gone.
Wiping at his eyes with his left hand made him realize it was still bloody. Flinching back he scrambled upwards and dashed to his sink. Turning the water way too hot he shoved his hand under the faucet and started washing his hands. He scrubbed his hands raw, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the feeling of Sakura's blood out of his head. It was like it was permanently stuck to his skin. His crying eventually turned into coughs and he held onto the edges of the sink in order to not fall down. Taking a deep breath, he-half recomposed himself and went back to scrubbing his hands with maniac determination.
"Damn it..."It won't come off...why the hell won't it come off? A detached part of his mind realized he was getting blisters, but he ignored it. He had to wash it off, had to get all of this blood off his hands. He had to-
A hand on his shoulder startled Sasuke and he turned around to punch whoever tried to stop him from his endeavor. His fist was caught easily and his other hand restrained. He tried to fight it off but to no avail.
"Sasuke, stop." said the voice. "Please, you're only hurting yourself."
The voice snapped Sasuke out of it and the younger Uchiha let out a noise of surprise when he took in the black cloak with red clouds and the scratched Konoha hitai-ate. Itachi.
"Wh-what are you doing here?"
"I heard about what happened. I wanted to make sure you were ok."
Sasuke sent his brother an incredulous look. "Ok...OK?! Nothing will ever be ok again Itachi! Sakura is dead and I...I..." He dissolved into sobs. "This is all my fault. Sakura is gone and it's all my fault."
Itachi wrapped his arms around his little brother and brought him to his chest, with one hand he softly pet his hair while the other one kept him close. "I won't tell you it will be alright, because I know you don't want to hear it. I will offer you my condolences however. I know how much she meant to you."
This just made Sasuke wail harder. "I-It won't c-come off Itachi. Why won't it com-me off?"
"What won't come off, otouto?"
"T-The blood! Why won't the blood wash off of my hands?"
Itachi sucked in a breath and held Sasuke tighter. There were no words of comfort he could offer his brother.
"I'm sorry Sasuke."