Chapter Twenty One

Time is such a problematic bitch; she zooms through without anyone noticing until Kakashi stood back to back with Guy who struck down another lock shinobi.

Guy let out a hearty laugh from deep within his chest, calling out his new score of how many enemies he has taken down verses Kakashi. This was a game these two overly competitive ninja play. The silver haired ninja's heart was palpitating due to the sweet adrenaline coursing through his circulatory system as he scanned the surrounding area.

"Where is Commander Haruno?" Guy questioned seeing the sun had fallen lower in the sky but still no Sakura, Carver or even Raiden had appeared from the collapsed bridge.

"That river has strong currents." Asuma called out, "They could have all been washed away."

"Or they all drowned." Kurenai muttered being her bright sunshiny self.

"We need to get people down there-" Tsunade breathed her eyes returning every couple seconds to the broken bridge as if Sakura would be standing there waving at them. "-Sakura used a lot of chakra before this-"

"What!?" Kakashi turned,

"The thing she did on Hanare, I guess it uses a lot of chakra to preform and-"

"Why is she here then!?" Kakashi snapped feeling the perturbation began to thickly layer itself.

Where on earth was Sakura!?

----

Down the surging river and to the left is where Sakura, Carver and Raiden stood on dry ground. Asuma had been correct, the leaf shinobi along with the lock ninja were gobbled up by the ravenous river.

"Ugh!" Raiden gasped in air, collapsing onto the coarse grass.

"Ok-" Carver breathed soaking wet as he crawled from the river. "-now I'm pissed."

"Where are the Lock shinobi?" Raiden asked rolling onto his stomach.

"I don't know." Sakura said looking around, "I was too busy pulling your extra-large ass out of the current." Sakura squeezed the unwanted water from the strands of her long hair as she analyzed the forest around them.

"They couldn't have gotten that far." Carver sighed sitting up.

"They planned this." Sakura shook her head, "We should have seen this coming."

"From a tiny village in the middle of butt fuck nowhere?" Raiden said pulling himself up. "How the fuck were we suppose to see a double cross coming?"

"How in the fuck didn't you two know spies were inside the village?" Sakura countered, "You have lived here for how long?"

"Oh, come on!" Raiden said, "Your blaming us for this!?"

"A little-" Sakura shook her head. "-yeah."

"I call bullshit on that-!" Raiden pouted, "-Commander!"

"I just took over the title." Sakura reminded, "So wipe that expression off your face before I help you do it."

"Whatever!" Raiden groaned, "Where the fuck are, we anyway?"

"Miles from where the others are." Sakura said looking around.

"Great!" Raiden threw his arms upward into the air. "-just fucking great!"

"We need to get back." Carver said, "Tsunade is there."

"This is why I didn't fucking want her to come!" Sakura cursed to herself.

"This ain't on you." Carver told her, "You know how stubborn that woman is."

"Naruto, Itachi, Kakashi, Minato-" Raiden listed, "-they are all there with Tsunade. She will be fine-"

"For once you're right." Sakura muttered, "We need to focus more on where the lock shinobi went."

"Why?"

"If they planned to blow up the bridge with them and us both on it then they must have set up a camp nearby to retreat at or something."

"Good idea." Carver muttered. "But where do we start?"

"Down river wouldn't be smart, it's too far." Sakura muttered to herself as she looked around.

"I guess we can pick a random direction to start." Carver said ringing out his pants leg. "What does your gut say?"

"My gut says it is wet-" Raiden answered still pouting, "-and a little hungry."

"Not you." Carver sighed, "The only thing your gut is useful for is finding your next meal."

"Are you guys trying to tell me something?" Raiden asked,

"What?" Carver shook his head, "What the fuck-?"

"Are you saying I am fat!?" Raiden cried with tears pooling into his eyes.

"How the fuck did you conclude that from what I just said?" Carver questioned.

"Because Sakura is over there saying I am extra-large and-"

"I know where they are." Sakura interrupted.

"Huh?" Carver and Raiden blinked confused.

"How?"

"There is an old fishing spot near by-"

"I am pretty sure they ain't fishing-" Carver said.

"I could go for some smoked salmon right about now." Raiden added.

"No, you twat-" Sakura rolled her eyes. "-down the river a bit there use to be a popular fishing spot, but it got abandoned before I was banished."

"You think that's where they are?"

"This river runs past it; if shit hit the fan the lock shinobi could have jumped into the river using it as an express way to get to their camp-"

"To bail or get the backup they need." Carver realized. "That's why they blew up the damn bridge, the leader was on it!"

"We need to get moving and be careful-" Sakura said, "-they are going to be on the lookout for us."

"But what about getting back to Tsunade and the others?" Raiden questioned.

"Like you said-" Sakura replied, "-she has all the backup she needs." A deep dread filled Sakura as she, Carver and Raiden broke into a rundown stream. Sakura was praying that Kakashi hadn't turned onto the leaf shinobi in order to save Hanare.

Carver and Raiden ran behind Sakura along the dazzling blue river as the sun shined down onto them. Raiden glanced at Sakura's damp hair as a smile formed on his lips, this felt like familiar old times.

"Get down!" Carver harshly whispered, pulling Raiden and Sakura's arms roughly causing all three of him to collapse onto each other on the forest ground behind a bundle of bushes.

"Ow." Raiden moaned landing on a broken stick, Sakura recovered quickly shooting an annoyed look at Carver until she heard the footsteps. Sakura pulled her eyes to the small path between the trees they had been avoiding.

"Is that-?" Raiden whispered watching two lock shinobi running past them with one dazed out Hanare in their inventory.

"Hanare." Sakura answered, "How the hell did they-?"

"There must have been an ambush waiting after the bridge was taken out." Carver muttered, "Looks like we missed all the fun."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Sakura said nodding her head to follow the lock ninja, they could lead them to their base.

Carver, Raiden and Sakura hung back quietly following the two shinobi who held Hanare in their possession. After two miles sure enough, the shinobi stopped at the old fishing spot Sakura remembered. There was a small wooden building which had long began its decaying process, a small campfire was lit with a dozen lock shinobi standing around waiting for orders.

The two ninja Sakura and the others followed slowed their pace as Hanare was placed on her feet the village elder who Sakura had her pleasant conversation with walked out of the crumbling building.

Carver glanced at Sakura, what was the plan? Sakura smirked at him in return as she gestured for him to go first.

"Oh, it's been a minute-" Carver smirked as he and the others emerged from the forest brush.

"Leaf shinobi!" The head of the lock ninja jumped to his feet, "How did you-"

"You have something of mine." Sakura said taking a step forward.

"You-You have your shinobi-!" The elder man sputtered.

"That's not why we are here." Carver said, resting his sword on his shoulder.

"Then why are you-?"

"You have my new chew toy." Sakura cocked her head to the side.

"What?" The elder blinked, "Ha-Hanare?"

"Bingo." Raiden nodded, "Your best bet right now, is to hand her over before we-"

"Yeah-Yeah." The elder waved his wrinkled hand, "You'll let us go-"

"Does that sound like something I would do?" Sakura turned to Raiden who laughed.

"That is not what we were going to say." Raiden called,

"Oh?" The elder blinked confused, "Then what were you going to say, because nothing you do will make me hand over Hanare to you!"

"You act like she is worth something." Carver said lowering his sword.

"Of course, she is!" The elder scoffed, "She is a part of the Lock-"

"She has never stepped foot inside your village." Sakura said, "You only want her because you believe she could still give you the Intel she has collected from the villages she has hit."

"No-" The elder man nervously laughed, "-she is-"

"A squeaker toy-" A nefarious smile arose on Sakura's face, "-without a squeaker."

"What does that-"

"Give the spy over-" Carver sighed annoyed; he was feeling on edge. The three of them were here and not with the others. If these lock shinobi were strong enough to take Hanare from Naruto and the others...were they all still ok? "-or it's open season!"

"There's a dozen of us and only three of you!" A lock shinobi standing on the side lines laughed,

"Correction." Raiden said pulling two kunai from his pouch. "There is only a dozen of you, and three of us."

"I love when they forget what I am." Sakura said glancing at Carver.

"Alright-" Raiden stepped froward to stand beside Sakura. "-let's make this quick."

"Why do you other plans?" Sakura wondered pulling her silver kunai's out to play.

"Actually-" Raiden went to say,

"Your special time alone doesn't count." Carver joked.

"I do not have special time!" Raiden snapped.

"Mhm." Carver hummed, "We use to live with you remember. You walking into the bathroom and letting the shower run for only thirty seconds is-"

"I-It is longer than thirty seconds!" Raiden's voice was high pitched.

"Right..." Carver drew out.

"What is happening!?" The elder snapped looking between the three-leaf shinobi.

"Our favorite tactic." Carver answered,

"Wha-" Before the old man could finish scrunching his face and get the rest of his word out, Sakura and Raiden swiftly flung six kunai forward hitting five unsuspecting ninjas, three fell to the forest floor defeated.

"What the-?" A few shinobi stepped backwards seeing the leaf ninja had vanished from sight. "-where did they go!?"

"Run!" A panicked voice cried.

"No one retreats!" The elder snapped, "We will take them down!"

"How can we-" The lock ninja who questioned his leader's voice was cut off by a gargled cry. The elder spun around to see Raiden standing behind the shinobi with his sword protruding through the ninja's chest.

Raiden's eyes glowed with vexation as he locked his sight onto the supposed leader.

"You tried to blow my friends up." Raiden allowed the departed corpse to slide off his sword.

"No-" Sakura called ducking a blade, she hastily kicked the legs out from the shinobi, spun around letting two kunai fly into the chests of two oncoming men. She pulled her sword forward, slicing the shinobi who tried to get back up. "-we need him alive." She explained to Raiden's annoyed face.

"Why!?" Raiden stomped his foot. "He tried to-"

"Just capture him!" Sakura waved her hand as the elder turned to flee.

"Why do I get the old fuck!?"

"Ha!" Carver laughed jumping over a fallen ninja. "How many times have you had to say that-"

"Shut up Carver!" Raiden snapped running after the elder.

Sakura and Carver finished off the lock ninja who huddled around the makeshift base.

"Well that was fast." Carver looked around.

"I bet you hear that a lot." Sakura muttered.

"I do not!"

"Oh?" Sakura turned. "You haven't been getting laid?"

"Yes, I have but they don't-"

"Where's Hanare?" Sakura asked scanning the dead bodies.

"Fuck." Carver breathed seeing the missing spy.

"Go after Raiden and help-"

"He doesn't need a babysitter-" Carver said. Sakura and Carver stared at each other for a moment. "-yeah alright." Carver sighed turning on his heel running in the direction he saw Raiden run.

With a shake of her head and a huff of air from her chest, Sakura turned on her heel running in the opposite direction in hopes she could track where the missing spy could have wondered off to.

With the aid of impressions resting inside the dirt and freshly broken twigs, Sakura knew there were two people abruptly moving in the direction towards the leaf village.

Sakura used her arms shielding her face from the prickly vegetation as she dashed through the thick overgrown brush. She stumbled out of the forest into a clearing laced with tall grass rising to her knees. She looked around and spotted her targets running up the steep hill, as Sakura ran after them, she concluded they knew where they were going, this was their last resort.

"Fleeing so soon?" Sakura called out once on top the hill, her voice froze Hanare and the masked shinobi who aided her, he was the one to turn and throw the first punch. Sakura moved out of the way of the upper cut, "We haven't even gotten to the good part yet."

"Monster!" The mask shinobi spat through his chipped teeth.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere." Sakura smiled blocking his punches.

"I am not-!" The ninja blushed under his mask looking into Sakura's incandescent eyes, he marveled inside her beauty. Sakura blinked, lightly confused by the ninja's stunned stature.

"Are you going to try to kiss me?" Sakura teased.

"I-I-!" The man stuttered "-ugh..." He looked down at the kunai digging into his toned abdomen. He looked at Sakura with accusing eyes as he fell backwards.

"Hm." Sakura sighed looking up from the expired ninja. "That was easy."

"What are you?" Hanare breathed stepping back as Sakura moved towards her.

"Oh, you can talk." Sakura said lightly surprised Hanare wasn't a drooling potato.

"Yes." Hanare glared pulling a foot-long sword out.

"Really?" Sakura nodded towards the toothpick.

"Your plan to kill me-"

"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head. "I wasn't trying to kill you, trust me if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead right now."

"What did you do to me?" Hanare breathed, "Why can't I remember-"

"Because you decided to step into my village and become a threat." Sakura shrugged, her shoulder tense as she began to feel the toll of overusing her chakra begins to brush over her.

"You-"

"If you come quietly-" Sakura said running her tongue over her lips. "-I won't kill you."

"What?" Hanare laughed, "You'll just let me sit the rest of my life rotting away inside a cell?"

"Yes." Sakura said. "It's more than what your friends have."

"You killed them..."

"We did." Sakura nodded. "Be smart and-"

"No!" Hanare shook her head which throbbed from Sakura's recent work.

"Don't do this to him." Sakura said after a moment. "He doesn't deserve this." The two-women stared at each other as wind blew through their hair.

"I had a jutsu on him, it wasn't real-"

"I was inside your head." Sakura stated, "I know you formed feelings for him."

"Kakashi is a great man." Hanare replied.

"Then why do this?" Sakura questioned, "Are you willing to give him up for a village you have never stepped a foot inside?"

"Yes." Hanare nodded, "You out of everyone here must know the reasons."

"Loyalty." Sakura replied, "They drilled it into your head when your young, I know because I myself have done it to hundreds of soldiers. But that doesn't mean the training always sticks-"

"I have to-!"

"No one is holding a gun to your head right now making you do a damn thing!" Sakura snapped, "I am giving you a very rare chance to keep your life because of him."

"My training is all I am..."

"No, it is not. Your past or where you come from doesn't define you. The choices you make now and how you act right now is what makes you who you are. I was trained to be an unstoppable war machine but look at where I am now-"

"I am not a traitor like you!" Hanare shouted with tears in her eyes.

"What the fuck are you--you crazy bitch." Sakura breathed feeling a headache coming on, can she even a remember a day where she didn't get these?

"You built the Waterfall Village and yet here you stand for the Leaf-"

"I am not a traitor; I left the Waterfall Village because I was killed, I left a strong chain of command and when I returned, my title wasn't mine anymore."

"That doesn't-"

"Your starting to get on my nerves." Sakura growled, "Put the sword down or-"

"Or what you'll kill me?" Hanare mocked, "If you were truly inside my head than you know Kakashi also formed feelings for me-"

"That's great." Sakura shrugged, "That has nothing to do with this though."

"Isn't it?" Hanare sneered.

"No." Sakura said shaking her head, "You're a fucking spy, I can't let you leave."

"You burned my memory; I have no recollection of-"

"What I did could possibly be reversed within a short window of time." Sakura said, "So no, you're not going anywhere."

"You are willing to keep me locked inside a cage for Kakashi's sake, you wouldn't kill me-"

"Oh-" Sakura laughed, "-I really would love nothing more than to gut you where you stand and feel your hot blood trailing down my hands, please do not tempt me anymore than what I already am."

"You're a monster-"

"And you're a whore." Sakura shrugged, "Don't be shy, be yourself we are all assholes here, but I will do what I must to protect the Leaf and if that entitles killing you today well then...I will."

"Kakashi's mind is a scrambled heap-" Hanare eyed Sakura as the two circled each other, "-he can't handle another one of his lovers dying on him."

"He isn't a child; he doesn't need his hand held; he is stronger than you give him credit for."

"Easy for a heartless beast like you to say. You already left him once-"

"Excuse me?" Sakura laughed feeling slightly offended, had Kakashi confided in Hanare, did Kakashi feel that Sakura left him?

"You left Kakashi to what? Protect a village?"

"You fucking twat-" Sakura irked. "-I will be damned if I stand here and explain myself to an incompetent donut. I died to protect his home; I didn't have a choice like you do."

"A choice?"

"Isn't that why your leaving Kakashi-" Sakura questioned, "-to protect a village?"

----

Kakashi watched as an secondary lock ninja fell to the ground in defeat, the clamorous chirping from Kakashi's lighting blade echoed through the trees. Kakashi gazed around feeling Hanare's chakra, she was nearby.

"Kakashi!" Carver called out, the masked shinobi turned seeing Raiden and Carver walked towards him dragging the old man from the lock village.

"What's up?" Raiden asked, relieved to see his friends were still standing.

"Where is Sakura?" Kakashi breathed not seeing her pink hair.

"Huh?" Carver blinked. Naruto and the other leaf ninja walking towards them, "She hadn't met up with you guys yet?"

"No-" Hinata answered with a shake of her head, "-we haven't seen her."

"She went after Hanare last we knew of." Carver said looking at Raiden.

"She went after Hanare alone!?" Tsunade panicked. "Why-!?"

"There were only three of us." Raiden yawned,

"She ordered Raiden and I to go after the lock's leader guy." Carver pointed over his shoulder to the gagged man.

"We need to find her!" Naruto felt full of trepidation with Sakura still missing, her falling as the bridge collapsed replayed through Naruto's mind.

"Yes." Tsunade agreed, "She must be running low on chakra by now-"

"Ah-" Raiden scratched his neck. "-why would that be a thing?"

"The jutsu she used on Hanare-" Tsuande explained, "-to burn her memories-"

"Yeah?"

"-it takes up a lot of chakra." Tsuande finished.

"What?" Raiden blinked,

"Why in the fuck were we not told this!?" Carver snapped, looking around his brain scattering, desperately trying to figure out where Sakura had run off to. "I wouldn't have let her go off on her own!"

"We just found out too." Naruto reasoned, "Where did you last see her?"

"She was fucking running north while Raiden and I went west for this fuck-" Carver pointed down to the old man.

"Alright then-" Naruto nodded, "Let's go-!"

"We don't know if that's the direction Sakura is in, she was tracking Hanare. Sakura could be anywhere by now."

"Then we split up." TenTen stepped in,

Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Carver and Raiden broke off in the direction of north without discussing the plan with anyone else.

Sasuke, Itachi, Minato, Neji and Tsunade ran south.

"What a drag." Shikamaru sighed throwing his head back, he and everyone else scattered searching in the in between for their missing commander.

Naruto glanced at Kakashi hearing swords clashing, the hasty sounds of metal against metal made the leaf shinobi pick up the hasten pace.

'Please...be alright.' Hinata begged inside her head as the group ran up the steep hill, Hinata wasn't the only one who was replaying the day Sakura lost her life in her head as they neared the top of the hill.

'I can't-' Kakashi thought to himself, knowing how well he trained Hanare believing he was training with Sakura. Kakashi glanced to the sky begging the heavens.'-take me. Shatter my soul, cut the very flesh from my bones, take my breath from my lungs or my very heart from my chest. Reclaim my life as yours but please for the love of God don't take her again.'

Kakashi was the first to reach the peak of the hill, he stared wide eyed at the scene before him.

"Kakashi-?" She turned to look at him, "-I'm sorry she gave me no other choice-" Kakashi rushed forward, pulling her into his arms as his toned body shook with worry, his heart hammering away at his ribs.

"I was so worried." Kakashi breathed against her soft hair, relaxing feeling her body mold perfectly against him.

"Seriously-?" She laughed tilting her head back, "-you really thought one little spy could bring me down?" Sakura teased looking up into his mask face. God how Kakashi has missed that amused expression on her picturesque face.

"Sakura." Kakashi breathed feeling tears sting the back of his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted jumping onto the hill, "We are here! What do you-?" Naruto looked around seeing there were only them standing on the hill with a knocked out Hanare lying on the ground. "-what?"

"So..." Sakura looked around at the group watching her. "...let me get this straight, you were all really concerned that-" Sakura gestured to Hanare, "-could take me on and live?"

"We were worried!" Hinata teared up as she compacted herself in between Kakashi giving Sakura a tight hug.

"Why?" Sakura wondered.

"Tsunade said you were low on chakra!" Raiden said pushing his way into the conversation, "Why the hell didn't you tell us you used a large portion on Hanare!?"

"Ugh." Sakura groaned growing weary and a little famished.

Hanare rolled onto her side, blood leaked from her shoulder as she gazed a head at the lighthearted group. Hanare furrowed her brows as she watched the leaf shinobi interact with Sakura, Hanare saw how worried the leaf ninja had been and couldn't understand why.

Sakura Haruno was a frigid monster, she was the reaper. She was dark and cold...how could anyone want to be around her?

But the glistening look in Kakashi's eyes was what finished Hanare. The love that shined through just one eye when Kakashi gazed down at Sakura who argued with Raiden and Naruto, Kakashi never looked at Hanare like that.

"Can we please go home!?" Naruto asked Sakura with bright eyes,

"Yeah I feel dirty." Raiden muttered.

Hanare glared at Sakura, this was all her fault. If she would have just stayed dead none of this would be happening! Inoichi would have believed she was just a regular girl and then she could still be beside Kakashi...

Hanare vowed while laying onto the stiff grass that she would end Sakura Haruno's life once and for all. Hanare would be the reason Sakura would no longer draw breath into her infuriating lungs!

Time seemed to slow down as Sakura looked up into Kakashi's exposed eye as her lips parted and her face grew confused. Hinata drew in a gasp as her hands helplessly automatically moved to cover her mouth and nose. Naruto and Raiden turned hearing the commotion. Hanare stood behind Sakura, her humorous sword penetrating Sakura's body. Sakura looked down seeing the tip of the blade poking through on her left side.

"No!" Kakashi cried out, his arms reaching out for her. Flashes of Sakura's death filled his sight as he pulled her close. Carver tackled Hanare, who kept her grip on the blade pulling it out of Sakura as the two fell to the ground.

Sakura gasped at the cold pressure that dusted her skin, Kakashi tightened his grip on her feeling panic set in, his hands reached out to apply pressure as his brain scrambled to figure out what to do next as everyone around broke into a frenzy.

"Hey!" Sakura called looking around at everyone. "I'm fine, calm down-"

"You were just stabbed!" Naruto cried, his hands in his hair as he scrambled to figure out his next move.

"I-"

"Sakura-" Kakashi breathed, "-sit down and I-" Sakura looked up and instantly frowned. Kakashi's eye was wide and filled with a terror she understood so well. It was the same breed of fear she felt when Kakashi was laying before her dying...that felt like a lifetime ago...

"Sakura, I can apply pressure until-" Kakashi stuttered.

"I'm ok." She said pressing her hand to his chest,

"No!" Kakashi breathed, fragments of Sakura's previous death littered his mind. He couldn't do that again; he couldn't live through losing her again!

"Kakashi-" Sakura said placing her hand on his chest, "-I'm alright."

"But-But you were-" Kakashi said looking at the blade mark and blood soaking a small area of her shirt.

"I don't have the Reaper's poison in my system-" Sakura answered with a smile. "-I'm already healed."

"What?" Kakashi asked, he leaned forward getting a closer look and sure enough through the hole in her armor and shirt, was her smooth untouched skin. He brushed his fingers over the exposed flesh. "How...?" Sakura shivered at Kakashi's light touch.

"I'm good." She said patting his shoulder.

"You were just freaking stabbed!" Naruto said, "We need to get you to the hospital and Tsunade needs to check on you and-and-"

"Naruto." Sakura called.

"What!?" He cried.

"If I wasn't alright, would I still be standing right now?"

"No? Yes? I don't know!?" Naruto threw his arms up.

"There's no blade mark." Kakashi confirmed to everyone before looking back at Sakura, "You're really...you're really ok?"

"Yes." Sakura nodded with an amused chuckle. "Come on." Sakura nodded to everyone.

"Where are we going?" Hinata wondered, her hand placed on her heart waiting for the rhythm from the instant shock to ease.

"Home." Sakura answered.