Sasuke, Sakura thought, her heart racing

She had to repeatedly remind herself to remain calm as she walked rigidly through the prison's tunnel, a guard by her side. The month of imprisonment felt like an infinity to her, and it only worsened when Sasuke appeared on her second night to announce that he had convinced Tsunade to release her. It was obvious he had made
a sacrificial agreement with the Hokage, Sakura was not dumb, yet when he left her cell, he had left calmly and the guards treated him like any other visitor.

It was downright frustrating to be left in the dark, with only intuition to guide her. Over the long days, Sakura concluded that the most reasonable offer Sasuke could have made was to offer his life in exchange for her freedom. With this conclusion in mind, the days almost drove her to the brink of insanity.

The sunlight blinded her eyes as Sakura walked tentatively out of the building and into the open air.
The fresh smell of nature hit her hard and she inhaled it gratefully. Although Sasuke told her that she was going to be released,
it took Tsunade a full month to convince the elders to let her free. Tsunade had visited her a few times, although only briefly, to update Sakura on
her release date. No matter how many times Sakura asked, Tsunade wouldn't tell her what Sasuke had promised to the hokage in exchange for her freedom.
Over the weeks, Sakura's anxiety deepened to the point where she thought she would explode.

Now, as the guard was detaching the tag on her wrist, Sakura looked around her surroundings. Konoha looked the same, nostalgically familiar. She nodded to the guard,
a forced smiled plastered on her face, before she made her way slowly to her house. Expecting the guard to follow her, she kept her pace forcefully slow throughout
the whole way.

To her surprise, when she discreetly turned to check how far away the guard was, she realized that he had not followed her at all. Why wasn't the guard following her?

She was sure that Tsunade would order the guard to tail her to make sure that she did not try to find out where Sasuke was kept and free him. Nothing made sense. Why
was Sasuke able enter and leave her prisonement so easily? Why was there no one around to make sure that Sakura behaved and not do anything rash to save Sasuke?

Sakura turned on her heels and dashed to the Hokage tower. When she got there, there were guards outside the Hokage's office, which was unusual as Konoha was always so peaceful Tsunade rarely had anyone guard her door, let alone more than one. Come to think of it, there were guards all over the tower.

"I need to see the Hokage, I'm Haruno Sakura, her apprentice." Sakura said the words formally and quickly.

One of the guards stepped up, most probably the one in charge of all four guards, and looked at her sympathetically.

"I know who you are. You cannot visit the Hokage right now, shes extremely busy and does not want to be disturbed."

"Its urgent! I need to see her now!" Sakura could no longer hide her exasperation.

The guards looked at each other uncomfortably, though the one who talked to her remained calm.

"I'm sorry, Haruno-san. I cannot let you pass." The guards behind him straightened and stand more firmly at his words.

"Please don't make me do something I'd regret," Sakura warned, her voice growing hard. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and before she could react, she felt familiar quick taps all over her body. Spinning around, Sakura found herself facing a flustered Hinata.

"I'm really sorry, Sakura-san. Hokage's orders."

Frustration coursed through her body like a rough current nearing the end of a river, the point at which there is a waterfall. Anger made her fists clench tightly, her knuckles whitening, and tears started to well up in her eyes.

"Hinata! Undo these chakra blockages now! Undo them, undo them!" Her voice was shrill. Sasuke could be dying right now, and she still had no idea where he could be or what was happening to him. How could her dearest people do this to her? How could they keep her away from Sasuke?

The pale-eyed girl looked at her sadly until, as if she could not take it anymore, she disappeared silently. Sakura turned to the guards and found them still standing there, though none were looking at her in the eye.

-----------------

"Naruto!" Sakura bursted open the door to Naruto's apartment, only to find it empty. Where was he? Naruto would know. Sakura was sure that if anyone, Naruto would know the situation and tell her. He understands her, he always did

Sakura's eyes scanned around the room, looking for anything that might indicate where Naruto was. She spotted random plastic cups and chopsticks on the floor, spoiled milk on the table, a pile of dirty clothes and a bag of weapons but nothing that showed her where he was. She kept searching for clues for the next few minutes but to no avail.

"Training ground! He must be there." Sakura told herself outloud.

She had never travelled so fast in her life. In all the rough missions shes gone through, Sakura was sure she has never run so fast in her life. Not even when she knew her life was on the line. It didn't matter that Hinata had blocked all the major chakra channels in her, Sakura was still a good athelete, she could still run as fast. Her heart was pounding against her chest, deafening her ears, as if they weren't already deaf from the roaring of the wind her fast running was causing. It has only been an hour since shes left the penitentiary and she has already gone through a third of the village and most of the training grounds yet there was still no sign of Naruto.

The rest of the villagers were only a blur as she traveled from the marketplace to the northern plains. Her hair, which has grown long now, moved roughly against the wind and Sakura tied it up messily with growing anxiety.

"Sasuke, I'll find you. I'll save you, no matter what it takes."

Just when she was about to increase her already heightned speed, someone caught her by the shoulder, almost making her fall as a result. Sakura took a moment to recognize who it was.

"Ino!" The blonde stared at her, panting.

"Sakura, calm yourself. I was going to come get you at the penitentiary but they said you were already released so I went back to the flower shop, hoping you'd look for me there. Instead, I see you dashing like a mad woman past my shop," here the kunoichi stopped to observe Sakura properly," Look at you, you're a wreck! What did they do to you in there?"

"Where's Sasuke? What have they done to him, what was the agreement?" Sakura asked desperately. Ino's concerned look deepened.

"I'm sorry Sakura, I don't know. I tried to find out myself, but I couldn't find out anything. All I know is he has already been trialed the same day he visited you and that he's received the death penalty. I don't know when or where though."

Ino was holding things back, Sakura could tell. Ino wasn't looking at Sakura as she said all this, but Sakura was still grateful. At least her theory was confirmed, Sasuke was to be killed. Sakura had secretely hoped that she was wrong and that they would make him work for the community for a number of years without access to chakra. Obviously, she had not been realistic enough.

"Stop looking so bewildered, Sakura," with a softer voice, Ino added, "he betrayed us all, he betrayed you. He has killed so many people..."

Before Ino could finish her sentence, Sakura was off running to her original destination, the plains.

-------------

Sakura felt a small sense of relief when she found Naruto throwing kunais at a target pole. There were craters everywhere, the place looked horrible beaten and had Sakura been in a calmer state of mind, she would have felt bad for the training ground and scolded Naruto for being so careless with nature. However, her anxiety was at its limits now, and there was only one thing on her mind; finding Sasuke.

"Naruto!" Her yell was weak from lack of oxygen. She stood there panting for air, both her hands resting on her thighs for support. Naruto looked extremely angry, and possibly just as frustrated as she was.

"Sakura." Naruto turned to her in surprised, his red eyes reverted back to blue and his anger faded. Noting her horrible state, his expression grew concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Whats wrong?" Sakura asked, her eyes widening with shock. How could he be this way too? "They're going to kill Sasuke any moment now and you ask me what's wrong? How can you just be standing there, training as if nothing is wrong? You weren't at the Hokage tower like I thought you'd be. Then I thought you might be at home, planning some kind of strategy to help Sasuke. When you weren't there, I figured you'd be at the training grounds..." Her voice trailed off, her energy was draining. Why did she have to be so weak?

The blonde boy stared at her for a few minutes before his face suddenly changed from confused to anger, the anger that equaled the one Sakura saw when he first arrived.

"Sakura, I had no idea! I woke up in the hospital a few weeks ago without any memory of the last few months. When I asked them, the nurses told me that I got horribly injured from a dangerous mission and that I was found unconcious along with my teammates once I got to Konoha's gates."

Naruto paused here to calm himself down in order to continue." They said I might've lost some memory due to the horrible impact that had landed on my head. I would feel frustrated now and then but they told me it was one of the side effects of the shots they gave me while I was still at the hospital..."

"So they lied to you..." Sakura began.

"...to make sure I wouldn't team up with you and try and save Sasuke," Naruto ended. "Why aren't there ninjas that make sure we don't meet?"

"All of them are located at the Hokage Tower to make sure that I don't see Tsunade. Tsunade knows that if she sees me, she'll end up telling me. The rest are properly with Sasuke."

"Sakura, I don't get it what happened? When did Sasuke come back? How did you find out about all this when you were supposed to be on a mission?"

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "They lied about that too, I've been imprisoned for a month now. I'll tell you on the way, we have to go find others who will help us find Sasuke."

-------------------

It was useless. They've looked everywhere for any sign of Sasuke. They've asked all of the rookie nine except for the few that they could not find due to missions. They've asked Kakashi as well. Everyone they could think of, but nobody would tell them anything. Sakura hasn't found out anymore than what Ino had already told her either. The pitying looks people gave her, it pissed Sakura to no end. Naruto wasn't any more well off than she was, if possibly, he was even more hurt and angry than she was. He had been lied to whereas Sakura hadn't. Naruto was gone to search again while Sakura rested beside a tree near the ramen shop, the energy that fueled her since morning was now gone.

It was night time already. The sun was out a long time ago, and the air was starting to get chilly. The stars were numorous and they shone in all their glory, as if mocking Sakura for her despair while they enjoyed their dark night. There were no clouds, only a clear starry sky with a half moon, and that only depressed Sakura even further as she sat there observing the sky. The night brought nostalgic feelings to Sakura, though she couldn't exactly understand why. It feels like a part of me is missing, being tortured and isolated. A part of me is all alone. He's all alone.

The tears that she had been holding back all day were now pushing their way out until she soon found herself crying silently, the droplets pouring down her cheeks. Sakura curled up into tight ball with her heard resting on her knees while she rocked back and forth to comfort herself.

Sakura was still in that position when suddenly she heard footsteps running quickly towards her.

"Sakura! Sakura! I've found out where Sasuke is!" Naruto cried out.

Her heart sped up at the mention of his name and she was on her feet within a second. Wordlessly she wiped her tears and nodded to him to lead the way. While they were running, Sakura managed to find her voice once more and asked, "How did you find out?"

There was a slight pause. "I can't tell you."

"Naruto..."

"Dammit, he's going to kill me once he finds out that I told you even though I promised I wouldn't."

"Who was it that told you?" Sakura asked calmly but curiously. All that crying had calmed her down alot, and now she found her mind much sharper than before.

"Neji."

--------------

"I hope its not too late," Sakura said softly, her pessimistic side dominating her more than ever now.

"No! We're not late, Neji said they're doing it at midnight," Naruto answered right away.

Sakura was about to ask why midnight when she stopped herself in realization. At this exact time, on this exact same day, Sasuke left Konoha to join forces with Orochimaru. They could not get any crueler, Sakura thought darkly.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when Naruto came to a stop and she realized where she was. The Hokage Tower. Why were they there?

Naruto stood tensed, "Sakura, this is where you come in."

"What..?" Sakura was more confused than ever. They couldn't possibly have Sasuke in the tower. She's been in and out of the tower for years now, all the rooms were offices,

there were no places to keep a missing nin, let alone to execute him.

"Inside the Hokage's office, underneath the desk, theres a black button on the far right side. Press it and you'll see that there's stairs that lead to an underground pathway. I'll distract the guards."

"Thats why it was so heavily guarded. Not because Tsunade didn't want to see me, it was because that was where they hid Sasuke," Sakura said in realization.

"Sakura, hurry, we don't have time. They're executing him in half an hour!" Naruto urged.

Sakura's eyes widened before she nodded to Naruto with a determined look in her eyes. Naruto nodded back to her and in a flash, they were both running up the Hokage stairs, Naruto fighting every guard off effortlessly, his kyubi powers strengthening his already remarkable powers. Sakura rarely found herself having to fight off anyone and she took this to her advantage as she increased her speed up the tower.

With all the guards occupied with Naruto, Sakura managed to get into Tsunade's office and following Naruto's instructions, she quickly found the button that allowed her to open the hidden staircase. Rushing down the stairs, her heart was pumped with anxiety once more, the calmness now completely replaced with the same feeling of nervousness she had all day. The further down the stairs she ran, the more her heart pounded until she could no longer hear her heavy panting and she wished her chakra channels were so blocked. Her endurance was already low as it was.

"Sasuke... please be alright." Sakura chanted this over and over again until finally she found herself at the bottom of the stairs and facing a large room. Standing there with a bewildered look, Sakura spotted Sasuke right away. His hands were tied and he was on his knees with two Anbus on his side, each with a kunai pointed at him to make sure he could not escape. Sasuke's head was drooped low and Sakura concluded that he must have been drugged. The whole group of elders were standing around Sasuke in a dense circle while Tsunade stood closest to a dark figure. When the figure moved out into the light, Sakura realized it was her genin teacher, Kakashi. Kakashi was now standing in front of Sasuke with a solemn expression and even from where she was standing, Sakura could see that her teacher's eyes were in great pain. Kakashi had his right hand pulled back and Sakura knew instantly what was going to happen. Kakashi was to perform chidori on Sasuke.

"Stop!" Sakura yelled out as she ran towards Sasuke, pushing past the shocked Elders.

Tsunade and Kakashi looked at her with surprise written all over her face. Seeing Sakura, Kakashi's expression turned slightly relieved but then it was quickly gone when one of the elders screamed.

"Now!" cried the Elder. "Kill him, Kakashi, before its too late!"

"No! Stop! Sensei!" Sakura begged as she rushed towards Sasuke, fighting off the Elders' attempts of stopping her.

Kakashi closed his eyes before he ignited the chidori in his hand and within seconds, the loud chirping noise of the attack echoed throughout the whole underground room.

The only two Anbus in the room that were next to Sasuke disappeared and reappeared beside Sakura, pinning her down to the ground.

"Sorry, Sakura." Sakura recognized the voice but in her despair she couldn't place who it was, nor did she care.

"Stop! Please!" Sakura cried out in agony, her body struggling to get up despite the firm grip the two Anbu had on her.

"Sakura, make this easier for all of us, stop." The voice was sad, and came from the other Anbu.

By now, Sasuke's head was raised to look in Sakura's direction and his face, unlike the others, did not seem shocked. Instead, Sasuke looked at her with a calm expression, and then he smiled as if to reassure her before he looked in front of him to face his former sensei. Sakura stared in horror as Kakashi reopened his eyes and then in one sweep, his arm thrusted deep into Sasuke's stomach. There was a blinding blue light and then a second later, it was gone and Kakashi removed his hand from Sasuke's bleeding body.

Sasuke's cry was louder than that of the chidori.

"Sasuke!!!" Sakura shrieked desperately, her body suddenly gaining strenght and as soon as she felt the Anbu's slow release, she shot up to catch Sasuke's falling body.

"Sasuke! Wake up, Sasuke! Sasuke! Please don't die on me. Please!" Sakura begged, her words now undistinguishable as they resembled sobs and high pitched cries. The pain that had been present in her heart ever since the day she realized that Sasuke was going to sacrifice himself for her increased exponentially. Her heart felt like it was torn into a million pieces as she sat there, hugging Sasuke's limp body tightly. She embraced his body tightly rocking back and forth, her wails echoing throughout the now half empty room.

The elders have mostly all left. Tsunade had wanted to comfort her but the two Anbu held her back while nodding to the staircase. Kakashi stood there next to Sakura, his quiet presence remained unknown to the sorrowful kunoichi until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

At this, the pink haired kunoichi spun around,her face distorted into pure anger. "Kakashi! How could you! To your own student!" Her voice was piercing, and even she was surprised with herself. Kakashi winced when he realized that she didn't add the sensei suffix but then his expression turned calm once more and he looked at her with sad eyes. Sakura scolded herself. She shouldn't take it out on Kakashi. It was obvious that it hurted him and that he was forced into it by the elders.

"I'm sorry... I just..." Sakura began, her words hardly audible before she began crying once more. Soon, she found her face pressed firmly against Kakashi's chest and strong arms wrapped around her shaking body.

One of his hands rubbed her back in attempt to comfort her while his sad eyes glanced at the fallen body of his former student.

"It felt like I was killing myself." Kakashi said softly.

Sakura's cries were louder now, and she pressed her face even more firmly against Kakashi, as if doing so would take the pain of her loss away. Despite her state, what Kakashi said sunk into her clearly. She remembers now, how Kakashi had told her that Sasuke and he was alike. That Sasuke was like a younger version of himself, and that Kakashi had told himself that he would take on the responsibility of guiding Sasuke properly. Sakura knew that Kakashi was now blaming himself.

"Its not your fault Kakashi, please forgive what I've said earlier." Her crying had stopped but she was still shaking.

"Its not anyone's fault." Her old sensei replied gingerly as he thinks to himself. He continues to hold his young student in his arms until she slowly loses conciousness. He lifts her up and begins to walk towards the stairs. He knows that what he had just witnessed from her that night, was the core of her being, what was within her shell.

A fragile heart.

It was raining. Sakura awoke but her eyes were still closed. She didn't want to open them. It was as if she opened them, she had to deal with all that has happened, and she doesn't think shes ready. Its been a week, and each day she awoke with the same feeling. Eventually, she forced herself out of bed and went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. When got there she saw a small note reading:

The funeral's today, in front of the Remembrance Stone at 2 pm.

I've also had Hinata reopen your chakra channels.

-Kakashi

Sakura stared at the paper awhile, her eyes dull and her mind working slowly to register the message. When she understood, she sat back down on a chair.

I don't want to go.

Suddenly, there was loud tapping on her window. At first she ignored it, but as the noise continued persistently, she glanced up to see a sparrow with a white message clamped in one of its feet.

Slowly, she approached the window and opened it. The sparrow flew in gracefully and landed on the table. Sakura reached to its feet and opened the message. Her eyes widened and at first she stared at it disbelievingly. But when a flash of Sasuke's reassuring expression appeared in her mind, her eyes widened even further.

Within seconds, she was gone and the paper fell slowly to floor.

"Go to where we've first fought each other."

She didn't question the possibilty. Sakura didn't care if it didn't make sense. She just knew, she just knew that it was him. That he was alive. That he was waiting for her. But why there? Why there out of all the places?

It took her two whole days to get there. It was a good thing that Kakashi had Hinata reopen her chakra channels while she was unconcious. She wouldn't have been able to endure the long trip otherwise. She landed softly on a branch and looked around at the empty area. This is the place. She saw his kunai marks all over the trees, the markings of their fight was still visible. I can't sense him, Sakura thought worriedly. Did she get it wrong? Maybe someone else fought in this area. Maybe it was some sort of cruel prank.

"Sasuke?" Sakura dropped to the ground and began walking around, looking for any trace of him. "Sasuke, are you here?" Her heart began beating, anxiety taking her full force once more. She hated how the feeling was so familiar.

"Sasuke?" Her voice was higher pitched now.

"Where are you, Sasuke?" Her eyes were wide now, she found her legs growing weak. Maybe he wasn't alive afterall. She was so stupid, to believe in something like that.

"Sakura." She spun around only to bump right into something hard. Sakura looked up to see Sasuke's face grinning at her. His hair was dark like always, his hair dishiveled and his face as beautiful as ever. He was alive.

"Sasuke-kun..." Her voice was weak and soft and she buried her face into his chest and he wraps his arm around her securely. Unlike Kakashi's fatherly embrace, Sasuke's was filled with passion and longing. Sakura felt the relief in her heart. The hole disappeared as it began filling up quickly until she soon found herself giddy with joy.

Sasuke was the first to break the embrace, although hesistantly. He looked at her with a soft expression. His intense gaze made her blush.

"I could barely recognize you."

Sakura looked at him with a strange sense of happy annoyance. He chuckles and her heart sped up, but this time, with happiness. She's never heard him laugh before. He bends his face to kiss her. The passion traveled through her body like a wave. Her once weak body felt stronger now, as if his kiss gave her back all the strenght that she's lost recently. The warmth started from the bottom of her feet to her chest and flowered there, in her heart.

"Sasuke..." she moaned as he nibbled her bottom lip. He ended the kiss too soon, she thought as she tried to savour the dizziness she was feeling.

"You've grown thin." Sasuke insists but Sakura ignored his question.

"How are you alive, Sasuke? I was there, I saw it when Kakashi..." her voice trailed off, trembling once more. She hugs him tightly, as if to make sure he was there with her and that this moment was real.

"I performed a replacement technique at the last minute. Its a forbidden jutsu that Orochimaru taught me. Its like the one we learned at the academy except we replace with people."

"How did the elders not notice?" Sakura asked, confused. He kisses her lips.

"The blinding light you saw, I created that with my chakra. I had summoned a snake and transferred the needed amount of chakra into it before I came to visit you. Then when they robbed me of any remaining chakra, I had the snake follow me. When it was time for the execution, it was to slide in quickly and restore my chakra reserves before I'm hit with the chidori blow. At that moment, I would create a blinding light by summoning my chidori. Since I knew that they would ask Kakashi to kill me with his chidori, it was perferct, nobody heard mine."

Sasuke rests his chin on Sakura's head and their hands interlocked. He breathes in her scent and he pauses for awhile before continuing.

"That was when I chose the elder nearest to me and performed the jutsu. Once I was replaced, I made sure that I've henged to match the elder."

"If you've known this jutsu all along, couldn't you have used this many times before for your fights?"

"Its forbidden for a reason, Sakura. This jutsu takes alot of preparation. You have to kill a minimum of thirty people as sacrifices exactly a month before."

Sakura tightened her hold on Sasuke's hand. "What if it was after a month?"

"Then the jutsu would have been useless," Sasuke replied with ease. The he added, "I had confidence in my abilities and tactics."

There was a silence.

"That was foolish." Sakura replied, imitating his deep voice. He chuckles again.

"All for you."

"What do you mean?" Sakura sensed he had more meaning behind what he just said.

"Remember how I told you nobody deserved you?" Realization dawned on Sakura. Sakura snorted, her shoulders were now completely relaxed and she felt like she was in a dream.

"Sasuke, I've loved you ever since I was twelve."

"Thats why I took the gamble. You were worth it."

"One last thing." Sakura looked at Sasuke, her fingers traced his jawline and he closes his eyes with pleasure.

"Care to explain to me why you wanted to meet me here, out of all places?" At this, Sasuke opens his eyes, and Sakura was surprised to find them twinkle with mischief.

"Sakura, I thought you were brighter than that." When Sakura continued to look at him dumbly, he sighs, something Sakura remembers he once did alot back in their genin days when she said something that was stupid to him.

"What did we do after we fought and you almost killed me?"

"..." At first her face was still and contemplating but then, she remembered.

Sasuke never forgot that slap.

I'm sorry for the one year delay. I know, a thousand apologies would be enough but I hope the chapter made up for most of it. I spent alot of time on this chapter. The reason for my delay was because of school and life in general. Then, when I wanted to write the chapter I realized that I lost my outline sheet during my moving. Having not written for so long, I completely forgot my ending. So it took awhile for me to formulate another ending. I still dont remember my original ending.

Thanks alot for those who stuck with me even though I stopped updating for a year. Again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wrote this nonstop for 6 hours. Better be happy ) As always, please review!

ps. my new account would be aolia. I want a fresh new start for my writing as most of my writing on this account are wayy to old and I'm slightly embarassed. As of now, I haven't posted any fics on aolia yet but they would be coming soon. Much love to all of you!