disclaimer - don't own.

a/n- Got accepted to Drew University (: Not sure if I'll attend there, but it made my break. Now hopefully, this extra update will make yours :D

PS - What's with the manga now? Bringing everyone back to life and such. It's getting too hard to keep up with. WHERE'S SASUKE DAMNIT?

Beyond This Illusion

.:: Chapter Thirteen ::.

Blood.

So much blood.

Sakura's eyes scanned the area filled with dead bodies. Then she glanced to Naruto.

His eyes screamed determination. He wouldn't let anyone get away with this. Sakura desperately pumped chakra throughout her system, trying to unparalyze her body. Right now, they weren't focusing on her. She wasn't a threat.

She could get to Sasuke.

He was only a couple hundred feet away, really. Unconscious and oh so vulnerable. She could still save him if she could just move her damned limbs.

"RASENGAN!"

Her eyes snapped to Naruto. He was in Sage Form now, and she could tell his chakra was draining fast. He wouldn't be able to handle much more of this, but if perhaps Sasuke was healed, even just a bit, he could help. Where was Kakashi and Yamato? And Sai?

Was Zetsu still holding them up, with his multiple clones?

Or was Kabuto still alive?

Too many unanswered questions, and not enough time to dwell on them.

Sakura felt her pinky finger twitch, and doubled her efforts. She had to make sure to recycle a small amount of chakra throughout her body, because she needed to save a lot for Sasuke's wounds. His eyes seemed to have taken the brunt of the attack, probably from overuse. After all, he just got Itachi's eyes. They were still sore.

Her eyes were trained on Naruto, who was helplessly dodging Madara's attacks. If Naruto even met his gaze for a second, he'd be done.

Please Naruto, Sakura begged, just hang in there.

A few moments, and a lot of chakra later, Sakura was confident she could move. Carefully testing out her limbs, she stretched out. Satisfied with her condition, Sakura planned her sprint. She had to do it either quickly, or very slowly. She knew that Naruto and Madara were completely engrossed, so she might as well just get it over with.

Slowly crawling to her feet, Sakura sprinted to where Sasuke lay. Immediately she lay down behind him to hide herself from their potential view.

Madara was locked at close range with Naruto, who kept his gaze on Madara's feet. Gathering chakra to my hands, she carefully placed her palm over Sasuke's eyes and concentrated.

Her eyes searched for any other wounds. His ribs were broken, maybe three of them, and there was a deep gash in his right thigh. Sakura focused on his ribs first with her free hand, setting the bones back in place. She knew she didn't have much time, so she did a quick job sealing the skin, allowing it to scab over and scar a little, but not completely heal it.

Didn't have enough time or chakra for that.

Closing up the gash in his thigh relatively quickly, Sakura could feel his heart rate increasing. She had to make sure he didn't give the two of them away when he woke, so she covered his mouth with her palm. Just in case.

Hoping he was conscious, she placed her lips at the shell of his ear and whispered in urgent, hushed tones.

"Sasuke, can you hear me? If you can, move your right hand."

His hand gave a slight jerk.

"Good. It's Sakura. When you are able to move I you need to remain absolutely still. We're in the middle of battle. You passed out after an intense genjutsu that Madara placed on you. Right now, he's fighting with Naruto. He needs your help if he ever hopes to win against Madara's sharingan. You're not at your full capacity, but you should be able to defeat him, or at least hold him off until I can find others. Understand?"

Sakura watched as his hand clenched into a tight fist. She removed her palm from his mouth and his eyes shot open. He glanced from Sakura, to the battle. There was no time for any thnak-you's or I'm-sorry-for-trying-to-kill-you or any reunions. Because right now, Naruto needed Sasuke.

She watched as Sasuke disappeared, and reappeared behind Madara. Naruto's eyes didn't give anything away, but she knew that Naruto saw Sasuke. Resolved that they could handle their own for now, she hopped up into a nearby tree in search for Kakashi and the others.

She had to have faith in them.

The entire fate of the ninja world was in their hands.

"A blighted ovum? But Tsunade, that's – "

"Impossible? Nearly, I know. It's very rare, but it's possible." She murmured, checking the charts.

Sakura grit her teeth, and all Sasuke could do was blurt out, "What's impossible? What's going on?"

Tsunade calmly turned to Sasuke, meeting his gaze evenly. "A blighted ovum is when the fertilized embryonic egg shifts and clamps itself onto the wall of a woman's uterus. Mostly, it occurs before a woman even knows she's pregnant. Still, it's not impossible for it to happen now."

Tsunade paced the room, in deep thought. "It doesn't make sense though. When we last checked, it was developing just fine. And even if it was a blighted ovum, that wouldn't explain the continual vomiting."

"I thought that was part of the package." Sakura commented.

Tsunade merely shook her head. "Morning sickness isn't supposed to come until your second trimester. It can occur now, but not at the extent that it has. And if it were normal, it would have subsided by now. But you're still feeling nauseous, right?"

Sakura nodded quietly.

Tsunade gave a deep sigh. "Something's not right, but I don't know what."

"Aren't you supposed to know this stuff? Isn't this your job?" Sasuke barked out in frustration. He knew yelling at her wouldn't fix the problem, but he didn't understand how she just couldn't know.

She gave him a sharp glare. "My job is to be Hokage. And like I said, this is something I've never seen before."

Sasuke glared at the floor but otherwise didn't reply. He'd be damned if he was going to let the future Uchiha clan die before they even had a chance at living.

"There's nothing we can do for now, Sakura. We're just going to have to keep monitoring its progress. I'll do some research, but there's no guarantee of anything. I'm sorry."

Sakura nodded, and Tsunade left the room.

Her heart furiously pounded against her ribcage, and she could barely contain her shaky breaths.

Her eyes closed before she would allow the tears to cascade down her cheeks. She squeezed Sasuke's hand tightly, causing him to look up at her.

"I won't let our baby die, Sasuke. Okay? I won't." she shook her head, and he noticed that her body was trembling with silent sobs, but no tears escaped her.

All he could do was scoot his chair closer to her, and return her grip with equal strength.

She ran as fast as she could, hair whipping across her face. Her wounds were leaking, blood soaking her clothes but there was no time to stop. The fate of the ninja world was at stake. IF only she could find Kakashi and the others –

"Sakura!"

Sakura halted.

"Neji?" she called out, eyes scanning the area. She found him leaning against a nearby tree. He was badly injured. Quickly ,she jumped down to his side.

"What happened, where are the others?"

Neji coughed up blood. Sakura propped him upright so that he wouldn't choke on his own blood. Tearing off a piece of her shirt, she wiped the blood from his mouth. As he spoke, she examined his body to find the wound. It was in his side. She didn't have much chakra left, but if she could only close the wound and let it scab over, he'd be alright.

"They went after Kabuto. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai and Shikamaru. Right now Hinata and Ino are tending to Shino. He's hurt too."

Sakura bit her lip. The others could handle Kabuto, but she dearly hoped Sasuke and Naruto would be able to handle Madara.

"Why did everyone leave you here?"

Neji closed his eyes.

"I asked them to. I was fighting with Zetsu. The others managed to defeat all of his white clones. There were three black ones left. I told the rest to go on while I fought him."

Sakura nodded, finishing tending to his wound. She scanned the area, not finding any evidence of Zetsu's clones. "Where did Zetsu go?"

"He melted." Neji muttered.

Sakura nodded. "So only Kabuto and Madara are left."

Neji nodded in affirmation. Sakura sighed, wrapping Neji's arm around her shoulders and hoisting him to his feet.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura jumped up into the trees and began running. "We're going to have to trust that the others can defeat Kabuto and Madara. None of us are fit for battle right now. Where is Hinata and Ino?"

"Back towards Konoha."

Sakura nodded.

"Then that's where we'll go."

Sasuke and Sakura were silent the entire day.

There were things they had to discuss, but neither dared break the silence. For once, Sakura didn't mind it one bit. It comforted her. She didn't want to talk about what may happen to their child.

But she wasn't about to give up, either.

As soon as they got home, Sakura immersed herself in every reproduction medical book she had, temporarily casting aside Sasuke's eye books. She closed herself off from Sasuke, not really thinking he'd be the one to bring it up, but she didn't want to take any chances.

It was well into the night when she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." she called.

The door opened quietly as he stepped inside.

Sakura didn't turn around, but she heard something being placed next to her, followed by a stern, "You need to eat."

At that point, Sakura looked up at him, murmured a sincere 'thank you' and continued her work. Sasuke stared at her as she casually bit into the onigiri he'd prepared, flipping through pages rapidly. He knew that if anyone could save their child, it would be her.

Deciding not to disturb her further, he closed the door behind him and went off to train.

After all, he needed to burn off the extra frustration.

Sasuke came back a few hours later, thoroughly exhausted. He trained to the brink of fatigue, but it was well needed. He showered quickly, and then changed into boxers. Noticing Sakura wasn't in bed, he stalked off to her office about to yell at her for staying up so late, because it was obviously past 3 AM by now and –

Sasuke was met with the sight of Sakura sleeping, slumped over her books. A small lamp was the only light he could see. Sasuke approached her carefully, when his eye caught a certain book.

He picked it up, reading the cover.

Optical Nerves: Repairing the Eye.

His eyes narrowed as he skimmed through the book, which was riddled with Sakura's handwriting. As he skimmed the book, a piece of paper fell out. He caught it before it landed on the floor, unfolding and reading it.

Sasuke's Eye Progress:

- His eyes seem to be adjusting to my chakra supply, thus weakening his optical nerves.

- The sessions have become less frequent, causing Sasuke's eyesight to diminish rapidly.

- TO DO: Find a way to heal the damaged nerves without them storing excess chakra.

Sasuke placed the paper back in the book and set it down.

So his eyesight was worsening and she didn't even tell him? Sasuke grit his teeth. Why the hell didn't she tell me?

He stared at the sleeping girl, an array of emotions swirling around inside of him. He wanted to shake her awake and yell at her right then and there, but he knew he couldn't do that. Instead, he hooked her arms around his neck and lifted her from her seat, carefully carrying her to bed. His mouth was set in a firm line.

He'd find out what she's been hiding from him tomorrow.

Sakura woke up in a cold sweat.

Memories of the war haunted her dreams, and she clutched the blankets tightly, trying to will the images of blood away.

When had she fallen asleep? The last thing she knew she was reading and now…she was in bed.

It was still dark out, and a quiet inhale and exhale of breaths next to her told her that Sasuke was sleeping. She glanced at him, trying to calm down her erratically beating heart.

Sasuke never told her what happened after she left. Neither did Naruto.

All she knew was the after she had rounded everyone up and brought them back to Konoha, waiting for them felt like an eternity.

They didn't return home until nightfall.

The hospital was swamped with patients, but Sakura put everything on hold when they told her that Naruto and Sasuke were back. Alive.

The initial rush of joy that spread through her veins had faded quickly as she realized the implications behind that thought.

Sasuke was back in Konoha.

She didn't quite know how to feel after she tirelessly slaved over her teammate's bodies. She spent hours exhausting herself, and for what?

The Great Ninja War was over.

But the battle had only begun.

review my lovelies! :D

also, just finished reading the hunger games trilogy. MAN IT'S ADDICTING. Can't wait for the movie. Expect to see a hunger games fic out shortly ;D