a/n: Sorry for the delay! This chapter was a bitch to write, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. :)

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III

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The road twisted in front of him, bumpy and sharp, and Sasuke steered the car carefully, cursing in spite of himself.

He was coming in second in the race, Naruto's car behind him and Kabuto's taking in first, and something inside him was crushing his chest like a dead, solid weight. The display on his left glowed a strange, ominous blue, showing the overall pattern of the Sound's mountain curse but not its mischievous twists and turns—which, unfortunately, in the darkness of the night, made all the difference. While all he wanted to do was to charge, overlooking his unfamiliarity with the track would be the pinnacle of carelessness, and tonight, Sasuke knew he was responsible for more than his own life.

"Sasuke?" Tenten's voice crackled over the static in his headset, "Can you hear me?"

Sasuke lifted a hand to press the device harder to his ear. "What's wrong?"

"They're planning something." She was a little far behind, the speck representing her Porsche Cayman trapped between two Sounds. "Kakuzu and Tayuya are keeping me between in purpose."

Kiba's fierce laughter rumbled in Sasuke's ear. "You shouldn't be so greedy, Ten. One of them is supposed to be my opponent."

Sasuke made a quick left, brows furrowed in deep thought. Years of racing against the Sound had taught him one thing: that they always, always had a strategy in mind. He ran through several possibilities in his head, his frown deepening when he realized he had no answer, his concentration robbed by the track.

"Never mind what they're planning," Shikamaru suddenly broke the silence, his voice laced by irritation, a beeping sound faint in the background, "We all know they're planning something, so be careful. More importantly, Sasuke..."

"What?"

"It seems like Sakura's in Kabuto's car."

Naruto growled. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Well," Sasuke focused on Kabuto's black car. "Let's find out what he wants, then. But before that, Kiba—"

"I'm on it."

"Why, thank you," Tenten's laughter rang pleasantly, and Sasuke glanced at the display as Kiba's car inched against Tayuya's, rallying hers so now there was only Kakuzu guarding the female Leaf. "I owe you one."

Satisfaction curled the Uchiha's mouth for a split second before he returned his attention to the road, tuning out the conversation between the Leafs as he calculated his distance to Kabuto's car. If Shikamaru said it, then it must be true. Sakura was there—alive, breathing, and very possibly in danger. Something settled in the pit of his stomach, a fistful of glass and stitches, and he inhaled, turning the conditioner up, the cool air chilling his skin and raising tiny hairs on the back of his neck.

He shifted his gear and sped up.

x

Yakushi Kabuto was a skilled driver, and he navigated the darkness with a graceful nimbleness that could only be brought forth by sheer talent. He was a genius in racing, his long, slender fingers almost molded into the steering wheel, his gray eyes light and easy on the road, his reflexes finely attuned to the track. He made it look sinfully easy, it almost seemed like the car was an extension of his body. The corners of his mouth were curved into a relaxed smile, reminiscent of a lazy summer day, but Sakura knew better:

He was going to kill her.

She could see it in the sharp glint in his eyes, the way he squared his shoulders, the easy curl of his lips. She could see it in the glances he spared her, satisfied and arrogant, one second away from cutting her open. She could see it in the way he drove, snaking every twist and turn of the road, the arrow in the speedometer quavering as he made a mean hook to the left—and she jerked forward from her seat, the handcuffs binding her to the bottom of the gear shift cutting deep into her skin.

Watching as a trail of blood trickled down her palm, she forced herself to stay calm, choosing instead to focus on the screen on the center console.

The blinking lights should represent the cars: red for the Sounds, green for the Leafs. Currently they were leading the chase, three cars hot on their heels. The others were about half a mile behind, a big enough difference that she knew they were purposely being held up. She hadn't had the chance to figure out who the other Leaf racers were apart from Sasuke and Naruto, but she could hazard that Tenten was one of them. The other was most likely either Kiba or Shikamaru. As for the Sounds… she tried to remember who Kabuto's favorite racers were. Kimimaro? The red-haired woman? Or perhaps—

Something exploded behind them, startling her as she reflexively peered out the window. Her effort was in vain, because it didn't come from the cars she could see.

"Well done, Tayuya, Kakuzu," Kabuto remarked, his voice soft into the headset as he glanced at the screen, two green dots disappearing as if swallowed whole, "Kimimaro? Would you do me the honor and finish off Naruto-kun?"

Another explosion thundered somewhere in the distance and she glanced back again, only to discover that Naruto's car had disappeared from her view, dirty gray smoke in its place—right as the third green light perished from the screen.

"Good job," Kabuto laughed pleasantly. "Out now. I'll see you back at the circuit."

To Sakura's horror, all of the red dots except theirs stopped and within a second, disappeared from the screen. A sickening knot manifested in her throat and sank to her stomach, realization dawning. This is not just a race. His goal was to eliminate them, one by one, and now it was Sasuke's turn.

"Worried, Sakura-chan?" Kabuto asked, and she fixed him with a scathing glare that only invited another gleeful cackle from his lips. "You are simply too priceless. Don't worry, if things work out the way I have planned them to, you and I are going to be alive by the end."

His tone was harmless, innocent even, but the Leaf understood the implication behind his words, heard the underlying threat in his voice. Her lower lip trembled and she harshly bit the inside of her cheeks, the taste of iron spreading on her tongue immediately. "You—" she choked, "You filthy bastard."

"Yes," he agreed. "I know."

Something squeezed her chest, crushing and cold, and she spat out, "Sasuke-kun is not going to die in your hands."

For a few seconds, Kabuto did not answer, concentrating as he maneuvered the car with practiced movements. As the road smoothed out into a straight line, he reached out to caress her cheek, laughing quietly when she failed to contain her disgust. "I know that, too," he shifted the gear, the car sliding into a faster speed. "That's why you're here, you see. Between you and himself, Sakura-chan…" his mouth curved darkly, "There's really no question as to who he's going to save, is there?"

She did not think. She could not think.

In a moment of black hysteria, Sakura launched herself at him, her leg kicking the gear as Kabuto lost his grip on the steering wheel, throwing the car into a frenzy of mad zigzags—before it finally leapt off the track and plunged straight into the pitch darkness of the trees.

x

As Kabuto flew off the road, Sasuke stomped on his pedal, forcing his car to skid as he turned his steering wheel and followed straight. He landed in a grassy area, three feet away from Kabuto's car, car tires hissing smoke at the abruptness. When the smoke cleared, the sight nearly killed him: Kabuto was standing outside his door, a gun pointed at Sakura, who was pressed against the car.

"Step out of the car," Kabuto ordered smoothly. "Put away your headset and hold up your hands. Do as you are told or I will shoot her in a second, I swear."

Sasuke climbed out of his car, pulling his earpiece out of his ear and dumping it to the ground. He held up his hands, his mouth flattening into a tight line as he watched them across the grass. Sakura. Sakura. Even though she was bloodied and bruised, she was alive. She lifted her gaze to meet his, desperation clear in those bright emerald eyes. Knowing he had no choice but to ignore it, Sasuke cleared his throat and spoke calmly. "What do you want?"

Kabuto sneered. "You know what I want."

"Regardless of whether I am here or not, the Leaf will not follow you."

"Not at the start, maybe. But they will have no choice. You're not the only one they look up to, Uchiha."

Sasuke's gaze narrowed as comprehension dawned. Kabuto was caressing Sakura, fingers softly brushing against the nape of her neck, the dip of her collarbone. "Neither is she."

"I am not here to argue with you, Uchiha Sasuke. I am here to offer you a trade," he paused, silver eyes turning to slits. "Hand me the Leaf, and I will release her. Any other response and you're going to have to watch her die—before I kill you, myself."

"That's hardly a trade, that's an ultimatum." Sasuke's rich, low chuckle echoed in the forest. "But I'll kill her first before I let you kill her."

For the first time, Sakura spoke. "I'd prefer that." She caught his gaze, offering him a tiny, calm smile that lent him some odd sense of reassurance. "You know, Kabuto, I'm normally not so impolite, but you really don't understand the way the Leaf works. You are too naive if you think killing us, both of us, will throw the Leaf into chaos, and—"

Before either she or Sasuke could react, Kabuto slammed his leg into her chest and she recoiled, then, blood dripping from her lips as she dissolved in a fit of coughs and crashed down to the floor.

"Bitch," he hissed as she collapsed once more, his fingers gripping her hair, "Stand up!"

Sakura did as she was told, green eyes daring and unafraid and amazingly calm, and he slapped her across the cheek. Seizing her arms behind her back, he pressed his gun against her throat, bursting into loud, thunderous laughter when he caught Sasuke's cold, impassive eyes.

"I was wrong about you, Uchiha," Kabuto spoke with unshakeable calm, "And you were wrong about yourself, too. You are like me. You will choose power over anything—over anyone—just like me. Now, what will you do?" the Sound met Sasuke's gaze, his finger stroking the trigger almost mockingly, "Will you surrender the Leaf, or will you… watch her die?"

For a long moment, Sasuke was silent, still, thinking hard. Sakura was staring at him, her eyes silently pleading for him not to give up, to always stand strong, to remember who he was—

Breathe, Sasuke.

—but here, right in this second…

Breathe, Sasuke.

…it was the most difficult, unwanted thing he ever had to do.

Breathe, Sasuke.

He seemed to spend so much time telling himself that, lately.

"Sakura."

She looked up just in time to see the tiny, sad smile on his lips vanish into nothingness, and he whispered:

"I'm sorry."

Sakura's eyes widened at the apology as Kabuto hoisted her closer to him, his breath warm and wet against the back of her neck. The mouth of his gun pressing hard against her throat, she attempted a weak smile and parted her lips, though the only sound she could make was a strangled gasp.

I know, she wanted to say. I know. I'm sorry, too. I love you, she thought, wishing harder than anything else that he could hear her, right now, right here, right this second—I love you. I love you.

What happened next made her world darken and blur: in less than a second, Sasuke lowered his arm, a gun hidden in his sleeves sliding into his hand, and shot. The bullet grazed the inside of her thigh and penetrated Kabuto's leg, the sheer motion driving him staggering backwards, his grip on her weakening. It was not enough to completely disarm the Sound, however, even as he fell to one knee and cursed loudly. He grabbed her wrist harder and pulled her to him, twisting her arm in the process as he raised his gun, aimed it at Sasuke, and pulled the trigger. Unthinkingly, Sakura shoved her foot backwards, jerking herself forward—oh please, please don't let it hurt him, Lord, please, please, please—then the bullet burst through her stomach, she let out a smothered scream and collapsed to the ground.

She heard four more gunshots, and then there was no more.

x

When she woke up, it was during daybreak and it was to a room full of sleeping people.

She found herself lying on her king-sized bed, her head resting on fluffed pillows that smelled faintly like Sasuke but weren't quite enough. Ino was curled up beside her, blonde hair tangled and haphazardly spread out over the white sheets. Tenten was sitting on the floor, her chin on her elbow as she dozed off, her mouth half-opened. Moegi and Ami sprawled on the sofa, their soft snores echoing one another. To her surprise, Shikamaru was sitting on the desk, fully awake.

"Ah," he said when Sakura cleared her throat. "You're awake."

The pink-haired woman smiled weakly. "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's okay," he folded his laptop with a soft click.

"Sasuke-kun…"

"He's sleeping in the next room. He crashed three hours ago. If he had known that you'd wake up now, he wouldn't have gone. He hadn't left your bedside ever since you got back." Handing her a glass of water and a pill, he carefully sat next to Ino, his voice softening. "You slept for almost two days straight."

"It felt like two minutes."

"I know. You received the most damage."

She smiled again. "I'm glad."

"You better not move so much. Tsunade's orders."

"She was here?"

"Yeah."

"She must have been unhappy."

Shikamaru scoffed. "More like furious."

Sakura tried to laugh, but pain shot to her stomach, throwing her into a fit of wild coughs. "Damn. What's the verdict?"

"For you?" he looked at her, almost sympathetic. "No form of hard physical activity until Tsunade comes in to check you again. Definitely no racing."

She nodded. "And Sasuke-kun?"

"He didn't get shot."

Relief washed over her in warm waves, before it was replaced by nausea. "So that means Kabuto…"

"He's dead." The strategist's tone was flat, but even with that she could hear the unspoken words that followed without sound. Sasuke killed him.

Sakura let the information sink in for a few seconds, before she swallowed. "Oh," she exhaled, choosing instead to focus on Ino and Tenten. "They look tired."

"They're okay," Shikamaru assured. He glanced at Ino's sleeping face calculatingly, sighed, and then shook her shoulders gently. "Ino, wake up."

The blonde moaned once but shot up the next second. "What? What's wrong? What happened?" her blue eyes were wide and alert and scared until they landed on her best friend. "Sakura!" she prepared to launch herself, but Shikamaru reached out just in time to keep her in her place. Her cheeks reddened and tears started forming on the corners of her eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot you were hurt. I'm just so relieved!"

"Sheesh," Shikamaru chided, "Ino, you're loud."

Ino didn't seem to care, because the next second she was out of the bed. "I'm going to tell Sasuke!"

She departed from the room in a flurry, causing Shikamaru to groan. Sakura was about to respond when a light squeeze on her hand stole her attention. When she turned her head, Tenten was awake, sitting on the side of the bed with a gentle smile on her lips. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," Sakura smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Good."

Tenten laughed. "I'm glad nothing happened to you."

"I'm glad nothing happened to you. I was—"

She was interrupted by two piercing squeals from Moegi and Ami, the latter showering her with a thousand apologies as they shot to her side. Tenten laughed and withdrew patiently, watching the scene with playful amusement, until she suddenly hushed everyone.

Sakura immediately turned her head, all the words she wanted to speak fading and disappearing when she saw Sasuke. He stood by the doorway, his hair in a whole new level of dishevel. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips were dry, but the naked relief on his face was unmistakeable as he reached the bed and spoke: "Sakura."

"Hey," she said, reaching out her hand, "Hey, you."

The room was oddly silent, and it took another second for Sakura to realize that everyone else had left and there was only the two of them now.

"Sakura," Sasuke took her hand and squeezed it, his fingers ghosting over her knuckles almost desperately, as if wanting to make sure that she was here, alive, breathing. She smiled, and he squeezed harder, "Sakura."

"It's okay," she assured him quickly though she knew that he wouldn't believe her anyway, "I'm okay. I'm here."

The Uchiha nodded, swallowed. "I killed him."

Her gaze immediately softened. "You had to."

"I didn't mean to," he told her. "When we began the race, I knew something like this would happen. I knew, which was why I came prepared. But I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't want to kill him. But when he—when he shot you, when I thought you were going to die—when I thought you were dead…"

"I know," she interjected softly. "I know, Sasuke-kun."

Silently he brought her knuckles to his lips, so soft and light that she could have just been imagining it. Lowering her hand to the bed, his fingers rested on the side of her neck before they tucked loose strands of her hair behind her ear, traced the outlines of her face, and paused on her mouth. He leaned forward, then, his lips meeting hers in a kiss so painfully tender that her heart sang. I'm here. It's okay. His breath ghosted over her cheeks warmly, a gentle warning of what was to come. It's okay. Her every nerve set on fire, she welcomed his silent claim. I'm not scared of you, Sasuke-kun. She moved to clutch him, ignoring the pain that sliced her abdomen, and sighed into his kiss, her moan pitched low and slow-simmered as her fingers sank into his hair. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

When he released her, she was breathless.

"I love you," he said fiercely, suddenly, quickly, "I love you, and I will never let you out of my sight again."

"Never?"

"Never."

She laughed, and it rippled across his skin, warm, inviting. He kissed her again, this time more gently, more slowly, before finally drawing away, resting his forehead against his. "When this is over," she murmured, her voice dipping low with drowsiness as she gazed at him with hooded eyes, "When I'm fully healed, when you can take some time off… maybe we can go on a short vacation. A week, two weeks. I'm thinking Paris?"

"Paris," he agreed. "Munich. Maybe even Venice, if you're up for it. But that's later. For now… sleep."

She gave him another smile and closed her eyes in healing sleep. Brushing a kiss on her temple, he lay next to her and held her hand, counting the rise and fall of her chest.

One hundred twenty seven, one hundred twenty eight, one hundred twenty nine…

For the first time in a long while, he fell into a blissful, dreamless slumber.

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end.

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a/n: And that's it! Please point out my mistakes because there's bound to be a lot. I also welcome any form of feedback, negative or positive, so don't hesitate. Thank you for reading, thank you for coming back and staying with me if you're an old reader, and thank you for everything! :)