Chapter 12

"What the hell are you doing, Sasuke?!" Sakura backed away as Sasuke stalked forward, Ino and Karin at his sides, leering down at her maliciously with long bared fangs while Sasuke snarled viciously, sharingan activated. His crimson eyes bored into her, fiery orbs of hatred and Sakura felt her knees go weak from terror as the burning Summit Hall vanished.

She breathed in cool and fresh evening air. They were in a grassy clearing, up on the surface, and the sky was black with clouds, covering the moon so that Sakura could only make out the bumpy outline of a tall mountain looming up in front of her.

She took a step toward it as the bright silver moon came out and illuminated the clearing. The mountain was revealed to her: a towering pile of corpses rising up in front of her with the moon's bright silver rays and Sakura froze and screamed in horror, her blood turning to ice in her veins. She backed away frantically as she recognised the corpses of Tenten, Hinata, Kiba and Neji, staring up the sky with dull and empty eyes. Her eyes wandered downwards, recognising Choji, Shikamaru, Temari and Tsunade and right at the bottom, gazing right at her with glassy and dead eyes, was Gaara.

Sakura screamed again, feeling herself go hollow, and fell to her knees as she gazed at the pile of dead in front of her numbly, barely feeling the tears running down her cheeks and dripping from her chin. She couldn't seem to feel anything but shock and a dull and steadily growing ache in her chest.

Three tall figures stood on top of the pile but Sakura didn't even have to look at them to know who they were.

"Ooh, the cherry blossom's crying!" Karin cackled nastily as she adjusted her glasses, "Isn't she pathetic, Sasuke?"

"Pathetic," he agreed emotionlessly looking down at her with blank and empty eyes and Sakura gazed up at the three dark figures numbly. "You made him do this," she said in a low voice before she screamed hysterically. "He isn't your puppet!"

Ino narrowed her glowing cyan eyes and growled through gritted teeth, "Sasuke is whatever I want him to be!"

"Then how can you expect him to love you?!" Sakura shot back before her voice cracked and she broke down into sobs. Ino screamed angrily from above her and shrieked. "Kill her, Sasuke! Kill her now! I never want to see her face again!"

Sakura heard Sasuke land lightly in front of her and tried to get to her feet and run, but she wasn't quick enough. Sasuke's fist collided with the back of her head and stars exploded in front of Sakura's eyes as she hit the ground, her head swimming and aching painfully so that it was difficult for her to see and breath.

"Sasuke," she whispered through ragged breaths before crying out as the toe of his shoe hit her in the ribcage and the bones shattered before healing themselves again, which was just as painful.

"Healer's Blood," Ino hissed from behind Sasuke with a nasty smile. "That means I can prolong your suffering and have Sasuke hit you as many times as I want before you die, human." Sasuke's foot hit Sakura in the mouth and she tasted blood, feeling it run down the corners of her lips and chin, and spat out a tooth, sobbing. "Sasuke," she begged as she received blow after blow, her injuries healing themselves before Sasuke reopened them again while Karin laughed and Ino sneered with contempt.

"Sakura!" Sakura shut her eyes tightly as she received a blow to the ribs once again. "Sakura!" That voice wasn't Sasuke's...

"Wake up, Sakura. You're dreaming!"

Someone shook Sakura's shoulders and she woke screaming, her body coated in sweat and her eyes searching the room frantically, wide and wild. They found Gaara standing over her bed, alive and alright, and Sakura seized the front of his robes tightly and buried her face in chest, sobbing hysterically while he stroked her hair gently and soothingly, stunned.

It had been so real; she had felt everything and she could still taste blood in her mouth from where she had bitten the inside of her cheek in her sleep, but it had healed. "What are you doing here, Gaara?" Sakura hated how she was showing weakness in front of the Kazekage but she couldn't help but feel soothed by his strong presence.

"You were screaming," he replied in his usual, quiet voice. It made sense; she had been screaming in her nightmare.

"How, did you, get in?" She asked through hitched breaths, not loosening her hold on him and she felt Gaara shrug. "The door was unlocked." I forgot to lock it. Sakura felt her face heat up embarrassedly. "I didn't wake you did I?" She asked worriedly and felt his chest vibrate pleasantly as he chuckled. "No. I was working late. I was taking a walk when I heard you."

Sakura groaned and released him so that she could hide her flushed face with her hands.

"Nightmares are common amongst our kind, Sakura," Gaara said quietly, sitting beside her and Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and rested her head on his shoulder. "Especially after what that Yamanaka girl has done. She's throwing our world into disarray. Do not be ashamed of something you cannot help."

Sakura felt her worry evaporate and be replaced by pleasant warmth as she breathed in his familiar scent, masculine and like cinnamon.

"Gaara?" She whispered and he opened one eye to look at her. "Hmm?"

"Is it possible to be in love with two different people?"

Gaara was silent for a while as he thought about the question. "I don't doubt it's possible," he gave her a ghost of a smile. "But I'm new to this feeling so I doubt I'd know the answer to that."

Sakura lifted her head to look at him with surprise. "You've never loved before?" Gaara angled his body toward her and dropped his arm from her shoulders to look down at her with softened features and a faraway look in his pale eyes. "My past made it hard for me to feel anything other than pain and hatred. But you, you helped get me out of that place." His fingers held her chin and tilted her face upwards; Sakura could feel his cool breath on her lips and closed her eyes. "And things are different now."

"I love you," she whispered, as he pressed his lips to hers and she wound her arms around his neck, worried about what he might say. She felt him smile against her mouth.

"I love you too, Sakura."

xxxxxxx

The Mizukage gazed at Sasuke lustily. "I see your plan worked, young Yamanaka. Hello again, Sasuke." Sasuke watched her expressionlessly and didn't reply and Mei Terumi smirked smugly. "Such a handsome man. It's so much better when they're obedient."

Karin gazed admiringly at the tall and beautiful woman. "We couldn't have done it without your help, Mizukage," she gushed and Mei raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "Child, as a Kage it is important that I ally my Village with the side that will win. It's a simple concept."

"Do you come with news?" Ino interjected, stretched out luxuriously on one of the Uchiha's expensive armchairs, and Mei sniffed disdainfully at the blonde girl's tone, but nodded. "The human is not at the Mist, she is under protected custody by the Kazekage's orders. In the Sand." Karin hissed with annoyance and Ino nodded. "It makes sense. Do you know where the entrance to the Hidden Sand is, Mizukage?" Mei shook her head. "No, I fear. I have never been there."

"Then we will draw them out." Ino became lost in thought as she pondered this. "This strategy needs to be planned carefully," she murmured before she turned to Karin.

"Bring me Shikamaru."

xxxxxxx

Sakura trained hard those next few days, for hours on end, learning how to fight alongside and against Tenten and Hinata's completely different fighting styles, because they had been appointed as her new teammates, as well as learning how to fight better with her fists because she was still human and weaker than vampires.

Temari's training was vicious but Sakura noticed how her stamina increased, how her movements became more fluid and agile, and how her body became leaner, her movements faster, deadlier. She familiared herself with the Village Hidden in the Sand and its citizens, finding the place a lot more of a home to her than her old apartment back at Manhattan had been. Her thoughts sometimes wandered to her parents in occasion but she realised, in a twisted way, that she didn't miss them at all. They had made it very clear just how much they cared about her by abandoning her at times where she had needed someone and them the most. She had a real family now, Tenten and Hinata and Gaara, the list went on. People that were there for her, especially now. And Sasuke, she wanted to believe but knew she couldn't. Not right now.

The nightmares haunted Sakura every night; each one more painful and horrible than the last, and Gaara had taken to sleeping in her apartment during the day so that he could be there to comfort her when the screaming started.

"I love you, Sakura." I love you. The three words she had never had the chance to say to Sasuke, and the words she had hoped that he would someday say to her, but she knew with a bitter feeling, that any chance of that happening was gone now, because of Ino. I still love you, Sasuke. But I love Gaara now. Gaara made her feel safe when Sasuke gave her only pain and grief, but Sakura could never severe the bond she had with the raven-haired boy because she knew that despite what Ino may have turned him into, the boy she had rescued from the rain was still in there somewhere.

"You look exhausted," Gaara commented with amusement from behind his work desk as Sakura entered his office, sweating and panting from training. She fell onto his lap and leaned into him tiredly. "I am," she muttered. "What did the Council say?"

Gaara's amused smirk faded. "We have yet to receive word from the Mizukage and are forced to assume that Ino has taken the Mist now as well. We are hopelessly outnumbered, Sakura." His voice was so serious and Sakura felt dread and an icy feeling grow in the pit of her stomach along with the familiar prickly feeling across her skin.

"The Council wants us to ally ourselves with Ino and the Leaf."

Sakura jumped to her feet and looked at the Kazekage incredulously. "And what?" She demanded hotly, "Be controlled and enslaved like everyone else, are they stupid?"

"They're afraid," he said quietly, their eyes connecting and Sakura felt herself deflate. "It won't be long before they finally find us, Sakura." Sakura straddled his hips, facing him and leaning her forehead against his tiredly. "I know," she whispered, "But I think I know the key to this war."

"What?" he asked curiously and Sakura looked at him seriously. "My blood." He frowned but Sakura continued before he could protest. "It heals. Anything that isn't death. I've researched it. It can heal their minds," she pressed. Gaara didn't reply so Sakura knew that he was thinking about what she had just said.

"I can free them, Gaara," she said in a low voice and Gaara looked at her seriously. "Understanding what the cure is and being able to administer it are two completely different things. How do you even plan on getting them to drink it? It's dangerous, Sakura."

Sakura sighed with frustration. "Everything's dangerous now and besides, does your Council have any better ideas?" Gaara snorted and Sakura knew the answer to that. "That's what I thou-"

Sakura was cut off when the office door flew open, revealing a breathless Matsuri who eyed their intimate position with brief surprise before becoming the most serious Sakura had even seen the small brunette.

"What is it, Matsuri?" Gaara asked as Sakura climbed off of his lap and the brunette took a deep breath before replying. "We have a message for Sakura. From Ino."

xxxxxxx

Gaara, Matsuri, Temari, Gaara's brother Kankuro, Tenten, Hinata and Sakura stood around the small TV screen mounted on the wall of another room in the Kazekage's office building, watching the dark screen with baited breath, bodies tense with anticipation and suspicion.

"Hello, Sakura," the blonde's conceited voice suddenly filled the room and Sakura snarled, bristling at Ino's malicious tone of voice. The screen was still black and Sakura wondered what Ino was hiding. This is bad.

"I just wanted to tell you that I know where you're hiding. I just haven't figured out how to get there yet." Ino's smug tone made Sakura want to rip the screen from the wall in red fury but she remained composed as the blonde continued.

"And just because you were all wondering, and I know you were, the Village Hidden in the Mist hasn't been touched." Sakura heard a sigh of relief from Gaara and his siblings before the blonde continued.

"Now, Sakura, I know just telling you to come out of hiding won't interest you much," Sakura felt the prickling sensation spread across her skin again. "But I have another proposition that might interest you a bit more." The blackness on the screen was removed revealing a dimly lit room and two figures bound with rope, tied back to back, and unconscious.

"Neji," Hinata cried, anguished, and Tenten whispered, "Kiba" to herself. Sakura could only look at the screen with horror as she took in their bloody and battered appearances.

"Yes, they are still alive," Ino's voice continued, "But for how long depends on how quickly you come and get them, Sakura. I'll be waiting."

The screen went black again and the room remained quiet as everyone watched the screen with a mixture of shock and horror.

"I have to go," Sakura finally said with a sinking feeling as the image of tortured Neji and Kiba flashed across her eyes and Temari gave her an appalled look. "But it's a trap, Sakura. That's what the bitch wants you to do."

"But they'll die if I don't," Sakura muttered, hating the sense of hopelessness spreading through her as she thought of how her friends could be being tortured at that very moment. Ino enjoys inflicting pain on others.

"Our team can go in undercover," Tenten said quietly, surprising everyone. "Hinata has the Byakugan. She can sense the enemy and help us avoid them. I doubt it will be that difficult."

"It's danger-" Temari was cut off by Tenten who pointed a slender finger at a surprised Sakura. "Just being here is dangerous," she snarled. "Sakura isn't fully human anymore; she can handle herself out there. You've seen it for yourself. You trained her for this. We can't just sit here like ducks waiting for them to make the first move!"

Temari nodded meekly and everyone looked at Gaara expectantly to hear his final decision. He looked at Sakura with a pained and conflicted expression but said reluctantly,

"Let them go."