Chapter 18

A shriek echoed up the tunnel and Sakura frowned, suddenly anxious. Could the fighting have started already?

"Let's go," she said and ducked down the stairs with Naruto, Yugito, Tenten and Hinata close behind her. The sound of battle grew louder as they got closer and burst through the tunnel onto the concrete balcony. The five teammates froze at the sight below them. Druids in human form, using weapons, as well as huge animals of every kind were viciously fighting vampires, and vampires were fighting other vampires mercilessly. Snarling, growling and the loud roar of violent flames filled the huge, underground cavern like terrifying music.

"But how did she know?" Hinata breathed, shocked and Tenten growled, bristling, "She had spies obviously." Sakura nodded grimly and took a fighting stance as two Lightning vampires appeared in front of them, covered in blood and snarling. "This couldn't be avoided."

"We'll cover you. Go!" Naruto raced towards the enemy, Yugito darting lithely beside him, and leapt, the air shimmering. Suddenly an enormous fox joined by an equally huge cat fell upon the stunned enemy, bringing them down with such force that the concrete cracked beneath them as the opponents thrashed and tried to rip each other to pieces, snarling and growling loudly.

"Let's move!" Sakura shouted and the three girls bolted for the balcony's steep edge, not slowing down and leapt, just like they had done before, landing lightly in front of the complete chaos below.

Dead and wounded littered the ground like bleeding red roses and there wasn't a single street where there wasn't a battle for the kill happening. A large, white bird was circling from above and a male figure, Akatsuki, with long blonde hair was dropping white clay bombs, also in the shapes of birds, on the warriors below.

"Art is an explosion!" he shrieked and Tenten snarled. "I hate that asshole."

"Enemy," Hinata hissed as they continued forward and a knife flew from Tenten's hand, hitting the Rock vampire so quickly Sakura hadn't even had the chance to do anything, but it wasn't long before they were blocked by three vampires from the Yamanaka clan.

"Split," Tenten snarled and the three girls each raced toward an enemy. "Ino's been looking for you, human," a beautiful boy with long, pale blonde hair hissed, dodging as Sakura lashed out viciously and gripping her wrist tightly, about to throw her. Sakura took the opportunity to jump, landing on his shoulders before snapping his neck easily and leaping onto the next enemy. They still underestimate me.

She saw Tenten fighting closely with a short sword in each hand, wielding them gracefully and deadly, matching each of her opponent's blows perfectly. She really is a weapons expert, Sakura thought grimly as she dodged her opponent's silver lance and saw Hinata dispatch her enemy quickly and cleanly with a sharp, energy enhanced blow to the stomach.

It wasn't long before the teammates were standing back to back, panting and covered with sweat, scratches and blood.

"Ino's soldiers are strong," Tenten exhaled, cleaning her blades on her shirt and fastening them to her back. "Let's go."

The three girls darted forward, weaving their way through the battles when suddenly; a watery arm and hand grabbed Hinata around the ankle. She hit the ground hard and cried out with pain as it dragged her backwards and frantically thrashing across the ground.

"Hinata!" Tenten screamed furiously, reaching for a knife but Hinata shook her head frantically, cuts and bruises appearing on her pale skin as she was dragged over sharp rocks and rubble.

"Keep going!" The willowy girl shrieked as she was dragged roughly into the violent fray and out of sight as another bomb went off close by and the two girls quickly regained their balance as the ground shook from the shockwave.

No. Sakura stood frozen in place, her skin prickling painfully as her friend disappeared and was roughly pulled out of her stupor when Tenten jerked her shoulder painfully and started to pull her forward by the arm. "This is a war," Tenten hissed, "This happens." But Sakura could see that the brunette was simply hiding what she truly felt.

The battles and fires grew fewer as they moved deeper into the Leaf, dispatching enemies as they went, the streets littered with charred wood and broken glass smashed from their window frames.

"Where is Ino?" Sakura demanded venomously, sitting on the chest of a slender Yamanaka boy, weakened and bleeding after battling Tenten and the he squirmed. "I won't give away our leader's position!" he spat and Sakura growled. "I'll kill you if you don't." His eyes widened with disbelief and contempt. "But you're only human." Sakura's eyes flashed.

Her fist hit the concrete pavement next to the boy's head and his translucent blue eyes widened further at the deep crater her fist left as she pulled it away again.

"Where is Ino?" She asked again slowly and the boy began to tremble. "I can't hear you," Tenten said in a low and warning voice, dark eyes narrowed down at him and her face covered with smudges of soot and blood.

"Uchiha compound," the boy whispered, almost inaudibly and Sakura's fist hit the side of his face, causing it to jerk violently to the side before he stilled.

"Did you kill him?" Tenten asked softly and Sakura shook her head as she climbed to her feet. "He's unconscious." Tenten nodded with a ghost of a smile before the two girls took off again.

They reached the gates of the compound in minutes and Tenten froze.

"What is it?" Sakura asked worriedly and Tenten hissed. "Sasuke's in there. The largest house, I can sense him and In-" The brunette's eyes widened with shock and what happened next all happened in a blur.

Sasuke.

Sakura felt Tenten's arms around her as she hit the concrete and silver arrows rained down around them from somewhere above them. She could feel the slender brunette's weight on top of her, shielding her from the storm.

"Tenten," Sakura whispered. "Just wait for them to stop before you run," Tenten answered in a strained whisper before Sakura felt her friend's body go limp and her head lolled loosely to the side. Sakura could see blood running down the corners of her mouth.

Sakura obeyed her friend's instructions, feeling warm tears run down her face, and once the arrows had stopped, she moved Tenten gently off of her, not rolling her onto her back. Sakura felt bile rise in her throat when she saw the number of arrows protruding from her friend's body and instinctively bit into her arm and pressed it roughly to Tenten's mouth. She felt her suck the blood feebly before falling completely unconscious but Sakura knew that the brunette had consumed enough Healer's Blood to ensure that she wouldn't die.

Sakura stood from her crouch and turned her narrowed eyes, emerald daggers, to the large manor looming upwards in the centre of the compound.

I'm coming, Ino, she snarled.

xxxxxxx

"That stupid spy never told me that Sakura had gone and allied herself with Druids!" Ino shrieked, pacing the room and smashing every piece of furniture she laid her hands on. "Fuck that bitch!"

Druids, Karin smiled smugly to herself so that the blonde wouldn't see it, standing a safe distance away. You didn't see that one coming, now did you, bitch?

"What do we do, Ino?" She asked seriously, keeping her true thoughts and feelings hidden, and the blonde's manic eyes fell on her, cold and merciless. "I sent Sasuke to find her but I'll gladly rip her heart out myself!" she screamed in reply, viciously hurling a chair leg at the large window and Karin watched it smash loudly.

"That's the easiest way to alert the enemy that you're here," Mei said disdainfully from the doorway.

"Mizukage," Karin bowed and Ino snarled. "What do you want?" Mei gestured to the vampires behind her. "Your escort is ready, Ino Yamanaka."

Escort? Karin looked at Ino with shocked eyes. "You're leaving?" Ino shoved her aside. "I can't win the war if I'm dead. It's not safe here anymore; I'm moving base to the Stone."

"But what about Sas-"

"He was instructed to meet the escort should he have not found and killed Sakura by now," Ino snapped, stepping passed the Mizukage and vanishing with the escort without uttering so much as a farewell.

She was never truly my friend, the redhead thought bitterly as she watched the blonde go, feeling an icy sense of dread claw at her. But how will I escape? Sakura will never forgive me for what I've helped Ino do.

"You'll be traveling with me, youngling," Mei said with a smug smile and Karin immediately felt relieved. "Thank you, Mizukage."

"We have a job for you to do," Suigetsu said, suddenly appearing at the Mizukage's side, grinning toothily in a way that reminded Karin of a shark.

"What must I do?" She asked curiously.

"Find Sasuke and stop him before he kills the human," Mei said seriously. Karin's eyes widened. "She's here?" Suigetsu winked. "You better hurry, princess."

"But she'll kill me," Karin whispered, her chest tightening with the guilt of what she had done but Mei shook her head gravely. "You misjudge her, youngling. Go quickly."

I'm on Sakura's side. Karin remembered her promise to the Hokage and ran through the door at top speed.

I'll search this whole house if I must. I'm coming, Sakura.

xxxxxxx

Sakura leapt through an open window and into a dark and unlit corridor. She allowed a new instinct to take over and took off down the corridor and turned a sharp corner, following scents and sounds. She froze when she heard unfamiliar and quiet voices and ducked into the shadows as the Mizukage and a white haired boy following closely behind her hurried past. She was sure they hadn't noticed her but she was also sure she had seen the satisfied and smug smirk on the tall woman's face as she had passed.

She knew I was here, but she didn't attack? Sakura once again tried to ponder the woman's strange and unpredictable behaviour and snarled at herself to focus. I need to find Ino.

It was strange, but Sakura couldn't sense the blonde at all, it was like she had just vanished. But that's impossible, she hissed in her mind and darted down the corridor again, following the senses of different presences and avoiding strangers. She turned a corner into a wide corridor, dark and lined with many windows that allowed pale light to filter through and fill the hallway with eerie light. She stepped forward and froze when the sudden pulse of a presence so familiar to her shot through her like a slap to the face.

Sasuke.

Sakura hit the ground once more, hard, but this time it wasn't Tenten pinning her to the ground; it was Sasuke. Neither of them moved as he gazed down at her blankly and she gazed up at him searchingly.

It's been so long, since I've seen him up close like this. She could feel electricity spark on her skin where his hands were pinning her wrists to the floor but she also felt fear, cold fear and the images of Sasuke ripping Gaara's heart out flashed across her vision and Sakura felt tears run silently down the corners of her eyes. He felt so different now and even his scent was different, no longer the familiar and comforting scent she remembered.

What has Ino turned him into?

The silence and tranquillity of the moment was broken when he growled and looked at her through empty eyes that suddenly ignited themselves with hateful fire and Sakura growled back instinctively and tried to force him off of her. She felt his grip on her wrists tighten to the point where it was painful and suddenly jerked herself and rolled so that she was the one on top.

"Where's Ino, Sasuke?" She hissed, ignoring the tears that dropped onto his face and he snarled and kicked her off of him. Sakura rolled across the floor and felt herself hit the wall before she climbed unsteadily to her feet.

I'm distracted, she snarled with annoyance at herself and anger, and dodged as Sasuke lunged and lashed out viciously. Sakura caught his arm and moved lithely to pin it behind his back before he spun, causing Sakura to spin too and threw her so that she hit the floor and rolled once again before jumping to her feet and snarling angrily in defiance, feeling the ache in her chest that had never truly gone away stab her sharply and painfully.

I won't let her keep you.

"You don't belong to her!" She screamed and lunged at him, her vision blurred by tears and she cried out when his fist hit her below her left eye and stars exploded across her field of vision before she felt her legs give out from beneath her and the floor came up to meet her.

She could hear Sasuke moving towards her.

No. "Sasuke," she whimpered, spitting out blood, already feeling herself heal but knowing that he could easily end her life when she was vulnerable like this.

"Sasuke," she said, her voice slightly louder, but he continued to advance, sharingan activated and glowing red through the darkness.

"Sasuke!" She screamed desperately as he reached her. But he froze. She heard his breath hitch and her eyes widened with confusion and shock as he sunk to his knees and collapsed sideways. He moaned softly before going still. What shocked her more was that the figure now kneeling in front of her and looking at her through red and concerned eyes was-

Karin?

"What are you doing?" Sakura demanded and winced at the pain in her ribs as she felt Karin check her for broken bones.

"Four fractured ribs," she heard the redhead say to herself before she looked down at her with glowing red eyes. "Promise me you'll listen to me, Sakura."

"Why should I?" Sakura asked in a low voice as she felt the bones right themselves again and caught Karin's wrist tightly. She knew her grip was hurting her but the redhead hid her pain well.

"Because I'm on your side," Karin whispered before her eyes took on a faraway look.

"Liar!" Sakura snarled, ready to reach up and snap the redhead's neck but she froze when she saw the first tear run down Karin's face. She's... crying?

"I was a... pawn," the girl said darkly, her voice deadly and quiet and Sakura's eyes widened. "I've been a pawn of the Yamanaka clan for years." Sakura had never seen the cruel and sniggering redhead look so serious and distraught.

"They found me useful because of my ability to steal and manipulate energy. I've been under their control for years and I only realised after I broke free of it. I-" Her body jerked as she sobbed and Sakura felt her grip relax and let her arm fall back to the floor, too stunned to do anything as she listened to Karin's story. "I've done so many terrible things because of her, so many unforgivable things. Please, Sakura." She looked down at Sakura with bright and teary eyes and Sakura couldn't look away.

So much pain...