Avenger's Destiny: Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Silver and White

三十三 – 银和白

"You can't take deaths so badly, Sakura!" Tsunade had reprimanded her in her first year on the job, after Sakura had lost a cancer patient, and hadn't found the appetite or the will to eat for three days. "It's part of the job, and there are so many other lives which need your care - moping about one dead patient isn't going to help the dozens of others who need you!"

She was right, she always was. Yet… Tsunade had taught her much, Sakura mused, but her mentor certainly hadn't taught her how to handle her own impending death. Medics seldom had time to worry about their own well-being, after all. Kakashi had put it somewhat better.

"Why the long face, Sakura?"

Silence.

"I lost a patient."

"And?" Kakashi flipped open his book nonchalantly.

"I lost a patient," the girl shot back incredulously. "He's dead, sensei - I couldn't, and I can't help him now. He's dead."

The silver-haired Jounin looked at her over the top of his book, observing her for a long while.

"You're too sensitive," Kakashi said bluntly, flipping a page. "Death is part of a medic's job, or any shinobi's job, for that matter. You knew what to expect when you started out,with your being a medic and a shinobi at the same time."

"Knowing and experiencing are two different matters. And just because I know it, doesn't mean that I don't feel it now, does it?" Sakura said scathingly, feeling hot tears welling up in her eyes. Why couldn't everyone just leave her well alone to suffer? "Can't I just mope for a bit?"

"Go right ahead, Sakura. You can mope all you want, but if you torture yourself like this for every patient you lose, you'll be crushed by all that emotional toil," he glanced at her steadily, for once looking serious. "You are sensitive, but you've got to learn how to let go."

She did not reply, simply wrapping her arms around her knees and staring into space, observing a falcon swooping across the horizon, somehow wishing she had wings to fly with. Childhood stories of birds carrying souls to the sky flooded her mind, tales of the afterlife, heaven, hell. They all started with one thing – death. So how did it feel to die?

"What do they feel, I wonder?" the cherry blossom spoke quietly, breaking the silence. "I've thought about it… do they… fear dying?"

"Who knows?" the silver-haired Jounin shrugged, shutting his book suddenly. Shifting his position, he leaned back using his arms as a support, and stared up at the clear sky. "I grew up during the war. Both my best friends, who were also my teammates, died, when I was young." Kakashi stared into the distance. "Both of them… died for me. I wondered what they felt, too… but when I look back, I'm pretty certain – no, I know – that they didn't feel fear."

Sakura glanced at him, surprised.

"People die for many reasons… most of old age, some of illness and accidents. And most people, they are afraid of death coming to claim them, they fear what lies beyond, or perhaps, what does not lie beyond. Is death a void, a great emptiness? Or is it a beautiful place, like heaven has been described? But those who willingly die for others… that doesn't matter to them. They don't think of death, they think of the people they are sacrificing for. And those people, who do just that – they are the ones who die happy."

"Dying for others?" Sakura whispered, grasping the concept. Of course she'd heard about sacrificing oneself, it was what being a medic was all about anyway, but she'd never really thought about it, or actually understand the significance of this principle.

So. Could she do that? Extracting the Nanabi and sealing it would undoubtedly mean her death, as with Naruto. She knew the blonde loudmouth would accept it once he got over the initial shock – sacrificing for others, helping them, was something he held strongly to. But what about her? Sacrificing her time and healing chakra was one thing, but to the extent of giving up her own life to save another…?

'You're thinking too much, you little idiot,' her inner self smirked. 'You never thought twice about rushing in front of your friends to protect them before, even if it meant dying.'

'Well, that's different,' Sakura shot back. 'I don't see death coming, like how I know it will happen now. I just… want to protect them, and my body acts before my mind thinks.'

'Well, you were always pretty reckless, even if you're not as bad as Naruto,' her inner self grinned. 'Forget your body acting before your mind thinks, how about holding on to the fact that you want to protect your friends and village, even if you know you will die if you do that?'

'Giving a life… to protect?' the pink-haired kunoichi mused. A sudden loud brawl snapped her out of her reverie.

"Give that piece of chicken back, dobe, you've had your share," Sasuke snatched the last drumstick from Naruto's gravy-sticky hands as the jinchuuriki protested wildly.

"But I'm hungry!" his teammate whined profusely, attempting puppy eyes. Even though it was not as if it'd ever persuade the Uchiha.

Sasuke glared at him. "You ate the most. Leave some for Sakura. You call yourself a teammate?"

"She's not eating! Gimme my chicken!" Naruto pounced at the more agile Sasuke, who held the drumstick high and away from Naruto's grasp, but instead, got a fistful of his shirt deeply stained by Naruto's none-too-sanitary, sticky hands while both boys tumbled.

"Oh, damn!" Realizing what he'd done, Naruto swore and quickly let go of Sasuke's shirt as the Uchiha looked down slowly.

The scene froze.

"Argh – GET OFF!" Sasuke yelled threateningly, reaching for his sword, brandishing it wildly while Naruto hollered back at him, defending himself from the dangerously sharp blade. In the midst of all the mess, the piece of chicken flew out of Sasuke's hand and was caught by a very surprised Sakura, while Tenten doubled over with laughter, an unconcerned witness to the murder taking place.

The cherry blossom's eyes softened as the scene unfurled before her eyes, feeling a small smile twisting and lifting the corners of her lips. Taking a bite of the bland but surprisingly well-cooked drumstick, she contemplated how much her teammates, her village, resembled sukiyaki (1) – components of various different colours and tastes, yet mixing harmoniously in the warm pot of soup that held them in one place, letting them rub past each other, never clashing.

She'd die for them. All of them, anytime.

And she'd die happy.

N

Naruto sat with his back against a tree after dinner, twirling a kunai with his brow furrowed. Sakura sat a little ways from him, eyes closed and legs crossed with the two scrolls on her lap, meditating. Tenten's shuriken flew out of her hand at regular intervals, hitting a makeshift target board carved onto a tree, creating a rhythmic, almost comforting tapping sound. She'd hit the bulls-eye so many times there was a gaping indent of wooden splinters where the center should've been, and now she was resorting to not aiming for the bulls-eye instead. Sasuke idly poked at the embers of their dying fire with a stick, looking distant.

The team was brainstorming for all the possibilities of the location of the box, they had been doing that for the past hour and their boredom was beginning to show in their slight fidgeting.

Naruto had never been one to focus, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the matter at hand. Gradually, his thoughts wandered, reaching into the realms of memory as one's thoughts always do when bored.

Scrolls, huh? How typical. Their first Chunnin exam had seen them competing for exactly the same thing, except that it was considerably harder to have to find the scrolls rather than just attack any random team for theirs. He vaguely wondered what they would do with the box once they got to the central tower. No, not just the box – the two scrolls too. Would Kakashi-sensei be popping out of the box, like the last time when they summoned Iruka-sensei by opening the two Heaven and Earth scrolls simultaneously?

Something seemed to click in that thought. One of the words… scrolls? No. But scrolls… summoning Iruka… summoning…

"I'VE GOT IT!"

His three teammates visibly jumped as Naruto's triumphant yell reverberated through their camp, it sounded like a herd of elephants flattening the forest.

"Baka, Naruto, do you plan on getting us all killed?" Sakura hissed furiously as Sasuke doused and extinguished their fire while Tenten retrieved all her shuriken with a swipe of her summoning scroll, just in case any of the enemy were headed their way after hearing Naruto's literal proclamation of their location to practically the entire world, considering how loud his voice was.

"What's the big idea, dobe?" Sasuke scowled as they perched atop a tree some distance away, alert for any sign of enemy teams.

Naruto was completely unaware of the ruckus he'd just caused.

"Summoning!" the jinchuuriki said proudly, not even noticing the deathly auras emanating from the trio surrounding him. "I mean, seriously – scrolls are used for summoning, remember?"

"Dobe, you can't have forgotten what happened to those who opened the scrolls before time in the first Chunin exam," Sasuke deadpanned, annoyed at his friend's apparent stupidity. Or rashness. Or perhaps both combined.

"Any smarter ideas, teme?" Naruto shot back, feeling snubbed but not about to be outdone.

The Uchiha grudgingly shook his head.

"He's got a point, though," Tenten said fairly, looking thoughtful. "Scrolls are used for summoning. Sakura – what about our instructions? Did Kotetsu or Izumo say anything about not opening the scrolls before time?"

Sakura glanced at her, then shut her eyes and concentrated.

Did they say anything of the sort? She could only remember them telling her that they were not to open the box… or had she forgotten her instructions? Well… no. She was pretty certain they only said not to open the box.

Out loud, the pink-haired kunoichi spoke. "Nope. As far as I remember, they just said that the box wasn't to be opened until we were told."

There was a moment of silence.

"Is it worth taking the risk?" Sasuke remained skeptical, crossing his arms defiantly, almost daring his teammates to challenge him.

"C'mon, Sasuke – it's our last chance. We're at our last day now, it's now or never, and we don't have any other leads to work on," Tenten reasoned.

The Uchiha seemed to cave.

"So? Do we all agree?" Sakura volunteered quietly.

A slight murmur went around, signalling agreement. Sakura smiled, handing the scrolls to Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Your call. You figured it out, after all," Sakura smiled.

The blonde jinchuuriki grinned broadly, accepting the scrolls from his teammate. It wasn't often that he was allowed to do the honours, considering his generally rash and careless nature.

Holding both scrolls in both hands, with the opening flaps hanging down, Naruto focused his chakra and willed the box to appear, taking a wild shot as he wasn't quite sure if this was the same as summoning animals. Did it require a small blood sacrifice? Well, he hadn't signed a blood contract with a box, as far as he could remember, so he supposed it didn't matter.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A warm glow enveloped the scrolls, making the team squint at the sudden presence of light. The blonde loudmouth felt a pleasant sensation running up his arms, as if reassuring him that everything was okay, and instinctively, Naruto knew that the summoning had worked.

His teammates watched in fascinated silence. The glow began to dissipate, leaving them with the faint moonlight streaming to the trees as their only illumination. Naruto pulled the scrolls to eye level and examined them. The scrolls were empty, devoid of all trace of words that used to be there. And before Naruto, a large, black, square box stood, as high as his knee, plain and completely unremarkable. Only the lid was carved with Konoha's crest, and beneath that, 'Team 7' was written in calligraphic kanji.

"Ooh, you finally figured it out."

Before any of them had a chance to speak, a foreign voice interrupted the darkness snidely, mocking them.

All four shinobis whirled around, surrounding the box, alert and poised to defend or attack, whichever the situation required. How could they not have sensed –

"I was wondering when you slowpokes would get it," the female voice sneered, the sound of dry leaves crackling under her feet could be heard as she stepped closer, and into the moonlight. "I mean, half the teams in the forest has gotten it already… and I thought Team 7 was supposed to be pretty remarkable."

She looked young, perhaps about fifteen? And she was extremely petite, looking almost too fragile to be a shinobi, let alone a Jounin wannabe. Yet, the arrogance in her smile was unmistakable, and the sort of air radiating off her – Team 7 knew, from experience, that people like these were no empty vessels. She was dangerous and she meant business, whatever her physical appearance suggested.

Her red hair was cropped short, falling over her grayish eyes carelessly. She wore a sleeveless top with a mesh shirt over it, the sleeves reaching her elbow. Black cargo pants and typical shinobi sandals completed her ensemble.

'She looks like a child,' Sakura thought vaguely, eying her surroundings warily. Two shadows lurked behind the redhead, and the cherry blossom had a sinking suspicion that she knew exactly who they were.

"Cut the small talk, Sayuri," one of the looming shadows joined her in the moonlight, allowing herself to be seen. The cascading waves of golden locks seemed to come alive in the silvery glint of moonlight, the taller, more matured female cocked her head to one side with one hand on her hip, surveying Team 7 with a look of distaste – as if they were nothing but trash.

Sakura felt her teammates tense subtly.

"We've got work to do, captain," Tsume, the blonde kunoichi, spoke to the redhead – she was the captain? – while glancing at the second shadow behind the redhead. Shiroi – Sakura knew it was him – moved effortlessly, soundlessly, as if he was merely gliding on ice, not walking on dry leaves. "Koru…" she started snidely. "Seems like you screwed up pretty badly, ne?"

"Shut up, Kin," the silver-haired man shot back smoothly.

"Hey, hey," Sayuri piped up lazily, completely relaxed while standing right between two teammates emanating deathly aura, obviously wanting to kill each other. Her cat-like eyes shone brightly in the silver moonlight, studying her 'prey' before her.

Sakura felt extremely wary. This girl was cunning, she could tell, and most probably powerful, too. There was something in her glance that unnerved the cherry blossom – eyes that had seen too much, too much not suited for the eyes of a child.

"Well," Sayuri suddenly straightened, a cocky smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "I know Shiroi gave you a warning. You know what we want," she held out her gloved right hand expectantly.

"Knowing what you want doesn't exactly help when we don't have what you want, does it?" Sakura replied coolly, quietly. "No amount of threatening is going to help you."

Silence. Emerald and grey eyes clashed, each daring the other to give in, to look away first. Yet Sayuri was the one smirking, completely unconcerned, as if she was actually enjoying herself.

A sudden realization hit Sakura as she felt a queer sensation washing over her – it felt like someone was probing into her mind, reading her thoughts, searching for something.

"Don't look into her eyes!" she warned her teammates, wanting to look away, break the connection, but found that she couldn't. Realizing that would be futile, she focused instead on emptying her mind of thought, blocking out the thought- probe.

"Hmph," Sayuri broke eye contact. "Not bad… but she's telling the truth.

'She was just… toying with me. That… wasn't her real power,' Sakura thought shakily, feeling her body covered in cold sweat as she fought to keep herself steady, emerald eyes wide. This girl – Sayuri – was that her power? Telepathy?

If so… had she managed to glean the current location of the scrolls through Sakura?

'Don't worry,' Sakura suddenly heard her inner self speaking lazily. 'Blocked her out.'

For once in her life, Sakura felt thankful for having an alter ego. Somehow, the blow had left her hard-hit and fatigued – how could a mere thought-probe weaken her so much? – and she staggered back to her team, feeling a major headache coming on. Sasuke grasped her shoulders protectively, drawing her to his side.

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto questioned worriedly, his eyes remaining trained on the opposite team.

"What was that?" Tenten asked quietly, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of her face.

"Telepathy, I think… she can read minds, and she can attack them, too," Sakura breathed, perspiring profusely.

"Oh well," Sayuri shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll look somewhere else for the scrolls, but in the meantime… let's grab that box, shall we?" she cast her teammates a sly glance.

Team 7 tightened their grips on their weapons, preparing themselves for every possibility.

"Go all out," Sayuri instructed. "Enjoy yourselves. But don't kill them just yet," the redhaired female turned and walked away, into the darkness. "I'll be waiting back at camp, ne?"

Her grey eyes shone brightly in the darkness, and a small smile curved her lips as she disappeared through the shadows of the trees.

Shiroi and Tsume were still, staring at team 7 emotionlessly, unconcerned. Their lips moved to reply to Sayuri's command.

"Yes, captain."

N

Shiroi made the first move, gliding effortlessly through the air as an eagle daring towards its prey. Regaining her composure, Sakura sprinted forward to meet him despite Sasuke's hand grasping her wrist, trying to halt her.

"I've got a score to settle with him," the cherry blossom told him quietly with a steady, unflinching gaze.

The Uchiha released her. This was a fight to regain her honour form her previous defeat, a concept he himself knew all too well.

Tenten sighed. "I'll be joining that rash girl, then," she darted forward to accompany Sakura. Naruto stopped Sasuke from intervening, knowing how badly the Uchiha wanted to fight with Sakura.

"You'll just dominate the fight, teme. You know it. The fight is hers, and Tenten complements her style in battle," the blonde loudmouth warned.

"Hey, you two," Tsume was striding towards them, every bit as sensuous and attractive as her beauty dictated. "How about you stop worrying about those two kunoichi over there and pay a little attention to me, instead? A lady doesn't like to be ignored, you know."

Naruto could somehow see Jiraya falling for this woman hook, line and sinker. She'd have him wrapped around her little finger in less than the time it'd take Naruto to yell "You stupid old pervert!". But she was not one to be taken lightly, he could feel it.

"Don't do anything rash, dobe," Sasuke hissed, drawing his sword.

"Same goes for you, teme," Naruto grinned, forming his seals.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

N

Spin, dodge, kick, dodge, spin, punch. Sakura and Tenten whirled, attacked and defended with the air of well-practiced ninjas, yet neither had managed to land a scratch on the handsome white-haired man.

"Agh!" Tenten reeled back as Shiroi's gloved fist slammed into her abdomen, feeling the rusty taste of blood filling her mouth. Sakura immediately intervened, taking up Shiroi's attention with a fast array of dangerous, powerful punches.

'Damn, he's fast!' the weapons mistress swore, spinning in a quick step to regain her footing. Sakura had Shiroi's full attention now, if Tenten was to do any damage, she had to take this shot. Reaching into her kunai pouch with both hands, she slipped her weapons out and unleashed ten kunais at different angles with practiced accuracy. Two struck their target deeply as the cherry blossom dodged away mid-kick, and spun back to maximize the sudden lax in Shiroi's defense by throwing an uppercut, slamming into his chest and sending the man flying backwards. He went crashing into a tree, jerked from the impact, and lay still, still conscious.

The two girls stared in horror as blood spurted out of Shiroi's kunai wounds – was that blood? – not crimson, like everyone else's, but white.

White blood, spilling from his shoulder and chest wounds.

The cherry blossom was thunderstruck. What was this? She'd never seen anything like it, not in her five years as a medic, not in the volumes of medical journals and books she'd studied. Tsunade-sama had attempted a list of rare diseases for her, too, but white blood had never been mentioned, nor thought possible.

"What… the hell… is he?" Sakura whispered as she and Tenten backed away, half afraid of what the effects of the blood spill might be.

Shiroi seemed to stagger, trying to continue their fight, but no sooner had he taken two steps than he collapsed to his knees, coughing uncontrollably, his handsome face contorted in suffering pain, while he clawed at his chest.

"He's got a lung problem!" Sakura exclaimed, medic instincts kicking in as she darted forward to help him, regardless of the fact that he was her enemy.

Tenten swore loudly and darted after her, realizing what Sakura meant to do.

"Wait, Sakura, you idiot!"

N

Tsume looked completely relaxed opposite the passive Uchiha and Naruto, who was raring to go with his bunshins surrounding him. The three black commas danced within the blood-red pools of Sasuke's eyes, threatening his opponent with a life of illusion, but the golden-haired beauty seemed completely unfazed.

"Uchiha, eh," she swept aside a lock of hair obscuring her face. "Captain promised that I'd have a good time, but an Uchiha…" Tsume licked her lips.

Sasuke remained completely passive.

"Delicious eyes," he suddenly felt the warm breath of a whisper brushing pas his ear, and all of a sudden, the kunoichi was no longer in his line of view, but right next to him, a goading presence. Naruto rushed at her, kunai aloft, and then she disappeared again.

Sasuke could just detect the faint tingle of cold metal pressed against his throat. Naruto started forward again to defend his teammate, but Sasuke's harsh voice halted him.

"Take care of the box, Naruto."

The jinchuuriki seemed reluctant to comply, but it suddenly struck him that this was the first time Sasuke had ever called him by his actual name. Biting his lip, Naruto grabbed the wooden box and stepped back.

"Are you sure about that, Uchiha?" Tsume teased. "Letting him hold the box when I can get to him so easily? The only one who stands a chance against my hypnosis… is you."

"Cut the small talk, bitch," Sasuke disappeared from beneath her blade. "You're not the only one who moves fast,"

Metal clashed as the duo whirled and spun effortlessly, engaged in a battle too fast, too confusing to follow. Naruto's bunshins formed a circle surrounding the fight, eyes narrowed, evidently uneasy to be made to stand out of the battle.

"Too slow, Uchiha!" Tsume mocked again as she darted past his defense and went straight for Naruto, who was carrying the box.

Naruto dodged away, clutching the box, and in a flash, Sasuke was before him, meeting Tsume's attack squarely, staring her in the eye.

"Like I said, you're not the only one who moves fast."

"Ah," Tsume shirked. "Does it matter?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as her eerily golden eyes seemed to swirl like a never-ending vortex, drawing him in, compelling him to listen, to obey her.

"Move aside…"

"You can kill that insignificant idiot, can't you?"

"Give me the box…"

Sasuke fought back. Hypnosis, that was what she mentioned, wasn't it?

Focusing, he countered her charm with an equally powerful genjutsu of his own, fighting back, threatening to crush her hypnotic power.

'Damn… eyes…' Sasuke swore as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. He could feel the electrical sensation of overwhelming power coursing through the air, almost immobilizing him.

Naruto watched, wide-eyed, still protecting the box. This was getting out of hand, he could tell – while Tsume remained as cocky as ever, Sasuke was already struggling to keep up, keep going, not to let her win this battle.

"C'mon… c'mon, Sasuke, keep it up!" the blonde boy yelled, not even sure if his teammate could hear him. "If you lose to her I'll kill you ten times over even if I have to go to hell to do that!"

"Heh," Sasuke managed a chuckle. "I'm not – going – to – lose!"

As he said the last word, the Uchiha felt the force opposing his genjutsu suddenly disappear and he was nearly thrown forward by the strength of his own attack.

Tsume had turned, no longer paying attention to the battle. Naruto rushed up to help Sasuke, and in the silence, they could hear the echoes of hacking, agonized coughs filling the void.

"Shiroi!"

N

"Sakura!" Tenten clucehd Sakura's arm just before the pink-haired medic reached the man suffering an attack. The sight of white blood unnerved her, and besides…

"He's your enemy," the brown haired girl hissed. "He tried to kill you once!"

"He's in trouble! I can't just leave him to die!" the cherry blossom retorted furiously. "Not just because he's 'the enemy'!"

"You can't always trust people so much, Sakura!" Tenten reprimanded firmly, still harbouring the feeling that her advice wasn't about to be taken. Sakura was always stubborn.

"I'll take my chances," Sakura pulled away and knelt next to the coughing man, forcing him to lie down, but ensuring that she didn't come into contact with his skin.

"Stay still," she commanded firmly with the authority of a medic as Shiroi tried to move, and channeled healing chakra into his lungs, targeting his bronchus. His chest was still heaving with the effort it took just to breathe, and yet the white-haired man found the strength to speak.

"Why… are you helping me?"

"Because I'm a medic, and medics aren't trained to watch people die," Sakura said grimly, trying to assess the damage to his lungs.

He stared at her face through pain-blurred eyes, the face contorted in concentration and worry. How could she find it in her to help him, after he had very nearly killed her? Most people would've left him for dead, so why, why her?

A shadow of doubt crept into Shiroi's heart.

"Get the scrolls. Then kill her."

That was his order. Could he really do it?

'I… owe Pein-sama more…'

Just as that thought crossed his mind, his chest constricted painfully again and Shiroi was thrown forward forcefully by an even worse bout of coughing – and this time, he could feel blood trickling down his face.

"Stay still!" Sakura forced him back down again, desperately trying to heal him.

But Shiroi didn't feel the pain anymore. His mind was completely set on carrying out what his superiors had commanded and pain didn't matter. As if running on clockwork, his hand stiffly grasped a kunai from his open pouch, slowly drawing it up. Sakura was so completely focused on healing him she barely noticed the trembling kunai pointed at her chest, her heart, as she bent over him.

'Pein-sama…'

"Shiroi!"

Tsume's voice. The world spun wildly as someone hoisted him from behind, the metallic sound of his kunai being knocked out of his hand reverberated through the stunned silence, and then – the cold tip of a blade could be felt at his throat.

Sakura had found herself shoved backwards roughly as the tip of Shiroi's kunai tore through the shoulder of her blouse, and suddenly, Sasuke was standing with his back toward her, the tip of his sword pointed at Shiroi's throat, who, in turn, was being supported by Tsume.

Death waves radiated off the Uchiha, as his grip tightened around his sword.

"She tried to save you," his voice was barely above a whisper, but sounded crystal clear in the apprehensive silence. "After all you did to her, Sakura tried to save you."

Shiroi and Tsume were staring at him the former with his face contorted in pain, the latter emotionless.

"Don't you ever dare touch her again," Sasuke hissed, his blade pricking the skin on Shiroi's throat.

"You hear me?"

Sasuke's teammates bit their lips. This sort of voice – low, dangerous – was a voice Sasuke rarely used, and it meant nothing good.

"Who are you to threaten us, Uchiha?" Tsume asked coldly after a long moment of silence, supporting Shiroi firmly.

With one long, scathing glance at Sasuke, Tsume leapt up, carrying the semi-conscious Shiroi, and disappeared through the trees.

N

"Stop them," Sakura whispered, standing up slowly, almost disbelievingly, as her team stared into the darkness left behind. "He's…. going to die…"

Her face was as pale as a sheet. Shiroi's condition – he looked so perfect on the outside, and yet inside –

Unable to stand the thought any longer, the cherry blossom stepped forward, making to go after the duo, but was quickly blocked by Naruto and Tenten, both shaking their heads warningly, eying the Uchiha.

Sasuke still had his back to her as he sheathed his sword. His hands – no, his whole body – seemed to be trembling. Turning around, he stared straight at her, facing her squarely, his expression completely unreadable. The cherry blossom looked at him, confused, meeting his glassy, icy stare apprehensively.

Without another word, Sasuke raised a hand and slapped Sakura right across her cheek.

N

There! Finally done, the 33rd chapter!

(1)Sukiyaki: A Japanese steamboat-style dish.