A Soul's Salvation

A/N: Enjoy this newest chapter. Someone asked how old everyone is, well, I'd say that they are in their 19s- 21s. Basically, they are legal.

Next question....how does Sakura feel about Sasuke? Well, you will just have to read to find out. It's not that I hate Sasuke. I honestly don't, and in fact, have a one-shot with him in mind. I just need someone to be the heel in my fics, and since I don't have Inu Yasha over here to be it, I gotta use what I have. LOL

Ok, I think that does it for now. Read and review, and thank you very much for the reviews. They really inspire me.

~!~

Waving at the young messenger, Sakura watched as he grinned and then ran off to report to his superior about how his mission went. Glancing around, she was pleased to see that the village of Junaki was thriving and appeared happy.

However, when she saw the elder, who had finally told her to call him Anikumo, she took note that he appeared to be upset and quickly was at his side.

“It is good to see you, Anikumo-sama. I have heard that you are having some trouble.” She said, a small smile upon her lips.

The elder sighed and shook his head. “We know that there are three of them, and they appear to be bandits. However, we can't seem to catch them and have had three of our villagers injured when they tried to catch these people.” He murmured.

Sakura frowned. Looking around, she could see that all eyes were upon her, and she wondered what she should do in this situation. Well, she supposed that what she needed to do was find out exactly which villages were hit and try to determine if there was some kind of pattern in which the bandits were working in.

When she realized what the bandits were up to, after she looked at a map that had the villages that had been hit marked out, she smiled. Now, she could meet up with them, and demand some answers from them.

At least, that was what her plan had been. When she departed, she quickly made her way though villages, and finally came to a stop in the village she suspected would be the next target. Sure enough, she didn't have long to wait.

Three men came into the village and smirked as they took in their surroundings. Sakura, already unimpressed by the three, followed them silently, and mentally noted that they were not ninja, or if they were, they sucked.

She followed them into a small tavern and quietly took a seat in a dark corner. The men were loud, and were making comments about the young women who were doing their best to ignore them. However, when one of the men grabbed a young girl, who couldn't have been any older than fourteen, Sakura decided that she would step in.

Getting up and gripping the man's wrist in her hand, she allowed her chakra to flow and smiled grimly when she saw the man's pained look. Motioning at the girl to leave, she turned her green eyes to the startled men and quietly asked, “Are you the three assholes who have been terrorizing the villages around here?”

The leader, she supposed, stood up and smirked. “Who wants to know?”

Releasing the other man's wrist, she stood up to her full height and replied, “My name is Haruno Sakura, and I am the ambassador for the villages around here. Now, I will ask only once more, and then, I will get ugly with you. Are you the three who have been terrorizing the villages around here?”

The other two men stood up and towered over her, but she paid them no mind. Her eyes were focused on the first man, and widened slightly when she noticed that he had started to release a bit of his own chakra, meaning that she had been mistaken when she thought that they were not ninja.

“Well, shit.” Inner Sakura grumbled. “It never can be easy, can it?”

When the three men began to advance on her, Sakura flipped over the table behind her and hefted it up to throw at the men.

But, they were quick, and surrounded her. The first man pulled out a pair of gloves and smiled at her. “Well, it would appear, boys, that we need to teach this little bitch a thing or two about manners. Let's make it a lesson she doesn't soon forget.”

Sakura waited with baited breath, and when she felt the man behind her move, she ducked and began a series of hand signals. Finally, she released the newest jutsu that she had learned and allowed several balls of ice to form in her hands.

Throwing them at the men, Sakura took her chance to run from the village when the men began to slip on the ice. She knew that they would follow her, and she needed to get them away from the village, especially before she unleashed her full strength.

As she expected, the men followed her and she winced when she felt something penetrate her shoulder. However, she ignored the pain and made it to a clearing. When she turned to see the men step out of the trees, she smiled and quickly put on her own gloves.

“Ok, boys.” She said, her tone sickeningly sweet. “Now we are going to play this game by my rules, and when we are done, you will never want to step foot into valley again.”

The men laughed and then launched themselves at her. The fight only lasted for a few minutes, and when it was over, Sakura found that she was tired and that her body was begging for a rest.

Many of the village's occupants came into the clearing and quickly to her side. One of the men lifted her to her feet and quietly asked, “Are you alright, Ambassador?”

Nodding, Sakura said, “I'll be fine. I am heading back to Konoha, and I want these men jailed. Make sure to suppress their chakras. Without that, they are not much of a threat. They are to be held for trial.”

The man nodded, and watched as several of the other men surrounded the injured men and began the task of subduing them. When he turned to look at Sakura, he was shocked to see her gone, and that the only indication that she had been there was a single, floating sakura blossom that was slowly floating to the ground.

Reaching out, he allowed the blossom to fall into his hand and smiled. Signaling one of the younger men to him, he ordered the man to run to the head village and inform them that the threat had been dealt with and that the ambassador had left to return to her own village.

Once the messenger had left, he allowed his eyes to harden and stare into the eyes of the leader of the bandits, who had awoken to find himself tied and unable to summon his chakra. Gulping, he shivered a bit and whimpered, “Have mercy?”

~!~

Sakura sagged against a tree and sighed when she saw that she could see the gates that led into Konoha clearly. However, she grimaced when she felt that she had lost all feeling in her hands, and knew it would not be long until she lost consciousness.

Cursing herself, Sakura knew what had happened. The needle that had found its way into her shoulder was laced with a poison that was designed for its victim to lose feeling in their body, and lose consciousness, but because she was a trained medic, she was able to destroy a good part of the poison, but sadly, not all of it, thus resulting in her current situation.

She just couldn't find the strength, especially after teleporting herself near Konoha, to move, and allowed her body to slide down the tree. As her eyes began to close, she noticed that two blurs were moving quickly towards her and sighed. It was nice to be home.

~!~

Tsunade giggled and lifted her drink to her mouth. After all, she had a lot to celebrate, and winked at the blushing young man a few tables away from her. She realized that all of Konoha's ninjas were in attendance, with the exception of Sakura, and most of them looked happy.

But, it was Naruto's face that froze the smile upon her lips. The young man appeared to be a bit happier than he had in a long time, and she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he decided to move on from Sakura and found someone else. But, when he was joined by Kiba and Hinata, she shook her head and thought that the reason for his good mood was probably because the ramen shack had introduced a new flavor that he liked.

However, her good mood died when Iruka burst into the tavern and exclaimed, “Hokage-sama, I need you to come with me right now. You are needed.”

“Oh, for heaven's sakes.” Tsunade grunted. “What in the hell could be so important that it can't wait?”

Iruka noticed that the music had died and that all eyes were on him. Taking in a deep breath, he explained. “We found Haruno Sakura unconscious by the woods near the gates. Tsunade-sama, she appears to have been attacked and we can't get her to wake up.”

Tsunade was out of her seat in a flash, wobbled a bit, and when steady, ran out the door, her blond hair trailing behind her. She didn't know it, but she was being followed by nearly all of the ninja, including a certain blonde ninja, whose heart was racing, and a dark-haired ninja, whose eyes were now red, but hidden underneath his dark bangs.

Sliding to a stop and falling to her knees beside the younger ninja, Tsunade quickly looked the girl over and when she was satisfied that her injuries were not life-threatening, she took Sakura's hand in her own and loudly said, “Sakura! Sakura, I need you to open your eyes and look at me.”

When the younger woman didn't respond, Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she quickly looked the girl over once more and then sighed in relief at her findings. Patting the young woman's hand, she glanced over her shoulder at the large group behind her and said, “She'll be fine. It's a very gentle poison, designed for rendering the victim unconscious, but with no after-effects. After some sleep, she'll be good as new.”

Kakashi moved forward and quickly picked his former student, now friend, up. He was about to walked towards the village, but a loud voice snarled, “Get your fucking hands off of her! Right now!”

The crowd parted, and revealed an angered Nachito Akumitsa walking towards him. It was clear that the old man still didn't think highly of him, but he was determined not to let the old man goad him into another verbal match.

“She needs to be at home, in her own bed. She needs to recover her chakra, and I intend on seeing to it that she does it comfortably.” Kakashi said, his tone smooth.

Akumitsa was not impressed. Oh, he really hated this man, who clearly was trying to make up for the past by caring for her now. Well, too little, too late.

“I don't have any objection to her being taken home. I do, however, have an objection to you being the one to take her home.” He sneered, his eyes narrowing in challenge.

Seeing his chance, Sasuke stepped forward, but stopped when Hyuuga Neji stepped forward with Hinata behind him, and quietly said, “Now is not the time for this. Let us take her home. Besides, she is comfortable with Hinata, and it will be best if it is Hinata who undresses her and cares for her wounds.”

Kakashi nodded, and placed the younger woman in the arms of the Hyuuga prodigy. When the cousins disappeared, he turned and quietly said, “I know that I have made some very serious errors, especially concerning Sakura, but I do care for her. I would never allow anyone to harm her, and would give anything to change the past, but I can't. I know that I've failed, and even though she has said that she thinks that I am a good sensei, I have a lot to make up for. So, I will do that in my own way, with or without your blessings, but you are not going to keep me away from her, and if you do, I will not walk away from fighting you.”

Akumitsa crossed his arms and snapped, “Gee, if only you thought this way when she was younger, then she wouldn't have turned out the way she had. I don't know what kicked her in the ass to change her ways, but whatever it was, it was a good thing, and if I think, for even a second, that you are trying to undermine all of her hard work, or take credit for it, I won't let you walk away. I'll kill you before you can even attempt to call upon your chakra, but boy, I don't need chakra to kill you off. Ninja in my day relied on themselves, and were stronger for it. You are not in my class, nor are you in hers.”

Kakashi raised his eyebrow and then in true fashion, allowed his eye to crinkle and cheerfully said, “Well, I guess that also means that you are not responsible for how she turned out either, thank goodness. One grouchy asshole in the village is enough without making another one who had superhuman strength to go with it.”

Before the older ninja could reply, Kakashi reached behind him and whipped out his book, which told everyone that the copy ninja was done with the conversation. The old man glared at the younger man, but then turned and began to walk away. However, the corner of his mouth quirked up and a smirk.

Finally, the copy ninja understood.

~!~

Once Hinata and Neji arrived at Sakura's apartment, it had taken a couple of moments, but she finally found the key and quickly let them into the apartment.

Neji allowed Hinata to direct him towards the bathroom, and gently set Sakura down into the tub. Nodding at his cousin, he quickly left the room, closing the door behind him, and she got to work on undressing Sakura and then bathing her battered body.

Wincing at the deep injury to her friend's shoulder, Hinata washed Sakura's hair, and body, and was careful to clean the areas that were bruised and would need to be bandaged.

Once done, she placed a large towel over Sakura and called for Neji. When he arrived, she blushed and quickly said, “I need you to carry her into her bedroom, so that I can dry and dress her.”

The male Hyuuga blushed, but did as he was asked, and silently said a prayer of thanks for the towel not slipping while she was in his arms. Once he was out of the room, he let out the breath he had been holding and shook his head. How Naruto could stay away from her, especially now, was beyond him.

Everyone knew how the young man felt about her, but was purposely staying away from her, mostly out of pride. But, what the man didn't know was that on a few occasions, he had seen Naruto following the young ambassador, and had tried his best to gain her attention by altering his daily routine so that he could, conveniently, bump into her.

Neji snorted at just how stupid the man was being, in his opinion. If he was in Naruto's place, he would have put Sakura in hers, long ago. And, if it had been him, he wouldn't settle for gazing at her from afar, but rather, she would be in his arms with a firm understanding that the only hand raised by either of them would be loving.

However, he had decided long ago on another, and was currently waiting for the right moment to make his move, and Kami help a certain green-clad male if he got in the way.

When the door to the bedroom finally opened, Hinata stepped out and bit her lip. “I am not comfortable with leaving her. Do you suppose I should stay here, with her?” She asked, and turned her eyes to look into a pair that were an identical match for her own.

Neji shook his head and gently said, “No, I think that we need to let her be. We will come back in the morning to check on her, and if she is not awake, we will deal with the situation then. She is used to being alone, and I think that to have someone invade her personal space, and seeing her in a weakened state, would upset her.”

Hinata sighed and nodded her head in defeat. She knew that he was right, but that didn't stop her from worrying. But, she followed her cousin out of the door and quietly closed it behind her, locking the door and pocketing the key. After all, she did need a way to get into the apartment in the morning.

~!~

“You can come down now. Everyone is gone.” Kakashi said, his voice soft. When the young man dropped down before him, the copy ninja glanced up and shook his head.

“As much as I'd love to know what in the hell happened, I don't think that she will be waking up any time soon to answer questions.” He said, knowing full well what the young man was thinking.

Scowling, Naruto glared at the ground and snapped, “What if baa-chan is wrong? What if there is something wrong with her, and no one see it, and she ends up dying in the middle of the night?”

Lifting a silver eyebrow, Kakashi asked, “What happened to you not caring about her? I thought that she was too violent for you to handle.”

With eyes flashing, Naruto was up in his former sensei's face quicker than the older man could blink. “That isn't any of your fucking business.” He snapped.

“I see.” Kakashi mused. “If you still care for her, then tell her. What if she did die, and you never told her? Could you live with yourself knowing that you could have brought her comfort in knowing that she had you, and instead, she died believing that you hated her?”

Growling, a hand ran though bright, blonde hair, but then a weary sigh escaped him and he plopped to the ground.

“You know, a couple of weeks ago, I could have told you that I never wanted to see her again, but ever since baa-chan's meeting, when she offered to be the escort, she seemed different, and I began to see a side of her that I have never seen before.” Naruto softly said. “Kakashi, I do love her. I think that I always have and always will, but I am so damned angry at her for hitting me, and belittling me that I just can't bring myself to make the move necessary to move on from this stale-mate that we have going.”

Nodding, Kakashi sat down beside the young man and calmly said, “Even if you don't tell her that you love her, would you be able to live with the knowledge that she died knowing that you didn't care for her, even as a friend? I must tell you....it's a large load to carry, and will be with you for the rest of your life, even if do you find another woman to love.”

Naruto didn't speak, but did whip his head to stare at the man when he calmly asked, “Or, could you live with the sight of seeing her in someone else's arms and walk away, just because she believed it was what you wanted?”

“What in the hell do you mean by that?” Naruto thundered, his voice echoing throughout the forest behind them.

“I mean,” Kakashi explained, “That Sakura is a beautiful woman, who is now holding a large amount of power, and will be irresistible to many men, Sasuke included, especially since his engagement to Ino is dangerously close to being called off.”

Naruto's mouth hung open and he shook his head in disbelief. “Sasuke wouldn't....he couldn't.” He said, though it came out unsure.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book. This was going to take a while, it seemed. “Yes, he would, and he will. Ever since he killed his brother, Sasuke's new goal is to reestablish his clan, and he is going to want someone who can match him in power and in status. Sakura already had the power, but now, she has the status to match. Being the ambassador to valley has strengthened her in the eyes of this village, and her word is taken pretty strongly. In fact, she is considered a very hot prospect by the noble bachelors of this village, and words is spreading like wildfire about her to other villages, and at the gala, she will be looked at and approached.

Sasuke chose Hinata, at first, because of her status, and then, when he had no one left, he chose Ino. However, I think that if she hadn't been so violent, Sasuke would have chosen Sakura, simply because he can be in a room with her for longer than ten minutes without wanting to kill her, and Ino would never have been considered. So, I can only assume that he is having serious thoughts about her, and will consider her as the best choice to bear him the children he desires. His sharingan and her strength combined would make some very powerful offspring.”

Naruto silently cursed himself when he realized that he never considered that Sakura could be approached by other men. He didn't want to watch other guys approach her, and try to seduce her. He'd probably end up killing someone if they so much as kissed her.

Kakashi patted him on his back. “I really don't think that you have too much to worry about, at least not right now. Sakura isn't in the right frame of mind to seek out someone else to love and I doubt that she is over you. So, you have time, but take some friendly advice....don't wait too long. If you do, then you only have yourself and your pride to blame.” He said.

Before Naruto could snap out a reply, the copy ninja was gone, and he was alone. Cursing under his breath, he got up and began to walk. But, when his feet stopped, he glanced up in surprise, and found himself in front of Sakura's building.

Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, he took in a deep breath and jumped until he came to her balcony. Knowing that she never locked the sliding door, he quietly let himself in and frowned when he heard soft noises coming from her bedroom.

What if Kakashi had been right, and Sasuke found his own way to Sakura's bed? What if Sakura awoke to find the former avenger in her home, and decided that it was time to move on from him? If so, then he would need to move on, and not look back, though the thought hurt.

Quietly, he made his way to her bedroom, and allowed his hand to slowly, quietly turn the knob. When the door opened, his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and found that Sakura was alone, in her bed, and from the looks of things, she was in the middle of a nightmare.

He made his way over to her bedside, and watched as tears streamed down her face, and winced when she whimpered. For once, that place inside of him that cheered when he saw her pain was silent, and his heart was thundering in his chest.

But, it was when she began to sob when he finally took action. Sitting down beside her, he allowed his hand to brush her bangs from her face and whispered, “Sakura, it's ok. You'll be alright.”

His voice seemed to comfort her slightly, but not enough to stop her tears. He slipped his hand underneath her head and brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “I'm here. You're safe, I promise.”

As he lifted his hand away from her forehead, he froze when she brokenly whispered, “Please.”

He took in a deep breath, and was about to place his hand back upon her forehead, but stopped again when she brokenly whispered, “Please, don't go. Don't leave. Everyone always leaves.”

When the words slipped past her lips, she began to cry again, and her entire body shook from the force. His eyes narrowed, and he wondered if the poison was more potent than baa-chan had stated. However, he shook the thought out of his head and bent down to yank off his sandals.

Then, he slid onto the bed and moved so that one of his arms were underneath her head, while the other held her closely to him. For a while, all that could be heard was her sobs and broken, unintelligible whispers, while he did his best to comfort her.

Finally, when her shaking and crying began to tapper off, he looked down into her face and felt his breath leave him as he watched the shadows dance across her face. Despite her crying and the fact that she was clearly sick from the poison, she was still beautiful.

And so, he sat there, beside her, all night and watched over her, helping her fight the demons that plagued her when she slept, and when morning finally came, he was relived to see that she had stopped sweating and had snuggled into his embrace.

Feeling her so close to him, he couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to fall asleep with her in his arms, without anything clouding their judgment or standing between them.

But, as the sun's rays lit up the room, he quietly sighed and knew that all things must come to an end. Besides, he still wasn't sure what he was going to do about the situation, and hadn't intended on staying the night with her. He didn't want her to wake up with him in her bed, and think that something had gone on, even though it had not, nor did he want to give her false hope.

Carefully, he removed himself from the bed, and watched as she moaned and then turned over so that her back was facing him. His eyes widened when he realized that she didn't have a shirt on, meaning that he had held her, and her bare chest had been pressed up against him, and he didn't even notice.

However, he needed to leave before she awoke, and so, he grabbed his sandals and quietly left the room, closing the door quietly and left the way he came. Once he was outside, he put his sandals on, and then looked back up at her balcony.

“Sweet dreams, Sakura.”

~!~

This last fight had been nasty. In fact, it got so bad that Sasuke finally told her that he didn't desire to marry her any longer, and to her shock, she found that she didn't care. She didn't care that she wouldn't become the Uchiha matriarch, nor did she care what people would think about her when they learned that she had been dumped, or in her view, released from prison.

She went home and calmly told her father that her wedding was off, and was shocked when her father slid down in his seat and said, “Thank Kami. Now things can get back to normal.”

When morning came, it found her snuggled within the embrace of one Nara Shikamaru, and to say that she was happy would be an understatement.

After the conversation with her father, she decided that she was going for a walk. She ended up at Shika's apartment, and when he invited her in, she stepped through the door, and quickly found herself pressed up against the door and being kissed within an inch of her life.

When she told him that her engagement was off, the young man silently nodded and lowered his head to allow his lips to stroke hers lazily. When she tried to take the kiss further, he leaned back, smirked and softly said, “You're so troublesome.”

Many would call him lazy. She, however, would call him thorough. So thorough, in fact, that he had her screaming his name over and over again as the night progressed, and when she awoke, she found that her throat was sore and the one who caused it was proudly smirking.

However, as she laid in Shika's arms, she couldn't help but wonder what Sasuke would do now. She was pretty sure that he knew that he would have to find another date for the upcoming gala, and she would be on Shika's arm, even though he had bitched about having to go when she told him about it. But, her thoughts wandered towards Sakura and if her friend would allow the Uchiha to escort her now that he was a free man.

While she didn't know what Sakura felt for the young man anymore, she was sure that Sakura wouldn't make things easy for him. If it was one things she knew, Haruno Sakura wasn't the type to forget those who snubbed her, nor was she the type to forgive so easily.

But, that also meant that she, too, would have to work especially hard to get back into Sakura's good graces, and she would make sure that, this time, her estranged friend knew that she would never turn her back to her again.

To Ino, it seemed that her dreams were coming true, and instead of it being the boy she had desired when she was a girl, it turned out to be the man beside her whom she desired as a woman. It was a nice feeling.

~!~

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist as he watched his former teammate walk away. It was clear to him that the blonde man had spent the night in Sakura's apartment, but from the looks of things, nothing happened. If it had, the man would be wearing a grin that would have split his face.

Allowing his eyes to move back over to Sakura's balcony, he was about to jump onto it and enter the apartment, but a soft voice stopped him.

“Don't even think about it, Uchiha.”

~!~

Theme for this chapter is....

Hush now dont cry
Wipe away the teardrop from your eye
Youre lying safe in bed
It was all a bad dream
Spinning in your head
Your mind tricked you to feel the pain
Of someone close to you leaving the game of life
So here it is, another chance
Wide awake you face the day
Your dream is over...or has it just begun?

Queensrych-silent lucidity