The Cherry Blossom Blooms Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Decisions

"She's amazing."

Hidan's voice rang clear against the clang of metal.  All of the Akatsuki member's had their eyes on the scene in front of them. No one could even disagree with Hidan,because they knew what he had said was true.

It had been a few minutes since the fight had began and Sakura had already taken out 15 of Sasori's puppets. Factor in the condition she was in, it was amazing that she could've taken 1 out, let alone 15.

"You know Yahiko, she would've been perfect as an Akatsuki member."

Yahiko only nodded in agreement. It was true that the girl was strong...but the interesting trait of hers, was that she seemed to be enjoying the thrill of the fight. It was not often that one comes across a female that lives off of the adrenaline that can only be obtained when forced to fight for one's life.

"Impossible. She is too precious for you imbeciles to have her. If I had my way, she would still be in my care, hidden away from the world."

All eyes turned to Orochimaru. His obsession for the girl was unnerving to say the least.

Sasuke recalled the events that Sakura relayed about her life with Orochimaru. Anger began to course through his veins. Orochimaru had no right to do that to her and Sasuke would be damned if he allowed Orochimaru to take Sakura away again.

"Your concern for this girl is fascinating, yet you were the one who inflicted all of those injuries on her, making it difficult for her to fight. What a contradiction."

"Itachi, you've become quite talkative. Why is that?"

Itachi sighed in response before turning his attention back to the fight.

"If she dies Orochimaru, know that her death will be on your hands."

"Hmph. She will not die. I will not allow it."

"Some things are out of your control."

Orochimaru clicked his teeth together before turning his attention back to his little cherry blossom.

"She is not going to die."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sakura dodged one of the puppets incoming attacks. She pivoted on her right leg, catching the puppet off guard. That split second was all she needed. Sakura grabbed the puppet's hand, and hurled it at the next group of puppets that were trying to surround her.

"Damn..."

It was getting hard for her to breathe and her strength was dwindling. It seemed the stab wounds from earlier were finally taking it's toil on her.

"Had enough?"

Sakura glared at Sasori who had a smirk on his face. She responded by flicking Sasori off. That only irked him more. I need to analyze the situation. I can't waste anymore energy, especially if I want to fight Orochimaru. Sakura turned her attention to the alcove. Orochimaru was sitting on his chair, observing the fight with a smile on his face. His entire demeanor pissed Sakura off.

"Che."

Ok, the benefit of being a puppet user was that the puppet master was spared from doing any actual fighting. He or she only needed to focus their energy on controlling the puppet's movements. This means that it is highly likely Sasori is weak when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. Sakura recalled her fight with him a few weeks back. It only took one hit to knock him out. The bigger problem were the puppets. There were too many and it would be difficult for her to get close to him...unless...

"Have you realized you can't win? Better get up now, I don't want to kill you...but you would make a beautiful puppet."

"Can't you be more like your puppets and shut the hell up?"

A burst of laughter broke the tension between Sasori and Sakura. Both of them turned their attention to Hidan who was having a laughing fit.

"Hahaha...you are f**king hilarious. Hurry up and kick his ass so you can be my girl...OWW!! What the hell was that?"

"Ahh sorry Hidan...your scythe slipped and it stabbed you in the ass."

Hidan glared at Sasuke who had an innocent look on his face.

"How did that happen??? Someone must have done it on purpose....Kakuzu!!"

"Che. I didn't do it, although I would love to thank whoever did."

"Who else would do that to me? Damn stingy bastard. Just because I took some money from you..."

"It was you? You f**king idiot! Until you pay me back, I will be adding a 99.9% interest fee."

"No way in hell would I pay it back! Besides it's not like you don't have a hoard of cash buried under your..."

"I should just kill you know. I'm sure that bounty they have on your head will be more than enough to compensate."

"Just try. Sorry to tell you, I can't die!"

"All I need is your head. So hold still..."

An explosion interrupted their argument. The entire room began to shake as everyone reached for something to hold onto.

"What the hell?"

"Did you forget my little explosions?"

Sakura looked up to see Deidara smiling down at her.

"There goes all of your teammates!"

"No, they're still alive."

"How would you know."

"Because, I trust Naruto. He will not fail me...and Sai is there with him."

"Your confidence is amusing, but like I said, they are gone. It would be impossible for them to save all of the ANBU members..."

Deidara barely dodged a kunai that had brushed the side of his face.

"What the..."

"I said, they are still alive."

Deidara watched as Sakura turned away from him to resume the fight.

"Hmph. It doesn't matter, you will be joining them shortly."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, is everyone okay?"

Kakashi brushed the dirt off of his clothes. They were lucky that Naruto had warned them about the explosion.

"Yeah, my team's safe."

"That's a relief. I don't think I could face Sakura if you had died."

"Don't worry Naruto, it takes a lot more than a tiny bomb to kill Kakashi."

"Asuma! You're alright."

"Yeah, thanks to Sai here. Can't say the same for my team. Ino is unconscious, Choji inhaled too much smoke and Shikimaru...well he has his hands full trying to deal with his teammates."

"What about Guy?"

"...They are with Tsunade. We couldn't get to them in time. Tsunade said they will survive."

Kakashi sighed before running his fingers through his hair.

"We didn't factor in the fact that Orochimaru knew about the ANBU's plan of attack. If only..."

"Don't dwell on it Kakashi. Where is Kurenai and the Sakura?"

Naruto and Sai glanced at each other before addressing Asuma.

"Kurenai and her team are safe, we told them to move out of the castle in case there was a bomb there. Sakura...is inside fighting with the Akatsuki."

"WHAT?!!"

Naruto couldn't face Kakashi.

"It was all planned. The Akatsuki were waiting for us and Orochimaru was with them. I was so careless."

"Explain."

"Sakura pushed me out of the way and was pierced by a blade. Sai and I were then blocked off from her and we had to watch...as they..."

"As they what?"

Naruto remained quiet, forcing Sai to jump in.

"Orochimaru ordered Sasori to continue stabbing Sakura with the blade. After we found out that they had planted explosives at each entryway, Sakura told us to go warn the others. She was in bad shape when we left."

"...."

"Kakashi..."

"Let's move out."

Asuma placed an arm on Kakashi's shoulder as a sign of comfort.

"She'll be fine. After all, you taught her well."

Kakashi turned to look at Asuma before responding.

"I hope so."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Huff...huff...60 more to go."

Sakura's vision was getting blurry and it  was difficult for her to breathe.

"Heh, I'm not going to last."

Running a hand through her hair, Sakura observed the situation. It would be next to impossible to take out the puppets one by one, but if she could just get within range of Sasori...

"Sakura look out!!!"

4 puppets were trying to surround her. Sakura lunged at the one on her right, using her sai to cut the head off of the puppet. Taking her other sai, Sakura threw it at the puppet on her left. The sai lodged itself in the side of the puppet's neck, rendering it useless. The other two puppets lunged at Sakura, knocking her to the ground. Barely having enough time to regain herself, Sakura rolled away from the puppet's blade.

"Shit."

Getting back on her feet, Sakura swung her right foot, knocking the puppet to the ground. Using the momentum, Sakura punched the other puppet, the force of her punch knocked it against the wall, crumbling to the ground.

"Yeah!! Sakura you are so cool."

Trying to catch her breath, Sakura turned to face the group of people standing behind the glass wall.

"Kakashi, Asuma...you are safe."

Kakashi pushed the others away from the wall to get a better look at Sakura. She was in rough shape. Her clothes were ripped and blood stained her clothes, making her red shirt brighter than normal.

"Godammit....SAKURA! What are the extent of your injuries?"

"Relax Kakashi, it's nothing serious. Just a few stab wounds."

"...Just a few stab wounds..that is serious!"

Sakura rolled her eyes in response. She didn't want to worry Kakashi or Naruto for that matter. She saw the expression on his face and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Listen here, I am fine. You are no way responsible for this. Ok Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Sakura and saw a smile on her face. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, he knew she was in pain, and it was his fault.

"Naruto, it's not your fault..."

Naruto watched as Sakura fell to the ground. The smile was still on her face.

"SAKURA!!!!!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn, I hope she is still alive."

Hidan voiced Sasuke's thoughts as he tried to come to terms with what just happened. Sakura had collapsed on the ground and she wasn't moving. It didn't even look like she was breathing.

"She's probably dead."

Itachi's cold voice rang in the air.

"No....No! This can't be happening. Sakura is still alive. She can't die. "

Sasuke's thoughts were a mess. He didn't want this to happen to her. Even though she hurt him, she didn't deserve to die. He didn't want her to die. He couldn't imagine his life without her.

Itachi watched as his brother struggled to come to terms with his thoughts. Pulling him aside, Itachi threw Sasuke against the wall.

"What is wrong with you? Pull yourself together."

"Don't f**king touch me. How the hell can you stand there all calm when your girlfriend is dying?"

"I can control myself unlike you. Don't you think I want to do something??!!! My hands are tied."

Sasuke glared at Itachi who returned his glare.

"That's the difference between me and you. I would never tolerate this, and my hands aren't tied. Unlike you, I have no ties to this damn organization."

"What are you going to do?"

"Protect the girl I love. Since you can't do it, then I have to."

Itachi watched his brother walk away from him. It seems he has realized where his loyalty truly lies.

"Sakura, it seems my idiotic brother has finally made a decision."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sasori, go check on the girl. Tell me if she is dead or alive."

"Hmph as you wish, but she is probably dead."

"I said go check!"

Sasori flinched from the roar of Orochimaru's voice. Releasing his puppet strings, Sasori walked over to Sakura who was laying faced down on the ground.

"DON'T you dare touch her!!!"

Looking up, Sasori saw a silver haired man glaring at him from behind the wall.

"Heh, what can you do? Look, I can stab the girl all I want and you can't stop me."

To demonstrate, Sasori grabbed one of the discarded blades.

"NO! You damn bastard!!"

"Now, now. Name calling won't get you anywhere."

"Don't be so sure about that."

Sasori turned around to see Sakura standing beside him.

"Got you."

With all of her remaining energy, Sakura punched Sasori in the face, knocking him back against the wall barricading Kakashi and the others.

"Damn."

Was Sasori's response before he blacked out.

"Sakura!!"

Hearing her name, Sakura walked over to Kakashi and the others. Kakashi's expression was a mixture of surprise and concern.

"I thought you were..."

"Not yet. It was a trick someone taught me."

Sakura looked at Naruto who was still in shock.

"Isn't that right, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Sakura and smiled.

"Hell yeah!"

"Sorry to interrupt your happy reunion, but you are in the middle of a fight."

Sakura turned around to see a gun pointed at her face.

"What the hell?"

Sasuke saw the shocked expression on Sakura's face. He didn't know what his expression was, but he was relieved that Sakura was still alive.

"Move."

Sakura stared at Sasuke a bit before stepping aside.

"What are you doing...."

Before Sakura could finish her statement, Sasuke shot at the wall, emptying the entire clip.

"Step back."

Sasuke held an arm in front of Sakura to shield her from the glass.

"Seems you are good for something."

Kakashi brushed past Sasuke and grabbed Sakura for a hug. He quickly examined her injuries.

"I knew it wasn't anything. You've lost a lot of blood. Hell, it is amazing that you can stand."

"Well, you know that I've always been a stubborn one."

"Hmph."

Sakura turned her attention back to Sasuke who was standing to the side away from everyone.

"What do you think you are doing."

Sasuke paused for a minute before responding.

"What I want."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What the hell is he doing?

"It seems Sasuke has betrayed the Akatsuki. It was expected. After all he is in love with the girl."

"WHAT?? Why am I only learning about this now?"

Orochimaru turned to look at Itachi who was quiet.

"I see, it seems your affection for your brother has lead you to keep information from me."

Still no response from Itachi.

"Let me ask you Itachi, where do your loyalties lie? With the Akatsuki or your brother."

A moment passed before Itachi replied.

"The Akatsuki."

"Prove it."

"What do you propose?"

Orochimaru smiled before responding.

"Kill your brother."