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neraawritesxx · 2 years

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the paths we walk (and the journeys we travel)

pairing: kakashi x sakura genre: romance, drama, adventure word count: 5,657 rating: mature chapter: 2/?

↬ note: read part one here! read part three here!

Her wrists are rubbed raw before the end of the first day.

She keeps chafing at her restraints, tugging and twisting, even when blood trickles down her fingers. There’s a fit of burning anger low in her belly—some for her captors, most for herself. She was careless, and now she’s watching one of her own nightmares play out before her.

Ino makes furious noises; they gagged her about an hour after she head-butted and bit a man. A flash of worried blue eyes meets hers as they drag Ino further into the camp. Sakura’s hands twitch in their bindings, but she doesn’t move otherwise. They initially threatened to hurt Sakura when Ino wouldn’t come quietly, and only the press of a knife to Sakura’s throat kept the blonde still long enough to put her into bonds.

TenTen handles things with a bit more grace. She complies with their rough manhandling, and when the three of them are bound appropriately, they are all separated to opposite corners of the clearing. TenTen doesn’t look back as she is led away, but Ino puts up a fight, much like Sakura expects. She kicks one of their captors near his groin, and the three men that are carrying her start to threaten that they will bind her legs as they haul her off to the southern part of camp.

Sakura closes her eyes and fights back another swell of emotion. She hates the feeling of helplessness; she hates being put on display like a prize to be won; most of all, she hates knowing that the people looking for her are probably desperate by now. Tsunade will be frantically trying to retrace her steps and figure out why they didn’t return after the ceremony. She and Shizune will probably use all of their resources to try and find them.

Sakura hates that she is the reason they’re here – that both Ino and TenTen must suffer through whatever trials lay before them. She might as well have paved the way for their capture.

Sakura doesn’t know how far they’ve traveled from the Citadel while they were initially unconscious, but she assumes it’s far enough for her captors to feel confident that they do not need to rush to their next destination.

They’ve been in this makeshift camp for most of the afternoon, and it does not look like anyone is particularly in a hurry to keep pressing on.

“Stop struggling,” one of the men murmurs. He’s not a large man, but he carries himself with the kind of confidence that makes people cower. He sits beside her, back pressed against the tree she’s tucked under. One hand rests on his upraised knee, and the other indolently toys with a heavy throwing knife. Around and around, she watches the metal glint.

He’s the first person to speak directly to her, something that’s not a threat or malicious sneer. She doesn’t recognize him as the one she woke to, nor is he one of the original men who captured them back at the Citadel. He has longer hair than the rest, secured away from his face by a low ponytail. The air about him is calm, calmer than the other men in this camp. Most are on edge, but this man appears relaxed, in his element. Sakura doesn’t know if that thought frightens or fascinates her.

“What do you want with us?” She ventures to ask.

He spares her a glance but offers no reply. The throwing knife he was spinning suddenly stops, and he pushes himself up from his sitting position. Once standing, he catches the attention of one of the passing clan members with a nod.

“Keep an eye on her,” the man states calmly and disappears further into camp.

Sakura watches his back as he walks away, how the camp seems to ebb and flow around him, and how specific individuals bow their heads as he passes.

Sakura comes to the inevitable conclusion that this man is the one in charge.

-o-

Traveling as a captive in ceremonial garb soon proves to be a benefit rather than a risk.

She trips over her skirts frequently and slows the lot of them down just enough that Sakura thinks that if Tsunade was able to send out a search party, there might be a chance for them to catch up. She does not get to see her plan to fruition, however, because the same man who was sitting with her yesterday afternoon appears beside her, halting the entire troop.

He stares down his nose at Sakura, his face an expressionless mask. She becomes uneasy under his fixated gaze and fights the unyielding urge to fidget. He bends at the knees, coming to a kneel at her side. From seemingly nowhere, he produces the kunai he seems so fond of. He reaches out with his free hand and gathers the materials of her skirts together.

“Hey, buddy, watch those hands,” she hears Tenten snark. Sakura can hear Ino yelling from behind her gag.

His nose crinkles like he is uncomfortable with the notion of what TenTen is implying. With the knife, he hacks away at the material of her dress, careful enough not to nick her in the process but sloppily enough that her skirts are in tatters and the hem is uneven. He appears content with his task when her calves become visible.

He sheathes the knife and stands, staring at her for a long moment.

“No one is coming for you. That I can promise. Now stop trying to slow us down.”

Foreboding slithers up Sakura’s spine.

He beckons the rest of the group with a nod before they start traveling again.

-o-

Dawn is only a faint promise in the sky by the time they finally reach what Sakura deems as the base of operations.

They have traveled far enough down the mountains that the high canyon walls rise to meet them. It keeps the group wrapped in shadows and hidden from enemy sight. The walls contain multiple alcoves, deep enough to shelter a few people. She notes one larger cave, sitting further from the rest, one that they are leading her towards.

The air outside is still cool at this hour, making the heat that greets them as they climb into the small, enclosed space feel all the more stifling. The smell of so many bodies packed close together, unwashed and bristling with exhaustion, is enough to make Sakura dizzy, and for a moment, she becomes faint.

Bone tired, Sakura is led on dead feet to the closest wall, and she welcomes the press of the cold stone into her back. Her guard must feel that her fatigue outweighs the desire to run because he leaves her to her own devices. It’s not like she would get very far, even if she attempted to. Not with the amount of Uchiha within this cave. She doesn’t know where Ino and TenTen are; they were separated upon their descent into the ravine. Based on their terrain, she surmises they have traveled southeast and are currently somewhere between Quarryquest and Boulderfall.

Too far from the Citadel, she thinks. Too far from the north and the mountains that she calls home.

She watches the group and rests, observing as her captives stack the supplies they're carrying into a pile before parting and making their way to unoccupied corners in the cave. They all slide heavily to the ground, voicing their exhaustion to one another. It serves them right.

A flask is passed around, some pulling longer drafts than others before passing it on. Some wince as the harsh liquid burns its way down their throats, though others take it without so much as a flinch. The two who don’t seem to partake with the rest are the Uchiha whom she believes is ruling this roost, and the man who threatened Tsunade earlier on the morning of her kidnapping.

She feels the envoy has been avoiding her or any direct contact with her. Where others have purposely made her travel difficult, he focused most of his attention on Ino and TenTen instead. She has felt his eyes follow her, however. Like he is captivated by her but appears afraid to approach her. Afraid of what, she does not know.

The other, the leader, does not seem to share the same sentiment. He stares at her openly, though his gaze is shuttered. While some look at her like she is a treasure they have won, he looks at her like she is a puzzle, calculating and inquisitive.

Sakura takes a deep breath and feels it settle into the hollow of her chest. She feels the ever-present crawling cloying claws of anxiety churning in her gut. Her world has been turned upside down in the span of a few days, and the reality of that situation starts to carve its finality into her bones.

She is forced to partake in a quick meal with her captures. They feed her what she believes are the oldest rations in the bunch – dry and fruitless in their taste. When they are finished, Sakura closes her eyes, trying to relax. The only sounds in their cave are breathing, of bodies shifting against the hard-packed earth in search of more comfortable positions. Once or twice, she hears muffled whispers, and a few people come and go from their resting spot, exiting the cavern to partake in their rounds.

Her consciousness sinks into the cracks between wakefulness and sleep, and the white noise of remembrance drowns out the sounds of her captors. The ghosts of her past rise up to haunt her in her daze. The faces of those who lost their lives during the ceremony parade behind her eyelids, some accusing, most of them indifferent. She shies away from them, refusing to let them hold any power over her. Their faces blur, and their voices fade, but guilt is a tricky emotion. It seeps under her skin, drawing her fear to the surface.

Yet the very emotion, her fear, is nothing but a momentary impulse, and it carries no actual weight or expectation. She knows this is not her fault. Struggling for survival has distilled everything into simpler shades, and there will be no middle ground. They are here; they must survive – have to survive. And they will, by any means necessary.

She can do this. She has to do this, needs to, because even after the enormity of what she has survived thus far, so very much was lost.

And she will not lose another damn thing.

With that thought, she welcomes the abyss of sleep.

-o-

The press of something wet and cold to her cheek wakes her a few hours later.

Her eyes blink open, and the world is a blur. A white mass hovers over her, and as her gaze adjusts to her surroundings, Sakura becomes aware that she is face to face with a giant, growling dog.

Panic grips her momentarily, but before she can wriggle away from the beast, a voice cuts through the silence of the cave.

“So, this is the girl everyone is so worked up about?”

Her eyes trail behind the animal to find someone standing there. He holds himself proudly, chest out and hands on his hips. He’s lean, well-muscled, from what she can tell, and she estimates that he is at least a head taller than her. He is dressed in furs much too heavy for this type of climate – which means he was not from The Whisperwood. A clan from The Northreach Wilds, then. He has shaggy brown hair, tan skin, and two identical red stripes running down his face.

“Inuzuka,” she hisses, pressing herself further against the cave wall.

Their new guest barks out a laugh, “You’re a smart one. Akamaru, come.”

At his owner’s command, the dog sits back on its hind legs, but the growling does not cease. It eyes Sakura like she is its next meal, and she fights down the impulse to squirm under their dual gaze.

“Kiba,” someone calls from the opposite side of the cavern. Emerald eyes slide to clash onyx. Her head captor comes into view, nonchalant in his stance.

“Itachi,” the Inuzuka – Kiba, she corrects – greets. Itachi Uchiha. So that was his name. She has heard that name before. Where has she heard that name before?

“The first heir to the Uchiha clan?” Sakura asks aloud, remembering the family tree tucked away in the pages of one of the tomes she had read on the clans last year. “You mean to tell me the Uchiha clan sent their heir to kidnap a member of the Citadel?”

Kiba whistles, a low, sultry tune. “Two for two, Pinkie. Not that I would expect anything less from Tsunade’s little pet.”

Her eyes narrow at his nickname, and fury boils low in her belly. “Watch your tone, dog.”

Kiba’s smug and teasing demeanor melts away, giving way to anger. He growls, sounding like his canine companion, and clenches his hands at his sides. He takes a menacing step towards her, then another, before his path is cut off by Itachi, who steps gracefully between them. Itachi places a hand on Kiba’s chest and pushes him back a step.

“Leave her be,” is all the long-haired Uchiha states.

Kiba’s eyes never stray from Sakura’s face, and she can see his frustration at being stopped, the ire at her comment, and something that tells Sakura that their little verbal spar will be far from forgotten. She does not know what he is capable of, but she has heard the Inuzuka clan are relentless in their torment of others and messy in their way of fighting. It’s how they put on a show. They attack in droves, like a pack of wild animals, easily outnumbering many villages in strength and numbers. She has not seen the aftermath of one of their raids with her own eyes, but she remembers Tsunade getting a verbal report on it from one of the traveling merchants that had come to the Citadel to trade wares. Not one survivor left, and the village had been burned to the ground.

After what feels like a small eternity, Kiba relaxes his stance. He runs a hand through his hair, and then that arrogant smirk returns.

“You’ve got more fight in you than I expected,” Kiba says, almost proudly. “Then again, so did your mentor right before Akamaru took a bite out of her.”

It was Sakura’s turn to snarl. She pushes herself off the cave wall and attempts to get her legs underneath her. She doesn’t make it very far because the dog – Akamaru, as Kiba has been calling him – sits back up and barks. A warning. She stops mid-couch, hands still tied behind her back, and moves not an inch further. She flashes a glower in the Inuzuka’s direction.

“You lie,” she spits. “My mentor would never fall to the likes of you and that mutt.”

“Enough of this,” Itachi’s voice cuts in, raised to a higher volume than she has seen within the last few days. Kiba looks like he is about to retaliate, but one glance from Itachi stops him dead in his tracks.

“Shisui,” Itachi calls, and suddenly there is a second Uchiha by his side. She recognizes him as the envoy and the same man who has been avoiding being within a five-foot radius of her since she has been taken. “Take her and put her with the others. I need a report from Kiba on the attack.”

Shisui looks uncomfortable with the request but does not challenge his heir on the granted task. He pushes past the other two men, grabs Sakura under her arm, and hauls her to her feet. She wobbles unsteadily for a second, but with Shisui’s help, she doesn’t fall flat on her ass. Once she is stable and standing on her own, he leads her out of the cave.

-o-

“You’re the same one from the nightly prayer,” Sakura states. It comes out more like an accusation, and this man flinches as if it were one. “You’re also the envoy that came to beg for help the morning you kidnapped us.”

He doesn’t agree or disagree. He keeps his hand steady on her elbow, guiding her into the cool morning air. She shivers once, adjusting to the new temperature, and he leads her down into the canyon a little further, towards a cluster of stone alcoves.

“What do you want with us anyway?” Sakura continues to speak. “You can’t expect us to believe that you’re kidnapping healers just to help with the war. It’s redundant to seek help from those you intend to harm.”

“We don’t intend to harm you,” he finally answers.

“Then what do you want from us? Why go through all of this? We won’t help you, not willingly.”

Shisui sighs, and he observes her from the corner of his eye. Sakura would say that he looks almost remorseful for their actions, but she knows that cannot be true. It must be a trick of the light, as her eyes haven’t fully adjusted to the morning sun.

“Your gift is something special,” he states. “Something that should be shared with people.”

“We do share it,” she counters. “We share it with anyone in need. That is what the Citadel was built for.”

“But not with us,” Shisui corrects.

“It’s not for war,” she amends. “We heal those who are victims of your conflict, not aid the ones who are fighting.”

His stride slows down a fraction, and Shisui looks like he is warring his own internal struggle. His lips part like he is about to say something, but then they snap shut. She can hear the click of his teeth and sees his jaw tense, but he doesn’t directly reply. As they venture closer to the alcoves, she can see other Uchiha lining the entryways, but more are standing in front of the cave in the middle. Ino and TenTen must be in that one.

“We need your gift,” he says as they arrive. “For more than just the battles or the fighting. We have something we need your skills for, and you’re the only one besides your mentor who can help us.”

“And what is that exactly?” She inquires, brow raised.

“Just keep an open mind,” is all he declares, avoiding her question entirely. He passes her off to the other Uchiha without so much as a backward glance.

-o-

“Are you alright?” Ino asks when she is pushed to a sitting position in the cave. The guards leave the three of them to their own devices, choosing to stand outside the cavern’s entrance than be in their company. Sakura doesn’t know how Ino convinced them to un-gag her, but she is glad to hear her friend’s voice.

“I’m fine,” Sakura assures. “What about you two?”

“A few bruises but nothing permanent,” TenTen replies.

All three wiggle in close to one another, needing the comfort of personal contact. As she presses her shoulder into Ino’s, Sakura sighs and feels the warmth of TenTen’s thigh against her own.

After a moment of companionable silence, Sakura questions, “Have you been able to piece together anything?”

“They attacked the Citadel,” TenTen murmurs quietly. “We haven’t been able to hear much in terms of details, but the skirmish left several on our side and their side dead. The guards have been talking about it all day.”

Ino nods as if affirming that information, then states, “There were two teams, one that attacked the Citadel and another that came after us when the ceremony started. The distraction of the attack is how we got taken without anyone noticing.”

“The Inuzuka are working with the Uchiha,” Sakura adds. “I just had a run-in with one of them.”

“The northern beast-men tribe?” Ino asks, astounded.

Sakura hums her confirmation. “There’s more. The heir to the Uchiha clan is here. He’s the one calling the shots.”

“They sent the heir to kidnap someone from the Citadel?” TenTen questions, tone disbelieving.

Sakura snorts. “I asked that very same question.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Tenten replies. “The clans have never been interested in Tsunade or our healers. Their war has been going on for years.”

Ino scrunches her nose, jutting out her chin. “We would never get involved with their conflict to begin with.”

Sakura nudges the blonde’s shoulder gently. “No, we wouldn’t,” she assures, calming Ino. “How many days has it been since we’ve been taken?”

“Almost three,” TenTen answers. “Two full nights, and we’re approaching the third. They’ve been leading us southeast.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Sakura remarks. “They’re leading us towards Quarryquest.”

Ino repeats, “Quarryquest? That’s not near their lands. Their lands are to the south, near the Riveria Woods.”

“I know that, Pig,” Sakura grumbles in return. “I don’t know why they’re keeping us north of our destination. Unless they don’t plan to take us back to their village.”

“There is someone else. They keep talking about her,” TenTen chimes in. “Another girl. One of the guards was saying something about how her party was late to arrive. They were supposed to meet us here.”

“Another healer?” Asks Sakura, but TenTen shrugs her shoulders.

“They could have possibly kidnapped another girl from one of the villages nearby. It’s not unheard of for healers to live outside the Citadel. Rare but not entirely unlikely,” Ino reminds them.

“Tsunade would have traveled to the village if she caught wind of it. I’m surprised that person wasn’t brought to the school,” Sakura mumbles under her breath, lost in the thought of another healer being brought to camp.

TenTen asserts, “Maybe she isn’t born with a gift. Maybe they want her for another purpose.”

It’s Ino’s turn to snort. “I highly doubt that.”

“What could they possibly want with all of us?” Sakura ventures.

“What they want with you,” TenTen corrects primly. “I think we’re just collateral damage.”

“I second that,” Ino interjects.

“I do know one thing,” Sakura says. “We are in this together. Until the very end.”

TenTen and Ino nod their agreement.

-o-

After that, things quieted down for a while; each one was lost in their thoughts. Sakura chooses to spend the time trying to relax, to prepare for what is to come, but rest eludes her for the remainder of the morning. More often than not, the slightest noise or a pass of one of the guards jerks her awake. The canyon bakes within the midday sun, and the humid heat enveloping the cave makes it hard to unwind fully. She would like to keep her senses sharp, but the lack of stimulus and her exhaustion from not sleeping most of the last three days makes it somewhat tricky. They are fed a simple meal of rationed water and granola bars midway through the day, but other than that, the majority of the Uchiha leave them be.

If she cannot rest, she will observe and listen and gather as much information about their situation as possible. She cannot hope to be rescued. She knows that wishing for anything is foolish – hope is an illusionary thing at best and cruel at worst. She has learned the utter futility of prayers, especially after residing at the Citadel for most of her life.

The guards mostly talk about the kidnapping and that night’s skirmish that left many of them dead and even more broken. She has a swell of pride in the thought of her home and its defenses. They also talk about their missing party members and how they are a day late to arrive. Some speculate that they are not coming at all; others make it seem like they are only delayed because they’re traveling to the ravine from the east, and the terrain is not easy to traverse on a good day, let alone with a captive.

Sakura doesn’t see the Itachi, Kiba, or Shisui that afternoon. She keeps a specific lookout for any of them, for a familiar face that she can question, but they never arrive. She might not get any information from Itachi or Kiba, but she feels that Shisui will break if she tries hard enough. He seemed to be the easiest of the three to communicate with.

When the sun starts to set below the horizon, there is a commotion outside their alcove. At first, there is yelling, and a wave of apprehension seems to still the majority of the guards, then some of the clan members run past their alcove to the entrance to the ravine. There’s more commotion, orders being barked, and Sakura hears a distinctly female voice above the rest.

“You’ll regret this,” the voice growls, the unveiled threat evident in their tone.

“Trust me, we already do,” one of the Uchiha replies, annoyed. “Not be quiet, or you’ll be gagged again.”

There’s more verbal sparring as the voices grow closer to their shared space, then shadows fill the entryway. TenTen perks up from her position, interested in the commotion, but Ino remains lax at Sakura’s side. The blonde hasn’t said much within the last few hours, which under normal circumstances would concern Sakura, but given their current situation, she is not surprised that Ino is so lost within her own musings.

After a scuffle of movement and a shift of bodies, a girl is deposited into the cave. She is tossed half on TenTen, causing the brunette to hiss in pain as her legs are squished. While gathering her bearings, Sakura takes a moment to assess their new arrival.

She has flaming red hair, a petite frame, and dark-rimmed glasses covering most of her face. She is dressed in odd clothing, something not from this region. She has male breeches on, though they appear loose fitting, flowy, like a martial artist’s pants rather than a traveler or a villager. She’s also wearing a plain cotton top, lavender in color, with a black swirling pattern stitched into both sleeves. The clothing is too big, hanging heavily off her frame.

Before Sakura can scrutinize anything further, their newcomer speaks up.

“What are you staring at, Pinkie?”

Ino kicks out her foot in retaliation for the nickname. “Watch the way you speak to her, Red.”

“Enough with the nicknames, for Christ’s sake,” TenTen intervenes, attempting to quell the brewing storm. When everyone seems to take a collective breath, she asks, “Who are you? What’s your name?”

The woman seems initially uncomfortable with the question, and for a moment, Sakura thinks that she isn’t going to answer, but eventually, she speaks.

“I’m Karin,” she declares. “Karin Uzumaki.”

-o-

“Kidnapping a member of a rival clan seems low, even for the Uchiha,” Sakura observes.

“They’re kidnapping healers,” Karin snidely amends.

“No shit,” Ino replies.

TenTen shoots the blonde a scowl, and Ino rolls her eyes in retaliation. They glare at each other, but Ino’s shoulders slump slightly after a moment, signaling that the fight has left her for the time being.

Sakura raises a brow, her attention solely on Karin. “So, what? You’re saying that you’re a healer?”

“The only one in my village,” Karin answers, her pride evident.

“And where is that exactly?” Sakura asks.

She eyes Sakura after her question, seemingly gauging whether to disclose the truth or not. Their group must pass her internal test because Karin answers honestly after a moment’s hesitance. “Depends on the day. We move around quite a bit, given the circumstances.”

“You said you’re a member of the Uzumaki clan,” TenTen states. “Does that mean you know why the Uchiha are taking healers?”

Ino cuts in. “They took us because they need healers for their war,” she snarks. “What else could they possibly want Sakura for.”

Karin ignores the blonde’s comment and turns her attention towards TenTen. “She’s not wrong, you know. They do need healers. Healers amongst the clans are unheard of. Not only is it difficult to find due to our skill being rare among traditional bloodlines, but that master of yours has a habit of snatching up as many as she possibly can.”

“Watch the way you speak about Tsunade,” Ino growls.

“Ino, enough already,” Sakura snaps. She presses herself close to the blonde, nudging her harshly with her shoulder. “She’s not the enemy here. Last time I checked, we’re all prisoners. Settle down.”

Ino grinds her teeth, gnashing them together, but she doesn’t vocalize her frustration further. Content that her friend will not interfere any longer, Sakura turns her attention back to Karin.

“If they’re taking healers for the war, why kidnap multiple?” Sakura voices her confusion. “Though both of your clans are large in numbers, one prominent healer would be enough to care for an entire clan. Maybe two. They have three of us so far, and who knows how many more they will try and grab. So what do they gain with all of us?”

Karin quirks her head to the side and asks, “Have you heard nothing about the plague that haunts the Uchiha?”

All three mime one another, looking confused, and shake their heads in unison.

Karin smirks, knowing and cocky. Sakura becomes aware that this is most likely a staple in her personality.

“Those red eyes of theirs are a curse,” Karin starts. She nestles herself against the wall, grunting as she gets into a more comfortable position next to TenTen. “Did you notice that some of the Uchiha have red eyes?”

“Shisui’s eyes were red when we first met him,” Sakura murmurs. “But they were black earlier this morning.”

“It’s their gift,” Karin adds. “Like how we have a gift for healing. They have a gift passed down in their clan. It’s called the Sharingan. However, their gift comes with a price. The longer they use their power, the bigger the burden it causes their eyes.”

“Then why use it at all?” Ino inquires, breaking her silence.

Karin lifts one of her shoulders, letting it drop heavily. “It causes them to have the ability like foresight. They gain extreme perceptive abilities, but they can also copy the techniques of their opponents by merely watching them. There is a long list of reasons why their Sharingan is an extremely feared power. It’s a bitch to go up against in battle. However, it causes the user to go blind after a certain amount of time.”

“It causes them to go blind?” TenTen parrots. “What good is a skill that harms the user?”

“A severely coveted one. I’m not sure how it works, but there is a strain on the ocular muscles, and eventually, the user goes blind.”

“You think they took us to help them with the curse, don’t you?” Sakura asks.

Karin smiles, wide and toothy. “I know they did. They didn’t need this many healers for the war. They could have settled with just one of us. But to have three? They need us for something else.”

There’s a bout of companionable silence, Sakura, Ino, and TenTen processing the information shared.

If that were the case, then the Uchiha would have been planning this raid for a significant amount of time. And Sakura comes to the inevitable conclusion that Tsunade must have known about this curse of theirs. This was most likely not the first time they had called on her mentor for help, but it seemed that it would be the last time they asked kindly. They must have been desperate at this point to go as far as to kidnap someone from the school.

“Why take someone from a rival clan, though?” Sakura asks, breaking the silence. “It seems counterproductive to the cause.”

“I was away on a mission by myself,” Karin states. “There is a village east of here with a horrible bout of illness. Our leader sent me there to check things out and help as best as possible. I was doing well for a few weeks, dressed as plainly as I could, didn’t stick out, tried to blend in, but it seems the Uchiha still caught wind of a healer in the village.”

“That doesn’t answer why they took you, though,” Ino points out.

“Who knows why,” Karin says with a shrug. “Another healer is another healer. I don’t even know if they are aware that I’m an Uzumaki.”

“They know,” Sakura states, confident in her assessment. “The one in charge, Itachi, doesn’t seem like the type to do things half-assed. He knows exactly whom his team took.”

Karin hums. “Maybe so, but they don’t realize the repercussions of what it means to take an Uzumaki.”

“Or members of the Citadel,” Ino interjects, chin raised.

And that’s when it starts.

It’s subtle at first. The quakes are nothing more than small vibrations. They could be chalked up to the enormity of people wandering around within the caverns. When they reach a magnitude where the ground starts shaking and pieces of debris start falling from the walls and ceiling, Sakura becomes aware that something else is happening.

“What the hell?” TenTen questions before yelling resonates from the ravine outside.

From what she can see, Uchiha are scrambling in every direction, some yelling for backup and others barking orders to keep guard around Sakura. It seems TenTen was right in her assertion. Sakura was the one they were looking to keep. Ino and Karin were expendable, it seems. What sounds like an explosion echoes throughout the ravine, and Sakura is thrown forward from her position, landing on Karin’s legs. The alcove shakes and groans with the strain on the rocks, and more dust and rubble settle on the four of them.

“Took them long enough,” the redhead states exasperatedly.

“What is happening,” Sakura screeches, looking up at Karin.

The new addition to their little group sends Sakura a look as if she’s asked the most ridiculous question in the world. “Can’t you tell? We’re being rescued.”

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