Run. That's all she can think about. Don't stop. Don't turn back. Not for anything. Don't think about them. Just run. Faster. Faster. She pushed more chakra into her feet and continued on.

The trees flew past her in a blur as she ran, faster and faster. She could hear the swift sound of footfalls behind her, twenty or so in all. Everything had gone so wrong, everything had turned out wrong.

A simple B-rank mission, an in and out, recover and return. All this for a scroll, a scroll so old that no one can remember what secrets it contains. Sakura could remember it perfectly, how the sixth Hokage Kakashi had called her to his office with a mission. A simple B-rank retrieval, a squad consisting of her, Kiba and Akamaru, and TenTen. Simple, that's what it should have been. But it all went wrong.

Something, she suspected a paper bomb, exploded somewhere on her left. The force of the blow knocked her into a tree. She swore under her breath as she continued on, her ribs screaming. She knew she had at least three broken ribs, if not more, but she didn't have any extra chakra to heal it. Everything she had was going into escaping.

The village had been easy enough to sneak into, getting past the guards was child's play. But there was no mob boss, no black scroll with a white dragon on the side. Just a net and a shit ton of explosives. Kiba had been injured. Tenten had deflected most of the first blast, but one got her on the leg. Kiba and Akamaru had to retreat with her under the cover of the smoke. She had convinced them that she would be okay, that she would lay a fake trail, that she would meet them back at the village.

She couldn't allow herself to be caught, she wouldn't allow it. There were people waiting for her back in the village, people who needed her. She dodged a kunai and ran left. She knew a moment too late that that was a mistake. They were waiting for her; it was an ambush.

She fought like a wildcat, barely allowing herself time to breathe. She needed to get back to the village; she needed to rendezvous with Kiba and TenTen. A sword bit into her bicep, but she barely noticed its stinging cut. She was too focused.

Punching and kicking, dodging and running, that all she could do. These ninja weren't run of the mill. They fought and moved like professionals, and had to be at least jonin level. She fought with all of her might, but she felt her movements become slow, her arms heavy, her vision blurred. She dropped to her knees, fighting to stand up again. She couldn't.

Damn it! I can't… die here… I…can..'t….here….. Sakura blacked out.