"The consequences of aching words" by Veronika-Chan/NikaChii.

A/N: While I apologize for the short length there is a reason for it. I'm almost done rewriting previous chapters and they will be posted simultaneously with the next instalment. This story would simply not continue until I had rewritten most of it.

And regarding the timeline since there seem to be some confusion about this. I do not follow the original timeline after the timeskip and thus some events may happen ahead of time.

As always, feel free to 'cake' if you're too lazy to review.

Chapter twelve: Before Dawn

The following few seconds all happened in a blur. There was the distinctive sound of an arrow being released from its bow, someone screaming as the head and shaft pierced right through a clothed leg and feet running on their own accord for some reason that had yet to be registered by their owner.

It took Naruto a few seconds to realize that it was his feet currently in motion, sprinting towards his now falling teammate. His muscles stung from the previous attack and he almost stumbled over a very inconveniently placed log.

'Shit', he cursed as he watched the unconscious form of Sakura fall gracelessly down from the branch she had been standing on only seconds before at relatively high speed. Nearly throwing his body forward he managed to catch the lifeless body just in time as his feet gave out, causing his knees to collide with the hard surface. Naruto winced at the hard impact, biting down on his already bruised lip as a metallic taste started occupying his mouth.

Lowering Sakura to the ground, Naruto allowed himself a brief moment of relief before his eyes snapped open in panic. A quick glance to his left showed him that his former teammate had been less lucky and laid unmoving, face down in the dirt. Naruto shook his head, pushing all thoughts of the wounded Uchiha to the back of his mind. He would deal with that later.

Inhaling a deep breath for composure, Naruto lifted a trembling hand towards Sakura's throat to check her pulse. He allowed himself another sigh of relief. She was surprisingly warm to the touch and her heart was beating steadily beneath his two fingers. Aside from the slightly paling skin she seemed… fine? Then, why wasn't she moving?

"Sakura?" Naruto called out softly, a mild desperation lacing his voice. When he got no response, he swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in the back of his throat. "Sakura?" He tried again, his hand hovering right above her forehead, not yet touching as he held his breath, waiting for her to make a sound. When he realized that it was yet a futile attempt he leaned further down and gently cupped her cheek, his thumb subconsciously drawing subtle, but soothing circles along her jawline. "Please wake up…" He whispered, his voice on the verge of breaking. The soft caress of his thumb elicited a weak groan from the body beneath him, though she didn't wake. The blonde sagged his shoulders in mild relief as he figured that she was only sleeping. 'Idiot…' he thought half-heartedly as he found himself staring captivated with slightly surprised eyes at his teammate. She looked way too vulnerable…

"The arrow must have sliced her," At the sound of the bow-user's voice the blonde quickly withdrew his hand as if burned, but didn't spare a glance as Amaya walked up behind him and kneeled next to the pair. She immediately started to search for the wound she knew was there and the blonde observed in silence.

"Let's see, aah… right there." The red-haired pointed to a tiny scratch located just below Sakura's kneecap. Naruto's eyes widened. That had knocked her out cold in a mere second? He briefly wondered if Sasuke was ever going to wake up.

"She'll be fine, though she'll be asleep for a few hours." Amaya stated softly as she gently placed a comforting hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. He could feel her fingers tremble much like his own at the touch. They had been lucky.

Naruto swallowed again as doubt started to show in his eyes, knowing that his fear was somewhat irrational. It was just a small scratch and Amaya never laced her arrows with a poison she didn't have the antidote for, he knew that. Yet his eyes lingered on the rise and fall of Sakura's chest, half expecting her to slip away if he didn't keep watching her. He'd been so damn close.

"Listen, we need to move. You saw that girl, it means backup will probably arrive soon." The red-haired whispered forcefully, shifting uneasily next to him while searching his face for hidden answers she didn't dare ask for at the moment.

"She's right." Both teens turned to look at a panting Kakashi as he approached the group, his left eye was closed tightly and the other half-lidded. The man looked like shit in Naruto's opinion. If he hadn't known any better he would've guessed that his sensei had been spending the past few years stealing cigarettes from Asuma and thus developed COPD, but no. He wouldn't be surprised if his sensei ended up spending the night in the hospital upon their return. He was about to ask how the hell he had managed to get passed the black flames, but Amaya beat him to it.

"How in the world did you get-"

"Kamui, I'll explain later." Kakashi replied, ignoring the confused looks of his two students. "Right now we have to leave. We got what we came for."

"…But what about them?" Amaya asked sadly, gesturing to the scattered remains of shinobi. The sight and smell made everyone nauseous, and Naruto quickly refocused his attention on the sleeping figure in front of him. She had been so close to end up being one of the many casualties.

"They will be taken care of. I'll send Pakkun back with a brief report as soon as we find shelter. We need to get Sasuke secured and Sakura a place to sleep off the effect. It's too risky to travel like this." The pair nodded in understanding.

"I'll take care of him," Kakashi motioned towards Sasuke, "Naruto you-"

"Got it." Naruto replied, once again gathering the uncurious girl in his arms as he rose from his seated position.

It took them only a few seconds until they were on the move again and the silence stretched out as they followed Kakashi's lead throughout the pitch-black forest. They backtracked a few miles until they shifted direction towards a hillside, taking refuge in a small cave located a few hours from Konoha, obviously Kakashi was familiar with the location. Darker clouds began to gather above them and they knew that rain would soon follow. If a "rescue" team had been sent to retrieve Sasuke they would have a hard time tracking them in this whether.

As they started to make camp Kakashi tied Sasuke up with chakra resistant chains and dropped him quite carelessly at the back of the cave, according to Amaya he would be unconscious for the next few days, still they couldn't afford to take any unnecessary chances. The sun would rise in only a few hours so the copy-ninja ordered the two of them to get some sleep, as he himself was too exhausted to lift another finger and thus left the nightshift to the younger ones. Once comfortably positioned in his sleeping bag the older shinobi was out like a light.

"You should get some sleep…" Naruto said softly as he looked across the campfire towards the sleep deprived red-haired, her face was fixed in a thoughtful expression as she seemed to consider his suggestion. Sakura was sleeping soundly a few feet to his left, and he kept stealing glances at her out of the corner of his eye, just to make sure she was alright.

Without making a sound Amaya pulled herself to her feet only to circle the fire and make her way over to Naruto's side, exhaling a shaky breath as she joined him on the moist ground. "I'm not tired," she lied, he knew, "Besides, it was supposed to be my watch after Sakura anyway…"

Naruto chuckled softly, circling his left arm around Amaya's shoulders in a one-armed hug. "Always so stubborn. Let me rephrase that; I don't think I'll be able to go to sleep so you might as well take advantage of that."

Amaya gave a slight shake of her head, "No… I should be here when she wakes up. She might be suffering from a few side effects."

"Alright, we'll take the shift together." He could sense the smile barely showing on the red-haired's lips as her head leaned on his shoulder, finally relaxing. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the fire. He heard Amaya's mouth open and close a couple a few times, seemingly unable to decide what to say next. He didn't blame her, none of them had been even close to predict such a horrible scenario, but then again, it could have ended a lot worse.

"I…" Naruto started, but changed his mind as Amaya tilted her head to look at him, her eyes, the red now dominating the brown due to the reflection of burning fire, reminded him of a fierce flame trapped in a world of darkness. The gentleness and trust portrayed in those eyes sent waves of sudden guilt through his body, even if he technically hadn't done anything wrong. Trying his best not to choke on his words he spoke.

"Just… Thank you." His voice came out as barely a whisper as his arm tightened around her shoulder, resisting the urge to avert his eyes from the intense gaze.

"For what?" Amaya asked, watching his face carefully, no doubt trying to read his thoughts.

The blonde leaned in to gently kiss the top of her head, murmuring into her silky hair, "For saving us-… her. I never thought that he'd actually try to… I don't know. I'm just so grateful that you're here."

They both went quiet after that. Only the occasional rustle of clothing and sparks of dying flames broke the deafening silence. Giving himself a few quiet moments to think Naruto found his thoughts going back to today's battle. He'd been so focused. So set on the one goal of dragging that asshole of a teammate home, and then… the moment he'd pointed a sword at Sakura his resolve had completely shattered. Sasuke had tried to kill him, yet that he had been expecting, but never had he imagined him trying to take the life of the girl who'd loved him her entire life. And then there was the sudden hate towards Konoha… The blonde felt a headache forming in the back of his head as he used his free hand to rub his temple in mild frustration. This was really starting to get fucked up.

Naruto was starting to believe that the girl in his arms had already fallen asleep, but then he felt her body tense.

"Something wrong?" He asked gently.

She hesitated for a moment, before taking in a deep breath. "It's all over now… right?" The question was filled with uncertainty and Naruto knew what she was really asking. Would everything go back to normal? Would his heart finally belong to just one girl?

Naruto swallowed. "Yeah… everything's gonna be alright." Eventually. There would still be a lot of things to deal with when they returned, especially after Sasuke's encounter with ROOT. They would have a hard time talking him out of that one, but he would do it. For them. For Sakura.

Too caught up in their own thought, neither noticed the other falling asleep.

Sakura groaned, unsure if she was half-asleep or just caught up in a wave of unpleasant, lingering memories. It felt like Tsunade had repeatedly kicked her in the head and her hand automatically shot up in an effort to ease the pain. 'Shit' she cursed. What exactly had-… In a flash of internal light it all came back to her and Sakura shot up from her position with a gasp as cold sweat trickled from her forehead. All that blood, the sound of someone begging for her life, the deadly weapon about to slice her throat.

Another stab of pain shot through her head and Sakura winced, clutching the blanket covering her from the waist down, her only anchor to reality as each breath brought another painful memory.

"You know what I see?" "Please stop…" Sakura whispered, her voice hollow and laced with unwanted fear. She didn't want to hear it again. Her throat was starting to constrict and she forced her eyes to open as that familiar voice echoed viciously through her head, haunting her. Her breathing thickened, short whistling bursts of air flowing in and out of her lungs.

Then a thought struck her. Oh God, what about the othe- a quick look across the flames showed a snoring Kakashi, and behind him… Sasuke. So they had managed to catch him. 'No thanks to you' a little voice inside her head reminded her sharply. She turned her head to the left and her heart automatically sank at the sight of the pair sleeping in each other's arms. Suddenly she felt terribly alone as she diverted her eyes away.

A few seconds passed and her teeth started to clatter as she readjusted the blanket. Reaching up to rub her sore eyes her knuckles came in contact with something wet. She was crying? Sakura laughed bitterly, apparently she was. Silent tears rolled uncontrollably down her cheek, landing softly on the woollen material, staining it. This was just ridiculous. This hadn't been her first encounter with a life-threatening situation and yet her entire body continued to tremble with shock. "Damn it…"

Sakura bit hard down on her tongue. "Stop it!" She commanded angrily to herself. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. She had heard the arrow and figured that she'd most likely gotten some of the poison in her system, not that it worried her, although it did explain the mild hypothermia she was currently experiencing.

The irrational fear that someone would wake and see her in such a pathetic state worried Sakura and she felt the sudden need to get out of there. She needed to be alone for a while. Abandoning the blanket she clumsily got to her feet, a bit disorientated as she started to move away from the cave. It was almost too dark to see, but Sakura had always had an excellent night-vision.

Tears blurred her eyes as she walked through the soft rain. She knew she couldn't move too far away and stopped right before the cave went out of her sight.

"You're so stupid." She whispered into the night, gritting her teeth. What had she been thinking? What if she'd gotten herself killed? She was their only medic, it went against everything Tsunade had hammered into her head for the past two years. Who was she kidding… Amaya was a much more professional kunoichi than she could ever hope to be. Sasuke was right… Aside from changing her values, she hadn't changed a bit.

"Why are out here by yourself?"

Sakura startled at the sound of the blonde's voice only a short distance behind her. Great, she hadn't even noticed him approaching. He couldn't see her like this.

"I just wanted to be alone for awhile…" She replied quietly, trying her best to mask the emotion from her voice.

"But you're shaking." Naruto stated matter-of-factly, though his tone was anything but harsh.

"I'm just a little cold. A side-effect from the poison I think." Sakura felt her lower lip begin to tremble, whishing he could just take the hint and leave.

"Yeah, she mentioned something like that could happen." Naruto mumbled, but it seemed to be mostly to himself. "Are you…" The blonde took a few steps closer, trying to get a look at her face, but Sakura merely hid behind damp hair. "…Are you alright?" He finished with what seemed like genuine concern.

"I…" She started, but her voice finally shattered as more tears broke free and fell with the rain. A warm hand suddenly fell on her shoulder, but she didn't turn.

"I still think the old Sasuke is in there. Deep down he's not a killer, Orochimaru's been messing with-"

"That's enough." she cut him off. "You don't have to make excuses for him. I know what he is, what he's become."

"Doesn't mean he can't be saved from that darkness. He was once my best friend."

Sakura inhaled a deep breath and turned around. "And you were once mine…"

A/N: I split this chapter in two since I want 'the talk' in a chapter of it's own. And no, this story is far from finished so just hang on.