"I don't want to kill you, Sakura," Sasuke said coldly as he paced back and forth in front of her. "...but...I will have to if you and Naruto keep coming after me like this." He stopped and looked at her. She had two solid steel chains tied to her wrists, and they were both connected to the wall so she couldn't escape. They were far underground, away from Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi, who were locked in combat with Orochimaru. Sasuke was given orders to take a hostage, so he grabbed the first person he saw: Sakura.

"Sasuke, why won't you come home with us?" Sakura asked desperately. Sasuke sighed.

"We had this conversation two years ago! You need to forget about me and go on with your life! Leave me be, I WANT to be here! What is so damn hard to understand about that?" he asked, aggravated.

"Sasuke..." Sakura tried to hold back from crying. "Even after these past two years, I still l-"

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WOMAN!" Sasuke yelled uncharacteristically. "I don't love you! I never will love you!" He moved so his face was inches from hers. "Get...over...me!"

"No, I won't!"

Sasuke sighed. "You aren't going to do this the easy way, are you?" He took a bottle out of his pocket as Sakura watched him nervously.

"Orochimaru's latest experiment..." Sasuke whispered, staring at the bottle of liquid. In a flash he was back by her side again and the bottle was even with her mouth. "Maybe this will give you...a push in the right direction..." Sasuke tilted the bottle, but Sakura shut her mouth tightly. He grabbed her face and squeezed until she was forced to open her mouth, and he let a drop of the liquid fall in. As Sakura stared at him in fright, he removed his hand from her face and tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm...who should I pick?" Sasuke thought aloud. Sakura looked at him, confused. Sasuke laughed, and said, "You know what, I'll do an old buddy a favor..." Sasuke walked to the center of the room, faced Sakura, and began making a series of hand signs that were so fast Sakura could barely see them. After a moment he stopped, looked straight ahead, and shouted, "Uzumaki, Naruto!" Flames erupted from his fingertips and made their way over to Sakura, encircling her head. The flames made their way slowly down her body, and as the last one made a circle around her feet, her eyes slowly closed, and she fainted. Sasuke quickly untied her wrists, and walked down a nearby passageway with Sakura in his arms. He slowly made his way to the surface, where he could hear shouts and clanging of kunai and shuriken. Orochimaru came into view as he exited the passageway, fighting Kakashi as Sai rode on a bird overhead. About 100 Narutos were running towards Orochimaru, and they all spotted Sasuke at the same time.

"Sakura-chan!" 100 voices called out at the same time. 99 clones poofed away, and the real Naruto ran towards them, ignoring Kakashi's protests. "I knew it, Sasuke! I knew you couldn't hurt her! Wait..." he froze. "Why is she unconscious?" Sasuke set Sakura on the ground as Naruto watched him, confused.

"Let's go, boy," Orochimaru ordered. "They won't bother us for a while, now that you gave her the potion. You did give it to her, right?" he asked. Sasuke nodded. "Now, I didn't tell you who to choose, but I'm sure you figured out who the best choice was, right?" he continued.

Sasuke smiled. "If killing two birds with one stone was the right choice, then yes, I did."

Orochimaru smiled as he dodged another of Kakashi's attacks, simultaneously avoiding a kunai from Sai. "Good. Let's go."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted as he heard a poof from behind him and a confused grunt. He ran towards Sasuke, but before he could reach him he heard a similar poof and Sasuke was gone. Naruto growled in anger, but then he remembered Sakura and ran towards her, kneeling down beside her.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking her lightly. "Are you ali...er...okay?" He couldn't bear to think about Sakura being dead.

He heard a soft, "Huh?" from below him and saw Sakura open her eyes slowly. "Of course I'm okay, Naruto..." she said, sitting up and looking at him strangely. Then she smiled. "...now that you're here."

"Huh?" Naruto said. Had his ears deceived him?

"What's wrong, Naruto? Don't you like me?" Sakura asked, changing her face into a pout as Kakashi reached them and Sai landed next to them.

"Eh...uh...er...um...heh..." Naruto stuttered.

Sakura laughed. "You're so cute when you're nervous!" And then she leaned forward and kissed him. Naruto's eyes widened at first and he made an odd sound in his throat. After a moment he closed them and kissed her back.

Sai and Kakashi stared. "This is a more special bond than I'm used to..." Sai commented. "Is this normal?"

Kakashi watched as Sakura shoved Naruto onto the ground forcefully without breaking the kiss. "..." Kakashi was silent for a moment. Finally, he looked at Sai. "We need to get her to a hospital."