Changing Fate

Chapter 1

"Sakura!"

Her name echoed through his mind, his voice sounded so distant, so faint. It sounded as if he was whispering but the strain in his throat told him he was yelling. Outside of his own voice he could only hear ringing.

"Sakura!" The man called out again.

The only thing he could see was the swirling dust thick and heavy in the air. He went to stand but felt the weight of debris on him. Running his hands over it he could tell it was concrete rubble. He was confused and couldn't quite remember how he ended up in this place. Regaining his strength he began to push the debris off of his body, slowly freeing himself to go searching for her.

He was stumbling through the rubble when the memory of the explosion hit him. They were on a mission and had been following someone when they went into an abandoned warehouse. They had been slowly making their way through, careful to be quiet when a kunai came out of no where and sunk into the wall between them. He had turned to shield her from the blast but he was too late. The tag exploded and sent them flying.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called a third time but still received no response. The only sound to be heard was his own voice and footsteps. His Sharingan activated then, glowing red in the darkness, and he began searching for her. The need to find her grew, an anxious ball sitting heavy in his stomach. He had been turning over pieces of rubble, still searching. With every piece moved the ball became heavier and heavier.

As the minutes passed, dust began to dissipate and settle so he could finally begin to see the situation more clearly. The building they were once standing in had been reduced to almost nothing. The ceiling was gone. What was left of the walls were only a few feet tall. There were steel bars twisted and jagging out from the rubble. He couldn't tell which way they had come in. There didn't seem to be any obvious exits.

'I cant find her anywhere! She has to be here.'

And that's when he felt it, her chakra signature. It was weak but Sasuke immediately recognized it. It was coming from the area opposite of where he had regained consciousness. After seeing the steel bars jagging from the debris panic filled his chest.

He pushed his legs as fast as they could go and ran over to where he had sensed it. It was coming from beneath a large piece of what he guessed was the ceiling, leaning up against what remained of one of the walls. He grabbed a hold of the top and heaved backwards, cutting his hands, and pulling it away from the wall to crash loudly on the floor. His own pain was pushed to the back of his mind, he had to take care of her first.

Sakura was beneath it unconscious. It was a miracle she hadn't been crushed but his relief of finding her quickly disappeared when she didn't react to him or even the loud crash of debris beside her. She was on her side, facing the wall. Her hair, tinged gray, was covering her face.

Jumping down and crouching beside her, he gently rolled her over onto her back making her head fall to the side limply. He immediately put his head to her chest, frantic to find a heartbeat. Sasuke closed his eyes, focusing hard looking for it. Then he heard it, faint but unmistakably there.

He sat back on his knees, head tilted up, and let out a sigh of relief. But he knew they weren't out of it yet. Putting a hand on each side of her face he turned it side to side to inspect it. There were scrapes with dried blood, along with blood from his hands, and there was bruising beginning to form. Sasuke then looked down her body when he noticed it.

"Damn it!" The Uchiha quietly cursed to himself through clenched teeth. On her left side was a large open gash. The blood had stained her top an even brighter red than it already was and a pool had formed on the floor beside her. Already ripped, he grabbed the remainder of the lower half of her top and tore it off to expose her torso.