Shinobi Life

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The masked man tilted his head to the side as he observed Sasuke and his protective stance. Sakura shivered when she felt his eyes move to her once again. She clutched the back of Sasuke's shirt and sighed deeply.

I am not going to be of any help here. I'm almost out of chakra and I'm exhausted. They're going to want me to leave while they cover my escape...

Kakashi gave her a knowing look over his shoulder, eyes assessing her form.

"Well, are you going to help me get her or not?" Orochimaru's tone pissed off the purple haired woman.

"This seems to be a mess of your own making, snake. Why should we help you?"

"Konan, enough. He is still of use to Akatsuki. However, that being said, his foolishness is his own."

Itachi and Shisui stepped in front of Sasuke and Kakashi. Itachi gave Kakashi a glance and Sakura found herself picked up and carried away with such speed that she felt like her stomach was left behind. Kakashi gently rubbed the leg he was holding while his sleeve became soaked with Sakura's silent tears.

--

Sakura was asleep in a chair next to Tsunade, awaiting her team's return. She hadn't even made it to the Hokage's office before she passed out from exhaustion and chakra depletion.

She came to in a state of panic and instantly jumped up without assessing her surroundings. "Sit down, Sakura, you need to conserve your strength." Tsunade's calm voice helped her to relax. She blinked rapidly, trying to wake up all the way.

The first time she tried to speak caused her to have a coughing fit from lack of moisture in her throat. Tsunade silently handed her a steaming cup of tea and Sakura drank it greedily, eyes roaming the office. Gaara was seated on a couch meditating, Kakashi was leaning against the opposite wall staring at her intently, and Naruto was seated next to Kakashi with his hand in his hair.

"What did I miss?" Kakashi gave her a small smile and Naruto slowly walked over to her, engulfing her in a gentle hug. Gaara was the one to speak up.

"You have been out for about 3 hours, you were already unconscious when Hatake brought you in. He refused to put you down before your Hokage healed your wounds." Gaara paused here and Kakashi chuckled sheepishly.

"Your team has yet to arrive but Team Gai was sent as back up for them as soon as you two arrived. Hatake has sent Pakkun out to gather intel for us." Gaara's eyes were focused on her as he spoke. Naruto had let her go and was now pacing, obviously upset that he could not go and help his friends.

Sakura's lips puckered in contemplation. She reached inside her pouch and pulled out her scroll. "Shishou, I was able to seal the body of the woman who helped Danzo escape. Pakkun could tell that she smelled like the other experiments and warned us before we went into battle."

Sakura handed over the scroll, continuing to speak. "I am not sure if the body will rapidly decay once it is taken out of the scroll. Knowing how messed up Orochimaru is, there is probably some sort of agent that will stop us from gathering intel. Whoever works on the body will have to be super careful with preserving it first."

An ANBU immediately entered the room when Tsunade took the scroll. "Take this to Shizune right away, tell her everything that Sakura has said before you give it to her. Also, start level 3 emergency procedures, and tell the Jonin squad leaders to come to my office. We must start evacuating the vulnerable before anything happens." Tsunade stood and looked out at Konoha, eyes assessing every weakness.