A Different Path

War Begets Pain

Sakura's POV

"Watch out!" Sakura heard Kiba yell in a distressed manner, her head feeling a little light from all the ruckus and smoke around her. Widening her emerald-green eyes, she ducked as she wrapped her strong arms around her pink hair. A millisecond later, a giant grey-feathered bird with black rods coming out of its flesh and spiraling purple eyes swooped down, failing the vicious attempt to grab her with its sharp claws.
"Shadow Strangle Jutsu!" Shikamaru managed to choke out as he put one knee down onto the ground and formed the hand signs, capturing the summoning with his black shadows. He gave one strong pull and the bird fell to the ground as it let out a furious shriek.

Kiba saw the opportunity and jumped into action alongside a barking Akamaru.
"Fang Over Fang!" He formed something similar to a horizontal hurricane that was darting towards the bird with a lot of speed.
"Shikamaru! Release it!" Shino raised his hands to reveal a black buzzing cloud of bugs which surrounded the beast and immobilized its wings and scrawny legs just as Kiba and his ninja hound crashed into its head, creating a rupture in its beak. The bird croaked out in pain, trying to pull its wings together and curl into a ball, just like wild, scared animal would do.

Last order of business, Sakura jumped high into the thick air and prepared her fist, gathering a considerable amount of chakra.
"Take this!" She punched the summoning's head with such strength, it cracked open. With a dying shriek, the bird's neck fell down, now limp and lifeless. Sakura landed near an injured Hinata, tugging at the edge of her right glove. The Hyuga hadn't been able to avoid one of the enemy's claws which had managed to tear a deep gash into her flesh.

After throwing one last look at the beast in order to make sure that it was gone for good, Sakura's gaze only took notice of a white cloud of smoke as the animal disappeared, returning back to its place. The pinkette let out a relieved breath as she kneeled down next to the girl in front of her. She was more than glad that Neji was busy fighting enemies somewhere else otherwise she wouldn't have been able to even go near Hinata while she was in that vulnerable state.

"I-I'm fine S-Sakura! There's n-no need to waste your t-time on me." Hinata sucked in a breath, grimacing with pain as her sweaty face contorted. The bluenette was biting her lower lip probably in order to prevent her soft cries from escaping her mouth. But the blood drops rolling out of the wound on her chest said otherwise.
"Don't be dumb, Hinata. You're injured and I'm going to heal you. You're not wasting anyone's time." Sakura quickly brushed a strand of pink hair behind her ear before she rubbed her hands together, looking at a green glow surround them as she pressed them against the swollen skin. Taking in the view before her eyes, she could almost say that the red wound only tainted Hinata's pale and delicate complexion.

"Is she alright?" Kiba rushed over to check on his teammate, his shaky breath catching in his throat as Shikamaru and Shino followed close behind. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows before she opened her mouth to speak. The hesitation in her actions made Kiba fiddle with his fingers even more as he grew anxious.
"She'll be fine." Now that she had stopped the bleeding, she was moving onto the tear in the girl's flesh, trying to heal it to closure.
"This last summoning was different from the other ones we've encountered so far." Shino stated as he pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.
"Since there are more than one Pain, only one of them must be the summoner of these creatures. Pain wouldn't have had more of his shinobi be summoners unless he had more men to spare." Shikamaru rubbed his chin like he always did when he was thinking.

"Then we need to take down the one who's responsible for this so we wouldn't have to worry about the village while fighting Pain." Sakura spoke while wiping away the sweat on her forehead as she finished sealing Hinata's wound. The bluenette nodded her head softly towards her as a sign of gratitude. Sakura gave her a gentle smile.
"Sound like a plan." Kiba punched his open palm, ready to kill one of the dangerous enemies threatening their home.
"But I doubt you'll be able to pull that off." A female voice came out of the shadows provided by the fallen structure a few meters away from the group of teens.

The strange feeling was sending a chill into Sakura's bones. She didn't like the situation one bit. The pinkette grabbed Hinata's arm and steadied her as she rose up to her feet, facing a few sheets of paper floating out of their hiding place. Paper bombs? Her muscles tensed, ready to jump away at any second. But they don't carry the inscriptions. No, it's something different. Three of the papers started folding themselves into something similar to origami. A few seconds later, she widened her eyes as the paper sped towards her. Paper shuriken! Sakura pushed Hinata out of the way and into a startled Kiba's arms, bending backwards as she dodged the attack by a millimeter, getting an inch of her pink hair cut off. She gaped to see the shuriken cause a break into the wooden planks behind them.

Kiba grabbed ahold of the bluenette's frail body and snarled at the intruder.
"Who are you?" He gritted his canine-like teeth. A thin figure moved into the light to reveal an amber-eyed woman with short, straight blue hair and a labret piercing. She had an origami flower pinned to her bun.
She doesn't look like the rest of the Pains.
"My name is Konan. Although I am obeying Pain's orders, I have no intention to hurt any of you." Huh? Is she actually serious? She almost chopped my head off!
"What about Naruto? Extracting the Nine Tails from him would kill him and you know it!" Sakura gritted her teeth and raised her index finger accusingly.

"I take no part to Naruto's capture. He is like a little brother to me." Wait! She.. She knows him?
"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists.
"There is no reason for me to explain my actions to you. I have been ordered to kill any useless shinobi encountering me." Konan's face remaining emotionless. Her calm voice didn't betray anything.
"And by useless you mean shinobi that wouldn't give away Naruto's location, right?" Kiba spoke but she ignored him completely.
"And despite my orders, I have chosen to help Naruto, knowing that he is the only one who can change Pain. I have not come to hurt you. I am here to warn you." The woman blinked slowly, her long eyelashes fluttering in the air.

"Warn us? About what?" Sakura asked before the ground shook for a few seconds, making the ninjas lose their stability. Konan's eyes widened slightly.
"I am afraid it is already too late. Beware." Just as Shikamaru was about to question her further, she disappeared in a swirl of paper, leaving only dust behind.
"What was she talking about?" Kiba grunted, confusion and distress visible on his tanned face.
"That might be it." Shino pointed at one of the Pains who was floating above all of the buildings in the middle of the village.
Sakura widened her eyes as the man's shout resonated throughout the empy streets.
"Almighty Push!" A giant shockwave left his spot only to destroy anything in its way, which happened to be the whole village and its villagers.

Sakura closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. Seconds later, when it came over her, she felt as if the soul had been sucked out of her body. She couldn't comprehend what was going on around her anymore, only the feeling of being buried under a mountain of debris and wood. The kunoichi blinked her eyes open to gasp in terror. It was all gone. Everything. She pushed away the planks immobilizing her feet and got up to assess the damage. It was like something she had never seen.
Sakura caught a glimpse of Kiba's brown hair who was protectively holding an unconscious Hinata in his arms. Shino had managed to cloak himself in a swarm of bugs that dissipated once he had pulled himself out of the pile of rocks.

The pinkette moved her gaze to her right to see Shikamaru clutching his slightly bleeding leg. It was probably broken.
"Naruto.." She was too weak, both physically and emotionally, to do more than mutter the blond's name. "Where.. Where are you?! We need you!" Sakura finally gathered the strength to yell, her voice breaking. "I need you.." Small tears were swelling in the corners of her eyes.
Their village. It was all gone. Their neighbors' and friends' bodies were laying all around them, buried under piles or just laying limply on the ground, their dead, bloody faces still capturing the feeling Sakura had finally grown accustomed to.

Dread.

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Heya! Another one up, just as promised. It's a bit too dark, I know, but it's gonna get better, I promise you that. I hope you still enjoyed it though. And guys, if you want to help me move this book up the Hot List, please, if you want to vote, vote ONLY once you've reached the end of the chapter, otherwise it doesn't count. Next time, on Naruto Shippuden:
'Pain Begets Hate'
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~See ya!~
~Bella~
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