a village with(out) me ━ naruto fanfic

13.

Chapter Thirteen: 

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Naruto's chakra is warm, a soothing heat that settles into the vulnerable side of Sakura's throat, branding her with its protection and possessiveness. She feels it like a steady hand that slowly wraps around the back of her neck, its presence heavy and almost frighteningly suffocating.

Sakura swallows thickly, feeling the warmth of Naruto's chakra flow throughout her body, igniting her pathways, lighting them up like a match to candles. It feels strange, the presence of such a huge flow of chakra, moving so easily throughout her body, but her system doesn't fight against it, merely accepts it, welcoming the surge of power that makes her struggle to breathe. 

The world around her blurs momentarily before it swiftly shifts to focus. The trees and foliage around Sakura become sharper, more clearer, Zabuza's mist no longer a problem to her eyes. She takes a deep breath and releases it, hearing sounds she shouldn't be, like the furious beat of Sasuke's heart and the panicked breathing that comes from Kakashi, loud and clear, even from within Zabuza's water prison. 

Sakura shifts her gaze to Sasuke, wondering if he's seeing and hearing the same exact things as she is. She watches as sweat drips down the side of Sasuke's face, trailing down his chin and throat, before it's hidden by the high collar of his blue shirt. 

“Now let's see if they're any good in battle!” Zabuza's water clone roars, unleashing his broadsword into the air with one, fatal swoop. 

Something feral crawls up the back of Sakura's back. The proverbial hand of Naruto's chakra tightens possessively on the back of her neck and whatever animal instincts have laid dormant until now, they come to life, sizzling and bubbling in the pit of her stomach, making her hungry for blood. 

Naruto and his clones jump into the air along with Sasuke, to avoid the blow of Zabuza's sword, but Sakura ducks forward. Everything is clear and bright, time seems to slow down as she forms a fist, pulls it back and aims it towards the ground. The earth shifts beneath her fist, cracking and breaking, exploding into large pieces. 

Zabuza's clone gets sucked into the earth with a startled sound and Sakura jumps away, wide eyed and breathing heavily, as she avoids the chaos of her breakage. 

Sasuke lands beside Sakura, just as Naruto's clones rain down on Zabuza, kunai stabbing him from all directions. He dispels from existence, water splashing against the ground and Sakura lets out a relieved breath. Her fist throbs with pain and when she looks down, she finds her knuckles bruised and bloody, the scarlet liquid dripping onto the ground below her.  

“Nice distraction,” Sasuke murmurs. He licks his dry lips. “You feel it too, don't you? Naruto's chakra?”

“Yeah,” Sakura nods. “Yeah, it's…" She swallows thickly. "It's suffocating me.” 

Sasuke smirks. He lets out a scoff, and together they watch as Naruto and his clones perch along the broken pieces of earth, looking like a pack of starving wolves, ready to devour everything and anything in their sights.

Naruto pulls out a scroll from within his pouch and releases a windmill shuriken into the air, sending it towards Sasuke. The Uchiha catches it easily, twisting the large metal piece between his fingers to get a better grip. 

No words are exchanged, and yet Sakura knows the two are thinking of the same plan. 

The real Zabuza cackles from atop the lake, where he's still keeping Kakashi in the water prison. “Colour me surprised,” he says, his tone rich with amusement, “they actually took out my clone…”