"Say, kid, with the pink-hair—what's your name?"

"Sakura, ma 'am."

"What about your last name?"

"...Haruno, ma 'am. Sakura Haruno." She choked back a sob. The smaller girl noticed, "Ma 'am? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing...you just remind of someone that was once dear to me. Nevermind that—well, Sakura-san, do you have any idea of why I came to Namimori?"

"...to see a relative?"

"Not quite. But the real reason I'm here is because I want to offer you a deal."

Emerald eyes narrowed, "It depends...what could you offer?"

"I'll be your mentor." The pinkette looked confused.

"Why would I need a mentor?"

"So you can do this—" Green glowed, fingers were flicked, a wall exploded into debris, and emerald eyes widened.

"H-How did—what...who in the world are you?"

"Answer first—do you, Sakura Haruno, take the offer to be my apprentice?"

"...yes."

The blonde smirked and crossed her arms, "Very well then. Sakura Haruno, from now on, I will be your teacher and master—I'm Tsunade, formerly known as One of the Legendary Sannin and what you just saw was a chakra-infused finger flick..."

Sakura, REBORN!

"I-I...I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" Falling out of her bed in a clumsy order, Sakura Haruno nearly ripped her sky blue bed sheets into shreds and tore off her pajamas, running to her dresser and throwing out her uniform onto her bed.

Quickly brushing her teeth and untangling her pink hair with her comb, she threw on her button-up top and slipped into her skirt, putting on her socks and tying the red bow around her neck before tying her red ribbon in her hair and knotting it at the top of her head to hold her bangs back and flaunt her slightly over-sized forehead.

Damn it, damn it, damn it...Thoughts were running through her mind as she blindly grabbed her yellow messenger bag that rested on her computer chair, bolting out of the room and down the stairs, a small frown set on her face. Grabbing some toast her mother had left out before she left for work, she slipped into her shoes and ran out the door, locking it behind her.

"Aw, man," she muttered to herself nervously, running as fast as she could before taking a bite out of her toast, "If I go there late...I have to face Hibari-san..."

At the thought of running into the intimidating prefect, the color in her face seemed to disappear completely, fear running through her veins.

She bit her lip; there would be dire consequences should she ever run into him...it was as if she was staring at the Grim Reaper himself, and the amount of blood lust that boy had was just disturbing. Especially when he had those tonfas hidden somewhere on his body—she always wondered if he was allowed to have those in school. She mentally sneered; of course he's allowed. No one dared to cross Kyoya Hibari, the President of the Namimori Discipline Committee, unless they wanted to die.

Speaking of dying, Sakura Haruno was about to be late. And she couldn't be late—with her life and perfect attendance in jeopardy. The pinkette bit her lip as she swallowed the last of her toast; she needed to think quickly.

She could hitch-hike...but no one would want to pick up an odd girl like her, with pink hair and green eyes and especially with no chest. She could bribe the teacher into changing her attendance...but she had nothing to bribe with (except her body, but she didn't want perfect attendance that much, geeze ['I'M NOT A SLUT, SHANNARO!']). She could blame it on someone—like her mom! Yes...that plan would work except she'd still be entered into the school's system as LATE. Damn.

Wait. She could do that—yes, she could! It was the only plausible and logical solution that could save her life...

Remember, Sakura—don't use it around civilians without importance. We need to keep a low profile.

Well, shishou, I'm pretty much alone with everyone gone to work and school, so why not? Sakura smirked and concentrated the green energy to her feet, closing her eyes in hard concentration. After a few moments, she jumped—nearly 15 feet—into the air and landed on one of the rooftops, pausing to look over houses and spot the school. Locking onto her destination with a determined grin, she sprinted, jumping from roof to roof quickly.

Oh yeah, baby, CHAKRA!

A blonde-haired woman in her early 30's took a swig from her bottle of sake, her legs propped up on a wooden desk while her assistant was sitting nearby, placing out bottles of medicinal potions on a shelf. It was a slow day at the small Namimori Clinic, with only three patients that had come for check-ups in a span of 6 hours—and she was enjoying the peacefulness.

The peace did not last long though. Suddenly, she nearly choked on her drink—at the same time, her assistant stiffened, both their eyes wide. They looked at each other knowingly.

"Tsunade-sama," the younger woman said in a soft, cautious voice, turning around to face the blonde-haired woman, who was now sitting up right with a concentrated expression, "Did you feel that, too?"

The blonde nodded, amber eyes hard, "It was a burst of chakra—a small one at that, but it was there."

"Is it...another ninja?"

"No," Tsunade said after a few moments. She suddenly leaned back in her chair and waved her hand dismissively, "Sakura will receive her punishment when she comes to practice today." Shizune blinked for a few moments before sighing and going back to the bottles of liquid.

The wind breezing past her face and running through her long, pink locks was simply amazing, and the adrenaline rushing though her veins blocked out all the anxiety of the possibility of Tsunade finding out she had used her chakra outside of the training grounds. Well, it's practicing—

Something brown and running caught her sight a few blocks up ahead of her. She squinted, putting her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun and get a clear view, but her eyes widened when she realized who it was; there was only one person in Namimori that had that thick, spiky hairstyle with brown hair—Tsunayoshi Sawada, dubbed "No-Good Tsuna" at Namimori Middle School.

No, she couldn't be seen! Especially by someone like...him—a no-good slacker; if it was the one thing in the world that she hated, it had to be slackers. As if the Heavens were against her, he looked over his shoulder and met her gaze.

For a moment, she thought he would shake his head and assure himself that he was just seeing things. But no, the kid's eyes widened (a miracle that they could get even wider) and he practically tripped over his own two feet at what he just saw. Her eyes widened in surprise, and because of that slacker, she got distracted and missed her footing. She fell face-first into freshly-cut grass.

Through her recovery of orbiting stars and mouthfuls of bitter plants, she could faintly hear his squeaky voice and the sounds of shoes hitting the pavement quickly, then him struggling to get over the wall. With her vision still green, she felt a faint thud of the ground (she could practically imagine him nearly tripping), followed by hesitant hands helping her from her sprawl on the ground.

She gritted her teeth; why couldn't the kid just leave her alone so that she could regain her pride? She had just embarrassed herself in front of the weakest link and all she wanted to do was curse at the sky and just mentally cry—oh. Right. She couldn't be late for school.

"S-Sakura-san," she heard him stutter out, and she looked up at him—who was crouching—with a hard gaze as she gritted her teeth once more. He seemed to ignore it ('How dare you ignore me, IDIOT!') and leaned closer to her, concern in his brown eyes, "Are you alright?"

Does it LOOK like I'm alright? He's even stupider than I actually thought he was!

She glared up at him, making him flinch away from her. Roughly brushing his hands off of her, she stood up and dusted the dirt and grass from her head and uniform.

"Great. Just freaking fantastic. Now because of you," she seethed, emphasizing the word 'you' as she placed her hands on her hips, "I'm gonna be late for class!" He sputtered apologies, his eyes wide; she couldn't help but notice that his gaze looked somewhat...sad—her eyes softened; what she had said was harsh. You're getting soft, Sakura.

"I-I'm sorry...!" Oh, god, he looks so sad...dammit, Sakura!

Cue the guilt that began to well up at the bottom of her stomach. She sighed, shaking her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, Tsunayoshi-san. I'm sorry...it's just that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and I...just don't want—I can't be late for school." She gave him an apologetic look, awkwardly shifting her feet while he shot her an understanding smile.

"I understand," he nodded, "I don't really want to be late, either." Late. She froze once more and let out a small gasp.

"WE'RE LATE!"

He jumped at her sudden outburst and quick mood-change; what about him? She could just leave him here, and be early to school while he could come late...but then there was a chance he could tell people about her roof-jumping skills and people would get suspicious...damn.

Without a second thought, she grabbed the boy by the arm with her vice-like grip and jumped into the air with chakra-laded feet—she tried her best to ignore the squeals from No Good Tsuna, who was literally getting dragged by her, but she could only last so long. Not only was his whining beginning to give her a migraine, but he clung tightly to her arm that it was loosing circulation.

He struggled against her arm, narrowly avoiding a chimney as she landed on a rooftop, "SAKURA-SAAAAAAAN! AIIIIIIIEEEEE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HOW ARE YOU EVEN DOING THIS? THIS IS SO DANGEROUS AND I DON'T WANNA DIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE—" THAT'S IT!

"SHUT UP!" She screeched, glaring at him through the corner of her eye, causing him to snap his mouth shut and stare at he fearfully, "Do you want to be late or not? Just be glad that I didn't leave you behind!" And with that, she concentrated on the up coming roofs, making sure that she would land safely. For a few moments, it was silent, and she wondered if she was too harsh again. Damn it. Cue the guilt that began to well up at the bottom of her stomach for the second time that day.

"Thank you..." She heard him murmur—even if the wind was rushing past her ears, she could still hear his sincere, soft, voice. She smiled to herself.

Well, today started out pretty interesting. Throughout the rest of the jumping, she couldn't help but feel smug at how silent it was, with a shaking Tsuna at her side.

Once they reached their destination, Sakura gracefully landed on the pavement in front of the school and glanced down at Tsuna, who was still clinging to her arm as if his life depended on it. She sweatdropped and tried to pull her arm from his hold, only for him to tighten his grip—her eyes twitched; this kid was annoying. Raising her fist slowly, she brought it down on the terrified kid's head, causing him to yelp in pain and let go of her arm.

She let out a small 'hmph' and crossed her arms, ignoring the brown-haired boy who was now cradling the bump on his head.

"Ouch..." She heard him whimper, and she turned to him with her emerald eyes blazing. Grabbing him by his collar, she narrowed her eyes and growled in his face, "If you tell anyone of what happened this morning, I'll beat the crap out of you. Got it?" He nodded furiously and she smirked at him, releasing her grip and making him fall to the ground.

Although he agreed, she couldn't help but feel a bit paranoid about her secret getting out and the consequences that were to happen. Tsunade would surely have her ass, and she'd probably be taken in by the CSI for further investigation and experiments...but then again, this was No-Good Tsuna she was talking about; who in the world would believe him? SHANNARO!

A familiar chime rang in her ears, and she was immediately cut off from her musings. She gasped and growled, "Damn it! I wasn't fast enough!"

Because the other 14-year-old was in her class, she grabbed him by the arm and hurried through the gates, sharply turned towards the direction of their class—she froze, though, when she realized that they had ran into the tall, dark-haired prefect she was fearing this morning.

Kyoya Hibari...

There he was, only a few feet ahead of them with crossed arms, causing them to come to a halt. She gulped, unconsciously moving in front of Tsuna. The older boy stared at her for a few moments before shifting his gaze towards the boy behind her, who stammered out nervously, "H-Hibari-san...!"

"What are you two doing?" He asked, his voice monotone as he uncrossed his arms and gazed intently at the pink-haired girl. "The bell rang. You two should be in class at this moment."

She didn't say anything—the fear that was welling up in her stomach was paralyzing, but she forced herself to nod anyway, tightening her grip on the other boy's arm before bolting pass the prefect. She let out a breath she had been unknowingly holding; that boy had the power to beat her to a pulp—with or without chakra, she would not survive in a fight with him.

After a few minutes of non-stop running, the two finally stopped in front of the door to their class, trying to regain their breath. Sakura was the first to recover, and she adjusted her yellow messenger bag awkwardly. Tsuna sent her a grateful smile, "Thank you, Sakura-san." She rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner and was about to enter the door before she stopped, turning her head towards him with a frown on her face.

"Remember—don't tell anyone," she hissed, her brow furrowing. He nodded once more, his hands put up in defense and she snapped her head back to the door and opened it, walking inside the classroom that was in session.

The teacher turned to the two with wide eyes but then he crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl, reprimanding them, "Go to your seats and turn to page 157 in your text books." The pinkette made her way to her seat without a word, glancing at the brunette once more before taking her seat. A frown laced her pale features when she realized what the teacher was teaching; she hated polynomials.

Waiting for the pink-haired middle-schooler to arrive, Tsunade sighed and took another sip from her bottle of sake, resting it near the legs of her chair afterwards. After a few moments of silence, she rested her elbows on her desk, entwining her fingers so that she could rest her chin on them. Shizune, who had been arranging files in the corner of the room, turned to her superior with worried, onyx eyes, "Tsunade-sama...where do you think she could be?"

The said woman shook her head in disappointment, "I don't know—" As soon as the words left her mouth, the door to the small office slammed open, revealing a frazzled-looking and sweaty Sakura Haruno—still in the Namimori Middle School uniform—who tried her best to look decent for her master. Biting her lip, the pinkette bowed in respect, "I'm sorry, Tsunade-shishou, I lost track of time."

Tsunade, who was tired and slightly-drunk (slightly, only slightly), did not want to hear her student babble on and on about how she was so sorry for being late, and decided to slam her palms—which had unconsciously been chakra-laded (a bad habit, Tsunade deadpanned to herself)—on the surface of her desk, making it crumble into splinters at the harsh impact and causing the youngest girl in the room to flinch.

First, her student had the nerve to disobey her orders by endangering their identities and using chakra in public; second, the kid came late, expecting to come off scott-free with a lame excuse. The blonde scowled; she still had a way's to go before she could own up to being the old Sakura Haruno...

Without a word, the older woman walked passed the frigid pink-haired girl, who stood with wide emerald eyes and trembling shoulders—Tsunade inwardly smirked; knowing the old Sakura Haruno, this girl probably had the same tendencies to let her emotions show on her face unknowingly. The foot-steps echoing her's was the sign that the younger girl was following her, so she made her way to the training grounds—which was an abandoned warehouse right next to the clinic, cleaned and looking brand new just so that it wouldn't be torn down; it was the perfect place to train, with earth for the floor and no concrete on the ground what-so-ever.

Once, they were standing in the middle of the giant and empty place, Tsunade all but tore off her cloak and threw it to the side carelessly, cracking her knuckles—she knew Sakura would be scared out of her wits right now; she didn't need to face her just to know, she could practically hear her shaking in her boots. Without looking back, Tsunade placed a hand on her hips and pretended to look around the warehouse. "Sakura..."

She could feel her stiffen behind her.

"Is there a reason..." She looked over her shoulder to glance at the girl menacingly, "...as to why you used your chakra outside of training? Better yet, tell me why you used chakra just so you could get to school?"

At that, the girl opened her mouth to apologize once more, but no words came out, instead choosing to bow her head down in shame. A few more moments passed and Tsunade shook her head, her pigtails swaying along. Suddenly—at the speed of chakra-enhanced feet—the blonde rushed towards her, her fist pulled back into a punch. The younger girl's eyes widened before narrowly dodging a fist to the face, ducking then aiming a chakra-enhanced kick to the blonde's legs.

Jumping to avoid getting broken legs, Tsunade lifted her heel in mid-air and brought it down on Sakura's head—only for the said girl to hurriedly retreat to a somewhat-safe distance. The green heel made contact with the earth beneath them and in a semi-second the ground cracked and caused a miniature earthquake that tore open the floor. Chunks of dirt flew in the air, and through the corner of her eyes she saw a flash of pink—the next second, she caught a dainty fist without even turning her head. Before Sakura could take her fist back, Tsunade pulled her towards her, her free hand raised to elbow the girl.

Her elbow hit the junction between her shoulder blades and the pinkette grimaced in pain, letting out a sharp yelp. Then, the older woman's knee flew up and kneed the girl in the stomach, tossing her a few feet in front of her afterwards. She did not rest—as soon as she hit the ground, she pushed herself up to avoid getting hit by another chakra-laded heel, which created a small crater at the spot where the pinkette used to be.

Tsunade tensed when she realized the younger girl's chakra had disappeared. She crouched, prepared to attack as her eyes carefully searched the area for any sign of movement. She concentrated on her surroundings—not to her left, not to her right, not above, definitely not underground. After a few more minutes of silence, her eye twitched; this was getting too tiring—so she pulled her fist back and destroyed the earth once more.

If you can't find them, punch the ground.

Her ears caught a small 'eep!' to her right and she wasted no time in bolting there.

Pink flashed before her eyes, and it was coming towards her quickly. She stood her ground—when the younger girl was close enough, she raised her hand and swatted her away as if she were a small fly, sending her crashing into the wall behind her. The harsh impact made it crack and the pinkette slowly slid down the wall, her body trembling.

Her sharp amber eyes gazed at the unmoving girl in front of her. Tsunade shook her head for the umpteenth time that day; if she isn't going to get up, there's no point in continuing the lesson.

She was about to call out to Shizune, who was watching nervously from the door of the warehouse, when she heard shuffling from the girl. Her amber eyes traveled once more to Sakura, who was now standing and gripping her bruised side while trying to catch her breath. Even with the cuts and wounds and forming-bruises that were littering her pale body, her eyes were fiery and lit up in determination, the girl's gaze set on Tsunade. She couldn't resist—she let the corners of her lips tug up into a small smirk.

Those were the same eyes the old Sakura Haruno had—the ones that she had the very day she had asked to be her apprentice, the ones that she had every strict practice, the ones that she had when she healed her patients.

Nostalgia over-took her, but she brushed it off; damn, she needed some sake right now. Crossing her arms, she beckoned the pink-haired girl to come at her once more—throughout the rest of the practice, the smirk stayed.

Damn it, Sakura thought to herself as she made her way to school the next day, hands wringing the braclets around her wrists—the dreaded chakra restraints. Her wounds (which consisted of three cracked ribs, a swollen eye, and multiple cuts and bruises) were healed nicely thanks to Shizune, but she was quickly given a strict reprimand from Tsunade then given the bracelets as punishment.

Adjusting her yellow messenger bag to her shoulders, she was too self-indulged at the moment to notice the shadows that followed her a few feet away, along with the heavy footsteps that echoed her's.

Because of her mistake of using chakra outside of training, she was prohibited of using her it for two weeks; sure, it didn't sound as bad, but training with Tsunade usually required chakra to actually to damage—so, basically, without it, she was screwed when she faced against the older woman. Not only that, but now she's be two weeks behind in her medical training.

She also had to wear that hideous bracelet—thick and brown, it clashed with her eyes. She hated brown.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her to the side roughly, her arms and legs quickly tied then being thrown over someone's shoulder. The only thing she could get out was a loud yell of, "What the he—" before another hand covered her mouth and gagged her with duct tape; thoughts were frantically running through her mind, trying to find ways of escaping—most of them involved using her chakra...and the only thing she could hope for now was for someone to see her.

Squirming in the ropes, she did her best to try and get the rope loose—if she had her chakra, she wouldn't even be in this mess. She tried desperately to see where the person was taking her only to be sharply smacked across the face by some whore-ish looking woman who walked next to the person carrying her; the woman scowled down at her and flipped her stringy hair over her shoulder smugly, "Quit moving, girlie, of I'll make sure your pretty little face'll get scarred."

Her words, though, did not affect her, as the pinkette's eyes, focused on the ground, her brow furrowed in irritation and panic. Damn it...she inwardly growled, squirming uncomfortably underneath the tightly-knotted ropes—another hard smack was sent her way courtesy of the older woman, who growled out threateningly with her irritatingly nasally voice, "I said, you dumb bitch, to stop moving! It's bad enough I'm hungover, and your stupid swaying pink hair is giving me a freakin' migraine."

The pinkette glared at the woman, but her shut in pain when the said woman roughly grabbed her by her hair and lifted her head up to look her straight in the eyes; what a waste of a good moment to spit in her face, SHANNARO! Emerald eyes widened when she realized a knife was being held at her throat, but her feisty facade was still put up. The two only woman stared each other down for a few minutes before the elder snorted, pulling back her knife and roughly throwing Sakura's head back down. "Stupid little bitch."

Ignoring the insult, she weakly lifted her head up to look at her surroundings—only to find herself in a near-dark alley way which she was unfamiliar with. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes; damn it all, why do stupid things have to happen to her? At the end of the alleyway of where they had entered, hope had manifested in the form of a boy. Emerald eyes widened.

Hope—in the form of Tsunayoshi Sawada. She watched with wide, terrified and desperate eyes as the said boy's mouth moved, his face horrified and pale as he turned his head from left to right, probably looking for someone to help. Her heart was beating in her chest a million miles a minute; what the hell was that kid doing? Wasn't he going to help her?

HELP ME, YOU STUPID DUMBASS!

Her mental raging was cut off when she was thrown onto the ground and in front of people she couldn't recognized—thugs littered with scars and tattoos and facial hair, but amongst the tall, overly-muscular people was a stout man two heads shorter than everyone else, wearing rings, a faux fur coat, black trousers and black leather boots, an unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. She stole a quick glance at the entrance of the alleyway only to find Tsuna gone. Hopefully he had gone for help—

"So, little girl," the stout man's voice brought her back to her current situation and her furious gaze was now directed at him, jaw clenching and hands clenched into fists behind her. He stared down at her with a smirk, "I heard you've got connections to Tsunade, the Slug Princess—or whatever the fuck she calls herself these days."

Her eyes widened a bit before she narrowed them; what would they have to do with Tsunade? Her question was answered, though, by the only female in their group, who wrapped her arms around the shorter person's neck and snuggled into the fur, "She owes my lovey-kin some money, and that money was supposed to go to my new boob-job!"

"Ah...yes. Your boob-job." The man smirked, pushing his sunglasses farther up his nose. "Now, little girl, where is she? I need to have a little...talk...about her large debt."

Sakura didn't reply—instead, she kept her cold gaze on the wall behind them, silently praying to the Heavens above to send her sign that she'd be saved. The stinging pain of the duct tape being ripped through her mouth made her eyes tear a bit, and the thug responsible for it tossed the grey adhesive aside before bending down to grab her by the hair.

"Boss asked you a question, girlie, so you better answer—" He was met with spit to his face, her emerald eyes heated and glaring at everyone in front of her. The thug swore loudly, wiping off her spit with the collar of his shirt before roughly punching her in the face, letting her drop onto the wet concrete with an audible 'thump.' "Stupid bitch! You'll pay for that!"

Before he could do anything else, the short leader raised his hand, stepping towards the glaring girl, "Well, girlie, are you going to tell me where that conniving bitch is, or what?" Her response was instantaneous.

"LIKE HELL I WOULD!"She roared from her place on the ground, squirming desperately in the binds.

These bastards were so damn lucky she didn't have her chakra! If it weren't for those stupid bracelets, she would have ripped the stupid ropes to shreds and pummeled their face-lifted faces and tummy-tucked bodies into piles of dusts!

How dare they insult her master!

Dammit all to hell, she was just so freaking pissed right now; so, stubborn Sakura decided to chalk up some of her bloody spit—oh, and she made sure it was a good loogie—and spat on the man's face. Her aim was perfect; it hit him smack-dab in his open mouth.

That was all she remembered before her mind numbed out. She distantly heard angry shouts and insulting comments and commands being barked out, but all her senses were drowned out by the intense pain of kicks, punches, shoves, and being thrown against the brick walls. Her eyes cringed, jaw clenched tightly, bracing herself for each and every hit coming her way.

She could feel bruises forming. She could feel the loss of brain cells. She could feel bones cracking.

She felt each and every hit, each and every wound that was being inflicted upon her. And she couldn't do anything about it.

D...Dammit...She gazed helplessly at the wet alleyway floor, vision blocked by her pink locks—everything was beginning to fade to black, and soon, their kicks and punches just seemed to add to the numbness that was currently over-taking her body. Her eyes closed slowly.

The last thing she heard before going unconscious was a distant and some-what familiar battle cry, "SAKURA-SAN!"

I'm gonna be late again! With wide and worried eyes, Tsuna ran as fast as he could while chewing on his toast, one hand gripping tightly onto his bag and the other holding onto the crunchy bread. Thoughts were running through his head as he finished the rest of his toast; it was the second time he had woke up late, and if he didn't hurry up. he'd have to face Hibari-san once more. Once was enough for him, but twice?

That would probably mean death.

Quickly turning a corner, he noticed something pink flash in the corners of his eyes—the first thing that popped into his mind was a certain short-tempered pink-haired girl. He shook it off, though. From what he saw yesterday, she probably wasn't going to go to school late, with her strange super powers and what not. His mind drifted back to the previous day's events—what was that?

His brow furrowed; no normal human being could jump roofs like that unless they were some human-kangaroo hybrid—she seemed normal...but the only thing that wasn't normal about her was the fact that her feet were glowing green.

They were glowing green.

Maybe she was a super-saiyan? He inwardly sweatdropped—or not. What ever she was, though, was a secret she probably wasn't willing to tell. And he was fine with that—she had a nasty temper and a powerful punch; those two things were never a good combination, and should he be ever get caught snooping around in her personal life, she'd probably beat him to death.

His musings were cut off by the sounds of loud footsteps and muffling sounds. As he passed a nearby alleyway, something pink caught his eye once more—the first thing that popped into his mind again was Sakura Haruno; skidding to a stop, he tip toed to the alleyway and peeked over the side only to see the backs of a buff man and a woman wearing a mini skirt to short for public. On the buff man's shoulder was something pink—it lifted his head to reveal Sakura Haruno, her wide emerald eyes brimming with tears, duct tape taped over her mouth, tied up and unable to move.

Their eyes met.

"Sa...Sakura-san...!" Panic was beginning to well up inside him, with his heart beating against his rib cage at a speed he couldn't comprehend. His hazel eyes were wide and his shoulders shook—what could he do? He looked around, eyes searching for someone—anyone—that could help her.

"What are you going to do, Tsunayoshi Sawada?"

He jumped at the sound of his name, which was uttered by an unfamiliar baby-ish voice. Looking around wildly for the source of his name, he nearly blanched when he found a baby—not even knee-height—standing behind him, wearing a black fedora and a black and orange business suit, a green lizard perching itself on the back of his hand. He stared at the baby incredulously, "W-Who—"

"Are you going to save her?" His incredulous gaze remained until he heard grunts coming from the alleyway. He peeked from the entrance and covered his mouth in horror at the sight of a group of thugs beating up a certain girl on the ground, who was still bound up by ropes and who's pink hair was now dirtied from the wet floor. His stomach dropped—was he going to save her?

"I...I..." He stammered, his wide-eyed gaze turning back to the baby standing behind him, "I can't save her—I won't be able to!" He whispered frantically, glancing back and forth between the crowd and the baby. The baby stared back at him, "Why?"

Before Tsuna could answer back, the baby beat him to it, "Is it because you're a Loser? Because you can't even do a full-chin up? Is it because you doubt yourself? You're Loser Tsuna—once a loser, always a loser."

What did he say? He didn't know anything! At that statement, he glared at the baby and took a threatening step forward but the baby stood his ground, calmly staring back at the aggravated boy, "Shut up! I can't do it because it'd be a waste of time and breathe!" In a softer tone, he whispered to himself with a bittersweet tone, "I can't do anything...if I wasn't such a loser, I'd save her..."

Click. "Then die once."

The green gun that was pointed at him made his blood run cold, and he took an involuntary step back, "W-W-What are you—"

The baby pulled the trigger—the red bullet that had been shot from his pistol hit him directly in the middle of his forehead, sending him careening backwards and making him loose his balance. He was dying, then. The last thing he felt was his stomach curling in regret and remorse and the back of his head making contact with the concrete floor.

I'm leaving this world.

The only thing I hope for is that Sakura-san would make it out alive—

But I knew...that if my life depended on it, I could have saved her.

If I risked my life, I could have saved her's.

The numb-ness of death did not last long—suddenly, he felt very rejuvenated. Quickly rising up from his slump on the floor, he looked into thin air with his dilated pupils blazing in fiery determination as he clenched his fists tightly, "Re-Born!" He hadn't realized that his clothes had burnt off of his body (which left him in his sky blue Doraemon boxers), or the orange flame that blazed on his forehead.

"I'll save Sakura Haruno even if it kills me!" With that, he quickly sped off into the alley, leaving a trail of dust behind him, towards the large group of people that crowded around the unmoving lump on the floor. Through his hyper-active state, he stared at her; she wasn't moving, she wasn't moving, she wasn't moving—

"SAKURA-SAN!"

Blinded by fury, he punched the nearest thug—some odd-faced man wearing a tank top and short-shorts—and sent him flying into a few other thugs. The one he had punched was knocked out-cold. Using everyone's stupor as an advantage, he kicked and punched a few more before they snapped out of their dazed state, someone shouting orders to beat him up while the rest of the thugs let out a battle cry.

One tried to grab him from behind, but he jumped out of the way and landed behind him, landing a kick to the side of the man's head and sending his face to the brick wall beside him. Two men ran towards him, their fists pulled back to punch the living daylights out of them. Side-stepping, he kicked their legs and sent them tumbling into each other.

A few more minutes of punching, kicking, kneeing, elbowing, and head-butting, Tsuna had taken out all of the thugs—they were all on the floor either unconscious or cradling their wounds.

He snapped his head in the direction of the shaking mini-skirt-wearing woman and the stout man, and growled at them. Immediately, they bolted off towards the other end of the alley-way while screaming their heads off and sending frantic apologies towards the boxer-clad boy. Turning away, he quickly bolted over to Sakura's bound form and broke through the ropes, then placing his arms behind her back and knees. Steadying her in his arms, he suddenly felt the rejuvenation die away—the flame disappeared from his forehead completely.

I beat these people up! His wide eyes analyzed each and every body on the ground in complete and utter terror. His epiphany did not last long, however—his eyes landed on the bloodied and beaten form he was carrying and gasped out, "S-Sakura-san!"

He could feel the small rise and fall of her chest against his, and a slight feeling of relief washed over him—only to have it replaced with concern and panic. "She needs to go to the hospital!"

But the nearest hospital was nearly half-a-mile away. He didn't have his cell phone to call them, nor would he make it there by foot. People would think wrong if he were to call for help in the streets, and going back to school was a bad choice, too. His already-stressed out mind was racing with so many thoughts at the moment, and the only thing he could do was stare in horror at the unconscious girl in his arms. He mentally blanched; what the heck was he supposed to do?

"Take her to the Namimori Clinic."

His head snapped up towards the direction of the voice, only to find the same baby, standing at the other end of the alleyway with the green lizard resting on the tip of his black fedora. His brow furrowed in confusion; the Namimori clinic was only a few blocks away, but he didn't think they were professional enough for Sakura's serious injuries...but it was the closest thing to the hospital and dang it, he wasn't going to let her die.

Sharply nodding his head towards the baby, he bolted out of the alleyway and into the empty streets, turning the corner and towards the Namimori Clinic. Sure, he received a few stares and scrunched up faces, but he didn't care—he needed to get her to safety. After ten more minutes of running and avoiding slow walkers on the street, he finally reached the small clinic.

All but kicking open the door, he searched the room for someone—luckily, there weren't any others there at the moment—and found a dark-haired nurse behind a desk near the back. She had been scribbling some notes on a few papers but her head immediately snapped up towards him. Not waiting for her to comment on either the girl in his arms or his Doraemon boxers (hopefully no one from school saw him...), he bolted towards her, his face twisted in concern and panic.

"Help her, please! She was beaten up!" The dark-haired nurse wasted no time, bustling out of her chair and gesturing him to follow her. He complied quickly and followed her into a hallway with five open doors—she led him into the first one, and he couldn't help but notice how her eyes widened when he passed her. Once he carefully laid her on the bed, she was at his side, brushing away the hair that stuck to her face.

"O-Oh god," she whispered from beside him, her voice broken and laced with worry, "Sakura..." His eyes widened; how did she know Sakura-san?

He decided not to question it, instead choosing to grab hold of the unconscious girl's hand. Sakura-san...don't die. He hadn't noticed the nurse had disappeared—his eyes were solely focused on the pinkette, brow crinkled in worry. It was silent—suddenly, a loud crash was heard a few doors down and he jumped in surprise; the crash was followed by a woman's voice, who bellowed, "SAKURA IS WHAT?"

He stared at the doorway with scared eyes, one hand on his wildly beating heart while the other still clutched onto Sakura's limp hand. A slam was heard, then the loud 'clik! clak!' of heels on the floor—they were coming closer, closer, and louder each second...a blonde-haired woman appeared and walked through the threshold. He couldn't help but blush at the sight of her...over-developed chest and focused his gaze on her scowling and glaring face—

"Get out," she said, her voice low as her amber eyes narrowed at him dangerously. Gulping and fearing for his life, he nodded hesitantly and hurried out of the room, glancing back at the pinkette before stopping in the hallway. The dark-haired nurse from before passed him with a weak smile and handed him a white doctor's robe, jostling back into the room where the blonde began to bark orders.

The door closed, leaving Tsuna to stare dumbly at the white clothing in his hand. Why did she give me this robe? It's not like I'm need it—

His cheeks heated up once more; he looked down and nearly groaned, "I-I look like such a pervert..." He was still in his boxers! With an embarrassed blush, he slipped into the coat and wrapped it around his semi-exposed form.

Today was just not his day.

She felt like crap.

For the first time in hours, Sakura opened her blood shot and tired eyes to the world—only to see white all around her. The first thing that popped up in her mind was that she was dead, and she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Something rough made contact with the skin under her eyes and she pulled her hand away from her face to see bandages. She nearly blanched; so she wasn't dead! She could almost cry, but she could do that it secret later—she needed to know where the heck she was first.

Her body felt heavy and weird, but she brushed it off and pushed herself into an upwards sitting position; she looked around (why the heck is it so freaking blurry?) and—what the heck? She was at Namimori Clinic? Her mind was racing with questions at the moment. Who brought her here? Why was she here? Why not the hospital? Why did it feel like someone was holding her hand?

Snapping out of her train of thoughts, she weakly turned her head to her right side—low and behold, there was a hand clutching onto her's as if there was no tomorrow. Unused to such contact, her face heated up, rubbing her eyes to get a better look at who the perpetrator was. Her eyes traveled from the hand, to white sleeves, and to the sleeping face of Tsunayoshi Sawada, who was sleeping soundly in the chair next to her, head resting on the bed while drool pooled next to his mouth; light snores emitted from his unmoving form. Her eye twitched; geeze, that's gross.

Gently prying her hand out of his grip, she pulled the blankets off of her—she realized someone had changed her into a white hospital gown and out of her tattered school uniform—and analyzed her wounds after lifting her gown up—or what used to be her wounds. Although her body felt disoriented and somewhat rusty, her abdomen and chest were wrapped in clean bandages, along with her right bicep, left wrist, and her right calf. They did a number on her.

After putting the fabric down, she laid back down on the bed and sighed, running a hand through her dirty and tangled hair. Her weary emerald eyes traveled back to the sleeping boy next to her; why was he here? She vaguely remembered seeing him at the alleyway, but he had disappeared soon after. She inwardly scoffed; he probably ran off. But something in the back of her mind nagged her that he had done the exact opposite. But it was ludicrous, really: No Good Tsuna, beating up a group of thugs just to save her? The boy couldn't even do push-ups!

"So you're awake?" Ripping her gaze from him, she spotted Tsunade—dressed in her usual robe, top, pants and heeled sandals—standing at the doorway of the room, her arms crossed and her amber eyes focused on her. She nodded weakly.

"Tsunade-shishou," she spoke, her voice feeling raspy and hoarse, "How did I get here...?" Her voice trailed off, her eyes suddenly finding the ground interesting.

"The kid brought you here." Her eyes widened and she once more found her eyes locked onto the older woman in incredulity; he saved her? She, at the moment, was mind-freaked. He saved her life—he actually saved her. Her chest erupted in a warm feeling, and she turned her gaze towards him, her emerald eyes softening. He risked his life for her. Tsunade continued, "He told me you were getting beat up by a group of people."

Sakura nodded, "They were asking for your whereabouts, demanding for their money." From the corner of her eye, the older woman's shoulders tensed, "I didn't tell them, so they began to beat me until I gave the information." After that, the room went silent. She fidgeted awkwardly in the tense air; why hadn't she said anything? Was she mad at her? Did she disappoint her? Suddenly, the 'clik! clak!' of the older woman's heels made her tense.

Arms wrapped around her form, and she found herself in the valley of the other's breasts. Looking up, she pursed her lips, "Uh...Tsunade-shisou—"

"I'm sorry."

Emerald eyes widened, and she tilted her head to the side in confusion. The blonde continued with rueful eyes (are those tears?),"You nearly died. If I hadn't given you the chakra restraints, you wouldn't have been in that situation." Sakura inwardly smiled; she would have made her master proud and would have beat the crap out of the stout man and his evil cronies...especially that fake woman with the fake boobs. Hopefully Tsuna had done the job for her.

"It's alright, shishou. I'm fine now, really!" She reassured, a grin reaching her features as she patted the blonde's back comfortingly, and the elder woman returned her grin with a smile of her own which seemed...strained and broken? She was confused; she was alright, why would she be so emotional?

"I'm glad," she said softly as she pulled away from the pinkette, patting her head lovingly—though, Sakura couldn't help but gulp when she saw the mischievous glint in Tsunade's amber eyes. Thrusting her thumb in the direction of the sleeping brunette, her master smirked, "So is he your boyfriend, or something?"

...boyfriend?

She choked on her spit; did she just imply that they were—oh, that was just so...weird! Feeling her face heat up, she nearly flinched away from her master, a hand in front of her dropped jaw while she stared at her master with wide eyes, "A-Are you joking? O-Of course not! He's not my boyfrie—"

"...Sakura-san?" What a perfect time to wake up! SHANNARO! She felt her eye twitch and she snapped her head in the direction of stirring boy. The said boy lifted his head from the bed sheets and rubbed his droopy eyes with the back of his hand. Her lips pursed; she could practically see her master smirking next to her.

As if he finally realized where he was, his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet—the sudden movement made her jump also; the robe he had been wearing had slipped from his grip and exposed his light blue boxer shorts. Her nostrils flared and her face began to heat up from the sight of Doraemon, "Y-You..."

Noticing his robe, he immediately yelped and struggled to hide himself, "S-S-Sakura-san! It's not what you think—" He shut up, probably noticing how red her face must be.

Cracking her knuckles, she growled at him—with the stupid blush still on her face—and cocked her fist back.

"You..." He gulped. HE WAS SO DONE FOR, SHANNAROOOOOOO!

"...PERVERT!"

Of course, she made sure she hadn't sent any chakra to her fist now that the ugly restraints were gone (thank god!). But she smugly noted that her punch sent him twirling a few times before falling to the floor in a daze. That was sure to leave a mark. She sat up, dangling her legs at the edge of the bed until the pads of her feet reached the floor and shakily walked towards his trembling form. His eyes followed her every move, and she could have laughed—he looked like he was about to piss himself or something!

She leaned over him and offered her hand—resisting the urge to roll her eyes when he flinched away—with a small smile on her face, "C' mon, Tsuna."

His eyes widened a bit (probably because of what she called him; she admitted that even she was a bit surprised by her own actions) before taking her hand. Slowly but surely, the corners of his lips twitched upwards into a somewhat-hesitant smile of his own. As soon as he was on his feet, she pulled him towards her and into her arms, wrapping them around his form—at first, he tensed under her touch, his smile faltering in surprise.

"Thank you, Tsuna." She whispered, resting her chin on his bare shoulder. After the way she treated him—which was, she remembered shamefully, rude—the guilt welled up in the pit of her stomach, making her feel sorry for the boy. He had done nothing wrong to her and she had only been mean to him in the beginning because she...well, she didn't even talk to him before the day before.

But now here she was, hugging him and thanking him (and probably making him feel uncomfortable with her nasty mood-swings and what not) because he saved her life. Her eyes began to burn with unshed tears, and she unconsciously pulled him closer and rested her forehead against his shoulder, "T-Thank you."

He stayed tensed, and she was secretly beginning to get worried with his lack of reaction and was mentally debating on whether or not she should let go, when she felt him relax in her hold, his arms slowly snaking around her form; relief washed over her. She could practically hear the smile in his voice when he spoke out.

"No problem, Sakura-chan." Her lips tugged upwards while her face was buried in his shoulder. Thank you for everything.

The two teens were so absorbed in their embrace that they failed to notice a certain smirking blonde, who silently stalked out of the room with the full-intention of not disturbing their...precious moment.

"So, you're the Legendary Slug Princess Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin—I've only heard rumors of your strength and amazing healing abilities." Amber orbs locked onto big doe eyes. She leaned back in her swivel chair and propped her legs up on her newly-bought desk.

"You're a hitman." A statement.

"And you're the one who saved hundreds of the injured at your 'neutral grounds' clinic back in Italy. Is your alliance with the Vongola is still intact?"

"Yes." Her tone was sharp, but her gaze was sharper. "What are you doing in Namimori?"

The green lizard on his hat crawled to his hand, "I've been sent here by Vongola XI to train the tenth generation boss—the boy earlier, who brought your apprentice here."

"Him, eh? He doesn't seem like it."

"He will be once I tutor him."

"And I'm guessing that you want me to be allied to him, too, should he create a family of his own." She leaned forward and stared intently at the baby in front of her.

"That would be most helpful."

"...Fine." She sighed and closed her eyes, only to open them again to questioningly glance at the baby, "And who are you?"

He gave her a small wave, "I'm the Home Tutor Hitman, Reborn." And with that, he left her office after bidding a small good-bye—she had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last she saw of him.

Little did she know, she was absolutely right.

Holy balls, this was a freaking pain in the ass to write. BUT I'M STILL PROUD OF THIS; this—hands down—has to be the longest thing I ever wrote in my entire life. My brain at the moment is shriveled up due to the sheer length. I'm inwardly patting myself on the back for actually finishing the first chapter.

A few notes: the reason why Tsunade kept refferring to 'Old Sakura Haruno' will be explained in the next few chapters. If you haven't noticed, the bold when it's in Sakura's point of view is Inner Sakura—I know some people like the fact that she can interact with herself, but to be honest I've never seen Sakura and her Inner interact with each other in the anime/manga and that Inner only voiced Sakura's true opinions, so I'm going to try and stick with the most accurate things as possible (and should anything be inaccurate, please tell me~). Also, I like the dash sign, :L

ON A MORE IMPORTANT NOTE, trying to write people in character was so hard for me...so yeah, please tell me if anyone is OOC so that I can fix it—as I said before, I'm trying to make the story as accurate as possible, so your help will be greatly appreciated.

ON A MORE IMPORTANT IMPORTANT NOTE, I don't really know what the pairing is. Really, :C so sorry if there's not as much romance in the up-coming chapters.

ON A MORE IMPORTANT NOTE OF IMPORTANCE, I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter, :) I don't really know how long the next chapter will take me, but just keep on the look-out! Thanks!

(I don't own Naruto, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or any other references made in this story—i.e. the term 'super saiyan'—I simply make fanfiction for them.)