Blood Red Cherry Blossom

Chapter 1

The Beginning of Problems

Sakura Haruno felt the cold sweat run down her face as she charged at Sasuke Uchiha with her Katana sword. She had to keep pushing him until he was at his limit, until all of his chakra was absent from inside of him, until she had found victory. It didn't help her in any way that his sharingan was at its full power and his crimson red orbs didn't seem to want to give out anytime soon. Her chakra was completely drained from her tiny body; the only way to seek victory from the raven-haired man was to use her sword skills. So far, this was not working, as her body was about to give out physically and mentally. But that's what you get when you challenge an Uchiha to battle you.

Sakura Haruno was one of the best medical ninja and Konoichi that the 5 great nations had ever witnessed. She was strong, fast, cunning and wise, everything she needed to succeed in the ninja world. Sasuke Uchiha was also strong and cunning, but not as wise as an Uchiha should be. Yes, he was smart enough to pass a test and succeed in the ninja world but was foolish enough to march right up to the Akatsuki base and declare a fight with Itachi Uchiha, his older brother.

Picking a fight with Itachi would be the last thing on anybody's mind, but for Sasuke, it was the first. Because he had decided on battling Itachi, Sasuke had cost greatly for it. He had lost the fight in the first 5 minutes of it and already had fractured his right leg, his wrist and several digits. From then on, he never went in search for a fight again, from Itachi any way.

Sakura felt a wave of exhaustion wipe over her body. She had had enough. She collapsed on the ground with a loud 'thud'. She winced from the pain she was in and struggled to get back upon her feet.

While his comrade was trying to make an effort to stand up again, Sasuke comically danced around in a circle chanting the words in an insulting tone-like fashion, 'Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha I won, you lost, you can kiss my-'

"Shut your mouth, you stupid emo boy and help me get up." Sakura snarled through her teeth, depriving Sasuke's 'happy dance song' of one word.

Sasuke held out a hand for Sakura. Smiling and grabbing on to his strong hand, Sakura was lifted to her feet in an irregular fashion. She muttered a thanks as she brushed of the dirt from her shoulders.

"Haruno-sama! Uchiha-sama!"

Both looked behind Sakura to see Shizune hurrying towards them frantically.

"What is it Shizune-chan?" Sakura asked giving Shizune worried looks as she was short of breathe when she reached the pair.

"Akatsuki...coming....Konoha...Orochimaru....tomorrow." Shizune managed to get out.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed when he heard 'Akatsuki' and 'Orochimaru'. He thought he had finally got rid of Orochimaru, or did he?

"What do you mean Akatsuki and Orochimaru? Who told you this?" Sasuke demanded with crossed arms.

"Just come with me to the Hokage's office, he'll explain everything." Shizune said finally able to speak properly.

"Come in."

Shizune opened the doors to the office of the Hokage as she hushed Sasuke and Sakura inside of his workplace. Sitting in the Hokage's chair was Naruto Uzumaki. He had been praised as Hokage of Konoha and proudly took the place of Lady Tsunade who recently passed away.

Everyone in Konoha was heartbroken when the depressing news flew through the quiet village streets. She was remembered highly of her great devotion to The Hidden Leaf and her duties.

"Hokage-sama, here are Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

Shizune bowed and closed the door, leaving the old team 7 comrades to discuss the problem amongst themselves.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura began sweetly, "Shizune-chan had told bits and pieces of our, um, situation. But Sasuke and I are not quite sure what exactly is going on."

Naruto studied Sakura and Sasuke's puzzled facial expressions before fully explaining what was going to happen in the near future.

"I received a letter from the leader of the Akatsuki just this morning…"

As Naruto said this, he pushed a folded up sheet of white paper up to the front of the desk where Sasuke and Sakura were standing.

"… It clearly states that the Akatsuki has finally given up on their goal and want to start a new life in Konoha…"

Abruptly, from his anger, Sasuke banged his fist on the Hokage's desk, stopping Narutos' sentence by words.

"Why the hell should we let them into our village, when all they have done is tried to destroy it? Huh? Give me one good reason why we should."

Narutos' eyes narrowed as he rose to his feet and pounded his fist on the desk as he spoke, "Here's a good reason, Sasuke. Orochimaru was revived a week ago. He is planning on taking over Konoha any month now. iWe/i are not prepared for an attack like this. However,the iAkatsuki/i are."

"The letter clearly states, Sasuke, that if we do something for them, then they will do something for us. It also says that they know what Orochimaru is planning on doing and they know how to defeat him and his recruits once and for all."

"Sasuke, I know you don't have a wonderful history with these guys, and trust me, I don't either, but from this kindly written letter, it sounds like almost all of them have changed and that they really want to make a fresh start. So I suggest you shut up a take it all in because all of them will be here by sundown."

Both Sasuke and Sakura were surprised by Naruto's sudden outburst in backing up the Akatsuki.

Reluctantly, Sasuke agreed to shut his mouth and handle this situation maturely.

"Good," Naruto said firmly while he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Naruto-kun, don't they need a place to stay while they are here? I mean they won't be living out on the streets, right?" Sakura's tiny voice suddenly asked.

"Of course they won't be out on the streets; they will be staying at your place." Naruto smiled innocently.

"Oh ok that's ni- wait, WHAT?!? At my house? Uh uh, no way in hell!" Sakura retorted.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but this is the way it's going to be."

Naruto calmly replied.

"Now get out of here both of you."