Hello there! I have taken back to the writing of fanfiction stories! I realized that I just couldn't stay away from it! Inuyasha's Sorrow, my other story, is on hiatus for a while because I simply have lost interest in it. But don't worry! I'll still continue (I have almost all of it written down on paper). Well, here is my latest story: Intertwined Fates. I hope you enjoy it (it's a bit longer than my other story…)! .-
NOTE: Please alert me of any Japanese spelling errors. Thanks! Also, I am looking for a BETA to look over my work. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me.
Pairings: Sasuke/Sakura, (slight) Naruto/Hinata.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the manga/anime: Naruto.
Summary: Two and a half years since Sasuke's sudden allegiance to the Hidden Sound village, Sakura has become a successful medic-nin, Chuunin, and an expert genjutsu artist, and Naruto a thriving hunter-nin and ANBU member. During the upcoming Jounin exams, Orochimaru, arriving with the whole of Sound, makes an unexpected appearance. What lies in store for the future of Konoha of the Leaf? Why are Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki present at the same time as Orochimaru, and what have they got in store for Naruto? Why has Sasuke suddenly come back to Konoha? The fate of Konoha, and possibly all of shinobi, lies in one person's hands… But will they make the right choice? Or will something else get in their way?
Chapter One- The ExamA bright sun rose over Konoha's walls, reflecting off the smooth cement and onto the rooftops of the neighbouring houses. Birds twittered back and forth, welcoming the sun's appearance. As the shining ball of fire continued its climb into the air, it instantly heated up the homes of the large village. The view was splendid. Red, purple, orange and yellow were diverse in many shades in the suns rays.
In the Hokage's tower, lay a pink-haired girl with a petite frame covered with a multitude of thick quilts. As the light shone through the newly cleaned windows and onto the girl's abnormally large forehead, she woke with a start.
Clutched in her hand was a kunai knife, or shinobi's dagger. Wiping off the sweat of her brow, she climbed slowly out of bed. Imbedding the kunai into the wall, she nimbly stretched the muscles in her arms, neck and legs.
'Sasuke-kun…' she thought, staring wistfully out of the tower's windows. It's been two and a half years since Konoha's number one rookie went missing. Later information revealed that he had joined the Hidden Sound village and became Orochimaru's apprentice. A search party consisting of one Chuunin and four Genins, including Naruto, were sent to retrieve Sasuke on the night he went missing. Their mission was unsuccessful.
The petal-haired girl named Sakura sighed, and wrung her hands together in frustration. Glancing at the clock, she realized that she had to get ready. The Hokage was not a very impatient woman, and dealt out punishments when necessary.
Strapping on her black leg guards, and slipping on her shuriken holster and waist pack, she stepped out the door and continued to Training Area No. 3 to meet up with her sensei.
---
"Miso ramen! Miso ramen! MISO RAMEN!" a blonde screeched, making the man sitting next to him cover his ears in pain.
Naruto the village loudmouth and show-off punched his fist in the air, clearly showing his excitement for the simple dish that was placed in front of him. Inhaling the salty odour with deep satisfaction, the blonde eagerly dug in.
The man next to him frowned when bits of ramen flew all over the counter, himself, and Naruto. He rubbed his temples visibly expressing that a headache was coming on.
"Naruto, you know you don't have to be this messy when you eat. You're dinner's not going to disappear, you know." Iruka sighed.
Naruto grinned, displaying pieces of noodle wedged in between his teeth. Iruka grimaced at the sight.
"Anyways Naruto. I'd better be heading off. Sorry I couldn't stay longer and chat with you, but Kakashi is wanting to talk to me about something." He winked and tossed a few coins on the table as payment for Naruto's nine bowls of ramen, waved goodbye, and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Naruto uttered a small 'ja', and slurped up the remains of his dinner, ushering the owner of the ramen bar over, he motioned for another bowl.
---
Sakura gritted her teeth as her teacher sprung up from the ground underneath her, missing her nose by a couple of centimetres. Flipping back, she took out shuriken laden with explosive tags and flung them at her teacher, but cursed when all they hit was smoke.
"Not good enough!" came the cry of the Fifth, Tsunade.
Looking behind her, Sakura gasped in surprise. Something thin wrapped around her and quickly bound her to a tree. Glancing around her she came to a sudden realization that her sensei had used kunai and shuriken with wire tied to them. Manipulating them with amazing skill, she had managed to tie Sakura to a tree. Struggling with all her might, Sakura tried to reach behind her and grab a kunai to slice the threads, but to no avail.
Crouching in front of her student, Tsunade noticed how much Sakura had grown over the past two and a half years, not just in skill but in other ways as well. Smiling to herself, she remembered one day when a young shinobi asked, out of the blue, for Sakura to go out on a date with him. She declined politely.
"I think that's enough for today, Sakura." She said, and cut the stings that bound her student to the tree. "You are dismissed for today. Good job on that fire jutsu earlier. I never expected that." She commented Sakura, who blushed modestly.
Hugging her teacher, she bounded off to find Naruto, who by now had consumed at least twelve bowls of ramen. She chuckled at the thought.
Spotting the ramen-obsessive ninja walking out of the ramen stall, Sakura waved frantically to gain his attention.
Naruto whirled around and grinned broadly when he saw Sakura. "Hey Sakura-chan!" he yelled, earning stares from passer-by. Running up to his life-long friend he greeted her, giving her a hug in the process.
Sakura smiled at motioned for them to keep walking. "Hey Naruto, have you heard about the upcoming Jounin exams?" she asked quietly.
Naruto frowned, and then nodded rapidly in response, "Hai! Hai! I think Iruka-sensei told me that they are to start in a few weeks time. Why? You want to enter?" he said, shoving Sakura in the sides with his elbow lightly.
The kunoichi nodded timidly.
"Hey! Don't be discouraged! I think it's great that you've decided to join!" Naruto said, crossing his arms and looking very serious. Sakura mentally chuckled at the sight he made, but took his words to heart.
"Thanks. I needed that!" she said, hugging her surprised friend. Smiling once again, she waved and dashed off to the Hokage's tower.
---
"Is everything in place?"
"Hai, master. Everything is all in order. Are you sure you want to have…" the shinobi was cut off before he could finish. Gasping for air, he struggled and scratched at the hand holding him by the neck. 'Shit! I didn't even see him move!' he thought.
"Never question me about my motives. Ever." The man hissed, and squeezed the poor shinobi by the neck. Releasing him instantly, the man turned his back on the choking ninja. Striding away, he made a small motion with his hand. The two ninjas standing by the entrance nodded. No sound of surprise escaped the victim before he was instantly dead by four small puncture wounds on the side of his neck.
---
Pushing the large oak doors, Sakura walked into the Jounin office of the Hokage tower and submitted her entrance form. Sighing and running her hand through her hair, she looked at the time and realized that it was already late. 'Damn, and I have to get up early tomorrow, too!' she thought, and sprinted back home.
---
Three weeks later… The Jounin exam is about to commence…
---
Twisting her hands together in a fit of nerves, Sakura leaned on her chair. Passing the first test, the written test, was easy thanks to her large brain and studying. 'But, considering how many people there are here,' she glanced around the room which was surprisingly jam-packed with eligible Jounin contenders, most who looked quite strong, 'I don't know if I'll be able to pass the second.' She thought desperately, thinking that it was a major mistake that she even thought of entering the exam.
Ibiki strode into the room and coughed once. It was enough to gain the attention of all shinobi. "Congratulations on passing the first test. Now we will continue on with the second test, which will test your skills on stealth, leadership, strength, and basic shinobi know-how. You will be divided randomly into groups of three, where you all will participate as a team. This will represent in the future how well you cooperate with other shinobi, whether friend or someone you do not know. This is very important to becoming a Jounin, and basically a ninja. Failing to successfully cooperate with your team mates will, of course, issue you a failing mark. Now, here are your teams…" the captain of the ANBU interrogation squad said, and pointed to a blackboard showing the temporary Jounin teams.
Scanning the board, Sakura spotted her team and sighed in relief when she saw that both the ninjas that were paired up with her, she knew. 'Rock Lee and Shikamaru,' she thought, 'interesting combination.' Seeing the two lazily walk over to her, she greeted the tai-jutsu specialist, Lee, and the lazy ninja, Shikamaru. Sitting together, they awaited their instructions.
Ibiki explained that they were to go through a forest similar to the one in the Chuunin exam. "Except in this one, you're to find scrolls that are placed within the forest. They are extremely well hidden." He smirked, before continuing, "This test has a failure rate of over 77, since there will be more wildlife, shinobi and less scrolls than there were in the Chuunin exams. Ah, and exactly how many scrolls there are and what kind, that's for you to find out. You will have ten days to complete this exam and reach the tower in the middle of the forest. Those who do not have both scrolls, is missing a team member, or has a team member that has been killed, will automatically fail. Failure to reach the tower before the time has expired will also fail." He laughed, motioning to Anko to continue about the consent forms.
When the explanation was done, and Anko had passed around the consent forms (all shinobi who remained, of course, signed it), Sakura sighed and waited for when they were to be lead to the training area.
Ibiki looked around the room and nodded to the contenders to follow him. He led them outside and told the teams to pick a gate, a total of twenty gates altogether, and enter upon his command. Sakura's team picked gate number 5.
Readying themselves, Lee, Shikamaru and Sakura sprinted full speed towards the entrance when the Jounin in front of them quickly stepped out of the way.
Five minutes into the exam, Shikamaru suddenly held out his had motioning for the team to stop. 'An enemy already...!' Sakura thought.
The genius frowned and walked to the area where Lee was going to step. Crouching down he noticed a thin wire stretching from one tree to another. Fingering it lightly, he smirked when he saw another string, dyed green, concealed behind the first one. "Looks like our enemies are pretty smart to do something like this. A double trap." He directed the other two to a different path.
Suddenly a large plume of fire exploded in front of the trio, blocking their path. "Make that a triple trap." Sakura mumbled.
The three jumped out of the way as the newly triggered trap set off a chain reaction. Peering around, Sakura groaned. All around them explosive tags were placed on trees and the ground, concealed for a short while with gen-jutsu. Shoving Lee out of the way just in time before a trap blew his leg off, Sakura winced as a nearby tree exploded from the force of the trap, sending bits of tree into her skin.
Jumping off the branch she was on, Sakura grabbed the one opposite to her and swung herself backwards, propelling herself into the air. Landing on the ground she immediately regretted doing so. Accidentally stepping on a clear wire, senbon (needles) flew at her head, almost impaling her in the eye if it wasn't for Lee who tackled her to the ground.
Shikamaru shouted over the noise for Lee and Sakura to follow him. Leading them into a safe zone away from the surprise traps, the group panted from exhaustion.
Sitting down, Shikamaru rubbed his head. 'This test is getting more troublesome than even the Chuunin exam…' he thought ruefully. Standing up he looked around, "I don't think we'll be attacked any time soon since other teams have probably heard the force of the explosions we've made. Most likely they won't stray to this area. We'd better set up traps and prepare for camp." He said.
---
Sakura awoke with a start as Lee shook her roughly. "Sakura-san! We must get out of here! Enemy shinobi are approaching!" he said quickly, dashing our of their 'cave' that they found earlier in the night under some tree roots.
The pink-haired ninja's grogginess disappeared is a flash, and was replaced by alertness. Taking out kunai, she wrapped the handle with an explosive note and crawled out of the cavern. Seeing Shikamaru and Lee already engaged in battle, Sakura saw a lone member of the enemy group carefully walking around and disabling their traps. Smirking, Sakura caught the shinobi unawares and fired the kunai at the boy. Hearing a satisfying 'sizzle' and the smell of burnt cloth, Sakura knew that she had at least knocked the poor boy out.
Lee delivered a chakra filled punch in the face of his opponent, and immediately felt the results of his attack when the nose of the enemy broke in four places. Leaping back, he took up a stance and placed his right hand in front of him. Smiling, he wagged it forward, egging the shinobi on.
His opponent snarled and sprinted to Lee in a headlong attack. Lee dodged it. Placing his hand on the back of the Grass ninja, he slapped it hard, sending him slamming into a tree. The force of the impact broke the tree in half.
"Sakura!" Shikamaru yelled over the chaos, and threw a kunai into the torso of the ninja that was about to stab Sakura from behind.
Ducking and covering her head, Sakura nodded thanks to Shikamaru before parrying a blow from the injured nin. "Not good enough!" she yelled, and fisted the ninja in the gut.
The shinobi landed a few hundred metres from Sakura and coughed. Blood dribbled down his chin before he fainted from the blow.
Seeing Lee and Shikamaru quickly deal with their opponents, Sakura frowned. Looking up, she saw birds scatter, and the forest around them became eerily silent. "Something's not right…" she said uncertainly, and backed up.
A giant snake burst through the ground right where she was standing.
Shaking from the sudden earthquake the snake made, Sakura looked up. On top of the purple snake were four Sound-nins. Two of which she recognized.
"Orochimaru…" Shikamaru voiced what they were all thinking, "And Kabuto." Sakura added.
The sannin smiled cynically, and waved to the three below in greeting. He nodded slightly to the three other ninjas on his head, which disappeared in speed so great that Sakura couldn't even tell where they were going. Even Lee had trouble spotting them.
"Well, it's been a long time, hasn't it Sakura-san?" Orochimaru said softly, his long tongue came out and licked his lips, "Someone has been dying to meet you since two and a half years ago… and I quite agree." He looked appreciatively up and down Sakura's body.
The kunoichi blushed and scowled at Orochimaru. "Just what the fuck are you doing back at Konoha? You don't deserve to show your face after you killed the Third!" she spat, tensing when Orochimaru shook his head.
"You still don't understand." The sannin chuckled, and snapped his fingers. Four other snakes appeared beside him. "You four. Go to each of Konoha's gates and wait for instructions there." He said, caressing the head of the one nearest to him. They slithered off with surprising speed.
"Now. Where were we? Ah yes." The Sound-nin's long tongue flicked over towards where Shikamaru was hiding under a bush and wrapped around the shadow manipulator.
Struggling only to have the tongue constrict tighter around him, Shikamaru looked wildly from side to side, hoping for a way to get out of the prison. As he came nearer and nearer to Orochimaru, he gasped when a flash of steel caught his eye and a moment later he was dropping from the sky. Flailing his arms in the air, he was caught by Kakashi before he hit the ground. Blinking as he was set down, he took cover with Lee and Sakura.
"Shikamaru, Lee, Sakura. Escape from this area and alert the ANBU squadrons located outside. Tell them to warn the Hokage that Orochimaru and Sound are attacking Konoha." The Copy-nin said as the three Chuunins sprinted out of the area. Keeping his eye on Orochimaru, he lifted up his hitai-ate and uncovered his sharingan. Kakashi prepared for Orochimaru's first move.
Orochimaru eyed the curious object imbedded within Kakashi's eye socket with deep interest. Grinning broadly, he stomped lightly on Manda's head. The giant snake hissed and slithered its way towards Kakashi with incredible agility.
Jumping backwards to avoid the snake's fangs, he whispered to himself, "And the fight for Konoha has started."
---
As the ANBU members teleported to the Hokage Tower, Sakura, Lee and Shikamaru ran towards the Academy.
"Iruka-sensei!" Sakura gasped as the three skidded into his classroom. The Chuunin looked up in alarm.
As they explained the situation, Iruka's facial features turned sour. "Alright. Here's what I want you three to do. Prepare yourselves as best you can- arm yourselves with any shinobi tool available and meet me at the Hokage Tower. As Chuunins and shinobi of the Leaf, it is our duty to protect the village."
The trio nodded in response before going their own separate ways.
Sakura ran across the rooftops of the buildings, panting. Jumping off she landed in front of the ramen bar. Running in she sighed when she saw that her friend was still there.
"Naruto! We are to prepare ourselves for war! Sound is attacking!"
The blonde spluttered and turned wildly around to face Sakura. "Are you serious! Sound! Sakura, I want you to promise me that you won't go into the front lines. Stay back and heal the wounded!" he said, gripping her shoulders, "Promise me!" He was frantic, and Sakura understood why. After Sasuke joined Sound, he knew that if Sakura was in the front lines her emotions would take the better of her, or because she was the last one of his Genin team still around, other than Kakashi, he didn't want to see one of the only people he knew who accepted him, die.
Sakura nodded weakly.
Naruto smiled and unhooked his fox ANBU mask from his belt. Slipping it on, he gave her thumbs up before teleporting to the Hokage Tower.
Running to her house, Sakura strapped on as many weapons she could find in her arsenal. Placing them in her waist pouch, she jumped out of her bedroom window and sprinted to the Hokage Tower.
---
Upon arrival, Sakura immediately sensed the seriousness of the situation. All around her, shinobi were tense. Most ninjas present were the ANBU, and the occasional Jounin.
Sliding into her spot beside Naruto (who she could identify by the fox mask), she awaited the Fifth's instructions.
"I see everyone is assembled. Good. Hyuuga, you'll take your squadron to the South gate and back up the ANBU stationed there. Uzumaki, you and your squad will control the situation at the North gate. Yamanaka and Nara, you'll take gates West and East. All right people, this is war. We are battling for the sake of our village's peace and for the sake of possibly all shinobi out there. Do not take any prisoners." Tsunade said, and slammed her hands on her desk. "Nara, Haruno, you two and your squad will be in charge of the tactics and battle planning. Dismissed." The ninja filed out of the Hokage's room until Shikamaru, the ANBU battle and tactics group, and Sakura were the only ones left.
"Sakura, I know how much you want to be on the front lines, but since we are dealing with Sound there will be a lot of casualties that you and your medic group need to solve. I'll leave you two to the planning then." Tsunade said, the tone of her voice telling Sakura not to argue with her, and teleported out of the office.
---
Heading out to the back line of the battle, Sakura and her team stopped and looked around them. Hundreds of the Leaf's ninjas were badly wounded while others had limbs, eyes, and other things missing. Sucking in a deep breath, Sakura nodded. "Well, we have a lot of work to do. Let's get to it!" she said.
Striding towards a patient who had lost four of his fingers, Sakura noticed that his teammates were smart enough to bring back his fingers along with the body. Closing her eyes, she picked up one of the fingers and concentrated a high amount of chakra into the digit. Placing it on the hand of the shinobi who was knocked out cold because of shock, she commanded the chakra to adhere to the hand's skin. Controlling the chakra, she managed to re-create the skin cells around the severed part, successfully attaching the finger to the hand. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she repeated the process.
---
"Sir, are you sure you want to proceed?"
A smirk appeared. "Of course. Oh, and tell your men that if anyone should as lay a finger on what is mine, I will kill them. If they should spot her, keep her safe from harm and bring her to me. Use force if necessary."
The shinobi nodded and disappeared.
"Soon, my precious flower, soon I shall see you again…" it purred.
---
Sakura groaned as more and more injured leaf shinobi poured into the infirmary. She winced when large explosions sounded from the West and Northern gates. "Hinata-chan! Please take over my shift of patients for a bit. I'm going to check something out." The Hyuuga heiress nodded.
Sakura sprinted to the North gate, 'Naruto, please be okay!' she thought. Suddenly she stopped. Tilting her head to the side to avoid a kunai that whizzed by, she turned around and faced a Sound-nin. Smirking, she pulled out two kunai and prepared for the enemy's next move.
A 'pop' sounded next to her opponent. "Hey Mizu, you're supposed to be at the Southern gate! What the hell…" he was cut of when he spotted Sakura. Eyeing her pink hair, he smiled. "That's her. She's the one…" he said softly.
The shinobi named Mizu nodded slightly, his eyes glistening. "Sakura-sama. We wish you no harm. Please, come with us."
Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, "The hell! What was with that attack just a moment ago!" she spat.
The Sound shinobi placed his hands up in front of his chest in a sign of piece. "Please, we did not mean to do that. We were told to keep you safe until he arrives."
She rose an eyebrow, "And who exactly is 'he'?" she said, placing the kunai in front of her chest for protection if the nins should make a sudden move.
"I've missed you Sakura..." A husky voice sounded from behind her.
Whirling around, Sakura came face to face with the missing-nin, Uchiha Sasuke.
"Uchiha…" she spat, and disappeared from his view to appear behind Mizu. "Leave or I will slice his throat."
Sasuke chuckled, "My, my… getting a little vicious, are we?" his demeanour changed into a passive look as he glanced at the other Sound shinobi. "Leave us."
The pink-haired girl gasped when the two ninjas disappeared, leaving her alone with Sasuke. Looking up to Sasuke's forehead, she saw that he had indeed joined Sound.
"You betrayer!" she yelled, and fired the kunai at Sasuke.
The Uchiha grinned as he easily dodged the attack. "Sakura, I've missed you." He purred, "Come back with me to the Sound… We can do this either the easy way, or the hard way." He said softly, and shook his head when Sakura flung shuriken at him. "I guess it'll be the hard way then."
---
"Kakashi, you've gotten slow!" Orochimaru teased as the Copy-nin panted from exhaustion.
Kakashi analyzed the situation: here he was, low on stamina, sporting three wounds- one minor one on his shin, and two no-so-minor on his torso and arm. He grasped his side where a kunai with an explosive tag Orochimaru fired at him was set off.
Orochimaru clicked his tongue and two Sound-nins appeared on Manda's head. "Take care of him," he said, pointing to Kakashi, "I've got a date with the Hokage." The sannin hissed, and directed Manda towards Konoha's walls.
The two Sound shinobi glared at Kakashi with malice. "That's the son of the Konoha's White Fang. I think it's time to get revenge, don't you think so Gagi?" a female voice sounded from behind the masked ninja.
The one next to her nodded, "I quite agree with you San."
They both jumped off of Manda's head at once and landed in front of Kakashi. Pulling out kodachi strapped to their waists, they pointed the blades at Kakashi. "Let the fun begin…" the one named Gagi purred, and licked the edge of his sword.
---
Kunoichi Is that how you spell it? Oh well.
Author's Notes: And that's chapter one! All ten pages of it! . Well, I hope you found this chapter satisfactory. If you spot any Japanese grammatical errors (and English ones too!), please note them in your review! Oh, and don't forget! If you're interested in a 'job' at a BETAer, please e-mail me. The e-mail address is at the top of this page. Thank you for reading my story Intertwined Fates. Please review.
….ja