A/N: This is the new and improved version of Broken Blossom. I was reading the old one and was unsatisfied with how it was going so that is going to be deleted and this one will take its place. The other one will remain until this story reaches chapter 3 (the same amount of chapters as the old version) and then the original will be deleted. Please don't maul me, it's not like I'm completely changing the story line, I'm just editing it…the basic plot will be the same. Thank you for all the people who reviewed my other story!

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'Inner Sakura'

Flashbacks

Broken Blossom

Chapter 1: Banishment

"Do you hate me?"

"We could never hate you Sakura."

----

"You liars."

Sakura walked through the forest, staring at the sky. Her medium length hair was loose of its usual ponytail, cascading around her face. Her eyes were devoid of their usual joy and happiness and were instead empty emerald orbs.

Her skin was clear, free of the scars that usually adjourned a ninja's body, a testament to the skill she had as a medic-nin. She wore the same clothes that she had worn since she became a Chûnin, the only difference being that she now wore a quarter length sleeve fishnet top under her shirt. She had only a single sheathed katana on her waist, on her left leg was a holster that held a wakizashi.

The hitai-ite that she usually wore proudly on her forehead, was being clutched in a vice tight grip in her hand. Opening it, the originally clear, unscratched metal, now had a large slash going directly through her village symbol. She felt like it was mocking her, reminding her of what her life used to be, of its former glory.

Stopping for the night, she found a cave and crawled in, after making sure that there were no other inhabitants inside. Starting a small fire, she stared into the depths of the crimson flames, recounting past events.

Flashback

"Bitch! Natsumi would never do that, don't try and blame her for your actions!" Naruto yelled at Sakura, looking at her as if she were worth little more than a speck of dirt. He was standing in front of the girl named Natsumi, she had long blonde hair that was pulled into a ponytail and wore a red tank top that barely covered the girls. Her black shorts were similar to the shorts that Sakura was wearing, but they weren't under anything.

Sakura looked at Naruto with pleading eyes. Mere days ago, this look would have Naruto hugging her in a tight bear hug, cooing over how cute she was. Now, it seemed to have no effect on the blonde. "Naruto, you know that I would never do something like that! Are you really going to hold Natsumi's word above my own? You've known me longer than her!"

Kakashi, who was flanking Naruto, decided that now was a good time to speak up. "Shut up! Natsumi is too innocent to try and do something like that, you're just jealous that Natsumi is has far better skills than you. She isn't weak and she doesn't burden us on missions, unlike you do."

Sakura was taken aback, the words that Kakashi had spoken were true, when she was a Genin. Now, she had grown in leaps and bounds, but she just couldn't seem to catch up with her teammates, and how could she expect to?

Naruto was the freaking Jinchuriki for crying out loud! He had the Nine-tailed fox to lend him extra chakra whenever he felt the need to. Her sensei was the copy cat ninja; he was the only person outside of the Uchiha family to have the Sharingan. Sasuke was the last member of the Uchiha family, a prestigious family with no limits.

Sakura was just the daughter of common folk, librarians. How the hell did the Sandaime Hokage think that she was going to be able to keep up with these people? She didn't have a fabulous background, but she had thought that she could maybe fight on even ground with her teammates. After being apprenticed to the Godaime Hokage, she had grown tremendously. Apparently, she was still a burden to her team, no matter how hard she tried not to.

Now Sakura was standing in the Hokage tower. In front of her were the village elders, with Tsunade behind them. It was not her jurisdiction to issue out punishment to crimes, but she did have say in what the punishment was. The elders looked down at her, disgusted, this was the Hokage's ex-apprentice, how could she stoop so low?

"Haruno Sakura, you have committed a serious crime of attempted theft and possible treason against the village of Konohagakure. As punishment you are hereby banished from this village and are to be considered a missing-nin. Coming within one hundred feet of the village is forbidden and should you try, you will be attacked on the spot."

'So, they really are going to banish me, eh?' She thought with despondency. 'So much for being unable to hate me…'

In front of Sakura were Konoha's famous village gates. Staring at the kanji for retreat, she frowned. 'This isn't a retreat; it's more like hell on Earth. They welcome you with open arms and pretend to like you, but then they stab you in the back when the circumstances are less than favorable for both you and them. I guess that's human nature though, save your own skin before somebody else's.'

Tenten leaned towards Neji and asked, "Why didn't they just sentence her to death?"

Neji looked at Sakura with unconcealed loathing. The two of them used to be paired on missions often, and now the thought of being together with her for so long made him feel sick. "She isn't worth killing, there would have to be a ceremony of death and she doesn't deserve one. It's not like she poses any potential threat to the village, all she focused on were her looks. She let her training go to waste, I don't know what Hokage-sama saw in her."

Tenten giggled, agreeing with her boyfriend. Sakura had figured out that the tomboy had feelings for the cold-hearted Hyūga, and set the two up on a date. After a few tries, they finally clicked and had been happily going out for two months. "She probably couldn't even beat a Genin if she tried."

Similar comments were floating to Sakura's ears. The obviously didn't care if the pinkette heard them or not, it wasn't like it made a difference, she knew what they were saying about her. The same thing had been going on around her for days. It didn't change the fact that every word felt like she was getting stabbed with a kunai.

Tsunade, Sakura's surrogate mother after her own died in a rouge nin attack while she was walking in the forest, stared at Sakura with a look of indifference. Her words were one of the ones that hurt the most, the villager's she could handle, and even some of her friends, but her teacher and mother? "Haruno Sakura, you are hereby a missing nin and will not be allowed to go near Konohagakure. If you are spotted, you are to be killed on the spot, understand?"

How could she not understand, their words couldn't get any clearer, she was not allowed to come back to her home. Ever.

Tsunade held her hand out towards Sakura, who had a minute hope that maybe she was going to take her hand and say that everything was going to be all right, they were going to get through this together. "Your hitai-ite."

Of course, they had to officially declare her status to other villages. Sakura took off her headband, and handed it to the Hokage, looking at it begrudgingly. Tsunade handed it to the elders, who dragged a kunai across the village symbol, officially declaring her status as a missing nin. Tsunade handed it back to Sakura, then backed away as if she had an infectious disease. "Take your hitai-ite and don't come back. No one wants to see you here ever again."

She gestured for the girl to walk through the open gates. Sakura wasn't about to walk through those gates, not without leaving a memory. She didn't turn around to address the people behind her; it would have the opposite effect anyway.

"Was I really that insignificant to you people? I gave everything for you and in return you replace me with another woman so easily, it breaks my heart. Can I really be replaced with just a snap of your fingers? Was I just like a new toy that gets thrown into the corner and forgotten after my shine is gone? You don't care that you've ripped my heart to pieces, that it is now beyond repair. I'm broken, but why does that matter to you? I'm just going to leave soon and you'll all just go on with your merry lives and forget about me once and for all.

I'll just be a bad memory in the back of your mind. And yet, through all of this, I still seemed to retain some care for all of you, it is with that care that I will prove my innocence. You will realize what you have done, and that there is no going back. This is my final promise to you as Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure. Sayonara."

Sakura turned to get once last glimpse at her village. Her eyes showed no emotion, they myriad that they usually displayed was now gone. It was enough to make everybody flinch slightly. They had expected tears, wailing, begging for forgiveness, not her defiance. This reaction was something that they almost couldn't take, almost.

The wind blew, blowing leaves through the village and Sakura stared at them, fondly. It was becoming fall, her favorite season. The time when they had a little bit more time in between their missions because the Hokage was adjusting to the colder weather, when they used to jump in leaf piles laughing, when her team could sit around the fire joking while drinking a warm drink. Smiling, she turned and jumped into the forest. For Sakura, that image was the best way to remember her village, since the occupants mattered little to her.

The others stared after her, even as the gates started to close and her form receded into the forest. Had they made the wrong choice? Should they be sending the hunter nin out right now to retrieve Sakura? No, this was the right choice. After what she did, this was letting her off easy. The guilt that was nagging them was quickly washed away, replaced with content. They turned back to their village, ready to run their lives as usual, without Haruno Sakura.

Flashback

Sakura pushed those memories to the furthest recesses of her mind. That had happed a week ago, there was no use reminiscing over it now. Now, she had to think of a way to fulfill her promise, to prove her innocence.

'Those bastards will regret banishing us from the village!'

Inner Sakura was back, Sakura had gotten rid of her soon after she got promoted to the rank of Chûnin. But it seemed that with recent events, she had deemed it necessary to return. According to Tsunade, when Sakura had told her about her Inner, she was merely a manifestation of her pent up emotions.

Sakura put a dark blue blanket on the ground and laid down on it, rolling onto her side to get more comfortable. Closing her eyes, she fell into a fitful sleep, filled with nightmares and past events. Jerking out of her sleep, she rummaged through her backpack, finding some sleeping pills that had become a necessity every night.

Taking the required two, she laid back down, waiting for the pills to take effect. Once they did, her breathing evened out, signifying that this sleep, unlike before, was much calmer and would energize her faster.

Sakura woke up and looked outside, judging it to be about eight in the morning. She rolled up her blanket and smothered the glowing coals that were still in her fire pit. She reached into her backpack and pulled out the last of her rations. 'Looks like we're going to need to buy some more food.'

Finishing her breakfast, Sakura grabbed her backpack and exited the cave, squinting to shield her eyes in the sudden sunlight. Looking around, she found a small forest path. Shrugging, she followed it for a few hours, idly talking with her Inner.

'Have we decided on a village to go to?'

'How about Yukigakure no sato?'

'How about not Yukigakure?'

'Well, if there are some ninja that are looking for us, since we were in the bingo book, then we should go some place where they won't expect us to go.'

'I hear that Yuki has some unique healing methods…'

'Then let's g—watch out!'

Kunai flew from the bushes, aiming for Sakura's head. Thinking quickly, she took out her own kunai and blocked it, sending it flying into a nearby bush. Two shinobi jumped into the clearing, surrounding Sakura, who looked at their hitai-ite to determine what village they came from.

'They're from Kirigakure, that should make it easier on my nature type.'

'You know that there were three chakra signatures, but there are only two shinobi in front of you.'

'I'm perfectly aware of the unequal equation Inner.'

Sakura took a senbon from her boot and played with it for a moment, as if unconcerned with the shinobi in front and behind her. Really though, she was spreading out her chakra to find the location of the missing Kiri nin. 'There he is.'

She tightened her hold on the senbon and flicked her wrist, sending the senbon into a tree east of her position. She heard it being deflected by a weapon and a third nin jumped out to join his companions. He eyed her approvingly. "So, this is Haruno Sakura…I'm not sure why you have a bounty of 2 million ryō on your head, but we're going to need that money, so just be a good little girl and stay put. With your appearance, you wouldn't be able to do much anyway."

Sakura grit her teeth, furious that this man was belittling her. "I'm not a little girl and if you don't shut up then I'm going to have to get violent."

The man snorted, unimpressed. "Oh, I'm so scared; a pink haired bitch is going to attack me…how intimidating." He smirked, grabbing a kunai. His companions followed suit and they closed in on her, slowly.

Sakura frowned, "I gave you a warning." She stomped the ground, jumping into the air. The ninja below were knocked off balance for a moment from Sakura's chakra enhanced stomp, giving Sakura enough time to go through some hand signs. "Doton: Retsudotenshō!" The ground beneath the two Kiri nin spiraled inwards on itself, trapping the helpless ninja in the ground, crushing them.

One, the last one to arrive on the scene, had escaped the mayhem and faced Sakura. "Oh, so you can use jutsu, how impressive." He charged at her, sword drawn, with lightning speed. Sakura sidestepped the attack, getting nicked with the tip of the blade. He twisted the blade around and swung at the back of Sakura's head, 'Crap! A double sided sword.' She fell to the ground, not before getting hit on the arm with the blade.

Wincing in slight pain, she aimed a kick at the man's back, but was blocked by his arm. Thanks to the chakra she applied to her kick, the man got pushed back a few feet, but sustained no major injuries. Going through hand signs, he smirked. "Suiton: Ja no Kuchi!"

Water rapidly appeared, forming into a large snake. Once it was completely formed it headed towards Sakura. 'Shit!' The man grinned, assured of his victory. The force at which the snake was coming was enough to rip branches off of the trees, hitting Sakura and giving her more wounds.

Sakura stomped on the ground, making a small wall of earth. Praying that she could complete the seals fast enough, she began them. Putting her hands on the wall of earth, she yelled, "Doton: Doryūheki!" Heaving upwards, the wall rose rapidly. Enhanced with her chakra, it became harder than steel, shielding Sakura from the onslaught of water and debris. She breathed a sigh of relief, she had survived.

The man was furious; this girl had stopped his attack! Sakura gave him no time to counter though, as she summoned chakra to her fist, punching the wall to bits. The man jumped out of the way of the incoming rocks, landing safely a few feet away.

Sakura, having anticipated his landing spot, hurled another stone. The Kiri nin twisted his body to the side, avoiding the brunt of the throw but still got hit. He stood there, stunned from the impact for a moment, giving Sakura an opening to strike at him with her wakizashi.

Gracefully in one move, she unsheathed her weapon, and hit him directly in a vital point in his chest. He fell to the ground, dead. She removed the blade from his chest and wiped it on his clothes, to rid it of blood.

Putting it back in its sheath, she turned and surveyed her handiwork. The entire area in a 10 yard radius was sunken into a crater. A few feet further, the earth had been twisted into itself, creating an earth whirlpool of sorts. Trees had fallen and Sakura winced, she would be sure not to use so much chakra next time.

Walking around, Sakura picked up the kunai that laid on the ground and put them in her kunai pouch. Picking up the backpack that she had dropped when the first shinobi arrived, she continued on the forest path.

'See, I told you that there would be ninja after us!'

'I didn't know that I had a bounty on my head…'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's just head to a village and get supplies.'

After quickly, but efficiently wrapping her scrapes in bandages, she jumped into the trees, wanting to feel the thrill of traveling like a ninja again. She followed the forest path, knowing that it lead to a small village where she would be able to buy everything that she needed.

Two shinobi jumped into the clearing that was clearly decimated. They looked at the corpse that was carelessly left behind and one of them marveled at the efficiency of the kill.

Though the surrounding forest was destroyed, the target itself only had one wound to the chest. It was a clean stab, no sawed flesh hanging off of it. The man's face was stuck in an eternal look of shock, amusing the nin.

From the looks of things, she had gotten rid of the weak links earlier on with a simple earth jutsu, and focused her efforts on the man in front of him. There was much more damage to the forest here than closer to the path, securing his theory.

His partner returned from the other part of the battleground, after investigating the earth whirlpool, "She sure did a number on these Kiri nin." The first didn't answer, which wasn't unexpected. He rarely talked, unless absolutely necessary. Jumping into the trees, the second soon followed, after looking around once more. "I would hate to be on the wrong end of this girl's anger."

'Are we getting anything good from this village?'

'Food is good. Food is necessary to live.'

'I mean anything exciting, like some new jutsu scrolls or something.'

'I'm not going to go recklessly spend money when we don't have a solid income.'

'You could just get some bounty from some ninja in the bingo book.'

'Well, we don't have a bingo book, so we would have no idea who we would be looking for. Now, all we're getting from this village is some food, exploding tags, and a couple packs of senbon needles.'

'Hmph, you're no fun.'

'I try.'

Seeing the village up ahead, Sakura jumped to the ground. Knowing that this was a village that many Konoha ninja used, she would have to put on a disguise just in case she came in contact with any of them. Going through the three necessary hand seals, she whispered, "Henge no jutsu."

Her hair stayed the same length but changed from their dawn kissed color to a more normal sunny blonde. Her eyes changed to a slightly bluer shade and her clothes changed to common ninja garb. Black capris, with a red short sleeved top covering her fishnet top under a flak jacket. Putting her hair into a messy bun, she looked over her transformation.

Deeming it different enough from her actual appearance, she entered the village, waving at the gate guards. Since this was a small village, one that was usually used to replenish supplies, Sakura didn't need to present a passport to the guards.

Heading straight to the weapon shop, she bought some senbon needles and exploding tags. Seeing the small packets of soldier pills, she decided to buy some, just in case. Paying for her goods, she headed to the convenience store, and bought ramen.

No, she was not obsessed with it like Naruto, it just so happened that ramen was easy to make and was nice and lightweight. Paying, she exited the store, heading out of the village and into the forest. Cancelling the jutsu she leaned against a tree. 'Ugh, maybe I should heal the wounds.' She undid the messy bun and put it in a more suitable ponytail so that no hair fell in her face while she healed herself.

The sword that had hit Sakura seemed to have some kind of poison that prevented the blood from clotting, meaning that the wound wouldn't stop bleeding unless it was attended to. Sakura un-wrapped the wound, unflinching from the amount of blood on the bandage. She put her hand over the gash, quickly healing it and leaving no scar, like it would have if she had not healed it. Running her hand over the other scrapes and cuts, they were quickly healed as well.

Once she disposed of the soiled bandages, she straightened up. 'So, now what?'

'Well, you agreed to go to Yukigakure no sato, so let's head there.'

A yawn escaped from Sakura's lips. She stretched her arms over her head and leaned backwards. Blinking a few times, she began to walk forwards, out of the forest and into a meadow, still following the path. 'Maybe I used too much chakra, I'm slightly sleepy.'

'Sleeping pills don't usually give the best sleep for replenishing chakra.'

'Well, at least it lets me sleep.'

She bumped into a hard surface and stumbled back a few steps. The sun was in her eyes, forcing her to squint to discern what it was that she bumped into. She made out red clouds on a black cloth.

'THE AKATSUKI!'

'Oh, how nice…'

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'Oh, how nice…' IT'S A GROUP CONSISTING OF S-RANK CRIMINALS! BE MORE ALARMED! SCREAM, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, DO FUCKING SOMETHING TO THIS MAN!'

'Relax, I have nothing to offer to them.'

'Yeah, nothing except a bounty of 2 million ryō for your head!'

'There are people worth more than 2 million ryō.'

'Whatever, who did you bump into anyway?'

Sakura looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. In front of her was a man with blue skin, smiling at her showing off his sharp teeth. His partner was beside him, his usually red eyes were obsidian, and his hair was in its usual low ponytail.

'Ah, it's Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi. I wonder what they're doing all the way out here.'

' 'I wonder what they're doing all the way out here.' WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY'RE HERE FOR, YOU OF COURSE! THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE YOU AND TORTURE YOU AND DO OTHER HORRIBLE THINGS TO YOU!'

'You're going to give me a headache…'

Itachi raised an eyebrow when Sakura put her fingers to her temples, signifying that she had a headache. Kisame grinned when she didn't run away from them in fear at the sight of them, chuckling, shocking Sakura. Itachi spoke, "Haruno Sakura, do you know why we are here?"

She shook her head no, waiting for him to continue, which he did. "The Akatsuki is in need of a highly qualified medial nin. You are the most qualified medical nin so we, the Akatsuki, are extending an invitation to you, Haruno Sakura, missing-nin, to join the Akatsuki."

A/N: Well, this was certainly longer than the original first chapter. I think that I made the flashback more harsh, which was what I intended to do. Well, there you go, first revised chapter of Broken Blossom. So, there is a new poll on my profile, I would appreciate it you would vote on that…

Questions, comments, complaints? Put them into a review!

I'm also in search of a beta-reader. If you would like to be my beta-reader or know someone who would be a good beta-reader, then tell me in a review or contact me somehow.

Thanks for reading this chapter, until next time! Ja ne!

High Summoner Sakura