"This was once your beloved princess… The traitor Sakura Haruno. She turned her back on the magnificent Haruno clan. And for that, she will pay." The man cleared his throat, and pounded a staff into the ground. "Kakashi Hatake, come forward."

A silver haired man stepped forward, his single eye glittering with an unreadable emotion. "Her punishment for disobedience will be death."

The girl, who was kneeling on the ground with her hands bound, snapped her head up. Death? Harsh, wasn't it? But she had no choice. Here she was, the ten-year-old jōnin, the Raven's Mistress, the shinobi revered by the village Hidden in the Frost, the once-proud princess, and now even prouder rebel.

Kakashi climbed the steps to the stage, continuing. "Her execution will take place right now." He looked… as cold as usual, but there was an extra layer of smugness over his masked face, as if relishing in the thought of killing the princess. "Sakura Haruno, any last words? I'm quite sure that nobody really wants to hear them, but… it's what they do in the movies, is it not?"

The raven-haired girl simply turned her head away from her would-be executioner. "I've nothing to say to you, Kakashi-kohai. But to my people… Some of you probably hate me right now. Some of you are blinded by the illusion the so-called mighty Haruno clan has imposed on you. Just saying, snap outta it. To be honest, the clan system is a tyrannical one."

The man who had invited Kakashi up to the stage cleared his throat. "My, we don't want a rebellion, do we? I'm not sure your people will survive that."

"Shut the hell up, Father," Sakura, the raven-haired girl, spat, every syllable dripping with malice. "And for the record, they're your people too."

"Rebellious little one, aren't we, my dear child," he murmured. He turned his back on Sakura and walked off the stage. "She's all yours, Kakashi."

Sakura's emerald green eyes desperately searched out two figures standing among the audience, and found them standing at the very back, leaning against the wall. Lowering her eyes, she thought, If this isn't goodbye, Sasuke-kun, Neji-kun, I don't know what is. I'll love you two always, idiots. Always.

Kakashi's lazy drawl rang out, being laid-back yet somehow menacing. "Say good-bye to the Land of Eternal Winter and the village Hidden in the Frost, Haruno. Kōrikage, say goodbye to her too."

Sakura bowed her head, unwilling to accept the inevitable, but knowing it was fate. I wonder what the final blow will feel like…

But it never came.

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS PALM ROTATION!"

Her head snapped up. "Neji-kun? What the hell—,"

"Questions after! Get away, Sakura-chan!" His eyes flared. "Byakugan!"

"Neji-kun, I can't just leave you behind!" she protested. "C'mon, let's all go."

"No, Neji-san is right, Sakura-chan." Sasuke grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her off. "We have to go."

"But he could die back there! Those are fully qualified jōnin back there! Neji's an Anbu, yes, but even he can't hold off that many jōnin!" Sakura protested, trying to break free of Sasuke's vise-like grip.

"And you and I are just jōnin, Sakura. Neji can hold them off longer than the both of us could together! Now stop complaining and shut up!" Sasuke snapped.

Sakura fell into an uneasy silence. She knew it was useless protesting against Sasuke, because he was normally right.

"Crap, crap, crap!" Sasuke screamed. He dropped a dazed and confused Sakura, grabbed a kunai from a pouch, and threw it at the forest. "Those goons are chasing us! Sakura, come ON! RUN!"

Sakura scrambled to her feet. "What about you, Sasuke-kun?! I'm not leaving you like I left Neji-kun!"

Sasuke glared at her for a moment longer, then sighed. "I guess you're right… Tell you what, I'll hold them off here, then you find a ship to the main continent. At the main continent, meet me at the border between the Land of Rice and the Land of Wind, and I'll meet you there. I promise."

Sakura gaped at him. "But that could take months, years even! The Land of Eternal Winter is thousands of kilometres away from the main continent! And I can't walk up to a random boat and ask them! I'm a-supposed-to-be-dead princess!"

Sasuke was already bounding back along the path where they had came from. "I don't care, Sakura! Just get there, and I'll bring Neji-san to meet you there. I'll take a maximum of two years, I promise. Just get out of here already!"

"Sasuke—,"

"GO! I'M NOT GONNA REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN, GO, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE ALREADY! DAMN YOU SAKURA, HOW CAN YOU BE ANNOYING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" he screamed, right before he vanished back into the forest.

Sakura watched his retreating figure, before picking herself up and bounding south towards the border, where the village Hidden in the Sea was located. "Thank you… Sasuke-kun." A single tear was shed from her eye. "Please, Sasuke-kun, come back safe... with Neji-kun."

A/N- Wow, first fanfic ever. Okay, before all of you start saying that Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, and Kakashi are nothing like that, yes I agree, because Sakura doesn't have raven hair and she definitely wasn't a jōnin at the age of ten, remember, this is the Land of Winter Sakura, not the Konoha Sakura. Everything will be explained in due time.