A/N: Again, you can hear the theme song at youtube. The site to it is on my profile. SPOILER WARNING UP THE LATEST CHAPTER.


As Naruto blindly bolted into the room Sasuke took the luxury to "examine" his ex-team mate with an impassive look on his face.

Like Sasuke, Naruto also grew a bit taller from when they were fifteen years old. His hairstyle changed slightly, he now had longer bangs that framed the sides of his face. For a split second, Sasuke was amazed at how closely he resembled the late fourth Hokage.

Though still boyish, Naruto's face was sharper and more refined, and it processed a sense of maturity and wisdom that the former Naruto never had. This was also true for the raven eyed avenger.

However, there were characteristics on the blonde's face that Sasuke did not process: kindness, humour, gentleness, caring, love and on top of it all, innocence. In a way, these features made Naruto seemed like an overgrown kid. Sasuke frowned when he felt a small prang of jealousy in his chest.

When he looked closer, Sasuke gave a tiny smirk. He could tell that this "innocent boy" in front of him was truly powerful. Just by sensing his chakra, Sasuke could tell that he was stronger than he was letting on. An emotion overcame the young Uchiha; it was the closest thing to happiness that he felt in a very long time.

It was excitement.

'Finally, I'll be able to test my strength on a true opponent. Show me how much you've grown, Naruto

"Naruto, where are your manners?"Asked a heavenly voice that sounded all too familiar. Cold eyes widened and narrowed at such a speed that would have made Gai-sensei proud.

'What is this?'


Scarlet

haruka na hoshizora ni yume wa mada miemasu ka?
osanai ano hi yori azayaka desu ka?

mune ni afurete tsunoru omoi
nemuri wasurete jounetsu no iro

tatoe tookute mo kitto tadoritsukeru tsuyoku shinjite'ta
ano hi no watashi ga ima mo kokoro de nemutte-iru

GARASU no bara yori mo hakanakute moroi no ni
yume miru koto wa naze sadame na no deshou

futatsu no yume ga ai ni natte
ai ni narenai koto mo atte

hito wa hitori da to wakariaitai no ni nante muzukashii
kotoba wa muryoku de toki ni wa gin no NAIFU ni naru

hito wa hitori da to wakariaitai no ni nante muzukashii
kotoba wa muryoku de toki ni wa gin no NAIFU ni...

tatoe tookute mo kitto tadoritsukeru tsuyoku shinjite'ta
ano hi no watashi ga ima mo kokoro de nemutte-iru

Can you still see your dreams in the distant, starry sky?
Are they more vivid than they were when you were little?

When one forgets to put the emotions that overflow in her heart
to rest, they burn the color of passion.

I used to believe without a doubt that I could reach my dreams, no matter how far off they were.
But that me from long ago now sleeps inside my heart.

Dreams are more fragile and fleeting than a glass rose,
so then why are we destined to dream?

Sometimes two dreams can turn into love,
but there are also times when they can't.

Even when they're alone, people want to share their feelings, but it can be so hard.
Words are powerless to express one's feelings, and sometimes they become a silver knife.

Even when they're alone, people want to share their feelings, but it can be so hard.
Words are powerless to express one's feelings, and sometimes they become a silver knife.

I used to believe without a doubt that I could reach my dreams, no matter how far off they were.
But that me from long ago now sleeps inside my heart.


Two months ago…

"This is a bunch of crap!" Snarled a white hair boy with shark-like teeth. Stabbing his large sword into the earth, the teenage boy popped down onto the floor, sipping loudly from his water bottle.

"We've been fighting and fighting for so long, yet everywhere we go is a dead end," said a black haired girl with glasses looking down at the ground.

Behind her a spiky haired boy nodded silently in agreement.

"For once, I have to agree with Karin," said the shark-like boy earning him a "What the hell do you mean by that Suigetsu?!" from the background. Ignoring her, the boy called Suigetsu continued, "Sasuke, you're our "leader" aren't you? Can't you think of better ideas than these mindless goose chases?"

Uchiha Sasuke was leaning against the tree; its shade covered half his face. He gave no reply.

Not liking to be ignored, Suigetsu continued harshly, "I'm really beginning to doubt your leadership leader." He added the last word with as much sarcasm as he could muster. It's been two years since we got together, yet we accomplished nothing. You haven't gotten your revenge, I haven't gotten my fucking sword and Juugo still haven't gotten his cure!"

The expression of spiky haired boy called Juugo shifted slightly.

"Oh," started Suigetsu again, "Karin, why are you still here?"

"Purely coincidental!!"

Suigetsu shrugged, it was so totally obvious that the only reason she was still here was because of pretty boy Sasuke.

Speaking of Sasuke… it seemed that their great leader was leaving the site.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Suigetsu shouted after him.

"To Konoha," was the simple reply.

The white hair boy smirked as he pulled out his sword from the ground and walked after him with the others. Finally, they're getting somewhere.

The four figures disappeared into the woods, leaving a pile of fainted and wounded shinobis behind them.


Chapter 2: The Seal and the Scrolls…


Silence hung in the room. Tsunade looked a bit annoyed, while Shizune looked a bit relieved. Karin was wondering who the stupid looking boy was and Suigetsu was wondering who the hot chick was. Both Juugo and Sasuke remained expressionless while Sakura still had on her fake smile. Finally after what seemed like days, Naruto piped out, "So Obaa-chan, what does teme want?"

It was so good natured it hurts.

"He wants to join the Leaf again." Tsunade hissed out, her golden eyes flashing dangerously at Sasuke, who just ignored it.

For the first time ever, the younger Uchiha's attention was directed at Sakura and Sakura alone. He had sensed Naruto's presence a long time ago and brushed it off. However, not sensing Sakura's presence unnerved him greatly. If she was an enemy, he would have been at a great disadvantage.

And Uchiha Sasuke did not like disadvantages.

Sasuke continued to gaze at Sakura with the corner of his eyes. Something was definitely different about her. Physically, her body was more developed than he last saw her at Orochimaru's hideout. Not only were her muscles well-built (thanks to Tsunade) but her womanly curves was also very visible, but not disgusting showy (like Tsunade's).

Sasuke was not a total idiot; he could sense that this young woman in front of him was nothing like what she used to be. But because he was unable to sense her chakra, he could not decipher her actual strength. However, the Sharingan user knew for certain, that if she was able to hide her chakra signal from him, then she must be powerful.

And like all Uchiha, Sasuke respected power beyond all else.

A small part of him was proud that his former team-mate had came so far, but a larger part of him was annoyed to see that even weak, little, Sakura managed to obtain so much power over the course of only two years.

It made him feel as if he had not accomplished enough.

The navy haired young man had the same feeling years ago when he witnessed the fight between Gaara and Naruto. Though this wasn't exactly the same feeling of inferiority he felt back then, Sasuke still cursed the Hokage's pink hair apprentice for making him feel like this.

Sasuke then recalled how he was always looking down on this emerald-eyed kunoichi because of her foolish infatuation with him. God, that girl cared more about her hair than her Taijutsu.

It was pathetic.

Though the young Uchiha did not expect her to act like the same love-sick idiot from when she was twelve (since even Sakura could be matured by time), he also did not expect her to be so emotionless to see him. There should at least be a couple of tear drops and a shy whisper of "Sasuke-kun." Not that he wanted it, of course.

The coolness between them, strangely made him feel alienated and out of place. This was a lot coming from a guy who spent a good chunk of his life living with a human snake.

Uchiha Sasuke did not like to be confused. So he soon became irritated by what he failed to understand.

'Is she acting that she doesn't care? She must be delusional if she thinks that this will accomplish anything. I can care less of what she chose to make of herself.'

Then why did he feel so annoyed? It must be that this was the most petty and childish thing he witnessed in quite a while. (He convinced himself that Sakura was "acting" and not truly expressing her burning passion for him.)

"GREAT!! NOW THAT WE HAVE SASUKE BACK, NO ONE WILL-"

Before he had the time to complete whatever bizarre sentence that was on his mind, Naruto was slammed gently by Sakura's standards) into the wall with her hand covering his mouth and nose.

"What is your decision, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked the older woman, who seemed to be going through quite the dilemma.

Taking Tsunade's thinking time as a chance, Sakura turned towards Sasuke and asked, "Uchiha-san, if you were to join our village again, what will become of your comrades?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at Sakura's "false" formality before replying, "They will follow me."

"Preposterous!" Tsunade exclaimed, slamming her fist onto the desk, "It's laughable that you can even suggest such a thing. What guarantees that they or even you will stay loyal to us?!"

Sasuke's face was calm when he replied, "My goal is to defeat Itachi, and in order to do that I must rely on your resources. After I kill him, I want to restore my clan and their rightful place in Konoha. I do not want my clan to be no-name rogue ninjas. Though if you refuse me, I'll just rebuild my clan elsewhere which will be a huge lost to Konoha. "

Tsunade scowled, mainly because what the self-absorbed brat said made perfect sense. Taking a step back (metaphorically not literally since she's still sitting down) Tsunade said, "I accept that as a valid answer from you, but can you say the same for your comrade?"

"They are loyal to me," Sasuke stated simply.

Suigetsu snickered, earning himself a death glare from Sasuke.

"Suigetsu here is after an Akatsuki member. Like me, he will also require the assistance of this village, though what he'll do after he accomplishes that gaol, I can not say.

"Juugo desires a cure for his condition," Sasuke continued, giving Tsunade a brief glance. "He was willing to trade his freedom to Orochimaru for it, so I'm positive that he'll trade his loyalty to you for it." A smirk tucked on Sasuke's lips, one that did not miss Tsunade's watchful eyes.

"Karin here…" Sasuke trailed off, looking back at his team mate, "is entirely loyal to me," he finished.

A snob smirk was on Karin's face. It felt so good to have Sasuke-sama consider her as "entirely loyal".

Tsunade remained silent for a while. She can not even guarantee temporary loyalty from all these people, then how will she-?

"I have a suggestion Tsunade-sama."

All heads turned to Sakura's direction, including Naruto's struggling one.

"Let's hear it," Tsunade said, desperately wishing that her prodigy student came up with something good.

Releasing her hand from a gasping Naruto, the pink haired girl said with a pleasant smile, "Two month ago, I have perfected the first stage of my binding seal."

"Go on," urged the Hokage, she can see that something very good is coming up.

"Though it is only at its first stage, this seal will allow the user to be able to the person's chakra, such as reducing it, or completely shutting it off. The user will also be able to sense the person's chakra if the chakra level goes beyond normal, which will happen if that person loses control or is engaged in combat." Sakura explained.

"…if that person loses control…"

Both Tsunade and Naruto's eyes widened while Sasuke's eyes narrowed. It seemed that this seal was especially designed to help Naruto keep the Kyuubi in check.

'Sakura-chan…' Naruto whispered in his head; a painful express was present on his whiskered face.

'Foolish girl, you're trying too hard…' thought Tsunade, though her inner voice was nothing close to scowling. 'You're trying to save someone else when you can't even safe…" Tsunade let the painful thought trail off by itself.

"However, seeing that it's only at its first stage, there are some flaws and inconveniences. One of these flaws is that both parties must agree willingly to this, or else the person's chakra will deflect the user's during the process. Next, the effectiveness of this jutsu only last from three to five months. And lastly, the user and the person must be within considerate distance between each other, or else the user will lose the chakra signal and will be unable to detect its level. However, the most important part, even if the user could not detect any chakra signal, he or she can still reduce or shut off the person's chakra flow at anytime." Sakura finished.

Everyone in the room was quiet until Suigetsu let out a low whistle, "So basically, you're suggesting that we should be chained up to a leash? What makes you think I want my chakra completely sealed off? And you said this is only the "first stage"? I hate to see what the other stages will look like."

Sakura gave the shark boy a lukewarm smile before replying, "If you're as loyal to Konoha as you claim you are, then I shouldn't have to activate it and reduce your chakra, much less shutting off the flow completely. You should only be worrying if you have something to hide."

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow; at least this chick's attitude was a bit better than Karin's.

Right after he thought that Karin pushed in, "It seemed that you created this jutsu so how do we know it'll be successful without side effects?"

An eerie smirk appeared on Sakura's lips as she held up her left hand. "I'll bet on this hand that my jutsu is perfectly safe without side effects. Does this reassure you?"

Suigetsu's eyebrow rose even higher, now he really liked this babe's attitude. Sasuke and Juugo remain passive while Karin had a queer look on her face. She was definitely not cool with getting owned by a pink haired runt.

"Well Sasuke-kun?" This time, it was Tsunade who spoke. The victorious smile on her face was too big to miss. She definitely will have to reward Sakura for this later.

Sasuke paused for a short moment before replying, "I agree."

The gasp coming from Karin was too big to miss as well. Suigetsu let out another low whistle and Juugo continued to stare tensely, only this time, it was at Sakura.

Turing around, Sasuke eyed his team mates, "And you?" He said, addressing to everyone. It was less of a question and more of an order.

Juugo nodded, Karin nodded hesitantly, and Suigetsu smiled, revealing all his shark-like teeth. "This'll be fun."

The Godaime stood up and start giving out instructions, "Shizune, inform everyone that under special circumstances, Konoha have accepted three new ninjas and regain one of its missing-nins. Sakura, perform the jutsu on them right now. And Naruto…" Tsunade trailed off looking at the hyper young man who was practically jumping with excitement, waiting to be told what to do. "Go eat your ramen and stay out of the way."

Dark clouds surrounded the fox-liked boy as he sat in a corner, mumbling darkly to himself.

"Perhaps you've gone too far Shishou?" Sakura said smiling.

Ignoring her comment, Tsunade said "Is there anything you'll need for the sealing?"

"No," said Sakura, "and I can perform it here if you like."

"Very well. So," the Hokage said eyeing the group in front of her, "Who's up first?"

Sasuke was about to speak up, but someone else beat him to it. "Tsunade-obaa-chan! Let me go first!" Everyone glanced at the person who spoke up.

It was Naruto.

Before the Godaime could say a word, Sakura's sudden sharp voice sliced itself towards the blond boy. "No! I'm sorry, but until I complete the last stage of my seal, I will not perform it on you Naruto."

"But-!"

"No means no!" Stressed Sakura. 'Why can't the idiot get it through his thick skull?!'

Backing down, Naruto stared at the floor. He had wanted to get this seal and have it over with so Sakura-chan could take some rest. But now he just made it worse. Sakura will probably work twice as hard, trying to complete the final stage of the seal.

There was a moment of silence before Sasuke was about to say something, only to be interrupted yet again. Only this time, it was Suigetsu. "Since everyone's trying to back down, I guess it's up to me to break the ice." He smirked, silently laughing at his own little joke that awfully cold.

Nodding. Sakura reached a hand behind her and pulled out a tiny, plain scroll from the semi-circle pouch.

The expressions on Sasuke and his gang shifted, 'What is she planning to do with that puny little thing?

On the other hand, Tsunade, Naruto and Shizune did not seem surprised at all. It was obvious that this was nothing new to them.

When Sakura unrolled the miniature scroll, seven neatly lined kanji was visible, each with its own complicated design placed around them. They read, "weapon", "medical", "seal", "food", "clothing", "equipment" and "other".

Using her index finger and middle finger, Sakura pressed onto the Kanji that read "seal". A small poof appeared and when it faded away another scroll appeared in Sakura's hands and the kanji "seal" disappeared from the first scroll.

Not surprisingly, this second scroll was titled "seal". At the exterior, a thin black stripe bordered each of its sides. It was double the size of the previous scroll and was also filled with kanji and complex designs. Sakura threw the entire body of the scroll in air and pulled with the other hand which was gripping onto the end; causing the scroll to unravel at a very fast speed. Once she spotted her target, Sakura swiftly stopped the unravelling of the scroll with a quick flick of her wrist.

Placing her entire hand on a circle with two kanji that reads "chakra binding", Sakura released a third scroll. This last scroll was slightly smaller than the second one and bigger than the first one. It was blood-red and on it, it reads "chakra binding". Once again, the kanji "chakra binding" disappeared from the previous scroll.

Karin seemed to spot a hint of acknowledgement in Sasuke's eyes and quickly glared back at Sakura. "That was all very flashy, but you'll have a hell of a time putting all of these scrolls back."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Sakura's lips. "I'll survive," was all she said.

Placing the two other scrolls out of the way on Tsunade's desk, Sakura then opened up the red scroll. There were three rings of artfully designed circle, but only one had a kanji written on it: "first".

Placing it on the floor of the Hokage's office, Sakura unleashed the seal with the palm of her right hand. Inky shapes that formed the seal crawled out of the scroll and onto the ground like snakes slithering in the grasslands. Once all the ink from that one seal left the scroll, the floor was covered in an elaborate, circular pattern.

Putting the red scroll away with the rest, Sakura motioned Suigetsu to step into the circle. Grinning in his shark-like ways, Suigetsu laid his huge, bad-ass sword against the wall, and sat down in the circle.

Naruto's eyes rested on the sword for a few seconds before shaking his head to clear his mind. It didn't help much. The large sword looked way toofamiliar…

When the white haired boy got in, Sakura started to unbutton her top shirt which almost made Suigetsu falter back a bit. Once her top shirt fell off, it laid obediently at Sakura's sides; her belt kept the bottom part of the shirt in place. Inside, Sakura wore a strapless heavily-netted shirt, but it still betrayed the strapless bra that she was wearing under.

Sasuke's eyebrows slightly knitted together. It appeared that her bra was covered with a hard layer of protective plates that wrapped themselves tightly around her chest. Further more, Sasuke suspect that very dense chakra was sealed inside, making the armour virtually unbreakable. The scary part was that there might be more surprises hidden and because of Sakura's outer outfit, one would not have guessed that she had protected herself so well…

Perhaps there was wisdom put behind her slutty dress code. After all, the armour plates looked slightly uncomfortable because it was tight on her chest.

"Whoa, and they can still look so big," Suigetsu smirked. No one (maybe except Naruto) needed to ask what he meant by that.

Karin gave a disgusted scowl.

"What Karin?" Suigetsu's smirk grew even wider, "Jealous?"

"As if!!"

Sakura smiled politely before joining Suigetsu in the circle. Since the boy was new, she'll let him slide… 'This time.'

Kneeling down, Sakura faced Suigetsu, and cupped both of his hands with her own. Moments after, the room became darker and colder. The seal on the floor started to glow a bright and red light. Another second passed, and both Sakura's and Suigetsu's chakra started to form around them. Taking this as the cue, Sakura leaned over and placed her forehead onto Suigetsu's.

Taken back, a bead of sweat rolled off his forehead. He was not used to being so close with another person, much less a girl.

"Relax," Sakura whispered. Her eyes were closed and her voice was soft and serene as the clouds.

Nodding his head slightly in understanding, Suigetsu closed his eyes as well. As soon as he did so, both his chakra and Sakura's started to rise up at an extremely fast pace. Soon they were both engulfed in their chakra, and their chakra started merging together.

Suigetsu shifted a little, the room was getting way to hot for his taste. A few minutes passed and the light coming from the seal depleted. The room went back to its original state.

"Done," said Sakura, standing up.

"That's it?" Asked Suigetsu. Usually these types of things last much longer, but he was glad that it was over so soon. He was sweating like crazy and he didn't like it one bit.

"That's it," smiled Sakura in her cheerful voice, "who is next?"

"Come on, Karin. Or are you too much of a chicken?" Suigetsu mocked, sipping a large quantity of water from his bottle.

With steam practically coming from her ears, Karin stomped over to the circle and attempted to push Suigetsu but failed miserably when he jumped away with his superior speed.

"Let's get this straight," Karin glared at Sakura, "I'm only doing this for Sasuke-sama. If this had been any other situation, no way in hell am I going to let you seal me up."

"Of course," smiled Sakura. Something flashed in her eyes, something no normal people would have caught. However, let's just say that there was a few "abnormal" people in the room.

A bit satisfied about letting her point get across, Karin sat down in the circle with Sakura.

The sealing ritual for Karin was twice as long as it was for Suigetsu. After it was finally completed, Karin bolted up, fanning feverishly with her hands.

Sakura on the other hand was perfectly fine.

"Did you purposely made it longer than it had to be to make me suffer!?" Karin snarled at the pink hair kunoichi who was in a much better shape than she was. Not a single bead of sweat was visible on Sakura's heart-shaped face.

"I'm sorry Karin-san, but that was not my fault. For some reason, your chakra was rejecting me, so it was harder to complete the sealing." Sakura smiled again. A hint of amusement lingered in its wake.

Frustrated, Karin stomped back beside her precious Sasuke-sama.

Next, Juugo stepped up, and his sealing was the fastest of them all; with only half the time it took to do Suigetsu's.

'He must really want that cure…' Both Sakura and Tsunade thought. At the time, they were both oblivious to the fact of what exactly he wanted a cure for.

Finally, Sasuke sat down in the circle. Like many times before, the circle started to give off the bright, red light, and the room became immensely darker again.

Reaching forward, Sakura placed her hands around Sasuke's, a simple motion that would have meant so much to her if she had stayed the way she was.

Too bad she didn't.

Sakura was expecting icy cold hands, but his hands were surprisingly warm. Shaking off the thought, she waited for their chakra to gather. After just a short moment she leaned forwards a bit, and whispered beside Sasuke's ear. (Karin was getting very mad with their close proximity in the background).

"Your chakra is rejecting mine," Sakura's calm voice hid the tiny hint of annoyance.

"Is it?" Sasuke said in an equally calm voice.

"Yes, it is." Sakura's voice was a bit tight. For some reason, it upset her that his chakra was rejecting hers to such an extend. This should only happen if the person that was receiving the sealing was forced into it.

'But Sasuke agreed on his own free will, so why is this happening?'

"Can you please relax? You're the one who wanted this." Sakura said in a flat tone.

"I hate being "bonded" with anyone," said Sasuke plainly. It wasn't an excuse; it was a mere statement.

'So that's why…' Sakura came to a silent understanding, 'Though he consciously agrees to it, subconsciously his pride is actually defying it.'

'In other words…' The pink hair girl smirked inside, 'his ego is too big.'

'Then there's only one way…'

"Uchiha-san," started Sakura in a pleasant voice while Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her formality, "If we do not complete the sealing, you'll not be accepted as a Leaf-nin again. Such would truly be a disgrace to you clan, wouldn't it?"

Right after she said that, Sasuke's hand escaped her lose grasp and gripped tightly around her thin wrist. "Do not insult my clan," he hissed.

Though all the other people were wondering what the hell was happening, Sakura own expression did not change. She was expecting this to come.

"I'm sorry if you misunderstood me, Uchiha-san. I did not intend to offend you" 'Only to agitate you.'

Backing down, Sasuke let out a low breath and closed his eyes. A small smile tugged on Sakura's pink lips as she cupped his hands again.


Unravelling the letter that was tied to a message bird's foot, Danzou scanned the paper before crumbling it in his hands.

"Does something upset you Danzou-sama?" Asked a figure half covered in the shadows.

"It appears that Tsunade is letting the traitor Uchiha Sasuke rejoin us, and his subordinates as well."

"At this rate, you will no longer be needed to replace his spot in team Kakashi," the old man said, eyeing his soldier with his one good eye.

Sai stepped out of the shadows and smiled his empty smile. "That is fine with me."

"I'm glad to hear it," replied Danzou before walking pass him towards the door, "Come, we must do some house cleaning."

"As you wish," said Sai, the smile never leaving his face. Staring at the retreating back of his master, an expression that resembled a scowl appeared on Sai's face as he added, 'You old fart.'


Stepping back, Sakura put on her proper top and reached for her sealing scrolls.

"All done," she said, smiling at the group, "is there anything else you would like?"

"I would like to see how you're going to seal all those scrolls up." Karin said mockingly. God, she had to wait long to admire the humiliation of this insufferable woman.

"Sealing takes long, that's why it is irrational to use it too much, especially for trivial things such as food and clothing which we can just carry ourselves. Further more; to seal something that already has something else sealed into it will cost an enormous amount of time and energy. Do you think you can handle this three-layer sealing of yours?" The girl grinned behind her glasses. "Further more, your first scroll is so small in size, much smaller than the other ones. I suspect it is for convenience, but size matters greatly in sealing. To reduce the necessary of having to seal into a larger scroll, the sealing time must be greatly enlarged."

Without saying a word, Sakura placed a hand on top of the seal on the ground. The seal began to crawl back to the spread-out red scroll that she was holding with her other hand.

Karin rolled her eyes, 'Hmm, still acting cool? You can't avoid it forever. Sooner or later you'll have to seal that red scroll into the other scroll, and then seal that one into the tiny scroll. You're going to make a total fool of yourself when you fail to do so, hehehe.'

Taking the red scroll, Sakura wrapped the black stripe scroll around it, and then the tiny white scroll around the black stripe scroll. The pink haired kunoichi then performed a couple of hand seals and POOF. All that was left was the minuscule scroll, which Sakura pocketed gently back into her pouch.

All this was done within the time span of seven seconds

The look on Karin's face was priceless.

"Too bad for you Karin-san," Naruto laughed from the other side of the room, along with Suigetsu. "Sakura-chan is the world's best healer and sealer. There's no way she'll let you get the laugh."

By now, Karin's face was so mad, and a reasonable amount of killing intent was leaking from her body.

"Karin…" said Sasuke warning.

"My apologies, Sasuke-sama." A small blush appeared on her face as she faced Sasuke in such a painfully forced expression. She tried too hard to act cute.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in stepped The "Great" Danzou and his "loyal servant" Sai.

"Well, well, well," a chilling smile appeared on the scared-faced man as he eyed Naruto then Sakura, "It appears that there's more housecleaning to do than I had previously predicted."

"Danzou…" Tsunade mentally tried to strangle the man. And just when she thought she had her problems solved… "What do you want?"

A cold smile appeared on the ugly man's face. "The counsel will not be happy with your decisions, Tsunade-hime."

'Like I care what those old farts thinks.' huffed Tsunade inside, but on the outside she gave a very diplomatic answer.

"The best for the village?" Danzou repeated what she said in the form of a question. "That is very doubtable, Tsunade-hime."

When Tsunade chose to remain silent, Danzou continued, "But we all know that your Excellency is excellent at making decisions."

His eyes shifted onto Sakura.

Tsunade's eyes immediately narrowed as she felt her muscles tense up. Naruto did the same, and faster than the normal eyes can see, he appeared right between Sakura and Danzou, holding a dagger much like Asuma's in his hand.

His usual laid-back, blue eyes were narrowed into thin slits as aggressive words crawled out from the back of his throat. "Don't you dare…"

What Sasuke suspected was right. Naruto's aura was truly powerful. What he doesn't understand was why the blond was getting so agitated by this man in front of him. Whatever the reason, it seemed to be concerning Sakura.

Danzou's eye's narrowed as well. "Put that down," he hissed, "Is this how the Great Tsunade-hime handles her soldier?" The mockery in his voice was too clear to miss. "Hime-sama, you're getting old."

Tsunade's fiery eyes lowered in shame. It was true; she can feel her body dieing of old age.

"It's time to choose a successor…" Danzou continued to weave his spider net with his sly words.

"TSUNADE-BAA-CHAN ALREADY CHOSE A SUCCESSOR!!" Naruto's voice ran through the building. In the background, Tsunade slightly twitched at the word "Baa-chan."

Danzou's icy glare rested on the blond boy. He sneered, "Do you honestly expect the village to accept you? Pathetic."

His words hit its mark. Naruto's head turned away, a torturing expression dominated his face.

"Also," Danzou continued, determined to break everything apart, "the Akatsuki seemed to be very interested in you aren't they?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent.

Danzou let his smile to be seen wide and clear. Though he said nothing else, the message was well delivered.

A soft voice soon wiped his smile off his face. "Though he may be an idiot at the best of times, Naruto is a hero and he is our destined leader." Emerald eyes flashed dangerously. "Even if he is to die, I will take over the spot as the Hokage. There's no need for scums such as you to step in."

Danzou's face twisted in an ugly scowl, "Do you really think that the villagers will accept either of you? In their eyes, you two are nothing but monsters."

Long pink hair swayed in the air and in the next moment, Haruno Sakura appeared in front of the man with a long katana placed against his neck, hard enough to draw blood.

"I may be a monster…" Though her whisper was low and soft, "…but don't you dare categorize Naruto in that same file as me,"… its malice filled the room.

Flashing greened eyes burned with killing intent, "He is not half the monster that you are." Her aura was frightening strong, yet her chakra still cannot be sensed. This caused many thoughts amongst the Hebi.

Sakura could feel his pulse beating faster than normal. 'So he really is a coward.' A sadistic smirk appeared her beautiful, heart-shaped face.

Out of nowhere, a gloved hand gripped gently around Sakura's wrist that was holding onto the sword which already drew a speck of blood from Danzou's neck.

""That's enough," smiled Sai.

Sakura eyed him mindlessly before dropping her gaze and pulled away. Silence once again hung in the room.

'Insolent girl, I'll make sure that you pay for this wound.' Looking back as Tsunade, Danzou spoke, "I did not come here to get into fights with your ill-bred student. I wanted to take my subordinate off Team Kakashi seeing that he will no longer need to replace its former member." Danzou glanced briefly at Sasuke.

Tsunade never had the chance to speak because Sakura did that for her, "Sai was never a replacement. He is a member of Team Kakashi and it's not your place to dismiss him from it."

Sai's eye widened slightly. He felt something on his heart; a little jot and then a huge weight was literally lifted off it. It felt nice…

What did they call it again? Oh yes, "relief" and "happiness". But why he was so happy by what Sakura said? Was it because she accepted him as her comrade, and did view him as a simple replacement? Whatever it was, Sai just knew that he was glad.

Danzou's beetle-like eyes glared mercilessly at the Hokage's rebellious pupil.

A satisfying smirk tugged at Sakura's lips. Suddenly a shock wave ran through her body, and Sakura's knees failed her. With widened green eye, the pink haired kunoichi found herself falling towards the cold marble ground.

A/N: Yah cliffy!! XD Well, that's it for today. I tried to portray the new characters as accurately as I can. But with limited chapters, it's quite tough (especially Juugo). T x T I'm currently waiting for more Naruto chapters to come out, so please, please, please be patient with my slow updating. Oh, and please feel free to point out any mistakes, thx! -bow-

Next chapter, it'll reveal a bit of Sakura's past and what happened to her to make her the way she is right now. There'll also be some tension building between characters.

:remember to please review!!:

Lidiya