-With Hinata's pregnancy behind them, Team 7 is finally reunited, but things are definitely not the same anymore. Naruto's a dad, Sasuke finally falls for Sakura, and Sakura . . . well, her real mom's come to take her back! Oh no! What's going to happen? And what's this about an engagement? Oh, and just when the family reunion was over… -Sequel to Passion-


Alright, a new chapter! I'm sorry you guys that this took so long to make! I was busy with some other things. Also, you guys, you know how Passion was based on Breaking Dawn? Well, you see, I wanted to incorporate one more Twilight thing into the fanfic, but I didn't have space, so I had to put it in this chapter. And for you peoples who don't like too many crossover characters, I'm just going to add only a few more people and that's it, kay? This chapter is named after Ayumi Hamasaki's Game, and please enjoy!


Chapter Two

Game

The sounds of kunai clashing could be heard. Sakura knew her teammates were fighting. She was in hiding right now. And if she were to show herself now then she'd lose. She glanced around at her surroundings. No one in sight, or so she thought. She quickly jumped out of the way as the Guillotine Sword[1] came crashing down.

Karin came shortly afterwards, delivering a punch to the cherry blossom. Sakura blocked it with her arms and returned the punch. Karin caught her fist, and Sakura noticed the shadow looming over her.

So it had been a distraction… She kicked Karin in the stomach, slamming the tracker-nin into a tree. One down… She then jumped out of the way as Juugo punched the ground. She gathered her chakra into her hand, focusing them into her fingers. Her chakra protruded out of her fingertips. Then she pounced, attacking the nerve points in both of Juugo's arms in a manner similar to Hyuga's eight trigrams. Two down… Now where's—

And then she saw it, a puddle nearby. She rolled her eyes. Oh, please… Suigetsu could not have made it any easier, but she went along with it.

"Oh, look, a puddle!" she exclaimed in a childish voice. "It's been so long since I jumped in one. I think I'll jump in it!" And she leaped, landing with a hard stomp into said puddle. She marched on the puddle a few couple of times and then jumped back.

The puddle slowly formed into Suigetsu who was now rubbing his head. "Bitch!" he yelled. "Why the Hell did you step on me so hard?"

Sakura giggled, but her laughter came to a stop when she heard the chidori's signature sound—the chirping of a thousand birds. There was a strong gust of wind. She knew which jutsu that was too—Naruto's Fūton: Rasengan[2]. She quickly left the three Team Hebi members, running through the fields. And in a few minutes, she saw those two rivals, charging at each other—each with a powerful jutsu aimed at the other.

"YOU IDIOTS!" she yelled, focusing her chakra into her fist. She punched the ground, causing a massive earthquake big enough to destroy half of Konoha. "ARE YOU TWO TRYING TO KILL YOURSELVES?"

✿。.:**:.。✿

"You didn't have to punch us so hard, Sakura-chan…"

"Oh, quit whining, Naruto!" the kunoichi yelled, her arms crossed. "I'm still debating on whether or not to tell Hinata about this!"

"Please don't, Sakura-chan!" the Kyuubi-container got onto his knees. Ever since Hinata had given birth to his beautiful pair of twin babies, the Hyuga had gotten . . . err, persuasive against our favorite shinobi. "She'd never let me touch ramen again if she heard that me and Teme were fighting to the death again!"

"Ha! So you admit it! You two were trying to kill each other!"

"Anoo . . . well, you see, Sakura-chan—"

"YOU IDIOT!" Sakura would've knocked Naruto into next month if the Uchiha hadn't held her back, but even Sasuke had trouble preventing the kunoichi from ramming her fist into the dobe's face.

"Well, it looks like Pinkie won this round." Suigetsu chuckled. He let out a small "Itai" then rubbed his head.

"Well, would you have expected anything less?" Juugo asked. "She's been training with almost everyone from her academy class. Of course, she has gotten better in these past few days."

Karin hmped. "Hey, Haruno! Just you wait! I'll repay you for that kick to my stomach next time around!"

"Yeah, as if!" the rosette-haired girl retorted. "You're the one who trained me to sense chakra, after all. Unless you've got a new trick up your sleeves, there's no way you're pulling the wool over my eyes!" Plus, with my mom coming back soon, there might not even be a "next time"…

Sakura tried to hide her remorse, but she knew that, sooner or later, her friends were going to find out. After all, Tsunade hadn't taken her resignation too well.

"Sakura, what's this?" The Hokage held an envelope in her hands. On that sachet were the characters "辞職願い."

"Just what it says, shisou…" Sakura answered, keeping her head high and the tears from falling. "It's my letter of resignation…"

Tsunade slammed her fist onto her desk. "Why?" she snarled.

". . . Shisou, please don't look into this. I—"

"Don't give me that crap!" Tsunade yelled. "Sakura, you're my apprentice! You can't just tell me that! You know I see you as a daughter! Now if something is bothering, you surely can tell me! I—"

"Shisou, please…" Sakura pleaded. "Just trust me on this… I—"

"Just . . . go…" Tsunade didn't even look at her. "Leave!"

Tears had threatened to fall that day, and they threatened to fall today, too. Sakura had disappointed her mentor, she knew that. That day, Tsunade couldn't even bare to look at her. That had hurt Sakura the most. She should've given her mentor more of a reason than that, more time to prepare… It was for that same reason that Sakura had been training with almost everyone in Konoha 11. She just wanted to spend some more time with them…

"-Head! Forehead!"

"Huh?" She snapped out of her thoughts. "Ino-pig? When did you get here?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Ino said, putting her hands on her hips. "Maybe . . . a few minutes ago while you were zooming out to who knows when?"

"Gomen, gomen…" Sakura said, her face turning pinkish. "Now why are you here?"

"Well, since your family reunion and Kagome's wedding are coming up, you won't have much time to yourself."

"Yeah, and?"

"And we haven't had a game in a while now, so—"

Sakura scoffed, a disbelieving smile on her face. "No way! The guys actually agreed to another game?"

"Hm-mh," Ino nodded her head vigorously. "They want a rematch."

"WHAT?" Naruto could hardly believe it. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Hey, don't leave us out!" Suigetsu said. "What are you guys talking about?"

"A nice game of kunoichi vs. shinobi ninja-ball," Sakura and Ino answered.

"Do we have to?" Naruto asked, almost complaining.

"You're just afraid of getting your ass kicked by a group of kunoichi!" Ino yelled. "Party-pooper!"

"Yeah, what happened to that spunk you had when you almost tried to kill Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"Well, that's different!"

"Are you saying we kunoichi are weak?"

"No, no! I'm just saying—"

And all the while, Team Hebi were wearing confused expressions. And all Sasuke knew was that he was going to be dragged into another annoying thing.

✿。.:**:.。✿

"So . . . you guys are coming along?"

"Of course, we are, Pinkie!" Suigetsu exclaimed, pushing Karin along, while Sasuke and Juugo just walked with Sakura. "After all, we—"

"And by 'we,' you mean you." Karin said.

"No, by 'we,' I mean we. We want to see what you guys are playing."

"Okay," Sakura shrugged, "suit yourselves. You guys going to play?"

"Nope, but Sasuke is." Juugo answered.

The cherry blossom glanced at her teammate. "You are? Okay, what did Naruto do or say to you?"

"He got on his knees and begged me to—and I quote—'save his and the rest of the males of Konoha 11's pride.'"

"He said that?"

The Uchiha nodded his head.

"Did he even explain the game to you?"

He hned.

"Daijōbu," Sakura smiled. "We'll explain the rules for you . . . newbie."

"Hn…" He wrapped his arm around her waist. "Can't wait."

Sakura smiled wistfully. She led Team Hebi through the tall, wet ferns and draping moss. They were walking for a while. Karin, too. She had gotten tired of Suigetsu pushing her during the first half mile of the walk and began supporting herself. And then after another half mile, they were there on the edge of an enormous open field right in the middle of the forest surrounding Konoha.

The others were already there. Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Shizune were sitting on a bare outcropping of rock. They were the closest to the group, about a hundred yards away. Much farther were Neji, Shikamaru, Sai, Kiba, and Shino. They looked as if they were discussing a battle strategy. Lee and Naruto were a few yards away from them, appearing to throw something back and forth. Choji was sitting in the braches right next to the field with Hinata and Naruto's twins in his hands. They were helping him stuff food into his mouth. C.C. and Kankuro were there, too. Kakashi and Yamato were down in the field. They looked as if they were marking bases.

"Sit with Choji if you're watching." Sakura told the group, and Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo went to into the trees.

"Okay, peoples!" Sakura yelled, her hands cupped over her mouth. "After the so-many failed attempts from the boys to try and defeat the undefeated kunoichi, Sasuke's going to be helping the boys' side this time!"

"Alright!" Tenten said, smirking. The kunoichi walked—almost gaited gracefully in a waltz—over to Sakura. "It's going to be interesting this time. Too bad Tsunade isn't here."

"Where is she?"

"She said she was busy," Shizune answered. "I'll be substituting as referee."

"Oh, okay." But Sakura was a bit saddened by the fact that the woman didn't show up. Guess she's still mad at me… "So . . . who's batting first?"

"Boys' side," Hinata answer, a smile on her face.

"Nice," Sakura said. She turned to Sasuke. "It's easy. You just need to hit the ball with the bat when you're up. Then while it's flying you run to the base as the catcher on the team goes after it. However, the rest of the opposing team will be trying to hit you with their jutsu, so you'll need to be careful or else you're out. And if the catcher gets the ball before you get to the base, you're also out. Easy enough?"

Sasuke grunted.

"Good luck then," she kissed him on the check. "You'll need it."

She reached for Ino's hand, and they darted toward the oversized field with the other kunoichi except for Shizune. Kakashi and Yamato went up to join Choji in the seats.

Naruto snickered as he and the rest of the guys came over. "Teme, you're going up after me, so just watch and observe for now. And by watching, I don't mean checking out your girlfriend." He got a black eye for that. "I was kidding!"

"So, how do you all manage to lose against five kunoichi?" Sasuke asked.

"Just watch," Shikamaru said. "The girls may be troublesome on missions, but that's nothing compared to their game playing."

"Alright, enough chattering." Shizune said, holding the bat. "Time to play. Who's up first?"

"I am!" Lee said, almost jumping up and down, as he took the bat from the medic. He walked into his position.

"Alright," Shizune said. "Batter up!"

Sakura held the ball, positioned right in the middle of the field. She stood straight, deceptively motionless. Her eyes scanned her surroundings to see where her teammates were. It would seem like she could predict where the ball would land as she motioned with her head to Temari, mostly likely the catcher on the girls' team, where she should stand. The whole exchange took only a few seconds. She held the ball in both hands at her waist and then, like the strike of a cobra and with the inhuman strength Tsunade had taught her, her right hand flicked out. The ball flew quicker than even Sasuke could run, but somehow the bat made it around in time to smash the invisible ball. The crack of impact was shattering and thunderous, and Lee started to run. The ball shot like a shooting star above the field, flying high into the air, and Lee passed the first, second, and third bases. Temari leaped into action then, her eyes on the ball. She jumped onto her opened fan and flew.

"They're not even doing anything," Karin said from where she sat, referring to the rest of the kunoichi.

"Just wait," Choji said. "The girls only attack in the last stretch to home base if they think it'd be unnecessary to waste their energy."

And just as he said it, Tenten sprung into action as Shizune's eyes kept shifting back and forth from Temari's hand and Lee who was now in the mist of Tenten's shower of weapons. He was so close, but then…

"Out!" Shizune cried in a clear voice.

Team Hebi stared in disbelief as Temari closed her fan, fell from almost more than a hundred feet in the air, and landed on her feet in a graceful stance just a mini-second before Lee touched the last base—the ball in her hand.

"The boys may have more players who are stronger and faster," Choji explained, "but with Sakura as the girls' director, their game-plays are better than even Shikamaru's best battle strategies."

The game continued. It was almost impossible to keep up with the speed at which the ball flew. Sakura kept whipping it, and the boys kept hitting it harder, but Temari was quick to follow, and the rest of the kunoichi were smart enough to intercept the batter.

"Safe," Shizune called in a calm voice.

Naruto had scored the first point for the boys, but he was the third one up, so it wasn't anything surprising for the shinobi. Sasuke was up now, and Sakura knew her team was playing in unknown territory. She twirled her fingers, a signal to Temari to keep herself ready for anything and a signal for the rest of the kunoichi to team up.

And when Sakura threw the ball, Sasuke played intelligently. Using his sharingan, he was able to copy a bit of Sakura's strength, sending the ball back twice as fast and keeping the ball low, out of the rest of Temari's always-ready hand in the outfield, scoring again for the guys.

The next person up, however, for the boys' side was Shikamaru. When she saw this, Sakura let out a chime of laughter before throwing the ball. But Shikamaru didn't even try to hit it, just standing there to yawn, and the ball smacked into Shizune's hand.

"Strike one!" the medic yelled, hurling the ball back into Sakura's waiting hands, as a chrous of groans came from the boys' side.

The cherry blossom threw the ball again and, this time, Shikamaru did hit it except . . . it landed right back into Sakura's hands.

"Three outs," Shizune yelled. "Switch!"

The two teams switched, Sai was pitcher now.

"So . . . how do the girls win?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto sighed. "Just watch, Teme. Sakura knows our weaknesses well. She and the rest of the kunoichi play with them."

Hinata was the first to bat for the girls' side. And when Sai threw the ball, Hinata hit it far into the forest. Lee went after it as Hinata started running. Kiba and Shino were guarding first base, and they had their jutsu ready, but…

"You . . . you two wouldn't hurt me, right?" Hinata asked, stopping completely. She was pouting and putting on her puppy-dog eyes.

And though the two shinobi had seen this trick a number of times before, they couldn't help but get out of Hinata's way. And as she skipped all the way to home base, using the same trick, Sasuke immediately knew what Naruto meant by having Sakura and the rest of the kunoichi play with their weaknesses.

The game went on. Ino had went up next. She ran all the way to third base before Lee caught the ball. Then it was Tenten. She hit the ball far into the air, but she was a bit slower than most of the kunoichi. Neji and Naruto stood in her path, but Ino knew what to do. She used her mind-transfer jutsu, and Naruto started punching Neji. Temari was up after the weapons mistress. And when the boys began to block her path, she just used her fan to blow them out of her way.

Once Sakura was up, the girls had two outs and two points. Sai signaled for Lee to be ready to run, and he signaled for the rest of the boys to be ready for any tricks. He threw the ball and, when Sakura hit it, it flew all the way into the branches. Lee ran up the trees, and Sakura started running to first base. Kiba and Shino were the first defense, but Sakura quickly created two shadow clones of herself. Her clones kept those two busy, and she ran towards second. Shikamaru was the next. She ran right towards him then she pushed off her feet and made a great leap in the air. She passed second, and now she was facing Neji. She punched the ground just as he was about to use rotation, and he fell into the crater. Sakura was now racing to home base. Sai had gotten off of the pitcher's mound to help Sasuke and Naruto. But when Sakura saw that she was surrounded, she stopped in her tracks.

What is she planning? they all thought.

She threw her head into her hands. "Naruto," she cried, crocodile tears rolling down her face. "You told me that you'd protect me from whoever would hurt me, and yet . . . how could you side with Sai and Sasuke and team up to hurt me? You promised me, and yet . . . you'd . . ." Her voice trailed off as her cries got louder.

"Aw, don't cry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran to her side, despite Sai's protests. "I—"

Sakura grabbed his arm. "Gotcha!" She smiled and then hurled him towards Sasuke and Sai.

"Wow, Pinkie's a good actress!" Suigetsu commented, and Karin and Juugo nodded their heads in agreement.

Sakura made a leap, jumping on Naruto's head, and then she ran to home base. But then just a step away, she suddenly gasped, "Stop." The kunoichi stood from their seat. Karin included.

Lee jumped out of the forest, ball in his hand. "Sakura-san?"

"I can't believe I didn't see before…" Sakura mumbled.

Sasuke was by her side in seconds. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

The rest of the guys closed in as Sakura yelled, "Choji, Juugo, get Hinata's children out of here!"

"Karin," she yelled out as the two ran away with Rukia and Ichigo (A/N: the children's names for anyone who doesn't know). "How many are there?"

"Two—no, wait, three!" the red-head yelled back.

"Sakura, what's going on?" Hinata asked.

"I had the perspective wrong before," the kunoichi said. She yelled back to Karin, "How soon?"

"Less than five minutes," Karin said as she, Suigetsu, C.C., Kakashi, and Yamato jumped down from the branches.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Ino asked.

"People," Karin answered for the kunoichi, "with an enormous amount of chakra." Her eyes widened when she realized something. "They're . . . guards . . . of the Fire Lord's Imperial Family."

C.C., Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Shizune's eyes widened at that. Was it that woman?

"Let them come," Suigetsu said. "There's enough people here to take them on."

"Let's just continue the game," Kakashi said. "If they're just the Imperial Family's guards then we have nothing to fear."

"Or better yet, let's just leave," C.C. suggested, tugging on Sakura's arm. "Okay? We shouldn't get involved. Let's—" Her breath stopped, and her eyes zeroed in on the right field.

The others turned in the same direction, hearing sounds of passage much too faint for ears of civilians.

They emerged one by one from the edge of the forest, ranging a dozen meters apart. The first male into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the other male to take the front. He oriented himself around the taller, dark-haired man in a manner that clearly displayed who led the pack. The third was another man. A lighter blonde than even Ino was. They closed ranks before they continued cautiously toward the ninja.

The man in front was as tall as Sasuke and a brunette, a hair color that almost matched Neji's. He was almost as serious as the dark-haired man behind him. He wielded no weapon. The second man's hair color and style almost matched Sasuke's completely, but he was almost as tall as Juugo was. He was of medium build, hard-muscled, and carried a sword. The last man—the blonde—smiled an easy smile, exposing a flash of gleaming white teeth. He was the one that stepped toward the shinobi.

"We thought we heard a game," he said in a relaxed voice. "I'm Fai, and these are Syaoran and Kurogane." He gestured to the people beside him.

C.C. just glared at the men.

"Sorry, we don't give our names out to people." Yamato said. "Protocol."

"Oh, there's no need to apologize. We understand." Fai said as his eyes glanced over the group of shinobi. His eyes slightly widened when he saw the green-haired woman. "Lady C.C.? Is that you?"

Sakura glanced at her older sister. Did she know these people? It would seem so…

C.C. tried to smile. "In the flesh… How have you three been?"

"Just delightfully wonderful," Kurogane, the dark-haired one, answered. He then caught a glance at Sakura. That's…!

Recognizing their target, Syaoran and Kurogane lurched one step forward into a crouch. C.C. and the rest of the kunoichi stepped in front of Sakura, Naruto bared his teeth, and Sasuke's sharingan activated as the others tensed. Would a battle start?

"Kurogane! Syaoran!" Fai scolded. "You should not attack so recklessly! We are only to be scouting the area."

"But that girl—"

"LEAVE!" C.C. yelled, surprising the group of shinobi. "What are you three even doing here? Nadeshiko's—"

"That's Empress to you," Syaoran snapped.

"I don't care!" C.C. shrieked. "Whatever position she holds now doesn't make up for what she did to us! So, pass along this message to her: 'I haven't forgiven her, and I never will. If she expects my forgiveness then she better be willing to beg for it.'"

Though the shinobi were surprised by the green-haired witch's words, they said nothing, keeping their eyes focused on the three. But Sakura continued to stare at her sister. Just exactly what had the Empress do to make her so mad?


Gomen = sorry [informal]

Itai = ow; ouch

Shisou = master (as in teacher)

[1] = Zabuza's sword, now Suigetsu's

[2] = an original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki, expanding on the original concept for the Rasengan: mixing one's chakra element with the Rasengan, emphasizing the combination of the highest forms of Shape Transformation and Nature Transformation.

Yay! I finished this chapter! Yay me! And you guys, these crossover characters are going to stop soon, but I want your opinions. Should I skip the family reunion completely and just have one of the characters say something about it or should I actually type that up into a chapter?

Also, I made a new fanfic—actually, a Clamp-styled series. You know how xxxholic and Tsubasa Chronicles crossover with each other? Well, my new series Shinobi has two stories that crossover with each other. One of them is more about NaruHina while the other is SasuSaku, and it's basically my view of how Shippuden should go. Check it out if you have time, kay?

Thank you and please review!