Hiiiiiiiz everyone…

Here's the second chapter… enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto, but I don't!

Chapter 2:

It was a short day; consisting mainly of introductions and just some information about the subjects they'll be taught, and a lot of talk about how to be a great ninja. It was interesting to all the kids, who were just on the doorstep of the shinobi world, except maybe one Shikamaru who slept through most of the day, waking up every now and then only to mutter something that sounded something like "troublesome" and go back to his slumber. Sakura loved every bit of it, drinking everything she was told and storing it deep in her head. She was going to be the top student; she would make sure of that. She could see from the first few periods that her classmates were mostly average, only one or two who stood out a little, and some who gave a clear example of a student forced to go to school. As annoying as it was for her, she had to admit that that not-so-cute kid was exceptionally good and earned a lot of respect from the very first period, showing a lot of knowledge, cleverness and fighting skills. She felt competitive and somewhat intimidated by the dark head, not expecting him to be so good. On the other hand, she developed the habit of checking on Uzumaki-kun every time she found herself in a dilemma, wondering how he would solve it. He wasn't a genius, but he surprised her a few times with his smart noting and sharp eyes. But what really stood out in this boy's character was his unbelievable, out-of-this-world kindness. He had a wide smile ready for every situation, good or bad. Sometimes she thought she saw a hurt look on his face, but then a huge laugh would deny what she saw. Otherwise, a determined expression haunted his face a lot, especially when dealing with teachers. It was extremely obvious how everybody, mostly adults, seemed not just to hate him, but to despise him, and what hurt was that they didn't bother to hide that hatred. As the days went by, it was starting to drive her crazy. What in the world did he do that made him deserve such a treatment? In her opinion, it was just too cruel.

"Yes, tonight."

"How long?"

"Twenty minutes."

Sakura was walking back home from school almost two months after enrolling into the academy, humming pleasantly to herself. It was almost dark; having stayed in school until she had done all the homework she had been assigned. She took a shortcut to her house, wanting nothing but to go home and just relax. Of course it wasn't some dingy old alley where she'd be in danger of running into some mean old bad guys, so she walked as carefree as one can possibly be, no really listening to the several conversations around her.

"Keep your voice down, moron."

A sense of forbidding made her halt.

"I'm glad we're putting an end to that monster." One of them whispered loudly, as if not caring whether he could be heard or not.

She gasped in shock.

She had heard that word only too many times. From her friends, while playing and pretending, and it was a lot of fun. But when that word came from an adult, it had always involved that one boy.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Could they possible mean him? She thought desperately.

But what did they mean, "Put an end to him"?

She wasn't dumb.

Her heart beat so hard it hurt, and her eyes started to water. The fear she felt shook her world completely, freezing her.

Sakura, get a grip. She scolded herself.

I can save Uzumaki-kun.

She thanked God they hadn't noticed her at all despite her loud gasp, and she resumed her walking, trying as much as she could to keep herself from running flat out to Sandaime's tower in her terror. As soon as she was out of their sight, she did, reaching the big office in minutes. Nobody stopped her after seeing her expression.

"HOKAGE-SAMA!" she exclaimed in as loud a voice as she could muster after running so much.

"Naruto's in danger, am I right?" he replied quickly, frowning deeply.

She blinked.

"YES! Please, Sandaime-sama! They're gonna kill him."

"Izumo." He called, and a shinobi appeared right in front of his desk.

"Your orders, Hokage-sama."

"Take your team to Naruto's house immediately. Your objective is to protect Naruto and by no means can he be allowed to get hurt." The anger in his voice made her think of him as scary for the first time in her life.

"And the enemy?"

"Bring them alive." And with that, he disappeared.

The third Hokage now turned to Sakura, his expression softening.

"I am very proud of you, young one. You have done a great thing tonight."

Her eyes welled up, and she started to cry. He got up and walked around his desk to kneel right next to her, holding her in his arms.

"What's your name?"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura." She managed to whimper.

"It takes a lot of courage to do what you did." He said matter-of-factly. "You will become a great ninja, Sakura-chan."

She said nothing, and he let her go.

"Go home now, Sakura-chan." He said gently. "I know it's been a rough day for you. But rest assured, Naruto will be fine. I have sent a strong team to protect him. You will see him in a couple of days at the most. Then again," he smiled. "Knowing Naruto, he'll be his usual loud self sooner than we expect. I would know." He added.

She didn't understand that last part, but decided to let it go.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." She bowed.

He shook his head.

"No, thank you, Sakura-chan."

She turned and left, her heart not eased. She walked back slowly, dying to know what was going to happen. Was Uzumaki-kun ok? Did the shinobi team reach those guys before or after they had got to him? Was he hurt?

She found she couldn't wait until the next day or two. She took a left turn and ran towards his house, sensing the danger but trying to ignore it. She was glad she knew where it was, after they had walked home together after school a few times. When she was pretty near, she slowed down into a careful walk, straining her ears to pick up something, anything. She didn't know if she did want to hear something or not. As she pondered on this, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her head from the back, covering her mouth. If she hadn't lost all functions at that moment, she would've screamed. The unknown attacker pulled her backwards into the road from which she had just turned and then turned her around to face her.

"NARUTO!" she half-screamed.

His face went white.

She got the message.

He put a finger to his lips and jerked his head to the side asking her to follow him. But her eyes weren't focused on the hand to his face, they were locked on the hand placed just over his heart. She was about to ask what that was about when hurried footsteps announced the approaching of somebody. In a flash, Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and ran as fast and silently as they could away from that person. She thought it might've been an ally, but decided not to say a thing after her stupid act half a minute ago. They stopped on one of Konoha's rooftops, needing to catch their breath.

"Uzumaki-kun, what happened?" she managed to let out between gasps of breath.

"They're all down." He said sadly.

"Down? What do you mean?"

"I don't know if they're dead or alive, but the four shinobi are not moving." He looked as if about to cry. As for Sakura, she felt helpless.

"Sakura-chan," he suddenly panted. It looked as though he was in pain. "Go quickly to the old geezer and tell him these men are no ordinary shinobi despite how they look. They're not from Konoha, neither do they wear any forehead protectors. They're a danger to Konoha, Sakura-chan, and I can't let anybody get hurt." He clutched his jacket over his heart tighter, wincing.

"Uzuma-"

"GO!" he urged. And she was shocked as Naruto suddenly disappeared with a pop.

"A shadow clone?" she wondered when on earth he had learned such a technique. Her heart stopped.

Where was the real Naruto-kun?

Hope you enjoyed :)

Please R&R