Heeyyyyy, sorry I'm so late for an update. I had band camp and I was without internet for two weeks. But I still got it up so no biggy right? Anyway, the next chapter will be the beginning of the Dragon Kingdom Arc. Which means the Grand Line wont be coming until a little later. Just to be warned, this story is an anime/manga world series. Meaning, Magical Caliber wont have EVERY character from the anime. I'm still trying to decide if I want to put Apis in here or not. I'll get to that later. Please enjoy the chapter!


"So let me get this straight."Nami groaned as she rubbed her tense muscles.

Nearly an hour after the Mugiwara escaped from Loguetown, Luffy told them how he recruited Sakura and Chrome to join their crew as their Magical team, much to Nami's annoyance. She, unlike the rest of the crew, happened to be the only one disturbed by their presence.

"You met them at Loguetown and decided to make them our nakama?"

A nod.

"Because they can use magic?"

A second nod from the straw hat captain made Nami groan for a second time. "I give up. You're giving me a headache."

"What's the big deal?"Usopp asked without looking at the navigator. During the whole interrogation, the curly haired boy took the time to fix the mast. With Chrome's hand tucked gently under his foot, he was lifted directly where the six of them were thrown from the Loguetown harbor. The collision left a large dent in the mast, which threatened to get worse if it wasn't attended to.

"They're really helpful."

"Don't use him like a tool!"

Chrome laughed and leaned on the wall with a lazy smile."Don't worry Nami, it's fine. I'm pretty sure Usopp would do the same for me. Right?"

"Uh sure let's go with that."

"Either way, please take care of us."

Luffy piped in, "I don't have a problem with them."

"We hardly know them!"Nami said."You can't just make them join us when we know nothing about them."

Luffy pointed at Sanji sitting beside Sakura, practically making an entire list of things about her. "Sanji's already got it covered.

"What's your favorite color?"

"It's a tie between red, black, and grey."

"Favorite food?"

"Apples or cherries."

"What do you look for in a man?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond but Nami stopped her."Don't encourage him."

Sanji continued with a new bruise at the center of his skull ."So where were you born?"

From across the room, Chrome visibly flinched and dropped Usopp from on top of his hand. His eyes were staring intently at Sakura.

She looked thoughtful before giving a soft shrug."I don't remember."

Now everyone on the deck were staring at the pink haired mage. No one bothered to say anything even though they were all thinking the same thing. Luffy was first to speak, "How do you not remember where you were born?"

"The same reason why I don't know what my dream is."Sakura said, emerald eyes staring into the ocean."I lost my memory."

"Lost it?"Usopp said as he peeled himself off the floor board."How?"

"I don't know."Sakura shrugged."I hoped that if I joined you all, I would find out."

"Well you must have came from somewhere or did you live in Loguetown ever since you lost your memories?"Usopp asked.

"No."Chrome said, taking a stand beside Sakura."We lived in a Military base for soldiers."

"Military?"Nami echoed."For what country?"

Sakura didn't answer. Chrome looked at her briefly and nervously scratched his neck. Then he spoke again."Drayonaut Kingdom."

"How long have you been together?"Zoro asked.

"Since birth."

"Then did you lose your memories too?"

Chrome looked up quickly, red eyes turning wide again."What?"

Zoro's dark eyes narrowed."I asked if you lost your memories too. Did you?"

"Y-Yeah."Chrome took a step back where he was shoulder to shoulder to his partner. Sakura never moved. She seemed to be too interested in the rushing waves.

Chrome nodded roughly and straightened."Yeah, I lost my memories with her too."

But his lie didn't get past Zoro's senses. In a matter of seconds, Zoro had his Meitou at the nose of the dark haired boy.

"You're lying."

Sakura side stepped and punched the sword away from him, allowing the blade to run across her knuckles once Zoro pulled away in defense.

"Zoro!"Luffy shouted, standing to his feet."What are you doing?"

"These guys aren't telling us something, Luffy."Zoro said."Do you really think that these people could come from the military? It's something completely different from the Marines. Escaping would mean death."

Something inside of Sakura snapped and her eyes began to burn."Do you think we don't know that?"She shouted. She reached for Chrome and pulled him in front of her. Using her uninjured hand, she lifted Chrome's jacket to reveal a long purple gash running across his back. Judging by how deep the wound was, if it had gotten any closer to his spine or head, he would have been dead.

"This is what happens when you try to escape from the military."Sakura cried."This is what happens when you lose everything to one man!"

"Sakura..."Chrome whispered, pulling Sakura's hands away from him so he could turn and wrap his arms around her. "I'm still here. You didn't lose me, right?"

"But still!"Sakura sobbed in his chest."We lost Naruto! We lost Sasuke!"

"What happened to you?"Nami asked, taking a step forward.


The clouds were moving faster. Faster than usual. At this time of the night, they were supposed to move slow and elegant with the wind. But this time, the clouds were being moved by something-no someone else. Someone Sakura had become to love dearly.

"We have to move!"A blonde haired boy whispered, taking Sakura's hand. The girl turned over her shoulder as he dragged her along and made sure that the other two that had joined them were still there. Chrome had a raven haired boy's arm around his shoulder as his arm wrapped around the other's waist so he wouldn't have to walk with both of his legs.

"Are you still alive, teme?"The blonde growled without turning around.

The raven haired boy snorted."Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

It was the blond's turn to snort."Just checking."

Chrome paused in mid step and glanced over his shoulder and stopped. Making Sakura stop in the process."What's wrong, Chrome?"

"Something's coming."Was his chilling reply.

The one legged teen, hopped around so he could catch a clear view of what Chrome was looking at. He blinked and now his dark eyes were a burning scarlet. With Chrome at his side, the two could have been considered twins.

"He's right."The raven haired boy said.

"What is it Sasuke?"Sakura asked.

"It's him."


"Orochimaru."Chrome said, feeling Sakura shiver in his grip."The leader of the S.M.S. The Sound Military Squad."

"This Orochimaru person."Sanji said."What did he do?"

"He's the one who gave me this scar."Chrome whispered.


By now the three of them were running. Sasuke was on Chrome's back as the other two took the lead.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this."Sakura whispered, stopping.

The blond stopped and turned to her,"Sakura-chan?"

"We should just go back."Sakura said."We can't make it to the Gates, Naruto. Let's just give up."

"Give up?"Naruto shouted, anger echoing in his ear."After all we've been through to get this point Sakura! There's no turning back now!"

Sakura flinched. Never had Naruto raised his voice at her. At Sasuke yeah, but never ever her. The fear of getting caught must have gotten to him, Chrome thought.

Eventually, Naruto's eyes softened and he put his hands on Sakura's shivering shoulders."I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I'm sorry for yelling but...you never know...we can make it."

"And if we do Naruto, what do we do after that? Through those Gates is nothing but water! The sea! The nearest island is probably billions of miles away!"

"I don't know Sakura!"Naruto said loudly but his kindness never left his voice."But it's just too early to give up now."

Too early. That's how time moved for Sakura. It was always too early.

They were too early at trying to make it in time to finish their plans and the price was Sasuke breaking his leg.

"We can't sit here."Chrome said in a dark tone."Orochimaru is-"

"Here."

This time and for the first time ever, they were too late.

A thin purple nail reached through the darkness and tucked itself under Sakura's neck. Chrome dropped Sasuke and pushed her aside into Naruto's awaiting arms. Unfortunately for him, the nail ran down his back, dragging against sensitive flesh.

"No!"Sakura cried, reaching out to catch Chrome as he fell in pain.

"Sakura!"Sasuke shouted, tackling the girl and her partner to the side. The same nail nearly touched her at the chest but instead it cut directly through Sasuke's hair.

Naruto did a front flip and dug his foot into the stomach of the shadowed figure. The person barely flinched. Naruto raised his arms above his head, eyes turning a splitted crimson.

"Valiant wind, gather your strength in my hand and eliminate the foes that dare oppose us." A sphere swirling with wind in the shade of blue appeared in the palm of Naruto's hand. "Rasengan!"

He lifted his arm and slammed the sphere at the shadow, shedding the light on the man it truly was.

The man had long black hair and a pale, thin body, eyes of gold, and a long face like a snake. Naruto's Rasengan ran through his face but it didn't injure him. It actually seemed harmless.

The man easily recovered, "Do you really think such a spell would be able to break me?"Orochimaru said.

Naruto smirked."Nah, I was hoping it would fix that ugly face of yours. It's about time you had a lift."

Orochimaru smiled slowly."How cute."

Rolling his head in Sakura's direction, the girl visibly flinched."Sakura-chan? Were you planning to leave me? Leave your home?"

Sakura shivered in fear. The very aura of this man and his power made the air heavy and tense. Sakura's feet wouldn't move no matter how many times she tried.

Naruto stood in between the two, cutting off Orochimaru view of the trembling girl. '

"Stop lying! You know very well this place could never be called a home!"

Sasuke stood to his foot and used Sakura's shoulder to steady himself. He leaned into her ear and pulled her head into the crook of his neck. Shielding her from the sight of Orochimaru grinning at her. "Run."

"W-What?"Sakura stammered.

"You need to run."Sasuke repeated."You're the only one who can make it out of here."

Sakura automatically grabbed his wrist, "I can't just leave you!"

"You're going to have to."Sasuke said.

"B-But, you said we w-would do this t-together!'Sakura argued."What happened to the four of us starting over?"

Sasuke smiled at her, crimson eyes returning to their black nature."Naruto and I knew from the start that we weren't going to make it through this. Look at him. I mean, he already knows what's going to happen but he's not afraid. Afraid of death."

Smack.

"You mean,"Sakura sniffled."You mean to tell me you planned this from the start?"

Sasuke nodded, slowly recovering from her slightly blinding strike."It was all about you Sakura."He turned and lifted his hand to Sakura's cheek, now streaked with tears. He rubbed delicately against her face, bringing warmth to her shivering body.

He continued."Naruto and I were practically born here. There's no way we can return to being just normal children. But you can Sakura. You can start over again. It's not too late."

Sakura didn't say anything. She knew if she opened her mouth it would only end with her sobbing and screaming at them to stay. She took a deep breath and turned to Naruto who still had his back to her.

"Is this true, Naruto?"

He dropped his shoulders and nodded.

The clouds from over head drew closer until they were standing directly on top of them. The sky turned black, leaving nothing but the clouds to be seen. Sakura immediately realized it was Naruto's doing. He, like Sasuke, was getting ready for the end.

"Why?"Sakura whispered."Why for me?"

"Because,"Naruto said with a half chuckle, then turned to her with a bright smile on his tan face."I love you."

Something warm pressed on Sakura's cheek. Sasuke's lips."I love you, Sakura."He whispered in her ear, before he turned and limped at Naruto's side.

"Chrome."Sasuke called.

"You better take care of her."Naruto said.

The dark haired boy groaned as if using words took too much energy. But the two knew it was his sign of an undying approval.

Sakura let out something that sounded like a sob and a sigh. Then she stood, lifted Chrome against her chest, and began to run. She only got a few feet away when she heard two loud thumps on the ground behind her.

Fearing the worst, she turned and there laying on the ground were Sasuke and Naruto, still and unmoving.

Sakura felt a nail stab into her heart. The tears fell hard as something in her stomach began to burn. Then she screamed. A blazing light mixed with dozens of colors flowed around her and engulfed the forest completely. Orochimaru gave a pained cry and then everything went silent.


"Then after that, we found ourselves in North Blue."Chrome said."Where we met a few people, got a bounty, and dropped into Loguetown."

"Which lead you here."Nami said, with a nod.

"That's all we remember."Sakura said, turning to face the others. Her face was completely stoic but everyone could tell she had been trying to hold back tears.

"Well..."Luffy said, getting the undivided attention of everyone else."All that doesn't matter anymore. You're with us now. So don't worry."

"Luffy..."

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw her new captain giving her a familiar grin.

"Stop worrying! You've got us don't ya?"

Lifting her arm, she wiped away the remainder of her tears and returned Luffy's grin with a smaller one of her own.

"Yeah, you're right."

Luffy's smile brightened, he raised his fist in front of the pink haired girl, waiting patiently until she realized what his silent gesture meant. Eventually, she lined her knuckles against his.

Officially sealing the thickening bond between them.


Sorry if that was a little too short or boring. Please review! Thanks! XD