A/N: Welcome one and all to the fourth chapter of this story. I would like to thank every one who reviewed. I know it's a bit confusing so far but it will clear up. I really appreciate the love.

RunRAMENrun : Thanks for the review!

Xelagirl2 : Wahoo, you're super in love with it? that's awesome. Thanks for the great review and I'll try and keep up with the long chapters!

Only Secret : Hopefully this chapter will explain what is going on a little better, but basically, Konoha is under attack. Hope the fight scene is good, its my first one so fingers crossed. Thanks for the review!

Shinobi Darkbeak : Glad you liked the last chapter. Thanks for the review!

doggy thumper : Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any affiliated characters…sadly.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Dust billowed up from the dirt road as Sakura's shoulder slammed into in. Her body tumbled into a nearby building, finally stopping the force against her. With laggard movements, she put herself in a shaky fighting stance. Narrowing her jade orbs, Sakura watched her opponent as he came closer, his every step echoing. It was sickening. Fear was etched into her features and her breaths became shallow. 'He's good, how could I have underestimated him,' her mind screamed.

Sakura shot a kunai toward the demon she fought, but since her movements were considerably slower then usual he dodged it, but she expected that. While he was distracted she began making seals. The lifeless eyes darted over to her, but before a movement was made, smoke appeared and Sakura was gone. The demon thought she had run off, but was surprised to see a flash of pink before tumbling back from a strong force to his chest. He crashed into a wall opposite the one Sakura hit moments ago.

"That was a good move," he said, pulling himself up from the ground. "You faked that look of fear to give me a false sense of power so that when you disappeared I would think you were gone. Is that about right?" Sakura didn't answer, but she breathed heavily. "Your intelligence must be what makes you such a good ninja, seeing as your skills are only sub par." He taunted.

A kunai shot passed his ear. "Shut up," Sakura warned. She charged head first into him only to be shoved forcefully away by a sudden wind. "What the hell was that?" she asked, nearly screaming.

"I wouldn't worry about a simple gust of wind," slick words dripped from his mouth. Sakura sensed an overwhelming chakara surround her. The wind picked up and began to tighten around her body. Sakura felt her feet leave the ground, her lungs felt compressed.

'I have to get out of this…or I'll be suff…ocated.' Sakura struggled uselessly against her invisible constrictions. "Who…who are you?" She managed to choke out, although she couldn't tell if he heard.

"My name is Akuma Jaaku, and we have met once before, though I'm sure you don't remember," He said, taking a few steps toward her. He stopped when her arms began to shake free from the windy prison. In an explosion of wind, Sakura fell to the ground free from the wind. "Well, well. You are a lot stronger then I thought you'd be. That's makes this all the more amusing" Jaaku said with a twisted smirk.

"I'm not hear for your amusement. Its my duty to protect Konoha," Sakura hissed. She could tell that last attack of his cost him a lot of energy, yet he still seemed as vicious as ever.

"Do you seriously believe that you have such a pathetic destiny? You probably don't even know what you are capable of," he sneered. He reached down to retrieve his Katana that Sakura had previously removed from him. "You have much bigger things in you're future then this measly village."

"Who are you to question me," Sakura demanded. Sakura removed two Kunai from her pouch and held them like daggers. She ran at Jaaku and pierced him through the heart. Her eyes shot open in terror as she removed the blade that was completely void of any blood. Jaaku's hand snapped around her neck.

"Are you done?" Sakura struggled in his grip grasping for air. Her nails dug into the flesh of his arm but he didn't even flinch. Instead, he tossed her into the ground and hauled his Katana over head before brining it down to the ground. It narrowly missed Sakura's shoulder as she rolled out of the way, swinging her legs around to kick jaaku's out from under him.

As soon as his body hit the ground, Sakura's knee slammed into his chest, pinning him below her. When Jaaku began to struggle, Sakura's hands hit the ground on either side of his head and she flipped over on to her feet and spun around with a kunai in hand. Jaaku was on his feet as well also facing her with his Katana raised. His composure held no proof that she had over taken him.

"Would you just die already?" Sakura screamed as she lunged forward. She didn't even see his movements before she realized her back was three centimeters deep in the cement wall of a building. Pain shot up her spine as she peeled off the wall onto the ground.

"Die? How do you know I'm not already dead?" The question rang in Sakura's mind. Why hadn't that seemed like a possibility before? It should have been obvious when no blood came from his wounds. He was walking toward her and once he was close enough. Sakura's leg swung around. Before she could land a kick, however, Jaaku's scaly hand grasped her ankle. He spun around and released. Sakura flew through the air but managed to gain control and back flipped into a stance before rushing at his back. Jaaku's fist hit her gut and used her moment of weakness by grabbing a fist-full of pink locks and slamming her face to the ground.

Sakura felt blood gush from her nose, but blocked that thought from her mind. Her kunai slashed at the wrist restraining her hair. Jaaku pulled back releasing the tresses and Sakura pushed her hands into the ground and kicked up with one foot nailing him right in the chin, which sent him flying. Sakura whipped around and saw one of her own kunai flying towards her. It was inched from her face.

A sharp clanging noise rang in her ears.

Sakura opened her eyes, surprised that a kunai wasn't embedded in her forehead. She looked to her left and saw her kunai lying on the ground next to a senbon. Jaaku was looking in the direction from which the senbon had come from, his snake like eyes narrowed. Sakura stole a glance as well but saw nothing. However she felt something. It was like the night before.

Shaking her head, Sakura decided to attack while her opponent was distracted. She ran full speed like a blur, and by the time Jaaku spared her a glance he felt her fist slam into his cheek. She used her momentum to flip into the air, and just as she passed over head, she grabbed his shoulders and threw him over her. The strength she used was enough to break the wall he hit. As the debris cleared, Sakura could easily make out his trembling figure fighting to stand. She rushed him and began an assault of kicks and punches.

Jaaku, after being pummeled relentlessly, found an opening and took it. His leg extended and hit Sakura square in the chest. She fell backward into the road. A heavy force landed on her chest pinning her to the ground. She struggled to jet Jaaku's foot off but stopped when a Katana was thrust into her face, dangerously close to the tip of her nose. "They did a hell of a job with you," he bit. It was the first time that Jaaku 's calm broke. His eyes gazed down at her in irritation like a child who had enough of a game. "And you were supposed to be so great."

"I never boasted my abilities."

"You idiot. Don't you know anything?" Jaaku seethed. His shoulders pulsed with every aggravated breath. He was no longer relaxed like he had been for most he fight. It was as though he was finally taking their fight seriously. "when the time comes, you will die. I wont wait for another!" he shouted. "I have waited long enou…"

Jaaku was cut short by a sheriken that had sunk into his back. "Hey! Leave Sakura-Chan alone!" Naruto's familiar voice yelled out. Jaaku turned around and Sakura looked over his shoulder to see the blond ANBU standing next to the third member of their childhood team. Around the Uchiha's finger was another sheriken. It was poised for another attack. The two disappeared and Jaaku felt himself throw off the kounichi below him. Sasuke and Naruto stood next to Sakura, arms crossed. Sakura could tell, even through the masks, that her teammates were smirking in satisfaction.

"I could have handled him," she pouted, crossing her arms. She could feel Sasuke's eye roll. "Don't give me that Uchiha, I was doing fine up till you guys showed up," she said pointing accusingly at Sasuke. Naruto waved his hands in front of his face defensively.

"Sakura-Chan we aren't doubting you!" He assured. "Well, Sasuke probably is," he mumbled as an after thought. "I bet I could take out hat creep in a minute," Naruto said proudly. Sasuke scoffed.

"You would need a minute." Cold response. How very Sasuke. Sakura groaned loudly. Leave it to those two to turned her unnecessary rescue into a competition. They would never grow up, no matter how much older they were.

"You know guys," she started, her voice dull and bored like that of Shikamaru's, "If you weren't fighting each other, you probably could have fought Jaaku. Too bad he got away," She added. Sarcasm dripped off her words. Naruto and Sasuke both glanced at the empty space that Jaaku once stood in and Sasuke silently cursed. Naruto, however, was not so silent.

Throwing his mask to the ground, Naruto began a chorus of swears. He was halted in his babbling by a poof of smoke that appeared right beside him causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on…"

"Liar!" both Sakura and Naruto shouted. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and smirked under the cloth that hid his face.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So let me get this straight, he just disappeared once you two showed up?" Tsunade asked incredulously. Her disbelieving stare passed from Sakura's face, to Sasuke's face, then Naruto's face. "Well?"

"That about sums it up," Sakura confirmed. Her teeth nipped at her long thumb nail. She did this whenever she was deep in thought. "Something just seemed so off about our fight. He had a few chances to finish me, but it was like Jaaku was testing me," She thought out loud. Sasuke's eyes shifted to her covertly. He noticed her confusion, much like his own.

In Sasuke's mind he wondered why a demon would test Sakura. She was strong, thanks to Tsunade's training, but besides that there was nothing special about her. She came from no notable clan and she didn't have any extraordinary blood limit. His charcoal glare set back on Tsunade who stared back at the three man team. Kakashi stood behind them having nothing to add to the report.

"As soon as the "Jaaku" demon guy left, the others did to?" Naruto asked. His bright blue eyes were closed in concentration as he rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger. "That means he was the leader, right?"

"You just realized that," Sasuke asked sarcastically. "He was also the one who initiated the attack on Konoha. Were you even paying attention dope?"

"Stop fighting, this isn't helping. We need to figure out what the hell they wanted here. All we can guess is that they were looking for something," Tsunade sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples. The last thing she wanted to deal with was a growing headache.

"Maybe they were looking for someone, not something," Sasuke interjected. This gained a few curious glances from everyone in the room.

"What makes you think that?" Naruto questioned.

"Sakura, you said that it felt like you were being tested?"

"Well yeah but, what does that have to do with anything?"

"That's a little odd don't you think?"

"Ho hum."

Sasuke ignored Sakura's indignity. "I think they found what they were looking for. That doesn't explain why they left without her though," Sasuke said.

"Whoa, what? You think they were after me?" Sakura asked. Her eyes were wide in disbelief. "That makes no sense. What would a group of demons want with me? Besides, they left me here. Maybe they just thought I was who they were looking for and realized they were wrong," she pointed out.

"That is a possibility, but I don't know if we should take that risk," Tsunade said. She eyed the three then shot a look at Kakashi. She knew better then to believe that he had shown up after the whole fight. He had probably been watching over them as back up. "You're all dismissed for now," she said waving them out of her office. Team seven turned to leave but Tsunade stopped Kakashi. "Not you."

Once the three younger shinobe left the room Tsunade motioned for Kakashi to take a seat. He did as he was ordered. "So, what's your take on the situation. I know you arrived before either Sasuke or Naruto and I want to know what you saw." Tsunade was quite, serious now.

"I think Sasuke was right about Sakura being the target. Jaaku spoke of her destiny. He said something about not wanting to wait till the next one." Kakashi laced is fingers together and put his hands behind his back.

"What aren't you telling me Hatake? I know when you're holding out on me." Tsunade nearly growled the last part. Kakashi's visible eye closed as he sighed.

"Ask the fourth." with that cryptic message, he was gone, like always.

"Jackass," Tsunade muttered. Her amber gaze shot to the smiling picture of the fourth Hokage. "What are you smiling at, he probably learned that from you!" she snapped. Tsunade stood up and walked over to the wall were Yondaime's picture hung.

"What do you know about Haruno Sakura that makes demons so interested in her?" She asked. Of course she received no answer. "You knew something was going to happen! Why is it a secret? You could have at least left some sort of clue," she screamed. The picture only smiled back. "How am I supposed to help my student if I don't even know what's going on?" she asked slamming her fist into the wall next to the picture frame. The force knocked it right off the wall and it broke on impact with the floor.

"Damn it," Tsunade cursed. She bent down and began to gather the broken bits of glass, but something caught her eye. Beneath the photo was a manila folder a name printed clearly across the top. "Hashinaka Sakura; Haruno Sakura".

"What the hell?" Tsunade wondered aloud. She opened the folder, ignoring the broken frame on the ground. As she read the contents of the folder, her eyes grew wide with shock. "Shit."

O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/N: Well that's a wrap fro chapter four. This was the first fight scene I've ever written so I hope it came out alright. Please tell me what you think. Later.