The Turning Point

The morning of the mission to the Land Of Waves, Sakura was dressed and all packed ready to leave for the village gates. Stopping off at the hospital the afternoon before Sakura, visited Tsuande and informed her about the mission. Tsunade had provided her with gauze, ointment, herbs and pills which Sakura had packed in the front pocket of her bag.

"I know the mission is C-ranked but it's always better to be safe than sorry. I want you to be careful Sakura; you're brand new at this medical training so don't over exert yourself. Conserve your chakra where needed. If possible, rise early tomorrow and train for at least an hour before leaving. Remember that as my student I have a great deal of faith in you. Don't let me down"

"Hai Tsunade-sama, I'll do my very best to make you proud!"

Sakura had obeyed her sensei's request and trained an hour before going back home and getting ready to leave. Her chakra flow was constant due to basic stamina training, that way if Team 7 were attacked early on in the mission she would be able to draw on a constant source of chakra instead of wasting her time trying to gather it in battle.

"Sakura honey, have you got everything?" Sakura's mother Keiko Hurano asked as her daughter entered the living room.

"Yes okaasan you don't need to worry about me and you didn't need to get up this early just to see me off" Sakura replied looking at her mother with concern.

"It's alright sweetheart I didn't sleep well last night anyway" Keiko replied sadly before busying herself in the kitchen.

"Otousan left for a mission didn't he?" Sakura asked quietly.

Mrs Hurano nodded before stirring the pot on the stove. "Yes, Sakura he did. We're supposed to be retired but the village is short on skilled ninja. He left around midnight"

Sakura swallowed hard, fearing the answer to her next question.

"Rank?"

The whole room fell into a deathly silence and by the time her mother answered Sakura already knew.

Putting the spoon down Keiko turned to her only child.

"A. It was an A ranked mission" she said tearfully before embracing her pink haired daughter.

Sakura bit her bottom lip nervously as she hugged her mother. These so called 'one off' missions were becoming more and more frequent. It was almost as if her father wasn't retired. "

With both of you gone I don't know what I'll do" Sakura could feel her shirt become wet with her mother's tears.

"Don't worry, Father will return home safely and so will I. After all I'm only going on a C-rank mission and will be home in a couple of days" Sakura said reassuring her mother.

But truthfully she wasn't so sure, but she had to be strong. Her father was growing to be an old man, too old for A ranked missions at least and Sakura feared for his safety as much as her mother did.

"I'll see you two days from now. Take care and say hello to Father for me when he gets back" Sakura said before waving goodbye and closing the front door of her house.

Walking towards the village gates Sakura inhaled deeply, somewhat glad for the silence and time to think.

"Hn"

Sakura turned to her right to see Sasuke casually walking next to her with his hands in his pockets. Quickly she pasted on a fake smile.

"Good morning to you too Sasuke-kun" she said, her tone teasing at the mono syllable greeting. Sasuke simply glanced at her before smirking.

"SAKURA-CHAN, TEME WAIT UP!"

The voice of the knuckle headed ninja Naruto echoed around the sleepy village, racing up to join Sasuke and Sakura. The genin members of Team 7 headed for the gates of Konoha. As Sasuke and Naruto struck up their usual Dobe/Teme argument Sakura tried to take her mind off the possibility that she could return from the Land Of Waves to a funeral.

"YEAHHHH! ALRIGHT!" Naruto yelled at the top of his voice.

Not a minute after they exited the village the hyperactive ninja was at it again.

"What are you getting so excited about Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"This is the first time I've ever left the village! I'm a traveller now believe it!" The blonde boy then proceeded to dart around like he'd just eaten too much sugar, annoying the bridge builder Tazuna.

"Hey am I supposed to trust my life to this runt he's a joke!" Tazuna complained.

Naruto immediately froze and Sakura rolled her eyes. This guy really liked to push Naruto's buttons but the problem was Team 7 had to deal with him.

Kakashi chuckled "He's with me and I'm a Jounin so you don't need to worry"

Sakura watched as Naruto stood motionless, she turned to Sasuke who glared at Tazuna echoing her thoughts.

Why'd we have to get this old geezer to guard? I'm going to cut him down a size right now! Naruto thought angrily before turning around and letting the bridge builder have it.

"HEY! Never insult a ninja it's a big mistake and I'm the greatest ninja ever! Someday I'm going to be a Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it!" The blonde boy yelled.

"Hokage are powerful and wise, you are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage I'll sprout wings and fly" Tazuna said and took another sip from his faithful bottle of alcohol.

Naruto was beyond frustrated. "ARGH! SHUT UP! I'M WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO BECOME HOKAGE NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES! AND WHEN I DO EVERYONE WILL HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I'M THE TOP NINJA INCLUDING YOU!"

The bridge builder smirked and looked at the loudmouth ninja. "Hmph. You can become Hokage ten times over and to me you'll still be nobody, a loser"

Kakashi sighed and once again reached for Naruto's collar. "I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT RIGHT NOW! HEY LET GO OF ME!"

Tightening his grip on the blonde ninja, the Jounin tugged him back "I told you you're supposed to protect the client not attack him"

Tazuna walked straight passed Naruto and with that the mission had begun.

Unbeknownst to Team 7, two ninja concealed in the trees were paying very close attention to all that was going on and especially close attention to the alcoholic bridge builder. Naruto took the lead and walked a meter in front of everyone; Sakura suspected he was trying to prove himself to the bridge builder who seemed to loathe his existence. She and Sasuke walked on the right side of Tazuna and Kakashi on the left.

Sakura, to take her mind off more pressing matters, decided to voice a question she'd been thinking about since they started the mission.

"Kakashi-sensei, are there any ninja within the Land of Waves?"

"No there are no ninja in the Land Of Waves. But in other countries there are hidden villages with their own customs and cultures where ninja reside" Kakashi replied and Sakura nodded.

"To the people of this content the existence of shinobi villages means strength. Military strength. In other words that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power with neighbouring countries. The ninja villages are not controlled by any government, they're independent and have equal status" Kakashi explained.

"So how does the Land of Waves protect itself without ninja?" Sasuke asked joining the conversation.

"A small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there is no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess shinobi villages are the lands of Fire, Water, Lightning and Earth. They each occupy vast territories, together they're known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations" Kakashi replied.

"The birthplace of the five types of elemental chakra right?" Sakura spoke up remember what Tsunade had said. Kakashi smiled at her through his mask.

"Right you are. The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves, The Land of Water: The Village Hidden in the Mist, The Land of Lightning: The Village Hidden in the Clouds, The Land of Wind: The Village Hidden in the Sand and finally The Land of Earth: The Village Hidden in the Stones. Only the leaders of these Hidden Villages are permitted the name Kage which means shadow. These are the leaders, the five shadows who reign over thousands of ninja" Kakashi said finishing his lesson.

"That means Lord Hokage is really important!" Sakura exclaimed but Inner Sakura wasn't having any of it. "Hmm is that old man really such a big deal? I'm not buying it!"

I got him with my sexy jutsu, he can't be that great. Believe it! Naruto thought.

Hn the Hokage's not as great as Kakashi makes him out to be, Sasuke mused as he recalled the argument between Naruto and The Third.

"Hey! You all just doubted Lord Hokage didn't you? That's what you were thinking" Kakashi snapped at his team.

Shaking her head vigorously along with the rest of her teammates, Sakura had to wonder if Kakashi could read minds.

"Well anyway, there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission. So you can relax" Kakashi said and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

"That means we shouldn't run into any foreign enemy ninja either" Sakura concluded a little nervously.

Kakashi chuckled at the pink haired girl's nerves and failed to see the strange look that passed over Tazuna's face at the mention of foreign ninja.

"Not likely Sakura" Kakashi said and they continued on their way. As they progressed through the forest Sakura had her eyes on the ground when she saw it.

"A puddle? But it hasn't rained it weeks…"

Making a split second decision Sakura grabbed her kunai. "SHOW YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!"

Naruto jumped three feet in the air and Sasuke's eyes widened at her outburst.

"Well well, clever little girl you are but I'm afraid you just cost your sensei his life!"

Sakura turned around quickly and watched as two ninja rose up out of the puddle. Kakashi was taken completely by surprise as chains shot out from the large metal gauntlets on each of their hands and wrapped around his body constricting him. Wising up to what was going on Sasuke drew out a kunai but Naruto simply stood their staring at Kakashi.

"The Demon Brothers!" The silver haired man exclaimed, barely able to breathe Kakashi tried to get free but said brothers pulled the chains tighter.

"Well look at that Gozu, he knows who we are" One of the brothers said.

The other ninja smirked "He's not the first Meizu. Ready? PULL!"

Together the brothers pulled the chains and tore Kakashi into pieces effectively destroying him.

"K-KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled out as Sakura and Sasuke looked on in fear.

Without their sensei what were they supposed to do? The brothers wasted no time in moving onto their next target, Naruto, who Sakura realised had frozen due to fear or shock. They readied their chains and prepared to do the same thing to Naruto as they did to Kakashi.

"MOVE NARUTO MOVE!" Sakura screamed at him but no avail.

Sasuke however decided to take matters into his own hands and flew into the air. Using a shuriken and a kunai he trapped the brother's chain against a tree.

"I can't get loose" Gozu said to Meizu as they tried in vain to pull the chain out from the tree. Landing on top of their gauntlets much to the shock of Naruto, Sasuke simply smirked.

"That's the idea" he replied before kicking both ninja in the face.

Unfortunately the chain snapped from the gauntlet allowing the Demon Brothers to break free, one went for Naruto and the other went for Tazuna who Sakura was standing a few meters away from. Sasuke knew there was no way he could make it to both to help them in time, he just hoped Sakura had the sense to do something unlike Naruto.

I've got to stop him! I have to protect Tazuna!

Sakura immediately put her body between the bridge builder and the chain wielding ninja.

As he got closer Sakura realised she was probably going to die, after all she only had a kunai to defend herself and she couldn't leave Tazuna unprotected. Surprisingly Sakura didn't feel the chains digging into her flesh but instead she found the ninja was reaching around her to get to the bridge builder.

As Gozu got closer and closer to grabbing Tazuna he made one fatal mistake. His free hand uncovered by the gauntlet made contact with Sakura's behind and it was all over. It was the lightest of touches but she felt it, Sakura stiffened and her eye began to twitch.

"HE TOUCHED OUR BUTT! HE TOUCHED OUR BUTT! DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT? HE TOUCHED OUR BUTT! THAT'S IT BUDDY YOU'RE BEYOND DEAD!" Inner Sakura roared and took over. Sakura's leg twitched and the terrified expression on her face was replaced with a psychotic look.

"PERVERT I'LL TEACH YOU TO KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!"

"Wait, what?"

WHAM!

Gozu was sent flying as Sakura aimed a hefty kick at his face; suddenly Kakashi appeared and caught the beaten up Demon Brothers in a head lock

"Hi there" he said nonchalantly.

Sensei is alive after all! Sakura thought and was very glad to see the silver haired man unharmed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the dramatic entrance that, in his opinion, was clearly uncalled for.

Naruto on the other hand stared at the Jounin completely perplexed; turning his head to the spot where the Demon Brothers had caught Kakashi off guard he noticed the familiar pile of logs. "What? He used the Replacement Jutsu again?"

With his grip firmly around both ninja's throats the copycat ninja turned to his loudmouth student who was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away. I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that" Kakashi said.

Sakura watched as the words tumbled out of Kakashi's mouth and embedded themselves in Naruto's sub conscious. Although she knew he was doing his best to be gentle Sakura couldn't help but frown at Kakashi's condescension.

Tazuna exhaled a sigh of relief. So they saved me after all,he thought as he watched Kakashi approach dragging the two attacking ninja with him.

"Nice job Sasuke, very smooth" Sakura glanced at Sasuke who smirked and nodded at the compliment. "You too Sakura, nice kick by the way"

At this Sakura gave a discreet half smile, fully aware of the intense gaze Naruto had fixed on the group. She could only assume that her blonde teammate was berating himself for not being of more use during the fight.

Naruto shifted his gaze from the group to Sasuke who smirked as if on cue.

"Hey Naruto"

"Y-yeah?"

"You're not hurt are you? Scaredy cat"

Sakura watched the rage bubble within Naruto and shot Sasuke a disapproving glance which he met with a faint look of surprise before rolling his eyes and completely ignoring it.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled and went to charge at him but was stopped by Kakashi.

"Naruto! Stand still; these ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly. You'll have to open the wound and remove it; it's in your blood so don't move around that spreads the poison" Kakashi instructed.

Sakura looked up to see Naruto standing completely still looking petrified at the wound on his hand.

"By the way Mr Tazuna. We need to talk" Kakashi said fixing the bridge builder with an icy look.

Sasuke looked between his sensei and Tazuna in confusion. Taking this momentary diversion opportunity Sakura picked up her bag and slipped away to attend to the blonde boy.

Naruto could only stare as Sakura set her bag down and retrieved the medical book given to her by Tsuande, opening it to the page on poison removal she motioned for Naruto to sit and grabbed his hand gently. Reaching into her ninja pouch Sakura pulled out a kunai and looked up at the hyperactive ninja.

"W-what are you doing Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in a nervous voice.

"I'm going to need to make a small incision into your wound so I can remove the poison. You're going to feel a small amount of pain" Sakura said professionally as she made the slit in the flesh causing Naruto to hiss.

Meanwhile a few meters away Kakashi tied the final knot on the rope securing the Demon Brothers to a tree where they would wait to be arrested. Standing up he fixed Tazuna with a hard glare.

"They're Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Their specialty is relentless attack; they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice" Kakashi said.

At this the brothers looked at each other. "Seems like the girl wasn't the only one who knew about our ambush" they said.

Kakashi nodded "Sakura was sharp, she noticed the same key element that I did which gave you away. A puddle in the middle of the day when it hasn't rained for weeks"

It was Tazuna's turn to glare as he looked at the Jounin. "If you saw it too why did you leave the fighting to the Genin?"

"I could have taken them out quickly but then I'd have learnt nothing, I had to know who their target was, and what they were after" Kakashi said as if it were the simplest answer in the world.

Tazuna immediately suspicious turned to the silver haired man "Hm? What are you getting at?"

Sasuke was getting fed up; this man's inability to string together a sequence of events and create a conclusion was annoying him to no end.

"Hn you need to pay more attention. He obviously wanted to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja or if they were after you the master bridge builder."

Tazuna glared at the black haired boy with the attitude, who did he think he was anyway?

"Thank you Sasuke. Mr Tazuna, when you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down." Kakashi scrutinized.

At this Tazuna looked at the ground slightly ashamed, he could feel the disapproving glare of the Jounin and the heavy stare of the Uchiha kid on him.

"If we knew this it would be a B ranked mission or higher, our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we'd we fielding a task from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of B mission. Apparently you have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission" Kakashi declared.

Tazuna's ears went red as he received a severe talking to by the younger man. He couldn't have felt more ashamed of himself; he needed a bunch of children to fight for him. He should have just gathered the money somehow and enlisted the help of some ninja of a higher caliber.

"Hn, sensei we still have Naruto's wound to think about as well" Sasuke piped up and Kakashi looked at his student.

"Yes, you're right Sasuke that could become a problem later on. He needs medical attention" Kakashi said wearily.

Tazuna looked up, that blonde boy had been silent for a while now. Looking around he spied the boy a few meters away being tended to by the pink haired girl. Her hands were glowing green and the bridge builder decided to alert Kakashi to the situation.

"It seems the girl has got everything under control"

Kakashi and Sasuke quickly glanced over to where Naruto was and found their female team member healing the wound.

"What is she doing?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep the curiosity out of his voice. Kakashi smiled through his mask

"She's concentrating her chakra to her hands and releasing it in a constant flow; it's knitting together the skin and closing over the gash. She's mastered a complex but essential technique that requires precise chakra control" Kakashi explained, impressed but confused.

Sasuke nodded and his face reflected mundane disinterest but really he couldn't help but be slightly impressed. Upon finishing healing the wound Sakura reached for the gauze in her bag and began wrapping Naruto's hand in it.

"Thank you Sakura-chan! You're really good at that stuff believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, Sakura grinned and rolled her eyes playfully.

"That stuff is medical ninjutsu and takes a lot of work Naruto"

The blonde boy simply let out a chuckle and Sakura continued to wrap his hand. Sasuke noticed the exchange and glared at Naruto feeling an emotion completely foreign surge through his body. Brushing it off Sasuke followed Kakashi and Tazuna over to his teammates.

"Medical ninjutsu huh Sakura? I hope you won't think it rude of me but how did you learn such an advance technique without proper training?" Kakashi asked. The technique she used reminded had reminded him of his former female teammate Rin.

Mentally the pink haired girl rolled her eyes but plastered on a smile and held up the book Tsuande had given her.

"I learnt it from this book. I was at the library one day when I saw it; it looked interesting so I began reading it. I already have a strong chakra control so it was just a matter of concentrating it" she explained.

Tazuna looked at the girl. "She sure has some intelligence to be able to heal wounds by just reading a book"

Kakashi gave said book a once over before smiling and handing it back to Sakura who put it carefully in her bag along with the left over gauze.

"Well that's a very useful technique to have mastered and now Naruto's wound is no longer a major concern. However Mr Tazuna has lied to us and the ninja that attacked us were of a Chunin level sent by someone to hunt him down. This mission is now a B ranked or higher" Kakashi said gravely.

Sakura and Naruto looked at Tazuna who looked away.

"Now because we're a team we need to make a choice together. Chances are we're going to run into some very advanced ninja and you're just genin fresh from the academy. We need to vote on whether we head back to the village or continue on" Kakashi decided.

"Wow really advanced ninja? I'm not too sure even with the training Tsuande gave me that I'll be able to hold my own. But there is not going back now!" Sakura thought to herself.

"WE CAN'T GO BACK NOW! I WORKED SO HARD TO GET HERE AND THERE IS NO WAY I'M BACKING DOWN NOW! WE CAN HANDLE ANYTHING BELIEVE IT!" Back to his normal self Naruto yelled his opinion forcefully.

"Hn. The idiot is right. We should continue" Sasuke said receiving a glare from Naruto.

"Well that just leaves you Sakura" Kakashi said turning to the girl with cherry blossom hair.

Sasuke turned to look at her as well and predicted that she would insist on returning to the village given her weak combat abilities.

"As ninja it is our duty to help those in need no matter what the peril. Mr Tazuna shouldn't have lied to us but the fact that he did surely highlights how dire the situation must be in The Land of Waves" Sakura said in a determined voice.

The Uchiha avenger looked at Sakura with only what could be described as pride before nodding slowly in agreement. Naruto smiled and gave Sakura thumbs up. Tazuna gave a small smile at the sacrifice this petite girl and her entire team were willing to make for him.

"Couldn't have said it better myself Sakura" Kakashi murmured and it was settled. Team 7 and the bridge builder continued on their way.