Disclaimer: I am pretty sure I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Yay, chapter 4! More action in upcoming chapters, I promise!

A figure stood in the branches of a tree; golden lights and shadows playing on her mask and surprisingly pink hair. It was sunrise, and adrenaline pounded in her veins. A sound cracked in her ear as one of her teammates spoke to her through radio.

"Target is approaching Captain."

"Prepares yourselves. Remember, this is a new jutsu I'm trying out, so if it doesn't work, we'll have to go in and take care of the job old school. Understood?"

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

"Hai!"

She could see it now. A frail old man in white clothes and a big hat flanked by two guards in masks. The Mizukage. This was their victim, the object of their mission. Lately, the Village Hidden in Mist had been threatening to attack Konoha, and the Mizukage was the cause of it all. Konoha needed him dead, but if the citizens of Mist learned he was assassinated by the Leaf, war would surely break out. This is where Sakura came in. She was the head of Konoha's elite ANBU assassination squad, and this was their mission.

She didn't want to do this. Yet another life, lost from the world of happiness and pain. She didn't want to do this, but it was either one person, or many. War was not an option.

She quickly performed several hand seals. Chakra seeped through her hands, forming two disks. They were entirely undetectable to the eye. Chakra control was her specialty, so creating a jutsu that utilizes little enough chakra to make it invisible was a synch.

Sakura tossed one of the disks like a shuriken, closely followed by the other. Both found their mark undetected, but nothing happened. Several minutes passed as the group of three proceeded through the forest. A voice cracked in her ear again, but this time of a teammate further down the path.

"Target is down."

A cry could be heard through the forest. "Mizukage! The Mizukage has had a heart attack!"

This was the beauty of her new her new jutsu. Undetectable, except to the Byakugan or Sharingan, it did not kill immediately. Instead, several minutes after impact, the victim's heart would simply stop. It would appear as if he died by natural causes. None would ever suspect foul play.

"Mission success. Let's go home team."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura lay flat on her back on the training grounds, panting heavily. Kunai were thrown every which way, the grounded was cracked, and blood dribbled from her hands. She trained every chance she got, always to make herself stronger, always so she could protect the ones she loved. Training always relaxed her, helping her to forget her troubles. But now, she felt sick to her stomach. She had killed. Again.

The first time she killed was at the final rounds of the Chunin exams. Her opponent was a haughty shinobi, and he was very powerful. The crowd roared, chanting his name as he stabbed her in the side, sending her flying.

"You just gonna sit there on your ass little girl? Or can I have some fun before I kill you?"

How dare he? How dare he underestimate her? Everyone always underestimated her, she even underestimated herself sometimes.

The shinobi lunged at her, kunai in hand. Sakura blocked his blow and punched him hard in the stomach. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a lump of wood behind. Suddenly, he appeared behind her, tossing several umbrellas into air. They exploded, sending a shower of needles, kunai, and shuriken raining down on her. Sakura did her best to dodge them, but could not escape one kunai, which lodged itself in her hand.

Shit. Now she couldn't perform hand seals. The shinobi appeared behind her, katana aimed straight for her heart. She had to act. Easily dodging the weapon, Sakura placed her hands on the ground and sent her legs kicking in either direction. The head of her opponent was instantly crushed between the force of her heels.

Sakura took several steps back in horror. The man's skull was crushed, fragments of brain and bone scattered here and there, blood splattered everywherw. The crowd silenced for a moment.

I've . . . I-I've KILLED him!

A deafening roar erupted from the audience, now chanting the name of the girl they had moments before cheered against.

"Ha-ru-no! Ha-ru-no! Ha-ru-no!"

How could they cheer for this? How? The thought struck her hard, and bile rose in her throat. She had KILLED someone. Sakura fell to her knees and vomited the contents of her stomach onto the floor.

"The winner of this match: Haruno Sakura."

She wretched again, but now her stomach had nothing to yeild.

"Oi Sakura, have you seen Lee?"

Sakura opened her eyes to see Tenten standing before her.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"We were supposed to go out for lunch, but I can't find him. I expected to see him here at the training grounds, but I guess you beat him to it."

"I guess I did."

"By the way, is it true about Naruto and Hinata? That they're getting married?"

"Yep."

"Poor Kiba. He must be devastated."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's resilient, and his got Akamaru to comfort him too."

"I hope so. Anyway, see you 'round Sakura!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura walked past the Ichiraku ramen stand, not in the least bit surprised to see Naruto there. Taking a seat beside him, she ordered a bowl herself.

"I guess you didn't like the barbeque last night, huh?"

"Oh, no I did! But I can get barbeque in my ramen here too! See!" he showed her his bowl of ramen. By his expression, he seemed quite proud of himself to have discovered a way to have his two favorites at once. By the looks of it, Naruto was already on his fourth bowl. Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. He just won't learn.

"Oi, Sakura-chan."

"Yea?"

"I know you don't want me to, but . . ."

"But what?"

"I'm gonna save Sasuke!" Sakura's smile faded, and she gave him a baka-I-told-you-not-to look. "Now I know what you're thinking, but I'm not gonna bring him back. I'll just help get Orochimaru out of his body, that's all."

"Orochimaru's not in his body." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Wha?"

"If Orochimaru did possess the sharingan, Konoha would lay in ruins by now. Besides," Sakura thought back to that dream she had, "I have a hunch."

Naruto smiled. He trusted her judgment entirely. Somehow, it seemed like she was always right about such things. Always. Like she's psychic or something.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura skipped happily through the streets. Tonight was the night her sister was coming home from her month-long reconnaissance mission. Bursting through the front door, she cried out as loudly and obnoxiously as she possibly could.

"ONEE-CHAAAAN!!"

Her sister was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching some cheesy chic flick with Neji. Oh God, poor Neji!

"SAKURA NEE-CHAAAAN!" She cried back, trying to out do Sakura's obnoxious yell.

Her sister leapt off the couch and Sakura pulled her into one of her infamous bear hugs.

"Good to see you again!"

"Same! Neji's gonna stay here for the night, k?"

"Fine, just don't keep my up with your noises again." The two giggled. Her sister was two years her senior, but she still found it strange that she was dating Neji of all people.

"Me and Neji have a mission early tomorrow morning, so we'll be leaving probably before you wake up."

"Again? Ugh, you're always gone! Some sister I have!"

That's how it always was. Gone. She was always off on missions, never home. After the death of her mother, she requested extra missions from Godaime. She said it was so that she could support the two of them, but that wasn't true. Sakura brought in enough money from her S-class missions and hospital work alone. But she could understand. Her sister wanted to stay out of the house as much as possible. It was a lonely house without their parents. The house brought her painful memories, and that's why she was always away on missions. Sakura felt it too. That's why most nights she trained herself so hard that she didn't have enough energy to drag her lifeless body home. That's why she slept outside most nights.

Sakura plopped herself on the couch next to Neji and her sister who were playing footsy and whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears. Ugh, don't make me vomit. She averted her eyes towards the tv screen to watch whatever piece-of-crap movie her sister had chosen to torture Neji with tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura found herself standing alone in the midst of a foggy night. The mist was so heavy she could barely see the hand in front of her face.

"You failed me Sakura." The medic turned around and found herself face to face with an old man in white robes, his flesh a sickly pale color.

"Why did you kill me? I didn't want to die." Sakura felt tears pushing against her eyes, but she held them in. The Mizukage.

"I'm sorry I –"

"You failed me Sakura." Sakura spun around, staring into the eyes of another man she had never met. He was handsome, with yellow hair and bangs and a look in his eyes that reminded her of Naruto. A chain was wrapped around hi body tying him to a ghostly figure behind him. The Death God.

"Please I'm so sorry but –"

"You failed me Sakura." Dead bodies began rising the earth. Bloody, sick. Thousands of faces surrounded her. Many of them belonged to strangers, people she had never met, others to ones she had loved dearly, some were the faces of enemies she herself had killed, and some were so mangled they were unrecognizable.

"You failed us Sakura." They closed in around her, the stench of rotting flesh filling her nostrils.

"You failed us Sakura. Now you must die." Dead hands tugged and pulled at her. Nails scratched her pulling chunks of flesh from her bones. The pain exploded in her limbs as she cried out into the mist.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura jolted upright in bed, covered in cold sweat. Not again. What do they want with me? She got up and tiptoed over to her sister's room. She opened the door just a crack to see her sister still sound asleep on the bed. It was strange. Her sister was two years older than her, yet she felt like the older one of the two.

Grabbing a coat, she snuck out into the cold of the night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi felt the bitter cold pierce his flesh, chilling him to the bone. But he was used to it. He made his way through the streets of the silent village, his nose stuck in his perverted book, towards the fallen heroes' memorial. But this time it wasn't to mourn.

He paused a good distance away from the stone and hid himself behind a tree. A solemn figure appeared by the stone, too far for him to make out. He found himself waking up every morning to watch this mourning figure. It came everyday, and everyday it kneeled down and whispered something inaudible before leaving. And for some reason, the white rose it left behind never seemed to whither. He found himself somehow fascinated with this lone figure in a way he couldn't explain.

"I can feel your heart beating over there Kakashi-sensei."

Shock struck him square in the eye. And Sakura's voice, no less. He approached the girl, stopping a few feet behind her. She was wearing a beige trench coat over her light green pajamas, her beautiful pink hair standing out sharply against the night. This is the girl I've been so fascinated with? My own student?

She knelt down, a green light emitting from her hand where she touched the now browned rose. The flower seemed to gain new life, turning white again. Satisfied with her accomplishment, Sakura stood up, her eyes never once leaving the stone.

"You know what my mother said to me while she was dying? She told me, 'Sakura, please don't let me die'." Silence descended on the two. Kakashi stared at her back, unsure of how to respond. She turned here head to face him, smiling a sad little smile.

"I can't let anyone die every again. That's my duty." Kakashi could only stare back at the shivering girl before him. A thought slipped into his mind, a question he had wanted to ask her for a long time.

"Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"That time when you were found outside the gate of Konoha, you wouldn't talk or eat for weeks. What happened to you?"

His question was answered by silence. She stood there for several moments, shivering against the cold, remembering something she didn't want to remember.

"I don't want to talk about it." With that she turned and headed for home, leaving a confused Kakashi behind staring at where she once stood.