Disclaimer- Naruto is the property of Kishimoto.

4

Akira and Sasuke faced each other on the training ground. It was supposed to be a harmless sparring match but the glares they were exchanging conveyed something else. The cold steely eyes of the former rivaled the burning dark gaze of the latter. The tension was palpable.

"Oh boy!" Naruto grimaced as they rushed towards each other. "Why does it always go this way with this bastard? Does he even understand the meaning of a friendly spar?"

The two ninja clashed into each other and the sound of kunai rang in the air. In a flurry of speed, they looked for every possible opening like a hawk, trying desperately to injure the other one. Sasuke, as usual, was flawless. His skill was something to marvel at; however, what was more marvelous was the fact that Akira was able to match his every single blow. If he was not better than Sasuke, then he wasn't inferior either. The wind swished around them and the ground buzzed with energy. In a matter of seconds, the ground was littered with kunai and shutriken.

Sakura watched them with annoyance. The way they were going at it, it was obvious that they would have few really ugly wounds after this and being the medic there, she would be doomed to heal them- their bodies that is; unfortunately she couldn't do anything about their gigantic egos. Troublesome. Just as Shikamaru would drawl.

It was sweet, Sasuke thought with a glint in his eyes. He could feel the surge of adrenaline through his veins. After a long time, he had had the opportunity to fight with this skilled an opponent. He smirked when he parried another kunai coming in his direction. He flipped in the air and with a sideways attack aimed his leg at his adversary's neck, the other ninja swerved cleanly and with blinding speed appeared behind Sasuke, giving him a painful blow on his back. Sasuke skidded to a distance. He looked back to see the trace of a smile on his opponent's face. He is not getting away with this. He grounded his teeth as he stood up from his landing on the ground. Until then they had used taijutsu and projectiles. It was time to up this match a notch. He would show him what suits his face: a million scratches should do perfectly. With a speed difficult to follow with untrained eyes, he wove the seals and brought his fingers to his lips; a ball of fire erupted from his mouth and leapt towards Akira who seemed to be caught off guard with it but at the last moment jumped out of the range getting his clothes singed in the process.

On the periphery, the watching duo tensed.

Sasuke was enjoying this, though. The heat and scent of fire inspired a new spirit inside him. So he thougth he could compete with me. He smirked and promptly charged at the opponent with his chokuto unsheathed, electricity cackled around him when out of nowhere the ground rose, and engulfed him. A quick motion of his hands, however, and the sword sliced through his stony prison. He broke out into the open only to have blades of winds rushing towards him. They passed through his body with a "poof" and a log appeared where Sasuke should have been. The sword-wielder appeared behind Akira, his chokuto trailing a line of red across his back. Another gust of wind blew, and the Akira standing in front of him melted into thin air. Sasuke looked around: the ground was empty. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensations around him- the dirt on the ground, the flow of the wind, the quiet rhythmic rustling of leaves, the coolness of temperature and the smell of morning, dust and…flowers? Suddenly, the wind was tumultuous and the quiet was severed with the sound of approaching weapons. The Uchiha opened his eyes to find a barrage of flowers swarming on him. For a minute, he stood there dumbfounded. What kind of ridiculous move is that? His eyes narrowed in confusion and then abruptly widened when he realised that these were no ordinary petals; they were rigid and sharp. The wasted minute was all it took for some of the petals to pierce his skin; whatever doubt he had about those flowers vanished and the realisation was more tangible now. It wouldn't work on him, though. His chokuto seemed to come alive in the moment and under five minutes all the petals were on the ground cut neatly into half.

"I must admit you are excellent with your sword," came Akira's voice from his left. He was walking towards him as if they were in his living room. "It has been an hour. We should stop now. I wouldn't want to drain you of your chakra." He smirked with a raised eyebrow. Sasuke narrowed his eyes but refrained from expressing anything else; his two teammates were already approaching them.

"You fought well, Akira. Let me check you for injuries." Sakura smiled at the other ninja. She is healing him before me! He watched as Sakura pulled him from the ground and laughed at something he said. Behind her, Naruto was shaking with laughter. "So, flowers, huh? Flowers, teme? Hahaha. That was a nice one, Akira. What was it, anyway?" The whiskered ninja asked him while brushing his tears of mirth.
"Kamikaze no jutsu. Every natural object animate or inanimate possesses a certain amount of chakra. I merely utilise that chakra giving it a direction and intensity. That's what I did with flowers. I have been waiting to try this one for a while." Akira added with a wink.

Naruto's brows were creased. "You use Nature's chakra!? How did you do that so effortlessly? I trained with the toad sages but I can't do that."

"My chakra is in sync with Nature's chakra, Naruto. That is one of the specialties of my village. We are born with this. You can say this is our kekkai genkai."

"Woah! You mean everyone from your village can do that?" The self-proclaimed future Hokage's eyes were wide with surprise. He, clearly, had a lot to learn about the land which was going to be his responsibility in coming years.

"Uh…it's not that easy. The chakra of nature is enormous but it comes with its pitfalls. If you are not able to control it properly, it can destroy you. It can overwhelm you and make you insane. This is why we have a very small number of ninja from our village." Akira replied.

"There: as good as new." Sasuke heard Sakura talking to the worthless ninja boasting about his capabilities. Stupid.

Throwing a dirty look towards the male ninja, he stepped forward to have his injuries healed. He haughtily offered his arm to Sakura and waited for her to heal it, and waited…and waited…and with growing confusion waited some more. The kunoichi, however, just stood there as if mulling over something.

"Sakura." He reminded her impatiently.

She looked at him and took his arm, checking for the worst one as she mended it quickly.

"There, Sasuke. I have healed the worst ones." She said without any emotion in her voice. Gone was the merry tone she had while talking to that man who was rapidly losing his worth as a human being, now. "If you wish, you can go over to the hospital and get yourself healed completely. I have something more important to tend to."With that suggestion she turned and left the ground. There was silence and at that moment Sasuke found it really hard to keep his face impassive. Blood was pounding in his ears but there was something else at the pit of his heart that he hadn't felt since a long time. It was like a part of his heart had disappeared leaving something hollow in its wake.

"What the…" Sasuke heard Naruto sputter. The next moment he was facing his teammate. "Okay, Sasuke, spill it now. What did you do to irk her?" he tapped his foot impatiently.

Sasuke kept his mouth shut. It was not the dobe's business. Besides, he was still grasping what she had just done. "The hell with it!" He heard him exclaim and run off after Sakura.

"I think I should leave. I would look forward to another spar Uchiha-san." The man who was the root of all problems said from his side after a minute of silence. Obviously, he was ignored. Sasuke stood his ground contemplating the futility of everything. Sakura was cold to him, Naruto was annoyed - not that he would ever accept the very idea of getting concerned over these facts - but the fact that he was, couldn't be ignored. Naruto would come round but what would he do with Sakura. Was she really that angry that she refused to heal him properly? With an annoyed mental roll of eyes he reminded himself that she had done just that. Sasuke knew her. It was not in her nature to not heal her friends or to leave it unfinished. What should be the next step, then?

"Uchiha-san?"

And what on earth was this dork still doing here.

"Right." He heard him declare after another minute. "Maybe you should learn etiquettes, Uchiha. It would be beneficial in the far and near future. Maybe I could teach you some." The dark haired man finally turned his cold gaze at the jerk insulting him.

"And It would be beneficial for you to stay away from me…and Sakura." He answered with venom dripping from his voice.

"Why?" A crooked smile played on Akira's lips, his eyes glinting with jocularity. "Are you envious, Uchiha?"

The said Uchiha merely glared at him; instead of throwing words, he could always throw punches, kunai, shuriken and the likes on him. He was about to ponder over this matter further when he felt a familiar chakra signature and his already short temper lost more of its length that day. It was that emotionless, pretentious, infuriating replacement of Sasuke.

Sai appeared in front of the two ninja. "Uchiha, Hashimoto-san." He greeted with that fake smile of his. "I was under the impression that you two were with Sakura and Naruto. Can you inform me of their whereabouts?"

Sasuke turned his glare on him in response. Akira shook his head. "They just left, Sai."

"Well, then." He replied, unperturbed. "Hokage-sama wants you two in her office right now." He was about to leave but then his gaze wandered over to Sasuke who seemed to be more sulky than usual to him, so much so that being a part of Team 7, Sai deemed it his duty and felt obliged to clear his mood.

"Why do you have your knickers in a twist, Uchiha? You have bruises all over. Did you fight with somebody?" He asked with what he imagined a friendly grin and which came out as anything but friendly. At least, to Sasuke.

The man in question looked irritably at him and decided that his quota for today was quite full. Forming hand seals, he disappeared from there, leaving a mildly confused Sai in his wake who turned to Akira.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"I think he didn't quite like the knickers imagery, Sai." Akira tried to point out helpfully, the effect however, was ruined as the stupid grin didn't budge from his face.

"I see. I read it in a book, though. I think I will have to cross-check the appropriate situation, again." He said with his ever-present fake smile . "You heard the Hokage's orders. You should leave if you don't want a table thrown on your face." He instructed with absolute solemnity and left as suddenly as he had appeared. Akira stared at the place where the two men were standing as he mused over the normalcy status of Konoha ninjas and with a shrug finally left the ground.

…

Sasuke found himself in the crowded Hokage's office fifteen minutes later. Hyuuga Neji was standing next to him and then, Sakura and Naruto who were chuckling for some unknown reason. He had bumped into the two of them outside the door. Naruto had looked at him suspiciously before approaching him with clenched fists and a determined gait. Sakura, however, had stopped him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. Now, both of them were standing there apparently unable to stop their giggles. Pathetic.

Tsunade cleared her throat and everybody snapped to attention. "This meeting is highly classified…," she started, " and none of you are allowed to talk about this anywhere except the designated places. You all know about the threat looming over Konoha. We get these threats quite often and at first we had thought that this was one of those. However," she took a long breath, "this time...it is serious. We have reasons to suspect that somebody from the inside is mixed up with the coup."

There were startled breaths in the room.

"We…" She resumed just as the window opened and in came Kakashi. Sasuke snorted along with Sakura and Naruto. Of course. It's a wonder he arrived during the meeting and not after it."Nice of you to join us Kakashi." The woman behind the desk looked almost murderous.

"I…uh…was with Ibiki. The masked ninja casually walked over to where his teammates were standing.

"Right…" the Hokage started again. "The village has been threatened from the inside and by somebody from the upper echelons." She waited to let the information sink in. "It's time for you to be a loyal shinobi and eliminate those elements which are threatening to destroy the peace and stability of your village, no matter what or who they are. You have been assigned team - leaders who have been informed of the situation. They will inform you as they see fit. Shizune will give you the scroll which has all the details. I wish you the best and expect the same from you." The Hokage finished as Shizune distributed the scrolls. Sasuke looked down on his own. He was on Kurenai's team with Tenten and Hinata. Great!

"Sakura, Inuzuka and Hashimoto, you are on my team. Follow me."He heard Kakashi calling them. Just great!

…

Sakura was on the reconnaissance team which was to scout the forest for the enemy hide-outs. They were one of the teams probing and securing the forest against the probable attack. Being the team-leader, Kakashi had decided that they would run towards the east border where they had first detected the signs of altercation. The journey was smooth and they didn't meet any ninja except their own.

"I don't detect any alien scent here. There's just forest." Kiba said with a frown after few hours.

"And I don't hear anything out of the ordinary." kakashi expressed his own thoughts. "This doesn't bode well." She heard the uneasiness in his voice and for her that didn't bode well. Seeing a disconcerted Kakashi can never be a good sign. The panic she had been suppressing threatened to spill out.

"It is miniscule but I do feel certain variations in chakra. The scale is small so I can't say whether it is nature's or not; however, it seems just too sharp to be natural. I am guessing it's honed and thus belongs to a seasoned shinobi. Somebody powerful."Akira informed from beside her. The words were ominous but there was information. She could do something with that.

"Do you think it's a genjutsu? Is that the reason we can't detect anything?" She asked Kakashi who removed his Konoha headband from his left eye and promptly halted.

"If it is, then it's extremely complicated and layered." He said, his voice steady but his eyes observant.

"Kai." With an exchange of glances, all of them called together. The air around them shifted but they could still feel the threads trapping them.

"What does this mean? Is this a ploy to detain us here? Or do they really have an important base here?" Kiba asked in an annoyed voice. He wasn't good at illusionary techniques and being trapped in one was making him restless.

"We will remove this step by step. Instead of focusing on the entire area, we will focus on the point in front of us. Remember that a layered genjutsu is like a web, and we have to perforate it." Kakashi instructed calmly folding his fingers in the necessary seals and the result was instantaneous. Sakura could feel the chakra drilling the invisible haze around them. They did it again and their attempts were effective. The presence of a sharingan didn't hurt as well. She smiled through the tension. Situations can be difficult but as long as her team is there, they would always triumph. With a burst of chakra, the genjutsu surrounding their immediate area was dispelled. She opened her eyes and the scene was more real now, more alive.

"Well! What is it, then?" Kiba's gruff voice came from her side. "I still don't smell or hear anything quite distinct."

"Nor do I sense anything much different in the chakra pattern." Akira said, confused.

It was Kakashi who spoke, "It was a distraction. Kiba was right. This was a ploy to keep us away from somewhere for as long as possible," his voice tense in the forbidding silence that suddenly seemed to engulf them.

"Which way, then? Ahead or back to the village?" Sakura articulated the dilemma forming in everybody's mind.

Before they could decide, however, there was a flutter of wings and a huge bird of ink descended right in front of them revealing a disheveled Sai, his fake smile conspicuously absent.

"Hatake-san. The village is under attack. We need to get back, now." They were too stunned to react to the urgency in his voice for a moment, and when the words registered in their minds there was no moment to waste. Sai drew two more birds and they were flying back to the village as fast as they could.

"Sai, what is happening?" Sakura shouted through the wind whipping against her.

"We were attacked a few hours after you left. Shino, Neji and I were reconnoitering inside the village when the first wave came from the east. Nobody was ready. The people in charge of assembling the forces were still working. Many of us were and still are in the forest. I sent my ink messages to every team but there was no response."

"A large area of forest is under a genjutsu. We had just managed to dispel the one covering our area when you landed." Sakura replied.

Sai nodded his head in understanding. "It explains things. I have been hovering over the forest since last hour but I couldn't see anyone. You are the first team to be found."

"I don't understand! The attack was to happen after four damned weeks," Kiba hollered from the back.

"It's obvious. They found out that we knew about the coup. What they had in their favour was the element of surprise. So, they decided to use it now." Kakashi was the one to reply this time. "Do we know the leader?"

"Not yet. The attack was so sudden that there was no time for anything and nobody had come to take the responsibility of the attack. We had to concentrate our forces in defense. Lee and others were rescuing the civilians when I was leaving. It has been hours, though." Sai finished as they neared the village. They could see Konoha engulfed in flames; the cries of battle were echoing in the air. Sai surveyed the village from above before swooping down on the main gate. All of them jumped down to join their comrades.

Sakura immediately ran to the hospital acutely aware that it would need all the hands they could manage. The path wasn't easy, though. The village was under attack from all three sides. Destruction was evident and so was death. Blood and mutilated body parts were scattered on the main road. She shuddered to think of her friends. There were people fighting on every nook and corner. The village had been breached, she suddenly realised! But, how? The entrance is still intact. With a shock she remembered the conversation she had heard days ago. Somebody from the village was involved or, perhaps, even leading the attack. She quickened her steps but had to stop when a ninja jumped in front of her. Her eyes widened when she realised that the man was wearing the uniform of Root. Her heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be! For a disorienting moment, she thought that he was there to give her some information but the stance of the man standing there clarified his intentions. She prepared herself to fight when somebody else attacked her from behind. With a grace possible only after years of training, she flipped to the side only to tackle another ninja clad in Root's dress. They were cornering her! She didn't want to think of the implications of this premeditated attack, and she had no time if she wanted to live. Two clones of Sakura appeared, all of them whipping out a kunai and jumping on the nearest ninja in a flash. A fierce battle ensued. They were no match for her immense strength but they were quicker. Sakura formed a scalpel and charged. She had her own tricks of choice. They would know not to underestimate a medical ninja. Her eyes flashed as she felt it touch her opponent's abdomen. Promptly, he fell on his knees. With another precise movement, she severed the nerves on his neck. One down, two to go. She turned around just in time to feel one of her clones poofing out of existence as pain seared through her back. The momentary unbalance was all the other ninja needed as he slashed his sword across her arms. Her chakra gathered in her fist as anger coursed though her veins. The next moment there was a loud crunch as a huge hole appeared in the wall next to her and the ninja was no where to be seen. Too weak. She thought with contempt. Cracking her knuckles she turned around to deal with her last enemy when the ground parted and a jaw-cracking blow connected with her chin. The air filled with an ear-shattering noise as Sakura went flying into the shop across the road and the tart metallic taste of blood overwhelmed her senses. She raised her head to see a huge silhouette with a gigantic hammer. The dust settled to reveal a hulky man clad in an iron helmet. The chakra cover surrounding her head receded back and she felt the damage already settling in. There were no broken parts but the pain was blinding. It was imperative to heal her wound immediately but with the danger literally looming in front of her, she couldn't afford to do that. Supporting her weight on wobbly legs, she stood up; her survival instinct banishing every other concern to the margins. All that training for all these years was for this very moment. And now when the hour of glory was here, she wouldn't fall down. With a grim determination of self-assurance, she charged upon her opponents.

"Shannaro!" Her retort, it seemed, was unexpected for they couldn't dodge the punch that was aimed for them. The larger man was flung on the earlier ninja, crushing him to a battered pulp. The former, however, shook his head vigorously and stood up glaring at the kunoichi who had just shattered his ribs. Sakura braced herself for another blow of that hammer. They ran towards each other and just when they were about to collide, a limp body came flying from the other direction and clashed with the armour-clad man. Astounded with the abrupt interruption, she checked around to look for an ally. There was none. The casualty of a vicious battle waging nearby, then. She must finish this fight quickly or there would be another. If they actually wanted to capture her, then she must not engage in any battle for now and if she gets caught in it, then be prepared which she wasn't at the moment. She pulled out her shurikens and threw it on the offending ninja. The next moment, she frowned with confusion when a huge volley of a myriad of weapons joined her measly number of projectiles. A shadow leapt over her to stand in between the two fighters. Her white shirt stained with blood and with bruises on her arms, Tenten grinned back at her.

"Hey there, Sakura! Need some help?" She called while summoning a ridiculously big axe out of her scroll. With dexterous movement of hands, she hurled it on the other ninja who was yet to speak a word. The axe soared through the air, the male ninja positioned his own hammer and the two weapons met with a deafening bang. Sakura huffed when she saw that the man was still standing with his hammer which was skewed now but the axe was lost in the rubble somewhere.

"Damn!" She heard Tenten exclaim dramatically. "I knew I should have summoned the bigger one. Never mind, now." A grin formed on the other kunoichi's face at the antics of her friend. This was what she liked about her. Tenten would keep pulling out weapons after weapons and would not stop until her antagonist was something akin to pulp. She could definitely like that. With renewed vigour, Sakura stepped forward and joined Tenten. Her friends were with her. There was no chance that she would lose this fight.

"Cha!"

...

A/N: So, here is another chapter. I hope you like it, and I really wish that you could spare a minute after reading the story and leave a review. It won't be that hard, I assure you. It really puts one off to see so many views and just a couple of reviews.

Thanks Mine83 and LazuliLAnime25 for leaving reviews. They mean so much to me. :)

As for the question, Sasuke is obviously jealous of Akira. Naruto, on the other hand, is just protective of his precious Sakura-chan. Someday, he would wake up and realise that she has grown up now but till then, there's Naruto Uzumaki for you.

I will be looking forward to your reviews.

Cynthia