Saturday, March 16th, 2013.

Hey, lovelies!

I plan to write a Sakura (or SasuSaku, or Team 7 friendship/family-ness) one-shot for her birthday on the 28th. Any ideas?

I got a DeviantArt. I can't draw for shit, so don't expect any artwork. I plan on posting my fanfiction there, too. (I'm EpicOtakuCherry)

I'm starting a Question of the Week thing like I did for DoOver, so if you scroll down to the bottom, you'll this week's question. I'll give you my own answer next time I update.

IF I RECIEVE 4-5 REVIEWS AT LEAST, FOR THIS CHAPTER, I'LL UPDATE AGAIN NEXT WEEK.

It's my Spring Break that week, so I should have time between cramming for projects, going to a friend's house, and an anime convention.

That's right. Anime convention.

It's my first, and I plan to go next Fri-Sun. Apparently, there's a local anime convention every year, and I only found out about it a while ago.

It's called Con-Nichiwa. If you live in the Tucson, Arizona, area, it's at the Palo Verde Holiday Inn, next Fri-Sun. Register for it by next Thursday.

So, yeah.

If it's any incentive for any of you guys to go, Steve Blum is going to be there. He plays Zabuza, Orochimaru, Spike from Cowboy Bepop, Guilmon from Digimon Tamers and other various digimon from any of the series, Wolverine from many Wolverine incarnations/shows, Leeron from Gurren Lagann, the robot host of Toonami, Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII, and Tank Dempsey from Call of Duty, etc.

Greg Ayres is going to be there, too. He plays Son Goku from Saiyuki, Kaworu from the Director's Cut of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Chrono from Chrono Crusade, Negi from Negima, Heihachi from Samurai 7, Satoshi from DN Angel, Pope Alessandro XVIII from Trinity Blood, etc.

Yeah...

Anyhoo, Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If you thought I did, we need to have a talk.

I think that's all I have for you guys. I don't feel like typing out the Dedication.

Chapter 6: Team 7 vs. The Demon Brothers

RECAP

"Bye, now!" The two brothers said unison, pulling their chains, crushing our teammate and sensei.

We all stood, frozen as a dark, warm, liquid splashed on our clothes.

END OF RECAP

Sakura POV

I raised my shaking hands to my face, looking at the dark, warm, slightly thick liquid that had stained parts of my face and my clothes. "Wh-what?"

No! No no no! They can't die! Not Sai! Not Kakashi-sensei! How am I going to break it to Gai-sensei? What am I supposed to tell Ino? How am I supposed to tell my best friend her crush died and I couldn't-didn't-do anything to stop it?! I already lost them, I can't lose her, too! I can't!

I don't know why I was freaking out. I shouldn't right? Th-they're f-fine, right?

"Sakura! Get down!" Sasuke's voice calmed me a little bit, and jarred me out of the fear-induced trance I was in, pushing Naruto and me down to the ground. Oh right…it's j-just us now.

However, I was shaken enough to not acknowledge, hardly notice that Sasuke was now on top of me, pressed against me. Protecting me.

However, I was in-tune with the outside world enough to notice Tazuna on the ground -I guess Sasuke pushed him down, too- a few feet behind us.

I also noticed, Naruto shaking in fear, just like before. That's it! Wh-what's our purpose here?

"Tazuna-san! Tazuna-san!" I said almost frantically.

The first time I was speaking to the man himself, to see if he was conscious or not. He was.

The second time, I was speaking to Sasuke and Naruto. "We have to protect Tazuna-san!"

I shook Naruto's shoulder vigorously, bringing him back into the outside world, as well to release this pent up energy panic has given me. I hope we didn't shake him too hard.

I'm sure Sasuke at least already knew that we had to protect Tazuna, but I was really saying this to remind myself that no matter what, we have a mission to complete and a man to protect. That's right...a mission. A mission.

The rest will have to wait until later.

"You brats are next!" The Brothers shouted in unison.

Now standing, -with Tazuna hidden in the trees and a genjutsu of mine so no one could see him- Sasuke, Naruto and I pulled out kunai and shuriken, in a fighting stance.

"Now, Naruto, take that side and make sure they don't get through to Tazuna. Sakura get behind me and-"

"No!" I said. "I'm part of the team, too! I'm fighting!"

"But-" I cut him off with a fierce look, and leaped to the side, charging the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu. I can't believe I forgot their names. That's unlike me!

"Hey, bozos!" I shouted, bringing their attention to me. I sighed inwardly. This plan is worthy to be one of Naruto's. If only I could concentrate long enough to think of a better plan….this'll have to do for now.

"You wanna be next, girlie?" The younger brother –I assume, though they're twins– said. "Gozu, (1)I'll take care of her, 'kay? You can have the others – maybe I can play with her after she's dead."(2)

I could tell Meizu (the one who spoke, and whom I think is younger) was grinning under his mask, and I suppressed his shiver. Creep alert.

The older brother, Gozu, rolled his eyes. "As long as you aren't too messy, Brother. I hate washing your bloody clothing."

Judging by Meizu's reaction -leaping at me excitedly like a blood-thirsty hound- I concluded Gozu was likely calmer and level-headed; the brains of the two. In contrast, Meizu was the brawn –well, they're both the strengths of the team, but Meizu may be more dedicated to it, I guess– and very violent, probably short-tempered.

Sure seems like it.

Shit! If I ended up with Gozu, I might have been able to outsmart him! I mean, he may be the smarter one, but I'm positive I'm smarter than him, and he isn't as physically…gifted as his brother! I'll have to use force on this guy…and this body isn't that strong.

I sneaked a look toward the boys.

I can only hope Sasuke and Naruto will do alright…well, even if I fought Gozu, I can't exactly think very straight right now….maybe it is good that I got Meizu instead.

I quickly moved to the side as Meizu ran towards me, grabbing the hand closest to me (thankfully the one without the claw connected to the chains) and twisting it harshly, making him cringe and wince harshly.

If I stick with close combat, he won't be able to use his chains. However, if I end up straying, the distance will allow him to use them. Better stick close.

As he was preoccupied with the sharp, temporary pain, I leaped up and did my best to land a roundhouse kick to his chest, nearly sending him to the ground, which was my intention.

However, it didn't work. Damn! This guy's built like a brick wall! I'll need to try harder…

"Not bad, girl. You were stronger than I thought. Now I'm even more excited to kill you!" He said, punching me hard, sending me into a nearby tree.

"I'm flattered," I said, unable to resist, despite the pain in my jaw.

Luckily, I was expecting the punch so I was able to keep myself from letting my teeth cut the inside of my mouth and cause it to swell.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though. At least it was the arm without the chain…that would've hurt WAY more.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted, almost getting hit by Gozu.

"I'm fine, Naruto! Concentrate on your fight!"

The next moments in the fight with Meizu were spent hitting, dodging, kicking, slicing, dodging again, punching, and finally, swinging. (Swinging the chain and its ball.)

I was exhausted, and I mentally yelled at myself for being so. My body isn't used to being pushed like this. I better finish this fast. Meizu seems to be getting a bit tired, too.

And it was true. He was panting and sweating and slower on his feet than before.

I took a glance over to Sasuke and Naruto's fight.

The two of them seemed to be doing well, without any major injuries, and Gozu seemed even more tired than his brother. Throughout their whole fight, Naruto seemed to be taunting him and pissing him off while fighting, distracting him while Sasuke attacked him repetitively.

Not bad, boys.

"Pay attention, girly!" Meizu's voice made me remember that I was in a fight as well. However, it was too late for me to counteract his violent punch to my stomach. With the arm connected to the chains.

Did I ever tell you it was clawed? With metal? Possibly iron?

So yeah.

It hurt.

LIKE A BITCH!

"Gaghk!" I coughed up blood.

"Warned ya," the slime whispered in my ear. He pulled me up by my hair and looked me up and down. I seriously need to cut my hair soon.

"Aw, too bad," he said. "If you were a little more developed, I might play with you a bit before killing you. Aw well. I'm not into kids anyway. Say goodbye, little girl!"

What a slimy bastard...*shiver*

Meizu was about to crush my head to the ground (using my hair for momentum) when I kicked him hard where a man really doesn't like to be kicked. At all. Well…I normally don't resort to that, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Did I mention I kicked him really hard? I mean he-may-never-have-children-hard.

Okay, maybe not that hard, but it was a damn good kick, nonetheless.

As Meizu was rolling around on the ground in [hilarious] agony and I stood on my feet, I snuck a glance to the boys.

Gozu and Naruto seemed to have turned blue, the two of them were not-so-discreetly cringing and crossing their legs. Sasuke's eye twitched, and he shivered. They had all paused their fight to watch for a moment.

I bet Gozu's glad he didn't fight me.

Soon, Meizu recovered. Well, more or less.

He was still limping a bit, and making sure I was no where near his crotch. Serves you right, you son of a bitch! CHA!

He charged me, furious. "Why you bitch!"

Time to end this.

Just before Meizu would've reached me, I jumped in the air, spun, and landed on his back, pressing a kunai to his throat.

"Don't move, or I'll kill you." I said darkly.

I didn't mean it though; I had no intention of killing. I may have done it before, as it's kind of unavoidable in a career of a shinobi, but that didn't mean I had to like it. I try to avoid it as much as possible.

"Not. So. Fast!" Meizu spit out from ground teeth, ramming me into a nearby tree by rushing backwards.

It knocked the breath out of me, as well as the kunai in my hand. He was turning around – to choke me with his clawed hand, I'm guessing – when I quickly kicked him in the neck, in an area that would almost crack his neck, but incapacitate him for sure. About time…

He fell like a sack of bricks to the ground, on his back with his eyes open.

I closed them, but checked his pulse while doing so. Good…still alive.

Panting from the fight, I looked over to the boys, seeing they had just finished their fight, too.

"Take that, asshole!" Naruto yelled to Gozu's unconscious body.

Sasuke started dragging the body over to Meizu's.

"What are you doing, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked, walking closer to me and Meizu.

"I plan to tie their bodies together, Dobe. Do you have rope Sakura? I'm sure The Idiot doesn't." Surprising, Naruto didn't respond to this comment.

"Sorry – I have chakra strings but not enough to tie the two of them together."

"I do." We all turned to the voice, the owner holding a coil of good ol' fashioned hemp rope. (3)

"Sai! Kakashi-sensei!" We all shouted together.

"Wha-wh-what the freaking fu- fudge sticks is going on here?" Naruto exclaimed, stuttering and falling back.

Sasuke stared in shock, frozen in his actions, dropping Meizu and Gozu's bodies back unto the ground harshly in the process.

Not that I'm complaining or anything. I really don't like those guys.

I ran to the two figures, however.

"Sai-kun!" I tackled him to the ground in a hug, the rope falling out of his hand. After a moment's hesitance, he hugged his arms around me as well.

Then I pulled away and slapped harshly Sai in the face.

"Don't. You. Ever. Do that to me again? Are. We. Clear?" I turned to Kakashi. "You too, mister."

The two nodded, Sai rubbing his very red cheek slowly and Kakashi taking a step away from me. Someone's scared~...

The slap mark looks so weird against Sai's skin.

"You knew I was okay, though, didn't you? Kakashi as well. Then why were you so worried?" Sai didn't ask this because he was being an asshole, but because he was genuinely confused. He tilted his head to the side, adding to the "befuddled" look.

He can be kind of adorable sometimes.

Naruto and Sasuke, as well as Kakashi, turned to me, waiting for my answer. I know Naruto's thinking about how I knew they were alright, given my reaction.

I could practically hear the gears turning in his head and see the steam exiting his ears.

I sighed. "Of course I knew you were alright. Sai would never die so easily and Kakashi's an ex-ANBU; there's better ways of going out than that. It's just…I expected ink to come from you, not blood, and I… panicked." I reverted my gaze to my floor. "Inwardly, I knew you were fine, but 'what ifs' were crowding my mind. The thought of losing my friend and sensei…scared me."

I looked back up when Sai's hand fell on my shoulder, and Kakashi's on my head in that affectionate, ruffling manor he used to do to Sasuke and Naruto.

I pushed back the urge to cry.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Sorry about scaring you like that Sakura. But good job on dealing with Meizu. I'm impressed."

I smiled at the compliment. I rarely got acknowledged like that from him until Naruto came back in the future. It feels nice.

"Sorry, U-…Sakura. I wanted to try and see if I could turn the ink red like blood. I didn't mean to scare you. Do you…forgive…me?" I looked up at Sai, who, in his eyes, was worried and begging for assurance.

I gave him a smile of reassurance. "I forgive you, Sai-kun. Just…don't give me a heart attack next time, alright?"

He looked stricken for moment, then calmed. I think he thought I was serious about the heart attack thing at first.

"Right." He said.

"Now that that's over, I believe we have some questions to ask," Sasuke said.

My expression hardened. I had almost forgotten…

"Yeah!" Naruto said.

"Care to explain," Kakashi said, turning to the man in question. He was just where we left him, against a tree. "Tazuna?"

He gulped.

(1): The Demon Brothers: Gozu; the older twin and calmer. Meizu; younger twin, very violent. I consulted Narutopedia a lot when writing them. Sometimes, I got confused and mixed the two up in writing the chapter. I had to edit this thing a lot to get it right.
(2): If you don't understand, when Meizu says "play", he means play with Sakura's body and touch it, possibly rape it after she's dead or is dying. Yeah. Creepy stuff, right?
(3): Look it up. I think of it to be the typical, thick, rope you see in movies and stuff.

So did you all like the chapter?

Let me know if I mixed up Gozu and Meizu again, if you notice it. I won't re-post the chapter, but I'd like to know.

I started a "Question-of-the-Week" thing in DoOver last week, so I'm going to do it here.

This week's question: (the questions for each story are going to be different)

"What's your favorite Naruto couple/pairing and why? Your personal OTP, even. (One True Pairing)."

I'll give you guys my answer when I update the next chapter, kay?

If I get 4-5 reviews, I'll update NEXT week, too! I have Spring Break that week, so I should be able to do it.
And since the week after is the week I update ReWind anyway, that'll be 3 update weeks in a row!

So remember!

AT LEAST 4-5 REVIEWS AND I'LL UPDATE NEXT WEEK!

AND SEND ME IDEAS FOR A SAKURA (or SasuSaku or Team 7 friendship) ONE-SHOT FOR HER BIRTHDAY ON THE 28TH!

Love,

Cherry