Tsuki-chan: Oohhh, I feel like shit. Well, I managed to update a month later! Thank you to everyone who read this fic and reviewed. MUAH, I LOVE REVIEWS!
I DON'T OWN NARUTO!
"How long has it been since I last stepped onto the ground of Konoha?" a amber eyed woman mused, watching the village from on top of the village walls.
"Did you miss it?" another woman with short black hair asked, standing beside the first speaker with her hands full with the luggage. The amber eye lady chuckled, crossing her arms. A wind blew by and her blonde hair was swept to the side along with it.
"Shizune, I missed it as far as I can throw it." She answered.
"Well knowing your strength, Tsunade-sama, that must be pretty far." Shizune answered with a grin. Beside her, Tonton seemed to nod, agreeing with the words spoken by her.
"Oh shush, c'mon, we should hurry and greet the old man already." Tsunade said crouching down to jump off the wall. "Might as well since we're in the area."
"Tsunade-sama, you never told me why you wanted to come back to Konoha all of a sudden." Shizune asked as the two jumped off the wall. Tonton sat safely on one of the bags Shizune was carrying.
"Hm? I didn't?" Tsunade said. "It's because I'm here to meet a certain someone that I've heard rumors about."
"A-A-Achoo!" Sakura sneezed loudly. She sniffed, rubbing her nose. "Someone must be talking about me."
"Why are you looking at me?" Saku asked defensively when she felt her older sister's eyes watching her carefully. "I don't spread gossip around!"
"You don't, but Ino-chan does. Have you told anything to her lately," Sakura asked in a low tone, "particularly things involving me and Itachi?"
"Uh… not really." Saku took a step back, not really liking the look in Sakura's eyes. They told her of unimaginable pain if she wasn't speaking the truth.
"Hm, I'll believing you," Saku sighed in relief, "for now that is."
"Whatever neechan, I really didn't tell Ino-chan anything. The pig's too busy eyeing Sasuke like a piece of meat." Saku said, sounding a bit miffed. "We haven't been able to talk a lot these past few days."
"I wonder," Sakura said in a sing-song voice. "Are you annoyed because Ino-chan is too busy staring at Sasuke-kun to talk to you, or is it because Ino-chan is eyeing Sasuke-kun?"
N-Neechan!" Saku yelled in embarrassment, her face bursting into flames at the implication of it all. "I don't like Sasuke-kun like that! We're just friends, FRIENDS I say!"
"Suure, that's what they all say before they get together." Sakura teased.
"Neechan, I'm-."
"Ah, we're here." Sakura said as the familiar bridge came into view. Naruto and Sasuke were already there, glaring at each other with such fierce intensity that Sakura swore that she saw electricity sparking between their eyes. "Uh…."
"Don't worry, they're always like that." Saku grumbled.
To Sakura's surprise, she saw Itachi watching the two with his eyes glimmering in amusement. He seemed to take no trouble into trying to stop them, but seemed to be enjoying the small entertainment.
"Sakura." Itachi said, the moment he sensed her presence nearby.
"Hey Itachi-kun." She said with a small wave.
"Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled joyously, running towards her in mach speed. Unfortunately, Sasuke stuck out his foot and Naruto ended up rolling towards Saku's feet.
"Naruto!" Saku yelled.
"T-TEME!" Naruto yelled, whirling around and pointing an accusing finger towards Sasuke's direction. "How dare you trip the future Hokage like that?"
"You tripped over your own feet," Sasuke replied. "Clumsy idiot, how do you expect to become Hokage if you don't have any balance?"
"Shut up, I'll become Hokage and when I do, I'm going to make sure that you stay a Gennin forever! We'll see how big you are when that day comes!" Saku winced at how loud Naruto was yelling.
Sasuke glared at him. "If that day comes!"
"Now, now, you two, let's get along." Sakura said, trying to placate the two.
"He started it!" the two yelled, pointing at each other.
"Did not!" they yelled again.
"We'll just leave this to you Saku-chan," Itachi said stepping away from the growling pair. They were starting to resemble of cats and dogs, ready to go at it in any second.
"Yeah, good luck." Sakura said, following Itachi's lead.
"Wait, Neechan, don't-."
POOF!
"-leave me here with these idiots." Saku mumbled the rest.
"Gaahhh, someday I'm going to kick your ass so hard that your grandchildren will be able to feel it!" Naruto yelled.
"Fat chance of that ever happening!" Sasuke yelled back. The two grabbed each other's collars, tugging at them violently.
"You know," Saku said observing the two. "If you look at it from here, it looks as if you two are trying to rip each other's clothes off and since your faces are so close together, it looks like you're trying to make out with each other."
…
"WHAT?" the two practically screamed. Sasuke pushed Naruto away, stumbling backwards to get away from him.
"Stay away from me, dobe!" Sasuke hissed.
"Likewise, teme!" Naruto yelled while running towards Saku. He grabbed her hands, looking at her with big watery blue eyes. "Saku-chan, how can you say such a thing about me, your future-husband?"
"WHO'S FUTURE HUSBAND?" she yelled, punching his head angrily.
"Ah, itaiiii!" he yelled, nursing the bump on his head.
Sasuke twitched; wanting to give into the urge to present Naruto with a bump of his own but refrained himself. 'That dobe,' he thought angrily. 'Why does he always have to go and say stupid things like that?'
"Yo," a monotonous voice called out from above them. Their eyes looked upward and saw Kakashi crouched down on a nearby gate with one hand raised, on the other hand was his usual favorite orange colored book. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost in the road of life."
"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura yelled.
Sakura sighed. "I'm glad we got away from all that. Sometimes Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun's fighting drive me up the wall. One minute, a person would think they're best friends, and the next, you'd think that they're mortal enemies. I wish they'd just pick a side and stick with it."
"Well, they're boys and will always be boys." Itachi said with a shrug. "They can't help but be competitive."
"What," Sakura said giving him a sly glance. "Are you saying that you're not a boy anymore?"
"Sakura," he said patiently before pinning her with a heated stare. She flushed at his gaze, remembering their mission at the Sound Village. "I'm a man, not a boy."
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the images that suddenly appeared in her mind. "And you never let me forget it," she grumbled, seeing Itachi chuckle at her small antics. Her eyes softened at the sight. It never ceased to amaze her how this timeline was so different compared to her own.
'But,' she thought glumly, 'how much did it change is the key question.'
"Are you alright, Sakura?" Itachi's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She mentally shook her head to clear her thoughts and gave Itachi a smile.
"Of course, I'm fine. Let's go already; Kakashi-senpai probably informed the three about the Chuunin Exams by now. We should go congratulate them." She said, walking back towards the bridge.
Itachi grabbed Sakura's hand to stop her from moving any further. "Koishii, we're supposed to go see Hokage-sama right now."
"Er… right," she said turning around. "I forgot, silly me."
She tightened her grasp on his hand and began to tug him towards the Hokage's office. He stared at her bag silently. 'Sakura's been acting strange lately. She always seem to be lost in her thoughts… does she know about me meeting the Akatsuki members? No, that's impossible, she was at home during that time, but with her level of skill it would have been easy to hide her presence.'
He absentmindedly nodded at whatever Sakura was talking about. Itachi unconsciously clenched his other hand into a fist tightly. 'It wouldn't matter, even if Sakura knows of Akatsuki, whatever decision I make, she can't change it.'
"Itachi-kun." Sakura suddenly murmured. Her voice dropped to a low whisper.
His eyes flickered. "Aa."
Their surroundings seemed to still as leaves began to swirl around them in a perilous dance. The air was tinged with chakra, but there was no bloodlust. Still, the two didn't dare drop their guards.
A shadow appeared before them and the two jumped to the side, just as the figure landed on the ground. Sakura's eyes widened when the ground literally exploded, creating a crater where they once were. Clumsily, she landed on one side while Itachi landed on the other.
"You…" she whispered.
Needles began to fly towards them in high speed. Sakura's body began to move instinctively as her mind was still trying to digest what she had just seen. Her hand grabbed a kunai from her hoister and blocked the barrage of senbon that had been sent her way.
Itachi had done the same and his sharingan was now activated, watching and observing the enemy before them.
"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked in a breathless tone.
"I can't believe we were nominated for the Chuunin Exams!" Naruto yelled excitedly. Kakashi was no where to be seen, having escaped when Naruto looked as if he was going to hug him. "Can you two?"
"No, for the hundredth time, I can't believe we're taking the Chuunin Exams." Saku said, sounded a little exasperated. Sure, it had been fun the first few times Naruto asked, but not it was getting downright annoying. How many times did it until it was finally processed into his brain?
"Only a dobe will get excited about something as insignificant as this." Sasuke grunted. Naruto twitched, feeling a vein throb, before whirling and pointing a finger at Sasuke again.
"That's because you don't care about anything, teme! Hah, I bet that you're afraid that I'll show you up in the exam and Saku-chan will love me, kiss me, and-."
"I'M GOING TO DO WHAT?" she smacked him on the head again. "Why the hell will I kiss you?"
"Because you love me, Saku-chan." Naruto said with tear filled eyes.
"…I'm leaving." Saku grumbled, turning towards the direction that led to her house.
"Aw, c'mon Saku-chan, let's go celebrate at Ichiraku. "Leave teme to sulk on his own. Just because he doesn't care about the Chuunin Exams, doesn't mean he has to drag us down with him."
"If you haven't forgotten," Sasuke interjected. His voice was laced with annoyance. "There are also the Jounin and Anbu exams, this isn't as important as those other two."
Saku frowned. "But you can't take them if you aren't a Chuunin so you should also consider this exam important as well."
"HAH, in you face teme! Saku-chan is siding with me!" Naruto yelled, placing a hand around Sakura's shoulder. She smacked it off, yelling at how he should respect her personal space.
"This is stupid." Sasuke grumbled. He was about to turn and walk home when he saw a box nearby them with two circular holes. "What the-… hey dobe, your little cheerleaders are here."
"Huh, what?" Naruto turned and saw the box as well. He looked at it curiously before walking past it; the box turned and followed him. He turned towards the other direction and the box followed him again.
"Naruto," Saku said sounding exasperated as he continued to pace back and forth. "Stop playing around."
"I'm not playing around!" Naruto yelled glaring at the box as if it had done something wrong. "They're the ones playing around, thinking that they could fool an elite shinobi such as myself!"
"As expected from my arch rival," a muffled voice came from the box.
"Should have known that that's the only rival Naruto can get." Sasuke grumbled, just as the box glowed and exploded before them, covering up Naruto's indignant cry at Sasuke.
"Konohamaru Squad is here to take you down!" Konohamaru yelled with his friends Moegi and Udon by his side. Konohamaru pulled out a kunai and charged at Naruto. "Prepare yourself!"
Naruto yelped before dodging to the side. "Hey, those things are dangerous! You shouldn't wave them around as if they're a toy!"
"Don't underestimate me just because I'm younger that you!" Konohamaru said, waving the kunai around.
"Ah, Saku-san, is it true that you're Sakura-sama's younger sister?" Moegi asked with sparkling eyes.
"Uh… yeah."
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Saku-san is soooo lucky that you get to live with Sakura-sama. She's so cool and so strong and so pretty and so nice and so… so… so great! I want to be just like her when I grow older!" she squealed while Sakura sweat dropped.
"And Sasuke-san must be Itachi-sama's younger brother." Udon said, wiping his nose with the end of his sleeve.
"…don't start with me." Sasuke all but growled. Saku pushed Sasuke aside and smiled at Udon.
"Don't mind him, he's just being grouchy today… er… hey Sasuke-kun, where did Naruto and Konohamaru go?" she said, pointing at where the two had previously been.
"How should I know," Sasuke grumbled. "I'm not his keeper."
"Yup," Saku said noticing how Sasuke was growling at everything. "He's definitely moodier than usual today."
"AAHHHHHHH!" the scream sounded too familiar to Konohamaru's voice. Saku immediately ran after the source with Moegi and Udon trailing behind her. Sasuke watched the two of them disappear with a nonchalant gaze.
"That's a rude thing to say to your senior, kunoichi." A strict feminine voice snapped, almost angrily. Sakura flinched instinctively. Even though this was another timeline, her body seemed to react at the mere sound of this persons' voice.
"Ts-Tsunade-sama, please calm down." Another female voice pleaded the blonde haired lady who stood in the middle of the crater. Shizune jumped down from the trees, landing besides Tsunade. "Hokage-sama isn't going to be happy about what you did here."
"Aw, screw the old man! This girl is the reason why I came back to Konoha in the first place!" Tsunade said stiffly, never taking her eyes off of Sakura. Itachi suddenly appeared behind Sakura, his sharingan activated.
Sakura felt Itachi's presence behind her, but focused all her attention on Tsunade. The blonde haired lady's gaze turned to Itachi's for a split second before turning to Sakura. She could tell that the boy behind her was an Uchiha and from the way he was standing behind her, any damage on the pink haired kunoichi was going to result in pain.
"Ah, I'm sorry for our rude behavior." Shizune said, bowing lowly at Sakura and Itachi. "I guess I threw the senbon on instinct when I saw Tsunade-sama going on offensive mode."
"Tsunade… -sama?" Itachi echoed quietly. "One of the three legendary Sannins?"
"Who are you?"
"Uchiha Itachi." He said smoothly, unruffled that Tsunade wasn't even looking at him. Still the way Tsunade was looking at Sakura irked him.
"Ah, I've heard of you." Shizune exclaimed. "You're the heir to the Uchiha Clan and the boy who is said to be the prodigy of the prodigies! Gah, Tsunade-sama, I didn't know you wanted to meet someone like him!"
"What? No! I was looking for the girl, the girl!" Tsunade yelled.
"Oh, but why?" Shizune asked, turning her eyes to observe Sakura who stiffened. It was strange, having to reconstruct relationships with people she knew so well. Sasuke, Naruto, and the most of them were young so it was kind of like learning more about them, but she was meeting Tsunade and Shizune at the age she had met them in her original timeline!
Sakura almost reached up and touched her head.
It was starting to pound like crazy.
This was just too confusing.
"You!"
"Ah, yes sh-!" Sakura stopped just before she spouted the word shishou. Her heart started to thump in a loud manner that she swore Itachi could hear it. "Shopping, Itachi-kun, I need to go shopping!"
"What?" Itachi blinked.
"How dare you ignore your superior!" Tsunade yelled
"Ah, I'm sorry!" Sakura yelled, bowing. Even in this timeline, Tsunade was frightening when she was angry. "I er… got distracted because I… uh… remembered that M-Mikoto-chan wanted me to g-go shopping for her s-s-so that she could cook dinner tonight! R-Right, Itachi-kun?"
He stared at her emerald eyes, imploring him to go along with whatever she was up to. If Itachi wasn't so quick witted, he would have stared her dumbly. But, he was quick witted so…
"Yes, that's right. Okaasan wanted some fresh vegetables for dinner." Itachi said automatically. Sakura sighed in relief that she had Itachi to back her up.
"Hmph," Tsunade glared at the two of them suspiciously.
"Uh," Sakura felt herself shrinking under Tsunade's gaze. "Wh-Why were you looking for me, Tsunade-shi-er-sama?"
"I wanted to confirm something." She said slowly, taking in the cooling atmosphere. Even though no one was no longer fighting, the tension seemed to have sky rocketed up to astronomical figures.
"Er… yes?" oh, Sakura wanted to smack herself at how dumb she sounded!
"Is it true?" Tsunade asked slowly, almost as if she wasn't able to believe that she was asking this question.
"Is what true?" Sakura wanted to crawl behind Itachi, no better yet, she wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out.
Tsunade's hands clenched into fists as she finally asked her question. "Is it true that you have super strength, similar to mine?"
'…OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!!'
"Ah, Naruto, Konohamaru!" Saku yelled.
She had turned the corner, expecting that Konohamaru had accidentally stabbed himself with the kunai or something. She really hadn't expected to see Naruto sprawled on the ground, struggling to get up, and Konohamaru being held up in the air by a boy holding onto Konohamaru's collar.
"Sa-Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Get out of here!"
"What's going on?" she demanded.
"Konohamaru-kun!" Moegi cried out, standing behind Saku in fear. Udon looked at the older shinobi nervously, afraid of what was going to happen next.
"Wha-What are we going to do?" he mumbled. "Those two over there looked real strong."
Of course, Saku definitely didn't miss the girl behind the boy who was chocking Konohamaru. The dark blonde haired girl was watching everything occurring before her in faint annoyance and… was that a hint of fear?
"Kankuro," she practically barked at him. "Stop playing around and drop the kid already, we didn't come here to start trouble."
"But this brat started it Temari." The one now revealed as Kankuro said, trying to appear to be the victim. He was doing a pitiful job though, especially since he was still holding Konohamaru in the air and he also had that sneer on his face.
"Naruto," Saku said slowly, "what happened here?"
"I was just running away from Konohamaru when Konohamaru accidentally bumped into this guy. I don't know what his problem is, but he got angry just because of a small little bump!" Naruto said, finally getting up.
"Why are you on the floor?" she asked confused.
"I don't know!" Naruto yelled. "I was charging after that guy to save Konohamaru when suddenly I tripped over something."
Saku's eyes immediately went towards the ground. She didn't see anything, so what made Naruto trip. Wires? No, then they would still be visible… unless…
"Saku-chan, guess what makes Sunagakure so notorious?" Sakura asked, sitting next to Saku as they took their break from training.
"Er… all the sand makes a great defense?"
"No, I meant the shinobis."
"I don't know," Saku said, looking at Sakura, anxiously wanting to know the answer. Since she was a brainy person, it was known that Saku tried to inhale information like oxygen.
"They have this great long distance technique where it involves puppets and chakra!"
"Puppets?" Saku repeated.
"Yeah, they use chakra strings to manipulate the body of the puppet and use it as a long-range attack. It's really useful and when a person masters it, they can be very deadly." Sakura said with a fond smile on her face. It looked as if she was remembering something or someone special. (AN: It's not Kankuro or Sasori.)
"That's really cool!" Saku said in awe.
"Yeah, so if you ever see a shinobi of Suna, be careful because he or she could be a puppeteer!"
"Puppets…" she mumbled.
"What did you say?" Kankuro started, almost in an angered, shocked way.
"I-."
"What are you doing Kankuro?" Saku stiffened as her ears caught the sound of slithering sand along with the low husky tone. There shouldn't be sand in Konoha. Well, that is, there shouldn't be sand outside the training fields of Konoha.
"Ah." She turned to look at Naruto when he spoke and found that he was staring at a nearby tree. Slowly, almost in fear, Saku looked where Naruto was staring at and found deadly sea-green eyes watching them in a predatory manner.
Tsuki-chan: Cliff-hangerrr!!!
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