Hey everybody! I believe this is the chapter you've been waiting for. I know, you're all like, "Yes! Finally a fight scene!" Well, there you have it. Thank you so much for the reviews! I am deeply grateful. Please keep them coming! Anyways, I'll stop talking now. Woo hoo chapter 7!!

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Chapter 7: Realization

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"Sasuke…"

At this point two things happened at once. 1) Kakashi and Naruto caught up with Sakura and saw Sasuke. 2) Five sound nin jumped out of the surrounding trees and attacked them. (I know what you're thinking: OH CRAP.

"Naruto, move!" Kakashi shouted.

Naruto jumped to the side. Kakashi managed to grab Sakura and pull her away just barely missing a blur of kunai that came at them. He dragged her over to the side of the house. She collapsed against the wall.

"He's in there. It's him," she said dazedly.

"Sakura, listen to me. Sakura!" Kakashi said sternly.

She looked up at him with a blank stare and nodded numbly.

"Listen, Sakura, did you see the girl in there?"

She blinked and nodded again.

"You have to get her out of there, no matter what, understand? Get her out and hide her behind the house. Fast."

"O-okay," she stuttered.

Kakashi closed his eyes and turned around. He pulled up his hitai-ate and opened both of his eyes. He sighed.

"Why do I have a feeling this isn't going to end well?" he said quietly and ran towards the front of the house.

Sakura watched him go and stood up. She brushed her pink hair out of her eyes and set off in the opposite direction with a new look of determination on her face.

'Of course Kakashi-sensei's right, as usual. I have to put Sasuke out of my mind and focus on the mission. I just wish that wasn't so hard.'

She hurried around to the back door and opened it silently. She came to a hallway with doors on either side. She looked down the hall and saw the little girl standing about three feet away from Sasuke and the old man's body. Luckily his back was towards her and he didn't seem to notice her…yet. He hadn't moved an inch.

She silently crept toward the child and put a hand over her mouth. The girl struggled for a second, but upon seeing who her savior was, she immediately stopped. Sakura took her hand away and motioned for the girl to go out the back door. She nodded and started to move. Sakura followed.

But she didn't even get one step before he got behind her. She felt cold steel press against her neck. She froze in fear.

'No, this can't be happening. No,no,no.'

Tears formed in her eyes. She tried to blink them back, but they streamed down her face instead. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Shinobi rule 25, don't show your emotions," Sasuke whispered in her ear. "Emotions are a weakness. Crying is a weakness. Love is a weakness."

That was it. That was all it took to make her realize. He didn't love her and he never would. His only concern was for killing his stupid brother. She was of no concern to him. He probably could kill her right now. No, he probably would kill her right now. She waited for the pain that would end it.

"Sasuke-teme! I'll kill you if you hurt Sakura!"

Naruto charged through the front door and threw some shuriken at Sasuke who moved his katana away from Sakura's throat to block them.

"Go Sakura!" Naruto shouted.

She didn't need to be told twice. She opened her eyes and ran down the hallway picking up the little girl as she went who had been standing a little ways away from her and was just as afraid as she was. She heard the clash of metal on metal as she ran out the door. Naruto was definitely a knucklehead, but he had his moments. She took a quick look around to be sure no one was there and put the child down next to her. She knelt down to the girl's eye level.

"Hey there, I'm Sakura. What's your name?" she said sweetly.

"My n-name i-is Akari," the little girl stuttered.

"That's a pretty name. Listen Akari, I need you to come with me."

Akari nodded silently and followed Sakura to a cluster of bushes behind the house.

"You have to stay here until I come back for you, okay?" Sakura said.

"Okay," Akari said quietly while crouching down behind the bushes.

"Everything is going to be just fine," Sakura added and ran around the house to the front.

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Meanwhile….

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"Why do I have a feeling this isn't going to end well?" Kakashi muttered and left Sakura.

He sprinted to the front of the house to find his other former student. Naruto was surrounded by all five sound ninja. They seemed to be squaring off. No one took notice of him. Kakashi knew Naruto could take care of himself, but he was outnumbered by five ninja of at least chunnin status.

'Don't underestimate them, Naruto.'

Nobody moved for a few more seconds.

'I have to find a way to give Naruto the upper hand. Maybe if I can provide a distraction…'

He body-flickered to a tree behind Naruto and threw a kunai at one of the sound Shinobi, hitting him in the chest and successfully killing him. The other ninja looked around at their teammate, or upwards at the surrounding trees, trying to discern where the attack was coming from… which gave Naruto his chance.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" he shouted and charged at the unprepared Sound nin.

It was over in a matter of seconds. Kakashi jumped out of the tree and landed next to Naruto.

"Where's Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"I told her to get the girl," Kakashi replied.

"She's in the house? With Sasuke?" Naruto said with disbelief on his face.

Before Kakashi had time to reply, Naruto took off towards the front door.

"Naruto, no!" Kakashi yelled, but he didn't hear him.

The first thing Naruto saw when he ran through the door was Sasuke, who was about to kill Sakura, who was crying. His heart skipped a beat.

"Sasuke-teme! I'll kill you if you hurt Sakura!"

He took some shuriken out of his holster and threw them at Sasuke. Sasuke blocked them with his katana, freeing Sakura.

"Go Sakura!" Naruto shouted.

And she did. She ran down the hallway and out the back door, taking the girl with her. Sasuke lowered his katana to the side and looked at Naruto with an amused expression. They stared at each other for a minute.

"You're going to kill me, huh?" he said tauntingly. "Do it then."

That pushed Naruto over the edge. He got into a fighting stance. He started to gather chakra in his palm for the rasengan. Sasuke didn't move at all. He knew he could easily evade the attack. Naruto charged.

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared in front of Naruto and held out a hand to keep him back. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Move out of the way, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said angrily.

"No, Naruto, I won't. If I do, he'll kill you."

Sasuke smirked.

"That's funny; I was under the impression that Naruto was going to be the one doing the killing."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"But I can see that's obviously not going to happen. He just doesn't have the heart for it."

Naruto growled.

"If you're saying that you do have the heart for it, you can kill without even thinking, that isn't something that I would be proud of. If that's who you are, then you're no worse than Itachi," Naruto said triumphantly.

Sasuke gripped his katana tighter and gave his old teammate a murderous glare.

"You're going to regret that, Naruto."

At that moment something happened that no one could have predicted.

"No. He won't regret it."

Sakura appeared next to Sasuke and punched him hard, instantly knocking him out. Sasuke slammed into the wall from the force of it and slumped to the floor. Naruto's mouth dropped open. Kakashi just sighed with relief.

"Sakura you just-," Naruto started, but he didn't finish his sentence.

Sakura sighed.

"I know, Naruto, I know."

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Dun, dun, dun! Sakura knocks out Sasuke. It can't get much better than that. But the real question is, what is Sasuke's point of view in all this? You'll find out in the next chapter. Sadly, school starts in like a week, so I don't know when I'll be able to update next. Just try to be patient with me. Hope you liked it and please review!

-kakashifangrl1012