Thanks to:

animemusicnut

Black-footed

Sakuraloveblosom

music1462

Black Wolf Lady

Minato-kun Luver

Weasel-Scarecrow Luvrs

BlueSkyKite

~::~

"Well done, Sakura-chan. Though I never sensed you transporting; how did you do it?" Kaimei asked when Sakura got back to the stands.

Sakura reached inside her pocket and pulled out a single kunai. "See this?"

Umi looked at it curiously, "Yeah, we do. But what does it have to do with anything?"

Sakura smirked. She ran her fingers over the rough surface of the handle, and muttered something. A second later, a miniture cloud of smoke engulfed the knife and what previously seemed as a normal kunai, now had some foreign writing on it.

Kaimei inhaled sharply. "You used these? But how?"

Umi looked between her sensei and her pink-haired teammate, a confused look in her eyes.

Shiso sighed.

"Those are the famous Thunder God kunai of the Fourth Hokage himself. They were thought to have been destroyed. But, as you can see, Sakura still has them and has learned to use their power to her advantage."

Umi's jaw dropped.

"Well, shit."

~::~

Sakura watched the Kyuubi's match intently. It wasn't all that hard to pick out his flaws and strenghts.

His brain cells are... dead, to be honest. But his determination could rival that of Deidara's. Interesting character, isn't he?

Very interesting indeed. Interesting, but weak.. It seems that although his determination is strong, his only weapon is the Shadow Clone Technique. And it's not the quality of the clone...

It's the quantity.

And that never works, does it.

Nuh-uh.

~::~

Sakura watched the Sand-ninja's match with worry. He was strong in chakra, but weak in spirit – his strength came from the bloodlust Shukaku planted within him and it was steadily ruining his life.

The Primarily Lotus technique that Lee used on him should have killed him, but there he was, lying on a mattress of sand, his armour cracked.

Lee was in no better condition. Sakura overheard the boy's sensei say that the Lotus causes a great deal of damage to the body; ripped muscles, broken bones, shortened lifespan.

It's an almost suicidal technique.

But now, as she saw Gaara outstretch his hand once again, only one thought passed through her mind.

Uh-oh.

"Sand Cofin!"

"Agh!"

It was petrifying. Seeing Lee's right side get completely crushed.

Before anymore harm could be done, Maito Gai jumped onto the arena and stopped the match. The Sand ninja had won.

Before she registered what she was doing, Sakura jumped down and joined the five jounin who had gathered. They turned to her curiously, before Asuma, Ino's sensei, slid in front of Lee defensively.

She couldn't blame him, really. After seeing what she did to Ino, it was no wonder he was slightly wary of her.

Even though, she continued walking forward until she was no more than two meters away from Lee. She looked up at the jounin.

"I mean no harm."

None of them seemed convinced, so, with a sigh, Sakura concentrated chakra in the palm of her hand and pushed it away.

It was one thing she'd learned from Kakuzu; the ability to use the Mystical Palm Technique from a distance.

The jounin watched, half taken aback, half awestruck, as her chakra connected with Lee's chest.

"What are you doing to my student?" Gai croaked out.

Sakura regarded him with a cool gaze. "Assessing the damage that has been done to his body and recreating the internal tissue and regenerating the body cells."

"How do we know that you're telling the truth and not just worsening his condition?" Kakashi asked.

The pinkette snorted. "And what good would it do me? Ame is not at war with Konoha, so I am not obliged to inflict damage on every Konoha ninja who I come across. I am not as heartless as you may think."

Still, even though what Sakura said was perfectly logical, they couldn't help but have their doubts. After all, how can someone who was so rutheless on a battlefield a mere few minutes before not be a heartless killing machine?

She sighed. They were so damn stubborn!

"Fine." Sakura bit out. "Look at his left cheek. Do you see that wound?"

Kurenai nodded for them all. "Now, keep your gaze trained on that small cut and see what happens."

Without answering any of the questions they might have wanted to ask, Sakura moved the stream of chakra to Lee's bleeding cheek. Gai stiffened slightly when the chakra covered his student's mouth.

"Relax. Chakra is not a state of matter. It can't suffocate him." Sakura assured him. "Did you see the wound before?"

Five Nods.

"Look now."

One gasp.

Two pairs of widened eyes.

One incredulous stare.

One curious gaze.

The wound was gone.

Sakura turned to Gai. "I assume that you're his sensei."

Gai nodded.

"Then you're the one I will tell - I fear for the worst."

Tear-filled eyes.

"Without the most advanced medical attention, Lee will survive, but he won't be able to ever be a shinobi again. His right side is completely crushed. All his muscles are ripped and shredded. Multiple of his ribs are fructured or broken. You'd need a bloody miracle for all of this to heal and then properly function once again."

Five incredulous stares.

"I'm sorry."

With that, she walked away.

~::~

"And now, the final match: the last participant left, versus the genin who had the shortest win. Therefore, Shiso No Ame and Dosu Kinuta, come down for your match!"

"Yeah, go on Shi-kun! Kick that prick's ass!" Umi cheered.

Sakura looked at her teammate with a half smile. "Good luck, Shi-kun. Make us proud."

"Arigato, you guys. See ya in a few."

"Are you both ready?" Hayate asked for the final time.

"As ready as I will ever be." Dosu replied.

"Yeah."

"Then, let the twelveth and final match Begin!"