Thank you for the reviews and for being patient :) I'm glad to see that some of you like Kaita. Honestly, I was worried about adding her in at first, but I plan on her having a very important role in the future chapters.

I'm also going to update my No Longer Weak, so those of you who have been asking about that, there ya go and I hope you'll enjoy reading it. :)

I'll try to update as soon as I can and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well :)

Chapter 12: Entering: Land of Snow

Sakura sat on the railing of the ship as the movie crew began to set up the cameras and worked on the actors' make up. Naruto sat down on the ground, grumbling about something or another. Kakashi leaned up against the railing, the same position he had been in all that morning. Sasuke was the third of the team to wake up, after Sakura and right before Naruto. The silent Uchiha chose to lean up against the railing, his arms folded across each other and resting on the wood as his eyes stayed on the long, pink hair flowing in the breeze.

Sasuke watched the female carefully as she sat on top of the rail, her jade eyes calm and a small smile on her lips. She didn't look to be in any pain and he doubted someone like her could lose their sanity in one day. Was she really alright or was she just covering it up so they wouldn't worry? Now that he thought about it, she never really needed comforting, never sought after it. She had only hugged him by her own choice that once after their battle with Zabuza and that was only because of him, not because she wanted the comfort. There was when Kakashi had held her when she cried, but she didn't ask for that either. She never shared any of her troubles with anyone. Didn't she trust them? Didn't she trust him?

At that moment, Sakura turned her head to look at him and gave him a gentle smile. Sasuke blinked out of his thoughts for a moment before smiling softly back at her. The kunoichi's gaze softened as she looked back at the woman they were supposed to be protecting as she began to act out a scene.

"That boy." Kaita whispered into her mind.

Sakura glanced back over to see the Uchiha looking out at the ocean, watching the calm waves pass by. "Sasuke?"

"Yes, I sense part of that man on him."

The kunoichi's eyes widened for a moment until returning calm and she looked back at the actors. "But how can you tell?"

"There are many things that I am aware of, Sakura. Just like you aren't originally from this time."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, though she shouldn't have been surprised. She was, after all, harboring a spirit inside her mind. "What you're sensing is the curse mark Orochimaru gave him. Sasuke's no threat."

"You say that now, child, but he has an evil deep inside him."

"Yeah." the pinkette replied solemnly, "I know."

Kaita didn't reply for a good while, leaving Sakura to watch the Princess' acting and the fact that she couldn't cry. The battle was so close to happening. They were so close to the Snow Country.

"There will be death soon."

"Yeah. Say, I have a question."

"What is it?" Kaita questioned, curiosity in her smooth tone, the first emotion Sakura had heard from her other than anger and pain.

"Why does your scythe spark with electricity at random moments?"

"That would be it's way of trying to get your attention."

Pink eyebrows furrowed a bit, her tone showing her own curiosity as she asked, "What for?"

"It wishes to be set free and be used."

"So its bored, huh?"

"To put it simply, yes."

'Great.' the kunoichi thought, tilting her head to the side and turning around so she looked out at the ocean, throwing her legs over the other side of the railing. As if sensing that her and the woman were speaking of it, the scythe pulsed in her wrist and sent out a small spark throughout her veins. The whole situation was odd. In less than a day, what had at first been a terrifying, screaming banshee, had turned into an interesting, beautiful woman. Sakura didn't want to say that she 'tamed' her, because the woman had a mind of her own and that seemed to disregard the respect the pinkette had grown to feel for the woman over the hours.

"I do not like that boy."

Sakura let out a sigh as she narrowed her eyes and frowned at the ocean. "I can tell, but if you're going to search through my memories like I know you're doing, then could you at least look at the ones from this time too?"

"Very well."

The kunoichi let out another sigh, slumping her shoulders over in defeat. Did Kakashi have to deal with this when it came to his dogs? Sakura doubted Naruto had a bunch of toads searching through his mind. It made her feel sort of violated and she was exactly sure how Kaita managed to do what she was doing. Could spirits look through memories and give a person their own? She didn't think that was possible.

"What's the matter, Sakura?" the copy ninja next to her asked, not looking up from his book.

"She's rummaging through my head." she grumbled out, bringing up a knee to set her foot on the railing and wrapping her arms around it. She placed her chin on her knee as she watched a small wave hit up against the side of the ship.

"Causing trouble?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Not really." she replied, glancing over to meet her sensei's gaze. "Just finding out all of my secrets."

Kakashi blinked at her for a moment before turning to look back down at his book. "I see." he replied, knowing that she was referring to the fact that she wasn't from that time.

"Sakura has secrets?" Naruto asked, joining in on the conversation.

Sakura tilted her head to the side to look down at him. "Well, I am a girl. Its only natural that I keep secrets."

"Ohh." he keened, sitting up straight and smiling brightly up at her. "Can I know?"

"No." she frowned, and then stuck her tongue out at him playfully, grinning. "That's why they're called 'secrets'."

Naruto let out a snort as he closed his eyes and turned his head. "I didn't want to hear your girly secrets anyway, especially not if you were gonna tell me who you like."

The kunoichi let out a soft laugh. "I thought you already knew who it was."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, listening to the interaction between his two teammates curiously. "That's right." the blonde exclaimed, looking back up at the kunoichi. "And the only reason why he doesn't know is because he's so dense." The dark haired male narrowed his eyes at the male before letting out a sigh and looking over at the copy nin.

"Is this mission really A-ranked, Kakashi-sensei? How hard could it be to protect a simple actress?" the Uchiha asked.

"I wouldn't get too comfortable, Sasuke." the silver haired male replied. "We still don't have any idea who our enemies are." Even though he had gotten all of the details from the pink haired kunoichi, but he couldn't tell them that. Sakura specifically told him and Tsunade that she didn't want anyone else to know her secret, especially Sasuke. She was worried that if he found out about her true reason for being there then he would feel betrayed. She was worried that he would think that she was there only to make sure he didn't betray Konoha. That she was only his friend so that he would remain loyal to the village.

"Hn." the dark haired male replied, looking back out at the water, but then turned his attention to the female beside him when she stood up, her feet plastered to the railing and her back straight and proud.

Pink hair drifted in the wind gently as jade orbs looked out at the calm water, thoughts running through her head as Kaita continued to search eagerly through her memories as if they were some exciting story that was definitely worth telling. It made her feel a bit anxious. A woman that she only knew for a few hours knew all about her life, about how she always got in the way, about how she used to always do nothing and chase after Sasuke. About how she treated Naruto. . . Sakura didn't think that she could ever forgive herself for how she treated her best friend back then. . . How could she have been so cold and indifferent to someone that she considered her brother now?

Though if she was honest with herself, she was more ashamed of how she was with the youngest Uchiha. She hated how she acted around him and that was why she made sure not to seek out his attention unless she felt that he needed it. The female didn't want to make him see her as pushy or annoying, though if he came out and told her that he wished for her to express her 'desires' more freely then she would do it. However, she didn't see him telling her that anytime soon.

~~SCENE CHANGE~~

Sakura stood at the back of the ship, leaning over the railing and looking out at the reddish colored water that reflected the beautiful sunset. For some reason, the water soothed her nerves in calming waves. She could hear quiet footsteps coming to stand behind her and wasn't surprised when hands grabbed the railing on each side of her.

"Hey Sasuke." she spoke gently, a small smile on her lips.

"Are you alright?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

The kunoichi leaned her head back to rest it on the shoulder behind her and nodded. "Yeah."

"Good." he replied before letting go of the railing to wrap his arms around her. Thoughts of a few hours ago ran through his mind, something Naruto had said; calling the person that she liked dense. The Uchiha did have a few doubts whether she had feelings for him or not but maybe he could get the answer out of her without having to actually ask if it was him. He didn't want to seem too curious if it turned out that it wasn't. He frowned at that thought but he quickly pushed it aside. "Am I really that dense?"

Sakura let out a soft laugh and closed her eyes. She knew what he was doing, trying to find out if she truly cared for him, but still look confident and cool in the process. "No."

Sasuke let a genuine smile cross his lips as he tightened his hold on her, watching the way her pink bangs blew softly in the wind. He had his answer and he was silently relieved. Sakura did care for him the same way he cared for her, though it should have been obvious from their past actions with each other. The Uchiha didn't care about being too sure though.

"Such a drastic difference."

"What do you mean?" the kunoichi asked in return.

Kaita wasted no time in replying, "You two represent Yin and Yang; complete opposites."

"There's another message in those words, isn't there, Kaita?"

"It appears so."

The pinkette smirked slightly at the woman's words, knowing that Sasuke couldn't hear her, and turned around to wrap her arms around the dark haired male's waist. Sasuke closed his eyes and rested his cheek against the top of the female's head, breathing in her naturally sweet scent. One of his hands raked up to run through her hair, feeling the silky softness that it possessed as it slid over and through his fingers. The dark haired male then opened his eyes and cupped a smooth cheek. Onyx orbs looked down as Sakura tilted her head up to stare back into his eyes. He glanced down to look at her parted lips and then back up into her jade orbs.

Should he do it? The young male had done it at the hospital on pure impulse, merely wishing to prove to her that he could be better than his older brother. Though now, with Itachi out of the picture, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about pressing forward. The very first time when he was about to kiss her, he wasn't even aware of what he was about to do or how he would feel afterward, but now. . .

Sakura saw the switch in his attention for that brief moment and it had her smiling again. Before the Uchiha could lean in, she brought up a hand to run it through his bangs and then rested her palm against the nape of his neck. Then, she pulled him in and brought his lips to meet hers gently. She was well aware that she hadn't started any contact with the male but looking at him now, she wanted to change that and still manage to keep herself from being what he had once called 'annoying'. The kunoichi was sure that he had his insecurities, even if he didn't show them, and she wanted to show him that she did, indeed, return his feelings. That was the least she could do.

Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment, taken aback by the kunoichi's move. He blinked away his surprise and closed his eyes, leaning into her more to deepen the contact. His heart fluttered in content at her soft touch, reveling in the way she seemed to fit him perfectly and melt in his arms. It seemed his entire being fluttered in a warm, soft bundle, but all too soon, that warmth came crashing back down into the lukewarm waves that his consciousness was constantly plagued by when another presence made themselves known.

"Ewww, so groosss!"

The duo broke apart to look at Naruto standing a couple yards away, covering his face with his hands. "Ugh, Sakura. I can't believe you're kissing Teme." he grumbled. His hands fell from his face as he grinned at the duo, making the two frown at him deeply. "Can I have one too?" he asked teasingly.

Sakura blinked at him, not sure on how to respond, while Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde. Almost instinctively, his arms tightened around her possessively and he turned her away slightly as if trying to keep the blonde from even thinking about touching her.

"Get lost, loser." he said, his eyes still narrowed.

Naruto let out an amused laugh, successfully getting under the usually stoic Uchiha's skin. The blonde stuck out his tongue playfully and began to walk closer to the duo. "No way, not until I ask Sakura something."

The pinkette tilted her head to the side and placed her hand on the Uchiha's upper arm, his tightened hold on her loosening in response. "What is it, Naruto?" she asked curiously.

Naruto stopped to stand next to them, arching an eyebrow at the female questioningly. "You said before that that lady or whatever was rummaging through your head, right?"

Sakura nodded her head, "Yeah."

"How is that?" he asked in response, blue eyes looking into jade.

The kunoichi felt Sasuke's arms around her fall down to his side but she didn't let go of his arm. In fact, she wrapped her own arm around his and pulled it close as she replied, "I'm not exactly sure, but since the banshee is a spirit, Naruto, she doesn't live at a specific place like the toads."

"So she follows you around?" the Uchiha asked before the blonde could, raising a dark eyebrow. He didn't exactly like the thought of something being around her that was classified as dangerous, especially when none of them could see or hear it.

"Yeah." the kunoichi nodded again, looking up to meet onyx eyes and running a hand through her pink bangs. "So I don't really have to do the summoning jutsu for her, just the weapon that she uses."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows while Naruto sat down on the ground, folding his legs and looking up at their pink haired teammate. Sakura let out a sigh and let go of the Uchiha's arm, choosing to sit down on the ground as well so she could answer the two's questions that were sure to come. Jade orbs looked expectantly into blue and sure enough, the blonde didn't disappoint.

"Why would you need to summon her weapon?" he asked.

"The scythe she used," Sakura began and could feel the dark haired male sit down beside her. "it basically had a mind of it's own and needed to be sealed separately inside the scroll; on the other side of it."

Naruto's face grew an excited aura as he beamed at her. "So if it has a mind of it's own, can it talk to you?"

Pink eyebrows furrowed a bit as she frowned, "Uh, no. Just Kaita can talk to me."

"Kaita?" Sasuke questioned.

Sakura nodded, yet again. "The banshee."

"Such nosy children." the silver haired woman stated.

"Yeah." Sakura chuckled in reply.

Jade eyes watched as blue ones widened in shock, making the pinkette's frown deepen at his expression. It looked like he had just seen a ghost. "What's wrong?"

"Your eyes changed color for a split second." Sasuke said, gazing into the female's eyes carefully. It was only for the tiniest moment, but her eyes had flickered red, a deep, crimson red that rivaled his own Sharingan in intensity.

"Really?" the kunoichi questioned, giving him a skeptical look. He nodded in return and Naruto had exclaimed that they turned red, confirming the Uchiha's words. Sakura gave him a quizzical look before looking back down into her lap. So her eyes had changed color while she was communicating with Kaita. Seemed interesting enough, as long as they couldn't hear her, then it should be fine either way.

~~SCENE CHANGE~~

Sakura had slept as peacefully as possible with the nearing battles. Just as the morning before, she had woken up after her sensei and before her two teammates. Walking out onto the deck, she found the copy ninja leaning up against a railing and reading his book. The kunoichi quietly made her way to sit down next to him, looking out at the water with half lidded eyes. Right when she was about to close her eyes, a folded piece of paper made it's way in front of her face.

Blinking at the item, she grasped it and looked quizzically up at the man that handed it to her. "What is this?"

Kakashi retracted his hand to place it in his pocket, his eyes skimming over the words on the page in front of him. "The Hokage found it amongst the note that you gave her. She said it was to be delivered to you when no one else was around and when you had time. Seeing as how you're not troubled with your sanity at the moment and your teammates are asleep, I figured now is as good a time as any."

Sakura arched an eyebrow at him but then turned to look at the note in her hand. She slowly opened it and when it was all the way unfolded, jade orbs widened with recognition. The kunoichi recognized this handwriting, such beautiful handwriting that could only belong to one person that she knew. A small photograph fell out of the note and into her lap but she didn't pay much attention to it as she looked over the words carefully and slowly.

"Hey there, Ugly."

A weak smile took over the pinkette's lips, silently happy at the nickname that the male had given her, the nickname that she hadn't heard from him in years.

"I'm not sure how you plan on changing the events of the past. I'm also not sure whether or not if you'll be able to stop the traitor from leaving. Either way, I don't care. Though I do ask you that if you do manage to keep him here, that you request to recruit me onto your team in that time. The Hokage has already agreed to my request in this one. The rest is up to you to figure out.

I know I wasn't the most bearable teammate to you and Naruto, but being apart of Team Seven was the best thing that happened to me. I hope you'll give my past self that chance again and to be patient with me. I'm sure that you still have that inhuman strength of yours, so in order to hopefully save myself of some pain, I advice you to ignore most of my negative comments, especially the nicknames that I give to you and Dickless."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at his words. He was asking her to ignore his distasteful nicknames yet he was still using them. Leave it up to Sai to do something like that.

"I'll be looking forward to see how things turn out. I'm sure you'll do what's best for everyone, Sakura. You always were the most caring out of our group. Be careful. I'll miss you.

~Sai"

Sakura's eyes began to tear up as she looked over the last three words he wrote down in the note. He was the last person that she expected that from and yet that seemed to make it have a bigger effect on her. Placing the note in her lap, she picked up the picture and a sad smile crossed her features as she gazed down at the very first picture they took as a team; with Yamato smiling awkwardly behind them with Sai smiling the smile that always got on the kunoichi's nerves. Her and Naruto looked at the dark haired male with their eyes narrowed and a questioning frown on their lips.

"An old teammate?" Kakashi asked, bringing the pinkette out of her thoughts.

Sakura blinked away the tears as she looked up at her sensei. He had his book away as he crouched down in front of her, looking down at the photo in her hands. "Yeah." she nodded, her small smile still on her face.

"What was he like?"

"At first," she began, her eyes lowering to look at the pale, dark haired artist. "Naruto and I only saw him as a nuisance, a temporary replacement for the loss of Sasuke until we brought him back. But. . . after awhile, he became an actual member of Team Seven to us. He became our friend and he came to know and understand me just as well as Naruto did.

"He had a bad past, at least by my standards, and he had trouble understanding people and emotions, often causing us to get into arguments." Sakura's smile brightened as she looked up to meet the copy nin's gaze. "He was a great friend and an amazing comrade."

Kakashi watched her for another moment before taking out his book from his pocket and flipping back to the last page he was at. "What will you do? If Sasuke doesn't leave?"

Jade eyes blinked for a moment but she knew her answer immediately and without hesitation, she answered him, "I'm getting him back. He was my teammate too and I won't leave him behind."

The silver haired male smiled underneath his mask at her determined comment. The female had such a strong loyalty to her teammates, to her friends. Sakura could easily leave the male to do what he was doing before if Sasuke didn't leave. He would've never known about Team Seven and would have continued on with his life, yet the kunoichi was still going to make sure that he would be apart of the team. How she would do it, he didn't know, but he was sure that she could manage it somehow.

Sakura took one last glance at her pale friend and placed the photo in the corner of the note, folding it back up like it had been before. Then she stood up and placed it into her pocket right as a dark haired male walked out onto the deck with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"We're all lucky to have you." Kakashi spoke softly. Jade orbs looked down at the still crouching male as he skimmed through the perverted pages of his book.

Sakura's face turned blank for a moment as she watched him and then turned to look at the Uchiha making his way over to them slowly. "I'm just fulfilling my mission, Kakashi-sensei."

"Yes, but to save all of them." he replied, finally standing up. "Was that apart of your mission as well?"

The pink haired kunoichi's face fell. No. That wasn't apart of her mission. She didn't have to befriend Naruto so early or bring him to live with her and give him a family. She didn't have to take Sasuke from the Uchiha compound the night of the family massacre or become so close to him. And she didn't have to request Sai to be on the same team, but she was going to.

Sakura let a smile take over her features as she watched Sasuke stop to stand next to her and Kakashi. He gave them a quizzical look before walking to lean against the railing. The kunoichi let out a sigh and closed her eyes, leaning back against the railing as well and listening to the waves crash up against the ship.

~~SCENE CHANGE~~

Sakura felt a surge of energy ripple through her arm as she watched a large pile of snow fall from the top of a nearby white mountain. Everyone was instantly on guard as three enemies in blue armor made themselves known.

"Everyone, get back!" Kakashi yelled and the three genin ran forward and in front of the Princess, prepared for battle.

Jade orbs watched the unfolding scene carefully as she stood in a battle stance in front of the woman that they were supposed to be protecting. The pinkette kept her gaze on the other kunoichi as she erupted ice from the ground aimed at the Uchiha. Though she wanted to rush out to block the attack somehow, she knew he could handle it and wasn't surprised when he repelled the attack with a fire jutsu. The female put up a wall of ice to block his attack in return and that was when Kaita called out to the pinkette in her mind.

"Summon my scythe, Sakura. I'll distract the kunoichi."

Sakura nodded her head and wasn't surprised to see the woman gliding quickly across the ground, her silver tresses and white gown floating behind her. The pink haired female bit the pad of her thumb, letting instinct take over as she smeared the blood over the image of the scythe on her wrist. Electricity shot through her hand as a large, metallic handle appeared in her palm. She whipped her arm out and the weapon shot out as it rested in her grasp, twice the size as her and a large, blue, curved blade at the end.

A loud, penetrating screech could be heard by only two as the other kunoichi fell to the ground behind her ice wall, the fire from the Uchiha's attack still going and eating through the ice slowly. Sakura didn't dwell on any details such as the carvings in the weapon or the way Kaita's silver hair was a deathly black as she screamed in the woman's ear. Jumping into action, the small female swung her scythe as soon as she was in range, hitting the female in the shoulder.

Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration as the orange haired female let out a piercing yell of pain, gaining everyone's attention. The pinkette pulled her weapon back, blood flying through the air and from the blue blade as the ice wall in front of them crumbled. Her aiming was off. The kunoichi had been aiming for the female's heart. Though she wasn't too surprised, it would take time to get used to such a weapon that was twice her size.

The young kunoichi turned around to glare at the male coming toward her on an odd snowboard, the force that he was going knocking Naruto right out of the way. Sakura didn't move from her spot as she felt the female behind her standing up to prepare an attack. Her blonde teammate quickly got up from his laying position from yards away and got out a kunai, Sasuke doing the same. Their female member still didn't move from her position as the male pulled back his armored arm and readied an attack.

The hand that wasn't holding the scythe flying up at the last moment, a blue barrier extracted from the kunoichi's hands and surrounded her, blocking the shinobi's attack and causing him to fly backward from the impact. Sakura's expression was calm as she watched the two enemies jump back and farther away from her, their eyes narrowed and calculating. The other kunoichi was holding her bleeding shoulder as she glared into jade eyes. The third member of their team jumped down to stand next to them, watching her cautiously and then soon retreated.

Sakura squeezed her palm around the metal weapon in her hand and wasn't surprised as it disappeared from her grasp and resided back to a slumber in her wrist, satisfied with the minimal amount of action that it was apart of. It was only then that the pinkette noticed that her whole forearm was covered with grey markings, slowly retreating back into the skin where the weapon was imprinted.

Sasuke watched carefully as their sensei stepped closer to the pink haired kunoichi. He said something quietly to her so that no one else could hear, but the dark haired male figured that it was her name. She nodded and they both began to walk off to discuss something in private. The Uchiha furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to watch them getting farther away, Naruto coming closer to stand beside him.

"Have you ever felt like that they know something we don't?" the blonde asked curiously, watching their teammate and sensei talking quietly to each other so they couldn't hear.

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, and its like they don't want us to know."

"I also felt like this when we were at the Land of Waves, when Sakura was crying." Naruto stated, frowning. "It was like he knew exactly what was wrong with her."

The dark haired male continued to watch the other two carefully as the others began to file back into the boat, helping the actress up off the ground and pulling her along. What didn't he and Naruto know about her that their sensei did? It didn't seem fair; the fact that a grown man that she only knew for a couple of months could know more about her than her own teammates, than her own best friends. Sasuke and Naruto knew her for years, the blonde actually lived with her, and yet she still hid secrets from them. Sasuke's frown deepened as he watched the pinkette and silver haired male make their way to them again. She looked worried for a moment, then unsure of something, until her gaze was firm and determined.

Sakura couldn't believe what her sensei had told her, then again, it did make sense. Since she knew where their hideout was, he wanted her to find it and clear it out while they were busy fighting. At first, she had told him that the idea was ridiculous, that in case they were hurt, they would need her. He had replied saying that she could prevent many deaths that were sure to come. And then she had reluctantly agreed and it didn't help her resolve when he said that he trusted her abilities and that she could do it. The two made it over to the two male genin, not missing their curious gazes, but doing nothing to indulge them in on their private conversation.

~~SCENE CHANGE~~

Sakura sat in the chair between Naruto and Sasuke, but instead of listening to the others explaining who the Princess really was and whatnot, the kunoichi was focused on more important things. Sasuke would no doubt be with her the whole time just like last time, but could she still find the enemy's base and make it look like an accident? She would have to, unless she managed to leave without him somehow. The kunoichi would have to find their base either quickly or much later. Though if she remembered correctly, the Princess managed to escape from them again. If Sakura could move quickly enough, she could get going, find the enemy base, set any prisoners free that were most likely on the verge of death, set enough traps, blow it up, and then get back before anyone was killed.

No, she couldn't possibly do all that in that short amount of time, not if Sasuke was going to follow her and if she was going to look for any prisoners. She'd have to leave right now in order to get all of that done.

Sakura turned her attention up from the table in front of her and looked up at her sensei. Though Kakashi had been looking else where, he seemed to sense her gaze as he looked to meet her serious eyes. He blinked in response but softly nodded. Instantly, the kunoichi stood up from her spot, her teammates turning to look at her.

"Sakura? Where are you going?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Sorry." she smiled apologetically and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "I have to go to the bathroom."

The blonde arched an eyebrow at her while she began to walk away, Sasuke watching her movements carefully. The Uchiha knew that she was lying. Sakura never got up and left while they were discussing a mission, no matter how serious it was or not. She had to be planning something, but what? His onyx eyes watched as the pinkette walked out of the doorway and passed the woman they were supposed to be protecting. The dark haired male had the sudden urge to go with her but thought better of it. Naruto would most likely call him perverted names if he walked off to follow Sakura when she said that she was going to the restroom.

~~SCENE CHANGE~~

Sakura walked around cautiously with her chakra completely masked as she looked around for any enemies, a bag full of food and supplies wrapped around her back and chest by a leather belt. She had found a huge area that looked like the ceiling opened up to let out what the underground lair held within it. The pinkette had found two, huge blimps inside and she recognized one of them as the one that they had captured the Princess and Naruto in. She had quickly made her way inside and put paper explosives around the engine and then some on the outside at the top of the blimp. She then concealed them with a jutsu so they wouldn't be seen and silently made her way to the other one, doing the same thing just in case, and then headed off to the dungeons.

The kunoichi looked around, keeping an eye and an ear out for any enemies. She quickly made it to her first cell that didn't contain a pile of rotten bones, the horrid smell being something that she was quite used to. Sakura looked over the person carefully that didn't seem to notice her presence yet. Good, she didn't want them getting loud and excited that she was there to rescue them. This cell held a young man that was probably in his late teens, a few years older than her psychical body. He sat on the floor and up against a wall, slumped over in dread with chains hooked up to his wrists and ankles. His dark hair fell down to his shoulders in oily strands and his dark skin was covered with sweat and grime. His clothes were tattered and dirty, much like his body and he was most likely tortured for whatever 'crimes' he had been sentenced for.

The silent female placed her palms on the cell bars, quietly bending them with her inhuman strength. Once she made enough room for her and the male, she stepped in and that was when he noticed her presence. He looked up to meet her gaze and she quickly put her index finger to her lips, signaling for him to be quiet. He nodded in return and looked over to the see the bent bars, then glanced over at the kunoichi working on his shackles.

Then at the exact moment she snapped them in half, a gruff voice spoke up further down the dark halls. Thinking quickly, Sakura went over to the bars and bent them back into perfect place, then went over to the man and made it so that it looked like he was still bound. The kunoichi hid in one of the farthest corners, hugging it and blending into the shadows perfectly as if she were a true assassin and not the genin shinobi she was supposed to be.

"I can't believe that that little girl practically tore my arm off." a familiar voice grumbled, walking passed the cell the pinkette was in. Next to her was the big guy she had seen earlier that used the electronic snowboard. It didn't shock her that they were in the dungeons, though she had to wonder what they were doing there.

"She isn't normal, that's for sure. We better keep a closer eye on her." the male spoke and Sakura waited patiently for them to get out of hearing shot, both of them running their mouths about some nonsense or another. Once Sakura couldn't feel their presence or chakra anymore, she walked out of the shadows silently and went over to the male, pulling off the shackles.

"My sister." he whispered and jade orbs glanced up to see his weak, brown eyes looking at her almost pleadingly. She nodded her head in return and motioned for him to keep quiet as she helped him up.

He didn't seem to have too many wounds but she couldn't afford to use her chakra when there were enemies nearby. The pinkette left the cell the same way she had come in, with the male following quietly behind her. It didn't take long to find the man's little sister and a few others, all remaining absolutely quiet by her orders. Some had more injuries than others and were weaker from hunger and Sakura didn't hesitate to give them some food, applying some bandages and healing ointment to their wounds while they munched on some bread eagerly. All together, she had rescued about six people; the young male, his little sister that was about seven years old, an elderly man and his wife, and a middle aged woman and her daughter.

The group of six all followed Sakura around, listening to her quiet orders as they made their way throughout the dungeons. The kunoichi had no trouble at all lifting the people over walls and aiding them when necessary and they soon made it out of the base.

The whole rescue took a couple of hours to fully complete but the young female was completely satisfied when she managed to bring them to safety. She was able to completely heal their wounds and set off with them in tow, the little, seven year old girl hugging her waist the whole way and telling her how happy she was that she saved them. It made the kunoichi smile brightly the whole way. They all surely would have died if left in there any longer and Sakura was glad that Kakashi had said something about it.

~~SCENE CHANGE~~

"I see your mission was a success." Kakashi spoke, a smile hidden under his mask as he looked at the group of seven making their way toward them.

"Well not entirely." Sakura replied, rubbing the back of her head. "I figured that I'd better leave up the base in case anyone else wanted to use it, you know. Though I did set up a few bombs just in case."

Kakashi nodded and looked back at the group of previous prisoners. The kunoichi turned around to look at them firmly. "Alright you guys, time to go hide. I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen."

They all nodded in return and each one said their thanks again and started to head off into the snowy mountains, intending on going back to the village where they came from. Sakura didn't miss the shocked looks she was receiving from the camera crew and decided to ignore the fact that they were recording her and the ex-prisoners as they walked off.

Jade orbs looked over to meet her sensei's gaze. "Where are those two?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Naruto's looking for the Princess and Sasuke's looking for you." he replied, smirking at the last part. "I think he caught on to the fact that you weren't coming back from the bathroom after about two minutes."

"Let me guess." the kunoichi sighed in exasperation, "He wanted to leave to see what I was up to and Naruto said that I was probably fine, just having problems with a bawl movement or something like that."

Kakashi chuckled and Sakura knew that she was right. "Or something like that." he replied in amusement.

"Great." the pinkette groaned and watched as railroad tracks started to appear through the area, along with the loud screaming that could be heard coming from the tunnel near them. A pink eyebrow arched as the screaming continued and the sounds of a train could be heard. Sakura watched silently as a head of blonde hair came rushing out of the tunnel, barely being missed by the oncoming train as it passed through the area. What an interesting way to make an entrance. Either way though, she was prepared for a fight, quickly biting each of the pads on her fingers and doing hand signs until slamming her palm into her stomach, undoing her seal so that she had all of her chakra. She didn't have time to focus on the pain as she contacted the banshee.

"Kaita, can we push them back?"

"If you're asking if we can push the train off the mountain by strength, then no. Though we could use that mountain to our advantage."

Sakura gritted her teeth as the enemy appeared out of the train and villagers appeared at the top of the mountain, yelling at the enemy and trying to stand their ground.

"We don't have much time. Can you deflect the kunai that I can't dodge with my barrier?" she asked, remembering how much blood shed there was the last time. Sakura wanted to do all that she could in order to protect the villagers and she had to admit, with Kaita on her side now and having access to her memories, it made it a whole lot easier to prepare for the attack.

"Yes."

And with that, the kunoichi was off as soon as the sides of the train lifted up to reveal hundreds of small cannons. She jumped in front of the charging villagers, clenching her jaw even tighter, instantly knowing that she wouldn't be able to protect all of them when they were so spread out. She would have to trust in her companion's abilities. There were yells of the kunoichi's name and the enemy's laughter as kunai flew out from the train, aimed at the villagers.

Instantly, Sakura held out her arms and spread her chakra out to form a large barrier. A blue wall spread out from her arms, stretching from every part of her body and covering a diameter of about twenty feet to the sides. The battle cries from the villagers stopped as they skidded to halt behind the pink haired kunoichi. Much to her disappointment, she couldn't stop some of the kunai, but thankfully, Kaita had that taken care of as she summoned her scythe and deflected the weapons in lightening speed, sparks seemingly appearing out of nowhere as the weapons collided and the kunai flew back towards the train.

'Damn.' the pinkette cursed inwardly, jade orbs watching the way the sharp tools hit against the see-through wall in front of her and then fell down to the snowy ground. She would have to work on this a bit more. It was a constant struggle to keep up the barrier and it was taking it's tole on her chakra quickly. Luckily, it didn't take long until a kunai was thrown at the train, an explosive attached to the end and it didn't take much thought to know who had thrown it. She was currently thanking the young Uchiha in her mind over and over again at that moment. The explosion went off a moment later and Sakura turned her attention to her female companion, a single bead of sweat rolling down her cheek.

"Kaita, the mountain."

Sakura dropped her barrier as soon as the kunai stopped and she turned around to the gaping villagers. She began to shove them away urgently, trying to get them out of the way, "Move. A bomb is about to go off." Most of them moved right away, going for cover near her teammates for fear of being caught in the explosion. When some of them continued to gape at her, she gritted her teeth and threw her fists down by her side frustratedly. "Get the hell out of the way!" she yelled and that seemed to get their attention. They moved away quickly enough, although the same couldn't be said for the kunoichi.

Kunai embedded themselves into her back and legs, causing her to cough up blood and grunt in pain, but she ignored that and the scream of her teammates as she jumped out of the way as an explosion went off, snow from the mountain nearby coming down in fast waves.

Sakura landed on her knees off to the side and gritted her teeth as the pain shot through her body. Reaching a hand behind her to pull out the first kunai, she didn't comment on them as multiple villagers made it to her side, each looking over her wounds and thanking her gratefully. Jade orbs watched as the train started to take off, trying to beat the avalanche but didn't stand a chance against it.

Then she noticed something coming up from the distance; a blimp, the same blimp that she had placed explosives on first. Once it was up in the air, but before they could get a hold of the Princess, Sakura lifted up a single hand and performed a hand sign, causing the explosives to go off. The engine was the first to go, causing a massive explosion and for the blimp to go haywire as it spun. The top was the next to go and it completely lost control as the blimp exploded.

Sakura couldn't help but grin as the people aboard it yelled and cursed, though mainly at the copy ninja, much to her amusement at the irony. The pinkette watched as Kakashi tilted his head to the side and gave the blimp one last quizzical look before it fell down into the distance, leaving the villagers and the Princess safe. The silver haired male made his way over to the kneeling kunoichi, Sasuke and Naruto in tow as they ran over to her in concern.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" the blonde asked as the Uchiha knelt down next to her, looking over the wounds on her back and legs.

"Yeah." she nodded before tilting her head to the side to look at her dark haired teammate. Sasuke looked up to meet her gaze and nodded in return, seemingly knowing what she wanted him to do without her even having to ask.

The male lowered his gaze and quickly pulled out the first kunai and instantly, a green, glowing appeared around the area, healing the wound. He blinked at it for a moment, never having seen the kunoichi healing herself without the use of her hands, though he pushed away his curiosity as he pulled out another kunai. He did his best to try and make it the least bit painful for her, but even when he felt that he could be a bit gentler with the task, she made no indication that she was in pain. It didn't take long for all of the kunai to be removed and the kunoichi set about to healing herself completely while looking over the villager's awed expressions.

Though there was one man that especially caught her attention; he looked vaguely familiar somehow. Pink eyebrows furrowed as she racked her mind for where she had seen this face before. He looked back at her quizzically through the crowd, knowing that she was watching him specifically but not knowing why.

Suddenly, it dawned on the pink haired female as she stood up, not bothering to stop him as her dark haired teammate stood up next to her, grabbed her arm, and wrapped it around his shoulder to help her with balance. "Excuse me, sir." she called out and watched as the man's eyes widened for a moment and he walked over to her, standing in front of her and giving her a curious look.

"Yes?"

"Do you have a wife and daughter?" she asked, smiling and dismissed the confused and surprised faces directed towards her.

"Why yes." he spoke, shocked. Then his face turned anxious as he questioned her quickly, "Have you seen them? Are they okay?"

Sakura's smile brightened up at the man and his concern over his family. "You should go home. I'm sure you'll be surprised by what you find."

The man literally looked like he was about to cry with relief as he thanked her gratefully and ran off into the distance toward the village. Many more ran off to chase after the man and the pinkette knew that they were family members as well. After thanking her again, the rest of the villagers made their way home. Once they were gone, Sakura let out an exhausted sigh and turned toward her grinning sensei.

"So that's what you meant by explosives." he stated calmly, making the pinkette give him a sheepish smirk.

"You caused that?" the Uchiha asked beside her ear. Sakura's face fell as she glanced over at his expressionless face and nodded her head. Would he be upset with her?

Sasuke let out a sigh but couldn't hold back a small smirk as he gazed down at her. He wasn't sure how she did it, though she had managed to keep everyone safe. "Good job, Sakura."

The pinkette instantly brightened up and gave him a smile before she brought her attention to the blonde jumping up and down in front of her excitedly. "That was awesome, Sakura!" he smirked, making her let out a laugh.

Sakura righted herself and brought up her hand, biting the pads of her fingers and doing the hand signs before putting her seal back into place. Now they would have to figure out what to do since they still had the Princess. She would have to go over the plan with Kakashi later, that was for sure.

~.~

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