Hiya! It's coming up to exam season at college which means that my schedule is pretty hectic. I tried to write as much as I can but, as you can see, I didn't manage to do it very quickly. I'm sorry. You're all great for waiting so patiently :)

I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing, fave'ing and/or alerting! You guys rock!

I hope this was worth the wait,
Eternal

The Blossom Of The Leaf Blooms Twice

Chapter 14 - Meiton no Jutsu

Panting filled the field after a large crashing sound pierced the peaceful air. Kiba's day off wasn't really being spent the way that most people would spend it. The Inuzuka threw himself onto the soft grass beneath his feet with a grunt. The large white Akamaru padded up to his master before lying down beside him.

"Giving up already mutt?" came a cocky shout from the other side of the field.

"Fuck you." he growled, looking up. The blond man was laughing as he ran up to him, "Not everyone has the Kyubi to spur them on."

"Meh, I'm only just getting started." Naruto smirked, his shadow looming over Kiba. The canine master sighed a little as the large shadow alleviated some of the sweltering heat which was frying both of them. His forearm swept across his forehead and wiped the dripping sweat away. The forhead protector had long been shed along with his jacket and over shirt, leaving him with just his clingy undershirt, "C'mon Kiba. I know you're not tired."

"It's fucking sweltering, teme." Kiba growled. Akamaru whined in agreement with his master. Naruto sighed and plopped himself down onto the grass beside Kiba's head. Kiba's nose picked up on a change in Naruto's mood. At first he wondered if Naruto was annoyed that he didn't want to train anymore but when he read the man more carefully, he seemed more like his was depressed about something, "Hey, Uzumaki. What's up?"

"It's Sakura-chan. I wonder what she's up to." he sighed.

"Whatever it is, she'll be fine." Kiba replied, "Sakura's tough. She'll make it." The look on Naruto's face made Kiba think that he doubted that. Something about that made Kiba feel incredibly angry, "Oi! Do you think she's weak?" Naruto looked at Kiba and saw absolute outrage etched into his features.

"Of course not." Naruto argued, "But I've spent so long looking out for her that I guess I've never had a chance to see what she can really do outside the hospital." With him and Kakashi saving the day on a regular basis coupled with Sasuke's inherent greatness, it was hard for Sakura to get herself recognised. People knew that Sakura was a medicinal genius but not many knew the full extent of her combat potential, "I feel a little bad saying this but she's not the strongest member of the team."

"Hey, you can't help the truth." Kiba shrugged, "You're a jinchuuriki so power is second nature to you. Kakashi-sensei's a legend and Sasuke and Sai were prodigies." Naruto sighed, "Something about her was so different when she threatened Danzo though. I was actually scared of her."

"Me too." Naruto said, "She was intimidating as hell. I don't know what came over her. I guess the years finally caught up with her, eh?" Kiba nodded before turning his head in the direction of a noise that he heard which sounded like the crunching of grass.

"Looks like we've got company." he said, rising to his feet. Kiba's well trained eyes could see the bodies of his and Naruto's friends running towards them. A woman was trailing behind who Kiba could tell was Ino. No doubt what Kiba had said a few days before had stung her a little. His brow furrowed at the scent of panic rolling off each of them. Naruto leapt to his feet too and saw their worried expressions.

"Kiba! Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted as he led the group up to them. If the lazy shadow ninja was running then something had to be up. Kiba and Naruto met them halfway, causing them to stop abruply, "You two need to come with us. Hokage-sama wants to see us right away!"

"Haruno has done something that we never thought she would ever be stupid enough to do." Danzo said, urgency lacing his voice like they had never heard before. Kiba could smell the fear and panic rolling off of him and the two councillors beside him, "It appears that she has revived the feared organisation which attacked us five years ago."

"What?!" the group shouted. Naruto's baby blue eyes were wide with fear and welling up with tears. He never thought that Sakura would betray him like this.

"That's right. Haruno is now the leader of Akatsuki." Danzo said, pulling a scroll out of his robes, "This message was the last I heard from the ROOT agents that I sent to tail her. It appears that she murdered them shortly after this was sent." He slid it across the desk to Shikamaru who proceeded to open it hurriedly, "Her teammates appear to include Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame and Sasori of the Red Sands. This is a crisis."

"I can see that, sir." Shikamaru said.

"And to deal with this, I want you to go after her." he said, "We cannot allow Haruno Sakura to live any longer if she is truly associated with such an organisation. When you find her, eliminate her and bring her body back to me." Naruto's hand wiped his eyes and Hinata rubbed his back gently. She had known Sakura better than most people and that made it harder to believe that she would do something like that. The normally happy Naruto turned to Hinata and just wrapped his arms around her before lightly sobbing into her shoulder, "I won't accept failure. Either you kill her or you'll find that life will get incredibly hard for you and your families. DISMISSED!" he shouted, turning to the window. The group of jonin sped out of the room led by Naruto. The betrayed jinchuuriki stormed down the corridor with his tears rolling down his face. If this was true, there was no way that he was going to let Sakura live now. Kiba could feel the immense anger boiling up inside the blond.

"Naruto calm down." he said.

"How am I supposed to calm down?" he shouted, "Sakura-chan apparently wants to kill me! How could she? After everything I did for her...risked for her...she wants to kill me."

"We don't know what to believe." Shikamaru reasoned, "This is Danzo. He could have easily fabricated the evidence. Let's at least hear her out." Naruto snorted before increasing his speed in order to leave the mansion more quickly. There was no chance of him giving her a chance if that was the case.

Sakura's teeth ground against each other as she tried to suppress the hiss which was dying to escape her mouth. She had been feeling a burning in her palms which she had never felt with such intensity before. Not even her medical ninjutsu had been able to dull the pain. Her nails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists, 'Shit...What's this burning?' she wondered. Kisame looked at her from the corner of his sharp eyes. Both he and Samehada had noticed wild fluctuations in the pinkette's chakra which had begun to worry him. It seemed as if her fists were expelling and taking in chakra from the air but that couldn't be possible. Chakra only existed in humans and animals.

"Something's wrong." Itachi frowned, "I didn't say anything earlier but something has been slowly draining my chakra for a while now."

"Same here." Sasori growled, "Whatever it is had better stop right now." Kisame's eyes widened as he looked to Sakura. Her teeth were biting into her lip so hard that she had drawn a little blood.

"Blossom." Kisame said, "Stop that."

"Stop what?" she asked, glaring up at him. The shark man looked at her expectantly which proceeded to make her angry. The pain hadn't helped her mood and the fact that Kisame wasn't making any sense didn't make her feel any better, "I don't know what you want me to stop!"

"Stop draining our chakra!" he shouted.

"I can't drain chakra you dumbass!" she spat, stopping sharply and turning to glare at the taller man, "I heal people. I summon slugs. I break boulders with my fists but I do not drain people's chakra!"

"Then how come I can sense chakra going into and out of your fists?" he challenged, returning her glare, "When we signed up for this, we didn't know that our leader would be taking our chakra." Sakura raised her hand ready to slap Kisame for the accusation, "Whoa Blossom. What the fuck is that?" he asked, pointing to Sakura's hand. She gave him a puzzled look before he grabbed her hand out of the air and ran his thumb over her palm, causing her to wince, "Blossom, that's fucked up." he said with a hint of concern to his face.

"What?" she asked, looking down at her outstretched palm. She nearly screamed when she saw the glowing marks on her palm, "What the fuck are they?!" she screamed, staring at her hand after wrenching it from Kisame's grip. Her emerald eyes spotted something on the hand which was gripping the marked hand too. When she turned the palm over so that she could see it, the same pattern was inscribed onto it. A large diamond shape was almost tattooed onto her palm with a smaller one overlapping it. The vibrant red glow was shifting between the diamonds, "SHIT!" she shouted.

"I see." Kisame frowned. Itachi took a look at Sakura's palms with his Sharingan eyes. When the red glow lit the larger diamond, he saw chakra entering her body and when the glow lit the smaller one, it was being gently expelled, "I had heard about something like that." he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"I've seen these marks before too!" Sakura panicked.

"Where?" the trio asked, Kisame sounding the most urgent. Itachi sounded mildly concerned while Sasori was merely intrigued by what was going on.

"Years ago...Me, Naruto and Sai went up against some freak called Hiruko. On one of his hands he had this mark!" she said, her eyes shining with concern. She knew only too well how dangerous that man had been. The marks had prevented them from getting close enough to kill him. And now she seemed to have them, "But he's dead now. How the fuck do I have them?!"

"Maybe you have roots in the Water Country." Kisame suggested.

"I was born in Konoha." Sakura said.

"That doesn't mean that your family was." Itachi pointed out, making Sakura feel like a bit of an idiot, "Kisame." he said, turning to his partner, "You seem to know a lot about this. What is it?" Kisame sighed before leaning himself against a tree.

"It's called Meiton no Jutsu." he said, "It's a Kekkei Genkai which originated in the Water Country. It's quite a nasty jutsu." Sakura's face held shock which was tinged with fear. Hiruko had wiped out their entire forces with the power of the mark, "It would explain why Blossom has been draining our chakra. You see, it allows the bearer to forcibly remove a person's chakra from their bodies." That much Sakura already knew, "But that's not even the best part."

"Oh do tell." Sasori said sarcastically.

"Meiton no Jutsu are jutsus that allow the user to manipulate another person's chakra." Kisame continued, "This means that they can use any nature element that they absorb."

"Which means..." Sakura gasped.

"Anyone who possesses such a jutsu could potentially use any technique." Itachi guessed.

"It has its limits." Kisame sighed again, "The user needs to absorb new chakra each time in order to use the elements in question. But it is very powerful." Sakura looked down at her palms which were still burning horribly. The mark was glaring back up at her, "And it seems little miss Blossom has it now."

"But why now?" she asked, "I'm twenty one! Why didn't it activate when I was a child or something?" Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Some kekkei genkai are activated through extreme stress." he explained. As an Uchiha, he knew all about the stress which was involved in awakening great power. First the Sharingan and then the Mangekyou Sharingan. Each stage requiring a more extreme level of stress. Even though the bearer needed to suffer initially, they gained a great power in return. Itachi wouldn't have changed a thing in his quest for power other than his brother's untimely death. Sakura gave him a strange look, "Sakura-san, don't kid yourself. Leaving your village is more stressful than people think."

"Couple that with Tsunade dying..." Kisame reminded him.

"Okay! I get it! I'm a great big ball of stress!" she snapped, "But what do we do about these?" she thrust her palms into the two men's faces. She didn't want power like that. It scared her. Any kekkei genkai petrified her. Everyone she had met who possessed one, save Hinata, had been an elitist snob. She didn't want to become like that.

"Simple." Kisame smirked, "You master it."

"I don't want it!" she shouted.

"Then you're a fool." Sasori said, "I'd kill for power like that. What a waste." Sakura held her fist in his wooden face.

"One more word." she snarled, "And I'll smash you." She couldn't escape the derogatory comments, even if she left the village behind. Sasori, content with ruffling Sakura's feathers further, remained silent as the pinkette paced up and down. She was clearly deeply troubled by the prospect of having such a powerful power inside her. Especially one that she couldn't yet fully control. She was so used to being in control that it scared her to be just a little surprised, "You really think I could master it?"

"Of course." Kisame nodded, "You kicked my and Sasori's asses. I'd be ashamed if you didn't." Sakura chuckled and looked at her hands. There was definitely a benefit to being able to absorb someone's chakra for herself. She would never have to worry about running out of chakra.

"Maybe I'll give it a go." she smirked.

"Dude slow down!" Kiba shouted as Naruto raced through the forest, the trees flying past in a green and brown blur as the blond kept up his inhuman pace. Joining the seven rookies were Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee so that they had as big an advantage over the four people that they would need to eliminate of in order to take care of everything. Everyone was worried what Naruto would do in his currently betrayed state. Kiba could understand Naruto's feelings but somewhere inside him he had a sneaking suspicion that all was not what Danzo had said, "Sakura's not-"

"Don't say her fucking name!" Naruto roared back at him, not even looking as he did so. His voice sounded distorted and far more feral than his usual voice. The group exchanged worried glances as they realised just how pissed Naruto was, "I'm going to kill her!"

"Not before she does you." Neji pointed out, "She has Uchiha Itachi on her side. None of us would stand a chance if that is the case."

"I thought Sasuke-kun killed him." Ino said.

"Apparently not." Tenten replied, "But this is so confusing! Why would Sakura of all people want to revive Akatsuki? It makes no sense!"

"She feels betrayed." Kiba offered up sadly, looking ahead, "You didn't hear her before she left...She was hurt badly by everything that had happened in her life. Losing Sasuke, Tsunade-sama's death and being branded a traitor has to take its toll at some point, even on her."

"She never said anything." Hinata sighed. She hadn't realised just how messed up Sakura really was.

"What would she say?" he asked, "The only thing she could do was show us that we were wrong. Even if she has to..."

"Kill me." Naruto growled.

"No. I don't believe for a second that Sakura would ever harm a hair on your head." Kiba argued, "She may not say it but I know she cares about you. About all of us." Naruto barked a harsh laugh which sent a shiver down everyone's spines. It was saddening to see the blond completely losing faith in everything but it wasn't unexpected. Naruto's life had never been easy and Sakura leaving to join Akatsuki must have been the thing that finally broke him. Years of hurt were coursing through his entire body, imbuing him with energy that was unnatural even for him, "Naruto! If she didn't care, why did she tell you to cause trouble hmm?"

"To distract from what she was doing, obviously!" Naruto spat, "It was purely selfish!" Kiba growled at that. He didn't put up with his mother badmouthing Sakura and he certainly wasn't going to let one of his friends do it too. Naruto wanted a change of subject and fast so he turned to Shikamaru, "Where was she last seen?"

"A few hundred metres west of here." he said, "I doubt that she's sticking around for long though." Neji and Hinata silently activated their Byakugans to begin scanning the area for their lost friend.

"Wrong." Neji said urgently, "And Hokage-sama was right. She's with three other men." Naruto let out a roar and raced off into the forest with a burst of inhuman speed. As best they could, the group tried to keep up with the enraged jinchuuriki. With Naruto in this mood, they were sure that things would not go as planned.

The burning in Sakura's hands had faded only to be replaced by a ringing in her ears with sent fear racing through her entire body. She knew that voice and it belonged to the man who was the last person she wanted to be anywhere near at that moment. Kisame and Itachi were looking around for the source of the noise.

"Get out of here." she said sternly.

"What, we're not leaving!" Kisame argued.

"GO!" she roared, turning to them. Her eyes held fear and anger at the same time. A chilling combination. The blossom's body was visibly shaking as she pulled her Akatsuki uniform on to shield herself from anyone's view. With Sakura looking so freaked out, Kisame knew better than to argue with her. Most likely, if they stayed, she'd force them to leave anyway. Itachi and Sasori had already set off down the dirt track that they had been following in order to get to where they needed to go. Kisame took Samehada off his back and threw it to the woman.

"At least take this." he said as she caught it in one hand. She nodded before watching him race off after the other two members of her newly acquired team.

"And now...For this." she breathed, turning around as she felt a vicious chakra closing in on her which could only have belonged to one type of person. What Sakura was surprised to see was that there was more than just Naruto chasing after her. Nine other chakras were closing in just behind his. She looked at the ground, hoping that she could obsure her features as she waited for the inevitable typhoon that was headed her way, "You'd better have a good reason for following me."

Footsteps raced towards her and Sakura ducked to avoid a powerful punch. Depite dodging, Sakura was thrown to the ground. Her emerald eyes saw that the blond's held rounded oblong shaped pupils and his whiskers were more pronounced. Naruto glared down at her with a look of disgust on his face before Sakura stood up again, "You want me? Come and get me Haruno!" he roared, clenching his fists.

"Haruno?!" Sakura laughed, "Since when did you of all people call me Haruno, Uzumaki."

"Since I learned that you wanted to kill me!" Naruto snarled.

"Kill you?! Why would I want to do that?" Sakura frowned. Whatever was running through his head certainly wasn't the truth. Naruto glared at the cloak that she was wearing, "Oh. I see. You think I'm after the Bijuu. Naruto, Akatsuki has a new goal now. You're perfectly safe." she said, attempting to reason with the livid man. She blocked his next attack by catching his fist and absorbing the chakra into her new marks. She knew the dangers of Senjutsu chakra so she stayed absolutely still while she weaved the chakra through her hand and expelled it back at Naruto, sending him flying into a tree, 'I could get used to this.' she thought as she looked down at her palms.

Sakura tried to step towards Naruto in order to knock some sense into him but the pinkette found that she couldn't move a muscle, "Shikamaru?" she asked loudly.

"I'm not going to let you hurt him Sakura." his low voice came from behind her. The nine chakras that she had sensed before were gathered there too. Shikamaru looked to see Naruto struggling to get to his feet, "What did you do to him?"

"Work it out." she snapped, "Let me go or you'll regret this."

"Intimidation won't work." Shikamaru sighed, "Not when our families are in danger." Sakura yawned loudly before channelling her chakra into the ground beneath her, turning it into electricity as it moved. The shadow connecting her and Shikamaru acted as a pathway. She felt her muscles relax as Shikamaru's scream echoed through the forest around them.

"Told ya." she smirked, winking at the panting shadow ninja.

"Sakura-san. Have you truly turned your youth over to the other side?" Lee cried out, stepping forward to try to talk to Sakura. She and Tenten rolled their eyes at Lee's overdramatic personality.

"I left Konoha. I'm on no-one's side." Sakura explained, "I take it you guys followed me because Danzo told you to."

"Perceptive as ever." Neji stated, "Apparently, he learned of your association with Akatsuki. It appears he was correct." Sakura's chuckle scared the team. This certainly wasn't a time to be laughing. She was about to be killed, "I'm sorry Sakura-san but we've been ordered to dispose of you."

"Try it." she whispered as she appeared instantly beside his left ear. Before Neji could react, she rammed her knee into the Hyuga prodigy's stomach sending him smashing into the ground. Sakura pulled Samehada off her back and spun around to slash at the air. The giant sword collided with several weapons which had been aimed at Sakura from Tenten's direction, "Don't get involved Tenten." she warned, "If you guys are smart, you'll leave now before I kill you all."

"DON'T THREATEN THEM!" Naruto screeched as he leapt at Sakura. She threw Samehada to the side and flipped out of the way of Naruto's enraged form. She took a good look at him and saw that three tails of crimson chakra had begun to coat Naruto's body. She wished that he wouldn't get so worked up. He chased after her with speed that she found difficult to match. It had been a while since she had seen Naruto fight. He had definitely improved, "COME ON THEN HARUNO! JUST TRY TO TAKE MY BIJUU!"

"I don't want it." she said calmly as she evaded him time and again. Luckily Naruto's attacks were predictable when he was in this kind of state. She caught his wrist as he punched her again but the chakra burned into her skin, making her wince. She gripped hard, breaking the bones in his wrist, "Now then Naruto, are you going to calm down or do I have to use my new technique on you?"

"FUCK YOU!" he screamed in her face as he tried to escap from her grasp. Sakura sighed before raising a hand to Naruto's face. His eyes widened as he saw the duo of diamonds which overlapped on her palms.

"You're lucky Naruto." she smirked, "You're the first to witness this." The larger of the two diamonds glowed and Naruto's crimson chakra began to pull away from his body. Sakura's eyes were closed as she concentrated. He tried to struggle against her but she was far too physically strong for him. The Kyubi's influence was leaving him and the chakra was swirling into the mark on Sakura's palm.

"Go!" Shikamaru shouted. Sakura's eyes snapped open as everyone leaped into a circle around the pair of them. Naruto's pained groans made Sakura feel too guilty to describe but she could only carry on. If she stopped, she'd be killed. The pinkette could feel Naruto's chakra re-energising her but she could only go so far. Even with her vast chakra reserves, Naruto had much more chakra than she could safely store. When she reached her limits, her hand released Naruto and he fell to the ground, panting furiously on his knees.

"I forgot that you were wind nature." Sakura said as she looked down at Naruto, "I'm sorry but I can't die. Not yet at least. I have far too much to do before I die."

"Well I'm afraid that's where we differ, Haruno!" Ino shouted over, "You have to die here and now!"

"Really?" she chuckled, "And who's going to do it? You, piggy? Don't make me laugh." Ino's face went red with suppressed rage. She couldn't believe that Sakura was actually mocking someone of her stature.

"Do you know who you're speaking to?!" Ino screamed, "I am the head of the hospital and head of espionage in the village!"

"You usurped me?" Sakura asked, her eyes widening. Ino smirked before biting her thumb. Ino made several clumsy handsigns before slamming her hand on the ground. A small poof of smoke erupted from the area. When it dissipated, a small slug which reached up to Ino's waist stood beside her mistress, "Wow. I'm reallyimpressed." Sakura said, sarcasm evident in her voice, "Come back when you can summon Katsuyu. Until then, I won't acknowledge you as her rightful mistress."

Even Kiba had to admit that Ino's attempt at intimidation and boasting had been pathetic. That slug wouldn't have done much against Sakura, not as she was now. Whatever she had done to Naruto had left the blond tired and unable to do much afterwards. Hinata had helped Naruto away before he lost consciousness. His brown eyes were glued to the new Sakura who was stood before them, looking so incredibly badass in her new attire. He had to admit, he had always liked a bad girl. Ino growled in pure rage as Sakura looked as calm and collected as ever.

"Sakura. Don't piss her off." Chouji warned.

"Or what? She'll hit me with her purse?" she laughed. Kiba snorted at that which earned a glare from the Yamanaka princess, "Are we finished yet? I'd like to go and meet my team soon and you're kinda holding me up."

"We can't let you go Sakura." Shikamaru said. Sakura's eyes scanned the area. With Hinata taking care of Naruto and Tenten taking care of Neji, that only left her with six people that she needed to repel. Two of the ten piqued her interest. They might be rather helpful to her evading future attacks if she took them with her.

"So I'm going to have to make you leave." she sighed. Feeling Naruto's wind natured chakra inside her gave her an idea. Sakura knew many jutsu inside and out just so that she could find out how to counter them. With the awakening of her new abilities it would finally become possible to use this information in an offensive way rather than purely defensive. Sakura began to make several fluid handsigns which caught the group offguard.

"That's...a Fuuton jutsu...Since when could Sakura use Fuuton?" Shikamaru asked.

"Since she absorbed Naruto-kun's chakra." Hinata called over, "S-She's g-got his chakra in her body!" His eyes widened as Sakura finished.

"Fuuton: Tenkuu no Taifuu!" she called out. The team had to brace themselves as wind began to surge around the woman, gaining power and speed to the point where it hurt to just be in the same area. Sakura became obscured by the vicious typhoon which she had summoned as it surged towards them. She watched as they were blown in all directions with a tinge of regret in her heart, "Sorry guys." she breathed as the wind died down. The immensely powerful jutsu had decimated the area, uprooting trees and slashing the skin of the people who had been caught inside it. She looked over to see that Kiba was reclined against a tree with a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth. Hinata had shielded Naruto and had stayed in place but was unconscious all the same. She summoned a shadow clone and ran towards Kiba while the other one went to Hinata, "Let's get going." she said to herself as she cradled a semi consious Kiba in her arms.

"Sakura..." he groaned. She stayed silent as she picked Samehada up and attached it to her back before setting off with him.

Kiba looked up through almost closed eyes to see the woman that they had been close to fighting just a moment ago. Even in his injured state he could smell Sakura's disgust and hatred. But none of it was directed at him or his friends, she seemed to be hating herself for doing that to them. He smiled to himself knowing that Sakura hadn't really changed at all. But where was she taking him? Why was she taking him and not anyone else. Correction, she had taken Hinata too he could see. The woman was unconsious with scratches on her skin just like him.

"I'm sorry..." she sighed, barely loud enough for him to hear, "But I need you."

"What...for?" he asked.

"I'll tell you when we catch up to my team." she said, "Until then, you need to rest. Hinata too. What I have planned will take a lot out of you." Kiba was in no state to argue so he merely let unconsciousness take over his body, laying his head against Sakura for comfort. He didn't realise this himself but his body was reacting to Sakura's presence. It wanted to be close to her even in his state. Sakura merely looked on ahead, afraid of what her actions might incur.

Kiba knew this feeling. He knew it very well. Warmth was spreading through his entire body as he felt the sleep leaving his mind and body. His eyes fluttered open gently to see the pinkette that he had spent the last week defending. Her hand was sweeping over his nicks and cuts, healing them almost instantly. How anyone could think of this woman as weak was beyond him. She had leaped to a whole new level and he didn't think he could respect her any more than he did right then. It took guts to stand up to your friends and even more to actually hurt them.

He felt something wet hit his arm. It wasn't raining so why was his arm getting wet? He looked at Sakura again to see that tears were gently falling out of her eyes.

"Sakura?" he asked.

"Oh. You're awake." she sniffled, wiping her eyes hastily. Kiba could feel the same disgust, hatred, fear and sadness rolling off her that he had felt before he had passed out, "That's good." Kiba decided not to say anything about her crying.

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around as he sat up gently.

"Somewhere to the west of Konoha. I didn't move you very far." Sakura explained, "The guys must have already gone back home."

"What you did...it was incredible." Kiba said, "What was it?" His eyes followed Sakura's down to her hands which were now balled up into fists as they rested on her thighs. He reached out instinctively and grasped one in his larger hand. The difference in their skin tone was apparent. Kiba's tanned skin stood out against Sakura's ivory coloured flesh. She looked more delicate than he'd ever seen her but much more powerful at the same time. He turned her hand over and uncurled her fingers. She seemed intent on him discovering for himself. A small gasp came out of Kiba's lips as he saw the diamond shaped marks on Sakura's palm, "Kami Sakura...What is that?" His thumb ran over the marks and his eyes glared at the three men who were reclining against rocks and trees behind Sakura, "Did they do this to you?" he snarled.

"No..." she sighed, shaking her head, "It's my kekkei genkai apparenly. I only just discovered it."

"Oh." Kiba said, calming down considerably. The thought of them forcing something like this on Sakura was something that made him angrier than he'd ever felt. He looked down at it, taking in the shape. His thumb traced it gently again and he felt Sakura shudder. The glow which periodically switched between the two diamond shapes was mesmerisingly beautiful in a way. He couldn't take his eyes off it, "So that's how you drained Naruto's chakra?"

"Yeah." she said, her sadness returning to her, "Kiba...Where did he hear that I wanted to kill him?" The hurt in her features was more than Kiba could bear. He never stopped rubbing her mark gently as he looked at her.

"Danzo told us about you reviving Akatsuki and he assumed you were after him." he said. Sakura broke down into more tears almost instantly.

"Doesn't he know that I'd n-never hurt h-him?" she sobbed, "What d-does he think I am?" Kiba pulled Sakura into a one armed hug and rested his chin on her head while still rubbing her mark in a comforting way.

"You know what he's like." he said quietly, "He's always jumping to conclusions. Give him time, he'll see sense." Sakura continued to cry into his chest. He could feel all of her stress leaving her body and making the air heavy around them, "But if you don't want to...do that...then what do you want? Why do you need me and Hinata?"

"I want Danzo dead." Sakura growled into his chest, "And Konoha to be free again. That's all I want. All Tsunade-shishou wanted too. All we ever wanted."

"B-But why did you a-attack us Sakura-san?" Hinata squeaked as she crawled over to the pair of them. She seemed to have been awake for a while.

"I didn't want to die just yet." Sakura sighed, "Not if I want to see Konoha free again."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Kiba asked. Silence envelopped the three of them as Sakura looked down at Kiba's thumb which hadn't stopped rubbing her mark. It was doing what he intended, she felt more calm and relaxed thanks to him. Both of the ninjas were curious as to what Sakura had been doing all this time.

"I guess I owe you an explanation." Sakura sighed eventually.

Okay just so you know, Fuuton: Tenkuu no Taifuu means Wind Release: Heavenly Typhoon. As for Sakura's new power, Meiton translates as Dark Release. I recently watched the third Naruto Shippuden movie and I thought this power was kinda cool. Being able to absorb chakra in order to use all of the elements gives Sakura an edge but doesn't make her impossibly strong.

Hopefully I can begin to get some romance going in this story now. It was difficult before now since neither of them were seeing each other but now that Kiba's around Sakura full time, they can begin to have a little 'fun' :P

I hope this was enjoyable for all of you!

Thanks for reading,
Eternal