Guys guys guys we reached 600 reviews! YAY!

I was literally so happy and grateful and just unf when I saw that! Thank you so much for sticking with this story! I now bring another update!:D

Now, to answer a few questions:

I think the most popular one was: OMG are Akane and Kaoru gay?
Yes
and no. Yes, they are together at the moment, but they also have feelings for Sakura. And enjoy creeping the hell out their friends/sensei, as will be shown below;) if there's the desire for an explanation of how exactly their 'relationship' came about, I don't mind making a little filler chapter to satisfy yaoi feels xD

Another one was: is Sakura with Neji permanently/has she fully moved on from Akane and Kaoru?
Yes, she's with Neji, but the NejiSaku fans there, please be prepared for insane bouts of jealousy/feels which will appear in the future chapters. I have already armed myself with a shield in case you'll want to throw rocks at me XD
(BTW, writing sappy, inlove!Neji was literally the best part of making this chapter;))

And the persistent question of ages:
Right now, Sakura is 13, Neji is 16, and Akane and Kaoru are both 17. There ;)

Anyway!

Thank you so much for the amazing reviews, I hope to hear more from you after this chapter!

Now, ENJOY!

*warning: there is a lot of protective!Neji ahead. And a bit of angst. And Izaya!;)


"Why did you summon us, Hokage-sama? We've only just arrived." Akane complained, lip jutting out in a pout, the concept of 'growing up' lost on him. Tsunade was relieved to see that the boy, despite the change of his appearance, still remained the same as he was three years ago.

The same could be said about Kaoru - the teen was much taller, but still possessed that calm aura Tsunade always associated with him, which she supposed meant that nothing drastic had happened to him either.

Neither of them changed much. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about their female teammate. That was what Tsunade wanted to warn the boys about; she didn't think they would take the news well, so she preferred to break it to them now, instead of risking them finding out in the middle of the street and causing a scene.

The Godaime sighed; she needed sake.

"ANBU Ōyamaneko-san, report to my office immediately." She ordered through the speaker.

Kaoru and Akane exchanged glances. "ANBU? Hokage-sama, I assure you we've been thoroughly searched upon entering the village. We're not hiding anything." The brunette reassured, smiling slightly.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Tsunade replied curtly, impatiently tapping a rhythm on her desk.

A few seconds later a small cloud of smoke appeared, and once it cleared, it revealed a figure kneeling before the Hokage's desk, decked out in the full ANBU uniform, and an unbuttoned white cloak with the hood pulled up.

"Reporting for duty, Hokage-sama." The figure's tone was clipped and respectful, yet Akane shivered at the hollowness of the voice.

"Stand up, kid. I have no missions for you; rather, I want to show you something." Tsunade replied, waving a dismissive hand.

Slightly startled at the familiarity the Hokage spoke with, the boys turned their attention to the ANBU. They were surprised to notice the masked ninja, once they straightened up, was at least a head shorter than Kaoru, and their build was so slight it seemed as if the uniform would prove to be too heavy and cause them to collapse any second. But there was also the undeniable power which seemed to radiate off the figure in waves, although they weren't doing anything even remotely threatening.

And yet, there was something painfully… familiar in the ninja's posture: that calm, collected stance, betrayed only slightly by the racing heartbeat which all four present could hear.

"Recognise anything?" the Hokage asked teasingly. Without any warning, Kaoru stepped forward and quickly tugged off the figure's hood, revealing awfully familiar pink hair.

"Sakura?" Kaoru asked cautiously. "Is it really you?"

"Well, of course it is!" Akane exclaimed, laughing teasingly. "Who else that we know is a midget and has pink hair? Come on, Kao-chan, use your brain!" turning to the still-masked pinkette he grinned. "Take off your mask, Sakura-chan. We missed your little face!"

The girl indulged his request, but the moment the mask was removed from her face, Akane's grin disappeared: there was not an ounce of warmth in the pinkette's eyes, not a single flash of recognition. Her features were cleared of any emotion, and, Kaoru abruptly noticed, so were her eyes. Eyes which were once the windows to her soul, her thoughts, were now covered up, and the sparkly emerald was no more, instead replaced by cool, icy jade.

Seeing their expressions, Sakura laughed, incredulous and condescending. But it was not the happy, playful laugh they used to hear. This was a laugh of someone jaded, and bitter and cold; someone who knew far too much about the world than anyone ever should.

"Are you surprised, Kaoru-kun? Akane-kun? Are you surprised at what you see?" her voice was bittersweet, covering the deep-rooted tone of accusation and pain with polite honorifics.
"You really shouldn't be. When you left me here for three years, without a team, without a shoulder to cry on, without any logical explanation for your departure, you also left me with no one to stop me from over-excreting myself, and, most importantly, no one to hold me back. Don't be surprised, because, truly, you were the ones who made me like this." There was no accusation in her tone this time, just blunt matter-of-fact tone, but Akane decided he would've preferred if she had slapped him, or obliterated his brain into pudding, or did anything which would signal she still remembered them, even if it was due to all the pain they'd caused her.

Anything would've been better than the eyes filled with icy detachment and bitter smile she regarded them with.

He exchanged another glance with Kaoru. Instantly, without speaking, they both came to the same conclusion:

This was not the girl they knew.

This was not the girl they fell in love with.

This was not their Sakura.

And it was entirely their fault.

All in all, they created a goal for themselves; they had to fix her.


"Hey, how did it go?" Haichi asked as Sakura stumbled back into their dorm in the HQ. Well, not really a dorm, and not really theirs, but it was the place where the ANBU members could sleep in between missions, and they had unofficially dubbed that particular one as their own. The rosette didn't reply, just staggered over to Neji's bunk and fell into the teen's arms, tears flowing freely once her face was safely burrowed in the Hyuuga's chest.

"I don't think it went well…" Yugao murmured to Haichi, frowning with worry as a particularly heartbroken sob escaped Sakura. Over the year they had been a team, the rosette sort of became like her and Haichi's kid, so naturally, she was worried. At that moment, Neji looked up, sending the two adults a 'help me!' look once he realised that rocking and shushing his friend wasn't working.

The duo exchanged a glance and sat down on either side of the Hyuuga. Yugao set to awkwardly patting the rosette on the back, while Haichi joined forces with Neji in trying to get the girl calm enough for coherent speech.

"Hey, come on now, Sakura. Relax. Ssh. It'll be alright. We're here. Relax." Neji tried, whispering softly as he gently rocked the girl in his lap. Finally, after at least an hour of gentle pats, sweet nothings and offers of dango, the rosette calmed down enough to tell them what happened.

"They WHAT?!" Neji exclaimed, outraged. Chakra was radiating off him, more destructive than killing intent and he was visibly shaking with anger. "I'm going to kill them." He hissed threateningly.

"Not if I get them first." Haichi snarled, equally as outraged as the Hyuuga. "I can't believe the brats." He got up and paced around the dorm, surprising Sakura as she hadn't seen him angry prior to that day.

"Well, if you're gonna do something, don't do it now." Yugao pinched in, earning two appalled looks from the men. "Wait. Let me finish you idiots." She sighed. "Wait a few days. Give them a false sense of security. Give the Village a chance to chew them out. Then let them think they'd been forgiven. Then, and only then, destroy them."

There was a moment of silence as they considered the kunoichi's words, then a feral grin stole over Haichi's face, while Neji smirked. "Can I marry your brain?" the older brunette asked teasingly.

Yugao laughed. "Only if you take it out for Akimichi's BBQ first." She replied evenly.

"Deal." Haichi grinned, nodding. "But now let's go train! I have a lot of pent up frustration in need of releasing."


"IZAYA-SENSEI!" before the raven could as much as turn to look who had yelled, he was tackled to the ground by a familiar blob of red, causing many people in the bar to burst out laughing. "We're back! Did you miss us?"

Just as suddenly as it appeared, the weight left him, and as he opened his eyes he saw a figure who could only be his eldest student holding the redhead in the air by the scruff of his neck, feet dangling a few inches above the ground causing the captive teen to flail hopelessly.

Izaya smiled fondly. Some things never change.

"Hello, my little ducklings." He chuckled, ruffling Akane's hair and patting Kaoru on the back before he ushered them into one of the more secluded booths. "Though I suppose you're not really that little anymore, eh?" and indeed, they weren't. Both teens had filled out during their three years' absence, and he laughed inwardly at the fact that puberty had only managed to make Kaoru taller, as he was still the most feminine, while Akane had a great physique, all narrow waist and broad shoulders. He nodded appreciatively, then stilled and groaned inwardly. Kami above, it looks like I'm perving on my own students. Damn it.

"How have ya been, old man?" the redhead asked teasingly, wiggling his eyebrows as he leaned forward, effectively snapping the raven from his musings of the unfairness of the world. "Ooh, is that a grey hair I see?" he teased as he plucked at Izaya's unruly locks. The raven bristled and moved to whack the teen who just dodged, laughing playfully. "I'm not old, you brat!" luckily, Kaoru seemed to be on his side, as he slapped Akane round the head as the teen leant back.

Izaya ignored the indignant "OI! Kao-chan!" and smiled gratefully at the brunette. "Thanks, Kaoru-kun." He murmured. The teen smiled and leant back in his seat, then sighed fondly as the redhead kept pouting. To Izaya's surprise, his brown-haired student leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of the redhead's head, where he had hit him before. "Better?" he heard the teen ask quietly. And Akane's answering grin was blinding, and told Izaya all he needed to know. Well, I can't say that this is unexpected. They'd always been closer than normal teammates…

But he ignored the issue for the time being and asked them about the past three years instead, chuckling as Akane launched into a detailed, dramatic description, while Kaoru just piped in here and there, adding little points the redhead had missed, or sharing his opinion on this or that. Izaya had to say, he was impressed. He didn't expect them to do so well, especially in foreign villages. He learned that for the first year, they mostly travelled through the Land of Wind and Earth ('the land of a crapload of sand and rocks, respectively' – as described by Akane), then stopped in the Land of Iron ('there was such a variety of weapons there. I could've sworn Akane was salivating' – Kaoru), where they had a taste of civilian life (to his surprise, the always-hyper Akane said that he actually enjoyed the few months of relaxation). Through the second year, their travels took them through Ame ('rain. Every. Goddamn. Day.'), Kusa ('do I really need to explain?'), and Takigakure, where Akane passed his Jounin Exams, then all the way to Lightning Country. And the last year was dedicated solely to Water Country, where Izaya was shocked to discover that Kaoru chose to take his Jounin Exam. And he passed. He chose not to think what that meant about his gentle, feminine student. He was surprised to learn that they actually went back to Wave Country, as he had heard what transpired there while he was comatose. But then, Akane chose to reveal the souvenir he took from there, which was safely sealed inside his scroll. Izaya had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining it. "Is that… the Kubikiribōchō?!" he asked, disbelief clear in his tone. At Akane's cheerful chuckle and 'yup!' he lost it. "Are you insane?!" he accused, eyes wide. "That sword belongs to one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist! Forget the fact that you're not even from Mist, do you not realise the danger of owning such a weapon?! It'll make people think you're a missing nin – it can very well put a target in the middle of your back! Besides, you lack the strength and skill to wield such a monstrosity!" when he paused his tirade long enough to breath, he was stunned to see that his ex-pupils had taken to grinning at him knowingly, quietly making bets as to when they thought he would stop.

"Are you done, sensei?" the redhead asked cautiously, though the grin never wavered. Izaya could only nod. "Just so you know, I am not insane. I had the same talk with Kao-chan when I first brought up the idea of taking the sword."

"And if it makes you feel any better, I reacted much in the same way." The brunette murmured. "That sword belonged to a monster – I didn't want my lov- friend to associate himself with it." Izaya didn't address the noticeable slip of tongue, willing to let the teen finish. "But then, think about it: only five other people apart from us know where the sword was placed. Hatake, who is a jounin and I doubt would care for such a trinket, Hikari-san, who can be called anything but a swordsman, Uchiha, who, well, you know the story; and the Uzumaki brat, whose mind is too filled with ramen and becoming the next Hokage to care for such things. I doubt he even knows the story behind the blade. And it would stop any other maniacs from taking it." He reasoned, and, Izaya had to admit, it made sense. But then, something sprang to attention.

"What about Sakura?" he asked, eyes narrowing when the brunette winced. "You left her out."

Kaoru shifted slightly in his seat and cast a furtive glance at the redhead, who reacted immediately. "We figured she was… otherwise occupied during the burial. We doubt she even remembers that the sword was left behind." He explained carefully, looking at the brunette for confirmation, sighing in relief when the teen nodded in agreement, sending him a small smile.

"Alright." The raven nodded in acquiesce. But there was something he just couldn't ignore any longer – it wasn't like he missed all the subtle touches and small grins they'd exchange, or how they sat way closer together than was strictly necessary. He wanted answers. "You seem awfully – close, together." He observed, stumbling over his words. "I'm just curious- are you- have you- um… you know- are you…?" he couldn't voice what he wanted to say, and a light pink flush settled over the bridge of his nose. Akane laughed heartily while Kaoru also chuckled at his misfortune. "Together?" he supplied curiously, grinning.

Izaya nodded awkwardly, looking anywhere but at his students. Akane cooed at his reaction and laughed some more before replying. "Why, yes, yes we are." And the easy admission made Izaya let out a very unmanly squeak and blush some more while his students laughed at his expanse. "What's wrong, sensei?" he chuckled. "Turning homophobic on us?"

"No! Just – surprised, is all." He defended, still blushing. "Besides, I thought you guys, and Sakura… well." That seemed to sober them up.

"Yeah." Akane murmured, suddenly solemn. "But, the road can get very boring and lonely, so, y'know…" he waggled his eyebrows playfully, making Izaya blush and stammer something incoherent in mortification. The teens threw their heads back and laughed, enjoying his discomfort.

"Anyway, it's not like being together has destroyed the feelings we had for Sakura." Kaoru continued, serious once again. "We still love her, very much. But we love each other too."

After a few seconds of pondering the brunette's words, Izaya snorted. "You two were always ridiculously close." He pointed out, smirking, though the bridge of his nose was still stained light pink. "However, maybe it's for the better, you know…" he scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "That you have each other, I mean."

Akane arched an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because Sakura's with the Hyuuga." Izaya stated bluntly, wondering why his ex-students would ask such an obvious question. Uh-oh was his second reaction. Apparently it wasn't as obvious as he thought, as the brunette blanched while Akane turned a faint green colour. "D-didn't you know?" he asked carefully. The duo's shell-shocked stares were the only answer he needed. Well, shit.

"A-ah, well, you s-see, that's been the talk of the village for the better part of last year." He murmured, hoping against hope that they didn't hear him. "They're pretty much married."

And before he could blink, the redhead was right in his face, eyes intense and lips twisted into a half-frown half-snarl. "They're what?" he hissed.

"They already live together, he's on her ANBU team, Hiashi's approved… Genma's got a bet going on with Anko as to when the Hyuuga will pop the question." He chuckled inwardly. "She's finally got her life sorted out."

There was a disturbed, disbelieving look on Kaoru's face. "But – she looked so broken in the office. She didn't seem to even recognise us. It's like she was empty. You don't understand, sensei, we need to fix her."

For the first time since they'd known him, Izaya threw his head back and laughed, cold and condescending. "'Fix her'?" he asked incredulously. "Just how blind can you be? Do you not realise that she is already as fixed as can be, and it's all thanks to the Hyuuga?"

"But then… what broke her?" Akane asked, despair shining clear in his eyes.

Izaya levelled the duo with a cool, sardonic stare. It was neither mocking nor comforting, yet it unsettled the boys, but they held his gaze, till he finally spoke.

"You."


Even after the session, Sakura was still tense. Her shoulders were bunched together, muscles tight and ready for attack. She jumped when Neji's hand settled lightly on her waist. "Would you like to disappear for a while?" he murmured softly in her ear. Curious, the rosette tilted her head to gaze up at him, then nodded slowly. The Hyuuga smiled, slow and satisfied, then led her along the street, popping quickly into his- their room to collect some things, then returned to her and led her through Konoha, away from the busy streets and the blur of faces. They walked in amicable silence, and Sakura found herself slowly relaxing, the muscles in her shoulders loosening as she allowed the tension to drain out of her body. Then, she laughed.

"Hokage Mountain? Really, Neji?" she asked, chuckling. The Hyuuga smirked, but didn't reply. They kept walking, till Sakura realised that he was leading her to a narrow staircase, one which she had never seen before, hidden from the eyes of the ninja and civilians alike due to its size and location. They climbed in silence till the very top, where Sakura's eyes grew wide and she turned to her partner with a surprised expression, but a small gleeful look glittering in her eyes. The top of the mountain was covered in grass, small bushes and flowers littering the ground, a small lovers seat overlooking the Village. She whirled around, then turned to stare at the teen laughing happily. "How'd you find this place?" she asked, looking around.

"I've been coming here since I was five years old." He explained, smiling at her happy dance, seeing the rare side of her that he had grown to love. "Now, are you hungry?" and right before her eyes, Neji Hyuuga reached into his pouch, took out a scroll, and unsealed a picnic basket, all checked blanket and food. She laughed at the incredulity of the situation, feeling lighter than she had in years, the issue of her ex-teammates forgotten as she settled down beside her boyfriend. It felt good to finally be able to call him that, even inside her own mind.

"Always." She grinned, loving his returning smile. "Just you and me, huh?" she hummed.

"Always." He parroted, closing his eyes. "I'm with you till the end of the line."


They didn't get back to the compound till early next morning, happy smiles on both their faces, not feeling even the slightest desire to go looking for missions or train or act like the good little shinobi they were supposed to be.

"What are we going to do, Neji?" the rosette sighed, deflating slightly. The brunette didn't have to ask what she meant; he just closed his eyes and pulled her closer to him, as if he could protect her from the truth.

"I don't know." he replied honestly. "We'll do whatever you want to do."

Sakura smiled bitterly. "I don't want to do anything. I want to ignore them, I want them to suffer, I want to forget."

"I know, I know." Neji shushed her gently, stroking her back, waiting till the sobs he was sure she didn't even know she was letting out subsided. He stayed with her till her breathing evened out and he was sure she was asleep before getting out of bed. There was something he had to do. Leaving a quick note on the bedside table, he left the room, migrating to the rooftops to avoid running into civilians in his haste to get to the Hokage Tower.

Upon arriving, he slowed his pace, composing himself. With a sigh, he started to long climb to the Hokage's office, suddenly feeling nervous. Unconsciously, his feet led him the longer way, giving him time to form the jumbled mess of thoughts in his head into convincing arguments. He wasn't sure if the Godaime would be in her office at four in the morning – or sober for that matter – but it wouldn't hurt to try. He was just turning the final left to reach the office when he heard shuffling and muffled cursing coming from the archives. Opting against using Byakugan, he decided to check it out in person. Walking quietly to the slightly opened door, he nudged it till the gap was large enough for him to slip soundlessly inside, the previously muffled words suddenly loud enough to make him freeze in his tracks.

"-there's nothing, I swear. Izaya must've conned us, the bastard." There was no mistaking whose voice it was, and when his eyes found the redhead, on his knees, back turned to the door, rifling through the for authorized use only files. The Hyuuga felt his blood boil, mouth opening to rebuke the fool when another voice interrupted him.

"Be quiet and keep looking. Everybody is in those files, she must be here as well." The brunette reasoned, appearing between the many boxes littering the floor, hair in disarray and dust covering his clothes. The breath he took to reprimand the redhead turned into a silent gasp of surprise when he realised what the teens were searching for. Anger burned in his veins, the desire to unleash Juuken on the unsuspecting fools almost outweighing common sense. Though, his vengeful streak reasoned, any self-respecting ninja would've sensed him by now.

"I'm telling you, there's a shit-ton of Hyuugas, a stray Hozuki, the Hatake, Hagane, but no alive Harunos!" the teen grumbled. "There's a Haruno Urisui, reported dead, uh, seven years ago and a Haruno Nakota, reported dead ten years ago. There's nobody else." He sighed, turning to the brunette in desperation, but before he could say anything else, Neji finally spoke up.

"I ought to have you reported right away, no doubt demoted too." He observed tonelessly, silently revelling in Yuhi's startled gasp and Satoshi's hiss of 'Hyuuga'. At least the dislike was mutual. "But this is too pathetic." Instead of responding to the brunette's curious gaze, or his side-kick's hostile one, he walked right through the archive, to the only untouched chest in the room. Akane scoffed.

"That's sealed, Hyuuga." He mocked. "So you can run back to your mama and cry to her about what we're doing. Oh, wait, I forgot – she's dead." Neji froze, the temptation to annihilate the redhead becoming frighteningly powerful. It would be over in a split-second, he reasoned, and both he and Sakura would be at peace. But no, that's not what he had in mind when he interrupted the duo. Wordlessly, he set to making the necessary seals, hands moving so fast even his own eyes were struggling to follow, till he bit his thumb and slammed his hand down to finish the process. The chest groaned, then sprung open.

"Is that- are those the Black Ops files?" Kaoru asked, moving closer in curiosity till the Hyuuga glared at him and the teen held his hands up in surrender and retreated to his previous post. Neji nodded approvingly, then rifled through the files till he found one marked Ōyamaneko. He turned and thrust it at the Yuhi, mask staying firmly in place as he glared at him till the teen hesitantly took the file.

"You wish to know more about her, but you don't even know who she is anymore." he scoffed, eyes cold and condescending. Satisfied, Neji turned on his heel to leave, ignoring the indignant cry of 'Hyuuga!' from the redhead. "Hyuuga, wait, damn it!" and he felt a hand grip his wrist, body reacting before his mind caught up, and then the redhead was flying till his back met with the wall with a dull thud.

"Don't touch me." He hissed, glaring as the teen slowly picked himself off the ground.

"Ah, motherfucking ow." Akane grumbled, resetting the broken bone in his wrist with a muted crack, green chakra soothing the pain. "Kaoru, it would be nice if you did something instead of – Kaoru?" the sudden change in the redhead's tone made Neji turn to regard the brunette curiously, smirking inwardly when he realised what threw the teen off – the brunette had opened the file and was staring at the contents, eyes wide and mouth agape in silent disbelief. Neji had no doubt about what he found there; Bingo Book entries, bounties, stats, mission reports, bystander reports, the exact criteria their ANBU team operated under… he revelled in their shock.

"A-ANBU… Captain?" the teen finally stuttered out, eyes raising to meet Neji's, silently pleading him to deny it, to allow him to keep his illusion that nothing had changed. The Hyuuga was not feeling so gracious. He nodded, smirking inwardly when the teen deflated with a horrified groan.

"T-that's a ridiculous bounty." Akane muttered, eyes equally as wide as Kaoru's as he took in the information presented before him. "It's only slightly less than- wait. Wait just a damn second." And then he was right there, up close in Neji's personal space, shoving the paper in his face, finger pointing angrily at a particular part of the page. The Hyuuga stepped back, then couldn't hold the smirk which pulled at his lips when his eyes came back into focus. "Those stats are wrong." The redhead hissed. "This is bullshit. There's no way that- that-" and he trailed off, glaring at Neji, demanding a confirmation. But, yet again, the Hyuuga merely nodded, smiling sardonically at the small numbers which stared back at him.

D-Ranks: 22
C-Ranks:
53
B-Ranks:
92
A-Ranks:
151
S-Ranks:
32

"No."

"Yes." The Hyuuga replied steadily. "And you know what made her that way?" he waited for both of them to shake their heads, no. "You."

And for the second time, he turned to leave, but was once again stopped. "That's the fourth time someone said that to us, you ain't getting away that easily!" Neji wondered briefly who the four were, then sighed. Anko, the sensei, the Hokage, me. The usual suspects. Then he realised that he still had a hand attached to his wrist. Sighing, he opted against throwing the teen into the wall again, so he simply sent chakra to the captive wrist, smirking inwardly when the teen jumped back, his palm burnt.

"Ah, what the hell, Hyuuga?!" he exclaimed, green chakra once again soothing the injury.

"I thought I told you not to touch me."

"Alright, enough." Kaoru snapped, bringing their eyes back to him. "You have to explain, Hyuuga. We have to fix her. Please. She's our teammate." Neji briefly considered indulging the brunette, but then his words fully registered and he bristled.

"You lost the right to call her that three years ago. And do you not realise how hypocritical you're being, talking of fixing her when you're the ones who broke her? I am not telling you anything."

"Then at least let us see her! The guards at your stupid compound won't even let us in!" Akane demanded, rising off the floor.

"No." Neji hissed, putting an ounce of killing intent behind the words. "There is no way either of you is getting within half a mile of her. Sakura may be the master of letting go, but if she sees you again, hears this talk of 'fixing her', I am not responsible for her actions."

"We don't care what she does, we can handle ourselves!" Akane raged, indignant and stubborn at once, till the Hyuuga's eyes settled on him with so much hate that he shivered.

"You think I give two shits about what she does to you?" he hissed, disbelieving. "Because, if so, then you're delusional. I care more about the nameless beggar I passed on the streets yesterday than scum like you." He turned to Kaoru, parroting Sakura's words. "I'd rather see you suffer." And he shunshin'ed away, back to the compound, his original aim forgotten, and a feeling of sick satisfaction settling deep in his gut.

He took one look at the bed where the rosette was still sleeping soundly, then shook his head and sat on the floor, legs settling in the familiar lotus position as his eyes fluttered closed.


Meanwhile, the two remaining members of Team 13 sat huddled close under the shade of one of the many trees from the forest which surrounded Training Ground 13, poring over the file of their closest friend, desperately trying to find anything even remotely familiar, trying to see their friend in the file of a killing machine, a Captain whose path to success was paved with the blood and bones of her enemies.

They couldn't.

The girl in their memories and the person described in the file were like strangers. Two different people. And they would've almost managed to convince themselves that this was the truth,that the Hyuuga had somehow switched files, or lied, if not for the picture of the rosette staring right at them, eyes dead, empty, and the slightest upwards twist to her lip as she held the ANBU mask beside her.

Kaoru met the redhead's eyes, and his expression told him that the he came to the same conclusion he had just reached: they couldn't save her.

They were too late.


Woah, angsty much.

I'm sorry if I overdid it, but it just felt right. It wouldn't work if Sakura just forgave three years of abandonment. She will, eventually, but not yet. And Neji? Yeah, he was hella protective. But honestly? Sakura had been the single constant in his life for six years. You don't just not grow attached/protective when you have that much history with a person. Plus the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing which I, admittedly, try to downplay slightly as I dunno if 'serious-romance-at-thirteen-oh-and-did-i-mention-that-the-character-is-even-more-clueless-than-pre-chunin-exams-Naruto' is really a thing I wanna attempt;)

But there will be romance, no worries. And AkaKao will have their fair share of the spotlight too XD

Oh, and by the way – I tried to create a profile for my OCs on the Naruto OC Wiki, but it's a poo and deleted it and kicked me out, but if there's a need for any stats/background info/general information you'd like to know about my OCs which gets omitted in the actual story because it's meant to be Saku-centric, just drop me a line/PM/review and I'll just make a chapter/new-story-thingy which has full and proper info about my OCs ;)

Anyway, hope you liked it!

Much love, and thanks for reading,

-Invincible Shadow