Author's Note: Hey again!!! How are all of you guys!?!?! So…nothing is really going on my life well except…I've been having the same strange recurring dreams and daydreams for a while now. It's basically me and some guy who I have never met in my life before, but I feel like I know him. I feel as if there is a connection between the two of us. I trust you guys as my readers to help me sort out this mess. Anyway, enough about my problems. My only priority right now should be you guys! Enjoy this next chappie!

Chapter 53: Failure

"What do I do, WHAT IN THE WORLD DO I DO!?"

A while ago I found out that the only stone left is the fire stone, which is susceptible to being stolen and tampered with. Now, I find that those same perpetrators are here in the village!

What's a girl to do in this kind of a situation!?

After inwardly panicking, I arrived home and tried calming myself hoping that I wouldn't worry every one else.

"Haruno Sakura, where have you been!?" scolded mother as soon as I entered the house.

"Sorry mom, I was just…..finishing up some work at the hospital…."

Usually she keeps questioning every single thing I'm up to, but this time, mom didn't really say much but shrugged and fed me dinner.

"Yum…..Umeboshi….I really needed it…it's such a great comfort food…."

After eating I took a shower and changed into my pajamas. Lately I've been deprived of relaxation time, and sitting quietly in my room reading a good book is just the way to do it. Although right now….I'm not too sure.

The only genre I'm interested in is romance. Call me crazy or a complete sap, but its true! It relates to my dreams, my desires, my thoughts….well….my whole world actually. It makes me both giddy and upset at the same time. Giddy, meaning that I really want to feel it like every other young woman in the world and upset because….I still haven't found it.

I thought it would somehow work out with Naruto, but I just couldn't do that to Hinata. We all saw her condition a couple days ago, and we don't want that to happen again. Besides, my feelings for him are in the process of fading. Not fully, but they hopefully will soon.

Then I think of Ryo. Just who is this guy to me? It's like one minute he's being really friendly, the next he becomes a total jerk, and sometimes….when I'm with him….I feel like there's a connection. It's like he understands me. We come from completely different worlds and yet, there's just something there.

And I don't know what that something is.

Suddenly, I've started questioning my trust for him. Sure he talks to me like I'm some little child that I'm gullible enough to believe everything he says, but, I've kind of started to find him a little suspicious. Like today for example. I mean he left right in the middle of lunch when I insisted to tell Tsunade. He had absolutely no empathy for Genkei-san like I thought he would. All he did was smirk at someone who was poisoned and attacked. I find that completely sick and sadistic behavior. Then when he assures me that he'll "take care of it", he really doesn't and leaves me to do all of the explaining for Tsunade.

Why wouldn't he want to tell her anything about the Akatsuki being the ones who have been taking the jewels?

That sounds pretty fishy to me, don't you think?

While reading, I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" I ordered.

The door opened revealing my father still in his ANBU uniform. He must have gotten back from his conference along with Tsunade.

"Hey dad" I greeted.

Father walked towards my bed and sat on the edge, "Hello Sakura".

I put my book down and set it on one of my side tables, "So…..how was work?"

He sighed, "It was a long day…I had to deal with plenty of mission reports from many of my subordinates and colleagues. I didn't have time to do anything, not even eat lunch. Enjoy your youth Sakura…."

"Dad….I'm 21. I'm going to be 22 soon, how is that young?"

"Oh trust me, it's young. I would give anything to be your age, but sadly, I can't".

I saw the grim expression on his face and decided to cheer him up, "Well….look at all of the respect and money you bring into the family and the village. I'd give anything to be able to do that".

He nodded, "True. So, I attended the conference earlier this evening".

"How did it go?" I asked, furthering my curiosity.

He rubbed the back of his head and shut his eyes for a little bit, usually signaling that he's stressed out.

"This can't be good…."

"Tsunade says that there is no fire stone…."

I didn't say anything, hoping he would keep explaining. While on the inside, I was going ballistic.

"How is there no stone!? Tsunade…..you are such a liar!"

He continued, "I asked her if she was sure, because when I asked her before she was certain that there indeed was a jewel of Konoha. Tsunade informed us at the meeting that it hasn't been seen for a couple hundred years. It was rumored that it once belonged to the Uchiha clan. When both the Senju and Uchiha clans feuded and fought for power, the Senju gained control of it after Uchiha Madara defected from Konoha. Senju Hashirama, the first Hokage, kept it safe from the rest of the Uchiha clan and decided that it was best that this stone was to be passed down in the Senju clan family line. Sakura, I'm sure as you've grown up you have been taught about the first two Shinobo World Wars am I right?"

I nodded, hoping for him to keep explaining.

"Well, they were not really caused for gaining more territory. That was part of the reason, but not the reason behind this whole thing. That jewel was said to have possessed more power than the other stones in the other countries. People think that this is the jewel which summons the nine-tailed fox, the most powerful out of the other eight, but nobody is certain".

That was a lot to take in, especially since there were criminals actually inside the village looking for that non-existent stone.

"Should I tell him?"

My mind was in a total haze, processing everything that took place today.

I must have been processing a little too much information, when I started to notice after five minutes dad was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sakura? Sakura, are you there?"

My eyes blinked a couple times trying to figure out what was going on, "Oh! Dad, I'm here sorry about that".

He chuckled at my behavior, "It's alright….you look like you've had a long day. Why not take a rest; then again, I could use some too".

I smiled as he stood up and kissed my forehead, "Good night sweetheart. I'll see you tomorrow morning".

After nodding, he shut the door behind him and I was left wondering why I didn't bother telling him.

"This could be a life threatening situation! If everyone gets killed and the entire village is destroyed, it will all be my fault!"

My thoughts didn't last too long when I immediately fell asleep. What? I woke up like at four in the morning! I really need to get some rest before work tomorrow.

I spent my entire night dreaming about the destruction of Konoha. My thoughts must have been getting to me. The even weirder thing was….I saw a figure standing on top of the hokage tower. I couldn't see his face….but he was laughing maniacally and I saw myself paralyzed as the other villagers ran for their lives. I couldn't help but stare into those deep red eyes I remember seeing many months ago. He seemed to be staring at me too, until he jumped down from the roof of the hokage tower. I watched my frightened self stay planted in front of the burning Ichiraku ramen shop in the background. He walked closer pushing innocent people out of the way, coming towards my direction. I couldn't even call for help, my voice was gone. My body trembled and the more fear my fear radiated, the more he was enticed by me. It seemed to attract him. Instead of walking, he ran. He ran the kind of speed which was too quick for my eyes to see. I watched as he removed a long katana from his dragon-embroidered sheath charging at me and ordered, "GIVE IT TO ME!"

Afterwards, I saw nothing but darkness. My only reaction was too scream.

"Why are you screaming?" asked a voice.

I removed the sweat from my forehead and turned to the direction of the voice. It was only Wataru, thankfully, who stood in front of the opened door staring at me wide-eyed.

Of course I wasn't going to tell him what I saw in my dream. That would most likely disturb and frighten the poor kid.

"Ummm…..It's nothing. I just realized….I was late for work!"

He raised a brow, "Oh that's all? Well you kind of are a little late…..it's 9:30".

"Crap, only half an hour!?"

"Thanks Wataru, now out of my room so I can change" I ordered him.

He left my room and I continued with my daily morning routine. You know the usual….brushing teeth, taking shower, and the hardest part………getting dressed.

Scanning my closet, I quickly threw on a nice pair of black slacks and a simple white buttoned down fluffy top.

After vigorously brushing down my damp hair, I tied it up into a high ponytail and went downstairs to get a quick bite of breakfast.

"Morning mom, dad, Shin……..Wataru".

"Sup sis" greeted Shin.

I quickly grabbed a piece of toast and headed for the door, until mom stood up from her chair and approached me.

"Sakura baby, don't you want a proper breakfast?"

"Sorry mom….unfortunately I am a little late for work this morning. So I got to get going, I'll see you soon though!"

She waved and I headed off for work. Today was indeed a bad day….it was raining and I forgot to pack an umbrella. How stupid of a move is that!?

I tried shielding my head by placing my hands overtop of it, but there was just too much.

"Sakura, Sakura!" I heard someone yell.

"Oh great…..why can't this person just leave it for another time!?"

It turns out this person was Tsunade.

"Tsunade? What's she doing out here? She never likes to leave her office. No, it's not because of the power…….there is a lot of sake involved with her job. That's the only reason Danzo convinced her to be his assistant".

"Tsunade-san…..not to be a little rude, but I am a little tied up here".

Gasping for breath, she gripped onto my shoulder, "D-Don't worry, I've taken care of that already. A couple of new employees will be filling in for you today. Right now, I need you".

"For what?" I asked with a suspicious look.

"Just follow me already, and I'll tell you once we get there!"

Without any complaint, we ran over to the hospital. It was nice to be out of the rain. Unfortunately out of all days it rained when I was wearing white out of all colors. My top was pretty see-through. Tsunade was kind enough to let me dry in a towel I wrapped around myself.

"Tsunade, what are we doing in the hospital? I thought you said I wouldn't be working".

She ignored me as I continued to follow her to wherever we were going.

She opened the door and let me through first.

"Sakura, I've been meeting with the ANBU squad and all of the other jonin of this village. There have been mysterious injuries and killings of some of our men. There is arising suspicion that we have infiltrators here in Konoha".

I nodded as she went along, "Okay…..but what does this have to do with you bringing me here?"

She walked over to the hospital bed and removed the blankets, "This is why".

I cringed at the sight. The man was left shirtless with the same symbol which haunted me for days. It was the same one Tsunade and I encountered when we found Danzo's body.

"T-Tsunade! This is the same symbol we found imprinted on Danzo".

Just looking at the bloody-shaped fan disgusted me. I immediately took my eyes off of the man and turned to face Tsunade.

She sighed, "I know. It's probably the same person who must be here in Konoha".

My dreams from last night came bubbling back up in my mind again. I had to tell her, there was no other choice".

"Lady Tsunade…..I think I know who's been stealing those jewels".

She instantaneously looked up at me while examining the dead man's body, "What!? Who!?"

"Well…..I'm not exactly sure who….but….I was out kind of late two nights ago, and while walking around I heard two people whispering in this one secluded area. They talked about some plan……and it seemed like they weren't the kind to be trusted. They're probably hiding out here somewhere……"

"Could you recognize the area at all?"

That's when the image of the flag popped into my mind, "I think it may be the Uchiha compound".

She raised a brow, "Sakura, no one has been there for years. What could make you think anyone would be hiding out there?"

"How dare she question me!"

"Tsunade I know what I saw!"

"Alright….I'll trust your judgment on this".

She looked out the window and turned back to me, "Well….it looks like the rain has cleared up. I haven't actually gone out and trained with you in a while. I've been so busy with my paperwork and you with your duties over at the hospital. Let's test your abilities and see if you've grown up into the woman I thought you could".

I nodded in determination, "Yes".

We made our way over to the training grounds and began.

She stood a couple feet across from me and smirked while folding her arms across her chest, "Alright……Sakura, let's start with our chakra-enhanced strength".

The determined glint in my green eyes remained as my fists curled up, "Let's do this".

I shut me eyes and focused my chakra into the center of my body.

There was a problem…..

The chakra wasn't flowing anywhere throughout my body. I concentrated as hard as I could and began with a couple of ninjutsus.

I changed into combat formation, raising up one of my hands, "CHAKRA WAVE!"

Nothing was working, even when using my chakra wave. With it, I can cut the hard earth and all things surrounding me. The light blue surges of chakra form from the tip of my fingers but cut through like a knife.

That was the problem…..I saw no chakra forming from my fingertips. Then again, I couldn't even feel it flowing through my body.

"What's going on!?"

Then I felt myself fly into the air as the ground beneath me broke into more than a thousand pieces. I crashed into a tree and hurt myself pretty badly.

"Sakura!" Tsunade cried as she ran over and helped me up.

My head was killing me, and I was completely hallucinating.

She helped me up from my vulnerable state, "Sakura, what the hell were you doing!? I thought you were going to defend yourself and fight back!"

"I-I…..couldn't".

"What?" she asked me with an inquiring look.

I nodded, "I felt like there was no chakra flowing through my body. The techniques I tried weren't working, and I didn't overwork myself. In fact, I haven't really trained in a while".

She took me back over to the hospital and ran some tests on me in the scanning room. I was able to see the x-ray of my body. With it, you can see the chakra flow from different parts of the body.

When I looked, there was no chakra. I could barely see small pockets of blue things staying completely separate from each other.

She removed the machine and laid me down on the bed placing a stethoscope on different parts of my body.

"You're right, I don't feel any chakra flow inside your body. Everything is blocked, I have never seen something like this. Sakura, do you realize if this continues, you could be in a life threatening situation?"

It was hard to listen to what Tsunade was saying. I understood that this was life threatening, but, that wasn't what bothered me. I've been working up to achieve this level of power my whole life along with Tsunade's help. Now it seems like all of those years have been a complete waste.

I tear rolled down my flushed cheek as my bright green eyes met her aged brown ones.

"I'm a failure".

Author's Note: I hoped you all liked this chapter! I will maybe write another one this weekend, it really depends on my schedule. I've been really busy this week, I had three tennis matches! Things can get so hectic and crazy sometimes. I hope you all look forward to reading the next chapter as I write it.

Thanks a lot!

Sweetness.