Disclaimer: I don't own shit

Sakura should be relieved; her team has just passed the second stage of the chūnin exams and is going to be given information on the final stage in a matter of minutes.

But she just feels confused and deeply unsettled. The brief conversation she had with Neji in the Forest of Death has been playing nonstop in the back of her mind.

"Why do you have a seal on your eyes, Haruno?" Neji asks Sakura as all of the Konoha genin get ready to leave the clearing.

They all stare at Neji with confused expressions on their faces.

Naruto doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, while everyone else can't believe what they've just heard.

Why would a clanless child have a seal on their eyes? It's such an absurd thought that it makes Sakura laugh.

"Is there something wrong with your ears?" Neji asks in a clipped tone. "I wasn't making a joke."

The ignorant Hyūga's tone sobers Sakura. "There's no reason for me to have a seal on my eyes. The Haruno aren't a clan."

Neji scoffs while activating his byakugan. Sakura waits with bated breath as he stares intently at the chakra pathways and tenketsu surrounding her eyes.

Neji deactivates his prized dōjutsu and stares into Sakura's soul for a few more seconds before saying, "You have seals on your eyes."

Before she can think of a response, Neji spins on his heels and jumps into the trees, causing his bewildered teammates to snap out of their daze and follow him into the forest.

Sakura stops reliving that moment the second she hears a mention of a couple of preliminary matches.

(It's fucking ridiculous.)

She numbly follows her teammates as they walk to the center of the massive arena and pick a number out of a small bowl.

As Sakura walks back to where she was originally standing, she opens the small slip of paper, glances at the number written inside it- 5. While slipping the piece of paper into her weapons pouch, she can feel someone's eyes on her.

The pinkette turns her head to the side and catches the eye of a sand genin that looks familiar, but she doesn't know why. All she can remember is that his name is Gaara.

His hair is a vibrant shade of red, the same shade of red as the kanji tattoo of love on his forehead. His eyes are a light shade of powder blue; a stark contrast to the dark black circles around his eyes.

(Raccoon...)

He's... kinda cute. But the intense staring match that he's started with Sakura has gotten on her last fucking nerve.

So, she does something stupid, idiotic, unintelligent, and just downright brainless.

She yells, "The fuck are you looking at!?"

The corners of Gaara's mouth twitch downward slightly before he schools his features.

Sakura isn't aware of how deathly quiet the arena got after her sudden outburst. She's only focused on Gaara's reaction.

Sakura watches as his tongue darts out to lick his bottom lip. It causes an inexplicably warm feeling to rise from the bottom of her gut and spread throughout her entire body. But before she can begin to decipher what the hell she's feeling, their eyes meet again.

Now she's fucking annoyed.

Why is Gaara still staring at her?

(She's been staring at him as well, but that doesn't matter. He should just let her check him out in peace.)

Their seemingly neverending staring contest continues while they're both completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere they've created.

Gaara's siblings look like they're about to have an aneurysm, while Sasuke doesn't know what hell has gotten into Sakura. She's supposed to be the brains of Team 7, but she just pulled a Naruto.

While Sakura may not understand why gaining the attention of a bloodthirsty maniac is the last thing she needs., her sensei certainly does.

Kakashi shunshins right behind her, places a hand on top of her head, and asks, "Your number?"

"Five," Sakura answers, her eyes never leaving Gaara's.

Kakashi lets out a small sigh of relief before quickly hitting one of Sakura's pressure points, effectively knocking her out.

He hoists her on his shoulders before turning to his two other students, "Numbers?"

"2."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO SAKURA-CHAN, KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Naruto has never been good at following directions.

"Naruto," Kakashi practically growls. He doesn't have time for Naruto's bullshit right now.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto whines like a petulant child.

"Na-Ru-To."

"4," Naruto mumbles at the same time Sasuke mutters, "Dobe."

"I'll try to be back before both of your matches are over, but I need to deal with Sakura first."

"What's wrong with Sakura?" Naruto asks in an unusually subdued manner.

"Ask Sasuke," Kakashi replies as he disappears in a whirlwind of leaves.

Kakashi lets out a sigh of relief as the last bit of the sealing jutsu retracts into Sakura's arms. As long as Sakura resists the urge to use Orochimaru's power, everything will be fine.

Or at least that's what he thinks. Not even five seconds later, Sakura's eyes shoot open, and they're not the emerald green he's used to seeing.

Fuck.

Sakura screams out in pain as the seal is released from her eyes, her suppressed dōjutsu roars into life causing blood to flow freely from her eyes.

She thrashes around on the lumpy cot, eyes wide as her hands scramble for purchase.

Kakashi is one of the shinobi world's most feared ninja, and he can hardly breathe, let alone move a muscle as he watches his favorite student writhe in pure and utter agony.

He can't move because his precious little student's eyes are making his blood run hot.

(Sakura is supposed to be his perfectly average student. The obligatory kunoichi. Cannon fodder.)

As Kakashi stares into Sakura's eyes, he can see that she is anything but.

(She's a monster.)

The whites of her eyes have turned blood red, her once emerald green irises are now blacker than coal, and her pupils are rectangular and a mesmerizing shade of light purple.

Kakashi has never seen or heard of a dōjutsu so horrifyingly beautiful.

He can only watch with a mixture of horror and morbid fascination as Sakura wails in pain until her throat is raw. Her open mouth allows the blood oozing from her eyes to spill into it, but she doesn't seem to notice.

Once the pain subsides, Sakura slowly pushes herself into the sitting position and promptly vomits all over the tiled floor. She throws up until every last drop of bile has left her stomach, and snot runs out of her nose like it's a leaky faucet.

She's never felt more empty.

(She's never felt more alive.)

Sakura slumps against the wall, physically and emotionally spent, and instantly passes out due to exhaustion.

But in her sleep, she takes labored breaths, and her brows are furrowed. She's in a deep sleep, but nothing about her is calm; she twitches, moans, and groans.

A nauseating mixture of her own blood, sweat, and vomit rapidly dries on her face as Kakashi forces himself to move. He gently picks Sakura up and cradles her in his arms as if she's a newborn, not bothering to clean the filth off her face.

His two other students are long forgotten as he sets off into the heart of Konoha.

Sakura's father has something explaining to do.