Chapter 2

"When the explosion ejected me I transformed one of my clones in a Fuuma Shuriken that I gave to Sasuke ! " Raved her blond teammate. " Before Zabuza could make another clone the bastard attacked him ! Of course he dodged but then I puffe- "

When Sakura woke up she was next to a still unconscious Kakashi. Her chakra reserves had been dangerously low and a small portion of her back was burned. There would be scars. 'Look what you did !' screeched Inner. 'Sasuke-kun will neve-' Outer drowned her voice and continued to pet Kubikiribocho on her lap. Thanks Kami the sword did not suffer from the explosion, no marks distorted the smooth blade. Kubikiribocho purred at the attention, full, it was content.

"Sakura-chan ?"

The pinkette raised her head. What could Naruto want ? 'Maybe trying to understand why you're cuddling the enemy's weapon ?' Maybe. The blond seemed uncomfortable and she could see the sneak peak that he will throw to the blade now and then.

" Are you okay ?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion. " I-I mean of course not, you are bed ridden after all ! " He blushed. " I-I I just wanted to know why you ... " He took a deep breath. "Why did you take the sword ? "

'Why did you blow yourself up to take it back ?'

" I mean at first it was cool. You should have seen the look on his face when you tried to hit him !" He paused, for the first time serious. " But then you ... you almost died Sakura-chan. " his eyes were bright and glossy. " And then we had to carry you back, bleeding, Kakashi-sensei was out, there was only I and Sasuke, we didn't know what to do ,there was blood a-and you just didn't want to let it go. " His voice broke a little a the end.

During all of this she just stared wide eyed at the blond. How ? How could the stupid boy she knew feel so much ? 'You never cared before.' But why did he ? She had never be more than neutral with him on a good day. ' For Kami's sake ! Don't you see ? You nearly died ! ' Sakura shuddered.

"I'm sorry" she quietly said. 'That's all ? We were almost killed for a freaking sword !' "I won't do it again Naruto." She tried to draw a reassuring smile on her face.

Hesitantly, she put one hand on his shoulder. 'Let this sword go !' But like before, she just couldn't. Naruto took her in his arm to hug her and even though she couldn't see his face, she could feel his body vibrating against hers. Hear his muffled sobs. ' Do it for him.' She hugged him back with all her might, ignoring the cry of Kubikiribocho as her hand finally released it or the familiar mantra that froze her blood. Larynx, spine, lungs,.. She gritted her teeth and let the tears run freely. 'We will be alright. We just need a little time.'

XX

While Kakashi was sleeping, there wasn't much to do. Sasuke was training and as cold as always. 'Why can't he hug us like Naruto did ?' cried Inner. The blond boy came often to check on Kakashi and her. He always wore a smile on his face, but she could see his nose crunch every time he came close from Kubikiribocho. 'I heard that the smell of death wasn't very popular.' Their loss. The chakra burns in her arm were recovering, the hot pain of the first day slowly faded in a uneasy ache. In no time she could go back to training. 'Training ? Us ? You mean with Sasuke ?' She needed to be stronger if she ever wanted to use the sword. 'You must be kidding me...' She could do some push-up, she needed stronger arms. 'We will look like a man ! Imagine what Ino-pig will say !' Had Inner ever been this annoying ? mused Outer. What was Ino compared to Kubikiribocho ? Was Ino ab- Stop. What was she doing ? W-was she arguing with herself ? Sakura took a deep breath. 'We've already gone through this. You need to let the sword go.' Could she ?

Kubikiribocho was laying peacefully beside her, glued at her side. Slowly she distanced herself, the sword didn't touch her but she could feel the aura surrounding her in calmness. 'A little more.' But Sakura didn't budge. Just the loss of the cold metal against her bare skin was enough to make her tremble. Inner sighed.

XX

Larynx, spine, heart, ...

"You know you don't need to help me, Sakura-chan."

"But I really want to !" assured the pinkette.

Tsunami only sighed in a mockery of annoyance before going back to washing the dishes. The easy-going smile that she wore slowly faded. Jugular, collarbone vein, ... Sakura was officially healed and could now move around. Her teammates spend a lot of time outside , training and fighting one another while she helped Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter around the house. The older women was friendly and liked to play with Sakura's hair. Together they would often take care of Kakashi, Tsunami teaching her the base of herb healing.

"It isn't much, I'm no doctor but it would surely come handy for you."she told the genin one day.

It did. Naruto and Sasuke didn't know when to stop and would often come back bloodied from their training. It was the perfect occasion to practice. 'Sasuke let us touch him !' The genin couldn't help but blush the first time he took of his shirt so she could treat him even tough the excitement that she normally felt wasn't here. At night, she would go train on her own with Kubikiribocho. She knew that Naruto didn't like her sword 'He is not the only one' so she would let it during the day and train while he was sleeping. She didn't need him worrying over her. Already and to Inner's distress she could see her arm becoming toned and the blade was much easier to carry. At first it had been difficult, having never really trained on her own but she found a rhythm who completed her. The worst was letting Kubikiribocho go, it took her days before being able to calm the frequent panic attacks. Now ? The hateful motto of the missing nin was a murmured song in her head. Lungs, liver, kidney, ...

"I'm back." Said a voice before going upstairs.

It was Inari. The boy who Sakura only saw a handful of time was strange. He refused to speak to her or even eat with them. He spend most time outside than in his house, she didn't think that Sasuke or Naruto even knew of his existence. Normally Sakura would have been curious or would have scolded the kid for his rudeness but she didn't find it in herself to care. Was Kubikiribocho alright alone ? Heart, spine, ...

XX

She didn't blush anymore when she healed Sasuke. Her brow were furrowed in concentration as her green eyes searched for the injury in her comrade back. There was no trace of colour in her pale cheeks. Of course he had know that she wasn't as okay as she wanted them to think for much longer than that but he though it was normal. She nearly died after all (he shuddered at the thought). He believed that she was getting better when she left the bedroom for the first time without Zabuza's sword but he saw her living the house alone at night. He clenched his fist. He didn't know what to do, he tried to talk about with Sasuke but the bastard only said to let her alone ! How could he ? Sakura was his friend ! He remembered how the pinkette had cried in his arms the other day (he didn't think about how he was the first one to cry). Had it been Sasuke he would have proposed to fight but Sakura was a girl and a scary one at that.

" For how long do you think Kakashi-sensei is going to be out?" asked Sasuke.

So the bastard was also worried ! Naruto grinned. Sakura was sure to come back to normal ! She never could resist the gloomy boy. Yet she only raised a eyebrow in surprise before answering in a neutral voice.

"Surely this time tomorrow. " she paused then added, like an afterthought. "Nearly one week had passed after all and he is no longer in danger."

"The fight must have took a toll on him."

"The Sharingan cost a lot of chakra and Zabuza was no genin."

Naruto could see Sasuke flinch at the mention of his family's treasure but Sakura continued to apply the balm. He didn't know if she was oblivious of her crush's reaction or she did it knowingly in hope of being left alone .

" Indeed, he must have been very strong to wield such a sword. I wonder how it must feel... Now that Zabuza is dead I'm sure that Kakashi sensei would let me try it."

This time it was Sakura's turn to flinch, her eyes traveling to the sword laying against the wall on the other side of the bedroom. Sasuke hissed as she put a little too much pressure on the cut. The Uchiha frowned and Naruto knew at this moment that things couldn't end well.

"It's not a toy, Sasuke-kun." there was a warning in her tone. " You must be very strong to even lift it."

How did we end in this mess ? he asked himself. Sakura and Sasuke never fought before, sure Sasuke would often reprimand the girl but she never argued back. Now Naruto could see that she was angry, her green eyes were set alight with a passion he didn't saw in days and her movement became more aggressive. Yet, she didn't yell or hit like she did with him. Their fight wasn't in their fist but in how they acted and Naruto, unused to it, didn't know how to stop the explosion that was sure to come.

" We will see. I needed a new challenge anyway, I was becoming bored. You could come if you want. Of course I would have to show you where we train. I don't think you know the way to the training grounds."

'That was low.' Naruto winced. He could see Sakura grit her teeth but she didn't say anything. Sasuke smirked, satisfied. The fight seemed to have ended in Sasuke's favour yet Naruto hoped that the Uchiha would not go on with his taunt because he didn't think that Sakura would let anyone near the sword. As she silently left the room he remembered how she had attacked so viciously Zabuza's clone when he took the weapon back. There had been murder in her eyes. 'Kakashi-sensei wake up soon.'

XX

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Hn."

He knew it wasn't a good idea. To tell the truth he didn't even care about the sword, it was way too big to fit his fighting style and too heavy to be worth to change it. He took it only to see what was all the fuss about.

"Sakura-chan is so strange !" A Naruto would say between two kicks. " I saw her the other day when I when to visit Kakashi-sense- " the clone exploded. A new one appeared, dodging his fist. " She spend an hour polishing it's blade. Can you believe it ? I mean the blade was already pretty sharp but now ..."

Sasuke was curious. The sword was big, nearly bigger than him, it was crude, clearly meant for decapitation if the semi-circle near the handle was anything to go by. Sakura was a girly civilian genin, who, Sasuke was sure, would surely end up in the genin cops and never really be a ninja. She liked flowers, him and her parents and disliked training above all else. So how did those two things came together ? At first he thought to attract his attention but when he gave it to her she just ignored him. So he became curious. Thus he stole the blade. It wasn't out of worry for a teammate who clearly showed sign of obsession over the weapon of an infamous (and deceased ) missing-nin. Only curiosity.

It hadn't been a easy task. He wanted to act at night but he found her cuddling the weapon like it was a teddy bear and not a legendary sword. Only whenTsunami asked for help did she let the sword go. Once he took it he let one of Naruto's clones pose as the blade. Then they went to their usual training place.

"She really sleep with it ?" asked Naruto. Sasuke only nodded and the blond shuddered. "Creepy" he murmured then turnerd around as if the pinkette was hiding and ready to attack him. When he was sure that there was no Sakura he turned back to his teammate. " So ? Are you gonna try it or not ? I didn't risk Sakura-chan's fist for you to just sit around !"

The Uchiha didn't answer. The sword was heavy, it had impeded him to run and he was already out of breath. Thanks Kami the blond didn't seem to catch on. He frowned. If Sakura was able to carry it then it was only logical that he could too. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke took the handle between his two hands and tried to lift it. He succeeded only in raising it a few inches before he lost to gravity. There was a silence. Then laughter.

"Are you serious bastard ?" guffawed Naruto. " You can't eve-" He stopped suddenly and Sasuke could see his face losing all colour. "Run." He said quietly, his eyes wide.

Sasuke didn't move.

"What are you talking about ? I don't sense anything."

"It's Sakura ! She is coming for us !" he looked around for a place to hid but there was none. He looked at the sword laying on the ground. " W-We need to go !"

Sasuke stared at him with amusement.

"Do you think I am joking ? " he barked. "You're lucky you never tasted Sakura-chan fist but now I don't think even you would be spared."

"I would like to see it do-"

He was sent flying.

XX

Sakura wasn't a good ninja. She would have liked to think otherwise but the battle against Zabuza had shown her how much she lacked. Thankfully she wasn't the only one, Sasuke and Naruto were also unable to hold their own. Yet she couldn't but feel like she was the worst out of the three. She never trained outside of school and had found a stupid pride in the fact that she has passed by her wit and not her strength. She knew she could have been good in a taijustu, she had a impressive raw strength she had concealed by fear of not being feminine enough. She had always tried to make her fights the more aesthetically pleasing for Sasuke (even though he never looked). But as she ran through the forest, her green eyes burning in anger she just couldn't find it in herself to care anymore. 'Show them what we are made of.' For the first time since the fight Inner and Outer seemed to have agreed on something. Even Inner had understood that the sword was here to stay after all. Finding them hadn't be much of an hassle : she knew where they trained and she could sense from miles away the annoyance of Kubikiribocho. It didn't came as much as a surprise that Naruto was the first one she heard.

"W-we need to go !" the blond was panicked. His face having lost his usual cheerfulness. 'Smart boy.'

She didn't attack Sasuke first because he made her angry. 'Sasuke-kun !' It was only a tactical point, he was much stronger and faster than her. It wasn't personal. Inner snorted. He crashed a few meters away, his cheeks a lovely red and in his eyes a look of surprise that Sakura loved. 'He's so cute.' Her heart skipped a beat. Sobs distracted her from the boy. Naruto was already on his knee, the sword in front of him and begging for her to forgive him.

"I told him it wasn't a good idea ! But did he listen ? No, of course no. And how could I just let him go with the sword I knew you loved so much ? So, like the good friend I am, I went with him !" he pleaded.

Ignoring the blond she took slowly the blade. Happiness overcome her. 'It's me or it's getting lighter ?' Naruto stood a few second gaping at her before going back to apologizing.. Kubikiribocho was purring at the attention while she scrutinized it in search of a new scratch. Happy to see it as smooth as always she turned back to the Uchiha glaring at her. Luckily for him the sword calmed her initial anger. With Kubikiribocho in her hands all her emotions were heightened leaving her a mess of happiness. She grinned. The Uzumaki was now nearly in tears.

"I guess you won't try to take my Kubikiribocho again." She said cheerfully. 'I swear you're even weirder than Naruto.'

"Someone could explain to me what is happening ?"

Hey ! I would really like to thanks all those who let a review , that followed or put this story in favorite ! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and you continue to read ! Do not hesitate to put a review or ask questions ! See you next chapter !