Chapter 3

A smile brightened her whole face. Her soft cherry hair was flowing in the wind while she walked. She was at his side and went at his pace, not Sasuke's or Sensei's, he remarked. They were a little ahead of the others, and he wanted to say something but his mouth was locked shut. Her bright green eyes met his blue orbs. The Uzumaki felt his cheeks burn. She must have felt his creepy staring. He forced his eyes shut as he prepared for a hit.

" I'm so excited Naruto! " The girl cheered. "What do you think we are going to learn?"

He opened one eye to see her looking at him expectantly. As he saw no sign of violence or irritation that he always seemed to cause, Naruto relaxed. His returning smile was still hesitant though.

"A-A new jutsu I hope! " There was no judgement in Sakura as he answered so he grew more confident. " Maybe he will show us one of those move he pulled last time! I heard Zabuza said that sensei knew more than a hundred techniques! "

Sakura's eyes widened but she said nothing. His smile faltered as he remembered her state during the fight but nothing came to his mind. Guilt bloomed in his heart. He hadn't paid any attention to Sakura, assuming that she would stay by Tazuna's side. One moment she was in security and the next at Zabuza's feet. Those memories were a bit blurred as he wasn't paying attention. Then her body. His eyes watered. Even then Naruto didn't stop to even yell her name, too absorbed in fighting Zabuza. Only when the missing-nin had disappeared and Kakashi fainted did he saw the body. She looked peaceful and if it wasn't for the blood, he would have thought her asleep.

"I would like to know more about chakra manipulation. I've read about it but theory is always different from reality." She caressed her arms. She didn't seem aware of it but Naruto did not miss the action. He remembered how hard it had been for her to move her arms the first days after waking up.

Naruto's eyes wandered to her covered back. Her left side, the shoulder blade, have been the most touched by the explosion. Melted fabrics mixed with an ironically white skin. He had always thought that burns darkened the skin but he was proven wrong. The skin gleamed with pus. The rest was hot red and covered in blisters. But unlike him she didn't heal right way ( Mizuki's words ran through his head.)

"I would like to improve my taijustu. I'm behind both of you … "

How was it now? Was her skin there the same creamy tone that he loved? Did it scar? He knew how much Sakura cared about her appearance but the injury seemed too serious not to. Even so Sakura never complained about it. But he had saw how strange she had been since she woke up. Did she blame them? It would be true. It was unfair that he never scared will she will. How could he had forgotten Sakura? She had laid there, dying, without a noise while he had whined. He had hated himself more than the whole village did at that moment. For days she slept and he had helped Tsunami clean her wounds but the feeling never left.

" Kenjutsu would be perfect but I'm the only one with a sword … "

And then she woke up, different. He couldn't explain how the change was bad but it was. She wasn't the same but at the same time was. It was so confusing for Naruto. There was that strange gleam in her eyes, it couldn't describe it. Sometimes it would glaze her entire face, it was like she was blind to the world around her ... and other times it would be a spark in her orbs, so bright that he was the one going blind. The worst was how she acted with him. She was friendlier and would stare at him with affection that he did not deserve. Naruto wanted to tell her, make her saw the monster that he was but he couldn't. Not when, for the first time, someone his age treated him like a true friend.

" Hey! Are you listening? " Sakura asked.

But there was still no irritation in eyes. Her hand did not clutch to throw a punch like she often did before. He wished she did.

Xx

"I couldn't retrieve the sword."

His voice was calm and his face was hidden by the hideous mask yet Zabuza could feel Haku's hesitancy. Anger ignited in the pitch of his stomach. He pulled a needle out of his neck. How some Konoha brat could have robbed him his weapon? He! One of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist! He had the upper hand, the jonin was at his mercy but the brat had seemed to appear out of nowhere. The pinkette hadn't even been able to lift it! How could have Zabuza considered this outcome at the moment? The jonin had been his priority.

"It was in the girl's hold and she was surrounded by her teammate. It would have been too suspicious. "

" Was she alive?" His own voice, was also deceitfully calm.

"Chakra exhaustion, third and second degree burns on her back. Unconscious but will survive. "

Yet she hadn't made a sound. Once the weapon had been between her hands she had calmed. It was lik- No, impossible. Yet wasn't this suspicion what made his clone attack her? Wasn't the sight of her feeding it her blood what perturbed him? The memory flooded in his mind. It was mostly blurred, she was only a pink haired form, lost in the mist, seen as harmless and set aside. But the sound of those red droplets against the metal had been a racket for his ears. The push against his chakra of its aura was overwhelming. The scene had screamed danger and instinctively his clone attacked.

" What are you going to do Zabuza-san? " asked Haru.

Zabuza didn't answer. He just stared at his weapon, the one that he never doubted.

"How long are you going to wear this fake mask? he growled, Take it off. "

He had to take it back before it was too late.

Xx

Climbing the tree was easy. Her chakra flowed at her will. The flow was steady, making her perfectly stick to the surface. Sakura stopped running. The pull of gravity magnified and the pinkette almost lost her balance. She put more force on her body to stand upright. She could have used chakra but she needed to enhance her muscles. A weak body could not hold Kubikiribocho after all and she had no enough chakra to be reliant of it. Sweat began to appear and her breath quickened but still she held on. The feeling of peace, send by the sword fastened on her back, hardened her resolution. 'It's dragging us down.' Like so many times now she ignored her.

She heard a loud thud followed by soft cries but she didn't stop. Once she satisfied of her progress she took her sword and powerfully swung it at the tree. It was strange how the sword always seemed lighter but Sakura never commented on it. She sat on the newly made bench. Naruto was rolling in the ground, tears in his eyes and clutching his head. The Uchiha stared at his own mark on the tree, not even halfway to hers. 'Good job Outer! I'm sure he will compliment us now!' A frown marred her face. Kakashi observed the two of them quietly, not paying any attention to her. She voiced her first thought out of pettiness, loud enough to be heard by the team.

"It was easier than I thought! " A smug smile adorned her lips.

The hurt at seeing how the boys's shouts of surprise was muffled by Kubikiribocho. They had forgotten she was here, too caught up in their own competition. Naruto cried her name out of surprise while gaping at her. Sasuke was more discreet, the slight upside of his lips was what gave him away. 'He is staring at us!' squeezed Inner. Pride gleamed in his black orbs and she blushed of pleasure.

"Wow Sakura-chan ! You're so cool! " cheered Naruto.

Sakura send a shy smile back. Happiness swelled in her heart and for the first time since so long Kubikiribocho wasn't the cause.

" Congrats Sakura! Not only smart but you also seem to have a lot of stamina and control! " chanted her sensei and Sakura couldn't hold the grin. Kubikiribocho warned her but she chose to listen to Inner. Kakashi then made a mockery of lowering his tone as if talking to himself. " It seems that Sakura is the closest one of ever being Hokage. The Uchiha clan is also not as great as rumored … "

Anger fired in her eyes. 'Why sensei?' The nails drew blood as she clutched her hands, but she stayed quiet. The smile on Naruto's face faltered as he stared at his own laughable marks. A dark gleam was back on Sasuke's eyes and she just wanted to yell at him to stop looking at her. Inner was on the back of her mind, her bright white outline now a sad grey. 'We should be happy, shouldn't we?' tried to comfort Inner. Soft vibrations under her dragged the genin out her worry for her inner self. Frustration clouded her mind. Her previous anger redirected toward the only thing she could change, herself. Shut up! Let me be! 'B-but I'm you!'. Inner, Sakura decided, was annoying. Inner wouldn't stop crying, Inner who was so naive, Inner who wouldn't let her forget the world. Inner who was all too familiar. The sword purred at the train of her thoughts while the now grey form continued to cry. Bars surrounded it and seemed to draw closer. 'Stop please!'You cannot do that!' But how could one murder their own mind? She could try to restrain Inner in a useless cell but her voice would always carry and that, Sakura could never stop.

Xx

The two genins were almost passed out from exhaustion. Sasuke had improved but was still too forceful, too hasty resulting in a too much chakra. Naruto was another league completely. The blond couldn't even find the right amount chakra to begin with. His control was nonexistent and every step held a different amount gathered. For the two, the same task held different problems. Kakashi found the exercise perfect for them. Thanks to this he will learn how to best train them. The girl had succeeded on her first try. Kakashi wasn't surprised and didn't expect any less from her. Staring at the sweating form of the girl as she took a pause, Kakashi was happy. Now he could appoint her to work at the bridge with him under the cover to guard Tazuna.

"Hey Naruto! " the shout from the pinkette dragged the jonin out of his scheme.

The Uzumaki stopped yelling obscenities at his tree and turned at the calling. He seemed surprised to see Sakura approach him and blushed. She smiled at the bruised boy. The soft smile clutched at the jonin's heart.

"Do you want some help? " she giggled. "I've been observing you and maybe I cou-''

"No ! " Sakura's eye widened at the blunt refusal and her smile fell. The blond tried to rectify. " I don't want to waste your time Sakura-chan! I'm sure that I will get it right at one point! I mean if this bastard of Sasuke can do it I will too! I'm the next Hokage after all! " Naruto send her a grin but Kakashi found it too cheerful to be genuine.

Sakura smiled, the hurt still in her jade orbs. Another girl appeared in Kakashi's mind.

'Oh, next time then?' her smile was nothing but gentle. He was oblivious to the deception her chocolate orbs reflected. ' We are in the same team after all, we should be there for each other …'

"Eager aren't you? " she answered, mocking but with no malice. " It wouldn't have bothered me but if you insist. Just … ," she hesitated, " Relax okay ? " At his confused look she explained. " Chakra is your spirit's energy so when you get too excited you lose control. Relax, concentrate and collect a constant amount at your feet. I'm sure you will get the hang of it! "

The Uzumaki grinned, nodded vigorously and went back to training. This time Naruto took more time to concentrate before trying again. Sakura stared as her teammate's new mark, higher to all his previous tries. Kakashi chose this moment to act.

"Sakura ! "He called the genin over. Her curious jade orbs were set on him. " It seems that you already mastered this technique. Tomorrow you will … "

Xx

"It was boring! " yelled Sakura as she swung the blade.

Naruto refused to flinch as he saw how « Kubikiribocho » ( as she wanted him to call it) was trust deeply into the trunk. The tree vibrated. He swallowed … hard.

" Sakura-chan … " he began, looking back at the ground, a few meters lower than his branch. " I know you wanna train but could you do it in another tree that the one I'm working on? "

She blushed but nodded. Sakura tried to take the sword out but it was too deep in.

" Sorry Naruto! But it's so infuriating!" she complained. "There was nothing to do! And Tazuna-san refused to let me help carrying the bar!"

There was only the two of them in the clearing, Naruto had decided to come back to train after dinner even though he was already exhausted and found Sakura already training. The pinkette was in a bad mood and Naruto knew that needed to let out some steam.

" It's so unfair that I'm there with nothing to do while you two are training! Sensei even refused to let me here with you two! And when I've finally though that could train by working out on my arm Tazuna-san had to prohibit me from doing it!" Her furrowed her brows and imitated the old man's voice. " ' A building land is no little girl place' he said ! Can you believe it?"

Using her feet as a leverage she pulled the sword out. Naruto could feel the tree quiver under him thanked the Kami to have been seating at the moment of the impact.

"At least you have mastered the technique Sakura-chan. Sasuke and I are still struggling."

There was no spite in his word. Sakura was the smartest after all and she was very knowledgeable on Chakra. No, Naruto wasn't jealous of Sakura just … disappointed in himself. How could he even dream of becoming Hokage if he was unable to climb a simple tree?

"You would have already mastered if only you will let me help you. "

And really he wanted to. He was growing frustrated of failing and his head hurt. But he couldn't bring himself to ask for Sakura's help. What right did he had to ask for anything when he had let her down? He was lucky enough to have her talk to him.

" And let the bastard think I cheated ? Never ! " She rolled her eyes and went back to training.

He would never confess it but he was happy to have Sasuke to train alongside him, showing him that he wasn't the « dead last » anymore. The same couldn't be said for the Uchiha, you could still see the mark of burns on the tree next to him. Yet the boy seemed to have the same opinion as him on asking Sakura's help. His black eyes burned the Uzumaki's back everytime he failed the exercise and Naruto was sure he wanted to ask him what Sakura told him. Not that the Uzumaki could have really helped.

"How is he doing ?" she asked, staring at the marks ( a little higher than his own) on the other tree. The humor had left her face and she seemed insecure.

It was true that after the « prank » (could it be described as a joke? It was Sasuke after all, the bastard had no humor ), the relationship between his two teammates have degraded. If there had been tension before no you could cut it with a knife. It was strange though. The two did not insult or fought. It was in how the seemed to ignore each other or more like Sasuke ignored Sakura. Sasuke did not spare her a glance but Naruto was sure he was just ashamed of losing in one punch. And that was how Naruto found himself in the role of peacemaker. He was strangely good at it.

"Not good. " Sakura widened her eyes in worry. "At this rhythm I would beat him tomorrow morning. "

His teammate laughed lightly before yawning.

"You should go back Sakura-chan. It's late and you have been here longer than me."

She glared but decided to listen to him.

"Good night, Naruto. Don't stay up too late ! "

Once he lost sight of her, Naruto yawned. One more try then he will go back.

"-ke up ! Hey ! Can you hear me ?"

The voice was soft and Naruto would have been happy to hear it if his body wasn't causing so much pain (It's the last time he will sleep on the floor). The voice was unmistakably feminine and unfamiliar. He opened one and … blushed. The girl seemed older than he and a glowed. Her long silky dark locks fell on his face. Her delicate face not much farer from it either. He drowned in her eyes. She was prettier than Sakura, she radiated calmness and affection. Her eye were soft, something he never saw in Sakura's. Only an idiot could describe Sakura's eyes as soft, her green orbs always shone brightly with determination and force.

The stranger was beautiful but definitely strange. Picking herbs at this hour seemed tired but Naruto could understand the need to help. She was strange but interesting. And picking herbs was amusing, even though he hadn't be the one to be taught by Tsunami-san, he had picked up some things form observing the older woman cure Sakura. It was helpful for recognizing some herbs and the girl explained some of them to him.

"You seem to know quite a bit about herbs. Are you training to be an medic-nin ?" she inquired.

"An medic-nin ? Oh no ! I want to be Hokage. That was why I was training , to become stronger !"

If she was taken aback by his declaration she didn't show it.

" And why do you want to become Hokage ? "

His eyes shone. It was no secret that Naruto liked to talk about his dream.

"So the whole village will acknowledge me ! And I have to prove something … "

But it was strange how the excitation didn't seem as powerful as before. He found his explanation kind of hollow and stopped himself. He thought of Inari's father who died for this village, of Iruka-sensei who was injured because of him. Of how Sasuke helped beat Zabuza, eyes ablaze with vengeance when he saw Sakura's fallen body. But even though he had been strong when he won against Mizuki Iruka-sensei had still been injured. Sakura's body remained unmoving. Being strong did not mean protect. He thought about her previous question. Then the image of Tsunami-san taking care of Sakura and Kakashi-san resurfaced. Before he knew it he continued his sentence.

"I would like to save the one who are precious to me. "

This time her eyes widened. Then she slowly smiled at him. She seemed proud.

"To be honest with you, I've always thought that the real strength was in the will to protect. "

Naruto grinned. He was still confused and guilt still consumed him when he thought of Sakura, but something was sure. The next time one of his teammate was hurt, he will be able to help. He promised himself.

Xx

Larynx, heart, …

"… You wanna know about heroes ? You live with one. For me your mother is a hero Inari . Will you cried about we are all going to die, your Tsunami-san was saving Sakura's life. While heroes fight and save crybabies like you brag about how unfair the world is. Wake up !"

And like that Naruto left the room. Silence fell as Inari continued to cry. Sakura stayed quiet but she was as taken aback as everyone else. She had thought that the whole deal about her injury had ended when she comforted as she woke up but clearly it had affected Naruto deeply. 'How come he care more about our health than you do ?'The words were spiteful.

" And you ?" yelled Inari.

It took some time for her to understand that he was addressing her. She frowned. The kid was lucky that she had to leave Kubikiribocho in her room or…

"You were the one who almost died last time ! And you want a second go ? " he chuckled without humor, transferring his anger from Naruto to her. " You know you won't come back do you ? And it's not playing with a sword that will save you. "

Before the fight, Sakura would have smiled to be polite while Inner would have yelled in anger. A few days ago, she would have yelled while her inner self would have tried to calm her down. But those days, she felt nothing by being apart from her sword. The sword seemed void compared the bliss it offered and just leaving it to eat with the other left her like a zombie. Even the insult to Kubikiribocho failed to create a strong emotion apart from annoyance. So Sakura' voice was truly calm.

"Zabuza needs to die. " Was all she said.

Because he will come back for her sword and without it Sakura was as good as dead.

Hi ! What do you think ? I was really scared of your reactions to Kakashi but you seem to like him ! There isn't much action in this chapter and it's mostly focused on Naruto's development, I did it a little in the previous chapters but there you can't clearly see the difference with cannon. I hope you didn't find him too obsessed with Sakura but for me he is really touched by the accident. Also ! What do you think of his relationship with Sakura ? And what do you think of Sakura and Kubikiribocho ? Next chapter we will have the big fight ! And more of Sasuke, I find him a little left out. Let me know what you think in the reviews ! See you next chapter !

Thanks a lot to :

StrangersAreBad ( Thanks you ! I hope you will like this one !), 0SomeoneStrange0 (Thanks you for reviewing ! I'm happy that you like it !), myownersmanual ( I really love to confront perspective so you can't never take what the character thought at face value like with Sakura's injury and the different POV of it. I'm really happy that you like that ! If it's too much do not hesitate to tell me !), Suzululu4moe ( Yes, Kakashi will suffer quite a bit. Sorry.), CassieInTheDark ( The few I read where someone kept the sword or even thought of it were self-insert so I did it myself.), LadyCalus (Thanks you ! Tell me what you think of this chapter !), LostPrincessHolly ( I'm super happy that you like their relationship ! I'm always second guessing myself on it !), Ketsurui15 ( Thanks you very much ! What part did you find confusing ? I made Kakashi's very weird to show his state of confusion but if it's not this one do not hesitate to tell me ! I hope this chapter is clearer!), Guest ( Kakashi is traumatized from his past and his relationship with his team is clearly not healthy but the near death of Sakura and its supposed similarities with Rin's own death is just too much for him. The fact that he just woke up from chakra exhaustion did not help resulting in a sort of hallucination), Guest ( Sorry but even though I know Inner is annoying she is primordial to Sakura's mental health. But If you wanna know, Sakura also find her annoying.), tiffanycr ( I'm so happy that you're interested in Inner's role ! I will really deepen it in a few chapter ! As for Boruto, I'm sorry but I didn't watch the show even though my little brothers beg me to. And yes when I found out about Rin's death I immediately though about Haku's.), Ashes ( Thanks you !), Midnightdreams33 (I'm happy that you like the story so far !), WhiteQueen1116 ( Thanks you ! I'm also eager to be in the chunin exams as it's my favorite arc but I always fear to rush the story. So the it's still far away. Sorry)