As Tazuna led us to his house, he took us through a wooded path beside the water, a shortcut he called it. The environment would have been peaceful under normal circumstances, except I knew we faced a battle. But I could still admire that it was a beautiful path. There was a crisp to the air, carried by the breeze, one that almost made you shiver. A loud chorus of birds was tweeting and singing to each other as we walked deeper into the forestry. On occasion, there was a rustle as they landed on the branches above us. Across the woods, distant echoes of Woodpeckers drilling away at the tree trunks reverberated. My eyes and ears absorbed the information as it came, processing it meticulously.

It was important for me to keep my senses sharp here. I took in the atmosphere of the area and also felt for any flares of unknown chakra signatures that may be present.

You can feel the sounds of the forest pushing you closer to the edge when you're aware of being stalked.

The experience wasn't pleasant, in fact it was terrifying.

I dropped my gaze to stare ahead at Naruto's backpack instead, painting a relaxed expression on my face as I followed the uniform lines of its stitching. It reminded me of patching holes in clothing at home, prolonging its life so that I could save money on buying new clothes. Of the light above my bed that I could point, directing it so I could sew before I went to sleep. I dreaded the moment he would remember Sasuke's heroic altercation with the Demon Brothers and attempt to recreate it, in his own way. Seeing them squabble back and forth, trying to outdo each other all the time, reminded me a lot of my childhood.

You only compete for attention with kin like that.

Naruto stopped abruptly in his tracks in front of us, pulling me from the ebbing and flowing waves of memories. As a result, Tazuna halted beside me, Kakashi next to him, and Sasuke at the end of the line. Naruto pressed his hand against his headband, his thumb and fingers stretching out into a line. An almost exaggerated splendor filled his eyes as he glanced left, then right. In the next instant, he drew out shuriken from his pouch and threw them with all his might into the low-handing branches just to the right of our formation.

"There!" As he cried out and tossed them, he nearly faceplanted into the dirt from losing his balance. His hand shot down just in time to catch himself.

. . .

There was such silence that you could hear crickets chirping.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand in the face of a particularly strong and chilly breeze.

"Must have been a rat." Naruto let out a short, proud laugh as he smiled coyly and adjusted the headband on his forehead.

"What do you mean, just a rat?" Tazuna asked wearily, taking his hat off to wipe the sweat from his brow. I felt a little bad for the man, being a civilian. He could be just as loud as Naruto at times though.

It's probably just a volume awareness thing... They can't help it. The compassionate side of me argued on their behalf. Though my critical side still admonished it, recognizing the trouble it would bring to a covert escort and protection mission.

"Naruto, please do not throw shuriken like that..." Kakashi's tone was a mix between concerned and embarrassed. It made me wonder if he was questioning the effectiveness of his teachings from the past few months. "It is really dangerous."

"Stop acting like a moron!" Tazuna piped in again, catching on that there was no real danger to him now that he could see Kakashi wasn't concerned about Naruto's target. I felt my lips tug into a frown, feeling disenchanted by the entire ordeal.

Sasuke could only offer his prolonged unimpressed silence, which spoke louder than any words he could have spoken. Naruto gritted his teeth, whether at the scolding he'd just received from the two elder men of the group or by the lack of reaction from his rival, I couldn't be sure.

As one can imagine, Naruto was all to keen to send another barrage of shuriken off toward the sound of a loud and sudden crack. I kept my focus squarely on Kakashi, observing his reaction. The speed and momentum that he used to snap his head over to look at Naruto again made my own neck ache, but what really piqued my interest was the way his lone eye flickered along the line of lower-branches above us. So quickly that you might not have noticed it, if you weren't beside him. My own eyes wandered over the upper branches of the forestry around us, a particular section of branches were bouncing steadily from what seemed like just the wind. I played my investigation off as rolling my eyes and turning my back on the whole predicament, in case the enemy had drawn nearer in those sparse seconds between Kakashi's scan and my own. Whether I picked up on actual enemy movement based on Kakashi's instincts or let my imagination get to me, well... I couldn't be sure of that either.

"I said stop it, you snot-nosed brat!" I could hear Tazuna protesting once more, the sound of him hitting Naruto across the head and Naruto's cry of pain echoed sharply throughout the forest. At the sound of another nearby rustle, my frown deepened and I looked to Kakashi once more. He had leaned down to part the bushes the shuriken had been thrown into and you could see white fur peeking out from the opening he created with his arms. The rest of the group shuffled up to get a closer look at the animal. I followed behind them slowly, feeling a heavy weight begin to settle over my chest. I sucked thick air into my lungs greedily, feigning my rising panic as an exasperated sigh while I placed a hand on my hip to really sell the act.

"Oh, it wasn't your imagination after all..." Tazuna said quietly beside Naruto, a hint of what sounded like regret to his tone as he awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck.

"A-a rabbit?!" Naruto cried out again, though this time in despair. He made quick work of grabbing the small animal from the bushes and kneeling down to the forest floor, clutching the rabbit in his arms as he apologized to it profusely. Kakashi straightened up slowly, the bushes falling back into place with another loud rustle. He didn't turn to face us just yet and I begrudgingly stepped closer to the other side of Naruto, taking Kakashi's withdrawn posture as a sign of trouble to come. I mentally offering the boy a small apology as I kept a calculating eye on our Sensei's shoulders. I heard Sasuke step closer beside Tazuna, too. Hell, I felt like I could hear everything right now. My ears were hyper attuned to the sounds around me, all thanks to the adrenaline pumping recklessly inside my body. It was with practiced ease that I was able to contain my shaking from the anxiety and sculpt a neutral expression on my face. A skill acquired by years of battling off psychological games and hiding perceivable weaknesses in my appearance.

Any moment now. I thought to myself, focusing intently on trying to sense any incoming disturbances in the air or traces of chakra around us. Much to my distaste, I didn't feel anything. I did recognize the way Kakashi's shoulders suddenly stiffened.

CAW! The sound of flapping wings followed the crow's calling as it shot out the leaves at the top of the tree in front of us. It soared from the area with haste, nearly breaking my concentration as my brain processed the unnerving shrillness of its cry. In that same moment, Kakashi shifted his body and looked behind us with panic, his eye staring up into the trees.

"Everyone get down, now!" His order was sharp as he dropped to one knee and kneeled down low against the surface of the earth. He supported the rest of his weight on his forearm as he hovered just above the ground. I heard the sound of something rotating and coming towards our backs with great speed. I wasted no time in shoving the already-kneeling boy in front of me down into the dirt. I held my breath and pressed my entire body down against Naruto's backpack and lower body.

I might be too high above the ground to miss the blade...

When I heard the sword fly over my head a violent gust of air accompanied it. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt something make contact.

My breath caught in my throat.
A crashing wave of sadness and regret made my heart squeeze painfully.

I'd always... thought of myself as a full-fledged ninja...

I was relieved to find that all of my limbs were intact after a moment of processing what happened and choosing not to decipher the memories and emotions that had rushed through my mind in these trying times. The executioner blade hadn't made contact with me, but with a part of me. It was the sudden feeling of weightlessness that tipped me off the most.

The distant, distinct sound of wood breaking and ninja sandals hitting a surface spoke volumes of the arrogance of the ninja who nearly stealth assassinated us all. I knew it was foolish of me not to have raised my head and kept the enemy in my sights. But the long, thick strands of hair showering down over us, right in front of my face, prevented me from being able to raise my eyes any further up. It was strewn nearly as far as Kakashi's feet, I noted to myself in a detached sort of sense.

"Whoa." Naruto breathed, his interest also piqued by the pink rain. I felt as he connected the dots, slowly turning his body to stare up at me. My peripheral caught the wide-eyed, open-mouthed look of shock on his face before he turned his head to look back at the hair, still dancing with the wind as it flowed to the ground. "Sakura, your..."

I realized how I must have looked to Naruto in that moment. I shifted my palms, pressing them into the forest floor and pushing myself up off the boy. The moment I grounded myself on my own two feet, I reached down to grab his hand and hoist him up. I steadied back into a defensive position, eyes darting up to finally look at the man who nearly killed us. His mouth was covered by bandages, his neck craning as he looked down at us from over his shoulder. He was standing on the hilt of his ginormous sword, which was lodged inside of the upper trunk of a tree, explaining the earlier sound of wood breaking that I heard.

Zabuza.

"Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi greeted him casually, though there was still an edge to his tone. He seemed like he was about to say more but Naruto flew forward suddenly with a battle cry. I edged closer to Sasuke, steadily taking place beside him in front of the bridge builder as I avoided making eye contact with the both of them. I didn't feel like having a conversation about my hair right now, not when we couldn't afford to take our attention off of Zabuza for a single moment.

"No, Naruto." Kakashi said firmly, his hand blocking him from stepping any further. "You all need to stay away from this guy."

"Kakashi-sensei, he almost killed us!" Naruto yelled, looking up at Kakashi with confused, angry eyes. My hand was resting on my leg, fingers hovering over the opening flap of my kunai pouch. It didn't make me feel anymore secure, not in the slightest, though I had no problems embracing that feeling. Being next to the Uchiha boy brought me more comfort than I cared to reflect on. Naruto glanced over at me with the face of a guilt-ridden boy before looking down, uttering quietly. "Sakura's hair."

He thinks my hair... was his fault? My attention trailed back to Zabuza. I would have to clear the misunderstanding with Naruto when we got out of this.

If, we get out of this. The thought taunted me.

The man of the hour was silent, staring down at us all like a hawk observing his prey. When his cold eyes inevitably made contact with mine, I fought to suppress a shiver and avert my eyes, instead keeping a firm hold on my blank expression. Kakashi retracted his hand from in front of Naruto and slowly raised it up to his headband.

This is so wrong.

"I know, Naruto. I'm going to have to resort to..." Kakashi trailed off as his hand made contact.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan." Zabuza said, properly responding to our Sensei's acknowledgment as he turned his body to face us. Sasuke's posture visibly stiffened straighter at the mentioning of the Sharingan. "Sorry, I can't chat right now. I have an appointment with that old man."

"Get into formation and use the teamwork I've taught you to protect Tazuna." Kakashi continued speaking to us as he slowly pushed the headband up from over his eye. "Do not enter this fight."

I don't like how much you're enunciating your words, sensei...

"Zabuza, the only engagement you'll have is with me." Kakashi addressed Zabuza directly this time, his tone dark, red eye blazing along with his dark one in matching, barely suppressed anger. I felt goosebumps spread over my skin at the sight of it.

"What an honor to see that Sharingan of yours so soon." Zabuza said, the upward movement of his bandages indicating a grin.

"Sharingan, Sharingan, what the hell is that?" Naruto growled, obviously annoyed by his lack of knowledge about a word getting thrown around an awful lot. Sasuke was staring intently at Kakashi's back, a serious and troubled look on his face.

"The Sharingan…" Sasuke began slowly, going over the bare bones basics of the visual prowess. "It's said it can give you the ability to read and defeat all types of Genjutsu, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. But that's not the only ability it wields."

"Exactly so. What's even scarier is that you can copy your opponent's abilities after you see them." Zabuza laughed. "Makes for a great challenge."

Proud of his homework. Or maybe he's fought an Uchiha in the past?

"When I was a member of the assassination team in the Hidden Mist, I kept a handbook that included information about you. And this is how it described you: Copy Ninja Kakashi, the man who copied more than 1000 Jutsu…"

The tension rose as Zabuza and Kakashi sized each other up, the unadulterated excitement coming from the Mist nin was both understandable and unsettling. Kakashi was a bit harder to read, though he still held a dark, foreboding energy about him. Naruto seemed shocked at the revelation of Kakashi's wide variety toolbelt of Jutsu. He was probably coming to the realization that he was a lot more than that lame teacher who fell for his chalkboard eraser prank back at the Academy.

"Enough with all the pleasantries. It seems I'll have to kill you first then, Kakashi." Zabuza said, crouching down on his sword. "Then I'll get that old man and your kids." The sound of wood creaking followed the splintering of its trunk as the large sword and man disappeared before our eyes. I finally drew a kunai from my pouch at the sign of our battle starting, holding it firmly in front of me as we stepped deeper into formation around Tazuna. Naruto seemed a bit more open to obeying Kakashi now that he was able to process the situation at hand.

"He's over there!" Naruto called out a few moments later, pointing toward the water. He was the first to notice Zabuza standing on its surface, which I found was still an odd sight to see despite experiencing the tree-climbing exercise already. He had one hand forming the tiger seal in front of him while the other was outstretched up into the air, forming the other half of the seal. A leaf began to dance its descent towards the waters below, falling before our enemy.

"Ninpo... Hidden Mist no Jutsu."

Zabuza disappeared again before the leaf could make contact with the water. I tightened my grip on my kunai, trying my damnedest to hold it steady.

Here he comes. My lip hurt from how hard I was biting the inside of it. I thought I would be steps ahead of Zabuza- I knew his moves, Jutsu and damn near close to every choice he would make here.

But the hair.

My eyes flittered over the pink hairs that were getting blown further out around us by a sudden breeze, one that also pushed in a rolling, heavy mist out from the water. It drifted steadily into the clearing we were standing in.

Something is off, about how things are playing out.

"This missing ninja is an expert in silent killing. He'll come after me, first. But it's not like I can use the Sharingan perfectly." Kakashi's said gravely as he shared the information he knew with us. Never in his wildest dreams could he imagine that his first mission out of the village with his Academy fresh Genin team would involve an S-Class rogue ninja assassin from Kiri. "So be careful, keep your guards up."

"It's getting thicker." Naruto spoke nervously as the mist drew closer. Zabuza's chakra was closing in around us with it, disorienting our ability to sense him. "Just like when we were in the boat."

"8 Choices. Liver, lungs, spine, clevical vein..."

"H-huh?" Tazuna stuttered behind us and I took a deep breath, feeling the wave of killing intent crashing down on us.

Zabuza's voice echoed out around us, everywhere yet nowhere, all at once. My eyes scanned our surroundings again, scattering over the outlines of objects that I could make out through the mist. Searching for the slightest hint of movement. I even interrupted my chakra flow for a brief moment, to confirm he wasn't trying to further disorient us with Genjutsu as he fought Kakashi. I heard the sound of its high-pitched whizzing before I saw the kunai flying out from the mist with great speed. The loud clang of metal-on-metal rung sharply as Kakashi's shuriken met the kunai in their flight path, deflecting it into the base of a nearby tree. From the look of its trajectory, they were intended for Tazuna's throat

"Neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart... Which one should I go after?"

You first, huh? That wasn't supposed to happen either! Zabuza's bloodlust is greater than it should be. He's making extra efforts to try and speed up this assassination. And if he beats on the boys... Will they still be able to get away from him this time, thanks to the tree-climbing exercise?

Kakashi's chakra pushed in after the attempted weaponry attack, violently clashing against Zabuza's own killing intent as he continued listing off vital points. The energy that settled heavily around us felt just as thick as the mist and air surrounding us. I kept my wits about me enough to notice when Sasuke began to shake next to me, kunai trembling from his white-knuckled grip of it. There was a hollow look about Sasuke's dark and wide eyes. As if he was here with us physically, but somewhere else entirely in his mind. My free hand reached out on its own accord to smooth over his shoulder, just as it did on the day of the bell test. Kakashi's voice broke through the mist in the next few seconds, and Sasuke's head jerked from my hand on his shoulder over to our Sensei as he offered his own form of comfort to the Uchiha boy.

"Sasuke... Don't worry." He'd turned his head to look at us from over his shoulder, his mask lifting in the tell-tale sign of a smile. "I'll protect you all with my life. Me and you have something we still need to talk about after all, don't we? "

My jaw clenched in my doubt, gears clicking in my mind as I tried to formulate a plan.

Naruto will be okay thanks to his healing abilities. But if he gets his hands on Sasuke...

"I'm not trying to throw my weight around when I say that, either. I don't let my comrades die." Kakashi's eyes lingered over each of us for a moment, watching as his words sunk in. My tightened jaw slacked open as his words triggered something inside of me. My head tilted back a bit as my world spun, hand slipping from Sasuke's back to dangle at my side.

"Sakura, I think you've forgotten who you're talking to!" A girl with long, blonde hair and beautifully bright-blue eyes stood across from me, enraged. They always looked at me with some rage.

I deserved it.

We were standing across from each other, near the middle an oversized stage. There was an upper level observatory floor with large steel staircases and railings connecting it to the arena. A large screen and a statue were up against the wall at one end of the arena. A familiar Jounin with prominent lines under his eyes was standing beneath it, overseeing our battle.

"Don't cop an attitude with me again, you little crybaby." She sneered at me.

My eyes wandered up to my Sensei and favorite yellow-haired boy, looking for visual support, just as the younger of the two voiced his distress. I barely caught Kakashi's response as they stared back down at me.

"Aww, man, Sakura really crossed the line with Ino just now."

"Sakura's not trying to throw her weight around, Naruto..."

I struggled to blink away the fuzzy white orbs threatening to creep in from the corners of my vision and overtake it entirely. My world was still spinning, but gradually it halted as I returned to reality.

Again?

Despite the confusing feelings from what just happened to me, I allowed a pained smirk to surface as I stared at Kakashi's back with new resolve. I could worry about the visions later. Kakashi's words were a slippery slope of grease to the gears beginning to click in my brain, ones that led to a plan, and a damned good one at that.

He always believed in us, didn't he? I should believe in myself for a change, too.

"It's over." Zabuza said from behind me. Despite knowing he would make his way there eventually, I still sucked air into my lungs out of surprise at the intrusion.

So fast. Will I ever match that speed?

I just knew his hand was already on his sword, ready to slice us all in one mighty swoop. Kakashi appeared between us, stabbing a kunai into Zabuza's stomach before shoving me and the rest of Team 7 out of range of the sword. I fell forward, landing on my hands and knees in the dirt. Taking this as a window of opportunity, I concentrated a minimal amount of my chakra slowly, carefully, hoping it would go unnoticed in the two Jounin's scuffle. I heard Tazuna stumble clumsily to his feet and then the sound of water pouring onto the ground steadily. I looked behind me and saw that there was clear water coming out from Zabuza's wound instead of red blood. Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi.

At least that hasn't changed... I'm counting on it.

"Sensei, behind you!" Naruto yelled with panic, pointing as Zabuza attempted to cut Kakashi in half. Only to find that he was a water clone, too. I pushed another experimental wave of chakra through my palms before finally rising back up into a standing defensive position, shuffling over beside Tazuna.

"It's over." Kakashi said, holding a kunai to Zabuza's neck. Tazuna breathed a sigh of relief and Naruto was near the end of a joyous, breathless laugh. Zabuza let out a laugh, too.

"You don't get it, do you. It's over? You think you can defeat me with your cheap imitation tricks? I'll admit it was an impressive plan of yours, copying my Water Clone Technique. Giving a little show with your words as a distraction... All while you hid out in the mist, observing my techniques."

Kakashi's eyes widened as another Zabuza appeared behind him.

"I'm not that easy to take down." He swung his sword once more, intending to cut Kakashi down for good this time. Kakashi dropped to the ground, avoiding the path of the sword, which continued it's path and dug down deep into the crust of the earth thanks to its momentum. Zabuza put all his weight onto the hilt of his sword with his hand, swiveling his body in the air to kick Kakashi squarely in the chest.

"Sen-sei!" Naruto cried haltingly as Kakashi's body went soaring, landing in the ocean with a deep splash. I noticed spikes littering the ground, no doubt from Kakashi dropping them as he went flying, hoping to slow Zabuza down.

"You fool. It's over?" Zabuza scoffed, flickering out of view from in front of us and reappearing beside Kakashi in an instant, his hands already weaving through the last of familiar signs. "Water Prison Jutsu!"

Water began to amass from below them and mold into the shape of a sphere around Kakashi, effectively trapping and immobilizing him within.

"You're trapped inside of my Jutsu and can't move now, so we'll have to finish our fight later. After I take care of a few... Pests." He brought his free hand back up into a sign to summon a Water Clone. A puddle of murky water in front of us began to rise up into tangible form, defying gravity.

"Wearing those headbands, acting like you're ninja. A real ninja is someone who's survived numerous brushes with death." The other Zabuza slowly rose from his hunched over form as the water finished taking shape, his cold eyes cutting sharp into us. "You're not ninja. You can only start calling yourselves ninjas when you're good enough to make it into my book."

Again with the book, almost as bad as Sensei!

He disappeared from view and I prayed to whatever gods were listening to allow the events to unfold as they were originally designed to, even if only for the next couple of minutes.

Please, Naruto... Be careful.

Zabuza reappeared before Naruto, giving him a kick swift enough to knock his headband off and spill blood. His foot came down and stomped on Naruto's Konoha headband, twisting and grinding it down into the dirt as a cheap shot of disrespect for the symbol of our nation. And for Naruto, a sign of disrespect to the teacher who had given it him.

"Take Tazuna and run!" Kakashi's panicked voice was distorted by the heavy water around him. "As long as he has me trapped in this prison, he can't move. And his water clone can't travel far from his real body. Just run away now, you have no chance at beating him."

A small, guilty smile crept up my face when Naruto winced in pain, pulling his bandaged hand from the ground that he had just pushed himself up off of After a few more moments of recovery, he darted towards Zabuza once more, only to be blown back by another kick. The sound of Zabuza's ninja sandal making contact with the boy's chest was sickening. He definitely cracked a rib or two. Naruto slid on his back in the dirt, eventually stopping at mine and Sasuke's feet, showing just how much skill Zabuza had with taijutsu.

"You idiot." Sasuke said minutely, staring down at the boy. It took some struggling but Naruto raised to his feet once more, gripping the metal of his Konoha headband in his hand. Blood leaked from his mouth down his chin, inevitably dripping to the forest floor below him.

"Hey, you..." Naruto's tone was unnervingly cold, for the first time since I'd met him. "Eyebrowless freak."

Zabuza visibly twitched at the nickname.

"Put this in your handbook. The man who will one day become Hokage… Is me, Naruto Uzumaki!"" Naruto smirked, bringing his headband up and tying it with obvious pride. The metal glinted as it rested on his forehead, shining me in the eyes when he turned his head to look at Sasuke.

I thought I was a full-fledged ninja.

My face twisted in some pain as those familiar words rung out in my mind again.

"Can you back up that arrogance, boy?" Zabuza asked, his tone meant to be humiliating.

"Sasuke, listen!" Naruto gave a foxlike grin.

"What is it?"

"I have a plan."

But I ended up hiding behind Sasuke and Naruto.

"Pft… Teamwork, from you?"

"Yeah, something like that." Naruto laughed.

I hated the way I was...

My heart thudded in my chest as Naruto looked back at me. He didn't seem to notice my pain, probably chalking my expression up to discomfort and fear.

"Sakura, stay with Tazuna, will ya?" Naruto requested, punching his hand as he geared up for their plan. Another painful throb pumped pure adrenaline through my body as a chiding thought creeped into the back of my mind.

Useless again.

"I will. But allow me to create an opening." I interrupted, stepping in line with Naruto at his left side, avoiding Sasuke's critical gaze on the other side. Naruto turned his body fully to look at me, eyes wide and mouth ajar, his fist still in his hand. My eyes wandered over his busted lip, the darkening of the skin on his cheekbone, down to his disheveled and dirty clothing. My hand tightened into a fist, the sight of the boy fueling my resolve to help keep the two safe from harm.

"Sakura-" Sasuke began, his voice an octave higher than it typically was.

"Naruto." I interrupted Sasuke, a frown on my face. How could I convince Naruto? I searched my memories for something, anything. "Do you see me as some weak female who can't keep up with you two? As if Kakashi was only teaching me inadequately?"

"Sakura." Naruto whispered, his hands falling limply to his sides as he contemplated my words. "I- I didn't mean..."

Don't worry, Sakura... I wont allow us to fall behind this time. To disappoint ourselves.

"I'm also a member of Team 7. Please, believe in me." Slowly, his grin came back to his face, one that I couldn't help but match.

"Alright, Sakura!" Naruto cheered, raising his fist into the air.

"What are you guys doing?! Our duty is to protect Tazuna, did you forget that? This fight was over the moment I got caught!" Kakashi tried to reason with us, reminding us of the civilian, our mission, behind us.

"Old man..." Naruto said quietly as he turned to face Tazuna, looking up at the man he'd grown fond of during the weeks of travel. I turned my head to look as well, but found myself entrapped by Sasuke's dark eyes instead.

There was a shine to them. An emotion sparking in them that I couldn't quite read, due to the fact that I had never seen it on his face before.

"Well, I..." Tazuna began slowly. "I'm the one who started all of this, knowing the risks. I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't fight for your Sensei just because I desire to live. I'm sorry for pulling you all into my mess..."

"You hear that?" Sasuke was still holding eye contact with me when he a coy smirk lifted his lips, though his gaze slowly shifted to Naruto's when the yellow-haired boy turned his head to relay an unspoken plan to his rival.

"Are you ready, Sakura?" Naruto asked, grin plastered back on his mouth as he turned to face Zabuza once more.

"I'm ready." I responded with quiet determination. My eyes narrowed at Zabuza when his shoulders began to shake with contained laughter.

"Going to keep playing ninja, eh? You lot will never grow up."

"What are you talking about, playing ninja?" Naruto growled.

"When I was your age..." Zabuza began, staring at the hand that he was slowly raising. "These hands were already stained red with blood."

"The Demon Zabuza." Kakashi spoke with gloom.

"Ah, so you've heard about it."

"The Hidden Mist, also called the 'Bloody Mist Village', held a final obstacle for their Academy before they could graduate to ninja."

"Final obstacle?" Sasuke murmured quietly. It was hard not to reflect on the bell test again.

"Oh, you know about that graduation exam, too." The original Zabuza said, looking at his captive in the water sphere with some interest.

"That exam..." The clone Zabuza said, face shadowed as he looked down and let his dark laughter out freely for a change. "It was just fights to the death between the students."

I bit the inside of my cheek, keeping a close eye on Zabuza after seeing the look of horror on Naruto's face.

"Friends who had trained and eaten at the same tables together were then pitted against each other and fought until one of them lost their life. Friends who had helped one another and shared their dreams."

To make children kill each other like that...

"10 years ago the Hidden Mist graduation exam was forced to change. This change came after the previous year when a demon came." Kakashi continued the story along for Zabuza. "Without holding back, without hesitation, a young boy who was not even in the Academy killed over a hundred students."

"That sure was fun..." Zabuza said as he looked up at the sky almost nostalgically, like he was reminiscing on a dear old memory. Suddenly, his gaze snapped down toward us.

More specifically, to Sasuke.

But, I was expecting that.

I drew my hands up with urgency into the Dog sign and conjured a hefty chunk my chakra.

"Don't you dare touch him, you bastard!" I snapped with barely contained rage, concentrating hard on pumping a steady course of my chakra through my feet. I watched with joy as the Zabuza clone that had lurched forward with the intent of great speed snap back like a rubber band and fall backward into the dirt from his own momentum, effectively trapping him deeper into my technique. He looked like a mouse that hadn't realized it was caught up on a glue trap. My chakra glowed a deep blue color as it flowed from my feet and glided over the damp ground below us. The pink strands of hair littering the forest floor were lit up by its glow, causing the locks to look purple in contrast with its light, almost a deep violet color. That glowing path went directly from me to Zabuza's clone.

Anyone can be a hawk if they have the upper-hand.

"What the-" The Zabuza clone exclaimed, trying to move its arms to get up, only to find that he could hardly move an inch. The back of his entire torso and feet were stuck, only his craning neck and bent knees had managed to stay free from the trap.

"Naruto, go! I don't know how long I can hold him there." I yelled at the boy, my nerves beginning to grow as I tried to calculate how much chakra I would need to keep pumping out in order to hold the connection securely. I was already beginning to feel my reserves start to deplete and I internally cursed myself for testing the Jutsu out more than once earlier. The second attempt had been a complete waste of chakra. As an afterthought, I gritted out. "And don't let your real body make contact with the hair."

Naruto shook himself out of his curious surprise of the glowing hair and made the sign for his Shadow Clone Jutsu, summoning numerous clones around him.

"You little WENCH!" The Zabuza clone roared furiously, looking at me with such a murderous intent that promised an agonizingly painful death. Naruto's clones began to circle around him as sweat began to roll down my temple. Zabuza's clone was trying to force itself from the grasp of my Jutsu, chakra clashing with mine like ocean waves would crash on the face of a cliff. The feeling of just his water clone's dark killing intent left a pit in my stomach and I pumped more of my own chakra out to try and counteract its ill effects on me.

Naruto's clones began to dog pile on the clone, each with kunai in hand, until they completely encased Zabuza in an orange dome. A few long moments later, they all came flying off in a poof of smoke, blasted away with a swing of his sword. One of the Naruto's, presumably the real one, skidded on the ground once more while digging around in his backpack.

Come on, guys...

"Sasuke!" He yelled, throwing a gigantic shuriken towards Sasuke. Sasuke jumped up and grabbed it out of the air with ease. He slid as he landed, one arm catching the ground so that he stayed upright until he could stand. Sasuke lifted the shuriken high enough for his shirt to ride up, exposing his stomach.

I averted my eyes to the ground, nothing that my chakra reserves were more than half gone as I struggled to maintain the upper hand in the chakra tug-of-war game with Zabuza's clone. I could only assume the technique was working so far so good in thanks to the hair being my own.

Just a little bit longer...

"Wind Demon Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows!" Sasuke shouted, jumping up high into the air.

"A shuriken wont work against me!" The Zabuza clone barked.

The Uchiha boy threw the shuriken with all his might and it spun wildly in the air, heading straight for Zabuza.

The real Zabuza.

"I see, so you're actually aiming at the real me." The real Zabuza said, almost impressed. "But that's not enough!"

He caught the shuriken in the air with a smirk, one that fell abruptly as a second one spun out from the shadow of the first.

"Another one?!" Zabuza exclaimed, though he wasn't too panicked. He jumped up over the second one. Allowing it to fly right under him, but not allowing it to break his Water Prison Jutsu on Kakashi.

"That's still not enough." He said almost murderously, the dark eyes of his real body turning to look at us. His water clone was thrashing against my chakra bind, growing stronger and getting an extra inch of wiggle room with each passing moment, causing the glow of my chakra to flicker. My reserves were just below one quarter.

That's what you think.

My next action was a calculated risk, but one worth taking. Pride for myself swelled in my chest as I carefully kneeled down on one knee, my glowing palms meeting the earth once more, strengthening the light of the chakra infused hair again.

POOF!

The second shuriken exploded into a large cloud of white smoke.


a/n: Sorry to end on a cliffhanger! I'm quite happy with this chapter, so please let me know if you are too:) and if you aren't, of course. Your comments, ideas and critiques will be writers fuel.

In the past, I've written in a chapter that Sasuke was a bit young for this not-Sakura. I'll be editing that out eventually. My ideas for this story have branched out a bit further from original intentions and I don't want mental age-gaps between not-Sakura and Sasuke hovering in the back of my conscience when we eventually hit Shippuden days. Find meaning in that statement as you please, but I will also note that its gonna be a long, slow burn so buckle up and enjoy the warmth.