Naruto twitched, pausing as he approached the dark-haired boy in front of him. As much chakra as was bubbling around Sasuke, there was someone else not too far away with the chakra of a demon. He turned once more to Sasuke, growling at the way he'd allowed the curse seal to overcome him.

'Ignore him for the moment. Another demon is coming – one I haven't sensed in years. She may not want to help you, but if you can convince her . . . not even this thing before you can stand up against two demons,' the Kyuubi whispered. Slowly, the chakra surrounding Naruto tightened back into a protective layer over his skin, and where before there was only one tail, nine tails now floated ominously.

Naruto nodded, stepping back from Sasuke and turning his back on him. This was done partially because he wanted to see this new demon, and partially because he knew it would incense Sasuke more than anything else he could do. By turning away and looking so vulnerable, Naruto was saying that he thought nothing of Sasuke's power – that Sasuke was weak.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto's eyes widened, turning back to their usual blue color for a second. Why was Sakura here? And where was the. . . . Something in his mind clicked, and Kyuubi laughed at the horror spreading through his host.

"Sakura-chan? What – what did you do? What happened to you?"

The blonde-haired boy stumbled back as Sasuke pushed past him. The youngest living member of the Uchiha clan too had reverted back from his former appearance. His eyes narrowed at his body's reaction to the kunoichi. "This is no place for you Sakura. Go home."

"You're wrong, Sasuke."

Sasuke blinked at Sakura then at Naruto – both had spoken at the same time. Naruto nodded toward Sakura. "You did this for him, didn't you?"

Sakura smiled slightly then bowed her head. "Yes." She raised her head and Sasuke gasped, the curse seal receding even more. With that one motion, chakra had suddenly begun streaming out of her. Thin tendrils reached toward him, but stopped just short of touching his now pale skin. "Sasuke, Naruto-kun and I are taking you home," she announced loudly. Voice dropping down to a whisper, she added, "Please don't resist."

Laughing, Sasuke stepped closer to the glowing girl. True, she seemed to have much more power than before, and he would have to find out how that had happened, but she was still just the useless little kid that followed him around. "And what happens if I resist?"

Ignoring his question, Sakura turned to Naruto. "After we do this, I have another mission to go on. You'll make sure he has no chance of getting away once he wakes up, right?"

Naruto nodded seriously, crouching down and readying himself to attack the pale boy between the two of them. "Ready?"

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, an out-of-place smirk spreading across her face, "You really should have said yes when I asked you out. The harder you are to chase, the faster girls run to try and catch up." Without warning, she and Naruto leaped forward.

Sasuke shared Sakura's smirk as he returned to his level of power from before. It was slightly painful, but would be necessary to fight Naruto. He resolutely ignored the nagging voice in his mind that said Sakura would be fighting too, and that Naruto knew something about her that the younger Uchiha had yet to discover. So what if two people were attacking him now? He could see their motions before they ever completed them.

He froze. Both of his teammates had disappeared completely.

"Gahhh!" A surprised cry fled from Sasuke's throat as the tendrils of chakra he'd forgotten about in his search for his opponents suddenly tightened around him. How could he have been so stupid? Sakura reappeared in front of him, one arm wrapped around Naruto's waist. Something about her frightened him – the chakra surrounding her was a bright green and was burning almost as brightly as Naruto's. While Sasuke had no doubt that Naruto was still the stronger of the two, Sakura had the intelligence to overcome that. For the first time since the fight began, Sasuke was forced to look away, unable to take staring into her jade eyes while they shone with betrayal like that.

"Sasuke, one last chance – come back with us on your own," Sakura pleaded, stepping forward slightly. Her voice was desperate. "Orochimaru can't just hand over strength. It comes with a price. All power comes with a price," she whispered bitterly.

Sasuke glanced up in surprise for a moment, the question of where she'd gotten her chakra from flickering across his mind for a second. Then his eyes narrowed as he realized something: Sakura's chakra was fading. Nodding, he released the curse seal as much as he could. The tendrils faded away completely. "Sakura-chan. . . ." he said, stepping closer to her. He didn't dare look at her directly. "You – You're right. This isn't how I wish to defeat my brother – under the power of Orochimaru. I'll return." To prove himself, he forced his eyes to return to their usual black.

Naruto grinned, bounding forward, loosing the image of the nine-tailed fox around him as he ran to welcome his teammate back. "Sasuke bastard! I knew you wouldn't do something so stupid! Right Sakura-chan? I told you I'd –"He choked, a spray of blood spurting from his mouth. He glanced down at his stomach – the seal – and coughed again. The spiral pattern now had a glowing ball of energy sitting directly in the middle. He looked back up at Sasuke, mouth opening and closing wordlessly. A pair of red eyes with three wheels each glared back at him.

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked. Why wasn't he moving? The Kyuubi should have been protecting him! What happened? What did Sasuke do?

Sasuke smirked, also staring at the seal his Chidori had destroyed. "Give up now Sakura. You stand no chance against me with Naruto out of the way." He chuckled and turned to face her. He sneered, noticing how still she was gaping in shock. "Go home. You're still just as weak and pathetic as you were before. Go run and cry to your friends and continue being weak and safe."

Sakura blinked, eyes darkening as she registered her former crush's words. She bit her lip and was surprised to find that her teeth had pierced it on the sides. She ran her tongue over the offending teeth. Her canines were pointed. Sakura smiled, a grin that revealed this change, and stepped toward Sasuke, releasing the pent up chakra within her. "Sasuke-kun," she began, voice a bit too sweet as her eyes and hair slowly faded to a dark red, "you really don't know when to quit, do you?" Her crimson eyes narrowed as she darted towards him. Surrounding her hand was a flame of energy just barely kept in with the last of her energy. She grinned, insanity flashing across her face, as her hand struck Sasuke's shoulder while he spun away. It wasn't much, but it still sent him stumbling to the side. Now, with the demon's energy surrounding her so much, she didn't care how long the fight took. She could afford to hit glancing blows all she wanted.

Sasuke's heartbeat pounded through her ears as they exchanged blow after blow. It was all she could do to keep fighting and not just wrap her arms around him and bleed him dry. Even with her impressive control, more and more of the demon seemed to be leaking out, and she wasn't sure how long she could hold onto the thin line keeping her from trying to kill the other genin.

The now white-haired boy was breathing heavily, eyes wide. Where had this come from? They were evenly matched – something that had never happened before. There had never been a time when any girl, much less Haruno Sakura, had been able to keep up with his speed and ability. And now, when he was borrowing so much of Orochimaru's strength and had the ultimate level of Sharingan, one hit should have easily dispatched her. Instead, the more he made her bleed, the stronger she seemed to become, fighting more erratically and thus becoming harder and harder to predict.

"Sakura!"

"What?" she gritted out, barely escaping a burst of fire from her opponent.

"If you can tell me a way to gain the strength you've gotten, I'll return with you to the village," Sasuke said, suddenly coming to a stop.

Sakura, however, wasn't able to stop quite as quickly. She ended mere inches before him, breathing in the smell of sweat and fresh blood coming off him. Her eyes widened, Inner Sakura trying to beat down the demon now that the fight was over.

Too late. She lunged forward, tearing into Uchiha Sasuke's throat even as he jerked backwards. That only tore his skin further. The curse seal, held on the flap of skin, retreated as Sasuke's breathing became more and more irregular. Sakura smirked, lapping up the slowing stream of blood. Maybe, when the Kyuubi recovered, it wouldn't mind sharing some of the meal. She'd never been too fond of the flesh itself, and this could be a perfect opportunity to make a new ally. . . .

"Sa – Sakura-chan? What . . . are you doing?" croaked Naruto. He pushed himself up slightly, ignoring the pain running through his stomach. He felt . . . unusual – more balanced and in control of himself. That difference didn't matter yet. What did matter was that his precious Sakura, the one he'd made that damned promise to, was drinking Sasuke's blood – killing him.

Sakura froze, eyes widening. She shoved Sasuke away from her, cringing as his body made a wet, slapping noise on the ground. He was drenched in blood and barely breathing.

She staggered back. "Naruto, I. . . . This isn't. . . . I didn't. . . .Oh god. Sasuke? Sasuke!" The pink-haired girl collapsed crying, noting with a slight laugh that her tears were made of blood. Sasuke's blood. She choked again, the tears pouring out even faster. "Naruto, what have I done? Make it stop! Naruto!" she cried, clutching her head.

Naruto, acting on some instinct that he'd never known he'd had, pulled her into his arms, watching as Sasuke's breathing continued to slow. "Sakura-chan. . . . He's low on blood. How can we fix that?"

Sakura's breath hitched some, but she calmed as Naruto's voice washed over her. It was soothing in a way, and brought her back to her senses. "He – he needs to get it back. I'll have to do it since you already lost so much blood but. . . . If – if I go near him I – I might – Naruto! I can't do it! Help him. . . ."

"Naruto?" asked a surprised voice. The blonde turned, not releasing the kunoichi in his arms. "Man . . . it was supposed to be a rescue mission. . . . This is so troublesome. Hey! We need medics over here!" called out Shikamaru. Soon Sasuke was surrounded by medic-nins. Shikamaru ignored them and meandered over to where the still conscious members of Team 7 were sitting. "So Naruto. . . ." Shikamaru paused, eyeing Sakura cautiously. She was covered in blood, yet didn't seem to have any lesions large enough to have produced it all. He frowned as Gaara and Lee appeared next to him.

"What happened to my Sakura-chan?" asked Lee. He wasn't sure what was going on, and he didn't like that she was being held by Naruto, but as it was obviously keeping her calm, he didn't say anything about it. "Did you come here all alone? Where's your sensei?"

Naruto blinked, seeing how the girl stiffened at the mention of Kakashi. "Sakura. . . ?"

Sakura stood, pushing Naruto gently. Raising her eyes to his confused ones, she smiled slightly. "I have to go find him. That was my other mission."

Naruto shook his head. "Where is he? Do you need me to come-"

"NO!" she shouted. Blushing, she added, "It's something I have to do on my own. Don't worry – he's with a friend. It won't be too dangerous for me." She turned and started walking, half wishing someone would stop her. Wishing Naruto would insist on following so she could cry on his shoulder again and ask him how he'd handled nearly thirteen years with the Kyuubi inside him, when she could barely manage a few days without trying to kill someone.

Behind her, Naruto accepted Gaara's hand and got to his feet, not bothering to ask why the Sand-nin was helping him. The group of genins that had gathered watched Sakura's blood-drenched form walk away, hair gently swishing back and forth as if nothing was wrong.

"Naruto. . . . She's changed."

Naruto nodded. "Ah."

Glancing at him, Gaara shook his head. "She's an idiot for doing that."

Nodding once more, Naruto started to follow the girl. Gaara followed close behind him. Lee also started to follow, but Shikamaru stopped him, shaking his head. "Don't bother. They'd leave you out. Those three . . . are the same now," he said, averting his eyes.

Lee just watched as the three disappeared into the distance. Beside him stood Temari. She smiled sadly and led Lee away to check on Sasuke.

Author's Note: Well! All right, I apologize for the delay in the fifth and sixth chapters. I'd actually had them written for a couple months, but my beta wouldn't send them to me and I didn't have them on my computer anymore. So. . . . I had to end up going to her house and having her burn them on a cd for me. They're completely unedited, as is this chapter. Having said that, I'd like to request a beta reader or two. Or three. -

Also, I want to stress that I'm trying as hard as I can not to turn Sakura into a Sue. If you've read Puppet in Pink, I consider Sakura a Sue there, and that is what I'm trying not to do. The girl has weaknesses, and is not stronger than Naruto by any means. Naruto was simply caught by surprise. Had she reached Sasuke before Naruto, there's no way she could have kept up with him. I want to mention this now to make sure everyone realizes that I am aware that canon characters can become Sues, and I am working on the prevention of that in my stories. So bye! Thank you for reading, and feel free to tell me anything I did wrong.

Sonoda Aki