Fallen Petals
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 14

A few weeks later.

Sakura strolled through the village. It was getting near the end of Sasuke's one month probation and Sakura was quite relieved.

'Maybe we can go back to being Team 7 again.'

Sakura continued her walk and ignored the stares of the passing men. Many had come up to her before to ask her hand in marriage but she had turned them all down. She sighed. There was only one goal at the top of her list and marriage isn't even coming close. She knew she needed to get stronger and train more so that she could find out the answers to her questions. And the only one who could answer her questions was the killer of her parents.

Sakura clenched her fists. Just thinking about that man who attacked her a few weeks ago made her angry. She had memorized every detail of the man whose image was engraved in her mind. She could never forget the way he sneered at her and said that she was just as weak as her parents.

Sakura bit her lower lip. 'I can never forgive him for talking about my parents like that.'

She vowed that she would seek him out and find out what had happened exactly five years ago. Even at the cost of her own life. But until then, she needed to get stronger.

The kunoichi paused in front of the Hokage's tower.

'That's right. Tsunade-sama needed to see me about something.'

Sakura started to walk up the steps leading to the Godaime's office. She stopped in front of the familiar wooden door and started to knock when she felt it swung open a crack. She took a peek inside and saw Kakashi speaking with the Godaime. She tried to listen but they were speaking too softly for her to hear.

"So, does that mean at the end of this week, Team 7 will be reinstated?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade nodded as she rested her head against her hand which was propped up underneath her cheek. "That's correct. I have a mission for the four of you and they requested that we send you guys."

"Oh?" Kakashi said. "And why's that?"

"Seems like a certain kunoichi has caught the interest of one young man," Tsunade said.

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked, surprised.

"Hai. She's getting to that age where she's turning into a woman. I got several requests asking if her hand is available in marriage but knowing her, I rejected them all saying that she isn't interested."

"Then why this mission?"

Tsunade stood up and looked out the window. "They have a scroll that is needed to be brought to me but they requested that Sakura be one of the shinobi who came to retrieve the scroll."

"Oh?"

"Their reasons for as to why they chose her, I do not know but I hint that it's because of his favorite subordinate."

"And who's that?" Kakashi questioned.

"Well, you were on another mission so you wouldn't know who it was. Your team went on this by themselves."

"I see."

Tsunade turned to face Kakashi. "Do not tell the others about this mission yet. I want to tell them myself," she commanded.

Kakashi nodded and with a poof he was gone.

Tsunade sat back down on her chair. "Oi, Sakura you can come in now."

Sakura stepped back in surprise but walked in. "You knew I was here?"

Tsunade nodded. "I sensed you from the very beginning."

Sakura laughed from knowing that she was caught. "So, what did you want to see me about?"

"I have a mission for Team 7 since Sasuke is near the end of his probation." Tsunade gazed out the window. "Tell Sasuke and Naruto to meet with you here in an hour and then I'll explain the details to this mission." Tsunade waved her hand at Sakura, indicating her to go.

"Hai," Sakura replied.

Sakura wandered around the village as she searched for Naruto and Sasuke. She decided that Ichiraku would be the first place where she'll look for Naruto.

She parted the flaps that hung over the small ramen shop. She stepped inside and scanned the shop for any signs of blonde hair. Instead, her eyes met with the familiar dark hair and spiky locks of a certain Uchiha.

"Sasuke?" she said in surprise. The Uchiha turned his head and looked at Sakura. "What is it?"

"I didn't know you were here," she replied. Sasuke grunted something that was inaudible and turned back to his bowl of ramen. The blonde who was seated next to him turned around and shouted happily, "Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Naruto," Sakura explained. "And this seemed like the most likely place to find you."

"Looking for me about what?" Naruto asked while slurping up his ramen. Sakura sighed. "Naruto, that's gross. Don't eat while talking with your mouth open."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said in apology. Sakura smiled. "Tsunade-sama is giving Team 7 a mission and she told me to tell you guys to meet her in one hour so she can give the details to the mission."

Naruto and Sasuke both looked up from their bowls of ramen. "A mission?" they both said in surprise. Naruto grinned a wide grin and adjusted his hitai-ate. "So, finally the old baa-chan has decided to give us a mission? I have been waiting a long time for this."

Sakura smiled. "Same."

Sasuke said nothing but smirked. "A mission? Shouldn't be too difficult."

Sakura nodded and turned around. "Make sure you are there in an hour," she said softly as she raised the flaps.

"Sakura-chan? Don't you want to go together? I can buy you a bowl of ramen and we can eat and then leave together," Naruto said as he picked up his bowl and slurped the soup.

Sakura turned her head and smiled. "No, it's alright. I think I'm going to train for a bit," she lied.

Naruto nodded understandingly and turned back to ask for another bowl of ramen. Sakura looked at Sasuke who said nothing but continued to eat his ramen slowly. She averted her gaze from the two men and walked out. She walked back to her house and went to her room. She sat on her bed and looked at the two picture frames that were placed on the small shelf above her bed. The first one was the last photo she had of herself standing with her parents. The other was the picture of Team 7.

She smiled when she picked up the picture. The girl of six years ago looked carefree and happy while standing in the middle between the two boys. The boy on the left had rebellious spiky hair that seemed to defy the laws of gravity and irritated look on his face. The other with short spiked up blonde hair was glaring at the raven-head. In the middle stood Sakura with a happy smile and oblivious to the fact that neither Sasuke or Naruto were smiling. Kakashi, the silver-haired sensei of the three kids, had a hand clamped on top of each boy's head as he stood behind Sakura with a smile clearly shown from underneath his mask.

Sakura held the frame close to her as she traced the outline of everyone's face with her finger. Even though half of the team wasn't smiling, it still brings back happy memories for the pink-haired kunoichi. She sat there looking at the picture for quite awhile while being lost in her thoughts and memories of the past.

"Hey, Sasuke! Let's go find Sakura now," Naruto said in excitement. Sasuke looked over at the excited blonde.

They had finish their meal and now stood outside of the ramen shop. Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets. Naruto had been talking on and on about going to find Sakura and Sasuke decided that the only way to quiet him down was to agree. "Fine. Let's go to her house then."

"But, she said she was going to train. Shouldn't we check the training grounds?" Naruto said.

"Idiot!" Sasuke said. "She was clearly lying about training."

"Who are you calling an idiot, you teme!" Naruto exclaimed hotly. "How would you know if she was lying or not?"

"Because I just do," Sasuke said, ending the argument. He turned in the direction where Sakura's house was and began walking. He looked back at the still-angry Naruto. "Are you coming or what? There's only fifteen minutes left."

Naruto scowled. "I'm coming." The blonde quickly ran up and strutted in front of Sasuke as if he was leading the way.

"Tch," Sasuke muttered. "What a weirdo."

They soon reached Sakura's house and Naruto immediately went to knock on the door. When his hand met against the door, he found that the door swung opened. Surprised, Naruto quickly peeked in. The hallways were dark and the pink-headed girl was nowhere in sight.

"Sakura-chan must have forgotten to lock her door," Naruto mused.

Naruto walked inside and Sasuke followed after him. "Are you sure she's here, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked. The Uchiha said nothing but nodded. Naruto looked at the stairs that lead upstairs and at the top he could see a faint light coming out form one of the rooms at the far end.

"That's Sakura-chan's room. She must be inside," Naruto said. Naruto quickly bounded up the stairs in quick strides and Sasuke followed right after him. They stopped in front of the slightly opened door and Naruto pushed it open a bit more to peek inside. Naruto and Sasuke both looked in and saw Sakura staring at a picture. Her back was to them but the picture frame was held clearly in their view.

"She's looking at it again," Naruto said softly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked in a soft whisper.

"Everyday she would look at that photo of Team 7. Ever since you left Konoha. In the beginning, she would cry herself to sleep while clutching that photo. When her parents died she would hold both that picture and the picture of her parents in her hands and stare at them all day," Naruto explained. "That year was the toughest. She thought that everything was being taken away from her. I had never seen her look so sad and lost."

Sasuke said nothing but averted his gaze away from Sakura for a while and stared down the empty hallway. Naruto smiled a sad smile and stood up from the bent posture he was in. "Well, enough of this talk. Sakura's stronger now and she's not crying over you anymore."

Sasuke again said nothing but a look of shock was shown in his obsidian eyes. Naruto pushed the door wide open and yelled happily, "Sakura-chan! We came to get you so that we can go see Tsunade-baa-chan together!"

Sakura looked up from the picture in her hand in surprise. "Naruto!" she exclaimed. "How did you get in here?"

"You left the door unlocked," Sasuke said, coming up from behind Naruto.

"Sasuke? You're here too?" Sakura said with a faraway tone.

"Ah."

"So, Sakura-chan! Shall we go now?" Naruto said in excitement. Sakura smiled and nodded. She gently placed the picture frame back on the shelf and stood up. "Yes, let's go now."

Naruto grinned and walked out and Sakura followed him. Sasuke stood at the doorway and when Sakura passed by him, she could see that sad look in her eyes. Sasuke frowned. ''Is she okay?'

Sakura turned around and smiled at Sasuke. "Come. Let's go now," she said brightly.

Sasuke nodded curtly. "Ah." Sasuke walked after Naruto and the two young men walked down the hallway with Sakura following after them. Sakura's long cherry-colored hair moved with her every step as she followed behind her two teammates.

'This seems so familiar.' Sakura thought silently.

'But all I've been doing was watching their backs.'

'Watching their backs? Am I still doing that?' Sakura made a fist and clenched her teeth. 'No. This time they'll be the ones watching my back. Whatever this mission is, I won't be the one in the background. I won't back down anymore.'

Sakura walked faster so that her steps matched Sasuke's and Naruto's. 'We are equal shinobi now.'

Sakura smiled and her eyes flashed with determination. 'My chance to show them my strength. My chance to prove to myself if I'm capable of defeating the person who killed my parents.'

"C'mon, you two. Let's hurry," Sakura said brightly. She turned around to flash Naruto and Sasuke a smile. Naruto nodded and Sasuke gave a small smirk. Sakura turned around and smiled. 'Team 7. It feels like old times but this time, we are a lot stronger.'

The three shinobi entered the Hokage's office. Sakura walked up to Tsunade and slammed her hand hard on the table. "TSUNADE-SAMA! Now's not the time for sleeping!" Sakura yelled.

The blonde woman bolted upright with drool at the corner of her mouth and a piece of paper stuck to her cheek. The paper flew off to reveal a noticeable ink printing on her left cheek. Tsunade wiped off the drool and laughed nervously. "Sakura! Since when did you get here?"

Sakura sighed in despair. "Tsunade-sama," Sakura said. For a brief moment there was silence and then Sakura continued on. "Sometimes I wonder if you are really my master."

Tsunade laughed loudly. "Now, Sakura. Don't look down on your teacher."

Sakura scratched her head. "It's hard not to."

Tsunade sat back in her chair. "Anyway, you three." Sasuke and Naruto stepped up and stood besides Sakura. Tsunade closed her eyes. "The three of you have a C-rank mission. You are to retrieve a document from the boss of the Wasabi family, Jirochou."

"Jirochou?" Sakura echoed. "Does that mean we are going to the Tea Country?"

"That's correct," Tsunade said in response. "That is all. Any questions?"

Tsunade opened her eyes to see the three shinobis shaking their heads in response. "Alright then. You are dismissed."

They nodded and turned to leave. "Wait, Sakura," Tsunade called out. The three shinobis stopped in their tracks as Sakura turned around to face her sensei.

"What is it Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade folded her hands in front of her. "It's nothing." Tsunade paused. "J-just make sure you come back to Konoha."

"Come back to Konoha?" she echoed. "Tsunade-sama, do you think I will run away because you have been training me too hard?" she joked.

Tsunade looked down at the desk. "N-no. That's not it. It's just…"

"Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, interrupting her sensei. "If you're worried that I'm going to be married off and leave Konoha, then don't worry."

Tsunade looked up in surprise. "How did you kno-"

"It doesn't matter. Don't worry about anything," Sakura said with her back turned. "I will never leave my home village," Sakura said with a bright smile as she turned her head at Tsunade.

Tsunade smiled in understanding. "You should go now if you want to arrive there by nightfall."

Sakura nodded and smiled. "Hai."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other in confusion but headed outside. Sakura stopped at the door and turned to face Tsunade.

Tsunade looked back at her apprentice. "Sakura, I hope you don't think I'm being selfish."

Sakura smiled. "No, I don't think that. After all, you have become almost like my second mother. I know you're only doing what's best for me."

Sakura turned around and went outside. "I'll be back," she called out behind her.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling. 'Jirochou. Why did you request for Sakura. Could it be that you have someone who wants her hand in marriage?'

"Sakura-chan," Naruto called out.

Sakura turned around. "What is it Naruto?" she asked.

"Um-what was Tsunade-baa-chan talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing."

"But-"

"Naruto," Sakura interjected. "Let's not talk about it, okay?"

Naruto nodded and the three shinobis continued their walk of silence. They stopped walking after awhile when the gates of Konoha came into view.

"Kakashi-sensei is late again," Sakura muttered.

The other two shinobis nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Kakashi appeared with a poof. Naruto and Sakura stared wide-eyed at him while Sasuke remained as stoic as ever.

"Ack! You're here earlier than usual!" both Naruto and Sakura exclaimed at once.

The silver-haired Jonin smiled and nodded while taking out his perverted book. "Hai, hai. Since this is our first mission together after so long, I thought I would come here earlier."

Sakura stared at him suspiciously. "Does that mean all those other times you were late were on purpose?"

The Jonin looked up from his book and gazed at the three eighteen-year-olds. He snapped his book shut. "No, those times I was lost on the road to life," he said after a while.

Naruto and Sakura fell down anime-style. "That's the worst excuse ever," they grumbled.

"Well, shall we go?" Kakashi asked as he buried his head in his book again. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke nodded and they took off.

They made their way through the dense forest of trees. Sakura clung to the straps of her backpack as she surveyed the area. 'Something seems off.'

"Sakura-chan," Naruto called out, breaking Sakura's concentration. Sakura looked over to Naruto who was on her right. "What?" she asked.

"Is there something wrong? You seem distracted," Naruto asked worriedly.

Sakura shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong." Sakura bit her lower lip. 'I hope.'

Naruto grinned. "Okay then."

The four shinobis came to a clearing and started to walk. "Hmm, we should be coming close to that tea house soon," Sakura said. The other three nodded.

They walked on and after a few minutes of walking, Sakura began to feel uneasy. 'We should be reaching that tea house. Why is this…?'

Sakura gasp in surprise as she analyzed the situation. 'We have been walking for about ten minutes. By that time we should have been there.'

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called out urgently. The silver-haired Jonin turned around and nodded. Naruto and Sasuke stopped walking in confusion.

"Um, what's wrong?" Naruto asked. He scratched his head, wondering what was going on. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she motioned for everyone to come closer and stick together. Sasuke said nothing but then his dark obsidian eyes came into realization when he observed Sakura's movements. "A genjutsu?" he asked.

The pink-headed kunoichi nodded. She made a few hand seals and proceeded to dispel the genjutsu. "Kai (Dispel)!"

The area remained the same and Sakura frowned. "This isn't good," she muttered. Kakashi took out a kunai and said, "It seems like we are dealing with a high level genjutsu user." Kakashi proceeded to push his hitai-ate up to reveal his Sharingan eye. "Everyone, remain close!"

The three shinobis nodded and walked closer together. Sakura narrowed her eyes. A strange mist was coming in and it surrounded around them. Sakura blinked twice when she saw that both Naruto and Kakashi had disappeared into the mist. "Naru-" she started to call out but was stopped when a strong hand covered her mouth. She shut her eyes as her words became muffled.

"Don't speak, Sakura!" Sasuke's voice commanded. Sakura's eyes fluttered open and out of the corner of her eye, she saw two kunais headed towards their direction. She brought her hands up to try to remove Sasuke's hand on her mouth but Sasuke didn't let go.

She tried to scream out to him to look out but it was only being muffled by his hand. Realizing that she had to do something, she raised her leg and kicked Sasuke in the shin. Sasuke released his grasp on her and stumbled backwards. Sakura took out two kunais from her weapon holster and threw them at the two kunais headed towards them. The kunais bounced off each other and clattered to the ground.

A whizzing sound alerted Sakura as she spun around and saw another two kunais headed towards Sasuke who was still lying on the ground from Sakura's strong kick.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed out and Sasuke's head rose up to look at her. Sakura ran and shielded Sasuke from the attacks as she countered each kunai with her own kunai.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" she asked. Sasuke nodded and stood up.

"Did you have to kick me so hard?" he asked.

"Sorry," Sakura replied in apology. "But I had to or else we would have been hit."

The mist began to clear and Sakura lowered her weapon. A kunai came up from behind Sakura and she turned around but her vision was blocked when Sasuke ran in front of her to stop the kunai. The weapon grazed against Sasuke's upper arm and left a large cut on his arm. Blood started to trickle out and Sakura rushed over to him. Sasuke clutched his arm and looked knelt down on the ground as he examined his cut.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out worriedly.

Sasuke looked up and saw Sakura's worried face staring at him in worry. "I'm okay," he reassured. Sakura picked up his arm in her right hand and examined the injury. With her free hand, she applied chakra to her hand and a green chakra emerged. She placed the glowing green hand over Sasuke's injury and the cut started to heal itself. Sasuke stared at his arm in amazement. The wound was slowly disappearing and the cut was starting to close itself up. When the green chakra disappeared, the cut was completely gone and Sasuke's arm looked like it was never attacked.

Sasuke stared at Sakura in surprise. "How did you…?"

Sakura smiled as if it was nothing. "Lots of training from Tsunade-sama."

Suddenly, a maniacal laughter filled the air. Sakura looked around to see where it was coming from but all she saw was trees surrounding her and Sasuke in the open field.

A figure merged from the shadows of the trees and it was followed by two other figures. Sasuke got up and activated his Sharingan. Sakura stayed close to him as they watched the three figures reveal themselves.

Sakura gaped at the three mysterious figures. "I-it's those rain shinobis," she finally stuttered out. The three figures turned out to be three men who wore identical outfits and each had a breathing mask on and a cloth over their eyes.

"What?" Sasuke said in surprise.

"They're the same guys who attacked us at the Chuunin exams and then when we were in the Tea Country," Sakura murmured as she thought back of what happened six years ago.

"Why the hell are they here now?" Sasuke said angrily.

The Rain shinobi with the cloth over his eyes but had two openings so that he can see through chuckled. "How lucky," he said through his breathing mask.

Sakura frowned. "You know, that phrase is starting to bug me."

The Rain nin laughed. "How lucky that we meet again after so long."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and started to run at them with her fists out but Sasuke stopped her with his hand out. "They're water clones," he said.

Sakura stopped in surprise. "Then that means the real ones are hiding somewhere." she noted.

Sasuke nodded. Sakura sighed. "Then we'll just have to lure them out," she said. Aiming with her fist towards the ground, she used her monstrous strength to break the ground into large pieces. The trees surrounding them started to crumbled and three dark figures jumped out in order not to be crushed by the falling trees. Sakura smirked as she stood up straight again.

Sasuke looked at the pink-headed girl in surprise. "Did the Godaime teach you that too?"

Sakura nodded. "Of course. After all, girls need to be strong to protect themselves."

Sasuke said nothing. 'Yes, but not that strong.'

"How unlucky," the Rain nin said as he spoke through his breathing mask.

Sakura glared at the three Rain nin and shouted at them, "Who are you guys and what do you want?"

The Rain nin with two eyes showing chuckled. "I'm Oboro." He gestured to the nin on his right who had one eye showing. "He's Mubi." Then he gestured to the nin on his left who had no eyes showing. "And he's Kagari."

Oboro looked at Sakura and Sasuke with his cold dark eyes. "And we want revenge."