Hey all, I'm back. Well, her is the next chapter. Make sure you review, ok. Thanks for reading!

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Chapter Five

He's Back!

Sakura stood at her locker, trying to pull out her chemistry books. When she yanked at her textbook, a large pile of papers came crashing to the ground. She gave a small sigh, reaching down to retrieve the work. When she squatted down, she heard voices around her. "What the hell did she do to her hair?" Sakura sighed once again, 'And are they going to bother ask what happened? No…'

"Hey Sakura!" a cheery voice came calling down the hall. Sakura turned, still on the ground, to see Naruto running toward her. "Hey Naruto," She quickly finished picking up her papers, and then shoved them back into her locker. She turned in Naruto's direction while shutting her locker door. "What's up?"

"Nothing really, but god my hip is killing me. That bastard…" Naruto rubbed his side.

"Here, let me see…" Sakura picked up Naruto's shirt slightly, and sure enough, ender his white t-shirt was a bruise of deep black. "Oh god Naruto, that's bad. You should really get it looked at. And you head too…" Sakura quickly hopped up and stood on tiptoe, looking at Naruto's temple.

"I'm ok, seriously. Don't worry. What about you…" Naruto looked at Sakura's left leg, which was marked with an extremely large black bruise. "Your bruise is just as bad as mine."

Naruto squatted down, placing his hand gently on her leg. Sakura then cringed, letting out a small yelp. "Sorry…" Naruto got back up.

"Ok, fine. Nether of us needs to go to the nurse, deal?" Sakura placed her hand in Naruto's direction.

"Deal." He too stuck his hand out, shaking hers. After the shake, he turned her hand over, looking at the back. Her knuckles were cut in multiple places, some still bleeding slightly. He looked up to her in confusion, tying to figure out when she got these marks.

Sakura quickly pulled her hand back, blushing slightly. "You got knocked out, remember."

"Sure, but…" Naruto began, but suddenly the bell rang.

"Darn, time for class." Sakura then began walking to her science class, Naruto fallowing her.

Once in class, Naruto and Sakura took their seat in the back of the room by the window. They placed their book bags on the floor beside them, ten they began talking again.

"Still, what happened to your hand?" Naruto asked. Sakura looked in his eyes, and realized he wasn't going to give it up, but she was going to hold it off as long as she could. "Oh, look, the teacher."

Sure enough, the teacher walked in. 'Right on time' Sakura thought with a grin. "Ok guys, today we are doing an experiment. Get into the groups you were in last time, and then look up here…"

Everyone in the class moaned, one because they really didn't want to do work, two Sasuke was still not in their group. Some gave evil glances at Sakura, but she didn't let that bug her. Sasuke picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He then walked over to Naruto and Sakura's table, and then took a seat once again. They spent the next ten minutes listening to the teacher's instructions, and then they began the experiment. Naruto picked up a flask filled with a green liquid and poured it slowly into a small test tube. After getting just the right amount, he placed it over a hot plate, which Sakura had prepared. Then the three waited.

"How long until we record the data?" Naruto said, getting very impatient.

"Not for another ten minutes." Sakura responded, trying to ignore the moan coming from Naruto as he began spinning in his chair.

Suddenly, he stopped his annoying spinning, and stared at Sakura. At first, she didn't mind, but then he really got on her nerves. "Ok," she turned in his direction. "What is it?"

Naruto quickly snapped out of it, then turned toward the test tube, and began poking it, "Nothing…"

"Naruto, come one, tell me."

He turned back toward her, "Ok, fine… What's that on your neck." His hand shot up, pointing toward the back of her neck.

'Crap' Sakura though, 'Now that my hair is short they can see it.' Her hand shot up, touching the area that Naruto pointed at. "Nothing." She turned toward the test tube as Naruto did earlier, her hand still covering her neck.

"Oh, come on! You were the one that wanted me to tell you. Now you have to answer!"

Sakura let out a faint sigh, and then moved her hand. "It's a tattoo. Happy Mr. Smarty-pants?"

Naruto just stared in surprise, "A tattoo? Since when did you have one of those? Let me see."

Sakura knew he wasn't going to let up, so she sighed and leaned toward him, pulling the collar of her shirt down slightly. "Cool… what is it?"

Sakura quickly sat back up, "It's Chinese calligraphy. It means…"

Suddenly, someone cut her off. "Cherry Blossom."

Sakura turned, seeing Sasuke looking at her neck. She instantly blushed. "Ya, how did you know?"

Then, there was a long silence. Sasuke then immediately turned away, not responding. Sakura and Naruto quickly turned back toward the green substance, checking the time, and then recording the temperature. Class was quickly over, and Naruto and Sakura headed off in separate directions, Sakura to her design class, Naruto to his gym.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sakura walked into her classroom, seeing Hinata sitting by herself off to the corner. She approached her, "Hey Hinata. Mind if I sit here?" Hinata quickly looked up, surprised someone was talking to her. "Oh, sure."

The two sat together, waiting for the teacher. Eventually, she walked in. "Ok everyone, ready for your presentation?" Sakura's eyes quickly grew large.

"Crap…" she muttered.

"Sakura?" the teacher and the rest of the class stared at her.

"Oh, umm… I'm sorry miss, but I didn't finish it. You see, I came back to school to get it but then…" Sakura began to trail off, recalling last night's incident. 'No one is going to believe me.' She thought.

"Yes Sakura, we are all waiting…" the teacher said in her strict voice. She loved to make kids feel bad, especially when they have forgotten work.

"Oh, umm…" Sakura tried to figure out what her excuse was to be.

"Tell me the truth Sakura. NOW."

Sakura noted the anger in her voice, so she decided to go with the truth, no matter how wild it was. "Well, I came back to get it, but when we, Naruto and I, got back to the school we were attached. I think it was the same people who killed the other three kids."

The class stood in silence, waiting for the teacher to nail Sakura for her stupid excuse. "You expect me to believe that?" she screamed.

"No, but you said you wanted the truth so…"

"Yes, but that was not the truth. Now, get down to the office young lady. They will have to deal with you."

"But I…"

"NOW!"

Sakura stood up, grabbed her bag, and began walking toward the door. Everyone in the class giggling at her stupidness, well, almost everyone.

"Umm… excuse me miss, but I think Sakura is telling the truth."

Sakura, surprised at the outburst, spun around trying to find who said that. There, sitting in the second row with her hand in the air was Ino! Sakura just about dropped her jaw 3 feet when she saw who it was. 'What the…'

"Ino? Why do you say this?" the teacher asked in surprise.

"Well... um… she dose have a very large bruise on her leg. It is so big and black, how could that get there unless she was attacked? It looks like she was thrown pretty far…" Ino began to trail off, looking up at the teacher.

The teacher stood there, but no one could determine what she was thinking. "Ok, fine. Sakura, take a seat. But I want that project here by tomorrow at the bell."

Sakura stood in surprise, and then she realized what had happened, so she nodded and walked back to her seat. 'How did she know…' she thought.

Class went by very quickly, her not paying any attention. 'What is wrong with her…' Sakura thought.

Suddenly, the bell rang. Sakura walked out of the class, but as she went she heard some girl talking behind her. "Sakura's story was so lame. And god, look at her hair!" "I know... she probably used a bowl and a pair of kitchen scissors!"

Sakura lowered her head, grinding her teeth, clenching her hands around the books she had pressed to her chest. She tried to hold back the tears that began to form, but it was too hard. A tear found it's way down her check, but then she heard another voice. "Actually, I like it better short." Sakura stopped suddenly, turning around. Standing behind her was Ino, along with all her friends. 'Ino… stood up for me…' Sakura thought in confusion.

"Ino, what's wrong with you? You're messed up today, girl." Then just like that, all of Ino's friends walked off, but Ino stood still, staring at Sakura.

The two girls stood in the empty hall, staring at each other for a moment. Sakura then broke the silence. She just had to know, "Why did you stand up for me?"

Ino turned her head away from Sakura, now looking at the wall beside her. "I… I…" she stammered.

Sakura realized she was hiding something, but what? "What is it?"

"I… I…"

Sakura stood very still, and she didn't talk either. She just waited for Ino to finish. She just had to know why.

"I… I…"

Still, Sakura stood, saying nothing.

"I… I saw you, ok!" she screamed, turning back to face Sakura, tears running down her face.

Sakura looked at her in surprise, but she stayed calm. "Saw what?"

"Last night! I was here too, and I saw you… you…" she trailed off, turning her head toward the wall once again.

Sakura stared at Ino. 'Oh no…' she thought. "Did you see me… um…" now it was Sakura's turn to trail off.

Ino just nodded, eyes now filled with fear.

"Oh…" Sakura muttered. "Could you… keep it between us. I didn't even tell Naruto."

Ino nodded. "Sure. No problem."

There was a long silence, and then Ino spoke once again. "I need to know, why did you do it. Why did you…" she stopped and just looked at Sakura's jagged hair cut.

"I owed someone…" Sakura said in reply.

Suddenly, someone came walking down the hallway. "Hey Sakura!" Sakura turned to see Naruto, waving her way.

"Oh…" Ino said with understanding, "Well, I better go." She extended her hand to Sakura, who took it and shook. Then Ino turned and headed off down the hall.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After lunch, Naruto and Sakura headed for English, talking along the way. "So, what were you doing talking to her?" Naruto asked in confusion. "I thought you hated her."

Sakura walked through the doorway and headed for her seat in the back of the class. "We just… talked, ok."

Naruto realized she didn't want to talk about it, so he just took his seat and sat quietly. Sakura took out her notebook and began doodling on a blank page. Suddenly, someone sat down beside her. She half expected it to be Ino, but to her surprise, it was Sasuke. 'Why is he sitting here again…' she though, glancing over at him. She started blushing like mad and quickly turned back to her notebook when he turned in her direction.

"Nice picture." Sasuke muttered.

Sakura looked up at him, seeing he was eyeing her notebook. She put her hand behind her head and began laughing. "Thanks." Her face began to grow pink with embarrassment, but she couldn't help it. 'Sasuke talked to me.'

She looked down at her notebook to admire the picture. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. There, sitting on the white page in her notebook was a man, a mask covering half his face, his eyes bloodshot. She just stared at the face before her, not sure what to do. She then quickly turned to Naruto, bumping his shoulder.

"Hey, look." She said, shoving the picture in front of him.

Naruto looked down at the paper, then turned to Sakura, "Nice picture." He then turned back to his unfinished homework.

Sakura sat in surprise, and then she looked at her picture once again. Now, replacing the gruesome face of the man from the other night was a lifelike picture of a small girl.

'What the…' she thought to herself.

Suddenly the teacher walked in, and class began. Sakura began doing her work, but continually looked to her side. 'I could have sworn he… naw.'

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sasuke looked up at Sakura during class, but turned away right before she looked up. 'Could she be… naw.'

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After class, Naruto was waiting for Sakura to walk back to her locker with her. "Oh, Naruto. I have to stay back today. I need to finish my design project. You go on ahead."

"OK." Naruto said, then he walked out of the classroom.

Sakura grabbed her books and walked down the hall toward her design classroom. When she got there, the teacher was gone, but the door was unlocked, so she just walked in. By the time she pulled out all her supplies, the school was empty. After working on her project for about half and hour, she heard a noise from the hallways. 'Boom'

Sakura got up and ran toward the door. As she slid out, she quickly darted down the east hall, trying to find the source of the sound. When she turned the corner, she froze. There, in the middle of the hall, stood a man with a mask covering half his face. But, that was not what drew Sakura's attention, for lying on the ground under the man was a girl with long blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail. "Ino…"

Sakura quickly charged down the hall toward the man. "Get away from her!" she screamed.

The figure turned, seeing Sakura coming toward him. He quickly dodged her tackle, but she swiftly whipped right back around and gave him a punch to the face. His hands shot up to his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. His eyes then filled with anger as he pulled his hand back. He flung it forward right at Sakura's chin. She was ready to duck under his arm, but then suddenly she heard a noise. "Hey Sakura! You forgot your…"

With the distraction from Naruto, Sakura didn't have time to dodge the attack. She got hit right on, causing her to fall backward to the ground. She slid on the wet floor until she hit her back against the brick wall behind her. She rubbed her head, then looked up at the man before her. "Oh, now you've done it…"

She placed her hand on the wall behind her as she stood up. She wiped a small trickle of blood away from the corner of her mouth as she glared him down. She then charged forward toward the figure, which at the moment looked the tiniest bit frightened. She pulled her fist back, ready to punch him in the gut. Right before she came in contact with the man, she quickly stopped on her left foot, swinging hr right foot up toward his head. The man, not expecting the sudden change in attack, got hit hard in the temple. He flew to the side, knocked unconscious.

Sakura quickly ran toward Ino, who was lying on the ground still. She knelt down beside her ex-best friend. After seeing blood trickling down her face from multiple cuts, she reached her hand into her pocket. She pulled out her cell phone, quickly flipping the lid up, and then dialed 911.

"Yes, we have an injured girl here. It looks like she might have a large lose of blood, her face beaten up badly, and she's knocked out. Our location is Rafter High, 357 Maple Road. Yes, thank you." Sakura then flipped her phone back down, and then placed it in her pocket.

"Come on, help me carry her downstairs." She called to Naruto.

Naruto stood in silence, not quit sure what to do, but he quickly ran toward Ino and grabbed her feet while Sakura held her head steady. Once they got down stairs, the paramedics had already arrived. They then put Ino on a stretcher and carried her off to the ambulance.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Naruto and Sakura began walking home together, not saying a word. The only sound was of the howl in the air. Suddenly, Naruto broke the silence. "Man, you were awesome!"

Sakura glanced over to him, very confused. "Ok…" she said. 'Why is he not afraid?'

"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked eagerly.

"Oh... um… around." She responded.

"Well, maybe you can teach me how to do that too, huh?" he asked.

Sakura turned to him, seeing him smiling widely. She couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe some other time. I have to get home. Well, bye Naruto!"

"Bye!" he called, waving to her as she ran down the street.

To be continued…

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

So, how did you like it? I know, it was long and grueling, but cute nonetheless. Right when Ino and Sakura started making up, BOOM! She gets attacked and killed… I mean… darn! You didn't hear that ok? Good. Well, remember to review!

DaniGirl101

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo