I am so, so, so sorry! I've had so much to do these past few weeks

I haven't had a chance to write anything! If you all are mad at me

I understand. I don't own Naruto. Please forgive me!

By the way, here's your fight scene Cocoa eyed kitty118! Thanks for

updating everyone! = )

Chapter Sixteen

As Sakura and the others headed towards the field an anxious Satire waited by Konoha's gates. She heard tell that the others were coming back. Oh, she couldn't wait to show Sakura her new skills! Satire started jumping up and down when the gate watchers opened the gates. She ran to the people coming in, but her face fell. It was Naruto and the other two, but they were unconsious. Sakura was nowhere to be found. Instead, there were three very sad and tired looking people carrying them. Satire didn't know what to do. She stood frozen until Tsunade walked up to greet them with a grave face. "Hello Gaara, Temari, Kankuro. Thank you for bringing them back." Gaara just nodded, holding Naruto in his arms. "It's the least we could do after being too late to help them." Temari timidly let out. "I'll try and help them as much as I can. Follow me to the hospital." Tsunade said, turning to lead the way. As they walked past Satire, she got angry. How dare they ignore her when her sister could be in danger! She stomped after them and shouted. "Hey! Don't just walk on by me as if I were a wall! Where is my sister?!" She heard Tsunade sigh and stop, but she didn't say anything. "Where is Sakura?!" She shouted again. The other three looked back at her with some surprise. "Are you Satire?" Temari asked, looking her up and down. Satire nodded, a defiant look in her eyes. "Well, sorry, you just don't look nothing like her." Kankuro spoke up. "I don't care about any of that. I just want somebody to tell me where my sister is!" Tsunade turned to look at her. "I'm just as upset as you are. I wish I knew where she was but I don't. All I do know is that the Akatsuki knocked these three out and ran off with her. We're sending a search team out for her as soon as I get these to the hospital. The least we can do is hope that she is still alive." Tsunade lowered her head. Satire started shaking. She balled her fists after looking at the forlorn faces. "That's not good enough." She whispered before running off like a bat out of hell.

This place really is big. Thought Sakura looking around at the yards of space they had. There wasn't a tree or bush in sight. Good, at least it's wide enough to actually do some fighting in. If it was small there would be no room for the big jutsu I have planned. Sakura started preparing herself. Meanwhile, Sasuke stood ten yards away from her trying to ignore his "teammates'" babbling. "Remember Sasuke, you can do anything-there's no way she can beat my Sasuke..." Said person didn't hear anymore as his eyes caught sight of Sakura's figure. From her expression, it looked like she was concentrating very intensely on something. She had taken off her overshirt revealing a black tank top and a mesh t-shirt under that. A sword hung from her back. He noticed that she had taken off her bandages revealing a black dragon tattoo on her arm. Her black shorts had the Haruno symbol on the side with a red dragon running out from it. Knee length black boots adorned the rest of her legs and feet. Looking closer he found that she wasn't as spaghetti armed, or legged, as she was back in genin days. She had developed some muscles. Some curves too. His eyes caught hers staring at him. "Are you just gonna stand there admiring me all day, or can we start?" "Hn." She glared. He smirked. Hopefully, this would turn out to be an interesting fight. She just had to give it all she had.

There was silence as the two old teammates stood in defensive, and offensive, position waiting for one or the other to make a move. Sasuke suddenly started running at her full speed. Sakura smirked. "Aren't you the one who said frontal attacks would never work?" He just pulled out a kunai. "Oh well, guess I have no choice." Sakura quickly spread chakra to her hand and curled it in a fist. As he was getting nearer she bent down and punched the ground with all her might. If someone were standing ten miles off they would feel the ground tremble as if they were in an earthquake. Indeed the ground did split in half, with dirt and dust flying all in the air. When it finally cleared Sasuke could not find Sakura anywhere. I see she finally figured out how to use that chakra control. What else has she learned to do with it? Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo were gaping at her strength, and trying to stay afoot.

While he was looking around Sakura was crouching behind the gaping spectators, not making a sound or movement. Her chakra was masked. I'm surprised he hasn't activated his sharingan yet. If he does however, I will be found in an instant and I need time for this jutsu to work. She was quietly filling the bottom of the cavern she had just made with water. There was no need for her to send lightning, he could provide that himself. Now, if she could just get him to use his chidori nagashi. His own power would be his downfall. Sakura giggled quietly to herself. Cavern filled she ran full speed behind Sasuke attempting to trip him with a spinning kick low on the ground. He realized she was there just in time to jump out of the way. "Is that the best you can do? Hmph. No more playing nice." Sasuke finally activated his sharingan. Then he disappeared. So fast! Thought Sakura before finding her back against the ground and Sasuke on top of her. She met his eyes and blushed a little. He was so close. Still, he knew how to ruin the mood in an instant. "Looks like I win." Sakura growled and got into a position to kick him off. Standing up she yelled. "I don't think so! No one has won this fight yet. I'm nowhere close to being finished, I'm just getting started!" He just stared at her. "What are you waiting for Uchiha? Let's finish this, and remember..." She smiled evilly. "No more playing nice."

Sasuke stood there asserting about what to do next. When they were younger her weakness was always taijutsu. She probably didn't know how to use a weapon either. Holding this detail in his mind he started running toward her once again. Sakura, having an idea of what he was going to do next ran to him subtlety moving chakra towards her hand. They soon collided in a clash of wills. Blocking each others punches, succeeding in hitting, spinning ground kicks, uppercuts, and the like. To the audience, all they saw was a big blur, and heard a bunch of grunts and pants. Sasuke, getting frustrated, pulled out his katana and tried fighting her that way. He was blocked yet again by her own sword clanging against his. He growled after this had went on for some time. When did she learn to fight like this?! I have no choice. He sent his chidori up his blade. Sakura laughed in triumph. He was close enough to the precipice of her cavern. Sending her own powerful element up her blade she heard him inaudibly gasp. Her sword was on fire! Just the way she wanted it. Taking advantage of his momentary surprise she pushed his sword hard enough to make him tumble back into the black depth. Behind her, she heard Karin scream.

She called up her water around him but for some odd reason it wouldn't touch him. It was like he was in a bubble with lightning and water raging all around him. He looked at her and easily hopped back up to solid ground. "You must be stupid to think something like that will catch me off guard. I knew from the instant you disappeared that you had something like that in mind. So I created a barrier around me to block anything off once I went in there." Sakura hissed. "Shut up!" She balled her fists up and glared at the ground. So he knew. He knew all along that my plan was going to backfire. That arrogant man! Even now he still thinks he is all high and mighty! She sighed. Just the same, this fight isn't over yet.

Over by the other three Karin let out a breath. Sasuke was okay! Suigetsu looked at her from the corner of his eye. At least she hadn't tried to interfere yet. He looked over at Jugo. He was standing there with his hands clasped together and an anxious look on his face. Apparently he didn't want either one of them to get hurt. Suigetsu placed his hands on his hips. He for one, was enjoying this fight. Pinky turned out to be a little spit fire. He liked that. What was going to spark out of her next however, he didn't know. He just hoped it didn't burn Sasuke too much.

Sasuke and Sakura were fighting again. Sasuke sent a fireball towards Sakura while she blocked it with a wooden earth barrier. Once the wood burnt to a crisp she blew a big hurricane like gale his way. Sasuke had no choice but to block it with his arms and try to stay on his feet until it stopped. Able to look again he found that Sakura had, yet again, disappeared. In the next second he found himself body deep in the earth with just his head sticking out. Sakura laughed. "You remember that don't you, Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke glared. Last time he was like this Sakura had fainted, not laughed. Then again, she didn't set it on him last time either. He freed himself from the earth and recalled one of the jutsu's Orochimaru had taught him. He winced just thinking about it but this could come in handy. Raising his arms he let loose about a dozen snakes from his sleeves. All of them rolled and entertwined as they shot towards Sakura, intent on squeezing her arms and legs together so she couldn't move. Sakura shuddered but regained composure. "You're not the only one with a trick up your sleeves." Doing some hand signals she called forth her chakra dragons from her body. There was five in all. One representing each of her chakra elements. They flew towards the snakes and gobbled them up in five seconds. Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction of a second but Sakura caught it. "Sorry, but my chakra gets hungry ever now and then so I have to feed it." She cocked her her head and grinned as the dragons flew right back into her.

Sasuke was getting irate. Almost anything he sent toward her was counterattacked with some jutsu or the other. He already knew she had developed more elemental chakra than the norm, but dang this was getting annoying. No surprise there. She was always annoying. Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed. "You're still as annoying and weak as you were five years ago." Sakura's eyes widened. The place was silent with only the wind blowing their hair. Sakura felt something bubbling inside of her. It felt like it was spreading all over her body, making her tingle. It was like a raging fire, trying its best to break free from it's cage. Sakura's chakra was reacting to her fury. She had only been angry like this one other time. That was when Konan almost destroyed her life. This man in front of her was going to destroy her one day. Sakura balled her fists as her arm started burning and her hair started lifting up with chakra waves. "I know I'm not exactly up to your standards but this is going a bit too far! Uchiha! I'll show you just what I am, and what I can do!" Sasuke opened his eyes, not expecting this tirade. What he saw happen before him really did make his eyes widen.

Sakura's hair was blowing up toward the sky from the force of the rainbow of chakra flowing around her. Her face held such an expression of fury that rivaled his own when he thought about Itachi. Her arm, namely the tattoo on her arm, had turned a brilliant glowing red. It suddenly spread all over her body. He saw her hair grow longer, a tint of red streaking along it. Her skin turned a light pink, and her fingernails turned spiky, like claws. Was that smoke starting to come out of her nose? What astonished him the most was the black, spiked tail and the ebony, batlike wings that sprouted from her back. Sasuke thought this was the workings of a curse mark. Looking closer however, he could make out the markings of the Haruno symbol on her forehead. This was no curse mark. She had somehow controlled her chakra to turn her into the dragon she had now become. It was a very difficult but admiring feat. For him at least. She had mastered her own kekkai genkai. Nobody else could do that as easily. So this is what she can do with her chakra control. She even improved her eyesight along with everything else. He could now see her yellowish green, slanted pupiled eyes.

The two guys gasped while Karin screamed. "What the heck are you?! Some mutant lizard or something?!" Sakura turned her head slowly towards Karin. Opened her widespread wings and flew straight at her. Karin froze while Sakura stopped behind her and breathed in her ear. "Mutant lizard? No. I'm merely a ninja like you. I just have a few...ah...advantages over you." She showed her her claws and fangs. "You see, I could rip your throat to shreds for that comment, especially in the mood I'm in right now. However, I think I will just play with you a little bit." She flew back to her spot. "Oh, and by the way, I prefer dragon if you don't mind. That's much better than mutant lizard."

Sakura waited until Karin closed her eyes and looked away, Suigetsu burst out laughing, Jugo sighed, and Sasuke faintly smiled before casting her fifth level genjutsu on them. With all of them having their eyes closed they would have a hard time figuring out where she had gotten to. That's exactly what happened. Everything looked the same but they still looked around in confusion. In just a split second Sakura had disappeared. Suigetsu kept turning his head. "Where did she go? She didn't run off, did she? Or is she about to attack us?" He looked quickly behind his back. Sasuke just stood there glaring suspiciously at everything. Sakura wanted to see who could figure it out first so she spoke up. I am everywhere. I get this craving to be in five different places at once. It gives me a view of quite a bit more stuff going on around me. Karin had fainted, Suigetsu trying to catch her. Jugo was standing there solitary with an almost frightened look on his face. Only Sasuke had the wits about him to form handsigns. Figures, of course he would be the first one to see this for what it was. He was the one that said "look underneath the underneath" all the time. She grinned. It seemed like he was having a hard time canceling her jutsu. "Sakura, I don't know what you are doing or where you are at right now, but I suggest you get rid of this illusion right now." Sasuke said menacingly. Sakura just laughed. I thought you of all people would be able to cancel my fifth level genjutsu. You should know by now that's my strength. Sasuke glared. "Fifth level genjutsu? I know you were good at illusions but I didn't know you were capable of that high of a level. That's practically a forbidden jutsu."

"Is that so shocking after what you've just seen me do now Uchiha? Or do you still think me weak?" Sasuke whirled around. She had canceled it while he was talking and was standing before him, wings folded behind her back. "That's enough playing now Sakura." The look she gave him after that sentence was so intense he almost didn't recognize her. "I was never playing Sasuke. You do realize that what I just did was on the same level as Itachi's illusions right?" Sasuke growled. "Don't talk about that man to me." Sakura cocked her head. "Why? Is it because you realize that if you can't cancel my genjutsu you can't stand a chance against Itachi's?" Sasuke was now standing in front of her. His eyes held anger. "That has nothing to do with it!" Sakura glared. "Really? Then why is it that whenever I mention that you are weaker than him you go off the deep end?!" Sasuke's breathing quickened as he clenched his fists. "You are trying my patience." He said this so calm and so menacingly he didn't have to yell. Yet, even though he sounded like he could kill her, Sakura wasn't afraid. Instead, she felt like she had accomplished something in making Sasuke mad at her. He was always so emotionless. Sakura decided to try it one more time. "I still think Naruto has a better chance at beating Itachi than you. You couldn't beat Naruto!" Sasuke ran away from her so fast he almost blended in with the foliage. Ten feet away from her he stopped with a furious look in his eyes. "You will wish you never said that."

Sasuke's curse mark started to spread over his body, but it didn't stop there. Sakura watched, astonished, as he went straight into second level curse mode. His black vest shirt was torn off as his skin turned a blackish gray. His hair grew spikes long enough to reach midback. Claws grew from his fingers and a cross like figure appeared over his nose. Wings shaped like clawed hands sprouted from his back. His sharingan was turned on as he glared at her. She had never seen this mode before and it almost frightened her. She didn't know what he was. He almost looked like a falcon.

Suigetsu and Jugo's eyes were round and white, and their mouths were hanging open. It wasn't often that someone could make Sasuke this angry. That woman must have something special because even they couldn't anger him that much.

"I say you better run now, because those two aren't going to save you. I'm more special than you." Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. "You are not more special than anyone else, let alone me. You think no one can understand your feelings." Sasuke laughed. "They can't." Sakura glared at him. If only he knew. She spread her wings out preparing to fly. "I resent that." She flew toward him while he in turn started spinning to her. She flew to the side of him and attempted to kick him out of the air. He caught her foot though and sent her spinning toward the trees in the far off distance. Sakura righted herself before she could get dizzy. Landing in a crouch with her back toward Sasuke she turned her head to look at him. He was floating in midair waiting for her to attack. She flew back up to face him in midair as well. "This has gone on long enough. It nears twilight." She said glimpsing the sky behind him. "You're right." Sasuke said glancing at the sky himself. "Let's finish this." Sakura heard the sound of a thousand birds as Sasuke charged up his black chidori. I never thought I'd see the day when he would use chidori against me. At least I have my own attack in store. She thought back to the time her father had taught her to mold her chakra elements together. Thank you father. I knew this would come in handy some day.

Sakura sent all her elemental chakra to her hand carefully entertwining it. As it got bigger it shone from her hand as a ball full of colors. Soon it was as big as a double rasengan with it's own special sound. Sakura smiled as she thought back to what her father said. Each and every one of us Haruno's has a rainbow ball inside of us. Once it is released it gives off its own melody signifying who we are, and what animal we become. In my case it is the purring of a lion who has been in many victories and is calming down to rest. What I have gathered from your meager attempts to release your rainbow, it sounds like a dragon roaring in agony and pain. Yet, it sees many mighty things happening in the future so it never gives up. A sad, but strong ball of color indeed. Exactly like you are. Back in the present, Sakura held her roaring dragon ball in front of her as she got ready to blast it in Sasuke's face.

Sasuke, on the other side of the field, was almost wincing in agony at the sound coming from the ball in Sakura's hand. It sounded too upsetting. Shaking himself he held chidori out in front of him ready to run it through her. There was silence, except for the sound of their weapons, as they stared at each other. Then, simultaneously, they rushed at each other. The heat from each other's chakra was overpowering as they got closer. They were four feet apart now and yelling. Two feet apart. Right before they were about to connect their eyes met. Sakura seeing onyx eyes and Sasuke seeing emerald. Then their jutsus connected causing a big wave of chakra to erupt with a thousand different colors on one side and a blackish purple cloud on the other. As the pain started in on them they couldn't maintain their chakra anymore. One by one they let loose of their hold on the other. One by one they changed back to their original forms. One by one they fell to the ground in a broken, bruised, and bloody heap. They were unconscious and did not notice Jugo and Suigetsu running toward them, or their hands intertwined together.