DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I don't own Hikari Aino.

A/C: Constructive criticism is warmly welcomed and appreciated, as well as readers' suggestions/ideas (particularly when it comes to Lemons – I really suck at those! :S).

THE LIGHT AND THE BLOSSOM

"You can bend but never break me.
'Cause it only serves to make me, more determined to achieve my final goal.
I come back even stronger, not a novice any longer.
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul."
~Helen Reddy ('I Am Woman')

~SAKURA P.O.V~

I'm getting worried about Hikari.

I've never seen her so…cold and distant. Almost like Sasuke-kun, and that's saying something. She ignored me when I asked her what Orochimaru had said to her and stubbornly offered to take the first watch despite the fact that I was willing to let her get some sleep and watch over Naruto and Sasuke - who was getting worse.

Sasuke moaned in pain and I felt like my heart was in a bind as I reached over with one of my face washers to mop his head.

"C'mon Sasuke-kun, keep fighting it!" I urged him.

He relaxed but he still looked really bad.

I glanced over at Naruto - he was still unconscious too, and I felt useless. I did nothing to help Hikari, Naruto or Sasuke-kun during our fight against Orochimaru. Now the both of us had to defend Sasuke-kun and Naruto from the enemy. The exam was now the furtherest thing from both our minds, it was clear that the teams that had attacked us had more than gaining the rank of Chunnin on their minds.

In fact I was pretty sure most of them were chuunin.

There was definitely something fishy going on here. I looked over at Hikari who was sitting at the lip of the hollowed out tree and sighed just as a curious squirrel suddenly darts out in front of us. I instantly threw a kunai which landed directly in front of the squirrel's path, startling it and making it scurry away.

"Geez, Sakura. Scared much?" Hikari blurts dryly as she saunters towards us.

She covers her mouth when a huge yawn passes through her lips. I scowled at her before getting to my feet.

"Shut up, Hikari. I was just startled that's all." I retorted resentfully.

Hikari nods absently before going over and sitting down between Naruto and Sasuke-kun.

"Your turn for the watch." she mumbled tiredly before pulling her knees towards her chest and resting her forehead against them and relaxing into a light sleep.

I huffed frustrated and moved to go sit where Hikari had just vacated. However, I stopped and looked back at Hikari with what I assumed was a smug smirk.

"And FYI, I only threw my kunai at the squirrel because it was about to set off one of the traps I set up for rogue ninjas." Hikari looked up at me and fixed me with a glare which told me that she didn't care before returning her face to her knees.

I sighed before going over and sitting down feeling unhappy about our present situation.

~AUTHOR'S P.O.V~

Meanwhile, not too faraway from where Team Seven were currently camping and thinking back to what had just happened to both Sasuke and Hikari by the hands of Orochimaru; Rock Lee and his teammates Neji Hyuuga and Tenten were currently searching for other teams to collect their scrolls, unaware of their fellow team's attack.

Neji and Tenten sighed exasperatedly as Lee started talking non-stop about how much he really liked the 'pink haired, youthful green-eyed' Kunoichi, Sakura Haruno. Both of them were getting pretty sick of hearing Sakura's name being sighed every five seconds, and were more interested in find the scroll they needed so they could get out of this creepy, foreboding forest in one piece.

So far, they had come across some enormous ferocious, carnivorous venus flytrap looking flowers with sharp teeth, that tried to take a nasty bite out of Tenten, before she hacked and sliced at it with her katana sword. Not an experience that any of the older Genin wanted to try again.

"Enough, Lee!" snapped Neji as Lee started to speak about Sakura again.

Lee looks over at his crabby teammate with his large surprised looking eyes apologetically.

"I am sorry, my youthful friend." He said before charging off along some tree branches. Neji shook his dark head, while Tenten giggled before following Lee swiftly.

Neji is Hinata's older cousin.

He is tall with the same pale coloured skin as the Uchihas, and elegant in appearance - wearing a high collared, short-sleeved grey shirt, a pair of black shorts and navy-blue ankle-length shinobi sandals. He had bandages wrapped securely around both his left arm and leg, and wears his black Konoha forehead protector securely around his forehead. His long, well-groomed black hair was tied loosely at the bottom with a thin hair elastic.

Like Hinata, his eyes are the mauve opaque colour the Hyuugas are known for - but he is highly resentful of his younger cousin because of their social status within the family.

Tenten, the only female member of the team was petite with creamy peach coloured skin and sharp chocolate brown eyes. She wore a baby pink Chinese top lined in red, black ¾ length baggy cargo pants with her weapons pack strapped to her thigh, and ankle-length navy blue shinobi sandals. Like Neji, Tenten wears her navy-blue forehead protector around her forehead.

She is the epitome of tomboys and is an expert in weaponry among the ten Genin graduates in Konoha.

Lee is jumping happily through the trees, thinking yet again about his beloved Sakura when he realises some of the leaves have broken free and are softly floating to the ground. He pauses for a moment and stares at the leaves.

Suddenly a wide smile appears on his face.

"If I can catch 20 leaves before they fall on the ground, Sakura will begin to like me!" He declares to himself, and much to Neji and Tenten's frustration, begins doing so.

"Lee! We don't have time for one of your ridiculous training methods." Neji complains as Lee starts leaping enthusiastically from tree trunk to tree trunk collecting the falling leaves.

Lee had caught 19 out of 20 leaves, but before he takes the final lunge towards the final leaf, he notices the same squirrel Sakura had scared before. But the squirrel has an exploding tag attached to its furry back.

Lee decides at the last minute to save the scared squirrel from certain death.

~HIKARI P.O.V~

I jolted awake and looked around me - momentarily forgetting that Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and I were still hiding in an oversized tree root from more attacks from more Sound Ninja.

I yawned again and stretched out my tired limbs as I looked over at Sakura who was keeping watch near the entrance. I heard Sasuke groan and I quickly looked over at the fallen Uchiha and breathed in relief, he was no longer shaking and sweating - now he was resting comfortably, but was yet to wake up.

Just like Naruto who was also knocked out too after getting beaten up by that bastard Orochimaru.

SNAP!

My head turns towards a loud, clear sound not too faraway from where Sakura was sitting and tensed. I could immediately sense something bad coming straight for us and acting fast I alerted Sakura. I rushed over to my pink-haired team mate just as I saw another group of Sound Ninja approaching fast with ambitious smirks on their faces.

"Sakura!" I yelled, but I didn't have to worry, she had already seen them and immediately dashed towards an almost invisible piece of twine which she cut through with her kunai and it triggered a large log to come hurtling towards the group of enemy ninjas.

However, one of them merely blows up the logs and leaves Sakura and I dumbfounded and without any ideas.

"Hey, I found one of her 'traps'." we hear one of the other sound ninjas speak up. Sakura pales even more and she turns to me looking scared.

"What do we do now?" she asks in a small voice.

I shake my head - at a loss to what to do as well. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd be so ecstatic to see a speeding Rock Lee come flying out of nowhere to aid us.

"Sakura! I will protect you until I die!" he promises and I crack a slightly hysterical smile.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen too quickly." I joked dryly before turning and heading back over to Naruto and Sasuke who were blissfully unaware of the danger Sakura, Lee and I were currently in.

The Sound Ninja looked pissed.

Apparently, according to Lee he and his team had split up to search for food and water - and Lee happened to come upon the two of us minus Sasuke and Naruto trying to fend off the Sound Ninjas.

"What's your deal?" I shouted angrily knowing the Sound Ninja who were regrouping in some nearby trees could hear me.

"Why are you just picking on us? There are other teams you know."

I heard mocking laughter.

"We're just following orders, little girl." a menacing voice answers me.

I frowned.

"What orders?"

"To kill Sasuke Uchiha, of course." the voice answered like it was obvious.

My eyes widened.

~AUTHOR'S P.O.V~

Neji travels deeper into the wood searching for food. He stops abruptly when he could suddenly sense some familiar chakra readings where he stood.

"Who's there? Show yourself." he orders hoping to trick the other team into giving away their current position.

He hears a curse before some shuffling causes a nearby bush to shake its leaves. Neji smirks before advancing towards the bush, but before he could pounce on the unsuspecting team, a familiar voice stops him.

"Troublesome. I told you this plan wouldn't work, Ino." a lazy voice drawls distastefully. An indignant snort follows swiftly.

"Shut up, Shika. Not everybody can be as smart as you." the irritated voice snaps back.

Neji pauses for a second just as Ino, a tired and bored Shikamaru and Chouji steps out from behind the bush patting themselves down from sitting underneath the bush.

Chouji is munching on a bag of chips as usual.

"Oh, it's you three." says Neji snobbishly as he eyes Ino distastefully before crossing his arms in an unimpressed gesture.

Shikamaru shrugs before giving Neji a 'watch it' scowl. The three of them start discussing their next move. Finally, they straighten up and execute their plan B. Ino turns towards Neji with a coquettish smile on her face which instantly makes Neji blush slightly, but he realises that the flirting is a ploy - mostly because he already knows that she and Shikamaru are an item.

He backs away from a surprised Ino and glowers at her and her team.

"Be gone." He orders.

Ino looks put out that Neji seemed immune to her 'sexiness' and then she, Chouji and a territorial, but nevertheless tired Shikamaru run off.

~HIKARI P.O.V~

I looked at Sakura in concern - she had been up for awhile taking her shift and it was clear she was getting drowsy and for the second time in that moment, I was glad Lee was here to help us.

Suddenly, I heard both Naruto and Sasuke groan again and I immediately rushed over to them to see if they were okay or hopefully waking up. I groaned in frustration when I realised that Sasuke had merely turned over in his sleep and Naruto was sprawled out like he usually was when he was sleeping, snoring with his mouth wide open.

Typical…

I smiled fondly and gently tousled Naruto's unruly blonde hair like a big sister would do.

Re-assured that they were okay, I moved to return to Sakura's side to aid her in case she fainted from exhaustion. But something on Sasuke's shoulder caught my eye. Curiously, I gingerly reached out and tugged down Sasuke's shirt and gasped. Right next to the two puncture marks Orochimaru's fangs had made on Sasuke's neck that were yet to scab over, was a strange tattoo-like mark that looked like three black teardrops.

The points of the teardrops were facing outwards away from the others.

"Oh Kami…" I whispered fearfully as I reached out and lightly touched the mark with the tips of my fingers.

Without warning, Sasuke's hand reached up and grabbed my hand in a tight grip. I froze both in shock and pain as Sasuke's reaction was both instinctual and had an iron grip to it.

Nothing happened.

Sasuke was still asleep in unsuspecting slumber but was still holding onto my hand.

"S-sasuke?" I stammered timidly, hoping that he would wake up.

No response.

I relaxed and carefully extracted my hand from Sasuke's grip. Suddenly, Sakura screamed and I immediately jumped to my feet and sprinted over to where both Sakura and Lee were fighting off the Sound Ninja who had just revealed themselves.

"Hikari what were you doing back there?" hissed Sakura frantically.

I rushed over to Sakura's side eyeing off the curious Sound Ninja in front of us.

"I was checking on Naruto and Sasuke - except I found something weird on Sasuke. Something not good." I explained worriedly.

"What?"

"I think Orochimaru put something on Sasuke. A mark of some sort." I told her.

Sakura's eyes widened. The Sound Ninja pricked up their ears and listened in.

"Ah, your friend must be worth something to Lord Orochimaru if he's put his curse mark on him." We blink at them, completely confused.

"But since we've only just heard this new information, we're going to kill all three of you." The leader promised.

"Keep dreaming." I retorted.

However, Sakura looked extremely calm for somebody whose life was on the line and I frowned at her curiously. The three Sound Ninja jump at us, but Sakura instantly cuts another hidden wire which sends more logs flying towards them from the ceiling of the large tree sheltering us. But one of the ninjas forms some hand signs which shatters the logs and sends large pieces of it flying towards Sakura.

However, Lee suddenly jumps in front of her and protects her using his 'Konoha Whirlwind' attack.

"I will keep you safe, Sakura. I promise you with my life." Lee declares to a speechless, slightly annoyed Sakura.

One of the Sound Ninja stepped forward with a confident sneer on his face. He had bandages wrapped around his head which covers all but a single eye. He leapt towards Sakura and I and shows us his arm which has a metal gauntlet with holes on his arm and then changes course and aims for Lee. But before the ninja could reach us, Lee manages to pull up the root of a nearby tree and swings it like a bat at the ninja.

"Your move has some sort of trick to it, right?" Lee asks curiously as he swings the tree root to keep him at bay.

~AUTHOR'S P.O.V~

Neji and Tenten arrive back to their group's camping spot with the food and water they had managed to find. Neji is immediately annoyed.

"Where's Lee?" Tenten wonders. Neji shakes his head exasperated.

"Who knows?"

Suddenly, they both sense the battle between Lee, Sakura and Hikari and the Sound Ninja not too faraway from where they were. Tenten looks at Neji frowning.

"Can you sense that?" Tenten asks Neji.

He nods gravely.

"C'mon, let's check it out. Maybe Lee is over there." Tenten suggests and takes off towards the battle with Neji close behind. Not too faraway from where Tenten and Neji were; Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji also sense the battle.

"That can't be good." comments Chouji before stuffing yet another chip into his mouth.

Shikamaru frowns.

"I can already tell that this is going to be troublesome." he mutters.

Then they too head straight towards the fighting chakra sources they can feeling engaging in a fight to the death.

~HIKARI P.O.V~

I watched curiously as Lee started unwrapping the bandages from his arms, like he tried to do when he was fighting with Sasuke in the corridor yesterday before the first test but was stopped by his weird teacher, Gai-sensei.

I was curious to find out exactly what was so dangerous about Lee's attack and was yet to realise that we were going to find out first hand exactly why the 'forbidden' attack was so 'forbidden'.

Lee had a regretful expression on his highly inquisitive face as he continues to loosen the bandages from his arms.

"This move I'm about to use is called 'the Lotus'." he explained.

One of the Sound Ninjas scoffed and stepped forward with an unimpressed look on his face.

"'The Lotus'? Mustn't be a particularly powerful attack if it's named after a stupid flower." he sneered before charging at Lee.

Sakura and I tried to warn Lee that he was attacking. Didn't have time actually, since Lee immediately reacted to the Sound Ninja's attack and disappeared, reappearing in front of the surprised ninja before delivering a hard and painful looking kick to his stomach that sent him flying high into the air.

"Woah, that looked like it hurt." I muttered to Sakura who nodded, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Lee followed the Ninja's directory and we watched with morbid fascination as the bandages dangling from Lee's wrists suddenly got a mind of its own and wrapped themselves around the screaming Sound Ninja. Lee then promptly grabbed the ninja in a secure bear hug and both started to plummet back to earth.

During the descent, one of the other two stunned ninjas comes back to his senses and start forming hand signs before slamming his fist into the dirt and creating two large molehill like mounds of dirt to intercept the secondary lotus technique. When it lands, the impact is similar to landing on something spongy and is what saves the first sound ninja from critical injury.

"Hey! Bad form!" I growl angrily, as the ninja Lee sent flying gets to his feet and grins knowing he has the advantage.

Lee looks really tired, as it appeared that the Lotus technique had taken a lot out of him. The ninja shows his gauntlet again and once again charges towards Lee intent on causing serious damage. Lee dodges just in time which frustrates the ninja. However, just dodging proves to be too much for Lee and both Sakura and I look at each other in concern as Lee starts swaying dangerously.

Lee drops to his knees.

"Oh no, Lee!" I shout out to the green clad ninja. Lee is a sitting duck.

"We gotta do something fast!" I said concerned. Sakura nods just as the Sound ninja approaches Lee who had collapsed completely.

"Now it's time to end this!" the ninja decides.

Sakura's face is pure seriousness as she steps forward pulling weapons from her pouch at the same time.

"That's what you think." she growled pulling four kunai into her hands.

She throws them at the ninja but he blocks it without any trouble. While Sakura distracted the ninja I charged at him and aimed a kick towards his head which he deflects by grabbing my ankle and slamming me hard onto the ground. I skidded a good distance away and grazed my arm, drawing blood. I grunt on impact but shook it off, smearing the blood dripping steadily down my arm and get to my feet just as the ninja starts to address Sakura with a creepy grin on his face.

Both of us shudder in disgust.

"Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you two. Let us just deal with this pest first and then we'll give you the attention you truly deserve." He promised winking insincerely.

What a sleeze.

"Thanks for the consideration, but I think I'll pass." I retorted disgustedly.

Sakura nodded in agreement just as Lee groans in pain on the ground.

"Hang on Lee!" Sakura calls out, earning a beaming smile from Lee who recognises Sakura's harpy voice.

The Ninja obviously didn't like the comment I made and completely ignores Lee and charges at Sakura and I with intent to dismember. We both pulled a kunai from our pack and hold it out ready to defend ourselves. However, I got blindsided by a sneak attack from behind.

"Hey! Lemme go!" I protested and began struggling in the ninja's arms just as the first ninja managed to gain ground in his pursuit of Sakura.

Without warning, Lee managed to get to his feet and block the ninja's attack on Sakura. However, as a consequence of his white knight defence, Lee fainted dead out.

"LEE!" Sakura and I yelled.

Neither of us particularly liked Lee because of how creepy he was, but it didn't mean that we didn't appreciate all the trouble he went through of protecting us in our time of need. He certainly didn't deserve to be beaten up to a bloody pulp.

I growled angrily and flipped the annoying ninja off my back before rushing over to Lee's side. I checked for a pulse and sighed in relief when I found one beating away steadily.

"Okay! Enough of this crap. Now the fun begins!" the leader suddenly announces.

Sakura, by now had fallen to her knees herself, winded but otherwise fine. She looked back at me and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by 'fun'?" she asked nervously.

The leader fixed us with a cunning leer before replying.

"We start killing you." was his simple reply.

Sakura and I exchanged 'oh' expressions before collecting ourselves fast.

"Sorry to break it to you, sweetie, but we have no intentions of dying just yet." I stated dryly to the smirking group of Sound Ninjas.

Their smirks instantly dropped the moment I said this - and it only meant one thing: Business. Suddenly, the female ninja in the group was behind Sakura within an instant, grabbing her by her long hair and holding her at kunai point.

Sakura squealed in both fright and pain as her hair was yanked on and almost out by the roots.

"Sakura!" I cried, afraid for her.

She looked up at me whimpering in fear.

"Let go of her!" I threatened the female ninja who merely looked at me like I was some insignificant bug. I hated when people did that to me.

"Come any closer to us and I slit her pretty little throat." She countered with a threat of her own, pressing the point of the kunai closer towards Sakura's throat.

Sakura whimpered again just as I hesitated and inwardly smirked remembering a familiar life lesson Kakashi-sensei taught us the day we started out as Genin.

So he really wasn't kidding…

~FLASHBACK~

"Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course, you need individual skills, but teamwork is required because it's an essential element. All shinobi understand this. Working individually can lead to failure and ultimately death."

We took this all in with an uneasy feeling in our guts.

"For example-"

Kakashi pulled a kunai from his pouch and poofed behind Sasuke, dragging him away from me without warning – which caused me to fall backwards with a grunt – and brandished the kunai at his throat.

"-Sakura, kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies."

There was panic. Kakashi released Sasuke and swiftly replaced the kunai back into his pouch.

"That's what happens in a mission."

"Oh boy, that was scary." Sakura whispered to herself. I gulped down my fear.

That's not playing fair...

"The enemy takes a hostage and makes you an impossible choice. Somebody dies. In every mission, your life is ALWAYS on the line."

~END OF FLASHBACK~

I chuckled in amusement causing Sakura, the female ninja and her teammates to look at me as though I had stripped naked and started doing the hula in front of them.

"What's so funny? I just threatened the life of your friend, and now you're laughing. What's the joke?" She asked in confusion.

Sakura looked at me like I had betrayed her. I glared lightly back at her - I had no such intention of doing anything of a sort. It just occurred to me what Sakura's Achilles' heel was and what was holding her back from actually winning this fight: her long hair.

It was now just a matter of convincing her to do the right thing to get herself out of the situation she was now in.

"There's no joke. I just had an epiphany." I explained to the dumbfounded group of Sound Ninja who probably unanimously decided I had lost my mind.

Let 'em think that if they want to. I really didn't care - what I did care about however, was the safety of my teammate whose life was currently in grave danger.

I looked at Sakura seriously.

"Sakura, only you can get yourself out of your situation." I explained to her.

Sakura frowned at me in confusion.

"And I think you know what that problem is." I added.

Sakura continued frowning at me for a moment before realising, but she paled instantly at the prospect of doing what she was clearly about to do. Her green eyes flickered over towards where Sasuke was STILL currently knocked out and studied him for a moment.

She sighed resignedly. I grinned approvingly.

"So what's it gonna be?" I pressed, hoping she'd make the right decision.

Sakura nodded and slowly, with shaking hands she raised her kunai to her head. The female ninja tensed up, pulling again on Sakura's hair and making the already scared pink-haired Kunoichi flinch in pain.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she demanded.

Sakura ignored her and continued moving the kunai towards her hair and pausing for a couple of seconds before slicing through the long rose coloured tresses, freeing herself from the female ninja's clutches.

I gasped in shock.

Wow! Didn't think you had it in you to do that, Sakura. I'm proud of you…

I thought impressed and watched as the female ninja made a grab towards Sakura who used the substitution jutsu to trick her.

Frustrated, the three Sound Ninjas continuously attacked Sakura who was still in deep shock at what she had just done to her hair and managed to evade the clutches of the very angry Sound Ninja by repeatedly using the substitution jutsu.

The leader made a desperate swipe to grab Sakura and managed to do so, but using quick thinking, Sakura managed to bite down hard on his arm escaping when he released her clutching his arm in pain.

Sakura threw a punch at his head for good measure.

Suddenly, the leader recovers unexpectedly and punches Sakura in the head. She stumbles and landed hard on her back staring up at him, completely at his mercy.

"You're so gonna get it now!" he seethed.

But before he could do anything. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji burst from the bushes to lend a hand to Sakura and I.

It was clear that Ino had obviously heard and seen everything that had happened before they arrived Calvary style. Traces of tears had fallen down her cheeks.