Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto or Star Wars.
Chapter 2: Pain and Suffering
A young girl sat on her bed with a worried and depressed look on her face mixed with some dry tear marks. She had her legs pulled up to her face and her arms wrapped around them, as if she was trying to keep warm. However, it wasn't the temperature of the room that was causing Sakura Haruno to clutch herself like this.
Something very bad had happened. Something awful and frightening to her teammates. Especially to one of them in particular. The more she thought about him; the more she shivered and held herself even tighter. Her toes scrunching up her bed sheets. It's been a long time since she wished it, but right now she wanted her mom to come through the door and scoop her up in a big warm hug to make everything all better.
Those days of comfort are over now. She had to remind herself constantly that she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a kunoichi of the Leaf village.
Still that did little to ease her worry and her sense of worthlessness. She knew she failed her teammates. She knew it was because of her lack of skills and strength that her teammates nearly died and for some reason she couldn't comprehend changed.
Every time she thinks about it, she feels like she was experiencing that horrible event all over again. There was nothing she could've done to prevent it, yet she knew it was still her fault because she was weak. If she wasn't so pathetic, she could've protected both of them. Despite the fact that they both seemed to be back to normal, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong with her teammates.
It all happened the moment she and her team encountered a powerful and very sadistic Grass ninja in the Forest Of Death during the second test of the Chuunin Exams. She didn't catch his name, but whoever he was he targeted and challenged Sasuke out of the three of them. She always knew Sasuke was the most talented and strongest of them, so it made sense he would be the first target. What she didn't expect was that the Grass shinobi's skill and power would cause Sasuke to become so gripped by fear and intimidation that he tried to surrender their scroll to him.
At the time she felt it was the right choice. This genin was far beyond in skills neither of them have ever seen. He felt even more frightening than Zabuza did. However, to her surprise and Sasuke's, Naruto refused to hand over the scroll and viciously fought the other genin.
She never saw Naruto fight so bravely and well before. She always thought he was a loud mouth that was mostly talk and was only trying to be more popular than Sasuke, but in that fight it felt like he was a whole other person.
Rather it was more like he was an animal. Yes, that is what it felt like the most to her. The way he swiped at that other genin with what looked like claws on his fingers. There was also his eyes. They were different. Not the regular ocean blue, but were blood red with slits for pupils. His voice was also a bit different. Almost like a guttural growl. It was as if he became a wild beast.
Despite his transformation though Naruto was still defeated and swatted away like he was an insect. The weird Grass shinobi did something to him. Something to his stomach. She couldn't figure out what exactly cause when she checked him for injuries he had none. Luckily before he could finish off Naruto, Sasuke finally intervened and it looked as if Sasuke would defeat the evil snake-like Grass ninja.
But in the end Sasuke was also defeated after their enemy sank his teeth into his neck. At first she thought he was poisoned with deadly venom, but it was something else. It was some kind of seal. She didn't know what it was for and before he left the Grass ninja declared that Sasuke would soon seek him out for more power and that 'gift' he gave him was for displaying such impressive skills.
That wasn't even the worst part of their ordeal though. No, the worst part was when she along with Team 10 and Lee had to face off against three Sound shinobi. Apparently they were given orders to kill Sasuke and his teammates if they got in the way. She fought as hard as she could with her traps and limited taijutsu skills, but she was no match. She also had to cut her beautiful long pink hair short in order to get away from the Sound kunoichi who had a tight hold on it.
With all that effort though she only slowed them down a little bit before the others arrived. Even with their help however; the Sound genins looked like they would be a little too much for the others and Sakura to handle. That was when it happened. The event that still continued to send shivers all the way from her head down to the tip of her toes.
Flashback
The fight between the Sound trio and the two Leaf teams and the one member of Team Gai didn't look good. Even with Lee and Team 10 at Sakura's side, it didn't look like the Sound genins were going to be deterred in the slightest.
Both sides were about to attack each other again when all of a sudden a dark, purple, and evil aura erupted from the tree trunk, where Sakura safely hid away her teammates. The figure that emerged from the tree covered in the aura was none other than the Uchiha prodigy himself Sasuke!
Sakura should've been overjoyed to see him back on his feet ready for action, but something felt wrong. Sasuke didn't feel like his usual self. He felt cold, angry, and also bloodthirsty.
"Sasuke, are you alr-"
"Your face. Who did that to your face?"
His voice dripped with venom when he asked that question. Sakura began to shiver. This wasn't Sasuke. The way his sharingan looked as if they were practically glowing with blood lust; that evil dark aura which flared wildly from his body. She's never seen him like this before.
What could've happened to him? Then she remembered that mark on his neck. It had to be the cause! Before she could answer his question, one of the Sound trio, Zaku, stepped forward with a cocky smirk on his face.
"That would be me!"
Sasuke glared at the Sound shinobi who dared hurt one of his comrades. A sadistic smile of his own started to grace his lips.
"Then you die first!"
Sakura and the others of the Konoha 11 were shocked to hear those words coming from Sasuke. He's never threatened to kill anyone before not even his opponents. The Sound genin, Zaku, was also taken aback by Sasuke's response. His shock quickly turned into anger and he pointed at the young Uchiha.
"YEAH?! WELL, JUST TRY IT PUNK! I'LL WIPE THAT STUPID GRIN OFF YOUR FACE WHEN I KILL YOU FIRST! I'll DEAL WITH THAT PINK HAIRED FORE-HEADED BITCH AFTER!"
Just as both combatants started to get ready, the tree trunk, that Sasuke came out of, started to creak and groan. Cracks started to form on the surface of the tree while the pebbles and rocks around it started to float and slowly role and twirl in the air. No one could tell what was going on. Even Sasuke with his newfound power and blood lust was confused as to what was happening.
Suddenly the tree exploded!. The shockwave either knocking people to the ground or forcing them to cover the eyes from the flying debris or both! After the debris ceased, everyone stared in awe at what stood in place of the tree now was a large crater!
Splinters of wood and rocks were floating higher and higher all around it. What caught their attention the most was who was standing in the center of the crater. It was a boy, dressed in orange, looking down at his feet. His body slightly trembling.
The boy slowly lifted his head for everyone to see. As he did his headband got loose and fell, but it never touched the ground. It just started floating up and around him along with the rest of the debris. His jacket's zipper suddenly became undone like it unzipped itself, and the jacket began to flap and shake violently around his body until it tore itself to shreds. The pieces floating up in the air like everything else with not a trace of it left on him.
Finally, they saw his face. Gone were the warm, friendly, sky blue, eyes and in their place were red and orange glowing embers seething with anger and hatred. He slowly looked at each single person around him.
Every individual that met his stare felt like his eyes were piercing through their bodies into their very souls! Including the Sound trio. They were shaking so badly from his fiery gaze that it looked like their bodies were gonna fall to pieces!
However, when the boy's gaze fell upon Sakura, his eyes widened; his body stopped trembling, and all the objects and debris in the air froze in place. He just stood there with his mouth slightly gaped open, staring at her.
Until, finally he spoke. His voice was calm but it was clear that it was holding back an immeasurable amount of fury .
"Sakura-Chan...your hurt. Who...who did this? Who did this to...to Sakura-Chan? Who hurt Sakura-Chan?! ANSWER ME!"
Suddenly all the objects in the air exploded into pieces. His head band fell to ground. The blue cloth ripped to shreds with only the metal plate intact. The boy started to violently shake, clearly losing his patience with how no one has had the guts to answer his question.
But they could hardly be blamed. Not one of the leaf genin there has ever seen the Leaf's Number One Unpredictable Knucklehead, Naruto Uzumaki, so full of rage and malice before. It was frightening.
'What's going on? Is this really Naruto? The same idiot who challenged everyone else in these exams with that silly grin on his face?'
Shikamaru, despite his high IQ, still could not believe it. He could not understand how his goofy former classmate could've become like this. He looked even more vicious and infuriated than even Sasuke does right now. Ino and Choji were also shocked. Shocked to the point where they were frozen in place with Ino trying to help Choji up.
Lee was standing by Sakura's side, as she held herself up from the ground with her hands, with actual sweat running down his face. It wasn't the normal sweat he gets from doing his usual over the top training regime or doing a challenge proposed by his sensei. No, this was sweat caused by fear.
'Sasuke and Sakura's teammate. I never knew he had this kind of power! It's unnerving. Still I must be strong and protect Sakura with the power of my youth!'
Sasuke also stared wide eyed at Naruto and was grinding his teeth. Like everyone else fear was on his mind, for what was happening to his comrade, but unlike the others his mind was also occupied with feelings of anger and annoyance. He didn't know how his teammate managed to have attained this kind of power and he didn't care.
'No! Stay out of this Dobe! This is my fight not yours!'
He was about to speak his mind when Naruto finally ran out of patience and roared at the top of his lungs.
"I ASKED, WHO HURT SAKARA-CHAN?! SOMEONE BETTER ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW! BEFORE I START PILING EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THIS VERY HOLE RIGHT HERE AND ASK QUESTIONS LATER!"
The trees all around them started to shake violently and hundreds of birds flew from their perches. Their frightened chirping being the only sound everyone could hear at the moment. It didn't last long when another sound echoed through the forest. A loud screech that made everyone with the exception of Naruto, Sasuke, and the Sound trio clasp their ears in pain from the sheer volume of it!
After the screeching finally stopped, Sakura took a moment to look back at Naruto, who was back to narrowing his eyes and viciously glaring at everyone else to answer him already. Sakura felt a very cold chill run through her entire body the moment she looked back into his eyes.
Those beautiful, gentle, blue irises were now nothing but fire and rage. They felt even more threatening than before when they were that of an animal's. There was something else in them though. Something that could only be caught in a glimpse when staring into all that fury, yet she was able to see it. It was pain and suffering.
'Naruto...what's happening to you? H-How are you doing all this? Please stop, you're scaring me!'
Sakura began to think of all the possible reasons why Naruto was acting like this and even how he was controlling everything around him. Maybe that Grass ninja did something to him like what he did to Sasuke. No, she already checked Naruto and unlike Sasuke there weren't any visible seals or injuries that were inflicted on him. Before she could think further on the issue, Zaku regained some of his composure and spoke up in his usual overconfident tone.
"It was me you idiot! I already told your raven haired friend here that I'm on the one who used pinkie's face as a punching bag after the bitch bit my arm! Sheesh what is it with you two and this girl? What? Are you both fucking her or something? Personally I don't see the appeal. I mean look at that huge forehe-ack! Ackgh! Gah! Aeh! Ack!"
Zaku suddenly began choking and was grasping at his throat. Clawing for breath. His partners just stood there helpless wondering what was wrong with him, along with everyone else. No one could figure out what was going on.
That is until all eyes traced back to Naruto and saw that his right hand was stretched out. The way he was flexing his fingers looked as if he grasping and crushing an invisible object. That's when Dosu, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shikamaru all realized the same thing before the others.
'He's the one choking him with this power!'
Naruto slowly raised his arm up and as he did Zaku was lifted off the ground almost like he was levitating. He started to thrash and jerk his body around like crazy. Trying to escape whatever influence this brat was having on him.
Zaku realized he had no choice and had to use his most powerful technique if he hoped to escape. He ignored the pressure on his throat and raised both of his arms and tried to concentrate his chakra. It was difficult considering his windpipe felt like it was about to be crushed any second, but in the end he was able to summon enough to perform his Extreme Decapitating Airwaves.
Sasuke was able to see the counterattack coming thanks to his sharingan and body flickered away. The other Leaf genin realized a few seconds after what was going on and headed for cover behind a large tree root. The second the last one of them got to the temporary shelter, Zaku unleashed his attack.
A massive gust of cutting wind exploded out of his palms right at Naruto. Leveling everything in its path until it reached their target. Totally annihilating the whole surrounding area Naruto was in. The attack lasted a few seconds before it stopped. Leaving nothing but dust in the air. Zaku fell to the ground and immediately began rubbing his throat and gasped for air.
The Leaf Genin wondered if it was over and became startled when Sasuke body flickered to on top of the tree root staring at the aftermath of the attack. Curious the other Leaf genin poked their heads out only to see the crater area Naruto was standing in was nothing but dust and smoke now.
'Naruto...'
Choji couldn't believe it. His only other friend in the academy, besides Shikamaru, was just completely annihilated and no one, including him, did a damn thing to save him! Ino was right on the verge of tears with her eyes being engulfed in the salty water threatening to spill out. Shikamaru was staring wide eyed at the horrible tragedy of what has become of his former classmate.
Lee was clenching his fists and grinding teeth. He might not have considered him as worthy of a challenge as Sasuke, but his bravery has earned enough of his respect that he shall never forget the fellow youthful genin.
Sasuke just calmly stood where he was. The purple aura around him growing even more wild and dark. His eyes narrowing at the Sound trio. Particularly at Zaku whose cocky grin was once again plastered all over his face. He was going to make them pay for that! He didn't care if he would even get disqualified for how terrible he made their deaths! They needed to suffer for what they did to Naruto!
Sakura like everyone else was speechless. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was opened slightly as if she were trying to say something but words failed to come out. Her mind was reeling back and forth with what just happened. Naruto couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. Could he?
'Naruto...Naruto no...You can't be...y-y-you just can't b-b-be! No...No...No...NO!'
"NARUTO!"
Zaku started cruelly laughing, the kunoichi on his team, Kin, smirked and Dosu continued looking at the crater.
"You're loser friend may have caught me off guard with that weird technique, but even he couldn't stand up me! Don't worry you'll all be joining him soon. Especially you Sasuke Uchiha. I'm gonna do to you what I di-"
"Impossible!"
Dosu cut Zaku's monologuing off which greatly annoyed the latter. He was about to complain before he noticed Dosu's shocked expression. He and everyone else followed his eyesight to the area of Zaku's attack.
Through the smoke and dust a figure could be made out. As the dust started to clear up more, everyone's eye's began to widen. A pair of red glowing eyes could be seen along with spiky blonde hair and orange pants. Then without warning the dust cloud cleared away from the area like some gust of wind came out of nowhere and blew it away; even though no one felt any wind.
Naruto Uzumaki stood there, on a small patch of untouched dirt from the crater from before, with his right arm and palm stretched out. Not a single scratch could be seen on him. There wasn't even any dust or debris covering him for that matter as well! He looked completely untouched which baffled everyone.
Zaku just stood there trembling in fear and confusion. No one has ever survived his ultimate attack. Not completely unscathed at least. He couldn't believe it.
"That's not possible! You should be dead or badly injured or...or SOMETHING! NO ONE HAS EVER TAKEN MY ULTIMATE JUTSU AT FULL FORCE LIKE THAT WITHOUT ANY WOUNDS! NO ONE! YOU HAD TO HAVE USED A SUBSTITUTION OR A CLONE! THAT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION!"
Dosu stepped forward next to Zaku.
"No, you're wrong. I've been watching him the entire time. There wasn't a single moment during your attack that he tried an escape jutsu or a clone. He took your attack head on and somehow for reasons I can't explain was able to emerge from it undamaged."
Zaku looked at his team leader with a unbelievable look in his eyes.
"WHAT?! NO WAY!"
He looked back at Naruto, who had a look of murder in eyes, and started sweating bullets.
The other Leaf genin were also beyond shocked that their friend survived such a devastating attack without a single cut on him, but were also very glad. Sakura herself was beyond relief to see her teammate alive and well.
'Naruto! Thank god! He's alive! He's alive!'
"But...how did Naruto survive that then?"
Ino asked a good question. How did Naruto survive that attack? Sasuke and Shikamaru were thinking into overdrive as to all the possible jutsus Naruto could've used, but like Dosu said Naruto didn't prepare any when Zaku launched his attack. Surprisingly it was Sakura that came up with the answer when she took a closer look at Naruto's hand and the patch of dirt he was standing on.
"I think he somehow shielded himself."
The other Leaf genin looked at her. Realizing that had to be the answer since it would explain his lack of injuries. Still it raised the question of how he shielded himself? None of them saw him perform a defensive jutsu before the attack hit and again even if he did there wasn't enough time.
"It's that power."
All the Leaf genins' eyes fell upon Sasuke as he started to explain.
"That power that Naruto is emanating around him. He used it to put up a barrier in front of him that protected him from that Sound shinobi's attack."
The members of the Konoha 11 looked back at Naruto with realization. Sasuke was right. That had to be how Naruto was able to survive such a powerful technique. What worried them though was Naruto looked very pissed with the way his ember like eyes started to glow. Sasuke was the only one of them who wasn't intimidated. Rather he was irritated and started clenching his fists and grinding his teeth.
'Naruto...where...where did you learn how to do that?'
Sakura looked at Sasuke and noticed that blood was starting to seep from his knuckles. She started to worry for him again. He still had that cold bloodthirsty appearance and look in his eye except it looked like it was being directed at Naruto now!
'I can't figure out what's wrong with either of them! I feel so useless!'
"Zaku, Kin both of you attack him at once. I'll go for the Uchiha. We've already wasted enough time battling the others. Let's just complete our mission so we can get out of here!"
Zaku and Kin looked at their team leader with disbelief! Neither one of them wanted to take on this blonde kid! But if they failed the mission, without giving it their all, then Orochimaru-sama would be very displeased with them.
Before they could get their heads together and form a plan of attack, Naruto spoke up.
"You think it's funny what you did to Sakura? You actually get a kick out of hurting my teammate and friend? ONE OF MY MOST PRECIOUS PEOPLE?!"
Naruto curled his arm back and both of his hands started to shake with his fingers curved upward. All the debris littered around him started to float up in the air. His spiky blond hair waving back and forth. Everyone watched in fear at the strange and frightening ability he was displaying once again. One person there however, was mostly in shock rather than fear.
'Wait...Naruto is doing all of this...for me? Why? Why would he go so far for me? Why would he even consider me precious?'
Sakura couldn't believe what she heard. She couldn't remember anyone ever coming so viciously to her defense before. Not even Ino when she defended her against the other kids during their childhood or even just now when she and her team showed up. Sasuke was upset with what they did to her too, but not to the degree Naruto was showing.
She didn't think Naruto cared that much about her. In fact for the past few weeks Naruto has been rather distant with her and kept calling her, 'Sakura-san', which continued to unnerve her quite a bit, and he only spoke with her a few times and kept the conversations rather short.
It didn't make any sense at all. If Naruto wasn't scaring and making her worried like this, she would bonk him on the head for being so confusing and annoying like she would normally do.
"NOW YOU'RE ALL GOING TO PAY! YOU RUTHELESS...HEARTLESS...BASTARDS!"
In response to Naruto's outburst, that high pitched screech roared back again only it was even louder than before. Making the same people having to cover their ears again; hard. Suddenly a large shadow loomed over the Leaf genin. When everyone looked up they saw an enormous and ferocious looking bat swooping down at Naruto.
Before anyone could warn him or come to his defense, the bat already landed! However, to everyone's shock instead of attacking him, the bat crawled over to Naruto's side. Hissing viciously at the Sound trio and looked eager to tear them apart with its ghastly giant curved fangs.
"That one is mine. Do as you will with the others."
Naruto then brought his right arm and extended it outward with his palm towards the Sound genins. The giant bat receiving it's command then lunged at Dosu and Kin with eagerness to slaughter them both. Leaving Zaku to Naruto.
Naruto then used the same hand and curved it upwards lifting Zaku off the ground. Zaku was beyond terrified at this point. His best move wouldn't work on this kid and his teammates were busy trying not to be torn apart. How was he going to get free? The only thing he could think to do was to try to cover his throat to lessen the pain of having his windpipe being crushed again.
Only when he tried to do that he found he couldn't move his arms. He forced them as hard as he could but they wouldn't budge. Then all of sudden they lifted by themselves! Stretching out in opposite directions away from his body. Confused he looked down and saw to his horror that the blonde kid had both of his arms up in parallel with each other with his fingers partway curled down.
"You seem to be very fond of using these arms of yours to hurt my friends, SO I THINK I'LL TAKE THEM FROM YOU!"
Naruto then closed his hands into fists and then slowly began to widen the gap between his arms. Zaku's arms in response started to stretch out more. Zaku grunted in pain as he felt the pressure of his arms being pulled like that. It didn't take long, for him to start screaming as it felt like his arms were going to be ripped off! Soon enough a sickening popping crunch sound was heard. Naruto had dislocated both of his arms and it didn't look like he was going to stop there.
Sakura and the others were horrified with what they were witnessing! Naruto not only dislocated that other genin's arms but it looked without a doubt that he was going to actually rip them off entirely! Sakura started to shake and her hand gripped the part of her chest where her heart was.
She didn't know why but she felt pain. So much pain in her heart; seeing Naruto like this with all that rage, fury, and what still looked like pain and suffering to her. Tears were starting to flood down her cheeks but she didn't notice them or cared if anyone else noticed. She was hurting.
Meanwhile Dosu and Kin were having their hands full with the giant bat that the kid somehow was able to summon. If they weren't so busy trying to avoid its fangs and claws on its wings, they would be trying to figure out how the kid was able to summon it without performing the necessary jutsu. The bat however was not gonna allow them even that slightest bit of luxury.
Dosu tried sending sound waves at the creature to drive it off, but for some reason it seemed to be immune. That's when he remembered that bats have resilient hearing compared to humans! Not only that but considering the size of this one, it would take an enormous amount of sound to stop this creature. Kin realized that a little too late when she tried using a sound genjutsu to stun the creature. It only gave it an opening to head butt her body and send her colliding into a tree. Knocking her out.
The creature slowly stalked to her. Getting ready to sink it's teeth into her flesh. Dosu, not seeing any other option, leapt at the creature and shoved his resonating echo speaker device on his right arm, into the beast's ear and unleashed the loudest sound wave he's ever produced!
The bat screeched and writhed in agony trying to get Dosu to dislodge his arm from its ear. Finally, it managed to grab a hold of his leg with the hook on its left wing and threw him away! After that the bat started to shake its head like crazy before it opened up its wings and took off into the air. Disappearing back into the forest.
Dosu slowly got up, making sure nothing was broken, and looked over at his kunoichi teammate. She was knocked out which means now it was just him and Zaku. However, at that moment he realized that he forgot all about him and he scanned the area until his eyes noticed the levitated body of his other teammate.
His arms looked as if they were about to be pulled off! He noticed that the blonde haired kid looked like he was concentrating on doing just that with the way he was slowly pulling his own arms out. This would've been the perfect moment to strike, but Dosu was gripped by so much fear of the boy's power and the look of hate and rage on his face, he couldn't move at all.
He wasn't the only one. The members of the Konoha 11 also didn't dare move from where they were. Each one too terrified or shocked to move. Sasuke was one of the few in the group who wasn't tied down by either. He was frustrated! He wanted to make these Sound shinobi pay! He wanted to be the one to unleash his own fury and anger. He wanted to show that he was an avenger!
'Enough! I'm putting a stop to this! I should be the one to rip that bastard's arms off!'
Before Sasuke could act, he caught Lee in the corner of his eye struggling to step forward. He turned his head and noticed that Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were holding him down but only barely.
"Let me go! I...have to...stop...Naruto. He's...going...too far! This is...not...the proper...way...to demonstrate...our youth...in...these exams!"
Shikamaru, who had his arms and hands locked behind Lee's head, wondered what the hell was with this kid and youth before he spoke up.
"Listen to me Lee! You can't get involved! We don't know what's happening to Naruto! If you go running out there like a maniac with the state Naruto is in, there's a good chance he'll think your an enemy and he'll just do to you what he's doing to that other guy or worse!"
Lee struggled to turn his head a little to Shikamaru.
"But we...can't just do nothing! We have to...stop him! He's making...a mistake!"
"You guys stay out of this. I'll take care of the Dobe!"
They all looked at Sasuke still standing on top of the tree root with the purple aura radiating around him. His sharingan eyes glaring at Lee. Warning him not to take another step. Shikamaru was narrowing his eyes at the Uchiha and was curious as to what he was planning..
"What are you going to do exactly Sasuke?"
Shikamaru didn't know why but he felt that Sasuke was the last person right now who should be trying to stop Naruto. Maybe it was because he never liked the guy; or that he and Naruto were always arguing and barely getting along; or because Sasuke still looked like he was out for blood himself.
Sasuke looked at the young Nara and narrowed his own bloodshot sharingan eyes at him.
"All you need to know is that I'm the only one here who can overpower and stop him right now. Just don't get in my way!"
Shikamaru still wasn't convinced. Sasuke looked more like he just wanted to beat Naruto to a bloody pulp rather than stop him from killing the other guy. Before he could voice his concerns further, Choji raised a pressing issue
"Hey, where's Sakura?"
Everyone else stopped whatever they were doing and looked to where Sakura was standing mere moments ago only to find that she was gone! Everyone started whipping their eyes around franticly trying to find the Cherry Blossom girl. That is until Ino gasped in horror of what she was seeing.
The others followed her line of sight and to their own horror as well saw Sakura running straight at Naruto!
"SAKURA! YOU HAVE TO STAY AWAY! IT'S NOT SAFE!"
"DON'T GET NEAR HIM! HE'LL KILL YOU!"
"THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"
"LET US HANDLE IT! YOU'RE ALREADY INJURED ENOUGH AS IT IS!"
Sasuke stared wide eyed in shock at the bravery Sakura was showing. He wanted to stop her because he was also worried for her safety, but with the way that strange seal on his neck was influencing him, he was more focused on how she was now interfering with his business. Not wanting anymore interruption, he then took off after her.
'That idiot! What is she thinking?! Only I can stop him! Damn! I'm not gonna make it!'
Sakura didn't hear any of the screams from the others or even noticed Sasuke chasing after her. All she was focused on was getting to Naruto and stopping this madness! With each step she took though she could feel the rage and suffering from him getting stronger and stronger!
It was like staring into a hurricane of emotional pain and misery. She didn't let that stop her though! She didn't care if he hurt her! She didn't care if he outright killed her! She had to stop him! She had to help him!
"NARUTO! NARUTO PLEASE STOP! IT'S OKAY! IT'S OKAY, I'M ALRIGHT! THEY DIDN'T HURT ME THAT BAD! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU TO STOP THIS! PLEASE!"
Naruto's concentration on Zaku's arms broke, as he saw his teammate and crush barreling towards him with tears flowing down her face. With his focus gone, Zaku fell to the ground and was gasping from the pain until he lost consciousness from it. Naruto just stood there like a statue in the same pose with his arms, as Sakura kept running toward him.
'Sakura-Chan...'
Before he could react Sakura leapt high off the ground with her arms outstretched and tackled Naruto to the ground! He shut his eyes and winced expecting her to beat the living crap out of him! Instead he felt himself being enveloped in something warm and his shoulder was wet!
He opened his eyes and to his surprise and shock saw that Sakura was hugging him! Hugging him! Her chin was resting on his shoulder and her cheek was pressing tightly against his. He could feel her tears on his face. They were warm but not as much as the way her arms felt around him. He felt her body shudder violently against his, as she continued to weep. She whimpered into his ear.
"Please stop this, Naruto. Please..."
Naruto started to tremble. Tears of his own started to pour down his cheeks. He couldn't believe it. He swore he would never allow anyone to ever see him cry. To see him emotionally hurt. Yet, here he was crying and shaking like a child. His ember eyes were already turning back into the pure azure blue brightness that they were before.
He slowly raised his arms until they touched just below Sakura's. They hovered there, for a few seconds, shaking with his body before they finally wrapped around Sakura's petite form and engulfed her in a loving embrace.
It felt nice. Nice to be in the arms of someone who cared about you; whose worried about you; who wanted you safe.
It was nice to be in the arms of the girl you love.
"So...this...is what a hug feels like."
Sakura opened her eyes in shock of Naruto's statement.
"You've never had a hug before?"
When she pulled away to look at him, Naruto already lost consciousness. His head slumped forward into the crook of Sakura's neck. His arms however never lost their grip around her. It was almost as if he was holding onto her for dear life.
Under normal circumstances, Sakura would've beaten Naruto severely for even thinking of attempting this kind of physical contact with her, but given his revelation and the current circumstances she just couldn't bring herself to not cradle his body against hers and rock him slowly back and forth. Making soft shushing sounds to relax him in his sleep. While she did that she noticed the metal plate of his head band laying on the ground right next to them and picked it up before stuffing it into her tool pouch.
'Knowing him he'd probably go crazy trying to find it. He's obsessed with it.'
Sakura smiled a little bit at the thought of Naruto scrambling around and yelling at the top of his lungs of where his headband might be. Still as amusing as it would be she also knows how much it means to him since Iruka gave it to him.
All of her happy thoughts were instantly swept away as she started to fully grasp the extent of what Naruto just did now or rather tried to do. She took a look at the sleeping boy that she cradled in her arms. How could such a loud mouth, yet otherwise harmless, gentle boy be capable of having such rage and power? It didn't make any sense. She didn't bear witness to or even hear of anything Naruto has done that was even remotely like this.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps behind her. Acting on her training she drew out a kunai knife with her left hand while holding Naruto protectively with her right. To her relief it was just the other members of the Konoha 11, who were also shocked beyond belief as to what they have just witnessed. She placed her kunai back in its holster and continued cradling her teammate.
Sasuke, who was in the front, stepped forward. The purple flaming aura has calmed down some since she last looked at him, but it still gave Sasuke a threatening appearance. He narrowed his eyes at the boy sleeping in her arms. In response to this she instinctively held Naruto closer and tighter against her body as if she was protecting him. Sasuke noticed this and stopped a few feet away from her.
"Sakura, get Naruto out of here. I'll take care of these losers."
Before Sasuke could do anything further a scroll rolled on the ground to his feet. Everyone looked up and saw that the Sound trio's leader was holding both of his teammates in his arms.
"There's no need to fight anymore. We've been beaten. Just take our scroll and let us leave."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the Sound genin and scoffed.
"You attacked, hurt, and tried to kill my teammates and you expect me to just let you go? Sorry but I'm not that easy."
Sasuke stepped over the scroll and was about ready to attack when someone he didn't expect spoke up.
"ENOUGH! Stop being such a drag and let them go! Your team's safe! You should focus on trying to keep them that way! Especially Naruto! Who knows how long he'll be out!"
Sasuke turned and glared at Shikamaru. He was tired of people getting in his way. Before he could protest Sakura spoke.
"Sasuke please just let them go! We already have their scroll and they can barely fight back! Not to mention Shikamaru is right we have to focus on Naruto's safety! After what just happened...I...I don't have any clue when he'll come out of it!"
Sasuke's eyes widened. He's never ever heard Sakura disagree with him before or not call him 'Sasuke-kun'. Nor has she ever expressed any concern for Naruto's well being. Usually she threatens it! Yet, the more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right.
The other team was no longer in any condition to be a threat and they already have their scroll. Also as much as he hated to admit it, they are going to need Naruto's help to be able to get the other scroll from another team which meant that they had to ensure his safety so that he would hopefully wake up soon.
The purple aura around Sasuke's body started to die down and his sharingan turned back into his regular eyes. He returned to normal as he turned around and picked the scroll up. He looked back at the Sound squad's leader.
"Just go and don't even think about trying to ambush again in the future!"
Dosu nodded his head and leapt onto a tree branch and dashed away. Leaving the members of the Konoha 11 to contemplate on whether or not they should tell the proctors about Naruto.
end Flashback
Sakura continued to wonder whether it was the right choice they all made. Sasuke was very adamant about not telling the proctors or their senseis any of what just happened. Saying it wouldn't be fair to Naruto.
The others eventually agreed, but she wasn't so sure. Now, she didn't want Naruto kicked out of the exams. Not when he came so far and fought so hard for his team. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong with him.
For starters when Naruto regained consciousness he didn't remember any of what happened. She felt a little relieved at that. However, there was that look in his eye. The same one he had when he went berserk. It was that look of pain and suffering.
Whenever she saw that look in his eyes she felt so disheartened for him. Even more so after she found out that she was the first to ever give him a hug. She couldn't believe that no one has ever given him a hug before. She understood that he was an orphan and had no other relatives, but not single person ever gave him one?
It was almost if not just as depressing as Sasuke losing his entire clan as well as the look he had in his eyes when the subject came up in conversations. She tried asking both Sasuke and Naruto if they were alright, yet time and time again they would tell her they were fine, so she decided not to press further with either of them.
She also felt bad when Naruto became so upset over the state of his headband. She didn't have the heart to tell him what really happened to it. She knew that if he found out he tore the cloth that it was bound to, he would be crushed.
There were a couple of times during the preliminary fights where she thought Naruto was going to lose control again. Like when he fought Kiba, who was shooting his mouth off, and when Hinata fought her cruel and cold cousin Neji. To her relief that strange power didn't resurface and his normal temper seemed to be back, yet she could've sworn Neji had a bit of trouble breathing during his fight.
On the bright side Naruto was talking to her more than before, yet he went back to referring her as 'Sakura-san'. Hearing him call her that again was starting to make her miss the chan suffix he added to her name.
To her surprise and disappointment he didn't even cheer for her in her match against Ino. Normally she would welcome him keeping his mouth shut and not distracting her, but she would've liked if he gave her a little vocal support. Just when she felt she finally got through to him and had him stop being so distant to her for whatever reason she didn't understand (To make it clear she still doesn't remember what she did in the last chapter. No big surprise there). Despite that discomfort, she never made any effort to bring it up to him.
Naruto wasn't the only one she was worried about though. Her other teammate and love interest Sasuke also greatly concerned her. The first worrying issue was that he was up against Gaara of the Sand.
She didn't know much about him except that he's a powerful genin that controls sand and has a frightening lust to kill his opponents. He's already brutally beaten Lee and nearly killed him had not Gai-sensei intervened. She hopes more than anything that Sasuke won't suffer the same defeat or one worse than that.
The second concern she had was that, as much as she didn't want to believe it, she thinks that there was another reason that Sasuke didn't want Naruto to be disqualified and that it was so he could fight him. And worse was she believes he wants to fight Naruto while he's using that terrifying power.
The idea of both of her teammates fighting while being consumed with rage and blood lust brought tears to her face and made her whimper. She didn't want to see either of them like that ever again. She even tried to prevent the possibility of them fighting when she tried to tell her superiors about Sasuke's condition but he stopped her.
For now she just has to hope that if they do fight they remember that they're friends and teammates. She continued clinging to herself tighter trying to stop the cold shiver in her body. She really wanted someone to give her a nice big warm hug. She would even welcome one from Naruto.
"Naruto..."
Tears started to plop onto her bed sheets and the top of her feet every time she thought about him. He lost control because of her; because she got hurt; because she was too weak to defend herself or her teammates. She failed him. She failed him and Sasuke. If she were stronger; if she were more skilled; if she were braver; she could've protected them and they would both be normal right now.
'Sasuke-kun, Naruto I'm sorry. Both of you please be careful.'
After awhile she curled up on her bed and cried herself to sleep.
There you go! Second chapter finished! This was originally a lot longer but I decided to put the second half in the next chapter. Otherwise people would just lose track of what the hell was going on in this one. I apologize for the fight scenes being short. Like many authors I'm terrible with describing fight scenes in detail. I'll try to do better in the other chapters. The next chapter will be posted soon. Also I'd like to thank all the people who have given me support and praise for my first story so far! I hope you all enjoyed this second chapter and will enjoy the next one! Till next time!
