Chapter 8: There is No

'I' in Team

"Never forget what you are.

The rest of the world will not.

Wear it like armor,

and it can never be used

to hurt you."

-Tyrion Lannister

The damp air hinted at the upcoming spring, yet it still contained a cold enough bite, which allowed Sakura to clear away the haze of sleep with every inhalation. The five a.m. wake up hadn't felt as jolting as it had the previous day. Than again, she wasn't dealing with as much emotional turmoil as she had been yesterday. And with her status as a Konoha genin secured, Sakura had slept more soundly the night before.

The heavy storm cloud of anxiety that had hovered over her yesterday was dimmer this morning. Her worries were an omnipresent force in her mind- they probably always would be, but at least she didn't have to fear about her future as a shinobi hanging on a thread.

Lingering anger at her mother's refusal to let her move out of the house prickled at her senses, but Sakura shook the thought off not wanting to ruin her upcoming day. Instead she focused on everything she had read up on her new sensei. A small smile played on her lips as she thought about learning one of his carefully coveted 'thousand' jutsus.

And even after only knowing Kakashi-sensei for a mere two days, it was enough that she had observed some of his habits. And one in particular made her walk to the bridge more relaxed than hurried. Her sensei was habitually late, and his flimsy excuses hinted that his tardiness was purposeful. So the young girl had taken her time to ready herself for the day and didn't bother to hasten her pace to the bridge.

She would have more than enough time to meditate and practice some yoga or taijutsu while waiting for the jounin to show up. Sakura didn't feel quite daring enough to flout her sensei's instructed meeting time, just incase he did show up on time, but she didn't bother at rushing through her morning routine either.

When Sakura finally reached the designated meeting bridge she wasn't surprised to see Sasuke already there. Even at the Academy when she would show up incredibly early to receive a scroll from Mizuki-sensei, Sasuke would already be waiting at the back of the classroom. Always alone, and always scowling.

Today he was perched atop one of the bridge railings, staring off into the river, a thoughtful frown settled on his pale face. Sakura internally rolled her eyes and wondered if he practiced his 'brooding' looks at home. If he did than his effort was wasted on her. And if his intention wasn't to gather the swooning fan girls than he should really quit posing himself like a romance novel cover.

"Good morning Sasuke-san."

Sasuke turned his head and silently observed her for a moment. Sakura remained still as she met his gaze, wondering if he was still upset with her for never answering his question yesterday. Or wondering if he would simply snub her again.

"Good morning," he quietly replied, head instantly turning back to the water.

She repressed a sigh. Sasuke didn't seem upset- or at least not any more upset than usual. But still, she instinctively knew that forming any kind of bond that revolved around trust was going to be difficult for the two of them.

Sasuke was an arrogant loner and as she discovered yesterday, nosy. And Sakura was not blind to her own faults, so she knew that her stubbornness and penchant for privacy would grate on his nerves just as much. Throw an irritatingly optimistic Naruto into the mix and Team Seven was explosive- just not in the good way.

Casting her attention away from her dark haired teammate, Sakura folded herself into lotus position and began her meditation ritual.

Inhale… Exhale…. Inhale… Exhale

The soothing sounds of rushing water relaxed her muscles and Sakura found withdrawing into herself easier today than yesterday, even with another audience. Her chakra also appeared to be in better shape. The dimness that had plagued the strings yesterday had brightened considerably, especially around her throat.

But as she continued her steady breathing, Sakura also noticed a dark presence within herself. The toxic ball of negativity that she had created yesterday was still floating around. She frowned, never having experienced something like this before. Emotions were never tangible substances, and yet this dark force of them was haunting her. And as the blackened wisp touched her chakra core, Sakura saw dark eyes and hot fingers trailing up her leg, 'you're not really Kizashi's, so it's all right.'

Her breath hitched… No, stop! She didn't want to think about that. She wasn't going to be weak! It didn't matter- it was over, she shouldn't- couldn't dwell. She needed to be strong!

The vibrations of someone running along the bridge, snapped Sakura out of her reverie. Green eyes wrenched open and looked down to see her hands shaking in her lap.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!"

Sakura tore her gaze away from her trembling fingers to see Naruto's sparkling blue eyes much closer to her face than she was comfortable with.

Swallowing her unease, Sakura lifted her lips in a imitation of a smile, "Good morning Naruto-san."

Naruto leaned back a little, "You don't have to call us that any more Sakura-chan. We're family now, just call me Naruto!"

Sakura made a valiant effort not to grimace at his mention of the word 'family,' especially when she could feel Sasuke watching their interaction with hawk like intensity. But she doubted she was wholly successful. And after the images of what a family member had done to her, not to mention her anger at her mother for not letting her move out, Sakura didn't want to hear anymore mentions of family.

But Naruto didn't have anything to do with her issues concerning the Harunos, so she calmly replied, "I'll keep that in mind."

The request was more than fair. Most children, or even pupils their age didn't bother with using proper addresses, especially around friends. Sakura had never been allowed the intimacy of addressing her family freely, let alone her peers. But they were a team and if she wanted to form bonds, this would be a good place to start.

"You're late dobe," Sasuke bit out, turning himself around to face the blonde.

Sakura thought it would have been smarter for Sasuke to get down from the railing altogether, as him perched there was practically inviting Naruto to push him off. But she remained quiet, observing her teammates interact instead.

"Only by five minutes," Naruto said, crossing his orange clad arms. "Besides, Kakashi-sensei probably won't be here for hours."

Sasuke sent him an unimpressed look that seemed to convey exactly what he thought of Naruto's reasoning.

Naruto's foot twitched in response and Sakura scooted back a bit not wanting to get splashed incase he did manage to push Sasuke off the bridge.

"Just don't make a habit of it Naruto," Sakura replied, watching as Sasuke's fingers crept towards his weapons pouch. "We don't want to get into trouble for being late if Kakashi-sensei actually does manage to show up on time."

Naruto grinned at her, all signs of annoyance gone. Her eyes darted over to Sasuke and thankfully his hands were once again relaxed against the railings.

Getting to her feet, Sakura decided to practice some yoga. The rising sun along with the soothing water would be the perfect backdrop for it. As long as her teammates didn't decided to start squabbling. Which was unlikely as Naruto and Sasuke were like cats and dogs.

Inhaling, Sakura moved into a high lunge, and closed her eyes, feeling her muscles stretch. After a few counts, Sakura maneuvered her body into 'reverse warrior' pose.

"Whatcha doing Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, bouncing over to her side.

Cracking one eye open, Sakura gazed at Naruto in exasperation. "Yoga."

Closing her eyes once again, Sakura moved to 'downward facing dog' and ignored the gulping noise Naruto made.

"W-why yoga?" he stuttered.

And when Sakura looked up she noticed Naruto looking not at her pink head, but at her behind. Scowl firmly in place, she waited for Naruto to refocus on her face. It took a few moments.

A bright blush spread across his whiskered cheeks when he finally met her eyes. Guilty blue ones flinched as they met her green.

As she rearranged herself into 'bow' pose she answered Naruto. "Yoga is good for the body. It helps calm the mind and stretch muscles. It also helps with flexibility."

Naruto gaped at her twisted body, "You're really smart Sakura-chan!"

"Why are you practicing it here?" Sasuke asked, discretely eying her movements.

Exhaling, the girl sat back into lotus position. It appeared as if any activity that required tranquility would be downright impossible with these two hovering.

"I usually practice at home every morning, before going to the Academy. Kakashi-sensei requires us to meet here earlier, and there is no point waking up early when he is going to be late, so I figured I would practice here," Sakura explained. "Evidently that wasn't the best idea…" she trailed off.

"Cool! Can you teach me some, Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke butted in before Sakura could respond. "Yoga is for girls dobe."

Sakura straightened her back, and contemplated whether or not she should push him into the river.

"Yoga is not just for girls. It is for anyone who wants to become more in tune with their body. I would think you of all people would be willing to try any form of training if it would help you to become a better shinobi." She said this in a deliberately calm voice, knowing that Sasuke would pick up on her condescension.

And though her hidden dig may have gone over Naruto's head, it hit its intended target and Sasuke scowled. A scowl, which Naruto did not miss. He dove towards the railing Sasuke was seated on, and when he was only a hairs breath away, a hand snatched him by the collar.

The hand jerked Naruto's body back, saving either Sasuke from taking a swim, or Naruto unintentionally diving in the water when the Uchiha dodged.

"Tut-tut, such naughty students," Kakashi-sensei drawled, letting go of Naruto's jumpsuit, which caused the blonde to fall into a heap on the bridge. "What did I do to deserve being put with you lot?"

Sakura inwardly snorted. It was a question that she had been derisively thinking about after passing the Academy exam. But it was also a legitimate question that Sakura had mused about in the library… What was an S-ranked nin doing teaching a bunch of kids? Most S-ranked shinobi were part of ANBU black ops.

"You're late!" Naruto huffed.

Kakashi hummed as he started walking towards the training ground, "I saw a little old lady struggling with her groceries, so of course I had to help her carry them home."

Naruto growled and Sakura rolled her eyes. As much as she was dying to learn from such a talented sensei, she was thoroughly unimpressed with his lackadaisical attitude towards their futures. Being on time, or at least being a better liar would make her feel immensely better about their training.

When the four reached the training grounds, Kakashi started them with basic warm up maneuvers. Boring and tedious exercises that any civilian could do and yet when Kakashi-sensei called 'go' for them to begin running laps, Sakura knew that her day was going downhill.

Naruto immediately shot off like a rocket, taunting Sasuke about being faster as he whizzed by. And for what many of the Academy instructors hailed as a genius, Sasuke was terrible at letting Naruto lure him into stupid rivalries. Sakura ran on ignoring the two boys that were meters ahead of her. She wasn't going to get in the way of their peacocking. And sure enough, in only the third lap out of ten Naruto managed to trip Sasuke, and then stumble over said boy, falling to the ground.

Sakura barely managed to contain her laughter as she ran past the tangled up two. Kakashi-sensei had obviously felt no such restraint, as she could hear him chuckling from the middle of the grounds.

By mid-morning it had only gotten worse. Push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks all resulted in Naruto furiously challenging Sasuke and then making a fool out of both of them. Sakura kept her mouth shut as the two bickered, but her patience was wearing thin. Especially when she realized that every time she looked at her sensei, he was focused on the quarreling pair.

The sun was high in the sky and harshly beating down on the back of her neck when Kakashi finally called for them to stop.

"Okay team, eat a quick lunch and then we are going to work on a new training exercise."

Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead and walked over to her bento ignoring Naruto's boasting about beating Sasuke at all the warm ups (something that she severely doubted). Pulling out her container of miso soup and leftover fish, Sakura began folding a napkin on her lap. She looked over to see Sasuke munching on some gyoza and Naruto pulling out an instant ramen cup.

Naruto must of felt her incredulous stare because his blue eyes hesitantly met hers. A flush broke out on his tanned cheeks, "I can't keep relying on you Sakura-chan; you've been too nice to me already!"

Sakura noticed Sasuke's pinched brows as he looked between the two of them and refrained from commenting. She didn't want to embarrass Naruto or his lack of funds in front of his wealthy rival. But still, he couldn't live on instant ramen alone.

Keeping her voice light, Sakura replied, "I never minded. And we're teammates now. Keeping you healthy is now a much bigger priority."

Naruto's face flushed an even darker shade of red and a small, pleased grin sat on his lips as he stirred the ramen cup. Comprehension spread across Sasuke's face as he looked at Sakura's stuffed bento. And when he opened his mouth Sakura gave him a look that conveyed all sorts of warnings should he think to tease Naruto about his lack of basic necessities.

The rest of the short lunch break was spent quiet, except for Naruto's exclamations on how much he loved ramen, and how much better it was at Ichirakus. Sakura only ate half of her large lunch, and drank copious amounts of water wanting to prevent dehydration. She felt much more refreshed by the time Kakashi called their break to an end.

"Okay, my cute students, we are going to perform a training exercise that will help out with your teamwork. Kami knows you need it," he said the last part under his breath.

He pulled a scroll out of one of his pockets. "Naruto, come here."

Naruto walked over to the older man, his face displaying a mixture of nerves and excitement.

"This scroll contains important information. Your job is to guard it," Kakashi-sensei explained. He then turned his lone eye to Sasuke and Sakura. "Your jobs are to try and steal the scroll from Naruto. You will have one hour to complete this task."

Sasuke smirked, "Easy."

Naruto shot him a dirty look, but straightened up when Kakashi continued. "The rules are no killing, maiming, or use of shuriken. We have other practices to complete today and I would rather get through them than drag one of you to the hospital," he grimaced. "Understood?"

"Yes sensei!" Naruto shouted, while Sasuke gave a sharp nod and Sakura softly answered, "yes."

"Naruto, you get a one minute head start. You can go anywhere on the training grounds, but cannot leave it. Ready? Go!"

Naruto barreled off to the tree line with all the grace of a bright orange bull.

Sakura unraveled her whip from its loops around her waist, while Sasuke pulled two kunai from his weapons pouch.

"Remember you two, you have to work together. I want to see you working as a team to get the scroll. If one of you takes off without the other," Kakashi said, eyeing Sasuke, "than you will both fail."

Sakura bit her lip not at all convinced that Sasuke wouldn't just take off on his own once they reached the tree line. And Kakashi-sensei really should have come up with a better threat than simple failure. Now that they had become genin, failing a training exercise wasn't too big of deal. She didn't have any intention of failing of course, but still it wasn't the greatest motivation.

Until Kakashi continued, "If you fail, than I will put off accepting any missions."

Both Sasuke and Sakura grimaced. Training was great, not to mention necessary, but missions where were shinobi really learned. Not to mention the money.

Sakura looked over to Sasuke to see him looking back at her. Their eyes connected and Sakura seemed to understand his unspoken treaty- they would work together.

"Alright, go!" Kakashi-sensei said.

Sasuke and Sakura both took off towards the forest. Once they reached the tree line, Sasuke slowed down and looked at her.

"What are you thinking?"

Sakura slowed her pace to match his, "Kakashi sensei wants us to work together so we probably shouldn't split up."

Sasuke nodded, "Once we sense the dobe could you catch him with that?" he asked, gesturing to her whip.

Sakura nodded in response, confident in her ability.

Sasuke nodded, "Okay, you immobilize him and I'll use my kunai to make sure he hands over the scroll."

Sakura nodded, and the two continued forward, heading into the densest part of the training ground's small forest. Naruto would have undoubtedly seen the benefits of hiding in the thick foliage.

After only two minutes of quietly running, Sakura caught a glimpse of orange out of her peripherals.

"Sasuke," she hissed.

Turning his head, he gave her a flat look that seemed to convey how annoyed he was at her for breaking his concentration.

Sakura was sorely tempted to do something completely childish and stick out her tongue. She settled on narrowing her eyes and gesturing to where she saw their loudmouth teammate.

It wasn't until Sasuke shot off into the trees did Sakura consider her own stupidity at pointing out a clue and expecting Sasuke not to go after it on his own like a rabid hunting dog. But than again, she thought that they were going to practice teamwork and that Sasuke would have enough restraint to not just take off without her.

Scowling at the thick branches that concealed both teammates Sakura realized that it would probably be harder to track Sasuke than Naruto. And than rolled her eyes at how stupid the Uchiha was being. Naruto had mastered the shadow clone jutsu. There was a good chance that there was more than one Naruto wandering about the training grounds. The real Naruto might not even be in the forest!

Frown firmly in place, Sakura quietly, but determinedly marched through the forest. She was better off without that idiotic Uchiha anyways!

Heading west, she mused on what she should do. A clone wasn't likely to give up their original's location. And Sakura couldn't threaten one properly without it popping out of existence. She didn't want to be led on a wild goose chase either- especially with the time limit.

A branch above her rustled and Sakura ducked into a nearby bush, thankful for her dark clothes, but cursing her bright hair. Carefully she looked up and noticed two Naruto clones above her.

"Where do you think we should go now?" one of them asked the other.

"Boss said we should split up. They will know that there are clones if they see the two of us together."

"Isn't boss with a clone too?" The first one asked, scratching its head.

"Yeah, but he's supposed to be the only one with a few of us around," the other Naruto said, punching the first one in the arm.

Sakura suppressed a sigh of exasperation. It was so very Naruto like that even his clones couldn't get along with each other. And when they disappeared in different directions, Sakura turned around and headed south- they way the clones originally came from.

Unlashing her whip, the girl swung herself into the tree branches. Traveling on higher ground would give her a better vantage point. And after combing around the southern side of the training ground's forest her idea paid off. Five Naruto's were huddled in a circle.

Grabbing a kunai from her weapons pouch, Sakura used her whip to swing herself down, her legs barreling into the first two Naruto's, popping them out of existence and startling the other three.

All of the Narutos looked unsure as they came face to face with her. The two on flank looked to the middle Naruto for instruction, and Sakura knew they were clones too. Simultaneously kicking her foot out and slashing her kunai, Sakura disbanded them in an instant.

Dropping into a defensive position, she was on edge for a counter attack. But Naruto remained gaping at her in awe, his hands not even reaching for weapons or making hand signs.

"Wow Sakura-chan, that was awesome!"

Sakura frowned and straightened herself up, "I don't think you are supposed to compliment me when we are enemies Naruto."

Naruto's smile fell, "We could never be enemies. We're teammates Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled back as she looked into his guileless blue eyes. Eyes that did not belong in such a sly and manipulative trade.

But her own cat like green ones did, so Sakura felt almost no shame as she moved a step closer to her blonde teammate. "I wonder what the information in the scroll is anyways. Kakashi-sensei said it was important, so it must be something interesting." Naruto's breath hitched. "You probably gave the scroll to one of your clones anyways," she sighed in faux disappointment.

One of Naruto's hands hastily grasped at his back pocket. "N-no, its right here."

Taking another step closer, Sakura forced herself not to stare at the scroll Naruto carelessly presented. "Can I see it?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment, searching her face for obvious signs of dishonesty. But after living with the Harunos for her entire life, Sakura was a flawless actress- he would find no clues.

Blushing, Naruto stepped closer, "Okay." He slowly placed the scroll in her outstretched hand.

Sakura shakily counted to ten in her head, before flicking her wrist out and grasping the farthest tree branch she could with her whip. Hurling her body forward, Sakura launched herself through the forest, mindful of Naruto's outraged shout.

She darted herself through the tree using both the momentum of her feet and the speed of her whip to dart herself forward. And it was a good thing that she had the weapon because judging by the thunderous feet following her, Naruto had sent his clones after her.

Cursing, she picked up the pace, wondering whether or not she would stumble upon Sasuke, and they could both make a break for Kakashi-sensei without having to admit that their teamwork was abysmal.

Thankfully the noise of the many Naruto clones must have caused the Uchiha to investigate the area because Sakura caught sight of his blue shirt as she was closing in on the edge of the forest.

His eyes widened as he spotted her and the thirty plus clones that followed. Easily matching her pace, Sasuke ran beside her.

"Did you get the scroll?"

"Yes," she panted unable to use her whip now they were in the open.

The two picked up the pace as Kakashi-sensei came into sight. A few of the Narutos came up from behind Kakashi, trying to close in on them, but they seemed oddly focused on Sasuke, even knowing that she had the scroll. Sakura didn't bother to watch him take them on, instead she continued running until she skidded to a stop in front of Kakashi and reached into her pocket, handing the scroll to him.

Kakashi's dark eye displayed vague intrigue as he accepted the scroll. "Alright, stop you two," he called. "Naruto, get rid of the clones."

Naruto did as he was told and he and Sasuke strode up to her and Kakashi-sensei. Sakura noted with mild dismay that she was the only one panting. Granted she wasn't sure if Sasuke had been doing any running before meeting her, but Naruto sure had!

"Sit down you three," Kakashi said, eye observing each of them.

When they were all seated, and the silence had stretched out to an unbearable length, he finally spoke. "Naruto, you fail your mission."

Naruto cursed, his face displaying an unhappy frown.

"Sasuke and Sakura, you also fail your mission."

Sakura's green eyes widened, and Sasuke's clenched fists turned white.

"But the scroll was retrieved!" Sasuke protested.

"Notice how you didn't say 'we' retrieved the scroll?" Kakashi-sensei drawled. "You two fail because you made almost no display of teamwork. Sasuke, you took off and left your partner behind at the first sign of action." Kakashi berated. "And Sakura, while I don't blame you for not going after him, you should not have tried to fool me into thinking that you accomplished this together."

Sakura straightened her back and inwardly fumed. Part of being a shinobi was learning the art of deception. It was how she got the scroll in the first place.

It seemed as if Kakashi-sensei had picked up on her train of thought as he continued, "Being a shinobi means you have to learn how to deceive people, but if you cannot do it properly than you run an even greater risk of ruining a mission."

His masked face turned towards a pouting Naruto. "You need to learn to look underneath the underneath. You can't give up a scroll you are supposed to be guarding to a pretty girl just because she asked for it."

Naruto flushed at the gentle reprimand.

"That's how she got the scroll from you dobe?" Sasuke incredulously asked.

Naruto's scowl became more pronounced, but for once he remained silent. And Sakura actually felt guilt crawl up her spine at the thought that she might have actually hurt the boy's feelings.

Kakashi-sensei handed the scroll to Sasuke. "Your turn."

And Kakashi barely managed to get the word 'go' out of his mouth before Sasuke was gone. Once again, he headed straight for the tree line.

The one- minute head start was spent in uncharacteristic silence considering she was paired with Naruto. Kakashi-sensei had already pulled a very familiar looking orange book out. Sakura grimaced and refocused on the forest line.

"Alright you two, you can head out now. Remember, you have one hour to complete your task." Kakashi said, not bothering to lift his eye from the page.

Naruto jumped to his feet and Sakura raced after him, inwardly fretting. It appeared as if Naruto was upset with her after all.

"Wait- Naruto," Sakura called, trying to stay quiet as they ventured into the forest.

Naruto continued on, but stopped once Sakura reached out and yanked on his sleeve. Slowly turning around Sakura met his sad blue eyes.

And even though her plan had been a good one and she did get the scroll, Sakura was regretting it entirely if it meant hurting her teammate. Because out of the three of them, Naruto seemed to be the most naïve when it came towards cruelty. Which was odd considering how the villagers typically treated him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the scroll from you like that," Sakura said, feeling wholly uncomfortable.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, and deliberately did not meet her eyes. "I just didn't think you'd trick me like that Sakura-chan."

"I shouldn't have. You're my teammate and I should have thought my actions through a little better." Sakura explained, stretching the truth a little. Because Naruto's crush on her had become painfully obvious and she shouldn't have taken advantage of his feelings. The long- term consequences were too troubling.

Naruto's whiskered cheeks twitched until they finally stretched into a smile. "I can't stay mad at you Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled in return. "Besides, it's probably good that you're learning to detect trickery with me and not against a real enemy."

Naruto's grin grew wider.

They continued for a few paces before Naruto slowed. "So how do you think we should find the teme?"

Sakura thought for a moment. Sasuke was good at strategizing, so he would probably be well hidden. And more than likely there would be traps. Of what kind, she wasn't sure…

"Why don't you make a bunch of clones so we can cover more ground. If one of them finds something suspicious it can report back to us."

"Good plan!" Naruto crowed before doing the hand signs. Sakura watched as a cloud of smoke enveloped him and once it cleared twelve more Naruto's were surrounding him.

The Naruto clones all took off leaving the real him with her. They continued through the forest at a steady pace, Naruto chattering in her ear the whole time. Sakura was sorely tempted to tell him to be quiet, as his voice would be sure to alert Sasuke, but she had just garnered his forgiveness. So putting up with his thoughtlessness was a necessary downside.

"This is kind of romantic! It's almost like we're on a date…" Naruto said, his side eyed glance not at all subtle.

Sakura didn't quite manage to repress her sigh. "We are not on a date Naruto, we are on a mission. If we don't find the scroll than Sasuke wins. You don't want that, do you?" she asked, shamelessly taking advantage of his competitive nature.

"No way! That teme is going down! Believe it!"

Ten minutes later one of the clones shot through the forest towards them. "I think I found where he's hiding boss!"

"Did he see you?" Sakura asked before Naruto could get a word out.

The clone looked at her and blushed slightly, "No, I don't think so."

Sakura grimaced at the uncertainty of 'I don't think so' but listened as the Naruto copy explained that Sasuke was hiding on the very east part of the training grounds, near the river.

Naruto dispelled the clone and wobbled a bit as he collected its memories. And then they were off, briskly running through the forest, with Sakura wishing that her partner contained at least an ounce of stealth. Thudding footsteps and bright orange didn't exactly work well with keeping a low profile.

As they emerge from the thick forest to tall grass along the riverbank a giant fireball shot out at them.

Sakura dived to one side and Naruto to the other. Taking cover in the long grass, Sakura tried to search for Sasuke's chakra. She couldn't feel anything but hers and Naruto's.

Another smaller fireball flew her way, and Sakura cursed as she rolled away. Ducking down behind a bush she rolled her own chakra into a ball and masked it inside herself. Peaking out from behind the bush, Sakura attempted to spot the Uchiha. Her eyes scanned the riverside, but everything looked in place.

Finally, she spotted a dark figure perched in one of the trees on the forest's edge. It appeared as if Naruto did too.

"Hey teme, why don't you come down and fight? Unless you're scared…"

Sasuke flung a few kunai at Naruto before jumping down from the tree. Sakura grasped a senbon from her pouch and flung it at him, but just before it hit, one of Naruto's emerging clones got in the way.

Scowling, Sakura ran over to Naruto, dodging another fireball along the way. Naruto and several clones were launching an all out attack with uncoordinated moves, which Sasuke was countering with nin wires.

And just as Sakura reached Naruto, one of the clones diving away from a wire managed to hit her square in the face with its elbow.

Dropping to the ground, Sakura felt pain bloom on her right temple. When she blinked black spots danced in her vision.

"Sakura-chan!" half the clones called in panic. Half of the assembled ones rushed over to her.

"This is all your fault teme!" the real Naruto snarled.

Sasuke scoffed, "How is it my fault that one of your clones hit your own partner in the face, dobe?"

Sakura sat on her haunches and tried not to flinch as the multiple pairs of bright blue eyes peered at her.

"What are you looking at me for? We need to attack!" Sakura crossly said, getting to her feet.

The Naruto's all exclaimed their ascent and took off towards Sasuke.

And just as three of them, including what Sakura thought was the original Naruto managed to get Sasuke on his back, a shrill ringing went off.

The hour was up… She had failed again

Sakura turned around and began her trek back to Kakashi-sensei, ignoring Sasuke's annoyed hiss of 'get off me dobe!' and Naruto's loud 'like I want to be anywhere near you teme!'

Kakashi's nose was still buried within his orange book when she approached. Looking up he caught her eye, "That's going to be quite the shiner Sakura-chan."

Sakura offered him a flat look in response, and slumped to the ground, trying to ignore her throbbing eye.

Naruto and Sasuke bickered until they were seated on each side of her and Kakashi-sensei closed his reading material with a firm snap.

"Sasuke, you fail," Kakashi said. Sasuke's mouth opened in outrage, but their silver haired sensei cut him off. "That scroll was in Naruto's grasp when the bell rang."

Hi gaze flickered over to Naruto and her, taking extra long to study what Sakura was sure was a black eye. "Naruto and Sakura, you also fail. You didn't manage to retrieve the scroll. And while your teamwork was good at the beginning, you abandoned all strategy once your enemy was in sight. This resulted in one of you getting hurt," Kakashi-sensei pointedly said the last bit to a guilty looking Naruto.

"I'm really sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto miserably muttered.

Sakura offered him what was meant to be a reassuring smile, but was sure it missed its mile. She was feeling too miserable herself to cheer him up.

"Alright Sakura-chan, it's your turn to take the scroll."

Sakura rose to her feet and grasped the scroll from Kakashi's proffered palm.

Her heartbeat picked up and the second the word 'go' crossed his masked lips, she was off. Like the others, Sakura ran towards the tree line. But once she made it just inside the foliage, she quickly darted up a tree and masked her chakra. She needed to do something different…

She needed a plan. And unfortunately for her, being paired up with Sasuke and Naruto first meant they both knew how she liked to strategize. But she also knew how they operated too.

Pulling a branch down to cover her hair, Sakura waited on baited breath as she felt Naruto's approach. And while Sasuke had masked his chakra, his argument with Naruto was still audible. She almost wanted to roll her eyes at the pair, but remained vigilantly watching them instead.

"I think we should go right," Naruto exclaimed.

"No, that's where I hid. It would be too obvious to go there," Sasuke shot back.

"Well I'm going right," Naruto growled back.

"Fine with me. I'd rather be on my own."

"You just want to take all the credit teme!"

"Dobe, we are supposed to be working together. I can't take all the credit!"

A soundless exhale left her lips as the two boys continued their arguing far into the forest. And after another five minutes of being perched in the tree, Sakura debated on what to do.

A part of her just wanted to park herself near Kakashi-sensei. It was probably the last place they would look. But the open grounds gave her a distinct disadvantage and she already had difficulties with blending in. The other part of her insisted that she just stay up in the tree and wait it out. But she didn't want to be a sitting duck either. A third option slithered through her thoughts and Sakura smirked, plan set.

Carefully climbing down the tree, she paused every so often at the smallest sounds. And once she was firmly on the forest floor, she took off towards the open field. Offering Kakashi-sensei a cheeky wave as she ran by him, Sakura ducked behind the lone gnarled tree that the three met at just yesterday morning.

She pulled out the scroll and performed a low level genjusu on it, making it appear to be a simple, but distinct leaf. It would be no good if she couldn't figure out which one was the real scroll when this exercise was done with. Finally, Sakura swung herself up into the lower branches of the tree and waited.

Minutes passed by that felt like hours and for the most part the training grounds were quiet. A couple of times she heard a shout or shake echo from the forest, but nothing from her side of the grounds, which was good. And agonizing.

The anticipatory wait kept her blood pumping, and yet with each passing minute her adrenalin began to cool.

Until a bush in front of her rustled and her head snapped over to look at it. No small animal emerged. It rustled again, and she debated whether or not she should throw a kunai at it. But than again she didn't want to kill a harmless creature, she just wanted to take out a potential threat.

Grimacing, Sakura slid down from the tree and headed towards the bushes. If it was a false alarm than she would still be hidden, and if it was Naruto or Sasuke than she had her weapons and was prepared to take them out.

But as she parted the bush and crawled in a familiar white fog enveloped her face. Swirling mist began to take shape. A tall man with dark eyes and a cruel smile stared down at her, "Not Kizashi's, so it's all right…" he whispered.

Fury enveloped her in that moment. She ripped through the genjutsu, catching its caster with her kunai.

Sasuke grimaced at the metal bit through the flesh on his collarbone. He ignored the pain and dove for his female teammate.

Sakura had barely anytime to react before Sasuke had her pinned. But having his body- so different from her Great Uncle's, yet still dominating after exposing her to that image only increased her fury. Especially since she knew that Sasuke had witnessed her last reaction to that very same genjutsu. And when one of Sasuke's hands shot down to her pockets, no doubt looking for the scroll, Sakura lost it.

"Get off me!" she snarled, voice deadly.

Sasuke ignored her, "Where's the scroll?"

"None of your business, you pervert!" she shot back and bucked herself forward with enough force to throw the boy off of her.

Sakura didn't know if it was the pain from his cut, or shock at the new label she gave him, but Sasuke actually took a minute to respond to her escape attempt. He dove for her retreating figure, once again pinning her.

Sakura yelled as she thrashed, but Sasuke's grip was painfully strong on her hips. Chin scrapping through the dirt, Sakura looked up to see Naruto's panicked face.

"Naruto!" she cried out, her mind half furious, and body half terrified.

"Don't you dare dobe!" Sasuke snarled.

Naruto looked torn, but as Sasuke started rooting through her weapons pouch with one hand, dodging her attempts at head butting him, Naruto ran forward and yanked Sasuke up.

"Get off of her teme!"

The bell rang ominously in the distance.

"Damn it dobe," Sasuke hissed, already stomping towards Kakashi-sensei.

Sakura remained face down on the ground for another moment, her breathing shaky. Her brain was trying to process what had just happened. Rage was starting to build within her. How dare he do that to her!

"Um, Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

Slowly getting to her feet, Sakura looked over to see Naruto hovering, concern pasted on his face.

"I'm fine," she said the words coming out much more calmly than what she was feeling.

Ignoring Naruto, she walked over to the tree and slowly climbed up its branches until she reached for the genjutsu-covered scroll. Disabling the jutsu, she climbed back down, scroll in hand.

"You didn't have the scroll on you all along…" Naruto said faintly.

Sakura shook her head and continued walking. She avoided Sasuke's dark eyes as she placed the scroll in Kakashi-sensei awaiting hand.

Sitting down, Sakura deliberately ignored the fact that both of her teammates and her sensei were staring at her in silence. Instead she focused on brushing the dirt off her chin.

Coughing Kakashi-sensei began his analysis. "Naruto and Sasuke, you fail. You spent most of the hour arguing over a plan, and then each decided to go off on your own." He paused, looking as if he wanted to say more, but sighed instead.

His dark eye once again took in his female student. The tiny girl was sporting a rather large black eye, and her pink hair was wild with a few stray twigs snagged in it. The rips in her clothing and dirt smudged on her face were unsettling, but it was nothing compared to her blank expression. Unease churning in Kakashi's gut.

"Sakura, you pass."

Her eyes met that of her sensei's, waiting for his the rest of his comments.

"Your strategy was a good one. You kept the scroll hidden in a safe place and not on your person. Just be sure not to fall for easy traps to avoid the situation you just got into."

Sakura's jaw clenched as Kakashi basically blamed her for Sasuke's disgusting attack.

"Alright you three, you're dismissed for the day. We will meet at the same time and place tomorrow," Kakashi said before he turned and headed towards the exit.

"Wait, Kakashi-sensei, you better not be late tomorrow," Naruto called, running after the man.

"Sakura," Sasuke's low voice called from behind her.

She turned her head and saw him gazing at her, indiscernible emotions swirling in his eyes. One of his hands reached out for her and she flinched away. It dropped instantly.

"Look I'm sor-"

"Don't ever touch me again," Sakura tonelessly said, before turning around and slowly walking towards the exit.

She was halfway home before she realized that tears were streaming down her face.

A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It gave me such a hard time that I ended up rewriting parts of if multiple time!

Thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter! Over 100 reviews! And I absolutely love hearing your feedback and theories about where this story is going! Please continue to review and let me know what you think!

And as for the last bit in this chapter, Sasuke is kind of a jerk, but it is not completely unreasonable for him to tackle Sakura in a training fight. Her reaction is coming from trauma. Events like what happened with her uncle don't just go away, they linger, as much as she wishes they would.

Lastly, if you know of anyone, or you yourself are experiencing any sort of the issues that Sakura is going through, please tell someone. You don't have to suffer in silence!

-Nyx