Bundyangel: Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me a long time to update, things have been going on at school and well I'm just lazy. Plus I got 3 reviews for my last chapter and here they are!

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Jennjennr

& Sequha

Note though, I don't mind anonymous reviews but a name would be nice. Now on to the disclaimer!!! I have brought in English Naruto! YAY

Disclaimer:

Me: Yay Naruto! Please do the disclaimer.

Naruto: Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I being the next Hokage and greatest ninja in all of Konoha, am the only one worthy of doing this review! Believe it!

Me: umm right so… please do it.

Naruto: Believe it! Maybe if I do this you'll hook me up with Sakura! Believe it! She'll admire me for this! Believe it! Now on to the disclaimer believe I-…!

--Err... Naruto had died due to a shuriken through his neck. Older Japanese version, Uzumaki Naruto walks in closing his weapon pouch--

Uzumaki Naruto: It's not 'believe it' teme! Its dattebayo biotch!

Me: Yay! Older Naruto! Since you have… err… incapacitated English Naruto will you please do my disclaimer?

Uzumaki Naruto: With pleasure Bundyangel-san! Dattebayo! Bundyangel doesn't own the series Naruto, me, or any of the characters in the Naruto series! Dattebayo!

--Both look at twitching character on the floor in a small pool of blood. Both look up at each other--

Me: You think we can get someone to take care of this without calling the police?

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"Baaaka"- regular speech

'Baaaka'-thoughts

'Baaaka!'- Inner self's

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The Ancient Curse of Love PART I OF III

Part 1 - Running from the pain

Chapter 3: The fight and the failing of a mission

By Bundyangel

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Sakura's eyes widened and she took a half step back unconsciously a she stared into the poisoness yellow eyes of the legendary snake sannin.

Suddenly it was as if everything was in slow motion for the pink haired kunoichi, the sound faded leaving Sakura only to hear the erratic beating of her heart. Sakura looked to the left seeing Naruto form a seal and silently yell out, 'Kage bushin no jutsu!' As Sasuke leapt at him, a sword drawn and his Sharigan activated. The three commas whirling ominously. Swinging to her right Sakura saw Shikamaru with a kunai; blocking a senbon needle that Kabuto was trying to stab him with. A malicious smile stretched across his face. Blinking slowly and looking to the front of her, Sakura's breath hitched as Orochimaru's snake tongue stretching out at her, its mouth wide open with venom dripping from its sharp fangs.

Almost instantly everything snapped into focus,

'ITS ON NOW BIOTCH! HELLZ YEAH! SHANNARO!' Inner Sakura screamed inside of her mind.

Reaching out a hand as she dodged the deadly bite, Sakura grabbed the snake behind its head in a tight grip. Taking another tight grip on the snake in her other hand farther down its body she jerked Orochimaru forward. As he flew toward her she concentrated chakra into her leg lifting it she swung it as his chest. Sakura's eyes widened as her leg missed him and he soared toward her, punching her hard in the stomach. Sakura fell to one knee as all of her breath left her. Sucking in a harsh breath Sakura raised her fist and tried to punch him again but hit the ground when he dodged creating another crater.

Orochimaru appeared behind her and kicked her in her back sending her flying forward a few feet. Landing on her back Sakura arched in pain and coughed up a small bit of blood. Sitting up and pulling out three senbon needles she hurled them at him as she got to her feet. He waved his hand dismissively and the needles fell to the ground a few feet in front of him. Running at her with lightening speed she dodged as he aimed a kick at her head and then a punch at her torso. Jumping back she did some seals,

"Shōsen Jutsu!"(Mystical Palm Technique, makes a blade of chakra around the hand all medical nins can use it.).

Running forward with her arm infront of her Sakura thrust her arm out as she tried to stab Orochimaru in his abdomen, to destroy a kidney or peirce a lung. He simply knocked it to one side with his hand and picked her up by the throat. Holding her several inches above the ground. Sakura started to feel light head and she grasped his forearm with one hand and tried to pull at his fingers with the other. He gripped her tighter and shook her sharply. She gasped for breath and started to see spots in front of her eyes. Leaning close to her, Orochimaru whispered into her ear, his cold breath racing down her spine,

"Look and listen closely little kunoichi, for it shall be the last thing your brain shall process. You cannot beat me, dear Sakura, not now. The Kyuubi cannot beat me. Tsunade cannot beat me! You although. I see potential in you. You could be strong. You could be powerful, but you are weak."

Sakura shifted her eyes to the side. She saw Naruto and Sasuke charging at each other with kunais. After they both threw them at each other they simutaniously started Chidori and Rasengan. As they charged at each other tears started to pool under her eyes. It broke her to see her teammates like that. Blinking to hold back the tears she looked to her other side. she saw Shikamaru wrap chakra strings around Kabuto after he hit a tree and send his shadow hand along it, inching for Kabutos throat. Sakura closed her eyes as she heard Naruto and Sasuke scream at each other. The tears leeked through the rims and traveled down her face. Her attention back on Orochimaru as he talked again,

"Do you know why you are weak? Because you lack the urge to kill. You can kill, but you lack the urge. You lack the will to dominate, to control, to show others that are inferior, that they are inferior. I could have helped you with that. Now that chance has come and gone. Good-bye Sakura-chan." Clenching his hand once more he threw her hard into a tree breaking it and the one behind it before she landed into a third one making a large dent in it but no break.

Sakura coughed up more blood and watched with wavering vision as Orochimaru walked to the chest they had not long ago saved. He reached into his robe and pulled something out. A strange looking key. It had 3 points and several engraivings on it coming off the key in a repeating pattern. Sakuras eyes widened as he started to incert the key into the chest's lock. With a cry of denial Sakura pushed herself out of the tree focusing her chakra to her legs and her fist as she launched herself at him.

Sakura cried out as something peirced her shoulder pulling her back and pinning her to a tree. Looking up she saw Orochimaru with a slight smirk and his hand outstretched at her. Looking at her shoulder she saw a long kunai deeply embeded and her blood running down her chest and arm. Coughing up blood again she reached out shakily to the kunai in her shoulder when it glowed purple and wedged deeper into her shoulder Sakura screamed out in pain. Biting onto her lip to hold back the whimper that yearned to escape. Sakura heard Naruto scream her name in agony. Sakuras hand dropped down and her body went limp. She was still concious and looked up at a click.

Orochimaru opened the chest and reached into it pulling out a long brittle-looking scroll tied closed with a faded black ribbon and a small seal. Holding it in his hand he looked to Sakura and smirked.

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(Naruto's Point of view)

Kyuubi was getting restless. He wanted me to let him out or at least use his chakra. I didn't want to. I didn't want to beat Sasuke-teme with Kyuubi I wanted to beat the bastard myself. To finally prove that I was better! I had become centered on inflicting damage on Sasuke. I didn't notice or react at Sakura's gasps of pain and coughs full of blood. I stopped for a second when that sick bastard grabbed her neck and lifted her from the ground but Sasuke distracted me by coming at me with a kunai. I was pissed now. Holding out my hand as I threw my kunai at him I made Rasengan. He started Chidori and we charged at each other.

As they hit and recoiled after a minuet of pulsing at each other I heard a muffled scream and large snaps then the ground shook. Whipping around I saw two large trees down and one bent and a candy-pink-haired head amongst the settling dust and debris. I started to run to her but recoiled when a katana was stabbed in the air where my body had been not a second ago. Sasuke held his katana in front of him in a tight grip, hate shinning in his dark crimson eyes,

"You are my fight dobe! Don't be distracted by a pathetic girl. I want you to realize when I kill you that you gave it your full power, and it still wasn't enough!" Sasuke growled at him

"Pathetic? PATHETIC?! Sakura-chan is not pathetic! She has become strong and powerful! I would never loose to you Sasuke-teme! Even without the Kyuubi you can barely keep up with me! If that snake-bastard is so strong and my Village is so weak how come you cant even hit me?! I'll kill you Sasuke! I'll kill you for Sakura-chan! So she knows how utterly pathetic you are!" I made more shadow clones and rushed at him.

I hadn't learned a whole lot of taijutsu from my friends but I had seen enough of Sakura-chan blowing craters in the ground and shattering rocks to realize how to throw a good punch. I focused some chakra into my fist and smashed it into Sasuke-temes face. Sending him back several meters. I then heard something that shattered my heart and stopped me cold when I was about to rush after the bastard, Sakura's blood-curdling scream of pain. Looking over I saw her pinned to a tree several inches above the ground and a kunai deep in her shoulder and her precious blood running down her arm to drip to the earth like her tears.

I was frozen with fear; it was like the first real mission all over again. Sakura was in trouble and I couldn't do anything. I saw her reach up to pull the kunai out when it glowed purple and twisted in deeper. She screamed like death was ripping out her soul with icy fingers,

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!" I screamed in agony as loud as I could. It was dead quiet in the forest and then there was a resounding click.

Swinging my eyes away from Sakura's limp form I saw the snake-bastard pull out a scroll from the open chest, then look at Sakura I raised my fist at the snake-bastard and was about to scream out when a presence was suddenly behind me and hit me on the back of the neck. My eyes widened before I sunk to the ground darkness claiming me. My last thought was of surprise when a heavy body landed on top of mine.

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(Normal point of view)

Sakura glared through pain-glazed eyes at Orochimaru. Sakura had looked around herself in despair. Shikamaru had incapacitated Kabuto, but was exhausted himself. I had seen Sasuke appear behind Naruto and knock him unconscious before passing out himself. Shikamaru breathed heavily and gave an apologetic look to me but he couldn't do anything. He had used most of his chakra just trying to make sure Kabuto wasn't a part of the equation. Orochimaru gave a small chuckle as he looked around him,

"Well It seems I underestimated your and overestimated my subordinates abilities. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed Sasuke-kun and Kabuto so hard before we got here." Orochimaru gave a sad smirk before locking eyes with her, "No matter though Sakura-chan. I think I was wrong earlier. I think the chance for you to be of use to me is still going on. I think the chance of me helping you reach your full potential is still possible."

He walked toward her stopping about 6 meters away. He ran a finger down the edge of the scroll the seal disappeared in a small puff of smoke and the ribbon disintegrated. He unrolled it and scanned it closely. "Now Sakura-chan let see if this works right."

Holding the scroll with one hand, he reached into his robe with the other and pulled something out. It was a small dagger like object about 6 inches long. Aside from the hilt and about half an inch on the tip it was covered with engravings of runes, ancient letters, and symbols. The engravings were etched into the middle that was a quarter of an inch larger then the rest of it.

Holding the tip of it to his tongue he held it so a few drops ran down the half inch of smooth metal at the end of the dagger like object. Holding it a few seconds his blood ran into the metal staining the engravings with his blood so they stood out in contrast to the smooth silver of the dagger. His hand then glowed purple and it slowly traveled into the dagger focusing around it. As he continued to focus on it he looked up at her,

"I know what Tsunade told you. About the artifacts not working without the scrolls and vice-versa, but I know something that she doesn't. I know what these artifacts can do. Just because you need both to use it doesn't mean I can't use it on another." Sakura's eyes widened in slight fear and he just chuckled sadistically.

The chakra then turned a lavenderish-pink. Motioning with his head the kunai then held her pinned ripped itself from her shoulder and fell to the ground. Sakura cried out in pain as she slid down the tree leaving a streak of blood in her path. Rolling up the scroll with his tongue he made a one-handed seal and then pulled Sakura up by her neck. Holding her closer to his body he smirked as he swallowed the scroll. Running his tongue around his lips he grinned at her, and then with a chuckle stuck the tip of the dagger in her shoulder, the exact spot where the curse seal had appeared on Sasuke all those years ago.

Sakura screamed out in pain as the chakra disappeared into her body, the pain turning her blood to ice as it danced through it. Orochimaru let go of her neck and Sakura was surprised around the pain that she didn't crumble to the ground formed more seals and said,

"Secret Shadow Ancient artifact and sacred scroll style: Divining curse of Heaven and Hell jutsu!" With that said he grabbed the dagger and ripped it out, Jumping back several feet picking up the now conscious but non-moving Sasuke and appearing next to Kabuto.

Sakura's eyes opened wide and her pupils grew large and then incredibly small. Sakura bowed her head as her whole body began to shake. Around the bloody area where the dagger had plunged into her skin a small black circle appeared with 5 smaller circles around the first one.

The air grew cold, the sound disappeared, and it was as if time had stopped. Then the tension snapped.

Dark pink chakra started to gather around Sakura like she was incased in flames the tips turning black. Sakura's body arched out, her chakra expanding in a harsh wave pushing everyone back several feet. Sakura screamed so loud that even Orochimaru winced back. Shikamaru pressed his hands to his ears, and Sasuke gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at her.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, when he slammed into a tree, his eyes completely red but the red bled away to the bright blue he was known for. Raising himself weakly to his feet his mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide when he saw Sakura,

"Sakura-chan… What did that bastard do to you?!" he cried out. Naruto turned his head when he heard a dark chuckle,

"I made her powerful. I made her… the most powerful kunoichi… ever." The sannin then tipped his head back and laughed.