The Strength of the Cherry Blossom Chapter 5: 4 The chuunin exams? Piece of Cake! Pt2, a naruto fanfic

Chapter 4: Chuunin Exams? Piece of Cake! Right? Pt 2.

Summary: At the ages before five, a young girl learnt the way of her family. After the ages of five, she had no family. Living up to her dead parents' expectations, the young girl must pass many trials before being forgiven by them. Sasusaku.

'Thoughts'

'Inner selves'

"Talking"

FLASH BACK…

P.O.V

DREAMING SEQUENCE…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

Recap:

"To those who have made it to the Third Exam of the chuunin selection, congratulations" Hayate smiled.

'In the finalist, we have six from Konoha, three from sand and one from sound' the Hokage thought.

"I will now begin the explanation of the final matches; you main matches will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for you all to show off you abilities as your country's representative power. There fore these matches will begin in one month time" the Hokage explained.

"What? We aren't going to right here and now?" Naruto asked.

"The one month time is so you can prepare for your matches" the Hokage answered.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"In other words we are going to announce to feudal lords and famous people that the preliminary matches are finished and time needed for those people for the main matches. This is also time for you as candidates"

"I still don't understand" Kankuro growled.

"Simple put, that time, while feudal lords and leaders of each country comes here, we are given the chance in that one month to recover and prepare for each opponent we may face, analyze each opponent and find every possible way to defeat them, perfect jutsus and train" Sakura explained.

"Correct" the Hokage nodded.

"You're still conscious?!" Kankuro exclaimed.

"What does it look like ya baka!" Sakura muttered.

"This is used so you can also develop new jutsus; since in the main matches you will know your rival's techniques and abilities and they will know yours; and so you use this chance to get something new; thus making the matches fair" the Hokage added "Now before you go, there is something you need to do before your main matches here"

"Hurry up I have to go train!" Naruto yelled.

"Shut up! Don't be so hasty!" Sakura muttered as she punched him in the head, sending him a bit of a distance.

"Where do you get the energy to do that?" Kankuro exclaimed.

"Hn" Sakura grunted.

"Take a piece of paper out of the box Anko is holding" the Hokage ordered.

"I'll walk along, so take it in turns" Anko said as she moved along the genin, allowing each to take a piece of paper and open it up.

"Okay, everyone got one?" Ibiki asked "Now tell me what number you guys got"

"Eight" Dosu answered.

"One" Naruto mumbled.

"Seven" Temari muttered.

"Five" Kankuro said.

"Three" Gaara grunted.

"Nine" Shikamaru sighed.

"Two" Neji replied.

"Six" Shino muttered.

"Four" Sasuke answered.

"Ten" Sakura answered.

"We will now tell you your match ups for the main matches" the Hokage explained.

"Nani?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Is that why we drew the numbers?" Shikamaru asked.

"Ibiki show the match ups" the Hokage ordered. Ibiki nodded as he turned around a clipboard with the match ups.

'Uzamaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji

Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino

Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

Dosu vs. Sakura'

'A tournament?' Temari questioned.

'I'm glad I am not on the same block as Gaara' Kankuro sighed in relief.

'Uchiha Sasuke' Gaara seemed to smirk evilly.

'Perfect' Neji smirked.

'Hyuuga Neji' Naruto grimaced.

"I have a question" Shikamaru raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"If it is a tournament, is there only one winner right? Does that mean only one person can become chuunin?" Shikamaru asked.

"No. That's not how it is. These matches will have judges including me, the Kazekage and various feudal lords and head ninja from other countries who maybe potential clients. These judges will grade you by watching your battles, and those who fit the criteria of a chuunin will pass even if they lost in the first round" the Hokage explained.

"So there is a possibility that everyone here will become chuunin?" Temari asked.

"Yes, but it also gives the possibility that no one will become chuunin, these matches are basically to show off your skills. Do you understand Shikamaru-kun?" the Hokage replied.

'Kuso! Troublesome!' Shikamaru muttered.

"Well with that said you may leave" the Hokage smiled.

"Finally" Sakura sighed before falling to the ground, exhausted.

"Sakura-chan, daijobou?" Naruto cried.

""Hai just tired" Sakura smiled.

"Pft! And you said you'd finish your fight quicker than mine" Sasuke scoffed.

"Aahhh! Shut up" Sakura muttered as she rolled onto her left side, lifted her self up and wobbled out the door.

"Your team mate is so weird" Neji snickered.

"At least mine hasn't got thick eye brows, wears a green jump suit and mimics my teacher" Sasuke smirked.

"Shut it Uchiha" Neji growled.

Instantly, as soon as she was out of sight from everyone and anyone, Sakura collapsed on the floor, behind a stair case, from exhaustion and from pain as inside her mind, another war raged on with the other spirit residing in her.

End recap

Minutes turned into hours, as hours turned into days, as days turned into weeks, as those weeks finally turned into one month. As time passed by; the ten selected for the chuunin selection third exam trained through rigorous training; only stopping every now and again to rest and eat. Like all the other shinobi Team seven also trained; training without the other as guidance; however it seemed Naruto had disappeared and trained with an old frog hermit; who he called Pervert Hermit and Sasuke had disappeared also; rumours spreading that he was training with Kakashi leaving Sakura to train on her own without any guidance from a mentor; but it had always been like that. She did not need help nor wanted it while Sasuke and Naruto practically thrived on it. No one ever heard, spoke or saw of any of the team seven members; they were never around to greet the other rookies; or any of their friends; however it seemed Sakura was actually the only one around; and that was only obvious when she would come out of her training ground; where ever it was; and bought groceries to live off. With time nearing; the sound of Naruto in the hospital was evident and the occasional Kakashi figure could be found; but not once did anyone find Sasuke; nor did they find Sakura's training ground.

Finally, it was one day before the Third Exam; the day they were preparing for; most ninjas perfecting their final jutsus; their aim; their strength for the exam, excitement and nervousness bubbling inside them.

The day has arrived. The day of the Third Exam of the Chuunin selection has arrived. Greeted by fireworks; announcing the exams; feudal lords and potential clients as well as the local Konoha villagers gathered together at the stadium where the exams were to be held. On the highest platform sat the Hokage and the Kazekage; as well as various jounin guarding the area. Surrounding the stadium crowds eight ANBU officers marked each section to their own; watching for anything suspicious. Through the crowds the rookie nine remainders as well as various other ninja watched from the stands and down below were the selected genin for the battles; however it seemed as though some were missing; the sound boy seemed to be misplaced as well as the whole of Team 7. Shocked that the great Uchiha Sasuke had yet to arrive, people bellowed; shouting for the said boy to come. As the crowds died down, a hasty blonde rushed himself into the entrance of the stadium; for fear that a stampede of bulls were after him. Looking around; the blonde noticed that neither of his team mates were there; and both of them were always on time.

"Ne, Shikamaru, where's Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked the pineapple haired boy.

"I don't know; they haven't arrived yet; and they better soon; these matches are going to start" Shikamaru answered dull fully.

"It's so unlike them to be late" Naruto contemplated.

"Oi kid; greet the crowd will you; show them your face" the Examiner ordered.

"Eh? Who are you? Where's the other examiner?" Naruto questioned.

"Err….due to unforeseen events; he will not be judging your matches I will; my name is Shiranui Genma" the man answered.

"I see" Naruto nodded before facing the crowd and waving to them; to be greeted by cheering for him.

Moments later, Sakura came trudging into the stadium wearing her green attire which she wore to the wave country, slightly irritated, but none the less determined to kick everyone's butt; no matter who it was. Behind her were distinct foot prints; indicating that she'd been there. Her hair was in two buns; her choker encased her neck, around here hips was a belt with an arsenal of pockets; showing she had a lot of weapons up her sleeve. Her kunai holsters sat perfectly in line with the other; the leg warmers giving off an entirely new look to the ninja world. The only difference to her outfit was the bandages around her arms indicating that she had been training very hard for this exam. Prepared to be greeted by her team mate; Sakura smiled and waved to the boy.

"Sakura-chan, konnichiwa!" Naruto waved "Why are you late?"

"Got caught up with the time; was doing a little light training this morning" Sakura answered.

"You ready?" Naruto grinned.

"Don't think, that just because we are team mates I will go easy on you" Sakura smirked.

"Doesn't matter you can't win against the great Uzamaki Naruto" Naruto chirped.

"We'll see; I'm sure you have been training hard; like me" Sakura smiled as she faced the audience with a bored look; earning her a lot of murmurs questioning why a girl with pink hair got this far in the exam "Anyway, where's my opponent?"

"He is no longer with us; if you catch my drift" the examiner answered.

"So then who will I be up against?" Sakura asked.

"Who ever is the winner from block 4 will be against you; that is slightly unfair"

Sakura frowned "They will have used some of their energy fighting each other"

"Take it as an advantage" Genma negotiated.

"Would have done that anyway" Sakura murmured "Where's Sasuke?"

"He hasn't arrived yet" Genma answered.

"That's interesting; he must take after Kakashi after all then" Sakura snickered.

"That wouldn't surprise me" Genma scoffed.

"When is this going to begin?" Sakura asked.

"Now" Genma muttered "Welcome to the Chuunin Selection; Third Exam. Today we will watch Nine Shinobi battle against each other for the title of chuunin. The first match is Uzamaki Naruto against Hyuuga Neji" Genma announced. Instantly the other shinobi disappeared; reappearing underneath the stadium stands; waiting for their match.

Seconds turned into minutes and those minutes seemed to last forever as Naruto and Neji clashed; each determined to show their way of the ninja. Neji trying to prove to Naruto that you can't avoid fate; while Naruto was standing up for Hinata and that just because he was a drop out; doesn't mean he's a total failure. Still Sasuke had yet to arrive on the scene; making the people around him more and more anxious. Through stubborn determination and a little amount of power from the Kyubi Naruto; though it seemed impossible; broke through Neji's offences and defenses; breaking the proud branch member Hyuuga, thus winning him the match and allowing him to advance to the next block.

The next match was supposed to be between Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara; however Sasuke had yet to arrive on the scene; much to the displeasure of the judge as well as well as the crowd; demanding to put Sasuke on. Without any choice; they moved forwards to the next match which was Temari against Nara Shikamaru; which sent the audience angry and left them throwing random objects and garbage towards the two competitors. The battle as one would expect was long and tough. Temari used her fan; Shikamaru used his shadow technique. In the end it came to Shikamaru finally capturing the blonde girl; who was prepared to go down pathetically; however much to everyone's certainty; at the last minute Shikamaru gave up as his shadow technique faded back towards him; shocking everyone in the stadium; especially Naruto who seemed very angered that Shikamaru threw away his chance like that; enough so that he jumped off the stadium platform and into the battle arena to yell at Shikamaru; Sakura following to shut the blonde up.

"SHIKAMARU!! What the hell was that? You could have won!" Naruto shouted.

"What are you kidding me? My chakra is going to break on me soon if I don't stop this battle, I'd be ion a worse situation" Shikamaru sighed.

"Good call, because I reckon Temari has a tone of chakra left don't you?" Sakura smirked.

"Well…" Temari choked.

With no choice from the begging crowd; they announced that Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara's match would be next; however if Sasuke wouldn't arrive in the next ten minutes; he would lose by default. Minutes passed; as tension rose; for fear that the Uchiha was going to throw away his ninja career just because he was late. As time passed; the final minute was what left Sasuke from losing the match. Seconds before the deadline, he and Kakashi appeared in the middle of the stadium in a flurry of leaves; the Uchiha boy wearing a new outfit. His outfit was similar to his old attire. His shirt was no black and like his blue one was high, wide collared. His shorts were also black. On his right thigh was his kunai holster, and encircled around his left arm bandages were tightened in an odd fashion with black string covering various places over the white bandages. Covering his calves was another set of white bandages, wrapped around his calves like a cast. On his elbows; beige elbow protectors covered his skin; finishing off the outfit with his Konoha headband on his forehead. (A/N: I am sorry but I can not stand his little one piece outfit at all –shudders slightly-)

"Well you took your time arriving didn't you Uchiha?" Sakura glared.

"What, upset that I'm prolonging your defeat?" Sasuke retorted.

"No I reckon you'd be prolonging your defeat" Sakura smirked "But what the hell is with the entrance?"

"Kakashi's idea" Sasuke pointed to their sensei.

"Of course" Sakura snickered "Well, we better go, this is your battle after all" Sakura smiled before jumping up to the podium stands; to watch what people would predict an amazing battle.

"Name?" Genma asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke" Sasuke glared slightly.

"Gee….he made a lot of trouble for us and he isn't even sorry about it" Shikamaru scoffed as the crowd cheered the boy's name over and over again.

"Hey, you're late, I thought you weren't going to come because you were scared to fight me" Naruto snickered.

'And who's the one who said he'd come?' Shikamaru scoffed.

"You won the first round?" Sasuke questioned, sort of bewildered that Naruto even made it that far.

"Of course" Naruto smirked.

"Don't get so excited over it baka" Sasuke snickered.

"Well…it's hard to ask this after such a flashy entrance but is he disqualified?" Kakashi smiled.

"He must have caught your habit of being late; like the girl said" Genma smirked.

"Then he is-" Kakashi seemed a bit shocked.

"No he is fine; Sasuke's match was put on hold and he arrived just in time so he didn't get disqualified" Genma smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that" Kakashi chuckled before turning his attention to Sasuke; who had his attention on Gaara, who was looking down on him.

"You better not lose to that guy" Naruto ordered.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded.

'I want to fight you as well' "Sasuke! I want to fight you as well!" Naruto shouted.

"Aa" Sasuke nodded.

"Finally; the match between Uchiha Sasuke of leaf and Gaara of the sand will commence" Genma announced "Begin" Genma nodded before jumping away; to avoid any damage that was meant for the fighters and not him. Waiting for each to begin; Gaara grinned hungrily before sand was released from his gourd and started advancing towards the Uchiha.

'His sand, I owe Sakura for sealing that curse mark' Sasuke analyzed jumping away from the sand. Suddenly Gaara stopped in pain as his hand clasped his head, trying to block any pain he was receiving.

"Don't get angry at, kaa-san" Gaara muttered.

'What is he talking about?' Sasuke questioned as he watched Gaara struggle with himself.

"Back there I made you absorb foul blood" Gaara continued to mutter as more sand seeped its way out of the gourd and towards Sasuke.

"I'm sorry, but this time, it'll taste better" Gaara insisted.

"He has begun to converse already?" Kankuro questioned.

"I have never seen him like this before a battle; the opponent must be strong" Temari remarked as they watched Gaara continue to fight with himself.

Suddenly pain shot through Gaara like a bullet, sending pain through his entire system; forcing him to drop the sand surrounding him.

"Come" Gaara ordered as the sand surrounded him; as if protecting the boy.

"Then, let's start" Sasuke shouted as he threw two shuriken towards the sand boy to have them blocked by the sand as it formed a clone of Gaara, Suna Bunshin (1).

Running forward ready to attack the boy; the doppelganger blocked the boy; thrusting sand into his face before Sasuke jumped in mid air; to have shuriken thrown in his face; blocking them with his own and falling head first into the ground; destroying the clone head on and going towards Gaara with a punch, before fixing his footing and disappearing from sight and reappearing behind the boy; giving him a punch right in the face; breaking his armour of sand and half way across the stadium.

"He's as fast as Lee's normal speed" Gai exclaimed as he watched the battle from above with Kakashi and Ino and Chouji from Asuma's team.

"I presume that's your armour of sand?" Sasuke questioned "Come"

Gaara made no indication that he was going any where.

"If you aren't going to come to me; I will go to you!" Sasuke proclaimed as he raced towards Gaara with unprofaned speed.

Ready to block Sasuke's attacks, the sand chased Sasuke around, only miss once, allowing Sasuke to kick Gaara square in the face, sending him back to the middle.

"What's wrong? Is that all you've got?" Sasuke smirked.

"I'll tear down that armour of yours!" Sasuke claimed as he ran towards Gaara, with amazing speed circling the boy like a tiger would with his prey.

"He's as fast as Lee with out weights on" Gai noticed.

Moving under the sand, Sasuke round house kicked Gaara before head butting and kneeing the boy in the stomach, drawing blood to his forehead.

"Amazing" Ino cheered.

'You truly are an incredible genius' Lee admired 'In a month you have obtained the speed I obtained over many years'

"Kakashi, what training did you make him go through to get that speed?" Gai asked.

"Hmm? He had already copied Lee-kun's moves before with the sharingan; I just helped him along; needless to say; he went through a lot of trouble" Kakashi explained.

"But why only train in taijutsu?" Lee asked.

"You'll see" Kakashi smiled.

Instantly Gaara moved his hands into the tiger seal moving the sand to encase his body, acting as a shield for the sand demon.

With no clue of what jutsu Gaara was using; Sasuke had no choice but to head it face on; punching it right in the middle, to be hit by massive spikes, digging into his body. Shocked that he almost came towards death, Sasuke jumped away from the sand barrier and glared straight at it as blood dripped from his cheek, his fist and his leg.

'He is using his sand as a guard. I didn't think that the difference in sand density could make it this hard' "This must be what people call the ultimate defence" Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Amazing! This will be tricky to defeat! What will Sasuke do?" Gai questioned.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he and Shikamaru ran towards Kakashi and Gai; shocking some of the people around them.

"Naruto-kun" Lee smiled.

"Kakashi-sensei, stop the match!" Naruto demanded.

"What?" Ino exclaimed.

"That boy Sasuke is fighting; he's not natural; there is something off about him" Naruto huffed.

"You're one to talk Naruto" Kakashi sighed.

"Stop the match!" Naruto demanded.

"I couldn't stop it if I want to; Sasuke will be fine any way" Kakashi smiled.

"How can you-"

"Just watch, we were late for a reason" Kakashi ordered as he faced the battle between Gaara and Sasuke.

From inside the sand shield, Gaara chanted a continuous amount of various words while on the outside sand molded it self into the shape of an eye, boring holes into the Uchiha.

"It's that technique! This isn't good, Gaara has forgotten about the plan!" Temari explained as she watched her younger brother's eye forming.

Prepared for the worst, Sasuke wiped the blood off his face and charged towards the sand tomb from an assortment of angles to come out with nothing, each time the sand barrier trying to attack Sasuke while protecting Gaara.

'He's locked himself in there. I don't know what you're planning, but this is a good time for me. This move of mine takes time' Sasuke smirked as he unbuckled the black rope on his arm.

"What do you mean you were late for a reason?" Ino asked.

"What does it matter?! Stop the match!" Naruto shouted like a little kid on a temper tantrum.

"Shut up and watch" Kakashi ordered.

Flipping backwards, Sasuke landed himself onto the stadium wall, holding himself in place with chakra in his feet. Performing various seals, Sasuke held one hand in the other as he placed them tightly below his body, waiting for chakra to form in his palm. Eventually raw chakra formed in his hand, illuminating the already lit stadium. Crackling like birds, the chakra pelted around the boys hand like lightning, never still.

"Could that be…" Gai muttered turning his head to Kakashi.

"I supervised Sasuke's training, because he is similar to me" Kakashi said; as if answering Gai's unspoken question.

Smirking in unannounced triumph Sasuke thrust his hand to his side, digging trenches along the wall of the stadium as he ran back down it; with the ball of chakra chirping and squealing like birds.

"I see that's why you had him perfect taijutsu; so his speed would increase" Gai realized.

"Correct" Kakashi smiled.

"What is that?" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's making so much noise, what attack is that?" Ino asked.

"Just a straight thrust" Gai answered.

"Nani?" Ino questioned.

"But that jutsu is Konoha's number one specialists the copy ninja; Kakashi's only original move" Gai answered "It's a secret assassination move, that relies on the speed of the thrust and the ability to generate large amounts of chakra into one's palm and because of the speed they are moving at it sounds like a thousand birds chirping"

Getting closer to the target, Sasuke thrust his arm forward ready to bore a whole right through the sand tomb.

"That is why it's called Chidori (2)" Gai finished.

As Sasuke's hand made contact with the sand, the sand spluttered all around the Uchiha boy's hand, shocking everyone that he could get through the shield. Prepared for victory, the Uchiha smirked as he looked to where his hand ended up.

"What is this warm thing?" Gaara wondered "Kaa-san? What?"

"Blood? My blood?!" Gaara screeched.

Scared by the sounded shriek, Sasuke hastily thrust his arm out of the sand tomb, scared that if he left his arm too long there wouldn't be any arm left to pull out; after much struggle, Sasuke was released as a long arm was pulled out with him; what looked like an animal's foot or at least similar to it; however this one was very sandy and had blue veins running all around it. Slowly the arm slithered its way back into the tomb, shocking everyone in the stadium. Suddenly a shrill scream erupted from inside the tomb; echoing all around the stadium, scaring everyone inside it; especially Sasuke. Slowly the sand tomb cracked like an egg, making people wonder what was going to come out of the tomb. As the sand disintegrated and poured to the ground, Gaara's malicious grin as well as one of a shock stricken tired face adorned the people of the stadium with the boy grasping his shoulder in pain.

Slowly, people in the stadium began to drift into slumber as a genjutsu was cast upon; forcing them to fall into a deep sleep, unaware of what was happening around them, not realizing that feathers falling would be something unusual to be happening at this time of time at this time of year. Realizing the sudden need to sleep, Gai and Kakashi moved together, forming the seal of the sheep and dispelled the jutsu around them from affecting them.

Noticing the feathers forming around her, Sakura dispelled the jutsu and watched the battle before her. Suddenly, a loud eruption exploded from the tower where the Hokage and Kazekage sat alerting the jounins who were awake, as well as the competitors on the field.

"What's going on?" Sasuke growled as he glanced towards where the Hokage was. Suddenly the eldest of the Sand siblings jumped down, collecting Gaara while they had the chance and escaped from the Uchiha.

"Get back here!" Sasuke shouted as he chased after the sand team.

"What?!" Sakura gasped as she watched the Uchiha jump away from the scene before jumping down onto the battle field; to be stopped by the judge, Genma.

"What do you want?" Sakura growled.

"Under my order, you are to bring back the three sand ninjas and stop them from doing whatever they planned to do, and stop the Uchiha" Genma ordered.

"I was going to do so anyway; but answer me this, because of the current chaos that has begun what will be of the chuunin exam? What about the people who have not been in battle?" Sakura questioned.

"I am not too sure, but I presume that we will re-start the exam for those who have not fought" Genma answered.

"And if not? Does that mean I have lost my chance to become chuunin?" Sakura asked.

"As a possibility yes, you have lost the chance to become a chuunin and you may have to try again" Genma answered.

"I see" Sakura muttered "Well, tell Kakashi I have gone, and to wake up Naruto and a few other genin to follow me; for back up" Sakura requested before jumping, tossing her choker aside and jumping over the stadium wall and after the Sand ninjas and Sasuke.

"Will do, even if you have lost the chance to become chuunin, I highly doubt you won't become one. You act in a way a chuunin should" Genma muttered before going up to Kakashi as requested from Sakura.

"Kakashi-san, Sakura has gone after Sasuke-kun and the sand ninjas. She has requested to wake up Naruto and a few other genins to follow her" Genma said as he showed the girl's choker in his hand.

"What? That stupid girl! She should have waited and got Naruto before running off" Kakashi growled, defending himself from very fast enemies.

"I don't think she's stupid at all, she has a level head, she knows what she is doing, she's got strength; everything she needs to be a chuunin" Genma shook his head.

"However, no chuunin heads straight into a battle when they doesn't know the opponent" Kakashi argued.

"She has been training for a month for a match that could possibly up against the sand ninjas; I am sure she knows what she is getting into" Genma smiled.

"She's foolish-"

"You're thinking of the wrong student Kakashi-san. Tell me; who supervised her training during the past month?" Genma asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I was training Sasuke remember?" Kakashi scoffed; continuing to fight the enemy like Genma.

"Exactly, while you were training Sasuke-kun, there is a rumour that Jiraya was training Naruto-kun, however no one has been rumoured to be training Sakura" Genma paused for a moment as he round house kicked on of the enemies effortlessly "Tell me; who do you consider the weakest in your team?"

"They are all basically equal" Kakashi answered.

"But if you had to pick-"

"Sakura-"

"And why is that?"

"Because she's a girl-"

"And only that reason?"

"Well-"

"Open your eyes, the student you under estimate has surpassed your favourite student with out you realizing it; I saw that match in the preliminaries with her against the Ino girl; it was far better than Sasuke's battle technique"

"…"

"So, I'll wake up Naruto?"

"Wake up Shikamaru-kun as well" Kakashi sighed; knowing that he had never actually supervised Sakura's training to know her strengths and weaknesses so he dubbed Sakura the weakest of the three; even though she excelled in chakra control and the know how and all of jutsus; especially genjutsu. Without any choice; he took the choker from Genma; noticing the weight of the small item and summoned a small ninja dog.

'She uses weights?' Kakashi questioned as he bounced his hand up and down; giving a rough guess to about how heavy the choker was.

"Hai"

"Pakkun, take this and follow Sakura's scent. Take the two boys with you" Kakashi ordered as he allowed the dog to sniff out Sakura's choker.

In a matter of minutes Naruto woke up tiredly, while Genma kicked Shikamaru awake; since he was already awake.

"Nani?" Shikamaru cried as a dog bit him on the hand.

"What's going on?" Naruto muttered.

"Naruto-kun; follow the dog, and catch up to Sasuke-kun and Sakura" Genma explained.

"Wha?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"Naruto, think of this as an A-ranked mission. You have to bring back Sasuke and Sakura, and stop the sand ninjas" Kakashi shouted; blocking a ninjas attack from hitting the clueless boy before Gai punched one of the enemy ninjas right through the wall.

"Let's go!" Pakkun barked, grabbing a hold of Shikamaru; who grabbed a hold of Naruto.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Sasuke growled chasing after the sand ninja who was currently carrying Gaara away; since he had just beaten the crap out of the girl effortlessly.

"Kuso! Sasuke slow down, you don't need to beat the shit out of them" Sakura cursed following the boy's chakra.

"So explain it to me again?" Naruto grumbled following the petite dog with Shikamaru next to him.

"Okay, this is the last time Naruto. The Sand ninjas are planning something; along with sound and the three sand ninjas in the chuunin selection just ran away; presumably as part of their plan; and Sasuke followed them. Sakura; ordered Genma to wake us up and follow her since she was going to go after Sasuke and stop him and the sand ninjas; under Genma's order. So now we are running after Sakura who if you ask me has no talent; who is running after Sasuke who is after the sand kids" Shikamaru sighed after explaining the whole thing to Naruto for the fifth time since they left the stadium.

"Okay, I get it now" Naruto nodded.

"Finally" Pakkun and Shikamaru sighed in unison.

After chasing Gaara and his sibling; the ninjas seemed to stop in a stand still as Gaara woke up and was prepared to fight Sasuke; forgetting about whatever mission they had planned for Konoha.

"So you decided to stop running like cowards eh?" Sasuke smirked as he and Gaara clashed in combat.

"So he's finally stopped?" Sakura muttered "He is probably fighting the sand kid now"

'Is that Naruto and Shikamaru following us?'

'Feels like their chakra signature'

'Good. I have a feeling I will need back up, but who is that with them?'

'I think it's Kakashi's dog, I felt his presence when we faced Zabuza for a moment before he disappeared'

'That means he isn't much of a fighter'

'What's Kakashi thinking sending such a pathetic dog with them?'

'God knows'

By now Shikamaru had left Naruto and Pakkun as bait for the ninja following them; who were trying to stop them from getting to Gaara while Pakkun and Naruto had gone in a different direction to avoid getting caught; even if that direction was longer than the one they were taking before. Without realizing it; they had passed a broken puppet master and a poisoned bug master.

Sasuke had just used his final Chidori for the day; before being flung back beaten as Gaara; or what seemed like Gaara with a bit of a new look to him which was similar to a sand raccoon; advanced forward; ready to kill the still Uchiha. As seconds passed the fate of the Uchiha was inevitable which Gaara drawing back his arm ready to kill the boy. Suddenly out of now where pink appeared, side kicking Gaara away from Sasuke before giving him a turn around turning kick right in the face landing perfectly in front of Sasuke.

"It seems all of Kakashi's students are catching this lateness thing" Sakura sighed "What are you doing Uchiha? Lying there pathetically, I expect more from an Uchiha" Sakura scoffed running towards the raccoon looking Gaara; who now had a tail and a very long claw like hand; and oddly enough an ear.

"You think a little girl can stop me?!" Gaara snickered.

"I am really starting to hate this whole because I am a girl I can't fight thing" Sakura glared as she hit Gaara right in the face.

"How can you be hitting me without my sand blocking you?!" Gaara exclaimed.

"I figure it has something to do with it detecting chakra or" Sakura sneered "It's like taijutsu; if your body can't keep up with your movements it's hopeless for you; it must be like your sand; if your sand can't keep up with me; it is of no use to you"

"That's absurd" Gaara growled; hitting the girl to the tree, and what seemed like knocking her out.

"Sakura!" Sasuke exclaimed as Gaara advanced towards him again. Suddenly like before; Naruto kicked Gaara similar to Sakura ignoring the second kick defending Sasuke.

Suddenly a poof could be heard below the branches as Sakura reappeared glaring at Gaara.

"You think that'd stop me from kicking your butt?!" Sakura growled 'I swear to Kami; if you have ruined my chance of becoming a chuunin, no matter how strong that armour of sand if of yours I'll kick your ass and kill you!'

"Stay out of my way little girl" Gaara growled again and was on Sasuke like a tone of bricks; but before he could get any where close to the stiff boy; Sakura stood in front of Gaara stopping him from coming into contact with Sasuke with a determined look on her face and kunai drawn. Seeing the determined look on the girl's face Gaara had a moment where his mind withdrew from the battle remembering his youth; before swatting the girl out of the way.

"Stay out of my way!" Gaara growled as his sand hand held the unconscious looking girl in place. Slowly the girl woke up and smirked before exploding in a cloud of smoke with a log in her place.

"I told you; you need a hell of a lot more to defeat me" Sakura smirked from a higher branch.

"You stupid girl!" Gaara shouted charging towards her and attacking her again for the girl to be replaced with yet another log. Below Gaara, Sakura stood on another branch, next to Naruto.

"Oi, Naruto why'd you bring that dog?" Sakura asked.

"Kakashi sensei summoned him and he told me where to go; but he doesn't fight" Naruto frowned.

"I see" Sakura nodded "Okay, Naruto take Sasuke and head back to where Kakashi is; I'll stall the Sand guy"

"What?!" Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed.

"You both heard me; Sasuke you are in no condition to fight; Naruto you are in a condition to fight; however if something happens to both of us; none of us a team would come back in a good condition, go!" Sakura shouted.

"But-"

"Naruto, I said go!" Sakura growled as she picked up Sasuke handed him to Naruto and fought the sand boy.

"Naruto, don't you go any where" Sasuke growled "I don't think Sakura can hold Gaara off for long"

"But-"

"Naruto I said go!" Sakura shouted kicking Gaara back away from Sasuke and Naruto.

"But-"

"Naruto stay!" Sasuke growled.

"Err…." Naruto stuttered; thinking of what to do so both Sasuke and Sakura would be happy. Suddenly he remembered his training with the frog hermit and summoning frogs. Smirking to himself; Naruto placed Sasuke down before performing the appropriate hand seals, biting his thumb drawing blood and slamming his fist onto the tree branch summoning a tiny frog; what would be considered a normal frog.

"Eh?" Naruto choked.

"Okay kid; what do you want?" the frog squeaked.

"I was hoping for Gambunta" Naruto muttered.

"Right" the frog muttered before watching the battle. Slowly the sand around Gaara's body increased; leaving only his legs visible that gave any indication that he was human.

"Kuso! What the hell are you?!" Naruto shouted.

"If you ask me; he's just a scared little boy who's an attention seeker; in some ways" Sakura muttered.

"Do you want to say that again?" Gaara growled as his palm reached out and grabbed her; ready to snap the cherry blossom in two.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Kuso" Sakura cursed "I said, you are just a scared little boy who's an attention seeker" Sakura repeated as Gaara's grasp on Sakura tightened. 'Kuso!' Sakura cursed inwardly; not wanting to show weakness on the outside.

'He's almost at the perfect form, but he hasn't used that jutsu yet' Temari shuddered.

"Sand shuriken!" Gaara shouted as balls of sand pelted down towards Naruto; who just picked up the tiny frog and leaped away but still got blasted from the impact.

"You're weak" the frog muttered.

"You little-"

"But who is that guy?" the frog asked.

"Fight me!" Gaara demanded "Or I'll kill this girl!"

"You can't kill something when you don't have it" Sakura smirked; before she exploded once again to reveal she had used the Kawarimi no jutsu (3).

"This has gone on long enough!" Sakura growled; evidence that she had actually been in the grasp of Gaara was evident; with her clothes torn slightly and bloody pouring for various places in her body.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (4)" Naruto shouted after he wrapped a kunai with an explosive tag. Suddenly six Naruto clones appeared and attacked Gaara. As three were stopped by Gaara's palm; two more were made which flung Naruto past Gaara and deflected back to him.

"Eat this! The move Kakashi-sensei taught me! The hidden village of Konoha's secret master combat move a thousand years of Pain!" Naruto shouted as he shoved the kunai up Gaara's ass; making everyone in the battle field sweatdrop.

"That's no secret jutsu; it's just a really painful ass poke; Kami-sama knows how Kakashi found that move" Sakura muttered in disbelief.

Growling; Gaara's head turned to face Naruto before flinging him away like a pest. Smirking as he got thrust away Naruto's mouth opened "Boom" As he was flung into towards a tree; to be stopped by Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" Naruto muttered.

"That was a nice move" Pakkun sneered.
"Did…did he kill him?" the little frog muttered as he protected his head with his webbed hands.

"You did all that and only managed one hit?" Sasuke muttered.

"Shut up" Naruto grumbled.

"I didn't expect him to target the base of my tail where the armour is the weakest" Gaara muttered as sand fell top the ground while he struggled to get up again "I didn't get wounded; but the sand didn't absorb the impact, I under estimated him" Suddenly Gaara stormed towards the two boys ready to taste their blood when Sakura blocked his attack; getting thrust to the side painfully; onto another tree before the girl fell unconscious and towards the ground with a massive thud; suspicions that her ribs were broken among other things were growing when the stubborn girl struggled to get up; and when she did; it seemed like she was in immense pain and coughed out blood.

"Naruto, take Sakura and get out of here" Sasuke ordered "I never want to see an important friend die in front of me again"

"Don't think I'd let you fight on your own Sasuke" Sakura coughed up more blood "I'm not dying any time soon, I swear, at least not until I have beaten the shit out of you two"

"Sakura-chan…"

"Let's finish this" Sakura smirked as she stood up and reappeared in between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hai" Naruto nodded and began gathering chakra in his body; releasing blue chakra all around him.

"Is this really Naruto? He is releasing so much chakra!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Yea it's him" Sakura nodded "Let's go Sasuke; we can't let him steal all the glory, take a soldier pill" Sakura ordered as she tossed him a tiny pill "It'll give you strength"

Nodding in understanding Sasuke bit on the tiny pill as he felt his strength renewed; and his power restored.

"Thanks Sakura" Sasuke smirked.

"Welcome"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu " Naruto shouted as masses of naruto clones were formed around the forest.

"He's pretty good!" the tiny frog exclaimed.

"What's with all these clones" Gaara muttered as he turned his head trying to count the clones.

"Is he that Naruto?" Sasuke questioned.

"You're not the only one who has been training" Sakura muttered. Instantly each Naruto clone threw shuriken towards Gaara.

"Sasuke; throw you're shuriken, you have better aim than Naruto; not all of those will affect Gaara" Sakura muttered; nodding in understanding Sasuke threw his shuriken in sync with Sakura; hitting the sand boy perfectly while the Naruto clones attacked Gaara from all different angles; sending him to a pile of his former self.

Suddenly Gaara's anger rose that he was getting beaten by a guy who was scared of him before; angry that he was losing pathetically as well his claw like hand thrust up destroying each clone, sending his body to the sky in a storm of sand. As the dust and sand cleared from the scene a larger much more powerful Gaara raccoon form appeared in the middle of the forest; destroying everything in its path.

"What the hell is that?" Sakura muttered.

"The perfect form" Temari answered from below.

"What do you mean perfect form?" Sakura growled.

"What does it look like?!" Temari shouted.

Suddenly Sakura's breath hitched in her throat; as a fear over whelmed her, sending her to her knees in a slight amount of shock.

'What…what….what the hell is he?'

'A demon, remember in Suna, people were talking about him; they feared him because he could control the sand or something like that'

'That's him'

'Yea'

'Holy shit!'

"Sakura, daijobou?" Sasuke questioned as he picked up the girl again.

"Hai" Sakura answered, as she moved her self away from Sasuke and moved her hands into a new formation. 'Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu' (5)

"What are you doing? Clones won't work against that thing!" Sasuke growled.

"Watch" Sakura muttered, as the ten clones plus her, leaped into the sky after the demon monster.

"Oi Ugly" Sakura patronized the boy "Is that the best you got? Pathetic!" Sakura mocked as her clones and her ran away from the village and towards a near by lake.

"What is your team mate doing?" Temari exclaimed.

"How the hell should I know; she's a weird girl" Sasuke muttered as he and Temari clashed in battle.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed fearing the girl's life. "Kuchiyose no jutsu"(6) Naruto shouted, summoning a frog at least fifty times his height.

"Time to protect Sakura-chan!" Naruto proclaimed from above the frog.

"What the hell? What do you want this time" the frog grumbled "That's…Shukaku of the Sand"

"Frog boss fight with me" Naruto grinned.

"No" the frog breathe out smoke.

"Nani?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Why do I have to fight him? That's stupid" the frog questioned.

"Why?! Last time you said that you'd make me your subordinate!" Naruto whined "Aren't you supposed to help a subordinate in trouble? That's your moral code right?"

"I did say that I'd make you my subordinate, but we haven't had a drink yet!" the frog boss claimed.

"That's ridiculous! I'm not even twenty! I can't drink alcohol" Naruto shouted.

"Don't say that, listen to him pops" the little frog jumped atop Naruto's noggin.

"Why are you here Gamakichi?" the frog boss questioned.

"I was bored so I came out to play" Gamakichi answered.

"Eh? You're father and son?" Naruto questioned.

"Anyway, that guy tried to pick on me" Gamakichi pointed to the demon raccoon which was currently chasing the eleven Sakura's.

"What did you say?" the frog boss growled.

"But then this guy helped me out. He was able to fight him equally, he's pretty interesting" Gamakichi explained.

"I see" the frog boss muttered.

"You think that ugly form of yours scares me? I bet you couldn't even flick a fly" Sakura smirked as they reached the body of water. Suddenly all of the clones were swatted away; leaving wet marks on the Sand raccoon; missing Sakura barely the girl jumped above the tree tops and moved her hands into another set of hand seals.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu(7)" Sakura shouted as a water dragon shot up from the lake side hitting the raccoon continuously aiming for the head above all else.

Suddenly a hand of the sand demon went flying off as the large frog went slamming into the lake; sending the cherry blossom off the tree top and soaking her from head to toe. Rising back to her feet, the girl performed another series of hand seals, creating another water jutsu.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (8)" Sakura shouted blasting the raccoon with rapids of water, soaking him from head to toe before collapsing back onto her knees in a slight amount of exhaustion.

'Your turn Naruto, finish it' Sakura muttered as she watched the battle from below.

Suddenly Gaara cracked from the shell of the Shukaku, his body merged with the demons.

"You have entertained me greatly Uzamaki Naruto" Gaara smirked as he moved his hands into the seal of the sheep.

"That's the medium?" the frog boss questioned.

"I'll show you the true strength of the reincarnation of the sand" Gaara smirked.

"Those rings under his eyes. That boy must have been possessed by the Shukaku. There are symptoms of insomnia showing"

"What? Insomnia?" Naruto questioned.

"Those who are possessed by the Shukaku don't fall asleep at night for the fear that the monster will take over them and the person will no longer be them self, because the container doesn't sleep, they become unstable. While awake the demons powers are limited but if the container falls asleep" the frog boss explained.

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu(9)" Gaara muttered as his form fell asleep on top of the raccoon demon's head.

"He's done it!" the frog boss exclaimed.
"What's going to happen?" Naruto asked.

"Once the jutsu takes over fully and he has fallen asleep the Shukaku will finish coming out" the frog boss explained.

Suddenly the demons eyes widened before it began screaming and proclaiming to kill Naruto and the two frogs; chasing after it in a rampage; trampling over the ground it stood on.

"Not good! We gotta fly!" the frog boss exclaimed as he jumped away.

"Fuuton Renkuudan! (10)" the demon shrieked as a bullet of air busted out of his mouth. Jumping in mid air the frog boss prepared his own way to combat the air bullet with a water bullet.

"Suiton Teppoudama! (11)" the frog boss exclaimed as a blast of water shot out of his mouth and deflected the air ball; creating a small storm over the battle field.

'Amazing' Sasuke exclaimed as he and Temari continued fighting.

"Great, I'm getting rained on with frog spit" Sakura muttered.

"Not that place frog boss!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What?"

"Sasuke-teme is there!" Naruto explained.

"I see" the frog nodded before bouncing back to where he started.

Soon a battle of Air bullets and water bullets took place; each one deflecting the other, but without realizing it the frog boss got hit with a final air bullet with out anything to deflect it.

"Kuso! That hurt, that had a hell of a lot of chakra molded into it" the frog boss complained "If I get hit by any more of those I won't last much longer"

"What are we going to do then?" Naruto cried.

"All you have to do is wake the kid up" the frog boss answered.

"How I am supposed to do that?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Punch him, slap him be creative" the boss smirked.

'Wake him up?' Sakura muttered as she looked towards the raccoon demon 'Done' Sakura smirked inwardly as she hoped weakly to the raccoon demon; everyone forgetting that she was still around.

"Oi kid now" the boss ordered as he grabbed a hold of the raccoon.

"I can't! Can you hold him for a little longer?" Naruto asked.

"A frog like me can't, I have no claws nor do I have fangs" the frog growled "We'll do a combined transformation, think of something with claws and fangs and make the seal for me too"

"Hai!" Naruto nodded moving his hands ready to transform.

Instantly the frog raced towards the raccoon "Henge no jutsu! (12)" Naruto shouted as a cloud of smoke erupted from them to reveal they had transformed into a fox.

"Is that…." Sasuke questioned from below.

On all fours the fox creature raced towards the raccoon as if after its prey. Suddenly just as Naruto was about to make the leap and jump onto the Shukaku's head, he froze as he saw Sakura climbing with whatever energy she had left ready to kick the shit out of an unconscious Gaara. Smiling to himself, he stayed put before the frog boss realized he wasn't going to move and leaped away; transforming back to his own body.

"Why'd you stop?" the frog asked.

"Sakura-chan is doing my work for me; we served as distraction purposes" Naruto answered quietly pointing to the girl who was slowly moving towards Gaara.

"I see"

"It's time we really did end this" Sakura smirked before punching Gaara right in the face and side kicking the boy out of the Shukaku shell and continued beating the boy until she was positive he was awake.

"Kuso! I just got out you know!" the raccoon demon shrieked before his eyes turned dull; indicating Gaara had woken up.

"She dispelled my jutsu?" Gaara glared at the girl was coming back to beat the shit out of him some more. Suddenly the girl's foot sank into the sand demons face as Gaara prepared to bury her alive in sand.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura exclaimed as her body again exploded into smoke and kept running towards him; withdrawing her kunai and throwing it towards him before disappearing and hitting from behind with a round house kick.

"I will kill you!" Gaara proclaimed.

"Not happening" Sakura growled before aiming to punch the boy scaring in the face when her head slammed right onto his forehead; sending shock through his system before he tossed her away and the Shukaku shell broke like and egg falling to the ground.

"Sakura…" Sasuke muttered; amazed at the girl's sheer determination to win.

"Gamakichi, we're heading home" the frog boss announced as he and the little frog disappeared from sight and Naruto and Gaara fell to the ground in exhaustion.

Slowly Naruto moved closer and closer to Gaara with his chin; aiming to talk to the guy when Sasuke stopped him in his tracks and watched as Temari and Kankuro lifted their younger brother and fled into safety.

"That's enough dobe. The battle is over" Sasuke smirked as he picked up the blonde; letting Naruto lean on him for support. As minutes passed by the advancing of rustling could be heard; but the rustling was falling on deaf ears as Sasuke and Naruto had both fallen unconscious. Smirking to her self in triumph Sakura walked over to her team mates and picked them up; carrying Naruto on her back and Sasuke on her shoulder.

"Oi, Pakkun wasn't it?" Sakura called out to the ninja dog, who appeared by her side "Go back to the village, find Kakashi and Genma if you could and tell them mission complete, team seven will arrive back to them soon" Nodding at her order, Pakkun run off into the woods towards the city trying to find Kakashi or Genma; preferably both though.

As sunset fell to the war torn Konoha; great sadness was evident in the towns people as rumour spread around that the Third had sacrificed his life to save the towns people; however there were still some people rejoicing that the war had been declared over; due to a misunderstanding after Suna found out Orochimaru deceived them and killed their own Kazekage. Step by step the pink haired girl moved closer and closer to the stadium were various ninja were picking up the remains and cleaning the remains of what they could in the one after noon. Searching for Kakashi with her eyes, she found him on the highest podium, on the highest seats as he watched out for any remaining ninjas who may have decided to attack. Chuckling to her self and sighing, the girl limped with the two unconscious boys up the many staircases and out to where Kakashi was. Walking out, Sakura was confronted with Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, Anko, Genma as well as her own sensei standing tired and beat.

"Ano, sensei" Sakura called out to Kakashi, who like the other jounins turned around shocked at the worn state of the cherry blossom "Mission complete, sorry it took so long" Sakura smiled slowly stepping towards the elder ninja.

"Sakura!" Kakashi exclaimed as he raced over to his students; which were still in Sakura's grasp "Daijobou?" Kakashi asked severely concerned.

"Hai, I'll be right" Sakura smiled and faced Anko "Anko isn't it? I have already asked Genma but I want another examiners opinion; because I didn't fight in the Third exam; does that mean I won't become a chuunin?"

"I' m sure Genma-san also told you this but, as far as I am concerned you are worthy or being called a chuunin; however I am not sure what will happen" Anko confessed.

"I see" Sakura nodded before her grasp on her team mates stopped as she dropped her team mates as carefully as she could before she her self followed her team mates idea and fell into unconsciousness.

"What did I tell you Kakashi-san" Genma smirked as he lifted the beaten girl up; while Kakashi carried the two boys "She's the best on your team"

Two days, three hours, 56 minutes and coming onto 29 seconds since the pink haired girl had come out of surgery where they mended her bones; healed her bruises and stitched her after the struggle of trying to get her clothes off, which they failed to do any way. It seemed wrong for her; the girl of the team to have suffered so many bruises while the alpha males as some would call them got away with a slight amount of bruises and scratches, and perhaps a sprained ankle or wrist even though they had slammed into tree and such countless times and Naruto him self had plummeted to the ground; only coming out with a head concussion. It seemed her body was as her name sake's was a fragile cherry blossom that could wither away as soon as it left the tree. Right now Team seven were all estimating the time the girl would wake up; Sasuke and Naruto recovering immediately without much hassle; all three males were walking outside of the hospital room as the nurse directed them around the hospital; since she was doing a routine check up on Sakura anyway. According to the nurse; Sakura suffered extensive blows to her rib cage and her arms; as well as the rest of the body; it was a surprise that she made it back to where Kakashi was; all the way up those stairs like she did; medics to put it simply were baffled and shocked that a girl of her caliber to what they assumed lasted like she did in battle. The girl was struggling to breathe when they released her from the Operating room; and so they put a respirator on her to help her breathe; and since she was unconscious they had the drip in her arm; feeding food into her body thus keeping her alive.

With a turn of the door knob, the hospital door creaked open to the room that Sakura was in. Looking towards the bed, Team seven as well as the nurse were shocked; Sakura was not in her bed; she was no where in the room to begin with. The window was opened and the curtain was flying out indicating that either she had escaped or been kidnapped. The first option seemed more apparent as team seven raced towards the window; looked down and found foot prints all down the hospital wall and leading away from the disinfected building.

"Nani?!" Naruto screeched; obviously scared for Sakura since they assumed she shouldn't even be up and awake; let alone running around town in her state.

"She shouldn't have been able to move!" The nurse shrieked as she ran out of the hospital room to alert the head medic.

"Alright, Sasuke Naruto; Sakura has escaped for god knows what reason; find her and bring her back to the hospital! Meet at the bridge in an hour whether you have found her or not!" Kakashi ordered as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke; presumably to look for the pink haired girl; or was going to read his little orange novel.

'Where am I?' Sakura glanced around the white decorated room; as her eyes slowly blinked awake 'Hospital?' Sakura questioned as she sat up; ignoring the pain from her body; which was demanding that she lay back down on the uncomfortable hospital bed.

"What happened?" Sakura glanced out of the window trying to remember why she was in here, or how she got in here.

FLASH BACK…

"Sakura!" Kakashi exclaimed as he raced over to his students; which were still in Sakura's grasp "Daijobou?" Kakashi asked severely concerned.

"I' m sure Genma-san also told you this but, as far as I am concerned you are worthy or being called a chuunin; however I am not sure what will happen" Anko confessed.

"I see" Sakura nodded before her grasp on her team mates stopped as she dropped her team mates as carefully as she could before she her self followed her team mates idea and fell into unconsciousness.

…END FLASH BACK

'How long have I been out?' Sakura questioned.

'I'm not to sure'the inner girl in Sakura's mind answered.

'Kuso' Sakura cursed before tossing the blankets off her and jumped off the bed; opening the hospital window and jumped out of the room; pumping what chakra she had in her body; racing through the town and back to the only place she could call a sanctuary; pity she hated the place so much. Her house; not a home; a house; even with the entire Haruno district renovated; Sakura felt that she had no place in the district; she felt the remodeling and rebuilding was a lie; a distraction from the truth that her so called brother and sister wanted to cover up from the town.

Team seven searched high and low trying to find an ounce of pink trough out the town. They asked all the genin they knew; all the ninja they knew if they had seen the girl; all came with the same answer –"What she's awake?! No, sorry I haven't seen her"- They searched left and right; in places Sakura would never be caught dead in; they checked the training grounds; they even followed the foot prints to find that they stopped half way through the town; it was obvious Sakura knew they were looking for her and she was going to great lengths so she wasn't going to be found. As the hour passed, Team had no choice but to retire from the 'find the sakura' game and go to the bridge like Kakashi ordered them to; who was surprisingly there…on time; before the other two boys.

"Does that mean you haven't found her?" Kakashi asked as the boys neared him.

"She's very good at concealing her movements" Sasuke muttered.

"I couldn't find Sakura-chan" Naruto wailed "She could be hurt, she could be cold, she could be hungry" Naruto cried listing all the things he could think could happen to Sakura.

"Naruto; calm down; she'll probably attend the Third's funeral tomorrow, then we can take her back to the hospital" Sasuke sweat dropped.

"Sasuke's right Naruto; calm down" Kakashi sighed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke again.

As the new day drew nearer and nearer each ninja and citizen alike came to the Hokage monument clad in black to mourn the loss of the Third; the man who had ruled over the village for a long time and died respectively in battle to save the village and the inhabitants from almost certain doom. Like all the other ninja; even the happy and cheery Uzamaki Naruto wore a frown; showing his regret and sorrow the Third's death; as if feeling like he should have done something to help him. The emotionless Kakashi and Sasuke also held the grim look on their faces as they headed towards Naruto's apartment; as a unanimous decision that they would go the funeral together. As Naruto joined the two other males of Team seven; the three walked towards the Hokage monument; but paused mid way when they found locks of pink waiting patiently for them. Like the males she was wearing black; a black yukata which showed her flawless silky cream coloured legs. Instead of the usual place where her fore head protector sat; the girl tied it around her neck; much like the fashion Hinata used. Bandages covered over her forehead where she head butted Gaara; as well as a patch over her eye and over various places on her skin. Her arm was in the cast that they last saw her in; evidence that bandages were still around the girl's torso were predominant as white showed under the girl's black yukata.

"Sakura-chan" Naruto muttered; shocked that Sakura was standing like she was and kind of angry that Sasuke was right; and that Sakura was out of bed.

"What'd I tell ya? You have got to do a lot to keep me down" Sakura smiled forcefully.

"How can you…." Kakashi murmured as he watched his pink haired subordinate lead them towards the monument.

"That Gaara boy would have to try harder that what he did to keep me down from protecting what's important to me" Sakura smiled; half confessing that team seven and the village was very important to her; the first ounce of compassion the girl had ever shown since they met her and became a team.

People mourned, they cried, they wailed, tears were dropped. The mood was dead; even the sky above seemed to be mourning the loss of the Hokage as water pelted down on the funeral scene. All except the cherry blossom seemed to mourn and cry; even Sasuke; who rarely or never cried at all; although he wasn't really crying it was more along the lines of a grim face. Sakura, as much as she tried to feel bad; let tears drop from her emerald orbs; couldn't. She couldn't feel one ounce of remorse; of regret; of pain. The only emotional pain that she may have felt was guilt; guilt that she couldn't mourn no matter how she tried; however that may have been that funny looking bread she had that morning. One by one ninja and citizen alike placed a flower onto the bed in front of the Hokage's coffin; reminiscing on the times they had spent with the Hokage; how great they were and how much they will miss him; among the other ninja who died in battle. As the pile grew larger and larger; Sakura became one of the last people to lay down the white flower and pay her respect to the man who everyone admired and respected. Sighing in a slight amount of relief Sakura bowed slightly to the dead Hokage and moved on watching the remainders of the mourners mourn next to her team.

'I owe him; to mourn over his death after he kept the massacre a secret from the town even though they found out about it in the end, but never found out that I was alive; and yet I still haven't got anything to mourn; my face is impassive as ever' Sakura grimaced as she looked at her reflection from a puddle below.

"Iruka-sensei, why do people risk their lives for another?" Naruto asked.

"When a person dies….he disappears; his life style; his past his future; his legacy. Many die in wars and battles; some in simple and easy ways. Hayate-san was one of them. Those who died had goals and dreams but every one had something as important as those. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers…those people are the one's important to you. They trust and help each other. The bond between the people important to you ever since birth and the string that bonds you with them becomes stronger and thicker over time. It's beyond reason. Those bound to you by that strong will do that because it's important…" Iruka explained.

"Aa….I think I understand, some what" Naruto nodded "Demo, it's painful when some one dies"

"The third didn't die for nothing; he left something important in all of us. You'll find that out eventually" Kakashi muttered.

"Yeah, I think I understand that, too, some what" Naruto smiled.

"The rain stopped" Sakura muttered looking up to the sky impassively. Slowly the clouds moved away revealing a bright sun smiling down on the city of Konoha, as if to say 'everything will be okay. It's alright to move on'.

"Ja ne, Iruka-sensei" Naruto waved as he walked back to the males of his team; Sakura seemed to have disappeared a long time ago.

"Aa" Iruka smiled 'It seems the small leaves of Konoha have inherited the will of fire that you spoke of, Hokage-sama. The will of the leaves will burn brighter and stronger to protect their village'

"Kakashi-sensei, where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"She disappeared as soon as the ceremony was over" Kakashi answered.

"Eh?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You heard him dobe" Sasuke sighed.

"You guys can find her ne?" Kakashi smiled before disappearing once again.

"He's good" Sasuke muttered; glaring at his gone teacher.

Sakura chuckled to her self from above the tree tops. It was wet; it was damp; it was moist; but she could care less. The peace and serenity of the environment seemed to calm her greatly as she sat down and started towards the horizon; with a new determination to train harder, a feeling that was new to the girl, the need….to protect something…if you will, bubbled through her as she recalled when Team seven was up against the Suna siblings. She seemed almost child like as she sat upon the tree branch; at least twenty meters above the ground; and gazed into the distance. Her loose hair fluttered with the breeze; and her emerald eyes; though as dull as ever glistened in the sunlight; like the orbs they once were. Her head band had been discarded long ago and now sat in her palm as she watched it reflect in the emerging sun.

Suddenly out of no where; Sasuke appeared on the very same branch; grasping a hold of the girl and dragged her away from the tree tops and towards the hospital; muttering curse and whatever else about how annoying she was being.

"Nani?!" Sakura exclaimed as she yanked her hand away from his grasp and glared at the boy "What the hell? What I can't enjoy a little quiet time?"

"You should be in hospital! The doctors were shocked you were even awake a day ago! Or even moving around!" Sasuke glared.

"I can take care of myself!" Sakura insisted before disappearing in a cloud of smoke; reappearing back in her house.

Sakura was no where to be found; which baffled her Team and her sensei; a girl with pink hair should be easily spotted in the rubble of the remainder of the Hidden Village in the Leaves. People all around were fixing the town as the only sound which echoed through the town was the hammering of wood; or the sawing of wood; rebuilding the town that was demolished. Bit by bit the town was slowly being rebuilt to its former glory and image while the elders of the town were in a long discussion of who would now be the new Hokage of the Leaves. As days passed Sakura eventually stepped foot out of her house; and greeted day light with little or no injuries and renewed strength as she walked through the town; helping rebuild the town. As the day went on, rumour that the pink haired girl had come out of her home without a scratch and was now helping towns people build their homes spread through the town and eventually hit all three males of Team seven; before they found her and captured her taking her to the training grounds of Team seven.

"Sakura" Kakashi growled at his pink haired student.

"Err….yea?" Sakura nodded slowly.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kakashi exclaimed "We looked every where for you!"

"I was at my house recovering from the battle with Gaara" Sakura exclaimed.

"Couldn't you have just stayed in the hospital?" Sasuke questioned.

"And suffer the terrors of the hospital food? No thanks, I want to get out of the hospital; not stay in there longer" Sakura frowned.

"Okay, I agree with you, hospital food ain't the greatest, but couldn't you have at least stayed long enough so that we knew you were alright? And so we wouldn't have had to spend the past few days looking for you?" Kakashi sighed.

"But if I stayed in there, doctors and 'experts' as they call them selves would have forced me to stay for monitoring, as they call it" Sakura explained "Oh, by the way, do you know where Genma is? He has my choker"

"No I have it" Kakashi sighed as he handed the girl her black choker back.

"Thanks, it felt weird not having it on" Sakura smiled as she tied the object back in place.

"Sakura, how heavy is that exactly?" Kakashi asked; suddenly Gai appeared with Lee, behind them were Neji and Tenten.

"So you noticed? I think it was about ten kilograms" Sakura answered.

"Hello Sakura-chan, it is good to see you in good health" Lee greeted.

"Err….yea…hi" Sakura sweat dropped.

"Eh?" Naruto questioned.

"My choker is heavier than it looks" Sakura explained.

"Why?"

"It helps with training" Sakura answered.

"How much are you wearing right now in weights?" Sasuke asked.

"Not much…err…on my sandals I think each had twenty kilograms, the shorts have ten, each skirt layer has ten, both shirts have ten each, gloves are about fifteen each, kunai pouches and shuriken holsters has roughly ten kilograms each; hair ties about ten each…and under the leg warmers about twenty-five kilograms to each leg" Sakura sweatdropped.

"Kakashi, are you insane? This girl wearing that much in weights? And you had a whine at me with Lee" Gai scoffed.

"I dare you to say something about my pink hair" Sakura glared, ready to punch the jounin.

"I didn't supervise her training, I don't even know who did, heck I didn't even knew she used weights" Kakashi frowned.

"What?!" Gai exclaimed.

"Some teacher you are" Neji scoffed.

"He's right, he had nothing to do with my training, no one had anything to do with my training, and I chose my own way to train" Sakura glared at the spandex man.

"Are you insane girl?!" Gai exclaimed.

"At least I don't wear a spandex" Sakura scoffed before walking off.

"Oi Sakura" Sasuke called to the girl; hearing her name, the girl turned around and was confronted with her team as well as team Gai hovering over her with kunai drawn and ready to attack.

"Eh?" Sakura yelped as the kunai were tossed towards the girl; which she dodged hastily, but also effortlessly. on, I just got out of hospital" Sakura frowned.

'She moves at the speed Lee is at with his weights off, with her weights on' Gai realized.

"Again!" Gai ordered as each person threw weapons towards her.

"Leave me alone" Sakura yelped again, running away from the weapons and away from the mad people.

"Now Gai; what was the purpose of that?" Kakashi asked.

"I was curious to see how fast she was" Gai answered.

"Is that all?" Sasuke glared.

"Yea, pretty much" Gai shrugged.

"You are so annoying" Sasuke sighed before walking off and discreetly after the pink haired girl.

"Fight me" Sasuke ordered when he found the pink haired girl.

"What?" Sakura questioned.

"Fight me; without the weights on" Sasuke ordered.

"No, I am in no shape to be fighting you" Sakura frowned.

"Pathetic" Sasuke scoffed.

"Look, unlike you; who has natural talent, I have to work really hard to get where I am in strength to get strength like you; and as one would put it as a girl I don't have much strength at all, and right now, I have no strength" Sakura glared walking away from the Uchiha.

"So to say, you're weak?" Sasuke inquired.

"If that's how you see it then yes, I am weak" Sakura answered.

"Then this village must be also weak" Sasuke mused.

"That's not my place to judge" Sakura murmured.

"However, even if it is not your place to judge, would you say the village is weak?" Sasuke asked.

"With the many ninja and military power at the hands of Konoha; I'd say Konoha is a strong village" Sakura answered.

"And by right if what the late Hokage said is true; that the military power of Konoha is the ninja's power; and if that power is strong; that must mean you are strong" Sasuke contemplated.

"If you look at it; the ninja though are the military power of the village aren't all strong; take for example, Yamanaka; though she has strengths she is weak however Naruto who has many weaknesses, he is still strong. It is complicated" Sakura replied back.

"True" Sasuke nodded "Then, what are you?"

"Currently, I feel weak" Sakura muttered as she watched the sun fall to the horizon.

"You feel weak even though you were the one who stopped Gaara and brought me and Naruto back to Kakashi?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yes" Sakura muttered walking away from the Uchiha.

"Konoha sure has prospered since the attack" a voice mused from under a straw hat.

"Are you sure you want to attack? Don't you have ties with this village?" another man questioned.

"Not anymore"

Notes:

-So, how was that? It kinda ended funny…but I couldn't think of anything better as an ending –sweatdrops-

-See you next time, RxR no flaming nya!

Translations:

1) Suna Bunshin- literally "Sand Clone", Viz "Sand Doppelganger"
Type: No rank, Supplementary
Creates a clone of the user from sand. When it is attacked, it does not disappear like with other clone techniques. This makes it one of the most powerful and advanced types of the Bunshin. Only after it is damaged or broken, it takes on the appearance and color of sand.

2) Chidori- literally "One Thousand Birds"
Type: A-rank, Offensive, Short range (0-5m)
A very powerful technique that requires a huge amount of chakra, which becomes visible around the user's hand. Once the hand has been charged, it is then thrust straight through the target. Due to the direct and obvious path the user of the technique must take to achieve an effective strike, a user of Chidori is left highly vulnerable to counterattacks and dodges. The technique can only be safely attempted by a ninja with the Sharingan or a similar countermeasure to defenses and attacks. Chidori is said to be one of the few original techniques of Hatake Kakashi, who is also one of only two known users, the other being Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Itachi is theoretically also capable of performing the Chidori, as he was watching Uchiha Sasuke with his Sharingan activated when Sasuke failed to kill him with the technique.
Although it produces a distinctive sound and is by no means stealthy, Chidori has nonetheless been classified as a possible assassination technique due to the incredible speed it requires and the devastating effect of a successful execution.
The name Chidori comes from the sound the technique makes, which is said to remind the listener of the chirping produced by a thousand birds. Because of the high amount of chakra it requires, a ninja can only use Chidori a certain number of times per day.

3) Kawarimi no Jutsu- literally "Change of Body Technique" (Type: E-rank, Supplementary
The user quickly replaces themselves with another object, such as a plant or an animal (usually a section of log). This usually confuses the attacker and leaves them open to a counter-attack. A fairly common Jutsu, it is one of the basic Jutsu a Ninja must learn before graduating to the Genin level. It is not limited strictly to the Naruto series, and is sometimes called Utsusemi no Jutsu.

4) Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- literally "Shadow Clone Technique"
Type: B-rank, Supplementary
Unlike the normal Bunshin no Jutsu (Art of the Doppelganger), this jutsu creates not just an illusion, but real bodies of the ninja. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among the user and every clone. This could be very dangerous if the user is low on chakra or makes many clones (like with Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique), making this technique forbidden), something Naruto doesn't have to worry about, since his chakra supply is very high thanks to the Kyūbi. Kage Bunshin can't be detected by Byakugan (Hyūga Neji states this during his fight with Naruto during the third Chūnin exam). This is because the clones are real bodies with real chakra systems, identical to the user. It can be detected by Sharingan. Because the clones are real they can do real damage and can take some damage themself, being even able to bleed, although they'll still disappear when enough damage has been done, which is usually after one hit.

5) Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu- literally "Water Clone Technique"

Type: C-rank, Supplementary
Creates one or more identical copies of the user out of water. More similar to Kage Bunshin than to a normal Bunshin, these clones are capable of attacking, except each clone's strength is only one-tenth that of the user. Also, the clones can only be controlled within a certain radius of the user.

6) Kuchiyose no Jutsu- literally "Summoning Technique"
Type: C-rank, Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary
This Jutsu, using a contract, Seal, and the user's blood, binds an animal to the user. The type of animal is determined by the contract and Seal performed. The blood is used as a signature to make the contract, which can be written on a scroll or tattoo, valid. Once bound, the animal can be summoned to perform a task or help the user in battle.
Other types of Summoning Techniques can summon powerful objects, such as weapons (Tenten) or Kankurō's puppets.

7) Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu- literally "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"

Type: B-rank, Offensive, All ranges
A powerful attack that creates a huge current of water in the shape of a dragon, which is sent towards the opponent. Except when used by extremely powerful ninja, this jutsu can only be done when in or near a body of water. Hatake Kakashi copies this technique from Momochi Zabuza with Sharingan and uses it to defend against Zabuza's

8) Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu- literally "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique" (a.k.a "Water Explosion Technique)

Type: A-rank, Offensive, Mid- to long range (5+m)
A technique used to create a massive blast of water, this technique is Momochi Zabuza's, but when he attempted to use it against Hatake Kakashi, Kakashi used his Sharingan to copy it and use it against Zabuza before he could complete it himself.

9) Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu - literally "Feigning Sleep Technique"

Type: No rank, Supplementary

10) Fūton: Renkūdan- literally "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet"
Type: No rank, Offensive, All ranges

11) Suiton: Teppodama - literally "Water Release: Gunshot"
Type: C-rank, Offensive, All ranges

12) Henge no Jutsu - literally "Transformation Technique" English TV "Transformation Jutsu"
Type: E-rank, Supplementary
The user assumes the appearance of another person or animal. This is one of the basic jutsu taught at the Ninja Academy.

Chapter 5: Itachi; bad luck, bad omen