The Strength of the Cherry Blossom

by animea-hime

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. [Complete] Sasusaku

6. 5 Itachi bad luck, bad omen

Chapter 5: Itachi; bad Luck, bad omen

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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.

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'Thoughts'

'Inner selves'

"Talking"

FLASH BACK…

P.O.V

DREAMING SEQUENCE…

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

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Recap:

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 know 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"

End Recap

--

"Sugoi" Sakura smiled as she walked home the long way; which was around the village and past a small river "I got all the really cheap stuff today, and it's still all really good stuff" Sakura smiled at her newly bought groceries. It was currently two days after Sasuke had challenged the girl to a fight; which was declined and the girl was now walking home carrying her groceries which she had just bought from the market. She was wearing her usual green ninja attire, but she still had the bandages around her arms; which concerned some people, but they got over it eventually. Without realizing the current battle scene (which was very odd for the girl not to) she was about to walk into; the girl as happily as she could, waltzed into the battle scene before she was captured by a taller being and her groceries were attacked and slaughtered, missing her just barely. Forgetting what was happening around her and that she almost lost her life, the girl shrieked at her now gone groceries.

"Why won't people leave my groceries alone? This is the third time this has happened!" Sakura sulked before glaring at her captor "Let me go"

"Can't do little girl" the man smirked at her. He was wearing a big straw hat which concealed his face; and a big black coat with red clouds printed on it; concealing his body.

"Again with the little girl" Sakura muttered "Who are you?" Sakura growled, noticing Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and Kakashi currently at the scene fighting off the blue shark faced man.

"I see" Sakura muttered "You're Uchiha Itachi and he's Hoshigaki Kisame"

"You're a smart little girl aren't you?" Itachi smirked as he breathed into the girl's neck.

"You have to a lot more than that to make me shake with terror" Sakura muttered.

"Is that a challenge little girl?" Itachi questioned.

"Sakura, get away from him!" Kakashi ordered; fearing the young girl's life.

"Sakura?" Itachi muttered "You're…"

"Yea, yea, a little girl-"

"Tell me, are you curious to know where your brother and sister are? Or how they are going?" Itachi whispered so only he and her could hear what he was saying.

"I could care less for them" Sakura muttered, although; on the inside she seemed to be breaking and tearing her self apart to know where here siblings were; so she could kill them personally of course. Discreetly without the Uchiha realizing; Sakura moved her hands into various hand seals before the sequence ended and the girl elbowed the boy in the stomach and thrashed the Uchiha with a water dragon.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (1)" Sakura muttered, as the water dragon hit the boy away before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke revealing he had used a Kawarimi no Jutsu; with a log in his place.

"Quite a talented little girl aren't you?" Itachi muttered "Take after your siblings I presume?" Itachi still spoke in that tiny whisper.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Sakura muttered "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (2)" Sakura muttered as a waterfall over water collided with the Uchiha; which was easily deflected. "However, I'm curious, why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"That is none of your business" Itachi answered.

"It is my business when my sensei is fighting against your partner" Sakura glared.

"You're sensei is Kakashi?" Itachi muttered 'Interesting' Suddenly Itachi grasped a hold of the pink haired girl, knocked her unconscious before he and his partner disappeared with the pink haired girl.

"Kuso! Sakura!" Kakashi exclaimed before his body gave in on him and he fell into the water.

--

"Kakashi" Sasuke voice echoed through the building before the door opened; revealing a bored looking Sasuke; but that look changed when he found his sensei in bed with three other jounins in the room "Ano, why are other jounins here?"

"Well…you…see" Kurenai stuttered; not wanting to tell the young Uchiha about the encounter with his brother and the kidnapping of his team mate.

"We….are…here" Asuma muttered.

"Because…." Gai continued.

"Kakashi…was…"

"Late….and we are….here"

"To kick his un-youthful butt out of bed!" Gai exclaimed.

"Why does it take three jounins to wake up Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Well….Kakashi's a very…."

"Heavy sleeper?" Asuma sweatdropped.

"But he called me twenty minutes ago" Sasuke frowned.

"Err…."

"Kurenai-san! Itachi has been spotted heading towards the next town where Jiraya-sama and Naruto are heading; what do you want me to do?" a chuunin stormed into the room.

"Itachi?" Sasuke growled before he raced out of the room; guessing where he was heading; rumours spreading that the frog hermit took Naruto with him to look for his old team mate or something and they were heading to some town up North.

--

A little while back the girl had woken up from her forced slumber and was still in the arms of Itachi; presumably being held as a hostage; and right now they were running through the forest at unimaginable speeds and heading towards some where which Sakura didn't know about. All she knew was that she had to get out Itachi's hold before it ended bad; like the end of her life or some one else's.

"Let me go you bastard!" Sakura yelled as she tried to escape Itachi's clutches but failed.

"You know; for a girl of your height, you are very heavy" Itachi muttered; trying to carry the heavy blossom.

"Bastard" Sakura muttered as she tried to think of a plan to take; closing her eyes she tried to figure out where they were heading towards.

It felt north; up north there wasn't much except a town and more forest. The town had various prostitutes and gambling places. There were drunks and all; but the town still prospered; a little worse than the recently attacked Konoha though. But why were they going up North? Was their base or something there? Did they want a release or something? Because damn; if Kisame wanted one he'd have to pay a lot of money for some prostitute willing to be his little fuck toy, in Sakura's opinion. No, these were S-class Nuke-nin criminals; there was no way they'd reveal them selves to the public just to get a good/bad fuck. They'd kidnap some one for that…..hold…on….they did kidnap someone….they kidnapped HER!!!!

But…then what would be the point of going North? Calming down, and un-tensing her muscles Sakura tried to think of other plausible explanations. Suddenly Sakura felt a chakra signature behind them; following them. It was familiar too, thinking back to where she had felt it before her mind raced through a thousand people she had met since she came to Konoha. It was evil; yet it was pure; there was hatred but also innocence; it was strong, but it was still weak; it was fast; fast like Lee but stronger than the spandex boy. It couldn't be Kakashi; after being knocked out by Kisame he couldn't be up and running around after that; especially after using his sharingan; how he got that eye was beyond Sakura.

How can it feel so familiar? Is it Naruto? No his is less filled with hate, less controlled, and besides he was up North with the frog hermit or something. Up…north….

"Shit" Sakura cursed; getting the attention of both missing Nins.

"Let me go you" Sakura growled; now she knew why Itachi captured her; Naruto, he was up north; and though his chakra was all over the place and uncontrollable; Sakura knew that it was because of the being inside of him. The Kyubi; the nine tailed demon fox that attacked the village Hidden in the Leaves and was sealed into the body of a young child by the forth who died after woods ironically. Sakura had her suspicions that Naruto held it; especially when that red chakra seeped out of him when he was angry or getting too emotional in a battle; and the red look in his eyes; it looked evil; even if she were never to admit it; that look for some reason frightened her; it was such a contrast to the fun loving, prankster ninja she had on her team which she learned to accept as one of her closest friends. Closest friends…now she knew who was behind her, it was Sasuke. That explained the familiarity; the evilness but still had an essence of purity; she sealed the evil curse seal and absorbed the power into her body; but it was only 75 percent that she took; leaving 25 percent there; which could surface at any time if Sasuke wasn't careful. There was hatred spreading through it; that's why it wasn't familiar; but if Sasuke learned that Itachi was going towards Naruto that hatred could surface.

FLASH BACK…

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like many things and I dislike a lot of things. I wouldn't call what I want to do a dream, because I will make it a reality. I will revive my clan and kill a certain someone" Sasuke spoke darkly.

…END FLASH BACK

FLASH BACK…

"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…"

…END FLASH BACK

The innocence of a child, in her eyes, inside Sasuke some where was that seven year old boy who saw his parents get murdered by his idol. His brother; the one who he admired and cherished; who he loved and devoted his life to being like; he wanted to be strong like Itachi. He was strong, but he had his flaws with his skills, he was still a ninja in training after all, but he was chuunin worthy, he was fast, he had always been the fastest on their team, that's why Sakura started using weights, to make her like him; to beat him, if he couldn't beat her team mate what chance did she have surpassing her brother and sister. It was definitely Sasuke; Sakura had no doubt about it; she was some what relieved but also worried; if Sasuke would put his hatred before everything else the end result would be fatal to him, however if he put the lives of his team mates first; he wouldn't use so much chakra and would be hesitant to using his better moves; thus also ending them in a tight situation. Immediately the blossom knew whether it be Itachi and Kisame against Sasuke or Naruto; she would be the liability; the reason that they'd hold back any attacks on them. She had cost them a lot by just opening her mouth when she was curious back in Konoha.

FLASH BACK…

"Sakura?" Itachi muttered "You're…"

"Yea, yea, a little girl-"

"Tell me, are you curious to know where your brother and sister are? Or how they are going?" Itachi whispered so only he and her could hear what he was saying.

"I could care less for them" Sakura muttered, although; on the inside she seemed to be breaking and tearing her self apart to know where here siblings were; so she could kill them personally of course. Discreetly without the Uchiha realizing; Sakura moved her hands into various hand seals before the sequence ended and the girl elbowed the boy in the stomach and thrashed her elder with a water dragon.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu" Sakura muttered, as the water dragon hit the boy away before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke revealing he had used a Kawarimi no Jutsu; with a log in his place.

"Quite a talented little girl aren't you?" Itachi muttered "Take after your siblings I presume?" Itachi still spoke in that tiny whisper.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Sakura muttered "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu" Sakura muttered as a waterfall over water collided with the Uchiha; which was easily deflected. "However, I'm curious, why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"That is none of your business" Itachi answered.

"It is my business when my sensei is fighting against your partner" Sakura glared.

"You're sensei is Kakashi?" Itachi muttered 'Interesting' Suddenly Itachi grasped a hold of the pink haired girl, knocked her unconscious before he and his partner disappeared with the pink haired girl.

"Kuso! Sakura!" Kakashi exclaimed before his body gave in on him and he fell into the water.

…END FLASH BACK

"What's wrong little girl, scared?" Kisame chuckled.

"Little girl this, little girl that" Sakura muttered darkly "I am getting so tired of this sexist discrimination thing" Sakura continued to mutter; both missing Nins neglecting to notice she was forming hand seals. Suddenly Sakura's form exploded into a log; alerting the missing Nins as they watched the blossom girl run away from them; heading west.

"Kuso!" Itachi cursed as he and Kisame ran after the girl; dropping the log that the girl used to replace herself with. Just as they two Nins were out of ear shot or couldn't be seen by the blossom the log exploded to reveal the real Sakura huddled into a ball and landed expertly onto the ground. 'S-class Nuke Nins, fooled by a ten year old genin' Sakura snickered 'Henge no Jutsu (3), I would have thought Itachi would have seen it, doesn't matter now; I better go off to Naruto' Instantly the girl continued her way North to where Naruto and Jiraya were supposedly heading or something like that.

--

"Get back here little girl!" Kisame growled chasing after the cherry blossom girl; slowly the girl turned around and smirked at the missing Nins; making both of them stop. Suddenly the girl exploded and vanished into thin air revealing that she had used a Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

"What the?" Kisame muttered "I don't believe it we were fooled by a girl with pink hair!!!!" Kisame exclaimed in frustration.

"Don't underestimate the girl; she is the younger sibling of the Haruno duo" Itachi sighed as he and Kisame went to chase after that pink haired girl; figuring that she was heading North and that she had figured out their plan by now.

"As in Daiki and Hikari of the leaf?" Kisame asked.

"Yea" Itachi nodded "It's kind of ironic that my whole genin team became missing-nins and all work together still" Itachi chuckled slightly.

"I thought those two were the only ones who survived the Haruno massacre" Kisame mused.

"I did too; but then Daiki told me that my Otouto was on the same team as their Imotou, and the Kyubi boy" Itachi muttered.

"Is that why you took her? As a hostage?" Kisame questioned.

"Aa" Itachi nodded.

--

"Excuse me, but have you seen a blonde haired boy with a white haired man?" Sasuke asked the fifth hotel receptionist today. Currently he was going from hotel to hotel trying to find his blonde friend and team mate as well as the frog hermit or who ever he was who was training Naruto or something.

"I'm sorry young man, no one has come into this hotel like that" the woman frowned as Sasuke sighed before rushing out of the hotel and going to the next one. Who would have thought that there was this many hotels in such a small town?

--

"You're a tricky little girl aren't you?" Kisame chuckled, looking at the newly captured cherry blossom that was now bound at the wrists and ankles as was struggling to get out of Itachi's hold as they entered the town that Naruto and Jiraya was supposedly in. Entering the town; Itachi concealed the girl in his big black coat, covering her entire form and still able to carry her without any suspicion; if you would ignore the occasional odd movement from inside the coat.

"Mmmph mmph mmmph!" Sakura exclaimed which was presumably translated into 'let me go!', but they really didn't care since if they released the bound on her mouth…well…they probably wouldn't hear the end of it from the young girl.

"I presume that was let you go?" Itachi muttered "Not happening, now shut up!"

After much struggle the girl gave up and continued to think of a plan and try and form some jutsu even though her hands were bound and didn't allow hand seals to be made. She could feel the movement of Itachi, she could hear his heart beat and a constant pace; occasionally he felt his breathe on her neck, he felt his arms wrap around her torso keeping her above the ground so she didn't have to walk and cause a fuss; how he carried her, it was almost protective, asa if he didn't want to hurt her, but she knew better, it was probably unintentional but in a way intentional to send the girl into a flustered state; but coming from the oldest Uchiha, Sakura scoffed at the thought. This was Uchiha Itachi, the man who heartlessly slaughtered his entire clan; effortlessly too apparently, he only left Sasuke alive because either in his sick and twisted mind he felt guilt for killing the clan, or because he saw Sasuke as not killing him; whatever it was Sakura didn't want to know about it, she wasn't going to ask such stupid questions; it'll just end up worse, and it is already worse.

Though, she was questioning why he had killed his clan, apparently it was to test his strength against one of the most powerful clans in Konoha; but Sakura had other suspicions; she reckoned he was blood thirsty like a vampire; she had heard he excelled in the ninja arts; what was it? He graduated from the academy at seven? Mastered the sharingan by eight? Chuunin at ten and ANBU captain at 13 right? He was truly a ninja genius she had to admit, and had she not known about the massacre of the Uchiha, she would guess even without the killing, that Uchiha Itachi had influenced Sasuke's life a great deal; after all this was the man who Sasuke idolized. As time passed, the bind around Sakura's mouth slowly fell to her neck; has Sakura maneuvered her way with much difficulty to remove the binds off her wrists and ankles.

"Just tell me why you are after Naruto" Sakura muttered; alerting the missing Nins again. Itachi looked down to the girl in his coat, and even though he had thought he had broken her spirit, he could tell there was something in her that was screaming to break lose; an inner mind, an inner spirit, it was something he couldn't quite understand.

"That is none of your concern" Itachi answered.

"Why not?" Sakura questioned "I am obviously a hostage for this whole ordeal; I want to know why you are after the Kyubi inside him"

"You know of the beast?" Itachi questioned.

"Answer my question first" Sakura ordered.

"You are in no position to be making orders blossom" Itachi answered.

"I guess then neither will know the answer to the others question" Sakura said impassively and didn't bother struggling any more; she stayed as still as she could, like a rag doll.

'Oi, Itachi, how can we defeat the man with Naruto? He's one of the legendary Sannin isn't he?" Kisame questioned.

"No matter how strong a man is, they still have their weakness" Itachi answered.

"Then what is yours?" Sakura asked.

"Why would I tell you of all people?" Itachi questioned.

"You're annoying you know that?" Sakura muttered.

"So are you" Itachi retorted.

--

"Excuse me but have you seen a blonde haired boy with a white haired man?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, yes, now that I think about it, there was a pair like that; they just booked into the hotel, hmm…room eighteen" the lady nodded.

"Thank you" Sasuke nodded before he stormed up the stairs ready to warn Naruto about Itachi and get him away from danger.

Thrusting the door opening, Sasuke was confronted with something totally unexpected; two people shock stricken that some one had just barged into their hotel room; but the problem was it wasn't Naruto, and it wasn't Jiraya; how unfortunate. Cursing to himself, Sasuke raced out of the hotel and ran around the town looking for his friend.

--

After retying the binds around her mouth, Itachi made sure she wasn't going to make any movement before they knocked onto the hotel room door that Naruto and Jiraya were staying in. Waiting a few minutes the door opened to reveal a shouting Naruto who had gone quite, not expecting two strangers at the door instead of Jiraya.

"Sasuke?" he muttered.

"Hello, Naruto-kun, come with us" Itachi ordered.

Not knowing what to do Naruto stood still for a moment, trying to figure out, who the hell this guy and his partner was "Who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Come with us and we'll tell you" Itachi answered; struggling to keep that girl in his jacket quite and still.

"Okay" Naruto nodded with uncertainty as he walked out of the hotel room, ready to be escorted by the two men.

"Naruto, get away from him!" a voice ordered. It was Sasuke.

"Sasuke-teme?" Naruto muttered.

"Uchiha Itachi, I will KILL YOU!!!!" Sasuke proclaimed as he raced forward to kill the man, drawing out his kunai. Slowly but efficiently Itachi undid his coat to reveal a captive Sakura, bound around the wrists, ankles and around her mouth with a kunai to her neck. Making both males genins of team seven pause; watching the girl to struggle out of Itachi's grasp.

"Let go of her!" Sasuke demanded.

"Give us back Sakura-chan!!" Naruto exclaimed; as he felt himself being captured by the blue shark man.

"Come with us willingly and we will give you your Sakura-chan back" Itachi offered; struggling even more than before to try and keep this girl from moving and getting out of his grasp.

"Let. Them. Go" Sasuke ordered.

"You are in no position to make orders foolish little Otouto" Itachi scoffed.

Once again the bounds around Sakura's mouth were undone and the girl gasped for air.

"Sasuke, get Naruto out of here!" Sakura ordered trying to break free even harder than before.

"We aren't leaving you here Sakura-chan!" Naruto shook his head.

"Naruto, you have got to get out of here, think of Konoha and cities around here, if they get you, it will end up worse than losing just one life" Sakura shouted.

"But Sakura-chan-"

"Sasuke I said get Naruto and leave!" Sakura shouted; slowly she bent to the side towards her kunai pouch and grabbed out one of her kunai; slicing her binds off her wrists and ankles; in that instant elbowing Itachi in the stomach and head butting Kisame which made him let go of Naruto; and dragging the blonde boy away from the two missing-nins. With the attention of his brother away from him, Sasuke prepared the Chidori (4), moving his hands into the appropriate hand seals and waiting for chakra to mold into his palm.

"Itachi! This is the day you die!" Sasuke proclaimed as he charged towards his brother with the Chidori crackling and cackling in his hand.

"Chidori?" Itachi muttered as he watched his little brother race towards him with amazing power and speed, only to be stopped by his hand which held Sasuke's Chidori arm in place along with the rest of his body. Growling to himself Sasuke kicked his brother, for that attack to be blocked and to be quite literally tossed back where he came from; straight into the wall. Getting up and ignoring the pain, Sasuke challenged his brother who had got a hold of Sakura again; it would seem she makes a very good hostage.

"Let me go you big ass!" Sakura growled, biting onto his arm.

"Sakura-chan, I don't think that will make him let go" Naruto sweat dropped at the girl's dog like actions; Sasuke seemed to sweatdrop too.

"Let her go Itachi, your quarrel is with me" Sasuke glared.

"On the contrary little Otouto; I am after the blonde boy" Itachi scoffed.

"What do you want with Naruto?" Sasuke shouted.

"I said let me go!" Sakura glared as she once again elbowed the ninja and kicked him straight in his groin; and let's just say; now Sasuke really is the only one who can revive the Uchiha clan now.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-sakura-chan" Naruto stuttered, imagining the pain of that happening to him. Suddenly the youngest Uchiha whizzed past Naruto and kicked his brother right in the head, before Itachi kicked him in the head and they continued their one on one brawl.

"Isn't it funny Sasuke-chan even after all this time; there is still no difference between us in strength" Itachi chuckled as he grasped a hold of Sasuke's chin and forced him to look into his eyes 'Mangekyou (4)' Itachi whispered before Sasuke's world seemed to turn black and white as he relived the Uchiha massacre over and over and over again; and although it seemed like 72-hours of immense torture in the really world it was merely a few seconds.

"Sasuke" Sakura gasped running towards the boy and kicking his brother out of the way to find him unconscious "What did you-" Sakura paused as she looked into Uchiha Itachi's eyes "Mangekyou" Sakura muttered before she closed her eyes and whipped her head away from Itachi's vision understanding what he just did to Sasuke "Naruto, I demand that you get out of here at once; find that frog guy you were traveling with and stay with him!!!" Sakura shouted; still with eyes closed.

"I'm not leaving you two by your selves" Naruto shouted.

"For the safety of your self and the village of Konoha; get away from here!" Sakura pleaded "They are after you-"

"Do you remember what you said on our way to the wave country? That those who don't protect their friends are worse than scum?" Naruto questioned.

"What I am doing is protecting you!" Sakura shouted "Just go!"

"Like you also said; even if I were to go, it would only be a matter of time before Itachi caught me again" Naruto shook his head.

"Smart choice Kyubi" Itachi muttered advancing towards Naruto with blood red eyes. Suddenly out of no where smoke erupted and out appeared a white haired man on a red frog.

"Don't even think about getting anywhere near the boy" Jiraya scoffed "You have to do a lot more than show me a pretty girl to get me away from Naruto"

"Yea RIGHT!!!" Naruto shouted "As soon as you saw her give you a wink you were at her side like a dog on a leash!!!"

"Eh" Jiraya chuckled nervously "Anyway, Uchiha Itachi and your partner leave here at once!" 'Who the hell is the pink haired girl? I know that Sasuke and Naruto are here, but she, I have never seen her with any of the two, but why is she here?'

"We aren't going any where without the boy" Itachi refused.

"You are going without Naruto!" Sakura declared.

"Don't get cocky little girl; don't think we haven't noticed you haven't got your weapons with you" Kisame chuckled.

"Weapon?" Sakura muttered as she looked down to her legs 'Kuso, no wonder it was easier to move today' "Who the hell takes weapons when they are grocery shopping?! By the way, Itachi you owe me $40 in groceries" Sakura glared getting up and standing head on. 'The only thing I can do right now is clones, there is not enough space to do anything else; water jutsus are useless unless I have water…hold on…technically I need big amounts of water…but if I use small amounts the only draw back is that the attack would be weaker' Sakura seemed to smirk.

"Don't think I'm repaying you" Itachi scoffed at the thought "You're the idiot for walking right into a battle"

"How was I supposed to know there was a battle, I turned a corner and bang! Right smack in my face you and the other jounins were in my face fighting, and you hit my groceries of all things! I was going around by that route to avoid any collisions to my groceries!"

"Aww…you going to cry now?" Kisame snickered.

"I don't cry" Sakura glared and moved her hands into a set of hand seals "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu" Sakura muttered as ten other clones of herself appeared and charged towards Itachi; in her eyes you take down Itachi, Kisame will; back down, he doesn't seem as strong as Itachi anyway.

"Don't think petty little attacks will stop me blossom" Itachi muttered as he it each clone; which sent them into puddles of water and Sakura back slightly.

"I never did think clones with only a tenth of my strength could stop you" Sakura smirked and moved her hands into another set of hand seals "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu" Sakura mumbled as she controlled the water dragon from the puddle and towards Itachi; but even Naruto could tell it was a pathetic version of the usual jutsu. Not thinking the jutsu could do any damage, Itachi stood still, not expecting at the last minute that the jutsu would fall in front of him and coming from the jutsu would be three Sakuras' which hit him straight on.

"Uchiha Itachi, never underestimate your opponent" Sakura chuckled evilly.

'She's good, she's a strategist, perfect chakra control, and good jutsu use' Jiraya analyzed as he watched the cherry blossom fight. Suddenly out of no where; Itachi side kicked the girl in the ribs before kneeing her in the stomach and punching her on her side sending her next to Sasuke and unconscious.

'But as a girl, she hasn't got the natural stamina or strength like a male would' Jiraya sighed as he began performing hand seals for his own jutsu. At the completion of his hand seal formation he slammed his hand onto the floor below him and smirked. Slowly the walls became infected with a red fleshy coloured substance as it spread across the entire hallway like mold, making a form around Sasuke and Sakura as lumps began forming as if inside the stomach of body part of something.

"How unfortunate for you, you are now inside the stomach of one of my frogs. And no one comes out alive after this jutsu is performed on them" Jiraya smirked "Naruto, stay put, and it won't hit you" Jiraya muttered as he chased the escaping Uchiha and fish man.

"How do you intend to get out of this?" Kisame asked watching the Uchiha run with him. Instantly the boy's eyes exploded open before a massive explosion erupted at the end of the hallway; allowing Itachi and Kisame to escape; but without what they wanted. Around the hole they escaped from were black flames dancing endlessly, and never seemed to tire out 'They were able to escape from the frog stomach? That should have been unbreakable, and what are those black flames?' Jiraya questioned.

"Ero sennin, what's going on?" Naruto exclaimed as he came running after the frog Sannin.

"Stop" Jiraya ordered as he took out a scroll and sealed the black flames in it and dispelled his jutsu, revealing Sakura now lying basically on Sasuke; but it was obvious she was in pain and unconscious; like the Uchiha lad.

"Sugoi! What was that?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well-" Suddenly out of no where a green spandex appeared, kicking Jiraya smack bang in the face; hitting his cheek.

"Eh…." Gai gasped, before he sweatdropped.

"What the hell?" Jiraya exclaimed.

"Gomen nasai" Gai bowed "I forgot my mirror since I came here in a rush, and to see what was inside this building I used my forehead protector instead, and when I looked there was a mysterious shadow next to Naruto-kun and so it was my duty to protect the boy….and that's what I was doing" Gai sweatdropped.

'Baka!' Jiraya glared before turning his attention to Naruto "Anyway, Naruto, who's the pink haired girl? What she doing here?" Jiraya asked.

"Hmm? That's Sakura-chan, the final member of Team seven aside Kakashi…and why she is here….I am not too sure" Naruto sweatdropped.

"She's here because Itachi captured her youthful life and brought her here, although I think they had trouble getting here with her; there were foot prints all over the place" Gai explained.

"I see" Jiraya nodded "She's got quite some talent, maybe I should have taken her with me instead of you" Jiraya chuckled.

"WHAT?!?!?!??!?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I was joking, but do you think she would take up an offer?" Jiraya questioned.

"No, I don't think she'd want to be with a pervy hermit for an uncertain amount of time" Naruto shook his head.

"I am not pervy, what I do I research!" Jiraya rebutted.

"Yea right!" Naruto scoffed.

--

"You'll make it back okay right? With Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked worried about his team mates.

"Of course!" Gai smiled as his teeth shined and he did his good guy pose "You are going to train right Naruto-kun?"

"Hai"

"Then I will give you something; something to help you train! Lee-kun used it to help hone his strength, and it would help you too!" Gai squealed.

"What is it? What is it?" Naruto exclaimed.

"This!" Gai pulled out a green spandex "The light weight, tight fitting material is perfect for training and it doesn't even get in the way too!" Gai exclaimed.

"S-sugoi!" Naruto exclaimed as he took the green spandex from Gai "Arigato" Naruto bowed as he played with the spandex before shoving it into his bag.

'He brought that but didn't being a mirror?! Baka!' Jiraya glared, massaging his sore cheek.

--

Three months, two weeks, five days, 23 hours, 45 minutes and coming onto 11 seconds; that's how long it has been since Naruto and Jiraya had been gone from the village; but it's not like any one's counting or anything. Sasuke had yet to wake up and Naruto had yet to return. Kakashi was unheard of and Sakura was unseen of. It seemed the student-sensei relationship between Sakura (student) and Kakashi (sensei) had not changed since the day each met the other. Kakashi knew nothing of her except that she had skills in genjutsu and that her chakra control abilities were that of a jounin or higher. Sakura; well she could care less; her aim was to get as far as she could in her training to surpass her older siblings and make her dead parents happy. Nothing of the chuunin exams had been heard of yet, so Sakura continued to train after she got out of the hospital; from her encounter with Itachi.

When she woke up, she found her self in the same room as Sasuke who was still unconscious and no sensei. Sasuke's breathing was stable, but he was still unconscious so they had to put the drip into his arm to keep the boy alive. Luckily for Sakura, all she suffered this time around was a few bruises from fighting with Itachi. After glancing at Sasuke from her bed, the girl had gotten up, stroked the boy's face before leaving a note on his bedside (under various objects so others wouldn't find it) for him to find when he woke up and getting out of the hospital.

The village was back up and running and all they needed now was a Hokage, which apparently Naruto was bringing back soon. Christmas was coming around; another holiday Sakura dreaded; among every seasonal holiday. Christmas meant spending time with family, it meant having fun with friends, it meant being happy; it meant the year was going to end soon; and with the end of a year there was always a festival; no matter which country or town she was in and though this was her first Christmas in Konoha; Sakura knew she would regret it. The whole concept, she had no family to spend time with; she had no clue where her older siblings were, and she could care less. They dumped her not the other way around. As for friends; well the only friends she had were her team mates, and currently one was in hospital yet to be cured, and the other was god knows where trying to find the next Hokage with the Frog Sannin who wrote the perverted books that Kakashi always read; and speaking of Kakashi; she had not seen him either since she woke up in the hospital but she and him were never that close anyway.

Every year with Christmas and festivals since she was five the blossom had watched families; little kids spend time with their parents, having fun and playing games, they would all dress up and smile until they couldn't smile any more because the muscles in their face hurt, people laughed, people giggled, people chuckled, they spent time with their friends, family and loved ones something Sakura wished for; but knew even from early ages that she was never going to receive that. That's why she was envious to Yamanaka the day her family was murdered; she still had her innocence in her, she still had friends, she still had family; everything Sakura had wished for, but either tossed away to stop her heart from hurting or it was taken away from her. In a way, she saw herself in Sasuke; but unlike him she made massive amounts of progress in her training. She could see the lonely look in his eyes when he saw kids in the academy play with each other; like he wanted to join; but he just couldn't, he could see a reason to be happy like them, it was the same look in her eyes, as well as Naruto's. He had lost his innocence, his family and he tossed away his friends; if he had many or any as a kid. But he hasn't gotten his revenge yet, where as Sakura has, but she feels as if something is missing from when she killed those ninjas or whatever they were.

Walking out of the hospital after checking up on Sasuke, who was still in a coma, Sakura walked away from the clean building and went off to train or do something else to keep herself occupied, it seemed without Naruto that her life was boring and dull; if you asked her when they became genins if she could miss the blonde, she would have said no definitely not; both of her team mates are annoying, but now; with no one around Sakura seemed to miss both of the boys more than should would have ever imagined. Being around with her team mates for almost a year has made her forget how alone she actually felt in Suna; but right now, she remembers how alone she felt, how alone she felt when she first came back to Konoha, how alone she felt on their first mission, how alone she felt when her parents died and her remaining family abandoned her. Losing the energy to train Sakura just walked around town to keep her mind busy, unconsciously passing by the occasional building several times, going down the same street several times.

"Alright, Forehead girl, you have passed my family's shop at least three times, what's wrong with you?" a voice questioned, stopping the girl dead in her tracks. Turning around, Sakura found blonde as emerald and blue clashed.

"Yamanaka" Sakura greeted with a nod.

"Any reason you have been walking in circles for the past hour?" Ino asked.

"Not really, just bored" Sakura shrugged.

"Bored? Don't you usually train till the wee hours of the morning?" Ino inquired.

"I have already trained today; there's not much to train for since I haven't had any missions lately and my team mates aren't around" Sakura replied bored.

"What do you mean? What happened to Sasuke-kun?!" Ino exclaimed.

"He's in hospital, Naruto is off some where or something and Kakashi, well I have no idea" Sakura answered.

'Is Sasuke-kun alright? How bad are his injuries? Will he live? How long has he been in hospital?" Ino attacked the girl with questions.

"Okay, according to the medics in the hospital, yes he should be alright, all broken bones and stuff have been taken cared of, they just want a final examination from Tsunade or something who Naruto has gone to get, his injuries are all good now, yes he will live and I think he has been in hospital for about three months" Sakura answered.

"What?! Why didn't any one tell me, my Sasuke-kun was in hospital?" Ino cried.

"Err….not many people know about it…and…err…" Sakura kind of replied.

"In other words you told no one because you were the only one who knew" Ino explained.

"Well…nurses knew, and yea I knew because one he's my team mate and two, I was in hospital too" Sakura answered.

"Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at his side waiting for him to wake up?" Ino questioned.

"I'm not putting my life on hold for my team mate, I check on him daily and that's as far as I go, I have my own life to live" Sakura scowled.

"Kaa-san I'm going out" Ino announced before getting a few roses from her store, grasping a hold of the cherry blossom and dragging her to the hospital.

"Matte, Ino, where are we going?" Sakura pulled her hand back.

"To see Sasuke-kun" Ino explained guiding the girl through the crowd.

"Nani? Why am I going?" Sakura questioned.

"Because you probably have immediate access to Sasuke's room and I wouldn't, if you are with me I can go in and see him" Ino explained.

"Wha? Oh right" Sakura nodded as she followed her former best friend around the town towards the hospital.

--

"Can we please see Uchiha Sasuke-kun" Ino asked the receptionist at the hospital desk.

"Err…" the nurse turned to face Sakura who nodded; as if she had the authority to allow people to and from Sasuke's room.

"Sure" the nurse chirped "Room 237" Instantly Ino raced (at a walking pace) to the room the nurse spoke of with roses in hand.

"Has any one else requested to see him?" Sakura asked the nurse.

"No" the nurse answered.

"Has my sensei come in?" Sakura asked.

"No, I'm sorry" the nurse shook her head as she turned to do other nurse activities.

"Thanks" Sakura nodded before going to Sasuke's room where she presumed Ino was.

--

"He looks so frail" Ino commented as Sakura walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

"He's fine" Sakura said.

"How can you be so calm when your team mate is in bed like this?" Ino exclaimed quietly so Sasuke wouldn't wake up.

"Because I know that my other team mate is coming back with the greatest medical specialist of all time to check on him, and doctors have already done as much as they could with their knowledge" Sakura answered.

"But-"

"Don't worry, I'm positive Sasuke will be fine, and if not I'll kick him out of bed myself and drag him to your shop to prove that he'll be fine" Sakura said trying to cheer the girl up.

"Thanks" Ino giggled.

"Welcome" Sakura nodded.

"What happened when we were kids? Why did you break our friendship?" Ino asked.

"Because my family and I were moving to Suna; and I wasn't even sure if we were returning at the time; I did it so both of us could be relieved of the grief worrying that I wasn't going to come back or not" Sakura answered.

"How could you have not known?" Ino asked.

"I just didn't" Sakura answered.

"But you knew everything when we were kids" Ino retorted.

"Not everything" Sakura sighed "Look, I'll tell the nurse that you'll be in here still, but I'm going to go, I can't stand hospitals" Sakura mentally shuddered at the though of eating hospital food. "Ja" With the final wave of the blossom, she was out of the hospital room and out of the hospital, leaving Ino to watch the sleeping Sasuke as long as she desired.

--

Sighing to herself, the pink haired girl continued walking around the village bored, coming across the training area of Team 8, Sakura decided to see how the other rookie nine were going in their training; simply because she was bored.

"Would you look at this, the top of the rookie nine gracing us with her presence!" Kiba exclaimed "To what do we owe this visit?"

"Kiba-kun" Hinata gasped.

"No it's alright Hinata" Sakura sighed "I'm just here because I'm bored"

"How can you be bored with that loud mouth blonde on your team?" Kiba scoffed.

"I guess you've missed the whole quite thing in this village lately, Naruto has been gone for about three months, training with Jiraya or something" Sakura said.

"The dobe's been gone?" Kiba seemed amazed "I didn't notice"

"Yea, anyway, Kurenai-san" Sakura turned her attention to the team 8 sensei.

"Yes Sakura?" Kurenai asked.

"Have you seen Kakashi lately?" the girl inquired.

"No, sorry" Kurenai frowned.

"Oh ok, do you know where he may be?" Sakura asked.

"Sorry, I wouldn't" Kurenai shook her head.

"Great...another boring day" Sakura sighed.

"What do you mean Sakura-san?" Hinata asked.

"Don't worry with the formalities Hinata" Sakura smiled "But anyway, since the dobe's left, I haven't gone on any missions, or done any training or something with my team. It's no fun in my life if I can't beat up Sasuke or Naruto every once in a while" Sakura sighed.

"Would you like to join us for some training?" Hinata offered.

"No, it's alright, I wouldn't want to intrude" Sakura sweat dropped.

"No, please, I want to see how the great Hatake Kakashi trains his students" Kurenai begged.

"Err….he hasn't really properly trained me, his attention has been on Sasuke and Naruto" Sakura sweat dropped.

"Why that sexist little bastard! When I get my hands on him-"

"No, don't worry Kurenai-san, I survive better if I train on my own" Sakura explained.

"Well then, at least train with us for one day" Kurenai offered.

"Err…"

"Okay, Sakura's the enemy and you have to catch her, and begin!" Kurenai shouted. Without any choice Sakura ran away from Team eight, just incase they actually did try and catch her.

--

"Sakura-san would you please accept my offer and go out with me!" a voice pleaded, appearing from behind Sakura; which didn't seem to freak the girl out at all.

"No thanks Lee, hello Tenten-sempai, Neji-senpai" Sakura bowed to her older ninja.

"Sakura-san" Neji nodded.

"Hey Sakura-chan, shouldn't you be training right now?" Tenten asked.

"I have no team to train with" Sakura frowned "And I already trained this morning anyway"

"You have no team?" Neji questioned.

"Err…yea, Naruto is off training with Jiraya, Kakashi…well I have no idea where he is and that goes the same for Sasuke" Sakura lying about the last bit, because she presumed that Sasuke would kill her if a Hyuuga, especially Neji, found out he was unconscious in hospital.

"Yosh! Then join our team for today!" Lee offered; Gai appearing behind him at that moment.

"Yes! Sakura-san, join us for training!" Gai exclaimed.

"Err…no thanks, I already got offered that today-"

"Please, I don't want to be the only girl with these freaks" Tenten pleaded. 'Well she is right, they are all freaks, but not as freaky as my team…though it's a tough call'

"Err…."

"Great" Tenten squealed as pulled the girl towards team Gai's training area.

"C-chotto matte! I didn't say yes" Sakura exclaimed.

"But you didn't say no, and that's good enough for me!" Tenten chirped as she tossed the girl towards the tree; which she nearly hit, but rebounded off it, flipped and landed on her two feet, relieved she didn't go head first into that massive tree trunk.

"Ano…Do I really have to?" Sakura questioned.

"You may as well since we are here" Neji seemed to be smirking.

"Yosh! Even if I can't get a date with you at least we are training together!" Lee exclaimed.

"What training were you exactly doing?" Sakura asked.

"A simple game of tag; but you are allowed to use ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu and weapons to get the target" Gai answered.

"So basically the bell exercise?" Sakura asked.

"Yea" Tenten nodded.

"Who's the…err…person getting tagged?" Sakura asked.

"You!" Gai exclaimed.

"Nani?" Sakura exclaimed as a kunai whizzed passed her body, missing it barely.

"Aww…you are the first person aside Temari that my weapon has missed" Tenten frowned.

"What a shame" Sakura sighed "Does that mean we have started?"

"Yup" Tenten chirped preparing another kunai.

"Okay then, I am so gone" Sakura smiled as she poofed away from the scene.

--

"Well…at least I don't have to do that now" Sakura smiled to her self as she went to walk around town again; trying to enjoy her self but her boredom seemed to be growing by the minute. It was three hours until something eventful happened to the girl; and it wasn't the kind of eventful activity she had in mind when a kunai whizzed passed her, almost hitting once again.

"Eh?" Sakura muttered as she turned around to find Neji, Tenten and Lee behind her with an evil look in her eyes "You were serious about that tag thing?" Sakura exclaimed.

"What'd you think we were?" Neji scowled throwing a kunai towards her. Sighing, the girl run away as the chase ensured. Eventually by the end of the afternoon Sakura had not been caught yet and had narrowly escaped various ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks along with the constant weapon attacks, but never got caught in genjutsu; and was considering just giving up and letting them get her. Pumping chakra into her feet, Sakura ran through the village, going over the Hokage monument and tower, much to the anger of the village elders, as well as over many houses and buildings, occasionally passing the odd other rookie nine.

As the girl passed by the North gate of the Village she could hear the sound of Naruto's voice arguing with another person about something; she couldn't tell what it was exactly but whatever it was that they were arguing about made Sakura stop dead in her tracks as her attention was diverted to the front of the North gate. There was the blonde coming towards her, and behind her were three adults and a little big. There was Jiraya; the one she had met a while back, and two other ladies; a blonde with massive boobs and a short black haired woman. The blonde women she recognized as Tsunade; one of the legendary Sannin, a medical genius with incredible strength and could summon chakra into her fists to create earth quakes that sent the Rictor Scale off the charts. She was the one who got medical ninjas into ninja squads. However, she was also known as the legendary Sucker; apparently she had a gambling problem and a lot of bad luck.

Apparently she had been asked to become the Godaime of the village; and it seemed she had accepted; that meant she was going to become the new Hokage of the village.

As she paused, three kunai came in towards her and almost hit her if she didn't dodge the weapons unconsciously. It seemed the blonde of team seven was coming back finally; inwardly, Sakura smiled and rejoiced; she really did seem to miss the blonde quite a lot. Shrieking that his team mate was almost attacked Naruto came racing to the girl and enveloped her in a big bear brotherly hug.

"Sakura-chan, I missed you so much!!!" Naruto cried as he glared to who ever threw the kunai.

"Team Gai? What's the big idea attacking Sakura-chan?!" Naruto growled, glaring towards them.

"Don't worry Naruto" the girl smiled "We were having a game of tag or whatever"

"Tag?" Naruto questioned.

"They captured me and forced me into playing their little game of tag for training or something" Sakura answered.

"I see, Sakura-chan, I'd like you to meet Tsunade-baa-chan the new Hokage, Shizune-nii-chan and Tonton; their pig" Naruto introduced the people to Sakura as they walked up to the girl with Jiraya right behind them.

"So you're Sakura eh?" Tsunade questioned as she inspected the girl.

"Hai!" Sakura nodded "It's nice to meet you Tsunade-san, Shizune-san, it's nice to see you again Jiraya-san" Sakura bowed.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sakura-chan" Tsunade smiled "Jiraya tells me you have perfect chakra control"

"Err…I guess" Sakura sweatdropped.

"Sugoi, not many people can control chakra perfectly at your age Sakura-san" Shizune exclaimed.

"Thanks? Oh, and you can drop the formalities if you wish" Sakura smiled "Tsunade-san, our other team mate is still in hospital, can you please check on him?" Sakura asked in a hushed voice "The medics have healed him, but he has suffered the effects of the Mangekyou"

"I see, lead me to him" Tsunade nodded.

"Hai" Sakura nodded.

--

"Hello Tsunade-sama, Sakura-san" the nurse greeted; it was the same woman from the morning.

"Has Ino-san come out of Sasuke's room yet?" Sakura asked.

"Not yet" the nurse frowned.

"Thanks" Sakura nodded as she directed Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton, Jiraya and Naruto to Sasuke's room; number 237. Opening the door, they were confronted by a sleeping Ino and oddly enough a Shikamaru too.

"Hey, Ino, can you wake up please?" Sakura asked as she shook the girl awake.

"Yea, what's up Forehead-girl?" Ino asked sleepily, not noticing the blanket on her.

"Tsunade-san is here to look at Sasuke, could you wait a second outside?" Sakura asked.

"Hai" Ino nodded.

"Oh, and take that lazy ass too if you could" Sakura pointed to Shikamaru.

"Yea okay" Ino nodded as she dragged Shikamaru out of the hospital room.

"Is he alright?" Sakura asked.

"Yea, he'll be fine, the medics did a good job, I just fixed anything they missed, but the psychological affects; I'm not too sure about those; it differs form person to person" Tsunade explained.

"Thanks, you should probably go now and meet with the village elders" Sakura bowed.

"Oh…yea…I never liked them" Tsunade muttered.

"Matte, Tsunade-baa-chan, can you see if Kakashi-sensei is okay?" Naruto asked.

"What's wrong with Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

"Same as Sasuke" Jiraya answered.

"I see"

"Of course" Tsunade nodded as Jiraya escorted her to where ever Kakashi was.

"Looks like team seven is back together again" Naruto grinned.

"It would seem that way; it was only a three month gap though, and Kakashi isn't here" Sakura nodded.

"It felt longer than that though" Naruto said.

"Speak for your self" Sakura lied.

"Ano, Sakura-chan do you want to go out for ramen?" Naruto asked, suddenly Kakashi poofed into the room; as happy as always; it seems he is a fast healer.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late-"

"Don't tell me, lost on the road of life?" Naruto smirked.

"Helping this baa-chan carry her groceries home the long way?" Sakura scoffed.

"Well…yea" Kakashi smiled. Suddenly Sakura was glomped by three beings.

"GOTCHA!!!" Tenten and Lee exclaimed; smirking in triumph.

"I thought we stopped that when I left!" Sakura whined.

"I ninja must always be alert" Neji smirked.

"What's going on Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Yea what is going on Sakura?" Kakashi frowned, not understanding why Team Gai had just let themselves into the hospital room and attacked Sakura.

"Kakashi, it would seem your student is quite slippery, but my team was still able to catch her!" Gai exclaimed.

Suddenly three more genins burst through the door and jumped onto the muddle of Sakura and Team Gai as Kurenai came walking into the room behind them.

"Ha! Is this what the top of the rookie nine can do? Being caught by us three?" Kiba sneered "Woof, woof!" who knew a dog could smirk.

"Okay, now I really don't get it" Kakashi sighed. Suddenly three more jumped onto the pile of genin; Team ten.

"What the hell? I didn't even see your team today!" Sakura exclaimed struggling to breathe.

"We felt left out" Chouji frowned as Asuma came walking in.

"So you just had to all jump on me?" Sakura said.

"Yea" Shikamaru nodded.

"Well could you get off me! I am struggling to breathe here with nine people on top of me!" Sakura shouted; suddenly because he felt left out, Naruto also jumped onto Sakura; holding her firmly in place.

"I hate you all" Sakura muttered not even bothering to yell at them as the genin teachers' sweatdropped. Slowly Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and awoke into the world of reality. Turning his gaze to the side Sasuke was confronted with now ten people on top of a very buggered and squished looking Sakura.

"What in the world?" Sasuke muttered as he sat up in the hospital bed.

"Would you look at that, Sasuke's awake now" Kakashi smiled.

"Oi, teme, come on hop on the top is the best spot" Naruto encouraged as he jumped off the pile and pulled Sasuke onto the pile with him.

"Aww…come on!" Sakura whined "Eleven people?"

"Why are we on Sakura?" Sasuke questioned.

"I have no idea, but it's fun" Naruto grinned.

"Get of me now before I kill all of you" Sakura muttered darkly. Taking note of the girl's voice Sasuke and Naruto jumped straight off the pile; the other genins not understanding why they were getting off the girl.

"I said get off me before I kill all of you" Sakura threatened.

"What can a girl with pink hair on the bottom of the pile do?" Kiba mocked.

"Currently my hands are getting out a kunai each; if I have to, I will slash all of you off me" Sakura glared.

"A-a-a-ano, I'd get off her now, Sakura-chan isn't afraid to kill" Naruto warned.

"What the dobe said" Sasuke added.

"Guys, she is getting out her kunai, get off get off!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Serious?" Ino exclaimed as each person got off the girl to reveal a kunai in each hand.

"Luckily we got off ne?" Tenten chuckled nervously as they watched the very angry Sakura get up, turn around and glare at each and every single one of them.

"Listen….Sakura-chan….we were just trying to get you…" Lee stuttered.

"Okay, will some one please explain why every single one of you jumped on my student" Kakashi sighed.

"Well…you see, I've been bored lately; and some time during the day when I was walking around the town team eight and Team Gai came across me individually and offered to let me train with them, I declined but then they captured me...and some how we ended up playing tag or whatever it is…and this is how we end up here in this situation" Sakura explained "Although I didn't think Team 8 was serious…as for team 10, ask them…and as for Naruto and Sasuke…well even I'm baffled with that one" Sakura muttered "Now if you'll excuse me, I am going home to sleep"

"Chotto matte Sakura-chan, what about ramen?" Naruto pleaded.

"Must I go?" Sakura muttered "I am tired, I have just been squished by eleven people; must I really go out and endure you and your ramen fetish?"

"You have never come with us before though" Kakashi frowned.

"Us?" Sakura inquired.

"Team seven of course" Naruto chirped.

"And Team Gai!"

"And Team Eight!"

"And Team Ten!"

"Sasuke just got up, I don't think they'll allow him out of the hospital yet" Sakura frowned.

"What do you mean? He is fine" a new voice smirked; turning around Sakura was confronted with Jiraya, Tonton, Tsunade and Shizune.

"I'm like you Sakura, I hate hospital food" Sasuke muttered.

"I really don't want to go though" Sakura muttered.

"Aww…come on, it's not every day you get the chance to eat with two out of the three Legendary Sannin" Jiraya snickered.

"I just want to go home and sleep though" Sakura whined.

"Aww…come on Forehead girl, let's just go have a nice night out" Ino pleaded.

"It's never a nice night out when Naruto is eating Ramen" Sakura mumbled.

"I'm not that bad Sakura-chan" Naruto complained.

"Please, I swear I'll go with you guys some other time; I'm just too tired tonight to do anything" Sakura explained.

"Aww….Sakura, you are such a fun spoiler" Kiba frowned "Woof, woof"

"I don't care any more" Sakura muttered before she disappeared away from the scene and back home to sleep.

"Is she always like that?" Kurenai asked.

"Well, I think so, she's never around longer than she has to be" Kakashi frowned.

"Perhaps because you never spend time trying to train her, and you focus on Naruto and Sasuke" Kurenai glared.

"That's because those two come to me, not the other way around" Kakashi sweatdropped "Sakura just doesn't come to me for training"

"It seemed like that when we saw her today" Hinata added.

"Ne, ne, are we still going for ramen?" Naruto asked.

"Err…yea, but I'm not paying for you Naruto" Kakashi sweatdropped.

"No matter, Jiraya can" Naruto smirked.

"No way, last time I paid for you I ended up almost broke" Jiraya refused.

"I'll fine Iruka-sensei then, he still owes me ramen" Naruto pouted.

"Okay, then let's go!" Chouji cheered, nodding in agreement the four teams and their teachers walked out of the hospital room, leaving Sasuke there to fix him self up, or what ever it is that he wanted to do.

'Itachi's right, there is no difference between us in strength even though time has passed' Sasuke glared out at the window before averting his gaze to the side where a bouquet of roses stood up right in a vase, checking the tag, Sasuke some how knew it was Ino and sighed; tossing away the flowers into the bin; for some reason he had hoped Sakura had brought him the roses, it was odd he admitted to want to receive something from his pink haired team mate. Lifting up the flower vase to put it away, Sasuke was confronted with a small piece of paper, hiding underneath with his name on the top of it.

'Dear Sasuke,

I know maybe I should give you something more than this letter, like maybe some roses or something, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Had I not been captured by your brother and used as a hostage, I'm sure you would have been able to complete half of your ambition and get your revenge. I really am sorry; I hope you'll forgive a burden like me.

Sakura'

'Sakura thought she was a burden?' Sasuke muttered as he read the note over and over again; as if checking to make sure Sakura had wrote it, to make sure he read correctly. He did read correctly, his ever confident, strong team mate was considering her self the burden when he fought his brother. Yes he did stop his attack because she was held hostage and had a kunai to her neck; which he wasn't expecting, but she got out of her own predicament without much hassling from any of her team mates. She reckons that first blow could have been a hit if she wasn't there but even if she wasn't Itachi would have used Naruto has a hostage, and he would have still not hit Itachi. Who knew the best genjutsu user he knew was so blind at times?

Crumpling the note into his pocket, Sasuke stalked out of the room and headed towards the Ichiraku Ramen stand where Naruto and the rest were about to begin dinner. Glancing to the side of the hospital, though he wasn't totally sure who it was, Sasuke saw a girl on the top of the hill next to the oldest cherry blossom tree with her palm on it as she watch the sun set, with her long locks released as they swayed with the constant breeze. If he didn't know any better he would have thought that to be Sakura, because the person had pink hair, but that could just be a play his imagination from the sun set. But in his mind, she was absolutely beautiful, who ever that girl was.

--

The town had gathered in front of the Hokage monument watching from below as the new Hokage of Konoha was announced.

"I am the new Hokage of Konoha Hidden in the Leave! I'm the Godaime!" Tsunade proclaimed with pride, below her the crowd cheered madly as they watched their new leader smirked. Below each team smiled at the medical genius; Team eight and ten close to each other, Team Gai near by with Hanabi (Hinata's little sister) and Hiashi (Hinata's father) close to them, Naruto stood with Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon while Sasuke and Kakashi stood under the tree and nodded in acknowledgement; Sasuke wearing his old blue t-shirt and white outfit, Sakura was no where to be seen, but above all the buildings pink fluttered in the breeze, watching the crowd and the Godaime interact with each other.

"With the announcement of the Hokage, we will also announce the new chuunins from the village Hidden in the Leaves; the other villages have already been notified, and the Konoha genin that made it into the Third Exam are requested to come to the Hokage's office immediately" the Village elder announced as the crowd quieted down at the final announcement. That got Sakura's attention, and sent her attention to where the village elders were standing, nodding in understanding Sakura poofed out of the scene and arrived outside the Hokage's office waiting for the other Konoha genin to arrive.

--

One by one each genin arrived, with their sensei behind them, first it was Neji with Gai behind him, then Shino with Kurenai behind him, Shikamaru ironically made an appearance with Asuma before Sasuke and Naruto who came much later after they dragged Kakashi with them. Sighing to her self Sakura sat down and waited as calmly as she could for who ever it was they were waiting for came and told them who was chuunin and who wasn't. Eventually all three examiners made an appearance before the new Hokage came with Shizune, Tonton and the village elders behind them. Opening up the doors, Tsunade was the first to walk into the room, followed by the elders then the examiners and other jounins before the genins came in.

"As you know, we are here to announce who here out of you six will become chuunin" Tsunade began "So let's begin, Ibiki-san will announce whether or not you passed in the first exam" Slowly Ibiki stepped forward with papers in hand and opened his mouth.

"Aburame Shino, six answers out of nine correct. You technically passed for getting to the second exam, however you're Gathering information skills need work" Ibiki spoke. Shino nodded.

"Hyuuga Neji, seven answers out of nine correct. Gathering information skills are good, but need slight improving"

"Nara Shikamaru, seven answers out of nine correct. Like Neji your gathering information skills are good but need improving"

"Uchiha Sasuke, eight answers out of nine correct. You have excellent gathering information skills"

"Uzamaki Naruto-"

"Eh" Naruto seemed to sweat slightly.

"Zero answers out nine correct. You answered none of the questions, so I presume your information gathering skills suck" Ibiki smirked as Naruto seemed to be blowing steam out of his ears.

"Finally, Sakura, Nine answers out of nine correct, your information gathering skills are perfect; some of those answers not even the chuunins in the exam got right, you were the only one who got a perfect score"

"What?!" Shikamaru exclaimed; he thought she was getting by on luck.

'That girl got better than me!' Neji glared at the girl.

"Go Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered.

'Well, that was expected' Sasuke smirked at the impassive girl.

"You are truly amazing young Sakura, tell me, how did you find the test?" Ibiki asked.

"It was easy" Sakura sweatdropped "The answers were quite obvious…to me anyway"

"Easy?!?!?!?!?" the Nara exclaimed.

"Well….yea….but…I think your team mate came into my mind at some point" Sakura pondered "She failed at getting answers though, she could never beat me in genjutsu" Sakura seemed to giggle.

"Genjutsu?" Kurenai questioned.

"Before the test began, I put a genjutsu on my exam so people couldn't see my answers; not even people who were in my mind…although it was only at its trial stage then" Sakura answered.

"Sugoi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Although…the only flaw like most genjutsu is that the sharingan can see through it" Sakura sighed.

"Remarkable" Asuma muttered.

"Okay, anyway…Anko-san will continue on and say who passed the second exam" Tsunade said.

"Of course" Anko nodded "Okay, since all of you didn't look at your scrolls and got to the tower by the correct time, so you all pass" Anko smiled.

"Right, now final exam, Genma-san" Tsunade motioned.

"Alright, since not all of you have had the chance to fight we have used some of your preliminary matches to judge how you went as well how you faired when you fought during the Sand against Leaf war" Genma explained.

"I see" Naruto nodded.

"Okay one at a time as I call your name up, step forward" Genma explained.

"Hai!" Naruto nodded.

"Aburame Shino, you did not battle so we used your preliminary match; now even though you fight well in combat, you were missing a few things so you have not passed"

"Hyuuga Neji, you did battle in the Third Exam, you battle was extremely well, however you continued to push your self without the worry of your own life, in a battle, your life could be the life or death stake for your team mates, thus you do not pass"

"Nara Shikamaru, you did fight in the Third exam, and you gave up, but even though you gave up, you knew your limit and stopped, so you pass, and become a Chuunin"

"Uchiha Sasuke, you mastered extreme speed and power in just under a month, and your match was cut short because of the whole incident, however, you pass, thus making you a chuunin"

Sasuke seemed to smirk in triumph.

"Uzamaki Naruto, like Neji you kept fighting until there was no point in fighting and if in a real life situation, it could mean the life or death of your team mates, you do not pass"

"WHAT?!?!?!?! Why does teme pass and I don't?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Shut up Naruto" Kakashi ordered, silencing the boy.

"Finally, Sakura, like Shino you did not have the chance to fight, however from your preliminary match that I saw, you have wide knowledge of jutsus and how different techniques work. When I ordered you to go and bring Sasuke back during the incident as well as stop the Suna genins you complied and took action immediately, asking me to alert Naruto and another genin, knowing that if you came in too late, it could have meant the end of your team mate. At the end of the war, though you had multiple broken bones, bruises and severe loss of blood you carried your team mates all the way up to where the jounins were for them to seek medical treatment, and apparently the fight with the Sand kids was going on in a forest at least 10 kilometers away from where the jounins were; thus basically completing an A-ranked mission. You have incredible strength and have a level head; with great knowledge, and by a unanimous decision by each of the examiners, you have become a chuunin" Genma announced.

"I what?" Sakura muttered, over taken by shock.

'That pink haired girl beat me, a Hyuuga?!' Neji really despised that girl a great deal now.

"You heard me, you have become a chuunin" Genma smiled "You deserve it, according to Iruka-san, you excelled at the ninja arts in the academy and worked hard, along with Sasuke"

"Aww…how come Sakura-chan gets to be a chuunin and I don't? I brought Tsunade-baa-chan back to Konoha" Naruto whined, not noticing the still shock stricken girl.

'I beat them in becoming a chuunin! SHANNARO!!' Sakura smirked.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, what are you smirking about?" Naruto asked.

"Err….nothing at all, just happy that I'm a chuunin" Sakura smiled forcefully 'SHANNARO!!! Finally after all the training you did you have become a chuunin!' 'The inner Sakura' cheered.

"Well, now you guys will receive your chuunin vests" the female elder announced as Shizune went some where, presumably to get the vests. That theory confirmed when the woman came back into the office with three vests and giving it to the new chuunin.

"Congratulations" Tsunade smiled as she watched Sasuke and Shikamaru put on their vests while Sakura held hers in her hands "Ne, Sakura-chan, you aren't going to put yours on?" Tsunade asked.

"Hmm? Oh right" Sakura nodded as she slipped the green vest around her form.

"Eh? Sakura-chan, you are so Kawaii!" Naruto squealed before he enveloped the girl in a big hug.

"Nani? Let me go please" Sakura pleaded; it seemed she could really tolerate the boy who actually released the girl willingly.

"Ne, ne Sakura-chan in celebration of you and teme becoming chuunin, let's go out for ramen!" Naruto offered.

"Err…no thanks, I'm going to go train" Sakura declined.

"But Sakura-chan you just got promoted to chuunin, why not just enjoy one day off" Tsunade offered.

"Sorry, but I really must go now" Sakura shook her head before her form disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Has she ever gone with you guys to eat ramen?" Tsunade asked.

"No" Kakashi answered.

"Interesting"

"Even Sasuke-teme doesn't avoid human contact that much" Naruto frowned; Sasuke glared at the boy.

"Human contact?" Kakashi and Tsunade muttered in unison.

--

Sakura continued to train through the hours of the new day working on her taijutsu and ninjutsu, figuring that it was weaker than her genjutsu. The girl continued fighting her clones continuously until each and everyone had vanished into air, until she was tired. Though it was obvious, Sakura could feel Sasuke's aurora near by, watching her every move. Stopping for a moment to catch her breathe, Sakura made a new batch of clones and began the physical brawl once again; eventually killing off her clones in about fifteen minutes. Again the girl stopped for a breathe, breathing in and out, tensing and un-tensing her muscles until she had relaxed and once again was about to perform a Kage Bunshin no jutsu when Sasuke jumped out of the tree and walked towards the girl

"That's enough Sakura" Sasuke ordered "You have been at this for two days already, enough is enough"

"I'm just training" Sakura replied.

"What you are doing is madness, go home get some rest and eat something" Sasuke advised.

"What are you? My doctor?" Sakura scoffed as her hands began to perform the seals for a 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'.

"I said enough" Sasuke glared as he held her hands in place stopping her from creating any more clones or jutsus "Wake up Sakura; you should know your limit better than anyone. Your body is suffering from fatigue and needs rest, your hands are probably killing form the amount of chakra you have been circulating there, and you have cuts and bruises from the constant 'training'. Time to give your body a chance to rest"

Sakura's eyes widened, and looked at her self, he was right, her body was covered in cuts and bruises, the cuts were bleeding and if she didn't cover them up fast, they would probably get infected. Sighing, the girl nodded and her hands fell to her sides.

"Alright, I'll go home and rest" Sakura nodded.

"No, you are coming with me to the Ichiraku ramen stand and eating something, it's already seven pm" Sasuke scoffed.

"Naruto sent you didn't he?" Sakura sighed.

"Along with Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, Ino, Kurenai and about roughly nine other people" Sasuke muttered.

"If they wanted me to come eat with them they could have just asked" Sakura frowned.

"They couldn't find you and sent me to find you and drag you to eat with them" Sasuke mumbled.

"What would be in it for you?" Sakura scoffed.

"I endured Naruto's eating habits last time alone, if I am forced to go, you are going down with me" Sasuke glared.

"How about neither of us go?" Sakura suggested.

"Then I'll have dobe knocking at my door demanding that I come and eat with them after I find you" Sasuke replied.

"Well, I'm not going" Sakura muttered as she left the training area.

"Get back here you little shit" Sasuke glared chasing after the fleeing girl.

"Eh? Nani?" Sakura exclaimed as she saw Sasuke come after her "Kuso!" Sakura cursed as she raced away form the boy before she created a genjutsu discreetly and left the boy chasing a clone so she could go home and sleep.

--

Notes:

- Ne, ne, show was that? Good? Bad? Terrible? Ugly? Fantastic?

- I hope you liked it

--

Chapter 6: Good bye my good friend

--

Translations:

1) 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

2) 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.

3) 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.

4) 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.

5) Mangekyou Sharingan - literally "Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye"
Type: Dōjutsu, No rank, Supplementary, Short range (0-5m)
An advanced and more powerful form of the Sharingan. It allows the user to use the jutsu Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and one other as of now unnamed jutsu, possibly called Susanoo (Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo are siblings in Japanese mythology, being the deities of the sun, the moon, and storms, respectively.) Such powerful jutsu comes with a price, however. Each usage of the Mangekyō progressively weakens and destroys the vision.

In manga chapter 276, Kakashi reveals that he has also developed the Mangekyō, and uses a technique (possibly the Susanoo) to destroy Deidara's right arm (possibly sending it to another dimension). Thus, there are two known living users of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi. It is unknown if Kakashi was the other Mangekyō user Itachi was referring to when talking to Sasuke after he murdered their family. Considering Itachi's look of shock when Kakashi asks about his degrading vision, it is unlikely to be the case. Kakashi's Mangekyō appears slightly different from Itachi's, an observation with currently unknown significance.

According to Itachi, Uchiha Sasuke should be able to unlock the Mangekyou, making him the third Mangekyou user in history.

Also according to Itachi, you need to kill your best friend in order to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan.

6) 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.