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I do not own Naruto! Okay…are you happy…you made me cry?
Chapter One: Changes
Since Sakura went back to Konoha, her friends have found her closer than usual. No longer was she being quite. Tsunade soon found this out and put her on a small team of two. That way if she were to run into any other Akatsuki again, she won't be alone. The team was very strong, and together could take on many strong opponents, most definitely the Akatsuki.
The pink haired Kunoichi was called to the Hokage's office to be given her team member, and leave for a mission.
"Your partner is…" Tsunade started but the door opened and Lee walked in.
Sakura groaned. She looked at Tsunade with disbelieving eyes.
"Tsunade-sama! I came here to tell you that Neji-san heard about Akatsuki being close. So he went after them by himself." Lee panted out, he probably ran over here from the gates. That was a distance.
"Nani!?" Tsunade jumped from her seat and slammed her hand on the desk. Lee flinched and Sakura closed her eyes.
"Sakura, your original mission was to bring some scrolls to my old friend. Very important scrolls, but seeing as Neji has been so reckless…" Tsunade closed her eyes. "Your new mission is to go back up your partner."
"Hai." The pinkette's eyes hardened. She was going to be close to Akatsuki, they would know she was alive.
M.I.S.S.I.O.N. I.M.P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E.
The pinkette knew that going against the Akatsuki again, when she barely made it out last time, was suicidal. She also knew that leaving a comrade behind would keep in her heart for eternity. It would haunt her when she was dead and so on. Neji was one of those people who were self centered, like the Uchiha's. But he was different, he wouldn't go against his village, and he is open to having friends.
Saving Neji would be like saving part of Sakura's heart. All of Konoha were her heart. She loved all of them dearly, and would die for them. Not to mention Neji has been her close friend ever since Sasuke left. Maybe she had grown distant in the past four years, but the four years before that held wonderful memories.
That's another thing about the Hyuuga. He actually tried to cheer Sakura up. He knew that her feelings for him were real. Sakura grew close to him, and he succeeded, an Uchiha would never try to help someone that wasn't themselves. Neji was Sasuke, but he was perfect. More like…a Sasuke but better. That was some catch.
Stupid Baka. Going to attack the Akatsuki by your self. What the hell were you thinking? Since when did you want to so quickly run into battle with some of the most powerful shinobi in history? Sakura switched feet as she jumped off another branch. Now I have to go and save your ass. She switched feet again.
As she kept on traveling she kept her mind some what in focus. She was searching for any trace of the Hyuuga's trail. After much searching Sakura made a sharp turn west and sped off into the distance.
Sakura had sensed Neji's chakra alright. But it was surrounded by large amounts of chakra. So much chakra it gave the kunoichi a headache. That could only mean it was Akatsuki.
You better not die Neji. I will kill you if you do. Sakura thought. I'll revive you and kill you multiple times. Just for being a stupid idiot. She sped off at the thought of her friend dieing. Her eyes grew fierce and her heart pounded. Sakura was ready for the oncoming battle that was going to take place.
S.A.V.I.N.G. A. F.R.I.E.N.D.
Neji flipped away from the Akatsuki members and sent a flurry of weapons in their direction. They jumped back from his attack and dodged the weapons easily. The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes as they acted like his attacks were nothing. He was an ANBU for God's Sake. And he was one of the most powerful ANBU to live. It frustrated him at how they didn't even seem to care about their fight.
The Byakugan user ground his teeth together as he began to formulate his plan. Before he was able to do anything to destroy the ninja in front of him, Sasori of the sand attacked. Neji seemed to be paralyzed in place as the sand rogue ran at him. Some type of black grayish sand was coming out his mouth and Deidara was forming it with his artsy hands. When Deidara was done the sand became a spear.
Neji tried to move away as Sasori came closer; finally the man stopped and threw the weapon with much force at his heart. He couldn't do anything. The only thing he could do was wait for death. Wait for the sand to kill him, which seemed so irrelevant. Seeing as though it was just sand, but Neji knew that it wasn't just sand.
When the sand weapon was so close to Neji, that he had to strain his eyes to see it, there was a loud noise. Neji was able to move again and the sand weapon was in millions of pieces.
There was a huge crater where Neji stood with another shinobi. Obviously an ally, seeing as they just saved his life. The dust that was created from the extreme entrance began to clear up. A black ANBU outfit could be seen, accompanied with two Katana's and one chokuto. On top of the head of the savior…was pink hair.
"Sorry I'm late Neji." Her soft voice that was full of sweetness said. "I got side-tracked." She muttered.
"Ah. Sakura Haruno, I presume?" Sasori commented as he eyed the girl that once 'killed' him.
Sakura's eyes hardened. "I see you somehow survived." She narrowed her eyes. "As well as Deidara too."
"Of course. Would you suspect anything less?" Deidara smirked.
The kunoichi ignored him. "Using iron sand, huh?" she murmured. She turned to Neji, and smiled kindly. "Seems as though you are an opponent worthy of his greatest weapon." She turned around again. "But how exactly did you create the iron sand, without the Third Kazekage puppet." She rose a delicate brow.
"You noticed." He looked in the kunoichi's eyes. She didn't flinch or anything. "I guess…it's because I am no longer a puppet. Since you so unkindly 'killed' me. I found there no need for my puppets. I destroyed them all, and took their powers. The Third Kazekage gave me the most power of all." Sasori explained with a straight face.
Sakura ignored him and walked over to Neji, so they were side by side. She took her hand and whacked him upside the head.
"What the hell were you thinking? Not only did you go after Akatsuki, but you went alone!" Sakura scolded as she glared at her teammate. "Right when they were going to announce us a two man team, you have to run off! Be happy Lee told Tsunade, and she told me to come and save your sorry ass. Also be glad that I run really fast." Sakura continued. "And if you ever think of it again" she was cut off by a smiling Neji.
"No problem Sakura, it won't happen again." He said and then the smile turned into a firm line. "Now about the Akatsuki…" he turned towards the waiting rogue ninja.
"I don't like to be kept waiting." Sasori muttered.
Deidara nodded his head. "No he doesn't…" he seemed to be pondering old memories when he had his senpai wait for him, let's just say they weren't happy memories.
Sakura thought for a second. She formed some hand seals and the Akatsuki watched with interest. When she released her hands she had a grin on her face. Her hand reached for Neji's and they disappeared.
K.U.N.O.I.C.H.I.S. P.A.I.N.
Neji's face held a tiny shimmer of blush. The only way you could see it was if you had a magnified glass in front of you. His hand was still in Sakura's as she transported them to the Hokage's office.
When they were safely on the ground Sakura let go of the blushing Neji and walked over to the awaiting Tsunade.
"Mission success." Sakura said as she looked at Neji. Clearly showing that he was alive.
Tsunade beamed at Sakura. "As of expected of you." She said to Sakura before turning a glare on Neji. "As for you…what the hell were you thinking!?!?" she hissed.
Neji shifted uncomfortably under Tsunade's stare. "Well…you see…I…I wanted to make them pay for what they did to Sakura." He breathed out.
Tsunade closed her eyes and began to rub her temples. "That's nice and all, but you went after AKATSUKI by YOURSELF!" Tsunade scolded him like he was a young child.
"Tsunade, I'll make sure he doesn't do it again." Sakura assured her sensei.
"Make sure you do. This lunatic here is psycho." Tsunade muttered as she shot down some sake.
Sakura hid a laugh while Neji sweat dropped. "Tsunade…about that scroll mission…? Is it still ours?" Sakura asked.
Tsunade looked up at her apprentice. "Well…I let Ino's squad take the mission. I don't really have any others right now…unless you want to," she explained and looked down at the papers laid on her desk.
The pinkette held up her hands and shook her head left and right. "No way Tsunade. Do your own paperwork." She denied the offer and walked out of the room.
Neji stayed in the room and looked at Tsunade with a raised eyebrow. "Now that she's gone…" Tsunade smirked.
"Huh?" Neji was confused, it was kind of obvious.
"I have a mission for you." Tsunade's smirk grew wider. "I want you to keep a close eye on Sakura, make sure she doesn't leave the village. I have a feeling that she might just do so." She explained before she waved her hand dismissively and began working on her papers.
A.K.A.T.S.U.K.I.
Shadows moved along the walls. Light flickered throughout the room. Ten people sat at a conference table. Usually they would be transparent, but today they are there in person.
"Any progress…?" Pein's voice echoed lowly throughout the dark room.
Two pairs of Sharingan sat next to each other turned their heads slightly to their leader. "Hn." They spoke in unison.
Deidara who sat across from them rolled his eyes. Sasori then coughed. "We were close to fire country." He put in. "But we got distracted."
"Distracted?" Pein raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Two Konoha ANBU intersected us." Deidara continued for Sasori.
"Do explain." Itachi insisted.
"Well, we were going to hunt down the Kyuubi, when a Byakugan brat jumped in front of us." Deidara explained. "He said he wanted to make us pay. For what we did to Sakura." Deidara snorted. "We did shit to her." He muttered.
The torches on the wall showed some light on Sasuke. "Must have been talking about me killing her." He said.
Sasori glanced at Sasuke. "Killed her?" he questioned.
"Yeah. She had found the base. Itachi and I went after her." Sasuke nodded. "One thing led to the next."
"That's funny." Deidara chuckled. "Because when we fought the Byakugan, the cherry blossom came to rescue him. She looked very much alive to me." He muttered.
Itachi's eyes closed as he thought. "You mean she isn't dead?" Sasuke's voice rose.
"Apparently not." Sasori said.
"Fuck!" Sasuke growled a she stood up from his chair and paced around the room.
"Control your temper Sasuke." Pein ordered.
Sasuke kept pacing. "Send me after her." He mumbled. "Send Itachi and I. We need to make sure she doesn't say anything about the base!"
"Do not raise your voice to me!" Pein hissed.
Sasuke stopped pacing. "It won't happen again." He said.
"Make sure it doesn't. Now I will send Itachi and you after her. Don't kill her until I give you the word." Pein ordered and before he knew it the door was open and Sasuke was out. Itachi stood up and followed his younger brother out of the room.
U.N.R.E.V.E.A.L.E.D. P.A.I.N.
Sakura sipped some tea as she glanced at the other side of the room from the corner of her eye. There sat Neji, he was having a conversation with Tenten and Lee. The pinkette turned back to her glass.
The dark brown liquid steamed in her cup. Sakura placed her cup on the table and watched as a ripple ran through her tea. One little wave turned into another, before it fully dispersed.
"Story of my life." Sakura smiled sadly. She picked the tea up and drank the rest of it. Then she left some coins on the table before walking out. In the other corner of the room, two Uchiha's sat. Disguised as normal civilians, they watched as the pinkette left the room. Sasuke lowered the newspaper he had in his hands and narrowed his eyes after the pink haired kunoichi.
Sakura walked down the village streets. Her eyes roamed over the small stores that were crowded with customers. She faintly smiled when she saw Hinata and Naruto eating at the ramen stand. Sakura skipped over to the booth and walked in.
"Hey you love birds." She exclaimed as she took a seat next to Hinata. The Hyuuga blushed at the words love birds.
The pinkette threw her arm over Hinata's shoulders. "How's it been?" she smiled. But inside herself she narrowed her eyes, a presence had followed her.
"Well…Sakura-chan Hinata and I were on a date." Naruto grounded out.
Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "This is what you call a date." She snickered.
"I wanted to come here." Hinata mumbled quietly.
"Oh, well don't let me bother you two!" Sakura said as she bounced out of the stand.
She laughed as she heard Naruto mutter under his breath. Stupid Sakura.
Once again Sakura set foot on the pathway of Konoha. She needed to go train, so she headed towards her old training grounds. Once she got there she stumbled towards the monument of falling shinobi. Her heart broke at the sight. Why had she decided to go to the one place that held so many memories? So many times before had she trained here, with her teammates?
With Naruto, and Sasuke. Kakashi was always late, and sometimes would stay here and stare at the monument. No one noticed this, besides the oh-so smart Sakura. And now, she stared at the monument, for similar reasons.
She bent down in front of the shimmering rock. Names engraved across the surface cracked her heart. Her pointer finger traced over names hat had been recently placed on the stone. Yuki Haruno, and Surenki Haruno. They were her parents, they died in the line of work. Just like all noble shinobi, dieing for the village.
"What a pitiful way to die." Sakura bit out.
In the trees were two Uchiha's. They watched as Sakura bent down and pressed her palms on the monuments surface. They watched as her eyes watered, but no tears fell. They watched and strained their ears to hear her words. Sasuke's heart clenched at the sight and his breath became shaky. He had a sudden urge to kill anyone who inflicted pain on his Sakura.
Sakura then stood up and the brother's eyes followed her every movement. "I know you're there. Show yourself." Sakura's voice was firm.
Sasuke tensed next to Itachi. Itachi was making up strategies in his mind, had she really figured them out? When they were hiding their chakra so well?
When the Uchiha's were just about to show their presence. Neji Hyuuga jumped out of a tree some yards away from them.
He walked over to Sakura and grabbed her hand. "Are you okay…?" Neji hesitantly mumbled.
"Why are you following me." Sakura's eyes narrowed as she pulled her hand violently away from Neji.
"I…I…" Neji fished for the right words to say.
Sakura's eyes still had tears on the rims. She lifted her hand and was about to slap him across the face, but Neji caught her hand, and pulled her into an embrace. The pinkette's eyes widened at the contact and the tears finally spilled over. She returned the embrace and hugged him tightly to herself.
Neji softly coed Sakura and ran his hand through her hair, and rubbed his hand down the small of her back. This was the first time Sakura had cried, in so many years. Four years to be exact. She didn't even cry when her parents died, not at the ceremony, or the days that followed. Sakura was finally letting her emotion reveal them selves.
A pang went into Sasuke's stomach. He wanted to be the one holding Sakura, comforting her with soft words. He was jealous. Yes, Sasuke Uchiha was jealous.
W.A.V.E.S.
The next day Sakura woke up to a gloomy atmosphere. She remembered the previous day's events and groaned inwardly. How could she let her emotions fly so freely like that? Besides that, she knew there was going to be a mission waiting for her at the Hokage's office. What she dreaded though, was seeing Neji, after she had cried herself to sleep in his embrace, she was extremely embarrassed.
Sakura got ready in one of her ANBU outfits. When she was done she sped over to Tsunade's office, where she saw Neji already there.
"Morning." Sakura mumbled as the fully stepped into her sensei's office and awaited their mission.
"Nice of you to arrive." Tsunade smirked at her student. "As for your mission, it isn't much. You'll just be escorting a group of two men and one woman to the Land of Waves." Tsunade explained simply. "Some hunter ninjas have found the Land of Waves a nice place to kill people. So I expect you two to get rid of them, and keep the clients alive." She finished.
"When does it start?" Neji asked, not without glancing at Sakura.
"Tomorrow morning, at seven o'clock in the morning. Meet them at the gate." Tsunade answered.
"Alright." Sakura nodded before leaving the room.
Tsunade turned to Neji. "Anything?" she questioned.
"No, I don't think she will be leaving." Neji truthfully stated.
"Of course, I don't know what I was thinking. The mission is called off." Tsunade said before going to do more paper work.
S.U.R.P.R.I.S.E.
Sakura basically slept the day away. She was too exhausted and had an overload of emotions to do anything. Everything just spilled out, she lost her control, her grip on the handle bars. The ride spiraled into something so crazy it could be life threatening. But that's only metaphorical…right? This is just the pain shinobi have to go through. The pain kunoichi have to go through. Kunoichi's pain…Sakura thought to herself before sitting up on the bed she was laying on.
She glanced out the window to see night coming upon Konoha. A sigh ran through her lips as she felt a breeze come through her window. Her brows knitted together, didn't she close the window? Sakura walked over to the window and stuck her head outside. She could've sworn she saw a foot. But alas, nothing could be seen.
"Now I'm going crazy." Sakura muttered to herself as she closed the window. She pondered on what to do. A wild idea struck her mind and she smiled faintly to herself. Running, at night was the best thing to do. Since the night air was so soothing, and no eyes were on you. The reflections from the moonlight were so peaceful, that's just what Sakura needed.
She ran out of her home, into the streets and she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. Every twist and turn, every jump over cartons that lay outside of stores, was thrilling. Sakura turned down an alleyway and kept running. She jumped over garbage bins and stray cats that roamed around. As she turned a corner she slowed down and stopped. She looked around her.
Then, she found herself hurled against a wall. Her head collided with the stone surface and she felt warm blood ooze out of her head. Sakura's breath hitched when she smelt the bitterness of alcohol. Her eyes traveled in front of her and she caught sight of a drunken shinobi. A drunken Konoha shinobi.
The pinkette nearly kicked her self. She was right at the exit of a bar. A bar where perverts of all sorts resided.
"Hello there." The shinobi whispered in her ear. Sakura took her arm and aimed to punch him in the stomach, but he grasped both of her hands and held them above her head.
"What are you doing out her all by yourself…?" he breathed into her ear. Sakura tried to knee him in the groin but his legs trapped her legs, she was incapable of moving.
The shinobi, let's call him 'John,' kneed Sakura in the stomach, making her fall to her knees. John bet down to Sakura level and watched as the pinkette coughed up blood.
"Sakura…hmmm…have I got a catch, a medic, and ANBU at that." His words slightly slurred as he pulled out some metal wire from his pouch. Blood stained Sakura's silky locks and she felt her arms harshly be tied together, with wire that was enhanced with chakra. John lifted the falling kunoichi off the ground and off of her feet. He then pulled out a kunai and hung Sakura on the stone wall. With her hands tied, the kunai held her up. The metal cut into Sakura's hands and she winced as blood trickled down her arms.
Sakura's feet were hovering off the ground by a mere two or three inches, and John was standing in front of her, as if the were the same height.
Neji had just turned a corner on the street when he had heard some noise. He hesitantly walked down the alleyway and watched as Sakura hung at the mercy of some man.
The pinkette groaned from the pain going on throughout her body. John ignored her and started to bite her neck, and suck in certain spots. Angry red hickeys formed, which pleased John. He then let his hands roam over Sakura's body. He felt every curve she had, everything. The girl though was losing consciousness. Due to the fact of all of the blood she was losing.
John pulled out another kunai and shredded Sakura's shirt with skill, then her ninja skirt and shorts. She sat there, on the verge of fainting, in only her undergarments.
Neji was losing it.
John's hands went down to her underwear. His fingers lay on the soft fabric, he was about to reveal her, but he was torn off of her.
The shinobi flew far away from Sakura and then someone with a blazing bloodline limit started to beat him to a bloody pulp.
That's all Sakura could see before she went black.
How did you like it? I left a little cliffy there. Tehe. Who is the night in shining armor…Neji, or Sakura's little stalkers…the Uchiha's? Because all I said was a bloodline limit, but not which one! Muhuhahahahahaha!
I guess you guys will just have to review, and then wait for me to update! But remember reviewing makes author happy, author being happy gives author inspiration! So REVIEW!
Thankiez to those of you who have reviewed ^____^!