THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED!

Summary: As everything she had ever known is turned upside down, Sakura strikes out with her newly founded team in a perilous time when friend and foe alike can become complications. AU. MultiSaku. Sakura centric. SakuraHarem. Sequel to "no good gift (goes unpunished)." Multi-chaptered.

Pairing(s): SakuraxNaruto, SakuraxSasuke, SakuraxSai, SakuraxGaara, SakuraxDeidara, SakuraxSasori, SakuraxKisame, SakuraxItachi, SakuraxHidan, SakuraxKakuzu, SakuraxTobi, SakuraxMadara, SakuraxPein, KakashixSakura, KibaxSakura, ChojixSakura, ShikamaruxSakura, HakuxSakura, ZabuzaxSakura, LeexSakura, NejixSakura, ZetsuxSakura, KimimaroxSakura, KabutoxSakura, ShinoxSakura, SuigetsuxSakura, JugoxSakura, ShisuixSakura, IzunaxSakura, KotetsuxSakura, IzumoxSakura, GenmaxSakura, KonohamaruxSakura, YamatoxSakura, BxSakura, CxSakura, DaruixSakura, MenmaxSakura, JiraiyaxTsunade, OrochimaruxTsunade, (implied) AxTsunade

Genre: Adventure/Romance/Friendship/Humor/Angst

Warnings: some cursing (they are teenagers!), general OOC-ness, dark and sometimes suggestive themes

Notes: So...much Team Seven bonding ahead. Every character mentioned will appear at some point in the story. Actually, other pairings will probably be added along the way. Oh, and head's up, Menma will be making an appearance at some point in the future. Be prepared!

Chapter Summary: In which Sasuke sulks; Sakura contemplates; Naruto is amused; and Team Seven runs into trouble.

"the gifted and i"
-2/26-
Of Concourses & Clashes

Naruto stared curiously at the vehicle before him. While he had, of course, ridden in a car before, even driven one despite Sakura's protests, he had never seen a car with such a bright yellow color before! Excitedly, he ran over to Sakura, nearly pouncing on her as he tried to restrain the appearance of his tail. He was pretty positive that it wouldn't be appreciated.

"Hey Sakura!" Sakura looked up from where she had been fiddling with her iPod.

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"So are we riding in this thing?" His brilliant blue eyes were lit with so much enthusiasm that Sakura had to stifle a laugh. It was a taxi, nothing to get too worked up over.

"Yes we are," she replied, keeping a straight face as she slid her iPod into her pocket. Sakura glanced down at the baggy clothing. No offense to Sai, but his clothes swamped her. She definitely was going to be using some of the cash that Genma had given them for new, comfortable clothes. She watched cautiously as Naruto began to shake with obvious excitement before being suddenly engulfed in a hug. "Naruto!" she yelled from where she was being suffocated. "Let go!"

He merely laughed, dragging her into the vehicle. Sai and Sasuke, who had wisely remained on the sidelines of that particular event, merely shrugged before crawling into the taxi behind them. Sasuke ended up in the front with the nervous looking driver while Sakura was squished between a hyperactive Naruto and a disinterested Sai.

And thus Team Seven got off to an auspicious start; Naruto chattering a mile an hour as Sakura tried to fight some much needed rest. A sentimental smile tilted Sakura's lips upward as she drifted off, at least some things never changed.

Sakura was practically bouncing with excitement as she watched Sai order his cheeseburger from a rather bored looking cashier. She'd sent Naruto off to scout for seating in the overcrowded McDonald's; something he'd done grudgingly. She had been forced to promise to order him two Big Macs and a large order of fries. Sakura couldn't help but shudder in disgust after doing the deed. Sure, she enjoyed greasy food from time to time but Naruto apparently had a stomach of steel.

"Have you decided what to order yet?" she asked her third teammate, who had commandeered a corner to brood in as he glared at anyone who came within two feet of him.

Sasuke made a noncommittal grunt. Sakura just rolled her eyes, knowing better than to try to coerce Sasuke away from pouting.

Sai ambled back over to them, looking out of place with an empty Styrofoam cup and an even emptier smile. Sakura winced; Sai was irritated by something. "Sakura," he began.

Sakura went on the alert; he only used her actual name when he was feeling threatened by something. "Yes Sai?" she answered anxiously.

"Why did the cashier say, 'Damn, that's a fine piece of tail' to his companion after you walked away?" Sai questioned obliviously, doing an eerily spot-on impression of their cashier's deadpan.

Sakura stiffened, heat rising to her face. "Don't worry about it Sai." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke's Sharingan flicker to life. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she grabbed both of her dark haired teammates and steered them over to the table that Naruto had chosen. At least she'd saved that miserable man's existence…

"Hey bastard! What crawled up your ass while I was busy?" Naruto's loud voice cut through the tension.

"Nothing!" Sakura exclaimed, giving Sasuke and Sai a warning look; one that they had learned to obey.

Naruto squinted at them for a few more moments before shrugging it all off. "Whatever." He suddenly brightened, grabbing Sakura by the shoulders. "So is their food like really good? I've never been to a fast food restaurant before!"

"You say that like it's something to proud of, idiot," Sasuke bit out scathingly, still upset over the crude comment.

"Neither have you, Pansy," Sai pointed out kindly.

"Alright!" interrupted Sakura, unwilling to once again play Switzerland during what was about to become World War III. "Sasuke, you need to go order your food right? Naruto, Sai and I will go get our drinks."

"Sure you can handle such a difficult task?" Naruto sneered at the Uchiha, still miffed about his bitchiness.

Sakura shook her head and dragged the boys apart, cursing the pigheadedness of men everywhere.

It had taken quite some time and a bit of flattery to boost their egos, but Sakura had finally gotten her boys to settle down and eat their meals in a companionable silence. Aside from the Sasuke fiasco with another cashier, their trip out was going better than expected. "Alright," Sakura said, finishing off the last of her fries and quickly swiping a few from an oblivious Naruto. "Now that we're out in the unGifted world, we're a bit safer from any wayward ears." Her teammates nodded in agreement. Sakura's face fell as she contemplated what needed to be said. Fortifying herself, the girl said, "Now we…we need to discuss the traitors at the Academy and their motives for revealing themselves."

They all sat in a contemplative silence for a few moments before Sai, ever the objective thinker, spoke, "From what information Sakura and I have gathered from the traitors we confronted, it seems that most of the defectors were experimented on by Orochimaru. He managed to keep them from going to the Headmistress, either through fear or promises to fulfill their desires.

"The last time he assaulted the school, Orochimaru was after Sasuke, and most likely, the Sharingan. Thankfully, we had…" Sai actually paused when he saw Sasuke's face twist angrily. He truly had gotten better at picking up emotions! Sai coughed slightly. "…Well, we all know that Orochimaru, as twisted and perverse as he is, is a genius when it comes to experimentation. Who knows what he could have done with the Sharingan?" All of them shivered as they contemplated the possibilities. Sai narrowed his eyes in slight anger and frustration. "This time he's changed his game. This time he was after Sakura."

Sai fell silent as they tried to imagine what he would use Sakura for. Sakura knew that her teammates knew exactly what Orochimaru would do, but were too afraid and most likely disgusted to mention it. Sakura sighed, deciding to take over the explaining. "He…" She wrinkled her nose as she prepared herself for the rest of the sentence. "He wants my body. Oh don't give me that look Naruto!" she snapped. "We all know that he wants to use me as some sort of…incubator to produce new Gifted children.

"After all, having a Gifted female's body to experiment on?" Sakura laughed mirthlessly. "He'd have a field day with that one. Face it; the only thing Orochimaru is after according to Headmistress Tsunade and Jiraiya is immortality. I'm sure he's gotten it into his head that he can use any children I produce to attain his goal."

Sakura stopped, dropping her eyes to the table and willing herself to keep from crying. She couldn't help it though. Every time she closed her eyes she saw herself again at the age of thirteen; helplessly standing in front of Sasuke with only a dagger to protect herself. Sickly pale skin. Her hands tightened on the table. Feverishly yellow eyes. She grit her teeth over her tongue, tasting iron in her mouth. Smooth, sinister laugh: "You? Ha, not even a challenge." In fact, if it hadn't been for…

Sakura was startled out of her thoughts as a warm, tanned hand clasped one of her own firmly. "Sakura, it's over." She looked up into crystalline blue eyes, allowing the tears to fall from her own. Naruto looked alarmed; it was very rare for Sakura to cry. He pulled the nearly hysterical girl closer into a hug, ignoring the curious stares from other customers as he quietly rocked her. Sasuke, though highly uncomfortable with physical contact in general, laid a soft hand over one of hers and glared at all the interested bystanders. Every last one of them turned away with embarrassment and shame. Sai, feeling more than a bit left out, also wrapped himself around Sakura, allowing his quiet warmth to calm her. Naruto whispered quietly into her ear as her sobs stopped, "It's okay."

And though it was a lie, though Sakura had lost so many people she'd cared about in one day, and though her figurative boogeyman had truly turned his attention away from one of her best friends and to her instead, Sakura chose to believe in him and in her teammates. She took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, guys," Sakura rasped, wiping the tear tracts away. "I just got a little overwhelmed for a moment."

They all nodded, watching her warily. Sakura huffed in amusement; just because she'd had a bit of a breakdown didn't mean that she was going to attack them or anything! As a matter of fact, the cry left her feeling more level-headed than she had felt in quite some time. Sasuke cleared his throat gruffly, getting down to business. "So we each have about $5000 on our Academy cards, meaning we can buy airfare tickets." He gave Sakura an askance glance, rather unsure about these things. She nodded subtly. "Anyway, we're trying to get to Kumo as fast as possible, but we'll need to switch flights to try to keep people off our tail."

Catching Sasuke's meaningful stare, Sakura took over. "While you guys were strangling each other with Naruto's nasty socks, I bought us some tickets." She rummaged through her pack, pulling out eight printed tickets. "We'll be using the names on our fake IDs so remember them!" Sakura gave Naruto a pointed look. He chuckled nervously. "Anyway, we'll be flying to Kansas City, Missouri on the Red Eye." At their confused looks she clarified, "Late flight. From there we will fly to Las Vegas, Nevada in the late morning and probably rent a car or something. It's pretty simple."

"On the off chance we get separated, we'll rendezvous in Las Vegas," explained Sai. "If anyone is kidnapped or otherwise incapacitated, hit the SOS button on your belt and we'll try to come to you. This is a mission about espionage and secrecy so don't blow it, Dickless, Pansy." He gave them a smile.

Sasuke snorted. "Fat chance of that happening."

"Yeah you jerk! I'm the master of secrecy!" Naruto proclaimed loudly. His teammates gave his orange jacket a pointed look. "What?"

"Anyway!" Sakura exclaimed exasperatedly. "We need to get to the airport and get situated." She gave her ID a scrutinizing look. Of course Genma would seek to humiliate her in such a way. "How do you guys think I'll look as a blonde?"

The bus ride to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport was rather uneventful as far as Team Seven was concerned. Naruto only called out one person, Sai wasn't punched by an insulted stranger surprisingly and Sakura managed to keep Sasuke from setting an infatuated woman's hair on fire. Sakura sighed a breath of relief; all in a day's work as the Team Seven peacemaker.

"Wow this place is humongous!" Naruto exclaimed, running to and fro in the airport; ignoring the scandalized and somewhat amused looks of passerby. "You've flown before Sakura?"

"Naruto, it's still smaller than the Academy!" huffed Sakura in begrudging amusement. "I flew once when I was five; we were visiting my grandparents in Texas."

"Whoa! Is flying super awesome?" Naruto questioned.

Sasuke roughly shoved the hyperactive teenager, causing Naruto to stumble to the side, almost dropping his gear. "Calm down dead last. We're supposed to be inconspicuous right now!"

"Oh, right," Naruto laughed sheepishly.

Sakura sighed at their antics, running a hand through her blonde wig. She had to admit that Quartermaster Genma was quite thorough; including both a wig and eyebrows in the supplies he'd given them. He'd even given Naruto makeup to cover up his whiskers. Still, making her a blonde was a bit unreasonable; Sakura felt way too much like Ino at the moment. Then again, pink hair did have a habit of getting her noticed.

"Is everything alright, Best Friend?" Sai asked, interpreting her sigh to be one of frustration.

"Hm?" Sakura replied distractedly, rifling through their tickets. "Yes, everything is perfectly alright. I'm just a bit frazzled at the moment." She grinned brilliantly at her quiet friend. "No worries though! I'll be able to get a bit of sleep on the plane I'm sure. Speaking of which…"

Sakura turned to their arguing teammates. "Boys! It's time to go! Since we don't need to check any bags in, let's head over to airport security!"

With those words, Sakura weaved her way into the thinning crowd, praying that her teammates would follow. She smiled when she heard sounds of Naruto's protests following her. Thank goodness. Sakura made her way into the line for security check-up, smiling as her boys caught up with her.

"What'd ya do that for Sakura?" Naruto grumbled. "You know I don't like being left alone with the bastards."

Sakura merely shrugged helplessly, shuffling forward in the slow-moving line. She watched the crush of people around them calculatingly, wondering if any were Council spies or rogue individuals. It hurt to have to assume that everyone, no matter how friendly they were, could possibly work for an ambiguous organization.

Zoned out as she was, Sakura was startled to hear someone ask, "Ticket please?"

Flushing, Sakura dug about in her purse for a few moments before handing the balding, genial airport personnel her ticket and ID. "Sorry."

He laughed. "No problem, miss! Trust me; I understand how hard it can be to pull an all-nighter."

Sakura smiled nervously and made her way into the actual security check line, slipping off her shoes and the belt that held her overlarge pants on. Maybe even the kind older security guard was an enemy and the very idea made Sakura sick to the stomach. She hated living in fear, paranoid of everyone around her.

Team Seven made their way through security without incident, though Sasuke had been pulled aside by a female guard for a more "hands-on" inspection. This of course led Naruto to degenerate into guffaws as the four teenagers hopped onto the airport tram and made their way to their concourse bickering all the way.

Sakura plopped into her seat, sighing in relief as she turned to look out the small window. After thirty minutes of tense waiting for boarding, the plane was finally ready to take off. Sai smoothly slid into the seat next to her, buckling himself in before settling into a bland stare directed her way.

Shaking herself, she turned to him. "Yes?"

"Why are Dickless and Pansy so upset?"

Sakura snorted; upset was an understatement. When the boys had realized the seating arrangements, Naruto and Sasuke had protested until they were blue in the face. In the end, it hadn't done either of them much good. "They're just angry that they have to sit beside each other for two hours."

Sai smiled. "I'm happy with my seating arrangement."

Sakura grinned brightly. "As am I."

Sai hesitated as more people headed past them to their seats. While Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had been helping him identify emotions, he was still unsure if he was right about how Sakura was feeling currently. "Are you…feeling alright Best Friend?"

"As well as can be expected," she replied with a slightly bitter tone.

"Would…would you like to talk about it?" Sai asked quietly.

Sakura sat silently for a few long moments, contemplating the offer. Just as the plane started taking off, she responded, "I think I'll take you up on that offer Sai. I just ask that you don't tell Naruto or Sasuke what I'm about to say to you. It'll cause them to worry unnecessarily.

"Honestly, I feel almost numb to all the sudden betrayals. When…" Sakura paused to take a deep breath. It hurt to air out old wounds and scars. "When the Akatsuki…turned against us, I was seriously hurt and shocked. I kept praying and hoping that I would never experience that pain again but deep down, I think I always knew this would happen." She sighed. "I…expected this to happen again. I always wondered why it was so easy for Orochimaru to get into the Academy the first time. I guess we all know now."

Feeling far outside of his comfort zone, Sai awkwardly wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders, rubbing her arm in a soothing motion. Sakura leaned into his comforting warmth, closing her eyes against the faces that flashed through her mind.

Traitors, her mind hissed.

Friends, her heart whispered.

With a smile, Sakura mumbled, "Thank you Sai," before falling into a dreamless sleep.

Sakura was startled from her nap when Sai began jostling her shoulders. "Best Friend, we are here."

Sakura yawned, rubbing at her eyes sleepily and shrugging off the arm still wrapped around her shoulders. "Thanks Sai."

Sakura gathered up her gear, stuffing little odds and ins into her backpack. She looked around and noticed that everyone was exiting the airplane and her other teammates were standing nearby, arguing loudly and obnoxiously. Sakura patted Sai on the shoulder and slid past him, knocking both Sasuke and Naruto over the heads to get them to quiet down. "Chill guys," she announced with a grin, deftly slipping into the slow moving line leaving the aircraft. "We're here and you two don't have to keep griping about everything!"

"Tch, annoying," Sasuke grumbled as he shoved Naruto into one of the empty seats.

"Hey, take that back bastard!" Naruto yelled. "Sakura is not annoying!"

"I must agree with Dickless here. Pansy you are in the wrong," Sai stated simply, following behind Sakura.

"Guys!" she protested.

Her voice went unnoticed as Naruto stood, arms flailing wildly.

And thus, the boys of Team Seven fell to bickering again.

Sakura watched them for a brief moment, contemplating the usage of her Gift. Nah, too much of a hassle with so many people around. Sakura rubbed the bridge of her nose, eyeing her three team members. "I'm…going to go get some coffee," she muttered, turning on her heels and making her way to the Starbuck's that she'd seen earlier. With all the stress she was bound to have to endure, caffeine was going to be essential.

Sakura breathed in the sweet, sweet scent of coffee as she held her paper cup to her nose greedily. Caffeine was seriously the best invention, Gifted, nonGifted or otherwise.

She looked about at the different shops as she leisurely made her way back to her teammates. It was nice to simply be after a long, stressful day. She needed this time to herself, jamming out to the music on her iPod and taking periodic sips of her hot, delicious coffee.

She scanned the people around her idly, looking for another way to pass her time. Choking on her coffee, Sakura caught sight of two tall men heading her way purposefully, one with light blue skin and the other with Sharingan bright eyes. Both wore the large black coats covered in red, swirling clouds that so defined the Akatsuki and instilled fear within the hearts of Gifted everywhere.

Sakura's eyes widened.

Oh shit.

-2/26-
Complete
-2/26-

Cliffhanger! Actually, the Akatsuki scene was supposed to be included here, but it just didn't work out that way.

Sorry for so much filler in this chapter, but I wanted to showcase Team Seven's dynamics. They all have a unique relationship with each other and their bonds will definitely be displayed with all that will be happening soon enough.

Next time will focus on the Akatsuki encounter and you'll get a glimpse on their reasons for defecting. I'm sure Sasuke will be pretty pissed either way~!

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review! I will ask, however, that you don't ask for a "quick/soon/etc. update." I'll update when I'll update and asking those sorts of questions definitely don't inspire me to write.

-jay