Sakura and her squad headed out towards the border. Shikamaru expected them to come close to the border in 13 hours so they decided to travel straight without any breaks. Shikamaru led the front with Hinata as Choji and Sakura came up from behind.

The journey was long and none of them really spoke to each other, they were in dangerous territory and they had to stay alert. Attracting attention was one of their worries and they only talked when Shikamaru told them different formations or battle tactics if they encountered the enemy.

Sakura started to feel a little nervous as they came closer to the border. They've been traveling for 10 hours now, the sun was setting and they were still making their way through the Land of Forest. Would she be able to handle it? Can she protect her team? It frightened her but it also made her more determined to conquer her fears. She was lost in thought when Shikamaru suddenly jumped down to the ground.

"Stop!" Shikamaru shouted. That startled Sakura. What happened?

"They found us…" Shikamaru looked towards the trees to their left. It was evening time and the sun was setting, so it was difficult to make out the figures in the shadows of the trees. Sakura looked towards the direction in shock. I didn't even notice… she realized.

Hinata and Choji were already in battle formation on each side of Shikamaru, covering his blind spots. Sakura was the only one who wasn't ready. She shook her head and fell into position with the rest of the squad. I need to focus. Come on Sakura, you can't mess up now, she told herself.

"There are two of them", Hinata analyzed with her Byakugan. "They both have a lot of chakra. One is tall and the other one is shorter. We need to pay attention to the shorter one. His chakra flow is dark".

Sakura sensed out their chakra for herself. Hinata was right. They both possessed enormous amounts of chakra but the smaller of the two had more and it felt dangerous.

Before any of them could notice, there was a flock of ravens and right between their formation the smaller shinobi stood. The squad moved a foot back and were ready to attack. His face was covered with a hood and the cloak he wore was black with red clouds. Akatsuki! Sakura realized. She concentrated her chakra into her fist and punched the shinobi but as soon as she made contact, he turned into crows. Sakura looked around and noticed the larger figure coming up behind them for an attack. Sakura figured it out, The crows were just a distraction!

"Watch your back guys. He was just a distraction!" Sakura warned.

As the larger figure came close to them, there were shadow clones of the smaller figure all around. He was trying to divert their attention.

She threw shuriken at the clones and began to fight close range with chakra infused Taijutsu and Hinata was fighting at close range with her gentle fist with his other two clones. Choji and Shikamaru were fighting the larger of the two with long range and close range attacks. Choji tried to get as many hits as he could, trying to avoid the shinobi's odd looking sword while Shikamaru struggled with his shadow jutsu in the dark.

Sakura had to find the original of the clones. If she engages him, then Hinata can help the other two. Sakura knew this was dangerous but she had to help. She tried to sense him out as much as she could. Battling a strong clone and detecting chakra was hard, she couldn't lose focus or she'd die.

Just then she felt it. There! That chakra is his. I felt it just for a moment. Sakura put all of her chakra into a strong punch and aimed it towards the clone. Luckily, it hit and the clone turned to crows. She didn't wait around for another clone to form. She ran towards the forest in the direction she felt the flicker of chakra.

"Sakura, no! What do you think you're doing, dammit? Don't go after him!" Crap, she thought, Shikamaru noticed.

She clenched her teeth and went on. She had to.

"Shit", she heard him curse in anger.

I'm sorry guys.

This chapter is a little bit shorter. I tried my best to write a battle scene, hope I did alright!

Thank you for reading,

- Marrs AK

xox