Sasuke was still screaming in agony. Sakura grabbed his hand and winced when he squeezed it, hard. Her wrist was aching so much it was an effort to not cry, or join in Sasuke's screaming.

She was alone. Naruto hung from the tree, unmoving, pinned there by her kunai. Sasuke was unconscious, still trembling with pain even in sleep.

She looked around wildly. She could feel hostile eyes on them from all sides.

Use your intelligence, her sensei had said.

There were twenty-six different teams in the forest. The other twenty-five would be looking to pick off the weakest teams first. As team seven currently consisted of one conscious member, they were most likely the weakest team.

Their best bet was to hide, wait until Naruto and/or Sasuke awoke and then attempt to attack another team, stealing their scroll, since Orochimaru had burnt theirs.

She shuddered at the memory of the frightening grass nin. He had bitten Sasuke, caused him such pain… What would have happened should he have decided to bite Sakura too? He had been close, scarily close to biting her, she could feel it…

And he had told her to come see him when she grew stronger… why? Why would she ever want to see him again? And why on earth would he want to see her? Not to mention the fact that he seemed certain Sasuke would seek him out willingly later on. Sakura looked down at Sasuke's trembling face, and thought this was unlikely.

And the oddest thing about the meeting had been his reaction when she used her jutsu against him. He had seemed to know who her sensei was! He had referred to knowing the man who had taught Sakura, and the only reason he hadn't bitten her too was apparently because he feared her sensei's wrath.

Sakura thought of her sensei.

He was only eighteen. He was always pale and sickly-looking. But he was lightning-quick and brutally strong. Could it be possible her sensei had fought this Orochimaru before, and won? Had defeated him so thoroughly that he was afraid of incurring his rage? Shouldn't she, as his student, be strong enough to defeat him too, to protect her teammates?

I will protect them, she thought fiercely. I will not let them die! If Orochimaru returns, let him be afraid of me too!

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Naruto and Sasuke lay side by side, both with white cloths pressed against their foreheads. Naruto slept peacefully, but Sasuke seemed to sleep fitfully.

Sakura was shaking. She had used far too much chakra in the fight with Orochimaru and now she was tired. It was nearly morning. She just had a feeling that everything would be better when it was daytime, the sun would be out, Sasuke and Naruto would wake up and she would no longer see snake eyes in every shadow.

I want to sleep… Sakura thought pitifully to herself, I'm so tired…

She shook herself. If she fell asleep, what would happen to her teammates?

You did not prepare me for this, she thought to Kakashi and her sensei.

She fell asleep, wishing with all her might that her sensei would show up and help her.

When she awoke, she panicked and checked on her teammates. They seemed fine, though Sasuke was now sweating as well as trembling.

Sakura's chakra had been slightly replenished by sleep. She formed a seal with her hands and placed a weak genjutsu over the mouth of the cave they were hiding in, making it appear blocked.

She heard something rustling in the bushes.

xxxxxxxx

Sakura kicked the girl away from her, panting. She wiped blood off her face and glared at the sound team, her eyes hard and determined.

She hadn't slept long and her chakra levels were low, but she was not going to let three genin kill Sasuke in front of her without a fight.

"Kin!" Zaku shouted.

"Who is Orochimaru?" Sakura demanded, "Tell me!"

"Che, I'd rather kill you." Zaku scowled, aiming his hands at her once more.

"One trick pony." Sakura commented, leaping out of the way of the arcing sound waves.

"Tch, this bitch is getting on my nerves… can't we just kill her, Dosu?"

"You work for Orochimaru, don't you?" Sakura threw a kunai at Dosu and ducked the retaliatory sound wave.

She looked back at Sasuke and Naruto anxiously and in that moment, Zaku leapt on her.

His kunai stabbed straight into her gut. She gasped, the pain fast becoming unbearable. Zaku smirked and tore the kunai from her stomach.

"You asked for it…" Sakura choked out, one hand clasped over her stomach, the other forming seals one-handed.

Zaku froze.

He began screaming.

Dosu, who had been running towards them, stopped suddenly, "Zaku? What's wrong?"

Sakura's chakra was down to dangerous levels. She fell to her knees, but kept up the jutsu.

The illusory crows pecked at Zaku's face viciously.

Her hair was suddenly yanked back brutally. Kin, the girl she had kicked away, had grabbed hold of her locks and was now twisting them, hard.

"Agh!" Sakura cried out, her vision going blurry from the pain. Her wrist was hanging limply, though she had tried to set it herself and had found a few medicinal herbs for it. Her stomach was sluggishly pumping out blood. She felt weak.

"Wow, you must really like your hair, huh?" Kin smirked, twisting it around her fist, a few strands snapping off, "Release the genjutsu on Zaku!"

Tears spilled over her cheeks as she shook her head violently, trying to break Kin's grip. It was no good.

"Do it!" Kin shouted.

"No!" Sakura refused, ignoring the tears stinging in her eyes, "I won't!"

Dozu slapped Zaku.

He remained glassy-eyed from imaginary pain.

"Heh…" Sakura managed to laugh, "You want to break it yourself? Kill him."

"I could just kill you, little girl." Dosu said slowly.

"You can try." Sakura spat.

"Oh, I will…"

Sakura closed her eyes, her fingers digging grooves into the dirt painfully. Her stomach was on fire in pain and she was fast losing both strength and blood.

One day my techniques will save your life, her sensei had said.

But it looked like she was going to have to save herself.

She pulled out a kunai with difficulty, her hand shaking.

"That won't work on me." Kin sneered.

Sakura met the older girl's eyes.

"Who said it was for you?" She said mockingly.

Kin's eyes widened.

Sakura tore through her hair with the kunai, leaving it shorn and uneven.

She stood, free.

Dosu looked alarmed. Zaku was still at the mercy of her crows.

What should I do…? Sakura thought to herself. Should I summon Raban and ask for sensei to come?

No.

She would do this herself.

She ripped off the hem of her dress and tied it around the wound in her waist, ignoring the alarming way it began soaking up blood immediately.

She put her kunai between her teeth.

Kin had received a hard blow to the head when she fell, and was now dazed.

Sakura pointed at each of them.

"One left." She smiled, pointing at Dosu.

He glared at her.

"For the last time, who is Orochimaru?" Sakura asked.

"Your superior." Dosu's eye flared.

Sakura fell to the floor again. The sound waves had attacked her once more but this time… Sakura threw up violently, retching. They had messed up her balance. She could barely think straight.

She could see Lee out of the corner of her eye, lying still, blood trickling out of his ear. He had tried to assist her and look where that had got him.

Sakura had promised herself that she would protect them all.

She pushed herself up to her knees, swaying, her stomach churning violently. The world was spinning around her dizzily. Dosu's feet came in front of her face.

"I can do it…" She said, her voice slurred from pain, "I can!"

Then the ground was rushing up towards her and she fell into darkness.

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Screaming. High-pitched, shrill screaming. It was his own, Sasuke slowly realised. His younger self, watching as his brother replayed the events of his parents' deaths over and over again, just screaming. Itachi's cold red eyes were fixed upon his younger self. The six year old eventually crumbled and fell to the ground, a thin line of drool oozing from his mouth, eyes blank.

Sasuke remembered this day so well, replayed it in his head constantly, remembering what it felt like, what it looked like, how his father had been lying across his mother as though protecting her even in death, but seeing it now, again, right in front of him was enough to make him shake in anguish.

His old house eventually blurred away, his murderous brother's eyes faded into the darkness and suddenly he was facing his younger self once more.

His younger self was taunting him.

"They didn't have to die…" He said, his face streaked with tears and Sasuke was suddenly assaulted by images of his parents once more, "In the end, if you don't have strength you can't do anything. Because I didn't have strength, the entire clan was wiped out… Everyone was killed…"

Six year old Sasuke suddenly ripped away his eye, revealing a flash of Orochimaru's golden snake eye underneath.

His voice changed, suddenly rasping and frightening, "You let them die. All you did was watch," He sneered as Sasuke watched, aghast, "If only you had strength…"

Sasuke opened his eyes.

His chakra was raging, swirling around him in visible purple waves. Leaves were scattering in his wake.

He got up slowly, noting the sudden surge of power flaring inside him. The burning of his curse seal was stretching along his body.

He was in a cave. He looked around. Naruto lay next to him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Where was Sakura?

He could hear talking from the mouth of the cave.

That weakling Team 10 were gathered around. Yamanaka was unconscious. Nara was staring at him, as was the fat one. The freak with the eyebrows was lying on the floor. As Sasuke looked at him he noticed a flash of pink and red next to him.

Sakura lay on her side, broken wrist awkwardly placed on her chest. Blood was seeping through a makeshift bandage around her waist. Her hair had been brutally and messily chopped off; tendrils lay around the clearing in bizarre streaks of pink. Her face was screwed up in pain even in unconsciousness.

Sasuke's jaw clenched painfully, his eyebrows drew sharply together in a deep, enraged scowl as his anger grew to dangerous levels

The curse seal spread to his face.

"Sakura…" He said, even his voice sounding off to him. He glared at the Nara, who shrank away from him, "Who hurt Sakura?"

The Nara said nothing and clutched the Yamanaka closer to his chest, eyes narrowing.

"We did it!" A sound nin said triumphantly.

Sasuke swung around to face him.

He bent down and picked up Sakura, looking into her sleeping face, carefully brushing some hair out of her eyes.

Rage boiled up inside him at the sight of her battered face. Sakura had been protecting him and Naruto and she had been savagely beaten for it.

Well, Sasuke would return the favour, a thousand times over.

He put her down gently, chakra still raging around him.

Hyuuga Neji and his female teammate were silently watching from a tree, above. Were all of these people watching as Sakura was beaten…?

The one who had accepted the blame for hurting Sakura went flying as Sasuke's fist struck his face after he appeared at his side suddenly.

"Zaku!" The bandaged one shouted, horrified.

Zaku got up slowly, wiping the blood off his face, looking furious.

He spread his hands wide, shouting, "Ultimate Zankuuha!"

Great swathes of air carved up the ground.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura and Naruto and leapt out of the way of the air explosion, reappearing behind Zaku.

"Ha! I've blown them away!" Zaku said smugly.

"Blown who away?" Sasuke asked, his tone mocking.

Sakura stirred on the ground, moaning slightly. She rolled over and opened her eyes.

Sasuke was gripping Zaku's arms, yanking them back in their sockets, a fanatical grin on his face, which was covered in strange markings.

Sakura tried to pull herself up.

Sasuke broke Zaku's arms viciously. Sakura gasped.

He turned to look at her, having heard her gasp. His eyes were Sharingan-red and narrowed in rage, his face covered by fiery red marks and he was surrounded by malevolent chakra. Orochimaru's chakra.

Sakura gazed at him in shock, barely even feeling the pain of her wounds.

"Sasuke… your body…" Sakura managed to say.

He clenched his fist and looked at the markings. "Don't worry. I can feel power overflowing inside me. I feel… great. Which one stabbed you?"

"Sasuke… what happened to you?" Sakura said, still too shocked to speak properly.

"Was it this one?" He said, ignoring her question, pointing at Dosu, who looked terrified.

"No, I didn't stab her!" He protested.

"You're the only one left…" Sasuke leered at him, his expression reminiscent of Orochimaru, "I hope you'll put up more of a fight…"

He started to walk towards him, his chakra beginning to flare strongly as his anger grew.

Sakura stumbled to her feet, gasping in pain, her arm wrapped around her stomach.

She staggered after Sasuke. Dosu was backing up in a panic.

Sasuke halted the moment she touched him.

She pulled him into a hug from behind, unable to stop the tears from falling.

"Stop!" She begged him.

He looked around at her, his eyes burning with intensity. She looked back at him, trying to portray her feelings in that one glance, her watery green eyes shining with emotion, her mouth open in silent plea.

The markings on his arm began to recede, disappearing up his sleeves.

He collapsed onto her.

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They were all gathered together, the final participants. It was announced that they would be fighting each other right away, risking their lives.

Sakura stared at the Hokage in dismay. Though her wound had healed slightly with the aid of medicinal herbs, her stomach was still delicate and painful. Just running would reopen it, so what on earth would fighting do? She really would be risking her life.

Not to mention Sasuke's curse seal was still hurting him…

"Sakura…" Sasuke said suddenly, surprising her, "Forfeit this match."

"What?" Sakura stared at him.

Naruto looked troubled.

"You were stabbed in the stomach and beaten up. You'll get killed if you fight." Sasuke said impatiently, still clutching his neck and grimacing from the pain.

"You really think I'm that fragile?" Sakura laughed self-deprecatingly, "Sasuke, I got stabbed in this test. Stabbed. Do you really think I'm going to quit now, and have it all have happened for nothing?"

"I don't want you to get hurt," Naruto said, his bottom lip quivering, though it had been ever since Kabuto had quit.

Sakura sighed, thinking about it seriously. Was it worth it?

Her sensei would be so disappointed in her if she quit now…

"I'm not giving up." Sakura shook her head, "I've come too far to quit now."

Sasuke scoffed, looking away.

After she had hugged him and he had regained his senses, she occasionally turned around and caught him staring at her newly-short hair, or the various wounds she had suffered whilst he lay unconscious, and she saw a fury in his eyes that frightened her.

Orochimaru…. Who was he? What did he want with Sasuke?

Watching Sasuke sweat from the pain the curse seal brought him made Sakura feel lucky to have escaped the same fate.

"Would you give up if you got stabbed? Are you going to give up because of the curse seal?" Sakura said knowingly.

Sasuke ignored her.

"I'll be fine, Sasuke." Sakura said reassuringly, "I won't die from something like this."

"You better not." Sasuke warned.

Sakura smiled.

Naruto still looked confused.

Sakura turned and saw Ino staring at her. Sakura had been unconscious when it happened, but apparently Ino and her team had charged in to protect her when she fell. And then, to her amusement, they themselves had needed to be saved by Neji and his teammate

Her relationship with Ino was strained. She had been a wonderful friend when she was younger, encouraging and caring, but Sakura had wanted to step out of her shadow, to be more than just Ino's shy friend, to become her own person. Sasuke had really only been part of the reason why she had stopped being friends with Ino.

Evidently, just as she had never stopped caring about Ino, she had never stopped caring either. Sakura couldn't help but smile at her ex-best friend. Ino's face registered surprise at Sakura's impromptu smile and she looked away.

Someone tapped on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura, how are you holding up?" Kurenai-sensei said, her red eyes perceptively sweeping over Sakura's injured form. Sakura noticed her eyes discreetly lingered on Sasuke's neck for a second, and realised the teacher's must already know about the curse seal. She looked around at Kakashi, who stared back at her. She glared at him. Cancel the fight! She thought to herself, stop Sasuke from fighting!

"Ha, I'm doing well, Kurenai-sensei," Sakura smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear self-consciously.

"What prompted the new look?" Kurenai raised her eyebrows.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. He was staring at her steadily, waiting for her answer. He'd already heard her excuse to Naruto, why was he so interested in what she would say now?

"It kept getting in the way in the forest," Sakura shrugged, "I asked Ino to cut it for me."

Kurenai nodded approvingly, "It's all part of being a ninja. Practicality versus vanity. I keep my hair long because I couldn't bear it any other way, but also because I can negotiate through rough environments without being hindered by it."

Sakura eyed Kurenai's unruly locks of hair. The woman was one of the most beautiful ninja Sakura had ever seen, and she couldn't help but feel inferior next to her, covered in blood and grime, missing her long hair.

But the woman was right, of course. Sakura's long hair really had got in the way before she'd cut it.

Sakura only wondered what her sensei would think of it. Most likely he would approve of her choice but… for some reason it really mattered to her what he would think.

The Hokage coughed, and at that instant Kurenai gave Sakura an apologetic smile and disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing next to the Hokage.

"The first fight will begin shortly," He said, "Please gather together and wait for the first names to be called. Hayate, please explain the rules."

I KNOW SAKURA WASN'T AWESOME IN THIS CHAPTER. I'm sorry, but she was drained of most of her chakra and she hadn't slept much at all. How could I believably have her beat down the sound genin? Sakura will begin to be MASSIVELY AWESOME next chapter, but don't worry about her being too powerful.

Sasuke got mad, huh XD

I'm sorry about the lack of Itachi in this chapter but I couldn't exactly have him peek around a tree when Sakura was fighting, could I? He'll be in the next.

I was amazed that quite a few of you had wanted Orochimaru to give Sakura the curse seal! I didn't do it because I figured it wouldn't work with the plot, plus Sakura probably wouldn't be able to survive getting the curse seal in the manga and I don't want to make her too awesome… I want her to be believably strong.

Btw, reviewer whom I cannot PM back because you've disabled private messaging, I just wanted to explain myself, so... :

BarkUpMyTree:

The fireball technique was difficult to maintain and leeched chakra, but the paralysis jutsu she had used on Zabuza was Sannin-level.
...There is no such thing as Sannin level. Sannin is a nickname given to Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya by Hanzo of Ame. It literally means "three people". The Sannin are actually just ridiculously strong JOUNIN. S-rank, sure... but still jounin.
Would you call the Akatsuki "sannin level" just because they are S-rank too? That's retarded.
Maybe next you will invent Copy-ninja Kakashi level jutsu. Or maybe Yellow Flash level jutsu.
If you've masted a Yellow Flash level jutsu, then you know you're strong because he was all SS-rank badss.
Like I said, retarded.

My reply:

Btw, I said Sannin level because its quicker than saying 'that-jutsu-that-only-sannin's-have-performed-in-canon-and-thus-is-difficult-to-categorise-also-Orochimaru-knows-it is specifically-Tsunade's-technique-so-that-is-why-he-commented-on-it-being-sannin-level.

Forgive me. I'm lazy like that.

Thanks for letting me know how 'retarded' it all is. Really helpful criticism. Brightens my day.

P.S. When I say sannin level, I mean something only typically performed by the few elite ninja like, say, sannin.

Also, I didn't invent the jutsu.

Thanks for your reviews!

Quick poll for fun: Who is your least favourite character in Naruto? (and why, if possible.)

A) Yamanaka Ino.

B) Uchiha Sasuke.

C) Karin.

D) Other! Let me know!