Here it is. Chapter three! In this chapter Sakura will meet Naruto and team 7 with Sai in her place. Yes Naruto is in this chapter. Yay I bet ya'll are happyabout that. Read, enjoy, and review. I don't own Naruto...sadly.
Sakura jumped up and landed on a tree's branch a few days later. Her legs were sore from five days of running but a brief rest was all she needed to replenish her fiery spirit. She was very close to the hidden leaf village and could tell because of all the chakra patterns she sensed around her. She was still a good hour and half run away from the village's gates but she didn't mind. To be completely truthful she was nervous about what she was going to say and do when she got there. Climbing up the side of a 90 degree mountain side without chakra was a piece of pie but talking or even existing in the same room as another human...not so much.
Her stomach growled for the hundredth time that day so she decided to sit down and eat a lunch. She pulled out a strip of dried boar meat and a handful of nuts. Living on a mountain most of her life she had grown used to a small diet of nuts, berries, fruits, vegetables and the occasional treat of smoked meat. She didn't enjoy hunting animals and tended to stay away from that but a few months back a heard of wild bore killed two of her favorite mountain goats. She was so angry that she killed half a dozed of the horned beasts. After that she expertly skinned and butchered all of them except for one. The one that she didn't she left to the mountain wolves.
Washing down the small meal with a canteen of water she swung her pack over her back again. A few minuets later a large flood of chakra washed over her and she quickly jumped into a tree hiding herself within the leaves. If she could sense them they could most likely since her. There were three...no four of them. Three were her rank maybe a bit lower and the last one was a Jonin. They were heading in the same direction as her but at a much slower pace. They certainly weren't in a hurry. She brushed away a strand of pink hair that fell over her eye obscuring her vision.
Almost as soon as she sensed their chakra she heard their overly loud voices. She growled at how loud they were and covered her sensitive ears. There was a blond and two raven haired boys around her age. Behind them trotting lazily was a masked gray haired adult, most likely the Jonin. The blond seemed to be doing the most talking or it was more like shouting with the two other boys. The one was always smiling and insulting him while the other remained silent. The Jonin was wearing a mask that covered the bottom half of his face and his forehead protector slid down over his one eye. Her nose twitched slightly as she smelled something much like Okami coming from one of them.
All of the boys were too busy arguing or acting cool to noticed th poorly masked chakra coming their way. The Jonin noticed it though and instantly tensed. Before he could warn them a shower of kuni came whizzing at them. Luckily their reflexes kicked in at the last minuet and they all ducked or deflected the weapons. Three Jonin ranking ninja wearing black cloaks appeared from the trees. Their forehead protectors each had a waterfall insignia and a slash making them as ex waterfall ninja. One held a chain the other held a katana and the last one held a piked staff.
For the first time she heard the leaf Jonin speak to the boys. "Sasuke, Sai, Naruto stand you ground, these are Jonin but we outnumber them." He stated calmly removing the forehead protector that fell over his one eye to reveal a single red eye.
'Sharingan!' Sakura thought surprised. The man didn't look like a Uchiha and only one of his eyes held the black and red oculus. She could feel Okami stir deep within her mind in displeasure. Sakura didn't know why but for some reason Okami didn't like seeing the Sharingan. She made a mental note to ask her about that later. For now she focused her eyes on the scene the would soon give birth to a bloody battle.
"If any of us get separated we'll head back to Konohagakure," the grew haired ninja stated sternly putting a hand behind his back and reaching for something. The three boys nodded in reply.
Sakura's eyes wandered over the scene and narrowed when they fell on a blond haired ninja that was shaking nervously. She spotted the black lines running along his face like whiskers. Okami must have seen them as well since she was pacing madly back and forth in her mind. He must be the carrier of the nine tailed fox, the whiskers proved this. 'He must be who I smelled,' she thought watching him.
After a few minuets of combat the one waterfall ninja with the chain had cleverly pushed Naruto away from the group and was now chasing him through the forest. Sakura lazily glanced at the rest of the ninja before silently hoping off after the blond haired ninja the held the most of her interest. The waterfall ninja used his chain to trip him by wrapping around on of his legs. The blue eyes ninja fell to the ground and growled in pain as it ripped at his skin. Jumping down Sakura crouched behind a bush and silently observed the fight.
"He's loosing...badly." Sakura commented to the white furred wolf pacing in her mind. Okami remained silent so Sakura continued. "Should I help him?" Okami still remained silent causing Sakura to growl in annoyance. The boy was greatly out matched and outranked. It didn't look like he was going to win this fight unless he called on the nine tailed fox, but Sakura knew this would cause more bad than good. Unlike Okami the nine tailed most likely hated this boy and wouldn't honor his wishes and crawl back into his seal. "He's going to die if I don't help him!" She growled loudly seeing the boy getting beat around senseless.
Sakura could fell that all of the boy's chakra was completely depleted. Most likely from the chain the Waterfall ninja was using. She could feel it sucking away the chakra of whatever it touched. Sakura could smell the waterfall ninja's blood lust and could feel his desire to see the boy die. He raised his weapon high above his head and the boy didn't move. He just lay there to tired to protest his fate.
"I'm sorry Okami but I have to do this!" Sakura growled jumping out from her hiding place and deflecting his chain with her kuni preventing a very nasty fate for the blue eyed fox boy. "I won't allow this boy to die."
"What the...Who are you and what are you doing here?" the mist ninja asked angrily drawing back his chain.
"Who I am is not your concern. All you need to know is that I will not let you kill this boy," Sakura sternly replied keeping her head down so that a shadow covered her eyes.
"Whatever it doesn't matter I'll kill you as well!"He shouted putting his chain away and lunging at her with a pair of forks held in each hand. Sakura silently remained unmoving until the last moment when she bent her knees outward , ducking his attack. He pulled a sweep kick at her that she easily hopped away from. Back flipping away she arched her back and readied herself for the next attack. He threw one of his forks at her head and the other at her heart, she easily dodged them both and smirked. The waterfall ninja growled at her smirk and jabbed at her side throwing a punch to her face. Sakura ducked and leaned back flipping her legs over her head hitting him in the face and neck. She heard a crack and he fell back limply. A small cloud of dust rose up around his fallen frame as he crashed to the ground. His eyes moved from side to side wildly in a panic as he tried to move his body but couldn't.
"If I was you I wouldn't bother. I've broken your neck so you'll be parallelized for life. I could have kill you so be thankful I spared you life however worthless it might be." She calmly stated standing up straight.
"Why...why would you risk your own life to save that...that monster?" He asked panting heavily.
Sakura lazily looked over at him with her hands resting on her hips, her jade green eyes hid her true emotions well. "Because...,"Sakura paused lowering her eyes to the cold hard earth. "I wanted to." With that being said she walked over to they tired blue eyed boy and shook him lightly. Finding him out cold she lifted him onto her back, fireman style, and headed out of the clearing.
The other two mist ninja might be searching for their friend so she decided to take him to a safer place to heal him. Using her nose she found a small stream not to far away where she could clean out his wounds. Setting him down she pulled a vile out of her vest pocket and poured the brow gloppy substance over his cuts. He flinched a little in his sleep but soon relaxed when she rubbed it in.
She was using some of her chakra to seal up one of his larger wounds when his eyes opened slightly. "Who...Who are you?" He managed to mutter sleepily while trying to sit up.
"I'm nobody. You need not concern yourself with my being." Sakura replied softly healing another one of his wounds only to find it healing it's self. 'The nine tailed fox is an excellent healer. Even through the seal he can do so much.' She thought to herself as Okami nodded in agreement.
"I'm was kind of looking for a name. My name is Naruto Uzumaki I'm going to be the next Hokage!"He replied excitably. He subtly scared her how fast he could heal and regain his energy, not even she could do that.
Sakura remained silent for a few moments tending to the last of his wounds before replying to his question. "...My name is Sakura, just Sakura. Your ankle is cut up pretty badly. I don't know if I can heal it all right now."
"That's alright Sakura chan, I'll just hop all the way to my village it isn't that far." He replied with a bright smile.
Naruto was making Sakura a little nervous. He was smiling too much and he called her chan. Having such little experience with humans, almost everything scared her. Yet at the same time she felt at peach with him. She wasn't completely freaking out around him and she could feel the pain from his past around him. He reminded her of herself. "No Naruto san you won't be able to walk and I won't let you hop all the way back." She stated sternly putting her equipment back in her vest's pockets.
"But how will I be able to get home?" He whined cutely. Sakura couldn't help but snicker at his actions. He was just like a little kid. His hair was dirty and ruffled, leaning to one side.
"I'm heading to the same place as you. I'll can just carry you on my back." She stated quickly standing up and brushing the dirt off her pants.
"Carry me? Like a piggy back ride?" He asked excitably. Sakura sighed and nodded slowly. "Wohooo! I get a piggy back ride from a pretty girl!" He shouted raising his arms up above his head happily.
Sakura faltered a bit when he said the word pretty. She didn't like it. How could he even call her pretty when her face was covered? Her vest was long and baggy as well hiding most of her figure. She calmly regained her posture and slipped another silky lock of her pink hair behind her ear."You're going to have to stop shouting if you want a ride."
Naruto instantly shut up and crawled onto her offered back being careful to not put to much weight on his injured foot. Despite his weight Sakura's speed only dropped a little. He did after all weight less than the boulders she had to move in front of her dwelling when it rained. She briefly stopped to pick up her bag before starting in the direction of the hidden leaf village.
The entire way there Naruto told her about his team and friends in the academy. He also told her why his dream was to become Hokage. When she asked why people looked down on his he grew silent. He didn't speak up again until Sakura asked him about his favorite pastime. Then there was a never ending ocean of words that came to fast for the green eyed wolf girl to decipher. She did however catch 'Rama' a few times.
"Sakura chan you haven't told me where you've come from or anything else about yourself other than your first name." Naruto commented coaxing his head to one side. The village gates were drawing closer and Sakura could make out the huge leaf symbol printed across the doors.
"My life story is not a pleasant one Naruto san. I come from the herb village." Sakura stated as Naruto waved to the guard on duty. He had short brown hair that fell over his right eye covering it.
The one guard that Naruto waved to smiled and came to meet him. Naruto produced his passport and told the guard that Sakura was his friend. "Is she a ninja? I don't see a head band..." He asked looking over her.
"My name is Sakura, I come from the herb village by the mountains. No one is a ninja there including me." Sakura replied shaking Naruto back onto her back since he was sliding back.
"Well if you not a ninja I can't stop you from going in. Have a nice day Sakura and Naruto." He replied with a smile returning to his shaded lookout box.
"That was Izumo. He's nice." Naruto chirped as Sakura continued towards the hospitable. "Hey Sakura chan you didn't finish telling me about yourself what about your family?"
"...My mother died giving birth to me and my father...I haven't see him in seven years. I don't know if he's alive or dead so I can not tell you. I was the first born so I never had any siblings. I've lived by myself for the past seven years and as far as I know I don't have a family." Sakura gravely replied keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"But your father could still be alive, don't you want to find him?" He asked as the two approached to hospitable.
"As far as I'm concerned...that man is and never was my father. I have no wish to reunite with him." Her reply was quick and cold telling Naruto that he shouldn't ask anything more.
Sakura used her foot to push open the door and quietly walked up to the front desk. "Naruto!" The nurse behind the counter exclaimed "Kakashi and the rest of team seven are upstairs with minor cuts and bruises. What happened to your ankle it looks like a dog gnawed it off? And who is the pretty girl that's helping you?"
Sakura flinched slightly. There was that word again. Pretty. She had a feeling she was going to grow to hate the word with a passion. She knew they were lying. They didn't even see her face. "This is Sakura chan, she healed most of my cuts in the forest," replied Naruto with a perky smile.
"Well we better get that ankle of yours checked up. If you don't mind could you carry him to one of the closer rooms?" She asked addressing Sakura. Sakura nodded and carried Naruto into the room the nurse instructed, setting Naruto down on a cot. "The doctor should be with you in a quick minuet."
Naruto sighed and leaned back on the bed folding his arms behind his head. "Thanks so much for carrying me her Sakura chan. I don't think anyone else would have done what you did for me," Naruto thanked earnestly.
Sakura nodded and walked over to the window turning her face away from the blue eyed fox boy. She knew what he meant when he said 'I don't think anyone else would have done what you did for me'. With the nine tailed fox sealed inside him a lot of people must have hated him a lot. A lot of people hated her too for all the destruction Okami caused when her wolf babies were killed. Sakura was going to ask him about the nine tailed fox revealing to him her knowledge when a sharp ringing in her head stopped her short. 'No you can't say that!' Okami hissed quickly.
'What? Why not the nine tailed fox must have already told him by now.' Sakura replied in her mind.
Okami huffed and sat down shaking her head. 'Sakura my child...though you may now much about my kind you still are completely clueless when it comes to emotions. Remember how I told you how the nine tailed resented being locked away and was one of the more feisty of my kind?' Sakura mentally nodded. 'Well he and this boy don't communicate as much as we do. As far as I know all Naruto knows is that there is a monster residing within him. If they did the nine tailed would have helped him more when Naruto was fighting that waterfall ninja.'
'But he did heal his wounds. I was there, I saw it. And we don't talk that much as well,' Sakura replied confused.
'I'll have to talk to you more about this later, for now just keep me a secret. I will revile myself when the time is right.' Okami sighed nuzzling the dawn tinted girl with affection. Sakura nodded and exited her mind returning to the real world. She blinked when she saw the Jonin from before standing in the doorway. He waved to Naruto and smiled underneath his mask.
Naruto was telling his story to the Jonin when the silver haired man laughed telling him to stop. "I know Naruto, I know. The guard at the front gate informed the Hokage about your friend and it seem that her presence is wanted." Sakura inwardly shivered. Did the Hokage know about her and the eight tailed wolf resting inside her mind? "I'll escort you to the Hokage tower miss...Sakura."
Sakura nodded silently and followed the Jonin Kakashi as the two headed towards the Hokage tower. Her mind was a mess of thoughts and worries. 'Would this be just another bad repeat of the past?' She thought.
Oooo What happned in her past that is so bad? And what is going to happen to her, will she be thrown out or welcomed? Chapter 4 soon to come. Review please and tell me what you want to see in this fic!