Thank you, everybody, for all the kind words and constructive criticism. Even the not-so-kind reviews were appreciated. For those who feel as though Sakura is hardly like her canon personality, I'll explain – I HATE cannon Sakura. Kishimoto was amazing in everything else, but he really missed his chance in expanding on Sakura's character beyond that of a love-struck fangirl in the anime, and then love-sick nurse in Shippuden. Also, this is a FAN FICTION. This story was born in my head. So please don't flame saying 'this is nothing like cannon!' because I KNOW IT ISN'T!
Enough rambling, on with the (much delayed, Sorry! :3) STORY!
Kakashi had captured Zabuza with the help of his nin-dogs, and was just gathering chakra for the final Chidori which he would drive through the missing-nin's heart, but it seemed fate had other plans, as, just before his strike connected, a pale body appeared in front of him, followed by a second which pulled the first away and delivered a harsh strike to his arm, dispelling the jutsu.
"You can't just run away after saying that!"
Slightly shocked at the sudden arrival, it took Kakashi a few seconds to locate the voice, and when he finally did, he sweat-dropped at the sight of Sakura shaking the taller Kiri teen by the shoulders, reprimanding him. Then his brain caught onto the fact that he was their enemy, so he wordlessly commanded his nin-dogs to immobilise the boy as well.
The rosette jumped back, surprised by the dogs springing from the ground. She looked at him curiously before she connected the dots and frowned heavily. A miniscule wince passed through her features as the boy whimpered in pain when the dogs' teeth pierced through his flesh.
Suddenly, a flash of yellow and orange caught everybody's attention, and a loud voice boomed; "Relax now, the hero has come to save the day! Naruto Uzumaki has arrived- HUH?" half-way through his speech, the obnoxious blonde finally noticed the current situation and immediately quietened down, apparently not noticing the disbelieving looks Kaoru and Akane were shooting him.
"As I was saying," Kakashi began as he turned to face his team. "Our target has been captured and the threat to Tazuna-san's life has been nullified. Now," he turned towards Team 13, a wry look in his eye. "As it was originally your mission, I'm going to let you dispose of the enemy." When none of the genin replied, he gazed intently at Sakura. "Kill them, Sakura."
Slowly, tentatively, Sakura raised the senbon she'd taken from Haku to her lips. They saw her tongue dart out and slide over the side of the senbon before she spoke.
"No."
"…"
"I told you she was too weak to do anything but complain." Quicker than Kakashi would've deemed possible in his injured state, Sasuke had jumped towards Zabuza, the kunai in his hand already pointing at the ninja's throat. "Any last words?" the raven sneered.
"Go to hell, Uchiha." Came Zabuza's gruff voice. "You can't kill me."
"That was a rhetorical question."
And his arm shot forward.
"Sasuke-kun, no!"
But the kunai never reached Zabuza. Instead, there was the horrid, squelching sound of metal piercing through flesh and blood dribbling to the floor.
"Sakura-chan!"
The pink-haired genin had moved quicker than the Uchiha and shot her hand directly into the path of the flying projectile. Ignoring her worried teammates, she shot an acid glare at the frozen raven.
"I told you I wasn't going to kill them." She hissed icily. "However, that does not mean you can just jump in and pretend to play hero." She turned her gaze back towards the two mist-nins. "I won't kill them… I can't kill them, because something doesn't add up, and until I get some answers, nothing can make me change my mind. Not even you, Uchiha."
The harsh tone in which she spoke made even Sasuke back down. Satisfied with the temporary silence, her attention returned to Zabuza.
"There's a reason I can't kill you." She began. "Like Kaoru has probably already told you, I have a rather warped sense of justice. Something doesn't add up, and until I figure out what it is, I won't kill you."
Zabuza seemed shocked, as did everyone else gathered on the bridge, apart from Haku, whose bloodied face bore a small, understanding smile.
Naruto blinked. "She's… trying to figure out why these crazy-ass weirdoes became missing-nin?" he mumbled confusedly. "But… that's so much thinking!" he groaned.
"Sakura is a person whose intellect far exceeds that of anyone else gathered here." Akane stated confidently while moving towards the pinkette. "She'll have the reason figured out in a few seconds." Kaoru added, and moved to follow his teammate.
Sasuke was enraged. "Kakashi! She's sabotaging our mission!" he exclaimed, indignant.
"Not really, Sasuke." The Copy-nin drawled. "While I do not approve of her decision, our mission was strictly to protect Tazuna, but it was Sakura's team's job as back-up to dispose of the direct threat to our client's well-being. And, as team leader, Sakura has the ability to choose how to dispose of said threat, which includes how, when and where."
During Kakashi's speech, Akane had moved to heal Sakura's kunai-injured hand, while the other teen was speaking to the rosette in hushed tones, so only the three of them could hear. It didn't escape the Copy-nin's notice how tenderly the three genin seemed to go about each other, rather contradictory to what he'd seen when they sparred; there was an undeniable expression of worry in the boys' eyes. Or how, when the redhead started looking weary, the taller brunette lent him his own chakra to finish healing Sakura's wound.
They aren't just a team. They're a family. He stole a glance at his three students. Something they'll never be.
"There's just something I'm missing." Sakura mumbled, running her freshly-healed hand through her hair in frustration as she paced back-and-forth. "There must be… Some kind of ulterior motive."
"Ulterior motive?" Hikari echoed, having overheard the rosette. "What makes you think they have an ulterior motive? They're criminals!"
Sakura shot a cold glare at the brunette.
"They're not criminals, they're missing-nins. There's a difference. And none of the missing-nins we've had dealings with before – and trust me, there were many – ever did anything simply out of respect or loyalty. They work for Gato." She pointed at the two immobilised Kiri-nin, sneering at the name. "A pathetic, honourless man. Not even scum like Zabuza would willingly work for him, not unless there was something he could gain from it… but what could it be, apart from money and recognition? He has plenty of that anyway, so what- wait a minute…" she cut off, and they all watched as she reached into the folds of her kimono and extracted a stack of cards.
"Nin-info cards? That's a little fancy for a genin." Zabuza commented.
Sakura ignored him and continued flicking through the cards until she found what she was looking for. "Money and recognition. What could a missing-nin want that for? And so desperately at that, so they would voluntarily work for Gato?" she mumbled to herself as her eyes scanned over the information. "Wait… Oh, Kami-sama." She gasped as understanding flashed through her emerald eyes as they raised to look into Zabuza's beady black ones. "You're planning another coup, aren't you? A coup d'état to bring down the Fourth Mizukage."
Naruto looked puzzled, as did Hikari and Sasuke, though the latter hid it well.
"A coup? What is she talking about? This is getting weirder and weirder, dattebayo!"
His answer was given by Kaoru, but though he recited it evenly, word-for-word like one would see it in a textbook, his attention wasn't really on what he talked about, but more on his pink-haired teammate. "Twenty years or so ago, a man known as Yagura came to hold the title of the Fourth Mizukage. During his reign, Kirigakure was known as the 'Village of Bloody Mist'. For the chunin exams, the participants had to fight each other... the first one to die lost, and the winner became a chunin."
Team 7 gazed in horror at the Kiri-nin, their faces a mixture of shock, disgust and disbelief. But Sakura wasn't done yet.
"You need to update your Bingo Book, Zabuza. The Fourth Mizukage is dead."
It was almost comical how Zabuza's face, although covered almost entirely by bandages, visibly paled. An expression of disbelief and shock took over his face, and Sakura pitied the man – his entire life's goal was suddenly brought down to nothing.
"How?" Zabuza croaked out. "When?"
"I don't know. But he's dead, and a new Mizukage has already been appointed. You don't need to work for Gato anymore. You're a free man."
"Sakura! A man does not become free or erased from his crimes by simply having a justification for them." Kakashi criticised. "They're still wanted criminals."
"And I intend to put that title to good use by killing that rat Gato." Zabuza spat the name like poison.
"Is that so?" a voice came from the mist, and suddenly, it all came crashing down. Gato and his men, at least a hundred, emerged from the mist, each brandishing a weapon of some sort.
It all happened in a split second, but Sakura's eyes saw it as if in slow-motion;
A knife came whizzing from one of Gato's men, its tip pointed straight at Zabuza's heart. In his immobilised position, the Kiri-nin could do nothing but watch with a horrified expression as it got closer and closer. But then something unexpected happened; seconds before impact, giant ice spikes impaled Kakashi's summons, freeing Haku, and in an exceptional burst of speed even Sakura was envious of, the raven-haired teen appeared in front of Zabuza, blocking the man with his own body, just as the knife pierced through his chest.
A human barrier.
Tears prickled Sakura's eyes and blurred her vision. Not thinking about the consequences, she flashed to Haku's side and grabbed his limp body, moving away from Zabuza, her teammates, and everyone else. She gently laid the teen down and bent over his body, burying her face in his sweet-smelling hair as she finally let the tears flow.
Sakura felt a gentle hand rest on her hair and she looked up, only to be met with the pale, bloodied face of Haku. Yet even when on death's doorstep, he still had a smile on his face. "Do not despair." He whispered. "I thank you for looking into this, for seeing Zabuza as more than just a rouge. Everyone always fears us – it was refreshing, having someone we barely know defend us. Thank you. Also, even if you deny it, you have the purest soul I've ever seen in a shinobi." The rosette let out an agonised sob as she listened to his words. She stroked his charcoal hair and watched as he coughed out blood, and waited as the final seconds of his life ticked by, and the light slowly faded from his eyes. "I… have fulfilled… my purpose. Farewell… Sakura-san."
The rosette let her head thump softly onto Haku's unmoving chest as she sobbed. Nothing mattered anymore; not her status, not her dreams, and definitely not the fight going on just mere metres away from where she lay. There was only her pain and the dead body of the boy who was so similar, yet so much better than her. She stayed in that position for a few minutes, mourning Haku.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice drawled, just as Sakura's peripheral vision caught sight of a foot probing Haku's body. She glared up at whoever had the gall to do that to the poor boy, her eyes conveying pain, sadness, but most importantly, pure, unadulterated rage, and was greeted with the sight of the vilest face she'd seen in a while.
"Don't touch him with your filthy hands, you worthless piece of shit!"
That exclamation had everyone turning on their heel, even those currently engaged in battle, to see the source of the voice. Kaoru and Akane were stunned to see it had come from Sakura – the rosette was kneeling over Haku's body, clutching Gato's wrist in an iron grip and, by the look of agony on the man's face, breaking all the little bones in his wrist into tiny pieces.
Yet the furious expression on her face frightened even Kaoru, for never in the two years he'd known the pinkette had he seen her so outraged, so angry, so… dangerous.
"You want to know the reason why I became a gennin? Because I came this close, this close to killing one of the girls in my class. And I would've, had they not stopped me."
Finally, after two years since he's heard it did he finally realise that it was true, and that she was perfectly capable of killing somebody in cold blood and not even wince while doing it. Sakura was promoted early for being exceptional, and he cursed himself for not realising sooner what 'exceptional' meant in the world they lived in.
Dangerous. Deadly. Frightening. A perfect weapon.
With that fresh revelation, he watched as the rosette's eyes blazed and he could almost feel the chakra flowing to her hand, shattering the bones completely. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Zabuza say something to the blonde, before the teen hesitantly placed a kunai in the missing-nin's mouth. Quicker than Kaoru expected, Zabuza dashed forward and ripped Gato away from Sakura – the pinkette calming down when she realised justice was going to be dealt – and proceeded to tear the man into shreds; the gruesome scene making even him cover his eyes.
When it was over, and the villagers had chased Gato's men away, Kaoru watched as the previously ferocious man staggered over to where Haku lay, and collapsed, his uncovered face portraying weariness, regret, but most importantly, contentment.
As Team 7 said the final goodbye to the ninja, Kaoru had the startling realisation that it was all finally over. Akane walked over to him, and the brunette smiled when he saw his younger teammate hastily wiping away the tears that had fallen.
"Still as sensitive as always, huh?" he teased.
"Sh-Shut up." The redhead whined, trying – and failing – to stop the tears from coming. "Even Sakura-chan cried, so I'm allowed to!" he defended meekly.
"Speaking of," Kaoru began, looking around. "Where is Sakura?"
After the small funeral, Kaoru and Akane excused themselves to go look for their teammate. "Where is she, Kaoru-chan?" the redhead asked worriedly. "Sakuea is not one to just randomly disappear, and she seemed really unstable after that battle so she could've-"
"Akane, shut up." The brunette cut off his teammate's ramblings. "I'm sure she's safe – Sakura is a responsible person, after all…"
He redhead gazed at his teammate in disbelief. "But… you must be worried too, right, Kaoru-chan?!"
"Of course I am, you idiot!" Kaoru exclaimed in annoyance, whacking his teammate over the head. "I just… We should just check for her thoroughly first, then panic. She might be somewhere really close."
Akane smiled and tilted his head to gaze at Kaoru in amusement. "I really admire your levelheadedness, Kao-"
He was once again cut off when they heard the sound of trees crashing down and enraged, almost desperate yells that soon turned to wails. There was a huge spike of chakra, and the two exchanged looks.
"I think we've found Sakura-chan." Akane mumbled.
"So it would seem."
When they saw the extent of the damage done to the clearing, Akane paled and stepped back, while Kaoru winced, casting a worried glance at his surroundings. The trees were uprooted and reduced to splinters, some with wide dents, others with gaping holes straight through the trunks. The ground was bare, all of the flora which should've been covering seemed to have been burnt off; but what attracted their attention the most was the shaking, whimpering pinkette who lay at the edge of the clearing, curled up in a pitiful ball.
The duo exchanged worried glances before Akane carefully stepped forward and shook the rosette's shoulder gently.
"Sakura-chan…?" it came out as a quiet question, but the girl in question had somehow heard him over her sobs and raised her head. The redhead let out a loud, stunned gasp at the sight that greeted him – Sakura's eyes were swollen and blood-shot, tears flowed down her face in unstoppable rivers and snot dripped from her nose. But what shocked them the most was the broken, agonised expression on the rosette's face. It didn't belong, and it made their teammate, their invincible, untouchable teammate, seem suddenly vulnerable and afraid.
Akane stepped back, planning to give the rosette some space to compose herself, but Kaoru had no such consideration; he stepped right into Sakura's bubble, pulled out a tissue and began cleaning her up, wiping away her tears and making soft hushing noises whenever a particularly heartbroken sob tore past her lips. The redhead stood just a few metres away, on guard and ready to jump in and, as much as it pained Kaoru to say it, stop Sakura if she became too violent.
When the brunette was done, he pulled away slightly and sat beside the rosette, nudging Akane to do the same. Once they were both seated, and he was sure they had Sakura's undivided attention, he spoke.
"What happened, Sakura-chan?" he asked softly, and Akane silently admired how his words managed to sound comforting, curious, yet demanding at the same time. The weirdest thing was, it actually made the rosette look up and open her mouth as if she was about to speak.
"I'm so weak, Kaoru." She whispered brokenly. Akane openly gawked and his mouth moved before his brain or Kaoru could stop it.
"Are you crazy, Sakura-chan! You're, like, ridiculously strong! Your chakra control is amazing and you've learned to do some incredible things with it and-!"
"Shut up, Akane!"
Sakura's shriek cut the redhead off, and he stared, shocked, at her suddenly angry expression. But she wasn't done.
"I'm not strong! Be honest – chakra control is my only ability! My chakra coils can't hold too much and I get exhausted ridiculously quickly due to my short body-build and age. So I trained my control, but what use is control if I can't do anything with it? I tried it before – I have no talent with elemental jutsu! I have the perfect amount of chakra prepared, but nothing comes out! So I compensated with taijutsu, but it's slowly destroying my body! I've pretty much stopped growing, so I'll forever be at a disadvantage when faced with taller opponents! It's like the world is against me being a shinobi!" she stopped shouting to catch her breath and shuddered miserably.
"I can't… do… anything." Was her final whisper, before she once again broke down into tears and heart-wrenching sobs, but this time, Kaoru simply picked her up and they headed back to Tazuna's house, leaving the tear-stained clearing behind.
But they had gained one thing from this unfortunate incident; the revelation that Sakura, regardless of how much she covered it, was still human. And she still struggled to make it through, just like everybody else.
They had left Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san and Inari's house, and were finally on their way home, already a safe distance away from the village, much to Sakura's relief.
"You look upset." Kaoru murmured as he jogged to walk beside her.
"Yeah. I haven't seen you this sad since a good year. What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Akane added curiously.
Sakura sighed. "I just can't believe how this mission turned out. Of course, we accomplished the mission, disposed of Gato, and all that, but we also lost two innocent people. I don't see how I could be happy in this situation…"
Sasuke snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure about 'innocent'" he commented snidely.
Immediately, Kaoru and Akane appeared by the Uchiha's side.
"Listen brat," the brunette began seriously, "Life-lesson number one for you right here."
"You never question Sakura-chan. It's like a rule. It just doesn't happen." Akane added.
"Tch. Whatever."
"Seriously, kid. Sakura-chan prides herself in completing all the missions assigned to her 100% perfect. If a life can be spared or saved while she's at it, it makes her day. If it can't… well, let's say people will pay. With their lives. Later on, of course." Kaoru explained, enjoying when he saw the raven shudder. "So when Sakura is in this mood, you just stay quiet and be grateful that you're not the training dummy she'll be venting her frustration out the next morning."
Hikari and Naruto gulped.
"On our last A-rank mission, we were told to locate and dispose of a rogue shinobi who massacred two entire civilian villages for no reason. Sakura was livid. The guy had killed innocent people, and when we finally caught up to him, it turned out we couldn't actually kill him. He was under some kind of special protection of the Kazekage, so we had to take him back to Konoha for the T&I department to deal with him how they saw fit once the Sandaime gained approval from the Kazekage." Akane continued where his teammate left off, a reminiscent smirk on his face. "You should have seen the destruction she made. Hokage-sama had to pay for two new training grounds after she was done with them."
Team 7 decided not to question the older genin anymore, and slowly dispersed into their assigned positions – Naruto and Hikari dropped back to walk in line with Kakashi at the back, while Sasuke migrated to the front to walk a few steps behind Sakura. Kaoru and Akane stayed in the middle.
"You know," Kaoru murmured, "we told them that she was sad that innocent lives have been lost… But I'm seriously beginning to doubt if that's the only reason for her sadness."
"You're right-I've noticed it too. She's changed a lot; she's no longer the eight-year-old we met two years ago. She's still a child when she's with us, when there's no one else around, but when we go on missions, she becomes so guarded and detached it's like she's a completely different person. And whenever she 'saves' someone…" Akane shuddered. "At first I thought she didn't like death so she tried to avoid it, but now I realise that there's another reason… I just don't know what!"
"Have you ever considered that, maybe, when she 'saves' their lives, she makes them indebted to her… on purpose?" Kaoru supplied.
"But what would she need favours from people in other Villages for?" Akane asked, curiosity evident in his eyes.
"Maybe…" Kaoru whispered, "she's collecting allies?"
Akane blinked, confusion overtaking his features. Then, he shook his head like a dog, trying to get rid of some thought and a grin appeared on his face.
"Neh, you're overthinking things, Kaoru-chan. We're just getting a little paranoid that our little sister is growing up. Relax." The redhead explained, patting the taller brunette on the hip.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Kaoru agreed, smiling a little. But, on the inside, he still couldn't get rid of the nagging thought which made him suspect Sakura's mood-swings in the first place.
Unbeknownst to the duo, Kakashi was walking right behind them and overheard every word they said. The moment he heard the brunette first express his worry that Sakura wasn't telling them everything, he became interested. Even more so than he was interested in their position:
Both boys had one of their arms around each-other's waist, hands clutching the other's hip – something he noticed was quickly creeping out his students – Naruto and Hikari were green-faced with gaping mouths. Even the Uchiha couldn't mask his wide eyes when he first saw them.
Upon further inspection, Kakashi realised that there was more to it than mere appreciation of skin-ship – their hands were resting within easy reach of the other's hip pouch, and though their posture remained casual, Akane's other hand was inching closer and closer to the strap of his scroll, the contents of which Team 7 had yet to see.
Kaoru, Kakashi noted, though he made no indication of moving his hand to his sword, his eyes kept flickering from side to side, and he would occasionally speed up his pace to a jog, but would then be pulled back by his redheaded teammate.
At first glance only Sakura seemed relaxed, though a minute later Kakashi noticed she had a senbon in her mouth and was idly flicking it from side to side. What caught his attention was the tip of the needle – it was a strange green colour.
Poison. He realised.
So they were all expecting an attack, and judging by Kaoru and Akane's respectively agitated and irritated faces, Kakashi guessed they were not used to travelling at civilian speed.
He decided he definitely had to ask the Hokage about what kind of missions he sent those three on.
He had a feeling he won't like the answer.
AAAAAND… it's done! I'm sorry it's much shorter than originally planned, and that I couldn't update as early as I promised – although I had most of the chapter already written out, a lot of personal and, uh, upsetting matters got in the way of me updating as quickly as I would've preferred. As for the length; I had a good 2,000 more words written for this chappie, but it didn't go at all with the rest of the chapter. So, I shall put it in my 'to be used later' folder, and simply begin the next chapter by the long-awaited Chunin Exam!
For those who think her break-down was unnecessary – Sakura is a genius. She is not a prodigy, she has only two main talents – chakra control and speed – but she has a brain. Considering I made her familiar with a Bingo Book very early on, and since I found out that in the actual Academy curriculum the future-genin study past Bingo Books, I decided that with enough back-ground information, Sakura was perfectly capable of coming up with the conclusion she did. It was also my take at the Zabuza-Haku combo. I love them to bits, but seriously, they die too early. Thus, coming back to my earlier point, all geniuses experience stress. Some become detached, some insane, some shut themselves away from the world. However, Sakura isn't that far gone yet. BUT, she is stressed, plus, she is YOUNG. So, excuse her moment of craziness, but anyone would've broken down after such a battle.
Finally, SORRY! I planned to save Haku (yes, kurohime1024, I perfectly understand your view – I shared that as well) but, as someone had pointed out, I "win the Mary-Sue award of February 2013". Although I don't share that opinion, saving Haku would've been pushing the limits between 'interesting character development' and 'OK, that is a Mary-Sue'.
And, DiamondForest, THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOUR REVIEWS MAKE MY DAY!
Love,
Invincible Shadow!