Hello my little guppies! You have asked, and therefore I am delivering unto you a second chapter to Darkened Light! For those of you who read ahead, I will warn you that I took this oppurtunity to practice writing multiple viewpoints of a battle. I don't think it turned out well. This version is unedited due to my friend InfiniteDragon being busy. I will still take this oppurtunity to pimp out his story: The Ruins of Loves Legacy. Give it a read, it's awesome!

Naruto's not owned by me. Id've had him enlist Kurenai's help in placing a genjutsu on the Hokage monument so that all the faces looked like Naruto's if it was mine.

Ambushed by Orochimaru, Sakura took an attack meant for Sasuke, leaving her with a weird seal on her neck. Weakened, Sasuke fled with his two unconscious teammates for some much-needed recovery, only to be ambushed by the team from Sound. Now, help has come in the form of Tenten from Team Gai. Will that be enough to turn the tides?

With Sasuke

Tenten glanced at Sasuke, a Wakizashi in her hand, blocking Dosu's kunai. "Go wake up your teammates!" She shouted, pushing forward with her sword, forcing Dosu to jump back.

Sasuke nodded, rushing towards Naruto, hoping that the blonde ninja would be easy enough to wake up.

"Not so fast!" Zaku shouted, shifting stance so that his hands were pointed towards Sasuke. "Zankūha!" Great blades of slashing wind shoot out at Sasuke. Picking him off of the ground and slamming him into the tree. This had the effect of dropping him on top of the very ninja he was trying to wake up.

"Ramen!" Naruto shouted, bolting upright. This had the effect of causing everyone who knew the ninja to instantly sweatdrop. "W-What's going on?" Naruto asked, head darting around.

"No time for questions! We're fighting those sound ninja!" Sasuke shouted, pointing at the trio.

"R-Right!" Naruto said, forming his hands into the Ram seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Despite his disorientation, Naruto still managed to create close to fifty clones, surrounding the clearing.

Zaku smirked. "Not bad kid. Must take a lot to make so many clones. But those won't work against me." Holding out his hands, Zaku smiled as he activated his technique. "Zankūkyokuha!" With that shout came a mighty blast of chakra-enhanced wind, tearing branches off of tree and cutting gashes into the wood. Thanks to the devastating technique, all of Naruto's clones were instantly dispelled.

Earlier, With Tenten

Tenten grunted as she fell onto her side, Zaku's attack on Sasuke causing her to fall on her side. Quickly scrambling to her feet, Tenten uses her sword to redirect a punch from Dosu that would've otherwise caused her head to cave in.

"Gotcha!" Dosu said, voice triumphant. "Kyōmeisen!"

Tenten screamed as it felt like her eardrums were imploding. Barely holding onto consciousness, the kunoichi nonetheless falls onto the ground, this unlikely stroke of luck causing her to avoid Zaku's area attack.

Kin, who had thus far been holding back due to her specialty being genjutsu, was unfortunate enough to get hit directly by one of the blades of air. A gash instantly appeared on her stomach as she slammed into another nearby tree.

"Damn it Zaku!" Dosu shouted at his teammate. "We need her alive! Keep those kinds of attacks to yourself!"

Glaring at his leader, Zaku nevertheless puts his arms down, just in time for Naruto to tackle him.

"Dammit! Get this bloody little runt off of me!" Zaku shouted, rolling around as Naruto pummeled him with his undisciplined taijutsu style.

"Get over here you idiot!" Dosu said, stalking towards the pair. Suddenly Sasuke, who had somehow been forgotten in the brief but unusual melee, rushed at Dosu, kicking him up into the air. "Shishi Rendan!" Delivering a powerful kick, Sasuke used his basterdized version of the Front Lotus to slam Dosu into the ground at an incredible speed.

"Wow Sasuke! Never see you use that before! Looks kinda like Lee's- GAH!" Naruto, having been distracted by Sasuke's impromptu use of Lee's taijutsu style, finally gave Zaku enough leeway for the Sound nin to knock the blonde off of him.

"That's it you little shit! I'm going to blow you into atoms! Zankū- Gah!" Zaku screamed as, in the middle of doing his jutsu, his wrist was grabbed and squeezed with enough force that he heard the muscles crack. "W-What?" The dazed Sound Genin said, turning around and looking at Sakura, a purplish haze of foul chakra surrounding her and a bunch of lines mapping over her body, originating from a spot on her neck.

Earlier, in Sakura's sleeping subconscious…

They were a day and a half out of Konoha when they ran into the demon brothers. Sakura froze when she saw Kakashi get cut in two. But it wouldn't matter though, would it? Her beloved Sasuke would save her… Except that he was lying on the ground, blood pouring from a kunai wound between his ribs. "N-Naruto!" Sakura screamed. Surely the dumb blonde could do something so that they could save Sasuke?

Except… Instead of the demon brothers, Naruto was facing Zabuza's clone. Naruto's forehead protector was underneath the missing-nin's foot and the blonde Genin was diving for it. Sasuke started forward, intent on stopping his idiot teammate while Sakura hung back. She had to guard the bridge builder… Right? With a swing of his sword, Zabuza repelled Naruto. Naruto landed, but something was wrong. A gash was on his chest, pouring blood. Except… It wasn't Naruto anymore.

Sasuke lay on the bridge, senbon needles piercing every inch of his body. Nearby, Naruto was in the same state. Sakura turned to Kakashi, only to see Zabuza slash at him with his sword. The sword cut the Jonin deeply, not killing him instantly but there was no doubt about the wounds fatality.

"Wh-What's going on?!" Sakura cried out. "N-None of this happened! All of these… Everything had turned out alright, not like this!"

"That's because this is what should have been." Said a voice behind Sakura.

Sakura whipped her head around, and found herself face to face with… Herself. Except it wasn't quite her. This Sakura seemed more… Malevolent, tainted even. A dark aura surrounded her. Even her clothes seemed stained with malice, her red skirt seemed like blood made cloth, and even her bubblegum hair seemed to have a crimson tint to it.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Still timid as hell I see." The dark Sakura said. "That's why you've always needed me. You're too weak to go on by yourself."

"Y-You haven't answered my question!" Sakura yelled.

"Hmph. Well then, if it'll shut you up, I'm you Sakura. Your inner self. While you're groaning at Naruto's antics, I'm the one cheering him on. While you act all moody and depressed when Sasuke rejects you, I'm the one who makes sure your weak-ass self still takes care of itself." Inner Sakura smirked. "Without me, you'd be useless."

"O-Oh." Sakura said, surprised by the manifestation of her inner self, as well as its declarations of her weakness. "But still, what's wrong with these… Memories I guess? None of this happened!"

"It's what would have happened, or perhaps should have happened." Inner Sakura said. "When the demon brothers attacked, if Sasuke's aim had been off he would have been stabbed. When Naruto stupidly dived for his headband, if he had approached from a different angle he'd have been gutted by Zabuza's sword. And on the bridge, when Zabuza slashed Kakashi, if he'd cut even slightly deeper your sensei would've been either dead or crippled for life."

"So?! None of that happened! We all survived those situations!" Sakura said, her voice rising in her anger.

"Through a combination of luck and skill. Sasuke's skill, Naruto's luck, and Kakashi's combination of both. But not you. To your team, you contribute nothing. Your luck's poor, your skills are abysmal, and even your smarts aren't going for anything anymore. Face it, you're nothing more than a pretty face. And not even that pretty of one."

"You're wrong!" Sakura said, her anger rising.

"What's wrong bubblegum? Can't stand the truth?" Inner Sakura said, chuckling evilly. "Physically, you're weak. You only have average aim with kunai and shuriken, you only know the academy jutsu, and the only reason you have good chakra control is because you reserves are so weak it's pathetic."

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted, taking a swing at her inner self.

"That's right Sakura, get mad at me. That's the only way you attain power. Get mad at me, get pissed off! Go blind with your fury!"

By this point, Sakura truly was blind with rage, her only goal was to punch to smug look off of her inner self's face. With her rage, Sakura felt a power flowing through her. She embraced it hungrily, not noticing it take hold of her mind, nor noticing the marks that appeared on her skin even as a steadily growing light engulfed her vision.

With the group

Naruto watched in silent fascination as Sakura suddenly appeared behind Zaku, grabbing his wrist before the Sound ninja could unleash his deadly jutsu. "Wow, thank Sakura! That was a close one!" Naruto said, scrambling to his feet and grinning. There was no response from the pink kunoichi. "S-Sakura?" Naruto asked, unnerved by the silence from his teammate.

Sakura still didn't respond, not with words anyway. Instead, a slow grin spread across her face as she slowly squeezed Zaku's wrists, listening to his bones grinding against each other before, with a casual squeeze, the pinkette breaks Zaku's wrists.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Zaku cries, kneeling on the dirt, his broken wrists gently held to his body. "You bitch!" The Sound nin tries for a kick, but that it casually dodged by Sakura before the pinkette grabs him by the throat. Again, no words are uttered by her as she slowly begins to squeeze.

"Sakura! Enough!" Sasuke shouts.

Sakura ignores him, focusing on savoring the feeling of her kill before she feels a sudden, sharp pain at the back of her neck. Sakura tumbles forward and lands on the ground, unconscious, with Tenten standing over her.

"Sorry about your teammate." Tenten said, addressing Naruto and Sasuke. "But she had to be stopped."

"You did the right thing." Sasuke said with a grudging nod.

"Right! She would have killed that guy otherwise!" Naruto said, nodding in his agreement.

"Now then, I believe there's still one left." Tenten said, all three turning to face Dosu.

The bandaged Genin grunted in annoyance at how his teammates were so easily beaten. "What are you up to…" Dosu mutters to himself, wondering at what Orochimaru was playing at, putting a curse seal on that weak kunoichi. "I give up!" The bandaged ninja said, hoping that the trio before him would accept his surrender. Dosu takes out an Earth scroll and sets it on the ground. "I offer my scroll for me and my teammates safe retreat."

"Would you have accepted such an offering from us if our positions were reversed?" Sasuke asked coldly, clearly not accepting the offer.

Inwardly Dosu cursed as they rejected him out of hand. Thinking quickly, Dosu dashes forward and grabs Zaku, figuring that Kin was a lost cause. Teammate in hand, Dosu dashes off.

"Damn. He got away." Sasuke cursed as Naruto went up the wounded Kin. "This one's still alive!" Naruto called out, causing Sasuke and Tenten to dash to him. Sure enough, Kin was still alive. The attack she had been caught in had not cut as far as her teammates had thought.

"I know some first-aid." Tenten said, stepping forward and unsealing a large medical chest from a scroll. As she bandaged up Kin she took a glance at the scroll on the ground, abandoned by Dosu and temporarily forgotten. "My team already has both scrolls. If your team needs it, you can have it." Tenten then paused for a moment before digging through a pouch hanging from her side and pulling out a heaven scroll. "I ran into a weak team before coming here. I was originally going to save this for bartering if we ran into any stronger opponents, but I think you should take it and make sure that Sakura and this girl gets help, fast."

"Alright!" Naruto says, jumping up into the air in excitement. "That means we have both scrolls! We can head to the tower!"

Both Sasuke and Tenten sighed at the abundance of energy that Naruto still seemed to possess.

"Like I said, it's what's for the best." Tenten said, finishing up Kin's bandages before storing away her medical supplies. "She needs more help than just emergency first-aid. Are you able to carry her with you?"

"Yeah."

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who spoke. "That bandaged one, Dosu, mentioned Orochimaru. We need to get her to a medic and then get someone from T&I to get whatever information from her that they can."

Naruto, though clearly unhappy by Sasuke's declaration, nodded his compliance at the necessity of the situation. Creating three shadow clones by accident, he had only meant to make two, Naruto popped the third clone before having the other two carefully pick up the wounded Kin and the unconscious Sakura. With a few farewells to Tenten, who had to depart and meet up with her team, Team 7 plus guest ran towards the tower at the center of the forest.

With Dosu

"I am sorry my lord, while we have tested the Uchiha and the… Other one as you ordered, Kin managed to get herself killed and we had to leave her body behind. Additionally, Zaku was wounded." Dosu reported, kneeling in front of Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin listening with interest, while also frowning slightly as his underling spoke.

"That is… Unfortunate. I need your team to pass to allow my continued presence in the village." Orochimaru said. With a snap of his fingers, Orochimaru summoned Kabuto. "Take Zaku and get him healed up enough to finish this little 'test'." Kabuto nodded and took Zaku, who was lying unconscious on the floor, before rushing away.

"But… Sir!" Dosu said, cringing as he spoke out of turn. "We would be disqualified for Kin dying!"

"Not to worry." Orochimaru said, chuckling. "The Kin that you've been fighting with was but a clone of the original. A failed experiment, but useful for infiltration."

Before he could continue speaking, a door behind Orochimaru's throne opened, and a distinctly feminine form stepped out, exuding an aura of power far beyond what Kin had.

"Hello." The figure said. "I am test subject #KG-M-001. Or, in simpler terms, I am the original Kin."

Shitty cliffhanger, but I shall redeam myself next chapter. Now to do something I've seen a few other authors do and respond to some reviews!

Random Person: I responded to this in the reviews itself but I'm doing it here as well. YES, this story WILL go into Shippuden.

spartan593: The premise of my idea isn't wholly unique. I once read a story where Sakura was working with Orochimaru to kidnap Sasuke and that eventually spawned the idea of this fic. Too many more detils would contain spoilers, so I'll leave it at that.

To all of the others, thank you for your praise and encouragement! ALSO! While InfiniteDragon is a great man and a good friend, he's also a busy man who writes his own fanfiction in his free time. To that end, I would like to put out a call for anyone interested in becoming the beta reader for Darkened Light to send me a PM.

Jutsu used:

Zankūha - Decapitating Airwaves

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Shadow Clone technique

Zankūkyokuha - Extreme Decapitating Airwaves

Kyōmeisen - Resonating Echo Drill

Shishi Rendan - Lion Combo/Lions Barrage