Heart of Honor

by blitz-engel

To save her father from death at war, Haruno Sakura takes his place to joining the Ninja Academy. Unfortunately, only males are allowed, so she pretents to be a man. COMPLETED

12. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you all for your reviews!

Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. The big fight. Sakura is going to see what real war is all about and she will have to make decisions that might reveal her true identity. One thing's for sure, this will be the toughest thing she will ever have to go through.

Read and Review, please!

Naruto-Heart of Honor: Eleven

After almost two hours of searching throughout the entire village, the Shinobi could not find any more survivors. The entire village had been massacred and there were no more of Minato's men alive. Minato was the only survivor, and even he was in terrible shape. Sakura had finally run out of chakra to heal him with and was extremely tired. She could barely walk after finishing healing him and letting the other medic take over. And she almost fell over if Kakashi hadn't caught her. He had been walking over to see how healing Minato was coming along and she had been trying to stand up at the time.

Unfortunately, her knees gave out under her and she fell backwards right into Kakashi, forcing him to wrap his arms around her to keep her from hitting the ground. She went very red after realizing who had caught her. "OH! Sorry, Kakashi…….um, Kakashi-sensai." She added sensai quickly.

"It's all right. You must be pretty tired after using all of your chakra on Minato-sama." Kakashi said, but it was clear that he was somewhat blushing himself.

And luckily no one was really near by, other than Neji and Shino. They had been trying to clear out some of the supplies from the cart and when they saw the reaction between the two. Smiling smugly, they promised their selves they would give Sakura a hard time about it later.

And they did.

Around dusk, after moving out from the village, they made camp at the foot of the mountains where they needed to cross to get back in the valley where Konoha Village was sitting. Sakura didn't really have much of an appetite after all the chaos she had seen, and neither did most of the Shinobi. They didn't eat very much but just went to rest. Even Kakashi and the Elites had to give them a break for it. But they ordered that once everyone was rested, they really needed to press forward.

"We're Konoha's last hope now. Minato's best ANBU were killed and he was seriously hurt. He could have died if it wasn't for Haruno Zaku finding him and getting to work straight a way." Kakashi told everyone as they were leaving the ruined village.

But as Sakura made her way to her tent, Neji and Shino caught up to her, both smirking at her. She knew something was up but she decided she would take their stupid jokes. "All right. What's so funny? Let's laugh it up now." She told them moodily. Both Neji and Shino shook their heads as they walked with her to their tents. "Oh, we're not going to say anything, Zaku." The Hyuuga Prodigy said as he picked up his pace.
"Only that you looked rather comfy in Kakashi's arms when he caught you from falling to the ground, that's all." The bug boy said quietly before he went straight to his tent. That remark just made Sakura freeze in her tracks and nearly stand there for about ten minutes, blushing hot red. She swore she would make them pay for that. But she would have to come up with something very good because they could easily black mail her with what they knew about her.

The next few days, Sakura mostly walked beside the cart that was carrying Minato. She wanted to keep an eye on him, waiting for him to wake up. He hadn't been conscious for those few days, but resting as his strength was slowly coming back. She really wanted to talk to him, tell him all about her training and what she had learned. She hardly left the cart's side, waiting for Minato to wake up. Because of the death toll at the village, no one spoke as they walked. No one had said a word, even Naruto, who was also walking beside the cart. He made a few glances over at Sakura, but said nothing. He was grateful for what she tried to do. But now it was up to Minato to heal himself.

"Zaku."

Sakura blinked out of her thoughts before looking up to see Kakashi walking close to her. His one eye was on her now, but his face was tilting forward. "Oh. Kakashi….sensai. Um…." The pink haired girl said touching her lip with a frown. "Ca-Can I help you? Was there something you needed?"

Slowly, Kakashi nodded as he turned his gaze towards the cart now. He was quiet for a moment before looking back at her. "I would like to thank for what you did for Minato-sama. You really did something honorable, you know that?" He told her in a quiet tone. He tilted his head to the side as he looked right at her, but there was no doubt a smile under his mask. "And I really appreciate it for what you did. He's like a father to me." He told her. Sakura then made a face as she instantly remembered what Gai had told her about Kakashi's father. She wondered what Kakashi would say if he found out that his "Eternal Rival" told someone, her, about his past. But before she could even say anything about it, he walked on to speak to Ibiki about where they were going to set up camp next. She watched him go but then felt a smile slowly starting to curl on her lips. She was starting to like Kakashi, she knew that she did. He might have been really stubborn and really strict, but he really did have his soft side.

"Hem-hem."

The pink haired girl frowned before looking over to see Neji and Shino smirking at her again. She groaned already knowing that they were going to tease her again. "Shut it. I don't want to hear it." She told them with a raised hand between her face and them. Both young men just chuckled as they looked at one another before walking on.

Another day passed, and the whole Shinobi Army was climbing up the mountain and going through rocky crevices. It wasn't easy pulling some of the carts through them but all of them managed. Sakura still spent most of her time by the cart with Minato, who had still yet to wake up. She was really starting to worry now. It had almost been four days since they even found him and he hadn't stirred once. He was still alive and that brought much relief to everyone. But it would have made them all feel better if he would only just wake up. Sakura also found herself thinking about Kakashi a lot as she watched him lead the Shinobi. She wondered exactly what he really looked like without that mask. She had yet to see him without it. As did everyone else. But she was pretty sure he was a handsome fellow. How could he not be? He was handsome even while wearing it. This did bring a few disturbing thoughts to her mind and when she started blushing, Neji and Shino would immediately appear and tease her about it.

Finally, only a few days away from Konoha, things really went haywire for the Shinobi Army.

It was a rather cloudy day, and it looked like it was going to rain. The wind was light though and that was a relief. Everyone was almost as quiet as death itself. The only noise that could be heard was their feet on the ground and the creaking of the cart wheels. Occasionally, someone coughed or started talking in low voices but they immediately shushed when the Elites shot them a look. Everyone was on edge. Sakura was walking close to Neji and Shino, when she saw them both tense. She even heard some of Shino's bugs starting to chirp or click, as if sending a warning. As for Neji, he immediately halted before lashing out and grabbing Sakura. "Stop!" He yelled to everyone. Immediately, everyone froze in their tracks and turned sharply around with their hands on their kunai. They were definitely on edge!

"What's up, Neji?" Naruto asked as he moved towards the long haired Shinobi and the pink haired one.

Neji let out an angry hiss before he lurched forward, shoving the blonde hard. "Not there, you bakamono!" He yelled before leaping back while trying to pull Sakura back with him. Shino was already moving back, too, as if he knew what had Neji so tense. Even Akamaru was whining to Kiba, whose eyes widened with surprise.

Before anyone knew it, there was a loud explosion, sending anyone close to where Sakura, Neji, Naruto and Shino had been flying in different directions. It was a small explosion but it still knocked them backwards off their feet. Dust and debris went flying everywhere, pelting those not too far away. Several of the Shinobi had cried out in alarm before they started hacking and coughing up dust.
A few moments later, the dust was blown away and there was a small crater right where Naruto had used to be before he was knocked onto his back. Kakashi hurried over, frowning, while his eye went straight to the person nearest to the hole. Sakura. "What happened?!" He demanded.

Sakura looked wide eyed up at him as she sat up but she shook her head. She had no idea what just happened. She couldn't answer that question. "I….um……"

"You just gave away our position, Haruno! There could be enemy scouts near by!" Kakashi said sternly. Neji quickly moved forward shaking his head as he grabbed Sakura's arm and helped her to her feet. "It's not his fault. There are ground bombs all over the place. At least ten from what I can see." He told him. Kakashi and most of the other Shinobi tensed but they immediately jumped right into action. They knew that wasn't very good. "All right. Spread out and carefully locate the bombs. If you can, deactivate them. If you can't, mark the ground near it so we can just go around it." Kakashi ordered everyone. All of the Shinobi nodded as they began the quick sweep of the area while Sakura just dusted herself off.

"Zaku," Kakashi spoke, catchign her attention. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have done that."

Sakura only smiled at him as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I know why you did it. I don't blame you." She told him before she quickly went to join the others to looking around. She was glad that no one got hurt though Naruto was whining about having dirt in his eye. Otherwise, everyone was okay. She looked up when she heard movement from Minato's cart and gave a sharp gasp when she saw him finally awake. He was holding himself up by an elbow and looking out of the tent that the medics had pitched on top of the cart. "Minato-sama." She said as she hurried back to the side of the cart. She saw Kakashi quickly following, along with Naruto.

"Minato-senpai." Kakashi said as he approached. "How are you feeling?"

Minato just shook his shaggy blonde head as he let his eyes look everything over then leaned more out of the tent. "What's going on?" He asked, sounding very tired. Kakashi shook his head as he turned and surveyed the area. Though his mask hid it, he was frowning. "Traps, Master. Looks like Orochimaru……."

Suddenly there was a loud whistle, making both Minato and Kakashi spin around, the silver white haired Elite quickly pushed past Sakura and raised an arm, which the thrown kunai struck. Blood immediately went flying with the blade struck through Kakashi's arm, almost going through. The Elite only grunted in mild pain before yanking it back out. Every one of the Shinobi spun around only to see a rain of Kunai and shruiken falling towards them. Immediately, everyone began dodging the blades, though few were not so lucky. Even Minato had to dodge. He threw himself head first right out of the tent, rolling a little as he hit the rocky ground before a large shruiken cut right into the tent. Sakura quickly bent down to help him up, but he was still rather weak.

"Everyone! Get out of range! Take cover!" Kakashi bellowed as he grabbed Minato's other arm and helped her drag him to a safer distance.

The rain of blades stopped though.

For a long, uncomfortable moment, all of the Shinobi who had not been killed or injured stood glaring up at the cliff side several yards away, waiting for the attack. Sakura was looking wild eyed up at the cliffs, almost terrified about what just happened but she was keeping Minato on his feet, who was breathing rather hard. He was still weak and tired from his long recovery.

Finally, after a while, someone appeared on top of the cliff, looking down at them with his cruel smirk. He was followed by several of his men, all sneering as they looked down at them. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Lost leaves, hmm?"

Sakura felt a shiver run right up her spine when she heard that voice. And felt her heart nearly stop when she saw him. She had never seen a man like him. Her eyes grew wider as she looked at his pale skin, how skinny he was, but the evil in his eyes was what scared her the most. It was like looking in the eyes of a poisonous snake. This must have been Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru!" Several of the Shinobi yelled in rage and hatred, mostly the Shinobi Elites.

Beside Sakura, she heard Naruto breath in deeply and she glanced over to see how alarmed he looked. She couldn't blame him. She must have shared the very same look on her own face. "That's Orochimaru?" She whispered. She saw Minato nod as he looked up at the pale ninja. He wasn't looking very happy at all to see the man but there was definitely strength in his eyes, even if there wasn't any for him physically. "That's him. He might not look much, but he's extremely dangerous. Do not turn your back on him if you end up facing him." He told her in a low voice.

Above them Orochimaru was looking all of them over, his eyes pausing on a few, such as Sasuke or Naruto. But they froze on Minato. He was surprised to see the golden haired Shinobi still alive. And it was clear that he was because of the look on his face. Even some of his men and the Shinobi had seen that look. And in a way, his men shared his surprised. They had watched their master fight Minato, with the help of his giant snakes. They had watched him nearly kill the Legendary ninja. But here he was, alive.

"You……you're still alive?" Orochimaru asked as he eyed Minato with distaste.

A few of the Shinobi Elites glanced over at the golden blonde haired Shinobi, who was still looking rather tired but trying to be as serious as ever. Even Sakura glanced up at him, but frowned even more when she heard his raspy breathing. She knew that he was very tired and feeling weak. This excitement was not good for him. Not right now. This was a bad time to run into Orochimaru and his men. So with a determined frown, she stepped forward and to the side to stand right in front of Minato, her eyes looking at the pale enemy. And for the first time, Orochimaru noticed her. He frowned as he looked her over, tilting his head over. He looked rather confused before a certain glint sparked up in his eye. As if he just realized something. His eyes turned to Kakashi next. "Well, Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha. I had heard that you were in charge of this pathetic group of Shinobi. So how is the son of the most disgraced Shinobi? Are you following in The White Fang's footsteps?" He asked in an amused hiss.

Sakura looked over at Kakashi, to see that his face only grew very hard at Orochimaru's words. But it had hit him a little. She had seen his eye flinch. So with her fists clenched tight, she looked back at the pale remark. "Shut up, you monster!" She found herself shout.

Several eyes shot towards her, including Kakashi's; all looking rather stunned that she had even spoken to the tyrant like that. None of them believed it. Minato just merely glanced at her with only little surprise. He knew it wasn't smart of her to talk to Orochimaru like that. But he did find it rather amusing how she did not look afraid at all. Foolish, but amusing.

"…….What did you say to me?" Orochimaru hissed, definitely not amused.

Sakura gave him a fierce look as she dipped her head a little. She looked rather dangerous when she did that. And there was definitely a dangerous glint in her eyes. "I said," She said slowly. "Shut up, you monster. Don't you dare talk to Kakashi-sama like that! Especially about his father, Hatake Sakumo! That man should have never been disgraced! He was a hero then, and he is a hero now! Kakashi is the same way! You, on the other hand, are a monster and a tyrant! And you will pay for what you did to our fellow Shinobi!" She immediately snapped into a fighting stance. "And you will not touch our Honorable Hokage!"

Several of the other Shinobi just smiled at her determination. They were definitely impressed. The girl they thought that was a boy definitely had spunk. Immediately, Sakura's friends snapped into a fighting stance, ready to fight.

"Hah! You got that right, Zaku!" Naruto cheered as he rose his fists in front of him and glared up at the enemy's army. "Hey, snake man! I'm gonna kill you for trying to kill my dad!" And at his words, several of the other young men cheered their agreements and threw their fists into the air. They were ready for a fight and they were not going to lose.

Orochimaru had definitely lost all amusement. He gave the entire Shinobi a very cold look before he threw out his hand to the side and motioned for his army to move in. "Kill all of them, but the pink haired one. I'm curious about that one." He ordered. All of his ninja yelled, "Hai!" before they jumped down and lunged at their enemies.

"All right! This is it, men! Remember your training!" Kakashi yelled as he started forward. "But you might have to go for the kill! Do not hold back on your enemy, for they will kill you if you do!" Everyone nodded and rushed forward to meet an opponent. "Zaku, protect Minato-sama!" Kakashi yelled over his shoulder.

Sakura nodded as she grabbed Minato's arm and pulled him to a more open area where she thought would be safe. She had to stop as two Sound Ninja jumped right in front of her, blocking their path. She felt Minato grab her arm and start to pull her back to protect her but she immediately resisted and faced the ninja with raised fists. It was time to show the kind blonde how much she had grown over the six months. The Sound ninja only laughed before charging at her, with kunai in hand. And she rushed forward to meet them.

"Zaku!" Minato yelled in alarm but then was surprised when Sakura quickly ducked under swinging kunai.

Sakura was moving at an incredible speed as she dodged the blades flying at her before she ducked under a fist from one of the Sound. With a smirk on her face, she threw a punch right into his jaw and felt the satisfaction of hearing a loud crack, proving she had just broke his jaw. The Sound ninja nearly went flying twenty feet up into the air before coming down with a loud crash nearly thirty away, and taking a few of his companions with him. Any of her friends who had seen it, just stared at her with shock and disbelief while big fat sweat drops on their foreheads. Even Minato looked rather surprised.

Kakashi had seen what "Haruno Zaku" had done too. With surprise, he looked over at Gai as he was attacking a few of the Sound Ninja. "Gai, what in the heck did you teach him?"

"You told me to make him strong, so I did. Impressed?" Gai called over grinning. But Kakashi didn't answer as he went on fighting. "I bet you're really starting to like him, though." The Taijutsu expert said grinning to himself. This caused Kakashi to quickly pick up a rock and throw it at his back, which met its mark. "Ow!

Sakura, on the other hand, was doing very well as she began pounding the crap out of the other Sound Shinobi, who had been stunned after seeing his partner getting hit like he did. She was very aware that Minato was watching her fight and she couldn't help but smirk as she was winning.

Just then another Sound Ninja jumped down right behind her when she had been too busy beating up the other one. Without any warning, he grabbed her arms and yanked them right behind her back so that she couldn't defend herself. Sakura couldn't stop the alarmed cry from escaping her as she whipped her head around to look wide eyed at him. He was only sneering as he nodded to his comrade. "Come on, man! Hit him!" He urged the other Sound Ninja, who grinned wickedly right back and moved forward with a fist raised.

Suddenly there was a flash of yellow right before them and Sakura was released immediately. She yelped when she almost fell forward to the ground if it weren't someone grabbing her arm. She heard both of the Sound Ninja cry out in pain before they fell to the ground with kunai stuck in their throats. Alarmed, she looked up to see Minato, glaring hard down at the fallen men before looking at her.

"Are you all right, Sakura?" He asked in a low voice.

Sakura nodded as she straightened herself before looking down. She was definitely surprised by how fast Minato really was. She was now starting to understand why he was called the Golden Flash. "Yeah."

Minato just nodded before doubling over and placing a hand over one of his many scars on his abdomen. Immediately, Sakura caught his arm to keep him standing. "Damn it. I'm still a little weak. Not all of my strength has returned but I can't just leave everyone to fight alone." He looked back around real quick before looking back at Sakura. "Don't worry about me. I have enough strength to defend myself. Just start fighting. Help Kakashi, if you must. But do not go near Orochimaru. You are no match for him." He told her.

"All right. But please be careful, Minato-sama." Sakura said looking a little worried.

Minato just smiled at her before reaching up and gently pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "You are some girl, you know that, Haruno. Whoever is paired up with you will be very lucky." Then he gave her a light push. "Now go fight! And be careful!"

Sakura nodded with a very determined look on her face before she turned and rushed off into the fighting crowd to start pounding the living hell out of the enemy. Minato just watched her go before he grew serious himself and began his own reign of attacks on a few of the Sound.

All the while, Orochimaru was watching the progress of his war, watching with mild amusement as his men was doing well against some of the Shinobi but then he scowled when he realized that the Leaf Shinobi were doing just as good. He hadn't been expecting this one. Some of the young recruits were very skilled indeed. He saw the two Uchiha brothers now facing one another and were locked in a deadly battle with one another. As for one of his most trusted men, Kabuto, he was actually fighting the young man, Sai, who was rapidly painting on paper and creating live clones to attack the medical expert ninja. He even saw that Namikaze Minato was doing well into his own fights and he was still recovering.

But it was clear exactly who was in charge of this troop.

Orochimaru knew that Minato might have been the Highest ranked Shinobi there, but it was Hatake Kakashi who was the Commanding officer of this troop of Shinobi. And it didn't help when he was using his Sharingan eye against the men he fought against. However, the snake like man just smirked coolly and licked his lips with his abnormally long tongue. There was only one way to solve this problem.

"Take away the leader, take away the army."

So he decided he would join in the fight as well. He reached up with one thumb and bit it hard till it bled. When it started to bleed, he ran the blood along a seal on his arm, calling for his giant summon.

The ground began to shake violently under the army's feet, making several look around with alarm. The Sound ninja paused for the briefest second before they launch a full out offensive attack on the Shinobi, who kicked it high gear into defensive. But when the ground began to crack a little as the giant snake pushed itself up and out of the ground. Several Shinobi had to freeze when they saw that. Even the Elites. None of them like the looks of this.

Sakura stared wide eyed up at the snake, just like everyone else. She couldn't believe this. This whole battle was spiraling right out of control. She looked around to see that all of her friends were surrounded by Sound Ninja and were having a very hard time fighting them off now. Even the Elites, who were faring a whole lot better than the younger recruits. Something needed to be done right now. And seeing that Kakashi was completely surrounded, yet doing all right, Sakura knew that something needed to be done about the numbers. For her friends and comrades were completely out numbered. But it was then, she was hit with an idea.

Her new Taijutsu technique that Gai had taught her.

With a determined look on her face, she looked straight at the Cliffside wall, letting the idea develop into a bigger plan. She knew it had to work. If she got it right, she could wipe out half of Orochimaru's army. But she would need help. She jerked her head around to search for Gai, Lee, and Neji and found them both fighting side by side, looking more like green tornados as they spun around in circles while attacking the Sound Ninja.

"Gai-sensai! Lee! Neji!" Sakura shouted to them, getting their attention. "Get everyone out of the way! I'm doing it! I'm going to punch the wall!"

Both Gai and Lee's eyes grew wide from hearing that. They knew exactly what she was talking about. Even Neji did for he was immediately running away from the rocky walls. The two Green Beasts quickly followed suit. "Everyone! Get away from the cliff! Run!" The Elite yelled as he was running for it. The other Shinobi were surprised, but few were listening while the others just stood there mixed among the Sound. Even Orochimaru was looking down at the pink haired Shinobi, frowning with confusion as he watched "him" rush to the cliff side. Sakura looked upward to see the pale tyrant watching her before she smirked mischievously before throwing her fist back. "See ya!" She shouted up at him as she was pushing her Chakra to her fist before she threw it hard into the Cliffside wall.

Before her fist even hit the Cliffside, most of the Sound Ninja had started laughing as if it had all been a big joke. They were finding this pink haired brat really stupid to even punch the cliff. But after her fist connected with the rocky wall, they were not laughing anymore. For when her fist hit the rocky wall, there was an explosion of rocks and debris as the cliff began to crumble easily under her fist. A web of cracks shot everywhere in the cliff side, making it shake and roar.

Several Shinobi, Leaf and Sound cried out in shock and alarm as they watched as huge boulders were coming loose. Orochimaru's eyes grew wide as the ground under his feet began to crack and collapse under him.

"RUN!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he was quickly at his father's side and pulling him as fast as he could as a huge landslide began.

Several Shinobi began to run for it as rocks were rolling right behind him and the cliff was collapsing behind them. Kakashi and the Elites were with their men, jumping side to side to avoid getting run over by the landslide. Beside the silver haired Shinobi, Sakura was running for it. She was looking over her shoulder to make sure that everyone was coming and to her relief, they were. The Sound ninja were not so lucky. Several of Orochimaru's men were immediately sucked into the rolling boulders and crushed by the thousand tons of rock. Orochimaru, however, leaped right onto his giant snake's head to avoid getting crushed.

After a long five minutes of roaring stones, everything went quiet. All of the Leaf Shinobi were safe on the side lines, looking at the huge pile of boulders with shock and alarm. But Sakura was right in front, panting from running so hard and smiling for what she had just done.

"Gai," Kakashi spoke up, both eyes; his normal and the Sharingan were wide with shock of what "Haruno Zaku" had just done. And when Gai looked at him, breathing hard and coughing from the thick cloud of dust, he looked right at Sakura. "What in the hell have you taught him?"

All four, Sakura, Gai, Lee and Neji smiled before laughing. A few of the others laughed with them until they realized that some of the Sound were still standing. Along with Orochimaru. The happy moment was gone as fast as it had come. All of the Shinobi tensed and snapped into action as they rushed forward to attack the Sound while they were still a little stunned. Once again, they were locked into a deadly battle. Kakashi just stood beside Sakura and Minato, watching as his men were jumping right into the fight again. Then he looked at Sakura with astonishment. "I must admit it, Zaku. You have definitely gotten stronger while training with Gai." He said with awe. Sakura just smiled up at him with a proud smile. She was glad to hear that from him.

That is until she saw Orochimaru suddenly appear right before them.

Before any one had the chance to do anything, the Sanin lashed out a foot and kicked Minato hard in the chest, sending him nearly flying a few yards back and across the rocky terrain. His long slimy tongue slammed into Sakura's face, knocking her onto her back, while he turned to attack Kakashi. The silver haired Elite was quick to put up his guard but not quick enough. For the snake like tyrant lashed out with a flat palm and struck him in the shoulder. With the speed and force Orochimaru was putting into the attack, it cut right into Kakashi. The Elite bellowed in pain as bent forward a little but didn't have time to block the next attack. Orochimaru threw up his knee, hitting him hard in the face and knocking him backwards. Kakashi hit the rocky ground hard with only a grunt in pain before he forced himself to lean on his elbow and clutch the hole in his shoulder.

"Kakashi!" Sakura yelped once she realized what happened. She hadn't been to keen to Orochimaru hitting her across the face with his long, slimy tongue but seeing how he was attacking Kakashi, that really made her angry.

Quickly, she was on her feet and bolting towards Orochimaru, who took the chance to kicking Kakashi hard across the face when he tried to get up to attack. The impact was hard enough to knock the Elite out. "Heh." The evil ninja snorted as he looked down at the unconscious Shinobi. "Thus ends the life of this fool." He raised his flat palm to strike again.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Sakura screamed at him as she balled up a fist and launched it at the long haired tyrant.

Startled only a little, Orochimaru jerked around only to see the pink haired "boy" attacking him. His eyes narrowed sharply as he lashed out and caught the fist, and then winced on how much strength this "boy" possessed. He swore that the bones must have broken from the impact. However, he had definitely caught the fist. "Foolish move, boy." Orochimaru sneered as he closed his long fingers around Sakura's fist.

"I don't think so!" Sakura yelled at him before she lashed out her foot next and kicked him hard across the side. Orochimaru winced a little but he caught her leg and slammed her to the ground. All of the air was knocked right out of Sakura's lungs, giving her only enough to scream in pain before coughing violently.

Orochimaru just sneered as he looked her over, watching her gasp and sputter for more air. But then something caught his eyes, or at least his ears at least. The scream. That was not a man's scream. Frowning, he tilted his head looking the pink haired "boy" over again before he bent down and grabbed the front of her shirt, yanking Sakura to her feet. "Wait a minute." The tyrant muttered before spinning her around so that he could trap her against his chest, while keeping her in a tight embrace. If Sakura was not fighting for her breath, she would at least fight to get away from him.

However, that was not the least of her worries. The thing she had to worry about the most was Orochimaru's hand shoving down her shirt and touching the bandages. Only then did Sakura freak.

"Hey! What the he-! What are you doing?! Get your hand out of there!" Sakura tried to scream at him.

But Orochimaru ignored her. He only frowned as his fingers brushed against the bandages before going further until he felt the curves. Only then did he snort as if he found something hilarious. He realized exactly WHAT he had had in his arms right then. "My, my, my." He sneered as he pulled his hand out and grabbed a fistful of Sakura's hair. "This is very surprising. A woman just killed half of my men with one little punch. Very interesting in deed. This must be embarrassing for Kakashi. But wait!" He jerked her to turn around so that they both could see Kakashi still out cold. "He probably doesn't even know that he was being rescued by a woman. I wonder how he'll take it."

"You snake!" Sakura spat as he now started to fight to get loose.

Orochimaru just laughed, more like hissed in her ear. He then slid out his long tongue and let it practically slither right in front of Sakura's face, who looked at with disgust and fear. "Not very ladylike, are we?" He said as he brought it very close to her face. "I'm only surprised that you came this far without anyone knowing that you are a female. But, surely the Great Kakashi knows. He doesn't miss a thing." And he laughed in a hiss when Sakura shivered and tried to look wide eyed at him. "Oh. I see. So he turned a blind eye then." Then the tyrant roughly shoved Sakura away from him, letting her stumble right to the ground and skin her knee on the rocky ground. "Now, what to do with you? Kill you or give you to my men as a reward for killing several Shinobi?"

Sakura's eyes widened before she jerked around and saw that all of her friends were really starting to have a hard time fighting the Sound ninja now. She could see that several of them were getting tired or were getting severely injured. Most of the men that she hadn't actually befriended were dying, but all of her friends were still alive. Problem was, they were starting to slow down. Even Shikamaru, who was the smartest ninja in the entire camp, with the I.Q. of 200, or so he and Asuma said. "No." She whispered when saw Kiba and Akamaru getting cut up pretty bad.

"Heh. I'll let my men decide what to do with you later." Orochimaru said as he started back towards Kakashi to finish him off.

Sakura whipped around again, seeing him now pulling a sword right out of his mouth. She knew that if she didn't move now, Kakashi would die. Gritting her teeth, she stood up and threw back her fist. "Do not touch Kakashi, you worm!" She snarled before lashing out hard and slamming her fist right into Orochimaru's back.

That really got his attention. There was a loud crack as one of the bones broke but Orochimaru didn't seem to pay much attention to his new injury. Instead, he jerked around, looking furious. "You…..! So you think I'm worm, hmm?! Snakes are known to be called worms of the earth, but that is not what they are! So if you wish to die with your friends, then so be it!" He then lashed out, with his sword with a silver blur and stabbed Sakura right in the shoulder.

"Argh!" Sakura screamed out in pain and she fell back a little, clutching her bloody wound now. She gritted her teeth as she watched Orochimaru step onto one of his giant snakes when it slithered over and rise up a little above her. She had to end this now. There was too much blood shed right now and she had to help her friends. Using quick thinking, she thought of only one thing. "You want to fight, Orochimaru, fine!" She snapped before whirling around and running straight for the ninja battles. First things first, get the tyrant away from Kakashi.

Orochimaru only laughed insanely as he gave the giant snake an order to give chase. "Running won't save you, little girl!" He laughed.

Sakura just kept her legs pumping as she dashes straight for her friends and the enemies. She really hoped that this would work. Quickly, she stuck her fingers into her mouth and gave a shrill whistle, catching several of her friends' attention. "Get out of the way! Get to higher ground!" She screamed at them.

Of course, seeing the giant snake coming at them, they knew they had better move. So they began jumping right out of the way, leaping up onto the high cliffs. The Sound ninja were not as fast in moving out of the way. They were barreled right over or knocked in different directions. The snake's priority and Orochimaru's was eating the pink haired Shinobi.

Sakura moved quickly through the Sound ninja just so that the snake would follow her and to her satisfaction, only part of her plan was working. Now for the really difficult part. Getting rid of the snake; both of them. She tried to think quickly, but it wasn't exactly quick enough. For the snake lunged forward and sank its fangs right in her shoulder, where Orochimaru had stabbed her. The pink haired girl screamed in pain as she was yanked to stop. That wasn't good.

But either way, her friends had seen what happened.

"Zaku!" Naruto bellowed before he jumped off the cliffs and rushed forward to help her. Beside him, Neji and Shino were jumping right after him, rage etched in both of their faces. They were quickly joined by the other young recruits Sakura had befriended since she joined the army. They were not going to stand by and watch their friend get killed by this giant snake.

"Hey! Get away from Zaku, bakamono!" Lee roared as he rushed across the rocky terrain.

Surprised, Orochimaru whirled around on the snake, looking at the Shinobi who was charging his snake. He didn't even have time as they began launching kunai or shruiken at them. Some were even throwing massive Taijutsu at the snake, driving it closer to the drop off. Neji, however, was quickly at Sakura's side, pulling her free from the snake's fangs. Sakura, on the other hand, just gritted her teeth in rage before pulling away from her friend. She was going to make this snake pay for what it just did. Without a word, she rushed over to stand between Orochimaru's snake and the cliffs and balled up a fist, summoning all her chakra to it. "Time to end this!" She yelled before she slammed her fist down hard onto the ground.

The rocky ground under her feet, the giant snake and some of her friends' feet shattered almost like glass. Millions of cracks spread out in all directions, startling some of her friends. It even spread out down the cliff side walls, causing it to rupture. The ground began shaking violently as the landslide began. Everyone around the snake immediately halted before they leapt away as the snake began to slide towards the edge. Sakura was immediately running off to the side as the landslide was now carrying the snake and the Sound Ninjas towards the drop off.

"Argh! We're gonna go over the edge!" One of the Sound yelled as he was running towards the side.

However, Ibiki was quickly there to shove him right back. He had realized what "Haruno Zaku" had just done and what "he" was trying to do. So he would help it go along. "Don't let any of them out of the landslide! Shove them right back!" He shouted. The other Elites nodded before rushing forward and began throwing kunai to push the Sound right back. The younger recruits saw what their sensai were doing and got the impression that they were suppose to help. So they joined in throwing the Sound ninja right back.

However, Orochimaru was furious. He had watched what the pink haired girl just did. And he was now watching his men topple right off the cliffs, and being carried away in a thousand ton landslide. As for his snake, it was having a hard time trying to escape the landslide. It was being pulled the huge boulders and was already starting to fall. "Catch yourself, you fool!" The evil tyrant hissed at the snake. The snake hissed right back but was trying to tense up its muscles to catch the ground.

"Oh no you don't!"

Orochimaru jerked his head around to see a very weary Minato standing off to the side; his breath rather raspy. He was forming quick hand signs before there was an explosion of smoke all around him. As the smoke was quickly blown away, Minato was standing on the back of a giant toad, almost the same size of Orochimaru's snake.

Minato just glared wearily at the pale legendary ninja before he lashed out a hand, while holding onto the back of the toad. "Knock him off, Gambunta!" he bellowed. The toad made a loud croak before it opened its mouth and its long tongue sped out, hitting the side of the snake. The force of the impact hit rather hard and it sent the snake toppling right over the edge, right after the Sound Ninja. Orochimaru gritted his teeth and tried to jump off the snake. He was not going to meet his end like this.

However, that was when Naruto threw the kunai with the explosive tag. "Hah! Take that, snake man!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Orochimaru's eyes grew wide as he looked to the side to see the kunai coming at him. He had only a little time to pull back so that he couldn't get sliced by the blade. But the damage was done. The explosive tag went off, causing a massive explosion and sending the snake like ninja flying backwards, right off the cliff. As for the rest of the Sound, some of them were still trying to run for their lives. Even the older Uchiha sibling, Itachi. He almost made it too if it hadn't been for Sasuke, jumping into his path. "Sasuke!" Itachi hissed between his teeth. And before he could react, Sasuke flew at his older brother, slamming his fist into his face and knocking him backwards. Along with his fellow Sound ninja, Itachi was snatched up by the landslide and went right over the cliff.

"Eek!" Sakura gasped as she tried to duck under a huge boulder. She was still trying to escape the landslide that she caused. But every step she made only ended up falling back. That is, until someone lashed out and caught her hand before she could go over. She looked up to see Minato. She was surprised at first but then realized that she didn't have time to be surprised. Both of them began rushing right through the falling chunks of stone before coming to safety. She was relieved that she had managed to escape that.

Until she saw the huge crack shooting across the rocky floor towards Kakashi.

"Oh kuso!" She cursed loudly before she yanked away from a surprised Minato and began a race for the still unconscious Elite, who was very unaware that the ground he was on was starting to crumble. "Kakashi! Wake up, you procrastinated freak!" Sakura yelled.

Kakashi, of course, didn't listen for he couldn't. He only began to slide right off the cliff and would have started falling if Sakura hadn't dove forward and caught him by the wrist before he could fall too far.

Luckily, the ground under him wasn't as bad as the other part of the cliff. It immediately stopped shaking once everything settled.

The results; Kakashi was dangling off a hundred foot cliff by Sakura, who was trying to keep a tight hold on him.

"Kakashi! Wake up!" Sakura gasped as she felt herself starting to slide. She was bracing herself as best as she could, but to her horror, Kakashi was a lot heavier than she had thought. "Jeeze! You're going to die if you don't open your stupid eyes, you idiot!"

That was the que for him stir. Kakashi groaned as his head lift a little before he finally did open his eye. It took him a second to fully awake but after finding himself facing a wall and dangling by an arm off a cliff, he really snapped to full consciousness. "What the he-?!" He looked up to see a panting "Zaku" clutching onto his arm and trying to keep himself from falling.

"It's about time! Don't look down!" Sakura yelled down at him as she tried to pull him up.

Unfortunately, Kakashi did the opposite of what she said and looked what down. His eye snapped open wide as he saw how far the ground was below him. "What in the…..!" He then shook his head before grabbing the edge of the cliff and tried to pull himself up. "Jeeze. I get knocked out for a minute (actually it was more than a minute) and all breaks loose." He grumbled.

Suddenly the ground under Sakura decided to give way and she went head first right over the side. Both of them yelped in alarm as they started to fall. Kakashi reacted a lot quicker than Sakura did by wrapping his arm around her waist and trying to hold tight onto the cliff side. "Whoa!" He gasped as he held onto the edge and Sakura as tight as he could.

"Hang there, Kashi! Helps a comin'!"

Kakashi and Sakura looked up to see Gai quickly arrive and grab Kakashi by the wrist. He was quickly joined by Lee, who made to grab Sakura's hand. Together, they pulled their comrades up to safety and well away from the edge of the cliff. Sakura was panting from all of the excitement. She didn't even realize that she was bleeding from the wounds she had gotten.

"What just happened?" Kakashi asked rubbing the side of his head where Orochimaru had hit him before wincing and then touched the hold in his shoulder. He was also bleeding, but not as bad as Sakura was. It was a nasty wound but not the worst he had ever gotten.

All of the Leaf Shinobi circled around their commander and comrade, all grinning or already celebrating their victory. Minato just smiled as he bent down to one knee, smiling fondly at Sakura. "Zaku just saved your life, Kakashi. He stood up for you when Orochimaru was trying to kill you, then caught you from going over the cliff." He told him simply.

Kakashi looked at Sakura with surprise before looking at the partially missing cliff. "And Orochimaru?! Has he escaped?"

"Nope! Zaku sent him and his entire army over the cliff using that spiffy jutsu I taught him!" Gai said proudly. He even gave Sakura a thumbs up for her accomplishment. Sakura faintly smiled before looking at Kakashi who was looking at her with astonishment again. But after a moment, the strict Elite's face softened and had the look as if he was smiling at her. "Zaku, you are the craziest, most determined, most unorthodox man I have ever met." He slowly shook his head when Sakura smiled uneasily and he smiled right back as he slowly got to his feet. "But I owe you my life. I swear to you that I am in your debt and I will do anything to repay you." He told her.

Sakura only smiled as she stood with his help. All around them, their friends and comrades were cheering her name, Zaku's name. They were throwing their fists into the air and just celebrating the victory. Sakura looked at Minato, who smiled right back and gave her a wink. She could almost read that look on his face. It was a, "Good job, girl." look that he had given her. She knew that once they set up camp, there was going to be a huge celebration. And she couldn't wait to join them.

That is until her adrenaline slowed down and the pain in her wound struck.

"Argh!" Sakura cried out and slapped a hand onto her shoulder. She saw Kakashi whirl around and look at her, as did everyone else. Some of her friends looked just as alarmed as they heard her. Neji and Shino both looked at her with concern before they remembered the snake bite, not to mention the wound Orochimaru had given her.

"Zaku, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked as he quickly touched her unhurt arm. He then spotted the blood seeping through her shirt, and so had the others. "He's hurt! How did that happen?!"

Minato's eyes widened with concern and alarm when he saw that Sakura was hurt. He knew that was going to be a very big problem for two reasons. One, because she was hurt. And two, she was going to need medical attention. He knew he was going to need to get to her first and help her before anyone else did. However, it was already too late. Kakashi was now grabbing at Sakura's shirt so he could see the wound better. As expected, Sakura squeaked and tried to pull away, trying to keep her shirt closed. She knew that if he even caught a glimpse of the bandages around her chest, he would know. "Uh! It's okay, Kakashi! I'll be fine!" She told him trying not to wince but failed for the wound was stinging badly.

Kakashi was not fooled at all. He grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her back towards him. "Stop being a fool, Zaku. You're bleeding. Let me see it." He told her as he began to fight her to open the shirt.

Neji and Shino immediately jumped forward to help her. They knew that she would be discovered if Kakashi got his way. "I'll help him, Hatake-senpai!" Neji spoke up loudly. But he was caught by Gai. The Elite just grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Let Kakashi have some room, Neji. He knows what he's doing." He told him with worry for "Zaku". But Neji tried to ignore him. He was not trying to pull away from his sensai to help Sakura before she was discovered.

"No, Kakashi! I'm fine! I swear!" Sakura said frantically as she tried to keep her shirt closed. She winced again when Kakashi decided to get a little rough in trying to see her wound. He grabbed her wrists and tried to pull them away, squeezing a little hard. "Zaku! Just let me see the wound! Don't be so difficult!" He ordered her. He only glanced away from her when Minato decided to join the fray. The golden blonde Shinobi grabbed his former student's shoulder and shook his head. "Let me take care of him, Kakashi. I know how to cure the poison from Orochmiaru's snake.

Hearing the word poison made things worst.

Sakura squeaked in horror as she already felt tired from the blood loss but after hearing the word poison, she was now starting to panic. She was trying to jerk away from Kakashi now, but the poison in her system was starting to kick in. She began to see dots in her vision and she felt very sick. Kakashi just shook his head as he wrapped a strong arm around Sakura's waist and pulled her right back. "Master, I can deal with it. Just let me take care of Zaku." He told him as he grabbed Sakura's shirt and again tried to pull it open. This time, Sakura wasn't able to stop him. But he didn't need to pull it all the way open. For he saw the bandages and froze with surprise.

By that time, Sakura was starting to black out. She saw the darkness creeping up to her and she fell over on top of Kakashi. Her vision went black and she was out of it. The only thing she heard were the shouts of her friends and the last thing she saw was the shocked look on Kakashi's face.