FWAP!

Suddenly a kunai had shot straight for the ANBU's mask, knocking it off. One of the ANBU at the back of the boat had seen Sakura's expression and immediately knew something was wrong. As the mask flew off, Sakura found herself looking at Sasuke. He had been with her since she left Naruto.

Sasuke's expression showed absolutely no surprise. He knew the kunai was coming, and now he was letting them see him.

"He's here!" shouted the ANBU.

The others, now alerted to the situation, drew kunai and prepared to attack.

"There's no use..." said Sasuke, looking at them like they were nothing. "I'm going to kill you all."

The attack had begun. A barage of kunai were sent flying towards Sasuke. He dodged and left Sakura standing there to watch the bloodshed unfold. Drawing shuriken, Sakura took a stance to fight. However, the ANBU don't answer just to the Hokage for nothing. They were chosen for this task, and for good reason.

Before Sakura even blinked, two of the ANBU appeared before her in defensive mode. The other two ANBU were left to fight Sasuke.

These ANBU were specifically chosen for this position because of their abilities to use the water element. Tsunade had planned ahead and chose members who could use the element to give them every advantage that was possible considering their journey.

As Sasuke dodged the water attacks and constant strikes from the two ANBU, he began to realize what was happening. The two he was fighting were only focused on physical attacks to cut him down. Using hand signs for the attacks would give them the disadvantage by causing a delay, so they focused all their efforts on attacking him without break. Looking around to see who was controlling the water attacks, Sasuke saw that the two guarding Sakura had their hands in a concentrating pose. This was their plan to face the problem of Sasuke's incredible speed. Thinking as he fought them, he could not help but admire that Tsunade had thought this far.

This is where the Sharingan came in handy. Copying the juitsu, Sasuke used his speed as an advantage and sent water attacks to the two who were guarding Sakura. They were forced to release their juitsus as the three of them dodged to avoid it. At that moment when Sasuke got them to pull their punches, he took the opportunity to take out the two who were chasing him.

Drawing his sword, Sasuke pulsed the blade with electricity and swiped at a distance from them. The electricity caught hold of their metal kunai and in turn sent bolts through their bodies. As they fell, the flash from Sasuke's sword gleamed as he quickly cut the two on their way down. By the time Sakura and the other two had landed out on the water, they were looking at Sasuke and two dead bodies.

The ANBU with their backs to Sakura did not even flinch. Their abilitly to hold their composure in the face of having easily lost two comrades in a split second did not distract them from their task. Back on the ship, the crew cowered as Sasuke peered over the edge at Sakura.

"Sakura," said the ANBU on her right. "It is our turn to fight. The other two were better than we were, and that's a fact. We will buy you time to get to shore. The rest is up to you."

"Hai."

"Don't look back!"

At that moment, Sakura dashed for the shoreline. Sasuke immediately moved to catch her but instead found himself faced with the other two blocking his path. As they crouched with kunai in their hands, the stance they took was admirable in every aspect, and Sasuke smiled knowing that they had accepted their fates.

When Sakura reached the shore she wasted no time in dashing into the trees for cover. She moved as swiftly as she could and headed straight for several yards before cutting right.

I can't go to the village, she thought. He'll kill them all.

Soon she heard an explosion in the distance from where the boat was, and she didn't have to look back to know that the two ANBU were dead. She only hoped that the crew members were able to get away to send a message back to Konoha.

I've got to keep running until I figure out what to do, she decided. Shit, I don't even know the terrain...I'll just have to count on the fact that Sasuke doesn't either.

Leaping over some rocks, Sakura kept her pace as she went deeper into the forest. All the while she hoped that she had put enough distance between her and Sasuke so that he couldn't hear her footsteps.

Why the hell did he wait this long to attack!? Sakura thought. Soon she bit her lip.

Shit...he was isolating me...