A/N: First off, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long. I think it's the longest chapter I've written in a while, so there's that. Also I'm not usually one to go on about the review count, but the fact that this story has over 200 is incredible and I'm so very grateful to everyone who took the time to leave a comment. I'll never stop saying thank you for the feedback, because it's honestly the best feeling for me to read other people's thoughts and opinions about this story.

"How's Naruto doing?"

"Exhausted. He wore himself out climbing up trees last night."

Kakashi studied Sasuke's face, while the boy deliberately ignored his stare by pretending to clear the table.

"You're worried about him."

"That dobe is a liability to the mission in his current state. He won't be able to help us guard the bridge today."

"Right. The mission, of course."

Kakashi decided not to push. Let Sasuke recognize the beginnings of friendship in his own time.

"With Zabuza out of the picture I doubt Gato would have the time or resources to hire anyone stronger than local bandits. He may have a mob with him when he attacks, but there's a good chance none of them will be skilled with chakra. We should be able to handle whatever he has left to throw at us."

"What about the girl? What if she comes back?"

There was an uneasiness in Sasuke's voice when he talked about her. Something about her had unsettled at least two of his genin more than any of their other enemies had. Perhaps it was their similar age. It was never nice seeing someone just like you be so much stronger, or so much more ruthless. Kakashi was thankful for Konoha's laws regarding genin and child abuse, but it was always a shock for the kids to realise that not all villages raised their young the same way, and many weren't eased into the lifestyle of shinobi like Konoha genin. If they had been born in a harsher village they may have had to murder their own classmates before graduating, something that would certainly traumatize children their age. He had a feeling this girl had been through similar trials, and while part of him pitied her he was practical enough to push the sentimentality aside and focus on the danger she presented.

"I don't think she's working with Gato. She seemed focused on me, not stopping our mission. If she comes back, you and Kaori should prioritise protecting Tazuna and let me handle her. There's a good chance she has no interest in the bridge builder, which means you'll only need to fight Gato's men if they show up."

Sasuke nodded and went to wash up. He was definitely tense, and Kakashi could understand why. No amount of training in the Academy could prepare you for the real danger of missions, especially now that their C-rank had turned into an A-rank.

But so far, his genin had proven themselves capable. Even though only two of them were up for protection duty today, Kakashi had faith that they could handle whatever Gato threw at them. The girl however…

He'd make sure to keep them away from her.

A little way away from where the bridge was being built, Sakura sat on an isolated rocky shore and watched the sun rise. The waves were soothing and peaceful, helping her calm herself down in preparation for the fight. Adrenaline was good, but too much of it before the battle even began could make her jittery.

Recon had proven useful. It appeared Kakashi and his team were assigned to protect some bridge builder, for reasons Sakura didn't care about. The important thing was that they guarded him as he worked every day, and from watching them a safe distance away Sakura had finally concluded yesterday that Kakashi looked well enough to put up a good fight.

Now she was ready too. Her weapons were fully stocked, her chakra reserves were full, and her head was clear from the mess that previous encounter had made.

Her headache had faded, but she had yet to find a solution for the genin that had caused it. To combat this, she had formed a simple plan: Separate Kakashi from the kids and fight him without their interference. She was certain Kakashi wouldn't risk fresh new genin against an opponent like her, therefore as long as they kept their distance she would be fine, and so would they.

Kakashi might not be, but she didn't really care about that.

Tazuna hummed cheerfully as he worked. It irked Sasuke. The man was well aware of the danger he faced, yet he continued to act as if everything would be fine, despite the fact that Kakashi was all the way at the other end of the bridge and Naruto was back at the house. If anyone chose to attack now, it was just Sasuke and Kaori guarding the builder. That thought did not sit well with Sasuke.

Kaori seemed more relaxed, idly skipping stones while Sasuke stood watch. For whatever reason, that pink-haired girl hadn't shaken Kaori the way she had shaken him and Naruto. There had been something so very unsettling about the encounter, and judging by Naruto's moodiness these past few days Sasuke certainly wasn't the only one who'd felt it. But why hadn't Kaori been affected?

Could the fault lie in Sasuke? Perhaps she was just handling their first real mission better, while he had reverted to Naruto's level to cope. That thought bothered Sasuke for a whole other reason. He didn't like being similar to the dobe.

Frustrated, he glared out into the waves, as if hoping they would give him the answer to his problems. Was Sasuke overreacting, or was he more aware of the danger than Kaori? He wished Naruto was here, for the additional manpower and so Sasuke could see how he was holding up. But Naruto was probably fast asleep back at the house, and Sasuke was left feeling very exposed.

This bridge was too open. There were countless ways for an enemy to spring an attack, and Sasuke couldn't watch them all. He wanted to get Kaori to help, but he didn't want to sound paranoid or overzealous. Before the encounter with Zabuza he would have trusted his instincts, but now he couldn't tell if he was too on edge or if he had a legitimate reason to be worried.

As if this day couldn't get any worse; mist started gathering, rolling across the waves towards their bridge. That was the last thing Sasuke needed, guarding Tazuna would be even more difficult if his vision was limited.

The mist didn't seem to care what Sasuke wanted. It blanketed the entire area in less than a minute, and it was thick enough that Sasuke could barely see Kaori in front of him. She had stopped skipping stones now, and was looking around warily.

"Sasuke." she said sharply. "Does this mist seem-"

"Yeah." Sasuke replied. "I don't think it's natural either. Stay close to Tazuna. Kakashi-sensei should be back shortly."

Something moved in the mist in front of him. His hand tightened on his kunai and he squinted as hard as he could. Anger bubbled inside him at his own incompetency. An Uchiha who couldn't see through a simple mist, Itachi would sneer at him if he saw him now.

A scream sounded from his left side, and he whipped around to see Kaori fall to the ground. He had two seconds to register that the attacker had made their move before something hit him hard in the back of his head.

Sasuke collapsed, catching a wisp of pink hair before his vision faded into darkness.

Kakashi knew who it was the second he saw the mist. A trademark of Zabuza, one he would never use again. The quickly cut-off scream from the other end of the bridge confirmed it, much to his dismay. He'd been hoping his distance would keep her away from the others.

"Am I late?"

The girl was definitely stealthy. He hadn't heard her coming at all, yet she landed straight in the middle of the bridge. He pulled his hitai-ate off his sharingan. There was no doubt anymore that he would need it for this fight.

"Right on time. What did you do to my genin?"

"They're unconscious. If you care about them you'd stay away from them until this is over."

"And what exactly is this?"

"A battle to see who is stronger."

"This seems a bit extreme. There are easier ways to challenge each other. Maybe we should all just calm down, compare stats and achievements, have a race."

"Speak for yourself." The girl's lips twitched slightly. "I'm as cool as can be."

She tossed something into the air, down towards the end of the bridge where Tazuna still was. Kakashi's sharingan eye caught the seals wrapped around the orb, and he instinctively raced towards it.

He had one second to catch the bomb and fling it away from the bridge before it exploded, causing the ocean below it to send large waves rippling towards the bridge.

"Not bad." The girl said calmly. "I know a guy who deals with explosives. It's tricky to get the right mix. Too much and you blow everything to pieces, not that he would mind that."

She had a bag on her, Kakashi realised. He watched carefully as she slid it from her shoulder and dropped it. What was in it? More explosives? Poison? Something worse?

The bag hit the bridge, and the girl vanished.

He felt the kunai press against his throat, and he retracted his earlier statement. This girl wasn't just stealthy; she was very, very fast.

"Nice distraction." Kakashi said, the metal digging against his neck. "But it was a bit too obvious."

He substituted himself with the bag, and landed facing her. The girl almost looked impressed.

"I didn't notice you preparing the substitution at all. You really do live up to your reputation."

"I'd say the same for you, but to be honest I have no idea who you are. You definitely seem like you belong in a bingo book."

"I like to think I would be if I wasn't so good at my job. In this time of peace many shinobi forget the need for secrecy."

"So, you're a shinobi?"

"Of a sort."

"In that case, you know what you're walking into. By threatening my team and my mission I cannot let you live."

With a few swift hand seals, the chakra Kakashi had been building in his hand exploded outwards as a mass of electricity.

"Chidori!"

The girl remained calm, almost blank faced. In Kakashi's experience, that usually wasn't a good sign.

"Like you, I have my own responsibilities."

Kakashi charged at the girl, crossing the space between them in less than a second. The mass of lightning chakra in his hand was thrust out in front of him, and as it got closer and closer to the girl the less likely her chances of evading it became.

Just as he was certain he could almost feel it hitting her, she vanished.

He spun around to see her balancing on the railing. The ends of her hair looked a little singed but other than that she seemed unharmed. With every Shunshin she became more and more of a dangerous opponent in his eyes. He preferred fighting power over speed.

Still, when it came to speed the Chidori was one of the best assassination techniques. This girl was clearly cocky enough to let it get that close, perhaps he could use it against her.

One hand was still humming with lightning chakra, but he slipped a kunai into the other. The girl watched placidly from her perch on the railing. Despite her desire for a fight, she seemed in no hurry to end this. It was almost as if she enjoyed dodging his fatal attacks.

Maybe this kid had some sort of suicide wish or maybe she was just that confident in her abilities. Either way it wasn't Kakashi's problem. He'd fought both kinds before, and he'd always been the last one standing.

He charged at her again, the Chidori crackling. While he kept one eye focused on her, his other eye was sweeping the area, calculating where she would Shunshin to. It was the benefit of having a sharingan eye, one this girl couldn't replicate.

He got closer and closer, crossing the distance between them in less than a second, waiting for that moment where the girl would vanish. His sharingan eye tracked his movements, telling him how close he was to the last distance she had vanished at. He closed that distance and prepared for her to Shunshin.

She ducked.

He swiped his hand down, but she was faster. She slammed a palm into his stomach, and it felt like a much heavier weight had been swung into him. Kakashi went flying back off the bridge and landed on the water, breathing heavily.

He thanked every deity he knew that he hadn't given her the chance to land a full punch. All that strength would have crushed one of his vital organs for sure. As it was, there was a whole lot of pain, but he was fairly certain he'd live.

He'd let his Chidori fizzle out right before he crashed into the water, which also wasn't a good thing. He had a feeling he'd caught onto the girl's game. She was letting him attack, letting him tire himself out trying to kill her, while she barely used up any of her chakra. He had thought he was facing an opponent who relied on speed, but after experiencing first-hand the strength of her palm he knew now that she had plenty of power too. Once he was too tired to effectively block her, she would go on the offensive.

Now that he figured her out, he needed to find out a way to stop her. His best bet was to force her to use up her chakra, go for a big attack she couldn't dodge and would have to block. Kakashi considered a few of the strongest jutsu in his arsenal, then he shrugged.

Might as well.

The girl watched in interest as he began weaving hand-seals. When he was halfway done, her hands started moving at a rapid pace. Thanks to his sharingan he could see she wasn't copying his jutsu, so she was most likely creating a defence. If he got lucky she'd underestimate him and create a weak one, which his jutsu would break. But he had a feeling she would block it, and hopefully use up a lot of chakra in the process.

He finished his hand-seals and concentrated his chakra. As if the Chidori hadn't been tiring enough, this was going to take a good chunk of his remaining reserves.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

"Suiton: Suijinheki!"

As the fireball sped towards the girl, Kakashi spared a second to regret the fact that the bridge probably wouldn't survive this fight. Then a giant wall of water rose up and blocked his fire. For a minute both jutsu struggled to gain dominance, until in the end the fireball was destroyed and the wall fully evaporated. The steam generated did nothing to help visibility, and combined with the thick mist one of Kakashi's eyes was practically useless.

Luckily, his sharingan still worked. So when he saw the girl approaching him he drew a kunai and ran to meet her.

With all this dense fog the girl should have been blind, yet when Kakashi stabbed at her with his kunai she easily countered with her own. Had she heard him coming? That was something even experienced S-rank shinobi struggled with, yet this girl seemed to have no problem reading his moves. It was almost like an Uchiha, except instead of sharingan she just had razor-sharp senses. At a guess he'd say that she had honed her senses through rigorous training, perhaps methods so extreme even the harsher villages would frown on them. It was either that or a kekkei genkai, because the only way normal shinobi became this alert and on edge was through a great deal of trauma.

Her eyes met his as their blades attempted to overpower each other. There was no determination or passion in her gaze, just an eerie calm. Why was she even doing this?

She suddenly increased the pressure on her kunai, forcing him to disengage and leap backwards. They circled each other warily, neither moving closer to attack.

Kakashi knew that his remaining reserves weren't great. The question was how much chakra had that water wall taken? Did she have enough stamina left to keep slinging powerful jutsu his way or would she resort to taijutsu to conserve energy? His sharingan gave him the advantage in taijutsu, so he was hoping she'd choose that.

Kakashi got his answer when the girl moved in, and he barely got his hand up to block. He was careful to avoid her fists and feet, choosing to push her arms and legs away when she struck. He knew she was strong but he hadn't realised that her speed translated to taijutsu as well. Combined with her strength it made her much deadlier then he had assumed. Her punches and kicks were so rapid that he struggled to process all the information his sharingan gave him, while also having to alter his instinctive blocks. He barely had time to counterattack, and every time he got a punch or kick in she blocked it with ease.

Kakashi rarely met opponents on his level of taijutsu speed. His sensei had been one of them, Gai another. This girl was definitely up there with them, and the worrying thing was that taijutsu didn't appear to be her only strength.

There was something else happening. Kakashi could barely see it, but every now and then her fingers would make some sort of hand-seal. They were so brief and spaced out that Kakashi couldn't quite grasp what she was getting at. To be able to focus your chakra for such a long length of time, while also channelling it into her fists and feet, required such great chakra control it was almost unbelievable.

The fight reached the point where they both had familiarised themselves with the other's attack pattern, and so they began to switch it up. When Kakashi deflected her punch her other hand flung a kunai at him, which he dodged.

"That sharingan really is amazing." she said absently, even though she was busy defending his counterattack.

"Usually people are terrified, they don't know how to fight it." Kakashi panted between strikes. " But I can tell you have experience with it. Itachi?"

Her lips twitched, almost a smile.

"Perhaps."

So she was either an ally of Itachi, or fought against him and lived. Both options did not sit well with Kakashi. As someone who had served on the ANBU with Itachi, Kakashi was more aware than most of just how strong a shinobi the elder Uchiha was. If the girl could handle sharingan of that calibre, then no wonder Kakashi's eye was no problem for her.

She aimed a punch at him and he kicked it away. Her second fist attempted to find his chest but he pushed backwards and threw shuriken at her to keep the space between them. She charged and he dodged past her, but she swung around fast enough to block his kunai towards her back. She threw a few rapid strikes toward his vital organs, and he deflected most of them. One clipped the edge of his stomach and he grunted. A single solid punch from her fist would be lethal.

She aimed a kick at his head and he slid under it, attempting to uppercut her while she was unstable. She leant backwards to dodge and then swung her hand down. He rolled out of the way to avoid her, and she ended up punching the water instead. Kakashi focused on maintaining his balance as the giant wave rippled from where she had punched.

Sakura had no such problems, and he could see that that jutsu she had been slowly preparing was finally ready. Dread pooled in his stomach when he recognized the hand-seal, and suddenly he knew exactly what she was going to do.

This would not end well for him.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

He'd underestimated how much chakra she had left. Even with a large supply of water already available, a jutsu this strong required a very skilled Suiton user with large reserves. Kakashi would have used it as a last resort, but now it was too late to counter attack. There was no time to form a jutsu to dodge, and the wall of water was too large to avoid without one. As it rushed towards him, he could only hope that his genin would survive the aftermath.

Then the water hit, and even though he braced himself it was like the air had been punched out of his lungs. As the immense pressure pushed him backwards he struggled to draw a breath, and for a second he thought he would drown like this. What an undignified way to go.

Then the water finally reached its peak and receded. Kakashi found himself able to breathe again, but only barely. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, and the only thing keeping him standing was the wooden support of the bridge he had been forced against.

Five kunai found their mark in the wood around him, pinning him to the column. The pain of being stabbed multiple times was overshadowed when the girl appeared above him, another kunai in her hand. That was the one intended to kill him, Kakashi realised.

He didn't want to die, not like this. But as the girl stared down at him with the same calm stare she'd worn for the whole fight, Kakashi felt like he may have just met his match.

"Oi bastard, wake up! Hey Sasuke, bastard, get up!"

"Huh…" Sasuke groaned as he opened his eyes.

Naruto loomed above him, and the mere sight of all that yellow and orange made Sasuke's headache worse.

"What the hell is happening? That ugly Gato guy sent men to attack the house, and I was able to fend them off but when I got here you guys were unconscious and there's some kind of huge battle happening at the end of the bridge. Even the villagers are scared, because they say the waves aren't supposed to act like that. Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke sat up abruptly, cutting off Naruto's babbling.

"The girl. Naruto, she's here."

Something flashed in Naruto's eyes, some emotion that Sasuke recognized but couldn't describe. Was it some kind of genjutsu effect, is that what the girl had done to them?

"Sasuke we need to help. I can see two figures fighting and one of them looks like Kakashi-sensei. I don't think he's beating her."

"Ok." Sasuke tried to keep calm, despite the fact that everything seemed to have turned into an absolute shitshow far too fast. "Alright, Kaori can stay here and keep Tazuna safe from Gato's men. Naruto and I will go and help Kakashi."

"Hang on." Kaori mumbled as she slowly got up. "Naruto's the weakest of the three of us; shouldn't he be the one to stay behind on guard duty?"

"You have a point." Sasuke acknowledged.

Why had he suggested him and Naruto in the first place? They made a good team fighting Zabuza sure, but he was still the dead-last. Judging by past battles, both real and practice, he would be more of a nuisance then anything else.

"No, I have to go!" Naruto protested. "This girl… Sasuke, you know I have to go. I can't explain it, but this fight is personal. You feel it too, don't you?"

They were both staring at him, Naruto pleadingly and Kaori curiously. It was up to him, Sasuke realised. With Kakashi busy they were looking to him, so he had to make the right call.

Logically Kaori was the better shinobi. It would make sense for the two of them to fight the most dangerous opponent. But what Naruto was saying… it rang true to Sasuke as well. Both he and Naruto had been affected by the girl in a way that Kaori hadn't, and whatever the reason his gut was telling him that this was their fight. Besides, he doubted Naruto would respect his decision for more than five seconds if it wasn't one he liked.

"Naruto and I will go." he said at last. "Kaori guard Tazuna, and if we don't make it get him out of here."

Kaori didn't look happy, but she nodded and went to wake the bridge builder up. Naruto seemed delighted, which was a mood Sasuke couldn't really relate to considering they were most likely walking into a quick and painful death.

"Let's go!"

As the girl descended on him, Kakashi managed to get one kunai loose. He could move his left leg now, but with the other kunai pinning his arms down he couldn't form hand-seals to escape, and the girl was careful to avoid looking at his sharingan. In fact, it looked like she was deliberately aiming for it with her kunai. He flexed all the muscles in his arm, desperately attempting to free himself, but the blades were lodged deep in both his flesh and the wood under it.

She brought her kunai down, and Kakashi prepared for the agonizing pain of being stabbed through the eye.

Instead, there was the clanging sound of two kunai hitting off each other, and when he opened his sharingan again the girl almost seemed surprised, maybe even worried.

In front of him, Naruto and Sasuke were glaring determinedly at the girl. Kakashi felt his heart sink, because despite their resolve they didn't stand a chance.

"Leave Kakashi-sensei alone!"

This wasn't good. Sakura had been relieved that the blond-haired genin had been nowhere nearby when the fight began, but now he was here and he'd brought the other headache inducing genin along with him. She couldn't let them stop her, not now, but she still didn't want to kill them. There was no satisfaction to be found in killing shinobi so weak.

With a few quick hand-seals the mist around them thickened back to its original state. She checked to make sure Kakashi was still secure and then she crept over to the genin. She could see them both frantically scanning their limited range of vision, and even though she couldn't make out their distinct features, she didn't need to. Drawing a set of shuriken from her pouch she flung them at the boys.

"Naruto, watch out!"

There was a cry as some of the shuriken found their mark, but both boys were still standing. She crept around them until she was behind them, and then flung another brace at them. Another loud cry and a quiet grunt let her know that she'd hit her mark, and so far her headache hadn't returned, so she was content to end this now.

Satisfied that the two genin were weakened enough, she crept up behind the blonde haired one, ready to knock him out.

"Get away from him!"

A kunai flew towards her with deadly precision, and even though she dodged backwards it left a thin cut along her cheek. Shocked, she looked for the source and was met with a pair of angry sharingan eyes.

Oh.

This was not a development Sakura had seen coming, and certainly not one she liked.

The dark haired one had to be Itachi's little brother, the boy only Itachi was allowed to kill. Of all the bad luck, Kakashi had to have the baby Uchiha on his team. No wonder he'd given Sakura a strange feeling, with his sharingan active the resemblance to his brother was uncanny.

From her experience training with Itachi, Sakura had come to the conclusion that she did not like sharingan. Frankly, she found their large range of abilities ridiculous and almost impossible to fully counter in a fight. It made her feel slightly relieved that there were only four users left. Kakashi at least, had only one eye and no Uchiha blood, but this kid… he would be tricky.

Luckily, he was a young genin with a teammate to protect. She could exploit that.

She switched to focusing her aim exclusively on the shorter boy. The first batch of senbon were deflected by the Uchiha, but the kunai she sent afterwards were too much for him to handle and as she had predicted, the Uchiha put himself between his teammate and the projectiles instead of letting them hit the blond.

In his already weakened state, a few shuriken was enough to finish him off. She was careful not to hit any vital points, but the pain and bleeding would certainly leave him unconscious for a good while.

"Sasuke!"

Ah yes, that was his name. Sasuke Uchiha and his teammate who, judging by Sasuke's earlier warning shout, was called Naruto. Naruto's own voice was so raw as he cried his friend's name that Sakura almost felt bad. The boy probably couldn't tell the difference between fatal and superficial wounds yet, and thought she'd killed his teammate.

Oh well. He was clearly too grief-stricken to be a problem, and since her headache hadn't returned she was ready to finish Kakashi off and call it a day. Maybe she could get some dango on her way home-

Dark red chakra burst out of Naruto, and Sakura froze.

This was something more than a headache, some deep primal instinct that pumped fear through her veins and told her to run, run now. It was as if all the fears and hazy monsters from her childhood nightmares had been coalesced into one giant mass of chakra. This swirling chakra was dangerous, was evil in a way that was worse than Orochimaru, it would hurt Sakura, as it had before.

The rational part of her knew it was ridiculous; she'd never encountered this chakra before in her life. But it reminded her of something Pein had told her about. She'd never seen a jinchuriki before, but this chakra and the boy's red eyes were similar to the description she'd been given. Didn't Pein tell her that they believed Konoha had the Kyuubi?

Really, she would almost laugh at her luck of fighting a jinchuriki and an Uchiha, except for the fact that she was utterly terrified.

This was definitely her amnesia kicking in, stronger than it had in years. It overpowered all her rational thoughts, and as the boy charged at her, she found herself backpedalling wildly to escape. The red chakra seemed to flood her vision, and she could almost feel it forcing its way into her ears and nose and mouth. Ridiculous, since it seemed to be swirling only around Naruto, but it felt so real that she found herself choking.

Her hands fumbled for a kunai, and she lightly cut into her leg. The pain grounded her somewhat, but Naruto's chakra was still causing her brain to send a ton of unhelpful signals. She couldn't fight Naruto like this, she could hardly stand.

She took a second to stare regretfully at Kakashi, but in her current mental state she was no match for any of them. A jinchuriki and an Uchiha was a good enough excuse to explain her failure to Pein, and the fact that she could now identify the Kyuubi's host should please him.

Taking a deep breath, she finally gave in to the chanting in her head before it overpowered her completely.

Run run run run run run run evil evil evil evil get away get away get away get away.

Sakura turned and fled.