Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Author's Note: SORRY! I know I should've updated earlier but I couldn't for the life of me decide on how to go about writing this chapter. This chapter has been rewritten 3 times now and the way its written now makes me happy. I would like to thank special-youkoai, mun3litKnight, and yaoindsakurapetals for their earlier reviews. XD It made me very happy to to receive them and I would also like to thank littlemissxflydog, Yuuki-Hime 2097, History-Addict29, yaoindsakurapetals, weirdpony115, AboMakea,RainyApples, Bre Renee, Dawnshadow1228, Rosalinde-Chan, InuHanyous14, violentblossom, and StarKiss666 for the support! I would like to once again for the lateness of my update! DX Please enjoy.

Chapter 6

Sakura was surprised. She did not think that anyone would want to have a match with her considering the way she looks; she looks as if she could not even hurt a fly let alone use a sword. Looking over she can see that her challenger had an air of confidence although she too was female. She looked younger than Konan, yet still seemed older than herself. The female was standing to the side with one hand on her hip and the other holding a sword over her shoulder. Her dirty blonde hair done up in unique ponytails.

"Lady Temari." Temari shot a glare towards Yamato who winced slightly at his mistake.

"Well? How about it. You can fight, right?"

"Of course!" Sakura was a bit offended that the girl had to ask. After all, a person should never judge a book by its cover.

"Good, because I will not go easy on you."

"Didn't ask you to."

The group turned their attentions back to Konan and Anko and was met with the sight of Anko losing her sword from Konan's swing and then the sight of Konan's sword drawn to Anko's throat.

Konan retracted her sword and bowed with Anko following suit.

"Amazing. I didn't think that Anko would lose." Kakashi looked to his side to see Sakura smiling.

"I knew she would win." Sakura waited until Konan was close enough before pouncing."I knew you'd win!"

"Thanks." Konan laughed.

"Hmmm...maybe I can have a go at you too after my spar with her." Both Sakura and Konan turned to look at Temari. Konan assessed her surrounding and saw quite a crowd had gathered from her own spar.

"Sakura, I don't thin it is a good idea to spar." Sakura was about to protest but following Konan's nudge she could see that a huge crowd has gathered.

"Seems I need to take a rain check for today." Sakura took another glance around and caught a glimpse of red hair from her peripheral. With that she quickly excused herself and ran with Konan following suit not to soon after.

"Sakura! What is it? Why are you running?" Sakura didn't answer. Instead she focused on tracking down the person. She finally spotted her target who was currently talking to some weird guy in black with purple makeup. "Would you mind explaining?" Konan was confused but she was sure the other girl has her reasons.

"I saw his vibrant red hair and thought that..."

"...that he could be your brother?"

"Maybe."

"I thought you wouldn't have wanted to do anything with your brother. Afterall he is with the so hated Haruno family."

"I know, but what if he didn't know about us being alive?" Sakura couldn't explain herself. For years she has resented her brother but at the slight chance that she could meet him she chases it. So does that mean that she doesn't truly hate him or resent him?

"Come on." Konan grabbed Sakura and led her up to the red head and the brunette. "Excuse me." The two guys turned. With that Sakura could see that the red head had jade eyes. Her mother always described her brother as having more of a honey color.

"Sorry. It seems that my companion and I have made a mistake. We thought you had looked familiar and thought you were someone we knew." Sakura bowed and quickly retreated back towards the front in search of Zabuza. Konan seeing Sakura's hasty retreat followed suit.

"Well that was weird. Here I thought it was another one of your fans."

"Shut it Kankuro."

"Nehh Gaara, maybe they thought you were Sasori?"

"Who cares."

Sakura dismissed the thought of seeing her brother from her mind. She silently reprimanded herself for even getting her hopes up. The thought just now occurred to her that she could possibly run into her brother. So what if she could possibly see him? He wouldn't even know who she was and who was to say that he would even care about who she was. Hadn't she disowned the Haruno name? So doesn't that mean that she herself as Sakura have no brothers or relations at all? At this point she was just giving herself a headache from the turmoil of feelings she was experiencing.

"Hey. SAKURA!"

Sakura halted at hearing her name. Looking over she saw Naruto and the guys from earlier once more. She tried to smile, but all she could manage was a slight wave.

"Hey, what's wrong? Where's Konan?"

The question caught Sakura off guard. Looking around she realized that she lost Konan. Now she couldn't help but feel even worse. She was so caught up in her own head she hadn't made sure that Konan was still around.

"Idiot. Are you picking on girls now?"

"WHAT! NO!"

Sakura giggled at Naruto's cry. She couldn't help it. Even though she was feeling like crap, Naruto seemed to have a knack for making her smile. "Are you two busy at the moment?"

"Nope. Do you need something?" Naruto's exuberance made Sakura feel ten times better.

"Can you help me look for Konan. Also, do you know a person called Kisame? I need to look for him too."

"Kisame should be with Itachi and them at this time of the day."

"Ahhhh! Shikamaru!"

"Dickless. Shut up will you?" Sakura once again giggled.

"How is it that you know Kisame anyways?" Sasuke was curious. Kisame did not seem like the type to know someone like Sakura.

"I met him through a mutual friend." The vague answer left Sasuke unsatisfied but it was none of his concern.

"Hmpf."

"Troublesome. You three should go look for Konan and then meet us back at the barracks."

"WHAT! Hey, how come you get to go with Sakura." Sasuke and Sai already expected as much. Afterall, the least amount of work was what Shikamaru loved best.

"Come one Dickless. With your big mouth we will be able to find her sooner."

The three guys left leaving Shikamaru with Sakura. Shikamaru got up from his position and extended his arms. Sakura took a moment before taking hold.

"Are they always like that?"

Shikamaru glanced down at the girl debating on whether he should answer or not. "Yes."

After a lapse of silence Sakura continued. "I see you're not much for conversation."

Once again Shikamaru debated on whether to answer her. In his experience with women it is in his best interest to comply to the female need to talk. Not to mention if any negative words gets back to his mom he will be in for an earful. "What would you like to talk about?"

Sakura observed Shikamaru. Yes he was well-mannered but it almost seemed forced. She could see that he wasn't much for talking either. She smiled slightly. She couldn't fathom how guys who are so different can be such good friends.

"Here we are." Shikamaru pointed to a building. "But it seems that everyone is over at the canteen for dinner."

"Thanks." Sakura smiled sweetly.

Shikamaru was surprised. Most females get frustrated really easily when in his company due to his lack of verbal contribution, but it seems that that was not the case with Sakura.

"Shikamaru you dog. I didn't know you had it in you! Who's the girl?"

Sakura turned to see the speaker. "Kisame!" She couldn't help herself. She excitelly jumped at Kisame.

"Whoah! What the hell!" Kisame caught the girl. After a second or two he placed her back on her feet. "Shikamaru. I suggest you don't get involved with her. She's what you would call troublesome."

Sakura giggled. "Are you still mad about earlier?" Kisame's silence spoke volumes. "I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again."

Kisame saw the apologetic and hopeful look on the young girl's face and he cracked. "No wonder Zabuza has a hard time dealing with you two. Speaking of which where is your friend?"

"With Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai."

Kisame shook his head. "I see you've met the brats." Sakura smiled.

"Sakura." Her smile faltered.

"Ah. Zabuza, look at who I found." Zabuza didn't even spare a glance his way. "Come on brat. We should leave these two." Sakura watched Kisame steal Shikamaru away only leaving her alone to deal with her guardian.

"Where's Konan?"

Sakura flinched slightly. "Around?" She couldn't help her voice from squeaking.

"Around?" She didn't think Zabuza's demeanor could get any more menacing. "Which means you were by yourself?"

"NO! I was with Konan most of the time. But..."

"But?"

"I thought I saw my brother and when it turned out it wasn't I left quickly losing Konan. BUT I ran into some friends who are looking for her now. And one of them took me here so I could look for Kisame to look for you!" The next thing she knew she was wrapped in strong arms.

"Sorry."

Zabuza's apology left Sakura feeling even worse than earlier. It was her fault that Konan was missing. It was her idea to leave his side in the first place. It was her fault and yet here he was apologizing for upsetting her. Her tears sprung forth as she clung to him.

Zabuza was so worried when he couldn't find them. Hearing from Kisame that he ran into them relieved his worry some, especially when he heard about the Sakura's stunt. However, as the day passed with no signs of the two still, he couldn't help but to feel worried again. Then when he saw Sakura he could not help showing his anger. Now he felt bad. He should be happy that Sakura was safe, but now he could not feel anything but sadness for making her cry.

"HEY! Sakura! We found her!"

Zabuza looked up to see a blonde and a set of twins accompanying Konan. Zabuza met the group the rest of the way with Sakura still in his arms. "Thanks. I will take it from here."

"Hey-"

"Please. She's asleep. If you don't mind lowering your voice." He then left the way the group came.

Konan reassured with a quick explanation and trailed after her mentor. The silence continued until she decided to break it. "Sorry."

Zabuza could not help but feel his age sometimes.

Author's Note: I hope no one is upset that I didn't make Sakura fight. Maybe she will have one in the near future. -wink wink-