The next day…
"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked for the fifty-millionth time that day.
"No!" everyone, even Hinata, groaned in irritation.
"Fine," Naruto muttered, finally getting the fact that they didn't want him to ask that anymore.
Tazuna soon came to a halt. "Alright. We have to wait a few minutes for our boats-men to come and pick us up."
"Sweet!" Naruto said as he looked at the bridge over the lining of bushes.
"Mistress, I believe someone is watching us," Espeon said.
"Two people," Sakura confirmed. Her eyes then widened and Kakashi and Itachi yelled "DUCK!"
Everyone instantly fell to the floor, except for Tazuna who had to be pushed by Kakashi to get down quick enough.
A long sword suddenly flew over their heads. Everyone looked over to where the sword had landed and saw the silhouette of a man kneeling on the sword, which was now imbedded in the tree.
"Mistress, he's strong. His chakra is completely out of control," Espeon told her as everyone stood up, getting into defensive positions.
"I know Espeon," Sakura thought, knowing that this was going to be a fight that was more difficult then the previous one.
"So, this is who I have to fight? The Copy Cat Ninja and four brats?" a tall man said as he landed on the sword that was imbedded into the tree.
"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi growled. "The Demon of the Hidden Mist."
"Kakashi Hatake; said to have copied over 1,000 jutsus with the use of his Sharingan eye," the man, Zabuza, said. "And, behind him, two more Sharingan users."
Sasuke was shocked. How did Zabuza know all this? And, more importantly, how did Kakashi get Sharingan? He's not an Uchiha!
"Hey, did you know the first part of you're last name means 'peach'?" Sakura said, making everyone sweatdrop. She then gasped, "Can I call you Mr. Peach Man?!"
"What is wrong with that kid?" Zabuza asked.
"We have no idea… we're having her tested," Kakashi muttered.
"So, Mr. Peach Man, why do you have bandages on your face? Are you trying to be a mummy?" Sakura asked.
"This kid seriously has issues…" Zabuza muttered before raising his sword, preparing to attack.
Before he got the chance, a ball of fire attacked him. A moment later, a little fox that was on fire landed next to Espeon. It growled and shot another fire ball at Zabuza.
"What is that thing?" Zabuza asked.
"That would be the reason I was acting like an idiot," Sakura said as Espeon, the fox, and herself got into fighting stances. Espeon's claws elongated, the fox got another ball of fire in her mouth, waiting to attack, and Sakura pulled out the sword her father had given her. Red lines suddenly appeared over her arms, matching her father's red tattoos perfectly. "Are you ready to get your butt kicked by a girl?"
Zabuza laughed and got ready to attack. The two suddenly ran at each other, their swords clashing with each strike.
"Who knew she could fight?" Naruto asked.
"Well, she was raised by an ANBU captain. Its to be expected," Hinata said.
"But most genin, even ANBU's children, don't know how to fight this well," Itachi added.
"It seems our little Sakura is keeping more than just a few secrets," Kakashi muttered.
Suddenly, Sakura was catapulted into the air.
"Sakura!" Sasuke gasped.
A white blur rushed towards Sakura and both disappeared in a blur of red and white.
A beautiful white, red and blue bird type creature appeared in front of the group with Sakura on it's back.
"Thanks, Togekiss," Sakura said as she got off the bird.
"Toge!" the creature called happily before disappearing in a beam of red light.
Suddenly, a senbon came out of nowhere and imbedded itself into Zabuza's neck, causing the man to fall over. A woman in a mask appeared and felt for his pulse.
"He is dead," she announced before turning to the group. "Thank you for stalling Zabuza-san. I had been hunting him for quite some time and would have been searching longer if you had not been fighting him."
"It was no problem," Sakura said, picking up the fire fox while Espeon climbed onto her shoulder. "That's the chakra signature that was with Zabuza before he attacked."
"Yes, Mistress. Would you like us to attack?" Espeon asked as she and the fire fox prepared to attack if need be.
"No. Let's wait and see how this plays out," Sakura decided.
The woman then dragged away Zabuza's body. Sakura turned to her teammates only to find them watching her questioningly.
Sakura looked at her two friends and sighed, knowing she'd have to finally speak about it.
"I'm guessing you guys wanna know why I have a flaming fox in my arms and why that bird-like creature saved me," Sakura said, only to get nods from her teammates and expectant looks from her senseis.
Sakura sighed before finally speaking of what had happened to her so long ago.
A/N: I couldn't wait to post a new chapter so I did. Hope you guys like it.
Sasuke: They'll never like it. They hate all your stories.
Me: Duck butt! Shut up before I put you in a toga and give you to Karin!
Sasuke: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Me: Itachi, do the disclaimer
Itachi: Naomi-chan97 does not own Naruto. If she did, Sasuke wouldn't have a 40 meter pole up his arse.
Sasuke: Seriously? She made you say that?
Itachi: No. I added that part on my own.
Me: Review!