Chapter Three
'Finally, I can show my true power.'
Today was the day Sakura had been waiting for. She had trained continuously for two years for this moment. She was strong enough to beat all of the Rookie 12 but she wouldn't show off that much.
'No, these people will only get a sample of what we've got, and we both know where to start.'
Sakura got up that morning with these thoughts and was ready to leave before Saki interrupted her.
"Sakura! Where are you going?" Saki called out. Sakura glanced at her before starting for the door.
"Out." She tried to leave but Saki held her wrist.
"Wait, we need to talk." Saki forced Sakura to sit down.
"Listen, those times with Sasuke we were-"
"I know, talking about Itachi and blah blah. Listen, I have to go."
"No, Sakura. Wait. I just wanted to tell you that Itachi finally asked me out and that I wanted you to be the first one I would tell. Now all we have to do is wait for Sasuke and-"
"Now now, me and Sasuke aren't like that and will probably never be like that. I'm sorry that I can't be in your perfect ending Saki, really, but I need to go. Congrats sis."
"Why are you in such a rush?"
"You'll see sis, you'll see. Goodbye and take care of yourself."
At that, Saki was confused. 'It's as if she's leaving… No, she wouldn't.' Just to make sure, Saki ran out the door. She searched for Sakura with her chakra only to find out that she had masked it and was completely hidden.
'Damn, I better go to Itachi-kun. He's better at sensing chakra than I am.'
Sakura met with Takeshi and Yuki on the mountain and they gave Sakura her robe. Sakura put it on over her white shirt and black short shorts and she burned her headband.
"You guys ready for what I have in store?" Sakura asked slyly.
"Oh yes we are." Takeshi grinned and motioned for Yuki to stay back. She would be their ride out of Konoha as she could teleport to different places and allow all of them to get a good head start.
"Careful hun!"
"You got it babe."
And with that, Sakura and Takeshi poofed away.
In the Hokage's office
"Today's the day, isn't it?" asked Kakashi from his position. He was leaning on the wall and was uncharacteristically not looking at his orange little book.
"It is. We can only hope that she won't cause too much trouble."
Tsunade spoke too soon as an explosion was heard. Both ninjas looked at each other with an alarmed expression before heading towards the marketplace.
With Saki and Itachi
"Itachi! Itachi!" Saki screamed as she ran into the Uchiha compound.
"Saki! What is it?" Itachi ran to her, hugging her. "What's happened?"
"Where is Sakura? Can you sense her?" Saki asked desperately.
Itachi furrowed his brows as he tried to search for her chakra. Explosions were heard and he froze. She was right in the middle.
"She's at the explosion at the marketplace. We need to hurry. I feel that something horrible is going to happen." Itachi explained and the two left.
With Sasuke and Naruto
They were the only ninja at the marketplace at the time. Sasuke was buying fresh tomatos and Naruto was bugging him as usual. When the explosion occurred, they immediately left to where it was and checked for casualties. They were surprised that the explosion was situated in a place where no one would get hurt and immediately got in a fighting stance only to be shell shocked at the intruder. There they were, Akatsuki robes and hats intact. One of them looked up only to show that it was…
'Sakura? What the- Why?' Sasuke thought in slight panic.
Sakura chuckled lightly at their expressions before formulating a barrier justsu. No one can get between her, Takeshi, Naruto, and Sasuke.
'Perfect. Two of the strongest ninjas of my age. I really am sorry for this, Sasuke.'
"Good morning you two! Having fun without me?" Sakura smirked.
"Sa-sa-sakura-chan? B-but why?" Naruto asked disbelievingly.
"Oh come on, ramen lover. There always was talk of me going dark so I just made their wishes true."
Sasuke death glared at her. He thought of all the special moments they had together.
'Did those moments not mean anything?'
As if knowing what he was thinking, Sakura gave him a hard look. He can see slight sadness and regret before it solidified once again. Sasuke saw her clutch his gift tightly and she gave him an expectant look.
"Well, I wanted to give Konoha a little show before leaving and this is perfect. Two of the strongest ninja up right in front of me. If I remember correctly, you've recently become an Anbu, right Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke glared at her and was confused as why she would do this and betray the village. Her expressions made him even more confused. Sakura laughed darkly before unsheathing her sword.
"Get ready boys." She said. "After all, isn't it always ladies first?"
She disappeared and in a flash was behind Naruto. Both were surprised at her remarkable speed and froze. She smirked and kicked Naruto's back, making him stumble to the floor and side kicked Sasuke's side. Sasuke dodged it at the last second and glared at her. He took out his kunai and turned his Sharingan on as Naruto got up, a pained but angry look on his face.
"Sorry Sak, but we won't let you leave here." Sasuke smirked and Naruto howled in agreement. Sakura just laughed at this and readied again. The three charged at each other; Sasuke and Naruto would hit high and low but Sakura would dodge. She poofed and appeared behind Naruto. She grabbed his neck and threw him at Sasuke, who took him and helped him up. Both glared at her before charging again.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (1)
"Rasengan!"
Sasuke sent out a fireball and Sakura dodged it, only to see Naruto come to her side. She dodged Naruto and grabbed the arm that was meant to hit her. She threw him and saw Sasuke coming to her side.
"Chidori!"
She dodged but Sasuke seemed to know that. He hit her but only heard a poof before readying himself once again.
'Damn substitution jutsu.'
Sakura reappeared once again and Naruto lashed out at her. Sasuke threw several kunai, which Sakura dodged and enabling Naruto to a slight opening. Sakura saw this and immediately focused chakra on her hand and punched the ground. Tremors were felt and Naruto stumbled a bit. As soon as both ninja were steady, Sasuke saw Sakura punch Naruto in the face.
'Her fists aren't even covered in chakra when we fight with taijutsu. She's not even trying.'
It seemed like the audience knew that she was holding back and the crowd grew larger by the second. Sasuke could see them yelling and pounding their fists on the barrier but to no avail, it wouldn't break.
'Let's make her try.'
With newfound determination, Sasuke charged with his speed and rose his fist. Sakura dodged and tried to kick him but he caught her leg and threw her back. She landed gracefully and smirked at him before charging with her sword. Sasuke charged back with a kunai and the two fought.
It was like a dance; Sasuke would try to hit but Sakura would dodge and Sakura would try to hit but Sasuke would dodge. She managed to rip his shirt a bit while he hadn't even touched her. Naruto had got up long ago but was looking for an opening.
'Got one! Let's go dattebayo!'
Naruto rushed in and was able to punch Sakura's side and tried to punch her face but was almost sliced off. Sakura rushed back, smirking, and made hand signals.
"Suiton: Suiro ga shutsugen!" (2)
A dragon made of water emerged and roared. Sakura pointed at the two ninjas before her and yelled once again.
"Suiton: Suiro no kogeki!" (3)
The dragon rushed forward to attack the two of them. Sasuke growled and yelled once more.
"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" (4)
He blew a huge dragon head-shaped fireball and the water dragon was weakened but it still rushed on. He and Naruto leapt out of the way at the last second and looked up only to see Sakura punch their faces. Sasuke retaliated and fought back, whipping his kunai around.
'I didn't bring my friggin Kusanagi. This is hard.'
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A couple of Narutos appeared and charged at Sakura. While Sakura was busy with the clones, the two only had seconds to decide how to fight.
"Distract and use constant jutsus." Sasuke said briefly. Naruto nodded and charged his Rasengan.
Once Sakura finished with the clones, she looked up only to see Naruto rushing towards her.
"Tsuin Rasengan!" (5)
Sakura preformed a substitution jutsu and the one who was hit was a clone. Naruto growled before making more clones. Sakura dodged and attacked the clones. She had enough of the games and punched her fists on the ground once more. The clones poofed away and she rushed towards Naruto. However, Sasuke came at her with a Chidori and she almost got hit. She felt the lightning near her before she changed directions last minute and was behind Sasuke. She kicked him with a chakra-enhanced foot and rushed towards Naruto. She and Naruto had a taijutsu fight with Sakura getting hit here and there while Naruto got beat up. Deciding that she spent enough time, Sakura took a chakra-enhanced fist and punched Naruto.
"Suiton: Suiro ga shutsugen!"
"Suiton: Suiro no wa kaiko sen!" (6)
Another enormous water dragon appeared and opened its mouth. It blew a thick beam of water that almost killed Naruto if it wasn't for Sasuke. Sasuke blew multiple fireballs and Naruto aided with his wind. The dragon fell but that gave Sakura a very huge opening.
Sakura dodged the kunai thrown at her and caught it. She threw it back before drawing out her sword once more and clashing with Sasuke. Once again, a taijustsu battle ensued between the three but Naruto was faltering. His chakra was getting low due to all the clones and Rasengans he created. Sasuke was getting tired too; he had wasted too much energy and chakra. Sakura was getting hit every now and then but she dealt more damage to both. Soon enough, she found a slight opening and kicked Sasuke's stomach and punched Naruto in the gut. Both flew back in opposite directions and she signaled Takeshi to do his part.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" (7)
Behind where Sasuke fell rose an earth wall. As soon as Sasuke got up, Sakura pinned him with kunai.
'It was a good thing he wore a long sleeve this morning.'
Sakura was breathing normally as she healed herself. She wasn't even tired, and that's what got the people of Konoha scared. She had just bested two powerful shinobis without breaking a sweat. Sure she got hit a few times, but that didn't slow her down.
Sakura walked up to Sasuke, who was breathing hard.
"You used too much chakra, Sas." she whispered.
"Don't call me that!" he spat out and glared at her. His Sharingan was off due to exhaustion.
"Listen, look me in my eyes." she commanded lightly. No one on the outside could hear what she was saying. Sasuke shook his head and she glared at him.
"Hm, I'll just go to Naruto then."
Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked up only to see Sakura walk over to Naruto's body. Naruto was breathing heavily and looked at Sakura with sad eyes.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" She heard Sasuke call out.
"W-why? I thought we were friends-" he stuttered out.
"Being on the same team for a couple years doesn't ensure a friendship, dear Naruto." Sakura looked at him and he saw a small hint of sadness.
"Look in my eyes and see what has happened." she commanded lightly once again only this time the other complied. Naruto looked bravely at her eyes and she whispered.
"Memori tenso." (8)
She got up and she left Naruto alone. Naruto's eyes glazed and he started whimpering. He was tearing up and he shuddered in pain. He closed his eyes in hope that the voices would go away but they didn't, and the memories didn't either. It came one after the other and Naruto couldn't help but scream.
"SHUT UP! STOP IT, PLEASE! WHY WON'T THEY BE QUIET!" he yelled. He placed his hands on either sides of head and rocked back and forth.
Sasuke tensed before giving Sakura a death glare. She gave him a blank look.
"What have you done?!" he roared at her.
"I showed him my past and my life. Didn't know it was that bad." Sakura chuckled darkly once again. "Now, would you like to know the pain that I went through? He's currently going through it and it seems like he's doing pretty bad."
Sasuke looked her straight in the eyes. It was so blank, so emotionless. He glared at her before nodding slowly. He wanted to know the cause of all this; why she was doing this and why they couldn't be friends anymore. She repeated what she did with Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened before he closed them. He grit his teeth in anger and shuddered in both rage and pain. He tried to shut the voices out, but the insults were too much. His breathing got heavier as he heard them.
"Che, you're weak."
"Your sibling will always be better than you will ever be."
"The Hokage wasted her time training you."
"Why aren't you like your sister? So pathetic unlike her."
He felt the emotions inside her as he relived her memories. He felt the pain and the anger and shuddered. She had gone through too much.
The outsiders could only assume that Sakura had put a genjutsu on the shinobi to torture them. Tsunade and Kakashi had arrived a long time ago and they were in awe of Sakura's skill.
"We messed up big time." Kakashi stated. "If only we treated her better-"
"Shut it Hatake! What happens happens. We need to find a way out of this mess." Tsunade was fuming. She had made too much of a commotion and had instilled fear in the lives of her people.
'How the hell will I get them to accept her with open arms.'
"Did she place a genjutsu on them?" asked Kakashi. Tsunade frowned.
"We will never know until this barrier is gone."
Itachi and Saki could only watch in worry. Saki was frozen in shock. She had never known that Sakura could hold such power and destruction. Itachi was banging his arms on the barrier and trying to light it but it wouldn't budge. He ended up stopping and could only look on. He knew that Sasuke wouldn't give up; on both Sakura and the fight. He growled at the thought of Sakura hurting him. He knew that there was something off about her but he didn't know that the outside forces of life would be the ones to push her into the darkness. If only he had done something sooner.
'Don't die, foolish little brother.'
Back Inside
"Are you done Sakura? We've got to go soon." Takeshi said. He watched the fight in mild amusement while he sat on a rock chair he created.
"Almost. Give me a couple of minutes." Sakura replied and soon after, both shinobi woke up as if they had a bad dream. They were panting hard with a pained expression.
"How'd you like the show?" Sakura asked.
"I-I… W-we never knew, Sakura-chan. If only-" Naruto started in a whisper.
"No more 'If only's' Naruto. What has happened happened." Sakrua stated.
"Then why show us this? Why show us your pain?" Sasuke asked quietly.
Sakura looked at them both with hard gaze and only the two could detect the hidden sadness in her eyes.
"In hopes that you would understand why I am doing this. Why I need to get stronger so that others would finally acknowledge me."
"And Akatsuki was the only way?" Naruto asked.
"No, but they recognized me and supported me, nothing you guys have ever done. I feel like I'm loved and wanted there."
"If you needed friends, I could've-" Naruto started once again but louder.
"No, Naruto. If I needed a friend, you would realize it and come to me, not the other way around. You were all swarming around Suki that I never got a chance." Sakura said bitterly. "At least you know now that this village hates me and in return, I will hate it back."
"They treated me like shit too but I kept my head high." Naruto said, desperate to keep her from leaving.
"This is different, Naruto. At least they don't compare you all the time. The pain in my heart is ten times worse than the pain you felt going through my memories." Sakura smiled miserably. Naruto always made her smile when she was on the team. When the team broke up due to Naruto training with Jiraiya and Sasuke training with his family, she wasn't able to talk to him much anymore. He had grown on her heart and they would only talk during check-ups.
"Hn. You've gotten a lot stronger." Sasuke stated. He was going to train intensely after this battle. If he had taken the fight seriously at the beginning he would have been able to last longer. Sakura gave him a smirk before Takeshi called her out, saying that they had to leave soon. Sakura turned to walk away.
"What about us?" Sasuke asked hesitantly. He loved her so much and Sakura could only give him a solemn gaze. She didn't know of his love and only that he treasured their friendship. "What about our relationship and all those times we had? You're going to throw them away?" Sakura froze at this and looked at him in the eyes.
"With a life and situation like this, I believe that it never would've worked out. If I could, I would." Sakura turned again and walked away.
"We will find you!" Sasuke shouted uncharacteristically. "We will drag you back."
"Yeah we will, dattebayo!" Sakura smirked at this.
"Well then, I'll be waiting boys."
Before Sakura left, she let the barrier go. The two Akatsuki memebers disappeared and the civilians crowded over Sasuke and Naruto. The two noticed that she had left a dead rose on where she used to stand.
"Are you hurt?"
"Are you alright?"
"That bitch!"
"I knew she would betray us!"
None except Naruto, Sasuke, Tsunade, and Kakashi knew of the truth, and they were angry.
"Shut UP!" Sasuke yelled angrily. He forced the kunais off of him and helped Naruto up. He walked over to where the dead rose was at and picked it up. The crowd grew silent and Tsunade took this chance to bark her orders out.
"Everyone move out of the way! Kakashi, keep these people in order while I take these two to the hospital."
At the Hospital
'A dead rose, huh. Interesting.' Tsunade thought when she brought the two in. 'Probably going to be her special thing now.'
"What was that genjutsu?" Tsunade asked while healing the two.
Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other and nodded. Naruto's eyes held a solemn look as he stared off into space.
"She showed us her past. We experienced it firsthand, as if we were the ones being insulted." Naruto said quietly. "The pain was unbearable. No one ever gave her a chance and look at what she's become."
"At least we know she could handle herself." Sasuke muttered. Tsunade looked at the two as she finished healing their wounds.
"I knew of their treatment towards her. I thought she would have been like me and kept her head high but I guess not all of me has rubbed of on her." Tsunade said.
"Why didn't you help her obaa-chan?" Naruto asked and Tsunade bonked his head.
"Don't call me that. And I told you, I thought she could handle it." Tsunade frowned deeply. "She's too strong, the village won't rest in peace until she's been taken in or dead."
Sasuke gave her a hard look.
"Give me one year," he told her silently. Tsunade looked at him in surprise.
"One year to prepare, then I'll bring her back."
"Don't forget me, dattebayo!"
Tsunade smiled at this coincidence. "One year it is."
After Tsunade healed the two, she called the entire town for a meeting. Word had spread around about the battle and fear rose. However, they were calmed a bit knowing that Tsunade would have a plan.
"Good afternoon people of Konoha. We all are aware of the battle that took place this morning and I request that you remain calm while I continue my speech. For Sakura Haruno, I order that she will not be the top priority if she isn't home by a year and a half. She will be a missing nin, but I will not send teams out for her retrieval until after a couple of months, most likely after six months or so."
There were roars and shouts of disapproval. The crowd went into frenzy.
"SILENCE! You have seen her strength. She could destroy half the village herself. I want our shinobi to train robustly after this incident in order to prepare for her retrieval. I have given her a chance to come back and if she does not, then I will send teams out for her immediate death. From today and to the deadline, I will send spies to keep track of her location. Do not worry about security because Jonin exams have recently been finished and I have a lot of excited Jonin who are ready to protect this village. This meeting is dismissed."
Tsunade walked out on the angry shouts of her village and teleported back to her office.
'Che, idiots. It's all your fault anyways. Now where is my sake?'
Back to the meeting
Sasuke slowly made his way to where Tsunade stood. The crowd quieted as they saw the man who had failed to defeat Sakura. His gaze hardened at the crowd, knowing how they treated her.
"I will do what is in my power to bring her back and serve justice. However, you have seen that I am not strong enough, which is why I have requested the Hokage to let me train vigorously. I am pretty sure the rest of Konoha 12-now-turned-11 would also prepare for her retrieval. I ask that you remain calm and live life normally."
Naruto came out of nowhere and smiled his big smile.
"You got that, dattebayo! We'll bring her back and do you guys good! When I'm done training, I bet you I can beat both the Hokage and the teme, believe it!"
The crowd applauded, believing in their determination and abolished all kind of fear growing in their hearts. They knew Konoha 12-now-11 were one of the strongest ninjas for their age and worked even better with each other. They put faith in their shinobi and did their best to quell the unease in their hearts. Soon, they dispersed and went back to their daily lives.
"Was it worth it?" Takeshi asked Sakura as they looked at the village from the Hokage Mountain.
"They hated me anyways, might as well as give them a reason." Sakura replied, looking towards the sky. "Listen, when we get to Akatsuki, don't be surprised if my dark side comes out. It's been wanting to come out."
"Don't worry! Cause everyone's got their own dark sides." Takeshi smiled at her and she smiled in return.
"I believe a year is good for your dark side roam free cause nothing's ever good if you keep it inside. Then you should try to learn to keep it in place. After all, when we rid of Akatsuki, things would look significantly brighter." Yuki said. "Are you guys ready?"
The two nodded and Yuki made signs for the teleportation jutsu. They were moved to a path and both looked at Sakura.
"You ready?"
"I'm ready."
AN: If you don't understand those techniques, here they are. Also, Sakura has no elemental affinities in the actual manga and anime but I wanted to give her one so I gave her Water.
1 – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. It's very commonly used in Naruto. It's Sasuke's fireball technique that he uses all the time.
2 – Water Release: Water Dragon Emerge. It literally translates to that and I wanted to do a jutsu like this but I couldn't find any. So, I used Google Translate and made this.
3 –Water Release: Water Dragon Attack. It also literally translates to that so forgive me if I am wrong because I used Google Translate haha
4 – Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique. This is one of Sasuke's jutsus and it's a big fireball that looks like a dragon.
5 – Twin Rasengan
6 – Water Release: Water Dragon Hyper Beam
7 – Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall
8 – Memory Transfer. Again, I used Google Translation.