key:
"talking"
'jutsu'
thinking
"flashback"
nonhuman
The Sound Trio's Attack
Sakura groaned and her eyes fluttered open, she laid there for a split second in the dark surrounded by her unconscious comrades before she remembered their situation. She sat up and looked to her team, a long sigh rolled off her tongue. She felt utterly defeated, how could she have even thought that she could change the future? She was still just a useless girl. She shook her head to dislodge her negative thoughts and she pinched her cheeks before straightening up.
"No! This is over yet!" Sakura rekindled her fiery determination and looked to the sleeping boys at her feet. She remembered what was going to happen next like it was yesterday. She had to ready herself for the sound ninja, she smirked knowing she had the advantage with her knowledge of the future.
It took a bit of time for her to carry the boys to a safe location, and set up her traps. She was hungry and tired and her mark ached with unknown pain, but she was ready. Ready for the sound trio's attack.
Ughhhhh! I'm so bored! Sakura inner thoughts groaned, she had forgotten how long it would take fore the trio to make their move. It had been many hours ago when she noticed their concealed chakra appear across the opening in the trees from her and her team mates. Their trying to tire me out, those jerks.
So, she just sat their waiting until finally a small squirrel appeared out of the hedges and scurried towards her. She watched it for a moment before embedding a kunai into the ground just a inch from the squirrel. The small mammal immediately ran off for fear of it's life. About a minute later the three sound genin emerged from the bushes just across the field from her. Sakura had to force herself not to say "Finally! What took you guys so long!?", and she tried to look mildly surprised at their arrival.
"Up all night?" The lead sound ninja called from behind the bandages that wrapped around his head, he paused and tilted his head at her, "Wake up Sasuke. We want to fight him." The boy commanded, as if the pink haired girl would just blindly obey him.
Sakura just huffed and rolled her eyes at the three, causing anger to spread across their previously calm faces. "Oh, please. I know Orochimaru is pulling the strings, he just using you guys as pawns in his game so just leave us alone."
The trio's eyes widened in shock at the girl's knowledge of their superior. The kunoichi could hear the leader mumble something about the Sanin's unknown agenda, but for all intensive purposes they were convinced that they were on the winning side so they weren't just about to back down. Especially, now they knew Sakura knew too much.
"Looks like we can't let you go. I'll kill you and that Sasuke guy." The sound ninja with the spiky hair grinned menacingly and gestured to Sasuke with his chin. He moved froward towards team seven but was suddenly stopped, by his leader.
"Wait, Zaku. There's a booby trap." The boy crouched down and easily disengaged the obvious trap. "Such an obvious trap, you seem to have no talent at all…" He sighed and looked to his teammates, "Kill her."
The three pounced into the air ready to strike, and Sakura activated another trap by cutting a wire behind her, sending a giant log flying towards the enemy genin. The leader quickly shattered the log with his sound weapon before it could cause any damage to him or his team. They were about to descend on the seemingly helpless girl when they were promptly interrupted.
'Leaf Hurricane!'
Alas, Sakura's knight in green spandex had arrived to her aid just like she had expected. She couldn't help but smile at his strong back, he was ready to protect her. They all wanted to protect her, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Lee, but she knew it was time she started taking care of herself.
"Who are you?" The sound ninja asked the thick browed boy with his habitual tilt of the head.
"I am the beautiful green beast of the hidden leaf, Rock Lee!" The boy answered and posed trying to look cool in front of his angel.
The two were already deep in battle when Dosu, the leader, revealed his sound weapon causing Lee to lose balance and a line of blood to trickle from his ear. The mummy boy was about to deliver the final blow when Sakura rushed him. The attack catching the boy off guard. Sakura was easily faster and stronger than the boy, but he had the power of sound at his disposal. He attacked the girls sense of hearing with a high pitched frequency that he was positive would immobilize her. But to his utter shock she seemed unaffected.
How is that possible!? His thoughts distracted him and Sakura grabbed his arm before he could implement another attack. She brought her mouth to his bandaged ear and whispered, "I know your mission, Dosu Kinuta, and you will fail. You can't trust Orochimaru, believe me."
She pulled back to stare at him with honesty in her features, then she squeezed his protected forearm and the sound amplifier cracked under her raw strength. A heel kick to the shoulder brought the boy down to the ground and he could only look up at the beautiful kunoichi with stunned expression as a flood of thoughts crowded his mind.
Sakura just stared down at Dosu with calculating eyes that made his breath catch, "Now get out of my sight."
The bandaged male could only nod before his disappeared back to his teammates. "Let's go." He ordered his team and moved to leave, the female of the team just nodded obediently while Zaku was appalled by the sudden surrender.
"But the missio-" He started but Dosu quickly shut him up with a deadly glare.
"We're leaving." He commanded with complete authority, then after sparing a small glance to the pink haired kunoichi he lead his team away from the clearing.
"H-how did you get them to leave just like that?" Lee stuttered, utterly shocked by the girl. Sakura just gave him a small smile as she approached her fellow leaf genin.
"Oh, I just told him I'd tell on him to his mom if he didn't leave." Sakura joked, but Lee didn't laugh. She brought her hands up to either side of Lee's face and gently turned his head so she could inspect the damage to his ears. He immediately blushed at their close contact, but Sakura was in medic mode so she was too concentrated on the boy's injuries to notice. She quickly healed the damage with a small amount of green chakra.
"There. All healed." Sakura grinned at her handiwork and patted Lee's cheek before moving to check on her unconscious teammates.
Lee's hand shot up the inspect a healed ear as he stared at the girl. "You know healing jutsu?"
"Just a little bit." Sakura lied and gave out a nervous laugh.
Lee just stared at her for a long moment, and she thought she was busted until he shouted. "You really are an angel, Sakura!" He paused for a moment before giving her another questioning look. "But how come the sound attack didn't effect you?"
"Huh?-" Sakura started, but then gestured to her own ears. "Oh, chakra ear plugs." She answered as if that should have been common knowledge. "You just direct your chakra so it blocks your ears. You can't hear anything, but they protect you from most sound attacks."
"Oh." Lee mouthed and nodded, as if Sakura was deaf.
"I'm not blocking my ears now!" Sakura laughed at his reaction. Lee smiled liking the sound of her laughter.
Lee and Sakura were still chatting when the unexpected happened. A shower of kunai shot out of the tree line at the two. The two avoid injury with ease, Lee dodged left and Sakura dodged right, but Sakura was still stunned. What's going on?
"You didn't think you could get rid of us so easily?" Zaku entered the clearing, with an evil glint in his eyes and a wide smirk planted on his face.
There was a flash of movement and Kin was behind Sakura. Then before she knew it Sakura was on her knees, and Kin was hold her up by a fist full of pink hair. A kunai was poised at the pink hair kunoichi's throat.
"Sakura!" Lee called and was about to launch himself at the sound kunoichi.
"Don't move!" Kin threatened and pressed the weapon against Sakura's exposed neck. A thin trail of blood ran down the pink haired girl's neck.
"No! Stop!" Lee froze and then put his hands up in surrender.
Zaku laughed and then ran towards Lee. He proceed to beat the crap out of the boy, who couldn't fight back for fear of his angel's life.
"Lee!" Sakura could only call out helplessly.
"Where's Dosu?" Sakura breathed and looked up at her captor for answers.
"What Dosu doesn't know won't hurt him." Kin answered in a shaky voice, clearly a bit scared of going against Dosu's orders.
"You're making a mistake." Sakura spoke in a low tone as she starred up at her girl with her intense jade eyes, she reached into her weapon pouch slowly.
"Shut up!" Kin shouted defensively, unaware of Sakura's motives.
Sakura's fingers tightened around the handle of a concealed kunai in her weapons pouch. Then with a sharp swing, the girl sliced at the pink hair that chained her to Kin. Caught off guard, Kin withdrew her weapon for Sakura throat and back away from the girl. Sakura glared at her enemy as her newly cut short pink hair dropped down framing her face.
"Kin! What are you doing!? Kill her!" Zaku looked away from a very battered and defeated Lee, to his female teammate.
Automatically Kin moved to strike the girl, but Sakura was faster. The pink haired kunoichi sent a chakra fueled kick to the female sound ninja's gut causing her to lose her lunch and sending her flying.
When Kin's unconscious body flopped to the ground a great distance away, Sakura turned her gaze to Zaku who stepped back instinctively. Fear sent static down the remaining sound ninja's spine, and even the three observing leaf genin hiding in the bushes felt fearful.
Sakura was about to launch herself at Zaku and finish this fight once and for all, when what felt like an electric shock shot up her arm. The excruciating pain cause her to drop to her knees and she looked down at the mark that seemed to be constricting tighter around her wrist and lower forearm. Sakura clenched her teeth to avoid screaming, and Zaku didn't hesitate to use this moment to strike.
"Sakura!" Ino voice called out of the hedges, and Sakura got to her feet just in time to have Zaku kick them out from under her. The sound ninja slammed his fist into Sakura's face and she hit the ground hard. Sakura could feel the blood rise to her cheeks and pool in her mouth as she watch Zaku pull out a kunai to finish her.
He was about to bury his kunai into her large forehead when she spat blood into his eyes, disorienting him for moment so she could disarm him and send a sharp punch to his face. He fell backwards, but he wasn't out for the count.
Just as the two opponents got to their feet to finish the fight, Ino's team jumped out of the bushes to the left of Sakura, Tenten and Neji appeared in a tall tree to her right, and Dosu appeared just behind Zaku.
But the chakra pressure that rose and gathered everyone's attention belonged to none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Everyone turned their head to see the Uchiha standing up next to Naruto, who was still knocked out. What captivated them about the boy wasn't the bright red sharingan that filled his irises, but the cursed mark that had spread to cover his entire left arm and half of his face.
"Sakura. Who hurt you?" Sasuke asked darkly and Sakura shiver under his gaze. "Who was it?"
Sakura didn't answer, only shook her head.
"It was me!" Zaku called out, claiming Sakura's injured as if they were victories. Dosu only glared at his stupid comrade, could he not sense the Uchiha's spiking chakra and killing intent? Was he so stupid that he couldn't see the Sasuke before them was stronger than the three of then combined.
"Sasuke don't." Sakura tried to soothe the boy's rage.
"It's okay, Sakura. I finally understand it, I am an avenger. With this power he granted me, I can finally fulfill my goal." Sasuke grinned as he walked slowly past his pink hair teammate towards Zaku.
"No, Sasuke. Please, don't-" Sakura started, but was cut off.
"I'm not afraid of some half dead freak!" Zaku challenged and began form familiar hand signs.
"No, Zaku!" Dosu warned his teammate, but it was too late.
'Ultimate Zankuuha!: Decapitating Air Waves!'
A blast of powerful air bursted forth from the holes in Zaku's hands at the Uchiha. The wind eventually cleared to reveal an empty crater where Sasuke once was.
"Ha! I've blown him away!" Zaku cheered, but his happiness was short lived.
"Blown who away?" Sasuke's voice mocked and Zaku turned around just to get punched in the face. The blow sent him flying but he was caught midair by Sasuke. Who then pinned Zaku to the ground with his foot, holding Zaku arms behind him in a tight hold.
"So, you're proud of these two arms?" Sasuke grinned, and then pulled bad hard, breaking the boy's two arms as Zaku could only scream in agony.
Zaku collapsed to the earth, helpless, and shaking from pain and fear.
Sakura moved before Sasuke to could end Zaku and she embraced the power hungry boy from behind just like she had in the past.
"Sasuke! Stop! Please… Stop…" Sakura held onto the boy tightly as the mark withdrew itself back to it's place on the Uchiha's neck. Then like before, Sasuke collapsed in her arms.
"You win. Take this a let use leave." Dosu kneeled before the two and placed his scroll in front of Sakura, before bowing his head and moving to gather up his teammates. With that the sound trio left.
"OUCH!" Naruto's voice hollered as Ino woke him up by hitting him in the head with a thick tree branch, and Sakura and Sasuke looked over at their blonde comrade with mild surprise.
Sakura started to withdraw her arms from around Sasuke to join the group, but the Uchiha stopped her by grabbing her hands.
"Don't let go just yet." Sasuke muttered, and avoided eye contact with the girl. Sakura could only blush in response.
Eventually Naruto realized that they were no longer fight Orchimaru and he strolled over to the two.
"Sakura-chan! Your hair!" He shouted as he stared at her, not even realizing he had just interrupted the moment his two teammates were having. Sakura hands automatically left Sasuke to touch her shorter hair.
"Oh! This? It's… just an image change!" Sakura grinned, and Ino and Sasuke just stared at her silently as if sharing the same thought.
"It think it looks better short! Plus it'll be easier to manage this way." She continued and she brush her fingers through her pink locks.
"Ahh… I see." Naruto scratched the back his head, believing every word.
"But why is everybody here?" His gazed moved from a frowning Shikamaru all the way over to Tenten who was helping up a very beat up Rock Lee.
"Oh hey! It's bushy brows!" Naruto called over to Lee and Sakura just smacked to boy on the back of his head.
"Don't be rude to Lee!" She growled and then turned to the green beast of the leaf village.
"Thanks for coming to save me, Lee." She smiled warmly at him, and was only slightly surprised when the boy started crying.
"It's looks like I have to train harder!" Lee spoke through sobs and then turned to his rival, Sasuke. "The Uchiha Clan sure is great. You were able to drive off those sound ninjas, while I just got my butt kicked."
Sasuke just looked surprised, no realizing that the sound ninja's were tough opponents.
Then Lee turned back to his angel, "Sakura-san, You should know that the lotus blooms twice and then next time we meet I will be stronger. I promise."
"Yeah." Sakura agreed.
"Hey, Forehead! Come here and I'll straighten out you hair." Ino called, and Sakura just nodded and headed over to the loud girl.
Elsewhere, the sand trio, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari, just finished the second test in only 97 minutes.
Author's Note:
My typos and grammar mistakes bring tears to my eyes, but I'm so... lazy. I've decided not to stick with a single pair as of yet and I'm sorry that my updates take forever! I'm just really bad at this whole fanfiction/writing business. QnQ
SORRY!
