key:
"talking"
'jutsu'
thinking
"flashback"
nonhuman
Death Before Training
The next day started out the same as any other, but Sakura knew that things would be different now. She knew she would be participating in the second match in the first round, just after Naruto's match up with Neji, and she knew that her opponent was Dosu. What she didn't know, however, was how she was going to win or what all these changes in the past were having on the future and not knowing scared her. She tried not to worry about it, she had to concentrate on her training. She wouldn't have a lot of time before her face off with the sound ninja, but to be honest she wasn't too worried about fighting Dosu because for all she knew he probably wasn't even going to show up, and she really didn't care much about the chunin exams. Win or lose, she knew soon that Team seven would have to face Gaara and the one-tailed beast within him, Shukaku. Then after that, they'll have their first experience with the Akatsuki, and then Sasuke would leave. She had to fix things, or at the very least she had to try.
When Sakura left her apparent building she was surprised to find Shikamaru waiting outside, "Wha-what are you doing here, Shikamaru?" She blurted out the question. "Shouldn't you be training for the exam?"
The quiet boy just stared at her for a moment and then shrugged, "I'm heading there now, but training is such a drag." Sakura couldn't help but giggle a bit at the lazy boy's catchphrase, which made the shadow welder smile, but only slightly. "So, what will you be doing for training? I heard that Kakashi is focusing all of his attention on Sasuke and that Naruto's hanging out with some old guy. So, who's going to teach you?" Sakura could feel the dark haired boy watching her from the corner of his eye as they walked, analyzing her every move.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to train by myself then." Sakura shrugged and looked over to Shikamaru. "And I'm guessing that you'll be training to perfect your 'Shadow Possession Jutsu', but if I were you I'd make sure to have a few other techniques ready to use just in case you run out of shadows."
With that, Shikamaru stopped in his tracks and didn't even attempt to hide the look of shock on his face as he stared at the pink haired shinobi beside him. Sakura just continued to walk ahead before finally turning back around to face her fellow leaf genin, a sly smile spread across her lips, "All I'm saying is that I think you should be prepared for anything, just in case things happen to not go you way. Two hundred moves ahead, right Shikamaru?" Sakura giggled at the boy's expression and ran off to get started on her own training.
When she was out of sight, Shikamaru found himself laughing and he grinned at the horizon Sakura had disappeared over. "You're definitely a puzzle, Sakura Haruno."
It was still early morning and the sun was just staring to rise when Sakura finally reached the empty training area where Kakashi and the team had played the games with the bells and she decided that the first course of action would be to work on her taijutsu techniques, after all she would need a good foundation before using her precise chakra control to enhance her speed and strength. The pink haired kunoichi had finally found a nice clearing and crouched down into a defensive starting position when she sensed him, and then automatically straightened up in response.
"Come out, Dosu." She sighed and glanced over towards her right side where the sound ninja leap down into view from where he had been hidden in a nearby tree. She turned towards him as he approached her, "Are you seriously that concerned about our fight that you have to spy on me?"
She raised her brow at the ninja boy who stopped just a few feet in front of her. He chuckled at her suspicious expression and she frowned at him.
"It's surprising that a girl that seems to know everything is asking me that." Dosu grinned at her from behind the bandages wrapped around his face, and he just couldn't decide which was cuter Sakura's angry expression or her confused one. Though he could tell the two probably went hand in hand. "Nah, I could care less about our fight. I'd rather we just talk. So… Why don't you tell me what you know?"
Sakura really didn't want to tell Dosu anything, in fact wasn't he suppose to be dead right about now? She groaned, "Look. I don't know that much. The only thing I know for sure is that Orochimaru is not a friend to the sound village and he's not a friend to the sand either. He's only looking out for himself, and what he wants is to cause chaos and to get Sasuke. So if I were you, I'd keep my distance. Leave this place before you get hurt, and stay away from those sand ninja." She warned, added in that last part about the sand ninja because she knew full well that if Dosu ever decided to challenge Gaara he would get torn apart.
"And how might I ask do you even know all of this?" Dosu asked, in a tone that was especially serious.
"I…" Sakura started and then promptly looked away from the prying sound genin before continuing, "I refuse to share that information."
"Fine." Dosu growled and stepped closer till the two were practically touching. Sakura instinctively tried to back away but Dosu grabbed her arm, pinned her in that spot. The pink haired girl then opened her mouth to say something, but the sound ninja cut her off, "Run away with me."
"What?" Was the only word Sakura seemed to be able to say in response to that.
"You refuse to give my an honest answer so prove that what you are saying is true. If all hell is really going to break lose in this village because of Orochimaru's plans, then flee with me. We can both go somewhere safe." Dosu tilted his head and brought his face even closer, and Sakura honestly thought that she was about to be kiss by Dosu, leader of the genin sound trio, when suddenly he was gone.
Not gone as in "poof" he vanished, but gone as in; in that very moment a sharp wall of sand had come out of nowhere and rammed against Dosu's side, crushing him helplessly against a tree. For a second Sakura just stared straight ahead at the space Dosu had previously occupied, speechless, but then she turned her head to where the boy now rested only to find Dosu's one revealed eye staring back at her. The sound ninja's body had been broken against the strong bark of the tree and now he just laid there, his limbs twisted and mangled in unnatural positions, the tree behind him stained red with his blood, and his face just staring back at her with an expression that would be forever frozen in fear. Dosu Kinuta was once again dead, Sakura turned her head in the opposite direction till her eyes finally met with the cold blue eyes of a familiar sand ninja, and Gaara once again was the one who killed him.
"G-Gaara?" Sakura stared at the boy in horror, and took a defensive step backwards.
In response her fearful reaction, she could see a split second of confusion cross over the red head's face before his expression went robotic and cold once more.
Earlier, when the girl in front of him looked at him she would give him a warm and friendly smile, but she certainly wasn't smiling for him anymore. Of course it was just a trick. Gaara frowned internally at himself for not realizing it sooner, this girl was just like everyone else. An enemy.
"You're not a monster, Gaara." Sakura spoke up as if she could read his thoughts.
"Stop lying. I can see past your tricks!" The sand ninja practically growled at her and she could feel the grains of sand below her feet and around her retreat back toward's their master, possible preparing themselves for yet another fatal strike.
Sakura gulped, and swallowed up all the courage and determination she could muster before moving her legs and walking towards the dangerous genin.
"What-what are you doing? Get away!" Gaara's eyes widened when Sakura didn't run away from him like he had expected, but was instead walking up to him. He looked into her eyes for some sort of clue as to why she was approaching him, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. He raised his right arm and sent a warming shot at the girl, a spear of sand that rushed just past her face and even nicked her cheek, but the pink haired girl didn't even flinch and she didn't stop her march till she was just three feet from him. Gaara opened his mouth to threaten her again, but she cut him off.
"I know about you, Gaara and I know about the one tailed beast sealed inside you, Shukaku." Sakura spoke up and gave the boy a soft sort of smile. "I might even know things about you that you don't even know yourself, but most of all I know that you're strong. You're strong enough to control the tailed beast inside of you." She reached out and placed both hands on either of the stunned boy's shoulders. "I'm not your enemy, Gaara."
"See?" She reached up and let her fingers press against the boy's cool cheek. "If I wanted to harm you, the sand wouldn't have let me touch you."
Gaara was baffled, stunned, shocked. He just stared at the girl who was once again smiling at him and was now even touching him, but what shocked him the most was that he liked her touch and he wanted to believe her. No. He shook his head and stepped away from the girl. "You say that you're not my enemy, but if you're not my enemy than who are you!?" Gaara shouted at her and continued to step back as a splitting headache awoke in his mind.
"I'm your friend." Was Sakura's answer as she took another step forward.
"Stop!" Gaara yelled and growled as he placed his palms on his throbbing head. "Just go away! Get away from me!" He looked up to glare at the her, hoping to scare her away, but instead of just sending the girl a nasty glare, the sand around him and in his gourd reacted defensively as well. The redhead could only watch as his unintended sand attack knocked into the girl and blew her body back, he watched her form hit the ground, hard, and then tumble and roll away from him, and he continued to watch in horror as she didn't move.
"S-Sakura?" He called out to her, but was only met with terrible silence. He ventured towards her cautiously, fearing the worst, and when he stood above her broken form he could see that her leg was bent at an odd angle at that blood was trickling out from a larger gash on her forehead. He could see the steady rise and fall of her chest and he relaxed knowing that she was still alive. The red head crouched down next to her and hesitantly reached out and let his fingers press against her warm cheek. An odd sigh of relief escaped from his throat and then with a rush of wind and sand he disappeared.
