key:
"talking"
'jutsu'
thinking
"flashback"
nonhuman
The Fight Against Shukaku
Amazing. In just a month, Sasuke had grow so much. Learning Lee's Taijutsu and even Kakashi's chidori, He really was a prodigal shinobi. Watching the fight between two young, yet very powerful shinobi was so damn thrilling and horrify that Sakura had almost forgotten all about the dangers that were about to unfold. First, the disguised sound ninja's used genjutsu to make all of the people in the crowd fall in to a deep sleep. Sakura, herself, dispelled it easily, but that was just the beginning. Gaara was losing himself to Shukaku in the arena, and Orochimaru and the Sound Four had made their move, trapping the Hokage in a battle to the death.
"Naruto, wake up!" Sakura dispelled the genjutsu surrounding her blonde teammate, and slapped him hard to wake him up. "And I know you're awake Shikamaru, so get up!"
She could see Shikamaru noticeably flinch at the sound of his name, and Naruto had already come to, rather abruptly, due to her slapping him across the face. "Kakashi we're going to go after Gaara and Sasuke." She turned to her sensei and grinned knowingly at the copy ninja.
"Stole the words right out of my mouth." Kakashi couldn't help but smile at his pink haired student, but he didn't have much time for smiling because it was up to him and Guy sensei to take care of all the sound ninja in the stadium. "Go with them! Pakkun!" The silver haired ninja pricked his finger and summon the small dog to help them follow Sasuke's trail.
"Alright, let's go!" Sakura followed after the dog, dragging a confused Naruto along with her.
"Aw man, what a drag." Shimaru sighed, but quickly followed after the group.
When, Naruto, Sakura, and Pakkun reached Sasuke and Gaara the scene before them was exactly like Sakura had remember. Sasuke had been able to unleash a third chidori with the help of Orochimaru's seal, but at the price of become immobilized by the Sanin's spreading curse and Gaara was losing himself, having already transformed his right arm and grown the tail of Shukaku. Shikamaru was no longer among them because the lazy boy had actually volunteered to face a bunch of dangerous sound ninja to give them a head start, and Sakura couldn't help but worry about her friend. Though she relaxed at the knowledge that he would be just fine.
Like always, Naruto arrived at the nick of time and was able to fend off the attack that would have likely ended the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Sakura also appeared, kneeling next to Sasuke as she turned him over onto his back to see if he had taking any severe damage. "You're okay, Sasuke. Just concentrate on fighting off the seal." She gave him a concerned smile and pressed her fingers against the burning mark on his neck before sending cool chakra into the pressure point to relieve some of his pain. "After all, I already know you're going to be the strongest disciple of the Uchiha clan. Even stronger than him." She gave him knowing look and then turned her attention to Gaara. Sasuke could only stare in at the girl, as she helped him sit up against the tree truck.
"You." Gaara's eyes widened at the sight of the pink haired girl that dared to call herself his friend. "Stop getting in my way!" He roared at her like a savage monster.
Sakura pulled out a kunai and readied herself in a defensive fighting position, "I'm sorry, Gaara, but I can't do that. I'm going to stop you."
Gaara glared menacingly at the girl, the killing intent thick in the air around him, "Fine! But this time I'll do more than just break your leg!" He rushed at her, his sand composed arm launching itself in her direction. She dodged and moved, and he followed after her just as she hoped. Gotta get him away from Sasuke...
Naruto jumped to the branch that Sasuke was helpless perched on, staring that the monster and his beloved teammate as they dashed around the forest dodging and sending attacks towards one another. "He did it." Naruto voice was unusually stoic, and Sasuke couldn't help but turn his attention to Naruto. "Gaara was one who hurt Sakura and almost killed her that time." Naruto finished recalling the day they walked in on a broken Sakura crying in the arms of the Hokage, and Sasuke's eyes widened at this realization.
"That bastard!" Naruto growled and chased after the sand ninja.
"Stop running around and fight me!" Gaara roared and Sakura dodged yet another barrage of 'Sand Shrunken', however she knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. She was getting tired and as time progressed Gaara was becoming more and more like the one tailed beast inside of him. Luckly, Naruto was quick in coming to her aid, and the two proceeded to fight off the sand genin together.
Naruto could feel himself tiring and when he glanced over the Sakura he could see that she wasn't fairing much better. He needed more chakra, he need to be stronger to protect the people that were important to him. He had to win, even if it cost him his life. He could feel the rage inside of him build up and an enormous amount of chakra burst forth from deep inside of him. 'Shadow Clone Jutsu'!
Hundreds of Naruto's appeared from thin air, ready to fight and even Sakura who was well accustomed to seeing Naruto in action was amazed by the sheer number of them. "Alright, here I come!" He yelled and all of the clones sprung into action, beating Gaara back to the point where the sand ninja was forced to transform into Shukaku completely.
"Holy cow!" Naruto called out as he stared up at the enormous monster Gaara had become. He was utterly shocked and out of clones.
"Naruto, look out!" Sakura immediately noticed the sand that had moved to surround her blonde teammate, and she shoved him out of the way just in time. Unfortunately, the sand took hold of her instead and there was no way out cause soon enough she was trapped in Gaara's 'Sand Coffin'.
"Sakura!" Was the last thing she heard, and now she was in darkness. She panicked, and punched and kicked at the caccoon of sand with chakra fueled fist and feet though it seemed to have no effect, yet what seemed to surprised her the most was that she was still alive. The sand kept her trapped but it didn't move to constrict and kill her. What's going on?
Little did she know at the time that, Gaara had hesitated and failed to complete his 'Sand Coffin'. For some reason he just couldn't kill her, something about her made him weak and that realization made him angry. So although he couldn't find it in him to crush Sakura to death, in his full form as Shukaku he swallowed the girl and sand caccoon whole. So there could only be two outcomes; either she would suffocated within the sandy prison, or Naruto would defeat him and she would be released.
"Either defeat me and the girl lives or lose and the girl dies."
"Ugh! Let me out!" Sakura continued to pound away at the walls of her prison, but she was getting nowhere with brute strenght and the more she struggled the faster she used up the limited amount of air she had left. Calm down, Sakura. Think!
She settled down and concentrated. She closed her eyes and could feel the sand around her tremble and shift with every movement Shukaku made. And from what she could tell, Shukaku was now fighting something big, and from what she remembered when future Naruto was bragging about this fight, it was likely a giant toad? Or was it a giant fox? She shook her head, It doesn't matter!
"Huh?" Sakura opened her eyes, when she realized the sand was dispersing on it's own. She was free, which meant Naruto had succeeded in taking down Shukaku once again, and now she was... falling. Crap.
Thankfully, it wasn't difficult to find a surface to land on and she effortlessly anchored herself onto the handle of a… giant sword? Man, the pink haired girl really wished that she had been conscious for this fight in the past, so this experience would be less weird. She glanced down and on the ground she could see Gaara and Naruto running towards one another their fists held up for a final strike. Sakura just watched as soon both boys were sprawled out on the ground, and then as they were yelling and talking to one another she couldn't help but smile down at the scene before joining them.
When she landed in between the two, they were both happy to see that she was unharmed, though only Naruto would admit it to himself.
"Sakura! You're alright!?" Naruto asked, throughly exhausted and unable to move.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled down at the blonde, before kneeling down next to him and placing her hand on his back. "I'm glad that you both are alright."
"Both?" Gaara whispered and could only stared at the girl in shock, he watched as she turned her head towards him and once again smiled warmly at him. For some reason the pink haired girl's beautiful smile made him feel like crying, but he only sighed and closed his eyes. It had been a long day for Gaara of the Sand.
It wasn't long before Sasuke reached the scene, then Temari and Kankuro, and when the sand trio left, Sakura looked down at her blonde hero to find him fast asleep. She smiled at the boy and pet his hair in a comforting manner before looking up at Sasuke with a relieved expression, "Sasuke, let's go home."
The Uchiha only nodded at the girl, and they both help to carry Naruto back to the village where their sensei's were already mourning the death of a great Hokage.
Author's Note:
Alright, in the next few chapters Itachi and Kisame will make their appearance! So that's exciting! Unfortunately, it might be a while before I write and post the next installments of "Back at the Starting Line!" because I really tired myself out writing chapters 19-22. So, I apologize in advance for that! But I hope you guys enjoy these chapters and continuing sending me your opinions and suggestions! Thank you for being wonder readers!
Love, The author of this poorly written fanfiction
