What did I say about the frequent updates? ;) Two chapters within 24 hours! Yatta!

.:Restoration:.

Chapter 4: Disturbance

"Ahh, finally, some shade!" Naruto exclaimed as they crossed the border into the Land of Fire. It was as if the environment completely transformed. There were miles and miles of sand… and then there was a thick forest. It must have made drawing the border easy, Sakura thought.

The four shinobi unclasped and removed their cloaks, stuffing them into their packs. Sakura let her rose hair down from its tie, shaking her head a little to tease the locks. The temperature was significantly cooler under the canopy of trees.

"Does everyone have their vials?" Kakashi asked, holding his own little glass tube up. Sakura and Sai held theirs up and their eyes turned to Naruto, who was frantically searching his pockets.

"Uhhh… Ummm… It's in here somewhere!" he opened his weapons pouch and practically stuck his head inside of it.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "It's a good thing we each have a sample. At least one of them should be able to make it back to Tsunade-sama."

Re-pocketing her vial, Sakura said, "Naruto, why don't you look in—"

"I FOUND IT!" Naruto shouted, holding his own glass tube up to the sky triumphantly. Sai smiled while Sakura and Kakashi shook their heads. The team began to walk down the dirt trail that would lead back to the village.

Naruto fell into step beside Sakura. "Ne, Sakura-chan, how do you think Shikamaru, Ino-chan, and Choji are doing? Have you heard from them lately?"

"Yeah, actually Shikamaru-kun and Ino-chan stopped by the hospital during one of my shifts last week. Why?" Sakura glanced sideways at Naruto and saw that he had his hands clasped behind his head in his typical nonchalant fashion.

"Oh, just wondering. Is Shikamaru still smoking?"

Sakura shrugged. "Yeah, he is, but it's okay. He knows the limits. It's just his way of remembering Asuma-sensei."

"Asuma-sensei…" Naruto was quiet for a moment. "I've only seen his kid once. Kurenai-sensei sure makes a good mom."

Sakura remembered her days of genjutsu training with Kurenai, and smiled to herself. "Yeah, she's really dedicated. She'd trying to make up for the fact that her child will be without a father."

"But that's okay!" Naruto pointed his thumb at his chest, "We'll help her out! Kurenai-sensei doesn't have to raise the baby alone! We can all be the little baby's older brothers and sisters!"

"That's if you're willing to change diapers, Naruto." Kakashi said, walking beside the blond. Sai fell into step with Sakura.

Naruto made a face. "Neh, that's okay. I'll leave that one to Sakura-chan." Sakura hit him lightly over the head and they all laughed. "Hmm… No, I change my mind. How about this, Kaka-sensei, every time you're late to something, you get put on diaper duty! Looks like the honor is all yours!"

Kakashi looked horrified. "No, not even if it was an S-class mission."

"Aww, come on, Kaka-sensei! You gotta prepare for when you're a dad!" Naruto said. "Wait does that mean you admit to being late to everything?"

Kakashi's silver eyebrow rose and he chose to ignore the last statement. "And what makes you believe I'll be a father?"

"You're already like a dad to us, Kaka-sensei," Sakura smiled at the man, who smiled back through his mask.

"Thank you, Sakura."

"Yeah! And everyone can tell that you and Anko-sensei have something going on. I mean, just look! She's reading the same pervy books you do!" Naruto said.

"That doesn't mean anything except that the reading material is appealing. So we happen to like the same books? It's hard not to like Icha Icha." Kakashi pointed out calmly.

Naruto turned to Sai. "Sai, what does it mean when two people suddenly start going to lunch together, even dinner, then one of them starts to pick up on the hobbies of the other person?"

"Well, I'd have to say that that means they're interested in each other." Sakura giggled at Sai's answer, trying to picture Kakashi-sensei and Anko-sensei together. Then she pictured a child with a purple version of Kakashi's hair and laughed some more.

"See, Kaka-sensei? Even Sai can tell that you and Anko-sensei like each other!" Naruto turned his attention back to the Copy Ninja, who seemed to be turning a little… pink?

"Naruto, I wouldn't bring this up anymore unless you'd like to talk about you and Hinata-chan."

"Ooooh, threats, Kaka-sensei, I didn't know you had it in you!" Naruto joked, throwing his head back and laughing. "But really—" He was cut off by the sound of a kunai slicing through the air between him and Sakura.

"Exploding tag!" Sakura shouted a warning, and the four shinobi jumped out of the way of the explosion. They stood in a circle, backs to one another, as the dust settled. Sakura scanned the area for enemy chakra, but couldn't find any. They must have been masking their chakra, or stopping the flow of it altogether.

"Hey, where the hell are you?" Naruto shouted into the forest. A shuriken sped towards Kakashi, but he threw a kunai and the weapons contacted with a clink and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Suddenly all at once three figures darted towards the Konoha shinobi. A fairly large and muscular man with flaming orange hair engaged Naruto. A woman with glasses and red hair armed with a plethora of weapons targeted Sai.

There was a very loud sound to Sakura's left and she glanced over to see Kakashi fending off a man with a large sword. The Copy Ninja's Sharingan was uncovered, and he was blocking the blade with the back of his gloved hand. Sakura had a sense of déjà vu and realized that she'd seen that sword before. It was the Kubikiribōchō, the giant sword carried by Momochi Zabuza. Confused, Sakura looked at its current wielder and was slightly relieved not to see Zabuza standing there. Instead, there was a man with light hair and purple eyes. His teeth were sharp, like a shark's, and she was suddenly stunned when the man turned himself into water, falling to a puddle at Kakashi's feet. The puddle moved between Kakashi's legs and the man returned to his normal human shape, bringing the sword around to slash Kakashi in the side. The Copy Ninja jumped up, avoiding the attack.

He looked over to her while he was in the air and shouted, "Sakura!"

But she'd already heard the kunai flying straight towards her head. Ducking, she reached her hand up expertly and grabbed the kunai as it flew past the air where her head once was, wrapping her fingers around the wrapped handle. Flipping it around in her hand, she turned the weapon against the cloaked figure that engaged her in battle. The stolen kunai clinked against the enemy's and they struggled.

From the outline of the body underneath the cloak, Sakura could tell this person was a man and not a woman. She decided this was a good thing, since she could apply her taijutsu training in this situation. Wait for them to strike first. Turn their attack into a counter-attack and catch them by surprise, Shikamaru's words flitted through her brain.

And so she waited. Their kunai were still pushing against each other, and Sakura was feeling a little impatient. Her brain focused on everything; the placement of his feet and his stance, the movement of his fingers in case he tried ninjutsu. Her eyes focused on the blackness of where his head should've been. The cloak was so large that it hid his face from view, and she was unsuccessful in making eye contact. If this man had any sort of technique that required the use of his eyes, Sakura wouldn't be able to predict it, what with his eyes being hidden from view.

She swallowed, getting nervous. Suddenly the man seemingly teleported to stand behind Sakura, and she heard his arm cut through the air to punch her in the back. Reacting quickly, she ducked and placed her palms on the ground for support as she brought her leg around, aiming a kick to his ankles. He jumped, though, and was coming down on top of her, foot stretched out with a gravity-aided heel to her chest.

To avoid the kick she jumped backwards, away from her team. Instantly she knew this was a bad idea; she shouldn't let the man drive her away from the others. But she couldn't do anything about it, as the attacker was being aggressive. He put his weight into each punch and kick, driving Sakura backwards father into the forest as she dodged the blows.

He landed his first punch. The hit knocked her on her back, skidding on the ground until she came to a complete stop. She sat up gingerly, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, squinting at the man as he walked over to her, cloak rustling in the wind.

She stood up hastily and did the appropriate hand seals for the genjutsu Kurenai-sensi and taught her. Her chakra stream calmed at her will and extended to the man, trying to infiltrate his brain. The rejection was like a physical blow, causing her eyes to snap open and she gasped. He was trained to deflect genjutsu, and was gaining on her in taijutsu. He had yet to show his ninjutsu and whatever else he had up his sleeve, and such techniques definitely existed with this guy. Sakura knew she was in a very tight spot, separated from her teammates and surely overpowered.

But she wasn't going to give up yet. Focusing a substantial amount of her chakra into her fist, she brought her hand up and down into the ground, splitting the earth with the shock. A crack formed between her and the man, who had to jump to avoid falling into the abyss. Taking advantage of the distraction, Sakura grabbed a handful of her poison kunai and waited for the right moment.

3…2…1... she counted in her head, then threw the batch of weapons at the spot where the man would land. Timed perfectly, he would be hit by the kunai once he landed and fall to the ground, his body succumbing to the poison. There was no escape; the kunai were headed on a collision course with his body, and there was no way he could change the direction of his fall from the air. Sakura was going to claim this victory.

From underneath his cloak the man produced a sword, stabbing it into the ground and standing on top of it. The kunai contacted the erect sword and fell limp to the ground, the poison coating their tips useless. Sakura's eyes widened as he hopped off his sword, rather casually, removing it from the dirt. He landed on his sword, the weapon replacing his body as the target of my kunai…

And suddenly he was in front of her, grabbing her neck and pushing her up against a tree. He tightened his grip, cutting off her air supply. Ever so slowly, he brought his hooded head to her ear and she heard his faint whisper, so stunned by his words that she stopped trying to escape.

"You've gotten stronger… Sakura."

Her dying lungs screamed at her to take action and her foot made a connection with the man's chest, sending him flying backwards. She fell to the ground breathing harshly after having almost been suffocated, hands clutching at her raw neck.

He stood still from afar, making no move, as if he was letting her catch her breath. When her breathing became tolerable, she choked out, "Show yourself!" How had he known her name? And did he imply that they'd encountered one another before?

The man laughed, a harsh sound, and his hand rose to grasp the edge of the hood. Slowly, dramatically, the fabric fell around his shoulders and his head was exposed.

Sakura's green eyes widened. That black hair… the obsidian eyes…

Sasuke.

YES! SASUKE'S MADE HIS DEBUT! Yay!

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