Author's Note: SO happy you guys like it so far! (No weird flashback transitions anymore, pinky promise :) ) And don't worry, Sakura will NOT be portrayed as weak or annoying (As you'll see in this chapter), I personally love her character and she deserves to be portrayed as changed and freaking awesome. With that being said, here's chapter 2!
Sakura felt as if she were in a dream, everything that had happened to her in the past hour was surreal. She was standing in Lady Tsunade's office, in the middle of Sasuke and Naruto, just like they had when they were genin. Sakura's eyes were glowing, there would be only one reason as to why all three of them were summoned to Tsunade's office.
"It's been a long time you three." Lady Tsunade began, folding her hands on her desk. "I assume you probably already know why I summoned you here-"
"Not really, isn't it obvious? You've finally opened those old eyes of yours and are finally going to give me a mission worthy of my skills!" Naruto said, crossing both of his arms behind his head.
Lady Tsunade sighed. "Well not exactl-"
"I mean it's about time Bāchan, my talents are finally being recognized-" Naruto was abruptly cut off when he felt the impact of a fist to his head.
"Shut up and let the woman TALK YOU IDIOT!" Sakura exclaimed. Inwardly, she sighed. When she thought she wanted things to be like how they used to be, she didn't mean exactly how they used to be. Naruto's constant bragging and complaints that missions were too easy always irked her, some things would never change, even after three years.
"SAKURA-CHAN THAT HURT!" Naruto complained, rubbing his head, but nonetheless continued to talk. "Come on Bāchan! Give me something challenging! I haven't been pushed far enough-"
"You're right."
"-in my years as a shinobi and I deserve- …wait what?" Naruto said, abruptly stopping his rant.
"I said," Lady Tsunade said taking a frustrated breath, "You're right. You haven't been pushed enough."
Naruto looked at Lady Tsunade, for once not knowing what to say, looking very confused. Then he spoke again.
"Heh, of course I'm right." Naruto said satisfyingly. Sakura rolled her eyes. He's so immature.
Tsunade smirked "That's why I'm sending all three of you on a mission."
Sakura's heart looked at the two men standing next to her on either side, a very surprised Naruto who began to smile very widely, and at Sasuke, stoic as always, but she noticed a slight gleam of interest in his onyx eyes. Sakura found herself slowly begin to smile.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, you three are a team again, I'm officially reinstating Team Seven." Tsunade said with pride in her voice. "Now for the matter of your mission."
"It's an investigation, so pay attention to the details I'm about to give you." Tsunade said.
Sakura's ears perked up, eager to learn the details of the mission.
"We've received reports of strange, massive amounts of chakra developing in the woods near the Land of Rice Patties. These people have little to no shinobi, most are just farmers, so it's not surprising that nobody wants to go out there and investigate. You're mission is to go out there and find the source of this chakra." Tsunade said, looking at each of them.
"I don't get it. It sounds pretty easy, I mean what's so special about this chakra?" Naruto asked.
Tsunade looked into Naruto's eyes. "These chakra levels are massive, too massive to belong to regular shinobi, massive enough…" she sighed. "To be the chakra of a tailed beast."
Naruto's head shot up, his demeanor suddenly serious. Sakura looked over at Naruto, worry filling her body. She knew how sensitive Naruto was about tailed beasts and their jinjuriki, after all he was one himself. Then her worry vanished when Naruto looked up with a determined smile on his face.
"Ok then! No sense in wasting any time! Let's move!" he yelled, thrusting his fist in the air.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, you're due to leave first thing tomorrow." Tsunade said, turning her attention to a pile of paperwork on her desk. "If you're so eager, spend some time at the training grounds before you head out tomorrow. I'm sure you three will want to get…re-acquainted with each other.." Tsunade finished awkwardly, giving Sasuke a somewhat pointed stare. Then she sighed.
"I expect success from this group. You were each trained by a member of the Sanin, like myself. That means you each contain the power that Jiraya, Orochimaru, and myself have, or had in Orochimaru's case. You are all capable of success." she turned to Sakura. "I also expect my student to represent me well. Being the only chunin in team seven as of right now, I trust that you'll make smart choices on this mission Sakura."
Sakura looked at her Shishō with pride in her eyes. She would make her proud.
"Understood." Sakura said.
Sakura clenched both of her fists, finally the last three years of her training would pay off. She would show her teammates that she wasn't the same weak, defenseless twelve year old who always needed to be protected.
No more relying on Naruto and Sasuke to watch her back. This time, she would watch theirs.
This time, she would be right by their side, where she belonged. Where she always belonged.
"Hey wait. Where's Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked "Team seven won't be complete without him."
Sakura had almost forgotten. Where was their old sensei?
"Kakashi is currently on another mission, he won't be back for a few weeks at the most." Tsunade responded.
Sakura sighed. Oh well, but she wasn't going to be the one to sulk at her almost full team. They'll just have to give Kakashi a rain check.
"Dismissed." Tsunade said, pouring a cup of sake.
"Let's go! We don't have time to relax!" Naruto yelled excitedly, grabbing Sakura's wrist and pulling her with him into the hallway.
"Naruto! Where the hell are you going?!" Sakura exclaimed, prying her wrist free of Naruto's grip.
"Where do ya think? You heard Bāchan,The training grounds! We gotta get in shape for tomorrow!"
Sakura sighed, but continued to follow her teammate, although not at his pace. She walked slower, but not slow enough to loose sight of Naruto. Then she felt a figure fall into step beside her.
"So you're a chunin." Sasuke said, with a little interest peaking in his voice.
Sakura smiled. She knew the chunin exams weren't for a few more months, so Naruto was still ranked as a genin, not having taken the exam again. It completely passed her mind that Sasuke wasn't a chunin. Inner Sakura laughed, it must be KILLING him to know that she surpassed him. Although she was freaking out on the inside, she remained calm on the outside.
"It wasn't easy. With Naruto gone I had to be placed with two strangers on a team. It just..never felt the same." she said, looking at her feet as they moved forward at an even pace. "But the training I received from Lady Tsunade paid off." she looked at Sasuke, and was surprised to find him looking at her. Not straight ahead like he always did when someone tried to speak with him, but directly at her face. Back when she was twelve, she would have done anything to have Sasuke look at her when she talked to him. Normally he'd just stare off somewhere, interest absent from his face, but he never told her to shut up back then, so she just kept talking. She wasn't used to this behavior from him, but she liked it.
Team seven soon found themselves at the training grounds, standing around the short wooden pillars that held so many memories. Sakura smiled, remembering back to when Kakashi had challenged them to take two bells hanging off his vest from him, proving their worth to become genin. It had ended with Naruto tied to one of the pillars, (and constantly caught in traps that had him hanging by his feet by a rope), Sakura caught in a genjutsu of Sasuke broken and injured, and Sasuke being dragged into the ground with only his head left above ground. Sakura remembered the joy she felt after going against the rules to feed Naruto lunch, that event turning out to be what their sensei had wanted them to do all along.
"Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." he had said.
Things sure have changed since then, Sakura thought, they were all stronger, more responsible-
"OK Teme! You and me right now!" Naruto suddenly yelled whipping out a kunai.
Scratch that, not all of them were responsible.
Sasuke smirked. "If we fought then you'd be beaten so badly that it would just be me and Sakura on the mission tomorrow." he said
Sakura blushed slightly. She imagined going on a mission with Sasuke, fighting by his side, defending him,
Healing him..
"No way! I could totally kick your ass!" Naruto exclaimed, over confident as ever.
"Naruto stop. If you want to fight someone so badly then fight me." Sakura said, taking out her black fighting gloves.
Naruto frowned. "But Sakura-chan, I might hurt you." Naruto said warily.
Sakura tightened her glove, putting her hand in front of her face, clenching her fist. "I'm tougher than I look. You know that."
Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes then snickered. "Alright then let's do it!" he yelled dashing towards the more woodsy part of the grounds.
Sasuke was interested- scratch that- extremely interested at the scene that had just unfolded in front of him. He saw a gleam in Sakura's eyes, a gleam that he had never seen in her before. In the months that had passed since he had returned to Konoha, she had been proving to him daily that she had changed, both mentally and physically. And now she was gracefully dodging every attack the dobe had thrown at her, even all of the clones he produced couldn't hit Sakura. But he knew that Naruto was going easy on her, and Sasuke had a feeling that Sakura hadn't shown her full abilities yet. He watched as the two ninja, so caught up in their fight, move further into the woods. He was about to follow when he felt a familiar chakra signature behind him. He smirked.
"What do you think he'll do when he finds out he's fighting a clone?" Sasuke said, still facing the woods.
"I'm not going to risk him getting hurt." Sakura said.
"You think you could manage to hurt him?" Sasuke asked
"Like I said, I'm tougher than I look."
At this Sasuke turned to face her. "Then prove it."
Sakura smiled mischievously "I was hoping you'd say that."
Sasuke gripped his kusanagi "How do I know that you aren't a clone as well?"
Sakura flipped a kunai skillfully in her hand and took a fighting stance. "I guess you'll just have to find out."
They stared at each other for a minute, sizing each other out. Sakura was more than ready, to her surprise not even having an ounce of nervousness in her body. She moved her right foot back.
Watch how much I've grown Sasuke-kun. She dashed forward.
She came right at him, with no fear in her eyes. She threw her kunai, aiming right for his chest. Sasuke drew his kusanagi just in time to send Sakura's kunai spiraling in the other direction. Regardless of her failed attack, she still came at him, pulling her fist back to prepare for an impact. Sasuke dodged her first punch and grabbed hold of her wrist. She immediately twisted her wrist free with little effort, much to Sasuke's surprise. Sakura's leg swung unexpectedly, making an impact on Sasuke's side, launching him sideways in midair. He skillfully flipped in midair, landed, then dashed forward. Sakura ran towards him as well, both of her fists clenched together. Suddenly, she stopped, pivoted smoothly and quickly on her right foot, and her fist made contact with Sasuke's clone that snuck up behind her. The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. How the hell did she detect his clone, and so fast? He snapped out of his private thoughts as he felt Sakura appear behind him. He spun around caught her fist in his hand before it smashed into his face. He smirked triumphantly, but then he saw the corners of Sakura's mouth slowly begin to rise.
And that's when he felt it.
A severe pain began shooting through his hand, traveling up his arm. He grimaced as he saw her give him a triumphant smile.
At first he was confused, he had blocked her punch before it had made impact with his body-
That's when he realized it had made contact, his hand.
There was something about her punches that made them different from normal ones, remembering the punch she had delivered to that shinobi on their walk that one day.
"I'm tougher than I look"
Then she raised her leg and slammed it into the ground, jumping up quickly.
Without warning the earth began to crumble at a rapid speed. Sasuke's perception and movements became unsteady as he tried not to fall in-between the giant cracks rapidly spreading through the ground. He quickly sprung into the air, gaining height between him and the ground. He landed safely where the cracks didn't meet the ground, then swiftly spun to once again block Sakura's punch, more pain spreading through his hand and arm. He shoved her away into the air, but she flipped and landed gracefully on her feet. She looked at him, and suddenly glared.
"You're going easy on me." she said accusingly, putting a hand on her hip.
Well of course he was, he didn't want her to land in the hospital because of training, with him being the ultimate cause of her injuries. But of course he was in that mindset before he had witnessed her shatter the ground and manage to cause intense pain form just one punch. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
This was not the same girl that was his teammate three years ago, not the same defenseless kunoichi who had ogled him from day one.
This girl was a stranger.
A pair of fingers jabbed the back of his neck, and his body became limp, sagging to the ground.
Dammit! How did he miss her clone behind him? He cursed under his breath.
He fell to his knees, fighting against his body's will to completely fall on the ground, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of weakening him.
She walked in front of him and gave him annoyed look.
"I don't know why you didn't use your sharingan, but I do know one thing.." she began.
Her hand began to glow blue, her chakra visibly surrounding her hand taking the shape of sharp edges. Sasuke recognized it, chakra scalpels. He'd seen them countless times from Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man, using them to slice and cut others' skin apart.
She placed her hand right near his neck, almost touching his skin.
"Never underestimate me ever again." she said.
Sasuke looked at Sakura, taking in the kunoichi that stood in front of him. She looked powerful, strong.
Her once timid and averting eyes were now focused and ready to take on anything that came her way.
Sasuke realized that she really had changed.
And somewhere deep down in his heart he was proud of her.
Sakura sighed, and Sasuke watched as her chakra scalpels became dull, the sharp edges lessening more and more. Her chakra blended into a light green, and she took his hand in hers and poured her chakra into his hand. Sasuke felt a warm tingling as the pain in his hand and arm began to subside. Sakura reached behind his neck and placed three fingers on his skin, her chakra flowing into his body, the numbness throughout dulling.
Sasuke stared at his hand that was engulfed in Sakura's chakra. What was wrong with him? Why hadn't he used his full strength? Why hadn't he used his Sharingan? He most definitely would have won this sparring match if he activated his bloodline right from the beginning. He would have known every move she would make, sparing any injuries or over using chakra.
So why in the hell didn't he use his eyes?
Sakura's chakra faded and she let go of Sasuke's hands, rising to her feet. She sighed and extended her hand to Sasuke who was still kneeling on the ground. He reached for her hand and grabbed it, but suddenly yanked her arm and she went down, rolling onto her back. Sasuke leaned over her, his hands pinning her arms to the ground, preventing their use. Sakura's eyes were wide open, her lips slightly parted. He had caught her off guard, finally.
"You're the one who shouldn't underestimate me." he said, silently praising himself.
Sakura smirked "Who said I ever did?" She pushed into his chest, launching them off of the ground.
But Sasuke was ready, he spun her around and pinned her back to a tree, once again restraining her arms to her sides. His knee was pressed into both of her thighs just above her knees, she was completely immobilized. She struggled, but then her movements ceased. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Now that's the Sasuke-kun I know."
Sasuke smirked. He held his position for a few more seconds, all the while finding himself staring into Sakura's green eyes. She stared right back, never breaking eye contact with him. It took a minute to realize how close their bodies were, their stomachs almost touching.
Sasuke was not one for affection or physical contact, especially not with girls, but something was pushing him towards the girl in front of him. It was a growing attraction that made Sasuke want to get closer to her. He leaned in.
Closer.
His hand brushed down her arm.
Closer
"Sasuke.." Sakura began, then her head flipped to the side, and she rolled her eyes "Shit."
"Did you really think that I wouldn't notice that I was fighting a clone Sakura-chan?! You just wanted alone time with Teme!" Sasuke heard Naruto yell. He turned to see the dobe emerging from the forest. Sakura pushed into Sasuke's chest, her touch feeling like a jolt of electricity running through his body. She walked over to Naruto.
"Naruto calm down, you can't be the only one who gets training in today." Sakura said sighing, crossing her arms. Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and huffed in annoyance.
"I'll let it slide, besides Teme needs all the training he can get." Naruto said
"You should be talking about yourself." Sasuke retorted.
"SHUT UP TEME." Naruto exclaimed.
"Both of you stop!" Sakura complained. "Anyway, it's getting dark. We should head in and get some rest for tomorrow."
Naruto tightened his headband and let out a giant yawn. "Sounds good to me, man am I tired."
"So was it before or after Sakura's clone disappeared that you lost?" Sasuke asked casually.
Naruto frowned. "I knew it was a clone all along."
"Then why did you take so long?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you!"
"Whatever."
Sakura closed her eyes in annoyance, however, she had to admit that she kind of missed these moments, no matter how frustrating they were. Sasuke and Naruto constantly bickering had been part of her daily life on her squad, and she would have given anything to have moments like these again in her life.
Now she finally got her wish.
Naruto rubbed his stomach. "Man I'm starving. And I know just what will hit the spot!"
"Don't tell me you're getting ramen again, that's the second time today. And I thought you just said that you were tired." Sakura said.
"I'll need my strength! I'm not gonna take any chances!" Naruto exclaimed, running off "See you guys tomorrow! Dattebayo!" he yelled, disappearing rather quickly.
Sasuke and Sakura were left standing together in the wide field, instantly looking at each other. Sakura sighed, then smiled.
"I guess I'm gonna head in too." She said, starting to walk down the hill. "I'll see you tomorrow Sasuke-kun." she flashed him a smile. She turned on her heels and began to walk away.
"Sakura." Sasuke said suddenly.
She turned around and looked at him with curious eyes. For a moment he was lost in thought, entranced by her presence in front of the setting sun, the deep golden rays causing her skin to glow and making her eyes a lighter shade of green. Sasuke almost didn't say anything, but then found his words.
"I want a re-match."
Sakura stared at him, then laughed lightly. "I'm looking forward to it."
She turned around and continued to walk down the hill, Sasuke watching her the whole time.
He finally knew why he hadn't used his Sharingan earlier.
He didn't want to risk hurting her, to see tears stream down her face.
He didn't want to cause her any pain.
Because he realized that she was too important to him.
Not gonna lie, I had fun writing this chapter. Anyway, please review!