"Chakra restriction?" I repeated.

Haruo nodded.

I had just got home from the academy, I was about ten years old at the time. My brother left a note on the table saying to meet him in the training grounds. When I found him, he told me he gonna teach me a new technique.

"Sounds complicated..." I commented.

"Well yes, most techniques are..." he shot back.

I placed my hands on my hips, as I waited for him to explain.

"As you know, beadurincs are especially skilled in chakra control, do you know why?" he quizzed.

I pondered for a moment "Has it got something to do with molding chakra in one place?"

Haruo tilted his head slightly "er... almost... but its much more trickier than that."

"O...kay..." I replied slowly.

Haruo sighed "just listen... I'll explain it." He told me. "Are you aware of the Chakra Pathway system?"

I nodded "Of course."

"Good" he mused "are you also aware of the eight gates?"

I stared at him for while, before shaking my head.

"Well... within your tenketsu, there are eight gates that control your body functions and strain levels. The basis for the idea of the gates comes from the body's limits on the functions within it. This makes the body much weaker, but it keeps it from expiring too soon."

"So... it basically limits the flow of chakra?" I asked.

"Yes" Answered my brother "too much flow of chakra can greatly damage the body, the gates control that flow to the right pace the body can handle."

"So can the gates be... released?"

"Well yes, but it takes years of training. And there is a lot of risk that goes into it, if you open all the eight gates... you will die."

"Okay... that's not making me want to learn this technique" I remark.

Haruo laughed "don't worry, I'm not teaching you how to open the gates, at least not completely. The gates are just linked to Chakra Restriction."

"Again what? You still haven't explained that?" I told him crossly.

Haruo smirked slightly "Chakra Restriction, enables a ninja to open the gates slightly, enabling more chakra to be released, and store a certain amount of chakra within a part of the body, and store it away."

"Why would someone want to do that?" I questioned.

"Simple" he replied "say you are about to go on a mission, a long one were you are constantly on the move, no time to rest. Chakra is used in pretty much everything you do... from your fighting to your breathing. As you know, in battle, your chakra gradually gets lower to a point where if you have none left, you will die. However, beadurincs found a way of locking away certain amounts of chakra... and using it when needed."

"So..." I began "if someone was on the verge of losing their chakra, if they sealed some away from earlier... it can be replenished?"

"More or less yeah..."

"That's amazing!" I awed.

Haruo held his hand up to stop me "hold you're horses, there is a catch..."

"Of course there is" I grumbled.

"To master this technique, you need ridiculous chakra control... not only to mold it all into one place and to re-close the gates, but to seal it and keep it sealed during battle."

"Hmm" I pondered "so where would be the ideal place to store chakra?"

"Well that depends..." he responded.

"On what?"

"On how much you can store" he countered "preferably you hold it within you're stomach muscles, but that is very hard considering how much of a sensitive area that is. However, that is the large place to store your chakra."

Haruo than patted his shoulder blade "I mostly seal my chakra within my shoulder blades... it's much smaller, but easier to keep intact."

"So you can have more than one chakra seals?"

Haruo nodded "but be aware that you would then have to deal with sealing chakra in two different places, which is also difficult."

"So... you saying..."

"I'm saying, that I will teach you how to do this... but once I do you must use it wisely. Use it too much, and it weakens your chakra gates... and damages your body."

I gulped slightly.

Haruo noticed this and smiled "don't worry, as you build your body to get stronger, the risk won't be so high."

I released a breath, and prepared myself for my training.

"Sit down and link your hands together… you first need to feel your Chakra flow" he instructed.

I did as he asked, till I could feel the flow of my Chakra through my body.

"Good, now… I want you to weave this sign."

I raised my eyebrow, and stared at his usual hand sign, the index fingers were pressed against the opposite thumb, making a diamond shape.

"What the heck is that?" I asked him.

He pulled a very annoyed expression "just to as I say…"

Begrudgingly I did. He then told me to hold the seal against my collar bone, and to focus all of my chakra in the centre of the diamond.

That's when I felt it, a great surge flow out of my fingers into my shoulder blade… it took me by surprise.

"Don't release the hand sign!" Haruo yelled in a panic.

"Why not?" I asked innocently.

"You're putting a massive amount of chakra into one place, release suddenly, and you'll damage your tenketsu" he explained.

I queried how I would stop it.

"I'll tell you, first you say 'Commence Chakra restriction level 1, sealed in three, two ,one."

I did as he asked, and immediately I could feel a swell of energy in my shoulder-blade.

"Now" Haruo began "once you feel you chakra flow become even again… you may relax you hands. Take you time!"

I waited till I was completely relaxed, and my chakra was back to normal. Gradually I pulled my hands apart and stood back up.

"Good!" Haruo mused "the more training you do, the more power you'll be able to restore…"

I pulled the diamond hand sign, after I dodged Zaku's attack. "releasing Chakra control restriction level 1, in three, two, one." I then slowly pulled my hands apart. As I finished my technique, I felt a large surge of chakra flow through me. I then focused the chakra into my hands.

"Ability enhance! Blades of the Wind!"

I slapped my hands together with as must power as I could muster. Out of the tips of my fingers my newly released chakra shot a gust like power and traveled quickly to it's target. Zaku gasped in surprise, as he must have felt the invisible force come towards him. Alas, he managed to dodge it. I landed back on my feet a foot away from him.

Zaku, slightly out of breath, stared at me astonished. "How... what the hell was that?!" he yelled. I didn't say anything, I just stood up straight and glared at him. "How the fuck did she do that?!" Zaku yelled angrily.

Sakura to, stared at her teammate in amazement. 'Was it a wind technique?' she thought. 'No there is no wind for her to do that… but surely that blast couldn't be purely chakra.' Then a light bulb turned on in her head, as she remembered something Tomoko did moments before.

"I'm going to continue praying for a little while…"

"Go for it…"

Sakura remembered the strange hand sign she weaved, now she had seen Tomoko pray plenty of times… and never had she weaved a sign like that.

'That must have had something to do with it! But what exactly was it?'

Doku to, was pondering what happened. 'She was able to predict Zaku's movements as if it were nothing, and now… she's somehow stronger than before.'

Tomoko chuckled slightly "I told you, I'm you worse kind of opponent." She then pointed to her ear "You're breathing is so loud, I can defeat you with my eyes closed."

Doku knew that beadurincs had exceptional hearing abilities, but this girl was far more advanced than he anticipated. But he couldn't focus on that right now, his priority was this green ninja and the pink haired girl.

Zaku was shaking slightly, but tried his best to hide his panic. 'Just how strong is this chick!?' Suddenly, Tomoko vanished from sight, then appeared behind Zaku.

"So fast!" he breathed. He didn't have time to react, as she punched him square in the face. There was so much force behind it, it sent him flying backwards and crashing into a tree trunk.

Tomoko stared at her hand then quickly glanced at Lee "are you okay?"

Lee was cradling his left ear "I'm fine, I'll handle this guy…"

Tomoko wasn't convinced, but she had to protect Sasuke no matter what. She wasn't sure what happened, due to her focusing on Zaku, but it had something to do with the strange contraption on his arm.

'I'm guessing it uses the vibrations from sound to attack, targeting the eardrum and throwing the enemy off balance' She theorised, she then noticed Zaku beginning to move. 'Lee is in a tough spot, and even though my hearing is better… I don't have an advantage to Doku's attack'. She stared back at her opponent 'whereas this one, can control supersonic waves and air pressure… powerful enough to destroy rock.' "I need to defeat this guy quickly" she told herself and clenched her fists. "This should do it…" As she felt immense power generating into her hands, she charged to her opponent.

Zaku prepared for a counter attack, but was too late as she was in front of him, her fist held back ready to strike.

"Mountain Fist! Claws of the…" Her attack suddenly stopped, she froze in place with her eyes widened.

"Tomoko?" Sakura called "what's wrong!? Tomoko!"

"I'm scared… The scary men are going to kill me…"

"What's happening…" I whispered, "my chakra has completely gone." No! my Chakra release has ran out! Zaku gave me a baffled look but soon regained his composer and flecked his hands at me.

"heh! Not so tough now!" immediately he attacked with his supersonic waves, forcing me to tumble backwards into my back. Gingerly I sat up straight and clutched my head, "what's going on… my head…" And that's when it came, a thumping, violent pain shooting in my brain…

"You little bitch, thought you could make a fool outta me huh?" Zaku sneered as he walked to towards me. I was heaving heavily, it felt like someone had a tight grip across my skull and was squeezing tighter and tighter. I felt a harsh stomp on my chest, making me gag and crash back to the floor.

"So what are gonna do now? little Mountain Princess."

I gasped, not because of what Zaku said, but at what was behind him.

"It's unless to resist…" she mused. I could feel tears pouring down my face as I stared into her disturbed eyes. "I'm going to break you, piece by piece…"

And that's when I felt a massive, sneering pain shooting into my head. My senses shut down and my mind felt like it was being ripped to pieces by a wild beast. I began to thrash violently which caused Zaku to stumble back. Sitting up, I clutch my head and let out a blood curling scream.

"She is not like the other children."

"Fifthy half-blood!"

"If she is what the scriptures say…"

"Once she comes of age you can begin your tests!"

"The council is watching you very closely…"

"Fumiko! Hide her!"

"àcennicge I'm scared…"

"STOP IT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"I wish we could've spent more time together" I looked up to see my mother hovering over me, her arms wrapped around me, her warm but sad smile greeting me. Then blood started to trickle down her face, "I'm going to miss you so much… go to sleep little one. When you wake up… you will be mortal…"

Sakura watched in horror as Tomoko just sat clutching her head, staring into space. Zaku waved his hand in front of her face and clicked his fingers.

'No way… Tomoko was beat? No! she had him on the ropes! I don't understand!"

"Wow… she's completely out of it!" Zaku then punched her hard causing her to crash face first into the dirt.

"Tomoko!" Sakura cried out, as the sound ninja stomped on her neck and pressed down. Even though he was choking her, she wasn't reacting to it… she just laid there… frozen.

'Orochimaru! He must have something to do with this!'

"Let go of her!" Sakura screamed out. But then she realised Doku was charging towards her. Sakura got her kunai out, but Lee managed to jump in front of her.

"Lee-san!"

"Konoha Whirlwind!" he cried out and attempted to deliver a kick. But he was still feeling the effects of Doku's attack and flinched.

"Looks like my previous attack was effective!" Doku mused as he took full advantage of Lee's vulnerability. "You Surprised me a bit…" the enemy admitted "But I don't see a trace of your chain combo that was executed in a flash!" Lee tried his best to sealed his ear, but it was unless, sound vibrations traveled quickly and are impossible to block.

Doku explained that his arm amplifies sound that is generated inside to its maximum (like a speaker). But the sound of impact is not limited to the direction of the hand, the user can use their chakra to join it into the target.

"Lee-san!" Sakura cried desperately. Lee collapsed cradling his ear. All Sakura could do was watch. She glanced at Tomoko, so to hadn't moved a muscle, that that she could anyway, due to Zaku's foot stepping on her head as if it were a perch.

"Now then…" muttered Doku "time to finish you off."

"I won't let you!" she hollowed and threw several kunai knives at him, only for them to be swatted away as if they were flies. Doku sighed heavily, in a very bored tone. But Sakura didn't give up, she kept fighting and threw more weapons. This caused Zaku to leave Tomoko's torturing and help his teammate, by using his sonic waves to throw them back at her. Sakura managed to block the worse of it, but she didn't have a chance to really react, when she suddenly felt someone yanking on her hair violently.

"Your hair is glossier than mine" said a female voice, it was the female Sound Ninja, who hadn't done anything till now. "If you have time to care for your hair, train more!" she belittled.

"Sakura…"

Sakura opened her eyes slightly, and looked at her teammate. Tomoko still had that petrified look on her face, but she seemed to be aware of her surroundings. "Hang on… Sakura…"

"Oh you're still conscious?" sneered Zaku in a gleeful tone. Tomoko tried her best to push herself up, only to have her hand stomped on and crushed. Tomoko didn't scream, or at least she tried not to. The pain pounding in her head wasn't ceasing, and her senses were all over the place.

Sakura tried to fight, only to have her hair tugged again, "I bet you both think your sexy don't you?" The female sound ninja commented horribly.

"Zaku!" she called "kill that Sasuke guy in front of this pig!"

"That sounds good" He replied.

"No!" Tomoko yelled "Don't touch him! Don't-"

"Shut up!" Zaku shouted as he kicked her in the stomach, winding her completely. "Man what a persistent Bitch" he grumbled.

Sakura once again tried to break free, but the female ninja's grip wouldn't cease. 'I can't move…' Sakura thought as she dug her fingernails into the ground. Slowly tears started flowing down her cheeks 'I'm just being a nuisance again…' Sakura thought about how she has always been protected, by her teammates, by Lee… it was vexing for her! She really thought that it was her turn to protect her precious people.

'Tomoko…' She thought as she glanced at her, Zaku was walking towards Sasuke, and Tomoko couldn't move… it seemed she was having an internal battle within herself.

"I saw the woman covered in blood, she said that she was going to rip my mind to shreds."

"You mean the one from your nightmares?"

"She's delved even deeper into my mind… and I can't promise what will happen if I let her take me."

'When you told me that, I was kinda happy. Because I knew this was my chance to show you that I could protect us. But I should have realised that you where dealing with your own battle, and yet here you are… battling mine for me again.'

Sakura watched as she shivered like a leaf, as if the mental breakdown was happening again.

'I use to think you were flawless… Tomoko…'

"Wow! Great Job Tomoko!" Iruka beamed proudly. He was teaching a shuriken throwing lesson to his students, and Tomoko had pretty much hit all the targets perfectly.

"Yeah! Way a go Tomoko-chan!" A boy cheered, whilst another yelled "Your so cool!"

Tomoko pulled a very unamused expression, but muttered thanks. She then noticed the large group of girls muttering to themselves. Sakura was amongst them, standing next the her best friend Ino.

"Hpmh!" one of the girls scoffed "she pretends she doesn't like the attention, but its so obvious she does!"

"Yeah! She's so full of herself!" another spat.

Sakura threw a nervous glance at Ino, who wasn't muttering a word.

"Ino?"

Ino glanced at the pink haired girl.

"Do you hate Tomoko to?" She asked.

Ino sighed heavily "Well, I don't particularly like her… why?"

"Well…" the shy Sakura began "I don't think she actually likes all the male attention."

Ino shook her head at her friends naivety "that's not why they hate her?"

"Huh? It's not? Then what is the reason?"

"Good job!" she heard someone muse.

Looking in front of her, she realised that it was Sasuke that spoke. Immediately a blush crept at her cheeks as she noticed there was a slight smile on his face.

But that smile wasn't meant for her, or any of the other girls.

"Hehe thanks Sasuke!" Tomoko giggled walking to his side "although, you're a lot better at this than I am…"

"Well my brother should be back from his mission today… I'm sure he'll give you a few more pointers" Sasuke suggested.

Tomoko smiled "sure! I haven't seen Itachi in a while!"

Deep down, Sakura could feel envy surge through her. For months, all the girls, including her, tried to grab his attention. And every time he would just brush them off as if they were a nuisance. And then there was Tomoko! Who hardly did anything! Not only got Sasuke to talk to her, but to smile at her so warmly.

Sakura had never seen a smile on his face, granted it was a very subtle one. But most of the time he either was sporting a scowl or a smirk.

'You had all of Sasuke's attention, and I hated you for that. I always questioned what you had that I didn't.'

"There she is…" Sakura whispered to herself, she had spotted Tomoko across the classroom, surprisingly without Sasuke. She called her name and walked over to her. Tomoko seemed a little distracted but none the less turned her head to face her.

"Listen, I… well… I need to ask you something" began Sakura.

Tomoko raised her eyebrow "like what? and why are you even talking to me?"

"Look just because Sasuke pays attention to you, doesn't make you better than me!"

Tomoko blinked "huh?"

"You heard me!" Sakura said with her voice raised "it's obvious you really like Sasuke-kun! But so to I!"

"…Right…" Tomoko dragged out "so your point is?"

"my point is!" Sakura snapped "like Ino, you are now my rival!"

"Your rival?"

"I won't let you overshadow me anymore" she stated with a determined gaze "Sasuke-kun will notice me!"

Tomoko didn't say anything, but had a very pissed off expression "that's your reason?" Sakura was surprised at her harsh tone. "What a waste of energy, you can have your precious Sasuke-kun!" she shot in. Tomoko suddenly got up from her seat and stormed towards the door. She then paused for a second "me and Sasuke aren't friends anymore, you got your wish!" and with that she disappeared.

'After you said that, I felt terrible! I wanted to see if you were okay. But I was too damn stubborn!'

"And Mori Tomoko!"

"What!"

Iruka stopped reading for a moment "Sakura, is there a problem?"

"Yes!" she answer and pointed at the brown haired girl "Why! is she in our team!?"

'And then we got put on the same team, I remember being so angry. And when I found out you'd grown up with Sasuke… that fuelled me even more. But I got to know you, and I mean really know you. It turned out you weren't as perfect as everyone was saying… Yet you never once let your problem's hold you back. You set them aside for us constantly… even now, even though you're suffering an internal battle… all you can think about is saving me.'

Sakura stared at Tomoko's weakened form with tear filled eyes, "Tomoko…" she muttered "I finally understand why Sasuke-kun cares about you so much." Tomoko narrowed her eyes slightly, her highly attuned hearing was coming in handy. "You're selfless, kind and brave" Whispered Sakura, "now its my turn!"

Sakura reached for a kunai and held it between her hands.

"There's no point to that" commented the female sound ninja "That won't work on me."

But Sakura shot her a confident smirk and questioned what she was talking about. Which left the other female confused.

Tomoko watched with widened eyes as her teammate brought her kunai to the back of her head, and with one slice, she cut all the hair that was trapped in a grip. Slowly her ninja headband fell off her head and onto the floor.

'I've always been acting like a grownup ninja…' thought Sakura. 'And I've always been saying that I love Sasuke-kun. And I always lectured Naruto like I was better than him. I treated Tomoko so badly, when really, all I wanted was to be her equal. But all I've been doing his watching their backs.'

Sakura slowly got to her feet, loose strands of her once, long, beautiful hair cascading around her.

'Still… They always fought to protect me.'

She glanced over at Lee, who was laying there motionless 'Lee-san, you said that you liked me… and fought with your life while protecting me. I think you taught me something.'

"Sakura…" was all Tomoko could mutter.

'I want to become like you four' she concluded in her head, whilst clenching a fist 'Everyone… This time… Please watch my back.'