Oh my god guys, I'm so sorry! I uploaded the wrong file! This was supposed to be chapter 10! I didn't realize this till now so I rushed over the manual spell check and uploaded this. Hope you like it, no wonder there were so many PM asking me what the hell is going on! I'm so sorry!

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto.

Dedication : This chapter will be for anonymous reviewer Zombie Dude Thanks for taking your time to review all my chapters! You brighten my mood everything I read your review. It's so detailed!

In the Rain

Sakura had just put the laundry in the washing machine, she was going to the library and start her research as she waits for their clothes to finish washing. She turned the old fashioned doorknob and listened as the door creaked open, the windows were large and they brightened up the room just fine, Sakura stepped in slow and took in the smell of old paper. The Uchiha archive was impressive no matter how many times she's been here.

She walked around to find out where should she start first. 'If I remember correctly, I saw a few books about chakra around here' she thought when she came face to face with the magic turning bookshelf, she couldn't help but give a small smile. Sakura was about to continue her search when a thick book on the top shelf caught her attention 'Emergency Medical Treatment' she knew it's not what she was looking for but her medic instincts took over and she wanted to be prepared for anything and she has never read that book.

She reached for it, but she was too short. Sakura doesn't give up that easily, so she leaned forward and stood on her toes but to no avail could she reach it. She tried stepping on the bottom shelf but when she tried to, the shelf turned, sending Sakura tumbling into the secret chamber once more. "Ow..." she groaned as she got up. "Ah, I'm sent back in..." she dusted herself, then turned, about to go back to the library but she paused 'I remember seeing a few bookshelves of scrolls in the chamber...' curiosity got the best of her and she moved down the path. 'I hope Itachi-san won't mind'

Sakura stepped in to the now door-less chamber. 'Looks like Itachi-san cleared the pieces of the wooden door' she stepped lightly and her memory didn't fail her. There heaps of scrolls in here. Sakura opened them one by one to see what were they were about. Considering there where in scroll form would mean that they were quite ancient. Sakura put those that she found would be useful to her on the table and put the others back in order. After choosing 8 from 3 whole bookshelves she completely forgotten about the laundry, she was in heaven. There was still one shelf she hasn't gone through, however this one was different, the others consisted of only scrolls whereas this held only books.

The weird part is that the books all didn't have a title, the cover page was always blank. Sakura had to open each and every one of them and read the first few pages to find out what kind of book was it. After following the order from top shelf to bottom, Sakura stopped at the second shelf and saw a rather thick book that attracted her. She decided to come back to the rest later after she find out what was that peculiar book. Apparently the book was lighter than it looked, Sakura pushed a few of the scrolls aside and placed it on the table. She reached out to open but some unknown force was stopping her, when she finally touched it her body felt a jolt. why is my heart beating so fast. Sakura shook the thought out her head and swallowed before opening it.

When she did, it was just like any ordinary book. With the author of the book in the first page, as usual Sakura dismissed that page and moved on the contents but when she flipped a page, the book had something trapped between the pages and automatically flipped to the page with the bookmark, except it wasn't exactly a bookmark "A picture...?" said Sakura, she picked it up from between the pages. It was a picture of six people, from the right stood a very stern looking man with back hair that ended at his shoulders and his bangs ending right below the side of his onyx eyes, he had line markings across his cheeks from the inside curve of his eyes, although he looked rather unapproachable. If he'd just smile a little he would look rather handsome, though what he was wearing was blocked by the woman standing in front of him, Sakura could make out that he was wearing a jounin vest that she'd seen Kakashi wear and a dark blue shirt in the inside, in front of him was a beautiful woman with dark black hair tied at the bottom side of her head which she swept to the front and over her shoulder with a tint of blue under the lighting her eyes were a pure shade of black, they were squinted as she had a huge smile on her, her hands were joined with the woman next to her, her body slightly turned to the side, she wore her konoha headband across her forehead and allowed her black hair to frame her beautiful face, she was wearing a kimono styled top that covered her body then paired with black thigh pants that covered till her knees. The man beside her didn't stray too far as he stood nearly right behind and squeezed as close to her as he could, giving away his protectiveness of his lover.

The woman that linked her hands with the beautiful black haired woman was just as beautiful, the color of her hair was rather eye catching for it was a bright red color that cascaded around her like a waterfall and her eyes were bright blue. She had a slender body and was slightly taller than the darker haired woman. She was wearing a white yukata styled shirt with sleeves that flared out at her elbow, it was held against her slim body with a black sash at it ended a few inches about her knees, she wore black tights inside that ended just slightly below where her yukata shirt ended accompanied by long black socks that covered above her knee she wore her headband loosely around her neck. Behind her, with his arms snaked around the woman's waist was a young man with spiky blonde hair, it's color was even brighter than Naruto's however the hairstyle and blue eyes looked so similar to Naruto's. The man looked rather beautiful himself, with his headband tied across his forehead he wore what looked similar to the dark haired man, a jounin vest and dark blue turtle neck long sleeved shirt that hide his neck.

Over at the other side was a very happy looking couple, the man was bent over with his lover snaking her arms over his neck and joint at his chest as she latched herself onto his back. She looked like she was laughing and enjoying herself, the woman had faded pink hair which was held up in a messy bun with strands falling out and the ends that are held up sticking in every direction behind her by a needle and her konoha headband tied at the crown of her head like how Sakura wears her. Her forehead was covered by a side sweep of bangs, partially covering a little of her right eye as the longer strands of hair at the side framed her child like face, her eyes were a glowing shade of green as they were squinted in her smile. Only her top could be seen in the picture, she was wearing a high collared, long sleeved crimson coat with a mesh shirt on the inside and tank top on the inner layer, showing off a good amount of cleavage. The male had messy, almost reddish brown hair. strands messily falling over his forehead and brushing the top of his dark green eyes, he had rather long sideburns that framed his face, his hair ended short and spiked out at the end, covering half of his neck. He looked rather embarrassed in that situation as a tint of red painted over his features. He was wearing a long sleeved light brown jacket that's buttoned right below his chest , the sleeve was so long it covered off his hands that was holding on to the woman's hands that were jointed at his chest. inside he wore a mesh shirt like the woman and black sash belt around his waist hanging loosely above his hip, below is an apron-like end like the outfit Sakura was given when she was accepted into Konoha. He wore what seemed like black sweat pants with his kunai holster tied around his left thigh.

Sakura scanned the picture once more, she saw the symbol of the Uchiwa fan on the sleeve of the black haired woman and her lover. 'That means... those must be Sasuke's parents...!' Sakura's eyes averted to the couple next to them, 'Who are they...?'. The last couple was the one that intimidated her, for some reasons she felt like she'd seen them before, in fact she felt like she knew all of them, so why can't she seem to remember seeing any of them.

Then it hit her, 'That woman's hair needle...!' she reached into her pouch which she carries with her everywhere and pulled out her precious possession, the only thing she has left of her mother, it was made out of the same material used to make a kunai, at the end of it was a small outline of a cherry blossom. She compared it to the one the woman wore in the picture 'There's no doubt about it... this is the exact same hair needle' another thing she noticed about the couple was that the man's holster was opened, with the handle of the kunai peeking out and she could see a red thread tied on to it. Sakura covered her mouth as the tears began to overwhelm her. 'My parents...!'

She had no idea why she was crying, but felt like someone had turn the tap and left it on. Now that she was sure her parents were from konoha there has to be some part of history that said something about her parents. And the history section of the konoha library has all the answers. Without a second thought Sakura stood and with a single brush she wiped away any traces of her crying and ran out of the chamber, taking the picture with her.

Before leaving the house she left Sasuke a note telling him that she had gone out to check on something in and that she'll be back soon. She dashed straight to the library not even bothering to use the streets instead she just took the route on the rooftops.

When she reached the library she wasted no time in greeting the librarian like she usually does. The elderly lady didn't even notice that someone had come through the door. Sakura stumbled to the History part of the library, she looked at the massive amount of shelves that this section had. It would be quicker if I ask Tsunade-sama in person, she would know something. Sakura shook those thoughts away. She hid the fact that there was information on my parents in Konoha from me... she must be trying to hide something from me. Though it hurt Sakura to think like that but she can't afford to trust anyone now, she has to find this out on her own. This meant that she couldn't trust what her previous mentor told her, about her parents being noble Iwagakure shinobi and that she was found by him. She couldn't trust anyone at the moment.

She strolled through the section calmly, her emerald eyes scanning each book as she passes them. There was nothing that said about the history of previous shinobis, only the history of Konoha's previous leaders which she had already read about. Then it hit her, she remembered Sasuke mentioned that his parents died in the Third Shinobi World War when he was 6 but she never read anything about a Haruno participating in the war, she was confident that either her mother or father would be mentioned if they did participate, maybe a Jounin commander or anything.

So that means they must've died before the war. Sakura thought hard, what other events happened before the world war.

The Kyuubi's Attack on Konoha.

Sakura instantly scanned the shelves for anything that would tell her about the attacks on the Kyuubi. She found a few books written by the shinobi who fought to defend the village at that time. Sakura's palms felt sweaty, what if her parents were like what she pictured them to be. What if they're so insignificant that they weren't even mentioned. Sakura gasped, what if that's the reason why no one told her about her parents.

But that can't be true, Orochimaru knew about them as well as the Tsuchikage. Maybe it wasn't time for her to find out...

Worries filled Sakura with no end. She stayed in that same stop, at war with herself for half an hour before deciding she wants to know, it was her parents after all. She deserved to know. Sakura flipped through the first page of the book and began to read.

Clang. Ting. Ting. Shuuuk.

The sounds of a thousand birds chirping flipped the forest. "You're too hasty, Sasuke. Your movements will become predictable" said Itachi, he caught his brother by the wrist after managing to dodge his chidori by a centimeter, he spun Sasuke around with his Chidori still activated, careful not to let it touch him then threw him off, Sasuke's chidori crashed through a tree, completely severing the tree from its trunk. Sasuke turned around just in time to counter his brother's raid of kunais and shuriken.

Itachi smirked. He's gotten better, he doesn't choose to dodge my attacks but now chooses to counter them, but you're still naive. Sasuke. Sasuke had no trouble countering each and everyone one of the kunais and shuriken till he smelled. Gunpowder.

Alerted, Sasuke. Jumped out of range and the bomb went off, taking out yet another part of the forest. Sasuke skidded to a stop and faced his brother, after a second of forming the seals, he released the attack immediately "Katon, Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Technique, Phoenix Flower Technique)" small fireballs were sent at Itachi, his brother wasted no time to pull out a counter attack. He reached into his pouch and sent over ten shurikens at Sasuke, half a second later he blew out a fire attack "Katon, Housenka Tsumabeni (Fire technique, Phoenix Flower Shuriken)" The flames wrapped itself around the shuriken Itachi just threw, powering the attack up.

They easily snuffed out Sasuke's Housenka and headed straight for him. Without losing his composure he grabbed hold of his kusanagi and pulled it out, slashing horizontally as he did his blade lit up in sparks and drawing a crescent line in front of him "Chidori Senbon" he said as he activated his Sharingan, making the senbons aim nicely at the shurikens as it took a few senbons to completely snuff them out.

Next he aimed for Itachi, but he wasn't there. Sasuke immediately looked up and countered an incoming slash from Itachi's tanto(short sword). The brothers fought with their blades till Sasuke sent Itachi's flying with a hard blow to the right. Itachi jumped back, forming seals "Katon, Karyuu Endan (Fire technique, Fire Dragon Blast)" Sasuke formed the same seals and spurred fire from his mouth, the two dragons head straight for each other.

The dragons bashed their foreheads against the other, pushing as the flames kept coming. The collision caused hot air to blow from every direction. The people on the streets at the village could feel the hot air wrapping their bodies.

The middle aged aunties passed each other, shaking their heads and chuckling "Those Uchiha brothers are going all out again" the other lady laugh "Boy will be boys"

What previously was a training spar became a battle of fire techniques. Sasuke and Itachi threw out all the fire techniques they knew but no matter how many times their attacks collided they were always even. Sasuke form only one seal this time. Itachi's eyes widened 'He's going to use that already...?'

In a sudden, Sasuke's body was covered in violent flames they began to grow and grow "Katon! Goryuka no Jutsu! (Fire Technique, Great Dragon Fire Technique)" The flames gathered in a spiral around in and suddenly a dragon of flames shot up, letting out a piercing roar at its awakening. The dragon was humongous, it soared into the sky came down, ready engulf Itachi and reduce him to nothing but ashes.

The dragon slammed down on Itachi, scorching the very ground itself. Sasuke activated his sharingan and his eyes widened, his brother was still there, just standing there. Sasuke deactivated his jutsu and stood at guard as he waited for the smoke to clear. He could feel his brother's footsteps from beneath him. How did he survive that massive attack...?

"Well done, Sasuke. Your fire techniques have already surpassed mine" said Itachi. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his brother. A technique he had never seen before. "Enton, Kokuen on Tate (Blaze Technique, Shield of Black Flames)" Sasuke looked again and realized his brother's eyes were different "Mangekyo Sharingan...!" he gasped. That means that's a shield made out of Amaterasu's flames.

Sasuke scowled at his brother. "Don't look at me like that, Sasuke. If I hadn't done this you would've had a pile of ashes for a brother" said Itachi. Sasuke rolled his eyes "A pile of ashes would've been nice" said Sasuke. The thunder began to roar and Sasuke could feel something cold drip on his head, he looked up and the thunder clouds began to flicked with lightning. "Seems like all that hot air has accumulated thunder clouds" said Itachi, looking up. His mangekyo deactivated "How's that technique you're working on, Sasuke" asked Itachi.

Sasuke walked over to retrieve his kusanagi, that was stabbed into the ground courtesy of Itachi for kicking it off his hand when they fought kunai versus katana. "I'm working on" was all Sasuke said. Itachi smirked, knowing Sasuke he doesn't report any of his self training progresses instead he shows it on the field. The thunder rumbled once more then a snap and a roar. The rain poured down on the brothers mercilessly.

Kakashi was watching over Naruto's training, Naruto was in the midst of infusing wind element chakra into his rasengan when suddenly the sky poured down on him, drenching him as Kakashi tried to keep himself dry by standing on a branch where the leaves shield him from the rain. "Geez there wasn't even a warning for this" complained Naruto. "Shall we end training early today, Naruto?" Kakashi called out from the tree. "No, it's fine. It's just a little rain" said Naruto with a smug look on his face. Kakashi sighed, this meant that he had to stay too.

Sasuke on the other hand was already headed home, the sun was going to set soon. Training went by faster than he thought. On the way home he wondered what was for dinner tonight. He glanced back, Itachi was still there. This meant that he didn't have any meetings or missions to attend to like he usually does after training. Sasuke kept telling himself that this meant he had to share Sakura with his brother and that irritated him, but deep down he was really happy that his brother was coming home tonight.

However when the Uchiha siblings reached home, Sasuke was disappointed to find a note addressed to him on the dining table from Sakura.

I'm going to the library for a bit.

I might decide to stay over so don't worry.

If I don't come back by dinner means I'm at the library.

Don't come look for me.

Sasuke only wasted a few seconds reading the note, his heart immediately fell. He crunched up the paper to relieve his frustration of the lack of Sakura's presence and threw the note in the bin. "Sakura's not coming back tonight again eh?" said Itachi. Sasuke didn't answer so he took it as a yes. Itachi smirked at his brother's childish antics. He's still a child after all.

Sasuke knew Sakura wouldn't be happy with him training in the rain and not coming home and taking a warm shower immediately so instead of plopping down on the bed like he really wanted, he decided to listen to his Sakura conscious and take a shower. Though he's still annoyed that Sakura isn't going to come back tonight.

She even told him not to go look for her.

The more Sasuke thought about it the more annoyed he gets, if it weren't for the shower he'd be throwing a tantrum right now. After the shower Sasuke dried his hair with a towel and proceeded to slack on the bed, wishing that morning would come faster where he would see Sakura preparing breakfast downstairs. He decided that he was just going to sleep till Sakura comes back for it was the best way to pass time.

But what Sasuke didn't know was that Sakura was currently wandering the streets of konoha, she was soaked to the bone, her eyes were weary and her hand gripped on to a book she borrowed from the library, in fact she didn't even officially borrow the book. She was just shock at the contents she forgot to let go of the book when she exited.

The words from the diary kept flashing in her mind. Words of her parents, and how they perished at the hands of the Kyuubi.

Haruno Tsubaki was the commanding officer of my squadron with her husband, Tsuchiura Kouhei as second in command. The attack of the Kyuubi came out of nowhere, all chuunins and jounins were called to the front lines and the rest of the village are evacuated to the safe house. The sun was gone and evening fell, even though it felt like night because of the heavy amount of rainfall we've been receiving recently. She told us that we shouldn't be scared of the battlefield and that looking out for one another on the field is nothing to be ashamed of. I remembered her words loud and clear that day. "Shinobi aren't tools, they're humans as well. So whatever decision you make out there today, I will take full responsibility for it. So live! and return to your loved ones. You are my squadron, do me proud" her orders were absolute and everyone was determined to follow her even if it costs their life.

However the situation at the frontlines were worst than we thought. The Kyuubi was only a 20 kilometers away from the village it was closing the gap fast. We met with the squadron led by Uchiha Fugaku, the face of the commander was grave and as he shook his head and said 'It already wiped out half our battalion, Minato is currently looking for the one responsible for releasing the Kyuubi" he said. "We'll have to stall it till then, it's far too close to the village" I heard vice captain Kouhei say. "Men! Change of plans! You will scout around and search for survivors! Bring the wounded back to the village! Aburame Shingo, you are to lead the scouting, and no one is to approach the Kyuubi. Understood?" Tsubaki-taichou told us. "Yes ma'am"

I jumped off just as everyone else did, looking for survivors. I searched and searched but everybody I came across, had already stopped breathing and before I knew it, I had wandered closer to the kyuubi than I wanted to be. Seeing the beast up close was even more terrifying, the sheer force of its destructive chakra made you tremble by just being close to it.

Then I caught sight of Tsubaki-taichou, she was standing at the foot of the Kyuubi. She formed some seals but it was cut off when the kyuubi took a swing at her with its arm. I decided to inch a little closer to the battle, stupid as it was but I couldn't help it.

I watched as she formed more seals before slamming her palm into the ground "Doton! Tsuchi no Kei! (Earth Technique, Earth's Imprisonment!)" Green chakra lit her body and all of the sudden, a large wall shot from the ground like a huge wave, it reached over the Kyuubi and began rounding it. The beast didn't struggle to escape, it's tails lashed around violently, taking off pieces of earth wall that was coming down on it.

That wasn't enough to destroy the jutsu and soon enough it completely crushed the kyuubi down, pinning it to the ground. "Kouhei !" she turned and yelled for her husband. Haruno Kouhei was restraining the Kyuubi's tails. He was well known for his speed and strength but this was just ridiculous, the man was holding down all 9 of the kyuubi's tail using chrakra strings. "Mikoto! Fugaku! Break the genjutsu now!" Tsubaki-taichou shouted.

I watched as two shinobi dashed straight to the kyuubi's head, a woman and a man. It hit me in the face when I saw the emblem on their sleeve. not to mention that their sharingan, when used together is the most deadly when you're caught. They rushed to the kyuubi's head, staring into its huge eye, it's pupils were diluted and veins were forming around the eye.

I figured the beast was probably under a genjutsu and the Uchiha couple were going counter it with the use of their sharingan. The beast struggled at first, but the team held with ground. Till the dark haired woman yelled "It's done!" and looked over at Tsubaki-taichou. And with that one mistake where everyone let up. They were blasted apart and the kyuubi was no longer bounded. The force of the explosion knocked me out and that was what I remembered of the war, I woke up a week later having been told that I had to go through an intense surgery because I was hit with a small part of the Kyuubi's chakra and it started to manifest and they only way to save my life was to clean out my whole chakra system. After I was released from the hospital, I was told my by friends that the Hokage and his wife along with Tsubaki-taichou and Kouhei-senpai were killed in action. I visited their grave, their tombs were placed next to each other, I truly cried for them.

Sakura stumbled a little, earning her looks from the civilians but she didn't react to them. She swayed a little but continued walking. She didn't have the guts to go back home and face Sasuke right now and explain to him why was she soaking wet. She found herself unconsciously walking to the village cemetery, the far rows of tombs covered the whole field. For some reasons Sakura knew exactly where to go and before she knew it she was standing still in front of their tomb. They were buried together and for that, Sakura was grateful to Konoha.

She collapsed on her knees in front of the tombstone then reached out with her trembling fingers to touch them as she read their names "Haruno Tsubaki. Here lies a true Konoha shinobi that defended the village against the Kyuubi" "Tsuchiura Kouhei . Here lies a brave Konoha shinobi who fought to protect."

"So it's true... Mama... Papa..." Sakura sobbed as she held the tombstone and dropped her head, the rain dripping down from her body with her tears falling just as heavily. Sakura felt a her body throb and her muscles going limp. 'What's happening...?'

What a soft bed...

Sakura breathed evenly on the bed, covered by the thick blanket. Her eyes fluttered open, that's strange. Usually there would be a very annoying ray of light that always shone on her face. There was a very faint smell of sake and ink. Her eyes opened, she knew this smell. Sakura looked up at the ceiling, already figured out where she was. "Oh, you're awake. Sakura"

Sakura sat up, "I'm sorry for the intrusion, Tsunade-sama" said Sakura, smiling meekly. Tsunade was dressed in her usual outfit with a bottle of sake in one hand as she leaned at the side of the doorway. Sakura looked out the window and realized it was still raining. As if she read her mind, Tsunade said "It rained overnight it's already morning"

Back at the Uchiha Manor.

Sasuke has just woken up, he went downstairs to get some juice when he heard the loudest knocking ever. "OI, SASUKE-KUN I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE. LET ME IN, I'M SOAKING WET!" he heard the very loud voice of Ino. He narrowed his eyes and brought the juice carton with him as he walked to the door. He opened it and gave her an annoyed look "What is it, Ino" he said, one hand holding the door and the other holding the carton. "Wow, Sasuke-kun. You look good even with bed hair" said Ino. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, Ino shook her head "Aren't you going to invite me in? If you haven't notice, I'm a girl. And I'm standing in the rain" she said, even though she wasn't exactly in the rain as she was standing under the roof space in front of the door.

"Tch" Sasuke just stepped aside and let Ino in. She left her umbrella outside and step in. "Why are you here, Ino" said Sasuke, walking over to the kitchen with Ino following her. Sasuke drank the juice straight from carton. "Sasuke, you know Sakura doesn't like you drinking from the carton" came a new voice. Sasuke ignored it and placed the carton on the table and continued rummaging through the fridge. Ino looked over her shoulder to see probably the handsomest man she's ever seen, a faint taint of pink brushed her face. "Oh hello, You must be one of Sasuke's friends. I'm sorry my brother's such a troublesome brat" said Itachi, his tone was calm and polite. "A-Ahaha! It's fine!" said Ino.

Sasuke twitched "Hurry up and leave for your mission already" scowled Sasuke, draping his arm on the fridge door and glaring at his brother. "Will you not allow your dear brother to eat his breakfast?" teased Itachi. Sasuke rolled his eyes and shut the fridge, having found nothing he wanted to eat he decided to just stick with the juice.

Itachi walked over to the pantry and grabbed the loaf of sliced bread and put a slice into the toaster. Ino watched Itachi move through the kitchen graceful, not a single move out of place. "Well then, I hope we meet again, Yamanaka-san" said Itachi, smiling then began walking out the kitchen. He took a bite of the toast along the way then ruffled Sasuke's hair along the way "See ya later, foolish little brother" he said with a mouth full of toast. Sasuke scowled "Don't come back, you jerk"

They heard the door close and Ino had finally stopped ogling Itachi. "Gosh, I envy Sakura..." Ino sighed dreamily. "You still haven't told me why you're here" said Sasuke, looking at her. Ino was snapped back on track. She hammered her palm "Oh right. I wanted to ask where is Sakura" said Ino, on the edge of her seat. "She said she was going to the library yesterday" Sasuke answered in a monotone.

"I already checked that place. She wasn't there" said Ino. Sasuke's brows furrowed "What do you mean she's not there" he said, his tone was serious now. "I was hoping you can tell me that" said Ino. Sasuke began to panic, what if she got captured or was threatened to leave the village, again. Sasuke's thought were running wild about the possibilities that could've happened to Sakura. "I'm going to go look for her" he said, getting up from his chair and walking upstairs. Ino realized that's the most active she'd seen him whole morning. And all she had to do was mention Sakura, Ino smirked "That boy's hopelessly in love" she muttered to herself and showed herself the exit, setting out to go look for Sakura again.

Sasuke got dressed like lightning, not even wasting a second and didn't even bother to use the door and just jumped out the window and into the heavy rain.

...

Tsunade handed Sakura the mug of warm milk. "Here"

"Oh, thank you" said Sakura, her voice was hoarse as she took it between her hands and savored the warmness before taking a sip. "Tsunade-sama" Sakura began. Her mentor look over at her student, she had a troubled expression. The blonde woman pulled a chair from her desk and placed it next to her bed. "D-Did..." her voice trailed off "Did you know my parents, and what happened to them?" Sakura managed to get out.

Tsunade settled down on the chair. "So you did find out..." she said, putting the half empty sake bottle away. "Why didn't you tell me? That my parents were Konoha Shinobi?" Sakura asked. If she hadn't use that tone of voice Tsunade would say that she felt betrayed. "It wasn't time for you to know" said Tsunade. "I see..." Sakura didn't push it any further, guessing that her parents were behind this and they much have their reasons. "I did know your parents" Tsunade said, Sakura looked at her with hopeful eyes "Your mother was still pregnant with you when I left the village" said Tsunade, she smirked "From the first time I saw you, I knew you were Tsubaki's kid. You look just like your mother" said Tsunade. Sakura smiled, that was the first time anyone said that to her.

"I never thought that they would die in combat, she was one of the Academy's brightest graduates. Of course the top being Namikaze Minato, the fourth Hokage. Then before I knew it, they were already jounin." said Tsunade. When Sakura heard Tsunade laugh lightly and then pick up her bottle of sake, she hoped that her mentor wouldn't stop here. She wanted to hear more, more about her parents. "Sasuke's mother, Uchiha Mikoto was one of her best friends." said Tsunade. Sakura's eyes widened. Her mother knew Sasuke's mother?

She opened her mouth to say something but Tsunade cut her off.

"Don't rush it, Sakura. You'll find out in due time" she said. That's what everyone's been telling me, there has to be some secret hidden in her body. "Duty calls, you rest well now. Sakura" said Tsunade, waving her student off as she exited the door. Sakura looked down and realized that she wasn't in her shinobi outfit and currently fitted into one of Tsunade's robes.

Sakura didn't move, just kept looking down. Then she took hold of the robe's chest area and pulled it out front as fast as it could go. "It's huge"

For once she didn't want to listen to her mentor, she didn't want to stay put. Curiosity is eating her from the inside and there was nothing she could do about it. She hopped out of bed and changed into her own clothes that had already dried overnight and immediately left only get herself soaked, ruining the overnight's work. Sakura avoided her mentor who was currently walking over to the Hokage tower with an umbrella.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama" she muttered before jumping off.

Sakura had meant to go back home before Sasuke starts to worry but as she passes the cemetery, she couldn't help it after knowing that her parents were buried here. She decided to pay her parents a proper visit since all she did yesterday was cry and faint at their grave. She sucked up her chest and clutched her father's red thread kunai that was now chipped and blunting. The handle tearing and there were very obvious scratches on the antique.

She found herself shying away when she stood one tombstone away from her parent's grave. What if I'm not what they wanted me to be? What if they don't recognize me? Sakura swallowed and took it step by step till she stood directly in front of the tomb. She knelt down "Okaa-sama... Otou-sama..." she greeted them. "I'm your daughter, Sakura. It's been awhile, I'm not sure if you recognize me. But I've received what you left behind for me" Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out her hair needle. She set the kunai and the hair needle down in front of their tombstone. "I hope you don't mind if I hold on to them till I become a shinobi worthy enough to carry them" she said, her eyes were dazzling and her lips were curved in a smile.

Sakura found herself trembling again "E-Eh?" she felt up her face as she looked down. "I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I told myself I wasn't going to cry. It's just that..." Sakura sniffed and wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears "I miss you guys... " she let it out in a sob.

It took Sakura awhile before she managed to pull herself together, she tried to laugh it off. "You know, I was taken in by Iwagakure. They trained me to be a shinobi, even though it was painful without you guys, but I'm grateful to them because I might not be living here right now if they didn't. I made lots of great friends here, everyone here is so warm. Especially my teammate, Uzumaki Naruto and oh! Okaa-san, I forgot to tell you, I made friends with Mikoto-san's son, Sasuke. I heard she was one of your best friends. Isn't this odd? I was taken by another village and I still manage to come back here and meet your best friend's son" Sakura laughed lightly. "This must be fate, right?" Sakura smiled "I'd like to hear the story of how you two met someday" Sakura put on a grin and sighed.

"I have so much more to tell you, but I have to go. Sasuke might start to worry" Sakura tried to hold back a smile 'I guess they don't have to know the fact that I'm dating Sasuke, yet' Sakura scooped the hair needle and kunai up. "Oh and one more thing. Thank you." said Sakura, smiling down at them. Before she felt the ground tremor.

Everyone in the village stood at alert. Sakura's eyes widened. How could she not have sensed that massive chakra. She looked over at the village and dashed for it, something was coming. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she ran as fast as she could for the village she needed to get to the village to warn them about what's coming.

Sakura didn't pay any attention to her surroundings, not to the coldness of the rain, or the chattering of the civilians, or the chakra of anything other than the massive approaching chakra. Till it hit her in the face. As she was about to pass a alley, another boy decide that he would go through from there.

"Sasuke!" "Sakura!"

They crashed into each other, ending their 50mph sprint. They rolled and tumbled before landing sorely on each other. "Geez, you greet me in the strangest ways" groaned Sasuke, wincing and rubbing his head. "S-Sasuke... You're heavy..." came a choked voice from beneath him. Sasuke opened his eyes and pushed himself up. "Sorry" He got off. Sakura let out a breath when she sat up only to have her shoulders gripped by Sasuke "Where have you been! You said you were going to the library and Ino said you weren't there this morning"

Sakura noticed that Sasuke's hand were trembling even though his expression was angered his eyes showed fear. Sakura smiled at him and slipped her hands around him and pressed herself against him, holding him tightly "I'm okay, Sasuke. Sorry for making you worry" she whispered. Sasuke rested his forehead on her shoulder, he sighed. She was so troublesome, yet he couldn't do anything about it. Sakura smiled.

Sakura's body throbbed, this time she could feel the massive chakra better than ever. This was no time to be hugging her boyfriend, the village was in trouble. She tried to pull away but she had the feeling Sasuke wanted to stay like this a little longer. "Sasuke did you feel that tremor earlier?" said Sakura.

"Yeah... something's going to happen again, isn't it" said Sasuke in a tired voice. "We'll pull through, we always do" smiled Sakura. Sasuke smirked under her hold, reluctant to let go. He gave her a little squeeze before letting her go. They stood up and ran for the village gate, they noticed that a large number of shinobi had already gathered, all surrounded around the fifth hokage. As expected from the hokage, she picked up the signs of danger and immediately gathered all the available chunin and jounin. However the gathered team only had 2 jounin while the rest are chunin.

The team lacked members of the Konoha 12 and their jounin teachers. However Kakashi was included in the team which gave a boost of reassurance to the team, the other was the tokubetsu-jounin being Inuzuka Tsume and her partner, Kuromaru.

They had already formed a team? Sakura and Sasuke found it weird that they weren't summoned, maybe it was cause there were running everywhere. They skidded to a stop in front the squadron, earning everyone's attention. "Tsunade-sama! There's a massive chakra heading towards the village, it'll be here in less than 10 minutes" Sakura reported immediately. Tsunade looked at her with a stern look, as if she didn't want them there. She just nodded and with a "Good job, Sakura. Go back and get some rest" and with that she turned her attention back to giving out orders to the squadron.

Sakura looked at loss for words, her mentor never brushed her off like this in this kind of situation before, so she decided to be patient and wait. Surely the blonde hokage would have something in mind for them. Judging by the gathered manpower, the village is currently in one of those states where they're lacking of available shinobi and they need all the help they can get.

Sakura glanced over at Kakashi, hoping he would speak up for them. But he didn't even return her gaze. Sasuke noticed the worried look on his pink-haired teammate's, his hands clenched themselves. Something was definitely up. After Tsunade sent everyone off, Sasuke confronted her "Fifth, what is the meaning of this? Why aren't weren't we included in the offense squadron" snapped Sasuke in an almost rude tone. Tsunade turned away from them "Genin are not necessary for this mission" said Tsunade. Never has she taken their rank into account when sending them off to a mission. They were probably the only genin team in history to have taken on an S-ranking mission without a jounin leading and come back alive.

They were more than capable for a mission like this. "This doesn't make sense! We need to get out there, the village needs all the help it can get" Sasuke argued. "You will not question the decision made by your superior, I will not change my decision. Squadron 7 will remain in the village and that's final" said Tsunade, as she was about to walk off.

They heard a familiar voice call out to them "Sasuke! Sakura-chan! Did you guys feel like earthquake just now? I was eating at Ichiraku then suddenly the ground trembled and I spilled my soup!" He shouted his complains to them as he descended from the building and landing swiftly on the ground and running up to them only to feel the tense atmosphere.

"What's happening?" he said, oblivious to the fact that a battle was going on. "The village is in trouble, Naruto." said Sakura, softly. "And the Fifth won't let us leave the village to help stop the invasion" Sasuke added. Tsunade stayed silent, her expression has been hidden from them. "W-What do you mean...? If there's an incoming invasion then we need to get out there and stop them! W-Why?" Naruto nearly shouted. "Just go back, you three. If you leave the village I'll personally have an ANBU squadron sent for your assassination " she said in a grave tone before walking off.

Naruto wanted to lunge himself at her, to yell at her. Sasuke was furious, was she mocking them? Sure they might be genin but their skills were well above. How could she not see that? The boys were about to go after Tsunade once before they felt a tug that stopped them. Sakura held their arms. "I...I'm sure Tsunade-sama has her reasons for this" she said softly. The two boys were too engulfed in anger that they had forgotten to think about Sakura's feelings. Tsunade was her mentor and for her to put her own student off for an important mission would feel like she doesn't trust her apprentice. Making Sakura feel like she had failed her.

"Let's have faith in Kakashi-sensei and the rest" she forced herself to smile. Only then did the two boys give up on chasing Tsunade.

Meanwhile, the offense team had already clashed with the beast. It was moving a lot faster than they expected, it was a huge fiery beast, made out of chakra flames with a wavy outline resembling a red leopard. There were all sorts of symbols on its body. Kakashi's eyes widened "That's...!-" He was cut off when he heard a cry from one of the chunin ninjas. His eye immediately darted to the chunin that had attacked first, his arm was completely scorched, Kakashi scowled and dove down to grab him before the beast's hand came down.

"Keep your distance! Bare handed Taijutsu isn't going to work on it!" Kakashi shouted. Everyone immediately jumped back, landing on nearby trees that weren't destroyed by the beast. The beast let out a roar that shook the ground.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were sitting on the roof of the tallest building in Konoha, besides the Hokage tower. Sakura sitting at the edge as Sasuke and Naruto stood behind her. As they stared at half the beast's body showing on top of the tree as it thrashed around and crushing the forest in its way.

Sakura prayed that they would be successful in stopping the beast. Naruto and Sasuke hated to admit it. They couldn't do anything unless the offense squadron fails and that's not going to be good. Sakura could feel the battle, every jutsu they used, every chakra that was going out. It frustrated her that she couldn't do anything but she had to hide it away, for the sake of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Gatsuga!"

Two spinning tornadoes bashed themselves at the front paws of the beast. Knocking it off balance and landing on its chin. "Doton, Hyaku Yari (Earth Technique, A Hundred Spears) " a chunin shinobi called out, chunks of dirt rose from the ground and sharpened themselves before throwing themselves at the beast, impaling it's forehead with spears.

The beast roared in pain and got back on its feet and shaking it's head, sending the spears crumbling down back to dirt. "Raikiri!" Kakashi shot from the trees and threw himself at the beast, forcefully pushing the lashing ball of blue electricity into the beast's side. The collision made Kakashi's chakra unstable, his technique went out of control and lashed out but he kept pushing it against the beast till an explosion occurred between them, sending them flying back. The beast was sent to its side and struggled to get up where as Kakashi was saved from the ground's impact by Kuromaru.

The chunins took this chance to attack the beast, pulling out all the techniques they know on it. Nevertheless the beast seemed barely fazed by it. Kakashi stood at the tree branch, watching as his squadron gets overwhelmed with both his eyes.

"Damn, at this rate it'll reach the village in no time" Kakashi cursed under his breath. The beast's tail swung and slammed to the ground, creating a massive crack that cut through the earth, a few of the chunin were unlucky enough to have the ground beneath them split and swallow them. The beast managed to roll back on its feet despite all the shinobi holding it down. With one swipe from its claw, it caught a few chunin in its claws and blowing the rest away. It swung it's paw again, throwing the shinobi that was caught in its claws.

"Kuromaru!" Tsume called out to her companion and the black wolf-dog was at her side in an instant. They stood directly in front of the beast. Tsume got on all fours, her back legs bend like an animal ready to pounce and her clawed hands on the ground in front of her. "Junji Konbi Henge: Soutourou! (Human Beast Combination Transformation: Two-Headed Wolf)" A blast of chakra whirled around them and a blur of black and white could be seen growing bigger and bigger. "It's Inuzuka-fuku taichou!"

There was a black and white wolf beast nearly as huge as the invading beast standing before the enemy. The transformed Tsume and Kuromaru had two heads, the head on the right had a slash scar down across its eye whereas the other head had both eyes. The two beasts growled at each other, as if challenging the other to make a move. With a twitch of muscle, Tsume and Kuromaru were the first to strike, pulling a Garoga on the beast. Spinning with intense force, the beast resisted and bashed it's head against the attack, pushing it back only to great a large trench in the ground as Tsume and Kuromaru's attack insisted.

The beast had its eyes squeezed close, it's claws sinking into the ground. It's eyes shot open and it took a step forward, it's red fiery chakra beginning to spread to the spinning Garoga. With a hard push and a roar, Tsume and Kuromaru was sent tumbling back. They got back on their feet, however their legs were already wobbling, their foreheads looked scorched and their claws looked chipped and blunt.

Tsume's side of the beast body gave out, making the beast fall on one knee. "Tsume! Get a hold of yourself" Kuromaru told her and nudged her with his nose. Tsume's beastly head shook her head and got back on her feet. Their attack didn't even look like it dealt any damage, the beast was still angry. "So long as we standing here, it won't be able to take another step" Tsume said.

The beast was first to strike, it lunged itself at Tsume and Kuromaru with its front paws off the ground, Tsume and Kuromaru mimicked and they two beast scratched and clawed each other as they pushed against one another. Till the beast swung it's paw and dug it's claws in Tsume's side. Causing her to let out a snarl. Kuromaru could feel his partner's pain and attempted to take on more of the burden. "Tsume! Kuromaru! Get out of there!" Kakashi called from the tree top.

With a poof, they returned to their normal forms with Tsume's hand over Kuromaru as he carries her off from the battle area. Kakashi widened his eyes and his Sharingan's tomoe spun and formed a circle of black scythes. "I'll tear it apart with my left eye's Kamui"

The space around the beast began to swirl and distort as if it was getting sucked into a hole in the dimension. The best roared and struggled, it turned mechanically to Kakashi and with one swoop of its front paw, Kakashi hadn't expected the beast to be able to move like that when it's trapped in his Kamui and had no time to dodge it.

One of its claws caught Kakashi in the chest, flesh ripping and chest flaming. Kakashi was launched backwards, breaking several trees before he came to a stop. "Copy Ninja Kakashi has been taken down!" one of the shinobis cried.

"Inuzuka Tsume is in no shape to fight either!"

...

Back in the village, Sakura gasped. Sasuke looked down at her, "What's wrong, Sakura" he asked. Sakura folded her arms around herself "No... it's nothing" she muttered. It's best not to tell them now. Sasuke knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her back "Are you cold?" he asked. Sakura shook her head even though that was pretty much a lie, with the rain pouring like there's no end. They were all cold, they just didn't want to admit it.

...

A part of the beasts body had been taken away by Kakashi's technique, however it recovered almost instantaneously and it's body was only made out of chakra. The beast saw no threat that held him back and prepared to charge for the village. "Hold him back! We must do everything we can to hold it back!" one of the older chunins called out. Everyone was with him, they managed to bind it's feet with wires however their efforts were made futile when the beast slammed its tail down on them and then proceeded to create a path of destruction towards the village.

Four ANBU captains stood in position outside the village, awaiting the beast's arrival.

With precise calculation, the beast passed the first two captains. One of the front two spoke into the radio "Now!"

"Ninpo, Shishi Enjin (Ninja Technique, Four Violet Positions)"

Four lines shot up and drew a violet box around the beast, successfully containing it. The beast rammed into the barrier only to find that it had been trapped. The beast spun around and tried it's luck with another one of the walls. Like a bull just aching to get out of its pen, the beast thrashed around.

The ANBU captains held their cool, but Sakura could feel their chakra waning with everywhere blow the beast delivered on the barrier.

The beast roared and bashed it's head against the wall that's closes to the village. The flares of the chakra growing.

Shattered.

The highest level of the Ninpo Kekkai. Had been shattered, the ANBU captains were taken by surprise. As they were about to counter the beast with another technique, it was too late. It had already broken through the village wall and is now standing before the Konoha population.

"The village is under attack!"

"Evacuate the civillians!"

The beast took out one of the watch towers with a swipe then his eyes was set on a running mother and child.

Silently they moved through the panicking crowds, the villagers remained oblivious to their presence.

Just as the beast was about to go after the mother and child, there was a sound of a thousand chirping birds. A dark figure launched himself from the rooftops and right at the beast's head. Another figure shot from the streets, a bright swirling ball in his hand. And in a second the mother and child were no longer there.

"Chidori!" "Rasengan!"

Sasuke slammed his hand of electric onto the beast's head and Naruto jabbed his rasengan into the beast's chest. "Chidori Eiso (Chidori Spear)" a spark of electricity channeled down Sasuke's arm, multiple spiked emerged from the beast's head, one of it nearly got Naruto in the head if the blonde hadn't tilted his head to the side.

The beast was launched back through the village wall.

Sakura guided the mother and child to the evacuating crowd before joining her teammates. Even the ANBU could hardly believe it, a whole squadron of chunin and two jounins couldn't even hold the beast back. Yet two genin just sent it flying like it was some kind of doll.

"Oi! Sasuke teme! Were you trying to kill me!" Naruto shouted at the raven haired who just gave him a lazy glance and raised his eyebrows "So what if I were?" he said in a cocky tone.

A vein popped on Naruto's head "You picking a fight, you bastard!" shouted Naruto, holding a fist out. Sakura sighed, she leaves them for a minute and they're already fighting. She leaped in between them, catching their attention. "It's coming back" she said quickly. Her teammates got their head back in the fight. The beast got up and shook it's head and snarled at them.

"Careful not to make bare physical contact with it, it's chakra will burn you even with the slightest touch" said Sakura, already sensing the chakra type. Sakura was well accustomed with the dangerous chakra type as she had used it on herself to free herself from chains.

"Naruto, you aim for the head. I'll go after it's legs. Sakura, you go under and strike when I knock it out of balance" said Sasuke. "Right"

Naruto and Sasuke crossed paths to get to their appointed attack points. Sakura and Sasuke waited for Naruto to get the beast's attention. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called out and next to him appeared another Naruto. He reached out his hand and his cloned spun the chakra, forming an extra huge Rasengan. He charged at the beast with the clone, both of them supporting the Rasengan "Odama Rasengan!"

Right before the beast took Naruto's attack head on, Sasuke and Sakura took their position. Sasuke lined his sharingan controlled wire with chakra and wrapped two of them around the front legs of the beast as he stood in between.

Naruto's attack managed to make the beast bend it's legs a little. Sasuke tugged two of the wires together and the beast lost its footing, about to come down like a building as Sakura stood below it, her fist practically glowing with chakra. She pulled on her glove and she waited for the beast's body to come down on her so she can send it back up.

But something had caught Sakura's sight right before she could deliver the blow. Her eyes widened and her chakra dimmed. The beast came down.

Next Chapter

"There was a child in that beast!"

"It just keeps regenerating from every attack we throw at it!"

"Naruto, Sasuke. Lend me a hand"

"But he's going to be alright, right?"

"You're going to be okay, don't give up"

I hope this clears up any confusion, hehe. Review if you can, if you can't its alright :D