~Scroll 16~

A shiver racked through Sakura's body as the cool morning air caressed her flesh, but something needled at the back of her mind, telling her that it was more than just the cold air that was making her shiver.

"Heh heh…" A cold voice cackled, "You've been up all night standing guard, eh?"

The pinkette snapped around. Her body trembled in a mix of fear and exhaustion at the sight of the three Oto-ninja.

"As of now, you're off duty. Just wake Sasuke for us. The three of us want to take him on."

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Sakura screamed while her hand reached for a kunai, "I know that some guy named Orochimaru is the one who's been pulling all the strings… so what do you want?!"

This surprised the three nin, but the Konoha kunoichi pressed on, her fear and concern for her teammates overruled every other emotions.

"What does this mark on Sasuke's neck mean?! With Sasuke in this condition… now you want to fight him?! Get out of here! Go!" She screamed.

"Hmm…" Dosu muttered, "I wonder what Orochimaru's up to?!"

"Whatever…" Zaku muttered back, "I can't walk away after hearing that! I'll destroy you, girl…" He replied louder with a sneer, "And your little Sasuke, too!"

Suddenly her trembles stopped as she was determined to protect her teammates.

"Wait, Zaku!" Dosu ordered.

"Wait? Why?" Zaku whined.

"It's obvious…" The Oto team leader sneered as he knelt down, "Freshly turned stones, exposed soil… grass in a place it would never grow… someone's been setting booby traps…" He then glared at the pinkette, "But what's the point of laying them if you have evidence that warns your prey?"

"It's amateurish!" Zaku snarled, "So… the person who threw the kunai knife was trying to stop the squirrel from springing the trap?"

"Well, the girl is no use to us…" Dosu casually stated, "… so let's eliminate her first."

The Oto then attacked.

With a flick of her wrist, Sakura cut a nearly invisible string, which unleashed a massive log from above.

"A log?!" Dosu exclaimed in surprise, "The trap was above us all along!" He then smirked, placing a hand on the trunk and sneered, "Very funny!"

Suddenly the log exploded, revealing the three Oto unscathed.

Sakura watched in helpless horror as her hopes came crashing around her.

"To be honest…" Dosu sneered, "You know you're a complete no-talent, don't you? Stop dogging it and start working at it! It's an insult being underestimated by slackers like you!"

"KONOHA HURRICANE TECHNIQUE!"

The Oto-shinobi were suddenly thrown back.

Sakura instinctively thrown her body over her teammates, protecting them from the onslaught of debris.

"Look who's talking…!" A familiar voice drawled, causing the pinkette to turn around and look at her savior in surprise, "Try taking your own advice!"

"Who are you…?!" Dosu snarled in anger at another interruption of his mission.

"Konoha's Handsome Blue Beast…" The teen proclaimed, "Rock Lee!"

"Where did you come from?" Sakura whispered, afraid that the young man in front of her was a hallucination caused by fear and fatigue.

"I came because you needed me. And I always will!" The brunette answered as he lowered the squirrel from his shoulder to the forest floor.

She wiped a tear out of her eye and watched as Lee's squirrel suddenly curled itself into the crook of Naruto's neck.

"I promised when we met…" The Konoha nin began, drawing the kunoichi's attention back to him, "to protect you… until death do us part!"

Sakura just stared in confusion that the young man in front of her had actually meant what he had said. But why? He hardly knew her! Why would he be willing to risk his life for her, a nobody?

"It can't be helped…" Dosu sneered as he tossed their scroll to Zaku, "Zaku… little Sasuke is all yours!

"They're as good as dead!" The hunched ninja charged.

The short haired brunette threw a glance over his shoulder in concern of his pink-haired Goddess. He knew by the looks of her that she did not have enough strength nor fight for this battle.

Dosu charged the teen head long, looking forward to tackling the Konoha nin.

Sakura immediately threw a kunai, forcing the Oto into the air.

Lee slammed his fist into the ground, burying his arm to the shoulder.

A tree root exploded beneath Dosu's hand.

"This is some kind of illusion, right?!" The brunette casually asked, "So, I'll be wasting my time ducking as though your attacks were real. I've seen you use these moves before."

Sakura was amazed by the Konoha shinobi's strength.

Lee knew that the Oto had the advantage by three to one. He also knew that his only chance of surviving was to beat them one-on-one, but even that was a gamble.

Meanwhile…

"Gaaaaah!" Ino screamed as she pulled her hair, "How can we pick off the weak when we can't find any weaklings?!"

Shikamaru just ignored the blonde while he looked over his best friend, who slowly rose to his feet.

"I wonder how Naruto's team is doing…" The Nara quietly mumbled but apparently not quiet enough for immediately the kunoichi turned on him.

"What are you talking about, you idiot?!" Ino screeched.

"What?!" Shika asked, honestly confused by his teammate's huff.

"Naruto and Sakura are total losers…" She continued, causing the brunette to arch his brow, "but they're teamed up with Sasuke - the best of the best!"

Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms in realization that Ino did not even hear him clearly, and on top of that, she was going on a 'Sasuke-is-the-best' rant. As much as he liked her as a teammate, her hero-worship of the Uchiha heir was grinding on his last nerve… and that was saying a lot.

"Maybe your precious Sasuke is better in theory than he is in practice!" The Nara heir calmly stated.

"There's no way anyone here is going to beat Sasuke." Ino hissed, "But Sakura? She's a complete wimp!"

"Hey!" Choji exclaimed, hoping to stop a row between his teammates, "Sasuke's unconscious!" The bigger ninja was blissfully unaware of the dark glower that the blonde threw at him, "And Sakura's defending him."

"What?!"

"It's not like Lee to keep us waiting!" TenTen tsked as she looked at her team leader, who looked thoughtful and concerned at the same time, "It's odd… he's usually such a stickler about punctuality… I wonder if he ran into trouble…" She gasped, "Not him!"

Neji's thoughtful gaze turned to an exasperated smile.

"No way. But we should still go look for him."

"Right." She replied as they disappeared in search of their missing teammate and friend.