The Turning Point
The first day of ninja academy had come and gone, a ten year old Sakura skipped home happily humming an unknown tune. She had spent the day in the meadow picking flowers; although some older girls had been mean to her she had made a new friend. Her name was Ino and she had defended her from the rude comments made by the girls and gave her a bright red bow to help her with the embarrassment of her forehead.
Reaching her front door Sakura walked into her house to see her father sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hi Daddy!" the pink haired girl threw her belongings on the ground and raced towards the older fair haired ninja, who chuckled at his daughters antics and hoisted her onto his lap.
"Ah Sakura, how's my little cherry blossom? How was your first day?" Smiling Sakura garbled away to him about her new friend Ino and the flowers she had picked.
"But there was this boy daddy; his name is Naruto I think... Ino said to stay away from him because he's done terrible things to other people. Everyone in the village hates him, but he looked so sad after class today sitting on the swing all alone" Sakura spoke quietly as she looked up at her father.
Her eyes were full of question, but it was clear she wanted to know if she too should avoid him like the other villagers.
"Sakura you listen to me. That boy deserves to be treated like everyone else. You don't have to be his best friend but you must be just as nice to him as you are to your other peers. He was the recipient of a most unfortunate gift from the Third Hokage, something that we will discuss when you're a little older" Takao Haruno said seriously as he watched his daughter's expression.
Nodding solemnly the little girl conveyed her understanding to her father.
"That's my girl. Sakura as you advance as a ninja you're more than likely going to be put on a team with other people. Nothing is more important than team work, you need to remember that"
As the remains of the ice mirror jutsu shattered around her Sakura felt power.
Power and control.
For the first time since she started her ninja journey she felt just as strong and useful as Sasuke or Naruto.
Tazuna, Kakashi and Zabuza could only stare as the pink haired teen rose to her full height and adopted and protective stance in front of her two teammates. Haku lay unmoving on the other side of the bridge but Sakura wasn't taking any chances as she concentrated her chakra.
"Sakura-chan? What are you doing?" The exhausted voice of her blonde teammate reached her ears and she couldn't help but smirk.
"I'm protecting you Naruto, that's what you do when you're part of a team right?" she said.
Smiling at his female teammate the blonde haired boy attempted to get up but found he couldn't move.
"SERIOUSLY AGAIN? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MY BODY?" Huffing and panting Naruto tried again but failed.
"Loser, you're out of chakra that's why you can't move" Sasuke says angrily as he also attempted to rise to his feet but was unable.
"HAHAHAHA! YOU'RE OUT TOO SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto yelled gleefully at the thought of finally being equal to Sasuke at something.
"Sakura what do you think you're doing?" Sasuke said through gritted teeth, the female member of Team 7 let out an exasperated sigh while fixing her vision on Haku's body.
"I'm protecting you both. You're out of chakra and what kind of teammate would I be if I sat on the sidelines and allowed you to have all the fun?" Sakura replied.
"Don't be a hero Sakura; you can't take him by yourself. You're too weak" Sasuke spat out maliciously and the pink haired teen immediately stiffened, her mind racing back to the dream in which all of Team 7 had viciously insulted her.
"Sasuke's right Sakura! Let the boys handle this, they have a better chance of winning against Haku!" Kakashi called out and made another move towards his students but he immediately froze remembering Tazuna was now completely unguarded.
"That's right Kakashi, you take one step and the old man gets it" Zabuza reminded the silver haired Jounin, the rouge ninja then turned to the pink haired teen and began to taunt her.
"You should listen to your teammates little girl. You're way out of your league against Haku. Go back to protecting the bridge builder. You're going to die here kid" he said bluntly.
Out of the corner of her eye Sakura saw Naruto nod slightly as he fixed the ground with a hard stare.
Their words swirled around Sakura's brain. Shouting, teasing and screaming. "NO! NO! NO!" Inner Sakura yelled as she retrieved a wooden bat from somewhere in Sakura's brain and began slugging home runs left and right with the words.
"Shut up. All of you SHUT UP DAMN IT!" Sakura yelled covering her ears "I am sick and tired of hearing all of you speak!"
"SING IT SISTER!" Inner Sakura cheered.
"I don't care if you think I can do this or not, I'm doing it regardless. It's the job of a ninja to practice teamwork and look out for their teammates and that's what I'm doing. I'm not trying to be a hero Sasuke and exactly how can the boys 'handle' it Kakashi-sensei when they can't even stand?" Sakura asked, surprised at her calm voice.
As a deathly silence hung in the air, Haku got shakily to his feet and turned to face the female ninja who had destroyed his famous ice prison jutsu.
"If she's so determined than so be it. I was hoping you'd have more sense than your teammates but it seems I was mistaken. You may have destroyed my jutsu but you will die here and so will your teammates" Haku said but Sakura wasn't listening.
"He's coming at us. We need to block his attacks. It's going to be fast so we're going to need chakra to our feet" Inner Sakura instructed as Sakura felt her arm reach into her ninja pouch and pull out a kunai.
Gritting her teeth the pink haired teen moved quickly to the right, dodging the frontal assault but was able to manoeuvre in time to block the attack came from behind. Once again the sound of the metal senbon needle scraping against the kunai knife filled the air.
"They have no chance" Kakashi said with resignation as Tazuna stared at him in shock.
"Exactly, you're village has become complacent. You trainees have no chance against Haku as they have never learnt to kill the feelings in their own hearts. To crush their opponents mercilessly, showing no emotion or regret" Zabuza said arrogantly.
Only half listening, the silver haired Jounin was conflicted as to what exactly he was to do about the current situation.
I could make a break to help Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto but he'd slay the bridge builder. If I use shadow clones he'd just match them with water clones. I'd just be wasting chakra. So I have no choice, it's me and Zabuza right here and now. I'll have to do this the hard way, Kakashi thought as he raised a hand to the forehead protector covering his left eye.
"The Sharingan, you're no fun Kakashi using the same old trick" Zabuza said before charging at him brandishing a sharp blade which he quickly stuck into Kakashi's forearm which promptly bled.
"If it's just an old trick, why did you just stop me?" the silver haired ninja asked calmly.
Zabuza chuckled "Let your opponent see your jutsu too many times and he'll find a way to use it against you"
"Well then you should count yourself lucky, you're the only man alive who's seen my sharingan twice. Show's over, there won't be a third time" Kakashi said, still gripping his forehead protector. His arm bleeding heavily.
Laughing his deranged laugh Zabuza smirked "Even if you did beat me you'd have no chance against Haku"
Tazuna looked across the bridge to Sakura who was still holding off the fake tracker ninja.
"So that boy in the mask is stronger than this Jounin. Those kids don't have a prayer" he thought to himself.
"When I found him, he was just a street kid. But I trained him in the finest of the ninja arts, taught him everything I know. He even possessed his own special abilities which he refined on his own. The boy developed quickly; soon he could face the most powerful enemy. Outnumbered, in total darkness it didn't matter. He could strike with perfect accuracy. He cared nothing for his own life, or the lives of others. He'd become a unique fighting machine, a shinobi. In the end his power surpassed even mine, now I have a tool that can destroy anything in my path. Unlike those useless punks that follow you around" Zabuza explained.
Finishing his speech the rogue ninja quickly disappeared and the familiar fog of his Mist Jutsu swirled through the air.
"You should have stayed where you were you know" Haku said to Sakura who had begun to notice the mist.
Naruto and Sasuke could only watch on helplessly as their female teammate struggled under the pressure of Haku's senbon needle.
"I couldn't leave my teammates to die knowing I could do something to prevent it" Sakura replied and drove the needle back with the kunai knife.
"You show incredible loyalty to a team who doesn't believe in you or your abilities" Haku observed mildly as Sakura withdrew her kunai knife and attempted a kick to the stomach which was blocked.
"Teamwork is extremely important, I was always told that" Sakura replied as she narrowly avoided the punch to the face and responded with her own punch which wasn't even close.
"He's too fast; we aren't reading the movements quick enough. If we could just get ahead of him and anticipate what he's going to do next" Inner Sakura observed.
"It's useless to anticipate my moves; I'm one step ahead of you. You have no bloodline trait, you're rendered incompetent and foolish" Haku said in the same monotone voice and sent the pink haired teen flying with a punch to the stomach.
"Dammit" Sakura huffed as she struggled to get up, Haku who wasn't taking any chances sent down a shower of senbon needles.
The needles cut through her skin and Sakura tried but failed to hide the pain as she let out a small scream.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out as he attempted to get to his feet but his burnt out body screamed in protest and he quickly fell to the ground alongside Sasuke.
He touched her. He touched her. How dare he even put a finger on her? She's in pain. GET UP SASUKE GET UP DAMMIT! The lone survivor of the Uchiha clan mentally berated himself as he stared at the pink haired teen, eyes filled with self-loathing.
Why did he even care what happened to her anyway?
All Sakura could read was sheer disappointment and hatred in Sasuke's eyes.
"He hates me because I'm not strong enough. I'm still not good enough even now when I'm needed the most" she thought in despair.
Haku stood over the pink haired teen ready to deliver the final blow.
I am sorry but perhaps the spillage of your blood and termination of your life will spare the lives of your team members. They will undoubtedly hand over the bridge builder willingly" Haku said monotone, before raising his arm bearing the senbon needle, ready to strike.
"NO! SAKURA NO! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" A male voice cried loudly and Sakura's vision was immediately obscured by a mess of bright blonde hair.
"N-Naruto?" Sakura asked in a quiet voice but the boy in front of her bore no resemblance to the loudmouth knuckleheaded ninja.
Although his face was unable to be seen, Sakura could feel Naruto shaking with rage as an orange glow began admitting from his body. Everyone watched in sheer disbelief and horror as the blonde boy's facial features began to take on a fox like appearance.
"The Nine Tailed Fox"