I present the next chapter! Enjoy.

If Sakura thought she was jittery after arriving in Wave, Naruto was a hundred times worse. He kept straying out of formation, running ahead poking his head into every bush he heard a sound from. At this rate they would never get to Tazuna's house, since every five seconds they had to stop and wait for him.

It was annoying.

Speaking of annoying, Uchiha was weirdly quiet. It's not often she finds him zoned out, but doing it on a mission? That's odd, not to mention dangerous, though its not like she can say much. She gets lost in her own head more often than he does after all.

'Yes you do.'

'You distracting me doesn't help you know.'

'My interference is completely necessary.'

'Sure it is.'

'See, you are distracted right now, focus.'

'Then stop talking to me.'

'... '

'Sometimes I just want to punch you.'

'I know, sha?'

'I'll find a way someday, na'rro.'

"There!" Naruto threw a kunai at a bush a bit further down the path.

"Maa Naruto, kunais are dangerous. They bring about horrors you can't imagine if thrown without consequence, like paperwork. For the love of Icha Icha Paradise please stop now."

Icha Icha Paradise, she was surprised he liked that book. From what her Mother told her it was a sappy romance novel with one dimensional characters that Sakura would hate, so she never really paid attention to it. Though, if Sensei liked it she could give it a try.

'No Sakura.'

'What? Why?'

'Just trust me on this, please.'

'...ok?'

'Oh you're the best, thank the Sage.'

'Hmm, I know.'

"But Sensei, I really sensed something there, someone has been following us for sure, believe it!"

"Naruto, still you can't–" Naruto ignored Kakashi-sensei and went to retrieve the kunai.

Oh great, another stop. Sakura, refusing to have even more of her time wasted, walked in the opposite direction to pick an herb she spotted earlier. It was one native to Wave, good for fever and fatigue, considering the day she had so far she would need it later.

"A bunny! I'm sorry little guy I didn't mean too, I really thought you were an enemy. You're not an enemy are you bunny?"

"I'm not so sure..." Kakashi-sensei trailed off.

Sakura observed her Sensei, noticing he abandoned his iconic slouch for a more alert posture. He must of sensed something, but the question is, what? Wasting no time Sakura returned to the group and positioned herself behind Tazuna. Casually she put her hand in her pouch, deposited the flowered herb and palmed an explosive tag. She probably had half of her chakra left, and while that was still a fair amount with her chakra control, it still paled in comparison to what her potential enemies could have.

"Everyone, down!"

At his command, everyone dropped. The force of the impact jarring her into combat mode. She heard the swish of a large metal object fly over head and quickly stood back up in a ready position.

Sakura's eyes trailed over the enemy nin standing on the handle of the gigantic sword embedded in the tree, his clothing choice almost as horrible as the 'Green Man's'.

'Sak–'

'Yeah I know Inner, I'm focused. It just slips out.'

Ignoring the weird white-and-brown camo, Sakura looked for weak spots, and after a quick perusal she couldn't see any. But, just because she couldn't see any didn't mean Sensei couldn't. Though from the intense stares between the two grown men, it seemed like there was no opening for Sensei to capitalize on those potential weak spots. And, to make things worse, with the way Sensei was acting she probably didn't have a chance either, maybe ten percent if she was generous.

"Ah, Zabuza Momochi, Missing-nin of the Mist." Sensei drawled out in a light tone.

Zabuza? Make that one percent.

Sakura adjusted her grip on the kunai she pulled. Though she couldn't confront Zabuza herself, maybe she could provide enough of a distraction to create an opening for Sensei. But first she had to do something about that. Sakura glanced at Tazuna and grabbed his hand, pulling it slightly behind his back to where she was standing. Opening his palm she started to write instructions.

"When. I. poke. you. move. behind. me. and. stay. still. You. may. not. move. otherwise. Cough. once. if. you. understand."

Sakura waited a few moments before she heard a cough.

Perfect.

Sakura was half listening to the conversation happening between her teammates and the missing nin as she made a hand sign behind Tazuna's back. Sakura created a clone of Tazuna directly on top of him, so it would only be visible if the old man moved. After the clone was in place, Sakura did a few more hand signs and performed the False Surroundings Jutsu, letting it trickle slowly out over the area. She made sure to enhance the clone she made, giving it a shadow and other defining features so it didn't seem so obvious, and create the overlay to hide Tazuna once he moved. Once it reached the point of Kakashi-sensei she stopped and looked for confirmation before advancing it farther. His hand was still held out to stop Naruto, who idiotically tried to fight, when he let it lazily drop behind his back. He only gave two signs but that was enough for Sakura.

"Distract. Go."

Sensei really was her favorite, they even thought the same. Sakura located a tree to the side of her within her genjutsu range, and created a hidden path. Sakura felt the sweat drip down the back of her neck as her temple throbbed from the level of control she had to exert, but she ignored it. As discrete as she could manage Sakura threw the explosive kunai.

It only took half a second.

At the sound of the explosion Kakashi-sensei pounced. Sakura slammed the genjutsu out over Zabuza and poked Tazuna in the process. The old man moved gracefully for a civilian into position. Kakashi-sensei was able to get a slice across Zabuza chest before the two separated once more.

Zabuza glanced at Sakura and her teammates.

"Hmm... not bad, but I still need you to hand over the old man." He said, showing his sharp teeth.

"Get into Manji Battle Formation, and protect Tazuna. This is my fight." Sensei commanded. Naruto and Uchiha joined her around 'Tazuna', and stood at the ready. Uchiha glanced at her then looked away, while Naruto had his full attention on the two jonins. At this point Sakura wondered if Naruto could tell he was in her genjutsu, or in a genjutsu at all.

Either way this confrontation proved she needed one thing.

More training.

Not like that was something she didn't know already.

"It seems I will need to use this after all." Sensei lifted up his headband.

"Sharingan?" Uchiha whispered.

"Oh? Using the sharingan so soon? I'm honored." Zabuza said, putting a hand on his chest and giving a mock bow.

"Sharingan, sharingan. Everyone keeps mentioning it, but what is it?" Naruto asked in frustration.

Sakura listened to Uchiha describing the sharingan and began to formulate another plan. Was there anything else she could do? Sakura gritted her teeth.

No, no there wasn't.

The only thing Sakura could do was stay in place and protect Tazuna. Uchiha may have an idea where the real old guy was, but this was her plan and she would see it through to the end.

Sakura watched Zabuza jump back onto the water and and hold up a sign, her grip on her kunai tightened. Fog rolled in all around them, starting as a light mist before she could barely see the outline of her Sensei. Before she knew it he disappeared from her sight.

"Eight spots." Sakura heard Zabuza's voice echo throughout the mist. Some sort of auditory genjutsu? She would flare her chakra but she couldn't release her own genjutsu, so she would just have to deal with it.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian veins, kidneys, and heart. Which one should I pick?"

Sakura kept her mind on task, not letting his words distract her. She stood at the ready when she felt a suffocating sensation throughout her body. It was heavy, the weight of the oppression made her limbs feel like lead, and carried the feeling of death.

Killing intent.

It was uncomfortable, but more importantly, it pissed her off.

What kind of luck did she have? The Burning was a thousand times worse and now she had to deal with this annoyance? She let out an angry grunt and shifted her stance, doing her best to not flare her chakra. How she wished she could kill him, and she would make sure she hit all of the eight spots he so thoughtfully explained for her less than bright teammates. Who did he think he was, trying to intimidate her? She was a Haruno, did he think she was just going to roll over and die? Sakura heard a chuckle reverberate through the mist.

"Oh that's cute, eh Kakashi?"

Sakura didn't hear Kakashi-sensei respond, but she was able to see him after he expanded his chakra.

"Sasuke, I will protect you with my life so don't worry. I don't let my teammates die." Uchiha? What's wrong with him?

Sakura took a peek at her teammate, seeing him holding a kunai towards his stomach. She berated herself, how could she miss that? As the superior one out of the three that was something she should have caught and prevented.

"I'm not so sure about that."

Sakura spun towards the sudden appearance of the rogue nin by 'Tazuna'. She reflexively grabbed the real one and jumped back. He flared his chakra, breaking her genjutsu and turned to follow when Sensei intercepted, stabbing him in the gut dissolving him into water. Sakura swore and reduced the size of her genjutsu the best she could, no point in wasting chakra if she was found out.

Everything happened so fast, Sakura's eyes could barely keep up.

The two jonin level shinobi traded blows that ultimately ended with Sensei holding Zabuza at knife point.

"It's over."

"Ha... do you really think its over? You won't be able to beat me at this level." Zabuza spoke as he laughed a few more times.

Another Zabuza appeared behind Sensei and the one in front burst into water.

It was a clone, shit. The fight wasn't over, but Sakura had faith Sensei could beat him.

Using his sword as leverage Zabuza kicked Sensei. Despite being caught off guard Sensei substituted on impact and approached Zabuza from behind with a hand covered in lightning. His aim was towards his chest and from the swear she heard from Zabuza, Sensei was going to pierce his heart before he had time to get his sword out of the ground and block.

Sensei won.

Sakura was convinced of that until she saw something familiar, very familiar, and a chill ran down her spine.

She'd recognize that full body spasm anywhere. The twitching of muscles, grunt of pain, lack of coordination to the point where your body no longer listens to you. Yes, Sakura was very familiar with it.

Sensei just got hit with the Burning, or a flare to be more precise.

The beautiful fight-winning lighting that coated his arm disappeared and Sensei dropped to the ground. Next thing she knew Zabuza recovered and kicked Sensei once again, careening him out into the water, only to trap him in a jutsu. Sakura could barely follow what occurred next, her mind overwhelmed by the incident that just occurred.

Kakashi-sensei just had a flare of the Burning.

He had the Burning.

He had it and it stopped him from winning. Why? Why would it care if Sensei lost this fight or not? First the whole Gato thing now this? Were they supposed to lose? Did it want them to die? Or was it just her? Did it follow her because it wanted her to die?

Sakura unconsciously flared her chakra and collapsed to the ground as the Burning hit her. Her forehead landed on the ground and her arms grasped her sides. She did her best to suppress the pain but a few small whimpers still escaped. That was the longest she's held the genjutsu for and her body was letting her know how much it did not appreciate it, since the size of the flare the Burning graced her with was a solar level one. She tried to keep track of the situation but her vision was blurry and she struggled to stay awake. She did too much today and her body was collapsing.

'Sakura you need to create another genjutsu now!'

Sakura couldn't respond to Inner, her consciousness fading and eyes sliding shut.

'Dammit Sakura! Are you going to let it end like this? I thought you were a Haruno. Come on you can do it, don't collapse on me now. Sha? Sha?'

She grunted and turned her head. Her locks sticking to her face.

Her short locks.

Sakura felt the wave of frustration bubble inside her and used it to move her hands as she held on to her last bits of sanity. Her chakra eagerly responded and the relief was instantaneous. She sat back blinking a few times as her vision recovered. She observed the situation, Naruto somehow ended up in the water and Sensei and Zabuza were having a face off.

'Thank goodness, you did it Sakura.'

'Na'rro Inner, na'rro.'

.

Sakura was able to hold it together until after the Hunter-nin left with Zabuza's body, but she was faced with a problem. Her reserves were low, and with Sensei passed out from chakra exhaustion there was no way she could too. Someone had to stay awake to make sure that Naruto and Uchiha didn't do something stupid.

Still, she had to release the jutsu and she could only think of one solution. She didn't like it but she had no choice. She looked at her teammate.

"Uchiha." Sakura motioned him over.

"I... I need help. I'm almost out of chakra and I'm afraid I might pass out. Can you help me get to Tazuna's house?"

"Hn." Uchiha stiffly put her arm over his shoulder. Sakura released the jutsu and when she felt nothing she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you."

"Hn."

The two walked in silence following Tazuna when he spoke.

"You didn't freeze at all today, not like the Dobe." He glanced at her once before looking away.

"Not my first fight."

"The Bell Test doesn't count."

"I wasn't."

"Hn."

Sakura groaned at the awkward silence between the two.

'Trust him Sakura. You have to let your teammates in at some point, even if its only a little.'

'Do I have to?'

'Yes.'

'Really?'

'Sakura.'

'Ugh Fine! I'll do it.'

"Don't ask me because I won't go into detail, but I was almost kidnapped once. Ended up getting saved because the enemy was above my skill level." Sakura kicked the ground.

"I thought 'next time will be different, I will do something' so I trained more but" Sakura gestured to their surroundings, "it didn't do much good did it? It's frustrating."

"I know." He replied.

"Hn." Sakura teased.

She was elbowed for that.

"Tch annoying."

Sakura's eye twitched.

She elbowed him back and sighed.

"Just have to train more." She buried the rest of her feelings for later. She was a Haruno, she still had a mission to accomplish, successfully.

He grunted in agreement.

.

When Sakura saw the house on the water she nearly cried out in joy, they finally made it. Tazuna took off his shoes and brought Sensei into the house first, while Sakura and her teammates shortly followed. She took off her sandals and neatly placed them next to the four other pairs and went to follow. She checked Sensei when he first collapsed, but now that she was feeling better and recovered some chakra she could do a more thorough check.

Sakura hovered her green hands over Sensei and confirmed what she already knew, there wasn't much she could do while he was in this state, he would just have to recover naturally. She would just have to watch over him in the meantime. Sakura walked back downstairs and saw a woman talking with Tazuna. Introductions were made.

"This is my daughter Tsunami, and my grandson Inari is in his room, you might see him at some point."

"Nice to meet you, thank you for letting us stay at your home." Sakura gave a bow.

"Thank you for keeping my Father safe from Gato and his men. Dinner will be ready soon, please join us."

Sakura nodded in acceptance and pasted a smile on her face to keep herself from frowning. Now that they were out of danger she could focus on the incidents that happened today. Once they got their bearings she would do some investigating.

Dinner was a tense and short affair, Sakura and her teammates tired from the long day they had. She had already showered and was in the room she would be staying in with her teammates, preparing for the night. Uchiha was currently in the shower when Naruto walked in.

"My clones are out and keeping watch Sakura-chan!"

"Thanks Naruto... you wanted to talk to me?"

He tilted his head.

"I did?"

"Yeah, because I know or something."

"You know..."

He closed his eyes and held his head, when he opened them 'Red Naruto' was back.

"Pink child, how long have you've known?"

"Who are you?" She wasn't having this conversation without introductions.

"A superior being, that's all you need to know."

"The superior one here is me, so I don't think so. What's your name? Otherwise you aren't getting anything out of me."

'Red Naruto' rolled his eyes which, was very weird for Sakura to see coming out of Naruto's body.

"Kurama you insufferable human."

"Human? So you're not?" She probed.

"Of course not, like I would be a part of your inferior race. "

"I see... why are you in Naruto's body."

"This idiot is my prison, my jailer, I can't believe I was caught and now reside in this. Though I have to be thankful for them that I have a way for control. "

Them? Prison? Not human, caught and trapped in a body. Was it what she thought it was?

"Are you a tailed beast?"

"Obviously."

Tailed beast, Konoha's tailed beast.

"The kyuubi?"

"Don't call me that infernal name, I graced you with mine tiny human, so use it."

"Alright then Kurama, then to answer you question, since I was nine. I noticed things were off since then."

He clicked his tongue, and moved forward. She felt a small flare and stepped back.

"Things are very off, for the brat and that red woman too. It's always in, I need you to take it out."

"What out?" Sakura was started to get frustrated, can't he be specific, just for once?

"I don't have much time left, the circle! Take out the circle!"

Circle? What circle is he talking about? When they got back she would need to find Yamanaka. Sakura heard the door open and she watched as Uchiha walked in. By the time she looked back, 'Kurama' was gone and Naruto was back.

'Inner do you have any idea what he's talking about?'

'...No.'

Sakura sighed. She crawled into her sleeping bag, it would just have to be something she looked into tomorrow. As soon as her head hit the pillow, Sakura was dead to the world.

Sakura can't catch a break can she? Thanks for reading!