Hello readers! Not much has been going on, just been doing school work and the most ridiculous forms of multitasking. Anyway, this chapter is going to be one huge flashback, and that means pages and pages of italics. If it detracts from the story, let me know and give me a suggestion of what kind of text to use. Also, at one point, while nothing is explicitly stated, certain things are implied that you may find disturbing. So, instead of reporting me, just let me know if you think it was too much and I'll edit it. Enjoy! But first, responding to reviews!

MrFipp: Um, if you need to find out so badly if Sakura's hair is really pink, either ask for some baby pictures or look at her eyebrows. No one I know of dyes their hair when they're not even ten years old, and certainly not their eyebrows. I'm guessing that in spite of these alternatives, you still want to look THERE, huh XD. Chunin exams will start next chapter.

Pirogeth: Thanks for the offer. I'll think about it. And when I said rush through, I meant getting a chapter online without properly spellchecking and the like. I've got the NaruSaku planned out.

Nejizwifey: Sakura stated she doesn't have the kekkei genkai…in fact, I didn't even plan what it was going to be…

HawkofNavarre: I thought the 1st chapter made it clear this was M rated. Naruto and Sakura lusting at each other is in my mind PG-13, unless I had to describe specifics (nipples!) I'm glad you thought that part was well planned.

Bloodshadows: I must use cliffy's! The readers are guaranteed to come back for more! If I don't there's not telling when…or if they ever come back to read more!

Disclaimer: Insert one that's actually funny, so long as it claims I don't own Naruto.

Sakura continued crying on Naruto's chest. Naruto did the best he could to soothe her, but to no avail. After fifteen minutes, Sakura finally stopped. She was still sniffling, but it looked like she was under control at least.

"Sakura, what do you mean you're responsible for Yuji loosing his dad?"

"We were on a mission together…"

"And you felt too weak to save him?"

"It's more than that…I…I don't know how to tell you!"

Naruto stroked both of Sakura's cheeks. "Try. Please, I know whatever it was that happened, you need to get it off your chest now."

"I don't know, Naruto. I'm scared that you won't even look at me!"

Naruto pulled her in for a hug. "I just know it's not that bad." Naruto picked her up bridal style and tree hopped further into the park, where Naruto laid the both of them down. "Sakura, please tell me what happened between you and Yuji's dad. I admit, I don't know what I'll hear. But you're one of the most important people in the world to me; I'm not going to just leave you like that."

Sakura looked skeptical, but after a few seconds she said "O-okay Naruto. But don't feel obligated to stay if you really do feel disgusted with me after I tell you." And thus, Sakura told Naruto everything about her experience with the Spider of Konoha...

Sakura had just became a chunin a week ago. She officially worked at the hospital now, and she was no longer troubled by those unsatisfactory D-rank missions. Today, she made her way to the tower for her first B-ranked mission. Of course, she was going to go with Kakashi…but she missed her other teammates. The oddest thing now…she couldn't decide who she missed more. There was Sasuke, the cute, dark avenger. But his parting words tore a wound that for she wasn't sure would heal.

"After all this time…you're still annoying."

Sakura understood that he was upset about his clan…but did he really have to take it out on her like that? She was only trying to help. "Looking back," she thought, "going with him would have been a terrible mistake. Even if he did take me, Orochimaru would have killed me on the spot. If not…I don't want to know what I would've become." Then her thoughts turned to Naruto. "I knew he had a crush on me…but I had no idea he cared that much about me, even though I treated him like garbage." She looked up to the Hokage tower. "I've come all this way. I will never be useless again! I will help Naruto, and I will bring Sasuke-kun back!" She walked up the stairs, and bowed to her master, who was grumbling over some paperwork. "Tsunade-shishou! I'm ready for the mission!"

Tsunade stretched for a minute. "Right. Listen, Sakura: Kakashi just sent Pakkun in, and he seems to have a bad flu. I'll be checking up on him later today, but you'll be going with a different jonin."

"Who?"

The door opened again, and someone said "Sorry I'm late. But if you're used to Kakashi, I suppose my timing shouldn't bother you that much."

Tsunade grinned "On the contrary, you're right on time."

Sakura looked to the door. Their stood a very tall man with brown hair. He was built very well, and had the standard jonin attire on. What really caught her attention was the fact that he was wearing a cape, probably one of the worst possible hazards a ninja could put on himself, even if it didn't go to far past his shoulders.

"So, this is your famous new apprentice?" the man asked.

Sakura snapped to attention. "Haruno Sakura, sir!" She bowed quickly.

The man just smirked and replied "Miyamoto Ryu. It'll be a pleasure working with you." Ryu looked at Tsunade, who nodded. "All right." The man said. "It seems the daimyo and his son is ready to be escorted. Are you ready to go?"

"Y-yes." Sakura replied.

"I'll see you there." The man smiled.

He turned around, and on his black cape, Sakura noticed the drawing of a white spider.

"That man is known as the Spider of Konoha." Tsunade said. "He's a great ninja, almost on par with Kakashi."

Sakura wondered. "How come I never heard of him before?" Sakura asked.

"Probably for the same reasons you've never heard of the Copy Ninja OR the Green Beast of Konoha…"

Sakura blushed a little bit. No one else in her generation knew what the elder ninja, minus their own parents, were famous for. They were too busy with homework and playing games.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" a shout sounded outside. Sakura eeped and ran outside.

Ryu seemed to be fastening gauntlets to his wrists. However, there were no guards on his palms or the back of his hands. Just what seemed to be a button on each palm. Sakura looked at them in wonder. "Um, excuse me, Ryu-sensei…"

"Yes?"

"What are those?"

The big ninja smiled. "Hopefully, you won't have to find out. But I need to know what skills you've got."

Sakura replied "Well, I've got Tsunade-shishou's strength, and I can heal most anything."

"Good, good. By any chance can you summon slugs?"

"Well…I can summon tiny ones for spying, but I don't have enough chakra to summon combat slugs."

"Okay. Any other jutsus you got that I should be aware of?"

Sakura felt embarrassed. It was as if this man expected her to be an Uchiha. "N-No sir."

"All right then." Ryu noticed her annoyed look. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to belittle you. Your strength and medical jutsu are probably all we need for this mission."

Sakura then asked "Ryu-sensei, if I may ask, what your special skills are?"

Ryu stopped for a minute and held his chin as if in deep thought. "Hmm…I'm not telling you." The man smiled, making a peace sign.

Sakura tried to keep her calm. "But Ryu-sensei! I probably have to know too!"

To this, Ryu chuckled. "Well, do you know ALL of Kakashi's jutsus?" Sakura stood silent. "Didn't think so." The jonin said. "Don't worry; I just need to know your skills, and when the time comes, you'll see some of mine."

The two ninjas finally reached the gates, where a carriage was waiting for them. Then a man and a young child came out. The man wore a typical daimyo hat, was skinny and had a mustache that looked more like two claws pointing in opposite directions. The boy was small, had black hair, and traditional clothes on. Quite plain looking, really. "And who might you be?" The daimyo asked in an arrogant, snobbish tone. Sakura struggled to keep herself from pounding the man. Fortunately, Ryu answered for her.

"I am Miyamoto Ryu, Jonin of the leaf. This is Haruno Sakura, Chunin of the leaf." Sakura bowed, not facing them so they could not see her grumbling under her breath.

"Only two, huh? I knew Konoha had such cheap, affordable ninjas, but only two? My, you must be going through hard times, especially if you have to rely on a woman for help!" The man laughed, only proving to irritate the new chunin even more.

Before Sakura could get up and pound the daimyo, she noticed Ryu was gone. She looked around, and saw him sticking his head in the carriage.

"My, this sure looks like a cozy ride. Mind if I-"

He was cut off when two of the daimyo's soldiers pressed their spears against his throat. "You will step away from Setsuna-samma's personal carriage!" One shouted.

Ryu, despite his predicament, smiled, holding up his hands. "Hey, hey. Take it easy."

"Anyway," the Daimyo said "you should be thankful I'm willing to pay full price for your services. Now, let's get going!"

The daimyo stepped inside, took a seat…and what sounded like an enormous fart erupted from the carriage. The enraged daimyo opened the door and screamed "YOU PUT A WHOOPE-CUSHIN ON MY SEAT, DIDN"T YOU?"

The jonin held his nose and replied "To my knowledge, whoope-cushins don't smell, especially not as bad as that."

That was certainly true…Sakura worried she would have passed out had she not covered her nose.

Ryu, in his muffled voice said "Well, we can either stand here and wait for this to clear out, or we can get moving and air out your carriage. We await your orders, sir."

Things got going smoothly. The smell eventually cleared up, and so far no one was in any danger. Ryu revealed to Sakura that he put a chemical bomb in the cargo; the plastic material surrounding it disintegrated once it went off. Sakura chuckled. "You know, you remind me of someone I know."

"You mean the Uzumaki kid?" Sakura looked a bit shocked. "That kid was notorious for pulling all of these pranks back in the day. I was his favorite target."

Sakura looked confused. "Why?"

"Because I was the one he couldn't get. The first time he tried get me, he launched maple syrup at me through the window, and I countered it with a suiton jutsu. There were several other incidents, but I forgot most of them. The last one, he transformed into a naked woman, calling it the 'sexy' jutsu. I laughed, telling him that it generally doesn't work on married men, and I didn't like blondes that much." Ryu placed his hands behind his back and looked to the sky. "That all stopped when he graduated. I kinda miss him. It was always amusing to see him try and get me. Besides, I felt sorry for him, no family and all. But I was impressed when he defeated Neji, and I hear he's studying under Jiraya-samma now. I'm glad he's becoming the ninja he always wanted to be." Ryu sighed. "Too bad my wife doesn't see it that way." Ryu suddenly whispered a curse. "I've said too much."

Sakura was about to say something when the heard a bush crumple. The samurai heard it too, and everyone was on guard.

Ryu was relieved internally though. "If this is a major battle, she'll forget I said anything."

After a tense minute, a rabbit ran from the bushes. Sakura put her kunai down, and whispered "Phew."

"Sakura! Look out!" Ryu yelled.

Sakura looked up to see two ninja who were about to pounce upon her. There was no time to react…but before they could do anything, they collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud. Sakura could see two wires imbedded in their chests. The wires retracted, with blood flowing. Sakura followed the wires back to Ryu's wrists.

"Spider gauntlets." He said. He turned his head, and aimed his wrist to his left. He tapped the button on his palm, and another wire shot out, impaling another ninja in the eye. "Protect the daimyo, Sakura!" Ryu yelled.

Sakura leapt onto the carriage, throwing off any attackers she could. One of them was sent skyward with a powerful round kick. Sakura was feeling proud of herself; back then, she could not even dream of holding off these attackers. She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a slash across her back. Sakura stumbled over, nearly falling off the carriage. The rouge ninja made another leap. Sakura was in no position to block a stab to the heart, and if she fell, she would be crushed by the carriage. But that all changed when Ryu stood in front of her and grabbed her attacker's elbow, redirecting the attack upward. He crushed the joint, and just as quickly pulled him in and elbowed him in the ribs, sending him off of the carriage and forming a loud crash on impact. Sakura looked at the crater in wonder. "I thought Tsunade-shishou was the only one with super strength."

"I hope you liked my style of Taijutsu: Eight extreme fists." Ryu's hand reached out to Sakura, and pulled her towards him. A kunai came just as she was half-way to him, right where she had been.

"How did he know? His back was turned!"

"My my, I guess I can have some fun after all!" a sinister voice yelled.

Ryu landed onto the ground and stared at the man. He had blue hair, pale skin, eyes that were pure red, and his grin had serrated teeth. He had on samurai armor with a huge gap in his chest, and spiked gauntlets as well. But his most distinguishing feature was his sword. It was a katana that must have been 3 meters long! "I take it you're one of the seven swordsmen of the mist, no?" Ryu asked.

"That's right! I'm Gin Barracuda, and I was hired to kill everyone here!"

Ryu smirked. "Then whoever your boss is needs to fire you, because it's not going to happen."

Gin screamed "We'll see about that!" The swordsman reared up his sword, but Ryu jumped over him and wrapped his wires around the fish-man's neck. He pulled him into the forest.

"I know if you swung that thing over there, you certainly would kill the daimyo. If I was confident that you could simply scare him to the point where he sounded like an old lady, I'd let you, but you're obviously too good with that sword. So, I'm going to have to take it from you."

Gin smiled and swung with abandon. Ryu ducked.

"He may think the path is obvious." Gin thought. "But!..."

The blade turned and curved towards Ryu, but the Konoha ninja dodged it!

"What?" Gin screamed internally. "How about this!" The blade curved in all directions, cutting the trees down, but not once did it hit Ryu. Gin ran forward and punched Ryu right in the face. Ryu almost when flying, but then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Suddenly, Gin felt himself on the receiving end of a blood choke. Ryu forced the fish man down, trying to cut his blood flow. Gin bit down on his arm, and Ryu let go, screaming in pain. Gin made hand signs. "Suiton! Geyser Kurassha no Jutsu!" Geysers erupted, surrounding Ryu on all sides, and they closed in on him. The man was shot up into the air, and as he fell, the swordsman pointed his blade towards his opponent's stomach. Ryu, however, launched another wire and pulled him self to the side. However, it was not quick enough; the blade caught his kidney. Gin slammed him to the ground, and retracted his blade. From there, Silver proceeded to kick his fallen foe. After three kicks, he was sent flying. Gin laughed madly. "My my, this was fun. However, I've got a job to do, so this is game over for you!" Gin held his sword straight to the sky, and charged. Just when he was almost there, he ran into something. He couldn't move, and he soon got so tangled up to the point where he dropped his blade.

Ryu hobbled up. "Spiders are fascinating creatures. Many of the prey they eat are so much bigger than them, that if they fought them head on, they would loose. But that's where webs come in; it immobilizes them. And then the spider proceeds to make it's meal." Ryu lit a match. "However, I'm more of a beef person, and if I must eat fish, I prefer salmon. So, I'm just going to have to get rid of you here and now." Ryu threw it into the wires, and Gin was overcome by flames. Even if the flames themselves didn't kill him, the wires around his neck would inhibit his oxygen intake, which was deadly if one was right in the middle of a fire. After about 3 minutes, Ryu spat a wave of water from his mouth, extinguishing everything. "There. No forest fire, and no swordsman." Ryu hobbled his way down to the carriage.

Sakura panted. Thanks to that swordsman, the trees came rolling down the hill. Sakura had to grab one of the trunks and swing it like a baseball bat so that no one in the daimyo's group got hurt. Just then, Ryu slid down. Sakura immediately noticed the wound on his side, and ran to treat it. Ryu, however, held his hand up, gesturing to her "not now."

"It's too quiet." Ryu thought. He bit his thumb, and made the hand signals for a summoning jutsu. When he placed his hand on the ground, a giant spider appeared. Sakura did her best not to freak out; she was quite creped out by spiders, and seeing one as big as a tiger did not help. The thing scurried around, as if it was looking for something. Then it turned around towards Sakura's direction and jumped.

"AAAIIIIEEEE!" Sakura screamed, covering herself. However, nothing pounced on her; the arachnid jumped into a tree, and a second later a branch came down with a ninja on it. The spider bit the man, and wrapped him in a cocoon, with only the head sticking out. Sakura nearly jumped when she felt Ryu tap her shoulder.

"Wait here." He said. He walked right over to the ninja and looked at his headband. "How odd. You're a missing nin from the grass village. I spotted others with swamp, gorge, even ash in your group. Not to mention a mist swordsman Why would so many ninja from completely different villages be working together? And no, I don't want to hear anything about killing the daimyo; I was able to see that's what you were trying quite clearly."

"Hah! Shinobi are bound to oaths of silence. You're wasting your time! Besides…I'd rather die than tell you anything!"

"Um…yeah. That's going to happen in about a week. The venom Shippo pumped into you not only paralyzes you, but it also slowly disintegrates your organs, hardens your arteries, and turns your bones into mush. Oh, and you'll have an erection for about three days. Don't ask me how that works, just FYI, you will have an erection for three days."

The ninja had a frightful look on his face. After a moment, he sputtered "If I tell you…will you give me the antivenin?"

"I'll give you the antivenin, but you won't be going free. You can face judgment by the Hokage or in the underworld. It's your choice."

The ninja grumbled. "Very well. We weren't told why, but an odd-looking man ordered us to simply attack the daimyo inside. He was hunched over almost as if he was on all fours, and seemed to have a metallic tail coming out of his back. His hair was in braids, and he has a mask over his mouth."

"You better have a name to go with that." Ryu ordered.

The ninja said "Sasori. I'm sure that was his name. That's all I know, so give me the damn antidote!"

Ryu sighed. Shippo revealed a stinger from his opithosoma (abdomen for spiders), and unraveled the man. The stinger was dripping with fluid, and needless to say, the grass nin looked deathly afraid. "The venom he produces can have potentially permanent damage, even if we do give you the antidote the normal way. So, to keep the damage minimal and reverse any effects it may have, we have to deliver it in the most efficient way possible. All right Shippo; pull down his pants."

At the campfire, Sakura was trying to shake off a traumatic experience she never thought she would witness.

"Sorry about that, Sakura" Ryu laughed. "That was honestly the best way to give him the antivenin. It's not like we were trying out material to knock Icha Icha Paradise off the shelves." Ryu was able to laugh just fine, as despite Sakura's shock, she managed to pull herself together and heal his torn side.

"I would hope not." Sakura grumbled. "Spider bestiality is not my thing."

Ryu had to laugh some more. "My wife had the same reaction when she first saw that. Just think of it as the equivalent of a rectal thermometer in the bug world."

"Not helping!"

Ryu sighed.

"Ryu-sensei." Sakura said. "I've been thinking about the battle earlier, and I just can't shake off two things."

"Oh?"

"When you got that attacker off of me, you used strength I've seen only in Tsunade-shishou. Then, you got me out of the way from a kunai that neither of us could see, and it was too fast to make a noise until it passed us. How was that possible?"

Ryu took a bite of his fruit, then answered. "Ah. Good questions. Well, for the first one, you have to understand that back when Tsunade-samma was a kid, she didn't have super strength. However, several clans had theories about chakra control, and Tsunade-shishou combined them all to develop her super strength. My father actually helped her out some. He used to attract crowds by focusing his chakra and breaking up to 30 slabs of marble. He taught Tsunade-samma how to do it, and then she modified it so it would be practical in battle. You should have seen our faces when we saw a fifteen year old girl smash one boulder after another! Anyway, I pretty much took those same theories and got my own unique strength, although, I'm not quite as strong as either one of you are. The two of you started as teens, and it's something that will stick with you for life. Me, I didn't start until I was thirty, and I'm forty-five now. My chakra control simply isn't quite that good nowadays. "

Sakura looked at him in wonder. Even if he couldn't become as strong as either one of them, it was still amazing that he could learn the technique all by himself.

"As for how I saw that Kunai coming. Well…I didn't . I just felt it. Time seemed to slow down when it approached, and some feeling in the back of my head told me to move the way I did. That wasn't the first time it happened. I've actually had that ability since puberty, but I didn't notice it until some friends of mine noticed that I passed my dodging exercises one-hundred percent. Tsunade checked on me before she left, and though she didn't have conclusive evidence, she suspects I may have a new kekkei genkai."

Sakura was starting to feel a bit depressed. "The Uchiha, the Hyugga, techniques passed down from generation to generation…"

"Are you mad, Sakura?"

Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts. "N-no! I just…well, my father has a Kekkei Genkai, and I didn't inherit it."

"And Shiroarashi is making a big deal out of that?"

Sakura's eyes blinked. "You know my father?"

"I worked with him a couple of times. I don't mean to be rude, but we didn't get along…he was always so full of himself." Ryu got up and bowed. "Forgive me, Sakura. I didn't mean to speak ill of your father in front of you."

Sakura replied "It's okay. My dad…well, he has his flaws."

Ryu sat down. "More than flawed. He's selfish, he's stuck in his ways… and when he's not around you and your mother…well, I saw him getting drunk at a bar, and what he said about the two of you was not pretty" Ryu then looked right at Sakura. "Sakura, what you have to understand is that it's not what's in your blood that makes you a great shinobi; it's your heart. I know how cliché that sounds, but I know it works. I've seen too many ninjas rely on their family history to make it, and they have all failed. On the other side of the coin, there are not enough who simply believe in themselves, no matter what their potential."

Sakura just looked at the fire. "I guess Naruto would be a shining example of one who believes in himself. He was my teammate. When we first became a team, I thought he was the biggest loser ever. The truth was, I wasn't much better than him. In fact, I was worse in many ways; I didn't have the physical endurance he and Sasuke-kun did. But he didn't let his shortcomings get the best of him ever. He began to improve so much overtime, and I just fell farther and farther behind that soon I really was useless, even though he never told me that. I'm lucky to have become Tsunade-shishou's apprentice, but every time I see her work, I feel like I haven't come far enough."

Ryu simply replied "Keep trying, you're getting there. Everyone your age feels that they are underperforming, but the fact is they all have much to learn, and learn it they will. I went through it, you're going through it, and my son will go through it."

For some reason, Sakura had to ask him about his son. "You have a son?"

"Oh yes. His name is Yuji, and he'll be turning 9 next month."

"I'd imagine he's very good, especially with someone like you to teach him."

Ryu smiled. "You wanna know the truth?"

Sakura nodded.

"He's having a lot of trouble at the academy. He's been bullied so much, and he's really shy. On top of it all, he has such a hard time learning new jutsus. He's good at some things; he's taken to wires quite nicely, and not even I had such great chakra control when I was his age. However, he's got so many bad habits in his taijutsu, and he thinks about screwing up too much. But he tries so hard. I don't know when, but someday, I know he'll make it. " Ryu then looked at Sakura. "I believe that more than ever now that I've met you. Tsunade told me how you started; honestly, after looking at your record, I could tell that most genin were already way ahead of you back then. But look at you now! You're a medic-nin, and you've got abilities that would drive most ninja away. No matter what your father says, you should feel proud of yourself."

Sakura blushed for a minute. Sure, Tsunade and Kakashi had congratulated her on her progress, and she got praise from her friends as well (even Ino), but to hear it from another jonin was quite another thing. "Thank you, Ryu-sensei."

The next day passed, and this time there were no attacks so far. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. Good since no one, including the two ninja assigned, were in danger. However, it was bad because everyone was bored as hell.

So, the daimyo decided to tell stories of his "adventurous" youth, while he sat at the front of the carriage with his son. "And there I was! The giant looked at me hungrily, swinging its spiked club. I had nothing but my sword, so I…"

Sakura wanted to stab herself with a kunai right there and then. "I really wish Naruto was here. It might have gotten us in trouble, but at least he would call this guy for the pompous ass that he is." Just then, Sakura felt something on her shoulder. She saw a small spider, with a piece of web on its Opithosoma. "It must have used it to glide to me." After seeing Shippo, the normal size spiders didn't freak her out anymore. She noticed it seemed to have a piece of paper on its back, rolled up. She took it, and read. Obviously by Ryu, it said

"By giant, he's referring to his mommy."

Sakura had to snicker at this. The spider left and came back with another note.

"Translation: He ran off the cliff."

"He cut his foot, cried, and sucked his thumb."

"By great cost, he's talking about the fact his own penis ran away from him."

Sakura did all in her power to keep herself from cracking up. Though she kept herself from rolling over, she still had to haunch over and laugh.

"WHAT? WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" The Daimyo demanded.

Ryu realized he may have gone too far, and reached for a kunai. He threw it into a tree, but it was the hilt that hit the bark. It bounced off, and landed near the carriage. The daimyo covered his face and screamed. "We're under attack!" Ryu shouted. "We must get the daimyo to his castle, ASAFP!"

The samurai readied their weapons. "We will stand and fight!"

Ryu shouted "Negative! I sense too many! We have got to get this baby moving now!" Ryu slapped one of the horse's flank, and it reared up. The rest followed, and the carriage took off in a cloud of dust, leaving everyone behind. Ryu could only scratch his head as he heard a faint "Help me!". He turned back to the samurai, and chuckled "And THAT is why we ninja don't use horses."

One of the samurai said "What about the attacking ninjas?"

Ryu's eyes widened, and said "Oh, right! Run!" He grabbed Sakura by the wrist, and took off.

"Because of you, I got carriage sick!" The daimyo shouted.

Ryu put his hands up in a gesture to calm the man down. "A kunai almost hit you, and I felt that we should get you out of there anyway we could. For that purpose, the horses were much faster."

Sakura was just in shock about how close this jonin would come to getting fired on a mission. But she could tell he's done stuff like that before, so he must have known what he was doing.

"Besides, we're finally at your castle, so we won't have to go through that again." Ryu said.

The daimyo growled. "Well, I requested the two of you to guard the mansion for two days before you head back, so you two better get your act together! My advisors told me that those ninja could still be after me!"

Sakura repressed a groan. "Oh man…I don't think I can take anymore of this." She was brought out of her thoughts when someone tapped her thigh. Normally, she would've instinctively let out a ferocious round kick, but she was behind all of the men. She looked down, and saw the daimyo's son, holding a couple of flowers.

"Umm…thank you very protecting me and daddy very much." The kid bowed, pushing the make-shift bouquet to her as far as he could.

Sakura smiled slightly. While this kid may have been driven by some crush, he was still much more polite than his father. She took the flowers, and patted the kid on the head. "You're welcome." She said sweetly.

"Sakura!" Ryu shouted. "Let's get inside. I hope you packed soldier pills with extra caffeine, because we're going need them!"

Sakura jogged inside, feeling a little bit better about doing this.

Later that night, the daimyo made his way through the castle. None of his men questioned where he went; that was his business. And if those two Konoha ninja found out, it would be the death of him. He finally arrived at the far end of the castle, and opened a door.

"Do you have any subjects for me?"

"Yes, yes of course! I kept my end of the bargain. Two konoha ninjas, at your disposal! Now for my reward!"

A bag of coins was dropped right in front of the daimyo. "Having a few more human puppets would be nice. For your sake, I hoped you picked good ones." The hunched man made his way forward.

Sakura stood outside, her attention alert to anything. Nothing happened so far, and she had pretty much the same thoughts as before. Nothing bad happening was good for the body, bad for the mind. It was almost midnight too. They were expected to guard the courtyard as well as the child all night. When morning came, one would be with the daimyo, so the other could slept for half the day.

"Sakura!" Ryu's voice called. "It's your turn to stand guard in the kid's room!"

"Right." Sakura said. She made her way over there, passing by Ryu, and stood her ground. It wasn't a good idea for a guard's thoughts to wander, she couldn't help it. "The kid is so much different from his father. For his sake, I hope he doesn't grow up to become anything like him." Suddenly, she heard a noise. Sakura moved and was grazed by something sharp. Had she not moved, it would have probably hit her heart. Sakura readied her guard and attempted to call for help, but her jaw went slack. "I…can't…move." She thought. She collapsed, and everything went black.

Ryu lit up a cigarette and watched outside. For the most part, he had quit smoking when he found out his wife was pregnant. He still did it during guard missions, but not very often. Fighting the addiction at home was bad enough, and it could jeopardize his concentration here. So far he was doing okay…and at that moment, he was glad that it did not cloud his senses. Everything slowed down, and the tingling was felt. Ryu cart wheeled to his right, dodging several needles.

"My my…" a voice said. "I probably need to put more silencers around the gears."

Ryu looked to the roof, to see an odd looking man. He then realized this was the man that one ninja was talking about. "You must be Sasori!"

"I'm honored that you know my name, but I'd prefer it if you would add 'of the Red Sands' to it."

Ryu spat his cigarette and crushed it. "Sorry; but I don't give a damn about formalities when it comes to enemies. Anyways, I suppose you may want to tell me why you're trying to kill the daimyo? Granted, he is a bitch, but protecting him is part of my job unfortunately for the both us."

Sasori could only laugh. "He was doing a better job than I thought! He didn't speak of me at all!"

Ryu gave him the "Huh?" look, but his eyes widened in realization. "You were working for the daimyo."

"It's the other way around, he was working for me!" Sasori jumped down and said "I'll tell you before you die, which I'm sorry to say will have to wait once I get my hands on you: I'm a puppet master. And there are two types of puppets I make: Ones from scratch, and others from humans. The former I do nothing more than control with my chakra, but with humans, I can control weapons that produce their own chakra. Your techniques will be mine!"

"Sorry, but I'm not for sale." Ryu replied. "Besides, did I ever tell you of a nightmare I had that involved puppets. It was the scariest-" Ryu was interrupted when Sasori's mouth opened again, launching the needles. Ryu dodged everyone of them, and closed in on the puppet master. He punched the S-class criminal, but noticed a saw coming from the side. He flipped over, and used his spider gauntlet to propel him away from the tail.

"Not bad." Sasori commented. "You managed to put a dent in my armor; most kunai can't even scratch it. I'm going to enjoy making you my new weapon!"

Out of nowhere, two puppets closed in on the leaf jonin, who simply jumped and launched the wires from his gauntlets. Though they impaled the heads, daggers came out of the puppets chest. Ryu spun around quickly and dodged each one.

"How? Only an experienced puppet master could hope to dodge all of my traps!"

Ryu landed and smirked. "What can I say? I've just got great instincts."

Sasori launched mechanical spiders from his back, and Ryu charged forward. He dodged everyone of the monstrosities, and leapt onto the base of Sasori's tail. He attempted to pull it off, and a crack was heard. Before any more damage could be done, the Spider ninja was thrown off. "I hate waiting, and I just know you're dying to know what I have in store for you!" Sasori launched the tip of his tail towards Ryu, who at the moment was incapacitated. But suddenly, it jammed. "What the?" Sasori screamed.

Ryu got up, and smirked yet again. "I wasn't really trying to pull your tail ALL the way off; once the cracks formed, I threw some of my spiders in there. They used their webs to clog your gears, and now you're just a sitting duck!" Ryu got up and walked over to the puppet. "Okay, it's time to take your shell off!" Though he wasn't as strong as Tsunade, after some effort the canopy of the puppet came flying off. Ryu looked inside…and saw nothing but a whole blanket full of explosive notes. "I'm not going to have time to say 'Oh-"

They went off, and the section of the castle they were near was destroyed. As the dust cleared, a spider the size of a man held a shield made of webs, with Ryu right behind him. Ryu patted the spider's opithosoma. "Thanks, Kasumi." The summon was dispelled, and Ryu got up to brush himself off. Then something occurred to him: Where was Sakura?

Ryu ran towards the kid's room. The door was open, and the kid was on the floor, unconscious. There was no sign of Sakura. "First thing's first." Ryu thought. He checked the kids pulse and pupils; though he wasn't an official medical ninja, he was good at most first aid stuff. "Poison." He thought. It would take too long to make an antidote using Tsunade's method, which he did not know anyway. Fortunately, he had another way. Tiny spiders came down from his arms and onto the boy. They crawled all over, biting the child. What was happening was only known to Ryu: The spiders were taking a sample of the boy's blood, and analyzing the poison in their bodies. Eventually, they would be able to make an antidote, and they would pump it into the boy's system. It took them twenty minutes, too long for Ryu's liking, but so long as the boy didn't die, it would be alright.

After they were finished, the boy shot up with fear. "Sakura-san!" the boy shouted.

Ryu steadied the boy. "What happened?" he asked.

The boy said "I heard Sakura-san fall to the floor, and I ran outside to see what was wrong. A strange man was right there! I blocked his way, and he told me to move! I refused, and I jumped on to him. But…he…he…"

The boy started to sob, and Ryu pulled him in close. "I know how it feels to fail to protect someone you care about." The tall man whispered. Ryu looked the child in the eye. "Listen kiddo, you're going to hate what I'm about to tell you…but I know you're father sold us out." To Ryu's surprise, he gave a look as if he wasn't surprised.

"He always does that." The boy said. "He always double-crosses everyone he's ever met."

Ryu sighed. "You're a good boy, even though your father…Listen, I don't have time. I have to find out where Sakura is. And for that, I need to find your father."

The daimyo tucked the gold into his safe. "Well, at least that whole ordeal is over with." He sighed. Suddenly, a kunai with an explosive tag hit the safe, and went off. The daimyo was blown away, and skidded across the floor.

"On the contrary, it has only just begun." A voice said. The daimyo's vision cleared, and he saw two feet. He looked up, and stared right into the face of Ryu. Ryu lifted the daimyo and threw him into the debris that was once his safe. "I knew you were scum, but just when I thought you couldn't get any lower, someone gives you a jackhammer." Ryu said coldly. The daimyo tried to get away, but he couldn't ignore the pain in his back, and as a result barely managed to crawl. A wire shot out, wrapped around his neck, and pulled him towards his assailant. "I'd love to use you as my punching bag all day, but something important is at stake: Where's the girl?"

"Huh?" The daimyo asked.

Ryu slammed the coward into the wall, causing him to scream. "I said where's the girl? Your own son nearly died trying to protect her!"

"Y-you mean, Sasori…"

Ryu slammed him into the wall again. "Where the fuck is she?! I won't kill you, but I promise I'll make you wish I did!"

The daimyo mumbled something incoherently.

A spider than crawled from Ryu's sleeve. "This spider here is a beauty. It's called the worm spider. It crawls into the mouth of a creature larger than itself, and goes right down the throat. It's impervious to stomach acid, and can survive on little oxygen. It bites into the stomach, and you will be paralyzed for the rest of your life. That's all… of course, that is assuming someone removes it from your body. Otherwise, it will continue to eat your organs until it reaches your heart. And you will feel it until that day." The spider started to make it's way towards the daimyo's mouth. "You don't have much time. And I can always rush towards Konoha with your body and have someone of the Yamanaka clan perform their mind transfer techniques on you to find out."

Just when the arachnid's legs reached his mouth, the daimyo sputtered "All right, all right! I'll talk! I'll talk! A long time ago, that puppet freak killed my samurai and ordered me to come with him to his base. He showed me what he planned, gave me an advance payment, and ordered me to hire whatever ninja I could! The base is not far from here; at the mountain where the moon is right now! There's a cave at the top, with many traps! He's been keeping an eye on me from there!"

Ryu threw the daimyo away and made his way outside. Just when he reached the door, the daimyo grabbed a katana and charged. Ryu turned around with a kunai, prepared to face him. But what happened next he wasn't prepared for. The daimyo was stabbed in the back by a spear. "A samurai who had a change of heart?" Ryu thought. No. When the daimyo slumped over, it was his own son who held the spear.

The kid's eyes watered, and he couldn't contain his tears. "I-I'm sorry daddy! I couldn't…I couldn't let you!" The boy cried uncontrollably.

Though Ryu should've gotten going by now, he couldn't leave the boy alone. Even though the man deserved it, no child should have been forced to do that, for better or worse. Ryu hugged the child. "Why'd you do that?" Ryu asked.

"He always does bad things! Slave trade, assassinations…all he cares about is money! He never cared about me beyond other than being his heir, and I haven't seen mommy for a whole year now!"

Ryu hugged him closer. "I'm sorry you had to do that. You made a very hard choice today, one you shouldn't have had to, but you did the right thing. Listen, kid. What's your name?"

"Jin."

"Jin, after this is done, I'm going to take you back to your mother, all right? I need you to stay here for now, and I promise it will be all better." With that, Ryu looked up to the mountain, and took off.

Sasori laid Sakura down on a table. She was still unconscious. "Hmph. Her chakra is nothing spectacular. But, any human puppet is still better than a normal one. I better hurry. I know that daimyo is going to spill the beans any moment now." Sasori's tail began to tear a hole in Sakura's shirt, intending to dissect her was he was finished removing them.

It passed the belly button, and was about to make its way up, when the missing nin felt a kunai pressed against his head. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that; besides, I've got a problem with guys who take advantage of women like that."

Sasori chuckled. "Well, I didn't have THAT in mind; her clothes were in the way that's all. On another note, you've impressed me once again.! You dodged every single one of my traps! Just what are you?"

Sasori's tail went right for Ryu's heart, but the Spider ninja caught it. "I think you said something earlier about hating to keep people waiting? I'm already getting fed up with you!" Ryu slammed his fists into Sasori's artificial head, landing good dents but failing to shatter it. Ryu continued his onslaught, but then froze with pain. He coughed up blood, and felt himself going numb. He looked down his stomach, and saw a katana sticking right through his chest. He looked behind him, and saw a puppet was the one who impaled him.

Sasori turned to face him, his face looking like a crushed soda can. "I knew you would come; the way you dodged my attacks from before, I knew that empty shell wouldn't get you. And I knew you would beat the truth out of the daimyo. So, I just waited for you to come to me, just like any great predator does. I hated doing that, but it proved to be worth it."

Ryu struggled to lift his face up. "There…is just…one thing wrong with your plan."

"Oh?"

"If I dodged every trap thus far…how come not this one?" The ninja disappeared.

"A bushin!" Sasori turned to the table where Sakura lay, and saw giant spider legs wrapping themselves around her. The spider brought the whole table beneath the floor. Sasori ran towards the hole, and when he looked down, his prey was out of sight. "Hmph. I'll see to it you won't get away." Sasori growled.

The mole spider Ryu summoned dug it's way through until it reached a tunnel. Now, they could run instead of dig. "I've got to get Sakura away from here! There's no telling how long it takes the poison to kill someone!" He ordered his spider to wrap up Sakura from head to toe, and looked around. "Hmm…it's definitely man made. That would mean…" Ryu's eyes widened as he realized the truth. However, it was too late. The shutters, carefully disguised as being part of the walls of the cave, opened, and poisonous needles shot out.

Sakura opened her eyes. Her vision was either blurred, or she went blind. No, she was not blind; she was starting to see the moon. Her body shot with pain, but it subsided. She was still sore…and itchy.

"Sakura…"

Sakura got up. "R-Ryu…What happened?" Her vision completely focused by then, and she covered her mouth as she gasped. Ryu looked terribly pale, and he was shaking all over.

"You were poisoned." He said, barely above a whisper. "My spiders have managed to make an antidote for you. However, in getting you out of there, I had to go through all of these traps. You were wrapped up in a cocoon, so you're safe. But the ones I got hit with seem to carry a different poison. They're working on me right now, but it will take a while before I'm back to full strength."

Sakura walked over to him and hoisted him on her shoulder. She felt a bit unsteady herself. "Come on…I've got to see what I can do to help you out."

"We've got to pick up the little boy first. The daimyo made us walk right into this trap, but his son tried to protect you and me. He even killed him." Sakura eyes widened. "He did that to protect me, it wasn't murder. He's really upset, and he just scared himself for life. Anyway, we have to bring him back to his mother. I promised I would." Sakura nodded, and they made their way back to the castle.

"How are you feeling, Ryu-sensei?"

"I'm a bit better; I think the spiders finally found an antidote. It will be a while before either one of us are 100 percent, though." They finally reached the castle, and searched for the kid. "Aw, damn! I forgot to tell him which room to go to!" Ryu cursed.

Sakura looked around the main room. Ryu got up, but at this point, he was fairly sluggish. Suddenly, a whizzing noise was heard. Ryu couldn't dodge the throwing dagger that was aimed at his shoulder, and hissed in pain at it's impact. Sakura ran over to him, and inspected the dagger. After taking a sniff of it, she concluded it wasn't poisonous. She couldn't heal it now, though. Just feeling herself move, she knew she couldn't manage chakra properly at this point.

"Someone wants us to follow him." Ryu commented.

Sakura looked down the hall. "It's probably a trap."

"It is. But we've got no choice. The kid is there." Both ninjas ran down the hall. Just when it seemed they reached another room, they heard the roof give way. A giant slab of what seemed to iron crashed through. Both ninja managed to recover some portion of their super strength, and stopped it from crushing them. However, they found that they could not lift it back up.

"Hah, it seems master Sasori was right about your kindness!" a voice said. The two turned to look in front of them. Instead of a samurai, there was a ninja. They couldn't make out the symbol on his band, but they did make note of his black hair and goatee.

"W-who are you?" Sakura asked.

"That's not important; this is!" The ninja threw Jin in front of him, who was bound up and gagged. The ninja walked away, and flipped some sort of switch on the wall. Where Jin lay, a circular platform was raised, and the rest of the floor began to retract away from him. Underneath him was what seemed to be molten steel. The platform began to lower. "I do not need to explain what's going to happen to the brat, but I should inform you about your predicament. The iron roof, so long as you apply constant chakra to it, will stay right where it is. However, that can only last for so long. If one of you lets go, there will be enough time for you to escape, but the roof will come crashing down on your comrade. If the both of you let go, none of you will escape! So what's it going to be: Rescue the child and leave behind a comrade or die with him? The choice is yours!" The ninja placed a lid on the switch, and disappeared from sight, leaving them hanging.

"Shit!" Sakura screamed. She tried to think of a way out of here. Steady the roof with her feet and punch a hole in the floor? No, in her current condition she could not transmit chakra through her feet, and the floor was ground level; they'd have to dig through debris of rock before the ceiling came crashing down on them. Try to lasso the kid with a wire? No, if she let one hand go, they would both be crushed, and she could risk dropping the kid into the molten steel. Lasso the switch? The lid made that impossible! What was left then? They couldn't keep this up for much longer!

"Sakura." Ryu wheezed. "I'm about to give out. I know this will be the hardest thing for you to do, but if we're going to save Jin's life, we have to."

Sakura looked at him, curious. Then it dawned on her what he meant. Her eyes widened, and she yelled "I…I can't do that!"

"You must save Jin, and to do that you must leave me behind!"

"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. That is what Kakashi-sensei taught me, and I'm not throwing it away right now!"

Ryu grinned. "It's never that simple. True, when a friend is in trouble, you help them any way you can. But there's a child right in front of us who's about to die. Sakura…somewhere out there is his mother. I know what she must be going through, to have her child taken away from her. If we let that happen, four lives will be lost! Save him, and you'll save three lives!" Ryu turned to look at the kunoichi. "Your life is more important than mine."

Sakura was in tears now. When she looked at where Jin was held up, she saw only one and a half meters separated him from death. "Ryu-sensei." Sakura said. "Your last words."

Ryu looked shocked, but then gave a small smile. "Tell my wife Reiko I love her, and I cannot be grateful enough for her being there for me all these years. To my son, tell him his efforts alone have made me very proud, and that I know he will become a great shinobi."

There was silence for one moment between the two. "Ryu-sensei…Thank you for everything!" Sakura let go and rushed towards the pit. Just when the platform caught on fire, Sakura leapt down, picked up the child, and jumped back up to the surface before they were both consumed by flames. Sakura panted, and trembled. She wanted to look back, but she was afraid of what she might see. She finally got the courage to do so, and turned around. The roof came down completely. It must have gone several feet underground too. Sakura couldn't hold back her tears. "There's not even a piece of him to bring back home." She untied the child, who immediately hugged her. He didn't cry; his eyes were so red and dry. "It's all my fault." Jin said. Sakura hugged him back. "No, none of this was your fault. It was mine." Sakura kept her composure, but it was tearing her up inside. "Come on…Ryu-sensei promised you he would bring you back to your mother…now I have to carry on that promise."

Sakura returned Jin to his mother, and headed back for Konoha. There, she broke the news to Tsunade. 3 days later, the funeral for Ryu was held. Sakura watched only from afar. She was too scared to face his family. She made out what seemed to be his wife and his child. This made things worse for her: A wife and a child lost someone precious to them. Why did Ryu make her do that? Had she trained so hard to become a medic nin for nothing?

Sakura hung her legs over the bridge. Nothing could bring her out of this depression.

"Yo." A familiar voice said. Sakura didn't turn around; she knew well enough that it was Kakashi. The copy ninja took a seat beside her. "Tsunade told me everything that happened. Sakura…you made the hardest decision one could ever make. But you did the right thing…no one was going to come and save you both. Besides, you did not kill Ryu. No, Ryu sacrificed himself to save you and the child."

"Leaving him behind was bad enough…if I didn't allow myself to be captured so easily, he'd be alive. I trained so hard….but nothing's changed!"

Kakashi patted the pink-haired girl on the shoulder. "You still have a long way to go, Sakura. I'm sorry I can't help you much more than I am now, but please: Don't let his death ruin everything you worked so hard for. Use it to make you stronger. You'll need that strength if you want to help Naruto and save Sasuke."

Sakura sat at her desk. She still couldn't face the family. But she had to do something. She took a pen, and began writing.

What the two of you are going through is something no one should have to experience. I was with Ryu until the end…I had to rescue a child in front of us. I refused at first, but in the end I reluctantly accepted his last orders. I know you must think I'm garbage right now, and I will say nothing to make you change your mind. All I'll tell you is his last words. To Reiko, he loves you so much and he can't thank you enough for staying with him. To Yuji, your father was always very proud of you, and he knows you will be strong. I hope one day, I can atone for letting you all down.

Haruno Sakura

Sakura felt she couldn't face them on her own; they would have to come to her. She was prepared for either sympathy or to be condemned, but as time went by, nothing happened…

It ended there. For a while, the two teammates laid silent.

Naruto was the one to break the ice. "Kakashi-sensei was right Sakura…it wasn't your fault."

"If it was you, you would have either used bushin or went Kyuubi." Sakura added.

Naruto shook his head. "No. If I were to use the Kage Bushin, I'd have taken both of my hands of the surface to make the hand signs, and if I went Kyuubi, there's no telling what I would have done." Naruto gently squeezed the kunoichi's shoulder. "It was a hard decision to make. But that spider guy was right about sending you to get the kid. I know, because…" Naruto rubbed his forehead, like he was having a headache.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked her in the eyes. "Back when I was training with Ero-senin, a fire broke out near the hotel we were staying in. Ero-senin was away doing his usual thing, so I was the only one there to help. I created as many clones as I could, and I saved a lot of people. The fire was still raging out of control, and soon neither I nor none of my clones could get in, and I took in too many bad fumes to help. Finally, the old perv came back and used a suiton jutsu to put the fire out. I thought it was one of those 'all in a days work' scenarios, but I was wrong. There was one person I failed to save. A little girl, about three years old I think. Ero-senin carried the girl out of the building, and her mother ran right over to her. She screamed her name several times, shook her, and she broke down crying. Before we left the following week, I stopped by her house where her parents lived. I bowed, I apologized the best I could…I expected that she would throw random sharp objects at me at the worst, but she didn't even respond. I don't think she even noticed that I came in. She seemed dead to the world." Naruto looked at the ground. "I want to go back so badly, and save them both. But coming back to Konoha…and seeing you again…I didn't forget, but it took my mind off the incident."

Sakura placed her hand on the blonde's knee. "You coming back did the same thing to me." She smiled softly, and they just stayed that way. Then, after a few minutes, Naruto turned to Sakura to tell her it was getting late. But he caught her looking right at him. He got lost in her emerald eyes. Time seemed to stand still. Not one thought entered Naruto's mind. He was broken out of his trance when he felt something on his lips. Sakura was kissing him! The kiss was slow, loving. It sent a sensation down Naruto's body that he never felt before. Finally, he managed to move his own lips and return the kiss. He didn't know who started it, but somehow their tongues became part of it. Their senses started going haywire, and the only thing they could make out was each other, moaning in their mouths. They finally separated when they ran out of air.

"Sakura." Naruto panted. The jinchuuriki was at a loss for words. What would he say now? Sakura herself was unsure of what to say.

Finally, she said something. "Was it…good?"

Naruto took a moment to process what she said. "Yeah…more than good."

Sakura and Naruto were about to lean in for more, but Sakura said. "Naruto…what time is it?"

Naruto checked his watch. "Wow…it's almost midnight."

Sakura cursed under her breath. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I promised my parents I would be back 2 hours ago. Besides, I have to be at the hospital by 7, and I may even get another mission."

Naruto stood up, and offered his hand, which the medi-nin accepted. "I understand. But before we part ways, I want to let you know I've had a great time…I…I'd like to spend more time with you, just the two of us! Whenever we've got time to spare."

Sakura smiled softly. "I'd love that, Naruto."

Naruto didn't know whether he had an extra set of hearts like Kakuzu or if he was already dead, because he could've sworn he felt it explode with joy. Neither one said a thing as he walked her home. They stopped a block away from her house. Naruto understood that her being with him was probably something they weren't ready for. Besides, after hearing about her family life, he wasn't sure he even wanted to meet the parents. "You take care of yourself, Sakura-chan." Naruto said. "You too." Sakura replied. They both gave each other a quick peck on the lips before they parted ways.

Naruto sat on the roof of his apartment building. So many things were running through his head. Now that he had a romantic relationship with Sakura…what now? He was worried he would screw it up, and he couldn't face that. He worked so hard for her affection. "Tomorrow is another day." Naruto finally went back inside, and got himself some rest.

(Passes out onto the ground) I'm never doing a mondo flashback like that again! Well, hopefully you enjoyed that. Some other notes: Ryu's style is based on Bajiquan, which you will see his son using, and yes, he is essentially a rip off of Spiderman, but I thought Spidey would make a cool ninja. Also, the spiders that I gave names (species names) were made up. However, the erection thing actually is true: In Chile I think, some spiders do produce that effect, and they're being studied to use for Viagra and Spermacide (Note: I don't recommend using spider venom to enhance your performance)

Next Chapter: The Chunin Exams!

Gin-Silver