1000 Words

A/N: I've gained myself a new beta, and it is thanks to her that this chapter is not coma-happy. Enjoy the chapter and please review.

~!~

Her eyes stared up at the clear blue sky, and she bit her lip as her memories once more began to flood her mind. She knew that he was slowly beginning to lose his control over the seal. The attempt on the village had been only the first step of Sasuke's descent into madness. But thankfully, she had managed to prevent the deaths that would greatly weaken Konoha.

She could still hear her anguished pleas for Naruto to stop protecting him, to release Sasuke from the hellish nightmare that his life had become.

“I can't, Sakura,” Naruto snapped, his blue eyes hard. “Why can't you understand that I can't watch him die? He is a part of us, a part of team seven. How could you just let him go like that?”

“I can let him go because he's been dead for years, Naruto,” she cried, angry tears streaming down her face. “Why is it that you are willing to turn a blind eye towards his actions? He's killed several of our shinobi, yet here you stand, pleading for his life. What about the lives of the people in this village? What about my life, Naruto? Are you willing to sacrifice me in favor of allowing him to live?”

Naruto turned his back on her, and then allowed his shoulders to droop. “I would never allow him to hurt you,” he whispered, his voice filled with anguish.

She walked swiftly to his side and forced him to look at her. “He has hurt me,” she snapped. “He killed our friends, and my sensei. He has even tried to kill you on several occasions. Out of all of us, you are the only one who can beat him. Yet you refuse, and have given him more opportunities to destroy our home. Why won't you wake up and see him for what he really is?”

She knew that no matter what she said, Naruto would never be able to kill off the dark haired young man. Perhaps it was because, in a way, the two were similar. It wasn't until the final meeting with Sasuke that they finally discovered his true motives for attacking the village that they had grown up in.

“You've taken everything, Naruto,” Sasuke said, his tone calm. “And now I'm going to take everything from you.”

Naruto wiped the blood from his eye and silently cursed his stupidity. It was in that moment that he realized that his beloved wife's words were true.

Sasuke was truly dead. This man, this hateful creature, lived only for hate and revenge. And when he could not take revenge upon the older brother who had destroyed his family, he simply switched his focus to the one who had taken the village's attention away from him.

Naruto.

But in the end, he simply could not deliver the killing blow. So she had been the one to do it. And as his eyes reverted back to their dark color, he reached up to her, silently asking her to hold his hand. Instead, she drove her kunai into his neck, killing him and finally severing the tie that had once held them together.

She turned to Naruto, intent on healing his injuries, but found herself locked in his embrace. Then she heard him whisper, “Thank you for not making me be the one that killed him.”

She loved her husband dearly. Even when faced with such a blatant betrayal, he still loved Sasuke. He would never have been able to live with himself had it been him that killed the one he considered a brother.

“Oh good,” Naruto said, his voice breaking her out of her daydreams. “You're here.”

She sat up and watched as Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke walked towards her, though her eyes were trained upon Sasuke. Perhaps he wasn't aware of his actions, but every now and then he would reach up and rub the seal, as if it were bothering him.

When they came to a stop before her, she turned her eyes towards Naruto and gave him a bright smile, before turning to Sai and accepting his offered hand. She stood up and calmly asked, “Is the seal bothering you, Sasuke?”

The dark haired young man turned his eyes toward her and shrugged. “No more than usual,” he replied, his tone void of emotion. “So who wants to spar with me?”

As expected, Naruto jumped up and began to walk toward Sasuke, but stopped when Sakura said, “I’ll fight you.”

Sasuke’s lip curled back in a sneer, and she ached to reach over and smack him for it. Instead, when he nodded, she followed him out onto the field. When she passed by Naruto, he said, “Hit him once for me, Sakura-chan!”

Oh, she was going to do more than just hit him.

When they finally faced each other, the memory of how Sasuke looked at the time of his death ran across her eyes for a moment. She quickly shook her head.

Sasuke smirked and said, “No chakra. Do you think that you can handle that, Sakura?”

She gave him a smile and nodded, then got into her fighting stance. That was something else that had changed from when she was a kid. Instead of crouching low, she had been taught by her advisors that simply widening her stance when she fought would prove to be more beneficial for her.

And as always, their words proved to be correct.

Now, looking at the puzzled expression on Sasuke’s face, she could tell that he noticed the change, and she smirked.

He wouldn’t know what hit him.

~!~

Kakashi looked at the scene ahead of him before turning a wide eye upon the little girl who caused it. He knew that she had not used her chakra-laced strength because he could not detect any lingering traces of her chakra. But he simply could not wrap his mind around the fact that Sakura had done all of this damage, and to Sasuke.

Naruto had an unconscious Uchiha over his shoulder and a wide smirk upon his lips. “I’m taking the teme to the hospital. I’ll see you guys later,” he said, and then ran from the field, laughing.

Sakura’s giggles began to echo throughout the field, but quickly silenced when Kakashi turned toward her.

Sai quietly watched as the elder ninja studied the girl, and then nodded when Kakashi said, “You seem to have improved greatly, Sakura. To do this kind of damage without chakra… well, I’ve only seen one other person do this kind of damage.”

Sakura bit her lip, doing her best to look innocent. However, her shoulders went stiff when Kakashi said, “Uchiha Itachi is the only other person who has been able to create such destruction. But now it appears that he is not the only one who can do it.”

She gave him a weak smile before saying, “I wouldn’t have gotten so carried away, but Sasuke keeps spouting off that I’ll never be as good as him or Naruto. I guess I lost my temper.”

Kakashi nodded, and then said, “Why don’t you go home, Sakura? You look tired, and could probably use some quiet time to yourself.”

Smiling brightly, she nodded and quickly disappeared in a flurry of petals, leaving the two men by themselves. But she didn’t go far. Crouching down on a tree limb, she narrowed her eyes when Sai said, “To be honest, I’ve never seen anyone fight the way she does. It’s almost as if it is second nature with her.”

“I’m worried about Sakura,” Kakashi murmured, his eye finally moving over to Sai. “She’s changed. And even though it is a great improvement, I can’t help but feel as if something is missing.”

Sai nodded, and then watched as the copy ninja disappeared in a poof of smoke. It was several minutes before he said, “You know, Butterfly, I’ve been told that it is rude to eavesdrop.”

Landing before him, Sakura cocked her head. “How did you know I was there?” she asked, curiously. No one had ever before detected her, so it came as a complete shock to her that Sai picked up on her.

“I didn’t,” he replied, sitting down. He pulled out a sketch pad and watched as she dropped to the ground in front of him. “I took a guess, and I happened to be right.”

Sakura wrinkled her nose at him, watching as his eyes would leave the pad every so often and look at her. She watched as the pencil continued to do its work. After nearly an hour, he stopped and closed the pad.

“I’m leaving,” he announced. “Butterfly, you can tell us if something is wrong.”

She gave him a weary smile. “I know.” ‘How do I tell you that, since I had to watch you and those that I love die, I’m going to be selfish and make the most of the time I have with you now? How do I tell you that I still have all of your sketch pads and paintings hidden deep within the hokage palace, and stare at them just to remember your face? How do I tell you that I have never stopped loving any of you?’

~!~

Hanabi watched from the shadows as Sakura walked off of the field with the artist, and she scowled. She just had to go and prove herself stronger than the Uchiha. Well, that just gave her an excellent chance to gain an ally.

Moving swiftly, she reached the Uchiha compound and waited. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait for too long.

Sasuke walked towards her, and when he finally saw her, he lifted his eyebrow. “Are you lost?” he demanded, temper still high after experiencing such a humiliating defeat. “This isn’t the Hyuuga compound.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Hanabi said, standing. “I’m sorry that she did this to you.”

“Who?” Sasuke snapped, his hand quickly reaching behind him to cover the seal. The damn thing was acting up again, and it was driving him crazy.

Hanabi smiled, and she watched as the Uchiha’s gaze became wary. “Haruno Sakura,” she replied. “It must be hard for you to lose to someone who is known for being so weak and helpless. Perhaps she is trying to reverse roles with you, and this little display was her first step.”

Sasuke’s mouth opened to defend Sakura, but then quickly snapped shut. The burning pain was making it hard for him to concentrate. He knew that if he didn’t get inside and lay down, he’d get a massive headache.

Suddenly, a smaller hand covered his. Waves of cool chakra ran over the seal, dousing the fire-hot heat that caused him so much pain. He opened his eyes and stared down at the girl, finding her currently standing beside him, though she had to pull her chair over to where he was to reach his neck.

He watched as she smiled and nodded. “There,” she murmured, happily. “That should take care of the seal, at least for a while.”

“Thanks,” he muttered, and then narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that it was the seal?”

She giggled and shook her head. “Well, you know that Hinata and Sakura are friends, right?” she asked, her tone soft. When he nodded, she said, “I overheard Sakura and Hinata talking one evening, and Sakura said that she didn’t trust you because you still had the seal. She also said that Naruto and Sai felt the same way, but were willing to be around you so that they could watch you. If you ask me, that a pretty ugly thing to say about someone you call a teammate.”

Hanabi watched as Sasuke’s face grew hard, and his lips drew into a narrow line. His hands were now closed into fists, and she bit back the smile that was threatening to break out on her lips.

So, Sakura didn’t trust him. Now it all made sense. Her cold stares and clipped manner of speaking could now be explained, and all he could think of her little display in the training field was that it had been nothing more than her showing him what she believed his place to be.

“Leave,” he ordered, not caring if he sounded rude. He felt the smaller girl move away from his side, and soon he was alone.

He and Sakura needed to have a long talk.

~!~

Sakura watched as the clouds drifted across the moon and smiled. Ever since the wars, clear nights like this one were a rarity. She took in a deep breath, then turned and walked back into her apartment, only to find Kakashi sitting on her couch, quietly watching her.

For several minutes, neither spoke. Finally, Kakashi said, “I think that you and I are long overdue for a talk, Sakura. Too many things are off about you, and I am becoming concerned about it.”

“I’m fine, Kakashi-sensei,” she said, her green eyes searching his visible eye. “There is really nothing to be concerned about.”

“Your fighting style is almost identical to that of Uchiha Itachi, and you have a couple of moves that I’ve seen Hoshigaki Kisame perform,” Kakashi replied, standing. “I know that I’ve never taught you any of the moves that you displayed today. I also know that Lady Tsunade has never performed moves like that. So I’m wondering where you picked them up.”

Frowning, Sakura moved towards the couch and snapped, “What exactly are you trying to say? If you are going to accuse me of something, come out and say it.”

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and quietly said, “All right. I think that at some point you came into contact with both Itachi and Kisame, and learned some of their moves from them. What I don’t know is if they taught you, or if you simply copied them somehow.”

She allowed a smirk to form on her lips and then shook her head. “You honestly think that I could get Kisame and Itachi to hold still long enough to teach me new ways to fight?” she asked, her tone incredulous. “That has got to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard come out of your mouth. Those two would not give me the time of day; nor would they give away their fighting secrets only to have them used against them later.”

Mentally, she patted herself on the back for that argument. It was true. At this time, Kisame and Itachi were dealing with their own problems within the Akatsuki and didn’t have time to deal with her. But Kakashi didn’t need to know what was going on. All that mattered was that the Akatsuki was so damn busy with its own problems, it didn’t have time to hunt the demon containers.

Kakashi shook his head and then sighed. “Sakura, ever since that night that you passed out in the woods, your actions have been strange,” he murmured. “At first, I was willing to overlook some of the things that you were doing. But after today’s fight with Sasuke, I can’t overlook it anymore. I am going to go to Lady Tsunade and tell her what I have seen.”

Sakura regarded the man quietly, and then asked, “Can’t you trust me?”

“I trust you, Sakura,” Kakashi said, his tone soft. “But I am worried about you, and you have not given me any explanations for your recent behavior. I’m sorry.”

She watched as he formed the hand signs and was gone before she could reply. Sinking down into her couch, she silently cursed herself for not remembering just how weak and powerless she had been in this time. Damn it, she was not hokage here. She could not walk around, spouting her knowledge and talents.

But Kakashi was very close on one thing. It was true that her fighting style was very similar to Itachi and Kisame. It was only natural that she would pick up what her advisors taught her.

~!~

“You are not making much sense, Kakashi,” Tsunade said, lifting the glass to her mouth. “I can assure you that Sakura has not had any kind of contact with Uchiha Itachi or Hoshigaki Kisame.”

Kakashi sighed and slumped in his seat. “I know that it sounds odd,” he said. “But you’ve seen and heard her. Don’t you think that she sounds… off?”

Tsunade lowered her eyes and sighed. Actually, she had to admit that she was concerned about Sakura’s behavior. When the blonde brat brought the last Uchiha into the hospital, she had been stunned to hear that it had been Sakura who had caused all of the damage. Everyone knew just how fragile the Uchiha’s ego was, and it seemed as if Sakura had been sending him some kind of message.

Shizune frowned as she watched her lady and Kakashi. Even she had noticed a change in Sakura, though she thought it was for the better. Sakura was no longer quick to anger, and she seemed much calmer. Apparently the two before her liked the scary Sakura better.

“I will speak to her,” Tsunade finally said, lifting her head to look at Kakashi. “However, I don’t want you to speak about this issue to her. Instead I want you to keep watch over her.”

Nodding, the copy nin stood up and walked to the door. He turned and gave a soft laugh. “I never thought that I’d live to see the day where it was Sakura who caused Sasuke to wind up face down, ass up in the dirt.”

Tsunade lifted her glass in a mock toast and muttered, “Times, they are a-changing.”

~!~

The next day found team seven quiet. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke and found that he was scowling at the ground. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed little specks of red begin to appear in his eyes.

When he glanced up and found that she was looking at him, his own eyes narrowed in a silent challenge. She simply lifted her eyebrows. But he looked away after a moment, and she slowly let out a soft breath.

It would seem that Sasuke now knew that it was not wise to underestimate her.

She would have smirked at the thought, but a loud ‘poof’ sound signaled Kakashi’s appearance. She smiled up as the copy nin came into sight.

“So sorry I am late,” he said, and gave the small group his eye crinkle. “I simply could not resist helping a young lady across the street.”

Naruto snorted and then snapped, “If you are going to use that excuse, at least make it believable and tell us that it was a little old lady.”

Kakashi moved forward, ignoring Naruto, and stopped when he was in the middle of their group. “Alright,” he said, looking around. “Lady Tsunade has given us a mission, and we are to leave immediately. Lucky for us, it is in the next town over, so we don’t need to pack anything. We will be back before nightfall.”

Sakura lifted her eyebrow and then stood up. She followed the copy nin and the others to the main gates, nearly stumbling when Sasuke glided up next to her and whispered, “You and I are going to have a talk, Sakura.”

Sakura’s eyes slid over to him and she calmly said, “Well, get it over with. I have better things to do than to listen to you whine.”

Sasuke watched the three men before them and asked, “You don’t trust me, do you?”

“Have you given me any reason to trust you, Sasuke?” she countered. It was clear in her tone that she was becoming annoyed, but Sasuke ignored it.

“At least I have not been speaking about you to others,” he replied, his dark eyes turning to look into hers. “It seems that you have been a very busy young lady.”

Sakura stopped in her tracks and watched as Sasuke stopped as well. “No, I don’t trust you, and I have no reason to talk about you. I don’t know where you got your information, but it is wrong. I don’t trust you, Sasuke, because I don’t know you anymore. I probably never knew you. Any trust I had for you died the night you left me on a stone bench.”

She resumed walking, but stopped when he grasped her upper arm in his hand. He moved closer to her as he said, “I had no choice, Sakura. I had to leave you in order to become stronger. If I am ever going to kill Itachi, I need to be stronger than him.”

She watched him for several moments before quietly asking him, “What will you do if you find that he is stronger than you, even after all of your sacrifices? Are you so naive to think that he isn’t training as well?”

For a minute, Sasuke’s eyes widened. Then his eyes narrowed as he hissed, “It doesn’t matter how strong he is. I am going to be his death.” He let go of her arm and stalked forward, leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

“And I am going to be yours,” she whispered, and then quietly followed behind the men.

~!~

“Shit!” Kisame growled, his eyes narrowing. “How many of these bastards are there?”

Itachi did not reply. Instead, he allowed his kunai to bury itself into the neck of his opponent before turning to his partner.

“Let us leave before the others find us,” he said, quickly moving toward the forest. Once they were up in the trees, he murmured, “They must know that the leader is dead, and now they are looking to take out the remaining members.”

Kisame allowed a grin to light up his blue features. “Let them come,” he sneered. “We’ll be ready.”

“Do not be so overconfident,” Itachi advised calmly. “We cannot afford to make any mistakes.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kisame grumbled, allowing himself to speed up. “So what do you suggest we do?”

“We find ourselves an ally,” Itachi replied, staring straight ahead. “Then we will go after the one who started all of this.”

Kisame grunted and then smirked. Itachi’s little brother wouldn’t know what hit him.

~!~

The village was quiet. For a moment, the members of team seven stared at each other. Finally, Kakashi said, “Let’s look around and see if we can find someone who can tell us why we are here.”

Nodding, Sakura walked off towards the center of town, and then froze when she came upon several bodies lying face down in the dirt. Experience told her that they were already dead, and she narrowed her eyes.

Moving forward, she gently nudged one of the bodies over and frowned. The woman’s neck had been sliced open, her eyes staring lifelessly towards the sky. Whoever had done this had wanted these people to suffer.

“Sakura!” Naruto bellowed, sliding to a stop beside her. The other members came running and froze beside the blonde, who was quiet for once.

She closed her eyes. When she opened them, she said, “I cannot help them. This happened before we were summoned. Whoever did this was sending a message and wanted us to see it.”

“What in the hell are they trying to say?” Naruto asked, his hand reaching up to scratch behind his head. “Why go after these people? They are not shinobi.”

Kakashi was about to reply, but Sakura beat him to it. “I think it is a warning,” she murmured. “Someone wants us to know that they are very close and simply biding their time until they strike again.”

Sai moved to stand beside Sakura and asked, “Shall I return and report to the hokage?”

“Yes,” Sakura said, her eyes blank. It was starting. This poor village had been another victim in the Great War, and she had forgotten. All of these innocent people could have been saved had she not concentrated only on Naruto and Konoha. “Tell the hokage that a war is brewing, and the first stone has been thrown.”

“Okay, let’s hold on,” Kakashi said, stepping forward. He frowned down at Sakura and calmly said, “We don’t know if it is war. Let’s tell the hokage that there has been an incident, and she will take it from there.”

Whirling around, Sakura snapped, “You are wrong. This is just the beginning of war. Remember Sensei? Look underneath the underneath. Well, what is underneath is a pit of nothing more than blood and death.”

Kakashi merely looked at Sakura and then turned to Sai. “Go,” he ordered, then turned his attention to Naruto and Sasuke, who had silently watched the interaction. “Go through the village and look for any survivors.”

When they were finally alone, he turned to Sakura. “I understand that you are upset, but you will never defy my authority again,” he warned. “I will not tolerate these outbursts again. Do you understand, Sakura?”

Sakura refused to meet his eye. After a moment, she sighed. “And if I do? What makes you think that you are correct in this matter?” she asked tiredly. “How will you handle the guilt if I turn out to be correct, hmmm?”

“If you defy me again,” he said, “I will go to the hokage and report you. I will also remove you from this team. As for handling the guilt, I don’t believe that I have anything to worry about.”

“Then you are a fool,” she replied.

“Go back to Konoha, Sakura,” Kakashi ordered. “Go back and wait for me at the hokage’s office. We will finish this conversation there.”

Turning on her heel, Sakura walked a few feet away, but then turned back and regarded him. “You once told me that the hardest choices that we make are the ones that anger others. You said that it takes a stronger person to fight for what they know to be right and to turn from what would be the easiest. I’m right in this issue, Kakashi,” she said, and then turned and began the walk back to Konoha.

When she was gone, he looked at the ground and murmured, “Obito used to say that. But I don’t recall saying that to Sakura.”

~!~

Tsunade listened to both sides and then sighed. Okay, now this had gone on for far too long. Nodding at Kakashi and taking his report from his hands, she watched as he left the room. Then she turned her eyes to Sakura.

“I should write you up for being subordinate,” she snapped, and stood up to tower over her apprentice. “What in the hell are you thinking? Kakashi is team leader, and you have no right to go and make statements without a thorough investigation. Sakura, are you trying to drive me crazy?”

“No,” Sakura replied softly. “I’m simply trying to get everyone to see that this was not an ordinary attack. It was too organized. Whoever did it was sending a message to us, and we should be listening very carefully.”

Shizune frowned. “Kakashi did say that the bodies were carefully laid out in the village center,” she said thoughtfully. “And they did not leave anyone alive. Even the children were murdered. It’s like they didn’t want any survivors.”

Sakura frowned, closing her eyes as Itachi’s voice came forth.

“Sasuke was always a greedy child,” he said, his elegant tone soothing her frayed nerves. “However, the reason why he never left any survivors was because he didn’t want them to go through the hell that he went through. I suppose he believed that he was being kind.”

“But you left him alive,” she said, her tone sharp. “Has it ever occurred to you that he might not have turned out the way he did if you had not slaughtered your clan?”

He cocked his head to the side and smirked. “What if I told you that I was under orders to kill my clan?” he asked, curious. “As hokage, you should know better than any of us that there are certain secrets that our government doesn’t want revealed. After all, why do you think that hunter-nins were never sent after me?”

“Sakura? Are you listening to me?” Tsunade asked, her tone sharp. When green eyes met golden, she watched as Sakura nodded.

“I am listening,” Sakura said, and then turned her eyes to the window.

Tsunade walked around her desk and sat on the ledge in front of Sakura. “I want you to take a few days off,” she said, and then looked over at Shizune. “I’m going to send you to one of the neighboring villages so that you can experience their hot springs. You will leave in the morning, and I don’t want to see your face for a week. Understood?”

Sakura bit her lip and nodded.

Shizune smiled brightly and promised to make all of the arrangements. Once she was gone, Tsunade dismissed Sakura. As she walked to the door, Sakura looked over her shoulder.

“I’m not wrong.” she said. “But since you are basically forcing me to leave, will you please keep an eye on Sasuke and Hyuuga Hanabi?”

Lifting her eyebrow, Tsunade said, “I can understand the Uchiha, but what have you got against the younger Hyuuga girl?”

“She isn’t what she appears to be,” Sakura answered. “Think of her like a coiled snake that is waiting to strike. She is not like her sister. Hanabi is a threat.”

When Sakura exited the office, Tsunade rolled her eyes. Yeah, Sakura was in great need for a vacation.