Sakura was in a cold, dark place that she didn't want to be in, she didn't like it one bit.

Sakura huddled in the corner crying lightly because she had gotten her kimono dirty when the bad lady had put her in the dungeon.

Sakura didn't like it here one bit, she wanted her family.

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The first time Sakura was kidnapped the Akatsuki had caught up with Sakura and only lost their prisoner in making sure Sakura was alright as she had been out cold when they had found her.

The second time Sakura was kidnapped the Akatsuki was out for blood.

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Sakura cried lightly still as she huddled in her kimono, so sad that Sasori would 'tsk' at her clothes that she couldn't help but feel miserable, it hadn't even been her fault!

A door slammed somewhere and Sakura began to feel something she had never felt before, Sakura had thrown a tantrum before but only because she didn’t want to disappoint Itachi by taking back what she had promised (even though he had explained to her afterward that he was no longer angry with her and it was okay to climb trees with someone with her).

Sakura began to feel angry, and it was a dark feeling she had never had to feel before, she had felt annoyance but it was all in the name of great fun, but never anger.

And with that anger came a power she had never felt before rushing through her veins.

Sakura stomped her foot.

…And the cell floor burst into pieces bending the bars of the cell and giving her enough room to slip out.

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Child's Play

Chapter One: Escape

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in Naruto, anime or manga.

“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.” ~Deepak Chopra

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Sakura was very upset, and all that knew her would be shocked at her transformation, fire spilled from her emerald eyes as she marched down the hallway towards the sound of the door. She was very, very angry.

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A long time ago Orochimaru decided he didn't like little children, they were useless for experiments, they couldn't fight and they smelled funny. He still thought that to this day.

But that was beside the point.

Orochimaru didn't like children.

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Kabuto had been walking down the hall of the dungeon when there had been a loud crash, thinking that one of the prisoner's had escaped he hurried down that way.

He hadn't expected to run into a very angry little girl, and he certainly hadn't expected the glowing fist slamming into his gut and knocking him out and as the little girl stomped away he had a brief notion he was seeing things as a porcelain doll just kicked his butt…

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Itachi was very much so, not pleased, almost as 'not pleased' as Deidara and Sasori, almost as not pleased as Pein was when he heard an Ex-Akatsuki member was causing trouble after being spared for his insolence.

This wouldn't be a very happy reunion at all.

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Sakura was very angry, very angry indeed, but now she was a little frightened, she knew shinobi should be tough but she wasn't a shinobi, and she was afraid, she was also very lost in the dark dungeon like hideout.

This hideout wasn't like the 'Akatsuki hideout' at all, this hideout was much darker and much scarier and it didn't have her toys and it didn't have her room and it didn't have her family.

Sakura took a deep breath, don't be a baby, she told herself.

She started walking again searching for chakra signatures, even if she wasn't a baby she was very, very scared. Bad people did bad things.

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They converged on the hideout quickly and efficiently moving through the first floor with prowess and power. They came to four doors and split up without a word knowing they would all come to the same place.

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Sakura was at a dead end, another dead end, she was getting very frustrated and very dirty and she had lost one of her shoes and she just wanted to go home.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Sakura turned around quickly and was met with a hit in the stomach, Sakura's breath left her and she collapsed to the ground.

Coughing she tried to catch her breath, "Pretty little dolls should stay out of the dirt and off the ground."

Sakura let out a scream as a boot met her ribs.

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Blood was spattered around Itachi as he walked through the labyrinth, he was almost out, "AHHHHH!"

Itachi's mangekyou activated on its own as he headed in the direction of the scream much faster than before.

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An explosion shook the hall in which Deidara was in, bodies hit the wall with a snap burning and charring until they were black. Sakura's scream hit him like an icy waterfall and he rushed forward.

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Sasori's opponents fell at his feet, eyes white and blank, Sakura's scream reached his ears and his puppet body shivered in outrage as he made his way forward, red eyes blazing.

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Kisame had heard the scream higher than any of the others with his sensitized hearing; he felt his chakra surge and his mouth twisted in what looked like a grin. "Bastards going to die." He snarled.

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Sakura was still awake, the last kick had been meant to knock her out but it had just hurt very, very badly.

The worst that Sakura could remember ever being hurt was when she was younger, she fell and scrapped her knee. It barely registered with her then, but this, this was very painful. She was slung over the bad man's shoulder and every step he took knocked her in her bruised stomach and hurt her ribs that she was sure were fractured if not broken.

Her kimono was very dirty and the beautiful fabric was ripped, she hoped Sasori wouldn't be mad, she had never actually destroyed an outfit before, she had been chastened for getting them dirty and accidentally tearing it a little but she had never 'destroyed' one as she had this one.

She loved her family very much, especially her daddies and she never wanted them to think she didn't love them.

Sakura was afraid but once again she was angry, she wanted her family and she wanted them now!

Xoxoxoxoxox

There was another scream but this one was not Sakura's, but it was followed by hers and a crash, the four Akatsuki members exited the passage ways to find themselves in a pillared room, one of the pillars had collapsed and Sakura was laying by it, blood spilling from her head in a small puddle.

Deidara felt his heart drop to his stomach, "Sakura!" He didn't rush forward as there were people in the shadows moving around them.

Itachi and Kisame disappeared and in seconds people where falling in the shadows blood leaking into the light, Sasori and Deidara went forward with dark eyes.

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Sakura's head hurt, she had used a medic ninjustu that had made the man collapse for a second but he had hit her so hard it had thrown her into the pillar, when she hit it she had the good sense to use it to knock the man out by breaking the pillar with her chakra and her elbow, unfortunately the man had managed to knock her in the head so hard she hit the ground with a 'crack!'

The man, luckily, did not get out of the way in time to avoid the pillar falling on him.

Sakura didn't feel good at all, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep…

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Deidara's heart stopped the same millisecond Sakura's did.

It still didn't beat as Sakura's started to weakly beat for a second time as Sasori poured Chakra into the prone body in Deidara's arms. Sasori, being the puppet master he was, was adapt in poison, being a puppet master as great as himself he was also adapt at basic healing.

Sakura's head wound wasn't as bad as it looked once Sasori put a little chakra into it.

Sakura's breathing started to regulate and Deidara felt his heart beat again.

He let out a 'woosh' of air.

Itachi and Kisame appeared, "Deidara." Deidara nodded and set Sakura down as the three made there way to the big metal doors at the end of the dark pillared hall leaving Sakura with Sasori.

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Sasori didn't know how long his heart stopped beating, he knew if he were still human his face would probably have turned blue from the lack of blood, finally when Sakura began to open her eyes did his heart begin to beat in its little wooden container.

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When Sakura saw Sasori she immediately started to cry, she hadn't realized just how much she missed him and just how terribly afraid she was. Sasori scooped her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Sshh. Don't cry love, I've got you."

She whimpered at the pain the bruises caused along her stomach and clung to Sasori as he stood up shifting her so he was carrying her at his side, despite being eleven years old Sakura was still half his size and a very small child, certainly she was not freakishly small, nor was she freakishly small for age, she was just small.

Perfect for a life-sized doll.

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When the other three returned Orochimaru was long gone, he had escaped when they had converged on the hideout, the bastard.

Sakura had passed out while Sasori was carrying her and was currently sleeping, her cheek was a light purple but the swelling wasn't too bad, blood was caked in hair and causing it to stick to her cheek.

Not a word was said on the way back to the base.

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When Sakura woke up she was sore and hurt and very upset. Sakura made a decision then and there, her emerald eyes had narrowed and she mentally stated in her head, ‘I want to be stronger!’

Sakura turned to find Deidara passed out in a chair beside her, his hair mussed and drool threatening to come from his slightly open mouth, Sakura smiled and pulled her cover off, sorely, but not as bad as when her injuries were first received; she covered up Deidara and got out of bed.

The Akatsuki members were all in the kitchen when she arrived, all but the member she had yet to meet, with a shirt that was too big for her, a bandaged head and cheek Sakura went into the room, put her hands on her hips and demanded real training, not just ninja academy stuff.

She wanted to be a shinobi too!

Blank and slightly horrified expressions met her hard emerald glare.

And when that failed…

Sakura's eyes teared up and she gave them the cutest most disarming look she could manage… and they all caved right in.

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Sakura had very good aim with the kunai, so good in fact, that she could bounce the kunai off multiple objects (like Fishy-chan's forehead protector) and still hit the target (Fishy-chan's sake bottle).

Sakura was also getting quite good at evading (or Fishy-chan was having a hard time catching her because she was so small and he was so big.)

Fishy-chan didn't like kunai.

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Itachi tried to teach Sakura Taijutsu, but Sakura was too small to hit any of them and didn't weigh enough to do any damage. Itachi stood still while Sakura side swept him and didn't even blink as it hit him on his leg.

Sakura was frustrated, she started to get tears in her eyes and she stomped her foot… the ground cracked and Itachi decided using chakra in her taijutsu would be a helpful handicap for her to use.

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One time… Sakura was practicing dodging, because the number one rule she was given over and over was always dodge, when Sakura started to get tired of dodging Itachi's (much slowed down) Kunai, Sasori cheated and attached chakra strings to Sakura to help her dodge a kunai that was straying to close to her.

Needless to say Itachi wasn't pleased, nor was Sasori… Itachi's attacks became faster and faster and Sasori's moves became swifter and swifter.

Finally Sakura was on the verge of passing out from being jerked around so much and Deidara (who had walked up to see if Sakura wanted lunch) through a 'hissy fit' and saved Sakura.

Sakura slept with Deidara that night so the 'scary daddy' and 'scary Itachi-kun' wouldn't use her for target practice anymore.

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One day Hidan got tired of Sakura's babyish way of speaking, he told her so and she walked out of the room. Everyone in the room was very mad at Hidan.

That night Sakura stayed up and read the dictionary and a few girly magazines she had gotten from the mysterious female member of Akatsuki that she hadn't looked at yet. The next day Sakura put her knowledge to the test…

They made her swear to never, like, talk like a girl again, like ever!

Duh.

Hidan apologized profusely and never told Sakura to say anything other than how she said it ever again.

(Deidara and Sasori sought out and burnt the girly magazines that night.)

Kisame had nightmares…

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One day Sakura took a kunai straight to the gut, Deidara almost fainted, Sasori started telling Itachi off and Sakura pulled out the Kunai with a frown and dropped it on the ground and healed her stomach with her chakra.

"Can we keep going now?"

"I don't see you-"

"HOW DARE YOU HU-"

"Maybe if she wasn't distra-"

"Huh?"

"Oh… right."

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One day Sakura found a pond that she decided she would practice training on while Itachi and Sasori glared at each other and Deidara tried to get them to stop so they could agree on where what targets should go...

Sakura was about to the middle of the murky pond when a little head popped up, "Ribbit." The color in Sakura's face drained, the frog bounced out of the water and landed on her head.

Sakura passed out in a dead faint with a light, 'Splash!'

"Hold on, did you hear that?"

The three turned around to note the ripples in the water, the bubbles…

Deidara crossed his arms, "Oh no, I'm not falling for that again."

Sharingan eyes watched the water for a second, "She's not faking."

"MY BABY!"

Deidara went after her in a flash while Sasori sighed and walked to the water, "Here we go again."

xoxoxoxoxoxox

They had forgotten Sakura was afraid of frogs, when Sakura got home with the traumatized look of a little girl watching her puppy getting run over than gurgling for breath as it died in her arms…

They all decided it would be a good idea to go on a little vacation.

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Right before Sakura turned twelve they went for a trip to Kirigakure's Valley of the Mist, they being Sasori and Deidara and of course Sakura!

Sakura had lots of rules to go by though if she ever went out alone, one, always make sure that Sasori and Deidara knew exactly where she was going and how long she would be there.

Two: don't talk to strangers and certainly don't go anywhere with them, when Sakura asked about children her age she was told she could but only if they weren't suspicious.

Sakura had agreed.

Sakura wasn't allowed to go out after dark unless it was with Sasori or Deidara because this area was troubled at the moment and Sakura had to avoid using any type of shinobi abilities unless absolutely necessary and most importantly! Be careful not to get hurt.

Sakura had danced out of her hotel to explore after that telling them she wanted to go see the bridge being built and see the candy store she had seen earlier.

Sasori had agreed and given her some money, Deidara had handed her a little map and clay bird to put in her pocket, she was supposed to throw it if something bad happened so it could come tell Deidara.

So Sakura skipped away in her pretty dark red, wispy dress that made her look more like a fairy than a child and with light curls in her hair and no shoes, she probably did look like one.

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Uzumaki Naruto did not like his teammates, the one girl, Ami, or whatever, was a bitch. Yes, she was a bitch that was totally obsessed with Uchiha Sasuke, and sure the guy was a jerk and angsty and all that, but he wasn't nearly as bad as Ami.

Ami was a down right bitch, she had dark purple hair and dark eyes and was purposely trying to push Naruto into things so he wouldn't be near Sasuke. She was a crazy you-know-what.

Their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, had a very large migraine at the moment and couldn't concentrate on his beloved book.

He was going to have to kill something…

"Ah, here we are!"

The old man they where guarding nodded his head at the rower as they let them off at the dock, he too was growing tired of Ami and Naruto's arguing, and he didn't even blame Naruto for arguing with the little bi-ah I mean twit.

"Let's get to it then."

He grumbled ready to just be home, "Ugg, this place is sooooo uncool."

The little purple haired girl flipped her short hair, "Uck, unsanitary too!"

The old man was on the verge of a twitch attack.

Naruto was ignoring her and Sasuke was gritting his teeth wishing he could be on any other team but- CRASH! "Agh! Watch where you're going!" Came Ami's shrill cry of anger.

The four gentlemen turned to see Ami pushing herself off the ground and dusting off her clothes, "Jeez, people here are so rude!"

The old man's eye twitched as a soft voice interrupted his murderous thoughts, "I'm sorry, please excuse me."

The soft spoken voice on the ground had them all looking down to the pretty little girl in the red dress who had been knocked to the ground apologizing to Ami; even though it had been the complaining girls flailing arms and utter lack of regard for those around her that had caused the accident. Colorfully wrapped candy had spilled out of the bag she had been holding.

Kakashi looked wistfully at the colorful picture in the dreary street, what a pretty doll like child…

He blinked and straightened, "Don't I know you?"

Sakura looked up from her hurried scrape of the candy on the ground, Naruto and Sasuke had knelt to help her pick up her candy as well, she blinked emerald eyes at him then smiled, Naruto had hearts in his eyes…

"You’re the nice man from the hot springs with the funny wash cloth on his face."

Kakashi laughed nervously and sweat dropped, "Ah, yes you're most certainly the same girl as before."

The old man 'hmm'ed, "My, my, you certainly aren't from here now are you little girl?"

Sakura thanked the two boys profusely as they helped her stand and handed her the bag of candy again offering them some as she did so.

Naruto was too dumb struck and Sasuke admitted he didn't like sweets, Sakura replied to the old man, "No sir, I'm only visiting."

Ah, Kakashi recalled, she had two otou-san, he wandered how that would turn out…

"Hmph," Ami replied glaring at the pretty pink haired girl, "Like there's anything worth seeing around here."

She turned up her nose a little, Sakura frowned, what did she mean?

There was lots to see, "Of course there is, the terrain here is very interesting, did you know all these islands were originally swamps until the people moved here and built camps on them to escape the first of the Shinobi Wars?"

Sakura shifted her bag of candy, "Not only that but did you know on this very island they're building the first ever bridge to connect the two main islands for better trade and because of the situation with the rouge shinobi stopping trade in the area? It’s monumental, and not only that but the bridge itself is supposed to be some sort of modern marvel once its finished, it will do an amazing job of boosting the economy."

Sakura blinked, why where they all staring at her, the old man nodded his head vigorously, "Quite right, quite right, very impressive young lady, very impressive."

"Right…" Kakashi reminded himself that this girl was smart, very intelligent actually, but if he recalled correctly very naïve.

"Eck, like whatever, talk to the hand."

Sakura frowned, "I'm sorry, I'm not allowed to talk like that."

Naruto snorted, "Like what? A bitch?"

Ami huffed, Sakura looked Naruto straight in the eye and in all her naiveté said, "No, a twit."

Naruto burst out laughing, Sasuke snorted, Ami fumed, Kakashi tried not to laugh and ended up covering it by coughing into his hand, the old man decided he liked this young lady very much.

"Ah, if you're ever near the bridge come by and I'll show you around."

Sakura smiled brightly and dipped a quick flawless curtsy, "Thank you very much, excuse me though I have to go back to the hotel, I've stayed out too long."

…And with that Sakura danced quickly through the crowd, and Naruto snickered for the rest of the night at the pissed off Ami.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

The next day Sakura met the old man at the bridge and got the grand tour, she was having a very good time.

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The next day she went to visit the old man and found that Hatake Kakashi was at the bridge and he had dragged Ami with him so the boys could get some training in since Ami had refused to dirty her new shoes training in the damp grass.

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Ami tried to hurt Sakura's feelings for most of the day but Sakura didn't understand half the things coming out of Ami's mouth so instead Ami huffed up a storm and started bragging about being a ninja and how someone like Sakura could never make it as one.

Sakura found this very interesting, "You’re a ninja?"

Ami snorted, "Well duh! Dig the forehead protector!"

Sakura frowned, "You’re a ninja from the hidden village of Konoha in the fire country, correct?"

Ami rolled her eyes, "What does it look like?"

Sakura smiled, "I know someone from Konoha, he's very strong but I don't think he would like you very much."

Ami rolled her eyes at Sakura, "I'm sure."

Sakura smiled, "Do you know any Justu?"

Ami gave Sakura bored look, "Do you?"

Sakura couldn't reply to that but knew it was rude not to answer, "I've read about many Justu." Very true.

Ami smirked, "Trust me it's not like the books."

"Have you ever been in a fight before?"

Honestly, Ami had never been in a fight before, the most she had ever done was be attacked by two mist-nin and she hadn't actually done anything…

"Erh, sure, plenty of times."

Sakura nodded, "That's nice."

Sakura got bored with questioning Ami and went to find the old man to see if he wanted any help, he was a very nice old man and since he knew Kakashi-san who she had known previously and he was a nice person she didn't count him as a stranger and took no measures to avoid him.

Kakashi chuckled at the frustrated look on Ami's face, she was trying so hard to get Sakura to look impressed and act anything other than carefree that it was distracting him from his book, in a most entertaining way.

Shinobi children though… Kakashi glanced at Sakura who the old man was now pointing out different focal points of the bridge to, he knew she knew something of chakra and certainly knowledge grows…

He shook his head and returned to his book.

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That night the old man invited Sakura and her parents to dinner, Sakura explained that her parents said it was okay but they had work and couldn't go, in all actuality the two did have work, but they had spent the day observing the old man and Hatake Kakashi, it was safe to assume that Sakura would be alright as knowledge of their organization was very limited and Konoha was known for their soft hearts (excluding Itachi… sometimes) when it came to woman and children.

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Naruto and Sasuke where shocked to find the girl from before dinning with them, the old man's daughter loved Sakura as Sakura had helped her cook 'I like to cook very much, neither of my otou-san can cook very well…'

She hadn't even questioned the whole two-dad thing.

Later, when the little boy had come down to eat and gotten in a fight with Naruto when Sakura had mentioned the ripped picture, Ami had told the boy he was being selfish about his father's death and his hero hating and should grow up, Sakura had gotten angry at Ami, it was the first time Sakura had shown any real emotion to Ami besides boredom and happiness.

"It's not selfish to miss a parent, and it certainly doesn't matter if the parent is blood or not, and it doesn't make you a bad person if you feel some resentment when a special person leaves, point or no point, its human nature and you shouldn't judge!"

Ami was shocked as Sakura excused herself and said she had to be heading home before it got too dark.

Naruto went to talk to the boy who had heard Sakura's angered words at Ami and retreated to the dock outside.

Kakashi told Ami she needed to go upstairs and rethink why she was really here and what she really wanted to do with her life.

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Sakura didn't go the bridge the next day and didn't see Ami or Kakashi or the old man. She went for walk in the woods to see what kind of herbs grew around the area.

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Haku had been walking in the woods collecting herbs here and there; Zabuza had been planning an attack around the 'Bosses' ridiculous schemes for the whole of the day and it was driving him into headaches, so Haku decided he would make him a remedy.

Now Haku was a very pretty boy, he was also a very good ninja, so when he saw a very pretty doll like girl dancing around the herbs he needed as she picked this and that flower and arranged it with this and that herb he noticed her movements where very quick and very light.

He approached the girl.

She wasn't allowed to talk to strangers she mentioned, but he was her age and she supposed she could talk to him.

She automatically assumed he was boy, not a girl, hmm, how odd.

He asked her what she was doing, she shrugged and arranged the items she was holding in a bouquet, "Collecting herbs."

When he asked what for and how she knew what herbs to collect she replied, "I want to start a garden," she showed him that she still had the roots to all the flowers and herbs connected, "I know the herbs because my family gets me lots of books and many of them are on herbs."

He supposed that was a good enough answer, he asked her to help him look for a certain herb and they spent their morning searching for them and collecting different herbs for her to take home.

Goodbye. They said. We hope to meet again.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Sakura visited the old man and Kakashi at the bridge in the evening, she came after Ami had left to return to the house, Sakura had decided she didn't much like Ami.

Sakura was standing on the railing of the bridge when she first sensed the chakra signature, she stepped down and walked forward into the fog as it grew thicker. Suddenly, kunai, ninpou and shuriken accumulated in the air and began to rain down.

Sakura was quick on her feet though and easily made it to cover before the shower of weapons could touch her.

Kakashi had pulled the old man under cover as well and the array stopped with only the few remaining workers dead.

The old man shook his head and grimaced, Sakura ducked out from under the hiding place she had been at and ran forward to take the old man's hand, he looked very sad.

Kakashi grimaced at the sight of the few remaining workers deaths, "You two stay together and don't move."

Kakashi disappeared into the fog.

The old man didn't move with Sakura as a battle started they couldn't see.

Both waiting silently in the fog.

Suddenly a man appeared and swung his sword at the two of them,

Sakura was hardly phased as Kisame had used the hidden mist technique around her many times and attacked her with swipes of his sword for training.

Without a thought on the repercussions of her actions Sakura pushed the old man out of the way of the sword and jumped into the air with a light springy step, the man's eyes widened as Sakura hovered above his sword for just a split second before bringing up her leg and catching him under the chin with her chakra infused knee, flipping back in a graceful arc she landed, kneeling, on the ground by the old man.

Zabuza, who was himself a very good ninja much in the same league, but not quite as Hatake Kakashi was caught by surprise and sent flying backwards giving Kakashi the edge he needed to win the fight between them.

The old man was very shocked as Sakura helped him up and told him they needed to get away from the battle in case the bad man came back.

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It was a very strange and enlightening experience to Sakura, Haku lay on the ground dead from trying to save Zabuza, tears fell from Zabuza's eyes and Sakura felt fear grow in her heart, what if her someone, no, what if one of her special people died? What would she do?

Sakura found tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched Zabuza stand, his arms useless at his sides, Sasuke and Naruto were worse for wear having taken care of Haku, or at least tried, Sakura had been keeping the old man away from the battle and observing.

'How dare you make fun of an old man's dreams!' Naruto had yelled at the bad man who had kicked Haku's body.

Sakura had forgotten about the bird in her pocket until now, tears rolled down her cheeks as snow began to fall, the people were running away but Zabuza was down for the count. She stiffened at the hand on her shoulder but found it was just the old man, tears in his eyes as well.

She turned from the scene shutting her eyes, Zabuza had wanted to die.

No one said anything and Sakura was late getting to the hotel, she ran down the streets, the news was spreading like wild fire but she didn't care, she ran harder, she ran faster.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Sasori was pacing the room and Deidara was fidgeting at the window drumming his hands on his sleeve then pulling at his hair, Sakura was ten minutes late.

They both pulled their attention away from worry as the door swung open and Sakura burst in, Deidara jumped up to his feet standing by Sasori, "Where do you think you where!? Your la-"

Sakura engulfed the two in a huge, rocketing across the room and catching them both with an arm around the waist and knocking the air out of them with her momentum.

She hiccupped softly, tears still falling down her eyes.

Deidara and Sasori exchanged a glance, "Sakura-chan? Un."

Sakura saw the power of a dream, she saw the power of it and knew it was a wonderful, wonderful thing. She hadn't realized she had one until now.

"My dream is to keep my family safe, to keep them alive," tears fell from her eyes, "Please don't ever leave me, because I never want to leave you."

Deidara and Sasori where very dangerous criminals… reduced to only warmth in a little girls hands, in her dreams and in her tears.

The two of them, S-class missing-nin's that they were, rocked Sakura to sleep and told her sweet nothings until she had no choice but to believe they meant what they said.

We won't leave, love is forever, we'll always be there, even when you're at your loneliest.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Sakura turned twelve, yes, she turned 12 years old, she was officially a tween.

Presents continued, but people changed, Leader had announced Sakura would be participating in the Chunnin Exams held in Konoha this year under her original name Haruno Sakura. (Sakura had an interesting time getting that straight, insisting she didn't want a last name and then being forced to use it.)

She would be posing as an Kirigakure genin and would be expected to know the basic skills of the Kirigakure-nin a.s.a.p.

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Sakura knew the basic's of the Irigakure's shinobi way, however she had a hard time using it without slipping into a freestyle sort of fighting that was a mixture of all the village's techniques and skills taught to her through her very diverse family.

Itachi had warned her she was doing too many times, and soon she was very frustrated.

She was so frustrated that her very analytical mind came up with a very simple and very efficient plan, while she was warned of the Hyuuga Byakugen she was sure she could get around it.

She was also warned Itachi's sharingan wasn't the only sharingan in Konoha.

Sakura had blinked at that, "Oh, you mean Kakashi-san and Sasuke-kun right?"

Sasori and Deidara had exchanged a glance, they hadn't realized the black haired boy on Hatake's team was Itachi's little brother, he hadn't been of much concern when they were making sure Sakura was okay.

They watched Itachi's almost bored expression, "Hm, my foolish little brother." He looked thoughtful for a moment before they continued sharing the information they had on the participants.

When they had sparred Sakura had used her idea and put it to the ultimate test against Itachi. She had used the hidden mist technique and snuck up on Itachi before he had time to worry and for the first time in her entire life, scored a hit on Itachi that actually did some damage.

And instead of being ecstatic like Deidara was, she had hugged Itachi and apologized profusely.

They had to go back to basics and re-teach Sakura the meaning of being a good winner… and following up on her techniques…

By the end of the day Sakura stopped apologizing for hitting Itachi and was actually working towards her goal of pulling off being a 'Kirigakure Gennin.'

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Sasori was making Sakura a shinobi outfit, Sakura was very excited.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Days passed and they left for Kirigakure, Sakura was put with two gennin her own age and the instructor (who was a subordinate of Sasori, took them all to Konoha) the gennin were just told that she was their temporary teammate due to their original female member being unable to attend.

Sakura was that much closer to her dream.

Forever, forever, forever, forever. Love is forever… 


xoxoxoxoxoxox xoxoxoxoxoxox xoxoxoxoxoxox

Chapter 2: Dreams