AN: Hey guys!

It's been a long time, and I know a lot of you guys are probably surprised by this chapter since I said the first would most likely remain a one shot. Well, you guys were convincing, so I've officially committed to this story.

Okay, you're going to be confused as hell reading this chapter, especially considering where the first one left off so keep this in mind.

Sakura and Hinata are older.

This chapter takes place years ahead of the last. It's weird but I think I'm going to update in a system where I write a chapter on the "past" then the next on the "present" and keep going until the past chapters catch up to the present, if that makes sense. Well, tell me what you think about that, and don't knock it until reading this chapter.

As always, enjoy and review!

…

Déjà vu.

Sakura's breath came out labored as she leaped off the tree branch to launch herself to the next. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest as she sped up, urging her tired muscles to go faster. They screamed in protest, but when she added a pinch of chakra they yielded to her demands.

She ran, nothing to be seen but the blur of the forest around her as she chased after Hinata's form. Her partner had always been faster, and if her teammate was picking up the pace that meant the pursuers were gaining on them.

Sakura leaped to the next branch, losing control over her chakra for a split second which allowed the wood to explode upon impact.

Her face twisted into pain, feeling splinters digging deep into the flesh in her leg. She had gotten off easy though, moving so fast the second she touched the tree she had been off to the next. The few pieces of wood imbedded in were just the result of the wide propelling range.

Sakura landed on the next branch shakily, pausing to take a look at her handiwork. Her mistake could cost them their lives. She had just made it easier for them to be tracked. She cursed herself as the familiar feeling she realized never truly went away settled in the pit of her gut.

Fear.

She was brought back to reality when a gentle hand tapped her shoulder. Hinata's piercing Byakugan awaited her, analyzing her state of mind.

Sakura was out of breath as Hinata bended down to assess her leg. Her shoulders heaved out of sync with her frantic breaths as she took in her partner.

It was nothing short of a miracle they both lived this long.

Sakura knew numbers, and odds were that one of them, if not them both, should be dead.

But, here they both were, seven years after becoming partners.

Sakura winced when Hinata yanked the first splinter out.

"Leave it."

Hinata ignored her, continuing until she finished her objective of removing them all. All the while Sakura's green gaze danced anxiously amongst the forest, the only semblance of relief she felt was that Hinata's dōjutsu was activated.

"Save your chakra, Hina." It came out as a hiss when the pale girl's hand became coated in a faint green.

Sakura was low on chakra, so she knew Hinata who constantly had her eyes activated had to be.

Hinata shook her head defiantly, "It could slow you down."

Sakura felt her shoulders shake again, the bubbling emotions she was desperately trying to contain, seeping out.

"We don't have time for this!"

Two blistered hands slapped both sides of her face in sync. It didn't hurt, but it stung enough for Sakura's eyes to stop their searching enough to look at Hinata.

"Not today."

Her first reaction was to panic. She could see the bristling fear in the outer rims of Hinata's eyes. Her partner was trying so hard not to show fear because if both of them did they would for sure be fucked.

Get yourself together Sakura.

She paused, allowing herself three seconds.

Three split seconds to bring her breathing to as close as normal that she could manage under the circumstances and bring clarity to the swarming thoughts in her head.

She returned Hinata's stare.

"Not today," she repeated, feeling reassured when Hinata sighed with relief.

She sprang into action, reaching into her weapons pouch as she casted Hinata a quick glance.

"How many?"

"…nineteen."

Sakura took a deep breath as her fingers curled around the paper in her hand.

Don't panic.

"Rank?"

"Two Genin. The rest are Chūnin or higher. Three have chakra levels extremely higher than the average Jōnin."

She took another deep breath.

She ignored Hinata's gaze as she leaped to what remained of the tree branch she destroyed.

"They'll stop to inspect the tree. We can't shake the bastards so they have to have a sensor or two. If we're lucky we can take them out."

Sakura bent down to her knees, slapping the exploding tag on the underbelly of the branch. She got up with a frown, though a determined one none the less.

Somehow, they would make it out of this.

Hinata nodded in approval of her plan, and together they took off deeper into the forest.

…

Déjà vu.

"Now!" Hinata commanded.

Sakura's fingers flew together, weaving to make the exploding tag go off.

She turned, seeing a brief flare up in the sky. She hoped it would be farther to where she couldn't see it.

"How many?"

Hinata glided off her branch, never straying her gaze as she held up three fingers.

"They still haven't moved…maybe we got their sensor?"

"Hopefully, but let's not count on it. Should we lay more traps?"

Hinata shook her head. "Not necessary. They're wary now, they'll be slower. We need to take advantage of our lead."

Sakura gripped her chin in thought, before humming in agreement. "Your right."

The chase continued for several more hours. Every hour the time separating them from the eventual encounter decreasing by minutes. Hinata long ago had turned off her Byakugan, the strain too much to bare.

Their bodies were betraying them. Her chakra levels were dangerously low, and her muscles were shutting down. They moved in pathetic sprints.

"Duck!"

Her timing was slow, but she reacted to Hinata's voice as fast as her body allowed. Her neck ached as she snapped her head down, the hiss of a kunai slicing the air where her scalp had been.

Sakura didn't have time to register how close to death she had been. Her body pumped adrenaline through her veins, her reflexes kicking in to avoid the hundreds of kunai and shuriken launched at her.

Sakura bobbed in and out of the cover of the thick foliage, her nerves in jitters over the sound of metal coming way too close to her body for comfort. She wasn't as flexible as Hinata, but her body twirled and twisted to her liking as each moment she avoided a strike that should of hit.

It still wasn't enough, because hundreds of kunai and shuriken became a thousand. With a pained gasp, she pulled a kunai that had embedded itself into her arm out and gripped it tightly.

She took a second to inspect the tip before breathing in relief.

No poison.

Ahead of her, Hinata took up a defensive stance as she deflected weapons that came close with the kunai in her left hand, using the right to throw her own senbon. Sakura could see the senbon in her mouth bounce around, being chomped on in subconscious frustration.

They needed to go on the offensive. Sakura halfheartedly through a few of her own senbon.

Unlike their enemies, their weapons were coated in a highly potent poison. If it even slightly grazed against your skin you would be dead in minutes without the antidote.

"Two…hit with poison." Hinata yelled over the clang of metal.

Sakura nodded, pausing in her exploits to snap her leather gloves properly in place. She opened her mouth to speak but Hinata beat her to the punch.

"I'll cover you!"

Sakura emptied out the remaining exploding tags in her bag, scattering them frantically. She was a blur as she scurried around, Hinata following to not leave her defenseless. She traveled in a straight line and once satisfied with the three hundred parameter she'd settled on she took a deep breath.

Then, she coated her fists and sandals with chakra and wreaked havoc on the forest.

Dozens and dozens of ancient trees fell, and she set off a few tags to create more destruction. The enemy wouldn't want to travel through this. They would go around, their earlier cautiousness had proven that.

She whipped her arm back in a stretch as she took in her work. The kunai and shuriken storm had ended, a matter of the enemies' hesitance.

It wasn't an attack, but a diversion. By the time they took a detour around the rubble Hinata and she would have put a good distance between them. Not to mention, two more ninja would be dead as the poison finished wrecking their nervous systems.

Sakura wiped the sweat off her brow, sighed, and took off.

"Sakura, they're traveling over the rubble!"

"Fuck!" She quickly threaded her fingers through the necessary hand signals. A distant explosion went off. A second later, a second joining the first.

"One." Hinata said, a frown marveled over her sweaty face that told her they still weren't going for the detour.

"Fuck," she gasped out. Her eyes stung from sweat and unshed tears. She had taken a gamble, and now all her precious chakra had just gone to waste.

She furiously pumped chakra through her feet, shooting forward, past Hinata, their guide.

"Sakura wait!"

She soared through the forest, her feet airborne as she awaited the next tree to leap from. The next tree never came. The forest split open suddenly to reveal openness. She began plummeting to the ground, sixty feet below her a large body of water.

She tried desperately to adjust her chakra levels to no avail. Her body smacked the water with a slap as she went under. Her feet kicked as she flailed her arms to swim to the top. She gasped for air the second she broke through to the surface.

She took Hinata's awaiting hand, allowing herself to be pulled up. The bandana forehead protector clung to her like second skin as she shivered and eyed Hinata questioningly.

"We have to fight."

To her ears it sounded like suicide, but when she veiled her layer of fear she realized that was truly their best bet. They couldn't outrun their pursuers, and if they continued to try, they would tire out faster.

No more tricks. The hunt had long ago made their chasers lose their cautiousness. Now, with what little chakra they had left they had to strike.

This was their chance, the only hope they could grasp with intent to see another sunrise.

"Thirteen," Sakura whispered breathily. She positioned her body defensively, snapping her leather gloves into place.

"Hai," Hinata responded, her back hitting Sakura's wet one as she moved to her gentle fist stance.

Sakura leaned back, craving the warmth her close proximity to Hinata offered. Her nostrils flared as her fingers itched with anxiety.

They waited.

A minute later the first figure appeared over the cliff. Hunched over as it eyed them curiously. Then another joined. Eventually standing above, watching were all thirteen shinobi they had to kill. One after the other they jumped. Making the transition from tree to water with no visible difficulty.

The figures cloaked in black dashed in different directions the second their sandal clad feet touched the brim of water.

Sakura's eyes glossed over with hatred at the rock engraved sign on their headbands. She felt like a cornered animal as they circled around them. Hinata and her pressing into the other's back more and more as the seconds ticked by.

Her teeth were bared in a silent snarl, tense, as she awaited the inevitable.

One rock ninja drew his sword, and battle commenced.

…

Sakura screamed when her fist connected with the brittle head of her opponent. The crunch coming from the man's broken skull barely phased her as she swept her eyes over the battle.

It became clear to their opponents early on that Hinata and she were close combat specialists. They're cautious nature was back after witnessing the violent fighting style of the two teens.

Just moments into the fight and Hinata's fingers merely tapped a man, but a second later he was on his knees gurgling blood before his body slipped into the water. They eyed her vein piercing gaze with recognition after that.

Sakura went for a less subtle approach, slamming her fist into an unsuspecting woman's abdomen. Her opponents' eyes had flashed with agony as her intestines were rearranged by her chakra coated fist.

After that display the duo came back together, back to back, daring the others to come close.

Including the short man she just disposed of, they had ten opponents left. Five more, and she could breathe easy again.

She narrowed her eyes and her shoulders tensed up when one made sudden movement. He was taller than his companions, and moved with a confident stride over the water. Sakura understood immediately that if he wasn't in charge he was at least one of the strong ones Hinata had warned her about.

They had just achieved their Jōnin status, and this man was seasoned going off appearance alone.

He stepped in front of his companions with an ugly scowl on his scarred face. His fingers flashed through signs, quicker than her eyes could follow.

"Sakura behind me!"

She didn't need to be told twice. She hovered behind Hinata, her taller form peering over her partner who was flashing through her own hand signs.

The water moved. It whooshed and swirled as it gathered, reaching untold heights as it violently molded.

A dragon.

Sweat trickled down her brow as she stared at the beast made from water alone. The man wielded it with ease, his feet a width apart and his shoulders steady.

With no warning at all the dragon attacked.

Hinata's own, premature dragon collided with the enemies in a burst of pressure, tossing them through the air. They skidded over the water's edge, rolling along till they got control of their bodies. The result of the two dragon's clash was a momentary shower.

They were drenched, for her a second time as they stood to shaking feet. Sakura's eyes were glossed over in defeat when someone was suddenly in her guard, attacking relentlessly with a katana.

She grunted, moving robotically as her limbs fought against her each and every dodge and parry she made. In a moment of carelessness the blade sliced her dress, cutting her thigh effortlessly. She sucked in a hiss, growing wary as the experienced swordsman cut her again, this time, an arm.

She reached out desperately, and by pure luck was able to grab the blade with her gloved hand. The sharp blade cut through her fabric, and Sakura could feel blood oozing through her fingers.

She ignored the pain, taking advantage of the startled brown eyes before her. With an ugly sneer she reared her head back for a sickening head butt. The man released the blade immediately to cradle his face.

Sakura swapped the blade quickly, angling it so now she wielded it. Just as the Iwa foe released his face her satisfied smile was looking down at him as she killed him with his own weapon.

She didn't have time to admire the kill as she side stepped to avoid the punch coming for her throat. She knew what was coming next, but her limbs just wouldn't move as quickly as her mind. A kick collided with her back and she tumbled to the ground.

She could see Hinata in the corner of her eye, dancing enchantingly amongst three enemies, leaving love bites with her fingers when given the chance.

She'd always been the less graceful one.

Sakura snarled as she threw the blade wildly into the air to give herself time. A master she was not, but she knew the basics.

Four shinobi surrounded her, and Hinata shared her numbers. Sakura wheezed for breath as they zeroed in on her.

Hinata glided across the water, dodging kunai and shuriken alike on her journey to get back to her side. Sakura met her partner halfway, unsure whose heavy breathing it was when their backs collided painfully.

They were surrounded.

"Sakura, underwater!"

Sakura let gravity take her, releasing the chakra from her feet so she fell quickly. Her emerald eyes looked through the cloudy water to see Hinata above, having activated her greatest defense, the kaiten.

Thousands of kunai and shuriken were hurled back upon contact with the shield of chakra. Hinata spun and spun, until the Iwa nin ran out of weapons, taking hesitant steps back when the weapons flung dangerously close to them.

Sakura swam to the surface when Hinata's kaiten slowed. She breached the water feeling renewed. They could do this.

She stepped onto the surface, and Hinata turned to face her.

She frowned when she saw Hinata's Byakugan less gaze. Her teammate's bruised lips were parted in a pant, a glistening senbon sticking out.

Her stomach dropped upon hearing a swish like noise assault her ears. She had made that same sound minutes ago when she killed that Iwa nin.

Sakura looked down slowly to see a katana sticking out Hinata's abdomen, shimmering under the sun's glow.

Hinata's mouth opened into a silent scream, her hands twitching at her sides. Her violet eyes mirrored the confusion Sakura felt. The silent scream transformed to violent coughs, wheezing noises escaping her pale throat.

The swishing noise came again as the blade exited the way it came. The overwhelming smell of blood entered her nostrils. The scent alone enough to bring water to her eyes.

The wind tickled Sakura's face as her eyes enlarged to saucers, and her spine shivered with familiar dread.

She blinked rapidly as blood splattered onto her face.

Déjà vu.

The phenomenon of having the feeling that the situation currently being experienced has already been experienced in the past.

…

Welp, review please.

If I can get twenty again expect a Christmas present!