The Alternate Path

By Inner Self

#21

"I am not afraid to keep on living

I am not afraid to walk this world alone

Honey, if you stay, I'll be forgiven

Nothing you can say can stop me coming home"

--My Chemical Romance

Why'd I put that song there?? Anyway, I used WIKIPEDIA!

------"Forgive Me if I'm Weak"------

Sakura watched as her sensei walked off in the direction of her crush. In the back of her mind, she could hear Naruto rambling about a new type of ramen served at Ichiraku. They were both trying to deal with their worry. They were both trying to deal with it alone.

The two got to Ichiraku, ordered, and sat in relative silence for a few minutes. Naruto had eaten three bowls already when he gave his chopsticks a rest on the tabletop.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto called over his ramen, "I'm gonna fix this. I'll take you home and then go give Sasuke a guy-to-guy talk. He's just being an ass. He'll get over it by tomorrow morning, I promise!"

"I know, Naruto. He's mad at me, isn't he?" She questioned.

Naruto couldn't lie to her, "Yeah. Kakashi gave us orders to secure the opening in the cave above."

"Sasuke hated the idea that I was more qualified on this mission. You hardly did anything."

"Well…I—yeah—but that depends…"

Sakura frowned. "Naruto, are you mad at me, too?"

Naruto was startled by her question.

"You always get so excited when given a mission."

Naruto relaxed. "It's a chance to prove myself to Konoha, but Sakura, you're my teammate. You needed that mission, and I am okay with that. Still, on the next mission we go on, we need to stick to Teamwork."

"We're so horrible at it."

"You noticed, too, eh?"

"Why didn't Kakashi stop "me" in that mission if I wasn't cooperating?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Come to think of it, why didn't Sasuke interfere?"

-------

Sasuke, lost in his brooding, ended up at the Uchiha Compound. His eyes narrowed in anger. He had an agenda as a shinobi! He had a need to get stronger. So why were his teammakes excelling far more than he felt he was? He had to use his Sharingan for the simplest tasks, and his Sharingan didn't allow him to grow as much as he hoped it would.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called out from behind him. Sasuke cursed at how he hadn't detected his sensei. They were standing in the market street that had long been the setting of his nightmares. Kakashi was leaning against a long-deserted food stand. "Let's take a walk." Kakashi proceeded to lead him to the lake where he once practiced his fire ninjutsu.

"Stop sulking. Sakura was unmanageable on the mission, but she took care of it. We're going to need your help to train her."

Sasuke almost stopped dragging his feet. Sasuke hollered, "Train her? I'm the one who needs to get stronger! Forget her and Naruto; they're lost causes!"

"Supposedly, but you don't believe that anymore."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "What are you trying to say? That I'm weak?"

"Those two are getting stronger. You're not. You have grudges you need to let go of. Revenge won't solve these problems you're having."

"I only get stronger for that revenge. I will kill him. And none of you will interfere."

"Get stronger with us. Go fetch Sakura for me. I need you to fight her."

Reluctantly, Sasuke said, "She better put up a challenge. I don't need her wasting my time."

-------

Naruto was complaining about Sakura's figure, saying she was too skinny. Thankfully he picked "skinny". Sakura was not one to pull her punches.

"Have at least one more bowl?"

"Naruto, for the last time: I said no! I am full whether you think so or not. If you're still hungry then keep eating. I need to go see about my test results. Augh--?!" Sakura had pulled up the flap to leave the ramen stand and was talking to Naruto over her shoulder when she ran into someone. "I'm sorry," she apologized before looking up with wide eyes.

"Hnn," Sasuke said a bit more moodily than usual.

"Sa…Sasuke-kun, you came afterall? Where's Kakashi-sensei?" She asked.

"Kakashi wants you," was all he said before he started dragging her off by the wrist, Naruto protesting in the background. "Dobe, come on. This will probably turn into a team exercise."

Sasuke let go of her wrist once Naruto squeezed in between the two. After a short walk, they reached the team's assigned training ground. "Kakashi probably won't get here for an hour or so," Sasuke stated the obvious, "let's start warming up. In ten minutes, Naruto and I will have a point sparring match with ninjutsu only. At the end, Sakura, you can practice your medical ninjutsu. When Kakashi gets here, he's going to want to see Sakura and me fight."

"Why would he want to see me fight?"

Sasuke made a short pause before answering, "He wants to pull out your supposed kekkei genkai again."

Ten seconds later, Naruto added, "If he's making us spar first, he must want to use up all your chakra to draw it out! That's what the pervy-sage did with me!"

Both gave Naruto a confused look. Sasuke soon remembered the frog summoning during the fight with Sabaku no Gaara and smirked. Who knew the dobe had a brain? Sakura still had a "what the hell is he going on about now?" look on her face.

"Alright, Naruto," Sasuke said, "the sooner we start fighting, the stronger we'll become. Remember to dodge, will you?" Sasuke left his Sharingan off but started sending fire ninjutsu Naruto's way.

Naruto created six kagebunshins which would alternately fling the endangered Naruto to a safe spot as the fireballs kept coming. Sasuke saw that Naruto wasn't taking the offensive. Rather, he saw fit to use Sasuke as a reflex training exercise. Sasuke took out an explosive kunai and hurled it towards Naruto while trailing behind the kunai.

Instantaneously, Sasuke flashed behind Naruto once Naruto dodged. The kunai kept on for twenty feet before emitting an surge of electricity. Five doppelgangers disappeared. So Naruto escaped the elemental attack but was thrown back towards Sasuke, who was behind him, who sent a sound kick into his upper arm. Naruto rolled and landed crouching on his feet before flying towards Sasuke. The real Naruto then dodged as his clone came up behind and threw a line of shuriken at Sasuke's back. Sasuke was stuck by every single one before he disappeared. A successfully executed kawarimi no jutsu. Sasuke flashed behind the last doppelganger and swiftly shot a kick to the middle of its back. When it disappeared, he took a gamble and launched into the air, making the hand seals for a fireball. Naruto had rushed in as Sasuke had hoped. Naruto was below Sasuke and perfectly fitted into the range of Sasuke's attack. When the attack landed, Naruto 'poofed' out of existence and the real him came up behind with two kunai and sliced into Sasuke's shoulders. Naruto, tauntingly, kicked off Sasuke's back and flipped over Sasuke's head. Naruto was standing in front of Sasuke, grinning, but not for long.

Sasuke launched into an all-out taijutsu battle plus chakra induced speed. Naruto created as many clones as he could and started flailing away, or at least trying to, on Sasuke. It was pandemonium. Sakura looked at the stopwatch, which Sasuke had luckily thought to carry. It had been twelve minutes. Sakura had waited until there were visible injuries on Sasuke and Naruto. 'Well, I think it's time I put my skills to practice.'

Sakura called out, "Time!--Hey, guys, its time to stop." She then added a little louder, "Your match ended two minutes ago!" They kept going over her voice, Sasuke slamming his heel into the clones at four-second intervals. Naruto would erupt in a battle cry before each move and Sasuke would evade and counter. They did not look like they would stop any time soon.

Sakura scrunched up her nose. She'd yelled at them a couple more times to no avail. Dashing into the middle of the rough-housing, Sakura swung one chakra induced fist into the terrain. The grount split between the boys. Tremors affected the surrounding area. Sasuke, Naruto, and the clones lost their focus and their footing. They all fell on their asses before the clones disappeared. "Time's up!"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at eachother. Sakura shook her head. "Honestly was that even a point match? You both earned 3 points and then kept going. Plus, you tossed the ninjutsu condition aside at the last minute." Sakura took another look at her watch. They could expect Kakashi in half an hour. "Well, let's get you stitched up!" She thrust her thumb over her shoulder towards the three standing logs.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm going to clean the dried blood off first, and then I'm going to numb your shoulders. Your arms will 'fall asleep' because I'm numbing them near the connecting muscles." He nodded in understanding. "I'm numbing you so that I can stitch you up real quick…I'll heal you so that you don't feel a prickling pain when they 'wake up'. Still, it will feel uncomfortable when I take out the stitches." He nodded again and she got to work. She numbed him, stopped the bleeding, and stitched up the two gashes before switching to Naruto.

"Naruto, this burn is from the heat given off by the elemental kunai that Sasuke threw. It will only take a minute to heal since you heal fast without my help. Your bruised ribs will need me to help along their recovery for another minute." Once she'd given Naruto the fair amount of medical attention, she put her focus back into Sasuke. She healed him and took out the stitches. There was not a scar on him when she was done. With twenty-five minutes passed, Kakashi showed up ten later. The three had just finished having a snack. They were used to waiting on him and did not starve themselves before practice anymore.

"Yo!" Kakashi gave his usual greeting, followed by two cries of "You're late!" Sasuke just snorted delicately. Typical Kakashi. "I see you brought Naruto along as well. You three look like you've kept yourselves busy." Sakura and Naruto pumped their fists into the air in agreement. Sasuke smirked. His mood was better after going hard contact with Naruto. Plus, he knew he'd get another round.

What he didn't know was that Kakashi had reformed his plan. He had first wanted to give Sasuke orders and leave them to train. From afar he'd still watch for signs of development, kekkei genkai or otherwise. It was a half-baked scheme to keep Sasuke's mind off revenge as well. Since Naruto was here, he'd turn the meeting into a team drill.

"Alright, I have an idea. You three are going to fight until you can't get up any more. No weapons. Taijutsu and ninjutsu. I don't feel like rushing anyone to the hospital." Sakura groaned. Maybe Naruto was on to something.

"Sensei, Naruto has too much energy. This is his type of drill. He's going to win!"

"Well, Sakura," Kakashi thought, "think about the bell exercise."

Her thoughts went a mile a minute. Teamwork was the answer she came up with. 'Once again, we are up against eachother,' she thought. Kakashi signaled for the start of the match. Naruto let off a dozen clones and divided them up against Sasuke and her. So the star of team 7 was kept occupied while Sakura, whose evasion skills were second nature by now, was occupied by her thoughts. 'I need to find a way to eliminate Naruto. Then I need to try my luck against Sasuke, who isn't even using his Sharingan.' Sakura smacked another Naruto clone and then glanced over at Sasuke at the other side of the training field. 'Naruto knows that I'll try to gang up on him. Maybe teamwork, for once, is not what Kakashi-sensei is talking about. This is not THE bell exercise, but something about the bell exercise can help me win.'

Sakura threw a chakra punch into the ground, and a crater formed with her in the middle. Naruto was creating a new wave of clones to come after her. 'What were the significants of the bell exercise?' Sakura racked her brain. 'Kakashi exploited our weaknesses against us. Naruto, as I already know, lacks defense. That's why I'm knocking down his offense clone after clone. Sasuke got stuck in an earth trap, but my doton skills aren't quite developed. Lastly, my weakness: Kakashi crept up behind me and threw up an illusion.' Sakura's metaphorical lightbulb flashed. 'My weakness is also my strength. I'll try my hand at illusion!'

Sakura charged up the crater and through the Narutos. She found the main one. Naruto launched more clones her way. Instead of attacking Naruto's defensive offense, she dodged and rolled past one. She used a hand on a surprised Naruto's shoulder to push off into the air. She made her way to the real Naruto. He punched her on her left but she blocked. Sakura through his hand away from her and grabbed his upper arm with her other hand. She grabbed the arm she'd flung away, too. Grinning, Sakura tossed him like a sack of potatoes into Sasuke's line of fire.

"Heads up, Sasuke-kun!" She started doing the seals for her genjutsu while Sasuke kicked Naruto around a little. She released her first set of seals. Her presence became like fog to the boys. She just could not provoke them. She readied the last set of seals and formed the genjutsu scene that she was going to enact. Once Sasuke launched a fireball on Naruto, she released the seals.

Sasuke watched with horror as more power than he intended was released in his ninjutsu. Even worse was the gut-wrenching feeling of seeing Sakura charge in after Naruto at an ill-timed moment. Hurriedly, he launched a water ninjutsu to counteract the worst of the fire attack. Both had fallen to the ground, Kakashi's condition to ending the fight. He hadn't wanted the fight to end like this though, with both of his friends hissing in pain. Sasuke ran over to them and rummaged through Sakura's med-pack. He hurriedly began to apply the burn salves to Sakura's forearms, which had luckily protected her face, hoping Naruto would start self-healing in the meantime.

In reality, Sakura pushed Naruto out of the way and tackled him to the ground, landing on his back. She looked for something in her pack to tie him with. One of Naruto's hands got loose from under his body. He hurled Sakura off his back while forming a massive number of doppelgangers to deal with Sakura, the last opponent. A frenzy unleashed and lasted for ten minutes. 'Honestly! How does Sasuke handle Naruto, sharingan or not?!' Sakura was finally knocked off her feet by four clones at once and sent flying into Sasuke's chest, of whom was previously zoned out in space. Sasuke was a little pissed to find out his friends weren't hurt but he got over it. Sakura had been sent his way on a silver platter.

He pressed his chest against her back and wrapped his arms around her arms and chest. Still, Sakura struggled, albeit blushing. She brought her feet off the ground and unbalanced Sasuke's footing. He was able to use gravity to his advantage and fell forward. Sakura landed on her side, cheek pressed into the ground, as did Sasuke, his chin tucked into the nape of her neck to hold her head still. He secured his leg over her own. She was captured. All Naruto had to do to eliminate Sakura now was hit her pressure point while he had her pinned.

Sasuke smirked and called out to Naruto to finish the third competitor off when he was wrestled off of Sakura. Naruto had not appreciated Sakura and Sasuke's position. It was a very suggestive way to restrain a girl, Sasuke learned, as Naruto punched him in the head and executed the Ultimate Naruto Barage. Sasuke evaded the last hit and activated his sharingan, wrestling Naruto into the ground. Naruto was fighting to get up and Sasuke kept pushing him down with the full weight of his body. It was highly suggestive. Sakura was still on the ground. Her body was shaking. She was still blushing. A grin was spreading across her lips. She tried to redirect her thoughts but Inner Sakura was pushing at her psyche. IS wanted a go at Naruto and Sasuke. A pulse let off near her heart. Sakura's grin turned into a predatory smile, teeth and all. She raised up from the ground. Her skin flushed as the tremors in her body stilled. Her eyes bled pink. "I feel so good."

Both boys' heads swung in her direction. With a rush of speed, Sakura went after them. Sasuke fled, but part of him regretted it when he saw Sakura roll Naruto over and pin him down facing her. She had her gaze locked on him, predatory smile intact. She was perched atop Naruto's stomach, gripping him by his upper arms. It was better than oiroke no jutsu. Naruto's face flushed until he bled out. He was out of the picture. Sasuke was the last one.

Sasuke mentally slapped himself for indulging a boyish fantasy. It probably was not as fun as he looked. Sakura hopped off of Naruto, who was easy prey, and rounded on Sasuke. "I take it there's still some fight in yea?" She grinned. "Excellent!" Sasuke and Sakura went at it for another ten minutes, using purely taijutsu. Sakura and Sasuke were throwing attacks faster than most could blink. Sasuke was seeing all her moves, but at the speed they were going, one or two made it through his defenses every now and then. Sakura was paying no attention to the blows he landed on her. She focused solely on offense. Her kekkei genkai allowed her to ignore the pain, as is the purpose of adrenaline. Of course, Sasuke did not like it when he'd get hit by Sakura. He had to pull his punches, but he was still doing a number on her.

Sakura knew she was losing. The blows were going to catch up to her. Outer Sakura would be returning soon. Until then she was unstoppable. Inner Sakura initiated a game of cat and mouse. She formed the seals that she'd seen Naruto do so often and turned to Sasuke. With a 'poof' of smoke, she transformed into a long-haired, busty, naked version of her kunoichi self. "Hey there big boy!" Only thin strips of clouds protected her virtues. Regardless of the knowledge that it was a transformation jutsu, Sasuke was momentarily immobilized by the fantasy. Inner Sakura took the opportunity gained and sucker-punched him without remorse. Sasuke was finally rendered unconscious.

Inner Sakura was grinning like mad at her victory when she heard something--or better yet, someone—fall out of a tree twenty-five yards away. Inner Sakura had successfully knocked all her male teammates unconscious with her alpha female personality. Fatigue grasped Sakura as she returned to her normal state. She collapsed onto the ground, body still shaking. 'Oh my God, I remember everything this time. Damn you IS!' She ranted in her head. Her cheeks were flushed. She sighed. 'Hopefully the embarrassment will wear off by the time they ALL wake up.' She really felt like going to sulk in a corner. Unfortunately she would not be going anywhere without one of them carrying her. Noting the futility of her situation, she drifted off to sleep.

-------

Sakura awoke to the feeling of being carried. It felt good to be carried, as she was starting to learn. If Sakura was not a ninja, she'd probably be a very lazy civilian. Sakura opened her bleary eyes to a loud orange hue. Naruto was carrying her. "Pervert!" She accused even though Naruto was touching her out of necessity. 'Oh the irony,' all three men noted.

Thankfully, Sakura did not hit Naruto when she jumped off of him. She swayed before standing tall. She held her chin high and walked ahead of them. She looked at the sky. Twilight was setting in. "As I was telling Naruto at lunch, Tsunade-same should have my test results back any time now. I'm off to the hospital. Ja ne!" The three men of team 7 decided that the happenings on the training grounds were taboo, at least, until Sakura criticizes Naruto about the use of HIS oiroke no jutsu.

------

"Latent adrenaline?" Sakura parroted back to Shizune.

"Yes. It seems that the trigger is when your chakra falls beneath thirty percent. A massive amount of energy is forced out of your chakra stores once the kekkei genkai is activated. The extra surge of adrenaline gives you the feeling of invincibility by clouding your pain receptors. Basically, you're able to note that the pain and continue fighting. The positive side is that your reflexes dramatically increase, like the sharingan."

"Really?! I'm developing the sharingan then?!" Sakura gasped.

"No. That's not what I meant. Kekkei genkai are created once and passed on to future generations. They are all unique. Still, your power may be an off-shoot of the sharingan. Sharingan grants the user forsight and copies the opponents' moves. Your kekkei genkai gives your body a sixth sense. You can sense danger. You can pick when to avoid an attack or take a casualty. Though your combat skill is increased, you can't copy techniques," Shizune paused, "at least that's what my assumptions are on everything you've related to me so far."

Sakura was a bit stunned. Shizune was amazing at diagnostics. "You're right. If I did have some sort of sharingan, I would have been able to utilize the jutsu that rogue iwa-nin used. Thank-you Shizune-san."

Sakura got up to leave. "Not so fast, Sakura." The door had opened. Sakura's mentor stood in the doorway. She had a resolute look on her face, as well as in her voice. "I have something to add." Sakura sat back down, curious.

Tsunade held the file. It was littered with theories. It was a mess compared to other files. Her condition, after all, was an enigma. "From the hypotheses we have made, we concluded that some of your chakra is cut off from the rest and then released all at once. The rush of chakra forces your adrenaline into overdrive. After a period of time, your body is left exhausted and vulnerable. If not for your teammates and if the battle was not finished during that period of time, you'd be fed to the proverbial wolves. The worse part about this theory is that with the figures reworked, the estimated chakra cut off and drained during the Rush is fifty percent. Sakura, until we can get that percentage down, I am hereby limiting your access to missions at C-level and below."

What would Sasuke say if he heard? She was strong, yet weak at the same time. She was an asset and a liability to her team. Sakura was swallowing her pride. She knew to trust her shishou's judgement. "How do I get that percentage down?"

"The more you run into your limit, the less you will have to rely on it. Luckily the solution is simple. You must use your chakra as offen as you can outside of combat, BUT you must always be under the supervision of Shizune, one of your teammates, or myself. Basically, a rigorous training schedule will solve just about any kunoichi's woes, and your situation is no exception."

The seriousness in Tsunade's voice vanished as she handed Sakura a scroll. It was a D-ranked mission. "Give this to Kakashi-san tomorrow morning. This mission is going to call for all of your talents, Sakura. It is D-ranked because the skills required of you will be used in a non-combat situation. Get a good night's rest and get your boys to my office by eight o' clock sharp!"

"Hai!" Sakura saluted. She quickly said good-bye to Shizune and her master and left. Sakura went right to her room and read the scroll: She was to help a town not far from Konoha in rebuilding their dike system. Tsunade had even left a note that she expected Sakura to use her chakra without falling below sixty percent. Sakura put the scroll under the fake compartment in the drawer of her nightstand. She then reached to the bookshelf above her bed and selected Most Complex Psyches: A Guide to Psychological Profiling without hesitation. She was almost finished; at page 412, she only had 56 more to go. At midnight, Sakura finished. Personally, she had preferred Hare-san's Personality Checklist-Revised. She rubbed her eyes, put the book on her nightstand, and was asleep within minutes.

At six o' clock Sakura awoke. She was feeling a little sleepy, but a big breakfast provided all the energy she needed. She went back upstairs and through Hare-san's PC-R in her bag along with the usual stuff. She grabbed the scroll, left a note for her parents, and went off to her sensei's house.

-------

Sakura knocked three times and then yelled at the top of her lungs. She didn't have time for her sensei's charades. It was 6:48am and she still had to go get Sasuke and Naruto. She just about barged in when the door cracked open, Kakashi staring at her with one lazy eye peeking through. "Ah, Sakura, ohayo!"

"Ohayo, sensei. This is for you. Hokage-sama gave us a D-ranked mission. She wants our team to leave at eight o' clock sharp. I need to go get Sasuke-kun. Have fun waking up Naruto!" Sakura left after having her pick of the messenger game. Let Kakashi-sensei deal with Naruto.

The walk to Sasuke's house was eerily quiet once she stepped foot into the Uchiha compound. She glanced around expecting a ghost to jump out at her at any moment. 'How horrible it must be to live in a place like this,' Sakura frowned, contemplating. 'Sasuke's demons will never go away if he stays here.'

She walked solemnly into Sasuke's house. "Sasuke-kun," she called.

"I'm in here," he called from a far off room. She walked along the side hall that surrounded the old-style house. She met him in his kitchen.

"It's good to see you up early. Hokage-sama has a mission for us."

"Good. We can't get too comfortable; not after what happened during the chuunin exams."

Sakura sat down. She hesitated before she spoke. "I'm sorry. It's only a D-ranked mission. It's all my fault really. Tsunade-sama thinks my condition is more curse than blessing and won't risk giving our team anything higher than C-rank for a while."

Sasuke frowned. "How long are we to consider you a liability?"

"It depends on how much I step up in my training schedule." Sasuke's frown quickly became an evil smirk. He enjoyed fighting against Sakura's 'liability'.

"You're not going to give me any time to breathe, are you? Well, as long as you have enough strength to carry me home every night, I have no qualms. How long will it take you to get ready?"

"Give me ten minutes, then we'll meet up with the dobe and sensei."

So she pulled out the PC-R and started reading the key parts, thinking over the enemies they'd ever met. Could any of them be psychopaths or just ill-fated shinobi following the code? Sasuke came back to find her in her musings.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Sakura looked up. "Oh, I'm reading Hare-san's Personality Checklist-Revised. It's quite fascinating. I never thought I would develop any interest in psychology, but, well, here I am."

Sasuke tilted his head. "What's the personality checklist for?"

"Hare-san formulated a checklist for diagnosing persons who meet the psychopathic criteria. I was just wondering how many rogue shinobi we fought were psychopaths. Zabuza, to my understanding, was sane. I know Orochimaru is definitely a psychopath. Many others fall unto only a few symptoms because of their shinobi training though."

Sasuke looked as if he were about to spit out bad medicine when he asked, "How about my brother?"

Sakura looked up. "I thought that would be pretty obvious, don't you? You were witness to his 'lack of conscience'."

Sasuke shook his head. "I still want my revenge against him for all he has done."

"People like him are criminals Sasuke, and they are criminals because they lack remorse and do evil things. You should not seek out revenge, not unless you want to lose your mind and become one of them. I just wonder who's more psychotic, Orochimaru or him."

"Can you help me do a checklist?"

"Why would you want to torture yourself, Sasuke?"

"I need to know if any part of him was human. If I have some remorse, as you put it, then I won't become like him," Sasuke's fists were clenched. One gripped his backpack. He swung it over his shoulders. "Come on. Kakashi and Naruto have probably headed towards the gate by now."

---------

"Well, I think the villagers can manage from here," said Kakashi, eye crinkle included. They were all staying in a one-room at the edge of town, expenses paid by the grateful villagers. They were all going to head out first thing in the morning.

Sakura, dressed in a white bedtime yukata, was readying her futon to lay down when Sasuke sat down beside her. "Sakura, did you bring the book with you?"

Sakura hesitated before pulling it out of the pack next to her bed. "Do you have a blank scroll?" He handed the scroll to her, along with the required brush and a bamboo container full of ink. All I want you to do tonight is check which symptoms your brother clearly displays."

Sasuke took his time, thinking of when any symptom had clearly arisen in his brother. He used examples to back up his answers and massaged the bridge of his nose when he was finished. "Let's hit the sack, Sasuke. We're keeping Naruto and sensei up." Sure enough, everyone was enraptured by the way Sasuke was opening up to Sakura. Naruto thought he could still get away with his eavesdropping and gave a loud, obnoxious snore. Sasuke gave an annoyed 'hnn' and dragged his futon away from Kakashi and over towards the wall closest to Sakura. Within ten minutes, they'd all drifted to a light slumber.

Heading back the next morning, Sasuke and Sakura drifted back to the rear and let Kakashi and Naruto scout ahead. Sakura began to check Sasuke's theories from an objective point-of-view.

"Grandiose sense of self-worth, check. No desire to be a leader, but able to in any case; this point you made is good. Superficial charm can stay unchecked. Criminal versatility, check. Unfeeling for the safety of others, as explained by his ruthless leadership, check. Efficient and flawless skill, therefore, you left 'impulse control problems unchecked," Sakura nodded, impressed, "Oh, I think we've stumbled upon our first disagreement. You said yes to 'aggressive or violent tendencies'."

Sasuke growled, "The police force detectives came to our house the day after Shisui was killed. Itachi nearly slaughtered them right there, I saw it in his eyes. The slaughter probably could have started there if my father had not intercepted the interrogation."

"True, BUT you must remember the keyword. That was only one instant for the whole month leading up to…it." Sasuke 'hnned', and Sakura slashed that one off the list with the ink brush.

"Okay, next is 'pathological narcissism', check. He let being the pride of the Uchiha go to his head. Pathological lying, check. His whole façade was a lie. Basically everything he said can be seen as a lie because of how that point in your life ended. Do you want to take a break, Sasuke?"

"Keep going."

Sakura nodded solemnly. She hoped this was therapeutic in its twisted sort of way. "Of course he was deceitful and manipulative…check. Hm. You said on 'inability to tolerate boredom? You reasoned that he always instigated fights, check; like with the detectives, like with you in Tanzaku town…like with me. I can add another reason: He always kept busy. Everybody thought he was a workaholic. Lack of empathy, check. Since he was always lying to you, his feelings for you were conjured up as well. He was just acting like he assumed older brothers would. He did not understand the implications of his gestures…," Sakura's voice trailed off. She started to sniff, and furiously rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. Quietly, she asked, "Sasuke, you really wrote all this?" They were quiet for a moment. "Even though you don't need a break, I need five minutes pull myself together."

Sasuke hadn't wanted to admit to needing breathing room, but he allowed Sakura to take as much time as she needed. Fifteen minutes later, hands in his pockets, he nudged her with his shoulder.

"Lack of remorse…check. You included the words 'to test my capacity'. Sense of extreme entitlement, check. Mastery of a hidden Uchiha jutsu. Diminished levels of anxiety, check. Never hesitated to accept nor failed a mission. Deviant sexual behavior…? Sasuke, why'd you put a question mark?"

Sasuke tucked his chin lower into the coller of his shirt. "I didn't exactly know what that was implying."

"Well, for instance, did he ever touch you," Sakura blushed as Sasuke's eyes buldged out, "…um, like a girl would, for instance?"

Sasuke shook his head furiously. At least that wasn't one of his traitorous, psychotic brother's abnormalities. "Regardless, I was too young to comprehend that subject."

Sakura took a precautionary glance at Sasuke and resumed. "Poor judgement, etc., left unmarked. He exceeded expectations as a ruthless, yet decisive leader and quickly received promotions. Failure to follow any life plan, checked. I think that as the 'pride of the Uchiha', your clan would have mapped out his life from the day he entered the Academy. Still, he failed to find a healthy reason for his existence."

Sakura flipped throught the eight pages worth of notes, and returned to the last page, obligingly reading the last bullet on the checklist. "Inability," she said and then started again, "Inability to distinguish the moral from the immoral….Check." She looked over at Sasuke and then skimmed through the page worth of scenarios. Sasuke had vented out all of his anger for his brother. She remembered then how increasingly moody Sasuke had become the previous night when writing through the checklist.

Wisely, she had known not to disturb him. Wisely, she would give him some space once more. She silently handed over the revised checklist. Running ahead, Sakura relieved her teacher from his scouting duties. Kakashi hung back and walked alongside Sasuke for about an hour or so.

---------

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan!" Naruto harshly whispered over to her with his hand. He was getting better at the whole ninja thing.

Sakura blinked and then looked over to where he was now pointing. Someone was coming out of the Great Forest thicket and into the road. The person was male. He was carrying something. It looked like a sack of potatoes. He was approaching them. Maybe he was lost. She called over her shoulder to Kakashi.

"We can find out where he's going and point him in the right direction. It's good that he found the road," Kakashi reasoned.

As he approached, Sakura could have sworn she saw the sack jump. She looked at the man again. His appearance was dirty and haggard. His eyes looked dead. Sakura had a swooping feeling in her gut. She pulled on Naruto's sleeve to keep him from going any closer and waited for the other half of their team to reach them. Sakura's brow furrowed. "Sensei, I think there's something wrong with that man."

The man, in a tattered villager yukata, kept shuffling along, wandering closer and closer to the road. The bag jumped again, of that Sakura and everyone else was now positive. There was a muffled yelp. Sasuke activated his sharingan.

The man let out an abrupt, hideous scream. His mood became alarmed and hostile. He revealed a small kitchen knife and held it to his hostage, who wailed. It was a small child. "You said I couldn't do it!" He screamed at none of them in particular. His focus soon became Sasuke's blood red eyes. "You said I didn't have it in me! Well I can prove you wrong! I was going to deposit her in the big waters, like yous wanted, show you just how good I could do it, but I think I's just do it now and deposit this shiny tool ins her neck!"

"Wait!" Sakura moved in front of Sasuke, blocking the sharingan from the man's view. His focus was redirected toward her. "Calm down. Let's not do anything we're going to regret." Sakura tried to remain as peaceful as possible, hoping to affect his mood as well. "If I go over there, can we talk about this peacefully?"

He screeched, "No!" He then hissed, "I'm on a mission! This is my first mission! I won't let you f—k it up! Stay where you are! I said STAY BACK!" Sakura noted that Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

Sakura stilled. The man was trapped in some sort of psychosis. He needed medical treatment. Still, there was the child's life to worry about. "I can't quite hear you from this distance. I'm just going to come a bit closer." The man seemed to nod in acquiescence as she took a few steps forward. The knife was still pressed to the shivering bundle's supposed jugular.

"You said you were on a mission?" Sakura asked. "You must be a shinobi. Tell me, are you friend or foe?"

"I am a leaf ninja! YOU ARE THE ENEMY!!! You're trying to sabotage my mission!"

"We are leaf shinobi as well," Sakura pointed to her forehead protector, "This symbol we each carry properly identifies us. We come with an urgent update regarding your important mission. As a leaf ninja to another, I'd like to speak colloquially. I'm going to come within ten feet of you, alright?"

The man's hostility started to flare up again. "Alright, that's close enough! Now give me the update!"

Sakura hoped her stalling was not too noticeable. The man thought he was on an extermination mission, she noted. "Our team was on a mission like yours within close proximity to yours. It seems our targets got mixed up. We have secured your target by mistake. It lies by the riverbed. Our mission had almost been completed when we realized we had grabbed the wrong target. If you'd give us our target, we'd be on our way."

He was mumbling now. He mumbled about his fear of failure. He got louder and louder. "Nononononooooo….not again! I can't fail again! How can I dawdle in this forest so long and find a target that isn't a target when you, a kunoichi brat, finds a not target that's not really a not target AT ALL!" He flung his hostage onto the forest floor and started pulling at his dirty, grimy hair. "I CAN'T FAIL AGAIN, you have to HELP ME kill HER!!!"

The crazed man made to grab Sakura's shoulders, but Kakashi flashed in front of Sakura, effectively cutting him off. Lightning fast, Kakashi grabbed the man's head. Sakura heard a distinct, sickening pop. Kakashi had adequately put a stop to the man's pathetic reality.

"I'm going to go bury the body. I won't be far. Sakura, heal the girl."

Sakura was shivering. Her eyes became wet. Naruto came over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sakura doubled over and expelled her breakfast. Naruto held her up awkwardly until Sakura gathered her composure. She sniffed and wiped the waterworks away from her face.

"Sakura," Naruto said sympathetically, "Sasuke's bringing the girl over so you can heal her. She's probably no more than six. Let's be strong for her." Sakura nodded her head and pulled on her friendly mask. "Thanks, Naruto."

Sasuke untied the rope at the top of the bag and released the bundle. The girl had been crying hysterically from the looks of it and was still whimpering. She had dark, red-rimmed eyes and long, black hair secured in low pigtails. Her forearm was broken and her shoulder, dislocated. She was trying to say something to Sasuke as he cautiously picked her up. "Daddy… where…where's Daddy?" She asked him again, more hysterically, "Where's Daddy?!"

Sasuke, shocked momentarily, tried his best to answer. "Was he the man who brought you out here?" Tactfully, he excluded the fact that the man had tried to kill her. The little girl nodded. Sasuke looked over to Sakura, who shook her head vigorously. He kept his mouth shut.

Sakura took the girl from Sasuke and set her down. "We don't know where your daddy went. Maybe he went to find a healer for your arm. How silly of him; he should have known that I could have you bandaged up in no time. Can you show me your arm?"

Sakura knew the girl didn't trust her works. The girl knew what was happening, but didn't want to say it aloud. If she kept her silence, maybe the nightmare would go away. The girl was going in to shock, Sakura noticed. She didn't say anything as she held out her arm, her head hung low. Sakura nodded her head towards the girl, as if to say 'Console her, dammit!' Sakura numbed the whole arm and got to work.

Both boys sat down next to the girl. Sasuke put a hand on her back and started rubbing circles, like his mother used to do. Naruto put on a cheerful grin and started shooting off introductory questions at the girl, which is actually recommended. "Hey there, the name's Naruto! What's your name?"

"Do you have a name?" "Do you live far from here?" "Do you have a best friend?" Each question went unanswered, but Naruto did his best not to be disheartened. He kept up his questions until Sakura was done setting the bones. "Alright, I guess you don't have a name. I'm going to nickname you Kyoko since I don't feel like calling you girl anymore!"

"I'm done," Sakura said. She hadn't completely healed the girl, they noticed. "Um, Kyoko…this is all I can do here, but I'm sure we could take you to the Konoha hospital. They'd take good care of you."

The girl didn't protest. Sakura formed an idea. Kakashi wasn't going to like this. First, Sakura gave the girl a consoling hug "It's going to be alright." Sakura then pressed down on the pressure point in 'Kyoko's' neck. Kyoko slumped forward into Sakura's embrace. "Sasuke, take Kyoko to Konoha as fast as you can." She said urgently, forgoing the honorific.

In the spirit of teamwork, Sasuke hoped Kakashi wouldn't mind. Sakura was nearly a full-fledged medical professional. She swept the girl into his arms, the set arm facing away from his chest and hanging in midair. He activated his sharingan and pumped chakra in a constant flow towards his lower half. In the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving them literally in the dust.

Kakashi came back. Sakura remembered her anger and exploded. "He was not well! We should have helped him!"

Kakashi's eye darkened. "He was a psychopath and was soon to become a murderer. He needed to be slain."

"No," she said, voice strong, "not a psychopath. The symptoms were different. He was out of his mind. He didn't try to justify what he was doing. He didn't understand what he was doing—there was still hope for him!"

"We could not be certain that he would have gotten better. Hospitals have bigger problems to worry about than dealing with mental patients. You distracted him. I eliminated him. We saved the girl. I did what I could in the situation. Where is the girl."

"I told Sasuke to take her to the Konoha hospital. They will examen her there. Let's hope they don't off her if she's a mental patient," Sakura spat. She turned away from Kakashi. "You tracked down the village, right? You were gone a while."

"I found out that man was her father. He was a former ninja of Konoha. He was discharged not long after achieving chuunin rank."

Sakura exhaled her leftover frustration. "I'm sorry that I let Sasuke-kun run off, Kakashi-sensei. I made a choice for the girl's sake. Naruto and I were capable of handling ourselves until you came back."

Kakashi nodded. "Let's head back. Sasuke will be waiting at the hospital."

--------

"How did it go?" Kakashi asked Sasuke. They were all gathered in the waiting room.

"Fine," Sasuke said, running a hand through his hair. "Shizune-san said it was a special case. The Hokage wants Shizune to work with the girl. She says Sakura is to focus on her combat training." He held Sakura's gaze. "'Don't worry about it,' she said."

Sakura nodded. They all headed to the Hokage tower. They gave their conclusion to the mission and explained the conflict in their journey home. Tsunade told Sakura that Kakashi made a good decision spur of the moment. A adult trapped in an unstable state of mind that long would expend many resources in treatment during war time. A quick death was all that could be given to him.

Later, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura met up at the Ramen stand. Sasuke was looking over the list again. "My brother isn't like that man. My brother tries to justify all the evil he's committed. I need to kill him, whenever the time comes. We need to strengthen our training schedule."

"You can count on us, Sasuke," Naruto said, uncharacteristically serious. They finished up, paid, and headed for the training grounds. All were about ready to drop when they headed home.

Instead of parting at the usual intersection, Sasuke and Naruto continued to follow Sakura. "Oi, Sasuke, don't steal my ideas!"

"Che. She's my teammate, too, dobe."

They walked Sakura, who was smiling all the way, home. She turned to them as she fished out her key. This was an important moment in Team 7 history. With a small smile, she tentatively hugged Naruto and then Sasuke, both hugs with equal compassion. Sakura was growing up and learning to understand love. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, early as usual!" She turned around, hopped inside, and closed the door. Naruto pinched himself and started grinning stupidly.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "Hey, dobe, don't stand there all night or you'll catch cold," Sasuke said. Sasuke punched Naruto in the arm playfully, and they both parted ways.

--------

On his way home, Sasuke noticed he was being followed. He kept going as if nothing was amiss and turned left at the narrowest alleyway he was aware of. If there was more than one apprehender, he'd gain an advantage. "Do you have business with me?"

A red-haired kunoichi stepped out of the shadows. "Fu. At least he's not as retarded as Jirobo," she remarked. A tall, bulky shadow shifted behind her at the entrance of the alleyway. "Listen up, shit for brains, Orochimaru wants you to go to him without complications."

Sasuke scoffed. "I don't take orders from strangers, kunoichi."

"Tayuya. Get moving…kid." She was obviously holding her tongue. She had what some would call a dirty mouth.

"Nice to meet you. I'm not going anywhere. Get out of here before I cause a disturbance." Sasuke's hand was prepared to execute a fireball jutsu at any moment.

"Sakon," Tayuya said, signalling to him with her hand. Sasuke heard a change in the direction of the wind and looked up. A man with two heads was coming down to dropkick him. Sasuke blocked and skidded closer to the street behind the alleyway. He didn't think these guys would hesitate to kill innocents if the fight flowed into the streets. They'd caught Sasuke's bluff.

"Even if you willed up the determination to fight us in the alleyway or the streets, one of our men is staking out your girlfriend's house right now. If you don't go with us to Orochimaru, we assure you, Kidomaru will kill her."

"Sakura wouldn't be killed so easily," Sasuke stated.

"If Kidomaru is too weak to kill that kunoichi, we could always target her mother. How would you like to make her an orphan, like you and that blonde brat?"

Sasuke held his silence. He was fuming. "Sakura can protect them adequately."

Sakon cupped his ear, speaking into a mike. "How are things working on your end, Kidomaru?" The conversation went into tones inaudible to Sasuke. Sakon covered his mouth with his other hand, making the sharingan useless. "Well, Kidomaru's set the trap. His little friends are keeping an eye on her."

Sasuke threw a punch at him and missed. Sasuke was slammed into the building wall the next moment, the wind knocked out of him. He was staring at the aggressor, whose face and body was now covered in black markings. "It's the cursed seal you wear. Yours is a level one. We can help you obtain the next level. The power Orochimaru will give you is still far more rewarding."

Tayuya piped up behind Sakon. "Why prolong your departure? This day was going to come. Your friends have already found masters. Yours awaits. Don't think that sticking around in Konoha will teach you the jutsu necessary to kill Itachi."

"So what will you do now, kid?" Sakon asked, already knowing the answer.

Sasuke slammed his fist into the wall and gritted his teeth. It was true. He knew his enemy now and was sure that what he was doing was right, thanks to Sakura. It was time to acquire the skill necessary to put his brother to rest and end his own nightmare. "I'll go to him."

"I'm sure you would like to see your girlfriend one more time. Bring Kidomaru with you."

Sasuke stalled as long as he could. He met up with Kidomaru at two that morning. "I left the window open for you. Don't worry, I sprinkled some sleeping powder under her nose."

Sasuke frowned. His friends were no match for these sound ninja. He slipped inside. Sakura was lightly snoring. It was mildly cute. He saw her hand by her pillow and grabbed it without thinking. He was saying good-bye, but it isn't like he thought up a speech beforehand. He hesitated. He opened his mouth but paused. He waited for the words to come to him. Finally, Sasuke thought of a simple, one-liner, and put all his feeling into it.

"Arigatou…Sakura."

------------end chapter.

Can you believe it? I came back. Mens rea, as my Sakura would put it. I need to finish this or I will forever have this horrid creative block. I feel cursed. Finishing this story will be the only way to lift it.

GAWD, I feel a sequel coming. Why, why, why, why, why did I have to make this chapter so much more positive than where I left it?! Expect a happy ending. You guys earned it. Just don't count on a sequel. It might just be a 'dun-dun-DUN!' ending.

P.S. …………….DaaaaaaaaAMN! 19 full pages!