Inside the alcove of the giant tree, Sakura sat with a worried and sad look as she glanced over unconscious Naruto and Sasuke.
'No, I shouldn't be sad,' she thought, slapping her face. She shook her head and sighed.
"But it still feels like I was just a burden. Naruto and Sasuke fought and got injured against the Sannin Orochimaru, yet I was knocked out by a single glance of his Genjutsu." She tightly clenched the dark blue coloured Earth Scroll in her hand, muttering with a determined look.
"I will definitely protect them this time." She tucked the scroll into her pouch, took a kunai out, and gripped it firmly.
Swish!
She heard a sound and instantly turned, throwing her kunai in the direction of the noise. A small brown squirrel barely survived the accurate throw, a mere inch separating it from the blade.
"A squirrel?"
She sighed in relief, walking toward the squirrel, which had fainted from the shock. The poor thing had felt death staring it down. She retrieved her kunai and picked up the unconscious animal.
"You're unconscious too. Don't worry, I will protect you until you wake--" she was speaking to herself, but she suddenly paused. Her gaze landed on a paper bomb attached to the squirrel's back.
Her eyes widened. She immediately removed and destroyed the paper bomb, slowly placing the squirrel on the ground. She clutched her kunai firmly, scanning the surroundings, her guard completely up.
"There's definitely someone here," she mused, then called out loudly, "Come out, whoever you are!"
———
"She noticed, the paper bomb not our location," said a boy with dark, spiky hair from the Sound Village, hidden up in a tree with his two teammates.
Dosu, the bandaged Genin, said, "Yeah, but there's no point in hiding anyway."
"And don't forget, our main target is Sasuke Uchiha," said the long-haired kunoichi, Kin.
"Orochimaru-sama's mission for us is to kill Sasuke when we encounter him. He's unconscious; this is the best time. We'll take out this girl and complete our mission."
Zaku grinned. "Then what are we waiting for?"
———
Whoosh!
All three of them landed in front of Sakura.
"You... You're the Sound Village Team!" Sakura recognized them.
Dosu spoke in a hoarse voice, "Well, well, we wouldn't generally give this chance, but we will let you off the hook if you just wake Sasuke for us."
"Tch. Why do we need him awake? Our mission is to kill him anyway," Kin complained with a scoff.
"Well, you can't understand. There's no fun in killing a sleeping enemy, Kin," Zaku laughed.
"You're here for Sasuke? Sorry, I can't let that happen!" Sakura was surprised but immediately began to weave hand signs.
"Huh, what can you do?" Zaku grinned and jumped in front of her.
"Water Release : Wild Water Wave Jutsu!"
A huge torrent of water shot outwards from Sakura's mouth, smashing directly into the overconfident Zaku. His eyes widened. He tried to dodge, but the width of Sakura's jutsu was too wide to escape. However, Dosu and Kin were able to jump sideways. Zaku was sent flying and was plastered against a large, wide tree behind him.
"DAMN YOU!" Zaku groaned in pain from the attack, glaring at her.
But his eyes widened in disbelief. Sakura's figure was directly in front of him, her kunai tightly gripped in her hand, slashing at him. Zaku was horrified, knowing he couldn't dodge her slash.
Swish!
Ting!
Sakura halted her attack and jumped backward. Several senbon with attached bells had struck in her direction with great accuracy, passed through her sides.
"Genjutsu?" Sakura felt some external chakra targeting her brain through the sound of the bells. She turned to her left and saw several figures of Kin, all grinning at her.
Sakura closed her eyes and quickly opened them. This time, she saw only one Kin, but she didn't have time to think about how to strike Kin or Zaku, as Dosu's figure flashed close to her.
His porous metal gauntlet on his right arm slashed at Sakura's face. Sakura turned to Dosu, blocking his punch with her kunai.
Clang!
The metallic sound of the gauntlet and kunai created vibrations.
"Argh!" Sakura groaned lightly, taking a step back to a considerable distance in front of the tree where Sasuke and Naruto were still unconscious.
She felt another Genjutsu, her vision blurring slightly, and a wave of dizziness, but she immediately snapped out of it with ease, clenching her kunai again.
"Tch, our sound-based Genjutsu are ineffective against her!" Kin snorted.
"Yeah, seems like she's not your usual kunoichi, but a problematic one," Dosu equally snorted, narrowing his visible eye at Sakura.
Zaku barked, "WHATEVER! LET'S TAKE HER OUT ALL TOGETHER THEN!!"
———
Several hundred meters away from Sakura's location, Rock Lee was creating his own training exercises. He sat on a branch of a tree, his eyes burning with determined spirit.
''If I catch all 20 of these leaves before any of them hits the ground, then Sakura will fall in love with me! Yosh!''
"YAAAH!"
Swish!
Lee jumped at full speed, landed in a handstand on the ground, and instantly caught all 20 leaves.
"What is he doing?" Tenten sighed and asked Neji with a bored look.
"Forget him," Neji replied, turning his head to his right, where he had sensed chakra behind bushes. "Come out of hiding, you cowards."
"How did he spot us when we hid so well?" Ino whispered.
Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag! It's a pain in the neck to sit in this position for hours!"
"Alright, it's time for Plan B!" Ino said. With that, all three of them appeared in front of Neji and Tenten.
"Wow! Neji Hyuga, can I get your autograph?" Ino said, while Shikamaru and Choji stood on her left and right.
"Oh, it's you three..." Neji said, disappointment lacing his voice.
'Being tough, huh?' Ino thought, removing her clip and flaring her shiny blonde hair.
"I can't tell you how long," Ino said in a seductive voice, winked at Neji, "I've dreamed of meeting you!!"
"Get lost!"
Neji instantly turned his back and walked away. While Tenten rolled her eyes at both Ino and Neji, but specifically at Ino.