Shinobi (Sequel to Otokage)

Well, What Made You?

Naruto had never seen Sakura like this.

Not to say that she was weak or anything like that. She never was. To him, at the very least. But the person fighting Sasuke in front of him right now was incredible. She seemed to be performing only taijutsu, but was matching up his rival blow for blow.

Sakura slammed her fist into the ground, rocking the earth so greatly that it almost knocked Naruto off his feet.

Scratch that. She just might be a little better than Sasuke.

He shook himself from his awe and glanced to the others. Jiraiya observed her movements keenly as he leaned against the bark of a tree, not taking his eyes off the battle for even a second. Ino's eyes were wide and disbelieving, probably imagining just how in the world her best friend got to where she was right now. Shikamaru, surprisingly, was in a similar state, Shino not too far from it. Naruto looked further down the line at the Akatsuki members.

The tall one, Kaki-whats-it, didn't look too concerned that the training grounds were being ripped to shreds. He took on a more calculative stare at the scene before him, like he was assessing the battle rather than watching it. Sasori, on the other hand, looked smug as hell. He still really didn't like that guy.

Naruto tore his eyes away and looked back at the fight. He could barely make out the outline of Kabuto on the other side of the field. That asshole had been here when the group of them arrived, acting as the moderator, he guessed. He was her right hand man, right?

He tugged his orange jacket tighter around him and tried to keep his jaw from dropping when Itachi and Kisame walk up behind Kabuto. He couldn't hear a word they said, but he saw that didn't say much and went on to watch the fight themselves.

Naruto frowned while turning his attention back to Sakura. Seriously, how could he have been so blind to his teammate?

::

How did the fuck did she get so strong?!

Sasuke hissed as he dodged the numerous strikes of glowing blue hands. He was actually starting to get tired and most, if not all, of his ribs were either cracked or broken. They were pushing against his lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe as time went on. It also didn't help that she was beating him with only taijutsu and medical ninjutsu.

His sharingan helped to better predict her movements, but there wasn't a single genjutsu he could pull to get inside her head. He absolutely hated having to admit that he was losing to her. To her.

Crybaby Sakura.

Her being at such a close proximity made his fire attacks invalid, forcing him to rely on chidori-related attacks, his sword, and the taijutsu skills that definitely weren't on par with hers. Sasuke grit his teeth as he clenched his fist and sending shock wave of electricity in her direction. Sakura disappeared from view, leaving him alone on the field.

Sasuke's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword as he assessed his surroundings. He didn't notice all the people that had come to watch the fight. Two people were sat on the high wall: Hidan and that diplomat, who were immersed in their own conversation rather than watching the battle.The dobe was here unfortunately, as well as some of those damn Akatsuki members and his teammates. A bird was flying high up in the air. Deidara, probably. Then there were the three on the opposite side from the larger crowd.

Kabuto. Kisame. And that man. The two of them locked eyes for a split second, Itachi looking impassive as ever and anger starting to rage through his veins.

Sakura defended the damned demon. What about him could po--

"Even Academy students know not to get distracted."

::

Haruno Sakura was a monster, and he meant that in the best way possible.

But the battle he was watching gave rise to some unsettling images. Sasuke and Sakura fighting was almost like looking into a mirror and seeing Tsunade and Orochimaru fighting each other. They were so similar that he wondered if Team Seven was a strange reincarnation of Team Hiruzen.

The sensei became Hokage.

One left for power and later came to murder their mentor.

Another became a sage while striving to better who they were.

The last left to find themselves before surprising everyone in becoming a leader of a village that needed to be rebuilt.

Jiraiya rubbed his eyes and let out a small sigh. He wasn't averse to having a legacy of the sannin, but he never imagined that these legacies would have such a terribly uncanny resemblance. When he focused back to the fight, he saw Sakura retract her fist.

"CHA!"

He hand met the already destroyed ground, shooting a thick cloud of dust at the spectators and creating such an enormous crater that it made everyone retreat several meters backwards. Jiraiya covered his nose and mouth with his hand as he swatted the air around him to clear it.

"Holy shit!" Naruto coughed, "I think she might've killed him!"

::

Well, he wasn't quite dead even though he certainly must feel like it. Sakura gazed down at the him, holding a glowing hand to her shoulder to slow the bleeding. Sasuke was on his knees with his head bowed down, a hand holding his chest as the other gripped the dirt beneath him. A few drops of blood fell from his lips.

"I don't understand you." he said, not looking up at her, "You... went from that naive kunoichi that barely did a thing to a Kage that accepted even Itachi."

He coughed, more red gurgling out of his throat.

"I don't know if you've grown up or got more idiotic."

Sakura scoffed lightly. She crouched down and moved Sasuke into a sitting position. Hand still growing green, she held it up to his chest to delay the internal damage until she could get him to a hospital.

"You still have a nasty attitude, as always. I wonder how Naruto puts up with you." she sighed. The dust still sat heavily in the air around and above them. Sasuke kept silent for a while, his long bangs hiding his eyes.

"Back in Konoha..."

She eyed him curiously.

"... you asked me to forgive him... didn't you?"

Sakura let the green fade away as she stood and dusted off her front. She frowned, finding that her shirt had been singed in numerous places.

"I did."

"What makes him deserving of second chance?"

"Well, what made you?"

Sasuke was silent. She was right, wasn't she? He killed so many people under Orochimaru's tutelage and on his quest to find Itachi, but Konoha still welcomed him back with open arms. But Itachi's crimes were far more worthy of all punishments that came his way. He killed his entire clan in one night, for god's sake. Sasuke wanted nothing more for him to burn in hell.

But... she saw good in him. Somehow in that mess of darkness, he had appeared at least a little human.

He blinked when an outstretched hand entered his vision, making him look up at Sakura's smiling face with furrowed brows.

"Come on, Sasuke. We need to get you to the hospital."

The dust had cleared by now, showing the bright sun in the midst of the chilly afternoon. He then stared at her hand. It was a small thing covered in calluses and scars worn from hard work and years of getting stronger on her own. A working hand, that clawed and gripped their way to the very top without so much as another to help it.

He took it and let himself be lifted up.