Konoha's Prodigies || Naruto [Sasuke x Sakura x Neji]

Chapter 8

"NEJI!" Sakura screamed.

She appeared in front of Neji in a flash and shielded him with her body. Kisame's sword hit her body with a strong force, sending her flying and scrapping the floor. I felt so weak and some of my bones are crushed. I coughed out blood which stained Neji's attire.

"SAKURA!" Neji and Sasuke called, immediately running to her aid.

Sakura became very weak and in immense pain. Not only did the scales absorb an amount of her life force, it fractured some of her bones. She coughed out blood and the sight scared the other two boys. It wasn't a sight to get used to, especially at such a young age.

Kisame smirked while stepping closer to them. "Brat."

Sakura wanted to move, but her body felt so heavy. She had to. Feeling this beat up and so helpless was definitely a first for her, a first for all three of them in fact. It felt real. Something they were trained to do since birth: fight. Even sitting up was a struggle, but Sasuke helped her up and she leaned on him for support. Just as Neji was about to strike with his gentle fists, two figures with orange and blue hair respectively appeared in Akatsuki's signature cloak. They stood in between the shark look alike and the Hyuga.

The man with orange hair spoke first, "Stop." It was an order, more to Itachi and Kisame than the ninjas from the leaf village.

"Why? I was just getting started." Kisame whined.

"Kill Gatou. Tazuna must survive. Killing Gatou benefits us more." Pein said.

"Hn." Itachi answered. None of the rookies noticed his presence. They were too engrossed with the situation in hand, perhaps. Even Kakashi's arrival was unnoticed. The older Uchiha moved his gaze to the pinkette, what went through his mind, she doesn't know. But she looked at him in anger and disappointment. Admittedly, he was the true prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke was better than the average, and he made it with hardwork, but Itachi was still better. Thus, the older Uchiha and the Haruno spent a lot of time together as children. With their gazes still fixated on each other, the Akatsuki team left with the breeze.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, observing the injury on her back.

"I can bear with it, but I don't think I can move around so much." She said with disappointment, she hated herself for being weak. She felt her pride being washed away.

The silverette pat her head, "You did a good job being able to get this far." Then, he stepped in front of her and bent down, "C'mon, the damage of Samehada on your life force won't heal so quickly."

Their journey to Tazuna's home was silent. The old man felt guilt; the trio made a resolution to become stronger, and trying to ignore the disappointment they have in themselves. The Jounin however, he was hiding his own wounds from his battle and bearing with the pain.

~MEANWHILE~

The ravenette knocked Kisame's head as they walked towards Gatou's mansion to kill him.

"Ow! What was that for?!?" Kisame asked angrily.

Itachi replied, "Nothing."

He smirked and said, "For hurting your beloved cherry blossom?"

No response was given, but both of them knew it was true. They had known each other long enough.

Back to the team in Tazuna's house, Sakura was immediately treated with utmost care. She had her front laying on floor as Tazuna's daughter helped clean her wounds and wrapped it with bandages. The three guys were waiting outside the room.

Once she was done, she offered to help Sakura dress but was politely denied. She left the pinkette to dress and allowed the guys to enter the room after she was done.

"How do you feel now?" Kakashi was the first to ask.

"I'm fine, you should get yourself treated too."

Kakashi nodded, knowing she must have figured it out by how tense his muscles were when he piggybacked her. "I can do that myself. If there's anything you need, I'll be resting in my room."

"Sure thing, Kakashi-sensei. And thank you."

She wasn't her real self, he knew. She's troubled by the confrontation she'll have with her family. Suffering from such injuries in a C-rank mission would be the laugh of a town. Even though it should be a B-rank, it was still registered as a C-rank in the files. He looked at the two concerned boys sitting in either side of her, inquiring about her condition. They'll cheer her up, he trusts them.

==

Dedicated to LadyScarlet2017 for your spam of votes last month!

I'm aware that there's a huge ass difference compared to the previous version hahah :^) If you're an old reader, the reason I changed it is because I realised they're still genin AND just 12 years old. So being on par with an Akatsuki member is impossible; being all dirty also doesn't make sense heh. Sorry there's no fluff/smut :^)

Published: December 2014
Rewritten: 29 April 2018