Chapter 31

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They turned their heads and found a man in his sixties. There were many streaks of grey in his hair and wrinkles lined along his features. His white eyes were the most prominent, immediately catching the attention of the entire team. Those eyes only belonged to the Hyūga clan. The heir of the said clan glared at the stranger, he could not recognise this man.

The older Hyūga smirked, "Why hello there, son."

"I am not your son." He stated sternly.

"But we do share the same bloodline." He teased. "Now, are these all that's coming today?"

Kakashi stepped forward, standing in front of the team protectively. "Is attacking the village truly your objective?"

A smile graced the elderly's lips, "Not exactly, but if the situation calls for it, we will not hesitate to do so."

"Back in the sea, was it you who attacked us?" He asked again.

"It wasn't me, but I did give the orders." He replied simply and looked at both of Sakura's teammates. "Oh, both of you don't need to waste your strength to search the area."

He waved his hand and a crowd of rogue ninjas emerged from the trees and bushes, earning loud growls from the tiger-nins. The group readied their weapons and Shikamaru started the engines in his head. He began scanning the area and observed every enemy with his keen eyes.

"Now now, don't panic." The old man waved his hands. "As long as you give us what we want, we will not harm you."

"What? Sakura?" Sasuke spat venomously.

"Oh my, you're a smart one." He clapped. "Yes, where is the young maiden?"

"Why do you want her and who are you?"

The older Hyūga smiled, but it wasn't friendly. It felt more sinister.

"Answer me!" Sasuke demanded, trying to confront him but he was held back by Kakashi's arm. Poor Uchiha, so protective of the pinkette he loves. He had been worried sick about her well-being. She hasn't been acting like herself for some time and he couldn't help but feel something eerie about the situation.

Shikamaru suddenly spoke, "The oldest rogue ninja of the Trio Prodigies who are still alive."

His smile only grew wider, "Why yes.. How did you know, son?"

The pineapple head scanned the ninjas again before answering. "Most of the ninjas around here bears a resemblance of noble clans in Konoha. The rest of them are probably prodigies from clans which aren't well known."

"That's right." He nodded. "I'm the leader of this pack and it's quite obvious that I'm from the Hyūga clan."

Neji took a deep breath. "So what do you want from Sakura?"

"She's the girl of the Trio Prodigies. The woman who caused all of us misery." Although he was smiling, his eyes were full of immense hatred. "She chose the wrong mate and left us heartbroken."

Then, his gaze softened. Pain was evident in his white orbs as he reminisced his past. Although he was staring at the group, he had a faraway look in his eyes.

"After everything we had done for her, loved her wholeheartedly, she abandoned us for another man." He scowled. "It hurts so much to watch her love another man and it's a scene we had to witness everyday. It was as though we meant nothing to her."

The older Hyuga smiled again, that wicked smile. "My teammates consisted of a Haruno and an Uchiha, just like you three."

The Hyūga heir had an unreadable expression painted on his face while Sasuke argued.

"Your teammate who left you isn't Sakura! What purpose do you want with her? You can't force love! If you truly love someone, you would want her to be happy.." He whispered, "It isn't her fault that she doesn't love you."

A man from the crowd dressed in a dark hoodie and square sunglasses cried out, "We want to teach that girl a lesson! To choose the right one! We did all we can! We cared for her, protected her, and loved her, but she chose another!"

Without hearing another word from the group, they charged. They were far too heartbroken, too fixed in their desire for revenge to think rationally.

Before the circle of rogue ninjas could touch them, they were swept by a violent wind that brought a wave of cherry blossom flowers. The older Hyuga was forced to step back because a figure fell from above with the company of a snow white tigress right behind her.

"That was the most idiotic reason I've ever heard to harm a person or an entire village." She angrily stated.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called. "What are you doing here?"

"Did you really think I would stay there and do nothing? Not a chance!"

Shikamaru groaned, "You're so troublesome. This is the last place you should be in right now."

Sasuke and Neji stood in front of the pinkette.

"We are not letting you fight in the front lines. Their target is you." Neji ordered.

"Let us protect you." The Uchiha said.

She sighed, "I know you care for me, but I can take care of myself. Our chances to win would increase if I join in the fight, don't you think?"

Although the heiress does have a point, they had an unsettling feeling about her presence here. These shinobis aren't just any rogue ninjas, they were the trio prodigies. They are all prodigies from their village. They make a very strong group and it's about 50 of them versus the five of them. Even with the help of their tiger-nins, this fight would prove to be incredibly difficult.

==

The entire scene was messy and noisy, countless trees had already fallen over and the ground was filled with holes and cracks. It looked like a war zone. Clings and clangs were everywhere and the group from the Leaf Village were already panting.

Sakura was occupied by an Uchiha who's older then her teammate. He had ranted during the fight, saying that a Yamanaka chose an Inuzuka over him. She could care less about his story as she had another opponent who was attacking her from another side. Battling two prodigies was certainly draining her strength in every aspect. Suddenly, she couldn't move. She was frozen on her spot and locked eyes with the Sharingan of the Uchiha by accident.

Before falling into a genjutsu, she heard him say, "You missed the Nara behind you."

==

Dedicated to -jesss for your votes and comments! Truly appreciate it and your comments made me laugh!

This should be familiar to the readers who read the previous version. Could you tell what'll happen next? ;)

~Joelle

Published: December 2014Rewritten: 3 June 2018

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Published: December 2014
Rewritten: 3 June 2018

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