It's been a couple of days since both the sound and sand village attacked Konoha. Reconstruction is going slowly; funerals were hosted, and the hospital was overrun with injured people. The Hokage is still alive, Orochimaru and Kabuto are on the run, and the sand siblings escaped back to their country.

Sarah was busy tending to her patients, not taking a day off since she was released from the hospital. Despite the Chuunin promotion already passing, Sarah didn't bother to attend it. She simply didn't have enough time to pick up her flak jacket and celebrate.

Looking into the mirror and noticing her short unruly hair, she sighed. Her long hair was all gone, it felt as if a piece of her identity had left. Now she was just a hollow shell of her former self - a medic prodigy who's supposedly on the way to surprassing Tsunade Senju.

But is that all there was to her? Everyone always glosses over her other skill sets in favor of her healing. It's a curse. This life of hers was a curse.

Sarah punched the mirror with her fist, watching as the glass shattered and the shards falling onto the ground.

"Looks like we're going to need a new bathroom mirror," Sarah sighed as she walked out.

Maybe she just needed to spend some time away from the hospital? Perhaps surround herself with her loved ones?

Walking out of Konoha General, Sarah walked down the street and headed towards the estate. There she saw Naruto and Sasuke sparring, showing off their new moves. Kakashi was busy reading porn as usual.

Sarah rolled her eyes as she walked into the estate, quickly swiping the Icha Icha novel from Kakashi's hand. "Ew! You're still reading this shit?"

"Sarah-chan!" Naruto shouted as he quickly dodged an attack from Sasuke, "You're back!"

"Mhm. I'm taking the rest of the week off." Sarah tossed the book aside.

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan. You missed out on your Chuunin promotion. I think your flak jacket is still in the Hokage's office," Sasuke pointed out, "Let's go out and get it, maybe stop by and get some ramen."

"It better be from Ichirakus!" Naruto interjected.

"Of course," Sasuke responded as he grabbed his friends' hands, "Let's hurry up before Ichirakus gets too busy."

Sarah nodded as she and Naruto were dragged off by Sasuke to the Hokage's tower.

-

Naruto was busy talking their ears off as Team Seven strolled down the streets of Konoha. He was retelling him and Gaara's epic clash, going into great detail about how he managed to pull tailed beast chakra out and land a punch square into the Tanuki's jaw. Sarah chuckled a bit at the idea of Gaara getting his shit clocked (not once but twice). Sasuke rolled his eyes as he briefly mentioned how he started the whole thing by piercing his ultimate defense with his Chidori. Naruto rolled his eyes and started arguing saying that his toad summons was better.

Sarah managed to break up the argument before the two could fight, stating they could hash it out during training later. She felt something was off about today; like something bad would be happening soon.

The trio eventually met up with Kakashi at Ichirakus. Sarah didn't understand why the silver haired Jounin was there in the first place (actually why did he even show up). Naruto was overjoyed to see him, Sasuke chuckling as the blonde continued on with his normal antics.

"Ah..you three finally showed up."

"Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked him.

"Nothings wrong, I just decided that I would go out and enjoy some ramen with my three cute little students. It's a shame you three have grown up so fast; Sarah's a Chuunin, Sasuke you're slowly mastering your Sharingan, and Naruto is now frequently summoning toads." Kakashi sighed, "Mah...times sure have changed."

Sarah grinned as she showed off her flak jacket, "I know I'm so cool!"

"Hey, how come we haven't made Chuunin yet?  We took down Gaara!" Naruto pointed out, "All she did was charge at Orochimaru and clock his shit!"

"I took down two resurrected Hokages and saved the current one. Oh did I also forget to mention I clocked Kabuto's shit during the exams? Don't forget that I also performed open heart surgery on Hinata during the preliminaries." Sarah listed off, "If it weren't for me we would all most likely be dead, considering Orochimaru was after Sasuke for his body."

Sasuke shivered, "Never mention that snake-pedos name again."

Naruto sighed, "Fine. Hey maybe by the time the next exams rolls around we'll become Chuunin too, eh Sasuke?"

"I'm probably going to take a year or two off to prepare. The Chuunin exams was pretty eye opening for me..." Sasuke looked at a nearby table, "Hm..."

"Is something wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"Kakashi-sensei, wasn't there two people there earlier?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Hm...I think they were... Wait..." Sarah paused for a few moments. She remembered the two men there wore very....familiar cloaks, "Sensei, those were Akatsuki members...weren't they?"

Kakashi sighed, "Yes they were."

"We got to go tell somebody and stop them," Naruto said as he attempted to rush off. Sarah grabbed him by the back of his jacket.

"Don't be foolish. We aren't powerful enough to take them on yet. Besides, I'm sure someone's probably alerted the Hokage about this by now."

Sarah bit her thumb and placed her hand on the ground. A small grey cat appeared within a puff of smoke.

"Who the hell are you?" The cat asked.

"I'm Sarah. No time for introductions, I need you to track down two men wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them," Sarah commanded.

The cat rolled his eyes, "Fine."

"Sarah what are you planning?" Kakashi asked her.

"I have a hunch and I'm going to follow it. Rather or not you all want to tag-along with me is completely optional," Sarah explained as she followed closely behind her ninneko.

"Hell yeah, stealth mission!" Naruto shouted as he followed quickly behind her.

Sasuke sighed, "Let's stop those two before they cause more trouble."

"Noted," Kakashi responded as the two trailed behind Naruto.

Eventually Team Seven arrived towards a nearby walkway. The group hid in the trees as Sarah scoped the duo out. Asuma and Kurenai were already there confronting them.

As soon as Sasuke heard the name Uchiha Itachi, his eyes widened. Sasuke's whole body started to tremble as the memories from that night flooded through his brain.

"Wait before you attack," Sarah whispered, "i know how much avenging your clan means to you but I don't think you're strong enough to handle those two."

The group watched as Kurenai and Asuma engaged in combat with the two missing ninjas. Itachi and the shark-man (whose name was Kisame Hoshigaki) were able to easily overpower the two jounins. Kakashi jumped out from the treetops and started to form handsigns.

"Suiton: Shiko-pan no jutsu!"

Team Seven used this as an opportunity to step in and join the battle. Sarah withdrew a large sword from her scroll as Naruto formed multiple shadow clones. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and stood directly beside Sarah, staring Itachi in the eyes.

"Kakashi, why is your team here? We could've handled this on our own." Asume shouted.

"Maa don't worry, my three students are perfectly capable of helping us out. I trust Sarah-chans leadership and judgement," Kakashi responded.

Sarah nodded as she focused her gaze onto the two Akatsuki members. She gripped onto her sword tightly, already having observed briefly the skill set of her opponents. The divide between her and the two missing ninjas right in front of her were massive. Even with her team standing beside her she wouldn't be able to stand a chance against them.

"So this is the power of Kakashi Hatake the Copy Ninja. I'm quite impressed you've managed to copy my jutsu so quickly," Kisame complimented, "And it seems your little brother and his friends decided to join the battle too. Aren't you happy at seeing him again, eh Itachi?"

Itachi didn't respond. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"And you must be Hoshigaki Kisame of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, wielded of the chakra-eating sword Samehada." Kakashi responded.

"Wow I'm so honored you know my name. I heard about your fight with Zabuza. I'm quite impressed you and your team managed to survive," Kisame said as he got into a fighting position, "It doesn't matter now. I'm going to slice you all to ribbons!"

"Don't," Itachi said, "If you take too long fighting them then more shinobi will arrive. Don't forget about our mission."

"You're here to capture the nine-tails," Sarah spoke up.

Itachi shifted his gaze onto hers.

"I won't let that happen," Sarah got into a fighting stance, "Kakashi, Naruto, now!"

"Ninpou: Suiton-Suijin Heki!"

"Uzumaki Naruto Rendan!"

The two quickly jumped Itachi as Sarah quickly engaged in combat with Kisame. Their swords clashed against each other, Sarah having to avoid near fatal strikes with precision as Kisame kept relentlessly attacking her. Sasuke quickly formed handsigns and jumped up into the air.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Sasuke spat out a giant fireball directly above the two missing ninjas. Everyone quickly jumped out of the way as the fireball landed into the water. Itachi and Kisame jumped onto the land, the leaf ninjas quickly following suit.

"I must say I'm impressed you've managed to survive so far," Kisame chuckled as he clashed his sword against Sarah's, "Your student sure is talented, Kakashi. I can see why Zabuza took a special interest in her."

Sarah tightened her grip on her sword. Kakashi was already exhausted from having to keep up his Sharigan. If he kept it up then they will all be doomed.

Itachi activated his Sharigan and used his technique on the group. Everyone but Kakashi quickly closed their eyes, the silver-haired Jounin falling unconscious from the genjutsu.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke quickly formed handsigns and charged at Itachi with the lightning blade, "I won't let you get away with this! Chidori!"

Before the blade could pierce Itachi, Sasuke ended up getting swiftly kicked into the tree. The jutsu disapperated, Sasuke coughing up blood from the impact.

Sarah knew this was about to get nasty real quickly. She quickly grabbed a bunch of seals and threw them haphazardly in front of her.

"Naruto, under no circumstances are you to split up from me." Sarah commanded as she channeled her mana into the seals, "Got it?"

Naruto nodded.

"Doton: Ōkina bunretsu!"

The ground started to quickly crack from underneath them. Sarah used this as an opportunity to charge directly at Kisame and land a hit on his sword. Naruto and Asume did a combination attack and blew out a huge gust of wind at Itachi, the black-haired ninja quickly evading and throwing shuriken at them. Kurenai quickly put up a genjutsu around Kakashi's unconscious body before hopping back into the battle.

Sasuke slowly got up from the ground and picked up a discarded kunai off the ground. He had to end Itachi now or else he will never get this chance again. Rushing into battle with his Sharingan activated, Sasuke ran up to Itachi and began engaging him in combat. He used the taijutsu moves he had previously copied from Rock Lee and was currently increasing his speed to keep up with his older brother. Itachi easily blocked his attacks, but Sasuke wasn't giving up.

Throwing the kunai at Itachi as a distraction, Sasuke quickly used it as a substitution jutsu. Before Itachi could deflect the kunai Sasuke appeared within a puff of smoke and landed a punch to Itachi's nose. Itachi's eyes widened as Sasuke quickly stepped back.

"Hm...not to bad little brother," Itachi complimented, "But I think you can do better than that."

Sasuke quickly closed his eyes as Itachi activated his Sharingan. As Itachi charged directly at Sasuke he was quickly stopped by Might Gai.

Everyone else turned their head in shock at the appearance of Might Gai. For once Naruto was relieved to see him here, Sarah and Sasuke grinning.

"Eh? Who the hell is this guy?" Kisame asked.

"I am the Leafs Blue Beast, Might Gai," Gai announced as he quickly got into a battle stance.

Itachi jumped back and landed beside Kisame, "Don't take him too lightly. He's dangerous."

"Gai, don't make eye contact with Itachi or else you'll be trapped in his genjutsu," Asuma warned.

"Don't worry I already know. I've already got experience fighting up against a Sharingan user," Gai responded, "Just look at their feet and predict their movements."

"But only you can do that," Asuma said.

"I would normally teach you both how to do so but we don't exactly have the time for that," Gai responded.

"Thanks for showing up, we appreciate it." Sarah looked over at Kurenai, "Take Kakashi-sensei to the hospital fast. Naruto you go with her and then go inform the Hokage so that he can send backup."

"Don't worry I already took care of that," Gai responded, "The ANBUs should arrive here real soon. Until then we're going to have to take them on ourselves."

Kisame chuckled, "You've got some guts."

"Let's go Kisame. Staying here is meaningless now," Itachi said as he looked his fellow Akatsuki member in the eyes.

"Aww..just when I was getting ready to have some fun," Kisame pouted.

Both Kisame and Itachi shunshinned away, leaving behind a group of tired Leaf ninjas.

-

Sarah looked over at her senseis unconscious body as she continued to heal Sasuke's ribs. His mind was currently under duress after trying to defect Itachi's genjutsu. Hes going to need some time off from duty in order to fully heal his mind.

Naruto was busy packing his bags. He was going on a trip with his sensei (a fucking Sannin of course; how on earth did Naruto manage to convince a Sannin to teach him), so it was just her and Sasuke. Sasuke was currently angry - which Sarah expected considering that he wasn't barely able to do anything during the fight. His body was busy reacting to trauma.

"I'm weak," Sasuke said.

Sarah understood what he was saying. No matter how hard they trained it'll never be enough to compete up against stronger opponents. The Chuunin exams proved that to them.

"You're traumatized Sasuke. What Itachi did to you is not right. No matter how many therapy sessions you go to you'll never be able to fully recover from the trauma of that night," Sarah responded. She knows this best. She can still remember the cold feeling of metal up against her skin, hands roaming around where they shouldn't be, the pain, the suffering..

"How are you able to overcome it?" Sasuke asked her.

"It's hard," Sarah responded, "I'm still not over from everything that happened to me...and I don't think I'll ever be able to overcome it. Healing isn't linear, Sasuke, it takes time..."

"I hate him..." Sasuke gritted his teeth, "I fucking hate him..."

"I know you do. Just promise me that you won't give in to your hatred," Sarah looked him in the eyes.

Sasuke nodded, "I promise. I'll find a better way to defeat Itachi, one that won't involve me descending into the path of darkness."

Sarah smiled, "That's all I could ask you to do."