(A/N: Play music for more effect as Team 7 kicks Zabuza's butt!)

"I have created a fail-proof plan that we will act upon to free Kakashi," Sakura announced, surprising everyone.

So the girl thinks she's clever enough to fool me? We'll see.

"Duckbutt, Ramen-boy. Come closer," she beckoned for them to approach her.

"Uh...what about him, dattebayo?" Naruto jabbed a thumb towards the assassin.

"Do not worry. He will wait. He is interested to see if we can manage to free Kakashi," she explained.

Sasuke, uncharacteristically, glanced nervously at the water clone watching them.

"Five minutes is what we require," Sakura assured the man.

"Five minutes?! How can we do that, dattebayo?!"

"You are mistaken. How can I do that," she corrected grimly. "You two will act. I will stay on the right lines—"

"Uh, I think you meant 'sidelines', Sakura-chan..."

"It is not relevant. I will wait on the," she looked at Naruto as if daring him to comment, "so-called sidelines. Here is the plan." The pinkette whispered her plan, causing the two boys to nod.

:::

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, throwing a large, folded up shuriken to his teammate.

Sasuke caught it and spun around, smirking as he faced the water clone. Charging forward, he threw two, the second in the shadow of the first, effectively freeing Kakashi, who defeated Zabuza using his own attacks against him.

"Very good," their sensei commented on the strategy. "Your teamwork was impeccable, Naruto, Sasuke."

Sakura watched Kakashi congratulate her teammates.

Aren't you mad?

I do not feel.

Yeah, but...your sensei just entirely disregarded the fact that you were the one to make the plan that freed him.

It is irrelevant.

...Sasuke and Naruto didn't correct him.

It does not matter. My only purpose is to destroy Konohagakure. I am not allowed nor will I wish to have feelings; feelings are a weakness.

:::

Zabuza's eyes widened as Kakashi was even faster than him when they both wove hand signs.

It's like—it's like he's—!

"It's like I'm reading your mind," Kakashi supplied. "The truth is, I can...and your future is to die!"

Zabuza's eyes were widened with horror when the giant waves came crashing down on him. 

:::

"Sakura?" She felt a large hand rest on her shoulder, and she grabbed the wrist attached immediately and turned around.

"Oh. It is only you, Tazuna, the bridge builder."

"...yeah. Let's go."

They all froze when they saw the body of Zabuza move from impact of three senbon needles that pierced his cold neck. "HEY, —TTEBAYO!"

Above them was a figure in the typical Mist hunter-nin outfit, the mask and baggy clothing. "You were right, this is the end for him. Thank you. I've been tracking him for a while now." He bowed respectfully to Kakashi who nodded. "I will take him now," He stopped over and picked up the body, studied her curiously, and jumped somewhere else.

"Who was that, Kakashi-sensei?!"

The grey-haired man sighed. "Sakura?"

She glanced at him coolly as if to say, 'Two can play that game.' "I think not. You should, Sensei."

Are you sure you're not mad?

I am not 'mad'. I am perfectly sane.

Aren't you angry?

I am not angry. I do not feel. Feeling is a—

I know, I know. You just seem...upset.

Kakashi smiled from behind his mask, eyes closed. "I think I will."

Sakura walked by him, dragging Tazuna with her. "Let us go," She interrupted Kakashi in the middle of his explanation, "We must continue if we are to arrive at a decent time."

(A/N: Stop music, because it won't make sense when there's really intense music playing when they're just casually walking.)

They walked, Sakura in the front, Naruto and Sasuke arguing in the middle with a trailing bridge builder, and Kakashi in the back. Hunter-nin is a coveted occupation. They must have extensive knowledge on the human body, and be able to dispose of it quickly before another can track and steal the information hidden in the corpse. They must work as soon as possible.

...

Zabuza is still alive. 

I'm not surprised. That hunter-nin was most likely an accomplice.

I agr—

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura heard the thump of a body falling but didn't stop. If anything, she walked faster.

Petty, much?

"Sakura-chan!" Finally, she turned around to face Naruto, who flinched.

"What is it you require," she asked, looking at her sensei on the ground laying in a crumpled matter.

"Can't you use your Iron Fist or whatever?"

Sakura tilted her head. "You wish for me to beat Kakashi?"

"What—no! Can't you," he gestured to the man on the dirt road. "Do something, dattebayo?"

The pinkette looked down at the jōnin. "Was it too much to assume that the geniuses could not manage to carry their sensei for a meager 12 miles? But, if I must, yes."

:::

"I don't see why you had to drag him," Sasuke pointed out, spotting the dusty man.

"It is not relevant. He will be in weak condition for a while."

The Uchiha sighed and shook his head at her. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing."

"Why do you hate each other?"

"Why must you ask so many questions?"

"Hn." Touché.

:::

"We have to be very quiet as we cross here," The boatman explained, steering underneath the unfinished bridge.

"..." Naruto was silent once again, watching the ripples from where the boat once was.

Sakura sat in the front, visibly on edge, waiting...

They finally reached the shore. "Thanks. If it wasn't for you, we couldn't finish the bridge."

The boatman nodded. "Just be careful, Tazuna."

:::

They walked through the village, where they went against the direction of everyone else. Naruto looked sadly at the condition of the town. He spoke for the first time in the last few hours. "It's not that lively, —ttebayo."

"Yeah," Tazuna agreed softly. "Ever since Gatō came, we've lived even poorer than we usually did. There are so many homeless children that have to resort to stealing."

Sasuke watched as the people parted like the Red Sea when they saw Sakura. "H-hey, Sakura...chan?"

"What is it you require," she asked, not bothering to look back, instead walking alongside the bridge builder.

"Shouldn't you, uh, wipe off the—the blood, dattebayo?" He asked the question hoarsely, as if he were afraid of her.

"I do not find it necessary, Ramen-boy," Sakura responded coldly, sending another set of shivers down his spine. Her left cheek still carried the blood of the brother she had killed.

"O-oh."

The rest of the walk was silent.

We've started to see a darker side to Sakura! Will she embrace it, or fight it?