"Sakura-chan couldn't have—"

"Couldn't have killed a man?" Kakashi interrupted. "All of us saw her take down one of the Demon Brothers with no hesitation."

"..." Sasuke looked over to Naruto, whose brows were furrowed.

"Kakashi," the dark-haired genin's mouth dried as he forced his question out. "What exactly is Sakura?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough!" The jōnin only smiled at his students, much to their annoyance.

:::

Sakura walked by herself, aiming to collect a few things Tsunami needed to make dinner. It had been a few days, now, since her fight with the mercenaries.

Naruto had been reluctant to let her out of her sight for even a minute; he had been following her everywhere she went, going so far as to stay outside the bathroom with her until Sasuke put a stop to it.

Genta and Inari tagged along, pointing things out to each other and talking about insignificant topics and whatnot.

"There is almost nothing in this shop," Sakura commented aloud, and both boys nodded.

"Yeah. Since Gatō came, he's taken a lot of our money away, so shopkeepers had to cut down on produce."

The genin inclined her head, and searched for what she was looking for, and purchased the items with the money given to her by Tsunami. Everything is much more expensive compared to Konohagakure.

They walked back, slower than usual because of Sakura's mysteriously broken ankle, when a scene caught her attention. A young woman, that looked about Tsunami's age was being bothered by some men wielding weapons, in an alley. She watched as anyone that did notice looked away hurriedly, and walked by faster.

"Sak'ra?" Genta tugged on her weightless arm cover.

"What is it you require," she asked, breaking her focus on the scene to look ahead of them.

"Are you okay? You've been zonin' out an' stuff," he explained, looking equally worried as Naruto was whenever he was around.

"Yes. You two go ahead. I will catch up."

"A-are you sure? Sasuke wouldn't want us to leave you alone..." Inari shuffled nervously on his feet.

"Go," she ordered, placing the small bag of groceries into his arms. "Tell them I am training for tomorrow." Tomorrow the whole team was to start guarding again, since Kakashi reasoned that Zabuza would be healed by then.

"Okay..." The two boys glanced nervously at each other before nodding and running off, leaving Sakura alone. She stood there for a moment, as people in the streets grumbled for her to move, and then spotted the woman being dragged away, further from where they had originally been.

Sakura followed.

:::

The brunette whimpered as she was tugged by her long braid. "Your husband did something that we don't like: he refused to pay his taxes to Gatō, and now, you'll pay for it."

Sakura watched as she squirmed about, attempting to knee her captor in the groin.

"Feisty, I—"

She decided to make an appearance. "Leave that woman alone," the pinkette demanded coolly, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out three shuriken.

"A little girl is going to go up against Gatō? How pathetic," the man sneered, then passed the woman onto his partner. "I'll take care of the brat."

"No! Leave that girl alone! She's just a child—"

"I am a shinobi," Sakura stated, sizing up her opponent. "And an efficient one."

The two men didn't know what struck them.

:::

Sakura wiped the single drop of sweat from her brow away with her arm warmer. Compared to the swordsman, they were nothing. Luckily, all it took was throwing shuriken for her to take the two men down.

"Th-thank you!" The woman that had introduced herself as Itsumi hugged her tightly.

"Aa." Sakura pried the woman off and began to walk back.

"Wait! I want to give you something, since you helped me!"

"Only if you do not tell others what happened here," she said monotonously, and the brunette agreed hastily. The pinkette nodded silently and followed the woman back to her house.

:::

"So, what are you doing here?"

Sakura sipped her green tea calmly responding, "I am here to protect the bridge builder."

"You know Tazuna? I know him too! I'm friends with Tsunami." Itsumi smiled, and then the door opened.

"Oh? Anata, you're home!" Sakura watched as her hostess shot you from her chair and hugged her significant other. "This is my husband, Akio."

The grey-eyed man nodded to her, and she nodded back. He looks confused as to why I am here.

"Anata, this is..."

"Sakura," the genin finished her sentence for her. "I am from Konohagakure."

"Akio...Gatō's men came again."

Sakura watched in interest as the man visibly stiffened and cursed under his breath. "What did they do?"

The woman detached herself from her husband and wrapped her arms around her body. "Two men came after me...and, if it weren't for Sakura—" Her voice cracked, and Akio's gaze hardened.

He turned to the genin. "Thank you for your service to my wife. If there is something I can do for you, all you need is ask." Then, the man embraced Itsumi and rubbed her back.

Sakura watched awkwardly, and then got up to leave. "Your hospitality was appreciated," she informed the woman, and then opened the door.

"Wait! Are you sure? I want to do more for yo—"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I must leave." Quietly, she left the couple to stare at the retreating figure.

"She's a strange girl," Akio mused.

"But she saved me," Itsumi insisted. "There were plenty of others from our own village that did nothing, but this—this foreigner, she saved me."

"Hm." The brown-haired man kissed his wife's forehead and looked into her blue eyes. "For that, I am grateful." The two turned and watched short pink hair sway with her small footsteps. Grey eyes softened at his wife, and then hardened once again as he recalled the two bodies that had made him run home.

That small girl is capable of killing grown men. Konohagakure has developed interesting shinobi.

Sakura did something good? I thought she was a remorseless killing machine!

Why does Sakura never want people to know about the good things she does?

What will happen next?