Sakura Haruno: The Prodigy

38

Long chapter

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Sakura silently jumped to another tree and looked at Naruto and Sasuke. It had been a few minutes, and Orochimaru hadn't appeared. She kept herself well hidden and had distanced herself a bit from them. She didn't want to be seen or sensed. She jumped onto a branch and looked behind her. "No sight of Orochimaru," she whispered into her communication headset. "He hasn't been sighted on the cameras we have in the forest. Proceed," Kakashi whispered into the headset, and Sakura jumped onto another branch. Minato looked at the screen in the tower and carefully looked for any sign of Orochimaru. "He's hiding. Make sure Anko is at her post. Tell Genma and Itachi to stay hidden," he said and Kakashi nodded, whispering the message into the headset. Sasuke looked at Naruto, who seemed to be walking stiff and let out a sigh. "Don't you dare pee in front of me." Naruto paled and quickly ran into a bush. After a minute, Naruto came out and sheepishly scratched the back of his neck but quickly dodged a kunai that was thrown at him.

"Oi, what's the deal?!" He exclaimed, and Sasuke pulled out another kunai. "You aren't Naruto. That loser had a mark on his cheek," Sasuke stated, and the one disguised as Naruto grinned. The disguise faded away, and the Ame ninja quickly rushed at Sasuke, pulling out a kunai. Sasuke quickly jumped over the ninja and pressed a pressure point on his neck, letting the Ame ninja fall to the ground. Sasuke let out a sigh and ran into the bush, looking for Naruto. He face palmed at finding his teammate tied up and used his kunai to cut the ropes. "We need a password. There are people who would want to take us out, Naruto," Sasuke stated, and the blond nodded. Sakura looked at the two genin that were whispering and looked back to the Ame shinobi. She shook her head at the poor skill of fighting he had shown. "Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed, and Sakura quickly snapped her head to look at them. Her eyes slightly widened at the sight of a snake, taller than the trees. "Blossom, don't engage. Wait for him to appear," Minato whispered into the headset, and Sakura stilled. Sasuke looked at the snake and took a step back, quickly throwing another kunai at a moving bush. "Ow, stupid snake," Naruto grumbled and cralwed out of the bush.

Sakura looked at the scene below and suddenly saw that Naruto smirked and morphed into a Kusagakure ninja. She felt a wave of killer intent escape the Kusagakure shinobi and saw Sasuke get paralyzed in fear. She slowly put her hand onto her sword and looked at the fight that broke out below her. She saw Naruto come out of the snake and saw as he stood in front of the Uchiha. The Kusagakure shinobi summoned another snake that tossed Naruto into a tree, rendering him unconscious and falling towards the ground. Sasuke quickly snapped out of his fear and jumped to save Naruto, quickly grabbed him, and hid him inside a tree. "A coward. The Uchihas are cowards," the shinobi said, and Sasuke took a step back. "Fear is a powerful weapon. It can rendere the most powerful shinobi into crying puppies," the shinobi drawled out and let out a feral grin. "Blossom, three ninja are found dead without a face... Orochimaru is in disguise. Attack a female kusa shinobi," Anko exclaimed, and Sakura quickly ran to Sasuke. Orochimaru stared at Sasuke and pulled away the face that he stole. He smirked at the paralyzed Uchiha and stepped towards him. Your body will be mine, Uchiha!" Orochimaru exclaimed and was about to bite Sasuke but was met with an emerald eye and a bright Sharingan one. "Orochimaru, please refrain from doing that."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, letting out a grin as he recognized the Anbu mask, "Oh my, I expected Anko to fight me, never would I have thought that you would fight me again, Sakura." Sakura stood in front of Sasuke and frowned behind her mask, "Leave." Orochimaru grinned and let out a laugh, "Didn't they teach you any manners. When speaking to someone older than you, Sakura, you speak with respect. I came to get something that will belong to me. Step away from the boy," he stated and brought his hand up and pointed at her. Sakura rapidly formed hand seals and gathered chakra," Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." She blew a stream of fire at Orochimaru and quickly grabbed Sasuke, ignored his wide eyes, and jumped to a different branch. She laid him down between the leaves and casted a genjutsu on him and over his body, hiding him from plain sight. She looked behind her and saw Orochimaru running at her. "Give him to me, now!" She pulled out a kunai and ran towards him, letting the sound of kunai clashing against each other echo through the forest. "Anko, Genma, Itachi, listen up. Blossom has began combat with Orochimaru. Naruto Namikaze and Sasuke Uchiha are unconscious and hidden. Retrieve their bodies, now!" Kakashi stated, and the three shinobi quickly ran towards Sakura's location.

"My, my, you're a bit protective. It's always fun when there's a guardian to protect the prey. It makes the hunt taste sweeter," he stated and swung his kunai towards her stomach, only for it to be blocked and was met with a punch to his face. He blinked twice and let out a smirk, "A bit of chakra was infused into your fist, wasn't it?" he said in an overjoyed tone. Sakura narrowed her eyes and jumped away from the missing nin, quickly firing a stream of water at him. Orochimaru did a hand seal and sunk into the bark of the tree, making Sakura stand still for a moment. She slowly looked around and felt a source of chakra under her feet, making her body jump into the air and nearly avoided the jaw of a snake. Orochimaru stepped out of the bark of the tree and lunged at Sakura, quickly making her duck and send a kick towards his head. He brought up his arm and grabbed her leg, decided to twist it, and heard the familiar sound of a bone being snapped. Sakura used her other leg to escape his grasp, and let out a hiss at the pain. Orochimaru let out a smirk and looked behind her, only for her to realize that she had forgotten about his summon. One moment she was glaring at Orochimaru, and the next she was crashing into a tree.

She slowly stood up and let a grunt slip past her lips. She could feel the bone in her leg healing and felt the kyubi's chakra reacting to the pain. She looked at the tree Sasuke was hidden in, and saw Orochimaru approaching the spot. Her eyes widened and without thinking, she pulled out a kunai and body flickered in front of the snake sannin. She slashed at his face and felt a grin form on her face. Orochimaru halted into his steps and felt blood on his face. "You wretched girl!" Sakura stepped back from him and felt a bit of pride. "I think it's only fair for you to have that," she said with a growl, and Orochimaru hissed at her. Sakura jumped back and landed on her two feet, resisting the urge to grunt in pain. "Leave," she stated, and he shook his head. "The predator always wins. Even if there are nuisances in the path," he spat and ran at her. She frowned behind her mask and gathered chakra in her hand, hearing the familiar sound of birds. "Chidori," she whispered and ran at him, closing the distance between them. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and jumped over her, only to be met with a familiar mask. "A clone," he whispered, and felt the jutsu pass through his stomach.

Sakura rapidly pulled her hand out of his stomach and dismissed her clone, quickly dodging the kick that was sent at her, but felt a searing pain on her shoulder. Sakura jumped back and looked towards her shoulder, noticing the kunai impaled on it. She was about to form a hand seal for a water jutsu, but saw Orochimaru let out a grin. "I see my dear student, a shinobi, and Itachi-kun are nearing us," he looked down his stomach and used his other hand to wipe the blood of his face. His face was full of glee at the sight of the damage that he caused on her. "Such a shame that this hunt was getting interesting, but don't worry dear Sakura. The hunt is far more pleasurable when the prey's kin does damage to the predator. I'll be back," he whispered and performed a hand seal, leaving Sakura to stand alone in the forest.

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Authors npte: so for those confused at the clone part, let me explain. While Sakura hid Sasuke, she had created a clone for an emergency. I forgot to put it in the story, but yeah