Here we go...

Chapter 1 - The Four Musketeers?

There she was, a pink blossom renowned for her strength and courage, selflessness and perfected medical ninjutsu. She stood tall, but not proud, before Naruto. The pair was wasting some time training, at their usual grounds. Sakura's immense power had scarred the land, and Naruto's rasengan had scarred many of the trees bordering the clearing with intricate swirls; from their previous practices. Their sensei was once again late, he was -as he liked to phrase it: 'lost on the path of life' and the pair had grown too impatient to wait for him any longer.

"I will not go easy on you, Sakura" the blond sniggered.

"Likewise" a gentle grin pursed her lips, as she focused on pulling the finger-less gloves over each thin digit. The day was pleasantly cool, perfect for training, yet the air was dry. Before the two had chance to engage; Sai emerged, dropping down from a tree with a stumble on the border of the training grounds. His mere presence was enough to annoy Naruto to the core, whilst Sakura, she simply smiled at him. Her inner was excited, waiting for the usual rude or sarcastic comment. Sai did not smile back he seemed frigid and uptight. Naruto, blind as ever, did not pick up on this. Sakura did.

Sakura approached Sai, shortly followed by Naruto. They stood at the foot of a crooked old oak, where Sai had just dropped down from. The trio stood before each other with merely meters between them, and at that moment Sakura knew something not so light-hearted was to come.

"What is it, Sai?" she asked hesitantly.

Naruto exchanged his wide grin for a more puzzled look, "hm?"

It took a moment, but finally the dark haired man's lips parted, but as they did no words fell from them. Instead his serious look turned instantly to a more-pale-than-usual attire, accompanied with fatigue. He dropped. Sakura watched as his knees buckled, but she knew he should have fallen backwards, why didn't he? In her experience it was more natural to fall backwards than the answer was clear. Her feet moved before she even had chance to process the information that was playing out in front of her. Naruto raced over to the pair, literally just a few meters away from where he was standing, Sai was laying on his front over Sakura's arms, as she observed the horrific wounds he had returned with. Three kunai were poking out of his back. The staining of blood further darkened his already dark shirt. Resting on his back, tied loosely to one of the kunai was a note. She didn't care, right now all that needed to happen was medical treatment.

"Naruto, I'm going to put him on his side, I want you to hold him still. Do you understand?"

He nodded, a fraction of uncertainty in his eyes. Sakura acted quickly to turn him over; Naruto's hand steadied the man before he rolled back onto his front. Sai could feel everything, yet his body fought against him in a total protest against moving. His efforts to struggle only resulted in him shaking as Sakura began the healing process... His vision was becoming narrower and narrower, he felt as though mentally he was awake, silently enduring every moment... but his body was fast asleep, he had no control. The last thing he saw before the darkness totally closed in on his vision, was two concerned faces and the brilliant green blades of grass and fallen leaves that his head was resting on. His eyes closed, his mind stayed wide awake. She got to work. One thing she noted was that the kunai had been strategically placed; each one was avoiding vital nerves and arteries. The note was also tied on so loosely that if the knife were thrown, the note would have fallen off. This work was done at close range and slowly. 'Why?' She didn't think anymore of it, that was not the matter at hand. She needed to do what she could on the training field and then get him to the hospital as quickly as possible.

With each passing moment Sai's body grew cooler. He did not struggle or make even a mumble sound as Sakura removed the kunai and set about healing the wounds. After thirty minutes, Sakura's eyes met Naruto's...

"These are gravely infected Naruto. I've finished what I can do here, but he needs to go straight to Konoha hospital to treat the infection". Naruto nodded.

"I'll go ahead and warn the medical team of Sai's condition so they can prepare. You bring Sai. Take your time though Naruto. Too much movement could send his body further into shock". The blond carefully sat Sai on his back, holding onto his thighs and throwing his shivering arms over his shoulders.

Sakura picked up the kunai and the note and shoved them in her pocket pouch to show Lady Hokage later, whilst Naruto fixed Sai onto his back. The cherry blossom was so lost in the rush of things that she didn't repeat her direct instruction to Naruto; -she had left and was on the way to the hospital before Naruto had finished gathering Sai onto his back. She pushed her body to move as fast as it possibly could, every part of her was hoping Naruto would heed her simple instruction... And he did... The journey did not take long for Sakura, although in Sakura's mind it felt allot longer than it truly was. The journey for Naruto however was much slower and delicate. He opted to run on the ground as oppose to hopping from tree to tree like Sakura.

She raced into the reception of the Konoha hospital and alerted the team. When Naruto arrived around thirty minutes after Sakura, Sai was taken from him on a stretcher and was carted off to a medical suite within moments of their arrival. The pair watched as their colleague disappeared. Time stood still for a few brief seconds. Although Sai was a new-ish member of squad seven, he was a comrade none the less. The note reintroduced itself into Sakura's mind. She hadn't even bothered to read the message. "Tsunade!" she called as she twisted on her heels and ran off, Naruto in short pursuit.

The pair made their way to the Hokage's tower within minutes of departing from Sai, they burst into Lady Tsunade's office without a second thought. The woman eyeballed them, a less than amused look smeared all over her face.

"Wait!" Naruto pleaded, "Before you lose your mind, read this Granny!" As Naruto spoke, Sakura dropped the piece of paper onto the woman's desk.

"We found this attached to one of three kunai in Sai's back, he's been attacked. I had to administer emergency treatment at the training ground. He's in hospital now... Let's just hope for the best" she trailed off...

"We're coming"

"What on earth?" Tsunade remarked at the two words scrawled viciously on the paper. It was written with Sai's own blood. The older blond haired woman rubbed her temples. "I don't understand. Did Sai talk at all before he, I presume, fell?"

"No my lady." Sakura said firmly. Determination filled her eyes. She simply wanted to know whom it was that had done this and where to find them. Naruto was equally determined but in a remarkably less subtle way. His hands and teeth were having a competition of who can clench the hardest.

"Ugh, Shizune, send the tracking squad in."

Without hesitance the brown haired woman opened the door and in came Hana Inuzuka along with four ninja hounds and three other masked nin. Tsunade offered the hounds a whiff of the string used to tie the note.

"The scent is faint. But we should be able to find someone". With that the group took off, silently.

Once the tracking squad had left, Sakura felt some ease. At least some-thing was being done about this brutal and threatening assault. Her mind couldn't kick Sai's pale and bloodied form out. The way he fell, the way he shook, how cold he was... She had to see him. She needed to make sure he was ok. Even though the slim built man could be a complete jerk at times, he was a comrade, and she wasn't going to lose another one. Tired from her healing session earlier she dragged her feet back to the hospital where the familiar and irritating blond girl, she titled her 'best rival' met her in the waiting room.

"Sakura, the day's been long. You can't wait here forever". Ino remarked with a scoff. Sakura was sat in the waiting room with a single lily in her hand; she'd picked it on the way from the hokage's tower.

"I need to make sure he's ok, Ino. You'd be the same if it was Choji or Shikamaru!" The young lady sneered and sighed; she'd given up with trying to be calm.

"Fine, whatever. See you tomorrow bill-board!" Ino joked, waving her hand as she left.

Finally, she was alone and could contemplate the days events…

"Miss? Why are you here, it's late!"

…Or maybe not.

"Um, ah… y-yes. Is Sai awake? He came in this morning in critical condition."

"No miss, you won't be able to see him tonight."

She sighed looking at the slow wilting lily in her hand. "Fine… Can you give him this for me?"

"Of course miss" The nurse gently took the flower and left as swiftly as she appeared, as did Sakura.

The cool breeze of the familiar walk home felt refreshing. The pathway was even, making it easier to drag her feet without tripping. Her mind was everywhere. Questioning 'Who could do this to someone?' 'Why would they commit such a crime?' and 'who was it threatening the village?' A sudden gust of wind set her aback, catching her off guard. She looked up as she stumbled, the late afternoon sun created a beautiful orange scene in the sky. She regained her balance, mentally complementing the skies beauty this early evening; but then heading straight toward her was a ninja, running… Then she saw another one in close pursuit, but not running to catch him, this pair was then joined by more ninja, all running in the same direction… One of them included Yamato-sensei. Something sent alarm bells ringing in her head. She could feel their unsettlement. She turned and chased after them, back to the Hokage's office again.

When they reached the office, it was Yamato's turn to barge in on her today; he was accompanied by seven other anxious looking ninja, and then Sakura. She had no clue why she was there, she simply followed the crowd.

"My lady" Yamato bowed with a sense of emergency in his voice.

"Speak" Tsunade sounded slightly aggravated as she poured her sake from her tokkuri.

"My lady, rouge ninja, at least forty of them were spotted heavily armed and heading toward the village! We caught sight of them less than a mile from the village gate"

'So that was what the note was about… But why did they warn us?' The lady remained calm. The other ninja including Sakura, -who was simply there to find out what was going on; were stood at attention.

"We cannot react rashly. Until they arrive here and clearly display their intent on attacking the village, we cannot attack them. However, we received a note attached to a kunai lodged in Sai's back". She reached in her drawer and tossed the note, now enclosed in a clear bag, onto the desk. Each of the ninja, except the pink haired kunoichi, eyed the scrawled note.

Tsunade continued her sentence "As much as I'd like to deal with this problem before it reaches the gates, we cannot tell for sure if it is them that sent the note. Or if it was us that were to receive it."

Yamato took a step forward, the urgency –not panic, clear in his voice.

"My lady, we need to do some-thing. We cannot let them pass our gates without first knowing their intention toward us".

A sickening feeling swirled in their stomachs.

"You're right Yamato. We will prepare ourselves for the worst. But until it happens, we'll wait."

Without warning Tsunade seemed to burst into action. Orders were barked.

"Double the security on the gate!"

"Hai!"

"Place any available ninja on alert for a possible medium scale attack".

"Hai!"… "Hai!"

"If we are attacked and they breach the confines of the wall, gather all the women and children to the caves!"

"Yes ma'am!"

One by one each of the ninja that had accumulated in the Hokage's office were sent off with different orders. Each of them was swift in carrying out their orders, and spreading them to other ninja in the process. Once they were all prepared all they had to do was wait.

Each squad was strategically placed throughout the village, with a number of squads on standby to replace any that fell. Sakura, Naruto and their sensei were placed behind the gate on the roof of a small sake shop. It was one of the first buildings to be seen upon entering the Hidden Leaf Village. They were on the frontline if a breach were to happen. Everything was silent, with the exception of the common nightlife in Konoha. Gamblers were the most common. The sun had set for the evening and the bright light of the moon was the only light to entertain the land. The ninja were all ordered to stay out of civilian sight and not to inform them of the potential threat until necessary, to avoid panic. Thus, most of the squads were hidden on top of roofs or in less used public areas.

"Man… This sucks!" Naruto paced impatiently back and forth. He hated waiting; this was his worst form of endurance! The pink haired kunoichi twitched.

"Can it Naruto! That is the fifth time you've said that in the past hour!' Sakura's inner was imagining taping the nuisance's mouth closed. Kakashi didn't engage in their petty grievance. He had his head in his book, whilst Naruto joined Sakura sat on the railing, watching the people below.

"They could be near already" Sakura sighed, aloud.

"Or they could be here already" Izumo replied hearing Sakura's statement.

"Stop! What is your business in this village?!" Kotetsu Hagane, placed on the wall above the gate, called out. Straight away all the nearby squads alerted themselves. Izumo Kamizuki was the only ninja with Kotetsu. Naruto and Sakura always wondered why there only ever seemed to be two on their team. There was only silence as a response before a loud cry sounded as Kotetsu fell back clutching his shoulder. A five point shuriken was solidly lodged into his collarbone. What happened next shocked them all.

If any of them had blinked, they would have missed it. There were four of them; each appearing instantly and individually. The first to appear stood on top of the gate staring down at Izumo who was trying to help Kotetsu. One person also accompanied the figure to the left and two to the right.

"N-No way…" Naruto exclaimed with a shiver in his voice.

"It must be a direct assault on the village. If they were after one person there would only be one… perhaps two…" Kakashi's voice grew quieter as he thought out loud and trailed off. A sudden wash of anxiousness filled almost all the ninjas of Konoha stomachs to the brim.

There they stood. Four of them, tall, well armed; and each decorated with a large insidious smirk and a pair of dangerous eyes… Their cloaks flapped wildly in the wind. They were stood in front of the moon, making it near impossible to make out anymore of their identity.

Sakura was the last to say anything, and even so she couldn't say much more than – "A-…Akat…Akatsuki?!" There was a tremble in her voice. Surely the only thing in Konoha they were after was Naruto, so why launch a large assault on the whole village? She didn't know. What she did know was that tonight would be long and she couldn't just focus on protecting the village; but she had to protect Naruto as well. She could not lose another member of her team…

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Updated after some great help! Well, let me know what you think. I'd like to hear. More to come.