Counterclockwise
Summary: I'm almost certain that this was the Fourth Shinobi War moments ago, so why am I waiting for Kakashi-sensei with Naruto and Sasuke-kun? – SasuSaku

Author's notes:I'm back! Thanks to all of you who reviewed and your wishes of safety during the hurricane (: Luckily, it hit Virginia as a Cat. 1, so there weren't any major damages. Anyway, back to the story!

There is a part spoken from a third person POV, so I'm warning you now in the event that you might be confused.

忍道

"Did that bastard Danzo have ROOT members spy on the old man?" Naruto seethed over the rushing of the wind. I shrugged and bounced off another rooftop. Running across the village in a cast felt strange to me. As my arm shook inside the sling, I tried my best to not dangerously shift my arm's current position.

"Danzo was always like that," I told Naruto; I remember how, while Naruto was gone, he would always have his ROOT members standing outside of Tsunade-shishou's office. They were always there and it irritated me because I couldn't ever say anything while believing my words were in the confidentiality of the office itself. I would make sure to tell Hokage-sama himself that they were going to have to leave because their presence was an intrusion and it gave outsiders the idea that we didn't trust our beloved leader.

I saw Naruto clench his fist tightly and we landed on top of the academy building.

"It was his fault…" Naruto said quietly, "…it was his fault and those other two elders - Utatane and Mitokado - that Itachi had to kill his clan. They insisted that the Uchiha had to be taken out and Danzo wanted Sasuke dead, but Itachi…"

I was listening to Naruto very closely; I knew that Itachi was innocent, however, I didn't know of the details. I did not know who was at blame and I had not the slightest clue that the elders of the village had turned their backs on the Uchiha.

"…Itachi wouldn't let them," Naruto whispered at last. I honestly didn't know how to respond to that; should we find Itachi and tell him? Should we confront Danzo and the elders? Maybe it was a good move to tell the Hokage.

No wonder Sasuke-kun wanted to destroy the village. Though many felt like there was no redemption for him, I believed that Sasuke-kun's psychological downfall was a result of the shinobi world's nature. Everyone had no one to blame but themselves. In this case, I fully believe that the Konogakure elders are at fault and that, as protectors of this village, they failed miserably. I secretly hoped for them to be put in their places once we had Orochimaru and Danzo sorted out.

My thoughts became jumbled once I realized just how hectic our schedule was going to be for the next few weeks; and this is if everything goes smoothly. On top of that, both Naruto and I couldn't utilize our techniques to the best of our ability, with my chakra not being developed enough and with Naruto's own chakra unstable. I rubbed the temple of my head as I could feel a splitting headache beginning to develop.

Despite my confusion, I gripped Naruto's shoulder with my left hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Naruto turned around to face me and smiled; I returned the gesture.

"We'll deal with him together and stop all of this from happening." I said. Naruto nodded with a loud 'yosh' and we crouched, ready to spring into action again.

"Ninpou: Chouju Giga." Naruto and I looked up and saw Sai sitting, his brush in hand and this creations flying off the page. Naruto grinned and got ready to fight Sai.

"Teme, you don't know who you're messing with. Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

忍道

"Chidori - !" the loud crackling of chakra slowly faded from Sasuke's hand. He panted, tired and worn out from the day's training. Kakashi casually observed his prodigy student and the giant hole bore into the giant boulder in front of the two shinobi.

"Very good, Sasuke. We now know that your limit, as of right now, is two. Your chakra can currently handle two chidori attacks; you don't want to do anymore than that. Got it?"

Sasuke coughed and wiped the sweat off his brow, "And what happens if I do use chidori more than twice?" he asked defiantly.

Kakashi didn't even turn to face his student; his single eye merely glanced over in his direction before averting it's gaze back to the rock. "There are shinobi who, in the quest for power, have constantly drained their energy. They go way beyond what their bodies can handle and those shinobi were dead men."

Sasuke, for once, had nothing to answer back. Kakashi nodded and dusted off his hands, "Well, I believe that is enough training for to – " Sasuke's silver-haired teacher stopped suddenly and Sasuke did the same. If he could guess right, Sasuke knew that Kakashi was tracking those sudden bursts of chakra rushing in their direction; it looked like three people were in the midst of a pursuit.

He could sense familiarity in two of the chakra signals but paid more attention to the amount being used. 'I know that chakra…' Kakashi thought to himself; it just didn't make sense.

'I can understand why Naruto is here; to challenge me as usual, but why is Sakura here? Surely it couldn't be because of Sasuke. Then again, she doesn't seem to be interested in him anymore.'

"Shannaro!" Kakashi and Sasuke leapt out of the way and hid along the cliff side as Sai jumped on top of the rock Sasuke had just punctured. To their great surprise, this shinobi, who looked of a higher rank, possibly ANBU, was worn out. He looked worn out by Naruto and Sakura, two clumsy, noisy genin.

"Sai!" Naruto's voice echoed, "You had better get over here or I will kill you right now."

Kakashi took this moment to pull his headband up and analyze the situation through the Sharingan; Sasuke saw and did the same.

"For a genin, you sure do put up a good fight," Sai commented, rather arrogantly. "I'm sure you won't be able to keep up for long."

Sakura suddenly appeared above Sai, Kakashi's Sharingan spun round and round; 'Since when has she become this fast?'.

"Eat this!" Sakura exclaimed, bringing her leg down on his face. She met her mark and Sai instantaneously flew off the rock, crashing into the ground. Sai groaned and stood up from his rock bed and Sakura leapt off the boulder. She glared at her future team mate.

"Sakura-chan, you need to take it easy!" Naruto called from behind her. The kunoichi merely waved her hand to disregard what Naruto had said and she averted her attention back to Sai, who looked rather stunned at Sakura's strength despite her young age and being confined in a cast.

"We don't want to hurt you, but if you keep on running, we will have no choice," she said. Kakashi could sense the seriousness and maturity in her voice; surely this wasn't the same Sakura from before! The same thing with Naruto was well; he had somewhat of a somber aura to him, it actually reminded Kakashi of Yondaime Hokage…

Something was wrong with these two and Kakashi couldn't exactly put a finger on it. Why were they chasing this boy? Why was Sakura fighting in a cast? How did she learn to fight so well? Since when did Naruto and Sakura work well together? Why wasn't Naruto making foolish mistakes in front of this Sai's face? Thought after thought crammed into Kakashi and Sasuke's heads and they nearly gaped as their team mates began to execute very effective and impressive team work skills.

Sai formed a seal to help him escape, but Naruto tossed an explosive tag at him.

"SAI! Shannaro! Stop it, you don't know what you are doing!"

Sai dodged the kunai and drew his katana; Naruto growled and pulled out a kunai. The two flew at each other; the faint whoosh of the wind and metal clanking was audible from Sasuke and Kakashi's position.

The male ninja then threw multiple shuriken in Sakura's direction; some of which cut keep into her pale skin. Sakura cursed and gripped her newer injuries, giving Sai an opening.

Sai drew twine from his pouch and swung it around the pink-haired kunoichi; he bound her tightly with a sharp tug and flew forward to pierce Sakura with the katana.

On impulse, Sasuke moved to help, not knowing at all why this shinobi was attacking fellow Konohagakure ninja. Kakashi placed a hand on his wrist, "Not yet. I want to see where this is going."

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto and his two clones appeared in front of Sakura; they grabbed the twine and yanked it. With a yelp, Sai flew in their direction. Naruto took this opportunity to hit the ANBU specialist. Kakashi and Sasuke watched as Sai flew up, up, up –

His clones moved, kicking Sai higher into the air until the real Naruto (or so they guessed), brought him back down to the earth with a jaw breaking kick to the face.

"Naruto Rendan!"

The Sai face planted into the ground melted into ink. Naruto cursed as the real Sai ran at Sakura, still bound, with his katana.

Sakura grunted and caught the katana between her zori. She pressed the soles of her feet together and swung the pressure off of her; Sai flew to Sakura's side and she cut through the twine. Dumbfounded, Sai looked up and saw Sakura inches from his face, her left hand glowing green. He threw a punch at her and she ducked. Sakura grunted and twitched, but was able to grab his ankles, quickly snapping the tendons.

Sakura collapsed to the ground, panting because she knew better than to try and utilize medical ninjutsu. Naruto displayed an expression of disapproval and nodded to his team mate acknowledging her and reassuring her that he would finish this match.

Sai fell to the ground and opened a scroll. Naruto and Sakura knew what he was planning to do. Sakura gave her team mate a knowing look and nodded.

"We didn't want to do this, Sai."

Kakashi peered in further and watched as Naruto and his newly-created shadow clone formed a ball of spinning chakra in Naruto's palm. This spherical technique whirred wildly out of control and Naruto panted, trying to contain its monstrous energy. Naruto's Rasengan was clearly a failure; however, he kept charging at Sai.

Kakashi's eye widened at the sight of this own teacher's technique being used. 'Naruto – that's …"

Both hidden shinobi, Sasuke and Kakashi, could tell that this was a rather powerful technique. Naruto ran at Sai, who had finished painting his newest monster.

"Ninpou: Choju Giga"

From Sai's page exploded seven fierce lions, roaring and sprinting at Naruto. The blonde shinobi stuck out his left hand, the one clenching the ball of whirling chakra, into the heart of the lion.

"Rasengan!" he tore through all seven lions like a stick of butter. However, the instability of the technique itself not only tore through Sai's technique, but it tore up Naruto's sleeve; his right arm twisted violently and a horrible 'crack' was emitted into the air. He cursed loudly and gripped his arm in pain, as it was now not only burnt, but possibly broken.

'Crap. I forgot about Orochimaru's seal.' Naruto thought to himself, cursing. 'I need someone to release it'.

He stood before his future team mate, panting, and Sakura joined, just as worn out.

Sasuke watched as his pink-haired crybaby team mate landed over her opponent and struck his neck. Through his Sharingan, Sasuke saw that this ninja was now rendered immobilized by Sakura's.

"I told you we weren't kidding, Sai." Sakura said impatiently.

"How do you know my name?" the shinobi named Sai asked. Naruto scratched his head and shouted, "I told you I can't say, you idiot! How many times do I have to tell you that! You're the same as ever; always being stupid, always acting stupid questions, always getting on my nerves!"

"You're still as stupid as ever," Sakura commented hotly, hitting Sai upside the head. "Listening to other people's conversations, that's so rude!"

'That temper…it's worse. I thought nothing could surpass her impatience with Naruto.' Kakashi thought dryly. Sasuke remained silent and watched intensely as Naruto and Sakura yelled at the boy called "Sai". Though he couldn't exactly bring himself to admit it, this boy did have a striking resemblance to the remaining Uchiha. There wasn't much that they could do or say; they could not save this Sai because they didn't know why his team mates had attacked him.

In addition to that, they didn't know where Sakura and Naruto had acquired the skills to go and attack someone of ANBU ranks like that. In fact, Sakura's behavior had in fact been very strange, but since Team Kakashi had just recently formed, Sasuke didn't know each other well enough to know what else to expect from her, other than the usual raving about how cool he was.

'Come to think of it, she hasn't bothered me in that sense since we got Kakashi as a teacher…could something have happened? And what's Naruto doing with a jutsu like that?'

Kakashi recalled that Naruto had also been acting strange since the second phase of the chuunin exams, and where had he learned such a powerful jutsu? Why, it was none other than the Yondaime Hokage's technique! Surely someone had had to teach him it…not even Kakashi knew Rasengan!

"And why shouldn't I go and report this to Danzo?" Sai asked innocently. Naruto twitched and squatted to the ANBU member's eye level; he quickly drew out another kunai. "Ano sa, Sai. Do you want me to cut your tongue off? That's enough of your mouth!"

"Who are you two?" he asked, truly curious.

Sakura scoffed and sat down next to Naruto, "That would require us telling you and we just don't trust you."

"You aren't being very persuasive right now," Sai commented. From the bushes, Sasuke and Kakashi listened closely to the conversation taking place.

"He has the upper hand right now," Sasuke said suddenly, Kakashi nodded in agreement with his pupil. "Sasuke, was that guy in the first and second phase of the exam with you, Naruto, and Sakura?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No. I didn't see him; I've never seen him. Kakashi, don't you think they've been off lately? I mean, ever since we came out of the forest, I always feel like they're on edge all the time. Surely that isn't normal for those two, especially Naruto."

"So you noticed too. And here, I thought you were always focused elsewhere," Kakashi responded. The two turned back to watch the scene unfolding before them. Sakura held up a small, beaten book; almost immediately, they could see the panic twisted in Sai's normally unfathomable expression.

"Give that back! Give it back!" Sai said sharply, almost pleading. Sakura raised a brow at him and scooted over, closer to her team mate, tossing the book onto his lap.

"I know how important that is to you; how important your brother is you to," Naruto started, much more kindly than he initially was. Sai stopped his hissing and began to listen, "I know how you have to report everything you hear, Sai, but no one understands how important this information is. At this point, no one knows more than we do and we can't allow anyone to lie about things when we know the truth."

"But what is the exact truth?" Sai asked. Sakura smiled sadly at him and shook her head, "Can't tell you, sorry."

"If I don't know the reasons, then how can you tell me that I can't report this at all?" he asked, childishly. Kakashi and Sasuke were close to pumping chakra to their ears to get a better listen. Sakura smirked and moved to his feet; her good hand glowed green.

Her breathing grew heavier and beads of sweat appeared at her forehead. "Kakashi, what is that green chakra?" Sasuke asked.

"Typically green chakra signals the usage of medical ninjutsu. I'm assuming to Sakura is currently using that medical ninjutsu to heal his legs."

'But where did she learn those techniques?'

"Mou Sakura-chan, you can't keep using that." Naruto said, worried. "You know it drains your chakra."

"I'll be fine." Sakura reassured, "This will be the last time I'll use it until I can get sufficient training, I promise." She turned back to Sai with a friendly smile.

"Sai," Sakura said clearly; she could feel her older self showing through her young kunoichi form, "I have a feeling we're going to be friends in the future."

"…friends?"

"Yes, Sai." Naruto added, "We will build a bond strong enough to overcome any kind of obstacle the future will bring; I mean that. Your future bonds might not be like the bond you had with your brother, but I do know that they will be strong enough for you to have the confidence to do anything you want to."

Sai was speechless. These people, this strange boy and girl, who had the best kage bunshin and meanest left hook he had ever seen, told him that they are going to be friends. That he was going to have bonds with others. Though he knew not if they were speaking the truth, Sai could tell that they were to be trusted. Sakura placed her hand on his neck and healed that spot as well. She stood and helped him stand as well.

Sai felt discombobulated, but he shook the feeling off.

Naruto continued, "Friends don't betray friends, Sai. You may not understand how I know you or why I am doing this, but understand this: I will not stand by this time and let things happen the way they did. I will not let you or Orochimaru or Danzo or anyone else wreck this mission. We were given this objective for a reason and we are not going to stop until we have succeeded. All of our friends are fighting and we're not going to fail them."

"What…is there to fight for?"

Sakura grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eye, "Important things; precious things. Sai, I need you to promise us you aren't going to say anything about today."

Mechanically, he nodded his head slowly. Naruto grinned and slapped his back, "Thanks! You're a pal!"

Sakura bent down and picked up Sai's old book and placed it in his hand, "We'll see you again, okay? We gotta go now."

Still confused, Sai stood from his spot and nodded to the two. He then disappeared in a wave of leaves, leaving Sakura and Naruto on the cliff. The scroll he had written on lay on the ground in front of them and Naruto snatched it up and tucked it away in his pouch. The two sighed in relief and simultaneously winced from their newly-developed injuries.

"Are you sure you can trust him?" Gaara appeared behind the two in a flash of sand. Naruto grinned and waved his hand, "Of course we can!"

Gaara looked at Sakura for reassurance. "Yes, Sai may be loyal to Danzo," she said the name with much distaste, "and ANBU, but I could tell that he really did believe us. I wouldn't worry about it too much anymore. Well, for now at least."

Gaara nodded, satisfied, "This mission is more challenging than I thought it would be. I'm more focused on how we're going to get back."

Kakashi and Sasuke could barely believe their eyes and ears. Here their team mates were talking to that murderous Sand shinobi from before. Did they not see how bloodthirsty he was? Did they not see what he had done to Rock Lee?

"Gaara, when did you wake up anyway?" Naruto asked. The Kazekage looked at this loudmouthed friend and looked away, "When Sakura did. I woke up on the battlefield, where my platoon was stationed. Anyway, it's been difficult getting around since Temari and Kankurou have to look for me each time I leave."

"Aren't you gonna go back?"

Gaara sighed and kept his eye on the view at the cliff side, "Not just yet. We need to try and decide what we're going to do next."

The pink-haired kunoichi folded her arms behind her head and looked at the sky, "How troublesome…" she murmured, "…they unintentionally put us on a mission and we don't even know how we can get back; I mean, we stopped Orochimaru already!"

"Well then, maybe we can be of assistance."

Sakura stopped frozen in her tracks; she turned and saw her sensei and team mate standing behind her, both shocked and interested in her. Sakura chuckled and walked up to them.

"We got found out, huh?" Naruto asked.

"Not quite, Naruto, but we need you to tell us: who was that you guys were just talking to? Naruto, where did you learn Rasengan? And how did you learn medical ninjutsu, Sakura?" Kakashi asked. Sakura bit the inside of her cheek and straightened up her posture. Both Naruto and Gaara looked internally conflicted.

"Sakura-chan…"

"I can't say exactly, but what I can tell you, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, is that you need to watch out for Orochimaru. He is out to get him!" Sakura strode over to Sasuke's side and pulled down his collar.

"Oi! What are you doing?" Sasuke snapped; Sakura quickly cut him off.

"He tried to give him that, sensei!" Sakura fiercely said, pointing to the fabricated curse mark. Kakashi's eye widened, "Sakura, what are you saying? Anko herself said she sensed the curse mark in Sasuke's chakra system. Sasuke says he can feel when it hurts."

"It isn't real," Naruto interrupted, "In the forest, Sakura-chan knew that Orochimaru was coming, so she made a kage bunshin of herself and took Sasuke out of the area Orochimaru was in; she knocked him out when they were far enough. The Sasuke Orochimaru attacked was a sand clone of Gaara's; when Sasuke was sleeping, Sakura-chan and I placed a fake one there and shaped the chakra to look like the actual curse mark. He can feel the pain because Sakura-chan placed another medical jutsu on that 'curse mark', just so Orochimaru could see the effects of it."

With that said, Sakura took her hand and placed it on the curse mark.

"Naruto, Gaara, can you come help me?" both complied with her request and placed their hands on top of her own, their chakras all combining. Sakura furrowed her brows in concentration and began the technique.

She inhaled and exhaled; bright blue chakra appeared. "I am canceling the technique, so the pain will go away; however, since you have a seal on this curse mark, sensei, this replica must remain until Orochimaru has been disposed of."

"Kai!" Sakura cried and Sasuke could feel the muscles in his shoulder and necks relax greatly. "Sorry Sasuke-kun; it was necessary at the moment."

"Hn."

"How…do you…all?" Kakashi choked out. Surely this wasn't normal! The longer he found himself staring at his two students collaborating with that creepy sand-nin, the louder his head would thump. It thumped wildly and Kakashi expected a headache to occur sooner or later.

"We can't tell you, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto answered dismissively. Sakura and Gaara both nodded silently and the five shinobi fell silent. There really wasn't any way out of this, was there? The three who were caught found themselves drowning in the darkened stares of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke. Being the first to break away from their strong gazes, Gaara nodded to the four of them, motioning that it was time for him to take his leave. In a whirl of sand, he was gone.

Team Kakashi was now left to continue their own staring contest. Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi – the former pair had no idea what to say; they couldn't lie, seeing as they had just got caught exposing some of their techniques, even if it greatly weakened. Naruto registered his own guilty expression and the one of Sakura's; both were so identical that he couldn't help but to smile widely.

With a huff, Naruto chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of this head; Sakura followed soon after, leaving only Sasuke and Kakashi to gape.

"Oh man, where are we supposed to start?" Naruto asked. Sakura merely shrugged and then crossed her arms; the day's labor was beginning to fall upon her and the next thing she could see was herself plummeting towards the ground. A second thud told Sakura that Naruto too had collapsed in exhaustion before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Running a hand through his silver hair, Kakashi bent over and picked Naruto up with a sigh; the look he then gave Sasuke told him to follow his action. With a slow nod, the Uchiha swooped down and scooped Sakura up into his arms; she was much heavier than he had thought…not that it served as a major problem.

He briefly ran his eyes over the form of the pinkette and he immediately spotted the deep bags that had settled underneath her eye sockets. Sasuke frowned; had she not gotten any sleep? This girl had been knocked out since yesterday. He began to wonder if she had been investing more time, work, and training because the girl was so tired. There was no other option; her hands bore chakra-caused burns, her right arm was confined in a cast, not to mention she was able to fend off a rather seemingly formidable opponent moments before. Deeper frown lines appeared in Sasuke's forehead as he had pieced together the subtle differences he had witnessed.

The Uchiha dug into his memory for any signs of change coming from the girl resting in his arms. As Sasuke recalled the various events that occurred, he realized something about his kunoichi team mate. The girl, though she spoke to him as she usually had, was not at all as persistent as she had been before. She would ask him to accompany her once and then, after he coldly declined, she wouldn't ask again. And as he took more time to try and recall how she reacted, not once did he ever remember her sulking.

Haruno Sakura had to have been acting like that. Meaning, this change in her, whatever it was, must have occurred days ago. Who knows? It could have been weeks ago. The girl was somewhat more collected during the exams (even if her impatience with Naruto was still present).

He had yet to examine Naruto, as his idiotic best friend was being whisked away by Kakashi as the two shinobi dashed down Hokage Mountain. At last, Sasuke spoke, addressing his teacher directly.

"Kakashi, what does this mean?"

The copy-nin did not turn. He simply leapt off another rooftop and stopped abruptly when the two shinobi arrived in front of the Konoha Hospital. The nurses outside, who had undoubtedly been searching for Sakura, scurried over to their side instantly. Both Naruto and Sakura were placed on stretchers and rolled into the building. The doors shut with a loud snap and Kakashi turned to face Sasuke.

"We have to see Hokage-sama to find out. Sasuke, let's go."

With an agreeing 'hn', the Uchiha and his teacher spun around and bolted in the direction of Hokage Tower.

つづく

Notes: I'm so tired man. I originally intended for Sasuke and Kakashi to find out about the jutsu, but I decided against it. I don't know if I like writing in first person or third person better. Uhm, yeah. As always, thanks for reading!

Reviews are always appreciated; really, it encourages the writer and feeds their inspiration.