A droplet of sweat fell from Sakura's brow and dripped down her cheek, she wiped it away quickly. Her eyes remained fixed on the three Sound ninja in front of her.

Well, who is it going to be? Which one of them is coming first? Sakura thought, her mind going into overdrive.

There wasn't time to prolong this fight, with Sasuke and Naruto's conditions unpredictable Sakura needed to finish it and fast. It was also practical to consider her safety and wellbeing. As the only conscious member of Team 7 left she was all Sasuke and Naruto could depend on. If she were to sustain an injury or even die during this fight, both her teammates would be completely unprotected and exposed.

She was glad now for the trap she had set earlier, as soon as she had managed to lay Sasuke and Naruto under the cover of the large tree roots she had set them. Sakura unconsciously bit her lip; the Sound ninja were close to tripping it. It was not a good trap; she hadn't had much experience in setting high level traps.

The goal was for it to work as a diversionary tactic and not as an effective means of attack. That would all come down to her; the fighting would clearly be close combat. But if all three came at once, what chance did she stand alone?

They'll have no hesitation in pushing me past to get to Sasuke and Naruto. I can't let them!

"I guess I'll take you down first then" Zaku declared, jumping down from the rock he was perched on.

"Right, he's first then. If they come one by one we can hold them off. But how long will that last?" Inner wondered solemnly.

"Wait Zaku. There is something suspicious about this! Ah, no wonder she threw the kunai at our squirrel. This patch of earth, it's been dug up and this type of grass does not grow in this part of the forest!" Dosu said, shuffling forward to examine the grass.

"If you're going to set a trap, you shouldn't make it so obvious. You're a joke! Now we kill you and the boy!" Zaku declared.

The Sound Ninja sprung forward, Sakura smirked. It was time. Cutting a piece of ninja wire attached to a kunai unseen by anyone but herself, a huge log swung out from the trees above.

"A trap set from above? Nice try little girl!" Dosu yelled and broke through the log. All three were now headed straight for her.

The female sound ninja was the first to go; a swift kick from Sakura had her grabbing at her stomach in pain. Extending her chakra infused hand, Zaku took the full force of Sakura's strong punch to the face. Spinning around, she then prevented Dosu from going anywhere near Sasuke with a sharp high kick to his jaw.

Although clearly suffering to a degree from Sakura's defences, all three ninja landed effortlessly on their feet.

"So, she's not altogether useless then. Good, the ones who have a bit of fight in them are the most fun to crush" Zaku smirked, wiping his bloody lip.

Sakura cracked her knuckles in response. He was getting on her nerves, they all were. She immediately stiffened; Sasuke had let out a low groan. Sakura swore she could feel the heat from his fever, he was getting worse. Her chakra had no effect on lowering it and she doubted the herbal remedy would fare much better. She needed to get back to him.

"Now, now Zaku let's not be too hasty. This little girl clearly does not see the full state of her situation. It is only her standing between us and Sasuke. She cannot hold off all three of us. It is time for you to surrender, three against one and it's not in your favour" Dosu remarked.

"Three against one? I think not! Now it is two against three!" A voice called out across the clearing and without warning a familiar green jumpsuit had blocked Sakura's line of vision.

"Lee? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, perplexed.

"I will always arrive, anytime or anywhere you are in trouble Sakura!" Lee declared, smiling at her over his shoulder.

What is Lee thinking, these guys seem mild now but who knows what they have up their sleeves!

Despite her troubling thoughts, Sakura gave Lee the most grateful smile she could manage. But she was quick to anxiously look back at Sasuke who had begun to move around, his fever rising to new heights. Nonetheless she stood next to Lee, determined. With another person on her side, the fight would be over quicker and she could attend to her teammates.

"Who are you then?" Dosu asked, speaking for the first time since Lee had arrived.

"I am the Handsome Devil of the Leaf Village! My name is Rock Lee!" The bushy brow boy declared proudly.

"Handsome Devil? Really?" Inner rolled her eyes at the title.

"Lee, I am grateful you would come to my aid but we are enemies in this test. I refuse to hand over our scroll or let you take it from me" Sakura stated calmly.

"Sakura! I do not wish to take anything from you! I vowed to protect you until I die and so I shall!" Lee replied in shock.

"I appreciate it. I am going to fight with you to protect my teammates and take these creeps down!" Sakura decided.

WITH ME! SHE'S GOING TO FIGHT WITH ME! OF COURSE I WILL SEE NO HARM COMES TO HER, BUT GAI-SENSEI DID YOU HEAR HER? SHE ACCEPTED IT! JUST ONE MORE STEP CLOSER TO HER HEART! Rock Lee thought, victoriously.

"Well, it seems we need to change game tactics. Zaku, Sasuke is yours to kill. Kin, your opponent is the girl. Kill her for her insolence. I'll take care of the bushy eye brow kid" Dosu declared, pulling back the sleeve on his shirt to reveal a metal contraption on his arm.

"Lee, are you sure you'll be okay? Please tell me if you need my assistance. I don't know how I will do but please don't let them get to my teammates" Sakura asked quietly.

"You do not need to worry, they will not beat me. You will fight well I am sure! I will protect you and honour your wishes I promise!" Lee declared loudly.

"Right, fight well!" Sakura replied, and quickly turned her attention to Kin on the opposite end of the clearing.

"I can't believe I have to fight you. I'd much rather be the one to do away with your precious Sasuke" Kin sneered.

"Don't worry I'll make sure to end this quickly" Sakura spat back, pulling on her gloves.

Kin ran forward, kunai drawn. Her slashes were fast but haphazard, designed to create fatal wounds that would leave her opponent to bleed out. Sakura dodged the strikes at first but once she was able to establish where Kin was weakest she drew her own kunai.

Sakura's strikes were more precise, she knew if she hit any of the kill points on Kin's body it would all be over. A slash to the jugular would be fatal, giving approximately four minutes for Kin to bleed out completely. Killing her was not something that had crossed Sakura's mind until now. Being a ninja meant that it was a reality, to have to kill an enemy. But up until now everything had be focused on her own life preservation. To take a life, was that something she could live with?

"Keep your head in this fight little girl" Kin taunted as one of her kunai slashed a little too close to Sakura's neck.

Reacting immediately, Sakura snatched Kin's wrist and forced the kunai out of her hand and onto the ground. Twisting her wrist upwards like Tsunade had taught her, Sakura heard the crack of bone and the noises of pain from Kin. The wrist was fractured or broken altogether; the pink haired teen wasn't sure which it was. But it worked; Kin all but screamed in pain and stumbled back. Sakura took this momentary lapse to check on Lee.

He had used some sort of jutsu, one Sakura had never seen before. The bandages that were covering his arms had come undone. The leader of the Sound Ninja, Dosu was heading for a huge ground collision. That was until Zaku manipulated a huge pile of dirt to cushion his fall. Lee's expression was one of horror; clearly he had not recovered from that powerful jutsu he had just used. Dosu was coming for him with a jutsu of his own.

I have to help Lee! He won't last much longer!

Sakura made a move towards Lee but suddenly felt herself being tugged backwards by her hair. It was Kin, nursing a broken wrist, her other hand grabbing a fist full of Sakura's pink tresses.

"Didn't think you were going to get out of this so easy did you? I was going to kill you quickly but I need to pay you back for what you did to my wrist, so it's going to be a slow painful death" Kin said in a sickly sweet voice.

Sakura cursed herself for turning her back on a battle, how many times had Tsunade drilled that into her mind? Never turn you back on an opponent until you can be one hundred percent sure they are either dead or incapacitated. Now she was on her knees as Kin reefed her hair back violently and Sakura grunted in pain.

She could hear Lee's groans of pain as well. He was in trouble and not one of them could do anything to prevent Zaku from going for Sasuke and killing him. Sakura dug her fingers into the dirt; she needed to think of a way out. Using her peripheral vision she could see Kin using her injured wrist to reach for a kunai knife in her ninja pouch as Sakura had thrown her other one. The female sound ninja hissed in pain and Sakura could feel Kin's grip on her hair loosening.

"It's now or never Sakura! Grab her hand and flip her over your body! When she hits the ground she'll be in pain and open. Take that chance, kill her!" Inner instructed.

Kill her? Would I really do such a thing? Zaku is going to make his move soon, while Lee is down and so am I. I have to do this, for my teammates!

Following Inner's guidance, Sakura reached up and latched onto Kin's hand that was in her hair. With all the strength she could muster, the pink haired teen pulled hard. Kin was jerked upward and over Sakura's kneeling form. She screamed in pain as her back hit the ground. Sakura quickly withdrew her kunai and took aim at Kin's jugular.

"ZAKU! DOSU!" Kin's shrill screams of terror filled the air.

Out of her peripheral vision Sakura could see neither Sound Ninja made a move to help their fallen teammate.

Because Lee was down, and they were headed straight for the tree where Sasuke and Naruto were.

Thinking on her feet, Sakura stabbed her kunai into Kin's leg making it impossible for her to get up. Kin screamed from the pain but the pink haired teen was already racing across the clearing, chakra pumping through her legs. She had to get to Sasuke and Naruto before the other Sound Ninja did.

"These guys are scary! I vote we leave now!" Choji said nervously.

Concealed behind a clump of bushes, Ino and her teammates had been watching the fight between Lee, Sakura and the Sound Ninja evolve. Ino watched Sakura with awe, when did her rival get so strong?

"Sasuke and Naruto are completely out of it, and with Lee not looking too good it's just going to be Sakura on her own against those guys. If she even makes it across the clearing before them" Shikamaru said quietly.

Ino remained silent and staring, Shikarmaru turned to her. "Well Ino, what do you want to do about this?" he asked.

"Why are you asking me? What am I supposed to do about it?" Ino snapped back.

"She's done well so far, she's definitely stronger than I remember her from the academy. But against the two of them she won't last much longer. You and her were friends once right? Are you going to let this happen to her?" Shikamaru demanded.

M-me go out there? I'd just end up getting myself killed? What good would that do anybody? Ino thought.

Sakura didn't think she had made it back in time. But when Zaku had punched her so hard that she felt her bones crack against the tree Sasuke and Naruto were under, she knew she had.

Heaving herself up from the ground, Sakura coughed and felt blood trickle out of her mouth. She could barely take a step forward but she had to. She had to gather her chakra to her leg and kick Zaku hard in the mouth. Because it was literally her that stood between Naruto and Sasuke's death.

"You can't last! You might have disabled Kin but that's nothing to brag about. We will kill you here and now" Dosu said, his sleeve lifted. He was ready to use the same sound inducing contraption that had rendered Lee unconscious with a bleeding ear.

"NO!" Sakura yelled and charged for Dosu, but before she could even lay an attack on him she had to fall back as she saw Zaku approaching from the left hand side. They had her cornered; they knew she wouldn't attack one of them when the other could attack her teammates. They were going to use that knowledge to kill her.

She felt it, the familiar dizziness of chakra depletion. At a time like this it was fatal, but somehow Sakura was proud her chakra had lasted this long. The Sound Ninja advanced towards her and Sakura got up slowly but it wasn't enough. Zaku punched her again and her head hit the ground hard. Slightly concussed and out of chakra, Sakura could only watch in horror as they walked passed her to Sasuke.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Inner roared. Sakura found it odd that the words Inner had spoken were coming out of her mouth.

She also found it strange that something was pulling her to her feet. Like a puppet, Sakura could feel herself being propelled towards the Sound Ninja. In a flash she was in front of them. The speed was inhumane.

"I SAID STAY AWAY!" Inner bellowed again and Sakura echoed it at the top of her voice. She punched both ninja with a strength that was completely foreign to her. Zaku and Dosu's bodies flew through the air and landed in a crumpled heap in the middle of the clearing.

Ino's team watched wide eyed in horror. The immense overpowering strength Sakura had felt before was completely gone. Although the hit they had taken was bad, Zaku and Dosu were getting up slowly.

Sakura was on her knees. She had no strength left in her at all. Inner had done something, a last resort. But it was useless. Sakura could feel her eyes closing; she wanted to sleep so badly. Zaku and Dosu were injured from her attack which the pink haired girl was slightly pleased about.

My death will be painful. They'll make me pay for what I did.

Sakura decided she could afford herself one last look at her teammates. Something that would haunt her in the afterlife. Even with all that she had learnt, she still needed more to defeat the Sound Ninja and she just didn't have it. Moving her gaze towards Sasuke, Sakura's sharp eyes noticed something. Purple chakra, seeping out from the curse mark on his neck.

Is Sasuke dying too? Maybe I'll see him later. Although I don't know where I'm going. Maybe I'll see father too,she thought, too exhausted to cry or get upset.

"You've given us enough trouble! I'm going to make sure your blood spills all over this forest floor!" Zaku yelled.

"Not so fast!" A voice called out and three figures blocked the space between Sakura and Zaku.

The pink haired teen tilted her head up slightly to see a familiar long blonde ponytail.

"Ino?"

"Hmph Sakura! Again, showing off in front of Sasuke and trying to get all the credit!" Ino declared haughtily.

Dosu fixed Choji with an angry glare. These leaf ninja keep interfering in things that don't concern them, he thought.

"Are you guys insane? These ninja are scary!" Choji said fearfully to his teammates.

"Don't look at me, its Ino's idea. We can't let her fight on her own!" Shikamaru snapped back.

"Sorry to drag you with me, but it's all for one and one for all on this squad!" Ino said and Shikamaru nodded.

"AH! SERIOUSLY! What teamwork is this!? Suicide more like!" Choji yelled.

"The fatso has the right idea, quit while you're ahead" Zaku smirked.

Choji twitched. "You want to try saying that one again?" he asked, fists clenched.

"I said you're smart to leave while you still can, fatty"

It was a little under a minute before Choji completely blew his top.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING FAT!? I'M JUST A LITTLE CHUBBY OKAY! CHUBBIES FOR LIFE!" He screamed, reminding Sakura of Naruto.

"IT'S A FIGHT TO THE DEATH BETWEEN LEAF AND SOUND!" Choji declared further, eyes burning with hate and determination.

Great, Choji has totally lost it. We're in with a shot, Ino thought happily.

Zaku sighed in frustration; the mission of his squad was to get Sasuke. Not battle these clowns.

Sakura could feel a little of her strength returning, she made a move to stand to assist Ino's team but the blonde girl had already pushed her back down gently.

"Sakura your teammates are down. Look after them. We have this covered" Ino instructed.

The female member of Team 7 obeyed without argument and slowly moved herself back towards Sasuke and Naruto. The purple chakra was now flowing strongly from Sasuke's curse mark, the aura it produced made Sakura fearful to try and touch it. Doing a quick vital check, Sakura could see both her teammates were stable.

Tiredly she drew another kunai and placed it in front of herself. From her position she could see Kin was still alive and breathing but unable to move. That was good. Ino's team stood a chance with three on two.

"Alright! Take it away Choji!" Ino ordered.

"With pleasure! Expansion Jutsu and Tai Jutsu creates Human Boulder Jutsu!" Choji yelled, expanding to twice his size and substituting his legs, arms and head with a steady chakra flow before rolling himself rapidly towards Zaku.

"So what am I supposed to just laugh to death? Slicing Sound Wave!" Zaku replied and pushed his hands forward creating a fast air stream.

Sakura watched as Choji's Human Boulder Jutsu pushed against the Sound Ninja's air stream, for a while it seemed as though Choji's jutsu was useless. But then the human boulder jumped over Zaku's air stream and into the air.

That thing is spinning so fast! I haven't got a chance using my jutsu and going supersonic would mean my arms could get ripped off! Zaku thought in horror.

Noticing his teammate wasn't moving, Dosu quickly made a run for him. But he was stopped instantly by Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Justu; paralysed Dosu was completely unable to move.

"Look out below!" Choji yelled, as his Human Boulder Jutsu came hurtling to the ground. Zaku quickly manoeuvred out of the way as Choji hit the ground hard, his jutsu dissipating.

"Man I don't feel so good" Choji said, covering his mouth and looking as though he was going to be sick.

"Choji what the hell!" Ino yelled angrily.

"No, my shadow jutsu!" Shikamaru yelled as his Shadow Possession jutsu retracted.

These two guys on their own, they're way stronger than all three of us put together. Although it's more like two now, with Choji sick, Ino thought.

"You didn't really think you could beat us did you? Ninja like you from a second rate village like this. We don't care about the test or these scrolls. Our goal is to kill Sasuke Uchiha" Dosu said.

"Well I guess that makes your village third rate huh?" A voice called from the tree tops, it was that Neji Hyuga guy and his female teammate.

I was half expecting Lee's team to show up earlier, Sakura thought.

"It looks to me like one of you used our teammate as a punching bag! No one gets away with that!" Neji yelled, veins erupting around his face and near his eyes which were wide.

Dosu watched Neji's eyes; they were not simply looking at him. They were looking through him.

"You ready Tenten, full power!" Neji instructed but suddenly he