Forest of Death (II.)

"Aha!! Ah!!" Choji struck Naruto on the head with a stick, causing Naruto to bolt upright with a shout. He had just been dreaming that Orochimaru was charging straight at him.

"Huh?" After his shout, Naruto blinked, taking in the situation. Shikamaru and Choji were crouching beside him, Sakura and Sasuke were sitting on the ground not far away, and Ino was carrying Rock Lee. The image of Orochimaru suddenly flashed through his mind again.

"Everyone, hide! No, get down! Where is that guy?" Naruto roared, scanning his surroundings.

"Oh? Naruto." Sakura and Sasuke were drawn by Naruto's shout, turning their heads to look at him.

Choji walked behind him and poked Naruto's head with the wooden stick.

"You really are naive, you know. Honestly, just looking at you makes me angry." Shikamaru was still annoyed because Naruto had been sleeping the whole time, and Choji nodded in agreement from the side.

Ignoring them, Naruto continued to look around, only to notice that Sakura's long hair had become short. She had cut it to break free from Kin's grip, though it had to be said that it was ultimately meaningless; even if she had charged in, she would have just ended up getting beaten.

"Eh!? Sakura! Th-th-that!" Naruto shouted as he ran toward her.

"What is it?" Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion.

"That... Sakura! Your hair!" Naruto stopped right in front of her.

"Oh, you mean this?" Sakura touched her hair. "Just changing my image, that's all." She gave a bitter smile, pretending to be nonchalant.

"Though I do prefer long hair, you see, if we're going to be operating in this forest, long hair just holds you back," Sakura explained.

"Hmm... come to think of it, why are you guys here?" Naruto asked, looking back at Shikamaru and the others.

"Ugh, I don't feel like explaining it to you," Shikamaru sighed.

"Alright, we're all here to help. Naruto, are you okay now?" Yin Xiang jumped down from a tree, walked over to Sakura's side, and spoke to Naruto.

"I'm fine. What happened to me?" Naruto still had no idea what had transpired.

"Glad to hear it." Yin Xiang nodded, pulled a kunai from his pouch, and crouched beside Sakura. "Don't move, let me fix that up for you." As Yin Xiang reached toward her hair, Sakura instinctively flinched, but then Yin Xiang spoke.

Hearing his voice, Sakura's body went still of its own accord, leaving her hair to his care. Yin Xiang trimmed the uneven sections where she had hacked it off and tidied up the stray ends, making it look much more presentable than before.

"There you go." Yin Xiang put away the kunai, stood up, and smiled at Sakura.

"Th-thank you." Sakura looked at his smile, blushed, and nodded. She touched her hair; it certainly felt much better than it had a moment ago.

"I'll take care of him now." Tenten jumped down from the tree in front of Ino and spoke. Ino nodded and handed Rock Lee over to her.

"Wake up, Lee!" Tenten grabbed Rock Lee and shook him violently. The shaking proved effective; once he was dropped to the ground, he regained consciousness.

"Ah, Tenten? Why are you here?" Rock Lee looked up at her.

"I came to save you." Tenten crouched down to face him.

"Eh? What about those Sound Ninja?" Rock Lee looked around, but there was no sign of them.

"That guy named Sasuke defeated them." At this point, Tenten and the others were not yet familiar with Sasuke's group.

"I see..." Rock Lee nodded and looked over toward Sakura, who was chatting happily with Yin Xiang.

"Honestly! You big forehead!" Ino shouted angrily at Sakura, leaving her stunned.

"What's your problem! You Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted back, and the two of them found themselves face-to-face before they knew it.

"I already decided to leave Sasuke to you, but now you're trying to steal Yin Xiang from me too!" Ino gritted her teeth as they stood nose-to-nose.

"What are you talking about! It was me who left Sasuke to you!" Sakura retorted, refusing to back down.

"Good grief, what are they doing?" Shikamaru watched them, looking helpless.

"Why were you in such a rush to act alone? And look at the mess you got yourself into," Tenten scolded Rock Lee. Watching Sakura and Ino bickering over Yin Xiang, she felt a surge of irritation and seemed to want to vent it all on Rock Lee.

"That's because... Sakura was in danger, and as a man..."

"You really are an idiot."

"Ah... I cannot argue with that." Rock Lee sat on the ground, hugging his legs, and muttered to himself.

"Aha! Aren't you that bushy-browed guy!" Naruto ran over to Rock Lee and pointed at him.

"Naruto! Don't you dare talk to Lee like that!" Sakura, still arguing with Ino, heard him and rushed over to deliver a punch to Naruto.

Naruto was sent flying, landing hard on the ground. "So painful... what on earth happened while I was asleep..."

"That guy Naruto is completely out of the loop."

"He must be the type who can never be the protagonist of a story..." Shikamaru and Choji muttered from the sidelines.

"Lee... thank you," Sakura said to Rock Lee after hitting Naruto. "Thanks to you, I was able to find the courage. I feel like I've become a bit stronger."

Rock Lee stared at her for a moment, then actually burst into tears of emotion!

"Sakura, it seems I... still need to work much harder!" Rock Lee told her, then looked at Sasuke, who had followed Sakura over. "Sasuke... as expected of the Uchiha Clan, to be able to repel those Sound Ninja. You truly possess great power, while I was beaten to a pulp..."

What? This guy was beaten to a pulp? What's going on... were those guys really that strong? Sasuke thought to himself. In his eyes, Rock Lee was incredibly strong, yet he had been defeated by those three. Since Sasuke had been unconscious, he didn't know the details.

"Sakura, the Lotus of Konoha will bloom again. I swear, the next time we meet, I will be an even stronger man!" Rock Lee declared.

"Mm!" Although Sakura didn't know that the Lotus was a technique that could only be used when protecting someone most important, she nodded with a smile.