The Queen of Masks [Sakura Haruno Story]

51

Sakura sighed, exasperated.

She had taken out two out of the six 'Peins', as they called themselves, before she felt them retreat.

Two came to pick up the two that she had defeated, taking them out of the village.

Sakura leaped onto the roof of the nearest building. All the civilians had been evacuated by now, however, quite a few of their ninja had gone down.

Including Kakashi.

But Sakura had no time to morn since she felt two flares of chakra in the forest near Konoha, where Pein had retreated to. Sakura guessed that they had somehow revived the two that she had defeated.

She felt one chakra signature fly up into the air above the village. Sakura squinted up at the sky, and caught a glimpse of a figure before a thundering explosion could be heard.

She was suddenly on the ground, her head on a rock, blood tricking down the side of her face. A large gash had made its mark on her forehead, and her lip was busted.

Sakura stared, wide eyed, at the scene before her.

Everything was gone.

The emotions from before came back full force. The village was gone. Kakashi was gone. The Queen was gone.

A scream bubbled up in her throat, ripping though the silence surrounding her. This was not a scream of distress, shock, or even sadness.

This was a scream of pure, hot, rage.

And it was this rage that drove Sakura to the edge of her sanity. She attacked.

Letting out a horse battle cry, Sakura shot towards the small figure standing in the middle of the crater that had once been her home. She sucked all the chakra out of her chakra bands, and flew towards her enemy at a blinding speed.

Pein didn't even see the punch coming before it hit him straight in the nose.

The other five Peins had just arrived to see their leader fly backwards, and they leaped into action.

Sakura managed to block and dodge a few of their attacks, but her mind was clouded with her anger and she couldn't think properly.

One of the Peins summoned a large beast, and it swiped at Sakura with it's paw.

Sakura flew backwards in a similar manner as the Main Pein had, but as she braced for impact, she felt strong arms wrap around her and a soft grunt of pain.

She fell backwards and on top of the person who had saved her life.

"Ouch..."

Sakura's mind cleared of it's anger only to be filled with concern and worry. "Rui!"

"Hey there, sis." Sakura quickly scrambled off of his chest, just as a puff of smoke appeared on the battle field.

Naruto had arrived.

"Rui! Are you ok?!" Sakura's hands glowed green, and she looked for injuries.

Rui had two broken ribs and a fractured ankle from the catch. Sakura went to work immediately, mending them.

"Well, at least I saved you." He paused, grinning cockily. "It was pretty cool, wasn't it." He stated rather than asked.

"Yeah." Sakura answered. "It was very cool." With his ankle healed and his ribs still a bit sensitive, Sakura bent down and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

Rui's eyes widened. "I seriously hope that was just a sisterly kiss, 'cause if it wasn't, then I'd hate to break it to you, Sakura, but-"

Sakura cut him off. "Oh, it was definitely a sisterly kiss."

Rui glared at Sakura, but she could she that he was fighting off a smile. "I'm not sure whether to be relieved or offended."

"Well, that your problem. Not mine." Sakura smiled.

In the spur of the moment, Sakura's face straightened. "Hey, Rui, could you do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"I want you to tell everyone that I died in the explosion." Sakura watched as Rui's expression turned to one of shock.

"W-why?"

Sakura patted her weapons pouch, making sure she still had the scroll containing the mask with her. She had never really thought about it until the idea popped into her head just a few moments ago, but deep down she knew that she had to do it. Sakura took a moment to steal her nerves before saying it out loud.

"I'm leaving."