Chapter Twenty Nine

Kakashi poked the crackling fire, it was his turn to stand guard, he couldn't stop his gaze from drifting over to Sakura every so often, who was tucked away warmly inside his sleeping bag.

It may have already been two amazing months since her return, however he still gets starstruck seeing her, it all felt surreal, a piece of him was terrified he would wake up and this would all be a twisted dream.

A low snap caught Kakashi's ear, instantly he was on his feet, sharply scanning the tree lining holding back the flood of darkness. Something caused his muscles to tense, his nerves on edge he positioned himself over the sleeping Sakura, legs planted on either side of her as he continued to scan the area.

Kakashi twisted his torso, the clank of the kunai's clashing stung his ear as he pushed the masked man backwards, standing his ground—nothing, and he meant nothing, would get past him to his cherry blossom.

The rouge ninja seemed to be focused only on Sakura, Kakashi whipped his head around in time to watch the rogue friends dropping down from the trees, needles at the ready, stabbing Sasuke in the neck while Naruto and Carver woke up instantly, struggling with their attackers.

"Seems we have ourselves a little standoff here." Carver wiped his mouth as he stood, his attacker feet away still armed with the needle in hand.

"You're out numbered." Carver reminds the rogues, watching from the corner of his eye as Raiden is able to untangle from his sleeping bag.

"True-" The first rogue to jump agrees, "-but we have your boy." He sneered; Sasuke lay unconscious with a knife to his neck.

"Fucking Sasuke." Carver sighed, throwing his head back, "I mean...is it really a loss if-"

"Carver-!" Naruto lectured.

"Fine!" Carver sighed, "We'll get him back alive!"

"Shut up-!" The first rogue snaps, "-get all your supplies together, and for the trouble you caused, why don't you toss in that sleeping beauty over there, and we'll be off."

"You can take that suggestion and shove it up your ass!" Carver growls.

"You're not touching her." Naruto adds in.

"We'll see about that, have you already forgotten about your frien—ugh!" The rouge is thrown back, the force of the silver kunai impaling his chest knocks him off his feet.

Team Seven blinked, slowly turning around as Sakura sits up yawning.

Quickly Carver and Kakashi take down the remaining rogue who were still distracted by their leader being killed off so easily.

"Well, I'm up now." Sakura groans, Kakashi offers a hand helping her up. "Might as well start the day."

"Start the day-!?" Naruto whines, "-the suns not even up yet!" He motions to the sky.

"You wanna explain how you got your ass jumped by some petty thugs?" Sakura raises an eyebrow.

"I-I was sleeping!" Naruto defends.

"Mhm." Sakura hums, Raiden lightly kicks Sasuke.

"I don't think we are going anywhere, Sasuke is like out, out."

"Is he ok?!" Naruto rushes over.

"Unfortunately, he will be." Carver stretches, "I'm sure the shit they injected into him is just a light sedative, he'll be moving around in a few hours."

"Oh." Naruto's face pinches together, gazing down at Sasuke, surprised he was unable to fend off the rogue, as Naruto thinks more about it, Sasuke has been acting off these past few weeks, the blond ninja pouted, hating not knowing what was bothering his friend and keeping him off his game.

"You gonna sit there all day or help with breakfast?" Raiden pulled Naruto from his thoughts.

"Breakfast?" Naruto turned, "But the sun isn't even up yet!"

"Hey guys-!" Carver called, having piled all the bodies out of the way. "-we have a problem!"

"What kind of problem?" Sakura questioned, walking.

"Isn't that what I think it is?" Carver pointed out the marking on one of the rogue's outfits.

"Yeah, it is-" Sakura exhales, "-shit."

"What are you guys looking at?" Naruto stared at the deceased rogue, confused on what his team was talking about.

"That-" Sakura points out the patch. "-is the symbol for the Genjutsu Tree Village."

"Oh yeah-!" Naruto smiled, recalling his time in the village. "-so it is, wait-!" Naruto frowned, "-why are these guys wearing it?"

"Two options-" Sakura looked into his crystal blue eyes. "-either the Genjutsu Tree Village turned a new leaf and needs to be added to my bingo book or..."

"Or?" Naruto frowned, worry quickly growing for his friends inside the Genjutsu Tree Village.

"Or the village has been taken over-" Carver steps in for Sakura. "-by a collection of rogues, which means..."

"Means what carver!?" Naruto pulls his brows together.

"Tashishi might be dead-" Sakura looks around the forest, knowing more rogues were lurking. "-and the Koh-I-Noor is no longer safe."

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Hello Jommies!

The Haruno Series is back!

It was so refreshing to see Sakura and the gang again and I hope you feel the same, next update will be 6/23/2023.

The reason for the long wait is due to the amount of material I need to go through, if you were with me when the Haruno Series first dropped then you know it's a rewrite from the book I wrote 'Along the Strands of her Pink Hair' which is no longer available to the public. I need to make sure I don't miss any little details or plot twists so I do need to go through that monstrosity. 🫠

https://discord.gg/Gn3Xyfez

Wish me luck!

Until next time 💙

Stay Calm and Jommy on!

Sarah 🌸