Maybe

The Invasion

Sakura was just exiting the infirmary when it happened.

Suddenly, the air became thick with chakra and she felt the telltale sign of genjutsu.
Quickly dispelling it, she hurried out of the room.
Outside, it was chaos.
Shinobi from Sand and Sound were attacking everyone, ninja and civilian alike.

What... Why was there a genjutsu but it didn't affect the civilians? They should be the first ones to fall...
The only persons worth slowing down would be the Kages and the jonin and they're all at the...  THE ARENA! That's probably where the genjutsu was focused and the infirmary was on the border...

"Hel... HELP!!" A cry suddenly diverted her attention to an elderly man half buried underneath a fallen building. Above them, giant snakes were rampaging, destroying everything in their wake.
If she did nothing...

Taking in a deep breath, the girl rushed towards the old man, infusing her arms with chakra. She wobbly raised the huge wall and pulled him from underneath the rubble.

"Are you okay?" She questioned worriedly, "Can you walk?"
As she asked the question she checked his vitals. No particularly harmful injuries, he was fine.

"I... Yes, thank you young lady.."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sakura told him to go and hide in one of the safe places behind the Hokage mountain. Then, she sprinted away, intent on helping as many people as she could.

After a short while of dodging tiles and debris that fell from the sky and rescuing a handful of civilians (three children, a young couple and a middle aged woman).
She guided them to one of the only houses still standing, and they all hid in there.
The snakes had been taken down by the old Ino-Shika-Cho generation ; but enemy ninja were still everywhere, and Sakura wasn't confident enough in her abilities to take them all on, while being responsible for the safety of others.

"Are... are we going to die?" asked the eldest of the three children. It was ayoung girl, with long black hair whose pale blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Of course not" Sakura reassured her, patting her head, and engulfing the three trembling kids in her arms. When she released them, she forced a smile on her face.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

I won't let anything happen to you.

Anything happen to you...

The smile felt strained but she held it up. She knew that if she showed these people how frightened she was, they would panic.
The adults looked pitifully at her but said nothing. The two lovebirds had been whispering promises to each other, and now, they stood grim faced. The older woman looked indifferent, resigned, but her eyes told another story and her hands were trembling on her thighs.

:::::::::::

Not far from them, standing on the top of the remnant of a school a tall shadowy figure gazed down at the chaos of the streets.
She jumped down, stalking like a predator towards the hiding place, her hair floating eerily after her, and her hands stained with blood.

Nanami kicked a hole in the wall and smiled at her student.

"What a coincidence to find you here, dear Sakura-chan..." her voice was quiet, but every word rang clear in the silence.

"Na..Nanami-shishou.. I'm.. I'm glad you're here." Sakura stuttered out, not moving an each from in front of the small group.
The young girls eyes were filled with hope and betrayal, the two opposite emotions clashing strangely on her face.

The silence stretched for an uncomfortable time before Nanami laughed. She snorted, holding her stomach and wiping tears.

"What a pitiful sight you make there, young student of mine... You think you stand a chance against me, when it is I that taught you all you know?"

Sakura didn't know what to say so she just took a stance and prepared forthe up coming attack.

It didn't take long.

In one fluid movement, Nanami lunged forward, chakra scalpels in front of her. Sakura ducked. She tried to hit back but the elder woman swatted her arm away and chuckled.

Sakura blocked a kick aimed at her face, and, panting, asked:

"Why...Why are you doing this?!"

Nanami smiled sweetly, almost lovingly at the genin before answering.

"Because there's nothing worth fighting for here."

They were still fighting, Sakura dodging and blocking, wincing in pain each time the scalpels grazed her skin.
The girl knew her shisho –the traitor – was holding back. She knew that if she ever decided to fight seriously, she'd be dead in seconds.
But she wasn't.

Sakura could feel her heart racing and she wondered why she wasn't already dead.

"But...what about the people? What about the village?" Her question came out in a raspy tone, the exhaustion from her previous fight as well as the constant stress and panic she was under making her weary and tired.

Maybe if she could bring Nanami back to her senses, everything would be fine.

"The village?!" The woman spat out, her face contorting in fury. "Why anyone would willingly fight for this damned village is beyond me!"

Her blows began to speed up, the blue light flickered in a darker shade around her fingers and her eyes glazed over with pure, undiluted hatred.

Ok, maybe bringing up the village wasn't such a good idea.
But why??

"This accursed village deserves to burn." Nanami snarled.

Sakura was having a hard time evading all of the jabs directed towards her, but the words echoed in her head.

"Why...Why do you hate Konoha so much?" She huffed out.

At once, Nanami stopped her assault and the girl collapsed on the ground with exhaustion.

"You ask why I hate it so much?" the woman drawled out, circling around Sakura like a hawk.

"You should ask your teammates. You should ask the Uchihas, hell, you should ask all the orphans that disappear every year. You should ask your dear Kakashi-sensei..."

Her scowl twisted into a savage grin and the woman kicked the girl sharply in the ribs.

"You should ask yourself how you're so blind to what's happening right under your very nose.   And you call yourself a ninja..."

Nanami grabbed Sakura by the neck and held her up, her feet dangling helplessly in the air. With a last glare, the traitorous kunoichi slammed the pink genin's head on the tiles and watched with satisfaction as her body fell limp on the floor.

Turning to face the small group of civilian that stood cowering in one of the corners of the room, Nanami stretched her lips, giving them a full view of her sharp teeth.

"If you so much as breathe, you're dead." And, faster than the eye can see, she struck their pressure points, and they all crumpled to the ground.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, the woman exited the building and shunshined to the front gate of the village.
There, a man was waiting for her.

"So? Did you do it?" he asked.

Nanami hesitated a few seconds before replying:

"Yes. Everything has been taken care of."