Author's Note: This is my first story. I pledge to try to create an interesting story, as well as, write to the best of my ability using proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You know, all that good stuff. Reviews would be appreciated.

Apologies to the shortness of the story. Hopefully, the future chapters will be indeed lengthier. It looked a lot longer in my word processor than it does published.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1

Sakura stretched and yawned widely feeling her ears pop. Glancing at the clock quickly, she cursed herself at the time, 1:37 am. You've been at this for hours, her inner self grumbled. This, was an infinite stack of paperwork about patients and there statuses that needed to be sorted and filed away. Consequently, Tsunade-Shishou, had summoned her a mere twenty minutes before her shift was over, citing an emergency. This 'emergency', however, was nothing other than paperwork. Sakura shuddered at her initial reaction to the amount of paperwork. Tsunade-Shishou, after assaulting her with the monstrous load, told her it had to be completed by the following morning, claiming with year's end she was falling behind and the council were expecting it tomorrow. Nothing like leaving it until the last possible moment. Sakura let out a small groan before slowly allowing her eyes to close. Feeling the weight of her head slowly start to fall she let it rest, thinking, I just need one minute of rest; it will only be for one minute.

The stiffness was unbearable. Ugh, my neck. Haphazardly kneading the knot out of her neck she shifted. I need to get up and move. Wait, where I am I? She strained against the fogginess that loomed over her subconscious, it was fighting against her effort to remain somewhat awake. Jolting awake suddenly, she realized that she must have fallen asleep, again. She knew better than to trust her inner-self. Hah, just a minute? She was like an infant, if she was tired, warm, and semi-comfortable she was bound to fall asleep. Brushing the glued strands of hair away from her face while simultaneously rubbing her eyes furiously she tried to bring them into focus. Squinting at the clock with tired eyes she was finally able to read the clock, 6:22 am. Now only if... Interrupting her thoughts was a timid knock at the door of her office.

"Come in," she sighed, struggling to keep the irritation out of her voice.

The messenger cracked the door open and peered around the slit, only to see a visually grumpy Sakura. It was no secret that Sakura wasn't a ray of sunshine when she woke up. She was just down right miserable until she had her morning... She struggled to think of what she needed to brighten her mornings,well actually, until the morning was over there was nothing whatsoever that could curve her mood, period. Izumo bravely slid around the door that was shielding him from Sakura.

"Hokage-sama requests your immediate presence in her office," with that Izumo quickly shrank from her office. He could have sworn he heard her mutter "gopher" under her breath.

Sakura began to fret and perspire as she approached the Hokage's office. Everything was blurring and melding together, oblivious to her surroundings. In her seventeen years she had never failed to complete anything that her Shishou had thrown her way. It wasn't her fault, well it was; but that wasn't the point. Struggling to keep the panic down and attempting not to flee in shame, Sakura reached the doors to the Hokage's office. Sakura lifted her hand to knock, but was cut short as the Hokage's voice boomed through the doors ordering her to enter. Her shoulders shrank as she prepared to gather her strength. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the enormous doors, opening to the Hokage's office. Sakura took three great big strides and stood in front of her Shishou.

"Tsunade-Shishou, I just want to tell you how terribly sorry I am, I mean, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep, I mean I only thought I was going to close my eyes for a moment. Then the next thing I know, I had been a sleep for hours. It was an accident." All of these constrained feelings came exploding out of Sakura even as she prepared herself to take another deep breathe, readying herself to dive into her apology, once again.

Tsunade raised her hand interrupting Sakura from delving into her tirade once again, "Sakura, this is not why I have summoned you this morning."

Sakura looked confused, "It's not?"

"No, on that matter though, Shizune, has led me to believe they are due today. The false information is an attempt to have me somewhat on schedule this year. She claims it has something to do with my procrastination habits and drinking sake. I have no idea what she is talking about or how they are even related. I always manage to pull things together. Those folders don't need to be finished until next week. There is plenty of time to spare. I'll reassign them to someone else."

At this Sakura tried not to deadpan at her Shishou's comments. A particular poem crept into Sakura's thoughts, 'Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.' Curiosity peaked, "Why then?"

Tsunade began to rummage through the stacks on her desk. "Ah, here it is." Pulling out a scroll that had obviously been jammed out of the way, Tsunade proceeded to hand it to Sakura. Sakura reached over and grasped the scroll. "A mission, nothing too serious, for you that is."

Sakura unravelled the scroll glancing down at it, "Yumegakure? What team will I be in? Naruto is out on mission now..."

"Naruto will not be accompanying you, actually Sakura, this is a solo mission."

Sakura opened her mouth to voice anything, but all that came out was the shocked silence. She had never been on a solo mission before. Closing her mouth quickly, to ensure she wasn't gasping like a fish, Sakura's eyes snapped to her Shishou's.

"Sakura, this shouldn't really come to a surprise as you. You've accomplished much in these past years. You're a fortified kunoichi, showing excellent talent as a medic, you are the most prestigious medic in your generation."

Humbled Sakura could only manage a nod of appreciation.

"This mission will require your abilities as a medic. As you noted, you will be travelling to Yumegakure. It is located deep in the forest on the border of Fire Country." Tsunade's voice piqued, "If memory serves correct you have travelled there previously with Team 7?"

"Yes, Shishou. We successfully resealed the Three-Headed Guardian Beast on a previous mission to Yumegakure." At this Tsunade's eyes came into focus ever more slightly. If it wasn't for Sakura's close relationship to Tsunade, she would have missed the subtle difference.

"Three-heads...a powerful energy source." Tsunade seemingly mulled over a decision, "It seems I have overlooked this crucial piece of information, based on this, I am now going to escalate the mission from a B rank to an A rank. It should not make a difference, but your ninja fee will reflect it. Further more, the details of the mission are within the scroll. Take a moment to properly decipher the scroll." At that Tsunade began to rearrange the stacks on her desk.

Sakura looked at the scroll she was holding, Tenro Ezro the Yumegakure's leader had requested help from Konoha. The details seemed straight forward. She was required to travel to the village and eradicate an outbreak in Conjunctivitis. Wait, Conjunctivitis... that's pink eye? That hardly seemed threatening. "Pink eye? Tsunade-Shishou, this hardly seems like an A rank mission. Pink eye can be treated with an antibiotic eye drops."

Tsunade glanced up, "Again, hardly for you, but rest assured it will require some finesse. This is no ordinary outbreak of Conjunctivitis. As you know, Conjunctivitis can appear in two forms: viral and bacterial; however, this is some sort of hybrid. It is an aggressive strand of the disease. The deterioration of the patients eye is rapid. Scar tissue is forming on the eyes' surface, it may lead to permanent damage or loss of vision in healthy patients, not to mention the frail. There have been a few select individuals that have succumbed to blindness."

A little perplexed by this revelation Sakura asked, "How many are afflicted? How many are susceptible?"

"It is estimated that around three hundred are afflicted with the ailment, two hundred of these are ninja. The rest of the village is susceptible. This has to be contained quickly, before it turns into an epidemic."

Sakura was appalled. To attack one's body physically was something she could comprehend, but to wreak havoc on an entire village, civilian and ninja alike, with a disease was... it was—biological warfare. With a new determination Sakura steadied her voice,"I will cultivate a sample of the strand immediately. After isolating it I will create a vaccine Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded pride showing in her eyes, "You will do well to serve Konoha, Sakura. I know you will pour all your knowledge and effort into correcting this misfortune. It is not a secret that Konoha has the best medical advancements, so this doesn't surprise me that we were requested. Combined with our new alliance with Yumegakure, it is understandable; they are ill equipped at best."

Sakura began to count the days it would take to complete her mission. Estimating two days travel, two days to cultivate the vaccine, two days to administer to the afflicted population, another day to set up booths for those will need to be vaccinated against further out break, and a week to observe the overall effectiveness of the treatment. Her mind was reeling on how much she would have to do over the course of the period. "I speculate, that it should only take two weeks to complete my mission and report back to Konoha."

Tsunade mentally calculated the allotted time required, "I agree you shouldn't take anymore than 17 days; however, 14 days should prove to be sufficient. You are due back on February that said, you have until noon to gather your needed supplies and to prepare for your mission. At that time, you will report to the gates and depart."

Sakura stepped out into the crisp air. The air caused a chill to run down her spine. Sakura readjusted her pack before closing the door to her apartment. The hollow sounding thud the door made as it closed shut shook something in her. It sounded so final. It had been a while since she had been on a mission. This was her first mission alone. Deep in thought, Sakura braced herself from the cold as she double checked the door to make sure it was locked. Seeing that it was indeed locked, Sakura proceeded out her small frosty yard. The leaves rustled and crunched under her feet as she made her way to the road. Taking one last glance at her apartment, she proceeded to the gates, to face her first mission, all alone.

To be continued...