Okay, well here's the deal, I just HAD TO MAKE THE SEQUEL FIRST!! I was too excited, all these ideas came rushing into my head!! I'm sorry if you were wanting to read "You're the man, kind of" WHICH SHALL BE MADE STRAIGHT AFTER THIS!! (full summary of that story is on "Crimson rain, a shinoib's sacrifice for new readers)

Here is the full summary of Crimson rain, a shinobi's sacrifice for those who are new readers: Bring him back or kill him. Sakura and team 7 know what they must do. However, Team Hebi also have their own plans involving the pink haired kunoichi. Her valuable information on Akatsuki makes her a useful asset and now, she ends up tied in Sasuke's painful world. Sasuke finds out more about his twisted past...and a certain Uchiha is eager destroy more than just lives...

THE SEQUEL IS FINALLY HERE! The sequel "Crimson heart, a shinobi's fate" is now up and running people, woooo!! Now that the celebration is over with, and for those reading for the first time and have never read "Crimson rain a shinobi's sacrifice" i advise you do :D, it is good and worth the read so I hope you have time to read it! As for those who've read it already, here is the full summary! I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS FOR THIS FANFIC IT'S UNREAL!! I'm going to work really hard on this!!

Summary: One year has passed since Sasuke's exile. The Land of ice is under threat by Akatsuki for a mysterious reason and asks Konoha for aid. Team 7 are sent to help the helpless villagers from the countless attacks. But there is more to the Land of ice than meets the eye...not only that but a mysterious settler may be the key as to why Akatsuki are attacking the little village. And if things weren't bad enough, in Konoha, a gruesome assassination is eager to take place. Threatening to become the 4th ninja war, only one has the answer and their fate has been chosen.

1. Always following through see-through doors

Dreams. Quite a curious thing. Like every dream, it starts when one closes their eyes, full of fatigue and eager to enter the fanatasic, horrible little world. Like every dream, it ends with you waking up, and wondering if it was real.

'Sakura...'

Sakura's position, for the past seven nights, had been just this. Waking up, sweat hiding across her chest-bones. Breathing heavily. Like every dream of Haruno Sakura's, was about Sasuke. He was dying in her dreams. Never dead, or never well. And no matter how hard she tried, she could not reach him. He wasn't bleeding. He was just pale.

Shaking it off, as she did every night, she pulled off the blankets and went to get dressed. Today would be another day. The morning was a little more bashful than usual. Still lazily sneaking behind the grey clouds. The light in the sky was a weak orange and didn't show any signs of brightening up. It was disappointing.

Sakura got herself ready, following the usual routine. There was one thing that was to be different about today. It was time for a new mission. In all truth, Tsunade had been reluctant to assign Sakura too many missions, in case she would somehow bump into Sasuke. But it had been a year, and he was sneakier than a ghost. No sign of him, not from anyone. And Naruto had tried looking. It surprised her on that day on top of the hokage rooftops when Naruto didn't stop his friend from leaving. Sasuke had looked up at them, but not expactantly. He was accepting his fate. He knew where he didn't belong. Konoha was a figment of the past now. Sakura was no fool. She knew she couldn't make him stay on that day.

However, it still haunted her mind. No matter how hard she tried, he slipped away from her fingers. Even though, he had expressed his feelings for her. Perhaps she should have gone with him? Sakura, at that moment, placed a firm palm on the wall and the wall began to crack and chip. She had gotten stronger, resembling Tsunade's strength in most ways now.

Her hair was a little longer.

And, if she wanted to, she could click the heel of her foot and create a crater within the earth. Dressing herself in a red strapped top and black pants, she left the apartment, hanging her keys on her hip. What kind of mission would she recieve today? Being Jonin, Sakura could get anything, S-rank, A-rank. She was in the mood for a tough one. For so long, she had been involved with this year's chuunin exams and helping the lowly genin. This only fed her sore memories of Sasuke, still raw in her head. Now that the chuunin exams were over, it was time for a challenge.

Boredom rarely occurred in a shinobi's life, so when it did, it felt like a plague...one that had to be treated as soon as possible.

'Come to think of it, I haven't had a mission with Naruto, Sai and Kakashi in a long while.' Four months to be exact. Had it really been that long? Naruto had not taken part in assisting with the chuunin exams. He was too busy with his own missions, mostly involving rebel groups. For now, he was forbidden to go on missions that involved Akatsuki, as they were still at large and their powers growing. It had become evident, that some new members had been assigned-two at the most. Sakura still wondered if Madara was still after Sasuke; he too had slipped from the shadows of sight. Both Uchiha's were missing.

Now, the streets were occupied by only elderly citizens. They preferred early morning shopping, which was understandable. By noon, the village would be overrun by children and the bustling of people and ninjas. Sakura rarely woke up this early. In fact, it was a surprise that she had been getting enough sleep. Those dreams really were affecting her but they weren't enough to confront Tsunade about. Sakura wasn't sure if Tsunade would even appreciate her coming this early; right now Sakura guessed, with amusement, that the hokage would be drooling all over her paperwork. Ever since Jaraiya's death, she had been more firm than usual. Ensuring everything was in order. Not that this was a bad thing, but being so organised was not a trait Tsunade always had. Nevertheless, the hokage was still good at being hokage. That was one thing Sakura was thankful about. The only thing Sakura despised more than anything, were those Konoha elders...During her research into trial and law of Konoha, Sakura had noticed something.

Execution of Sasuke, which the elders were so eager to do until Tsunade was able to reason with them, was, for an unknown reason against the contract writted by the third hokage. Sakura had accidentally found this top secret doccument when going through the hokage's old filing room. Sakura had told no one about it, for she herself was unsure about what it meant.

The contract stated that Sasuke Uchiha was not allowed to undergo execution or death by the hands of Konoha shinobi in any case by means of doing so on purpose.

What had granted Sasuke such an important contract??

"I...do not know what you are talking about...Pain..."

Pain lowered his head. He had grown tired of the interrogation, especially since it was his partner he was questioning. It was the one person he trusted in Akatsuki, and she was now lying to him. Even Madara, was not to be trusted. Despite the fact that he was running the organisation, Madara was a tricky man to unlock.

Konan, on the other hand, had been Pain's partner for years. They knew everything about each other when it came to jutsu and background.

"Before he died, it happened. I know it did. All I want to know is where you hid it..." Pain continued. "I understand what it was...you're too much of a useful asset to be punnished, but you know that already, don't you?" He read her eyes. She was very strong, but now, she had one weakness. "But you're not afraid of that are you? It's something else, am I right?"

Sakura knocked on the door for the seventh time. Yawning heavily, she pressed her forehead against the cold wood.

"Gyaa! Tsunade-sama!" Sakura shrieked, banging her fist on the door, careful not to break it.

"Hai?" Tsunade asked, turning the corner and meeting her apprentice at the office. "Sakura, there was no one in there...I was busy assorting mission returns."

Sakura sweatdropped with embarrassment as Tsunade opened the office door, allowing Sakura to enter through.

"So what are you doing up so early?" Sakura asked the hokage, simply trying to make conversation.

"I could ask the same of you," Tsunade answered. "I had some important businees if you must know," Tsunade informed, setting down the papers, before taking a seat. She had learnt to become a fast reader and in this case, it was a very useful asset. "Take a seat then."

Sakura did, falling heavily onto the chair in relief, flopping her arms over the side. She sighed. "What's the mission?"

Tsunade searched through them. "I'm looking...I assume you want a challenge after assisting with the depressingly simplistic exams?"

"Please," Sakura said.

Tsunade gave a nod, before pulling out a sheet near the top. The closer to the top, the more urgent they were. This one was an A-rank mission, by the looks of its position in the pile. "Ah, good news...you'll be going with Naruto and Kakashi on this one. Kakashi has just got back from a C-rank and is in need of a harsher mission. As for Naruto, he's been nagging me for weeks about doing a mission out of the land of fire. That stupid knucklehead..." Tsunade shook her head in disbelief. "Sai is in Root at the minute. Guess I'll have to add someone to the team."

Sakura liked the sound of that. Being on a mission with Naruto and Kakashi would be a good reunion. "If you intend to send 4 jonins on this mission, it must be a tough one, huh?"

Tsunade gave a sharp nod. "Well, I'll give you the brief...The land of ice, a quiet village, very remote in the colder parts, is under a series of attacks. Their leader, Owamae Hotaka once took part in the chuunin exams 10 years ago. Him being the only ninja in the village, was assigned the job of leader..."

"So he's a chuunin?" Sakura interrupted.

Tsunade nodded once again. "I did say the village was very small. Not highly populated but it's peaceful and has a fair trade with fellow countries. However, these attacks have been raising suspicion amongst the villagers. They're a little hush, hush about the way their village works but it's clear that they have something these attackers want."

Sakura found the information only partly useful. "Can we trust them?"

"Oh don't worry, we do countless trading with them and we've helped them with natural disasters in the past. Their village resides between two iced cliffs. Beautfiul but occassionally rock slides do occur. It's odd that anyone would want to attack the village, they're not exactly particularly useful."

"What's the base of attack? Vandalism? Killing?" Sakura pressed on.

Tsunade gave a small shrug. "One death just recently. There's been 3 attacks from masked men, all in black. No one knows what village they're from or what they want. The leader is a little paranoid about one thing in his possession. They could want that."

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"A precious jewel called the iced lotus. Very valuable..."

"No, that can't be just it," Sakura interrupted. "More than one attack? They must either be planning to take over and use the village to stay in...or they haven't found what they're looking for. Maybe it's another rebel group."

"Well it seems you're already figuring something out..." Tsunade handed Sakura the mission brief. "I'll let you handle it from here. Get Kakashi and Naruto by the gates at 9. I'll assign a new squad member and get the land of ice to offer us transport."

Sakura gave a nod before dashing off to get ready and then find her comrades.

Finally she was getting a mission!

"Sakura? Long time no see," Kakashi said, opening the door to find his ex-student standing on the other side. Over the year, her mission gear had changed slightly. Shorter red top, just above her belly-button, with a black jonin jacket over it.

"Kakashi, interested?" She shoved the mission brief in his hand and he took it. Skimming through it, his eye began to glint. "Hmm, tempting. I take it you were hassling Tsunade for an A-rank mission?"

Sakura smirked. "Not as such. It was time for me to get one regardless. But she's assigning another to our group as Sai is in Root. Naruto is coming. We just need to grab him, then go to the gates."

Kakashi gave a nod. "Well, I'm dressed, all I need to do is pack. One moment."

He took a surprisingly short amount of time to get his necessities together in a large backpack. Within 10 minutes he was out the door and ready to go.

"We may as well wake Naruto up and head off."

Sakura followed her previous sensei out of the apartments and across the street. It was about 8:00am now. Naruto would still be asleep.

"Have you ever been to the land of ice Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi hesitated. "Well, let's see...I believe I went there once to help out with an avalanche. Destroyed half the village, it was pretty bad. But that was about 11 years ago, maybe more."

"What's it like?" Sakura continued on as they headed through the town.

"Well, despite the odd natural disaster here and there, it's a peaceful place. Good people, but not much of a defence system. It's rare that they would be threatened. As for the scenery, perhaps one of the best I've seen. The village sits between two cliffs completely iced over-so when the sun comes out, it reflects on both of them. Although it's always winter, it's still a beautiful place. You could say the village is in a canyon. It's a narrow area either side and it's quite high up. The travel is better taken by air or train. On foot would probably kill you."

Sakura widened her eyes at this. The place did sound beautiful but definitely too dangerous to be a holiday destination. "So what do they do for supplies? Like wood and plants?"

"Oh, they have large forests surrounding the area. Huge ones. They get most of their stuff from the land of course."

Sakura nodded once again. She often wanted to know about the environment she would be facing before setting there.

"Hope you've packed something warm," Kakashi told her, staring at her outfit in concern.

"Heh, don't worry. I'll change when we reach Naruto's. I don't want to wear my winter gear with all this walking. I'll fry," Sakura said with a laugh.

"GERAWAY BAKAS!"

Sakura and Kakashi stood there, their hands loosely in a fist, attempting to knock a 100th time.

"Naruto open up or I'll ram this door up your ass!" Sakura screamed. "Get up and open this damn door!"

"Gya! Sakura-chan, what do you want? We haven't spoken in-" He swung open the door. His expression immediately became a disappointment as he saw Kakashi waving goofily. "...months..."

"Naruto, get dressed and pack for winter-we have a mission in the land of ice!" Sakura said, sternly but excitedly. She punched the air.

Naruto raised a brow, folding his bottom lip. "Err...really? This early?"

Sakura gave him a smack round the head. "What happened to the Naruto I know? You've been nagging for a mission, so I've heard."

"Well yeah but after lunchtime!" Naruto complained, as he opened the door wider to let the two in. His bangs were a little longer now, and his hair was much more spikier, on every edge.

Sakura tiptoed her way across the room, effortlessly dodging the countless ramen cups and used underwear. "My god Naruto...how can you live like this?"

"I've been busy-no time to clean it," Naruto told her, scratching his lower back.

Kakashi merely stood by the door, despite being allowed entrance. He was not going to venture in the depths of what he liked to call "Uzamaki stuff." This would be higher than an S-rank mission, and at that moment he truly admired Sakura.

"Hurry up Naruto!" Sakura said, hands on hips.

"I've never heard of the land of ice Sakura-chan!" Naruto said from the bathroom. "What's going on over there?"

"They're getting attacked and we're going to find out why and how to stop the attackers," Sakura explained. "We'll fill you in on the way. Now hurry up, I need to borrow your bathroom and change!"

"Well y'know, you're welcome to come in right now and-"

A loud thump on the door told Naruto that him even saying it would end up in his slow and painful death. Rolling his eyes, he left the bathroom and allowed his female teammate to pass through and slam the door. He noticed Kakashi place on his scarf and gloves. Naruto began packing his belongings, including several ramen cups and a kettle.

"Erm, Naruto, where we'll be going, hot water is limited and therefore valued. I'd doubt they'd let you use it for ramen," Kakashi told him.

Naruto paused. "So? I'll eat it with cold water."

Kakashi felt sick, as he quickly placed a hand over his mouth.

Sakura placed a black wrap round her body, before tying it with a thick red obi. (Obi is a belt, usually worn round gi's or kimono's). Placing on large red leg warmers over her legs that ended just below her shorts, she gazed at herself in the mirror. When she was alone, the only thing she could think about was Sasuke. Immediately, her chest began to tighten.

'One day, I'm going to find you...despite what they say.'

That's the end of chapter 1!! Please review and tell me what you think!! I really enjoyed writing this chapter!