A/N: Hey there! so, this is my first attempt at a full length fic. I'm going to try and make it pretty long with lots of story turns, simply because I have an idea of what I want and theres just so many directions I think it could go. I am not promising that it will be good, but I am going to my damn hardest to try. It will be an ItaSaku fic. Do not be misled by what the first several chapters will hint at. I really think I might be able to do a good job with this so reviews (criticism especially) will be greatly appreciated. I realize this first chapter is extremely short but they will get longer. This is just get the ball rolling. As for those keeping up with the manga, I realize I may "adjust" some things in the future, but seeing as this is a fic and I am it's author, i have that power to do with it as i please. So give me a chance and I will do my best to make this fic land itself on your favorites list.
Let the games begin.
"Sakura-chan!"
Oh god… please not this morning. Please…
Sakura begged every force in the universe that she was not hearing a very loud blonde outside her apartment.
"Sakura!"
No such luck.
She groaned and kicked aside her covers irritably. He was going to pay for this. She had spent all last night at the hospital working the graveyard shift and hadn't dragged her ass under the blankets until five in the morning. Not bothering to change from her black tank top and shorts, she stomped barefoot down the hall and flung open the door.
"Naruto…" she said menacingly. "This better be good." The blonde's face suddenly twisted into a nervous smile.
"Oi, Sakura-chan, did I wake you up?" A crack from the pinkette's knuckles told him that, yes, he had most certainly woken her up. "Heh, sorry. But I-"
"Naruto if anything you are about to say to me has the words 'ramen', I am going to pummel you so far into the ground you won't even be able to produce shadow clones to dig you out!"
"Well it's a good thing I'm not here for that!" He grinned, intertwining his hands behind his head in his trademark pose.
"Then what. Do. You. Want?"
"Granny Tsunade wants us in her office in an hour. Kakashi-sensei told me to come get you." Sakura groaned. Knowing her former sensei, by the time he told Naruto to come get her, they were probably already supposed to be there.
"Well, there goes my day off. Give me a sec." She left the door open when she went back inside, knowing her blonde friend would follow and shut the door behind him. Once in her room she made quick work of changing. She had forgone her old red outfit long ago. Opting for a much more professional- and not to mention less conspicuous- black ninja pants, a fishnet top under her jounin vest, and tough but lightweight black boots. Her medics belt forever at her waist and an assortment of weapons strapped to her thighs and hidden in her boots.
She glanced in the mirror on her way out.
My, my Sakura-chan. Look how you've grown, she mocked herself. Her hair was longer, almost as long as it had been before she hacked it off with a kunai, and she quickly tied it back in a loose ponytail.
She found Naruto, of course, in her kitchen.
"Baka! Get out of my fridge!" She exclaimed, swatting the blonde over the head.
"But Sakura-chan! You said no ramen!" He whined, cringing away from his best friend's fist.
"Whatever. Come on let's go. We're probably late."
"I have a mission for you three," Tsunade said in her 'Hokage' voice. All business, no humor. "There has been suspicious activity near the border of Rain and Fire. Now, it's doesn't necessarily mean it's Akatsuki, but with the way things have been going lately, we can't exactly take much of a chance."
Sakura glanced from Naruto on her right, to Sai on her left.
"Us three? What about Kakashi?" Naruto asked. Tsunade folded her hands under her chin.
"Kakashi has some business to take care of." Her tone provided no room for argument. "You three are capable enough. But if you think you need a babysitter I suppose…"
"Noooo!" Naruto whined. "We can do this! No problem! Right Sakura-chan?"
"Hai! No problem," she agreed. Sai nodded as well.
"Splendid. Alright. All you are to do is scope things out for now. There shouldn't be any dangerous run-ins, but if there is you can all manage yourself."
"Tsunade-sama," Sakura began. "What exactly are we looking out for?"
"Probably just a team of rogue-nin. They've been abducting shinobi. High ranking shinobi at that, which is why we assume whoever is behind this is pretty high ranking themselves. Figure out what you can and send reports through Sai's drawings. You leave tomorrow morning."
The ninja nodded and disappeared in puffs of smoke.
That night, Sakura could not sleep. The mission they were assigned to had seemed easy enough, but she couldn't shake the nagging feeling of paranoia when she left the Hokage Tower.
She heard her apartment door slowly open, kicking her shinobi skills into gear. She bolted up right, her hand under her pillow gripped around a kunai.
"Sakura?" she heard someone mumble outside her bedroom door. Immediately she dropped her defensive stance.
"Come in Naruto." The door opened and Naruto stepped in, wearing a T-shirt and grey pajama bottoms, his hair looking rather bedruffled.
She didn't say a word as he climbed under the covers next to her, sliding in behind her, his arm wrapping around her small waist and pulling her back into his chest. His warmth surrounded her and she relaxed.
"Can't sleep?" she asked him. She felt him shake his head, shifting her pillow. "Me either."
"I had a nightmare." Sakura allowed a soft smile to take place on her face. She was reminded of a young and scared Naruto, seemingly so different from this man that now held on to her.
She wiggled free from his grasp and rolled onto her back, maneuvering Naruto so he lay with his head resting on her chest. Not in a romantic or intimate way, but in a comforting way. She began to soothingly run her fingers through his soft golden hair.
"What about?"
"You?" Her hand halted its movements for a moment, and then continued. She waited, knowing he would tell her. "Sakura, I don't feel right about this mission tomorrow."
"What happened in the dream?"
"I saw you. You were… Sakura, you were…" He took a deep break and released it. "I had a dream that you were dead." Sakura forced her hands to continue to move through his hair, determined to make his fears disappear, not strengthen them. "It felt real. I could feel you lying in my arms. Like a doll. You could have been sleeping, but I knew you weren't."
"Don't worry Naruto. It was just a dream."
"But what if it wasn't? What if something goes wrong on this mission? I know Tsunade said it would be simple, but I don't know. Things are never that easy. Especially for us." She couldn't disagree with that. It was completely true. Nothing had ever been easy for them.
"I'm a big girl Naruto," she said, poking him playfully in the side of the head. "I can take care of myself. Not that I'll need to. You never let me have any fun," she joked, trying to lift him out of his mood. He chuckled half-heartedly. She didn't like this side of Naruto. It was the side that only she saw. The side that was defeated, and sometimes so close to giving up.
"Sakura, I only hold you back to protect you. I can't lose you. Ever." She nodded, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing the side of her face into his hair.
"It's ok Naruto. I promise," she yawned, feeling her eyes drift close and Naruto's steady breathing. "It will all be ok."
"Tsunade-sama,"
"What do you need Kakashi?" The blonde Hokage looked up from the mission reports she was currently reading- more like absently flipping- through.
"Are you sure it was best to send Sakura and Naruto out on this mission?" Kakashi leaned against her desk, his hands shoved in his pockets and his book tucked under his arm.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"Well, for starters, he has been rumored to be in that area." Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"So? Naruto and Sakura have long since given up on him. Why should there be anything to worry about?"
"That's not the part I'm worried about." Tsunade knew exactly what Kakashi was worried about, and also knew it was only a matter of time before he brought it up. "All the shinobi who have been kidnapped have had some type of training in the medical field. Is it wise to send Sakura into the middle of that?"
"Sakura can handle herself. Hell, she gives Naruto a run for his money. And if my thoughts are correct, even you struggle against her in training sometimes. Going soft old man?"
"Now is not the time for jokes. You know he's looking for a medic." Tsunade sighed.
"Ah, you're right. But I also know that Naruto and Sai would die before anyone got their hands on Sakura."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
A/N: I really hope you press the alert button on this and see what I can do. I hope to put out a chapter a week, but how many authors have said that and gotten busy? I'm gonna try though! Oh, and for anyone who is curious as to what Sakura's outfit looks like, I am posting a link on my profile of the picture I found that I am basing her getup on, except she has longer hair in my fic though.
- HeartOfEmerald