Chapter 1:
5 years ago...
Sakura Haruno, who had been promoted to jonin just months prior, disappeared from Konoha without a trace at the age of 13. There was a huge commotion among the council, and there were even rumors that she would be labeled a missing-nin and was to be hunted down. This was quickly quelled when the retired Sandaime Hokage announced that he had sent the girl on a mission directly from himself. The length of time was undefined.
The departure had been abrupt and even her few, close friends had not known about it. And not a single word came from her. When asked, the Sandaime insisted that she was fine, and it was all part of the mission.
...
...
Present Time
"What will you do, Minato? He's graduating this week you know." Tsunade drawled out. The fore-mentioned man suppressed a groan.
"I've decided to put him in a team with Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-kun, but their sensei..." Minato ran a head through his hair. "Their sensei would need to be S-class. Fugaku and Sakumo would accept no less not to mention the danger they will be in! And Kushina and Mikoto-san would have my neck if I chose anyone incompetent. Maybe Raido? Genma? No, no... Both have highly needed skill sets that really don't match up..." Tsunade nearly face palmed as she watched the man continue to mumble about potential candidates. Not that she didn't understand where he was coming from. The three boys were all special in their own right and would need somebody highly skilled to teach and protect them. And be able to keep Naruto in line. She felt a vein twitch as the man continued to panic like a mother sending off her child to his first day of school.
"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, MINATO!" Tsunade yelled, and Minato jumped slightly with a terrified expression on his face.
"H-hai, Tsunade-sama."
...
The small figure hummed, walking with a slight skip. As the figure approached the large gates of Konoha, a wry smile decorated the figure's face.
"Home sweet home..."
Izumo and Kotetsu, who had been on gate duty, looked up as a small figure approached at a sedate pace.
"Long time no see, Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san." Both chunin stared warily until the familiar voice finally registered.
"Y-you..." Both men echoed as they pointed a shaking finger at the cloaked figure.
"Me~" The figure replied. A feminine hand reached out of the cloak that covered the figure to grab the pen and sign in. "I'll see you two around then!" The figure waved and began walking towards the Hokage tower. A strong wind blew off the hood of the cloak, revealing long pink hair that trailed behind her. She disappeared after she took a few steps into the village.
The next chunin team that arrived 30 minutes later found Izumo and Kotetsu still in a state of shock pointing where a figure had once been.
...
...
Tsunade was pissed. The Hokage's office was currently filled with profiles of ninja that were jonin rank or above. Minato was still going through them muttering nonsense to himself. Tsunade offhandedly wondered if this was a father geniunely being concerned, or Minato being driven by fear of what Kushina would say.
Shizune suddenly burst through the door catching the attention of the two ninja.
"Tsu...Tsunade-sama! Hokage-sama! It's... it's unbelievable!" Shizune managed to get out. Minato immediately composed himself.
"Report."
"Well... It's better if you see for yourself." Shizune said in a somewhat excited tone as she looked back through the hallway, frantically whipping her head both ways, looking for someone. "Eh? She's gone?"
...
Sakura sulked slightly as she chewed her dango. Her hair was hidden neatly under a straw hat to avoid attracting further attention to herself because god dang...why did everybody stare at her like she was a ghost? Yes, she had pink hair, and yes, been gone a while, but seriously? Well, only Izumo, Kotetsu, and Shizune had seen her so far, but all three had stared at her too dazed to even reply. She honestly had meant to got to the Hokage tower first to report, since it was protocol and all, but Shizune, who she had greeted just stared at her sort of lost, and standing in front of the gaping woman had been awkward. After five minutes of shifting uncomfortably in front of the non responsive woman, Sakura left the Hokage tower. Dango had called.
Sakura let out a content sigh as she gulped down the rest of the green tea. It was probably high time she head back. She had sensed Tsunade earlier and her shishou would throw a fit if she found out that her apprentice had gone for dango. She stretched languidly.
"I should probably go," she mused to herself, dropping some money on the table.
...
Sakura smiled guilelessly as the Yondaime stared at her with shock. He recovered much quicker than the others as he offered a warm smile. "Welcome back, Saku-" The man was cut off as a book cut straight across the room and created a hole in the wall right behind where a head of pink had been not moments ago. Shizune let out a shrill shriek of, "Tsunade-sama!"
Tsunade was across the room within seconds grabbing Sakura's head with one hand in a death grip.
"It's nice to see you again too, Tsunade-sama." The teen said pleasantly, although there was a hint of strain in her voice.
"Brat. I don't suppose you're going to apologize for disappearing without saying a word five years ago or leaving to get dango before reporting in?" Tsunade said with a smile. Sakura laughed uneasily at her teacher's tone.
"Wait, how'd you know I went to get dan-" Sakura slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was far too late. She gave a small 'eek' as Tsunade's grip on her head tightened.
"Waaahhhh... Shishou I'm so sorry! I'll never do it again!" Sakura cried out. Minato felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his neck. It was like watching some horrible reality show for a sadist.
Sakura was released a painful five minutes later at the sudden arrival of the Sandaime, who also gave Sakura a warm smile.
"Welcome home, Sakura-chan," the old man said lightly. He paused as he saw said person on curled up on the floor, hands hovering gingerly over her head. "Tsunade, you should be easy on your students..."
"She had it coming." Tsunade huffed. The man sighed at his students's antics.
"Ah, Sakura-chan. I believe your presence indicates you have completed the mission I have assigned you?" The pink-haired teen got up quickly while reaching into pouch that hung on the back of her hip. She pulled out a small scroll that was covered in protection seals.
"Hai, Sandaime-sama." She crouched with her head bowed before the wizened old man, offering the scroll.
"Well done." He slipped the scroll into his robes. "I trust your mission went smoothly?" The Sandaime ignored the burning looks of curiosity he was receiving from his former student and successor. After all, he had told no one what the mission was.
"Hai."
"Good, I expect you to give me your full report later." Sakura merely dipped her head further. With a small smile, the Sandaime made his way towards the exit. "Good luck on team assignments, Minato. And Sakura-chan, it's good to have you back again."
"Arigato, Sandaime-sama," she said. With a final wave, the old man quickly disappeared. Silence engulfed the room. Minato coughed, getting the remainder people's attention.
"So, Sakura-chan, I guess you will be returning to active duty soon then?" Minato asked.
"Hai. I need to tend to a few things first around the village since my departure was a bit unplanned..." Sakura said absentmindedly rubbing her head.
"I see..." Minato mused. An idea struck him. "Do you think you can get everything cleared up by the end of this week?"
"This week? Ano... Probably...? Why? Do you need something done, Yondaime-sama?" Sakura asked.
"Iie," Minato said. "Not at all, not at all... but please do finish up your business by the end of this week, ne?" Minato smiled. The teen stared at him with suspicion and confusion.
"Hai... Then would you mind keeping my arrival quiet until then? It'd be troublesome if it interfered with things... But Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san saw me... and they gossip like old ladies..." Sakura trailed off.
"It's not a problem at all, Sakura-chan! Don't worry, I'll keep everything down so you can finish your business quickly." Sakura did not even bother hiding her alarm as the Yondaime smiled at her in a way that was borderline creepy. It was the face people made when they were clearly up to something.
"Ah... who knows how long it might actually take, you know, with all these loose ends, so it might taking longer than a week... Maybe even two weeks." Sakura said quickly, stepping out of the room in an attempt to escape. Sakura froze as the man's cheerful voice called after her.
"Sakura-chan. I'm the Hokage. I know where everybody lives." Sakura laughed uneasily.
"Of course you do... I'm not sure why you even brought it up," Sakura said, not turning around. Minato merely smiled as the teen shut the door behind her.
"Tsunade-sama, I believe I just found my son's sensei." Minato said, looking all to satisfied. Tsunade was grinning, rubbing her hands together.
"Sweet revenge~" she sang happily. Shizune sighed at her leaders' antics.
'Good luck, Sakura.'
A/N: FIRST CHAPTER DONE. MUST HAVE NO REGRETS. Anyways, I'm sorry this is so late, but I've been busy(excuse), and tired(another excuse), and I did write the first chapter to this a while ago, but I ended up deleting it and rewriting it because it didn't fit. The story line of course will be the same, but with some changes of course. Hope you readers haven't lost all faith in me ^0^. So read and review! Your suggestions really mean a lot since I'm still pretty new to this and thank you for your support so far~
~ Tokumei Yurei