I don't even know myself at all
I thought I would be happy by now
The more I try to push it
I realize – gotta let go of control

It's just a spark
But it's enough to keep me going
And when it's dark out, no one's around
It keeps glowing

Every night I try my best to dream
Tomorrow makes it better
Then I wake up to the cold reality
And not a thing is changed

And the salt in my wounds isn't burning anymore than it used to
It's not that I don't feel the pain, it's just I'm not afraid of hurting anymore
And the blood in these veins isn't pumping any less than it ever has
And that's the hope I have, the only thing I know that's keeping me alive

'Fuck. FUCK,' she thought, willing her legs to go faster. Muscles pumping, she jumped from tree to tree with lightning fast speed. There was no time to turn around to check on her pursuer. She knew they were there. She could feel it.

It didn't matter anyway. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this was a dream but she kept running, trapped in the nightmare her mind had created.

She knew she wouldn't make it. She never did. But something told her she had to try anyway.

With legs burning, she jumped to the ground, never missing a step. She picked up the pace, reaching into her weapons pouch and drawing out a kunai.

There was an urgent feeling in her stomach. She had to keep going. Something was wrong. Someone needed her. She didn't know who or why but she just knew it was important.

She could feel her chakra straining as it neared its end. Mentally cursing, she kept running, unsure of how much farther she had to go.

Her foot caught on a root and she tumbled to the ground. She attempted to get back up but her body wouldn't let her. It was as if she were glued there. She reached her arm out as the dark chakra of her pursuer surrounded her. It wrapped around her body, seeping into her pores, chilling her to the core. It was thick like smoke, choking her as it filled her lungs. It surrounded her, blinding her.

The last thing she saw was a pair of shining red eyes.

And then darkness.

….

….

Sakura awoke with a gasp. 'Fuck,' she thought, running her fingers through sleep tousled hair. Reaching out blindly, she grasped for the glass of water on her bedside table. She shakily brought the glass to her lips, quickly gulping it down. The nightmares were getting worse.

Slowly, she swung her slender legs off the edge of the bed. With a light huff, she stood and stretched her sore muscles. Her light blue tank top clung to the moist skin of her back and torso. Aggravated, she ripped it off and threw it into the laundry basket. Her body was drenched in sweat, adrenaline from the dream still coursing through her veins.

Stumbling through the darkness of her room, she made her way into the tiny adjoining bathroom. Unconsciously, she reached out and flipped the light on. It flickered to life, warming the room with its soft yellow glow. Squinting as her eyes adjusted, she took in the familiar surroundings. The bathroom was simple, it had a small counter space with a basin, a toilet right next to it and a stand-up shower in the corner. Everything was pure white, except for Sakura's dark green towels and bathmat. She slid the door to the shower open and stepped inside. Stripping down to nothing, she threw her remaining clothes out onto the spotless tile floor and slid the glass door shut. She turned the handle for the water and was met with a blast of icy cold. Her muscles tensed for a minute and then relaxed as hot water started pouring out.

She tipped her head back under the stream of water and closed her eyes. The water ran down through the length of her bubblegum pink tresses and down the curve of her back, soothingly the muscles that ached. She stood like that for a long time, letting the warmth seep deep into her body. In her mind, it was almost as if the water was cleansing her of the dark thoughts that had taken over during the restless sleep. She opened her eyes and sighed. Would the nightmares ever stop? She knew there had been a time when they didn't happen but that seemed far away, a distant memory now. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a restful slumber.

Reaching out, her long fingers wrapped around the cool plastic of her shampoo bottle. Popping open the lid, she brought it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. It was her favorite scent, vanilla honey. She tipped it upside down and the mild, milky white soap leaked onto her upturned palm. Placing the bottle back on the shelf, she worked the shampoo down the length of her thick locks. She had grown them out to where they almost touched her butt now. She had loved the practicality of short hair but around the time the nightmares began, she started losing weight. Her face became hollow and dark circles formed under her dark green eyes. She grew her hair out to draw the eye away from those features, though she wasn't sure if it really helped.

She rinsed the soap out and repeated the process with matching conditioner. Then she washed her face and body with a plain bar of soap and quickly shaved. Turning the water off, she slid the door open and grabbed the fluffy emerald towel hanging on the wooden hook next to the shower. She dried herself off and then hung the towel over her shower door to dry. Slowly, she went through her daily routine. Brush hair, brush teeth, lotion face, deodorant, and done.

She made her way back into her bedroom and turned on her lamp. The glow from the light illuminated her pale skin. She turned toward her door where a full length mirror was attached. Grimacing, she observed the person in the reflection. Yellow bruises covered her shins and thighs. Darker purple ones were on her arms. She had been training hard lately, trying to keep her mind off the demons that plagued her thoughts. Turning away she caught a glimpse of her alarm clock. It read 4:13 AM.

It would be useless trying to get back to sleep now, with dark images floating through her mind. She had to get up for work at 6 anyway. She got dressed in her regular attire. A tight, black long sleeved shirt, black knee length spandex shorts under short red canvas ones, bandages over her left thigh with her weapon pouch attached over them, and black sandals. Instead of her normal white lab coat she threw on a black, fleece sweater. She crossed her room to the large window and drew back the soft satin curtains. It was the only window in her room. She pushed it open easily and drank in the cool morning air. Drawing chakra into her feet, she made her way up to her favorite rooftop spot. She placed her hands on her hips, observing the quiet that was early morning in the village. The sun hadn't risen yet but it was painting the far East with a soft glow from just beyond the horizon.

Sitting down on the familiar, rough rooftop brought a rare smile to her face. There was a full moon far to the west, high up in the nearly cloudless sky. It shined silvery light onto every inch of the village below her. This was one of the times she was grateful for choosing to live on the top floor of one of the tallest apartment complexes in the entire village.

The cool breeze blew through her damp hair, sending a shill down her spine. She didn't mind through, it made her muscles feel awake. Peering down into the deserted streets, she thought back on the dream that had caused this early morning trip to the rooftop. 'That chakra… it was suffocating,' she thought to herself, as another chill ran down her spine. This one had nothing to do with the cold and she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She has been having the same nightmare every night for at least a month now. Some nights, it was worse than others. Tonight was the worst it had been in a while. It always starts off with her out on a mission, running through a dense forest. Before long, a dark, powerful chakra meets her senses. She tries hard to get away, but the dream always ends the same, with the dark chakra closing in, suffocating her with its power.

Something about this time was different though. Something that made it feel more sinister. She couldn't quite remember the details but she felt so scared when she awoke that it felt more real than dream-like. She sat pondering it for some time. Eventually, she decided she wouldn't be able to place the difference. By this time, the sun had risen a substantial amount and the village was starting to wake. She could hear the soft sounds of birds chirping in the distance and the occasional footsteps of someone passing by on the street below. She could tell it was nearly six o'clock as this is when her alarm would go off for work. Though she wasn't quite sure why she set it anymore, she was never asleep when it would go off.

Deciding it was time to start preparing for the day, she reluctantly stood and stretched. Suddenly, she felt a chakra presence behind her on the roof. Turning quickly, she got into a defensive stance. But then the presence was gone as quickly as she had felt it. She scanned the roof, sure that somebody had just been there, watching her. She walked to the far edge and peered over. Empty. 'That's strange," she thought to herself. Slowly she made her back over to the other side. Drawing chakra into her feet she prepared to climb back down the wall to her apartment. With one last look around, she disappeared over the edge.

Was she going crazy? She was sure there had been someone behind her. Normally her senses were razor sharp, it was rare she'd let something slip. Could she just have imagined it? Shaking her head, she slid her window open, attributing the entire situation to her being paranoid from her dream.

She decided to enter through her living room window. Looking around, she took in the mostly bare space that was her apartment. She wasn't one to spend a fortune on furniture, as she was hardly ever home anyway. Most of what she did have was second-hand but comfortable. She sighed, running her hand over the back of her beat up couch as she made her way to the kitchen. The couch used to belong to Ino. The two girls shared many memories on it. Whenever Sakura would go to Ino's apartment they would spend hours on it talking about everything and nothing. There were many tears shed and laughs shared upon that couch. To anyone else, it would just look like a worn down, plain, brown suede couch. To Sakura it was a link to many memories. The blonde girl's smiling face popped into her head and a darkness fell over her. 'I miss you so much Ino…' she thought to herself.

When she reached the kitchen, she grabbed the coffee pot off of her counter and began to fill it with water to brew her morning pot of liquid energy. It truly was the only thing that kept her going these days. As she set up the coffee pot, her mind drifted back to Ino. There was a time in her life where she took her friends for granted, never thinking once that they would be ripped away. Even as a shinobi, she was naïve for a long time. She had been sheltered, a fool really. Then she started losing those close to her. Ino, Choji, Sasuke, her parents… She would never take anyone for granted ever again.

Ino had been killed along with Choji on a mission a year ago. Their entire platoon was slaughtered by sound shinobi when they were on a mission to investigate a lead on Orochimaru. Sakura clenched her fists as she watched the coffee begin to drip into the pot quietly. 'I should've been on that mission, not her,' she thought miserably. Tsunade had switched them out last minute because Sakura's skills were needed to heal a badly injured team that had arrived at the hospital. As Ino was still a skilled medic they sent her instead, thinking the mission would be an easy one. However, it turned out to be a trap and the unsuspecting leaf ninja were unprepared for the onslaught. After her funeral, Ino's parents cleaned out her apartment. They planned to throw the couch away but Sakura offered to take it off of their hands. She had too many memoires on that couch to just let it get thrown in the trash.

The coffee's aroma filled the room as she sat down at her tiny kitchen table. 'I'll come visit your grave soon and bring your favorite flowers, I promise,' she thought silently as she picked up a medical scroll she had been studying before she had gone to bed. While she still worked at the hospital, her main job now was working for the interrogation unit. Most days, she interrogated common thieves and lower level spies from other villages that leaf shinobi would pick up around the village perimeter.

The coffee pot beeped, indicating that it was done brewing. Setting down her scroll she grabbed a plain white coffee cup out of her cabinet. That's when something orange caught her eye. Curious, she moved some other cups out of the way. She soon had a clear view of the large orange mug sitting toward the back of her cabinet. Naruto's face immediately popped into her head and she felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. She unconsciously squeezed the cup in her hand causing it to shatter. Startled, she looked down at the mess of white porcelain shards scattered across her black and white tile floor, stained crimson with her own blood. Mentally cursing herself, she went to the sink and began removing tiny shards from her wounded hand. Barely wincing, she finished up fast, closing the shallow wounds with her medical ninjutsu. She shouldn't let herself get upset about something that can't be changed.

Once Sasuke left, Sakura fell into a deep depression. Naruto tried his hardest to bring her out of it, but soon he had to leave to train. She was all alone. It was the first time in her life she had ever felt so useless. It opened her eyes to how weak she always was. Depressed and alone, she went to Tsunade and asked for her guidance in training. Thankfully, she agreed to help Sakura. If she hadn't, who knows where Sakura would have ended up. She didn't like to think about it. Through Tsunade's extreme training, she started to believe in her abilities. It was the first time she thought she had a chance of bringing Sasuke back. It took time but she started to bounce back a little, becoming that cheerful girl she once had been. But it didn't last long.

Sakura stared down into the puddle of deep crimson as she began to pick the porcelain pieces out of it. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the murky depths and hard eyes stared back. The cup had once belonged to her mother. Picking up a large piece, her eyes traced the familiar intricate design of blue flowers that had been etched onto the front, now streaked with crimson. It once belonged to a set of four, all matching. They were her mother's favorite. However, Naruto had already broken two on one occasion when he had been in her apartment before a mission. It was an accident and he felt awful. She hadn't been upset because she still had two more. She had knocked one off the table while Tsunade had her studying huge medical scrolls. This was the last one and now it was ruined.

After her parents' deaths she was once again brought down by depression. She had thought that her life couldn't go any lower than that point. But she was proven wrong when Ino died. With Naruto and Kakashi always gone on missions and Tsunade always busy with Hogake duties she really knew what lonely felt like. She let work take over her life, focusing on the minute details that others missed. After all, it kept her mind busy from thinking about the faces of the dead and gone. She had grown in the ranks quickly, her attention to detail catching Ibiki's attention. That's how she started working the interrogation unit.

When Naruto came back from training she had come out of her depression some. At that point, Sasuke had been gone for a year and her parents' deaths were fresh in her mind. Naruto was broken hearted to see her so distraught. He spent a lot of time with her then, trying to pull the old Sakura out of the hard shell she had grown. As sad as she was, she had to admit she really missed his cheerful attitude. It was as if a piece of her had been glued back into place. Though she still didn't feel completely whole.

It was rare she got to see him now. Naruto had grown into a hard-working, passionate shinobi. Everyone in the village had begun to respect him. He got put on more missions and him and Sakura rarely saw each other. They led different lives. Her skills were needed in the village while he was needed out in the field. She worried about him often but it comforted her knowing Kakashi was usually on a team with him. Naruto could be careless, after all, and she couldn't imagine what losing him would do to her.

When he first came back to the village after his training, they discussed the possibility of bringing Sasuke back. It was something Sakura had longed to accomplish, but couldn't do alone. It gave her hope seeing how strong Naruto had become. With Kakashi, surely they could bring him back. Together, Sakura and Naruto vowed to never give up on their lost teammate. That was four years ago. To sakura it felt like an eternity. Back then, it was frequent that they'd be assigned to missions to locate or track Orochimaru's movements. The hope that they'd run into Sasuke always hanging in the back of their minds. At one time, it was their top priority. However, there were only a handful of times Sakura could even remember coming in contact with the raven haired boy. Each meeting was short and bitter. He was strong. Too strong for them even with all of their training. They never gave up though, even when Sai got tired of chasing around their ex-teammate.

She knew even Kakashi still held onto a small hope Sasuke would come back. It was a bond that forever holds the three of them together, and she supposed Sai too. Even though he didn't really understand, he still stuck by them and that meant so much to her. There they were clear in her mind. The four people that still meant something to her. Naruto, Kakashi, Sai and Tsunade. They were the only people she would willingly die for and she knew they'd do the same for her.

Once the blood was cleaned up and no shards of the shattered porcelain remained, she finally poured herself a cup of coffee. Staring into its black depths, she recalled how time and time again she and Naruto failed. Countless missions. Countless hours of training. Countless tears. Over what? Someone that didn't give one fuck about them. If it was just her that would be one thing, but watching Naruto become more broken every time they failed eventually caused her to grow a hatred for their raven haired ex-teammate. There is a bitterness in her heart that has been there so long she doesn't think it could be defused.

It was that bitterness that caused her to become so distant with everyone. She was afraid to let herself get close with hardly anyone. After every failed mission, Naruto would come back here and they would cry over a cup of coffee together. Then he would spend the night and they would hold each other, sleeplessly, until the sun started to shine through the window. Then he'd get up and swear that next time they would succeed. It had been almost a year since their last lead on Sasuke. It was so long that Sakura had forgotten about Naruto's orange coffee cup stored up in her cabinet.

Now, it was rare that she even got to see Naruto. She still loved him more than anyone else and she knew he loved her too. There was so much pain that they shared that Sakura knew he was the only one who truly understood her. However, they were never anything more than friends. Best friends, actually, but nothing more. When Ino died, Naruto was the one there to comfort her. He stayed by her side through the funeral and the grieving afterwards. She had become dependent on him being around for her to lean on if she needed it and Naruto knew that she'd do the same for him.

Closing her eyes, she took a sip of coffee. 'It can't be helped, I guess,' she thought to herself. This is the path she had chosen. Naruto had become an ANBU a few months ago and Kakashi had reinstated his ANBU title as well. They had been taking non-stop missions ever since then. However, Sakura did not become ANBU. She's still a jounin because she would never be able to accept half of the missions required of her as an ANBU member. Tsunade needs her here at the hospital and she is a vital part of the interrogation unit. She does not regret this but thinking about the people she loves most out on the front line without her there to help really bothers her. If Naruto ran across Sasuke and she wasn't there to back him up, she'd never forgive herself…

Looking up through her window at the now bright sky, she realized that it was time to go start her day at the interrogation unit. Taking a deep breath, she placed the empty coffee mug next to the sink and made her way into her bedroom to retrieve her lab coat. She opened the door slowly and stood in the threshold for a moment, staring at her disheveled bed. Sighing, she decided to straighten it out later and went to her closet. She has a jounin vest, but prefers to wear the lab coat as it is lighter and made being on her feet all day easier. She replenished her weapons pouch with medicinal herbs, scrolls, and a few kunai she had taken out to sharpen. She brushed her hair quickly as it had become knotty as it dried. She stopped to take one look in her mirror to make sure everything was in order before she left. She gave herself a quick once over and frowned. Ino had always said she filled out nice but Sakura thought of herself as too skinny. She had developed some curves but nothing substantial. If she had to describe her body she would just say it was average.

She made her way out of her apartment, through the door this time. She decided to use the stairs because she had a lot of time before she needed to be to work. Plus, it gave her time to clear her head and get into interrogation mode. She began running through her list of daily duties as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

She stepped out into the bright sunlight and shaded her eyes. She noted how much warmer it was compared to her trip onto her rooftop earlier. However, it was still cooler than a summer day and she sighed contently. It was the perfect temperature. There was even a light breeze to keep it cool. She made her way through the streets of the village toward the interrogation building. She watched as the village around her began to start its day.

As tired as she was, she was looking forward to a long day of work to get her mind off of the nightmare. She recalled Ibiki telling her yesterday that there was a young man to be interrogated from the Hidden Cloud village. He said he couldn't be any older than 14 but his skills were equivalent to a jounin. He badly injured one of the leaf shinobi who had stumbled across him about 5 miles west of the village. He was alone and immediately attacked, catching the leaf shinobi off guard. He is a highly skilled jounin so the fact that this boy caught him off guard is very surprising in itself. What is most surprising, however, is the way he injured him. Sakura had gone to the hospital after receiving this information to evaluate the leaf shinobi herself. It was as if the boy had burned the man's eyes without ever touching him. He was lucky that he wasn't completely blinded. Without Sakura expertise, he may have been stuck with some degree of permanent damage to the nerves. However, he had managed to use an immobilizing jutsu on the boy just as he got hit with the eye burning jutsu. It wasn't long before the two of them were discovered by another group of shinobi that were patrolling. If he hadn't gotten back here so quickly, there is no doubt he would have been rendered blind.

As she passed by a shop, someone called out to her. She turned and an older woman waved to her. She smiled and waved back, making her way to the front of the shop. The old woman was the owner of the shop who had taking a liking to Sakura. She passed by here on her way to and from work and often stopped in to enjoy the woman's dumplings. They were Sakura's favorite in the whole village. As she approached, the woman smiled warmly. She held up a container of fresh steaming dumplings. "I packaged these up for you. Please, take them as my thanks for healing my hand yesterday," The old woman said with a smile.

Sakura frowned but reached out for the dumplings. "Masa-san, my services are yours anytime you need them. I do not expect gifts or payment. Please, allow me to pay for these." Sakura said, reaching into her pocket for money.

Masa held up a wrinkled hand, "Please accept them as my thanks. Do not insult an old woman now."

Sakura smiled politely and put her money away. She chatted for a few minutes about how the weather was beautiful and checked Masa's hand to be sure it was healing well. She had burned it and had it all wrapped up when Sakura stopped in last night. She said she didn't have anyone to watch the shop to go get it looked at at the hospital. Sakura had offered to heal it and she accepted happily. After saying goodbye, Sakura bowed in thanks for her dumplings and continued on her way to work.

Finally arriving at her destination, she headed through the tall doors and checked in at the desk. Collecting the files of the people she were to interrogate for the day, she stopped, remembering something that the jounin in the hospital had warned her about. He had said that he was almost positive that the boy used a visual jutsu to burn his eyes, because the second their eyes made contact they started to burn. She made a mental note not to look completely into the boy's eyes until they were able to figure out how the jutsu worked. Even if his chakra was drained she didn't want to take any chances.

She made her way down the long hallway, passing by a guard every so often. They nodded at her as she passed. Arriving at the room where the prisoner was being held, she took a deep breath. 'Here goes nothing."

She stepped into the room and turned to face the boy. To most people the rooms in the interrogation unit would seem haunting. They are set up to make the prisoners feel uncomfortable, like they will never see daylight again. To Sakura, however, it was the familiar surroundings of her daily life. She spent more time in these rooms than anywhere else. Taking in the darkness, she transitioned immediately into interrogation mode. She looked the boy over. To her surprise, he had a light pink mop of hair covering his face. The surprise must have shown because he looked up at her and smirked.

"Are you here to torture me, Sakura?" He said with a hint of boredom in his voice.

He was bound with chakra suppression ropes and was sitting on the only chair in the direct center of the dimly lit room. Sakura immediately replaced the surprise on her face with her regular emotionless features. Her eyes turned cold as she surveyed him. He was very thin and if it weren't for the report of the jounin he attacked and his headband she would hardly believe he was a shinobi at all, nevermind a highly skilled one.

She mentally sighed. She could already tell the boy was going to be cheeky. "So you've heard of me before," she said as she began to slowly circle around his chair. It wasn't really a question. She knew that people in the other regions were familiar with her name and abilities. She was Tsunade's apprentice after all.

The boy said nothing, just smirked once more.

As much as Sakura hated to admit it, the fact that the boy had pink hair the same shade as hers really startled her. She wouldn't let him know it, but she was extremely curious about him. Even more so now, than when she had read his report and heard about his abilities. Once something has sparked her interest, she was determined to learn everything about it. She had never met anyone with the exact same, unfortunate shade of hair as her. She was adopted as an infant, no more than a few weeks old. Her biological mother, from what she had heard, was found outside of the village badly injured and very pregnant. A shinobi had brought her back to the village where Sakura was delivered through a c-section. Her mother was too badly injured and never awoke. The doctors were worried that if they did not deliver the baby immediately, that she would die with her mother. Her mother was not wearing a headband and had nothing on her other than the clothes she wore. It was a mystery where she came from.

As far as she knew, even her own mother had light brown hair. When she was delivered, the doctors were surprised by her bright pink hair. Her adoptive parents, civilians in their late 40s who were too infertile to ever have children of their own, fell in love with her. They adopted her and named her Sakura due to the unique color of her hair. The thought of her adopted parents brought a sad smile to her face. They died shortly after she turned 15, right before Naruto came back to the village from his training. Her house burnt down while she was away on a short mission for Tsunade. Her parents were asleep and never made it out. The porcelain cups were one of the only salvageable things from the fire.

She had lost everything. All of her clothes, belongings, and all of her shinobi gear. She even lost her beloved picture of team 7. At first she stayed with Ino, who let her borrow clothes and gear until she could afford some of her own. Once Naruto came back, she decided to stay with him upon his invite. She stayed there for about six months until she became a jounin. Then she was finally getting paid enough on missions to get a place of her own. That's what brought her to the apartment she lives in now.

Whenever she thinks of her parents she feels guilty. They never wanted her to become a shinobi. They thought it was too dangerous for their delicate daughter. However, ever since she was a young child she was obsessed with becoming a ninja. When her mother would walk her to the market she would be amazed by the young children in the park throwing shuriken at the posts and showing off to their parents. She remembered the melt down that ensued later on when her parents wouldn't enroll her in the ninja academy.

She inwardly smirked. She obviously won that argument. And then she mentally sighed. She always felt as though if she hadn't been so focused on training to bring Sasuke back, maybe she would have been there to get them out of the house on time. 'Or you would've been dead, too,' her inner self muttered and she actually sighed. The boy in front of the laughed, bringing her out of her memories.

"Do you plan on getting started or are you going to circle me like a shark all day?" The boy said, looking even more bored.

Sakura glared at the back of his head. She mentally cursed herself, 'I never let myself get distracted like this.'

She walked up to the table situated in the front of the room. She withdrew some weapons from her pouch and laid them in a line on the table. She didn't like to use force if it wasn't necessary, but she was prepared if he turned out to be difficult. Her main approach was much more affective anyway. She smirked and set her genjutsu into work. 'Let's get to it then,' she thought with a mental smirk and turned to face her victim.

She exited the room with a frown.

'Three fucking hours and no useful information,' she thought. She was not looking forward to telling Ibiki about this.

After reporting to Ibiki, she was required to report to the hokage tower and let her mentor know any details. As scary as Ibiki could be, he looked almost innocent compared to an aggravated Tsunade.

Focusing on her thoughts, she opened the door to the outside and ran straight into something solid. Startled, she looked up to see what she ran into and realized that something was actually a someone.

"Kakashi!" She exclaimed as she instantly recognized the familiar orange book carrying, masked man in front of her.

"You should really be more aware of your surroundings, Sakura. You are a shinobi after all." He said, giving her his typical wrinkled eye smile and ruffling her hair.

Giving him a look that could kill, she grumbled, "you're really one to talk, always walking around with that book in your face."

He observed her carefully, making note of the emotionless tone in her voice that was so unlike the Sakura he always knew. She had been like this for quite some time, he knew, but it always surprised him nonetheless. Something else surprised him as well. He took in her outfit, noting the blood smatterings across her white lab coat. He decided he didn't want to know. He heard that she had been accepted by Ibiki as part of the interrogation unit. Since then, she had made a reputation for herself as one of the most effective interrogators in the leaf. He knew she had been through a lot in her life, but she never seemed like the type of person to get enjoyment out of torturing people. Of course, he doesn't get to see her much these days. One thing hasn't changed though, she still liked to give him shit about reading his favorite novel.

He laughed out loud and thought, 'I guess some things never change.'

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her former sensei, "what's so funny, Kakashi?"

He looked down at her over the top of his book, "oh nothing, it's just I missed my favorite female student."

Sakura scowled. "I'm your only female student, Kakashi. Anyway, what are you doing here? Weren't you on a mission?"

That made Kakashi actually look up. He slid his book in his pouch and glanced back down at Sakura. "That's right. Lady Tsunade sent me over here to wait for you to finish. She wants to see us in the Hokage tower. I believe she has a mission for us."

Sakura stared at him, stuned. 'A mission… seriously?'

Kakashi just nodded once, hooking his thumbs in his pockets.

"Alright then, well we better get going, you know how Lady Tsunade gets when she is kept waiting," Sakura said as she started walking toward the Hogake tower.

"Right," Kakashi agreed and they hurried off to their destination.

*Knock, knock, knock*

Sakura lowered her fist from the heavy, wooden doors of the Hokage's private office.

"Come in," grumbled a familiar female's voice from beyond the door.

Sakura pushed open the door and stepped inside with Kakashi right behind her.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" A voice screamed as Sakura was crushed in a hug. Gasping for air, Sakura struggled against the familiar blond boy who had his arms around her.

"Naruto…. *gasp* are you trying to kill me?" Sakura sputtered out.

Scratching the back of his head, he laughed. "Sorry! I mean, I just haven't seen you in so long! I missed you so much, Sakura-chan." He let her go and she stumbled away, trying to catch her breath.

Sakura smiled at him sadly and said," I've missed you too, Naruto." And thought to herself, 'more than you'll ever know.'

Naruto looked at her and smiled excitedly, pointing at where the Hokage was seated watching the exchange, "Guess what! Grandma here says we have a mission together for once."

Sakura risked a glance at the Hokage's face, afraid of how she was going to react to Naruto's insult. To her surprise and relief the Hogake chose to ignore it.

This also made Sakura worried. Tsunade had a serious look on her face that only appeared when she was either about to deliver bad news or was extremely worried about something.

Sakura turned to her, "Lady Tsunade?"

Tsunade closed her eyes. She thought about how she should deliver the news to the three shinobi in front of her. She has watched Naruto and Sakura grow into strong, capable individuals. She could even see Kakashi has grown. There was no doubt in her mind this was due to the bond he shared with his former students. They had filled an empty void for him in his life and gave him someone to live for. Unfortunately, Sasuke was included in that group of former students. She knew how deeply rooted the three shinobi standing in front of her were with the traitor Uchiha. That's what made this news hard. She silently wondered if she should have gotten a different team…

'No, these three are by far the most qualified. Their roots with the Uchiha make them even more qualified than other shinobi in the village,' she decided silently.

"Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzamaki, and Kakashi Hatake, I have news regarding Sasuke Uchiha." She said with a stern voice.

The three shinobi froze in their spots.

It was silent for a minute while they all took this information in. Sakura was the first to speak.

"Lady Tsunade… We haven't gotten any leads on Sasuke in over a year. We weren't even sure he was still alive. Is the source you got this information from trustworthy?"

Tsunade sighed, "Yes, I am sure. There's no doubt about it. Sasuke Uchiha has been spotted in the Land of Lightning. The report I received said he was injured and alone. It is your mission to bring Sasuke back to the village. If you can't bring him alive, he is to be brought back dead."

Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Kakashi stared at the hokage in shock. However, beside them, Sakura's eyes grew cold.

Naruto threw his hands up in the air, "How can you ask us to kill him?! You know how much he means to us. We aren't just going to go in there and-

Sakura stepped forward cutting Naruto off, "We understand, My Lady. Sasuke Uchiha is to be brought back at all costs."

Tsunade's eyes flickered between Naruto and Kakashi's shock filled faces and Sakura's cold, determined one. She knew how Sakura felt about Sasuke at this point. She locked eyes with Sakura and nodded, "very well, Sakura you will be the team captain for this mission."

Sakura nodded and stepped back in line next to Naruto and Kakashi. She had to admit, she was surprised. She was the lowest rank out of the three of them. She expected Tsunade to give Kakashi the team leader position like usual, but thought she understood why she didn't. As strong as Kakashi is, he still has a soft spot for Sasuke, kind of similar to Naruto. Sakura had a harder disposition when it came to Sasuke. 'This has gone on long enough,' she thought to herself bitterly. 'I'll be damned if I let Naruto get hurt again. After all the times he's been there for me, I won't let him hurt over Sasuke anymore.'

Naruto and Kakahi both stared at Sakura like she slapped them. The hurt in their eyes was almost unbearable. She turned away and let her face become impassive. 'I'm sorry Naruto,' she thought sadly, 'I may have to break my vow to bring Sasuke home safe if it means protecting you.'

Tsunade looked at Naruto and sighed, "I'm sorry Naruto. It is the only way. We can't afford for Sasuke's trail to go cold again. He's too great a threat to this village. If you can bring him back alive he will receive a fair trial. However, if you can't he must be killed, there is no other option."

Naruto looked at the floor with pain filled eyes. It took him a minute but then he looked up with a new, determined look on his face. Then he said, "Well, looks like we will just have to do everything necessary to bring him back alive then."

Kakashi nodded and Tsunade smiled. Sakura, however, just clenched her fists.