He was running as fast as he could. Oh, he knew they'd eventually catch up, but he could prolong it as long as possible. He hoped it would be someone inept—they were far easier to escape from, he'd done it before—but he wouldn't hold out hope for it. There was a reason he had lived this long. Always be wary. It was his motto, and he would stick to it.

Something tingled at the edge of his senses. Was that a bell? Well, looked like whomever they had sent was new. You didn't wear things that made noise if you were trying to catch missing-nin, and that was something most genin even understood. Too bad for this nin, it would be their last mistake. He kept running.

It was nearing dawn—he could see the faintest of light appearing on the horizon. There was a small fishing village close by. It was possible he could slip into the morning crowd if he hid his chakra signal well enough. Or, he could keep running. Those were really his only options. He had hoped that his pursuer would tire and eventually drop off, but that had not happened. Hmm, maybe the bell hadn't been them.

So caught up in his thoughts was he, that he failed to notice that the once faint tinkling sound had grown closer, and had been for some time. The nin had grown accustomed to the sound, and the bell was the only warning her would get.

Watching closely from the trees a few meters behind the missing-nin, the masked shinobi waited. The bells had done their work nicely, and the nin no longer noticed them. How convenient—most times it took longer. Now it was time to start the real work. Jackal gently weaved the tingling bells into the genjustu; it wouldn't take long for their prey to succumb, not with the level of competency they'd shown so far. Besides, the goal was not death, as was usual. Instead it was capture. Interrogation would have fun with this one.

Once the target was out, Jackal approached. With a flick of the wrist, a pressure point was pressed and a chakra block added to the base of the skull. While Jackal was sure he wouldn't wake up, restraints were added anyway. It was always better to be safe.

With the target suitably restrained and thrown over the shoulder, Jackal disappeared.

"Shizune! Where did you hide my sake this time?!"

Everyone in Hokage Tower cringed at the bellow that emerged from the Hokage's office, and turned to glare at the Hokage's assistant.

"Shizune, I swear I love you, but give us a warning or something the next time you purge her office. We have to deal with her after all."

Shizune smiled sheepishly at Sakura, who was walking towards Tsunade's office with a stack of paperwork. "Sorry, Sakura. I guess I could have planned that one better. Its just she has so much paperwork she hasn't completed… I thought it would motivate her."

Sakura snorted. "Motivate? Really? The only thing that motivates her to do is throw people through walls."

At this point the woman herself interrupted. "Oi! I can hear you, ya know! Get in here, brats! I've got something important to tell you."

The two Sanin's students entered the office with only a small amount of trepidation. They were used to this by now.

Tsunade motioned for them to close the door, as she sound-proofed the room. This caused a raised eyebrow—this must be important indeed.

"Alright, kids. What I have to tell you isn't really life or death, but it does need to stay private."

"Well, Shishou, maybe you should just tell us?"

Sakura swiftly side-stepped as Tsunade threw a pen at her. "Enough of your sass, girl. This mainly concerns you anyway. We received word from Kakashi late last night. They have successfully completed their mission are on their way back."

Sakura smiled. It had been sometime since she'd seen her teammates as she had not been able to accompany them. "When are they expected back?"

"We are expecting them back anytime. They'll need to be put under quarantine once they get here. Kakashi mentioned in his missive that they had to go to the mainland. Standard time, and we'll check their bloodwork and all that jazz. You'll be overseeing their hospital stay so you will need to get everything ready. Shizune, you will be checking the lab work. They will only be able to speak to us three until quarantine is over—that is, unless I personally clear it. They will also have an ANBU guard, mainly because of Kakashi."

Shizune and Sakura both shook their heads at that. When would he ever learn?

"Just remember that their mission was classified. You are both high-ranking, so it may be discussed with you, however, no one else. In fact, until quarantine is over and they are properly debriefed, I would prefer it if this was kept between us three. Kakashi has been notified that the team is to speak to no one, and to arrive on the appropriate hospital floor."

"Well then, I guess I should go get stuff ready then."

Tsunade waved her off, and released the jutsu.

"Tsunade-sama, how do think the boys will take the news?"

"Not good, I suspect. Especially Naruto—I'm not looking forward to his tantrum."

"At any rate, it won't be much longer now until she joins them again. She has already turned in her retirement paperwork, right?"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, she turned it in directly to me a few days ago. She still has the waiting period before she is officially out of the ops, but I probably won't sent her out again—especially with them coming back. She was adamant that she didn't want them to even suspect that she was a member."

"From what I understand, no one knows except her superiors. She's done a good job of keeping it quiet. She's even kept the mental stress from getting to her—that's what usually tips people off."

"She has. She has recently come to me with plans to revamp the counseling courses most of the other members take. I'm inclined to change them, but will start with a small group. Personally, I think that is one of the biggest reason's she joined to begin with, but I could be wrong—she never told me."

"It would not surprise me. She's done very well, though. I think when her boys find out, they will not be happy with her."

"No. No, they will not."