A/N: Hello there! I haven't been on FF for a while, but I want to finally start updating and getting back on here so that I can better my writing. I'm nineteen now and in college, so my writing has definitely seen some improvement. From this story on, I'm going to treat this account as a professional one with regular updates, seeing as I aspire to be a professional writer in the (hopefully) near future.

This new story I'm creating will be a series of oneshots (I believe that's the term), that will center around Sakura being a more useful and valuable asset than Masashi Kishimoto wrote her.

Honestly, based on how much planning I'm putting into this, this will probably be a story story and not a single chapter. We'll see. All of these will be Sakura-centric, with additional side characters to support the story. I love seeing a stronger, bolder, less pitiful Sakura. Please read and review, I always love to hear what people think!

- n a y a

"I am the blood of the dragon. I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears."

― George R.R. Martin

Chapter One:

"Sakura Haruno of ANBU"

Summary: Sakura hated the awkwardness of going through formalities, especially in this situation, but legalities required her to. "By order of the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade Senju, I, Sakura Haruno and accompanying ANBU unit team members recognize capture squad Kakashi Hatake, Shikamaru Nara, Neji Hyuuga, Sai of Root, Naruto Uzumaki, and the detainee Sasuke Uchiha. We Team Iriko are here to escort Team Hatake back to the Village Hidden in The Leaves, Konohagakure.

Branches and leaves whipped wildly as a group of seasoned ANBU operatives flashed by through the Konoha forest. Each member of the elite squad wore a porcelain mask depicting a specific type of animal, all hiding their features and identity completely. An ox, a ram, a slug, and a monkey were present within the group. Their uniforms consisted of dark grey vests and pants, complete with arm guards and short swords strapped to their backs. Totaling four in all, Team Iriko dashed in V-formation with the captain pacing towards the front. The trailing members all had strong, tall, muscular builds that moved and flexed generously as they leapt from bough to bough, while the captain retained a rather lithe and smaller yet equally strong physique. In this way, she was feminine while her companions were distinctly male.

Their mission was simple in nature; their objective was to rendezvous with an elite, hand-picked, hunter-nin task force that had successfully detained a criminal listed in the Land of Fire's bingo book, ranking somewhere among the top twenty. This particular retrieval unit had been tracking their target for bordering three years now and—based on the developments detailed in their last report a few days ago—had made contact, battled, and barely captured their target. The squad was now returning home with their charge, however, the battle that had taken place had left certain members with varying degrees of injury. The Fifth Hokage deemed it fitting then, to deploy Team Iriko for the dual purpose of having a captain that specialized in providing medical assistance and a team qualified to give support in the event of their quarry escaping or a confrontation with foreign forces.

Presently, the captain began to slow her speed through the canopy, choosing instead to drop weightlessly to the forest floor. She landed lightly on all fours, her comrades landing in formation soundlessly behind her. Straightening and removing her slug mask, Sakura Haruno exhaled heavily. Most of her hair was tucked under a ski-mask that covered her entire head, allowing others to only see the features of her face. She'd taken to hiding her hair on missions because her identity usually garnered her team unwanted attention during foreign espionage missions. However, the portion of her face that was showing revealed small signs of weariness. Forest green eyes blinked tiredly out of a strong, beautiful face; sharp angled brows battled with the constant wrinkle settled between them, and full pale pink lips pulled slightly downward as she surveyed the area around them. Warm afternoon light bathed the treetops above them in a golden glow, the wind rustling the leaves and swaying them every which way. Tall, thick oak tree boughs twisted and crept from the earth, creating a dense layer of moss-covered forestry that shrouded them from view. Birds could be heard flitting from thicket to thicket, as well as other creatures native to the surrounding area of Konoha's forests. The atmosphere was gentle and relaxed, with insects and wildlife alike teeming all around them. Withdrawing a small folded slip of paper, Sakura checked the coordinates and descriptions listed with her team's current surroundings. They had stopped in a small clearing and were scheduled to meet with the capture team the following day.

Looking up, she spoke. "Well, gentlemen. We've reached the checkpoint Lady Tsunade briefed us about earlier today. We can make temporary camp here for right now but don't get too comfortable. The retrieval unit will be meeting us here tomorrow at sundown, and we'll be escorting them home by nightfall. Got it?" She inquired, looking around at the men.

When she received different signals of approval, mostly grunts, she relaxed and slid her pack off her shoulder, where it fell to the ground with a soft thud. Crouching, the lone female squatted over her pack as she tucked her fingers under the ski mask covering her head and pulled backward.

The sigh that escaped her lips was audible as her pale pink locks came cascading down, resting a little below her shoulders. Thumbing her ends thoughtfully, Sakura reminded herself that when this was all over, she would need to get a haircut. Her hair's length was just crossing the line of being too long. Turning around, she surveyed her squad lazily as she opened her pack to set out her sleeping bag and a few other items.

Her other teammates Ahiko and Masamune were busy setting up the fire and arguing quietly on whether or not to start one while her third subordinate, Raiden, was busy prepping the security perimeter. The ease in which they set into routine every mission hadn't come naturally. When the four of them had been assigned as a squad a year ago, their team chemistry had been repellent, similar to oil and water.

There were distinct factors that had presented themselves as hurdles for their cell's already flimsy dynamics. For one, there was the obvious experience gap. Ahiko and Masamune were the remnants of an older Anbu cell unit that had been broken up due to a number of team casualties, but both had served for at least four years already, which was more than Sakura could say. She herself had already been on the active duty ANBU roster bordering on two years when she was assigned to Team Iriko, and had just been promoted to the team leader for the first time. Raiden had been in the same recruitment year as Sakura herself but had been acting as a stand-in for another squad unit until said person returned to active duty.

Secondly, tumultuous didn't even describe the first four months Sakura spent getting to know the young men she'd been assigned. It had eventually dawned on her the amount of patience Kakashi needed to force the polar opposite personalities that Sasuke and Naruto had to work as a team.

For starters, Raiden was the youngest member of their squad and the most arrogant. Coming from prodigious roots and a wealthy family, Raiden was already catching the eye of numerous superiors in the ANBU Core when placed on Team Iriko, and him making his debut on Sakura's freshly minted unit didn't help relations. With him getting special treatment, (a new uniform and not the beat up ones that the previous owner most likely died in, specialized training ground access, personal healers etc.) Raiden wasn't winning any favors with the new members of his team, especially not Ahiko.

Ahiko was an older generation ANBU, and absolutely despised nepotism or favoritism shown towards ninja with wealthy backgrounds. Raiden just couldn't quite shake the traces of 'rich boy' that seemed to cling to his every movement, as Ahiko put it. And there was still the issue of Raiden's arrogance. Whether Masamune was asking a question for clarification or Sakura gave an order he disagreed with, the level of disrespect and annoyance showed more in his body language than his speech.

Sakura and Masamune's own relationship had started out rocky, in part, due to the fact that they both were know-it-alls, as Raiden would bluntly point out if the topic came up. On the first day, Sakura had prepared herself to be mocked by her teammates. To be scoffed at and patronized, because she simply knew it would come. With her small stature, girlish looks, and all around delicate presentation, Sakura knew she would be facing an uphill battle when it came to interacting with her team. Sakura was also intelligent and was accustomed to being the smartest when it came to textbook knowledge and strategy.

However, as Sakura quickly found out, a textbook can only get an ANBU captain so far, and at some point, she needed to rely on the experience of her teammates to guide her, albeit subtly. Masamune was not subtle in any sense of the word. While Sakura had to deal with Raiden's quiet snubs in regards to her leadership, Masamune outwardly challenged the practicality of any command she gave. At every turn, Masamune was consistently undermining her authority with not-so-subtle hints at what he often thought was a more logical plan of action. It got to the point that on more than one occasion Sakura had to forcefully remind Masamune who was and was not the captain of their squad and therefore the decision maker in regards to their missions.

Overall, as team leader Sakura (thankfully) didn't have to walk them through drills or babysit them, but all three gentlemen did look to her as team captain. Her margin for error was remarkably small, she had to quickly become accustomed to making snap-decisions for any situation that arose, and by no means could she ever allow even a moment's hesitation in her actions. Hesitation of any degree could and was proven to be fatal in the Anbu Core. All of her grueling training prior to taking her examinations to get to Anbu captain had taught her that.

When the time came for them to finally start operating as a team and apply for missions, the dynamics of Team Iriko had still been awful at best. The very last thing Sakura had wanted, above all, was to look like a weak captain who couldn't successfully lead. She'd constantly reminded herself to keep the hardline principles that her mentor, Lady Tsunade, had instilled in her and proceeded to rule her team with an iron fist. Sakura had snapped at dissension, barked out orders that she expected to be followed immediately, and had tucked the kind-hearted part of herself deep down inside, and buried her there. Sakura knew that to be apart of Anbu and retain any semblance of openness or kindness would be a mistake and make interactions and missions that much more difficult. Her quiet fear ate at her for quite some time, and to prove herself and her capability, she pushed her team harder than any others in active rotation. Team Iriko quickly became the most active and flexible cell unit in a little under a year, constantly slotted for any high-level missions available. Their success rate had not been tarnished yet. No one from her cell raised any complaints to her about the influx of missions, but the fatigue and strain that took place in daily team interactions increased in prominence.

Finally, one casual day after her team had departed from their routine practice, her former peer Shizune had made a rare appearance, showing up at the grounds and asking to speak with her. She'd expressed to her the worries she held concerning her bottomless ambition, and after arguing back and forth for a few minutes Sakura had finally cracked. She'd had a meltdown so large that training ground eight had been permanently reshaped. After she'd calmed down enough to properly speak, she'd voiced her fears to the shocked Shizune. Even further, her teammates had returned to the training grounds upon hearing the tantrum Sakura threw, believing there to be a commotion. What they found instead was a stressed and overwhelmed team leader. After a lengthy explanation and a few more tears, the relations within Team Iriko finally, finally stabilized. Unbeknown to Sakura, her subordinates had admitted that underneath the disagreements, they all were genuinely fond of their hard female captain and respected her greatly, and knew better than most that she could ferociously defend and hold her own in a battle as well as lead her unit to success. It was the reason she was captain, Masamune had reminded her quietly.

Sakura sighed again fondly at the memories of her first professional ninja squad and pulled herself from her thoughts. Placing the finishing items in her sleeping area⸺which consisted of a plush sleeping bag, a pillow, two mason jars with lit candles, snacks, and reading material⸺Sakura turned to face Masamune and Ahiko, who were warming up by the newly started fire in the middle of their makeshift camp. Rotted and mossed over tree stumps had been dragged from various parts of the surrounding woods to be used as seats. Plopping down next to Ahiko on his stump and nudging his hip with hers to make him move over a tad, Sakura shivered and rubbed her hands to heat them. Raiden was the last to make his way over to the fire and spoke once he had settled next to Masamune, who made room as well.

"How are you feeling, Sakura? " Raiden asked after a few minutes, his perceptive honey eyes regarding her across the flickering flames. He didn't bother to address her quietly, for her other team members were aware of the circumstances surrounding Sakura and their current mission. They glanced at her as well, waiting for her response.

Sakura knew exactly what he was referring to. If she were honest, she couldn't say what she felt at the moment and told them just as much.

"Honestly, guys. I haven't seen them in, what? Two, three years? I wouldn't know what to say, really. Thanks for leaving me on a bench? Thanks for quietly slipping out of the village on a three-year mission one day without telling me? For thinking I was too weak to be any real help? No hard feelings?" Sakura spoke bitterly.

She could hear the emotion reflected in her own voice, and her gloved hand tightened at the reminder. She had always been an emotional person and went to great strides over the years to correct that part of her personality. But it seemed she just couldn't help it. Personal things like relationships always held a special place near her heart, and the old and new members of Team Seven were no exception, no matter how much they hurt her.

She knew only too well that the coming hours and remainder of their mission would be a rollercoaster of turbulent and unresolved feelings, and not just for her. Seeing her old sensei and teammates again would prove certain to be a tense encounter, especially after all these years. All of them, including herself, had changed drastically in the time they had been apart. Sakura herself had become a notable and trustworthy fixture within the village, earning the respect of not only the village's civilian population, but her shinobi peers also. Sakura had distinguished herself from the rest based on her own talents and achievements and was damn proud of the fact. But somewhere deep inside of her, she knew that facing and being in the presence of Naruto, Kakashi, and even Sai would make her feel like a weak, useless genin again. It was an old insecurity, one that dealt with her being constantly protected or too weak to provide assistance as a comrade on equal footing.

As if sensing where her head had gone, Masamune bent down and plucked a twig off the forest floor, tossing it at her. She looked at him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Look, Cap. You flew up the ranks during the time they were gone, yeah? You are an official member of the ANBU Black Ops and, more importantly, leader of the highly successful Team Iriko. You are third in command at the Konoha Medical Hospital, Head of the Surgeon Core, and are slotted to become the Dean of Medicine for the academic department the minute you make the transition from active duty to retired shinobi." Masamune reminded her firmly, his dark basil colored eyes blazing the same shade as her own in the firelight.

"Not to mention," Ahiko piped up, "That you're also supposed to be taking the Fifth's place as one of the Sannin for the next generation of shinobi and kunoichi. You've had some truly astounding training, Sakura. Don't let one moment of insecurity diminish that." The flames from the fire crackled and popped in the silence of the forest, embers dancing, swirling and mingling with the smoke that unfurled towards the inky night sky.

Sakura smiled around weakly at all of them before ducking her head down, her rose-colored bangs hiding her wobbling lips.

"Thanks, guys."

A/N: This was really cool to write. I can't say for sure whether it will be a full story, but most likely, haha. Tell me what you think, where I can improve. I struggled a little with voicing Sakura's doubt and creating a believable way in which she interacts with these new ANBU teammates of hers, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them, as far as relationship dynamics go. But, uh, yeah. Read and Review, please! Reviews encourage all writers, as you probably know, lol.

Bye!

-Naya