The bed curved slightly under her light weight. It had been a long day. After a sleepless night she had to get up at 5 in the morning to prepare for a long tedious day at the hospital. Her shisou had been extremely busy this week and obviously, all of the blond's patients had been dutifully dumped on Sakura.

She sighed and groaned inwardly. Why the heck did they do this to her? Albeit having finished her 13 hour shift, and having to put up with some people who expected her to do magic rather than jutsu to cure them, she had received a call.

Probably a new mission, she decided. It had been quite a while since Sakura had been sent out on a mission.

She was valuable in her position at the hospital. She was the Hokage's Apprentice after all! The only one who had almost equaled the Fifth in her medical abilities. And she wouldn't have it any other way! She loved her work: with all its' quirks and tight schedule that came packaged with it.

Not that it changed anything. She didn't have much of a social life anyway...

Tsunade had thought her everything she knew about the medical field, and ever since that day Sakura had found herself immersed in the new wonders of Medicine. Some would have considered it an obsession, but to her, everyday, every patient she managed to cure, it was just one small miracle. So obviously, it was only natural that she delved in her work and spent almost every waking hour doing just that, rather than doing what other 20 year olds should be doing.

And that was usually the thing she and Ino fought about everytime she came over to check whether her dear old Forehead hadn't gotten rotten, alone in her apartament. It was annoying really. She went on about it like a broken record. "You really need to find yourself a boyfriend Sakura! You are not getting any younger and all you ever do it work and hide alone in your apartment! You are getting quite creepy!", Ino would usually whine. "Oh come on Ino! There will be times for boyfriends and all. I just haven't found the right one yet." And then Ino would flip her long, annoyingly gorgeous hair and say, "well you won't really find him, cooped up in here, or at the hospital! All you will ever get will be some fat, ugly ninja, who couldn't escape a shurinken to save his life, hence the patching up. Or the postman in any case."

Sakura loved Ino. She really did, but sometimes she could be really annoying. Especially when she was right...

Maybe she should start going out more often..

Sometimes even Naruto complained that he didn't see her around anymore. And that was saying something, as ever since Sasuke came back, the two had become inseparable, and sometimes she had gottenherself to wonder whether he did notice anything or anyone else around him except his precious Raven haired friend.

And maybe that was another reason why Sakura found herself stuck at the hospital. She just couldn't bring herself to be third wheel anymore. Ever since Sasuke had left, she had grown into a strong, indipendant women, and she had realised that she didn't need Sasuke, or any men for that matter, to validate her worth.

From the corner of her eye, she looked at the photo on her bedside of Team 7 and she smiled. Everything had been so different back them. Everything was so simple. The highlight of her days had been seeing Sasuke and her saddest moments had been when he ignored her - which was practically all the time. When she thought back it was funny really. She could remember it as if it had been yesterday. Sakura would try to get closer to Sasuke, and the latter was as indifferent to her as ever, while Naruto would start challenging Sasuke over Sakura. And poor old Kakashi-sensei had to put up with them. It must have been quite a feat!

But now everything had changed. They were not kids anymore. Sasuke had hurt her, but in a way she was was thanks to him that she had managed to pick up the pieces he left behind, and motivate herself to work harder. And it was that motivation who had made her who she was now. And it was thanks to the emptiness that he left behind, that she managed to nurture a new kinship with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, making them her second family - or her only one really. She had realised not long ago that genetics doesn't necessarily imply family.

She looked at the time and realised she was late for the meeting. Oh well.

She sat up, and went to the cabinet on the other side of the room. She opened the first drawer and looked down at the mask that had become her identity over the past few months. The white, animal shaped mask that hid her so well from the rest of the world.

She went ahead to put it on, and it instantaneously had the desired effect. She wasn't Sakura anymore. She was just another ANBU agent. A tool of Kohona. And with that, she climbed out the window, and ran along the dark streets to the secret quarters.

Heyy there :) This is my first story ever so I hope it met your expectations. It is a bit slow considering that it is the first chapter and the plot is yet to be revealed. I will try to keep regular updates! much love =] and Review please