Author's note: So there may be some deviances from the anime in my story. The first is that Tsunade is still Hokage, I needed her sass to make this story work the way I wanted to.
I don't own Naruto, nor will I ever. I hope you enjoy 3
"Alright you three, take a seat. There have been reports of small villages being attacked by hoards of what are being described as 'undead ninja' that don't respond to normal attacks. 3 such attacks took place last night, and although it wasn't immediately apparent why they were targeting the villages that they did it's now glaringly obvious that each of these villages houses someone with a kekkei genkai that has now disappeared, all of whom being young females." Tsunade sighed before she continued, "With that being said, these reports point to the use of the edo tensei; however, these reanimations do not have souls. It is almost as though the corpses are reanimated but the consciousness is not. Orochimaru is the only known user of the edo tensei that is still alive, but he's denying any connection to these attacks. Unfortunately, we don't have anywhere else to start and Orochimaru isn't exactly forthcoming with any information about his jutsus."
"Okay, so what are you getting at here?" Sakura inquired, already annoyed at the mention of the snake's name.
"What I'm getting at, is that we first need to get as much information about the edo tensei as possible being that it is the closet know jutsu that can achieve such an effect. In order to fully understand what we are up against, we need to know the inner workings of it and furthermore how to release it. In the mean time, we are dispatching groups of shinobi to all known villages that house a clan with a kekkei genkai to be safe. We don't know right now if the young females are coincidence or not."
"And where exactly do you want us to get this information from?" Kiba asked hesitantly, already knowing where this conversation was headed.
"From the only person who would have such information. I need you to infiltrate Orochimaru's last known hideout and get whatever intel you can that will help us against these things. We've tried to contact Sasuke considering he knows quite a bit about the jutsu from his experience with it in the war, but we haven't heard from him in over two months. I've chosen the three of you because for one, you need a medic. That's where Sakura comes in. Two, you need a good tracker, where Kiba and Akamaru come in. And lastly, you need someone with a chakra signature that Orochimaru is not familiar with, and that's where Hinata comes in. She will also be the most adept at sneaking around in order to find information thanks to her Byakugan. Do you have any questions so far?" Tsunade prompted.
"Yes, just one. How do you honestly expect me to be within the vicinity of that snake and not wipe his existence from the face of the earth?" Sakura asked, entirely serious.
Although during the war Orochimaru helped the Allied Shinobi Forces to defeat Kaguya, his motives were decidedly impure. He knew that if Kaguya succeeded, there would never be a chance for him to inhabit Sasuke's body, which he thirsted so heavily for. Sakura was blatantly aware of this, and it still made her blood boil.
"I expect you to behave because you are a professional shinobi going on a professional mission to get information to help out our allies who we are in a professional contract with. Orochimaru has been in a contract of peace with the Leaf Village ever since the war and we have no reason to disrupt that relationship, especially over grudges that you refuse to let die," Tsunade carefully explained.
"That's such bullshit. You know that if he had the chance he would take Sasuke's body right from him and not think twice about it!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Well then it's a good thing 'Sasuke-kun' is the second strongest ninja on the face of this earth, then isn't it? He wouldn't have any issues stepping on such a puny snake and rendering it useless" Tsunade deadpanned.
Kiba and Hinata let out small chuckles at that. A blush began to creep over Sakura's face, realizing that she was being irrational because of her feelings.
"If you don't have a retort to that, allow me to finish briefing you on the mission at hand," Tsunade looking down at the mission file, "you are to leave tomorrow at dawn. It will take you approximately two days of traveling at a steady pace to reach the hideout. You will be staying in Tenzen, a town approximately 50 miles west of the hideout's known location. Once you arrive, take the evening to settle in and prepare for the next day. Hinata, you will need to prepare a henge for this mission, just to err on the safe side. It would be wise to ready that prior to your departure. Sakura can work with you this evening in order to help you with the control of your chakra so that you don't tip of any sensory ninja Orochimaru may have on hand. Do you have any questions?"
"No, Tsunade-sama," all three shinobi chimed.
"Very well, get some rest tonight, you have a long journey ahead of you. You are dismissed"
Sakura dug into the innocent grass next to her with a kunai. After the mission briefing, she decided she needed some air. Hinata agreed to meet her at training grounds 5 in an hour, but she needed time before that to gather herself so she went there immediately following. She lost her cool, something she's been vehemently working over over the years… although she was fiery at heart and was definitely easier said than done.
It had been well over a year since Sasuke left on his "mission" to find peace within himself. Even though he said a proper goodbye this time, the ache in her chest whenever she thought about him was just as prominent as the last time he left the village. This posed another predicament for her as well, while all of their friends were getting into serious relationships and begging to settle down, she couldn't bring herself to even entertain the idea with Sasuke out of the village.
He hadn't given her any reason to believe that he would ever fully return to the village or settle down with anyone for that matter, let alone her. But that's how unrequited love worked. It was a fickle beast, one not easily overcome by rationality.
She couldn't help the fact that every time someone mentioned his name, her ears automatically perked up and her heart beat a little faster. She couldn't help how anytime someone around the village whispered negatively about him under their breath when she and Naruto walked by that she had to fight the urge to pummel their faces in.
After 7 years of being in love with someone, these things become second nature.
The more she thought about it, the more excited she became for their mission. She and Hinata had become much closer now that her and Naruto are openly together. She was looking forward to getting to spend some time away from the village with her (i.e. away from Naruto's prying ears). Kiba has always been like a brother to them, so this would be a comfortable mission with good friends. Something she always looked forward to.
Hinata's chakra signature caught Sakura's attention, and she saw the girl approach the spot where she sat on the grass from the edge of the clearing. Sakura waved, and Hinata returned the gesture.
Once HInata reached where she sat on the ground, the girl joined her.
"How are you doing?" HInata asked, knowing that her little outburst in Tsunade's office would weigh on her friend's mind.
"Oh I'm fine, just in the process of mentally kicking myself in the face for the 300th time and making sure I wedge my foot so far in my mouth that I can't ever speak again," Sakura sulked.
Hinata giggled. "Oh it wasn't that bad. I just know how you feel about other's thinking of Sasuke as a weakness for you, especially Tsunade."
Hinata was right. Over the years, Sakrua had easily became the strongest kunoichi in the village, physically speaking of course. She had worked very hard to bring her mental strength up to par as well, and she succeeded in every area but Sasuke. Something that Tsunade was very well aware of. That irked her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to detach her emotions from the man who seemed to be the root of all her issues, even thousands of miles away.
"You're right. I don't know why I can't bring myself to let go of him and move on. I deserve to be happy, I deserve to be loved; moreover, I deserve a man who will be there for me like Naruto is for you or Sai is for Ino. But yet here I am, attaching myself to this delusion that one day Sasuke will return and I'll fling myself into his arms and he will carry me into the sunset where we will quickly get started repopulating the Uchiha clan," Sakura sighed.
Hinata couldn't help but to laugh, that mental picture was just too much. "Don't beat yourself up over such a silly thing. Your loyalty is something to be admired and you can't help the way you feel. It's better to be honest with yourself about your emotions than to lie to yourself and pretend they don't exist. In all reality, it is very mature of you," Hinata finished as she offered her friend a warm smile.
Sakura smiled too, finding Hinata's earnest nature to be contagious. She stood up, offering her hand to the girl next to her, "Now what to do say we work on this henge you need to perfect by nightfall?"
Sakura had a hard time falling asleep that night. She and Hinata worked on chakra control and holding a henge until well after the sun had set. Her mind kept drifting back to their conversation. Hinata had mentioned that acknowledging her feelings was the mature thing to do, and she felt like the next step was to no longer let them hold her back. Sasuke was not coming back anytime soon, and Sakura had never even been kissed. Maybe it was time to finally let someone to help lessen the burden of such a lonely life. She had plenty of great friends, sure; however, they were all in serious relationships and couldn't be bothered to be with her at all times. There was always Kakashi, but he's so engrossed in his perverted fiction that you might as well consider it a serious relationship.
She finally drifted to sleep with the content conviction to move on from Sasuke. Tomorrow was a new day and a new Sakura, or so she hoped.
