9 S ranked missions. 21 A ranked missions. 23 B ranked.

ANBU combat medicinal expert. Glorified doctor. Deadly warrior. Perfectionist kunoichi. Haruno Sakura, 23, stood in front of her shishou, with her mouth parted in shock and disbelief.

She took a hesitant step forward. "N-nani?" she stammered watching the Hokage for any possible signs of amusement or travesty.

Her shishou raised a perfectly angled eyebrow at her in response. Glancing at her pink haired student Tsunade sighed.

"I said, beloved apprentice, that I'm recruiting you into ANBU's special unit." She paused and flicked her golden her off her shoulder before continuing, "Team 0. You have heard of them, have you not?" she said calmly.

Sakura's state of bewilderment increased drastically as she stared down at the floor, suddenly finding her mentor's office tiles offending. She looked up to see her shishou inspecting her with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Hai, Tsunade-shishou, every ANBU officer gets briefed about Team 0 upon our promotions." She touches the mask engraved with an image of a tiger, attached to her hip pouch and continues, "Although everyone assumes its just a myth, something they tell operatives to keep them motivated enough…" she sighs and closes her eyes "…to do their jobs".

For an instance Sakura lets her exhaustion get to her and her toned shoulders sag half an inch. She opens her eyes and looks up to see her shishou leaning back in her chair and stretching her legs to balance her feet, with perfectly painted red toenails, upon her desk. Sakura braces herself for the inevitable.

"I assure you Sakura, Team 0 is not a myth." The way her student's eyes glance up in surprise amuses her endlessly. She smirks and wriggles her toes.

"Team 0 is an elite group, best of the best, hand-picked from our ANBU reserves. They usually handle important diplomatic emergencies and anything's that's an immediate critical threat to Konoha."

Sakura's confusion grows by the second. "Shishou I don't understand, isn't that what all ANBU do? We're directly under your command." Sakura stiffens as she considers abandoning her ANBU squad. "I can't just leave my teammates, it's not right!" she clenches her fist as her anger amplifies, "how can you do this to me shishou? Why me? Why not Sasuke or Naruto? They're both qualified ANBU too and Sasuke's a captain!" Sakura tries desperately to cling on what little information she has. "What's so special about Team 0?!" she almost screams. She raises her chin and stares into her shishou's eyes. "Why me?"

Tsunade meets her student's glare and purses her lips.

"Ano Sakura you're making it sound like a bad thing. It's a promotion." Tsunade drags her feet off the desk and proceeds to lean forward, resting her elbow on the desk, and her chin in her palm. "Also, you've been requested as an addition."

Sakura gasps audibly. Her mind, albeit it's excellency, cant comprehend why she'd be given this privilege over her infamous genin teammates. She doesn't undermine herself, however, she knows how much she's worth. Her days of insecurities and weaknesses are in the past, she's been beaten, shaped and carved into excellence, that of a special jounin and ANBU operative.

Her mind is doing cartwheels, she realizes she not only caught up to her teammates, but technically, out-maneuvered them, if not in skill, then in position. She allows herself a moment to gloat, however that moment is cut short by an amused snort followed by a silent chuckle.

"That's right, brat, it's a privilege, a damn big one too." Tsunade adds. She motions Sakura to come closer. "You were requested by the captain-commander of Team 0-"

Sakura's eyes widen as she mutters. "Who?"

Tsunade frowns, "Let me talk and maybe you'll find out!" she then mumbles something inaudible under her breath and continues. "Before I tell you, you need to understand the structure of Team 0." Tsunade pauses. "Sakura, this is classified information, so by staying now you are agreeing into joining."

Sakura's uncertainty comes off her in waves, she asks hesitantly "What about my team?"

Tsunade grants her a rare smile as she reaches into a drawer pulling out 3 folders, which she lays on her desk. "You will hand-pick and oversee the training of your replacement."

Sakura sighs as relief floods over her. A second passes and she composes herself. She looks up and her eyes shine ambitiously green. "Tell me, Shishou."

Tsunade's smile widens and she smacks her hand down upon her desk. "Yosh! You've made me proud, Sakura" she adds. Sakura's flustered look is almost endearing.

"Team 0 consists of 5 members, including the captain-commander. Now, 7 months ago Team 0 lost a member, hence the opening position." Tsunade's eyes glistened with anger upon the loss of potential. "Understandably, the captain-commander requested a medic on his team." She paused. "Not just a medic, Sakura, he requested a combat medicinal expert. And seeing as you are the only ANBU with that title, its safe to assume he meant you."

Sakura gulped and visibly tensed "Who is he shishou?"

As Tsunade grinned devilishly, Sakura knew her life was about to become a lot more complicated.

"Uchiha Itachi."