Disclaimer: I do not own the series nor do I have anything to do with it - this is a fan fiction purely made for entertainment.
Chapter One: New Beginnings
Remembering the short time that she had spent with the elderly woman just a couple days ago, she couldn't help but feel the warm tears trickling down her face. They had known each other for only a short time, yet the two of them had formed a bond - and now the older woman formerly known as "Chiyo" was gone. Sakura knew she shouldn't have felt guilty when the woman passed away, after all she did sacrifice herself to save the Kazekage, but she either way Sakura felt as if it were her fault. During their previous fight with Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, Sakura could have done more to help Chiyo. But instead, she let the old woman use Sakura's body as a puppet to defeat the red-headed puppet master. If only she had been stronger, maybe then Sakura wouldn't have had to rely so much on Chiyo's help during their battle, and maybe things could have gone differently and the elderly woman could still be alive.
But as much as Sakura wished things had gone differently, she found herself laying in her bed, flickering her eyes around her small, but comfortable, bedroom. The window that led to her balcony was open, but her curtains were closed, so every once in a while the gentle breeze would blow through her window, separating the curtains and letting the sunlight in. Five days had passed since Chiyo's death and Sakura had already returned to Konoha with her comrades. Tsunade, knowing her apprentice was still grieving over the sudden loss of her most recent friend, hadn't assigned any missions to Sakura - but she had assigned a mission for her team.
As if almost on cue, right then and there, Sakura felt the presence of another ninja - a presence she was almost a bit too familiar with. "Hello, Naruto-kun." She mumbled to the blond ninja as she turned her head in his direction.
Just like she had suspected, there he was. The blue-eyed ninja was just coming into her room, carefully climbing in through her window. "Sakura-chan!" He called out to her, waving at her as he finished entering her bedroom, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling fine," She said, answering him as she studied the backpack he was sporting, "So, Naruto, are you headed out on your mission?"
Like a child entering a candy store, Naruto's eyes automatically lit up when she asked him about his mission. He allowed himself to walk over to her bed and sit on the very edge of it, so she sat up to be more polite. "Yeah! Granny Tsunade is sending us to the Land of Lightning to pick up a very important shipment for her. She hasn't told us what we're getting, but I'm sure it must be important! She even found a temporary replacement to take your place in this mission."
Quite intrigued with who was replacing her, Sakura glared into his eyes and asked him, "Who is it?"
"Ino."
As soon as she heard Ino's voice, she couldn't help but feel anger boiling up inside of her. Ino was her best friend, and she did care for her, but Sakura was not okay with Ino replacing her. "Naruto, I think you're going to be late. You should go catch up with your teammates."
He must have known what she was thinking, so all Naruto did was lean forward and kiss her gently on the forehead. "Feel better, Sakura-kun." And with that, he was gone - which meant Sakura had to get to work.
Pulling her covers off of herself and standing out of bed, she walked over to her window and opened her curtains, letting in sunlight. If she was going to change and become stronger, she had to start being more positive - which meant she wasn't going to stay in bed all day and grieve anymore. Sakura knew she wasn't useless, but she wasn't also completely useful, meaning things had to change. She didn't want to be known as "the medical ninja" by her comrades, she could do more than just heal wounds - and she was going to make sure everyone knew that.
In just merely twenty minutes, Sakura had showered, gotten dressed, eaten breakfast, and was sliding on her black boots when she realized how quickly she had gotten ready. Once her boots were on, she got off her bed and stepped forward, standing in front of her dresser's mirror. She rapidly tied her forehead protector around her head, using it as a headband. Before she even realized it, Sakura was jumping out her window and onto the busy street below.
If anybody asked her if she knew where she was going, she would say yes, even though she didn't have any idea where she was headed. All she knew, was that she had to get stronger somehow. She needed to learn a new jutsu, a new technique - something that would be useful on the battlefield! And where do people go when they want to learn something new? The library.
Jumping from roof to roof, arriving at the large building took no time. She opened the front door and stepped inside, immediately heading for the battle techniques section. Knowing that she lacked the chakra most ninjas had, Sakura knew that she couldn't learn any powerful ninjutsus - meaning she had to focus on finding a good enough genjutsu or taijutsu technique she could use on the battle field.
After searching through what felt like dozens of scrolls, she came to the conclusion that none of the average scrolls would help her. If she wanted to find a useful technique, she had to look beyond the A-rank scrolls, and onto the S-rank. As she searched through the top shelf where the S-rank scrolls were, Sakura came across one titled "O Fuin" - also known as "Subdue Seal".
Closing her eyes, Sakura began to remember scenes of Naruto after the Nine Tail's chakra began to leak. When he's in that state, there's literally nothing that can stop him. She knows that there's a jutsu designed to subdue and seal Naruto's chakra, and Sakura was holding the secrets to that jutsu in her hands. If she learned how to perform the seal, she would become more useful in the battlefield to not only Naruto, but to their comrades as well.
"I have to learn it," Sakura whispered to herself as she looked down at the scroll, "For Naruto."
When the pink-haired ninja attempted to take the scroll out of the library, she was stopped by the librarian, who insisted she couldn't take out the scroll.
"But, sir, I really need this scroll." She begged the man who was about twice her age.
He eyed Sakura up and down before letting out a brief sigh and scratching the back of his neck, "That's an S-rank scroll, ma'am," He informed her, "If you want to take it out of the library, you're going to have to get permission from the Hokage herself."
"But I'm her apprentice," Sakura continued to wail, she knew that Tsunade would never give her permission to learn a sealing technique of that level, "Do I really have to get permission?"
She watched as the male shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Orders are orders," He mumbled to her, reaching over for the scroll, "Hand it over and go get permission from Hokage-sama. I'll put it aside for you." Realizing she had no other choice, Sakura handed over the scroll and dashed out the door.
Since she was in such a hurry to get the scroll, she seemed to arrive at Tsunade's office quicker than ever. Her knuckles were just centimeters away from the wooden door when she heard voices on the other side. Not wanting to be rude, Sakura decided it would be better to wait. Even though her goal was to be polite, she couldn't help but overhear Tsunade's conversation. It must have been with a member of ANBU, because she didn't recognize the voice.
"Are you sure it's him?"
"We're quite positive, Hokage-sama."
"Where is he now?"
"Our source says he's in the Land of Water, headed towards Kirigakure."
Pressing her ear against the door, the medical ninja concentrated harder on the conversation, trying to understand it better.
"Good. I'm glad I sent Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi to the Land of Lightning with Yamanaka Ino just hours ago on a mission, once they find out it will be too late. I will prepare another ANBU squad to depart with yours, this way all the pressure won't be just on you and your comrades. We just need to make sure nobody in the village finds out about your recent discoveries - especially not Haruno Sakura."
After hearing her own name, along with Kakashi's and Naruto's, Sakura knew something was going on. But what could it be?
"Thank you, Hokage-sama. We will complete our mission quickly and efficiently."
"Yes, you will. I expect for you to capture him and bring him back. Soon enough, Uchiha Sasuke will be ours."
A/N: This is only the first chapter, so I'm sorry if it's a little bad. Thank you so much if you've taken time out of your day to read this, I really appreciate it. Reviews would also be greatly appreciated. I would also like to apologize for the length, I promise to make the next chapter longer!