Note: Hey guys! This is my first story so don't be too harsh on the critisms. LoL I mean I would really love some good constructive critisms though. Anyway before I continue I want to inform everyone that English isn't my first language… so bear with me if there's some grammatical or sentence structure mistakes. Hehe everyone makes mistakes righttt? Who am I kidding ' anyway onto the story!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… (but I'd really love too XD )
Chapter One: Inevitable
She kept wondering why she was personally chosen by the Hokage to complete a mission. Two reasons immediately came to thought: one she was a trained medic-ninja and two; she was a capable fighter who knew how to handle well a dire situation, if it were to occur. Not that she was complaining, but the kunoichi did not want to travel three days by herself to Sunagakure let alone be assigned to a misison.
After nearly three years of no missions, the pink-haired girl believed it was inevitable she had to fulfill her duty as a proud ninja of Konoha someday. That day had finally come and she did not want to be alone for a single second. Too many events had already taken place early in her life. She lost the boy she loved to power greed and had to say good bye to a close friend who desperately trained in order to bring back his best friend, her love.
Since then she too had underwent serious training because she felt weak and useless. She no longer felt inferior in power to anyone anymore. However the girl still had traces of sadness, mainly regret for not having to stop her love being consumed by darkness. She sighed out loud, mainly comforting herself as she treaded on a path she knew very well.
'It's getting late', she thought as she stared intently at the nearly black inked sky. The moon shone brightly through the dark patches of clouds. She saw diamond-like specks, each seemed as if they were placed specifically to create a beautiful night. She smiled softly, reminding herself she needed to rest before leaving early for the mission. As she headed towards her home, she thought about the situation that had occurred nearly an hour ago.
::Flashback::
Sakura let herself through the wide doors leading to the Hokage's office. She was not the least bit surprised to see stacks of unfinished work, scattered on the wide wooden desk. Her attention slowly drifted on the back of her Shishou's seemingly sleeping head.
'Damn… Did I come at a wrong time…? Maybe I should check back in awhile instead'. She carefully maneuvered herself as she before walking out of the room.
"Wait Sakura, I was doing some paper work", Tsunade groggily said before quickly wiped away the slight drool formed near her mouth with her hand sleeve.
Sakura gave a sarcastic look but held in a comment, knowing it might offend tired Hokage. "Tsunade-shishou, a Jounin informed me that you requested for me".
"Yes, yes", the older woman placed her elbows on the table as the tips of her fingers touched her lips in a contemplative gesture. "I need you to complete a mission, seeing that you are the only capable ninja present at the moment… the original message sent by Sunagakure requested for me to go however as Hokage, I cannot leave a village unsupervised". Sakura could hear the seriousness in the tone her Shishou was using. "I cannot take a risk knowing Akatsuki or even Orochmaru might decide to suddenly attack the Konoha".
Chills went down Sakura's spine when she heard Akatsuki and Orochimaru mentioned. Her eyes began to glaze as she thought about the only boy she ever loved, leaving Konoha in order to gain power. She wished she was there, helping him in some ways. The pink-haired girl knew Sasuke Uchiha left in order to avenge the untimely deaths of his entire Clan. He was the sole survivor after his older brother unmercifully exterminated all those people. She involuntarily shuddered as she thought about how could someone could be so heartless to kill their own mother. She tried not to imagine what was going through in the poor woman's mind, seconds before her body hit the cold floor.
She could not help but feel the pain he was suffering as he trained somewhere with that vile excuse for a man. Sakura was not sure if Orochimaru was even a human to begin with. In her opinion, he was just some experiment gone completely haywire or maybe his mother decided to have a bit of fun with a snake. Either way, Orochimaru was the result and now it was one of her goals to retrieve Sasuke from him.
"I never liked that old hag, even to this day. I felt as if she tried to poison me every chance she had. Oh I bet it's her death wish to see me suffer. Sakura, are you even listening?" Sakura drifted from her thoughts and soon regretted not listening for she was faced with an irritated Sannin.
"I'm so sorry Tsunade-shishou… I guess I was distracted by something else…"
"Anyways", the Hokage paused for a moment and then continued. "I want you to travel to Sunagakure and heal this elderly woman from poisoning. It seems as if she was injured in an open-fire involving a group of people, who remain unknown. But I have a terrible feeling that Akatsuki might be involved in this.
"Though she is a poison specialist, it seems like she herself, does not know the cure for her ailment. None of the Suna- villagers know any remedies to stop the poison before it circulates throughout her entire body. As you might see for yourself eventually, she does not have much time. Treatment must be administered as quickly and efficiently as possible."
Sakura tried her hardest to swallow the sudden information she was given. She pondered about the mission and a frown formed on her delicate pale complexion. The Hokage quickly noticed the slight change in the younger girl's face.
"Couldn't Shizune-san be able to handle this mission?" Sakura asked, knowing her Shishou's first apprentice's speciality was poison.
"Shizune is actually on a mission in Iwagakure and will not be returning any time soon."
"But Tsunade-shishou! Maybe it's a bad idea… I mean I haven't fully mastered the lessons on poison and antidotes derived from plants…". Sakura knew she should not look nor sound entirely weak in front of the Hokage herself.
Tsunade got up from where she sat and approached the kunoichi. "Sakura…", the blonde-haired Hokage spoke softly. "I know this is your first mission since I took you under my wings and trained you as a medic-ninja… But now it's time to show the world what my apprentice can do. Believe in yourself and besides, it was me that trained you", Tsunade beamed at her apprentice and patted her head fondly. "I want you to go there and kick some ninja asses!", she exclaimed as she through her fist in an un-Hokage-like fashion.
Sakura could not help but giggle at her Shishou's enthusiasm. 'Tsunade-shishou is right… I should not be scared… Plus if Akatsuki is involved, I might be able to gather some information on Sasuke's whereabouts'. Sakura kept this information to herself, knowing well the Hokage would not like her snooping around.
"Sakura, I want to add one more piece of information before I let you go."
The pink-haired kunoichi looked intently at her Shishou and waited for her to finish what she had to inform. "Although the old hag tried to kill me on numerous occasions, she did help my four-man team on a mission in the Water Country. Both of our enemies at the time were the ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village. Our team was injured and I alone could not heal three people at the same time...", Tsunade's lips curved into a small smile. "Chiyo helped my comrades and therefore I am indebted to her."
"Don't worry Tsunade-shishou", she was determined to help repay her Shishou's debt. "I promise I won't let you down."
"Thank you Sakura, now I want you to understand this is no regular mission Gennins or Chunnins are permitted to do. It's an A-ranked one and you will be on your own. So it's best you stay undercover, especially when you are traveling en route Sunagakure."
Tsunade went back to the mess she considered as her working sanctuary. "Now go get some rest girl, you'll need every ounce of energy if you are going to get up and leave before sunrise".
Sakura grinned with her eyes close and walked towards the doors to leave this time. "Goodnight Tsunade-shishou, and don't worry… I won't tell anyone you were dosing off instead of working on this files", she giggled at the Hokage's comical look.
"SAKURA! Not one word will get out about this or else you will pay the consequence in the form of extra practice lesson". Sakura gulped and tried to slide out of the door leaving the Hokage to massage her own stressed head.
'Tsunade-shishou can be so evil at times… God I wish I had taken a picture of her drooling…", Sakura tried to suppress the sudden urge to laugh. 'It would have been priclss and I could have blackmailed her too!'
::End of Flashback::
Sakura smiled to no one in particular. She was in her own world again and she knew if anyone saw her out this late, with a weird smile plastered on her face, they would think she was recently released from the Mental Institution. 'Boy… I really should stop giggling or smiling out of nowhere… Maybe I'm just a bit tired'.
The pink-haired girl finally reached the front of the entrance to her home. 'I wonder what surprises are waiting for me tomorrow', she grinned with her eyes closed. 'Ugh if I don't stop these smiling urges, people are going to think I'm some kind of closet pervert'. That thought quickly wiped the smile off of her face. "Damn I need some shut eye" she groaned before closing the door to her house.
Note: Wow… I hope that wasn't too short… I know this storyline is overly done but I hope I can create a different twist to the plot…I have some ideas for the next few chapters LoL I hope everyone liked it so far :D I'll write the next chapter in time…
I'm hoping I can get a beta-reader and if anyone is interested, you can leave me a message or just email me.
P.S. Don't forget to review!!!
