As usual, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters/places. No fight scenes, as I said…. I'm horrible at them. I had a really hard time writing this one. I don't want to make Sakura insanely great, because she's not. She can't just snap her fingers and be the best and most amazing at everything. But I want to pay dues to her character at the same time. It's a hard balance to keep without letting the story get out of hand like I did my very first one.

Thank you for the reviews and the story favs/alerts. ONWARD! This is kind of a filler chapter.

Ps: sorry for the delay. No excuses really. Just haven't been feeling creative lately and wrote it small bit by bit…and then deleted a bunch of it because I didn't like it and then started again! Thanks for sticking with me though!

They collided with such force everyone around them could feel it. Her hands were glowing with chakra as the dust cloud settled. The two ninja were locked into a fierce tijutsu battle. The blows were bone breaking from both sides but neither relented.

Sakura was starting to tire, her chakra reserves getting low. She needed to end the battle and quickly. She let Tiger land a blow to her leg that flew her back into the field further. She couldn't beat him head on; he was an ANBU for heaven sake. She was just recovering; there was no way she could hold her own. So she did what normal civilian girls do best, whine.

She screamed out when she landed hard, curled into a ball holding her leg, and shook in pain. Some of the squads, both red and yellow, started to run over towards her when Fox and Otter stopped them.

Tsunade stiffened at the sight, 'Is he going to let his ANBU continue?' She thought to herself. Ibiki noticed the change in the Hokage.

"Have a little faith in your apprentice Hokage-sama. She is stronger than most give her credit for." He said gruffly. Tsunade nodded and continue to watch.

Tiger slowly walked over to her, peering down at the girl quivering on the ground. He stomped down on her leg, successfully breaking the bone. Sakura screamed.

"Pathetic!" Tiger shouted, still putting force on her now broken leg.

She smirked suddenly. Tiger looked at her with a moment of confusion before he convulsed aggressively and fell to the ground, limbs still twitching. Sakura's body was crackling with chakra as she sat up, and Fox was immediately by her side. He lifted her onto her good leg and continued to help her balance and walk. Everyone began to walk over towards the three ninja.

"You weren't paying attention close enough to your enemy; Ibiki trained me better than to show pain and emotion. You let yourself get too riled up, your vision was clouded. One less kid playing ninja in the village, huh Tiger?" She laughed.

Her face took on a more sinister look. "If I even so much as hear about you trying to kill a loyal Konoha ninja just for your sick pleasures, I will make the damage permanent next time. I hope you have a fun time at the academy, because that's where you are going to need to start training again. Of course after you learn to walk and use your arms. Scum…." She said quietly and turned her head away towards Ibiki, indicating to Fox that she was ready to leave.

"You went too far Okami-chan." Fox stated quietly, obviously concerned.

"Maybe. But he deserved it. How is Panda?" She said panting, the fatigue suddenly hitting her.

"I don't see him, so I don't know if anyone has checked." He responded. "Choji-san, please assist her in standing, I will go find Panda."

"Thank you" Sakura whispered. He nodded in response and was off into the woods as soon as Choji had her.

"Sakura, we need to get you inside so you can heal." Choji said softly. He knew he would be wasting his breath disciplining her for something like saving a team-mate.

"Wait a second." She said and began to turn towards the remaining ANBU.

"Everyone" She spoke loudly and everyone quieted down and gave her their attention. "I just wanted to say thank you so much for the opportunity to train with you. I know some of you were hesitant at the beginning, but you have proven to be great teachers, and amazing team-mates. And because of that, I am leaving here better than before I was injured. This was by far the most progress we have made in a training exercise yet! I am so proud of each of you. It would be an honor to serve with any of you on a mission. I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your training." She said taking a small bow at the waist.

She saw quite a few nods from the ANBU. That was as good as a thank you in her book. She squeezed Choji letting him know she was ready. The exhaustion was starting to seep into her bones and she really just wanted to nap. Choji began walking her over to the Hokage and the rest of the group.

"Are you ok Sakura?" Tsunade asked as they approached, walking to meet them.

"Yes Shishou. Only minor injuries." Sakura said, suddenly turning pale and shaking. "Damnit" She said forcefully under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Shizune ran over to her, worry written all over her face.

"It was too much. I wasn't prepared to use that yet." She said taking a deep breath. "Damnit!"

Sakura's eyes began to lose focus and the world around her began to spin. Choji could feel the change in her stance and quickly swooped up her legs. He could see the worry on her face when the adrenaline from the fight started wearing off.

"I'll take her to lie down. Gai-sempai, please pack up our things and get ready to move out. Hokage-sama, Ibiki-sempai, once Sakura regains consciousness, you may ask her questions before we begin our travels. Shizune-sempai, if you will follow me, Sakura needs her injuries healed." Choji stated as he began turning towards their cabin. By that point, Sakura was out cold.

Once they all entered, Choji (with Sakura in tote), Shizune and Gai entered their sleeping quarters. Choji lay Sakura down lightly. Shizune began healing her and Gai was packing everything up quietly. Choji left the room to sit with Tsunade and Ibiki. Tsunade was kneeling next to Panda healing his severe wounds; Fox must have found him successfully.

"Care to explain what happened?" Tsunade said to no one specifically, focusing on the injuries in front of her.

"I'm not sure I can Hokage-sama. I know what she's trying to do but not exactly how." Choji answered, kneeling down opposite of Tsunade to offer assistance if needed.

She didn't answer back, which he took that she wanted him to explain but was concentrating.

"She wants to be able to utilize the lightning affinities." He paused, observing the frown on Tsunade's face. "She accomplished this in the genjutsu with the assistance of Kakashi.

"Ibiki, go get Tiger." Tsunade requested. Ibiki nodded and went to complete his task. "But knock him out. I'm not in the mood for his BS." She interjected before he was out the door.

"You can heal him Hokage-sama?" Choji inquired.

"Yes" She said quietly. "He doesn't deserve it but I can't leave him like that. I think I know what she was trying to accomplish, but she over did it. He won't be enlisted anymore. We don't need these kinds of shinobi in our village."

They sat quietly for a few moments before Tsunade broke the moment.

"How is she Choji?" Tsunade asked with a quiet voice.

"She is fit for duty ma'am." He replied back. Tsunade sighed loudly.

"How is my daughter?" Tsunade looked up at him with a lot of emotion on her face.

"Physically she is fine. Mentally, she is…" He paused to find the correct wording. "in progress."

They paused while Ibiki brought in Tiger and laid him on the floor unconscious.

"She understands everything. She has come to terms with it. But she is still stubbornly holding onto what happened in the genjutsu. Not in terms of thinking it was her life. She doesn't struggle with that any more. She believes a lot of the things that were accomplished are still plausible." He finished and helped get Tiger situated.

"Are they plausible?" Tsunade asked while moving to begin to work on Tiger.

"She has already proved to me that they are. However, she pursues these objectives in an unhealthy manner. She gets obsessed. But, that may not be a problem when she is back to duty. She won't have as much time on her hands." Choji responded back sadly. He was still worried for his friend.

"And what about the Kakashi situation?" Ibiki asked when Tsunade was too concentrated on healing Tiger.

"That is still a touchy subject. She understands that they aren't together, as you know. But she still harbors feelings for him. She is prepared to bury those and not act on them, unless of course Kakashi makes a move. When I spoke to her yesterday, she was excited to get back to Konoha. She is ready for this to be over. But she is still very apprehensive to return and adapt while she is dealing with her feelings for Kakashi." Choji ran his hand down his face, he was exhausted. "She's afraid that it will be too much for her emotionally. But her admitting that is a huge improvement from where we started."

Ibiki chuckled loudly. He really worked hard on Sakura in a lot of areas in her mental and emotional development. Choji really gave a great base to work from with his therapy with Sakura, but Ibiki could take it to a level that no other shinobi was able.

Tsunade finished up healing Tiger and placed her hand on his forehead, completing a jutsu to keep him unconscious for a while. Gai made an appearance at that point with food and invited everyone over to eat. They all ate quietly for a bit until Shizune appeared out of the sleeping quarters.

"How is she?" Tsunade asked with a mouth full of rice.

"She is fine, but she is going to need to rest a bit. Her chakra was really low." Shizune said obviously very exhausted.

"Have a seat Shizune. Have something to eat; you look like you need it." Choji stood and motioned her to a seat on the floor.

"Thank you Choji." She said sitting down with Choji's help. She really was tired from all the healing. "So what is the game plan from here?"

"We will let her rest for a bit, and then we'll head back to the village. I already thought about the issue with Kakashi, so I sent him out on a mission. We are going to have an issue with other things though." Tsunade took a long breath. "The council pulled strings again and managed to get their fingers where they don't belong."

"They let the Uchiha out." Ibiki stated with a frown on his face.

"What? How could they do that?" Choji voiced his concern.

"We don't have any solid proof that Sasuke did this to Sakura. We know it but we have no way of taking proof to the council to sentence him." Tsunade explained.

"But I don't – " Choji was going to argue but Tsunade interrupted him.

"It is out of our hands!" She slammed her fists down on the table, effectively silencing the group. "However, I was able to add conditions to his release. One of such being his chakra will be sealed with a limiter and his Sharingan being sealed. These seals are in place do to his desertion of the village and I will be the only one able to remove the seals." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"There's something else isn't there?" Choji asked, seeing the look she had. He knew she had more to add.

"The council wants something. We aren't sure what that something is yet. But they have always been obsessed with the Sharingan since Sasuke left and Itachi died." Shizune said, easily showing her frustration. "Since Sasuke has come back, they have been non-stop nagging us about releasing him and wanting to know what our plan is."

"Sasuke has been endlessly requesting audience with Sakura. We have been stalling, but we can't put it off much longer." Tsunade rubbed her temples. "I need to consult the Nara's on this."

"You asked her to help you figure out what Sasuke is plotting before she left. She mentioned it previously." Ibiki stated

"And she accepted. I wanted to give Sakura some time to adjust in the village so I sent Kakashi and Sasuke on a D-Rank mission to escort Temari back to her village. She obviously doesn't need it, but Shikamaru knows the situation so I'm sure she does to. She'll keep an eye out on everything for me and report back when they get to the village. They are to stay there a week and return with Gaara's reply." Tsunade replied.

They all heard a noise and looked towards the doorway to see an exhausted Sakura standing on shaky legs. Gai leapt over to her quickly to support her if needed, which she graciously accepted. Gai had an arm around her waist and helped her walk over to the table next to Choji who helped her sit. Gai ran to the other room to fetch some food for her. He quickly returned with four bowls of various deliciousness, which Sakura proceeded to devour in the most un-girly manner, making her mentor smile.