Please read the AN at the bottom to find out why I haven't updated in a while. Also there's a poll, so read to find out what that's about and then there's some other stuff. So please read!

Sakura wanted to argue, to take Minato by the shoulders, look into his eyes, and tell him that she HAD to go with this group. His hand encompassing her wrist was enough to stop her until he was done talking and the children, because that's what they were, had dispersed. Before she could even open her mouth he was talking "Think very carefully about what you're going to say Sakura, and how it'll affect what we're about to do. I know you know what's going to happen, but I have to plan according to what I know. I need you with me. You have to figure out how to work within that. If you have a suggestion I'm willing to listen."

Sakura felt as though her heart was going to beat right out of her chest, as her mind began to think through her options. Years of making split second decisions helping her to come up with ideas and eliminate them. Very quickly her mind came up with an option "Send a toad with them, one that can reverse summons me if things go wrong. Don't tell the team about him, it's a just in case thing."

Minato stared at her for a moment before sighing "I had hoped that whatever would go wrong, would go wrong on our end. Are you sure this needs to be done?"

She nodded "Yes, absolutely."

Minato nodded before calling the team back together so that they could continue on. Continuing on into a large forest, she and Minato hung back as Obito led the team forward. Sensing foreign chakra, Sakura stopped at the same time Minato did and watched as he knelt to the ground to get a better reading on the number of attacking shinobi. His voice was soft when he spoke "Be on guard there are twenty of them." Sakura nodded crouching behind the log watching as Kakashi asserted his dominance as captain. Sakura wanted to smack him as he brought up rank. Kakashi may have been a jounin, but he didn't have near the experience Minato did. She watched as Minato let him go and decided then and there that she would never be able to have a gennin team. She had a habit of over protecting, and taking care of everyone she cared about. More than once Naruto and Sai had complained about her tendency to be a mother-hen.

Chidori came to life in Kakashi's palm and she watched as he charged forward without any of the grace he had obtained in the future. She was just barely able to hold back her laughter. A few shadow clones came at them and she was quick to disperse them so that Minato could focus on covering Kakashi. Turning her attention back to the small jounin she watched as the enemy nearly disemboweled Kakashi, before Minato jumped and saved him, though he still got a nasty gash for his efforts. Taking him from Minato's arms she quickly set to work on the injury, knowing that Minato would take care of the rest. The cut was jagged and messy, and would scar no matter what she did. She could feel Rin hovering behind her observing her while she worked. She quickly and effectively closed the wound, as Minato reappeared. She studied him for a moment, listening as he lectured his team. Sakura went back to studying her handy work, while still listening to the lecture. After a full night's rest Kakashi would be back at a hundred percent.

A little while later they stopped for the night and set up a small camp and Minato insisted on taking the first watch. So Sakura laid there listening to the crickets and staring at the stars. She felt the shift in energy as Obito woke and went towards Minato. Sitting up she watched as he climbed the walk and began talking to Minato. She didn't know why but it made her smile. Slipping out of her sleeping bag she went slightly back into the forest, just far enough for Minato to be able to sense her but far enough that she could have some privacy to think. She was still uneasy about leaving the team on their own, but reasonably she knew that they needed to go through what was about to happen to be stronger, to become a true team. The timing was going to be tricky, if she was too late then the world was back on the path to the state she had left it in, and if she were too early then any chance of finding Madara was lost, and her life would become consumed with finding him. It was times like these that she wished she had picked up Kakashi's habit of carrying a flask.

Minato's chakra flared, bringing her out of her thoughts. He stood a few feet away, obviously worried. She smiled and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. Placing his hand over hers he gave it a squeeze before releasing it and they walked the short distance back to camp as the sun began to rise.

They were quick to leave in the morning, intent on quickly making it to the separating spot. Standing slightly behind Minato she watched as Obito sucked in his pride and asked for his orders from Kakashi. Sakura smiled and Minato gave the command to scatter. She watched them get far enough away before Minato knelt on the ground and went through the same hand signs she had watched Naruto preform a thousand times before. She watched as two small toads appeared two small toads she recognized. Naruto had called them Pa and Ma all those years ago, and they looked exactly the same now as they would in the future. Minato pulled her to the ground next to the toads and she noticed that he looked a bit surprised to see them "Fukasaku-san, Shima-san this is Sakura Sarutobi. Sakura this is Fukasaku-san and Shima-san, they rank right under the Great Toad Sage." Sakura did a small bow and noticed the small grins on the toads' faces. When she was done Minato continued "I'm sorry to summon you, I didn't realize you would be the ones to appear. I'm sorry this mission isn't really . . ."

Fukasaku stopped him mid-sentence "Enough Minato boy, the Great Toad Sage sent us. He has told us exactly what must be done, and who Sakura Haruno is." Sakura kept a straight face at the use of her birth name and watched as Minato's eyes slid to her. "Ma will stay with the girl and when it is time I'll summon them." Sakura raised an eyebrow in question at that as Ma hopped into her lap and then on to her shoulder. The old toad scoffed "I'm over eight hundred years old little girl, I know when the right time is. When that time comes I'll use Ma to summon you to the correct spot. So keep your pink little head on straight till that time."

Sakura's eye began to twitch and that's when Minato realized it was time to intervene. Thanking the old toad he pulled Sakura in the direction of their mission. She followed Minato with little resistance and turned her head just in time to see the old geezer of a frog disappear in the direction the younger team had gone earlier. Slowly she began counting all the different ways toads could be used in medicines and poisons.

As always Minato's pace was quick, still Sakura kept pace with him, staying slightly behind him. Their travel took them several hours. As the trees began to thin she could hear the sounds of battle being waged, and could smell the death and decay. She had been away from the sounds and smells of war for a few months, but they were still the same. Blocking those things out and focusing on her mission, she watched as Minato flipped into the small trench, while she slid in, doing her best to not draw too much attention. She listened to the details as one of the few remaining men explained the situation. Her gaze slid to Minato, immediately realizing why he had been called in as back up. As Minato began unpacking his many kunai, Sakura peeked out of the trench at the enemy. Sakura had never been a big fan of Iwa-nin; even when she had fought with them they had always seemed rude and rash to her. They charged in first and would often time ignore commands if they come from someone outside of their village.

Slinking back into the hole she turned around to find Minato focused on her. She raised an eye brow in question. He smiled, handed her several of his kunai, and said "I could use some cover any chance you could mix things up a bit?"

Sakura smiled, she couldn't waste a ton of chakra here but she could use a little bit. Drawing a kunai from her pouch, she attached an exploding tag to it and let it fly. It would do very little damage, but that wasn't the point. She simply needed the smoke from the explosion to cover her. The minute it went off she was out of the trench and using one of the several rocks for leverage she lifted body into the air and focused her chakra into the bottom of her feet, and using her momentum landed back on the ground. It took three seconds before the ground shattered and became misplaced. With the terrain unstable and a new level of dust rising up from the ground, she threw the several kunai Minato had given her aiming where there were large clusters of chakra. Flipping lightly back into the trench, the remaining men immediately began throwing the majority of the kunai.

Turning to Minato she said "The terrain won't be a big problem for this group of shinobi. Iwa-nin are used to fighting on rocky and unusual terrain, but then I suppose you knew that."

He raised an eyebrow "So then why did I ask you to do it?"

She smirked "It would unnerve them. They wouldn't be expecting one Kunoichi to be capable of doing the much damage. Not to mention those dust particles would make their field of vision difficult for a few minutes and wouldn't immediately see your kunai, which means they won't see what's coming next."

Minato nodded, placed a quick hand on her shoulder not occupied by the ancient female toad before moving to the front of the trench. Then he was gone and a moment later she heard the screams began. Closing her eyes, she did her best to tune them out, the sounds bringing back past memories she would rather forget. Then the sounds were gone, and only the rustling of leaves remained. Opening her eyes she turned to face Ma. The toad stared at her "Apparently it is time."

Sakura nodded lifting her off her shoulder and placed her on the forest floor as Pa came out of his hiding spot. Nodding her appreciation to the toad sage she then turned towards the several chakra signatures and set off.

Passing the body of an Iwa-nin, she spared no emotions for the shinobi. Attacking kids was high on her list of what made a person scum. Moving through the trees she could feel more than twenty chakra signatures a few miles out. Scowling she moved forward knowing the she had no time to spare. Dropping into the clearing she ran into the cave to find Kakashi and Obito fighting another Iwa-nin. Sakura forced herself to stay back, watching as Kakashi and Obito moved together taking on their enemy together with teamwork that would have impressed many jounin. Watching the final strike to the shinobi's shoulder Sakura watched him go down.

Smiling Sakura watched as they went after their female teammate and took a moment to focus on any other chakra signatures that might be in the area. It was faint but it was there; Zetsu. She needed to get the kids out of there now. Coming back to the moment she watched the Iwa-nin come to his knees and began forming hand signs. She didn't think she just moved, grabbing the man's head she quickly twisted and a second later she heard the telltale snap and let him fall to the ground. The team, Rin now awake and conscious, turned to face her, and quickly she was by their side, not allowing them to speak she gave her orders "Out of the cave now!" No one fought her or argued with her as they immediately began making their way out of the cave. Feeling a rise in chakra, she watched as Kakashi and Rin cleared the entrance and right as Obito was about to pass through Zetsu appeared out of the ground. Drawing her kunai she performed shunshin and appearing between the two gave Obito the extra push before raising her kunai to block Zetsu's attack.

While blocking the majority of it she still earned a small wound for her troubles. Staring him down she watched as he cocked his head to the side as though he were a puppy wondering why she was stopping him from peeing on the carpet; twirling she threw out a kick forcing him back a bit and allowing herself some distance. Keeping her focus on the thing in front of her Sakura allowed her chakra to reach out again, knowing that the Iwa-nin were closing in. She didn't have a ton of time.

"You sensed my chakra." Sakura didn't bother replying and instead studied the creature in front of her. Unlike the Zetsu she had fought during her time, this one was all white, just like the army they had faced at the beginning of the war. A flare of chakra was all she got before another white Zetsu came through the floor jumping out of the way she watched as several more appeared, forcing her to keep evading. Drawing another kunai, she took down the two that were closest to her before more appeared. Letting go a stream of curses that would have left her mother in a fit she took down several more of the white Zetsu; that was when she noticed several of them heading for the mouth of the cave. Not giving them a chance she used shunshin again appearing at the mouth of the cave and quickly took them down, earning a few slashes for her efforts. Knowing that she couldn't let any of the leave the cave, and that the Iwa-nin were now upon them and already fighting the young team, she formed the hand signs, took a deep breath, and let the fire spew from her mouth. It took the shape of a dragon and set upon the white Zetsu.

Then there were a stream of kunai flying at her, and she was forced to hit the ground. A minute later and Iwa-nin had her pinned. Scowling she broke the hold, and wrapping her legs around her waist she brought him forward, and using one arm to block her face, she allowed her other arm to go up to his neck and placing her hand where his spine would be, sharpened her and cut his spine with her chakra scalpel. Pushing the body away she turned towards the fray and charged in. Working with Mianto's students she began picking shinobi off, quickly herding several of them together she watched as Kakashi trapped them with the lightning jutsu before Obito took them out; she recognized it as the Coming of the Lightning Fire Phoenix Technique. Smiling she paired up with Rin and alongside the young girl they took down several more of their opponents.

When the last of the enemy chakra signatures faded Sakura allowed herself a bit of hope, and noted that the majority of her chakra, that wasn't in the seal on her neck, was depleted. Surveying the students in front of her it seemed that none of them were hurt too badly, that is until she saw Kakashi's eye. Walking over to the boy she forced him to look at her, and forced some of the little remaining chakra she had left into the eye. The eye was done for, he'd never see out of it again. Luckily the nerves and muscles behind the eye were fine, she have to see if there was anything that she could do once they got back to village. Rin's scream brought her out of her thoughts and she turned just in time to see white Zetsu deliver a blow to Obito's left eye in a move she had watched him perform before. He wasn't trying to take Obito; he was trying to take Obito's eye. By damaging the eye socket but not the eye it made it easier to remove the eye. Turning to move to the boy, praying that she made it in time, she found that she couldn't. Looking down she found a large gash on her leg, the adrenaline from her earlier fights had kept her from noticing before, but now that it was wearing off the pain was hitting and her leg was giving out. Quickly dulling the nerves with her chakra she forced herself to move forward taking down the Zetsu as another one appeared to take the eye, while a third appeared in front of her stopping any assistance she might provide.

That was when the three pronged kunai came flying at the Zetsu going after a still fighting Obito, and a moment later his chakra signature appeared and Sakura had never been more grateful for those gifts that had been handed to Kakashi. Knowing that Minato would take care of Obito she focused on her own fight and delivered a message that she knew would be shared with the Zetsu hive mind "Tell Madara that Konoha says hello." She watched as the Zetsu's eyes widened for a moment, and once she was ninety percent sure that the message had been shared with his other parts she ended him. That was when things began getting fuzzy, the ground began racing towards her, and she felt two arms catch her before she felt any more pain, and then everything went dark.

So it's been a while since I've posted and I have a really good reason. About a year ago my mother's knees began to go bad, and about three months ago she went in and had double knee replacement surgery. So most of my time over the past several months have been spent at hospitals, rehab centers, in classes, and at work. On top of that I'm happy to say that I started and finished the Bleach series a few months ago, I love it. If anyone is looking for some oneshots for that fandom I'd consider doing some, so let me know if you have some requests. I really hope to be able to update more, especially since things will hopefully be calming down soon. This is the longest chapter in the story, just over 3000 words, which is a lot for me.

In regards to the story I'm happy to have the first major event happen, in regards to the timeline. I know there was no Madara in this chapter, but there is a reason for that, I really just want Sakura to wet his interest. I'm debating on saving Yahiko, and I would like to know what you guys think; check out the poll on my profile to leave your answer.

All right hopefully I'll update soon, feel free to bug me if I don't and please leave a review, I read every single one, and they really do encourage me to write more.