Inheritance

by TsukikoUchu

In a world where Naruto's parents are alive, Minato's not the Hokage and the Uchiha manage to redeem themselves in the public eye, Sakura finds out that she is Tsunade's granddaughter and the Kekkeigenkai of the First Hokage has manifested itself within her, however will she manage to survive, read to find out, i have a lot of surprises in store for you lot, lots of twists and such

26. Beginning of Something New

~Authors Note

Here's the promised extra long action packed filled chapter, I hope you enjoy because I stayed up late to get this done for you guys.

End Authors Note~

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Like told the minute her two week break ended a week and four days later, Tsunade arranged some things and dragged her new apprentice/granddaughter off for their first ever training session "Poor Sakura-chan" Naruto winced.

Having seen all this since they'd been together "Quite and if the rumors are like anything I've heard, Sakura's in for a rough couple of hours" Sasuke grimaced, wondering if he should send Itachi her way when the training session ended.

Meanwhile on an out of the way training grounds Tsunade turned to Sakura "For starters, I want you to start gathering chakra right here" Tsunade instructed tapping the girl on her rather large forehead who nodded, doing just that.

"Now what Grandmother….or should I call you Tsunade-shishou during our training" Sakura offered with a grin, Tsunade snorted and disappeared to catch a fish, Sakura sighed realizing it was like she was starting all over again on her medical ninjutsu training.

Tsunade raised a blonde brow at the frustrated sigh "Don't worry Sakura, Grandfather's assured me that your rather gifted with the mystical palm, I just want to see it myself, then I'll teach you more advanced medical procedures" the blonde woman explained.

Relieved that she wasn't having to start over again, she made a gash in the fish's side and placed her suddenly glowing green hands over the creature to heal the injury "And there, done Tsunade-shishou" the rosette smiled proud of her handy work.

And it had only taken her near a year to get this far "Good now why don't we get started with a real training session…Sakura I want you to dodge" Tsunade smirked, honey orbs glinting with intent as she reached into the bag she'd brought with her.

"Evasion training" Sakura realized just as several weapons were thrown at her, an exploding tag attached to each one, forcing her to narrowly dodge each one with her developing reflexes and she'd never been more thankful of Haku and the Kazekage in that moment.

Because thanks to them she could at least successfully dodge the most damaging attacks that her grandmother sent her way "Seems you're a lot more flexible than I thought, guess I have to step up my game if I want you to improve" the honey eyed woman huffed.

Seeing the ease in which Sakura was evading most of her weapons, not all of them though but the ones that would probably cause the most damage "Lots of practice" the pinkette informed a light sheen of sweat on her forehead from the last twenty minutes.

Things were about to get harder though as Tsunade herself charged, arm reared back and hand clenched into a fist, intent clear it was dodge or possibly die "While I'm impressed you still have a long ways to go" Tsunade snorted.

Punching the earth and utterly decimating the ground upon which they stood, Sakura instinctively shut her eyes then forced them open again as she felt Tsunade appear in front of her "Maybe, but I'll at least try to make this hard for you" Sakura exclaimed, ducking hastily.

Only to be kicked with a chakra laden foot in the stomach and got sent flying, rolling to a stop a second later and onto her feet as Tsunade came at her again "I was about to scold you for shutting your eyes, but I see you know the importance of never taking your eyes off your enemy" the woman smirked.

Thrusting her fist out narrowly missing Sakura who leaned right and sent her own attack which was blocked easily forcing Sakura to retreat quickly "Couldn't very well take my eyes off my opponent during the Chunin Exams, I was likely to get crushed via sand" the pinkette huffed.

Ducking yet again under a fist and sucking in her stomach to cartwheel backwards as a foot rose intent on kicking her again, that's how the next two hours went and by the end of it Sakura looked sufficiently beat up "I must say I'm rather proud of you Sakura" Tsunade commented.

Watching as the girl healed her injuries "Thanks I only busted my butt to earn my skills" Sakura laughed feeling as if she'd gotten stronger even if only just, but it was more than before as she let the green glow of medical chakra fade from her hands as she finished healing herself.

"Can I ask who helped you with your evasion training during the Chunin Exams, you seem a little advanced for a newly promoted Chunin, which indicates extensive training" the blonde suddenly questioned curious.

Sakura straightened, then activated a privacy seal "Not many know this, but Haku has a kekkeigenkai, Ice Release, he made his own jutsu and I had him put me through it for a month, then the Kazekage also trained me to evade his gold dust" the fuscia haired teen admitted.

Making her grandmother sweat drop in response "How exactly did you get the Kazekage of all people to train you" Tsunade asked more than a little confused and wary, she'd heard rumors after all how the man was so she didn't quite understand.

"Kazekage-sama offered after he realized he was making a huge mistake and when he realized I wasn't going to be forfeiting my match against Gaara, Minato-san wasn't happy about that but he understood my reasoning" Sakura explained.

Tsunade inhaled sharply but deflated since scolding her granddaughter for being reckless like that would do her no good "Right same time tomorrow Sakura, here on these training grounds" the honey eyed woman walked off, returning to the tower to work on paperwork.

Leaving Sakura to traipse off to home, she'd just got there and was still in the foyer when someone knocked "Oh Kakashi-sensei what brings you here" the rosette narrowed her eyes on her sensei, who she hadn't seen until just then.

He raised a brow at the state of her clothes "Missions Sakura-chan with Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, why else would I be here" Kakashi informed, silently enjoying the way her brow twitched as she shoved her feet into her sandals.

"Give Sakura a break Kakashi-san, she only just got back from a two hour training session with Tsunade-sama" Kizashi rounded the corner to see what was taking so long and was horrified for a minute until he noticed it was just Sakura's clothes that seemed to be ruined.

Kakashi sighed and opened his mouth "I'm fine Dad, it's probably just another D Rank Mission, though I would like to change, I'll be back in a few" Sakura cut in smoothly acting as the peacemaker in a sense between the two males.

"Very well I'll wait here then and your correct it's just some simple D Rank Missions" the silver haired Jonin nodded when Kizashi narrowed dark blue irises on him, until a startled yell came from the living room and Kizashi hurried off to find out what was wrong.

Only to chuckle "Did she have to be so rough with you" Mebuki was ranting at the state of their daughter's ruined clothing, Sakura sighed softly seeing as there was little she could really do and waited patiently for a moment until Mebuki fell silent.

"Mom I'm fine, Grandmother did kind of take it easy on me, anyway Kakashi-sensei wants Naruto, Sasuke and I to do some D Ranks so I have to go again" the pinkette soothed gently, Mebuki huffed and crossed her arms.

Before slumping "Fine just be safe alright" the emerald eyed woman grumbled irritably, Sakura nodded her head eagerly then disappeared from sight as she used her seal to get to her room, and hurriedly dressed in a new kimono.

Then she rushed down the steps "Be back after awhile, love you all" Sakura called over her shoulder as she dashed through the living room, Hashirama chuckled, wondering if he should ask the girl later if she'd be amenable to sculpting some things out of wood with him.

"Well that was fast Sakura-chan" Kakashi commented when Sakura appeared before him again after only eight minutes, three of which had been spent placating her very pregnant mother, there was only two weeks left before Mebuki was due to give birth after all.

Sakura rolled her eyes "Just because you like to take your time and consistently be late Kakashi-sensei doesn't mean I have to be" the rosette snorted, Kakashi scowled at her through his mask as they continued walking to the Hokage Tower.

Naruto and Sasuke were already there "Are you sure you have enough chakra to complete a mission Sakura" the second Uchiha heir frowned in concern, looking her over and trying to spot any sort of injury she might be sporting.

"Yes I'm sure Sasuke, I'm fine, Tsunade-sama did kind of take it easy on me for our first training session, my clothes got ruined so that's what took so long I had to change first" Sakura assured lightly knowing he was just worried about her health.

Considering she liked to push herself sometimes "So long as you are Sakura-chan now lets get these D Rank Missions over with" the blonde Uzumaki cheered, having come to terms with the fact that they'd ultimately be stuck doing D Rank Missions for a long time still.

Behind them their sensei scoffed "Up we go then" the Copycat Ninja ordered leading the way up the steps of the Hokage Tower and to mission central, where he got his students, even if one of them was a Chunin now, three D Rank Missions.

That Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke took to read over the details written in the scroll "Find a lost dog, weed someone's garden, clean up the river, can we split them up between us and do them individually Kakashi-sensei" the fuscia haired teen read off before asking.

A silver brow quirked up in answer before the man ultimately relented to the question "You can split them up, but I expect each of those missions to be completed or the next time I bring us together for more you'll have punishment missions" Kakashi informed.

"I'll take the river, with my clones I'll have it done in no time" Naruto decided maturely in the next moment, taking the scroll with the designated mission written within, then he promptly exited the mission central room to get started, Kakashi clone on his heels to make sure he'd be fine.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at one another for a second or two "Finding the lost dog should be easy, I have my sharingan after all, plus your good with herbs and such so I don't think weeding a garden will be to difficult for you" Sasuke finally said.

Taking the mission scroll for that particular mission and off he went as well, with a clone on his heels as well "Looks like it's weeding the garden then" Sakura sighed pocketing the mission scroll after memorizing the directions.

Fifteen minutes later she was knelt in a sweet old lady's garden plucking the weeds expertly "You have no idea how much this helps me sweetie" the old woman looked positively thrilled that such a difficult task to her at least was being done.

"I can imagine Ma'am, I've been having to help my Mom around a lot lately, plus as a ninja it's my job and I love helping people" the pinkette chattered kindly, scanning the area before her and plucking a few more weeds before moving on to another spot.

Nine minutes later the job was done "Thank you so much dearie, how can I repay you for you troubles" the elderly lady reached into her purse in hopes of finding something the young girl might actually like.

Sakura waved her hand in answer "My job remember and I love helping people, anyway if you need someone to come weed your garden again I'll be sure to come and do it as many times as you want" Sakura repeated, taking on a more friendly tone again afterwards.

Elderly woman smiling in delight as she watched the pink haired teenager walk away with a bright smile and head off to who knows where "Very good job Sakura-chan, I see you've learned how to handle yourself quite nicely" the silver haired Jonin in charge of her appeared.

Taking the mission scroll, others in his hand "Naruto and Sasuke finished a bit ago so just go on home now Sakura-chan" Kakashi nudged her off and Sakura was all to happy to march home and hopefully sit down and relax for once.

Those in the house upon hearing the door open for the second time in forty five minutes smiled and Hashirama poked his head around through the living room door into the foyer to confirm that it really was Sakura coming home.

"How did your missions go Sakura-chan" Hashirama inquired wanting to make sure that she hadn't had a tough time of her D Rank Missions, considering the last batch had been punishment missions over two months ago and her sensei who had a tendency to be perpetually late.

She lit up at the question "Well enough, Naruto, Sasuke and I split them up between us evenly to get done quicker" the rosette explained as she removed her sandals and put them away neatly in a cubby that had been made for shoes and such.

"I was wondering Sakura-chan, would you like to make a wood sculpture with me, seeing as how you spent some time with Tobirama trying to create a working jutsu" the ebony haired reanimated man requested hopefully.

Wanting to spend time with her now that she wasn't as busy, "Absolutely, I love arts and craft stuff" Sakura's whole countenance brightened this time oozing excitement of the prospect of doing something purely for fun.

Kizashi felt a smile tug his lips upwards at the sight of his oldest child talking it up with the First Hokage "She sure is something else huh Mebuki-chan" Kizashi chuckled softly as the duo disappeared upstairs to get their sudden sculpture project underway.

"And we wouldn't have her any other way isn't that right Kizashi-kun" Mebuki smiled after her daughter, only to wince as her third and last child kicked, then Kizashi's hand was rubbing her stomach soothingly and the kicks faded to her relief.

Meanwhile, upstairs Hashirama revealed he'd been plotting asking her for quite awhile "Why didn't you ask earlier, you know I never refuse a request especially not a request from someone who's family" the pinkette scolded.

"Because I didn't want to bother you, considering your busy quite a lot, plus I wasn't sure if you'd be amenable" Hashirama admitted sheepishly and Sakura wondered just for a moment if it would be possible to create a jutsu that really did bring someone back to life.

Her eyes widened then quickly returned to normal, she'd have to research but if there was anyone who could do it, it would be her and she'd make sure of it "Silly Grandpa you could never bother me" Sakura huffed softly at him in amusement.

Hashirama chuckled "Now what do you say we get started on our project" Hashirama suggested and Sakura was quick to create some wood blocks with their kekkeigenkai and sit down to carve the wood into something interesting.

They stayed there for a long while in near comfortable silence, Hashirama asking a few questions here and there that she was all to happy to answer until "It's almost dinner time Sakura" came the call from Mebuki who relied on her eldest daughter for a great many things nowadays.

"Guess that's our cue, we can finish another time or even later" the rosette said as she stretched her arms high loosening her muscles after sitting in one position for the last two hours, but it had been fun so she wasn't going to complain.

"Better get down there I suppose before she gets impatient" the former First Hokage gestured her off ahead of him but they went down the stairs together, only for Sakura to promptly disappear into the kitchen to get started on supper for everyone.

Midway through Itachi showed up as he did every so often to check on Sakura "You know I heard the most interesting thing Sakura, from Naruto and I wondered if you could shed some light on it for me" Itachi stated when he appeared at her side.

Causing her to jump because this time he hadn't flared his chakra to announce his presence "Depends on what you heard Itachi" Sakura frowned seeing the anger visible in his eyes, it wasn't often he got upset with her but whatever it was, it was big.

Itachi grit his teeth "Kabuto Yakushi kissed you that's what I heard, I understand it wasn't your fault but how could you not tell me" the Uchiha heir burst out uncharacteristically and her eyes widened in remembrance, and he realized she must have forgotten somehow.

As for Sakura she turned to face him properly a frown on her face "It's not like hid it from you on purpose Itachi, I've just been trying so hard to forget it even happened, plus that wasn't even classified as a kiss, I just felt his breath before I blasted him away with my chakra" the pinkette admitted.

Looking fearful, he let out a long suffering sigh "Good as it stands I'm going to kill him the next time I see him" Itachi commented, irritated that Kabuto dared to try and touch what was considered his in a way according to the contract after all they were each others.

Sakura let the tension drain out of her at that "Not if I get him first Itachi, that was nearly my first kiss you know and something I consider very sacred" Sakura informed bluntly turning back to continue cooking dinner for her family.

Until there was a hand cupped under her chin turning her head towards the owner of said hand "Oh I see and who might I ask are you saving it for" the eighteen year old questioned, warmth in his eyes and an unidentified emotion that made her heart thump against her ribs erratically.

Her face suddenly felt as if it was on fire "W..Who do you t..think I'm saving it f..for" the rosette stuttered nervously as Itachi's face drew nearer and nearer with each passing second, a smirk crawling across his features.

And then unlike the last time they were this close gently pressed his lips to hers, while her eyes went wide before snapping shut, a couple seconds later the kiss was over and Itachi drew back cautiously unsure of how she was going to react "Was that alright" Itachi asked carefully.

"Mm oh um yes i..it was fine" Sakura nodded face beet red as she shakily returned to her task of making dinner, Itachi helping her with a chuckle after a moment, as the minutes ticked down, her blush faded away.

Before dinner was to be announced ready, Itachi leaned down and whispered in her ear "Just so you know Sakura that was my first as well and I didn't want it to be with anyone but you" the Uchiha heir murmured, that did it, her face went red and she passed out.

He barely caught her before she hit the floor just as Tobirama entered the kitchen on Mebuki's request and Itachi realized the kind of scene he was presenting "Is there a reason my great, great, great niece is unconscious" Tobirama lifted an ivory brow on the Uchiha.

Itachi cleared his throat "I might have gone just a touch overboard with my teasing, she'll come round here in a moment, see, there you are, sorry Sakura" Itachi apologized and she looked up at him with wide eyes, cheeks as red as an apple.

As she tried to say something "N..No I'm okay hehehe" the rosette laughed awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable, Itachi seemed to notice and quickly set her on her feet properly allowing her to create a bit of distance between them.

Tobirama watching with narrowed eyes until he was satisfied Sakura was truly alright "By the way you can go ahead and let everyone know dinner is done" Sakura turned to her great, great, great Uncle, who nodded and turned on his heel to do just that.

While she and Itachi set up the table in the dining room, once everyone was seated Itachi took his leave of the enlarging family, almost immediately Mebuki rounded on her daughter "Tobirama said you were unconscious in Itachi-san's arms, he didn't do anything to you did he" Mebuki demanded to know.

The blush that had only just receded was back and full force at that as her cheeks burned with heat upon being reminded of the reason she'd passed out in the first place "Well he might have sorta kissed me" the pinkette admitted looking to her plate and not meeting anyone's gaze.

As a stunned silence blanketed them then there was a loud bang and she looked up in worry only to find that her father had slammed his head on the table "No it's to soon much to soon" Kizashi cried bemoaning the fate of his first born daughter falling in love and getting kissed now.

Mebuki sighed and whacked her husband over the back of the head at his ridiculous antics, in no mood for them right that moment "Only because I know how responsible you are, just please keep it from getting out of hand" the woman warned.

Sakura nodded her head eagerly in response then focused on eating dinner, silently at that, it was the quietest anyone had ever seen her actually "Wow to think a kiss was all it took to end her seemingly never ending chatter" Dosu snorted when the girl disappeared upstairs to her room.

Doe eyes rolled upwards at the comment "Now, now if you had someone like Itachi-san after you I bet you'd be quiet to Dosu" Haku shot back, getting a glare, then Dosu scoffed and hurried off to his room as well making the teenager he'd just left behind smirk in satisfaction.

It was a couple days later that things went back to normal as Itachi gave Sakura some space and Tsunade managed to arrange another two hours off to train her granddaughter "Sorry for the wait Sakura, but the Council is nagging me to get paperwork done" Tsunade huffed.

Jogging up to the girl who was stood on the Hokage's private training grounds "It's alright I understand Tsunade-shishou" Sakura shrugged lightly eager to train, then go off to research what she'd decided in order to come up with a way to bring back someone to life.

Tsunade grinned, then without warning launched into the training session, making her apprentice dodge for her life for the next hour and a half until Sakura looked decidedly beat up like a couple days ago and while Sakura was healing herself.

Decided to ask something that would no doubt give her a very amusing reaction "Heard from a little birdie that a certain someone and you kissed" the honey eyed woman informed and Sakura's eyes rounded into dinner plates and a blush overtook her face entirely.

'Yep definitely amusing' Tsunade thought to herself, smirking as the girl stammered "Spit it out girl I'm not mad or anything, in fact I'm rather interested, how was it, was it wet or did he use his tongue, tell me Sakura" Tsunade rolled her eyes when Sakura was unable to answer.

Until she took a deep breath "What you heard is true, no it wasn't wet, nor did he use his tongue….it was warm, gentle and everything I dreamed my first kiss would be" the rosette explained, but gave her grandmother the answer she wanted.

"Anyway are we done" Sakura huffed seeing how much of a kick Tsunade was getting out of her predicament and Itachi had even been kind of avoiding her since then to, maybe after she got done with her research she'd go find him, and nodded to herself at the idea.

Seeing as the training session was done Tsunade waved Sakura off, where she didn't immediately return to the house, instead went to the library for the first time in forever, there was no time to be nostalgic as she headed to the Chunin Section of the library and grabbed several books on chakra.

Then with her selected books sat down at a table with a brand new unused notebook and began her research, which she titled Re-Life Jutsu, she scoured book after book, and wrote down notes in copious amounts until it felt like her hand was going to fall off.

Hours later, when it was past 3 o'clock, she closed her notebook and in wet ink drew a shrinking seal on her notebook then after activating the seal, looped a chain through one of the holes after drawing a bonding seal on the chain and clipped it around her neck.

It was so that only she would ever be able to remove the notebook from her person and with a sigh used her apparition seal to get home "Onee-chan welcome home, Mom was about to send Uncle Tobirama to come find you" Hanami informed in a matter of fact tone.

While Sakura ruffled her hair "Sorry I had something to do, didn't mean to take so long" the rosette apologized looking to her mother as she said this, even if she wanted to rush off and see Itachi she knew it was the right thing to do to help her mom.

Mebuki huffed at her "Next time let us know your going to disappear for hours on end, anyway you don't have to cook tonight, your Father got take out, all you have to do is warm it up then we can eat" Mebuki stated simply.

And her daughter nodded in understanding "Let me help will you Sakura-chan" Hashirama was on her heels, wanting to ask his great, great granddaughter what she'd had to do that had taken up so much of her time.

Sakura smiled indulgently towards the reanimated man "Sure I don't mind" Sakura shrugged lightly, seeing the copious amount of take out boxes from Ichiraku ramen, that looked positively cold and she sighed promising to come up with a seal that heated things up so it took less time.

"Okay spill it Sakura-chan you were with Itachi weren't you, visiting him and his house right, you just didn't want to tell your Mother am I correct" the ebony haired former Hokage burst out after activating a privacy seal, he'd noticed them all over the house recently.

The girl spluttered nearly dropping the bowl she had in her hands "Of course not Grandfather, I was at the library researching something very important" the pinkette blushed furiously at the accusation and the man chuckled sheepishly in response.

Before turning serious "Right so what is this important thing that your researching Sakura, I hope not something dangerous" Hashirama questioned helping to eat up the cold food, it was what Mebuki had been craving that particular night so Kizashi had been sent out to get it.

For a moment his great, great granddaughter was silent, inwardly debating if she should tell him the truth "Potentially but I'm not saying anymore than that because I don't even have anything to work with yet" Sakura answered in a vague tone of voice.

Leaving him to wonder and worry as dinner was sat on the table and the others were called in to eat "I'm worried Tobirama, Sakura's had this glint in her eyes since a couple days ago that tells me she's thought up something dangerous" the raven haired reanimation frowned deeply.

Expressing his concerns to his younger reanimated brother while the rest of their living family ate "Did you talk to her Anija, and what did she say when you asked" Tobirama raised an ivory brow on his older brother in question after getting a nod in answer.

"That it was potentially dangerous and she wasn't going to tell me anymore, see that just proves it's going to be deadly whatever it is she's working on" Hashirama admitted looking more worried by the minute and Tobirama had no idea what to tell his brother.

Because truthfully he was just as worried, Sakura was way to kind for her own good, case and point when Sakura zipped off after dinner "Gonna go visit Itachi for a bit" being thrown over her shoulder as she used her apparition seal to disappear on them again.

Appearing before Itachi's house just as his door swung open, their eyes met for the first time in two days and Itachi quickly looked away "Sakura what brings you here, usually this is around the time you cook the evening meal for everyone" Itachi coughed feeling more awkward than ever.

"You've been avoiding me, I've already come to terms with the fact that you kissed me and we were each others first kiss, but I don't like that your avoiding me" Sakura pursed her lips in consternation, knowing confrontation was the only way to get through to him.

Itachi sighed, having known that she would notice, but having hoped she wouldn't "I just didn't want to push you to far to fast so soon after Sakura, I apologize for making it seem like I was avoiding you" the Uchiha heir apologized softly.

And her hard expression melted into one of relief "Anyway so everyone knows just so you know" the rosette announced, Itachi chuckled having gotten earful from his mother about it when she'd heard about it herself somehow, probably Tsunade, or Mebuki.

Sakura spent fifteen minutes there before heading back home "Can you be less weird and stop scaring the daylights out of people" Dosu grunted when she suddenly appeared before him via apparition seal earning a snicker.

"Nope" she grinned teasingly as she plopped down unceremoniously on the couch and pulled out one of the books she'd checked out on chakra to read for a little while, it was the base of all jutsu's and seals after all, and the starting point of her research.

For the next near week Sakura would disappear for hours on end to the library, coming back looking like something had sucked out her soul, in between the random D Rank Missions and training sessions with Tsunade she felt as if she was going to collapse any minute as well.

Until one morning, four days before the end of the second week since she'd started training with her grandmother and researching for her Re-life Jutsu, Tsunade called her, Naruto, Karin and Sasuke to her office for a mission "B Rank Escort Mission, could turn A" Tsunade informed.

"Okay Granny we get that it's a big mission so who are we escorting a princess or a feudal lord" Naruto interrupted before the woman could continue, Sakura slapped a hand over the knucklehead's mouth preventing him from talking anymore.

Tsunade shot her a grateful look in response as she cleared her throat "Not someone nearly as important as a princess or feudal lord, but you'll be guarding him during a race, a traditional one that's held in the Land of Tea" the honey eyed woman explained.

Handing over a mission scroll to Sakura, who was the only Chunin among the four teenagers gathered in her office, Sakura was quick to unravel the scroll so that she and her teammates plus Karin could see the details written down within.

"Sounds interesting this Todoroki Shrine Race, but why would they want to hire ninja" Sasuke commented with a frown, glancing over the details again to memorize them, Sakura shook her head with a sigh as Tsunade glowered.

Angry for some reason "Because the other family, the Wagarashi Family has hired one and this person attacked the messengers who were to deliver that mission request" Tsunade snapped, Sasuke immediately paled, not having been on the receiving end of their new Hokage's anger before.

Sakura pat him on the back reassuringly "Right so you want us to go, but what about Kakashi-sensei, why isn't he here" Karin spoke up, head tilted to the side in confusion, unless the man was late which was a plausible explanation.

The woman inhaled then exhaled "That's because he's on another mission, so for the duration of this mission Sakura will be the one in charge, seeing as she's a Chunin" the blonde woman announced seriously.

She definitely felt the pressure as all eyes turned to her "Don't look so nervous Sakura, your more of a leader than you think" the raven of Team Seven pat her on the back like she had for him no more than ten minutes ago.

Earning a very small smile "Yeah that's right Sakura-chan, you didn't realize it but when we were in the Forest of Death, when Dosu and his teammates were trying to attack us, you inspired me to want to do my part as an unofficial member of your team" the redhead chimed in.

Crimson orbs displaying trust "Exactly, we would have never made it through if not for you I bet" the blonde knucklehead admitted with a grin, each of them having absolute faith in Sakura, who gave one hundred percent of herself all the time, so now it was their turn to return the favor.

And give their absolute best that they could under her command "Alright, alright, I'm counting on you Karin-chan to be the backup medic in case of an emergency and I want you and Naruto sticking close to use fuinjutsu at a moments notice understand" the rosette huffed.

Relenting to their stares, already formulating out a plan, considering she wasn't one to turn down a mission "Sasuke your our tracker, use your Sharingan to scan ahead, your good at taijutsu as well, and I want you and Naruto working together for that" Sakura continued.

Pairing each member of her team up with a specialty "Got it Sakura, Naruto, I'm counting on you to have my back in a fight if someone attacks" Sasuke grunted in acceptance, knowing he didn't really have to worry or anything.

"I'm main medic, plus our genjutsu specialist, Karin, Naruto, Sasuke we'll all meet at the gates in forty five minutes understood" the pinkette finished, promising to think up a more thorough plan for when they met their client.

Sasuke nodded and disappeared "Roger that Sakura-chan, come on Karin-chan let's go pack our stuff for about five days" Naruto grabbed his adopted sister by the hand dragging her from the office, Sakura on their heels.

Until they split up in two different directions "See you at the gates Sakura-chan" Karin waved, determined to do her best on this mission no matter what because she wanted to make it as a Leaf Shinobi and make her adoptive parents proud.

Sakura smiled after them before using her apparition seal to get home "What did Tsuna-chan call you in for Sakura-chan" Hashirama asked sensing her chakra in the foyer, until Sakura flashed through the living room and towards the stairs.

"Mission, starts within the hour, Land of Tea, we'll probably be gone about five days, or four depending on how long the Todoroki Shrine Race Lasts, if I miss Mom giving birth tell her I'm sorry" Sakura explained as she sped upstairs to her room.

Having not seen her mother in the living room as she ran through it and upon entering her room grabbed a pack, inwardly mulling over what she would need for the mission, weapons were a must, so she packed her usual plus extra and another whetstone just in case.

Clothing was an absolute necessity as she packed four kimono, plus four pairs of shorts and unmentionables, a couple of under kimono's and some mesh, she brought one extra pair of sandals, and an extra set of gloves, all of which was sealed into a second scroll.

Then put into her pack as she dug around in her drawers for her armor, sealing it in the weapons scroll just in case, once that was done she headed up to the third floor, grabbed her custom made bo-staff, and went into her laboratory for some medical supplies.

A third scroll was stuffed neatly into the mission pack then it was back downstairs into the kitchen "You didn't tell me the rank of your mission and I'll let your Mother know of course" the former First Hokage was at her side seconds later.

While she was contemplating packing what she'd made, a new kind of chakra restoration bar, that was also supposed to be healthy and give someone energy but she wasn't sure how well they'd be taken considering they didn't taste very well.

"B Rank, could turn A, and thank you Grandfather" the pinkette said lightly, use to such missions but Hashirama grimaced hoping for Sakura's sake that nothing happened on the mission as he watched her fill a bunch of jugs with water from the tap and seal them away in a scroll.

Lastly was non perishable foods and such before the five scrolls were arranged neatly in her pack, Sakura frowned though obviously not satisfied, so with about thirty five minutes left, Sakura turned and started making some bento's, several of them in fact.

Enough for her teammates probably and then some, each one was sealed in a scroll labeled with their names and settled carefully in her pack "Good luck then Sakura" Hashirama sighed noticing Sakura make her way to the door now that she was done.

Sakura smiled then was gone jumping to another one of her seals that was near the gates "Karin and Naruto aren't here yet I see" Sakura commented taking notice of Sasuke's presence, wearing a black jumpsuit so he was a little more inconspicuous.

Sasuke jolted not having sensed her coming before nodding, five minutes later the missing members of their team arrived "Sorry, had to convince Karin-chan to wear something darker than she was use to" the blonde knucklehead explained, hoping he wasn't late.

Karin blinked "Do you guys do that often, switch from wearing bright colors to dark colors usually" the scarlet haired teenager asked as they all signed out and started down the path towards the Land of Tea, all by their lonesome for once.

"Only when a mission presents danger like this one does, who knows what kind of rogues or bandits we'll run into" the second Uchiha heir grunted, in the lead and using his sharingan to scan ahead of them for any sort of trouble that might try to come their way.

For the next hour or so, seeing as the Land of Tea was only a few short hours away, there was very little conversation between the four shinobi who were all on high alert because of what Tsunade had told them about the messenger being attacked.

So they kept their guards raised until they ran across a tea house and Naruto's stomach rumbled loudly "Can we stop please, I forgot to eat" Naruto pleaded hopefully, Sakura snorted and dug into her pack after sliding it from her shoulder, after a moment she tossed him a scroll.

His name labeled on it neatly "Walk and eat knucklehead, if anyone else is hungry tell me, I made a bento for each of us" Sakura informed, adjusting her pack on her back again as they continued walking and Naruto nibbled on the finger food she'd made to satisfy his hunger.

Until they reached the home of their client anyway "Nice thinking by the way Sakura, it saves us from having to stop and waste time" Sasuke smirked, pleased that Sakura had thought ahead as she always did for the mission.

"Exactly, that way we get there faster and have more time to scope out the lay of the path for the race" Karin snapped her fingers in realization, Sakura nodded quietly and so they picked up speed never noticing the person who trailed behind them warily the whole rest of the way there.

And the person they met was a man named Jirocho, the head of the Wasabi family "Thank you for coming, I'm surprised you got here as quickly as you did actually" Jirocho commented after they'd all introduced themselves to him.

Sakura, the leader of the mission nodded "Well Leaf isn't far and we're put through extensive training on how to increase our speed, so that's one thing, another was that we didn't stop at all for the three hours it took us to get here" the rosette explained.

Taking a sip of tea as it was placed before her "Plus, most of our missions end up going south so we wanted to get here as quick as possible" the ebony haired teen said, still keeping his guard raised even in the home of their mission client.

Jirocho blinked "How so if I may ask" the grey haired man questioned with a frown, confused at the way the kids were handling themselves, it was the way he expected a much older person to handle things not kids as they were.

"Rogues pop up by the dozens…ouch Sakura-chan that was mean" the blonde burst out only to get whacked for his exaggeration of how many rogues they met on their outside the village missions, not that it mattered, missions inside the village were just as dangerous.

Karin snickered at her adoptive brother "What my brother meant Jirocho-san is that they/we have a tendency to come up against a rogue no matter the mission, hence the reason to get here as quick as we did" the redhead offered easily.

Before the conversation could be continued a door off to the side slide open admitting another person into the room they were in "Oi Boss what the heck are stupid Shinobi doing here for" who then proceeded to insult them.

Naruto went to lunge but was grabbed by Sakura who slanted him a look, he went pale and quickly slumped back into his original spot without a single word "I assume your the one we're going to be escorting during your race, hence the reason we're here" Sakura said calmly.

Eyeing up the boy, who she guessed to be fifteen, with spiky brown hair and dark eyes, that seemed eerily familiar, "I don't need nor want help from Shinobi, I don't trust them Boss Jirocho" the mahogany haired teen complained.

Whining in a way that grated on said shinobi's nerves "To bad because your boss hired us and we've already accepted the mission so you know what get over it" Naruto grumbled irritated with the person they were going to be escorting during the traditional Todoroki Shrine Race.

Held every four years to determined whether the Wasabi or Wagarashi Families will take control of the Land of Tea as stated within the mission scroll of course "Idate, they came all this way, the least you could do is give them a chance" Jirocho scolded.

It was like a lightbulb went off overhead for Sakura at least as she recognized the features staring them in the face "Is something wrong Sakura-chan" Karin noticed her surprised expression and wondered what her friend was thinking about that had shocked her so.

"Don't care, they'll be useless and just burdens during the race, I want no part of them escorting me cause I can handle myself just fine" Idate, as Jirocho had called him argued trying to make his point and wanting the shinobi to leave.

Sakura pressed her lips together "Sakura what do we do, he's not taking our presence well at all" Sasuke frowned leaning towards her for instruction, she sighed and stood, marching towards Idate, who scowled as she neared.

Then she did something that surprised everyone "Idate Morino, you have no right to refuse us especially when we could write back to Leaf and inform the Hokage and your brother Ibiki-sensei where you are right now to be taken in to custody for being a known fugitive" the rosette declared.

Promptly shutting Idate up "And how exactly do you even know that" the mahogany haired teen sulked not daring to argue anymore, as he sat to find out exactly how they were going to protect him, even if he didn't want them to.

Watching warily as the girl returned to her spot, the others a foot behind her "I like to keep updated on rogues or fugitives of the Leaf Village and other villages, I came across your name once" the pinkette shrugged.

"As scary as ever huh Sakura-chan, but now that we're all calm and stuff, can we have a map that shows the layout of the land for the race" the blonde that was sat on the other side of the only other girl requested probably not wanting to be unprepared or something.

Idate scowled further as Jirocho rushed to accommodate the shinobi "Thank you, now when is the race exactly" the ebony haired one inquired as the map was stowed away outlining the course of the race he'd be running.

"One day, so you have the rest of today and tomorrow, I hope that's enough time to figure out something to protect Idate" the grey haired man wrung his hands nervously, it wasn't that he didn't trust the shinobi Tsunade had sent, they were young.

And if what they said was true then they ran the possibility of encountering a rogue during the race, worrying him even more "Plenty, thank you for your time Jirocho-san, we'll be ready one day from now" the redhead smiled kindly.

Then the four shinobi were gone without another word "I don't like it" Idate huffed, tailing the Leaf Shinobi who'd come as discretely as possible while they wandered about, keeping close together as they did so and pouring over the map they'd received.

He realized they were heading down to the port a moment later, to see the ship that was docked there meant to take him across the sea to Nagi island, unfortunately for him, he underestimated how capable these ninja were as the ebony haired one turned on him.

"If your going to follow us at least try to hide your presence better so we can't feel you, even the knucklehead can and that's saying something, Sasuke Uchiha" Sasuke introduced himself belatedly since Idate hadn't originally been in the room when they'd arrived.

Next to him was the blonde who'd tried to attack him "Naruto Uzumaki and your lucky Sakura-chan stopped me otherwise I would have hit you" Naruto growled, not liking Idate anymore than he seemed to like them.

Said girl whacked him over the head again "Be nice or else Naruto, anyway I don't think we'll get much more trouble from Idate-san isn't that right, or he'll find himself brought back to Leaf quicker than he could blink" Sakura threatened.

Feeling no need to say her name since it had already been said repeatedly "Right so I notice your wearing a vest is that supposed to mean something" the mahogany haired teen inquired, knowing what it was but pretending not to even if he'd already been completely figured out.

"That's a Chunin Vest, it means Sakura is a Chunin, a rank above the rest of us here Idate-san and I'm Karin Uzumaki, Naruto's adopted sister, but Uzumaki was already my last name" Karin, the redhead announced.

While Idate seemed to become even more upset with them "Yeah whatever, Chunin pfftt like I believe that, anyway what were you guys just about to do" Idate demanded to know having noticed the shinobi beginning to veer off from the original path.

Sakura sighed "Says here on the map there's another dock, my senses tell me that a storm is coming and if you try to leave from the main dock, the strong wind of the storm will make it difficult, plus navigation wouldn't be easy, so we were going to check it out" the rosette said.

"Plus Sakura wanted to check out Nagi Island ahead of time" the second Uchiha heir confided to Idate's confusion who didn't understand a single thing of what was going on anymore, first he's outed as a fugitive, and now this it was all to much.

As he turned on his heel "Do what you want but if your late in coming back I'm leaving you behind" the brown haired teenager stormed off leaving them to do as they pleased which was head towards the other port and see about having another boat readied just in case.

The old man was all to easy to accept their request at the offer of money for his little old shack "Now are we water walking or…." the blonde on the team asked unsure of how they were actually going to get across the sea to Nagi Island.

"You can't carry us all Sakura-chan" the redhead frowned when Sakura flashed through the hand signs for her wooden wings jutsu and a second later wood burst from her back taking the shape they always did.

Before she faced them, tapping her wrist as she did so "Enclosing seal of course that way we don't weigh her down and we'll be safe inside just in case" Naruto grinned, Sasuke blew out a breath and Karin grimaced but the three of them allowed themselves to be sealed away.

And then Sakura took flight, able to fly for much longer periods of time now as her training with Tsunade had improved her chakra control to the point she no longer needed to concentrate as much for some of her jutsu's, the Wind Release ones were still iffy but that was okay.

Twenty minutes later she touched down "Ooh that was so weird" Karin shuddered as she was unsealed from the enclosing seal that Sakura always kept wrapped around her wrist, it took a moment for her to gather her bearings to, in order to look around.

"Interesting, hey look Sakura some herbs, I bet they'd make a great antidote for something" Sasuke commented, scanning their surroundings with his sharingan, only to spot some herbs, Sakura smiled and hurriedly went to pick them.

Sealing the herbs away when she was done "So based on my calculations, going by boat would take at least an hour to reach Nagi island, I've left my apparition seal, but we have to be aware of the ninja the other family has hired" Sakura mused, sitting down, so the others did the same.

"Well if we have to Sakura-chan, one of us could go on ahead with Idate if that happens, to take on whoever comes our way" the blonde knucklehead on her team suggested, knowing just the person who would be strong enough to get Idate across the finish line.

Sakura nodded, taking the idea into consideration as Mission Leader "Or we could, set a delayed genjutsu to trap any one who's an enemy in an illusion" the crimson haired teen offered knowing that Sakura would be able to do it.

That to was considered "Plus, we can have Naruto make clones of the five of us, for a diversion to slip away" the ebony haired teenager said as yet another idea came forth, each of them pitching in, but ultimately it was up to Sakura to decide on what they'd do.

What she came up with was beyond words "First if my suspicions are right, we'll make a break to the left and at the same time I'll cast a genjutsu to make it seem like Idate-san gets on the boat at the main dock, clones of us will be with him" the pinkette began.

Drawing them in to her plan "On this island here we'll set up a few traps, delayed genjutsu tags, a delayed summoning jutsu that summons clones of us again, I don't trust the enemy not to do the same, so Sasuke be aware of any genjutsu traps, especially layered ones" Sakura continued.

"Naruto you keep close to Idate, I know you don't like him, but for the sake of the mission please get along, this has to go according to plan at least until we get on the boat, which I will rig, but Karin I'd like you to draw these barrier formulas on tags" the rosette added.

"And while any enemy is distracted, I'll seal you guys, including Idate into the enclosing seal on my wrist to fly us or teleport us over here to Nagi Island, near the shrine" Sakura finished earning wide eyed stares at her extensive plan.

But not a single one of them complained as they got to work putting their plans in place, "Ugh I'm so hungry" Naruto complained after awhile, when it was nearing dinner time, they'd already had lunch, but now he was hungry again.

Sakura rolled her eyes lightly before disappearing to hunt for them "Geez bottom-less gut much, slow down a bit Naruto, otherwise we'll never get all this done, plus we still have to rig the boat back on the other island" Karin huffed with a little wince.

Her hand hurt like never before "Here Karin let me, you take a break for a few" Sasuke saw, then took over drawing the rest of the seals they needed, having learned only for the sake of learning and because it was such a big part of his teammates lives that he felt the need to know it to.

Eight minutes later Sakura returned, eight rabbits slung over her shoulder, already skinned, gutted, deboned, seasoned and speared on sticks that she set up around the fire that had been started earlier courtesy of Sasuke in anticipation of whatever catch she brought back for them.

Twelve minutes later they dug in to fill their stomachs then set forth to finish up as they needed, and after a quick visit to the shrine so Sakura could mark a tree with her apparition seal, it was back to the main island to rig the boat with traps as well.

Before finally, finally making their way back to Jirocho's home "There you kids are, you missed lunch and dinner, where on earth did you four disappear to for the rest of the day" Jirocho scolded upon them entering the house so they could see if he had rooms ready for them.

"Nagi island, don't ask Jirocho-san, never know who may be listening in after all, anyway we did eat but we're tired and would like to go to bed" the rosette yawned, looking way to satisfied with herself about something.

Jirocho sighed "Very well your rooms are this way, two to a room so I'm afraid you'll have to share" the grey haired man explained separating the boys from the girls, not that he got any complaints from the kids though.

As they merely waved him off "Fine with us, we're use to sharing rooms" the blonde shrugged easily, entering one of the designated rooms that already had two futons spread out on opposite sides and he quickly picked one and flopped down on it tiredly.

"Goodnight Sakura, Karin" the raven nodded to the girls, following after the knucklehead and pretty much doing the same as Naruto had, which was flopping down and flipping the covers up over his head before conking out for the night.

Leaving the girls awake for only a little while longer "Night Sakura-chan" the redhead murmured eventually once they'd changed into some sleep wear, Sakura smiled and clicked out the light of the room so they could go to sleep to.

The next morning after breakfast they split up, the first time Idate hadn't seen them all together truthfully, to explore and Sakura immediately found a small bookstore, upon entering though she accidentally rammed into someone in her excitement to see what kind of books the store had.

"Sorry, got a little ahead of myself" the pinkette apologized kindly, from where she was seated on the ground since the man hadn't even freaking stumbled after she'd kind of barreled into him none to gently might she add.

A pale brow lifted "Watch where you going then stupid brat" the white/blonde haired male barked with a sneer, the girl however didn't even bat an eye at his tone or expression merely stood and dusted her clothes off with a smile.

"Right I'll be sure to do that Sir" she nodded smoothly walking past him into the bookstore he had been headed into himself to see if there was a map in there as well, because they needed one and his bodyguard had said that he would like to see the layout of Nagi Island.

So he quickly followed on her heels, the girl didn't glance back at him though, merely browsed the books, gaze flicking over the titles at a high speed that he probably wouldn't be able to keep up with and he was the Raikage, Ay, but undercover for right now.

Hence the reason he was suppressing his chakra to civilian levels and not demanding respect from the little brat who'd rammed into him, instead Ay thought, he might be able to use that little interaction to get information from the girl.

"What do you know about Nagi Island" he questioned harshly and she turned her head his way, pausing in pulling out a book to look at that had caught her eye, but she dutifully faced him to answer his question hopefully.

"Not much truthfully, this is the first time I've ever been here, but it's vast and has lots of herbs….probably not what you wanted to hear right, there's also going to be a race across the islands so that's about all I know really" she bowed her head apologetically.

Surprising him at her honestly "You a ninja brat, I see the hitai-ate around your neck" he nodded to the headband and she lifted it up for him to see, pride shining in her eyes, determination to for whatever reason he didn't know.

"Chunin if you understand the ranking system of Ninja's Sir, this is my second high rank mission since I got promoted" the girl admitted lightly, lowering her voice during the second half of her explanation and looking around warily as she tucked her hitai-ate further out of sight.

Obviously not wanting anyone else to notice that she was a ninja as she then proceeded to suppress her chakra until he could barely feel her and he was the Raikage for pete's sake, when he asked no more of her she turned and continued her previous task.

Pulling the book she'd been looking at earlier out to read some of it's contents before letting out a frustrated sigh "Not what your looking for I presume" the man a few feet away from her asked again and she looked to him once more.

Shaking her head as she did so "It's an interesting book, but information I already know" she shrugged moving on, in the end she left the bookstore without buying a single book, completely unaware that the man who'd been talking to her was following her.

Or that he was the Raikage and that he watched her meet up with her teammates on the mission she'd mentioned to him before the four of them disappeared from sight to wherever they were staying he presumed and he thought that was the last he'd see of them to but he didn't realize how wrong he was at that particular moment in time.

As he finally found the map Cee wanted and found where his bodyguards were staked out "What did you find Boss" Darui questioned when he noticed his leader marching towards them, clutching something that was folding up in his hands.

"Leaf Shinobi, one's Chunin Rank, the other are genin, some kind of race is going on, when I don't know but if you want those herbs Cee we better get started across the sea to Nagi Island now" the Raikage barked at them.

Darui and Cee shared a look "The hell are Leaf Dogs doing here for" Cee growled irritated, out of all the nations in the world, he hated Konohagakure Ninja more than, Sunagakure, Kirigakure and Iwagakure shinobi.

"Mission, I don't know she was pretty cautious about what she said, didn't want any one to know she was a ninja after I spotted her headband" Ay growled, handing over the map as he did so, so that Cee could look it over.

Cee who let a sneer curl his lips as he scoured the map so that they would know exactly where to go "Right better get over to Nagi Island then, man this is so drab" the ivory haired man sighed, packing away his belongings so they could make the hour trip by boat to the other island.

Ay scoffed "He's right, this was your idea remember Cee all for stinking herbs" the Raikage snorted watching as his medic folded up the map, grabbed up his pack and led the way to the boat that was docked nearby for them.

"Yes well Raikage-sama our hospital needs them" the blonde stated disliking that they were so near Leaf Shinobi but there was little he could do, Kumogakure needed those herbs for the increasing amount of patients they got regularly, it wasn't his fault some herbs only came from Fire Country.

Then they were on a boat and crossing the sea to Nagi Island and that's where they stayed for the rest of the day, and set up camp for the night and went to bed, seeing as there were many, many herbs and he had to pick as many of them as he could so they could be planted and cultivated in Cloud.

~Meanwhile~

Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Karin were gearing up for the mission at hand "I really don't trust you four in the least" Idate said for the millionth time, only the thirtieth since that morning, the morning of the race to be precise

"Distrust us all you want then, but remember it's our job to get you through to the finish line" Naruto scowled at the older teenager, picking at his food much like Idate was, who must be feeling rather nervous, hence the reason he kept repeating the same line over and over.

They weren't the only ones as Karin sighed "Please for the love of kami would you two stop, being at each others throats isn't going to help, now eat or else" Karin glared both boys into submission and they hastily began eating their breakfast.

Off to the side Sasuke hid a smirk behind his hand "That should keep him pretty subdued until it's time for the start of the race don't you think Sakura" Sasuke whispered to the pinkette at his side, who was fiddling with a necklace he'd never noticed before.

"Probably yeah and none of them will even suspect a thing" Sakura nodded with a smile, stopping her fidgeting to eat the rest of her food until every last bite was gone and Idate seemed to realize it was time to get to the starting line.

Before he disappeared on them, Sakura tapped his shoulder "Listen I know you don't trust us Idate-san, you don't have to either, but you need to adhere to the plan understand, when the signal is given break to the left, head down the path, we'll meet you there" the rosette instructed.

Idate gulped but nodded "Got it Sakura" the mahogany haired teen relented knowing that Sakura was right anyway seeing as a storm was blowing in and crossing the sea from the main dock was way to dangerous, given that the other runner Fukusuke had hired a ninja to and no one knew who it was.

Sasuke blew out a breath "Be prepared to camouflage yourself Sakura" the Uchiha warned a little to late, Sakura had already activated the tag to keep herself hidden and a Naruto clone transformed into her had taken her place.

"Looks like their getting ready to give the signal" the blonde on the team commented positioning himself in a good spot so he could relay what he saw back to his teammates, they all tensed readying themselves.

Then bang, Idate and Fukusuke shot from their positions like projectile weapons "Naruto now" his adopted sister ordered when she felt the area wide genjutsu go up, five shadow clones formed into existence, four of them transforming into someone else.

As they got onto the boat and it set sail, no one noticing Idate making a break for the left, heading down a path towards the other dock, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Karin on his heels and before Idate could get to far, the four of them jumped down in front of him.

"Come on Idate, take this tag, I know you know how to use chakra don't pretend you don't, activate it and leave the rest to us" Sakura commanded a little forcefully when the teenager glared at her for stopping him after she was the one who told him to run left.

With her threat clear in mind probably, Idate did as ordered and took the tag, then disappeared from sight and kept running, all of them knowing where to go instinctively until they got to the other dock "You ready Sakura" Sasuke asked.

Knowing where she was without even having to try, he felt her shake his hand as she dashed forward to stop Idate from getting on the boat, casting yet another genjutsu "What the hell are you doing, we need to get across remember" Idate glowered.

When the boat set sail without them "You need to trust us Idate-san" Karin scowled itching to whack the older teen as Sakura flashed through a set of hand signs, creating a much smaller boat for the five of them and Idate gaped at her.

"All of this is necessary to make sure the other ninja that was hired doesn't figure out your whereabouts" Naruto explained slapping a camouflage seal on the smaller boat, plus the barrier tags Karin had drawn and activated them.

While Sakura turned, speeding through more hand signs "Futon: Gale Storm" the rosette concentrated, then thrust her hands out before her, wind bursting forth and sending them sailing out to sea at a really high speed.

This one was used without the use of her wings and a lot easier to manage, so she did it again, and again as they passed by the decoy boat which was under attack "What did you do" the brown haired teenager asked noticing something strange.

"Rigged it of course with all sorts of traps should someone step foot on board that's not us, they'll find themselves under an endless attack, encounter our clones and so on and so forth" the redhead snickered more than pleased that the plan was going off without a hitch so far.

Because right before Sakura was to use her jutsu again, the boat burst into flames, ending the genjutsu three familiar genin were trapped in "Seriously who the hell brought those idiots here" the Uchiha snorted spying the Amegakure hitai-ate they each wore.

"Kami they really are weaklings" the blonde shook his head disappointed in the genin from another village, they just didn't live up to any sort of expectation, then they were gone, bypassing the wrecked ship and docked at Nagi Island.

Off came the camouflage seals and things immediately went from very good to very bad "Well, well to think I'd find you here after you gave me quite the runaround with that little clone trick" an unfamiliar voice spoke up from in front of them.

And all eyes shot forward to spy a green haired, purple eyed man wearing an Amegakure hitai-ate and judging by his chakra he was a Jonin "That bites and we'd been doing so well, why are we cursed" Naruto sighed oddly exhausted at the appearance of an enemy ninja.

Sakura curled her lips into a furious snarl "For gods sake not another one…..it's one thing for us to meet Idate Morino, but Aoi Rokusho a bloody rogue from Leaf, I'm about ready to kill someone" Sakura glared harshly at the man before them.

Who looked very surprised she even knew who he was "Yeah she's good at that" Karin grimaced noticing his expression as she shifted into a defensive position to cover Idate, while Naruto leaped back to make sure she didn't get hit as the backup medic of the team.

"I'm honored and all but I need you all to die" Aoi smirked cruelly and launched a barrage of senbon at them, most shot towards Idate, but all that did were blocked as Naruto jumped in the way at the last second.

A few were sent towards the other two but the pink haired girl had very good evasive skills and the boy, he merely dropped allowing the weapons to sail harmlessly over head "Unfortunately we have a mission so we can't die" Sasuke grunted.

Casting a glance towards Sakura "Sasuke, take Naruto, Karin and Idate, get out of here now" the rosette barked, tossing a bottle towards her teammate, who caught it effortlessly, though he wanted to argue, he merely accepted his orders.

Grabbed the knucklehead then tugged Karin after him by the hand who was dragging Idate along with her "No, no, if you leave her she'll die" Idate panicked trying to free himself and run back but Karin had a surprisingly strong grip.

"Trust in her Idate, Sakura-chan will be fine, she's got skills that could outclass a Jonin any day of the week" the redhead informed bluntly, itching to turn back herself but Sakura knew what she was doing so it was up to them to make sure Idate continued the race.

Nine minutes later they skidded to a halt, hopefully far enough away and Sasuke put Naruto down "Bo..Body's go..going numb I.. I think poison m..maybe" the blonde offered with a wince as the senbon were carefully pulled form his body.

Only to have a pill shoved into his mouth, it took five minutes for the antidote to take affect as his somewhat labored breathing returned to normal and he was able to feel again thankfully, but he wasn't ready to start running again that's for sure.

Back with Sakura, the minute they'd gotten out of sight, Aoi Rokusho had turned on her and loosed another barrage of poisoned weapons on her, each one she evaded, before rushing in without a second thought, purple eyes widened.

When she reared back her arm, hand clenched into a fist, then once near slammed her fist into the ground releasing all the pent up chakra she'd gathered, exploding the earth, "Fuck" Aoi cursed realizing he was not dealing with a normal brat.

As she tossed her own weapon at him, fortunately it was easy to dodge it, but what he didn't expect was for her to disappear on him, no longer able to sense her chakra until a foot slammed into his back from behind sending him flying forward.

To land face first in the rocks with a loud bone snapping crunch "You'll pay for your treachery to Leaf Rokusho, it was unlucky that we met today as I look down on traitors with contempt and dislike" Sakura announced when he stood on his feet.

Blood dripping from his nostrils from the broken bone "Little brat I'll kill you for this, then I'll kill those other ones to" the green haired nuke-nin spat, purple eyes glaring at her furiously for inflicting any sort of damage upon him.

Then to her surprise this time, he pulled out the sword of the thunder god "HOW THE HELL DO YOU HAVE MY UNCLE'S SWORD" the rosette raged suddenly, done playing games all of a sudden as she was before him in less than a blink of an eye.

Wrestling the sword away from him, then before he could even retaliate found himself sucked into an enclosing seal "Damn it" Aoi said the last thing she heard from him as she tried to calm herself down in order to catch up with the others.

It only took a moment after scooping up the sword of the thunder god and placing it in her pouch with extreme care before focusing on the apparition seal she'd placed on Sasuke, "Crap I wish I had some kind of warning when you used your seal" Sasuke jumped.

When she suddenly appeared at his side, bending without thought as she did so, hands glowing green to heal the puncture wounds Naruto had sustained "What happened to Rokusho" Idate asked peering off into the distance from which they'd come warily.

She held up her wrist showing off a seal "Sealed him away huh, but why Sakura-chan" Karin asked in confusion not understanding Sakura's actions in the least, not to mention how she'd even managed to get close enough to seal the rogue in the seal in the first place.

"He really pissed me off I'm just going to leave it at that alright, anyway Idate you don't have to worry about any more ninja coming after you so I think you can go ahead and finish the race" Sakura waved the teenager off.

Feeling as if everything was going to be fine from that moment on, not knowing how wrong she was, Idate nodded glumly and took off at a high speed "We should still follow him" Naruto said once Sakura finished healing him, then they were off on Idate's heels again to complete their mission.

Never expecting the unexpected appearance of Cloud Shinobi, but they ran smack into them "Ahh if it isn't the stupid little brat who rammed into me the other day, didn't I tell you to watch where your going" the man from the other day sneered down at her.

As she sat on the ground, this time though her eyes went wide with recognition "Raikage, but…but what you doing here" the rosette leapt to her feet in a hurry, unsure if she could trust the man in the vicinity of her and her team after all the rumors she'd heard.

"Recognized me did ya, not that it does you any good brat if I wanted to kill you I would, but my hospital is running out of herbs and you four are insignificant" the Raikage brushed them off as if they were not threats to himself.

Karin went to snap but a hand on her arm made her pause "Leave it Karin….thank you for your mercy Raikage-sama" the pinkette bowed, though not as low as she would have for her grandmother, then nudged her teammates ahead of her.

"Um can I get a little help here" the mahogany haired teenager they were protecting hollered from somewhere up ahead, Sakura rubbed her temples as she hurried after Sasuke, Karin and Naruto, missing the Raikage and his bodyguards following them.

But even if she had, she didn't have any time to pay them any more attention "The hell Idate, how did you get yourself stuck like in whatever the hell that is" the blonde growled beyond annoyed with the mission at that point.

Because they couldn't seem to ever catch a break, it only took a couple of minutes before Idate was freed from the unexpected trap that had been sprung on him and Ay recognized it as one of the ones Darui liked to set "Go Idate, beat that jerk Fukusuke" the redhead ordered.

Sending the teen ahead of them again "Just what are you four trying to do anyway" Ay questioned letting the Leaf Shinobi know he was still there and definitely following them, only one turned through, the brat who knew better to ignore him, while the others continued.

"Protect Idate during the race, that's our mission" Sakura explained ignoring the glare from the older blonde with all the grace she possessed, so long as he didn't say anything, she wouldn't say anything either.

His brows raised high into his hairline at that "Oh yeah I'd say you were doing a bang up job considering the other Leaf Dogs with you are in trouble" the blonde commented, sensing that without even trying.

But what they didn't expect was for the girl to up and vanish on them in the blink of an eye "The hell was that, she didn't body flicker" Darui frowned as they sped up, arriving in time to see the girl punch someone flat on his ass.

It was a Kusagakure Shinobi "If you ever Touch Karin again it will be the last thing you ever do and that's a promise" the pinkette hissed emerald orbs glinting with her fury, the two boys inched away from her but the girl, Karin cowered behind her.

Bleeding from her shoulder "The stupid bitch belongs to Grass, you can't tell me what to do, filthy little thieving whore" the man spat, jumping to his feet and brandishing a weapon in the girl's face, who's face twisted into an expression of extreme dislike.

Then she drew back her fist and simply punched "At least I never tried to torture an innocent child bastard" Sakura snarled in the Kusagakure ninja's face as she gripped the front of his vest and lifted him into the air with brute strength.

A shudder crawled down Naruto, Sasuke and Darui's spines at the vicious display, the man in her grip however merely smirked before snapping his fingers and the ambush was sprung, Sakura was quick to knock the one in her hands out without a second thought.

Spin on her heel and kick another in the stomach and sending him flying to Sasuke, who activated his sharingan and sucked the enemy into a torturous genjutsu "Um what about Idate-san, Sakura-chan" Karin asked unsure of how they'd even gotten into this mess.

"I've got him" Sasuke called, disabling a ninja quickly before flying off after their charge, leaving the others to handle themselves against the Kusagakure Shinobi who'd decided to attack for some reason, probably still bitter over the fact Karin had dropped their stupid asses and in no time at all he was caught up with Idate.

"Seriously you guys need to get over yourself" Naruto grumbled, punching and kicking until he found himself back to back with Karin, they shared a small look with each other communicating a silent plan to one another and pulled out pre-made tags employing the use of fuinjutsu.

Meanwhile Sakura however was the most brutal between the four of them as she didn't hold back in the least against her opponents, though to say she wasn't struggling was a lie, because she was and they definitely noticed.

A couple seconds later she was nearly gutted, she dodged by a hair, the first kunai anyway, the second one though was buried in her shoulder but only a whimper escaped from her lips and before she could retaliate a third kunai was aimed at her heart.

Her eyes widened never shutting them even as the kunai was brought down, then the one who'd just tried to kill her slumped forward, eyes glazed over, obviously dead and she saw a large shadow before her so she looked up to see her savior.

"Raikage-sama what did you save me for" the rosette asked near hyperventilating at the sight of the dead body, it seemed much to soon after the Third Hokage's death that she'd been forced to witness, not to mention she couldn't feel her arm anymore.

From where the kunai was buried within her shoulder, all nerves had been cut off "Cee assist her in healing" the Raikage barked at the blonde who kept glaring at her, he came forward with a grumble, hands glowing green.

While Ay continued around killing all the Kusagakure Shinobi until not a one of them was left alive "Leaf Dog you should have known better than to try and take so many opponents on, especially since your so weak" Cee insulted harshly.

Not expecting the flash of anger "I AM NOT WEAK, I have trained my ass off to get to where I am and if you insult me one more time I will punch you just to prove it, I would have thought all the five great nations would know by now, but no what do you people do live under a rock or something" the girl ranted furiously.

"Calm down Sakura-chan, just be grateful that Raikage-sama is even lending you his medic" Karin settled at her side, eyeing the injury with guilt clear in her crimson eyes, however Sakura wasn't to be placated this time.

As she pointed an accusing finger at Cee "I'll Be Grateful When All the Animosity between the other villages gets dealt with until then…." Sakura trailed off when Cee yanked the kunai from her shoulder and she promptly passed out.

"Not again, poor Sakura-chan" Naruto rushed forward to catch her head just in time before it cracked painfully on the ground, even Cee stared in shock, probably never having seen someone black out quite like that before.

Especially since she'd been handling the pain rather well until that moment "Yeesh maybe it's for the best she's out" the other dark skinned Kumogakure Shinobi grimaced, scratching his head in confusion and wondering how they'd even got caught up in this mess in the first place.

Five minutes later Sakura's eyes fluttered open "Alright there Sakura-chan" the blonde that was her teammate asked gently, helping her to sit up, by letting her lean against his back for the time being, until she felt ready to stand.

"I'm fine but everyone back home is definitely not going to like that we were in danger again" the rosette said in a flat empty voice, she might even be banned from going on missions at this rate, which would mean an end to her dream.

Tears were even beginning to gather in her eyes and the Cloud Shinobi definitely noticed "Hey on the bright side Sakura at least we can bring back a souvenir to be dealt with" the redhead at her side reminded trying to cheer her up.

But all she got for her efforts was a tired sigh, then Sakura pushed herself into a standing position "Oi I think you should give yourself a break Leaf Dog otherwise you'll just collapse again" the onyx eyed blonde snapped.

Seeing that she was intending to continue the mission "Cee come on enough with the insults man, can't you see the girl is upset" the white haired Jonin scolded harshly, having seen the tears, though they hadn't fallen.

Even, Ay, the Raikage felt uncomfortable watching her walk off "Freaking brat" the Raikage scowled suddenly, snapping her up and situating her under his arm to carry, Karin and Naruto were surprised but didn't complain.

As they trekked forward until they came across a broken bridge, "Great now what will we do" Naruto sighed feeling depressed as Sakura wiggled to get free of the Raikage's hold, managing successfully after a moment.

Then digging in her pouch "Sakura-chan why do you push yourself so recklessly sometimes" Karin slumped her shoulders when the girl emerged with one of her chakra replenishing ration bars that she quickly scarfed.

"It's the only way to keep you lot safe, if I let my guard down even a little someone ends up in danger" Sakura huffed, flashing through a set of hand signs that both Karin and Naruto recognized as wood sprouted up out of the ground before her.

Before shooting across the ravine, a makeshift bridge made out of a wide beam of wood, which allowed them to cross from one side to another "Do I need to carry you again brat" Ay narrowed his eyes on the young girl who was entirely to complicated for him to understand.

Though he did wonder how she was able to utilize that which she'd just used but didn't ask sensing he'd be brushed off as she shook her head no in answer to his question, no matter he'd be able to research her later "Looks like we're catching up with your friend" Darui commented.

When he spied the other Leaf Shinobi jumping from branch to branch a short distance ahead of them, on the heels of their charge "Finally now we can stop babysitting you brats" Cee scoffed in disgust, this prompted the disappearance of the Raikage and his two bodyguards.

As Sakura, Karin and Naruto continued onwards "You look like hell" the Uchiha grimaced seeing their injuries and the like, Sakura looked worse than the other two though and he honestly felt for her seeing that exhausted look in her eyes.

But they finished the mission anyway as ten minutes later, Idate who'd been running even with Fukusuke, broke away from his opponent during the race and won "Bout time stupid Idate" the blonde Uzumaki grumbled flopping on his butt utterly exhausted.

"Don't sit just yet Naruto, we still have to get back to Jirocho-san's, pack our things and then get home, maybe tomorrow" the rosette informed ready to crash herself hearing the cheers as the Wasabi Family won the right to rule the Land of Tea indefinitely.

Seeing as the the head of the Wagarashi family was a no good cheating bastard, not long after that they were on their way back to the main island "Thanks guys I couldn't have done it without you" Idate told the ninja who'd guarded him this entire time.

Making the ultimate decision "Anyway seeing as I'm not needed anymore, I think I'll go back to Hidden Leaf with you guys and face up to my crimes and such, don't worry already talked to boss Jirocho and he's in agreement" the mahogany haired teenager said.

"Your a pain you know that Idate-san" the redhead scowled at him earning a sheepish smile and then they were flopping face first on futons to get some much needed shut eye so they could make the trip home in the morning.