Tomorrow's the day Sakura has to set off to the Land of Iron to meet with the Anbu Council, since her talk with Sasuke she's been diligently focusing on her training and finishing what's left of her duties. Tsunade was getting worried but did well to hide it; Naruto still didn't know what in the world was going on along with everyone the only people who knew was Sasuke, Kakashi and Tsunade.
Sakura woke up early as usual but decided to stay in bed a bit longer she just laid there in deep thought, thinking intensely for a few minutes and decided it was enough and got dressed in a black elbow length shirt and white shorts and black Shinobi sandals. She dried her hair and walked down the staircase not feeling the mood to eat something today, and went to unlock the seal and walked outside and sealed it back again.
Unknown to her Karin was walking and happened to sense her chakra and followed it, she saw how she was so protective of her home and was immediately suspicious. Sakura was walking down the street ignoring some of the stares directed at her and nodded at the greeting they gave her.
"Sakura" the said girl turned her head and saw Tsunade behind her with a stern look on her seemingly young face. "Tsunade-sama" she greeted with the same look she was giving her. "I need to talk to you" she ordered and walked right past her Sakura obediently followed.
"Man, I'm full!" Naruto exclaimed rubbing his stomach "Dobe" Sasuke grunted wondering where he keeps it all. They were walking below one of Konoha's most relaxing and high places, until Sasuke felt two familiar chakra's above them "Sakura and Tsunade what are they doing here?" he thought coming to a abrupt halt which caused Naruto to stop and stare at him in confusion "What is it teme? he asked alarmed, then he spotted a flash of pink "Hey it's Sakura-chan" Naruto smiled running up the stairs and just when he was about to make it Sasuke harshly grabbed him by placing a hand over his mouth and pulled him back.
Naruto was struggling and was talking which only came out as muffled sounds from Sasuke's hand "Be quiet and listen" he hissed, and Naruto hesitantly stopped curiosity getting the better of him. Sasuke hid both of their chakra and moved them to one of the nearby trees so they could hear and see them talk, he didn't remove his hand off Naruto's mouth not trusting he could keep quiet.
"What do you want to talk about Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked leaning back on the railings letting the wind blow her hair back. "Sakura I'm concerned about your meeting with the Council, it's not that i don't trust them it's just very suspicious they never had to evaluate the Anbu Captains before so why now" she admitted.
Sakura crossed her arms coolly "And you think it has something to do with my reputation as one of the most ruthless Anbu Captain and Shinobi in this generation don't you" she stated nonchalantly. Tsunade looked up to her apologetically "Yes i do, Sakura you know how Anbu is strictly made up of the best and stealthiest Shinobi and how the Captains especially the Head Anbu Captains are categorized as deadly and one of the most hard to attain positions in a village" She explained, Sakura nodded.
"Your point being my reputation is what they want to see from me tomorrow and for who knows how long they'll keep us there until their evaluation is done" Sakura said sternly. Tsunade crossed her arms also "Exactly" she sighed.
Naruto and Sasuke listened quietly to their conversation, Naruto was confused to what their talking about. Sasuke just watched waiting for the conversation to start up again.
Sakura smirked "And that's exactly what they'll get" she declared her emerald eyes shining with mischief, Tsunade's amber eyes narrowed "Sakura the Anbu Council isn't made up of old people like many think, they are made up of the Top Anbu members in this generation your generation" she emphasized the last one.
"So the Anbu Council is probably the same age as me, is that what you're saying?" Sakura said mockingly, and unexpectedly chuckled. Tsunade looked at the pinkette utterly confused along with Naruto "Then this should be good, i guess this will be more interesting than i thought" she smirked her confidence clearly showing on her face.
Tsunade shook her head with a smile "I look forward to your return with the good news Sakura" she said, all traces of worry gone from her system. "Aa" Sakura replied with a rare smile the wind blowing her hair back giving her a refreshed feeling adding to her mood at the moment.
Sasuke smirked in his head "So do i Sakura" Naruto still as confused as ever caught on some of the details "Sakura-chan is meeting with the Anbu Council who's the same age as us tomorrow for an evaluation, why didn't anyone tell me!" he exclaimed in his head, threatening to go out there and ask them but decided not to and because Sasuke was catching on and tightened his hold on him and glared at him to forget about it.
When Sakura and Tsunade left Sasuke and Naruto jumped down from the tree "Teme you could have taken your hand off my mouth" Naruto was wiping his mouth with his shirt "Like you could keep quiet dobe" Sasuke retorted, Naruto stopped wiping his mouth. "Sasuke can you believe Sakura-chan's meeting with the Anbu Council without telling us!" he asked appalled, Sasuke just shrugged not bothering to tell him he already knew before Tsunade did.
"I knew she was high in the ranks now but this is HUGE" Naruto was basically talking to himself Sasuke was ignoring him, but something Naruto said actually reached him from his thoughts "What if those Anbu Council guys are like super hot and they like Sakura-chan and they take advantage of the situation and they use their evaluation against her!" Naruto panicked looking like he was about to cry and kill someone at the same time.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him and whacked him upside the head so hard he fell to the ground in a flash, Sasuke himself didn't know why he reacted like that even though he knew what Naruto was saying was never going to happen. He involuntarily used more force than he should have and that confused him but ignored it "TEME WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke turned around "Your saying nonsense Dobe" he scoffed and walked away, Naruto thought about it for a while "Yeah Sasuke's right I'm thinking too much" he grinned and ran off.
Sakura was busy getting everything she needed for who knows how long the Anbu Council will keep them. When she was done she slung the black backpack over her shoulder and grabbed her black cloak and left her house, she didn't bother going to Tsunade and say goodbye but went straight to the gate.
"Leaving without saying goodbye Sakura" a disapproving voice said from behind her. Sakura turned around with a blank expression "I thought you were confident that I'll come back, so what's the use of saying goodbye" she retorted.
Tsunade shook her head "I did and this is just like you" she sighed. "WAIT!" Naruto called running full speed at them, when he reached Sakura he was panting and grabbed her shoulders "Sakura-chan come back soon ok" he said with his usual large grin. Sakura gave a smug smile "I'll see what i can do Naruto" Tsunade interrupted "Naruto how did you- never mind you didn't tell anyone about this right?" she asked narrowing her eyes warningly. Naruto quickly shook his head franticly "No" he answered truthfully. "Good because this is a classified Anbu matter" she said.
Sakura was getting impatient she had to leave now if she was going to arrive in the Land of Iron as expected "I'm going now" she said turning around and ran off through the trees in a blink of an eye. Naruto smiled "Good Luck Sakura-chan" he whispered knowing she couldn't hear what he just said, Tsunade was touched by his affection for her apprentice. "Let's go, I'll give you a mission" she said walking away. "Wait what mission Baa-chan!" he asked running after her.
Neji and Shikamaru saw the whole thing and were baffled "In case that always happens when Sakura leaves for a mission i shouldn't be concerned, but I'm positive it doesn't" Shikamaru said, Neji agreed "It's Anbu business and from the looks of what just happened it could take a long amount of time to complete, it's none of our business" the Hyuuga prodigy said. Shikamaru sighed and walked off with Neji dismissing the topic.