Disclaimer: I own neither of the franchises mentioned here.

(...)

It was a perfect day. There was no other way to put it. Sure, Sakura could try to recite a bunch of fancy words to describe how lovely it was, but it would most likely pale in comparison to the simpler word.

The sun rose high in the horizon taking away the remaining purplish hues tinting the sky from the night before replacing it with the brightest shade of blue Sakura could think of.

The cool morning air left an unpleasant chill in her body, raising goosebumps in her exposed skin forcing her to clasp her cloak closer to her body. In days like this, she regretted her choice of clothing. Despite that, she much rather froze till she became a pink haired ice cube than to admit she missed summer. There was nothing pleasant about being drenched in sweat and sticky, it didn't matter how much Ino tried to convince her otherwise with her argument of, "It's bikini season, Sakura! Lets go to the beach."

She scoffed, fixing her cloak one more time. Around her, the streets of Konoha were slowly coming back to life. The streets vendors were readying their stands, unloading boxes full of vegetables and fruits in a colorful arrangement that could catch people's attention with ease. The treat of fresh food was hard to resist, "Even for me," she thought as she made her way towards Mito-san stand to buy an apple and maybe some oranges for Naruto.

The elder woman received her with a kind smile that accentuated the wrinkles in her aged face, "Good morning, Haruno-chan," she greeted as she picked the brightest apple in her stand to give to the kunoichi, "You have a mission today?" She asked, frowning, shaking her head in disapproval, "Godaime-sama is overworking you, Haruno-chan," she muttered, the last part squeezing Sakura's hands gently, "You're barely around the village."

Sakura handed her the money, and feeling the need to defend her shishou, she interjected, "That's not true Mito-san," she smiled in reassurance, "This is my first mission in a month, and if Tsunade-sama needs me to leave the village in daily basis to keep it safe, I'll gladly do it. But I appreciate your concern, Mito-san." She added the last part to soften her words, she hadn't meant to sound so defensive. It's just that she was tired of people telling her she needed a break, first her parents and now Mito-san. She was fine really, getting a proper 8 hours of sleep and eating healthy, she was a medic! She knew how to take care of herself.

But she understood Mito-san concerns. Whilst she wasn't exactly going on mission out of the village all the time, she was still doing her duty as a Kunoichi by helping Tsunade-sama, like organizing paperwork, scheduling and rescheduling meetings, oversee the hospital staff and most importantly, making sure her Shishou wasn't sneaking sake into her office.

To put it simply, she was a glorified assistant of sorts. She had been a little offended at first when her Shishou had made the suggestion, her own childish insecurities whispered taunts and mocked her progress till her Shishou explained her reasoning.

Tsunade's back was turned, facing the village, "I have nothing left to teach you, Sakura," she said after a pause, "You have surpassed my expectations and I have no doubt you'll surpass my abilities in no time," she praised, unknowingly igniting a spark of pride and joy in her student, "But you still have much to learn, so take this opportunity to see the inner workings of the most important job in the village. After all, part of me is convinced you're going to be the one chasing around Naruto once he realizes there's more to being Hokage than a fancy robe."

Sakura understood then, shame filled her as she bowed her head, accepting her Shishou request, "Thank you for this opportunity Tsunade-sama, I wouldn't let you down!"

This way she would be able to support Naruto's dream in her own way. If she couldn't assist him in bringing back Sasuke then she would make sure she could help him once they returned.

That had been 2 years ago.

Sakura wasn't so naive anymore. The possibility of Sasuke returning to the village dissipated with each passing day. Seasons came and went fast, and everytime Sakura stood alone in the crowd of the seasonal festivals watching as the last leafs of the sakura tree fell.

She was sure part of her was withering along with the tree of her namesake.

She missed her teammates.

The world around her seemed to not care about them. The sun still rose high and bright every day and the moon still illuminated the night sky. Her other classmates, the self proclaimed Konoha twelve- or what remained of it- moved on with their life, too busy with their own teams to remember her. The last man standing.

So 3 years ago she had made a decision. She was going to become Tsunade-sama's apprentice so she could stand next to her boys. So she could help Naruto carry his burden and ease his pain. She was going to become the teammate they deserved, a fearsome kunoichi that could keep up with them.

Except that didn't happen. Sakura hadn't had much of a chance to showcase her progress in the battlefield with her teammates. Naruto rarely showed around, choosing to continue his endless pursuit in hopes of fixing a broken bond than to return to his home. Kakashi-sensei was a similar case, he was still in the village unlike Naruto, but he seemed to find comfort in leaving for long periods of time leaving her stranded and without much of a choice for her own missions. Most of them required a 3 man squad and a sensei, both which she didn't have, so Sakura found herself being the awkward kunoichi being added to already established teams, throwing their dynamics out the window with her lack of experience.

For someone that preached the importance of teamwork, Kakashi hadn't done a great job in actually teaching them the real meaning of it.

So she worked hard, studying her temporary teammates dynamics and techniques, coming to the conclusion that even if Sasuke hadn't left, they would never be like them. They moved almost in synchronization, each attack was based in the trust and faith they had in each other to watch their back when needed.

Even team 10, who Ino always complained about, worked flawlessly. Each of them apporting the same amount of effort in their work leaving Sakura flabbergasted. Team 7 could never do something like that.

Part of Sakura blamed herself and her lack of interest in her pre teens. But there was no point in crying over spilled milk, she could only move forward.

That's why, everyday for the past year's she had been storing more than half of her chakra in her forehead in the hopes that the byakugou seal could give her the last push she needed to reach her boys.

Behind her, a flock of birds flew by, their loud chirping broke Sakura of her inner musings, making her realize she had reached her destination: The Hokage tower.

(...)

The remaining members of team seven stood in the Hokage's office awaiting their newest mission details as Tsunade leaned back in her chair, taking her time to study the two shinobis in front of her. Their latest mission had taken a toll on them, she noticed. The time they had spent at Suna had reminded them of the reality of being a Shinobi, especially to the two youngest members. She doubted Naruto would forget the image of Gaara's lifeless body back in that cave, or that Sakura could forget the sensation of being pierced with a poisoned blade that ripped her insides as she fought to maintain consciousness long enough to administer the antidote.

Naturally her gaze landed on Sakura first. Amber eyes stared at her student, who met her gaze head on. A smirk appeared in Tsunade's lips, one she masked with the back of her hand to hide her inner thoughts. A mere three years ago, a little pink haired genin had knocked on her office's door begging to be trained by the sannin; and now, years later the same girl stood in front of her once again, this time as a battle hardened kunoichi.

Tsunade was proud.

Being in Tsunade's office brought a rush of emotion to Sakura. Excitement was the most prominent one, along with a pang of nervousness that sat in the pitch of her stomach.

She stood straight next to Naruto as they waited for their sensei to make his appearance. Tsunade-sama tapped her index finger rapidly against her wooden desk, filling the otherwise silent room.

Naruto had tried to make a joke, only to be glared at by the two females, and after swallowing nervously he chose to stay quiet.

To keep him busy, Sakura chose to give him one of the oranges she had purchased. Naruto beamed at her, accepting her gesture with eager hands, "Thank you Sakura-chan! I'm starving."

Kakashi chose to make his appearance in that moment. A small cloud of smoke filled the room as Kakashi materialized in the room, raising a hand in greeting, "Yo,"

Tsunade sighed and then opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Naruto's loud voice.

With his mouth full he shouted indignantly at their sensei, pointing one sticky finger in accusation, "You're late again!"

Sakura nodded in agreement, pointing her own finger at Kakashi, "We've been standing here for an hour sensei! What's your excuse this time?" She asked, resting a hand on her hip.

Kakashi grinned, patting both of his students in the back, "Well, my cute little students, I got lost in the road of life,"

Both Sakura and Naruto prepared to call him out when Tsunade cleared her throat.

A shill ran up their spine as they fearfully turned to face the Hokage.

Tsunade clasped her hands together as a serious expression filled her face killing away the emotions that previously filled the office, "If you're done with your shouting match, I would like to continue with our meeting," she waited for them to nod their head before speaking, "Good. Shizune, if you will,"

The door opened, revealing a serious looking Shizune carrying a mission scroll that she handed to Kakashi before she made her way to stand next to her mentor.

Shizune's hands moved in a blur as she formed four seals- tiger-hare-boar and tiger Sakura noted recognizing the hand seals. It was an "A" ranked jutsu designed to temporarily seal a room from the outside world. No one could enter or leave the room without Shizune's approval, and most importantly they were safe from prying eyes.

Kakashi was still reading the scroll when Tsunade spoke again, "I'm sure you heard the rumors, " she said to their sensei who stopped his reading to nod grimly.

"So they were true,"

"W-wait what rumors?!" Naruto asked confused, looking around for an answer as he scooted closer to Sakura to whisper in her ear, "Sakura-chan what are they talking about?"

"There's a rumor that our security has been breached," Sakura answered, earning a nod of confirmation from her Shishou. "There's a spy in our ranks,"

Naruto's eyes widened with surprise, "How is that possible? Konoha has the best security protocol of the hidden villages, believe it! " he announced proudly.

"No system is perfect and safe from breaching," Tsunade countered, "Not even ours, Tobirama-jii chan system was excellent and it served its purpose. Unfortunately, the world is evolving at a fast pace and our ancestors jutsus are becoming obsolete. The first incident occurred two months ago, nothing major, just an incident of miscommunication that resulted in a delay from one of our patrols. Something so banal hardly raised questions from the higher ups, and as a result our little spy took this opportunity to infiltrate the village."

Shizune chimed in, "We had received reports of missing files and scrolls from the Hokage's private library,"

Sakura gasped, "No one but selected personnel can access there!" She shook her head in disbelief, "Even I had a hard time getting a permit," she complained.

"Could they have inside help?" Kakashi asked, a hand rubbing his chin in deep thought, "The approval time for the permit takes around two months, if not more depending of how long it takes for the background check required from the elders,"

Tsunade nodded, "It's a possibility," she rose from her seat retrieving another scroll from one of the drawers of her desk, "Yesterday I received a report from team Kurenai, apparently there's been sightings of suspicious man wearing a black robe with red clouds wandering around the forest of death."

Naruto clenched his jaw, hands balled into fist in anger as he remembered Gaara's lifeless body, "The Akatsuki," he growled.

Sakura frowned as her right hand moved to caress her abdomen. She could still feel the tip of Sasori's poisoned blade piercing her skin.

Tsunade followed her student movement with worry, Sakura hadn't had much time to fully recover from her first serious battle, but she was the Hokage and sometimes she had to push her personal feelings aside, "You along with team Gai are the only ones with experience battling the Akatsuki, and since they are away in a mission in the land of tea I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you alone. This is only a recon mission so avoid battle at all cost."

"A recon mission?" Naruto asked in disappointment, shoulders slumped, "Why can we just kick his ass and bring him back to the village for interrogation?"

"He may be alone but he's still an Akatsuki, we don't know what he's capable of," Tsunade said, eyes narrowed, "I'm taking a risk by letting you go Naruto, so I expect you to behave." she warned him, "I don't want to hear your complaints, I can still change my mind and have the Inuzuka boy replace you."

His eyes widened and he gaped like a fish, "Kiba?!" He asked, alarmed.

Sakura smirked knowing her Shishou had won the argument.

Kakashi-sensei rolled the scroll shut, "Is there any more information on the enemy whereabouts?"

Tsunade shook her head, "Not that we know of," she said as she opened one of the drawers of her desk, producing a black piece of fabric, "The patrolling team found this stuck in a branch,"

Kakashi grabbed it and twirled it around in deep thought, "I'll use my dogs to track him down,"

Tsunade nodded in agreement, "Find his hideout and report back to me. You are dismissed." Her gaze turned to Sakura, and without words she was able to convey her worries, "Be safe." Sakura nodded in confusion as Tsunade placed Tonton in her hands, "Take Tonton with you, she has a good nose like Kakashi's dogs."

Sakura nodded, and gave a small smile to her Shishou, "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

(...)

Being in the forest of death brought back a rush of memories Sakura wasn't ready to revisit, so ignoring her inner turmoil she chose to focus on the task at hand. Her feet made no sound as she landed softly on the tree branch, a thin layer of chakra coated her soles to ensure she wouldn't fall down.

The canopy of trees clustered together successfully blocking most of the sun rays from illuminating the dark forest adding to the creepy air that haunted the place, forcing Sakura to move with caution, eyes wide with alertness and wariness.

Team seven was spread around in a triangle formation with Kakashi-sensei on the front guiding them, Naruto on the far left and Sakura at his right.

They weren't close together, each shinobi was at least ten meters away from each other to give room to maneuver around in case they were attacked. Tsunade might have advised them to avoid battle, but their enemy might have other plans.

Behind her, inside her backpack Tonton whined.

Slowing her pace Sakura glanced back at the little pig, "What's wrong Tonton?" She asked, receiving another whine as an answer.

Worried, she reached for her communicator, "Sensei, it's everything okay?"

There was a buzzing sound before an answer came, "Yes, so far there's no sight of the enemy. Another kilometer and will be done with "sector A", so we should be done in an hour or so and then we'll move to "sector B"," he informed them.

"At this pace we won't be done today!" Naruto complained.

Sakura sighed before answering, "We might have to set camp in one of the watchtowers,"

"Aww really?!" Naruto whined, "This place gives me the hibbie jibbies,"

Sakura bit her lip in contemplation, she understood what Naruto meant. She had been uncomfortable as soon as she entered the forest, the sensation of being watched was still present despite the fact Orochimaru wasn't around anymore. Still, she didn't want to feed into his paranoia, "Stop complaining Naruto, and don't be so loud damn it!"

"What do you mean Sakura-chan?"

"Sakura's right Naruto, we don't need the enemy to know our location thanks to your shouting."

Sakura could perfectly picture Naruto's pouting face as he muttered an apology before going silent.

Listening to their voices had helped ease some of the tension in Sakura's body. A little more relaxed she picked her pace again, making sure to keep an eye out for any abnormality.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw a strange bump on the ground halting her in place. Tonton whined again as Sakura dialed her sensei, "Kakashi-sensei I think I found something." She spoke, not taking her eyes off it.

"Stay there. We're on our way."

Doing as told Sakura stayed in her spot prepared to jump into action at any moment. Turns out she didn't have to wait long for her team to reach her. They landed soundlessly next to her, their body just as tense as hers. Naruto for once had stayed quiet, his blue eyes busy taking in the scene before them. Besides the bump and the eerie silence in the forest, nothing seemed out of place.

Kakashi-sensei turned to them and gave a small nod, signaling the beginning of their reckon mission. He lifted his headband, a lone sharingan stared at the ground hoping to find what they were looking for, "I don't sense a chakra signature," he muttered, lowering his headband back in place.

Her brows knitted together in thought, "Should we go down to take a look?"

Kakashi pondered at her words for a few seconds before giving a nod of approval, "It would be wise, yes. We need to make sure this is the spy's hideout before reporting back. Stay alert you two, we don't know what might be lurking in the shadows,"

Feeling a chill run down her spine Sakura adjusted her backpack, Tonton head barely seen from under her hood fully hid into her cloak quieting her whines, feeling sorry for the pig, Sakura gently patted, -what she could only assume- was the pig's head, "Its okay Tonton, Kakashi-sensei made sure there's no one around," she said softly, unsure if she was trying to soothe the animal or herself. Tsunade's words played in her head over and over again making her feel strangely wary of this whole thing. Next to her, Naruto swallowed thickly before flashing her a nervous grin. He too felt wary of the place.

"Don't be ridiculous! Sensei told you that the place was clear. Man up, Sakura!" She chastised herself and with that in mind she jumped following after their sensei.

A patrol around the area revealed a possible entrance hidden away by long vines that masked the whole thing as if it were meant to be there. A closer inspection confirmed Sakura's suspicions, they had been manually placed there judging by the fact they weren't connected to the rest of the greenery. They were just laying there, hiding away its secret with discretion.

Kakashi went in first, his two students quietly trailing behind him resuming their previous formation. Naruto to his left and Sakura to his right, each of them holding their own flashlights.

Despite the white artificial light provided by the flashlights the place was still dark. The shadows seemed to swallow the light almost completely leaving them with a barely visible path.

They stumbled around, more often than not colliding into each other or with the jagged rocks that covered the walls. That, along with the muddy and slippery ground made their descend torturous and annoying.

The bump had turned out to be an underground cave of sorts created by a doton ninjutsu Kakashi-sensei had informed after taking a long look at it.

The humidity present in the air created a permanent coat of moist to clung to their skin, leaving them sticky and uncomfortable.

Of course Naruto complained, growling every time his foot caught on something and he ended up using the wall for support. The result being bloody hands and getting his orange pants dirtied with mud, "Aww man, this is going to be a bitch to clean,"

Sakura giggled as healed the cuts, "Perhaps it's time for you to find a new style?" She suggested, the corner of her mouth lifted in a teasing smirk, "This is the universe trying to tell you it's time to give up the orange clothes," she joked lightening the mood.

He stammered, rubbing his newly healed hand pouting, "What is wrong with my clothes? They're fantastic! Only the super cool ninjas use them, right Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi grinned but remained silent as he resumed his pace.

"Wait sensei! Answer my question!" He ran trying to catch up with him, "Stop walking faster, damn it!"

Sakura sighed feeling more relaxed now than in the beginning. If there was an enemy waiting for them, they would've come out by now.

Following Naruto's obnoxious voice she jogged in their direction, using chakra to keep herself from slipping on the muddy ground like Naruto had.

The idea of washing mud from her white cloak wasn't appealing at all.

They had reached the end of the cave. A single disorganized bed lay there, along with a shelf filled with glass jars with herbs and other trinkets, a wooden desk covered with opened books and scrolls and a fireplace in the middle of it.

"Someone had been staying here for quite a while now," and with that thought, Sakura had returned to her previous mood, cautiously stepping around peering at the contents lying on the desk.

Kakashi-sensei took it upon himself to summon Pakkun, instructing the small dog to sniff around in hopes he would catch the spy's scent. The dog made a show of loudly sniffing the ground, tail waving energetically as he paced around.

"Tonton," Sakura called, "Can you help Pakkun?"

Tonton made a sound, peeking out from her backpack to sniff the air, and shaking her head she retreated back to her hiding.

"Those herbs mask his scent," Pakkun said jumping on the bed, sniffing the sheets and the pillow.

Sakura walked towards the shelf, "I'll take care of it," she offered, grabbing a handful of the jars. Without a proper label and lack of light Sakura had a hard time deciphering its contents.

She could follow Pakkun's example and sniff it. An image of her bending over sniffing the ground had her grimacing and setting the jars far away from the dog.

When she returned she was disheartened to discover they hadn't made much progress. Kakashi was busy reading one of the scrolls whilst Naruto stared at another. It was obvious the blonde had no idea what he was looking at.

Kakashi-sensei pocketed the scroll, "We're done here. Grab what you can and let's get moving." He spoke with narrowed eyes.

Confused Naruto held up his scroll for them to see, "Is this Fuinjutsu?" He asked no one in particular. The strange symbols written in it were unfamiliar to both of his teammates.

Feeling the need to take a proper look at it Sakura took it from him, flashing her flashlight on it, frowning once she found a recent red smudge on it, "Aww Naruto, you got blood on it!" Instinctively she reached to rub it off, accidentally creating the opposite effect by smearing it even more.

Pain shot through her body as she gasped for air, her vision suddenly blurry.

Naruto reached for her, screaming and eyes wide with fear, "Sakura-chan!" He yelled as his hand touched the empty space Sakura had just vacated.

Kakashi muttered a curse under his breath as the weight of what just happened threatened to crush him. He looked over to Pakkun for confirmation.

The dog bobbed his head, a sour expression on his face, "She's gone, Kakashi."

So what do yo guys think of the first chapter ?

Let me know, I would love to hear your thoughts about it.