When a 12 years old Haruno Sakura thought about where she would be at the age of 20, she always saw herself as the content wife of Uchiha Sasuke. They would probably have a little boy by then, who would look exactly like his father and would have a baby sister on her way soon. This thought alone made the young girl squeal in delight every time she ended up fantasizing about it.

At 16, she didn't want to become Sasuke's wife anymore. The realization that he didn't hesitate even the slightest to kill her hit her so hard, that any romantic feelings she had towards him evaporated. Now, she just wanted to bring him back to Konoha. She imagined herself to be a successful medic nin and a kunoichi regarded as a formidable enemy in every bingo book around the continent at the beginning of her 20s. Oh yes, and her having more curves.

At 18, with a war behind her back, she just wanted to make sure that all of her loved ones would be safe. The epidemic that followed the war killed many people… including her parents. The grief that she felt back then was immense. Not even the pain of being impaled by Sasori could rival it. She thought that this pain will never subside, not even in two years, so she didn't have any future aspirations.

At 20, Haruno Sakura's life was different in many aspects than her past selves imagined it to be. She wasn't married, not even engaged, but had a quite stable relationship with someone. The man wasn't Sasuke though. Her opinion on having children at this time of her life was certainly different as well. She wanted to have children, but couldn't picture herself with a baby currently. Her training under Tsunade finished two years ago, her mentor stating that there was nothing left for her to teach.

After Kakashi became Hokage, Team 7 got disbanded, each member going their separate ways. Sasuke left the village together with Naruto, travelling around the continent, gaining new experiences. Though neither Kakashi, nor the council was delighted by their plan, they couldn't really do much when it came to the most powerful ninja. Sai and Yamato went back to Anbu, the two constantly going on dangerous missions. After the war, a lot has changed; the nations ceased their fighting against each other and started working together in order to erase rouge ninjas.

And Sakura? She was currently in a very precarious situation. Each and every part of her body hurt, like never before. Slowly, she opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She was alone in a dimly lit room, its brick walls looking shabby with not even one window on them. The only entrance was a metal door at the other side of the cell. Sakura was sitting on the concrete floor, her hand stretched out, bound to the wall. She tried to run chakra in her fists, probing the restraints, letting out a wince when she felt searing hot pain course through her veins. The shackles repelled chakra, great. Her mind started sketching plans of her escape, but their level of efficiency was really low, since she barely knew anything about the place she was held as prisoner.

She hoped that the midgets weren't captured, but she immediately shook her head at the thought. They did not get captured. She gave them enough time to distance themselves from the enemy ninja, and hopefully by this time they already crossed the border of Fire. They'll find an outpost immediately and then alert Konoha about their botched mission.

But what if not? What if they sent another unit after them and they got captured, even…no. That won't happen, that can't happen, she'd be devastated if it really happened. Who knew that she'd grow so fond of this trio of midgets?

6 months earlier…

"You give me a what?" Green eyes widened at the words of the silver haired man sitting in front of her.

"A genin team." Kakashi stated drolly, his demeanour urging the young woman to punch him. Too bad that causing any kind of physical harm to the Hokage outside of training was considered felony.

"A teacher? Me? But I've got a hospital to run and-"

"Both Tsunade and I think that you need a change of scenery."

"What…" Sakura felt her jaw slacken and her usually fully stocked arsenal of words disappearing. "What do you mean about change of scenery?"

She could feel the relaxedness around Kakashi change as he leaned forward in his seat, elbows resting on the top of his crowded desk.

"Having a nervous breakdown in the middle of the hospital's hall can raise a lot of brows, Sakura."

Ah.

It being one of the most embarrassing moments in her life, her consciousness tried to bury that certain memory as deep as she could. Too bad that some people didn't think like that.

"It's complicated." Green eyes looked to the side, not wanting to keep eye contact with her superior. This whole conversation was starting to get more and more awkward.

"Of course it is, that's why you'll have some off time. You know, to sort things out."

"Do I have a say in this?"

"No. And before you try: don't make me pull the boss card."

Sakura sucked in her breath, counting to ten in her head.

"Don't punch him. Don't punch him. Don't punch him. Don't punch him." She repeated the words like it was an actual prayer used by some new age religious cult.

"I hate you." She stormed out, slamming the door behind her for emphasis. After all, if she couldn't cause physical harm to her beloved Hokage, then she could at least to inanimate objects.

One day later she waited for her students at training ground number three, sitting against one of the wooden posts, a folder in her lap. Her green eyes scanned the information written on the parchments about the three members of her new team. It wasn't like she didn't read the damn document the night before. Twice. And before anyone would misinterpret her actions: Sakura wasn't nervous; she only thought that as a good ninja, her duty was to know the enemy.

Nishimura Akira was 12 years old, had unruly brown hair and forest green eyes. His graduation scores seemed to be average, only his genjutsu skills seemed to be worth noting. The boy comes from a civilian family which moved to Konoha before his birth from the countryside.

Yamamoto Kenji, a blonde haired and grey eyed boy of 13 years. He barely passed his tests, only his taijutsu skills helped him at graduating with an acceptable score. It was quite surprising, considering the fact, that both of his parents were highly capable jonin.

Kusakabe Mirai, the only female genin in her team could be considered a prodigy. She graduated the academy at the age of 10 with flying colors. With her being the first ninja in her civilian family was even more admirable. And she didn't lack in the beauty department: her violet hair and amber eyes made her an exotic beauty, and she was even taller than her male teammates.

All in all, Team 5 could be considered average, but with some softening around the edges, they can become a really good team. If they pass her test. A devilish grin appeared on her face as she fished out a pair of silver bells from her pocket. She couldn't wait to see the look on their face when she tells them the rules. Sakura stood up the moment she saw the kids approaching, putting the bells back in her pocket.

"Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura, your teacher." She stood up and smiled at the three genin. They returned her greeting with introducing themselves to her and bowing when they finished.

"Good, at least they are polite."

"Do you have any questions?"

"Can you really destroy a mountain with your fist?" Kenji asked, earning a chuckle from the pink haired woman.

"A mountain is a bit exaggerated."

"And what about the time when you created a canyon?" Mirai continued.

The kind of rumors that circulated about her really concerned Sakura. Sure, she was a quite powerful ninja, and she could destroy bigger rocks, and she could create huge crack on the earth, but these urban legends that people spread were ridiculous. Well, at least this explains the lack of dates she had in these past couple of months. Who would want a girlfriend who could obliterate a mountain?

"Well, now that we cleared out some rumors, how about you share a few things about yourself?" Her pupils stood in complete silence, all looking at their feet. "Come on, don't be afraid. Mirai, please tell us something about yourself."

"Well." The girl chewed on her lower lip, practically whispering while she talked. "I like to read books about ninjutsu…and sometimes about famous ninja…" She squeezed her hands so tightly that her fingers became red. "That's all I can tell you about myself."

"Akira?"

"Um…" He rubbed the back of his head. "I like fishing and hunting…my father sometimes takes me with him."

"And what about you, Kenji?" All eyes set on the blonde.

"I don't like to talk about myself." Kenji mumbled, folding his arms under his chest.

"How about just a little bit? Like what's your favorite color?" But Sakura didn't get a response from him.

"Oh, come on man." Akira was annoyed to say the least.

"I said that I don't want to tell anything."

"'Oooh, I want to be a mysterious guy.' Quit being such a tryhard."

"What did you say?"

"Were you too busy brooding?"

The two boys started a glaring match, and had it not been for her quick intervention, they would've started a brawl. She grabbed their ears and pulled as hard as she could, without ripping them off their head.

Great. Absolutely fantastic. She has a genius who seems like she can faint the moment she has to talk to someone, a boy who likes to start fights and one that is too busy being an emo. Sakura secretly wished that they would fail the test, so she wouldn't have to deal with them.

"If you start a fight again, I'll make you run a hundred laps around the city. Do you understand?"

"Ouch!" They both cried, trying to remove her hands.

"Do. You. Understand?" She pulled harder.

"Yes." They replied in unison. Sakura let go, the boys falling on the ground and rubbing their ear with a pained look on their faces.

"You can't do this!" Akira glared.

"Trust me; you don't want to find out what I can do to you." Her voice was menacing and it really pleased her that it worked on the kids as well. Ah, she'll be such a good teacher. "Now that we introduced ourselves, it's time to get serious." Sakura chirped, her complete change in demeanour surprising her future students.

"Are we going already on a mission?" Akira inquired enthusiastically, already forgetting about his aching ear.

"No. You still have to pass a test in order to become members of a team."

"What?!" All three of them asked in unison.

It was really entertaining to see their shocked faces. She and the boys might have looked the same when Kakashi announced their impending test. At least this explains the reason why Kakashi was such a sadist to them during their genin years. She might actually enjoy this teaching stuff.

"The rules are really simple. You have to obtain one of these bells before sundown." She showed them the two bells. "Fail the test, and you go straight back to the Academy."

"But…there are just two bells…and there's three of us." Mirai trailed off.

"Not everyone graduates the Academy straight away. Good luck!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving three confused children behind.

Hello everyone!

I know that I still have an ongoing story, but I just wanted to share this one as well with you. Hopefully I'll manage to update at least bi-weekly with summer vacation around the corner :)

Thanks for reading!