Resurfaced Mission

"Ja mata!" Naruto waved. "And thanks for the meal!" The two ninjas returned the wave and went back into the restaurant to resume their conversation.

Naruto rubbed his stomach. That was a good five plates he ate. He couldn't remember the last time he ate so well. During his training days, Jiraiya would give him only one plate and no dessert. Back when he was 12, he thought that it was the 'unfairest' thing in the world, but now he knew his perverted sensei had been right. It was definitely harder to move around on a full stomach, much more to fight with one.

Naruto peered around at the familiar shops and houses in the village. So many things had changed. He did not remember anyone at the shops or restaurants, yet they all seemed to know who he was. They all greeted him with a smile and he greatly appreciated that. It was a change from the reactions he got as a young boy.

Just then, he heard a woman's voice pleading for someone to return.

"Tsunade-sama, please! You've had five shots already. Go back to the office to finish your paper-work." A woman with black hair yelled. Naruto glanced in the direction she was calling. There, he saw a dismissive woman with blond pigtails and large breasts walking away from the other woman. Naruto chuckled at how some people just never changed.

"Oi! Baa-chan! Long time no see!" he called out. If he were just any Joe Shmoe, the fifth Hokage would have chopped him up and made him into sushi for his rude reference to her. Luckily for Naruto, he wasn't just any Joe Shmoe.

"Eh! Naruto! You're back already?" she called back. "Shizune, I'll catch up with you later. I have to speak with the future Hokage."

Naruto couldn't help but feel inflated after that remark.

Shizune shrugged and sighed a defeated sigh as the two walked away together. Tsunade's pig was left behind and crawled itself into Shizune's arms.

"Ahh… Ton Ton. She'll never get her work done now…"

Tsunade and Naruto walked side-by-side towards Konoha Hospital, where the medical Hokage was needed for some recovery inspections. They had exchanged recent news with each other and even reminisced old memories.

After a moment of silence, Naruto asked about Sakura.

"What about her?" Tsunade asked with a smirk plastered on her face. Nothing escaped her keen observations. She had noticed his attraction towards her apprentice and was surprised that he had even a heart for romance. Naruto looked away as a pink hue spread across his face. Despite his physical maturity, he was still an amateur with girls and immature with asking ABOUT girls.

"Nothing really. She just…um…improved a lot. She was never like that when Sas-" the boy trailed off. Saying the Uchiha's name seemed like an unforgivable, forbidden secret that no one was allowed to speak of.

Tsunade could sense his change of tone.

"It's alright." She said. "You can say it."

Naruto shook his head and decided not to coast that direction of the conversation. He decided to stick with the topic of Sakura.

"So, you taught Sakura all those moves. Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjustu. It was quite impressive. Even Kakashi-sensei said so." He informed. "I'd like so see how she is with medical jutsu."

Tsunade shrugged.

"Well, you can see it now. She's working a shift at the Hospital with the injured ninjas that just came back from missions. Normally, I wouldn't allow any visitors, but I think today's an exception." She winked. Naruto gleamed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll take you to her division now if you like." Tsunade offered as they neared the entrance doors of the Hospital. Naruto smiled. This would be interesting.

Sakura placed a reassuring hand on one of her male patients' bare shoulder.

"Ok, now ease the muscle. I need you to relax. My jutsu won't work if you are too tense." She cooed in her soft voice. The young man's torso eased at her instruction. She ran her slender fingers across his built chest and could feel his muscles flex as she did this motion. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. Damn men and their stupid hormones. She muttered in her mind. Sakura hated it when she worked in the male section. Almost every male shinobi patient she dealt with was young and quite cocky. Having a female nurse feel them up only added to their ego. Every time she had that shift, she'd get picked up with the worst lines, whistled at by the rudest guys, and even slapped on the rear end a couple of times. Those guys would usually end up in the Hospital longer than prescribed and she would get her taijutsu training dose for the day.

Sakura lifted her hand from his chest and could sense his disappointment. She sighed before forming quick hand seals. Ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon. She ended the combo with the tiger seal. Her hands began to radiate green chakra as she moved them towards his chest, where the torn tissue and muscle were located.

"This might hurt a bit." She forewarned. The shinobi gave her a warm smile with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm sure I'll be fine."

Sakura glared up at the ceiling, inwardly cursing Tsunade for teaching her this technique. With gritted teeth, she moved behind him and placed her arms around him to form a seal around the damaged area. She could feel his perverted smile widen at their 'embrace'.

"Ready?" she forced a venomous question through her teeth. The man placed a hand on hers.

"Baby, I'm ready when you are."

With precise chakra control, Sakura released a dose of exactly two liters of pure chakra, forcing it into his chest a little harsher than it was supposed to. But she did that purposefully. Sakura grinned in satisfaction as he groaned in pain at the unexpected shock of the dose. He immediately released his hand from hers.

She laid him down on the bed and placed the sheets over him.

"Now, you'll feel a little drowsy, but it's all normal." She said, forcing every laughing urge to stay hidden until she left the room. Within seconds, the shinobi was knocked out cold into slumber.

Sakura shook off the tingling feeling in her hands and picked up her charts.

"Yamazaki Takai tissue repair, check." She smiled slyly, ticking off the box on her charts, right next to his name.

"You went easy on this one, Sakura. It's not like you." A voice chuckled behind the curtains, nearly scaring Sakura to death. She pushed the curtains away and was met with the faces of her sensei as well as her former blond teammate.

"Tsunade-sama! Naruto! What are you doing here?" she asked with a little fear in her voice at the unexpected surprise. Naruto winked.

"Sakura-chan is very popular with the male population." He giggled as if he were an immature two year old hearing the word "fart" and "booger". Sakura instinctively bonked him on the head, which instantly shut him up. She glared at the Hokage when she began to laugh.

"Tsunade-sama! Why do you keep placing me on these shifts when you know that these men are nothing more than sex-hungry perverts!" she demanded. Tsunade was still laughing in amusement.

"Not true, Sakura. They're not all perverts. They just want to be around a beautiful nurse like you. You have many requests in almost all the divisions of the Hospital, Sakura. You should feel flattered." She complimented.

"Yeah, instead, I feel like a waitress at a strip club…" she muttered. "Anyway. Why are you here, Naruto? Shouldn't you be out buying as many bowls of ramen as you can?"

Naruto patted his belly and shook his head.

"Already ate with Ino and Chouji. Plus I wanted to see the prettiest nurse in Konoha in action. Could you possibly do a check up on me?" he winked, unzipping his jacket.

Bonk.

Naruto found himself on the floor.

Tsunade's roared some more.

"He's only joking, Sakura. Take it easy. I'll tell you what. Your next patient check-up will be your last for the day and you can spend the rest of the day training in the stadium. I just need to have a couple of words with Naruto and his team about an upcoming mission."

Sakura's ears perked at her teacher's words.

"What mission?" she asked with wide eyes, as if a dog ready to be given his treat for sitting. She had been itching for a mission assignment for weeks but Tsunade gave her no opportunities, believing that she was better off in the Hospital. Tsunade's smile evaporated into seriousness as she cleared her throat, attempting to change the subject.

"Uh, nevermind." She stuttered. "Now about your training-"

"What team? Naruto will be leaving the village with a team? How important is the mission?" she continued, disregarding the Hokage's dismissive tone.

"Nothing. It's classified information. Now-"

"Naruto just came back and he's already assigned for something! I've been here all this time and I haven't gotten a single decent mission request yet!" Sakura exclaimed, now raising her voice to an angry tone. Naruto kept quiet at their growing argument. Since when was Sakura so excited about going on a mission? Back when they were in team seven, Sakura never spoke of wanting more missions. In fact, she had been the one hesitant to go each time. The only thing that made her go was the fact that Sasuke would be going on the trip as well. Other than that, Sakura hated missions. Well, at least that's what he thought.

"Why does Naruto get to have a team? I thought that all the jounins and most of the chuunins were away at country of Sand? How come I can't be part of his team? I've worked with Naruto before!" Sakura was now enraged but Tsunade kept her collected self.

"This is between Naruto and m-"

"Is it about Sasuke?" she bluntly asked as she lowered her eyebrows. Her hands had now formed into fists as a burning desperation ignited in her eyes. Tsunade slammed her hand down on a wall and it instantly crumbled to pieces.

"This does not concern you!" her voice echoed through the silent hospital halls. All eyes were on them now. Sakura looked down in both anger and shame at raising her voice at her own teacher and Hokage. Tsunade tried to clear her throat to calm herself down but there was nothing there to clear.

"Now, you will go to the stadium, and you will give me 500 pushups, 600 crunches, and 1000 laps. Report back to my office by sunset with what you can accomplish." She coldly walked away beckoning Naruto to join.

After a few minutes, Sakura was left alone glaring at the ground.

"Kuso." She spat under her breath. This was about Sasuke. They were ready to resume the mission they could not complete two years ago and they were not including her! Damn them! She had worked so hard for it! She even promised Naruto that the next time, they would do it together. Why didn't Tsunade pick her? She was more than ready for it. Besides, Sasuke was her teammate. If anything, she should've been the FIRST one they picked. She was, after all, a medical ninja. Did they still think so little of her?

Sakura bit her bottom lip, which she noticed was quivering. She looked up and gritted her teeth, plotting what she would do next. She took her charts and placed them under her arms before walking away in a straight posture.

Haruno Sakura would not be so easily dismissed.

Author's note: Still, this is the beginning, so not much excitement is happening. Nor is there any romance. But I'm still finishing my other two chapters. I have the ideas, the problem is that I can't get them on paper quick enough and I tend to forget them. So, I kindly ask for your patience in reading further. I really think that my version of their ending would be quite interesting. So please, stick with me till the end. And don't be afraid to review. I'd really like that. Thanks!