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"Sumimasen! Have you guys been waiting long?" Ino shouts as runs towards the group from a distance.

"Daijobu. Now we have everyone, I will explain this mission." Mitsuko says. "Be advised that this is an S-ranked mission, which means lives are at stake here, we mustn't perform in any actions that would risk the well-being of the team."

"Do you know the current location of Sasuke at this point?" Tenten asks.

"The only thing I know is that they're going towards the northern exit of the Fire Country, and we cannot allow that to happen. If Sasuke leaves the Fire Country boundaries, we'll have no way of tracking them." Mitsuko takes out a Nightmare Before Christmas notepad.

"Oh my god that is so cute! Where did you get it?" Ino asks.

"Thank you! I got it at Hot Topic!" Mitsuko answers smiling.

"There's a Hot Topic in Konoha? Get out! We have to go shopping there one day!" Ino says sounding very excited.

"Umm… can get back on track here please?" Naruto pokes at Mitsuko.

"Oh, right." Mitsuko clears her throat. "This is the mission formation I have planned. First off, I will be in the front line spotting any changes in the environment with my Sukerugan." Mitsuko sketches herself on her notepad. "Naruto, you'll be second so you can support me in any frontline battles."

"Awesome!" Naruto jumps up in the air.

"Third will be you, Tenten. With your excellent weapon skills, being in the middle will allow you to both attack and defend for the group. And since you're a distant fighter, the middle will offer enough protection for you to initiate attacks."

"Roger!" Tenten says.

"Fourth comes Ino, being in the back of the group allows you to perform surreptitious attacks such as your Shintenshin no jutsu. And lastly, Hinata, you will be last to spot traps and track down enemies with your Byakugan. Understood?"

"Yes, all clear." Hinata and Ino say simultaneously.

"With that being said, we shall proceed…" Mitsuko is interrupted by a weak female voice. Haruno Sakura approaches the team.

"Naruto…" Saukra says quietly.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto says, looking very surprised to see her.

"Sakura-chan, I am sorry but Tsunade-sama clearly stated that we cannot bring you along with us on this mission. Your emotional attachments towards Sasuke will distract you from our goal." Mitsuko says. : Then again, why did Tsunade-sama recommend Naruto on this mission…:

"Naruto… onegai… bring Sasuke-kun back…" Tears being to swell up in Sakura's eyes. "I couldn't do it… I couldn't stop Sasuke-kun…" Droplets of tears fall from Sakura's eyes as she tries to mutter out words.

Naruto pauses for a moment to look at the ground, his expression frustrated. Raising his head he shouts, "Sakura-chan! Don't worry about a thing, I will bring Sasuke back in no time!" Naruto smiles and gives Sakura the 'nice guy pose'. :I will bring Sasuke back if it's the last thing I do.:

"Thank you Naruto…" Sakura sobs.

"Okay, we must not waste anymore time here. Mina, Ikuze!" Mitsuko shouts and dashes off, her team-mates follow closely behind her.

('o')

The team now travelling at full speed, is now far from their starting point at Konoha. Mitsuko's mind is flooded with thoughts as she tries to focus her attention to her surroundings. "Everyone should begin to raise their awareness at this point, the further we travel into the woods, the higher the chances there being traps laid around."

":Sigh: I still can't believe Sasuke-kun would run away from us like that." Ino says, "What has gotten into him?"

"What ever it is, I'll snap his mind back to reality." Naruto says, cracking his knuckles.

"Naruto stop!" Mitsuko shouts.

"Wha-what? Naruto makes an immediate stop on a tree branch, almost losing his balance.

"Hinata-chan, would you please check out the area for us?" Mitsuke asks.

"Oh okay…" Hinata performs a series of hand seals and shouts, "Byakugan!" Hinata scans the area with her eyes. "There's a dense area in front of us filled with booby traps, I believe it will be rather difficult for us traverse through this part of the woods."

"I knew it." Mitsuko says while she paces back and forth. "Such a heavy amount of traps can only mean one thing, they've stopped." Mitsuko stops and think for a moment, and then starts doing a combination of hand seals. "Sukerugan!" Mitsuko stares straight forwad into the dense woods. "I'm picking up a series of sound waves, frequencies of 220, 330, 440, and 550 hertz, despite interference, their amplitude matches at 110 decibels. Judging from that, they're within a three-mile radius. Since we can't go straight through, we should split up into two teams to approach them. Hinata-chan and Tenten-chan, you two go from the right, the rest of us from the left."

"Wakarimasu da." The Konoha shinobis dispatched.