A/N: I know many of you are anxious for the SasuxSaku moment to come. Just hold on tight because it will come soon, or will it? 'evil chuckling'

Thank you all for your comments! Your remarks are inspiring me to keep on writing this piece!

xoxoxoxox

Hours after Sakura battled with her drunkenness, she sobered herself up and decided to get ready to go to the Godaime's office.

Wow. I wonder what this urgent ANBU mission will be? Tsunade-sama's voice sounded quite concerned when she left that voice message for me. I wonder if Naruto, Neji-san, Kiba-san, Shino-san, and Ten-Ten-chan got this message as well…

After she finished putting on her regular training gear, she departed to the Godaime's office.

"Neh. I wonder what mission Granny Tsunade will assign to us this time? I was actually enjoying my vacation with Hinata-chan!" Naruto had his arm behind his head and a look of annoyance on his face.

"You better be taking good care of my cousin, Uzumaki. You know what harm I can do to you if anything negative happens to her," Neji threatened as he scowled his silvery, pupiless-eyes at his azure orbs.

"Oh Neji-kun! Stop being so over-protective with Hinata-chan! You know she's capable of taking care of herself, and Naruto-kun pampers her," Neji's chestnut-haired girlfriend retorted to his threat. She was fixing the buns in her hair.

"Sorry Ten-Ten dear, but I can't help being protective of my cousin." He gave her a soft kiss on her lips. She blushed at the gesture and returned the favor.

Naruto, Ten-Ten, and Neji were standing in front of Godaime's office door, waiting for their colleagues to come so they can all go into her office together. It was approximately 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

"Yes, like what Ten-Ten-chan said, no need to worry, captain!" Naruto did a mock salute to his ANBU squad captain, "I treat Hinata-chan like she's a princess, dattebayo!"

The Byuukugan-user gave a small smile in acknowledgement to what he said. Ten-Ten gave Neji the "see-I-told-you-so" look.

"Uzumaki, you are one interesting lieutenant," Neji smirked at him.

"Ohayo!" Sakura greeted them with her cheery voice.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" Naruto and Ten-Ten greeted her in unison.

"Am I late?"

"Not really. Ten-Ten chan, Uzumaki, and I have been waiting here for about half an hour now. So far you're the only one that showed up," Neji replied, "so are you ready for another grueling mission, Haruno?"

"I guess, Neji-san. We all have to get used to them anyways," Sakura replied.

Shortly there after, Kiba and Shino arrived together.

"Hey everyone! Yahoo! We have another mission!" Kiba exclaimed. Shino just re-adjusted his sunglasses to greet them.

"Hey you guys! OK, now it's time to walk into Granny Tsunade's office now!" Naruto proclaimed as he opened the door.

"Ah, hello everyone!" Tsunade warmly greeted them, "I see that many of you got my phone call or voice message. Like I said, I have an urgent ANBU mission for your squad—"

"What will it be, Granny Tsunade?" Naruto interrupted with an annoyed tone.

"Haha, you brat. I'm surprised you're not as hyped up for a mission like you used to be in the past. I guess Hinata-chan put you in your place, neh?" everyone in the room started to chuckle. Naruto slightly blushed.

"Anyway, Sakura and Naruto, remember how Uchiha Itachi escaped the battle you had with the Akatsuki?"

Both of them slowly nodded their heads.

"Apparently, he has been spotted in the Hidden Cloud Village. I was informed about this by the Raikage from the Land of Lightning. Recently, a dozen of Jounins were found murdered at the village's gate, but one was found alive and still breathing. After he recovered from his injuries, he vaguely recollected the dangerous individual: he was tall, brooding, midnight-colored long hair, had unusual lines under his eyes, and crimson eyes. He also remembered how he looked into his eyes and he became trapped in a world of crimson and black, being stabbed repeatedly. It felt like he was enduring the pain for eternity, but realized it was just a powerful genjutsu. When I read the report from the Raikage, I informed him that this sounds like the missing-nin from our own village; former Akatsuki member Uchiha Itachi…"

Sakura's skin color started to drain out of her. Uchiha Itachi, the cold-hearted bastard who massacred his whole clan; who put 'him' through so much turmoil and angst. I can't believe Naruto and I let his ass run away during the battle! I still feel so disappointed at myself because of that! She squeezed her fists tightly beside her.

"The Raikage investigated the matter more, and found out that Uchiha Itachi is currently residing in the village at a secret hideout. They aren't entirely sure about his whereabouts in the village, but they suspect that he's somewhere in the rural area." Tsunade folded her raised hands and rested her chin on top of them, giving the ANBU squad a stern expression.

"I know that this is your first mission in the Land of Lightning. They rarely call for our help and duty, but this time they really need it," Tsunade cleared her throat, "everyone, your mission is to help the village to hunt down and execute Uchicha Itachi. If any of you are minimally informed, he is an S-class rank nin and is extremely dangerous. Proceed with caution. I also dispatched hunter-nins to help all of you on this mission, if it gets out of hand..."

"That fucking bastard!" Naruto angrily blurted out. He clenched his fists and was about to pound the Godaime's table, but Sakura held him back from doing so.

"Naruto and Sakura, please do not let your emotions get in the way of this mission. I know both of you are extremely disappointed because he escaped during the Akatsuki battle. Please compose yourself and take care of the mission," Tsunade solemnly told the both of them. She opened her drawer and took out a set of scrolls. She distributed one to each of them.

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama," Neji answered with a serious tone, "we will try our best to hunt him down."

They all proceeded to walk out of the office.

"Good luck to you all!" Tsunade called out after them. Then the door shut behind them.

"I am going to beat the living shit out of that motherfucker!" Naruto roared.

"Uzumaki, please tone down your voice and calm yourself down," Neji calmly replied.

Sakura felt as angry as Naruto, but tried her best to hide it. She was trying her best to calm down her ferocious teammate.

Just when I thought my life was hard enough, this has to happen…She thought to herself as she patted Naruto's back.

They continued walking down the Hokage establishment's corridor.

Sakura arrived at home and opened the door to her apartment.

I got to prepare myself for that mission tomorrow…