Ha! I finally got this chapter done! YES! It's short and a little...strange. But It'll work for now.

Chapter 2: The mission starts…

"Beautiful…" Sakura murmured to herself as she looked down on her homeland in the early light of dawn. She tilted her wings slightly and slide easily to the left, expertly catching a strong gust of wind and soaring higher. In a sudden wave of happiness, she banked downward in a free fall, twisting gracefully in a controlled spiral.

A grin found its way to her face as a rush of adrenaline hit her. Unfurling her wings in a smooth motion just before she came in contact with the ground, she maneuvered her body quickly as she flew at high speeds through the streets of Konoha. The few that were awake, mostly shop keepers and restaurant owners, paused in their activities to watch her fly by with pride in their eyes. She was the only daughter of their great leader, and she was loved by many.

Slowing slightly, she allowed her ears to be filled with the steady rhythm of her pumping wings. Sighing, she decided her fun was over for the time being and with a strong flap of her wings, shot straight up. Once high enough, she began to glide grace fully toward her and Lee's training grounds, located to the east of the village. As she came over the small clearing, she leaned to the right, slowly circling it from above.

Smiling slightly as she saw that Lee was already there and training, she flew down to him and did a quick fly by to get his attention. He stopped immediately and watched her fly tight circles around the clearing in awe.

"You're as early as always, Lee. I might have to start coming early just to prove I'm not as lazy as Shikamaru compared to you." Sakura said to him as she playfully whipped by, ruffling his black hair gently with her hand in the process. She received a big, sparkling grin, along with a nice guy pose from her bowl cut training partner in reply.

"Do not even think of thinking those kind of thoughts, my beautiful Sakura flower. I would consider it a sin for anyone to even consider that you are in any way like Shikamaru Nara other than in intelligence. As for my earliness, I was simply stretching, preparing for my long awaited duel with the lovely, black winged angel of the Hidden Leaf." He finished with another pose, making Sakura grin at him in amusement.

"You spoil me, Lee. I might just get cocky if you keep praising me like that. I'm landing now." Sakura began to decent gracefully, but lost her balance abruptly about five feet off the ground. Lee was their in a flash and caught her before she hit the ground. Sakura grinned sheepishly at him as he set her back on her feet.

"That still needs some work, doesn't it?" Sakura muttered, embarrassed.

"Don't worry my clumsy deity of the heavens. You will improve greatly with hard work and time." Lee said with a hopeful smile and a wink. It didn't work though…

"Time? Yeah, right! It's been 11 years since I learned to fly…and I'm 15 now!" Sakura let out a depressed moan and fell back to lay on the grassy ground. Sighing, she turned to Lee an said, "It's hopeless. Let's start training. I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself."

Lee nodded in eager agreement and said, "As you wish, my beautiful-" He was cut off from his attempt at a romantic statement, however, by a well aimed kick that narrowly missed his stomach. With that, the fight was on…

"Tsunade, I have a bad feeling about this!" Shizune shouted as she attempted to drag the older woman to the ground. Her attempts was futile though, as Tsunade just kept walking as though a full grown person and her pet pig weren't clutching her leg in an attempt to stop her.

Tsunade sighed in annoyance, but didn't slow her pace. "Shizune, let go. I'm going to get Sakura a decent husband even if it kills me."

Shizune shook her head frantically in disagreement. "What's wrong with being single! I mean, you're single! And I'm single, and Tonton here is single!" Shizune looked up hopefully as Tsunade came to a dead halt at her words. All her hope was flushed down the drain thou as she noticed Tsunade's murderous aura.

"What's wrong with it you ask?" The older woman's voice was low and held just a hint of insanity in it. "How will I get any grandkids before I die if my beautiful, rebel, talented, wild, angelic, violent, intelligence, dominant, control loving daughter has no man who can hold her interest and control her long enough for her to give birth to just one small child? I can't, and the only creature of the opposite sex she has shown any interest in at all, and not even in a romantic way, is Lee Rock and Kisame Hoshigaki. I'll die before I see her marry one of those two. That is why I'm going to make her, or try to make her, marry one of the heirs from the other lands. It can only have a couple out comes. We could easily crush two of the other kingdoms with only our sheer numbers. If we make a pact with one other kingdom, say in a marriage, we could gain total domination over the entire land. Plus, not only would we gain control over an entire kingdom, I would also force Sakura to get together with a blue blooded, well trained male with a bloodline or demon line and get at least one little bundle of joy out of it. That is why and I personally see nothing wrong with it. Do you?"

The room they were in suddenly became eerily quiet. Tsunade slowly tilted her head down to see if her apprentice was going to reply. Shizune, however, was not facing her, and remained in her same position. When she finally spoke, it was in a quiet, emotionless, voice.

"You're sick…" Shizune tried to stop herself from hissing out her answer.

Tsunade looked surprised for a second, but then let out a cackle of laughter. "I know, isn't it great?" The older woman couldn't help but smile at the look of horror on Shizune's face. Starting to walk again, she shrugged and said, "Besides, I spent all that time righting out those threatening scrolls to the other kingdoms. It would be a waist not to use them."

Shizune sighed in defeat and then asked, "So… What did you say in the scrolls?"

Tsunade grinned down at Shizune's fake innocent look. "Oh, just that if they didn't want to be wiped off the face of the planet that they would send their heir, or heirs, to their old homeland for the chance to make an alliance with us, in marriage of course. I also said that they could arrange a battle with Sakura when she arrives to give them the scroll to test our strength. Most probably will, just to see what they are up against. I am also having Sakura wear a half-mask and hood. I know she hates to wear much more than biker shorts and a sports bra because clothing because it messes with her flying maneuverability, but for their first impression, I want her be wearing as much clothing as possibly. Don't worry, I'm sure it will work. Know let go so I can go tell Sakura about our plans…minus the marriage part of course."

Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration as she watched Lee let out another wail of despair and Kisame continued to sulk with his back to her.

"Come on guys. I'll be back in two weeks. It's not like I'm going to leave you forever." Sakura pleaded as a sharp prang of guilt hit her deep in her heart.

Lee found absolutely no comfort in her words and just pulled her into a rib breaking hug. With tears still running down his face he began to chant a string of love fill words embedded with sorrow and despair. "The very thought of you being gone for more than a few minutes causes my heart such sorrow. I do not know how I can bear to live with you gone from my reach, gone in the vast unknown where I cannot follow you. You are my one and only angel, sent from the skies as a gift which I will always give my undivided devotion an-"

SH-SHUT U-UP LEE, YOU IDIOT!" Kisame cut him off in a stuttering shout, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was close to balling like a new born baby. The giant, blue skinned, shark man had took a great liking to Sakura, her being the only person who had the guts to challenge him to a fight and a drinking contest. Their friendship had grown over the years and had token on a sisterly touch for the lonely man who had no living family left and only one true friend in his opinion. He whirled around to face the two; his face tear stained and scrunched up an attempt to not cry.

Sakura's eyes widened at the sight and she felt tears start to well in her eyes. A cry of fear and sadness some how found its way out of her throat. Leaping forward, she embraced Kisame in a warm hug, Lee still hugging her from the back. After staying this way for several minutes, Sakura finally found her voice and managed to croak out an insult.

"Wha-what am I-I gunna do with you t-two, huh? Jus' st-start crying a-all out of the blue l-like th-this, it ain't manly l-like. I-I don't wan' p-people ta think I'm hanging out w-with a b-bunch of sissies d-do ya?"

Her words made Kisame grin down at her in amusement. "DON"T G-GIVE ME THAT TOUNG LITTLE G-GIRL! Y-YOU'RE BALIN' TOO YA KNOW!" His grin grew as Sakura smiled up at him.

After prying herself out of the Lee and Kisame's death grip, Sakura paused to whip away her tears, then with a finally wave, snatched up her bag, turned and ran. After about five steps, she jumped as high as she could, unfurled her wings, and took flight.

As her figure faded into the distance, Lee and Kisame finally let loose the tears they had been holding back. They stayed in the same place for more than an hour, before by some unsaid command, they both turned and headed for home.

The mountains sped by in a blur. The hours passed quickly and night came. It was only after she was out of her homeland and on the edge of the Uchiha Kingdom that she allowed herself to wipe away her tears. Finding a half way decent place to spend the night, she got as low as possible before crashing into the grassy ground. Pulling herself together, she let out a silent curse at her clumsiness.

"Stupid boys! Making me cry like that…" Sakura muttered, but then smiled as she remembered the look on Kisame's face when he had told Lee to shut up. Shaking her head she grinned and said, "What would I do without them?"

bye-bye

Skyward