Chapter 1

Numerous cases of kidnapping incidents all over the world has increased. It is still unknown for most cases and the person or organization behind this is still on the run.

Pink lashes fluttered open revealing deep sea green eyes. Glancing around her, white walls, quiet place, shelves on the corner, sky blue loveseat beside the door, and television that must have been on for the whole night.

" Ugh, I must have slept in again. " She checked her wrist watch that was glaring red at her.

7:49 am? my shift ended like 49 minutes ago, can't believe I slept in.She stood up, closed her laptop and piled up all the remaining documents inside her red messenger bag. She sighed deeply and turned off the television before turning off all lights and locking the door. On her way to the reception area, she bumped into a few colleagues and smiled at them.

" Shizune-san! " She smiled and half jogged towards the brunette at the reception table. The brunette looked at her then waved!

" Sakura-chan! " Said girl jogged to her and handed the brunette some files.

" So happy you're here, could you please hand this to Tsunade-sama, these are the reports about some of my patients last night. I already jot down everything that I found out, it must be the new flu that has been spreading recently. " Shizune smiled at her and scanned through the documents. She glanced at the wall clock then looked up at Sakura then back at the wall clock.

" Wasn't your shift over like 50 minutes ago? Why are you still here? " Sakura smiled sheepishly then looked around. " Yeah, I got carried away last night and kind of slept in "

Shizune shook her head, "Don't you ever take a break?" She chuckled and glanced at her then went back to reading the documents. " By the way, Tsunade-sama informed me about a meeting tonight, she said it was urgent. " She looked at Sakura apologetically knowing well it was her day off. Sakura shook her head them pouted.

" Well then I gotta go, need to buy some groceries then visit my parents. " Shizune squeezed her arm then patted her cheek. " Well, you should get going and don't skip meals just to sleep in, mmkay? " Sakura nodded at her and waved at her.

Walking to the parking lot, she spotted her Harley-Davidson Sportster shining accentuated with cherry blossom petals that her father personally painted. She smiled while approaching her motorcycle. She always has loved this ride, it was her father's but when she started working in the hospital and moving out from her parents house after graduation, his father gave this as a graduation gift. She slipped off her lab coat placed it inside her bag and wore her black helmet.

She did a quick stop at her apartment, dropped of her things and quickly changed her clothes. She read a few mails and then went back to her motorcycle and went directly to the always nearest convenient store.

Once she reached the store, she started putting everything she needs inside the basket and made her way to the cash register. The girl looked up only once at her and started scanning all her groceries. She smiled at her and directed her eyes at the television behind the girl.

" Uhm, could you please raise the volume of the T.V. just a bit? " The girl rolled her eyes and raised the volume then continued scanning. Sakura stared at the screen, then people started crowding the area after hearing the news opening.

There were reports that people who were kidnapped are now, locked up in an underground laboratory in Oto, though this seems to be rumors, but people from the said village that they would sometimes see, huge cargo trucks stop at an old warehouse deep in the forest of Oto at midnight then leave immediately. The police have been searching the area until now.

People around Sakura started whispering to each other then continued back to shopping. The girl at the cash register sighed and placed her groceries inside the bag.

" That'll be 59.75 " Sakura handed her some cash then made her way back to her motorcycle. She looked at her watch and noticed the time and also noticed the heat wave.

Ugh, what's up with the weather, last night it was raining heavily now it feels like a freaking sauna.Sakura wore her leather jacket and helmet then left. Could make it back home in 10:20 just in time to help mom and dad with lunch. She turned on her ride and drove as fast as she can. Her parent's house was a good 30 minutes but she'll get there faster, if she drives faster. Sakura gripped her throttle tighter and sped up knowing her parents lived in the outskirt of the city.

She loved the feeling of the wind hitting her face, especially the fresh air of the outskirts. She slowed down when she was close to her parents' house and looked at the view of the whole city. Funny how the city was surrounded with mountains looking so protected by nature. She loved how her parents retired by the mountains, though as what her mom said, the lot in the area was expensive but it was worth it if her parents get to wake up every morning with the great view and cool wind. She smiled and trudged a bit to her parents' house.

A few meters she saw her dad waving at her. She smiled and waved back. She hasn't visited her parents for months, work had held her back and just recently promoted under the shadow of Tsunade, she needs to adjust to her new duties and responsibilities. Many colleagues was expecting more from her when Tsunade defended her saying she had the capability to surpass Tsunade someday. She grinned at the memory of a drunk Tsunade, yelling at the meeting after the board councils refused to promote Sakura because they plan to put someone rich in that position to fund the hospital.

She jogged to her father and hugged him, " Hey there dad. What are you doing outside? " His father's toothy smile shone; she patted his burgundy hair. "Let's go inside, I also wanna see mom again, so stop hogging me all to yourself Kizashi. " His father laughed and shook his head. Sakura smiled and opened the door. " Okay okay, you caught me. "

" Sakura! " Sakura was encaged in a strong hug, she chuckles remembering she got her strength from her mom and hugged her mom back. " Miss you too mom. " She spent her a few hours talking to her parents about the hospital and surprised them about her promotion. She looked at them both and couldn't help but smile, her mom used to own a pastry shop at the city and his dad was a retired cop. They weren't rich nor poor, they were pretty much average, when she was still in high school there were days her parents couldn't afford to buy her trendy stuff but there were days they spoil her too much. As their only child, single and independent she feels she had the responsibility to buy them their needs such as vitamins, food, land tax and etc. but her parents made it clear that they have enough from her father's pension to survive until they grow old.

Sakura pulled out two small boxes and handed it to them, " You've been great parents, I mean there's no special occasion, I just wanna show you my gratitude. Plus because of my promotion I got a raise. " Sakura giggled and placed her hands on her hips after standing up.

Kizashi and Mebuki stared at the box with teary eyes then opened it. Inside her mom's box was a necklace with a cherry blossom made out of silver, with a pink spinel gem in the middle. While her father received a silver ring, with cherry blossom engraved on the ring. It costs so much but she knew they deserved it.

Sakura smiled at them and kissed their cheeks.

" These are small gifts, but when I'm far away, they will remind you that I'm always there for the both of you. Love you mom and dad. Well, I gotta go, still had to clean the apartment, mmkay? " His father got teary eyed and was about to cry.

" Hey hey hey, don't start crying when I'm here, you know I'll start bawling my eyes until I got no more tears. " Her mother chuckled and patted his father's back. Sakura waved and turned around to leave.

When she reached her motorcycle, she looked up and saw her parents looking down at her waving. She smiled brightly and waved back then turned on her engine. She wore her helmet, she sighed deeply, she could feel tears starting to spill in the corners of her eyes but she breathed in and calmed herself. She drove off, this time taking her time to enjoy the wind and view at a slower pace than before.

She opened the door to her shishou's office and found her drinking in her flask, while reading some documents. Sakura leaned at the door, " To think you would scold me for working overtime and tirelessly, should I do the scolding this time shishou? " Tsunade looked up at her and snorted and rolled her eyes.

Sakura used to be intimidated by Tsunade but as time passed by and spending more time with her, she learns she's not that strict or intimidating like her colleague would say, she just got a rough and strict attitude when it comes to work but Tsunade was the biggest softie that she knew.

Sakura sat infront of her then glanced at the documents, " Shishou, I know I'm an hour early but actually I wanna talk to you about something. " Tsunade sighed and closed the portfolio and looked at her. " Have you read the documents that I sent this morning? " Tsunade nodded and pulled out her document and opened it to Sakura. " Actually, it had me thinking as well Sakura. " Tsunade tapped on the sticky note that Sakura placed beside the symptoms listed.

" It's weird shishou cause, if you look at it, those who came from Oto had the same symptoms. I mean Oto held one of the renowned hospitals aside from Konoha and Suna but compared to the patients from Suna they were pretty much random symptoms. However, Oto-" Sakura looked up at Tsunade, they're eyes meeting when Sakura paused. Tsunade looked down at the documents then back at her.

" I know, it's weird and I have gut feeling that something's off. " Sakura agreed with her and leaned back at the chair. Both were in deep thought that the room fell into a deep silence.

" Sakura, I know, its your day off but we need to study this thoroughly. I already sent Shizune to take all the tests, blood to saliva from the patients from Oto. " Sakura smiled at her and nodded. " I know shishou, thats why I'm here early before the meeting, but since we're almost out of time we can talk about that later after the meeting. So, speaking about the meeting, what is this about? " Tsunade handed her a black portfolio with the white bold letters ANBU displayed at the front. Sakura raised a brow and opened the portfolio.

" There seems to be an accident in Oto Hospital causing the shortage of staffs, and they badly need some . . . . doctors from Konoha as well as from Suna and Iwagakure, I was planning to send other doctors but seems you're the only one who noticed the issue right now, I was planning to send you and maybe another doctor or maybe two. " Sakura wanted to decline it but knowing something fishy was happening she needed to know about this. The problem could be something serious that could cause a pandemic, she needed to know about it to protect her parents. Sakura looked down, fisted her lab coat and looked up at Tsunade.

" I was planning to send Shizune as well " Sakura shook her head " You need Shizune-san here Shishou. She can fill in my spot for the meantime when I'm away. Plus, you'll be a disaster without her. " She teasingly smirked at Tsunade who rolled her eyes. " You can trust me in this Shishou. " Tsunade nodded and smiled softly at her. She stood up and patted her head. " Let's go Sakura, we don't wanna be late in the meeting. "

After yesterday's meeting, Tsunade had to force her to extend her day off knowing she'll be gone for a long time with no rests and day offs. She'll be leaving 2 days from now and with those two days she needs to prepare her stuffs, especially the medical necessities.

Sakura stared at her bags that was now placed in the living room of her apartment. She had everything she needs, she would be gone for 2 weeks but she feels like she forgot something. Her eyes widen and immediately took out her phone from her pocket. She called her mom and placed it on speaker as she started pacing back and forth waiting for her mom to pick up the call.

" Hello? "

Sakura immediately looked down and bent on the table. " Hey Mom! Is dad there? "

She heard her father chuckle at the background, " Yes dear. "

Sakura bit her lower lip and sighed deeply, " Uhm, hey dad, mom, I just wanna let you know, I'll be gone for 2 weeks. I'll be going to Oto to assist their hospital, it seems they were short on staff "

She heard her mom gasp and heard her father murmur to her mom. " Sakura, you can always decline that, I mean, Oto is a dangerous place right now. "

" I know mom, but I need to do this, the people in that place needs doctors like me. Plus, you don't have to worry, Shishou is sending another colleague of mine as well to assist me. " She felt tears prickling at the corner of her eyes, she admits she's scared to go to Oto, with the news and what she and Tsunade recently discovered, she needs to go. She wants to see it herself and maybe find the cure in case it was some disease or illness.

" Sakura- " She could hear the worry and fear in her father's voice, she sighed deeply then smiled. " Hey no need to get all worked up, I took martial arts remember? They're gonna go home with broken bones if they do plan to hurt me. " She laughed then she could hear her father reassuring her mother.

" Well then missy, when you come back you better drive directly here or I'll confiscate your motorcycle " She smiled sadly as she listened to her father made jokes to comfort them. She had a bad feeling about this task but she shook it off and laid on her bed after the call with her parents.

Hey guys! this is my first time writing a fanfiction so please bear with me. I'm open for constructive criticisms and suggestions- Luna