"Medusa Javelin"

By Nes Mikel

Acknowledgment;

I herby acknowledge that the work of fiction presented here is for my own personal amusement and entertainment purposes alone. Most of the story, characters, place names and other etc stuff in this fiction are copyright Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi, Weekly Shounen Jump, and any others I might have forgot.

For non up-to-date readers, this fiction contains characters and events introduced post-timeskip and spoilers up to Chapter 293. I also humbly suggest reading Garden of Sanctuary first before reading this fiction. Although not a requirement, many things in this fiction will not make sense unless that has been read beforehand. The link to Garden of Sanctuary is in my profile.

With that said, enjoy.

"Medusa Javelin"

"Long forgotten memories."

- Third Entry -

"Sensibility"

Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Fourth year. June 17th.

17 years old.

"…Hah… hah… guh, dammit… messed up…"

Nara Shikamaru was in dire straights. He was going to get killed and he knew it. His adversary was close by and he knew that too. Soon, it would find him, and the fate of death will be decided thereupon.

When one looked at Shikamaru closely, you could see that he was smiling. It wasn't like the situation he was in was funny or anything – after all, he was about to get killed – but still, he couldn't help himself to think that this whole thing was just too comical. Him, the lazy genius, actually got himself into a troublesome situation that was going to result in his grimly demise.

Shikamaru always considered himself a ninja that was, to put it simply, just average. He never considered himself special in any way, and always let the others get ahead of him when the opportunity to skip presented itself. All he wanted was to be an average ninja with an average life, marry an average girl as his wife and create an average family with an average daughter and average son. He would retire at an average age, living out the rest of his average retirement and then pass away before his wife in an average death. He had his whole life mapped out in front of him… so where did it all start to go wrong? Perhaps he should've realized beforehand that the moment he became a ninja his life plans was thrown out of the window. If he had known that becoming one would event to this, then maybe he wouldn't have become one in the first place.

"Found you."

Crap.

Shikamaru slowly turned his head towards the man that spoke. His adversary has his arms crossed in front of him, and it didn't take a genius like Shikamaru to know that the man in front of him was extremely pissed-off… although it was rather hard to tell sometimes because the man's expression rarely changed. At the very least he didn't look like his homicidal self Shikamaru saw in the Chuunin exam incident five years ago, but his killing intent still hung about him like a looming dark cloud.

Shikamaru did the only thing he could. He spoke. "…Gaara, please just listen to what I have to s-"

Before Shikamaru finished the sentence that attempted to reason with the Kazekage of the Sand Village, Gaara raised both of his arms to slowly saturate the surrounding air with his trademark weapon: the sand. It had fittingly earned him the nickname 'Gaara of the Desert' and the strongest ninja title of the Hidden Village in Wind Country. Shikamaru, taking it as a hint that Gaara wasn't going to listen to whatever excuse he had come up with, fled again. First, he had to duck…

Crash!

Sand was coming after him in waves. Now he had to dodge to the left…

Slam! Crunch!

Jump into the branches…

Crack! Creeeeeeek… Thud!

Okay, maybe not that branch. Gaara's sand pulverized the root of the mighty tree that probably took a hundreds of years to grow into that current size in an instant – Shikamaru lost balance and endured a short freefall. Before he tried to regain balance so he would land on the ground unscathed he was suddenly jerked upright, his fall halted. He wasn't saved. He was trapped. His entire body was encased in a Sand Coffin suspended in midair.

Game over.

"Any last words?"

Gaara's words came out like a growl, a clear indication of his current mood. Shikamaru assessed the situation quickly, his mind spinning full-throttle, calculating some sort of method to get himself out of this mess. At the very least the sand did not cover Shikamaru's mouth so he could still speak, and thus the option of conversation was still open. The lazy genius slowly regained his calm and again attempted to reason with one of the most powerful ninjas in the world who just so happened to be very very angry with him.

"Look, Gaara, I admit I have some fault…"

"Some fault? Do you honestly think you can get away with that?"

"I knew it was going to be troublesome if I was caught, but she was the one that insisted we…"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

Gaara was gritting his teeth. He was probably using all of his willpower trying not to tighten his hands and give Shikamaru the final crushing blow.

"How long?" Gaara asked.

"Um, well…" Shikamaru looked up at the blue sky and suspended his mind into thought. No use in lying. "About… three years I guess."

The semi-startled look on Gaara's face was priceless. "…Three years…? For three whole years, you…"

"I'm sure it must come as a shock to discover this, but…"

"You think?"

The sand Shikamaru was encased in suddenly got tighter.

"Guh… hey, Gaara stop! Stop! It hurts!"

"Of course it does, I intended it to be that way. Now if I just tighten it a bit more, you'll be nothing more than tiny pieces of flesh."

Shikamaru knew that he was quickly running out of options and time so he went for the last resort. "I know you might not believe me if I say this, but I am serious about her!"

The pressure of the sand lifted a little bit.

"…What did you say?"

"…Despite what you may think, I wasn't playing around with her! Really! We were planning to get married when I turned 18, when I officially inherited the Nara house. If you don't believe me, ask Temari! I'm totally being honest here!"

"…………"

Gaara's hand visibly flinched, a clear sign of hesitation. Taking that as a sign to continue, Shikamaru spoke again.

"But Temari… er, well… with her personality like that, so… saying that she can't wait until we get married, so… um… we, uh, did some things together sometimes… and this time you just happened to walk into my office while we were… GWAH!"

The sand got tighter again, choking Shikamaru mid-sentence. It was a bad idea on Shikamaru's part to remind Gaara of the probably the most shocking scene of his life. His dear older sister that had always cared of him since he was young… when he walked into Shikamaru's office this morning to check up on her, it had shattered the precious image Gaara held of Temari. Not to mention, doing it with a man like him! There was no way Gaara was going to approve of that! He just had to tighten his hands a bit more, and…

"Kazekage-sama, please calm down!"

Someone comfortingly gripped his wrist, stopping him in the middle of killing the man who had dared to fool around with his sister. Gaara was slightly shocked. He had never detected this person approaching him, and even the automatic defense ability he possessed never had a chance to kick in to prevent this newcomer from gripping his wrist. Whoever he was… or she, rather (Gaara just then noticed the curves of this young woman in front of him had), she was good.

Narrowing his eyes, Gaara studied the woman in front of him. He instantly recognized for who she was - a Leaf ANBU member. Wearing the traditional lightweight armor, she had a rather long knife sticking out of the large tool pouch she carried behind her back and a cat-shaped mask encased her face. However, what caught Gaara's attention the most was her hair. The color of her hair was pink.

"You… Sakura?"

Despite the mask adorning her face, Gaara could tell that the woman in front of him looked a little startled. She instinctively let go of his wrist and bowed forward a little in proper respect. "Er… yes it's me. I'm glad you've remembered."

"It has been a while."

It has been indeed. Last time they met was when she and Naruto were on the mission to save him from the grasps of the Akatuski when he was kidnapped from his home village almost two years ago. After the rescue, he had learned that she had, with the help of the Elder Chiyo, defeated one Akatuski member, saved Kankuro from death by poison, and had even stayed besides him by his beside to help him recover after he was revived. He owed her a large debt he never got the chance to repay.

He had, offered, in the past, to use the entire Sand Village's military capabilities to take out the Leaf Council that had dared to imprison his dear best friend, but he was convinced otherwise by Naruto himself days before the sentence was carried out to not to attack the village. Gaara was willing to risk everything, but Naruto didn't want to see Gaara lose everything he had gained.

Be a good Kazekage for me, Gaara.

Naruto had convinced him to honor that promise and thus a second war between the Sand and the Leaf was avoided. Come to think of it, he had almost broken that promise by attempting to kill one of his friends right now. Gaara shook his head. He was sure Naruto could excuse this exception just once.

"Um, Kazekage-sama." Sakura slid off her mask to the side, revealing a young face of a woman that looked a little worried. "I'm sure we have lots to talk about, but can you please release Shikamaru? He looks a little blue."

Gaara narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at the man he was choking to death and gave the request some thought. Gaara then sighed, albeit it was done so reluctantly.

"…Very well."

Gaara stretched out his palm and released the sand as Shikamaru promptly fell to the forest floor with a thud. Looking a little dizzy, the pineapple shape haired man barley managed to stagger up into a standing position.

"Ugh… thanks Sakura. You saved me."

A blank look by the girl was what he got in return.

"…Shikamaru, why the hell are you naked?"

The accused man's cheek flushed a little pink. "Well, I didn't really have a chance to dress myself when Gaara walked into my office when me and Temari were-"

A sharp glare from Gaara shut up him up good. Looking at the exchange, Sakura sighed. No wonder the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand wanted to kill the Chief Tactician of the Hidden Leaf. Sakura pulled out a white towel from her large medical toolbag and tossed it at the said tactician. Shikamaru nodded back at her appreciatively. "Thanks."

Sakura gave back a curt nod as she put her mask back on. "Shikamaru, Kazekage-sama, I was sent by Hokage-sama to remind you that the conference will start in approximately two hours. She wishes to see you both there. And please… don't kill each other until then."

She bowed once more before promptly disappearing in a puff of smoke leaving behind a single sakura petal, a trademark of hers she enjoyed to use. Shikamaru blinked once, and then twice as relief slowly overwhelmed him. He was still alive.

"Don't you dare think this is over." Gaara interjected, shattering Shikamaru's short-lived good mood. "I will ask the Hokage to send me a special envoy to the Sand to discuss the treaty in detail with one of their shinobis, and I plan to specifically ask for you. I shall be looking forward to seeing you in the Sand, Shikamaru."

Leaving those haunting words behind, the Kazekage soon followed the pink-haired ANBU as he too, headed back towards the village. Shikamaru was then left alone, naked save a towel, in one of the many forest training grounds located just outside the Hidden Village of the Leaf – complete with many traps that would leave any unprepared ninja in a very exhausting and painful situation.

Shikamaru sighed.

Today was just not his day.

Sakura sighed.

Today was just not her day.

It didn't take long until Shikamaru and Gaara's small 'incident' to reach the Hokage's ears, and eventually into the ears of the Village Council Sakura slowly learned to hate. Lead by that damnable woman Koharu, the Village Council was nothing but that woman's puppet fully intent on blocking Tsunade's progress every step of the way. The ONLY reason why the Sand and Leaf's good relationships have been maintained to this date was because Gaara had sworn an oath to his best friend to keep it good – who just so happened to be imprisoned eternally because of these fools in the Council! Those idiots took the risk of having a newly won ally turn into bitter enemies yet again just so they could have Naruto imprisoned in order to 'keep the village safe from the threat of the Kyuubi'. She wanted to vomit. The truth was, THEY were the ones putting the village in a dangerous political position in the first place, and had only emerged out of that crisis in one piece because of Naruto's intervention! They should've been thankful! But what did they do? They treated Naruto like dirt!

To put it in Inner Sakura's words… well, actually, this author would have trouble putting it in Inner Sakura's words. She would've simply sounded like a wailing banshee with her head cut off, and a very loud one to boot.

In the end, the Village Council did not care about the state of the village or the people who lived in them. They only concerned themselves with maintaining the power they held, and with the power came the corruption. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Danzou was a prime example, and Koharu was his successor.

"Let me get this straight." One Village Elder leaned forward from the wooden chair he sat on. "So are you saying that our newly appointed Chief Tactician and the Elder Sister of the Kazekage are having an… affair?"

"Sir, I wouldn't call it an affair." Sakura replied through her teeth, barely managing to suppress another sigh. She had been sent as a representative from the ANBU to explain to the Council to explain exactly why Gaara had blown up a huge hole in the side of the Tower when he had caught Shikamaru and Temari in their 'act'. "After all, they aren't married yet to have an affair in the first place. Plus, they are engaged with each other."

"Why were we not told of this?" Another Elder piped in.

"Uhh, it's perhaps because they have not publicly announced the union yet?" She replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do not use that tone with me, Chuunin." The first Elder growled as he slowly stood up, pointing an accusing finger at Sakura. "You are speaking to the Village Council. You may be ANBU, you may be the personal apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, but you are still under our command, our will. You are nothing but a tool. Know your place."

"…I apologize, I have acted out of line." She was gritting her teeth behind her cat-shaped mask, rage slowly scorching across her face. The mask was quickly becoming the most favorite tool she ever used. In Sai's words, Sakura got 'fired up way too easily', and thus her ANBU mask helped her conceal her emotions to the outside world that could easily be taken advantage of. It was her one weakness she found it difficult to correct. She sometimes envied how her vice-captain could be so emotionless with his face, and wondered how he ever managed to pull that all off. She still had long ways to go in order to control such things as emotions.

"Hmph. I will let that one slide, but only this time." The first Elder sat back down in his chair, seemingly satisfied.

"So in other words…" Another Elder spoke up. "They have kept their engagement secret."

Sakura knew this Elder well. The Hyuuga man was perhaps the only person in the Village Council who had ever taken her side. Sakura politely nodded towards him. "That is correct, sir."

A different Elder then sighed. "This does not bode well for the village."

"Pardon?"

A fourth Elder seated at the far right of the semi-oval table rolled his eyes. "What do they teach at ANBU nowadays? Can you not figure out something so elementary?"

Sakura's teeth clenched tighter at the insult, but she decided not to snap back at them.

"Listen," The same Village Elder continued. "The engagement of an important officer in the inner-government of the Leaf – not to mention hailing from a prestigious family – with a sister of the Kazekage himself has huge potential for problems. This could lead to many things. If the marriage goes smoothly, all is well and it could very well benefit both the Sand and Leaf and tighten our bonds for alliance. But the opposite can very well happen too. The marriage can go sour and so will the alliance, then there will come to problem of where they will settle if the marriage does happen – it wouldn't matter if the groom goes to the Sand to live or the bride comes to the Leaf to live: either way it means that ninja has essentially defected from the village he or she swore loyalty to, causing a potential massive leak for information that the opposite village can take advantage of! Should I even care to mention the loads of problems they can cause if they were ever to mate and spew offspring? Heck, you have just told us that they are already engaging in such activities already!"

Sakura was disgusted. How could these men think like that, treating Shikamaru and Temari's feelings for each other as political problems? Why couldn't they be like normal people and be happy for their future? And the way they worded the problems of them having children was totally out of line!

"Sir, they are all theories. They won't necessarily come true…"

The very woman that led this damnable Council then cut off Sakura. "You must be naïve, child." Koharu said as she eyed Sakura disapprovingly. "You must be thinking all of the fairytale aspects about engagements and marriage. This is the real world, and fantasies do not come true."

Yeah, and guess who killed that fantasy! You! Inner Sakura yelled at them in her mind.

"Political engagements are the most sensitive aspects about inter-village relationships." Koharu continued, oblivious of Sakura's thoughts. "It can and will tip the power balance of the Five Shadows and, surly, the other three villages will not remain quiet when news of such union reach their ears. Just how long did you say they have been in a relationship for?"

Sakura honestly didn't know. "I have not interviewed Temari-san nor Shikamaru about how deep their relationship went, Koharu-sama." What she said was true, although from the way she saw Shikamaru naked earlier, she could very well imagine what exactly were doing and just how much and how long they cared for each other.

Koharu narrowed her eyes. "Hmph. So you are lazy. Is this all the ANBU is capable of? Let's see how much funding the ANBU will get next year if they keep this up, shall we? With the way things are going now, it is clear to us that Tsunade is the most incapable Hokage to ever run the office."

Sakura by now was used to the insults and shallow threats Koharu casually threw at her daily. It seemed that this elderly councilwomen loved to toy with her because Sakura was the only one under Tsunade's direct command the Council could order around. Sakura tightened her chin and held her head up high. She was not going to let them get the better of her. "Is there anything else?" She asked coolly. "If not, then please excuse me. I have a inter-village conference that I need to stand guard for in a moment."

"It is not ove-" Even before Koharu finished the first word Sakura had already vanished, leaving a single petal of sakura behind where she stood previous. Koharu slammed the flat of her right hand on the conference table. "Curse her! How dare that vixen disrespect us that way!"

The 'vixen' was a nickname of Sakura used among the members of the Village Council, referring to her privilege as visitor of Naruto who had the Nine-tailed demon fox sealed within. The council had tried time and time again to revoke that privilege when the previous assembly had 'carelessly' granted the privilege, but they had always been thwarted by the Hokage herself when it came to push and shove.

"Gentlemen," Koharu scanned the assembled council around her. "I believe that certain actions must be taken to ensure that the ANBU will not be getting certain necessary funds this coming year. Their incompetence must not go unchecked."

A murmur of agreement was exchanged between the elderly men gathered in this meeting.

"Koharu-san, I disagree." A new voice arose, immediately sending waves of shock throughout.

"And why is that, Hyuuga-san?" Koharu asked politely, although the irritation in her voice was clearly noticeable.

"There are many ANBU directly under our command as well. It will do no good if their funds are cut, there will be complaints and it will ultimately mean weakening this council itself. I am sure it is in our interest to not cut their funds to protect our current status."

Glances were exchanged as the assembled men and woman discussed the Hyuuga man's proposal. However, it was clear that the general concise among them was that of agreement.

"Hmph. Very well, Hyuuga-san. We will put this matter on hold for now." Koharu raised a small wooden hammer and banged on the desk twice. "Session dismissed!" With her words, the people slowly dissipated out of the conference room, and soon there was no one left inside.

Save one.

Hyuuga Hiashi continued to sit in his wooden chair, his eyes closed. He was deep in thought.

"Haruno… Sakura…"

He slowly opened his eyes and stole a glance outside the nearby window, looking at the tranquil scenery out and below. It was rare for him to feel remorse like this. His lips moved once more, as Hyuuga Hiashi muttered a sentence that was forbidden to most ears.

"…She is so similar to you… Setsuka."

In his mind, Hiashi was thinking of a certain day almost two years ago, when Hinata had reported to him that Haruno Sakura had shown signs of using the sekka soushou.

The Medusa Javelin.

Hiashi silently muttered a curse to himself. All the signs were there. Why had he not acted the moment the suspicion arose? For the longest time he had dismissed Hinata's report, thinking it was just a fluke. But when the cherry-blossomed girl continued to advance after the Kyuubi child was imprisoned – both in level and rank – that suspicion turned into worry and eventually into concern. All it took was to carefully scan the girl with his byakugan for her chakra signature and he would know the truth. And today he had done just that, and thus the truth was revealed.

He did not like what he saw.

The Hyuuga clan leader slowly rose from his chair, prepared to leave. He knew what must be done.

After storming out of the Village Council interrogation room, Sakura was jumping across a few rooftops leaving behind a trail of steam behind her wake. Well, it wasn't like she was leaving behind real steam, but let's just say that the description was a good indication of her current state of anger. Arriving at her destination relatively quickly, she kicked open the window so hard that it dislodged itself from the wall and crashed into the unfortunate refrigerator that stood on the opposite side.

A sigh greeted her once she was inside. "That's coming out of your salary."

"I don't care!" She screamed at him.

"Right. So they did something to piss you off again?" Sai asked as he casually started to pick up the shattered glass that had scattered all over the floor when she broke the window.

"Damn right they did! Why did you have to send me to explain to them what happened with Gaara-kun and Shikamaru! If you weren't my superior officer, I would've killed you for making me go through such things for the hundredth time!"

"Has it been that much already? By the way, you know I could arrest you for not only disturbing me in my off-days but for break-in and threatened assault?"

"Don't get smart-ass with me, Sai."

"That's Sai-fukutaichou to you, Sakura-san."

At least he wasn't calling her 'Ugly' and was instead calling her by name, which was quite rare for someone like him. He loved to use that damnable nickname because he knew very well that she hated it. "I'm never going to call you by that title in my lifetime and you know it." Sakura reminded him.

"Fine, fine. Now what exactly did you want other than to trash my house?"

It was so like Sai to get straight to the point. "You owe me." Sakura said.

"I owe you? Since when?"

"Since right now. You sent me as your substitute to the council."

"It was my off-day."

"Like ANBU regulations care about that. I can have you reported for abuse of power if that's how you like to play. I'm sure Yamato-taichou would love to hear about your incompetence. And mind you, this is not the first time you did this to me."

Sai sighed again. "So what do you want then?"

"Fill me in for guard duty for Tsunade-sama's conference with Gaara-kun."

Her ANBU squad vice-captain narrowed his eyes. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'm going down to Naruto's."

"For what?"

"To calm down!"

Sai raised one of his eyebrows in response.

Sakura's fury only intensified. "Gah!" She threw up her arms. "Making me explain these things to you again is just pissing me off! Decide now!"

Sai carefully weighed his options. On one hand he could refuse her and most likely have not only Yamato on his case about skipping out work in favor of working on his latest painting, not to mention probably getting an earful from the Fifth Hokage herself for forcing her apprentice to do such unnecessary things – and let's not forget a well-placed high-powered punch from this pink-haired kunoichi herself. On the other hand, he could fill in for Sakura's guard duty to avoid all those things and just stand still at the conference for a few hours while the Hokage and the Kazekage exchanged talks while he dimly observed the Kazekage ever so discreetly staring at the Hokage's boobs. It was an amusing scene, and Sai was sure he was the only one who caught on. Who would've thought that the Kazekage was a breasts man? He supposed it was better entertainment then getting beaten up by two women.

"Fine." He replied.

Sakura was out of his house in an instant, not even bothering to leave a sakura petal behind. Sai sighed one last time as he refocused his attention on cleaning up the mess. He opened the refrigerator to remove some embedded glass and soon noticed something odd – or rather, the lack of it.

"…She took some of my sake."

Sakura loved the alcoholic beverage. Ever since her teacher had offered her a taste, it was almost like she couldn't live without. Given the fact that she was in a foul mood most of the time, sake was the elixir sent from the gods to calm her down – albeit it came with the side effect of Sakura sometimes going into a drunken frenzy. Her temper and her habit to remedy that temper was so famous among fellow ANBU members she was given the prestigious nickname of 'the raging drunk flower'. Sai wondered for a brief moment if she even knew she was called that, but quickly dismissed the thought. He only had a few minutes left before he needed to attend the conference he was filling in for.

A different thought then came into his mind, as his lips curved upwards in a tiny smile. "I feel sorry for you, Naruto-kun." He said to himself.

There was no doubt on Sai's mind on who will be on the receiving end of that raging drunk flower's fury.

Sakura tossed the last bottle of sake into the nearby garbage can before reentering the Hokage tower as she headed straight for the basement. A quick henge jutsu changed her outwards appearance so she was no longer wearing her ANBU uniform but instead the regular outfit she wore when she and Naruto were still a team.

It had been quite the hassle to retreat into her room to change every time she went down to meet him and so she picked up this trick of changing clothes using the same principles applied to the regular transformation technique. It was actually a trick she picked up from Naruto – albeit in his case he used it for the opposite effect, to change his appearance so he had a lack of clothes to execute his ever-so favorite 'sexy no jutsu'. Just by remembering that incident had fueled her anger even more. She picked up the lantern from the small stand next to the sealed entrances of the corridors and lit the device with a flick of her fingers. She stomped into the dark hallways and made her way through the twisted corridors in what was probably her record time.

"Naaaruuutooo!"

She arrived at the large dungeon and promptly yelled out his name. Soon she spotted a pale figure moving in the distance slowly approaching her. "You're so loud, Sakura-chan!" It said.

She didn't even hesitate for a second. With the alcohol in her system, she unconsciously focused a brunt of chakra into her fists and punched Naruto in the face with all her might. A direct hit: the unfortunate boy flew all the way across the dark room.

"Idiot! Naruto! I'm soooo pissed!"

A near groan was what came back from the other side. "Please, Sakura-chan. Not too loud. It might affect the plants…"

She wasn't listening to his pleas. Sakura was still in her drunken frenzy. "Arrrgggh, dammit! Those old geezers, they need to die!"

By the time Naruto came back towards her side, she had all but collapsed on top of the dungeon floors.

"What is it this time?" He asked.

"They're questioning how Tsunade-sama runs her office, and accuse me of being lazy!" The mere memory of what had just transpired arose her anger yet again. "Those bastards!" She yelled. "I'd like to see them try to do what I do! They're already all so old anyway, they should just go home and live the rest of their short remaining lives out!"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Sakura-chan!" He said, his voice smooth and calming. "Just wait like 5 more years or so, I'm sure they'll all be dead by then!"

"…Uuugggh." Her head started to hurt from the alcohol she took in. "Bastards…"

Naruto did have a point. Most of the prominent members in the Village Council were all in their late ages, and it wouldn't surprise her if they all keeled over and died anytime soon. Hyuuga Hiashi was perhaps the youngest member that sat in the seat of the Council, and in a Council full of old men and women, it made him look very young.

Sakura continued on with her rants about the incompetence of the Village Council and the way they tried to make things difficult for her and Tsunade every step of the way for several more minutes. Naruto took in every word. She really did appreciate his company, and the way he took in all of her frustration without a hint of being bothered. Naruto had told her that by listening to her speak about her problems made him feel still useful to her. She had given him yet another hard smack for that, but deep inside she was touched. Naruto had even sometimes taught her a few tips and techniques he learned from his travels like the henge trick she just preformed; he even sometimes gave her life advise – although it should be mentioned that most of his ideas were totally ridiculous. Only someone like Naruto would believe in the philosophy of eating ramen everyday.

By the time she finished venting out all of her frustration for today, she was feeling a whole lot better. She popped in a few anti-hangover pills she made for herself (something that didn't taste as awful as her teacher's) and took a surveying glance around the dungeon.

"But geez…" Sakura muttered as she scanned the numerous plants growing in the darkness. "So many now."

Naruto grinned brightly with her mention of his prized garden. "I planted many seeds of fruits and vegetables too. It should be blooming into flowers soon!"

She narrowed her eyes. It was still June. He still had at least seven or eight more months until the seeds matured into full-blown flowers. "Already?" Sakura asked. "Isn't it a bit too early?"

Naruto looked surprised. "Eh, really? Its spring so… should be. Been only half a year, right?"

Sakura froze.

…What is he talking about?

"Naruto, you…"

He didn't seem to hear her. "Oh yeah, how are they doing?"

"Hm?"

"Like, Shikamaru, Iruka-sensei, the rest of the rookie-nine… oh yeah not rookies anymore. Everyone was Chuunin when I got thrown in here… so how are they? Any of them Jounins besides Neji?"

"…" Sakura frowned and didn't reply at first. The mention of Shikamaru's name had brought back bad memories from earlier today.

Naruto however seemed to take her frown in the wrong way. He looked horrified at her silence. "…Don't tell me they-"

She chuckled. "What's with that look, Naruto. Everyone's fine, and they're all okay. They're still all Chuunin though, although we're all planning on taking the Jounin exams soon." She left out the part that she had entered the ANBU two years ago and was essentially considered equal in rank of a Special Jounin. There was no need to let him know about that.

"Ah, that's good." He breathed out a sigh of relief, and soon his ever-so charming smile returned to his face. "You had me worrying there, Sakura-chan!"

It's you that worries me, Naruto… are you sure that you are okay down here?

She never had the courage to mouth those words and instead laughed his concern off. "You're such a worrywart." She then suddenly stole a glance to her behind for no reason in particular. "Ah, I should get going."

She was running away again and she knew it.

Was she still that weak?

"Awww… okay." At the mention of her leaving, Naruto had pouted. He was 17 already and he still pouted like he was a 5-year old. His colorful emotions washed away her worry and brought another smile to her face. She approached Naruto and gave him a small comforting hug.

"Good night, Naruto."

He quickly hugged back.

"Good night, Sakura-chan."

Waving her free hand in farewell, she disappeared up and into the sealed corridors.

While she traveled through the corridors, Sakura couldn't help but repeat in her mind a sentence Naruto mentioned just earlier.

Been only half a year, right?

It had in fact been two years. Two long, lonely years. She still had her friends, she still had her mentors, and she still had her family. But ever since her two most precious people essentially vanished from her regular life, she was alone.

Sasuke-kun… Naruto…

Her train of thought was broken when she reemerged from the exit and into the basement of the Hokage tower.

There was someone waiting for her.

"I thought you might be here."

"…Shizune-neesama?"

"Come on." Shiznue gestured Sakura over. "Don't just stand there, let's go up. We have a few things we need to talk about."

When Shizune rushed Sakura into the Hokage office, she expected Tsunade to be the only one there but was mildly surprised when she noticed Sai and Neji's presence inside. As soon as she entered, Sakura noticed Shizune quietly speaking to the ANBU special guards posted just outside the office reminding them to not let anyone in. It seems that whatever happened was pretty serious.

"Shishou-sama, what is this all about?"

"…Sit down Sakura. You too Neji, Sai, Shizune. This is going to take a while."

They all did as they were told. "Is this about the conference with the Kazekage?" Sakura asked. "Did something happen?"

"The conference with Gaara went fine." Tsunade said. "Nothing out of the ordinary except Sai filling you in for guard. I heard what happened over with the council so I'm not going blame you for that. I feel sorry for Shikamaru through. During the conference Gaara specifically asked for him as a special envoy to the Sand to discuss further the fine points of the treaties." She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we all know what that means."

It meant that Gaara obviously had other plans in store for his sister's fiancé. Sakura chuckled a little. "I suppose."

"That's not what we're here for though, is it?" Sai asked from his chair.

Tsunade shook her head sideways. "No, it isn't. Shizune, if you will, please."

The elder apprentice of the Fifth Hokage nodded. She took a clipboard into her hand and flipped through several pages as she read the report. "As of two hours ago Genin Cell Team Fourteen returned from their C-rank mission. They have been dispatched near the Northern borders of Fire Country, their task assisting in rebuilding a small village a band of bandits had recently razed. After successfully completing their mission, they were on their way back when they were ambushed by a ninja. They identified the attacker to be from the Sound."

The Sound.

The mention of that enemy village unearthed unpleasant memories for Sakura. It wasn't like she was afraid of them anymore – she had exchanged her fair share of battles with the sworn enemies of the Leaf and had even scored an impressive amount of kills. After she got over with her first kill, the rest of her victims just passed through her like transparent walls. Still, it was never easy letting go of that feeling of guilt. Sometimes she was afraid if she was becoming less and less human, but she slowly began to accept that this was all for the sake of protecting the village Naruto loved. There was no more turning back. She had already stained her hands with enough blood. The only reason she ever felt uneasy with the name now was because of one man.

Sasuke.

In her years as ANBU, she had never once ran into the man Orochimaru chose as his next vessel. Oh, she heard the rumors all right, of the man who thrived in the night, the one who danced in the blood of his enemies, the one who swore revenge to his brother that ruined his life. The one thing that gave her relief however was the fact that although the time limit for Orochimaru to perform another soul-transfer had already passed, Sakura never heard rumors of Sasuke's body being taken over by the sinister Snake Sannin. Yet.

"So a bunch of Genin brats were ambushed by Sound ninja. What's the big deal then?" Sai asked again, looking bored already. "This doesn't seem to concern me."

"The attacker was a Konoha missing-nin." Shizune said.

The pale man's face never changed. "Still doesn't concern me. What, did that missing-nin kill some noble family's brat and their parents want a few ANBU and a Jounin to take revenge?"

This time Tsunade spoke. "Ebisu was the Jounin instructor for Team Fourteen, his students Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. They all recognized the man who attacked them. I'm sure you all understand where I'm going with this now, don't you?"

A brief silence fell upon the room.

"…It was Sasuke-kun, wasn't it?"

Tsunade sighed. "…Much worse, Sakura."

So her worst fears had been confirmed. Sakura didn't realize that she was shaking a little. "So he's…"

"Yes. That twisted bastard finally did it."

Sakura slumped back down in her chair. She hastily squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the tears that were already forming in her eyes.

Uchiha Sasuke was no more.

Orochimaru had finally taken over.

"This still doesn't explain why I'm here, Hokage-sama."

"Listen to the end for once, will you Sai? Look, when Team Fourteen came back, they barely made it. Ebisu sacrificed himself to let his students escape, but… Sai, you've met with Orochimaru once right?"

Sai nodded back.

"Then I'm sure you know of the strength he possesses. Ebisu might be an Elite teacher but he's no match for someone like Orochimaru. That bastard was only playing with them, probably testing his compatibility with his new body like a kid playing around with a new toy. It would've been simple for him to kill everyone in the team, but instead Orochimaru played games. I won't go into the details because Interrogation only managed to get the bare facts out from the survivors, but I can tell you that it ain't pretty."

"Who made it back?" Neji spoke up for the first time.

"All of the Genins. Konohamaru and Moegi are seriously injured but are in one piece, Udon's missing an arm. I think the girl's in no condition to return to ninja duties after what she went through however; she's suffered some serious trauma. Konohamaru and Udon will probably be okay after some therapy and rehabilitation. Those kids got spunk."

Neji nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

Tsunade then turned her head towards the younger of her apprentices. "Sakura, I'm sorry, but I needed to tell you this. Sooner or later you would've found out, and the faster you do the better."

"I… understand…" She barely managed to get the words out.

"So I'm pulling you out of active duty for a little bit."

Sakura's eyes snapped back open, obviously startled at this sudden change of events. "W-what?"

"With Sai's permission, of course." Tsunade added.

It all came together now. "So that's why I was called, then."

Tsunade gave a curt nod. "Correct. Although Yamato is your squad's captain, Sakura is under your direct command as the guard of the vice-captain. I can't transfer her around unless I get an okay from the vice, and that means you."

Hearing this, Sai smiled. "In that case, you have my permission."

Sakura started to mouth a word of protest. "Sai! You…!"

His sly smile widened. "Consider this as payback for the sake you stole."

The girl's face turned beet red. "I… er…"

Shizune sighed. "Sakura, have you been drinking again?"

"…………" Sakura could not reply. She hung her head down in shame instead.

Shizune turned to Tsunade and eyed her master disapprovingly. "This is all your fault Tsunade-sama. There is a reason why letting a minor drink alcohol is illegal – just look at what she's turned into!"

Tsunade waved off her left arm, dismissing the comment. "Come on now, at least she hasn't picked up on all of my bad habits, right?"

Actually, Sakura had pretty much picked up all of Tsunade's bad habits except one: gambling. However, given Tsunade's current streak, it was most likely only a matter of time.

"And you have to admit," Tsunade added. "They are good stuff. Besides, it helped her in the long run, didn't it?"

Shizune rolled her eyes.

"So anyway." Tsunade quickly changed the subject. "Now that I have your vice-captain's permission, Sakura, I'm going to reassign you."

Looking defeated, Sakura only nodded once. Tsunade didn't miss her sending one last threatening death-glare to her now former vice-captain. She chuckled at this. "Don't be like that Sakura, it's not like you're blacklisted from rejoining the ANBU again. All I'm doing is assigning you a mission as a normal ninja, and when you complete it I'll grant you the privileges to rejoin."

"…Can you promise me that I won't be assigned to this sad excuse of a man's squad when I am reinstated?" She asked, a little hopeful.

Tsunade's grin grew wider. "That I can't do."

Sakura groaned at the news. Seeing no further use in arguing the point, she shifted the conversation back into the original topic. "What is my mission then?"

Tsunade gestured over with her chin to the quiet Jounin who sat through this exchange in relative quiet. "This is where Neji comes in."

Neji nodded as he stood up from his chair. "Sakura-san, I am here as a messenger from Hyuuga clan. Hiashi-sama sends his regards to you."

Sakura's eyebrows rose. Well, this was certainly the last thing she expected from Neji. A messenger from Hiashi, who was sending his regards to her? Granted, she liked the man, but they never had met each other face to face other than exchanging glances during Village Council meetings. "Um, er, thanks?"

Neji smiled a little as he continued. "Hiashi-sama requires a favor. I am here to ask if you can grant Hiashi-sama and the clan their wish by accepting the honor to have his daughter under your tutelage. We would be most grateful if you accept."

"…Eh?" Sakura blinked once before pointing a finger at herself. "Me?"

"That is correct, Sakura-san. I had come to the Hokage first to ask of her permission on behalf of the clan. She has agreed. All I need now is your consent."

Sakura stared at Neji as if he had just grown two heads. "…Why does Hiashi-san… er, I mean, Hiashi-sama want me to tutor Hinata?"

"You misunderstand, Sakura-san. It isn't Hinata-sama Hiashi-sama wants you to teach. It is Hanabi-sama."

That's right. Sakura recalled Hiashi had two daughters, and she heard rumors that the younger of the sisters was quite the talented one. From what Neji has been telling her thus far, it seemed that Hiashi expected great things from Hanabi and thus demanded a tutor that hailed from the ANBU to teach his daughter. Sakura relaxed her shoulders a bit. So she had to tutor a girl for a few months. No problem.

"There is a condition, Neji." Tsunade interjected. "I know that Hiashi prefers a one versus one tutoring method, but as long as Hanabi is going to be under the tutelage of a Leaf Ninja she is going to have to enroll as a Genin and be assigned to a team."

Neji nodded. "Yes, Hiashi-sama did make mention of that. He has allowed me to tell you that he is willing to accept any condition as long as Sakura-san is teaching Hanabi-sama."

"Very well then. Sakura." Tsunade slowly stood up from behind her desk. She extended her hand. "Congratulations."

"Eh?"

"You've just been promoted to Jounin."

"…WHAT?"

After the whole initial mess was sorted out and a few loose-ends forcibly overlooked (by order of Hokage), for better or for worse Haruno Sakura was now officially a Hidden Leaf Jounin at the young age of seventeen.

Now, according to tradition, all Leaf Jounin were required to teach a Genin team sometime in their career. It wasn't really a critical requirement, as people like Hatake Kakashi had continued to fail students in his famous bell exam until he eventually passed one certain team after he had been Jounin for nearly fourteen years. But for Sakura, this was an absolute requirement, for this was her mission assigned directly from the Hokage. She was now Jounin, and her task was to shape up all of her Genin students into capable Chuunins.

Haruno Sakura was now the Jounin Instructor of Team Fourteen for Konohamaru, Udon, and Hyuuga Hanabi.

Tsunade had, of course, skipped the entire process of the Jounin Exam that Sakura needed to get through in order to become a proper eligible Jounin. But being Hokage had perks and Tsunade knew a few loopholes when it came to promoting people – in fact, Tsunade ordered Sakura into Jounin rank through battlefield promotion. Given Sakura's pretty good record while she was in ANBU, the paperwork to make her rank official wasn't that difficult.

This all came as quite a shock for Sakura. After all, one moment she was an ANBU Medic Chuunin assigned missions in the front lines and in the next instant she had essentially replaced Ebisu as Jounin Instructor for Team Fourteen and had been assigned the still battle-capable members of the old team plus one new clan protégé as her students. And it was all made official in a manner of hours.

After realizing that what she was waking up into wasn't a dream, she decided to go pay her two new students a visit in the hospital after she was dismissed from Tsunade's office. It relieved her to see Konohamaru and Udon in relative good spirits, especially Udon. He had lost his right arm during the attack, but instead of feeling depressed about his lost limb he was instead determined to become strong enough to protect the ones he cared about. She only regretted the fact that she was the one who had to tell them of Ebisu's fate in the ambush. They seemed to take the news of his death pretty hard and seemed hesitant when she told them she was replacing him as instructor. She had a lot to prove in the coming future.

Sakura checked up on Moegi as well, the girl who had been determined unfit to return to duties in Team Fourteen. She found the poor hysterical girl confined in the Mental Ward, and Sakura left the hospital crying tears of sympathy. It was clear to anyone's eyes that Moegi was unable to return as a ninja anymore.

Next up was the visit to the Hyuuga clan's mansion. Hiashi surprised her by greeting Sakura at the door along with Neji, and after she was ushered in they shared a pretty nice talk together about the future of the team and her new unfamiliar position as teacher. He gave her some good advice and had even gone as far to offer a helping hand to help her teach her students. She was more than happy to accept.

The talk left her with a good impression of Hiashi, who seemed to favor her for some reason she didn't bother to question. Actually, the truth was that she didn't want to question because she didn't want to leave behind a bad impression – after all, he was a member of the Village Council and it wouldn't do her any good if she made more enemies in the Council then she already had. However, their meeting had proved to her that he really wasn't all that bad. He was simply a parent who took great interest in the upbringing of his younger daughter. The foul impression she first had of Hiashi when she heard of the tragedy of the Hyuuga during Neji's match against Naruto in the Chuunin exams five years ago had been corrected.

Sakura never once suspected Hiashi's true motives for asking her to become Hanabi's teacher.

During the visit, she was also introduced to Hanabi and Sakura took an immediate liking to the young girl. Inside, however, she was contemplating the difficulties of telling Konohamaru and Udon about how Moegi was unable to return to their team (they had yet to be notified of that fact), and how exactly Hanabi would fill in the void, and, most importantly, if they would even accept Hanabi as their new teammate.

How ironic it was. In the past, she too had been placed in a similar situation. Sasuke left the team and Kakashi was injured. The village then assigned Sai as Sasuke's replacement and Yamato as Kakashi's replacement.

The end result was catastrophic.

Sakura wondered if this was Tsunade's intention all along. By assigning her to teach a team that resembled her old one, was Tsunade giving them all a chance to still end up successful? Sakura didn't know. What she did know, however, was what needed to be done. Team Fourteen was not going to end up like Team Seven. Sakura was not letting them travel down the same path as hers. She was even willing to bet her life on it.

It should be noted that without realizing, Haruno Sakura had successfully become the true successor of Tsunade that day by unwillingly picking up the last of her master's bad habits.

Gambling.

- Third Entry -

"Sensibility"

Reign of the Fifth Hokage, Fourth year. June 17th.

17 years old. Year 2 of Imprisonment.

I kind of feel sorry for Naruto. He has to put up with my rants about the Village Elders. I will never forgive them for stuffing Naruto into such a miserable predicament. Bunch of idiots. I hate to admit, but relieving my stress on Naruto is actually pretty helpful.

In fact, Naruto has been pretty helpful as well. He gave me some tips and tricks for me to learn, and a few convenient jutsu's he'd picked up in his travels with Jiraiya-sama. He even sometimes gives me life advice. Who would've thought? The garden Naruto is growing is coming along nicely. He is full of surprises.

There was one thing that bothered me though. I asked if it were too early for the flowers to blossom and he thought he was spring. He seems to be misunderstanding time. I've talked with him a little bit more, and he seems to be off in a few places. He thinks he has only been imprisoned for half a year. I now realize that his sense of time has been skewered. I had thought of telling him the correct time, but somehow, I couldn't.

I am worried about him.

-END-

Author's Notes:

Yes, the chapter is late again. I am sorry. I'll just say that life for me has been pretty chaotic lately, and I am unable to update things regularly. I can't promise my readers anything when it comes to the date of the next chapter.

This chapter has been pretty satisfying for me to write. With the way the story is progressing and the way everything is slowly falling into place, this chapter had kept myself entertained throughout the entire writing process. What will happen next is anyone's guess. Although I do have a general plan written out in my head, even I really don't know how this is all going to turn out exactly. Well, that's half of the fun in writing, don't you think?

Till we meet again!

- Nes Mikel