New chapter mateys awesome neh! Hmmm yeah, anyway first things first I want to show my appreciation for everyone who's reviewed my story I really really appreciate. When I read the reviews it makes me want to make my chapters the best possible, I'd also like increased feedback on what you think, if you have any ideas or anything I like hearing criticism (shocking I KNOW.)

Enough of my rambling though on to the show of thanks and appreciation…

First of thank you so much Shinobi Darkbeak updating me 3 times I look forward to your comments and will try to get chapters out faster -

Kakashidiot your advice was readily accepted I'm glad you pointed it out to me I never thought that it'd be daunting to first readers oops heh heh thanks I'll be careful from now on.

Igardne6 thanks for your review, hopefully you'll keep thinking that my story is interesting I'm trying realllllllyyyyy hard.

Koruyuu thanks for the complement on my writing style I try, I was kinda worried though that it wouldn't work out as I hoped it would with all the added words and descriptions but thanks for the compliment I'll take it to heart .

Last but not least Amane Misa my first reviewer, thank you for taking time to read the fic I'll glad you found it interesting hopefully I'll come up with tons of good ideas to continue making it interesting.

ATTENTION: I will be changing the name of this fic to Through Crimson-Red Eyes but it'll be next chapter so don't worry just yet. I've also changed somethings up Kakashi won't be knowing about Sakura's Ne proposition to next chapter.

Well that's all the reviews my sincerest thanks to all of them, with each review I'll be sure to respond to it on the next chapter. Thank you all hope you enjoy this chapter I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Sakura was ecstatic she was going on a mission, an actual mission who cared if it was just B-ranked it was a mission! She'd found Naruto hanging with Hinata just enjoying the sunshine, she lost no time in bounding up to them and telling them in no less the 10 words that she was finally going on a mission.

Naruto had acted as expected with a bear hug, his strength easily lifting her up and whirling her around, it was times like these that she really realized how much he'd grown up and changed, before he wouldn't have been able to pick her up and she probably wouldn't have let him pick her up. She hugged him tightly around the neck,

"This is great, who cares if it's B-rank, you'll finally go out" he laughed with happiness echoing her earlier thoughts on the low rank, Sakura laughed with him. When she was finally set down Sakura made sure to see Hinata, and give her a bright smile they were good friends,

"Hinata-chan, lets get some ramen, Naruto-kun, you, and I neh?" she was on an emotional high of happiness, absolutely nothing could get her down, no way nothing at all.

"A-all right, congratulations S-Sakura-chan"

"No thank you Hinata-chan, your cousin, helped me train today, please thank him because I'll be leaving tonight and can't do it myself, and I look forward to showing him that I have my fate firmly grasped in my hands" she felt her smile stretch over her face, she felt like the old Sakura, when Naruto-kun would bug her for a date and Sasuke-kun would have his particular little smirk on his face and call him dobe, and Kakashi with his perverted books, oh she should probably go find him and tell him the good news and thank him.

"I'll be sure to d-do that Sakura-chan" Hinata said firmly looking at her steadily.

Naruto wasn't the only one who'd changed with the years, Hinata with her continued interaction with Naruto was becoming much bolder and less timid, Sakura was happy to see her coming out of her shell, now if Naruto would only ask the girl out, it was plainly obvious to the whole village that they liked each other.

Hyuuga family traditions be damned, the deserved each other and besides they looked good together. The moved off together chatting and breaking out into laughter easily, she was content, besides being like this when fighting and being pushed to her limits. She felt quite satisfied with the day, the sun was shining, its bright rays casting the path and village around them into happy and beautiful images of daily life, unfettered with the corruptness of the world. Just for now they were three friends going for ramen, able to forget for a while that once they left they'd be shinobi once again.

Mentally shaking her head to rid herself of the depressing thoughts, she liked being shinobi, no she loved being shinobi she had nothing to be complaining about right now life was good, she was pleased with the brightness of the world and the time able to spend with friends, 'no depressing thoughts' she told herself firmly, and she forgot her tiny moment of morbid self-pity.

It was with particular satisfaction that she downed the miso ramen, she was sure she hadn't tasted anything so good for awhile now. Naruto was wolfing down the noodles two bowls stacked next to him, Sakura wasn't going to berate him, besides it was fun watching Hinata-chan try to get him to slow down, he actually listened too, would the oddities ever cease. When Naruto asked what was in the mission scroll, she just blinked and then gave a laugh,

"I don't know!" she was amazed with herself, first mission and she didn't even know what it was. Fishing it out of a jôunin pocket on her left side, she pulled it open for all three of them to see what it was.

Objective: Escort a minor noble to the village of Kochi, you'll be passing through Oto no Kuni on the way.

Though there has been no activity or movement from Otogakure no Sato since Orochimaru's demise be on guard for various persons. It is still a dangerous land and various members of Orochimaru's village and gang have been sighted.

Time estimated for mission – 4 days.

Personal accompanying – one jôunin, two chūnin.

"Well that's not too bad" Naruto-kun admitted trying to cheer her up, Hinata-chan nodded her agreement,

"I'm just happy I'm getting one" Sakura admitted giving them a bright smile, not having to fake her happiness felt wonderful to her, it made her so…unbelievably free.

"Hmmm" Naruto-kun hummed a response, while slurping up some noodles, Sakura watched him tilt the bowl up and drink the broth with loud noises she didn't have the heart to hit him for his obvious lack in table manners. Looking over at Hinata-chan she only gave a small smile, which Sakura returned readily. With a sigh of satisfaction the tableware was set down with a slight "clink"

"So are you going to go tell Kakashi-sempai?" Naruto asked,

Nodding Sakura twirled her chopsticks in the broth and few noodles left in her bowl answering

"After I told you guys, I would have gone and found him"

"Go now, it'll probably take you a while to find the hentai" Sakura gave a small laugh at Naruto-kun's description of their ex-sensei, leaving some money to pay for their ramen

"Alright, Sayonara Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan I'll talk to you later" she called back as she headed along the main dirt-packed street to find Kakashi.

Sakura prided herself on being patient really she was patient, but sometimes things just had a way of making that patience evaporate faster then a drop of water in the hot sun. She wondered if Kakashi was doing this on purpose to try her patience, she had been up and down Konoha searching for him. She'd asked Asuma, Gai (to her slight fear) and other jôunin that Kakashi hung around with, with absolutely no luck.

Huffing with anger and frustration, she paused on a rooftop and shaded her one eye against the blinding sun, searching for a mop of messy silver hair or a slumped form reading a familiar orange book. Really how hard could he be hard to find, somehow she was finding it most difficult and her patience was almost at the non-existent stage.

"Yo" a familiar voice said, her emerald-green eye twitched before she turned around to face the person she had been looking for.

"KA..KA..SHI - Sempaiiii" she growled out, he was there with his messy hair that stood up everywhere, glinting a shiny, metallic silver, eye curved into a crescent signaling his smile, it was funny Sakura knew somehow there was humor in the situation. How couldn't there be she'd be searching for one porn-reading, mask-wearing, fellow Sharingan-weilding jôunin and then when she was just going to explode, he had miraculously appeared, she'd get a laugh out of this somehow.

Glaring at him

"So Sakura-chan I heard you were looking for me" he sounded carefree, stifling the rising desire to just hit him with her super-strength she shifted her feet and let a breath out, remembering her thoughts of how nothing could sour her good mood, but then she reasoned, no one was quite like her ex-sensei or former sensei really.

"I got a mission Kakashi-sempai, it's a B-rank but I wanted to tell you" she gave a smile

"Wonderful job Sakura-chan, just be careful with your Sharingan and only use it in an emergency, you have near-perfect chakra control but don't mess around" he warned his tone reflecting the serious precaution he was giving her

"I'm not some new genin Kakashi-sempai don't worry or you won't just have silver hair but white" she teased bringing some mirth to the situation.

"Wouldn't want that now would we" he played along. Sakura laughed, the anger fading somewhat with their joking, what would she do without the two men in her life that kept her sane.

Kakashi watched her jump away, moving from one rooftop to another, it was good to see that she was still the same old Sakura even with what she had been through, he admitted privately to himself about what could have happened and hadn't, she appeared well, and was adjusting to the change in her power, still…he couldn't help but wonder what her thoughts were, where once he could read her through her emotions that were displayed for all the world to see, now they were hidden, subdued, she still had that spark of fiery temper obvious from when she had almost beaten to a pulp for his surprise, but there was this new guardedness to her, he could discern a shadow in her eye that would flicker through briefly darkening her gaze and casting her in gloomy light.

He had been giving the Hokage-sama reports on her development with her Sharingan and appearing mental state, since Sakura wouldn't go back to being her apprentice till after she got her Sharingan under complete control or as much control as possible.

The Uchiha clan was dead, there kekkai genkai surviving through to non-Uchihas all they had to go on was history texts, some information from old retired nin and what he, himself knew it was difficult to use the powers of the doujutsu efficiently as possible.

Sighing and rubbing the back of his head, never did he think this could happen, his own occurance with Obito was a freak event, a Uchiha giving up another Sharingan and to one of his students was really unbelievable. Then there was his own problems, maybe because both of them, Sakura and him had learned something from the previous owners of the Sharingan that were life-altering was the reason he felt this overwhelming desire to help her in anyway to get through this and continue to grow and develop. It was unlike him to want to protect someone so much, yes she was his student and comrade but she was grownup, a jôunin, and a competent one at that, she didn't need anyone hovering over her, but it was just this desire, that was becoming harder and harder to squish down and ignore.

He just hoped that what Sakura was showing on the outside wasn't a façade to what was happening to her in the inside, he'd wait for her to come to him or Naruto for aid if she ever needed it.

They left at the dot the next morning, Sakura had tried to get some sleep to do her best on this mission, she didn't personally know any of the other nin with her, but she'd work and get along with them. Obviously from the way they were casting discreet looks at her tilted hitae-ate with curiosity they didn't know about what was hidden beneath it. Mostly it was the two chûnin that she caught glancing at her. Ignoring them, she moved with the noble, at least the jôunin kept his looks more hidden and more spaced out.

The camp was all set up with the minor noble Kurosaki asleep they had stopped for the night, she was on watch with Hattori he was to the left of her, positioned low to the ground on a tree limb. While she was over looking their small camp from her place on a tall pine, she had both eyes scanning their camp. They were just in Oto territory and Sakura felt extremely edgy with the close proximity to Konoha's prime enemy. Her Sharingan detected no swirling flows of chakra that were dangerous to her or the camp, only Hattori's and the two other chûnins chakra were evident to her.

Scanning the trees, and seeing nothing but the leaves and branches, gave her no comfort. All her experience with Oto made her wary and very cautious with any thing to do with them, it wasn't that she was paranoid she was just thought carefully and rationally when she had to deal with them, she'd stay alive longer that way.

Another pass with her eyes, the moon was a mere sliver to the world, and light was a luxury not available when they were right next to enemy territory. She might have been a good nin and gotten even more deadly with her Sharingan but even she could be brought down by large numbers of shinobi. She didn't pretend to be invincible and she made no attempt to sugar-coat the truth for the noble, she had informed him that they were traveling close to enemy territory and while they were close he HAD to listen and obey all that she and her squad said.

Sakura might have been second-in-command but she was the one with the real power here, in both genjutsu and ninjutsu with her Sharingan she was far above average with her taijutsu but she'd never be a genius of it like Lee-kun. She accepted that and made do with what she could to get better in it, she was intellectually powered, but with the Sharingan added to her arsenal it opened up whole new dimensions to her growth and development as a shinobi,mainly in strength.

She tensed when movement diagonally to the right of her caught her attention, her Sharingan instantly focused on it, her normal clear emerald green eye identified it as a brown-furred rabbit, her Sharingan confirmed it with no chakra in the animal, that would have made it either a summon or a henge. The knowledge that what had moved was not a threat didn't settle easier in her mind, she was too tense, expecting that something would happen, that some powerful enemy would leap out of the trees and attempt to slaughter them all.

These thoughts in no way helped to reassure her, even worse was that now after a break in the emotional attacks that had plagued her since Sasuke-kun's death they were returning, right now! Sweat beaded at the back of her neck, as she forced herself to scan the clearing it was just her luck that she would take watch on the same kind of tree that Sasuke-kun had died under, the smell brought the memories hazing into her mind.

Rain, she remembered the pitter patter drumbeat of it on the ground and vegetation around and above her.

The black beast uncoiled from its hibernation, and yawned sending a spike of terror through her, a chill slithered down her spine, and she bit her tongue, containing herself from collapsing in a emotional wreck that would have the whole camp brought down upon her to ask if she was okay and then they'd be obligated to detail the whole thing in the mission report, she'd be screwed, totally banned from missions again, dragged into therapy she'd never be let out of the village again, she could even be decommissioned as a shinobi, stating she was mentally-inefficient for the burden of the career. Rational thought deserted her as panic, grief and self-hate rose, she struggled to clamp it down under a strong lid, in the jar of her mind.

She bit on her tongue too hard having forgotten that she held it in between her teeth, blood brought her sharply back into dizzy focus, her surroundings wavered and rose to her eyes, pain caused her to shift her eyes down and unclench her white-knuckled grip on her thigh both for her fingers and her leg. The metallic-coppery taste of blood flooded her mouth as it bled from her tongue. The creature only retreated after it had sent her one more image from the memories clamped tightly closed and secluded in her mind, Sasuke's beaten body with his eyes giving her the look of death. She stiffened, struggling not to scream, to cry to yell at the injustice of it all, drawing in a deep chest-rattling breath to help calm her down, her stomach expanded with the extra air, holding it in her lungs she let it out slowly deflating, drawing a shaky hand down her face she gave a small sigh of relief at her luck to hold onto her sanity for one more day.

Next Chapter: "What's this Sakura, thinking of joining Ne" he looked slightly puzzled and curious but the dominating emotion was anger. It was difficult to tell though that damn mask always made things so complicated sometimes she just itched to take it off, but now she had to deal with this. "No" she said absently "Not inthis lifetime or the next but I haven't thrown it away, just forgot about it that's all" she shrugged her shoulders "It's my problem, don't worry about"

So there you go R&R please, it'll be much appreciated and if you see any misspellings or grammatical errors e-mail me and I'll have them fixed up.

I know it's the same Next Chapter preview but it's all explained up above but that excerpt will be in my next chapter promise, sorry for misleading you I absolutely promise it won't happen again. Gomen, gomen, gomen!