Last night Sakura had dinner with the Yamada family. Yamada-san has two sons and three daughters. All of them were married and have kids. His sons and daughters joined for dinner in order to welcome her to the village, therefore the house was crowded. Nevertheless, the food was great. Yamada Natsume is a great cook, definitely from the years of experience cooking for her family. It was a nice change having dinner with a huge family, she never had that chance before since she was the only child.

When she woke up this morning, she felt much better than she did a week ago. The air was so fresh, it made her feel calm and healthy. As she looked around her compound, she notices that she had enough land to plant a few herbs that might be useful for this village. Well she'll get to work on that later on, but now what to do for breakfast? While she was pondering on her breakfast, Sakura did not realize that someone was in front of her, until……..

"GOOD MORNING SAKURA SENSEI!!!!" someone shouted joyfully at her.

Looking down she saw a little girl about the age of eight smiling broadly at her. Sakura was dumbfounded by the sudden noise that she took a minute to grasp that the girl wished her a good morning.

"Well good morning to you too little one," Sakura replied offering a small smile.

The girl stopped smiling and pouted at Sakura.

"I'm not little, I'm 12 years old you know! It's not my fault that I didn't grow so much," the girl replied sadly.

Sakura was taken back by these. 12 years old? Sakura was at least a few inches taller than that girl when she was that age. Most probably the girl didn't have nutritious food that will help her growth. Looks like she has a new job as well, make sure the parents feed their children with proper food to ensure the children's growth. The little girl was still pouting at Sakura and she was holding something that was wrapped with a cloth.

"I'm so sorry. I thought that you were eight years old. So, what is your name?"

"I'm Atsuka Sumire and I'm your neighbor. My mom told me to give this to you. It's breakfast. I hope you'll like it," Sumire said holding up the wrapped box.

Sakura looked around to see where the girl's house is and saw that the nearest house was about 100 meters away. Sumire's mother is so thoughtful to send some food to her. Sakura decided go and thank the mother personally later. Sakura smiled and thanked Sumire while accepting the food. The lunch box felt warm and Sakura could hear her stomach grumbling. Sumire smiled back at Sakura and skipped back home happily singing something that Sakura never heard before.

"Looks like the villagers are very friendly," Sakura whispered to herself going back into the house.

After breakfast, Sakura decided to write to Ino informing of her arrival to this village.

Hey Ino,

I'm sorry for not telling you earlier about my mission. I know I shouldn't have run away but I needed some time for myself. I hope you will understand my situation. Please forgive me. I've already arrived at the village and so far so good. It's a small but beautiful village. Don't worry, I'll definitely come back to Konoha after I feel much better. Besides this mission will take a while, I'm not only here as a doctor but also to train one or two of the villagers to take over my place. Once I find a suitable person, then I can start right away but from what I heard there are not many young adults here so probably I must train the children. Send my regards to everyone especially Tsunade sama. That's all for now, I'll write to you when I've found an apprentice. Until then take care ok.

Yours truly,

H. Sakura

p/s: Please don't write to me about him or her, I don't want to know.

Folding the letter, Sakura realized she did not have any envelope.

"Might as well go over to Sumire's house and thank her mother. Maybe she'll have an envelope," Sakura thought to herself.

Later at night, Sakura sat at her door steps with a cup of tea reminiscing her day. In the morning, after she wrote the letter, Sakura went over to Sumire's house. Atsuka Sayuri, Sumire's mother was a very nice person. Sakura figured that Sayuri-san should be in her middle thirties. She has three sons and a daughter. Only her three younger children were at home, her eldest son and husband had gone to the next town with other farmers to sell their crops. Too bad, Sayuri-san didn't have any envelopes. Apparently she doesn't write to anyone or anyone to her. According to her, there is a small post office in the next village. So if Sakura wants to post her letters or to receive them she has to go all the way to the next village. Luckily the next village is not that far away, it takes about an hour or two on foot. Sakura might only take half an hour to reach there since she's a ninja.

After her visit to the Atsukas, Sakura decided to venture the village. She made a few new acquaintances here and there. She had lunch with the Tanaka family. They own a small sundry shop in the village. Sakura bought a few groceries and personal items. She even ordered a desk, three chairs, a display cupboard, and shelves. It may take two to three weeks until she receives her order, after all they are making it for her not getting it from somewhere else. After lunch, Sakura continued venturing until she came upon a beautiful field that faces a couple of hills. The scenery was definitely breathtaking. The field was quite far away from her house but Sakura decided that this field will be her sanctuary. She only hopes that the villagers do not come here often. Sakura lay down on the grass and closed her eyes. Her surrounding was so tranquil that she slowly drifted off to dreamland. By the time she woke up, it was already late evening. She took her purchases and went back home to make herself dinner.

When she realized that her cup was empty , Sakura felt it was best if she retired for the day. Locking her doors and windows, Sakura changed into her pajamas and went to bed hoping that tomorrow will be a good day as today. As she was in the verge of loosing her consciousness, Sakura realized that she never thought of him today and this is a good sign of a healing heart.

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Ahuthor's note: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know that it is a slow start but I figured that a little introduction might help the story. Anyway anyone figured out yet who is the mysterious him and her? Well I'm not gonna tell you so wait and find out. The pairings are also a secret :) Other details like their age will slowly emerge throughout the story. Next chapter might be a little interesting.