Sakura woke up to complete darkness. For a second she panicked with the irrational fear that she had gone blind before Ino's soft snores registered on the fogginess of her mind. She didn't understand at first why she had woken up but something didn't feel right.

Flashes of the last C-rank she took went through her mind so fast she was left breathless in the aftermath. The smell of blood and death and the sea all around her, countless men screaming in agony, Naruto's desperate scream and Sasuke's limp body falling to the ground.

She woke up and the sounds of chirping birds were still echoing in her head.

Sakura took a deep, shaky breath and tried to dispel some of the tension on her muscles. The mission to Wave was a nightmare from the start and she couldn't control the real nightmares that came after. She could, however, control the effect it would have in her life, specially when she was in a mission. She had no time to deal with stupid nightmares, she had to make sure this mission was a success.

With a tired sigh she got up, thankful she had slept on her day clothes, and carefully eased out of the window. She would do a perimeter check just to get her thoughts settled.

The early morning breeze was warm on her skin and the moon was already close to the horizon. Being in Land of Fire territory was settling for some reason, like they were safe, like they couldn't be attacked. It was wrong to think that, she knew. They were plenty far from Konoha and traveling with a rich business investor who happened to be a samurai.

It was the perfect place to stage a situation so that Iron broke relations with Fire and that was enough cause for alarm. Konoha was really in a shortage of ninja if they had sent her, a green chunin, two genin and a foreign chunin who happened to be from the village that had betrayed Konoha and Sakura didn't particularly trust to this escort mission.

Sakura suddenly saw movement from the rooftop of the one-story hotel.

With a kunai drawn and a defensive stance, she whirled around to face the possible threat.

"That was some quick response time, Kunoichi-chan."

Sakura forced her muscles to relax at the familiar voice. It was just Shinsei, smoking a pipe and leaning back on one hand.

"You should be asleep." Sakura didn't holster her kunai but jumped up to the rooftop, circling chakra to her feet to make the transition smooth.

"I think between the two of us, it's you who needs a bedtime, kid." Shinsei's voice took a teasing tone but Sakura could sense something beneath it that sounded a lot like resentment. Like calling her a kid was to serve more as a reminder for him than to actually insult her.

Suddenly last night made a lot more sense. At first she had thought that he only had a flirty personality and that's why he kept coming onto her, but he didn't treat the other girls like that. That meant he was investing in her.

The thought sent a heady feeling rushing through her veins. How weird it was that receiving that kind of attention made her feel this good. Sakura was an only child but her parents had always been more focused on their business than on her, and later on she had never had someone to focus on her like that.

Ino had filled a big hole in her life for a while, calling her a beautiful flower, making sure she had someone to sit with, but that ended when Sasuke came along.

And now there she was. With this boy, this man, really, completely focused on her. It was equal parts terrifying and exciting.

But last night he had backed off. Seemed confused and the tiniest bit frustrated when she hadn't returned his advances and when the question of age came up he had completely shut off. And now the kid comment.

He thought she was too young which, sure, she certainly was from her point of view but he couldn't be thinking that if she wanted to go on about her plan. She needed to get his attention back, for the good of the mission, for the good of the village.

(There was still a small part of her, though, only whispered quietly by Inner, that wanted his attention on her again. Wanted him to look at her like he did last night, eyes heavy with promise of delightful things she had learned during kunoichi class. Only that part of her quickly got shut down because there had also been other things she had learned during kunoichi class about how those things might not be so delightful depending on the target.)

"I'm not a kid, you know." Sakura carefully sat down next to him, her shoulder just brushing his covered bicep. "I'm young, okay, but in Konoha one stops being considered a minor when they graduate the Academy."

She expected him to go right back to flirting with her or to at least make a joke out of it but Shinsei only nodded his head slowly and took a puff from his pipe. After a few moments of silence where Sakura became progressively more agitated, he extended his hand towards her.

"Want some?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows, looking from the offered pipe to his expressionless face before shrugging and accepting it. She took it between her fingers like she saw him doing but didn't go much further than that.

"I don't really know how…" she trailed off with an embarrassed blush and was immediately gratified with his first smile of the night.

"Put it between your lips and suck the smoke in, then inhale through your mouth," his hand went around her wrist and brought the stick to just touch her lips.

Sakura did what he said and promptly choked on the smoke, her eyes watering and her lungs burning. Shinsei took the pipe back and took a practice drag of his own, all the while smirking at her.

"That tasted like shit." Sakura blurted and cleared her throat.

Shinsei threw his head back and laughed and Sakura was struck by how good he looked. The sound of his laugh was enough to bring that pleasant warmth back.

"What are you doing awake, anyway?" He handed the pipe back to Sakura and she fought a grimace and suffered through another drag, this time taking it a bit easier.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to do a perimeter check." Sakura shrugged. She technically knew she had to turn this conversation on him, to give him some sign that she was open for more, anything really, but it was hard.

She'd never had to do this before and was beginning to think kunoichi class was pretty useless with all the lack of practice involved. She needed experience and to be comfortable to take on this role and she was neither. But no one could ever say Sakura wasn't determined.

So she put on the mask that Inner provided and faked all the confidence she didn't have.

"You know, I think you should kiss me." Sakura figured she would just make a fool out of herself if she actually tried to do it. Wouldn't know where to put her hands or what to do with her mouth. No, it was best if she was upfront about it right now. She knew what type of person he was, had observed carefully just like she had Tachibana. She knew he would appreciate the joking tone she took.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow at her but she could see his smirk growing. "And why is that, Kunoichi-chan?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at the nickname and forced herself to keep going.

"I want to learn how to do it properly," she fought to keep eye contact but didn't show her struggle. "You look like you could teach me how." She cocked her head to the side and let a tiny smile come forwards. "You look eager enough, too."

Shinsei blinked at her and there was a pause long enough to make Sakura question herself-because, good god, she never had to seduce someone before and Sasuke was the living proof she sucked at it-before Shinsei huffed a surprised laugh.

"Who knew you could be this assertive, Kunoichi-chan." His dark blue eyes crinkled in the corner when he leaned his supporting arm behind her, letting their bodies get closer. "I can't say no to such a decisive kunoichi now, can I?"

His breath fanned on her face for a moment and then his lips where on hers. They were warm and soft but Sakura couldn't help but think overthink everything about herself. Were her lips as soft as his? Did she have morning breath?

With an annoyed grunt at herself she pushed back against him. This was a mission and Shinsei was nothing but an ends to a mean. There was no reason to feel self-conscious.

Shinsei cupped her cheek with warm calloused hands and put her jaw into a different angle, deepening the kiss with a swipe of his tongue on her bottom lip.

It was weird. Very weird, especially when she opened her mouth at his prompting and his tongue slid against hers. It wasn't bad weird or good weird it was just… weird.

But she learned a few things.

She learned how to nibble and suck. She learned how he particularly liked when her fingers unconsciously curled on the fabric covering his stomach. She learned that he made a nice sounding groan when she sucked on his tongue.

But most of all-when they parted and she could see his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were darker than ever while she was barely out of breath-Sakura learned that she liked this. Having the ability to make other people's skin redden with excitement and to make their hearts beats faster was exhilarating.

"The sun is almost up." Sakura smiled at him. "We should go downstairs to get ready."

"Yeah," he cleared his throat, clearly disappointed that they weren't going further. "I'll walk you to your room."

"There's no need." Sakura got up and stretched, taking a moment to hear the sounds of the first birds waking up. "We leave at dawn."

She jumped out the roof as silently as she could and snuck back inside. Perhaps she had been a bit curt with him towards the end but she wasn't overly concerned. She and Ino had discussed that the best course of action with a guy like Shinsei was to show interest but still play hard to get. He was the type who liked the thrill of the chase and now Sakura had him eating out of her palm.

Or so she hoped.

The trip over the border into Rivers was tense. Sakura had been on high alert since they set off for some reason and she was acutely aware that they weren't into Land of Fire territory anymore. Nothing happened, but instead of it making her relax, her nerves got even more agitated.

When they settled that night to eat, Sakura explained her contingency plan to the others.

"If a large group intercepts us or if the enemy is too strong for us we are all to separate." Sakura cleared her throat. "Team Sakura, all of us will immediately henge into Tachibana-sama. The three of you will leave with him heading east and I'll take Shinsei and head west. The meeting point will be whatever city we're headed for next."

"Are you sure, Sakura?" Ino looked concernedly at her.

"If we get attacked, the client is our priority." Sakura said firmly, flashes of Tazuna crossing her mind. "You girls are strong enough to protect Tachibana-sama and if it's just me and Shinsei I can evade the enemy and hide us with genjutsu."

It was a simple enough plan. The enemy will clearly see that they were four nin and when the smokescreen clears and they see exactly four Tachibana sticking together and heading in one direction, the logical conclusion is that the real Tachibana was with his bodyguard.

Sakura could use the genjutsu she'd been practicing. She hadn't tried it with another person but she was fairly certain she could do it so at least Shinsei wouldn't get noticed.

"It's a clever plan." Shinsei said when his brother nodded. "But do you think we're going to be attacked?"

"No, not at all." Sakura smiled reassuringly at them both. "This is just precautions. Ninja can be an extremely paranoid bunch, don't take offense."

The corner of his lips lifted slightly and they went back to eating in silence before Temari broke the tension with some carefully constructed compliment towards Tachibana.

Sakura felt a sudden rush of gratitude towards her teammates. She was so glad her first time as captain was with these clever, clever girls.

All her training with her dad had pointed out the advantages a woman had on politics and how she could use a sweet smile and kind words to her advantage. Then later on in kunoichi class she had learned how to charm with her feminine curves and how a soft voice and long hair would help her.

Being in an all male team for so long had twisted her notions of what strong meant. For a while she tried to stay thin and not to train so much her muscles would show because maybe Sasuke-kun would notice her. If she suppressed the part of herself that wanted to speak out and to fight and to be 'not girly' she could be feminine and desirable.

Using the few advantages she had over the boys because she had been surrounded by power-houses and geniuses and trying to work up to their level seemed laughable. Even Naruto, the deadlast of their class, had been leagues ahead of her. It was easier to give in and excel at being a kunoichi, something they couldn't be better than her. It was natural.

Only she had forgotten what it meant to be a kunoichi. It wasn't about having long hair, knowing flower arrangements and cooking for the team. It was this.

It was navigating politics with an innocent smile and clever speech. It was looking at a man and knowing exactly how to bring him to his knees. It was being good at all that stuff that girls were "supposed to" be good and still look good doing it.

Most of all, Sakura was beginning to realise that being a kunoichi didn't meant she couldn't know how to fight. And how to do it well.

Ino was the best of their class. Hinata could be meek sometimes but she was amazing while fighting. Tenten was formidable with her weapons, much better than Lee with them. Temari was probably the scariest girl she ever seen fighting.

And Sakura, well, she had a lot of catching up to do.

Instead of feeling discouraged, she took it on like a challenge. She wouldn't give up, she wouldn't rest until she could say she was strong enough to stand side by side with the boys

The next day they set off at dawn once again. Sakura had began to settle in her new position as leader. She was still alert at all times but the nervous energy that she had felt before was all but gone. A different kind of energy took its place. Every time her eyes caught Shinsei's she felt exhilarated knowing that he had been looking at her before and, maybe, even appreciating what he saw.

It was weird, the feeling she got. Not pleasant exactly but something she couldn't make sense of. She never felt like this before, not even with Sasuke-kun. Maybe because Sasuke hadn't ever looked at her like that. It was all very grown up, something she'd only ever read about it her mum's trashy romance novels and fantasised in her bed before sleep. It should scare her but for some reason it didn't.

Maybe it was because she wasn't going into this blind, maybe it was because she knew first hand that there were worst things to be afraid off. A cute boy wanting to be with her didn't come close to watching Zabuza kill over twenty men with just a kunai on his mouth.

Sakura motioned for her team to stop. She thought she'd seen something like the sun reflecting on steel, but it was gone now.

"Haruno-san?" Tachibana asked her a bit out of breath. They had set a fast pace of running through the civilian roads instead of taking to the trees because the samurai wouldn't be able to follow them there but it looked like all the running was getting to the older man.

"Do you need a break, Tachibana-sama?" She asked with a smile instead of voicing her worries. "We can stop at the next village for lunch."

He only nodded at her but Sakura still sent him another smile before starting at a slower pace than before. It wouldn't do to make their client feel like they were flaunting their skills in front of him.

Deciding the flash could have been the sun reflecting on anything, really, Sakura shook the tension from her shoulders and settled for counting the weapons on her pouch to calm herself. Even if they were attacked, they would be prepared.

They had lunch in what looked like the only restaurant in a tiny village by the river. It was a peaceful place and Sakura let them take a few calming moments to appreciate the breeze. Shinsei was sitting next to her, his leg pressing on hers from time to time.

She sent him a smile. Not a coy one, she wouldn't be able to pull it off, but a sweet, private one. The same one she had seen her mum give her dad or Kurenai-sensei give Asuma-sensei. His eyes darkened and the cocky smirk he sent her back was enough proof she had done something right.

The crossing into Land of Wind was like a weight lifted off her shoulders. This was Temari's land, the probabilities of them being attacked was about the same as in the Land of Fire. Even less so because a convoy from Konoha being attacked in their territory was the last thing Suna needed right now.

They stopped for the night at an Inn by the road that Sakura thought was clean and fancy enough to house Tachibana. They were a bit behind schedule but she wasn't overly worried about it, specially if Tachibana hadn't shown any signs of complain either.

The next morning was just like every other. They got up, grabbed their things and some breakfast and were gone by the time the sun was rising.

But something felt odd.

It was the feeling she had been brushing off and overlooking ever since they left that first village in the Land of Fire but intensified. And it wasn't just a hunch, either.

It was the trees and the way they were swishing with the wind. The river they were following and the sounds it made rushing against stone. The way the road felt beneath her feet.

It was sudden, the realisation that she was under a genjutsu. It took everything she had not to react, to keep running at the same pace she had been before. If someone had put them under a genjutsu it was better if they didn't know yet that she had noticed it.

Whoever it was wasn't against letting them get closer to the Land of Iron. They had been allowed to keep the same pace and had already passed two exits that they didn't take so the possibility of them being there for Tachibana and Shinsei was low.

This was good news. If they were attacked, Sakura would order them to run away. They could probably make it across the border in about four hours, full speed.

It would have been ideal if she could use the genjutsu she was under to track whoever was casting it but she didn't trust her abilities enough to do that. She could risk exposure if she did one tiny thing wrong and she didn't have any plan to fall back to.

She was stuck, she realised. She didn't know why someone had put them under a genjutsu, how powerful they were or even how many. If they had managed to evade them—managed to evade the Byakugan—then they must be powerful. That thought sparked something inside her.

An enemy that had managed to fool the Byakugan was an enemy that knew how it worked. The only possible way they could have fooled Hinata was if they knew Sakura had ordered her to keep a watch on their backs. Hinata must have been worried about making sure no one would get them from behind that she didn't focus on what was ahead of her.

This also meant that the enemy had to keep ahead and at an appropriate distance.

Now she had to figure out why they were letting them continue on their route and weren't attacking. It didn't make any sense to put them under genjutsu if they weren't doing anything.

Unless they had been heading straight to their base. Unless they only needed to dull their senses long enough for them to miss the signs that they were about to come close to their headquarters.

With a plan beginning to form and no time to think any further ahead, Sakura acted.

She started sending her chakra to Ino and Hinata in short bursts to signal D.A.N.G.E.R. though it was no use to try and do the same for Temari because she wouldn't know Konoha's signals. The moment she felt the girls breaking the genjutsu, she quickly sent a wave of chakra to the other's systems as well as her own.

"Temari, full attack twelve o'clock!" Sakura whispered harshly so the enemy couldn't hear her. She was impressed when Temari didn't even hesitate before following her orders.

The giant fan on her back was suddenly striking forwards, wind so sharp it cut tree branches down like they were paper. Screams came from up ahead and Sakura could identify at least four different voices.

"Temari, you're with me." Sakura didn't spare her a glance and turned to the other girls. "You both stay here, protecting our client is your priority. If we don't come back, you each take one of them on your backs and run all the way to Suna. Don't stop until you get there."

"But, Sakura!" Ino exclaimed, kunai in hand. "You can't go like that! What if they—"

"Ino!" Sakura cut her off and stared her down. She didn't have time to argue with her, she needed to move now and attack while they still had the upper hand. Ino didn't say anything else, but her eyes were still wide and shining. Sakura spared her a tiny smile to reassure her before dropping her bag and taking of her weights as fast as she could.

The amount of damage they did to the floor when she dropped them was nowhere near as big as Lee's but it still made her team raise their eyebrows. She took off at top speed before realising Temari was way behind her.

"Can you do that one more time?" She asked the girl after slowing down a bit.

"You don't need to ask twice!" A wicked grin took over her face before her chakra flared as she used her signature jutsu again.

They were close enough to see the forest up ahead and Sakura was quick to get two kunai and attach exploding tags on them. When Temari's jutsu died down, she threw the kunai into the trunks of two trees.

"When I activate them, use a weaker wind jutsu!"

Sakura didn't wait for Temari to confirm before she sent her chakra to the tags. The explosion would have been enough to rock her off her feet if she hadn't stuck them to the floor with chakra and soon the flames grew in intensity, fueled and directed by Temari's chakra toward their enemy.

When the flames began to die, Sakura ran full speed towards the cover of a big tree and peeked around it to assess their enemy.

There were four men on the ground, three unmoving and one squirming and crying loudly. Another three men were there, one was leaning against a three, half of his body completely burned and chest still. The other was on all fours coughing up a storm and the last… the last was impaled by a tree branch.

It had gone straight through his stomach and his arms were badly burned. The worst thing was he was still breathing, still conscious.

Shaking the nausea off, Sakura turned towards Temari with a stony face. They were close enough that they could be heard but Sakura didn't care about that at the moment.

"Do you want to explain to me why they have Suna hitai-ate?"

Hiya! I hope you guys liked this chapter! This week we'll probably catch up with AO3, so keep tuned for more updates soon! Let me know what you guys think so far, reviews make my day!