Recovery Arc: Mission Failure

Kakashi returned to the village from a tedious yet important 'hm I should probably talk to Sasuke before training tomorrow. See what I can do for him.'

He looked up from his book as a genin messenger ran up to him. "Hatake-san, the Hokage needs to see you asap. She's in the hospital treating some critical patients."

A pit grew in his stomach that he desperately tried to ignore as he took off to his least favorite spot in the village. Kakashi was directed to the emergency wing and clenched his teeth as the Hokage stepped out of an operating room talking to a doctor. "She's stable now. Keep her under watch. I'll be in the next room over if anything comes up."

Tsunade looked at Kakashi, "Hatake there you are, was your mission successful?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes ma'am, the package was successfully delivered."

She saw his eye flick to the door behind her for the briefest of moments. "Sakura Haruno is ok, she is stable right now. I don't have much time to explain everything. I need to go and work on Choji Akimichi."

Tsunade started walking, and Kakashi kept step behind her as she spoke, "Sasuke Uchiha attempted to leave the village with the aid of several Oto Shinobi. I assigned Shikamaru Nara to build a team of whoever he could find quickly and go after them, so far everyone but Naruto has returned. I need you to go out and search for him and Sasuke."

Kakashi nodded, "I'll bring them back, Hokage-sama."

"Good, you're dismissed."

Kakashi took off and headed to the front gate fighting down the dread in his stomach. Sakura was hurt enough to be in the ER, Sasuke was on the run, and Naruto was going after him if Kakashi didn't get there soon enough... He shook the thoughts and summoned his Ninken and started his pursuit of his students.

Naruto gulped as he looked up at Sasuke. His friend stood in the crater on the cliffside, his skin gray and two hand-shaped wings jutting from his back. Naruto gritted his teeth as he fell to all fours on the water. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra seeping out, but unlike the other times, the Fox wasn't goading him on, and he remained conscious.

Sasuke's hand lit up with lightning as he made a Chidori. Naruto growled and lifted his hand, forming a Rasengan. The two charged each other, screaming as their jutsu collided.

Kakashi double-timed it as the rain started to come down. Pakkun and the others had a good lock on Naruto and Sasuke's direction, but if he didn't get there quickly enough, they'd lose the scent. He slowed as he approached the Valley of the End and saw Naruto lying unconscious with Sasuke's Hitai-ate held tight in his hand. Kakashi sighed, and Pakkun confirmed Sasuke wasn't anywhere nearby. Pakkun and the other hounds disappeared as Kakashi picked up Naruto and put him on his back.

Naruto stirred and woke up as Kakashi jumped tree to tree; his sensei looked over his shoulder. "You're awake. How are your injuries?"

Naruto sighed and rested his forehead on Kakashi's shoulder. "I'm exhausted, but I think I'll be fine sensei."

Kakashi nodded and let Naruto drift back asleep as they made their way back to the village. They got back quickly, and Naruto was admitted to the hospital with chakra exhaustion, several broken bones, and a few minor injuries.

Days went by with the jonin senseis feeling anxious for the wellbeing of their genin. Inoichi managed to pull his daughter back to consciousness though her spiritual energy wasn't settled correctly, and it would take time to shift back into place. Neji had to deal with Lee and Guy's constant visits though he was glad when Tenten would kick them out for being too loud.

Choji recovered and was on a strict diet while he recovered. Kiba and Akamaru were both held up together, recovering from blood loss and stab wounds.

Naruto woke up, and Jiraiya was sitting near his bed "ah, you're awake. Glad to see you up; how are you feeling?"

Naruto looked at his bedsheets as his hands tightened. "I failed to get Sasuke back. Orochimaru has him now. Who knows what he'll do with Sasuke."

"My sources tell me he wanted to use Sasuke to transfer bodies, but I also got information that he just did before Sasuke left the village. It'll take three years before Orchimaru can do that transfer again."

Naruto relaxed a bit "then we need to go after him and-"

"Your teammate hasn't woken up."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya, who gave him a stern glare "we have almost three years to train and find Sasuke. I'm planning a trip, and I want you to come with Naruto for two and a half years of traveling and training."

"Wha- no, I can't. Sakura isn't even awake!"

Jiraiya patted Naruto's head. "It'll be ok I don't plan on leaving right away. I need to wrap things up and make preparations. You also need to recover, so it'll be ok you have time."

Naruto nodded. "O-ok Pervy sage."

As Jiraiya left, he laughed and moved aside to let Hinata sit and talk with Naruto. Another day passed before Sakura woke up. She tried to sit up, but a hand pushed her gently, "you need to rest."

She looked over to see Ino pushing her back down. Sakura saw the dimness in Ino's eyes and green tint to her blue eyes. "Ino, are you ok?"

Ino gave a thin smile that looked wrong and had no feeling behind it. "I'm ok. My spiritual energy isn't settled right, so I'm experiencing a... upset in my emotions. It'll settle in a day or so more until then I'm... fine."

Sakura winced as she tried to move her right arm that was covered in bandages. Ino pulled an apple out of a basket and began peeling it. "Hokage-sama said you nearly died from blood loss. Your right arm is going to need serious rehabilitation, and you have stitches in your neck. Naruto and Lee were apparently quite fast in getting you back to the village."

Sakura's left hand gripped the sheets as she shook, trying to hold the emotions back. "Damn it damn it damn it damn it!"

Ino put the plate of half-peeled apple down and patted Sakura's head. It was stiff and awkward, but Sakura stopped and looked at her friend, who just stared blankly. Sakura smiled, "th-thanks Ino."

Ino picked her plate up again. "It's no problem."

Sakura stared at her bandaged arm till a plate of peeled apples appeared in her vision. She blinked and took it, seeing they were peeled to look like rabbits. "Rabbits?"

Ino put her kunai away. "I thought it would look nice. Is it?"

Sakura nodded as she ate one "yeah, they're cute."

The door slid open, and Naruto stumbled in. He looked over and grinned, "Sakura, you're awake?!"

Sakura looked at her teammate. "Did we- did we fail?"

Naruto deflated, and he sat down in the other chair. "Yeah... I couldn't get Sasuke back."

Sakura sighed, "Guess we'll just have to get stronger and drag him back. Next time we go to get him, I promise Naruto I won't get hurt at least until it's time for us to beat some sense into our fool of a friend."

Naruto grinned, "Hell yeah, we'll get 'em next time... which reminds me. Pervy Sage wants to travel and train for two and a half years. He said he wants me to come with but-"

Sakura slapped her bed, "You need to take that opportunity. Jiraiya-sama is a sannin; you'll be able to learn so much from him. Remember, you had asked about fuinjutsu during the chunin exams. Jiraiya-sama is a fuinjutsu master. You can ask him about it while you travel."

Naruto seemed to realize, "Oh, I forgot to look into that so much happened I didn't get a chance to see what it was."

Sakura shook her head, "You're an idiot, sometimes." Sakura took another bite of an apple. "You should go rest up, Naruto, so that you can be ready for when you leave."

"Promise to say bye before I have to leave?"

Sakura grinned, "of course, idiot, you're my teammate and a friend. I'll be sure to say goodbye before you leave."

Naruto stuck around for a while before heading back to his room to rest up. Once he was gone, Sakura tried to talk with Ino, but her friends' altered mental state didn't make it easy to keep a conversation going, and eventually, Ino left when the nurse told her visiting hours were done.

That night Sakura laid there staring at the ceiling. Her parents hadn't come to see her today though she assumed they came while she was still unconscious. "Yo, Sakura-chan, what are you doing up at this hour?"

Sakura nearly jumped out of her bed before looking at her window and seeing Kakashi sitting in the window frame. "Sensei, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Tsk tsk language young genin. I just came to check on you and make sure you are ok."

"In the middle of the night?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I was busy and didn't think you'd be awake anyway."

Sakura sighed, "You're such a weird sensei."

Kakashi just smiled, and she could see the sadness in his eye for just a moment before he hid it. "I'm sorry I wasn't in the village to help you two."

Sakura gritted her teeth. "You should have talked to Sasuke earlier. Maybe it would have helped keep him from running."

"I see that now. Things are stirring, and the Hokage has me running around quite a lot. I doubt I'll be able to train you two for some time."

"It's ok sensei Naruto is going to go travel with Jiraiya-sama, and me- I'll figure something out. I swore with Naruto earlier that we would get stronger and go to get Sasuke together."

Kakashi looked out towards the great stone faces. "I hope you two can bring him back."

"We will sensei now if you'll kindly shut the window on your way out. I need to get some rest."

She never heard or saw him leave, but the window was shut, and she felt like she could fall asleep now.

Sakura was surprised the next day when the Hokage herself showed up to check on her. "Um, Hokage-sama, I have a request."

Tsunade looked up from her, clipboard, "oh, and what is the request?"

Sakura gulped and shifted in her bed, her eyes wandering up her right arm that was covered in scars now. "I want you to teach me once my rehabilitation is done. I want to know how to control and magnify the strength I have, and I want to learn how to be a medic."

Tsunade looked at Sakura's charts and said, "I have seen your files. You have good control... after rehabilitation, there will be a test. If you pass, I will teach you."

Sakura smiled, "I will definitely pass, and I'm sure you won't regret taking me on as a student Hokage-sama."

"I hope that's the case. For now, focus on getting better."

Shortly after Tsunade left, Sakura's parents came in, and her mother sighed with relief, "thank goodness you're finally awake."

Sakura smiled and hugged her parents one at a time. "Sorry for worrying you two. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Her mother shook her head as she sat down, "we know, dear."

Her father patted her hand, "we heard the details about your mission from the Hokage. How are you doing?"

"Physically? I feel stiff and kinda light-headed, and my arm hurts. Mentally? I feel kinda like a failure. I couldn't stop Sasuke from leaving the village. Maybe I would have been able to help Naruto beat Sasuke, and we could have dragged him back to the village."

Her mother patted her head. "It's ok, dear. Sometimes things just don't go right on a mission; the best you can do is survive and learn from the experience. Grow stronger and keep being a great shinobi, alright."

Sakura's dad smiled. "Of course she will, honey. Our daughter is going to surpass us in no time."

Sakura laughed and talked with her parents about asking Tsunade to teach her. They were nervous and excited about their daughter's upcoming challenges and the potential they held.

Sometime after her parents left, Sakura was surprised to see Shikamaru enter, followed by Temari. "Here, she is. Finally awake and everything", Shikamaru said as he slid into a chair.

"Uh Hi, Shikamaru-kun, what's with the visit." Sakura looked at Temari, who shifted nervously by the door.

Shikamaru pointed at Temari. "She wanted to talk to you but was too nervous about coming by herself. It's a drag, but I owed her one."

Temari bristled. "Hey, I am not nervous. I just thought... she wouldn't be very receptive to me showing up alone."

Sakura blinked "what? Why are you in the leaf, and why do you owe her?"

Temari tensed, "my brothers and I were picked to come and deliver a message to the Hokage, and she asked us to help your squad out."

"Oh, thank you for your help then. I didn't know."

Temari blinked, "wait, but... you're not mad that we're here?"

Sakura shrugged, "I'm guessing Suna is patching things up with Konoha, or they never would have asked for you to help us."

"Yeah, but you said if we ever stepped foot in the Land of Fire-"

Sakura waved her hand and laughed, "Oh, that I was just trying to scare you. I doubt I could beat you or your brothers. At the time, we were enemies, so I tried my best to intimidate you into running away."

Temari blushed, feeling like a fool. She marched up to Skura's bedside and swiftly leaned over, giving a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you for sparing us anyways, and I'm sorry we couldn't have helped you out more."

Sakura sat there stunned, but before she could recover, Temari turned and marched out. Shikamaru groaned and mumbled to himself as he got up to follow her.

The days ticked by, and Sakura was the last one released from the hospital with strict orders to not train and to come back for weekly checkups and rehabilitation. Sakura stood by the front gate with Hinata and the others. She did her best to ignore the itching sensation in her right arm as the sun started to rise. "He's turning into our sensei with how late he is."

Ino laughed, "maybe he's just nervous about such a long trip."

Sakura looked at her friend who's personality had come back, say for a few times where she would space out or the sudden tolerance of small reptiles. Ino's eyes had also gained a green tint to them. Ino looked over, "what something on my face or are you just admiring how perfect it is?"

Sakura laughed and nudged her friend, "yeah, just jealous of how pretty you are."

Ino pouted, "don't go back to thinking you're not pretty, Sakura, or I'm gonna have to sit you down like when we were kids and have a talk."

"I'm not. I promise I don't need another Ino lecture about self-confidence."

Ino hugged her side, making sure to avoid Sakura's right arm "good."

The group stood around a bit longer till Naruto finally showed up with Jiraiya. Sakura watched as Kiba boasted about how he would be doing his own intensive training. Lee gave an overly enthusiastic send-off while Shino and Neji were more subdued. Choji gave Naruto some chips, and Shikamaru looked like it was taking all his effort to not just go home and sleep. Ino and Tenten both wished him luck, and Sakura pulled Naruto into a hug "be safe ya hear Naruto, and when you get back, we'll smack some sense into Sasuke together."

Naruto grinned as Sakura stepped back, "hell yeah, we will."

As Sakura stepped back, Ino pushed Hinata forward, who was blushing and clutching a small bag. Ino stepped back and stood by Sakura as they watched their friends talk to each other quietly, and Naruto accepted whatever was in the bag. Naruto grinned as he stepped back. "See you guys later. I'll be back before ya know it."

The group stood around and watched him go. As they dispersed, Sakura and Ino came up on either side of Hinata, and Sakura smiled. "So, you gave him a gift as he left."

"And they didn't talk very loudly wonder what they could have been saying," Ino said as the three walked.

Hinata blushed. "I just uh- it was a care package. Some healing salves and stuff."

"Oh nice, but what did you two talk about?" Ino asked.

Hinata decided the street was incredibly interesting as she looked at it instead of her friends and mumbled, "J-just that we would get ramen when he comes back."

Sakura and Ino grinned as they praised Hinata for managing to ask him even if they would have to wait years for it to happen. The three of them went their separate ways to get their days started.

The days turned into weeks, and by the time a month had gone by, Sakura was sitting in her rehab room doing the exercises when the Tsunade stepped in, "glad to see, unlike your sensei, you stick to what the hospital tells you to do."

Sakura smiled, "I try my best to not let his bad habits rub off on me."

After her exercises were done, Tsunade did her checkup. "Hm, you can start light training now, but don't try to push it. You need to build your strength back up before you can improve. I'll leave the type of training you do up to you."

Sakura nodded, "thank you, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade smiled "don't thank me yet now that you're here." she dropped several thick medical books in front of Sakura "you need to read up on this if you hope to pass my test."

"Hehe ok... I can handle that, ma'am, thank you."

Sakura brought her new material home and dove into studying and several more weeks went by, and Sakura was given the go-ahead to be put on active duty. She stood before the Hokage's desk, and Tsunade smiled. "Are you ready to take your test, Sakura-san?"

Sakura clenched her fist and looked Tsunade in the eyes, "Yes!"

Tsunade stood. "Good, then follow me."

Sakura was led to a large room full of medical and ninjutsu books. Sakura saw Tsunade's aid Shizune there as well. The two women drilled Sakura on identifying various parts of the body and plants. They had her perform various strength and chakra control tests. Once Tsuande called an end to the test, Sakura sat down on the floor panting. Tsunade smiled down at her. "Is that all you have to give? Can you not get up and keep going?"

'It's a test she wants you to get up, so do it, idiot. You need to get up right now!' Sakura gritted her teeth and stumbled up to her feet. "I can keep going, Hokage-sama!"

Tsunade smiled. "Congratulations, Sakura-chan, you have passed. I will teach you everything I know. I have confidence you'll be able to handle it."

"Thank you, master, I won't disappoint you!"