A week later Sakura was pleased as punch to go off on a normal C Rank Mission and get away from the hospital for a few days "Be careful Imouto-chan okay" Musubime said as he watched his sister pack a pack for her newest mission.
"Don't worry Ni-san it's a normal mission this time to just gather herbs a day away from the village, nothing is going to happen" Sakura assured zipping her pack, then checking her weapon pouches, senbon, shuriken, kunai, makibishi spikes, ninja wire and scroll with Nuibari.
Then it was on to her storage pouch, storage scrolls full of supplies for the next few days, an extra clothing scroll, cooking utensils and a grill for vegetables, lastly was her medical pouch, stuffed full of scrolls filled with herbs, petri dishes of ointments, antidote pills, bandage rolls and plenty of other things.
With that she was done checking over her pouches "Right guess I'll see you in a few days then" the fourteen year old frowned feeling conflicted, it was different when he was all the way in the Capital now he got to physically see her off and he felt weird.
Sakura flashed him a smile "Relax Musubime-ni we'll be back before you know it, and it's not like Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and Sasuke won't be there as well" the pinkette hugged her brother before heading out of her room.
And down the stairs to the living room "I'm going to be stay with Musubime-kun until you return, no offense Darui-san, Cee-san" Hiretsuna announced once the preteens were gathered in the front room with their sensei.
Who'd officially moved in partially, he had his own floor, since the roof had been removed and a third floor was added to the once two storied house, making it three storied "Have you two checked over your pouches to make sure you have everything" Kakashi was the one to ask.
Of the two boys "Yes Kakashi-sensei we have, like three times just to be sure cause Sakura-chan would have asked if you hadn't and we were just about to tell her before you asked" Naruto huffed, he knew better than to go off on a mission without being over prepared.
Kakashi chuckled lightly "Guess that's that then and we'll be on our way now" Sasuke stood on Sakura's left and Naruto took her right sandwiching the lone girl on their team between them like they usually did.
Hiretsuna sighed "I promise to keep working with my dagger while your gone Sakura-chan" the brunette waved watching the quartet head for the door and feeling lonely already, it wouldn't be the same without them around that was for sure.
"They'll be back in a few days Hiretsuna-san, as for us we'll still be stuck here in this house, hmm I wonder if those Mist Shinobi were told" Cee mused aloud, oh well that wasn't his problem if the duo hadn't been.
In fact it would be rather funny when they realized Sakura was no longer in the village for a few days at least "Probably not Cee, but it's out of our hands for the most part" Darui shrugged feeling the same way as his partner.
With that the two fourteen year old's headed out of the shared Team Seven house, and the two Cloud Shinobi did the same to find something to occupy their time around the village for the next few days while Sakura was off on a mission.
Speaking off Team Seven had just finished signing out at the gates and had only started down the path in the direction they needed to go "By the way you seem a little eager to get out of the village for awhile Sakura-chan" the blonde on the team questioned.
Having sensed excitement in his female teammate "Yeah why is that, usually you dread going outside the village for fear of something happening to one of us" the raven haired preteen on the team asked seconds later.
Earning an amused glare "Just needed a break from the hospital for a few days, I love working there but they act like their the ones who taught me all my skills and discovered my abilities" the pinkette huffed in frustration.
"Now, now Sakura-chan you got to remember it's been over twenty years since they've had someone with your talent in the hospital so of course their going to try and take credit, all the while you can turn around and say the opposite thing" their silver haired sensei chuckled.
Sakura relaxed at that already missing Darui "Kind of wish Hokage-sama would have let Darui-kun and Cee-san come with us though" Sakura sighed softly thinking about her betrothed and none of the males on her team disturbed.
Until they came across a road block "Momochi the hell are you doing so close to the village, don't you know it's dangerous, the Mizukage is here" Sasuke, who'd been taking a sip of water spat out the liquid as he spotted the rogue from their first outside the village mission.
Zabuza rolled his eyes "I'm well aware of that brat, was just coming to tell the girl there that the bandits were taken care of finally, got them all tracked down, so that other girl has nothing to fear anymore" the raven haired male snorted.
"Thank you Zabuza-san and Hiretsuna-chan will no doubt appreciate it" the rose haired girl nodded in acceptance knowing better than to do much more than that because he finally had a good thing going on.
The rogue snorted again "Whatever brat I'm out of here, you probably won't see me for awhile again" Zabuza stated then turned on his heel and vanished into the forest, the opposite direction they inevitably ended up going.
"Makes me wonder do you think Zabuza will ever feel comfortable enough revealing his presence to his former village again" Naruto asked in confusion feeling bad for the guy who was completely and utterly alone.
Unfortunately no one had a real answer for him "Unlikely Naruto-kun he sent his massive blade back for a reason, he doesn't want anyone but us to know he still lives and is helping out his country where they need it" Kakashi said lightly.
Leading the way deep into the forest that surrounded their village "Oh Sakura, got a question it's about herbs, don't look at me like that Dope, a few herbs interest me, specifically poison ones, so between elephant ear and wisteria" the raven haired preteen inquired suddenly.
Sakura blinked at him for a moment before pulling the information up with ease "Well elephants ear or dieffenbachia if ingested causes the airways to swell shut or if brushed against burning and itches, wisteria however rarely harms humans, but in animals it causes vomiting and diarrhea" the pinkette listed.
Naruto and Kakashi just stared at her "Just how is it you can remember all that anyway Sakura-chan" the silver haired nin was admittedly just as confused as he'd ever been since he first got assigned these genin.
"Because Sakura-chan has a photographic memory that lets her remember lots of things isn't that right Sakura-chan" the blonde on the team burst out in remembrance as it hit him, that's why she knew more than half of what she did because of how easy remembering things came to her.
In response to Naruto's outburst Sakura nodded lightly and with that they doubled their efforts to reach their destination, for awhile everything was quiet and peaceful until Sasuke thought of another question for his teammate.
"Say if you saw someone twitching what kind of medicinal herb would you use for that, what would it mean anyway" Sasuke prodded wanting to learn something at the very least since they'd be gathering herbs anyway.
His sole female teammate shot him a strange look before deciding to indulge her teammate "Damage to the nervous system and if I had to choose it would either be Astragalus or Tulsi which is basically Holy Basil" Sakura announced.
Earning more stares from the other members of their team "So does that mean you know what each individual herb looks like as well" Kakashi inquired curiously not surprised for once when Sakura nodded again.
"Of course she'd know, since she studied medicinal herbs, plants, and flowers from the time we were six and Cee gave her little tests every once in awhile to see what she retained and what she needed to memorize again" Naruto snorted.
Which brought laughter from the four of them, even Naruto himself and then silence once again reigned over them again until it was lunch time so they stopped and made a temporary camp "Guess I should have known you'd be versatile" the silver haired Jonin shook his head.
As he realized that Sakura had prepared herself to cook outdoors for the next couple of days, which included a small grill that could be powered up with chakra, and lots of vegetables, herbs and tea, though she did go catch fish to cut up and grill over her grill.
"Right at least this way it takes little time for us to pack up and be on our way to the herb patch" the raven haired preteen shrugged not concerned, this mission was turning out to be a lot easier than their first mission and he was grateful for that.
Naruto nodded "Yeah, yeah and even though I love ramen, Sakura-chan sure knows how to cook them veggies" the blonde was practically salivating at the smell of the cooking vegetables, slathered in oil and covered in aluminum foil.
Sakura chose that moment to look up and flash them all a smile "That's because my oba-chan taught me how to cook, she also got this for me, for my twelfth birthday" the pinkette snickered checking on the portable fire pit that had a pot of water with tea bags in it over it.
Fifteen minutes later lunch was ready and they all dug in "Still don't know how you do it Sakura, it's like every meal you make changes, much like your outfits, by the way when did you go get more outfits like that" Sasuke pointed out the newest outfit she wore.
Emerald orbs trailed over her attire this time of a short sleeved open dress that was dark green in color, beneath she wore long stretchy pants in a pale red, and green sandals, tied around her waist was a green sash with green chest armor, on her arms were weights, bandages, mesh and warmers.
Then to top it all off a light green hood that went to her elbows and attached to the dress, the hood she currently had down "Yeah I'd like to know as well because I've never noticed you slipping off on your own" Naruto narrowed his baby blue eyes.
"Honestly you boys, I go shopping all the time, you two are there with me, you just don't follow me into the girl clothes" Sakura reminded bluntly and their eyes widened before they both flashed her sheepish smiles.
And she rolled her eyes before starting to clean up everything and pack it all away in scrolls again "Come to think of it, I've also noticed you buying summons scrolls, have you chosen one yet" Kakashi asked suddenly.
But Sakura shook her head slipping into a light depression, even Sasuke winced because the last summons point blank refused without even looking at her, Kakashi wisely dropped that line of questioning and Naruto didn't say anything either as they started forward once again.
Less than four hours later they were at the herb patch and Sakura's expression brightened upon seeing all the herbs "Wow this is amazing" the pinkette murmured in awe, because she'd never thought there would be this many growing almost a full day away from the Leaf Village.
"Indeed it is Sakura-chan, and we have all day tomorrow to pick them, and if you want get some for yourself as well that's great, for now dinner then an early bed time" the silver haired Jonin interrupted.
Getting the feeling if he didn't stop her she'd just go straight to picking the herbs and it wouldn't be for the hospital, Sakura blushed in embarrassment and got started on dinner "Don't worry Sakura-chan I nearly made a break for them to" the raven haired boy on her team admitted.
Making her feel slightly better "Weirdo, though I guess it wouldn't be so bad to know this kind of stuff in case Sakura-chan couldn't come with us on a mission one time" the blonde frowned as he considered this out loud before nodding.
Nearly thirty minutes later since they dug an actual fire pit this time, dinner was ready, herb pasted fish and the four of them dug in before spreading out their bedrolls and on their sensei's command went to bed at only 6 in the evening.
Though their sensei more than made up for their early bed time by waking them at six in the morning "Okay I've already made breakfast for you lot, eat then get to work and follow Sakura-chan's lead" the Copy Ninja instructed.
"You got it Kakashi-sensei, plus I would have followed Sakura-chan anyway since she's the one with experience after all" the lone Uzumaki on the team huffed forcing himself to wake up earlier than he was use to and eat as ordered.
Sasuke snorted lightly "That's a given so what all do we have to get anyway, what kind of herbs and how do we pick them" the Uchiha turned his attention on the sole girl on his team knowing she would know and understand.
Sakura paused in taking a bite out of her fish then glanced at the scroll "Mostly anesthetic herbs, that's herbs with numbing agents to them for the knucklehead and some herbs that can be made into ointments for cuts, and to stop bleeding, plus herbs to detoxify blood of poisons" the fuscia haired princess said.
Looking the large list over, "Just what exactly are they trying to do run you ragged or something" Kakashi groaned eyeing the list for himself and sweat dropping at the amount of herbs that were needed by the hospital.
And he was starting to regret ever accepting this C Rank Mission for his genin "Probably, though then again I doubt it will be that hard to make everything for the final round isn't that right Sakura" Sasuke was smart and understood a little more than the other two.
Considering he'd been studying right along Sakura from the very beginning "Exactly, the only hard part is picking the herbs, just make sure you don't smash them and be very careful, other than that it's easy" Sakura announced.
Finishing off her breakfast and rising to her feet, picking up the wicker basket at her side, Sasuke was on his feet in the next moment as well, only to get a basket thrust into his hand as well and when Naruto joined them he got the same kind of basket.
"Basically we're just putting the herbs in here right, oh but what happens if they get mixed up with the other herbs" Naruto was wary as they approached the herb patch and right at the very edge Sakura stopped and kneeled to begin.
They followed her lead hesitantly but when they started picking the herbs she held up her hand "I think she wants you to watch first so you can see how it's done" their silver haired sensei called from his spot around the fire.
Earning a smile from Sakura, who used a very small kusarigama to carefully cut the herbs and once she had a nice sized bundle tied it together with twine "There you go, these are Mullien, gather ten bundles each, here's some twine" the pinkette said.
Handing out a roll of twine and a very small kusarigama to each boy watching them closely as they tried to repeat her earlier actions and once she was sure they had gotten it, turned and began gathering the first herb on the list in abundance.
Until each of them had ten bundles each all neatly tied with twine "Phew this is harder work than I thought it would be" the blonde on the team swiped his forehead free of sweat as they stood and wandered carefully into the herb patch on the hunt for the next herb.
Which was the Kava Kava herb "No kidding and she's growing an herb garden out back so I guess this is good experience for us" the raven haired boy on the team huffed feeling his back beginning to ache from being bent over at such an odd angle.
No complaining came from them though as they worked clear up to nine in the morning, in which they'd gathered all the anesthetic herbs, Mullien, Kava Kava, Mandrak and Caraway "Okay I think you lot have earned a quick break" Kakashi clapped drawing their attention onto him.
"You two go ahead, I'm going to get a bundle each for myself and plant some in the backyard in my herb garden" Sakura waved the two boys off, they hesitated for a moment before realizing she meant it so went to wander around for a bit.
It wasn't more than twenty minutes later Kakashi feeling generous about how long of a break they got that Naruto and Sasuke came storming back into the clearing "We've got a problem, some bandits are torturing an animal" Sasuke blurted out.
Sakura was on her feet in five seconds flat, glad that she managed to get the herbs she wanted before they were interrupted, even Kakashi stood "This way I don't want to see that poor horsey killed" Naruto looked the saddest ever.
And she knew that she couldn't let that defenseless animal get hurt anymore with that they hurried through the forest to a clearing where a Friesian filly pure white with a white mane though it had a strip of black in the mane and a white tail, with green eyes was cornered by a bunch of bandits.
What was even worse was that the horse was injured severely, Sakura saw red and together the four of them launched a counterattack, which had the bandits running for the hills "On you Sakura-chan" the Copy Ninja urged his student towards the wild horse.
That clearly was afraid that she'd be hurt even more "It's okay shh, shh I'm here to help, I'm going to heal your wounds" the fuscia haired princess approached slowly arms up and speaking gently to sooth the horses fears.
Until she was within range and pressing her glowing green hands to the injuries that she could see "Doing great Sakura" the Uchiha on the team assured seeing the horse relax as the pain she obviously felt started going away ever slowly.
"Yeah, yeah and then soon you'll get to be free without fear of being injured again" the lone Uzumaki on the team nodded eagerly keeping his distance, just glad that they'd made it in time to scare away the bandits and save the horse.
It wasn't more than twenty minutes after that, that the horse was fully healed but to Sakura's surprise the female horse followed them to their camp even Kakashi was surprised as he had his students get to work on picking herbs again.
This time it was the Styptic herbs, ten bundles of Horsetail, Red Root, Plantain and Sweet Woodruff was gathered and by the time they were done with that it was time for lunch "Just hope this helps" Naruto glanced at his wicker basket.
Eyeing the eighty bundles of eight different herbs, "Don't worry Dope it will, and we'll benefit from it as well" Sasuke smirked realizing that Sakura would no doubt plant all these herbs in her own garden and if they needed some of these herbs they wouldn't have to come all the way here.
Off to the side the horse that had followed them snorted and followed his sole female teammate from the clearing as she went to catch them lunch "Kind of get the feeling that horse is going to follow us back to the Leaf Village" Kakashi commented.
Seeing what his students saw and there was absolutely no way the Hokage would be able to refuse if Sakura got attached to the horse, ten minutes later Sakura was back "Caught rabbit so we're going to have stew" Sakura announced.
Female horse on her heels, it was the oddest thing ever, but she wasn't going to complain about it as she got started on lunch, there was a lot of leftover stew when they were done eating at nearly one in the afternoon so it was decided that's what they'd have for dinner.
As they got started on picking the last four remaining herbs needed, ten bundles of Red Clover, Burdock Root, Goldenseal Root and Cats Claw, though two of the herbs needed to be dug up with little shovels to get the roots and Sakura demonstrated happily for her teammates.
By three all the herbs had been picked that was needed for the hospital so she went around gathering a bundle of each herb that she could find until it was dinner time, to which she sealed all the herbs she collected for herself away in a scroll.
Then pulled out twelve large baggies to put the bundles of each herb into them, labeled them and finally sealed them all away in one of her storage scrolls, which was handed to Kakashi who situated it in his storage pouch before eating what was left of the stew.
"Ugh I'm so full" the blonde on the team groaned as he polished his second bowl of stew off thanking the kami that they didn't have to do anymore work as they found a river to clean out the pots and bowls that were used.
Only to turn around when he was done and crawl into his bedroll "Me to Naruto and tomorrow we'll be on our way back to the village, where we can call this our first official C Rank Mission complete" the pinkette yawned a large jaw cracking yawn.
Pulling a smile from her sensei "Quite and I'm just thankful that nothing happened" the silver haired nin nodded, eyeing the horse who was inching her way forward until she was practically at Sakura's bedroll only to lay down right next to the lone girl on his team.
Kakashi heaved an inward sigh only to roll his eyes in the next moment "Don't jinx it Kakashi, anything could happen from this moment to tomorrow before we get back" the raven haired preteen grumbled before drifting off into a light sleep.
It wasn't much longer after that, that the Copy Ninja found himself falling asleep as well for the rest of the night only to be woken by quiet laughter and the smell of charred vegetables "Geez you act like you haven't eaten in forever" Sakura's voice filtered into his ears.
And he cracked a curious eye open to see what was going on only to find his three students crowded around the horse feeding her apples they must have found somewhere, it was only five in the morning "Talk about an early morning wake up call, this isn't payback for all last week is it" Kakashi groaned.
Waking up a little quicker than he wanted "Why on earth would we do that for Kakashi, the horse here was hungry and was trying to eat Sakura's hair we've only been awake twenty minutes, breakfast is done by the way" Sasuke snorted.
"Right, right, there you go good horsey" Naruto patted the filly on the neck then flopped down next to Sakura as they dug in to the charred vegetables which was delicious like usual though with a different taste than they were use to because they were outdoors.
Not long after that camp was packed up and they were on their way to the village, as Kakashi suspected the horse began following them but before he could mention it "Do you think Hokage-sama would let me keep her" the pinkette on the team asked.
Her sensei heaved a long suffering sigh "Probably you are this Country's Princess after all and to refuse you would cause problems for him" the silver haired nin sighed feeling exhausted, why couldn't he have gotten a normal bunch of brats that didn't wear him down to his soul.
This earned a look "Now, now Sakura, Kakashi's not suggesting you'd throw your weight around as the Princess to the Hokage" the raven haired preteen soothed shooting a glare at his sensei, who wanted to groan.
And Naruto wasn't helping by standing back and sniggering like a crazy person "This is one of the easiest missions we've ever gotten" the blonde grinned feeling at peace for once as they trekked back to their village.
Horse that they'd saved from bandits loping after them slowly "If your going to keep her you should give her a name" Sasuke piped in suddenly wanting to hear what Sakura would come up with in regards to giving a companion a name.
Considering the horse wasn't going to leave any time soon "Yeah I wonder that to Sakura-chan so do you have a name at the ready for her" Naruto jumped in excited himself, though he wondered where would the horse even stay.
"Just to remind you I can ask Yamato to build a one stall stable behind the house for her, considering he's at mine a lot sometimes" Kakashi offered knowing that it would make Yamato groan but he would do it.
Sakura was quiet for a long while nearly up to noon "Kuri because she likes sweet chestnuts, noticed that when I went to catch our lunch yesterday, she found a few" Sakura finally exclaimed as they were sitting down for lunch.
Basically more vegetables with fish, they all couldn't wait until they got home and could eat more than vegetables, fish or rabbits and after lunch they packed up once more and started forward again, though Sakura noticed Kuri not following them.
Then it hit her "Kuri-chan do you want a carrot, I've got one with your name on it" the pinkette waved said vegetable at the horse who loped forward not at her newly dubbed name but at the carrot and tried to take a bite.
Only for it to be held away and Sakura climbed bareback on the horse before handing over the carrot "Wow looks like we're keeping her" the blonde on the team whistled softly as they started forward again Sakura sitting sideways on the newly dubbed Kuri.
"Definitely though it means a lot of responsibility on our parts, brushing her, feeding her, keeping her stall cleaned with fresh hay, bathing her, cleaning out her hooves and clipping them so they don't grow out to long and hurt her and daily exercise" the raven haired preteen ticked off his fingers.
Kakashi nodded in agreement "Right, not only that getting her blankets for the winter, a saddle, bridle, reins and whatever else is needed which is going to cost a lot of money" Kakashi added afterwards but it didn't seem like his genin were to worried.
Why would they be with Sakura "My parents almost got me a horse a long time ago when I was five but I was more interested in becoming a ninja that I said no" Sakura smiled sheepishly running her fingers through the almost pure white mane.
"Really you are the oddest person I've ever met Sakura" Sasuke shook his head in amusement slowing his walk a bit to walk next to the horse to keep Sakura in his sights if he was being honest even if the horse was being extremely behaved.
Ahead of them Naruto nodded "Yeah, yeah but I'm glad we're all friends you know" Naruto burst out happily just glad that he had people who cared about him enough to show him what he needed to do in order to survive in this life.
With that the lot of them settled down and let a comfortable silence fall over them as they finished the rest of their trek home, it was two when the big red gates of their village came into sight since they'd gotten an earlier start.
And at 2:10 because the usual Chunin on gate duty were no where around and the unfamiliar chunin kicked up a fuss about the horse in their midst they were headed down the streets to the Hokage Tower to report in after their three day mission.
The Hokage was surprised though when they told him about what they'd brought back "A horse really Sakura-san you couldn't pick a regular pet like a cat or a dog" Hiruzen sighed feeling old for once and like he needed to choose a successor.
Especially when Sakura shook her head "Very well but the horse is your responsibility and she'll have to go on missions with you if you think she can handle it" the Hokage relented taking the scroll filled with herbs from Kakashi.
Jotting down a missive and handing that and the scroll over to a Chunin milling about to have them delivered to the hospital before dismissing the three genin and Jonin from his office to go home and rest for a couple of days.
"Your back" Darui spoke when the lot of them were crowded in the living room, his eyes roved over the two boys only to frown "Where is she" his hackles were instantly raised as he thought the worst had happened.
He was just about to go tearing down the streets to the hospital when Sakura appeared from the kitchen "Sorry about that, had to get our newest addition to the house comfortable in the backyard" Sakura apologized coming forward to greet Darui with a hug.
Who was extremely confused "Newest addition to the house, who do you mean, don't tell me you brought back another boy" the white haired male groaned prompting giggles from his betrothed as she led the way to the backdoor.
To peer out it his onyx eyes widened "We saved her from a bunch of bandits that we're trying to kill her, on that note I'm going to go find Tenzo have him make a stable for her so she doesn't eat you're herb garden" Kakashi saluted then vanished in a plume of smoke.
Sakura groaned and opened the window in the kitchen "A horse huh and what after you saved her she just followed you" Cee was extremely amused, of course animals would be attracted to the girl, she had a very soothing chakra after all.
"Pretty much and as exhausted as I am from that long trek and since it's no where near time for dinner I'm going to go out and buy some apples, carrots and sweet chestnuts for Kuri" Naruto saluted disappearing out the front door to buy what was needed.
Cee blinked in surprise "Kuri huh is there a reason you named her after a chestnut" the remaining blonde questioned in confusion, though looking at the horse he supposed he probably would have named her something similar.
Sasuke nodded "Cause according to Sakura she likes sweet chestnuts, I'm going to go buy a feed bag and water trough for her, you rest Sakura, we'll get the rest of the stuff we need later or tomorrow" Sasuke waved hurrying after his blonde teammate.
Leaving Sakura alone in the house with the two Cloud Shinobi "How put out where those two when they realized I was gone from the village" Sakura couldn't resist asking, she'd not told them on purpose because she didn't want to be nagged at anymore.
"Oh very put out, though you don't have to worry about them nagging you about training with Nuibari anytime soon unless they send you a letter or something because yesterday the treaty went through and they all went home" Darui assured.
Viridian orbs widened "Right, also we'll be leaving today for the last remaining two weeks before the Chunin Exams, Raikage-sama wants us there to escort him here and we'll stay for another week then go home to Cloud" Cee patted Sakura on the shoulder.
It was the best she was going to get after all more than she thought she'd get actually "Imouto-chan your home, when did you get home" Musubime and Hiretsuna walked through the front door in the next moment.
"Just now Musubime-ni and we're back Hiretsuna-chan" the pinkette smiled demurely feeling happy to be home and able to relax until another mission came their way, but since the Chunin Exams were in effect missions outside the village were few and far between.
That's why they'd had so much time on their hands lately "Did you buy a horse or something" Hiretsuna was extremely shocked as she came forward to hug Sakura and peered out the backdoor only to spy the animal in the backyard.
"Not bought, found and saved, Kuri followed us home, Hokage-sama is letting us keep her and yes I named her after a chestnut because she likes to eat sweet chestnuts" the fuscia haired preteen princess explained easily.
Musubime stared at his little sister "You choose now to get interested in horses, honestly why are you so different to normal little sisters" the fourteen year old prince of Fire Country sighed to which had them all cracking up laughing.
Cee and Darui stood off to the side shaking their heads in amusement "That's probably an answer Sakura-chan will never be able to give you an answer" the brunette he was betrothed to snickered lightly behind her hand.
As they all shuffled into the living room for a bit until Kakashi returned with Tenzo in tow, only for both males to disappear to the backyard to make a stable and return fifteen minutes later "Done all that's left is getting your horse what she needs" Tenzo announced.
"Thank you Tenzo" Kakashi nodded disappearing to his floor of the house missing the scowl as he left behind a thick plume of smoke like usual, Sakura sighed and opened the front room window to allow the smoke to dissipate.
Before glaring at the ceiling "He really needs to learn how to use a bloody door" Sakura grumbled and sat back down with a huff next to Darui, who bit back a chuckle and hid his smile because she was so spirited.
Only to realize they really needed to get going "It's going to be an extremely long two weeks, we'll see you Sakura" Darui stood grabbing his pack from beside the couch where he'd put it and Cee did the same thing.
"Right just make sure you lot take care of yourselves, even if Hatake-san is here" Cee nodded feeling uncomfortable as they headed out the door and started down the streets to the gates leaving behind two teenagers and one preteen.
Until Naruto and Sasuke returned "Let's go set up this stuff first and get started on an early dinner" Sasuke said feeling his stomach rumbling in hunger, it would take them a bit to get back on their normal schedule as they headed out back.
And saw the brand new addition off to the side of their backyard, a small barn with one stable just big enough for Kuri and the three of them set to work "I think this is going to be our most trying challenge yet" Naruto commented.
When they began making several treks back and forth between the house and the small barn with pales of water to fill the trough that had been bought then they were laying down the hay and filling the feed bag with feed for Kuri.
In the bag they mixed some sweet chestnuts in for the hungry filly before giving her pats on the neck or head and headed in to get started on dinner "How was your mission by the way" Musubime questioned watching his little sister and her teammates cook dinner.
"Oh it went great, besides that little bit with the bandits it was smooth sailing, the herbs were easy to pick and all that though the herb patch was huge and I was lucky enough to pick a bundle of many of the herbs to plant here in the backyard" the pinkette chattered.
Making a mental note to remind herself tomorrow to do that "Guess tomorrow is all planned out for us buying horse stuff and planting the herb garden huh Sakura-chan" the blonde grinned feeling excitement bubbling within him.
But it was Sasuke who made it even better "And I know the perfect place for Kuri to get her exercise in without bothering anyone in the village" Sasuke smirked because he'd been working on cleaning it up after all.
Thankfully Sakura caught on instantly and nodded "I've gotten better with my dagger, oh Koeda was here for a bit, then she had to go off on another mission" Hiretsuna piped in suddenly in remembrance to tell Sakura that her cousin had been by.
Sakura smiled and with that dinner was done, a simple meal of smashed potatoes, green beans and chicken before they all sat down to eat, Kakashi absent this time and they they all traipsed out back for a quick two hour work out.
And at 7:30 they were in bed after locking up and heavily booby trapping the house like usual the members of team seven and Hiretsuna all collapsed in a bed while Musubime went back to his Aunt and Uncle's house for the night.
The next morning was hectic to say the least as Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke scrambled to get everything Kuri needed a couple of blankets, maintenance things, brush, clippers, picks for her mane and hooves, more food, a couple of saddles, reins and bits.
During all this Sakura also got started on planting her garden with help from her teammates here and there and by one they were taking Kuri across the village to the abandoned Uchiha Compound to let her get in exercise before it was back to her small barn and stable.
Before they all knew it their three day break was up and the next day it was back to work for Sakura at the hospital and they also had D Rank Missions to complete as well, so by the time the Final Round of the Chunin Exams came about the lot of them were exhausted.
Currently though they were awaiting the Raikage's arrival with his four escorts instead of the standard two "What does this Raikage guy look like anyway" Naruto was confused since he only really knew the Mizukage and Hokage the others he was still lost on.
"No idea Dope and it's better if you kept your usual exuberance to a minimum this guy is supposed to be really strict or so I heard from my D….someone once" Sasuke cut himself off at the last second.
Their pink haired teammate knew who he was about say had told him but didn't say anything in regards to that, though she did have an answer for Naruto "Really big, lots of muscles, he could probably squish the three of us flat with only his hand" Sakura ticked off her fingers.
Just as a booming laugh filled the air before her "Gutsy little brat aren't you though I suppose I shouldn't be to shocked I am, you're a far cry from that itty bitty eight year old the last time I saw you" Ay with his escorts appeared.
He couldn't resist and reached out to ruffle her long pink locks to a completely irreparable state "That's the girl you talk about nonstop" a blond male with blue eyes asked in utter disbelief from behind his Kage to Darui.
Darui nodded and watched the interactions between the Raikage and Sakura "Probably Raikage-sama and of course I've grown big and become a medic-nin just like I told you" the pinkette grinned widely the only one unafraid to speak her mind.
Even if she did get a couple of disturbed looks from the two unknown to her Cloud Shinobi "Good and I see you've kept true to yourself" Ay finished assessing the young girl and pulled back, Sakura straightened at the same time and then he settled his eyes on the Jonin.
"Welcome to our village Raikage-sama, I am Kakashi Hatake, these three's sensei if you will follow me this way please once you've signed in I will lead you to Hokage-sama as requested" Kakashi introduced himself and gave a short bow.
Ay nodded in acceptance and signed in prompting his shinobi to do the same "Told you we'd be back, in two weeks Sakura" Darui greeted Sakura with a side hug, squishing the girl to his side, glad that nothing had happened in the time he'd been gone.
She flashed him a brilliant smile in response and kept close "How are those other ones doing and Kuri" Cee couldn't resist greeting the girl with a small wave, not daring to hug her, because he didn't want Darui to get jealous.
"Kuri's doing great, getting lots of exercise and getting use to carrying us, though not all of us can fit on her at the same time" Naruto piped in with a whiskered grin as they started down the streets of the Leaf Village to the Hokage Tower.
Cee and Darui chuckled lightly "Of course a person isn't going to be able to carry three people at once" the blue eyed blonde female said in confusion not understanding anything in the least or why Darui was still hugging the young girl.
"Not a person a horse, Sakura named her Kuri because she likes sweet chestnuts, we've been taking care of her and teaching her things, plus Sakura's found a new weapon she can use on her, bow and arrows" Sasuke answered.
Of course they should have known "How are things going with those two and Nuibari" the onyx eyed blonde questioned remembering that his other question hadn't been fully answered since obviously Kuri was important.
"Musubime-ni and Hiretsuna-chan are doing great, Mebuki-oba-chan, Kizashi-oji-san, Eda-kun and Koeda-chan are all here for the exams, I'm going to sit in the booth with them and my parents" Sakura announced.
Here Naruto and Sasuke sulked "Oi what's up with you two, what about your parents it's not like you need to hang off her anyway" the blue eyed blonde male pointed out a little roughly and Sakura shot him a look before glancing to Darui.
Who sighed "Because their parents are gone and her's are well special" the younger white haired male grimaced knowing that he had to keep the secret even now, unless "Wait a minute if your going to sit in the booth with them that means everyone in the village is going to know" Darui said.
Sakura crinkled her nose up "Yep, they said it's time and since I'm gonna be thirteen here soon they figured there was no point in being undercover anymore since I've integrated myself into the shinobi lifestyle so much anyway" the pinkette shrugged.
Darui was extremely relieved about that "Good for you Sakura-chan, bet everyone who was curious is gonna freak when they realize all this time who you actually were" her silver haired sensei huffed and ruffled her hair again.
Messing it up even more than before, she was about to retaliate when they pulled to a stop in front of the Hokage Tower finally and Kakashi with Ay on his heels vanished within "Spunky little kid aren't you, I'm Atsui by the way, this is my Sis" the blue eyed blonde introduced himself.
"And I'm Samui so is something going on between you two, cause hanging on to each other like that is not exactly appropriate" Samui couldn't hold her tongue any longer on the subject cause it was extremely disturbing.
Viridian orbs widened "That's because we're betrothed, nice to meet you Atsui-san, Samui-san I am the Princess of Fire Country and Darui-kun and I have been betrothed since I was three and he twelve" Sakura greeted with a little curtsy.
Being the princess she was supposed to be "Try not to shock them to much brat" Ay with Kakashi in tow appeared again since it had been a very short meeting considering they would all be going to the arena that had been designated for the Final Round of the Chunin Exams.
The young princess blushed only to get laughed at "Why is it whenever I say something similar you try all the harder to shock me" Kakashi glared leading the way to the arena, what he didn't count on was for the foot that tried to trip him.
But when he looked back he couldn't figure out the culprit, 'Payback Kakashi-sensei' Sakura snickered inwardly keeping close to her teammates now the closer and closer they got to the arena and then they all had to split up.
Two Cloud Shinobi went with Ay to the Kage booth, while the remaining two went with Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto and Sakura she had to go all the way to the booth that held her family "Your here thank kami" Sayuri grabbed her daughter in a bone crushing hug.
Glad to see her again after all this time it felt like it had been forever since the last time she'd seen her daughter "Mother are you…I'm going to have a baby sibling" the pinkette blinked at her mother's enlarged stomach.
About four months along she would guess "Yes we wanted to surprise you my dear, your going to have a little sister and a little brother, we're naming them Teashi and Tsuigi Haruno" Juhi greeted his eldest daughter with his own hug.
Sakura felt like she was home once again "Can't believe you've been hiding that from me all this time kami what are they look like oh man I'm going to miss out on a lot of their life" Sakura frowned not liking this one little bit.
It was the first time she felt regret for choosing to become a shinobi "Don't worry my little princess once the Exams are all over we have some news for you" Sayuri Haruno assured squishing her daughter to her side again.
"Wish I could have another sibling" Eda pouted suddenly glancing down into the arena as the final round contestants started showing up, this would be his first big ninja event and he was kind of excited to see how it all went.
Mebuki winced at that but it was missed by her son "Think about it this way Eda-kun, those two little ones are family and you can liken them to siblings if you will, because the will of fire is to see everyone as family be it a brother or a sister even if your only cousins" Kizashi announced.
Viridian orbs lit up "Yeah that's right Eda-otouto plus you've got me and I'd do anything in the world for you don't forget that" Koeda piped in with a smile hugging her little brother just as a commotion came from the arena.
Seemed like they were finally starting "Ooh this is going to be a lot different than Koeda-chan's Chunin Exams I'm certain" Mebuki finally spoke leaning forward carefully in her seat to see over the railing and down into the arena since they were so high up.
Truthfully and because she didn't want to admit it to anyone just yet she was pregnant much like her sister in law, though only a month with twins "Mebuki-sama would you like us to fetch you all something to drink" Kyogo spoke up just then having an inkling about what was wrong with the woman.
Who nodded and so with his sister in tow they went down into the stands to find something to drink "Ginger tea huh so you aren't the only one who's noticed Mebuki-sama's strangeness lately" Koron smiled when she saw what her brother had got.
And then it was back up into the booth for them and they passed around the drinks to everyone gathered just as a voice washed over them and all eyes turned to the Kage Booth "Hello all and welcome to the annual Chunin Selection Exams" Hiruzen said then the fights began.