Just when Tsunade as official Hokage now was getting ready to send her student and a team of medics that Sakura would hand pick herself to Mist, a mission went amiss two weeks after her inauguration "As you know I sent Kakashi with his students to Cloud" Tsunade began.
"Yeah about four days ago, why, has something happened Hokage-sama" Shikamaru questioned, having also been called into the office with two other Chunin and one genin, he didn't like where this was going either the way the newly inaugurated Hokage was behaving right now.
Tsunade blew out a breath "They never made it to Hidden Cloud, when Ay sent some of his shinobi to investigate they found the remains of a battle, as of right now Kakashi Hatake and his students Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuga are missing" the blonde announced.
Sakura gripped her teammates hands as dread washed over her "Calm down Sakura I'm sure their okay" Sasuke was holding her hand just as tightly as she was holding his, he cared about that knucklehead to and to find this out was a blow to the system.
"Are you assigning us the mission to find them, why because it seems most likely since the four of us were called in" Shino narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses, kikaichu buzzing at his mood, with a mix of worry and fear.
Glad they were making this easy on her Tsunade nodded "I am, Sakura your mission leader, Shikamaru's on strategy, Sasuke's on healing, Shino is on tracking understand, you have thirty minutes to pack and move out, the mission is B Rank" Tsunade barked.
"Roger that Tsunade-shishou, we'll bring them back no matter what we have to do" Sakura bowed low before her mentor, eyes burning bright with determination as she gripped Sasuke's hand and in a swirl of cherry blossoms the both of them were back home.
Flying up the stairs the moment their sandal encased feet touched carpet to pack the quickest they'd ever packed and in ten minutes flat they were ready to go, latching onto each others hands again to body flicker to the gates of the village.
Only to sign out as they found their other mission companions waiting for them "Let's move out then, you heard Lady Tsunade, Shino use your kikaichu to pick on Naruto's scent, Sasuke track his chakra trail if you can and as far as you can as well, we have to hurry" the rosette ordered.
Already dishing out a couple of orders "Don't worry about strategy Sakura, I've got a ton of plans ready to use at your command" the Nara Heir assured, wary at best, this was such a serious mission after all and he'd never had Shino, Sakura or Sasuke as his mission partners before.
"My kikaichu has Kiba's scent, it's the strongest for some reason" the brunet heir on the mission announced five minutes after they set forth from the village sending his kikaichu ahead to lead the way, and hoping that it hadn't rained recently.
Sasuke was the next to pick up on one of the missing's chakra trail "Got Hinata's chakra trail, straight path for Lightning Country, we'll see where it goes once we get near Cloud" the preteen Uchiha called deactivating his Sharingan.
With that the four of them ran at full speed, through tree's and over land, pushing themselves past their normal limits "If we keep going like this Sakura, we're going to end up injuring ourselves" Sasuke warned when he nearly slipped from a branch again.
"We'll take a fifteen minute breather, relieve ourselves or snack on trail mix in the meantime" Sakura came to a jarring stop, focusing her chakra into her feet in the nick of time to keep herself from plummeting to the earth.
Followed by the others who came to a much smoother stop than she had "Kami your like some kind of drill sergeant, to troublesome" Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his sore calf muscles, and they'd only been running for an hour and a half so far.
Sasuke grimaced and let his hands glow green to heal Shikamaru's sore muscles "Seems like someone's improved on their medical ninjutsu" Shino commented, seeing the much brighter glow than usual and Sasuke stood back with a small smile.
Before it faded into a worried frown, they snacked on trail mix like suggested or went if they had to and fifteen minutes later they were launching themselves through tree's at a break-neck pace again until the forest ended and the four of them had no choice but to run across land.
A few more fifteen minute breaks later, Team Seven with a member of Team Ten reached the border of Tea Country "Set up camp, Sasuke will build the fire, Shikamaru you stay here with him, keep an eye out for trouble, Shino with me, we're going hunting" the pinkette commanded.
"Yeesh I don't know how you handle her Sasuke and how can I keep an eye out for trouble or even inform her that trouble has hit when….oh that's right she has spider summons" the Nara heir groaned remembering the invasion during the Chunin Exams.
How Sakura had planted a spider on all of them "Not just spiders, but Slugs to remember, she can summon them with little effort now and you wonder why she's like that, it's because of Lady Hokage, their training sessions are like hell" the ebony haired preteen shuddered.
Activating his sharingan to peer cautiously around for any chakra signatures that he didn't know, a couple minutes later he concluded his search and deactivated his dojutsu to get started on digging out the fire pit for whatever Sakura and Shino brought back.
Not more than twenty minutes later the betrothed couple were back, Sakura carrying a string of fish on her back and two buckets of water in her hands, while Shino had a stack of sticks, and a bucket of herbs in his arms.
"Couldn't find any other types of animals so fish it is" the Aburame heir explained with a grimace, he wasn't very fond of fish really but right now he couldn't be picky as he handed over the sticks and Sasuke set them up before lighting it on fire.
While Sakura gutted the fish, scaled and deboned them before grinding up the herbs he'd gathered and slathering it onto their evening meal, then speared and set the fish up over the fire to cook "I hope their alright wherever they are" Sasuke sighed.
Staring up at the sky as they waited for their meal to finish cooking "Me to Sasuke, we have to have hope until the last minute" Sakura reminded and Shikamaru saw through her tough countenance, she was worried, but she covered it up by acting as a proper mission leader should.
"We'll find them, why because two of us here are meant for tracking, we'll get them back to, why because together we're strong" Shino took a seat right next to his girlfriend and clasped her hand in his the whole of Team Seven lifting each others spirits.
"Hey guys foods done, let's eat and then go to bed alright" Shikamaru cleared his throat about eleven minutes later when the members of Team Seven remained quiet, staring up at the stars silently to keep themselves strong.
They turned at his call though and snatched two sticks of fish each, hurriedly eating but taking care they didn't make themselves sick before crawling into their sleeping bags after setting up a myriad of traps to ward off enemies, rogue ninja, bandits and foreign ninja alike.
Morning came swiftly for them as they ate a cold meal of bean burrito's, then cleaned up after themselves to make sure no one could figure out they'd been there in the first place and once their packs were situated on their backs they crossed the border into Tea Country.
Running at full speed like the day before "What happens if the person who took them is a highly dangerous criminal and the mission turns A Rank or even S Rank on us" the Nara heir questioned when he felt he wouldn't run out of breath during one of their fifteen minute breaks.
"Then I'll send Katsuyu-sama back to Tsunade-shishou with a message requesting back up and we'll wait in Hidden Cloud for that back up to arrive" the fuscia haired thirteen year old announced seriously, munching on a tomato of all things.
One of the few things she had sealed in her food scroll in abundance "Man I just realized this is our first visit to another shinobi country and we can't even enjoy it because those guys are in trouble" the raven haired twelve year old grumbled.
Earning a light whack over the head from Sakura "I know your worried Sakura, why because I'm worried as well, just don't stress yourself out so much alright" the brunet heir at her side soothed carefully knowing how she felt about Naruto, Kiba and Hinata, even Kakashi.
They were family to her and after going almost four years without one of her major family members, she didn't want to lose anyone ever again, Sakura took a deep breath and polished off her tomato, then had them get moving again.
Crossing the border into Lightning Country at almost 1700 hours "Didn't think Tsunade would send you brats" Ay, the Raikage met them an hour later, near the battle sight where Team Eight and it's sensei had gone missing.
"Probably for the best to, we had a strange occurrence happen, come with me and I'll show you" the Raikage barked, leading them forward now and Sakura just stood back, following his direction to Shikamaru's confusion, of course he knew who the guy was.
But he didn't understand why Sakura was just letting him take the lead like he was since she was mission leader "See and we don't know quite what to do with him" Ay came to a screeching halt eight minutes later right on the edge of what looked to be the remains of a battlefield.
Claw marks were all over, blood splatters as well from who they didn't know, scorch marks from fire or lightning probably and even some craters from explosions, and in the center of the battlefield was a man with ocean blue eyes and blonde hair.
Sakura felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her at the sight of him "First Shino, Sasuke start searching for scent and chakra trails, Shikamaru with me" Sakura ordered taking the first step forward hesitantly then marching the rest of the way confidently towards the man.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa Sakura what the hell are you doing" Shikamaru panicked the closer they got the more he could feel the chakra wafting from the unknown guy, Sakura shot him a look that told him to calm down or else.
He swallowed his pride and did just that "Excuse me would you happen to be Minato Namikaze-sama, the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, who died almost thirteen years ago" the rosette narrowed her eyes.
Launching into an interrogation, causing the man to snap his head in their direction "That would be me alright can I ask how you knew who I was, when it seems the mass majority of people have forgotten my reign as Hokage, even Ay at first forgot who I was" the man nodded.
Becoming slightly depressed at the thought he was being forgotten "Stone Face and I found your profile in an old bingo book, but regardless of that, we have no proof that your really the Fourth" Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line.
A couple feet behind her Ay snorted and Shikamaru's eyes rounded in horror because the freaking Raikage just laughed "True, true, however I can give you proof, Naruto's my son, and one of the few that knows he's a jinchuuriki" Minato smiled kindly.
Understanding their mistrust of him "Naruto's your son" Shikamaru gaped, feeling faint until Sakura pinched his side lightly in warning when she felt his attention was drifting away from the topic and situation at hand.
"Kami this is a nightmare to pick through to find a specific person's chakra trail, but I think I finally picked up on Naruto's, they were taken in that direction, also found this" Sasuke jogged up to them nine minutes later, ranting and raving.
Then announcing he'd picked up on one of the missing people's chakra trail, followed by a dark orange shuriken "I also have Naruto's scent, here it's strongest, while Kiba's indicated he was injured fairly badly if I had to say" Shino appeared in a cluster of kikaichu.
Sakura grit her teeth "Then we have to go double-time, who knows what condition their in, Raikage-sama we're going now" the pinkette bowed low at Ay, who nodded, then slanted a glance at two of his Shinobi who arrived.
"Darui, Cee you'll go with them, help rescue the blonde brat and the rest of his team" the Raikage barked at his usual bodyguards, while Minato, if it was really him anyway stood there confused at what was going on and torn between staying or going with them.
In the end he sped off after the group of six now "Let me help, I want to prove that I am who I say I am" the blonde called, emerald orbs met his ocean blue, full of acceptance at his request then they were leaping through tree's at a break-neck pace.
For hours they ran until their lungs and calf muscles burned from exhaustion late into the night, only then did they stop "Gonna send my Kikaichu ahead to scout, you should do the same with your spiders Sakura, their less noticeable than Slugs" the Aburame Heir suggested.
Holding out his arms and a swarm of kikaichu burst forth from his sleeves before scattering in all directions to scout on their hosts command "Nice thinking Shino" the fuscia haired teen nodded, biting her thumb flashing through a set of hand signs and slamming her hand on the ground.
To summon a bunch of little spiders before sending them off to scout "I think given how far we've traveled, we should be near to where Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata and Kiba are being held" the ebony haired preteen commented.
Activating his sharingan again to check the chakra trail he'd been tracking for the better part of the evening just to make sure "We should start coming up with a plan then" the Nara Heir announced as Sakura joined them around the makeshift campfire.
With the others as well "Looks like your still as close as ever to your teammates huh Kid" Darui chuckled lightly glad to see the kids doing well after it having been a long time since he'd seen them, the end of the Chunin Exams to be precise.
And if he recalled it was nearly time for a new one, Ay had already been sent an invitation to send some of the genin after all to participate "Yeah still betrothed and in a relationship right" Cee inquired eyeing their closeness to one another.
Earning a couple of silent nods "Betrothed, in a relationship, how could your parents be so cruel" Minato frowned deeply not liking what he was hearing, in fact the girl didn't even look like she was from any kind of clan so that was even crueler.
"Lord Fourth for them the act of their parent/parents putting them in a betrothal contract was not cruel, in fact it made those two weirdly happy" Sasuke snorted and Minato glanced at him, immediately honing in on the crest on the sleeve of his shirt.
The Uchiha clan was still thriving it seemed to his relief, though he didn't know how wrong he was "Yeah in fact they became a couple before the contract was ever even created" the dark skinned male off to the side snorted.
"Indeed and we better get invited to the wedding you hear" the onyx eyed blonde teased the couple mercilessly, and the duo blushed lightly in response, the seriousness of the mission keeping them from expressing their embarrassment in full.
While Sasuke snorted, he better be best man or he was going to hit Shino "Barring that, do you think we'll find them" Darui frowned deeply, worried that they might not find the missing team of shinobi, of one Jonin, one Chunin and two Genin.
Sakura's head snapped up "Of course we'll find them Darui-san, we have to cause it's Naruto-baka, Kakashi-sensei, Hinata-chan and reckless Kiba" Sakura vowed, eyes glistening with unshed tears to Minato's astonishment.
Not the others though because they knew how important friendships were to her, they weren't just friends they were family to and it would utterly break Sakura if they ended up not finding the quartet of shinobi who had their whole lives ahead of them still.
"Then we'll find them Sakura-san no matter what we have to do" Cee nodded seriously becoming his true self a one hundred percent bonafide sensor type shinobi, he stood and vanished off into the tree's, already using his sensory skills to locate any nearby chakra.
"You know Sakura, I've always wondered, how did you become so obsessed with the idea of everyone being like family just as the will of fire states" Shikamaru frowned still confused to this very day over his former classmates, now fellow Chunin's actions.
Her head turned in his direction "It was Shisui's fault you know, he told me one day back when I was six before academy ever started to see everyone as family since it was just me, my mom and dad back then and I wanted a sibling, kind of grabbed onto it like a lifeline" she grimaced sheepishly.
He should have known that would be her answer "Not that it's a problem, it's good your so dedicated to the people you care about and see as family" Shino pat her hand gently with a reassuring smile on his lips.
Viridian orbs softened "Right we should get some rest for tomorrow" Minato suggested carefully knowing that he wasn't really in charge nor really completely trusted either but he didn't want them to be exhausted for whatever the next day might bring.
Later on Cee crept back into camp and joined the others in sleep after setting up a few traps "I found their chakra last night on the very edge of my senses in that direction" the onyx eyed blonde admitted the following morning as they were finishing up breakfast.
Pointing in the direction they'd been heading "What else did you feel Cee-san, what were the enemy numbers like, and how did their chakra feel to you, was it fluctuating in any kind of pain" the rosette snapped to in an instant.
Thinking at a high speed rate, gears turning in her head so rapidly the others couldn't keep up for a moment, even Cee until he shook his head and forced himself to focus "Nine and yes all of them, though if I had to say one of them was in critical condition even" Cee explained.
Flinching when fury washed over them in waves until it was reigned in with a sharp breath "That means we have to move, now, who knows the kind of infections they'll get if their left like that" Sakura pounded her fist into her palm and stood.
Sharply turning on her heel and sprinting in the direction she knew some of her important people were "Fuck did she get faster or what" the dark skinned male cursed seeing how fast Sakura was actually going and she was still wearing weights.
"Lady Hokage took her on as her apprentice" Sasuke grimaced, that was all the answer Darui needed apparently as they sprinted after the lone girl, using chakra to keep up as best they could until they reached a clearing with what looked like an abandoned hotel.
And Cee was horrified to realize that in the time he'd last checked more enemies had appeared "What do you say about an area wide genjutsu of Sakura's specialty" Shino suggested with a smirk, feeling vindictive and cruel towards the people who'd hurt their precious people.
"But that runs the risk of capturing those four in it as well" Shikamaru the voice of reason reminded not sure it was the best idea, nor was it his first even if Shino had beaten him to the punch literally by making the first suggestion.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes "What if Shino sent some of his kikaichu with the teleportation seal that Sakura's been working on lately, then send Mibojin with a message through the seal to warn them that a genjutsu will be cast and to have them break it" the Uchiha offered.
Minato looked at the lone girl among them with surprise in his ocean blue eyes "You know that might just work and then while you lot go to retrieve the team, we'll help kid set up one of his barriers to keep them in" Darui smirked.
Plan forming without any argument between them or outrageous suggestions "Let's get to this then" Minato cleared his throat, itching to rescue his son, but many things had to happen first before he could as Sakura sat.
Then yanked out a brush and popped the lid of an ink well, pulling out a blank tag as she did so, "Sasuke use your sharingan to search for an opening, the tag will be obvious, maybe someone needs to be distraction so the kikaichu can get through" the rosette instructed.
Already drawing her teleportation seal formula at a high speed and it was done in five minutes flat "Understood, get ready Shino" Sasuke focused chakra into his eyes, seeing all kinds of openings and choosing the one that was the best.
Kikaichu dispersed while a small cluster remained clumped together as they carried the seal "Their in place, Sakura" the Uchiha announced five minutes later, checking over Team Eight himself now that they were pretty close and finding the quartet in poorer condition than expected.
Sakura bit her thumb and sped through the hand signs needed to summon the leader of her spider summons clan "Sakura-sama what can I do for you" Mibojin was just as ready to do her bidding as he ever was and she was glad for that.
"I'm going to send you with a message to Kakashi-sensei, Mibojin-sama" Sakura commanded, placing her hand on her spider summons and focusing on the seal that she'd been working on in her spare time with a small sigh of the wind he was gone.
Four minutes later he was back with confirmation from Hinata, who was the only one awake apparently, that she'd be ready to break the genjutsu that was going to be cast "Alright genjutsu types at the ready" Shikamaru instructed.
Cee, Sasuke and Sakura spread out, the hand signs for Sakura's nightmare genjutsu having been taught to the duo who were helping her cast it this one time only "Ninja Art: Nightmare Illusions" they finished in sync and cast an area wide genjutsu.
That had the enemies dropping like flies, Darui cringed as the men began screaming "Medics only, kid from the Aburame Clan stay with me, Nara and him, we can cast a four point barrier jutsu once the seven of them are out" the dark skinned male took charge.
When Shino hurried after his teammates and Cee "Probably for the best Shino, we'd only get in the way and you know it" the Nara heir pointed out carefully, not wanting to upset the easily depressed thirteen year old or question his abilities.
Meanwhile, Sakura, Sasuke and Cee had reached the room Team Eight and their sensei were being held "O..Oh Sa..Sakura-chan it w..was awful w..we were on our way to C..Cloud and th..those guys attacked us just be..because o..of me" Hinata cried.
Latching on to her first real friend, who'd taken the time to teach her how to be confident in herself and her abilities "Calm down Hinata-chan it's okay, we're here now, your gonna be safe I promise" Sakura soothed hugging the distraught Hyuga heiress reassuringly.
"Sasuke, Cee-san get started on healing Kiba and Akamaru, their in dire condition, Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu" the rosette slammed her hand on the ground again, this time summoning Katsuyu as Cee and Sasuke knelt at the Inuzuka heir's side and started healing him.
While she instructed Katsuyu to attach herself to Naruto and Kakashi, both of whom were unconscious, yet not as in dire condition as Kiba, then made a hand sign to focus her chakra, the smaller versions of Katsuyu gained a green glow on their bodies.
As her young summoner poured all her concentration into the task at hand, sadly though the technique was a work in progress as way to soon the glow faded and the small version of Katsuyu dispelled in a plume of smoke.
Sakura crunched a chakra restoration pill and turned to Hinata while Sasuke and Cee, moved on to healing the more difficult of injuries on Kakashi and Naruto "Something's not right, usually that nine tailed beast guy heals Naruto to, but the chakra is sealed off" Sasuke frowned.
"Maybe it wasn't just about you either Hinata-san, they probably learned of Naruto being the Jinchuuriki and were following someone else's orders" Cee offered a viable explanation as he re-concentrated his efforts and chakra into healing.
Until he couldn't heal anymore "Inuzuka's got poison in him, they all do actually, I can tell you the symptoms and most likely plant" the Uchiha scowled, this was turning out not an all how he'd expected and if they didn't hurry the unconscious ones would never wake up.
"Tell me Sasuke, at the same time heat up some water with your fire jutsu, we don't have time to sit around and wait" the pinkette ordered glad that Sasuke had been sent, his knowledge of poisonous plants were coming in handy at last.
Especially when he began rattling off deadly plants and she pulled out herbs that would remedy the poison in antidote form, eight minutes later she had a murky yellow liquid in hypodermic form ready to inject into their bloodstream as Sasuke checked the completion of the antidote.
A little wisp of smoke wafted from the paper he'd dripped some poison on and sizzled flashing green and he gave her the go ahead as Cee sat back with Hinata watching and learning in a way to be able to do this himself sometime.
Only when their pale faces relaxed did the medics deem it safe to move the three unconscious shinobi "I've got knucklehead, Cee-san, please handle Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Kiba" Sakura hefted Naruto onto her back with ease and gentleness.
Hinata followed them carefully as they left the abandoned hotel to find all the enemies tied up "Do you think it's unsafe to bring them back with us to Cloud for interrogation" Darui questioned unsympathetic of the low class rogue ninjas.
Sakura gently set Naruto down next to Minato and stalked forward looking like a wraith her hair moving like a living banner as her chakra affected her features, Darui took three steps away from her as she approached.
Glaring down with furious green eyes at the low rank criminals "If it were just one or two of them it would be okay, the rest aren't necessary" the pinkette dubbed having no mercy on the people who'd hurt some of the people she cared for and loved like family.
"You heard the lady Darui-san, I can separate my shadow in two entities long enough for you to release a couple and tie them up" Shikamaru called, hiding within the shadows of a large birch tree, shadow stretched out before him.
With Shino's kikaichu buzzing about zapping them of their chakra "Hmm seems I underestimated how long it would take for you to get here, Sakura-san, Sasuke-san" a familiar voice to some drew their attention and Sakura went rigid.
"Kabuto what the hell are you doing here" Sakura spat growing tenser by the second as she realized what this was all about, it had been a ploy to lure her and Sasuke in to capture them and bring them to Orochimaru as prisoners or whatever else the disgusting man thought up.
The older teenager smirked "For you and Sasuke-san of course, Naruto to even, though you wouldn't believe the fight the four of them put up" Kabuto commented pushing his glasses up his nose back into their proper place as he spoke.
Her jaw was beginning to hurt as she ground her teeth furiously "Guess your stupider than I thought Kabuto, like hell I would ever let you put your hands on Sasuke, Naruto, myself or anyone from the Hidden Leaf Village or Hidden Cloud Village" the rosette glowered.
Readying herself as she settled in a loose stance, if Naruto really was Minato's son, then she could leave it to that man to protect Naruto, Sasuke was the one she was more worried about, Orochimaru had been gagging after the Uchiha since the Chunin Exams after all.
Kabuto seemed to realize that she wouldn't go down without a fight as he shifted into a stance himself then lunged, Sakura flew into a set of hand signs "Ninja Art: Hair Senbon Jutsu" her hair sharpened into needles and then shot from her head with deadly accuracy.
Making the teenager resemble a pincushion after the attack ended and she did a little back flip, body flickering in a large swirl of cherry blossoms to his frustration as a chakra coated hand shot out at her missing it's target obviously.
As she reappeared behind him and tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him "Do you even know what it's like to loose someone you care about Kabuto" her eyes burned with fire as she spoke, keeping up with her evasion for the time being.
He grit his teeth "Of course I do Sakura-san, every single one of my experiments I care about them and I'm sad when they die" Kabuto answered dutifully, Sakura paused for a brief moment and shook her head in disgust.
"Then you don't understand what love is, when you care about someone you want to keep them safe from all harm, you don't understand even the most base human feelings, because when you lose someone it hurts, and though their in your heart, you can never get them back" Sakura explained.
"You can't hug them or talk to them or even watch them live their lives as they should anymore, I know that feeling of losing someone important, for four years I thought my best friend, the brother I always wanted was dead so until you understand don't EVER try to take away what I care about again" she finished.
Slamming her fist right in Kabuto's gut, sending him flying through the air from the powerful punch that she delivered, blood splattered across her cheek and she instinctively held her breath "S..Scary a..as ever Sakura-chan" Naruto's goofy voice filled her ears.
And her eyes went wide then filled with tears "Naruto-baka your awake" Sakura rubbed her eyes harshly while Shikamaru and Darui vanished after Kabuto, only to return empty handed, seemed after he got his ass handed to him he'd run off.
Next time they wouldn't waste even a second of going after him "There's no point in letting any of them live is there" Shino piped in, the low class rogues had served their purpose after all, interrogating them now would get them no where.
The others seemed to agree as well "Here Sakura, its' a wet cloth to clean up your face" during the time the adults were handling the rogues, Sasuke held out a wet cloth for Sakura, who took it and washed her face gratefully.
"Guess you really saved us this time huh" Kiba sighed the second to awaken from his injure induced sleep, feeling sore all over and still nearly depleted of chakra, but alive, Akamaru to, who let out a tiny yip in agreement.
"You totally missed it though, she punted Kabuto on his ass, you remember that creepy guy from the Chunin Exams, yeah he went flying it was awesome believe it" Naruto was chattering a mile a minute to his teammates, both of whom looked relieved they'd made it out of this alive.
Cee chuckled at their antics glad that this whole thing was over now "What about K..Kakashi-sensei" the blue haired heiress stuttered casting a worried glance at her sensei as the unknown blonde knelt at the silver haired man's side.
"Don't worry so much Hinata-chan, he just over used his sharingan again, which means he'll be out for a couple of days probably and sore for the next several" Sakura snorted knowing why the man was still knocked out, it was the only viable option anyway.
Minato pressed his fist to his mouth to keep from laughing as Cee and Darui carried his old student between them as the lot of them started in the direction of Hidden Cloud, leaving behind nine dead rogues and exploding tags that they used to blow up the old hotel miles later.
And just as night was crawling over the land they reached the Cloud Village "Brats" Ay was on his feet when the lot of them crowded into his office, Minato was a little surprised that the first one Ay went to was the pink haired girl.
Thoroughly checking her over for any sort of injuries "I'm okay Raikage-sama, Naruto, Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru, Kiba and Hinata-chan are to but I'm afraid Kakashi-sensei is going to be laid up in a bed for a few days" the rosette smiled light bags under her eyes.
Indicating a lack of sleep from this whole mission, Ay ruffled her hair "Yeah she turned Kabuto Yakushi into a human pincushion, what was the jutsu you used by the way" Darui smirked, that memory engraved in his mind forever.
"Ninja Art: Hair Senbon Jutsu, it's supposed to be an exclusive jutsu of Jiraiya-sensei's so how do you know it" Minato spoke up for the first time since they'd started making their way to Cloud, having chosen to stay at the back of the group to keep an eye out for anymore trouble.
Viridian orbs flickered up to meet his slightly accusing gaze "Jiraiya-sama taught me himself, I don't use it much obviously, but he taught me" Sakura smiled fondly, the Toad Sage despite his initial dislike had come to care for her in a grandfatherly like fashion.
"Anyway good work brats, go find a hotel and get some rest, I'll send a message to Tsunade letting her know that you completed the mission, and that you deserve a break for your hard work" the Raikage waved them off in the next moment.
Sakura didn't leave quite yet "Raikage-sama allow me please to send Katsuyu-sama ahead with this seal so that you can correspond without having to wait" the pinkette bowed politely as she made her request, the Raikage raised a brow.
Before shrugging "Go ahead do whatever brat, I trust you, then get some sleep you look like your about to fall flat on your face stupid brat" Ay barked, watching as she summoned the slug that Tsunade was famed for and sent it off with a seal.
After connecting it with another one for easy correspondence, then with another bow hurried after the others and shared with Hinata as they curled up in beds to get some shut eye like they so obviously need since it was late at night.
The next morning Sakura was awake bright and early "Oh I see we have an early riser, Good Morning Sakura-san" Minato greeted when she stepped foot outside the hotel with a small chuckle of amusement only for his eyes to go wide at the sight of the kunai around her neck.
"Where did you get that, you didn't steal it from Kakashi did you" his eyes darkened and Sakura looked up at him wide eyed, taking several steps away from him, Minato cursed himself for being intimidating like that until her own eyes darkened and narrowed.
Lips pressed into a thin line "Kakashi-sensei gave it to me two months ago, when I tried to give it back he refused to even listen, don't accuse me of stealing, I hate thieves and liars just so you know" Sakura began in an angry tone, before switching to a more resigned tone.
Minato simply raised a brow "Well that's the brat I remember, though I admit I am curious, why would Hatake give you a kunai with the teleportation seal on it" Ay shot down beside them in the next moment having heard the initial question while waiting to show up in style.
Emerald orbs brightened and the blonde looked confused "Understand Raikage-sama that I didn't get injured okay but about two months ago, Tsunade-shishou sent me off on a very dangerous mission to infiltrate Akatsuki, Kakashi-sensei told me to use this to get out of danger" the pinkette stated seriously.
Both males were horrified "Why, why would Tsunade do such a thing your only a child Sakura-san" the blonde frowned deeply wondering how the village was faring under such a leader, what kind of leader sent children on dangerous missions like that.
"The Akatsuki's leader was already planning on kidnapping me anyway, it would have been pointless trying to find ways to prevent it, their relentless like that, plus we had an inside man, two technically but one was taken into protective custody" Sakura admitted.
Ay snorted and ruffled the brats bangs "Damn it brat just be more careful alright, if something happened to you, those idiots wouldn't know how to handle themselves anymore" the Raikage scoffed knowing it was the true.
Even she snickered under her breath at that "Guess I can't argue, Naruto and Sasuke are a couple of goofballs, I love them though and I'm glad we made it in time to save them and Kakashi-sensei to" the pinkette rubbed her eyes lightly.
"Because their family right I know stupid brat, by the way you always keep it up so how long is it" Ay pointed to her braided hair that was tied tightly in a bun atop her head, hair spikes and senbon weaved into it discreetly with an odd opaque liquid on them.
Sakura crinkled her nose "About to here, though I've been contemplating cutting it all off lately" she gestured to the outside of her right lower thigh "How did correspondence go with Shishou" the rosette inquired lightly.
Knowing that Tsunade must be fuming "Told her about Namikaze somehow being alive so she's sending Jiraiya this way, she also said for you to stay here with those three to help out in the hospital, establish connections between Leaf and Cloud hospitals" the Raikage grunted.
"Just how did Tsunade Senju become the Hokage anyway, nothing happened to Lord Third right" Minato interjected, worried that the village wasn't doing so well, not since he died anyway, last he'd heard Tsunade was a gambling drunkard.
The young girl who seemed close to Tsunade turned "Lord Third is just fine, happily in retirement now and he chose her as his successor, though Naruto, Jiraiya-sama and I had a devil of a time finding her, but in the end she came back with us" Sakura huffed in remembrance.
"You know I never did ask, only got a half-assed explanation but how did that Uchiha survive the massacre" Ay straightened and crossed his arms over his chest, there it was a small flinch at the reminder before Sakura squared her shoulders.
Taking a deep subtle breath as she did so "Shizune-sempai found him when he washed up on the bank of Naka River when he tried to commit suicide, she saved him with her mystical palm so he decided to follow her and Shishou around for almost four years" the fuscia haired teen explained.
Shoving the memories to the back-burner, Shisui was back that's all that mattered to her "Don't worry Sakura-chan, Shisui's not leaving you ever again that much I can tell you" then her knucklehead friend poked his head out the hotel door with a grin.
Having heard the statement "Course not cause I'll track him down and kick his ass next time, how are you feeling" Sakura frowned deeply concerned for the blonde as she looked him over more intently than before.
"Ugh I feel like I was run over by a stampede of horses you know, I should have done more, fought harder but then that guy shoved his fingers in my gut and everything hurt so bad that I passed out" Naruto groaned going on a rant.
Sakura grit her teeth "Sasuke was right then, they tried to cut you off from the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra, great only a master at fuinjutsu can fix the seal" the pinkette sighed tiredly, glancing discreetly at Minato, if he was the Fourth Hokage, only he could fix Naruto's seal.
After all he was the one who designed it, thankfully the older blonde caught on "If you don't mind Naruto-kun, I can take a look at the seal and fix it even" Minato offered, Naruto grabbed Sakura's sleeve and shot her a wary look.
Before she nodded encouragingly so he lifted his shirt and focused chakra to reveal his seal that kept the Kyuubi in check "Hmm I see…one moment, brace yourself Naruto-kun, this might hurt a little" the blonde grimaced wanting to do anything but hurt his son anymore.
Naruto was a tough little kid it seemed as he squared his shoulders and tensed, then in the next second it was all over and red chakra flowed through him again, he could feel it "Ouch" the blonde Uzumaki rubbed his stomach.
Feeling more sore than before now "Crybaby, here" Sakura snorted teasing him lightly as she raised a glowing green hand and ran it over his stomach and anywhere else he felt sore until he felt moderately better than before.
"Seems being Tsunade's apprentice has really improved your medical ninjutsu huh brat" Ay chuckled, realizing in that moment, someday down the road Sakura would surpass her Shishou in medical prowess and strength probably.
Sakura knew it to as she nodded quietly a fond look on her face "I've been training so hard it's unbelievable and when I get older she wants me to be the Assistant to Head Medic" the pinkette announced emerald orbs burning with fire.
"Oi Kakashi's awake, he wants to talk to you Sakura, also he's complaining about well you know" Sasuke appeared in a swirl of black crow feathers, having only thought of going to Sakura, even if she was stood outside the door of the hotel, which hadn't been as far as he thought.
"Uh-huh I swear he's the most whiniest Jonin I've ever met when it comes to getting proper rest" Sakura let out an exasperated and irritated sounding sigh as she stomped her way back into the hotel to give that stubborn Jonin a piece of her mind no doubt.
Sasuke and Naruto shared secretive smiles as they remembered the last time the Jonin in question was stubborn "Totally can't miss out on seeing her give him a stern talking to" Naruto grinned as he sped after Sakura, Sasuke, the older blonde and the Raikage on his heels.
Arriving in the nick of time to hear Sakura begin a full blown rant "Honestly Kakashi-sensei you have to take better care of yourself, otherwise recovery time will take longer and you'll be stuck in bed for probably the entirety of this mission" the rosette scowled.
"But Sakura-chan I can't be laid up in bed, Raikage-sama wants me and my students to help out around the Cloud Village" Kakashi sulked, wondering how he ended up being on the receiving end of a scolding by this girl again.
It was like she was specifically born to keep him from being holy reckless and stubborn "No buts Kakashi-sensei, you'll be in bed for the next three days to recovery and I'm sure Raikage-sama understands, but one more complaint out of you and you'll be given a shot" she planted a hand on her hip.
And barred her teeth giving her a very scary intimidating look "Okay, okay no need I promise I'll be good" the silver haired Jonin was quick to raise his hands and assure her that he would behave at least for the time being.
"Glad we could come to an understanding Kakashi-sensei" Sakura smiled brightly and he couldn't help the shudder as she pranced from the room he was in, it just wasn't fair how she could do that, completely give him the run around until he had no choice but to concede defeat to her.
Outside the room Sakura rolled her eyes lightly at his pouting "Ridiculous, anyway I'm going back to work brat, head to the hospital whenever" Ay snorted and disappeared in a plume of smoke leaving some of the brats he was familiar with, with Namikaze.
"Your scary Sakura, but I'm glad your able to get him to listen to reason" the youngest Uchiha smirked, if it had been him he would have just knocked the man out, no if's and or buts about it, he didn't have the patience that Sakura did.
This earned another roll of emerald orbs "For now, he'll be obstinate later and you know it Sasuke" Sakura scoffed under her breath, heading for the room she shared with Hinata, Sasuke, Naruto and the Fourth Hokage on her heels again.
"M..Morning S..Sakura-chan, N..Naruto-kun, S..Sasuke-kun h..how are you all feeling" Hinata stuttered the moment they entered the room and she was glad that she'd had the thought of getting dressed earlier otherwise she'd still be in her sleeping clothes.
All three in question returned the greeting "We're good Hinata-chan no worries alright" the pinkette smiled kindly at the gentle girl, walking up to her even with a glowing green hand to heal what she could of the soreness she probably still felt.
Hinata instantly relaxed "Your chakra is s..so soothing" the blue haired heiress hummed softly looking ready to crash despite having only woken up a little while ago, and with a little nudge she slipped into a restful sleep again.
"Poor Hinata-chan, Dog boy and Akamaru to, they really got the short end of the stick" Naruto frowned deeply, tears shining in his baby blue eyes, and Minato had no idea of what to do to prevent his son from crying.
Thankfully Sakura seemed to be in tune with his moods and whatnot "Their okay Naruto-kun I promise, they just need a little more rest to feel better and maybe some medicine, what herbs do you have Sasuke" Sakura reached for her medical pouch.
Naruto watching with curiosity in his gaze as Sasuke did the same thing "Chamomile, skullcap, bearberry and boneset, didn't have time to restock since we left in a hurry, but I think all of those will help, want me to make medicine or tea" Sasuke listed as he pulled out his limited supplies.
Sakura pursed her lips "Tea, use chamomile, skullcap and bearberry, make enough for all of us, I'll go see if I can borrow the kitchen" the rosette ticked off her fingers, knowing that she had a lot more herbs on hand than Sasuke did.
"I wish I could keep up with her sometimes" the Uchiha sighed but sat and pulled out a portable burner, his water supply scroll for a bottle of water, a kettle, then set the herbs chosen in the water to boil and strain afterwards with a strainer.
"Indeed, but that's why Sakura was one of the ones to become Chunin, her high level of thinking has saved us many times" Shino was next to awaken and appear, leaving Kiba and Akamaru to their rest in the room next door.
Minato frowned yet again not understanding anything that was going on anymore "Saved you what do you mean" and it took him a couple minutes to work up the nerve to ask, because surely nothing could be as bad as he'd seen so far.
Shino pushed his sunglasses back into place "Before I became a genin, a sensei at the academy tricked me, if it weren't for Sasuke and Sakura-chan I would have been killed, if not for Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei would be dead twice now" Naruto piped in.
Just a little wary still but Sakura seemed to trust this guy "Not to mention if not for Sakura, I would be Orochimaru's puppet three times now, Sakura also sacrificed herself for me when my older brother tried to use the Tsukuyomi on me" Sasuke grimaced.
"Me to, Orochimaru tried to kill me as well and she kicked him in the face and then Shino blew him up with his barrier, this isn't the first time my team and I have been in trouble but Sakura always comes to our rescue, Sasuke and Shino to" the Uzumaki boy grinned.
A little disturbed by how much had actually happened Minato fought vainly to keep himself from scowling deeply and reigned in his massive anger "I get that she's saved you a lot, but what about her, who comes to her rescue when she's in danger" the older blonde questioned.
The three boys tightened their hands into fists "Sakura's smart, I'm pretty sure she doesn't need any of us to rescue her, it'd be to troublesome anyway" Shikamaru popped into the room in a plume of smoke having felt the chakra and the latest question.
Lying through his teeth, if Sakura was in danger, he was pretty sure a lot of people would come to her rescue, all of them in the room excluding this person he didn't really trust quite yet, Sakura had called him the Fourth Hokage but the guy hadn't given them any concrete proof.
"Yeah right Shikamaru, you know that if Sakura got hurt you'd be just as furious as the rest of us, she's the one that showed us the real meaning of the Will of Fire after all" Kiba scoffed, trudging wearily into the hotel room that everyone seemed to be gathering in.
And flopping tiredly down on the empty bed, Akamaru getting comfortable on his stomach "The real meaning of the Will of Fire" Minato creased his brow utterly confused, how could they think one girl was the only person capable of saving them and such.
"The ability to see anyone and everyone as family regardless of blood, in my heart everyone is family to me and I'll protect them to my dying breath" Sakura returned, carrying a tray with loads of plates on it that must be super heavy.
Right at the same time Sasuke deemed the tea ready "Wake up Hinata-chan, breakfast is here, Sasuke made tea" the rosette gently shook Hinata awake then carefully placed a plate loaded with nourishing food on it in front of her, while Sasuke handed her a cup of herbal tea.
"How the heck are you even doing that with those weights on" Kiba gaped, knowing that his friend liked to wear heavy ass weights all the time, just like Rock Lee "Come to think of it, how much do they even way" the Inuzuka heir questioned.
Sakura glanced to her bandage wrapped arms as she set a plate before him, followed by the glass of tea until all of them had one, with an extra left over for Kakashi "Mm if I recall I'm up to at least 105 pounds each, how chakra enhanced strength of course" Sakura smiled innocently.
While Shikamaru and Minato choked on their tea, poor Kiba looked like he was about to faint as she and Sasuke traipsed from the room, tray with last plate of food and cup of tea in hand, everything was going well as they ate.
Until furious chakra nearly suffocated them as it swamped the whole hotel with its might "Whoa that was Sakura-chan, wonder why she's so angry" Naruto flinched, not wholly afraid to admit he was terrified of his friend/sister, he hated it when she got like this though.
As she stormed back into the room she was sharing with Hinata, hair loose from it's braided bun and looking like some kind of demon emerging from hell "Shino, I need you to track Kakashi-sensei's scent, he escaped from his room" the pinkette ordered.
Lips turned down into the angriest scowl her boyfriend had ever seen, furious glint in her eyes and brow twitching madly that the order to rest had been ignored, pale Shino hurriedly ordered some of his kikaichu to track the missing Jonin.
"Found it, just follow them" Shino announced a couple seconds later at his Kikaichu picked up on Kakashi's scent trail, Sakura was off like a projectile weapon through the hotel window that she threw open carefully, Sasuke on her heels.
Shikamaru and Kiba shuddered "I don't know how you or Uchiha put up with her, that girl is scary" Kiba rubbed his arms trying to get rid of the goosebumps that had risen on his flesh when that angry chakra had practically exploded and swamped the hotel with it's potency.
"W..While th..that might be t..true Kiba-kun, …Sak..Sakura-chan also cares a..about Kakashi-sensei's well-being th..that's why she got so mad, h..he could injure himself much more seriously if he doesn't rest like she told us to" Hinata chimed in.
~Meanwhile~
"Don't suppose you warned the brat that I called you here did you Hatake" Ay questioned suddenly when he felt the angry chakra headed their way down the hall of the Raikage Tower, two of his shinobi tagging along probably amused.
Kakashi went as pale as a ghost, more than he already was anyway "I might have forgot to mention it, hehehe, think you can run damage control for me" the silver haired man pleaded, frightened of a little girl of all things to his amusement.
"Fine, but I expect you to work twice as hard when the brat gives you the okay to start working again" the Raikage snorted, right as the doors to his office opened and the pink haired brat bowed in respect to him.
Then straightened, emerald orbs narrowed on Kakashi "Pardon my intrusion Raikage-sama, however Kakashi-sensei seems to have gone against a medics order to rest and seems to have come here" Sakura said in an unamused tone of voice.
Clearly in no mood for any sort of games "I realize it was against the medics order brat, but I'm the one who called him here, he was the one who was supposed to tell you and forgot, think you can forgive him just this once" Ay requested.
Obviously finding great amusement in this situation as Sakura crossed her arms over her chest then slumped "Suppose so, next time warn me or else Kakashi-sensei" the pinkette scowled at Kakashi who nodded his head seriously.
Behind her Darui pressed his fist to his mouth to keep from snorting in laughter, while Karai seemed similarly amused but he was more resigned about it "Gotcha Sakura-chan" Kakashi grimaced hating that he'd upset and worried her.
In fact she might even just make him take that nasty medicine again, she was vindictive like that sometimes as Ay wrapped up the meeting and sent him off with Sakura back to the hotel, Sasuke trailing after them, looking amused.
And once he was back in bed, a tray with a plate of food and a glass of liquid was placed before him, Sakura narrowed her eyes and he dutifully started eating, hesitantly sipping his drink and found it to be tea all while she watched to make sure he ate every last bite.
When he was done the tray was taken away and that was the last time he saw Sakura that day, as she ran off to help out at the hospital under Cee and Amai, awing the hospital medics with her advanced medical ninjutsu until she was sent back to the hotel to get some shut eye.