A/N: Let me first apologize for the wait. I had been in my story planning warp and then I had the great idea to rewatch the Avatar series, prequel AND sequel. And lemme tell you- I'm loving it! Watching ATLA is like reliving my childhood, and LOK is like a cartoon political drama or something. Yeah, anyway, to the story folks!

Cloud Ex-SOLDIER: More Sayuri. Hmm, I was worried about putting her in because everyone hated her, but I guess I can't neglect her either. I'll try to work something in!

SuomiTytt: I'm glad I could cheer you up, and yes you may be seeing some Yumiko/NaruSaku in the near future!

Guest: Da NaruSaku will be there shortly!

Infinite Katalyst: You and your fluff!

Exxcaliburr: Why thank you! Sometimes it takes a while to plan and sometimes it just comes to me!

Thank you to all who reviewed, faved and followed!

The group from Konoha finally had reached the border of the Land of Scorched Earth. It came as a relief to the whole group, a sign they were close to where they needed to be, but it did little to ease the tension within the group.

There was an eerie silence about the group that Sakura found very uncomfortable, especially for the likes of Kiba and Ino.

Trying to break the silence, Sakura decided to ask some questions. "Kakashi, what is Ryugakure like?"

"Well, the village is kind of on the poorer side. Half of their year is a dry season, making this area so arid. After that, there's a brief rainy season and then a harsh winter. With a spring thaw, the dry season starts all over again. The powerful Takeshi clan basically runs the village. There was a civil war between two clans 24 years ago, the Takeshi and the Byaki. Needless to say, the Takeshi won, but it came at a cost. The Byaki clan ran the hospital, and their medical corp was decimated."

"So that's why Ino and I are here." Sakura stated, mulling over what Kakashi said.

"And what about me?" Kiba asked.

"Seems like you and I will be helping train their academy students and rookie ninja."

With that, the silence in the group returned.

Naruto looked across to his young cousin Mitsuo, the soon-to-be academy graduate was squinting his light brown eyes, and his golden hair will be matted with sweat.

The pair of cousins had been sparring for some time to prepare Mitsuo for his Genin exam. Mana brought them out of their stupor, by approaching them with two cups of lemonade.

"I hope you boys have time for a break," she said handing them each a cold glass. "Naruto, thank you for helping Mitsuo prepare for his exam, it means a lot to him."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Ah, it's nothin Aunt Mana. Besides, I'm sure you're a great ninja too."

Mana smiled. "I may look like my brother, but I was never as strong as he was. Frankly, he was an anomaly, before that, the Namikaze were just a clan of strong, but rather unremarkable. Minato kinda shook things up."

Coming down a path to the backyard, Yumiko approached, almost running, her light orange waves streaming behind her. "Naruto! A group from Konoha is here! Hoshi told me!"

Naruto suddenly perked up. "I have to see who it is, I'm sorry Aunt Mana!"

Mana smiled graciously, as always. "That's fine Naruto, why don't you invite your friends here for dinner later. We'd love to meet them!"

"I will! Thanks!"

Sakura looked around the village as she entered, seeing how different it was from Konoha. The team was being led to the leader of the village by a stern blonde woman, when Naruto ran up.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura whipped to see Naruto headed straight towards them excitedly. "Naruto!"

The two greeted each other with a hug, Naruto excitedly sweeping her off of her feet and picking her up. "I've missed you Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled tenderly and put a hand on his face. "I've missed you too."

"Ahem."

The reunited pair turned to see the stern Jonin woman, Miyako waiting for them with the rest of the team. Naruto put Sakura down, and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Yes well, we should be heading along."

"Yes we should be heading to the leader now." Sakura continued awkwardly.

Later that night Shikamaru, Neji, Kakashi, Kiba and Ino sat on Naruto's Aunt Mana's back deck, eating the meal his Aunt prepared for them. Naruto's family members were excitedly talking up a storm with Naruto's friends about his exploits. Naruto, however, was sitting on a bench in Mana's garden with Sakura.

The rosette leaned her head up on Naruto's shoulders, and Naruto realized how much he missed her as he inhaled the soft scent of strawberries that seemed to emanate from her.

"It's so crazy that you found some of your family out here. It must be a pleasant surprise."

"It is pleasant," Naruto said, with a small smile gracing his features. "But this reminds me of something I need to talk to you about, Sakura-chan."

"What's that?" Sakura asked, concerned, but instead of answering her question, Naruto simply walked to the deck and exchanged words with his cousin Yumiko.

Sakura couldn't discern the nature of their discussion, but the pair approached where she was sitting and came over to her.

"Sakura, this is my cousin Yumiko. She wants to be a medic, but nobody will train her, and we were hoping that maybe you would." Naruto started cautiously.

"It would be greatly appreciated if you would, Sakura-san. I wouldn't ask it of you normally, but the hospital is so understaffed that there is no one able to train me."

Sakura debated it in her head. "Naruto, I don't know how long we will be here, I don't know if there would be time to properly train her, sometime the basics take a while."

"My Dad has shown me a couple things, but his medical knowledge doesn't go far, and neither does Mom's. I've done some studying but I really need a teacher!"

Sakura looked down at her hands, not sure of what to do. Naruto had a pleading look in his eyes, and Yumiko began to look at her feet, bracing herself for yet another rejection.

"Well," Sakura began unsteadily,"it looks like I have my work cut out for myself between the mission and training you as much as I can before I leave." Yumiko's eyes lit up and she became very excited.

"Thank you so much Sakura-san, I promise I won't let you down! Or should I say, Sakura-sensei?"

Sakura smiled. "I hope you understand, there's no guarantee to how long I can stay. And you don't have to call me sensei, I'm only a bit older than you!" Yumiko's eyes lit up and she immediately bowed to Sakura quickly. "I understand! Thank you so so much!" With that, she set off to tell her parents the good news.

"Thank you Sakura. It's her dream to be a medic and live up to her Byaki name. Nobody would give her a chance, not even her own Aunt."

"We'll I'm glad to help," she said, giving him a soft kiss, before going back to her previous position of laying her head on his shoulder.

A/N: And there it is, folks! I apologize if it was short, however I don't expect to keep you guys waiting terribly long again for the next one. Stay tuned, be kind, leave a review, I love them terribly and they usually inspire me to write more!