Hey people! New chapter! Yay! I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes, I have yet to find a beta-reader.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO.

Kumogakure

"So you are the ones the Hokage sent." The guard at the gate said gruffly after they showed him their papers. He was a burly man, shaven, with tattoos on his forehead and temples. Scary. "Wait here."

The gatekeeper disappeared into the village, his partner keeping an eye on the ninja team from Konoha. This man was younger, but no less weathered, his eyes were gray and calculating, curly brown hair pulled into a bun on top of his head, and his skin was pale. There was a scar on his left cheek. From Sakura's medical experience, she guessed he got the scar from a kunai.

"You shouldn't stare at stranger shinobi for so long." Kakashi murmured softly. Sakura turned away from studying the gatekeeper to face her sensei. "They don't like it. And we don't need to patronize them." Now Kakashi winced. "This is a diplomatic mission after all."

Sakura stifled a smile at her sensei's discomfort. Kakashi hated diplomacy with a burning passion, even if he was just as silver-tongued as any politician. She nodded her head and instead began to study the village from the outside.

The position of the village itself was quite a feat. The village was located in mountains, rising up out of the water like some mythical landscape. The low hanging clouds added to the mysterious aura of the village. Sakura wondered how the village buildings managed to stay balanced in such a precarious landscape.

Thirty minutes passed.

"Geez, how long does it take for a messenger to get the Raikage to let us in?" Shikamaru sighed.

Sakura shrugged, and sat down on the gravel path that led to the gate, opening up a large book she had read on the trip here to page 156. Neji looked over her shoulder and read a couple words before recognizing the book.

"'A History of the Mysterious Kumogakure'?" Sakura looked up to see Neji smirking down at her. "Really Sakura?"

The medic rolled her eyes. "This is a diplomatic mission, and it would help if I knew a thing or two about the village."

"Just don't make it look like we were sent here to spy on them." Shikamaru warned from where he sat under a tree. "I suggest not letting the Kumo nin see you with that book."

Sakura nodded in affirmation, knowing that Shikamaru had a point. Returning her eyes to the pages, she began to read. Above Shikamaru, in tree the genius currently lazed under, Kakashi sat with one leg propped up and the other dangling down, reading his Icha Icha. Neji began to sharpen his kunai.

Another ten minutes passed.

This was interrupted by someone politely clearing their throat. All the Leaf nin looked up lazily, pretending that they hadn't sensed the approach of the Kumo shinobi. Sakura studied the young man, about the same age as her, Shikamaru, and Neji, maybe a year or two older. His eyes were brownish red, and his face angular. The most stunning thing about him though was his skin. She had heard rumors that there were people in Kumo, like the Hachibi, with dark brown skin, darker than a simple tan. This man's skin was the darkest skin tone she had ever seen.

"My name is Nagasuko Hichibo." The shinobi bowed politely. "I am to lead you to the Raikage. If you will please follow me."

Without a word, the Konoha shinobi stood up and followed the Kumo nin into the village, Sakura pocketing her book in her pack and cinching the buckle tightly. The team kept their faces carefully blank, their movements deceptively relaxed, all the while their eyes took in every detail of the village as they passed through it. When the gates closed behind them, Sakura risked a glance backwards, noting that the gate would be surprisingly easy for her, with her super strength, to uproot and toss.

She noted, as she passed through, that the walls of the village buildings were kept free of mold, a no doubt arduous task to upkeep. The walls themselves seemed to be made out of a type of clay that made the walls look yellow-tinged, which contrasted surprisingly well with the blue roofs and green shutters on many of the buildings. Kumo nin paused on the rooftops, staring at the Konoha ninja, before going on their way. The citizens of the village kept a careful distance from the strange shinobi, many hiding in their houses, only to peek out their windows at the four strangers.

Sakura couldn't help but inwardly smile as one child pointed loudly at her pink hair.

The Raikage tower suddenly came into view, tall and proud. Sakura eyed the bright blue domes, noting the architecture was much different than most shinobi countries. Was it true that the Kumo nin had origins in another continent then? She shook her head minutely to clear her thoughts. This was a matter of diplomacy, not anthropology.

Hichibo led the team of Leaf nin into the main doors of the tower, Kumo shinobi staring at them as they passed. The older ones- those who had fought in the wars- glared at their one-time enemies, while the younger Kumo nin stared in open curiousity.

"Whoa! Who are they? Are they from another Hidden Village?" A young genin, from the looks of it, yelled from across the hallway. He had longish brown hair pulled into a short ponytail with strands of hair framing his young face. Big, pale blue eyes stared at the Konoha nin.

"Shut up Kimiraku!" A girl form his team yelled and bopped the boy. This genin had red hair in a braid falling over her shoulder, with bright brown eyes currently narrowed in annoyance.

"Look, now you've attracted their attention. Sensei won't be happy." A third teammate grumbled as he crossed his arms. This one had bright orange hair, spiked in the back and straight in the front, with messy bangs covering his right eye. His eyes were hazel, switching from green to brown with each angle of the light.

Sakura allowed a smile to twitch on her face and grabbed Kakashi's arm. Her sensei looked down at her curiously, then followed her gaze to land on the genin team. He chuckled when the Kumo genin realized they were being watched, and gulped nervously.

"Remind you of anyone?" Sakura whispered as she caught Kimiraku's eye and the corner of her mouth twitched. She winked at the genin, causing them to erupt in a flurry of gossip.

Kakashi turned and continued to follow Hichibo, Sakura trailing behind him. "You kids were such a handful." He said over his shoulder to Sakura.

His student rolled her eyes. "Whatever, you know you enjoyed it."

They stopped talking after that, since speaking about Team 7 usually brought up painful memories for the both of them. It had been like that ever since Naruto had left. They would remember the good times of Team 7, but they never spoke about the subject for long, knowing that it would only lead them to discuss the failure of the team. Sakura and Kakashi never grew closer in a teacher-student relationship. Eventually, after Sakura became Chuunin and began going on higher ranked missions with Kakashi sometimes as a team captain, they became friends. They were essentially equals now, even if Sakura insisted on calling Kakashi 'sensei'.

Hichibo led them up a third set of stairs, and the Konoha team found themselves on the top floor of the Raikage tower. Sakura stared out the windows and down at the village below, her comrades mirroring the action. Hichibo knocked on the door to the Raikage's office.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice permeated the door.

Hichibo answered, "I've brought the teamof shinobi sent from Konohagakure."

There was a pause. "Come in." the Raikage finally answered.

Sakura fell in behind the team captain, Shikamaru, with Neji then Kakashi following her. They fanned out and stood next to each other when they entered the office. Hichibo walked up to the Raikage and handed him a piece of paper before their escort then left the room, closing the door behind him. The Leaf nin stood at attention, legs braced apart, arms at their sides or clasped behind their backs.

"So…" the Raikage muttered. "The Hokage sent you guys, eh?"

Shikamaru gazed lazily at the Raikage. Neji stared at the Raikage with the signature Hyuuga-pupiless-really-creepy stare. Kakashi gazed around the room as if he had better places to be. Sakura mentally shook her head- representatives of Konoha indeed. The only ones who seemed to know anything about proper behavior was her and Neji. Not that Neji was doing a good job of not freaking the Raikage out with his white eyes.

The least you could do is look attentive! She tried not to glare at Shikamaru and Kakashi, especially since they were on different sides of her, with Neji separating her from Shikamaru on her left.

The Raikage's eyebrow twitched. It seemed he was annoyed by her teammates as well. The Raikage was tall, with the same oddly dark-colored skin Sakura had only really seen in Kumo. He had a large muscular build, and had blonde hair, a small moustache, and a beard. And then, when the Raikage stood up, Sakura realized that this guy was a freaking hulk.

BAM!

The Konoha shinobi, except for Sakura (because Tsunade did that all the time), flinched as the Raikage slammed his hands on his desk. "You Konoha whelps! You will treat me with respect. Do you not honor your superiors in Konohagakure? You do not even bow before a Kage and have the audacity to look bored and lazy in front of me!"

Sighing, Sakura stepped forward, bowing. "I apologize for our rudeness, Raikage-sama. We bring greetings from the Godaime Hokage Tsunade-sama, and wishes of well-being to your Kumogakure from Konohagakure."

The Raikage studied the kunoichi silently. "Hm." Then his eyes turned to glare at her teammates.

Sakura sighed, knowing she was the only one being respectful. She smiled sweetly at the Raikage. "If you will excuse me for a moment."

Rounding on her comrades, Sakura grabbed Shikamaru by the ear and Kakashi by the collar of his flak jacket, bringing them close to her face, promising a painful death.

"Listen here, you morons." She hissed. "You are not going to embarrass me, let alone Shisou, by acting like a couple of pricks in front of an allied leader! Now you will act correctly and show some respect before I throw you out the window! Do you understand?"

Kakashi and Shikamaru, and even Neji, carefully keeping out of Sakura's range, nodded fearfully. Sakura let them go with a huge grin, suddenly just as innocent as she appeared. "Good!" she sang sweetly, turning back to face the Raikage, who was watching on in concealed amusement. "Now apologize."

The men grumbled. Green eyes flashed as they locked onto her victims. "Speak louder." She ordered.

"We apologize for our behavior." The men said, looking at their feet.

Sakrua glanced at the Raikage, who nodded his acceptance. She clapped her hands. "Good. Now then, Raikage-sama, I do believe we have business to discuss."

The Raikage sat down in his chair and motioned for Sakura to take a seat, leaving the male Leaf nin standing. Sakura thought they deserved it.

"I am Haruno Sakura." She introduced herself.

"Ah, the famed apprentice of Tsunade herself." The Raikage nodded, impressed.

"Indeed." Sakura inclined her head. "I am here on the behalf of my Shisou to help heal the Hachibi's wounds."

"How do you know we even needed your help to heal our own jinchuukiri?" the Raikage scoffed.

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "As far as we know, there is no way to treat wounds inflicted by the Ameratsu. And your Hachibi did encounter the Ameratsu, did he not?" she lifted an arched pink eyebrow at the Raikage.

The Raikage reluctantly nodded. "Yes. So I would assume that other than healing our Hachibi, you were also sent here to study the Ameratsu?"

Sakura shrugged. "I would like to. You see, what makes me a good medic is that I enjoy studying medical mysteries, and I am very good at solving them. The Ameratsu a difficult case to study, and I need all the evidence I can get my hands on."

"…. Very well then." The Raikage murmured. Then he chuckled. "I like you girl. But make sure you control those men."

Sakura glanced at her team behind her. Wasn't Shikamaru the one who was supposed to be acting as team captain? And here she was dealing with the Raikage! Sheesh, she was the only one around here that could get things done.

"I will keep a very close eye on them." Sakura promised, glaring at the two lazy geniuses that was her sensei and captain. "And be assured that I will be discussing this with them when we get to our rooms tonight." She said this to the Raikage, but everyone in the room knew she was threatening Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi. They shivered in fear of the pinkette.

"Nara Shikamaru here," Sakura pointed at the Nara, "Will be acting as our diplomatic envoy." When I am not here to do the job for him, the bastard.

"And those two?" The Raikage glanced at Hatake and Hyuuga.

"They are just here to do the heavy lifting." Sakura waved her hand. She felt them immediately start to glare at her back and fought a smile.

The Raikage chuckled. "Well then, I'll have one of my men take you to one of our embassies. You may stay there for as long as you are in the village. Of course, should you make one wrong move, I will not hesitate to order your arrests."

Sakura stood and shook hands with the Raikage. "Of course, Raikage-sama."

"You may call me A-sama." He said, then called for one of his shinobi to lead them to their quarters.

(((o)))/ _\(((o))) It's in her eyes

"I cannot believe you guys!" Sakura yelled at them once the door closed behind them and the Kumo ninjas were out of earshot. "You totally embarrassed Konoha! Tsunade! Me!"

"Why didn't you just speak up in the first place?" Shikamaru grumbled, not daring to pretend to be bored/lazy in front of an irate Sakura-slash- Tsunade reincarnation.

The pinkette glared daggers at the Nara. "You idiot! You were supposed to be the one speaking in the first place!"

Before Shikamaru could open his mouth to object, she was already rounding on Kakashi. "And You!"

Her sensei flinch as she unleashed her temper.

"Did you really have to stand there looking bored out of your mind? We were in the presence of a foreign leader, and you had the gall to be disrespectful!"

Kakashi opened his mouth to defend himself, but Sakura's glare silence him.

"I'm going to find a room and take a much needed nap." The medic muttered, leaving the men to sigh in relief that she hadn't physically punished them. Yet.

The first bedroom in the embassy that Sakura found she claimed. Closing the door, trying not to slam it, she ran her fingers through her hair and dumped her pack onto the bed. She went over to a dresser and began placing her clothes inside, taking off her dirty travel clothes and dumping them on the floor. Picking up a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, Sakura headed into the bathroom connected to her room, placing the clean clothes on the vanity and turning on the shower.

The hot water was heavenly as she rolled her shoulders, clearing her mind. There was already shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower, courtesy of the embassy, and she eagerly cleansed herself. As she finished washing out the last of the conditioner from her hair, Sakura bent over to grab the body wash.

Pain lanced through her back.

Sakura gasped and her knees went weak, bring her to the shower floor. Another flash of pain shot through her back, as if someone were inserting a large needle into the middle of her spine. She ground her teeth to keep herself from crying out loud. And as soon as it had begun, it was over.

When her back was no longer throbbing with pain, Sakura carefully stood up, her legs shaky with the fear that movement would restart the pain. Cautiously, Sakura reached for the body wash again, and slowly began to lather the soap onto her skin. Her back did not bother her again. Sakura mentally shrugged; it was not unusual for old wounds to sometimes flare up.

Then she frowned. She did not remember having a wound on that specific spot.

Rinsing her body one last time, Sakura turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack, drying herself off and wrapping the fluffy fabric around her body as she stepped out. Dressing in her T-shirt and shorts, Sakura quickly dried her hair with the towel, shaking her wet strands a couple times after she hung the towel to dry.

As she was sitting on the bed, hiding several weapons in the room and placing a trap and genjutsu on her window, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." she said after recognizing Neji's chakra signature.

Sakura smiled when she saw he was holding two cups of hot tea. Neji sat down on the bed next to her and handed her one of the mugs. She reverently wrapped her hands around the warm ceramic. She hadn't realized how chilly it was in Kumo.

"Arigatou." She thanked him with a smile.

Neji's blank face softened. "Thought you would be pretty worn out."

Sakura chuckled. "You got that right."

"Does this mean I'm no longer in trouble for what happened in the Raikage's office?" Neji asked her.

Sakura chuckled. "You mean when you and those other two bakas left me to appease the Raikage before we caused a diplomatic incident?"

Neji smirked.

"No." she laughed. "You three still have a lot of brownie points to make up. Although at least you acted less of an asshole then the other two."

Neji rolled his eyes. "I don't see what the big deal was."

Sakura glared over the edge of her cup as she took a sip of tea. "You guys did not show proper respect to a Kage. I know that as a Hyuuga, you feel you need only treat the Hokage as your superior, but this is about diplomacy."

"It is the main branch of Hyuuga that deals in politics." Neji muttered.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the poor excuse. "Whatever Hyuuga." She gave him a small smile. "Now get out of my room and let me sleep."

Neji stood and nodded his head to her. "See your tomorrow, Haruno-san."

Sakura huffed. "I told you to call me Sakura!"

Neji just smirked and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

(((o)))/ _\(((o))) It's in her eyes

Something was wrong.

Kakashi jumped out of his bed, a kunai drawn in each hand. When there were no enemies in the room, he sheathed one weapon, still holding a kunai in his main hand. He crept to his door, slowly opening it to peer into the hallway. Nothing.

He entered the corridor, his feet silent on the carpeted floor, looking for the source of what woke his instincts. Nothing was out of place though: the carpet looked untouched, every flowerpot and cabinet that decorated the hall was exactly as it had been earlier. He was about to turn and head back to his room when he felt it.

A tiny, miniscule, unnoticeable pulse of chakra. So small and insignificant that it was only because of his Sharingan that the sensed it. And it was coming from Sakura's room.

Kakashi quickly and silently made his way to her room, opening her door carefully, dispelling the genjutsu she had placed on her bedroom door. Sakura lay in her bed, a sheen of sweat covering her body. Kakashi frowned; it was too chilly that night for her to be sweating.

"Sakura?" he whispered softly.

Her head thrashed, and that's when Kakashi saw it. Instantly he as at her side next to the bed, holding her arms down as she flailed in pain, her mouth opening in a silent scream. Kakashi nudged his hitai-ate up with his shoulder.

The tomoes of his Sharingan swirled as he gazed upon the slight glimmer on her forehead, an odd shape reflecting whenever the light hit her forehead just right. His Sharingan tried to focus on it, but the seal on Sakura's forehead was still hidden, and the glimpses he caught of it were incomplete and blurry.

Eventually Sakura calmed down, and her breathing evened out. Her body relaxed as she fell back into a deep sleep, and Kakashi carefully pulled the covers over her. He sat by her side on the bed for a long time, going over the vague images his Sharingan had captured of the seal on Sakura's forehead. He stroked her hair as he thought, his worried eyes continuously glancing at his student, wondering why she would have a seal on her in the first place.

Eventually Kakashi returned to his room and went back into a fitful sleep.

(((o)))/ _\(((o))) It's in her eyes

"Father!" she tripped and landed face-first into the dirt.

He looked back at her with dispassionate eyes. "Disgraceful."

Pain. She felt… pain… Had he hit her? Why? Why did he not love her? What had she done wrong? Was she really so bad?

She sobbed.

The pain intensified.

"Gomen, Chichi-sama!" she sobbed.

More pain.

Why? No one loved her… why?

…

You were only ever second loved.

Second loved.

You weren't a boy.

I was a girl.

You were weak.

I am not weak!

"Stay strong… Sakura-hime." Someone whispered. "Escape ... forget this misery."

I am alone.

And then she found herself looking into a pair of eyes. Lavender purple, rings surrounding the pupil, staring at her. She trembled. The eyes closed, and suddenly Sakura was staring at herself. She reached out to touch the Sakura standing into front of her…

The pink haired replica in front of her opened her eyes, staring at Sakura with ringed, purple eyes. Sakura screamed-

-and jolted up in bed, her mouth clench tight as her voice rose inside her. She panted put her hand over her chest in an effort to calm her racing heart.

"Just a dream." She whispered. Sakura winced as something pricked her forehead. Rubbing her forehead, she sighed. "Just a nightmare."

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