New chapter I know, I know its late. Anyhow this is the third chapter. Once this chapter is finished, I'll really get into what plots are. this was all just a preface. I also what to take the time to thank my reviewers, and give special thanks to backlash symphony who was my beta. She's good.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, so don't sue me.

Tsunade drank the last swallow of sake. Her glass had long been abandoned. Before hearing the rest of the tale Sakura and Hinata told her, she had to start on another bottle. Much to Shizune's dismay.

'My apprentice and the Hyuuga heir,' she thought. 'I once thought them too innocent to be a kunoichi. These two were once young, innocent, and completely oblivious to the cruelty of the world that lurked around them. They were the ones that were supposed to think that anything was possible, to make a shinobi's life worth living. The ones shinobi were supposed to return home to, to find comfort, away from the life of a shinobi. Yet the cold brass of the world caught up to them as well.'

'The world turned them into freelance mercenaries, but that's all a shinobi is most of the time; a killer for hire. The things they described and told us. Even Ibiki, a man who had seen and done it all had trouble digesting what happened to the girls he knew as genin.'

Ibiki should be bringing in his report and final word on the two in a minute. They had been in interrogation with Ibiki for hours now. Tsunade continued her thought process.

'Kakashi and his former students came in hours before having completed their A-rank mission. I considered telling them about Sakura, but ruled against it. Even in my drunken state, I knew it was a bad idea. I wanted to wait until she was in the clear. Not to mention Naruto would raze Konoha to the ground looking for her. It was the hardest on Naruto when Sakura was declared dead. He didn't even attend the memorial, not accepting she was ever dead. Although Kakashi was a very private person and approached life indifferently, I could tell he was affected as well.'

Tsunade sighed as the sound echoed off the unforgiving cold empty office, while uncorking her 5th bottle.

"To the loss of innocence," he toasted to the two young women, before taking a long swig. "How did it come to this?"

Hinata stood looking out her window wiping a stray tear. The rumors were true about Morino Ibiki. He truly was a mastermind of human emotion and manipulation. They did not break and cry in front of him; never. Nevertheless, he rehashed some old wounds.

Then there was that one lie they had to spin on him. Sakura and Hinata were lucky enough to be pulled from the water by a fisherman and his family after that explosion. The explosion sent her and Sakura down a rocky terrain, straight into a ravine. Sakura took the brunt of the blast immediately losing consciousness. Hinata struggled to keep us both afloat on a piece of debris. Once pulled form the water she lost consciousness as well. She woke four days into their journey. The smells and the sounds of the ocean met her senses.

Turns out, they were sailing to another continent.

After two weeks, the family was to journey back to the girls' homeland as well as theirs. This was the one chance they had to get home without incident. Hinata saw it as an opportunity she had waited patiently for.

Flashback

Thirteen-year old Sakura, began to climb the ramp of the ship, but noticed her companion didn't follow.

"Hinata?"

"I-I can't Sakura," she stuttered slightly.

Although she doesn't really stutter, now that it's just her and Sakura.

"I can't go back."

"What? Why?" Sakura asked confused.

"Sakura if, we go back who would really care?" she could tell Sakura was still confused, so she broke it down for her. "My family doesn't exactly care for me. I am nothing more to them but a liability. The clan doesn't respect me. You must know that after seeing the chuunin exam." She looked at Sakura's expression of understanding. "I'm a failure Sakura, just as Neji says," she told her solemnly.

"You are not a failure Hinata," Sakura said holding her by the shoulders. "Neji has got an abnormally large stick up his ass and an inflated head to match it."

Hinata gave a slight smile at the image Sakura gave her. Sakura then looked her straight in the eyes seriously.

"You are not weak compared to the rest of us who graduated from the academy. Unlike me, people respect you."

It was Hinata's turned to be surprised at Sakura's resolution. Sakura may have not been the best fighter, but she had an aura of confidence around others. 'Had it all been an act?' she asked herself.

"Sakura?" she asked as confused as she was when the conversation started.

"Hinata your family doesn't respect you, well my family undermines me for becoming a kunoichi. At first they thought it was an at-the-moment infatuation. Once I graduated they demanded that I resign. I refused." Sakura sighed sadly at the memory. "They even met with Kakashi-sensei, the Third, and Tsunade about it. They all told them the same thing as before. That it had to be my choice.

"When I graduated and was assigned to cell seven, I thought it would be different. As the days and the weeks passed, it became quite clear my sensei didn't respect me as a ninja. I wondered sometimes if he respected me as a person." Hinata saw Sakura's eyes glaze with tears, but as quickly as they came they left, and were replaced with anger.

"The only thing I was good for was breaking down his big words, small enough so Naruto and Sasuke could understand." Sakura sighed sadly again. "After Sasuke ran off, and Naruto left to train with Jiraiya, he left, too. No star students. No sensei.

"After a month of not seeing him, I really considered handing in my resignation. Those feelings of uselessness hit my heart hard. But uselessness only strengthened my will. I decided I'd rather be dead then let something happen to my 'friends'. So I asked Tsunade to teach me."

Hinata listened to Sakura. She found out they're kindred spirits after all. "Then you understand why I must stay."

"No Hinata I don't."

"Sakura haven't you ever wanted to break free of the scrutiny that people put you under? Just to be something special just to throw their dismissive attitudes back in their faces?" She could tell Sakura's resolve was breaking. She understood were Hinata was coming from. "Sakura what we're looking for we aren't going to find in our past."

"We always played by the rules and came up short. It's time to make some new rules," she told her firmly.

"Hinata it sounds good on paper," Sakura said being a realist. "But do you have any clue what's to come if you stay?

"No, but knowing would make it too easy. Anyone can train under a master Sakura. This training will be a true fight for survival." She looked at Sakura who still wasn't convinced. "I need this Sakura, and deep down you know you need it as well."

"So I can't convince you to come back with me?" Sakura asked.

"No," Hinata told her, disappointed she was leaving, but if she wanted to leave she wouldn't stop her. "Its okay Sakura. You're not obliged to stay with me."

Sakura crossed her arms across her chest.

"NO, no I'm not, but if there was one lesson Kakashi taught me it was teamwork. I won't abandon you."

End flashback

"And you never have Sakura, even when times you should have," she said remembering Ibiki's interegation.

Ibiki tried to make Sakura turn on her when he brought up Sakura's lost virginity. He told Sakura that it was Hinata's fault. In some ways it was. Sakura and Hinata landed an underground job doing freelance work for the worst type of scum. Their jobs weren't that different from a shinobi's job. Yet as Sakura and Hinata got older and their bodies matured, their jobs got a little sleazy. On this particular job, Hinata was to seduce a vicious lord, and kill him. She was in no position to refuse the job. The guy they worked for, Homura, was a powerful man not by the connections he had, but by his shinobi like qualities that were almost on par with a sannin's. He could have killed Sakura and Hinata both.

Once word reached Sakura's ear of Hinata's mission, she stopped her at the last minute, before she ventured in the lord's territory. Sakura knew the rules of the Hyuuga clan. All heirs must have their virginity intact before they marry. Virginity in females is more detectable than with men. If she did couple with the lord her life would be forfeited. Yet it didn't stop Ibiki from his insidious ways.

"Sakura was it not Hinata's job to seduce that lord?"

"Yes," she answered.

"So now you're dirty, impure, and soiled," Ibiki saw he wasn't getting a rise out of her, so he hit Sakura right were she lived. "What man would want you now, certainly not Sasuke."

Sakura averted her eyes from Ibiki's cold ones at the mention of her old first love.

"You think he'd defile his name with you? He might take pity on you and make you his bed warmer for a while," he said digging deeper into Sakura's heart. "However, that'll all stop once the pure, innocent, clean, Mrs. Uchiha graces his bed." Ibiki gently pulled Sakura's face up to look at him. Hinata caught a glimpse of the angst stricken face as well. "You'll be all alone, and Hinata won't."

Hinata glared at the sadistic bastard. She closed her eyes, willing him to drop dead with her non-existing telekinesis power for putting Sakura through this. To Ibiki this was a test to see if Sakura held any lingering anger towards her, for the night she had to lay with a man she didn't love.

That night she came back was the last time she and Hinata cried freely.

"Your words cut deep," Sakura told him.

Ibiki waited for her to continue.

"Could it have been different? You bet," she answered "However I chose to go in Hinata's stead. It was my choice, I didn't have to, didn't want to, nor do I know any self-respecting woman who would."

"I know if by chance we ever got home, then Hinata's death would have been immediate. I valued and cherished my virtue, but I value life more."

Her answer was music to Ibiki's ears, and he almost broke out a smile.

Ibiki left the matter alone after hearing her response, but before he dismissed them he apologized to Sakura. He also commended her for saving Hinata's life. One thing about the older shinobi, that their generation still hasn't gotten the concept of, was the value of a comrade.

She just hoped her sacrifice wasn't in vain. For tomorrow they would decide on who should be clan leader.

The night passed smoothly for Sakura as she now stood hidden from the three bickering teammates. 'This new guy Sai was a riot. Sasuke had nothing on this guy when it came to hurling insults at Naruto. I can also tell there was no love lost between him and Sasuke by the continuous glares they give each other.'

About 30 minutes, insults, and glares later a poof of smoke resounded gaining the attention of the three below her. She saw Kakashi and wondered if the guy ever aged. He looked the same as he did before she left.

"You're late!" Naruto yelled immaturely. He was still the biggest kid ever.

"Well I--"

"Got lost on that road to life for the billionth time" she said finishing his lame excuse, and gaining their attention.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, immediately zeroing-in on her position. Poor Naruto began looking left and right for the voice that belonged to his former teammate. Sasuke inwardly cursed at the haunting voice as he just noticed the silhouette cast on the ground below him. He looked up at a bob of pink hair standing in Gaara's favorite position.

Sai sneered. "Who the hell is that ugly thing?"

PLEAS E REVIEW I BEG YOU! Anyway next chapter Sakura mets the new guy Sai and a lot more suprises.