"Sensei, what exactly are we going to be doing in the Land of Lightning?" Sakura asked her smiling sensei with apprehension. His grin was suspicious.
"Well, we'll be delivering a scroll to the Raikage." He said calmly. Plucking his favored book out of his pocket, he turned to whatever page he decided to read and continued with his briefing. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning so we'll be canceling training today so we can all get ready. I expect to see you all there at the gates at the crack of dawn." And with a tone of finality, he poofed away. Something in his smile and cheerful tone had made her suspicious of their mission, but she wrote it off as relief to be getting to take his fidgety team out of the village for a while.
"Yosh! We're finally getting a super awesome mission with a secret scroll to protect. I bet it has something awesome on it. Lets go to Ichiraku to celebrate!" Naruto looked over at Sakura and then to Sasuke with glassy, hopeful eyes. Sakura frowned at Naruto's lack of diversity in his diet.
"Tch." Was all that they needed to hear from Sasuke to know he wouldn't go. He slowly stood from his spot next to the tree and shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn't even give them a sideways glance as he stalked off into the more secluded training grounds. Sakura looked at Naruto with a look of apology before she told Naruto she didn't feel up to it and that she'd see him tomorrow. She ran off to follow Sasuke secretly, leaving a disappointed Naruto to pout as he walked toward his favorite food stand alone.
Sakura had made a bad habit of watching Sasuke train lately. She couldn't seem to stop after the first time she stumbled across his training. She was drawn by the strong chakra radiating from the clearing he was in. When she found what drew her over, his eyes were so intense she hid herself from him, afraid to have the intense glare turned her way. The way his eyes focused on his target whether it be a falling leaf, a dummy, or a clone; hate radiated so strongly you could almost feel it. The focus he gave his training was intense. His movements were perfect, there was never a wasted move. Sakura couldn't tear her eyes away from the way his muscles moved and the clenching of his jaw. Ever since that day, she had seeked out his training spots when she knew he'd be there and just watch.
Today she hid up in the canopy of trees, relaxing against the trunk with one leg dangling off the side. She watched intently as he battled three of his clones, her eyes barely keeping up with his blurring speed. They were starting with taijutsu which was impressive. She could hardly believe the skill Sasuke possessed to hold off three of himself. One of him was enough to give Kakashi-sensei and Naruto trouble. She watched as punch and kick missed him time after time, but he had trouble landing hits on his clones as well. Hours into his training and her watching, he finally seemed to tire himself out as he failed to fully dodge a fire jutsu his clone had sent at him. She let out a little gasp and almost went to help when she felt her branch dip under the weight of another human. She snapped her head in the direction of the intruder only to see Itachi perched on the branch. He raised a finger to his lips indicating for her to keep quiet while giving her a meaningful look. She nodded her head in understanding and looked where Itachi was pointing at Sasuke.
Sasuke was standing up with a heated look in his bright red eyes. The Sharingann was spinning furiously. She knew if he turned his head in their direction, they'd be done for but he positioned his back towards them and ran at his only remaining clone with a yell. They fought each other furiously, both low on chakra and exhausted. His clone would disappear any moment but it still put up a good fight. Finally Sasuke landed a punch in its stomach and followed with an elbow to its face. The tell tale poof told the two onlookers that the battle was over. Sakura usually left before Sasuke could notice her presence but she hesitated seeing the burn on his arm. She glanced at Itachi and he motioned for her to leave as he prepared to jump into the clearing. She complied and leapt away, going to shop to prepare for their long mission.
That night as Sakura was packing for the extended trip, she thought over what had transpired that day. She had met with Itachi-san that morning and he had told her that she shouldn't spend her time pursuing Sasuke if it made her unhappy. That was embarrassing. Speaking of which, she still had to talk to Ino about the little rumor going around. Then she finally got a good mission, though she couldn't imagine what was so secret, or important, that Tsunade-sama would have a shinobi cell deliver it. She knew it wasn't her business to know though. Then she spied on Sasuke's training. It was a little bit embarrassing that Itachi-san had caught her but he didn't have any judgment in his eyes when he looked at her so she knew he wouldn't reprimand her or anything.
Tomorrow she would be leaving on her first lengthy mission in a while. She was a little nervous to be passing by Sound. After Orochimaru-sama moved there and became the Otokage, he had a strange obsession with Sasuke and weird medical techniques. Him and Tsuande-sama seemed to have a falling out when he left. She didn't know if Orochimaru-sama would still be intent on having Sasuke join him in Oto, but she knew that Kakashi-sensei and Naruto wouldn't let that happen.
She was hoping that they would get a chance to relax at the hot springs in the Land of Hot Water before traveling through the Land of Frost to get to the Land of Lightening. She knew that it all depended on how sadistic Kakashi-sensei was feeling that day though. She plopped her full pack onto her desk and prepared for bed. After a quick shower, she was in her too big T-shirt and shorts staring at herself in the mirror. Green met green as she told herself:
"I am Haruno Sakura and I am strong." She turned off the light and curled up in bed knowing she would be waking up way too early the next morning.