The doors of the infirmary burst open. Lee ran straight up to the front desk and began yelling at the receptionist. She was so startled that she fell out of her chair.

"MY BELOVED IS DYING!!" screamed Lee with tears streaming like waterfalls from his eyes.

"OI! LEE! PUT ME DOWN!!" yelled Naruto, still in Lee's arms.

Looking down, Naruto could see that he covered in blood from Sakura's wound. She was still unconcious.

A few nurses came rushing over with a gurney.

"Place her here!" said one of the nurses, helping Naruto place Sakura gently down.

As Naruto stood there covered in blood, he watched the nurses wheel her away.

"Sakura-chan..." whimpered Naruto, feeling helpless. Standing next to him was Lee, shaking.

"Don't worry, Lee," said Naruto reassuringly. "I don't think there'll be anymore surprises tonight..."

BOOM!!

The doors of the infirmary burst open again, sending Naruto and Lee jumping five feet in the air. It was Chouji.

Chouji had kicked the door open, in his arms was Ino.

Naruto and Lee quickly found another gurney and placing Ino upon it, wheeled her after Sakura. As the three of them wheeled her down the hall, a set of doors swung open to the operating room, and Naruto could see a glimpse of Sakura's kimono. The doctors had already begun to operate.

"Bring her in here!" said a nurse when she spotted them.

As a few more nurses came to help, they were shooed out of the room.

"What should we do now?" asked Naruto.

"I think we should tell their parents," said Chouji. "I'll call Ino's father, you can call Sakura's mom, and you..." continued Chouji, looking at the shaking Lee. "You...can just...wait here..."

Sakura could feel the light of the morning sun shining upon her as she slept. Opening her eyes, she saw on the clock hanging on the wall that it was seven in the morning. Moaning, she turned over to her left to see that there was someone sleeping in the next bed.

"Ino?" said Sakura as she had seen the long blonde hair on the pillow. Slowly sitting up, she saw that the other two beds across from theirs had people sleeping in them too.

Chouji was sleeping in the bed across from Ino's while Naruto slept across hers. Sakura looked out the window to see if there was any damage that she could make out from where she was, but nothing seemed differerent.

Taking her hand, she slipped it into her shirt to feel her shoulder.

I was stabbed here... that much I remember, Sakura thought.

Sakura sighed. On the chair next to her was her kimono. It had a gaping hole in it, but someone managed to wash the blood out. Suddenly Naruto stirred.

"Mmm?... Sakura-chan," said Naruto sleepily. "Are you okay?"

"Mmmm," said Sakura. "Everyone else alright?"

"Ino was knocked out by Sasuke," Naruto said, pointing over to Ino. "Other than that, everyone's okay except for a few scratches and bruises."

"If that's all then why are you and Chouji in the beds?" she asked.

"Oh, we were just watching over you two," Naruto blushed. "Your mom was here. The doctors gave her the okay to go home. I didn't tell her exactly what happened, only that there was an attack. I didn't mention that you were the target."

"Arigatou, Naruto. That would have really worried her after everything else that's happened."

"Ino's parents were here too. Her mother was pretty upset, but her father took one look at her and said 'she'll be okay' and shook Chouji's hand in thanks. I guess father's aren't as worriesome."

"So Chouji stayed?" said Sakura looking over to him sleeping. "How sweet!"

"Yeah, it was. He was really worried about her. He sort of twiddled his thumbs the whole time. I guess he was nervous," said Naruto. "As for fuzzy brows, he's was shaking because of the damage you took, he eventually settled down and went to sleep."

"Where is he?" said Sakura looking around.

Naruto pointed to the ground. Looking over the side of her bed, Sakura found that Lee was sleeping on a blanket laid out beside her bed.

"He's going to catch a cold that way," she said, looking at Lee who was curled up like a dog. "So, what's next?"

"I don't know...Shikamaru and the others went to report to Tsunade-obaachan last night. From what I've heard so far, Tsunade's thinking of the next move."

"So then it's definitely going to be something rather than us just sitting around in Konoha, huh?" said Sakura. "I wonder what she's going to make us do..."

"Well, either way, are you okay?" asked Naruto again, looking worried.

"Mmmm," said Sakura nodding. "I'm fine, but my kimono has a hole!!"

"Hehe, it never matters if we live or die, just as long as the dress is okay," said Ino, waking up. "Are you okay Sakura?"

"Yes, but are you? You took more of a hit than I did."

"Oh I'm fine, but how's the tree I hit?" asked Ino, laughing. "Well, I guess the festival was ruined...I didn't get mochi..."

The word "mochi" seemed to have struck a chord with Sakura too because she looked down incredibly sad.

"I will make some," said Chouji, straightening up. "It is a sin to attend the Sakura festival and not have any mochi to go home with!...atleast in my family it is..."

"Arigatou Chouji!" said Sakura and Ino in unison.

It seemed that the mentioning of food was all that was needed to brighten their spirits because before the hospital nurses even knew it, they had snuck out early to go and get breakfast. Dragging a half-asleep Lee, they made their way over to a restaurant near the hospital.

Sitting down, they breathed in the restaurant's early morning ambiance of cooking food and morning dew.

"Eight Teishoku! Onegaishimasu!!" yelled Chouji.

"Eight? But there's four of us..." said Sakura until her eyes fell upon Chouji's smile. "Oh..."

"So what do you think's going to happen this time?" asked Ino. "Do you think we'll have to fight?"

"It doesn't matter as long as I get to go this time," said Chouji. "I don't want to be left out like last time."

"Well, nothing's for certain yet," said Naruto. "I think we'll just have to wait to see what Tsunade-obaachan will decide."

When their food had arrived, the sight of a nicely broiled fish with sides of tsukemono, rice, and miso soup made them drool. There was nothing better than a light breakfast such as this in the morning. Their recent battle in the woods coupled with their long night in the hospital made them hungrier than usual. As they savoured their well balanced meal, they thought about the possibilites to come.

"Do you think I'll be able to go out on missions?" asked Sakura, thinking out loud.

"Tsunade might stick you in the hospital for the rest of your life. Atleast you have that to fall back on," said Ino as she picked up some rice.

Naruto was examining a piece of cabbage with his chopsticks. "Hmmm... you know...she might just make you go into hiding, but I doubt that is what you would agree to."

"Mmm..." agreed Sakura. "Well, if I know Shishou, it definitely won't be something we'd expect."

After breakfast they all decided that it was time to see Tsunade. She should have atleast worked up something by now. Heading over to the building marked with the large character for "Fire," they took their time going up the steps.

Even though the mission would probably have nothing to do with them, the others felt that they needed to support Sakura in this critical time. None of them, except for Naruto had ever been a target like this, and they couldn't imagine what Sakura must have been feeling. As Sakura walked first up the steps, the others stared at her back, worrying about her future even though she worried none for herself.

Approaching Tsunade's office, they could hear that she was in a rotten mood. She was yelling so loud that they could hear her through the door, word for word. Sakura was unchanged by it. It seemed that she had become used to her shishou screaming that way. Sakura knocked.

"COME IN!" screamed Tsunade.

Opening the door, Sakura waved to Tsunade as if to let her know that friend and not foe had just walked in.

"Ah! Sakura, come in," Tsunade said, waving to her. "I see you brought the rest of the village."

The others were scared of what Tsunade would do if they got close, so they sort of skirted the outer walls of the office.

"Shishou," said Sakura standing straight. "I've heard that you were planning something, may inquire as to what it is?"

Tsunade sighed and turned her chair around so that she faced the windows. As she looked out, her eyes scanned the horizon for an unseen enemy.

"Sakura-chan..." Tsunade began. "In truth, I was hoping that it would not have come to this, but it seems that it has, so there's no use fretting about it anymore."

Tsunade got off her chair and walked around her desk. Leaning against its front side, she grabbed the brim of the desk and looked down.

"Well, this whole time that you were back, I've been thinking of all the scenarios that I'd have to deal with. I wasn't expecting this to happen. I have to admit that a rogue Sasuke is a lot more dangerous than a well thought out plan of Orochimaru's. There's no telling what Sasuke might do, as we've very well already seen last night. Unlike Orochimaru, he doesn't wait for an opportunity to strike..."

"So...what is it that you've come up with?" asked Sakura.

"To be honest, I don't know..." said Tsunade looking puzzled. "I thought that you being here in Konoha would deter an attack, but I see that's just not the case. The way I see it, you either go into hiding, stay where you are, or I relocate you somewhere. All of these options..." said Tsunade with a troubled look on her face. "...All of these options leave me with a sense of helplessness. I don't like sitting here waiting for something to happen. It just means that when the attack comes, we will be unprepared..."

"So, what do you suggest, Shishou?"

"The safety of the village is our ultimate priority, and I think that if you stay, Sasuke might do something even more drastic than just crash the Sakura Festival... I think it's best if you leave the village for now..."

With that, Tsunade looked at Sakura with sadness on her face. She didn't like putting Sakura in this position, but as Hokage, she had to think of the village's well-being and not just her student's.

What Tsunade said shocked Sakura. Being commanded to leave the village hurt a lot more than it sounded. Suddenly Sakura felt a bit abandoned, and you could see it on her face.

"NO!" yelled Naruto. "You can't send Sakura-chan out there! She needs to be here! Protected!!"

"I agree!!" chimed in Lee.

Tsunade sighed a loud sigh. "Look, I know that you don't like it and I don't either. Don't make the mistake of thinking that I don't care... BUT, the fact remains that if Sakura stays here, she will endanger the village. Now, we don't know what Sasuke will do next. Who knows? He could end up taking out the whole village just to get to her. He's bold, that much is certain. Personally, I don't have the luxury of making decisions based on my emotions, otherwise Sakura would be locked up in the infirmary's basement doing laundry. No..."

Tsunade walked to the window. "...I can't lay down my duties as Hokage just because I feel like it..."

Everyone stood there silently for a moment. They understood Tsunade's decision, and respected it.

"So what are you going to do with her?" said Naruto, looking over to Tsunade.

"Sakura, you will leave with an ANBU team. They will be taking you away to an undisclosed location, just to be safe..."

"...EVERYONE OUT!" yelled Tsunade suddenly. "Now."

As Sakura's friends closed the door behind her, Tsunade walked over to Sakura.

"I'm sorry Sakura...There's nothing else I can do at the moment. Until then, I will think of something. For now..." said Tsunade, looking into Sakura's eyes, "...the ANBU will be taking you to the coast. There I will have a boat ready to take you to Konoha's southern peninnsula. You will head out from the eastern shore because it's the closest and head south around the edge of Fire country. There's a small fishing village there. I've already sent a messenger to notify them that you're coming. You leave tonight so there isn't much time..."

"What am I supposed to do there!?" asked Sakura. She could just see it: fiddling her thumbs as she sat on a rock all day. Nothing but hot sun and turbulent ocean for company.

"They have a clinic there. I've asked the head of the center to employ you. I'm really not sure how long this is going to take, but I just have to keep you out of danger until we know what we can do. I'm sorry Sakura, but as we are now pressed on time, this is the best solution that I can come up with."

"Don't you think that's a bit...excessive?" asked Sakura.

"Not at all. It's either that or anything else is as good as me letting you wander off on your own. Which do you prefer?"

"I guess so..."

"Okay, so, pack, get ready, do what you need to do, and get going. The team will pick you up. The whole trip will be pointless if you're seen, so make haste."

Sakura nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh and Sakura..."

"Hai?"

"Take care."

"Mmm," nodded Sakura, trying to look reassuring. "Arigatou, Shishou..."