Former Sannin of Konoha, Haruno Sakura's form slowly disappeared into the woods. The sun rose over the wind-country, illuminating her and casting a long dark shadow.

-

1 year later…

-

Neji ran across the fields with his face fully hidden by that awful ANBU mask. He wasn't a real ANBU, but it was definatly necessary for them to hide their faces when they were outside the Suna/Rebel camp. To him it had seemed like an eternity since the Haruno had left…and he couldn't really figure out if it was for the Hokage's own well being or not.

He glanced shortly to the left to see the Kazekage's sister, Temari of the Sand, run gracefully with the Suna-nins at her side. It hadn't surprised him whenever he saw her walk into Shikamaru's tent or him walk into their tent, and hear the noises of lovemaking – if there was one thing Neji wasn't, it was oblivious – that was why he was sent to support the Suna-nins.

Neji turned his gaze back to the road ahead of him. He could feel the sand woman turn her head in his direction, feeling her eyes narrow. Maybe his suspicions had been right, or to be more specific, Naruto had been correct.

The branch cracked underneath him, but he was gone before he could fall with it.

The rumours had been circulating the area for quite some time about a curious group of refugees and criminals, who somehow always managed to stay in a healthy shape. This was strange because they had been attacked several times but almost always came away with few injuries or loses. They had sat up a camp not too far away from the rebel/suna camp.

To be honest, everything seemed a bit too good to be true. It was like the group had managed to get a medic-nin, and not only just a medic-nin, but a damn good one. It was stuff like that Naruto wanted to avoid – groups with suspicious persons or people who might endanger the camp.

However – the rumour had caught the Suna camp's interest, and therefore Naruto had to know why they wanted that exact group – so now Neji was running, very fast …

-

Her face turned around as she looked up at Itachi hovering above her – a strange glint in his eyes warned her of his intentions. The urge to just close her eyes and let things make its way was tempting – but the red Kyuubi eyes continued to enter her mind.

Her nails dug into his skin as descended his mouth upon her neck – it was tempting to give up on everything, especially after the turn of events that had just occurred.

Why had she even lied to Ino? Did she first realise how her emotions might have been when she was forced to leave. She felt like puking at her own mistakes – there was no doubt about it – she had felt so badly in love with the Hokage…but what did it matter now?

Her hands slowly went to Itachi's neck, as he moved his mouth to her chin -…

…- why was she even here? In this filthy Inn with a dangerous Akatsuki-member. She admitted that maybe it was the alcohol which she might have been drinking a bit too much of, but something told her it was different.

She traced his hairline on the back of his neck. Perhaps, she had all along been so terribly lonely, regretted the turn of events so much…that she no longer cared in what direction her life took – she was afterall…just a sannin.

Her hands lay down flat on Itachi's throat. "I forgive you – it isn't your fault" she all of a sudden spoke and before he knew of it, her hands grabbed his throat and turned it to the side hard…

-

The group had mildly said been surprised, but strangely calm when Neji and Temari had arrived along with their ninja-squads. The cloaked refugees had their hands raised into the air, their faces hidden with brown cloaks…

…he activated the Byuukugan, making some of the people in the crowd gasp in surprise. He didn't care though; he was searching for something, which he had to find before Temari did.

The sand woman moved forward and started inspecting the refugees, telling them that they had been invited by the Rokudaime Hokage and the Kazekage to stay in the camp – so that they wouldn't have to run around in this unsafe environment.

He found what he was seeking and with firm arm pushed his way through the crowd and stopped in front of a smaller woman, who had her face mostly covered with a cloak. He frowned deeply and grabbed her by the arm. "tell them to stay calm…and follow us"

The woman tensed under his hold and looked around confused – he must have confused her with someone else, but he tucked unto her and dragged her through the surprised crowd.

Temari glared at his back and motioned the people to come with her, the suna nins surrounding the group to make sure that they didn't get anywhere. However, none of them seemed to be bothered by it, instead they focused on Neji dragging off the rather puzzled woman.

His hand tightened on her arm, noticing that her breath has quickened before she spoke. "I…I am going to get killed now right?"

He snorted. "dream on – we have other things to do with you –" Neji knew she didn't believe him, she had afterall been hunted for a long time. His gaze lingered on her for a while before he turned it back to the woods ahead of him, before she spoke again.

"You didn't have to take the refugees with you – they haven't committed any crimes to you…" he interrupted her, making her unable to continue. "Don't be foolish, the Hokage and the Kazekage are interested in having more people in the camp – especially since there are quite a lot of ninjas within this group"

He pushed her forward harder than before. "That includes you too"

She snarled for the first time and resisted the urge to punch the man. As they continued to walk she felt his hand on her arm loosen. It made her become less angry and followed him slowly. Neji started speaking again. "I have to be honest with you, I regret the decisions we made."

"…" she just looked at the ground, and he knew very well what she was thinking about. "Don't fear for anything, we do not plan to execute you or the group."

His hands softened on her arm and as they walked for many silent hours the refugee camp became visible. It was no surprise to him when he felt her distress and fear; she had a good reason to. He motioned one of the ninjas in his squad to come closer and he did, stepping up right beside Neji.

"Announce to the Hokage that I have found what the Kazekage has been searching for, please make sure that he arrives to the refugee-camp alone." The ninja nodded and ran fast towards the refugee-camp, but suddenly turned in another direction, probably towards the main-camp.

Neji noticed the woman's feature darken at his words and her body tensed in anger. It made him smirk behind the mask and just as he was about to tuck her with him again, Temari appeared at his side with a frown. "I would like to take her now – I have some issues to discuss with her."

The shorter woman could feel the glare being exchanged between the two of them and slowly lowered her head. Temari grabbed her by the arm and away from Neji, who just snorted and retreated back to the other ninjas. Temari glanced at her and looked the other way, the frown still there.

"I have to warn you – the Hokage is not very fond of people like you. He is actually become a bit…hateful after that incident a year ago." The woman flinched slightly at the mention, Temari though just continued. "So I will advise you to keep calm and not say anything about what I will tell you now – that way you will not make him angry"

She looked from side to side making sure Neji wasn't listening. "The Kazekage proposes a deal."

The woman snapped her head up and gazed at Temari. "A deal?" she spoke curiously, and the sand woman nodded and brought her face closer to the woman's, whispering. "He says that he can either help you escape…or take you in as a sand-nin"

The cloaked woman tensed. "Really?"

"Yes, the Hokage probably wouldn't take you in – and the Kazekage is interested in having you on our side. However, be careful – don't say anything that might seem suspicious to the Hokage – okay?"

She nodded and they entered the camp.

-

"Eh! So you think you're so cool! Just because the Hokage likes you!" a young male child's voice echoed through the training spaces right outside the main-camp. His hand holding up the struggling girl by the shirt. She spat at him and he groaned.

"You stupid girl! You're an orphan and your mother is out there probably killed by some Akatsuki member."

Tohru, who was the one being held up, frowned, they were always like that. Envious of her being adopted by the Hokage and her substitute mother being a real-life sannin – she wanted to kick his ass so badly. He smirked.

"You can't even do a henge and still you have a Jounin teaching you – hah, you're just some spoiled kid – can't even defend your-se-" before he could continued, Tohru had managed to hit him in the head with her foot hard, knocking him out. She landed on the ground gracefully and grinned – a habit she had gotten from Naruto.

She placed her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah! You want to see what I can do eh!? Now! Look"

She quickly clapped her hands together and was about to shout a jutsu when a hand touched her shoulder. "Tohru-san … I do not believe it is appropriate to show them your jutsu right? It is after all a secret." The girl glanced over her shoulder and met the usual face of her sensei, Yamato.

She frowned. "eh!? Why not! They shouldn't get away with that – look what they did!" Tohru pointed at her red eye which probably would be blue the next day if Ino didn't take a look at it. He sighed. "Well, fighting isn't always the solution – and you did promise the Hokage that you would keep yourself out of trouble"

She crossed her arms. "Well! You're a good teacher, but Mom was better!"

Yamato frowned and whispered to her. "I told you already Tohru-san, she won't come back – and she cannot teach you how to master your elements as well as I…"

Tohru looked that other way and offended look on her face. "Well, I still need chakra control and perfection of my taijutsu – and Kakashi-sensei isn't as good as mom"

He patted her head. "Well, stop thinking about her all the time and start being a bit more grateful for what the Hokage is doing for you. You have been adopted into the Uzumaki family and that means he is your father."

She pouted and quickly walked pass him, towards the camp. He watched her form disappear with a defeated sigh. The girl had defiantly taken after both Naruto and Sakura when it came to terms of determination and pride. However, something told him she was hitting her teens too…

-

Neji watched as the last of the refugees was escorted into the large guarded tent, and saw Naruto coming towards him. The summer-heat had made him hide his eyes underneath a traditional straw hat, and a cloak around his shoulder. It was easy to notice his tanned skin and whiskers and Neji bowed slightly.

"So – did you find anything?" he spoke in a rather tired voice. Neji frowned by that and nodded his head towards the tent. "I am not sure, but I guess she was the reason why Temari-san was sent to the camp. The refugees have ninjas, but they aren't that amazing – so she has to be the reason."

He could feel Naruto narrow his eyes in anger and then looked at him. "Bring her to me…"

-

Shikamaru walked around in the newly set camp. It hadn't been that tough to start working on a camp like this. With the amount of refugees from Konoha it was like child's play – he was confident in them winning the war.

A branch cracked behind him and he turned his head, to see Temari come to him with Asuma on her arm. She wasn't looking at him, but focussed more on the ground underneath her …

"Yo" he said tiredly and scratched the back of his neck.

Black eyes met green as she readjusted their child in her arms. "Hello to you too – so – did you find anything?"

He shook his head and looked towards the end of the road. "I tried asking one of the spies from Suna if they had gotten any information about her current where-about" she ended up standing beside him, watching the road she had probably walked on when she left suna.

"I can't believe it is a month since she walked away – it is like Naruto has changed so much." Shikamaru nodded at her statement. "Yeah – he…has become angrier, especially if it has something to do with her."

She didn't look at him when he said that. "Should we tell him about him trying to att-"

"No"

Temari frowned and Asuma coughed slightly in her arms, distracting Shikamaru from looking on the road and instead started to play with the child. She turned her head to look at him. "I heard something the other day."

"hmmm?"

"Uchiha Itachi had his neck broken…"

His eyes snapped up to her in surprise. "What?"

-

Neji could feel her struggle against him, but his grip was too tight on her arm – he defiantly wouldn't disobey Naruto's orders, especially when it concerned her. "Keep calm – nothing is going to happen to you"

She snorted. "Yeah right – I remember the last time I saw him – don't kid me, there is going to happen something to me!" She tried to pull away, he just grabbed her harder towards the clearing. "I can give you two pieces of advice – keep calm and don't say anything that will trigger his anger – got that?"

The woman pouted and her face remained hidden underneath the cloak. His eyes wandered slightly to her chest, but the cloak hid anything that might be interesting and he looked the other way. However, soon after his eyes wandered back and lingered, his hand lessened on her arm.

Soon after they entered the clearing and true to his word, there stood the hokage with his arms crossed. Neji could feel the woman soften at the sight of him, and yet the feeling of distrust and anger hung in the air around her too. He let go of her arm and stepped back into the forest.

Naruto turned to her. "What are you doing here?" he asked with the smallest hint of anger.

"…"

He narrowed his eyes at her and spoke again. "What are you doing here?"

"I am not here willingly Hokage-sama" her words made him sigh and he started pacing.

"I am not really interested in you kunoichi. However, it seems that the Kazekage was quite the opposite of me when it came to that – I would like you to tell me what his interest is in you."

She crossed her arms and looked the other way. "Well – Hokage-sama, I would say that the Kazekage is definatly more popular than you, after what I heard around the world."

There was some kyuubi aura in the air.

"Oh really? I wouldn't talk to loudly Kunoichi. I have heard rumours about you too…"

He could see the smirk underneath the cloak and wondered why she hadn't bothered revealing her face to him yet. His frowned deepened and he had to control the urge to actually show his anger. "Now Hokage – it is not rumours I have heard, those are definatly peoples' opinions."

"Kunoichi…what are those rumours I have heard about Uchiha Itachi then? I have to say – it is surely very suspiciously that he broke his neck – you have to be very grateful that Kisame managed to bring him to a doctor soon enough to repair some of the damage. It is indeed very rare that someone survives that – and he was nake-"

"Shut up! I don't even know what you want from me!?" her hand shot into the air, pointing at him. "You ask me all those questions that have nothing to do why I am here!"

She could feel him tense at this, as if she was proving every god damn theory he had developed. With a swift move of her feet she walked in a fast pace towards the road, but Neji stopped her. His hand had grabbed her by the shoulder, keeping her in place.

"I didn't give you permission to leave Kunoichi" Naruto spoke from behind them, his arms crossed and the anger clear in his voice. He wasn't sure that the emotional display his eyes performed went unnoticed by her a few seconds ago.

"I do not belong to you – " she started, but was interrupted.

"But if you are so anxious to leave, then show me your face – kunoichi"

With a hiss she turned away from Neji and walked towards Naruto, a hand on the edge of her cloak before she pushed it away in anger. His eyes flickered for a second when the familiar pink hair and green eyes became visible.

There was no mistaken it…

… She had hardened again…

"I will never come back to you! Hokage-sama!"

He looked down at her, his face unreadable. "I do not want you to either …Sakura"

Sakura resisted the urge to punch him and just turned around and ran past Neji, only to have Temari come to her side, dragging her away from the refugees and to the camp. It made Naruto frown.

Neji turned to him, waiting for his orders.

Naruto readjusted his cloak and spoke. "Your new mission will be to keep an eye on Sakura in the camp – tell me everything she might tell you or her surroundings…"

Neji nodded, seeming rather…happy for the mission. It didn't go unnoticed by Naruto and he couldn't help but pity Hinata in that moment. However, there was no time for drama – this was after all war.

-

Chapter 20 – hope you'll like it. This takes place a year after Sakura left the wind-country. Now – many of you might be turned off by the flashback with Itachi and Sakura, but of course, it is part of the story and you can flame me for it…haha…

I answer questions if you give me any, because I can't really come up with any myself. Anyway, I am going to Oxford on Monday, and I am so excited – so if anyone lives there, then come and say hi XD hahah…

Chapter 21 – going to be like this – the exciting parts will either begin in chapter 22 or 23 – hehe…

Now? What is Tohru's elements?

Clues: (it is so easy!)
She is related to Tsunade, and the Shodaime.
Yamato is her private teacher.
Tohru though isn't very good at henge and chakra-control, and is better at taijutsu and her elements – heheh – you can't be good at everything.