Really sorry for not updating sooner, but exams week was hectic and I couldn't write anything down. This chapter is all about Sakura and her progress while her teammates were gone. It may not be as good as the others, but the big chapter is coming soon :D

Same disclaimer

Random thought: I wanna sleeeeeeeeep X.X

They were fourteen years old when they came back.

Sakura sighed as she repeated the process of healing the bird's broken wings. She has been at it for more than an hour now and so far, she has healed over fifty-nine birds (everyday for the past week!)and this shall be the last one. Once she was done, Sakura gave out a tiny smile as the bird started flapping its wings freely. Mind you, her smile was not the same one she used to have back in her childhood, back when she was a naïve and spoiled girl. This smile she adorned now had lost its sparkle when one member of her team left for a life-threatening mission, a mission that could end anytime soon with his death.

As the sixtieth bird flew away from her grasp, she went back to thinking about her other teammate, a certain knucklehead who has also left the village with one of the legendary Sannin to become a better and stronger ninja. One of the reasons was to be on par with the Akatsuki who came to Konoha in an attempt to take him away weeks after their Black-haired teammate left them. Naruto was determined to become a stronger ninja with Jiraya because he also knew that when (not if) Sasuke comes back; he would have gained so much more skills. His decision left a poor and devastated Sakura alone in Konoha, training with the other Sannin and Hokage of the village. Alas, Naruto left with a smile and left his Sakura-chan alone, knowing that when he comes back, he will find a young woman with three times more strength and three times the medical ninja she already was.

Snapping herself out of her thoughts, Sakura made her way to the Hokage's office in order to tell her Shishou that she was done with the twelfth phase of healing. The Godaime was surprised when she heard that she was done and couldn't help but have more respect for this Haruno Sakura.

"You are aware that now, you are able to mend a bird's broken bones and heal them within a minute right?" the Godaime's sharp honey eyes pierced into Sakura's emerald gaze. The said girl nodded but didn't hold any excitement in that fact.

"Tsunade-shishou, it takes so much more time to mend a human's bones because their structure is much more complicated and needs more attention than normal animals." Sakura explained. The Hokage smiled and corrected her statement.

"Sakura, six months ago, you were able to heal Kiba's broken leg in twenty minutes, is that correct?" Sakura nodded, confused as to what her mentor was implying. Tsunade got up from her desk, filled with incomplete paperwork and walked out of her office, silently telling her apprentice to follow her.

Once the two medical ninjas arrived at the hospital, Sakura directly smelt the stench of blood in the ER, but thought nothing of it since Shizune, one of the best Medical ninja right after Tsunade herself, was the one handling it today. Both women arrived to a room where a certain Hyuuga was patiently waiting on a bed with his teammates hovering over him. Once Lee noticed the arrival of the Hokage and his sweetheart, he perked up and regained his happiness.

"Neji! Have no fear for Tsunade-sama and Sakura-san have arrived! Their youthful techniques shall heal you quickly and we will be able to go the big mission!" Lee gave a thumbs up for his rival, who has completely ignored him and looked at the medical ninjas with a slight pained expression. Upon watching him, Sakura figured out that he is in deep physical pain, possibly a broken bone somewhere since his forehead was slightly sweaty from exertion and the beginning of a small fever. Automatically getting the chart, her theory was confirmed when she read that his left hand was broken from his training with his teammates.

"Sakura, I want you to heal him and I will be the judge of all this" Tsunade said bluntly, surprising everyone in the room. Determined to ease Neji's pain, Sakura stood on his left side and gave him a soft smile.

"Hyuuga-san, I will be mending your bone and numbing your pain, so you don't have to worry about it. I want to you to trust me though and let my chakra enter your system without any resistance. The more you resist, the longer it will take for me to heal you." Neji knew Sakura, the Sakura who saved Sasuke once in the Chuunin exams, the one who fought her rival for ten minutes straight, and the one who grew up the most out of all of them…the one who was left behind by her teammates. He knew her and trusted her so he wasted no time and nodded his head in submission. Smiling, Sakura raised her hands and focused her chakra on a specific point in her body, slowly watching her chakra seep into her colleague's arm. For a moment, Neji flinched but soon relaxed as she numbed the area she was healing. She watched in fascination as the bones started mending back under her hands and fixing themselves up with the help of her chakra.

'More' Sakura thought with sharp eyes, 'more!' she thought and before she knew it, she has healed his left arm perfectly and the bruises that were present due to the massive swelling were all gone. Smiling happily, she slowly prodded certain areas that must be still sore as she asked Neji if he was hurting.

"No, Sakura-san. It just feels a little stiff, but I'm guessing that's normal?" Neji said, pleased with her work. His face gained a bit of its color and his eyes were pain-free. Sakura was about to answer his question and trying to hide her excitement for later, but Tsunade beat her to it. She stepped in and pushed her chakra gently into the Hyuuga's, retreating it after a moment and smiling with what seemed to be pride.

"You are perfectly healed Neji. It might feel a bit sore and stiff for a couple of days, but after that, you can go back to normal training. Just be careful not to pull your muscles much." The Godaime said and left with Sakura right behind her. Before Sakura could leave, she heard Tenten yell out a 'thank you' before returning back to her teammate. When the teacher and the student were in the hallway, Tsunade turned around and stared at the happy girl.

"Sakura, are you aware that you were able to heal Hyuuga Neji in three minutes flat?" she said and had to contain her laughter when she saw her apprentice started coughing from surprise. Once Sakura regained her composure, her wide eyes went back to normal as she stared at her hands in unhidden amazement.

"I was able to do that?" she asked her question so innocent and satisfied that Tsunade's eyes softened. She ruffled her apprentice's hair and smiled.

"Haruno Sakura, you will now return back to hospital duties and work as my intern. The rest of your knowledge on medicine will be taught here, all you need is experience and reading the medical journals we have in the library. What's left to do is our training in taijutsu, at this, I WON'T go easy on you. You are dismissed and will start your hospital work tomorrow at seven in the morning." Tsunade was done with her speech and couldn't remember the last time she gave someone so much happiness. She has trained her apprentice well.

Sakura could hardly believe it; she has completed the hardest stage of her medical practice in only several months!

'Just wait you guys! I'm catching up to you!' Sakura thought as she looked out the window, silently wondering what her boys are doing now. She walked outside the hospital until she arrived to her house. Lights in the kitchen made her aware that her family was finally here after their trip to Sand Village. Once she opened the door, she was hugged by her five-year-old brother, Setsuni. Giggling at the mass of red hair in front of her, she placed a light kiss on his forehead.

"I miss you too Otoutou." She exclaimed. Setsuni's emerald eyes, very identical to her own, were filled with excitement and she knew that he has so many stories to tell her about their long trip.

"Nee-chan! I have so many things to tell you. Did you know that the Sand Village Kazekage is now Gaara-sama!? He was so cool and very kind to us. He gave us a place to stay and let me play with his sand and told me how to hold a Kunai! He also made me…" Sakura split her mind in two and focused on leading her brother to the kitchen and finding her parents while at the same time, trying to digest every single thing Setsuni is trying to drill in her mind. She knew from a long time ago that Gaara has become the Kazekage and was really happy for him. After the Chunnin exam, he grew some kind of respect for her and she did the same for him. Her teammates also grew some kind of bond with him and considered him a rival they will win against. She couldn't imagine their reaction when they knew Gaara became the Kazekage. Looking outside her kitchen window, she just prayed Naruto and Sasuke were all fine and well.

A lone figure in a small, dark room shifted as he wore his clothes for training. He figured to be early in order to him to be able to place a certain message in the check point. Tsunade and several ANBU members were the only ones who knew of this location and it was the way he and the Hokage could keep in contact. His red eyes checked for any presence before exiting Orochimaru's hideout and running towards the checkpoint with blinding speed. Uchiha Sasuke let out his trademark smirk when he reached and quickly inserted the message before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

'Wait for me, Sakura…Naruto'

The next morning, Sakura was summoned by the Hokage urgently right before her hospital shift. She could only think of one reason why her mentor would summon her so quickly; something has happened to her teammates. Without bothering to knock, Sakura burst into the door.

"Tsunade-shishou! What is it? What happened?" she yelled, panicking. Something was strange though, her mentor was…smiling? Forcing her body to relax, she patiently waited for Tsunade to tell her what she wants.

"Sakura, you have received a short message from Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Your knuckle head got the message first and send it to us along with his letter." The Godaime's smile widened when she placed the said letter on her desk, waiting for her apprentice to take it. And so she did.

Sakura snatched the letter away and got ready to open it, but her trembling hand just wouldn't open it. Gathering the courage, she ripped open the envelope and took out the letters.

Sakura, Naruto, I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep in contact with you. Knowing you two idiots, you must have improved in your training and became better. Just you wait, I will come back one day and we will become a team again. Make sure you don't act reckless while I'm gone

Sasuke.

Smiling tearfully, her heart felt so relieved from all the tension she kept for the past eight months. She turned the page for the next letter.

Yo Sakura-chan!

I told you Sasuke-bastard will be okay! I hope you are also doing well! I'll be seeing you soon and this will be a promise. Ero-sennin is just being annoying and staying at every hotel with hot chicks. It will take time but wait for us! We're coming!

Naruto

Sakura started crying then. All these months, she just wanted her teammates to reassure her that they were coming back and were still alive. She was overjoyed with the news she got today. They will come soon!

And they did. They really did.

It may have taken them three whole months to come back, but they still did. At that time, Sakura was waiting for them at the gates of Konoha. A whole year they have been apart and Sakura just couldn't wait to see them again. A whole year she has been training non-stop and improving in her skills as a medical ninja, Sakura knew she was ready for them to come.

Phew, done. Thank you for everyone who read this chapter and I apologize for any mistakes. Please review :)