Finally, updated :) This is the first part of them being 18 years old. Some interesting things will happen and I hope you enjoy it! I hope you enjoy a small scene i set up between Sasuke and Sakura because I certainly did.
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or else Sakura would be SO much stronger.
Random comment: Being full is so much better than being hungry!
They were eighteen years old when a piece of their heart was brought back.
Team 7 was currently seated in Sakura's living room (after the interesting phase they have gone through earlier this morning) going over their mails. Naruto was grumbling some nonsense and rubbing a sore spot on his head. It was all peaceful until the future hokage tensed and stood up from his place, catching the attention of his two teammates.
"Hey guys, I got a letter…"
Sasuke snorted at his best friend's vague declaration and went back to checking his mail, mostly bills and from fans.
"No shit Sherlock" The Uchiha replied, but stiffened when he stared at one particular letter. Catching that look, Naruto grinned and gracefully (not) took a seat next to the stunned individual, waiting for him to say whatever he had to.
"Dobe…" Sasuke stated; his eyes still plastered on that letter as he ripped it open and quickly ran through its contents. Naruto did the same exact thing with his and after a minute or so; they stared at one another with unforeseen excitement.
Sakura raised an eyebrow at both her teammates when they looked at her with curious eyes, as if expecting something from her.
"Check your letters fast, Sakura" Sasuke said and smirked when she did as she was asked. It was when her eyes popped open did they grin madly at her (in Naruto's case). Not able to contain his excitement, Naruto stood up and high fived his best friends.
"We've been recommended to take the ANBU exams!" he exclaimed and did a small back flip to express his happiness. Sasuke smirked at the Jinchuuriki and glanced at a smiling Sakura, who was busy re-reading the ANBU captain's letter.
The cherry blossom felt so proud of herself, since receiving a letter directly from the head ANBU was practically an honor. However, she felt that it was a bit too soon. Her powers weren't the best they could be and she felt unready. Sasuke saw all that through her eyes and was about to comment on his findings when they all heard a knock on the door.
The owner of the house went to open the door and saw Shikamaru rubbing his head lazily and looking at Sakura with one eye open. The pink-haired Jounin raised an eye brow at the lazy idiot who was staring behind her wearily.
"What's up Shikamaru?" Sakura's amused expression seemed to bring Shikamaru's attention back to her as he forced himself to act professional.
Man, it was troublesome. He just hoped that the guys inside are okay…with all the commotion he heard this morning.
"Hokage-sama requests your presence…all of you" he stated and left before he could get a confirmation. He felt like cloud watching and they already wasted enough of his precious time.
Tsunade smiled when she saw the members of team 7 standing before her. From the looks on their faces, the slug princess could tell that they received the news of taking the ANBU exams. However, she had to go straight to business, since this coming mission was important and had to be completed as soon as possible.
Just as she was about to explain the contents, a loud 'poof' was heard and Konoha's copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi, appeared amid the smoke. Tsunade twitched and tried to control her anger, rather saying in a very calm/dangerous tone-
"You're late Kakashi…"
The copy ninja laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in what seemed to be an apology.
"Well, I was being chased by turtles and had to…"
"LIAR!" Sakura and Naruto filled in for the Godaime, saving her the trouble of doing the exact same thing…in a more civilized manner of course.
Kakashi just shrugged and ruffled his team's multi-colored hairs, getting some aggravated grunts (you could guess from who), whining noises, and a sheepish smile. Sakura was the only one in the team who Kakashi still views as a 12-year-old (not because of her strength, mind you) girl, since she was the only one who still lets him spoil her up. Once the morning greetings had been done, Tsunade went straight to business.
"A few days ago, the Feudal Lord of Fire Country sent me a classified scroll, holding important information that can lead to our demise if handed to the wrong people. This is why I got ANBU to deal with it. Along with the scroll, he has asked for my best medical ninja. It seemed that his son is dying from a poison inflicted by an ambush when he was being escorted a few weeks ago."
"Sakura, you are to heal Ichimaru Seiji, the Lord's son. As for you Kakashi, you will be given a scroll which contains my reply. You are to keep it hidden and safe with you, as it holds classified information that will be read ONLY by Lord Ichimaru himself."
"This is an A-rank mission and you are to expect rogue ninjas to hinder you slightly. Also, if Seiji-san is not healed, we will have a huge political problem with the Fire country. We do NOT want that, do you understand me? So hurry up, you have thirty hours before the poison finishes its job and kills the Lord's son"
Team 7 nodded and after pocketing the scroll, disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Tsunade coughing and glaring.
"I hate it when they do that! Shizune! Bring me some Sake!" She just hoped that they could get the job done in time.
The four jounins didn't waste any precious time and hurried towards the Konoha Gates after packing up their bags. For once, Kakashi was there on time and without further due, they all started making their way towards Fire Country.
"Ne, Sakura-chan, doesn't it normally take two days to reach Fire Country?" Naruto asked after an hour of constant running, suddenly wary when he saw her tense facial expression.
"It takes two days if we spend the night sleeping, around thirty-two hours if we don't" she whispered, pushing chakra to her feet so as she would run faster. The men took the hint and pushed themselves in order to reach in time.
They have been running nonstop for twenty hours now, with only a few short breaks. They didn't stop for rest even after spotting a small village nearby and continued while observing their surroundings, just in case the scroll was at risk of being stolen.
A few hours later, Kakashi halted his team, mentioning the beginning of a fight. As was expected, a few missing nins tried to steal/destroy the scroll and get rid of the messengers. However, little did they know that they were dealing with the three Sannins' apprentices and even though it was a tough/outnumbered battle, the four Konoha nins managed to make it out alive and almost unscathed.
Thought that battle managed to waste their precious time, they were finally able to reach the fire country a couple of hours earlier than what was planned.
Sakura and the boys slouched on their seats in exhaustion, waiting for the arrival of the Feudal Lord.
"Can you believe we made it in time?" Naruto panted, smirking at his teammates. The black-haired Uchiha smirked in satisfaction and the Rosette grinned tiredly. Before any of the two could answer back, they heard footsteps approaching and quickly adjusted themselves in order to be presentable.
The moment the Lord entered, Sakura could see how drained he was. He had bags under his eyes and his face was paler than normal. His shoulders were slightly dropping from what seemed to be exhaustion. The Rosette didn't have time to contemplate any further when his icy-blue eyes pinned her to her place.
"Girl, if you have time to sit here and stare, then I command you to head to my son's room and heal him already. My soldiers will escort you there." The Lord deadpanned and Sakura didn't think twice before standing up, bowing, and leaving quickly with the assigned soldiers. Once Sakura left the room, the Lord slumped on his throne and stared at the group of ninjas in front of him.
Naruto and Sasuke were trying so hard not to glare up at the Lord after insulting Sakura and ordering her around. However, a look from Kakashi had them calm down slightly and look at their client with indifferent expressions. Oblivious to their stares, the Lord ordered his other soldiers to retreat from the room and after sensing how reluctant they were to leave their Lord with three strangers, he snapped.
"I asked you to leave the room. I trust these Konoha Shinobi with my life and I don't need you to fuss over me like I am a child. Leave, now!" The forty-year old Lord exclaimed with a vicious glare. Unused to the Lord's actions, the soldiers bowed quickly to their leader and silently left the room.
Once he was sure they were secured, his blue-eyes closed tiredly as he began rubbing them to sooth the headache that had begun ever since the start of this whole catastrophe. After breathing in and out for a few minutes, he ran a hand through his brown hair and finally set his eyes and full concentration on the three shinobis sitting before him.
"I apologize for my rudeness today gentleman, but as you can see, this is not the best of my days. I am Lord Ichimaru Hisao and I am really grateful that you were able to reach safely and on time to save my son."
Kakashi straightened his posture and bowed after a few second, along with the other two.
"We are pleased to have your approval Ichimaru-sama. My name is Hatake Kakashi, the one next to me is Uzumaki Naruto and last is Uchiha Sasuke. The female member's name is-"
"Haruno Sakura; recently reached the age of eighteen, Jounin status, apprentice of the Godaime since she was thirteen and currently one of the top three medics in all of the shinobi countries. Yes, I know her Hatake-san. It is normal for one to know about his son's medic is it not?" The Feudal Lord asked with slight amusement. Kakashi nodded his head and reached out to get the scroll from his pocket.
Hisao look up in alarm once he set his eyes on the scroll sent by Tsunade and quickly ushered the copy nin to give it to him. Once the scroll was in his possession, the members of Team 7 sat quietly, observing Ichimaru's reaction towards the message.
A few minutes later, the Lord breathed in deeply and tore the scroll again and again until it was non-existent. The message was top secret and it was better to destroy it before anyone sets his hands on it.
"Ichimaru-sama?" Kakashi asked, confused by his actions and puzzled once the Lord let out a small smile.
"Gentlemen, why don't you three go to your assigned rooms while Haruno-san finishes with her healing." Ichimaru offered. Imagine his surprise when all three stayed in their place, eyes fixed on the door Sakura left from.
"Aren't you exhausted?" he asked, wanting to know why they choose to wait for their teammate when all their needs could be met in a few minutes.
"Ichimaru-sama. We aren't going to rest until Sakura-chan comes out of this door. We are all in this together. We rest when she does" Naruto explained and the Feudal Lord raised an amused eye-brow at the man's decision. Before he could enquire as to why he would do such a thing, the doors burst open and one of the soldiers, who had been escorting Sakura, laid his eyes on Naruto.
"Uzumaki-san, Haruno-san requested for you."
Not even asking for permission to be dismissed, the kyuubi container rushed towards the guard and towards what he believed was Sakura's very weak chakra signature.
"Naruto!" Sakura sighed in relief once she saw the one she desperately wanted in the room and ushered for him to come closer. Naruto stared at the pale adolescence who lay on the bed and asked his friend if there was anything he could do to help.
"I wouldn't have asked for you if there wasn't you idiot" She yelled and grabbed his hands in order to place it directly over the patient's stomach.
"Push a balanced amount of chakra to your hands, now. Make sure it's not too much to destroy his skin" she said and smiled once she saw Naruto producing the amount she wanted.
Concentrating hard, the cherry blossom gathered all the energy she had and started the last process of healing the young boy. He couldn't be more than ten years old and she'd be damned before she let him die. Fortunately, Naruto was smart enough to not say a word and let her concentrate on her work.
She was able to identify the poison and quickly go through her medical pack and inject the antidote inside his body. However, the poison has already spread to his lungs, liver, intestine, and kidneys. She had to personally remove the poison from his internal organs, one by one. The last organ was the intestine and she didn't have any more chakra to use, hence why Naruto was here. His endless reserve of chakra was a great help.
A few minutes later, Sakura told her companion to stop emitting anymore chakra and once she made sure that there wasn't any trace of poison in his system anymore, she took her hands off her patient. Unfortunately, she miscalculated how much energy she wasted and before she could even blink, she found herself in what seemed to be Sasuke's arms.
"Sakura?"
"Sakura-chan?"
Both boys stared at the worn out woman, who was smiling slightly. Ichimaru Hasao walked towards his son, expecting to see him dead. Imagine his surprise when he saw a healthy looking boy, breathing heavily but otherwise alive. His face wasn't as pale as it was an hour ago and he didn't seem like he was in pain anymore.
"The poison has been completely removed from his system. His internal organs are all safe from shutting down. Just…just let him rest and drink a lot of fluids and he will be okay within three days"
That was the last thing she said before she fainted from what they called chakra exhaustion. Sasuke and Naruto let out a sigh of relief when they knew that she only needed rest. Hasao sighed in relief and ordered his servants to escorts his guests to the four guest rooms to get some well deserved rest and nourishment.
"Two bedrooms Ichimaru-sama. We have to stay together. We're used to staying in our formation." Kakashi stated, bowing towards the Lord, who nodded in understanding and allowed them to leave the room.
Once everyone but the nurses he hired for his son left, he walked towards his young boy and smoothed his black hair. He was indebted to Haruno Sakura and to Konoha.
Two Days Later…
Sakura woke up in an unfamiliar room and tensed up for a second until she felt the familiar chakra signature right behind her. Smiling once she felt arms wrap around her waist from behind, she turned around to see Sasuke staring intently into her eyes.
"Good morning" He rasped, having just woken up once she moved slightly. He pulled her closer towards him and kissed her forehead gently, glad that she was finally awake. The medic buried her face into her boyfriend's neck and took in his smell of forest rain.
"G'morning" she murmured when she was comfortable in his embrace. The Uchiha chuckled lightly at her sudden affection towards him but he wasn't complaining one bit. Sakura marvelled at the beautiful sound he just did, but snapped out of it when she remembered why she was here in the first place. Looking up at his onyx eyes, she asked how her patient was doing. Sasuke rewarded her with another dashing smile.
"He pulled through. His heart beat is strong, blood pressure is back to normal, and his face is gaining back its original color. He woke up yesterday mid afternoon and did not complain from any pain ever since." He finished and watched as his lover's expression changed from drowsy to ecstatic. She sat up when she smelt the smell of freshly made breakfast and looked down at the Uchiha in confusion. His hair was spread out as he slept on his back, with his right arms draped on over his forehead. He was disappointed at the loss of warmth, but answered her unspoken question nonetheless.
"You were asleep for two whole days and Dobe was starting to worry. I ordered the servants to serve you late breakfast, since you practically haven't eaten anything ever since we left Konoha."
The smell of the food made her stomach grumble and she thanked her boyfriend with a huge smile, warming him to his very core. He watched as she literally wolfed down her food within minutes and sighed from relief once her stomach was satiated.
As she gulped down the last of the orange juice, she felt Sasuke crawl behind her and whisper words in her ear that made her blush like a young teenager again.
"Let's shower together" he whispered and smirked when she started blushing and when she tried to detach herself from him. Once he let her, she quickly got up from the bed and turned to stare at him, horrified.
"Sasuke! This is not right! We're in Lord Ichimaru's house!" The Uchiha shrugged nonchalantly and strode towards her like a predator, while the pink-haired medic walked backwards with a blush that threatened to surpass her hair color. It wasn't until she hit the wall behind her that she worried that maybe he would actually do what he just said moment ago. It secretly thrilled her, but she wasn't about to admit that to his already huge ego.
Sasuke caged his pink-haired savior with both his arms on either side of her head and looked down at her with an amused expression. She barely reached his collarbone and he wondered how such a tiny figure was able to break down mountains and disable the strongest ninjas with just one punch.
Sakura saw Sasuke dipping his head lower and overwhelmed with his dizzying presence all over, she couldn't help but close her eyes and wait until his lips met hers in a passionate, intense kiss.
Sakura's heart was escalating at a very alarming rate once his tongue invaded her mouth, the reason why she wrapped her arms around his neck desperately so as she wouldn't fall down from the intensity of all this. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer for them to be stuck together from head to toe, leaving no space between them.
The medic didn't realize they were moving towards the bathroom until they were already inside. She detached her mouth from his and tried to stop this from happening.
"Sasuke-kun, stop! This is – Ah!"
The raven-haired jounin shut her up by ravishing her neck and caressing her body. Sasuke was all over her and he made sure she couldn't gather her thoughts.
"S-Sasuke…kun"
Unable to control herself any longer, Sakura ran her hand through his raven locks and began kissing him blindly; his forehead, cheeks, noses, whatever she could reach. Sasuke lifted her up, forcing the young medic to wrap her legs around his waist for better leverage. The Kunoichi pulled his hair backwards and kissed him passionately once his lips were in sight.
The moment she felt one of his hands on her inner thighs, she couldn't help but let out a moan, turning on the Uchiha even more. A small tug on his shirt made him detach his mouth from hers as she boldly took off his top and continued on with their make-out session.
Unknown to the Kunoichi, Sasuke turned the water of the shower on and waited for it to heat up before stepping in with his distracted girlfriend.
The poor woman was still blushing heavily, even after all of Team 7 were now seated in front of Lord Ichimaru.
"I trust that you all are well rested then?" Ichimaru smiled at the four jounins.
"Ichimaru-sama. We give our humble gratitude" Kakashi answered back. The lord laughed out loud and dismissed what the copy-nin said, exclaiming that it was the least he could do after dragging them on this hard journey. His gaze fixed on the only female of the group and she straightened up when she noticed the attention on her now.
"Haruno Sakura, I am deeply thankful of what you've done to my only son. I also apologize for my rudeness when I first saw you; I can assure you this will never happen again"
His declaration had her startled, but she quickly got her grip and smiled politely.
"It was understandable Ichimaru-sama. I've checked on Seiji-san a few moments ago and I can tell you that he has been fully recovered and free of poison" Ichimaru smiled at the young girl and nodded in gratitude.
"Sakura-san, please take away the formalities. It appeared that we have formed a strong bond in this event" Icy blue eyes lingered on Naruto, who was grinning from ear to ear. Naruto had gotten closer to the Lord and his son. He told them many interesting stories that had them acknowledge the said ninja.
The medic was taken back and sputtered on her next statement.
"T-Thank you so much…Hisao-sama" she smiled, blushing slightly for another reason now. The Lord smiled and mentioned that they could stay for another night as his guests, but Kakashi politely declined his offer. They had to report to Konoha in two days and it would be troublesome if they were late. Ichimaru nodded his head and wished them a safe trip back.
Before the group could leave the palace, a small voice stopped them. When they turned towards the source of the sound, they saw a young boy with jet, black hair and blue eyes identical to his father. Naruto smiled brightly and ruffled Seji's hair.
"Hey brat, how are you today?"
"Fine Naruto-nii! Are you all leaving now?" The sadness on Seiji's face was obvious and Sakura smiled at his adorable expression. He reminded her so much of her late brother.
"Promise you'll come back soon?" he asked, looking up at the three. Kakashi went ahead to scout for any enemies.
Sakura smiled down at the kid and rubbed his back as he hugged her tightly.
"We will try to pass by when we're around okay? Take care of yourself Seiji-kun okay?" the Kid nodded and waved to them as they all disappeared into the forest.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei? Since we're not in a hurry this time, can we rest in that village we saw on our way to Hisao-san's place?" Naruto asked, unhidden excitement passing through him at the thought of sleeping on a bed instead of out in the cold. The copy nin chuckled and nodded his head; they deserved to have a few hours break.
However, that victory was short lived when the kyuubi container smelled a very familiar and dangerous presence lurking very close by. He silently glanced at his teammates and they nodded with serious expression, having also sensed a high-level chakra a few feet away.
"Keep your guards up" Kakashi ordered. They never even bothered to mask their chakra because they were close enough to the enemy for him to sense them easily. As soon as they landed right in front of him, Team 7 just couldn't hide how surprised and tensed they were when they realized who was in front of them.
The younger Uchiha stepped in front of Sakura and snarled viciously at the akatsuki cloak.
"Itachi…"
Dum Dum Dum Dum! hehe, I know this is shocking and you want to find out more, but I'm leaving it here. Please don't kill me! Remember, your reviews really help in pushing me to continue writing!
I reread the story a few times and published it right after I made sure there aren't a lot of mistakes. Hopefully, there aren't much :)
Sadbird