His hands methodically fiddled with the numerous red wires strewn across his desk as he connected them to their designated places with diligence. A single mistake could result in his demise. It didn't matter to him, not if one remembered his higher calling. He was going to stop them and he was going to save lives.

Adjusting back into the world of Konoha went smoother than Sakura would have expected. Within a week of her return, she had gotten promoted to Jonin rank, re-introduced to the Shinobi of Konoha, given a quick procedural rundown on village safety protocols, etc. For the most part, everything had returned to normalcy or as much normalcy that she would probably ever receive in her lifetime at this rate. Yet, with the peace and quiet, there were so many questions that were left unanswered.

As a healer with a great desire for knowledge, the unknown left her frustrated, and frustration in any form often needed to be released through the power of her knuckles.

The yelling and grunting that was coming from the training ground alerted her to the fact that she was not the only shinobi to visit the training grounds.

"Take this!" Sarada yelled as she sent kunai and shuriken towards Rachi, which were deflected with her own.

The other girl laughed, "You're going to have to do better than that!"

Sarada merely smiled before yelling, "ChoCho!"

"Human Bolder!"

Rachi squealed in surprise, barely dodging the attack. Missing the target, ChoCho instead crashed into a tree, shattering the log into pieces.

"You two are tag teaming? No fair!" The Hyuga complained.

Unbeknownst to them, Sakura watched fondly from a distance. There was something about seeing younger generations grow that would always be pleasant to her. Granted, she was technically a part of their generation now, considering her current age which was weird. Everything about her situation was weird.

A deflected kunai came soaring at her face during her musing. She tilted her head slightly to the right to avoid the projectile without much thought until she noticed an explosion tag attached to the end of it.

Ah...well. The medic ninja leaped out of the way before the explosion, but she could still feel the familiar heat of a tag set off too close.

Quickly assessing her distance from herself to the ground, she chose an open-space to land. It was only until her sandals touched the ground below that she realized she had landed right in front of the training Genin.

They blinked at her for a moment, before letting out a gasp.

"Y-you're on fire!" Sarada exclaimed.

Sakura immediately checked herself, finding the culprit to be the edge of her left sleeve. She formed a one-handed sign, Water Style: Hidden Stream. Water rushed from her mouth, extinguishing the fire into smoke. After checking her arm and finding no damage, she smiled at the group, "Who threw that kunai with the tag?"

"I-It was me!" the Hyuga confessed, guilt shimmering behind her white eyes. "I'm so sorry, Haruno-san! I'll pay for the damages!"

Sakura waved her off hurriedly, knowing full-well that Hyuga's made good on their promises, "No, no. Don't worry about it!" She surveyed the damage to the area she recently occupied, finding a decent crater left in the attack's wake, "That was some power to that explosion back there!"

The girl blushed slightly at the praise, "T-thank you."

"That's because Rachi has been working super hard on a new explosion tag formula! That's why!" ChoCho declared. Sarada nodded in agreement.

Rachi seemed torn between running away or dying right there on the spot. "I still have a long way to go before I show Mom."

"Tenten-san is your mother, right?" Sakura asked. She could vaguely remember seeing the girl in the photos she had spent hours studying.

She nodded her head, "I want to be a strong kunoichi just like her!" And you. She silently added. She would never have the guts to verbalize it, however.

The Jonin smiled at her enthusiasm, "You are certainly on your way." She used a hand to dust her uniform, "Speaking of way, I probably should get out of yours when you all are training-" A sudden puff of white smoke interrupted her.

A man dressed in the Konoha police uniform appeared from the haze in a saluting position, "Haruno-san?"

"Yes?" Sakura acknowledged.

"You've been requested by the Hokage to meet him in his office."

"Is it urgent?" She inquired. Her mind was already reeling with potential conversations, topics, possibilities.

"He didn't say." the policeman shrugged.

Meaning it wasn't urgent? She uttered her thanks before the messenger disappeared as he had come. What in the world would Naruto want her for?

"Sakura-chan, I have a favor to ask." The current Hokage grinned nervously when she first stepped foot into the office after saying goodbye to the Genin.

Her eyebrow raised slightly at his tone, "What is it, Naruto?"

He tapped his fingers together, "Well. um." His blue eyes glanced away. "You see…"

The medic's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Naruto?"

"I know that you're still settling in." He explained, "But I need someone to retrieve Tsunade-obaachan from her travels."

Sakura could not help but feel there was more to his statement. She waited for him to continue.

"And I also need you to take Boruto, Sarada, Mistuki with you."

"What, why?" She could find Tsunade on her own. She didn't need a Genin team.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well Konohamaru's on another assignment and won't be back for a while and that team could use something to do…"

"You need the kids out of your hair for a while, huh?" the medic ninja smiled knowingly.

There was a flicker of guilt that crossed the Hokage's face, but when Sakura blinked his expression had disappeared, replaced by his signature grin. "You'll understand when you're older." he chided.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "When do we leave?"

"Eh? You're okay with it?"

She shrugged, "What could go wrong?"

What could go wrong? A whole lot that was for sure. Sakura was no stranger to missions becoming more dangerous at a moment's notice, but it was a time of peace or so she was told.

From the afar, she spotted the three of them standing by the gate, no doubt waiting for her arrival. She blinked at the sight. She wasn't used to being the last one to mission departures. A shuddering thought rippled through her. Oh, no. Am I becoming Kaka-Sensei?

The thought motivated her to pick up her pace. Using a hand sign, she propelled herself faster, appearing before the Genin in a cloud of smoke.

They all took a step back, faces settling on a mission-focused demeanor.

"Hey!" Sakura greeted, feeling slightly awkward at being not only the Captain on the mission but as well as the ranking shinobi. She dropped her waving hand at her side, "We ready to go?"

The other two nodded while Mitsuki smiled, "Yes, Taichou."

"Then, let's move out!"