"Does the old fence sitter know?" Tsunade's gaze was like an arrow as she eyed the young man in front of her. For the first time, Naruto felt nervous around Tsunade. It felt like a mother lecturing her child.

"No. The only thing he knows is that Kurotsuchi escaped from Oto and the snow-nin found her and treated her. Ero-sennin and I were not to be mentioned at all. She knew as well as us that Ohnoki's trust in Konoha was non-existent. He would rather kill himself before even looking at Konoha as allies," Naruto explained as Jiraiya nodded in confirmation.

"How do we know she didn't tell on you?" Tsunade retorted.

"There's no price tag on my head from Iwa," Naruto reasoned. "If he knew, I would be in their bingo books in two days max."

"I thought you'd fall for some nice girl from Konoha and lead a peaceful life as a shinobi. But to be with a girl from Iwa, nonetheless," Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose as she chuckled to herself. "You really are unpredictable…"

"Hey, it's me. Why wouldn't I be unpredictable," Naruto said with a grin.

"I'm happy for you, Naruto. However, you're playing on a very thin tight rope here. If the political environment in the continent changes, your relationship may change as well," Tsunade said. Naruto had realised this as well during his time in the Land of Snow. "She may become your enemy one day. Not personally but by default of her nation. It's difficult but you have to be ready for such a circumstance."

"I know," Naruto replied swiftly. "At the same time, it could also be the start of building for peace between our nations. I know it's naive but you can't achieve something if you never believe in it in the first place."
"I think we should trust him, Tsunade," Jiraiya voiced out from his position beside Tsunade. "If anyone can do it, it's him."

Tsunade met his gaze and held it. Naruto did not back down as he maintained eye contact with his Hokage. "I'll allow it, Naruto," she said with a smile. "However, if any information is found to be leaked, you will be sentenced to death. Jinchuriki be damned."

Naruto nodded before he leaped across the table and pulled Tsunade in an embrace. "Thank you, Baa-chan."

"You better not mess this up, Gaki. And if I find out that you did anything remotely negative to her, I'll kill you myself," Tsunade threatened as Naruto gulped. "So, if you love your balls connected to you, behave and don't mess it up."

Naruto nodded as he let go of Tsunade and returned to his seat. He glanced at Jiraiya who also cringed at the threat. Tsunade had the ability and the drive to actually go through with her threats.

Two Days Later

Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru stood in the Hokage's office for their first mission back as team 7. Or rather, the remainder of team 7. "I have a B-ranked mission for you. Should be easy enough," Tsunade said as she passed Kakashi the mission scroll. Kakashi read it before passing it on to Shikamaru and Naruto.

"Is this related to the attackers who attacked team 8 the other day?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes. We have reports that a town had been taken over by a group of missing-nin and bandits. This group is what caused the attackers from several days ago to move nearer to Konoha."

"So they took over their hunting ground which caused the other group to shift. Do we know if there's still civilians in the town?" Shikamaru enquired.

"Our scouts weren't able to discern if there were civilians . As such I would be assigning a medic to your team in the case you stumble across civilians ," Tsunade said as a knock on the door was heard. Naruto smiled as he recognised the chakra signature. "Come in!"

The door opened to show Sakura in her mission attire. 'A medic, huh…' Naruto thought as he smiled. "You took my suggestion," Naruto said as he looked towards the Hokage who merely nodded with a smile. The rest of the team was confused but Tsunade continued before they could ask questions.

"Sakura, you'd be joining team 7 like I had said yesterday. Your role is primarily a medic-nin but there's nothing wrong with helping the rest out of course. That's all for your mission brief, I'll see you in a few days time. Good luck," Tsunade said as the team bowed before leaving.

"Does everyone have all their gear?" Kakashi asked. Everyone nodded in affirmation. "Then we will go immediately. Meet at the North Gate," he said before disappearing in a shunshin. The three teens followed along as they left in their own shunshin.

Team 7 were gliding through the air as they aimed to reach their location before nightfall. They would camp out near the town before attacking in the morning. Sakura took up the front as Kakashi took the rear with Naruto and Shikamaru in the middle. On their journey, the four caught up with each other's lives as they did not encounter any enemy bandits. It was a very smooth journey to the town of Piko.

Piko was a small town which was located near one of Konoha's major trade routes. It was no wonder that the missing-nin chose to settle at such a place. It had easy access to both escape routes and to travellers which they could rob.

After several hours, the sun had gone down and they had finally reached the outskirts of Piko. They were several kilometres away to avoid being detected by any sensors. Naruto and Shikamaru did a little reconnaissance while Sakura and Kakashi set up camp. Guards patrolled the edges of the town as roadblocks were placed at the entrances. Several guards were patrolling the streets and roofs. They had turned the once peaceful town into their stronghold.

The moonlight lit up the dark sky as clouds drifted above. Trees swayed as a gentle breeze blew through the night. Team 7 were gathered around a campfire as they discussed, not about the mission but something much more important.

"Surely there are more doors in the world," Kakashi argued. "Think about it, cupboard doors, room doors, carriage doors and hell, even trapdoors."

"That's true but what about the carriage wheels? There are wheels on carts, wheels are also used for pull out drawers," Sakura debated.

"Don't forget waterwheels, I saw a lot of those in the land of Waterfalls and Rice Paddies," Naruto added. "So we can't rule out wheels just yet."

"Every building has multiple doors. So their numbers are just exponential with the amount of buildings in this world," Shikamaru stated. "However, at the same time, there are many wheels in items that you can find in those buildings. So at the end of the day, it's impossible to know."

"So, which side do you pick?" Sakura asked.

"Doors," he said simply.

"Oh really?! I'm telling you, there are more wheels," Naruto argued as Shikamaru waved him off.

"It's doors," he said with a confident nod. "Now, if you don't mind, I will hit the hay. Wake me up for my shift, will you," he said as he entered his tent.

"Take care, you two," Kakashi said lazily as he entered his tent with his new favourite book. A book which was gifted to him by Naruto after their fight several days before.

"Looks like it's our shift first. You can sleep if you want, I can do it alone," Naruto said as he killed the fire with a small splash of a water bullet.

"It's fine, I'm not tired anyways," Sakura said as she dusted her pants before jumping onto a tree branch. Naruto joined her on a tree branch opposite of hers while a pair of clones did some long distance patrols.

"I really need to learn that jutsu," Sakura commented as she stared at the= pair of clones before shifting her attention to the moonlight. "But, I don't have the chakra for it."

"Technically you do," Naruto said while staring out into the darkness the forest offered. Sakura was about to retort but Naruto stopped her. "Yeah, I know. You have enough chakra for a clone but it's just not effective to use if it leaves you at 50%." Sakura nodded in agreement.

A comfortable silence ran through them as Naruto focused on his senses. He closed his eyes but he felt like he could see everything. He could sense everything around him. He could sense the family of squirrels living in a tree nearby to the steady flow of chakra Sakura was storing somewhere in her body. He could also tell that Kakashi was yet to sleep while Shikamaru was out like a light.

"Hey, Naruto."

"Mhmm?"

"What did you mean just now with Tsunade-sama?" Sakura broke the silence as she curiously gazed at the shadowy figure of Naruto that she could barely make out in the darkness. She could tell that he tilted his head in confusion. "When you said that Tsunade-sama took your suggestion. What did you mean?" She reiterated.

"To take you under her wing," Naruto said. He smiled when he sensed the slight spike in her chakra, indicating her surprise. "Before I left, I gave Tsunade-baachan several suggestions. One of them being you. She saw your chunin exams report and how you tried to copy her technique. She was unsure if she had the time to have another apprentice after Shizune-neechan but I did some convincing. I'm sure she consulted Kurenai-sensei before she eventually decided on…you."

Sakura was speechless. Being Tsunade's apprentice was one of if not the best thing that occurred to her. To her, medical ninjutsu was like her calling but to learn under the best user of medical ninjutsu was something special. "Tha-"

"No, don't thank me. Thank yourself. You are the one who wanted to learn, who wanted to be a kunoichi, who wanted to make a difference. Tsunade-baachan saw that and so did I. All I ever wanted was my friends to grow strong with me and not for me to leave them behind," he said, the smile never leaving his face. "I'm nothing without my friends and loved ones. So don't thank me. Thank yourself."

Sakura saw Naruto in a new light. She was speechless at the man in front of her. "All I want now, is to see you in action. When we pounce, I want to see you smashing up some people while saving the rest," Naruto said with a smirk.

"Oh I'll show you alright," Sakura said as she punched her palm. She chuckled at how fast Naruto changed. He went from a serious and mature man to the funny and teasing Naruto she knew since the academy. "This job really has no sane people," she muttered.

"You can say that again," Naruto said in agreement. "You don't know half the shit I've seen while travelling. From what Shikamaru told me, he too met some crazy people." They went on recounting to each other stories as time passed. Not long after, they woke Shikamaru and Kakashi up who took over for night duty.

The sun rose, giving light to the dark forest they were in. They had chosen to strike in the morning as it allowed civilians to be moved easier. If the civilians weren't awake, they tend to be more hesitant, slow and oblivious when cooperating with the Konoha-nin. This can breed unneeded trouble. Hence, they decided to attack in the sunlight. It took away their advantage of staying hidden but it was nothing they couldn't go by without.

"It goes without saying that there will be no escapees. The civilians come first before anything. This is an important town for trade so relax on the destruction when you fight," Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto especially for the last part. Naruto raised both of his hands in a surrender as he knew his own tendencies. "Everyone good?" Kakashi got three nods and they all disappeared.

With Shikamaru and Sakura

Three men were guarding the south entrance to the town - the entrance closest to their camp. They spotted a lone woman walking towards the town and their interests were piqued. One decided to approach the woman. "Oh what do we have here? Where are you going, Miss?" He asked with a smirk.

"Going without me?" Another one teased.

"Oh nowhere in particular," she said as she smiled at them. The man in front of her tried to move closer but found that he could not move. In fact, all three of them couldn't move. "But I know where you're going," she said as she walked past them. A shadow in the shape of a hand moved across their bodies and towards their necks. Moments later, three thuds were heard.

"Nice job," Sakura said to Shikamaru who appeared from her shadow.

"They're not even shinobi," Shikamaru said as he created a shadow clone. "We'll start evacuating the civilians and bringing them here." BOOM! A loud explosion occurred on the other side of town. Shikamaru and Sakura glanced at the smoke which was rising quickly. "That's our distraction. No better time than now," he said as the clone and him left in different directions.

With Naruto and Kakashi

"Halt! Stop where you are!" A voice boomed from above. Naruto glanced up to see a man with an eyepatch and a bow strap to his back standing on top of an arch that led to the entrance of the town.

"This town is under the command of Kaizo Uraume. Leave your valuables and turn around or bear the consequences!" The man announced as he drew his bow and arrow.

A henchman who was closest to Naruto and Kakashi looked at the eyepatched man warily. "Boss, they are Konoha shinobi! We shou-"

"Now that you've drawn your bow, put your life on the line," Naruto said as he stared into the man's uncovered eye. "Take the shot, and show your words aren't mere threats."

Kakashi watched Naruto from the corner of his eye. Naruto did not have his hand on any weapons and was merely staring up at the eyepatched man. He was inviting him to take the shot and his body showed it.

"Boss! We really shouldn't find fault with Konoha-nin!" Another henchman warned as the eyepatched man kept his hands firmly on his bow.

"So, what would it be? Mere threats or would you take the shot?" Kakashi added fuel to the fire that was going on in the man's mind.

'This Gaki is really asking for death! I need to take the shot. But Konoha might send more here if they find out we killed one of their own. Fuck, what woul-' His thoughts were cut short when he felt and arm sling around his front.

"You're shaking…" Naruto whispered in his ear. "Surrender and-"

The man did not care for Naruto's words as he tried to stab him with a knife. Naruto caught the knife and threw it away. Naruto could see the horror in the man's eye. "Do you have a wife and kids?" Naruto asked.

"W-what?" The man shakily asked.

"You heard me."

"N-no…" He answered.

"Good. This won't hurt a bit. It's the least I could for you," Naruto said as he let the man go and he went limp. The man dropped from the arch and landed with a thump. "He's dead, but he didn't realise until I said so," Naruto explained to Kakashi who was surrounded by four dead bodies.

"How?" Kakashi asked as he joined Naruto at the top of the arch.

"I cut all his crucial veins so fast that even his body didn't realise for several seconds," Naruto said as he stretched his arms. "Let's call the rest of them, shall we?"
Kakashi nodded as he threw several kunai wrapped with explosives into the air. The resulting explosion worked as planned as all the bandits swarmed towards them. "I sense genin level chakra and several chunin. But there's one low jonin level chakra at the back. Might be him," Naruto said as he and Kakashi stared down at their enemies. "The civilians are slowly getting evacuated and treated so…"

"Let's do this," Kakashi said as he lifted up his headband.

Naruto could feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins. He heard his heart thumping in his ear as he unsheathed his blade. He disappeared in a blur and landed in the middle of the crowd of enemies. He knocked a man out with the back of his sword before he jumped and side kicked someone in the head, sending him crashing into several of his allies. He ducked under a machete and grabbed the arm that was holding onto it. He pulled the arm and flipped the man onto the ground using the weight of his body. He threw a kunai straight through the man's heart, ending him swiftly.

A jet of water shot at him from his blindspot but he sensed the chakra buildup and knew it was coming. He used a light step to dodge it and appeared beside the user. 'Chunin number one,' Naruto thought as he engaged in taijutsu with the kunoichi. He sidestepped her punch and aimed several successive punches at her outstretched arm. She groaned in agony as her arm went limp. Naruto aimed a high kick to her head which she ducked under. She threw a kunai at the same time as she dodged.

Naruto leaned his head slightly back, as the kunai passed by. He caught the kunai and threw it at a man who tried to rush in. He landed and immediately went for a leg swipe. The kunoichi was too slow to react as she lost her balance. 'Futon: Reppusho (Wind Style: Gale Palm),' Naruto thought as he brought his palms up facing the kunoichi. She was blown away by the wind jutsu straight into a wall, knocking her out.

Meanwhile, Kakashi landed near the back of the crowd, aiming for the lone jonin among the group. Kakashi leaned his head to the side as he dodged a slice for his neck. He grabbed the arm and pulled the man in before stabbing a kunai through his neck. Kakashi did not spare as much glance as the man's body fell to the ground.

He saw two more rushing to him and went through hand seals. "Raiton: Jinraisen (Lightning Style: Thunderclap Arrow)," he muttered as he aimed the jutsu at the pair rushing him. They couldn't outrun the lightning and were instantly electrocuted.

"Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja. You're as ruthless as they say," a man said as he turned around the corner. The man wore a strike-through Ishigakure headband around his neck. He was large in size like an Akimichi. He did not have a shirt on and several battle scars were seen on his chest.

"You must be Kaizo Uraume," Kakashi stated in a lazy tone.

"Hahaha you've heard of me," the man said with a hearty laugh.

"Nope. Wouldn't know who you are if one of your henchmen didn't say it," Kakashi said with his hands in his pocket.

"So you've heard of me from my men," he said proudly.

"Sorry? What did you say?" Kakashi was cleaning his ear with his pinky.

"You heard what I said. Don't try to play cool with me, Hatake!"

"Woah no need to be angry. So tell me, what's got you so frustrated?" Kakashi said as he leaned forward to give a listening ear.

"You bastard!" Kaizo tried to swipe Kakashi but he hit nothing but air.

"You're a waste of chakra. Playing with these bandits has made you soft. You should have stayed in Ishigakure," Kaizo heard from behind him before the sound of a thousand birds chirping filled the air. He turned around but to no use as there was nobody behind him. He looked down to see blood streaming like a river from his chest. A lightning coated arm stuck out from within his chest. "You were the most underwhelming missing-nin ever," Kakashi said as he pulled his arm out. Kaizo slowly fell forward in a pool of his own blood.

With Shikamaru and Sakura

"Sakura…there's a lot coming this way. I think they realised the civilians are missing," Shikamaru said as he saw two groups of bandits heading their way. Sakura's hands were glowing as she treated the injury on an elderly lady. The bandits did not treat the civilians of Piko well in the slightest. Many were injured from the rough ways the bandits treated them.

Sakura sighed and went to Shikamaru's side. "I can handle this. I was merely informing you," Shikamaru said.

"I know, but I'm done healing the civilians. Time for me to have some fun," she said as she wore her gloves. Shikamaru saw this and backed up, giving her space. Sakura smiled and leaped at the bandits. She reeled her arm back before punching the ground. Everyone watched in awe as the ground shattered. The bandits were getting swallowed in the rubble. Silence reigned through the area as everyone watched Sakura take down several bandits in one swoop. Moments later, Naruto and Kakashi came in to finish those trying to run away from Sakura.

"That was great, Sakura-chan. Just as scary as Tsunade-baachan," Naruto said while clapping. At the back of his mind, he was having very different thoughts. 'Man, Sakura can kill me if I get hit with that. I need to be careful.'

"Was that all?" Naruto asked as he surveyed the civilians they had healed. "I hope nobody got caught in the fight."
"We're all here. Thank you shinobi-san, kunoichi-san. We're glad Konoha noticed our situation," the Mayor of the town said as they all bowed in thanks. "We would have called for help but none of our messages could reach Konoha."

"We're just doing our job, Mayor," Kakashi said as he looked at the sky. "We will stay here for one more day to ensure everything is moving well again. We will help with any repairs if need be."
"It's okay, Shinobi-san. We don't want to trouble you," he said.

"It's no issue. We're not troubled at all," Naruto said as several clones appeared by his sides. "Besides, we got all the manpower you need."

Two Days Later

Team 7 plus Sakura had Konoha's gates within their sights. "Hey, Sakura-chan. How about a little game?" Naruto asked as he picked up two pebbles from the ground. "Whoever flicks their pebble closest to the gate wins 100 ryo."

Sakura smirked and grabbed the pebble from Naruto's hand. She stood in line with him and had her sights on Konoha. "Thanks for the 100 ryo, Naruto," Sakura said as she placed the pebble in between her fingers.

"3…2…1…flick," Kakashi said in a lazy tone as he walked past the two with his head buried in a book. The two teens flicked their respective pebbles as they ripped through the air. They blitzed from their spots to see the winner.

"Sakura won," Shikamaru said with his hands behind his head before walking past them into Konoha. Sakura cheered happily as Naruto reluctantly gave his money. They said their goodbyes moments after as Tsunade only wanted a report from Kakashi. Naruto and Shikamaru walked through the shopping district of Konoha while they made their way home. "Did you get to see what you wanted to see?" Shikamaru asked as his eyes roamed the various shops around them.

"Yeah. Her chakra control is exceptional and Tsunade-baachan really made a clone of herself," Naruto said as he stopped by a street vendor and bought some sweets. "She managed to perfectly calculate how much chakra she needed to flick that pebble. It landed right at the gate entrance."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. He too saw what Naruto did. He also saw Sakura's medical abilities and it was very concise and very efficient. "She's no longer that Sasuke fangirl, huh?" Shikamaru said.

"Definitely not," Naruto said with a chuckle. He crouched down as he called over a group of children. He gave them the bag of sweets he bought and made them share amongst themselves. "Speaking of the man…I wonder how he's doing. It won't be much longer till we see him again," Naruto said as he ruffled one of the children's hair.

Sasuke was in the midst of fighting a very large snake when he sneezed. The snake took the opportunity and rushed him with its fangs bared. He managed to only get by with a cut on his arm. 'I'll fight whoever mentioned me just now,' he thought angrily as his white kimono was stained red.

After splitting ways with Shikamaru, Naruto headed for his favourite shop. He could smell the savoury smell of ramen from around the corner. He opened the flap and smiled when he saw his old teacher. "Iruka-sensei! It's nice to see you here!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat down beside the man. "Teuchi-ossan, two large chicken ramen!"

"Alright, two ramen coming!"

"Hey, Naruto. Did you just come back from a mission?" Iruka asked his most memorable student.

"Yeah, just a short one in the Land of Fire," Naruto answered as his ramen was served. He dug in immediately. "How's the academy going for you these days? You look tired."

"Do I?" Iruka asked as Naruto nodded. He glanced at the Ichiraku family and they nodded too.

"The eye bags and you just look like you're ready to drop," Naruto pointed out.

"Yeah, I've been staying up late. It's almost graduation season so there's a lot to do," Iruka explained as Naruto nodded in understanding.

'I swear I only ordered two,' Naruto thought as he slurped his fourth bowl of ramen. "It's fine Iruka-sensei. You'll pull through," Naruto encouraged as he patted the man on the shoulder.

"Thanks Naruto. Luckily there's no more large scale pranks. They seemed to have stopped around the time you graduated," Iruka said with a chuckle. Naruto smiled as he reminisced about the several pranks he did to keep himself busy. "I still wonder who made them?" Iruka wondered aloud.

"Well, they were good. You can give them that," Naruto said as if he wasn't complimenting himself. He saw Iruka about to reach for his wallet but stopped him. "Teuchi-ossan, include Iruka-sensei's with mine too," he said as he placed the money on the counter.

"Naruto, I ca-"

"I promised you when I had money, it'll be my turn to pay. So don't you worry. Besides, you've paid for me many times. Why can't it be the other way?" Naruto said with a grin. "Ja ne!" Naruto disappeared in a shunshin.

Iruka stared at the spot Naruto was previously. 'You've grown Naruto…' he thought with a smile. 'Sandaime-sama would have been proud.'

Meanwhile Somewhere in the Desert

A trail followed behind two figures as Sunagakure no Sato was in their sights. They both wore the same cloak of black with red clouds. The full moon lit the dark sky as they headed for their target, the Godaime Kazekage.

Gaara stood on the balcony of the roof of the Kazekage's office. He gazed at the moon as he felt the shifts of the sands. He could feel a ominous aura around the desert on that night. The sand could sense it and so could he.

"Kazekage-sama, all members of the council are present. They await your presence," his assistant informed before he turned to leave.

'Kazekage…' The word floated around Gaara's head as he continued his gaze of the beautiful moon. It was still an abnormality to him. To be at a position of such high regard was a severe jump from where he was only three years ago. In fact, it was the exact opposite of where he was.

After following Naruto's advice to open up to his siblings, he had gotten better control of his maniacal tendencies. The whispers from the Bijuu within him had dissipated. Although he still could not sleep, he could now worry less about destroying and killing on a whim. He built better relationships with his siblings and sensei. He even had a student for a short period of time before his eventual nomination as Kazekage.

Unlike the Hokage, the Kazekage was a position given based on heritage. The past Kazekage's were all related in some way or another. Of course, aside from heritage, strength is deemed important. Hence, out of the three siblings, Gaara was nominated the Kazekage. In the situation where a Kazekage did not have any offsprings who could take over, the Daimyo and the sand council would have to select a shinobi of their choosing.

Gaara gave the village around him a panoramic look before heading inside. He placed the ominous aura behind him and thought it was time to fulfil his role as Kazekage.

Next Morning

Naruto stirred awake as he received a knock on his door. He wiped the sleepiness from his eyes as he checked the clock. '8:30…' Naruto thought as Kakashi came in looking as awake as he was.

"Hokage-sama wants to see us in 15 mins," Kakashi said as he left Naruto to his morning routines. Naruto searched for a new set of mission attire as his previous ones were being washed. After taking a short shower and getting his mission gear, he met Kakashi in the hall. Naruto caught an onigiri which Kakashi threw at him. "Come on, let's go," he said as he left in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto ate the onigiri in two bites before he too left for the Hokage's office. He entered the office to see Shikamaru and Sakura had also gathered. "I'm sorry to have sent you on another mission so soon but there's no better option," Tsunade said as she pulled out a scroll from a drawer. "Twenty minutes ago, we received a message from Sunagakure. They were attacked by the Akatsuki."

The room fell silent at the statement. Sakura showed the most reaction out of the group. Her eyes widened as she heard the Akatsuki being mentioned. Tsunade had mentioned them before during her training and she knew their objective of catching the bijuu. Shikamaru merely closed his eyes, while Kakashi's single eye narrowed. Naruto's hand was behind his back but his facial expression did not change at all. 'Jiraiya can be a good teacher if he wanted to,' Tsunade thought as she noticed this.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked in a straight tone, breaking the silence. Internally, he was fuming as the Akatsuki had finally decided to make their move. Especially when their first target was his friend.

"Captured, around dawn. Kankuro chased after the assailants but was heavily injured by a poison of unknown origins. Sakura is the second best medic-nin after Shizune who is running the hospital. She could help the Suna-nin with Kankuro," Tsunade stated as she gave Sakura a reassuring nod.

"Is Temari still in Konoha?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto could detect slight fluctuations in his chakra.

"She left slightly after sunrise. If you hurry, you might catch up with her," Tsunade answered as she turned towards Kakashi. "That is all. Kakashi, you will lead team 7 in rescuing the Godaime Kazekage. Failure will be detrimental for both the Land of Fire and Wind. Understand?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

Team 7 raced through the forests of the Land of Fire. Any time lost would mean the chances of success for the mission decreases. They did not know how long they had before a bijuu was fully extracted from its host. Jiraiya could only estimate three days and that was all they had to go off. The journey to Sunagakure was three days with rest, so they had to put resting to a minimum.

Nearing the afternoon of the first day, they ran into Temari. "Temari!" Shikamaru called out as team 7 landed beside her.

"Shikamaru wh-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Shikamaru cut her off. "Temari, it's Gaara," he said solemnly.

"He's been taken," Kakashi finished. Temari's eyes widened as she felt her heart start to race. "It's the Akatsuki." All the colour from Temari's face left as she started to hyperventilate. She had hoped that this never came but knew that was impossible. She was prepared to fight them off by his side, yet here she was having a panic attack while her brother had been taken away.

Temari felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She looked up to gaze into Shikamaru's eyes. "Hey, you can't let this control you. He needs you to be strong. Come on," Shikamaru encouraged. She nodded slowly as she took several deep breaths.

"Come on, I'll guide you to Suna," she said as she took off. The members of team 7 shared a glance with each other before they took off after her.

They had skipped resting for the night as they continued their journey to the border of the Land of Fire. They had cut their journey by a day as they reached the sandy deserts of the Land of Wind by the second night. They were forced to take shelter in a cave due to a sandstorm much to Naruto's frustration. He could have outpaced the rest of the group and Kakashi knew that too. However, he was not as useful alone compared to a team.

He wanted nothing more than to save his friend. However, night sandstorms were just too dangerous to go through. He did not know if Jiraiya's estimate was correct but he hoped it was much longer. From all the research he did, extracting a bijuu did not leave any results that he was satisfied with.

Matching his frustrations was Temari. Gaara was her brother, obviously she would want to save him. However, her frustration was raised when she heard about her other brother, Kankuro. Kankuro was a poison user himself and she hoped that whatever resistance he had built up against poisons would help him even a little.

The group slept through the night as much as they could and were up by sunrise. The sandstorm had cleared and they could make the final leg of their journey. After three hours of travelling through the desert, they finally spotted Sunagakure. It was not long before the chunin gate guards spotted Temari and the Konoha-nin. They updated them on Kankuro's condition before urgently rushing them to the hospital.

Temari's frustration and anger grew even more when she saw her brother struggling on a hospital bed. His breathing was erratic, he was sweating profusely and a pained expression was present on his face. The doctors were gathered at the side as they looked through various charts and information, discussing. "Why aren't you healing him? What is there to discuss about?! Give him the antidote!" Temari demanded.

Temari was a capable shinobi but the medical field was clearly not her strong suit. It requires patience, analytical skills and full knowledge of the disease they're dealing with before even laying a hand on the patient.

An old lady made herself known as she spoke up. "We would have healed him if we knew the ingredients to this poison. This poison has never been seen before and requires medical knowledge beyond even me to create an antidote," she said. Temari's face fell as she looked at her struggling brother.

'Lady Chiyo,' Naruto's memory filled him in. 'I remember reading about her when I read about Tsunade-baachan. She was her biggest rival during the wars. Chiyo would produce many poisons while Tsunade would find an antidote for every single one.'

Chiyo turned and caught sight of Kakashi. A sudden rage filled her eyes as she pulled out a kunai and with unprecedented speed for someone her age, she rushed towards Kakashi. Kakashi's eyes widened as the old lady caught him by surprise.

"You will die here today, White Fang! You will pay for what you did to my son!" She exclaimed.

However, her revenge was stopped short as she found herself frozen to the spot. Naruto walked in between Chiyo and Kakashi and took away her kunai. "I'm sorry, Baachan but maybe another time," Naruto said as he played with the kunai in his fingers.

Luckily, a man with a white beard stepped in before things could escalate further. The man was Chiyo's brother and had reminded Chiyo that the White Fang she hated so much has been dead for many years. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. He did not want to be defending himself from some senile elder from Suna. It could cause quite a political stir.

Shocking everyone in the room, Chiyo started laughing. "Oh, I was just joking, hahaha!" She earned questionable looks from everyone but they moved on quickly due to the situation.

"Shika," Naruto signalled to Shikamaru who stopped his jutsu.

"You're very fast, Nara," Chiyo pointed out. Shikamaru merely nodded at the compliment.

Sakura took the time to approach the doctors who were discussing. "Excuse me, may I see the patient's charts?" She asked. The doctors looked at her warily as they were reluctant to hand her the charts. "I'm a medic-nin sent by Hokage-sama to help you. So if I may," she said in a stricter tone this time. The doctors scrutinised the young lady for several moments before handing her the information on Kankuro.

As Sakura read the data and thought of the necessary procedure to execute, Chiyo was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Seeing Sakura at work reminded her of her arch nemesis - the blonde medic-nin from Konoha who would cure every poison she ever manufactured. "Tell me young lady…" Chiyo started as Sakura turned her attention to the elder. "Why do I see Tsunade of the Sannin in you?"

"Oh, maybe I picked up some of her habits. I am her apprentice after all," she said with a smile before facing Temari. "Let's heal your brother, Temari."

Sakura tied her hair up with her Konoha headband and started going to work. Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru took it as their time to leave. They waited outside while Sakura relayed orders to the doctors on ways of extracting the poison to create an antidote.

"She's really made for this, huh?" Shikamaru said as a nurse came with a bowl of water.

"Yeah, she figured out what to do in ten minutes what they couldn't in ten hours. She has your smarts but for the medical sector," Naruto replied. He was in awe at the work Sakura was doing. She looked so natural to be a medic-nin and perhaps had the ability to surpass Tsunade.

"You didn't see the amount of hard work that went through to get her here. During your training trip, I jumped around several teams and managed to work with team 8 many times. I can safely say that she worked very hard and has constantly been improving. That isn't to say that her teammates weren't improving as well." Kakashi was reminded of his teammate who was also a medic-nin in training. He recalled the several times she had to help him and Obito with their injuries.

"I believe Ino was under the tutelage of Shizune-neechan, right?" Naruto asked.

"Ino learned poisons and medical ninjutsu with Shizune. As a Yamanaka, her specialty is mostly extracting information and paralysis or sleep poisons are very helpful," Kakashi answered.

"Ino wouldn't be able to watch Sakura get stronger and not do anything. I've known her for a long time and she definitely wouldn't let Sakura get too far ahead of her," Shikamaru added.

They saw Sakura use a water bubble to extract some poison from Kankuro's body. Naruto could feel how calm and steady her chakra was. It was something he could only hope to do. He could never use his chakra as efficiently as a medic-nin, much less the apprentice of the best medic-nin in history. His chakra control was better than many but there were still many better than him.

With the poison extracted, they could now figure out an antidote. Not long after, Kankuro was administered the antidote and a wave of relief washed over everyone. Temari and a large smile etched on her face while Sakura wiped the sweat on her forehead. "Good job, Sakura," Kakashi complimented with a pat on the shoulder.

"Na-Naruto…" Kankuro called in a raspy voice. Naruto walked over with a glass of water and handed it to him.

"You should be resting after that," Naruto said.

"Naruto, you have to save him. He believes in you, Naruto…and so do I. Here," Kankuro moved his fingers slightly as one his puppet's arms moved to his side. The hand opened to show a piece of cloth. "I managed to snag a bit of his clothes. Find him and kill him for me," Kankuro said with a smile before he passed out.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called as Kakashi slammed his palm on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared to show a pack of nin-dogs.
"Yo," Pakkun greeted.

"Pakkun, we need to track him asap," Kakashi requested as he gave the pack of dogs the cloth.

"On it!" The pack scattered as they searched for a lead.

"Come on, let's wait for them at the gate. Sakura, can you continue?" Kakashi asked. Sakura nodded and they all vanished in a shunshin.

If you noticed, I tried to flesh out Sakura's character abit more and what others thought about her. Don't worry she won't be joining Team 7 permanently, just for this Kazekage rescue arc. Naruto will meet the Akatsuki members next, let's see how they fair.