Sakura was sitting inside the Senju compound, in the main house. She was reading a scroll that belonged to Senju Butsuma, Tsunade's great grandfather. When Sakura was here, she usually studied whichever scroll Tsunade threw at her, however sometimes between practice she would read old clan records, it was very interesting to her to read about the lives of those before her. It was how she found out that Tsunade was named after Hashirama's mother.

"If you're done reading about delusional old men, then I have something for you." said Tsunade, entering the room.

"What is it shishō?" asked Sakura, putting the scroll down.

"My grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, while she was mostly known for her sealing prowess, was also really proficient at wielding the sai. She wrote everything about using the weapon in this journal. Since you decided to use sai as well, I thought it might come in handy." She threw the journal at Sakura. It was old, with a dark green leather cover, kikyo flowers drawn onto it. When Sakura opened it she found the pages yellowed already from age.

"Oh wow, thank you shishō!"

"You're welcome brat. How are the sai training sessions with Ibiki going?"

"They're going good. Well as good as any lesson with Ibiki can go." looking conspiratorially she lowered her voice dramatically. "He's still pissy about me making fun of him in the Land of Tea, so he is being extra harsh in training."

Tsunade snorted. "That just means you'll be twice as good at wielding those weapons. Now get up, I wanna see how good you've gotten."

Tsunade and Sakura walked to the training field in the Senju compound where they each picked a spot at opposite sides of the field. Sakura had her sai in hand and crouched low before coming at Tsunade with speed. She thrust the sai forward at Tsunade's face, making her walk backwards as she dodged, before the Sannin got annoyed, caught her wrist and threw her away. Sakura flipped while in the air and maneuvered herself to land on her feet. Kicking the ground to create a dust cloud, Sakura ran at Tsunade on silent feet, channeling water chakra in her sai to give them range and cutting power. Coming from a low point, she swung one of the sai at Tsunade's throat and used the momentum to swing the other at her abdomen. Tsunade jumped away and kicked the ground creating an earthquake. Instead of jumping away, Sakura let the ground open up under her to hide. While Tsunade looked around in the dust cloud for her student, Sakura appeared from under her, one sai aimed at her throat, while the other slashed her wrist after Tsunade blocked a hit that would have pierced a kidney. The blonde took Sakura's arm and twisted it behind her back while simultaneously kicking her feet from under her. Just like that, it was over.

"I see you've gotten better. Almost took my kidney with that last trick." said Tsunade, releasing her.

"Thank you. Ibiki taught me how to use chakra nagashi to add water nature chakra to my weapons. I also came up with a new jutsu."

"Oh? Well let's see it."

Sakura moved a bit away from Tsunade and used one handed hand seals while still holding her sai. "Sai Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" and above her head in an arc appeared 7 sai made of water that moved forward with speed. When they hit a tree, they exploded.

"Interesting. I'm guessing you can choose whether they explode or not?" asked Tsunade.

"Yup. And I can control them to go in any direction I want. The problem is they use quite a lot of chakra, but I think that will be fixed once my reserves grow bigger."

Tsunade nodded. "I see. Well your reserves have grown a lot since you came here. How many Suiryūdan no Jutsus can you do now?"

"Two, back to back. After that I tap out."

"See, you've grown a lot since returning to the past. Last time you barely had the chakra for a simple D-rank jutsu. You've come a long way Sakura and I'm very proud of you."

Sakura's eyes widened and she gave her mentor a watery smile. "Thank you shishō."

Tsunade tsked. "I thought we already fixed that crybaby side of yours. Come here you little shit." Tsunade put her arms around her and squeezed her tight. "What am I going to do with you, my little kunoichi?"

Their little moment was interrupted by Shizune coming into the training field. "Tsunade-sama, Sakura, I brought lunch." Tsunade and Sakura let go of each other and walked towards Shizune.

"Hello senpai, what did you bring us?" asked Sakura.

"Oh, I stopped by Flowing River with Genma and got you some Kawa no Kuni specials. I hope you like spicy food."

"I do, thanks Shizune-senpai."

"What were you doing with Shiranui in a restaurant, Shizune? Is there something you want to tell us?"

"Yeah senpai, are you hiding something from us?"

"T-there is nothing to hide because n-nothing is happening. W-we just happened to see meet each other while I was on my way to get you food a-and he accompanied me for lunch! That's all!"

"Mhhhm, sure senpai, sure."

...

Sakura met with Ibiki and Sasuke at training ground 66. Occasionally, the scarred man would have them both come at the same time to pit them against each other. They would spar for a few hours before Sakura drags them both to Yakiniku Q to eat and bitch about life. Sakura doing all of the bitching mostly.

"Well hello there, Sasuke, Ibiki-san!" said Sakura brightly.

"Hn." was Sasuke's only greeting.

"Haruno." Ibiki gave her a nod.

"Aren't you both two rays of sunshine..." said Sakura dryly. "How's training with the Raijin no Ken going?"

Tsunade let Sasuke keep the sword, saying it was only gathering dust in their treasury. The elders were not pleased but Tsunade was Hokage and she won't let the council walk all over her like they did with Hiruzen. Ibiki however suggested Sasuke also carries a normal sword, in case he runs out of chakra and can't use the legendary blade. So the Uchiha went with Tenten to her blacksmith friend and got himself a chokutō. It was slightly longer than a normal one, with a black handle, the hilt had a keychain with the Uchiha fan that Naruto gifted him.

"Good, I can use it for about four hours before I run out of chakra though. I also learned how to channel Chidori through it to make the blade sharper." said Sasuke.

"That's great!" said Sakura. "So, are we training with that today or are we just doing our usual spars?"

"You're doing the usual, first you need to have technique before you can add any fancy ninjutsu to your kenjutsu. Now get into position." barked Ibiki.

They both took a seat on opposite sides of the field. Sakura had one knee bent, with her other leg extended behind her, ready to push her forward, one sai in front of her the other behind. Sasuke was in a similar stance, his chokutō in front of him in defensive way, his other arm extended in the universal sign for come at me. With speed, Sakura ran after Sasuke and met him in the middle, their weapons clashed, both of Sakura's sai blocking Sasuke's swing. Moving her sai to the side, she pushed his chokutō away, before taking her left sai and jabbing it at him. He moved his head to the right to avoid becoming blind in one eye and jumped away. Then he shunshined away and appeared in a tornado of red oak leaves and ash behind Sakura.

Lifting his sword he brought it down on Sakura and she barely had time to block it with her sai. Using her other hand, she jabbed at Sasuke again to distract him before jumping away. Sasuke however, didn't let her put distance between them and kept the pinkette on the defensive. Their weapons clashed, blow after blow until Sasuke managed to throw Sakura's weapons from her hands. In response, Sakura ducked low, did a half cartwheel and kicked Sasuke's chokutō away. Jumping away from each other, they landed on opposite sides of the field.

"Tie?" asked Sakura.

"Tie." said Sasuke nodding. They both could have kept going but this was about becoming better at kenjutsu, not winning the spar.

"Again!" barked Ibiki and after the duo picked up their weapons, they resumed their positions at the edges of the field.

...

Sakura landed in her bed with a groan. Training with Ibiki was brutal as always. He pushed Sakura and Sasuke to spar until late in the evening. He was brutal as he was efficient, both of them became better with their respective weapons but man was she sore. Near the end Ibiki had Sasuke and Sakura both fight him. The scarred man, armed with only his tanto, kicked their asses repeatedly. Sakura wanted nothing more than to take a nap, but she also wished to read Mito Uzumaki's journal. Pushing herself up, she rummaged through her bag until she found it. Turning on her reading light, Sakura propped herself on the headboard and started reading.

Inside it she found techniques the woman had developed as well as her personal experiences with her teacher, Hinoiri Uzuki. A stern woman, hailing from the Uzuki clan, that liked to punish her student by making her walk over hot coals every time she failed. Sakura shuddered as she thought about it and vowed to never speak about this with Ibiki, lest he gets any ideas. Mito liked to use her sai in combination with her tessen, using only one of the weapons in one hand and the war fan in the other. She also combined them with her unique Lava Release Kekkei Genkai. Yōton was rare amongst Uzumakis, the red headed seal masters usually having either Boil Release or the revered Adamantine Chains, or both. Mito Uzumaki however had both Yōton and the Adamantine Chains. It was a shame not many more people knew about it and Sakura promised herself she will bring it up to Tsunade so they could correct the history book in the academy. Mito Uzumaki deserved to be known as the powerhouse that she was.

Sakura felt her eyes start to drop, so she closed the book. Just as she was about to put the book in the bookcase in her room, she felt the air shift and barely had time to dodge that blow to the back of her neck. Dropping the book, she jumped away only to see an ANBU in her room. They had a parrot mask but no ANBU tattoos. Is it a nin from another nation? How the hell did they infiltrate? Parrot came at her with his tanto raised and Sakura dodged. This was not good she was very low on chakra and completely exhausted. The ANBU came after her and she punched him in the sternum, he went flying through her wall and landed in her living room. She ran for the window, determine to escape, but just as her foot touched the wood frame, a hand clasped her ankle. Sakura didn't have time to look back and see who it was because she got thrown into the bookcase. Just as she was about to regain her bearings, she felt a sharp pain in her side, looking down Sakura found a kunai embedded in her flesh.

Oh...I've been stabbed.

Sakura pulled the kunai out but just as she was about to take a step, she crumpled to her knees. The kunai had been poisoned and Sakura could do nothing about it. Looking up she saw her assailant and found another ANBU with the crow mast. The last thing she perceived was Crow picking her up.

...

Naruto and Sasuke arrived at Sakura's apartment the next day. Team 7 was supposed to meet with Sakura for a training session that morning but she never showed up. Thinking she overslept, they knocked on her door.

"Oi! Sakura-chan! Open up, your favourite teammates are here!" yelled Naruto.

"Stop yelling, dobe. You'll disturb the neighbors."

They waited for her to open the door but got no answer. After 10 minutes they got antsy.

"Do you think she's not home?" asked Naruto. "But this is her free day from the hospital..."

"Maybe Tsunade summoned her. Come on, she'll probably meet with us later." said Sasuke, turning away.

"No." said Naruto, getting uncharacteristically serious. "Something is wrong. If Sakura-chan really was busy with Granny Tsunade should have sent Katsuyu to tell us."

Sasuke widened his eyes as he realized Naruto was right. Since Tsunade became Hokage, every single time that something came up, Sakura would tell them in advance she couldn't come. This was suspicious.

"Move over." said Sasuke and he started picking the lock.

"Since when do you know to pick locks?"

"Since I was 5. Shisui taught me." the door finally opened and the boys stepped inside. What they saw made their blood freeze, there was a hole in Sakura's wall, debris covering her couch and her glass coffee table was shattered.

"What the hell happened here?" said Sasuke.

The boys went to inspect the hole before climbing over the couch and jumping into the bedroom. The room was a mess. Most of her books had fallen off, while her office table was dusty from the debris made by the hole above it. The window was wide open and the drapes raised with the wind. The most concerning thing, was the blood. There wasn't a lot of it but it painted the bookcase and the floor red. Sasuke neared it to take a look at the splash pattern.

"I think she was kidnapped. She fought whoever was responsible but they probably got the edge on her. There isn't enough blood here to point towards a kill."

"Who do you think would take her? What should we do?" said Naruto, looking more and more worried by the second.

Sasuke looked at him. "We need to tell the Hokage."

...

Sakura woke up with a pounding headache. She opened her eyes and found herself tied in a cell. She tried to call on her chakra but found it suppressed. Looking around she saw two ANBU guarding her. Noticing she was awake, the ANBU with the crow mask opened her cell and tugged on the rope that had her tied up to force her to rise on her feet.

"Get moving." was all Crow said.

"Who are you? Why did you take me?" asked Sakura but got no answer. She glared at the back of his head but kept quiet, knowing she would only be wasting her breath. Crow was a tall man with short, unkempt, curly, dark-coloured hair, the only thing Sakura found weird about him was that he had the standard ANBU tattoos, unlike the others. The ANBU that was behind her was a woman and she had long dark grey hair and an owl mask. After walking for a few minutes, they entered a large empty room. Once they were in the center, Owl kicked her back and forced her to kneel. Sakura glared at her but kept quiet as she waited for their boss. Imagine her surprise when she saw her esteemed elder, Danzo Shimura, walk in followed by 3 ANBU guards.

"Hello there, Sakura-san. I hope you can forgive the rude greeting. I'm afraid this was the only way I could get you to agree to come here."

Agree my ass. "Why did you bring me here." said Sakura.

"Straight to the point I see. I would like to welcome you into my organization, the Root. My organization exists independent of the Hokage, to protect the village from the shadows. We are the foundation that keeps Konoha thriving. The Root acts out on their own for the sake of this village and it's betterment. After all, a tree is only as strong as it's roots. I believe your talents are wasted on mere chunin missions. You would do much better here in the Root."

"You're insane." said Sakura and Danzo frowned at her. "Why would I join a place like this when I know for a fact that it shouldn't even exist? For the betterment of Konoha? Please we both know this is just your hungry war mongering at work. I refuse to aid someone like."

"You do realize that even if you refuse, I cannot let you go." said Danzo.

"Yes. But I would rather die than work with someone like you." said Sakura. Was she being careless? Yes. But her exhaustion and whatever poison they used on her was making her mind fuzzy. She couldn't think properly and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, like an idiot.

Dazno hummed. "Your teammates are quite the interesting bunch. The last Uchiha and one of the only Uzumaki of Konoha. Quite the rare bloodlines..."

"I'LL KILL YOU! IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT LAYING A FINGER ON NARUTO AND SASUKE I'LL TURN YOU INTO DUST!" said Sakura as she trashed. By this point she already figured out the poison was messing with her mind and her emotions.

Danzo looked at her coldly. "Then why don't we make a deal? You join me and I'll leave those two alone. However if you even think about betraying me, I will personally deliver you their heads on a silver platter."

Sakura froze as she thought about it. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened, adrenaline rushed in her veins and she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. The desperation and fear was palpable on her face. Yeah Naruto would probably be fine, he was the Konoha jinchūriki so Danzo couldn't afford to kill him. But Sasuke? Sasuke had nothing going for him that would stop the elder from murdering him. If she did not comply...Sasuke could die. No she will not allow that, over her dead body.

Lifting her head she looked Danzo in the eye. "I accept."

Danzo smiled. "Wonderful. Welcome to Root, Haruno Sakura."