Summary: Sakura is one of the best ANBU ninjas and the best medic nin in all of Konoha. The extraordinary thing? She’s blind. SakSas ShikaIno NarHin NejiTen

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Sakura flew from tree to tree, the dead body of the missing ninja hanging limply over her shoulder. Behind her, she heard the soft whoosh of her team mates, Tenten and Hinata, as they bounded from tree to tree. Hinata had deactivated her Byukagun, for she had used it too much during their fight against the Sound nins, exhausting her. Tenten was disgruntled because they had to flee from the fighting spot before reinforcements came, making it too dangerous to stay and recollect all of their weapons.

Tenten’s dark, chestnut brown hair was still in its usual style of two buns with ribbons threaded through it. She stubbornly insisted on wearing them, for she said that they were a gift from someone very special. Her dark ANBU uniform hid her hair and body, while a mask covered her face. Her body had become thin and hard from years of training, losing any baby fat that might still be hanging around. Her uniform also hid an assortment of weapons and scrolls, which she could summon more weapons if needed. On her right thigh, she wore a small pouch which she could pull out needles and kunais. Her light, chestnut brown eyes were hard as she concentrated on their S-class mission.

Hinata’s dark, black – purple hair was still cut so it framed her pale face, but it hang down so it gently brushed her shoulders. She kept it out of her eyes by wearing a headband. Her milky – white eyes observed everything around her with calmness and patience. Over her black ANBU uniform, she wore a thigh leg pouch which contained kunais and poisoned needles if there were a need for them. She had a small backpack slung across her back, the contents being several precious and sacred scrolls and medicine with the usual first – aid kit.

Sakura’s light, cherry pink hair was held back in a sleek, messy bun which was covered by the dark suit of the ANBU team. Her mask hid her delicate face, which had high cheekbones, a pert nose and a full, sensual mouth. Her eyes were bound behind a strip of dark cloth, but she could ‘see’ just fine. Her thin body, also hardened by years of strenuous training, didn’t feel or show one sign of fatigue even though she and her team mates had been fighting for about two hours and travelling for three more.

Sakura suddenly turned abruptly, between the tree she had just leaped off and the tree that she was about to land on. She expertly reached into her thigh pouch and drew out three poisoned needles. She threw them quickly, the needles streaking across the air. Tenten and Hinata quickly flew to the side, trusting Sakura’s reasoning. Sure enough, an agonized gasp was heard behind them before a soft thump was heard as a body landed on the ground.

They stopped as Tenten jumped down to retrieve the body. The needles were the fastest poison spreading ones that Sakura knew how to make. Tenten quickly slung the body over her shoulder, checking to make sure that the spy was really dead and then followed her team mates again.

They were silent for the most part, and the rest of the journey was pretty quiet. They reached Konoha before sunset and reported to the Hokage’s office as soon as they got there.

“How did it go?” Tsuande asked, not even looking up from her work as the three ANBU ninjas filed in.

“A success. We brought the man and a spy in addition to the scrolls you requested,” Sakura replied, dumping the missing nin’s body on the ground. Tenten quickly deposited her load on top of Sakura’s while Hinata reached in and handed Tsuande the scrolls.

“Very good. We’ll put their leftover chakra to good use and I’ll take a look at the scrolls. You can go rest before I assign you on another mission,” Tsuande’s pale, blonde hair hung in her face as she looked up. Her mahogany – brown eyes gazed sharply at the bodies and her full, sensual lips pursed as if she was deep in thought.

Sakura nodded and led the other two out of the office. Once they were outside, they took off their ANBU masks and shook their hair out of their capes.

“No matter how many times I wear this thing, I will always feel a little uncomfortable,” Sakura complained, practically yanking her hood off. Her cool, professional attitude was replaced with a more relaxed one.

“Sakura, were your eyes bothering you at all during the fight?” Tenten asked as she re – pinned her buns. She knew that although the subject was a bit touchy, Sakura didn’t mind too much as long as they kept treating her normally.

“No actually, they were fine this time,” she replied nonchalantly.

They didn’t talk anymore as they walked down the path together, but they murmured a quick good – bye before they parted towards their homes.

“Wait, Tenten, Hinata!” Sakura called, pausing in her walk. The other two turned around and gave her a questioning look. “Do you guys want to go swimming with Ino and me tomorrow? I figure we can all use a break and a swim will be nice in this summer weather.”

“Ok,” Hinata replied, a small smile breaking onto her face. “What time and where should we meet?”

“My house, around 2:00 pm,” Sakura answered.

“Sure,” Tenten responded, “but I might be a little late because I have to train with Neji and pick up my weapon orders.”

“That’s alright, we all might be late anyways, especially Ino – pig!” Sakura grinned at her friends. “See you tomorrow!”

Humming softly, Sakura reached her small apartment space. She opened the door and took surveyed her small area. It was spotless, like the last time she had left it but somehow, it seemed different. She reached out her senses to see if she could identify what was wrong. It all seemed normal. She shrugged and proceeded to take a quick shower.

Ten minutes later, she came out of the bathroom, feeling cleaner and refreshed. She quickly dressed in a light, jade green tank top with black capris. Her black strip of cloth was still bound tightly over her eyes to protect the already blinded, sensitive eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. She wore the regulated ninja sandals with her Konoha ninja headband around her hair. She shook her slightly long pink hair, feeling the water droplets splash again her bare arms.

Once she felt that she was presentable to look in public, she went out and went to the local flower shop. Sure enough, she could sense Ino’s chakra coming from behind the counter. Sakura could see everything in her mind because when she sensed energy, it took its shape in her mind.

“Ino – pig!” Sakura greeted cheerfully, plopping herself down on the counter. “How’s business going?”

“Slow as usual,” Ino’s pale blue eyes rolled. Her blonde hair was still long, but not as long as it used to be, reaching only mid-back. It was still tied in its usual ponytail. “How was the mission?”

“Same old, same old,” Sakura replied, yawning behind a hand. “Say, what’s up with all the whispering going on in the village? I could hear them very clearly, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.”

Ino hesitated. “We…we might be going to war with the Sound village.”

“What!” Sakura shot up, all trace of tiredness gone. “Why? I know that our relationship between them has been shaky, but I didn’t know that we might go to war with them!”

“Sakura, calm down. We might. It’s just a rumour -” Ino started, but Sakura was clearly still agitated.

“But there’s still that possibility. Ino, we can’t possibly defeat them! Their strength outnumbers ours and Konoha’s still struggling from that cold snap back in the winter,” Sakura frowned, her eyebrows drawing together. She leaned her head onto the palm of her hand pensively.

“I know, I know,” Ino sighed. “We got a whole bunch of super talented jounins and ANBU that could do some major damage, but we don’t have enough of them.”

Sakura sighed. More trouble to deal with. She had been hit with a sudden aching for her parents, who had passed away a year earlier. She also felt a bit lonely.

It’s not like I should feel lonely, Sakura thought. It was true, most of the time, she was surrounded by her friends 24/7 or she was too busy training to notice. But she wasn’t a fool. Spring still lingered in the air and romance had blossomed particularly that year. Ino had given up with Sasuke and found comfort in Shikamaru’s arms. Naruto’s dense head seemed to diminish slightly and he had started to acknowledge and tentively return Hinata’s affections. Tenten however, was too busy training to notice anyone. Lee was still single, although one of the village girls had caught his attention.

It seemed that everyone had hooked up with someone else except Sakura. No reason for that either, she thought wryly. Even though she was blind, she was still considered one of the major beauties of Konoha, but Sakura had declined any dates or attempts of romance. She knew that it was almost foolish, but she was still waiting…waiting for…

Sasuke.

It had been five years since he left in search of Itachi and Orochimaru. Her feelings of him hadn’t grown old and withered away though; on the contrary, they had bloomed and grown.

“…and perhaps a picnic too. I’m not sure. What do you think Sakura?” Ino’s voice penetrated Sakura’s thoughts.

“Uhhh…sure,” Sakura replied automatically. “Erm, what was it I just agreed on?”

“Oh Sakura, were you thinking about him again?” Ino sighed. “I told you, he’s gone now. You should think about moving on. Anyways, I just asked you if I should include a small picnic to go with our swim tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, about that, is it ok if Tenten and Hinata comes along?” Sakura asked, reaching over to help arrange a bouquet of flowers.

“No problem! The more the merrier!” Ino’s grin was contagious and Sakura soon found herself grinning too.

Ino’s grin faded though, “I’m serious Sakura. Forget about him. He’s gone and he’s probably not coming back.”

Sakura didn’t have to ask who ‘he’ was.

Uchiha Sasuke.

“You know I can’t Ino,” she murmured quietly, her senses identifying a small, yellow tulip clutched gently in her hand. Unrequited love, she mused as she pushed the tulip around the side of the arrangement, how ironic.

“Well, at the very least, don’t let him drag your life, especially your love life down girl,” Ino said sternly, carrying the finished bouquet across the room towards an empty spot.

Sakura sighed. They had been over this topic many times before. “Yes mom.”

Ino grinned. “That’s a girl. Now tell me, which one of my bathing suits should I wear tomorrow?”

Sakura groaned.

---

Tenten was still, moving no muscle at all. Below her, Neji stood in a clearing, obviously waiting for an attack.

Let’s see, he’ll expect an attack from above, so let’s try an underground attack, Tenten decided. As a distraction, she whipped out a scroll and bit down on her thumb so it drew blood. Summoning a hurricane of weapons, Tenten quickly dropped to the ground as the kunais and shuriken rained down. Performing a series of quick hand seals, she smashed the ground with the palm of her hand and a snake made entirely of the dirt and sand came from the ground, rose up and struck Neji.

Unfortunately, he had activated his Byukagun and although he had not been expecting the attack, he was still prepared for it. He flipped to the side, still dodging the weapons and quickly flung a kunai at Tenten.

I’m not an ANBU for nothing! Tenten thought, insulted that Neji thought that a single kunai would bring her down that easily. When she rolled to the left, Neji was on her like a cat on a mouse and Tenten felt the cold steel of the kunai at her throat before she even knew it. She had been expecting this though and had created a solid bunshin before which suddenly appeared from behind Neji and kicked him hard in the ribs.

Caught surprised, he flew off Tenten and curled up automatically to decrease the impact if he hit anything. Stretching his legs down, he skidded across the dirt floor and came to a stop. Tenten flipped up to her feet and surveyed him. Neji still looked cool and collected, but she could see beads of sweat clinging onto his forehead. She was dirty and sweaty, but she didn’t care.

Let’s try out these new toys, Tenten thought as she bounded up back into the cover of the trees. She drew out needles from her leg pouch and started to throw them at Neji with incredible speed. These needles weren’t poisoned; she only used poisoned needles during missions. She chose needles because they were small and thin, making them slide and slice through wind and air easily. They were small and almost invisible, making it almost impossible to see them.

Neji dodged, but he wasn’t so lucky this time. He felt two needles hit him on his right arm and a third needle graze his left leg. He flipped up into the trees and moved his chakra into his legs. With the added power, he sped from branch to branch, heading so he was almost directly on top of Tenten. Slamming down onto the ground, and bringing Tenten along with him, Neji pressed a kunai to her throat.

Tenten stared at him for a couple of seconds before sighing.

“Alright, alright, you win,” she groaned. Her body felt bruised and sore from her mission yesterday and training with Neji.

“I always do,” Neji replied smugly, pocketing his kunai. He got up and offered Tenten a hand. She took it gracefully and collected her scattered weapons with her chakra strings.

“What time is it?” she asked absentmindedly as she bandaged Neji’s arm; the needles were small, but they could cause extreme discomfort.

“I’d say around 1:00pm,” Neji replied, looking towards the sun.

“Shit,” Tenten cursed, “I have to pick up my weapons before heading over to Sakura’s. I’ll see you tomorrow Neji!” With that, she hurriedly sped off, leaving a slightly confused and slightly annoyed Neji.

“Women…” Neji muttered as he made his way back to the village. On the way, he bumped into Shikamaru.

“Hey Neji,” Shikamaru greeted him, which he nodded his greeting in reply. “Have you seen Ino anywhere?”

Neji raised an eyebrow. “Why should I know where your woman went?”

“Just thought I’d ask you. You need to find a girl to loosen you up,” Shikamaru joined Neji and stuck his hands lazily in his pockets.

Neji stiffened, but he didn’t say anything.

“How about Tenten? She’s pretty and she can keep up with you. Or if you don’t like her, how about Sakura? From what I hear, she’s one of the best ANBU nins that Konoha ever has despite her being blind.”

“I have no interest whatsoever,” Neji responded smoothly.

“Hm, well, just a piece of advice. If you want the girl, you should make a move first before another guy does,” Shikamaru shot back lazily. “Speaking of that, you should’ve seen Tenten yesterday. She was at the market when I saw her and this guy was talking to her. He kept ‘tripping’ and ‘falling’ and kept ‘accidentally’ groping her. She was pretty peeved.”

Neji instantly felt his mood darken. Another man hitting on Tenten? That was absurd. Everyone knew that she was too hung up on training to pay any attention to romance.

But Neji had to admit, he could understand why the men tried anyways. Tenten had really grown and blossomed into a very attractive woman. She had nice curves and a body that most women would die for. She also had the face to match. Neji couldn’t help but notice that after all these years, she still wore those hair ribbons that he gave her.

They encountered Lee when they reached the village.

“Come! Let’s go! We must not let our springtime of youth go to waste!” Lee pumped his fist into the air, sparkles mysteriously covering his body. Neji could make out Naruto’s figure in front of him. Although five years had matured them, they all, especially Lee and Naruto, still had their moments.

“Go where?” Shikamaru demanded, stalking up to them. “You have that look in your eye Lee.”

“I heard Ino talking to Sakura the other day about going swimming and having a picnic,” Naruto answered, an excited light shining in his eyes. Simultaneously, Shikamaru and Neji rolled their eyes at them.

“You’re a bunch of perverts,” Shikamaru muttered, scowling at them. “Don’t try to peek at them; they’re elite ANBU and could sense you in an instant.”

“So are we!” Naruto and Lee responded indignantly.

“Gai – sensei said that our flame of youth will diminish quickly as we grow older so we must take advantage of it while we have the chance!” Lee said, milky tears streaming down his cheeks. Everyone gave him a funny look before turning around and ignoring him.

“I’m going,” Neji muttered. He stalked off away from Shikamaru who was rolling his eyes, Naruto who was still bent on spying on the girls and Lee who was still exclaiming something or another about the ‘flames of youth’.

“Idiots,” Neji muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple. He felt the beginning of a headache. I should meditate; I haven’t done so in a while, he thought. I’ll go to the waterfall then. Pausing by his apartment to grab his training pants and a towel, he proceeded to the huge waterfall that was located in the outskirts of Konoha. Hardly anyone went there, making it a perfect place for Neji to find peace, quiet and solitude.

---

Damn, damn, damn, Tenten cursed inwardly as she drummed her fingers impatiently against the counter. What’s taking them so long? Finally, a muscular looking man came from the door behind the counter, carrying two large boxes which Tenten instantly recognized as her own.

She quickly threw down enough money to cover her purchases before grabbing the boxes and hurrying towards her apartment. 1:45 pm; I can still make it! She thought as she dumped the boxes on her bed. Opening them to make sure that they were the specially ordered weapons she had requested, she hurriedly thought to where she put her bathing suit.

It’s been a while since I’ve been swimming, she thought as she closed the boxes and started rummaging through her wardrobe. Five minutes later, she emerged holding two piece bikini that was a pale yellow with white designs etched on it. She grimaced when she put it on. It was a little small since she had it for about two years, but it fit. She dressed in a loose t-shirt with pants, making sure that she packed her kunais and scrolls just in case. She grabbed a towel after a moment’s hesitation to see what she had forgotten. Tying her hair back in a simple ponytail, she slipped into sandals and headed towards Sakura’s apartment.

Running as fast as she could, she reached Sakura’s house five minutes late.

“Sorry guys! I lost track of time when I was training with Neji,” Tenten apologized a little breathlessly.

“It’s no problem! Ino’s still trying to decide which bathing suit to wear. Come help Hinata and I figure out Ino’s predicament out,” Sakura gestured towards the inside of her apartment and Tenten stepped in. Everything was neat and orderly, but there was a lot of stuff. She wondered how Sakura could get around, seeing how she was blind but then she reminded herself, Sakura – chan doesn’t let her blindness hinder her.

Tenten dumped her stuff by the front where Hinata, Ino and Sakura’s stuff were already lying. She spotted a picnic basket and immediately felt guilty.

“I should’ve brought something if I knew that we were going to bring food!” Tenten murmured as she followed Sakura.

“Don’t worry about it; actually, Ino had all this leftover food at her house anyways so it’s alright,” Sakura flashed a smile before stepping into a large room that had two small couches and a T.V set with three bookcases lining the wall. Tenten could count five bathing suits draped on the couches.

“What about this one Ino – chan?” Hinata’s quiet voice suggested, pointing to a pale pink and brown two piece bathing suit.

“I don’t know, I don’t feel like a pink and brown mood today,” Ino wrinkled her nose.

“How about this?” Tenten walked over and picked up a two piece bikini that was dark blue before fading into a sky blue. Ino’s eyes lit up.

“Perfect! Give me a sec guys while I go change,” Ino chirped, taking the bathing suit with her. Sakura just listened with an amused twitch of her lips.

Minutes later, Ino emerged and they set off. Before long, they reached a small clearing in the outskirts of Konoha. The clearing was surrounded by trees and had a wide river running alongside of it. Further down was a small pool and even further down was a waterfall. On the other side was another small clearing before the woods took over again.

Tenten stripped off her pants and shirt and immediately dunked herself in the cool water. She sighed. This feels great. Her bangs stuck to her head, but she didn’t care. She pulled the hair tie out, leaving her hair to float freely behind her. She suddenly dove under and came up with a splash, eliciting a shriek from Ino and a laugh from Sakura. Hinata smiled before helping Ino set the food carefully out. Sakura just contented herself by sitting by the water’s edge and letting her long legs dangle in the cool water.

“I’m going to swim further down you guys,” Tenten called as she started to swim away. “I’m going to go exploring!”

“If you’re going to jump off that waterfall, yell if you need help,” Sakura murmured from her spot. She was lying on her back and the warm summer sun made her feel drowsy and sleepy.

Tenten swam down, marvelling at the clearness of the water and delighting herself by chasing the occasional fish that swam across her path. When she reached the small pool, she lay on her back and watched the clouds.

“It’s good to be away from all that training and missions once in a while,” Tenten sighed happily, completely content.

After a few minutes, she started to get bored. She glanced around idly and spotted the current rushing towards the end and then down. A waterfall! Tenten thought excitedly. When was the last time she dove down a waterfall? Seven, eight years?

No time like the present! She thought as she swam towards the edge, her body as graceful and smooth as a fish. The current was strong, but Tenten wasn’t weapon mistress for nothing. Her body stood firm against the current and went at its own pace. When she reached the edge, she stood up and gave a mighty push off the ledge. Instinctively curling her body and somersaulting twice, she straightened and laugh as the acceleration towards the ground went faster and faster. Adrenaline pushed in and she braced herself for the impact.

Slamming into the foamy bottom, Tenten could feel the powerful pounding of the waterfall as it kept rushing down. She wriggled out of the space and emerged a moment later a couple of meters away. She laughed, the adrenaline still pumping through her.

Suddenly she stopped when she sensed someone nearby. Cursing herself for forgetting a weapon, she subtly slipped into defensive mode. A rustle to her right made her snap to the direction but the sight took her breath away.

Hyyuga Neji was sitting on one of the rocks under the waterfall, letting the pounding of the waterfall assault him. His eyes were closed and Tenten could clearly tell that he was meditating. But what made her blush was his lack of clothing. He was wearing training pants, but they were wet and they stuck to his legs. He wore nothing on top, giving her a good look at his muscled chest. It wasn’t overly muscled; more like a subtle, but still noticeable muscle. It glistened with moisture and his black hair hung limply down his back.

Slowly, his grey – white eyes opened and gazed right into her light chestnut ones.

All Neji could do was stare at the sight before him. He had heard someone jump off of the waterfall and land somewhere near him. Moments later, he had heard a light, tinkling laugh that sounded like Tenten’s. He opened his eyes and surprise, surprise, there was Tenten but Neji had never seen her like this before.

Her light, pale yellow bikini was a little tight on her but Neji decided that he rather liked it that way. The yellow brought out the beautiful tan that she had acquired and her dark chestnut brown hair hung down her back freely, in no restraints whatsoever. Her bikini left little to imagination. His eyes traced her bare arms to her collarbone where they then travelled downward. She has nice legs, he thought before he could stop himself.

They stared at each other for another moment before Tenten broke eye contact.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize that you were coming here,” she mumbled, fiddling with a string that hung out from the lower part of her bikini. A light blush stained her cheeks. This is just Neji, she scolded herself, A team mate. A friend. “Are you meditating?”

“What else would I be doing?” was his cool response. Tenten rolled her eyes.

“No need to be sarcastic. It was just a question,” she retorted. “What does meditating do? I’ve never actually tried it before.” Tenten eyed Neji’s relaxed position with a curious expression.

“It helps calm the mind and relieves whatever tension you have,” Neji told her monotonously.

“Can I try?” Tenten asked. Meditation sounded useful, and plus she felt like trying something new.

“Am I stopping you?” Neji closed his eyes again, ending their conversation.

Tenten just raised an eyebrow before settling herself on the shallow ground of the water, so the current reached her waist. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and relaxed.

Tenten soon grew bored since she didn’t know exactly what she should be doing. But she could just hear Neji’s arrogant voice saying, ‘You’re too impatient. Impatience and misunderstanding could cost the life of someone if you’re not careful.’ She frowned at that; she wouldn’t let his remarks get to her.

Closing her eyes and settling herself into a steady, rhythmic breathing pattern, she opened her senses and stayed absolutely still. The roaring and pounding of the waterfall was louder in her ears, and the cool spray of water splashed against her bare skin. The water around her was warm from the sun, but cool underneath where she could feel the ripples from fish as they swam away from her. The summer sun beat down on her overhead, warming her. Tenten took a deep breath and smelled the grassy scent of the grass and the fresh, sharp smell of the trees. She could smell the fresh, crispness of the air and revelled in its clean, pure scent.

Her hands, which were resting on her knees, could feel the current rushing between her fingers, the tiny fish darting between them. River plants and small clumps of dirt drifted with the water and brushed against Tenten.

Without realizing it, Tenten relaxed further, and further. Her body released any tension that it held before and her mind felt clearer than ever. She felt a sort of calmness wash over her.

With her senses more alert, Tenten could see how Sakura could get around without her eyes. Eyes were useful, but they weren’t necessary. Images grew in her mind, even though she wasn’t seeing anything. Tenten could just sense the energy of something and it would form in her mind and since everything was made or controlled by some form of energy or another, Tenten could faintly ‘see’ everything around her.

“Tenten!” a shout came from overhead. To someone who wasn’t meditating or as sharp as Sakura, the voice would’ve been a little faint but clear. But since Tenten had opened her senses further, the shout was more like a bellow. She winced as she opened her eyes to the harsh glare of the sun and automatically turned her gaze towards Neji. Of course, the shout hadn’t affected him in the least; he looked undisturbed and peaceful.

“Tenten!” The shout came louder this time, as if the person was coming closer. Tenten immediately recognized the voice of the person as Ino.

“Coming!” Tenten called back, getting up reluctantly from her comfortable position in the water. “See you tomorrow Neji!” She called over to the still figure. He didn’t acknowledge her parting remark, but Tenten could tell that he heard. She leaped up from the river to one of the trees on the side and leaped up to a higher branch of another tree. Before long, she reached the edge of the waterfall and gracefully flipped to the side beside the rushing river.

“Ino, I’m here! Are we eating now or something?” Tenten asked as she landed beside her blonde friend.

“Yeah, the food’s set up. You’re not allergic to anything are you?” Ino asked, scrutinizing Tenten closely.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Tenten replied a little uncomfortably. The two girls walked back to the picnic spot, chatting idly about this and that.

Hinata was splashing around in the water when they came back. She wore a two piece, dark purple bathing suit. It was styled like a sports bra on the top and short shorts on the bottom. They could hear her soft giggles as she chased one of the silvery fish that came across her way. Sakura grinned at her antics and waved Ino and Tenten over.

“Come on! Hinata and I didn’t want to start without you guys,” Sakura called, reaching over to grab a sandwich. She wore a light, pale green bikini with white and pink designs. Hinata gave up chasing the fish and hauled herself out of the water.

As everyone reached for some food and drinks, they talked about the everyday things that were going on in the village, the latest gossip and the war that might occur between them and the Sound village.

“Sakura’s right, we can’t think about defeating those guys without any alliances,” Tenten sighed as she reached for a cookie. “Sound ninjas have always outnumbered us, and I heard that they got a bunch of promising jounins this year. The other villages are re-considering their alliances with us and Sound; no one wants to get involved in a pointless war when everyone’s still struggling from their problems last winter.”

“Which brings up the question; why is a war being considered between us?” Ino asked thoughtfully as she sipped from her drink. “It’s not like we did anything to insult them.”

“I heard it’s because their Otokage was found dead and evidence pointed to us,” Hinata replied, pausing from eating her sandwich. “Naruto – kun told me. He heard it when Tsuande – sama went over it in a meeting with some of the jounins and ANBU. We were on the mission so we didn’t get called to it.” Years of experience and maturity made Hinata lose her stuttering when she talked, and she was more confident nowadays. Her father, Hiashi, decided to let her follow her own path while Hanabi, Hinata’s younger sister, would take over the Hyyuga clan. Hinata agreed without hesitation; Hanabi would be a good, strong ruler and she was more skilled and stronger than Hinata anyways.

“Are you serious? Their Otokage dead?” Sakura frowned, her forehead creasing with worry lines.

“Yes. It seems that someone had either impersonated him or controlled him because the body was rotting when they found him,” Hinata explained.

“Ewwwww. Let’s talk about this when we’re not eating, ok guys?” Ino suggested, her pale face growing paler as Hinata described what happened.

“Agreed,” Tenten backed Ino up as her appetite dwindled.

“Well, what should we talk about then?” Sakura asked.

“Girl talk!” Ino announced with a gleam in her eye. “You know that spring brings love everywhere so how’s everyone’s love life doing here?”

“Null and void as you know,” Tenten answered first, rolling her eyes as she bit into her cookie. “I want to become one of those legendary sannins so I always have to train. Love would only hinder me.”

Ino frowned. “Even if you’re training, you must have at least someone who you like more than a friend.”

Tenten was silent for a moment, thinking over. “Well… The only guy I can tolerate is Neji, and that’s when he’s not being arrogant. Lee’s ok, but he talks too much about the ‘springtime of youth’.”

Hinata’s head jerked up when she heard her cousin’s name. Ever since she and Neji had resolved their conflict over the Main house and the Branch family, they were as close as brother and sister.

“Don’t worry, I don’t really see him romantically,” Tenten assured her when she saw Hinata’s expression. Suddenly, the butterfly feeling came back as she remembered her recent encounter with the said man.

“That’s no good. Love can be a marvellous thing.” Ino frowned.

“Not always,” Sakura murmured as she dusted herself of her leftover crumbs.

Ino darted her glance from Tenten to Sakura. “Sakura – chan, you know that Sasuke can’t possibly come back. If he did find Orochimaru, he would automatically be considered a criminal and a traitor. As it is, he’s been declared a missing – nin for a while. Even if he did come back, chances of the village accepting him back without any complaints is pretty slim.” Ino pursed her lips as she studied Sakura’s blank face.

“I know, but I can’t give up trying,” Sakura murmured as she kept her face downcast.

“Don’t worry Sakura – chan,” Hinata leaned over and gave the other girl a hug, “They say that love can overcome all obstacles. If your love is really true love for him, then the road will have many good things even if it’s a bumpy, muddy road you’ll have to take.”

“Thanks Hinata – chan,” Sakura whispered as she sighed.

When Tenten saw Ino’s eyebrows snap together in a frown, she hurriedly moved the spotlight away from Sakura before a fight ensued.

“Speaking of which, Hinata, how’s your love life going?” Tenten asked the petite girl. Hinata, who had been in the process of swallowing an apple, turned red and started to cough as the bits of apple pieced lodged in her throat.

Sakura reached over and pounded her on the back. When Hinata had swallowed the apple and could breathe properly, her face still held a deep blush.

“M-my love life?” Hinata stuttered, drawing time.

“Yup!” Ino chirped, “How are things between you and Naruto?”

Hinata averted her gaze from the expectant look on Ino’s face, the slightly interest expression on Tenten’s face and Sakura’s encouraging smile. “Well…I-I guess it’s going a-alright.”

“Alright? Would you care to elaborate on that?” Ino pressed.

“N-Naruto – kun asked me for dinner tomorrow i-if that’s what y-you mean,” Hinata felt so nervous that she slipped back into her old habit of stuttering.

Ino and Sakura squealed while Tenten just smiled happily for her friend.

“Dinner? Did he say where?” Ino asked, curiosity clearly shown on her face.

“H-He just told me that h-he would pick me up a-at around 6:30 pm t-tomorrow,” Hinata whispered, shrinking back from Ino’s enthusiasm.

“Men. How troublesome. They never tell you anything except when time they’re going to pick you up,” Ino muttered.

“You know, you just sounded an awful lot like Shikamaru right then,” Sakura pounced on her friend.

“She’s right. You sure have been spending a lot of time with him these days,” Tenten added, drawing the attention away from Hinata’s blushing face.

Ino drew back, surprise registering on her face as the attention drew to her.

“So what if I have? It’s only natural for a girl to spend time with her boyfriend!” As she said that, she immediately regretted it. Since her relationship with Shikamaru was still fairly new, they wanted to keep it quiet for the time being.

“Boyfriend? Girlfriend? When did this happen?” Sakura asked her friend eagerly. “You never told us this Ino – pig! I know that you and Shika have been sorta seeing each other since February, but you never told us when it was actually official!”

“It was official a while ago, but we’re still kinda new at this so we wanted to keep it quiet at first,” Ino explained.

Sakura squealed. “Ino – pig! This is so exciting! You finally chose and snagged a guy that can keep you in place!”

“Hey!” Ino swatted at her best friend playfully.

Hinata chuckled at her friends teasing to one another and proceeded to pack up their leftover food, seeing since everyone was done eating. Tenten got up and helped pack the drinks up. Sakura was too busy interrogating her friend.

“I thought I was supposed to be the top of the ANBU interrogation team!” Ino exclaimed after Sakura’s pestering.

Sakura’s mischievous grin played across her pretty face. “I know you are, but you’re allowing yourself to be attacked by me.”

Ino sighed before throwing her hands up into the air. “There’s nothing much to our relationship that you have to know.”

“Have you gone past first or second base yet?(1)” Tenten asked while she stacked some dishes up in the picnic basket. Ino turned red at the question.

“Well?” Sakura prompted.

“We’re getting to second base, but nothing serious yet,” muttered Ino. The topic was dropped then when they heard Tenten splash back into the water.

“Come on you guys! It’s only 4:00 pm; we should take advantage of the nice weather!” she called as she dove to touch the bottom of the deep lake. Hinata laughed and jumped in to join her friend. Ino sneakily shoved Sakura into the river but Sakura, having very alert senses, caught Ino’s intention. It was too late as she tumbled down into the water. Ino was too busy laughing to pay attention to Sakura’s hand as it shot out of the water to snatch her ankle and pull her down into the river beside her.

Hinata amused herself by chasing fish again, testing herself to see how fast she could go in the water. Tenten practiced some moves underwater with her kunai and Ino and Sakura raced against each other to see who would win.

The only sore spot that happened during that afternoon was when Sakura bumped her head against a rather nasty looking sharp rock. Her eyes were shot with pain for a moment before receding to a dull throbbing.

Finally, at around 5:30 pm, Ino decided that they should go back.

“That was great; we should do it more often,” Sakura suggested as they were heading back.

“Yeah, a break like this is really good once in a while,” Tenten added, checking to make sure that she brought back the same number of kunais and needles that she brought.

“Sakura! Ino! Tenten! Hinata!” A boyish, yet masculine voice sounded ahead of them.

Hinata instantly recognized the voice and a light blush stole over her cheeks. Noticing this, the other three assumed that it was Naruto. Sure enough, the spiky blond – haired male came barrelling from the gates of Konoha. His bright orange clothes were slightly rumpled and his sky blue eyes, normally filled with merriment and mischief, were coloured with worry and nervousness.

“Tsuande – sama wants us at her office immediately,” Naruto’s gaze swept from Sakura to Tenten to Ino to Hinata. His gaze softened slightly as they rested on Hinata’s face.

“Did she say why?” Sakura asked as she dumped her stuff in her apartment which they had just arrived at. She motioned for the other girls to do the same.

“No, but she looked pretty grim,” Naruto said.

The five of them took off right then. If Tsuande looked ‘pretty grim’, then that was bad news indeed. She only had that expression on when something really desperate or worrisome was going to happen.

They reached her office in thirty seconds and marched right in. The girls didn’t pay any attention to their rumpled, unprofessional clothing.

The Goddaime sat her desk, agitation and regret clearly showing in her eyes.

“Sakura, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, Naruto” Tsuande acknowledged them. “I have another mission for you five, Neji, and Shikamaru. I know it’s so soon after your last mission, Hinata, Tenten, Sakura, but I really have no choice right now.” There was a knock from the closed door and Neji and Shikamaru filed in, their gazes level and grim.

They all gave the Hokage their complete attention.

“As you know, we might be going to war with the Sound village,” Tsuande closed her tired eyes, “‘Might’ is a bit of an understatement. We’re pretty much at the beginning of the war right now. All that’s keeping the actual term ‘war’ from being used is me and the Otokage of the Sound village from signing a piece of paper saying that we’re at war. Their new Otokage is pretty bent on going to war; he was apparently very devoted to the late Otokage of the Sound village.”

Tsuande sighed, rubbing her eyes, “And you should probably know that their power, ninjas and alliances far outweigh ours. We have no hope of defeating them. I’ve persuaded the Water and Sand village to join us, but no one else will. You know the Sound village has many, many alliances with the other villages that are more powerful than us three combined.”

Sakura nodded slowly. Things were adding up now. Her last mission with Tenten and Hinata was to retrieve these sacred scrolls and defeat any Sound ninjas that came their way. Usually they only attacked them if they were bothering them, but Tsuande had given them a flat order to kill any that got in the way.

“I’ve looked over our options and I’ve considered and debated against and for many of them with the other jounins and ANBU and the council. I have to tell you, I’m quite against this but we don’t have any other choice right now. Either this has to be done or the Leaf village will be wiped out.”

Tsuande sighed again, rubbing her tired eyes. The other elite ninjas stood at her attention, their posture rigid and expecting the worst. Shikamaru, being the smartest one of the group, had already figured out what the mission might be. He glanced at Sakura; if the mission was what he thought it would be, it would affect the cherry – blossomed hair girl the most.

Sure enough, when Tsuande gave them their next mission in a flat voice, Sakura stiffened and her mind instantly went blank.

“That’s why your next mission is to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha village; alive.”

AN: I know, a lot of Neji/Ten stuff going on (I can’t help it; I love that pairing almost as much as I love Sak/Sas!) but more stuff focused on Sakura will happen soon. Tell me, is everyone in character here? I tried to make them sound more mature than they actually are in the anime. I know that I didn’t include last names except ‘Hyyuga’, but that’s the only one I kinda know. Well, I know Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura and Rock Lee. The others I can probably look up on the internet but my computer’s currently disconnected . .When I upload this, I’ll be too lazy to search them up :P.

Yes, yes, yes, I know, it’s another story. ‘Ice and Fire’ is currently on hiatus until the end of this week when my exams are over :dances around excitedly:. I’ll be completely honest with you guys. My Inuyasha craze has worn off, and I’m facing a major writer’s block regarding to ‘Ice and Fire’. Plus the review to viewing ratio has got me really, really down. Around 50 000 people have looked at my story and only around 55 reviewed. :( Can’t blame me for being bummed about that.

‘Masquerade’ is also on hiatus. My FMA craze is still going, but I’ve recently gotten hooked onto Naruto fanfic. Actually, this hiatus shouldn’t take long; I’m almost done the second chapter.

Notes:

(1): When I mentioned ‘first and second base’, I’m also referring to first, second, third and home base. (Actually, I’m not even sure if there is a home base O.o) but this is what they mean:

First base: Kissing, mutual touching

Second base: Slight groping, kissing

Third base: Heated kisses (making out), touching

Home base: Sex

Second and third base could be combined to make second base and home base could be bumped down to third base. There are different variations, but they are essentially this.

EDIT:

Fixed up a minor error. Thanks to Lady Inari for pointing it out :). Also, for the question of Sakura being blind, it will be explained in due time.

Tell me, is that leader of the Sand village called Kazekage or Otokage?