Runaway

KONOHA

"Baa-Chan! Sakura-Chan and Kokoro-chan are gone!" Naruto shouted, practically breaking down Tsunade's doors to get into the office.

"What?!" Tsunade yelled, standing, her hands slapping on the desk. "Damnit! I should've seen this coming!" She silently cursed herself. Tsunade sighed, and sat back down, resting her head in her hands.

"Naruto, if Sakura and Kokoro are not back in one week's time, you will gather a cell of jounin; no more than four. She isn't Sasuke, but she's almost- no, scratch that, she IS stronger than Sasuke." Tsunade ordered. "Now get home to Hinata."

Naruto sighed. "Ok, Baa-Chan. Bye…"

Once he was gone, Tsunade turned her chair, and looked out the window toward the village gates.

Sakura… Where are you…?

(-/_\-)

Sakura turned and looked at Kokoro. Her daughter had light red long hair, and dark green eyes. Tears fell from Sakura's eyes, and she hugged her daughter close.

"Kaa-San? Wha' is it?" She asked.

"I can see… Ko-Chan, I can see!" Sakura exclaimed. She pulled back and brushed some of Kokoro's bangs out of her face. "And I can see you, Hime…"

'The pain… it's gone' Sakura thought. She stood slowly, and heard her knee cap pop. She winced slightly, but relaxed as it faded.

"Kaa-san, what's that thing?" Kokoro asked, pointing behind Sakura. She turned to see scythe. She walked over hesitantly, and noticed the details of the blade: It was all black except at the point, where it was red, and the edge was serrated, then near the broad part the kanji for death was etched into the metal. On the bottom of the staff, a red jewel was imbedded into the metal.

Sakura bent down and picked it up, but despite its size, it seemed virtually weightless. Using her ANBU belt, she strapped the scythe onto her back. She looked over at Kokoro, who was staring quite intently at her head.

"What is it, Ko-Chan?" She asked.

"Kaa-san, part of your hair's white." Kokoro said. Sakura nearly choked; she wasn't THAT old!

Despite the confusion raging inside her, Sakura just shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, well. Ko-Chan, how about we take a trip to Rain country? Would you like that?" Sakura asked. Sakura had a few good reasons for doing there: 1: no one would think to look for her there; 2: she was mow in need for a secure environment to train Kokoro; and 3: Rain had good weapons, one of which Kokoro would be trained with.

The delight that blossomed on Kokoro's face gave Sakura her answer.

"Ok, we'll go there. Kokoro, guess what? You're going to get to train with mommy. Won't that be fun?" Sakura told her. Kokoro's smile grew even wider, (if that's possible) and she jumped into the air.

"I get to train with Kaa-san!" She squealed.

Sakura laughed nervously; once training began, Kokoro would realize it wasn't as fun as it seemed. But she was Sakura's, and as much as she hated to admit it, the Uchiha's daughter. She already possessed an amazing amount of chakra, could throw a kunai very accurately, and she learned fast; like mother, like daughter.

Sakura smiled softly at her little prodigy. If things went well, Kokoro would be at Sakura's level by the age of seven. She was even already showing early stages of the Sharingan. Sakura sighed, and picked up her bag, making Kokoro stop her rambling of how, someday, she would be Hokage. (Sound like someone we know?) Kokoro walked over to her bag and picked it up as well, along with her little stuffed cat. It still amazed Sakura how stoic her four year old could be at times; it must be that damned Uchiha blood…

"Ok, Ko-Chan. Time for your first part of training: jumping from tree to tree. When you land on a tree branch, put a small burst of chakra to your feet and jump. Understand?" Sakura explained. Kokoro nodded.

Sakura reached down and grasped her daughter's hand tightly. "Ok, let's try."

Sakura jumped; Kokoro jumped. Both landed on a branch and jumped again. Kokoro didn't falter once; she did it as if she were already a genin.

Sakura beamed at her daughter; she was already so proud.

"Great Job Ko-Hime! When we find a village, I'll buy you dangos as a reward." Sakura promised.

Kokoro's face lit up. "Hai! Arigato, Kaa-san!" She replied.

They were on their way out of Fire.