Chapter Four: Better Part of Me

"I can't stand to fly, I'm not that naive. I'm just out to find, the better part of me...

I can't stand to fly, I'm not that naive. Men weren't meant to ride with clouds between their knees...

I'm only a man looking for special things inside of me."-Five for Fighting

"So, Sakura-chan gets to go on a mission?" Naruto asked, incredulously as he stared at Mikoto, "Th-That's so unfair!" Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, looking over at where Sakura sat at the table, face flushed as she stared at the wood.

"It's not that important, Naruto," Sakura whispered, not wanting to go into much detail about what had to be done on this particular mission.

"Still unfair," Naruto grumbled, looking over at Sasuke to receive support, but greeted only with silence and a pair of intense, ebony eyes.

"What's the mission?" Sasuke finally asked, looking over at the pink-haired girl before she finally answered his question, "N-No, I'm not al-allowed to say anything, sorry."

"You'll be fine, Naruto let's go spar and stop having such a hissy fit about something you can't possibly change." Sasuke looked over at the small, blonde boy who was seating next to him.

"Sure, sure," Naruto stood up and the two boys went outside to spar yet again.

Sakura sighed as she took a bite of onigiri, "Do you think they're mad?"

"No, they're just jealous that you get to go on a super-secret, cool mission while they stay behind. No worries," Mikoto smiled down at the small rosette, "They'll be back to their normal selves in no time."

Sakura smiled up at the woman, "OK, if you say so."

"I do say so," Mikoto laughed, "But, Sakura, honestly are you sure about going on this mission; you know it's going to be difficult and dangerous, right?"

"Yes ma'am, but Itachi and Shisui are both gonna be there, they'll keep me safe. And I don't know who the last man is but, I think he's trustworthy, Fugaku-sama praised him, at least." Sakura smiled, "And I'd eventually be going on missions like this anyways, I'm just starting a little bit early."

Mikoto sighed, "That's what I'm worried about," She muttered under her breath.

Sakura smiled, reaching out her hand to gently touch the side of the older woman's cheek, "Don't worry, it'll all be fine."

Mikoto smiled at the girl, trying to find the courage to believe her words, "Do you think your parents would mind if you spent the night here tonight?"

Sakura's hand dropped from her face as she looked up at the woman, teeth on her bottom lip, "Um, not really, I was gonna spend the night at Naruto's anyways," Sakura didn't add the fact she'd intended to do spend a few nights at Naruto's house, to give her mom time to cool off.

"Oh, that's good, I think you three should spend some time together before you go off on this mission of yours, you and Naruto can use a spare bedroom if you like, and then you won't have to worry about any preparations for the mission because you'll already be here." Mikoto ruffled her hair, "And besides that, your mom needs to sign a waiver before you go off because you're still an academy student."

"So, Itachi'll come with us?" Sakura asked, "I'll go talk to Naruto about it, see what he says. Be right back." Sakura hopped up and ran out of the kitchen, running out the side door to where the boys would be sparring.

Outside, they were going at it again, but Sasuke was clearly gaining an upper hand quickly. Before the fighting got too intense, Sakura stepped up to their fight, forcing them to either hit her in the crossfire or stop all together. They chose the latter.

"What?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the girl as he tried to regain his breathing.

"Um, Naruto," Sakura began, turning to look over at the blonde, "Mikoto-chan invited us to spend the night, is that OK?"

"Believe it!" Naruto yelled, fist pumping the air, "That'd be so cool."

"It's . . . OK," Sasuke said, looking at the girl, "Is that all?"

"Um, yeah, but we need to go get our stuff if we're gonna spend the night here." Sakura pointed out.

"Let's go, then," Naruto said, stepping away from Sasuke.

"Fine," Sasuke said, as he began walking into the house.

"We should watch a funny movie," Sakura said as they sat on the living room floor.

"No, a scary movie," Sasuke said, remote in hand quickly flipping through the many channels.

"Scary?" Naruto asked, looking at the boy.

"Unless you're afraid it'll give you nightmares," Sasuke smirked.

"N-No, I'm not afraid, believe it! I'm just worried about Sakura-chan," he laughed, looking over at said girl.

"If you guys wanna watch it, I'll be fine. Which movie?" Sakura asked, looking at the flashing screen before it finally settled on one.

"This one." Sasuke stopped, setting the remote down as the family on screen moved around, "It's about spiders."

"Gross!" Sakura said, looking at the screen in disgust.

"You're not afraid of spiders, are ya?" Sasuke asked, this time his smirk was for Sakura, who looked at him like a deer caught in a headlight.

"I-I'll be fine," Sakura said, leaning against the armrest on the couch while the others relaxed at the other end of the couch.

Forty-five minutes later, Sakura was regretting those three, stuttered words. She cringed at the spiders on the screen, twitching as she felt her hair on her arm rise, giving the feeling there was something on her arm.

She looked over at the two boys beside her, trying to see if this movie was scaring them at all. Sasuke was simply reclining against the opposite armrest of the couch, eyes on the screen while Naruto was leaning against the back of the couch, arm crossed over his chest. For a second a look of disgust came over before being replaced by interest.

She was, apparently, the only one getting remotely scared by this movie. She sighed and looked back at the screen. She cringed again as the man walked around the room full of spider-webs, looking around. Sakura curled her legs against her body, tense as if she was getting ready to bolt.

She felt herself shaking with the tension. The man looked for the giant spider, reaching out to touch a part of the web. She was pushing herself against the back of the couch. The man looked around, waiting.

The spider leaped and so did Sakura.

"Whoa," Naruto said, looking down at the sudden addition to pink on his lap, "You OK?"

Sakura gripped an arm around Naruto, eyes on the screen. She felt much better, now. Above her, she heard Naruto chuckle at her reaction before reaching down to adjust her so she was on his left instead, between the two boys. Sasuke looked over at the two for a moment, before turning back to the screen.

When the movie finished, Sakura's head was in Naruto's lap, resting on his thigh, and her feet over on top of Sasuke's lap as Naruto swirled his hand through the pink locks absentmindedly. Sasuke reached for the remote and flipped the screen off, looking down at the young girl.

"It's time for bed," Sasuke told them, pushing Sakura's feet off of his lap so that they hit the ground with a light thud. Sakura sat up, a yawn coming up through her chest as she stretched like a cat. She stood up, pulling Naruto with her, as Sasuke stood beside them, "I'll lead you to your rooms."

The spare room was on the same hall as Sasuke's, only separated by the large bathroom. Inside, were two twin beds, covered in dark blue fabric that was a shade or two lighter than the floor. Sasuke flipped the light on and led them into the room, where there stuff was sitting on the bed.

"Here you go," He spoke slowly as tiredness seeped into his bones, "We wake up kinda early around here, I'll get you when I get up so you're not late for breakfast."

"OK," Naruto yawned, hand behind his head as he scratched it.

"Good night, Sasuke," Sakura said, walking over to her stuff as he repeated her words and closed the door, heading to his own room.

"I'm gonna go pee," Naruto yawned out the words as he grabbed his favorite Froggy pajamas and headed out to the bathroom.

Sakura rolled her eyes and quickly changed into her oversized shirt and fleece sleep pants, sliding into the bed, snuggling into the fluffy pillow. She was asleep before Naruto came back into the room.

Sakura looked around the empty room, her small body shivering as the cold seeped into her frail bones. She forced her legs, numb from the cold, to move around the dark room, trying to find something, anything. There was no door, no window, no table, no anything, save the single bulb on the ceiling, swaying back and forth with an unseen breeze.

Finally, in the corner of the room, nestled in the corner, against the wall, Sakura found an air vent that was the source of both the breeze and the chilly room. She reached down to the vent, flipping the switch that opened and closed it, closing the small vent and shutting off the cold air flowing out.

She made to stand up when she heard a noise come from the vent, from beneath the closed metal. Sakura's hands shook as she pushed a single finger towards the switch, wondering whether or not to open the vent and see what was down there.

Finally, she pushed the small switch and the metal opened, letting out a gust of cold air. Sakura leaned over and tried to peer in, the scurrying noise stopping for a moment before picking up, louder; but, it was too dark to see even an outline of something underneath the metal.

As she leaned down, her face growing closer, the noise picked up right underneath her nose, sending her backwards in shock, fear, and surprise. Her eyes grew wide as the noise made its way up, before a single spider came out of the vent, scurrying off to the right. Sakura tried to follow where it went, but, it was too quick, disappearing into the shadow in mere moments.

Another noise brought her attention back to the vent, and Sakura sat, wide-eyed as she waited to see what would come out now.

Her heart was pounding as the next spider made itself known, quickly followed by others. Sakura stood up and backed up as spiders seemed to pour out of the little vent, quickly covering the floor until they made the floor look like a living carpet. She looked down as she felt a tickle on her leg, and quickly slapped away a spider, sending it flying to the floor.

Sakura whimpered and kicked as the spiders crawled up her legs, slapping at as many as she could while trying to ignore the small, stabbing pains as she was bit over and over.

Sakura shot up in bed, hand going down to her legs, wiping at invisible spiders. She took a deep breath as she looked down and saw that there weren't any spiders; it had all been a dream. A scary, scary dream.

She looked over at Naruto, who lay on the bed, a buzz of snores as he slept. Sakura sighed, curling up, looking over at her best friend. Finally, she slid out of the bed and made her way over to the boy, lifting the covers and sliding in as quietly as possible. She turned her back to Naruto, looking away as she tried to fall back asleep. She heard, and felt, movement behind her as Naruto rolled to his side, swinging a heavy, warm arm around her, his head coming down to her shoulder as he pulled her closer to him, like an oversized stuff animal or pillow.

Sakura, didn't complain though, as she was able to fall back to sleep.

-0-

The next morning, Naruto wasn't that surprised to see Sakura lying next to him in bed, curled against his side, still in deep sleep. He was very aware of the fact that she'd been really scared by the movie, and she had always been prone to nightmares.

He slid out of the bed as the noise that had woken him up repeated itself. He made his way sleepily to the door, rubbing his eyes as he swung it open to see Sasuke standing in the doorway, already dressed in his clothes.

"Breakfast will be ready soon, you should probably get ready. Is Sakura up?" Sasuke asked, peering into the room to see pink against blue.

"I'll get her up, thanks," Naruto nodded, closing the door and walking over to wake the young girl up.

"Naruto?" Sakura sat up, looking at the boy she had just smacked, "Sorry, is it time to get up, now?"

"Yeah, go get dressed," Naruto told her, reaching down a hand to pull her up with.

"M'kay," Sakura quickly pulled the clothes that she planned on wearing and skipped next door to the bathroom, taking a quick, hot shower and quickly slipping on the clothes, rubbing a towel against her short locks as she walked back into her and Naruto's room.

When she got down to the kitchen, she was the last one ready. Sakura smiled to everyone and said a quick, "Good morning," as she took her seat next to Naruto.

"Morning, Sakura-chan, did you sleep well last night?" Mikoto asked, setting a plate in front of Sakura as she sat down.

"Yes ma'am," Sakura nodded.

"Good, good," Mikoto said as she took the first bite of her food. The rest of breakfast was eaten in relative silence, the food disappearing quickly.

"Let's go watch some television," Sasuke said when they'd finished eating, leading the other two children into the living room.

They sat on the couch, watching an old black-and-white sci-fi movie, when Shisui walked in through the door, nodding to the kids (sending a wink to Sakura), and asked, "Where's Itachi?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Check his room,"

"Kay," Shisui quickly walked down the hallway to where Itachi's room was.

Sakura looked to where he'd just gone and her mind quickly forgot the people on the screen; instead going to the mission she would be leaving for that night. Shisui would be there, as well as Itachi. Yet, despite the fact that two well-trained ANBU she knew and trusted, as well as another that she didn't quite know; Sakura was still worried about what would happen.

She knew that the three ANBU would have no problem, they were strong and smart and powerful and well trained. Sakura knew they would be able to carry through with the mission with no problem; instead, Sakura was worried about whether or not she would mess up the mission. She was worried she might forget some important detail or trip up or just do something that would mess the entire mission up. Because, she was not strong or powerful and she was scared to death that her inexperience would lead to just that, death.

"Sakura?" Sasuke's quiet voice broke through her thoughts and Sakura looked over at the boy, "Y-Yeah?"

"Are you OK?" Sasuke asked, eyes on her face, "You seem nervous."

Sakura smiled at them, not wanting to go into detail about her fear of her own incompetence, "C-Can we spar?" Sakura looked from him to Naruto, "Please?"

"Sure!" Naruto said, jumping up excitedly, "Let's go outside."

Sakura smiled and stood up at the same time Sasuke did, both following the energetic blonde outside the door. When they got outside, Naruto was already standing in the dirt patch that had served as their sparring spot over the past few days.

"C'mon, Sakura!" Naruto called out to her, impatiently.

Sakura giggle as she went over to him, "OK, OK," Sakura stood in front of Naruto as Sasuke sat down on the rock. Sakura set him a single smile before turning to Naruto and sliding into a fighting stance, Naruto had already done so.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked the young girl, not wanting to hurt her. Sakura looked at him, breathing deeply before nodding to the blonde. Naruto smiled and his hand came up a little higher, "Alright, let's start."

Naruto came at Sakura first and she quickly spun to the left, lifting up a hand to push him away. Naruto quickly came back around, swinging his arm around towards her, using the momentum of the spin. Sakura ducked down with an "EEP!" and Naruto brought his leg up, connecting with Sakura's side, sending her sprawling to the ground. Naruto went to pin her, but she quickly rolled to the right, forcing him to face plant the dirt. Sakura got up quickly, trying to just pin him, but he was faster, already standing.

They slid back into their stances, facing each other. Naruto's face was covered in dirt, but also a large smile as he looked at the young girl, "Good job, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled, at the boy in thanks; but, had to jump back when Naruto charge again, fists swinging faster. Sakura stuck to dodging the fists, weaving every which way to dodge the tanned fists. Sakura slid back, out of his reach as Naruto went to kick.

Naruto set his foot back down, his breathing heavy as he looked at the girl, "You need to start hitting back if you wanna win; dodging will only get you so far."

Sakura looked nervous, her breathing was heavy as well, "O-OK"

Naruto charged again, swinging his arms, trying to connect with any part of her. He lunged forward, aiming to his her side and expecting her to slide backwards again. However, instead she came in closer, effectively dodging his hit as her own connected with his stomach; her small, pale fist hitting just to the right of his bellybutton.

Naruto jumped back, smiling at the girl, before quickly charging again, stepping it up once more. His hits were coming faster, and a few were able to connect. Sakura slid back into her dodging routine; waiting for an opening to his the young boy. Finally, the opportunity came when he tried to deliver a high kick. Sakura ducked down, getting low to the ground, and quickly spun, her leg out so that she kicking his lower leg, knocking him to the ground.

Sakura quickly got on top of him, pinning him to the ground like she'd seen Sasuke do. She sat panting for a second, smiling down at the boy as he smiled up at her, "You did really, really good Sakura-chan!"

"Really?" Sakura asked, unsure of herself.

"Yup," Naruto said, smile still on his face. He chuckled, "Now, it's your turn to spar," He looked over at the raven-haired boy.

"Hn," Sasuke walked over, reaching down a hand to help the young girl up. Sakura gladly accepted, letting him lift her up off of Naruto, who quickly jumped up and looked at the two of them, his eyes locking with Sasuke's for a moment before leaning down to kiss the top of Sakura's head, "You really did do good," Naruto whispered.

Sakura blushed, "Thanks," She turned to Sasuke and felt nervous, all of the sudden. Sakura had known that Naruto had been going easy on her, but, she wasn't so sure about Sasuke doing the same thing.

Sasuke slid into a fighting stance in front of her and Sakura lifted her hands up, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet so that she'd be able to move quickly when Sasuke came at her.

Sasuke eyed the rosette in front of him, taking a deep breath, "Sakura, get ready."

Sakura nodded towards the boy and he came at her, hands reaching out to strike her. Sakura slid back, keeping her weight on her toes so that she could move quickly. Sasuke moved to the right, bringing his hand in the opposite direction, towards the girl, and she slid back and down, her leg coming out to try and trip him the same way she had tripped Naruto.

However, Sasuke was quicker and he successfully dodged her leg, jumping back before charging her again, leg coming down. Sakura rolled to the side and got up, her fist coming up towards Sasuke, who easily knocked it to the side and delivered his own hit to her side, his hand connecting with her side.

Sakura grimaced in pain, knowing a bruise would soon be forming where the hand had just connected. Sakura was forced to duck again as his fist came for his face, only to have to swerve to the right as his leg came up and down.

As his leg came down, Sakura spun so she was to his right and came back with her fist, missing his head only slightly as he leaned back and away, stepping backwards to compensate for the loss of balance it took. Sakura swung her fist, trying to hit him, but he kept dodging. She swung again and again, her arms beginning to burn, but couldn't quite land a hit on him. She made to hit him again, spotting an opportunity, but missed and Sasuke quickly stepped in closer to her, bringing his hand up to hit her side, knocking her a little, and wrapping his arms around her, effectively pinning her to his body.

"You're too slow, Sakura," Sasuke told her, "If your strategy is to dodge, you need to increase your speed and stamina."

Sakura nodded, her breathing hard and burning as she sucked in cool air. Her body felt like it was on fire, every muscle screaming in protest against their sudden, intense usage. She felt like she would fall down to the ground once Sasuke let her go, adrenaline was no longer pumping through her body to keep her moving forward.

Thankfully, when Sasuke let her go, she was able to stand, albeit a bit shakily. She turned to face him, her breath shaky as she tried to steady herself.

"Go take a break, I'll fight Naruto, then you fight again." Sasuke told her and she nodded, walking towards the now empty rock as Naruto sprinted to where she'd just been, eyes eager for a good fight.

Sakura sat on the rock, her legs seeming to cramp up slightly as they got used to the sudden stopping and going of the quick battles. She was able to calm down as she sat, watching the boy's rapid movements as they matched one another blow for blow, much faster than either one of them had been with her.

She sat there, amazed at the difference between them, the boys quick, confident movements and her slow, shy, dodges and hits. They moved with a confidence and grace that far surpassed her own and as Sakura sat there watching the boys, moving like cheetahs, she felt her fear of failure coming back.

She was nothing compared to these two boys, her skills weren't even comparable to theirs. Her shoulders sank down as she rested her chin on her knees, arms wrapped around her legs, and she watched them fight, taunts flying out.

The battle continued for a few more minutes until the blocked each other's hits, sending themselves backwards, separated Sasuke looked over at Sakura, lifting a hand to wave her to them, "Come on, Sakura, time to get going again."

Sakura walked over to the boys, nervous about fighting them, having to deal with them stooping down to her level, going easy on her. Because she was so much weaker than they were.

"We decided we're gonna teach you some moves." Naruto smiled at her, "So, c'mon, let's go."

"I'll attack you, Naruto will help you." Sasuke informed her, slipping into a stance, Sakura following, bringing her hands up.

"Naruto," Sasuke nodded towards Sakura and Naruto walked over to her.

"OK, um," Naruto looked at her for a minute before reaching out to adjust her hands quickly, "You like dodging more and so, I think it'll be better if your hands are like that. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what Iruka-sensei said," Naruto looked to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes, but nodded nonetheless.

"OK, let's spar," Sasuke said and Naruto stepped back just in time for Sasuke to come at Sakura, who dodged, trying to place a hit to the side, like she'd seen Naruto do previously.

"Keep up, Sakura," Sasuke told her, going at her again. Sakura ducked, hopping up when the arm went over her head, her hand reaching out to grab his wrist, trying to his his arm and maybe pop his elbow.

But, Sasuke ducked under his arm with his other hand, forcing her to let go. He swung his leg at her in a roundhouse, which she dodged, but he switched quickly and managed to clip her side, sending her backwards. She hit something solid and warm. Naruto.

Sakura looked at him, confused.

"Start over, I hit you." Sasuke told her and slid back into a stance. Sakura slid back into the one Naruto had shown her, "Good, now, keep on your toes." And he went at her again.

This pattern persisted late into the day, short spurts of fighting shortly followed by Sasuke and Naruto correcting something she did (there was always something to correct). By the time the sun seemed to be low in the sky, sending beautiful blues, reds, and purples across the sky above Konoha, Sakura felt tired and bruised and aching; but, it was all worth it. Every bruise, cut, scratch, ache was worth the knowledge she'd gotten by the simple spar-and-teach method Sasuke had adopted with her.

"Time to come in and eat," Mikoto called from the doorway, a small smile on her face as she saw her son with his two friends. Naruto was behind Sakura, hands on her shoulders as he twisted her upper body while Sasuke moved her hands, showing her a better way of blocking a certain hit.

"Kay," Sakura called, back, her body going slightly slack.

"Let's go," Sasuke said, stepping away from the two as Naruto went in the opposite directions. Sasuke headed in first and the other two followed, Sakura with a small, satisfied smile on her face.

"Guys," She whispered before walking into the house and both of them stopped, turning to look at the young girl, curiosity in their eyes, "Um, thank you. For . . . for showing me all of that stuff."

"No prob, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shrugged, "It was nothing for someone as amazing as I am!"

"Dobe," Sasuke shook his head as they made the way to the kitchen, "But, it really wasn't a problem, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at him as they entered the kitchen, she wasn't that surprised to see Shisui was still there, seated comfortably next to Itachi as he smiled at the group as they walked in.

"Have fun playing ninjas?" Shisui asked them as they sat down across the table from the two boys, Sakura in the middle between her two friends.

"We weren't playing," Naruto protested, looking at the Uchiha across the table.

"Sure, sure," Shisui chuckled at the rise he was getting out of the hot-heated blonde.

"Behave," Mikoto warned, setting plates in front of everyone as Fugaku followed, sitting at his usual seat.

"Sorry," Shisui apologized, giving Mikoto his best heart-breaking, fan-making smile he could muster.

"Sure, sure," Mikoto repeated Shisui's earlier words as she sat down, taking a small bite of her food.

"Tastes good, yet again," Shisui complimented Mikoto as he ate the food.

"Still trying to get on my good side, I see," Mikoto joked.

Shisui just shrugged as he continued to eat the food, which was disappearing almost as fast as Naruto's was. Sakura giggled at the older boy's antics, he was like an older version of Naruto. She ate her food at a slower, smart pace as to avoid the inevitable bout of choking on rice that Shisui, or Naruto, were sure to experience sooner or later.

The choking bout came towards the end of dinner when Naruto tried to stuff more rice into his face while also swallowing the previous, something than resulted in him giving a deep-chested cough and a personal hit to the chest, before it was quickly resolved. Sakura just rolled her eyes at her friend's childishness while Sasuke muttered, under his breath as he lifted a bit of fish to his mouth, "Dobe." Naruto, in turn, just glared at Sasuke since his mouth was full of rice.

"Thanks for the meal," Shisui told Mikoto as she picked up the plates and brought them to the kitchen, Sakura assisting her by taking hers, Naruto's, and Sasuke's plates to the kitchen.

Mikoto smiled as she walked back in to the room with Sakura trailing behind her, not surprised to find her husband gone, probably off to check on some police reports or something. She loved that man to death, but he was an extreme workaholic.

"Thank you, Shisui, you are officially forgiven," Mikoto told him as she turned to look at Naruto, "Would you like to stay over tonight, as well?"

Naruto nodded, "Don't see why not."

"No problem," Mikoto smiled at them.

"We need to get going," Itachi broke the conversation, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. Their mission briefing was in twenty minutes and Itachi preferred to be on time to such things.

Mikoto nodded, looking down at the young girl who was suddenly still, looking over at Itachi with a nervous look in her eye, "Yes, you do. Boys, why don't you help Sakura get her stuff together?"

"Kay," Naruto said, still feeling a little peeved that Sakura got to go on an important mission before he could, and without him as well. Sasuke stood up and helped Sakura, following the blonde boy who was walking down the hallway towards the guest bedroom they'd spent the night in.

Mikoto smiled at the small group of friends, turning to look at her son and his best friend, "Keep an eye on her, Itachi."

"Aa," Itachi said, which Mikoto translated to mean something along the lines of-

"Don't worry, we won't let the munchkin out of our sights!" Shisui cut off her thoughts.

Mikoto smiled, yeah, that was what Itachi meant.

"The mission should go off without a hitch, we'll be back within a week." Itachi amended, looking up at his mother, "Sakura will only be in danger for mere moments before we recover her."

Sakura came walking back down the hallway then, a thin pack on her back as her two friends flanked her. She looked at the three Uchiha's and had to force down the fear-induced nausea she felt brewing in her stomach as the nervousness and apprehension returned full force.

"We need to head out," Itachi said, standing up to retrieve his and Shisui's bag from the corner, throwing Shisui his bag, which he caught easily.

Sakura turned to her friends, a small smile on her face, "See ya."

"Later Alligator," Naruto finished, smiling at his best, oldest friend. He reached over and gave her a tight hug, spinning her around as she giggled. Naruto set her down and Sakura had to regain her bearings for a moment before she turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at her with a cool, collected face, "I'm not worried about you because I know they'll take care of you. But, regardless, don't do anything stupid."

Sakura chuckled at his way of expressing his worries for her, "Whatever you say, Sasuke. I'll be back before you know it, though, and you can finish teaching me what you started today."

"Sure," Sasuke shrugged, "Now, get going, you don't wanna be late."

"Bye," Sakura reached out and pulled the young boy into a tight hug, despite his lack of want. He wrapped his arms around her lightly and tapped his hands against her back a few times before stepping away from her.

Sakura turned quickly and walked to where the two older boys stood, the feeling of nervousness coming over her again as they quickly walked out of the house.

They walked in silence until Shisui broke the somewhat comfortable silence, "So, Sakura, are ya scared?"

Sakura turned to the boy and sent him a glare as she shook her head defiantly. She wasn't really all that scared, it was more nervousness. But, that didn't mean Shisui had the right to just bring any of that up.

"Just like a little kitten," Shisui joked as he looked at the younger girl's weak glare. He rolled his eyes and reached down to pick her up, throwing her over his arm like a bag of feathers.

"Put me down, Shisui!" Sakura complained, hitting him on his back as her legs kicked back and forth.

Shisui just laughed as he walked next to Itachi, completely ignoring the complaints coming from the little girl.

Itachi rolled his eyes as he watched the two of them, "I can't believe I have to deal with you two for the next week."

Shisui just laughed, "You know we'll just make things interesting!"

"Annoying." Itachi corrected as they walked up the staircase to the hokage's office, Sakura had quit wriggling around, settling for low, unintelligible mutterings.

Shisui set her down right before walking into the office, settling for just setting an hand on her shoulder, pushing her into the office. Sakura looked around, not sure of what to think about going out on this mission. She'd expected to see the other guy who'd be going with them, bur he was not there yet; only the Hokage sat behind his desk, smiling at them as they walked in.

"Well, hello there, Sakura. Itachi, Shisui." He nodded to the two boys, eyes alight with curiosity as his eyes stayed on the youngest of the group, "Are you prepared?"

Itachi nodded, "Everything is ready, where is Kakashi?"

"You know him, he'll probably just meet you at the gate." Sarutobi laughed at the ANBU's antics, "You know most of what you need. The village is waiting on you, here's a scroll containing further information about who is suspected to be the murderer."

Itachi stepped forward and grasped the scroll, sliding into the front of his anbu vest, "Anything else, sir?"

"No, that will do. Just remember, this mission contains three objectives: 1, locate the murder and track him down; 2, find the missing girl, either rescue or retrieval; and 3, keep the charge safe, no need to trade one life for another."

Itachi nodded in understanding, and stepped back, beside Shisui, "We'll be taking our leave now. I shall send word back to you when we arrive in the village. Estimated time, 2 days or less."

Sarutobi nodded and all three of the visitors disappeared in a flash.

Sakura had felt a jolt of panic course through her when Shisui had grabbed her arm and drug her out of the window, moving so fast everything was a blur to her untrained eyes. She found herself quickly at the front gates, where a man was standing, leaning against one of the poles as she, Itachi, and Shisui made their way over to him. He was very tall compared to them, silver hair spiking up on the top of his head. He wore typical ANBU clothes, green vest, black long-sleeve undershirt, and a white mask covering his face, in the shape of a dog.

The man nodded as they walked over, putting away a bright orange book as he stood to greet them, his head tilted down in a way that made Sakura suspected her was looking at her.

Beside her, both Shisui and Itachi pulled out their own masks, Shisui's a rabbit and Itachi's was a panther. Sakura felt a little left out as they pulled on the mask, seeming to transform themselves to whole new level, donning costumes of war.

"Shisui will carry Sakura until we reach the first checkpoint, I shall have her the second half of the journey." Itachi stated, mostly to the stranger in front of them, who nodded, looking down at the girl once again.

"Let's head out."

They traveled through the darkening skies for what felt like hours, Sakura riding quietly on Shisui's back as the forest blurred around them. The speeding green was oddly soothing to the pink-haired girl and she quickly found herself falling into a quiet slumber.

author note:

First off, sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry for not updating this story in /so/ long! I honestly, hadn't forgotten about it. Just things ... happened. :/ No excuse ... I know. but still:

Sorry. Gomen. Lo siento.

But hey ... here's the next chapter at least. :D :D haha

Tell me what you think!

And, I'll try to update as often as possible, but I lost all my stories (legit sobbed too when it happened) and I'm in College now (freshmen, haha) so I am busy. Not to mention, my brain has developed several different stories in different fandoms, so I'll probably post several stories on my account here. But still, this one is my baby, my lil' sweetie and I do plan on finishing this! I swear!

Well, until next chapter,

Emy