It was a disastrous mission.

It was Team 7's first mission as newly minted jounins, and a simple scroll retrieval had gone completely awry and turned into a huge, bloody, mess. There were too many bodies, too many witnesses, and Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura barely managed to escape the fray, unfortunately with no scroll in hand. The three 18 year olds now stood in the Godaime Hokage's office, trailing mud and blood everywhere and wearing exhausted and guilty looks on their faces.

The Hokage was absolutely livid. "How the hell did this happen?" Tsunade's face was bright red, just as if she had drank a little too much of the sake that was stashed in a secret compartment in her desk.

The three teenagers stayed silent, trading glances. Sakura knew exactly how it had happened. They had been too arrogant, still on a high from passing their jounin exams less than two weeks ago. Naruto had rushed in without thinking, stealth completely forgotten in a scroll retrieval – a scroll retrieval – mission, and Sasuke, not to be outdone by the blond loudmouth had streaked in afterwards. The dynamic duo didn't hear their female teammate's protests, and didn't see the ambush coming at them from behind. Luckily, the mercenaries that attacked them were low-level nin and Team 7 would have had no problem incapacitating a handful of them, but there were too many, and the three Konoha nin barely managed to escape.

Tsunade looked at each of them expectantly, her nostrils flaring with each breath. "Well?"

"Shishou, we—" Sakura started.

"Didn't think at all? Didn't come up with a strategy? Didn't do any reconnaissance?" Tsunade interrupted, slamming a palm down on her desk.

The three teenagers standing in front of her flinched involuntarily as all the items on her desk flew up, and crashed back down from the force of Tsunade's palm.

"This mission should have been easy for a team of your caliber, but clearly you're al too wrapped up in your own skills to give a rat's ass about teamwork. Now I've got witnesses of Konoha nin in a bloodbath that shouldn't have happened, the Fire Lord won't stop hounding me about a massacre on our own land, and a messy one at that, and do you know how difficult you've made this for me diplomatically?"

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it. They were a fine team, they did work together, and the three of them fit seamlessly together during fights like a well-oiled machine. It was, however, the lack of strategic planning that was Team 7's downfall.

Naruto decided to speak up for Sakura. "But we do work well together, Baa-chan! We've always—"

"Don't call me Baa-chan!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her palm down again.

Naruto shut his mouth. The air in the Hokage's office was heavy with silence. Sasuke shifted his weight and the floorboards creaked, and Tsunade turned to glare at him.

There was suddenly a sharp rap on the door, and Tsunade finally looked away. "Enter!" she barked.

The door swung open silently and an ANBU walked in. He had a tiger's mask on, and the rest of identity was shrouded in a black, hooded cloak. "Hokage-sama, I have a report," a distinctly muffled male voice spoke from under the porcelain mask.

"Give me a minute," Tsunade said shortly, turning her attention back to the mud-splattered jounin team. "Team 7, you are officially taken off the active roster for a month as punishment for your failure in this mission."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "But Baa-chan!"

"Shut it, Naruto! I'm extremely disappointed in you three. You're jounin now, and you need to think before you just rush into everything! And you, Sakura, I thought I taught you better," Tsunade sighed heavily, sinking back into her seat.

Sakura hung her head in shame, blinking furiously at the sudden hotness that had welled behind her eyes. I am not going to cry in front of shishou, my team, and an ANBU member.

Tsunade looked at the three teens in front of her. "You'll receive instructions on how to proceed in the next month accordingly. Now get out of my office and get to the hospital; Sasuke, it looks like you have a few broken ribs. Dismissed," she finally spoke.

Team 7 turned without a word and trudged out, leaving behind a fresh new trail of mud, closing the door behind them with a soft bang. Tsunade sighed again, and finally turned to face the ANBU member waiting patiently in the corner of the room.

"Report, Uchiha."

Uchiha Itachi silently took of his tiger mask, his dark eyes sparkling with amusement at what had transpired beforehand in the room with his foolish brother and his teammates. His usually passive face was twisted into a devious smirk. Sasuke-chan would no doubt try to hide all of this from his family out of shame, but unfortunately for him, Itachi had conveniently made it back from his ANBU mission the same time Team 7 did. He was so very looking forward to how the next month was going to progress.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Little brother, just wait until our parents hear about this.