3rd POV

It was hours before the sun was to rise in this early morning where the girls were waiting up on the Hokage Monument, just like they have been in the previous few days, only today was different.

Today was the day they'd all be leaving. In secret.

Anko had told the girls the importance of not telling their families that they were leaving. Mostly because as newly graduated Genin they shouldn't be allowed to leave the village for missions just yet, missions outside the village were at least C rank and they weren't allowed such missions.

So if they told their parents that they were leaving the village there would be an uproar. Not that it wouldn't happen regardless, because they were going to find out eventually that their daughters have left the village, and there was no doubt that they'd be running to the Hokage to demand answers that he wouldn't be allowed to answer.

But they'd be long gone by then and it'd be no ones business to interfere or ask questions regarding what they were doing.

Hinata and Kimiko however were still a bit nervous as to what would happen when they returned home in who knows how long, because it would surely be a while before they would return.

Sakura, being able to sense their discomfort, reassured them that by the time they returned they'd be mature adults and wouldn't have to worry because they'd be stronger then too.

And as Anko appeared with a bag packed and ready to go the girls seemed to calm down.

"Well girls, Amegakure is about a three days trip, are you all ready?"

The girls looked to Sakura who had a determined look on her face, she gave a sharp nod and strong "Hai!"

Anko smirked and looked to the other two who gave similar responses and nodded to them.

"Well then, let's go!" The four females started their way down the mountain to leave the village gates while Anko began explaining what the plan would be.

"It'll take us around two days to get to the border of our village and the Village Hidden in the Rain. We shouldn't run into too much trouble here in our own village but if we do, let me handle it. We haven't done much team training so I worry for what might happen. We'll reach Amegakure the morning of our third day, a messenger bird has already been sent to Ame about our arrival so they should be expecting us. From there, Sakura will meet the Amekage and his wife and we'll stay there until you all pass the Chunnin exams, and well, you know the rest."

"Where are the exams held?" Kimiko asked.

"It's different every time. This last one was actually held in Ame. This next one will be in Konoha, and the following one should be Suna."

"So will we be back in Konoha in six months to take the exams?" Hinata questioned, twiddling her thumbs.

"Unfortunately no, we'll be back in Konoha, yes, but you three will not be participating in these next exams. You see they'd asked me to be a proctor for one of the exams, meaning you can't be there because they think I might help you all pass."

"What! That's not fair!" Kimiko yelled in outrage. "What if we're ready by then!"

"You might be, but regardless if I was a proctor or not, I probably wouldn't let you go anyway. No one can truly be ready in a few short months, and if any one of those idiots say that their team is ready, they better be ready to plan funerals for them all, because that's practically suicide." Anko had said this all, hoping beyond all hope that Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma weren't stupid enough to send in their team after only a few short months.

The girls had barely made it down the monument when Kizashi had appeared in a tornado of leaves. He stood before his adopted daughter with a heavy heart. His wife couldn't come because she knew that she'd try to stop Sakura from leaving and she didn't want to make it harder on herself because she knew Sakura would have to leave anyway.

Sakura looked at her father before a lump grew in her throat. After she had found out that her parents weren't actually her parents, she had a bit of a panic attack and had refused to even really look at them for a while. It was Hinata who had convinced Sakura that they were only there to help her, not anything else. And that she should keep good relations with them because they were still legally her parents and had to live with them.

At first it was hard but soon enough Sakura started to treat them like her parents again. She still called them 'mom' and 'dad' and treated them with the same respect she once had. It was almost like nothing had changed. Much to her adoptive parents relief.

Her father had ended up teaching her a few things about being a ninja and training her, but not too much, mostly because her mother wouldn't let her grow up too fast like the Uchiha's next clan leader, Itachi. He had grown up far too fast and didn't have the childhood all children deserve. They didn't want that for Sakura so they only taught her the bare minimum.

"Hello Tou-san." Sakura said, greeting her father who gave a small sad smile at his daughter.

He gave a quick shake of his head and walked up to her to press a quick kiss to her forehead, not saying a word but saying everything through that one act.

He gave her the necklace that her birth mother had given her right before she left.

Sakura looked at the dog tag and clutched it in her fist.

When walking away he passed by Anko and squeezed her shoulder and looked her right in the eyes. Again, not a word was said out loud, but Anko got the message.

Kizashi disappeared in the tornado of leaves he showed up in, leaving the girls alone all over again.

Sakura held back the tears as they decided to keep moving forward. She'd see them again one day, she just knows it.

They left the village gates, showing the guards their ID's and the blue scroll that proved it was a C Rank mission that allowed them to leave the village.

They started off their journey by walking on the ground, seeing as Anko hadn't taught the girls anything about running at ninja speeds on ground or by tree tops. Therefore Anko knew exactly what to teach them first.

They took breaks between running on tree tops to walking to sitting down to catch their breath, then all over again. By the end of the first day they were in a small town about halfway between the two villages.

The girls had mastered how to run on tree tops and at slightly faster speeds than what they were used to when running normally.

Anko wasn't surprised at how fast they were catching on to the training, after all, they were all from strong backgrounds, all with techniques and family jutsu that required high chakra control. Anko was sure they'd all master several techniques before they returned home, if they chose to that is.

Anko would like to be able to teach them how to vertically run on surfaces as well as walking on water. But all of that requires a lot more practice and time that they didn't exactly have, so she would wait until they reached the Rain Village before doing anything of that sort. For now, she'll keep trying to improve their speed with what they know already.