Greetings dear Reader!

Ever woke up one morning, on a plain day with absolutely nothing special planned, but still feeling very happy for no apparent reason? It's refreshing :)

Side notes :

Narration

"Talking"

Inner voice

*Thinking*

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto

*This was supposed to be an easy mission*, Sakura thought grimly for the hundredth time today as she dashed through the forest, leaping from branch to branch at full speed. She hadn't bothered with hiding her chakra signature since she had left the mountains, but still thanked the Gods for her perfect chakra control, as well as Tsunade-sama for helping her master that 'monstrous strength' of hers, as Naruto called it. Even if she could feel her chakra reserves dwindle, the pink haired woman kept her pace fast and steady while she nimbly made her way through the trees, the bodies of her two unconscious teammates slung over each shoulder.

She shouldn't have had been surprised, really. After all, she had been a member of Konoha's infamous Team 7 for almost ten years now. She still remembered their first official mission out of hidden village, when a simple escort mission had ended up with them fighting Zabuza and Haku, S class criminals. After that, there were all of the other missions that had followed, when Naruto ended up dragging them into impossible situations; so she really shouldn't have had been surprised by this outcome.

For some reason, the easier the mission was, the bigger mess they ended up in. But for once, she couldn't blame it on Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki, training under Tsunade and Gaara in order to become the next Hokage, had been asked to go to Iron Country, as an Ambassador from Fire, in order to deliver a treaty that would allow their merchants free passage into Fire. The blond Jinchuriki was to meet Iron's officials at the border, give the scroll, trade a few handshakes, and head back to Konoha. A fast, simple, and easy solo mission. Of course, that hadn't stopped Naruto from whining, begging, and finally bribing Tsunade with sake, so that she'd let Sasuke and herself tag along. With her working at the hospital, and Sasuke as a teacher at the Academy, Team 7 rarely got together for missions nowadays, but after days of pestering the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade had finally accepted to give Sasuke and her a few days off in order to escort Naruto to the border of the Land of Iron.

During the three-day trip, the blond idiot hadn't been able to keep quiet for single minute. He would chat about his training as the next Hokage, bragged about Konohamaru's latest pranks, planned their next dinner at Ichiraku's, taunt Sasuke with silly tricks, and blush madly whenever the name 'Hinata' was brought into the conversation.

Truth be told, Sakura hadn't really minded his unrelenting yapping because she hadn't been able to see her two precious teammates in weeks, and this bonding time felt nice.

Sasuke had also shared a few stories about his students, and was pleased to announce that he would soon replace Kurenai-sensei as the next Genjutsu teacher. Sakura, on the other hand, had been promoted to Konoha's hospital Chief Doctor about two months ago, and even if she was swamped with work, she truly loved her job and didn't mind not going onto field anymore.

The pinkette thoroughly enjoyed spending the next three days laughing at Naruto's antics, teasing the ever so stoic Uchiha about his blossoming relationship with Naruto's cousin, Karin, and generally just relished in the time she was spending with her two teammates. Maybe this should have warned her that something just had to go wrong.

On the evening of the third day, when they had arrived at the border of Iron and Fire, Naruto had been the first to slow his pace as the smell of corpses and death hung in the air around them. Right after that, Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, but hadn't been able to detect anything suspicious, so they had moved on into Iron Country. As they entered the first valley that would have lead them to the meeting point, the Sharingan wielder had announced that they were the only living beings for miles. Sakura had had a very bad feeling about this, but before the trio could backtrack out of the valley, they were attacked.

It had been a close call, but she had managed to get them out of there. The enemies had been searching for them relentlessly, and had almost succeeded in finding them once, which lead to her present predicament. The pink haired Kunoichi was now running as fast as she could while her pursuers herded her towards the borders of Sound. At first, she had planned on escaping to the East by going into the mountains that ran along the valley they had been ambushed in, after that she would have erased her trail to lose them in the dense forest while she made her way back South towards Fire Country. Unfortunately, when she had been about to cross over into Fire territory, the enemy had already been waiting for her, much to her annoyance. It was only then that she realized that her attackers were closing in on her, urging her towards Sound.

Cursing herself for not having noticed it sooner, Sakura concentrated on the two limp bodies she had been carrying for the past day. She could feel her muscles start to tremble from the exhaustion, and a headache forming at her temples due to her low levels of chakra, but she ignored it all and pushed on. It was unnerving that the ones hunting her didn't seem to falter in their chase while she was steadily running out of energy, but shoved the thought aside as she pumped more chakra into her aching limbs.

When they closed in on her, she knew this game of cat-and-mouse would soon be over. Depleted of her chakra, she couldn't evade her pursuers any longer when a dozen chains flew her way and chakra sealing cuffs started to snap shut around her arms and legs. As she was slammed to the ground, her new restrains pulling her every which ways, her hold on her two teammates slipped, making the two lifeless body tumble forward before disappearing in a silent puff of smoke. Sakura could only smirk at the surprised, and angry, look on the face of the one responsible for the ambush.

After all, she had been the bait, and he had fallen for it.