Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and you can ask anyone you want.

"Sakura! You should hurry! You have to meet your sensei in fifteen minutes right?"

"I know Mum! Geez don't worry so much! I've never been late before!"

Sakura checked her room to make sure she hadn't made too much of a mess getting ready. She didn't want to have to clean it all up later on. She grabbed her weapon bag and fastened it around her waist so that the pouch rested on her hip. The young kunoichi ran out the door and made her way threw the crowded streets of the village to get to the bridge where team 7 usually met so many years ago. Well, not so long ago. It had been three years since Sasuke had left Konoha in search for power. In the meantime, Sakura trained with Tsunade often with one thought in mind; "When I am strong enough I will get Sasuke-kun back."

"Sakura-chan! Good morning!" came Naruto's voice, breaking Sakura from her thoughts.

"Hey Naruto. is Kakashi-sensei here yet?"

"Nope. He's probably going to be late..."

"Again." they both said in unison.

Sakura sighed. Their sensei was always late. Even when team 7 was complete, he always found some excuse.

"He's always late! And for what? Normally it's just for a small mission a three-year old could do!" yelled Inner Sakura.

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes. Her inner person had been bothering her for years, but she decided to make peace with it and actually got along with it, which is odd. They sometimes had long discussions about nothing much, but she enjoyed having someone to talk to. Even if that someone wasn't actually a person...

"What do you think we're gonna do today Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto, once again dragging Sakura out of her thoughts. She shrugged, obviously not very interested in what conversation Naruto was trying to start.

---

A half hour later of waiting and awkward silence, Kakashi finally casually walked up to the bridge with his nose burried in his book. As soon as he stepped onto the wood, he was bombarded by Sakura and Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei you're late again! What's your excuse this time?!" shouted Naruto. No response came from him. He just kept on reading as if he had never heard Naruto.

"You're not doing it right Naruto." Sakura calmly whispered to her hyper teammate. He looked at her with questioning eyes and she just smiled in a "watch and learn" way.

She walked up to Kakashi who was standing still and still had his face close to his book. Sakura pushed on the back and the front of the book, shutting it on her teacher's face. Kakashi's nose got caught in abrupt closing and he immediately snapped out of his trance, staring angrily at Sakura who just smiled sweetly with her hands behind her back.

"I can take a hint Sakura. Alright, today we have to report to Hokage-sama's office." he said casually.

"Then wouldn't Granny Tsunade be expecting us earlier?" asked Naruto with an inquisitive voice.

"Maybe."

'Kakashi-sensei you slacker.' thought Sakura.

"Hell yeah! if Tsunade-sensei gets mad at us because of him, he is going down!"

'Keep your temper inner personna. Tsunade-sensei isn't like that.'

"Good point."

"Well, shall we get going?" asked Sakura timidly.

"Yeah."

---

"There is something I have to ask you all to do." began Tsunade. Once former team 7 had reported to the office, Tsunade began speaking seriously. Yes, former team 7. Sakura and Naruto had upgraded to Chuunin level a year after Sasuke became a missing nin. Sakura had progressed alot in medical ninjutsus and was now equal with Tsunade on that level. She had inherited greatly of Tsunade's strength and had improved incredibly in her battle skills. Naruto had continued his training with Jiraiya and was also much stronger than before.

"Well, what is it?" a very excited Naruto asked.

"Orochimaru will be able to transfer into Sasuke's body soon and we need to stop him from doing that. This is of most importance and failure is something we cannot afford." continued the fifth Hokage.

Sakura's heart sank. She had been training for this day, but it came too soon! She couldn't do it yet!

"Sasuke-kun needs us right now more than he will when you ARE ready! By then it will be too late!"

'I know... but if I can't bring him back now, it won't make much of a difference.'

"Well just try your best outer personna! You can do it!"

'Okay...'

"Sakura?" asked a concerned Tsunade.

"Hmm?" she asked back, withdrawing from her conversation with Inner Sakura.

"Are you going to be alright with this mission?"

"Yeah, I think so." she answered.

"If you're not, I can take you off the mission and ask someone else to fill in for you."

"No! I'll be fine! I'm not going to run away." she answered immediately.

'After all, Sasuke-kun used to be my teammate and I know him better than the person who would take my place.'

"Yeah! We probably know more about him than Naruto does!"

With that, Naruto and Kakashi walked out of the door, followed by Sakura.

---

The next day, the three Konoha ninjas met at the gates of their home village. They were packed for the long trip to Orochimaru's hide out.

"Are we all ready to go?" asked Kakashi.

"Yup." answered both Naruto and Sakura.

Kakashi nodded and they jumped into the trees, running forwards at an extreme speed towards the boundary of their country to enter Sound territory.

'And when we get there, I'll face the one I've been training so hard to bring back home.'

OMG! Time to get Sasuke back! Yippeee!!!

TomoenaRayelle