"What's the report?" there was silence in the dark room. A shrouded figure scanned the room and its occupants with his unique, grey eyes.

"Akatsuki no Sasori is dead, yeah." The person spoke hesitantly and slowly, as if he himself couldn't believe it.

"Was it the elder from Suna?" this voice was female, and it came from the figure next to the leader.

"No… it was a medic-nin from Konoha."

"Did you get her name?" The blonde artist thought back for a minute, trying to remember if he heard a name. He remembered the Kyuubi jinchuuriki calling her by her name…was it Rose…? Blossom…? Ah, yes.

"I believe it was Sakura." Another person in the room flinched at the name, and raised his head to reveal the sharingan eyes.

"What do you plan to do about her?" asked the Uchiha. The leader paused in thought before answering.

"We will watch her for now. And if any of you cross her, do not kill her."

It was bright, and the sunlight seeped in through the curtains on the hospital window. A pink-haired girl raised her hand to shield her eyes, and pushed herself up on her free arm. She thought back to why she was there… she remembered fighting Akatsuki no Sasori… A sharp pain in her stomach… she flinched and grasped at her abdomen at that. And there was Elder Chiyo…

She allowed a tear for the wise old woman to fall before a knock came to her door. She quickly wiped it away.

"Come in." the door flew open to reveal a deathly worried Naruto wrapped in loose bandages. He probably demanded to do them himself so he could visit Sakura as fast as he could.

"Sakura-chan!" he walked quickly to her bedside and leaned in close to her face. "Are you alright? Do I need to call Baa-chan? Your stomach must hurt, hang on. Kakashi-sensei! Call Baa-chan so she-!"

Sakura placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, silencing him. "Naruto, I'm fine, really. I actually think I'm okay to walk around." She threw her legs over the bed and pushed herself off, using Naruto for support. She cast a smile in the direction of the Kyuubi host. "See?"

He gave her a disbelieving look when she winced lightly as her muscles in her stomach tightened.

"I'll say it again, Naruto. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Positive?" she smiled at his concern.

"Positive." He didn't seem happy with the idea of her walking around, but reluctantly agreed. He was about to turn and leave when he seemed to remember something.

"Oh yeah, Baa-chan wanted to see you. It's most likely about your battle with that guy. You killed him, right?" she nodded and Naruto gave a grin and a thumbs-up. After he left, Sakura sat back down on the hospital bed, grasping her sore abdomen. She decided to numb the pain with some of her own chakra.

As she tended to her wound, she looked around the familiar room. They were all designed the same way: white walls, a small bed, a nightstand, and a large window with white curtains.

Satisfied that she couldn't feel the hole in her stomach, she got up to pull the curtains on the window apart. She saw Naruto disappearing down the busy road, and smiled.

Sakura took a deep breath and turned away from the window, placing her back against it. She decided she should report the fight with Akatsuki no Sasori to the Hokage before taking her walk.

"I don't understand why Leader is protecting the girl, yeah." The blonde boy slumped down in a comfortable recliner. "She's just an annoying teenager."

"I don't think he's protecting her." Deidara turned to the blue member of Akatsuki. "He's just the observant kind. Leader wants to see if she might be useful to us." The artist's one visible eye flew open.

"He wants her to join? Is he crazy, yeah?! She killed Sasori-danna!" Kisame crossed his arms over his broad chest, and huffed.

"This proves that she was stronger than him, and we all know how strong Sasori was. Plus there's the fact that she's a medic. We don't have one of those, and as much as I hate to admit it, we need one." Deidara pushed himself off of the chair and glared angrily at the shark-man.

"I refuse to believe that girl is stronger than Sasori-danna, yeah."

"Are you saying that girls aren't strong?" Both men turned to see the Leader's partner and only female Akatsuki member, Konan, standing in the doorway of the current base's living room.

"Maybe I am, yeah." Kisame nudged his friend with his elbow, telling him that provoking this girl was a bad idea.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Anyone hungry?" Kisame tried miserably to stop the scuffle before Leader came in.

"Men are just stronger than women. It's fact, yeah. Deal with it."

"Fact? Please. Gender doesn't matter. I could kick your ass any day of the week."

"So, what would you guys like to eat? I'll cook." The shark-man smiled when both turned to glare at him.

"Kisame, shut up or I'm making sushi, yeah." He did shut up. He sighed and sat down in the recliner as the two continued their battle of the sexes.

"Thank you for your report. And I take it that you are feeling better?" Sakura nodded and Hokage smiled. "Good thing, too, because I have another mission for you." The Hokage apprentice did her best not to show her annoyance.

"You are to escort Koji Akahana to Rain. He's a traveling merchant stating he needs an escort due to an attack on his way here. He was lucky that an ANBU squad was patrolling in the area."

"Isn't there anyone else open that could do it? I'm pretty worn out…"

"He asked that you do it." Sakura's eyes flew open. "It seems you've created a reputation for yourself, Sakura." The Hokage smiled at her apprentice. She blushed and asked when she should leave. "Today would be nice."

"Today?" Tsunade nodded and told her to meet him at the front gate in an hour. Sakura let out a quiet sigh. "Yes… Tsunade-sama."

She pushed the last article of clothing into her bag and zipped it shut, allowing a heavy sigh to escape her. "Just that and I'm exhausted." She slung her bag over her shoulder and slipped her shoes on. She was dressed in her regular shinobi attire, seeing as it would require a lot of traveling.

Sakura put the key in, and locked the door to her apartment. Turning to leave, she heard a shout come from down the road.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" she stopped and faced the source of the shout, and wasn't surprised to see Naruto running full-speed towards her. He skid to a stop in front of her, causing a dust cloud to rise.

"What's up, Naruto?" she didn't really need to ask; she knew what it was about.

"Why are you going on a mission so soon? I won't stand for that!"

"Naruto, I'm not a child anymore. I can handle a little escort." The Kyuubi host frowned and opened his mouth to complain, but Sakura interrupted him. "I'll be back in two weeks." She was about to turn and leave, when her friend pulled her in for a hug around her shoulders.

"Just be careful, okay?" she hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around his back.

She was at the front gate and didn't see anyone there waiting for her. She scanned the area many times, but still had the same result. She was about to leave when the thought of it being a cruel joke occurred to her.

"Are you Sakura?" She turned around to see a tall man with bright orange hair and wore a gray shirt and pants, with a black overcoat. He had the large pack slung on his shoulders that showed he was a merchant.

"Yes, that would be me. Are you Akahana-san?" The man smiled a toothy grin.

"No need for formalities, Sakura." She couldn't help it; she had to smile back. He was kind of like Naruto, in a way.

"Koji, then, Well, then, are we ready to go?" He looked down, as if checking to see if he was wearing all his clothes, and then looked over his shoulder to his bag.

"Yep. All good here." Sakura grinned.

"Then let's get going." She said. As he turned to leave, she noticed a black, metal piercing on his left ear.

I decided to start another story so I wouldn't get bored with my other one. I plan to make this one pretty long, but hopefully not too long. I really wanna' work on improving my writing, and if you have any advice that might help me, don't hesitate to tell me. This story might be DeiSaku or PeinSaku. I haven't decided yet. If you have any suggestions, put it in a review :) thanks!