Hey, guys!

Sorry for disappearing for too long... It's just that a lot of things are expected of me as a college student. Reading back to this fic, I realized that the first chapters were crap... Ugh...
I've been thinking of renaming this fic since it doesn't suit anymore with the current chapter. If anyone can give me any suggestions, it would be much appreciated. I might be able to post the other chapters for my other fics too maybe within this week or so? But I am really sloww... I wish I'd be more like you, Azu-chan.. XDD or even my beloved beta, Yami-chan! She's really amazing.

Which reminds me, sorry in advance for any mistakes you might encounter while reading this chapter as it was not beta-d by Yami-chan because I don't want to bother her at the moment since she's hosting a contest in dA.

Also. I wanted you guys to know that I am changing the format of my fics entirely. And the scene changes too. I hope you guys won't get confused as you read on... ^^;

Still, I do not own Naruto. (OMG! I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE FACT THAT SASUKE FINALLY CAME TO HIS SENSE AND RETURNED TO KONOHA! :3)

ENJOYY... Be prepared for a lot of changing scenes!

Chapter 7

"So you all know what we need to do, right?" everyone nodded in unison. "So in the mean time, so Tsunade-sama won't be suspicious of us, we need to lay low and act as if we 'Accept' Sakura's engagement. Especially you, Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke." he eyed the three to see if they understood. Sasuke nodded remaining stone-faced and tense. Ino and Naruto only stared back. "We need to plan how to stop the wedding, the right timing and any guards we need to take down. Since persuasion didn't work, we have no other choice, Sakura's the only best medic we have aside from Tsunade-sama, and we wouldn't risk losing another comrade like what happened with Sasuke"

"So the wedding will be in half a year, that should give us more time to find out about the set-up, the guards stationed at what post, since this is a very important event, and who will be attending." Neji added. "We'd risk too much if the other kages or any village leaders are to attend too"

"I-I doubt th-that, Neji-nii-san..." Hinata twiddled her fingers. "B-bec-ause I-iwa-gakure isn't in g-good terms with us, as w-well as A-meg-akure and Ku-sagakure. B-but w-we can g-get G-aara-san to h-help us..."

"Of course! We have Gaara on our side, ne?" Kiba gave a toothy grin. "And I'm pretty sure Oto no longer has a leader ever since Sasuke killed the snake-man."

"I'll contact Temari and tell her to have a meeting with us in two weeks" Shikamaru stated. "I guess we're done for today. Remember, lay low. And don't make a scene, especially you, Naruto."

Everyone nodded in understanding and hopped off to their respective homes.

As Sasuke hopped to the roofs to the house he shared with Sakura, he thought about what could happen if they didn't stop the wedding in time, or if they mess it up. His hands tightened into a fist. There is no way he'd give Sakura up to any man, even if he was a very powerful one. 'Hn. He may have many ninja's to his aid, but I am much stronger than them. I wasn't known to be a former dangerous s-class criminal for nothing.' Sasuke smirked. 'Just you wait, Takahashi. You'll pay for stealing my girl'

A mysterious hooded man appeared beside Ryuu as he was watching everyone else leave the streets, returning to what they were previously doing before the announcement was made. Among the crowd was his fiancée, who was accompanied by the Hokage. Luckily for the both of them, they are in a private, secluded place and no one will be able to hear what their conversation is.

"You have done a good job. No one, not even Tsunade, suspected a thing." the man emitted a malicious laugh. "Soon, Konoha will let their guard down around us. Thinking that they have successfully made peace with us. Until then, we wait for the right time to attack."

"Yes, master." Ryuu bowed in respect. "But I'll still have Sakura-san, right?"

"Of course, she will be a great addition to us. Her medical skills have far surpassed her mentor's, and she could heal our army when we finally attack. But we have to get her on our side, she is still quite unsure about her decision... Make her trust you, when she finally does, give her this," he handed him a small vial of thick red ooze that can be mistaken as blood. "This antidote will make her think that she is one of us. She won't remember anyone in Konoha. That way, she'll pledge her loyalty only to us."

"As you wish, Master. But she will not be hurt, you have promise that"

"You have my word, Takahashi." Crimson eyes stared back at dark blue ones. "I will not lay a single finger on her, for I am only after the downfall of this village. If this fails, I will no longer provide you any services."

The mysterious man started walking to the door. "And Takahashi?"

"Hai,"

"Keep your eyes out for Uchiha Sasuke. I believe he is very interested in Sakura. Keep her away from him, though your cherry blossom is already doing a good job on that, you still have to make sure that Sasuke never gets a chance to talk to her. But don't make him be suspicious of you, think before you act. Until then, Takahashi," and the man disappeared in a puff of dark smoke.

Sasuke arrived to find a rather empty house, besides some of the pictures and photo albums placed under the coffee table, Sakura's personal belongings are gone, as well as all the other items in her bedroom. All that was left was the bed but the sheets are gone, the end tables and her empty wardrobe. A note was also placed on top of the mattress which was addressed to him.

Sasuke,

If you are wondering why all of Sakura's things are gone, I had her move in with me until her wedding. The house will be fully yours, I insisted that she leave some of her photos for you and the others to look at anytime, inside them are pictures of team seven and some more with you in it. Don't bother visiting here, because she doesn't want to see anybody.

ーTsunade

Sasuke sighed in frustration. 'There's nothing I can do about this... For now...'

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"Thanks for helping me unpack, Tsunade-shishou." the rosette gave her a heart-warming smile.

"Sakura, haven't I told you a lot of times that I'm not your master anymore," Tsunade smiled back. "You've already surpassed me,"

"I know, but it's a force of habit." Sakura smiled sheepishly, "I've trained under you for almost six and a half years, and I still think you're much better than me!"

"Oh, don't be too modest, Sakura. Everyone knows that you're already stronger than me now."

"Okay, Tsunade-shishーerr... sama. But since the wedding is until six months and I can't work at the hospital or do missions, can I at least train a genin team? But only temporary, because I'll be leaving after the six months are up."

"Very well, Sakura. You can sit in for Ebisu in the mean time. He has gotten a coma from their last mission, but we don't know how long he'll be in that state. I'll keep their missions with you limited. Other missions will be led by Iruka, you'll be training them more than do missions with them. You'll meet with Ebisu's team tomorrow at the Academy at six, so you should go have you rest."

"Hai!"

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Sakura was on her way to the Academy to meet Ebisu's team. 'I hope they're someone I know, because it would be too troublesome to introduce myself...' Shikamaru really had an influence on her. But she stopped her thoughts because she knew it would lead back to her friends.

"Sakura-neechan!" 'I know that voice!' Sakura thought.

"Konohamaru! Moegi and Udon!" Sakura walked towards the young genin's direction. "What are you guys doing here? Are you waiting for your sensei?"

"Ebisu-sensei is at the hospital. Hokage-sama told us that we would be waiting for our substitute sensei. What brings you here, Sakura-nee?"

'So they are Ebisu-san's students...' Sakura thought. 'At least I know them! Thank you Kami-sama!' "So shishou didn't tell you who your substitute is, huh?"

"What do you mean by that, Sakura-nee?" the three looked very confused at the said kunoichi's question.

"Well, today is your lucky day, kids!" Sakura said smiling. "Because I'll be replacing Ebisu-san for a while."

"Really?" Konohamaru was dumbfounded. He held a sort of admiration for the kunoichi and he really looked up to her and he also had a little crush on her. So to make it short, he was very happy that Sakura was going to be their temporary sensei instead of anyone else.

Although he really wanted Naruto to be their replacement, his idol didn't seem to be in his usual state at the moment and as much as he wanted to ask the blond why he is in that condition, he remember his grandfather constantly telling him to never pry on someone else's business and he loved his grandfather too much to not follow his words.

Moegi is happy as well. She looked up to Sakura as an amazing medic nin and she aspire to become just like her. She has many things to ask her and she wanted to be her apprentice. That was her dream, but its really sad that it will only be short-lived because Sakura is getting married in half a year from now, so she wanted to learn as much from her as possible. She isn't going to waste the whole six months that they're going to spend with her.

Udon was blushing as well. He was also glad that Sakura will be their sensei for half a year. But he also feel a little awkward. He didn't know if he could really focus on training because he has a huge crush on Sakura. But he knows that Konohamaru and Moegi are going to help him focus. Because teammates help each other out, that is what Naruto would often tell them.

"Let's start with the basic tree-climbing technique! Let's go to the training field."

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That evening, Sakura was very happy. Konohamaru, being just like Naruto, asked the point of climbing trees if they're ninjas. So she as so kindly showed them what tree climbing she is talking about, since she knows Ebisu hasn't taught them that yet cause they have only done some simple D rank missions which didn't really require the use of chakra.

In the end, Moegi was the one who got to the tree top first. Konohamaru following not long after and Udon being last.

"Had fun with the team?" Sakura didn't need to turn around to know was talking to her.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. But why didn't you tell me yesterday that they'd be my temporary team?"

The older woman smiled sincerely. "I wanted it to be a surprise, since I know you're fond of those three and they look up to you. So I figured that they'd listen more to you than with anyone else."

"They sure were!" Sakura let out a light chuckle and sighed contentedly. "I'm sure going to miss them."

Tsunade knew where her thoughts would lead to and she doesn't want to experience another drama. She wanted her former student to be happy before she leave. "Sakura, you should probably head to bed now. You have another training session with your team tomorrow."

"I guess you're right. They really got my energy drained out of me" Sakura stifled a yawn. "Good night, Tsunade-sama,"

"Sleep well, Sakura. As for me, I still have these paperworks to be done..." Tsunade emitted a groan. The thought of work at home really didn't go well with her. "And tell Shizune to bring me more sake on your way."

"Sure thing!" Sakura gave a chuckle before heading to the stairs.

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As much as Sasuke wanted to repaint the walls of the living room, he doesn't have a choice because aside from the photo albums she left behind, the hand painted designs on the walls were also a reminder of his pink haired teammate.

'At least Naruto or anyone else aren't in the mood to tease me about this...' Sasuke sighed heavily. 'But even though I like his quiet state right now, I'd rather see him back to being his idiot self,'

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"Alright, guys! Today, you're going to learn how to walk on water using your chakra!" Sakura said, rather enthusiastically.

The three genins sweatdropped, "Uhh... Sakura-sensei, you sound like... Gai-sensei..."

"Don't be silly, you three, I wouldn't sound anything like him!" 'That man is a wierdo, along with his student who keeps on idolizing him...' Sakura added to herself. "Let's go, kids! We're wasting daylight!"

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"I swear, I'm really going to retire soon. These paperworks aren't worth staying up all night." Tsunade murmured scribbling rather hard on the poor, thin piece of paper. "As soon as I finally convince those damn elders that Naruto is more than ready to take over..."

"TSUNADE-SAMA!"

"Shizune... Not so loud..." the elder woman groaned, "I still have a hang over from too much sake last night... Now what is it?"

"Gomen, Tsunade-sama. But we have a critically injured ANBU member that's rushed to the ER just now."

"What's the patient's status?"

"All ribs are broken, several organs are damaged causing internal bleeding and the nurses also checked his blood vessels, apparently, the patient had been poisoned by some unknown substance. They need your assistance in making an antidote for the poison."

"Get me Sakura right away!" 'At least this is much better than paperwork...'

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Sakura came as soon as Shizune came to her herself, she didn't bother in changing her clothes as she was wearing a white tank top and short blue shorts. She proceeded to take her lab coat, buttoning it up and tied her hair in a bun then transporting into the hospital not wasting anymore time.

Tsunade was already barking orders to the medics when they arrived. Not waiting for her busty mentor to give her orders, Sakura proceeded to take the poison out of his system using water like she did with Kankuro years ago. Sakura nodded to the other medics around the patient to start the healing while she remove the poison out of his body along with Tsunade and Shizune.

After six hours inside the ER, the patient was finally stable and ready to be moved to a private room where the nurses could continue his treatment. The poison wasn't fully removed but the amount left in his body wasn't as deadly as it was before being rushed to the hospital. All the medics who assisted were drained and exhausted, but not nearing chakra depletion. Tsunade and Sakura took most of the toll, but they're already used to the state of near chakra loss to even worry about it.

Their main focus was to determine what kind of poison was injected in the ANBU's body and why was he the one targeted. Shizune came into the room to assist after moving the patient to the private room.

"What do you think happened to him, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade bit her thumb, a habit since she was a kid. "I have no idea.." just the fact that she very much uncertain in this situation gnawed at her insides. She hated being unsure about a situation. She is the Godaime Hokage, dammit! And a hokage must never be unsure of any situation.

The older apprentice looked to her sister apprentice and their teacher. "I have some information about the patient that may help with the case, even if just a little." Sakura and Tsunade turned to the black haired kunoichi, waiting to continue her sentence. "The medics who found the patient told me that he was at least two days in that state. He was barely conscious when he was found. If he hadn't flicked his chakra, we don't know what would have happened then."

"I see, so he was already poisoned for two days..." Tsunade pondered for a moment.

Sakura looked up. A certain information dawned on her, "Tsunade-sama, when I was taking the poison out of his system... The poison looked oddly familiar... But it couldn't be..."

"What are you talking about?"

"The properties the poison possessed were exactly the same as the poison that Sasori of the red sand used before, though there had been some minor modifications to it. I know that Chiyo-sama and I already defeated him, but I am really sure that it's the very same one."

"Are you sure about that, Sakura?"

"Positive. Only two people knew how to make that poison, and that two people is Sasori and I," Sakura turned to Shizune. "Did the ANBU say something before he passed out? Or any clues to whoever did it?"

Shizune shook her head. "I'll ask the medics who found him."

"You still know how to make the antidote, right?" Tsunade looked at her younger apprentice.

Sakura nodded. "I'll be taking a sample of the poison and see if my antidote can neutralize it. I have kept the remaining poison I took out from Kankuro from before. I'm going to compare both samples to see if my suspicions are correct."

"You'll be reporting to me if there's any changes, and Shizune," she turned to her older apprentice. "Report to me immediately once you've questioned the medics."

"Hai" both girls said in unison.

"Very well, you are both dismissed."

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"Tenten-san?"

"Hm?"

"D-do you th-think Ino-chan will be a-alright? I'm worried a-bout Naruto-kun, too..."

"Don't worry about her!" Tenten assured the younger kunoichi. "She'll be dragging us to the mall once this is all over. Even Naruto will be back to himself, I promise."

"I-I hope s-so... I don't w-want to lose S-sakura-chan as w-well..."

"Yeah, me too."

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"Hey, Naruto! Aren't you going to order another bowl?"

"I don't feel like eating another one, Teuchi-san... Sorry."

The owner of the ramen stand looked at his number one customer. It was unusual for him see the boy like this. The last time he saw him like that was when he found out that his mentor, Jiraiya, was dead. Teuchi's daughter, Ayame was worried about Naruto as well.

"Is there something bothering you, Naruto-kun?"

"No, it's nothing, Ayame-chan. Really." Naruto gave her a small smile before heading back to his apartment.

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Shikamaru was resting underneath a large tree within the training grounds, cigarette between the lips and on one hand is a very familiar knuckle blade belonging to his deceased sensei.

"What are you doing here all alone?"

Shikamaru turned to the person and smirked, "I could ask you the same thing."

Neji turned the other way. "Training got cancelled. Tenten went out with Hinata, and I don't want to be stuck with a wailing Lee."

His companion snorted, "You know, you should really be used to your teammates by now." Neji positioned himself under a tree just in front of Shikamaru.

"I'm perfectly fine with Tenten. It's Lee and Gai-sensei that's really annoying." Shikamaru chuckled.

"Figures. Have you ever thought of of her as more than a team—"

A bark was heard from a distance. "YO! Shikamaru, Neji! Mind if Akamaru, Shino and I join you?"

Shikamaru muttered 'troublesome' that only Neji can hear, while the other male shrugged signaling that both didn't mind the company.

After a full five minutes of silence, a dark figure jumped down from the trees.

Kiba, who had been feeling quite uncomfortable with the silence, made a comment on the new comer. "Look who decided to show up." The other males just nodded their heads to the added company.

The new comer grunted. "Hn. I thought I'd be alone here, I guess I was wrong." Talking more to himself than to the others.

Instead of leaving, as the guys had thought the Uchiha would do, he had positioned himself under one of the trees surrounding the entire training field. Of course, keeping a few meters of distance away from the other shinobi.

The males of Rookie 9 and Team Gai never really hung out, only when they were dragged by the females of their teams. Kiba and Naruto would hang out sometimes, but they would only bicker at each other to which the other males would roll their eyes on. Besides Lee of course, he would even encourage their 'youthful exchange' as he had put it.

The once silent field soon filled with chattering, mostly coming from Kiba who was talking animatedly to his dog Akamaru. Already used to the sight, since the academy days, the other four shinobi decided to stay silent. Shino had sat up on a branch of the tree where Shikamaru and Neji were sitting under.

Shikamaru thought that they should keep the silence, since Kiba's chattering wasn't nearly as annoying –or troublesome, in his case– as him and Naruto combined, for it was relaxing somehow and opted to just lay back, and watch the clouds like he normally does, maybe even fall asleep too.

Kiba looked at the other males and sighed. The four of them were used to silence and being silent that he wondered, not for the first time, if they were all some sort of brothers or closely-related to each other. Unlike them, he wasn't used to not talking with anyone, but since he knew the rest of his companions never liked talking, he decided to talk to his canine companion instead and silently wished that Naruto or even Lee would come to break the awkward –for him, that is– silence. He knew the former won't be happening soon, for the said blond still wasn't completely himself. At least Shikamaru occasionally made an effort to communicate, Sasuke and Neji were too intimidating to initiate a conversation with –he was slightly afraid of the two prodigies, but he would never admit that out loud– and Shino preferred socializing with his bugs instead, like he always did even when he was with their team –their sensei often attend to their female teammate's aid, while Kiba and Akamaru were often felt left out.

Sighing once more, he turned to his canine companion. "Akamaru, you wanna grab something to eat?" The dog only barked with glee. "Let's go, boy!"

Turning back to the four other males, he decided to let them know that was departing from what ever this gathering could be called. "Hey guys! Akamaru and I are going get some food. We won't be back, though. So, see ya!" with that, Kiba climbed onto the dog and setting off to their destination.

The remaining shinobi only shrugged, not at all inclined to answer to the brunette's sudden departure. Shikamaru having slept for a while now while a certain Hyuuga prodigy felt he was drifting close to slumber as well. The remaining Uchiha had busied himself with sharpening and cleaning his beloved kusanagi which he always brought with him, even off duty.

The last Uchiha thought that maybe it's a good change to try and spend some time with his comrades –at least, that's what he thinks of them. He doesn't know what he is to them. Talking is out of the question, though. He was just glad that he's spending this time with shinobi his age who appreciated silence more than anything else. That way, he wouldn't be forced to talk when he never really needed to. He just prayed to Kami-sama that everything would turn back to the way it was, and soon.

"Tsunade-sama, I have received a mission report from one of the medic-nins who found the ANBU. I've also checked his file. The patient is identified as Nagasawa Hiroshima, a member of ANBU Black Ops and apparently a close friend of Morino Ibiki-san." Shizune entered the Hokage's office carrying a stack of files.

"I see, any other information on the patient?" It seemed that Tsunade had already finished more than half of the papers that used to pile on her desk from the previous day. But with the new investigation being started, she needed the aid of her sake more than ever for nothing stressed her more than a new mystery being put into her hands. As if running a whole village isn't enough!

"Nothing significant, Tsunade-sama. Only that he's done multiple S-ranked missions and a couple of A-ranked as well. He has done a couple of missions with Ibiki-san in the past." Shizune handed the file, having read it a couple of hours before. Taking the mission report, the older apprentice narrated it's contents to her mentor. "As for the mission report, the medic-nins who've found Hiroshima-san were sent to gather medicinal herbs when they have encountered his body. According to the report, they found his body approximately on the north-west side of the forest of death, just a few meters from where they gathered the herbs. They've suspected that his body wasn't attacked on the spot for they've found Hiroshima-san's blood trails. What doesn't make sense is that the blood trail doesn't lead to anywhere and there weren't any signs that a battle took place, not even a footprint of some sort."

"This is getting us nowhere. We still have to wait for Sakura's confirmation. What is Hiroshima's status by the way?"

"He's recuperating fine, Tsunade-sama. But the remaining poison in his system still needs to be treated. Until Sakura-chan could come up with the antidote, the nurses are treating him every three hours to prevent the poison from spreading throughout his body. His family came in just this morning once they have been informed of the situation. But we never debriefed them about how Hiroshima-san was poisoned and what the cause could have been."

"Good. We shouldn't get anyone involved in this. This will stay as a private investigation as long as we've made sure that possible threats to the village are confirmed." Tsunade took a new bottle of sake. She didn't bother pouring the contents into the glass but proceeded to chug it down directly from the bottle. Should the elders find out about this, she'll get a good amount of reprimanding. Those old farts always thought they had the best intention for the village, but they just couldn't accept the fact that their time had already passed too long ago. In fact, it was those two particular elders who meddled with the business of creating an alliance with Kumogakure through the marriage between the Godaime Hokage's apprentice and the young Raikage.

She would have told that to her protégé but refrained from doing so in fear that her student might do something rash and possibly getting into the elders' bad side. Her student's temper rivaled hers and she would have been proud if the situation wasn't all that serious.

"I assume the family are all civilians?"

"Hai. Should I call Ibiki-san for more information on Hiroshima-san?"

The blonde nodded and took another swig of sake. "Call in some of the medic-nins who found Hiroshima as well."

Just as Shizune poofed out of the room, Sakura came rushing through the door. "Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade's head quickly turned up to face her apprentice. "Do you have the results?"

"Hai. Both poisons were a match. The only difference was that the recent one had been stronger than before." Sakura gave the results to her mentor. "I've already gone to the hospital on the way here. I made a new antidote for it just this morning. I only doubled the amount of herbs I used before."

"So you've already injected the antidote, am I correct?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. I've stayed a little longer to make sure that the poison is completely removed from his system."

"Good. Shizune informed me of the patient's identity and other personal information. I'll have her give you a copy of those files. For now, this will be a private investigation only known by four of us."

"Who's the fourth person, Tsunade-sama?"

"Morino Ibiki. Once Shizune informs him of the situation, his interrogation expertise will be useful. In the meantime, we talk about this to no one. Am I understood."

"Hai."

"You may go."

TBC...

OHH. Who was that mysterious man talking with Ryuu? ;D

I've decided to add a lot of seriousness in this fic. Since it really needed it, and sorry if it was too much drama for you guys. No offense for Rock Lee and Gai fans. I find them cute and funny at times but their blabbering about youth is just a bit too much, don't you think?

Reviews are appreciated. And I'm very sorry for the update taking too long... I hate myself. :P