Chapter Text
Shisui and Itachi Uchiha were two of the most formidable ninja in Konoha—perhaps even the entirety of the Shinobi world. This was common knowledge to everyone, from the highest-ranking Jonin to the gossiping women in tea shops and—most frequently—the training grounds of the Academy, where every promising young ninja idolized them.
With their striking features, extraordinary powers, battlefield prowess, and enigmatic personalities, they captured the attention of everyone they encountered.
Sakura Haruno was no exception.
She had known of them for most of her life. Both had risen quickly through the Leaf Village’s shinobi ranks, propelled by a rare combination of intellect, discipline, and the power of the Sharingan.
Her awareness of Itachi came first, rooted in the innocent beginnings of a schoolgirl crush on his younger brother—Sasuke—who would later become her teammate.
Sakura’s earliest impressions of Itachi were fragmented, formed through the awe-struck whispers of classmates, the fleeting sight of him collecting Sasuke from the Academy gates, or the time he gave a genjutsu demonstration to a crowd of wide-eyed students.
She remembered the way Sasuke spoke of him. Sometimes with reverence, other times with simmering resentment. The boy wanted to surpass his brother, to earn his place out from under Itachi’s shadow.
Once she was placed on Team 7 with Sasuke, Sakura began to have the occasional interaction with the elder Uchiha. After their return from the Land of Waves, Itachi had thanked her personally, having learned from Kakashi of her efforts to protect his brother when he’d been injured. It was a brief exchange, but unforgettable. There was something about the calm in his voice that stayed with her.
There were other moments too.
Bumping shoulders with him at Sasuke’s fourteenth birthday when Naruto barreled into her, chasing after a brooding Sasuke or seeing him reclined on a hospital bed when she'd been shadowing Lady Tsunade. Poison spreading slowly through his veins from a mission gone wrong. Sakura had helped administer the antidote. He nodded to her in acknowledgement, as she cleaned the wound.
She hadn’t paid him much attention at the time. Not in the way other girls of the village did. He had simply been Sasuke’s brother, a good shinobi…and nothing more.
That changed when she was sixteen.
It happened on a dull afternoon, during one of her rotations in the Hokage’s office. Sakura stood silently off to the side while Lady Tsunade debriefed Itachi after he had returned from a routine surveillance mission. The clouds had hung low over the village that day, blanketing the Hokage Tower in a soft gray dimness until—quite suddenly—the clouds broke. Sunlight poured in through the windows, warm and golden…falling directly across Itachi’s face.
She hadn’t meant to look. Had been trying to stay focused on the reports being exchanged…but something about the way the light struck him made her breath hitch.
Until then, she’d never really seen him. Not like that. Not the way his long lashes dance across high cheekbones, or how the faint scar beneath his left eye curved downward like a brushstroke. The subtle beauty that made him striking.
She had met his mother—Mikoto—a handful of times and recognized that Itachi had inherited her delicate bone structure, just as Sasuke had.
But his expression—measured, articulate, unreadable—was all Fugaku.
In that moment, Sakura began to understand what so many others found so compelling about the man. It wasn’t just his power; it was the restraint with which he carried it.
Shisui Uchiha was a different story regarding Sakura’s encounters with him…because they were none.
Or, at least, none where he’d been conscious.
She’d heard his name, of course. Who hadn’t? Shisui of the Body Flicker. The whisper of his name alone was enough to send enemy forces into retreat. A shinobi with a Flee-on-Sight order stamped across his bingo book profile.
She had known of his exploits much the same way she learned about Itachi's.
Through the village gossip.
The pair were attached at the hip after all. An epic duo often paired together on missions due to their efficient teamwork and reputation for taking down S-ranked criminals. Sakura had also heard of their close friendship, even learning they were cousins and that Shisui had mentored Itachi for years.
His reputation preceded him. Charismatic. Playful. Unorthodox. And, according to the more scandalous gossip circulating the Jonin lounge, a bit of a womanizer.
Sakura’s best friend, Ino Yamanaka, certainly thought so.
“I’d die happy if I got stuck between those two,” she’d sighed one day over lunch, fiddling with her chopsticks as she debated which Uchiha brother was more her type. “But Shisui? Mmm. There’s just something about a man who knows how to fight and flirt.”
Sakura had rolled her eyes, pretending to ignore her. But truthfully, she had been a little curious.
The first time she ever saw the mysterious man in person, she was seventeen….and he was barely clinging to life.
It had been the middle of the night. Shisui had been brought into the hospital unconscious, his body a map of blood, broken ribs, and torn skin. A deep gash across his abdomen had nearly split him open, and poison from a rare foreign compound had already begun to shut down his body. The medics were overwhelmed.
Sakura had taken over his care.
It was strange, seeing someone so legendary laying in a hospital bed like any other man. Pale, bruised, and hooked up to multiple IV’s. Curiosity to know who—or what—had caused such damage to one so skilled fueled her working days as she oversaw his recovery.
Sakura had hovered impatiently by his side for days, checking vitals, changing bandages, muttering small encouragements under her breath as if he could hear. Hoping she may get the answers to her questions one day.
Shisui remained in a coma for nearly a month. She monitored every stage of his recovery. And yet, the day he finally woke up, she wasn’t there.
Team 7 had been sent on a two-week mission deep into the Land of Fire. By the time she returned, he was already gone. Discharged by Shizune a few days after regaining consciousness.
She had walked into the hospital the next morning after her return only to learn of his departure. The disappointment had stung. A lot. Unreasonably so. She’d stood at her desk for a long moment, fingers still curled around a pen, before letting out a slow sigh and getting back to her paperwork that had piled up in her absence.
He had come and gone like the wind, and she’d never even got to say hello.
But the mystery lingered in her mind.
She wondered what kind of enemy could injure a man like that. Wondered what it had taken to bring down someone who could strike and vanish in a blink before the body even hit the ground. Wondered what his voice sounded like. If he smiled when he talked…
The answers wouldn’t come for another two years.
Life continued. Missions. Friendships. Long shifts at the hospital. Occasional sparring sessions with Team 7. Research assignments under Tsunade’s supervision. And for a brief, misguided month…knitting.
Hinata had shown her the basics, and she’d made a few tea cozies and socks before wanting to shove her head through a wall. The predictability of the craft nearly drove her insane. Looking over a pair of half-knit gloves made her realize she missed the chaos of the emergency room. Which is something Sakura never thought she would find herself saying.
It was only a few months before her twentieth birthday that everything changed.
She received a summons in the early hours of the morning. A high-level briefing. Classified assignment. Tsunade’s familiar handwriting was scrawled across the pages.
The mission would alter the course of her life, forever.
Sakura Haruno—Jonin, medic-nin, and apprentice to the Fifth Hokage—walked the ever-familiar halls of the Hokage’s Tower with practiced ease. Her boots struck softly against the wooden floors; her strides measured. She passed under the towering banners of the founding clans. Each tapestry hung like a silent sentinel, bearing witness to the village’s legacy.
Old photographs and commemorative plaques lined the walls, immortalizing generations of heroes. Hashirama Senju’s craftsmanship still held strong in the grain of the wood beneath her feet, a reminder that peace, no matter how long ago it was born, was always forged through power.
She came to a halt in front of the Hokage’s office door, where two masked ANBU she knew as Crane and Beetle, stood on either side like immovable statues. Sakura nodded to them in greeting, receiving a small dip of their heads in return. From behind the heavy wooden door came the unmistakable sound of Lady Tsunade’s voice. Harsh, raised, and unmistakably pissed.
Sakura sighed and leaned back against the opposite wall, crossing her arms. She was used to this. As Tsunade’s apprentice, she had a certain level of access, yes, but it only went so far. Whoever was in there now outranked her in priority, and protocol was still protocol.
Her thoughts drifted.
Had she filed that last batch of reports before being summoned? She was pretty sure she had—right after finishing inventory in the east wing. She’d slid the stack into the cabinet near the—
The office door swung open abruptly, and Sakura snapped to attention. Emerging from the room was none other than Danzo Shimura. Dressed in his standard black and gray robes, his right arm remained hidden beneath thick bandages, and his eye—his only visible eye—fixed on her coldly.
It wasn’t a look of interest. More like contempt. The way one might glance at a bug they were debating whether or not to squash.
Sakura held his gaze, her jaw tight, but said nothing. Danzo gave a scoff under his breath and turned on his heel, his cane tapping with each step as he disappeared down the corridor.
“Sakura, get in here!” Tsunade’s voice barked through the open doorway, loud enough that Sakura wouldn’t have been surprised if it rattled the frame.
Sakura quickly stepped inside and shut the door behind her, crossing the room and slipping into one of the rigid chairs across from the Hokage’s desk. The tension in the room was thick, like an electrical charge before a storm.
She arched a brow, wearily curious. “What was his problem?”
Tsunade, who was seated behind a clutter of open scrolls and an already half-empty sake glass, massaged her temples with an air of pure frustration.
“You.”
“…Me?” Sakura asked, caught off guard.
“Yes, you,” Tsunade said flatly, not even looking up. “You and your—how did he put it….inadequacies.”
Sakura blinked. “What?”
Tsunade finally looked her square in the eye, her gaze stormy. “Danzo just spent the last thirty minutes trying to convince me to pull you from the mission. Wanted to replace you with his own operatives.”
“What- why?” Sakura demanded, sitting up straighter.
“Claims you don’t have enough field experience to justify your role. Said you’re too green for the level of discretion this mission demands. That he doesn’t trust your judgment.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sakura snapped. “I’ve led over fifty missions, A and S-ranks, handled frontline trauma under fire, and I have the Hundred Healings Seal! How does that not qualify me?”
Tsunade let out a dark laugh and slammed her fist down on the desk—hard enough to send one of the empty sake bottles she had already finished, wobbling close to the edge. The wood groaned under the impact, a crack forming across its lacquered surface.
“Trust me,” Tsunade growled, “I know that. You’re my best medic, and one of the only people I’d send on this mission in the first place. But Danzo doesn’t care about competence, he cares about control. And right now, he wants his claws in this operation.”
Sakura frowned, gaze drifting toward the window where Tsunade now stood, arms folded, staring out at the rooftops of Konoha with narrowed eyes.
“Why?” she asked. “What does he want so badly?”
Tsunade’s shoulders stiffened. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Silence settled between them. Outside, the distant sound of wind rustling through trees hummed softly through the open window. Sakura’s eyes flicked to the brown folder on the desk. Thick, sealed, and unmarked save for a red wax insignia of the Leaf Village burned into the flap.
She reached out and pulled it toward her.
MISSION FILE
CONFIDENTIAL – FOR AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
Hokage's Office, Hidden Leaf Village
Mission #: 602890-QL
Classification: Top Secret
Rank: S
Type: Intelligence Gathering & Threat Assessment
Assigned Personnel:
- Captain [REDACTED] — ANBU Black Ops, Codename [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED] — ANBU Black Ops, Codename [REDACTED]
- Medic [REDACTED] — ANBU Black Ops, Codename [REDACTED]
- [REDACTED] — ANBU Black Ops, Codename [REDACTED]
Mission Objective:
To retrieve classified intelligence concerning the movements and operations of the [REDACTED], a rogue organization operating beyond the Land of Fire’s borders.
Primary Priorities Include:
- Identification and confirmation of all known and suspected bases of operation
- Interception and documentation of black-market activity and funding trails
- Positive identification of key organization members and known affiliates
- Extraction of any information or intelligence the targets may possess pertaining to the [REDACTED]
Secondary Protocol:
Any evidence or whisper of intelligence involving the Hidden Leaf Village, its affiliated shinobi, or political partners must be reported immediately and directly to the office of the Hokage. Even minor or seemingly irrelevant details must be documented and delivered without delay.
Operational Guidelines:
- This mission is covert. No insignia, clan identifiers, or traceable chakra patterns are to be used in the field.
- All team members are to operate under false identities with scrubbed chakra signatures.
- All communication will be handled through secured, pre-designated relay points only.
Engagement Protocol:
Under no circumstances are personnel to initiate or accept combat with enemy targets. This mission is surveillance only. Discovery or engagement will compromise not only the mission but ongoing intelligence operations. If cornered, evade, eliminate with lethal force, or fall back to fallback Point Crystal Flower-J200.
Authorization:
Signed and sealed by Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju
X 𝒯𝓈𝓊𝓃𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝒮𝑒𝓃𝒿𝓊
Date: [REDACTED]
Sakura’s mind raced, heart thudding steadily against her ribs as her eyes scanned the top of the first document.
S-Ranked Mission.
That part, at least, wasn’t new. She’d completed several by now—brutal, bloody things that stretched her resolve and chakra reserves to the limit. Missions where the chance of returning home whole—physically or mentally—was never guaranteed.
Still, she reminded herself, you’ve done this before.
She had helped take down Sasori of the Red Sand without the Hundred Healings mark. She was stronger now. More experienced. The mark pulsing faintly on the center of her forehead as it constantly funneled portions of her chakra into it, was proof of that.
Even so, her fingers twitched slightly against the edges of the parchment. This wasn’t just any S-rank. It was an ANBU-level operation.
And those were never assigned lightly.
Her stomach turned.
ANBU squads were dispatched for missions where failure wasn’t an option. Where death was more common than successful intel reports and clean exits. For Tsunade to override Danzo and choose her, of all people, to pick up their trail…
Something had gone terribly wrong.
She peered back down at the document. Page after page of redacted names, blurred mission codes, and redacted affiliations. The information was gutted—sterile, cold, scrubbed of any real substance. She was going in half-blind.
A chill rippled down her spine.
Her eyes skimmed again across the mission objectives: infiltration, black-market surveillance, finding sensitive intel. Vague, yet critical.
What organization could demand this level of secrecy?
Her mind began sorting through possibilities.
It likely wasn’t the Grey Hornets. They had been mostly eradicated the year prior, after their leadership collapsed under internal strife. Orochimaru had long since severed his ties with their remnants once their human trafficking ring had been dismantled. With their influence broken and their networks reduced to petty in-fighting, they no longer posed a threat worthy of ANBU attention.
Necrosis, maybe?
The name surfaced uneasily in her mind.
A sprawling, necrotic cancer of an organization that had emerged in whispers across the Great Nations. Known for trafficking illegal body parts, and the production of synthetic chakra suppressants known as Chakra Disruptors. They were looters, grave robbers, and alchemists of pain. Sakura remembered the Jonin chattering just months ago. Rumors of Necrosis threatening to desecrate the Hyuga clan’s tombs, attempting to harvest Byakugan for the black market.
They were the very reason cremation had seen such a drastic rise in Konoha in recent years.
Still…
Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, eyes narrowing. Even Necrosis wouldn’t warrant this many redactions. They were dangerous, yes, but not to this level. If it had been them, the document would say so plainly, if only as a warning to proceed with caution.
Her eyes drifted once more to the final line at the bottom of the mission brief.
Under no circumstances are personnel to initiate or accept combat with enemy targets.
A warning that clear—and that final—meant only one thing.
Her throat tightened. A cold weight settled in her chest.
There was only one organization dangerous enough to inspire that level of dread. One whose very name had become a whispered curse during her early years as a Genin. One she hadn’t heard mentioned in over four years, not since their numbers had seemingly disappeared like smoke on the wind.
The Akatsuki.
She flipped through the remaining pages of the folder with urgency, breath caught somewhere between her ribs.
Confidential Mission Log
Mission #602890-QL
Status: Ongoing
Classification: S-Rank
Compiled Reports from Squad [REDACTED]
Report: 03/23
Captain [REDACTED] reports their engagement with civilians in a small farming village bordering River Country, known as Chisana. When going undercover and inquiring about their ‘companions’ they had lost after a supposed freak storm, a local barkeep with whom they spoke confirmed seeing two cloaked individuals—matching descriptions of known [REDACTED] members—passing through roughly a week prior.
The barkeep stated they had asked for a man named Yasuo, a recluse residing on the village outskirts.
Upon locating Yasuo’s residence, Squad [REDACTED] discovered his mutilated corpse suspended from the interior wall. A symbol drawn in blood was found on the floor beneath him.
Reconstruction attached: Symbol confirmed as related to the cult of Jashin.
Further search of the premises yielded no significant findings. Captain [REDACTED] concluded that the deceased had possessed knowledge known only to him—information likely that had no physical form. Squad [REDACTED] will continue their sweep along the Fire Country border. If no additional leads surface, they will proceed to rendezvous with [REDACTED] in Wind Country.
Report: 04/12
Squad [REDACTED] successfully rendezvoused with [REDACTED] in Wind Country. Progress has been limited.
[REDACTED] confirms the vast, desolate terrain of Wind has severely hindered tracking efforts. Squad [REDACTED] will assist in a grid-style reconnaissance moving forward.
Following instructions from the Hokage regarding the Jashin symbol, no confirmed link has been established between the religious cult and the [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] also confirms no direct encounters with the cult, though they have intercepted rumors of similar ritualistic killings near the Land of Hot Water during their travels.
Captain [REDACTED] proposes investigating the cult’s known territories should efforts in Wind yield no results. [REDACTED] has agreed. The combined squad will depart west from Sunagakure at first light.
Report: 05/09
Search in Wind Country revealed minimal evidence of [REDACTED] movements—until two days prior, when [REDACTED] returned with confirmation of an attack mirroring Yasuo’s from Chisana village.
An incident occurred along the border between Wind and Earth Country. In response, Captain [REDACTED] authorized a bifurcation of efforts:
- [REDACTED] will investigate the city affected by the latest attack.
- Squad [REDACTED] will proceed to the Land of Hot Water to research the cult known as the Way of Jashin.
Objective: Establish the connection, if any, between the cult and [REDACTED], and assess risks based on enemy capabilities and ideology.
Report: 05/31
Squad [REDACTED] successfully infiltrated a hidden Jashinist enclave. During the operation, squad member [REDACTED] abducted a cult preacher known to perform blood rituals associated with Jashinism.
Under interrogation by Medic [REDACTED], utilizing [REDACTED] technique, the following intelligence was extracted:
- A known [REDACTED] operative, confirmed as Hidan, is a former shinobi from the Land of Hot Water and now an S-rank missing-nin.
- His technique requires two specific conditions:
- Creation of a Jashin insignia on the ground using his own blood, which he must remain within.
- Ingestion of his victim’s blood. Upon activation, his body turns black with bone-white marking resembling a skeleton. This transformation links him to his victim, allowing any damage he sustains to be mirrored upon them.
Squad [REDACTED] has transmitted this intel to [REDACTED] stationed in Earth Country. Awaiting response.
Jashinist sect infiltrated has been neutralized. Squad [REDACTED] will continue toward the designated rendezvous.
Report: 06/08
A message has been received from [REDACTED], requesting immediate rendezvous at the outskirts of the Hidden Rain Village. According to [REDACTED], a new lead suggests the [REDACTED] may have originated within Rain following the last Shinobi War.
Due to Rain’s long-standing seclusion, Captain [REDACTED] considers this lead viable. Squad [REDACTED] has adjusted course to intercept [REDACTED] at the specified coordinates.
Report: 06/16
En route through Fire Country to Hidden Rain, Squad [REDACTED] was ambushed by [REDACTED] operatives Hidan and Kakuzu.
Intel provided by the enemies suggests the pair had been tracking the squad since their incursion into Hot Water territory—likely informed by a surviving cult member from the destroyed sect.
Casualties sustained:
- Squad Medic [REDACTED] – Killed in Action
- Squad member [REDACTED] – Killed in Action
During the engagement:
- Squad member [REDACTED] dismembered Hidan, entombing him in a makeshift grave. Attempts to kill him entirely were unsuccessful.
- Kakuzu demonstrated use of immortality via a technique involving heart extraction and preservation, encasing each heart within grotesque masked constructs controlled by tentacle-like grey tendrils.
- Each masked puppet appears to wield a unique elemental chakra nature, confirming multi-nature use.
- Captain [REDACTED] succeeded in destroying four of Kakuzu’s masked hearts, but sustained critical injuries in the process. Captain [REDACTED] later collapsed, revealing an undisclosed pre-existing condition exacerbated by extensive use of chakra abilities.
With no medic present, Squad member [REDACTED] relocated the captain and themselves to a fallback position approximately 5 kilometers east of the encounter site. Current status: critical, but stable.
As such, Squad member [REDACTED] has assumed interim command and requests immediate medical assistance.
MISSION #602890-QL remains active.
Enemy status: HIGH-RISK. Known operatives possess immortality, forbidden jutsu, and multiple chakra affinities.
Engagement protocol remains: AVOID DIRECT CONFLICT IF POSSIBLE.
Sakura’s throat felt dry as she finished scanning the final report. Her hands, steady from years of surgical discipline, tightened slightly around the paper.
There was no mistaking it now.
The organization the squad had been tracking—so heavily redacted, so ruthlessly efficient, so horrifying in their tactics—was the Akatsuki.
She drew her fingertip slowly across the coordinates listed at the bottom of the last log, committing them to memory. If her mental map was right, the location lay just shy of the Fire Country border. Isolated terrain, dense forest and cliffs. It would be at least a three-day journey at standard pace. She could make it in a day and a half, maybe less, if she pushed herself hard.
But she’d arrive exhausted.
And exhaustion was a weakness she couldn’t afford to have, not when she might be walking into an encounter with immortal enemies.
What choice would she truly have, though? This mission was a ticking time bomb. The request for assistance was sent that very same day. Who knows what condition those ANBU were in! They could very well be dead already, especially if their opponents had returned. She would have to push herself and take the risk. Lives were at stake.
Tsunade’s voice cut clean through her spiraling thoughts like a scalpel.
“Do you see why I’m concerned Danzo wants his dogs sniffing around this?”
Sakura blinked hard, grounding herself back in the room. She cleared her throat.“...Yes. These are serious circumstances.”
The Hokage gave a sharp nod, the leather of her chair creaked faintly as she reclined. Her gaze was heavy, but not unkind.
“You’ve figured out who they are, haven’t you?” she asked. “I’m sending you into the aftermath of their last known sighting. There’s a real possibility one or more of the group may return to retrieve their partner—or worse, retaliate. If you don’t stabilize the wounded quickly enough, Sakura…” Her voice dipped. “There won’t be anyone left to save.”
Their eyes met. Brown and green. Mentor and apprentice. Warrior and healer.
Tsunade’s gaze flicked upward to the mark above Sakura’s brow. The purple rhombus, the sign of the Hundred Healings. A mark Tsunade herself bore. A symbol of great strength.
Sakura caught the shift and responded before her mentor could speak.
“I managed to kill one before I had this.” Her voice was steady. Confident. “Sasori of the Red Sand. And I didn’t even have the seal then.”
“With help.” Tsunade replied smoothly, a brow lifting.
Sakura’s brows furrowed. “Are you doubting me, m’lady?”
“Never.” The word landed like a stone. Firm. Undeniable.
It caught Sakura off-guard, filling her with warmth and something sharper: pride.
“Then what are you getting at here?” she asked quietly.
Tsunade exhaled heavily, rubbing her temples. “Danzo is weaving something dangerous, and I think this mission just became a part of it. I’ve had him watched more closely the past few months. He’s using the Elders. Swaying votes. Keeping tabs on certain shinobi—including you.”
Sakura gestured at the mission documents, her jaw clenched as she flipped through the pages again, piecing it all together. “All those redactions? Him.”
Tsunade gave a curt and tired nod, a pitcher in hand as she filled her sake glass once more.
“Why?” Sakura asked, blatant frustration etching itself onto her fine features. “What does he gain from keeping me in the dark?”
“I’ve no definitive answer. He is good at covering his deceptions. He told the council it was for your protection. That ‘too much sensitive intel’ exposed might compromise the mission. ‘Better safe than sorry,’ ” Tsunade spat the phrase like it tasted foul. “And, of course, he insisted on sending two of his most loyal dogs along as your escorts. Claimed it was to ensure mission success. I suspect if I had refused, they’d have followed you anyway.”
Sakura frowned deeply. That was going to be a problem.
It was already hard enough working under high-stakes pressure…add two surveillance-happy Root operatives with loyalty only to Danzo, and this mission just became a minefield.
She almost muttered something about how punching them might be a justified occupational hazard but—wisely—bit her tongue.
“Be careful,” Tsunade warned, her voice low now, all steel and no sake. “They’ll report back everything. If you get the chance, inform the other two Anbu on your squad of Danzo’s involvement, subtly. I don’t think they trust him either, and if things go south, you’ll need allies.”
Sakura nodded. Her spine straightened with renewed resolve as she rose to her feet and bowed low.
“Here.” Tsunade held out a fresh document, sealed and marked. “Your full parameters. Departure is immediate. Your escorts will meet you at the village gates in twenty minutes.”
Sakura took the scroll with a firm grip, their eyes meeting once more.
Tsunade’s gaze was tired, her legendary strength weathered by politics more than war, but beneath it still raged a fierce fire. One that had forged Sakura into the kunoichi she was today.
Sakura responded with the only thing she could: a look of unwavering determination.
Without another word, she pivoted on her heel and strode toward the door, mission scroll in hand.