6 years. 6 years since she had seen her so called team. 6 years since she was abandoned without even a second thought from the boys. She still remembered the day she awoke to a note on the pillow next to her head.

Flashback

Sakura,

Jiraiya and I are taking Sasuke and Naruto for some much needed training. Not sure when we will be back. Keep going over the basics and you will be fine.

Kakashi

At first she was angry. Angry at her team for leaving and not even letting her say good bye. After the anger came the the hurt and pain. Her team didn't thing she was strong enough or important enough to train with them. She had just lost her parents to the invasion and her team up and disappeared; she had no one to turn to. That was until she had to leave her home to find food after running out of everything her cabinets.

It was raining that day, dark clouds overhead rolling in the sky. She had forgone an umbrella and opted for a jacket with a hood. Not that it was doing much good seeing as she was getting soaked to the bone anyway. Walking along the street, the wind howled behind her knocking her to the ground. That's where he found her, and that was the day her life changed.

End of flash back

Early dawn peaked over the main gates of the village; the two guards on duty looked up to see 4 people that hadn't been seen or heard from in a very long time. As the figures approached they noticed the once small scrawny boys now had turned into fine young men. Having filled out their muscles from vigorous years of training.

"Well what do you know. Look what the cat drug in" Kotetsu mocked. As much as we would like to let you in, we are under orders to keep you here."

The silver haired man raised his one lone eyebrow, "and why would that be? We are just returning home after a very tiring mission."

"Mission my ass" Izumo muttered.

"Orders are orders, you will have to wait till your escort gets here." Kotetsu said angered that the silver hair ninja thought he still had rank.

"Well then we will wait for our welcome party to arrive then," the older white haired man tried to pacify the tension.

"Hey you gotta problem with Kakashi Sensei?" The loud mouth blond said stepping up to him.

"Yeah I got a problem with anyone that just leaves someone hangin to fend for themselves." Kotetsu spat back at the blond.

"Now wait just a minuet. What are you even talking about he didn't leave anybody."

"Not just him, all of you. You all left Sak—" Kotetsu was getting worked up, but was cut off by Anbu appearing before them.

"The hokage wishes to see all of you. Due to the fact that you left without proper permission you will be escorted into the village." The Anbu member said stepping forward.

Throwing a glare over his shoulder the Uchiha grabbed the collar, and drug him in the direction the Anbu were leading. A four man squad was sent to retrieve them two of them leading the way with the other two bringing up the rear. Any move the shinobi made would be known in an instant.

Kakashi frowned, he wasn't expecting a party to be thrown when they returned, but at least someone to be happy to see them. Even the Anbu he knew that was escorting them was giving off a slight killing intent toward him. If he search hard enough he could even feel it coming from the smaller Anbu in front. He was the smallest of the group with a cat mask. Must be a newer recruit, he thought not recognizing the persons smell.

Racing fast through the city, they reached the tower in no time. The two groups stood outside the Hokage's office, waiting for permission to enter. Nothing was said for a moment then two guards opened the doors. Walking in Jiraiya noticed two things right away, the Hokage had no sake on her desk and was extremely angry.

His former teammate stared the men up and down. "Well do you have anything to say for yourselves?" She demanded in a deathly calm voice.

"Umm Granny... We are back and thought you would be happy to see us. Aren't you happy we're back?" Naruto ask nervously.

"Happy.." She related, "am I happy you are back? YOU LEFT THE VILLAGE WITHOUT PERMISSION. YOU LEAVE WITHOUT NOTICE OTHER THAN A BULL SHIT NOTE TO YOUR FORMER TEAM MATE AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE HAPPY!"

"Isn't that bit harsh baa-chan? We were just training." Naruto whined.

"No it's not harsh! Do you have any idea what I had to do to keep you from being labeled as a missing nin? No, no you don't know because you haven't bothered to contact me at all regarding your status or location."

"Well if you really wanted to contact us you should have sent Anbu to track us." Jiraiya told her matter of factly.

"I know it was dark when you came through the village but did any of you even look around? We have been getting random attacks and I don't have the man power to spare to hunt your stupid asses down!" She yelled slamming her fist into her desk causing it to crack down the middle. She push her chair away from her desk and turned her back to them. Looking out the large window toward the city, she sighed.

"At the moment I cannot deal with you. Until further notice you will be monitored around the clock by an Anbu team. Since you four have had 6 years to be familiar with one another and we are running short on individual housing, you will be living together until further notice." Before any of them could object, another guard appeared at her side. "You will be needing physicals before you can join the general populous of the village. Fish will take you to the waiting room."

With that they were ushered out the door toward another room, where they were expected to wait like good little ninja.

000

Sakura was sure she was shaking under her cloak. Even after years of training to suppress emotions she could feel the anger trying to make its way out. Behind her mask she eyed her previous team figures' up and down; tuning out what her mentor was telling them. The boys had definitely grown taller. Sasuke's ever lean form was now padded with muscles. Naruto was no longer the short shrimp of the group, now towering over Sasuke; almost eye to eye with Kakashi.

She could feel her captain's killing intent still lingering in the room. Sakura thought her teacher would have thrown him a look to calm himself, but it was obviously part of the plan to get them to realize how serious this situation was. Looking around the room she noticed a set of lazy eyes behind the white mask. Silently asking if she was ok. She released the Genjutsu, quickly putting it back up so he could see her green eyes for just a moment. He blinked back at her signaling he understood. The moment her team was sent out she had placed low level Genjutsu on her eyes to change them to brown.

She didn't want her old team to know she was part of the group that was sent to the gates. Her signature red scarf was placed on her head under the hood of the cloak to conceal her bubblegum hair. She could feel both her captain and vice captain's eyes focused on the back of her head. It was sweet how much her Anbu team cared for her; they were her rock. She felt like anything was possible with them at her side.

Seeing her mentor crack her desk again, her attention was snapped back to the scene in front of her. Fish and appeared and was told to move the returned ninja to a waiting exam room. What surprised her was that Naruto didn't even object to being almost thrown out. He just hung his head and his shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. When the hokage's office door closed there was a moment of silence.

"Captain, seal the room please." She whispered. Yamato did and moved to stand in front of his team.

"I know this is a situation we have discussed in the past. What we decided years ago will still be in place. Until further notice you will be watching and guarding those four men. We can't let them out of the village, but they also can't be let off with a clean slate either. I will determine their full punishment after updating the council of their return. Until then they will be helping with the rebuilding efforts. They may walk around during the day but each one of them must have someone on your team with them at all times."

Sakura took a breath. What they had discussed, was fine before when they were not in the village and did not seem like they would return. But now, she wasn't so confident. She didn't want her old team trying to rock the boat with her new team. The days of team seven was over the moment they had left in the first place.

"So they will be moving in with your team in a few more days after they have been cleared by the medical staff. They will be undergoing physical and mental evaluation before they are allowed to walk around freely. Are there any objections to this arrangement?" The lighted haired woman looked to her student.

Sakura felt like she was almost asking her to object, so that their team would not have to do the assignment. With the current arrangement of her old team and her Anbu team living together meant they would be grounded. No other missions and no going outside the gates anytime soon; glorified babysitters. But if she said no, they wouldn't be living with them they would be put in holding cells and they would still have to guard them round the clock. They were stuck between and a rock and a hard place. Neither option was her favorite but if she took the first then she wouldn't have to go down to the T&I cells everyday. There was no other team that could take this assignment either. Their team was created for situations like this. Making her mind up She shook her head no.

"Alright then. I trust you all to make the proper arrangements. Dismissed." She said, the authority in her voice never leaving. With no sound, the four man squad vanished leaving only one lone flower petal in their place.

Please give Sakura the strength to get through this, the hokage prayed.

000

Sakura was the last to return home, having gone for a walk to clear her head. She arrived at the door and paused. She felt all three men there in the kitchen. They must have been waiting for her. She smiled at the thought that they wouldn't do anything without consulting her first. Her boys really were the best she could ask for.

Still holding the small smile on her face she unlocked the door to their house. Closing the door behind her she bent down to take her boots off leaving them by the door with the others. She was shedding clothes as she walked through the house to the kitchen. Throwing her cloak and gear on the ground without a second thought. She found her boys, well men, sitting around the table looking up as she entered.

"You ok?" Genma asked softly. She nodded moving to sit in her captain's lap rather than her own chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. He moved to accommodate her placing one of his hands on her hip and the other on the small of her back.

"I'm fine. Just tired... it's been a long day. We just got back from our last mission and now all this." The pink haired woman sighed.

"We will get through this. Just one day at a time. A mission is still a mission and we have to complete ours. It may not be to our liking but, we have to face it." Yamato stated kissing her forehead.

"So what the plan then. Not tell them who we are? Keep our mask on all the time? Not able to get comfortable and unwind in our own home?" The genius of the group questioned sourly. Sakura reached out to take one of his hands and began rubbing circles on the back of it. Genma picked her feet up hanging off the side of Yamato leg and began to rub her feet and legs.

Resuming his role as captain and head of their little family Yamato answered him. "We will keep our identity hidden per normal protocol. If they figure it out we will deal with it then. Two of us will give up our rooms and will bunk in the other two rooms and one on the couch. We can rotate who sleeps in a bed and who gets the couch. Since Sakura's room is the largest she is keeping hers. Since my room is second largest I will keep mine. Shikamaru you and Genma will give up your rooms since they have the least amount of personal items in them."

"Starting tomorrow we will begin going over a rotation schedule. Sakura will be working only part time as a medic and the Hokage has moved her to working with Anbu and emergencies only during this time. This way you won't be caught without one of us with team 7 back in the village."

"You know I don't need a babysitter right?" Sakura grumbled.

"Sweetheart we are well aware that you can take care of your self. But your old team doesn't know that, and we don't want them trying to take advantage of you," Genma said seriously. We don't want them taking you away from us, was the message hidden behind it.

Sakura pouted. She loved her team but sometimes they would get a little over protected. Standing up she turned to leave the room, "Well if it's settled I am going to take a bath."

Not one of the 3 men said anything until the heard the water running on the other side of the house.

"She's taking this better than I thought." Yamato mused. He was proud of their girl. She wasn't letting her feelings about her old team destroy her. She really had grown quite a lot since they became a team.

"She's putting on a brave front. But she's still hurting." Shikamaru said a hint of anger in his tone. "Why did they have to come back? Right after she started doing so much better."

Yamoto looked at the younger man. "We will keep her safe, as we have done. She won't change because their back. She won't be that sad little girl you picked up in the rain." The promise in his voice left no room for ifs, ands, or buts. Both Genma and Shikamaru nodded, the later standing to leave.

"I'm staying with her tonight."

000

Inside the bathroom Sakura looked at her appearance. She had grown into a woman over the years. She may not be as well endowed as some others, but her team had said on more than one occasion she was beautiful. Even when they had seen her at her worst. She wonder how Naruto or Sasuke would react to seeing her. Would they think she was a good looking woman? Or would they think she was still the pathetic little girl they left behind?

Sakura decided right then to end her train of thoughts about her old team. It doesn't matter what they think anymore. I am in a committed relationship. Shaking her head she got into her bath. Sliding down till only her head was above the water, she let a few tears leak out of her eyes. Crying for a few minutes longer she dunked her head under the water. She stayed under until her lungs screamed at her for air. Gasping she sat up, and reached for the soap to clean herself. If she concentrated she could here the others talking. But she didn't want to listen and instead focused on her task of getting clean.

She stop scrubbing before her skin turned raw. Getting out she rubbed her hair dry and wrapped a towel around her body. She brushed her teeth and applied her lotion then opened the door that led to her bedroom. Being the only girl had its perks and this was one of them. She got one of the rooms with her own connecting bathroom. Yamato got the other one, while Genma and Shikamaru shared the hall bath, not that either of them minded.

First thing she notice was that the only light in the room was coming from her bedside lamp. On the far side of the bed closest to the door was Shikamaru. He was sitting on the edge of her bed with his back to her. He had removed his dirty clothes and was clad in his black pants. She couldn't help but admire the muscles in his back. For being such a lazy Shinobi he sure did have quite the body. Lean and able to move quickly but not too skinny.

He didn't look up as she crawled on the bed behind him. Putting her chest flush against his back she looped her arms around his neck and brought her mouth down to his collarbone. He hummed in agreement when she kissed his skin.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked him softly.

"You."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. How many days has it been since we have had some time to ourselves?"

"Well with you giving up your room you could move in here permanently." She suggested.

"The others may get jealous." He was thinking to rationally again. He really needs to let go of some of this tension.

She started moving her hands up and down his chest; slowly dragging them across his skin. She moved her head to kiss behind his ear. He secretly loved when she did that to him, even though he tried his best to hide it. He allowed this to continue for a few moments letting her pet and kiss his body before he decided to take over. As fast as his anbu training had given him, he turned around, removed her towel, and had crawled on top of her. Planting kisses down her neck to the top of her breast. You know for such a lazy man he is rather dominate in the bedroom was the last coherent thought she had before she was pulled it to the deep abyss of their love making.

0000

Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Do you think I should continue? Who would you like to see Sakura paired up with? Shikamaru? Genma? Yamato? Maybe all three? Any and all reviews are appreciated! Will post more chapters if you guys are enjoying it!