A/N: This is going to be a mature read. Eventually there will be graphic scenes. So you kiddies be warned.

*Disclaimer*: I do not own Naruto.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!" Naruto's voice was blood curdling as his hand snapped out in a futile attempt to save her. His deep crystal blue eyes were filled with fear; something she had never seen in him before. His chakra focused all into the soles of his feet but he wouldn't be able to do that for long- he was too worn out from the battle. Sakura threw her hand up and their palms grazed each other. A small flicker of hope- maybe, just maybe! But the hand on her ankle furiously ripped her away. The last thing engraved in her mind was Naruto's eyes-so pure and blue like the color of the sky after a storm. Sasuke pulled her down into the cavern, towards her inevitable demise.

Sakura snapped up in bed covered in a thick film of sweat, awakening violently from the nightmare. She had been having these horrible dreams for the past three months, all varying in settings- and all of them surrounding the same topic: her death.

Sakura slowed her breathing down, hoping that her fits didn't wake her neighbor. Her apartment was of a middle class modern architecture, but the walls weren't exactly sound proof. So she would need to keep her voice down…no matter how much she wanted to scream. Her heart gradually slowed its pace down to a steady beat and Sakura wiped her sweaty brow. She sighed to find that her sheets-and her clothes- were once again soaked in her sweat. Frustrated and still horribly tired, she bundled the sheets into a soggy cotton mess.

"I can't keep this up."

She quickly changed her sleepwear and a groan escaped from her mouth as she threw her sheets and clothes onto the empty line dangling outside from her window- the usual routine these past few months. Thankfully there was a strong wind blowing through Konoha tonight.

This was almost as embarrassing as when she used to wet her bed sheets when she was seven. The kunoichi still got crap about it from the stupid Ino-pig every now and then even though she and her friends were well past childhood (Sakura would be turning twenty in the next few months). Now that she had thought about it, the only one that would stick up for her whenever Ino (or anyone for that matter) brought that up was -and still is- Naruto. He would have just smiled his wide boyish grin and said, "That's alright, Sakura-chan!"

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!" She snapped up from her thoughts, her head hitting the top of the window. She held in her scream by clamping her teeth on her tongue. The familiar metallic flavor of her blood invaded her taste buds, leaving an unpleasant, tangy residue. She looked out of her window to see Naruto looking up at her with the most quizzical look.

"Ne, Sakura-chan? What are you doing up so early?" Sakura clenched her fist tightly, restraining herself from punching another hole into her apartment. Her Super already wasn't too keen on having a shinobi like her living in his apartments, but she was a stable resident and no one in their right mind would pass up a reliable income. Though, she couldn't blame him for being wary about having a shinobi as a resident. They weren't usually as reliable with payments as Sakura was; considering they would be gone for months at a time on missions- and sometimes not get a mission for weeks on end. But with Sakura working at the hospital, she could count on a steady income. And being a jounin didn't hurt, either.

"I could ask you the same question." She muttered, pulling on the clothesline so her garments caught the strongest part of the wind. She looked to the clock to see the time: 1:30 AM. Seemed to be that these nightmares were waking her up earlier and earlier… her characteristic emerald eyes looked back down at Naruto and Sakura sighed. "I couldn't sleep." she couldn't tell him about her dreams, he wouldn't understand- kami, Sakura couldn't understand herself! In her dreams, it wasn't always the Uchiha bringing about her demise but he had been quite a bit of a main character in the past few weeks.

Sasuke…

The Uchiha had stumbled through the gates of Konoha with wounds cascading all around his body. Even though he was in such critical condition, Sakura would never forget that smile of pure relief. It shocked her to see the self-proclaimed avenger act so child-like. Even when they were younger, he would never have shown such adolescent-like happiness.

It took a month for all of his wounds to heal, and he always had a close eye kept on him by the Hokage and her apprentice. Finally, he told his old teammates during one of their regular visits that he killed his brother-and that it was the most wonderful and the worst moment of his life. He's said little since then. But it's not like he spoke that much to Sakura anyway…

The Uchiha had since become a Chuunin, but Tsunade-shissou was extremely reluctant to let him advance to Jounin despite his obvious skills. He had never said one word of defiance-in fact, to Sakura's surprise, her teammate just continued with his rigorous training. It seemed she wasn't the only one that Naruto had affected over the years with his incessant willpower.

It was amazing to Sakura that her feelings for the Uchiha had waned through the years. Sure there were those small moments where she would catch herself looking at Sasuke, thinking "What if..?"; but then reality would come smacking her in the face. It was only too obvious that he would not love her the way she wanted to be loved. And over the past several years, she learned to stop liking him and was learning to love herself first.

Sakura blinked away her thoughts and looked to the Uzumaki to see a smile curve his lips, his eyes smoothing under the moonlight as if in knowing. In the past 8 years, Naruto had grown- as a shinobi (jounin since last year, alongside her) and as a man. He of course still had his moments-moments that make Sakura want to punch him in his frontal lobes, but for some reason, that just made him much more fun to be around. Naruto matured greatly thanks to his years of training with Jiraiya and his daily training that even rivaled that of his dark haired friend. Sakura would spar with him every Friday and it was thanks to him that she passed her jounin exam. If he hadn't given her pointers-she'd still be Chuunin. Sakura's eyes scanned Naruto's body, taking in his tall frame and lean muscles. Sometimes…to Sakura's surprise- when they were resting after their training together, she would catch herself staring at Naruto's body. She didn't know what to make of it! Maybe because he and Sasuke were the only guys her age she was around all the time. But she never really stared at Sasuke like she would Naruto because the Uchiha would catch her and call her on it. So either Naruto didn't notice, or didn't care.

It wasn't as if Sakura hadn't seen a naked man before. She was a medic-nin, so of course she was familiar with the anatomy of the human body. But that was for science. She had never, in all of her life…touched a man that way before. It made her blush just thinking about it. Sure she had been kissed before-once or twice, and neither of them memorable, but she was still a virgin. And it seemed her friend Ino would never let that go-

"Sakura, tonight, we're going to get you laid."

"Ino, please stop it. I don't want to have sex with some drunken man I don't even know-"

"Well then let's grab some man you do know."

"Ino!"

"Sakura, you need to stop holding onto your damn virginity like it's a precious flower. Believe me, once you get it over with you'll be cursing yourself blue that you've waited so long. Hey how about Genma? He'll do anything with tits and a-"

"INO!"

"Okay, okay. How about….Neji? No…Ten-ten would kill you. Lee? Ugh. I would never forgive you. Hmm…if not Sasuke, then… Oh! How about Naruto?"

"What?"

"Yeah! That's perfect! I'm only too sure that he's still a virgin. God knows he's still head over heels for you. It's only perfect to do it with him!"

"Ino, you know I don't like him that way."

"Are you sure about that, billboard brow?"

"Wh-what are you talking about, Ino-pig? Of course I-"

"I don't think you even notice yourself…"

Sakura shook her head of the disturbing memory and looked back to the Uzumaki.

"Do you want to come with me?" Naruto said simply, ignoring the fact that they were both awake at an insane hour.

"Naruto…" the kunoichi contemplated his words-she had work at 6 and from the looks of last night, it was going to be another 18 hour shift. But she wasn't going back to sleep at this rate anyway-tired or not. "Okay."

The smile that came across his face could only be described as pure happiness. The pink haired woman smiled as she jumped out of her apartment window and landed softly onto the ground next to him. "So why are you out so late, Naruto?...Naruto? What is it?" the orange and black clad shinobi looked stunned. What was he looking at?

"Sakura-chan…your clothes…" the lightest shade of pink colored Naruto's cheeks forced Sakura took a look at herself. She had on a tank top with thin straps, and a pair of- oh kami. She looked back up to see the tiniest start of a nosebleed on her friends face and instantly she reacted. With a swift punch to the blonde's cranium, Sakura growled "Pervert!" and jumped back through her window. She raced to her dresser, yanking open one of the drawers and pulling out a pair of sweats.

Usually when Sakura got home she was too tired to take a shower, so she would strip her clothes down to her underwear and just sleep in them, leaving the shower till the morning. She never had an incident like this before because she was generally lucid enough to put some pants on. But with those dreams running through her mind, it was hard to concentrate in most situations lately. Thanks to her absentmindedness, Naruto just got a poster shot of her rather scantily designed panties; black lace with roses all along the sides-a gift from Ino.

"Make good use of those, billboard brow. Those babies are not for only you to look at."

Sakura fought down a blush as she met back up with Naruto, who thankfully had regained his composure, but had a somewhat sheepish look on his face.

"Gomennesai." he cleared his throat and began to walk down the street, saying nothing else about what happened. Sakura followed along, thankful for his ability to move on from one topic to another. While she kept her eyes on the ground, Naruto's blue orbs drew upwards. He lifted his arms and rested them behind his head in a gesture very similar to their old sensei, Kakashi. Sakura smiled lightly about the traits Naruto picked up over the years. It was amazing how strong both he and Sasuke have become. While Sakura herself had turned into quite the elite ninja, she knew that when in a fight against either of the two, she would lose. She wished that she could surpass them. And even with Sasuke legally as a Chuunin, there was no doubt that his level was Jounin status-ranking to that of ANBU. But there was no way Tsunade-shissou would allow that. Not after what he did to the village. He nearly killed Naruto and Sakura in battle-

"So why are you out here?" she broke the silence between them in an attempt to snap her mind away from her thoughts. She knew they would eventually lead her back to her nightmares of death.

"Couldn't sleep" Sakura nodded softly at his answer but pondered his real reason for being out here. Naruto was the heavy sleeping kind of shinobi, unless something provoked him to get up. Like someone's death…or ramen. But nothing else short of that could really make him wake up.

As if on psychic cue-"Do you wanna grab some ramen?"

"Is Ichiraku open this late?"

"They're open till 5 in the morning on Fridays. People from the bars drink late and eat late." leave it to Naruto to memorize the hours for his favorite ramen shop. He probably can draw an exact blue print replica of the establishment having been there so many times.

Sakura nodded in agreement and a wide toothy grin sprouted on the shinobi's face.

"ALRIGHT!" he grabbed Sakura's hand and hauled her off to Ichiraku.

"Have you seen Kakashi-sensei, lately?" Sakura sipped idly from her cup of green tea, her thoughts straying to her former sensei. Last time she saw him was at the local bar during her birthday.

"I heard that he's on an A-rank mission escorting some spoiled son of a bitch politician." Sakura nodded. Of course…The jounin never liked hanging around for long, doing nothing.

"Come on, baby, let's stop and get something to eat" a voice barked from behind the two ninja. Sakura felt her skin ripple in annoyance of the disturbance. The lack of manners today irked her to no end. The man entered and took a seat next to Sakura, gesturing to his companion to take a seat beside him at the open air restaurant. Sakura looked away from the man and focused on her drink, hoping he would eat quickly and leave.

"OY! Teuchi! Two bowls of your pork ramen!" the disgusting man belched and Sakura opened her mouth to yell at him, but she froze.

"Hey, billboard brow! What are you doin' here?" Ino walked towards her, stumbling along the way. Thankfully she caught herself on the bar top. "Whoops. I guessh-I-should be more caaaarrrrefuuuuulllll! Hehehehehe!" she was plastered, that enough was evident to Sakura. And from the looks of things, this guy was on his way to getting laid by her infamously raunchy friend.

Sakura was confused because as far as she knew, her friend was engaged to Shikamaru. Why would she be out drinking alone looking to sleep with someone? Something must have happened. Sakura rolled her eyes; Ino and Shikamaru probably had a fight and Ino went to go piss him off. The kunoichi had to stop this- if Ino had her any shred of her reasoning in her, there wouldn't be a chance in hell she'd sleep with this scumbag. If Sakura knew anything about her best friend, she knew that she loved that lazy genius of a shinobi.

"Ino, what are you doing? Do you know this guy?" Sakura tested the waters, figuring just how lucid she was.

"Sakura, don't be silly- I don't row pie!"

"Ino…" Naruto, finally taking a breath from his ramen, caught on to what was happening. "Maybe you should sit down over here." Naruto stood, and gestured for their friend to take a seat. The kunoichi however shook her head in a drunken defiance.

"No, no." Ino took a step towards her male companion. "I'm perfectly-AGH!" she stumbled and in a flash Sakura caught her. The pink haired woman lifted her friend and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, supporting most of her weight.

"Let's get you home, Pig. You're gone."

"Now wait a minute, Pinky!"

Pinky? Sakura turned around to see the scumbag of a drunkard glaring two bloodshot eyes directly at her. The man stood and pointed a thick finger inches from her nose. "Who said you could take my woman away from me?"

"Your woman? She's not your property. Besides, she's engaged." the kunoichi could feel her anger building up in her. Her hands were dangerously itching to punch this guy to kingdom come.

"She said nothing 'bout-"

"Hey, man. She's obviously not going to sleep with you." Naruto could sense Sakura's fury and was quick to step in between the two.

"I spent half my paycheck on her drinks. She owes me a good time."

"It's not her fault you're an idiot." Sakura's voice wavered in her straining calm- she was doing everything in her power to quell her rage. But this man was just fanning the flames. The man took a good hard look at Sakura and his eyes dropped down to her chest. A disgusting smile came across his face. "Well would you like to show me a good time, cherry?"

A loud crack sounded as Naruto's fist connected with the man's jaw. His body flew out of the restaurant and into the street, landing with a satisfying thump. Sakura looked to Naruto and saw his eyes locked onto the man, his lips pulled back in a snarl. The filthy drunk stumbled onto his knees and looked back to the ramen bar in confusion and anger, "Who the-!" in a blur of orange and black, Naruto rushed after the man and picked him up by the collar roughly. "Never talk to Sakura-chan like that. Ever." his normally cheerful face darkened. "Do you understand me?"

A look of pure fear came over the man's face as he looked over to Sakura, but Naruto shook him. His hold on his greasy shirt becoming tighter and his words shot through his clenched jaw, "Don't even look at her." The man nodded with a shaky head and the Uzumaki threw him to the ground. Sakura stood where she was, in a daze. She watched Naruto walk calmly back towards her and offer to help support Ino. Sakura nodded and he lifted the other limp arm about his broad shoulders and the three (well, two, seeing as one was incapacitated) walked off.

They took Ino back to her apartment not too far from the ramen shop. Sakura was relieved at that moment that Shikamaru and Ino didn't live together; otherwise it would've been a much more complicated situation. After she laid Ino onto her bed, Sakura placed a glass of water and two aspirin tablets on her bedside table for her friend to consume when she would wake. She was going to have one hell of a hangover the next day. Sakura shook her head and left her friend to her sleep. Thankfully, Ino-pig didn't damage anything other than her pride-Sakura gave her a quick check through. Ino should be thankful to have a medic-nin for a best friend.

Outside, Naruto waited patiently, a calm look on his face. He looked up and smiled widely at Sakura once she stepped out of Ino's apartment. "Do you think Shikamaru will be mad?"

The pink haired woman took a deep breath and shook her head. "No. As much as he puts up a disinterested front, he really does care about her. She could pretty much get away with murder if Shikamaru had any say in it." A silence spread between the two. Sakura moved to take a spot next to Naruto, sitting atop the railing of the porch. Ino lived on the third floor, and to her right, the kunoichi could see Ichiraku with its lights still buzzing with life and drunk customers. Sakura looked over to Naruto. "Why did you do that, baka?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side and a confused look came across his tanned face. "Do what?"

"You know very damn well what I'm talking about." her lingering anger was piling up once more because of his stupidity. He was infuriatingly dense.

"I was only defending you, Sakura-chan. That guy was a complete bastard." his sincerity broke through Sakura and she sighed in defeat. Naruto made it so hard to be angry at him sometimes. Of course there were times she wanted to rip his throat out…but it just seemed like Naruto knew how to push the right buttons to piss her off or to make her calm. She could swear that he did it on purpose.

"Sakura-chan, you've changed a lot these past few years, you know?" Sakura looked to him and saw that his blue eyes were concentrated on her. He looked so serious that she found herself flustered. She looked away and shrugged.

"Yeah." she laughed. "I can't leave all the growing to you and Sasuke. I need to boost up a few levels too." her face saddened at the thought of always being behind the two. She had worked so hard these past 8 years to even be at the same level as those two-but sometimes it seemed like she would never be on par with the Uchiha or the Uzumaki.

"I better get back to my home, Naruto."

"Nani? Sakura-chan, you want to leave?" he was about to protest, but thought better of it. "Let me walk you back home-" he stood; his tall, muscular frame towering over the kunoichi.

"No need. I'm not a little girl anymore, baka. I can take care of myself." she didn't put too much emotion into it, but it was understood all the same: she just wasn't in the mood to be with someone at the moment. Naruto nodded, still unsure of what made her upset. He looked torn, but Sakura took off before he could change his mind.

She brushed her fingers through her cherry blossom locks, sighing. She needed to clear her mind before she went back to work or her distraction would have dangerous consequences. Maybe some running would help her clear her mind…But once she thought it over for a moment, the thought of going to another 18 hour shift after running for a few hours- it didn't seem too appealing. So the kunoichi decided to settle for meditation.

"Haruno! You're needed in the maternity ward!"

Sakura was surprised. She expected a long busy day rushing between the E.R. and O.R. but she hadn't stepped into either today. Instead, she had been changing from the Nursery to the Maternity ward. Looks like she would be leaving early today if this was all she was going to do.

"I'm on my way-" she motioned to the intern next to her to take over changing the infant who lied upon the diaper station in front of her. The young man looked from the baby to Sakura and promptly turned green. Sakura rolled her eyes, quickly changing the infant and handing him to the intern, "This is the least of your problems, Kyou. Just stick around and you'll get used to the scent. It's not so bad after a few weeks."

"Yes Haruno-san." he muttered in shame.

And with that, the medic-nin took off in a rush to the maternity ward.

"Sakura!" Shizune walked briskly to Sakura's side and handed her a clipboard, "You have a patient in room 304B. And afterward," the dark haired woman paused, thinking over her next words. "Tsunade-sama wants to see you. Come to her office right after you finish with this patient." the pink haired medic-nin cocked an eyebrow and nodded. She wondered what Tsunade-shissou wanted with her now?

Sakura opened the door to 304B and was met with a rosy face and pale eyes.

"H-hello, Sakura-chan."

"Hinata!"

The dark haired kunoichi smiled shyly while she placed her hands gently upon her blooming stomach. It was only last year that the Hyuuga girl was married to none other than her team mate Kiba, and not too long after, was expecting.

"What a surprise to see you here! Where is Kiba? Isn't he usually with you during anything related to the baby?" it was absolutely romantic to Sakura that the Inuzuka followed Hinata like a puppy whenever she needed him. She couldn't blame him. In their profession, people die young and it was usual to get married and have children at their age. Even Sakura, still a blushing virgin, found herself from time to time just watching the babies in the Nursery. Just wondering what the future will bring her; a husband…children…and a family? Suddenly her mind darkened with the images from her nightmares of the previous months; blood spilling, screams ripping through her skin, and her body lying still and cold. If those were anything close to premonitions…

No. Not now.

Sakura placed the clipboard onto the counter beside her and embraced the Hyuuga girl in a tight hug. It had been a while since she had seen her- kami, it had been a while since she had seen anyone besides Naruto and Ino because of her erratic hours at the hospital. It was nice to have a social life every now and then.

"W-well, h-he's with Naruto-kun outside, actually. I-I told him to stay outside. I wanted to see you." Hinata fiddled with her long violet hair and looked down at her shoes-a habit that the Hyuuga still had trouble breaking.

"Naruto's here?" Sakura smiled, picturing the orange clad shinobi joking loudly in front of the hospital with his friend. She inwardly rolled her eyes and led Hinata to the long cushioned seat for patients, motioning for her to sit. The woman complied and nodded in answer.

"He's supposed to meet the Hokage soon." Sakura's eyes slightly widened. So Tsunade-shissou called for the both of them. Something must be up.

"Alright," Sakura concentrated her mind once more. "How have you been feeling?"

"Better. Those exercises that you taught me are really helping with my back pain and swelling feet. I just wanted to see how the twins were doing…I-I'm in the third trimester already, and I want to make sure they're all right."

"I'm sure they're doing fine with a caring mom like you." Sakura smiled. "Let's just lean you back and check on the three of you, then." Sakura turned around and picked up her basic tools for the procedure and she worked through the check-up, all of this like breathing to her now. She enjoyed her job so much, helping people in all stages of their life. So many of her friends have moved into the marital phase of their life that she felt like she was twelve again, walking behind Naruto and Sasuke; watching them rise to their potential. She was the bud of a flower again while everyone else was in full bloom. Sakura sighed, pushing her thoughts away.

"Sakura-chan! I guess Tsunade-baa-chan wants to see all three of us, huh?"

Three? Sakura looked behind Naruto to see the dark haired Uchiha leaning against the wall of the entrance to Tsunade-shissou's office. This must be a mission then, Sakura thought to herself. Well it would be a nice change of scenery. She hadn't had a mission for a good three months, and every now and then her body would itch with the sense of wanderlust.

"Hey, teme, this should be a good change of pace, right? What do you think we're gonna do? Do you think we'll be going anywhere interesting? I hope it's past the border." Naruto gasped. "Maybe we're going on a secret mission to retrieve a jewel from some drug lord in the Bear country!"

"Calm down, dobe. You're imagination will kill you." Sasuke walked towards Sakura and Naruto, his dark eyes roaming disinterestedly over the pair.

Suddenly the doors to Tsunade-shissou's office opened, and a frustrated looking Shizune stood to the side of the entrance. "You three- come in now."

Oh no… Sakura looked from Naruto to Sasuke; both took in the assistant's appearance, but did not let it get to them. Sakura walked in, side by side with the two and stood before a grim looking Hokage.

"Close the door, Shizune." the blonde haired head ninja spoke in a firm voice. There was a silence that elapsed in the room, covering Sakura's ears almost painfully.

"I wanted this to seem like a normal meeting, so as not to bring any special attention to it. You three are here for one reason and one reason only." it was at that moment Tsunade-sama took a pause to look between the three of them, her brown eyes sharpening when they rested on Sasuke.

"Protection" her face darkened as she pulled out a scroll and handed it to Naruto. "You are to get to your destination as fast as you can, as quietly as you can, and come back-successfully. I will not go into any further details; you are to memorize that scroll and burn it. You leave in two hours." she sat down in her seat and took out a large dark bottle and a small glass. Sakura could already sense what was coming, so she bowed immediately and motioned for her team mates to follow. Tsunade was in one hell of a mood, and she was about to drink her weight in sake. The kunoichi cringed at the memories of when her teacher would become much more aggressive during their training due to her drunken state.

Sakura stood next to Naruto with Sasuke on his other side. All three were staring in disbelief at the scroll.

Naruto rolled the scroll back up and threw it against the nearest tree. "I don't get it. What's so top secret about this crap?"

"Hn." Sasuke growled through his clamped teeth, and Sakura inwardly groaned. It seemed to be that Tsunade-shissou had lost another bet and the price was to escort a caravan to the port near the border between Fire and River Country…a simple mission that could be done by genin ninjas. But apparently they requested jounin level shinobi. Their goods were apparently of great importance to them. But all that was written on the caravan list were some flowers.

"Well…" Sakura picked up the discarded scroll and looked at its contents once more. "At least we get to see the ocean." she sighed in defeat. There was no other way to look at this except a wasted of a mission on high leveled ninja. What was Tsunade-shissou thinking?!

"Hey- you're right, Sakura-chan!" Naruto suddenly brightened and instantly that familiar toothy grin appeared on his face. "We could stay a little bit longer there. She didn't say anything about coming back quickly. Just get there and come back successfully."

Holy crap.

"For once, dobe, you're right." Sasuke smirked as Naruto glared at Sasuke at the nickname he dubbed to his friend.

A vacation, eh? Sakura smiled lightly. She would love to have some vacation time for once. And from the looks of this mission, it was going to be a piece of cake. And she gets to spend her time with her teammates. What better way to get rid of the stress from work and her sleepless nights then going to the beach? Sakura smiled happily knowing that this might be the start of a happier chapter.

"Hello, my name is Tama Nakamura; I hope we will get along during this journey together."

Sakura shouldn't be angry. She should be calm, happy, and all those blissful emotions should be filling her during this simple mission. But…

Naruto could at least close his goddamn mouth!

Although Sasuke was a little more discrete about it, it was clear that both men were staring at their new traveling companion: Tama; a beautiful woman of 23, with dark hair, dark, sultry eyes, and a body that Sakura would kill for. Sakura was by no means flat (anymore, thankfully. She was a late bloomer) with her C-cup sized chest and what she thought were obvious curves. But compared to this woman, she was as flat as a board. Tama had more curves than that of Tsunade-shissou, for kami's sake. And she obviously had no problem with flaunting what she had. She wore a black halter that stopped quite a few inches above her navel, and long, black skirt with two slits that reached all the way up her legs.

"Hello, Tama. I'm Sakura, and these two are Sasuke and Naruto." Sakura kept her anger at bay. There was no reason to be mad at their charge-she had done nothing to them. However, once Tama was to turn around, the kunoichi would let her fists fly towards her teammates and give them a real reason to have their noses bleed.

"Sakura, is it?" Tama's dark eyes scanned Sakura's body, instantly making her feel self conscious. The pink haired woman sighed and reassured herself that she was the experienced ninja here, and that there was no reason to feel inferior to this other woman. Even if she had made her two male teammates' jaws drop and noses gush with blood.

"You're very beautiful." Tama approached Sakura and touched her shoulder length locks lightly, "Interesting hair color. It is natural, no?" Sakura could feel both gazes from her teammates on her and she instantly wanted to punch them. She never felt so aggravated over something so trivial. She was acting the part of a jealous girlfriend and it was absolutely ridiculous.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Sakura felt slightly uncomfortable with the woman touching her so freely.

"Yes. I supposed we should." Tama turned around and led the three shinobi towards the wagon that they would be guarding. When the woman moved, the chain of miniature cymbals around her hips made a light ringing throughout the air, drawing attention to the lower half of her body. Sakura took the chance to stomp harshly on both of her comrades' feet. They winced in pain and took the not so subtle hint that their behavior was not acceptable.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. My father is ill and I am the only one able to read and write to do the transactions once at the port. This cargo really is important to my family, no matter how simple it may seem." the older woman walked towards the back of the cart and drew back the thin partition, revealing cases upon cases of foreign purple flowers, "My family and I make a living by selling the nectar of these flowers. They serve as a powerful potion. More specifically, it is used to attract the opposite sex."

"You sell love potions?" Sasuke seemed incredulous, almost mocking the woman.

"Yes," Tama seemed unfazed by the Uchiha's cynical tone. "My family is a part of a tribe of gypsies up North. We make most of our money in potions, fortune-telling, and belly-dancing." there was a sparkle in the woman's eye at the last part and a small smile appeared on her face. Sasuke grunted and Sakura noticed Naruto wipe his brow and laugh lightly in response. Sakura rolled her eyes at the pervert. It was no surprise with the student of Jiraiya… Baka.

"Let's get going." Sakura wanted to get to the port as fast as humanly possible. It seemed that this so called "vacation" was going to be giving her more stress than a double shift at the hospital would.