Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters.

There was once a time when she could say she was happy, and truly mean it; there was once a time when she could embrace all of her feelings, and be completely fine with it; there was once a time when life had a meaning, and she was sure of where she wanted to go in life... Those times seem to be so long ago.

At the age of sixteen, Sakura Haruno is a kunoichi from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. She studied under Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage. In the time she wasn't training with Tsunade, she took up duties at the hospital. At one point in time, the pink-headed ninja could never have thought of herself as being good for anything; she felt she had nothing to contribute. Now, she had finally found things she was excellent at, but, for some odd reason, she couldn't help but feel even more dissatisfied than she had before. She loves the work she does, but something inside of her always wants to tell her that there's more to everything than what she is accepting as good enough.

This point in her life is where the real journey begins. Just like Naruto and Sasuke had before her, Sakura was about to have to choose a path and try to decipher what her heart truly yearned for.

"Ugh, my head is killing me!"

Tsunade sank back in her chair and began to rub her temples. Sakura saw it coming. The sannin had traits that she really looked up to, and then, she had other characteristics that completely threw off her magnificent image.. Drinking was one of those things.

It was silent for a few moments as the Hokage tried to relax and let her headache ease away. Once she finally composed herself, she spoke again.

"Sakura, I have a job for you. I need you to run over to the Saranogi Sanctuary to the north of the village and deliver these scrolls. They need them for some research. Do you mind?"

The young student wasn't a fool. She was fully aware that Tsunade's question was just a way of making her feel better about taking on a mission that required her to leave her ultimate duties. Actually saying that she did mind doing the mission was never an option. So, she always tried her best to just accept it and get on with her life.

"No, I don't mind. I should only be gone about four days, at most. Probably not even that long at all."

The blond-headed woman grinned.

"Alright, Sakura. Thank you for running this errand, and thanks for letting me know how long to wait before I start worrying about you."

"No problem, Lady Tsunade. I'll just pack a few things and I'll be off."

With that, Sakura left for her house and packed for her short trip.

After walking for a while the previous day, Sakura had stopped to rest. Now, she was making for her destination once again. It was a beautiful day. The skies were somewhat cloudy and the wind was blowing, causing a cool, but not uncomfortable, weather condition.

The mature teenage girl was walking and humming a happy little tune to herself, when suddenly, she heard a noise from behind her. She came to an abrupt stop and could tell someone was trailing her. She quickly spun around on her heel, only to meet the stare of Itachi Uchiha. Next to the crimson-eyed assassin was his partner-in-crime, Kisame Hoshigake. While training under Tsunade, Sakura had read about them both. Neither of them were people she ever wished to go up against.

"Hello, Girlie. Looks like you'll be coming with us."

Kisame's rough and unsettling voice sent a chill down the cherry blossom's spine. She didn't know what was going on, but she wasn't going to go anywhere with S-ranked Criminals without a fight.

Sakura drove her fist into the ground. It split in two, causing both of the Akatsuki members to separate. She then ran after Kisame and landed a successful punch to his jaw, by pure luck. The shark-like man went flying.

"Hmph! That'll teach you to-" Sakura's sentence was cut off by a fist to her stomach. She hunched over and slightly tilted her head to look up. Her gaze landed upon the all too intimidating eyes of Itachi. Quickly after seeing who had landed the blow, the pink-haired kunoichi went limp and blacked out.

Kisame walked back up while rubbing the side of his face shortly after.

"That hurt. Remind me to pay her back for that later."

Itachi didn't reply. He just threw the girl over his shoulder and began to walk back to their base.