Living a Lie

Chapter One - Mission

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters within the series. That magnificent privilege goes to Kishimoto Masashi.

Rating: T - Language, mild violence, and suggestive content.

"Sakura," my sensei and Hokage, Tsunade, said abruptly. She was sitting behind her desk, staring at some papers (probably dealing with missions and salaries), when she called my name. I had been standing in front of her desk, hands clasped in front of me, waiting for her to notice me. I had just returned from the hospital and had a few reports to give her. While I had been waiting, I will admit that I was sort of daydreaming. So I jumped when she called my name.

"H-hai, Shishou?" I mentally berated myself for daydreaming.

"I have a mission for you," she said slowly, as if I would run away if she said it too hastily. "But, you may decline if you don't think you can handle it. I won't judge you if you do; it's an extremely risky mission."

That sparked my curiosity. What sort of missions would I not be able to handle? I've been trained by the Godaime herself, a legendary Sannin for pity's sake! 'Well,' I reasoned inwardly, 'it won't hurt to find out what it is first.' I remained quiet, hoping Tsunade-sama would take the hint to continue.

She did. "I suppose this one would be classified as an S-rank mission." She paused there, waiting for hesitation on my part, I would suppose. I kept my features clean of anything but interest in the hypothetical mission. She continued, "This mission will be an extremely dangerous espionage assignment, one that will last much longer than most other missions."

I blinked, but otherwise made sure I didn't betray any hesitation. My inner self shouted, 'We get it! It's dangerous and long! TELL US MORE!' I, myself, said nothing.

Tsunade-sama closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, folding her hands in her lap.

After a few seconds, she looked up at me to gauge my reaction to what she had to say next. "Information has been acquired recently that the Akatsuki are looking for a medic nin. Numerous medic nin of various abilities have been kidnapped all throughout our neighboring countries, and lately we've noticed that the kidnappings are getting closer and closer to our country. This," she held up one of the papers on her desk, "is a report that I just received only a few hours ago. The most recent kidnapping has been just inside the border of Fire Country. It also states that the bodies of the previously captured shinobi had been found not far from each of the new kidnapping sites, which means that the earlier shinobi that were taken weren't good enough and were disposed of."

'That's not good,' I thought to myself. I frowned before I could stop myself.

"That is part of the reason why this is an extremely dangerous mission, Sakura, which is why I'm giving you a choice on whether or not to accept it. Should you choose to accept this assignment, you will train with me everyday for two weeks, not work at the hospital or go on other missions, and you will train with Ibiki for espionage. Should you choose not to accept it, you may continue doing what you have been doing, with the exception of being extremely careful if you ever run into the Akatsuki. I don't want you being taken if it's not part of the plan. As it is, you are an extremely capable medical ninja, and your strength is formidable. I haveno doubt that you can successfully complete this mission. I will give you two days to decide." With that, she turned away from me to look out the window.

I took the hint and left her office to head home. I had some serious thinking to do.