Chapter 15 -
Sakura was on her 62nd lap of Konoha when she was joined by a very energetic companion.
"Ohayou Naruto." Sakura laughed, as the boy caught up to her.
"How long have you been running Sakura-chan?"
"A while... Every lap is taking me longer..."
"How many you done so far?"
"62, and the minute we pass the tree up ahead, i'll be on my 63rd." She groaned.
"Lee and Gai finally got to you huh..."
The two of them laughed.
"No, Itachi seems to think that running 100 laps of a village in 360 kilograms of weights is going to better my strength and stamina. Who am I to doubt it..."
"True... 100!? You're doing 100 laps!?" Naruto tripped on a small rock.
He looked up to see Sakura waving goodbye as she continued her training.
Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto were lined up on seats eating ramen when a bird flew down and rested on Kakashi's arm.
"Oh. Mission. Come on, it seems urgent, why else would they send a bird..." Kakashi sighed.
"Hn." Sasuke jumped up, stuck his hands in his pockets and started in the direction of the tower.
"Wait up you guys, i'm not finished!" Naruto wailed.
They reached the office and waited outside Tsunade's door before being invited in.
"I have a mission for you. It's rather urgent." Tsunade said.
"Hey! Where's Sakura-chan. We can't start without her." Naruto was confused.
"She won't be coming on this mission with you." Tsunade explained.
"But, why not?" Naruto was frustrated now.
'What do they think, she's weak? I'll teach'em.' Naruto thought.
"Naruto. Calm. She isn't going because she is busy." Tsunade said.
"Oh. Right."
Sasuke and Kakashi looked bewildered.
"She's busy?" Sasuke asked arching an eyebrow.
"Yes, you were already aware that she's training with Itachi, no?"
"Ok, what's the mission." Kakashi asked.
"It's just a scout mission. But you could be gone for between a month and a year." She said, handing them the mission scroll.
"Hai!" They said in unison before jumping out via multiple exits, off to their respective homes to gather what they'd need
