Sakura wiped off the sweat on her brow as she signed the last document and put it in the cabinet. She leaned back and the chair squeaked. Her eyes closed in exhaustion, her mind went to time, she spoken to her beloved Team 7.

'It's been three years....'

Sakura smiled, sadly, 'It has, hasn't it? I wonder how they're doing....'

'You think they miss us?' Inner's voice sounded hopeful.

'I wonder...' She trailed off, not wanting to break Inner's hope.

'Hey,' Inner brightened up, 'Didn't Tsunade said that they're coming back soon?'

Sakura blinked, 'She did? when? I don't remember hearing her say that.'

Inner rolled her eyes, 'Of course you didn't. You were lost in your thoughts as usual.'

Sakura shrugged, 'I don't usually listen all her drunk rambling. I'm a busy woman.'

Inner was about to retort, but the office door was slammed opened and Came in Shizune.

"Sakura, you're done?" She inquired, setting the pile of files on her desk, "Can you please sign them too?"

Sakura eyed the pile with disdain, "Do they have to be sign today?" Her tone was dripping in displeasure.

Shizune gave her sympathetic smile, "Yes, Tsunade-sama need them tonight."

Sakura resist an urge to bang her head on the desk. Instead she plastered a convincing but fake smile and nodded at the dark haired woman, "I'll get it done before tonight." She said.

Shizune smiled and left the office and Sakura started signing them. It was almost dark as she signed the last page. Finally finishing, she threw the pen on the desk stretched. A sign of satisfaction left her pink lips as she heard the 'pop' sound from her aching shoulders. She slide her chair backwards and stood up. Collecting the files, she made her way to Shizune's office.

She was about to open the door, when she heard talking. Deciding that she should come later when she is free, She turned around and started to walk away.

"-nd how are we going to inform Sakura?" Sakura's feet stilled at Shizune's voice.

'Inform me what?' She wondered, glancing at the closed door briefly.

"Just tell her, I'm sure she'll understand, Shizune.." Tsunade's voice sounded uncertain.

"No, Tsunade-sama. Her team has always been a touchy subject. We can't just drop the bomb on her saying that 'Sakura-chan, You're team 7 is coming back and They're also bringing Sasuke-!'"

THUD

Silence

Green eyes were wide in disbelief as her hands were shaking. The files were scattered on the Hospital floor. Her heart was beating loudly and she could swear it's going to jump out of her chest. All the old wounds were opened.

Sakura was in so much shock that she didn't hear the office room open nor Shizune's frantic voice asking her if she is okay. Her emerald eyes rolled back and all she saw was darkness.

When Sakura woke up, she was on the Hospital bed, No, there was no machine or IV connected to her. In fact, she was in her Red top and black cropped pants. Her lab coat was removed.

She sat up and blinked. All the memories came to her. Her eyes were unfocused and breathing was fast.

'Look who's up...' Cooed Inner.

'Not now, Inner.' Grimaced Sakura.

'But...,' Inner drawled, 'Our dearest teammates are returning....'

'Former Teammates.' Sakura corrected, 'And? They have to return once the mission is finished. It's not like they would stay away forever.' She thought.

Inner signed, 'True.'

The door opened and Ino walked in. Her heels clicking as she took a step. Her smile brightened as she noticed that Sakura was awake.

"You're awake!" She beamed.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at her enthusiasm.

"Lady Tsunade and Shizune were having kittens when you blacked out." Ino said with in cheeky tone.

Sakura bit back a smile as she imagined her master freaking out.

"Sooo....." Ino drawled, "I heard about assholes returning."

A frown was already present on Sakura's face.

Ino shrugged, "Let's go swimming. Who cares if they are coming? Why should we damp our mood and spoil our plans." She paused, "There's a pretty waterfall in Nara forest."

Sakura felt better. She was glad to have a good friend like Ino. She always knew what to say. Right now, she really don't want to think about them.

"Let's go." Said Sakura as she got down from her bed.

"Don't you think, we should at least inform Shizune before leaving?" Questioned Ino.

Sakura stared at blankly, "Meh. She's use to patients leaving without telling her."

Ino shrugged and walked out with Sakura in a tow. They walked side by side to the Nara compound. At the entrance A Nara, whose name Sakura got was shikaho, being frequent visiting to Nara Forest to collect medical herbs.

He let them enter with a polite smile which the both women returned wholeheartedly. They went straight to the Nara man house, since the forest entrance starts from there. Ino knocked on the door as Shikamaru answered.

"Hi, shika!" The pinkette chirped. As the blond beside her rolled her eyes.

Shikamaru gave a lazy wave before letting both ladies in, "You guys needed something?" He drawled.

Ino shrugged, "Gonna borrow your forest." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and motioned them to the forest gate. Sakura gave a thankful smile as she was dragged in the forest by Ino.

They walked and came across a beautiful Waterfall.

Sakura gasped, "It's so pretty, Ino..." She said in awed tone. Behind her, Ino gave a smug laugh.

"Told ya," She suddenly grimace, "I forgot to bring my towel..ugggh. Sakura, Will you stay here? I'll quickly come back with my towel." Sakura nodded and Ino ran back from the same way they came.

Wanting to see it more clearly, Sakura surged the chairs into her feet and walked to the top of the cliff, the water was falling.
She stood at the edge of a cliff, the water crashing fifteen feet below, the sound of blood pounding in her ears. Or, wait; it was more of a roaring. It was dark by now, the only light source the full moon that shown above: all she could see was the churning blue waves, working themselves into a froth below.

She let out a surprised yelp as she lost her footing on the wet grass. The yelp turned into a scream when she realized she was falling.

For a split second, she felt like her stomach had been wrenched up into her throat. Then she gasped as she plunged into the cold water.

Salt water filled her mouth and nose, and she coughed from the shock and cold, which only made her choke worse. It took a few moments to gain her bearings enough to struggle back up to the surface.

She could hardly see through her now-waterlogged vision, much less figure out which direction the nearest shore was in. Even if she'd known, she was too disoriented to figure out which direction was which. All she could focus on was trying to keep her head above the water to breathe. She coughed as another wave washed over her, pulling her back down into the surf.

She tried yelling for help when she surfaced again, but she doubted anyone would be able to hear her since she was alone, much less over the roar of the waterfall. The chances of anyone even being here were small.

Sakura had a very certain sense that she was going to die.

Without warning, she felt a strong force of water pushing her down from above, which she instinctively struggled against, despite her confusion as to what it was.

That was when she realized that she'd actually gone under the waterfall.

Before she could decide whether that was good or bad, a strong wave pushed her forward, sending her crashing against the cliffside. She let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her, and her body went limp, refusing to work for her. All she could do was let out a struggled cry as she was sucked back under the water.

After the events that had led her here, a part of her just wanted to let go and give it all up; at least then she wouldn't have to keep running—to keep living the way she had been for the past five years.

Then thoughts of life crossed her mind as she felt herself being pulled under, and her chest ached for a different reason.

Heck, when had she ever just given up?

Pushing through her lightheadedness, Sakura forced her limbs to start working again, determinedly fighting her way back up to the top. She was not just going to let herself drown.

Just when she thought her lungs were going to burst, her head broke through the surface. She heaved in a breath, struggling between a mixture of coughing and sucking in air. She was okay. She wasn't dead.

It took Sakura a few moments to realize that the water she was treading in was no longer churning in a frenzy, with no waves to speak of. In fact, she'd never seen water looking so calm. Then when she actually looked around, she realized she was no longer by the cliffside, but in a fairly large pool of water; the rumble of the waterfall was now muffled, and when she looked up she saw a large hole way up in the ceiling like a skylight. The moon was just starting to creep past its edges.

Where was she?

Looking around curiously, she decided she must be in some kind of cave—most of the sky above her was covered apart from the skylight, and the air smelled a bit musty and saltier than regular ocean air, like it didn't have a breeze flowing through it on a regular basis.

Caught up in her surroundings, Sakura was caught by surprise when the water in the pool began to bubble. She was alarmed at first, but then she watched in a bit of befuddled amazement as little drops of sparkling water began to rise up towards the ceiling. She watched their course as they traveled up through the skylight, and disappeared in the moonlight. The full moon now sparkled bright in the middle of the skylight, looking eerily ethereal.

It was probably the strangest sight Sakura had ever seen, but considering the circumstances, she wasn't really in the place to sit and think about it.

Slowly swimming her way over to the edge of the pool, she heaved herself out of the water and up onto the smooth rock floor of the cave. She was exhausted, and bone-cold now; she shivered as she stood up and looked around. It was pretty dark in the cave, but she could barely see the silhouette of a tunnel entrance. Cautiously, she walked over to investigate.

It was much too dark to see further into the tunnel without some source of light. Even if it did lead out into the open again, she'd never be able to navigate the way in the dark and tired as she was. It looked like the only way she'd be able to get back out was back under the cave wall of the pool—but even then, she didn't know how far she would have to swim before she reached shore, and she wasn't sure if she had enough strength at this point for guesswork. Sighing and unsure of what to do, Sakura leaned a hand against the cave wall.

She gave a bit of a jump when the top of the cave suddenly lit up like a night light. It winked out into blackness again with the removal of her hand.

The heck?

Cautiously putting a hand to the wall again, her eyes widened as the ceiling once again sprang to life. She stared up at it in stunned silence.

Crystals glittered with an ethereal blue glow across the ceiling, revealing the stalactites that dripped down in a way that was both menacing and beautiful. The crystals continued along down the tunnel ceiling, illuminating the path until it disappeared behind a bend.

"What is this place..." she wondered quietly to herself. Her words echoed around the walls in soft whispers.

This place either felt magical or was giving her a serious case of the heeby-jeebies. Possibly a mix of both.

Looking back at the pool again, she steeled her nerves. She didn't want to go back in there. And now that this way actually looked doable, she didn't think she really had much else of a choice.

Taking a deep breath, she continued into the tunnel, keeping her hand sliding along the wall as she went deeper into the cave, only hoping that she'd be able to make her way out of here without anything else going wrong.

With the crystals to guide her, it didn't take very long to find the cave entrance. Which was lucky, since there were tunnels that led every which way off in multiple other directions. She probably would've ended up hopelessly lost if not for the lights.

Most of the entrance was covered by a veil of moss and lichen, which was kind of off-putting, but at this point she'd stopped caring. She just wanted to get home.

It was no longer raining when she stepped out onto a rocky alcove of the beach, hidden away from the average person's eye if they didn't venture further. By the looks of the cave, it was apparent not many people did.

Sakura made her way up the sand dunes back to the top of the hill, realizing the part of the cliff where she'd fallen was actually quite a ways away. The rocky peak of the top of the waterfall looked to be a pretty fair distance off; she'd lost track of how long she'd been walking through the caves.

Once she had figured out where she was, though, she made haste to get back to the waterfall.

"Sakura!" Ino jumped from behind her when she climb up, "You're okay?"

Sakura patted her back when she pulled her into a hug. "Of course I'm fine, Ino. Relax."

Her friend gave her a look.

She avoided her gaze. "I just slipped, but I'm fine."

Ino wrapped the towel around Sakura, "Let's go. You have swimmed enough for today," she tugged her arm to back to the Nara house. Ino shunshined to Sakura's apartment and told her to change her soaking cloths, and left saying goodbye.

Sakura quickly changed into warm and fuzzy PJs and went to sleep.

Sakura startled upright at the sound of her alarm going off. She groaned, letting her head thump back down on her folded arms. She was already predicting that today was not going to go all that well.

Dragging herself up from her bed, she changed clothes and brushed out her hair before heading into the hallway bathroom, locking the door behind her.

As expected, her makeup was an absolute mess from sleeping on it, so she knew she'd just have to take it off and start over. Maybe she shouldn't even wear makeup today...

She grabbed a wash cloth and wet it down in the sink before scrubbing vigorously at her face. She hated the feeling of left over makeup...

Not even thirty seconds after she'd started washing however, she felt a weird tingling sensation.

Then next thing she knew she was falling onto the floor.

For a second Sakura wasn't sure what had happened. She could've sworn...her body looked like it had...

Then she gave a small yelp of surprise and utter confusion when she saw her legs.

Or rather, her lack of legs.

A deep, emerald green fish tail had appeared where her legs should have been, and apparently dragged her clothes with it. Looking down.

What the actual hell.

All she could do was stare at this new development with a look of absolute dumbfoundedness.

Was she dreaming?

Despite herself, she pinched her arm just in case. And nothing. Apparently this was actually happening.

She wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to this.

She did the first thing came to her mind, calling Ino.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice drawled.

"Pig, get to my apartment. Now!" And hung up.