Three weeks had passed and Sakura would be lying if she said she was having such great progress with Otogakure. The first thing she did was send all presumably high-ranking shinobi out of the village to gather bounties and raise as much funds as they could so that they could repair the buildings throughout the village, fix the outer wall, and replace the gates. She was surprised when nearly all the shinobi she ordered around had complied easily and without question.

When she asked one of the very few ANBU members about why they were so quick to follow her, he smiled at her. "It's about damn time someone made some changes around here. All we want is our home to be in good hands, and if someone is willing to step up to the challenge, we'll gladly follow."

Sakura's heart warmed at that. So for three whole weeks, she barely slept and threw herself into her work. She personally went through the files of every single shinobi in the village, organized them in different piles based on skill set and chakra nature, and checked to make sure they were of correct ranking.

That took at least a week. At least. She really didn't know how much time had passed anymore with her days blurring together. It had gotten so bad at one point that even Kabuto had shown concern and had inquired about her health. She told him it was fine and even took a two hour nap to help her case.

But at the end of those three weeks, she could see that the funds were still low and the only thing she really could do with the money on hand was donate the money to schools, orphanages, the hospital, clinics, and others of the like. Sakura knew that she couldn't keep up this pace. She still had to fix the curriculum within both shinobi and civilian schools, decimate crime rates, train the medics, fix the hospital system, find someone to provide weapons, be able to bring in more money...

Sakura sunk in her chair, bringing a hand to massage her forehead. She knew being in the highest position of power required a lot of attention and responsibility, but she never believed that she had to practically rebuild an entire village full of people who blindly depended on her, despite not knowing her for as long as they should have.

'Is that regret I'm hearing from you?'

'It isn't.'

Inner laughed mockingly. 'I think we both know the real answer to that.'

She was about to really lose her mind with her Inner voice before Kabuto tapped her shoulder to gain her attention. Sakura slowly sat up straighter and looked at him. A few strands of hair were loose from his tie and she could see the dark, pronounced circles underneath his eyes. If he looked that bad, god knows how much worse she must look in comparison.

"Someone's here to see you. Should I tell them to come back at a later date?"

"No, it's fine. Let them in."

Kabuto nodded and opened the door. A small boy walked in, glancing around nervously and holding something tightly against his chest. He went up to her desk before thrusting both his hands out and bowing deeply.

"H-Here, ma'am! I didn't take any of the money, I swear!"

It was her wallet. Sakura took it, inspecting the outside with keen interest before setting it down on the small space on the desk that wasn't cluttered with folders and papers. She gave the boy a curious stare.

"Why did you give it back? I didn't ask for it," she said. The boy fidgeted a bit.

"I... You were nice to me, ma'am. After seeing you that nice, I couldn't repay you by taking your things like that. Besides, I'm gonna be a shinobi one day..." He begrudgingly looked away. "... Shinobi aren't supposed to be like that. We're suppos'd to protect the people, not take from them."

Kabuto stopped what he was doing and stared down blankly at the clipboard in his hands, dumbfounded at what he just heard. Sakura gave the boy a tired smile as she reached over the desk to ruffle his hair.

"I see a fine shinobi in you. Keep doing what you're doing, kid."

He pinkened, blubbered out out a 'thank you' and a sloppy bow, then excused himself from the office. Sakura fell back in her chair with a heavy sigh as she brought her hand back up to her forehead. This village had such promising shinobi that deserved better than what the village was offering. And after the display she just saw, she had to work harder than she was before.

She needed allies. Support.

Suddenly, she pulled out a small stack of blank papers and began to write furiously. Kabuto snapped out of his thoughts and shot her a surprised look.

"Sakura-sama?"

"I'm going to make a list. Within that list are the things I expect to be finished within a month, maybe a month and half depending on how long I'll be gone. Among those things will be implementing a new education course for the students of both the Shinobi Academy and the civilian schools, as well as a new training class for the teachers," she explained. The speed of her writing was almost too fast for his eyes and was quickly eating at the vacant papers. After finishing five whole sheets, she tapped them on her desk and handed it over to Kabuto.

She stood up and grabbed the black cloak draped across her chair and proceeded to fasten it around her shoulders. "Of course, I don't expect you to carry out all that by yourself. Give certain ones it to Sasame-san and Kotohime-san too, don't be shy."

"Wait a minute. A list of things you need to be done? For a month? Where do you plan on going?" he asked. Sakura opened her wallet to check the money inside. She nodded to herself. This amount should be able to cover her expenses for the entirety of her departure.

"To gather allies," she answered simply. "At this rate, Otogakure is getting better, but it isn't going fast enough. I've already got kind of a plan in mind."

She held up two scrolls, each a the same map but with different markings.

"I have the one where you marked neutral countries and villages. If they aren't directly involved with Konoha, I can get help from them. I know I can. And the other map has the places Konoha shinobi have been spotted the last three weeks. If I avoid those areas, I won't get caught. Easy."

Sakura flipped on her hood and made her way towards the door.

"I should go with you, Sakura-sama. I couldn't possibly let you go alone be—"

"You don't trust me, I know," she sighed. Something flashed in Kabuto's eyes. "You don't have to hide it. We've been in each other's company for three whole weeks, and I've seen the surprise on your face every time I've done something for the village. I also think that you're here because it was Orochimaru's last order, not on your own volition."

Kabuto was quiet for a while before he smirked. "Was it that obvious?"

"A little."

She slipped her wallet into her back pocket and slid on her gloves. She approached Kabuto and set a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm not going to force you to stay."

He stiffened.

"What kind of person am I to make someone stay where they don't want to be? You can leave if you wish. Take all the knowledge you want, I won't stop you," she said. She grinned at him and went to the door to take her leave. "You don't have to decide now, but when I come back and you're not here, I'll know your answer."

She shut the door behind her. When he was sure that she was gone, his smirk dropped and his eyes trailed to the empty seat in the office.

I'm not going to force you to stay.

He frowned.

::

He was in denial. But then again, who wasn't? No one knew how to react to the news and tried to think up all excuses they could. It had to be something. Anything but that.

She moved places!

She's not in the village.

She was kidnapped!

There was no intruder. Her apartment also showed no signs of a struggle.

She went on a long trip! Maybe... Maybe to find herbs!

Her entire apartment was clean. Her pictures and clothes were gone.

She went on a mission!

The Hokage didn't assign any to her.

She... she abandoned... us?

And she didn't even say goodbye.

Naruto waved it off with a grin the first time, saying that Sakura would never do something like that. He insisted that she had some sort of personal business to take care of and that she back sooner or later. But as the days ticked by, slowly and painfully, that grin on his face eventually fell into a grim line of realization. And if Naruto fell into that feeling, everyone knew that it had to be true. That she was gone. That she left without a word.

Ino was furious at the news. She went into a frenzy the second week of Sakura's disappearance and went on and on for hours about how much she hated her. She screamed about how much of a bother and how much of an annoyance that girl really was. But in the later hours of her shouts and snarls, she lost it. She collapsed right in the flower shop and cried herself a river of tears, all while muttering about that stupid, stupid forehead.

Sai wasn't sure how to take it. Still quite new to the concept of emotions, he consulted various books to try and explain what he was feeling. After studying for some time, he settled on either pained or disbelieving. He considered Sakura to be one of his few "friends" and was very well taken aback at the course of action she decided to push through with. He didn't know her as well or for as long as Naruto or Ino had, so he hadn't fallen into a sort of hopeless depression. It merely felt like a sting that wouldn't go away.

Kakashi... Kakashi fell silent the minute he heard. His genius mind ran through the various scenarios that could possibly explain Sakura's sudden disappearance, but he was too much of an experienced shinobi to be optimistic about these types of things. Somehow, his feet didn't carry him to the same destination it always had. He wasn't at the memorial stone, but at the front of Sakura's apartment. He stood there for a long time, cognizance seeping into his veins. She was gone and he let a student down for the second time.

But no matter how much they hurt or how many tears they shed, they weren't going to give up. They were going to find her and convince her to come home, despite what the council had said about her.

::

EDITED 2.16.18