Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Sakura was lying in puddle of her own blood, starring at the blue sky above her. She had a huge gaping wound in her stomach which was the source of the pooling blood. Her whole body was screaming from pain but she knew where each pain came from. Her hand was severely burned from the chakra that it had met and destroyed. She could feel the scorched skin burning up her whole arm and was praying that her end would come. The wound on her stomach was through and through and she wondered as to why after an impact like that she was still alive:"_Maybe this is some kind of punishment._" she thought. It had to be, her end was supposed to come the moment Uchiha Madara delivered the blow into her stomach. But no, as if she was driven by some heavenly force she focused the last of her chakra enhanced punches through his chest. The part of his body where the face of the First was imprinted and the source of his power, she could still feel the pumping heart in her hand.

She withdrew her hand and once she realized that she was holding Madara's heart in her hand she squeezed as much as her burned hand would allow. The satisfaction of seeing his face in amazement and pain at the same time was the last feeling imprinted in her mind:"_No I can die with the satisfaction that I defeated the one man that threatened to destroy everything I loved_." Yes that was what happened. Haruno Sakura had killed Uchiha Madara but she had admitted even in this moment that she wasn't supposed to do that. That fate had belonged to Naruto all along. He was supposed to be the hero. The savior of the shinobi world_:"I guess Karma is a bitch_." Her alter ego whispered in her mind. She smiled at those words, pain suddenly adding in to that smile. It was even painful to smile but she knew that she had no chance of survival.

She focused on the blue sky once again. The white puffy clouds that were slowly sailing through the blue sky, the rays of the sun glowing and warming her face, somewhere in the distance she could hear the happy song of a bird that made her forget the pain for a moment:"_It's a beautiful day filled with hope. I am happy that I shall die on a day like this_." She thought as she closed her eyes and with a painful grunt she managed to draw one last breath.

Tsunade checked all of the vitals and scribbled down something in the chart as she went out of the room. Once she was in the hallway she leaned on the door she had just closed and took a deep breath in. _The day that Kakashi had brought Sakura in all bloody and unconscious it took her one look to determine that Sakura would not survive the night. If it were a different situation and another shinobi she wouldn't even had tried to save him. But this was Sakura, the student she was most proud of. The student that she had made into a strong female kunoichi, an Amazon like she liked to call her sometimes. Instead she instructed Kakashi:"Follow me. I have to start healing her immediately if we want her to survive. Where are Naruto and Sasuke?" _

_Kakashi followed Tsunade careful with Sakura in his hands:"They are close behind me. Tsunade I have to tell you something." They entered an operating room where Kakashi slowly placed her on the table:"Whatever it is I am sure it can wait. She has lost a lot of blood and I have to act fast." Tsunade's eyes shot open in amazement when Kakashi caught her hand while she was trying to rip open Sakura's clothes:"No it can't. The reason Sakura is almost dead is because she was the one who killed Uchiha Madara." _

The fact that Sakura had killed Madara did not stay a secret. Soon every shinobi learned the story and was praying that their savior would survive her fatal wounds. All of her friends stayed close to her bed whenever they could, hoping she would wake up. Tsunade knew very well that Sakura's life was still hanging on a thread. No matter what she did it was all up to Sakura now, Sakura had to show the will to fight and survive. The Hokage heard footsteps and turned towards the direction they were coming from. Suddenly her face went blank. She hated this part of the day. It was the hours when Sakura's mother Mebuki came to see her only child. And each and every day for a week now Tsunade had to tell the woman that there was no change in Sakura's condition:"Hello Mebuki-san." She greeted while examining the woman's face. Mebuki had big dark circles under her eyes, desperation and sadness clouded her face. Even the way she walking showed the sadness in her heart. Once a proud woman now a shell of her former self Mebuki still dared to hope:"Well is there any change?" Tsunade stood silent for a few moments and she opened her mouth to speak Mebuki beat her to it:"I understand. It's okay, I know it's hard for you to disappoint me every day. From now on a nod will do." And with that she entered the room where her daughter laid in her bed wired to machines and tubes.

The fact Sakura had killed Madara meant the war was over. But there was still work to do so Naruto and all the other shinobi helped with anything they could. Today Naruto was in a very grim mood:"_How can things go wrong so fast_?" he asked himself. Sakura was in a coma like state. Sasuke was still talking to the Kages trying to prove his innocence and intentions from now. Everyone was asking him about f he had seen Sakura if she was still dead or alive. At one point he and all the others stopped answering question like those. Naruto felt responsible for what had happened to his friend. He vowed to protect her and in the end she ended up helping him. She had saved his life and in the end even did his job by killing Madara. After a few days he had realized that there was nothing he could have done from preventing Sakura killing the Uchiha. It had happened so fast that everything appeared to him like a blur.

Naruto was so deep in his thoughts that for a mute he forgot the job he was doing. He, Kakashi and a couple of other shinobi were clearing out a battlefield. They were gathering weapons and personal belongings of the deceased. If they came across a white Zetsu they would kill him. Kakashi came closer to him and told him in low voice:"Don't dwell on it too much. She wouldn't want us to do this." Naruto squeezed his hands into fists and muttered:"I made her a promise and I couldn't keep it." Kakashi knew how his former student felt because he felt the same. Just remembering Sakura's injured body in his hands made him hollow and filled him desperation. The only thing they could to do now is hope.

Yamanaka Ino was in the hospital room of her best friend. Replacing the already wilted flowers she had brought three days ago with a fresh sakura tree branch. The blossoms had already bloomed and their small petals brought in a fresh scent into the already soaked with the smell of medicine room:"I thought you might like these. Next time I am going to bring you white lilies. I know they are your favorite." She said while being careful not look at Sakura's half bandaged face. Ino felt pain when seeing her friend in this condition. But pain was not the only thing that came to her conciseness when she looked Sakura in this state. Regret also spiked the sour taste n her mouth. Now she regretted all those times she had called Sakura names, even their stupid rivalry for Sasuke. She wanted to erase those moments:"Sakura I don't know if you can hear me right now but I am terribly sorry about everything." She sat in the chair right next to the bed and put her hand in Sakura's undamaged hand. She leaned in so her forehead can touch Sakura's skin. Again Ino was amazed by how cold Sakura's skin felt. Ino was deep in her thoughts but even that didn't prevent her from feeling a light and powerless squeeze on her fingers. He eyes shot wide open and she sat up quickly staring at Sakura's hand:"Come on Sakura don't let me think I imagined it." Then it was like Sakura heard Ino's plead and moved her thumb and slightly caressed Ino's skin. Ino got up letting go of Sakura's hand and went into the hallway almost screaming:"Find Tsunade-sama as quick as possible."

The five Kage were sitting at the round table in the Raikage's tower. They were discussing after war affairs and how it would be best to handle them. Of course Sakura was included in the discussion:"Tsunade-hime how is Haruno Sakura doing?" the Tsutsikage asked while looking straight into her eyes. Tsunade balance her chin on her hands thinking of the best answer to give to him:"She is still alive." The Raikage grunted next to her:"That is very vague of you Tsunade. Just tell us the truth, will the girl survive or not." Tsunade shot him a look of suspicion:"Why do you want to know so badly if she will survive." Mei put her hand on Tsunade's arm and simply said in a soft voice:"She gives hope that we will rebuild our world to be better. We keep telling people she will be okay, but we can't keep lying to them." Tsunade realized where this was going and stood up, shock written on her face she walked away from the table and faced the window:"So you want confirmation from me whether to dig her grave or not." Just as Tsunade was going to insult them Shizune stormed into the room apologizing and bowing in each direction, then she said almost out of breath:"Tsunade-sama you are needed in the hospital there has been a development."


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura was falling into a drug induced sleep and waking up again for a while. She knew that by some miracle she was still alive. Alive in a hospital, she didn't know whether she was in Konoha or still in their base at Kumogakure. She could also hear familiar voices:"I swear first she squeezed my hand then caressed my thumb" someone said:"_That should be Ino. Yes it sounds like her_." She thought. Sakura then averted her attention to the other voice:"I am not saying I don't believe you but she is not awake." Sakura wanted to smile. Her master's voice sounded pleasant to her right now. She wanted to crack open her eyes and see both their faces but she found the action impossible. Her eyelids were heavy from sleep and she needed to sleep again. Suddenly her mind realized that the pain she had felt was gone:"_It's from the drugs_." Her alter ego stated, Sakura tried to smile but failed to do so she let herself fall asleep once again.

The next time she found herself awake she could the soft sobs of her mother. Mebuki was once again by her daughter's side but her sadness overtook her. She cried next to her daughter every time she made sure no one could see her. Sakura felt a spike in her heart. She hated to see or hear her mother cry. She wanted to say something to tell her that she was better now that there was no need for tears but failed to do so. So she dozed off again.

"Ino are you sure that's what you felt?" Hinata asked while stroking her friend's back so she can feel better. Ino raised her head from the table she was leaning it on and said in an angry voice:

"Why doesn't anybody believe me? I didn't imagine it. Sakura really reacted back to me."

All of them looked down. Naruto wanted to smash his fist on the table but held himself back. The Rookie Nine team was sitting in the improvised dining hall in a huge tent. There were three really long tables where shinobi could sit and eat before returning to their jobs clearing battlefields of helping the still injured. Sasuke had joined them also but the whole time he was silent. He looked like he was thinking but no one could guess what thoughts passed through his mind. Suddenly he got up and said one small:"See you later."

Sasuke arrived at the hospital and asked the nurse if there was anyone visiting Sakura. When the nurse told him that her mother just left he nodded and made his way towards her room, he had come to see her only once or twice but he felt drawn to her ever since he saw what she did to Madara. He finally reached the door and slowly opened it, and found her still in her bed sleeping. The beeps of the machines wired to her were the only noise in the room. He entered and closed the door behind him. As he approached her she seemed very distant from him. Her still face covered by bandages and a breathing mask was almost deadly pale. He took one look at her bandaged hand, the same hand that held the beating heart of Madara and squeezed the life out f it.

""You sure became strong." He said while caressing the exposed skin of her cheek. When he had tried to kill her it took him one look at that face to tell him she was still the same. A foolish girl whose actions were driven by her feelings, but now as he was staring at her lifeless face he wasn't so sure she would ever be the same:"It took you a lot courage to do what you did."

Sakura could hear a faint voice but her drugged mind could not tell to whom it belonged to. She felt two cold fingers trace circles on her cheek. The touch was unknown to her, a touch she had never felt before. Suddenly fear made her snap. Her eyes shot wide open, her lungs screaming for air but she couldn't breathe for some reason. She started chocking and the beep of the monitor suddenly came louder and faster. She looked at the face in front of her. A face she used to love, than a face she had come to despise. His emotionless features disappeared giving the spot to fear and amazement. She could see all kinds of emotions in his eyes. She wanted to scream at him but failed to do so, the only thing she could to was grab his hand. Her bandaged arm grabbed his and squeezed but instead of seeing what she wanted to see she felt the most intense pain shoot through her. Sakura started to choke again. Then with one last look she saw that his mouth was gaping open with screams. The only thing she saw before blackness overcame her once more were the white uniforms and concerned faces.

"What the hell happened Sasuke?" Tsunade almost screamed at him. She looked around and noticed that nurses and other patients were staring at them. She quickly opened the door to an empty room and motioned him, Naruto and Kakashi inside. She slammed the door almost breaking it off the hinges and turned expecting an answer.

"Like I said I went to visit her. I was looking at her wounded arm when she suddenly grabbed my hand and woke up. It was like she couldn't breathe." He explained with a white face. Tsunade could see he was telling the truth. Usually he was calm and composed but right now his voice was trembling in places and his eyes were wide open staring into the empty space. Naruto interfered:

"Sasuke didn't do anything. But please tell us why the hell did this happen. I thought she was given drugs enough to kill someone in order to keep her asleep." His eyes were sparkling with rage and fear at the same time. Kakashi knew what the blond was going through. He knew that Naruto spend the most time here beside her making sure she was fine. He placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down and waited for an explanation from Tsunade.

Tsunade averted her gaze to the floor. Her honey colored eyes were staring into the white marbled floor while calculating the possibilities that might have caused the reaction. She suddenly shot a glare in Naruto's direction:"When you came back with her you told me you pumped a small amount of the Nine Tail's chakra into her body in order to keep her alive. Am I right?"

Naruto slowly nodded while trying to remember his exact words:"What does that have to do with it?" Kakashi asked while stepping forward. Tsunade looked at him her expression showed deep thought but she still started her explanation:

"My guess is and is the best case scenario, when Naruto pumped the chakra into her body it indeed kept her alive but it remained within her own chakra flow. The fact that she still managed to open her eyes after all the drugs we are pumping into her bloodstream tells me that the Nine Tail's chakra is still within her trying to merge with her own."

All four of them remained silent for a while, thinking on the Hokage's words. Kakashi was also lost in his thought. When they finally reached Sakura's bleeding body Naruto suggested the idea to pump his chakra into her in order to keep her alive long enough for them to take her to Kumo. Both he and Sasuke supervised Naruto's flow of chakra into the lifeless body with their sharingans:"I didn't give her that much." Naruto's sad voice filled the air. He was drowning in guilt without realizing that his action had actually saved their girl.

Tsunade took a deep breath before saying:"It's not about the amount you gave her. It's about the chakra its self. Kyuubi is the most powerful of all the Tailed Beasts; therefore he has the strongest chakra. I think all of you can agree on that. But whether it's a good or a bad thing that it's inside Sakura we will have to wait and see."

Sakura heard a small distant voice in her mind that did not belong to her alter ego:"_You know girl that I am the one who is keeping you alive, it's thanks to me that you still haven't had a pleasant meeting with the Death angel._" The voice sounded cruel, as it was making fun of her. She didn't know who or what it was but she felt her mind violated. She wanted to shake it off so she can be at peace. She heard the voice earlier when she had woken up and choked. It was like a lighting strike from a cloudless sky. It had screamed in her mind reaching down her whole body:"AWAKE!" She couldn't even breathe from the intensity of it. At one point she decided to let the drugs take control of her again.

Kakashi was walking in between stands and tents making his way towards the improvised tea house they had made. While he was walking he could hear people whispering about what had happened in the hospital today. He made a deep sight. He hated when gossips travelled faster than important news. Everyone was exaggerating to the point where they were saying that Sakura was already dead, but the Kage's where keeping it a secret so there wouldn't be any problems. He shoock his head in disapproval as he opened the tented entrance. Everyone was already there; The Rookie Nine were sitting on a table silent and talking to each other in a low voice, on another table Genma, Guy, Izumo and Kotetsu were seated on a separated table and when they saw him the waved at him so he can spot them.

"Well how is she?" Kotetsu asked as soon as Kakashi sat down. He didn't say anything until he ordered a drink from the waitress:"She is still alive. If that is what you are asking?" All of them looked down to their cups. Genma knew better than to ask. He knew that the situation right now was killing his best friend. To be honest it was killing all the leaf shinobi who knew her. Sakura was a kind and generous person always willing to help and do whatever it took her to save someone whether in the hospital or the battlefield and Genma felt that they weren't able to return even half of what she had done for them. He suddenly raised his head met Kakashi's only visible eye:

"Well I know from Shizune that it was like a state of shock." Izumo raised his head so he can listen to the conversation but couldn't keep quiet:"What? State of shock, I thought they were keeping her under sedation?" Neither Genma nor Kakashi said anything so Izumo took that as cue to end the conversation right there.

"I can't explain it. One moment she was sleeping in the next she grabbed my hand and started gasping for air." Sasuke was answering of all their questions with a composed look on his face but Naruto knew deep down Sasuke wasn't composed at all. For the first time since they were genin he saw Sasuke shocked and scared today. The fact that the Uchiha had shown some emotion actually made one problem disappear from Naruto's problems list. Naruto now knew that Sasuke really had turned over a new page and he hoped that Sakura would come back to them so she can see it for herself.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Are you planning to stay in this bed for the rest of your life_?" the voice asked in slow mischievous tone. Sakura decided to ignore it once again by going to sleep but she couldn't no matter what she did. She felt really dizzy as she was about throw up. She tried to ignore the feeling as she cracked open her left eye. She saw from the pale light in the room that it was night time already; the moon was spraying its light all over her face. She moved her head in the other direction to escape the faint light. For a moment she wondered how long had she been sleeping:"_A week, maybe two_?" her alter ego suggested. Sakura felt relieved that it wasn't the other voice. For some reason she was scared of it and hoped that the drugs were causing her to her it. She still felt sick and after a few seconds realized why. She was intubated. She could feel the plastic tube down her throat pumping oxygen into her lungs from the machines next to the bed. She decided to try to stay awake until someone comes to check up on her.

Nurse Megumi had started her morning rounds about ten minutes ago. She had been personally instructed by the Hokage to check on Haruno Sakura as soon as her shift started. While walking she opened the chart to see what the nurse who did the evening rounds had written down:"_No change in the patient's condition._" Megumi gave out a slight sight. The girl had been here for two and a half weeks now and each and every day was the same. Except yesterday she heard the story from the other nurses but found it hard to believe the unconscious girl simply woke up and grabbed the guy's hand but who knew. As she entered the room, she closed the door firmly behind her while staring at the chart, moving closer to the monitors of the machines. While she was scribbling the information in the chart the corner of her eye caught a movement on the girl's face. She looked at Sakura's face and almost dropped the chart to the ground.

Tsunade shot out of bed as quickly as possible, ignoring the hangover and throbbing headache. She got dressed in two minutes and was flying through the streets of Kumo. She had gotten the news half an hour ago and she ordered the nurses to leave Sakura the same they found her and wait for her to arrive. Once she remembered that Sakura might be awake she quickened her pace. When she reached the hospital she found two nurses in Sakura's room. With trembling feet she approached her apprentice's bed and looked at her features. Tsunade felt a single tear escape her face as she gripped Sakura's undamaged arm and felt a stable and strong squeeze from the other side.

The moment the tube left her mouth Sakura couldn't hold it anymore and threw up in the small basin the nurse handed her. It's not like there was something in her stomach, she was getting everything her body needed through the tubes hooked in her arm. Her Masters spoke to her in a soft voice like a mother would do:"How are you feeling?" It took Sakura some time to find the right words:"Honestly I feel like crap. I still feel like I am going to throw up and I am definitely high from all of the morphine."

Tsunade chuckled at her worlds but still remembered to act professional in front of the nurses and asked them politely to leave them alone. Both of them bowed and left the room. Tsunade straightened her back and started removing the bandages on her head to examine her forehead. She had a deep wound on her forehead and Tsunade was afraid it might leave a scar. As she was working she told Sakura:"Your mother is here. I send someone over to her inn to inform her that you are awake."

Sakura hummed before responding:"So my mother really is here. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I heard her cry." Tsunade stopped unfolding the bandage and looked at her student with a questioning look. Sakura took a deep breath and tried to sit up and lean her back on the board of the bed. Pain shot through her groin while doing so but she ignored it:"I have been dozing on and off for a few days now. I heard several people who came to see me. I knew my mother was here" Tsunade continued her work while thinking over Sakura's words then she finally asked:"Do you remember the episode with Sasuke."

Sakura stood silent for a moment. She remembered alright, the shock in his eyes, his pale face, and the movement of his lips while calling for someone. She also remembered the scream in her head and her gasp for air:"I remember it. The thing is that woke up for real for the first time and I woke up suddenly which caused my body into shock. I have to apologize to him for scaring him if I see him near me any time soon." Tsunade was listening to the tired chit-chat she was conducting but nothing entered her mind. She had gotten rid off the bandage and found absolutely nothing under it. No wound, no gash not even scarred tissue. The only thing on Sakura's forehead was the jewel shaped symbol she also had.

"Is something wrong?" Tsunade snapped out of it at the sound of the question. She didn't know whether to tell the girl the truth or keep quiet. In the end she simply said:"No nothing at all." Tsunade then continued to examine her arm while thinking:"I _guess we have to wait a while before telling her absolutely everything_. "

Naruto was watching Sakura exchange words with her mother through the small glass window on the door of her room. This morning when he heard that she was awake he barely put some clothes on before rushing to the hospital. She still looked fragile and weak but in time she would heal. At least that was what Tsunade had promised. Naruto turned away as Mebuki went down to hug her daughter and focused on what Tsunade was saying to Sasuke and Kakashi:

"She doesn't remember much details when it comes to killing Madara. She just knows she did it. Then she asked me how come was she still alive. She is not stupid and she has more than enough medical knowledge to know that wounds like hers are fatal. I simply told her that she was lucky and had a strong spirit."

Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto froze at that last sentence. It took them some time to realize that Tsunade had kept it a secret from Sakura that now she carrying within her the Nine Tail's chakra. Even thought it was a small amount it had cause the wound on her forehead to completely disappear. Kakashi finally came forward and asked:"You lied to her? Why didn't you tell her what we did? You should have explained it to her and told that we did it in order for her to survive."

Tsunade took a deep breath before saying:"I spoke to her when I came here. She doesn't show it but you can tell by her voice and face she is deeply shocked by her actions. She even said she didn't know what possessed her to do it. You want me to go in there and tell her fragile mind:"_By the way you have a Biju's chakra in you. Your teammates gave it you in order to keep you alive._" How do you think she will react? Plus I need you to tell me how much chakra did she actually receive? "

Three sets of eyes shot to her in confusion. All three men stood silent while thinking how best to answer the question and what to make of it. Naruto said in an uncertain tone:"I didn't give her that much did I?" He looked at Kakashi and Sasuke for confirmation than Sasuke said in a deep voice:"I made sure it was the smallest amount possible. We waited until we got a heartbeat from her."

Tsunade looked at him with a questioning look. Seeing her confusion Kakashi jumped in to explain:"We told you that the battlefield moved. Me, Naruto and Sasuke got left behind due to injuries. Sakura left the clones of Katsuyu to heal us. At one point we felt the chakra from the stop. So her and Madara at the point where his hand was in her stomach, once both of them fell to the ground we rushed to her. She was still breathing and as we were evaluating the situation we couldn't find her pulse anymore."

"Then I suggested we bring her back with my chakra." Naruto finally added and then eagerly with worry in his tone asked:"Did we do something wrong?" Tsunade placed her hand on her forehead as she leaned against the wall. She knew that they only intended to help and as a matter of fact they did. But she hated when shinobi who had no idea of the consequences in experimenting with medicine did things they shouldn't:"We have to wait and see but as far as I can tell you gave her too much than she needed, because you all saw the wound on her forehead."

All three of them nodded remembering the deep hit and how much it bloodied her face:"Well it's not there anymore." Tsunade continued:"There isn't even a scar and her abdomen wound is healing faster than anticipated."

Sakura cracked the biggest smile she could when her team entered. She was even glad to see Sasuke, she wanted to cry at the sight of them but held back:"_There will be none of that. Not anymore_." Her alter ego whispered in her mind. But that couldn't said about all of them, as soon as Naruto entered her room and saw her in her bed tears started rolling down his cheeks. He threw himself at her feet and sobbed:"Sakura-chan you look horrible. Our beautiful blossom looks so bad."

The pink haired girl couldn't help but smile and manage out a small groan that was supposed to be a chuckle. She coughed several times before speaking:"Naruto what do you expect me to look like after what I heard from Tsunade-sama was two and a half weeks?" she looked at Sasuke and Kakashi for a hint and as they nodded she averted her gaze back and Naruto:"I am not going to look like a prom queen. I will look like a zombie." The last comment earned her a giggle from Kakashi and Naruto and a slight smile from Sasuke by which she was amazed.

Kakashi walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of the left side looking at her face. She didn't look her best as Naruto had stated. She had deep dark circles under her emerald green eyes and the color of face was almost like flour. It pained him to see her like this but one thought soothed his mind:"_At least we gave her part of what she had given us through the years_."

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Okay so far I have received only positive I would like some of you to give me an opinion on my writing and give me some advice if needed. Thank you and enjoy :)


	4. Chapter 4

"So I hear Haruno Sakura not only woke up but her wounds appear to heal." The Tsutchikage eyed Tsunade with a smile under his mustache. Tsunade could feel her blood boiling. Yet another discussion of Sakura was going to follow. She hated the fact that rather than talking about current missions and battlefield clearings they had to talk about this:"Yes she woke up yesterday but I will continue to monitor her condition."

An awkward silence fell between the five of them before Mei asked the million dollar question:"Is she aware of what her actions are going to resolve in?" Tsunade took a deep breath and looked at the kunoichi. She really liked Mei and didn't want to sound rude:"I haven't dropped that bomb on her yet. Sakura has always been good when it comes to taking responsibility. But right now I am not sure she is ready to receive a responsibility like this."

Gaara who was usually quiet now decided to speak after hearing the conversation:"The Hokage is right. Thanks to her apprentice a large number of our forces on the battlefield survived. Not mention the fact that she killed Madara. I am pretty sure she realizes what that means, however I think we should let her gather her strength first."

Sakura had visitors the whole day. All of the Rookie Nine members came to see her and to be honest made her feel better. All of them were loud and seemed happy without a care in the world; they were also willing to do whatever necessary to help her back on her feet. She was a having a good time until Tsunade-sama came in and kicked them out with the explanation that she needed to rest. After all of them said their goodbyes she turned to her shishou:"Tsunade-sama I have a question? How come I am healing so fast?"

Tsunade froze in front of the monitors that she was looking on and took a deep breath. Sakura knew that she hit something and hoped she would get an answer good enough to help her understand what was going on. It has been only two day since she had woken up but with every day and every hour she felt better and stronger. She knew that it was odd since normally it would take months to heal injuries like the ones she had endured.

Tsunade finally looked at her and smiled:"I guess you mastered the Strength of a Hundred Seal technique better than I thought. Plus I have always told you that you were a prodigy when it came to Medical ninjutsu. I have never seen anyone master the techniques I've been teaching you that fast." After she was done Sakura decided to drop it and instead she raised her right hand in front of her face. Tsunade saw that and asked if she was in pain. Sakura shook her head and simply said:"I feel like this one will never heal. I can feel it on my skin."

Tsunade put a hand on her shoulder and lightly squeezed:"A chakra like Madara's is too strong and lethal. You know what I am talking about you felt it yourself. And yet we need to wait and see how your hand is going to handle the flow of chakra again and also physical pressure." Sakura sighted and let her hand fall on the bed once again. After a few minutes Tsunade left the room and told her to rest and try to get some sleep on her own without any drugs.

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep but the voice in her head made her eyes snap open:"_I can heal your hand if you let me."_ She stared at the ceiling her breath coming in deep and fast. She thought she had dreamt the voice while she was unconscious, but she was wrong. She heard it even now as she stood wide awake:"_You know I am capable of fixing your hand. All you have to do is let me._" The voice tried to tempt her even more but Sakura shook her head and focused on a spot on the ceiling. After a few minutes the voice was gone, she took a deep breath and wondered if she was going insane or was she just tired. She let her eyes close without answering her own question.

Everywhere Kakashi went he could hear people talking loud and happy about Sakura and her slow but anticipated recovery. They were glad that their savior will live to see the new world she had saved. People were also wondering what would happen to her now, some said that the daimyo will give her great honors, other said that she would become her master's successor and maybe become the next Hokage. He found it funny how people always had the wrong ideas, he knew Sakura all too well. Kakashi knew that once they went home she would want to return to her usual routine either at the hospital or missions. Maybe she would take a student and train him but that depended on her own wishes.

He got to the hospital and asked a nurse if he could go and see her. The nurse grunted:"Fine go, but if the Hokage yells at me that I let in more than one person to see her I will tell her that it wasn't my fault." Kakashi understood what she meant when he got to the room and found Naruto feeding Sakura soup. Both of them looked so innocent that he couldn't help but smile at them. He couldn't believe that once children they were now adults who had endured so much pain and suffering.

Sakura turned to his direction and pleaded:"Kakashi-sensei tell this moron that I already had enough of the nasty soup. He keeps forcing it on me." Naruto dropped the spoon in the bowl and protested:"Sakura you need to eat so you can regain your strength. In a few weeks we will be going back to Konoha and you need to be strong enough to last the journey."

The thought of Konoha made Sakura's smile wither. Her beloved home was still in ruins waiting for them to rebuild it. Last night when she couldn't sleep more than three hours she spend the time thinking whether she would be able to bring back the spark of her life in her current condition. She hoped she did because this war gave her too many scars and she needed to make them disappear and turn over a new page.

Naruto could see Sakura was in deep thought and tried to cheer her up:"Don't worry Sakura I heard that the hospital has been rebuilt already so you will have something to do while the rest of us work on reviving the buildings of Konoha." The pink haired girl gave Naruto a murderous glare before simply saying:"Naruto now I am letting these comments pass me by but remember that payback is a bitch."

The blond suddenly snapped his mouth closed and crossed his arms in front of his chest which made Kakashi chuckle as he turned to Sakura:"I see that you at least still have that temper of yours." The kunoichi simply smirked and turned her head to the window as she was offended but he could see that there was a faint smile upon her lips.

Sakura felt she was getting better with each day. She was particularly happy when instead of plain soup with nothing in it she received ramen for lunch. She could feel little by little her strength coming back, with a bit disappointment from her right arm. One day she tried running chakra down her hands she had succeeded in doing so with her left hand but the other no matter how hard she focused she still couldn't do it. Her mother also wasn't of big help. This morning Mebuki told her that in her opinion Sakura should retire once she got better and was back in Konoha:

"Retire? And what am I supposed to do once I am no longer a shinobi?" Her mother fussed over her question stating that there were so many things she could do with her life since she wasn't even twenty wet. They had gotten into a really big fight which resulted in Mebuki leaving with a grunt that was supposed to be a goodbye but that wasn't the worst part. At one point Tsunade came in with all four of her male teammates. She was surprised to see Sai and greeted him eagerly asking him questions until Tsunade stopped her in her pace:"Sakura there is something we need to discuss."

Sakura sat in her bed not daring to look at any of them. The information flowing into her brain was too much to comprehend at this moment. Her shishou was telling her stuff like that her status now was going to be really different and also she was promoted to jonin and that her new rank was accepted by everyone. She also heard something like:"You are the new hope of the shinobi."

She snapped her head at Tsunade, her expression was almost neutral but Sakura could read Tsunade like an open book and felt that beneath the mask there was worry and fear. She shifted her gaze to her teammates who didn't say anything just gave reassuring smiles. Sakura than averted her gaze to her hands once more. Rage filled her whole being, she tried to squeeze her right hand into a fist but failed to do so.

Naruto took a few steps towards her:"Sakura-chan say something? You don't look too happy." Sakura bursted into a fit:"I don't look happy? How can I be happy you idiot, you just told me that every shinobi out there is looking at me right now. What will they see? The only thing they will see is a cripple, who can't even use her own hand, who is almost dead looking. Is that the person they are looking for hope in?"

Tsunade knew this was bad. This temper of hers had shown its self to her only twice and it was devastating. She tried to speak:"Sakura calm…" But she couldn't finish because she was cut off:"Get out of here. I need to be alone." Her raging tone had changed into almost a plea; she sounded like a child who was forgotten:"I need to think this through." All of them left her room, she could hear their footsteps down the hallway but with the corner of her eye she could see that Sasuke had paused in front of the door watching her through the small window. However when she didn't even turn to look at him he simply went away. She was left all alone hearing the voice of her alter ego and the other unknown one that sounded always so evil and vile.

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Okay I think some of you might label this chapter as boring but please follow because this chapter and aslo the next one kinda explain the title of this story and what will happen in next chapters ;)


	5. Chapter 5

In her hospital bed Sakura was torturing herself with thoughts all night. She fought the urge to grab her ivy system and throw it out the window with all the strength she had right now. Instead she decided to do something less reckless. She barely sat sideways on her bed while her uncertain feet touched the cold marble floor. She took a deep breath and heard her alter ego give her push:"_Come_ _on girl you can do this its simply walking._" She tried to push herself of the bed with both of her hands but when she put pressure into the right one a burning pain shot through her whole body which made her gasp loudly.

She raised the trembling hand before her face:"_It's useless staring it. It won't heal under the power of your eyes_." The intruder in her mind laughed in a mean manner. She shook her head as if to throw it away and proceeded with the task in mind. She used only her left hand this time and the minute she stood on her feet she couldn't keep her balance and her weak knees gave up and she fell face forward to the floor dragging her ivy along.

She cursed under her breath muttering every bad word in her dictionary. She felt the familiar heat in her eyes, she indeed wanted to cry but the evil voice came back raging and commanding:"_Don't you dare cry girly_. _Do you want to be weak and pathetic all your life_?" She instantly snapped and tried to gather herself from the floor when she heard the window of the room crack open. A pair of hands lifted her gently and placed her in her bed. She looked up only to find a masked face and messy silver hair.

She felt deeply embarrassed that he had seen her at her weakest state and the need to get rid of him made her mutter:"What are you doing here?" He didn't respond and instead tugged the covers and covered her exposed legs. After he did the small gesture he slid his hands in his pockets and looked at her with his only visible eye:"I was making sure that you wouldn't do anything stupid."

She puffed and crossed her arms but found it hard tuck her hand under her left arm:"You have me mistaken with a certain blue eyed blond from our team." He was still looking at her which made her shift uncomfortably in the bed. He then helped her sit up by gently putting his hands under her pits and effortlessly like she was a bag of potatoes pulled her up:"You need to set the emotions in your heart into a straight line."

The fact that he was telling her what to do in this moment made her blood boil once more. She crashed her head against the pillow and stared into the space before her. Her lips became a thin line. She was tired. The events of the day drained not only her good mood but also her energy. Suddenly she felt her eyelids grow heavy:"Kakashi please leave before I call the nurses." He understood that he wasn't going to get anything more out of her so he slid out the same way he had entered.

Tsunade never anticipated that her student would be so bold. She knew Sakura had it in her to step over a line to get what she wanted. She understood that the day the pink haired girl then a genin had entered her office and literally begged her to take her on as her student. But what she had heard made her mind question just how well she knew her little amazon. Yamanka Ino who was standing next to her was settling her jaw back into place since it had gaped open at the information she had just heard:"You want to leave for a year? What do you mean leave? Leave us? Kumogakure, Konoha and just disappear."

Sakura didn't even bother to look at the in the eyes:"That's what I am saying. I need to be away from people for a while." Tsunade now stepped in with the intention to knock some sense into the pink haired girl:"Even if you want to leave you can't. Your injuries are still healing, the process will be long. And I will not give my approval anyway and I think you know that very well." Tsunade meant to continue but the single sliding tear on the girls' cheek made her stop. Sakura looked at them with empty wet eyes and when she spoke Tsunade cringed at how desperate she sounded:"How can I be the hope of shinobi when I myself feel hopeless in this state. Look at me and tell that I am giving you hope and I will laugh in your face. I am a bag of broken bones right now. Even my mind feels broken, war broke me Tsunade-sama and I need time to repair myself before I face people with at least a mask of pride on my face."

Ino moved to sit at her feet and put a reassuring hand over hers:"Sakura stay and we will help you. All you have to do is ask you know that. I myself will do everything possible to help you." Sakura looked at their hands but didn't make a motion to break the contact instead she stared deep into Ino's sky blue eyes and firmly said without any remorse in her tone:"I have made my decision. Keep me caged like this and I will break into a million pieces and then no one will be able to put me back together." Tsunade began walking towards the door of the room while she threw over her shoulder:"I will give you an answer tomorrow."

Naruto was and Sasuke were walking back from a battlefield clearance. There was a comfortable silence between them which helped Naruto think. Today he hadn't gone to the hospital as usual instead he had decided to give Sakura some time to cool down. He was taken back into reality when Sasuke spoke to him:"What is it dobe? Usually no one can shut your mouth." Naruto snorted at the comment and decided to ignore it by simply saying:"I was thinking about Sakura-chan. She seemed really upset yesterday."

"Hn" was the only thing that escaped Sasuke's lips. Naruto shrugged and continued to fill the void with silence when Sasuke spoke:"She hates herself for being so weak right now. I know that because I saw it written on her face yesterday. I had the same face and feelings before I left Konoha. I despised myself for being so weak. I hated the fact that there was nothing I could do to harm Itachi." Naruto looked at his friend expecting some kind of emotion on the Uchiha's face but he was left disappointed since his face was blank. Instead Naruto asked casually:"And how did you cope with those feelings." It took Sasuke some time to answer but then he slowly said under his nose:"I left."

"What do you mean she wants to leave?" Gaara asked with an indifferent face while staring at the Slug princess:"She wants to have some peace and rest while recovering. It's more complicated than that but I am giving you the short version." Gaara dropped his gaze at the floor while assessing the information Tsunade had just given him. He then felt a bit confused and asked:"And why are you telling me this?"

Tsunade took a deep breath. Her honey eyes looked around to make sure no one would hear their conversation:"I want her to get better, if she stays or we drag her back to Konoha it will be the same she will remain an emotional bag ready to burst. I need to convince the other Kage that this is best and by having some support it will be easier."

Gaara remembered when his brother Kankuro was telling him how Sakura saved his life. Truth was the Kazekage never had paid much attention to the pink haired kunoichi and suddenly felt the urge to do something for the girl that had saved his big brother:"Very well I will support you." He finally said as he looked up to meet Tsunade's gaze.

Sakura told the nurses at the hospital that she didn't want any more visits for today. She told her mother her intensions and after a really big fight she finally managed to convince Mebuki to let her do what she wanted and return to Konoha. She was also anxious and nervous. Waiting for Tsunade to make a decision was filling her mind more and more:"_What if she says "no"?"_ she thought. Then the now familiar dark voice spoke to her once again:"_You can always run away. I can help you with that. Being a missing nin is not so bad. Also you were the one to kill the strongest shinobi in this world no one will dare to touch you_."

She ignored those whispers as much as possible. She didn't want think right now but failed to do so. Sakura was surprised when she found herself picturing what life would be if she was a missing nin. She immediately shook her head to chase away the images and thoughts. Her mind felt so tortured from the voices and information that she simply slipped into a deep sleep.

Her wakeup call came with a gentle touch on the shoulder. She slowly opened heavy from sleep eyes and looked up to see who it was. He vision was still blurry but she recognized the blond heads as Ino and Tsunade. Behind them stood two ANBU agents, their faces hidden behind masks their stoic figures made Sakura flinch. Tsunade once again touched her shoulder with the words:"Come on let's help you get dressed and going."

Sakura took some time before realizing that her wishes had come true. She stood up on her elbow but Ino's voice stopped her:"Sakura we are letting you go with the condition that you tell us where you are going." Her green eyes seemed empty for a bit then she broke the silence and directed the order to the ANBU agents:"Take me to the Fire temple."

In the morning Sasuke was rudely woken up by Naruto:"Get up teme! We are going to see Sakura we gave her too much time to cool down." Sasuke simply grunted but still got up and got dressed. They met up with Kakashi and Sai on the way to the hospital and once they arrived Naruto almost ran to Sakura's room. But once he opened the door he froze not moving from his spot:"What is dobe?" Sasuke asked in his indifferent voice but he too froze when he saw the empty bed already made waiting for someone else.


	6. Chapter 6

_**One year and two months later**_

Izumo and Kotetsu were at their usual spot at the Konoha gates. The day was slow and lazy and both of them were leaned back in their chairs enjoying the weather and the song of the birds. Kotetsu massaged his face before grunting:"I am so bored." Izumo opened one eye and looked at him from the corner of it. He took a deep breath before saying in a relaxed tone:"This is the fifth time you stated that."

Kotetsu ignored his friend and turned his attention to the noises around them. He suddenly stood up from his chair to get a better listen. Izumo noticed that and asked:"What's wrong now." Kotetsu didn't avert his eyes to look at him but quickly said:"Someone is coming back. I can hear footsteps." He then sat back in his chair waiting for the person who was going to take him out of the boredom misery. However neither of them expected the person they saw:"Sakura?" both of them exclaimed in one voice.

Sakura smiled at them:"Hello boys, it's been a long time." Both of them stood silent while examining how much she had changed in one year. Sakura seemed better than ever, her eyes were sparkling and her skin was slightly tanned and looked healthy. Her hair was longer now and she wore it in a braid on the left side of her neck with her bangs framing her face. She had replaced the medical skirt with black tights that covered her legs to her knees and on top she was wearing a red tank top that fit her curves like a second skin. She was wearing the same robe as Tsunade the only difference was that it was sleeveless and it was was white with the ring of her family in red at the back. Sakura was also wearing a black leather glove that almost reached her elbow.

Izumo finally felt that he should stop starring at her and said:"You are finally back. I can't believe it you have no idea what a fuss your disappearance caused." Sakura chuckled at his words which gave the sparkle in her eyes an even bigger gleam:"I can imagine."

Tsunade was sitting on the couch across the one where the two village counselors were seated. She hated the rare times when she had to see them and talk to them but it was necessary. Even the Hokage had a boss she had to report to. Homura stared at Tsunade through his glasses and then asked the question she dreaded:"Tsunade you claimed up to this point that Haruno Sakura would return within a year. It has been two month since she was supposed to come back and yet there is no word from her."

Tsunade shifted in her seat while contemplating what answer to give. She knew Sakura was bound to return to Konoha soon. When her apprentice was leaving Tsunade made her promise to keep contact with her and Yamanaka Ino since the two of them were the only ones aware of her location:"Haruno Sakura will return. You have my word on that." She then said and prepared to leave but she was stopped by the appearance of Kotetsu. The man bowed to Koharu and Homura and then averted his direction to the Hokage:"Haruno Sakura is at the village gates waiting for someone to escort her to the Hokage tower."

Sakura was sitting on top of the desk that Izumo and Kotetsu shared at the gates while chatting with Izumo:"So you managed to rebuild the village?" Izumo nodded with a smile on his face:"Yes we all worked really hard. We also put Yamatos' wood technique to a good use." She chuckled at those last words imagining Yamato building house after house. Then his question made her shiver:"Where were you all this time Sakura-chan? You have no idea what people were saying. Some were saying that you died but the Kage were covering it, others claimed that you ran away to become a missing Nin."

She smiled at the fact of how people were so shallow as to come up with rumors like that. She then realized that Izumo was still waiting for an answer:"I had to take a vacation and heal." She then smiled that he dropped his head in desperation at the fact that she was still beating around the bush. She then threw her gaze to the direction of the village where she saw Kotetsu coming with Genma by his side.

Naruto averted his gaze to where their targets were and took a deep breath. According to the source the men in front of him were spies for Orochimaru gathering info on a certain child prodigy in the Land of Rivers. He then turned his head to eye his partners; Sasuke was crouching still as a stone while using his Sharingan to examine whether the men were any particular threat. Kakashi was covering their backs and scanning the area. Naruto gave them a signal and while biting the inside of his cheek thought how big of a waste it was that they didn't kill the snake Sanin during the war. Orochimaru truly helped them but now he was back to his old games causing trouble. As the blond braced himself he leapt forward to deliver the first blow.

Sadly after the battle none of their targets gave up any valuable information. Kakashi was amazed at how loyal these spies were. One of them bit off his tongue to avoid any questions. Not giving anything the men were of no use and after the three of them disposed themselves of the spies headed home. The journey was not long but they felt like making a camp and resting for the night. As they sat around the fire there was a silence between them. They were dwelling in their own thoughts, without knowing they were thinking about their female teammate.

Naruto finally spoke:"Man I miss Sakura. Sometimes I wonder if she will ever come back." Kakashi closed his Icha Icha and eyed the blond who was staring at the flames coming from the fire:"We all do Naruto. She is one of a kind after all." Naruto smiled at those words and he was also amazed when he saw a faint movement on Sasukes' lips as well. He then leaned his head against the tree he was sitting at and remembered Sakura. How she used to take care of him when he came back injured from a mission how she was always concerned and cared for the welfare of everyone.

Naruto stopped the flow of memories with the words:"I honestly miss her punching me and screaming at me." All of them chuckled and remembered the countless times the pink haired girl was beating Naruto to the ground. Then Sasuke drew the attention to himself:"When she comes back I think we will find a completely different person."

Back at Konoha Sakura was sitting on the couch at Tsunade's office; Ino had arrived a minute ago and was still hugging Sakura out of her breath. The blond whispered in her ear:"I am so glad you are finally back." Sakura smiled and whispered back:"Me too." Tsunade broke the moment by saying:"Okay that is enough welcoming. Now we should talk busyness." Sakura straightened in her seat and eyed Tsunade:"Your return will cause a lot of fuss but there are also some formalities we need to go through with the village council and all. After that I believe you can be restored to active duty again."

"Some may question my abilities after such a long time but I have the monks at the Fire temple that will vouch for me. Once I got better I started training. I was even training specific techniques with the members of the temple." The whole time Sakura was explaining Ino couldn't take her eyes off Sakuras' gloved arm. She felt herself reaching for it but stopped once she felt two sets of eyes on her. Silence filled the room and Sakura spoke again:"I managed to regain the ability of my hand but some things were beyond fixing. " Tsunade stretched out her own hand. Sakura got up and went to the desk while removing the glove. Tsunade looked at the healed scorched skin, there wasn't a spot that didn't have scarring on it. She then looked at her fingertips:"Sakura even your finger prints didn't return."

She took back her hand and started to put on her glove once again:"I know it doesn't look that good. Actually no let me rephrase. If you see it you will lose the last meal you had, but the good thing is I still can swing a good punch." Tsunade eyed her apprentice and smiled:"I will take you up on that. Tomorrow six in the morning the training fields." Sakura winked at her sensei with a smile on her lips.

The fact that she had ended the war had its advantages. Even after she left the daimyo rewarded her with honors and a really large paycheck. While in the temple she wrote to Ino to use that money to buy a house and furnish it and if Ino wanted they could be roommates. Now both of them were walking back to their sweet little home and talking about what Sakura had missed while she was gone:"I must warn you I am dating someone right now."

Sakura eyed the blonde from the corner of her eye:"Do I know him?" Ino blushed a bit and while looking away she simply muttered:"It's Kiba." Sakura almost tripped on her own feet. She then asked with a serious tone:"Are you kidding me? " Ino grunted back:"No. Actually we are very good together we have similar personalities. And he is really good to me." The last sentence was followed by a blush and Sakura chuckled as she realized that her friend was head over heels in love.

"Finally home." Ino said while pointing to a small two floors house. It looked really comfy and cute especially with the little porch in front. Sakura could only gasp:"Oh Ino it's perfect." They walked in and once they removed their shoes at the entrance they were in the living room which was connected with the kitchen but still there was bar stand which separated the two rooms. Ino grabbed Sakura's arm and led her to another room. It was a bedroom in a soft minty green color. The bed sheets were pale pink and there was a dresser and a night stand. The bed was also pretty big:"_Too big for one person._" She thought but she came to love the room as she examined it. Then Ino asked:"Like it? This is your room" Sakura smiled and simply said:"I love it."

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Hi guys, Sorry I am late hut I was busy with work and school but anyway ENJOY :)


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura got up at four in the morning unable to sleep more. Ever since she went to the Fire temple she could only sleep for maximum five hour a night. The nightmares and voices were too loud in her head to let her sleep more. She made herself coffee in the comfortable kitchen and sat on the porch to enjoy the sunrise. As she was holding the cup she looked at her scarred hand. She remembered the countless times she tried to heal the burns but failed then the familiar dark voice she was now used to growled:"_Deal with it. Nothing can be perfect. You have to be grateful to me that I at least gave you back the ability to use chakra_."

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Focusing on the noises around her she let them overtake her whole mind. The monks at the Fire temple taught her this technique in order to calm your mind and body and she used it draw a blank page in her mind as well. She then looked around:"_My home is almost the same as it was_." She thought and smiled to herself:"_I wonder when the boys will come back_?"

Tsunade looked around the now destroyed training ground with surprise. She felt that Sakura's strength had increased significantly as her speed. She eyed her student who was standing next to her and said:"You have become stronger." Sakura only smiled and awkwardly scratched the back of her head:"Did I tire you Shishou?" Tsunade merely smirked:"Not at all."

They walked back together to the Hokage tower so they can talk about future meetings and when Sakura would be able to return to her duties. As Sakura was talking Tsunade took the time to examine her. She really seemed better, that former shelf of her she saw in the hospital bed had disappeared and Tsunade found herself asking:"Did you manage to pick all of the pieces." Sakura stood silent for a while watching the motion of her booted feet as she was walking. The slight breeze was making the strands of free hair move around her face like halo. Her soft pink lips curled into a smile:"I picked up those who could be salvaged. The others I am trying to forget."

The team seven trio was walking back to Konoha enjoying the nice weather and the life around them. When the red gates of Konoha finally came into view they quickened their pace. All three of them wanted to go home take a shower and relax and forget the failed mission. When they were spotted by Izumo and Kotetsu one of them shouted:"Hey guys, hurry up we have some news." Naruto gave Kakashi and Sasuke a questioning look but both of them just shrugged their shoulders. Once they got to the desk Izumo said in an excited voice:"You will never guess what happened yesterday."

Sasuke took the clipboard and after signing his name into the returned column and handing it to Kakashi said in an indifferent voice:"If it's some petty village rumors I don't care." Kakashi closed his eyes and thanked the heavens that most of the shinobi in the village were used to Sasuke's behavior now and didn't care if he cut them off like that but he still was interested in what the two chuunin had to say:"So what is it? You two usually learn stuff last since you are all day here."

Both of them men grinned at each other and Kotetsu said in a proud voice:"Yes but we were the first to see Sakura-chan when she walked through the village gates." Three heads snapped in their direction and then Naruto almost screamed:"Sakura is back in the village!" Both Izumo and Kotetsu nodded and before they could say anything more Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were already gone.

Tsunade was in her office reading through her usual large amount of paperwork. Her focus disappeared when she heard some large commotion outside her office door. The muffled voices were coming closer and while she was trying to figure out what was the problem Naruto burst through the door excitement and happiness written all over his face:"Baa-chan is it true. Is Sakura-chan really here in the village?" The Hokage simply smiled and wrapped her hands under her chin:"I guess good news travels fast." Naruto's face lit up even more as he turned his head towards the door to welcome Kakashi and Sasuke into the room:"Guys she is back she really is here."

Tsunade averted her gaze to the other two shinobi in the room. Both Kakashi and Sasuke seemed cool but under the exterior you could see that they were also excited from the news as their blond teammate. Kakashi greeted her in a manner and then said:"I guess that makes up for the mission. Has she been here?" The blond Hokage leaned back in her chair and said with a smirk while twirling the pen between her fingers:"She was here about ten minutes ago but she went see her parents."

Naruto suddenly turned around and made his way towards the door but was stopped by Tsunade's voice:"Naruto where do you think you are going?" Naruto turned to face her with a sad expression:"I am going to see her?" Sasuke puffed a breath out:"Dobe we need to give our report first." The Hokage the followed:"Plus the girl hasn't seen her parents in a year are you sure you want to ruin a family reunion." Naruto crossed his arms in front his chest like a little child and muttered a slight:"Okay."

"Mom this is enough I am full already." Sakura knew her mother was going to cook food enough for an army but she didn't expect she had to eat half of it. Mebuki replied in a motherly tone:"Nonsense look how skinny you are. You need to eat." Sakura simply shook her head with a smile and averted her gaze to her father. She felt his gaze on her the whole time and knew he had to say something to her. She placed her gloved hand over his and smiled. Kizashi returned her smile and turned to his wife:"Mebuki can you please take out some sake."

Mebuki threw him a somewhat horrific look:"It's only noon. What are you thinking?" He made a happy face and simply said:"Our daughter is finally back. We should celebrate." Mebuki stood up and was muttering something under nose as she excited the living room of their small house. Then Sakura finally broke the silence:"It must be something really important you want to tell me since you made mom leave." Her father chuckled and gave her a loving look:"Nothing goes by those sharp senses of yours does it?" Sakura merely shrugged her shoulders with a knowing smile which earned her a laugh from his side. He then became serious once again:"My daughter the hero of the shinobi world."

Sakura tensed at his words and locked her gaze on the patterns of the table cloth. She never imagined that her father would come to see her as a hero. She always thought that in his mind she will always stay his little girl. His little cherry blossom. As if knowing what exactly she was thinking he continued:"Sakura-chan don't think that will change anything. You will always be my most precious. But however I know that in the near future things will be different for you. And what I want to say is that whenever you need me and your mother you will always find us here ready to help."

Sakura felt the tears coming but she managed to hold them back since her mom was coming back and Sakura didn't want to ruin the already pleasant mood. She felt her dad squeezing her hand back and she managed to smile and greet the never dying question from her mom:"So Sakura have you decided if you will retire as a shinobi?"

Sakura decided to walk through the civilian district in order to get home. When she was taking her usual route she saw and heard all of the shinobi talking about her and pointing at her. Their admiration awoke the voices in her head and she felt like her head was going to burst. It was somewhat amusing thought. Being formally greeted by people she wasn't sure she knew or whose names she just couldn't remember. Sakura took a deep breath and let it out. She massaged her temples while she was walking:"_They acknowledge the power you have. They will seek you for protection and that itself is power_."

Sakura came to know what exactly the trigger to the dark voice was. Power, violence, killing anything you can do to cause harm and disorder it made it happy. She pushed the thoughts she had earlier away and found the silence in her head once more. The time she was struggling with her inner demon she didn't notice how fast she actually got to her new home. Once she got on the porch she decided to sit there for awhile so she can get her thoughts straight. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes while taking in deep breaths. Her meditation exercise was interrupted by a loud familiar voice:"Sakura chan!" Her eyes snapped open and she couldn't hold her smile while watching her teammates quickly approaching her house.

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So here is the new chapter and for the next one I will try to be faster :) Enjoy :)


	8. Chapter 8

Sakura was grateful that Naruto brought some ramen with him from Ichiraku on his way here. She was sitting on the kitchen counter watching Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sai and Yamato eat ramen as fast as they could. She chuckled at the sight of them and when five sets of questioning eyes were directed at her she swung her braided hair on her back and said:"I guess all of you are pretty hungry." Five heads nodded and then Naruto asked with a mouth full of noodles:"Don't you want some Sakura-chan?" Sakura took her cup of coffee besides her and said before taking a sip:"As much as I want to recall the amazing taste of Ichiraku's I have to say no. My mom fed me pretty well."

As she was taking the black hot liquid in her mouth she felt the silence. There were no eating noises no soft clings from the glasses and she felt eyes set on her. As she put down the cup she averted her gaze expecting the question. Sasuke leaned back in his chair:"I think it's time for the obvious question. Where were you all this time?" Naruto also rose up from his bowl and added:"Yes and why did you leave like that? Not telling us anything. You just disappeared." Sakura looked at their expecting faces and then looked at her gloved hand gripping the edge of the counter. Without looking up she started explaining:"I had to leave. I was a ghost of my former self and suddenly all that information and responsibilities were dumped on me like that. I couldn't take it. I needed to recover, I had to try and bring back the form I was in before the war. " Naruto opened his mouth to say something but Sakura beat him to it:"And I left without saying anything because I knew that at least one of you" she threw a glare at Naruto:"would try and stop me."

Now all five men were looking at her and thinking over her words. In her mind she hoped they understood her. In fact she needed them to understand. After a while Yamato spoke up:"Yes but you still didn't say where were you." She simply smiled:"I was living in the Fire Temple. The monks helped me heal. Regain my strength and trained me in a few techniques." Naruto's face lit in amazement:"You were so close to Konoha all this time and we didn't know it." A knowing smile appeared on her face as she nodded. Yamato smiled as enlightment finally hit him; all the others felt really silly and decided not to say anything.

The rest of the evening passed in pleasant and fun conversations. Sakura was laughing when Yamato was complaining to what extent they used his abilities to rebuilt the village. Naruto was asking Sakura whether Sora was still in the temple:"He is still there. We saw each other from time to time. And I can say that he is still the same idiot as he was before." Yamato and Sai laughed at those words. Sakura noticed that Kakashi and Sasuke weren't that active in the conversations and she ignored their gazes which were directed at her hand.

When Naruto, Yamato, Sai and Kakashi left Sasuke stayed behind to help her clean up the mess. As she was putting the dirty dishes in the sink she couldn't think of anything to say to him in order to fill the silence. The time she spend at the temple didn't help her figure out whether she was still in love with him or not. She was still confused and no matter how hard she thought the answer didn't come to her. She noticed that he was standing next to the sink filled with the dirty dishes and was watching her. When she had nothing to say he took the first step:"You can wash and I can dry."

The suggestion was so simple but yet it send chills down her spine and made the hair on neck stand up. She had to come up with something to say before he noticed how long it was taking her to answer:"You know you don't need to worry. I will just do it tomorrow. Right now if you want you can go home or we can figure out what to do."

He took a step closer which in return made her take a step back. Sakura was surprised by how fast his movements were. One moment he was two steps away from her the next he was in front of her gripping her right hand tightly. She gasped in surprise and shock at the same time:"Sasuke-kun what are you doing." He didn't bother to answer her at all. He simply caught the end of the fabric on her arm and started pulling it down. She tried to pull away but her attempts resulted to nothing. Sasukes' hold on her was simply too strong. The voice in her head came alive:"_How dare he touch you. Kill him. Make him suffer. Use force and pain as punishment._"

She ignored the voice and instead kept a close gaze on the black glove. Sasuke had pulled it halfway through a few more inches and the ugly scorched skin was going to come to view. She struggled one more time but that decision just made his movements faster. Her glove was in his hand and he was now holding her scarred pink hand. His eyes were moving from spot to spot which made goose bumps appear on her white skin:"So this is what you are trying to hide."

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and this time used her chakra to escape his grip. He was stunned for a moment when she retracted her arm back but then simply let out a deep breath:"Sakura I am not saying anything but you do not need to hide scars. Every shinobi has them and you know that better than anyone." She grabbed the glove from the floor and put it again not daring to look at him:"Sasuke first of all my fashion senses are none of your busyness. Second of all I am not hiding this from other people I have my own reasons for doing this and I don't expect the great Uchiha Sasuke to understand. As far as I know you were never able to fully understand me."

She tried to move past him but he blocked her way and simply asked while staring into her eyes with that particular penetrating gaze of his:"To be honest you are right there are some parts of you that I don't understand. I tried to kill you for which you know was a mistake from my part and I am deeply sorry but you still didn't give up on me. Also you were ready to leave the village and everything you loved behind when we were kids. " He made a pause while examining her face and the way it changed according to his words:"Up until the war I thought that you were a weak and pathetic being that couldn't do anything but cry. And then you killed Madara. The man me, Kakashi and Naruto couldn't stop. Then something in me changed. I felt drawn to you and I am still drawn to you. You just look so powerful and you radiate power."

Sakura had no idea what to say to that. The knot in her stomach twisted even harder and she found it difficult to breathe. Sasuke's words could be taken as a confession of his feelings but instead of feeling happy that her dream has come true she felt sick to her core. This man liked her only because of her actions and her status right now. The voices in her mind were raging and she suddenly felt tired:"Can we continue this discussion another time. I have a meeting with the village council tomorrow morning and I need to get some sleep."

He reached to tuck one strand of loose hair behind her ear. She stiffened under his fingers and didn't bother move when he came closer to her and left a soft and tender kiss on her forehead. Her heartbeat was banging in her ears and she felt her breath coming out really slow:"Goodnight Sakura." He said quietly and left her stand like that in the kitchen. When she heard the soft click of the door she let her body relax. Her body felt better but her mind did not, the voices were screaming at her. Both her inner self and the dark voice were having a race which one was going to say more. She felt like her mind was being raped. She dragged her body to bed and as she crashed into her bed she let the voices consume her.

Sakura was back at the battlefield but this time everyone around her was dead. Lifeless eyes were staring at her as she was walking on the blood soaked earth. She something wet at her stomach and she reached to touch the fabric of her clothes. Hot sticky liquid ran through her fingers and Sakura found herself with the wounds that had almost killed her but somehow she could still move.

A sinister laugh caught her attention and before she knew it Madara was in front of her with Kuuby's large form behind him. She knew her heart was supposed to be racing in this moment but she felt no heartbeat in her system. Sakura then saw Madara holding a human heart and before she knew what was going on Madara's words echoed in the air:"My turn." Then he squeezed the life out of her.

Sakura awoke with a scream that bounced off the walls of the room. She sonically touched her body but found no blood gashing from anywhere and felt her own heartbeat drumming in her chest. She let out a breath of relief and crashed back in her pillow. She slowly turned her head to the clock on the night table. As she read the time which was four thirty she slowly got and went in the kitchen to fix herself some coffee in five hours she was going to meet with Tsunade and the village counselors.

Sakura had listened her master whine on and on about how annoying and stupid the counselors were. At first she thought her shishou was exaggerating but now she knew everything she had heard was true. Both Koharu and Homura were cold old people who probably didn't know what a smile was. They were talking to her in formal reserved tone:"Haruno-san we are really glad that you came back to the village. Now we can finally clear some matters that concern you deeply." Koharu said while staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably under her gaze and simply said in a really low voice:"May I know what matters you are referring to." Homura let his gaze travel up and down the girl in front of him. In his mind she was the spitting image of Tsunade when the Slug princess was her age. The same tone and same actions:"We have to inform you that your heroics have made you a candidate to become Hokage when the time is right."


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura was in a daze, she was hoping that a huge black hole would open and swallow her inside. She didn't know how long she was standing with her eyes wide open and staring at the counselors in front of her. She felt however Tsunades' elbow pushing her so she snapped her attention back to Koharu and Homura:"So you are saying that someday you would like me to be Hokage." Homura looked at her through his glasses:"Yes that is what we are saying. Not only are you Tsunade's apprentice and have the potential of surpassing her but you were the person that ended the shinobi war." Sakura shut her mouth but still felt like she had to say something:"What about Uzumaki Naruto. He was the one that saved this village from Pain. He was the one that turned the odds into our favor on the battlefield. I would be dead if it wasn't for him."

Koharu said in an indifferent tone:"Uzumaki Naruto is indeed a hero and he also will be considered for the position but most likely the odds will be in your favor. Now that this is out of the way we need to tell you that you must go on diplomatic meetings with the other Kage and…" But Sakura wasn't listening. Her mind was blank she had no idea how she got from the meeting room back to Tsunade's office. Her master almost screamed her name which made her flinch and avert her gaze onto the Slug princess:"Sakura please say something you are starting to freak me out."

Sakura still had a blank expression but managed to say:"This will kill Naruto. It will make him hate me." Tsunade leaned back in her chair and looked at her apprentice. The girl was probably going crazy in her mind right now, she knew that all of this was too much to take in but still hoped that Sakura will prove that she is the strong person everybody saw in her:"Naruto loves you too much to start hating you. I must say he will be disappointed but I have told you a million times even I have boss to whom I must report. Most likely Homura and Koharu spoke with the fire daimyo before taking this decision."

Sakura then snapped at her without warning:"Naruto mustn't know what we were told today. It will destroy him and it will make me a dream thief. You know very well he has been screaming ever since he was kid how he will become Hokage. I want this to remain a secret. Those two will not say anything I am pretty sure but I want your word Shishou that you will not say anything even to Shizune senpai."

Tsunade had never seen Sakura this way. The girl had a certain spark in her eyes, a spark she had never seen before and couldn't decide what it was. She nodded as a way to tell Sakura that this will be kept a secret. She then took the time to look at Sakura once again. She was squeezing her gloved hand in a tight fist and there was a wrinkle between her eyebrows which made the same symbol she had on her forehead appear even brighter than it was. She then said the obvious truth:"Naruto will eventually learn this. When the day comes he will know for sure." Sakura looked at her and managed a tight smile:"Then I guess I will say that I am not suited for the job."

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi were training at their usual training ground. The heavy training had ended half an hour ago and they had moved on to sparring. Naruto avoided a punch coming from Kakashi while saying:"We should have called Sakura to train with us." Sasuke was attacking Kakashi but still managed to say:"She has a meeting." Both Naruto and Kakashi stopped in their tracks and gave him a puzzled look:"And how do you know that?"

Sasuke decided to take a break and went to sit under the shade of a tree while pulling out a water bottle. He felt the other two following him and once he sat they towered over him still waiting for an answer:"I stayed behind last night remember. I helped clean and we got to talk while doing that." Naruto raised an eyebrow:"Since when do you talk to her just like that. I mean I thought it was weird you staying to help her but now you know something about her that we didn't. Is there something you would like to share Sasuke?" The last line was said with a wide grin on the blonds' face which made Sasuke even more irritated the he already was. He hated the fact that sometimes Naruto could see right through him:"It's none of your busyness dobe. Anyway are we going to get lunch? "

Naruto of course voted for Ichiraku and since both Kakashi and Sasuke knew that there was no way of changing the place they simply followed Naruto. Halfway there Naruto said his thought aloud:"Hmm do you think Sakura-chan is finished with her meeting. If she is we should go and call her." Kakashi took that as cue to make an excuse and disappear for a while. He liked spending time with Naruto and Sasuke but sometimes he got a little too much of it:"You two can go ahead I will go see if our cherry-blossom is at her home." And before he could get a response he puffed away in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura had discovered the little tea house in the civilian district a month before the village was destroyed by Pain. She was surprised to see it working again. She was now sitting alone in a booth waiting for a pot of the famous green tea they served in here. She looked around and met the gazes of the old people seated in there. The thing she liked about this place was that the old people were always talking about the good old times and didn't pay any attention to her which made her mind quiet and calm.

The waitress who was dressed in a blue kimono with a red obi approached with her order. She set the pot and one single cup and gave her some tobacco and a pipe and left. Sakura didn't smoke tobacco that much. It was something the monks at the temple had introduced to her. They used the tobacco to calm their minds before meditation and since she was studying under them she had to take it also. She found herself wanting some when she had entered the tea house and smelled the scent wafting in the air. As she lit the pipe she left her mind blank and welcomed the sweet silence.

Kakashi was just going to knock on the door of Sakuras' house when Ino opened the door and almost bumped into him:"Kakashi sensei, hi. What are you doing here?" He smiled under his mask while awkwardly waving his hand:"Hello Ino-chan I am looking for Sakura. Is she here." Ino closed the door behind him and slipped her key in the lock which told Kakashi what her answer would be:"No she isn't. And it's weird that she isn't home by now, that meeting she had in the morning should have ended by now and I now that her parents left travelling today. I have no idea where she is." Kakashi thought for a while and then raised his gaze towards the sky:"_Where could she be indeed_."

Sakura was listening to the conversation around her. All of them were talking about the war and how it was during the time when the Sandaime was Hokage. Her senses went on edge when she heard:"Yes that blond kid Uzumaki Naruto really did save us but the girl his teammate is the one who saved all of us by ending the war and making sure that Uchiha would bother us no more. What was her name by the way?" She shrank in her seat as she waited for a response:"Haruno Sakura I think. She is the daughter of that merchant Kizashi." She froze in her seat and decided to wait like that until the conversation was over.

The waitress came back with her dumplings order and as she was setting the plate down she whispered so low that only Sakura could hear her:"Don't worry. They know your name but when it comes to how you look they have no idea. "Sakura raised her eyes so she can meet the girls face. The girl had a pleasant smile on her face and as she rose to go back to her work she winked at her which made her feel more relaxed. As the girl walked away she straightened her back so she can sit normally again but her eyes caught the movement of a certain orange book and a set silver hair behind it.

Kakashi knew it was a good idea to summon Pakkun to find Sakura through her scent. He never would have thought to look for her in this place. Aside from the waitress she was the only young person here. All of the others customers were seniors. He saw that she was watching him but she didn't motion him to go to her. Kakashi still approached her table and greeted her in his awkward manner. Her eyes travelled up and down his body before she asked:"What are you doing here? And more importantly how did you find me?"

Kakashi took the seat across her and as he closed his little orange book and put it away the waitress approached him:"I will have what she is having." He said while pointing at the tea pot and the cup and as the waitress prepared to leave he stopped her:"Skip the pipe and tobacco." She nodded with a smile and walked away. He then averted his eye to Sakura who was still staring at him. Kakashi smiled under his mask:"Well I went to your house to catch you for lunch at Ichiraku and then Pakkun had to assist me in finding you. What are you doing here by the way?"

Sakura smiled and let her eyes wander around the walls the other tables and ceiling of the tea house:"One day I was heading home to study and found this place. I stayed to read my scrolls here because as you can see the customers are only old people and they are not noisy. And now this place I use it as a sanctuary rather than a study hall." Suddenly her expression turned sad and in a way spiked his heart. He never liked seeing her this way. He wanted to know what exactly was going on in her head right now.


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura noticed something was off. There was pure silence in her mind, the voices had stopped and even when Kakashi grabbed her hand in reassurance that she could tell him anything they remained silent. She felt free for a moment but confused as well:"_I wonder if they react according to the person._" She thought but before she could dwell on the thought even more she felt a light squeeze on the hand. She raised her gaze to meet a confused masked face:"I was asking you what do you mean by sanctuary and when did u start smoking tobacco?"

She smiled lightly and withdrew her hand only to grab the pipe once again and refill it with the brown strands of tobacco:"Did you know that tobacco helps clear the mind. The monks at the Fire temple use it before they start their meditation. Now I use it for the same purpose." Kakashi felt even more confused after that. She was babbling things that didn't make sense to him but before he could ask another question she continued:"Before the war I was known only as Sakura the medic and the Hokages' apprentice. Now I am known as the savior of this world. People I never knew are greeting me on the street and praise me for my actions. They see in me the person I am not. This place helps me escape the self doubt I still carry in my heart. "

Kakashi was beginning to understand her as she explained. It was easy to see Naruto as a hero because he had always wanted that. To be recognized by people for who he was and what he did while with Sakura it was a different story. She wanted to help people but she didn't expect anything in return. Right now the attention of people and the status she acquired where driving her out of her comfort zone. He focused on the soft features of her face. She had the tip of the pipe pressed between her rosy lips and as she exhaled the smoke for a moment she looked elegant and attractive. She could easily remind someone of courtesan hidden in a castle. Kakashi shook his head and pushed the thoughts away:"We were supposed to go to Ichiraku and have lunch with Naruto and Sasuke."

She threw her head back while still holding the pipe and she said in a tired voice:"You can go. I am staying here." He knew what she was doing because at one point he had done the same. Sakura wanted to isolate herself from the world but he refused to let her do that because he knew from personal experience that it wasn't going to solve any problem:"I will stay here with you. We couldn't catch up properly the other night." Sakura just looked at him and there something in her eyes that he couldn't recognize. It looked like she was relieved that he was willing to stay with her. She smiled at him and that made him feel good on the inside. Her smile was the best part of her, it showed people that even thought she looked like a completely different person now there was still this small part of her former self in her.

Naruto and Sasuke were finishing their ramen when the blond looked around and spoke with a mouthful of noodles:"I guess Kakashi sensei couldn't find her so he decided to ditch us." Sasuke didn't say anything; he was just looking at the glass of water in his hand. The way he was acting made Naruto realize something. A huge grin appeared on his face and he threw a hand around Sasuke's shoulders:"I know what you are thinking." He said in his ear. Sasuke simply let a breath out and the looked at Naruto's grinning face with indifference:"What do you mean."

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised his nose in the air. He had one of those all knowing expression on his face:"You are thinking about Sakura-chan aren't you? I know that because I can see it in your eyes." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, he hated Naruto in this moment but decided there was no point in wasting energy to deny anything:"So what if I am?" Naruto was a bit disappointed by the simple response but still continued:"Do you like her? Because if you do I don't think you will have any problems. I still think she has feelings for you." The last words were said with a mixture of defeat and sadness in Naruto's voice. He never expected to get together with the girl of his dreams especially now that Sasuke was back but in his heart he wasn't ready to give up. Sasuke drew his attention by asking:"You still in love with her?" Naruto was silent and the fact that he remained like that told Sasuke everything he needed to know.

Sakura wasn't sure what to talk about. She had never been close to her sensei, it was because she was either busy with Sasuke or he just never paid attention to her as a student. The last thought awoke her inner self:"_Why do you even talk to him. He always ignored us. Sasuke and Naruto were on his priority list._" Sakura knew that he alter ego had a certain power over her, before she could stop herself she said:"Why are you even trying. If you are guilty or something you should know that I have forgiven you a long time ago." Kakashi stared at her with a questioning look:"What do you mean?"

There was no getting out of this so she decided to keep going:"If you decided to stay with me here just because you feel guilty of something you can leave right now. The fact that I almost died doesn't have to change anything." She was talking to him but while doing that she avoided looking at him in the eye. That told Kakashi that she was just saying these things without really wanting to. But he knew she was right. He always kept his distance from her because he feared that because of him she might die just like Rin his one female teammate. Still there were some parts that she didn't know or understand:"Sakura do you really think that I don't care about you. Because if that is what you think you are really wrong."

Her attention snapped back to his face. She was expecting him to look away like he always did when talking serious stuff to her but she was surprised when he kept his very firm gaze on her. She felt a bit uncomfortable under his stare so she shifted in her seat to get rid of the feeling:"If I didn't care I wouldn't have bothered to carry your bloody body to Tsunade so she could save you. I wouldn't have bothered praying to anyone who could hear me." Sakura's eyes widened in amazement she knew that her team carried her back to Kumo so she can receive medical attention but she never asked who brought her back. She felt like a bitch right now.

Embarrassment clouded her mind, she took the pipe with a shaky hand and inhaled the sweet smoke and then exhaled. The whole time she avoided looking at him, she felt him let a breath out and after another moment he prepared to get up and leave but something caught his hand. Her gloved hand was squeezing his wrist in desperation:"Please stay and give me a chance to apologize." A small smile appeared on his masked lips and he settled back in the seat.

After they finished their beverages and some pleasant chats they went out on the street:"Well I will see you around." She said while preparing to leave but his decision caught her off guard:"I will walk you home."The dark voice in her head purred in satisfaction:"_Why is it doing that_?"She just nodded and they took the route through the civilian district:"I forgot to ask you how did your meeting go?"

Sakura cringed on the inside. The guilt took her over again; she didn't want to recall the conversation with the two counselors so she just muttered:"It went well. Only diplomatic stuff as usual." Her response raised more questions in his mind but he decided to let it go. She looked troubled enough. Sasuke's words came to his mind:"_We will find a completely different person._" He didn't like the fact that Sasuke was right.

When they reached home and said their farewells and goodnights Sakura quickly went inside and closed the door behind her back. She leaned her back against the wood and breathed in deeply:"_I can't believe I don't feel comfortable in my own village. May be I should have stayed in the Temple and became a nun or something like that._ " She heard the laugh of the dark voice_:"Are you telling me that you will willingly throw away all that power you have. You are starting to be weak again._" Just as she was about to grab her hair in frustration Ino peaked from the hallway and saved her from the voices.


	11. Chapter 11

Ino and Sakura were sitting on the couch of the small living room drinking sake and having a few laughs. Ino was telling Sakura about her day in the hospital and the pink haired girl found out that she was missing all of the commotion in the building:"Shizune was so mad that she send all of the nurses home." Sakura laughed and imagined her senpai's face. The blond then asked her how did the dinner last night go and Sakura told her everything including her little episode with Sasuke:"He made me feel really weak and ugly. His words actually made me feel sick."

Ino just looked at her and muttered between her lips:"He is such a jerk. Even if he says otherwise he only thinks about himself." Sakura was a little bit surprised she knew that Ino had feelings for Sasuke but she never figured that she almost hated him right now. But the girl looked pretty happy with Kiba so she decided not to ask any questions.

That night in bed Sakura was tossing and turning as the nightmares overtook her again. She was strung up on the Gedo Mazo vessel with the black chakra poles piercing her hands. The immense pain she was feeling was the same one she had felt once she had defeated Madara. Goosebumps were covering her naked body. Below her she could hear Madara laughing:"Look at you now. So weak and pathetic I can do anything I want with you now." He drew one more pole and threw it like a spear in her direction. The contact made her scream at the top of her lungs. The pain made her vision blurry and her eyes started tearing up. She let out one more scream.

Sakura awoke to Ino's worried voice:"Sakura wake up! You are dreaming!" She shot up from the bed and felt a streak of sweat travel down her spine. She looked around the room to make sure that she was back to reality. She met Inos' worries expression:"Are you okay?" Sakura massaged her temples with her hand before responding in a tired voice:"Yeah I am fine now."

They went to the kitchen where Ino was fixing Sakura a cup of green tea to calm her nerves. The blond kunoichi was actually really worried. She was woken up from a scream coming from her friends room and rushed over there to find her screaming and tossing on the mattress like crazy. The war had taken a tow on all of them. Sometimes even she had some nightmares but by the looks of it Sakura was tormented even till this day. The pink haired girl was sting at the table squeezing her hands together in an attempt to stop them shaking. There were drops of sweat on her forehead and her hair was messy and tossed aside in a loose pony tail.

Sakura took the cup Ino handed her in her scarred hand and took a really long sip before saying:"Thank you Ino you are an angel." Ino smiled at the words but then asked in a concerned tone:"Sakura how long have you been having these nightmares. Sometimes you look tired and I guess that is because of them." Sakura took a deep breath and put the cup on the table in front of her. She looked through the kitchen window and smiled at the scenery:"Let's go out on the porch and I will tell you."

Both girls put on short satin robes over their sleeping gowns and went to sit on the two chairs they had placed on the porch. Ino let out a sight at the sight before her eyes. The sky being painted in a deep orange color from the sun streaks that were showing from the horizon, the clouds were a dark grey color and were moving slow in the early morning sky, Sakura broke the silence first:"Ever since I went to the fire temple every night I dream I die in a different way." Ino's aqua blue eyes widened in shock:"I can sleep only until four o'clock every night. Even if I try I can't sleep more. It's too big of a torture." The last line was said with a smile on her soft lips. Ino grabbed Sakuras' burned hand and lightly squeezed it:"If you want we can use my jutsu before you go to bed. It might give you some peace of mind.' Sakura highly doubted that but since she didn't want to raise any more questions she simply nodded and continued to admire the beauty of today's sunrise.

Kakashi had to admit he was surprised when there was a knock on his door at nine in the morning. The two ANBU agents surprised him even more:"Your presence has been requested by Ibiki-san at the ANBU headquarters." Kakashi simply nodded and closed the door in their masked faces:"_Why does he need me_?" he thought while he was walking back to his small bedroom so he can change.

The trip to headquarters didn't take that long but Kakashi made sure to use his signature to be late. As he arrived he was escorted by an agent to Ibiki's office. He found the man sitting behind a desk reading papers. He briefly raised his gaze to see who was entering the office and muttered one simple:"Come in." The door behind Kakashi closed and the silver haired jounin walked closer:"This is unusual even for you. I haven't been here in a long time."

Ibiki crossed his arms in front of his chest and started his explanation:"The reason I called you here is to tell that I have decided to request from the Hokage that Haruno Sakura joins ANBU. Since you are her ex-sensei and a renewed ex-ANBU I decided I should tell you my intensions." Kakashi was confused by this statement. ANBU almost never excepted medical ninjas into their ranks. The work just wasn't right for them. While medical ninjas always had their defenses up ANBU agents had to engage always:"May I ask why did you decide that?"

Ibiki smiled which made the scar on his lips look even more sinister:"I think you know very well. The person who defeated Uchiha Madara will be the best asset into ANBU. To be honest I don't think she will even need to pass the tests to get in. Her actions will get her accepted automatically. Plus I think ANBU can give her more than the hospital." Kakashi rarely showed his emotions but this time he was boiling. He wanted to punch Ibiki in the face but held himself back and instead muttered between his teeth:"Sakura is not some trophy to be handed off to someone who wants her. She is capable to make her own decisions. If you really go on with this I will make sure to refuse her a recommendation." With those last words he left the office but before he slammed the door he said with a smile on his masked lips:"Besides I don't think you will have that much luck Sakura hates ANBU."

Sakura was really bored. Since Ino left for her morning shift at the hospital there was nothing to do. She leaned the whole house then had some coffee but pretty much the whole day was uneventful. She was actually surprised when there was a knock on the door. She was glad to see Naruto standing on the porch with a wide grin on his face:"Good morning Sakura-chan."

She smiled at him and moved aside so he can enter and while he was taking off his shoes she carefully concealed her hand behind her back and hurried to her room so she can put on her glove. When she came out she found Naruto looking at her with a sad expression which made her feel guilt all over again:"What is it Naruto?" she asked careful not to reveal her emotions.

He walked to her hugged her tightly against his chest. The surprise she felt in that moment was ruined by the voice in her head:"_Mmmm perfect all this power near you_." Sakura realized that the voices in her mind were reacting differently to everyone in her mind she made a mental note to test something:"So how come you are alone? She asked while retorting back to the kitchen to fix some coffee."

Naruto adjusted himself on the kitchen counter so he would be close to her:"Sasuke wanted to stay home and Kakashi sensei I have no idea. So I decided to come here and ask you if you want to train or just hang out." Sakura looked straight into his eyes and found what she was looking for. It was better to be the only girl in the team since you get to know your male companies so well that you can tell what they were even thinking:"There is something wrong isn't there?" Naruto put on a goofy smile and scratched the back of his head:"I have no idea how you know these things but yeah you are right there is. Yesterday me and Sasuke were talking about…"

He was cut off by puff of smoke. Once the smoke lifted an awkward shake of the hand and the cringe of an eye greeted them:"Yo." Naruto jumped off the counter and almost screamed and the Copy ninja:"You have the worse timing ever. I was saying something important." Sakura couldn't hear the rest of the quarrel since she focused on the voices in her mind. She gripped her forehead and grunted. Her mind was chaotic. One voice was purring with pleasure the other was screaming in ecstasy. She suddenly felt her feet weak and wobbly. She adjusted herself while using the counter for support and when she thought she was going to be sick she felt a cool hand on her shoulder. Her head snapped in the direction only to meet a masked face and pure silence in her mind.


	12. Chapter 12

In that moment Sakura was a hundred percent sure that the voices reacted differently depending on the person that was close to her. With Sasuke there was screaming and rage, Naruto brought warmth and overwhelming energy and Kakashi was perfect since he brought the silence she was craving so much. In a moment she realized that she was just standing there staring at her former sensei:

"I am sorry you were saying?" she asked cautiously.

Naruto walked closer and asked in a concerned voice:

"Sakura-chan is everything alright." She felt the energetic rush once again but tried to act as composed as possible. She simply nodded and freed herself from Kakashi's touch and sat on the table with the mug of coffee in front of her. Her eyes were closed as she tried to put order in her own head but she still felt the movement of feet and chairs. Once she opened her eyes again she found two concerned faces staring right at her:

"Don't worry I just felt dizzy for a while." She laughed out nervously

In the end neither Naruto nor Kakashi couldn't tell Sakura what they wanted, they left and hour later and as Kakashi was walking home to his apartment several thoughts were circling his mind. One of them was how would Sakura react when she learns that ANBU wants to recruit her. The other one he couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with her. She was definitely acting strange. When he put his hand on her shoulder she snapped her gaze at his face. Her eyes were filled with almost adoration.

He knew he should have felt uncomfortable but her eyes always made him weak. That's why he never looked at them for too long. He sometimes felt powerless under her gaze. To think that the great Copy ninja Kakashi couldn't stare his own student in the eyes. It was ridiculous but he didn't care. Still her gaze and the emotions in it raised questions in his mind. He wanted to find out what troubled her. When he got home to his small apartment he was still thinking about Sakura and he made a promise that he would do everything possible to help in any way.

"Alright just relax and let your mind blank."

Ino instructed while sitting on the edge of Sakura's bed. Sakura still thought that this was useless but she wanted Ino to relax so she was no closing her eyes and ridding herself of all of the unnecessary thoughts that circled her mind. Ino focused on her chakra and when she placed her hand on Sakura's forehead she mentally entered her mind.

Ino almost fainted from pressure. Her friend was a mess mentally. All over Ino could see images of the war of the struggle she had to put in order to stay alive. Ino suddenly felt smashed. There was something in Sakura's mind that did not belong here. She felt Sakura's inner self and smirked at the thought that she was still keeping her around but this. This other presence was troubling. Ino felt smashed under its dark aura and power. She felt she had to end this.

The moment the blond came back to her own body she felt her heart beating in her ears. She was breathless and she suddenly felt her eyes really heavy. She would have fainted if Sakura hadn't forced a small amount of chakra in her. Ino snapped her attention to Sakura who was giving her a questioning look:"What happened did you see something?"

Ino contemplated whether she should tell Sakura what she felt in her mind. Without being sure how she would react she decided to keep it a secret for now until she could get a better glimpse of it:

"No nothing special but next clear your mind like I said I was almost crushed by your inner self." Sakura blushed slightly and scratched the back of her head.

She still couldn't sleep that much but she was used to it. As soon as Ino left to go visit her parents Sakura too dressed in her attire and set out on a walk to the Hokage tower. A visit to her shishou would get her out of her boredom.

When she got there she could hear voices coming from Tsunade's office which meant she wasn't alone. Sakura contemplated whether to knock or not but still did so:

"Come in."

When she heard the invitation from Tsunade she entered to find Morino Ibiki in the office:"Tsunade-sama, Ibiki-san" she greeted by bowing slightly:"If I am interrupting I shall leave." Ibiki opened his mouth to say something but the blond Hokage beat him to it:

"Nonsense Ibiki was just leaving."

Ibiki looked like he was going to argue but then he slightly bowed and said his goodbyes to both of them. Sakura watched him as he closed the door and then spoke in a low voice since she wasn't sure whether he could still hear or not that man was full of surprises:

"What was that all about?" Tsunade leaned back in her chair and motioned to Sakura to take a seat. As she did Tsunade took a deep breath and then said:

"Ibiki has made a request for you to join the ANBU ranks."

Sakura couldn't help but smile at those words. The thought of her as an ANBU agent was ridiculous. Plus she never liked those shinobi anyway. Their indifferent tones and masked faces gave her the chills and also their attitude was horrible they always acted like they were in charge:

"I hope he knows that his request will be ignored." Tsunade bit her lip in frustration and then said in an angry voice:

"I know. But he still came in here demanding you to join them and saying things like that the hospital is not a good place for you to go back to since it can't give you as much as ANBU can."

Sakura felt a bit abused by this. She knew that once she returned things like this would occur but she never imagined it would be this soon. People fighting for her to join them so she can give them a better name. Her blood was boiling now the dark voice in her head was smiling and saying:

"_Show them your anger and dissatisfaction. Make them feel pain_." Sakura shook her head and closed her eyes. She heard her shishou's voice calling her:"Sakura are you okay?"

Sakura snapped her attention back to her sensei. She saw concern written in Tsunade's brown eyes however she decided to act casual:

"Don't bother telling Ibiki my response. I will tell him myself when I see him again." Tsunade smiled at those words then she decided to change the topic:

"So what brings you here. Let me guess you were bored." Sakura simply nodded and then Tsunade said:"Why don't you track those idiots from your team and get them to train a bit. They always want to do that."

Sakura was always honest with her sensei so this time was no different:

"To be honest it's hard for me to go back to my old routine. Reading, training, hospital rounds for me right now it's like I haven't been gone for a year but rather five." Tsunade understood her perfectly it was the same for her. When she had come back to Konoha in order to be Hokage she felt her home distant and unknown. She didn't want her student to feel the same so she decided:

"Let's go to the hospital and check on Shizune."

Kakashi was sitting on a branch and reading his favorite Icha Icha book and bellow Naruto and Sasuke were resting and hiding from the hot rays of the sun. The silence between them was relaxing but after some time Naruto started fidgeting:

"What is it dobe?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed voice. Naruto took some time before answering but in the end he just threw his hands behind his head:

"Last night I was thinking that maybe we ought to tell Sakura what we did." Two sets of eyes stared at him and the silver haired jounin couldn't help but ask:

"You mean tell her that we used your chakra to bring her back to life. Hmmm I wonder how she would react to that?" the last statement was said in a sarcastic tone from his part. All three of them could only imagine the world of pain she would bring to them.

Sasuke got up in a sitting position:

"You can't say that she is acting normal. There is something that is making her act differently." Both Naruto and Kakashi agreed on that. Kakashi still remembered the look in her eyes from last night. There was truly something that was bothering her but he wasn't sure what it was. He also remembered what he promised himself before last night. His thoughts were interrupted by Naruto:

"I still think we should tell Sakura." Before any of them could answer a too familiar voice came to their ears:

"Tell me what?"

* * *

A lot of people were telling me that I should break down the paragraphs and conversations and I finally decided to change that. Hope you enjoy this one ;)


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