Naruto 1. Prologue

A/N: Okay, so this is basically something based off a picture I saw on deviantART that got me thinking of a story. Reviews are welcomed.

Summary: Sakura wasn't stupid, maybe a bit naïve, but definitely not stupid. She knew things always came easier to her two team mates. The infamous Uchiha Sasuke and the town trouble maker Uzumaki Naruto. She knew she was weaker than them. She wasn't part of an famous clan nor did she have a demon sealed inside her. She didn't have huge goal like the two of them. To become Hokage or to kill a certain man. She just had her nindō; her ninja way. And that was to protect the two of them, even if it meant having to betray them and her village.

Sometimes I wish I could save you

And there are so many things that I want you to know

I wont give up till it's over

If it takes you forever I want you to know

Prologue

Sakura Haruno rested her head on her pillow. The clock read fifteen minutes past midnight, she should've been asleep. But tonight her mind was plagued with too many thoughts, making sleep unwelcomed.

The chūnin exams were finally over, Sasuke and Naruto were healing quickly, and she should have nothing to worry about.

But the events that had taken place earlier today were what was keeping her awake. The two boys that were in her thoughts had nearly tried to kill each other today on the roof of the hospital. And she had stood there not doing a thing but crying and running in the middle hoping they would stop fighting.

If Kakashi-sensei hadn't been there to intervene she surely would've been dead. She would've died because she was too weak to keep her promise to herself. She couldn't protect Naruto, or Sasuke. She couldn't protect the from each other or from themselves. Because she was weak.

Even with her training from Lady Tsunade she was still the weak leak of Team 7, the third wheel, the one that always needed to be protected.

Weak.

Weak.

Weak.

The word was like a spell cast upon her. It was what she was known for. Sasuke constantly told her she was annoying, and weak. Kakashi-sensei made it obvious when he didn't help her train for the chūnin exams. She was simply too weak to train. And Naruto, though he didn't know it, also viewed her as weak. Always saying "I'll protect you Sakura-chan!" because she couldn't protect herself.

Weak.

She didn't hate them for it, it wasn't their entire fault. She was at a disadvantage, not having a Kekkei Genkai like Sasuke and Kakashi, or not having the Kyuubi sealed inside her.

Sakura knew about Orochimaru's offer to Sasuke, and she knew he was more than likely to take it. She knew that Naruto, being the way he was, would go after him and get dragged back home nearly dead.

She wanted nothing more than to protect the people she loved the most. She didn't want to be the one that needed to be saved anymore. And this was her chance, to be the one that saved them.

Getting up from her bed she grabbed her bag of clothing that she had already packed earlier that day. Her mind was made up; she would go through with her plan.

Giving one last look at her room and leaving the picture of Team 7 face up on her bead she left through the window heading towards the gate of the village. This time she would be the one to save her team mates. She would make her way to Sound tonight.


	2. chapter 1

A/N: Yes, this will be a story. I know some of you asked if it would be continued or not. And after thinking a lot about what I can turn this into, I've decided to make to make into a story. It'll be kind of AU, in the sense that there will be OC's, although they won't show up till much later, and I won't really be following the Manga. Most of the same stuff will be there just not in the same order or they won't be happening the same way they happened in the Manga, i hope that makes sense... Anyways, here's the official first chapter of House Of Wolves.

Anyone have any ideas about the title? And let me know if i should continue the whole song lyrics thing i have at the beginning of the chapters.

Won't keep my mouth shut anymore

I've had my share of closing doors

Now I know I'm not afraid

I know exactly what you'll say

But I'm sorry it's too late

Leaving Konoha was easier than Sakura could've imagined. She masked her chakra and slipped passed the guards easily. She guessed they weren't as concerned as to who left the village but rather who entered.

Konoha seriously needed to work on their security inside the village. She had easily been able to sneak in, steal some important forbidden scrolls, and left.

She honestly had no idea where exactly sound was located. She just had a general idea from the scrolls she had stolen from the Hokage's office. They gave locations to where Konoha shinobi would disappear when tracking Orochimaru. All she had to do was go that location.

She would probably be ambushed by sound nin, something she wasn't really worried about. She would just negotiate with them and make them bring her to Orochimaru, where she would trade the scrolls for her to stay and train in Sasuke's place.

The scrolls were forbidden jutsu's, something she knew he would be interested in. They ranged from mere medical techniques to more powerful fighting ones. She had read over all of them, storing the hand signs and information into her head. She would need the upper hand if he ever tried any on her.

She had also left a scroll in her parent's room. They were civilians, so she didn't have to worry about them coming after her. But she knew they would go to the Hokage. And knowing Naruto he would come after her. That's why she needed to quicken her she ran all the way there she would reach Sound by sunrise.

She knew this would break her parent's hearts. She knew they would be torn apart with their only daughter turned into a fugitive. She knew that Tsunade would be disappointed as well. She had taken the girl under her wing and treated her like a daughter. That would soon change.

And she knew what this would do to her team. Naruto would be devastated. Kakashi would be surprised. And Sasuke, who knew what he would think of her after he found out about everything she had done. How she had done it for all of them; her team. She wouldn't keep her mouth shut about any of this anymore. She had written those letters for a reason. Hopefully it would knock some sense into them, especially Sasuke.

Taking one last look pack she could see the green gates of Konoha, nothing more but a tiny speckle of green now.

"Good bye everyone." She whispered as she turned back around to continue her journey to Orochimaru's.

Konoha was in frenzy. Forbidden scrolls had been stolen last night as well as scrolls containing information about Orochimaru. Neither was good for Konoha. If he got his hands on those scrolls, who knew what would happen.

Tsunade had nearly taken down the Hokage tower when she had heard about the information. ANBU were trying to determine who exactly had stolen them. Whether it is a sound nin or Orochimaru himself. The village had gone into lockdown. No one in no one out, until they figured out what was going on.

Tsunade poured herself anther glass of sake, wondering how something could've happened so easily. Ninja were constantly popping up asking what was going on, but by orders by the council she wasn't allowed to discuss the situation with anyone that wasn't assigned to the case.

Hearing yet another knock on her door she growled. Standing up rather forcefully she marched over to the door and slammed it open.

"What do you want?"

She looked down to see a rather terrified Shizune with two just as terrified civilians. Blinking Tsunade wondered why they were here. Surely they didn't know the village was in a lock down, they weren't shinobi.

"U-um Lady Tsunade, these are the Haruno's. It seems that our little Sakura-chan ran away." Shizune's face was slightly pale and she looked worried. She looked up at the Hokage for a reaction.

"Oh, please come in." She widened the door entrance letting the couple in. Shizune pulled up two chairs and set them in front of Tsunade's desk. She motioned for them to sit then took her place at Tsunade's right side.

The Haruno's, Tsunade noticed, looked nothing like their daughter; or rather their daughter looked nothing like them. The mother had light violet colored eyes with dark black hair, while the father had brown hair with blue eyes.

How could these two possibly produce a child with pink hair and green eyes? Ignoring her suspicions she spoke up to address the situation at hand.

"Forgive me for my outburst earlier. It's been a rough morning." She paused to see the two nod at her and told her to continue.

"Now are you sure Sakura ran away? Are you sure she's not with Kakashi and the rest of her team training or perhaps eating with them?"

The mother looked close to tears she shared a look with her husband who gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and then looked up at Tsunade. Silently he handed her a scroll.

"We found this on our bedside table this morning."

Grabbing the scroll that was handed to her she slowly opened it. There were three letters inside. One addressed to her parents, one for Team 7 and another for her, the Hokage herself.

Skipping over the first two she grabbed the one addressed to her and tore open the envelope. Slowly she began to read.

Dear Tsunade-shishou,

I'm sorry about you finding out this way, but I have left the village in pursuit of training with Orochimaru-sama.

I have come to realize that if I stay here in Konoha I'll never reach my true potential. Although you're training with me has helped strengthen me greatly it's just not enough. I need to learn more and become stronger.

I have stolen some forbidden scrolls and all the information containing Orochimaru in it. Again I apologize for you finding out this way.

I also have information concerning Sasuke Uchiha; he should be monitored closely and should not be granted access to leave the village for a while. I'm taking his place, he was asked to join Orochimaru, and I feared he would've taken the offer.

I will not return to Konoha by on my own, nor will I return by force. Don't bother with a retrieval mission for me. It'll be of no use.

I hope to see everyone in the future, but seeing as I'll be a missing nin, I don't expect much from Konoha. I know the consequences for my actions.

Give the last letter to my team. And please remember to keep Sasuke on close watch.

I'm doing this for them. My team. I know they won't understand my motives, but tell them someday they will see me again.

-Sakura Haruno.

Finishing the letter Tsunade was close to tears, the young girl she had trained and had viewed as a daughter was now gone.

Glaring at the letter she called Shizune over. "Get me Kakashi and his team. Tell them it's urgent."

Shuffling quickly Shizune went to follow her orders. She told the Haruno's that they would do everything they could to get their daughter back.

As she watched the two Haruno's leave the room she finally let the tears fall. She knew this was partly her fault. She should've been a better Hokage; she should've made sure something like this couldn't happen.

"Don't worry Sakura; I'll bring you back home no matter what."

Naruto and Sasuke sat at Ichiraku's eating their ramen. Since they were lock down Kakashi had cancelled their training for that day. Not having anything better to do Naruto suggested they eat a bowl of ramen. He had even gone as far as to tell Sasuke he would pay this time. Reluctantly Sasuke had agreed. He had nothing better to do anyways.

Both boys had noticed Sakura had never shown up for training earlier that morning. Naruto was worried, whereas Sasuke was happy she wouldn't be annoying him today.

Kakashi dismissed Naruto's worries telling him she was probably at home with her parents due to the lock down. Naruto, being easily persuaded, went back to his hyper active mood.

"Ne, teme are you sure Sakura-chan's alright? She's never NOT shown up for training. Hell, she's usually the first one there!"

In reality Naruto felt guilty about the events that had taken place yesterday. Neither him nor Sasuke would've have noticed Sakura trying to stop them if Kakashi hadn't shown up when he did.

He looked towards Sasuke waiting for an answer. The Uchiha was slowly eating his noodles probably thinking about some way to kill his brother. Not bothering to turn and face him Sasuke spoke.

"She's fine, dobe. Quit worrying." He seemed annoyed, nothing new there, but not his usual annoyed toned. Like he was actually worried, but didn't want to show it.

Naruto knew that Sasuke cared about their team, although you would never hear Sasuke say so himself. Naruto just knew. He knew that he was Sasuke's bestfriend, almost like a brother to him. He knew he saw Kakashi as someone he cared about. Almost like a father figure. And he knew that he cared about Sakura.

It was programmed into both of their head's that they needed to protect her, no matter what. She was the only one without a horrible past in their group. She was the innocent one, their hope. And they would do anything to protect her innocence.

Whether Sasuke would ever admit it to anyone, Sakura had gotten to him. Her bright attitude towards him made it hard for him to be completely heartless to her. And Sasuke knew she really loved him, not like the infatuation the rest of his fan club had towards him. Sakura actually loved him. And it drove him mad, because he could never return her feelings… even if wanted to.

There was a sudden "poof" and then a cloud of smoke causing both boys to ignore their meals and turn around to see their sensei standing there, book in hand.

"Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here? Are you going to pay for our ramen?" Naruto's eye's beamed with hope that he wouldn't have to pay for him and Sasuke after all.

With a sweat drop Kakashi closed his book and went to address Naruto's question.

"No Naruto, I'm not here to pay for your ramen. I'm here to tell you that the Hokage requested you for an urgent mission."

Shock was plastered on both boys' faces. Naruto chosen for an urgent mission and not the Sasuke Uchiha? Hell must have frozen over for the hokage to request Naruto, of all people, over him.

"What about Sasuke-teme? Isn't he going too?" Sasuke looked towards Kakashi. He always went on missions with Naruto and Sakura as well. Why was the Hokage splitting their team up? It didn't make any sense.

"He won't be going on the mission as far as I know, but the Hokage has requested him to come to the mission debriefing."

Both boys nodded and got up to leave. Naruto reluctantly paid for the bill then followed Kakashi and Sasuke to the Hokage tower. He had no idea why the mission was urgent, and if it was urgent, why was he going instead on a Jōnin or ANBU? And where the hell was Sakura?


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter two! Sorry for the wait, i haven't had time to type up the chapters. :p Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming! :)

"I've always considered myself to be a true ninja... but those were just empty words, because Sasuke and Naruto were always in the lead! But now it's my turn to take the lead, and all of you can watch me from the background!"

-Sakura Haruno

Upon arriving at the Hokage tower the remaining members of team 7 were amazed to find they were the last ones to arrive.

Apparently they weren't the only one that was to go on this urgent mission Kakashi was talking about.

Inside Tsunade's office were other members of the rookie 9. Kiba and his dog Akamaru along with his team mate Shino were there. Shikamaru was lazily leaning against the wall and Chouji was there as well.

As they entered all eyes turned their way. It seems everyone had been waiting on them.

"Hey Baa-chan what's going on?" Naruto looked around the room for any sign of pink. Hoping Sakura would be going on the mission as well. But he found she was nowhere to be seen.

"Sit down Naruto and I'll explain everything." He noticed the seriousness in her voice and obeyed her without complaint or questions.

Tsunade willed herself not to show weakness in front of any of the young shinobi. She had already told the other members in the room of their mission. Just not all of the details. Now she would have to tell them of one of their owns' betrayal to them and their country. It wasn't an easy task.

"As you know the village was put on lock down earlier this morning." She paused looking around to make sure she had everyone's attention. Standing up from her chair she moved to the front of her desk.

"The reason of the lock down is why I have called all of you here. A ninja snuck in here at the dead of night and stole some important scrolls."

She was then interrupted by an impatient Naruto.

"That's it? Just some stupid scrolls?"

She glared at him and continued telling her story.

"They weren't just some stupid scrolls Naruto. They were highly important and some were even forbidden techniques! And that's not even our main concern! The scrolls were stolen by a Konoha shinobi and taken to Orochimaru!"

She finished her speech and looked at him for a reaction. Shock was plastered on their faces; even Kakashi seemed a little shocked at the news.

She turned around and grabbed Sakura's note left for team 7.

"This is you and your team Kakashi." She closed her eyes and braced herself for the reaction when she told them who the thief was.

"It's from Sakura. She's the one that stole the scrolls last night. She's sought out Orochimaru for training."

She handed the letter to Kakashi, when all hell broke loose.

Sakura knew she would be ambushed but she certainly didn't think Orochimaru himself would be there as well.

And to be honest she was scared out of her bones. The man just had an evil presence to him. From his snake like eyes to his dark black hair. Everything about him seemed evil.

The sound shinobi held her arms rather roughly preventing her from making any movements. She struggled only to feel a sharp pain in her wrists. It was pointless to try and fight them, so she kept still, trying not to show any weakness.

"Sakura Haruno… You're Sasuke-kun's team mate, are you not?" it wasn't really a question, more of a statement directed towards her. It was a shock to her that he even knew who she was let alone knew her name. She didn't think he would even bother knowing about her. She wasn't someone worth worrying about.

"Hai." It was all that would come out of her mouth. A simple answer to his question. She didn't even know if she should've answered.

"And just what are you doing so far from Konoha, this early in the morning." He walked closer, examining her appearance. She was rather interesting to him. Bright pink hair that reminded him of the past. And those big green eyes that made his mind wonder. He smirked coming to a realization.

Sakura looked up at the man. On the inside she was terrified that he would just kill her then and there. But being scared was what made her the weak one of team 7. If she was going to become a strong shinobi she couldn't show any emotion.

So she put on a straight face, showing no emotion, a trait that reminded her too much of Sasuke. Finally gathering her confidence she spoke up.

"I came for you to train me in Sasuke's place." She pushed her chakra into her wrists, it was a technique Tsunade had taught her, making the sound nin gasp and remove their hands. They made a move towards her to attack but Orochimaru raised a hand stopping them in their tracks.

Orochimaru closed in on the girl. Plans forming in his head. The girl showed some potential, she would need way more training than Sasuke would have needed, that was if he took her in.

"What makes you so special that you could take Uchiha Sasuke's place?"

Sakura didn't say a word. She honestly didn't know. She didn't have the Sharingan, she didn't have anything special about her. Which was why she needed this.

"I'll do anything to be stronger. I've stolen all of Konoha's scrolls that contain information about you. And from the training I've received from Tsunade in a couple of years I'll be able to heal your arms."

She waited for a response from the man; he circled around her contemplating accepting her offer. He had plans for the Uchiha already, train him and when the time was right steal his body. The Sharingan would definitely benefit him when the time came. But this girl her eyes were far different. He didn't even know if his suspicions were correct yet.

Orochimaru was a risk taker though. His luck may not have been good, but it was better than his old team mate Tsunade. He decided to gamble with this girl.

"Tayuya," said girl turned her attention to the man, "take our dear Sakura-chan to her new room."

The red head gave an annoyed look but followed orders, Sakura gave one last look at Orochimaru and followed the girl through the Sound base.

"What do you mean Sakura-chan left Konoha?"

Naruto was yelling in disbelief, his bright cerulean eyes wide. He didn't think Sakura, of all people, would betray Konoha.

He looked at the note re-reading it over and over, trying to understand. His mind just couldn't comprehend what was going on.

Dear Team 7,

I'm sorry about you all finding out this way. But I have left Konoha in pursuit of Orochimaru.

You're all holding me back from my true potential. And I'm holding you back from yours.

Naruto-kun I know you won't understand but try to. I know if you train hard you'll become Hokage someday. You'll be fine without me; I'm just holding you back, with my always needing saving.

Kakashi-sensei, keep an eye on Sasuke; he needs your guidance more than anyone right now.

Sasuke-kun, I know you don't expect this from me, but I'm doing this for you. I hope you understand.

-Sakura Haruno

Kakashi seemed shocked that his pupil had chosen the wrong path; he definitely didn't see it coming. He felt the guilt on his conscience. If he had paid more attention to the pinkette maybe she would have stayed here in Konoha.

He looked at the young Uchiha, he seemed frozen in place, and had yet to speak a word. Even when Tsunade had questioned him about his plans to leave Konoha he hadn't said a word. Just sat there and nodded his head.

Naruto seemed to be taking it hard, he had been yelling nonstop since he had finished reading the letter. Finally Tsunade spoke up.

"Naruto I'm sending you Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Shino on a retrieval mission. You are to track Sakura down and bring her home. Shikamaru you'll be in charge."

The other males in the room nodded, Shikamaru sighed and muttered a "troublesome" underneath his breath. Naruto seemed a bit too enthusiastic about leaving yelling about leaving right away.

"What about me?"

Sasuke didn't understand. If anyone should go and save Sakura it should be him. He was the one Sakura was in love with. He was always there to save her. He had made it his responsibility to make sure she was safe. He should be the one looking for her; to bring her back home and make her realized she was being stupid.

Why send Naruto and a bunch of other people she wouldn't listen to him? They didn't even know her like the Uchiha did. Naruto knew her, but since when did she listen to what Naruto said she was always ignoring his efforts to date her or his proclamations of love. She always did what the Uchiha told her, so why not send him to tell her to come back home?

"Because of the circumstances Sasuke, you're not allowed to leave Konoha until this situation is resolved. I won't have you leaving and then taking Sakura's place."

Tsunade gave a glare to the Uchiha, she didn't want him doing something stupid like going and switching places with Sakura just so he could fulfill his life goals. She needed him nowhere near Sakura, he was one of the main reasons she left.

"Now the rest of you go and bring Sakura back, Kakashi you keep an eye on Sasuke."

With that Naruto and the other males of the rookie 9 took off towards theirs homes to grand their ninja gear and were to meet at the gates of Konoha.

Naruto ran home and grabbed his stuff and rushed towards the gates. He wanted to leave as soon as possible. Who knows how far Sakura had gotten already. He needed to hurry up and leave so he could find her and drag her back to Konoha, he'd do whatever it took.

Soon the other boys arrived and they were ready to leave when the young boy spotted Kakashi and Sasuke approaching the gates.

The young Uchiha didn't show any emotion on his face. He didn't look sad or annoyed or mad. But in his eyes, when he looked towards the blonde, he could see it. That look in his eyes said everything.

"Just hurry up and bring her back dobe." He looked away and began walking back towards Kakashi. The grey haired man gave Naruto a wave goodbye and him and Sasuke took off presumably to the training grounds.

Naruto turned around and headed outside of Konoha in search for his pink haired friend. He had to bring her back no matter what. Because even though the Uchiha didn't know it, he cared about Sakura, he may not have been on love with her like she was with him, but he did love her, she was his family.

And Naruto would do anything to keep his family together, no matter what.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I do not own Naruto. The lyrics belong to A Rocket to the Moon.

Im not really sure if the lyrics go with the chapter but i was listening to the song when writing so i thought i'd put them into the chapter. Thanks for all the reviews for this story! Anyways i don't have much to say about this chapter, but the next one will be what happens before the time skip, so it'll be an interesting chapter. So enjoy this one and i'll try and get the next one out ASAP.

When I'm gone, my heart is with you

And when I'm gone, my heart is with you

And I know, I know I'll always be thinking, thinking about

I hope you know I always call you my home

Sakura stood at the Valley of the End wind blowing through her pink hair. Orochimaru had been right about them sending a retrieval team. She could hear the battles taking place not far from where she was.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her first mission under Orochimaru. He wanted to test her loyalties, something she completely understood, but was still wary about.

Orochimaru was sitting down eating his evening meal when Sakura walked into the room. The lights were darkly dimmed, something she would have to get used to.

"You called for me Orochimaru-sama?" She hated saying his name, it felt like poison when it left her lips.

He didn't look up just paid attention to his meal.

"They'll be sending a retrieval team for you little kunoichi. You first mission will be to test your loyalties to Otogakure and me."

Her stomach clenched thinking about having to prove loyalties to such an evil man. She would never be loyal to him, at least not entirely. She would do whatever he told her for the time being, but that would change eventually.

"I can't fight off Naruto or Sasuke." It was true; she didn't stand a chance against either of them. It was a reason she was here, didn't he know that?

"Don't worry about that part."

Confronting her friends about leaving Konoha was something she didn't want to do. Especially if she had to confront Naruto. He always had a way of getting to people; she just hoped she could be strong enough to do this.

She could feel his chakra signature approaching her and she braced herself. She turned towards the direction her was coming and waited.

She looked towards the slowly darkening sky, the wind was turning cold. She almost smiled at how ironic the weather was. There was a storm approaching and the rain would be beginning soon.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran into the clearing and screeched to a halt in front of her.

She took a deep breath and willed herself not to cry in front of him. Would he still call her Sakura-chan after she broke his heart? Her thoughts were just making matters worse.

"Go home Naruto."

She glared at him trying to get him to take a hint. She didn't want to argue with him.

He stared at the pink haired girl and felt a sudden wave of anger. He and the rest of his team were risking their lives to come and bring her home and she just tells him to go home? Like she didn't even care?

"Go home? That's all you have to say for yourself?" He was screaming now, all the feelings he kept hidden in front of the Hokage yesterday suddenly making their presence known.

She flinched at his loud voice but said nothing, just stood where she was staring at the dark clouds.

"Everyone's risked their lives to come and bring you home!"

Sakura tore her gaze from the clouds and looked him in the eyes. She felt sick to her stomach thinking of who exactly he was talking about. And she had to pretend she didn't care anymore.

"Good for them." She watched the anger turn to shock on his face and turned away. "Now go home Naruto."

She turned around and began walking towards where she knew Kabuto and Orochimaru would be waiting for her.

"I'm not going home without you!" she stopped walking and listened, it was the least she could do. "Even if I have to kick your ass and drag you back to Konoha!"

She looked behind her shoulder just in time to see him running towards her ready to attack. She avoided the blow and performed the hand signs Orochimaru had taught her earlier.

With a poof she was gone nowhere to be seen. Thunder roared in the sky and rain began to make its way down.

Sakura sat in a nearby tree and threw down a tagged kunai down towards where Naruto was standing. He jumped out of the way and looked towards the direction it came from. Before he could spot her though sleep gas emitted from the ground quickly knocking him unconscious.

She jumped down from the tree careful not so slip on the wet ground. She took off her head band and held back the tears. She walked towards the knocked out Naruto and laid the head band near his hand.

"Goodbye Naruto." She turned towards the woods and took off running, not wanting to deal with the stabbing pain she felt in her chest.

It don't matter where I'm going or what I do

I always come back, I always come back to you

And I've got this funny feeling that I'll be seeing you soon

I always come home, I always come home to you

Sasuke stood near the gates of Konoha waiting for Naruto to come back holding a bundle with pink hair. It had been raining earlier that day and he hoped it would delay their return.

Kakashi had said they should be back around noon that day but it was already 3 hours past noon. It made him worry that she wouldn't be coming back with them.

He couldn't wrap his mind around Sakura not being on their team anymore. Who would he be saving all the time? How could he protect her if she wasn't there?

The rain had started up when he say Shikamaru in the distance. His team looked battered and bruised, all their heads down.

He felt his stomach doing flips waiting to see any sign of pink. Instead he saw Chouji holding an unconscious Naruto.

Eyes widening he ran up towards the group. No one said a word as the Uchiha approached the group. He walked towards Chouji putting his arms out. The boy looked at him confused as to what the Uchiha was trying to do.

"Give me Naruto." Chouji handed him to his team mate and then reached into his back pocket pulling out a familiar red head band.

Wordlessly he put handed it to the Uchiha and then began walking towards the gates.

Sasuke took one last look outside the gates than walked towards the hospital.

The thunder roared again and he could hear Naruto mumbling something in his sleep. He paid no attention to the people who glanced at him holding Naruto's sleeping form.

He felt liquid running down his cold face and it bothered him when he could tell if they were his tears or rain.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: I know it's been awhile, but here the long awaited chapter five! I've gotten some great reviews from you guy's from this story and I'm glad you all like it! Don't be afraid to make any comments about what I can do to make the chapters better or anything! Lyrics belong to Breaking Bejamin's "Breath", one of my all time favorite songs by them, just fyi :)Anyways, here's the story and review once you're done! :)

So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left.

I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.

I'm going all the way, get away, please.

You take the breath right out of me.

You left a hole where my heart should be.

You got to fight just to make it through,

'cause I will be the death of you.

Sakura sat in the cold metal chair in the middle of a lab in Orochimaru's sound base located in the depths of Oto. Her pink locks were drenched with sweat, clinging to her face in a wild manner. Her cheeks were dripping with her tears and sweat combined.

Her breaths were quick and sharp. Her jaws were clenched and her hands griped onto the chairs handles and if her life depended on it. The pain in her abdomen was horrendous. It spread from just below her rips down to her hip bone.

"Just a couple more hours my dear Sakura-chan." Orochimaru smirked at the young girl of fourteen. He growl made his smirk turn into a full blown evil smile.

She had already been with them for just a little over a year and was progressing in her training far better than anyone's expectations; especially his.

Right now he was torturing her, quite literally. As part of her training exercises she had to deal with pain. Something any shinobi knew of. He was teaching her how to deal with the pain, not to show any weakness. He needed to break whatever was left of the once bright eyed girl's spirit. Because lets face it; what good was a shinobi that displayed their every emotion?

In battle a shinobi was better off without emotions, she would soon learn that. Why tell the enemy that they were winning? Or that they had their control over how the battle was going to play out. To be a good shinobi you had to be emotionless and strong. You had to let them know you had control over them.

Besides if his earlier theory about the girl was true he would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Add another Kabuto." Said man grabbed another katana laced with chakra. He allowed himself to smirk as he readied it towards the girl. With a quick extend of his arm the blade was sliding into her stomach.

She screamed at the contact of it sliding into her already sore stomach. She was exhausted with the pain. They had been at this for the past two hours, but to her those mere two hours felt like an eternity.

"Tch. You know better than to scream, now don't you Skaura-hime?" the dark haired man let out a laugh when the girl sent him one of her now infamous glares. He walked over to where Kabuto was standing, pushed him aside and grabbed another katana.

The kunoichi let out another heart wrenching scream as the yet another katana slid into her stomach causing Kabuto to look away in remorse. His heart went out to the girl; Orochimaru's training could be quite disturbing.

"Are you ready to quit showing you emotions? Deal with the pain my dear cherry blossom. Than we can stop over training for the day."

Sakura looked up again her hair violently displayed everywhere her cold jade eyes sending yet another glare towards her teacher. And suddenly the jade eyes began to change. Chakra soared throughout her body till it finally reached her eyes causing them to turn a deep shade of blue, pupils turning to a glowing silver almost white color.

"Orochimaru-sama what's going on?" Kabuto looked at the girl in fear. The way her eyes had dramatically changing scared him, although he wouldn't admit it. He could feel the power of the girl radiating off of her, that's what scared him the most.

Maniacal laughing could be heard coming from the snake summoner. Both Sakura and Kabuto looked towards him as his laughter got louder and more cynical. Sakura's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she soon passed out.

His laughter died down and he walked towards the girl. Picking up her head from where it dangled he gave her a quick look over. He let her head drop as he made his way towards the door speaking.

"Take the katanas' out Kabuto. And when she wakes make sure to give her a soldier pill and send her to the sparring fields."

A "Yes Orochimaru-sama" was heard before the laughing started again. He opened the door and began walking towards his bed chambers to rest for awhile and gloat about the excellent news.

It turns out his theory was right about the young girl. He let himself smirk as plans made his way into his head. Yes, the girl was part of the clan hidden in the snow alright. And she would make an excellent vessel for him when his old body gave out.

Naruto sat down at their usual spot inside of Ichiraku's. He was seated in between Sasuke and Hinata. The young purple haired girl had recently taken over Sakura's spot on a simple mission they had just gotten back from.

It had been an easy D-rank and had gone off with out a hitch. So of course Naruto suggested that Kakashi treat them all to a bowl of ramen. The masked nin eventually agreed but limited the number of bowls Naruto could have.

Their team could certainly use some cheering up since Sakura was gone. It had nearly been what, almost a year?

But as fate would have it the remaining members of team seven wouldn't be together that much longer. For Naruto had just announced he would be leaving in a couple of days to go train with Jiraiya to help him "becomes strong enough to bring his precious Sakura-chan" back as he so nicely put it.

Sasuke was speechless at the news. Training with a sanin could take years with any normal ninja. But with Naruto who knew how long it would take. He would be leaving just like Sakura, granted he was coming back. But still, he would be alone. Again. He stirred his ramen taking in the news, letting it sink in.

With Sakura gone, team seven was barely holding on. But with Naruto gone as well there would be no more team scene. It would just be him and Kakashi. And why would a jounin stick around with a mere genin and a team? Without any team to guide he would be needed on high ranking missions, not babysitting the lone Uchiha.

"T-that's g-great knew N-Naruto-kun." The shy Hyuuga had a blush on her face as Naruto talked to her about what he hoped he would learn on his trip. He wondered for the slightest of a second if the dobe had figured out that the girl was madly in love with him. But when he hugged her and she fainted he realized that was a definite no.

Kakashi picked up the young girl, explained he would take her home, left the two boys some money and poofed out of the place.

"Ne, Sasuke-teme you haven't said anything yet…" Naruto cast a look towards the young Uchiha. He knew he would be leaving Sasuke alone, it wasn't something he wanted to do, but it needed to be done. If he was ever going to bring their Sakura back he needed to be stronger, he needed this training.

The boy put his chopsticks down and looked towards Naruto who was going to town on his miso ramen. Typical dobe.

"When are you leaving?" he paused and questioned whether or not if he should even bother asking. "When are you coming back?"

Are you coming back?

Naruto stopped mid slurp and cast a sideways glance towards Sasuke. He knew that the boy was bound to have abandonment issues. First his family, more importantly his brother, to Sakura and now him. He was worried Naruto was abandoning him to, that he wouldn't come back home. Pfft, as if.

"Ne, it'll only take about a year or two until I come back home." I wouldn't leave you alone. "I'll make sure to write to you and Kakashi-sensei about all the training and traveling I'll be doing! Then you and me can find Sakura-chan and bring her back together!"

His blue eyes shone bright with inspiration. The same look his eyes got when he was determined to do exactly what he said he would. Naruto was never one to break and promise and it he said he was going to do something you had better believe it.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, duh.

A/N: Here's chapter six! And chapter seven should be out in the next couple of days hopefully. This chapter officially starts the time skip, so everyone's older now. I'm thinking of just skipping over Kakashi's bell test and go straight into their confrontation but who knows. BUT next chapter will definitely be the first Sakura, remaining team seven encounter! Anyways here chapter six, read & review!

Sorry, no lyrics this time. :p

Thunder boomed through out the sound hideout causing the ground to shake. Dark grey clouds loomed in the sky, their tears falling onto the earth below them. The sounds of rain could be heard in the cold damp room. The wind would pick up every now and then causing the sounds of water hitting the window.

Cold jade eyes watched intensely as the drops raced down the glass. She would make a game of it, watching them hit the window and anticipating which one would make it to the bottom first. She scowled when she heard a knocking on the door.

Activating her kekkei genkai she sent a glare towards the door. When she heard the young nin knock again. She stood up from her place near her window and threw the door open in one swift movement scaring the genin in front of her.

She stood there with a glare pointed directly at the boy. He was frightened, he should be. No one liked to be on the girls' bad side. And lately she had been easily pissed off. It became a punishment to have to get her for a mission or even just knock on her door.

It was those deadly eyes that he feared the most though. He had watched her take out an entire group of ninja with just her fist alone. He shuddered at the thought of her actually activating her kekkei genkai in a fight.

"Well are you just going to stand there like a fool, or are you going to tell me what the hell you're disturbing me for?"

The boy visibly flinched and put his head down. He fidgeted with something in his pocket and pulled out a scroll. Sakura recognized the red ribbon wrapped around it and nearly rolled her eyes. I just got back, damn snake.

"O-Orochimaru-sama w-wanted me to give this t-t-to you S-Sakura-hime."

She rolled her eyes and snatched the scroll from the young boy. Orochimaru needed to quit sending babbling idiots to give her mission scrolls. She sent the boy one last glare before turning her back and slamming her door once she was back inside her room.

She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. She had kept it shoulder length while at her stay here in Oto. Having it long would just get into the way of her missions. Plus cleaning the blood out of her hair was already troublesome enough; longer hair would mean more to wash.

She felt bad for the young boy though. She had an image to hold up in this place. The ninja's that worked under Orochimaru weren't some of the nicest people out there; they would literally walk all over you if you let them. They had to know who their superiors were, and Sakura was definitely one of them. She didn't like giving them all the cold shoulder or her infamous death glare, it was completely against her nature, but was necessary.

She walked across her room grabbing her katana, the one that was meant for someone else, and walked outside of her room. Performing the necessary hand signs to protect her room while she was away. And with that she made her way towards the exit of the sound base.

Tsunade sat in her chair inside the Hokage's office. It was a rare sight to see really. He actually doing her paper work without an ounce of sake anywhere near by. The sun was shining through the large open window. Birds chirping and children's laughter could be heard from the streets below.

The blonde woman stopped her writing to take a short break. Spring in Konoha was a beautiful sight to see. She smiled as a couple of kids played a game of marbles down below. Villagers were seen tending to their shops or just walking the streets hand in hand with a lover of a friend. It was time of peace, like this one, that she felt that all the paper work was nothing, as long as her home was safe and happy.

But the peace wasn't meant to be though, for soon Shizune was barging her way into the office followed by two anbu, one whose life was hanging by a thin line.

"What happened?"she made her way over as quickly as possible shoving everyone out of her way as she began the long healing process that this man would have to go through. She looked up at the other anbu but he remained speechless and stood still in his spot, probably frozen in terror of his team mate's state of being.

His organs were starting to shut down and he had lost blood, and a lot of it. She barked orders at Shizune telling her to bring medical supplies from the hospital here and to hurry. If this man was going to live he needed more blood in his body.

She worked for what seemed like hours, there on her office floor, the paper work and the children's laughter completely forgotten. All she cared about right now was making this shinobi live to see tomorrow.

When the man was finally stable she told Shizune to take him to the hospitals ICU and to watch for any signs of his body relapsing. The young woman nodded and transported her and the anbu to the hospital in a quick seal of hand signs.

She grabbed a bottle of sake and grabbed two glasses. Opening the bottle up she poured herself and the remaining anbu a drink. God knows they both needed it.

She took a quick chug of her drink and took a deep breath. She fixed her hazel eyes on the young man, not much older that 25. But the look of horror he wore made him look so much older.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

Sakura leaned against a giant oak tree in the middle of the forest just outside of the base. She knew now why Orochimaru had sent her on this quick mission, if you could even call it that. Some leaf anbu had been spying on the place for awhile now. Apparently they had too much information about the place to the snakes liking. So here she was.

She opened her eyes as she heard their feet hitting the ground probably thinking they were safe from any danger. Boy, were they wrong. With an annoyed grunt she pushed herself away from the tree and unmasked her chakra.

The two stopped just barely seven feet in front of her. She looked at their pale whit masks one a frog the other a hawk. She always wondered what her mask would be had she stayed in Konoha long enough to become one of their anbu. But those were just mere fantasies. She didn't belong to Konoha anymore, she had betrayed them. Betrayed him.

"You're Sakura Haruno, the missing nin from our village."

It was the frog that had spoken up. He seemed to be the smaller of the two but his chakra level told her that he was far from weak. Too bad she was stronger.

"Tch. There's no time for formal introductions right now." She rolled her eyes and activated her kekkei genkai aiming her glare straight towards them. "Hand over the information you have about Orochimaru and I won't have to kill you."

I don't want to have to kill you.

The bigger of the two got into his fighting stance the other soon following suite. She frowned getting annoyed with their silence.

"Sakura Haruno you are wanted for charges against Konoha. By orders of our Hokage you're under arrest."

The one in the hawk mask made the first move aiming a punch towards the girl, one she easily dodged. She grabbed the hand that had attempted to punch her yet again and threw him towards the closet tree. The second anbu then made his move. Grabbing two kunai and aiming them towards the girl. She pulled out her katana and easily reflected them.

They continued to fight punch after punch, kick after kick. She had managed to cause some great damage towards the frog, but the hawk was truly holding his weight in their battle. He wouldn't give up. Leaf nin never gave up.

The battle didn't last long after Sakura truly activated her kekkei genkai freezing the Hawk anbu solid in place. His eyes widening behind his mask. The frog was temporarily out of breath from battle fighting to keep consciousness.

She searched the frozen nin for the scroll she knew he had than contained who knows what information about her teacher. She quickly burned it with a simple seal of hand signs. She couldn't risk it ending up in the wrong hands again.

She sent a look towards the frog nin watching as he tried to regain his composure. He was hunched over on his knees, his breathing was heavy and his face was drenched in sweat. His mask was long forgotten cracked near a berry bush just four feet next to him.

"Tell your Hokage that I have no intentions of ever returning to that sad excuse for a village and if she keeps sending anbu after me she might end up like your friend here."

With that she grabbed her katana, engulfing it with her own chakra and stabbed the frozen anbu. She pulled it out and the man let out a heart wrenching scream, falling to the ground. She could hear a name being yelled and the sound of feet hitting the dirt.

She turned around to see the frog anbu rush over to his team mate. Sounds of sobbing and reassurance could be heard. Knowing this was her chance to leave without feeling any remorse she began walking towards her home. That was until she heard him speak.

"Why?" she shut her eyes and willed herself not to show any emotion. You think after all these years she would've learned by now.

She stopped in her tracks taking a deep breath she formed a smile on her face. She looked over her shoulder and willed herself to act like the emotionless killer she really was.

"It only takes one person to deliver a message."

And with that she turned back around and headed off into the woods. Hopefully she could be back into sound before sunset. She willed herself not to think of the nightmares that would come that night.

Sasuke walked through the streets of Konoha with a blank expression on his face. He knew Naruto was back any day now and he was nervous about it. Not that he would show it. But he hadn't seen the boy in two years.

The now sixteen year old boy had grown. He was taller in height but his hair remained the same fashion. He wore a black shirt with his clan's symbol on the back and basic black shinobi pants and shoes. He was a chuunin now, something he was proud of. He smirked thinking of how Naruto would still technically be a genin.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a girlish scream. Stopping in his tracks he listened for its source. But what he heard made him rolls his eyes.

"Hinata-chan! Are you okay?" speaking of ramen obsessed boys…

Sasuke walked towards the obnoxious yelling was coming from and nearly laughed at the scene. But if course he settled for a roll of his eyes and a smirk. Because the Sasuke Uchiha did not laugh.

There underneath a small oak tree was Hinata passed out with a fan girlish blush on her face. Next to her was a confused Naruto and a some what annoyed Kiba. Shino was off to the side messing with his bugs.

Did the boy still not know the girl was madly in love with him?

"Nice to know you haven't gotten any smarter these past two years dobe."

He waited for Naruto to take notice of his presence but sweat dropped when the boy looked everywhere but where the Uchiha was standing. After what seemed like forever the blonde boy's bright blue eyes landed on him and a smile the size of the Uchiha compound spread across his face.

"Teme!" The blonde boy rushed over and tackled the elder boy to the ground in a bear crushing hug.

"Get off!" the Uchiha tried to keep his composure but he could barely breathe.

"Ne, sorry Sasuke-teme."

The fox boy let go of his friend and stood up dusting himself off and putting his hand out assisting the other boy up off the ground. Naruto hadn't changed one bit. His hair was still its bright yellow color and his eyes still had their same shine. He had grown taller though, his voice slightly deeper than before.A grumble could be heard from his stomach and the boy smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, teme why don't we catch up over a bowl of ramen? I'm starving!" nope the boy hadn't changed one bit.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto. Or Taylor Swift's "Haunted" lyrics.

Stood there and watched you walk away,

From everything we had.

But I still mean every word I said, To you.

He will try to take away my pain

And he just might make me smile.

But the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead

Sakura walked through the many trees in the forest just outside of the sound base. She had her eyes closed, relying solely on her skills to direct her through the maze of trees and bushes that adorned the area. Her hands were folded neatly across her chest covering the black undershirt that could be seen under her white tunic. She wore a short black nin skirt that stopped mid thigh and her long boots.

She ignored the thunder booming in the distance, a sign it was about to rain soon. All she wanted was to get out of that sticky room back at the sound base. Actually she just wanted to get out of the sound base period. She felt suffocated in her small room and every other place she went.

The base was always so dark and cold, the smells of sweat and many lab chemicals had become a smell Sakura had grown to hate over her three year stay here. Orochimaru was constantly doing experiments along with Kabuto. They had formed many different creatures from once young innocent shinobi and even plain villagers, it was sickening.

She hadn't dared let him touch her with any of his lab equipment and even went as far as to make a nin test her food before she put the stuff anywhere near her mouth. Orochimaru disapproved of it and constantly told her it would benefit her more than harm her, to which she would glare and just walk away.

"Sakura-hime!"

She rolled her eyes and slowed her pace down as she heard the familiar voice calling her. He must've sensed the rain coming, or the stupid snake sent her after her. He never let her dwell for long. She smiled as she felt the small drops of rain starting to fall, hitting her face.

Cheerful laughter could be heard behind her, his laughter brought a bigger smile to her face as she turned around to watch him play in the rain. He was just a month older than her, and yet he was acting like a child who had never seen rain in his entire life. It was ironic because he made into what he was from the element itself.

"Ne, Sakura-hime that old pedo wants you back for some training or some shit."

She rolled her eyes letting out an annoyed grunt. Well, that had been predictable. She wondered who had ratted her out this time. Probably, that stupid boy from last time. She would be sure to punish him for it later, after her interrogation to see if she was right.

"Would you go back if you had a choice?"

She watched his facial expression turn from happy to shock in a matter of seconds. No one had probably ever asked him what he wanted, that's how things were in Oto. You received orders, not questions. No one had a say in anything, not even their own bodies. But Sakura did, and she wondered if that's why many of the nin didn't like her, while others feared her and stayed out of her way, the nin she was thinking about made her life difficult, constantly ratting her out when she snuck out of the base and messing with her room while she was away.

She watched him bring his hand up to his chin in with a smile in her face. He was playing around, like always. It reminded her of Naruto, never being serious until you were about to get your ass kicked. She frowned in annoyance of where her mind had wandered.

"Well?"

He sighed a pained smile on his face looking up towards the sky. She watched him take in the element and wondered what it felt like for him. His hair was now turning a darker shade of blue she noticed. It was one of the many things she liked about him, his hair; it reminded her of herself joking about wishing it was blue when she was younger with her oka-san.

More annoying memories. Feeling sentimental today, Sakura-chan?

"You already know that answer, don't you Sakura-chan?"

Of course she did. She knew how annoyed he got being kept in that glass tank, like a damn fish. She let him out every chance she got, and he was always let out to go and get her back into the base. Orochimaru had made the mistake of sending someone else, they had returned to the base by flight, courtesy of her fist.

She opened her mouth to respond when a loud boom and the small shake of the earth caught both their attention. She activated her kekkei genkai and looked towards where the noise had come from.

"What's going on?"

She frowned when she noticed it had come from the direction of the base. What the hell was Orochimaru doing now? She froze however when she noticed the chakra signature behind a tree to her right.

"You can come out now."

She saw Suigetsu cast her a weird look but narrowed his eyes when a shinobi walked out form his hiding spot. She looked at him with no emotions, like she had looked and many people before.

Taking in his appearance annoyed her to now end. He looked like him. Pale white skin, cold black eyes and the hair to match. However his hair was in a shorter, less spiky fashion and his headband was above his forehead. His attire reminded her of a gay, less youthful version of Gai and Lee. His headband however meant yet another annoyance for her that day.

"So you must be Sakura Haruno."

She spared Suigetsu a glance before she looked back over at the Konoha shinobi. He was smiling, something that looked completely fake and made her want to punch some emotion into the boy. She could feel her hands itching for a fight.

"What does Konoha want now? More dead bodies for me to send back home?"

She said the word with malice, she noticed Suigetsu flinch at her words. He knew her better than anyone. He however recovered from it with a smirk on his face and the folding of his hands over his chest, an amused expression adorning his face.

"No, I don't think that's why they sent me here."

The smile still adorned his face, as he avoided the real question she had asked. She was starting to get aggravated from him, showing up out of now where, sneaking up on her. Making her feel like the stupid twelve year old she once was.

"I don't have time for this."

She turned around, back facing the boy, a bold move that said she didn't see the shinobi as a threat. She could easily kill him and get on with her day, except she wasn't going to, he wasn't worth her time.

"Suigetsu, are you coming?"

She made her way towards the sound base, stopping and turning around to see if the boy would follow her back or have his fun with the black haired shinobi. She lifted a perfect pink eyebrow, waiting for his response.

"I wouldn't go back if I were you ugly. Unless you want to run into dickless and ass head."

She paused for a moment and took a glance at the boy. What the hell was he even talking about? Wait a second; did he just call her ugly? Hell, no. She set a glare on his face as she marched her way towards the boy preparing the chakra in her hand.

Suigetsu back away as she stood in front of the boy, who was still smiling with his eyes closed. She moved her arm back, adding more chakra into it and quickly connected it with his face with a low growl. In a few short second the boy went flying backwards.

Dusting off her hands she began walking back to the base. She needed what the hell was going on.

Sasuke Uchiha watched as the dobe, also commonly known as Naruto, ate his ramen like a pig. It was disgusting really, how he would slurp up his noodles then ask him questions with his mouth full. Guess he hadn't changed that much.

"Ne, Sasuke-teme you didn't answer the question!"

He rolled his eyes picking at his own ramen before sending a smirk towards the boy as he loudly chewed on his ramen like a cow.

"Like I could understand anything you said when you eat like a pig."

Said boy stopped munching on his food and sent a glare towards his black haired best friend. Swallowing his food he opened his mouth, pointing his chopstick towards Sasuke.

"Hey! I don't eat like a pig you teme!"

He rolled his eyes, his smirk widening. It had been rather boring not having anyone to argue with these past three years… Or anyone to call annoying… He frowned before turning hiss attention to his un eaten ramen.

"Tch. Whatever, dobe."

"Teme!"

"Dobe!"

"Geez, arguing already? And just when I think I won't have to be babysitting twelve year olds anymore."

Both boys turned their head towards the entrance only to see their former sensei, book in hand, eyes hidden from his smile. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and turned around however Naruto jumped up to greet their sensei, after all he hadn't seen him in awhile.

"Kakashi-sensei! Wow you look old!"

Said man frowned and sweat dropped along with Sasuke.

"Well you don't look any younger either... However I'm not here to judge your horrendous orange attire, Lady Tsunade has a mission for us three."

Leaving money for both his and Naruto's ramen Sasuke turned around. He hadn't had a mission in forever. He stood up then walked out of the restaurant following Kakashi. Naruto's "wait for me!" could be heard as he finished up his ramen then ran after the two of them.

They arrived at the Hokage's office in a few short minutes. Kakashi knocked on the door and a loud "enter" could be heard from the other side. Both boys entered first followed by their sensei. Sasuke took in the room and frowned when he saw another person already in the room.

Tsunade was at her desk looking exhausted and reading a scroll that was on her desk. Her assistant Shizune was next to her pouring her probably her hundredth shot of sake. However what really caught his attention was the black haired boy that had a string resemblance to him.

"Hey granny who the hell is the Sasuke clone?"

It was times like these where Sasuke wished Sakura were still here so she could beat the shit out of Naruto when he was being an idiot, like right now. But he pushed her annoying face out of his head, those were thoughts he didn't want to have. She was gone, thanks to him.

"Shut up you little brat! That's your new team mate, so act nice!"

New team mate? What the hell. They were fine the way they were. They didn't need anyone trying to replace Sakura, after all him and Naruto would bring her back, what would happen then?

He looked towards the dobe to see an angered expression on his face, probably having the same thoughts he was just a second ago. Kakashi didn't look faced by any of this, he probably knew about it before they came here.

"New team mate? What about Sakura-chan? She's out team mate!"

He flinched as he said her name; he didn't like hearing it much these days. It made him feel aggravated and hurt, something he hated. He didn't like how easily she had gotten under his skin, even now when she was kami knows where.

Tsunade's features calmed a bit at hearing her name though, after all she had been her shishou for several weeks before she had left Konoha. He guessed she was feeling guilty, like he often did, that maybe if she hadn't trained her and taken the time to know what the hell was going on she wouldn't have left.

She sighed and ran a hand through her golden blonde tresses. She drank a sip of her sake and looked towards Naruto a sad smile on her lips.

"Naruto, she's not here right now. You two can't be the only squad with two members. Sai here will be taking her place hopefully for just this one mission."

Naruto calmed down, although he was currently sending a glare towards their new "team mate". Hell, he couldn't really blame him, the boy sent off weird vibes.

"Now all of you listen up, I've already filled in Kakashi of your mission but I'm telling you all right now, don't get your hopes up to high.

"Earlier this morning two of our ANBU member came back from an A-ranked mission. It involved the whereabouts of Orochimaru."

He felt his blood freeze at the mention of the snake man. The one he would've been with right now if it weren't for her. But she was there instead. His fists tightened as he listened.

"You two both now of Orochimaru, you know he's not a good man…. Sakura has been trained well apparently."

She let out a dry laugh and grabbed the sake bottle out of Shizune's shaking hands. She slammed it on the table causing some of the liquid to spill onto the scroll she had out on the desk.

"She nearly killed an S-ranked ANBU member, leaving the other in bad condition as well. Although most of the information that was gained is now lost we know one thing for sure. And that's Sakura's whereabouts.

"Your mission is to go to the sound base outside we've located and retrieve her. You leave in an hour."

He froze and watched Naruto look on in shock at the newly required information. He was shocked as well. Sakura couldn't have done that… She wasn't like that…. He sent a glare at nothing in particular. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he felt a little calmer. Kakashi was always one to calm him down.

"Dismissed."

Sasuke stood at the gates of Konoha with a glare fixed on his face, Naruto seemed about ready to kick their new team mate's ass, and like hell would he stop the boy.

Sai was something out of a horror movie. He had no emotions, worse than the Uchiha, yes Sasuke knew people thought of him as an ice cube, but he at least knew what emotions were. This Sai character had no clue about anything, except knowing how to piss both him and Naruto off.

"What did you call me?"

Naruto glared daggers at the boy, growling out his question. Even if it was funny when he had been called dickless by the new comer, Sasuke didn't like it when people insulted his best friend. That was his job to insult the dobe.

"I called you dickless, didn't I, chicken ass?"

Just as he was about to chidori this guys ass, Kakashi popped up with his usual "Yo". He however took note of the position all three teenagers were in and sighed. Sasuke had long ago activated his sharigan and glaring at the boy, while Naruto was doing the same, rolling up his sleeves getting ready to kick the boy all the way to Suna.

"You three may hate each other all ready but suck it up. We're going on a high risk mission and the last thing we need is shitty team work."

Both boys glared and followed after their sensei leaving Konoha. Naruto complained as they started off in a light sprint that it was Sai who had started everything, but all Sasuke could think about was that in a couple of hours they might just be face to face with their real team mate. And he hated the feeling that was happening in his stomach.

"Well isn't this surprising."

Sakura looked down below her, a hand placed on her hip and a small smirk on her lips. She had arrived at the sound base to find a huge hole blown into the side of the building and in said hole were two arguing boys.

She watched as they both stopped their talking and looked up, their eyes widened in shock. She really couldn't blame them; she was shocked too, although she wouldn't show it. But suddenly everything was starting to make sense.

That boy must've been with them, probably her replacement. She frowned thinking about being replaced with such an incompetent fool, she hope Suigetsu was knocking some sense into him. They must have been here to bring her back to Konoha, how they managed to blow a huge hole into the building was beyond her.

She jumped down from her spot and landed gracefully, one hand touching the ground in a bent over pose. She rose quickly, dusting her hands off and placing the right on her hip like it had just been.

"Sakura-chan…."

She took note of how different they looked. Naruto had finally grown taller than her, although he was still shorter than the boy next to him. He looked the same for the most part although she noticed the tan of his skin.

Sasuke however made her composure waver. He had definitely grown up; she bit her lip from making any sounds. He was wearing a shirt in a similar fashion to hers although it was black, along with dark blue shinobi pants and black sandals. His hair was the same as ever and his face had matured impressively.

She noticed how the posture changed as they took her in. Naruto was probably still taking all the information in, whereas Sasuke was rigid and preparing for a fight although he was staring right at her. She caught his gaze but looked towards Naruto.

"Ne, aren't you glad to see me Naruto-kun?"

She let a malicious smile spread on her lips as she watched the blonde snap out of his thoughts and a small blush of embarrassment could be seen on his cheeks. She rolled her eyes, men were so predictable.

He regained his composure quicker than she was expecting though. His eyes shinning bright as he had a determined glare on his face. It took her by surprise and she felt her own composure falter. She kept her face and emotions in check though.

Even though he wasn't supposed to be here, trying to save her or take her home. She reminded herself of why she was still here and chanted it like a mantra in her head. She wouldn't let his words get to her like they always did, this time it would be different.

"We're bringing you back home. Whether you like it or not Sakura-chan."

She moved her hands over her chest and leaned onto the wall behind her, making her seem arrogant in her slacked postured. She smirked and looked towards the Uchiha.

"Is that so? What do you have to say about all of this Sa-su-ke?"

She pronounced each syllable with hidden emotion behind each. She watched as the boy looked towards her, his emotions seemed to be getting the better of him and she could tell. He was an open book for her to read, not because he was blushing or glaring, no she could see it all in those deep black eyes of his. It gave her a sick feeling in her stomach when she saw the hurt and longing in his eyes.

She whipped out her katana faster than the average eye could see and was right in front of her dark haired target before neither him or Naruto could blink. Shock could be seen in his eyes and then anger, directed towards her or himself she couldn't tell.

She held the blade behind his neck, itching dangerously near the skin, though not touching. Sasuke's breathing quickened from the danger of the situation and the closeness him and his female team mate had between them.

He could feel her breath on his ear lobe and could smell her sweet sent on his nose. He closed his eyes, getting lost in the moment, completely forgetting about the blade so close to him.

It stayed like that for what felt like forever to him. But then he could hear the sounds of moving around and could feel the coldness of the blade touching his skin. His eyes snapped open to see Kakashi grabbing the girls arm but before he could register what was going on he heard her soft whisper.

"Me too."

Her arm was grabbed causing her to be thrown across from where she had previously stood. Her katana was now in Kakashi's hands and she cursed herself for letting her emotions get the best of her. She should've learned after all these years, but she couldn't help it. When she saw that look in his eyes all she wanted to do was reassure him and comfort him, it's what she always did.

She recovered from her surprise attack Kakashi was able to put in, although she had partially let him interrupt their little encounter, reality came crashing down on her and she set her lips into a firm line.

"Late as ever, wouldn't you say so Kakashi-sensei?"

She watched as the man skillfully twirled her katana before throwing it towards a wall, its sharp point embedding deeply into the hard grey stone. She frowned knowing she wouldn't be getting it out anytime soon, she wouldn't have the chance. She could sense Orochimaru's chakra signature slowly approaching taking his time.

The grey haired man said nothing but took a fighting posture next to Sasuke who just now seemed to be snapping out if his little trance. Naruto ran up next to the boy's unoccupied side and also took a fighting stance. No one saying anything. She frowned once again.

"Don't worry about the katana, it wasn't meant for me anyway…"

She looked towards Sasuke, making eye contact and pushing down the small smile she had threatening to spill over her lips. She wished she could still be there, at home with those three, but she wasn't done here. She still had her own missions to fulfill, her own goals.

"Are you going to come willingly or are we going to have to force you?"

It was Kakashi that had spoken up, Naruto nor did Sasuke say anything. Silence lingered in the air, and this time she did smile, although it was a bittersweet one. She could tell that Orochimaru was just minutes, if not seconds away from arriving and he was ready to leave, she could tell.

She sighed and looked towards her old team, nostalgia washing over her, and if she hadn't forced herself not to, she would've let the tears building up in her eyes fall down. She sent her smile towards her old childhood crush as she felt Orochimaru flared his chakra, a signal for her to hurry up because they would be leaving soon.

"Maybe someday…"

And in a flash she was gone, leaving behind her two friends she had missed so much.

She cursed herself over and over in her head, pacing in her room at their new sound base. Suigetsu could be heard trying to calm the girl down, but she ignored him. She hated herself for letting that small encounter getting to her, she hated having so many emotions. And most of all she hated that she didn't want Suigetsu to be the one to be comforting her, even though she loved him, she wanted it to be him.


	8. Chapter 7

Sasuke Uchiha was going to kill his best friend. Seriously, he was. He had no idea how the baka had managed to blow up half of the sound hideout. It was being comprehension for him. All he knew was that he ran towards where the noise had come from; hoping to kami the dobe hadn't killed himself in the process of being the dumb blonde he was.

In fact Naruto was just fine, a stupid sheepish looking smile playing on his lips and dust covered his clothing. How the hell did he become a ninja again? Where the hell was that stupid clone of his? And where was Kakashi-sensei. He should've been watching the idiot to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"How the hell do you manage to be such an idiot without you even realizing it?"

He knew Naruto wouldn't actually get what he was saying until a few minutes later. So he stood there glaring at the boy patiently waiting for the underused wheels in his brain to process what he had just been told.

And then there it was that light of realization in his eyes and his mouth made an o shape when he finally understood his words. Then came the anger and his bright blue eyes glared daggers into his own charcoal ones.

"I'm not an idiot, you teme!"

"Tch. It took you three minutes to even figure out what I was saying, dobe."

"So! You're just a-a-a jerk! That's what you are!"

"Hn."

"Don't Hn me you ass hole! This is all your fault!"

"How the hell is this my fault? You're the idiot that blew up the building."

"It was a complete accident! Some stupid sound nin told me the wrong direction and then before I knew it the building was exploding!"

Only his blonde team mate would be stupid enough to take directions from a sound nin and think they weren't sending him to what should have been his death. He rubbed his forehead trying to remain calm. They were here on a mission, an important one. They didn't have time to be acting like idiots. Well Naruto that is, he wasn't an idiot.

He opened his mouth to tell his team mate his exact thoughts when he felt a presence behind him and heard that voice. The on he hadn't heard in so long. And he felt his body freeze.

"Well isn't this surprising."

It took every ounce of will power to force himself to turn around and face her. But when he saw her he couldn't feel anything. She stood there, a hand on her hip and an evil smile on her face. This definitely wasn't the Sakura they were looking for.

"Sakura-chan…"

Naruto seemed to be in just as much shock that he was. Her eyes weren't the same bright and cheery ones he had grown to know when they were genin. Her shirt was white and opened in the front, revealing a black undershirt. Her skirt was also black and came to rest on her mid thighs. She wore regular shinobi boots, but it was the katana that was wrapped to her waist that caught his eyes.

He went rigid and prepared for a fight if she were to attack them. He could've laughed at the irony of the situation. He would've never had to worry about Sakura doing any damage to any one, let alone him.

But this wasn't the same Sakura, no this girl looked the same, but her eyes were void of any emotions. Sure her hair was the same color, now longer, but this Sakura wore no head band. She wasn't the same girl, and even as he caught her glaze for just the slightest of seconds he felt his brain shutting down.

He blindly watched as she looked towards Naruto a smirk forming on her perfect lips. He just watched her, nothing else. He couldn't even force his mind to do anything but watch.

"Ne, aren't you glad to see me Naruto-kun"

The reasonable part in his mind was telling him to glare at her, for referring to Naruto as Naruto-kun. It made his stomach sick; how she was mocking his once crush on the girl against him. He could see his team mate blush and shake himself out of his staring.

"We're bringing you back home. Whether you like it or not Sakura-chan."

Home. Was it even her home anymore? She had been gone for what seemed like forever. When was the last time he had seen her, happy in Konoha? He couldn't remember and it was killing him. That's all he wanted, he didn't know if it was for Naruto, or for himself. He just wanted her home.

He watched her raise a perfect eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest. She looked highly amused and she smirked towards him. Her eyes moved onto me and I was frozen yet again.

"Is that so? What do you have to say about all of this Sa-su-ke?"

His eyes widened at the call of his name, snapping him out of his small trance he had been in. He couldn't say anything, he tried to open his mouth but his brain was betraying him and he just stood still, eyes locked with Sakura, he desperately needed to get his act together.

And before he could even blink the girl had whipped out a katana and was standing face to face with him. He narrowed his eyes at his own stupidity, he should've activated his sharigan a long time ago, but even now he couldn't force his brain to obey him. And where the hell were Kakashi and Sai? And why wasn't Naruto doing anything but standing there like an idiot?

He could feel her breath on his ear lobe and could smell her sweet sent on his nose. He closed his eyes, getting lost in the moment, completely forgetting about the blade so close to him.

It stayed like that for what felt like forever to him. But then he could hear the sounds of moving around and could feel the coldness of the blade touching his skin. His eyes snapped open to see Kakashi grabbing the girls arm but before he could register what was going on he heard her soft whisper.

"Me too."

And that's when his brain started deciding to work again. He watched as the girl was thrown towards the wall she had come from and she easily landed and got back up glaring at the man that had come between her and him.

"Late as ever, wouldn't you say so Kakashi-sensei?"

Said man twirled her katana in his hands before throwing it towards a wall away from them. He watched as its blade got lodged into the cool stone and he saw the annoyance on the girls face.

His sensei didn't reply and it stayed silent for awhile, no one saying a word. Even Naruto seemed to be spaced out still. He watched her as her face twisted in annoyance yet again and she shifted her stance.

"Don't worry about the katana, it wasn't meant for me anyway…"

She looked directly at him and he understood the meaning beneath her words. The katana had been meant for him. She had taken his place and had taken the weapon along with it. He watched as Kakashi looked between the two and finally spoke up.

"Are you going to come willingly or are we going to have to force you?"

Naruto seemed to finally snap out of his trance and cast the girl a determined glare along with Kakashi. Although he couldn't find himself to look at her the same way they were, he just couldn't.

He watched her reaction though and his eyes widened at her small smile. Her eyes held a look of longing and pain. He felt his stomach turn in an uncomfortable twist as he watched her, and then he could sense them. Some strong chakra signatures could be felt coming towards them, and quickly.

"Maybe someday…"

And in a flash she was gone. He heard Kakashi curse and activate his sharigan but he knew from the look of his posture that they were long gone, probably some sort of transportation jutsu. He just stood there numb.

He looked towards Naruto who seemed to be feeling the same amount of shock as him. The locked eyes and he could see the tears in his blue eyes starting to threaten to fall. He frowned and walked towards his friend putting his arm on his shoulder as his friend lightly cried.

If he had been any other person, he would've been crying along with his best friend, but he didn't. No, that would happen when he was alone in the Uchiha district, then he would let himself cry in anger and frustration, at himself for completely freezing up in front of the pink haired girl.

"Well that was unfortunate… let's go find Sai then go back home."

Naruto had stopped crying and just nodded his head. They found the boy at their randevu point looking pretty beat up but he didn't show it. He stood there emotionless as ever. He explained everything that had happened between him and the blue haired boy he kept describing.

After they had taken some time to rest they made their way towards Konoha in silence.

Sakura punched and she kicked and she screamed. Anyone with the right mind would know that the young girl was in a pissed off mood and to stay away, however Suigetsu knew that she wasn't just pissed, she was sad.

Showing emotions here in Sound usually led to your own downfall. None of the shinobi were dumb enough to let someone know they were scared shitless. The only real emotion that was welcomed here was a cross between rage and pissed off.

So while all of the shinobi feared the pinkette and fled to the other side of the hideout, he was let out if his damn tank to calm her down. But he didn't even do that, no. Instead he let her throw he little fit, he knew her well enough to know she wasn't even mad to begin with.

It had started the first day he met her, she had been pissed off and he had no idea why. He was completely thrown off when she tried punching him and he had no other choice but to just become water and then she laughed at him. And he was even more confused and a tad bit freaked out.

Then the more he talked to her and she let him out, he started to notice when her home or old team mates were mentioned she would get a little shimmer in her eyes, like someone that was about to cry, but she didn't. Instead she started bitching and people started fleeing her wrath of chakra infused punches.

And she would play the role she was given and recite her well rehearsed lines. Telling everyone not to mention such stupid names, not to mention that pathetic excuse for a village, their pathetic Hokage. It got to the point where it made him sick to hear her lie to everyone, and to herself.

So when she through her little fits he would usually crack some stupid joke or end up getting hurt in some idiotic way. But this time was different. It had only been a day since her little encounter with her previous team mates and her old sensei. He knew she would be in a pissed off bitch mood towards everyone, and he wasn't all that surprised when Tayuya came to let him out to calm the girl down.

But this time he knew she didn't need him trying to calm her down. No, he didn't dare. She was incredibly scary when she got like this, but he knew this time it would be worse and he knew she was bound to wear herself out eventually. He could hear her muttering curses and he even heard 'stupid replacement' once or twice.

Hell, he couldn't blame her. Fighting the boy had been the most annoying experiences in his seventeen years of life. He was constantly saying stupid things and always had that fake smile on his face. They seriously could've done better with replacing her with that idiot.

He stood there against the entrance to her training room for several hours, until she was completely out of chakra and the room looked like a war had just ended. He would probably get in trouble with Orochimaru for taking advantage of his free time outside of that damn glass tank, but he didn't care.

"You finished?"

She turned around, finally taking notice of him. She probably felt him enter earlier but was just now acknowledging him. She nodded once and he watched her grasp her head as her kekkei genkai disappeared from her eyes. He frowned.

"You know you shouldn't over use your eyes. It's been two weeks since the full moon, and it's 12 in the afternoon."

She stood up after using whatever chakra she had left to mend her head ache and she just rolled her now natural green eyes.

"I know. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you where," he ran his hands through his hair before pushing himself off the wall. "Just be careful. Got it Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah. Suigetsu-kun."

He walked out of the training area and headed back towards his 'home'.

Sakura watched as he left and wiped the sweat from her eyebrows. She had really worn herself by using her kekkei genkai in broad daylight. It was one of the main reasons she hadn't activated it with her encounter with Sasuke and Naruto.

She didn't know much about her new found ability other than it gained its power directly from the moon. It grew stronger as the new moon approached and was at its greatest ability on the night of the actual full moon. It took about two weeks for its power to die down and then it was a complete pain, literally, to have it activated at all, especially during the day.

Which was what she had just done, for hours. If it had been twelve o'clock at night it might've hurt less and she probably couldn't spend all night punching the crap out of her training area walls.

She sighed as she walked out of the severely damaged area. Orochimaru would have a hissy fit once he saw what she had done. It served him right, he was the main reason she was still here, and not in Konoha.

He was withholding information about her kekkei genkai and its origins. She knew she was adopted but that was about it. She didn't know where her real family was located, if they were alive, and if they even knew she was alive.

But she would find out soon, in the next couple of months actually. She could see the snake sannin's health was deteriorating slowly, and soon it would be time for him to shed his old body. And she was fully aware that he planned on using hers. She knew it from the very second she decided to leave Konoha, that he was simply using her for his own advantages.

She smirked at the thought that he was going to be in for a very big disappointment. She walked into her room before grabbing a few soldier pills from Kabuto who was currently trying to act tougher than her and lecture her about the training grounds.

She rolled her eyes and glared at him, instantly shutting the boy up, before she went to her room with the slam of her door. Performing the necessary hand seals for a shadow clone she watched as an identical version of herself popped up.

She then popped another soldier pill in her mouth before she placed a seal on her room. Grabbing a cloak and several necessary scrolls she opened up a vent that led into her room and quietly made her way outside the sound base.

She took one glance back at the base before opening up the scroll she had received just a few nights ago. Its contents were nothing important, just a simple message. But it was the name at the bottom that was what was important to her.

If things went right and according to her plans, she wouldn't need to worry about Naruto's well being and she would be one step closer to fulfilling her own goals. Turning south she began to walk towards the randevu point located in the letter.

A/N: This chapter's short, I know. It's basically just a filler chapter before I get into the more important chapter that'll be next. That one will definitely be a lot longer and have more Team Kakashi and Sakura's mystery meeting in it. Thanks for reading and please Review! :)


	9. Chapter 8

What if what I want makes you sad at me?

And is it all my fault or can I fix it please?

Cause you know that I'm always all for you.

Sasuke Uchiha sat alone in the Uchiha estate, the rain had been pouring for over an hour now but he hadn't moved from his spot on an old tire swing tied onto the branch of an old oak tree.

His eyes were closed and the old memories of when he was just a kid and everything was perfect were flooding his head. He could see a younger version of himself and his mother laughing as she pushed the boy back and forth.

Itachi could be seen sitting underneath another tree several feet away a scroll in his hands and a small smile on his face at his mother and brothers laughter.

It all seemed so long ago that they were all alive, happy, a family. He couldn't even remember if it truly was a memory or if his mind was playing a cruel joke on him.

The thunder boomed in the distance and the rain seemed to become less forceful as it made its way down to the ground. The sun was shining in the distance and he could see the faint traces of a rainbow could be seen.

The rain slowly turned into a light sprinkle and he could hear birds chirping and the smell of the rain was starting to make itself known.

"Sasuke-teme!"

He looked up towards the gates and could see his blonde haired friend making his way over, he was soaked and his usually bright hair was now a shade deeper.

Sasuke stood up from his spot underneath the shade of the tree and made his way towards Naruto, meeting him half way.

"Have you been outside all this time? You're soaked!"

"Hn."

The black haired boy remained impassive, he hadn't really cared that it had been storming mostly all day. When he had come home from their failed mission he hadn't done anything but sleep, not wanting to face reality.

But his dreams didn't help matters at all. He dreamt of his family and his academy days, dreamt of pink hair and bright emerald eyes. He had woken up around six in the morning, eaten a small breakfast and just sat on the swing staring at nothing and getting lost in old memories.

"If you catch a cold I'm going to laugh at you!"

The Uchiha's eyes rolled at his best friend's loud annoying behavior. He had an unbeatable immune system, like a little rain would slow him down.

"What do you want dobe?"

Blue eyes lit up in remembrance of why he had come looking for his team mate in the first place. He had done his own moping all day, which consisted of eating ramen until his wallet was empty. But Kakashi had popped out of no where and told him to meet at their old training grounds.

The blonde had asked why but didn't receive an answer. He had paid for his final bowl and ran the way towards the Uchiha estate, he was grateful the rain had finally stopped when he arrived, but wasn't as happy when he saw his team mate sitting there, looking depressed as ever, soaking wet.

"Kakashi-sensei wants us to meet him at the old training grounds!"

The boy raised an eyebrow, his own version of asking why, but all Naruto did was shrug. He nodded his head and made his way back inside to change, the blonde following him inside his house and going straight to the refrigerator.

Sasuke stripped off his wet clothing and put on a fresh set before going back downstairs and waiting for Naruto to finish eating the leftover rice he had for breakfast and they both made their way towards the old Team 7 training grounds.

"Ne, teme stop looking so depressed. Sakura-chan will come back before you know it."

He cast his blonde team mate a glance, the blonde was walking with his hands folded behind his head and the same bright smile on his face.

"If you say so, dobe."

"I made a promise, and I intend on keeping it. Whether she comes back on her own or if I have to drag her ass back, she will be back home with us."

He hid his smile with a smirk, Naruto was always one to cheep the boy up as much as anyone ever could. He nodded his head and the blonde's serious face was gone and the bright smile was back.

"Besides, you gotta revive your clan somehow…"

He sent the Uchiha a wink before taking off, leaving a blushing Uchiha behind, before he scowled and ran after the boy. He cursed the blonde and swore he was going to get him for that comment, even if it was true.

"I'm going to die, whether it be at the hands of my brother or from this disease, that much I know."

Sakura frowned and looked away. Sasuke wasn't a subject she wanted to talk about do soon after seeing him after two years.

"You can't do anything about it; it'll happen one way or another."

She nodded her head. She always knew that Sasuke would go through with his plans of killing Itachi, no matter what it did to him. He would kill Itachi for his clan's sake.

"You have to go back home, to Konoha, once it happens."

Shocked emerald eyes looked up at charcoal ones. She was surprised he, of all people, would be telling her to go home. He was a wanted killer and betrayer of Konoha, and him telling her, also someone who betrayed her village to go back, as if nothing was wrong.

"Why?"

His lips formed a grim line, but that was all that gave off that it wasn't a good thing.

"My ototou harbors feelings for you; I'm not completely blind yet. He'll do anything for you, besides killing me of course. You have to protect him for me."

"But you can tell him the truth! You could come back! You could-"

"I can't come back, you know this. So I'm asking you, to promise me, that you'll watch over him when I'm gone."

She didn't have to agree, that much she knew. Itachi had never done anything for her to owe him anything, and yet here he was asking her. She held no alliance with him, but still here she was…

"I promise."

A young pinkette made her way through the thick forest that was on the border of sound. She walked her way over trunks and roots careful not to trip and make a fool of her. She thanked kami for the rain as she made her way back home.

If any other person than she herself had saw her, walking through the forest, drenched with rain, they would've called her crazy. But in the rain was the only time she could cry without having it show.

She stopped a mile in front of the base and broke down. Crying wasn't something she could do there in Sound. It was an indulgence, like a piece of cake or candy. You didn't get it very often and when you did, you took all you could. She didn't cry often, having to keep all her emotions in check, but when she did get to cry, she completely broke down.

She cried because she was putting up the biggest façade ever, having to pretend she was some emotionless bitch. She cried because she hated Sound, hated Kabuto, and hated Orochimaru. She cried because she would rather be weak, at home with Naruto and Sasuke.

But she couldn't, she wasn't done here, at least not yet. She couldn't leave till she knew everything she needed to know and she couldn't leave until they were ready. She had a purpose for being here and leaving would be a waste. So she cried, because she was stuck here.

And she cried because Itachi had chosen the wrong time to spill everything, all the village secrets, all of his secrets. She was so confused and lost she didn't know what to do, his reassuring her to keep doing whatever the hell she was doing didn't help at all.

So she cried and cried. Because Itachi really wasn't the bad guy, he was on their side and he knew Sasuke would kill him and he was content with that. And of course she cried for Sasuke, who was oblivious to it all and was hell bent on killing his only living relative.

She hadn't even realized the sun was going down, the rain stopping and her name was being called. She had wasted her time standing here breaking down, blowing her cover. She replaced her tears for a glare instead.

She wiped her face and taking a slow deep breath before walking back to the Sound base. Itachi may have thrown her off track, but her plans were still the same, they would just have to happen quicker than she was expecting.

She walked towards the sound base, mind made up. Orochimaru was going to tell her everything she wanted to know about her true clan, and then she was going to kill him.

Stupid dobe and stupid Kakashi, ruining his plans of just staying at home and brooding. He rushed through his hands signs before blowing out a small fire ball headed in the grey haired mans direction.

In the trees Jiraiya and Tsunade could be seen, watching the battle intently. Kakashi had proposed the idea of a new bell test, to see how far the two boys' training had come, and they both were putting on a show. Jiraiya was proud of Naruto's new found techniques, he really was going to be the next Hokage if he kept his training up, and the Uchiha could probably give him a run for his money.

The boy had insisted that Tsunade teach him some of her techniques, his reasoning being he would have to come face to face with her apprentice sooner or later and he didn't want to be ill prepared. She had smirked at him and agreed of course, and he excelled at her teachings, although not quite as impressive as Sakura did. He wasn't a medic nin, but he did know a few of the techniques Sakura excelled in.

But today he was fighting with the sword Kakashi and they had brought back. She didn't know the capabilities it possessed but it seemed to he young Uchiha a new look, one that fit him.

"They're all grown up, huh?"

Tsunade nodded her head in approval. They were both going to be top ninja's in a few years. No doubt the Uchiha would be an ANBU captain, Naruto being the Hokage. She laughed at the mental picture of the blonde giving the dark haired boy orders.

And Sakura, what would become of her? Would she come back willingly or would they have to drag her back? She frowned at the thought of Orochimaru teaching the once bright and cheery girl. Who knew how far gone she was. Orochimaru didn't just train you; he manipulated you and turned you into someone you wouldn't recognize. She prayed the girl was still the same inside.

"Do you think those two will be able to bring her back?"

She turned her eyes towards her white haired companion, concern in her eyes. He smiled a bright smile before laughing; his arms crossed looking at the fight in front of him.

"Of course they will! You know Naruto, he won't stop until she's home. And I have a theory that the Uchiha has a thing for her. They'll bring her back, if she doesn't come back willingly that is."

Tsunade looked over at the two teens, each holding a silver bell. Naruto was smiling brightly telling Kakashi of their plan while Sasuke stood there smirking. The silver haired jounin smiled, nonetheless and invited them to a bowl of ramen.

Jiraiya's right, they'll bring her back. Tsunade smiled making her way back towards the Hokage tower.

"What do you mean I have to leave? What the hell?"

Sakura groaned and resisted the urge to hit the white haired boy over the head. Why couldn't he just ask no questions and do as she said?

"If you stay here who knows what'll happen."

His purple eyes held confusion and she cursed the boy for being so brainless. And then his eyes flashed, recognition settling in.

"You're going to do it now?"

She sighed and made sure there was no one in the halls before walking down the corridors the boy trailing behind her. She ignored his protests and begs for her to change her mind, for her to wait until the moon was almost full, anything. None of it would work on her; she already had her mind set.

"Look I don't have time for this. Either you leave now or end up in the aftermath."

She turned around and waited until the boy reluctantly nodded his head. She sent him a small smile, telling him she would be fine.

"I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."

"Just promise you won't over do yourself."

"Fine, now go. I'll meet you there once I'm done."

"Right right. See you them. Be careful Sakura-hime."

She waited till he turned around and walked away, turning the corner, then she made her way towards Orochimaru's room. She flared her chakra alerting him that she was there and a soft 'enter' could be heard, she hid her smirk.

"Sakura-chan, mind telling me why Kabuto found your room empty earlier?"

She moved around the room walking towards a bookshelf, running her hands over the dusty books. Looking over her shoulder she let a playful smirk grace her lips.

"Not really."

He glared at her; he always hated it when she mocked him. And at one point the girl refused to do it, and then she grew a back bone. She loved pissing him off, she lived for it.

"But I will tell you one thing. You're going to die today, but before that you're going to tell me who my real parents are."

A/N: Another short chapter I know. But whatever, next one will probably be longer and more interesting. Itachi told Sakura the truth about the massacre. And now she's going to kill Orochimaru! Woooo! Next chapter will be the fight and we'll learn about Sakura's heritage, which will be pretty interesting. And Sasuke and Naruto will get to have some bonding time with Sai, poor guys.

So I'm not sure how many more chapter's they'll be, I originally planned on a short ten chapter story but that's obviously not going to work out. So there will probably be four or five more chapters, who knows. I don't plan on going into what's going on in the series now. But who knows maybe there will be a sequel?

Anyways! Read and Review! Next update will be next thursday most likely. Lyrics at the beginning are from SafetySuit's song "What If". It's amazing, listen to it.


	10. Authors Note: ATTENTION

This is a story from Toanyone21 she gave me ownership and I wanted to continue it. Please have patience im not as great as writing as the previous owner so from here on the way its written will be different but please bear with me and thank you.\

Signed,

Sakura952


	11. Chapter 10

_Left alone with only reflections of the memory_

_To face the ugly girl that's smothering me_

_Sitting closer than my pain_

_He knew each tear before it came_

_Soon He will perforate the fabric of the peaceful by and by_

The rosette shakily made her way out of the base. That snake bastard did more damage than she thought and Kabuto got away, she didn't like that. It felt as if she had left the job half-done but she would finish it later her first priority was to find shelter and Suigetsu and not in that order. The pink haired ninja shouldered the bag she had had the foresight to pack. It was going to be hard from here on but she was willing to go on, she had to know where she came from, why she had the powers she had and why, apparently, her parents lied to her for the majority of her existence.

As she clumsily made her way into the thick foliage her white haired companion appeared from nowhere.

"There you are Sakura! You had me so worried I thought the snake had gotten you," said Suigetsu with worry dissipating with each second that passed. The pink haired ninja shook her head with a small smile and then passed put from chakra exertion. Suigetsu grabbed the passed out ninja and took her to the camp he had set up and waited until she awoke.

`Naruto had dragged Sasuke to the ichiraku ramen stand in hopes to cheer him and to celebrate a job well done.

"Sasuke cheer up we just passed the bell test" said the loud blonde to a sad

Sasuke.

The raven haired man parted his chopsticks and ate slowly as Naruto with much gusto devoured his fourth bowl if ramen. "Anyways Sasuke were going to have another attempt soon, everyone wants Sakura back, and I want to get rid of Sai as fast as possible." Said the blonde boy between bowls if ramen.

Sasuke sighed as he finished half of his bowl, "I know that Naruto, it's just

That we had a chance and she skipped through our fingers." Sasuke continued eating as another person entered the restaurant. "You guys Tsunade asked me to find you guys." "Oh hey Ino, and do you know why?" Asked the confused blonde who finished fifth bowl of ramen.

The platinum blonde shook her and said, "And she said to go to her office now that it's very important." Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded and disappeared leaving the appropriate amount of money in the counter. "Hey gimme one beef bowl please" Sid the blonde as she sat down to eat. The boys

Quickly made it to the hokage tower and walked in on angry and sober hokage.

"About time you guys got here! Even Kakashi was here on time." Big boys noted the silver haired ninja reclining against the wall near the windows. "You three better listen up," said Tsunade as she took out a bottle if sake, "I reviewed word from a trusted source that Sakura killed Orochimaru." Tsunade stopped as she took a sip of she surprised that neither Sasuke nor Naruto have spoken up.

"However that doesn't mean that we are to believe Sakura will come back, rather it pushes us to the point that we must bring her back by force. Whatever she is looking for Orochimaru didn't have." "So are we going to go on another resume mission?" Sasuke interrupted the blonde hokage. "No Sasuke, not yet first you guys must rest and train and second of all we have no clue where Sakura is." Tsunade took small pause in order to gauge the situation, she didn't want either if the boys to explode or implode. "What I'm about to offer is simple, you guys know her the best, so brain storm and if I decide that the information you provide is enough I'll send you out on another retrieval mission. What do you boys say?"

"Baa-Chan you best believe well brainstorm," proclaimed the blonde as Sasuke nodded his ascent.

"Kakashi will help to! We won't let him slack off!"

"All we have to do is research, c'mon teme let's go already!" Said the overly excited blonde as he pulled and slightly dragged the Uchiha to the nearest library (A/N: when in doubt go to "THE LIBRARY" Sokka said let's go to the library! I LOVE that line especially Toph with her books don't do it for me comment lolz now back to the story!)

The rosette groaned as she awoke. First thing was first she pushed chakra to her head to relieve the major headache she and where was Suigetsu? She looked around to see the white haired boy across from here. Asleep. She got up and walked around the poorly lit room, as she stepped out she noticed a large, tall orange haired man. She grimaced at the thought that Suigetsu enlisted the help of others without her consent! She wasn't weak; she had proved it by going under the tutelage of Orochimaru. Hadn't she? She shook her head at her thought

That didn't matter, not at the moment she had more pressing matters and she need to get a move on as soon as possible.

"Who are you?" She asked bluntly finding no other way to confront the tall man.

"My name is jugo." Soon both heard a crash of plates and a few colorful sentences that would make sailors proud. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. Who was that? As if sensing her thoughts jugo said, "that's Karin, she followed us and there was no way to shake her." The pink haired female cocked her head to the side, "no way to shake her?..."

"She's a sensor," he answered, "and one that doesn't give up easily." Jugo then

Got up and walked out as a dozen tiny yellow birds landed on him. Sakura made her way back to the room she woke up in, it would do no good to stay up if she had the time to rest. If her friend trusted them she could do with a couple of more hours if not harming them. She huffed and closed her eyes and within minutes sleep consumed her.

"Hey Sasuke look at this it says that the Harunos are a clan from another village."

This grabbed the other boy's attention as he put down the heavy tome he was reading. "It also says that they have a special kekkai genkai. It's influenced by the moon and the closer the full moon is the stronger that person's ability is. But the rest is blotted out; I can't make it out can you teme?" Sasuke sighed as he activated his sharinggan and glanced at the page he was about to say no when he saw the words "sole survivor: Sakura Haruno." He hurriedly wrote out all he was able to read on a separate sheet of paper and deactivated his sharinggan.

"Dobe, this may take longer than we thought."

_Sorrow lasts through this night_

_I'll take this piece of you_

_And hope for all eternity_

_For just one second I felt whole_

_As you flew right through me_

_And up into the stars_

_Joy will come_

A/N: I know this is super duper short but I wanted to post something!im going to research some stuff about the byakugan and sharinggan and ork from there so you guys can have aspecial surprise. Also do you guys want a mean or nice Karin? Idk I really think shes important to the story and doyou guyswant sasuke mastering the white strength seal or sakura? Read andreview and tell me. Toodles! Th song in the beginning is Sorrow by flyleaf


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