It was late in the afternoon when she found him in the hospital all covered in bandages, his whole body filled with wounds that gave her mixed feelings of pity, anxiety and anger.
"Naruto! I'm glad you're alright, where's Sasuke-Kun?" Haruno Sakura asked her friend and teammate Uzumaki Naruto who was sitting in the bed looking at her with feelings of guilt and sadness."
"Uhhmmm, Sorry Sakura-Chan" while looking down was the only thing her blonde teammate was able to mutter.
As Sakura heard these words come out of his mouth Sakura was enraged and wasn't able to control her anger.
"You idiot! I believed in you. You promised me you'd bring him back. You promised me you'd bring Sasuke-Kun back." As Sakura furiously shouted at her friend not noticing the young blonde 12 year olds face who had eyes full of tears and was ready to breakdown at anytime.
Naruto just gave Sakura a smile and mustered all his courage to tell her "Don't worry Sakura-Chan I promise to bring Sasuke back for you. It's a promise of a lifetime."
"Don't worry about it Naruto" Sakura muttered "I should have never placed my hopes on you from the start. I should have just went after him myself" the young pink haired kunoichi said as she never even knew she had already broke Narutos heart.
Narutos smile suddenly frowned and then he said to Sakura in a low voice "You never really cared about me huh Sakura-Chan. You never saw me as a friend and only saw me as an annoyance that hindered you to get to Sasuke."
It was then that Sakura suddenly woke up to her senses. She was so enraged by the loss of Sasuke that she never even realized realized everything that had just happened including the things she told Naruto, the only person who was always there to care for her.
"Sor.. Sorry Naruto I didn't mean I – "
"It's okay Sakura-Chan" Naruto interrupted tears falling from his eyes. "I'm used to it by now." which made tears flow from Sakuras eyes. He stared at Sakura and said "I have always loved you Sakura-Chan… But it all ends know.
"Naruto…" Sakura uttered, a feeling of remorse trying to overcome her as she felt her chest tighten as Naruto said "this is probably the last time I get to call you Sakura-Chan huh?" giving her a small smile which shattered her heart into pieces.
She ran up to him and embraced him telling him she was sorry and that she never meant anything she said but Naruto simply pushed her away and told her "I'll shut out my feelings for you Sakura-Chan now please leave me" as the pink haired kunoichi ran as fast as she could trying to deny everything that had happened as all the memories that she spent with her young blonde friend kept on filling her head.
She never knew that this event was the trigger that changed both of their lives.
4 Hours Later
It was night time while Yamanaka Ino was walking down the lake. She was still depressed over the fact that her long time crush Uchiha Sasuke had left the village to go to Orochimaru and that her friends had to suffer for it when she suddenly noticed that her best friend Sakura Haruno was sitting there near the lake with teary eyes that said that she had just lost everything in her life. Ino sat beside her best friend and asked as to what happened but Sakura just burst into tears again trying to exhaust her eyes to death.
After awhile Sakura stopped sobbing and had thanked her best friend for being there for her. She told Ino about what happened, how she poured all of her anger unto Naruto and how she lost her friend and teammate, the only person who truly cared for her.
"Wow! Sakura..." were the only words Ino was able to utter after hearing Sakuras story. Ino knew her best friend never really had feelings of affection for Naruto heck she never really liked Naruto either but the way Sakura acted around him was way to cruel which made even her feel sorry for Naruto. She never really thought that the pink haired kunoichi was capable of such an act.
Ino was still trying to comfort her best friend when they were suddenly approached by a stranger dressed in black. The stranger told them he wasn't there to fight but instead needed their help but the two kunoichis stood up, trying to distance themselves from him and had started to throw shurikens at the man but that was a mistake that gave them quite a shock. The man suddenly disappeared like smoke and slammed the two of them to the ground which made them clench their teeth in pain. The man sighed and began to think to himself "they were this hard to talk to even back then huh" then in a low voice told them "now will you listen?"
The two gave him a small nod to indicate that they were willing to listen to what he was gonna say. "I don't have much time" the man said and gave the them a scroll which was sealed with markings. The two tried to ask the man what was in the scroll but then they were suddenly surrounded by four men in hoods. One of the men spoke up and told them "It's too late now, kindly give us the scroll and we'll try to kill you a lot quicker." The stranger pushed Sakura and Ino into the lake trying to form complex hand signs for some sort of space time ninjutsu while trying to fend off their attackers. After he finished his hand signs one the attackers had stabbed the man in the leg with a kunai which made the man kneel in pain. He was still in pain but knew that he had a duty to his village, he then activated his jutsu and the lake suddenly began to glow. The girls were quite frightened as to what was happening while the man just smiled at them and told them "PLEASE. THAT SCROLL IS THE KEY TO WINNING THE WAR. PLEASE BRING THE SCROLL TO OUR HERO THE LORD HOKAGE, THE STRONGEST SHINOBI IN KONOHA, NARUUU - " as he was cut off by one of the attackers, a kunai stabbed unto his throat. The four hooded men tried to attack the two girls but were suddenly blinded by the intense light the lake had illuminated and the next thing they knew the girls were gone.
