Summary: Ever since Sasuke left, nothing's been the same for Sakura. Determined to prove herself as a kunoichi and surpass all odds, Sakura is willing to train herself to get stronger than the weak little girl she once was... even the point of death. She's tired and fed up with not being treated as an equal. But now that word of Sasuke has come... Sakura is resolute on putting him through all the pain and suffering she went through after is departure, no longer is Sakura willing to be referred to as weak, and she's damn set on proving that to everyone including the infamous Uchiha.

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I Never Would Have Thought

The moon glistened in contrast to the dark midnight sky. The cool breeze howled as it swept through the city of Konoha. Everyone was slumbering off by now, except for one young kunoichi, whose pale creamy porcelain, skin seemed to glow in the moon's luminous light. She was far too preoccupied concentrating on some new jutsus she had been in the process of developing over the past few months to deal with something as trivial as sleep or as her friend Shikamaru would say, troublesome.

She was never the type of person to back down on anything that came her way... especially not something she was determined to do. She was just as stubborn and hard headed as her shishuo, but her eyes were slowly beginning to dim against her will and her head drooped in a sluggish manner. She stifled a silent yawn, but not before long, she passed out. She hadn't been receiving enough sleep for the past four months and it definitely wasn't helping the fact that she already had a short temper to begin with. She'd take advantage of any opportunity she got to snap at any living thing within her danger zone (basically anyone within reach), and tonight wasn't going to be an exception for the poor unfortunate soul who dared to interrupt her "nap."

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!" A young blond, blue eyed, male bellowed, as he practically hopped into Sakura's room through her bedroom window.

Sakura, instantly sensing an intruder, threw a chakra enhanced fist in his direction, planting one right on his cranium before he could even utter another sound. Her eyes immediately widened as realization dawned over her. Seeing that it was only Naruto and not some rapist or unknown ninja, she hurriedly ran to heal him. Once she arrived at his side, she quickly filled her delicate palms with a light green chakra and placed it softly to his severely wounded head. Naruto, obviously being used to this treatment, just calmly gazed at Sakura as she handled her work like a professional. She was oblivious to the thoughts running through Naruto's mind.

'Wow... She looks even cuter in the moonlight, and her face looks so serene when she's concentrating on her tasks.'

"I'm really sorry Naruto... I didn't know it would be you," Sakura whispered softly.

"Huh? Oh, nah it's ok Sakura-Chan," replied Naruto not expecting her to speak so soon. "Anyway, that's not why I'm here... Tsunade-bachan assigned us on a mission..."His voice trailed off in an uneasy wavery manner. Sakura quickly caught on.

"Naruto... does this mission; by any chance, have something to do with him?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

He only nodded, not quite finding the voice to reply. His eyes looked at her in an uncertain manner; he wasn't sure whether to comfort her or to just go on with the godforsaken news...

"I assume there's more?" Sakura asked as she gazed softly into his warm blue eyes, unknowingly saving him from having to struggle on deciding what to do. He slowly nodded his head and somehow managed to find his voice.

"Hokage-sama received some news from one of her most trusted sources..."

Now Sakura knew this was serious because Naruto never referred to Tsunade as Hokage let alone he never added the 'sama' to her name. "He's been spotted near the village hidden in the Mist... the teme is probably after the other Uchiha considering that's where the Akatsuki's been rumored to be..." Naruto trailed off going into deep thought.

"Yeah... he's so bent up on revenge that he's not even bothering to keep his self hidden properly, well let's head up to the Hokage Tower, I suppose she gave you orders to report to her with me as soon as you gave me the news so as to receive the full mission details?"

Naruto could only nod-he'd been doing a lot of that- he was still in some sort of trance, thinking so hard that Sakura was a bit worried that he might be constipated. They quickly pulled themselves up and jumped out the window instantly picking up speed. They dashed over the rooftops with a chakra boost so as to arrive there sooner, not bothering to check if anyone was on their trail... but from a far off distance, two glowing yellow eyes could be seen following their every movement.