Sumarry: After a tragic accident, Sakura it's called for a mission in the Sand Village. Will she find a way to close the painful wounds in her heart? Will he ever open up, and find out what the work "love" really means? A GaaSaku fanfic, An alternative ending/sequel to "A never ending promise"

You don't really need to read "A never ending promise" to understand this fic, I explained everything, so that you know what happened in the original story!

Please enjoy

Normal text

Flashback: Italic

Thoughts: Bold

Underline: Author's Note

I don't own Naruto, but I wish I owned Dei-chan, un!

A never ending promise, the alternative story…

"Love after death"

"It has been a year now, huh? Nothing's has changed, but what did I expect anyways? Who cares…who would care? I wish he was here, I wish I was powerful enough, I wish that I didn't have to be protected all the time" Sakura was in her room, looking at the only picture that she had of that boy. The scars in her heart were still fresh, and they probably will never heal. Sakura had to report herself to the Hokage's office in 10 minutes for a new mission. As she thought of the situation, she thought of what her life could have been if he was still here. They probably would be laughing and trying to rush and get to the office early. Tears started to form in Sakura's eyes, but she held them back. "A shinobi should never show his emotion", the girl said as if she was answering a pop quiz question. Then she remembered the painful scenes of that day…

As the battle continued, the leader was doomed to face his destiny: death. Orochimaru was the one who kept on fighting till the very end. Deidara and Sakura struggled to keep the snake-like man in control, but he was very powerful. Deidara was fighting with one of his spies, while Sakura was fighting with Orochimaru. As he raised his kunai and ran to kill Sakura, Deidara got in the way, and sacrificed himself for his beloved cherry blossom. "DEIDARA", cried the girl, as she saw the falling body of her lover.

Sakura looked the door behind her as she got out the house and went to the Hokage's office. Sakura was already a jounin. She hurried to the building and in the way she saw Naruto, her teammate. "Sakura-chan! We finally have a mission, huh?" said the blond boy. Sakura weakly smiled and nodded. They kept on walking, passed Ino's house and the park until they arrived at the giant circle-like building. Naruto politely opened the door so that Sakura could enter, then he followed her upstairs.

Sasuke was already there, waiting for the two. Tsunade was in her desk that was full with lottery tickets and undone paperwork. The 16-year olds were waiting for the Hokage to explain the mission. She stood up and gave each of them a paper. "Your mission has been requested directly from the Kazekage, you can accept it or deny it. It's your choice" Sakura read the paper: 'Hokage of Konoha village, the chounin exams this year will be held in the Sand. We invite you to attend this experience. Our staff has greatly decreased because of some recent incidents. We ask for your help. We would appreciate if you could send the shinobis you consider to be more suitable to be part of the examiner team for the exams,

Sincerely Kazekage and staff'

Tsunade: "Your mission is to go to the Sand this whole month and help with the exams, also fight alongside Sand if anything happens" Naruto: "I accept, Tsunade-obasan!" Sakura nodded, and Sasuke just grinned. Tsunade understood their gestures and calmly said: "Alright, go pack, you should be leaving tomorrow in the morning, good luck!"

With that said, they left the room and went to pack their stuff. Sakura was glad that the mission wasn't something battle related, she considered this mission like a vacation…But she had no idea what was waiting for her.

"Sigh, so we are finally here…" Naruto said as they saw the entrance to the village. "Three days running without any stops! Man, I am exhausted" said the girl as she put her backpack in the floor. Team 7 was waiting in the very entrance for someone to show them the way to the inn. "They knew we were coming, and it said in the note that we should wait here, but can't we should go and ask someone?" suggested Naruto. Sasuke: "No, dork, we have to wait here!" "Don't call me a dork!" Sasuke turned around and whispered to himself: "Whatever"

After 3 hours of waiting, and looking like weirdoes standing in the same place, Kankuro appeared with his sister Temari. "Sorry guys, we thought you were going to arrive at night" said the guy. "If that kid didn't tell us you were here you would have been waiting until tomorrow, probably. Gaara's sense of following a schedule is as bad as he is with girls" Temari added. Sakura giggled by the comment. Naruto: "Alright, alright! Can you show us the inn now? We've waited enough, you know!" Kankuro nodded and started walking, while the group followed him. They arrived at an inn that was near the Kazekage's office. They entered the reception, got their keys and went to their rooms. Naruto and Sasuke shared a room, while Sakura got the one next door. Naruto, as always, was whining that he had to share a room with his ultimate rival. Sakura took Deidara's picture out of her backpack, and put it in the night table next to the bed. She took a bath and then changed into some comfortable clothes, different to what she normally wears. Sakura and the guys were going to eat ramen at a stand that was in the village at around 6. Sakura waited outside the boys' room. Sasuke was the first to come out. Their relationship was very different now; Sakura was not the girl who would want to get the boy's attention anymore. After what happen, the girl lost interest in the Uchiha boy. Sasuke was relived in a way, but he missed the happy and energetic attitude that Sakura lost long time ago. Naruto came out of the room, and they started walking to the ramen stand.

In the ramen stand, Team 7 came across some familiar faces. Lee, Neji, and TenTen were having dinner there. Sakura assumed that they were assigned the same mission as them. Lee, as the gentleman he is, offered Sakura a seat. Sakura smiled and sat down next to the kid. Naruto and Sasuke sat down next to her. TenTen: "Seems like we have the same mission, huh?" Naruto: "Yeah, by the way, what ramen it's the best?" Lee: "The spicy one is very good for the power of youth!" Naruto just ordered a plain ramen noodle soup, Sakura and Sasuke ordered Miso-flavored ramen. None of them spoke much, only Lee and Naruto who were discussing how their senseis were better. Gaara would explain the plan of how they were going to guard the surroundings and the exam the next day, so for now they had some peace.

To be continued….

Preview for the next chapter: A lonely flower in the desert

Sakura finally knows what she has to do for the exams, but an incident happens and she has to pay back the Kazekage because of what she did. How will Sakura manage to stay there for one whole month or even more!

Ok, it took me a looooong time to write this, I don't know why though. This IS an alternative ending/sequel for "A never ending promise". I'll probably will change the title. Anyways, this will be a GaaSaku fanfic, so if you don't like that couple then don't read this fanfic. If you liked the original story and don't like that I made this, then don't read it!

So, what do you people think about it so far? I know it's short, but I'll try to work as hard as I can to finish it fast and develop a great setting. Also, if you have any requests or ideas for the fic, please comment me or send me a message.

I apologize if I have way too many grammar errors, but please bear with it….after I finish the story, I'll re-write it (if I have too many errors, if not I'll just leave it like this) and post it again, actually that's what I'm doing with "A never ending promise", that's why I'm taking too long to update. Oh! And I also have no idea if Miso-flavored ramen exists, so don't ask me questions about it.

Ok, this is seriously the last thing I say: Please comment!

Thank you for reading, Clo Clo-chan