Love…I should know the definition of this word…it's to care and feel deeply for someone and to long to be with them…. to be special to them. That's what the dictionary says. I know the meaning of this word or… do I? I bear its weight everywhere I go… it's a curse…And yet I have a small flame…a flicker of hope that someday…I will be able to understand …love.

In the desert, the winds cut through skin and penetrate a person's body…it blows the sand and the sand follows its command. In the distance, a figure moves through the wind, as if he can't feel it. He keeps on going, as only one thought runs through his mind.

Konoha…my fate will come to be decided there.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

The cherry-blossom's head turned at the sound of her name being called…or rather yelled. Her eyes widened and she scrambled to get out of the way. A moment later a figure in a bright orange suit came bulldozing through the village, almost disrupting the whole market place.

"SAKURASAKURASAKURASAKUR-ITE!"

He was interrupted by Sakura's fist coming down on top of his head.

"WHAT! Naruto, you baka! You could have hurt someone the way you ploughed through the place like that!"

Sakura sighed in frustration. Meanwhile, Naruto had stopped cringing on the ground and was now taking the chance to tell her he had to tell.

"Sakura! Have you heard! Oh, what am I saying, Of course you probably had after all Tsunade-baba is your boss and all but not a very good one even if she is Hokage I'd make a better one, she's always drunk on sake and…."

And he continued on about Tsunade's bad drinking habits and how he suspected she was probably drunk when she fought or just in general. Sakura just got impatient and decided that whatever he was going to tell her obviously wasn't coming anytime soon. She decided to go for a walk while Naruto was amusing himself with his ravings of the Godaime.

Inner Sakura:/You know…maybe he wanted to tell you something important…we haven't heard anything from Tsunade lately…But then again, she was drinking again this morning so…/

/Gee, you're being awfully thoughtful and polite this morning aren't you? Decided to change your very nature?/

/You're calling yourself evil you know! I'm YOU! So if I'm evil, so are you! Bleh…/

/That was so childish. Who sticks out their tongue anymore?/

/Once again, you're just insulting yourself. 'Sides, didn't I see you doing that to Tsunade this morning when you didn't catch the empty sake bottle she hurled at you…/

/Shut up, you're really annoying. /

By this time she'd forced her inner Sakura to shut up when she'd realize where she was and what she'd just said to herself. She had been so busy arguing with herself she hadn't paid attention to where she was going. And exactly where was she, at the stone bench where she had her heart broken. By the same person who used that same term on her.

"You're annoying."

"Stay away from me!"

"Thank you, Sakura…"

At once all the memories began to rush back into her mind. It was too much for her to bear. She sat on the cold bench holding her head in her hands, yet she did not cry. The Sakura five years ago might have broken down, but her training had taught her to numb the pain and bear it, no matter how sharp a knife was being driven into her heart. But, she still knew that even if the blade of the knife was dull, it still hurt when you cut yourself with it.

Suddenly - while her head was swimming with pain, a strong gust of wind blew directly into her face, carrying grains of sand in it.

In her surprise, Sakura gasped and swallowed a mouthful of nasty sand.

"Ugh!" She spent the next few minutes coughing out sand and trying to rub it from her eyes. She decided afterwards that the taste of sand wouldn't be leaving her mouth anytime soon, unless she spat it out. And with her eyesight still blurred from the flying sand, she spat.

When she finally looked up, she felt a wave of familiar raging dark chakra, and somehow knew that she was doomed.

HOLY CRAP! I just spat on someone's shoes!

Sakura almost choked in her shock. Her, Konoha's top medic Nin, had just spat on someone's shoes! Oh, she was gonna have hell to pay when Tsunade heard about it… or perhaps, she already had hell to pay to whomever's shoes it was that she spat on.

Her eyes traveled slowly up to the person's face…and when she finally looked into the furious eyes of the owner, she knew she was about to experience hell worse than Orochimaru's attack plan to take over Konoha.