Hello everybody! So I'm going to redo some of my old stories plus this new story I've been itching to write. So please bare with me and I strongly ask for reviews because I'm rusty. :D Anyways, this story I'm writing I intend to be long, probably around twenty chapters or so since a good five chapters with be merely the first part and there will probably not be any SasuSaku action until later on.

.

I'll try my best to post two to three chapters every week so it wont take too long to finish the story. enjoy! :D Also, this takes place when everybody is in their twenties, just so nobody gets confused.

.

.

.

.

Naruto looked across the table to the last Uchiha with a serious, grim look on his face. Even though he usually would've eaten three bowls of ramen by now, both of their plates sat in front of the two ninja cold and forgotten. They sat in silence, not even looking at each was an emergency of utter importance to Naruto but he wasn't sure how Sasuke would take the news he just delivered to him. The avenger had his eyes closed as if he was in deep thought, then opened them and silently turned to look back to his fellow ninja. "So, even if what you heard is true Naruto, what do you want to do?" Naruto looked down at his noodles and thought about everything. How could all this have happened? Back when team seven was still whole and young, he never would have thought that so much could have happened to break apart their team mates. He thought back to when he first heard Sakura went missing.

.

.

Naruto had just reentered Konoha and was excited to see everybody once more. After years of training with his perverted teacher, naruto was confident that he had grown stronger and was ready to go out with kakashi-sensei and Sakura to drag back their lost teammate.

God how he missed everything! The streets, the people, he even missed all the ninjas he had once considered annoying, but most of all he was excited to see team seven ... and to see Sakura. Naruto still loved her, but not the same back when he was 12. After he saw how Sakura cried for Sasuke's return, he knew there was no room for him in her heart romantically. Needless to say he still thought of her as a close friends and sister, they had shared the pain of losing their team mate and both wanted to be strong enough to bring him back.

Soon, Sakura-chan! We will bring him back home!Naruto thought as he wandered the village. He ran into a lot familiar faces like Kiba, Hinata, and Ino, But when he asked for Sakura nobody would give him a direct answer. Everybody simply said that he should report the the Hokage as soon as possible.

All of his excitement turned into a dark, jumbled mix of emotions when he had walked into the hokage's office. He had originally gone there first to report his return like everybody told him to, but when he saw kakashi and Tsunade in the room look at him with pity in their eyes, he knew something was wrong. Really wrong.

He closed his eyes as he smiled weakly and said "H-Hey guys! You didn't have to throw me a welcome home party!" he laughed forcefully and cracked open an eye, only to see the looks on both ninja worsen. Tsunade got up from her chair and slowly walked over to Naruto and patted him on the back as she smiled kindly at naruto and said, "We are all very happy to have you back Naruto, I can see you have really grown! both physically and responsibly." Naruto pulled away tentatively and looked at her then back at kakashi.

"Whats wrong?" Naruto asked seriously.

Tsunade dropped her smile and looked at Kakashi who, in turn gave her a nod. She looked back at Naruto and said, "Naruto, as you can see we are missing somebody in your little party today." Naruto stiffened, he knew what she meant. Suddenly remembering how everybody refused to speak of Sakura, made his insides turn. "So what if Sakura is a little late? I can wait, better yet I'll go look for her!" He turned to leave the uncomfortable office but was startled to see Jiraiya blocking the doorway. "She's not just a little late, Naruto," he said, "she's three months late."

"Wh-whats that's supposed to mean!? Are you guys trying to psyche me out!? Because it's working! Haha, now seriously, cut it out!" Naruto said nervously.

He backed away as his mentor stepped forward. "Tsunade, I think you should just flat-out tell him." She sighed and looked at Naruto with determination in her eyes.

"Naruto, a few months ago I sent Sakura out with Kiba and Hinata on a mission to assassinate a rogue ninja who was terrorizing small villages around the mist village. My sources had told me he was alone, which would have been easy for three chunin to kill. He was actually accompanied by four others, making it a terrible advantage for them. From by what Kiba and Hinata have told me, it was a terrible fight. They were able to kill all five, but Sakura had gone missing. There was a huge explosion making it hard for them to find her or for Akamaru to smell her out. By what the ninjas I sent to investigate the site told me, Sakura had probably gone deeper into the forest near a central river fighting the lead ninja. His body was later found was found but not Sakura's."

Naruto looked at Tsunade with hope in his eyes. "But what you're saying is she could still be alive! maybe she fell into the river and floated downstream!"

"It's true she might still be alive but it was rainy season and the water levels were high, if she fell in while she was injured, she might had drowned. Any chance of finding her body is low." Naruto's body started to tremble angrily. To think of Sakura at the bottom of some god forsaken river, dead, made him shake with fury. Decaying away until nothing was left, until nothing but brittle bones were lef-WAIT.

He and jiraiya had gone to the village of mist a couple of months back. He turned his head back to his mentor, "You knew about this?!" He frowned and looked at Naruto. Guilt written on his face. " I received notice while we were traveling, so we went in case we could find Sakura so I made sure we visited the villages downstream, but nobody has seen her." Naruto felt weak. He was torn, he wanted to believe Sakura was alive but it felt like they were shooting down everything that gave hope to finding her.

"So, what happens now?" he said quitely. Kakashi walked over and placed two hands on naruto's shoulders. "We give her another three months. if no more clues come up, we have to declare her dead." Naruto ripped himself away from kakashi's comforting hands and ran out of the office at lightning speed. He ran through the streets with no direction and no restraint as his heart cried out and his eyes began to blur with tears. How could they be so heartless!? How could they be so calm!? it's sakura! SAKURA! they aren't trying hard enough, they aren't doing everything they can! His scrambled thoughts came to a halt as his foot caught on the roots of a tree near the edge of the forest where team seven used to train. He came to a stop as his body plowed into the ground. he refused to get up and began to let the tears flow freely.

Nine months later...

Naruto walked through the busy market streets of konoha with Sasuke Uchiha. He went on talking about all the changes in the village and in their fellow ninjas that sasuke had missed out on during the years he went rogue. "-nd then that's why nobody EVER eats at the Organic Veggie shop, unless they want to turn orange!" He laughed at the memory of seeing Choji turn orange and mad as hell. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a bit of annoyance as he rambled on with his meaningless tips. Then he came to a halt, refusing to ignore the hint of awkwardness in their conversation."Naruto, we have all day to talk about food poisoning, but I really need you to answer me this." "What's that? You wanna know where to shop for unquestionable food?" Naruto grinned. Sasuke looked him straight in the eyes. "Where is Sakura?" Naruto's face completely changed.

"If only I knew."

Naruto looked up from his trip down memory lane.

"what do you mean what do I MEAN? I wanna go to the land of water!." Sasuke sighed. Ever since he returned to their village, Naruto had been obsessed with finding Sakura. Sasuke himself didn't believe she was dead either but he didn't go around lifting every rock in Konoha looking for her like Naruto did.

Now, three years later Naruto hears a merchant talking about a pink-haired girl who lives in his village, he feels the need to interrogate the merchant and come pounding down his door saying he needs to talk? Sasuke stuck his fork into his now cold steamed broccoli and beef, and began to eat. " Even IF we decided to go and investigate, Tsunade would never let you go naruto, and you know that. She declared Sakura dead years ago, If you were to go out looking for her again, it would only upset her."

"Who said anything about telling the Hokage?" Sasuke stopped from putting a piece of beef in his mouth. "Are you saying...we go rogue?" Naruto looked surprised."Never!" than he stuck his chopstcks in his bowl and began to slurp his noodles, when he finished he began to speak again." Im just saying we should go, check it out, and if we don't find anything we come back fast. Nobody will even know we are gone!" Sasuke looked conflicted and finished the rest of his plate. Naruto looked into his eyes,"Look, just, can you go with me? Please? I know everybody thinks I'm nuts for believing she's alive, but...I just know,man. If we don't find anything I PROMISE not to look anymore. Just, go with me."

Sasuke looked back at Naruto. He knew exactly how he felt. When he had learned of her disappearance he couldn't believe it. although he tried not to show it, he was hurting too. He also felt especially guilty of the way he left her the last time he saw her. Sakura had tried to stop him from leaving the village and he repaid her for it by knocking her out and leaving her on a bench.

Sasuke knew Sakura was smart though, she could have definitely survived that mission. the question remained, where is she? Or rather, where is her body? Sasuke involuntarily shuddered at the thought of her corpse lying somewhere, rotting. "You know," sasuke began to speak,"They are definitely going to notice when two jounin go missing." Naruto's face brightened up noticeably and began to speak as well. " Not if they are vacation! I already put in the notice! Good thing you had so many days saved up eh Sasuke?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Don't go messing with my vacation time!" Naruto gave him a smug look. "Oh Sasuke, it's like you don't even know me!" He laughed heartily as Sasuke gave him a swift punch in the forehead. as Sasuke and Naruto began to plan out the trip, they both had the same thought rushing through their minds.

We are going to find her once and for all.

So I went ahead and redid this chapter, mostly because I felt that it was a little rough around the edges and I wanted to polish it up! I also made it a little longer and more retailed! Thank you!