Chapter 1

It was late November. Sakura stood patiently by the village entrance. She gently blew on her hands. She looked up at the gray sky. It was going to snow soon. '"I love you with my whole heart Sasuke!" Sakura said with tears streaming down her face. "Don't go!" Sakura said as she began walk toward Sasuke. "If you do, I'll scream or…" "Sakura…Thank you."' Sakura winced at the memory. A couple of months had gone by since Sasuke had left, but the words still hurt. Sakura hadn't completely gotten over Sasuke's absence. She looked down at her feet.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto called.Sakura looked up to see Naruto, as energetic as ever.

"Hi, Naruto." Sakura said with an exasperated look.

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Sakura said with a forced smile. "Do you know what today's mission is?"

"No clue. Kakashi-sensei just told us to meet up here. That's all I know." Naruto replied, stretching. "We might as well relax considering Kakashi-sensei's always late." He said as he put his arms behind his head.

Sakura nodded. Naruto did have a point. She blew on her hands a bit to keep warm.

"Sakura-chan, if you're cold we could share my jacket together!" Naruto said with a smirk.

Sakura clenched her fist.

"No you perv!" Sakura shouted.

She raised her hand to hit Naruto but instead she stopped short. For some reason, she didn't feel like hitting Naruto at the moment. Somewhat surprised by her actions, Sakura stepped back and let her hand drop to her side. Naruto , concerned, put his hands on her shoulders, looking right into her eyes.

"Don't worry Sakura .I'll find Sasuke. I won't go back on my promise."

Sakura nodded.

"Thank you."

"Am I interrupting something?" a voice said from behind the two of them.

"Gah! Kakashi sensei! You're earlier than usual!" Sakura exclaimed.

Then realizing the position Naruto had her in, she immediately pushed him away.

"Oh?" Kakashi said, reading his book.

Naruto, half confused and half excited asked,

"So Kakashi-sensei, what's he mission for today?"

"I'm glad you asked! There's been some unusual activity going on in Otogakure. We were asked to check it out." Kakashi said closing his beloved Icha Icha Paradise.

'That's where Orochimaru is supposed to be isn't it? Could Sasuke be there as well?' Sakura thought to herself.

"Sensei. How long do you think it'll take until we get there?" Naruto asked.

"Hmmm. I estimate about 3 days without any rest and with rests about 5 days, that is, considering no other shinobi get in our way. Sakura, you're unusually quiet today. Is something bothering you?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura looked up.

"Sensei, while we're in the sound country, is there a chance that we might find Sasuke?" Sakura asked, her eyes welling with future tears.

"Sakura…" Naruto began.

"I don't know Sakura. He's with Orochimaru now, who hides his presence quite well. I'd say there's about a one in a million chance that we'll find him to be honest. I'm sorry Sakura."

Sakura blinked away the water in her eyes and nodded.

"Hai…"

Naruto looked to the bottom right corner of his eye. The fact that they still hadn't found Sasuke bothered him but what bothered him more is the fact that Sasuke's absence was causing Sakura pain.

"Well, shall we be going?" Kakashi asked breaking the moment of silence.

"Sure thing!" Naruto said, regaining his exuberant demeanor.

"Sakura forced a smile again and nodded.