When I finshed my oneshot, some of you asked for a sequel. So here it is! I couldn't just leave you hanging, right?
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, don't own, blahblah blah. You've heard it all before, so do i really need to say it?
It's been eight years to the day since that night.
The now 21 year old Haruno Sakura sighed as she stared at the date on her calendar, sitting on her bed. She wrapped her arms tight around her torso as the fault line in her chest rippled sharply. She gripped the silver necklace, Sasuke's final promise to her, and pressed it against her heart. Slowly, the pain began to recede, though it was never fully gone.
A knock on her apartment door startled her out of her tortured thoughts. Quickly, she tucked the necklace into her tank top and hurried to the door. On the other side was Ino, her best friend and former rival for Sasuke's affections.
"Good Morning, Forehead!" She chirped. Now that she was married to Shikamaru, her temperament had mellowed significantly. Although they had outgrown them, the childish nicknames they used to use seemed to have stuck like glue.
"Morning, Pig. What are you doing here?" It was unusual for Ino to be up before midday, especially now that she was expecting.
"Lady Tsunade sent me. She said that we have to get our butts over to her office in an hour. Plus I bought cupcakes!" she smiled, holding up a bulging paper bag. Cupcakes were Ino's latest craving. At first it had been pink jelly beans, then celery, then to Naruto's extreme delight, Miso ramen, and now it was cupcakes. There seemed to be a new food for each month that passed.
"Come in and make yourself at home while I get ready." Sakura motioned for her friend to come in. Ino trotted eagerly over to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards. Sakura rolled her jade green eyes to the ceiling and smiled ruefully before heading off for a shower.
Half an hour later she and Ino were walking in silence through the streets of Konoha, munching on the cupcakes. Sakura had two. Ino had six.
"So are you ever going to tell me where you got that necklace?" Ino asked, suddenly sick of the reigning silence as she munched on her seventh straight dessert. Sakura stiffened and automatically reached up to clutch the pendent hidden under her shirt.
The bubbly blonde gazed quizzically at her friend. So much had changed in eight years. They were both ANBU now, though Ino was on standby. Shikamaru had insisted she take a break from all missions until further notice as soon as he found out about the baby.
Naruto had finally realised his feelings for Hinata, and the two were now engaged, much to the chagrin of Neji (who had stopped being so high and mighty after he almost lost his chance with Tenten to a persistent Lee) and her father, Hiashi. He had demanded she choose between her love for Naruto and her duty to the clan. Of course, Hinata, to the disappointment of her family, decided to give up the title of heir to her younger sister, Hanabi, who had grown into a promising ninja and beautiful young woman, even managing to capture the attention of former Honourable Grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru.
Lady Tsunade and Master Jariya had become an item and were often seen making out in public, usually while intoxicated and often obscenely. They had gotten together after Jariya nearly died on a mission involving the head of the Akatsuki, after which Tsunade had realised she couldn't live without him. Kurenai, who had given birth to Asuma's baby on the six month anniversary of his death, decided to give her son the same name in his honour. Choji, whom Ino and Shikamaru decided to make the godfather of their unborn child, Kiba and Shino had all eventually found there place in the village, too, although Ino didn't talk to the latter two all that much.
As for Sakura...she had changed the most. She had become quiet and introverted, never speaking unless spoken to and only in a hushed voice. All she ever did was study, train, work at the hospital or go on missions, which usually involved being away for weeks to months at a time. And sometimes, Ino would see her sitting on the little stone bench by the village gates, staring at them and fiddling with the strange charm around her neck, as if she was waiting for someone to come home.
"Sakura, I-"
"I don't want to talk about." Sakura cut her off quickly. Ino pouted. She didn't like being interrupted. Usually she would have kept poking and prying until Sakura gave in, but she sensed that was not a good idea, considering her friend now knew the secret to her master's insane strength. Ino wasn't that stupid.
Soon they arrived at Tsunade's office, still walking in silence. They climbed the stairs quickly and entered the small round room where Tsunade was working beneath piles of paper work with books and old, empty sake bottles piled on the desk.
"Sakura, Ino! Glad you could make it." She called, popping out from under all the paper like a jackrabbit.
"Good morning, Lady Tsunade." Greeted Ino, as she and Sakura bowed respectfully in front of the Hokage. "What did you call us for?"
"Ah, yes. Ino, Shikamaru has sent a letter from the Kazekage's office in Suna, telling you that as soon as you receive it, go straight to the hospital with Choji for an ultrasound he scheduled before he left." Ino rolled her eyes playfully. Shikamaru was a first class ANBU Squad Captain, and had gone on an unspecified mission with his team (Naruto, Neji, Rock Lee, and Gaara, whose position as the Kazekage had been filled by his siblings, Kankuro and Temari). They must be finished if they were in Suna, because Gaara had met them here before they left. Why they needed so many in their team was a mystery to Sakura.
"Yes," Ino chuckled, "that sounds like my husband. He worries so much now that I'm pregnant; it's almost become second nature! Thank you Lady Tsunade, I'll go right away." With another respectful bow for Tsunade and a wave goodbye for Sakura, she left for Konoha Memorial Hospital.
Standing in stoic silence, Sakura waited for her sensei to address her. Tsunade quirked one of her perfect eyebrows questioningly at her favourite pupil and smirked.
"What, no hello? Not wondering why I called you down?"
"It's not my place to question your decisions." Sakura responded quietly, her elegant hands clasped in front of her. Tsunade shook her head sadly.
"What's happened to you, Sakura? Why are you always so quiet? What happened to the girl with a fighting spirit set to rival that of Rock Lee and Might Gai?" Sakura hung her head. What had happened to the girl she used to be? She knew the answer before she'd even asked the question. The night Sasuke left had changed everything.
Years of waiting had forced her to take on some of his less desirable traits, such as the silence, the stoicism, the fondness for solitude. As soon as he kissed her that night so long ago, she knew he was saying goodbye in the only way he could think of. And as she reflected back on the time before he left, she understood that all the times he had insulted her, called her annoying and weak, it was the only way he knew how to express himself, thanks to a certain S-Class Criminal, Akatsuki brother of his.
"You have to let go." Tsunade's voice broke the silence, gently and motherly. She only wanted the best for her student, even if that included asking her to let go of the one thing she still seemed to care about. Sakura appeared not to have heard her.
"Is there anything else you needed me for, Lady Hokage?" Tsunade sighed. There was no getting through to this girl anymore.
"Yes, we're short staffed at the hospital and I need you to go help out as soon as you can. I've already got Shizune as well as Hinata each working double shifts for the next week until we find help. I can't do it because of all this damn paper work, I have a wedding to plan, not to mention I have to continue with Naruto's Hokage training." Sakura nodded once. She'd almost forgotten that Tsunade and Jariya were getting married in the following spring.
"Of course, I'd be glad to help out. I'll head over straight away." Departing with another polite bow, Sakura hurried over to the hospital. Tsunade took a long, deep swig of sake, shook her head, and went back to her paperwork.
When Sakura arrived at the waiting room, the place was like a mad house. Injured ninja and civilians were lined up on the seats and nurses and doctors alike were running around like headless chickens trying to attend to them all. She sighed, rolling up the sleeves of her white lab coat as she walked headlong into the chaos, tying her long pink hair up into a ponytail with an elastic band. This was going to be a long night.
15 hours later, Sakura and Hinata were finally free of her duties. Of course Sakura didn't mind helping at the hospital, after all she was a fully trained ANBU Medic, the ninja equivalent to a senior resident, but she had been so out of it lately that when she finished she could barely stand upright.
"God, that was brutal." Hinata moaned, trudging along beside the pink haired kunoichi, her opalescent eyes clouded with fatigue. Sakura could only nod in exhaustion.
As the girls lumbered slowly towards home, Hinata to the house she shared with Naruto and a soon to be eighteen year old Hanabi, and Sakura to her lonely apartment where she would spend another night alone, crying herself to sleep as she did at this time every year, Sakura thought she heard a familiar voice calling for help. She stopped and listened.
"Do you here that?" Sakura asked. Hinata strained to hear whatever it was that had caught her friend's attention. There it was again! It was coming from the gates!
"It sounds like...someone calling for help!"
Pulling on her vast reserves of energy, Sakura sped off for the gates with a grace and agility unmatched throughout the Land of Fire.
"Sakura, WAIT!" Hinata huffed, speeding off into the night after her friend.
They approached the immense gates of Konoha swiftly. The voice, which Sakura now recognised as Naruto, was getting louder.
"Somebody, anybody, please help!" She hopped from rooftop to rooftop with ease, landing in front of the little stone bench on the side walk, Hinata following a split second later.
"LOOK, ITS SAKURA AND HINATA! HELP, PLEASE, HELP!" Naruto, with the help of his team, was pulling a limp looking body through the entry. Neji and Shikamaru had the long arms, riddled with deep, bleeding cuts and Chakra burns, draped around their shoulders, while Lee and Naruto were holding the legs. Every one of them was covered in bruises and gashes, and all looked about ready to drop from exhaustion. Their clothes were ragged, gleaming wetly in the moonlight.
"NARUTO!" Hinata cried, adrenalin speeding through her veins as she ran like the wind towards her fiancé with Sakura close behind. Hinata gasped as Naruto all but collapsed in her arms.
"Oh my God, Naruto...it can't be...is that..." Sakura barley registered her friends shocked words, trailing off in alarm. All she heard was frantic sound of her own heartbeat and the blood in her ears. She stood frozen a few steps back, the hole in her chest where her heart used to be ripped open and throbbing painfully, like someone was drawing a serrated razor blade over the raw edges. She unconsciously slid her hand up to grasp the charm around her neck, holding on for dear life.
For the person in front of her, covered in countless injuries, torn clothes soaked with varying stages of dried and fresh blood, held up by the arms of her friends, was the unconscious figure of the S-Class Criminal, missing ninja, and holder of her shredded heart, Uchiha Sasuke.
Taa-daa! Second chapter won't be far off. Give me suggestions and constructive criticism, and please no flaming!
So go on, please review, you know you want to! I'll give you a Sasuke cookie (Warning: Said cookie may already have the head bitten off)!