I've always wanted to write this kind of one-shot. It's like one of those MANY filler episodes in Naruto. Only difference? There is more of a romantic theme, I suppose.

You can read this as a standalone ONE-SHOT or an EXTRA BONUS chapter that theoretically fits into the timeline of my other Naruto fanfic "Ghost Whisperer" .

Enjoy!

TRUE OR FALSE?

"But Haruno Sakura was fraught with secrets – secrets that she'd rather carry to her grave."

Deep down Naruto had always known that Sakura had changed for good. He had returned after 3 long years of intense training in the mountains - with the aim of retrieving her beloved Sasuke-kun - to her half-hearted talk, fake smiles and laughter. He knew but he hadn't wanted to admit it - because if he did then it would become a fact; his reality; a truth. It was just so easy to pretend that nothing had changed during the time he had been away. Yes, they were all three years older. They were all three times as strong as before and much more physically mature. Secretly, he basked in the return of normalcy when she curtly scolded him for teaching Konohamaru the Oiroke (Sexy) no jutsu, her rock fist punch and the familiar devilish glint in her eyes had reappeared whenever he had gone a little too far with his mischief. Yet he couldn't help sensing the distance that had subtly but surely sprouted between them. Sometimes he wondered…what had caused her to change? What had she seen in those three years that he hadn't?

Perhaps there is a secret. Yes, there most definitely is a secret, he thinks.

He is beyond curious, his fingers itch to tear the placid mask off her face - it reminds him of teme. He wants to unravel the mystery shrouding his pink-haired teammate but has never come close to finding a loose end. Perhaps Sakura's secrets would forever remain her own. But he is within his rights to speculate...

What if, he asks himself.

What if, during the three years he was away, Sakura had met Sasuke?

Perhaps a year ago …

The pink-haired girl swallowed her distaste as civilians moving in the wayward crowd jostled her, sometimes she felt certain that a few lingering hands had been deliberate on the small of her back, or the indent of her waist as they pushed and shoved along. She clamped down on her anger and fought the urge to whip back and glare at her offenders, but as it was she was in a hurry and she had no wish to cause a commotion. She merely gritted her teeth and looked down to the ground as the swarm of people made slow but steady progress along the bustling market stalls.

To all the world, Haruno Sakura looked like a demure little maiden in her elegant lilac kimono and even more so with the beautifully crafted zori adorning her feet that damn restricted her stride to a half-metre. With her bright bubble-gum hair it would have been no surprise if she had stood out in the crowd like a sore thumb, yet it was not so. Down the enemy streets of Iwa Village she had brought little attention to herself - other than a few wandering hands and lecherous gazes - with the ease of experience and skill only a kunoichi was capable of.

She winced as yet another sweaty body collided lightly with her back; the musty, salty odour crept unpleasantly into her nostrils as she sharply inhaled in frustration. Following the crowd, she turned around the corner stall and glanced up with almost perceptible relief to see the inn lying up the road ahead.

Finally. She was almost there.

So far the mission had been seamless. If her posture hadn't been eye-catching before in her lovely kimono, it most certainly was now for she was now moving with a deliberate feminine grace. Emerald eyes fixed on the flapping material that hovered over the inn's entrance, she let her hips sway seductively as she sauntered into the inn.

For a brief moment she hesitated. It was most definitely not a seduction mission, no one would have dared to send the Hokage's prized apprentice on such a mission especially one that was only of chuunin rank. But circumstance called for a young but skilled kunoichi trained in the arts of stealth and secrecy; one that hadn't yet made a name for herself in enemy bingo books and therefore had not yet become easily recognisable to the Iwa-nins. Wrapping a rose-hued strand over her slender index finger, she let her gaze sweep across the bustling crowd once more before she set foot into the inn. But that was her mistake.

For for the briefest of seconds, emerald orbs had come into contact with strikingly familiar, crimson eyes.

Sasuke.

The word resounded in her head as a swarm of emotions coursed through her. Outwardly, though she revealed nothing. She surprised herself by the lack of emotion she feels towards the red-haired girl by his side. Her heart yearned to ease his pain but that was it, she realised. That was all she felt. She had wanted to reach out and save him from the misfortune he and the world had brought upon himself.

But that was hopeless. She had realised that years ago.

Yes she wouldn't be the one to save him. Naruto could and he would. Or else Sasuke would be doomed to live the pitiable, meaningless life he had led all this time.

Sakura yearned for the Sasuke of the past not the one standing before her now. He is a different person now. She would not save him.

She could not.

Pink. He had seen it, long and flowing down a complimentary shade of lilac silk as he wandered down the streets with his team tagging behind.

Pink. It was nostalgic and could only ever mean one thing.

What was Sakura doing here? How had she tracked him down? It had been pure chance that Karin had lead them through this town. They had been roaming barren deserts, unpopulated forest areas and mountainous landscapes for weeks.

Then he noticed that she wore no irritating hitai-ate on her forehead and was meticulously dressed as a civilian girl. As his eyes bled into red, he easily saw that her apparel restricted her movements. Surely she did not expect to fight in those clothes?

His eyes narrowed. Perhaps he had gotten it wrong. She wasn't here for him. Hitai-ate or no, she had had to be on a mission. After all, the mere thought of Haruno Sakura as a missing-nin roaming the enemy streets of Iwa was laughable.

He unconsciously made his way through the crowd towards her, ignoring the questioning glances that Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo exchanged with one another. He had no need to explain himself to them after all.

Where was her team? Konoha shinobi rarely went on solo-missions, he thought wryly. They were always going on about the value of teamwork and going so far as to instill their beliefs onto impressionable genin...like Naruto. Yes, like Naruto indeed.

If he hadn't been so frustrated with their results of tracking Itachi, he would have let the thought end there. But for now, he was curious as to what could have brought Naruto and Sakura to Iwa.

He watched as Sakura suddenly stopped to look up at the boisterous inn before her and turned around to give the crowd a last sweeping gaze. For a moment, his breath caught in his throat - their eyes had met. Yet she gave no sign that she registered his presence and opted to turn her back to walk through the door.

This was not how it was supposed to be. This was not how he had envisioned it. Some baseless fury boiled up within him. Sakura had the nerve to dismiss him? Him? The only Uchiha who was still living that was worthy of the name?

It did not sit well with his pride that she had ignored him. Perhaps he was wrong, she had not seen him.

"Sakura," he drawled intentionally.

He waited for her to turn around, gasp and back away - beg him to return even and give him the satisfaction of thwarting her.

She turned around to stare at him, his face...anywhere but his eyes. He realised that she had always known he had been there, that he had been watching - for she had taken immediate care not to look into his Sharingan. Anger immediate surged through him. So she had done as he had suspicioned - she had the audacity to ignore him.

"Sasuke," she says softly, perhaps it was so soft he had read her lips with his Sharingan rather than heard her speak his name - it was too devoid of emotion for his liking. She was meant to be emotional, irrational...forever loyal and forever groveling at his feet. He did not like the fact that he couldn't tell what she was thinking from her formerly expressive face and nor did he particularly like the fact that she had dropped the -kun.

She seemed to think that it was enough; the annoying girl turned away again meaning to leave without so much as another word. She dared to turn away from him - not once but twice - and leave as if he were someone of no importance to her?

A growl escapes his throat. In a rare lack of control Sasuke breaks away from Karin's clingy grasp. She had gripped him so tight her nails had dug tiny crescent-shaped marked into the pale skin of his arm. He hadn't noticed when she had taken it.

Red fury burning behind equally red eyes, he gripped the front lapels of her kimono and slammed her against the inn's wall. A silence descended in the building and the surrounding crowd gasped in fear and surprise. Sakura had not winced, screamed or reacted in anyway at all and for a minute he stares at her in bewilderment. Her eyes languidly roamed the people as they backed away or gave them a wide berth as the hurried off to mind their own business. His anger surged up again. Did she not feel the power he had over her? Did she not think he was a threat?

His team stood awkwardly behind him, unsure of what to do and utterly confused as to why and how the Iwa civilian girl had provoked such a sudden reaction from him.

"H-hey...Sasuke," Suigetsu begins uncertainly but the words escape his mind as Sasuke raises his hand to grasp the slim white column of the girl's throat.

"What is the meaning of this, Sakura?" he asked her, voice low and guttural. She does not answer, struggle or move and he tightens his grip on her throat. Something warm and familiar splashes onto his hand and for a moment his dazed by the single tear-drop on his skin. Sakura gazed imploringly at the crowd, writhing even though he had slackened his grip in surprise, tears streaming down her face, yelling and shrieking agitatedly for help.

Something was not right.

Why was she reacting like this?

He lifted his guard, chakra surging through him scanning the surroundings for any immediate threat. He half expected Naruto to spring out of the shadows. But again he noticed that she was alone.

Why? What was she doing here? Hadn't he just asked that just a moment ago?

He cursed himself for jumping headlong into the situation. In his anger he had forgotten to think. An absolute rarity for him.

Suddenly he is aware of the presence of shinobi within the inn, a group of eleven mist ninja rush out in fighting stances, alerted by his sudden flare in chakra. His eyes widened as he realised that it had all been an act; the deceitful prowess of the female before him caught him off guard. Then his eyes narrowed. Sakura thought she could play him for a fool, did she?

Now that he thought of it, it wasn't that surprising that she had to resort to such underhanded means to get away from him. She probably ascertained that he was much stronger than her and considering how weak she was in her genin years this pathetic act of hers must have been her only method of survival in the shinobi world. She was masking her chakra, pretending to be an innocent civilian.

He smirked. Did she think these pathetic mist-nins could beat him? If so, then she was sorely mistaken. He would show her just how much she had underestimated him.

"Who are you? Who sent you and what do you know about us?"

Sasuke's opponent swept out a heavy katana and brought it down in a huge arc in an attempt to slice his throat.

"Hn." Sasuke didn't see why he had to answer. He swiftly dodged to the right and elbowed the man in the neck before casting a genjutsu to finish him off. The man was a fool not to recognise that his opponent was a Sharingan-wielder.

The others were not so dumb it seemed. His next opponent was careful not to gaze into his eyes and opted instead to stare at his torso as his fingers moved into a sequence of seals.

"Suiton Hanhonryuu!" Water spiraled out of the ninja's hand in a dark, murky pattern that reminded Sasuke of Naruto's Rasengan, but with his Sharingan Sasuke had already seen through to how to counter it and in a single flash step he was behind his opponent, striking a fatal chidori-assisted blow to his back.

Suigetsu and the rest had sprung into action, taking on as many of the other enemy-nins as they could. Sasuke darted around swiftly killing his opponents in a smug display of power that is barely concealed. Mercilessly, his Sharingan landed on the last man standing and he charged forth in another flash-step, drawing Kusanagi smoothly out from its scabbard.

A flash of pink cuts across him effectively freezing him in place as a senbon flies from her sleeve and strikes the man in the neck. A second later she easily hoisted his limp body over her back and Sasuke had to struggle to keep his surprise from surfacing on his face. She was a petite fifteen-year-old girl supporting a fully-grown man steadily on her back. Dimly he is aware that her senbon attack was an echo from the past -from the Land of Waves when Zabuza's apprentice Haku under the guise of an ANBU hunter nin had tried to fake his master's death.

The man was not dead; merely incapacitated, he realised. She was taking him as a hostage.

He fought the urge to throw his head back and laugh like a madman. She had used him to take care of the others while she completed her mission without a hitch. It was impossible, yet she had done it. She had used him. He couldn't digest the fact yet. It was so laughable - so utterly ridiculous.

Her speed as she intercepted his attack had taken him aback. Surprise, he convinced himself. It had only worked because of surprise. It hadn't been any true talent on her part.

He dismissed the fact that the Sharingan hadn't seen her movements either. It had been surprise, he told himself again. He merely hadn't been attuned to her actions.

He failed to acknowledge the fact that she had been dressed in that movement-restricting kimono.

He gritted his teeth at the cold, calm facade that she had displayed throughout her mission. Even now that detestable mask was on her face as she walked away from him...again.

Anger was dissipating off him though. Sakura had never angered him as much as she annoyed him; made him feel so utterly predictable in some way - like how she knew he would leave Konoha.

Biting back his pride, he called after her, voice weary and burdened with unanswered questions. "...Sakura."

He ignored Karin who stiffened beside him, wondering who exactly the pinkette was and why Sasuke cared at all. Out of jealousy she flung a kunai at the back of the girl's head and was surprised at Sasuke's lack of reaction when the girl caught it single-handedly without looking and used it to slit the sides of her kimono for her own comfort.

Karin felt herself tear up, realising that Sasuke's lack of reaction didn't mean that he didn't care but that he completely believed that the pink-haired brat was capable of defending herself.

Scowling and glaring, she stood steadfast to the ground unwilling to give them the privacy...especially if Sasuke-kun hadn't demanded it.

She watched as the girl strapped the kunai to her obi for safe-keeping and turned around with a strange half-smile directed their way. "Sasuke... See you again, sometime."

In a rare lack of control, confusion broke out on his face and all he can ask her is, "Why?"

Why was it like this? It wasn't how he had envisioned it.

Why had she changed? Who had changed her?

Why did she not beg him to return? Did she not care? Had she given up?

It infuriated him that he is the one who is stunned by her physical and emotional progress. (It was supposed to be the other way around!) It infuriated him even more that she is a stranger to him - he can no longer see the emotions flitting openly across her face, nor predict her actions.

He wanted to voice his questions but he couldn't let her have the satisfaction of knowing how much she had disconcerted him.

Yet when she was walked so far away, he could barely make out her outline, his resolve broke and he yelled. "Why?!"

She turned back briefly, her mouth moving voicelessly and he read her lips with his Sharingan.

Naruto will bring you back.

Then she disappeared from view and his pride prevented him from following her.

He is left wondering what exactly she meant: why she is so certain that Naruto would bring him back. How much stronger had the blonde gotten seeing that Sakura was as she was.

He cursed. He needed to be stronger.

Then a sudden thought takes him unaware. What if she meant that she no longer cared? That Naruto is the only one who WANTED him back.

An unfamiliar emotion sinks deep into the pits of stomach.

Never had he thought that it would be him who would be lingering on her words. Never had he thought that he would run through a thousand possibilities of what she could have meant and come to a single, shattering conclusion.

Whether she still loved him or not, cared for him or not and whatever her reason was there was but one undeniable truth:

.

She had let him go.

.

True or false? Truth or lie?

Perhaps the first bit had been a lie. Perhaps it had been two years ago when they had met and she had engaged him in vicious, vengeful combat still bitter and hung over how he had left her and Konoha so cold-heartedly. Or perhaps that is also a lie and they had run into each other three years ago: she had burst into tears when she saw him and begged him to come back with her to no avail.

But then of course, maybe they hadn't met each other at all: he and his team had come wandering the streets of Iwa days after Sakura had left with her hostage and met up with her support team for the journey back to Konoha.

But perhaps whatever is most vague holds the essence of truth:

He would not follow her to ask questions and whether she saw him or not there would be no report of his sighting.

He would be continue on his path to his revenge and she would be on her journey back home.

And regardless of when it happened...

Sakura would let Sasuke go.

~End~

Reviews greatly appreciated.