Italics- Thinking

Quotations- "Speaking"

Parentheses & bold- (Author's Notes)

OOO- Timeskip

OoOoOo- Scene change

Accidentally

Chapter 1: Leaving

"You don't have to go, you know..." he pleaded, though the tone was barely there.

Sakura turned around.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru, but I have to get stronger if I'm going to help Naruto bring Sasuke back."

Truthfully, she had gotten over Sasuke sometime amongst her training with Tsunade; it's really only familial love and her duty towards Naruto what drives her now. Still, though, the village needed him back, to help fix the home he'd left behind twice now, a place that was so broken from war. Without him, morale will stay low as it is with progression at a molasses-slow pace.

If Sakura decided to be wholly, disgustingly honest with herself, she just needed to take in some clean air. She needed to get back to the fresh, jubilant Nature outside the gates, to remind her that there was not only gray. Something about two birds and one stone crossed her mind, but she dismissed it. Shikamaru Nara was the only person in the village that was aware of her departure.

He was her closest friend these days, after all-and the Lazy Genius to boot. Who was she to expect anything less?

"All the others are gonna miss you," he paused and looked down, "I'm gonna miss you..."

Sakura's brow furrowed at the situation, the twitch in her lips minor at the proclamation, and her gaze also fell to the ground. It's dumb, really, how reminiscent it was to that night. She set her jaw when it crossed her mind.

"I...I know," she searched her hardest for the right words-any words to say. "I'm so sorry, Shika. I am. Nobody else may see the justification, but inside, I know I need to do this."

Shikamaru gave a small smile and chuckled mirthlessly, "Don't tell me about something like justification. I understand, just," he paused again to take a deep breath, though it came out as a sigh. "Don't be too troublesome."

Sakura smiled and as her expression fell to something more strangled, more sad, she grabbed him in a sudden hug. He was slightly startled, and he felt the tension of a headache building as he clenched his teeth while he squeezed her back. Affection became so much easier to show when you've been through a wartime.

"Goodbye, Shikamaru..." her voice trembled and a single, silent tear rolled down her flushed cheek.

''Bye, Sakura," and so his throat got tight, "Be safe...''

His concern for her well-being made her want to break down and hit him at the same time. When had it come to this? When had Naruto grown as distant as he was from his old friends? Sure, everyone was busy, but when even the family-oriented, dropout knucklehead saw even his closest friends twice a week at most...She couldn't imagine how he felt-to have Sasuke so close, just to have him slip away again? Only, she could imagine.

''I will, I promise-I swear.'' she nodded a bit excessively, maybe to hide her wet eyes from him.

They released each other, Sakura turning reluctantly. She was so ready to leave before. She was in the perfect mindset; she saw her goal and knew how to get there, she thought of all the outcomes and decided with an iron will that anything was better than this. She was so ready-and then Shikamaru was there and she had second thoughts. She struggled now, and she wondered, in the back of her mind, if Sasuke felt the same when she had so rightfully interjected. Something akin to a pout reached her face as she solemnly doubted it. Casting one final glance at each other, Sakura started down the one and only path out of the Hidden Leaf Village - the same one Uchiha Sasuke had taken, all those five years ago.

OOO

Sakura had been traveling, restlessly hopping from tree branch to tree branch for hours. She landed in a small clearing sheltered by mountains. A look at the moon concluded that three am left her in a sufficiently safe position away from nearby villages and towns and civilization in general.

She felt herself nearing the border of the Land of Rivers as the trees became more sparse ahead of her and thought of her plan: Sand.

And that was truly all she wrote.

She'd planned to visit all of the allies of the Leaf, but found herself wanting to start inside her comfort zone, still.

"I'll camp here..." she mumbled tiredly.

The pinkette halfheartedly set up her tent, despite it really just being a short break that she was taking, once again starting out within her comfort zone. She set to sleep, and found it was little-to-no struggle.

OOO

A light growling noise brought Sakura out of the light sleep she'd forged.

She bolted upwards, kunai in hand immediately.

She felt around her slightly blurry senses for a chakra signature, but before she got far-

growl

It was only her stomach, and she sighed exasperatedly at the comedy of the situation.

She grabbed an apple out of the pack she had been dragging around all day, rubbed it on her shirt, and minutes later, apple having since been devoured, she packed her things when the moon found her at five in the morning. The obnoxious cloud cover and humidity made her frown, however. Slinging her bag onto her back, she stilled at a wave of dread and chakra. She heard a leaf fall to some dead grass to her four o'clock.

It's Summer time.

"Save me the trouble and come out now." she growled.

Something caught her peripheral and she stood her ground defensively, kunai raised. When nothing changed, she inched cautiously in the direction of the previous movement. Then there was a chakra signature, and she bolted for it.

The shadow of someone maybe six centimeters taller than her became increasingly vivid and as she sped up, she could swear she smelled them.

Soft, sand, must, surimi.

Then there was nothing.

Sakura rooted herself to the spot, doing a quick scan for their chakr-

In the blink of an eye, an ear-shattering bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree. Sakura saw double at the sound but brought her arms up to protect herself from the shards of bark and bulk that scattered violently from it. She felt blood trickle down to her elbows and pushed chakra into the wounds. Just as quickly, she raised her head to watch a tree fall towards her, impending but slow.

The muscles in her ankles twitched, but she was frozen and thought of Kakashi.

Why?

It was like sticking a fork in an electrical socket when she saw his face, and her double-vision tripled.

She felt sick and fell to her knees, tree inches from her form. Her shoulders shook and her hand flew to her mouth, tears blurring the world around her. A rush of yellow crossed her vision, swooping into her and she landed hard on her back, giving in to the lethargy as she saw nothing.

Voices above her were echoed and distorted.

"Ooo, could that be her?" one excited voice asked.

''How many kunoichi do you know with pink hair, yeah?'' another answered warily.

OOO

Ayyyyy everybody! Welcome, newcomers and old, to the edited (fixed, really) version of my thing I've got here.

So here's the thing: In the four years since I started this fic under a completely story on my page, I've grown into QUITE the grammar Nazi and frankly, looking at old pieces like that makes me want to beat the living shit out of myself. Looking at that other story (under the same title) would only serve as spoilers at this point, maybe serve as a testament to how I've grown as a writer.

Granted, it's still miles beyond that dumb little Teen Titans fic I've got up here, but details are everything.

Another thing: I'll get rid of the author notes because I absolutely can't stand the rantings of my twelve-year-old self! Savvy? Cool.

Stay frosty ;)

~Raven100