This is an AU-ish thing of early Shippuden where the Uchiha massacre never happened, so Itachi is here along with Sasuke. So, I think if none of that happened, Sasuke isn't such a prick, right? Also, Sasuke was given "private" lessons, so team 7 is Kakashi, Sai, Sakura, and Naruto.

Also, after a year that Naruto came back from training, the Akatsuki go and kidnap Gaara.

CH1: Trying to Forget

"Do you like it, Sakura?" Naruto asked her eagerly as he watched her reaction. He had given her a necklace that took him months to buy it for her. He had saved from every mission he did, just to buy her this.

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she held it out. The sun shining on it made it look even more beautiful. Naruto had it made especially for her, having her family symbol on it.

"It's... It's so beautiful, Naruto!" Sakura gasped as her eyes admired it.

Naruto grinned happily and satisfied that she liked it, "Since it's been a year that we started dating... I thought I would give you something."

"Thank you..." She smiled at him as he helped her put it on.

They both admired the necklace and Sakura touched it with her fingers, "I also got you something... It isn't much so..."

Next to her was a bag and she handed it to him, "Here."

As Naruto took the bag and opened it to see a sweater with his face drawn on it silly.

"Hinata helped me with the knitting, it took some time. And since it's going to get cold soon, I thought you would like it." She said looking at his reaction, a bit scared he would laugh at it.

Naruto grinned happily, "I would never have guessed you would give me this…! I was half expecting some doctor stuff!"

Sakura laughed, "Baka! Just because I work at the hospital, doesn't mean I will give you doctor supplies. But when I'm head doctor, you'll see."

Giving a warm smile, Naruto said, "Thank you, Sakura…"

Sakura sighed as she remembered that day. She looked out the window of the hospital and watched some kids walk by below. It was already evening and the sun was slowly setting.

'I was so happy back then...' she thought as she slowly turned around, trying to forget what happened four months ago.

She was the head doctor, under Tsunade that is, of the hospital. There was a lot going on with the Akatsuki taking jinchūrikis, making chaos in the hospital with injured people.

So the hospital wasn't exactly at peace.

Many shinobi would be very injured coming from trying to get the Akatsuki away or trying to track them down.

The pink haired girl looked at her papers while walking towards her office. She stopped and sighed once again. That silly blonde guy just couldn't escape her thoughts.

"Hey! Sakura!" Ino called from behind a bit annoyed.

Sakura turned around, confused, "Yes? What is it, Ino?"

Ino placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you seriously still thinking of him? It's been 4 months! We are in the middle of some Akatsuki threat here!"

Sakura forced a smile, "Oh shut up, Ino! I was just thinking of how we are going to fit more people here!"

That was obviously a lie.

Ino rolled her eyes, "Seriously though, do you think I'm stupid? I've known you since we were little kids... I know how you feel."

Ino slowly shook her head while thinking, 'Oh, Sakura…!'

Sakura breathed and turned around, "Let's not talk about this... We have work to do."

With that, Sakura walked away, forgetting why Ino called her in the first place.

Ino watched her friend disappear into a room.

'That Sakura! This has got to end. She wasn't like this at all before Naruto broke it up... What an idiot he is...!'

Without another thought, she went on to ask another nurse for what she originally came for.

Checking on her papers again, Sakura walked up to the patient room number 478. Giving a knock at the door, Sakura then entered the patient's room and greeted him.

There was a man in his late 40s on the hospital bed with a bandaged leg and arm.

"Hello! I am Doctor Haruno. I will be checking your leg and arm now."

The man nodded as Sakura walked up to him to check his leg injury. It was pretty deep and needed quite a few stitches. She then asked him a few questions about his arm and then carefully checked it, making sure the arm wasn't healing inappropriately.

Nurses usually did this type of job, but they were all extremely busy, so Sakura did some filling up.

"Alright, both seem to be healing just fine... And pretty fast, too!" Sakura said a bit surprised.

The man smiled, "Yes, I have the ability to heal fast... "

Sakura grinned at him, but her memory went towards a grinning blonde idiot.

'...Naruto...' She thought sadly.

"If it starts to hurt, please inform us." Sakura said a she jotted down some notes onto her clipboard.

"I will." The patient answered along with a nod.

Excusing herself, Sakura stepped out, with Naruto's imagine still in her head.

She hit her head with her hand and whispered, "No... You have to forget about him. He... He didn't want you in his life anymore..."

On the other side of Konoha, was a blonde ninja sitting at Ichiraku's.

He ate his ramen slowly and was in thought. It was so out of character for him to be so quiet. What had happened about four months ago still bothered him.

"Naruto...!" a voice said next to him. It was Shikamaru who had to accompany him into the eating supper with Naruto.

Naruto, got out of thought and then smiled at him, "Oh, right! What were you saying again?"

Shikamaru sighed, "You shouldn't have done that if you were going to keep on moping around afterwards."

Naruto knew exactly what he meant, but still looked away, "I had to do it. Why else would I say it?"

Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder, "No you didn't. Nothing would happen to her."

Naruto looked at him with confusion, "How would you know? You know how they are... And if they ever found out, she would be in extreme danger."

Shikamaru shook his head a little. He decided to drop it and move on. He hated how Naruto had ended up like this.

Only Shikamaru knew the real reason why Naruto had to break up with Sakura. He remembered the week before Naruto broke up with Sakura. He had come to Shikamaru, looking all worried.

"I can't do this anymore..." Naruto said as he looked at Shikamaru, filled with worry. He had told Shikamaru to meet him just outside of Konoha. It was already late and dark.

"What at you talking about? You just saved Gaara, what else is wrong?" Shikamaru asked as he kicked a small pebble with his foot.

Shaking his head, Naruto sighed, "I can't put her in danger. I couldn't bear to lose her...! What if the Akatsuki find out about my relationship with her? What if they somehow capture her to lure me in? What if they hurt her?"

Shikamaru saw how worried Naruto looked and quickly said, "Calm down, Naruto... Everything's going to be ok. Sakura's strong, right? We'll be there to protect you both... You trust in your friends, right?"

Naruto shook his head, "You... You don't understand. That's the reason why I'm afraid to lose her. She would give up her life to save mine... She would never tell the whereabouts of me or my weakness."

Shikamaru tried to protest, but Naruto continued, "That is why I must break this up... I can't tell her the real reason, but enough so she can hate me."

Giving a big sigh, Shikamaru slowly said, "You are really... Making this unnecessarily complicated. Just tell her the damn truth."

Naruto turned around and ran his ringers through his hair, "I can't. She wouldn't understand, you know how stubborn she can be."

The black haired friend waited for Naruto to say more. Naruto just turned back around, facing Shikamaru, "Anyways, I just… I just wanted at least let you to know. Just in case something weird happens or whatever…"

The memory faded slowly in Shikamaru's mind.

'That was about four months ago...' thought Shikamaru as he was picking on his food.

"Anyways, Naruto..." Shikamaru began, trying to change the subject, "How was the mission?"

Naruto's face lit up immediately, "Oh, man, you should've been there! It was so funny what happened to Kaka-sensei! His face looked so stupid!"

He laughed loudly remembering his mission. Shikamaru smiled a bit, relieved to see his friend back… for now.

"Thank goodness my shift is almost over." Sakura yawned a bit to herself while stretching her arms a bit, while sitting in her office.

It was getting dark and all she wanted to do was to go home and sleep.

"Sakura, are you ready to go home?" Ino asked as she walked in her office.

Shaking her head, Sakura said, "No, I'm almost done with this paper work. I would ask you to go on, but looks like it's too dark for that."

Ino sighed and placed her hands on her hips, "I was gonna wait for you anyways. And I can kick anyone's ass."

"Then help me!" Sakura joked a bit.

Ino shrugged and walked over, "Ah, this stuff... I'll sort them out, ok?"

Nodding, Sakura agreed, "Thank you. I've been so tired lately..."

"Psht, that's because you work over time. Your real shift ended 2 hours ago."

"You know how many patients have come in recently..." Sakura sighed while signing a document.

Raising her eyebrows, Ino gave a nod, "Yes, you are right… Especially you, since you're like right under Tsunade."

They stayed up for about an hour or so of Ino suddenly talking of her day.

"She told me to put on sea salt water thingy on my hair... Like, I'm not sure how that will help me? What do you think? I think it's kind of dumb."

Signing the last document, Sakura responded, "Go on ahead and do it... If she says she's the expert then do it."

Smirking, Ino said, "Ok then, I'll do it to your hair to see if it really works."

Sakura's eyes grew wide and she laughed, "No, don't do it! I was kidding; it makes your hair extremely dry."

"How would you know?" Ino asked while leaning forward a bit.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura said, "The beach? I'm pretty sure that has sea salt... and you know how ugly our hair came out."

After debating a bit, they both decided to go home. As they walked out of the hospital, Ino eagerly said, "Sakura! Come sleep over at my place. I've got this new recipe I really want you to try. It's so good, I can't believe I forgot to tell you!"

"Recipe? What are you, a suburban mom?" Sakura joked.

Ino frowned, "No, but its good. That's what matters. And anyone can like cooking!"

Grabbing Sakura's hand, Ino dragged her onwards.

It was dark outside, and barely anyone on the streets.

"Hold up." Sakura said as they both walked normally, "I have some of my clothes over at your house, right?"

"Hm? Yes, you left some shorts and shirts at my place… you keep forgetting to get them!" Ino then giggled, "Oh well, they fit me, so I wear them sometimes."

Sakura gasped, "Ino! You better not lose any of my clothes!"

They both laughed as they decided not to stop by at Sakura's house for any clothes.

Ino kept talking and Sakura listened carefully. As they made a turn, both of them bumped into some people.

"Hey!" Ino's voice sounded annoyed. She couldn't see who it was until they spoke.

"Calm down, Ino, it's just us..." Skiamaru said as he and Naruto stepped closer to the street light.

Ino's face lit up, "Ah, Shikamaru! Haven't seen you in a while."

Sakura awkwardly waited next to Ino. She looked at Naruto, who avoided eye contact with her.

But Sakura took a deep breath and smiled, "Shikamaru! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "I guess so. So, how's work at the hospital?"

Ino spoke, "Hard, but pretty good. Sakura's been working very hard, now that she's been named top doctor! Under Tsunade that is."

Naruto's eyes looked up towards Sakura.

'She finally made it…!' Naruto thought happily. He wanted to hug her and congratulate her. But he knew he couldn't.

He wanted to hold her. He wanted to be the first to know of these news, the dream of Sakura to be the best doctor.

But slowly and lowly, he spoke, "Congrats, Sakura..."

Sakura looked at him hurt, but still managed to say something, "Um, thanks."

'He didn't call me Sakura-chan...' She thought sad, but she had to get used to this. They barely talked ever since 4 months ago.

Ino and Shikamaru both looked at each other and sighed.

'Ok this ends now.' they both thought, 'Alright, maybe after some planning, though.'

Not standing being near them anymore Sakura spoke loudly, "Oh! Look at the time! Ino, if we don't get there, we'll be too tired to see your new recipe."

Sakura gave a smile to both Naruto and Shikamaru, "It's been real nice, so goodnight you guys...!"

Without another word, Sakura grabbed Ino and headed out.

Shikamaru then turned to Naruto, "You must have made her angry..."

Naruto gave an innocent confused face, "What'd I do!?"

Giving him a pat on the shoulder, Shikamaru said "One day you'll understand women. I mean I don't fully but... One day we both will."

The blonde guy placed his hands behind his head, "I'm going home now. Goodnight, Shikamaru."

Giving a nod, Shikamaru waved, "Alright. Goodnight."

Chapters are def going to be much longer. I'm done with this story in my laptop, but just need time to edit it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! The more feedback of how much you guys liked it, it will make me want to upload faster lol… I've tried to make sure there aren't any mistakes, but if you see some, please excuse!