Chapter 1:
Midnight Thoughts
The silence of night surrounded the huge forest of the village of Konoha. Barely audible howls from wolfs and purrs of owls could only be heard by concentration. The full moon cast an invisible layer of light on the surfaces of treetops and uncovered grounds.
Three figures could be seen from above in a small clearing open to the sky, heavily surrounded by trees. Only one of the figures seemed to be awake, lying on her back, staring at the cloud-free sky. Her emerald green eyes shone intensely from the moonlight. Her face was expressionless from being in deep thought.
"Sasuke. I hope you're safe."
Her thoughts strayed back to the time Team 7 participated in the Chuniin Exam 3 and a half years ago. Their team had been attacked by a 3-man team of Sound ninjas while she had been the only conscious of the three capable of fighting. However, during a critical moment for the kunoichi, Sasuke had awoken from his death-threatening fever to help her.
The deathly look in his eyes after gaining consciousness, having been bitten by Orochimaru, still sent chills down her back. He had broken that Sound ninja's arm so easily and attacked to kill so carelessly, she shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn't prevented him from making contact.
If that was 3 years ago, it frightened her to think what the younger Uchiha would be capable of now. How many lives would he already have taken in his quest to kill his brother? If so, how many future ones was he willing to take?
She sighed, afraid of the answers. The pink haired kunoichi had in the past 3 years spent countless nights like this thinking about her former team-mate.
A lot had changed since Uchiha Sasuke had left the village of Konoha. She had become a very skilled medic-ninja under the apprenticeship of Konoha's Fifth Hokage. As the best medic-nin of all villages, Tsunade-sama had also taught Sakura useful battle observation skills and unnatural physical strength. During the last 3 years, she had also become much more confident in her abilities as a ninja, especially since discovering her talent in medicine.
She suddenly snapped back to attention by the slight ruffle to her left side.
"Mmm, Sakura-chan? What are you still doing up?"
The sleepy question came from a blond headed ninja in a sleeping bag fully covering him to the neck. His big blue eyes were hidden by the messy blond hair and lack of moonlight. It did however nothing in preventing Sakura from feeling his ever-so-friendly spirit.
She gave him a small smile in return and replied:
"I'm just keeping guard for a while. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I might as well do that while trying to fall asleep."
Her team-mate gave a nod in acknowledgement.
"Do you want some company?"
Sakura chuckled. "No thanks, you look like you could pass out at any moment. Just sleep, I'll probably dose off in a few minutes."
Too tired to reply, the blond mumbled "Ok, g'night," before returning to his deep sleep.
Sakura looked at him for a while.
Above all, this ninja had improved the most significantly over the past 3 years. Though he was still as spontaneous as ever, his childish demeanour had slowly faded during his 2 and a half year journey training with Jiraya-sama.
Sakura would now, more than often, catch the sadness in his eyes. He was without a doubt, like her, thinking about their former team-mate. The two boys had developed a relationship like brothers, but in their own weird way, teasing and competing against each other during training and missions.
She knew that his key determination for getting so strong was to get Sasuke back to the village-- back to safety and them. It was a promise he had given Sakura and himself the day Saksuke left 3 years ago.
And she believed the stubborn ninja to fulfil that promise even till death—that's the kind of ninja he was—however, she herself had become doubtful to the possibility ever coming true.
Despite her equal determination to bring Sasuke back, Sakura knew—or at least thought she did—the obstacles they had to face beforehand.
The younger Uchiha would not stop at anything until he had killed the murderer of his clan.
How far he was willing to go for his revenge was what scared Sakura; He had already abandoned his friends and village to join one of the most notorious criminals, almost killing his best friend in the process.
Sakura shook her head, not willing herself to dwell further on the subject of Uchiha Sasuke. Too many nights had been spent on that.
As the awaited sleep began to overtake her, Sakura closed eyes, welcoming it, with her final words of the night:
"Goodnight Naruto."
A/N: Hope you guys like it. I know its short, but I liked the vagueness of the chapter ;D. Don't worry, I'll upload the next chapter soon... But definitely R&R please. And I'm not sure about my title for the story, so it might change when I come up with a better one...
C-ya later!
DiamonD-StyleZ