Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…sob…sob…

Chapter 1: A memory to be remembered…

The wind blows around the forest, stirring dead leaves that lettered the path she took while trees keep swaying to the wind, letting down the burden of brown leaves and some fall right on her pink hair head. A delicate hand brushed down the leaves, making some strand of hairs to fall across her emerald eyes. She glanced back the path she took, as she lost the time standing there while past unvisited memory came back. If others view her at that moment, they must be wondering on who placed guidance deity on the middle of the road as she stood unwavering there. She certainly can't ignore the path no matter how much she pass it by as that path stood her hope, dream… home. She remembered when Sasuke, Naruto, her and Kakashi walked out of their village with Tazuna, their first c-rank mission. How ignorant and carefree she is at that time, scolding Naruto and admiring Sasuke while trying to hold down her nervous for the first serious mission. She also remembered the journey down the same path with glorious feeling of first succeed mission that be rank b to almost a.

"You home no longer lies there Sakura, why brooding when you have time for another mission. We surely can do with extra money," sound of her inner self broke her daydream.

Taking a breath, she internally response back to her heartless inner, 'Konoha will always be my home whether they accepted me or not inner.'

Her inner has quieted down as she can sense Sakura mood. Contrary with what Sakura believed, she always understands the feeling Sakura has and she act that way only for her to support Sakura. Someone needs to be strong and if Sakura can't, she will be the strong one. She also believed that she was the one responsible for Sakura defection from the village as she urged her to follow her heart and not common sense. Years on the road later had matured Sakura and herself, making her realized her mistakes.

While her inner berating herself, Sakura fall down on another memory that had lead her to current situation. It just the day after she found out that Naruto and her friends failed to retrieve Sasuka back. She had been cried all day, thinking about how her life ruined with Sasuke's gone. However, she can't blame Naruto at that time for failing as Sasuke was quit set on his intention. She was in no delusion that she was able to convince him to come back with her after she fail to convince him the night before. She realized what she needed at that time; she needed power to bring back her love. Like a bless from a god, she heard one of the s-missing nin, Akaru that was speculated to be around Fire Country. He is well known for extraordinary skills in genjutsu which is also one of her talent report in academy file.

A month passed when the idea stewed in her head matured and with the urged by her inner, the plan finally ready to be executed. She has sneaked successfully into Anbu headquarters to get the information of missing nin whereabouts using her new status as Tsunade's apprentice. Before she made the decision, she has asked Tsunade to teach her to cover up her motives and Tsunade after getting encouragement from excited Naruto had agreed without knowing her plans. At that time, she knew that Naruto will leave with Jiraiya for 3 years in training trip. Naruto leaving also one of the factors she made that decision as she refused to be left behind. Besides that, she thinks that genjutsu is superior to medic when fighting and she believes that by leaving village, she will be stronger and more understand Sasuke's feeling.

A week after Naruto leave, she had disguised and disappeared from the village without anyone noticed for awhile. She quickly understand why even with hints from Anbu file, it was impossible to track down the missing nin. She has walked around for coupled of weeks before her wanted notices were distributed around the fire country. She has learned to low down her chakra with one of the scroll she bought from black market so that at the moment no one can know she was Konoha nin. As time went on, she become desperate and started asking recklessly for the missing nin. Just as she started to feel hopeless, the missing nin which already heard about her looking for him paired her a visit. She almost lost her life too as the missing nin thought that Sakura wanted him harm but she managed to explain hastily her attention. A long negotiation occurred which involved her become slave to the man in return of the teaching she wanted.

4 years pass by as she is trained and followed Akaru while traveling. She also forced to kill innocent when the need rise in their mission until she's no longer held feeling for her victim. She also being used wrongly to please the man however she managed to negotiate her virginity by agreed to accept mission on killing rival of one businessman in Mist. Her heart started dying the moment she killed the rival family from Konoha because she knew that what she done is saving herself by killing the one she used to swear to protect. A year after that, Akaru and her have been trapped by Mist hunter nin and fierce battle took place. A well place genjutsu has saved her life while running away and leaving her master behind. She feels nothing as even without hunter nin attacked, she had plan to kill of the man who was responsible for all bad things he forced her to do. Few times where she almost got caught by the hunter nin or sported by Konoha ninja but managed to slip away.

Now, she's been traveling and kept updating her information about Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi. Some of her informants also had been paid to eyes the Akatsuki movement. To sustain herself, she has been taken high profile mission which usually involved assassination. She can't keep from sighing when remembered her earlier reason for leaving her village. After all that she done, she felt that she no longer worthy for Sasuke and stop finding him. She only updating information of his whereabouts and current news that Sasuke with Akatsuki had disturbed her much that make her want to go inform her village. But the dream of going home was impossible with her current status as s missing nin in bingo book. This left her with current predicament of standing at the path leading to Konoha. She kept thinking that now is not the time and feel it danger for her to stand a moment longer as she can feel a team of chakra coming her way. 'Another time' she whispered before disappearing from there.

As Sakura turned back from the path lead to Konoha and using shunshin to disappear, Sakura inner can only think one sentence that plague her day ever since Sakura left her village, I'm sorry Sakura.

Author notes:

Thank you for reading this and I know that there is serious grammar problem in the story. I'm bad with that thing and hoped that readers still able to follow up the story.

Please review ^_^