Life Happens In Between

DISCLAIMER: I don not own Naruto or any of the characters of the Manga. Although i'd love to place my bid if Sasuke were ever to be on an auction.

Chapter 1: A brave new start

Sakura was not happy with the way her room looked right now. Well, considering the fact that she'd only had two days to settle into this new 'accomodation', she was probably asking for too much if she wanted the room to look 'perfect'. But that's just how she is. She wouldn't feel comfortable unless she felt at home.

Tenten, tired of the pink haired girl moving furniture (the very few they had) every now and then for the last two days, couldn't help but snort as she watched her run about the room with a pile of clothes in her hand, "You know Sakura, for a girl who's just had to move from one city to another, you seem to be pretty uptight about . . well, stuff."

Although they had known each other for a very short amount of time, Sakura had already found herself admiring the gutsy, kinda manly, and currently smirking brunette who was destined to be her roommate for the year ahead. So she replied cheerily, "And you seem to be totally okay with living under a pile of clothes. Oh come on Tenten! One of us has to be folding clothes and cleaning the mess if you want me to stay alive in this place. And since you have failed to help me for more than two and a half hours, I guess you don't have a problem if I recommend myself for the job."

Tenten's smirk turned into a grin, then she made a devastated face and said graciously, "If you insist, dear maam, I guess I'll have to give up my lifelong dream of being 'the responsible one'!" And both the young girls burst into laughing. As Tenten got up to make some coffee for the two of them in her coffeemaker, Sakura was drawn into thinking about this room, this new roommate, this hostel, and how unreal all these had sounded two monthes ago.

"MOM!" Haruno Sakura yelled as she practically flew into the living room of their house, panting hard. Haruno Shira almost dropped the plate she was washing at the really loud interruption. "Oh My God Sakura! Do you really want to give me a heart attack?" Sadly, the reprimand couldn't lessen the huge grin playing across her daughter's face. Sakura rushed to where her mother was standing at the kitchen and replied in the same sarcastic tone her mother had just used, "Oh My God Mom, if you really want to have a heart attack, then I suggest you see this." She handed the older lady an envelope.

"A letter? Who's it from?" She asked as she took a seat at the kitchen. But Sakura chose to remain silent and smile mysteriously at her puzzled mother. "The Dean of the Konoha Medical School?" her mother read out loud, more confused, and a little anxious now. "What's the matter honey?" Seeing that her daughter wasn't going to reply, she hurriedly opened the envelope to find out the answer herself. As she read, her eyes went bigger by each line and as she reached the bottom of the letter, her mouth fell open. In a shaky voice, she whispered, "You really got that scholarship to the Medical School in Sound?"

Sakura couldn't hold it in any longer. With a cry of joy, she let out all the bottled up happiness in her heart, feeling like she was going to burst any moment, "YES MOM ! You know at first I also didn't believe it. I mean when Yamato Sensei called me to his office, I was actually thinking that maybe I've flunked pharmacology this time! Remember how I had a fever the night before the exam? Then when I entered his room he was like, 'hey Sakura did you apply for the scholarship under Tsunade sama, in Sound?' And I was like, 'yeah, so?' And he was like, 'well then congratulations, you've been selected'. And I thought he was kidding 'cause I must've flunked pharmacology and he was trying to be sarcastic, but then he showed me the letter and I was like, 'WHAT THE HELL' and then I ran out of his room and read the letter again. I mean, can you believe it Mom? I got a scholarship to study under Tsunade sama, the legend herself! Ofcourse she I'd just be one of the ten students who got the chance but still, that's just too big! And I have to get to Sound in two monthes and settle in the girls hostel they have! I'll be living with fifty other medical students. Isn't it amazing, Mom?"

Too pre-occupied with ranting at the top of her lungs, Sakura had failed to notice the way her mother's expression had changed from happy to confused again and now settled into an anxious frown. As her daughter finally came to stop jumping from the excitement, Shira asked her nervously, "Now honey, you are not really planning on taking the scholarship, are you?"

It took Sakura a moment to process the question before she gave out a disbelieving laugh, "what are you asking, Mom? Ofcourse I'm gonna take the scholarship! Wasn't that the point of applying for it?"

This time the look that crossed her mother's face was one of dismay and it made Sakura finally come out of the trance she'd been into since she got the letter.

"Mom, what's wrong? Aren't you happy?" Sakura sat beside her mother.

Shira instantly regretted her reactions when she heard the anxiety in her daughter's voice. She knew how much Sakura cared about her parents and everything she did, she did to make them proud of her. But still she couldn't get herself to be genuinely delihghted right now. So she spoke the truth, as she always does with her daughter, who was also her closest friend.

"No honey. Ofcourse I'm happy that you got the scholarship! I know how hard you worked for it!"

Sakura let out a relieved sigh, which was caught mid way by the next sentence that came out of her mother's mouth.

"But I don't think you should take it."

"What? Why?" Sakura almost stood up in surprise.

''Look, Sakura, baby, you're almost done with medical school. There's only a year and a couple of monthes left. . what's the point of going to a different city to finish the last year? I mean, you're already a very good student and Yamato-san told me last month that you're going to graduate with flying colours and that you're going to make an excellent doctor someday. Why take the trouble of moving so far from us?" Just think about it clearly before you go making a decision, ok?"

Sakura listened to her mother, her heart sinking at each word. Truth is, when she applied for the scholarship, she didn't think she'd actually get it. But now, after having gained it, is when she realizes how much this means to her, how much it had always meant to her. This scholarship was the best way to get closer to her dream, which she'd never shared with anyone but herself.

With a tired sigh, Sakura got up from the chair. First the adrenaline rush and then this confusion was making her head cloudy. She needed to rest, to think.

"Mom, I'm just gonna go to my room for a while." As her mother tried to say something, she added, "I know you said what you said because you care about me. Don't worry. I'll be fine. I just need to rest and think,ok?"

"OK honey. I'll call you when your father comes home and then we'll have dinner together. After all", she said with a proud grin, "you did get a scholarship and we've got to celebrate, right?"

Sakura smiled at her mother before she entered her room, momentarily forgetting about everything her Mom had said a couple of minutes ago. But as she closed the door to her room and sat on her bed, all of it, the excitement, confusion, dismay, came running to her mind. Sakura hid her face into the fluffy pillow and gave out a frustrated sigh.

Dinner was wonderful. Shira made everything her daughter loved, including a small chocolate cake to celebrate her achievement. Sakura's father, Haruno Kisho, a doctor himself, was absolutely thrilled to hear about his daughter's gain, not to mention incredibly proud. What made him happier was the fact that being a doctor, he knew Lady Tsunade and so had plenty of ideas what it meant to study under her supervision. Needless to say, like Sakura, he'd also failed to realize the other matters that needed to be thought through if Sakura was going to take the scholarship. He was reminded of them after dinner, when Sakura had gotten herself busy with the cake and he was enjoying a glass of wine and Shira decided to discuss about the problem at hand.

"Honey, I know both of you are pretty excited about the whole scholarship thing and I understand that, but Kisho, you can't just ignore the . . . well, other stuff that need some attention."

Sakura instantly knew what her mother was trying to get at, and surprisingly, so did her father. So he wasn't as forgetful as she'd hoped him to be, after all.

"Ofcourse, Shira", he started in a soothing voice, "I know what you're talking about", Sakura could easily hear the ill-suppressed anxiety in his father's voice, "I just. . ." he sighed. "I just didn't want to get into that discussion right now. I wanted tonight to be only about celebration."

Seeing the guilty look that appeared on his wife's face, he quickly added, "but I think you're right. Important matters shouldn't be kept waiting."

Then he looked at his daughter, who was sitting silently across from him, staring at the plate on her lap with a piece of cake in it. Sakura's father couldn't help but smile at her affectionately. This had always been the case with Sakura. Whenever her parents were discussing something that concerned her, she'd just pretend like her attention was anywhere but their voices.

"Sakura, dear, do you mind taking your eyes off from that poor piece of cake and to this old man sitting in front of you?"

It was the chuckle in his voice that made Sakura look up at him with a sheepish smile on her face.

"yes, dad?"

"Have you put any thoughts into the matter yet?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "Well. . . not really. I mean I really want to do this, but. . ." she paused for a bit, "I don't want to worry you two. You know, with the moving and all that. . . besides, bro has already settled down in Suna, and I wouldn't want to leave you guys alone. ." she trailed off.

The trace of sadness in her usually cheerful voice was not lost on her parents. Shira and Kisho both knew what their daughter would think now. Sakura had always been a caring daughter, friend, sister. She was incredibly intelligent at some matters and surprisingly naïve at others. The best quality about her was that she always thought of others before she did about herself, she always put others' happiness and convenience before hers. That was something Kisho was proud of and Shira was worried about. They both knew their daughter was a very responsible person, the most reliable among the ton of her age, but still, they couldn't really digest the thought of her living on her own, in a different city, with totally unknown people. And Sakura wasn't wrong when she said she didn't want to leave them alone. Haruno Kanaye, Sakura's only brother had gone to Suna 5 years ago to study business management. Now he's doing a job there that has a lot of chances for prosper. It's not like Kanaye doesn't want to come home, it's just that he can't lose such a great job, not when experience is rated so high in the market nowadays. He plans to come back to Konoha after a couple of years, after he has all the experience and skills he needs to get a much better job here, or better yet, start his own business.

In the above circumstances, Sakura really had a lot to think before deciding to move to a different city, away from her parents. And so did her parents, who were unwilling to send another the child away from them.

And none of the two parties were selfish enough to think about themselves only.

These were the thoughts that floated across their minds as Sakura and her parents waited for someone to suggest a solution.

"We understand, dear," Kisho finally broke the silence, "that you care about us. But Sakura, we can't deny that this a hell of an opportunity and you've worked quite hard to gain it. So I want you to think very carefully about what you want to do. And whatever you decide, we'll be supportive."

"But Kisho! We can't let her live alone like that in a whole new city! It's not possible! How will she manage?"

Sakura's father couldn't help but smile at his wife's panicked voice. "Just like everyone else", he replied. Then added thoughtfully, "Your mom's right though, Sakura. It's gonna be a lt harder than you probably think. That's why I want you to think about it precisely. Do you want to take that much trouble just for a year of your scholarship? Trust me, it'd take atleast 3 monthes to adjust to a whole new place, new people, new environment. And just when you think you're actually settled, your year would come to an end and it'd be time to come right back. Not to mention the tremendous amount of hard work you'd have to do to maintain the scholarship, you'd have to do all your daily chores as well, without any help from me or your mom. Then there's the question of security. Konoha's a lot more safer than Sound, mind you. Do you really want to go through that, are you strong enough to take care of yourself, all on your own?"

Did she want this? Was she strong enough? These were the very questions that kept Sakura up till 2 am that night. Despite her mother's protests and worries, her father had insisted she take her own decision, because he trusted she was old enough and wise enough to take the right one.

But instead of the problems Sakura's father had asked her to think about, Sakura's mind kept drifting towards the dreams she'd harbored deep in her heart since a really long time.

A dream of being independent. Of living on her own. Of learning from her own mistakes. Of finding her true self.

Sakura knew she was extremely selfish to think like that, but truth was, sometimes she just felt suffocated by all the affection her parents showered on her. She knew she was being over analytival but truth was that she'd never be able to look out for herself unless she was free of the constant observation of her parents and all other relatives who lived within the same city. She wanted to see the world with her own eyes, she wanted to make an identity. And now she had a chance to do exactly that.

And just like that, Sakura made the bravest, smartest and most wonderful decision of her life.

It'd taken a month of constant effort in persuasion by Sakura to convince her mother to let her go and another month of inspection and packing by both of her parents to make sure the hostel was nice and Sakura had everything she needed.

Now, after her parents had finally gone back to Konoha,(not without a lot of tears from her mom), here Sakura was, sitting on the balcony of an unknown place that she was still trying to think of as home, drinking coffee with an unknown girl whom she had already grown an admiration for, thinking that life couldn't get any more surprising.

Well. She was just about to find out how wrong she was.

A/N: Hello! This is my first fanfic and i'm pretty excited about it. I really hope you like it and if you do, please encourage me through reviews! And those who are huge sasusaku freaks like me, don't be disheartened! Sasuke's gonna enter the field right in he next chap, which i intend to get done by next week. Wish me luck!