Hi~ Here's the second chapter i guess. i only have two more written (and both are quite shoddy work if you ask me) and i don't really plan on working on this project anymore past that. but regardless, here's the second installment in wilted fate. read and review, if you'd please :-3. much luv thug passion.

also, i do not own naruto or any of that jazz.


Sun slowly crept into the room. The fluttering wings of a bird flying off the tree branch just outside the blinds infiltrated her ears as her eyes bloomed open. She quickly showered, waking her up from the half-conscious state she always seeped down into upon awakening. The kunoichi slowly got dressed in her typical get-up – a plain red shirt, accompanied by tight black shorts. The shorts were covered up by a short gray skirt. Upon her feet she wore the standard black ninja boots. As she finished gearing up for another boring day in her life, she slipped her headband on. It rested on the typical spot, atop her head, in such a manner that it was quite reminiscent of the bow she wore as a child. She sluggishly made her way downstairs and made a cup of tea. After diminishing the teacup of its contents, she left her house.

The now 18-year old woman noiselessly wandered down the path that connected her house to the makeshift Hokage Tower. She took her time, basking in the sunlight. It seemed as if the attacks on the village had never happened. Only a short year and a half ago, Orochimaru grew impatient and realized Sasuke wasn't going to seek him out. He decided to take manners into his own hands, and set out to destroy Konoha. An epic struggle ensued, and most of the city was destroyed in the heat of it all. After a constant back and forth, a small group managed to penetrate Orochimaru's defensive line and directly confronted the creepy Sannin. It ended with Tsunade finishing off her old teammate. Everything was perfect, right? Well, unfortunately that wasn't the case. The battle itself took a large toll on Tsunade herself. In her weakened state, the elders decided to bring Tsunade's leadership under questioning. Her authority was questioned, and surprisingly, quite a few people considered Tsunade's peaceful tactics to be a bad thing for Konoha. She maintained her position of Hokage, but the elders had a considerable amount of influence on all of the doings of the village, and that influence was slowly growing day by day.

Along with this fallout, the village was in shambles. Much of it was destroyed. The rebuilding process has been painfully slow and tedious, but things were finally patching themselves up. Buildings were resurrected, deaths were finally being got over, the scars of the large-scale battle being forgotten. Amidst all of these calamities, there was still one thing that struck Sakura with worry and doubt…

It'll be fall soon, the pink-haired blossom thought to herself. This fall will mark the fourth year since Naruto left…

Although she would never openly admit how much she missed him, she couldn't help but still get a tad bit worked up at the fact that he just uprooted and left without any sort of warning. Especially right after the blue-eyed shinobi had dragged Sasuke back to Konoha. It was right before he left that she realized how much the simple-minded idiot had meant to her. When he had stormed out of the hospital that day, Sakura had felt an anguish she never thought she'd ever feel for Naruto. Seeing him running out of that room, tears streaming down his face…

She shivered, despite the heat that was pounding down on her from the sky. Lost in her thoughts, the pink-haired apprentice of the Hokage hadn't even realized that she now stood in front of her master's door. She shook her head, clearing out all of the regretful thoughts of letting Naruto slip away back then. She also remembered Tsunade mentioning something about a new mission. Proceeding to knock on the door, Tsunade's gruff bark of permission to enter was heard. The aging Hokage's face lit up a bit seeing that it was Sakura, and not those crabby old elders.

Sakura entered the room, and was delighted to see Kakashi coolly standing off to the side. She smiled at her old sensei, and nodded, somewhat stiffly, towards the other figure standing a bit behind Kakashi. A small "Hn." came from behind the ANBU mask the man wore.

Sakura drawled, "You're ever so talkative, Sasuke-kun."

Despite the mask covering his expression, Sakura could feel the glare he sent her direction. The kunoichi giggled at how riled up Sasuke got at the smallest things. Ever since Naruto left, there was a rift of tension in their relationship. Eventually, Team 7 was just disbanded as a whole. At first, Sakura was surprised to see that Sasuke was willingly staying in Konoha. It was largely due to Kakashi. Their sensei took over as a bit of a father figure for Sasuke, and told him that seeking out Orochimaru and using the power that would be given to him to kill Itachi wouldn't be true. It would be a lie, a gambit. It would prove that despite everything, Sasuke's lone power would never be enough to trump his brother. Of course, Sasuke took this as a personal insult initially and refused to see either her or Kakashi for weeks. He still stayed In Konoha, albeit begrudgingly. Nonetheless, it seemed as if Kakashi's words had struck a chord in him. He spent his days training, persevering through the ranks of the shinobi force. Now he worked strictly as an ANBU agent. Over the course of this transgression, he finally managed to rekindle his old relationship with Kakashi and Sakura herself. The three saw each other from time to time, but rarely gathered together like this. Tsunade began to speak, interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

"Alright, as I've informed all of you, I have a mission for you three. It's in regards to Akatsuki. More specifically," she made eye contact with each of them, "it could possibly give us information on Jiraiya – and Naruto."

Sakura let out a gasp. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise and an eyebrow arched up, begging the Hokage to continue. Even Sasuke showed a bit of a reaction, his head jerking up slightly.

Two years into the trip Naruto and Jiraiya embarked on, they suddenly disappeared. Tsunade had been receiving monthly updates to them through letters, and the last one she had received indicated that they would be returning within the next six weeks. Days passed by. Those days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Months turned into two long years. Nothing was heard from or seen of them. They just… disappeared. No one, not even Tsunade, had the slightest clue of what happened to them. On a daily basis, Sakura found herself worrying about Naruto, hoping, praying that he was safe.

Of course, the same could be said about Tsunade towards Jiraiya's disappearance. It was obvious that his sudden exit from the face of the Earth had been taking a hefty toll on her – emotionally as well as physically. Then the incident with Orochimaru, and the elder's inconsistent prattling about how incompetent she was didn't help. The once radiant Hokage was slowly descending into a shell of her former self. Jiraiya would often leave the village for periods of time beforehand, sometimes ever longer than this. Despite that, there was always word from or about him. But, all of a sudden, he was gone. Along with Naruto.

Naruto… You better still be out there somewhere, alive and well… Or… Or else… I don't know what I'll d-

Sakura stopped herself. What was she saying? Yeah, Naruto was her teammate, her comrade but… it ended there, right? It might even be a bit of a stretch to call them friends, let alone a reason to keep her up at night, clouds of worry drifting within her mind. But…

Once again, the living personification of a cherry blossom was brought back into reality by Tsunade's voice.

"An informant presented himself at the gates of Konoha last night. He said he was with both Jiraiya and Naruto only 3 months ago. He had been training Naruto. Then, two of Akatsuki attacked Naruto then. Both Naruto and Jiraiya fled the scene unharmed, and our informant managed to exterminate one of them, Kisame Hoshigaki. Unfortunately the other," Tsunade directed her attention to Sasuke, "Itachi Uchiha, managed to get away."

The change in Sasuke's demeanor was obvious. Suddenly his body tensed up, and the flash of rage that was conjured up inside of him could be felt. Sakura shot him a sympathetic glance, while Kakashi put a hand on the ANBU's shoulder, both comforting and restraining him from exploded out the room. Tsunade cleared her throat.

"More importantly, it appears as if the Akatsuki believe that Naruto has returned to Konoha. They believe we are secretly harboring him. As much I wish that were true, it isn't. However, according to our source, the Akatsuki are assured of this. They may attempt to make a move against us. Soon, too."

Kakashi spoke up.

"Alright, Hokage-sama, but you mentioned a mission. What exactly do you want us to do?"

"Well, currently, I can't give you an 'official' mission. The elders wouldn't hear of it. However, I trust you three. I'm giving you an unofficial mission, if you will. Just keep your eyes peeled. If you notice anything, report to me immediately. That's all. You're dismissed."

"Um, Tsunade-shishou, if you don't mind me asking, who exactly is this informant? I'd like to speak to him about Naruto…"

"Well, his name is Kille-"

The door was thrown open, and an extremely muscular and dark-skinned man entered the room, walking with an apparent arrogant swagger in his step. He wore a simple flak jacket, with three swords strapped to his back, two of them regular old swords, the other a monstrous sword completely wrapped in bandages. His headband showed off the symbol of Kumo, the village hidden in the clouds.

"YO! What's good fool; it's me, the main bull!"

A collective sweat-drop was shared between everyone else in the room.

"Please don't tell me…"

"I'm afraid so," Tsunade said with a sigh.

Sakura shook her head, almost in disbelieve that this idiot managed to kill Kisame Hoshigaki, former member of the renown Seven Swordsman of the Mist, member of Akatsuki, the tailless tailed beast.

"Um, excuse me, sir, I'd like to ask you something about Naru-"

"WHOA, little mama, the name's Killer B-sama."

Suppressing a sigh, Sakura continued. "Alright, Killer B-sama, you were with Naruto not so long ago… right?" The pink-headed girl timidly rushed the words out. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her concern.

Thankfully, Killer B only nodded, saving all of their ears from the horrid rap ballads he would of spit.

"Was he… alright?"

"Naruto, eh? That boy will live to see another day." He paused, and his voice slipped out of his casual rapping tone. "You must be Sakura. Naruto spoke often about you, and some other boy, Sasuke. Although, I must admit, from the way he talked about you, I certainly thought you wouldn't have such a, um, modest chest." Once again, everyone sweat-dropped at the comment. Tsunade looked torn between bemusement and anger at the fact that Jiraiya's perverted ways apparently transferred into Naruto. Kakashi chuckled slightly. And of course, Sasuke reminded as passive as ever. A faint tinge of pink could be seen on the kunoichi's face at the mention of Naruto remembering and talking about her in such a manner. However, that feeling was quickly overturned by the second part of the comment. In a flurry of rage, she drove her fist into Killer B's head. Hard.

"Damn, well, you're certainly as feisty as he portrayed you to be ;-)."

Everyone in the room just stared at B with dead eyes. The Jinchuriki awkwardly cleared his throat.

"And you," he nodded towards Kakashi, "must be that Hatake fellow. I've heard many things about you. You taught Naruto well, he's an excellent young man. But don't worry – he's strong. Stronger than me, and maybe even Jiraiya."

Everyone looked at the eight-tails Jinchuriki in awe. Stronger than Jiraiya? One the legendary Sannin? The Toad Sage? Naruto… What exactly have you been doing over the past four years?

Shortly after his last comment, Killer B excused himself. He was going to stick around for a while to see if Naruto and Jiraiya would return. If not, he figured he might as well be of some help to Konoha. He owed that much to Naruto, he said.

After his departure, Sakura asked "Who exactly is that guy?"

Tsunade looked at her. "Simply put, he is the eight-tails Jinchuriki. He's considered the 'perfect' Jinchuriki, as he has full control over the Hachibi. We should be extremely grateful he's here, as he's probably as strong as or stronger than our finest shinobi. That should be apparent, considering how he killed that Kisame fellow without suffering too much damage. His left arm was supposedly beaten up pretty badly, but his healing abilities took care of that quite nicely. B's arrogant as well. When he said Naruto's surpassed him, well, it's true."

Kakashi and Sakura exchanged interested glances, surprised to see how vast Naruto's development was being played off as over the course of four years. Well, it shouldn't really be that surprising. Even before he left, Naruto was constantly growing stronger and stronger… Plus, both Sasuke and I have advanced leaps and bounds over the past four years too. But to surpass the 'perfect Jinchuriki' and Jiraiya-sama… Sakura couldn't help but marvel at that fact.

Sasuke, however, stood rigid. Despite staying in Konoha, he only did it to proof to himself that he didn't need anyone's help to kill Itachi. He could care less about Konoha, or his comrades. Kakashi meant a bit to him, but any bond present was miniscule at best. The same could be said about himself and Sakura. But if Naruto was really as powerful as he was said to be, it would seem as if Sasuke was once again left in Naruto's ever expanding shadow.

Sakura seemed aware of this feeling inside Sasuke, and wanted to go over there and comfort him. She knew, however, it would just make him mad and he would storm out of Tsunade's office. Despite everything that happened between them, Sakura couldn't help but still feel something for Sasuke. After all the perils they've faced together, how they've grown together, his ominous 'thank you' the day he tried to leave behind Konoha – and her – forever, her heart still accelerated when she saw him, she grew nervous in the presence of his aloof and cool demeanor, she still loved him. At least she thought she did. What exactly was love? Yes, she wanted to impress him, to get him to notice her. To think of her as an equal, a comrade, an adversary. He was unquestionable attractive, so of course she was at drawn to him physically. She cared for him too, but… to what extent? Sakura herself didn't even know.

Even with all of these feelings of warmth, there was still that dark, brooding side of Sasuke that was becoming more and more of a consistency in him. All he did was train, trying to hone his skills. When he wasn't training, he was either out on missions or trying to scrap together any available information on Akatsuki – specifically Itachi. Slowly but surely, Sasuke's want, neigh, need to extract his revenge was taking over his actions, motives, and thoughts. It was consuming his entire being, and it was freighting. But still, there were those lingering feelings of, well, Sakura wasn't quite sure what they were of. But they were present nonetheless.

Tsunade again reminded them to come straight to her if they saw anything odd, then sent them out of her office. Kakashi said some abrupt goodbyes, and then vanished in a puff of smoke. Sakura stood there alone with Sasuke, who was fully garbed in his ANBU gear. Sasuke slowly started to walk off. Welp, here goes nothing…

"Sasuke!"

The masked figure turned around, facing Sakura. He just stood there, relaxed, waiting for her to continue.

"I- I was thinking, maybe we could get something to eat later, or sometime, anytime's really fine with me, just whenever you're free-"

Sasuke cut off her flustered rambling with a curt murmur of confirmation. This caught Sakura off guard. She was fully expecting to be turned down by him. Somewhat taken back, Sakura stammered out a quick okay, and then asked him if tonight around seven was fine. He nodded, then fluidly turned his heel and marched off in the other direction. Sakura sat there, unsure of what to do next. It was early, and she didn't have much else to do. She figured she might as well spend some time training.

That morning when Naruto returned with Sasuke, Sakura had meant every word that she said. Over the past four years, Tsunade took her on as an apprentice. Due to Sakura's abnormal precision with chakra control, she made a top-tier healer. Also, she could use that accurate chakra distribution to significantly increase the force of her hits by just the right amount. She had really blossomed into a strong ninja. As she sped off towards a training ground, her head was filled with thoughts of how things certainly had changed since the day Naruto had left.


The sun beat down mercilessly. The ground was blanketed in the gentle touch of fallen leaves. They crunched slightly under the faint weight of the woman who was knelt over, catching her breath. Sweat glistened on her face. She slowly brought the entirety of her body down onto the blanket of leaves, breathing heavily. Glancing up into the sky, she could tell it was probably somewhere around 5, 5:30. She laid there for a few more moments, before apathetically getting up. She trudged home, and quickly hopped into the shower. She let the warm water grasp at her body, flowing down every curve of her porcelain skin. She stepped out of the steamy caress of the shower, free of all the grime and sweat she accumulated whilst training.

Grabbing a towel off the rack in her bathroom, Sakura threw it around herself, drying the excess water that dawdled on her body. After freshening up a bit more, the kunoichi threw on some casual clothing, which consisted of a blue skirt, a light yellow undershirt, and a regular red shirt which was placed over the yellow one. She put on nothing to embellish her hair, leaving the moderately short pink bundle hanging down naturally. She then sat down on her bed, just reveling in the peaceful silence of the moment. The pinkette let the time fly by. It was nearly seven before slipping on some black boots and making her way to the apartment where Sasuke took residence. She knocked on the door.

A noise could be heard from inside, and quickly the door snapped open. Sasuke appeared in the threshold of the doorway, adorning a deep navy shirt, mundane black jeans, and a pair of black shinobi boots, quite similar to Sakura's. On the back of his shirt was the crest of the Uchiha.

The two remnants of Team 7 walked side by side in silence, Sakura awkwardly fiddling her hands, Sasuke strolling with his hands sunk deep into his pant pockets. A silence fell over them. Sakura didn't quite know what to say, how to strike up a conversation with the dark boy next to her. Sasuke just stared up 0into the clouded sky, seeming completely unbothered by the orb of stillness that had emerged around them.

"Sasuke, so, where do you want to go?"

Sasuke just said that, not even looking at her. He murmured something quietly, and Sakura thought she heard a "Wherever, it doesn't really matter". Deciding to just suffice with that answer instead of begging the question, she quickly made up her mind on where they were going.

"Ichiraku's it is then."

At the selection of the place, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. He spoke up.

"Hm, I didn't know you were a fan of ramen."

"Huh? Oh, I'm not. I just thought, we never really get together like this, you and me. It reminds me of the old days… We might as well commemorate Naruto in some sense. After all, he was an important part of Team Seven."

Sasuke scoffed at the notion of Naruto. Sure, that idiot might be improving, but he was probably still a dead-last loser. Hell, he was probably dead considering Itachi was after him. Itachi was stronger than Sasuke himself, so there was no way Naruto could avoid him for long, let alone touch him at all if they got into an altercation.

"But don't worry – he's strong. Stronger than me, and maybe even Jiraiya."

Killer B's words rang in Sasuke's head. No, there's no way Naruto could be stronger than Jiraiya… I've heard the stories – Jiraiya's probably on the same level as Itachi – if not higher than that level. That Jinchuriki freak B must have been over playing Naruto, feeling the need to defend a fellow monster.

Despite these reassuring thoughts, Sasuke couldn't help but have an untamed rage fester up instead of him. Naruto had bested him, dragged him back to Konoha, then left without a word. Sasuke had appeared an afterthought to the blonde-haired shinobi. The simple wordless departure seemed endlessly arrogant to Sasuke, and left a deep-seated anger within him.

The pair made their way to the newly-constructed ramen shack. Ever since the attacks done by Orochimaru, most of the village had to be re-built. Ichiraku's was no exception. The original restaurant had been torn down in the onslaught, but the new Ichiraku's looked much better. It was larger, brighter, and the business was booming. It seemed as if despite all of the tragedies that were thrown their way, everyone kept to it, and didn't let things trudge down on them too much.

Sakura and Sasuke ducked into the restaurant. They were greeted by an over exultant Ayame. She was the daughter of Teuchi, the shop's owner.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke-kun! To what do you owe your rare visit? We ever so scarcely see you two alone, let alone together, since Naruto left! It's so nice to have you guys here. Anyways, what can I get you guys?"

The both ordered and Ayame scurried off to the kitchen, leaving the two teammates to their own devices. They both sat there silently, occasionally sipping on the water that had been placed in front of them. Sakura was the one who finally broke the silence.

"Sasuke-kun, why did you agree to, well, go out with me like this? It's evident you don't have anything to say and are hardly enjoying yourself, so why?"

Sasuke stared at her for a minute. He seemed to be sizing her up. He looked somewhat hesitant to answer, but finally did.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

Sakura peered at him, perplexed.

"About what?"

"If the Akatsuki come here in a futile attempt to capture that… dobe Naruto, I don't want you to be out there fighting them."

"What the hell do you mean, Sasuke? We never talk, never interact, and you're sitting here telling me what the fuck I should do? " Sakura was fuming was a sudden outburst of annoyance.

"Tsunade will put us on a team together, probably with Kakashi too. Kakashi and I are more than enough to take care of anything in our way; you'd be more useful healing anyone who could potentially be injured."

"Sasuke… this isn't some petty group of bandits, this is a culmination of the world's strongest, most dangerous shinobi! Kakashi-sensei would have trouble one-on-one with any of them, Sasuke-kun. I don't care how strong you've gotten, you aren't on that level."

Sasuke glared at her. Is she saying I'm weaker than Itachi? Tch. She's just an idiot anyways.

"Whatever, just don't stray into the battlefield. You'd just get in the way. I don't want to be assigned to the position of baby-sitting you when he could be out there."

"Sasuke, you're really an idiot. I trained under Tsunade, our Hokage, a Sannin, for four years. Even though it may not be apparent, I'm not the same helpless little girl I use to be."

Her voice was tight, coiled with exasperation. It came out in a light sigh. Even after all that's happened, Sasuke was still the same ignorant little kid.

"Hn. Just don't get in my way."

That being said, Sasuke walked out of the ramen outlet in a detached manner. Sakura angrily threw some money down on the table, and then stormed out of Ichiraku's. She aimlessly wandered around the confines of the village for some time. Settling down on a bench, Sakura stared up at the boundless sea of stars in the night sky. Gazing up at the serene scene, her rage couldn't help but alleviate some. Sasuke made her so mad – he was childish, arrogant, cool, attract- No, no, bad Sakura! Sasuke's not a good guy, he's someone who just disregards anyone who gets in his way, he's someone who is so concerned with his own ambitions that he puts everything as a second priority to it, he's someone…. I-I love…

Then, all of a sudden, there was an explosion, followed up by several screams. They were cut short.

"Shit, don't tell me…"

Sakura's words were cut off as two figures, each adorning a cloak of black, with several red clouds placed on it, ran up beside the bench.