Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! Thanks so much for the reviews, and don't forget to keep at it haha! I need your feedback!

I'm really sorry for the lack of ItaSaku so far, but we're getting there! Don't fret heehee! Next chapter will be all about it.

-Alice


She'd always enjoyed showers. They always made her feel calmer, always less scared of everything. Just better. Showers are always there, but people sometimes aren't. Which was… a strange thing to think, but it got her going along and along.

She got out and looked around her newly furnished apartment. She was so glad to move out of her parents' house. She was always sort of jealous of Naruto having such freedom. Again, a sort of strange thought to think about.

An obvious disadvantage to living alone was probably that she'd have to go and get her own toilet papers, and shampoo, and food, and all these other things. She laughed at these thoughts, thinking that she'd get along quite well.

She grabbed a hairbrush, and with her towel, she threw herself on the bed, facing upwards towards the ceiling, and began brushing her hair. It was a peaceful day, blue sky, spring was coming along pretty well, birds were singing. Sakura smiled, things were getting better, she was happy for that.

Then she remembered the man with the Sharingan. Instantly her smile faded and her hand stopped brushing her pink locks. Who was he? And why did he say that?

"Wait! Where are you going? You can't just go- Who are you? I still-"

He turned around again and there was a strong silence. Then he said something that terrified her completely;

"Don't worryKunoichi, we'll be seeing each other soon, very soon."

She'd been thinking a lot about this. She'd come to several conclusions, but none of them seemed to be right.

First, she thought it was Sasuke (of course). But then she thought about how the voice was deeper, hoarser. But then, she hadn't seen him for seven years, so she couldn't know. But the man also acted strangely, would Sasuke act like that towards her if they bumped into each other? Sakura was sure that the man knew that Naruto was there, as well as Shikamaru. If he knew they were Leaf Ninjas then he could easily know about the two others upstairs.

So it was irrational and far too hopeful to think that it was Sasuke.

Then she went on to Madara Uchiha. That thought gave her shivers up her spine and made her hairs stand on their ends. No, it wasn't possible. Or was it? It might have been possible, he is known to act a bit enigmatically, and to play mind-games with people, and just- ugh. No.

Then she thought about, Itachi Uchiha. Well that… that was impossible. He's dead. Long gone.

Was there some other Uchiha nobody knows about? Someone who Itachi might have missed out when completely went insane and killed his whole family?

No, that's a bit irrational too.

Sakura stared at the ceiling, feeling hopeless. Maybe she imagined it, dreamed it. When she woke up, she was in the hotel room. But, the man could have easily knocked her out, and left her there? Was that possible?

"Ughhhh!" she groaned and turned over, stuffing her face into a pillow. What did she get herself into? But, anyway, why was she thinking so much about it? It was obviously not important. At all and she dreamed it up too, most likely.

Yes. Yes, that must be it.

With that comforting thought, she got up, put on some black shorts and a mini-kimono red shirt, and went out to walk around Konoha.

First thing she did, was realize that she was hungry. Her fridge was empty and she decided she'd go to a shop or a market after she'd eaten. So with that, she began to walk towards Konoha's favorite Ramen shop.

She sat down and ordered her favorite ramen with eggs and different spices that she loved. She stared at the menu pointlessly while she waited. After learning it by heart she looked around again. Finally it arrived, and grabbing a pair of chopsticks, she began to say, "Itadakima-"

"Sakura-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" a loud voice called out.

She jumped in her seat and almost spilled the soup on herself. Angrily turning around, she wanted to punch Naruto in the face. But, one look at the happy blonde's face, she instantly softened up.

What's with me?

"Hey Naruto," she greeted him.

"Wasting your money on ramen? Should I guide you to the grocery shop or something maybe? Have you found it or are you lost?" he asked her, smiling. Sakura laughed and shook her head, eating some noodles.

"No I'm planning to go after maybe," she said.

"Oh! I can come with you! I need to get some stuff myself!" Naruto said, and ordered a ramen too. His seemed to come faster than Sakura's had done previously. She narrowed her eyes at the chef who look away nervously. Personal preference eh, ohho.

They ate and talked about nothing. After having shopped for food (Sakura forcing Naruto to get healthy foods), they walked towards Sakura's apartment, him carrying half of her things. It was a nice evening, warm with the wind slightly blowing. They were totally silent, before Sakura decided to ask a sensitive question.

"Na-Naruto," she began.

"Yes Sakura-chan?" he asked, looking at her seriously, hearing her tone.

"You know, I was just thinking, and I was wondering, um," she said, "Would you, if you, if you for instance, saw someone, anyone, that you know," she looked at him, nervously, then seeing the look in his eye, she gained confidence, "If you saw someone you knew very well, or at least," she shrugged slightly, "you thought you did, anyway. If you saw someone like that, who looked familiar, but you haven't seen them in a long long long time, would you recognize them?" she asked, blurting things out very quickly, "And also, what if you didn't? What if you thought you did, but you didn't? Get it?"

She looked at Naruto hopefully, and noticed his eyebrows pulled together, he looked up ahead. He was thinking, and then continued, "Like, like let's say… um… Sasuke-kun, for instance."

Suddenly it seemed to become very, very cold around them. Sakura looked down, and looked at Naruto's hands, they were in a fist. A horrible, white fist.

"I'm-I'm sorry Naruto, forget it-"

"You saw him? Where?" his voice came out gruff, and angry, and so monotone. Not like him, at all.

"I didn't!" she exclaimed looking at him.

"Sakura-chan," he stopped and looked at her, painfully, "Sakura-chan please. He's not the same anymore, you have to realize that. It took me so much time, but I did didn't I? You have –"

"Naruto," she said it more sharply then, "Naruto, I didn't. I didn't see him. Ok? I didn't, I promise."

They stood there like that, complete tension between old friends. It seemed as if forever before Naruto's face softened, and they continued walking along.

They walked in silence until her apartment house. He helped her unload the things into a fridge, and commented on the interior design, saying how she should help him with his place; she laughed. It seemed ok again.

Before he left, he said one thing.

"If it was someone like Sasuke, I think, I… I know I would recognize him right away. It's not something you wish to do, or want to; it's just something you just know. You'd just know, you wouldn't really have doubts about it."

Sakura stared at the floor, wondering, feeling stupid. Then, suddenly, she felt warm arms wrap around her, and they stood like that for a while. His head rested on hers, and he said, "It's alright, ok, it's going to be ok." She nodded and burrowed her head into his chest, little tears falling from her eyes in agony.


That night she lay in bed, thinking and thinking non-stop about what Naruto had said. It made her smile thinking about how empty-headed he can be sometimes, and then just say such intelligent things a minute later.

With those thoughts, she fell asleep and slept quite well. At a point she fell into a dream where she was running from something, she couldn't get away. She looked around, but everything was empty and the room was so vast. She looked down and screamed. Below her a spinning orange floor was pulling her down. In the middle something red gleamed, Sakura screamed again as it took her into it and everything seemed to go white, and then she woke up, breathing heavily, sweating.

"Hey! Hey you, Haruno-san, he-" a voice came from the window.

Sakura froze.

She froze, staring at the opposite wall. Her eyes wide as disks and big white china plates. She reached over towards the side of her bed, under the mattress, where the person in the window wouldn't see. She then grabbed a kunai she always had there and jumped out of her bed and pointed it at the man in the window.

It was an ANBU.

The poor guy yelped, threw his hands up, and fell out of the tree.

Sakura yelped too, instantly feeling guilty. She pulled the window open and peered down, whispering out, "Sorry! Sorry!" she stared for a bit while the man groaned, then, "You- Are you okay? Down there…?"

The man waved a weak, gloved hand at her, motioning he was alright, "Don't worry- I'm-" he attempted to get up, groaning and complaining, "I'm an ANBU, I- I've gone through worse things-heh-"


"You want me to go there, now?" Sakura exclaimed when the Hokage told her of her new mission, which consisted of going to the Lightning Country and acting as a medic.

"Yes! Now! Don't sound so shocked! I can't go, obviously you understand why, and Shizune can't go either because of her business," Tsunade replied, looking through papers and talking to Sakura dismissively.

"I'm- I'm not, it's just, I didn't tell you, but i was think of applying to the ANBU-"

"Wow Sakura, that's great, really," the blonde smiled at her, looking up from her papers finally.

Once she got her attention, Sakura continued, "and also isn't Lighting Country a bit far away and anyway, are we not on the best terms with them-?"

"That doesn't matter! That's all in the past Sakura," Tsunade replied cleverly, looking down at her papers again.

"Also, it's so unexpected, don't you think?"

"No I don't. This isn't your first last-minute mission, is it?"

"No but-" Sakura stopped, and watched the woman shuffle through masses, and masses of papers.

She then spoke slowly, suspicious of the Hokage, "They payed a large sum... didn't they?"

Tsunade glared at her the same way back, "Maybe- but Konoha needs the repairs anyway-and" she paused, and watched the young girl before her, "Sakura, stop it. They need our help and that's all there is to it. Or have you completely forgotten the war?"

Sakura look down then, it was silent. Bringing up the last great ninja war was a bit of a sensitive, quite taboo topic. She thought about the pain and agony and chaos and how horrible it all was, so she merely nodded and bowed a good bye. Before she left, Tsunade stopped her.

"Sakura, I'm sorry," she said, sounding sincere, "Just be safe alright?" Sakura smile and nodded at the woman she had grown so close to. The strangely pink-haired nin left he office, with a small glow on her, a sudden happiness taking over her. She went home and had to be ready in an hour, in wait for the ANBU that would take her to the Lightning country.

As the Hokage waited to be sure that her student left the building, once she was, she picked up a telephone and called the ANBU office in the city, all this time staring at the door.

"This is Hokage speaking," she said, "I've gotten them out-"

"Haruno and Uzumaki?" the voice asked back.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable having been interrupted, she paused, and continued on with a colder voice, "Yes, both of them. Begin transporting the boy, keep him heavily sedated, I want to interrogate him myself," she spoke into the phone.

"Alright but, no disrespect, are you sure this is a good idea? The boy is an S-class missing nin, perhaps even a phsychopath like his brot-"

"Be quiet and don't mention any of those names. Do as you're told," Tsunade snapped and hung up on the phone, instantly angry. How nosy the Tracker-Nins are these days. They seem to take their job, (and themselves) far too seriously.

And anyway, she had worse things to worry about, maybe never being forgiven by the two people she loved the most at that moment.


Sakura locked the apartment door and went outside wearing the Jounin vest she earned a year ago, black shorts and a black short with a green band around her forearm, showing that not only is she a medic, but one of Tsunade's best, having earned herself a name for it as well.

Her hair was up and the metal head-protector was in her bag, she didn't feel like wearing it this time. She waited for the ANBU, but they seemed to be late. She waited for thirty minutes before finally a man appeared in front of the gates. She stood up from the rock she was almost close to dozing of too, and bowed her head slightly to him.

"Haruno Sakura?" the man said in a voice that was quiet familiar to her, but she couldn't place it, yet again.

She nodded and mumbled a yes.

"Alright then we should go, we have a five day journey ahead of us," with that, he turned around and began walking away on the path leading into the forest. Sakura followed him, hating the fact that not only was there a total block between them two, but also that he wore a mask, making situations so much more awkward and difficult for her. Throughout the time they walked, she couldn't help but to recognize the dark ponytail hanging down his back. It looked silky and smooth like a stream and she was just holding herself from reaching over and feeling it. It took might and will and she kept herself away.

They walked the first eight hours in silence.


Yup yup, hope you liked it!

-Alice