I is feeling good today! The puppy didn't wake me up at an ungodly hour and I was actually able to sleep in a lil! YES! Amazing day! So here's an... amazing chapter? Lets hope! ^.^

Ohs! In case their ages are needed, imma explain! Naruto left for 2 years, making him 2 years older, right? Then all of the stuff with trying to rescue Sasuke (in my opinion) took a year. Then he leaves again for little over a year. Meaning Naruto is about 16 or 17 now.

And one more thing! Thank thank THANK YOU for all of the lovely reviews!! They made me smile! ^^

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What everybody saw wasn't exactly what they were expecting. Running down the street was a man, wearing black baggy pants and a big dark green shirt. He seemed determined to get away from whatever it was that was chasing him. He had dark brown hair, that almost looked black, and it was semi-curly. On his face he bore a scar, which was located on his right cheek.

Naruto looked at everyone and they all seemed to be confused by this oncoming man. He couldn't believe that was Sakura, but hey! If he knew Sakura had changed into that, he too would've kept it to himself.

"S-Sakura?" he said quietly, trying to see if anyone would answer him. He looked at Shikamaru who gave him a dirty look and scoffed at him. Naruto raised an eyebrow, not sure why he did that.

Naruto looked back at the running man, and noticed another person was behind him. This male was dressed exactly like the first man, except this one had... pink hair?!

"Sakura?!" Naruto shouted at that man. Choji dropped his bag of chips and gave him a serious, annoyed, and yet funny look. Naruto shifted his weight to his other foot, trying to get away from Choji's gaze. "W-what did I say?" he asked timidly.

"What did you say?! What did you say!!? You think that's Sakura?! Of course not!" Choji shouted, almost amused. He picked his chips back up, gave Naruto a slight glare, and went back to eating.

Naruto stood there like a statue. If that wasn't Sakura, then who was? Of course he thought Sakura changing into a man sounded extremely weird, but who was he to judge? He eventually gained control of his body again and looked back at the men. They were getting closer, but it was still impossible to see the person who was chasing them.

Naruto moved forward, wanting to tackle them and ask them questions, but Shikamaru walked in front of him and stopped his movement. "No Naruto," he said lazily. Shikamaru looked at him, with a bored expression, started to walk behind Naruto, but then stopped. "Naruto, you might want to move out of the way," he said. Naruto turned around and raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru shrugged, and he and Choji walked farther back toward the exit of the village hidden in the leaves.

Naruto turned back around just in time to see one of the men standing right in front of him. The man gave Naruto a confused look. Naruto moved back a couple of feet, and that made the man even more confused. The pank haired man was still running but turned around to see someone almost catching up to him. "Look out!" the pink haired man shouted at his companion. The dark brown haired man turned around, just in time to see a pink haired woman punch him in the head. He went flying way to the left of everyone and landed with a loud 'boom!'.

Naruto went to see the pink haired woman's face, but she was facing the opposite direction. The pink haired man lowered his brows and decided to fight the woman. He knew there was no way he could get past her, but there was a possibility that he could fight her and win. He pulled back his arm, getting ready for a punch, but the woman quickly rushed up to him, pulled back her right arm with ease, and punched him. He, like his companion, went flying to the right this time.

The pink haired woman relaxed her fighting position but still stayed facing the opposite direction. Naruto moved closer to her, looking her up and down. She was wearing a skirt like Sakura used to, except this one was way shorter. It was well above her knees, but she had black leggings underneath. They only covered her upper thigh, revealing her long legs. Sakura's headband was located on her head, but this girl's headband was located on her lower ankle.

The woman lowered her arms and took in a deep breath. Her arms were covered in bandages but she wasn't hurt. She wore black gloves to match her black leggings. Her hair was longer, but not by much. Her dark pink shirt covered half of her back, revealing the back and front of her stomach.

All in all, her outfit was very tight on her, leaving very little to the imagination, but it wasn't nearly as bad as most people's clothes.

With all of this information, including the fact that she punched the men extremely hard, Naruto knew this must be Sakura. As far as he could tell she looked the same. She even fought the same. So how has she changed?

Naruto moved closer to her, his arm extended to reach out and touch her. "Sakura..." he calmly said, trying to get her attention.

"Naruto. That's not a good idea," Shikamaru tried warning him but to no avail. Naruto started to grin slightly as he moved closer to her, but in one quick movement, he was on the ground, outside of Konoha. He started rubbing his stomach, and stood up. He slowly walked back into Konoha and looked at everyone.

Sasuke was the only one who didn't look away from the woman. The red haired girl was smiling madly, and the white haired man was laughing. Naruto gave them a dirty look, feeling embarrassed, and walked up to Shikamaru.

"What was that all about?!" Naruto said, looking at him.

"I warned you," Shikamaru replied, grinning. He motioned Naruto to look back at her, and Naruto listened.

There she was. Her pink hair a little messy from the running and punching. Her leg was being lowered, meaning she punched Naruto hard in the stomach. He hands were fisted, but as she lowered her leg, she moved her arms down and unclenched her fists.

Her green eyes were ever the same except they were missing something. They used to twinkle when she was around the people she loved. They used to be filled with fun, happiness, love, adventure and enjoyment. But these green eyes had nothing like that. They looked empty. It was hard to read her.

Her expression didn't give away much either. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't angry looking. Her face was totally blank. An emotionless doll. Something about this look was giving Naruto the creeps. He quickly avoided her gaze and looked back at Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't glance at Naruto, but he knew what Naruto was seeking. He slightly nodded, and Naruto balled his fists.

"Sakura.. What... happened to you?" he said, looking down. His fists were shaking at his sides.

Sakura turned away, not replying. She was looking up and down the street, waiting for something or someone. She didn't even seem to acknowledge the fact that she just kicked one of her best friends. She didn't even care. Naruto looked up, biting down on his lip. He noticed she was getting ready to fight again, and he assumed it was with him. He got into a fighting stance too, but Shikamaru placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Choji placed his hand on the other side.

Naruto relaxed and looked at both of them. Choji shrugged and Shikamaru shook his head. Naruto gave him a confused look, but turned his head to face Sakura again. She was balling up her right fist again, and started running away from everyone. She was looking up, but at what, Naruto wasn't sure.

He glanced up and saw a man up in the air. "What?!" Naruto shouted. The man was falling down, so he could only assume that he leapt into the air, trying to avoid Sakura's attack. Naruto quickly looked back at Sakura, who was now running up one of the nearby buildings.

Once she reached the top of the building, she pushed off with her chakra infused feet, and pulled her arm back. She reached the man, who was trying to shield himself. She punched him hard into the stomach and he went crashing down into the ground, causing smoke to cloud around them in an instant. It quickly cleared away, and everyone saw Sakura landed lightly on her feet.

She didn't look at anyone, despite feeling everyone's gaze on her. She looked down at the man who was now unconscious. Her mouth pulled up into a slight grin, but not a full one. She turned on her heel, and started walking away.

Naruto got out of Shikamaru and Choji's grasp, and rushed up to her. Shikamaru knew what was going to happen, and surprisingly he didn't want Naruto to get hurt. Not sure why, but he didn't. He used his Shadow Possession Jutsu on Naruto, and Naruto instantly stopped walking. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Naruto shouted. At first he wasn't sure what was going on. He thought maybe he was asleep, and everything that had happened was just a dream. Then he thought maybe Sakura knocked him out with her kick. Once he looked down though, he noticed a thick shadow was underneath him, stopping his movement.

"I'm stopping you from doing something stupid. Again," Shikamaru said, walking backwards, making Naruto walk backwards, too.

"Come on!" Naruto growled. He was struggling with trying to get away. Of course it didn't work, but Naruto was still determined.

"Hey. Knock it off, Naruto," Shikamaru said, getting fully annoyed of the blond kid. He let go of the Shadow Possession on Naruto, just as Choji wrapped his arms around Naruto. Naruto tried fighting Choji off, but it was impossible.

"Just calm down," Choji growled at Naruto. He didn't like having to keep such a tight hold on the kid, but Naruto just didn't learn from his mistakes, did he?

"Let me go! I want to talk to Sakura!" Naruto shouted, still fighting Choji. If he kept struggling, he might be able to get away. He was determined to talk to Sakura. He didn't want to see her get away, but with each passing second, it was proving to be more difficult for him. He closed his eyes and bit down on his lower lip, trying his best to gather all of his strength in order to get free.

He could feel Choji was starting to lose his grip but the moment Choji should've let go, somebody placed their finger on Naruto's head. He quickly opened up his eyes to see a masked man staring back at him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted happily, forgetting he was being held against his will.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask, and pulled his finger back. He put his hand in the air, and calmly replied with a "yo".

Naruto smiled but then when he went to move, he remembered Choji's hold. Kakashi nodded toward Choji, and he let go of Naruto. Naruto, not expecting this, fell to the ground with a light 'thud'. He quickly stood up and started rubbing his butt.

"So, Naruto, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out trying to rescue someone?" Kakashi said calmly, looking at Naruto with intense eyes.

Naruto gave Kakashi a weird look but quickly replaced it with a big smile. "Yeah. And here he is," he said, turning, and pointing back at Sasuke.

Kakashi turned his gaze onto Sasuke. Sasuke stood his ground, showing no emotion. He looked tired, and Kakashi was aware that Sasuke didn't want to be there. The way Sasuke was standing just proved that he hated Konoha. Why though, Kakashi was unsure. He gazed at Sasuke for a moment longer, but quickly returned his gaze back at Naruto. Naruto looked put-off. He didn't like the way Sasuke was just standing there, acting so cool.

"Hey! Why don't you say something?" Naruto glared at Sasuke. Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn't looking at him. He was staring past Naruto, and at Sakura. Naruto didn't like the fact that Sasuke was giving Sakura attention, despite the fact that she was far away from them. Naruto balled up his fist, and ran toward Sasuke. He leapt onto Sasuke, who still refused to look at him.

Just as Naruto was about to punch him, Kakashi pulled his arm back, and pulled him down to the ground. "Calm down, Naruto. You just returned. You have people you should be saying hello to," Kakashi calmly said, moving his gaze from Naruto to Sasuke. Sasuke finally looked away from Sakura, and glared at Naruto with pure distaste. Kakashi sighed, and let go of Naruto.

Naruto stood back up. He glared at Sasuke for a moment, and then looked back at Kakashi. The only thing he could see, other than Kakashi, was a little pink head walking away. "Sakura!" he shouted, remembering why he wanted to get away from everyone.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and turned around to see her. He looked around, now noticing the people knocked out. He chuckled a bit and started walking away.

"Kakashi-sensei! Where are you going?" Naruto said, staring at Kakashi's back. Naruto ran over to his side, and looked up at him questionably. Kakashi warmly looked down at him and pointed at Sakura. Naruto tilted his head, not really sure why Kakashi was acting a little different.

Kakashi waved goodbye, and a second later he was standing in front of Sakura. Naruto stood there in disbelief. Why was it that Kakashi is allowed to talk to Sakura, but he wasn't? They were still teammates! Team seven still existed, seeing as all of its previous members are now back in the same place. Naruto started running toward them, but again, Shikamaru and Choji got in his way.

"Again?! Why can't I talk to her? Why can't I at least see her?!" he shouted, getting extremely frustrated with the two men. Choji quickly glanced at Shikamaru, who was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Not now, Naruto. You can talk to her later," Shikamaru said, staring at Naruto with a plain look.

"Why not now?" Naruto shouted again, starting to shake. He just couldn't understand this! He told Sakura he would bring Sasuke back for her. He promised her. And he just finally fulfilled the promise. He was so excited. He wanted to tell Sakura so badly. To see the look on her face. To see her smile. Her warm, loving smile. He imagined the day he would tell her. She would smile, start crying probably, and then possibly even kiss him! Maybe not on the lips or anything, but possibly on the cheek. He wanted that to happen so badly. But no. Now he's not even allowed to talk to Sakura. Not talking to her just wasn't right. She was his best friend. Now. And forever. It would be impossible to separate them. Now that Sasuke's back, they would be the unstoppable three! Nothing would be able to break their bond. But the way Sakura is...

It's as if Sakura had become Sasuke! She seems cold now. While fighting she didn't even flinch. She didn't seem to have a single thought. Her main goal was to finish them off, not caring about anybody who could or would possibly get in her way. All that mattered was finishing the mission. But that was also what separated Sakura from Sasuke. Back when they were fighting Zabuza, Sasuke's main goal was to finish the mission, but he still saved his teammates, multiple times.

Now, Naruto wasn't too sure if Sasuke would even think about saving them. But still. This is Sakura! She always tried her best to protect those she loved. But now... this Sakura doesn't even seem capable of loving anyone, or anything! There was something wrong, and Naruto wanted to know what it was. What happened to her.

Naruto stopped shaking, and he looked at Choji and then back at Shikamaru. "What happened to her? What made her become like Sasuke?"

Hearing his name, Sasuke glared back at Naruto. He had been preoccupied with watching his old sensei and his old teammate exchanging words. She never once changed her expression. She plainly told him what happened and they both walked off. Assuming they went to see the Hokage, to tell her what happened, he had finally returned his attention back to the blond kid. The moment he started paying attention, was the moment he heard Naruto talk down about him. How dare he compare him to that pink haired woman. He was nothing like her. He was nothing like anyone. He was an Uchiha. A unique person. Sasuke made note of this moment and vowed that when he was fully healed, he'd kick Naruto's ass for that remark.

"Naruto, I don't think we should be the ones to say..." Choji said quietly, after a long pause. He was avoiding Naruto's gaze, knowing if he they connected eyes, Naruto would start yelling.

"But... somebody needs to tell me! You two aren't letting me near Sakura, so she can't tell me. Kakashi-sensei will probably change the subject! The Hokage will say it's none of my business... well somebody needs to tell me!" Naruto said, staring at Shikamaru this time.

"Naruto.. Just understand one thing. Ok?" Shikamaru said slowly. Choji glanced at him, not knowing what Shikamaru was going to say.

Naruto calmly nodded, and relaxed his composure.

"The only thing I can tell you..." he took a pause, making sure Naruto was paying full attention. "You, your sensei, and Sasuke each have a major thing in common with Sakura," he said, hoping to have finished the conversation.

Naruto shook his head, not understanding still. One thing in common? They're all apart of team seven... but they've had that in common for a while now. They're not the same age. They're not the same height. They don't have the same hair color or eye color... so what could it be?!

Shikamaru could see the confusion on Naruto's face and he sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, was it? Shikamaru opened up his mouth to say something, until he felt the presence of somebody else.

"Let me say it... I was one of the few people who saw her before it happened," a girl said quietly. Ino walked up to the group, with her arms crossed, looking down. Worry was all over her face, but she knew Naruto needed to know some of the story. She quickly looked at Shikamaru and he nodded his head. Ino looked up at Naruto, and finished the conversation with a few small words. "Her parents are dead, too."


Time to end another chapter! Yesssss. Poor Sakura. So angry. So alone. Oh wells, it'll be up to her friends to save her from her misery. Lets see if it's possible! After all, look at how Sasuke turned out! Mmhmm! Not too good.

Oh! About the Hokage... it's still Tsunade.. She recovered and blah blah blah. So basically, Kakashi isn't Hokage anymore. I have special things planned for him, and if he were to be the Hokage still... it just wouldn't work! He's the only one who would fit the bill.. So yea!

Oh oh oh! And I do have a question... Naruto knows Kakashi was a member of Anbu, right? But does he know what Kakashi's mask looks like? I don't remember this too well, so it would be awesome if anyone could tell me!

Well.. Its time for me to make lunch! Woo!! Ciao!