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"Don't bother. While you are here in this persona, you will go by Naoto. You will never speak the words Sakura or Naruto while in this persona. It is important that we leave all of our knowledge of the Leaf Village, the others, and the ninja world in general out of our lives here. We can't blow our covers. We're just going to be civilians here. Saya and Naoto."

"Naoto," Naruto repeated, before nodding and saying that sounds good. "Just like the old priestess and counterpart."

"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off, sighing at how he seemed to not be phased as he went to change into the new clothes. Maybe the next few months I'm here won't be too bad with Naruto here.

August 29th

Staring up at the ceiling fan circling around, Sasuke felt himself practically sinking into the bed with how long he had been laying there since waking up an hour earlier. The silence was broken with the alarm going off beside the bed, he reached over to turn it off, and sat up finally. His eyes sweeping around the room that was so familiar to him, but at the same time still seemed foreign. The missing picture frame or belonging of Sakura's still seemed to make the room look incomplete even though over six months have gone by since Sakura left.

His eyes slid over to the other bedside table, where a picture frame laid face down. It had been that way since the day she left. He had returned back to the house to find that was how it was left in the room. She was the one who placed it that way. That thought brought a pang in his chest, and he closed his eyes and took a breath. He couldn't bring himself to touch the frame, as he still couldn't determine what had been going through her mind when she had moved it that way all those months ago.

After another minute, he finally got out of bed, and moved to get dressed for the day. After finishing with his weapons, he took one last look around the room, then he left. Picking up his pace after leaving the house, he took to the roof tops to get across the village faster. Finally he jumped down to the ground, noticeably scaring some of the civilians at his sudden appearance, he just offered a wave and quick apology, before walking inside of a small diner on a corner street. Moving until he was finally seated in a booth that was farthest away from the busier part of the restaurant, his eyes met white ones of Hinata.

"I was wondering if you were going to make it."

"I didn't really want to get up today," Sasuke replied, rubbing his forehead. "Sai and I were sent on a mission, and we didn't get back until last night around two in the morning."

"Well, I ordered your coffee and the usual," Hinata replied, her eyes going to the waitress who had come over to set their coffees down, and she just reached for her cup. "I didn't sleep that much last night either. I don't really have an excuse, other than that I haven't really been sleeping this week. This whole month really."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, as he grabbed his cup of coffee and took a sip. "There was a lot going on this time last year."

Hinata propped her head up with her hand, and sighed as she stirred the sugar into her coffee. "It's been six and a half months since they left. Almost seven."

"Yeah and all we've managed to get out of Tsunade is that they are okay," Sasuke said, his eyes focusing out the window. "I honestly never thought they'd both leave the village… I have to admit that I've been thinking that maybe they won't come back."

"They'll come back. They have to come back."

"If they were going to come back, don't you think they would have already?"

"Not necessarily," Hinata replied, finally getting Sasuke to look back at her. "They've both had experiences of going out of the village for a year or two at a time to get some training done. Sakura with Hana, and Naruto with Jiriya."

Sasuke sighed. "So we're going to have to wait possibly a year or two before they might come back?"

"I hope not." Hinata replied shortly, noting Sasuke's bad mood.

"You know that everyone else is perfectly fine," Sasuke continued, a scowl on his face. "I can't just get over the fact that the love of my life and my best friend are gone. I can't get over that the last thing I said to Sakura gave her the impression that I wished we never got in a relationship together."

"Okay, well your not alone," Hinata shot back, motioning to herself. "I was the one who got in her head about her being a priestess, and how it took over our lives. Don't like it's just you who is suffering."

Sasuke's irritated expression softened, and he brought his hand back to his forehead. "I'm not trying to be negative. It's been a hard few days…Her birthday is tomorrow."

"I know..." Hinata trailed off, her eyes going to the waitress that was bringing their food over. I know we had a hard time last year with Sakura becoming a priestess, but I never realized just how much harder it would be without her or Naruto around.

The Islands, seven p.m.

"Oh kami," Sakura said, looping her arm through Naruto's, as they walked down the street. "This has been the longest day of my entire life."

"Tell me about it," Naruto agreed, his free hand rubbing his forehead. "I've been moving around all day, and all I want to be doing is going to lay down and sleep."

"We're going to go do that," Sakura said, motioning to the restaurant they arrived at. "After we eat."

As they walked into the restaurant, the hostess smiled warmly at them. "Good evening Saya, Naoto. They're over here."

"Thank you." Sakura said, as the followed the hostess over to a big round booth towards the back of the restaurant. Four other people were already seated, and cheerfully greeted Sakura and Naruto as they came over.

"Hey guys." Naruto said reaching over the table to shake hands with the two guys, Kaito and Shou.

"Weren't you supposed to be at work still?" Kaito asked after Naruto shook his hand.

"I got off early," Naruto replied, grinning as he sat back. "I think my boss felt sympathy for me for how sore I was from the run we went on this morning."

Shou and Kaito chuckled, as Shou glanced in the direction of the women at the table. "Where were you ladies during that run? We were supposed to go together."

"We were out on the beach," the red-head woman, Yuri, replied with a smirk. "We were working on our tan. Plus Amu and I were both hungover, so running was out of the option."

Amu, the blonde woman, nodded, as her eyes went to Sakura. "We wish you could have came out with us last night."

Sakura offered a smile. "I would have, but I was pretty tired last night. I took a long bath and drank a lot of wine. So I was also hungover this morning, but not that bad."

"That was only because I had laid out an array of hangover remedies on your bedside table," Naruto said, a grin on his face. "You would have died if I didn't put that stuff out for you."

The others laughed, and Sakura shrugged and waved a hand. "I mean you're probably not wrong."

The waitress appeared at their table. "What can I get you all started with to drink?"

"Beers for the table?" Shou asked, his eyes sweeping around the others to confirm.

"I'll change my beer to one of these jumbo margaritas." Sakura said, pointing at the picture on the menu."

"Oh I second that," Yuri said at the same time Amu said, "Me too."

The waitress laughed and nodded after writing that down. "Alright three beers, and three jumbo margaritas. I'll be right back."

"So, why is this dinner so special again?" Kaito asked, leaning back on the cushioned booth.

"It's our six-month friend-a-versary," Amu reminded, her eyes narrowing at Kaito's raised eyebrow. "You know, from the day we all first met each other-"

"Oh, that's why we are here," Naruto interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck, as he laughed. "I thought it was just for dinner."

Sakura scowled at him. "I told you the exact reason why we were doing this like three times today."

Naruto shrugged, completely dismissing her obvious irritation. "I guess I forgot… Wow, I can't believe it has been six months. Saya and I just randomly felt like going on a boat cruise, and somehow we ended up running into you guys."

"I know," Yuri agreed, eyeing the waitress who had come back with the guys' beers, and said something about being back with the margaritas. "It was fate that we were all seated at the same table."

"I don't know what fate has to do with it," Shou replied, smirking in Sakura's direction, as he picked up his beer and took a sip. "When Saya's crazy ass jumped off the front of the boat, that's what kind of brought us all together."

"So really we have to thank her apparent death wish for our friendship?" Kaito asked with a grin stretched across his face.

Sakura smirked as Kaito and Shou nodded. "I do not have a death wish."

"I think I have to agree with them on this one," Naruto said, this time noticing the irritation on Sakura's face very clearly. "Well, you do dangerous things all the time-"

"Excuse me?" Sakura countered, interrupting him, as her eye twitched. "I have saved your life more time than I could ever count."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't think so."

Before Sakura could say anything back, the waitress brought the girls margaritas back over to the table, and asked for their orders. Once they finished ordering, Amu took a sip of her margarita with her eyes on Sakura and Naruto. "You two have that in common. You both seem like the type to constantly be in constant danger."

Sakura nearly choked on the margarita she had in her mouth, and Naruto grinned at her then back to Amu. "You have no idea on that one."

After the waitress returned with chips and salsa for the table, Yuri clapped her hands together. "Okay, so we need to talk about our plans for tomorrow. Specifically your birthday, Saya."

"Oh no," Sakura shook her head, as she dipped a chip in the salsa. "That is completely unnecessary. We don't have to do anything."

"Saya, it's your eighteenth birthday," Amu said, shaking her head at Sakura's sigh. "We're going to have a huge celebration."

"Yeah, you only turn eighteen once." Kaito pointed out.

Shou shrugged, and leaned over towards Sakura. "Amu and Yuri probably won't give up on this, so you might as well agree, and suffer in silence."

"Excuse me, she will not be suffering on her birthday, she'll be having fun at her party." Amu said, glaring daggers at Shou.

Sakura, once again, shook her head, and tried to focus down on the chips and salsa. "I'm serious. We don't need to make it into a whole big thing. I'd rather just do nothing."

"We are not going to let you spend your birthday by yourself," Yuri said, smiling and waving her hand. "But, to be somewhat respectful of what you want, we'll keep the guest list under fifty people."

At the look of Sakura about to disagree again, Naruto nudged her shoulder. "I think we can all agree to keep the party small, then we'll make sure you have enough tequila so you'll forget all about it by the next day."

That made the others laugh, and even brought a smirk from Sakura. "Okay fine, I will agree to a small get together." While that was enough to get the girls distracted talking about party plans, Sakura's eyes fell onto the chips and salsa again. Last year the entire month leading up to my birthday was a mess, and it kind of tainted the whole enjoying my birthday thing. Feeling pressure on her shoulder, Sakura's eyes slid over to see Naruto looking at her. She could tell from the concerned look in his eyes that he must have picked up on her mood shift. She just offered him a small smile, then straightened up and took a sip from her margarita. "Okay, let's hold off on talking about the party I'm going to be attending against my will, and let's talk more about how everyone else's days were."

"I'll start," Naruto said, taking the subject change before the others could disagree. "My day was the longest and most stressful day of my life."

Later that night

Walking inside after Naruto, Sakura shut the front door and locked it. The sound of Naruto's cheerful whistling hit her ears, and she sighed heavily before turning around and going to sit at the island bar in the kitchen. She watched as Naruto was putting their leftovers in the refrigerator, and frowned at his cheerfulness.

Naruto's whistling came to a stop once he turned to Sakura. Moving to the opposite side of the island bar she was sitting at. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really..."

"Look Sakura," Naruto started, ignoring her words. "We don't have to go to that party tomorrow if you don't really want to. I can tell our friends that you're sick or something. I am sure they will understand."

Contemplating it for a moment, Sakura finally sighed and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'll suck it up… Anyway, how about we get in our pajamas and watch a movie? I don't feel like training tonight. I think that margarita as a lot more tequila than I anticipated."

"That sounds good to me." Naruto agreed, already starting in a jog over to the stairs.

With much less enthusiasm, Sakura got up and went upstairs to her room. Mindlessly going through the process of changing into her pajamas and washing her makeup off, Sakura finally came to focus in on her reflection in the mirror above her sink. Staring at emerald surrounded by the foreign blonde hair where pink used to be. Taking a deep breath, she turned away from the mirror, pulled her hair up into a bun, and left to go back downstairs.

"I made popcorn since you were taking so long." Was the first thing Naruto said to her, as he was just now settling onto the couch with the bowl of popcorn.

"I had to take my makeup off." Sakura shot back, joining Naruto on the couch, and grabbing some popcorn from the bowl.

Watching as Sakura started flipping through their movie options, Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You're in a mood."

Pausing in her movie search, Sakura rested her head back on the couch. "I change my mind. I want to skip my birthday."

"No can do."

"What? Just ten minutes ago, you were saying that we could skip it, and you'd make up a lie for me-"

"That was before," Naruto interrupted, taking the remote from her to resume the search for a movie. "It's not going to be that bad. You'll be fine. It'll be fun."

"I don't know about fun," Sakura said, scrunching her nose up at the thought. "Last year, I couldn't enjoy my birthday that much because I was going through a lot of shit in y life. Then this year, I have no major life-changing events happening, but the looming thoughts of how I basically destroyed my relationships with everyone I care about back home."

Naruto sighed and stopped scrolling through movies, and focused back on her. "You didn't destroy anything Sakura. Our friends should understand why you left. You had to take time off and do your own thing… Even if they don't fully understand it, you can't keep sacrificing your own happiness by leaving yourself in a toxic state of mind to make the others feel better."

Sakura's eyes slid over, and she studied Naruto. "That was very smart of you. Are you sick?"

"Shut up," Naruto shot back, grinning at the sound of amusement in her tone, and he handed her the remote back. "Pick out a movie already."

The next morning, August 30th

Leaning back on the lounge chair, Sakura opened her eyes, and took in the sight of the beach. She was out on her balcony, and enjoying the slight wind and blue skies above herself. As soon as she woke up, she went out on the balcony to watch the sunrise. She had almost fallen back asleep out there, as the sound of the ocean waves and the wind was lulling her back to sleep. But the usual craving for coffee got to her, and kept her awake. Standing up, she paused by the railing and looked at the view again. It seemed like there was a never-ending ocean and long sandy beaches that went on for miles. Eighteen years on this planet, and this is the view I get to celebrate to… A small smile formed on her face, as she turned to go back inside. Almost as soon as she opened her door, she was greeted with the slight scent of bacon, and she raised an eyebrow.

Once downstairs she stopped when she was greeted with streamers and balloons all over the house, and a smirk grew on her face. "Naruto."

"Happy birthday!" Came Naruto's overly-loud exclamation from the kitchen, he had walked around the kitchen counters to step into the living room, and grinned at her look. "I know you said you wanted to downplay your birthday, and I tried. I really did."

Having to push some of the streamers and balloons out of the way in order to walk over to Naruto, Sakura laughed when she nearly lost balance at having to duck under some streamers. "If this is you trying to hold back, I don't want to know what your full trying looks like."

Naruto grinned back at her. "Yeah, you really don't."

Walking a little closer, Sakura laughed at the sight of a giant tequila bottle with a red bow on top on the center of the kitchen table. "Now that is what I'm talking about! Maybe I can get behind this whole birthday thing after all!"

"I got you some scrub caps for you to use at the hospital too," Naruto said, returning back to her with a cup of coffee for her. "But I figured you'd appreciate the tequila more, so that's front and center."

"I appreciate the scrub caps too." Sakura replied, taking a long drink of coffee, as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"I am almost done with breakfast. I am just finishing up the eggs and pancakes. Oh, speaking of-" Naruto broke off as he returned quickly to the stove to tend to the cooking food.

"I could smell the bacon from upstairs. I'm already excited," Sakura said, her eyes sweeping around the balloon and streamer covered kitchen and living room, then the banner that hung across the fireplace. "Thank you for this Naruto. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Naruto said, transferring their breakfast two plates. "I thought maybe we could get some training in for a few hours, since we have your birthday party this evening."

Sakura sighed at the mention of the party, but she smiled as Naruto came over with their breakfast plates. "I guess the training can make up for the torture I will receive from the birthday party."

That brought a grin to Naruto's face. "Only you can compare a birthday party to torture."

The Leaf Village

Opening the door to Sasuke's house, Hinata kicked her shoes off, and dropped her bag off on the entryway table. "Hey, sorry I'm late! I overslept/didn't want to get out of bed."

"I'm in here!" Sasuke's voice carried from the living room.

Walking around the small wall that blocked the entryway from the living room, Hinata raised an eyebrow at the sight of Sasuke laying out on one of the couches, a beer in hand. "Oh we're drinking already? Perfect."

"Beer is in the refrigerator," Sasuke said, his eyes focusing up on the ceiling, as he listened to her go to the kitchen. When she returned to the living room, he sighed. "Sai's been overly in my business today. I barely managed to escape from him this morning."

"I know how that is," Hinata said, stretching out on one of the other couches after taking a long drink from her beer. "My team was being overly concerned with how I was yesterday, because they knew what today was."

They fell into silence for a moment, before Sasuke's sigh was heard again. "This time last year there was a lot going on, and there wasn't much to celebrate last year… Then this year she's not here, so again, not much to celebrate."

"Well, I hope she's having a better time than she did last year… I mean I don't want her to be away from the village, and I miss her. But, I still hope she's having some fun today." Hinata replied softly, taking another drink of beer.

"I agree-"

A knock on the front door interrupted Sasuke, before the door opened and in walked Sai. His eyes went right to Sasuke. "We had training in case you forgot. It's pretty useless when you don't show up for it."

"It's pretty useless with two of our team members gone." Sasuke shot back, not even giving a glance in Sai's direction, as he sipped his beer.

Sai eyed the beer in Sasuke's hand, then Hinata's. "You two realize that it's not even eleven in the morning yet, right?"

"Can we help you?" Hinata countered, finally meeting his eyes. "We're kind of busy."

"You're literally doing nothing but laying around and drinking beer," Sai shot back, his eyes going back to Sasuke. "Are you coming to training or not?"

"I'm taking a personal day." Sasuke replied, still not looking in Sai's direction.

Sai grew more visibly irritated at the response. "Seriously-"

"He's taking a personal day!" Hinata snapped, interrupting Sai as she sat up. She pointed at the door. "Go away."

Scowling at her glare, Sai turned and walked right back out of the house. The front door shutting with a slam.

Rolling her eyes, Hinata returned to laying back on the couch, as she sighed heavily. "That's exactly why I'm glad I am here. I'm sure my team is all over my apartment trying to figure out where I am. I just want this one day of not being bothered by people."

"Preach." Sasuke said, raising a beer in her direction, and they both took a drink.

The Islands, seven p.m.

"I can't believe I agreed to this." Sakura said, grabbing another section of her hair to brush through.

"It's just going to be a small party," Naruto replied, having been sitting on the end of her bed, as he was waiting for her to finish getting ready. "All you have to do is smile and wave."

Sakura sighed heavily. "I just don't want to see people today. I know our friends are just trying to be nice and all, but I mean really, this feels so unnecessary."

"It's just going to be a handful of people-"

"Really?" Sakura interrupted, finishing with her hair, and picking her shoes up. "Because last night they were making it sound like the guest list was getting longer and longer."

Naruto got up to walk with her out of her room. "To be fair, all of you women were drinking more and more of your margaritas. So I don't think you can take those plans seriously."

"Somehow I doubt it. Let's just go to this party as soon as possible, and that way we can leave as soon as possible."

"That's the spirit," Naruto said, grinning as they reached the bottom of the stairs. However, he started towards the back door. "Let's go outside real quick. The sun is setting."

Sakura scowled and followed him. "I don't know why we are doing this, because we would see the sunset while leaving out the front door-" Breaking off as she could finally see out the windows and back door that wasn't covered in streamers or balloons. The sight of their patio had her eyes widening, and she focused back on Naruto.

"Happy birthday." Was all Naruto said, sliding open the back door, and motioning for her to go out.

Stepping out onto the patio, her eyes swept over the decorated space, then focused on their friends. "Surprise!"

"You guys," Sakura started, a smile forming on her face. "Is this my party?"

"Of course it is," Amu said from where she was sitting on top of one of the lounge chairs. "We know you didn't really want a party, and we weren't going to force you to go to one if you didn't want to."

Yuri nodded in agreement with Amu. "So we planned a little barbecue, and it'll only be us tonight."

"This was really nice of you guys," Sakura said, dropping her shoes on the ground, and sitting on another one of the lounge chairs. "And I don't have to wear shoes to this, because it is at my own house. This is even more amazing now."

That brought some laughter from the others, and Naruto handed Sakura a beer before switching places with Kaito to man the grill.

Kaito sat down at the table with Shou, as his eyes went to Sakura. "So, Naruto said you didn't want gifts, but that couldn't stop Amu and Yuri."

"Um excuse me, you and Shou bought the glow sticks." Yuri corrected, as she motioned to the table.

"Well we obviously needed them for the party." Shou countered with a grin.

Sakura laughed at the pile of glow sticks. "Perfect for when we act like children later, and play hide and seek in the dark."

"That's what I said." Naruto chuckled, giving an air high-five to Sakura.

"I also brought some of my movie collection," Shou added, motioning inside. "So we'll have some options for movies to watch later tonight-"

"Oh but more importantly," Amu interrupted Shou, smiling and waving off his irritated glance. "Mine and Yuri's present to you is a spa trip. Whenever you want to, we can all go to the spa and get pampered for the day. It would be so much fun."

"I appreciate it. All of this really. This is just what I needed." Sakura said, her eyes moved past the others to look to Naruto. She smiled lightly back at him after he smiled. I'm sure he had a hand in making this happen. I couldn't ask for a better best friend… Maybe this birthday isn't so bad after all.

The Leaf Village

Sitting on the bed, Sasuke refrained from laying back, as he closed his eyes. His day consisted mostly of doing nothing but drinking beer, and trying to keep himself from thinking too much. However, despite his efforts, the thought of emerald eyes and pink hair kept popping into his head. Once again thinking of her, he opened his eyes, and focused on the picture frame that lay flat on the bedside table. Six and a half months…

That thought sent a shock through his system, and it was like a new spirit of motivation went through him. Getting out of bed, he quickly put on a shirt and shoes. He threw open the balcony doors, and jumped out into the night air. Taking off down the street, he jumped up orooftopsf tops to make his trip faster. His mind racing, as he finally landed in front of a door. He knocked a few times and waited for a response. His foot tapping impatiently, as he stared intently at the door.

Finally, the door opened, and Hinata stood in the doorway. She sighed at the sight of him. "Look, if this is about going out to a bar to drink more, I'm going to have to pass. Our day drinking session really hit me hard, and I'm pretty sure I'm still drunk."

"No, I don't want to do that," Sasuke said, a smirk appearing on his face. "We need to go find them."

Raising an eyebrow, Hinata leaned against the door frame. "We've been saying that for months. You know the Hokage won't tell us where they are."

"That's because I don't think she even knows where exactly they are," Sasuke said, then he waved it off. "That's not the point. We can find them. I'm sure of it. We just need to get the Hokage to agree to let us go."

"She hasn't for months-"

"Yeah well this time it's different," Sasuke interrupted her. "This time we aren't going to take no for an answer. We need to get them back. I can't keep living like this. I can't live without Sakura… I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Naruto too. We're going to have to be strong to get Tsunade to agree to it, but we both need to be on the same page. Are you in?"

Hinata was quiet for a long moment, then a smirk stretched across her face. "Hell yeah. Let's bring them home."

A/N: So it's officially been a whole year since Sakura officially became a priestess in training. A lot has changed in that year. The last six and a half months have changed everyone. Sasuke and Hinata have managed to hold off this long, but now they are ready to bring Sakura and Naruto home. How do you think this is going to go down?

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