The Road to Charasuke

by

Lou.D

Summary

When you cannot bear the pain anymore, you will look for a breakthrough, right?! But how will Haruno find hers? Set after the death of Danzo.

Disclaimer

Don't own Naruto or Road to Ninja. Kishimoto–san does.

Chapter 2

A Very Strange Konoha!

"Time waits for no one."

Five words that were true; they rang a bell. I could see the analogy, crystal clear like a blazing summer sun in the blue sky. Every minute meant either life or death.

Just like now.

Waiting for my next orders, I stood in the shadows, ready to move in. We had received some intel regarding the Akatsuki's activity in this region. Hard to believe, considering that most of the members had already been dealt with.

And this is how we ended up all here: three teams together out on a mission to inspect this vast forest. Could it be that their new quarter was here?

"Team 7," I finally heard Shikimaru's voice through my ear phone.

"Copy," I replied.

"Team 10 will advance first. I repeat, Team 10 will advance first. Hold your.." "Rasengan!" A familiar gruff voice screamed through the communication and my breath hitched. "Naruto, no!" I shouted back in the micro, but it was too late. A loud booming explosion shook the entire area. I watched as a massive wave of dust rose to the sky.

"Naruto," I hissed between gritted teeth.

As reported, the Akatsuki were back and alive. It was bizarre to fight Sasuri again, after I had killed him once. The dead were back to get us. Creepy, but they didn't linger for long. They withdrew when we overcame them. Untypical, if you ask me. An Akatsuki would never withdrow from a fight. They were ruthless assassins.

But then, I was forgetting the main point here: they were dead! They shouldn't be back among the living, let alone fight us! Resurrection was one of the taboo subjects in medical ninjetsu. Whoever was behind this was evil indeed.

"Hey Sakura," I turned around and saw Ino walking up to me.

"Ino," I acknowledged her. We were both near Ichimaru's.

"Wanna have a snack with me?" she asked, pointing to Naruto's favourite shop.

"Sure," I said, accepting the offer. It'd been a while.

"So," she began, after we made our orders. "How have you been?"

I shrugged, "busy."

Ino's eyebrows knitted. "Sakura, I know that." She waited for a moment, then went on, "I haven't seen you in a long time. You've been…"

"Ino, we were all together in the last mission, you know!" I interrupted her.

She sighed, "I know. But, you've been awfully absent. When I asked Chizune, she said you were out on missions. It's not normal, if you ask me. I'd say you're tr…"

"Ino, I'm a nin. This is what I do!"

The blonde put her hand on mine, startling me. "Sakura, listen to me. You haven't been yourself for three months now. You're always on missions, away from Konoha. I haven't been able to see you, and we have all noticed the same things. When you're back, you're at work, and this isn't normal," she explained. 'So, they've noticed?' I thought

Then, she said it, "Naruto said…"

"What?" I cut her short; my eyes narrowing dangerously.

Ino's blue eye widened; she was startled by my outburst. "Sakura…," she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

I sighed, realizing my mistake. " Sorry, Ino. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that there is a lot on my mind now," I confessed.

"Sakura, you can tell me about it. I'm your friend," she said gently.

I watched as our orders arrived. I grabbed my chopsticks and snapped them. "Ino," I began, "what would you do if someone close tried to harm you?" I asked, avoiding mentioning names.

Her eyebrows knitted in concentration, as she thought about my words. "Well, I'd be hurt and pissed off. But I wouldn't let them off the hook, oh no," she declared loudly.

"I thought much," I replied, watching her take her chopsticks and snap them in turn.

"But who is this close person Sakura? Someone new?" she asked, too sweetly.

"Nah, not what you think," I replied, offering her a small smile.

"Then?"

"You're right, you know," I said, ignoring her question. I took the time to slurp some hot ramen. The blonde however kept on watching me.

"Well, this person has tried to do something really bad to me," I was quiet, and my heart was heavy. I just didn't know how to word my thoughts to her. And I knew she was waiting patiently for me to elaborate.

She moved closer to me, and spoke lowly. "What did they do to you, Sakura?" She asked and noticed that my hand was shaking.

"They… they tried to…. kill…me" I whispered and heard her gasp.

Ino's face paled at the news. "Come, Sakura. We need to talk somewhere else," she stood up quickly.

"It can't be," she screamed, shaking. She shook her head in denial, then stopped to look at me again, "why? Why would he do such a thing?" she asked me, in disbelief.

I had forgotten that she too was in love with him. May be telling her after all was a big mistake.

"Sakura," she called, begging for an answer.

"Ino… he's changed. He's no longer the Sasuke we used to know. He's …sinister now," I replied, watching the blonde as she started shedding some tears.

"Ino?" I bit my lip, and walked to her. I hugged her, trying to comfort her. I was feeling guilty. I felt her sob quietly on my shoulder. "Don't cry, Ino," I begged.

Her sobs stopped after some time. I felt her relax in my arms; then she hugged me back. "I'm sorry Sakura," she said. "I was supposed to help you, and look at me all crying now."

I didn't need to say a word; I rubbed her back soothingly.

Entangling herself from my embrace, she looked at me, smiling this time. Her hand rose to wipe her wet cheeks. "Sakura, don't lose hope. I know I might sound foolish, and naïve, but he will come back to us one day."

I did not bother to reply. I doubted he would. But, I couldn't understand how Ino still had hope.

"Do you hate him?" she asked, surprising me.

I run a hand through my pastel locks, thinking. "I don't know anymore," I said watching the concerned blonde.

"Sakura-chan," I heard as I was walking down the stairs. Naruto stood at the end of the stairs, watching me; eyes sparkling with joy.

"Come," I said, grabbing his hand, surprising him. I dragged him to the swings.

We sat on the swings, talking. I was angry with my mom, and I couldn't help but moan and bitch angrily.

Naruto, however was quiet. He didn't say a word, and that was unlike him now that I thought about it, he had been acting strangely these past days. As if sulking, but I didn't know why. I stopped swinging and looked at him again. His head was lowered, and his eyes looked sad.

"Naruto? What's… the matter?"

He still refused to meet my eyes. Then, he spoke, gruffily, "Sakura-chan. You're lucky. Do you know that?"

I tilted my head. "Huh, what's that?"

"You have your parents," he said in a low voice. My heart tightened.

I understood then why he was so blue; how could I have been so dumb moaning about mine to Naruto? I felt bad. I didn't know what to say; I was embarrassed, and I felt the heat rising to my cheeks.

"Well, I…" I stuttered, thinking about my next words.

Suddenly, a figure appeared nearby, out of thin air; it was the unmistakable 'face' of Madara Uchiha. His appearance was startling: he had really shown up in Konoha after all.

"Madara," Naruto's scream rang in the air: he was like me shocked. Never in our lives had we imagined that he would appear in the heart of the village!

Everything had happened quickly. I remember attacking him, but to no avail; he was lithe and kept on evading my chakra powered fists easily. Like me, Naruto pulled a Rasingan, attacking the masked man, but missed. Madara stood tall and mighty watching us from the single hole in his weird mask.

Then the unexpected happened, we watched as he held a red globe under the full moon. I remember watching him mumble some words; the red globe shone ominously making me cringe. And that is when a blinding light suddenly struck us both; I closed my eyes, and screamed for Naruto.

Minutes ticked by; I could hear my pants. I realized slowly that I was still alive, as I began opening my sore eyes. I was unharmed; I didn't feel any pain, or injury. Knowing the lethal ancient Uchiha, I had truly thought that we were done for. What did he really do, I wondered as my eyes spotted Naruto who was now rubbing his.

A couple of minutes later, we were both gazing at each other, baffled. Everything looked normal, and the ancient Uchiha was nowhere to be seen.

"He's escaped," Naruto said, gritting his teeth.

I nodded. "But, what was that light?" I asked, hoping that he might have an answer.

Naruto looked at me then, "I don't know! Some weird Jutsu, maybe, but I don't feel any different!" He let a breath out, then asked, "do you?"

I shook my head. "This is weird," I said after a moment, still looking at him.

"We should report to Oba-chan," he said, and I nodded.

We headed to the park exit. But, as soon as we left the park, we bumped into team Kurenai. The first strange thing that caught my attention was Hinata's clothes. They were extremely provocative, showing all that skin. I also noticed Akamaru's strange, almost rabid like nature as it almost bit Kiba. Speaking of the latter, he didn't seem quite himself with the entire cat-like mewling and rubbing as he started talking to Naruto, while he tried to keep the dog away from him. Shino, however was as quite as usual, just watching us.

I really didn't know what to think: something was really amiss here. I spared Naruto a quick look; he was already staring at me, confusion written all over his face.

"What were you two doing? You weren't on a date, were you?" came Hinata's abrupt questions.

Our jaws dropped then.

"H..Hinata?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"D..date?! No way!" I denied rather loudly.

But my answer seemed to infuriate the Hyuga heiress. I watched as she walked up to me, before she whispered in my ear, "touch him, and I'll kill you!"

My eyes bulged then, and I felt a shiver run through me. This was crazy and scary! Hinata had just threatened me! WHAT! I was speechless; I no longer knew what to do faced with the pissed off Byakugan-user who was now glaring at me with her creepy eyes.

I stole a glance at Naruto and he was looking at me, eyes wide. Did he hear her? I really couldn't tell. But, I knew that I had to get away from Hinata and the others now.

I nodded at Naruto, and he got the message then.

But, Hinata caught on too. "Oh no, you don't," she said, as she lunged at me. But instead of catching me, she ended up holding my shadow clone that went "poof" in an instant. Hinata cursed loudly, making us both cringe, as we kept on running away from them.

We had run for some time, before we stopped to catch our breath. It was crazy; I bet Naruto was as lost as I was. Everything seemed the same around us, but their behavior was just bizarre.

"Just WHAT is going on? Arghh" I screamed after a moment, holding my pink locks. I wanted to punch the ground, or someone. I knew that I was going to lose it soon.

"Sakura-chan."

"WHAT?!" I snapped at Naruto who was looking pale.

"L..look around," he stammered, stepping backward quickly.

I let a harsh breath out, and looked around. We were on Konoha's busiest street, and some people were smiling at us, or me precisely.

"Hello Sakura," a woman greeted me.

"Sakura-chan," a bunch of hyper kids called in their sweet voices as they run by us.

Well, there was a whole bunch of people watching, smiling, and waving at me which was weird with a capital W! Since when did people wave at me and greet me that cheerfully in Konoha?!

"Welcome back, Sakura-chan," two men to my left said too excitedly. "I heard you did well in the mission, as to be expected from you," one of them said cheerfully, while the other nodded in agreement.

"Huh?!" Mission? Are they talking about the last mission we had this morning? And then I remembered Madara's attack.

"Thank you," I managed, laughing wearily. Then, in a heartbeat, I loomed over a shocked Naruto who was cringing now. Guess my face was really scary. "We need to see Lady Tsunade," I barked, grabbing his hand and dragging him behind me.

He managed a squeaky "ok," as he followed me.

I could hear the watchers' sniggers and laughs. "Go Sakura-chan," I heard suddenly, and I blushed.

I took a few hurried steps, away from the laughing mob, before I heard a too familiar voice calling me. "Sakura-chan," I heard, and I looked on to see Ino Pig running towards me.

"Ino…" I was going to ask her about the weird greetings and all, but stopped when I noticed her appearance. There was no high ponytail, short top, sexy pants or skirt. No, in front of us, there was a too covered Ino who had her head down. The only thing that didn't change was the long blonde lock that was covering her right eye.

"Ino," Naruto mumbled, eyes were busy looking the girl up and down unashamedly. I twitched as I suddenly felt like whacking him. But I held back when he glanced at me sideways; eyebrows raised. I returned his stare, before I focused back on the strange Ino in front us.

"Sakura-chan, how have you been?" she asked in a too sweet voice, making me gasp. She reminded me of Hinata, but then this was Ino, the obnoxious Pig! And Hinata was so vicious back there with us! How could this be?! And did she just call me Sakura-chan !

I stared at Ino, open mouthed, then I closed my lips at once, annoyed we were simply cluless to what was happening to us. Then, it struck me like a litening bolt; I had simply to play along if I wanted an answer to this phenomenon. So, I smiled. "I'm fine, Ino" I replied.

The blonde then smiled back sweetly, as she proceeded to grab my hand. Wow, this is so freaky! Pig holding my hand! Urgh! "I'm glad," she offered in a very cute way which made my inner self roar in laughter.

"Ino," we heard and turned back to see Shikimaru and Choji walking towards us.

Okay! I think I almost flipped when I saw Choji. Naruto let a loud "Chooooooojiiii", out as he raised his finger at him. His eyes were wide.

The nin in question had reached us by that time and was now looking at us, confused.

Yeah, Choji the fatso was thin. And we weren't dreaming! I stared rudely till my eyes hurt. Something was definitely off.

"Choji, you're not faaummmff," Naruto's muffed voice rose, as I tightened my hand on his lips. He was about to ruin everything with his naivety.

"Shhh," I hushed harshily ignoring the others who were still watching us. I could only focus on the squirming Naruto who was trying to remove my hand.

Ignoring him for a moment, I looked back at them, and saw the deep look on Choji's face. Ino looked confused while Shikimaru was staring somewhere else.

While distracted, Naruto managed to remove my hand, and gasped loudly, breathing in air. I winced as I watched him gulp for air; I had almost suffocated him. But before I could apologize, Naruto snapped at me. "Sakura-chan, what was that for?!' He yelled.

"I'm sorry, Ok! But I had to! I'll tell you later," I snapped back, getting really annoyed. Sheesh, Naruto, use your head, you knucklehead!

Naruto went quiet, as if he were processing my words. Oh God, I hope he won't say anything stupid now! I prayed. And it worked. My words made sense to him; Naruto wasn't dumb, but he could be slow sometimes.

However, we failed to notice the curious looks that were being exchanged between Choji and Ino.

"Sakura-chan," multiple voices called to me; "Well done. You're the Hero's daughter!" A group of young women called, before they waved at me and continued with their banter.

I exchanged looks with Naruto who was like me, perplexed.

"Hero?" I mouthed back.

Thankfully Choji came to my rescue. He had been watching us with keen eyes. "Yes, Sakura chan," he said, before he raised his finger, pointing behind me and Naruto.

I followed his finger, and looked up at the famous Hokages' hill to see a familiar face engraved there.

"AHHH," Naruto screamed.

"DAD?!" I screamed too, eyes bulging. Breathe slowly, Sakura. Take a deep breath, Sakura. I'm dreaming! I'm just dreaming, and I will wake up any moment now! Yeah, I'm sure! This CAN'T BE HAPPENING! AHHHH! I was biting my lip really hard; my fists were shaking. I hated this dream!

"What's wrong with you too? You're so different today?" someone spoke nearby.

My heart almost stopped; guess Naruto's almost did the same. We looked at the person instantly, frozen in our spots, unable to believe who was there staring back at us.

That irresistible, heart-melting, sexy voice could only belong to one person on earth; our tormentor: Sasuke Uchiha.

End of Chapter 2

Thx for reading. Don't forget to review.

Check out my fanarts Haruno Sakura and this fanfic's cover Charasuke on my Deviant art. You can also read my latest fanfic The Tale of the Missin Nin (Sasuke x OC) here on FF.

Lou.D