So, I was inspired to write a second paragraph when kyuubu no kituson faved this, so yay kyuubu no kituson! This next chapter is now dedicated to you and Zkl9274 for reviewing first/second!

Maybe a little OOC ness in Sasuke, but I like him nice, as I said before!

After Sakura showered and changed, she slowly came out of the bathroom to find the raven-haired ninja relaxing on her bed, which was pretty brave of him seeing the he had already been punched twice by the furious kunoichi.

"Get. Off. Of. My. Bed." she said in a flat, emotionless tone. Sasuke, more scared by her new tone than her angry one, practically leaped off the bed as she started to methodically make it. When she was done, she turned and looked at him.

Sasuke inwardly shuddered at the look. Her eyes were nothing like what he remembered, none of that sparkly, bubbly, over bright happiness that had annoyed him so much in their genin days.

What he now saw in the still beautiful emerald eyes was emptiness. She had matured and grown into a beautiful woman now, but she was an empty shell.

Sakura simply watched him.

"So...he really is back. What was all my training for? Would I have done so much if I had believed he would come back on his own? Naruto was right."

Sasuke suddenly enveloped her in a hug, burying his face in her hair. She didn't react at all, and when he let go, she wasn't there anymore. He didn't know that she had gone out running through the forest of death, a common practice for her training. Sasuke stared after her and went to find Naruto.

He let him in through the window and pushed the dobe off his bed. Naruto woke up,

"WHO'S THERE? Gosh, STOP CHOKING ME!"

Sasuke watched in amusement as Naruto rolled around in his constricting blankets.

"Dobe, it's just me."

"Teme, I didn't know you were so thin and wide! How'd u manage that? And you have a nice Superman pattern too..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto could sure be stupid sometimes.

"Superman pattern? Anyway, get out of your covers, and then maybe you'll be less stupid."

"Ok...wait...WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"Stupid. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about Sakura..." Naruto immediately ripped the cover off his head and glared at him.

"Stay away from Sakura! You're the one who turned her into what she is now. The person who's closest to her is me, and I only see her once a year! On her birthday, which she would rather forget about and just train, instead of, and I quote, "wasting her day on a useless day where a useless weakling was born. She's a shell of a person, a training machine! And apparentally she's got it programmed into her head that even though she is now the strongest kunoichi, ever, SHE'S STILL WEAK! And WHO got that into her head?!" He glared angrily at Sasuke.

"Well, she called you annoying when you wanted to eat with her and came chasing after me instead! Why are you trying to defend her when all she's done is make you more and more unhappy?!" Sasuke shot back, but immediately regretted it as the sparkle in the blond's eye dulled as he remembered that day.

Why do I have to eat with you?

But, but we're in the same group, so...

You're annoying.

Naruto felt his heart slowly break as Sakura glared at him, turned her back, and called,

"Sasuke-kun! Where are you?"

"That was a long time ago! Anyway, I still love Sakura-chan, but she's still in love with you! You've ruined her life and mine, but I've forgiven you because you're my best friend. Do you think it really is that easy for her just to forgive you like that? Naruto asked, getting quieter as he finished. Sasuke looked taken aback. Maybe Naruto wasn't as stupid as before.

"I'm only telling you this because I believe that it'll help Sakura-chan if you talk to her, so she usually goes to the Forest of Death in training."

Sasuke nodded his thanks and poofed away.

--

(Sakura in the first part)

I ran, slowly falling into the rhythm that accompanied my training. Although I wasn't as, explicit, about it as Rock Lee and Gai were, my goals were, if possible, even more extreme than theirs. I smiled, rounding Konoha again. Excellent, twenty times around Konoha in three minutes. (A/N I don't really know if the Forest of Death surrounds Konoha, probably not, but pretend it does please!) She suddenly sensed another chakra, one that was bittersweetly familiar.

"Sakura." Sasuke stated, looking at her.

"Sasuke." she replied, shattering twenty trees while she said it. Sasuke was taken aback by her speed, ferocity, and intelligence. The way she felled each tree caused ten more to fall with it. He then spotted a spiral tattoo on her shoulder.

"Sakura...are you an Anbu?" he asked, stunned at the huge change in the girl he had once considered weak. Now that he thought about it, Sakura had never really been weak. He had been too oblivious to notice how important she was to their team, not in fighting, but in quick wit, cleverness, and a kind, bubbly personality that held the team together like glue. This Sakura, though, was just scary. Although she had gained much in strength, fighting techniques, and medical ability, she now lacked personality.

Her voice cut his thoughts off.

"Yes, I made Chuunin at age 13, Jounin at 15, and was admitted to Anbu at 18. Almost like your dear brother, eh? I surpassed Tsunade last year as head medic and super strength, and now have no goal in life. All my training was to bring you back, and now you're back, you're back, you're back! What was all that for? Were you really so much of my life that I threw away who I was to try to get you back? And now that you're back, I feel nothing! NOTHING! Although I may have truly loved you before, there's nothing left now! What am I, just some kind of machine? I have no friends, except Naruto has always been there for me. I don't even deserve his friendship for how I treated him when you were around!

Ino, she would've been my best friend if I didn't think you were so much of my life that I had to blow off Naruto, cut off my friendship with Ino, and follow you around like some crazy fangirl! You ruined my life since I was 12, and I knew that, but I didn't care! Because you were Uchiha Sasuke, the all hot and ice cube shinobi, and I loved you! I would've done anything for you!

But you still left me to hunt down your BROTHER, and now you've killed him and that disgusting snake that you used to call sensei, now you've come back on your own without me having to use my newly gained amazing power, what am I supposed to do?

I made a huge mistake when I threw away everything to get stronger for you. Yes, Naruto has shown me I am not weak anymore, physcially. But emotionally, emotionally I'm a wreck. Socially, my life is in shambles. The only thing that mattered was training, for YOU, oh great Sasuke! How do you feel about that?!" Sakura yelled at him, tears streaming down her face.

Sasuke was taken aback (he's like that a lot). The tears were the first real emotion (besides her scorching fury, he could definitely feel that) that he had seen Sakura show. He stepped forward, wanting to take her in his arms again. Her words pierced his heart (yes, he has a heart!) like a thousand needles, and he felt guilty, but like all boys, he spent too much time thinking and not enough time acting, so by the time he was done thinking, Sakura had already poofed away to her apartment.

But someone special was waiting there for her...

Oooooh, cliffy! Guess who it is!!!! )

Actually, vote on it, but then if you have someone else you want it to be, then please tell me!

Naruto-

Orochimaru-

Kabuto-

Itachi-

Any other Akatsuki member-

thanks guys! and as always, please review!

(psst, your votes, of course, count, but I might change it to make it fit better with the story)