Chapter 1

Year-X775

"I'm-I'm sorry! Miss Chiyo, please don't-" A young girl cried out as she was dragged into the hall by her hair. The elderly woman who currently had a tight hold on her pale locks grunted in annoyance and threw her to the ground. She ignored the children peering at them from every corner, wondering what was going on.

"If you were truly sorry, you would not have done it again. You will recieve the appropriate punishment." She pursed her lips as a child ran into the room, stopping once they reached the girl's side.

"Miss Chiyo, it was me! I did it. It wasn't Sakura!" He pleaded while trying to shield his companion with his body.

Miss Chiyo narrowed her eyes before raising her hand and striking the boy across the face, knocking him aside in a second. Every child watching the display winced at that, but didn't dare to help the boy up, knowing it would only anger the old woman even more.

She closed her eyes at the sound of sniffles coming from the crumpled figure on the floor.

Sakura frowned at her friend's busted lip, currently being stretched as he grinned at her happily.

"Why did you do that?" She asked as she scrubbed the floor of the attic clean. Naruto shrugged as he shifted another box to the other side of the room.

"It was our plan, Sakura. It wouldn't be fair if you were the only one punished for it," he shifted another box before dusting the space behind it, wrinkling his nose at the amount of dust he found.

"But she hit you," She ground out, scrubbing even harder. "You're bleeding."

The blond shrugged again and turned to ruffle her hair once. "No big deal. I'm used to it."

But you shouldn't be, she wanted to say. She knew it wouldn't do a thing.

"We'll get out of here," she vowed to herself, missing the smile he sent her, full of trust and faith in her.

"We will. But did you see the look on Kankuro's face when he took the first bite? I told you putting the extra spicy sauce in his food would be funny!"

Her lips twitched before stretching into a reluctant smile as she recalled the how the other boy had run around like a headless chicken as the children around him howled with laughter. It was a little harsh, but it seemed only fair to the two children after Kankuro's snide comment about Sakura's hair from the other day. He was about two years elder to the duo, which, according to him, give him the right to boss all the younger kids around.

Naruto, of course, refused to take that and immediately started plotting. 'Don't worry, Saku! He's going to pay for that!' She just looked on exasperatedly as he glared at Kankuro throughout the day, looking more like an affronted puppy than anything, but she didn't tell him that.

They finished their work quickly before grabbing the buckets and climbing down the stairs, only to stop quickly in their tracks as a purple haired woman came up to them. They blinked at the white box she was carrying and grinned up at her.

"Good afternoon Miss Anko!" They sang in unison as she smiled at them, eyeing Naruto's face carefully.

"I hear you've been causing trouble…again," she stated before gesturing towards one of the rooms and turning around, expecting them to follow after her like a pair of ducklings, which they did. She shut the door behind them quickly as Naruto plopped down on the bed.

"He made fun of Saku's hair," the golden haired boy pouted under the older woman's disapproving gaze. No one could get away with mocking his best friend. Not now, not ever.

Year- X784

It was windy today.

Sasuke looked on curiously as the person standing right in front of him stared at the seemingly abandoned cottage situated deep in the woods. Glancing around cautiously, he almost jumped when his companion spoke.

"Wait here." He didn't even get a chance to protest. Alright, then. He walked over to a tree stump and sank down in boredom. They were probably going to be here for a while.

He could be patient.

About twenty minutes later, he reached the end of his limit and stalking into the building, crinkling his nose at his new surroundings. Rubbing his nose as he felt a sneeze coming, the raven haired man started looking around the house for his partner.

'Where the heck did that weirdo run off to?' He exited what seemed to be the dining room and started walking up the stairs, passing a couple of bedrooms before pausing and backtracking quickly as he finally found the person he'd been searching for in one of the bedrooms. He entered quickly, barely glancing at the space in the wall or the brick that had been pulled out of it.

"Never could wait too long, could you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes at the mocking tone and sat down on the bed next to her, leaning in to read the note in her hands and ignoring the annoyed huff.

Pink Soldier

Everything is in place! Proceed with…uh…cow-cah-oh! Caution. (I think?)

Scream if you need me!

GB

He tilted his head a little and glanced back at her. "You're obviously 'Pink Soldier," he ignored her glower easily and went on. "Who's GB?"

"Golden Boy. The one we're looking for," she muttered as she put the note back in the wooden box she'd pulled from the wall.

"Ah. Got it." He studied her face for a few seconds before slinging an arm around her shoulder. He squeezed her tighter when she half-heartedly tried to elbow him in the ribs.

"We'll find him, Princess-I mean, Pink Soldier. You're not alone anymore."

Sakura held on to the box she thought she wouldn't see again, resting her head on his shoulder as she remembered busted lips and near-blinding smiles, that she thought she'd get to keep forever.