Chapter Three

He refused to leave his room.

Sakura had revealed to the Sand Siblings that Neji had been defeated by the all powerful chocolate. He remembered so well how the members of the household had blinked twice and then burst out laughing at the mental images of Hyuuga Neji being physically beaten by a chocolate. It wouldn't have been so bad if not for Sakura's very realistic drawing of the situation. Perfectly detailed panels of events, with dialog provided.

She'd been by his room a few times but he had his door locked and won't answer her. If she truly wanted to get in she could have. No lock could stop Sakura. But she chose to give him space.

After a few hours she'd given up on him ever leaving his room and went to bed. In the morning they were supposed to leave and return to Kohona. As much as she love Suna she missed her home.

"Open this door Hyuuga-san." a cheery voice said from the other side. He rolled his eyes and sighed. Even though he felt ridiculous for reacting this was, it was justified. He hated being put in the spotlight. Especially if he did something that wasn't like him.

He wasn't in the mood.

"Go away Haruno." He muttered. He couldn't stand to face her. Not when he was so emotionally strung out. He might actually blurt something personal out that he'd regret later.

"Are you still pouting? I mean seriously there isn't anything to be upset about. Chocolate is your friend and it loves you, it would never hurt you." She giggled and he felt himself grow sick from it. Giggling was one thing he knew he'd never get used to. What kind of shinobi giggled?

He refused to respond to her though and just closed his eyes. It irritated his so much that this girl could do this and he still let her live. Not that he would get violent with a girl or woman but if it had been anyone else then they would have been in a hospital in a coma right this moment.

The next morning Sakura practically dragged him to the cemetery so she could say goodbye to her sister. He gave her time to because he understood well enough that sometimes saying goodbye was hard. She stood before the grave and smiled at it. This was one common ground he could find with you woman with cherry blossom hair.

"Well onee-chan I'm going home today, I'll be back soon I promise. Maybe one day you can forgive me, but for now I'll take your silence. I love you more than you'll ever know." she sighed and then walked away without saying a word to her parents graves. That part threw him off a bit.

He'd been dying to ask her so many questions but knew it wasn't proper to pry into her personal life since they weren't really friends. It wasn't his place to ask her personal questions.


His ebony eyes observed the office of the Hokage. He'd been gone for more than five years. The smell was the same, that same scent that clearly showed that the Hokage was female. It was a flowery type scent that filled the room and almost suffocated him. It was so nauseating.

He knew full well that he was in for a lecture. He could tell that she was going over many things in her mind. But what could she possibly do to him that could be any worse then what Orochimaru had planned before his 'sudden' death.

She picked her head up from her papers and looked at him with suspicion. Her delicate eyebrow rose softly as she watched his eyes carefully. Was she looking for something? What?

"You've abandoned this village and betrayed it by following Orochimaru. Why you've returned here is beyond my understanding. So it is in the best interest of this village if you are monitored for a year or two to see if you are worthy of having a place back in our village. For a year you will wear a bracelet around your ankle that lowers your chakra to a point where you cannot do any damage to anyone in the village. While wearing this you will be doing community service for this village. You will not be allowed to exit this village for those two years and upon the end of your probation we will determine if you have paid your debt to society. Understood?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." she stared at him hard again and it made him twitch slightly in his seat. It was as though she were trying to read his thoughts. A smile spread upon her face suddenly and it freaked him out the most. Despite his feelings toward the woman or any for that matter, she truly unnerved him.


After finishing with their mission they dropped off their reports. Sakura stayed behind to talk with Tsunade about something. Then she headed on to find her blond friend.

"I see you started without me." she took the seat next to him. Shaking her head in disapproval. "I can't believe you didn't wait."

"Sakura-chan." he cheered looking at the girl next to him before chowing down. "Ish gowd toe shee ou." he mumbled with food oozing from his lips. Normally she would have given him a nice smack to his cranium for his poor manners, but not today. Today she was just happy to see him after being away.

"Uh...yeah Naruto, it's good to see you too." she laughed a little when he grinned. How she missed her best friend, even with his nasty eating habits.

Up until this point she hadn't noticed Sasuke sitting beside Naruto at the counter. She didn't quite know how to react to seeing him. She was warned before she had left the Hokage's office. She knew as much as her mentor would tell her and so entering moments ago she attempted to prepare herself for it. Being the new Sakura she was she gave a slight nod toward him. Remembering that moment years before seeing him standing up high away from them, with such hate in his eyes. The moment he disappeared she knew that she could never love him ever again, it was gone.

"So Sakura-chan how'd your mission go?" she diverted her eyes to her best friend.

"It went well. My students in Suna are progressing nicely. Gaara says hi. He tried to pawn his funny hat off on me. But sadly he 'lost' it. Hyuuga-san was a pleasant change from my usual partner. Whenever Shino goes with me he always talks about bugs. I mean I understand that it's his element but I don't want to hear about it. Then again I also like to get to my destination in a timely manner."

"Neji was pleasant?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Actually I annoyed him as much as I could the whole time. He wasn't the wiser. I had fun though." she grinned.

"So you annoyed me on purpose Haruno." came Neji's voice from behind her. She rolled her eyes. Inwardly she was cackling.

"Oh Hyuuga-san nice to see you. Oh no of course not, why oh why would I do something like that?" She put on an innocent face.

"Because you get some sick pleasure from seeing me in pain."

"Not pain. I just really enjoyed walking in the room and finding you-" his hand found her mouth and stopped her from finishing the sentence. She laughed behind his hands.

"Don't say a word Haruno, don't you think you've done enough damage."

"Hardly." she laughed pulling his hand away. "Come on it wasn't that bad and you got me back."

"True, but even still you have done nothing but torture me the past few weeks. I ask you Haruno why are you doing this to me?"

"Maybe because I like ya." she laughed with a wink and got up from her seat. "Or maybe I DO enjoy your pain." she strolled from the shop and disappeared. Neji's eye began to twitch.

"You know Neji, if you want revenge I know how you can do it." Naruto said eying the irritated Neji.

"Are you not her best friend? Why would you want to help me?"

"Let's just say that Sakura has been in need of a good lesson. She took all my Ramen from my house and replaced it with...with..." he shuttered. "Health food!" He gasped and made a face of disgust.

"Hm, I still don't want to use your childish methods. There are reasons why Sakura acts the way she does. She is rather talented at faking her emotions. So much so that even you two could be fooled." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the Hyuuga's words. "No, I shall deal with that woman myself."

"Yeah she tends to fake happiness. I can tell sometimes when she pretends." Naruto sighed suddenly forgetting the idea of revenge against the pink haired kunoichi.

"On our trip she visited the cemetery and while there I discovered that her parents and her sister were all buried there. It made me wonder as to why that was."

"It's not common knowledge for most people here. But she told me a few years ago that she was born in Suna. Her story was cut up a bit but from what I gather her parents just didn't want her there, didn't care what happened to her really. Her older sister decided to bring her here to their aunt, who was a little old but still willing to look after her. To this day though, Sakura blames herself for her sister's death. She was killed while returning to Suna. I never knew any of that about Sakura, I just always thought she had parents and such. But don't tell her I said anything or she'll dig my grave with her fist." he shuttered. Neji just nodded and stood up, heading for the exit. "Hey, where you going, Neji-san!"

"I've got somewhere to be." He muttered and left.

"You know, recently those two have been doing that. It's so weird for Neji-san to come looking for her just to tell her about something annoying she did on a mission or to comment on something. I'm wondering what is going on between them." Naruto grinned at Sasuke. "Wouldn't it be crazy if they ended up together? Could you imagine Neji-san confessing his undying love to her? Hilarious!" he cheered and stuffed his face with Ramen.

"Hn." Sasuke just stared down at the Ramen before him and wondered how this could have all come to pass. When had Sakura changed so much. HE had always doubted that she could change from that frail little girl into someone who could freely argue with someone like Hyuuga.

He never really cared for her then because his mind with consumed in revenge. He never gave much thought to the girl who gave him her heart, only to have it shoved repeatedly in her face. Now she wouldn't even spare him more than a few words.

Apart of him long to hear her 'annoying' voice ask him out or even praise him. It may have been selfish on his part but seeing her now made him want it more. Why had Hyuuga even bothered with Sakura after the mission ended? Was there in fact something going on between them? Why do I even care? He felt his eye twitch slightly as his own thoughts betrayed him.

He'd been sitting there thinking far too long, for when he looked back up and around Naruto was gone. When had that happened?

Looking down he found a little note:

"Went to see Hinata-chan see ya later!" he read aloud. "Hn." So he was alone again. What would he do next? He knew that he'd be helping Iruka-sensei out the day but he had a full day to do as he wished, sort of. He could go visit old friends, if he had any. Most of the people he knew were from the chuunin exam and they'd all risked their next to find him, which he had not wanted at the time. They might not be too happy with him at the moment.

There was always Sakura.


He'd traveled for a whole hour trying to locate the pink-haired kunoichi but found no trace of her. She hadn't stated where exactly she was headed, but she just rose and left after bantering with Hyuuga. The thought that Naruto has so 'innocently' placed in his head was popping up every few seconds. Sakura and Hyuuga would never..

He stopped mid-thought and shook his head. Why would he even care if she was involved with someone. There were no romantic feelings between them, he could hardly say they were friends. For that matter he didn't even know her. The image of a twelve year old girl begging him to take her away with him still played fresh in his mind. But upon seeing her at the Ichiraku earlier it seemed that she wasn't the same. He remembered the conversation that he had with Naruto before Sakura's arrival.

The two sat in complete silence for a few moments until Naruto decided to start up conversation with his long time friend and rival.

"So...Sasuke-teme, how was it with Orochimaru?"

"I didn't spend all that time with him dobe. I was there a couple years then I left to pursue my brother, it took many years just to find him. I killed my brother, then Orochimaru then came back here."

"Oh, okay." a grin scattered across his messy noodle filled face. Then he sighed. "Man I wish Sakura would hurry back from her damn mission." he grumbled. A mission...

"What mission? Why didn't you go along?"

"Oh she and Neji went to Suna. Sakura teaches classes out there monthly. She's also got an apprentice or two who train with her while she's there. She became a medic nin while you were gone. Funny thing is, she's a lot like Tsunade-baachan." He remembered seeing her at the Hokage's office while he was being given his 'punishment'.

Sakura had seemed more like the blonde.

"Hn."

"Heh she even has her strength, just wait 'til you see it. She can crush boulders with a single punch. When we met up again after our training years ago she punched me into the ground, it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. So just watch out, she's a lot stronger then before. Fists of deadly fury!" he grinned then feeling a swell of pride for his best friend. Sasuke however hadn't found anything that Naruto said to be true. "So yeah like I said she went on her mission with Neji, she should be back by now though. Oh well she knows to come here after she's done with whatever she's doing." He shrugged and began to eat again.

"Dobe." Sasuke's voice broke through the momentary silence.

"Huh?" Naruto looked back up from his now second love, Hinata came first of course.

"Why did she go with Hyuuga?" Why had he asked such a question?

"Well she requested that he be her partner in this mission. She refused to go with Shino. She also refused to work with anyone else. I thought it was kind of strange that she asked for him specifically though. I mean I would have been happy to go with her. But she doesn't like too much chatter on missions and Neji-san doesn't talk that much. You know how she is on her precious missions."

"Actually I don't." he gave Naruto a bored/irritated look.

"Right. Well if she sees that the mission might be a serious one she'll be completely silent the whole way. If not then she's more relaxed and might talk a bit. She nearly killed me this one time when I went with her to retrieve stolen scrolls in Wave. She had to go undercover as a dancer and seduce a man for the scrolls. It was the worst mission of my life. I so wanted to kill that man for holding Sakura like that." he glared at his ramen but then realize hello it was ramen, the thing that fulled his days and kept him all warm and fuzzy inside, then again he did have a cute blue haired girl to give him those same feelings, only ten times stronger. "Well I almost did something stupid by revealing myself and Sakura said that we couldn't do undercover missions together anymore." he finished his tale. "So when she was oftered to train the medic-nin's in Suna she was so excited. Then Shino was assigned as her 'escort' and she could only go two times with him before it got annoying. Now Neji is her escort."

"Hn." was all he really could say to that.

No sign of her as he continued along the streets of Kohona. He knew nothing of the life she led after his departure. What Naruto had told him was what he had to go on. He recalled that she was a medic-nin so she'd be at the hospital most likely. But when he had gone there he found she wasn't there either. So it left him to ponder where else the girl could have gone to.

Then like a chip diving into a great big bowl of nacho cheese, it hit him, she had to be training. Or maybe she was shopping. That thought had been his first before training but then this was a different Sakura. Not bothering to rush he made his way toward the training grounds. He wondered how strong she had become, if she had at all. No matter how much he tried to picture Sakura as someone strong and different. That girl from many years ago would appear with that annoying voice, begging him for a date. Praising him. Fawning over him like he actually cared about her childish feelings.

Arriving at the training grounds he could hear a few explosions and wondered what could be causing them. As he grew nearer to the sounds he found two people standing on a torn up field facing one another.

"Give up." A tall, rather handsome man stated with a smile on his face.

"Hell no bastard!" The girl with pink hair yelled back glaring at him.

"Ugly, just save yourself the embarrassment of losing." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the pair. This seemed familiar. They seemed to be really close though. How one earth did they know each other? The guy looked so familiar.

"Why do you always assume I'm going to lose when I kick your ass every time we spar?" She stated and then stomped her foot on the ground, it didn't look as though it would have done anything. But when she did this the ground began crack. Then Sakura disappeared before both guys.

"Damn, where'd she go?" the guy wondered searching around him. "Not left, not right...or above me...or behind..." His eyes became wide suddenly as he felt himself being sucked into the ground. His scream was then abruptly silenced. Sasuke wondered what happened as he watched on. No movement whatsoever until the ground began to shake again. This time though it was like the ground was reforming itself, if possible.

His eyes fell upon something in a distant tree that caught him off guard though. There sat on a branch rather comfortably was Sakura. Turning back to the field he found that the guy with raven-colored hair...had his head sticking out of the ground while the rest of him was underground.

"Very mature Sakura!" The guy yelled trying to break free.

"Really now I was just having fun. No harm in that Sai-teme?" She sauntered over to the trapped guy and sat down in front of his head. "So,is it comfortable down there?"

"Actually yes, quite nice. All I need is a pillow and this will be just like home." he barked at her.

"Touchy today aren't we? Did Lee turn you down again." she giggled when he glared. "You are getting better at acting less like a robot though, which is great." she said as an afterthought.

"I'm not fucking gay dammit!" then he paused. "What?"

"You're almost like a real person, its shocking." she grinned.

"I'm human, just not very functioning."

"Sure, if you say so." she patted his head. "I'll see ya later Sai-teme!" she then disappeared not even bothering to say a word to Sasuke. This unnerved him a little. She knew he was there but didn't bother to say anything. Then again she didn't have a reason to.

"Damn you Sakura! Now how am I going to get out of this one." the guy named Sai pondered aloud as he continued to wiggle under the dirt. Sasuke remember being trapped like that once by Kakashi. It was a simple trick with chakra. But then the guy must have realized that because in a matter of seconds he was out of the ground and dusting off his vest. "I'll get you back one day, you evil kunoichi." The guy shook his fist in the air with a determined look on his blank face...if that could even be remotely possible.
He left the scene before the guy started to act like Lee or Gai and talk about youth blossoming or something like that. He had a feeling as to where she was headed next.

To the hospital.

He felt like a stalker.

He WAS a stalker.

What kind of message was this sending to Sakura? He could see her through the window and clearly hear inside of it. She was in a white lab coat walking toward what looked like a twelve year old girl with light blond hair.

"So let me guess, you tried to show off again." A pink eyebrow quirked up.

"Yeah, I was trying to show Kyoto that I could control my chakra. But I fell off the tree when Mashi yelled out something obscene."

"Ah yes Mashi, my most frequent visitor." Sakura smiled at the girl and finished fixing her cuts.

"Haruno-sama, could I ask you something?" the girl's voice was timid.

"You know you can and call me Sakura." She took a seat opposite the girl and got ready to listen.

"Okay Haru-I mean Sakura, you know about how I like Kyoto..."

"Yes I do, as do all of his out of control fangirls." she grinned.

"I know that it he's my teammate and that he's not so nice sometimes but I just can't help it..." Sakura smiled knowingly.

"Do you want my advice?"

"Oh yes, please." the girl looked eagerly at Sakura.

"Well when I was your age I too had thought that I was 'in love' with a boy who found me utterly annoying. But then when he left I realized how nieve I had been for wasting all that time chasing him when I should have been training. I was considered the weakest in my team you know."

"No way! You're like super strong though."

"Well back then I cared so much about how I looked and what he thought of me that I didn't care about training. I deluded myself into believing that he could love me. I just don't want you to also place yourself in that kind of situation."

"So what should I do?"

"I want you to ask yourself why you want to become a shinobi. Is this for you or for him? If the answer is not you then maybe you should rethink what you want out of your life."

"When did you realize that you wanted to be a shinobi?" Sakura paused for a moment and the girl looked more eager as the moment passed.

"I think the moment that Lee-san defended me during the chuunin exam was when it happened. I was tired of being the weak one, sure I'd always be the weak one but at the time I wanted to better myself."

"And you did." the girl cheered.

"It took many years and harsh training. My mind was tested as well as my body. The work of a kunoichi is a dangerous one. You never know what will be asked of you once you get older and are given unbelievable missions." She looked seriously at the girl.

"I think I understand."

"That's good, Yuri." Yuri got up and headed towards the exit. "Oh and tell Kakashi-sensei I said hi and that he owes me a training session."

"I will." the girl smiled at Sakura before disappearing.

"Aren't children just wonderful, Hyuuga?" she asked out of nowhere. She turned in her chair to find Neji standing in the doorway. "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I..um...do you have anymore..." he stopped himself as a light blushed made it's way upon his cheeks.

"You don't mean..."

"Don't say it." he put his hand up and attempted to stop the crimson that was creeping up ever so slowly on his face.

"But-"

"Don't."

"I was just going to-"

"I know what you're going to say, just say yes or no so I can leave with my dignity." he sighed.

"I never really imagined that you'd want it that bad." she giggled. Sasuke's eye twitched slightly when she said this. What is THAT supposed to mean! Was his mind swimming in the gutter or what?

"This is all your doing, you left it there on purpose because you knew me well enough to know I'd let my curiosity overcome my logic."

"That and the fact that no one can resist this stuff, it's the greatest thing every concocted by human hands."

"Just give me it." there was a slight plead in his voice.

"What do I get if I give you this?" Neji's eyes became wide. "Oh relax Hyuuga-san. You can have this but in exchange I want you to go on the next mission I have with me."

"I always do don't I?"

"Well, yes but this one isn't to Suna. My next mission is in a few weeks and it's an A-ranked mission, we'll be going undercover."

"Should I be concerned?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No worries, you'll be the lookout and I'll be the one doing the undercover work. I'll explain it to you later on though, plus I think Tsunade-sensei will brief us."

"Right...can I have it now?" She smiled at him and then walked up and stood in front of him. She placed the square object into his hands and watched on as his eyes lit up. Ripping through the wrapper he then dug in the dark chocolate.

"So-"

"Not a word to anyone, remember that Haruno."

"Yeah yeah yeah, gotta protect your reputation. But seriously you should slow down on that stuff, you'll get fat if you keep it up."

"Ah but that's what training is for." He smirked down at her. She just rolled her eyes.

"Oh I know what we could do, let's go get some ice cream, my treat."

"What makes you think I want ice cream?"

"Well...you like that." she pointed to the chocolate, only to cause him to shove it into his mouth as though he were worried that she'd take it from him. "And ice cream is just as sweet."

"Ah." he nodded.

"So is that a yes?"

"Hn."

"Alrighty, let me go check on a patient and then we can go, my break is coming up in ten minutes." He nodded and watched her leave the room. Once she was out he rubbed his forehead.

"What is wrong with me?" he groaned running a hand through his hair. Not only was he showing his weakness in front of Sakura but he caught himself staring at her body as she walked away. "I do not find her attractive. I don't, I'm...doomed." he shook his head and turned to leave the room.

Sasuke's eyes became wide upon what he had just seen and what Neji had muttered. What the hell had gone on during their mission?