Hey, guys! What's up! Hey, about the voting pairings thing... Never mind that. I already found the main pairing for the story. Sorry about that. And to those who vote for NaruHina and NaruIno... I'm sorry, but this is a NaruSaku story. Just why do you think I put in the Naruto/Sakura section for? If you don't like this pairing, then I suggest that you remove this from your alert. Anyway, here's the next chapter. And this chapter is where Sakura realized her mistakes. Finally! Oh, where's Ino, you say? Well, she kinda acted a little different today. I never seen that side of her before. So, I asked her to go in the store for more shopping. Don't worry, you'll won't be seeing her until next chapter. Well, on with the story!

"Speaking"

'Thought'

Flashbacks

"Inner/Demon Speaking"

'Inner/Demon Thought'

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it all over again?

Chapter 4:

Sakura's realization

The next peaceful day in Konoha... Or so, I thought it was. Now, we see Kakashi, who is standing on the bridge, where the team supposed to meet up with each other. He is still reading his perverted book, Icha Icha Paradise, made by the great Jiraiya himself. Today is rather... A strange one. Usual, he was supposed to be the one who is late. But now, look at that! He's the first person to be arrived here. Where are his students? It's not like them to be late. He began wondering about that. just then, his wonders were been interupted by his pink hair kunoichi.

"Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Sakura. She seems to be desperate about something, but what? She stopped in front of Kakashi, as she took some breaths to get her up.

"Hm? Sakura, where have you and the others been? Ususal, I'm supposed to be the one who is late for the missions. Just where were you?" asked Kakashi.

Sakura took another few breaths before saying to her sensei about something. "Kakashi-sensei... Did you... hear...?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Did you hear... what happened?"

"What? What happened?"

Sakura then looked down on the ground, as she says, "Kakashi-sensei... Naruto... He's gone... Naruto is gone..."

This shocked Kakashi. He let his book fall on the ground. Is it true? Naruto is gone? Is it all true? Yes... Of course it's true... "No... It can't be..."

"It's true... He's gone..."

"No!" Kakashi ran from the bridge and to the Hokage residence. He need to find it for himself.

A while later, the Godaime Hokage is just doing some paperworks, as usual, much to her displeasure. However, she stopped writting when the door slam open, revealing Kakashi. "Hokage-sama! Don't tell me... It's true...?"

Tsunade looked at Kakashi with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kakashi... But it's true, alright... Naruto is indeed gone."

"When?! When did he left?!"

"Last night. Kotetsu saw him left the village last night. He informed to me that he left the village."

"But why? Why did he left?"

Tsunade looked down on the ground. "I don't know... But I can't believe that he left... Naruto..."

"Can you just send a retrieval squads to look for him? Are there any signs of him anywhere?"

Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, is the first one to respond to that. "She did. But no one has ever found him. She send over ten squads to go look for him, but there's no sign of him." she said.

Meanwhile, we go look at the retrieval teams. Some of the teams are consisted of all of the Rookie Nine. We go look at Ino and Hinata's team. They are somewhere in the forest outside of the village. They haven't found Naruto.

"Naruto! Where are you! Naruto!" shouted Ino, desperately trying to find Naruto.

"Naruto-kun... Where are you...?" Hinata said.

In Lee's team, the green beast of the village tries to find Naruto, but never found a trace of him. He is somewhere in a waterfall area. "Naruto-kun! Where are you, my youthful friend! Naruto-kun!" Lee shouted around him. No responds.

In Sasuke's team, the Uchiha desperately trying to find Naruto anywhere in the Land. Naruto is nowhere to be found. "Dammit! Where are you, you stupid dope?!" When he heard that Naruto left the village, he soon knew what the bagpack is for. It took him all morning to find him. "Dammit! Naruto! NARUTO!!!!!"

Back with Kakashi and Tsunade...

"It's been a few hours, but no one found him. There's no trace of him anywhere. He could be in any land right now. Naruto-kun..." Shizune said.

"No... Impossible... He can't..." Kakashi is now in pure shock. Naruto has left the village. Why? Then, something hit his head. 'Could it be... What has happened the day before tomorrow? Could it be that Sakura's rejection made him leave? Could that be it...?' The answer of Naruto's departure was found. It was Sakura's fault that Naruto left the village. It was all her fault. "Dammit... Hokage-sama, will it be possible for me to be asign in the retrieval team?"

"Of course... We need a lot of help we can get. Kakashi, please. Find Naruto. He's the only reason why I became Hokage." pleaded Tsunade.

"Don't worry, I'll find him... I hope..." Kakashi soon left the office, in search for Naruto.

However, in a few hours, still no sign of Naruto anywhere. The search continues, with all the shinobis looking for him all over the Land of Fire. Uzumaki Naruto... really is gone... Some people were happy that he's gone... Damn villagers... But most of them are sad. They wanted Naruto to come back in the village. Now, we zoom in to the pink hair kunoichi. She is seen walking towards her home. Naruto's departure affected her mind, and mostly... her heart. 'Naruto... Why...? Why did you leave...? Why...?' Isn't it obvious? You're the one who made him leave! You're the one why he's heartbroken! But you can't hear me, because... I'm a narrator.

She got inside of her house. She greeted her home before going upstairs, in her room. She slowly closed the door. She re-thought about what happpened lately. When she heard that Naruto was gone, her heart felt like it stops beating all of a sudden. She walked towards her picture of Team 7. She grabbed it and sat down on her bed. She looked at the picture she had when they're a team. In this picture, we see Sakura, smiling on the camera. Besides her, are Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke looks like he doesn't care about taking a picture together with the team. While Naruto, he just glared at Sasuke for some reason, hating him is the exact reason. And Kakashi, he too was smiling on the camera, while ruffing Naruto and Sasuke's hair. Sakura looked at Naruto in the picture. Looking at Naruto... It feels like hell to her... She felt bad all of a sudden. She rethink of all that Naruto does... How he acted... How he said that he'll become Hokage... Everything...

"I am Uzumaki Naruto! And I'm gonna be Hokage! Dattebayo!" This line has been repeated for some time now. It was his used line severals of time.

"Yeah! I'm a Ninja! Ninja, Ninja, Ninja!" That was when Team 7 succesfully passed the Survival Test. It makes him very happy, because he is now a full ninja.

"Sasuke, I'm not going to lose to you! Someday, I'll beat you and I'll prove that the "Great Uchihas" aren't so great at all!" That was when Naruto challenged Sasuke in a battle. This annoyed Sakura, but right now, it feels like it's the truth.

"I don't care if anyone is stronger than me! I'll keep one fighting until I die! That is my Nindo, my ninja way!" Everytime someone is stronger than Naruto, Naruto always believe in himself that he can still fight, even if he dies.

"Naruto... Why...? Dammit! Why?!" sobbed Sakura. She misses him. She really does. Then, the doorbell ranged. Who would that be, in this time of the day?

"Sakura! There's someone here to see you!" shouted Sakura's mom downstairs.

"Ok!" shouted back Sakura, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She left her room and goes downstairs. When she got downstairs, she was surprised to see Ino in her house. "Ino?"

"Hey, Sakura." Ino said in a, what no one noticed, cold voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you in your room?"

"Uh... Sure, I guess." Both her and Ino got upstairs and back in her room. Sakura is confused about why Ino came in her house all of the sudden. Does Ino came here to insult Sakura once again? Or is it something else? "what do you want to talk about, Ino? Is there something the matter?" she said as she turned around to see Ino, which ends with a slap on the face. Sakura was shocked. Ino slapped her? Why? "Ino... What is that for? Why the hell did you slapped me?!" Her responds is another slap on the face. Why?

"Sakura, what have you done with Naruto?"

"W-what are you talking about?!"

"Don't tell me lies! I know what you did to him! Do you think I wouldn't notice why Naruto was suddenly sad? Just what have you done to him?!"

"Grr! I don't know what are you talking about, Ino-pig! I didn't do anything to Naruto at all!" Sakura growled. Then, she was punched on the face by Ino. She fell on her butt. Sakura slowly touched her now red cheek. She slowly looked up to Ino.

""I didn't do anything to Naruto" she says... Of course you did, bitch! You did something bad to Naruto! That's the reason why he left the village, all because of you!"

Sakura growled again. "I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

"No, I don't!"

"Shut up! You always telling yourself that you didn't do anything bad to Naruto, but you did! You're the reason why Naruto left! You're the reason why he's all sad and stuff! You're the ONLY reason why Naruto isn't himself anymore! It was all you!"

"You're the one who's supposed to shut up! I... I..." Sakura couldn't find the words. Ino's speech affected her. She couldn't find anything at all.

"That's right, bitch! Now you realized what you have done? Do you?!"

Sakura is already in a lost of words. It really affected her. Was it true? Was she the only one who made Naruto leave the village? Was she the one who made him sad? Was she the one?

"Dammit! I can't believe you didn't notice that! Do you realized that now?!"

"I... I don't... know..."

Ino is very frusterated now. "COME ON!!! I thought your the smartest one of our class! You should now what have you done, just now! It's all your fault! It's always you who's gonna break Naruto's heart all the time! Do you realize it now?"

Sakura can't speak. She now has tears on her eyes. She rethink the events that had happened two days ago. Was it her responsibility? Was it really her? She can't take it anymore. She breaks down, crying. "I... I... It's true! i am the only one who made him leave! Because of my love for Sasuke-kun and my annoyance to Naruto, he left! And it's all because of me! I should be the one to blame! I... I... Dammit! I can't change it now! I can't change Naruto's mind, because he already left! It's all my fault!" she sobbed.

Ino seems to be relieved that Sakura finally accept it. So she decided to calm her down. "Sakura... Listen to me..." Sakura stopped sobbing and looked at Ino. "Look, it doesn't matter if it's your fault, even if it's true. I mean, I know you hate Naruto, but that doesn't mean you can hate him forever. Sakura, look. I hated Naruto too, but a while later, I soon realized that he's not such an idiot. the Naruto I know back in the academy changed. You thought so too, right?" receiving no responds, Ino continues to explain. "Sakura... you hate him... But deep inside of you, deep inside your heart... Do you know what is it?"

"What... is it...?"

"Sakura... I can't believe I say this, but... Inside of you... You don't hate him... You love him..."

"What...? I... love...?"

Ino smiled. "That's right. I can see it now. You love Naruto, not hate him. He almost sacrificed his life for you. He saved you from that Gaara guy. He cheered you on, when I took over your body. He loves you... And you love him too."

"I... love him...?" Could it be true? Does Sakura really loved Naruto? Is it true? The answer to this question is...

...Yes.

"You're right... I do love him... I love him... I love him all along... And I didn't realized..." Then, she thinks about the other thing, other than that. "Ino... If you don't hate him... Does that mean that you...?"

Ino chuckled. "Well, I guess you can say that. We all know that Naruto changed over the past months. If we can change ourselves... Then maybe... Just maybe..."

"Ino..." Sakura smiled at Ino. She then hugged her. "Thank you... Ino... Now I know my true feelings for Naruto... I love him..."

Ino smiled too. "I'm glad..."

They don't want this moment to last, but Sakura's mom shouted downstairs. "Sakura, can you do the dishes for me? I need to go to work."

Sakura released the hug and shouted back. "Ok, mom!" She got out of her room, followed by Ino. She came downstairs and goes to the kitchen. Well, much to her displeasure, there's so many dishes in the sink. "Man... I have to do all of them?" she said as she sighed of disbelief.

"You're not alone, Sakura." Sakura heard someone behind her. She turned around and see Ino. "I'll help too, you know?"

"Ino... Thanks." Sakura smiled. Ino smiled too. They walked over the sink. Sakura turned on the water pressure and grabbed a sponge. Ino soon grabbed a sponge too. Now, they're washing the dishes together. "Say Ino, do you think that our love for Sasuke is just a...?"

"Well, Sasuke doesn't seem to be happy to see us. So, I don't think our love for Sasuke is real."

Sakura smiled. "Yeah... I thought so." They continued washing the dishes. A few seconds ago, Sakura then said to Ino, "Ino... I got a song that might help me feel better. Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure! If it isn't annoying, then I'll listen to it!"

Sakura laughed at Ino's reponds. "Alright, here it goes. This song was sang by Kaori Hikita. It's called Negai."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's hear it."

"Alright." Sakura took a deep breath, before singing the smooth song... My favorite song...

Itsumo kokoro no dokoka

Anata wo sagashite ita

Konna watashi wo sonomama de iito

Iitte kureta hito

Kaze ga fuiteru

Kigi gazawameku

Sore dake du fuan na kokoro

Yasashii koe de

Namae wo yonda

Tada sore dake de iino

Yoru ga aketeku

Kyouga hajimaru

Anata ga warau kon sekai

Watashi ni dekiru

Subete wo kakete

Mamoritai to negau

Subete wo kakete mo

Momoritai to negau...

Tsuyoku...

As she finished her song, she and Ino also finished washing the dishes. Ino was very amazed about the song Sakura sang. "Wow... Sakura, I never knew you sang with such strong feelings." said Ino.

"Yeah... It represented my love for Naruto..."

Ino smiled. "Yeah... I sure hope Naruto is happy about this."

Sakura smiled also. "Yeah... Me too."

"Well, I better go. My parents are proprably going home soon. See ya, Sakura!" said Ino as she left Sakura's house.

"Bye, Ino!"

As Ino left, Sakura rethinks the events that has happened to her today. Now... She came into a decision... "I have decided..."

What is her decision? What was it? Hold on to your heads, guys. Because Sakura will say something that will make you happy...

"Naruto... I'm gonna bring you back out of the darkness... That's a promise..."

The beginning of a new adventure begins...

End of chapter

Well? What do you think? Pretty good, huh? He he... Do you guys heard of the song, Negai? It's one of the Tales of Symphonia: The Animation's endings. Tales of Symphonia rocks!

And about the pairing... Please don't flame me when I show you the main pairing. I don't want to be flamed!

Anyway, Ja ne! And review Kudasai!