A/N: Well, here I am, listening to Vanilla by Gackt, writing, trying to find the meaning of life... but, since I can't seem to find that, I might as well just update the story!

Enjoy, my lovelies!

The next morning, Sakura awoke with the sun and hastily prepared to leave, making sure to wear clothes that would be suitable for a lot of traveling through dense forest. She put on a black skort that went down to the middle of her thighs, a black tank top that fitted to her body like a second skin, her knee-high, open-toed boots, a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows and then put on her weapons' pouches. Then, after shouldering her rucksack, she was ready to go.

She took one last look at her apartment, memorizing every detail before she left it for an undetermined amount of time. She would miss her home, but she simply told herself that she would return to it eventually and then took her leave. She waved to the few people that were taking a stroll through the village streets at this early hour as she made her way toward the border, and then she made it to the only pathway leading out of the village.

She stared at the bench where Sasuke had left her all those years ago and thought back on how that one moment had changed everything. She and Sasuke had only spoken for five minutes, it had taken him seconds to knock her out and lay her on the bench, but here she was, seven years later, still affected by it.

She shook the thoughts from her mind and carried on; taking the road that Sasuke had taken all those years ago, and said a quick goodbye to Ritsu who had been on border patrol at the time.

That was when the first moments of the rest of her life had begun. She hadn't known it at the time, but, from the moment she had walked through the village border, her life would never be the same ever again. To this day, she was sure that it had been Sasuke's reappearance that had caused all of the events that followed this day, but she was never entirely sure whether she should blame him or thank him.

Sakura breathed in the fresh air, humid from the rain that had fallen over the night, enjoying the sweet scent of the fresh dew on the grass as she traveled through the forest. It was a beautiful morning and she was sure that it was to be a beautiful day, also.

She hopped onto a branch and began to jump from tree to tree, enjoying the sense of liberation that seemed to grow larger and larger as she drew further and further away from Sasuke. She was free from looking into his face and finding all of those hurtful memories in his pallid complexion and his hateful expressions; she was free from remembering all of those angry words said from hate whenever she heard his voice; she was free from remembering that horrible night all those years ago whenever she looked at him. She was free.

She ran in the direction of the slowly rising sun and savoured the beautiful sight that she could only enjoy knowing that she was free and that she wouldn't have to watch it from Sasuke's hospital room while she healed him.

But, as time went on, Sakura's optimism quickly evaporated as she drew closer to the Fire Country border.

She could see the damage that rogue shinobi had made now that she was away from civilization and it was not pretty. The grass was black, charred from so many Fire-style jutsu used in innumerable pointless battles, trees were damaged or had been destroyed, and there were many places where fresh blood coated the ground.

It all made her wonder if this was worth it. Had she known what she was getting herself into when she had accepted this mission? Well, it wasn't like it mattered now. She was almost at her post and Sasuke was now far from her mind. Her brain was locked in Mission-mode and she was now thinking of nothing but protecting her village from any threat.

She looked up at the sun, which was now directly overhead and wondered if she dared stop to eat her lunch in such a dangerous place. She was hungry, but did she want to risk getting herself into trouble with a missing-nin? She sighed and set down her bag, took out her bentou, put her bag back on her shoulders and began to walk and eat at the same time.

She would be at her post quite soon; she could afford to keep a slow pace for a little while. She ate quickly and tossed the box aside, not bothering with putting it back in her bag. She went back to running to get the hell out of that area; the blood spattered on the ground was really beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.

So, she carried on, heading further and further away from Sasuke and moving closer and closer to a fate that she couldn't even begin to imagine, but she knew that she would quite soon learn what was in store for her. She just hoped that, whatever future lay in waiting, it had been worth leaving her home to look for.

She rolled her eyes. Seriously, anything would be better than having to stick around with an angry, overly-vengeful Uchiha who has a huge bone to pick with everybody around him. She would rather have tea with the Akatsuki rather than risk falling into another one of Sasuke's little traps.

With a sigh, she dismissed that thought, telling herself that she was being ridiculous, and grabbed the map from her bag. She unrolled the scroll and then looked around her. She found the seventh landmark, an old stone statue standing before some sort of grave, and she crossed it out on the map. She was getting really close.

Then, just as she was pocketing the map once again, she felt a new presence and she froze, her hand hovering just over one of her weapons' pouches. She stood rigid, waiting for any hint that told her to prepare for a fight, but heard nothing. Then, she heard a deep voice from behind her and a shiver of recognition ran up her spine.

"Relax, kunoichi," the cool voice commanded, smooth as honey, "You need not fear any threat I may possess. I didn't come here to harm you or any of your allies."

She turned and, although she had been expecting no other, she drew in a ragged breath at the sight of the man standing before her. "U-Uchiha... Itachi?"

A/N: That seems like a good point at which to stop. *snicker* I'm so mean! XD See how I sneaked some Japanese in there? I'm so smart! X3 No, not really, everybody knows what bentou means...

And, FYI, I did mean the whole "tea with the Akatsuki bit" to be a little bit of harmless irony for good ol' Sakura. Well... kind of harmless... I mean, she doesn't die or anything does she? Only I can decide that? Oh, right, because I'm the authoress! Right... n.n;

You know, I really should write a yaoi fic after this is done... I seem to be quite obsessed with it at the moment. I'll probably put up a poll on my profile asking if people would like that or not, because it is, after all, my fans that keep me writing! X3