Author's note: I'm back! I'm sorry it took such a long time. Another new year, another disaster. Yep, School is getting harder and harder everyday and I barely had time to write. I'll try my best to update quickly as possible. Well, here's a new chapter. Enjoy.


"Tsnuade baa-san! Oi, Tsnuade baa-san!" Naruto banged on the door like hell.

"DAMN NARUTO! HE'S SO LOUD!!!!" Tsnuade lazily opened the door.

"OMG! All this sakes and this smell! You should really quit being a hokage and open a bar."

'Dobe, such an annoying dobe.'

"Show the hokage some respect, baka!" She yelled right at his face.

"Okay okay, I mean you're like 50 years older than me, right?" Naruto said innocently.

"Baka! That frog taught you nothing but being a pervert, didn't he? And again, show some respect!"

"Okay okay, GODAIME, where's Sakura-chan? She's not in her apartment or in the hospital."

"She must be somewhere.. Sakura! I totally forgot about her. She was on a mission to find Sasuke, but she still didn't come back…"

"Oi, baa-san! Are you out of your mind? She might be dead by now!" Naruto panicked. "I'm gonna go find her."

"Wait, Naruto! It's too dangerous. I'll send Anbu to-"

WHAM! The door slammed shut.

"What's the use.." she sighed. 'Wait a minute; he just called me a baa-san AGAIN! You dobe! Come back here! SHOW THE HOKAGE SOME RESPECT BAKA!!!!!"


Sakurea slightly opened her eyes.

'Where am I?' The pink-haired girl wondered as she tried to sit up, but winced and laid back again.

"Shit, the wounds still didn't heal yet."

'Sasuke.'

The inner Sakura scolded her. 'Why? Why Sakura! Why do you still keep trying to find him after what that bastard did to you? He pratically ignored you in the academy, he left you 3 years ago, and he almost killed you right now. He's not gonna come back and you know it.'

A clear teardrop slid down her face, dropped down to her scarred hand, then to the fresh, green grass.

"It's just so hard to believe" whispered the kunoichi. "Why does everything around me have to be so complicated?"

"Pfsh, duh! UCHIHA SASUKE!!" The inner Sakura said, meaning: "You call that a question?"

"I should probably get back… I don't know how long I stayed here, but I bet it's been 2 weeks alread." said Sakura. She grasped on the lower branch nearby and lifted her delicate body only with her left hand since her right arm's muscle was severed from the fitght. Having no energy in her body, she stumbled at first, barely able to stand but soon found her balance. A gentle breeze with cherryblossom petals blew, making everything calm. Before she had time to enjoy, she felt someone with a lot of stamina and unusual, but very strong chakara.

'Who? Who are you?'

Sakura got into her fighting stance.

'Who are you?'

Her hand gripped tighter and her sea green eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the gash in her stomach gave her a painful agony, making her knees drop. She became dizzy and her eyes blurred.

'Gukso..'Sakura cursed. Everything started to fade and disappear as she fell forward. Before she fell unconscious, she caught a glimpse of two familiar hands with orange and black sleeve holding her and a familiar voice calling her, "Sakura-chan!"

'I'm here..' her mind said, but couldn't say it out loud. 'I'm here…'

"Oi Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan? Daijobu desuka? Answer me, Sakura-chan! Daijobu?" The older and more mature Naruto asked worried to see his old teammate injured this badly.

"Sakura-chan!" No reply came.

'Sakura-chan, you're a baka, going off on your own just to find sasuke. You should've at least called for back up. You are such a baka, Sakura –chan!' Naruto thought.

"Sasuke, I'll find you and bring you back to pay for what you did to Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled with his fist clenched in the air and his loud voice ringing in the quiet forest. Naruto, now taller than Sakura picked her up and put her on his back, with her hands dangling on his broad shoulder. He made sure Sakura was comfortable, then sprang to a tree and ran.


"I sense the Kyubi" said a feminine voice. "He's near us."

"Go get him" said the dark, deep voice coolly, commanding the two figures that stood in front of him. Without a word, the sleek figure and the tall, muscular figure vanished with a small puff.

"They will fail" the feminine voice chuckled lightly. "You already know that."

"It's just a test."


'Where am I?' Sakura wondered for the second time.

"Sakura-chan, you're awake!" said Naruto cheerfully, but not smiling.

"Arigatto."

"It's no big deal."

"Um, Naruto, do you know about the-"

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said intensely.

"Nani?" Sakura said, feeling a bit awkward that naruto is very glum.

"Don't go find Sasuke on your own next time."

"……"

"Sakura-chan, if you die in search of Sasuke, many people, more than you think will be in sorrow for quite a long time."

"Naruto, but-"

"It's not worth it, Sakura-chan. You shouldn't trade your life for Sasuke."

"Naruto, it's just that Sasuke is really important to me. I know he's extremely important to you, too, but I can't stop resisting finding him. I'll never stop looking for Sasuke unless he's in Konoha safely."

"We all know he's important. We were team 7." The silence settled between them.

"……"

"……"

Sakura broke the silence first. "I think we should talk about this later."

"Yeah, 'cause we have a problem. Hold on tight, Sakura-chan."

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned as she firmly hold onto Naruto.

"We're being spied and followed."

The roseate girl quickly glanced back. She saw red, more red, black, more black, and clouds. Not just any ordinary clouds; Red Clouds.

'Akasuki!'

"It's the Akasukis Naruto!"

"Um, I kinda figured that out long time ago."

"Oh," 'and I was too stupid to notice. A ninja should always be alert and I failed it.'

"Sakura-chan, I'm speeding up." Naruto said as the red chakara increased on his feet.

"Wow Naruto, you really changed." Sakura thought, amazed that he was this fast, but it wasn't good enough. The two Akasukis noticed that Kyubi was faster and they sped up even more, bit by bit catching up with Naruto. Now, the Akasukis were almost touching them.

"AhhhhH" Sakura shrieked, scared.

Naruto threw 4 shurikens at them, making the two mysterious figures back up. Then, while they were dodging the attck, he quickly did Kage no Bunshin Jutsu and made 7 more of himself. The sleek figure and tall guy copied the jutsu and made 7 bunshins each, total of 16 including the real themselves. Each tall and sleek bunshins paired up and chased Narutos.

'This won't work' Sakura thought. Suddenly, Sakura felt hatred, more hatred than anyone she ever knew, not even Sasuke. She slowly turned her head to see.

'No, this isn't happening.' The kunoichi started to quiver. 'No!'

'Hn' the sleek guy smirked, amused to see her scared face. (I guess you probably know who it is. If you don't, keep on reading. If you do, keep on reading.)

The crimson eyes gazed at her and she felt like her eyes were burning.

Uchiha Itachi.

'There's no chance against him. Unless…'

"Naruto," Sakura said, determined.

"Hai?"

"Let me go."

"Nani?"

"Let me go. Just let me go."

"No, Sakura-chan. What are you talking about?"

"They're after you, Naruto. We have no chance against TWO Akasukis unless you let me go."

"No Sakura-chan. I'm not letting you go. Never. Ever."

"Just let me go!" Sakura screamed, crying at the same time. "Let me go!"

"No."

"Nande?" Sakura's lips trembled. "Why won't you let me go?"

"'cause.." Naruto said, "Because I won't lose any more friends."

Sakrua's emerald eyes got bigger and bigger. She stared at Naruto, surprised.

"Sasuke's not the only one that's important to me. Everybody's important. Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Fuzzy Brows, Tenten, Shino, Ino, Hinata, Gaara, and Sakura-chan, you too. Everybody in Konoha is important. That's why I'll definitely be a hokage some day. To protect the people I love, to make sure they're safe."

"Naruto.." Sakura sincerely thanked him. 'I guess you do have a talent of making people believe and trust in you.' The pink-haired girl smiled confidently. Sakura said no more. She just held onto him and gave him a squeeze to tell him that she was there. Relieved that Sakura wasn't going to let go of him, he sped even more, a speed nobody, not even the Akatsukis can catch up with. The two figures disappeared from their sight, whether they gave up of couldn't catch up with him. Within a few minutes, the big Konoha gate appeared, widely open.

"Sakura-chan, I'm glad you're okay." Said Naruto as he entered Konoha.

"And I'm glad you're here' Sakura whispered as she closed jer eyes.


Author's Note: Whew, that was hard to write. And it's almost 6 ½ pages!! I spend hours writing it, so I hope you liked it. It was Naru/Saku scene, and I'm sorry if Naruto was too OOC in here. Well, reviews!! I'll be really happy if I get one review. It really makes my day. Next chapter is called Shizuku ni. Thank you.