Chapter Four
"I wonder when she will wake up. I hope it's soon."
"If you keep talking that loud you will wake her up, dobe."
"ugh, you guys are so loud." I said back to my old teammates battering while I tried to sit up in the bed. My mind was so groggy that it caught me off guard to feel two strong arms come around my in a big hug. Then in my ear I heard "we have missed you so much Sakura".
A small smile came to my lips because the one hugging my right now could be no other then Naruto. Even though he was annoying when we were younger I still missed him over the years.
He let go of me and crawled off of the bed I was laying in. So now I could see the whole room. "Sakura don't you remember Kakashi", Naruto said pointing to the silver haired jonin who said "long time no see. Sorry about the sharigan earlier", from his chair with his book on his lap giving his notorious crinkled eye meaning a smile.
"glad to see you have not changed and its understandable why you had to do it", I said back with a smile.
"Oh and you already meet teme", Naruto said with a scowl to the said man. Sasuke was leaning against the far wall not much giving my glance.
"And Sakura this is Yamato", Naruto said while pointing to the brown haired jonin from the earlier fight, "and this is Sai, he is not really good with showing emotions", pointing to the black haired guy from the fight. Who right now was giving me an odd fake smile.
"It's nice to meet you guys", I said back.
After all the greetings it got quiet so I thought this would be the best time to say my apologies so I started off by saying nervously, "uhm… so I am sorry about punching you Naruto. I should have said something before the fight but I was not sure if you would remember me or even believe that it was actually me so I said nothing. And Sasuke I am sorry I put you to sleep but that was the only way I knew you could heal faster."
That energetic blond just gave me one of his biggest smiles and said, "no worries Sakura you only did what was right but all of us are sorry for attacking you so we decided to buy you something."
At that it kinda made me worried to think of all the different weird things they could have gotten me. While I was thinking this I didn't see Naruto head over to a bag in one of the corners of the room. But I did notice something in his hands when I smelt a heavenly smell. Smelling this new smell I realized how hungy I was.
When he put a warm bowl in my lap I then saw what it was, it brought a smile to my face. In the bowl was ramen. Of course it was ramen what else could a gift from Naruto be. "It's from Ichiraku. They have the best ramen. I hope you like it", says the smiling blond.
Soon my hunger took over and I began eating the ramen. For some reason at this point Naruto thought it was a good time to start asking questions about where I have been and why I left. Everyone most have been curious about my answer because everyone was looking at me including Sasuke.
For just two seemingly small questions they had some hard, painful, and long answers so I decided to just give the short and simple answer of "I needed to leave for personal reasons, that's all", I said with a small smile. To keep him from questioning my further I asked what had happened since I left. The answer I got was one that took Naruto about two hours to tell me the whole story of everything that had happened in the past four years.
From his story I learned that I was replaced soon after I left by a girl name Aiko. Who apparently was not that strong of a ninja so she quiet after dropping out after the second part of the chunin exams. She now apparently owns her own tea shop in some far of town.
I also learned of how Sasuke got the curse mark by Orochimaru. And that the Third Hokage had died while I was gone. Naruto also told of how he and Jiraiya's journey to find the next Hokage.
Naruto also talked of the day Sasuke left and how he tried to find him for so many years. He also told of his years training with Jiraiya and then coming back to Konoha to once again look for Sasuke. When Naruto got back from training with Jiraiya that was when he meet Sai and Yamato.
The way Naruto was able to finally to achieve his goal of bring back Sasuke was by fallowing the lead he got of Sasuke defeating Orochimaru so he knew Sasuke would be after Itachi. By doing this they were able to find where Sasuke and Itachi were and when they got there they found me.
Apparently after Kakashi had knocked me out they had brought me, Sasuke, and Itachi's body back to Konoha. By the time they got back Sasuke had woken up all healed and so the fourth Hokage had a very long private talk with him and surprisingly everything has been resolved.
The most surprising part of Naruto's story was that Sasuke told the fourth of what really happened with the Uchiha Clan Massacre so Itachi is going to be buried tomorrow with the highest honor that a died shinobi can get when died but not everyone was going to be told of this new information.
Once Naruto's story got to present day I had long ago finished my ramen. Then Kakashi closed his book and got up so that everyone in the room looked at him. He then said, "Well Sakura it was nice to see you again but I am sure you are tired so everyone I think its time to leave."
"But Kakashi I want to stay with Sakura. Its been a long time since I have seen her", says the energetic blond.
"Its alright Naruto I will be here tomorrow", I said with a smile
At that a reluctant Naruto got up and said good bye and gave another hug before he walked out. Everyone else followed him saying their good byes except Sasuke who just gave a grunt.
With everyone gone it finally gave me some time to reflect on the last couple of days. In those days I had lost someone that is dear to me but in the process I gained Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi who I thought when I left four years ago I would never see again. It will be nice to be back in Konoha to see old friends and meet new ones but also coming back it will mean I will have to see him again. I can't bare the thought of ever seeing him again after what he put me through. But I need to conquer my fear of him so that I may be able to repay Itachi for all he had done for me.
Without him I wouldn't be the kunoichi I am today. I wouldn't be as confident in myself. He also taught me how to be open minded and to try to love everyone with their faults. In a way he saved my life from Daddy and the Akatsuki would have killed me all those years ago. With all these reasons, that's why I am indebted to Itachi.
I most have gotten lost in my thoughts because I heard a knocking on the glass. There at the window was a male ANBU personal with a bird mask. He saw I was looking at him so he motioned for me to come to the window and unlock it. Getting out of the hospital bed and doing just as he motioned for me to do. It was then that he spoke to me saying, "are you Sakura Haruno?"
"uhm yes I am."
"You are to get dress and to bring all of your belongings with you so that I may lead you to the Hokage. She wishes to meet you."
