(AN) Okay, let me start of by apologizing profusely about how extremely super late this chapter is. As we all know, and dislike immensely, school started, and man, was I ever swamped with work. Plus, who adapts to waking up at 6am every morning after waking up at 12pm all summer vacation? (faints from exhaustion)

I finally managed to finish this chapter, despite the homework – induced writers block I'd been experiencing. I hope no one can tell where that kicked in… Anyway, I finished it today, thank you, lord – long – weekend – giver. For those who don't know, I have a four-day weekend because it's Thanksgiving up here in Canada! So, without further ado, thank you for waiting so long for this chapter, and enjoy!


After so many years of desperately trying to chase down Sasuke, the bastard, they were now freakishly close to him, with freakishly little effort, freakishly nearing the time and place where Orochimaru would freakishly attempt to take over Sasuke's body.

Did anybody else find this freakishly too easy?

Naruto's mind whirled as he shoved his last scroll into his travel bag and flung it over his shoulder, making his way out of his apartment.

'This is just so…How to dramatically save the World – For Dummies', Naruto couldn't help but notice is he walked the early morning streets of Konoha, going over all the mission information. 'Why would Orochimaru put so much effort into making Sasuke stay below the radar just to shove him in our faces right before he gets what he wants?'

Naruto scrunched his nose in confusion as he turned a corner onto the main street of Konoha that lead out of the village. He felt fidgety, almost, at the prospect of how smoothly things were supposed to work out. Not that he had any problem with dragging Sasuke's half-dead ass back to the village, he'd relish in it, but Kami, that's the issue.

Anybody with a functional brain – which, now that he thought about it, Orochimaru might not have – would know the obvious: Sasuke show, Naruto goes. So what the fuck was going on? Were they being underestimated?

Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that Team Naruto-Sakura was being baited out. By Orochimaru, or Sasuke, he had no clue, and for what purpose he was unsure, but what he did know was that the last thing this mission was going to be was easy.

'This mission makes total sense. Sasuke is on the run to kill Orochimaru, he's taking a short cut to our territory, he thinks we won't be able to handle him if we come, but we can, and we do, and we kick his ass, and then all's good… right? But…' Naruto scratched the back of his head, the outer walls of the Hidden Leaf coming into full view, 'I feel like the more sense this mission makes, the less flawless it seems to be…'

Naruto shook his head, trying to get rid of his pessimistic thoughts.

Sakura was already waiting by the gates of Konoha when Naruto finally pulled his shit together, deciding that he would deal with whatever circumstances were handed to him. Even if that meant getting his ass handed to him, as well, by said gorgeous kunoichi. She was leaning against the wall, her arms folded below her chest, staring unseeingly into the distance.

In his complicated thoughts, he'd managed to almost – almost – forget about how unsure he was of Sakura's mood towards him. He had no idea what to expect.

'And yet,' Naruto thought as he got close enough to Sakura to see her facial expression, 'that look she's wearing makes me think she's got the same bad feeling about this as I do…'

Naruto realized two things in that moment.

One being that Sakura was freely expressing – on her face, for the whole of whoever happened to be around at the time to see – what she was thinking; feeling. The second thing was that she wasn't wearing her ANBU uniform.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it again, not wanting to disturb her thoughts. 'I thought she'd wear it, to show Sasuke how cool she is.' Naruto mused, taking in Sakura's form fitting pink zip-up vest and white skirt, her long hair cascading down her shoulders, blowing in the wind.

His eyes glanced at her fists, which were adorned by her black leather gloves. Just this simple item stamped into his head permanently just how strong Sakura was.

'I pound shinobi with Rasengan, and I barely feel it in my hand…'

"Naruto."

Naruto's head shot up, his eyes quickly leaving their post of examining her hands. 'Shimata!' he cursed, eyes shifting left and right, 'She probably thinks I was looking at her boobs!'

Suddenly, a thought struck Naruto.

'Wait…where are her boobs?' Naruto stared curiously at her seemingly almost-flat chest, aware that he remembered them being much bigger.

He attempted to shrug it off. Maybe he'd just amplified them in his imagination. Not that he…err…thought of such things.

"Na-ru-to."

He finally succumbed to the beautiful, yet extremely frightening voice, shifting his eyes to stare into her jade orbs that he'd been studiously avoiding making contact with. Her face was home to a multitude of expressions. Fatigue, worry, confusion, determination, aggravation, resolve.

"Y-yes, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked meekly, shifting his satchel further up his shoulder in a nervous need to move some part of his body, unable to predict what that penetrating stare he was receiving meant.

Sakura shook her head, most of her previously viewable emotions disappearing.

"We have to move quickly, we only have a day, – two tops – to intercept Sasuke on his way back to Oto. Now come on, how long are you going to stand there?"

Naruto stared dumbly at Sakura's face for a few moments, before exhaling a relieved, albeit conflicted due to the circumstances, sigh as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Alright, Sakura-chan! Time to catch the teme!" With that, Naruto trust his arm purposefully into the air as he marched out of the gates, out of Konoha, and onwards into a mission with an indefinite outcome.

Sakura smiled fondly at Naruto's back as she slipped her arms through the straps of her bag, following him out into the forest.


They'd been jumping from tree branch to tree branch, their feet silently bounding off the wood branches for hours before finally taking a small break.

Sakura watched as Naruto slid down against a tree, his demeanor that of someone who was completely focused on the task at hand.

'He must've finally gotten over being so worried about what happened the other night.' Sakura mused as she too assumed a spot beneath a tree adjacent to his, resting her body to prepare for more hours of sprinting.

It had taken an hour for Naruto's back to finally relax, for him to stop casting nervous glances in her direction and to realize that she really wasn't bugged by the whole situation. Sakura laughed inwardly to herself at how completely bewildered Naruto seemed to be by this fact alone.

'However…' Sakura tucked a lock of pink hair behind one ear, 'It didn't take long for his mind to wrap around what's happening…what we have to do.'

She too had been completely absorbed with this fact after she finally gave herself a chance to realize it was for real. This wasn't just another futile chase against the impossible. This had substance. This had proof. This endless game of cat and mouse, for better of for worse, was going to end within the next sunset.

The atmosphere between herself and Naruto was sullen in a nostalgic sense, surely making it obvious to the other that they were reminiscing of the days of a functional Team 7, and what has now come to pass.

Sakura needed to get her mind off – if only for a moment – their current situation, which surprised her to some extent. After years of waiting for this day, she found herself not wanting to think about it.

"Ne, Naruto, what have you done these past two years?"

Naruto's head perked up at the question, a grin quickly forming on his lips.

"Becoming strong, Sakura-chan!" Was Naruto's predictable reply.

Sakura frowned playfully. "Mou, Naruto! I already know that! I mean, what have you been doing? Where have you been?"

"Um…" Naruto stared up at the bright blue sky through the rustling leaves above his head, his blond hair dancing with the small breeze. "Ero-Sennin took me to tons of different countries, so I got to see a lot of really cool things. I learned a lot of new stuff, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled fondly at the boy across from her, aware of how happy he was to finally have a chance to catch up on lost time. "Weren't you lonely?" She had to ask. Traveling for two years with just an old perverted hermit for company didn't really strike the kunoichi as enough to keep one from feeling homesick.

Naruto was silent for a miniscule moment before replying, "Weren't you?"

"What?" Sakura rebutted, "How could I have been lonely? I was at Konoha! Everyone was there."

Naruto smiled sadly, "Just because there are a lot of people around doesn't mean you can't be lonely."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, her long pink hair falling over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she realized what Naruto was getting at. He was talking about himself, but yet incorporating her as well. Naruto… he'd grown up surrounded by people who should've been his friends, but yet had been so alone, so assimilated. He pulled a ton of pranks to get attention, no matter what the kind. What he was telling her… asking her if she was lonely, it's like he was pointing out that she had segregated herself by choice.

"I, I guess I wasn't lonely because I didn't give myself the time to be." Sakura confessed, running her fingers through the long blades of grass blowing in the wind beside her. She looked up to see Naruto staring pensively at his hands, crossed atop his pulled up knees.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I wonder if this was his way of overcoming his loneliness…" Naruto whispered softly, his eyes glazed over as he turned to face her.

'Sasuke', Sakura thought, 'Naruto's talking about Sasuke.' Had the Uchiha left because he was lonely? It seemed like such a ridiculous thought. 'And yet…He had no family, and refused to make any friends.' Sakura figured that his loneliness could've been what pushed him to make the decisions that he's made.

"Maybe…" Sakura agreed, standing up and retrieving her bag that she had dropped beside her.

"What about you?"

"Eh?" Sakura questioned, already putting her arms through the straps of her bag.

"What about you? What have you really been doing these past years?" Naruto repeated, that glossy look gone from his eyes.

Sakura had been thinking of how she would answer this question when it came herself, so she responded quickly. "I'd like to say I went on a quest of self-discovery," Sakura laughed, sharing a sheepish smile with her blond…friend. "But you and I both know that overall, I didn't manage to accomplish as much of that as I would've liked. I studied, practiced, and trained endlessly." Sakura laughed once more, this one sounding as if it were a way of letting things go from her system. "I know for sure that I'm stronger, and more knowledgeable than I was. But… sometimes I feel as if I'm in the same place mentally I was before you left."

The kunoichi heard Naruto pull himself up off the ground, and leaned into the anticipated touch as he wrapped his strong, firm arms around her, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

"You're not, Sakura-chan. You just haven't given yourself the chance to catch up with you." Naruto whispered into the top of her head.

Sakura clenched the fabric of his shirt, pulling herself closer into his chest. "What if I've become like him?" She whispered almost inaudibly.

Naruto held her tighter. "You'll never be like him, Sakura-chan."

When Sakura lifted her head to stare into his cerulean eyes, she was met with a truly Uzumaki smile: encouraging, comforting, and meant just for her.

"Naruto…" She managed to whisper before her lips were captured by his. It wasn't passionate and frantic as their last ones had been, but sweet, caring, a promise. A promise that she'd always be herself, 'Always be your Sakura-chan.'

They stayed like that, lips pressed lightly together, reveling in the comfort and warmth of each other's arms around them. Naruto finally, with great effort, pulled away.

His arms still firmly holding Sakura to him, he mumbled, "You know…I've been afraid to do that all day since last night. I thought you'd kill me, but I guess it's no big deal."

The tiny – but he would have to be a fool to judge her strength by her size – pink bundle in his arms began to shake.

"Naruto…you-just…RUINED THE MOMENT!"

Naruto wasn't aware of how he managed to get on the other side of the tree, but it would be a lie to say he wasn't perfectly happy with his positioning.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, waving his arms in front of himself from the other side of the tree in a futile attempt to calm the kunoichi down.

"Naruto…" Sakura breathed out, her glove clad fist thrust out in the Kyuubi containers direction. "We had a moment, you know? And it could've been perfect…but no, no…" She trailed off, as if unable to find the proper words to describe how aggravated she was.

A heavy silence reigned.

"Ne, Sakura-chan?"

"What?"

"We should probably get going."

"Hmm…yeah, you're right."


The change from the light of day to the darkness of night was incredibly swift for those immersed in a forest. The remnants of Team 7 found themselves quickly in need of a place to make camp, but not without argument.

"No, Naruto! We have to make camp!"

"But, Sakura-chan! We don't have time to rest the whole night! We need to catch up to him!"

"Oh?" Sakura raised a perfect eyebrow, "And how do you plan to do that when an hour or so from now you're falling over yourself with fatigue?"

Naruto paused to contemplate this.

"Well, I'll deal with that if it happens."

"You mean, when it happens, don't you?"

"Fine, when, but lets get going, Sakura-chan." Naruto all but whined as he stared impatiently in the direction they were to head. They were so close; he could practically pick up on Sasuke's scent.

"Look," Sakura started, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and her forefinger, her hip stuck out in a don't-argue-with-me stance, "I want to find Sasuke as soon as possible too, alright? But look, we have to be smart about this, and rest up."

From the look Naruto was giving the pink-haired kunoichi, Sakura was blatantly aware that what she was saying just wasn't clicking. With a large, frustrated gesture, she attempted once more.

"The closer we get to him," She began slowly, making sure to maintain eye contact to ensure his attention, "The more dangerous it becomes. Who's to say that he doesn't know we're already following him? We're at a safe distance now, so resting up now, when we have, oh, say, zero visibility, is the smart thing to do.

"Tomorrow, Naruto, that's when it really begins."

"I…I know." Naruto finally breathed out, dropping down onto the grassy floor.

"So…" He questioned, looking up at Sakura, "Where are we going to camp?"

That was a very good question. Sakura looked around at the wide expanse of grass around them, with large, miscellaneous trees spaced out throughout the clearing. The trees were too far apart to offer sufficient protection to the two of them, and no alcoves or rigid grassy slopes were in sight.

"We'll have to sleep together." Naruto mused as he looked up and down the large tree behind Sakura.

"Excuse me? Naruto, now is not the time." Sakura shot back as Naruto's eyes seemed to roam up and down her body. She hoped the night played a proper shield to keep Naruto from seeing the blush that had seeped into her cheeks.

"Eh? What? No!" Naruto waved his hands frantically – he seemed to be doing a lot of this lately – "I don't mean it like that, I mean, sleep in the same tree."

"…oh."

"…yeah…"

"So, I suppose, that tree then?" Sakura offered, pointing her thumb behind her at the tree she assumed Naruto had been err…checking out.

"Yeah, there's a thicker branch higher up that could support us both."

Sakura turned around to stare up into the tree, heavily smothered with large green leaves. She had to focus quite a while near the top of the tree before the wall of leaves allowed her to see just what Naruto had been talking about. Yes, it was big, and yes, it provided enough cover. Naruto had picked up on the fact that with the setting they were in, they would have to stay close.

"Okay then," Sakura stated, walking up to the trunk of the tree. "Let's set up."

'Setting Up' Consisted of tossing their bags along a parallel branch to their own, and attempting to make themselves comfortable. This later part was not as easy as it would seem, despite popular belief that tree branches were the epitome of comfortable to sleep on.

The position they finally settled on was as follows: Naruto had his back leaned up against the tree trunk, with Sakura sitting in between his outstretched legs, her head resting against his chest, and his arms wrapped around her.

After all the re-adjusting and wriggling to get comfortable – which proved to be fairly uncomfortable for Naruto – they just lay still, listening to each other breathe.

"I'm waiting for the realization," Sakura whispered, her head beneath Naruto's chin, "that everything has finally come full circle."

She snuggled in closer; the nights cool air pouring over her body.

"It's just…" Sakura paused for long moment, staring up through the tree branches at the starry sky. "When everything changed a few years ago, I wasn't sure at all what was going to happen. I started studying with Tsunade-shishou, Sasuke defected, and you and Jiraiya-sama left to train for almost two years; it all seemed like everything that had once been was never going to return."

"But now…now, in a broken sense of a way, it's like our whole situation is trying to right itself. Here we are, you back, what's left of team 7 operational, and chasing after our lost teammate to bring him home."

Naruto listened intently as Sakura spoke, tenderly stroking her arm in comfort as she reminisced about the past. She sounded so sad when she spoke, but that was just proof of the sad memories they had left behind, and now, for one reason or another, were forced to look back on.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto had to ask, "Why did you start training under Tsunade-baachan?"

Sakura stiffened a miniscule amount in his arms, before laughing disparagingly. "It all seems like such a stupid reason now…"

"Can you tell me anyway?" Naruto mumbled into Sakura's sweet smelling hair.

"It… it was Sasuke really." Sakura began, but quickly continued as she felt Naruto inhale quickly. "Do you remember that day, it was years ago, when I missed training?"

"Yeah," Naruto responded quickly, "Sasuke said you had been crying, but Kakashi-sensei stopped me from beating it out of the teme what he did." Naruto huffed.

A small smile played on Sakura's lips as she pictured Naruto grabbing the collar of Sasuke's shirt and threatening him.

"Well, I guess it was a stupid thing to cry over, but I really thought I loved him at the time, and he told me I wasn't strong – the weak link of Team 7 – and that I really ought to find a different path in my life. It was the most attention I'd ever gotten from him, and it was to tell me how horrid I was at being a shinobi."

"He said that to you?" Naruto was fuming. The only thing keeping Naruto from launching himself out of that tree and speeding off to destroy that asshole was the beautiful kunoichi he loved in his arms. He attempted to reduce his reaction to vibrating.

"Yeah," Sakura seemed oblivious to what was going on in Naruto's mind, "but I wouldn't give up like he said I should, it just pushed me to try harder, and seek out different training. In a way, I think I should thank him. I feel…I feel so childish, for drowning myself in training. I should've been able to take his criticism."

"Saaaa-kura-chan," Naruto attempted to coo that she wasn't nearly as childish as he was into her ear, but was stopped as he watched Sakura glare off into the distance.

"That doesn't mean I still don't have something I need to prove to him."

"Sakura-chan…"

Sakura laced her fingers through his, and relaxed against Naruto's warm, solid frame.

"Naruto…let's just go to sleep."

And so they did.


(AN) And that's that! I hope everyone liked this chapter. I wanted some bonding, and some catching up between the two, and I hope I managed to incorporate it well. Be advised: Next chappy is intro to Sasuke and most likely something else.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to: Kymsom, maxslayer10, Radon199, Faisalz, Shintenshin_no_Jutsu, rickp2006, VyseN, suzako, jere7782, Useful76, SakuNaruLover, 50-cal, Narutomaniac, Kairiku_Aura, DeathRaiderz, templar132, Softly_Sleeping, kabata4life, Cielfairy, Karuteru, Starlight –Wild Koneko, ssjgokillo, Jho, and renegate0789 for reviewing my last chapter! Your reviews mean a lot to me, seriously.

I'm sorry once again for taking so long to update, but I hope – and therefore it will most likely be – that the next chapter arrives to you all faster! And, as I know this chapter was mellow, will contain more action!