Well, hello there. Long time no see, huh? Sorry about that. I've been pretty swamped. It was the end of the semester at school so all the teachers were throwing homework at us so that we could be ready for the mid-terms. But alas, finals are over and i start new classes tomorrow. Yup, that should be fun. (Can you hear the sarcasism?)

Well since i didn't have any homework for the first time in weeks, i decided to sit down and write. The chapter isn't the best, but hey, i tried. I finished it last night but Fanfiction was being stupid and wasn't allowing me to put it up. I had to wait until today to see if it would work. So far so good but you never know.

Otay, what do i have to say . . . ? Well i guess i'll start with thank you so much for all your support and reviews. I always makes my day a little better when i see i have a review in my mailbox. And seriously, everyday i come home from school in the worst mood because i hate my school. So when i see that someone left a review, it makes me feel so much better. Thank you all so much!

Well, i don't have much more to say about the story so i guess i'll mention some personal stuff. Um, let's see . . . I am on a huge Jane Austen kick. I just finished reading my favorit book, Pride and Prejudice, for the i don't know how many time, and i just swindled my mother into ordering the enitre Jane Austen collection for me. So i'm extremely happy and it should be arriving anytime between tomorrow and Saturday. I'm dying to read them. The waiting is killing me.

Um, music. Of, course i have been listening to a lot of Escape the Fate (Ronnie!), Black Veil Brides, and Underoath. But even more recently i have started listening to Attack Attack! (my fav is Stick Stickly), and Lovehatehero (My fav is Red Dress). Amazing bands and i recommend them to anyone who is interested in that kind of music like me.

Um, i think i'm going to stop rambling. Oh, one last thing to my tinky-z. Sorry i haven't responded. I will get to it as soon as i can. I'm glad you are doing better and you really had me worried there. I love you so much!

Oh, well, enjoy.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open slowly. She lay in bed, painfully aware of how big and cold it was without him beside her. Without looking in a mirror, she knew that her face was a mess because she fell asleep crying again last night. The thought passed through her head but she quickly dismissed it, knowing full well that she didn't care enough for it to bother her.

It had been three days. Three days of pain and loneliness. Three days without him. She had completely fallen apart that first day. She and Hinata had sat on the floor by the door for a couple of hours before Hinata had insisted that they moved. Hinata then moved her up to the bedroom, where the kids wouldn't see her falling to pieces. That entire day was spent lying in bed hysterically crying.

She had fallen asleep sometime between three and four and had awakened up at nine with the desire to just stay in bed all day and cry again. But she knew that she was worrying Seto, who had popped his head in the bedroom several times the day before to check on his sick mother. She had to pull it together and at least be strong for him and Mikoto during the day.

So she got up and successfully put on fake smile and went about her day with Hinata and the kids. She fooled the kids, but Hinata knew better. So Tenten and Ino when they made it back from their mission. No one said anything to her, but there was no doubt that they knew.

During the day, she tried her best to be strong. She smiled and talked even though all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and hide from the world. But no matter how bad she wanted to hide, she couldn't because it wasn't just about her anymore. She had to care for her family while he was gone. She couldn't completely break down, at least during the day. But at night, she cried herself to sleep. It was the time when she could finally break and let her sorrow out.

Sakura sighed, not wanting to get out of bed but knowing she had to. For my family. She reminded herself again and then lazily got out of bed. She decided to shower quickly, hoping to clean up her face a bit before she had to face anyone. It was a quick shower and she was soon heading down the stairs. She had slept in so when she walked into the kitchen the girls were already getting Seto ready for daycare.

The girls stilled the moment she came in and then were quickly moving again. Sakura inwardly sighed, hating how they were watching her so closely. She moved over to Seto, ignoring their side-long glances and kissed his head. "Good morning."

"Morning, Mommy!" he greeted back, some sort of sticky jam smeared all over his mouth. Sakura smiled and grabbed a wet washcloth. He protested at first but she gave him the "mother look" and he reluctantly allowed himself to be cleaned.

Once done, he jumped down from his chair and she gave him a little pat on the back. "Go get your backpack and I'll take you." She told him, wanting to get out of the house.

He smiled brightly because Sakura hadn't been the one to take him since most of her pregnancy. He ran off quickly, eager for his mother to take him.

The girls waited until he was gone to speak. "How are you this morning?" Tenten asked casually.

Sakura's smile faltered for a moment. "Good. I think a walk would be nice right now." she said, equally casual.

The girls glanced at each other and Ino plastered a fake smile into her face. "Yeah, it sounds nice. I think we should join you."

Sakura wasn't fooled. "I figured you would." She said sarcastically as she walked into the hallway, hearing Seto running down the stairs. She slipped her shoes and then helped Seto with his while the girls prepared Mikoto. It didn't take long for them to be out the door.

The weather was pleasant now. It was late August now, a few days from September so the heat had cooled down a bit, but was still rather warm out. The walk was pleasant as well; Seto the only one talking as they calmly strolled toward the schoolyard. It wasn't until they actually reached the building did they notice that the entire village seemed to be staring and whispering.

Sakura blinked in confusion, wondering what their problem was now. She looked around and stopped when she saw Mai slowly making her way over to them. Sakura smiled and bent down and kissed Seto before he ran off into the building with Haru. When she stood up again, Mai had finally reached them. She smiled, hesitantly. "Hello, how are you?"

Sakura smiled kindly. "I'm fine. Just trying to make it through the days with this little one continuously growing." She said, rubbing her stomach.

Mai smiled. "Yeah, I remember how that felt."

Sakura giggled but stopped when she saw two women whispering to each other nearby. She glanced at the two women and had no doubt that they were talking about her. Mai looked over at the women as well and sighed. "It's amazing how rude people are." she commented.

Sakura nodded and rubbed her stomach gently. "I don't even know what their problem is now, but there is always something."

Mai looked at her and bit her lip. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what they are talking about?"

Mai was quiet for a beat and then hesitantly spoke. "There are rumors that Mr. Uchiha fled the village, abandoning his children and you pregnant."

Sakura froze. Ino glared at Mia for a moment. "Are you serious!?" She exclaimed angrily and then turned to the nearby women gossiping. "Get away from us before I walk over there and rip your head off!!"

Tenten gripped Ino on the shoulder, trying to calm her. Ino took a deep breath and glared at the ground. She glanced at Sakura, staring sadly at the ground. She hated to see her best friend in pain. It was enough pain for her to be without Sasuke but she didn't need the village making it any harder for her. She cursed mentally.

Sakura spoke quietly, keeping her gaze focused on the ground. "No, it's not true. He was assigned a very dangerous mission to eliminate a very serious threat against the village. He and a team were dispatched to protect this family and the village." she whispered.

Mia blinked. "Because of that sound attack the other day?" she guessed and Sakura nodded wordlessly. The older woman stared at her and then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He'll come home soon and when he does, I hope to be able to thank him for his work. He's a great man for taking on that mission." She said comfortingly.

Sakura swallowed then lump in her throat and tried to put a happy face on. She looked up with a smile on her face that did not reach her eyes and nodded, rubbing her stomach gently. "Of course."

Hinata gently reached out and placed her hand on Sakura's elbow. "Why don't we go get something to eat? You haven't eaten anything yet so you must be hungry." she suggested and Sakura nodded, still rubbing her stomach. Although she didn't feel like eating, she knew that she was going to start losing weight if she didn't eat. And with her very special child growing in her, she couldn't afford to do that.

"Why don't you join us?" Tenten suggested toward Mai, and said woman smiled.

"Thank you. That sounds nice."

xOx

Sasuke walked down the quiet, familiar corridor. He eyed anything, looking for any clues or any hidden traps or enemies. The place looked abandoned, however, looking as if it had been that way for months. Even said, the team searched thoroughly, not wanting to miss anything.

Upon meeting up with the rest of the group at the gates, they had left right away to start their important mission. Naruto had kept close to Sasuke the entire time, watching his back carefully to make sure that he didn't make a dumb mistake because of his current state of mind. The action was unnecessary- for he had gotten himself under control quickly and was now very focused and determined- but comforting all the same. It was nice to know that Naruto had his back.

They didn't have to walk very far from the gates for them to stumble across Itachi, who was sitting very nonchalantly at a base of a tree and Kisame joining him as well. The rest of the team had tensed as soon as they came into a good distance from them and had froze, tensed to battle at any moment. But Sasuke and Naruto didn't pause, causing the rest of the team to stare at them in disbelief as they walked right up to the men.

Naruto had stopped about five feet from him while Sasuke went straight to Itachi's side. Itachi looked up at him calmly before standing up and dusting the dirt off of his long cloak. Sasuke watched calmly and then leaned his head against his brother's chest, letting his sorrow flow out once more. Even though his mask covered his face, Itachi automatically knew and wrapped his arms around his dearest little brother. "We are going to get the bastard and then you can return to your family quickly." he promised him.

Sasuke nodded and pulled away, smiling weakly under his mask. He looked to Kisame, who looked to be studying the brothers. Sasuke stared back and then nodded a greeting. The fish man was completely still for a moment before a familiar grin spread across his face and he roughly pat Sasuke on the shoulder. "Hey, Sas-cakes, long time no see. "

The three men then moved away from the tree and stood in the middle of the path, waiting for the rest of the group to come along. Naruto stood with his arms behind his head, his mask pulled up to reveal his relaxed, bright smile on his face. "Are you coming?"

The group glanced at each other before Neji stepped forward, leading the rest. When they reached them, Neji shook Itachi's hand confidently, silently welcoming him to the mission. Shikamaru was the next to do so, rather lazily. Lee plastered a polite smile onto his face and then had hesitantly reached out to do so too. Kiba was the last to do so, very hesitant while Akamaru whimpered at his side.

Itachi was indifferent for the most part, greeting them only politely before gently removing his long black cloak. He would not wear it for this mission, he decided, for he could tell that the team was uncomfortable working with an Akatsuki member and the red clouds were too much of a reminder. Instead, he placed it inside this backpack he had packed. Kisame studied his partner and then did the same.

The large team started down the path again, some rather uncomfortable about the whole thing but kept silent. Both Naruto and Itachi kept close to Sasuke, watching his back. Sasuke ignored the two and kept his focus on the path in front of him. The nearest base was not far from the Konoha gates and was hiding in plain sight; a fact that had severely pissed Naruto off- years of searching for Sasuke and he was right under their noses-. They would reach it soon and infiltrate it to look for any enemies or clues as to where the enemies were.

And that's where they had been for majority of the time spent on the mission. They made it there on the first day and have been searching the complex bit by bit. The sound base had three levels. The smallest level was the first, the one visible from the outside. This level is disguised to look like a normal house. This was the easiest area to clear because nothing was hidden there.

The second level was through a secret passage that led underground. This was where Sasuke spent most of his time at. This level housed the living quarters, training area, Orochimaru's separate quarters, mission briefing rooms and anything else needed for the base to function. This level was much larger than the first and had taken a lot of time to just clear that it was empty. The team has since been working on going through the rooms looking for clues.

The last level, the level that Sasuke insisted on clearing, was the classified level; he himself had only been down a few times. This level housed the laboratories, power rooms, and prison/dungeon chambers. While the second level had a rather confusing layout for anyone who was not familiar with it, the third level was purposely made to confuse one. A brilliant labyrinth made so that anyone who was not supposed to be down there would have no clue where they're going and would get lost before they found anything. It was for this reason that Sasuke insisted on clearing it. He had been down there before and had a pretty good idea as to where he was going.

He hadn't found anything of interest. Everything was abandoned and looked as if it had been packed up in a hurry. Anything that was not necessary was left behind. The place was a mess and left no clues as to where they were going.

Sasuke sighed and moved up to the second level. It was getting late and since the entire complex had been cleared, they had been sleeping there. They had made Sasuke's and Seto's old room their own little base. Sasuke held an important place in Orochimaru's world so he was given his own private quarters, isolated from the other sound members below him in rank. The boys had decided to stick to Sasuke's quarters.

Sasuke entered the familiar hall and went to the door at the end. He opened the door and took a moment at the in the doorway. It was weird being back in here. The last time he had been there was when he was about to run with Seto. It was weird to be there now after so much had happened and even weirder to not have his little boy with him.

He moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge. Sitting on the bed was one of Seto's stuffed animals-a small snake- that he used to sleep with each night. Sasuke had forgotten to grab it when he ran. Sasuke sighed and held the small snake in his hand, wishing desperately that he had his little boy to hold.

He missed his family dearly. The night before he had dreamt that he was home. He was lying in bed with Sakura, her stomach large and swollen from their unborn child. He held her close and then had heard crying from Mikoto. Sasuke awoke then and had jumped up to go to his little girl only to stumble over Kiba's sleeping form. Said man had awoken quickly and yelled profanities at him loud enough for all the guys to wake up. It was fun trying to explain what had happened.

He sighed and leaned back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Damn Orochimaru. He mentally cursed and went over the mental list he had been forming for awhile. There were numerous bases that the snake could have fled to. Sasuke's guess was that once he realized that Sasuke had taken Seto and fled the base all those months ago, he had quickly packed up and moved on. With Sasuke in Konoha, Orochimaru wouldn't risk the chance that Sasuke would tell of his location and had jumped ship.

Sasuke knew that there were many bases spread out around the different lands. In the years that Sasuke had spent under sound rule, they had switched bases frequently. There was really no way of telling where he was because he always seemed to pick the locations at random, never following a pattern. It was going to be difficult to find him.

Sasuke closed his eyes, hoping to rest a little before the rest of the team entered and ruined his peace. Sasuke took a deep calming breath and settled into the bed more comfortably. There was probably only about thirty seconds of peace before it all came crashing done.

The entire structure seemed to tremble and little flacks of concrete fell to the ground from the cracked ceiling. Sasuke sat up, alert, and listened. From somewhere in the distance he could hear some sort of ruckus. Sasuke jumped to his feet and bolted down the hall in search of his team.

He didn't have to look hard.

He ran into the training area and saw that Kiba, Naruto, and were running around in a sort of panic, dodging various weapons that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sasuke sighed, seeing that they had somehow managed to trigger a training sequence and from the looks on their faces, they had no clue how to turn it off.

Naruto jumped out of the way as one sharp weapon flew passed him, only to step into the path of another. He threw himself to the ground and then rolled out of it, on his feet in a second. Without pausing, he sprinted to the corner, where nothing seemed to be able to reach him. He drew in panicked breaths, his eyes shifting every few seconds to scan for any threats coming.

He spotted Sasuke at the entrance of the room. "TEME! HELP!!!" He yelled in a panic.

Sasuke shook his head and then sprinted into the room, carefully dodging everything. It surprised him, because his body reacted without him really having to think, as if just by memory. There were several different sequences that could be active. These sequences had a specific course that it took, throwing a certain amount of obstacles at you before it would eventually shut down or be turned off. Sasuke had done each sequence thousands of times and could almost tell you what type of weapon would come out and from where, even after all this time.

He finally crossed the large room where a control panel lay in the wall. He quickly typed in the code-7278396 he recited in his head- and the panel clicked. There was the sound of the weapons that were currently out returning back into their designated place from behind him and he turned around. The system was set up so that after the sequence ended, there was no clean up needed.

Kiba and Akamaru stood to his left, their positions tensed as they watched everything become calm again. Lee was standing in a similar way on his far right while Naruto was hunched in the corner, staring at the now empty room. There was every long pause and everything was still. Naruto blinked. "That was the coolest thing ever." He stated and everyone turned to glare at him.

Naruto laughed and moved away from the corner. "What?"

Kiba clenched his fists and glared, stepping closer to the blonde in an ominous way. "I hate you so much right now." He muttered threateningly. Naruto stepped back in response.

Sasuke heard the sound of hurried footsteps and saw Neji, Shikamaru, Itachi and Kisame rush into the room. They looked around for danger. "What happened!?"

Sasuke leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, what did happen?"

It was Lee who decided to answer as Kiba lunged for Naruto and the blonde yelped and ran. The two began to run circles around the room, yelling and screaming. Lee stepped closer to the group, a tired expression on his face. "Naruto saw the panel in the wall and pressed a button. When it beeped, he pressed another and was amazed that the beeping was in two different tones. He then decided to play with all the buttons, trying to make a song, and had activated something."

Sasuke shook his head but couldn't seem to find words to express how he was feeling. It sounded like a perfect example of Naruto's carelessness combined with his stupidity. Slightly frustrated was one way to explain it. Kisame chuckled next to him and leaned against the wall to watch the chase.

Neji seemed to get frustrated with the two antics and, as Naruto was about to ran by them, stuck out his leg. This had his desired effect and Naruto tripped, landing face-first into the ground. Kiba, who had been following close behind, jumped in the air at the last second to avoid tripping over Naruto's crumpled form. He landed gracefully by the rest of the group.

Shikamaru yawned lazily. "Sounds like we had an eventful day. I say call it a day and go rest up."

The group nodded in agreement. Not bothering to help Naruto up, they stepped over him and headed back to the Sasuke's old room. Naruto groaned and cursed at them, before slowly getting to his feet and followed them, rubbing his face.

xOx

The girls had chosen a nice restaurant to dine in. It was a little crowded, but it had the best food. They were seated quickly , much to Sakura's relief. She was feeling a little weak, probably from not eating very much in the last few days she thought, and was already tired from walking there. Some sweat collected on her forehead and along her back.

They ordered their food and started up a pleasant conversation while they waited. The waitress filled up their glasses with water before she told them that their food and drinks would be ready soon. Sakura gratefully sucked down the cold water, surprising herself when she began to pull up air from her straw after only a minute. Ino silently pushed her full glass over to her. Sakura gave a thankful smile before she slowly sipped from the straw. She put it down after one sip, determined to make it last.

The waitress came back soon with their plates. She silently placed them on the table before she practically ran away. Sakura frowned, noticing that she had became as much of a plague as the other Uchihas have become. She still thought of her as Konoha's Cherry Blossom but she could tell that more people didn't think so anymore. She shook the thought and tried to enjoy the meal as much as she could.

Sakura was quiet for the most part. She spoke when she was addressed directly but barely offered anything to the conversation otherwise. The food was good, but the vast number of people there was getting to her. She could feel their stares and hear their whispers. Mia noticed as well.

"I think Mr. Uchiha is a great man!" she said suddenly and loudly. All the girls froze, staring at her. The rest of the restaurant went silent, staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" Sakura whispered in response.

Mia looked at her calmly, but spoke loudly again so that everyone could hear her. "I think he is a great man." Sakura blinked in confusion.

"My husband was killed by a sound ninja a few years ago and since then I have held a certain fear for sound ninjas. When that attack occurred the other day, I was scared out of my mind. It's comforting to know that Tsunade has sent out a team to finally deal with the sound nation." She said loudly.

Sakura stared in confusion and then nodded slowly. She didn't know what she was doing and she felt nervous under everyone's stares.

"Tsunade wants them to take out Orochimaru once and for all." Tenten stated, not loudly but everyone could hear since no one was talking besides them.

Mia smiled. "I think Mr. Uchiha is a brave man to take on that mission. He is risking his life for the wellbeing of the village and everyone inside of it; as well as the other nations. I'm looking forward to seeing him and the team comes home so I can thank them for protecting us. I can rest easy knowing that our strongest men are out taking care of us." she said loudly again.

She smiled calmly and then took a sip of her drink, seeming to be completely at ease with everyone staring. Sakura glanced at the others at the table, seeing the other confused looks on their faces equal to her own. Mia smiled at them pleasantly and then glanced at their empty plates. "Check please." she called.

The exited the restaurant quickly and walked a little down the street before they all stopped. They stared at her in confusion, silently asking for an explanation. She smiled sheepishly. "This village is controlled my gossip. A show like that will turn heads and will surely make some question their bad opinions about the Uchiha family," She looked down. "I'm sorry for intruding."

Sakura blinked. "No, thank you. It means a lot that you did that for me and my family."

Mia shook her head. "It's no problem. I hate to see a nice family suffering because of how close-minded the population is."

Sakura reached out and gently pulled her into a hug, fresh tears welled in her eyes. "Thank you so much." She whispered.

Mia shook her head and reassured her it was no problem. The group stood there for a moment more before they decided to part ways. Mia had some grocery shopping to attend to and Sakura was feeling pretty tired. Mia left and the rest went home. Once home, Sakura talked with the girls for a moment before she stated that she was going to go take a nap.

She went up to the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Moving to grab an empty journal, she climbed into bed. She started a letter addressed to Sasuke. The contents held how much she missed him and how she felt she was falling apart. She told of her efforts to appear strong and how hard it was to hide how she was feeling. She told him of her adventures of the day and how much lying in bed without him drove her crazy.

She silently resolved to write to him about her day and the daily happenings. This way, he wouldn't miss anything and he could read it all when he got home- because she refused to think that he wouldn't come home.

She wrote several pages before she slowly closed the book. She ran her hand over the hard surface of it before she slipped it under his pillow, where it would be safe. She slowly laid down and stared his pillow. She rested her hand in it gently before she closed her eyes to rest.

Well, yeah. Not the best but i tried. Review please. Reviews help me get through the writers block.