"Lady Tsunade I just can't do this anymore."

Sakura was sitting in a chair in front of her shishou looking like the dead brought back to life. Her once bright pink hair was limp and dark, her vibrant emerald eyes a dull green, and her once healthy tanned skin pale and sickly looking. Ever since the battle against Kaguya, Sakura had been slowly withdrawing into herself and rarely ever went out of her house anymore. Tsunade was beginning to worry about her apprentice that she saw as a daughter. Something was wrong and, even though she knew what it was, was still waiting to hear it from the young girl herself.

"I know," Tsunade sighed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had fallen asleep in the office again doing paperwork that needed to be done. "But nothing is going to change until you want it to, Sakura. So? What are you going to do?" Sakura looked at her, her eyes looking at Tsunade but not really seeing her.

"…I need to get out of here." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at that, urging her to elaborate. "Out of the village, find out where I belong…. Shishou, I'm going to retire from being a Konoha Ninja." She knew her heart's daughter was fed up with everything, but she didn't think it was far along. If a ninja wanted to retire there was nothing she could do about it. After serving at least five years of service, it was their right to quit or not. Afterall, being a ninja was a life-or-death situation every day.

Sakura was already seventeen and was well within her right, but Tsunade couldn't bring herself to retire the girl. Not when she could soar to even higher heights with what she could do. Letting out a long breath through her nose, she contemplated on what she could say to bring her around when Sakura stood up and placed her hitai-ate on the desk.

"Don't worry, Shishou, I won't be gone forever, but I even if I come back, I don't know if I'll stay."

With those words, Sakura vanished from sight and left Tsunade alone to think over what was to be done. With Sakura gone, they would need more help at the hospital and Shizune will need her own apprentice in order to keep it running in tip top shape. She would need a new training partner to fight with and someone to help her with all this paperwork that keeps building up. Sighing and running a hand through her hair Tsunade looked out the window and into the rising sun that peeked out from behind the trees.

Kami, she was gonna miss that girl.

"So that's it, you're gonna leave the village." A male voice said from the living room as Sakura got home. She paused at the opening doorway and nodded her head in response. "(Sigh) I knew this was going to be the outcome, but we both didn't want to truly believe it. We're going to miss you, Blossom."

A short man with dark pink hair in the shape of a cherry blossom got up from the couch and walked towards her. Kizashi Haruno was a man of many bad dad jokes and jolly energy that put everyone either at ease or annoyed. He liked to look at the bright side of things but couldn't keep up his old self when his daughter was hurting so badly. He watched as she slowly withered into the shell of a person she was now. He had expected at least one of her 'friends' to come around and help her out of her funk since nothing he did helped. Yet not one person came asking to see or talk to his daughter. It was like they all went about their own lives, ignoring Sakura as she fell into her personal darkness and then forgot about her completely.

His wife, the tall, beautiful blonde that Sakura had gotten her temper from, wept every night at the pain their daughter was going through. Even the things she did, did not help and all she could from now on was give Sakura the hugs and kind words so desperately needed to hear…just not from her. Mebuki Haruno wrapped her arms around the pinkette as she walked out of the kitchen, already having come to terms with her daughter's decision.

"…. I don't know how long I will be gone, but…. I will send letters…. There is one thing I wish to ask of you two."

"Anything, Blossom, what is it?" Sakura handed him multiple envelopes with different names on them. Each one to one of her so-called 'friends' that she had made through the years.

"Give these letters to them, but only if they come to you asking for me. If none of them are gone by the time I come back, then I will know where I stand with them." Kizashi took the letters with tears in his eyes and rage in his heart. He watched as Sakura pulled on an already made backpack and, with one last hug, walked out the door. He didn't know when he would see his daughter again, but he knew that when she came to visit, none of the letters would be gone.

And he was right.

Chapter One

"Teme! Hurry up!" Naruto yelled from the village gates. He was excited, his longtime friend and teammate was finally coming back to live in the village after his redemption travels. He hadn't seen Sasuke for many years and now they were both 22. He looked at the approaching Uchiha who had rolled his eyes and took in his appearance.

Sasuke hadn't changed much. His hair was slightly longer and didn't stick up like a chicken's ass anymore. His bangs covered the eye that held the Rinnegan and his clothes were black and grey with a black cloak around his shoulders. He seemed taller and still stoic, but one could see the emotions in his eyes now.

Naruto hadn't changed much either. His hair was longer as well and started to resemble the Fourth's hair. His jumpsuit had more blacked added to it with orange outline and a tiny ramen trinket added to one of his ears. His personality was still the same but with a much calmer tone.

Both boys looked at one another when they were only a few feet apart. Bright blue looking into sole black. Wind blew past them breaking the tension as they both bumped knuckles with their prosthetic arms. A grin and small smile could be seen on them as their friends gathered around to welcome him back into the village. Looking at those gathered around him, Sasuke couldn't help but notice someone missing from the group.

"Where's Sakura?" He asked, his eyes settling on Naruto once more when he couldn't find a flash of pink. All the rookies from his school days and Team Gai were there, but his pink haired teammate was nowhere to be found.

"What are you talking about, Teme? Sakura-Chan should be here!" Naruto exclaimed as he also looked around but didn't see her. "What? She wouldn't miss this. Has anyone seen Sakura-Chan today?" Nobody spoke up until Ino decided to input her two cents.

"Isn't she usually at the hospital? They work crazy hours there and she is Lady Tsunade's apprentice as well, so they must keep her busy at all times." The others seemed to agree with that statement.

"That's true! Don't worry, Teme, you'll see Sakura-Chan later! Let's go see Granny Tsunade now!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and dragged him towards the Hokage's tower. The others just shook their heads and wandered off to do their own thing, the thought of their pink haired friend going to the back of their mind.

They did think about her occasionally, but not enough to actually go and see how she was doing. Thinking that she was busy with the hospital and Tsunade's paperwork, and that the random bits of pink that they saw in their peripheral vision every once in a while, was her when it wasn't. Ino was walking back to the flower shop to take over for her mom when she spotted familiar dark pink hair walking towards her.

"Mr. Haruno! What's up?" The man never stopped walking and she could have sworn she saw him glare at her as he pasted. Thinking it weird, but nothing to worry about, she continued on towards the shop with a shrug of her shoulders. Never knowing that the hate Kizashi Haruno felt for her and her friends went up another notch.

"GRANNY! Look who's back!" Naruto yelled as they walked through the door to her office. Tsunade scowled as she continued her paperwork, ignoring the blonde brat for a moment.

"Welcome back, Uchiha, since you're here I'm guessing this is for good now?" She asked as she signed her name on another document. Getting nothing but a 'Hn' in return caused her to nearly break her pen in half. The Uchiha and every other stoic male always got on her nerves with their one syllable answers.

"Who is that?" Sasuke asked after a while when he spotted a plain brown haired, brown eyed girl beside Tsunade holding papers.

"My assistant, Nora."

"I thought Sakura-Chan helped you with all this stuff." Naruto asked with a frown. "Don't tell me you have her working all the time at the hospital." Tension grew in the air as Tsunade went still, one could almost feel the anger radiating off of her body.

"Tsunade, where's Sakura?" Sasuke asked, the quiet blonde Hokage looked at him with her honey eyes and glared.

"If you really want to know, go ask her father." Dread pooled into his stomach as he took off out of the office, Naruto close behind him asking what was wrong.

"Think about it, Dobe, when was the last time you saw Sakura?" Scratching his head, Naruto for a bit, not coming up with any recent memories of the pinkette that was his teammate. "None of the others seem to have seen her either since they just agreed with Ino about her being cooped up in the hospital. Something is wrong." Getting how serious this was, Naruto and Sasuke raced towards Sakura's parent's house. They arrived just as Kizashi was opening up the door to go inside.

"Hey! Sakura-Chan's Dad! Where is Sakura-Chan?" Kizashi paused at the question, his glaring eyes looking at them over his shoulder. He told them to wait there before coming back with two letters in his hands. He shoved them into their hands before slamming the door behind himself, not wanting to look at the two boys that tore his daughter down without knowing it.

"A letter?" Sasuke questioned at he looked at it. He could tell that the envelope was a bit old and torn here and there from being moved around and handled so much. His name was written on the front in Sakura's handwriting, the same with Naruto's envelope. Opening the letter, he paused at what he was seeing.

Dear Sasuke,

If you are reading this, then I am no longer in the village.

I don't think you would blow this out of proportion, but No, I am not dead.

At least not at the time of writing this letter.

I have retired from being a Konoha Shinobi and decided to travel the world.

I know you might not care much where I am or what I do, but I still want to tell you.

After the battle with Kaguya, and everyone settling back into life, I found myself at a crossroad.

I could go about my life, pretending to be happy for everyone, and letting them think that I still love you like I did when I was a child.

Or I could go away and try to find myself.

…I chose to stay and pretend.

I loved you when I was younger, but every word thrown at me to hurt, the glares,

The pure hatred in your eyes slowly faded that love away.

Then, after a long while, I grew to love another.

But when I professed my love to him not only to let him know how I felt, but to save him from danger…

…. he didn't believe me…. No one did.

They all thought that I still loved you.

Though that's not to say that I still don't care about you!

You are my teammate from our genin days and will always hold a special place in my heart.

…You probably don't care, so I don't even know why I wrote this letter.

Maybe because I still think on some microscopic level you might care? A teeny tiny bit.

Truthfully, I expect this letter to left unread by the time I decide to come back.

…. Either way, I hope you live a life full of love with those that care about you all around you.

Sincerely, Your Annoying Teammate,

Sakura Haruno

Sasuke's hands shook as he read the letter to the end. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, Sakura thought that he didn't care about her. He didn't know exactly what type of feelings he had for the pinkette, but they were there, and had been for years. His eyes widened as he spied the date written at the top of the page. It was dated five years ago. He was in disbelief as thoughts raced through his mind, but some facts kept rearing their ugly faces.

She didn't love him anymore even though he was finally admitting to the budding feelings he has for her.

No one believed her when she confessed to her second love.

She's been gone for five years.

She's been gone for five years and No One Has Noticed.

He glanced over at his old teammate and saw that the blonde was trembling, tears streaming down his face as he clutched the letter left to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Sasuke figured he could lend strength to Naruto, knowing the blonde would take it hard considering he just came back only to lose another teammate…. even if she's been gone for a long while.

'Actually, what sympathy does he need?' Sasuke thought slightly annoyed, 'He was here the whole time and didn't even notice Sakura wasn't even here!' Shaking his head, he turned to walk away when he heard Naruto whisper something. "What?"

"Sakura-Chan…. she loved….me."

"What was that."

"Her letter says that she fell in love with me…." Naruto held the letter to his chest, voice shaking with emotion. "But I didn't believe her when she told me…I thought she still loved you. Everyone there thought that she was only saying that to me to stop me from confronting you that day." Sasuke didn't move as he listened to every word that was said to him. He didn't know which day that was but if he had to guess, it might have been when Sakura showed up alone and tried to kill him but couldn't do it in the end.

"Let me ask you this, Dobe," He said, his charcoal eye looking into the sky above, "Did you even try to visit her or ask her parents how she was doing these five years?" Silence was his only answer and that was how he left Naruto as he walked back to his house in the Uchiha District.

Kizashi had been standing behind the front door the whole time listening to the boy's conversation, judging them as they spoke. The Uchiha, while not his favorite, did seem sad by what he was reading and even angry at those around him. The boy did have an excuse for these past years seeing as how he wasn't even in the village. The Uzumaki, however, had no excuse whatsoever. The blonde brat stayed in the village ever since the war. Kizashi had seen him around talking and laughing with his other friends, not even acknowledging his daughter when she was in the vicinity while she was still here. None of them did except for the Sai boy, but he never went over to talk to her. Scowling in disgust, he made his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup a tea.

"Granny Tsunade! I need to go find Sakura-Chan!" The older blonde didn't even look up as Naruto ran into the office, slamming the door open in the process. He grew agitated as Tsunade didn't respond and just kept on doing her paperwork. "Didn't you hear me!? I NEED TO FIND SAKURA-CHAN!"

"SHUT UP, NARUTO!" She finally yelled out, his voice grating on her nerves. "What gives you the right to go looking for her!?"

"She's my teammate! That's wh-"

"Oh, cut the crap, Uzumaki!" Tsunade cut him off, knowing he was about to spill some friendship bullcrap out of his ass. "She is no longer your teammate, hasn't been since I took her on as my apprentice. Even if she was still on Team Kakashi, it wouldn't matter since she retired from being a Konoha Shinobi."

"But Granny Tsunade! This is her home! Konoha is the place she belongs, where her friend and family are!" Naruto tried to talk back and make his point and it only served to further anger the Hokage.

"This hasn't been her home for a long time, Brat." She started, knowing that this would hurt him, but wanting it cut deep so that he felt even a thin margin of what her heart's daughter felt this whole time. "I saw her as she broke down and I became her confidant on the matters on her heart. I saw how her self-esteem was when she loved the Uchiha and helped build it back up. She confided in me when she realized that she loved you, she was happier than ever but when you and everyone else spat her feeling back into her. I saw as she fell in a depression that grew deeper as she kept a smile on her face to stop anyone from worrying.

After the war she kept that smile and attitude up for those around her even as they left her behind and stopped talking to her. Assuming that she was fine and just working her life away until the Uchiha came back. I was there when the mask she wore finally broke and behind it was nothing more than a walking talking doll that was tired of living. Not once these past five years did a SINGLE ONE OF YOU, her so called friends come around asking about her. Not even you, Naruto, the one who yells to the world all about the importance of bonds and friendship.

So no, Naruto, you don't have the right to go looking for her. In fact, you lost that right when you doubted her feeling for you that day. The only reason you want to look her now, after all this time, is to clear up your feelings of guilt."

Naruto stood there in silence as Tsunade finished her rant. His hair cast a shadow over his eyes, not letting anyone see his expression. Tsunade glared at him in anger, she could hardly believe this was the reincarnation of her grandfather.

"Get out of my office, I don't want to see you unless I have a mission for you." She went back to her paperwork, not even looking up as she heard the door close behind the boy. The affection she once felt for the kid was barely an ember now as the love she felt for her heart's daughter and the anger at her unjustified treatment overshadowed it.

Throughout the next week, all of the rookie nine and Team Gai noticed the odd behavior of Naruto and Sasuke, well Naruto more so. The Uchiha was always brooding and glaring at everyone even when they thought he had gotten over that after the war. Naruto being brooding and depressed, however, had them all concerned. When they had finally cornered the blonde and asked him what was wrong, he glared at them, not even saying a word to them as he walked past them to his own apartment. He knew that he had no right to glare at them since he was also at fault, but at least one of them should have kept in touch with Sakura.

Sasuke was also cornered by the group since they knew he was close with Naruto, but he also ignored them. He was never close with any of them and didn't feel like he needed to explain things to the people who couldn't even get Naruto to talk to them. Having no choice left, they went to look for Sakura, thinking that she would know what was going on.

They checked the hospital to find that she hadn't worked there for five years. Ino suggested that maybe Tsunade decided to make her, her apprentice full time, only to find that they couldn't get an appointment with the Hokage to ask. So, they looked to other places they thought the Pinkette would be at, but no matter where they looked, she was nowhere to be found.

"Don't you know where she lives, Ino? You did used to be best friends, right?" Shikamaru asked Ino after they checked training grounds, restaurants, and old hangout places. "Maybe her parents know where she is."

"That's right! I know where it is!" Ino nodded and smiled as though it was all her idea. She led them to the houses that was close to the market center and took them to the only place that had a single cherry blossom tree in the front yard. Ino explained that it was only because of the tree that she even remembered the place.

Knocking on the front door, they were met with Sakura's mother, Mebuki. The woman looked at each and every person as though they were less than the bugs on the ground when they asked for her daughter. They didn't expect to be met with silence from the once joyful and loud woman as she shoved multiple letters at them and closed the door behind her. Confused, they looked and saw their names written on each one. One by one, they opened and read the letters in full, their faces full of sadness and guilt as they realized how long it had been since they last saw the pinkette around the village.

They now knew why her old teammates didn't want to talk to them. Sakura had been gone this whole time and none of them knew, or even gave a single thought to the pinkette on how she was doing after the war. Ino thought back the paragraph that stuck out to her the most from her letter.

I had two choice to choose from after the war, Ino.

I could go out on my own and try to find myself again or I could stay in the village and pretend that everything was okay. That I wasn't breaking inside from the constant rejections and being looked down upon since I wasn't as strong as those two.

It seems that I chose wrong.

Sakura used to be her best friend and Ino claimed to know her like the back of her hand, but…. That didn't seem to be true anymore. She thought that she would continue to wait for Sasuke to come back to get in a relationship and be happy. Only because of a letter did Ino find her thoughts to be wrong. Her friend had fallen out of love with Sasuke and instead fell for a another and no one, not even her, believed those words.

'I don't even have the right to call myself her friend.'

All of them headed off to their own houses, thinking about the pinkette they left behind and wondering what she was up to right at this moment. Their guilt bringing down their happiness for a long time to come.