Chapter-44

It had been 1 week since Sasuke woke up. Sasuke was angry at himself and was training himself like hell. This was also fueled by the fact that Naruto learned the Rasengan. Sasuke didn't want to lose. Him and Naruto were always bickering but when they weren't interrupted by Sakura, they felt it was useless to bicker. They missed her too much. Naruto had started talking to the shy Hinata after the Chuunin exams. He believed she was a really nice person. But Sasuke preferred to stay back and be aloof. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about Sakura. he thought about her all the time. And every time he saw her smile, his stomach twisted. Kakashi had been keeping an eye on them.

Today Team 7 was called to the Hokage's office. They didn't know why. They just wordlessly walked to the office. Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of Tsunade. She began to speak,

"Okay. I've pondered over the incident that transpired and got your teammate captured by Uchiha Itachi who works for the Akatsuki. We have launched search parties but no one has found Sakura. therefore, I declare Haruno Sakura, Chuunin of Konoha and member of Team 7, as a missing ninja. No more searches will be done and the matter is to be settled with. I also declare Naruto and Sasuke as full-fledged Chuunin."

Sasuke and Naruto stared at her wide eyed, not believing what they were hearing. Sakura being declared as a missing ninja means the same as being dead. This can't be happening…

"What…What the hell are you saying, baa-chan?! We can't just give up on Sakura-chan. She needs to be rescued! And you're stopping the searches? That's crazy!" yelled Naruto

"Stay quiet, you brat. My decision is final."

Sasuke was bewildered but then he got irritated. He just stomped off and closed the door with a bang. Naruto was also very upset and went away. Kakashi stayed.

"Why are you still here, Kakashi?"

"Tsunade-sama, I must tell you something. It may sound completely ridiculous but trust me, we both are responsible for this."

"What are you talking about? What did we do?"

"I'm going to show you some memories through my Sharingan and then I'll explain."

Tsunade was skeptical for a minute but then she nodded. Kakashi took her in his memories and made sure nothing was skipped. When she finished seeing all that, she sat with her mouth open and eyes wide.

"Wh-what did.. we do?"

"With your technique and my mangekyo sharingan, I transported a person back in this time. Right now. They told me that this is what would happen if we didn't take any actions to prevent it."

"What the hell! If that reality is true, then that person must be going through hell! And you put all the burden on one person?! What is their age?"

"in the war time, 17. Right now 13 and a half."

Tsunade clutched her head with her hands as she tried to contemplate the situation.

"Wait a minute… you don't mean…"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. It is Haruno Sakura. She is your apprentice and has the byakugou seal. She was the second best medic after you."

" She was my apprentice? And she activated byakugou at such a young age? She must be talented."

"That is very much true. She's brilliant. And that is why I must ask of you to believe me that Sakura is alive and still fighting with inch of her being alongside Uchiha Itachi."

"With Itachi? The traitor who killed his whole clan?"

"You must know this that elders were behind he Uchiha massacre. They put the burden on Itachi when Itachi informed them that The Uchiha clan was planning a coup d'etat against the village. Itachi chose to side with the village and elders along with Sandaime Hokage put the burden on him to kill all the Uchihas and then they ordered him to act as a spy for Akatsuki."

"Oh my god, I'm going to explode. This is too much! And Itachi has agreed to help Sakura and took her away from the village so she could move around and take actions independent?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"Ah… I need sake. I'll talk to you more about this later. You can go."

"Okay, Tsunade-sama."

He turned around and left.

Sakura had now been living in the Suna's abandoned house for the past 3 weeks. She worked at a bookstore to get enough money for survival. It wasn't the best but it wasn't bad either. She changed her name to Akari. Whenever she set her foot outside, she would use Henge jutsu to change her appearance. She adopted to straight black hair, blue eyes and a taller body. She wore common clothing to blend in. Itachi and her were exchanging notes about Akatsuki's future plans and secret information through the crow he gave her.

At night, Suna was kind of cold. She laid on her futon wide awake. I wonder how is everyone else at Konoha… by now Tsunade-sama must have become the Hokage. She smiled at that thought. Then she thought of Naruto. He must be bugging Tsunade-sama to let him go search for me. Kakashi sensei knows everything so I'm sure he's not that worried. But when it came to Sasuke, she couldn't guess how he was dealing with her leaving. Well, he is stoic so I can't read his mind. She chuckled and went to sleep.

The next morning, Sasuke woke up and did his daily routine. He again dreamt about Sakura and her being killed by Itachi. He shuddered as he remembered it so vividly. I can't believe the Hokage stopped the search. I can't go alone either. Aah what do I do?! Is she okay? He kept rambling in his head as he walked through the streets towards the training grounds. When he reached there, saw Kakashi sitting on the logs looking at the horizon. He walked up to him.

"Kakashi. What are you doing?"

"Hm? Oh hey Sasuke. Sorry didn't notice you there."

He jumped down to the ground. "Shall we start with the swords?"

Sasuke just nodded and activated his sharingan and they were at it once again.

While fighting, Sasuke suddenly remembered his dream in which Sakura died and he couldn't do anything. It made him feel grim and angry. He clutched his head as it was hurting. Kakashi went over and knelt beside him

"Sasuke! Are you okay?" What happened to him?

Then slowly the pain subsided and when Kakashi looked at him his eyes grew in shock. Kakashi saw Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan activated.

"Sasuke.. you… you activated the Mangekyou Sharingan. Just now."

Sasuke looked at him in disbelief but when he focused on every thing, he knew his vision was drastically improved. He smirked and looked at Kakashi as if he won a war.

"Well done, Sasuke. Guess we will have to change our training routine now."

"Hn."

His training was over by evening. He was dead tired but he didn't want to lose to Naruto. But even he knew that that wasn't his main intention. Sasuke leaned against the tree where Sakura sat and watched the sunset with a dull look. He stayed there till the sun set and then got up and left.

Meanwhile, Naruto had made Jiraiya as his teacher. He trained with him every day. Sometimes he would leave for long missions but he always told Naruto to perfect a jutsu during that time so he didn't feel left behind. I'll save you Sakura-chan. Just wait a little longer.