All the Waiting

Three – Getting Nowhere

By: Sasha

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, just the story…and the original characters. Don't sue!

A/N: hmm… mixed bag of reviews. I don't know how much people are enjoying this, but everyone who guessed the pairings so far, are wrong. Yes. Sakura's love interest won't be coming until later chapters. The first, second, and third chapters are flashbacks until the prologue when Sakura decides to stop waiting for Sasuke to come home.

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"How do we possibly appeal to her? She's probably got so many other things to do," Sakura said, nervously twisting her fingers.

Naruto scoffed. "Tsunade-baba always makes time for me."

Shikamaru sighed, wondering if it was worth forgoing another hour of sleep just so that Sakura could help him keep the fangirls off his back.

"You shouldn't abuse that privilege. It's like crying wolf: there are only so many times she'll drop everything for your whim. I'm just saying that you shouldn't take it so lightly," Shikamaru advised.

Sakura nodded. "I agree. I know that we asked you for this favour, but you should probably use what access you have for important things in the future."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You guys wanted me to help and now you're both telling me to stop taking advantage of her kindness. I'll never figure either of you out!"

Shikamaru and Sakura chuckled.

"We're telling you for your own good. Whining about lowering ramen prices isn't exactly something vitally important. Neither is asking for a pay raise when you don't show up for half your meetings," Sakura reminded.

Naruto frowned. Okay, maybe he was a little lazy and slept in; therefore, missing his meetings. But in all honesty, he really did want to go- he just… couldn't. The ramen thing was different. He was just saying that the Ichiraku manager should have given him at least a ten percent discount because he'd been a faithful customer since he was a kid.

Shikamaru pushed the blonde towards Tsunade's assistant's desk. "Go in and do your best. Pout, whine, whatever you normally do to get your way around here."

"Wait, wait," Naruto protested. "You two are coming with me. What if I mess the story up or whatever? You both need to be there," he protested.

"Damn, almost got away with it," Shikamaru sighed. Sakura laughed.

"Fine," the dark haired boy said, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets.

Shizune looked up from her desk and scowled at the three.

"What?" she asked angrily. Naruto recoiled for a moment. Shizune was hardly ever this rude.

"I need to see Tsunade-ba-" Naruto said before Sakura clamped a hand over the blonde's mouth.

"We'd like to see Tsunada-sama, if she's not busy," Sakura said, sugary sweet with a wide smile.

Shizune sighed loudly as she reached across her desk to check the appointment book. "She might be doing some work. Just go in and see," she said quickly, frowning at a sheet of paper in front of her.

Naruto's eyes widened, unused to seeing Shizune angry and unpleasant. He quickly pushed Tsunade's office doors open and let Sakura and Shikamaru pass him before he closed the doors behind him. He missed hearing Shizune groan at the check asking for far too much money for furniture repairs from a local restaurant. It seemed as though Tsunade had gotten a little too drunk the night before and trashed the place. Of course, Shizune was left to clean up the Hokage's mess.

Tsunade sat at her desk shuffling around stapled packages of papers and throwing paperclips this way and that. Growling under her breath, she exhaled in relief when she found the thick packet of papers beneath scraps of notes written to remind herself of things to be accomplished.

Naruto cleared his throat when he received a sharp elbow to the ribs courtesy of a grinning Sakura.

Tsunade looked up from her work and smiled at the two shinobi and one kunoichi before her.

"Something you need to talk about?" she asked.

Naruto knew that bothering the Hokage usually resulted in a short lecture about the importance of patience and how he should wait to ask her about the little things. Of course, he would flash his cutest smile and she'd grin back, unable to deny him anything; almost anything. However, this situation was different. Tsunade seemed eager to hear him out without so much as a word otherwise.

"I thought you were busy," he remarked, his eyes looking at the packet of papers in her hand.

Tsunade simply smiled and set the packet aside and folded her hands in front of her, an expectant face aimed directly at him. "Yes?" she prompted.

Naruto took a second to take her change in attitude into consideration, then cleared his throat. "Sakura and Shikamaru have been brainstorming and they think that there might be a way to successfully bring Sasuke back," he started. Tsunade nodded, urging him to continue with his explanation.

Naruto gave a nervous laugh and pulled Sakura forward. "And Sakura will explain it to you!" he exclaimed, taking the kunoichi's former place.

Sakura would have sighed under normal circumstances, but she wanted to appear completely mature in this situation.

"Yes, as Naruto was saying, Shikamaru and I think that the reason why Sasuke cannot be caught is because Orochimaru has control over him. This is a hypothesis, but we think that Orochimaru planned this all along," she explained.

Tsunade's eyebrows knitted. "Well of course Orochimaru planned this! He wants Sasuke's body as the next container for his soul," Tsunade said, laughing.

Sakura waited until Tsunade's abrupt laughter ceased to continue. "That's not really what I'm trying to say. I know that everyone thinks Sasuke went to Orochimaru for help to get his revenge against Itachi, but we think otherwise," the pink-haired girl stated.

"Oh, is that so? Then what did you come up with?" Tsunade asked patronizingly.

"We think Orochimaru's inflicted curse marks were the things that led Sasuke to Orochimaru for the strength to gain his revenge," Sakura said, hoping that her explanation would suffice.

"Kids, listen to me. I know you want to bring Sasuke back, but the fact of the matter is, whether he decided to get help from Orochimaru or not is worthless. You can't bring Uchiha Sasuke back if he doesn't want to come back. I know this is hard for all of you, especially you, Sakura, but you have to understand that we tried. We failed to bring Sasuke back even when we had a chance. Naruto could have gotten through to the boy, but he wants revenge that badly. You need to let him do what he set out to do," Tsunade explained.

Sakura's fists tightened so that her fingernails were digging deep into her palms. "Yeah, we tried. We need to try again! Sasuke is in danger and I honestly think that Sasuke isn't seeking revenge like this. He was always so hard working and dedicated to being the best shinobi he could be. I don't believe he would give up so easily and become Orochimaru's puppet just to get what he wants!" Sakura said, her voice wavering with anger.

Tsunade sighed softly. "Sakura, what's done is done. The only way we could have prevented this entire ordeal was by keeping Sasuke away from Orochimaru in the first place. I know this is hard for you Sakura, but nothing is more dangerous than a shinobi with a mission on his mind. Nothing you can say or do will change Sasuke's mind, even if we were to catch him a second time. This discussion is over," Tsunade replied, her hand reaching for the packet of paper she had previously set aside.

"But Tsunade-baba, Sakura-chan has a point. We just need to train a little and we'll all be strong enough to-" Naruto interjected.

"Sasuke has Orochimaru as his ally now. No amount of training will be enough, unless you all want to end up dead. I said this conversation is over. I'm not going to send out anymore people to play hide and seek. Are you three forgetting that we lost Neji and Chouji? I can't send anymore children out there and have half of them return; I refuse to. We need home defense now more than anything. I'm not about to send what little of the ANBU we have left to babysit you. It's too risky and we've lost enough people. Case closed!" she exclaimed, driving her point forward by slamming the packet of paper on the hardwood top of her desk.

Shikamaru who had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke. "I was responsible for Neji and Chouji. They didn't die in vain, Hokage-sama. They died trying to save my comrades and I. You talk about this like we're throwing away people's lives as though they're worthless. Every shinobi that dies in the line of duty dies an honorable death, or have you forgotten that rule in the shinobi code?"

"Shikamaru, I never said that we were throwing lives away. I have to take some responsibility for this since I was the one who sent you and your teammates out in the first place. You three need to realize that we don't have the people necessary to bring Sasuke back. We could send and army and still fail. I've said it once and this will be the last time I say it: we simply don't have enough people to chase after one person. I know that blaming Orochimaru is what you've all strived for, but it really doesn't matter whom the blame is placed on now. What's done is done and the minute we send out a group of people to search for Sasuke, who will be left to protect the village? Now, please leave me to my work. I'm sorry kids, but it just won't work. You need to understand that and move on. Sasuke will come back when he's ready," Tsunade concluded, flipping the cover page on the packet over.

Sakura felt angry tears well up in her eyes. She refused to give up on Sasuke. If she couldn't have him as her own, she still wanted him back as a friend. The outcome didn't matter, just as long as he was back where he belonged.

Feeling incredibly girlish by the tears that refused to spill and the flush that spread across her cheeks, she still continued. "What if he's not ready to come back? What if we all get word that Itachi is dead and he still doesn't come back?"

Tsunade slowly looked up from her work with a sad smile on her face. "Then he won't come back. Five months from now, even five years from now, will not be enough time for us to rebuild our arsenal of shinobi and ANBU up. If Sasuke doesn't come back of his own will, we aren't going to drag him back. Sakura, you need to respect Sasuke's decisions. I know it's hard for you because of your feelings toward Sasuke, but if you force him back, he'll leave, and maybe for good. You're still young, there will be other boys," Tsunade explained.

Sakura's tears finally ran down her cheeks, the blush on her cheeks deepening. "This is not about my feelings for Sasuke. I respect him as my teammate and I always thought the village's motto was to be there for your fellow villager. I'm not doing this for selfish reasons and you should know I'm more mature than that. I won't stand here and hear you refuse my suggestions. Regardless of what you think, I'll find him by myself. I'm of no use here anyway. It wouldn't matter if you were one less villager," one hand swiping her tears away angrily.

Tsunade stood and moved over to Sakura's side and placed her arms around the crying girl. "Sakura, you're wrong. I can't even afford to let you go. No genin can see through illusions better than you. You're a brilliant girl. If I lost you, this village would definitely collapse. So you see, I can't let you go because you mean very much to Konoha. I'm sorry if you think I was accusing you of being selfish; I wasn't. I just can't stand to lose anymore important people. You three are the best youngsters this village has got. I know you're all ambitious, but please, think about what I said. Is it worth losing lives to bring back one life? Sasuke is a smart boy and I believe he can do what he set out to do. He will come back," smoothing a hand over Sakura's hair.

Sakura nodded, sniffling a little. Her plan to act mature completely crumbled, but somehow, her spirit was eased just a little. She needed to have faith in Sasuke, even if he wasn't acting like himself. If she had faith in her friend, then he could accomplish what he needed to do.

Tsunade smiled. "Tell you what: I'll have Shizune order lunch for us and you three can spend your lunch time with me. I can tell you embarrassing stories about Jiraiya!" she exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes shone just a little bit. He was eager to hear of a young and irresponsible Jiraiya mainly so that he could use the knowledge to blackmail the pervert. The blonde snickered.

"Okay!" he said, looking at Shikamaru for the pony-tailed boy's response. Shikamaru simply nodded, content with the fact that he was getting fed for free.

Naruto grinned. "So, Tsunade-baba, why are you so happy today? Had a hot date last night?" he asked, grinning ear-to-ear.

Tsunade's cheeks pinkened ever so slightly. "Wh-what are you talking about?" she stammered.

Naruto's finger shot out in an accusatory point. "You were on a date! With who, with who?" he chanted.

The blonde's eyes widened when he realized who the Hokage could have been with. "You were with Ero-sennin, weren't you? You probably both were getting drunk!"

"No!" she exclaimed frantically, rushing back to her chair and clearing her throat to get back to work.

A bush surrounding the women's side of the bath house sneezed

Chapter Four preview: An intense summer and Sakura learns of her mother's animosity towards Naruto. Tsunade makes a decision and Sakura breaks down.