A.N.- This is my first fic, so please take it easy on me..
Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto people. I'm just a fan of the totally AWSOME anime series.
Chapter I: The LONG Journey
It was a beautiful day, the weather was fine, the skies were blue, and the surroundings were quiet. The only thing you'll hear is the loud voice of an irritated girl, whining…
"Ahh, moh! How much further do we have to walk?" whined Ino as she and two other people walk down a rough and what seems to be a very long road… "Come on, don't be like that… we'll be there before you know it!" said Sakura, trying to encourage her friend. "We've been walking 2 days straight already… I thought you said your cousin's place wasn't that far from Konoha." Ino said to her friend, with the tone of her voice sounding like she doesn't believe what Sakura just said earlier, and then someone suddenly spoke up, "Yeah, how far is your cousin's place anyway, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked his pinked-haired friend. "We'll be there in about 6 more hours of walking…" Sakura said with a smile hoping that her friends will understand and stop complaining. "I don't know how you even made me agree in going with you, to visit your cousin, while I could stay home, tending flowers, rather than walking on a never ending travel…" Ino murmured exhaustedly. "Please don't say that. You know that you two are my only friends back in Konoha… Who else can I count on but you guys?" said Sakura, after she said those words, she pouted her lower lip, and her emerald-green eyes grew bigger, she pulled out her best PUPPY DOG POUT face… because of that, her 2 friends felt a little queasy, eventually they gave in, which made Sakura the winner. "What else can we do?" said Naruto and Ino together. Sakura smiled at them and said "Thanks a lot you guys! I knew you'll understand…" but then, her inner self said in a voice which sounded like it came from a very cunning person: 'The PUPPY DOG POUT never fails! Hehehe…' and the 3 of them continued on their way…
It was the middle of the fall season, Sakura received a letter from her favorite cousin, it said that she was to get married in a few weeks, and have asked Sakura to be one of her Bride's maids. Since Sakura like this particular cousin VERY much, she had no choice but to fulfill her about-to-be-married-cousin's request. Her parents went ahead of her to help their niece get ready for her wedding, and since she is a ninja, she preferred to stay at Konoha a little bit longer in case she gets called-in on any emergency missions. She decided to ask Naruto and Ino to come along with her so she wouldn't have to travel on her own.
It has been about 4 months since Sasuke left them and decided to follow Orochimaru in search for power to be used in his so-called "REVENGE" against his brother Itachi. Of course they still continued worrying about him, and every now and then, they do some investigations, but so far, there had been little progress in their work. But they didn't panicked, after all, they know that Orochimaru will wait 3 years before he transfers himself into Sasuke's body, all they can do now is continue to do their best with their searches and investigations and hope that they will somehow succeed.
Sakurais still in the middle ofher medical training under Tsunade. Shedecided to take a short break off her training to make time for helping on her cousin's wedding. She promises to continue her training under Tsunade after her cousin's wedding though.
After Sasuke left, many changes started to take place in his hometown; Konoha. Since he left, the team 7 became incomplete. Whenever team seven would be called on missions, there would only be two students, instead of three who wait for their ever so late teacher to come. At first, it made them felt uncomfortable, both Sakura and Naruto misses Sasuke very much, that whenever they get called-in on missions they can't help but remember the old times wherein their sensei would make the three of them wait for at least two hours before showing-up and then give off some lousy excuse. But eventually, they've adapted. No one knew why, but even Kakashi would only be a few minutes late instead of a few hours, it seems he was also greatly affected by Sasuke's departure.
And because their team is missing one member, during the high ranked missions, a shinobi from another team will be assigned to their team at random, to be a temporary member of their team. This was due to the Hokage's orders. Tsunade said that no matter what, a high ranked mission should not be done by teams without all of their members, because it would be far too large of a risk. She said her grandfather; the 1st hokage was the one who made that rule so she can't go against it. So whenever they're assigned a high ranked mission, one of the other ninjas from other teams would accompany them in Sasuke's place.
One time, theygot teamed-up with Kiba, and well... let's just say that it took THREE DAYS before Sakura's ears stopped ringing. Apparently, Naruto and Kiba's combined FORCE was too much for Sakura to handle... (hehe poor Sakura)