A.N.: I'm so tired… dammit. Oh! And thank you Blue Moriaine Sedai for telling me the names of Sasuke's parents! His dad's name is Uchiha Fugaku and his mom's name is Uchiha Mikoto. I'm going to change it in this story k?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…

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3:00 in the morning. Sakura woke up again when she heard Kioko cry. She looked at her waist and still found Sasuke's arm. She held Sasuke's hand and to her surprise, he gripped her hand.

'Maybe he's still asleep.'

Sakura took his arm away and when she clambered out, Sasuke's hand won't let go of her. She looked at the 'sleeping' Sasuke as she slowly withdrew her hand. She went to Kioko's cradle and hushed the baby.

"Mommy's here Kioko." She said gently. She was still really sleepy so her eyes closed every now and then. Kioko started to pacify and Sakura's eyes widened when Kioko suddenly reached out for her necklace.

"Mama." She said. Sakura gasped.

"OH MY GOD!" She suddenly yelled. Sasuke's eyes shot open.

"Huh? What happened?" He asked, sitting up while rubbing his eyes (A.N.: He really is a good actor!) as Sakura started to squeal in happiness.

"Her first word! Didn't you hear it Sasuke! Say it again for Daddy, Kioko! Say it again!" Sakura said happily, walking towards the bed. Sasuke looked at Kioko as she started to laugh.

"Dada!"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"What the?" He gasped. Sakura hugged Kioko tightly in happiness. It's a shame that her real parents didn't hear it but even though Sakura's not a real parent, she sure acts like one. She's already crying in happiness… or is it?

"Sakura, why are you crying? You're not even her real mother." Sasuke reminded her.

"I know. But the happiness is overwhelming. Now I know what a mother feels like." Sakura said, raising Kioko in arm's length.

"She even called you Dada, which means Daddy! So maybe she's thinking that you're her real father! You should be also happy Sasuke." Sakura spat. Sasuke sighed as he yawned.

"That's good Sakura. But we need rest. I'm still sleepy you know (A.N.: Yeah right)." Sasuke said as Sakura sang Mrs. Uchiha's lullaby to Kioko. Sasuke stared at her. Sakura had such a gentle voice. Kioko's eyelids started to drop and after a tiring 20 full minutes, she fell asleep again. Sakura placed Kioko at her cradle and went to bed as well.

Sakura faced Sasuke as he blushed. Sakura cuddled to him again, sighing while showing a smile. Sasuke smiled as he wrapped his arms around her again, and this time, Sasuke really did sleep.

----

"What! Really!" Kioko's mom said happily as Kioko happily welcomed her new mother. Kioko's dad had raven hair and black eyes as well. He looked almost awesomely like Sasuke (except that Sasuke is a hundred times more handsome).

"Thank you so much Miss Haruno and Mr. Uchiha for taking care of my little angel. We owe you one." Kioko's mom said as Sakura looked at Kioko.

"Um… Mrs. Suzuki, can I… can I hold Kioko once more?" Sakura asked as Sasuke looked at her. Kioko's mom nodded as she gave Kioko at her. Sakura smiled at the baby.

"Now, be a good girl ok? And we will miss you." Sakura said as she hugged Kioko tightly and gave her a peck on the forehead. Sasuke just smiled and patted Kioko's head.

After five minutes, Kioko and her parents bid goodbye as Sakura placed her mask back on. They faced Tsunade.

"Congratulations for the successful assignment you two." Tsunade said as Sakura nodded and to Sasuke's surprise, she formed a seal and she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tsunade sighed.

"Things are back to normal." Sasuke heard her mumble.

"Can I go now Hokage-sama?"

"Sure." Tsunade said, nodding at him. Sasuke nodded as he went out of the office. Tsunade sighed as she looked at the folder at her desk containing the information of the assignment.

"Sakura, remember this… in life, you must let go of something even if you feel you can't." Tsunade said to herself as she stretched her arms and went back to her paper work again.

-----

Sakura locked the door of her office as she threw her mask at the nearby sofa and sat on her reclining chair, turning one round once. She faced the window that overlooked the whole town.

Outside…

"She locked her door." Ino said as Tenten nodded.

"Maybe she doesn't want to be disturbed." Hinata explained as Ino cupped her own chin and fell deep in thought.

"What is so serious that she locked herself in her office?" Ino asked, almost mumbling.

"Hey you three." A voice sounded behind them as they jumped in surprise and saw Neji and Shikamaru.

"What?" Ino asked.

"Stop gossiping there like girls…" Neji started. Tenten glared at him.

"Duh. We ARE girls." Tenten said. Neji sweat dropped anime style as Hinata giggled. Naruto went to them as he stopped beside Shikamaru.

"So! What's this gathering about!" Naruto asked chirpily.

"Nothing. All of you. Get back to work." Neji ordered as Tenten death glared him and left. Neji sighed as they cleared the area. He glanced at the door worriedly as he proceeded to his work.

Inside…

"I never heard of a girl that's just like me." Sakura mumbled to herself as she checked all female files on her computer. She saw different girls with different abilities.

"There are only… what? About ten pretty girls here that is Sasuke's type." Sakura said to herself again as she clicked on different files. She was really interested of who the girl is. Then, she gave up and leaned on her chair.

"Okay, the search was a failure." Sakura said, sighing. She glanced at the picture of Team 7 at her desk and when the memories came back, she smiled. About how late Kakashi-sensei was, about how frequently she thought about Sasuke being cool and all, and Naruto's idiocy… and her being weak.

Sakura pressed a button at the intercom.

"Aya." She said to her secretary.

"Yes Sakura-sama?" a soft female voice answered.

"I want a cup of tea please." Sakura said at the intercom.

"Okay."

Soon, someone knocked on the door as she opened it and took the cup from Ayame while thanking her. When she was about to close the door, she noticed that Hinata, Ino and Tenten's heads were poking out from their cubicles staring right at her.

"Hey big forehead. What's up with you?" Ino said out loud. Some members turned her head as Sakura glared at her, annoyed.

"Nothing. Just wanna be alone." She replied coldly as she slammed the door shut. Tenten winced when she slammed the door. She glanced at Ino who was right next to her.

"Is she PMS-ing or something?" Ino asked. Tenten laughed.

"Maybe." Tenten said, still laughing. Hinata giggled as she went back to her own work.

Back at Sakura…

She took a sip of tea as she rested her feet on the table. She grabbed a remote as she pressed a button and the stereo went on. It played a soft tune as she closed her eyes to listen.

When the song ended, she found herself crying. She then threw the cup towards the wall, smashing it into pieces.

"Sakura! Sakura! Open the door!" Ino was banging at the door. Maybe she heard the crash. Well duh, it was so hard that the wall even cracked. Sakura panted heavily as she cleared her throat.

"I'm okay Ino. I just dropped the cup." She said.

"Sakura, are you really okay?" Tenten asked. Sakura knew that the three of them were keeping a close watch on her. They are her best friends after all, so it's right for them to get worried. Besides, Sakura isn't in herself lately.

"Do you wanna talk to us about it Sakura? Maybe it would make you feel better." Hinata said.

"Hey you three. Sakura needs some time alone." Neji's voice sounded. Sakura sighed in relief. Neji knew what was on her mind and thanked him for being so um… considerate or something.

"But Neji…"

"Maybe Sakura would tell you if she wants to or when she's ready." Neji said and after a few minutes, everything fell silent. Sakura fell to her knees as she formed some seals.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." She muttered. One replica of her appeared.

"Stay here and keep things under control. I need to go somewhere but I'll be back. You got that?" Sakura said as her own replica nodded at her. Sakura opened the window as she jumped off.

Sakura jumped from roof to roof and tree to tree as she found a clearing where Sasuke was training. She hid her chakra and hid behind the shadows of the trees. He was doing some taijutsu.

He kicked and punched a dummy and when he charged at it with his chidori, it turned into minces. Poor dummy, Sakura thought. She sat there, staring at him as she watched him intently while he was doing his routine training. Then, he practiced his ninjutsu. Halfway round his training, he stopped as he placed a hand on his necklace.

He started to look around.

"Shit." Sakura muttered when he activated his Sharingan. His eyes scanned the area as the gem in Sakura's neck lace started to glow. Sakura ran off.

'Why is it reacting!'

"Sasuke-kun." She heard a female voice as her eyes widened. She took off the necklace, placed a jutsu on it and ran back to the training grounds.

She saw a girl, about her age with navy hair and green jade eyes. She was in an ANBU uniform and she was offering a towel to Sasuke. Sasuke took it nicely and started to wipe himself.

"Thanks Kei. Hey, wanna go out and eat?" He asked. Kei nodded as she grabbed Sasuke's arm and they walked off. Sakura couldn't believe what was happening.

"No…" Was the only thing that she could say. So that was the girl. Kei Shimahara. A low level ANBU and Sakura rarely speaks to her. She felt something vibrate in her hands. The necklace was vibrating and glowing.

"What the?"

While at Sasuke…

Sasuke's necklace was reacting as well. He stopped walking as he took the necklace off. He eyed it as he opened his Sharingan again.

'If this is reacting… Sakura must be somewhere here.'

"Sasuke-kun? What's the matter?" Kei asked.

Let me tell you this guys, Sasuke is nice to Kei because when they were young and before the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke met Kei and became friends with her until now. So he only treats Kei as a friend but Kei wants to be more than that.

Sakura ran as fast as she could away from him. The necklace vibrations weakened and its light started to fade. She jumped down from a tree as she panted.

"No… no…"

-----

She went to the cemetery as she visited her parents. Then she went to find Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha's tomb stone. She figured that maybe Itachi was buried within the Akatsuki headquarters or his body was burned.

It took about ten whole minutes to find them. When she found them, she smiled.

"Good afternoon Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san." She greeted. There was a moment of silence before she cleared her throat and sighed again.

"I'm really sorry Mikoto-san but I won't be the one who would be his partner, even if it hurts me. And yes Mikoto-san, stop teasing me because now I admit that I AM in love with that son of yours." Sakura chuckled.

"And Fugaku-san, thanks for all those things. But I need to give it to the future Mrs. Uchiha because she's the right one to use it. Please understand. It seems wrong when someone not connected to the Uchiha clan has some of it's properties right?" Sakura said.

"And thank you for the kimono Mikoto-san. It was really beautiful and thanks for the protection that you gave me thru the necklace. I have decided that when Sasuke and Kei would be married, I would give to Kei all the things that you gave to me and start living my life on my own." Sakura added, a tear rolling down her cheek.

After some other things, she stood up and left the solemn and quiet cemetery. She went to the ramen bar to eat and to her surprise (luckily she had her mask on), Sasuke and Kei were there, eating while happily chatting. She decided to eat anyway, so she sat down a few seats away from them.

"Sakura-sama?" Kei noticed her instantly as Sasuke's eyes widened and turned his head quickly. Sakura was there, waving at them. His heart fell… maybe Sakura's thinking that…

"One miso ramen please." She said coldly to the waiter but she didn't remove her mask. When the order arrived, she took off her mask a little bit so that only her mouth was visible.

"Typical Sakura-sama. So quiet. Know what? I heard something crash inside her room earlier. Maybe she threw a glass on the wall or something." Kei whispered to him. Sakura ate the ramen with speed and she placed the mask back. She paid the bill and left the store without another word.

Sakura returned to her office as she found out that her replica had already signed some papers. She smiled. She should do this more often. She took of her cloak and removed her mask. She saw one folder in front as she took and read it.

Her eyes widened as she quickly pushed a button in the intercom that would make it live throughout the office.

"Team 1 and team 2 please report to my office immediately." Her voice echoed throughout the office. Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other as they entered the room together with the others.

"What's up Sakura?" Ino asked, as Sakura gave the folder to her. Hinata and Tenten peeked at her shoulder to read the contents. When they read it, Ino gasped as Tenten took the folder from her, letting the two other men read the contents.

"Oh." Was all Neji could say.

"Why would Hokage-sama want to change our teams?" Ino protested.

"It was because of favoritism. Sakura, you chose your teams by your own will and Tsunade found it unfair. Besides, you do super dangerous missions that maybe the three of you won't handle." Neji explained, placing the folder back.

Team 1: Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru ( and some other non important people)

Team 2: Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata, Tenten, Uchiha Sasuke etc…

"We get to have Sasuke in our team… why not in your team instead?" Tenten asked, placing her hands on her waist.

"Sasuke's just new to the squad and if he shows his full potential, maybe he would be promoted to the first team." Shikamaru said. Sakura sat down at her chair and noticed that her replica also cleaned the mess that she had created earlier.

"We don't have any choice, do we?" Ino asked.

"You may leave." Sakura said, as they all nodded, bowed and left the office. Sakura groaned. Okay, this just isn't her day. She two folders waiting for her to be opened. One was a class C mission so she let Ino and the girls handle this. Her eyes widened when she saw a Class A mission.

"Good. This isn't as bad as I thought." Sakura said and opened the folder. She read the contents as she called Neji and Shikamaru back again.

"What is it Sakura-sama?" Neji asked. Sakura gave him the folder, looking neither angry or nervous or whatsoever. Neji and Shikamaru read the contents as they looked at her.

"Spy job?"

"Yes. And it's Orochimaru's headquarters we're heading." Sakura replied, standing up and leaning her hands on the table. Neji and Shikamaru sat at their respective chairs.

"Tsunade wants to know what he's up to." Neji said, reading the contents.

"And truthfully, I don't wanna face that sneak freak. He already has done enough." Shikamaru said as Sakura nodded in agreement.

"You know we can't afford for Konoha to be attacked again. We got to know if he has plans or not." Sakura said as she sat back at her chair, crossing her arms across her chest. Neji placed the folder back at the table.

"Now, spit it out." Neji said. Sakura looked at him.

"Spit out what?"

"The one that's bothering you. We heard the crash earlier and your eyes are a little bit swollen so you must be crying earlier. Tell us what's wrong." Shikamaru said. Sakura smiled. She was lucky she had these two with her.

"Know about Kei Shimahara?" Sakura asked, resting her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Her? What about her?" Neji asked.

"She's Sasuke's girl friend." Sakura said. Shikamaru and Neji looked at each other with shocked faces as Shikamaru looked serious. Talk about jumping into conclusions.

"That's strange. I was supposed to be always right." Shikamaru said. Sakura asked what he meant.

"We had a theory that it might be you. He's just saying as though it's a different person but maybe it's actually you. You get the idea?" Neji asked. Sakura laughed.

"You thought it was me!"

"Yeah. But for the first time, I'm wrong. So… how did you know about Sasuke and Kei huh?" Shikamaru asked, slightly interested but as usual, he looked bored. Sakura explained on what she saw earlier. Neji smirked.

"A low class ANBU? Ha. His taste is weird."

"What can we say? Love is blind." Sakura said. There was a moment of silence and Sakura decided to change the topic.

"We're going to leave tomorrow morning."

"What? That soon?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes. The sooner the better. After Oto, we would head to Sand. They're allies you know. We can't afford to lose anything. So, how long do you think we're going to finish this thing? Remember, the ANBU exam is in four months." Sakura said.

"We could be back a day before the exam." Shikamaru said thoughtfully.

"Is that okay with you Neji? Besides, we would fight again for the ANBU squad head title again after the exam right? So no rest?" Sakura challenged him. Neji smirked.

"Bring it on pinky."

A day after the ANBU exam ( which would normally take about three to four days), Sakura and Neji had to duel each other to know who becomes the ANBU squad leader. That's the routine, every year.

"It's settled then. Meet me at the main gate by five in the morning ok? And don't forget to say buh-bye to your women." Sakura teased as they smirked and left the office. Sakura sighed again as she sat down on her chair.

"This would be pretty hard. Maybe it would end up us fighting Orochimaru or some other people in Suna. I hope Gaara isn't a traitor." Sakura said.

By night, Sakura walked home towards her house with her mask and cloak still on. It was prohibited for them to have their faces seen if they are in their uniform. That's their law. The smaller they see, the better.

She passed by the Uchiha compound. Seems like Sasuke isn't home yet that's why she continued on walking until she reached a corner. She passed by two other ANBU members as they bowed. There was a Konoha seal on Sakura's mask that's why they knew who she was.

Sakura reached her front porch as she unlocked the door and went inside. She had a sigh of relief as she took off her cloak and her mask and felt cooler because of it. She also put down her weapons making her feel lighter.

She went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see if there are some foods that haven't been eaten completely yet.

She saw the ice cream (remember the ice cream that Sasuke gave her?)

Sakura smiled weakly as she pulled it out and placed it at the counter top. She grabbed a cup and a spoon and placed some ice cream in it. She placed the container back and headed to the living room to watch some TV.

RING! RING! RING!

Sakura reached out for the phone with was located in a small table beside the sofa while still staring at the TV.

"Hello?" She asked absentmindedly.

"Sakura?" Sasuke's voice rang on the other side. Sakura almost dropped the cup as she started to cough. Then, she cleared her throat.

"Uh—sorry about that." Sakura said.

"Sakura, I wanna ask you something." Sasuke said.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Sakura, were you in the training grounds earlier? And why were you so cold back at the Ramen Bar? Are you thinking that Kei is my girl friend?" Sasuke asked his questions and Sakura's eyes widened.

"Kei is your girl friend right?" She asked, hope running down through her body. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Kei? My girl friend? She's just a friend of mine." Sasuke explained.

"Then why were you acting so nice to her? Why didn't you react when she called you Sasuke-kun?"

"Aha. So you WERE on the training grounds." Sasuke said. Sakura groaned.

"Yes, I was there. But answer my questions first." Sakura replied hotly. Sasuke chuckled.

"I don't care if she calls me Sasuke-kun. And I was nice to her because duh, she's my friend. She has been my friend before the Uchiha massacre and this was the only time that we spent some time together as FRIENDS. I can't believe that you thought that she was my girl friend."

"So who's the girl that you're having interest then?" Sakura asked, trying not to sound interested.

"I can't believe that the ANBU squad leader is so slow." Sasuke said, smiling. Maybe he should tell her now, after all, Neji and Shikamaru said that she's leaving to a mission and somehow, those two knew what was happening between them. He was still wondering till now.

"Slow? Pardon?" Sakura asked, annoyed.

"Dammit Sakura, I thought you were the one who taught me not to jump into conclusions? And I thought you were smart enough. But I was wrong before."

"Stop insulting me and tell me who the girl is before I barge into your house and break your bones." Sakura demanded. Sasuke whistled.

"Why are you acting so moody? Are you PMS-ing or something or you just desperately want to know who the mystery girl in my heart is?" Sasuke teased. Sakura groaned.

"I AM SO NOT PMS-ING! And yes, I admit, I desperately wanna know who the girl is. It's whacking my brain!"

"Why are you thinking about this that seriously? If you just wanna know who it is, might as well ask me CALMLY." Sasuke replied coolly.

Sakura ripped the pillow in the hands. Then, she took numerous deep breaths and then sighed.

"Okay, I'm calm. Now may I know who the girl is Sasuke-KUN?" She asked sweetly. Sasuke sighed then gave a gentle smile.

"You wanna know? Why don't we talk personally at the main gate?"

A moment of silence…

"Of all the places why the main gate?" Sakura asked.

"You wanna know or not?"

"Okay, okay. Meet me in ten minutes and don't be late." Sakura said and put the phone down. She sighed as she put on her cloak and her mask.

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A.N.: Read and review folks!

E.I.