Disclaimer: Despite all my hopes and dreams, I still don't hold the rights to Naruto.

A/N: Ok, I was going to wait another few days for the next manga chapter, but I got impatient. I'm pretty much moving into completely my own plot now, so it shouldn't really matter what's in the next chapter (hopefully). I'm also completely passing over the character of Sai, and all the plot complications he comes with. I'm not including it for 3 reasons: 1. My focus is on Team 7 and not the inner-political struggle of Konoha, as interesting as I find that to be; 2. It'll take too long to figure out where he's going with it, and just delay my writing trying to incorporate it; 3. I'm just not that good of a writer to incorporate complex layers of subplots. So basically just pretend the 4th member of the hybrid Team 7 is some random character with no bearing on the plot of this fanfic.

Also, definitely check out my profile for track 7 – I've included an extra goodie. And off we go…

Chapter 7: Results and Consequences

In a swell of emotions, she grasped for her own ring that hung on a chain around her neck. She violently ripped it off as she collapsed in a heap onto the floor, sobbing fiercely.

"What did I do wrong!" Sakura screamed. "Why aren't I good enough! Why aren't I ever enough!" she cried. And in a defeated voice, she murmured, "Why could I once again do nothing to stop him from leaving?"

Standing back up, she squarely faced her reflection in the mirror. She didn't have time to work through the latest turn of events; she had figure out a way to hold her composure until she had time to deal with it alone. What would Naruto do in this situation? He wouldn't give up, that's for sure. So neither will I. But this is so frustrating, I know he felt something last night. I know he…

Images of their intimacy flashed unwillingly through her mind, only causing more tears to well up from how close she felt to him. It had felt like he was surrendering something over to her, releasing something he had been holding onto for so long. That's right, she thought as she recalled the words he had spoken during their intimacy. 'Sakura, please forgive me,' he had whispered in her ear, 'for choosing this path to revenge.' Why couldn't I say anything? Why couldn't I at least just reply with 'yes'? And now he's gone, and he may never know my answer.

She hadn't been able to respond to that, nor to his later confession of, 'Why am I so weak?' She could only hold him. Hold him, and stare at the cursed mark on the back of his neck. He had suffered things she could never understand. He made decisions she couldn't fathom. And while she had stared at the mark, only images of their first encounter with Orochimaru had played through her mind, his haunting words of confidence that Sasuke would come to seek him for power.

"Orochimaru," the word fell softly, but icily, off her lips. Yes, for now I will focus on defeating him instead.

Wiping away her tears, she scrunched her face up in determination as she quickly spun around and got dressed, anger temporarily replacing hurt feelings of confusion. This was not going to hold her back, at least not yet it wouldn't.

Bending over, stretching out his arms in front of him to rest his weight against a tree, he let the tears run freely down his face and drip down onto the ground. What have I done?

How did I let myself go so far? I'm willing to sacrifice what it takes, I don't care about myself, but how could I have ever thought of involving Sakura? First Naruto, now her. Now I can't face either one of them.

I thought if she was willing, I wouldn't have to consider it using her. I thought that if I didn't let her get too attached, she would be ok if I don't survive this. Reflecting back on the time they had just spent together, he added to his thoughts, But even if she was willing, it doesn't make it right, what I did to her.

Shifting his weight slightly, I can't believe I slept with her last night. It wouldn't have been so bad leaving her had I just not…why couldn't I stop myself? I was already considering breaking it off after seeing her with her family, and definitely by that point I was already set on forgetting the whole thing. I'm sure that only made my leaving worse on her. "Ahh, I'm such a jerk!" he accused himself as he clenched his fist tightly.

He removed the hand that had become a fist from the trunk to hold his head. I wanted an heir, but there's no way it was worth it, to do this to her. I'd rather the Uchiha bloodline die with me than to involve her with me any longer. I'm only interrupting the life she has there. I had never even considered how a pregnancy would interfere with her training and missions. I guess I was half-expecting her to be the same teammate we were always protecting.

She seemed really proud of her medical skills. I guess I'm proud of her, too. He didn't try to hold back a small smile. I think she really is happy there. His thoughts wandered back to when Naruto had showed up, how they were both dressed up, how Naruto was probably taking her somewhere nice where they'd have fun together. The way she smiled when he held out his arm for her to take. With the way things are, I certainly can't offer anything like that for her.

She never smiled like that with me.

Gathering himself up as best as he could, forcefully wiping away his own tears, trying to forget the disgust he felt for himself, he started moving through the forest again, but he had one side trip to make before returning.

The least I can do is let her go now, and hope she won't suffer too much. I'm sure she won't love me any more now that I've left her like this. But that's probably for the best, because then she'll be able to forget about me and the pain I inflicted on her.

I would have been willing to be a husband to her, if I lived through my revenge, take her with me wherever I ended up after everything. But I see now that's where I really made the mistake. She deserves more than someone who is only resigned to be a husband for selfish reasons. She deserves more than that, from someone who can give that to her.

It actually might have been nice, having a family again. I couldn't imagine it with anyone besides her…with Naruto nearby…and Kakashi-sensei…but I made my choice. I won't give up my revenge, and I refuse to drag her along any further down this path. She belongs in Konoha. I don't.

The previous night.

"Sakura-chan, you look beautiful in that kimono!" Naruto complimented when she opened the door for him.

She glanced up the stairs, hoping Sasuke didn't overhear. Turning back to her companion, she responded with, "Thank you, Naruto. You look handsome yourself." And she meant it.

"I was on time, just like I said I'd be."

"Yup, you were. So shall we?" she spoke as she motioned toward the door. Naruto held out his arm for her to take, and she took it gladly. She couldn't help but smile at all his efforts to act like a gentleman.

Neither spoke much as they slowly walked to the spot where they first officially became gennins. All 3 of them. Together.

"I brought a blanket for us to sit on, so we wouldn't get our nice clothes dirty," Naruto interjected into their silence.

Sakura's head quickly shot around and at the familiarity, 'Sakura, why didn't you bring the blankets?' and 'I already grabbed the blankets, so just follow me,' in Sasuke's voice replaying in her mind. She swallowed down her momentary panic and managed to cheerfully remark, "You really did think ahead for this one." Smile.

After spreading the blanket out near the three training logs, Naruto awkwardly plopped down on the blanket, not used to the type of clothing he was currently wearing. Sakura more slowly and gracefully took a seat next to him.

Sakura decided to speak up. "So, do you think we'll get anywhere with this spy?"

"Yeah, I think so. There's still the two of us, right? So nothing can stop us from achieving our goal of finding him," Naruto exclaimed confidently.

"I guess you're right," she concurred, smiling brightly, not being immune to his contagious self-assuredness. "Hm, so do you miss him?"

"Who, Sasuke? Not at all. Don't miss the jerk at all." They both knew that was a lie. Naruto didn't dare return the question though, afraid of making Sakura upset by delving too deep in the subject.

Sighing, Sakura lay back on the blanket, staring up at the numerous stars. I wish I could tell him, 'Naruto, Sasuke-kun's back in my apartment. If you want to see him, he's right there!' But a promise is a promise, right? she thought uncertainly.

Placing his hands behind his head, Naruto leaned back and lay next to her on the blanket, his blond spikes nearly touching her pink strands. Naruto turned his head slightly to study her face. She's grown really beautiful since I was gone. Not that she wasn't always pretty to me, but she seems to just glow right now. Looking at her eyes, though, he seemed to detect sadness mixed in with the green. Probably thinking about Sasuke being gone, he thought. I know I can never replace him, but I can at least do what I can for her. He daringly and shakily reached out his hand to find and hold hers.

Sakura initially turned to look at him with shock playing across her features, but the surprise quickly melted into gratitude as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Who knew Naruto could be so sweet for such an extended time? she thought a little jokingly to herself. She honestly appreciated the gesture, though.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. We'll find him," he assured her.

"But what then? I mean, what's the point of finding him if he doesn't want to come back?"

"Then we'll make him come back."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"But he belongs here in Konoha, with us," he protested.

"You and I know that, but I don't think he feels that way. I mean, I don't think that's how he'll feel when we find him," she corrected. "I'm just saying, even if we can forcefully bring him back, it's not like we can just hold him here forever if that's not what he wants," she proposed.

"True, he might just try to leave again. But I still think it's better to bring him back first, and then once he's back here, we'll have a better chance of convincing him to stay."

"Maybe," she offered in reply.

"We'll be able to convince him to stay. Deep down, he wants to be here, I know he does."

"Naruto, would you help him kill his brother if he asked you?" she asked suddenly.

"You mean in exchange for him returning when it was done?" he conjectured.

"Maybe?"

"Hmm," he pondered aloud. Thinking back to the time when Itachi first came to capture him, and having to watch Sasuke get beat up physically and mentally by his brother, Naruto finally answered, "Yeah, I would, even if he didn't agree to come back. Even though I don't agree with his choice of leaving on his own to take revenge, I'd still help him. I'd rather do it for him, but you know how he is." He turned to look her in the eyes. "What about you?"

"I feel the exact same way," she replied, with some relief. She then sat up and suggested, "Why don't we go visit Kakashi-sensei?"

"Isn't it a little late? They won't let us in."

"You mean, they won't let you in. Since I work there, I have free access to the patients any time. Once I'm in, I can open the window for you to climb in," she explained proudly.

"Then let's do it!" he shouted as he jumped up and practically pulled the blanket out from under his teammate.

"So what are you two doing here," inquired a groggy Kakashi.

"We came here to cheer you up!" replied Naruto enthusiastically.

"Why?" Kakashi whined.

Leaning in close to his teacher and pointing in Sakura's direction, Naruto whispered, "It was her idea."

"I heard that!" Sakura informed. "And for your knowledge, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto was way more excited than me to come and do this."

"Hm-hmn. So why are you two here again?"

"We came to cheer you up!" replied Naruto, just as enthusiastically as the first time.

Sakura only slapped her forehead with her own hand before responding, "Naruto and I wanted to get together before we investigate our first clue to Sasuke-kun's whereabouts, and we just decided to stop by to visit you, too, since you're part of the team."

"Yeah, don't worry Kakashi-sensei, we're going to find him and we're going to bring him back! Then we'll be our old team again." He nodded emphatically with that last statement.

"Well, not to crush your hopes, but even if you do bring Sasuke back, don't expect it to be the same as before," Kakashi lectured in one of his few serious moments. Watching as a dampened demeanor descended upon both his students, he quickly perked back up, "Ah, but that doesn't mean we still won't be a team. It'll just be different, that's all."

Naruto and Sakura noticed the movement of Kakashi's lips into seemingly a smile underneath the bed sheets. It was at that moment that they both simultaneously realized the only thing that separated their eyesight from Kakashi's face was a thin bedsheet placed loosely over his face. They looked at each other with the same scheming expression, while Kakashi merely sweat dropped.

As both students lunged in to pull the sheets down, Kakashi rolled out of bed at the exact moment a nurse entered the room with a tray of food. "Here's the late night snacks you reques…" the nurse started but quickly rushed toward what appeared to be a threat to one of her patients, only to trip and have the tray conveniently fly in front of Kakashi's face, giving the man just enough time to whip off his pillowcase and wrap it as a mask around his head to cover his face.

"Ahhh!" both teenagers cried and pointed as they saw their moment of golden opportunity slip from their sure grasp in slow motion.

"Well, the slight exercise cheered me up greatly, thanks you two," Kakashi commented cheerfully as he patted them simultaneously on their heads. "By the way, why are both of you dressed up like that? Sakura doesn't look too bad, but Naruto, you just look stupid," he remarked in his usual laidback tone.

"Stupid!"

"What do you mean, not too bad?"

"Nurse, I think it's time you escorted my guests out. They're getting a little too excited for my health."

"Umm, yes, of course." The nurse, who had been gawking at the scene played out before her, proceeded to lead two ninja out of the hospital room, both of whom were violently and angrily shaking their fists in the direction of the teacher they had been so happy to visit.

"Ahhh, now I feel like I can sleep very pleasantly tonight," Kakashi murmured to himself. "They should definitely stop by more often."

Walking in the general direction of the stadium, Sakura found a nice spot in the woods. Yes, this will do just nicely, she thought. She was able to get ready faster than she expected, and had a few minutes to work off some emotions before meeting up with everyone.

Donning a glove on each hand, Sakura began to punch the padded tree, the one Lee often practiced on. Of course, in order to not do too much damage to a training object that belonged to the village, these were just her normal punches. It was good training to condition her hands for non-chakra encased impacts anyway.

I'm going to stop you, Orochimaru. Punch. I may not be able to convince Sasuke to come back. Punch. But I'm at least going to stop you from using him as your container. Punch, punch, punch, kick.

Ten minutes later, tucking her gloves back in her pack as she caught her breath, Sakura quickly ran to the designated meeting place.

Six days later, after the meeting with the 'Akatsuki spy,' Sakura quickly gathered her things to make their departure back to Konoha.

Since they stayed in separate rooms, she was to meet the boys in front of the inn, except that she was the only one ready on time. Wait, someone was walking toward her. "Kakashi-sensei?" She pointed and gawked. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Sakura. I'm feeling all better now, so I came out here to meet you guys," he explained, a hand resting behind his head. "So how did everything go?"

"Well, the spy turned out to be Kabuto, who actually was still loyal to Orochimaru. Then Naruto went all 4-tails and fought against Orochimaru in a beastly manner while I did nothing useful other than try to stop Naruto in his berserker mode, which only resulted in me getting hurt. Oh, and I was knocked out by Kabuto flying past me before that," she explained. "Luckily Yamato was there to return Naruto back to normal, otherwise we would've all been screwed. And even if no one else does, apparently Kabuto thinks I'm useful and healed me so I can kill more members of Akatsuki. And we learned nothing about Sasuke-kun except that his departure has driven Naruto to become just as self-destructive." Why did I describe it like that? she questioned herself.

"I see, that's very interesting. I have my own report for you. Well, actually, more like advice."

"Advice? Huh? What kind of advice?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face. She glanced back toward the inn in hopes to see the rest of her team walking out the door any moment now. Kakashi-sensei sure is acting strange, she thought.

"This kind of advice," he said matter-of-factly as he cued for the music to start and for an exuberant Maito Gai to make a grand and flashy entrance.
(Track 7)

Sakura just blanched.

Kakashi sang to warn her to free herself from the restricting bonds of love, in a frightfully female voice, while dancing very scarily. Gai acted as flyboy and danced even worse, while occasionally interjecting, "Youth Power!"

In the middle of the 2nd verse, Sakura jolted awake, finding that she was still in her bed in the inn. "What a mentally-scarring dream," she muttered to herself. "Wait…babies!"

Sitting up, she contemplated, Hmm…well, I guess it is possible, but it's a little soon to tell since it's not due for another week. But still, to have a dream like that, and if I had to go off of gut instinct...of course, this wouldn't happen until after he decides to leave for good, right? Ok, no negative thoughts right now. I just need to stay calm and not worry about this until it's confirmed. I'll just have to wait and take a test when I get back to Konoha. One of the perks of being a medic is I can just make my own test to not arouse suspicion. Yeah, so no panicking. All right, everything's going to be fine, she tried to console herself. Everything's going to be fine, she repeated as if that would make it more true somehow.

I still have that option if it turns out I am pregnant. Although since it seems Sasuke ended things, even that might not be viable…

Sakura heard a knock at her door, followed by, "Hey, can I come in?" in Naruto's voice.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts and switch modes, she called back "Just give me a minute to get dressed." She quickly added in warning, "And don't bother sneaking around to my windows, I have all the blinds closed tightly!" This was followed by the sound of footsteps lightly retracing their way back in front of her door. Really, did he have to pick up those traits from Jiraiya-san? Of course, he always did have a little bit of that in him, she relented, chuckling slightly as she put on her usual clothes.

She then walked over and opened the door to a way too cheerful for so early in the morning face.

After starting some tea, Sakura sat down next to Naruto at the table. Before she had a chance to ask how he was doing, Naruto cut in, "Sakura-chan, are you ok? I mean, really? I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?" Serious blue eyes stared guiltily into hers.

Doing her best to don a carefree attitude, Sakura attempted to brush off his concern. "I'm fine. The cuts weren't that deep. See? No marks, already healed up." She held out her arm for proof.

"Yeah, maybe physically you're ok now, but you must look at me differently now. I hurt you."

"But you didn't mean to," she corrected. "I don't hold it against you, honest. But I really wish you wouldn't go that far anymore." She swallowed. "I mean, even if it's to get Sasuke-kun back, it's not worth it, ok? It damages you, too."

"I promise I won't go that far whenever you're around."

Sakura sighed. Men can be so stubborn when it comes to sacrificing themselves. But then again, I don't really have room to talk. I literally gave my body for Sasuke's sake. What a team we are. "Naruto, please, not ever. I just don't want you to suffer," she begged. She even reached out and placed a hand on his cheek to convey her seriousness.

Naruto only placed his hand on top of hers. They just looked at each other until the sound of a kettle whistling interrupted the silence. Sakura quickly stood up to pour the tea. Returning to the table with two cups, she sat just a little farther away this time.

Sipping her tea, Sakura asked softly, "So how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine. The kyuubi heals me up just fine. Don't worry about me," he proclaimed with a smile.

"But I am worried about you!" Sakura cried out, nearly shouting at him. "What I saw…you were…it wasn't you who were fighting anymore. No matter how powerful you are in that form, you can't save Sasuke-kun like that! You can't save anyone like that!"

Neither spoke for a few minutes.

"Kabuto commented that it was more like two monsters rather than two ninjas fighting," Sakura added dejectedly.

Naruto just stood up and turned toward the door, his back facing his companion. Before he had a chance to take a step, Sakura leaped up and hugged him from behind. "You're not a monster, Naruto. The kyuubi is, but you aren't. Please, don't fight like that anymore. I can't stand to see you like that!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "It's not you. It's not who you are," she whispered. "It's not worth it. Please," she begged, "I don't need you following him down the same path. I can't take losing you, too!"

Turning his head around slightly, he replied, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll get him back. And you don't need to worry about losing me, I'll always be with you. I'll always take care of you."

"You mean, we'll get him back. We're doing this together, remember? You don't have to fight alone."

"We should get ready to meet the rest of the team outside." And with that, he stepped out of her embrace and left the room. I just don't want to risk hurting you again, Sakura-chan.

Why do they both pull away from me? Sakura wondered hopelessly.

Back in Konoha standing on her balcony, Sakura allowed the wind to play with her pink hair as her green eyes stared unseeingly out into the night, as if the horizon could whisper to her what her next move should be.

She had gotten a positive result from her self-made pregnancy test.

Walking back into her room, Sakura started packing. On the night that Sasuke had first showed up, he had told her that if anything should happen and she needed to leave Konoha, to go to the Good Luck Inn in Otafuku. He had left money there to pay for a room, and he said that he'd eventually meet up with her there. But would he even check anymore? What other choice do I have, though?

Sighing, Sakura did a last minute check that she had packed everything she needed and was about to glance over the letter she would leave for her parents when she heard a slight tap at her window.

Without even daring to hope it to be true, Sakura deftly made her way across the room and opened the window to meet a pair of blue eyes. "Sorry to disturb you, Sakura-chan. It's just, it's been bothering, how I left you back at the inn. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior back then. I didn't mean to brush you off like that. I wasn't going to say anything, but I just had to. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I understand that what you have to deal with isn't easy."

"Are you ok? You seem a little out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired from the traveling, that's all."

Naruto glanced around her room to see all her drawers pulled out, their contents spilling over the edges. I thought she was neater than this. His eyes then fells on the bag sitting in the middle of her floor, packed full of clothes and other items. Funny, she didn't have a big bag like that on our mission. Stepping into the room, Naruto casually asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Uh, why do you say that?" She quickly set the bag in her closet and closed the door.

"Sakura-chan, what's going on?" he asked with full seriousness.

Partly due to her desperate situation, and partly due to her heightened emotions, Sakura couldn't hold back the words that wanted to burst from inside her. "I'm leaving, Naruto. I'm leaving Konoha. I have to. I've gotten myself into a mess and I can't stay here anymore." Somehow, she managed to hold the tears back, although they threatened.

"What do you mean, you have to leave? If something's wrong, I'll help you fix it. It can't be so bad that you have to leave." He stepped in closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If there's anything I can do, just name it. Please, I want to help you."

Sakura stared at the floor for a few minutes, thinking through all the possibilities before finally responding, "Then will you marry me?"

"Huh?" was his only reaction.

"Not a real marriage, of course. But just to explain how I'm…I'm pregnant." She sheepishly looked up to see how he would take the news.

Without hesitation, and without asking for more explanation, Naruto replied, "Ok."

"Now, you know this is fake right? So don't get any perverted thoughts on what's going to happen, ok?" she lectured, despite the heaviness of the situation.

Naruto took another step closer and wrapped his teammate in his arms. "Don't worry, I know what'd happen to me if I tried," he said with a smile.

"Thank you, Naruto, you don't know how much this helps me. It'll just be until I can somehow get things sorted out. You're sure you don't mind this? I mean, what will people think when they find out it's not for real? Are you really ok with that?"

"If it means you don't have to leave, then yes."

Pulling herself away from his arms and looking him straight in the eyes, she added, "We can formally announce it to my parents in the morning, so you have time to change your mind. I understand if you do."

"What time should I stop by?"

"Is 9:30 all right?"

"I'll see you then. Good night, Sakura-chan."

"Good night," she whispered as her friend jumped from her balcony. I sure hope I know what I'm doing. I'm so sorry, Naruto, for dragging you into this. I'll make it up to you somehow.