Disclaimer: I asked to own the Naruto series for Christmas, but Santa didn't grant that wish.

Chapter 10: Letters Written

Sasuke came upon the all too familiar wall surrounding Konoha, and hesitated. He had already stopped at the inn and the innkeeper had said that Sakura never stopped by, and so now here he was back again, facing the village he had abandoned nearly 3 years ago…aside from his few previous visits to Sakura, that is.

But without letting himself form another thought, he launched himself over the wall and into Konoha. Sasuke carefully made his way along the rooftops until he reached the apartment building Sakura lived in. It was still early in the evening, but he wanted to check on her and depart again as quickly as possible to avoid suspicion from Orochimaru if he could. Also, since people would still be out and walking around, there's less of a chance of a sound-nin wanting to follow him into the village.

He dropped down silently onto her balcony after checking to make sure no one was in the vicinity. Being a warm evening, he found the doors already open, most likely to let a breeze into the room. He cautiously peered around the edge of the door to make sure no one besides Sakura was in the room, but what he saw shocked him even more. All of her furniture was still there, but everything else was gone, like she had moved out.

Puzzled, Sasuke slipped quietly into the room and confirmed his suspicion by checking her closet and drawers – all her clothes, everything was removed. Hearing movement in the apartment, he quickly snuck back out and climbed back up onto the roof.

I wonder what happened to her. Did she leave Konoha? But if she did, why didn't she stop by the inn like I told her? Before he could decide what his next move would be, though, he caught sight of an orange and black jumpsuit. Naruto? Wow, he's grown tall since I last saw him, Sasuke mused to himself before once again turning sullen at remembrance of their last meeting. I certainly can't face him anymore because of that time…but I might have to in order to find out what happened to Sakura.

Unsure if he could actually go through with confronting the teammate he had tried to kill, Sasuke followed Naruto back to his apartment. But before he got too close, he noticed someone was already watching the building. Backtracking a bit, Sasuke came around from the other side behind the other observer to avoid being noticed. Hm, I wonder what that's all about. I suppose with someone watching, the best option would be to henge and just walk right into the building.

He didn't have long to ponder this, though, because he looked up and saw Naruto and Sakura holding hands as they walked into the living room. What the…what's she…

Sasuke swallowed hard as he observed Sakura as sat down on the couch while Naruto walked out of sight, but soon came back and sat down next to her. He cursed the other ninja for being there because he couldn't get a better view into the room; Sakura's back was turned to him, and she was blocking Naruto from his sight. Like this, he couldn't use his sharingan to read their lips and figure out what they were saying and maybe discover why she was there and no longer living with her parents.

At least he had wanted to know until what he saw next.

(Track 10)
He felt as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. But wasn't this what he wanted? He left so she could move on and find someone who could actually make her happy. And he couldn't think of anyone who could do that better than Naruto. So then why did he suddenly feel like he was the one who was abandoned? This is ridiculous, this is what I wanted for her. This is what she deserves. She's obviously fine, so I should just leave.

But he didn't leave. And he didn't notice that both of his hands had become tight fists at his sides.

The kiss didn't last long, though, and his eyes observed Naruto get up and a minute later return with two cups of something. This time, though, Sakura was turned and he could see her profile. It was enough for him to be able to read her lips.

"You probably think I'm like this now, don't you? Someone who goes around sleeping with a bunch of guys?"

With her head hanging down, he could just barely see Naruto's face overtop of her head. He saw him reply with, "Of course I don't. Sakura-"

To which she interrupted with, "I've only slept with one guy. I just wanted you to know that it was only one person."

She's talking about us. Is she going to tell him it was me? he thought with a growing concern that temporarily replaced the feelings he had been experiencing up to that point.

Naruto responded, "So what happened to him? Where is he now?" There was a pause before he added, "I mean, only if you want to talk about it. I don't want to push you to talk or anything." He explained while waving his arms in front of him, "It just seemed like you might want to talk to someone about it…"

"I don't know where he is," he saw Sakura reply.

Naruto started, "Oh, ok. I-"

Sakura once again interrupted him. "But I don't want to talk about it anymore. In fact, right now, I'd rather forget about it." She lifted her head and turned to face Naruto, preventing Sasuke from knowing the rest of what she said. Damn it! Well, I guess it's clear that she really doesn't care about me anymore. But that's what I wanted…wasn't it? It's just hard to actually watch it, that's all. From the way she was talking, though, I wonder if they've…

And I should have been expecting it anyway, he switched to thinking instead as he recalled the time they went out dressed up together…and the time when Sakura mentioned she punched him for doing something perverted. Maybe that perverted thing was some kind of flirting, and she didn't appreciate it then, but maybe now…

He watched as she took a sip of the tea and then stood up before sitting back down onto the couch. A few seconds later, she stood back up, but so did Naruto, who then proceeded to sweep Sakura up in his arms. He finally had a clear view of Naruto's face, and he could once again see Sakura's profile. Sasuke's sharingan eye observed Naruto saying the words, "The least I can do then is carry you to bed," all spoken with a big smile on his face. He looked and saw that Sakura, too, was smiling cheerfully. And he watched painfully as Naruto carried her back into the bedroom. This is what I wanted, he assured himself. This is exactly what I wished for her. This is…

Sasuke noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and caught that the other observer was leaving. The person was dressed in an anbu uniform. I wonder what he was spying for. Hn, oh well. When the anbu had traveled a safe enough distance away, Sasuke gingerly stood up from his crouched position. He had seen enough from his own vantage point across from Naruto's apartment.

Once back in the darkness of the forests surrounding Konoha, Sasuke paused. Not quite beyond sight distance of the village, he was about to turn around and take one last look upon it, but changed his mind. He didn't look back the first time he left, why should he now?

But also not moving from that branch, he contemplated, Even though I had only visited a few times, I never noticed how in such a short time, I got used to the idea that she…that we…but now she'd rather be with Naruto. Sakura and Naruto. He clenched his left fist tightly. Sakura and Naruto, together now. Clenched it tigher. Sakura's with Naruto now. He gritted his teeth as he forced himself to slowly release his clenched fist.

Did I actually think she'd still want to be with me? After all, didn't I even realize she'd be better off without me? Why would I even expect her not to move on when all my actions would push her to that. That was even the purpose of my actions. He closed his eyes and tried to push all thoughts out of his mind. But visions of his last visit with her kept invading his meditation. He couldn't deny how it had felt to be with her. It had felt nice, comfortable, peaceful. Familiar and stirring at the same time. He ignored the fact that he knew very well that he didn't just go to Sakura because he wanted heirs for his clan.

Well, it doesn't matter anymore. And with that thought, he violently shoved down all the feelings that had surfaced that evening, and maybe even a little remorse that this was the path he had chosen along with all the things that were a part of, or weren't a part of, that decision – something he hadn't let cross his mind since he left Naruto laying unconscious at the Valley of the End. But without deliberating too long, Sasuke quickly turned to return to the Sound village.

Sakura took a deep breath. Of the three things that Sakura has needed to confess to Tsuande, the first two being her engagement to Naruto and her pregnancy, this confrontation was by far the one she feared the most. Taking one more deep breath, she reached up and knocked on the door to the hokage's office.

"Yes? What is it?" she heard Tsunade call from the other side of the closed doors.

"It's Sakura. I have a request to make."

Sakura? This early in the morning? "Come on in," she replied. She eyed her student curiously as she entered the room and stood officially in front of her desk. "What's this request, Sakura?"

"I'd like you to send me on a mission. I think I might have an idea where to find information on Orochimaru's location."

Tsunade just stared dumfounded for a few minutes, very unbecoming for a hokage, before she found her voice again. "Would you like to give me a little more detail, like how you know where to possibly find this kind of information?"

Sakura let out a sigh before replying with, "Because Sasuke-kun came to visit me a while ago and possibly left behind information at an inn in Otafuku." I can't believe I'm doing it. I really am telling the truth. We'll see what the consequences will be, though.

"I see. For the moment I'm going to ignore that you didn't report this visit to me," Tsuande responded curtly. "So then what are you going to do with this information, if it's there?"

"I'm going to find him," she stated boldly.

"No, you're not going. I won't risk-"

"He won't hurt me," Sakura interrupted her senior.

"How can you be sure?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Because…" she trailed off. Her hand instinctively went to her abdomen. Ok, deep breath. "Because this is his baby," she said blatantly, as there are only so many ways to reveal such things.

One eyebrow raised. "And the marriage with Naruto?"

"Fake."

"Why'd you do it?"

"Isn't it obvious? To explain my pregnancy."

"Ok…let me rephrase. Why did you lie about it?"

Sakura hung her head in shame. "Because, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. And I wasn't sure what everyone's reactions would be anyway. But time's running out, and finding Sasuke-kun is more important than my pride or reputation. I understand that I misled you, and withheld information dealing with a missing-nin, one with ties to Orochimaru, and for that I accept full responsibility and await my punishment." There, that wasn't so hard. "But whatever the punishment, if it could wait until after I go look for…."

"Give me a little more information on this possible…um, information you might have." Tsunade shook her head slightly for the redundancy.

Clearing her throat, Sakura explained, "Sasuke-kun told me that if I ever ran into trouble, to go to this inn. I don't know why I didn't think to check there before, but he might have left something that might give a clue to where he, and therefore Orochimaru, are staying."

Tsunade paused to think for a moment. "So am I to assume that he came to you and this was all his idea?"

"Yes."

"Hm-mm. And how often did he come?"

"About every few weeks, 6 times in total. But then, he changed his mind, I guess, and stopped coming. That was about 4 months ago."

Counting back for a moment, Tsunade then questioned, "So he doesn't know about the pregnancy."

Sakura just shook her head 'no'.

"Did he reveal any information on Orochimaru or the Sound to you during any of those times?"

Sakura once again shook her head 'no'.

"Well, I'm going to be straight with you. That was very stupid of you to give in like that. It's ridiculous that you'd sleep with him just because he asked you to," she patronized.

"Um, we're married."

"Oh, I see. Well, still…so he asked you to marry him first?" Sakura nodded. "Ok, um, I guess that's a little better then…but that was still a ridiculous thing for you to do and I expected better from you," Tsunade lectured, regaining her condescending tone toward the end.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade stared down at her student. Well, I suppose neither one of us reacts well to love, do we? But maybe it's not too late for you. Maybe you agreed because you saw hope…it still was very stupid of you, though. Tsunade tried to suppress a smile despite the seriousness of the situation and consequences for the student she had grown fond of over the years. "Fine. I would like you to investigate this lead, but return immediately if you find anything and we will figure out what to do from there."

"No," Sakura stated.

"Excuse me?" Tsunade asked with a little irritation creeping back into her voice. She can also be very stubborn, she added to her previous mental comments.

"I'd like to request permission to use a carrier bird so that I may follow any leads right away and still report back the information," Sakura requested professionally.

"So you think you're going to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout by yourself then, do you? While you may have confidence that Sasuke won't lay a hand on you, I don't think you can apply the same to the rest of Orochimaru's men, not to mention Orochimaru himself."

"Well, I can't travel for as long in my condition, so I'm sure whoever else you send can easily catch up with me, and it will be that much less that I'm slowing the group down."

"I see. Does anyone know about any of this yet?"

"No, you're the first person I've told."

"Well, then I suggest you stop by and have a nice talk with your parents this morning. I think they'd like to know, and you don't have much time since I expect you to out of Konoha within the hour."

A smile grew on Sakura's face as she ran up and hugged her mentor. "Thanks, Tsunade-sama."

"I want to make it known that I still don't like the idea of you going in your condition, but it's your decision."

"This is something I have to do," she spoke softly in response. Sakura turned to leave the office, but before she made it to the door, Tsunade had one more question for her.

"So do you plan on going to Otafuku all by yourself?"

"Well…"

For the second time with the same destination in mind, Sakura did one last check that she had packed everything she needed. She picked up the letter that she had planned to leave for her parents 4 months ago. Should I just give them this letter, or tell them in person? I'm not sure which would be easier on them.

Sakura looked up as she heard Naruto walk through the front door. He had gone out earlier to do some training on his own. "Welcome back, Naruto!" she called out to him from the bedroom. Soon, his cheerful form was standing in the doorframe before a puzzled look creased his face as he noticed the pack.

"Are you going somewhere, Sakura-chan?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am. I've been assigned a mission. Well, more like I requested to be assigned this mission."

"What kind of mission is it? Are you sure you're up for it? Is it dangerous at all?"

"Well, I'm not sure if anything will come of it, but I am going to Otafuku city in search of information," she explained as she stuffed away the letter and swung her pack onto her back. Walking past Naruto, she made her way to the front door. Naruto followed her.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You seemed pretty upset last night. Maybe you should wait a bit before you-"

Sakura prevented him from finishing his sentence with a shake of her head. "I've made up my mind." Placing a hand on her stomach absently, she clarified, "I'm going to search for the father…"

"I see…" Naruto responded distractedly.

Stretching her arms above her head and taking a deep breath, Sakura added casually, "And I better get going. There's only a month left before it could be too late."

"A month left…" Naruto trailed off as a look of realization came over his face. "Sasu…ke…"

But Sakura just opened the door and started to walk out before turning back to face a dumfounded Naruto. "So are you going to start packing or what? I'm going to stop by my parents, but I should be at the main gate in about 20 minutes." She just smiled as reassuringly as she could at her teammate who had yet to respond. "Don't tell me you don't want to go after I went to the trouble of getting Tsunade-sama to cancel your other missions so you could go with me..."

Not really sure what to make of the situation exactly, Naruto replied, "I'll be there. Don't leave without me."

Sakura left the apartment and Naruto went to pack things for himself, a thousand questions running through his head. Included among them were, What was Sasuke thinking sleeping with Sakura? Did he force her? And why doesn't she know where you are now…Sasuke!

Sakura arrived at the shop her parents owned. Since it was still early in the morning, there weren't any customers there. She pushed open the door and, not seeing her parents in the front room, made her way to the back. She hesitated a moment before walking up to her parents.

"Hey, Mom! Hey, Dad!" Sakura greeted cheerfully.

"Hello, Sakura," her father responded, looking up from his work. Her mother smiled from where she was standing. "What brings you here?" he asked.

"Well, I'm heading off on a mission…in about 10 minutes, so I can't stay long. I'm not sure when I'll be back, either."

"Oh, you're traveling then? I thought you weren't going on those kinds of missions while you're pregnant," her mother spoke up.

"Well, this one was too important to sit out."

"Is it dangerous? You shouldn't take the risk-"

Sakura held up her hand before her mother could complete her sentence. "That's partly what the mission is about. And I'm already decided on this, so there's no use in trying to convince me not to go." Sakura paused to give her parents a chance to prepare for what she was about to say, if that were even possible. Well, no use in stalling anymore, so here I go. "Naruto and I aren't really married. In fact, this isn't his child. I know this must come as a shock, and I don't have time to explain the whole situation. I wrote everything down in this letter for you to read," she explained as she pulled the letter out of her pack, "but I wanted to at least tell you some of it in person. But this mission is to find the man I really am married to. I'm sorry I snuck off and did something like that. You have every right to be angry with me, and I don't even have a good explanation for why I did it. But trust me when I say I'm going to do everything I can now to somehow make it right."

She just stood there holding out the letter, waiting anxiously for her parents to give some sort of response. Her father eventually reached out and took the letter from her hand, but didn't say a word. Not really sure what else to do, Sakura gave them both a hug and told them that she loved them, and once again apologized for the mess she got herself in and for deceiving them all this time. Her parents just replied that they loved her, too, and wished her luck on her mission. They didn't know what else to say in that situation.

Walking down the street, Sakura saw the tall gates rise up in front of her. I can't believe I'm really doing this. I sure hope we find something, otherwise…

Sakura didn't finish her thought as she caught sight of Naruto already waiting for her. "Ready to go?" she asked brightly.

"Yeah. So where are we going again?"

"Otafuku. I'm lucky Tsuande-sama's letting me do this, so we better get going and I'll explain more on the way." And the two teammates set off in hopes of finding a clue to finding the missing third.

Naruto and Sakura finally arrived at the city, and after a little searching around and asking for directions, they were able to find the Good Luck Inn. Entering the establishment, they were met by a short older man with graying hair, presumably the owner.

"Welcome, welcome. Are you young couple looking for a room for the night?" the man greeted.

Sakura walked up close to the counter and asked in lowered voice, "Did by chance a young man around my age, a little taller than me with bluish black hair leave anything for me here?"

His face brightened as he replied, "Yes, he did. You match his description perfectly. I was wondering if you were ever going to stop by. Although he said you might not. But anyway, yes, he left this envelope here for you. Along with enough money to stay here for a month. Will you be staying here, or would you like take your money with you?"

"Um, let me see what's in the envelope first and then I'll let you know if we're staying."

Sakura quickly snatched the envelope from the older man, muttered a thanks, and sat down on a bench in the lobby area. Naruto followed and sat down beside her. With a shaky hand, she carefully opened the envelope and pulled out its contents. The first letter seemed to have been written the first night he showed up. Scanning quickly through the lines, she read that he was grateful that she had agreed to do this for him, and that if there was something he could do later to make up for it, he would return the favor. He also left a few details like how much money he had left with the innkeeper, to send a blank letter to some address to let him know she was waiting for him, to leave instructions with the innkeeper if she left for anywhere else, the name of a good doctor if she was pregnant or got sick while she was staying, etc. It was all very planned out, but what else would have been expected from someone like Sasuke.

She flipped to the next page and her jaw dropped with what she saw. Not only was it a list of the locations of all of Orochimaru's hideouts, but also a detailed description of all the ninjas under Orochimaru's control. Quickly glancing through all of that, she came to the last page.

It was another letter, and it was from the last time she saw Sasuke. She saw an apology on the first line, and started to tear up. Suddenly remembering that Naruto was right beside her, she quickly folded the two letters and stuffed them back in the envelope; she'll read that last page later.

Naruto looked expectantly at her. Sakura smiled weakly and told Naruto, "It looks like Sasuke-kun's not loyal to Orochimaru after all. He left behind all the hideout locations, as well as information on all of the Sound nins. We'd be very prepared to scale a pre-emptive attack from this information. We also have a good chance of finding him within a month."

"I see. So what are we going to do now then?"

"Well, I'm going to send this information back to Konoha, and we already have permission to set out."

"So we're going to look for Sasuke from here then?"

"Seems that way."

"Then let's go!" Naruto exclaimed, seeming more like himself for the first time since they arrived in Otafuku.

"Well, first we need to come up with a plan. That and I'm craving something fierce. Let's go get a bit to eat first," Sakura rationalized.

"Whatever you want. I wonder if they have a ramen shop as good as Ichiraku…" Naruto pondered out loud.

Sakura just gave him a nice slap on the back before going up to the innkeeper to ask for the full sum that Sasuke had left for her. On the way out the door, she turned around and waved a cheerful goodbye to the innkeeper.

The innkeeper waved back and called out thanks for the generous tip she had left him. I wonder what kind of teenage drama is going on with those kids. I thought she was supposed to be married to that other guy, but those two were wearing matching wedding rings. But, he didn't think about it too much and went about tidying up the front area.

Meanwhile, sitting at a ramen shop, Sakura thought about what would be the best way to do this. She also used the time to memorize as much of the information Sasuke provided as she could before she'd send it back to Konoha, and had Naruto do the same.

While slurping up some noodles, Naruto asked, "So what's the plan? Are we just going to go around to the different hideouts until we find them?"

"Something like that. There's a number of places located far from each other, so it'd be inefficient to form multiple parties because no one would be able to meet up for battle, then and one small party, maybe two if we're lucky, would be able to battle. While that might work if we were just rescuing Sasuke-kun, it actually may end up with having to fight all of Sound, because Orochimaru will probably be extra cautious around that time. In that case, a small group won't be enough. But then having only us travel to the different villages to report information from one source point and then assemble a larger group for attack, well this is more time consuming, and we may end up being too late to do anything due to the support not being able to arrive on time. Sasuke-kun didn't give any indication if and when he was planning on betraying Orochimaru, so it's difficult to decide which would be the best plan of action since we don't know what kind of situation we would find when we get there."

"I thought you said we'd have a good chance."

"That was before I thought of the different scenarios that might require more than a small platoon executing a sneak attack."

"Oh."

After a few bowls of ramen, Sakura stood up from her stool. "Do you mind if I go think things over for a little bit by myself?"

"No, that's fine. Should I just wait for you here then?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, I won't be long. Just keep trying to memorize as much information as you can until I get back."

"No problem. Oh, and I think we should do the larger scale attack," Naruto offered.

"Why do you say that?" Sakura questioned.

"I just think we should take the opportunity while we have it. Who knows where Orochimaru may run off to if we can't stop him this time. And I know we'll be able to make it in time," he assured. "Looking at the map and calculating all the distances, even accounting for slower travel in your condition, we should be able to hit all of the sites and call for back up before that day comes."

Sakura walked back over to the counter and looked at the map they had been scrutinizing while eating. "But if we hit the distant ones first and work our way back toward Konoha, there's a few places in between where they wouldn't make it from Konoha in time."

"No, but if we go in the opposite order, and we don't find them in these ones," he paused to point which locations he meant on the map, "then we can send word and they can station in Suna for us to contact so then they should be able to make even this farthest one in time."

"You know, I think you might be right – that just might work. Well, I'll be back in a little bit," she smiled at him as she left the shop.

Finding a secluded spot, Sakura took out the second letter that Sasuke wrote. Half an hour later, having returned to the ramen shop and officially decided on a plan, Sakura used the whistle she was given to call the carrier bird. Attaching all the information, as well as the details of their plan, to the bird's leg, she released it and watched as it took off in the direction of Konoha.

"Well, are you ready for this?" Sakura asked.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Naruto asked.

"For the last time, yes. I want to do this. Besides, we vowed to save him together, remember? And you'll protect me from any harm, so I shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?" she smiled as she poked her companion.

That night, after they finished setting up camp and had rolled out sleeping bags to sleep in for the night, Naruto finally worked up the courage to ask her, "So what happened? With you and Sasuke, I mean."

And although Sakura opened her mouth to speak, she discovered that she couldn't actually form a response as the tears starting streaming down her face no matter how ardently she will them to stop. Darn these hormones! she chided herself.

Insead of pushing for an answer from her, though, Naruto said the first thing that came to mind. "You don't have to tell me anything, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to upset you. But don't worry, we'll find him, and he'll be the same Sasuke from before. You know, back when we were fighting Gaara, he was ready to sacrifice himself so that I could take you away from there to somewhere safe. He really does care about you. And, and I know there's still the same Sasuke in him, even with the cursed seal. When he was trying to kill me, in the end, he could have, but he left me alive. And he even went to level 2. So I don't have any doubts it's still possible for us to save him, and I won't quit until we have him back," he ended emphatically.

Sakura's tears continued to roll down her cheeks as she raised a hand to cover her mouth. Finally able to find her voice, she gasped out, "He…he tried to kill you?"

Naruto's voice lowered from its amplified state when he replied, "Yeah. I didn't really understand it, but he said that killing me had meaning, since he considered me his best friend…"

Sakura just continued to stare with wide eyes, trying to wrap her mind around what Naruto was saying to her.

Seeing that he only upset her more, Naruto quickly added, "But it's a good thing, too, because that means he thought of me as his best friend. See? He did grow attached to us. He'll remember that. We'll make him remember. After all, he'll never not be a part of Team 7 as long as we have something to say about it."

Sakura thought about that for a moment before replying, "Yeah, you're right, Naruto. I really needed that. Thanks," Sakura spoke, a smile starting to form even from behind her tears.