The Abandoned Cherry Blossom

By : Uchiha l Haruno

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (unfortunately) but until I do (which will never happen) all I can do is write lame fan fictions! XD

Genre: Romance/Tragedy

'Blah blah blah' -Thoughts

"Blab blah blah" -Speaking

(A/N:) – Author's note

Notes : …This has nothing to do with the fan fiction, but ANIME NORTH IS OPENING SOON! D

…Going to be there! So if anyone wants to yell at me and throw stuff at me, go ahead, but you'll NEVER find me! XD

…Ya, I'll stop now --

Chapter 3: A New Mission

There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.

-Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts, 1931

Sakura rolled her eyes, typical Naruto, as she stood in front of the door. She reached out for the doorknob when it twisted and opened…

It opened to reveal Shizune, Tsunade's assistant. Though Sakura wouldn't admit it, but she and Shizune were similar in many ways yet different as well. Shizune was like the old Sakura, cheerful and happy yet worries for the people she loves. She wanted to help people any way she could. She wasn't a combat fighting type of person; she didn't like to inflict damage but rather to heal the wounded.

Sakura use to be like that.

Sakura was always kind and happy, she always looked on the bright side rather then thinking of all the negative things. She use to have a quote that she strongly believed in "The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up". How she loved that quote, she thought of anyway possible to help and cheer up others. Most of the time it worked, but it didn't help the one person that truly mattered.

Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura always thought that was annoying, and still does. She gave a small nod to indicate that she heard him then entered the room.

"I knew I sensed you chakra, so I asked Shizune to open the door for you." She mumbled a small 'Thank you' to Shizune for opening the door. "Is there a reason you have come to see me?" questioned the Hokage.

Sakura gave a small nod. "I want a mission to test my abilities"

'Wow, eight words in one sentence out of her, I think that's a record' She smirked; maybe her student was becoming more open. She always loved Sakura like the daughter she never had, and it really broke her heart seeing her like this. Tsunade tried everything to get Sakura more open and more social, yet all of them failed.

Sakura waited for Tsunade to tell her if she had a mission or not, but the slug tamer seemed to be swimming in a sea of old memories. Sakura cleared her throat which pulled Tsunade out of her walk down memory lane.

"Huh? Oha mission…let me check, is there any rank you had in mind?" questioned Tsunade.

Sakura nodded once again (A/N: Lots of nodding eh?) "S-Rank" Tsunade raised a brow in suspicion.

"S-Rank? I don't think you're ready for that yet, besides, you know that's only for ANBU, (A/N: it is isn't it?) but there seems to be a D-Rank her that seems to be perfect for you"

"Fine, I'll enjoy it." Even thought it dripped with sarcasm, she thought maybe it would be nice to have a break once in a while. She thought again about having a break 'Nah, I would rather have worms stuffed down my throat, but I came and asked for the mission, no backing down now' (A/N: AHHHHH! WORMS! )

"D-Rank mission. To help a gardener replant new Cherry Blossom Trees that have fallen down recently, and move them to the picnic area in the Konoha Park.. I'm also going to assign Naruto to this mission with you." Tsunade looked at Naruto's crest fallen face. Naruto was hoping for a harder task then replanting trees, but he was with Sakura, which wasnt so bad even thoguht she didnt talk much.

"Naruto, every great ninja had to start small, you know what they say 'Dare to dream big but don't be afraid to start small'

Naruto's face immediately lit up, but being the idiot that he is, he suddenly asked "Who's "they?" His face scrunched up in confusion, he started walking out of the office mumbling to himself "Maybe it's someone important, or famous, maybe it's the person who made up the quote…"

"NARTUO! Your mission starts at" she looked at the clock which read 10AM "1PM, so you better not be late!"

Down the hall Naruto could be heard in a distant voice "…yeah…got that…mission yeah…"Obviously still deep in thought.

Shizune sweat dropped at the boy's own stupidity 'well I guess that's what makes him so unique, and besides his determination and strength make up for his intelligence. That boy really will be successful in life and I know he will become Hokage someday'

Tsunade gave a deep sigh, for she knew as well as anyone else that Naruto would be late for the mission. She looked up at her apprentice still standing before her desk.

"Is there any thing else you need Sakura?"

"No, nothing…" and walked out of the office with one thing on her mind. 'I wonder what she meant when she said this mission would be perfect for me…unless…she knew about…that time…NO! It isn't possible, she couldn't know!'

As Sakura walked out, Tsunade smirked 'Sakura, you mission is going to bring back memories isn't it? I'm sorry, I hoping this will help you, and it hurts me to see you like this.' The smirk soon turned into a frown thinking of Sakura's reaction to the mission she would soon attend to. Horror replaced the hope she had felt just a few moments ago 'Oh god, what have I done…'

Darn it! >

This chapter is also short!

I was going to write what they were talking bout but…eh…another cliffy? U

Yeah…well Sasuke is coming soon, probably not next chapter, but soon! I KNOW IT!

…Yes I'm being paranoid…