SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY!


SOMEWHERE IN KONOHA…MORNING

Rays of light filtered the dark room where a pink beauty laid asleep. So fragile looking, like a doll, but in this case the phrase "looks can be deceiving" cannot be truer. The fragile beauty is really a tower of strength that is always on fire! She struggled to keep her eyes closed as the rays became brighter and soon sleep left her. She opened her eyes for a new day in her home. She yawned and stretched then looked around. Then she screamed.

"KYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Footstep could be heard coming towards her room. Soon, a dark haired boy entered the room with a somewhat confused look. He saw the girl looking so vulnerable and confused. The moment froze as their eyes locked. For a passing moment, he thought she looked cute when she is worried though he knew that anytime her features would start to blaze with anger.

"JERK-SAMA! WHERE THE HECK AM I?" Sakura screamed an ear piercing scream. "THIS ISN'T MY ROOM!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Geez Big Forehead! My house. You got all worried and scared because you aren't in your room? I thought you had more guts in you."

Sakura blushed. "Sorry to disappoint you but what would you do if you woke up in a strange place?"

"Infiltrate the area." Sasuke answered immediately. Sakura blushed harder. "I thought you knew that but now I know you're all talk." He said coolly.

"I am not all talk!" she hissed.

"That rule is one of the basics of a shinobi. Didn't your Itachi tell you that." The air around them suddenly tensed but he could help saying it. He didn't like the effect she had on him earlier. She was pretty and no one could say otherwise even if she had a big forehead. He wanted to remind himself that she was his brother's underling who lived with him all those years.

"I am going to train. You can leave whenever you feel like it." he went downstairs without even giving her a second glance. All of a sudden he turned icy towards her.

"What's his problem?" she complained.


SASUKE….BEHIND HOUSE…NEAR LAKE….

'Must get stronger! Have to beat that bastard Itachi! Got to beat Forehead girl! Got to be myself again! I am the Avenger!'

Sasuke trained hard and more strictly than ever. Seeing her infuriated him, irritated him, and stirred a hundred emotions inside him that he cannot understand. How can one nuisance of a girl cause him more trouble in a few days than he had in the last five years? Right now he is confused but he decided to do what seemed to be the best solution. Ignore her from now on.

So again he trained as he used to by the lake where he trained with his father before. He trained with more strength than he thought he possessed. Seeing that girl gave him more motivation than before. He felt that he could beat her and do better than she did. It was his own challenge he set for himself. He is no lesser than her in anything. He could do better on his own. After all, she depended on another person for strength.

'Must get stronger! Defeat Itachi and kill that bastard slowly! Got to beat Forehead! Be myself! The Avenger! Got to be strong! Got to get her out of my mind before I go nuts!'


SAKURA…INSIDE HOUSE…KITCHEN…

"what's his deal?" she went to the kitchen a few moments ago to see if there is anything to eat. She had a simple breakfast of boiled eggs and milk. She sulked about what happened earlier. "why the hell did that jerk brought Itachi all of a sudden? HE SOOOOO PISSES ME OFF!"

She heard noise outside the house. It was the clanging sound of kunai. 'He's training!' She looked at the boiled eggs she made. 'Maybe he didn't eat breakfast! I will bring this to him!'

She picked the remaining eggs and a glass of milk and walked to the door. She suddenly stopped and thought about her sudden strange and kind behavior especially towards an enemy. 'What the hell am I doing? Bring food to Jerk-sama? When was I this nice? And why am I even worrying if he didn't have his food or he did? Especially since he was so rude this morning! but I really want to know how he is doing.' She decided that curiosity is the reason why she is bringing her enemy food. She walked towards the door to see him.


OUTSIDE OF HOUSE….SASUKE….

Sasuke heard someone approach him, he turned around to see Sakura carrying a glass of milk and a plate with eggs on it. He was surprised, 'why the hell she's bringing me breakfast? Isn't she mad that I ignored? I thought she'd be gone when I come inside again. So why the hell do I see eggs and milk in her hands?'

"Why are you here?" Sasuke broke the silence with these cold words. Sakura was taken back by his tone which seemed to be very accusing. As if he accused her of invading his space.

Sakura stood her ground and looked at him steadily while facing his narrowed icy, accusing eyes. "I got you breakfast." She said simply.

Sasuke looked away with a somewhat disappointed look on his face and continued to train. He ignored her. Sakura's nerves began to twitch but she held fast as not to explode. She was determined to get as much conversation out of him as she can. 'But what is that disappointed look for? Stupid ass! Pisses me off!'

"Stop it." came an order.

"Stop what?" she snapped sharply at his annoying tone.

"Boring holes into my back." Came his sharp reply. "I can feel it you know. You show your feelings too easily. Transparent like glass."

"I am not!" she defended herself quickly. She was ticked off as he never did look her way while talking to her. His back was always turned and his tone was cold as ice. As if she wasn't worth talking to let alone worth his time. She didn't like it at all.

"Whatever. I really don't care." he began training with his chakra.

Sakura knew he will not talk anymore than he already said but she was determined to know why he brought her to his house and not hers. "Why did you bring me to your house and not mine?"

He stopped training and then continued. She was determined to get the answer and he was just as determined not to. He will never admit that he was walking around with her on his back while he didn't know where her house was.

"Were you thinking something weird and perverted when you came?" she asked with fake innocence.

He went slightly red but it was enough for him to explode. "Stupid woman! I didn't know where your stupid house was!"

He stared at her and she stared right back into his eyes. 'Now she will think I am stupid! Great! But at least she'll get off my back.'

"That was it? How lame! Well, see ya! And here's breakfast so you won't go hungry! Bye bye!" and she took off smiling to herself, thinking that she finally melted the ice today.


SOMEWHERE ON KONOHA'S STREETS…

Sakura was slightly limping when she walked down Konoha's streets very happily. She walked next to the forest as the trees looked very beautiful with the sunlight shining down.

'What a pretty day! Nothing could ruin it for me!' as that thought crossed her mind, fate's irony decided to step in. A huge thing just suddenly popped up and dangled in a tree in front of her. Sakura gave a bit of scream and jumped back in surprise. It was a strange man with silver hair and his face was masked except for one eye.

"Yo!" called out the strange man.

"Who the hell are you?" Sakura snapped at the man's laid back behavior. She was angry at him because he startled her and made her scream. She felt stupid.

"Hatake Kakashi and you are Haruno Sakura." He said in a calm know it all voice that pissed Sakura even more. 'Who the hell does he think he is? Popping in front of me so suddenly and says my name as if he knew me! Pisses me off!'

"How do you know my name?"

"Everybody knows the girl who went berserk when she saw the Hokage."

She slightly blushed. "So I've become famous."

"I think the correct word is infamous." He laughed. She glared at the laughing eye.

Suddenly his expression turned serious. He got down from the tree at lightening speed that startled Sakura. 'He's fast. Really fast.'

Kakashi turned to her and was amused by her unguarded surprised expression. "You haven't seen anything yet." He said smugly. Sakura scoffed.

"You haven't seen what I've got either."

"Petty tricks I'm sure." He teased.

Sakura's eyes shot daggers. She cracked her knuckles menacingly. "Wanna try?"

"You're a feisty one! Be careful, you're going to get wrinkles early!" he teased her more.

"THAT'S IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!" she dashed forward to strike the impudent man but the ending result was for her to fall forward from her injured ankle.

"OWWWWWWWWW! IT HURTS! MY ANKLE HURTS SO BAD!"

Kakashi's eye widened. "Now I remember why I came to see you!" he lightly punched his palm. "Hokage-sama sent me to get you to see your ankle!"

"Again? Didn't she see it enough yesterday?" she complained. Kakashi stared at her lying form in distaste.

She looked up and saw him looking at her in disgust. "What!" she snapped at him.

He didn't say anything. She got irritated and embarrassed by his intense stare. 'He must think I look so pathetic…threatening him then falling face down on the ground…then worst of all whining like a baby…'

"Don't look at me like that…as if I am pathetic…it's your fault I fell 'cuz you made me so angry with your teasing…" she tried to clear up her accident and hold him responsible.

His stare became more intense.

"Do I look that pathetic?" she said unsurely. Then she said quietly to herself. "Of course I do, the goddaughter of the great fifth Hokage-sama is lying on the ground whining so pathetically because her ankle is sore. The goddaughter who can't carry herself up but has to be carried by others. I really do look pathetic don't I? Its not enough I got this ankle but Bastard-sama is-!"

The moment she referred to the Hokage as Bastard-sama, Kakashi cut her off.

"Some people are so ungrateful, so selfish, so absorbed in these emotions that they see selfishness and greed in every caring, pure emotion. Seeing greed reflected in every caring and helping gesture that is actually motivated purely by love. Some people are so arrogant that they don't take responsibility for their own accidents but blaming others for their own mistakes and believing if they make mistakes can wound their 'pride'. In my eye its these traits that make a person pathetic, worthless-!"

"…scum…worthless scum…" she continued the sentence for Kakashi who was taken aback by her reaction. He thought she would get angry at him, shoot threats at him and go mad in Hokage-sama's office but she took it all in calmly as if she accepted it. He looked at her in confusion. He can't see her face because she was hanging her head low while still sprawled on the ground.

"Y-you're not angry?" he wasn't sure what to say. "Having a stranger you just met say all these things to you? Aren't you going to shoot back because you believe your pride is wounded?"

Sakura's head sharply came up and looked at him wide eyed. "How could I? Tell me how can I be angry when I finally face the real me? Pathetic, worthless, arrogant scum…who for her entire life depended on others to gain what she wants and needs…shelter…strength…even something like…l-love …I want that feeling but I can never seem to open my heart again to return that affection…ever since I left I have been so absorbed in my hatred that I lived with an outcast and depended on him for everything…my hatred, my desire for strength and drive for revenge soon became an obsession that motivated every move, breath I take…so how…h-how can I call my self strong when I am really so weak inside?" tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She turned her head away in shame.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. Her sad tears formed by being ashamed from herself were such pretty tears that he couldn't bring himself to tell her 'don't cry' or run his hand through her hair in sympathy. He wanted her to cry from her shameful attitude that she had adopted five years ago then start a new chapter in her life because he was taught that crying is the first step toward emotional healing. He just helped her up and get on his back so he could take her to Hokage-sama. All the way she kept on crying while clinging to him when he jumped from one tree to the other. He decided to take the long way to their destination.

"Kakashi-san…I feel so ashamed that I have rejected Granny Tsunade for so long while she was the one who waited for me to come back all these years. I do love her… I really do…even though I never dared to show it…I love her so much…I love Iruka-kun too but Granny Tsunade never did forget me and that made me so happy…" she quieted down but tears still glided down her cheeks. "I cant call her Bastard-sama now…I cant bring myself to say it anymore…I blamed her for something that was never her fault and called her names that hurt her a lot. I want to do something for her but what shall I do? I can't possibly do anything that will make up for the horrible things I said to her! Kakashi-san…I don't want to hurt anybody I love anymore…"

He smiled at her sudden politeness. 'Kakashi-san, eh?'

Kakashi decided he should speak now. "How about calling her the way you called her just now?"

"Granny Tsunade? But-"

"It's too embarrassing?"

"Kind of…"

"Didn't you say you love her and never want to hurt her? Didn't you also say you can't continue calling her Bas…that horrible name?"

"I did say that."

"so I think you should swallow your pride and at least call her the way she wants you to call her. She deserves at least that much for now."

"I guess so."

"Besides, she's your family as you are hers."

"Family, huh? After the way I treated her I don't think anybody wants to be part of my family."

"If you give up on yourself then people will give up on you. The hurt is still new, it can be mended but even so, I believe that Tsunade-sama never held anything against you and still loves you no matter what."

Sakura smiled to herself.

"Oh, there's the office right ahead. Just a little bit more."

"Kakashi-san…"

"Yes?"

Sakura put her forehead on Kakashi's back and her hair slid forward like curtains that hid her face. The motion was an attempt to hide her face even though she knew he can't see her, she still felt she had to hide herself. "If I never met you, I would still be that worthless, pathetic person who is so arrogant and driven by anger and hatred but actually so weak inside. You were the only one who said anything beside me trying to control my anger. My anger was only a disguise to cover how weak I really am…" she paused for a little while.

Kakashi reached their destination and bent down to get her feet gently on the ground. She refused to let him move around to face her. Her hands moved forward and circled tightly around his chest. This movement caught him off guard. "Kakashi-san, you let me cry all I want and never showed me sympathy so I would feel more pathetic than I already do. You listened to me rambling on and on. And I promise I cried for the last time. I won't cry for me anymore. So Kakashi-san….." she stopped.

"Yes?" he was still confused and her hands were getting tighter and tighter around him that they became a bit suffocating but he didn't try to stop her. It was obvious that this is hard for her. 'I just hope nobody sees us…'

Sakura shut her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. "THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!"

She let go of him quickly that he didn't notice in astonishment. She ran as fast as her injured ankle would let her to the door of the building where the Hokage's office was. Kakashi smiled warmly at the small running form that rushed in embarrassment to the door. She was about to go inside but she turned and Kakashi was surprised to see a big smile on her face that was without a doubt motivated by pure happiness.

"BYE-BYE KAKASHI-SAN! IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU!" she went inside.

'She's finally free from that hatred that controlled her for so long.' He ran his hand through his hair. 'But man! Her voice is still loud to pop your eardrums.' With that he left.


INSIDE THE TSUNADE-S OFFICE…20 MINUTES LATER…

"There, you're all done. I think tomorrow you'll be able to walk on it but don't try to run. After the technique I just did, you'll be good and ready in maximum three days if not two." Tsunade got up and put her stuff away. Then she turned to look at Sakura with a worried look.

'She's got that worried expression again.' Sakura felt guilty that she seems to always make Tsunade worry.

"are you okay Sakura? You didn't say a word since you came into my office. You just sat down without a word."

"I-I…" she stopped and smiled so warmly that it shocked Tsunade. Sakura never smiled like that.

"Sakura…are you okay?"

Sakura laughed at Tsunade's worried expression over her smiling. "I'm fine! I've never felt better in the last five years!"

Tsunade still was worried and confused. Sakura got up and stood in front of Tsunade while still smiling.

"Thank you sooooo much!" she quickly moved forward and hugged Tsunade tightly and lovingly. She gently whispered to the older woman who was in a state of shock. "Granny Tsunade."

Tsunade's eyes widened and became watery from happiness. 'Finally…' she gently wrapped her arms around the small form.

Sakura was the first to break from the hug. "I've got to go now. See you back home. I'm still wearing my pajamas you know and I really do need to take a bath you know."

Sakura went to the door and waved. "bye!" and left. She giggled softly when she closed the door. 'I think I shocked a lot of people today!'

Inside the office, Tsunade couldn't help but smile the rest of the day.


CONGRATULATE ME GUYS FOR FINISHING THIS CHAPTER FINALLY! AND CONGRATULATE ME FOR FINISHING 10TH GRADE WITH GOOD GRADES AND REACHING MY GOALS! I AM SOOO HAPPY! I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE SICK OF ME ALWAYS BEING LATE TO SUBMIT A NEW CHAP! I HAVE NO EXCUSES! I AM SO SORRY! I JUST HOPE YOU CONTINUE READING MY STORY! ALSO I REALIZED THAT I AM FOCUSING ON BEING TOO ORIGINAL IN MY WRITING THAT AT SOME POINTS MY WRITING BECOMES EITHER STUPID, POINTLESS, OR I AM DRAGGING THE STORY FOR TOO LONG. SAKURA FINALLY GOT OVER HER PERSONALITY PROBLEM AND BECOMES MORE HONEST WITH HERSELF. THE NEXT CHAPTERS I WANT TO STRENGTHEN HER TIES WITH HER FRIENDS BEFORE THE CLIMAX. WHICH I THINK IS REALLY GOOD! I JUST HOPE I WRITE IT DOWN WELL. I THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING AND I WILL TRY TO FINISH THIS FIC BEFORE I TRAVEL IN ABOUT 10 DAYS. WISH ME LUCK. AND I HOPE I HAVE YOUR SUPPORT! AND PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK ON MY WRITING STYLE! I READ A FEW CHAPS AND I THINK SOME PARTS SOUND SUPERFICIAL. I THINK THIS CHAP, ESPCIALLY THE LAST PART IS MORE HOW I WOULD HAVE ACTED. IT SOUNDED MORE NATURAL TO ME, MAYBE ITS BECAUSE OF HOW I WOULD HAVE REACTED! ANYWAY I REALLY DO HOPE YOU WOULD HELP ME!