The two of them were hugging and nuzzled their noses against each other for a few minutes. Then, they heard a light voice behind them, saying. "It's been a while, hasn't it…?"
Both of them glanced around when the pink-haired kunoichi's eyes widened at the person they saw in astounishment.
"Oh my… You're-"
"It's me. Your other half Sakura. I'm the voice in your head," she smiled in amusement and waved.
"You are my half?" The pink-haired kunoichi repeated dumbfounded.
"Yeah. You don't believe me?" She raised her eyebrows.
"I do, but how did you manage to get out?" The pink-haired kunoichi questioned on perplexity.
"Hehehe. I supposed you weren't aware of the fact that you were unconscious the moment you fell on this land," her inner Sakura giggled.
"So you used one of the techniques," the red-haired Kazekage noted.
"You got that right and I assume you are both a couple," Inner Sakura said, grinning teasingly.
"Ah… It's complicated," the pink-haired kunoichi stammered as she dismissed her hands awkwardly while she tried to hide the blush from her cheeks.
"Girl. I just saw you and Gaara making out," Inner Sakura smirked.
"You do know that she has amnesia," he mentioned.
"And that is why I have something to give her," Inner Sakura chirped and skipped forward with her arms held on her back. She brought her right hand in front of the pink-haired kunoichi, whom she furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. She urged on, saying. "Open it."
"Okay…" she said a little hesitant till she raised up her fingers and startled at the sight of the pearly-white ball, shining brightly on her palm.
Then, it soon gleamed in front of their faces that they can hardly ever see.
Her green orbs grew bigger that flashes back to the previous times, indicating the journey she went through in her childhood and youth.
Sakura's parents gifted her a cherry blossom necklace that symbolizes their clan. They traveled all the way to the hidden sand to complete their missions, whereas she stayed with her Aunt Rose and tried to befriend the other kids in the village. But they never acknowledge her because of her appearance. Instead, they made fun of her by calling her awful names.
"Pink-haired freak!"
"Big forehead!"
"Cry baby!"
She was about to get hit by a bully, but he was thrown off to the side when the others noticed the red-haired boy controlling his sand. She thanked him and became good friends as they ended up spending time together at the park.
During her mission in the hidden sand, Sakura fought against her other half, who was in a dark place. She knew how cold and bitter her heart turned when she confronted herself. Because of her loneliness and being an outcast, allowing mental affliction caused her to feel restless and unappreciated.
"Did you remember when you once said, 'you've always been a part of me and you deserve the kind of life that you need?' You have no idea how much you've saved me back then, so now I want to do the same for you," Inner Sakura explained sincerely as she held onto her hands with a genuine smile that made the pink-haired kunoichi shed a tear from her eyes.
She has no words, but gave her reassurance with a nod.
"I'll always be with you because I'm you and you are me…" Inner Sakura stated and giggled. "It may sound cheesy, but it is true. As for the Lord Kazekage, I trust that you watch over her."
Gaara chuckled at that, saying. "Don't you worry, I'll make sure of it."
"Awesome," Inner Sakura said as she saw the fireworks shoot up towards the sky that shows the red signal in awe. "Off we go."
"Thanks," the pink-haired kunoichi said.
"No problem," she smiled, then they made a run to the top of the hill thirty minutes later. However, it wasn't that long when one of them used the teleportation jutsu to reach their destination. They were riding on the sand as they floated down to land on the grass to reunite with their friends.
"Gaara!" Kankuro shouted in surprise.
"Sakura!" Ino said and went up to hug her, asking. "How have you been? Oh, thank goodness, you're safe!"
"It's such a relief that nothing happened to you," Hinata said in contentment.
"Yeah, you had us all worried about you and Gaara," Tenten noted.
The pink-haired kunoichi was slightly scratching the side of her face in awkwardness, then she heard her name called out by a dark-haired man, who was standing behind her.
"Sakura…" he came up to her and embraced her.
"Sasuke…" She said as she blinked a few times.
He gripped on her shoulders with a look of concern. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? We've been all looking for you."
"I'm absolutely fine," she answered.
"Oh, good," Sasuke nodded. He then raised an eyebrow suspiciously at her as he stepped back to scrutinize. "Wait… There's something different about you."
The pink-haired kunoichi stiffened her whole body and thought nervously to herself. "Oh no… I'm hoping he doesn't find out about what happened…"
"That's because she's beginning to recover," another voice said that shook everyone to the core in bewilderment.
Kiba stared at her and fainted, whereas Choji, Lee, Naruto, and Sai dropped their jaws with gawking expressions on their faces.
"Sa-Saku…" one of them stuttered.
"It's me. Her other half, sillies. Why are you all acting so surprised?" She said, rolling her eyes at them in annoyance. "And let me remind you, I'm not a shadow clone."
"So you're that voice in her head, but you simply got out of her body while she was unconscious," Neji guessed.
"Bingo! You figured it out, smarty-pants," she grinned as she snapped her fingers, which made Neji scoff a little in amusement.
"Inner Sakura, isn't it?" The dark-haired ninja interrogated.
She glanced around to see him and smiled intriguingly. "Well, yes. That's my name. How have you been, Sasuke?"
"I'm doing great. I knew you resembled so much of her. I bet you're still the same as before. Flirty and compulsive," he said, smirking tauntingly back at her.
"Oh, don't be so full of yourself. I can never know what you are now as well," Inner Sakura giggled.
"No matter. I need to speak to you," Sasuke said, leaning in to whisper in her ear.
"For what?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked blankly.
"It's about us," Sasuke mentioned, then he grabbed her wrist, leading her away from the others.
Gaara, on the other hand, was trying not to show his emotions after seeing them walk distantly. He felt someone touching his hand warmly and said. "You shouldn't be too anxious."
"Why not?"
"I know her just as much as she knows me because we are one and the same," Inner Sakura smiled determinedly, making Gaara gazed back at her calmly and nodded with a half-smile.
TO BE CONTINUED...