Author's note:

First of all, this is my first fanfic and English is not my mother language, so forgive me for the possible mistakes. Also, this hasn't been betaed, so all the mistakes are mine alone.

Now, things you must know before reading this fic:

This is a non Uchiha massacre fic, but it only impacts on the reason Sasuke left Konoha.

Orochimaru was killed by the Sandaime (Third Hokage), but he died as well due to his wounds.

There is no Fourth Shinobi War. In my head this is because Itachi killed Madara when he tried to plot the Uchiha coup, so Akatsuki isn't a thread to anyone. This also means that there is no alliance between the shinobi nations.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of its characters.

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CHAPTER 1:

Tsunade was in her office analyzing the possibilities of being caught red handed by Shizune if she started her new hidden bottle of sake when a knock on the door was heard.

"Come in". She said with a sigh, discarding the idea for the moment.

"¡WE ARE BACK OBA-CHAN!" She would have been able to recognize that loud and excited shout everywhere, but was surprised when she saw four people entering her office, instead of only the two that voice would have suggested.

"Yo! We are back as well", was the greeting provided by the copy-nin.

Tsunade observed the four men standing in front of her desk. Jiraiya and Kakashi hadn't changed at all since the last time she saw them, but the same couldn't be said of Naruto and Sasuke, they left the village five years ago being brats and now they were coming back as almost men.

"So you all are finally back, what an honor for us!" she said with irony.

She couldn't be objective in this topic, as Sakura was her apprentice and she had grown a soft spot for the pink haired kunoichi. Don't make any mistakes, she was grateful that leaving Sakura behind resulted in her growing strong and independent; but she couldn't forget all the hurt suffered by her protégée until she learned how to cope and use it in her benefit, and couldn't either forget who caused that pain.

"DATTEBAYO! WE HAVE FINALIZED OUR TRAININGS AND WE ARE BACK FOR GOOD, NOW WE CAN'T FAIL THE CHUNNIN EXAM! WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE OBA-CHAN?" Naruto seemed to still be immune to irony…

"First, DON'T SCREAM IN MY OFFICE! That's a privilege reserved only for me, you little brat." At her outburst Naruto scratched the back of his nape and seamed contrite. "Second, in order to postulate for the chunnin exam you have to be part of a three genin's team, so you two would need to team up with another candidate".

At this last sentence, Sasuke reacted for the first time since he had entered her office. Although changed physically, not much personality's changes appeared to have taken place in both of them. Sasuke looked the same proud and brooding as he left, but his squinted eyes were evidence of his calculating mind. "What about Sakura?" was the only thing he asked in a calm voice.

"She is not available for that purpose, as she is already a jounin". Tsunade answered proudly.

"WHAAAT???, WHERE IS SHE?".

"NO SCREAMING IN MY OFFICE".

Three of the four men were surprised by this new information. Jiraiya already knew about the development of Sakura, as she has shared it with him in several of her letters.

"She is out on a mission at the moment. I suggest you go home and settle down for a few days, then I will call you to analyze your options. In the meantime, Hatake, Jiraiya, I know their advance from your reports, but I would like to have a few words with you in person. Brats, you two are dismissed".

With that, Naruto and Sasuke left Hokage's office in silence and still surprised. As soon as they closed the door at their backs, Tsunade turned to look at both senseis.

"Well, what do you think? Will they be able to perform teamwork in order to pass the chunin exam? I know their skills have improved hugely, but do they know how to work in a team and follow orders from a superior?"

"Godaime-sama" Kakashi was first to speak, "have you said Sakura is already a jounin?" He asked still flabbergasted by the news.

"Hatake, we are right now discussing your apprentice, not mine, so please answer my question".

This new information did nothing to suppress the surprise in Kakashi. It was true that he had not asked for Sakura in any of his reports to Tsunade, but he had never imagined that the weak, boy-crazed, little teenager that once was part of team 7 had been under Tsunade's tutelage and had already reached the jounin status.

Jiraiya, kwowing it all, decided to lend a hand to Kakashi to recover from the shock by providing his answer to Tsunade. "Well, I think Naruto is ready. It is true that he gets easily excited, but he can work with a team and has earned some maturity, so I know he will have no problem in accepting orders".

"Sasuke is ready too", Kakashi said, regaining his coolness, "he can be too serious sometimes and it makes him seem arrogant, but he has matured as well".

"Perfect, then I will think about a third genin to join them in the chunin exam, which as you know is in three months, for them to have time to train their team work." With a sigh Tsunade added "I know you two had your reasons to leave Konoha with those two brats, but sometimes I wonder if it was the right decision. Anyway, Hatake, check in the jounin headquarters in a couple of days for you to be included in the mission roster again. You two are dismissed".

With that, the two men left her office. After this reunion, Tsunade would risk Shizune's wrath if she discovered her drinking in her office again. She needed a little help from her precious sake in order to prepare herself for the way Sakura would react to the return of her old team members. She had grown and matured a lot in those years, but there were wounds that were too deep for them to completely heal, and Tsunade knew that her apprentice was going to be conflicted with the news.

Opening the bottle and serving herself a glass of sake, an idea came to her mind that made her
devilishly smirk. She had the perfect candidate to join Naruto and Sasuke in the team for the chunin exams, and if they managed to work together, they would prove that they were all ready to pass, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy for any of them.

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Sakura was happily entering Konoha with Kiba, Akamaru and Shikamaru. They had satisfactorily finished their mission and it had been an easy one for them, so they were joking and laughing on their return to home.

She had become a jounin three months ago, but as she was the medic-nin of the team, it was Shikamaru who acted as leader for the mission, although he was still a chunin due to his laziness to perform the jounin test.

The four of them made a good team: Shikamaru was the leader and brain, Kiba and Akamaru were the muscle and Sakura was the surprise factor, as she was usually underestimated because of her looks, and their medic in case of need. They were good friends as well since a long time ago, so it helped them to understand each other without the need of words.

When they were passing by Ichiraku an orange lightning came out to strongly hug Sakura.

"SAKURA-CHAN! WE ARE BACK!" Naruto shouted without noticing that the kunoichi in his arms had gone rigid and her smile had completely disappeared.

"I can see that" was all Sakura managed to say while she rid herself brusquely from Naruto's embrace.

It was at this point that Naruto started to notice the tension in the air and became serious as well. Sakura took notice of Sasuke calmly arriving from the inside of Ichiraku and she observed the changes in her former team partners. They were taller and their faces had become more angular, losing the childhood in their aspects, but there were no major differences from the young teens who left the village five years ago. Naruto and Sasuke were looking back at Sakura and she supposed they were noticing the same changes in her.

There was a moment where everybody stood still, until Sakura became aware of Shikamaru and Kiba standing quiet at her back. She turned to speak with her friends:

"You can go ahead and report to Tsunade, I will see you later" she told them with an even voice. She was trying to keep her emotions at bay, and they understood that she wanted to speak with Naruto and Sasuke without an audience.

"Are you sure?" asked Kiba with concern clear in his voice and his face. When she simply nodded, he smiled at her adding "Don't forget about tonight, ok?"

"I'll be there." Sakura answered, returning his smile.

With a wink from Kiba and a meaningful stare from Shikamaru, they continued their path to the Hokage tower, followed by Akamaru. She followed them with her eyes for a moment and, unaware of it, a giggle escaped her lips.

When she turned back to look at Naruto and Sasuke again, the blond couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"What's the matter, Sakura-Chan? Aren't you happy to see us again? I have missed you a lot" said Naruto, evidently confused. He was fidgeting with his shirt in a clear sign of nervousness and looking at her with sad puppy eyes.

A sudden impulse to hug and calm him overwhelmed her, but she took a deep breath and forced herself to remain serious and calm. There was a turmoil of emotions inside of her chest, but she had learned how to manage her intense feelings.

"Five years have happened, Naruto." Sakura said letting a sigh escape her mouth. She was attempting to be honest with him without being aggressive. "I am glad to see that you are both well, and yes, I did miss you terribly for a while after you left, but that was a long time ago and life goes on. You two made the choice to leave Konoha in order to train away from here, and I found my own way. The world did not stop just because you left, and a lot of things are different now, even between us" she smiled sadly to Naruto. "You don't even know me anymore, Naruto. And neither do I know you."

"But we can get to know each other again, Sakura-Chan" said Naruto with a gleam of hope in his eyes, "we only need to hang out again, and once Sasuke and me pass the chunin exam we can be a team again. We haven't changed that much!"

Sakura could not erase the sad smile from her face. Naruto was still the same innocent, cheerful and hopeful person.

Sasuke was quiet and did not participate in the exchange between his two former teammates, he didn't have anything to say; he could see the truth in Sakura's words and he didn't care enough for her to make him pursue a bond with her. Sakura felt ridiculous for the nth time for having a crush on him so many years ago, it was painfully obvious that Sasuke only cared for Naruto (and maybe Kakashi) apart from his family. It made her feel proud of herself, being able to realize that her crush was based only in appearance and the ideal of Sasuke she had in her mind when she was a child.

Naruto, on the other hand, was something completely different. She knew that he had never meant to hurt her when he left with Jiraiya, but the truth was that it hurt her immensely to be left behind and alone and it had made her change in order to survive. She had to learn how to love and appreciate herself, she had to learn how to make her moods independent from the opinions and influences from other people. It had been a very long and hard way, but she was proud of the person and kunoichi she had become, and she wasn't going to throw all her hard work away just because she could empathize with her obnoxious ex-teammate.

"But I do have changed, Naruto" she tried to explain. She didn't want to hurt him, but she wasn't going to lie to him either, so she explained herself in the gentlest voice she could manage. "I don't hate you, and I understand from an objective point of view why you chose to leave Konoha, but I don't want to be your teammate anymore, because I don't trust you. This is my choice now, as it was yours five years ago".

"But…" Naruto found himself lacking words. He didn't recognize this Sakura in front of him. He didn't understand why she had changed so much. Physically she remained similar to the girl he always had in his mind, she still had short pink hair, she still had kind green eyes; but the way she was talking did not correspond at all with the aggressive but loving kunoichi he remembered.

"Anyway" Sakura added with a naughty smirk "if we were going to be a team again, I would be the leader, as I am a jounin now and I outrank both of you. Would you two be willing to follow my orders?"

Both men frowned at this question.

"So I thought", the pink haired woman said and laughed sardonically. "As I said, we all followed our own paths, and maybe both of you can remain the same to each other, but it is not the same for me.

I wish you luck in the following chunin exam and we will cross paths sometimes here in Konoha, but I am not going to pretend that I am still your friend and that I still love you". She said this last part looking sad but kindly to Naruto. She hoped he understood. He looked hurt and Sakura felt sorry for him, but he had to know by now that every action had its consequences.

"I see" whispered Naruto, but then he stubbornly frowned and suddenly smiled cheerfully again "but I will not give up on you! You'll see Sakura-Chan, we will be friends again in no time!"

She smiled softly and rolled her eyes. Naruto still didn't know what surrender meant. She observed both of them carefully and shook her head.

Sasuke hadn't said a word but his semblance looked pensive.

"Never say never, but I doubt it Naruto", Sakura said with finality in her voice. "I have to go home, see you around Naruto, Sasuke". And with a final glance to each of them she turned and started to walk away, leaving the two young men looking her go in silence.

"She has changed indeed" were the first words spoken by Sasuke, once Sakura was out of ear reach.

"So it seems" answered Naruto in thought. "Do you think she will forgive us, Teme?"

"Hn". Was all the answer that Sasuke provided. He thought that she had forgiven long ago, so it would indicate the way she had talked to them, but he doubted she would ever forget. He chose not to share his thoughts with Naruto anyway, because it only would make him sad. "Let's go Dobe, we need to meet with Tsunade-sama in order to find out who will be our new teammate."