A/N Thanks for ten reviews! It means a lot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 4

I don't know if I'm ready. Naruto thought as Konoha came into view. It'll be so different without... He couldn't even finish his thought; it was too hard.

It had been months since Naruto recieved news of the demise of his teammate. He didn't remember much of his reaction. He only remembered that it involved a lot of crying for long periods of time. Jiraiya gave him space and urged him to take some days off from training, however the blonde refused. The training helped take his mind off things but once he stopped training, he found himself swimming through memories.

They tore him to pieces and ripped him to shreds. Everytime he imagined her smile, he would realise he wouldn't see it in person again. He realised that he wouldn't be able to try her awful cooking again. He realised that she wouldn't help him bring back Sasuke. And it was because she was gone. Forever.

Naruto paused before he entered the village. His master eyed him but stayed quiet. Slowly taking a step in, the jinchuriki heard his name being called. The person who called his name turned out to be Ino.

"I- I..." The girl looked at the boy in surprise. She didn't expect to see him after so long. Then she thought about Sakura and felt this hole in her chest widen. Her vision slightly blurred and tears cascaded down her cheeks. She noticed Naruto copy her expression of pain before running into his arms.

They were never close but the loss of their friend hurt them deeply.

"You're back." Ino was the first to speak. "You probably should go see Tsunade-sama."

"Can you take me to the Memorial Stone?" Naruto replied, still hugging Sakura's ex-rival. The kunoichi nodded, knowing that Naruto needed this.

"She's a hero." Ino said while Naruto traced over Sakura's name on the great stone. "She saved me."

"How did she...?" He couldn't say it but the girl understood what he meant.

"We were trapped and couldn't find a way out. 'We' being myself, Sakura, Lee and Neji. The dome we were trapped in was set to explode. There was no way out until Sakura used a teleportation scroll on us."

"Why didn't she teleport herself?!" The Team Seven ninja's voice was harsh though he didn't actually mean to be rude.

"The scroll could only transport three people." Ino scoffed because she thought it was stupid. "Why make a scroll a last resort when it has such a stupid rule that resulted in the fucking death of my best friend?!" Her voice grew louder as she said the sentence until she was screaming at the end.

"She is a hero..." Naruto whispered after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, she is." The kunoichi replied. "I made a grave for her... Well, we don't have her body but-"

"Thanks." The boy smiled weakly at her. "Let's go."

They walked to the graveyard.

"Why is there sand everywhere?!" A blonde man in a black and red cloak complained.

"Oh, I don't know. Why the fuck is there sand in a desert? The earth is just so fucking crazy." A pink-haired girl replied causing the blonde to glare at her.

"Sarcasm." A short, hunched man, in the same cloak as the other two, said.

"Really?" The pinkette asked. "I thought it was quite literal."

"Sakura, you're such a Goddamn bitch, you know that?" Deidara fumed.

"How can I be a bitch? I may be female but I am most certainly not a dog. And if I were a dog, I think I'd know it." The cherry blossom smiled widely, enjoying the irritation that marked the blonde's face.

Sakura had changed a lot throughout the months. In appearance, she always wore her Akatsuki clothes and her Sharingan had evolved - obtaining a second tomoe.

Training with Madara had been vigorous. She learnt a lot though. The cells from Hashirama Senju enhanced her strength and also gave her the ability to use Wood Style. The Sharingan gave her the opportunity to utilise genjutsu - something Kakashi had failed in teaching her. And by 'failed in teaching', Sakura meant that he never even tried.

The ex-Konoha ninja also carried daggers with her, gifted by her new sensei. They were her weapons of choice as she preferred them over a blade like Hidan's or puppets like Sasori's.

And, finally, her personality had changed also. She was no longer reluctant about killing people. In fact, she loved it when her victims' blood would splatter against the floor. She found pleasure in watching the life drain out of their eyes. She no longer cried and she no longer counted on anyone else. The only people she could trust was herself and Madara.

The first trio of the Akatsuki were currently on their way to Suna to capture the One-Tailed jinchuriki: Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage. After a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors it was decided that Deidara was going to capture him.

"Sakura," The artist caught the cherry blossom's attention. "You know this Kazekage, right? Anything I need to know?"

The pinkette thought for a while. She didn't know much about him even though she knew him since she was twelve.

"Well, let's just say that since you're annoyed at the magical sand in a desert now, you're going to be annoyed when fighting Gaara."

"What do you mean 'New Team'?!" Naruto yelled at the Hokage. "I have a team!"

"Sasuke left and Sakura-!" Tsunade tried to calm herself down. "Sakura... is gone." A silence descended on the room, the only sound being Naruto's furious breaths. After a couple of seconds, the Godaime shook her head and began to speak. "A New Team Seven will be made consisting of two jonin, a ninja at chunin rank and you - a genin."

"I don-" The jinchuriki began.

"Naruto, this is non-negotiable." Tsunade cut him off. "To test your teamwork with this chunin, I have organised a test for the two of you to take. Sai, come in."

The door opened to reveal three people. Naruto recognised Shikamaru, he remembered the blonde from somewhere but the pale-skinned Leaf ninja was new to him.

Kakashi held out two bells towards Naruto and Sai. After a lot of arguing, Naruto gave up and agreed to the new team. Of course, he began arguing again once his sensei revealed that they weren't going to meet the second jonin on their team yet.

Sai annoyned Naruto. The boy was rude, he was creepy and he always smiled.

"Don't drag me down." The blonde said to his teammate. "This is a team effort."

"Yes." Sai replied.

It was a tough battle; it had taken a day. Naruto tried not to let memories consume him and battled with all his power for those bells. He didn't want to admit it, but Sai was a big help. His technique with his ink was good for long-range attacks and his taijutsu was decent.

The win didn't feel complete to the jinchurki. Mainly because they won by yelling out false spoilers of Ichi Icha Tactics.

Sai regarded the blue-eyed boy with interest as Naruto cheered at their win. His idea was unusual and shouldn't have worked. But maybe that was because his sensei wasn't as good as the rumours of Kakashi the Copy Ninja were. But, it was fact that Naruto was truly a very unpredictable ninja.

"Oh." Kakashi said all of a sudden. "I guess you guys get to meet the other member of our team now."

A man wearing the same outfit as Kakashi walked up to the group. The man's almond-shaped eyes made Naruto shiver.

"Hello." He said to them. "My name is Yamato."

A basic introduction. Naruto thought as he introduced himself to the new member. We're a weird bunch. He referred to the New Team Seven.

"Someone's coming." Sakura said to her teammates as they walked alongside a giant, white clay bird with Gaara in its mouth.

"Give back Gaara!" Kankuro shouted. The three Akatsuki members turned and his eyes immediately went onto the pinkette's hair. The puppet user's eyes raked over her body, confused.

"Hey, could you stop eye-fucking me?" Sakura asked. "I mean, I've caught you doing it before and it's really weird. I'd rather you buy me dumplings first."

I think my humour has improved with time. The cherry blossom thought to herself.

"Sakura Haruno!" He was shocked. "Y-you're supposed to be dead!"

"Yeah." The rogue ninja replied. "I am. I'm a ghost. Wooooo..."

"You're with the Akatsuki?! You have Gaara!" Kankuro dropped down three scrolls that were on his back and his puppets appeared.

"This is taking too long." Sasori said. "I'll take care of him."

Instead, Kankuro's puppet, 'The Crow', flew towards Sakura. With her right hand, the cherry blossom punched it and it broke into pieces.

"Sorry. Just like most men, my really muscular right hand just works on its own." She smiled at her crude joke.

"Enough." Sasori announced. "I'll end him." He whipped his tail at Kankuro and the Sand ninja tried to protect himself with his puppets. But he should've known he was going to lose as he was up against an Akatsuki member.

"I have no choice then." Tsunade said. They had just recieved word that the Fifth Kazekage had been taken by the Akatsuki. Team Seven were standing in front of the Hokage, waiting for their mission but a woman ran in and delivered the devistating news.

"Tsunade-sama, you seriously can't be thinking-" Shizune started.

"What else can we do?!" The Godaime interrupted the woman. She turned back towards the team. "Kakashi, I order you and your team to travel to the Hidden Sand and gather info so that you can follow the tracks of the Akatsuki member that took the Kazekage. Your mission is to retrieve him. Is that clear?"

"Yes!" Everyone in the team responded except Naruto who yelled "I'll bring back Gaara, believe it!"