A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M SOOO SORRY! STAB ME WITH ALL OF YOUR KUNAI (not literally, of course. 'Cuz then there will be no story.)! I'm sorry to all of those who I have failed! It's just that…school…yup. I can't make an excuse for my laziness, can I?

Sasuke: No. About time you updated, lazy.

Tonkotsu: (sweat drops) I know… I had school…and a case of the great lazy disease.

Sasuke: Sure…

Sakura: All standard disclaimers apply!

Enjoy! Some new character(s) might appear! I'm just excited thinking about it! YAY!

Chapter 3_

Sakura hissed as the sun's rays peaked through her blinds. She slowly rose up, blinking each green orb slowly. Just as she was dive back into the oh-so-wonderful blankets, a certain blonde was calling for his favorite teammate.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAN!"

She groaned at the sound of her name at her doorstep. She trudged on with each painful step towards the door, as the banging only got louder.

"Sakura-chan? Hellooo," each call making a certain blonde worried. Sakura put on a fluffy robe and slowly opened the door. "Yes?" Naruto widened his eyes at the sight of her. She had eye bags, her fluffy robe covering her large white T-shirt and blue striped shorts. Her eyes were droopy with something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and her hair looked like something nested in it. He quivered in fear as he saw her.

"S-Sakura-ch-chan…what happened to you?!"

"Life happened. Now, what's brought you here?" Naruto gulped. "I was wondering if you'd like to come see the cherry blossoms. They're blooming! Everyone will be there," Naruto paused. He really wanted to mean it, but they both knew that he won't be there. Sakura just smiled. "Well, we should get ready now if we want to get a good spot, right?" Naruto saw that she was trying to lighten the suddenly depressing mood. "I'll be getting some food and drinks," and with that he left. Sakura closed the door and walked to her room.

Hmm… it is only 60 degrees outside. Might as well wear something nice. (A/N: Sorry for the interruption, but because I'm American, I know, big surprise, but this was in Fahrenheit. For Celsius, I think it is 15 degrees. I don't know for sure…)

Sakura pulled out a white shoulder-less long-sleeved shirt with some green leggings. A pair of pink flats along with a pink hat went along with it, too. She was very much feeling the mood of this picnic!

As she got ready, she remembered what happened the night before. Sakura sighed dreamily as she remember how he was so...so…flirtatious? No, wrong word. Smooth. No, that's just wrong. He was so different from when she last saw him. 5 years, no that was too long. Sakura glanced at the clock, she was running late! She whizzed through her front door, slamming it shut.

"FOREHEAD! WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!" Yes, Sakura had two loudmouth blondes in her life. They were known as the 'Blonde rays of sunshine', (A/N: I don't have any rays of sunshine. I'm a sad soul. LOL) but she just saw them as 'Blonde rays of drama and stupidity'. "What, pig? I couldn't hear you over your oinking," Sakura smirked. A vein bulged in Ino's temple. Ino gave her a deathly stare as she retorted, "I asked what took you so long, but I guess that your huge forehead was blocking your hearing." Sakura gave her a stare that put Sasuke's sharingan to shame. The two had a death-stare contest until Naruto broke them up. "That's enough, you two. We don't want to kill each other at a cherry blossom-viewing picnic, now do we?" The said two turned their heads away and conversed with the other invited guests. The others were there too, enjoying this perfect day.

"Hey! Let's play Hide and Seek!" Naruto requested. Everyone groaned in response. "No one will play that childish and troublesome game of yours," Shikamaru voiced everyone's thoughts, excluding the 'troublesome' part. Naruto had a sly grin plastered onto his face. "Ah yes, that game. I've decided to shake things up a bit." Suddenly, everyone's attention was piqued at this. "You can use the Transformation Jutsu, and whoever loses has to tell everyone one of their deepest secrets." Now, no one was going to fall victim to this, this, this childish game that could very well cost their reputations. So, why not take a shot? BAD IDEA. When everyone is trying their best to get you exposed, this is a battlefield not fit for those who would very well risk their social life (I know, big deal. I should really stop interrupting you. Ignore me.) .

Everyone was just itching for Naruto to start the game, but he was just enjoying their pain. "Well, you said you didn't want to play. I guess you don't want to know your best friend's deepest secret. Go on with this," Naruto gestured all around him, "party." That was it. Kiba was strangling Naruto in less than a split second. "Shut it. We all want to hear you confess your love to Sasu-gay." Yes, Kiba indeed thought that Naruto and Sasuke belonged to each other. Unfortunately for him, poor Naruto and Sasuke (GASP! NO WAY) were straight. Naruto was ready to bash Kiba's skull in, but he decided otherwise, ignoring the hurtful statement. "Let the game begin!" Everyone dashed for a hiding spot. Sakura noticed this, and shrugged.

Why should they have all the fun?

HELL YEAH! WHY SHOULD THEY WAKE ME UP ON A PEACEFUL MORNING JUST TO DO STUPID STUFF LIKE THIS?!

WAIT! Before we go, I'm going to grab a few sticks of dango (Look it up. Eat it. I eat it too much for my own good.) For safe keeping.

GOOD IDEA!

And with that, my fellow humans, all of Rookie 9 plus Team Gai left, desperate for answers to questions I don't want to think about.

Sakura zipped through the trees, in hope of not being found. She was in a tree, very far away, about to transform when, you guessed it, SASUKE OF ALL PEOPLE, popped in her face. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Sasuke only smirked in response. He held a finger to his lips, as to tell her to keep quiet. "Are you going to attack the village?" Sakura whispered. Sasuke nodded his head. He replied, "Join my squad and I'll promise that they won't hurt you." This shocked her. Sakura? Join his team? Pfft. Never. She was troubled. If she deserted Konoha, she could be with the love of her life. But this also meant that she would leave poor Naruto alone, her brother in all ways except blood. She straightened up her back, stuffed a dango dumpling in her mouth, and answered. "Tonight. I'll do it." Sasuke was actually surprised because he didn't expect her to say yes. But he wasn't going to take yes as an answer either. He would knock her out, and take her back. Fortunately, he didn't need to resort to Plan B. "Meet me at the bench with your stuff." And with that, he disappeared.

Alright! Sakura's on board! WOOOHOOOO!

Stop screaming.

Ugh, now we have to deal with Ms. I-think-Sasuke-likes-me-so-I'll-bear-his-children-and-I'm-so-useful-to-the-team-so-beat-it-b*tches now.

What?

You know, the red-haired piece of trash.

Oh. That's who you were talking about. Yeah. She's annoying. I should've let her die in the Chuunin Exams.

Yeah. Too bad we were too stupid back then. *Sigh*

Sasuke met up with Team Taka. They set up a camp outside inside the forest. Karin latched onto his arm, Suigetsu sat on his sword (Don't ask me why), and Jugo was talking to some birds. "Listen up. We have a new member. She's coming later tonight. Her name is Sakura, and she's a medic-nin along with ANBU." Karin looked like she was either going to do something bad to Sasuke, or she was going to cry. "Why Sasuke? She probably has nothing to offer," Karin whined. He paid no attention whatsoever to what she was saying, and instead was clenching his eyes in pain. Mangekyou aftereffects. I might need her soon to fix my eyes. I'm getting blind.

Sakura got bored of waiting. She transformed into a branch and frankly, it wasn't that fun. She ate all of her dumplings- Damnit! - and she was getting tired. She already heard some people getting caught. Sakura just hoped it was Ino who got caught because she wanted her to get exposed. It was getting dark already as the streetlights were turning on and the shops were closing. People were going home. Wow. It takes 5 hours to play a game of Hide and Seek with these people. It's called, "Using your chakra to sense people out". Not very hard. Sakura heard a twig snap. Great. I'm found out. She saw a head of spiky blond hair which only meant one thing: game over. "SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE! COME OUT!" Ever-so-gracefully, Sakura fell out of her hiding spot. "Ow." Naruto picked her up onto her feet. "Found ya!" Sakura groaned and walked back to the picnic spot. The sky was a blend of oranges, pinks, and navy blues as the great sun set. The cherry blossoms swirled around everybody as a breeze picked up. "Alright, Ino! Tell us your secret because I found you first!" Naruto happily announced. Sakura smirked evilly as Ino suddenly became very shy. "I...I um… gained 4 kilos this past month." Sakura was laughing inwardly so much that she suddenly started to burst out laughing with tears in her eyes, clutching her stomach. Ino fumed as she saw that she became the laughing stock. "Fine. Sakura, tell us how much dango you ate this week." Sakura had no shame in this, whatsoever, and stated the answer with pride. "472 sticks and counting." Everyone stared at her in awe, one must have a severe sweet tooth to accomplish this. Kiba applauded her, Naruto patted her back, and everyone else was in shock. She just grinned childishly at Ino at her failed attempt to expose her. It was dark now, and Sakura noted this. She need to go. "Alright, sorry to ruin the fun but I got to go. See ya!" Sakura hugged Naruto and stuck her tongue out at Ino.

Sakura hurriedly packed basic necessities in her back pack and left. She ran out the door and went in the direction of the bench. She saw Sasuke standing there, and she sprinted. With a smile on her face, she said "Let's go!" Sasuke nodded and zoomed out of Konoha, with Sakura behind. As they were jumping through the trees, Sasuke abruptly stopped. He clenched his eyes; they were burning and blurring. Sakura immediately jumped to his side. "What's wrong?" He barely managed to tell her about his eyes. She laid him down and got to work. His retinas were burned. She directed her chakra to soothe the damaged retinas. Sasuke immediately calmed at this. "This'll do for only a little bit." He silently thanked her, and they continued on their journey.

A/N: I made this extra long! Hope you enjoyed! Leave feedback in the review section!

Ja ne!