Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and all that jazz

Music: "Happy" by Saving Jane

"Talking"

Sakura's self

'Thinking'

What happened last time…

Naruto stopped his ranting and stood completely still in a state of shock?

"Who?" was all he could muster out.

Sakura's POV

When I finally woke up from Sasuke's blow, I realized that I was back at Konoha's hospital. 'Great, I finally get a chance at my revenge, and what happens? I end up in the blasted hospital! Ugh, I'm a failure at life. Okay, not really, but I just feel that way for a while till I get some chocolate to make me feel better! (A/N: YES!)

"Sakura!"

Huh, I snapped out of my little world just in time to realize that I was about to get crushed by the Great Pumpkin himself.

"Owowowow! Naruto, that hurts!" I yelled at Naruto as he crushed my weakened body against his.

"Oh, hehe, sorry, Sakura," he said with his sheepish grin, "It's just that I'm sooooo glad to see you awake again! Did you know you've been outta it for almost a day and a half already?"

"No, really? Wow, I guess I got hit worse than I thought." I said, before I started to think about what caused me to be in here…

Flashback:

I hesitated with the attack at the last moment, against my will, I think. Unfortunately, that small hesitation was all the time Sasuke needed to knock me out too.

End Flashback.

'Ugh, I can't believe I let Sasuke get the better of me again. Darn him! He is probably the only person I know that can make me feel so weak when I'm around him.'

Unfortunately I had not realized that the Great Pumpkin was speaking to me when I was in Lala Land.

"Saaakuraaa! You still there?" I hate it when he sounds out the syllables in my name like that!

"Yeah, sorry, Naruto, just thinking that's all. So what where you saying again?" I said, sitting up in the bed and looking straight at him so he knew that he my full attention.

" I said that I have a surprise for you!"

My jaw dropped, those where NEVER good words coming from Naruto's mouth. The last time he said that I ended up two broken ribs and a pissed Tsunade. Not good memories, let me tell you!

"Listen, Naruto, I know you probably feel bad that you got knocked out and couldn't help me, but.." I said shaking with horrid thoughts of what the said surprise was.

"SASUKE-TEME'S BACK!" He yelled while jumping off the bed in excitement, " You won't believe how it happened either! It was a great battle you see and …."

' I stopped listening to Naruto after he said Sasuke was back. This was wrong, it took me a long time to finally get over him, and now, he just shows ups acting like nothing happened. Life is no unfair.

"Huh? Sakura you there?" Naruto said finally realizing that Sakura that re-entered Lala-land.

"Let her go, Naruto, she's just trying to comprehend what you just said to her. Besides, she did take a pretty hard hit on your all's last mission."

"ACK! Kakashi sensi, when did you get here?"

"I, my dear former student, have been here since you started talking about your epic battle with Sasuke." Kakashi said with a hidden grin behind his mask.

"Really? Didja enjoy the part where I .."

"How about you and I talk over lunch while we let Sakura get some rest."

"OK! Bye Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he skipped out of the hospital room leaving a very still and confused Sakura, who was still in Lala-land.

'Wow, I can't believe Naruto was able to get Sasuke to come back. I wonder how he did it? did he threaten? Nah, that is very un-Naruto thing for him to do, and actually mean it. hmmm…..'

Never once paying attention; Sakura walks down a crowded street in Konoha after being released from the hospital on her way to the memorial just outside of town.

'Ugh, this is going to bug me until I know how he did it! Naruto is a complete moron when it comes to talking to people into doing something that he wants then to do.'

(A/N: wait for it!) Sakura still in her own little world, thinking and still not watching where she's going…(A/N: wait for it!) …when BAM, she runs into something hard and dark. She lands and her dear rear. Ouch!

"Ugh, sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going" Sakura apologized before she even looked up to see who she ran into.

"Still just as clueless as ever, uh Haruno?" a dark and a silky voice said to her. A familiar voice said to her. She looks up and her eyes grow big.

"No way? Sasuke?"

"Hn, I heard you were out of the hospital but I think you left your mind there!" he said as he offered a hand to help her up. She brushed it off and got up on her own. This shocked the young prodigy, but didn't show it though.

"Yeah, I was. Nothing big though, no worries. But when Naruto said you were back, I didn't believe him. Are you seriously back?" she asked being very confused.

"Yep, we had a fight. If he won, I'd come back, I won, he'd leave me alone." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"So that's how he did! I knew that there was no way he could bring you back with out a fight!" Sakura shouted to herself more, and less to Sasuke. Then something caught Sasuke's eye were he turned from the cherry blossom and to across the street. He waved.

Sakura noticed this and looked to see who he was waving at. It was a girl that was about an inch than her, with luscious red hair and copper eyes. She then saw Sasuke and a big smile spread across her face as she ran toward them.

"Um..you know her?"

"Yeah, I asked to bring her back with me after Naruto won the fight. She was under Orochimaru's control too. Her name is Kitty." Sasuke never once looked at Sakura as he told her this. He eyes were trained on the red head beauty, Kitty the whole time, watching her come toward them.

"Hi Sasuke! Who's your friend?" Kitty said with a smile.

Next day in Sakura's room:

'I can't believe it! Sasuke, the cold hearted bastard finally found love and it's not even me!'

Calm down. I'm sure there's a good reason why she's with him and you're not.

'Great, why do you always show up when I don't need you?'

But you do need me; I'm you, I feel your emotions just as you do. We're one. Now you're in pain because you thought you were finally over Sasuke, but he shows up again, and you feel nothing but love toward him.

'Wrong. It's hate that I feel toward him! I feel that toward everyone right now! How can Sasuke just waltz his way back into Konoha like nothings ever happened, and not to mention bring his girlfriend with him, who by the way, was supposedly under the same control as Sasuke by Orochimaru! And every bodies fine with it! Did they all forget what he did to them? Or am I the only sane one in this village any more?'

No one forgot. They all remember, they just want their old friend back that was missing for so long. And now that he is back, they're happy. And Sasuke never said that Kitty was his girlfriend, you just implied that.

'Well, how do you expect me to see her as when Sasuke won't take his eyes off her and lets her flirt with him like crazy.' Sakura raises an eyebrow, 'I acted like her, didn't I?'

The flirting part? Yeah you were bad at not keeping in check, but not as bad as her, beeelieve me!

Sakura finally got up from her bed that she had been lying on since last night, where she came home from a huge supper of ramen that she ate very little of. It was all of the Rookie Nine plus Sasuke and Kitty. She went to take a cold to hot shower.

'Everyone was so happy, why wasn't I?'

You were hurt the most, and you never fully healed from that pain.

'I should have. I healed from everything else that was thrown at me..that night.'

A lot happened that night, I agree, but it wasn't just physical, but emotional as well. You still need some time to heal. Maybe ask Tsunade from a break from missions and cut back on your hours at the hospital

'I should, but if I stop now, then I will feel all the pain from that night again, and I know the nightmares would come back.' Sakura concluded as she finished getting ready for the day and left her apartment.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was training with Naruto at there old training ground:

"Hey, Naruto, why won't you tell me who was with you on that mission? It's not like it's that big of a deal." Sasuke said as he threw kunai at a target that was set up.

"It's not my place to say who was with me and who wasn't, sorry!" Naruto flipped backward and threw a kunai at the same target.

Letting out a long breath, Sasuke knew he was beat, "Fine you win, but what about Sakura? She's changed, a lot. She seems more like …."

"You?" Naruto said as he ducked as Sasuke threw a kunai at him for even suggesting the thought. "Well it's true you know. Ever since the night you left she hasn't been the same."

"So you're telling me she's become me because of me?" Sasuke raised a brow at the thought of this.

"No, well sort of. You see the night you left, Sakura received a note from an ANBU that was a on the same mission as her parents. They were murdered. So when you were trying to leave, she was trying to prevent from losing another person that was close to her."

"why didn't she tell me?" he said as he stopped from throwing another kunai.

Naruto looked at Sasuke then at his feet before he continued, "She didn't even tell me or Kakashi. She didn't tell any one. None of noticed. We all thought that she was just upset with you leaving, but we were wrong. She starting losing sleep due to nightmares she was having. I'm not sure if they were about you or her parents' murder."

"But why not tell any one?"

"Who knows."

Tsunade's office:

"You sure about this, Sakura?"

"Yes, I've been thinking about doing this for a long time, now I believe it's time."

"If you're sure, then so am I." said a un-drunk Tsunade (surprise, surprise)