When Sakura stepped into her home, she heard a bark and a squeal before Hinata hugged her as tightly as possible. "Sakura! We were so worried!" Sakura winced slightly, "Oh my God! Are you hurt?"

"No," Sakura forced a small smile, "I'm just a little sore."

"That's good." Kiba walked into the room, Akamaru barking happily atop his head, "I'd really hate to beat up an invalid."

"Kiba!" Hinata loosened her grip on Sakura, "She just got back!"

"After being gone so long, she can't just waltz back on in here as though nothing happened!"

"Long? It was only a few days."

There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away
from us

"Sakura," Hinata looked to her, "You were gone for a month." Sakura just stared at Hinata, then looked to Kiba, expecting him to tell her that Hinata was wrong, but no such words came. "Sakura?"

"Oh, I guess I lost track of time." Sakura smiled, "So, where's Shino?"

"Tsunade was really worried about you, Shino and his bugs are out looking everywhere for you." Sakura wasn't sure what to say to that, so she kept silent. Kiba took her silence as an oppertunity to get her in a headlock, "This is for leaving for a month," he grinned, as Sakura tried to escape in vain.

"Kiba! Let go of me or children will be a pipe dream for you!" Kiba laughed and let Sakura go, and Hinata tried to hide her shock with a smile. "You're about as sensitive as a rock Kiba."

"Sakura's right. Don't you think that you could have been a little more caring? I mean, she may have some serious injuries."

"Yeah, if anyone could get in some hits on Sakura, I'd hate to see the other guy."

"Um, what time is it?" Sakura asked, the Uchiha manor was lacking in clocks.

Hinata suddenly became flustered, "Time for school! Oh, um, you should stay here Sakura. I mean, you should take some time to recover."

"I'm fine Hinata, really."

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever...?

"In that case," Kiba grabbed Sakura's arm and started dragging her to school. Sakura pulled her arm ot of his hand and gave him a glare. She started walking with her head up, ignoring the laughter of the dog boy. "Listen Sakura, you should keep your head down and try to avoid Shikamaru," Kiba warned as the two stepped through the school gates."

"Sakura!" A blond hurricane we all know as Naruto tackled the unsuspecting Sakura, screaming at the top of his lungs, "You're alive! Where were you! What happened ? How did it happen!"

"So much for going unnoticed." Kiba growled, dragging Naruto away from Sakura before he caused her a more serious injury. "If you must know, she was lost in the city and she isn't dead, happy?" Naruto pouted slightly at being left out, then followed Sakura and Kiba down the halls.

Sakura noticed people turn and look at her and whisper excitedly, pointing and laughing. Sakura twitched, and saw that Kiba and Naruto both were trying to ignore the attention. What surprised Sakura the most was that when Gaara came, the whispering grew louder instead of the silence usually present with him. Gaara also tuned out the white noise, though he was also obviously holding something back. "Guys, what's going on?"

"Avoid the Nara." Gaara had the same advice as Kiba, but this time Sakura knew it had to be something more serious then a few rumors or something like that. She nodded to the sand ninja and the four seperated for their classes.

When lunch came, Sakura noticed that the whispering and laughter only increased, and that there was definately something everyone knew that she didn't. Heeding her friends' advice, she kept well out of Shikamaru's vision, and avoided Sasuke for personal reasons. She was sure that Sasuke held a grudge for, whatever it was that happened. Her memories were very blurry, all she remembered clearly was Sai, and his betrayal to her trust. She looked up and saw the students were all in a crowd surrounding something and laughing hysterically. Every sense in Sakura's body told her to avoid the cluster, but curiosity got the better of her. She pushed back the people and saw that they had formed a ring around Shikamaru, Neji and Sasuke were behind him as emotionless as ever. Remembering that Shikamaru meant trouble, she tried to turn back but the current of student pushed her into the center of the ring. "Well well Haruno, didn't think you had it in you." Sakura refused to even look at either of the boys, and continued trying to leave, but now the audience wasn't ever going to let Sakura leave until they saw what they came for.

There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us

Deciding to get the worse over, Sakura looked at Shikamaru and immediately regretted it. He was holdng up a magazine, one with a triple X rating. On the cover, was a man shirtless licking the ear of a girl in a tiny black outift which left little to the imagination. The girl had pink hair, and had her eyes closed in what seemed to be ectasy. The subtitle read: Meet Our Newest Cherry Blossom; Barely Bloomed. Sakura felt the blood drain from her face, and her eyes misted. She heard everyone laughing, they enjoyed the torture of the straight A student. She didn't even try to escape the humiliation, she tried to pretend it didn't bother her, but when tears continued to fill no one would believe that act.

Sakura felt her body go numb, she wanted to melt into the air and cease to exist. She saw something, a dark something, an angry something. A boy had jumpd in front of Sakura and landed on Shikamaru a punch that even the genuis could not expect. He fell back, and the one in front of her spoke in a familiar voice, "You really are weak. I don't see why you pretend to be powerful."

"Who, who the hell are you?"

"I have no past, I have no future. All that exists is the misson, for the sake of the pride of ROOT." The man's voice was cold and emotionless. He grabbed the magazine, crushing it in his hand. Shikamaru stood up and made a gesture showing he desired a battle. A voice called out, "Teacher!" The crowd evaportated like boiling water, and Shikamaru mutter something like "What a drag" before leaving with his friends.

Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?

"Um, thank you." Sakura spoke silently, so only the one in front of her could hear. He turned to face her, a smile on his face and Sakura gasped. She stood up quickly and slapped her savior as hard as she could. "How dare you even look me in the face!"

"Well well, I can't say I saw that coming," Sai smiled at a fuming Sakura, her face red with anger. "I may have deserved it though."

"May have!" Sakura screamed. She felt sand surround her torso and pull her back from Sai. Gaara gave Sai an icy glare, his sand still holding Sakura captive. Kiba and Naruto were behind him, each using all of their willpower to keep themselves from beating Sai into a bloody pulp. Gaara muttered a single word, "Explain."

"Tsk tsk, do you really want Sakura's embarassing story told in front of all these people?" Sai indicated to some girls curious about the new student. His smile never left his face. Perhaps it was this patronizing face that made the anger level raise from a 10 to a 32. Regardless, no one wanted Sakura's humiliation to be worse than it already was. Besides, what choice did they have?

Who dares to love forever?
When love must die

.:Sakura's House:.

The lvivng room was full of people, and static. Kiba and Akamaru kept their eyes on Sai's every movement, growls escaping from both of them. Naruto had his teeth and fists clenched, and his eyes had a red tint every few seconds. The termites who lived in the couch Sai was sitting on were as restless as Shino, who seemed to be calculating something (something that Sai doesn't want to happen I'm sure.) Hinata was smushed in between Kiba and Naruto on the only other couch, and went back and forth from a desire to make sure Sai told nothing but the truth to a sudden blush from being so close to Naruto. Gaara was leaned up against a wall, his sand circling ominously. Sakura sat on a table, still unsure as to whether or not she wanted to hear the story. The only one who wasn't throwing daggers at Sai was Lee, who stood next to Sakura and worried more about what would happen to Sakura now then what happened then. Sai was alone on the couch (not counting the bugs) but he seemed oblivious to the tension, his smile was just as fake and cheerful as always. "Well, should we wait for dinner or should I tell the story now?" Sai asked, as though he was invited over and simply wanted to pass the time. When no answer cme, he continued, "I suppose I should tell it now then, but where to start?"

"Ah, the beginning. ROOT isn't funded by Konoha's government, so we have to pay for our equipment ourselves. And, the thing that sells best is dirty magazines."

"You lied to me," Sakura spoke quietly, trying to burn Sai with her glare.

But touch my tears with your lips Touch my world with your fingertips And we can have forever And we can love forever

"Not really. You see, I knew they'd take photos, but I honestly believed that they wouldn't want an ugly crone like you." At his words, both Sakura and Naruto stood up angrily, but Hinata calmed Naruto down while Lee, well, held Sakura back. Acting as though nothing happened, Sai continued, "They were very interested in you, so they wanted to make the main section centered around you. At first, since you've been conquered, they thought you were over 18. But, after invetigation, we realized that you were actually just a slut." This time everyone felt the desire to kill Sai, but they needed the whole story. "Normally, ROOT would just leave you in your home and let you think you had a bad dream, but we couldn't risk being arrested for those photos of a minor. So, you were kept there, and used for many photos." Sai ended, smiling as if to say, "now what?"

"But, how'd I get out?" Sakura asked, curious to know when Sasuke came in the picture. No one else knew the Sasuke angle, so they were surprised that she didn't know.

"That is the interesting part. I myself did not enjoy these happenings, regardless of what you think. I was out on my walk when I saw someone who, put blank, looked like me. His hair and face were diffeent, but none of the people at ROOT would notice. So, I lent him my clothes and he went into the HQ. At first, all was well. But when he saw you, he was quite angry. Of course, his anger gave him away since I myself have no emotions. And all for the better I think, they seem to be useless. But, this one. He wasn't able to be taken down, he fought and fought, no one other than a few escaped unharmed. He grabbed you, wrapped you in a curtian, and ran out. I pretended that he knocked me out and stole my clothes, so I was unpunished. But, I had a new mission, make sure it's okay."

"Make sure what's okay?" Lee inquired.

"You'll find out soon enough. You wouldn't believe me anyways."

Forever is our today
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today
Who waits forever anyway?

Entoxica: Does this answer all questions to what happened? I hope so, but if not then ask and I'll answer. Faster update this time . I'm sure many of you know what the big secret is that Sai's keeping, but please don't hate me for it if you do. And don't hate me for doing this all to Sakura, but I like making things as awful as possible, adds more romance. Ugh, I hope that isn't as heartless as it sounds. Things will look up, eventually. And, sorry for the cliffie, but I updated sooner this time. So, yay?