Thank you for all of the reviews, I will reply all of them tomorrow... I had to rush the end of this chapter... Sorry for any mistakes, since I didn't get to double edit it... I'm being kicked off, hope you enjoy it!

Velvettears- Well here it is, have fun!

xX Aya Marie-chan

Chapter 4

Naruto just stood there and stared at her after she said this. He was entirely lost for words. This day was just filled to the brim with wonders.

'If Naruto thinks I can't take Uchiha on, he needs to think again! He already had his turn against him! Now it's my chance to show that I didn't sit around crying for three years!' Sakura thought to herself excitedly.

Inner Sakura yelled enthusiastically, 'Cha! You know it! Or if I take a line out of Naruto's book- believe it! After I kick his ass I'll ask him on date! Ass-kicking comes first though!'

'Definitely not. That would only result in yet another rejection. So I'll just have to alter the second half of your plan. First, kick his sorry ass, second point and laugh. That sounds deeply satisfying!' Sakura answered her inner-self, giddy at the thought of pummeling him and then laughing hysterically at him. She would not only hurt him physically, she would smother that stupid, gigantic ego of his.

'Damn straight, girl! But I still wouldn't mind that date…' Inner Sakura agreed.

Naruto began stuttering, "But… But, Sakura-chan… He's too…"

Sakura cut him off and finished coldly, "Strong? He's too strong? That would be where you are wrong Naruto. Honestly, what do you think I've been doing for the past three years? While you were training with Jiraiya, what exactly did you think I was doing? Always sitting around, moping, crying, depressed? Oh sure, I might be depressed, but that was only further encouragement," her voice softened as she ended, "Really Naruto, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, ok?"

Naruto eyed her skeptically before he responded, "You're right Sakura-chan, I'm sorry. I should really have more faith in you. Wow, I'm a pretty awful friend…"

"You're forgiven Naruto, just don't forget when the time comes. Not everyone is perfect," Sakura beamed at him, attempting to cheer him up, even though he would most likely notice that her efforts were forced. Inside of her head she was still complaining with Inner Sakura about how weak and helpless people think she is, when it actually quite the contrary.

"Thanks Sakura-chan. Just so you know, I really miss your true smiles. The ones that weren't forced or fake. Those smiles could brighten the darkest day… I'm sure Kakashi-sensei and I are the only ones who noticed the change, but we do. It hurts every time I see them, they're just so sad, but surprisingly not bitter…" Naruto trailed off before he concluded, "Come on Sakura, let's go get instructions from Tsunade-baa-chan." Hearing those words caused Sakura to feel even more pained on the inside. She really thought that people hadn't noticed otherwise…

She studied his dejected expression momentarily before she agreed, "Hai, ikimasho." Without another word, the best friends exited her apartment. Sakura locked her door before they left the building, she didn't want to have to clean up a mess when she returned, with the Sound-nin attacking and all.

As they walked towards the Godaime's office, they were both lost in their own separate trains of thought. For some reason, all her earlier feeling of resentment, anger, and bitterness had been engulfed once more by her emotional void. She simply couldn't figure out her feelings, therefore she resorted to having none at all.

'You'll find out when it happens, no use attempting the impossible in the meantime. Your true feelings will come out when you see, talk to, and battle him,' Inner Sakura pointed out. Sakura didn't bother to answer her inner-self; she knew that those words had been correct. Sakura really just wished she could lock Inner Sakura away sometimes though. Even if she did have her useful moments, she was mainly a nuisance, always bugging her, how troublesome…

Inner Sakura pointed an accusatory finger and screamed, 'We are not Shikamaru, so don't go picking up on his tendencies!' Now, of course, would happen to be one of those times…

Sakura and Naruto continued to trudge along in silence. Normally, Sakura would find the quiet to be uncomfortable and awkward, instead this time she found it to be pleasant and relieving. She stopped worrying, or even thinking at all. It became quite tranquil.

Sakura snapped out her harmonious reverie when Naruto turned to her and announced, "We're here." She was tempted to snap at him for breaking her serene mood, but she knew that he wouldn't deserve it. Of course, most of the time he never deserved it when she hit him…

Composing herself, she nodded. They walked the Hokage's Tower in a somber fashion. They traveled through various hallways until they reached the doorway to Tsunade's office. Naruto took the liberty of knocking on the thick, wooden door. Sakura noticed that the door was slightly ajar.

After approximately five minutes of waiting with reply, Sakura opened the door, only to find an empty office. Tsunade's desk was still cleared off with the exception of one scroll. Sakura walked up to her sensei's desk and grabbed the scroll. She opened it and it read:

Sakura and Naruto,

Go to the gate and receive further instruction from the guards.

Tsunade, the Godaime

"Come on Naruto, we have to go to the gate, from there we will get information from the guards," Sakura ordered. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. Then they both sent chakra to the feet and sped off.

They arrived at the gate in less than a minute. It occurred to Sakura that maybe they should have ran that fast on the way to her office in the first place, but there's no use in thinking about pointless mistakes.

Naruto waved toward the Chuunin that was standing there and huffing impatiently and yelled loudly, "Yo, give us our directions!" Sakura sweat dropped at his volume, was it necessary for the whole world to know?

'Only Naruto,' Sakura thought to herself. When the young man saw them he instantly straightened himself. First he studied Naruto, and then his gaze fell upon Sakura. When he looked her up and down he had heart-filled eyes.

'This should be fun,' Sakura thought sarcastically. The boy's inspection of her figure did not slip past Naruto's notice. When he saw this, Naruto instantly stepped in front of Sakura protectively.

Naruto then shouted, "Don't ogle my Sakura-chan, you pervert!" At this Sakura and the Chuunin sweat-dropped simultaneously.

"Naruto, first-off, I am not your 'Sakura-chan'! Secondly, I can handle myself!" Sakura reprimanded. She desire to hit him on the head hard enough to send him to the Earth's inner core, but chose to wring her hands instead.

'Kudos! You're finally taking control of that awful temper… Oh, wait I'm normally the cause of your bad temper… You should seriously kick his over-protective, possessive ass though! While you're at it, you might as well pulverize that filthy pervert as well. H! It sure would serve him right!' Inner Sakura smirked mischievously. Then Inner Sakura began to laugh manically, causing Sakura to shiver.

'Jeez, you sure can be disturbing sometimes, no GO AWAY!' Sakura ordered her inner-self. Inner Sakura just stuck out her tongue in a childish manner and walked with her nose in the air to the back of her mind.

"Whew," Sakura sighed with relief. This action received questionable glances from Naruto and the boy whom were entertaining each in a glaring match. They paused only to look at her for a minute and then resumed. Sakura just watched, it was actually quite funny.

After about five minutes, however, it became rather boring. She was on the verge of clearing her throat to direct their attention to her, until she saw Naruto smirk.

'Finally, some action… What's he going to do?' Sakura wondered. Naruto's eyes narrowed, as if he was focusing really hard. Within a few seconds those big, azure puppy eyes turned red with the Kyuubi's power. As soon as the Chuunin saw this he fell backwards, looking near hysterics.

Naruto pointed his finger and laughed, "Ha! I got you! You lose! Okay, now seriously, what are the directions you were supposed to give us? Do you think you could possibly talk without drooling all over my Sakura-chan?" Sakura was about to give him another lecture about how she wasn't his, but instead chose to simply brush it off.

"From here, Tsunade-sama told me to tell you to go north. Just keep going north and you'll find them," He said and then added in a dreamy voice as an after-note, "Oh, be careful Sakura-chan! Don't worry about your apartment either, me and the rest of your fan club will guard it with our lives while your gone!" At his last sentence Sakura's eyes widened with fear.

'Oh shit! Since when did they know where my house was? As soon as I get back, I'm buying a new apartment…' Sakura grumbled to herself. Before Naruto cold begin screaming obscenities at the boy, Sakura slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Honestly, there is no need to watch my apartment, I've got it locked tight. Do me a favor and keep all the fans away from it, if you could please?" Sakura practically begged.

The Chuunin looked modestly shocked momentarily, then replied, "Well, it wouldn't matter if was locked, Sakura-chan! Every member of your fan club has a key," on cue he pulled a key out of his pocket and jingled it before continuing, "So, imagine how many other people have them!"

'Not only do they know where our house is, they have the keys! Catastrophe! Those perverts could have spied on us inside our own home! ACK!' Inner Sakura rampaged.

Sakura resorted to just shaking her head, grabbing Naruto's wrist, and darting off without another word. She was just running, her mind void of thoughts. There is only so much stress one human can take. She looked somewhat robotic, her body moved on its own using pure instincts.

All Sakura could hear was this thudding noise. It was grating her nerves. With each new 'THUD' she became more irritated. It bothered her so much that she came to a halt.

"Thank you so much, Sakura-chan! Couldn't you at least have attempted to avoid the branches?" Naruto asked annoyed.

"Heh heh, gomen nasai, Naruto… I kind of forgot I was still dragging you… Well, that explains the bothersome thumping noise… I'm really sorry, you look awful, let me heal you," Sakura offered.

Naruto grinned, "No problem, Sakura-chan. Don't go wasting your chakra by healing me. I'll be fine, especially with the Kyuubi's quick healing powers." Sakura sighed and nodded in a resigned manner, after all, he was right. They moved forward once more, only swifter this time. With each footfall they grew further for their beloved Konoha.

Suddenly, Sakura and Naruto stopped simultaneously. Ahead of them you see the number of trees slowly dwindling. Therefore meaning, they were coming edge of the forest surrounding Konoha.

Sakura turned toward Naruto and asked, "So you sensed it too? I feel about fifteen charkas straight ahead, each relatively normal, meaning there isn't going to be any problems!" Sakura had sensed a platoon of Sound-nin a bit outside of the forest, heading straight for them. Sakura and Naruto then continued on their former path, both excited to finally see some action.

Sakura couldn't resist smirking, these Sound-nin meant she one step closer to battling him. Then she could finally decipher her true feelings. What a relief that would be… right? Or are some things better left unknown?

'Well, I guess I'll find out,' Sakura thought to herself. Inner Sakura was about to say something until they exited the forest completely and came face to face with fifteen Sound-nin.

By now Inner Sakura was jumping with joy, she hissed maliciously, 'Face my wrath bitches!'

"Well well well, what do we have here? Two little lonely Leaf ninjas, eh? What a nuisance, I'm sure you won't even be hard to get rid of. You sure are a peculiar couple, Pinkie and the Loser," one of the Sound ninjas sneered. At hearing herself being referred to as "Pinkie", Sakura's eyes narrowed.

Sakura announced to Inner Sakura, 'That's it, have fun. They are all yours!' She let dear, sweet, darling Inner Sakura out. She renounced all self-control and let Inner Sakura have a little fun.

"What a shame, to think that the last words coming out of your mouth are to be insults. Though I suppose I would expect nothing less from Sound ninjas. Say your prayers boys and girls, you're in for the rumble of your lives," Sakura informed them lightly as if she were having the time of her life. Then again, maybe she was. Naruto got the picture when she emphasized the word "rumble" and moved closer to her.

Not wasting any time, Sakura punched the ground, using her chakra to assist her. The eyes of the Sound-nin widened with fear as they let out blood curdling shrieks, they knew what fate held in store for them. The earth cracked and opened, then shifted. The Sound ninjas slid mercilessly into the cracks. Sakura made sure that the largest crack formed right beneath where they were standing, resulting in sure victory.

When the earth stopped shaking, Sakura smiled at her work. Not a single Sound-nin was left, they were currently being devoured by the earth, what a sweet fate. That's what you get for angering Inner Sakura. After the work was finished, Inner Sakura returned control over to the intellectual side.

"That's what you get for calling me 'Pinkie' brats," Sakura muttered to herself. Naruto heard this and grinned.

"Well done Sakura-chan, that sure saved time!" Naruto complemented.

Sakura beamed in return, "Thanks Naruto! Well let's get going! Be careful to avoid the cracks though." They continued to advance, careful not to fall into any of the splits in the earth's surface. Eventually, they evaded all of them.

They moved further, created more distance in between Konoha and themselves. Sakura moved like this for a while until, once again they sensed more people ahead. Sakura took a minute to carefully 'feel' each one. There were five very strong charkas, certainly some of the most elite. There was also one more chakra; it was so frighteningly strong that it could only be one person. So finally they would see they're entire reason for leaving the village in the first place. They would meet with the cause of their anguish, at long last. Naruto and Sakura didn't even pause to look at each other; they both knew what lay ahead.

They moved with speed they didn't even know they had. Soon enough they saw six figures in the distance. In a mere matter of seconds, they were face to face with them. It was the Sound Four along with Kabuto and… him. There he was, Uchiha Sasuke, in all of his almighty glory.

'Oh my goodness, he's a sex god!' Inner Sakura screeched hysterically. She was currently running in circles screaming her head off. Sakura, just pushed her inner-self aside, she didn't have time for her at the moment.

Sasuke was standing a bit ahead of the rest, sort of like he was their leader. He probably was. Sakura studied him; he had changed quite a bit. He had grown taller and had broader shoulders. She looked into his Sharingan eyes. She let her gaze momentarily linger there. Those eyes betray. Those eyes contained cold that is icier than winter itself. When his eyes met her, she saw the Sharingan flicker with an emotion that she couldn't quite place. They didn't take their eyes off each other. Sasuke hadn't even bothered to acknowledge Naruto's presence; perhaps he hadn't even noticed it…

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes looked pleading, begging. He looked like a battered little boy who was clinging onto his last bit of hope in life. No, like he was clinging onto life itself. Sakura felt like crying and screaming, just letting it all out. She wanted this all to be fake, just like her smiles. Yet, inside she knew this was all real, too real.

Sakura said in a calm, collected voice, "Well Uchiha, we finally meet after all this time." She was actually feeling quite to the contrary of what her voice portrayed. She would swear she was actually shaking with emotion. When she looked into Sasuke's eyes for a response, she saw something that made her pondered for a moment. She almost couldn't place it. Sakura certainly had never seen it there. Oh, but it was there. In his eyes, there was hurt.