I was going to post this chapter yesterday, yet I had some technical difficulties, known as a mother who wouldn't allow me on the computer... Anyways, since the last chapter was so short, I made this one about double the length of chapter 9! Thank you so much for all of the encouraging reviews, they really keep me going! I also appreciate opinions and constructive criticism, so thanks! I am aware that everyone has diverse expectations for the conclusion of this story, but you're going to have to cope with how I end it, sorry! Unless you want me to do alternative endings... I don't know! Well, I hope you like it either way!

Larissa- Thanks! blushes Well, here it is!

xX Aya-Marie-chan

"It's nice to meet you, Uchiha-san, my name is Haruno Sakura," Sakura introduced herself with a bow. If she was going to give him a fresh start, she was going to start all the way at the beginning; she was going to do this properly.

'Admit it, the only reason you're giving him this generous opportunity in the first place is because you felt sorry for mentioning his brother. You have absolutely no reason to blame yourself for anything though- it's the truth and it's about time he heard it!' Inner Sakura pointed out.

Sakura sighed to herself, 'I know… I just felt horrible and guilty, like I put salt in his wound created by his brother. He may have not felt remorse when he ditched me, but I'm not like him and I refuse to lower myself to his pathetic level.

In the past, he was not the only one to make irreversible mistakes. I made the mistake of giving him my heart and soul when he was so unworthy. With this new beginning, it gives me as well as him a chance to do things right.

This time I will not be a swooning, simple-minded, fan girl. I will be the new me- hardened with a pained past and hoping for a brighter future. He won't be the focus of my mind, body, soul, love, and hate; he will just be there. Sasuke will be a mere acquaintance and nothing more, unless by a twist of fate we become friends, but I highly doubt that our relationship would have potential to accelerate any further than that.'

"I'm about to go have some ramen with dobe, would you like to join us, Sakura-chan?" Sasuke asked.

Inner Sakura yelled outraged, 'Sakura-chan? What the hell? When did he receive the right to refer to us so familiarly? Especially since he has been gone for three years! He never called us that before he decided to be a traitor…' Sakura had been wondering the exact same thing.

"I'm afraid that I must decline your considerate offer, Uchiha-san," Sakura replied, putting intense emphasis on his honorific, "I am in desperate need of a nice sleep that doesn't include a stone bench and imperious people…" Sasuke just smirked at he word imperious and nodded.

"What a shame, I was sincerely hoping you would feel up to it, I'm sure dobe would be overflowing with joy if you came along. I'll be seeing you tomorrow at training, I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will be expecting to see us at the bridge at 7:00 A.M. sharp!" Sasuke said in a triumphant voice. Having nothing else to say, he exited her apartment, still smirking broadly.

Sakura thought to herself contumeliously, 'Bastard… Oh the joys! More time with Sasuke is just what I have been dreaming of! Regardless of the fact that I gave him a new chance, I had every intention of avoiding him, keeping our relationship at a low level. Won't his little sensei in Sound be getting restless by now? And why in the world hasn't Tsunade-shishou kicked his sordid ass?'

'Those are some good questions, and I have absolutely no answer! Why don't we go have a chat with Tsunade-shishou, maybe she can whisk him away for us! Never mind, whisk is definitely the wrong word; I'm looking more for kick-his-ass-so-much-that-he-wishes-he-were-back-at-Sound-with-pervy-pedophile-snake-boys! I would say that we should go do that ourselves, but noooo, you have to be all-forgiving and stuff…' Inner Sakura complained.

Sakura decided to take her inner-self's advice and head to the Hokage's office to ask her what exactly is going on in person. Tsunade never takes any sort of action without having admirable reasons, she it a woman of deep thought with an awful temper… Okay, so maybe she only puts her mind to important situations and will certainly never hesitate to beat the living shit out of anyone who just-so-happens to piss her off.

When Sakura left her apartment complex, she meshed with the crowd of Konoha citizens. The mobs of people laughing merrily and enjoying each other's company contained both simple civilians and top shinobis alike. She silently prayed that she would go unnoticed as just another member of the array of different people trying to reach their destination, yet there was no such luck.

As soon as others spotted her striking pink hair, they gasped. The surrounding people began pointing at her and whispering to each other. Sasuke was certainly going to die for those rumors that were going around about him bedding her without her consent. If only Kakashi-sensei would let her spar with him tomorrow…

She could hear one stranger whisper, "Yeah, they say that she's the reason why we finally came to good terms with Sound. The also say that the Sound leader, you know the traitor guy, that she was the reason that he came back from Sound. And yesterday she was the reason why they stopped their attack. She must be really spectacular…"

Sakura thought to herself, entirely bewildered, 'Huh? Great, now I'm going to be known as some sort of heroine! I already have more than enough attention for being the Hokage's student, and now this? Why does Uchiha never cease to make my life miserable?'

"Miss Haruno, right? I wanted to thank you for your bravery; you saved all of Konoha! You're a real inspiration!" a little boy said to her. She jumped backwards; she was startled- he had snuck up on her, as she was lost in her train of thought.

She looked around herself, she was standing right in front of Ichiraku's Ramen Stand. People, old and young alike began to swarm her and shower her with thanks and admiration. She didn't pay any attention though- she was watching Naruto and Sasuke the entire time. Naruto was completely oblivious to her presence and was yelling loudly as he slurped his ramen. Sasuke was ignoring his best friend's shouting and staring at Sakura with a victorious smirk on his face.

'Urgh! That little bastard spread rumors that I was some sort of honorable warrior that protected Konoha better than the Hokage herself? Now people think I'm little miss perfect, who can accomplish and overcome anything!' Sakura thought distressed.

Inner Sakura asked, clueless, 'What's so wrong with this? Stop fussing and address our fans! We're a star now!' Inner Sakura was making corny poses for camera flashes that she conjured up.

'No, no, NO! This is not fabulous whatsoever! It was hard enough dealing with my massive fan club without being considered a heaven-sent savior! This is migraine inducing…' Sakura thought to herself.

She looked around herself- loads of people were saying words of utmost gratitude and adoration, but she didn't want any of it. Sakura just shook her head, directed chakra to her feet, and ran as fast as she could to the Hokage's Tower. She silently prayed that her godlike speed would be fast enough to get her away from the chaos.

Her prayers were answered when she reached the Hokage's Tower and there wasn't a single fan mob in sight. Sakura walked inside and found herself in front of the thick wooden door that separated her from her teacher.

'Tsunade-shishou had better have an excellent explanation for what is going on…' Inner Sakura growled viciously. Agreeing with her inner self, Sakura pounded on the door instead of knocking gently- she didn't want to deal with Sasuke more than she had to; she was already regretting forgiving him because she's a softy.

As she was banging on the door, it opened and she accidentally landed her fist on Shizune's head. Sakura's eyes widened to the size of saucers, she felt terrible; Shizune is always so nice and sweet…

Sakura laughed sheepishly as she stuttered apologetically, "I-I'm so sorry, S-Shizune-chan! Here, let me heal you!"

Shizune just took in a deep, calming breath and said through gritting teeth, "It's okay, Sakura-san, I'll heal myself. Next try knocking lightly on the door instead of DENTING IT!" She had never seen sweet, little Shizune like that before; it was somewhat disturbing. Sakura laughed meekly as she inspected the door- indeed, she had given it a couple pretty dents here and there.

Shizune took her leave and Sakura hesitantly walked inside the office. She attempted to shut the battered door behind her, but it was so deformed that it wouldn't close.

"Damn it, Sakura! You're going to need to fix that door! Now what in heaven and hell could you possibly need me for so desperately that you had mutilate my door?" Tsunade roared. Now Sakura was scared shitless, she had angered not only the darling Shizune, but also the fierce Hokage herself- bad, very bad, mistake.

In a steadier voice this time Sakura replied, "Sorry Tsunade-shishou. I came here to ask why in world… IS UCHIHA SASUKE, THE TRAITOR, STILL IN FUCKING KONOHA MAKING MY LIFE A LIVING HELL?"

She took a deep breath before she continued, "Tsunade-shishou, isn't his stay here going to cause a war between us and Sound, since your ex-comrade is after his bod?" Sakura shivered at her last few words, it sounded so dirty- and since it was about the Snake-sannin, it was. Tsunade, who was sitting at her desk, propped her elbows on her desk and laced her fingers. She rest her chin on her intertwined hands and closed her eyes- she seemed really tired, but when wasn't she?

"Sakura, Sasuke-sama is here strictly because I don't want to cause huge political problems. I have to be carefully diplomatic with matters such as this- it's not nice to kick your allies out because your apprentice doesn't appreciate their presence here. It's like telling Gaara-sama that we still want to be friends, but he's not welcome here," Tsunade explained, clearly exhausted.

Sakura paused a moment to think; she didn't understand any of what Tsunade had just told her. She couldn't comprehend what Sasuke had to do with political matters. Sure, he was the pedophile's apprentice, but surely to settle disputes as large as this, it would be necessary for him to come in person… Plus, Orochimaru and Sound are not to be trusted; they do not tend to keep their word… ever. Tsunade would never been stupid enough to accept… right?

"Tsunade-shishou! How can you be signing a treaty with Sound? It's like signing the destruction of Konoha! Plus, Uchiha-san is your subordinate; there is no need to use the honorific '-sama' for… people like him. I don't understand why you need to act diplomatic, with an arrogant bastard like him!" Sakura exclaimed completely confounded.

Tsunade just asked, shocked, "Uchiha-san? That's new…"

"I forgave him because I felt bad for saying something, which needed to be said anyways and should have felt no guilt. Either way, I told him that I would forgive him, but we would have to start from the beginning simply with the knowledge of the past. This time, of course, things will be very different, for the better, even if every time I see him, I think of the heartbreak… I said that I would forgive, but we agreed that it is impossible to forget. I'm starting to believe that the memories are making me unable to completely forgive, regardless of how a may act and say I feel, I still feel anger towards him for past actions…" Sakura explained and then said, "Okay, back to the situation at hand, please!" Expressing her pent up feelings to someone other than insane Inner Sakura had been quite relieving for Sakura.

"Oh yes! Sorry, what you said had startled me. So anyways- I'm guessing you don't know what happened with Sasuke-sama back at Sound? Well, Orochimaru tried to take his body, it had been three years after all… but he didn't succeed, Sasuke-sama decapitated him in the process, since he wasn't entirely fond of the idea that his former sensei was going to take over his body. Since her took out Orochimaru, the rest of the Sound-nin respected him as their new leader, seeing as he was obviously more powerful than the Snake-sannin. Kabuto is inferior to him as well.

After he gained his high position of power, he went off to fulfill his dream of slaughtering his brother to avenge his clan and succeeded, or so he says. I have my doubts… It's not that I'm skeptic about his strength and ability to do so; I don't think he would have the heart to do it... After all, they were very close brothers at one point.

Anyways, do you see now why he is such a valuable asset for the vitality of Konoha? Sasuke-sama single-handedly assassinated two of Konoha's most wanted nin! I know for a fact that he killed Orochimaru, since he brought me the head as proof and I gave it a medical examination, but Itachi I'm not so sure about…" Tsunade clarified in a rush then added, "You made the right decision by trying to forgie him, Sakura-chan."

'HOLY SHIT! UCHIHA IS THE NEW LEADER OF SOUND? Aw fuck… Now he has a reason to stay here and bother us to death…' Inner Sakura complained.

"What the hell? That… that… Sasuke-teme is the new Sound leader, person? And he's here as long as he likes because you're being DIPLOMATIC? Tsunade-shishou, can't you go be diplomatic with him somewhere else? You heard my entire tidal wave of emotions earlier; this is going to interrupt my training! Especially since he invited himself to join us tomorrow! Do your darling apprentice a favor, Tsunade-shishou, and send him far, far away!" Sakura yelled.

A voice from outside the window whined and you could hear it smirking, "Aw, Sakura-chan! What happened to Uchiha-san, now it's Sasuke-teme? That's depressing... Do you think that lowly of me? I thought for sure when you heard that I was the new head of Sound that you would be completely ecstatic..."