Disclaimer/Warning: I don't own Naruto- if I did a lot more episodes would be dubbed by now

Thank you all for your reviews! They make me so happy! Oh...haha I have to mention this. The anonymous reviewer who posted that flame- you know who you are- it seriously made me laugh. Please, get a life and if you don't like NaruSaku then go read something else. I don't hate NaruHina, it's okay, I just like NaruSaku more- sue me (please don't...I don't have much money)

ANYWHO ENJOY

Come What May

[Stay]

Not really sure how to feel about it

Something in the way you move

Makes me feel like I can't live without you

It takes me all the way

I want you to stay

~Stay by Rihanna

The next few days were hard, but Sakura somehow got through them. Work kept her mind occupied as did her friends- they constantly invited her to dinner and would come by her apartment to keep her company. However, Sakura would spend the coming weekend alone- deciding to take a trip to see Naruto's parents. She put a few things in the back of her brand new car (an early birthday present from Naruto seeing as he would miss her birthday) and drove the three hours it took to his hometown located in the south east of Fire Country.

When she arrived at her destination, standing before his parents she felt at peace- as if things made a little bit more sense in her life. She ignored the slight chill to the air and let the silence engulf her- the rustling of leaves surreally calming.

"It's me Sakura," She began, setting the flowers before the headstones. "I'm sorry Naruto and I haven't been by lately, but I felt like it would be nice to come by and just…talk." She sat cross-legged on the grass and began to talk about all that had happened during the last few weeks. She told them how Naruto has made her so proud and she prays he comes back unscathed. "Your son is amazing." She glanced up at the sky with a soft smile. "But I'm sure you know that already. As much as I wanted him to stay with me, I knew he needed to go do him- the military is his calling."

Everything was a mess. He knew it was bad- it was war- but he never expected to walk into the middle of hell fire. He could see the remains of previous fights and how much damage was caused to their base. He looked out at the sandy and barren land before him full of traps from Sound soldiers trying to deter them from getting to them through the Sand. Slowly a smirk crept up on his face as the adrenaline started rushing through his veins- he was prepared to face whatever war had to throw at him.

"Why am I not surprised you have that smirk on your face?"

Naruto jumped, "Captain Kakashi! How long have you been beside me?"

"Long enough," was Kakashi Hatake's simple response. "You seemed hyped kid."

Naruto groaned, glaring up at his superior. "We've been over this. I stopped being a rookie and a kid after my first tour."

"How many tours have you been on that have been over two years?"

"Uh, none?"

"Exactly, a kid."

Naruto rolled his eyes and decided to drop the subject. "So do we have orders yet?"

"Not yet, just wait a bit. I'm sure General Uchiha will give us something to do soon."

Uchiha…Naruto looked at Kakashi in confusion. "Uchiha?"

"You know, General Itachi Uchiha- the general over our division. Please don't tell me you've been in this division for months and didn't know who the general is."

Truth is Naruto never paid attention to who the general was because his orders always either came from Kakashi or Second Captain Yamato- why did he need to know Itachi Uchiha? Especially since he rarely saw the guy. But, Kakashi didn't need to know that. "Of course I know that Itachi Uchiha is our general! I'm not that stupid!"

Kakashi gave him a doubtful look. "Whatever you say kid, let's just head back. I'm getting tired of looking at endless mounds of booby-trapped sand."

Naruto walked beside Kakashi through the base, passing soldiers that he only knew by face or didn't know at all. He vaguely wondered how many of them would make it back home to their families. He was determined to make it back to Sakura- she was the one person that was going to get him through his long tour.

"How's your wife Naruto?" Kakashi asked, his one good eye staring at their path ahead- the other one covered by a slanted forehead protector with the leaf insignia engraved into it. The protector is what made him stand out from the other soldiers- only those of high ranks were given metal plated headbands. Every time Naruto saw it all he could think was: "I want that- I need to show I'm worthy of it".

"Sakura's good," Naruto replied a smile tugging at his lips at the thought of his wife. "She was really upset about me leaving, but we'll get through it. I need to make sure to write to her tonight." He sent his captain a curious look. "And what about you? Any wife I need to know of?"

Kakashi blinked at the sudden question, a blush threating to take over his features. "Well…"

"Oh! Tell me, tell me!" Naruto cried, jumping up and down like a kid (which caused him to get dirty looks from a few passing soldiers). "Who is it?"

"Well one, she's not my wife. Two you wouldn't know her," Kakashi replied.

"So?"

Kakashi cleared his throat and turned down a hallway. "I think General Uchiha needs us now."

"Hey! Don't change the subject!"

"Sakura, Kiba is working late today. Would you like to go out for dinner?" Hinata asked as the two were cleaning up their office. "You're off from the hospital tonight, right?"

"I am, but I'll have to pass tonight," Sakura replied apologetically. "I think I'm going to curl up in my comfiest clothes and watch a movie."

"Oh okay," Hinata replied, her voice full of concern. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine, really. You've guys have been worrying about me way too much," Sakura replied. She then smirked, "Besides, why not meet Kiba at the door in something special?"

Hinata's whole face turned red. "S-Sakura!"

Sakura slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door. "Make sure to tell him how it goes! I want all the details." In reality she really didn't want the details, but she knew how flustered Hinata got on suggestive subjects. She made her way to the front doors, but stopped half way- deciding to go down the hall where the after school program was held. She had forgotten to ask Akane today if she was enrolled in the after school program yet and felt like she needed to check. She glanced into the room and relieved when she saw the young Uchiha.

"Happy?"

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when the deep voice reached her ears. She spun around and glared into dark eyes of Sasuke. "Don't do that!"

Sasuke simply smirked, placing his hands inside the pockets of his expensive slacks. "I signed her up a few days ago."

Sakura crossed her arms, trying to get her heart to calm down from suddenly being startled. "That's good. It would be sad to have to see her sit on the curb until you felt like picking her up." She moved to walk away, to go home and watch movies all night, but a high pitched voice stopped her from making her dramatic exit away from her ex.

"Miss Sakura!" Akane cried, bolting out of the classroom door, passed her father and in front of Sakura. "What are you doing over here?"

Sakura smiled and tried to ignore Sasuke's steady gaze. "Oh nothing, just taking the long way out of the building."

Akane took Sakura's hand while she looked back at her father. "Can we walk Miss Sakura to her car?"

"Sweetie I don't drive to school I take a cab," Sakura said. She adored the sweet girl, but couldn't stand her father. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"I can take you home. I still owe you for taking care of Akane when I was late that one day."

Sakura bit her lip in thought. He did owe her, but how much did she really care? Then again he would be helping her save money and she could spend it on an extra movie on On Demand. With a sigh she agreed and soon she found herself sitting in Sasuke's expensive car- something that was way too expensive for her and Naruto to afford. She could see it in his eyes- he was trying to bait her with flashing his expensive toys, but she wasn't going to be won over again.

"So, he got sent off, huh?"

The question startled her-making her tare her eyes away from the city streets. "Huh?"

"Naruto, he got sent off to war didn't he?"

Sakura grasped the hem of her skirt. She didn't like the way her husband's name came off Sasuke's tongue. It was if he was looking down on him. "How do you know?"

"My brother, Itachi, is in the military," He replied, taking a turn down her street. "Itachi is his general." He scoffed, his eyes suddenly steeling. "Our military is a joke. Itachi might be proud to call himself a soldier, but I hate it. What's the point of being used like a pawn? You're basically asking to be killed."

Sakura could feel herself losing control of her anger. How dare Sasuke say that about their military. He might have been talking about his brother but she knew he was also talking about Naruto- basically calling his stupid for joining.

"Daddy," Akane spoke softly from the back seat. "Being a solider…seems really fun. Uncle Itachi always brings me stuff from his travels and talks about the people he's helped. I want to help people too."

Sasuke looked at his daughter, almost glaring at her, through the rear view mirror. "You can help people another way other than giving your life away for a useless cause. Most of them don't come back alive anyway."

"Stop the car!" Sakura shouted. Her hair shadowed her green eyes that were threatening to fill with tears. It was hard enough to have Naruto gone, but to be told that he wasn't going to come back and that he was giving his life away was too much. She knew in her heart he wasn't throwing his life away- that he was fighting for a good cause, but Sasuke always had the ability to get into her head one way or another.

When the car stopped just blocks away from her apartment she got out, glaring down at the Uchiha who glared right back. "My husband Naruto Uzumaki is fighting for a good cause and will come back alive. I'm proud that he is a solider and that he has the courage to protect his country when people like you would never have the guts to." She tilted her head to smile gently at an upset Akane. "Sweetie if joining the military is your calling don't let anyone hold you back."

She slammed the door closed and walked the five blocks to her apartment- anger eating away at her. She hated him so much she couldn't stand it. How was it that she was once in love with such a jerk? When she finally settling in for the night on the couch with a movie and a microwaveable dinner the apartment felt even emptier then before.

[Author's Corner]

~Sometimes I seriously feel that Sasuke has the ability to show up at random, unneeded times...oh and we'll also find out why he hates the military soon! YAY!

~Yes, this is going to lead into more of a plot and more character development between Sakura and Sasuke beyond their fighting. I went into this wanted to work on my character development skills and having a character grow and and learn through out a plot

~Leave comments/concerns/questions in reviews! (time to end this Author's Corner it is 1:15 am -_-)