Sakura woke up and found a note on the pillow beside her alongside Sasuke's shirt. She opened the note and crumpled it seconds later.. She had known that her world would come tumbling down. She dropped the note and stood to get dressed quickly.

Sakura,

I have to go on a mission, Karin was spotted and I need to go after her to settle a few things. We will talk when I get back

Sasuke.

Sakura locked her door and walked to the skating rink, she felt some time alone would be best, she wouldn't answer Ino's calls, not even Kakashi's. She pulled her jacket off and pulled on her skates and tied them tightly. She draped her jacket on the bench and walked to the rink and slowly stepped onto the ice before skating.

I'm just a moment in time

Yesterday in black, tomorrow is blind

Could I start dreaming again

It makes me understand

How you can flay

Hope is here

Hope is here

Our hope is here

Hope is….

Sakura was flooded with memories of all she witnessed when she went to Sound the first time alone to get Sasuke back, she wished she could forget. Sasuke had been in bed with Karin, her legs wrapped around him, his groans filling the air. Sakura shook her head as she expelled the thoughts from her to release her tension and just let go of everything, not even noticing Kakashi watching her from the sidelines.

You are a slave to yourself

In a war of today

That turns wrong in the end

I feel like freedom is mine

And the past is consigned

I close my eyes

Could I start dreaming again

Could I start dreaming

Sakura pushed herself into the required jumps and spins needed for her routine. She was the only Konoha skater eligible to skate in the Six great Nations skating competition, and since Sunagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Iwagakure all had 3 skaters and Otogakure had 2, Sakura felt the pressure was more tense on her, she could not fail her village.

She performed her jumps with perfect accuracy before lifting her foot in the back and grasping the skate gently and spinning in a perfect arched spiral that lasted for several seconds. Sakura knew that spiral was her edge over the other skaters, her perfect body figure and delicate arched spine could last minutes if she wished it to, and as such it was the length of time held for spirals that determined the score.

She lowered her foot and carefully moved her foot out and did a triple lutz and landed gracefully. She slowly spun in a circle and ended her routine as rehearsed, Sakura did all routines herself with no coach and that is why her routines were unable to be copied. Her gaze focused on Kakashi and she skated over and stepped off the ice, taking the bottle of water he held out.

"Sakura, I see you are training again. Try not to take it too far Okay? I understand you feel pressured due to Konoha only having you as a skater but you are like the daughter I never had and I don't want you injured Sakura" Kakashi stated as he kissed the top of her head and left silently. Sakura drank the rest of her water and pulled off her skates and pulled on shoes and her jacket. She put her skates away and grabbed her bag and left the rink.

She stopped at Ichiraku and smiled when she saw Naruto and Hinata, she stopped when she saw Karin was with Sasuke and the others, turning she left before they could see her. She stopped at the cemetery and knelt before a grave. Running her fingertips over the name she felt tears spill down her cheeks. "Sasori, forgive me brother. I am sorry I took so long to visit, If only you were here. You always told me hope was here yet my only hope was you. You were the only family I had and then you were taken from me. I miss you, you were the only skating partner I could trust, in skating, my secrets, everything."

She placed her flowers on his grave and left the cemetery, she headed back to her house and then stopped when she felt Sasuke's chakra, turning she walked back in the opposite direction and away from Sasuke. She stopped at Ino's and was relieved when Ino was home. After telling Ino everything she decided she couldn't marry him. She took the ring and let Ino put it in an envelope. "I will drop it off at the Uchiha compound on my way out tomorrow morning Sakura. You can stay here as long as you wish to." She said hugging her tightly.

The following morning, Ino dropped the ring off in his mailbox and left. She had written a note with it saying Sakura could no longer see herself being married to him and that she needed time alone. Ino knew that with the competition upon them, Sakura needed as little stress as possible and that meant keeping her away from Sasuke.

Ino was with Sakura and Kakashi at the rink when Sasuke came in looking for her, Ino immediately ushered him out before Sakura could see him. "Look Sasuke you need to understand, seeing you with Karin after….it just isn't good for her. The competition is less than a week away and seeing you will only increase her chances of messing up and getting hurt. She is confused right now and the only time she has clear thinking is when she skates because she doesn't see you. Keep it that way Sasuke"

Sasuke sighed and left the rink, heading to the team training grounds to spar against a clone to get his anger out. What Had she seen in Oto? 'She couldn't have seen me and Karin….we were careful about our locations' he thought to himself before remembering seeing pink outside the grove one day. Karin had sought him out to beg him for another chance. Sasuke grew irritated when he realized Karin had messed things up again by catching him in a vulnerable state multiple times.

He returned to the Uchiha compound and was greeted by Itachi. "Hello Little Brother" he stated. Sasuke grunted and moved by his elder brother with no other words slamming the door to his room. 'hmm….I wonder what is wrong with Sasuke today.' Itachi thought to himself. He made his way up the stairs and knocked on his door. "Sasuke what is wrong?"

Sasuke threw his lamp at the door, satisfied when it shattered. "Leave me alone Itachi. I am in no mood for Dr Itachi's analytical bullshit" he retorted. Itachi entered his room and shook his head. He made his way towards Sasuke and sat on the bed next to him.

"Sasuke what is going on? You have been in a rotten mood since this morning." Itachi stated, relieved when Sasuke informed him Sakura returned Mikoto's ring and had no desire to marry him and Karin's sudden turn up made things worse. "I see. So Sakura must have caught you and Karin in Oto and with Karin being here now she thinks you are sleeping with her?" Itachi asked, Sasuke nodded his head and punched his wall in anger.

"She is always messing things up for me Itachi. I wish Karin would leave me alone. Maybe if I travel to Yukigakure for the competition I can catch her after her routine on the ice. " Sasuke stated. Itachi remained silent, he knew why Sakura had returned the ring, he had caught Ino at the market and she told him everything.

"Sasuke…maybe you should let Sakura have her space for now. Her skating is important to her right now and with the competitions right around the corner, every practice is crucial for her right now, that is why she has not been to ninja training lately. There is a reason the pressure is on her shoulders" Itachi stated, Sasuke met his brother's eyes making him sigh before continuing.

"You are well aware that 3 years ago Konoha had the best skaters for the pairs competition. It was taxing on them both but they overcame every obstacle and walked away with gold for Konoha every competition. That changed 3 years ago, Sakura lost her partner, her best friend and more importantly, secretly her brother. Very few knew of the relation between Sasori and Sakura, pink is not even her hair color. She changed it to hide her identity and make it seem they were just partners from the same village."

Sasuke vaguely remembered the huge scandal about how the pairs skating champions were related but he never picked out it was Sakura, the girl in the championships always had red hair up till 2 years ago. 'When Sakura started skating singles….' Sasuke thought to himself. "So Sakura continues on in silence, not burdening anyone else with the task of being a partner and trusted confidant" Sasuke stated

"Exactly. And when Karin showed up after what Sakura had seen, which come to think of it was a lot from what she told me. She pieced everything together and assumed you met up with Karin to continue your illicit affair." Itachi stated softly. Sasuke felt like every shade of asshole that Ino had called him in the letter and slammed his head on the desk.

"I am such an idiot Itachi….I have to go. I Need to see her…." Sasuke started but was stopped by Itachi. "Itachi why are you stopping me from going to her? Don't you want me to make things right?" he said, trying to pull himself from his brother's grasp.

"As much as I would love to kick your ass all the way to the rink to watch you crawl and beg for her forgiveness, I cannot let that happen. Sakura needs every focus possible, she is up against the same skater that killed her brother. She is well aware that Tayuya will be skating in the competition and is the reason she is so focused on this match, if you go to her you will distract her and she will slip up due to lack of focus Sasuke. The best thing you can do for her, is to leave her be for now. You can see her after the competition if you are so dead set on going" Itachi explained, Sasuke sighed before realizing Itachi had everything but one point right.

"I still have to go, even if she can't see me till her routine is done, I need to be there in case something happens Itachi. I can't lose her when there was distrust between us." Itachi nodded and handed him a ticket.

"A ticket to her competition Sasuke. Do NOT distract her and do not let her see you, her career and her life depends on it." Itachi explained. Sasuke quickly packed and took off for Yukigakure ahead of Sakura, leaving only a message with Itachi that he had a mission to go on and couldn't be there to say goodbye.