Shikamaru wandered through the halls of the Hokage building, sighing deeply. He didn't really understand why he was the one who had to find Naruto. It wasn't his fault that Naruto had left the party without a notice. There wasn't a problem in him leaving the party. The problem was that it was a party for him.

Shikamaru opened the door to the council room, but there was nothing but empty silence. He frowned and walked down to the final door. The Hokage office.

"Naruto?" he asked as he softly turned the handle, to reveal the dimly lit room. Naruto stood with his back towards him, gazing at the picture frames on his desk. The small table lamp giving the room a soft glow..

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked again.

Naruto took the nearest frame and gazed at it. Tsunade, Jirayia were looking like they were going to kill each other. Naruto was squeezed in between him and Shizune who desperately tried to calm everyone down. He smiled sadly and the turned his gaze to the team-seven picture and the smile disappeared.

His eyes gazed softly at the long-haired Sakura and the frowning Sasuke. Naruto closed his eyes and put the frame down on the table again. "I just wanted to think."

Shikamaru tilted his head, "You are doing that a lot lately, you should stop creeping me out like that," there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice and Naruto sighed. The third frame consisted of him and Hinata pointing at the small resort hotel down the road. A frowning Neji with a Lee vigorously hugging him was off to the side. Ten Ten was trying to calm both down. Ino and Chouji were sitting back and laughing in the back ground.

"I just don't feel right about this Shikamaru." His voice was emotionless. "All this – this happiness, I just don't feel it's right." He turned around and he had deep bangs under his eyes. "I…I wanted them to be here Shikamaru, but they are not – I am the reason they are not here" he closed his eyes pained.

Shikamaru crossed his arms. "Naruto-"

The shadow user looked into the ground. "There are things in life we want to so badly. When Asuma died I thought the world had ended – everything, the pain I felt cannot be compared to what I have felt before. He was like a second father; I wanted him so desperately to see me when I did something great. Ino and Chouji – everything, I can't tell how I felt like I was going to break.

"I lost one."

He looked up at Naruto, who just stared out the window. "You have lost so much more Naruto, and I know that the pain must be worse-

"-but Naruto. It is time to let the past be past."

Naruto walked out of the office. "I am taking a walk."

-

Naruto stared silently at the road before him. Two people had taken that road and left him, none of them came back.

He sighed and pocketed his hands, what a pathetic Hokage he was being right now. He should be celebrating all of this, his promotion, his life, hell he even had a girlfriend. Well, as girlfriendly as Hinata could be around them.

She was a shy girl; mind that and she would maybe kiss him on the mouth once or twice if they were together. However, it was small cherry kisses, nothing out of the ordinary. Naruto was from birth not a very patient guy, but for her he could just let her take her time.

It was the least he could do after he still talked about Sakura a lot. Who could blame him? Hinata didn't.

Naruto sighed again, Hinata was a nice girl and he liked her, so where was the problem. He looked past his shoulder and could see the bright moon shine. It was the Byukugan and the Hyuugas. He knew that Hiashi wanted that Hinata should marry someone in the Hyuuga family. It was destined that Hinata should lead the Hyuugas, and therefore no alien genes.

Hinata had been sad when she was with him and she had just held his hand. She wasn't the type of girl who cried a lot. It was after that he noticed that Neji had begun to pick her up from the Hokage-tower. Naruto didn't mind – he could change the Hyuuga concerning the cursed seal, but it was a different thing with marriage.

Naruto sighed again, and looked back to the road. At least he and she could still be friends.

The leaves on the trees suddenly rustled and a small girl landed on the road. Her eyes brown and so were her hair – Naruto was convinced that the girl could look like a mini-Tsunade if her hair was tied differently. The girl glared at him and jumped into the trees again, obviously searching for someone else.

"Naruto-kun?"

He turned around and saw a white-eyed girl carefully walk up to him. He smiled kindly. "Hey Hinata. What's up?"

She shook her head shyly and smiled. "Nothing, I just wondered why you left so suddenly." Naruto grinned and laid his arm around her shoulder. Out of habit he kissed her cheek, which caused her to blush hard.

"Don't worry Hinata! I'll come back right now! And this time I am going to beat Jirayia in a drinking contest!"

There were no scolding words except a kind smile. "I will cheer you on then."

Something was missing.

-

Sakura was about to enter the forest when something rushed towards her. With skills that easily outmatched whatever it was, she bent herself backwards and delivered a kick upwards. However, the thing disappeared and landed behind her.

She was, mildly said, pissed and Sakura was not in the mood for asking and answering. "Iaah!" she screamed as she slammed her foot into the ground, making it crack open and make a huge crater about 10 meters in diameter. The ANBU made a gasp and jumped upwards, clearly not expecting that.

Sakura glared at the small node on his mask. "Oto…"

Tohru quickly ran out of the cave. "Sakura-san!?"

"Stay back! I'll handle this! Run into the forest and find Naruto!" Tohru stood paralyzed for a moment before she nodded. Turning around, she ran as quickly as she good, a kunai safely clutched within her hands.

Sakura eyed her as the little girl ran past her, still watching the ANBU. "Be careful…" she muttered and Tohru nodded back.

Sakura readied her fist as more ANBU came into sight. She was surrounded by 9 ninjas, but even in this situation she smirked. She pointed at one of them and slowly motioned. "Come and get me…"

-

Naruto panted hard as he tried desperately to control his anger. His fist curled tightly and uncurled again. Eyes wide and he threw his hitai hard on the ground. "Damnit! God damnit!"

His fist hit the rock before him and splintered into thousand of small pieces. Rock after Rock he demolished it as if they were nothing. He panted hard and collapsed lightly to the ground. Naruto's voice was rough and he felt like crying – it had been a long time since he had cried the last time.

He shook his head and sat down.

"What is wrong with me…?"

Before Naruto could think further, the scent of foreign…and not so foreign ninjas hit him.

-

Temari and Kankuro sat silently at the dinner table, softly cutting out the pieces of cooked meat. Kankuro coughed slightly just to do something and Temari looked up. When he didn't say anything she sighed to herself and spoke.

"So, Gaara isn't going to join us is he?"

Her brother shook his head and slurped down the wine in his glass. "Not as far as I know – he's talking to that leaf-boy right now"

Temari paused eating and stared at small fork in her hand. "Oh"

Kankuro looked upwards and stopped as well. "Is something wrong?"

Temari closed her eyes and rested her head in her hand, softly rubbing her tired eyes. "It is nothing. Of no concern."

Her brother smiled and put the glass down at the table. "Temari, it might be the case that you wish to keep it a secret – but we know very well what sort of relationship you have with the leaf ninja."

Temari frowned and took her own glass in her hand, pouring the red wine into it. She gulped it down and felt the alcohol rush down her throat. She glared at him. "Why do you care? Even if we had a relationship I would not go against the Suna-tradition"

Kankuro waved his hands at the comment and sighed. "Whatever you say." He glared back. "But I must say that my nephew has a certain resemblance."

Temari stopped her actions and stared back at him. Slowly, she looked the other way, a tired look on her face. "I guess Gaara already knows then."

"Temari, I think if you asked nicely he would let you two marry. I wouldn't be a problem, but the thing with the child. We have to discuss that sooner or later." Kankuro grinned. "But I have my own daughter waiting. I always thought you would be the one to get married first and then having babies." Temari snorted and grinned back at him.

"How are you and your wife doing? She hasn't been dinning with us for a while." Kankuro slurped his wine. "She is visiting her parents in the village not far away."

"Haven't you been married for three years now?"

"Yup."

"I am glad that you support me Kankuro."

"You're welcome sister."

-

Sakura stared at the rather molested bodies on the ground. She was surprised how hard she had worked on them. Even holding back, but she had none the less, used far too much strength, more than necessary.

She stood up and glared at the bodies before her. What were Oto-nins doing here anyway? It seemed like they had searched for them. The mud on their shoes were the same as in the area, and the Leafs' too. She narrowed her eyes and cracked her knuckles.

With a swift move of her feet Sakura ran into the forest, in a desperate attempt of finding Tohru and Naruto.

She furrowed her brows. A snarl came out, "Naruto…"

-

Itachi stood before a trademark house with the name Haruno scribbled into the wall. There were sounds of weeping inside the building and he narrowed his eyes. It wasn't that he cared for the family, but it would be slightly more difficult to enter the house if they were still awake.

He didn't care, he needed information. He crawled up the wall, making sure to cast a genjutsu over the area. Itachi couldn't afford to be seen right now. He tucked his strange shirt, bothered by this new kind of clothing he was forced to wear in disguise. Itachi jumped unto the balcony on his left and stared inside the room.

A picture frame of team seven resided peacefully on the desk.

He opened the door and closed it again. The room was dark, but the moon lit it up enough for him to see the objects.

It was transfixing – six years and her smell lingered. As if Sakura had been there always.

Itachi began to search through the different kind of cabins, boxes and closets. Anything that would come to his mind – but he found nothing. He frowned and turned around to stare at the pictures on her desk. There was one of her teacher – one of Kakashi, Naruto and her – team seven – Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru – team 8 – and Neji, Tenten and Lee. He took the one of her teacher.

Itachi opened the small frame on the back and found what he looked for.

A small address for a house by sea cliffs slipped out. Usually people wouldn't be very concerned about the address – most wouldn't have found it anyway.

He heard a man walk up the stairs, his deep voice trying to calm down his sobbing wife. He narrowed his eyes at the door. The wife continued to weep and the husband was rather annoyed.

If Itachi remembered correctly, the mother was a housewife and the husband was a travelling business man. So strange that their daughter turned out to be one of the best female ninjas in the world. He had also researched their background – Sakura was the first ninja to get to chunnin level, or even becoming ninja at all. The last ninja in their family was at the time before Konoha was built.

Itachi suddenly felt very transfixed with the young Sakura's picture and traced a small finger across the edge of her face.

When Sakura's mother opened the door there was no one.

-

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she ran into the clearing. He turned his head, surprised to see her dress covered mostly in blood. Had they attacked her too? Before he could say anything, or react to anything she swung to hit him in the face, making him jump back.

"You. Stupid. Idiot! Why did you run away! We were supposed to aid each other! If we don't who knows what could have happened!"

He rubbed his cheek.

"And what about Tohru! Where is she!? Oh god! Don't tell me they have killed her! Oh Naruto! They can't kill – we have to find Tohru Naruto!"

Naruto covered her mouth with a sigh, surprising her too.

"I have already sent out 20 clones – don't worry, I'll find her…"

Sakura managed to hit him this time. "Oh yeah you will! I will not forgive you if you don't!"

"Why don't you just relax!?" he screamed, rather annoyed with the fact that she didn't listen. "I have everything under control! Trust me for once!"

She glared at him and was about to scold him even further when another voice spoke.

"Seriously, I would have thought you two would have communicated better after your little reunion back in Konoha…" both of them turned to see an ANBU Neji take off his mask.

Sakura stopped frowning and smiled gently at him. "It's you! Oh! I thought it was another Oto-nin!"

Naruto stared at her and noticed that she had only received a small wound on her cheek. Sakura had grown really strong. He smiled back at Neji too. "So? Are the rest here too?"

Neji nodded. "Of course, Hokage-sama."

The leafs rustled and out jumped the rest of the troop. Naruto grinned. "Hi, Lee, Neji, Shino, Kiba, Ino and Ten Ten" the six of them gave a nod in reply and sat down.

Ino spoke first. "Don't worry Sakura, all the Oto-ANBU is eliminated. The Nanadaime will think it is your work, not ours." Sakura stared at Ino before crossing her arms. "I have no other choice than believing you"

Naruto sat down and turned around as he watched a clone hold a small Tohru in his arms. Sakura then suddenly rushed over to the small girl and embraced her. Surprising the rest of the group. Lee whispered to Shino. "I thought they didn't like each other much."

Neji frowned. "She is her teacher, you can't travel together for many years without creating some sort of bond. Sakura has been the one raising her – it is rather natural."

Naruto's frown was replaced with a gentle smile as he saw Sakura burry her head in the child's brown locks. It was like a mother to a child. He wondered shortly if he had had a mother if she would have done the same thing.

Shino started the conversation. "Naruto-sama, Sakura-san…" both of them turned their heads.

"I would like to know where you are headed now. It will help us greatly in protecting you – and"

Naruto shook his head. "No Shino – it is alright. I am just escorting Sakura and Tohru-chan to her house in the rocks." Ino frowned. "Well Naruto, just so you know we will go Suna." She looked at Lee and Neji. "Most of us will – and we will make sure to convince the Suna-council to start an attack, so we can get you back again."

Naruto turned quiet.

"We don't like the new Nanadaime – it is very suspicious that he sent out Oto-nins along with Konoha nins. I don't like this – either he has close ties to Oto or…"

Sakura continued. "He is Orochimaru…"

There was silence.

Tohru released Sakura's dress and stepped forward. Neji then moved closer. "I do believe it is so," he said, staring at the group. "I saw Kabuto in the Hokage-room."

"Kabuto!" both Sakura and Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes. I believe it would be safest if you two found some place where you can hide for a while. We will meet with Shikamaru and plan with Suna"

Naruto nodded. "I will escort Sakura and Tohru and meet up with you guys in Suna afterwards. Don't do anything without me. Taking back Konoha will not be easy. But that's our new mission."

The ANBUs nodded, but Sakura just stared at Naruto.

-

Sakura jolted awake when she thought that she heard someone enter her room. She narrowed her eyes and hid underneath the covers of her bed. Her mom had been so kind to make her bed nicely.

There was the sound again of heavy breathing. She covered her head this time. Tohru was asleep in the guest room and she couldn't just go around and search the room, she would wake her family.

Because tomorrow she new that the Tsuchikage would arrive!

-

A/N: a very, very short blab la bla chapter – with nothing interesting at all I could offer. Seriously, everything is just chit –chat and whatever. I am sorry for the delay. Why is it delayed? I had writers block? NOOOOO. Defiantly not – my head has been flooded with ideas and inspiration for the past few days. I have nearly exploded from the pressure.

Simply – I Selun has been suffering from stress. Stomach aches, assignments, party at the school, preparations for the party. I have simply been unable to relax fully – got less the 6 hours of sleep every night, causing me to become hyper active and tired. Unable to start writing I was delayed. (I don't think anyone reads this)

I don't think there is anymore questions to ask for the chapter. Everything sums up itself, end.

Now I would rather do a small promotion for a future fiction, which is in the progress of being made.

"The Pledge"

A "what if" fiction.

Sakura left Konoha when she was twelve, searching for Sasuke who had left Konoha earlier this evening. She betrays Konoha for the sake of Sasuke, and goes with him to Orochimaru. However, everything isn't as flowery as it would seem. The skies are grey in Oto, and Sakura soon discovers these dark things concerning both Orochimaru and Sasuke. She becomes something more valuable for Orochimaru than Sasuke, which surprises many people indeed – and while Sakura wants to go back to Naruto and all of her friends, Sasuke keeps her in place. Orochimaru also begins a certain fascination …-

It sounds crappy at first, and has a darker tone than Rokudaime – seriously, it does. Hope you will read it or not – don't care if you don't care XD

Anyway, all rights to Kishimoto.

Review or Flame me if necessary.

Reviews 94, c2's 4, favs 38, alerts 45. I feel so proud!! so many readers!