Naruto sighed. He was lost. Not literally of course, Konoha was too small and he knew it far too well for anything like that, but figuratively he was. He had no idea what to do anymore. He felt restless, tired of doing nothing and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with himself anymore.

Before the body had turned up he had some idea in his head, Konoha was a rural village and he already worked helping out on one of the farms so he wanted to own a strip of land for himself and then grow enough to live off on top of the food they were seizing for the cities. He would settle down with someone, maybe even Sakura if he was lucky, and that would be it. He wasn't that ambitious, but as a lone orphan whose parents had disappeared into the great unknown, something that was deemed as very suspicious, he had to strive to be accepted all his life. And he had always had in the back of his mind that it would be nice if he could be seen as an upstanding member of the community and maybe even, he hoped, be elected as leader of the village.

Now those dreams seemed terribly small compared to the glimpse of the outside world he had seen, just empty dreams that belonged to someone that didn't know any better, and now he found himself at a loss. He didn't know what he wanted anymore.

Actually, that wasn't true, if he was being honest with himself he knew what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to be useful, not just around the village, now he wanted to make a difference. He wanted to find the Resistance again and ask them if they needed help, no, to demand that they let him help them.

But then there was Sakura, his best friend, the one girl he looked up to, someone that he couldn't leave behind. Or could he for the greater good? And that was the main problem for Naruto. Even if he did leave, before all the problems of actually finding the Resistance, and trying to stay alive while he looked for them, there was Sakura who had always been there for him, who had been the one who'd given him the courage to talk to Shikamaru and the other man in the first place.

He had promised that he'd never leave her and part of him had always loved her ever since they'd met, really loved her not the brother-sister love she seemed to have for him but even if he had never pushed his luck there he had never been able to give her up yet.

But on the other hand, deep down Naruto knew that some part of him wouldn't be satisfied staying here the rest of his life even if by some miracle he could share it with Sakura , not anymore it wouldn't be right. He needed to do something even if it meant, inevitably, leaving Sakura, the one person he always counted on to be there, behind.

So it was with a heavy heart, and after a week of thinking about it constantly that Naruto stood at the edge of the village, by the west gate funnily enough where he had arranged to meet Shikamaru. For the first time in his life Naruto was glad he lived alone as he had gathered his belongings over several days and packed up what he felt would be the most important to take in between spending as much of his free time as he could with Sakura. She had laughingly complained that he was always following her around when she wasn't with Tsunade like some kind of lost puppy but Naruto hoped that she'd realise, when he'd gone, that he'd been trying to say goodbye.

He took one last look at the village, taking a moment to look at all the tightly shut up houses, lights winking out of the windows. He couldn't see Sakura's house from here which made it easier to go, to pretend he wasn't leaving her behind for something he didn't know if he would even find, something that might end up killing him.

Sakura woke up eagerly the next morning. she was going to see Tsunade and had been promised a look at some of Tsunade's work on poisons, because now Tsunade decided it was the best time for Sakura to learn some ways to defend herself, just in case. And, although Sakura liked to think that this was a rather extreme measure, she was excited at the prospect of learning more advanced things from her as even some of the most advanced poisons could be used to save lives in small doses.

She scrambled out of bed and got ready in what was nearly record time for her. She was out the door before her mother had finished preparing breakfast for the day, running out holding a hunk of bread in her hand.

Sakura was surprised that she didn't see Naruto, lately she had always seen him about when she was running to and from Tsunade's but she supposed that, despite his constantly greeting he most mornings now, she must have been too early for him, after all Naruto wasn't exactly known for being a morning person so maybe the many early mornings had finally got to him. Either way she didn't give it anymore thought beyond briefly missing Naruto's morning greeting.

Tsunade smiled at her when Sakura dashed into her workroom, she was already laying some equipment out amongst the journals and papers that were scattered around the surfaces.

"Help me clear this table" She said when Sakura came in and Sakura rushed to do as she asked, organising the papers and clutter for Tsunade to put away. There were a few pieces of paper that Sakura tried to look at in more detail when she saw references to the old Senju family and Sarutobi in particular but Tsunade always seemed to notice when Sakura was dallying and what it was over so she kept encouraging her to hurry up and shoved more, harmless looking, papers in Sakura's arms on top of the other ones.

"Right," Tsunade said giving to room another once over, probably to make sure there was nothing else there Sakura probably shouldn't see. "Poisons." Sakura smiled eagerly up at her.

"So?" She said, "What happens now?"

"Gloves." Tsunade said nodding at the two pairs of linen gloves, "put those on and hand me the other ones, you don't want to be touching this with your bare hands." Sakura nodded and pulled them on, she flexed her hand to test how easy it was to move in the gloves and was surprised to find that unlike the heavy gloves farm workers wore these were easier to move in. Tsunade saw the movement and smiled slightly.

"They're thinner." She said by way of explanation, "It makes for less clumsy accidents when doing this kind of thing, we don't want any spillages." Sakura nodded thoughtfully. Tsunade flicked through her work books until she found the pages she was looking for.

"Alright, shall we begin?" Tsunade asked brightly.

For the next two hours or so Sakura was immersed in the intricate world of poisons as Tsunade went on to explain their uses, effects and how they could be made. Sakura was fascinated by the was Tsunade talked about combining and distilling plants, some that could be used to heal the worst wounds, and how they could be used to take away lives in the most gruesome of way. She learnt how the right mix and dose could be used to cause discomfort, hurt, maim or even kill in its full amount.

They only stopped to take a break when Shizune came in, she looked anxious but Sakura had noticed that, generally, Shizune was a worrier when it came to things so she paid her little notice until Shizune whispered something to Tsunade. Tsunade paused and carefully put down the vial she was holding.

"Are you sure?" She asked softly and Sakura glanced up as Shizune nodded seriously. They both looked over at Sakura who had paused in the distilling of the herbs she had. "Sakura, can you put that down for a moment and come here." Tsunade said. Sakura hesitated before she did as she was told and she took a seat on the chair Tsunade indicated.

"Sakura I have some bad news for you," Shizune said gently, "There's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to come out with it. Naruto's missing."

"What?" Sakura gasped and Tsunade turned away from the other two and dimly Sakura could hear her clattering around with something.

"He's gone Sakura, no one's seen him today. He hasn't turned up for work and someone went to his house and it looks like it's been cleaned out." Shizune continued.

"But-" Sakura began and Shizune shook his head.

"He's just vanished Sakura and some of his things are missing." Shizune said softly.

"Maybe he just went out." Sakura said weakly.

"You know that's not true." Shizune said and Tsunade came up behind them and offered Sakura a steaming mug.

"Tea?" Sakura asked, taking the mug automatically, wrapping her numb fingers round the warm cup.

"Yeah, well, I doubt Shizune would approve if I gave you something a little stronger." Tsunade said and Sakura managed a weak smile.

"You can't drown all your problems in drink." Shizune muttered.

"It doesn't hurt to keep trying," Tsunade said and Shizune rolled her eyes.

"Tell that to your liver." She said with a slight smile. They all fell silent, Shizune and Tsunade scrutinising Sakura so she took a drink to try and avoid making eye contact with either of them.

Naruto was missing. That was something she never thought she'd hear. Something she couldn't bring herself to believe, not while she was sitting in Tsunade's work room, one of the most comforting paces to her surrounded by two people she cared for and trusted. Well trusted as much as she could do these days. Naruto couldn't be gone, he wouldn't have. Naruto would have done anything, fought back as much as she could to get to her as he often said that she was all he had.

A heavy burden maybe but when it came down to it Naruto was the person she depended on the most too, if she had a problem she was more likely to turn to him than her own parents, or even before Tsunade or Shizune for help.

But then again, those past few weeks when he had always been there, watching her with a strange look in his eye. Was that it? Had he known he was going then, was he taken away and knew they were coming for him or had he fled? And couldn't he at least said something to her of all people? It was a hard idea to swallow, especially with such a sympathetic audience looking at her.

"Sakura," Tsunade said softly placing a hand on the younger girls shoulder. "Talk to us."

"What's to say?" Sakura said with a bitter laugh. "I'll never see him again, you know that."

"Sakura," Shizune said again, "It'll help if you talk to us."

"He promised he'd never leave me behind." Sakura said, "Naruto never usually breaks his promises but I guess this one was out of his control. What else is there to say?"

"Anything." Tsunade said. Sakura sighed.

"I guess I just don't know what to think," She said finally and at least that was the truth.

Later, after she had thought and thought about it, Sakura still wasn't sure what she should be thinking or feeling. It was worse because in a situation like this she would usually try and talk to Naruto about it and he was the one who was no longer there. It was something she was had never even imagined or considered before. How could he just leave her like that, she wondered. Even if it was unfair of her, he could have been forced to go, been taken away, but she still couldn't help feeling betrayed by Naruto's sudden disappearance, like he had let her down somehow.

And then, as the days passed, it was becoming as if Naruto had never lived in the village, as if he had never existed. Sakura still got a few sympathetic looks from Tsunade and Shizune but apart from that nothing. Her parents never addressed the issue of the boy that had spent so much time with them who had vanished one night. Their only response to it was to keep a closer watch on Sakura herself as if she would be the next to go.

After a week or so, once her parents had let up on their constant vigil a bit Sakura plucked up the courage to go to see Naruto's old house. What was inside shocked her, the house had never been the epitome of good housekeeping but even with the odd thing out of place Naruto's home used to be a place of warmth and comfort. Now amongst the upturned furniture and torn up fabrics it looked like it had been completely devastated.

Sakura straightened the chair that still had all of its legs remaining. The others looked like they had been broken up for bits of firewood and Sakura wondered why there was even odd bits of the wooden back supports in the remaining chairs. Did people think that it was less obvious what they were doing if they left Naruto's home with pieces of wood rather than a whole chair?

The small table that she had sometimes shared a meal with Naruto at was missing. It had been a good table, old and worn and second hand like most of Naruto's things here but Sakura had once had every groove and mark committed to memory. From the odd scratches underneath it from the times she had played under it with Naruto, carving odd name or symbol under it. She had scrawled her own name into the wood by one of the legs. Naruto had done his right in the centre under the table top in large capital letters and for a moment Sakura wondered if Naruto had gotten the boy from the abandoned house to write his name in the wood. They had been as close as they could be considering they were both only eight years old and they had been always arguing over something but it had been rare to see one without the other and Sakura could remember watching them together. Naruto had spoken to her a few times then, they were friendly but before that family vanished those two children seemed to exist in their own private world together. While Sakura lived on the same street and played with them on occasion she had felt a little left out when they were together. And Naruto had always been the one that was friendlier to her out of the two anyway. But it was too late to think about that now.

She sat down heavily on the remaining chair and looked at the rest of her surroundings. It was as if everything had been stripped away, anything that could be eaten or used had been taken but there was still a lot of the things that made it Naruto's that remained.

Worn photographs had been left carelessly on the side and it made Sakura slightly sick to her stomach that her neighbours, the people she had lived with and known her entire life had done this to the house.

But then again, her practical side whispered, how could she blame them for gathering the things that would help them survive this free of charge. Things were getting expensive, hard to come by in the country as everything was rerouted to the towns to support the industrial workers there. They had first priority on everything, even the food they grew here in Konoha could be forcibly taken away if they didn't send off the required amount each month. Sakura sighed she didn't know how far she would go herself to survive, whether she'd end up selling someone to ANBU to save herself and her family. Whether she'd plunder someone else's home, a place that she would have maybe spent time, to be able to find something to help her own family survive the winter months, wood for the fire, tiles, things to repair their worn down house. It was certainly possible.

She stood up and pulled her jumper round her more as she shivered, whether due to the cold or the strange atmosphere in the empty house she didn't know. Sakura slowly made her way over to the mantle above the old fireplace, she had never seen it lit as the chimney was apparently blocked by brick or something she had been told after raging winds had caused parts of the brickwork to crumble.

Still, Naruto had used it as a place to keep things, the photographs and odd knickknacks he had collected over the years that brought a small smile to Sakura's face. She could remember each and every one of these things. The rock that with a little imagination looked something like a cat curled up, head in its hands, that Naruto had come running into her house with when she was supposed to be getting ready for bed. He had found it when he was out with, urg, with that boy again whose name still escaped her.

There were some pictures from her birthdays and from his, faded and worn over time. They were both smiling, neither of them really aware of what was to happen in the future in those pictures. Things had been so much simpler then, it had been easier to accept the half truths they had been given as they hadn't known any better.

And now they did, first the disappearance of the family, the factory exploding in the distance, the body on the edge of the village, and now this. Now Naruto was gone.

So, in Naruto's old ransacked home, a place that now held some of Sakura's best and worse memories. She sat, old photographs in hand, and cried for her lost friend.