Well, this chapter took longer than expected. I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Also, I don't own Naruto or related character, just borrowing them from Masashi Kishimoto to play with.

Chapter 3

Sakura quietly followed Kazuya as he led the way through the village. He wasn't speaking and neither was she. Her mind was miles away, going over the conversation she had with Ranmaru. The head of yet another village agreed to train her and then turn her over to the man walking only a few paces ahead of her. It wasn't until she left Ranmaru's office when she finally remembered where she had heard his name before. His name had once come up when Naruto was agruing with Kakashi about teaching him some of his jutsu. When Naruto didn't get his way, he tried to taunt Kakashi by saying that lightning style was lame anyways. Kakashi had replied that he would take that back if he had the misfortune to meet someone like Kazuya The Bolt Higurashi in battle. His signature move was a storm that shot bolts of lightning at his opponents.

What would it mean to be trained by an opponent that Kakashi would find worthy to mention in defense of his lightning style? Was he really as strong as the stories and could she bring herself to tolerate someone who seemed to make it his mission in life to be mean to everyone.

In the distance someone called Kazuya's name, pulling Sakura away from her thoughts. She stopped and looked at the crowd. Her gaze went back to Kazuya, who hadn't stopped walking. Torn for a minute between either wait for the voice and call back Kazuya or to just follow Kazuya. While back in pursuit of Kazuya she called his name and to her voice, he did respond. "Keep walking."

"But someone's looking for you," Sakura said, while catching up to him.

"I know," Kazuya replied.

Suddenly with a gust of wind a red-haired man appeared in front of Kazuya. He grinned from ear to ear, his blue eyes sparkling. He looked a bit mischievous, like a kid who stole a cooky without getting caught and was still enjoying the taste of said cooky. "Hi Kazuya," the man said with false cheeriness.

"Piss off." Kazuya said, brushing past the man, only to be grabbed by him.

"I would if I could," the man said in a sing-sang voice. "But I can't, so I shan't."

Kazuya sighed and turned fully to the man. "What do you want?"

"Kyrie wanted me to give you a message." the man said, releasing Kazuya. "She said that she's on amission and won't be back for a couple of weeks."

"Why aren't you with her?" Kazuya asked.

'He's Kyrie's teammate?', Sakura wondered quietly.

"She took over for Yana," the man said. "It's a jounin mission so..."

Kazuya nodded and started walking again. He only stopped when he noticed that Sakura wasn't following him anymore. Back where he had received the message from Kyrie, Sakura was now talking to the man.

"You're the new girl, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Sakura Haruno."

As she introduced her self Sakura couldn't help but feel a comfortable familiarity spread through her. Just looking at this guy gave her the idea that she had known him for years. He looked so familiar, yet they had never met. His big blue eyes, his brought grin, his optimistic personality. The only thing different was his wild red hair. It was spiky, yet too heavy to stick up.

"Kenji," the man replied and he took Sakura's hand to shake it. "Kenji Uzumaki."

It felt like lightning had passed through her body, yet she couldn't move. Her eyes rested on the face of this man. Had she heard him correctly? Or was her mind playing tricks on her?

Kenji laughed nervously while folding his arms behind his head. "You know... Since you're new and all... I could show you around... You know... So you won't get lost."

"Sure," Sakura muttered at the familiar picture that this man made. "When?"

"Tonight?"

"You're going to show me around in the dark?"

Kenji shook his head. "Tomorrow. Around noon. And don't worry I'll find you."

Sakura nodded and started to make her way back to Kazuya. A genuinely bright smile formed on her face as a result of this encounter. Her smile was bright enough to make Kazuya lift an eyebrow in question. He shook his head and resumed his stride.

Kenji looked at Sakura as she joined Kazuya again. 'You're welcome, Kazuya', he thought as he went his own way.

„What did he want?" Kazuya asked Sakura.

„He wants to show me around," Sakura answered. „He seems really nice."

Kazuya looked at Sakura sideways and grinned. „That's right," he said. „You're used to being around an Uzumaki."

„You don't like him?"

„Uzumaki are all cheery, broad-smiling and loud. And no, I don't particularly like them."

Kazuya easily found Lucy and Akira. They were sitting at the grill house, a restaurant where you could grill as much meat as you could eat on a hot stone. It reminded Sakura of the Korean BBQ back in Konoha, except that this was just a little different.

Sakura spend most of the evening listening to Lucy, Akira and Kazuya talk. Seemed like they had been teammates for ages. That night Sakura learned about Achitaka, the boy whom she was to replace. They called him a genius ninja, who died in service to the village. When Sakura asked who killed him, the answer made her jaw drop. Achitaka died when he tried to save Kazuya from a shinobi. This shinobi had raven black hair and possessed the sharingan and he was brutal.

„Next time," Kazuya said. „I'll have his head."

Sakura had spend the better part of her ninja life trying to get Sasuke back, and now she was part of a team who wanted to kill him. Instead of speaking up, Sakura remained quiet. She listened as Lucy argued that Konoha had requested that Sasuke be captured alive and handed over to them. Seemed Kazuya and Akira were convince that they would make his death look like an accident. They wouldn't appreciate Sakura's lingering feelings for her teammate.

XOXOXO

Kakashi took his seat at the bar. He ordered his usual batch of Sake, but couldn't put himself to drink it. The realization had finally struck him. Of the three genin that he started with, only Naruto remained. Sasuke went rogue and Sakura was returned to the village where she had originally come from. He wouldn't go as far to say that he missed her, but...

Guy took a seat next to Kakashi. "My god Kakashi," he said. "You look like your puppy just died."

Kakashi shrugged and played with his Sake cup.

"I heard about Sakura," Guy said. "I never knew she was given to us by the Hidden Waterfall village."

"I did," Kakashi said. He looked at the Sake in the cup. He had known all along, but he had never uttered a word about it to her. This was the very reason why he never bothered to train her. What was the point, if they would send her back anyways.

Guy looked shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Kakashi shrugged again. "Orders."

"She was your teammate," Guy said. "How often didn't you come to her rescue. Off all your teammates, she was the closest thing you had to being a friend. On and off missions, you two were always near each other. You should've told her."

"I know," Kakashi said. He pulled out his wallet and put money on the bar. There was no getting drunk this night. Not with his thoughts as messed up as they were. "I have to go."

Guy shook his head as Kakashi disappeared behind a cloud of white smoke, without having touched his drink. His rival was never someone to talk about his feelings, but even a blind man could tell that Kakashi was struggling. Sending Sakura away was the stupidest thing he had ever done and would have to come to term with that at some point. He would give his life for this village, but he would give his sanity long before giving his life.

Kakashi's feet took him to the memorial stone. He looked at the name of the teammate who had changed him forever. The first big mistake of his life had cost him his teammate and the one thing close to a friend and now another mistake had done the same. But at least she was still alive. „Obito," Kakashi said softly to the stone. „I've made another bad call…."

XOXOXO

The next morning, Sakura waited for Ranmaru. She was ready to receive some real training. Her new teammates were already so far ahead of her that she couldn't waste any time sleeping. Ranmaru arrived exactly at the appointed time. He was carrying several scrolls and he had a large bag with him.

"Good morning," he greeted politely.

"Good morning," Sakura said, her eyes scanning all the stuff that Ranmaru had brought with him.

"Here you go," Ranmaru said tossing a small package at Sakura. "Take a white sheet and a brown one."

Sakura did as instructed and looked at the two sheets op paper. "There's nothing on them."

"This is special paper made from Chakra trees," Ranmaru explained. "I spend last night reading your entire file. Aside from super strength and medical ninjutsu, you know nothing else, do you?"

Sakura shook her head. Her medical ninjutsu was almost as good as Tsunade's. A while ago when she requested more training from Tsunade she had told her that she had already taught her everything she knew. She had been both proud and disappointed at the time. Tsunade was still a lot stronger and better at medical ninjutsu, but just knowing that practicing could make her just as strong had filled Sakura with pride.

"I'm going to determine your primary and secondary chakra type," Ranmaru continued. "And start training you from there. Hold the paper between your fingers and let your chakra seep into the paper."

The white paper turned soggy and the brown paper creased. Sakura looked at both and then at Ranmaru. "That's fortunate," he said. "I'm a water type and Kazuya is a lightning type. This'll make training you much easier. Also... This is yours."

Sakura held out her hand, and a sword was given to her. It wasn't like the ninja blades that one could buy in Konoha. It was longer, and the blade was a little curved.

"If you're going to receive training from me," Ranmaru said. "Then you will learn how to use one of those. It's a katana, the primary weapon of a samurai. I will teach you how to use it, but for you it'll be a back up weapon."

Sakura studied the blad that Ranmaru had just handed to her. The black sheathe was decorated with small pink flowers. The handle also had this same flower theme. „I don't know what to say," Sakura said. „Uhm… Thank you."

The first day of training was spend reading scrolls on drawing on your chakra element and trying to do so. Sakura was used to figuring things out on her own and Ranmaru spend the better part of the day watching as Sakura worked. At some point he thought she would give up, but instead she walked to a puddle of water and stared at the water. Her hands dipped in the puddle, looking at how the water moved, feeling the water on her hands. Sakura repeated this several times until the idea struck her.

In the distance Ranmaru smiled. He had expected nothing less of a Haruno. She had figured out that first she had to learn to manipulate the element before being to call it forth. This didn't take long, since she already possessed a medical jutsu that called for this.

„Sakura," Ranmaru called from his spot under a tree. „You need to really feel the water within you. Like water, chakra also flows."

Sakura held out her hands, staring at her palms. Like many times before she made her chakra visible, but it glowed green making it healing chakra. She made a fist and changed her chakra to blue. As she opened her fist again, she kept the blue glow. Normally she would hit a target and unleash her chakra. Now she was trying to create a reoccurring flow. She brought up her other hand and brought it close to her glowing hand.

Ranmaru looked more closely at Sakura's attempt and nodded to himself when he saw a ball of water form from her chakra, only to be dropped a moment later. She was catching on fast.

„How's she doing?" Kenji asked upon arriving.

Ranmaru looked at the young ANBU member. It took him only a few seconds to put everything together. Sakura's mood had vastly improved overnight. „Nothing short of what I'd expect from a Haruno." Ranmaru turned fully to Kenji, his face went back from surprised to serious. „But that's not why you're here."

„I asked her out," Kenji answered.

„Did Kyrie ask you to?"

Kenji shook his head. He too spend some time watching Sakura work on drawing out and maintaining her element. He was trying to find kinder words to describe Kazuya's feelings towards his newly appointed member. Kyrie had informed him that Kazuya was more than angry about Ranmaru assigning this particular girl to his squad. „You're putting him through hell," Kenji finally said softly, by lack of a better way to put it. „I can see it in his eyes."

„Maybe," Ranmaru said. „But we all must play with the cards that god has given us."

„And I'm just playing my next card," Kenji said brightly as he stepped away from Ranmaru.

Another splash of water hit Sakura's feet as another attempt to keep her element under control failed. She silently cursed herself, before being distracted by the shadow at her feet. Carefully, she looked up at a brightly smiling Kenji. „Is it that time already?" Sakura said.

Kenji nodded. „Come on," he said taking her hand. „I think you've earned a little break."

Sakura followed Kenji, wondering where they were going and of she should let Ranmaru know when she'd be back. „I'll be back soon."

„No she won't," Kenji shouted at Ranmaru.

„I won't?" Sakura asked. „But I have training and scrolls that I need to read and…"

Kenji stopped for a minute. „I know that you're very serious about training, but you need to have fun every now and then… You do know what fun is?"

„Of course," Sakura huffed.

„Then let me show you a good time."

XOXOXO

Tsunade read a letter send to her by the ANBU woman who had escorted Ranmaru here. This letter held only a few words, but they were enough to bring tears to the honey eyed woman's eyes. She had never realized just how much she loved Sakura. She had only been gone a few days, but it was too long already. The letter informed Tsunade that they had arrived safely in waterfall and that Sakura had been shown her new quarters. A small promise was written at the bottom of the letter.

„Don't worry, I'll look after her."

A knock on the door pulled Tsunade out of her sadness and reminded her that she was still the Hokage. „Enter."

Rock Lee stepped inside along with Neji. Both had an angry look on their face. „Did you send Sakura away?" Rock Lee asked accusingly.

Neji held Rock Lee back. „Guy-sensei said that Sakura has been returned to the village where she originally comes from," Neji said in his calm deep voice. „We're confused… Wasn't she one of us?"

Tsunade took a deep breath and wondered just were Guy got this piece of information from. She hadn't even known herself until a few days ago. „It's a long story," she said. „But I find that it's sufficient information to tell you that Sakura was send home to Waterfall."

„But why?" Rock Lee asked, his voice filled with emotion and disbelief.

„Because they need her more than we do," Tsunade answered softly. A tone of finality marking every word she spoke. „Leave me be."

Rock Lee stood in the office clenching his fist. He hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye. He never even asked her out on a date. Everything he ever wanted there to be between them was gone now. „But I love her," Rock Lee muttered softly to no one in particular.

„I'm sorry," Tsunade said. „Please leave."

The door closed behind the two young ninja. Tsunade turned her chair towards the window, giving her a view of the village. The Hokage only had one job. Do what is best for the village. If only she could believe that she had made the right call.

XOXOXO

Sakura finished her drink and smiled at Kenji who was just as big an eater as Naruto. It felt like a piece of home when she was with him. An air of familiarity hung around him and Sakura couldn't help but want to be close to this man.

Kenji finished his latest serving of fried rice and looked at Sakura who had finished eating long before him. „Let's see," he said. „I've shown you all the important places… Except for the memorial tree… Do you want to go see it?"

„Memorial tree?"

Kenji nodded. „I can explain, but it'll make more sense if I show you."

Sakura told Kenji about how she ended up in Waterfall and how she felt about the whole affair. At some point she told him about the deal she made with Ranmaru. She ended her story by giving voice to her wish to return to Konoha.

Kenji had listened quietly to her story until. He smiled at her when he finally gave a response. „How do you know how you'll feel in four years?" He asked gently. „Maybe you'll like it here better than in Konoha. You've only been here a few days and I wasn't present during those days."

Sakura looked at Kenji with surprise at first and then she smiled. His confidence reminded her of someone. It wasn't an arrogant kind of confidence. This village was home to the Uzumaki to which Naruto also belonged. Perhaps living here wouldn't be so bad.

Kenji took her hand and gestured that they continue heir way. The memorial tree was a giant tree on the edge of the village. A small plaque stood proudly in front of the large tree. The memorial tree had been gift from Hashirama Senju, founder of the Hidden Leaf village. The tree would forever signify the deep-rooted friendship between Waterfall and Leaf. On the plaque it said: „In remembrance of all who fought and died in the name of freedom and peace."

Sakura fell completely silent upon seeing the tree and reading the plaque. She wasn't the first Haruno to be send back here after living in the Leaf for many years. This was part of her family's tradition. In a way, Naruto's mom had grabbed the short end of the stick. When she left this village, she was never to return here. Yet, she had found happiness, even if it wasn't what she had in mind for herself. Sakura stepped closer to the tree and lay her hand on the bark, closing her eyes. Deep within her heart she still longed for home, but seeing this, spending the afternoon with Kenji. What if this was her home?

That's it for now. Drop me line, let me know what you think and perhaps what you would like to see in the near/distant future. Thank you for reading!