This chapter takes place years later during the mission to Wave Country.

There are a few changes in this Sakura from canon!Sakura. I figured that since Sakura met Haku in this slightAU before she met Sasuke, Haku would become the mold for her ideal romance. Therefore, Sakura in this story will have never had a crush on Sasuke. This means that without Sasuke to distract her, Sakura realizes her shortcomings and is a little more realistic about her situation.

Enjoy~

YO NO OWN-O NARUTO (awful Spanglish lol)

Chapter Three: Reunion (part 1)

Sakura was very frustrated. Naruto was being loud, Sasuke was being anal, and her sensei was being a pervert. On top of all that, their customer was an churlish and bitter man with no manners whatsoever. And since Tazuna was the one paying them, they had to keep his ungrateful bum happy.

But nooo, her teammates did not understand this and Kakashi-oni-sensei obviously did not care so it was left to Sakura to appease the old man.

Dammit.

"And then I was like bam! and the bad guys are all ahhhh! and I stood there in a really cool pose like this –"

"Dobe, shut up."

"What did you say, teme?!"

"Hn."

"Just you wait until I –"

"Hey Shrimp, I agree with Emo over here." Tazuna grouched. Both Naruto and Sasuke glared at the man.

"I am not a shrimp!"

"…Really? Emo?"

Sakura scowled at the ground, resisting the urge to cover her ears. She was surrounded by idiots. All of them. Even her stupid sensei. Was it a male thing?

Just as she did every time she was lost in thought, her fingers reached for the beads which encircled her left wrist, dark brown stone winking golden when the light hit them. She always found herself staring at those beads, if she was sad, if she was angry, and always when she was happy.

Haku.

The boy felt like a dream. She had long ago let go of the hope of seeing the boy again, after all the Elemental Nations were large and dangerous. Sakura knew that there was very little chance of her ever seeing him again, but that did not stop her from daydreaming about the boy throughout her years. He had been so pretty, so kind, and she had never met anyone like him since then.

Did he remember her? Had he kept the bracelet as she had all these years? Sakura wondered what Haku looked like now. No doubt he had grown into a handsome young man. He probably had just as many girls chasing after him as Sasuke did. If not more, knowing how polite Haku was. Sakura frowned as jealousy touched her heart. She had found him first!

Oh but such useless thoughts. Haku and she were just two children that happened to meet while traveling very far away from their respective homes. But she had always hoped that she might one day stumble across him in her travels as a shinobi.

No, stop that! Useless dreams!

A light flickered ahead and Sakura looked up to seek its source. The sun was sparkling across a puddle of water on the side of the road, flashing into her eyes. Sakura tilted her head and furrowed her brows in confusion. Why was there a puddle in the middle of the –

SCREEEECH!

Sakura screamed as large chains shot out of nowhere, wrapping around her sensei and ripping Kakashi to pieces before her very eyes, mangled flesh flying and blood splattering in every direction.

"Protect the client!" Sasuke hissed under his breath to her as he recovered from his own shock, moving to engage their enemies.

His words brought Sakura back to the present, and she swallowed heavily, pushing the grueling sight of her dead sensei from her mind to concentrate on the situation at hand. Sakura knew that she was not a very strong fighter, but they had a job to do and she would not fail!

Grabbing Tazuna's hand, Sakura yanked the man backwards and pushed him behind her, widening her stance in a defensive position and pulling out a kunai. She felt momentary awe and jealousy at the sight of Sasuke so readily confronting the enemy, so confident in his skills.

Sakura wanted to be strong too. But she didn't know how…

Wait –where was Naruto? Sakura glanced around and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of poor Naruto frozen in fear, still staring at the place where Kakashi had been standing. Sakura drew in a breath to call out to him, to snap him out of it, when she felt the atmosphere shift.

Sakura turned her gaze just in time to see one of the rogue ninja coming for her. She readied her stance and lifted her kunai –

Only to see Sasuke's back.

Relief flooded Sakura, but it was followed by anger. Anger at Sasuke for thinking she was weak, and anger at herself because she was grateful for his intervention, because she knew that she was weak.

But then Sakura's thoughts stuttered to a halt as Kakashi-sensei seemingly rose from the dead and began to kick ass!

"Wha…" She muttered under her breath, eyes darting from where Kakashi had fallen to where he was no standing with the two missing-nin hog tied to a tree. He had defeated them so fast that she had barely kept up with their fight!

"Tazuna."

Kakashi's voice was low, dangerous with barely suppressed anger. Sakura felt goosebumps run down her arms at the sound. Suddenly her lazy sensei did not seem so carefree anymore.

The bridge builder trembled slightly as Kakashi loomed over him.

"You have some explaining to do."

While Tazuna explained to them about the poverty in Wave and the tyranny of some business mogul named Gato, Sakura turned and saw her blonde teammate glaring angrily at the ground, clenching his teeth and his fists. She felt a pang of pity for the boy, knowing that if it hadn't been for Sasuke's order, she would have been just as numb.

"I can't endanger my students." Kakashi's voice broke her thoughts. "We are going back to Konoha."

"NO!"

Everyone turned to Naruto. Sakura almost smiled as Naruto gave a speech about never giving up and promising to get stronger. What did not amuse her, however, was that he had stuck a kunai into his thigh for emphasis.

Sakura facepalmed. "And now you'll die of blood loss before we even get to the village." She muttered.

Sasuke snorted and Naruto began panicking.

She was surrounded by idiots.

They continued into Wave Country, Sakura's senses never quite calming down after that first attack. Still she managed to have a small but polite conversation with Tazuna over the economy of Wave and the trade system that he planned to set up once his bridge was built.

Naruto blatantly stared in amazement at Sakura's grasp of 'adult stuff' such as economic trade and resource relationships. Even Sasuke and Kakashi eyed the girl when she began tying the regional welfare of Wave into politics and the potential fall in investments should Wave begin rising in the global market.

"Why would investment fall?" Tazuna scoffed. "If Gato is overthrown then the wealth of Wave would not be monopolized and trade would flow more easily with allied countries."

"You seem to forget who your current investors are, Tazuna-san." Sakura countered, looking a little frustrated that he did catch on to her implications. "Currently, those investing in Wave stocks are all allied with Gato. A man like Gato doesn't need investors who are concerned with charity. Right now all of Wave's stocks are held by selfish and corrupted men who cozy up to Gato so that they can profit from his monopolization. When you create open trade those investors will lose their revenue from Gato and, presuming you want to institute fair sanctioning, they lose their profits to the middle-class. If Gato falls, all you investors go with him."

"Then there will be others!" Tazuna grumbled. "People who want to help will finally be able to, investors that were once denied by Gato will finally have access to our goods."

"You are assuming that the men that are currently Gato's investors would just leave peacefully. But they won't. There are at least ten or so greedy bastards that are lined up to take Gato's place." Sakura paused. "Besides, even if no one tries to take up Gato's corporation, they still have their own influence. Just because Wave becomes an open market does not mean that new investors will flood in. More likely, Gato's old investors will threaten anyone who dares invest in the new Wave economy, so that your country will once again fall into poverty and they can easily re-assert control."

Tazuna glared at the ground. "Damn… you're right."

Sakura shrugged. "I'm not saying that you should stop fighting but… maybe you should make back up plans."

By now the rest of her team was staring at her, lost in the confusion of her vocabulary. Even Kakashi had failed to turn a page in his book for the past couple minutes.

"What?" Sakura crossed her arms defensively.

Kakashi just smirked into his book and patted her head, messing up her hair and making Sakura mutter angrily as she tried to smooth it down.

"Ah-ha!"

They all looked up as Naruto threw a kunai into the bushes, crowing about finding the enemy. Instead, they all repressed laughs as a poor, frightened rabbit came streaking out.

"Ah! Mr. Bunny I'm so sorry!" Naruto flailed.

Sakura sighed.

Sasuke facepalmed.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the bunny's fur. "Everybody duck!"

Without thinking, Sakura dropped to the ground, fear and adrenaline pumping faster as something rushed above her head so fast that it creating a sharp whistle. There was a thud, and Sakura glanced up only to regret doing so.

That was one large sword.

And there was an equally large man standing on top of that.

Suddenly the Demon Brothers from before did not seem so scary compared to this man. The very air around them seemed to plummet in temperature, and Sakura forgot how to breathe. The rogue's eyes were dark and merciless, and his voice was equally terrifying.

"Well if it isn't Sharingan Kakashi, the famous Copy Ninja." Their latest opponent drawled.

Beside her, Sasuke sucked in a sharp breath.

Before Sakura could open her mouth to ask him what was wrong, the world erupted into violence. The man –who Kakashi had referred to as Zabuza –and her sensei clashed together like titans, weapons and jutsu flying seemingly chaotically, but if Sakura concentrated she could see the give-and-take rhythm of battle. Both men fought with experience, their bodies moving almost unconsciously, their minds focused two, three steps ahead of every move they made.

Sakura was awed.

And then Naruto and Sasuke somehow teamed up (who would have thought?) and helped Kakashi defeat this monster of a man. And Sakura was left standing in front of Tazuna.

Useless.

She scowled at herself, berated herself, but she knew that she would not have been any help anyway. She was weak…

Just as Kakashi was about to take the final blow, senbon flew from the trees and embedded themselves into Zabuza's neck. Sakura gasped, her eyes following the direction that the senbon had originated from. Even Kakashi seemed surprised at the entrance of yet another mysterious ninja.

"Hunter-nin." Kakashi explained to his students as the masked Kiri-nin knelt next to Zabuza's still body.

Kakashi and the hunter-nin briefly exchanged words, the latter's voice oddly familiar. Sakura felt a thrill go down her spine as she stared intently at the boy –judging by the height of this ninja, he had to be quite young. There was something about his presence that made her instincts scream, but whether she wanted to run to him or run away from him she couldn't tell.

The masked ninja hauled Zabuza's enormous body over his shoulder and turned to bow his head at them. Despite the mask, Sakura felt the boy's eyes fall on her, and it was like time had fallen still. She swore she could feel his gaze zero in on her with such intensity that her mind stuttered to a halt. She saw his head tilt down ever-so-slightly, and somehow she knew that his eyes were on the bracelet upon her wrist.

And then he was gone. Sakura let out the breath she had been holding in both relief and disappointment.

But then Kakashi-sensei had to go and collapse!

Naruto exclaimed loudly in panic as he and Sakura ran to their unconscious teacher. Sasuke and Tazuna worked together to create a makeshift cot on which they could transport Kakashi back to Tazuna's home. Everyone was on high alert now as they approached the village, a half-built bridge emerging from the fog in an ominous greeting. They were all quiet, as if expecting more A-ranked missing nin to start popping out from every shadow.

Sakura did not say a word when they reached Tazuna's house, heading to the bed provided for her and collapsing in it. But she did not fall asleep. Removing the string of beads from her wrist, Sakura twined the trail of tiger's eye through her fingers and stared at it long through the night.

Tazuna's house felt… well, if not safe than it felt safer than any other part of this country. About half a mile away from the main village and out of sight of the road, Team 7 gradually began to relax. Kakashi had finally woken after two days and they got back to training. That day Kakashi had explained the concept of chakra molding to them, or more precisely, its uses for walking up buildings, trees, and on water.

Everyone was surprised to see that Sakura grasped the theory immediately. Hell, Sakura was the most surprised out of all of them that she was better than her teammates at something. She had wanted to spend the rest of the day perfecting her control, but Kakashi ordered her to go watch over Tazuna. She pursed her lips in displeasure, but did not have the courage to protest.

Eventually Tsunami began cooking dinner, and Sakura helped her. Sakura had the brat Inari set the table while she went to go inform Kakashi that dinner was ready. Tazuna's family was already sitting around the table when her three teammates came in for dinner.

As usual, Naruto managed to get into an argument with someone (this time Tsunami's kid, Inari) about his naïve ideals. Sakura knew Naruto seemed to look at the world through rose-tinted eyes, she supposed it was inevitable that he would clashed with a kid as negative as Inari. The argument got to the point that Naruto once again made some impossible promise, and before Sakura knew what was happening, the blonde boy was zipping out of the house.

"Er, what just happened?" Sakura turned to her remaining teammate.

"The dobe is being a dobe." Was Sasuke's answer.

Thanks for nothing. Sakura rolled her eyes and began helping Tsunami clean up the dishes and the kitchen, Tazuna helping a limping Kakashi back to his room while Sasuke went to get ready for bed. When Sakura finished cleaning up, she went to the room that she was sharing with her teammates only to find Sasuke by himself, sharpening his kunai.

"Where's Naruto?" She asked him, looking around the room as if the blonde might spontaneously appear.

Sasuke just snorted. "Why do I care?"

Sakura's brow ticked dangerously and she resisted the urge to smack the arrogant boy. Without another word –after all, who was she to speak to the great and mighty Uchiha brat? –Sakura turned around and began preparing herself for bed.

She woke some hours later with a frown on her face. Turning her head to the side, Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of Naruto's untouched sleeping bag. He had never come back inside.

Jumping up, Sakura quietly moved through the house, approaching the back door. She grabbed a gas lantern from beside the door and carefully lit it. Standing on the porch, she called for her teammate. "Naruto? Naruto!"

Silence answered her.

Ignoring the worry curling in her stomach, Sakura placed the lantern on the edge of the porch and stepped off of it, carefully approaching the dark forest. The moon was high overhead and quite bright, and to the east the sky was beginning to lighten with the coming of morning. Golden light flickered across the ominously still trees, Sakura's shadow lengthening as she got further away from the lantern.

"Naruto?" Her voice was lower now.

Sakura frowned stepped into the cover of the trees, careful to make sure that the distant light of the lantern stayed within her sight.

She came upon a small opening in the trees, and there in the middle was a drowsy Naruto, looking quite dazed. Relief spread through her, and then frustration and her teammate's sheer and utter stupidity.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

The blonde's head whipped up and he smiled at her. "Hey Sakura-chan! You'll never guess who I just met –"

"Shut it, baka!" Sakura smacked his head, making the boy whimper. "Do you have any idea the danger you put yourself in? Falling asleep in the middle of the forest at night is stupid enough, but when we are in freakin' hostile grounds?! What if one of Gato's men had found you, eh? What if they had been spying on Tazuna and stumbled across your helpless, stupid self?"

Naruto wilted with each passing word, Sakura's famous scolding tone punishing him worse than anything the academy teachers could have produce. Dramatic tears ran down his face as the blonde begged for mercy from his temperamental teammate, throwing her arms around her legs and promising to never do it again.

Sakura sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's just go back to the house, ne?"

Naruto immediately jumped up and ran towards the house, unwilling to take the chance of Sakura sadistically throwing things at his back in emphasis.

However Sakura did not immediately follow him. The air around her seemed to shift and she paused, glancing warily around the trees. She swore that she felt someone watching her, and frowned at the thought. Quickly she turned to go after Naruto, suddenly quite eager for the illusion of safety that Tazuna's home offered.

Haku decided that he like the boy, as he began walking away from the stunned Naruto, leaving the blonde to his embarrassment (although Haku had been mistaken for a girl many times and was hardly offended anymore). Perhaps, if things had been different, they could even have been good friends. It seemed that the Konoha ninja were just full of surprises.

His thoughts turned to the events of three days ago, when his master had confronted the bridge builder and his bodyguards. Haku had been surprised to see a team of Konoha genin and their instructor one a mission as dangerous as this. Then again, judging by the surprise on the sensei's face, it would seem that the man Tazuna had not been quite honest with his bodyguards about the situation in Wave Country. Haku felt momentary pity for the Konoha ninja, knowing that Zabuza would probably kill them all. What a waste of life.

His attention had been focused on Zabuza for the entire fight after the Konoha jounin revealed himself to be very powerful. It had been a long time since Haku had seen Zabuza struggle to take down an opponent. And then when those genin had interfered and helped Kakashi defeat Zabuza, Haku was almost frozen in shock.

But at the sight of Zabuza's imminent death, he stepped in, easily slipping into the role of a Kiri-hunter. Just in time he was able to forestall Kakashi's attack and take Zabuza away to recover.

But then he saw pink.

Just like so many years ago, the color floated on the wind out of the corner of his eye, and Haku could not stop himself from looking. It happened every time he caught sight of the color, hope would well up within him only to be destroyed when it wasn't her. He steeled himself for another disappointment.

But then her viridian eyes stared back at him.

Sakura.

Haku felt the air leave his lips in a rush, and he gripped Zabuza's unconscious body with unnecessary force, as if to physically anchor himself. He had almost convinced himself that he was seeing an illusion of some sort, until he glanced at her wrist for confirmation.

And there was the bracelet.

Haku felt an old, familiar ache begin to bloom deep within his chest, and he resisted the urge to grab her as well; take her with him, keep her, hold her, his. He stared again into those beautiful, still so very innocent eyes, so bright, so lively.

He had to leave before he did something that he would regret. And so Haku teleported away with Zabuza in tow, appearing in a nearly empty room with two cots and a small kitchen. Haku carefully placed his master upon one of the cots and immediately began seeing to his wounds, cleaning them and wrapping them in gauze. The familiar actions kept his mind busy, but only for so long. When there was nothing left to do but sit and wait for Zabuza to awaken, Haku's thoughts unleashed themselves in a torrent of emotions.

Sakura.

It was her. It had to be her.

She was there, she was alive, and she had grown so beautifully. Pushing up his sleeve on his right arm, Haku's fingers alighted upon the beads of jade which encircled his wrist. Then Haku clenched his hands in his lap, his throat tightening. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

They were on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Oh cruel fate.

As night fell on the second day, Haku had begun to worry about his master. Zabuza had showed no signs of waking anytime soon, and Haku was out of herbs to ward off infection. So dressing in civilian clothing, Haku had gone out with a basket in hand, intent on collecting herbs as soon as possible, so as not to leave Zabuza unprotected for too long.

Imagine his surprise at stumbling across one of the Konoha boys, sleeping in the middle of the forest. Haku smiled softly in memory of his conversation with Naruto. Such a lively boy. If Haku had been younger, he might have mistaken Naruto for another spirit or forest sprite, just as he had with little Sakura.

"Naruto!"

Haku froze at the familiar female voice slicing through the quiet night. Speak and ye shall receive. His heart sped up and his pulse sounded in his ears, and though Haku knew that he shouldn't, he turned back around and swiftly made his way back to the glade.

And there she was.

Oh, she was glorious. Moonlight spilling across her cheekbones, turning what he knew to be peachy skin into smooth alabaster. Her eyes flashed brightly even in the dark of night, and those wild pink tresses seemed to flutter despite the lack of wind that morn.

Her hands were on her hips as she lectured her teammate, that smart tongue of hers lashing out with precise words. Despite her anger, she was still so very beautiful. Haku even wished that he had been in Naruto's place, if only to receive her attention.

After Sakura sent Naruto off to the house, she pause in the small clearing and carefully glanced around. Could she sense him?

As if the very thought made it true, Haku swore that Sakura's eyes landed right on him, and he forced himself not to flinch. But then her eyes passed over him, and she turned away to leave.

No, don't leave. Not again.

Look at me. Only me.

Sakura.

Oh, but if wishes were kisses…. Haku's mouth thinned into a line as he reigned in his ridiculous thoughts and fled the forest.

I love writing Haku. He has a tendency to be a little obsessive (i.e. the Zabuza puppy syndrome), so don't be so surprised when he starts showing the same feeling towards Saku-chan. Plus he's such a sweetheart, I figured it wouldn't be so OOC if he had very affectionate thoughts and tended to see the world quite romantically (not sexual romance, the literature/artsy understanding of romantic).

Anyway, Read and Review my lovely readers!

~Lilithia