Chapter 3– Let's Move Out!

Italics mean inner thoughts of that person. Enjoy and don't forget to review!!!

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Tsunade's POV

Closing the door silently, I turned to watch my apprentice's emotions that flash across her beautiful face. The first was sadness, then anger, then blank, and these three rotated again and again until I decided to interfere. Slowly, I walked over to Sakura and placed my hand on her shoulder. To my surprise, she jumped, as if she had forgotten I was even here.

"Sakura…"

At the sound of my voice, her eyes refocused and she blinked a couple of times, as if breaking a trance. The news I had given her must have shattered the wall that she built to protect herself, and I realized that she just needed a moment to build it over again. Automatically straightening her posture from her many years as a kunoichi, she turned to stare at me, looking as if she had gotten her emotions under control.

"Gomen-nasai, m'lady. What did you want me to speak with me about?" Sakura questioned.

As much as I wanted to stay away from this conversation, it needed to be brought up now, especially since she was going to have to do a mission dealing with it.

"Sakura," I sighed," I need you to be completely honest with me. I'm gong to ask you a very important question. This question is as important as life and death itself."

Sakura paused for a few minutes, and then nodded. "Hai."

"Do you still love Uchiha?"

Sakura's POV

All the air in my lungs suddenly left in one big WHOOSH! I understood the fact that this was going to be an important question, but I was not as all ready for that.

My mind whirled around and around trying to come up with an answer, but could find none.

Do I still love him?

After all he's done, is there any way for me to still love him?

And to top it all off, here was the million dollar question:

Did I love him in the first place?

It had been five years since Sasuke left, turning his back on not only the village, but Sakura's declared feelings as well. Unfortunately, she had been young and stupid and had no idea if she really felt that way or if it was some made up excuse to try to make him stay.

But, Tsunade needed an answer, and she needed it now.

Just say the first thing that comes out.

Listening intently and deciding to take her conscious' advice, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth, fearing the answer.

"Lie."

Tsunade gasped and stared at me at the same time that my hand flew to my mouth to cover it. Did I really just say that?

"Sakura… Are you sure?" Tsunade asked, still looking astonished.

I sat there and thought really hard, trying to wait for depression or a huge flow of tears to well up, but, nothing happened. No anger, sadness, or anything for that matter. I felt completely…normal! Not getting ahead of myself, I checked the place in my heart that Sasuke had always been when I was younger. Nothing was there besides a rising hatred for him.

Looking Lady Tsunade right in the eyes, I repeated it again. "Lie."

"Are you positive you don't love him at all anymore? I can't afford for you to second-guess yourself."

Standing my ground and even going so far as to give a small smirk, I now believed my heart.

"I don't love him. To tell you the truth, m'lady, I don't think I loved him at all. As a matter of fact, I will make it my personal mission to take him out myself."

As these words escaped my mouth, I began to realize that they flowed smoothly, without a hitch. To my amazement, they were 100% true! There was no catch in my voice, no hesitation, anything at all. I really didn't love Sasuke at all, and it felt amazing!

All these times I stuck up for him, trying to come up with a logical reason to everything wrong he had done. Always I would cover up for him, forcing everyone to believe he didn't really know what he was doing, when all this time, I was the one who didn't have a clue as to what I was doing, or saying, for that matter. The burden I carried for so long was not my burden to carry all along. This was his decision, his burden, and he would carry it and the consequences all by himself.

Tsunade looked at me a moment longer, then turned and walked away toward her desk. Opening a drawer and reaching inside, she returned to me with a scroll.

"Take this. Its contents are locked inside by a very powerful jutsu. Only the person it was meant for can see inside, but only when it feels that the time is right. I have tried many times to peer inside myself, but even I, one of the legendary sannin, cannot open it."

I took the scroll without hesitation and examined it. In some kind of dark red ink, was my name. Astonished that someone would go through the trouble of doing some kind of powerful jutsu just to tell me something, I tried to pry it open.

Sensing that it was being forced to open, it glowed a dark purple aura and shot out of my hand, causing me to jump back and let go of it while it flew into the corner of the room, where it landed with a hard thud.

"Kuso!" I swore loudly.

"Sakura!" Tsunade glared at me.

"Gomen- nasai, m'lady, but it scared the he- crap out of me," I corrected myself, blushing in embarrassment.

"That's understandable, but I told you. I chased that damned thing everywhere around this room trying to get it open." Tsunade sighed.

"Anyway, I want you to take that on the mission with you, so when it is time to open, it will be there with you. Now, that that's covered up let me brief you on your mission…"

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The team leader, Shikamaru, Temari, Naruto, and Hinata waited patiently and chatted as Sakura ran to her house to get prepared. All in the ninja outfits, everyone had checked their bags three times to make sure they had all they need. This was going to be the biggest mission of their lives, after all.

"So, we head to the Village Hidden in the Sand first thing, right?" Shikamaru questioned, looking up at the evening sky.

"Yeah. Gaara wouldn't want to miss out on something like this, especially since that would help redeem him even more, and if Gaara goes, then so does Konkurou." Temari confirmed as she smirked, readjusting her fan.

"Well, all I know is that we need to hurry up. The sooner we go to the Village Hidden in the Sound, the better! We'll bring him back, whether he wants to or not! Believe it!" Naruto shouted, causing Temari and Shikamaru to roll their eyes at the same time.

"I just hope that it isn't too late for him, considering it has been so long," Hinata stated, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"You what we have to do if it is too late and if he refuses to go," Shikamaru, flicking a bug off his shoulder.

"No, it won't come to that."

Now that they were older, you could easily tell when Naruto was serious, and he was definitely serious at this point.

Temari turned her focus toward Naruto, intrigued by this new Naruto that she had never seen before. She decided to push it a little further, just to see if he would crack.

"But, you know if it does come to that situation, you can't hesitate to kill him. I'm sure he won't hesitate to kill you. I agree with Shikamaru. If he refus-"

"I said it won't come to that!" It came out more like a growl than a voice. "If Sasuke refuses to go, then I'll make him go myself, even if I have to damn-near kill him, but he will come back with us, alive. You just leave him to me."

"Leave who to you, Naruto?" Sakura chose this moment to come out of her house, bag in tow.

"Temari's brother, Konkurou. That's only if he continues to keep acting like an aho though. Right, Naruto?" Shikamaru covered.

"Yeah, of course! Hehehe!" Naruto laughed nervously.

"Did I miss something?" Sakura asked, eying everyone suspiciously.

"Its nothing you want to talk about right now, Sakura. Let's just get a move on so we can get to my home before nightfall," Temari sighed as she began walking.

"Alright team, let's move out!" Naruto cheered, marching out the gates of Konoha.

"I think I'm the one that should be saying that. After all, I am team leader." Shikamaru reminded him, following behind. Just as Shikamaru thought, Naruto completely ignored him and kept marching. Shikamaru then glanced at Hinata, who was failing miserably o stop from laughing at him.

"Why does he have to be so troublesome?"

"Well, let's put it this way… Would he be Naruto if he wasn't?"

"Good point… I guess."

Sakura laughed and wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulder. "This is going to be a good adventure, I know it!"

And that is the end of this chapter!!! YAY me! It's kinda boring now but the next chapter is going to be action-packed, promise! So, lemme know what you think, spread the word, and give me more reviews.