AN: Good news guys! I'm updating earlier than expected. I had a sudden flash of ideas streaming on my mind that I couldn't resist to write it down as soon as possible (must be the result of my boredom).

Anyway, here's the 3rd chapter. Hope you like it!

"Sasuke-kun!" she gasped. "I thought you were the one following me earlier. Gomen!"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "Following you?"

"Just don't mind it…" Sakura said to let the matter off.

Silence.

Sakura looked away. "By the way what were you doing here?" she asked feeling awkward about the silence. After all these years she hadn't gotten over her feelings for the Uchiha. She could feel herself blushing again.

"I came by my parents' grave…" he said staring at her intently.

"Oh…" she muttered. Stupid of me to ask.

"I saw you leaving your mother's grave so I followed you."

They continued walking, barely talking to each other. They were both thinking deeply.

"Wanna come with me?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Where to?" she wondered.

"I'm meeting up with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei."

She nodded. They both made their way to old bridge where team 7 used to wait each other. They saw Naruto leaning against the railing, arms across his chest while he impatiently kicking off the dirt on his shoes.

He heard their footsteps and looked up. His sulky face brighten at the sight of Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! How are you?" he asked.

"Fine." She muttered under her breath.

"Teme, you're late." He turned to Sasuke. "Day by day you're becoming more like Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke smirked then put his hands on his pockets.

"Kuso" the fox-boy cursed. "I'm here waiting patiently for the late-comers to come while I had more important business to attend to. And what do I get for that? An arrogant smirk and a─"

"Shut up, dobe" Sasuke cut him off, annoyed by the blonde's excessive complain.

"What did you said!" Naruto yelled.

"Hn."

"Let's just settle this the old way!" the blonde challenged the Uchiha, taking off his trench coat. Sasuke just shoved him off.

Sakura was just quietly watching the two. If it weren't for her current problem now, she would be joining their little fun.

Now she knows what Sasuke must have felt when he was at the same situation. Even though she wanted to go enjoy, she couldn't bring herself to do it because something's holding her back.

She sighed as she realized how far apart she had become from friends.

The commotion stop when Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke. "Yo!" he said raising his right hand as a sign of greeting (his left was holding the 84th volume of Icha Icha Paradise). They sweat dropped.

"You're late AGAIN!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled at him.

"Sorry I was busy looking up on some files." He explained.

"You mean busy rummaging through you perverted collection." Naruto sarcastically whispered to himself.

"Anyway, I have something to tell you." He switched to a serious tone and hid the book behind him. "This might help with your current mission."

Sakura swore she saw his gazed turned on her just for a few seconds. She then realized that Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and Sasuke have been busy trying to investigate the case for her.

Arigato, minna-san. She said to herself.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, seventeen years ago the same incident has happened here in Konoha. The suspect became a missing-nin but I don't know what his name is because the file was never made public. Among the victims was a whole family massacred in one night. I'm not sure about the details of the case because I was out of the village at that time. But I'm sure the archives hold something on it though."

"So you're telling us that it must be connected to the current case we have now." Sakura suddenly said.

"There maybe a possibility, yes" her sensei answered.

It couldn't be. An idea flash through her mind.

After meeting up with their sensei, Sakura went home immediately. Sasuke and Naruto proceeded to the old files archive located in the Hokage's building.

"You want what!" Tsunade's voice echoed the room.

"Permission to search on the old files." Sasuke stated.

"I don't think that it's a good idea." The Hokage refused.

"But we need to help Sakura-chan!" Naruto said raising his voice a little to urge the woman.

"Help her what?" she slammed her hands on the table angrily. "Help her get revenge? And do you honestly think that would make her happy again?"

The two jounins flinched. Yes, they wanted to help Sakura but what kind of help could they offer?

"I know exactly how she's feeling right now." Sasuke quietly said. "I know she wouldn't stop being hard on herself as long as she had settled this matter. I don't want her to go through the same thing as I did."

The Uchiha remembered the day he killed his brother, Itachi. His whole life has been wasted to that certain goal. But what kind of life could he have now that the only thing giving meaning to his struggles was gone? He has gotten his revenge, yes but he walked an aimless life after that.

He decided to go back to those people who have been important to him. Now, he would do all that he could to get Sakura out of that mess.

Why though, he asked himself. Do you really want to get her out or is it something else?

Tsunade exhaled sharply, calming herself down. "I know how worried the both of you about my student."

She stood up and get something from a drawer. "But I'm afraid that if she found out the truth, something would happen to her."

She handed a thick old folder to Sasuke.

"What's that?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I know that you were looking for that file seventeen years ago. I also thought it must be connected so I searched for it. You'll never believe what's inside. That's why I hesitated in giving it to you."

Sasuke and Naruto both looked at its contents.

Meanwhile, Sakura has been busy searching for her mother's old journal. She found it hidden under the bed. From outside her house, a cloaked shinobi was quietly watching from the bushes.

That's it for chapter 3. It's quite hard to come up for some ideas on the next chapter now that it has become more complicated but I'll update soon. You better hope that another set of ideas would flash on mind again so I could update soon enough for this week.