Flaming Heart

Disclaimer: You know the drill… Naruto is not mine… blabla… this fic is only for pure entertainment.

Author's Note: Meh... I re-wrote this chapter three times because it didn't completely satisfy me! And then my bad luck struck me as suddenly the power went off and half of the chapter was gone!! Thanks to everyone for reviewing!! Getting reviews complimenting my story multiplies my will to write, b/c there isn't a writer in the world who hates praise or even constructive criticism! Oh... right... on with the chapter!

Jiraiya sat on the red cushioned chair for the ninth time. His dark eyes gazed at his ex-student who kept walking back and forth around the room; every now and then Minato would stop and gaze back at him, expectantly.

The white-haired Sannin rose from his seat one more time. Minato stopped and faced Jiraiya waiting for him to speak.

"You say that she crashed a whole room with a single punch? And that she also possesses healing skills?" Jiraiya asked the same question he had been asking for the past hour.

Minato sighed in exasperation, "Hai… and don't forget that she mentioned Tsunade before,"

"She demanded to see Tsunade," Jiraiya mumbled, "and why haven't you confronted the girl about it?" Jiraiya asked as a visible frown took form on the blond-haired man's expression.

"She's hiding something from us," Minato said as he walked towards his desk.

Jiraiya raised an amused eyebrow at his ex-student, "One more reason to confront the girl,"

Minato shook his head as he sighed, "She won't tell us what it is no matter what. She's an awful liar but to balance things over, she seems pretty good at keeping her lips shut,"

"I see… and now you want me to find Tsunade," said Jiraiya as he sat back on Minato's chair, "That won't be easy. Especially after I tell her the reason why…" Jiraiya paused with a sly smirk on his features, "We both know that she won't come just to talk with the girl,"

The Yondaime nodded in agreement. However, his blue eyes told the Toad Sage that his ex-student had something in mind.

"That's why we won't tell her the real reason," Minato said as he grinned at the white-haired man who was now completely devoted to what Minato was going to say next, "We're going to organize a poker tournament… with lot's of free sake,"

Jiraiya blinked at the blond-haired man, "What?" he asked after a few shocking seconds, "are you serious?! You cancelled the beauty contest but you're willing to organize a poker one? I'll let you know that this beauty contest was not under any circumstances for mere fun! I was going to take it as an opportunity to do some research for my next book!"

Minato sighed as his right hand hit his forehead, "There isn't really any Poker tournament," the blond said as he looked down at the open-mouthed Jiraiya.

"Oh," Jiraiya replied and chuckled embarrassedly, "Of course! I knew that… seriously boy… who do you take me for? I'm the legendary nin! I'm your mentor and everything you know was taught by me!"

Minato raised an amused eyebrow at the white-haired man, "So does it mean you'll do it?"

Jiraiya shut his lips and adopted a serious stance, "I want to have a look at this girl first,"

"What do you mean?" Minato pressed.

"I want to see her with my own eyes," Jiraiya replied with a smug smile on his face.

The Hokage took a deep breath through his nose, "Fine," he muttered after a minute.

Jiraiya smiled and placed himself by the blond-haired man side, his arm around Minato's shoulder, "Now… don't forget your promise!" he added cheerfully which made Minato cringe.

"M-my promise?" Minato asked.

"Yeah!" Jiraiya looked up to his ex-student who happened to be taller, "hey… you're taller than me," Jiraiya said as he started to compare their heights.

Minato looked down at the older man, "What promise?"

"Oh… right… you said you'd treat me for some Ramen," Jiraiya laughed at Minato while he wrenched the door open.

Minato looked at the older man in sheer disbelief, and then sighing he picked up his blue coat and walked behind Jiraiya, "You'll never grow up, will you?"

Jiraiya chuckled softly and turn his head to look behind his shoulder, "It was you who grew up too fast, ne?"

The Yondaime rolled his eyes as he followed his old mentor. It has always been like this, even when he was younger, Minato was always the grown up. Jiraiya was always cheerful and pulling pranks at his own students. At first, Minato thought it was rather childish of a shinobi to act like that; he also had been somewhat reluctantly in having the white-haired man as sensei in the first place.

A soft smile graced Minato's features as he recalled the day; Jiraiya gave them their very first mission. At first he had been shocked beyond limits as Jiraiya gave them the thumbs up and pushed them towards the hot springs. Then, the instructions of the mission made Minato wonder if the white-haired man possessed the slightest hint of sanity.

"Alright kiddies!" a cheerful Jiraiya offered them his famous crooked smile as they stopped in front of the hot springs, "This first mission will decide if you have what it takes to become a shinobi!"

The three genin blinked stupidly as Jiraiya pointed at the hot springs, "Listen up! The mission is simple and clear…" the Toad Sage hands reached for his holster and handed three photographic cameras to the genins. Minato stared in pure disbelief at his camera, and then he narrowed his blue eyes and glared back and forth between Jiraiya and his two excited team mates, "all you have to do is to get in there and take as many pictures as possible, ready? Set! Go!"

The other two hurried through the hot spring doors while Minato stayed behind still glaring at the older man, "This is not ethical,"

Jiraiya raised an amused eyebrow, "And how would a ten year old brat knows what's ethical and what's not?"

"Anyone would know the difference between what's ethical and what's not. I for example, only need to take a good look at you to know that all you do is not ethical,"

Jiraiya jaw dropped at the blond-haired boy remark. Minato rolled his eyes while he turned his back on the white-haired man. He too entered the hot springs with a resigned sigh.

As he soon as he stepped inside the air was taken by loud screams. His blue-eyes widened at the sight of his two team-mates scared expressions.

"Run Minato!" they both yelled as they were chased by dozens of angry women.

"Hey are you even listening to me?" Jiraiya asked as he waved his both hands in front of Minato's face.

"Huh? What?" Minato replied as he snapped back to reality.

"The man's waiting for your order," said Jiraiya as he pointed at the waiter.

Minato smiled, "Sorry… I'd like what he's having,"

"Right away, Hokage-sama," the waiter bowed and walked away.

"Now now… what were you daydreaming about? Don't tell me you're still trying to get that red-haired woman attention… because if you ask me, she's not interested at all… and besides I think I saw her wink at me the other day…"

Minato shook his head slightly with a genuine smile on his features as Jiraiya carried on jabbering through the night.

The sun was still saying good-bye as it moved slowly down towards the horizon. The streets of Konoha were oddly quiet and there weren't many citizens outside. Most of them were already inside preparing dinner, others were sill on their way home. Three figures were doing the last. They walked in a comfortable silence, enjoying only their company.

Sakura eyed the strange and yet familiar houses as she walked down the street. Not many things seemed to change in the future. Some of the houses were incredibly old and needed to be restored, some of them didn't seem to exist in the future or she simply had no memory of them. There were also many people that she did not recognize. Sakura related that fact with the nine-tailed fox. She knew that the nine-tailed fox had taken a lot of lives.

A frown came to her pale features as all her thoughts led to a blond-haired man with deep blue-eyes. The Yondaime… he was going to die. Sakura lips parted as her green eyes shone with sadness. The nine-tailed fox… it was going to be the start of everything. The Yondaime would sacrifice his life and then he would also seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto. That could not happen. She didn't want her friend to suffer in the future. Just the single thought of having the villagers look down on Naruto caused goosebumps on her skin. She would have to stop it at all costs. But how?

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shook her head as if throwing all of her thoughts away. Her emerald eyes stopped on the two figures ahead.

Rin was bracing herself; her brown eyes staring warmly back at Sakura. The corner of her lips lifted up slightly in a shy smile.

Kakashi had his hands in his pockets; a bored and lazy expression could easily be read in his uncovered eye.

"Haha…" Sakura chuckled as she hurried towards them, "I spaced out," she said what they already knew.

"Well, this is where I leave you," Kakashi said as he looked to the left.

Sakura eyed the big house with interest. It was a white house with a little garden. It appeared to have two floors. Sakura smiled softly. Kakashi-sensei lived in a second-floor apartment but the Kakashi from this time lived in a big house. She wondered what other things about the silver-haired nin she would learn.

"Good-night," said Rin with a warm smile, "We'll see you tomorrow,"

Kakashi merely nodded as he opened the gate that led to his garden.

"Bye!" said Sakura as she watched the copy-nin disappear behind his door, "Ano… does he live all by himself?" Sakura asked. She bit her lip as she stared at the brown-haired girl.

Rin looked at Sakura and nodded, "H-hai… he doesn't have any family left,"

"Oh…" said Sakura as she looked behind back to his house, "Kakashi-sensei…" she whispered softly. She never once stopped to think about her sensei past.

"NEE-SAN!" a loud voice interrupted Sakura's thoughts as two cheerful twins ran towards them. Sakura eyed Rin as she smiled down at her brothers.

A wave of warmth and at the same time jealousy hit Sakura. The pink-haired girl was quite surprised at this new feeling. Shaking her head she quickly shook the negative thoughts away as she forced a smile on her face.

The twins turned to look at her, both eyeing her suspiciously.

"She's still staying with us?" Kenji asked as he pointed a finger at Sakura.

Rin merely laughed, "Hai, she has nowhere else to stay. So you better treat her nice. She's our guest,"

The other twin narrowed his eyes, "Our guest huh?" he questioned as he walked up to her. His deep brown eyes studied every inch of Sakura and then he placed himself next to her and held on to her arm, "Do you know how to cook?"

Sakura arched an eyebrow and hesitantly nodded, "Hai."

"You know how to make Ramen?" Kenjiro asks in delight, his brown eyes now beaming at Sakura.

Again, the pink-haired girl nodded.

"ALRIGHT!" Kenjiro punched the air in pure happiness.

Both Sakura and Rin started to laugh. Kenjiro blushed slightly while Kenji pouted.

The four of them walked down the street. Rin started to tell her little brothers her latest adventure. Both of them, often looked towards the quiet pink-haired girl in pure disbelief. Sakura heard Kenji comment that there was no way that a girl could be that strong. Kenjiro quickly nodded and backed up his brother.

A smile graced Sakura's rosy lips as she stared at the both of them. It turned quite obvious that Kenji was the grumpy and difficult brother; he seemed also very protective of his sister. On the other hand, Kenjiro looked more soft, more relaxed and cheerful. Sakura also concluded that he was the most talkative, since he'd turn to her to ask a few questions every now and then. She also realized that Kenjiro and Kenji seemed very dependent on each other.

"Sakura-san," Kenjiro asked with a shy smile, "Will… will you cook us some Ramen tomorrow?" he asked as he swung his right foot nervously.

Sakura chuckled and placed a hand on his head and then messed his long hair, "Only if you don't try to sneak any more bugs on me,"

Kenjiro swallowed dry and nodded, "It's a deal!" he quickly offered her one wide grin. Sakura eyes widened in surprise as at that very moment, she saw Naruto's face… the same wide grin. The pink-haired kunoichi watched him turn around after his brother with a heavy heart. She couldn't actually believe it… she was definitely getting home-sick.

"Naruto…" she whispered as she stepped inside her new temporarily home.

"Sakura-chan!" Rin smiled at the pink-haired girl not noticing her sulking expression "I… you can have a bath if you want," Immediately, Sakura's face gained a new light at the mention of a bath, "You can… use some of my clothes after and then tomorrow we… we can go shopping,"

"Thank you!" Sakura exclaimed happily. The idea of having a hot bath sounded really appealing.

Rin showed Sakura the bathroom and helped her to prepare the bath. Then she told Sakura that she was going to start to make them some dinner. Sakura thanked the brunette-haired girl once more. Rin merely smiled as she left Sakura by herself.

As soon as she stepped inside the hot bath, Sakura closed her eyes and sighed as the hot water greeted her skin. It felt incredible good to be under water after a few days. Sure, they had cleaned her wounds at the hospital but the truth was that she hadn't taken a proper bath yet.

After a few minutes, Sakura allowed herself to close her eyes; the hot water was making her slightly sleepy. However, her brain was still functioning.

The pink-haired kunoichi suddenly realized that she never got to analyze her situation properly. At first she had thought that she was dreaming. That obviously such thing as going back in time was not possible and obviously no one ever heard of such thing. When Sakura first became conscious that she was not dreaming, she entered in a small state of shock and denial.

But now… now she was definitely sure that she was indeed back in time and the question was how? Was it the Kyuubi's chakra result?

Then suddenly, as if a lightening had hit her, she opened her eyes at once. Her heart started beating faster and faster. Her eyes widened as a sudden realization dawned upon her.

Minato… Yondaime… that day… that first day when she was at the hospital...

"N-Naruto!"

"I'm sorry; I think you've mistaken me with someone else. Let me introduce myself, my name is Minato Namikaze,"

"Naruto… Oh Kami… it can't be… can it?" she asked herself as she tried to calm down her own heart beat.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's head jerked towards the wooden door.

"Yeah?"

"Dinner's ready!" Rin's gentle voice called out from behind the door.

"Alright, I'll be right out in a minute," said Sakura as she stood up and left the bathtub feeling completely refreshed and at the same time highly disturbed by her thoughts.

A few moments later Sakura made her way towards the kitchen and blushed furiously as her stomach complained loudly. The scent of the food was marvelous. Rin stared at the pink-haired kunoichi and laughed.

"Hungry huh?" Rin questioned as she placed the cups on the table.

"Here let me help you," Sakura said as she grabbed the food bowl and placed it on the center of the table.

"Boys!!" Rin called out as she took one of the seats. Sakura did the same.

"No way! I'm telling you that I did it myself!"

"There is no way that you could of done it on your own, you baka!"

"Who you're calling baka!?"

"You!"

Rin forced a small smile as she and Sakura sat in the kitchen under a comfortable silence while they listened to the twins' argument. Then a loud noise was heard in the hallway and Sakura assumed that they were now both wrestling.

Sakura and Rin were sitting in the kitchen under a comfortable silence while listening to the twins wrestling around in the hallway. They continue eating with their eyes closed, shaking their heads at how much they really are alike. The noise suddenly died down and it became completely silent.

Rin and Sakura looked up at each other as the silence seemed to continue on forever. After a while Rin turned and looked towards the door. "It's too quiet..."

"Do you think they killed each other?" Sakura asked as she grabbed her cup.

Wham!

There was a momentary pause that gave Rin and Sakura a quick moment to glance at each other then turn back towards the door. Shuffling and wrestling noises then commenced from the hallway. Rin and Sakura turned back towards each other again and shook their heads.

"Nope, everything's fine..." said Rin while shoving another bite of food into her mouth.

"That cloud over there, reminds me of a shark," said Rin as she shielded her eyes from the glaring sun.

"That's a Lobster, Rin," Sakura said in a matter of fact tone.

"No, it's definitely a shark," Rin stubbornly added.

"Lobster!"

Both girls have now been waiting for almost an hour for a certain silver-haired jounin and for a certain Hokage to appear. They were lying on the grass, looking at the clouds and trying to figure out what the clouds resembled to.

"Seriously, Salura-chan…" Rin narrowed her eyes as she directed her gaze towards the massive cloud, "It is a shark! There is no way that a lobster can be that big!"

Sakura snorted, "The size doesn't matter! It resembles a lobster the most,"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"If I may interrupt… I think that it looks like a spider,"

Sakura and Rin immediately sat on the grass and turned around. Sakura eyes widened as her eyes met deep dark ones. Her breath was caught on her throat as if she forgot how to breathe.

"K-Kyo…kun," Sakura whispered as she finally released her breathe.

"Sakura-san, it is nice to see you again," Kyo's tone was polite and soft. Sakura nodded and smiled.

"It's nice to see you too," she said as she and Rin stood up. Sakura noticed that Kyo gave a quick glance towards the brunette girl but said nothing to acknowledge her, "Er… this is my team-mate, Rin… Rin this is-"

"I know who she is," Kyo interrupted. His dark orbs only focusing on Sakura.

Sakura glanced sideways at Rin who was staring down to the floor, her features seemed to have lost it's colour and her brown hair was hanging down covering most of her face.

"Oh…" Sakura said not really knowing what to think of Kyo's attitude.

"I heard that you were out on a mission," It was not a question but a statement. Kyo's eyes burned into her green ones, he raised an eyebrow as the pink-haired girl looked away shyly.

"Hai… it… was a failure," said Sakura as she tried to calm down her own heart beat.

It made her uncomfortable to look at such familiar eyes. It reminded her too much of Sasuke's eyes.

"On the contrary… I heard that you saved the day, ne?" Kyo offered her a gentle smile.

Sakura chuckled nervously and then noticed that Rin was still avoiding participating on the conversation.

"Kyo," another voice sounded from behind Sakura, causing the hair of the back of her neck stand up. She recognized it at once. It was Kakashi's voice and it was not his usual cheerful lazy voice, but his dangerous and serious voice.

"Ah… Hatake," Kyo greeted back, his soft features gave in to a frown, "You're here to train?"

"I believe that's none of your business," Kakashi answered as he placed himself next to Rin.

Sakura could feel the tension in the air. It was as if a dark cloud had descended upon them and it was ready to rain down on them.

"Eh… well… we should go, ne?" Sakura said with a fake cheerful tone of voice that no one missed.

"Very well," Kyo said as he looked back at the pink-haired girl, "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again,"

Sakura blinked at the Uchiha who had already turned his back on her, "Huh?" She tried to make sense of the Uchiha's words but nothing reasonable came to her mind.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked and Sakura turned to look at him. He had his arm around Rin's shoulder who still was gazing at the ground.

"H-hai," said Rin as she raised her head and met the silver-haired jounin eye, "Fine!" she added with a sweet smile.

Kakashi turned his head towards the pink-haired girl, "And how do you know him?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer but again a new voice joined in, "I believe I introduced them myself,"

The three of them turned their heads to the right where a smiling blond-haired man stood leaning against a tree.

"Minato-sensei!" Rin exclaimed as she ran towards him.

Sakura couldn't think anymore. Her head was filled with so many things that she did not yet understand. Her emerald eyes traveled towards the copy-nin. Sakura face flooded with colour as she met his eye. Kakashi quickly looked away and he too started to walk towards Minato. Only a few seconds later; after Sakura tried to understand why on earth she blushed when she met Kakashi's gaze, she finally joined them.

The pink-haired girl bit her lip nervously when she approached the three of them only to find them looking back at her with expectantly faces.

"W-what?" Sakura asked not really liking the way they were looking back at her.

"Well… your part of the team now," said Minato, "and as part of the team, we have to know what your abilities are. I want you to tell us what your strengths and weaknesses are,"

Sakura stared at him for a few seconds then she nodded hesitantly. Her eyes lowered towards Rin and Kakashi who were both sitting on the grass staring at her, their full attention was completely devoted to her.

"Erm… well I'll start with my strengths," Minato nodded and gave her an encouragement smile, "I'm a quick learner and I…" Sakura bit her lip and her eyes stopped on Kakashi who had a blank expression as he looked towards her. What was she going to say? They knew… they obviously knew of her strength, they saw her half destroy a room with a single punch and Minato-sensei probably knew this by now as well. Was he suspicious? Did he even know Tsunade?

He'll know if you lie…her inner self chose to cut through Sakura thoughts.

"I'm a medic-nin and my chakra control is one hundred percent perfect, lately I have been practicing and developing genjutsu," Sakura said and waited for any questions but none of them opened their mouths to say a word, then taking a deep breathe of air she carried on, "My weaknesses… I need to put more effort in taijutsu because…" a blush took over her features, "my stamina isn't much of a thing,"

"Then we have to change that," Minato said as he smiled at her, "From now on you will spar whether with Kakashi or Rin. I will also want you to accompany Rin to the hospital whenever you are not training or when there is an emergency,"

Sakura stared at Minato and then at Rin, her lips parted, evidently confused.

"Ano, Sakura-chan! I'm a medic-nin as well!"

The rest of the day went rather fast. After their short reunion, the Yondaime told them that he had some issues to take care of and told Sakura that she would train her taijutsu without using her monstrous strength. Sakura inner self then barged in and told her that she did the right thing to tell him the truth.

Kakashi then told Rin and Sakura that he too needed to take care of some things and disappeared. Sakura wondered what was so urgent that he needed to take care of. Rin on the other hand simply smiled and dragged Sakura to some shopping session.

At the end of the day, as Sakura let herself fall down on her bed she couldn't help but to feel that she was growing attached to Rin.

It was a routine now. His abrupt awakenings in the middle of the night, his body consumed in sweat, his heavy breathing, it was something he had grown used to.

Hatake Kakashi sat on his bed, his long hands covered his face and his toes touched the cold floor. The dreams were now much more intense and despite his sane side that kept telling him that it was nothing, he knew that something was coming his way. He just couldn't point his finger on it.

Slowly he glanced towards the alarm clock. It was still 4 o'clock. The sun wasn't even up yet. The silver-haired nin sighed in exasperation as he stood up and made his way to his kitchen. Maybe some tea would help.

He finished his cup of tea and slammed the cup hard against the table. The porcelain broke into tiny pieces. Dammit! Why couldn't he forget? Just for one damn day, just for one day…

Kakashi didn't bother to clean up. He merely stood up and grabbed a jacket and then left his house.

The streets of Konoha were awfully quiet, but then again that was to be expected since it was still early and normal people were still sleeping. The copy ninja didn't even bother to look at where he was going; he knew the way now by heart, he could even walk there with his eyes closed.

Minutes later he was standing right in front of the memorial stone. He knew every single name carved in it, though he was only there for a very special one. Kakashi sighed quietly as he placed his hand on the memorial stone for support. He then stared at the name.

Obito Uchiha.

The silver-haired nin closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the silent that the night provided. It was rather relaxing to be able to be outside, with the gentle breeze caressing his features, no noise, nothing to disturb that moment.

"I'm sorry…" said Kakashi as he opened his eye to stare at the memorial stone, "I'm so sorry…"

He had failed him. Not only he had failed to save him… he had almost failed to keep his promise. Rin could have died that day. Images of a badly injured Rin assaulted his mind and a pang of guilt filled his heart. He was still weak… he couldn't yet control his sharingan to the fullest.

He didn't know for how long he stood there just staring at the memorial stone. He just stood there remembering.

Kakashi could see clearly the once happy and careless boy… he could see the wide grins that the Uchiha would offer him only to get a scowl in return. Obito's ideas that only got them in trouble… Obito's silly attempts to get Rin's attention… the pathetic excuses for Obito's lateness…

"Did I just make it in time?" Obito asked, panting for air.

"Nope, because you're late! Obito!" Kakashi replied obviously annoyed, "You idiot! What time did you think we were meeting? If you're a fully-fledged ninja, you should naturally follow the rules and regulations strictly!"

"NO! On the way, I had to show the way to an old woman carrying luggage… plus, there was something in my eye…" Obito tried to explain but Kakashi simply kept glaring furiously.

"WHAT? That's a lie!!"

His fingers caressed the Uchiha's carved name and then he stepped back, his gaze never leaving the memorial stone, "I… I miss you…" said Kakashi; his voice was lower and softer than usual. He would only speak this way to Obito's grave. Kakashi liked to think that Obito was there… listening to him, "besides there are many things happening… I thought you would like to know," Kakashi paused as the pink-haired girl picture came to his mind, "we have a new team mate,"

Kakashi sighed softly, "At first… I thought she was like the others you know… weaklings that didn't deserve your place. Did I tell you that she's the only one who made it from all the others who tried to take your place? That's right…" the silver-haired nin scratched his hair as a smile formed underneath his mask, "At first she was really annoying… pretty much like you… haha! Anyway, Rin took this immediately weird liking for the new girl… oh yeah, her name is Sakura… she's a weird one," Kakashi paused to breath in, "She's still a closed book you know… we still don't know much about her past… but I have a good feeling about her,"

Kakashi closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, "You should see her… she has this ridiculous pink-hair and she is a fiery one too! She… well she pretty much saved mine's and Rin's lives… I was in no conditions to fight and Rin… yeah…"

The copy-nin opened his eyes and gazed back at the memorial stone, "I'm sure you would get along with her,"

A few minutes passed by and Kakashi simply remained in absolute silence as he stared at the memorial stone. His soft smile faded away. Kakashi always felt relaxed after letting everything go with Obito's. Even though the Uchiha could not reply to him… something inside him was sure that his old team mate was listening to every word he said.

She didn't know for how long she had been staring at the ceiling. Sakura knew it was pretty late; the whole house was immersed in a comfortable silence. Yet, the comfortable silence was something that the pink-haired kunoichi did not welcome at all. The silence scared her. It was as if two large hands were pressing her throat, stealing all the air from her. It made her mind drift away to things that she did not want to see or even think about.

Her mind kept going back to what happened in the morning, when she and Rin encountered Kyo. He was an Uchiha… she had seen him before with Iruka-sensei. She was sure that she had looked like a perfect idiot as she stared at him like she was staring at a ghost. The feeling of sorrow that had taken over her as she stared at Kyo was beyond scary… because she finally realized that she had something to start with.

She would have to get closer to Kyo and work her way until she could finally approach Itachi.

Sakura cringed at her own thoughts. Just the mere thought that she would have to try and save Itachi from murdering his family… it scared her and almost made her angry and disgusted with herself. Disgusted because Itachi was still a child and she felt resentful at everything he did.

It was Itachi's fault that Sasuke was so obsessed with revenge. It was Itachi's fault. He was the cause that broke Sasuke beyond any hope to repair the boy's heart. However, she had to remind herself that he still didn't do anything wrong. She had to let her bitter thoughts aside and only then she would be able to think of a plan.

Sighing in frustration, Sakura sat on the edge of the bed and hid her face between her hands, muffling a groan. A few seconds later, Sakura stood up and tiptoed towards the small closet. She smiled softly as she looked at the pieces of clothes that Rin kindly purchased for her.

She quickly grabbed something comfortable and dressed. Sakura then walked towards the window and opened it. She closed her eyes in appreciation as the soft wind caressed her features. A few minutes later Sakura opened her eyes again and without an effort she jumped down the window towards the ground with a silent thump. Sakura straightened herself as she glanced at both sides of the street.

Sakura decided to go left; her steps were slow as if she had any time of the world at her disposal. Her head was high as she contemplated the many stars that decorated the dark-blue sky. They seemed as if they were staring back at her with knowing glowing eyes. As if they knew her secret and understood the heavy weight she supported on her shoulders.

After what seemed an eternity of walking, Sakura found herself in the middle of the cold empty streets of Konoha. Her bright emerald eyes stared at the tall opened gates. She could see the mass of green standing outside the gates, a vast world whispering into her ears, tempting her.

The wind was blowing softly, caressing her wet skin. Tears fell now down her face freely as her short pink-hair moved along with the wind. Her heart beat was so faint that she wondered if she was still alive. She took a deep breathe as she calmed down her quiet sobs. Then slowly she turned around and stared at the bench.

The very same bench he had left her on. She smiled weakly as she lied down on her back. It was as if the bench understood her pain.

Her emerald eyes stared at the dark clouds that slowly passed by. Then, suddenly she felt something wet on her forehead. Her fingers touched it. Water.

Before she could do anything, the rain was falling down steadily. Sighing, she remained on the bench as the rain kept falling down, completely soaking her.

"They say the rain wash away all of our sorrows,"

The pink-haired girl sat up at the familiar voice.

"T-tsunade-sama?" she asked with a bewildered look stamped on her pale features.