Chapter Title : Out and About

Sorry will try to finish story soon, been super busy moving! Please Review!

"He is…coming?", Sakura managed out closing her lips tightly in surprise to her own reaction.

'Why did it matter so much….of course it mattered he was her best friend after all, that's why it mattered…naturally.'

A quick glance was exchanged between Tsuande and Jiyara before she opened the floor for discussion.

"He will be back", she announced however the way it came out it sounded like an order rather than a statement.

Sakura not wanting to look ridiculous about whining of Naruto's departure dropped the topic quickly. She hurried out of her dress and left the Hokage's office in an awkward hurry. As the door slammed behind her it only took a few seconds to hear the loud arguing again.

She held the dress firm in hand as she made herself down a familiar road.

She let a sarcastic snort escape her lips almost sounding bitter.

"Familiar?"

Nothing seemed familiar everything was just one big blur, the way people looked at her when she walked by, she was grateful, but the glances turned into pity. She didn't need pity; she was not going to let her memory loss take over her life.

Another coarse snort escaped.

She was far from a party mood, but how could she let the people who loved her down. The sky was a beautiful bright orange as the rays of the sun began to dip behind the great mountain. She felt like this was the most beautiful scene she had ever seen, but something deep in her mind made it feel like she had seen this before.

"Beautiful isn't Sakura."

She tilted her head up toward the sky to find Kakashi-sensei leaping from a high rise building, famous ichi-ichi paradise book in tow.

"Do you mind?" He motioned his hand forward indicating that he wanted to join her on her walk home.

He looked down to the black bag, knowing what was underneath it, "You excited about your party?."

Instead of answering the question Sakura countered with one of her own, "What was it like training us?"

Kakashi without having to think for a single second responded, "Absolutely the craziest thing…but one of the greatest times of my life; watching all three of you grow, your trials and tributes I can say it reminded me of my younger teammates.

A tiny smile curled across Sakura's lips. "Did I always want to be with Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei?", a hint of anticipation in her frail voice.

"Well let's just say you weren't paying any attention to me or Naruto", he laughed

The smile bent downwards, "Was I…always mean to him?"

Kakashi at once understood the subject had changed from Sasuke to the energetic blond, "Well you made him what he is today Sakura."

Sakura didn't need kind words to understand that she had said and did awful things to Naruto, perhaps even the day before she left she was probably being a jerk to him.

"You know you were just kids Sakura, Naruto never held anything you said against him. He pushed and trained hard because you were always there with him. He wanted to bring Sasuke home for…the both of you."

Sakura could feel something tugging at the corner of her eyes but she pushed forward not allowing them to fall. "I better hurry home Kakashi-sensei, I have a great deal of planning to finish tomorrow.

"Yes, well I'm off.", and with a flick of the wrist he was gone, much like the fading light in the sky.

As Sakura paused in front of her door she reached out and grabbed the note hanging on her door, she read through it quickly.

Hope you found what you were looking for = ) - - Ino.

She held the note firm in grasp, she was usually very good at concealing her feelings put a sudden rage overtook her and she kicked the railing in front of her apartment, causing the solid iron to snap and plummet toward the ground.

In a sheer instant she realized what she had done and rushed to look over the side, hoping she had not hit anyone in her blind rage.

Hinata looked up at her a solid blush line present across her face as the iron rail lay merely meters away from where she was walking.

"Bad day?", she shyly called up.

"Can..can you tell?", Sakura asked in a childish tone.

Sakura stood with her back to Hinata as she opened the door, "Please excuse the mess", Sakura stated as she opened the door.

She switched on the light and everything was as neat and tidy as ever, "Hinata couldn't tell if anything was messed up at all."

"You- when you get upset you clean a lot…"Hinata murmured out slowly.

Sakura turned around surprised because this was true, "What else do you remember about me..?"

Hinata started twiddling with her slender fingers, "I also remember how much you care about Sasuke."

"Is that what defines me to everyone, oh there is Sakura the girl that loves Sasuke, the Uchiha clan heir.", she mumbled under her breath bitterly which did not go unnoticed by Hinata.

Hinata let a small smile set across her face, "Why don't I make some tea…".

"And that's how I found out I loved Kiba more than anything in this world, even more than myself. When he tried to give me up so I could have a chance with my crush, it takes a lot for someone to be able to do that. "

Sakura grabbed the handle of her cup tightly, "That's so beautiful Hinata."

After a small moment of silence, "So who was the crush, anyone I know, well anyone I used to know?"

A bright red blush appeared on Hinata's face she knew everyone had known about her little…well enormous crush on Naruto.

She began to fiddle aimlessly with her fingers again, "Well…hahaha, it is kinda funny if you think about it, but Naruto will always remain the same person I admire."

Sakura looked up from her cup to a blushing Hinata, "You…you liked Naruto?"

Hinata eased a little and nodded her head slightly, "You could put it that way"

"So…how did he feel about you?". Sakura knew she sounded a bit overbearing but she knew this was her chance to get some real answers.

"Well he was always there for me, and aside from being a tad weird to him we were generally very good friends.

He always had his eye on that one special girl.

Sakura's stance tensesed a little as she got the point about Mayuko. Hinata noticed the abrupt change in Sakura's face.

"Well Sakura I know you didn't feel that way about him, but it is good news you two are such good friends."

"Feel that way about him..?"

"Well you always...", Hinata cut off

"Ran around behind Sasuke..." she finished.

Hinata bleakly shook her head.

"Hinata do you think it is ever too late to change."

A bright smile set in upon her face, "No, it is never too late, sometimes your heart doesn't let you realize what you really want. Love just happens Sakura, there are no boundaries, no reasons, you can't help who you love. If there is anything I have learned it is telling the truth about the way you feel with fix everything, letting someone know you love them will either allow you the chance to be able or the power to finally move on."

Sakura watched in awe as this shy petite girl standing in the middle of her living room, who she couldn't remember anything about before a few weeks ago was convincing her whole heartedly to tell Naruto the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"But…I don't feel that way about…."

"Don't feel that way about who?", Hinata piped in.

"Him…", Sakura let slip.

The forest always spooked Naruto a little, especially when he was all alone. All those childish ghost stories stuck through the years, but he would be damn if he ever admitted that to anyone.

Naruto pushed himself forward as the sun was fully emerged; he was on a simple scouting mission, much to his protest with baa-chan to give him a lengthy dangerous one instead.

"Granny wouldn't want me missing anything…", he mumbled out loud sacrastically.

Naruto wanted nothing more than to be hundred miles away from Kohona, but the truth of the matter was no matter how much physical distance he put between him and the city it didn't stop the growing ache in his heart.

Sure he believed in miracles, especially after finding Sakura alive, but he knew Sakura would never feel that way about him. Why couldn't he just get that, she had said no from day one, and she would keep saying no until he died, that part he was quite sure about.

It didn't even bother Naruto that Sakura was madly in love with Sasuke, it used too, it used to kill him to try to spit his feelings out without joking, but really speaking his true heart to her and she would fall head over heels for Sasuke again. What would a guy be left to do, but sit and wait and pick up the pieces when Sasuke forgot a small unimportant detail.

Sasuke was a good friend, even after everything that had happened Naruto would always want Sasuke and Sakura's happiness above his own. Sasuke always understood Naruto's pain, but Naruto wouldn't let the goof ball keep pushing a girl like Sakura away just because Naruto was in love with her.

"Love…", he whispered softly as his feet quietly landed to the uneven ground.

He was done with love; he wanted nothing more to do with love he was fed up with…

A slight movement in the bushes caught Naruto's eyes. He didn't make a single movement; he knew he was still a great deal away from the enemy, so this has to be something else. Naruto thought up a plan quick in his mind that he felt would even make Shikamaru proud and pounced into action.

He would use his flash speed to appear in front of the unknown ninja and take the element of surprise, okay so Shikamaru would be a little bit more careful, but Naruto knew he could handle whatever was behind that bush.

"3. 2. 1…"

He stood face to face with familiar face, causing his stance to drop and his feet to become tangled, allowing his childish ways to appear once again. As quick as Naruto had jumped in front of the bush, was equally as quick as he was facing the uneven ground.

A hand reached out, "Need some help?"

Naruto without hesitation took hold of the hand firmly, "Wh-what are you doing here?"