It was that time again and she was in the same place she was last year – on the balcony alone as everyone inside waited to count down the new year. She preferred silence when composing her resolutions, though she didn't know why she bothered. Her new year's resolutions were always the same:
1. Get stronger.
2. Bring back her former teammate/love.
When she really thought about it, those goals were definitely connected. She wanted strength because she wanted to prove everyone wrong. To prove that she wasn't 'weak little Sakura' anymore, but a strong kunoichi who has trained under a legendary sannin.
More importantly, she wanted the strength so that when she got strong enough, she could bring Sasuke back. But not alone. She had help from someone who had promised to bring Sasuke back as well – from Naruto.
This year, she failed to do these things, though everyone had noticed the drastic improvement in her fighting. Not to mention, her superhuman strength was definitely not something you wanted to experience firsthand. This year wasn't a good year for the pink-haired kunoichi, but she had a feeling next year would be better.
She jumped off the balcony, landing on the ground. The apartment in which everyone was celebrating was only on the second floor and after jumping tree to tree for such a long time, the second floor was nothing.
She walked, trying to get away from all the bright lights and those selected few that were wandering the streets having had their fill of alcohol even though there were 10 minutes to midnight. Her feet trudged through the small sheet of snow. Her mindless drifting led her to a part of Konoha she hadn't visited for a long while. A red and white fan was painted on the wall in front of her.
She turned around and with her head down, prepared to walk back. But, as soon as she lifted her foot to take the first step, a loud popping noise caused her head to snap upwards; alert.
Were enemy nins attacking?
No. Bright and colourful lights answered her silent question. She watched as the fireworks continued – lighting up the houses inside the district she was about to leave seconds ago. It made everything seem lively, not abandoned like it had been moments ago. She smiled.
Yes, she thought, this year will definitely be better.