You know what? You guys gave me 19 reviews in under 24 hours. You definitely (that is the one word I always have extreme difficulty spelling! Don't ask me why, I don't know) deserve this early update because you are all amazing, and I love you more than ice cream :) (I know, ice cream? Whoa... Now that doesn't happen very often.) I hope you enjoy! :D

Sakura stumbled back to Konoha. Her legs had given out a few times on the way back, and they were threatening to do so again. She almost cried in relief as the gates came into view. But Sakura had made a deal with herself. She wouldn't cry again. She was done with crying. She hated that it gave away a weakness she wasn't meant to have. So she would cry no more.

She heard a shout from someone at the gates and knew that they had spotted her and her pink hair.

She had never felt more grateful to it.

Her legs gave out again beneath her and she sat in the middle of the road while a nin ran towards her.

"Are… Are you…? No… It can't be… Haruno Sakura? Is that you?" The nin asked, crouching down before her.

"Hai." It was more of a breathy sigh, but that didn't matter. She was finally home, and that's all that mattered. Well, except that home was no longer quite complete.

She felt them lifting her and taking her through Konoha, through to the hospital. She was admitted immediately, and Tsunade appeared at her side.

"Do you want me to let people know now, or wait for a bit?" Tsunade asked her student, smiling happily.

Sakura's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh, please tell people now! I've missed everyone like crazy!"

The Hokage nodded and poofed back to her office. "Naruto! Ino! Kakashi! Sai! Lee! Hinata!" All six people appeared before her, Naruto and Ino looking grumpy, Kakashi and Sai looking bored, Lee looking… Like only Lee could, and Hinata looking shy.

"Hai, Hokage Sama! What is it that your will requires of me? Whatever it is, I will make sure that I, Rock Lee, complete it with the utmost finesse, and if I should happen to fail, I shall do five thousand push ups, and if I cannot accomplish that, I shall -"

"That's enough, Lee." Said Tsunade, her face looking grave. (Purely to mislead the people before her, obviously.) "Now, I have some news for you. I must ask you to not make a scene. It's about Sakura."

Naruto was there in an instant. "Baa Chan, what is it? Did we get her? Did we find her? She's alive, right? She'll be okay, right?" Tsunade could hear the desperation in his voice, and could vaguely see Hinata carefully lowering Ino into a chair. Ino was pale and tears were forming in her eyes. Whether for impending joy or sadness, Tsunade couldn't tell. Kakashi just stood there, his expression vacant, but Tsunade could tell that his mind was whirring at a thousand miles a minute. Lee was shouting "Yes! I knew my beautiful blossom would find her way back to us!" Sai just stood there being… Sai.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, but she has been poisoned and is in bad shape. I don't know if…" She hesitated, for dramatic tension, "If the nurses will let you see her right away or not!" Tsunade started grinning like a kid. "She's doing fine, Naruto, and apart from a few bumps and bruises, she's in great condition."

Naruto yelled, and punched the air. "Baa Chan! You had me so worried! Arigato, Baa Chan! Arigato, arigato, arigato!" And with that, he poofed from the room, landing in the hospital. Ino, Kakashi, Sai, Lee and Hinata only seconds behind him.

Naruto tracked Sakura's (newly found!) Chakra signature to room 407, where he burst in, startling the nurse who was taking Sakura's temperature.

"Excuse me, but I must ask you to -"

'SAKURA CHAN!" Naruto roared in delight, launching himself at the poor pinkette.

"Naruto!" Sakura called in happiness, hugging Naruto to herself fiercely. Naruto had tears streaming down his cheeks. Sakura managed to extract enough of her own face from Naruto's bear hug to peer around his chest. "Ino! Oh my gosh, Ino! And… KAKASHI SENSEI! Hinata! Lee! Sai! Oh my… KAMI! I've missed you guys so much! Can you pry this one -" she pointed to Naruto "- off me so I can breathe and say hi to all of you?" She vaguely saw the nurse leave quietly, before Ino and Kakashi threw Naruto off of her and, in turn, hugged her ferociously.

"Sakura! I am so sorry I lost track of you back in December, I've been so worried, I am so glad you are okay! Don't you ever run off on me again, I've been going mad, everyone here has been so down since you've been gone… Don't you ever disappear again otherwise I will find you and punch you so hard, Sasori will wince!" Ino gushed, holding Sakura in a grip that could easily rival Naruto's.

"Ino… Can't… Breathe…" Sakura choked, and Ino let her grip loosen slightly, before Kakashi coughed and Ino stepped aside to let Kakashi through.

"Sakura." He said her name carefully, as if afraid that it could send her running. "You've had us all worried sick."

Sakura giggled, still slightly breathless from Ino's assault. "I missed you too Kakashi." She kissed him on the cheek, and embraced him. He returned her hug with a crinkled eye.

Then it was Lee's turn. "Sakura Chan, my beautiful sunflower! My heart in flipping in joy that you have returned home in such an amazing way! I know that it is surely a feat that only one such as yourself could possibly achieve! The Power of Youth is truly shining brightly and strong in your soul!" He gave her the good guy pose, and Sakura sweat dropped. Lee still hadn't changed; from his personality, to his full green suit, to his incredible bowl cut.

"Alright Lee, just hug me already. Tsunade Sama's heart will be flipping for a completely different reason if I have to go over there myself and hug you." Lee grinned at her and hugged her tightly, before Hinata came forwards and hugged her with a strength that belied her petite body.

"I am so glad you are home, Sakura Chan. I have missed you terribly. Everyone has."

"Thank you, Hinata Chan." She let go after a minute or so, and Sai stepped forward.

"I started making a book, with different facial expressions in it, and what they mean," he said calmly. "Everyone here is smiling, but they are also crying. I wasn't sure why at first. If you smile, it means you are happy -" he showed her a picture of a smiling face in a small book. Underneath was the word 'Happy'. "But if you cry, then it means you are sad." He showed her another picture with a crying face. Underneath was the word 'Sad'. "I've been thinking all this time as to why everyone is both happy and sad, before I remembered a passage that I read in a book a few months ago: 'They cried tears of happiness'. I suppose that this is what that means. Tears of happiness. I don't understand the concept, but I figure that it means that one is just very very happy. Would that be correct?"

Sakura smiled kindly at him. He had been making a lot of process in her absence. "That would be correct, Sai. And another thing that people do when they are happy to see someone is that they give them a hug, so come here and hug me." Sai shuffled towards her, unsure of what to do. He put his arm around her shoulders in an awkward embrace, before backing away.

"So, Sakura Chan, where have you been all this time? We only tracked you to a river, and couldn't find any traces of chakra after the river. What happened?" Naruto asked eagerly, and everyone nodded at his question, eager for her story.

Sakura started to sweat in a panic. She hadn't even thought of what she was going to tell everyone! Think, Sakura, think! She thought desperately, but nothing sprang to mind. She couldn't tell them about Sasuke and Orochimaru, she had already told Sasuke she wouldn't. And besides, if Naruto were to find out where Sasuke was, he would head straight off without thinking through a plan. He could get himself killed if he did that!

"Uh… I… I have to… To talk to Tsunade about it first, before I tell you guys." Yeah, this could work, keep going with the lie. Then you and Tsunade can figure out a cover up story together, and won't be giving two different stories to them! "I… Uh… I went over it briefly with Tsunade, but she told me that she wants me to tell her the whole story before I tell you guys or anyone else, for that matter." Sakura inwardly congratulated herself for her quick thinking.

Naruto looked at her with sad eyes, but he (finally) knew better than to argue with Tsunade's orders. "Alright, Sakura Chan. But don't think you can keep it a secret forever! As soon as Tsunade knows, BAM!" He slapped his hands together, "you tell me, okay?"

Sakura laughed at him. "Alright, Naruto. You got it.

It had taken Sasuke four days to get back to the Wataridori Base. He walked through the halls, and was pissed beyond reason when he sensed Karin's Chakra approaching him.

"Karin, I swear, if you come any closer to me, I will make your corpse so unrecognisable, it'll be impossible to tell whether you were a human or a rabbit." With satisfaction, he felt her Chakra slowly moving away from him. He had one destination in mind, and didn't want Karin anywhere near him. He had a promise to fulfil to Sakura.

Sakura. His heart ached when he thought of her. He wished he hadn't left her so coldly. He wished he would've held her, and kissed her back before he'd left. Tell her that he'd miss her like crazy too. That… That he loved her, instead of whispering it to her when she was half dead. He felt so lonely, knowing that she wasn't waiting just behind the door to his room. He hadn't realised just how much he had depended on her presence. Ironically it took her absence for him to wish she was with him. The saying stood true: You never know what you have until it's gone.

He opened the door to Shinji's old room and sensed Aya's presence. He heard her squeak in fright and heard her running around trying to find a place to hide. She was in the kitchen again, so he walked in that direction. Aya was huddled on the bench, shaking.

"You haven't come to kill me, have you sir?" She asked timidly.

Sasuke shook his head. "No. You are Aya, yes?" She nodded. "You were an important friend to Sakura. She asked me to keep you safe. Come, you will be staying with me."

When Aya didn't make to move, he reassured her that he meant her no harm. She followed him to his room.

At night, when he was standing under the shower, he remembered something, and his hands started to shake. It was his birthday. July twenty third. He had hoped that Sakura would be with him on his birthday. He had planned to tell her that he loved her. To hold her in his arms, kiss her like his life depended on it, cook a nice dinner, and maybe make love to her, if she would allow it. And Kabuto had taken that away from him. Sakura probably would have told him that she was pregnant today, that he was going to be a father. That he'd have a family again. It would've been the best birthday present he could have hoped for. But because of Kabuto, and his fucking poison, that future would forever stay a lost dream.

He gave Aya his bed, and he slept on the couch. The next day everyone moved to the Shio Island Base. Aya stayed with Sasuke, and he kept her safe. Orochimaru tried to turn her into a test subject at one stage, but Sasuke had told Orochimaru that he would kill him if he did.

He missed Sakura terribly, and wanted to see her again, if only for a moment. He spent most of his time planning on how to make Kabuto pay for nearly killing Sakura.

He did not suspect that Kabuto was only a willing pawn, and this suited Karin just fine.

Karin saw Sasuke nearly every day, and every time she did her best to try and seduce him. Her plan failed every time, of course, and she did not understand why. Sakura was dead, what was keeping Sasuke away from her now? He had had time to mourn, and now it was time for him to take her instead. Karin was positive that any moves Sakura could pull in bed, she was more than capable of doing three times better.

But yet, he still threatened to kill her every time she got so much as ten feet before him.

I think it's time for a bit more research, she thought.

Sakura was sitting in the hospital bed, two days after she was brought 'properly' into Konoha. Naruto was sitting beside her, eating some Ramen that he probably wasn't allowed in the hospital.

"Hey, Sakura, you know that Hinata and I are dating, right?" Naruto said suddenly. Sakura perked up, very surprised.

"No, I didn't, Naruto! Congratulations! That's awesome!" Sakura exclaimed happily. It took him long enough, she thought to herself with a small smile. "I'm so happy for you guys!" She smiled at him. Hinata must be over the moon!

Naruto flashed her a foxy grin. "I'm glad that you are happy for us, Sakura Chan. I'm really happy with Hinata. I think I love her."

Sakura's heart soared. This was truly awesome news to her. Her heart started to sink as she started to remember a certain someone…

Naruto couldn't get the smile off his face. "I think that Hinata is a bit worried though. She knows that I use to love you, and that when you disappeared is when I started seeing her differently. I think that she's worried that now you are back, I'm going to stop loving her instead. She hasn't said anything, of course, but I can tell that she's thinking it. Don't get me wrong, she's so happy that you are back and that you're safe, I think she's also just a bit worried."

If Sakura was feeling shocked before, it was nothing compared to how she was feeling now. Naruto? Insightful? WHAT? Okay Sakura, deep breath, people can change in a few months. Naruto may have just gained a few brain cells since you've been gone. And besides, he's dating Hinata! If anyone can make him smarter, it's Hinata! Sakura chuckled. "Oh, Naruto, send Hinata in here. I'll tell her that if you try and leave her for me, I'll shove your dick so far up your arse, you'll choke on it! Oh, and that's a warning for you too, Naruto." She said, before she burst out laughing at the expression on Naruto's face.

"Al… alright Sakura Chan. I wasn't really planning on leaving Hinata Chan, no need to pull out the threats…" His eyes were still wide with fear.

"Naruto, it was a joke. Don't worry." She continued laughing at the pained expression he was giving.

Bad images!

Woo! Or, not woo... Either way, I got the next chapter up, and you've gotta love me for that at least, right? Right? Please say yes... *huddles in corner with tiger blanket and Scooby Doo mug*. Either way, I have to start studying now, because my Music class is making me use this weird contraption they call 'technology'... Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Chapter 20 - Extraordinary Day

...She felt a disturbance in the night around her, and quickly turned around, ignoring the queasiness that the fast motion gave her... "Whoever is there, show yourself! I won't hesitate to attack unless you comply!" She called.

Nothing. Then…

"Sakura, put the damn kunai down."...

And now, you're just going to have to wait for the next update, but you see that little blue button down there with the speech bubble next to it? That's like your own personal 'update quicker' button, which must be utilized for the next chapter to come faster XD Tee hee.