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Happy Reading!

Naruto is not mine. This plot is.

Time does not stop, not for me, or you. Don't be foolish enough to believe it does.

Naruto and Sasuke walked down one of the main streets of Konoha, Kakashi trailing them at a slower pace, his nose buried in the latest edition of Icha Icha. Thankfully it was already the afternoon and most people were either out on the training fields or indoors working, so they managed to get by without much trouble. A few people stared at them in astonishment and even slight fear as they passed, but no one approached them openly.

After a few minutes, Sasuke paused, looking up at the buildings around them and read the numbers on the few apartments that lined the block. Counting silently, he paused again, nodding his head and stared at the address he had penned on the inside of his arm. He was about to turn around and back track until he spotted a narrower street just past where Kakashi was standing, that branched off from the main road. He nodded to Naruto and Kakashi to follow him.

"It's this way. I'm pretty sure." He said, already turning down the street that was lined with apartment complexes that housed most of the Jonin in the city. Naruto fell into step and grinned, nudging Sasuke in the arm as he helped him look for the right building. Complex 24, 9th floor, apartment number 907. The Hokage told them that was where they would find her.

"What do you think she'll do when she sees us?" Naruto asked with a wide smile. More than anything, he couldn't wait to see Sakura. She would probably be ridiculously happy that they were back…he was positive she would be the one to welcome them home warmly.

Sasuke shrugged, still glancing up at the building numbers as they passed. "I don't know, she'll probably be all weepy and just be glad to have us back." He muttered absently. Naruto laughed loudly,

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. Ha! Good old Sakura-chan! Probably the one thing in the village that hasn't changed." He grinned. Sasuke smirked, silently agreeing with him. If anything was true, it was definitely that. Sakura was always the weak link of cell 7. Albeit, she may have been the brightest, but she was never one to stand tall against pressure. And that is why both young men believed with firm thoughts that their precious cherry blossom would be waiting for them with open arms.

Sasuke stopped and looked up at the building before him, Naruto and Kakashi followed suit. "Well, we're here." He said, taking a deep breath. Naruto nodded.

"Guess we should go up and see her…"

Neither of them moved. Kakashi glanced up from his book, a silver eyebrow raised in mute curiosity and amusement. He put his book away and draped an arm over each boys shoulder, grinning from behind his mask.

"Come on guys; don't tell me you're suddenly scared to see Sakura. You both know she's probably the only one here who's actually waiting for us." He said, steering them towards the entrance. The two didn't say anything. Kakashi sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering something about boys and girls. Slowly, they began the long climb up the stairs, and it seemed with every passing floor, the tension grew more and more. Sasuke and Naruto were silent through the whole ordeal, suddenly loosing their eagerness from a few minutes before, when they were excited to see Sakura again. Kakashi hummed an offbeat tune, a serene and indifferent smile on his masked lips. By the time they reached the ninth-floor landing, the air was practically tangible and silence reigned. The boys now looked as if they were going to their deaths, instead of visiting one of their best friends.

Kakashi sighed again, shaking his head at their hopelessness and walked past them, leading the way down the long halls, looking for apartment 907. He stopped abruptly when he found it and heard the deep breaths of Naruto and Sasuke behind him. He raised his arm, poised to knock, and paused, glancing back at them. The same look was coursing through all of their eyes and he could read it easily enough on their faces.

What would Sakura really do when she answered to find her team, who knowingly abandoned her, knocking on her front door?

Kakashi turned back and knocked loudly, his fist rapping the wood in three sharp taps. They all held their breaths, staring at the door, both anxiously awaiting and dreading the moment the door would open…

What seemed like forever yet was only one minute passed. Then another. They all let the air wheeze back into their lungs. Kakashi knocked again, louder this time and waited. A frown had appeared on Naruto's face, his arms crossed stiffly across his chest. Why the hell wasn't she answering the door? He thought, leaning against the wall across from the door. Another endless minute passed, and there was still no answer. Sasuke's face had gone blank and Kakashi had stepped away from the door, frowning. He shook his head and nodded to them.

"Sorry guys, but it looks like she's either not home or knows who we are and is ignoring us." Naruto just scoffed.

"Sakura would not be ignoring us if she knew we were here!" he spat, rolling his eyes. Sasuke just shook his head and turned away, already walking slowly towards the stairs again. "Whatever. We tried."

Kakashi slowly shuffled after him. Naruto was still leaning against the wall, arms crossed and glaring at the door, willing it to open. He shook his head roughly in frustration. The one person they had wanted to see and she wasn't even there! Sakura would not ignore them like that. Even if she were angry, the whole town would have known it by now. Even if she was the weakest…she was never one for silence. He turned, finally beginning to follow his team mates down the hall when a small thought flitted across his mind.

Stopping, he turned back towards the door and paused, glancing around. Making up his mind just to try it, he took the two steps back to the door and reached out, grabbing the handle and giving it a deft twist. He expected it to not budge at all in his empty attempt. What he didn't expect was for it to give way smoothly and hear the clean click of the latch opening. When he let go of the handle the door swung open quietly. He stood, staring in disbelief before grinning triumphantly. He smirked and turned his head, calling to his friends.

"Hey guys, it's open." He yelled, his voice bouncing off the wide walls. By this time Sasuke and Kakashi were already halfway down the hall and they turned, ready to drag Naruto away by force. Instead they were greeted by the blonde, grinning like an idiot, the door wide open behind him. Sasuke gaped and stepped up to his best friend, smacking him roughly on the arm.

"What the hell did you do?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

Naruto just smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and shrugged. "I just wanted to check…you know…" he started. Kakashi shook his head and stepped between the two, making his way into the apartment.

"You do know this can count as breaking and entering? But…ah, nevermind. Let's just check it out really quick and get out, okay?" he said, his voice oddly chipper as he motioned for Sasuke and Naruto to follow him. Naruto grinned, quick to follow Kakashi and laughed.

"Ah! Come on Kakashi-sensei, technically it was already open." He chirped, staring with wide-eyed interest at the apartment they stood in. Sasuke sighed and scrubbed a hand across his face, shutting the door behind him.

"Technically, Sakura is going to kick our asses if she ever finds out we were here without her." He said, mimicking Naruto. The blonde just glared and stuck his tongue out at him. Kakashi was silent before them, arms crossed as he looked around.

They stood there, taking in the place where their teammate had lived her life without them.

It was a beautiful apartment, with wide walls that were painted a deep grey-blue color that reminded them of the ocean, and dark, wood floors that were polished to a shine. Almost all of the wall space was covered with beautiful and vibrant paintings, some framed and others that simply hung there. The majority of the art was done in black ink, but there were a few scattered pieces that showed vibrant pops of color, mostly pink or red, and were placed meticulously around the room to catch the looker's attention. On closer inspection, Kakashi noticed that they all bore the signature of someone named Sai. Across from the front door, on what should have been the opposite wall was instead a monstrous window that had a breathtaking view of Konoha. Naruto gaped and walked to it, pressing his face up to the glass.

The whole of Konoha was sprawled before him in the afternoon sun. "This is insane." He muttered, stepping away from the window, smiling. Sasuke scanned the rest of the room, trying to memorize it.

Everything was simple and tastefully decorated. A low, mahogany table was in the center of the room, surrounded by three, lush couches in a deep midnight blue. The dark floor beneath the couches and table were draped with thick, grey rugs. To the right there was a tall arch that led to a small, cozy looking kitchen and to the left was a wide door, left slightly ajar. He glanced at the kitchen as they passed, not catching anything of interest and made straight for the only other door. Standing on the threshold he pushed it open to reveal a large bedroom.

Unlike the rest of the house, which was remarkably pristine, the bedroom actually showed signs of life. There was a huge bed with white sheets and a thick, blood-red comforter, embroidered with gold designs that was half on the floor. A few pillows were on the floor too and there were random oddities scattered around the room. On the desk there was a pile of scrolls stacked haphazardly close to the edge and papers littered the top. The entire wall across from the bed where the desk lay was also completely covered with floor-to-ceiling book shelves. Every shelf was covered too, with everything ranging from medical texts to ancient tomes that were hardly legible. Kunai, senbon and random medical tools were lying everywhere in disarray and several pieces of clothing littered the floor. Two other doors stood open and looking in, they found a spacious bathroom and a rather large walk-in-closet.

But soon, as they kept looking, they slowly began loosing interest. It felt like they were intruding because they had found nothing personal of the pink-haired kunoichi and it felt like they were in a stranger's home. Oh, they knew it was Sakura's house, because it was the Godaime herself who told them where to go, but it was suddenly getting hard to tell because there was nothing to differentiate this place from anyone else's. There were clothes and gear and probably everything else a house should have…but there was nothing personal about it. The clothes and gear could have belonged to any girl in Konoha.

So far, they had found nothing that confirmed it belonged to Sakura. No journals, no notes in her handwriting…hell, besides the paintings done by the person named Sai, there weren't even any pictures in this place! Not one that they had seen so far. Suddenly they felt deflated and weary and regretted the decision to explore her domain. Kakashi was the first to leave the room, already heading towards the front door.

However, as soon as he stepped back into the main room, he froze. Apparently, they had completely missed something when they had walked in, because next to the short hall leading to the front door was a long table and a wide expanse of wall…completely covered in photographs. He stepped up to them, eye wide and eyebrows raised in surprise. There had to be at least around forty frames there. Most scattered on the wall, all framed in different sizes and colors, then the bunch that littered the top of the table, all framed in black. He stared at them, the many faces of Konoha looking back at him.

Naruto and Sasuke gaped as they stood next to him; staring at the things and people they had known and missed dearly. So many pictures…cataloguing all the things they had missed in four years… displaying all the people who had moved on without them. They stood there for what seemed like a lifetime, staring at the endless faces and thinking of the life Konoha had led when they weren't there. Out of all the frames, only some stood out, catching their attention. Most having to do with their old friends. The Konoha Twelve, consisting of the Rookie 9 and Team Gai.

Naruto laughed loudly, pointing to one picture on the wall that showed a candid photo of Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Lee and Chouji after a training session. They were all cut up, bruised and bloody, but smiling.

"They look exactly the same." He laughed. Sasuke leaned closer to the wall, staring at a picture a few below the first and nodded to it. "Look at this one." He smirked. Naruto and Kakashi looked at it and blanched.

"No way!"

It was a picture of Gaara, dressed in Kazekage robes, with a tomato-red face and an extremely annoyed expression. Temari and Sakura were on either side of him, kissing his blushing cheeks as he crossed his arms, scowling. Naruto laughed hard, almost on the verge of hysterics. "That's hilarious!"

Sasuke couldn't help but smile too, especially when he saw the frame right next to it. Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Tenten were all dressed to kill in gorgeous kimonos, arms linked around one another and laughing at the camera. Their teammates hovered in the background, looking very annoyed.

While the boys began scanning the wall for more interesting pictures, Kakashi focused his attention on the black framed pictures lining the long table. One in particular caught his eye immediately. He picked it up, holding it loosely in his hands and studied it. He was so lost in his own world that he didn't even notice Naruto and Sasuke trying to get his attention until they were hovering over his shoulder.

"What is that…?" Naruto trailed off, staring at the picture with wide eyes. Kakashi just smiled sadly.

"I think it's her team." He said soberly, no longer feeling the lightness of the other photos. Sakura stood in the middle, surrounded by three guys they immediately recognized as Genma, Kiba and Shikamaru. They were all laughing, faces bright and smiles wide, even though they were all very bruised and bloody. Sakura's, then short, bubblegum colored locks were caked with dirt and her lip was split, already a nasty bruise was forming on her left cheek. Shikamaru and Kiba, who both had an arm wrapped around her, didn't look much better. Kiba's right eye was swollen shut and one side of his face was smeared with blood. Shikamaru's hair, which was usually pulled up into an orderly ponytail, hung limp around his face, which had a gash running from his temple to the corner of his mouth. Genma, who had his arms wrapped around Sakura's middle from behind her, his head perched on her shoulder, was the only one who looked relatively descent.

And even though they looked like they had just walked from hell and back, Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke understood why they were all laughing. It was because over their massacred clothes, all three of them; Kiba, Shikamaru and Sakura, were proudly sporting the dark green vests that ranked them as Jonin.

Kakashi sighed, ignoring the hollowness he felt in the pit of his stomach as he noted how comfortable they all looked together. How well they all seemed to fit…as if they were supposed to be that way.

Naruto's jaw clenched, and he stepped away from Kakashi and the offending photograph. There was a deep hurt in his chest, and it frustrated him. This wasn't supposed to happen. Something was very, very wrong. Sakura wasn't supposed to be part of another team. She was theirs. He couldn't even begin to think of her with another team. It hurt too much. But, what made his chest contract the most, was seeing the light in her eyes as she stood with them. She looked so damn happy in the midst of them. Like she belonged there. Naruto shook his head and huffed, running a hand through his hair restlessly as he paced around the room.

"That's stupid Kakashi-sensei. That is not Sakura's team. It's just a stupid picture. She belongs to us." He muttered darkly, his voice hard.

Kakashi just shook his head and put the picture down again, fixing it so it looked exactly like it did when he first picked it up. He inwardly winced at the possessive tone of Naruto's voice. If Sakura were to hear that there would be no doubt that Naruto would be dead and buried.

"Naruto, she's not an object, so she doesn't belong to us." he sighed, suddenly feeling extremely tired. Naruto turned on him, hissing and spitting in his annoyed state.

"I know that! It's just…why did she…ugh!- " he rambled, exasperated and unable to piece his thoughts together.

"He means that she belongs with us." Sasuke said bluntly, saying what Naruto couldn't. Naruto just glared and rolled his eyes and stalked off. Sasuke shrugged, remaining silent, yet his thoughts were in a whirlwind. That picture was burned into his mind too, just like Naruto and Kakashi. He was just as upset about seeing her like that just as much as the others, but there was only one thought repeating itself in his mind that he could focus on.

Little cherry blossom, just how far have you left us behind?

And so it goes. Naughty boys for breaking and entering. Tell me how you liked or disliked in a review. *smiles*

- Serena