Chapter 10

I noticed that the reviews have stopped! ='( please continue to review or I'll lose the urge to continue writing! I am so sorry about the super late update. I've been having problems with my family and I dunno when I have the time to write so please still follow!

*BAM

The door slammed open as Sakura, Sasuke and the group of trackers entered the Kazekage's office. Gaara had recovered well enough to become Kazekage again. But he still had hundred thousand medics fuss over him. He swatted them away with one hand and was presented with a handful of tired ninjas. Sakura went up and slumped onto the chair. Sasuke looked surprised, it was bad manners to act that way in front of the Kazekage and for a person that Sakura changed into, he would she knew better. But what surprised him the most was when Gaara sent the soldiers back leaving Baki, Sakura and himself and Gaara went over and gave a glass of water to Sakura and patted her back. Something inside Sasuke sparked as he saw Gaara act so familiar with Sakura. He felt... possessive and...jealous? Sasuke shook those thought out of his head.

"I see you've gotten closer during the time I left"

"Still stingy are we Sasuke?" Gaara smirked at the Uchiha's obvious possessiveness.

"Tch" Sasuke looked away, for some unknown reason annoyed. Gaara turned back to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok now?" Sakura didn't reply. Gaara tapped her shoulder but he didn't get any response. He shook her and her head rolled back. Gaara's eyes widened but then he gave a rare smile. Sakura Haruno had fallen asleep. Sasuke looked at her angelic face. When she was sleeping, he saw the old Sakura, the innocent happy girl he once knew, not the cold, stone person that now stood as her.

"Should I take her back to her room?" Baki asked. Sasuke was about to do exactly that, until he asked. He inwardly cursed the man. Gaara saw his reaction and smirked.

"No Baki, let the Uchiha take him back, I need you to remain with me." Sasuke's head snapped up and looked at Gaara, surprised. His surprised look slowly turned to a scowl when he saw Gaara's face. He knew what he was telling him. Gaara's face was telling him Take her back, I know you want to... Sasuke went up to sakura and carried her bridal style and left the room.

"Gaara Sama, what do you need me for?"

"Nothing... the Uchiha wanted to spend some time with her... that's all. Baki, you may return to your quarters" Gaara said and walked slowly to his room. Baki bowed and left as well.

As Sasuke was carrying Sakura back to her room, he realised that sakura felt so right in his arms. He was still staring at her when he reached her room and laid her down on her bed. He was about to leave when he heard Sakura talk in her sleep.

"Sa...su...ke" Sasuke stopped in his tracks and his heart was pounding. She's dreaming about ME!? He was unconsciously feeling very happy until he saw a tear run down cheek. Then he heard

"D-don't le...ave me... "Immediately, his happiness disappeared. He knew what she was dreaming about; the night that he left. He sat next to her on the bed as guilt overtook him. Sakura continued talking

"I lo...love you... don't leave..." Sasuke's heart (yes he has one) was being crushed under guilt.

"I loved you... why did you have to leave?" Sakura tossed and turned.

"I loved you...and I always will..." Sasuke's eyes widened and his head snapped up to her sleeping face. His heart started pounding again. She still loves me... Sasuke wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. He went to leave and as he was about to shut the door, he said

"I'm sorry for breaking you. I will definitely bring you back... my blossom" and he left. Sakura smiled in her sleep. When Sasuke retired to his own bed, he realized what he had just done and his face turned into the colour of his favourite fruit (I think tomato is a fruit). He buried his head in his pillow and let darkness overcome him.

Sakura on the other hand, was not having such a good night. She was dreaming about the night that Sasuke left and what happened after woods.

*Flash back

"Sasuke-kun! Don't leave me!"

"..."

"I love you..."

"Thank you" Sakura was knocked out. The next day she woke up, she remembered happened the night before. She dropped to her knees.

"H-he...re-ally...l-l-left..." she started bawling her eyes out. When her emotions were now emptied, her eyes turned from the once vivid emerald to a dull green. She slouched home and locked herself in her room. A few days, went by and she hadn't eaten anything, she reached for the kunai in her pouch her hand was shaking as she held the kunai over her wrist. She then sliced herself with one smooth motion. The red oozed out and she started laughing, her eyes were those of a maniac. After 3 days had passed, something inside of her snapped. She was weak...she was useless.

"I have to do something about this." She changed her outfit, her hairstyle and her personality. She the dark Sakura. The sakura that had been corrupted with depression. She returned to society and shunned everyone out. She trained...and trained...and trained until no shinobi in the village was a match for her. She left for Suna to train with the Kazekage but it turned out that he wasn't much of a challenge either, so she ended up training with herself. The next few months were like this but what the village didn't know about this girl was that she released her emotions at night. When she got home, she would start crying and saying over and over again.

"I love you Sasuke, I never stopped... why don't you just come back with Naruto?!"

She also took this opportunity to sneak into the Uchiha mansion to fix up the placed that once housed the one she loved. The next month came and the villages were gossiping about something knew. Sakura's ears were open and she heard things about the Haruno clan and the Uchiha clan. Her curiosity was too big so she snuck into the Hokage's office and 'borrowed' the criminal records. She found out that Itachi had murdered her parents. Her anger increased over the year for Itachi. She would constantly leave the village to search for Itachi with the intention of killing him.

It was a day like other days, she was about to go and look for Itachi again. When she left her mansion, one villager said something that made her blood stop.

"Who was that Uchiha boy that use to live here? Sasuke was it? Apparently he killed his brother or something..." Sakura teleported to the Hokage's office and slammed her hands on the table.

"Did the Uchiha brat really kill my target?!" Tsunade sighed, stood up and looked at the view.

"Yes" Sakura's eyes widened and darkened. She then whispered

"Unforgivable..." she walked out and slammed the door. Her hatred for Itachi spread to Sasuke. But for some reason, she still felt that she had to clean his house. She cursed herself for her weakness. It was becoming a habit.

*End of flashback

Sakura sat up suddenly, breathing heavily. She looked around. Why am I in my room? I thought I fell asleep in Gaara's office... someone took me back. She felt something moist on her cheek. She sighed That dream again... Then she felt her forehead and it felt slightly moist. She frowned. Why does my forehead feel moist? Water... no way the roofs here don't' leak. The worst would be that someone... She blushed as the thought of someone kissing her forehead came to mind. But then shook her mind clear. No way would that happen. But then she sensed that Sasuke had been in this room. She blushed. Did he take me back? Her mind was in a mess so she decided to sleep again and worry about this in the morning.

*The next day

Sakura woke up and got dressed.

Sasuke woke up and got dressed. When he walked out it looked and saw that Sakura had walked out at the exactly same time. He's face turned a little pink as he remembered what had happened the previous night. He quickly turned and walked towards the Kazekage's office.

Sakura looked to her side and found that Sasuke had come out of his room. She was staring at him when she suddenly saw the slight pink on his cheeks. She looked at him, wondering what was wrong as he turned around and waked towards Gaara's office. She followed him.

*In Gaara's office

Sasuke stood with his hands in his pockets; Sakura leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. Gaara was sitting at his desk looking at them both broke the silence.

"Sakura, explain the situation" Sakura spoke without opening her eyes.

"You were poisoned with arsenic. This poison is delivered through the mouth in contaminated water. The attack that you encountered had nothing to do it. But the trail that Sasuke followed led him into the Forest of No ends."

"What's that?"

"I was surprised that it exists here in Suna. There are only a few forests like these in the world. They trap you and never let you out. These forests were created by a single man called Hanachi Akuhei. He controls the forests and only he knows the way out from ground. If ninjas see you from above, you can be saved." Sasuke looked surprised and Gaara even more so.

"We felt a strong wind yesterday. Were you the cause?" asked Sasuke.

"When Baki and I arrived at the opening of the forest, there was nothing but barren land."

"But there was a forest..." started Kankuro. Sakura held up her hand to silence him.

"The wind you felt was me. I create a wind with the force of a tornado and it blew the invisible blanket off."

"Invisible blanket?" Kankuro was confused

"An invisible blanket is a summoning jutsu and only some can perform. I can, but I can only summon one that can cover a human. I only know one person who could summon a cover that big." She narrowed her eyes. The men all looked at her.

"Who?"

She closed her eyes and said

"Orochimaru"