Being alone allowed Sakura's thoughts to wander to very far places, even places she intended to stay at the back of her mind forever, encasing the pain and sorrow with it.

This time, her wandering mind found an unpleasant image to occupy her thoughts.

Knowing that it would be a vain attempt to try to suppress the current flow of images that were coursing through her brain, she had let herself to go wherever her mind wanted to take her to.

Sakura bit her lip in an attempt to ease the surge of anger, betrayal and regret as she recalled a memory. A memory that she knew would stay with her forever, no matter how deep she tried to bury it in the depths of her subconscious.

Immediately, an image of Sasuke leaving the village to join Orochimaru appeared in her mind.

Sakura was only twelve.

The boy she loved was leaving and she did not know how she would continue to survive without him in this village.

Sasuke was her everything.

The one person she dreamed of a future with, the one she would give her everything to.

Calling out to him, she told him she loved him, and that she would follow him wherever he went. That she would always stay by his side.

Only to be rewarded with a blow from him that rendered her unconscious to silence her.

She knew she wouldn't be forgetting how his eyes were filled to the brink with hatred and fury. How tragic that a genius like him was so desperate for revenge. If Sasuke had remained in the village, no doubt he would be an outstanding shinobi by now.

In a way, she had to thank the Uchiha. If not she would've stayed the useless person she once was, with no skills to back, only with an undying love to offer.

Sakura wouldn't be who she was today if Sasuke had actually allowed her to come along. Not that he would have anyways.

No superhuman strength, no medical experience at all. She would be stuck as the useless, weak and timid girl she once was.

The girl who always got in everyone else's way.

The girl who was a liability to everyone.

Aside from the improvement of her abilities, she imagined how ashamed her family, friends and everyone she had forged bonds with would be of her.

She would thank Sasuke for her emergence of her naivety and idiocy. If she ever had the chance to ever cross paths with the Uchiha.

Sakura stretched out her legs and let out a sigh when she heard the sound of geta on stone approaching her.

Fists clenched, she fought back the urge to scowl at a pale-skinned boy heading in her direction.

"Experiencing some emotional upheaval?" a voice rang out above her.

Sakura looked up to see Sai staring down at her with an impassive expression.

"What do you want?" Sakura bit out through gritted teeth.

"I don't want anything."

"Then why are you here?"

"Surely you don't consider Naka Shrine to be all yours, do you?" Sai smirked.

Sakura felt a vein twitch in her forehead. His tongue was sure at its sharpest tonight.

Sakura grunted.

"Sorry. Did that offend you?" the pale skinned boy smirked again.

It was crystal clear to her that she wouldn't be able to tolerate another minute in his presence. As she got made sure she wasn't stepping on her kimono, she rose up to leave when Sai blocked her path with an arm.

With the lights that surrounded them, a gleam of crimson reflected off Sai's eyes, which made him resemble Sasuke even more. Sakura tried to keep her features impassive.

"I'll leave. You came here first," He stared at her impassively.

With that, he walked away from her in the direction of the stairs without another word, leaving her to peer at his back.

Sakura waited a full minute before she exhaled a loud sigh. Somehow Sai was different tonight. Much different than what he normally was like.

The air of doubt suddenly shifted to one of suspicion. Sai wasn't usually like that. He insulted her directly to her face, never hesitating a moment. But tonight, he actually acted enough like a gentleman to leave since his presence annoyed her.

Something didn't feel right, but she had enough of the boy occupying her thoughts that brushed it away absently, trying hard to purge her mind of yet another wave of bloody mental images. Besides, Sai could be very unpredictable at times.

As she tried to brush away their brief encounter, it found a way back to her mind which made Sakura quite uncomfortable. The usually irritating black-haired brat spoke a little too smoothly just now.

Something struck her as she quickly gathered up her kimono and sped down the stairs. She needed to find Tsunade and Kakashi as quickly as possible.

Even if Sai was very, very unpredictable, he would never ask her if she was going through any emotional problems.

Never.

Because Sai would never be able to tell if a person was experiencing emotional upheaval. Sai did not have that type of knowledge regarding feelings yet.

Walking up the stairs in a long flowing yukata was so troublesome. Sai grunted as he almost tripped and fell backwards because he stepped on his yukata. Again.

It was then he heard a quick sequence of sounds headed in his direction. He was surprised to see the pink haired kunoichi speeding downwards, she almost barged into him with her concentration fixedly on pulling up her kimono.

"Sakura,"

His voice startled her as she let go of her kimono, ending up with her stepping on it. She fell forwards as she twisted her body to the side so her broad shoulders would absorb the impact when she felt a firm tug on her wrist.

Sai pulled her to her feet as she cast a wayward glance at her savior.

Sakura opened her mouth to thank him as she realized it was Sai who saved her from a possible concussion and a few broken bones.

"Thanks,"

"You're welcome," Sai remembered to say the phrase if someone ever expressed gratitude to him.

The both of them stood there rooted to the spot until Sakura suddenly alerted and made her way down the stairs again.

"Move it, Sai! We need to find Kakashi-sensei and Tsunade- sama!" Sakura called as he started to move down the stairs again. What a waste of energy.

Maybe he shouldn't have come after all.

"Why do you need to see them?" he picked up the pace to catch up to Sakura.

"I think there's an imposter in the village,"

"Who might that be?"

"I don't know at all. But…" Sakura trailed off.

Sai continued to stare at Sakura, waiting for a reply.

"Sai, don't stare at people. It unsettles them," she whispered.

"Oh." He casted his gaze to his front.

"The imposter transformed into you,"

By the way Sai's shoulders tensed, Sakura could tell that he had something against intruders who impersonated him.

"Let's find him as fast as possible please, Sakura,"

Sakura merely nodded in acknowledgement as they gathered more chakra to the soles of their feet, increasing their speed.

Sakura wasn't taken aback from the state of intoxication her master was in. Tsunade was waking all over Konoha in fits of laughter and babbles, leaving Shizune to trail behind her and nag at how this wasn't the appropriate behavior for a Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama! Please sober up a little, will you? How about a cup of green tea?" Shizune coaxed the now maudlin Hokage.

"Shizune," Tsunade held up her index finger to Shizune to beckon her over.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune held a careful expression as she advanced on the woman with extra caution.

"Come closer, will you? I've got something to show you,"

Shizune inched a little closer.

"I. Am. The. Hokage." The large chested woman in front of Sakura said to Shizune while staggering in her steps. "Andddddddd….." She trailed off as a moment of recognition struck Shizune for the latter to back away immediately.

Unfortunately it was too late.

A low, throaty growl emanated from within Tsunade as she threw up on Shizune.

The Hokage's assistant shrieked in horror as she hung her head in defeat, dragging the now giggling Tsunade away from the pool of putrid-smelling mess.

"Poor Shizune," Sakura thought. But the present situation wasn't something to joke about.

"Shizune, do you have a minute?" Sakura asked as the black haired woman tried to calm the hysterical Hokage down, to no avail.

She gestured to a nearby restaurant, turning to Sakura and Sai after succeeding in coaxing the drunk Hokage to sit.

Sensing it was the appropriate time to speak up, Sakura was the first to break the silence.

"Shizune-san, I think there's an intruder wandering the streets of Konoha impersonating as Sai."

Leaning against the tabletop, Shizune tapped her long fingernails on the wood. "Surely I don't think it poses a threat to the village. After all, everyone's running around drunk and there are quite a number of ninjas in this village. I wouldn't be surprised if one of your friends were pulling a prank on you guys."

"But… Shouldn't we be a little careful?" Sai asked.

Sakura nodded. " You know… Just in case."

Shizune moved closer to Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder. " Don't worry, Sakura. Because of the festival tonight, we've placed enough chakra seals on Konoha's border to keep anyone out. Anything that possesses chakra won't be let in."

Sakura finally let up. Maybe it really was someone who tried to play a prank on her.

"I guess so. Should we go, Sai?"

The ANBU Root only nodded.

Waving a goodbye to her senior, she walked out into the busy streets of Konoha yet again, this time with an unsettlingly good looking boy.

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"Troubling you for a false alarm."

Sai paused for a moment and resulted to stare at her again.

"What?" Sakura felt a surge of uneasiness welling up within her and glared at him.

"I don't see any fake alarms around."

Heaving a defeated sigh at her teammate, she made it a mental note to only use direct references when talking to Sai, unless she wanted to suffer a mental breakdown.

Puzzlement donned his features as his brows furrowed. "But since you said sorry… It is quite alright." Then he proceeded to give Sakura one of his smiles.
Sakura gave him a dry laugh. "I'm actually not sure if it's a genuine smile or not."

"It does not matter. A smile is the b-"

"A smile is the best way to get out of a situation, be it fake or genuine, right?" Sakura smirked. " You know what? I find it weird. You haven't insulted me the whole time you've been walking with me. "

"I am supposed to?"

"No. Forget I ever said that."

They walked in silence to the bridge, where the kite competition was starting.

"Sakura," She heard Sai call her by her name and not "Ugly" for once.

"Do you need something?"

"Actually, yes."

"Spill it."

Spill what? He wasn't carrying any liquid. What was he supposed to spill then? Did Sakura want a drink?

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"Exactly… What am I supposed to spill?"

Sakura only responded with a long, hard stare and reminded herself once again to not utilize and indirect references.

He remembered he read something about prolonged periods of eye contact in his self-help books. Disbelief? Attraction? Interest? Raw energy pulsing through her veins so she could punch yet another hole in his stomach?

He shivered at the thought and took a few steps back from the still staring kunoichi.

Then he heard a snicker, followed by a fit of laughter.

That was exactly what Sai said.

Really, the boy was clueless when it came to matters like these. At least she had a chance to laugh at something, so the whole process of preparing for this festival wasn't a total waste.

Trying as best as she could to recover from the strain all this laughing was putting on her abdominal muscles, she breathed out slowly and took a look at the bewildered boy standing a distance away from her.

"Why're you standing so far away?" Sakura asked. "I don't emit any body odor, do I?"

Sai cautiously shuffled closer.

"Does that mean I have to smell you?"

At that moment, Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She just stared at him again. It was really impossible for a normal human being to be this oblivious and inexperienced when it came to conversing.

But this was Sai she was talking about.

As far as she knew, Sai wasn't anywhere near normal.

"Don't even think about it." She glowered.

"Anyways, I'm… I apologize. For just now." Sai's brows furrowed again, as if cogitating over some life and death dilemma. "For angering you."

"It's fine. You don't have to sound so strained."

"I meant it… As a joke." He got all the words out of his mouth.

This time, shock registered on Sakura's features." Sakura eye him with her wide green eyes. "You… meant that as a joke?"

"Is that something I shouldn't do?"

A shrill laugh escaped from her lips. "You're still hopeless, Sai. But not for long, I'll make sure that you'll be much capable at conversing with other people after I'm done tutoring you."

The way Sakura said it revealed the more confident side of her. It was interesting how her eyes seemed to sparkle when she talked about things that she seemed excited over.

"We should meet up with Naruto and Kakashi to watch the kites."

"You don't sound enthusiastic." The pink haired girl pouted next to him. "But… Alright, lead the way."

It wasn't difficult at all to find Kakashi and Naruto. Their hair made them stand out like how white contrasted in a background of pitch black. Not to mention that annoying voice of a certain blonde's.

"Well, well don't you guys look sweet!" Naruto gushed exaggeratedly, making kissy faces at the approaching duo.

"Shut up, Naruto." Sakura glared at him.

Naruto continued to make smooching sounds.

"Do you want me to talk about your little dick?" Sai gave Naruto one of his smiles, obviously angering the blonde.

"STOP TALKING ABOUT PENISES, YOU DISGUSTING PERVERT!"

It was when everyone around them stopped in their tracks to stare at Naruto only did he realize his mistake. "Look at what you did! Now everyone's laughing at me!" Naruto hissed at Sai, only to be returned with another innocent smile.

Sakura and Kakashi seemed to be trying to stifle their guffaws.

Deciding it was the right time to break apart the clowns, he placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I think you guys should both shut up and let's enjoy the festival, instead of talking about penises, right, Sakura?"

That was Sakura's limit as she burst into a fit of laughter.

Casting a smile at the three of his "adorable" minions, he led them into the crowd of anticipating viewers to enjoy the last few moments of their supposedly happy night.

I'm sorry for the delay in updating this chapter! I wasn't entirely satisfied regarding how this chapter turned out, but I hope you'll enjoy it. Also, I'd appreciate it if I received some of your reviews!

Lastly, Happy New Year's Eve to everyone, warm wishes to your families and friends from me! May 2014 be filled with happiness and joy!