DISCLAIMER: i do NOT own naruto or any of the characters, but i do own the story line/ progression, etc

ok i know that no matter wat i say, ppl that have sent me msgs telling me i havent updated wont forgive me for actually forgetting, and for those that have sent msgs, thank u SO much, i appreciate the support so much it hurts!! 3

so again, i apologize sincerely for having this be SO late!, enjoy the final chapter!!

Sakura woke up the next morning sprawled on the floor with a blanket on top of her and a pillow propping her head up. She smiled as she remembered her evening with Sai.

It was like she had died and been resurrected! She looked around her, Sai was nowhere to be seen, she was disappointed, she had hoped to hold him in her arms a bit.

The cherry blossom sighed and brought herself to stand, she gathered up the blanket and pillows and tossed them on top of her bed.

"SAKURA!!"

Sakura whipped around to face the opened door and the source of the high-pitched scream. Ino was standing in the doorway, covered in sweat and looking exhausted, "Holy hell, what happened, what's wrong?"

"It's Sai..." she managed to breathe. Sakura's eyes widened, "What about him?" She was afraid of what she was going to be told.

The blond kunoichi pounded to the cherry blossom's side and pulled her towards the door, " In the woods, him and Sasuke!" Sakura hadn't expected this, and she wasn't sure if it was better or worse than what she had braced herself for.

The two kunoichi bounded out of the apartment and ran full speed towards the woods, following Ino as close as possible so she wouldn't lose sight of her. The trees flew by as they went, everything seemed to have been blown into maximum speed.

Ino finally started slowing down and started her descent out ot the treetops, landing next to a clearing. Grunts and shouts could be heard, from the clearing, Sakura pushed passed the last few shrubs and bushes.

Sai was drawing up some lions with his ink, Sasuke had his sharingan and chidori crackling around him. The both of them were soaked with sweat, for how long had this been going on? Tears welled up in the pink-haired kunoichi's eyes and she wasn't sure if she was upset or just enraged.

"STOP!" Sakura screamed as she stormed between the two as they were headed for head to head combat. She grabbed one of Sai's arms and one of Sasuke's, she swung them around and pounded them into the soft grass.

Tears still stained in her eyes, she bent down and snatched them both up, holding them eye level to her, " You will both stop this at once, do I make myself clear? Or Tsunade-sama WILL here about this and you'll both be punished."

Sakura looked from Sasuke to Sai, Sasuke looked away, refusing any eye contact with her or the ink user. She set them down and let herself fall to the ground, burying her face in her hands, "You're both idiots." Sasuke scowled as Sai bent down to comfort her, he silently turned and disappear among the trees.

The moon had risen way above the cloud cover, it reflected in his eyes as he gazed upon it.

"No turning back." he whispered to himself as he launched himself towards the edge of Konoha. A small voice made him stop.

"Again? What for this time?" the voice breathed in his ear. Sasuke forced his eyes to the ground, he sighed. This was like all those years ago...again. The bubble-gum haired kunoichi brought her hands around him, bringing him into a tight embrace from behind. His arms stayed limp at his sides.

The only difference this time was that he didn't particularly want to leave. He wanted to be here with her and tell her everything would be okay. He turned around, pushing Sakura from him, " Thank you."

Those two words alone were enough to bring a million years of pain into her eyes, the tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.

Her heart had never beat as fast as it did now; to hear those words, those exact same words as back then.

Sasuke was determined to not keep the ties with her, and emotional ties were the hardest to sever, they were easy to break...but never forget. The Uchiha took a small picture from his pocket, Sakura had to squint to try and make out the image in the moonlight.

As if he was reading her thoughts, he brought the image to eye-level. The photo was of Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and herself when they were young. Sakura smiled at the memory, tears still pouring from her eyes. All of a sudden the photograph was ablaze, its ashes being scattered by the little wind that blew.

Sakura's bright green eyes went wide in horror. She looked into the Uchiha's dark and resilient eyes, " I still won't forget you, no matter what I do."

He gazed at her with a look of regret and disappeared in a swirl of flames.

A/N: thank u so much to those who reviewed and commented, it meas a lot, even after i feel really bad that i had forgotten to actually upload this :S

THANK U ALL!! HOPE U ENJOYED THIS!