Hello guys!! :)

My AWESOME, AMAZING, NEW story is finally here!!

I really hope you guys will enjoy this new one, and I will TRY to update much faster than I have been for the last one, since it IS summer vacation :) woot woot~

But yeah, anyways, have fun reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I DID, Sasuke would have already killed Itachi and come back to Konoha realizing that he absolutely, positively, loves Sakura :)

Hidden Love

Chapter 1- The Beginning

It was a beautiful June afternoon in the Hidden Leaf Village, more so known as Konoha, with birds chirping, flowers dancing in the wind, and a 16 year old boy screaming his lungs out and running fast as the speed of light.

Wait, a 16 year old boy?

And all the people of the village knew exactly who that one individual was even before turning their heads to see him.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Everyone smiled as they heard the boy call out his best friend/teammate/sister's name with all the energy he had.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura!" yelled Naruto as he ran with inhumane speed right into the main entrance of the Konoha Hospital.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Guess what?" said Naruto when he spotted the pink haired medic-nin/ kunoichi tending to a patient in a wheelchair.

Sakura looked up from her patient and growled in anger, "Naruto! Stop making such a ruckus! What's so important that you have to disrupt my work and bother my patients with your obnoxious voice?!" yelled Sakura as she pushed Naruto outside of the hospital while apologizing to her patients for her friend.

Sakura sat Naruto down onto a nearby bench, "Okay Naruto. What's up?"

"Sakura-chan! Orochimaru is dead! And so is Kabuto!" yelled Naruto, smiling with joy.

"What? Orochimaru AND Kabuto are dead?! How? Who killed them?" asked Sakura, shaking Naruto by the shoulders with all her strength, demanding the answer.

Naruto suddenly frowned and was wary, nervous, and afraid. Should he tell her? But then he decided to tell her straight out, since she would have to know anyway.

Then he slowly said, "The ninja who killed Orochimaru and Kabuto happened to be one of Orochimaru's most trusted men. He was the strongest out of all of them, although he's just 16, like us. His name is…Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yes, that's his name."

"Oh…I see. I guess our village will forever remain grateful to him for destroying our worst enemy."

"…"

Two Months Later…

A team of ninjas left through the Konoha gates with haste. They received information from the Hokage on the whereabouts of Uchiha Sasuke and were assigned immediately to take on a retrieval mission. This team consisted of Naruto as the leader, then Sai, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Neji, and Lee. As the team left the gates, Tsunade watched them leave from the Hokage Tower with a wary eye.

Usually, Tsunade would NEVER let Naruto lead a mission, even though he became pretty mature and was the most likely candidate to be the 6th Hokage, nor would she ever let Rookie 9 go on a mission as one since they were the top shinobis of Konoha and needed elsewhere. But, due to Kakashi and all the other jounins working on A-ranked missions in different parts of the country, this was all that she could do. Besides, she knew that the closest people to Sasuke were Naruto and Sakura. Sakura couldn't go on the mission due to certain circumstances, so she just decided that Naruto would be best at leading the team.

"Naruto, bring him back, for everyone's, especially Sakura's, sake," thought Tsunade.

Meanwhile, with the team…

As the team made their way through the thick forests, they were all thinking the same thing: the last time they ever went on a mission together as the Rookie 9 was when they were on the retrieval mission of Sasuke 4 years ago, when he was taken by the Sound Four.

"Déjà vu much?" they all thought.

"Oh boy! It's been forever since my fellow comrades and I have been on a mission together! And now we are on this journey to rescue our beloved comrade! May the spirit of youth prevail!" said Lee happily in his green suit.

"Troublesome…" said Shikamaru lazily.

"Neji, how did you stay sane all these years with that dope?" questioned Kiba as he looked at the overjoyed green-suited man with disgust.

"Pretty simple, actually. Tenten and I just ignore him. But it's hard to ignore your sensei…" said Neji.

"Poor Neji," said Shino quietly.

"Yeah, poor Neji. Oy, Shikamaru, did you happen to pack any extra chips in your bag?" said Chouji while finishing off his 5th bag of chips that day.

"Actually, Chouji, I did, but I'll give it to you later," said Shikamaru.

"Hey Naruto! Why are you so quiet? Are you lacking your youthful spirit today?" asked Lee, moving up to the front of the pack.

"Ah, no, it's nothing, Lee. I'm fine," said Naruto as he smiled at Lee and then frowned while looking to the front.

"Sasuke-teme, this time, you BETTER come back to Konoha without protest," thought Naruto.

"Sakura-chan, don't worry. I'll bring him back for you and make everything right," thought Naruto as he thought of the good old days with Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei.

Meanwhile in Konoha…

Sakura was working laboriously around the hospital, which was now basically her home and life. For the past 4 years, Sakura trained as hard as she can with Tsunade. Now, she has almost, if not, already, surpassed Tsunade in skill, ability, power, and medical intelligence. She was now known as the greatest kunoichi and medic-nin in Konoha, and no one dared to take that title from her.

Now, being the strongest medic-nin in Konoha did have its pros and cons. She was given the respect and called "Sakura-sama" or even "Haruno-sama" all around to show high honor and respect. But, since she WAS the greatest, all patients wanted to be treated by her, especially the guys. So therefore, she had the most responsibility in the hospital.

Everyday, Sakura worked her butt off at the hospital, sometimes even spending the night there because of a critical patient. But, unlike the other doctors and nurses, Sakura was happy with this. She never complained about the numerous of hours that she had to work, and never broke into a frown in front of a patient. To her, her life was great and perfect.

While Sakura was walking down the white hallway to get to the room of a new patient, she met Tsunade and Shizune talking to a doctor. Sakura, with happiness, walked over to her sensei and her assistant.

"Shishou! Shizune-sama!" said Sakura as she walked over.

Sakura noticed the wary glance that both Tsunade and Shizune gave to each other before saying something to Sakura, "Ohayo, Sakura," said Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, what's wrong? And don't you dare lie to me because I know when-"

"Nothing's wrong, Sakura. Don't get overacted," said Tsunade.

"Then what's with the look you gave Shizune-sama?" asked Sakura.

Tsunade sighed, sent Shizune to the Hokage Tower, and then faced Sakura, "Sakura, I want you to take a rest from working for 2 days."

"What? Why?" said Sakura.

"You're overworking yourself too much these days. It's time that you get a rest," said Tsunade.

"I thank you for that, but I still don't understand why all of a sudden," said Sakura.

"Well, I just want you to rest. And after 2 days, you can come back and work, and I'll probably have a patient waiting for you," said Tsunade, tiredly.

"How do you know that you'll have a patient waiting for me?" asked Sakura.

"Sheesh, for a 16 year old, you ask a lot of questions. Well, Naruto and the Rookie 9 guys just went on a retrieval mission of someone very important and special," said Tsunade.

"Important and special to you, Sakura," shethought.

"So when he comes back, we need to be ready for whatever state he may be in. He could be scratched and bruised here and there, or he could be losing his life. Since you are the strongest medic-nin we have, you will be in charge of taking care of him," said Tsunade.

"Okay then. I'll follow your commands, shishou," said Sakura, heading towards her patient's room.

"Oh, and Sakura?" said Tsunade.

Sakura turned around, "yes, shishou?"

"Please get a good rest before you come back to work. You're gonna need it," said Tsunade.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Arigatou," said Sakura, smiling as she walked into the patient's room.

"Sakura, I just hope you'll be better once Sasuke comes back…" thought Tsunade as she headed towards the Hokage Tower to resume her duties.

Later…

Sakura finished her work at the hospital and was on her way home when her stomach growled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to eat lunch today because of that one patient with the heart failure," said Sakura.

Then she came across Ichiraku, the famous ramen stand. She went in and sat down on the middle stool.

"Hey Sakura-san! What can I get for you today?" said the owner.

"Hmm…one seafood ramen please," said Sakura.

"Coming right up!"

While Sakura waited for her meal, she began to remember the good old days of Team 7 at Ichiraku's. Before she could think anymore, a bowl of seafood ramen was placed in front of her.

"Itadakimasu!" said Sakura as she began to eat.

After she was done, she paid for the ramen and started to head on home.

"Hmm…so Naruto and all the guys went on missions….How odd of Tsunade-sama to send them all together at once," said Sakura.

"She said that they're after someone important and special…but how important and special could this person be in order to send all the Rookie 9 guys?" asked Sakura to herself.

Sakura suddenly started to have a headache from the back of her head, but chose to ignore it, "Hn, whatever. I'll probably see this person when they get back," said Sakura as she unlocked her door and stepped into her apartment.

"Ok, let's rest here for the night," said Naruto and everyone started to put their packs down and collected firewood.

While everyone did this, Naruto just looked out into the horizon, where the sun was shining rays of pink, orange, and blue. When they touched the silver and gray clouds in the sky, the whole scenery was a masterpiece.

"Wow…just like Team 7…" said Naruto as he thought about all the days of Team 7 and his wonderful friends and sensei.

"Sasuke-teme…It's finally time for you to come back home. And I'll be making sure that I do exactly that. I'll drag you back to Konoha if I have to, for me, for Kakashi-sensei, for Rookie 9, and most importantly, for Sakura-chan," thought Naruto.

"Sakura-chan…I want you to be prepared for when I bring back Sasuke-teme. I promised you 4 years ago, and Uzumaki Naruto never breaks his promise. I WILL bring Sasuke back, and everything will return to normal. We'll be able to have Team 7 again," thought Naruto when he was abruptly interrupted.

"Hey Naruto, help us set up camp before it gets too dark," said Shikamaru.

"Okay! I'm coming!" said Naruto.

Before he went, he turned back to the sunset and yelled, "Sasuke-teme! I WILL bring you back!"

Woot Woot!!

First chapter of 'Hidden Love'!!

Haha well I hope you guys enjoyed it and as always,

Read and Review!!

Thanks!

Love, Cilla :)