Hello there people! I've had this story bugging me for a while, and I told myself I would post this up after I finished 'Sakura's Heavenly Mistake'… Unfortunately, my mind couldn't wait that long and I just had to see what you all thought about this X) No worries though, this won't slow me down too much… I don't plan to update this much until that story is done, just as a warning! :O

This story takes place when they are all around 20… Asuma is still alive!! But Gaara doesn't have the Jinchuuriki anymore and Orochimaru is dead. Deidara is still alive :)… that's about it I guess… Oh, and Hidan, Sasori, and Kakuzu are still alive!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form. Thought I'd let you all know now :)

P.S. before I begin, I'd like to say I'm still looking for a good title for the story… I wasn't able to find a very suitable one and this one will not be permanent… just until I find a better one…

New Sakura

Hurt/Comfort/Drama/Romance

Sakura x Itachi Sakura x Sasuke (in the beginning)

A new girl named Saki appears in Konoha and she is jealous of Sakura. While on an A ranked mission with her Team 7, including Saki, Saki fakes Sakura's death and tells everyone she died when in truth, she tries to kill Sakura, gravely injures her, and leaves her there to die. A month later, Sakura appears and finds out Saki has taken her place… and is living her life as apprentice of the fifth, permanent team member of team 7, Sasuke's girlfriend, and Ino's best friend. Hurt, she runs away, and gets captured by Akatsuki.

What do you do when your loved ones moved on, thinking you were dead, replacing you with a new girl? She trashed your life, jealousy overpowering her, and took your place in everyone's life. Lonely and sad, Sakura walks around, and unexpectedly runs into the Akatsuki. She was dead, so what else was there to do in the hell she lived in? Of course, join her hell mates in an eternal struggle to live.

Chapter 1: Dead

A small child about the age of 8 laughed and giggled with her older sister, about 10 years old around a field full of flowers. They each had black hair and dark brown eyes with plain clothes on.

The 8 year old stopped suddenly, seeing a few drops of red liquid.

"Hey Suzumi-neechan, what is that?" the younger of the two asked.

Curious, the one named Suzumi came up to her sister, bent down, and examined it. "I don't know Suki, I think it's… blood." Suzumi said, unsure.

"Look, there's more over here!" the one known as Suki said, pointing ahead of them. The two girls looked at each other, and nodded, grabbing each other's hand sand following the trail of blood. The trail led away from the field of wild flowers, and behind a tall, tree. The specks of blood had grown bigger a while back and the girls looked at each other hesitantly. Suzumi braved up and looked behind the tree.

A gasp escaped her lips. "Suki! Get Okaa-san immediately!" Suzumi said, putting a hand on her mouth is shock. Laying there, in front of her was a young lady, about the age of 19 or 20 at the most. Suki stood next to her sister, shocked at what she saw.

The girl had a deep gash on her abdomen, and blood drenching her face all over. At first, Suzumi thought her hair was red, but with further inspection, she realized the red was just all the blood she had lost.

The girl slowly and painfully opened her eyes. "Help… me…" she said, closing her eyes once again as her breathing slowed and wheezed, and a few coughs escaped her lips, sending blood flying to the floor.

"Suki hurry! I'll stay with her… go get Okaa-san!" she yelled, urging her little sister away from the horrid scene. She hesitated, but nodded, glancing at the poor lady once more, before dashing off in the opposite direction.

"Onee-chan?" Suzumi asked, wondering if she was still alive. Her lids opened briefly, before falling back down seconds later. "You're going to be okay, Suki is getting Okaa-san here. She'll be able to help you!" Suzuki said, rushing to the girl's side and holding her hand gently for support while making sure she didn't hurt her further.

Suzumi heard the girl let out a low, raspy breath. "Thank… you…" she said, before her voice died out yet again.

Suzumi examined the girl. She was clad in a metal uniform with a porcelain cat mask around her neck with strange red markings. She had a tattoo on her left arm, going somewhat in a swirl. Her hair, with further inspection, Suzumi was able to realize was a light, bubble gum pink. And her eyes, which Suzumi remembered from before when she opened her eyes, were beautiful and bright. They were emerald eyes but they looked distant and were fading; she was dying. If her mother didn't get there soon, that might be the end of her.

"Okaa-san! Otou-san! Hurry over here!" Suzumi turned around and saw Suki, and per parents rushing over where she was.

"Oh dear!" her mom said, letting out a gasp. She wiped her hands on her apron as she bent down and touched Sakura's neck gently. "She's still breathing; she has a chance. It's very faint though." She said, getting up.

"Dear, take her to our home please." She said, eyeing her husband. The man nodded and picked Sakura's limp body up, bridal style, and hurriedly walked away from the field, towards the small village a few minutes away.

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Sakura let out a long, painful gasp as she clutched her abdomen. That little bitch. How could she possibly… how could she do that to her?! Sakura appeared in a field of wild flowers after teleporting herself away from that damn bitch.

She limped her way away from the flowers, towards a tree where she leaned on it and grasps as the pain struck her like a flash of lightning. She closed her eyes, not having enough strength to keep them open anymore, and cursed her name several times.

Of all the times to attack her, it had to be when her chakra was depleted –no thanks to having to heal her team- and when they were alone, in the middle of an attack. She had to admit though, she was smart. She knew she didn't like her the first time she laid eyes on her. Flirting with her Sasuke and acting as if Ino were her best friend.

Sakura tried her best to act kind to her, but she wouldn't budge. She just had an ultimate grudge on her. 'Jealous bitch should burn in hell.' Sakura thought angrily. Sakura's breathing slowed as she started feeling her life slowly slip from her fingers.

Sakura lifted her hand up, and brought her cat mask down, finding it hard to breath with it. She let her arm fall limp on the floor afterwards as she surveyed her injuries with her chakra. She had bashed her skull, succeeding in opened her skin. She had also broke her leg, and gotten stabbed in the abdomen by a katana.

Not only that, but an earth jutsu –made by the bitch- pierced her right lung, explaining why Sakura couldn't breathe well. She also had many other deep gashes, bruises, and injuries all around her body. And to top it all off, she had put a jutsu on Sakura, not letting her access and use her chakra for who knows how long. It didn't have to be too long though… she was going to die from the loss of blood and major injuries anyway… Sakura just couldn't feel them because her body had gone numb long since she appeared on the field of flowers.

'It's only a matter of time before I die.' Sakura thought as she struggled to stay conscious. Hours seemed to pass as Sakura sat there, feeling her life slipping away from her… in truth, it had been about 5 minutes. How much longer would she have to suffer? She couldn't just die here and now?

Sakura heard a loud gasp in front of her. "Suki get Okaa-san immediately!" she heard a small voice say. She tried to open her eyes, but it her so much. After mustering up her strengths, she managed to open them ever so slightly. "Help… me…" Sakura muttered, closing her eyes again.

'Help me end this pain and kill me already.' She thought sadly. The chances of her living were very slim. Considering she didn't see a village anywhere near, and she had to chakra to heal herself any further.

'My only regrets… are not saying good bye to everyone… and not beating the crap out of that bitch.' Sakura thought. Her anger made her realize, just how stupid it was letting herself get beaten up by this girl.

'No… I can't die yet. Not until I prove to her I am not her bitch. She is going to pay… the Haruno way.' Sakura thought as she heard a woman approach her. She felt herself get picked up and all though all her limbs were screaming in pain and agony, she refused to let out a whimper. She would not let her have the satisfaction of knowing she was in pain, and about to die.

She felt herself being brought into a small cottage of some sort but did not dare open her eyes; it would be much too painful.

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"That's it… ease her down gently on the bed." The woman known as Sera said.

"Okaa-san, will she be okay?" Suki asked her mother, worried.

"I don't know what to say Suki… the odds of her living are honestly against her. Please go and see if there's a medic available anywhere." Sera ordered. Suki nodded as she hurried out the door.

"Hiroto, dear, please step out of the house." She said, eyeing her husband. He complied and exited. "Suzuki, please get me some cloth and some water." She ordered as she eyed the girl. Suzuki nodded as she left.

Sera started to take the armor off of Sakura while making sure she didn't deepen any injuries. "Can you still speak?" she asked, putting the armor down on the floor. Sakura let out a small noise from the back of her throat.

"Your name please?" she asked, removing all her clothes next.

"S-Sa…kura" she muttered slowly.

"That's a nice name dear. A medic will arrive shortly to tend for your wounds. I'm going to wipe the blood off of you okay?" she said as Suzuki appeared with the water and a moist cloth.

"Hm" Sakura muttered, flinching a tiny bit as her throat stung.

After wiping a tiny bit of the blood, Suki rushed in with three medics following suit. "Oh dear, what happened to this child?" one of them said, hurrying to her side.

"We found her in the field of wild flowers." Suki answered, standing aside as the medics inspected her.

"We don't have much time. Ladies, let's get to work." The same medic responded as all of them nodded and got down to business. One went straight for Sakura's head, as she took out a needle and a thread and started stitching up the wound while Sera helped by removing the blood, and holding up the hair.

The other medic worked on the big gash on her abdomen while the other worked on her right lung, that one being the one that had been pierced with a katana.

"Suki and Suzuki, get us some more water and more cloths please." Sera ordered. They both nodded as they took the bin and cloth stained and filled with now red water, and went to get some more. They came back with five cloths and more water.

Hours passed and all Sakura could do was stay there, listening and feeling as the medics stitched her up. Did they know medical ninjutsu at all? That hurt like hell! Apparently, they didn't considering they didn't use any at all throughout the whole surgery! Sakura didn't complain though, she had a few reasons not to.

They were saving her life. How could she possibly not be grateful?

Showing pain, would be showing weakness. She was definitely not the same little weak girl she used to be when Sasuke left her.

She would not show pain caused by the likes of her

The hours seemed to be days as the medics worked on her body. Sakura couldn't do anything… she didn't even think she had enough strength to cry out in pain. That was just how exhausted she was.

The medics finished patching up all of her injuries about an hour later, and Sakura was thankful that her torture was all over with.

"We've done all we could have done to help her." The medics said with sighs.

"Thank you so much." Sera said, bowing towards them.

"I s-should b-be the o-one to t-thank you a-all." Sakura muttered; her eyes still closed. She couldn't understand how she could muster up the strength to speak.

"Oh dear, you have to rest up, please don't talk." Sera begged, feeling pity for the girl. Sakura simply nodded, and closed her eyes, drifting off into a never ending sleep.

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"Sakura, you five have been called here to inform you that you will have an extra member added to your team."Tsunade spoke.

"But our team already has five." Sakura said.

"I am aware of that… this new team member will only be with you for a few months though… just a substitute member to say the least." Tsunade explained. Sakura simply nodded as she stared at her team.

Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, and Sasuke. Her gaze lingered on Sasuke. She was so glad he had come back and now, she was happier than ever. He had come back 2 years ago and now, she was going out with him. Sakura inwardly giggled as she felt butterflies in her stomach; how lucky was she? She had long since given up in the fan girl act. In fact, the first thing she did to Sasuke when she saw his face was give him a very powerful blow to the face. After that, she cursed his name hundreds of times, before hugging him and welcoming him back. Bipolar much?

Sasuke caught Sakura staring at him and quickly squeezed her hand. Sakura just gave him a smile back and faced the Hokage.

"And please treat her with respect and kindness." Tsunade said, finishing off her sentence.

The girl had golden eyes with a light brown hair color. She was also a bit shorter than Sakura herself, and had an outfit on much like her own when she was a Genin. The only difference was that it was blue and it had no circle, much like her own used to have. She bowed down and gave each of them a bright smile. She turned to Sasuke and a blush grazed her features. She turned her gaze towards Sakura, and the smile still showed, but Sakura could tell; it was totally fake.

'What's her problem?' Sakura thought angrily. She had done nothing to the girl so what was the cold should she was giving her about?

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A week passed since her stay with Team Kakashi. Sakura really didn't understand why she was ANBU. Her skills reminded her of herself when she was Chunin. She had no real specialty and she was really only good at genjutsu. She wasn't even a medic or anything. Just plain and boring. Sakura couldn't help but feel she didn't like her, she would always treat Sakura coldly in an indirect way.

Sakura finally caught up at Ichiraku's ramen and found Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke were there already waiting for her. She smiled as she walked over there slowly, walking towards the seat next to Sasuke. As soon as she was about to sit there, she was shoved out of the way as she saw her… teammate sit next to Sasuke and give her a fake smile.

"I guess you have to sit somewhere else." she said teasingly with a smile but Sakura could see right through that. Sakura sat next to Sai instead. He, similar to her, could see right past her fake self. Sai was an expert at showing fake emotions and detecting lies; so truthfully, he would be able to spot them too. And he, spotted nothing but fake emotions and lies in that girl.

"Good afternoon, ugly." He said with a smile etched on his face.

"Good to see you to Sai" Sakura said with a smile.

"Good afternoon Sai!"

Sai frowned slightly as he looked her way. "Afternoon… it was good until I saw your ugly face." He stated, not even showing her a fake smile. All she did was giggle which Sakura really didn't understand. Maybe she was thinking that was a compliment considering he always called her a bitch and always called her ugly. Either way, she definitely couldn't tell the two apart. Not only was that new girl, Saki dense, but she couldn't even tell when Sai was joking around.

Sakura would be able to tell in a heartbeat, and Sai knew that. Saki on the other hand, couldn't tell the difference between Sai when he was happy, or Sai when he was about to kill you.

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"You don't deserve to have Sasuke-kun's love. You don't deserve to have Ino's friendship. You don't deserve to have the title of the apprentice to the fifth Hokage. You don't even deserve to have the title to be called Konoha's best kunoichi!"the person Sakura thought was her teammate said as she stabbed Sakura in the lung.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sakura sprang up from her bed abruptly. Damn, her dreams were all invaded by someone she really didn't want in them. She looked around the room; light was shining through so it was obviously day time.

"I see you've woken up now. I was starting to worry."

Sakura looked to her left finding Sera there wiping her wet hands on her apron. "How long have I been out?" Sakura asked, stretching slightly until pain soared through her body. She was only expecting a few days really… considering her wounds were still looking fresh.

"About a week." She stated worriedly.

"What?!" Sakura asked, shocked.

"It's true… the medics said you were in a comma. Distressed for some reason." She explained, walking over to her.

"But my wounds haven't healed yet…" she explained trailing off.

"Dear, those wounds are very deep… they're not going to disappear in a day." She explained.

Sakura shook her head. Of course they wouldn't… they didn't use medical ninjutsu like she was so used to using. "Yeah, I should have guessed. I'm sorry for intruding for so long." Sakura said. "I really shouldn't intrude much longer…" Sakura trailed off trying to lift herself up. She immediately felt pain on her lower abdomen.

"Oh dear I think you've opened up the stitches." Sera said rushing towards her. Sakura took the blankets off of her and indeed, she was bleeding.

Sera rushed to her side, a needle and some string all ready. She began stitching everything up once again while Sakura tried to start up a conversation, trying to ignore the pain the best she could.

"Where exactly am I?" Sakura asked.

"You're in a small village around the borders of the Sound." Sera said. Sakura nodded. Last she heard of sound, it had become a brutal place to live in after Orochimaru died. Bandits started taking over since it had no leader anymore.

"Do you have any raids in your town?" Sakura asked.

Sera nodded. "Fortunately, not yet. This is one of the very few towns that hasn't been caught in the war going on in Sound. We were a quiet and peaceful village that only did subsistence farming… rice is what keeps us alive." She explained.

"So people here farm rice?" Sakura said.

"We do… we only fear that the war follows us and we get caught up in it too. We have very little money and an even smaller amount of food. We only make enough to survive, with a tiny amount left over for special occasions." She said worried.

"Okaa-san we're home!" Suzuki said opening the door. Her curious face turned happy when she saw Sakura awake.

"Nee-chan's awake!" she said excitedly running towards Sakura. Sakura gave a simple smile.

"I am very thankful you found me. I would probably be dead now if you found me any later." She said patting the small girl on the head.

Suzuki simply shook her head. "It's my pleasure. I'm glad you're safe now." She said.

"Thanks for your concern." She said, with a smile. Sakura put her hand on her head as she felt the stitch. It would be troublesome getting that to heal. Especially now since her chakra was off limits. She flinched slightly, now feeling her whole body sore.

Sakura lay back down in the bed, feeling rather miserable. She had never gotten this gravely injured before… Now she knew how Naruto and Sasuke must have felt way back in the Genin days when they would go out of their way to save her life… even if it meant being in a hospital bed for several months…

It hurt knowing she had done this to Sasuke and Naruto… curse her for being so weak back in the days… That had all changed though… hadn't it?

Had it?

She wasn't strong enough to even protect herself… did she honestly get any stronger? Sure, she was an ANBU now… but…

'Am I still the same as my Genin self?'

No… her genin self hadn't been able to save Naruto and Sasuke before… she had only been a hindrance to Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. She hadn't been able to do one good thing for them besides keeping them close for all those years… Even that didn't prove to be that good when Sasuke left them, tearing everything Sakura had worked so hard to build up. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sera spoke.

"Mind me asking Sakura dear, but how exactly did you get in that situation?" Sera asked unsurely as she saw Sakura's face grow dark and serious. "You don't have to answer if you don't wish to." Sera said quickly, shaking her head. "It's just that… for someone to give you those many injuries… it had to be personal… and you look like the sweetest thing on earth… Who would possibly want to hurt you like this?" Sera asked worriedly.

"It's okay Sera. You saved my life… I think it's fair that I tell you what happened to me…" Sakura trailed off, looking down sadly as she remembered what had happened to her.

"I was betrayed by someone who was supposed to be my teammate. She tried to kill me for reasons unknown to me. I don't understand what I have ever done to her to make her despise me so." Sakura said, a mixture of anger and sadness in her voice.

"Oh dear… I'm so sorry." Sera said, her eyes widening slightly.

"It's okay. I'll get my pay back once I get back. I can't possibly burden you all like this for too long." Sakura said.

"No dear, you are much too weak to leave. To make you move would be asking for too much. You must stay until you are well." Sera insisted.

Sakura shook her head. "I can't"

"You can" Sera compelled, feeling worry overpower her.

"I must get back to Konoha… you said it had been a week already… They must think I am dead…" Sakura trailed off, seeing images of her loved ones and family members.

Sasuke… Naruto… Sai… Kakashi… Ino… Hinata… Tsunade-shishou… Shizune… TenTen… Kiba… Neji… Shikamaru… everyone…

They all thought her for dead…

And all because of Saki… she would pay… for everything she had done to her…

A single tear rolled down Sakura's cheek, the pain and sadness becoming too much for her. How would it make you feel if everyone you know thought u were dead? Would Sasuke move on? Would Ino find a new best friend? Would Tsunade-shishou find a new apprentice?

"Dear?" Sera asked unsurely, seeing she had touched a delicate subject.

Sakura stiffly wiped her tears away, only for them to be replaced by more.

"I'm sorry… it's just… hard. I-"

Sera shook her head. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. It must be hard. If you wish to, you may leave. I insist you stay though, and you are welcome back if you change your mind." Sera said, before she took her children and left the village, leaving Sakura there to weep.

Sakura swung her legs over the bed, and slowly stood up. She limped out of the house, and found herself walking towards a big field of wild flowers. This had been where she had almost lost her life…

Her life…

Was it worth it? Sakura looked at herself up and down. Without her chakra she was doomed. She had gone through too much… she didn't want this pain anymore!

Her loved ones most likely thought she was dead. For several weeks she had thought she was dead, not being able to tell if she had gone to heaven, hell, or neither. While sleeping she had been haunted… haunted by the dreams of Saki…

Sakura roughly leaned back on a bark of tree, feeling her energy drain fast. She was still gravely injured, what can you expect? Sakura wheezed in the chill autumn air, feeling shivers crawl up her spine. It was turning into winter slowly but steadily… it was only a matter of time before the warm colors and wild flowers died, and winter came, bringing with it nothing but white.

Sakura sighed miserably, feeling a wave of nostalgia went through her.

The Christmas' she and Sasuke had spent together for the past 2 years…

The times she and Ino would stay up all night, gossiping and sharing stories…

The time she would train with Naruto and yell at him for injuring himself…

No… she had to go back… she had to be strong. If she ever wanted to relive those moments… she had to be strong, and survive these few weeks.

Sakura inhaled deeply, and jerked herself up quickly. After that, she limped back across the field of flowers and back to the village, where she searched for the same cottage she had been in before. By this time, she had to hang on to things for support so that she wouldn't fall over.

When she finally made it back to the right cottage, she opened the door, and saw Sera there, cutting some carrots. She looked at the door and smiled gingerly. "Nice to have you back Sakura." Sera said as she stopped cutting the vegetables momentarily.

"I know I can't make it in this condition." Sakura admitted. "I ask that you please let me stay here for a few days, max a few weeks, so I may get better. I promise not to bother you for too long." Sakura pleaded, dragging herself across the small cottage to the bed she had been resting on previously.

"You are more than welcome to stay here Sakura." Sera answered, resuming the cutting of the vegetables.

"Thanks you so much for your kindness and generosity Sera. I deeply appreciate it." Sakura spoke, her tone growing heavy as her eyes started closing. She had used up enough energy…

"Don't mention it sweety. Go back to bed and I'll wake you for dinner." Sera said.

Sakura nodded, laying on the bed gently to make sure she didn't open up any more wounds. After she was settled down, she inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times before falling victim to the thing we call sleep.

Sera woke Sakura up an hour later, and helped her eat her food. After that, Sakura went back to bed, feeling herself to drained to do anything but sleep.

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Same Time Elsewhere

Ino blew her nose, weeping for her best friend who's grave was right in front of her with dozens of different flowers.

"I-Ino" Hinata said, trying to comfort Ino ever so slightly. It wasn't working though… she was crying too. How would she not? That was one of her best friends… and she died…

"W-Why'd it h-have to be h-her?" Ino cried out even more.

Hinata did her best to not cry, but she soon gave in, being surrounded by mourning people, and started crying together with Ino. They hugged each other for comfort, but the pain was still there… it would always be there… they lost their best friend…

It had been an hour already… and people weren't leaving yet… in fact, more and more seemed to be filing it. Even the Suna siblings, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara had come to wish Sakura the best life in the afterlife. Kankuro owed his life to her, Temari had become close friends with her, and Gaara had become rather fond if the pink-haired girl… everyone who she had met had… it wasn't much of a surprise.

They would all remember Konoha's Cherry Blossom… and they would all remember her for the great person she had been in her lifetime.

The ones who were probably taking her death the worst were Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, Tsunade, Shizune, and, Sasuke of course.

Naruto and Sasuke were together, not saying a word. Why? Because they had nothing to say.

Nothing could begin to describe how horrible they felt at the moment. They blamed themselves for her death… they should have been there… How did they ever separate from each other?

Sakura had always been there for Naruto… always there when he needed to talk… always there when he was about to die… she protected him countless of times as well. Where was she now? 8 feet below ground… Technically, her body wasn't there… Her body was never found and they could only imagine that the attackers took her body, or it was blown into tiny pieces from the huge explosion that had erupted thanks to the suicidal-jutsu one of the attackers had conjured. They had searched for 4 days… 4 long god damn days. But to no avail, her body was never found. They had even went as far to higher the Inuzuka's to sniff out her body. Her scent had been completely marked off.

Naruto not only lost a best friend… he lost a sister… He had barely gotten Sasuke back and now he had to lose Sakura? The only difference was that he could never get Sakura back… not now… Not ever.

He couldn't even begin to describe how Sasuke must be feeling right now. They had been together for the 2 years Sasuke had been back after all. What he found was the most horrible from all of this, was that after they came back from their mission, Sasuke was going to propose to Sakura… This wouldn't have been a day people all around Konoha would be wearing black.

No, it would have been a lively day filled with bright colors, and smiles everywhere. After all, their cherry blossom was to get married, to the most powerful man in all of Konoha. Even the fan girls would have been happy. After all, Sakura used to be one of the fan girls and that being said, she had befriended most of all of them.

Naruto looked down, seeing Sasuke tighten his grip on a black box. He put a strong arm on Sasuke's shoulder, making him stare at Naruto. His eyes looked dead; lifeless. Naruto shook his head.

He knew what Sasuke must have been thinking. A resurrection jutsu. Those were far too difficult to accomplish and even if Orochimaru had shown him how to do them… you needed a body. A key ingredient they didn't even have. They had spent 4 days searching for her body… not even a feint chakra signature was found… She had either disappeared, or she had been blown to tiny pieces, that she wouldn't even be distinguishable in a pile of dirt.

Sasuke shook his hand off if his shoulder, angered. He of all people should understand how bad he wanted it… how bad he wanted her back. How much he missed her… how much he ached for her touch… her smile… her voice… her scent…

He wanted all those things back that it hurt. It hurt so bad. He wanted to scream out in agony… he had lost the most important thing in his life…

Kakashi had once told him that a love lost is a memory gained. And like some memories, we forget about them, and bury them so deep into our mind, we no longer claim importance for them. Would Sakura become like that to him? Would he forget about 4 years of his life with her? 4 god damn long years? No… he had always treasured Sakura… even in the Genin days.

She had always been there for him… She was the hand that was always there to hold whenever he felt he would go crazy, lost in the rage of the curse mark. In a way, the curse mark kept them apart… but it kept them closer as well. Every time he was blinded by rage… every time Orochimaru had made the curse mark go out of control… there was always one thing that would calm him down… Like in the Forest of Death, Sakura was the only one that could calm him… How could he forget about her like that?

It scared him… it scared him to think that. Would he seriously forget about all those times Sakura had been by his side? All those moments he was in complete and utter bliss with her?

"Sasuke" Naruto jerked, earning his attention. "We can't bring her back…" Naruto stated, even though he himself found it hurtful to say that.

"There's nothing wrong about wanting her back Naruto!" he growled loudly, glaring at Naruto, who flinched back in response to his sudden anger.

"Sasuke-kun"

Sasuke felt his spirits fly. A memory of the day they had been assigned to Team 7 flashed through his head. 'Just like… Sakura'

Sasuke turned around in a daze, part of him hoping he would see Sakura behind him… No… it was… Saki?

"What?" he asked, looking right through her, and picturing Sakura instead of her…

"People move on." She stated, smiling as she took his hand and squeezed it.

Sasuke glared, and jerked his hand away. No… Sakura would never say anything like that. Never would she tell people to forget, and move on. She would tell people to treasure them in their hearts… because even they could give you the slightest happiness whenever you are feeling down.

Yeah… Sakura would say something like that. "Don't act as if you knew her. No one could forget someone like Sakura." He hissed, making Saki waver, scared.

Sasuke looked down sadly, staring at his dark blue box. He knelt down in front of Sakura's grave, and opened the box. In it, revealed a gold ring with a pink diamond incrusted in it. He placed it on top of Sakura's graved, as he traced the letters of her name on the gravestone. He looked up, a small tear rolling down his cheek.

From a few feet away, Ino and Hinata gasped… no way… he had been ready to propose to her all along. For reasons unknown, Ino broke down crying, Hinata following suit, sad, knowing that Sakura would have loved to have been here for this.

A drop of water hit his face, and then it was followed by a few more. A few thunderbolts were seen as lighting spread through the area, and the rain started pouring. The skies were crying too…

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sakura woke up, sweat beating down her neck as lighting cackled through the air. It was barely around 4 in the afternoon, but the dark clouds and rain made it seem dark… Sakura had never been all too fond of lightning…

Sakura looked outside the window next to her bed, seeing a few villagers running frantically towards their individual cottages, trying to flee from the rain.

Sakura felt dead. Why though? A feeling at the pit of her stomach told her she was dead… Theoretically speaking, she was supposed to be dead. It had taken her all her strength to stay alive, and even she knew, as a very experienced medic, there should have been no way she should have survived the attack. No… her injuries were far too great. The injury in her head should have broken her skull, but it settled with her skin only. The stab wound in her lung should have stabbed her heart, causing almost instant death, but it settled for an inch west of her heart. The stab wound on her abdomen, should have cut through vital organs, including her liver, but it barely even grazed it.

Either the devil was playing one cruel trick on her, making her feel pain before killing her, or God was keeping her alive. Why though? Was he trying to tell her to go back to Konoha? To be with Sasuke?

A loud lighting boomed across the sky and Sakura jumped slightly. Was God reading her thoughts now? So if she wasn't fated to go back to Konoha, was she to stay here?

Another boom

Was God telling her to become a missing-nin then? Because if she was a ninja, who left her village, that was immediately a case of a missing-nin.

No boom………

'Are you playing pranks on me kami-sama?' Sakura thought sourly.

No boom…

'No… this just had to be a sick, cruel, mind trick… Everything will be fine when I get back… I know it will…' Sakura thought, staring at the rain outside the house.

Even though she told herself that all throughout the night, not hearing anymore booming, she couldn't help but feel everything was all wrong…

She wasn't supposed to be here, even though she much appreciated them saving her life. She was supposed to be in front of a sofa, next to the fireplace in Sasuke's house snuggling with him while drinking some hot chocolate…

Or maybe even sharing a few laughs in between friends with Hinata, Ino, and TenTen, laughing about how Naruto had fallen into the icy cold river on their last mission, or how Chouji had gone off on the attacker for calling him fatty, or even how Neji seemed very feminine in his sleep… so told by Hinata and TenTen. Any one of those comments would have be fine.

But no… where was she now? She was in a cold bed filled with blood stains, where she was slowly wasting her life, trying to heal her injuries. She was dying there… No, she had died here… The old Sakura had died here… the one who trusted too easily.

She knew Saki didn't like her to begin with… trying to act like her, and take her friends and boy friend too. Saki… her name was even similar to hers… how pathetic.

Now… the first thing Sakura would do when she saw Saki was either kill her, beat the crap out of her, or strangle… whichever fit best.

Sakura could only wait for now…

End of Chapter!

So… what'd you all think of the new story? :O I've been meaning to put it out there to see if it was any good… I guess you'll all be the judge of that ;) Sorry if you spot any errors people! Took me a while to make and I was too lazy to go back and reread everything 400 times X.X hehe

1 review is all I need to continue, though I would appreciate any and all feedback :) No review = no update :) Sorry… hope I'm not being greedy but I just like 2 know there's at least 1 person sharing their opinions :)

Until then!

-Marzy-chan :)