-Naruto + Mario + Lyrics of How Do I Breathe = Not Mine. You don't say?-

Comeback

GaaSaku: 29

ShikaSaku: 17

NejiSaku: 17

Harem: 15

KakaSaku: 13

YamaSaku: 13

KibaSaku: 11

NaruSaku: 9

SasuSaku: 6

SaiSaku: 4

Chapter 9: Comeback

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How do I breathe, without you here by my side?

How will I see, when your love brought me to the light?

Where do I go, when your heart is where I lay my head?

When you're not with me, how do I breathe?

How do I breathe?

~How Do I Breathe by Mario

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Sakura strapped her medical supplies to her waist as she smiled triumphantly. She had packed all of the necessary supplies for the mission. Saying that she was prepared was an understatement. She had gone to a lot of solo missions in the past years and she was well known for coming back unscathed because of her healing abilities. Sakura didn't hate going to missions but she preferred to stay in the hospital and help those in need. There was something strangely romantic about healing ninjas that would willingly sacrifice their lives for their villagers.

She walked towards the Konoha gates. The roads were quiet since she was leaving for the mission really early in the morning. She sighed as she turned around to gaze at her village. She was about to turn around and leap to the trees when something stopped her from doing so. It grabbed her ankles and slithered up to her thighs, this stopped her from moving.

"What the-?" Sakura looked down and instantly noticed that the thing grabbing her was sand. Or, to be more specific, the Kazekage's sand. As if on cue, Gaara landed gracefully right in front of her on a platform of sand. He had a blank expression on his face as he dropped from the sand platform to stand in front of her. He towered over the petite pinkette.

She frowned and folded her arms across her very distracting chest. "Gaara," She said sternly. Said red-head smirked as response before removing his sand from her legs. Of course, he took his time doing so allowing the sand to slide slowly down her legs.

"Sakura," He smirked.

"What are you doing here, Gaara?" Sakura questioned with her eyebrows raised.

"I was aware that you were given a mission and decided to wish you luck," He shrugged.

She studied the male in front of her before she answered, "Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm just surprised that you were able to wake up this early."

Gaara cocked his head to one side, "I do not sleep."

She shook her head, "I'm aware of that. It's just that you were quite wasted yesterday at the reunion." Her cheeks turned red slightly from recalling the incident.

He blinked and realisation struck. He covered the bottom half of his face with his hand and turned his head to avoid looking at Sakura. It was true he had been a little bit drunk (a little?). He could recall that incident but what happened afterwards was hazy. His body must have automatically reverted to its meditative state.

Sakura looked up from looking at her feet and noticed that Gaara was standing awkwardly in front of her with his face covered and slightly red. He wasn't looking at her. She figured that he must have felt embarrassed about what had happened yesterday. But, it was sweet of him to come all this way to wish her luck.

She smiled sweetly before stepping forward quickly to peck his cheek to thank him. He was taller than her and it required her to tip-toe. She stuck her tongue out playfully when he turned to face her with a shocked expression. Sakura waved before leaping to the trees at full speed.

Gaara stood there slightly paralysed as he gazed at Sakura's disappearing form. He allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he started to turn around to make his way back.

It was clearly no secret that Gaara was interested in the pinkette. But, in the beginning when he had just met her, she was nothing but a nuisance. Who would have thought that he hoped that she could become something more?

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Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly as he reluctantly lifted his upper body from the very comfortable bed. The light shone brightly through his clear windows and he could see the clear blue sky. He detangled his legs from the bed sheets and swung his strong legs off the bed. He literally jumped off the bed, stretching his arms over his heads.

The Kyubi container walked over to the window and looked outside.

How he missed the busy streets and the noisy vendors. He could recognise some people he had met before he left the village. His thoughts travelled as he started to remember his Genin days (of course ignoring that tiny detail that he was still a Genin).

He remembered the silly missions they had to complete, the hours they had to wait for their sensei. He recalled the stupid fights he had with the Uchiha. The painful hits he got from the (very) violent Sakura. And, of course, there was also the awkward Sai added to the Team. He didn't like him at the start but during their time together he started to understand him better. Sai wasn't so bad. Then there was Yamato-taichou and Kakashi-sensei always there whenever he needed support. He enjoyed his time with his team and was extremely thankful that he was able to bring his friend back home.

There was one thing he regretted and that was leaving her behind. He wanted to protect her. Everyone did. He knew he would hurt her, but her safety was way more important.

What he didn't expect was to be so left behind when he returned. She had grown much stronger and he wasn't quite so shocked when his feelings for her started to resurface.

She had this aura of confidence and comfort surrounding her. And it lured Naruto in like nothing else (except Ramen). And it had taken quite a bit of self-control for him not to be so over-protective of her. Knowing Sakura, she didn't like being coddled and he would probably end up with a black eye and a couple of broken bones. At least.

"Nii-chan!"

Naruto's head shot up when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He instantly recognised the voice and grinned widely. Konohamaru landed with a soft thud outside his window and smiled. The Honourable Grandson no longer had his childish features. And his Kakashi-like brown hair was more tamed. He still wore that extremely long scarf though only the tip touched the ground now because of his height. He wore the Konoha headband proudly on his forehead.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted in greeting.

Konohamaru entered the room easily through the window, "Sorry I couldn't see you sooner. I was away on a mission."

Naruto shook his head, "Nah, its okay. How have you been?"

He stabbed his chest with his thumb proudly and exclaimed, "I've just been promoted to Chunin!"

Before Naruto could answer; Konohamaru continued, "Wait. Does that mean I'm your senior?"

Naruto visibly shrunk and he started to wallow in self pity knowing that he was still a Genin and would probably remain a Genin for quite a while.

"Oh yeah. Hokage asked me to pass this to you."

Naruto looked up from his foetal position and took the scroll from his hands. Before he could open it Konohamaru waved goodbye and muttered something about violent girls and training.

After he had left, Naruto was once again alone in his apartment.

He opened the seal and read the contents of the scroll.

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Sasuke raised his eyebrows in confusion when he noticed that Sakura's apartment was extremely quiet. During his stay here, he couldn't help but take notice of Sakura's habits. She would always wake up early in the morning and the smell of instant coffee would wake him up. She would nod or smile at him before leaving for work at the Konoha Hospital. She had a habit of running her fingers through her hair and biting her lip. He also took notice that she liked to waltz around her house in a pair of shorts and a tank top during her off days. Though, he wasn't complaining.

This attraction towards the pinkette scared him at first. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. So, he just watched her from afar.

It was really strange for him to have these types of feelings. He always thought that he had locked away all his emotions except for his hatred. But, when his eyes met her emerald ones, his chains and locks started to slowly unlock themselves and he got lost in this spiral of emotions.

Don't get him wrong, he wasn't like Sai who was unsure what he was feeling. Sasuke was more scared than confused like Sai. He didn't actually like Sakura during his Genin days though he felt he needed to protect her sometimes but that was because a ninja had to always take care of their team mates. Right?

He found her weak and thought that she was dead weight.

But, she changed.

She made a comeback.

She was stronger and more beautiful. Sometimes, he could read her like a book; sometimes she had unexplainable expressions on her face. She was an enigma. And he was attracted to her.

Sasuke recalled the time Ino confronted him.

It was the first time he actually felt vulnerable. And an Uchiha was never vulnerable.

He guessed he wasn't that good in hiding his feelings.

There was a soft knock on the door and Sasuke literally ran to the door thinking that it was Sakura.

Instead, a masked ANBU stood there, "From the Hokage."

Sasuke could literally feel the hostility radiating in waves from the ANBU. He held his blank stare and took the scroll before nodding his thanks.

He closed the door and grumbled under his breath. Where was Sakura? He admitted that he was feeling a little bit edgy without her around.

He roughly unsealed the scroll.

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Sai held the unopened scroll in his hand and placed it on the table reminding himself to take a look at it later, since it wasn't so urgent.

He had other things to do.

Sai wasn't usually like this. He was neat and tidy. He never left things for later. He did his work quickly and efficiently. But, now he was slightly distracted. Or, very distracted. He entered his room and sat on his tall stool. He gazed at the art piece in front of him. He had been working on it for a while (since Chapter 7). The paint had already dried and he traced the painting with his fingers.

Sai sighed and wondered why he felt this way. He knew that he didn't actually have any feelings but a tiny part of him would beg to differ. He was rather confused and his large array of books could do nothing to ease his confusion and uneasiness.

He removed his hands from the painting and took a step back to study said painting. The goddess on the blank canvas had mesmerising viridian eyes, silky looking pink hair and lips that could entice any men. Though, he admitted that nothing could beat the original.

He liked the original more.

He paused.

Like?

He closed his eyes and smirked as he buried his hand in his dark locks.

So, that was the reason why.

Why couldn't he have realised that sooner?

He read in a book somewhere about that. And he knew what he needed to do.

Sai rushed out of the room and was about to leave when he remembered the unopened scroll. He reached out for it and unsealed it.

He skimmed through its contents.

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Kakashi was under a tree with his back against the tree. He enjoyed his time alone, of course, if he had his favourite novel to accompany him. He casually flipped a page and continued to skim through the page's content. Okay, so he wasn't actually concentrating on the book like he usually does. It's just that The Great Hatake Kakashi had a lot on his mind at the moment.

The Jounin was so used to expecting the unexpected; he couldn't find a good explanation why he was having such turmoil. In battle, nothing could faze him. He was cool-headed and precise. But, one particular woman with extremely bright hair always caused him to lose his cool.

Don't get him wrong, Kakashi had experience with women (if you know what I mean), he just didn't have the patience to deal with them. They were hard to handle sometimes. The only female he actually tolerated and cared about was Rin; and she was long gone.

He told himself that he wouldn't bother about this kind of things but this particular woman drove him crazy.

And she was one of his ex-students: Haruno Sakura.

Being with her for years, he had seen her grow up and improve greatly. He didn't actually give her much attention years ago and he sorely regretted that. Sakura had a lot of potential with her precise chakra control. If only he had realised this sooner.

When they had returned, Kakashi was pleasantly surprised at how Sakura had changed. Her skills, her appearance and even her gait had changed. She was more confident about her abilities. Long gone were the days she would be watching behind the sidelines. Now, the Team watched her.

Leaving her behind during their quest to find Sasuke was actually his idea. Sai and Naruto protested; but Kakashi was able to persuade them to agree with him. No, he didn't find her troublesome or a burden. He had already lost Rin and Obito. He wasn't planning on losing anyone anymore, if he could help it.

Even if it meant crushing her in the process.

He didn't regret his decision to leave her behind. She was safe. Alive and breathing.

He was happy as long she was.

Kakashi unclenched his fist and stared at his gloved palm. He looked up into the skies and wondered how his team mates were faring on the other side and if they were laughing at his predicament.

"Hatake-san."

The silver-haired Jounin stood up and nodded at the ANBU. The masked man moved forward and handed him a scroll.

"From the Hokage," he said before disappearing leaving no trace of his presence.

Kakashi kept his novel in his vest before opening the scroll. He stuffed one of his hands in his pocket as he walked; his eyes reading the kanji on the scroll.

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"I think that doing that would jeopardise the mission. It would alert them of our presence and chances of escape would be very low. We would be extremely exposed to the enemy," The ninja clad in the usual Jounin uniform commented as he tapped he table with his finger to emphasise his point.

Yamato nodded silently as he listened to another ninja rebut.

But, the Wood user wasn't actually paying attention. His mind was elsewhere. He placed his fingers on his chin as if thinking as he stared at nothing in particular.

Mission? If she was sent to a mission, shouldn't her immediate family and Team be informed?

Yet, Yamato hadn't received any scrolls or messages from the Hokage. Was she sent to a top secret mission? Wouldn't that mean that she would be in extreme danger? He shook his head slightly as if trying to throw out his negative thoughts. He was sure Sakura would be safe. It couldn't have been a very dangerous mission. Tsunade wouldn't allow putting her beloved apprentice in immediate danger. Konoha would lose too much.

He would lose too much.

Yamato hadn't really been with Sakura for very long. But, he had been with her long enough to completely understand her. She was easy to read. Also, she didn't bother to hide anything. Remember that saying about how one's eyes were their windows to their souls? Sakura was a walking example. Her emerald eyes would suck you in like a vacuum. Yamato noticed how her eyes would change its shade according to her mood. That was how he knew when she was in a foul mood.

Sometimes, he would gaze at those eyes when no one was around to catch him. He couldn't resist. Who could? But, what attracted him most weren't her eyes or her physical appearance. It was her heart. She cared for everybody and her kindness would melt even the most evil man.

Suddenly, someone smacked him on the back of his head. Yamato literally fell off his chair because of the impact. He struggled to get back up while rubbing the back of his head trying to soothe the pain.

"Tenzou-san, please try to pay attention," Said ninja scolded.

The Wood user smiled and bowed in apology. He was about to scold him again before the doors opened.

All the occupants in the room removed their eyes from Yamato to look at the visitor. The ANBU bowed, apologising for interrupting before handing him a scroll. He promptly turned around to disappear.

Yamato rubbed his painfully throbbing head as he opened to scroll.

The next thing he did was run out of the room despite the loud threats that were being thrown at him. He'll deal with that later.

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Neji took a deep breath and calmed his rapidly beating heart. He fell easily into his fighting stance. With his eyes closed, he waited for the oncoming attack.

But, it didn't come.

Neji opened his eyes and glared at his sparring partner for making him wait unnecessarily. He didn't like wasting time. Hyuga Hinata was already in her familiar fighting stance but instead of engaging in battle she was staring at him with a confused look on her face.

"You like her," she stated simply.

Taken by surprise, Neji slipped on his own feet before falling face flat on the hard ground. Hinata giggled before folding her arms to investigate her sudden epiphany.

"W-Wh-What are you talking about?" Neji stuttered, oh so convincingly.

Hinata waited for Neji to stand up and compose himself before striking. She sent chakra to her hands and aimed for his chest. His eyes widened before twisting his body painfully to dodge the attack. The veins around both their eyes were more pronounced as they used their Byakugan to read each other's movements. Neji leapt from the ground as he tried to land a hit on her from above.

He caught her mischievous smile, "How long have you hidden y-your feelings?"

This caught him off-guard and gave her a chance to kick him in the abdomen while he was in the air. He tried to regain control as he spun in the air. On the last minute, he landed on his feet. Sweat was trickling down his neck. Hinata playfully stuck out her tongue; mocking him.

Hinata was playing dirty by using Sakura to distract him in battle!

Neji stood up and charged towards her; making use of his fast speed. She blocked his attacks, "When did y-you start falling for her? Was it when she started to grow out her h-hair? Y-you always preferred girls with long hair."

Neji's attack started to become more inaccurate when he started to remember her long silky pink hair. He briefly remembered his short encounter with her yesterday during the party. How his hands-.

He flew back from the impact and once again landed on his face.

"I see you are getting old, Neji-san."

Neji's head shot up when he recognised the voice. Shino stood next to Hinata; his face completely covered; as usual. Neji grumbled under his breath. He was not old. He was only twenty-two!

The male Hyuga removed his body from the ground. Hinata slipped her hands into Shino's as he whispered to her. She smiled sweetly at the insect man.

Neji suddenly felt a pang of jealousy at the fact that he didn't have anyone to whisper sweet nothings to. Then he remembered Sakura. The pretty, pink-haired medic that managed to crawl into his heart and refused to leave.

She wasn't the strongest or the prettiest in Konoha. She was Haruno Sakura with the slightly large forehead and scary strength. Truthfully, Neji didn't have any feelings for her except pity when her team mates left her behind.

He didn't actually mind when she was placed in his Team temporarily. Hell, she was quite a challenge. Neji couldn't understand why she was left behind when her abilities were extraordinary.

It was during one of those dangerous missions when he realised his feelings for her. She had gone missing soon after the Team had split up and it took both Gai and Lee to stop him from tearing the forest apart to search for her.

When she had reappeared hours later unharmed he felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest and his… heart.

He couldn't understand it at first. Then, he slowly understood that his constant need to have her in his eyesight and be at her side was because he liked her. Or maybe more.

Neji combed his dark hair with his fingers as he looked up into the sky.

Sakura.

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Shikamaru just stared blankly at the mountain of documents the Hokage was sending his way. How in the world was he supposed to complete such a huge pile of paperwork in one day? He could just skip all the work, but that would mean facing Tsunade's wrath. And doing that on a daily basis wasn't such a good idea if one preferred to have both their arms and legs intact.

He considered his options and decided to choose the best course of action.

Ask someone for help.

Shikamaru stood up and walked out of his room. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and walked calmly towards his desired destination. He had walked this path countless times asking the same person to help him complete his paperwork.

Of course, it could be just an excuse for him to use to meet her at a daily basis when she was around. The pinkette was kind of nice to look at.

Haruno Sakura would happily agree to help him complete the paperwork since she was already used to finishing mountains of documents; courtesy of being the Hokages's apprentice.

Shikamaru wasn't good at telling her his feelings. He felt that he should only tell her when the time is right. Who knew that the lazy genius was a hopeless romantic?

The Nara genius enjoyed the chats he had with Sakura. She wasn't stupid and actually had views to share about. She was effective and efficient in the battlefield and also had an incredibly kind heart when it came to healing others. Who in the world wouldn't fall for her?

He arrived at her doorstep and promptly knocked on the door a couple of times.

He was surprised when someone else answered the door.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru casually greeted the Uchiha while at the same time trying to spot some pink behind him.

Sasuke nodded at him.

Shikamaru cleared his throat, "Is Sakura in?"

Sasuke's eye twitched slightly at the mention of the pinkette's name. He grunted and handed over to the Nara an opened scroll.

Shikamaru stared at the scroll as Sasuke walked right pass him and started to head in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

The Nara sighed heavily before reading the scroll.

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Kiba didn't understand what in the name of dog food was going on as he tried to keep his balance. The snobby Uchiha had run right past him causing him to lose his balance. He had wanted to turn and scream at him, but shortly after him, Shikamaru followed. And he had not seen Shikamaru run that fast before.

Akamaru seemed a bit restless as he sniffed the air. The dog started to whine as his ears flopped down to the sides of his face. Kiba's companion wasn't an expert in reading emotions but he could somehow sense the distress in the air. The dog ninja raised his eyebrows in confusion and placed a hand on Akamaru's head in an attempt to calm the dog down.

The both of them had been on the way to Sakura's house to ask if she was available for lunch. Yeap, that's right. Kiba was finally going to grow a pair and confess. He had everything planned. Candles, roses and cakes!

Okay, he lied. He didn't plan anything. Kiba wasn't the type of person to plan! He was going to wing it and not pretend to be someone else.

Now, Kiba wasn't the type to just easily pick a woman. As an Inuzuka, he was very picky when it came to his partner. He didn't expect anyone perfect. He wanted someone special in his eyes.

Sakura just literally walked into his life and it didn't take long for him to fall at her feet. Even Akamaru had grown to like the pinkette. At first, she was just an ordinary girl in his life. But, as the years passed, she had managed to grow into a remarkable woman with confidence and strength. She had certainly surpassed her Shishou in all aspects.

Akamaru barked causing Kiba to be rudely awakened out of his daydream about the medic. He looked at the direction his companion was facing and noticed that he had walked right pass the doors of Sakura's apartments. He sheepishly smiled to himself and walked back to the door. He stood in front of the door and cleared his throat.

It was now or never.

And he was planning on giving this his best shot.

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Tsunade should have seen this coming. She really should have. And the headache she was having wasn't helping her. She rubbed her temples tiredly as the grown men stood in her office. Sasuke was leaning on wall next to her office doors. Kakashi was standing slightly behind her chair looking out the window awaiting her answer. Yamato was trying his best to keep the blonde quiet. Sai was silently watching the entire ordeal from the corner of the room with his dark eyes. Shikamaru was mumbling under his breath and seemed slightly distressed.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto shouted trying to get her attention.

That was the last straw.

Tsunade stood up so quickly her chair flew backwards towards Kakashi. With her extraordinarily fast speed, she lifted her table and flung it towards the loud crowd in her attempt to shut them up. There was only so much she could take in a day. The table missed every one of them as they quickly moved out of the way. Naruto was saved by the Wood user.

"Everyone calm down before I decide to throw you all out!" Tsunade bellowed at the top of her voice. The room instantly fell so quiet she could possibly hear a pin drop on the floor.

Her anger immediately receded and she sighed. She could relate to their worry about her apprentice. Hell, she was worried too.

"Sakura will be fine. There's nothing to worry ab-" Tsunade was cut off by Shizune who entered the room panting heavily.

"Tsunade-sama! We have a problem!"

Crap.

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I'm really sorry for posting this really late. I shall repent. I'm trying my best to write the latest chapter of 'Sakura' at the moment so, please look forward to that.

Also, this is your last chance to vote for your favourite couple since this is the last chapter before I end it with the Top 3 favourite couples! :3

Do continue to vote and give me reviews. It's my source of energy! Love you all~!