A Different Life

Chapter 3: Days of Happiness

It's been a year since Sakura and her long-lost brother reunited. They had been going after town after town adventuring or just plainly getting away from Konoha shinobis but ofcourse, Sasori has obligations to fulfill so he would usually leave Sakura under one of the Akatsuki's care. Ofcourse, the Akatsuki and Sakura don't bond. Right?

For the past year, Sakura learned a lot. Especially about Sasuke, Naruto and Konoha.

One time, they almost had an encounter with Konoha nins, one of them was Naruto. He was with Neji and Ino on a mission. Since he's the only remaining member of Team 7 now, he's often teamed up with other nins.

They stopped by a town as they frantically looked around, it seems they're looking for something. Unbeknownst to them, their thought to be dead teammate was there as well.

A pink-haired girl walked alone on the market as she looked for her ingredients for their dinner tonight. "Thank goodness I managed to buy the remaining tempuras." she said aloud. Suddenly, she spotted a flash of blonde hair in the corner of her eyes. When she turned around, her long lost friends stood 50 feet away from her in the distance. Her jaws dropped along with her basket as she immediately ran away. 

"Eh?" Naruto turned his head to the direction of where Sakura ran. He didn't see her, he felt a familiar chakra tugging at him. "What's wrong, Naruto? Did you find that damned rouge ninja?" Ino asked looking at Naruto. "Things could have been easier if Nobunaga could be found right now." she muttered. "Wait... I felt a familiar chakra. Did you feel it too?" Naruto asked still looking at the same direction. "Not at all." Ino answered, bewildered. "What are you talking about, Naruto?" Ino said.

"I felt it. But I'm not sure who it is." The genius spoke. Suddenly, one name and image flashed in both boy's mind. "Sakura!!!" Naruto's mind screamed. An image of Sakura smiling with her hand held out flashed in Naruto's mind. The blonde boy immediately ran to the direction he was just staring off into as Ino looked clueless and then she and Neji ran after him.

Sakura was in an alley panting as she had ran so fast. How she missed them all, but she had to stay. She also missed a lot about her brother, he was gone for half of her life and she doesn't plan on losing her precious brother again. "Naruto! Wait up!" Sakura heard Ino's voice from the distance. Sakura was alert and didn't know what to do. She didn't know where the voice came from, it felt like their voices were everywhere and if she went into the wrong direction, they might see her and when she runs away, they will definitely search for her and if she tells them the truth, who knows what'll happen!

The pink-haired kunoichi's mind was racing fast as the voices came nearer. She decided to go up the rooftops when she was yanked back and had her mouth covered by a hand. She panicked but when she turned her head to see who her captor was, a smiling Sasori with his finger signaling "sshh" greeted her.

She relaxed for a moment and then realized jumping up the rooftop was supposed to be a big mistake as Neji and Ino were there. To her left, from a distance, she could see Naruto struggling to look for her. Neji and Ino spotted him as they went to him.

"I swear, I felt her chakra somewhere here!" Naruto exclaimed desperately. "Her? Who?" Ino asked as Neji tried to sense any familiar chakra. When Naruto didn't answer 'cause he was so busy looking around, Ino sighed. "You know, it might be the heat getting on y-" Ino was cut when Naruto suddenly exploded in anger and frustration. "SAKURA! I sensed her chakra somewhere here. I swear I did." Ino just stared wide eyed at Naruto.

"Naruto, Sakura is... gone." She said softly as she tried to smile. "Neji, you felt that chakra didn't you?" Naruto asked looking at the genius. "Yes, but Sakura is dead. It must be because we are tired. We haven't been taking a rest for three days straight." Neji said. "No! Two of us sensed it, Sakura has got to be somewhere around here. I know her chakra signature, that's gotta be her!" Naruto bursted more. "Naruto, we haven't gotten enough sleep for days and besides, when you go back to Konoha, Jiraiya-san will be getting you." Ino explained. "You must be tired, let's get some rest now." She continued softly.