Welcome everyone to the long awaited sequel to Something to Look Forward to. To those who haven't read that story, you probably should do that first. But don't worry it's just a OneShot so it won't take long. Now I realize, for those who have read my other story, that the style of this one isn't the same as the first one. Don't worry, I pick that style back up in the second chapter. This chapter is just sort of an introduction and explanation of what's happened over the past couple of years. It's a rather melancholy mood to start out with. I didn't even realize it until I was re-reading it to look for mistakes.

Oh, if you find a mistake please point it out to me. I went back and read Something the other day just for references and I found several mistakes. I actually like people to tell me so I can fix them and not look like an idot!

The story will be from Sakura's point of view to start out with and may not switch to Sasuke's for a while. Sorry if that upsets you!

Chapter 1

Life as we know it.

The day was pleasantly warm with the first kisses of summer sun while the breeze was cool and crisp with the last embrace of winter as the young medic nin stepped from the doors of Konoha Hospital into the open air. It had been a grueling day at work but on the whole, satisfying. Everyone brought in had been saved and many had been released into the caring arms of their families and friends. It was days like this in which the pink haired girl could rejoice in her work, days in which she could celebrate saving lives and not losing them.

The small yellow and white flowers smiled cheerfully at her as she passed and a small breeze brought the sound of voices from around the village to rest in her ears. The year had been a lazy one so far and promised to remain that way, but Haruno Sakura didn't mind at all. She enjoyed the peace, enjoyed watching the village children play, their mind void of worries. Perhaps she would go by the park today and watch them play. Their sweet innocence would the perfect ending to a wonderful day. They reminded her of her younger years, when things were simpler and life was black and white. Sometimes she and Ino would go to the park and watch the children together, remembering what it was like to be young. She had tried taking Naruto once but he had just started fighting with the children over some stupid game.

She watched a family walking through the market, stopping occasionally to browse through one of the many stalls. The older sister held a coveted apple high up in the air out of reach of a fuming little brother. The two fought nosily for several minutes before the mother intervened with another apple for the boy. He took great pride in waving the shiny red orb in his sister's face before slowly sinking his teeth into his prize.

Sakura couldn't help but smile at their antics. It was scenes like these that made being put in life or death situations worth it. Whenever she would be in a tight spot out in the field all she had to do was picture all the smiling faces, peaceful days, and happy times in Konoha and she would find the strength to pull through victorious.

The past few years had been tough on the young medic and everyone else, for that matter. As ninjas they had been forced to grow up faster then was probably good for their still developing psyche and, as a result, many broke under the extreme pressure. But those who did persevere could stand proudly and call themselves Konoha's elite.

Time had seemed to pass slowly then, but looking back, it was just a flash in the window of her mind. Everything had changed so much over time too. Not obvious, in-your-face, changes, but subtle, slow changes- the kind that were only noticed in retrospect. Things like how she and Ino had gradually built their relationship back up to what it had once been. They still bickered from time to time but that was due to their personalities and even when they did fight there was no animosity in it, only friendly confrontation. Or like how Hinata had grown over the years and gained self-confidence. Her fighting skills had increased slowly but surely making her- in the present- an adversary not to be taken lightly. Though she still stuttered when in close proximity of a certain blonde haired boy who had only recently began to notice her pretty eyes and shy smile. And being Naruto, he had no idea what to do with this new discovery of his, but knowing Hinata, she would wait for him to figure it out.

Neji, Shino, Sakura, and Naruto were all Jounin now. The others were all Chuunin and due to take the Jounin in the next month. Sakura had faith that they would all pass with flying colors, even Shikamaru who thought the whole thing was "troublesome." Sakura was looking forward to being able to have a genin team of her own in a couple of years. She knew that the community viewed her generation to be the overall strongest to come out of the academy in a long time and she therefore expected the next generation to be even stronger. Of course there was the missing member of the Rookie Nine who may even be the strongest of them all. It was ironic, here he was as strong as- if not stronger- than the underdog who dreamed of being Hokage turned veritable power house and yet he was still a genin. Well technically, he was a missing nin but to her but he was more of a wandering nin; wandering the country side until it was time to come home.

And as far as they knew, he was a wanderer since that incident.

It had happened almost three years after he had left to join Orochimaru and the fear that the Snake Sannin would try and take over his body had closed slowly around the young kunoichi's heart. A chance piece of information had given them the location of Hidden Village of Sound and hence a large battalion of shinobi was sent off to take care of the "threat to the safety of the village of Konaha." Of course Sakura and Naruto had been among them. Even if the Hokage hadn't assigned them to this mission, they still would have gone. Nothing in the world could have kept them away.

But what they found when they got there had not been what they had expected. Bloodied bodies littered the grounds outside the complex causing an uneasy feeling tot swell up in the pit of all their stomachs. What was even more unnerving was the fact that all the bodies bore the symbol of the Sound and there was no sign of who had attacked them.

"What the hell happened here?" Naruto hissed. Sakura and the others could only shake their heads in response. Inside all Sakura could do was hope and pray that whoever had gotten to these men and women hadn't gotten to Sasuke.

As the group slowly and cautiously traveled deeper and deeper into the maze that was Sound's headquarters, they found only one thing; more dead bodies. An eerie silence enveloped them as they checked body after body hoping to find some sign of life if only to uncover what had happened here.

Then, from down one of the numerous dark halls, appeared a leaf nin, whose name escaped Sakura at the time.

"We found something you need to see." Was all the ninja said before motioning for them to follow him down the hall he had just come from. They followed wordlessly, the air too tense for conversation or questions. He led them down several corridors until they reached a set of massive doors which obviously lead to the compound's center. What awaited them beyond the doors was not what they expected.

Sakura took a few cautious steps into the room, quickly surveying the situation. When her eyes trailed over the far center of the room, what she saw caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Naruto, who had been walking in behind her, gave a slight cry when he ran into her but was silenced when he caught sight of what was in front of her.

"Orochimaru?" Naruto gasped as he took in the mangled heap of limbs and the all too familiar face that stared blankly back at them. "What the hell happened here?" Boy, Naruto sure was repetitive today.

A noise in the corner caught their attention and they turned to find a group of Konoha nin surrounding someone lying on the ground. As they approached, their fellow nin stepped aside to allow them through.

"Kabuto." Naruto hissed at the sight of medic nin. Orochimaru's right hand man lay in a heap on the floor, his body torn and bleeding. Death was not far off for this nin either.

"What happened here?" Naruto demanded gruffly, not caring that Kabuto was in pain. "Where is Sasuke?"

"Where is Sasuke?" Kabuto chuckled softly. "Well I'm not sure. Last time I saw him, he was rather busy fighting."

"Fighting?" Sakura interrupted. "Sasuke was involved in all this?" She asked motioning to all the dead bodies.

"Involved? He started it." Kabuto sneered with disgust. "The little traitor planned the whole thing."

"You mean Sasuke did this?" Naruto asked flabbergasted. "He turned against Orochimaru?"

"The bastard led a revolt." Kabuto hissed as coughing fit overcame him, blood trickling from his lips. Behind them Kakashi let out a low whistle.

"Looks like Sasuke didn't like the idea of becoming Orochimaru's new container." He said.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered under her breathe as a small smile formed on her lips. I knew you would never go through with this.

"Where did he go?" Naruto demanded getting down in the dying man's face. "Where did Sasuke go?"

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you." Kabuto replied with venom. Naruto had snarled in response and threatened all sorts of pain and torture if Kabuto wouldn't tell him everything he knew. Not that it did much good, because the medic nin died not to long after that. Under orders from the Hokage, they burned the entire village to the ground, bodies and all. So was the end of Orochimaru and the Sound.

Sakura had been so relieved to know that Sasuke was no longer with the snake sannin that for a few days she hadn't cared that they had no clue where he and the other Sound traitors had disappeared to. Then the initial relief had worn off and a new sort of worry had settled into her bones.

Where was Sasuke? Had something happened to him? Was he hurt and dying somewhere? Had he decided he didn't want to come back to Konoha and back to her after all? He had said he would come when he had … oh, that was right, Itachi was still out there. Therefore Sasuke was still out there looking for him. Still training, growing stronger, and fighting for the day he would kill his brother and avenge his family. And then he would come home, then he would return to her.

So now a little over a year later, she waited like she always had. She didn't mind really. Sure she worried about him night and day and wanted each day to be the day he would appear but she was just grateful that she had the promise that he would return. And Uchiha Sasuke always kept his promises.

Sakura sat on a limb in a tree at the edge of the park listening to the last laughter of children as they said their goodbyes and returned to their homes and families. Before her eyes the sky turned various shades of pink and orange as the sun painted it's fair well. Nature's beauty never ceased to amaze her.

She sighed softly as she landed lightly on the ground and started for home. The villager's waved and smiled at her as she passed. She smiled back and called out in greeting but her mind was elsewhere.

Almost five years, She thought to herself. It's been almost five years and since Sasuke-kun left and over two years since I saw him in the woods that time. I wonder how much longer I'll have to wait.

She had never told anyone about their meeting that day. They either wouldn't believe her or get mad at her for not trying to bring him back. Not even Naruto knew, though she felt horrible for keeping it from him. He was, after all, Sasuke's best friend.

Now whenever she went out of the village on a mission, a secret part of her hoped and prayed to see him again but no such luck. She would just have to wait for him to seek her out. Wait, and hope and pray.

The last rays of sunlight shot out over the horizon as Sakura entered her apartment for the night. A breeze floated gentled down the village streets, stopping to play with the tree in her front yard before continuing on through the forest, out of the village and onward until it reached a lonely field in the far off distance.

The same breeze that had danced among Konoha's blossoms swept over bloodied ground that was littered with weapons and bodies until it met up with a lone figure standing at the far end of the field. Upon meeting this obstruction, the wind hissed and rushed to get around the man. A pair of blood red eyes stared blankly forward, giving no hint of the emotions that raged inside the body.

A small form appeared silently at the man's side and stood watching and waiting for recognition.

"It's over." A husky voice broke the silence. "It's finally over." The smaller figure simply stood silent, still watching. The taller figure seemed to break out of his long reverie and turned to look at his small companion. His eyes slowly shifted from red to coal black.

"Go get our things." He commanded softly. "You know where to meet me."

The small figure only nodded in response before disappearing from his side. He stood a moment looking at the space that his companion had previously occupied before turning to look at something lying on the ground in front of him.

"Now to take you home." He said as he picked up the bloody body and placed it carefully over his shoulder. "Won't everyone be so surprised to see us, brother?"

And so he disappeared into the night as the first stars began to blink into sight.

Life as we know it was about to be turned upside down.

I love hearing from my readers!

FrillingFreak