A/N: This chapter took slightly long to come out than it should have…:grumbles about her recent flurry of exams: Thank you for all those lovely reviews! It's nice to know that you guys are enjoying this story :D

-3-

Shikamaru raised his glass. "To Sakura and her new, ennui-free job," he said earnestly, before gulping down the sake.

"Why do we always have to discuss our jobs whenever we hang out?"

Ino raised an eyebrow at her best friend. "Sakura, are you forgetting…we're here to celebrate your new job?" she pointed out.

Sakura sighed resignedly. "Oh, yeah…"

Shikamaru frowned. "Why the long face? The way you used to bitch and whine about your old job, I was expecting a bit more enthusiasm."

"Well, I wouldn't be too enthusiastic if I was working for Ibiki Morino. I mean, that guy gives me the creeps," Ino said, shuddering.

"But this is Sakura we're talking about. She loves a good challenge."

Ino narrowed her eyes at Shikamaru. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I'm afraid of challenges?"

Shikamaru raised both hands in mock surrender. "Er…of course not. What I meant was you like to play it safe, while Sakura…" he trailed away at the blazing look on Ino's face.

"Play it safe?" Ino asked, voice shaking slightly with suppressed annoyance. "Nearly getting killed in one of my missions so that indolent idiots like you can sleep in peace, is that what you call "playing it safe"?"

"But didn't you ask for Sakura's old job at the Genin Medical Evaluation Center from Tsunade just yesterday?" Shikamaru smirked lazily at Ino's indignant expression as she tried to think of a good comeback.

Sakura rolled her eyes, sensing another of their silly arguments coming on. She tuned their bickering out and looked around the little restaurant they were sitting in. People were talking loudly, chatting, and having a good time. Naruto sat beside her, noisily slurping his ramen, completely ignoring her and the squabbling couple. On the opposite side of the table, Ino's face was flushed in anger as she retorted back to Shikamaru's light teasing.

All of it made Sakura feel oddly lonely.

"It's just that…I've been thinking about Sasuke…"

It was as if the entire restaurant had gone silent. Sakura felt the shocked stares from three pairs of eyes as she cursed herself for having said those words out loud. She kept her gaze fixed on the forgotten plate of food before her.

There was a long moment of tense silence before Shikamaru spoke slowly, "Sakura…are you feeling alright?"

It was a moot question. Sakura knew she didn't have to answer that question for her friends to know that no, she was definitely not feeling alright. She had never voluntarily brought up the topic of Sasuke since he supposedly died. It was like a taboo subject for all of them, especially so for her.

She sighed in frustration. She was torn between wanting to talk about Sasuke and avoiding the topic altogether.

"Sakura…?"

Sakura looked up and pursed her lips. "You know what, I haven't been myself lately. And this whole celebration thing was a bad idea. I just want to be alone right now." She grabbed her handbag and stood up.

"Is this because of your new job?"

Sakura met Ino's confused gaze. "Yes…I mean, no…I mean…it's more complicated than that," she stammered. Ino parted her lips to say something but Sakura cut her off. "I don't want to talk about it." Conscious of the puzzled and surprised glances of her friends she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well, I'll be off now. You guys have fun, don't worry about me," she smiled weakly. "I…just need some alone time…"

She left the restaurant without waiting for a reply.

It had been a week since her unexpected meeting with Sasuke. Even though she had managed to maintain her composure in front of him, she was nearly hyperventilating by the time she came back home. His cold sneer, his cryptic remarks, his calling her "beautiful"…she didn't know what to make of any of that. Confusion, befuddlement, combined with mental exhaustion was already making her regret the fact that she had agreed to go along with this.

Her short meeting with Sasuke had been immediately interrupted by Ibiki's arrival and she had been thankful for that. Quickly healing his wound, Sakura had all but raced out of the room. Before she'd left the ANBU HQ however, Ibiki told her to take some time off to reorganize her life to adjust to her new job and to set her thoughts straight. She'd gratefully agreed and asked for ten days.

Now that didn't seem like a good idea. For the past one week she had been doing nothing but going crazy just thinking about what had happened and tearing her hair out in frustration of not being able to talk about this to anyone.

"Sakura! Wait!"

She turned around to find Naruto running to catch up with her. He stopped in front of her, panting only slightly. They were almost a block away from the restaurant now.

"What the hell was all that about?" he asked angrily.

Sakura gave a start. "I told you, I don't want to-"

"Talk about it, yeah, yeah I heard you. But I know you for a long time now Sakura and I know that when you say that it means that you want to talk about it, badly." Naruto said, his voice becoming milder as he spoke.

Sakura didn't reply. Naruto put both hands behind his head as he usually did when he wanted to ease the tension. "Come on, I'll walk you home," he said, giving her his best smile.

Sakura smiled slightly as they both started walking slowly. There were a few moments of silence before Naruto began, "So out with it, what's the deal with your new job?"

"I told you, I'm like the official medic-nin at the ANBU HQ. That's all there is to it."

"Then why have you been so distant and…I don't know…distracted since you met Ibiki?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he continued, "Did he…say something about…about Sasuke…?" his voice was a near whisper when he said the name.

Sakura's felt her eyes widen. "Why-why would you think that?"

"Well, for one, there's your little outburst back in the restaurant. Then I've never seen you like this since…well, you know…"

When did Naruto become so observant, Sakura wondered. She still silently refused to reply.

"I've never told you this before…but I've always been suspicious about his death."

Sakura froze mid-step. "What?" Her voice came out as a squeak.

Naruto's face was dead serious when he replied, "Him just dying like that, I don't buy it."

"But you were the one who told me that he died!" Sakura winced when she realized that her voice was still high-pitched.

Naruto stared at the ground. "I really thought he had…initially. But then when I thought about it, it just seemed more and more ridiculous. I didn't tell you before 'cause I didn't want you to get any false hopes…"

Sakura simply stared at him speechless.

He shrugged and gave a tight smile. "I mean, the Uchiha prodigy getting killed in a forest-fire is a bit of stretch, isn't it?"

Sakura frowned. "Forest-fire? You told me he was killed by a pyromaniac ninja!"

"Yeah, a forest-fire started by a pyromaniac ninja…but he's too smart to let himself be trapped like that, don't you think?"

Sakura closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "Why…are you telling me this…now?"

"Because I think Ibiki knows something and I'm sure Ibiki told you something and you wouldn't be so affected by anything else!" he blurted out.

Sakura's eyes shot open as she considered his words. Naruto…she could talk to Naruto! He would understand…help her deal with this. She just had to be a bit discreet…

Discreet, she thought incredulously, how can we possibly be discreet when we're talking about this in a public place?

And all of a sudden the gravity of what she was about to do crashed down on her. She was endangering the lives of both her and Naruto by underestimating Ibiki. Fear and panic gripped her and she knew she had to get away from Naruto before any more damage was done.

Her eyes scanned the narrow street nervously, looking for black and grey uniforms and animal-masks. Putting on a metaphoric mask of her own, she said fiercely, "Naruto, my job has nothing to do with Sasuke. I would appreciate it if you stopped hounding me about it and left me alone."

Missing the hurt look on his face, she spun around and walked off.

Sakura sighed and relaxed into the warmth of the water and bubbles floating around her. God, did she need this! Feeling her muscles loosen a bit, she tapped into her chakra. It was swirling rapidly and randomly. Focusing her mind, she willed her chakra to dulcify. This was one of the most effective techniques she'd learnt from Tsunade to relax.

The combined effects of the technique and the buoyancy of the water in the bathtub completely eased out the tension in her entire body. Within ten minutes her mind was clearer than it had been for the past one week. She wondered why she hadn't thought of doing this earlier. Probably because she had been so distracted by everything that had happened.

Remembering her talk with Naruto earlier that evening, she felt guilty for rebuffing him like she did. Although she had no choice in the matter. She had to distance him for awhile for his safety…and for the sake of Sasuke…

My life seems to revolve around Sasuke, doesn't it, she thought with dark amusement.

There was a time when she had been convinced that she was in love with Uchiha Sasuke. She didn't believe that anymore. She did care for him though, just as much as she cared for Naruto, maybe more so. She also acknowledged that he was quite attractive. But she was certain that what she felt for him wasn't love…how could you love someone you barely knew?

Not that she knew what love was either. Apart from a couple of failed romances and an awkward kiss with Shikamaru (which was one of the things they never talked about), her love-life was non-existent. It wasn't because of lack of admirers, but because she wanted a relationship that wasn't based on physical attraction alone. Ino called her a prude for it.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she felt a prickling behind her neck. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up straight. She was being watched, she knew it. She had enough experience on missions with Team 7 to know when one was being spied upon. If there was one thing she was proud of, it was her excellent chakra control, and she could use her chakra to sense the auras given out by another's.

And this wasn't the first time she'd felt like she was being watched since her meeting with Ibiki. So she wasn't really surprised.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, but the prickling sensation was gone. She frowned. Whoever was watching her had managed to mask their chakra. Someone quite powerful, she deduced, an ANBU probably. In fact, they probably had been masking their chakra for awhile, but something had caused this person's concentration to slip briefly.

Probably got a peek into my bathroom, she thought in annoyance and embarrassment.

Getting up from the bathtub, she put on her bathrobe. If this person was in her house, they'd have hell to pay.

Ten minutes of searching didn't yield any results, unsurprisingly. Sakura huffed in anger as she plunked on the sofa. Did working for the ANBU mean you had no privacy? It was a good thing she had stopped her conversation with Naruto earlier. She was now quite sure that Ibiki had sent spies to watch her every move.

Her gaze went to the window on the opposite wall. The curtains were drawn apart and she could see the faint moonlight illuminating the trees outside her house. Feeling uneasy, she made her way to the window and clutched at the curtains, preparing to close them, when she spotted a lone figure standing beneath the trees.

Almost immediately the figure vanished.

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. In the faint moonlight she hadn't seen her watcher's face…but there had been no mistaking the hair.

Sasuke.