A/N: Hi! This is my first fanfiction ever. I won't ask you to be nice to me since I'm really writing this story for myself. I don't wish to own Naruto. I think Masashi Kishimoto is brilliant and I adore his own story line, from beginning to the very end of the Naruto series. However, I feel like he wasn't very particular in developing romance in the series. Sure, he let them develop freely but I think there should have been more fluff and a little bit more focus on them. He created the Hiden stories to fill some gaps, yes, but I think I still feel like there's still not enough for my hopelessly romantic self to be satisfied.

I was fulfilled with the NaruHina pairing because of the focused movie on them (The Last Naruto Movie). It's the sweetest thing ever and I wouldn't change a thing there.

I was least fulfilled with the SasuSaku one, well next to the InoSai's one, that is. But one can easily imagine them being together. It's odd for Sakura and Sasuke because there was absolutely no sweetness enough for Sakura to keep loving Sasuke for real aside from admiring his good looks through all those years, and there wasn't enough reason for Sasuke to suddenly fall in love with Sakura.

So I'm writing several stories that first, makes Sakura awesome as a character (because I hate that she's such a weakling as compared to the Naruto and Sasuke.) and try to make more connection between Sakura and Sasuke. This will be the first. Anyway, let's do this ^_^

"Sakura-chan, you don't have to do this!" Naruto cried, holding tight on Sakura's arms. Ironically, they were near the same bench where Sasuke first left and knocked her out to stop her from screaming, which might have halted his flight if she was able to.

It had been a few years since the end of the war and the village had slowly started rebuilding itself. Kakashi had been appointed hokage, and the perverted sensei had quickly stepped up to the responsibility, surprising everyone who assumed that he was just a foolish, perverted and weird guy, who would probably just spend his time reading Icha Icha paradise in the hokage's office. But of course, in the back of everyone's mind, they knew that Kakashi was one of the most outstanding shinobi out there and in truth, he would be the most qualified to run the village smoothly. He wasn't only fair and brilliant, he also understood everyone in the village in a personal level.

The village was now as peaceful as it can be. Security was maintained even though the threat was significantly less, what with the continuous alliance of the enforced Allied Shinobi forces. Noone was taking advantage of all the countries' situation of trying to stabilize their own countries once more due to the damages caused by the war. As a matter of fact, all the countries try to help each other. There were still minimal threat of rogue ninjas, but the hyped shinobi who all came from the war can easily take care of them.

Sasuke had been gone for a few years now. Given full pardon, vouched for by both the new hokage, Kakashi, and the war hero, Naruto, but also due to the fact that he had helped in stopping the war and defending the world, Sasuke had opted to travel around the world in search of himself. He had finally come into the realization and recognized that his previous acts had been wrong. He was, after all, initially an impulsive brat who tried to destroy his own village and caused mayhem to the heads of the countries. He repented for his sins and had wanted to travel in solitude.

Naruto was clearly being groomed to be the next Hokage. But as of the moment, he was just the ever active shinobi, bringing life to the healing village, annoying people at most, but of course giving hope to everyone who wants to stand on their feet again. Naruto was just simply that kind of person. He was probably unaware of it, but his liveliness and never-give-up attitude had always given people around him hope and passion to whatever they do.

Sakura, on the other hand, was feeling lost. She was known to be the best medic shinobi, next to the legendary Sannin Tsunade. Some even say that she had long surpassed her. She had a high position in the hospital of Konoha, and she had projects that aim to care for children to prevent them into growing to bitter shinobi like the past villains had. But she still felt lost.

Unlike Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura had always been in the village. She trained under Tsunade in the village, she was left by her team there to fit herself to other teams while they were gone doing God-knows-what somewhere else. It probably was unreasonable to feel this way, but she just felt trapped. She felt incomplete knowing that she was the only one of the Team 7 who hadn't tried to explore the world. She was the only one who was left stuck. And even as she already was considered the best kunoichi in the village, she was still significantly weaker than both Naruto and Sasuke.

For once, she wanted something for herself. She needed to be free to finally find herself too. She wanted to be more than the shadow of the great Team 7. She wanted to make something of herself, not force herself to be the medic nin because she knew before that to be one was the only way she will have value to her 2 strong teammates.

And this was what caused her decision to leave.

"Naruto, you know I have to do this. I promise I'll be back! Let go!" Sakura said, trying to pry off the bawling hero beside her.

"How do you know! Why are you guys leaving me! Sasuke is already gone, and now you're leaving too!" Naruto's eyes were brimming with tears. Sakura laughed. After all this time, the now tall and brave Naruto, visited by people all over the world just to see the hero, still had not changed. He can still be as childish, loud, and annoying as ever.

"Naruto, Konoha is my home. I would always come back. I just need…..space." Sakura said thoughtfully, her eyes staring at her path ahead. Excitement was bubbling inside of her. She didn't know why, but she felt like there were many things that she would find in her travels. She would finally be free of the story line that forced her to be a side character beside Naruto and Sasuke. When she steps out of the village, she will finally make her own story.

"I can convince everyone in the village to pretend you're not here so nobody will talk to you! That should be space enough!" Naruto insisted, trying to put his arms around her in restraint.

Sakura giggled. "Jeez let go! I'm not leaving forever! Besides, you two left me before and it was fine! If you want, when Sasuke comes back before me, you could leave too so he'll know what it's like to be left alone in the village!"

Naruto chuckled through his tears. "Yeah. Maybe I will." He sighed and finally loosened his grip on her. "I can't believe Kakashi-sensei allowed you to do this."

Sakura shrugged. "He knows that I need to have an identity for myself. You two are already big people on your own. I want to find something for myself too. I became a medic nin because that's the only way I know I can assist the two of you. I don't want to be the one just assisting now. I want to be just me."

Naruto nodded reluctantly. "I know, I know. I'm just trying one last time to convince you to stay. Just remember, you have to bring all of us goodies when you return okay?"

Sakura hugged him tight, she knew she would miss this adorable teammate of hers in the long run. "I promise. Now be a good boy while I'm gone. And get yourself a girlfriend for heaven's sake, so that you stop pining on me." She winked and started to walk her way.

Naruto blushed at her farewell, but waved a big goodbye as she slowly disappeared from view.

Naruto stood there for a long time, feeling more alone than ever now that both his teammates were gone. He understood Sakura of course. He knew deep in his heart that Sakura would be able to make something big for herself now that she can weave a story on her own. She was just awesome like that. He knew that he needed to let her go eventually, but it would be lonely to be on his own for a while. Of course, he had lots of friends in the village. As a matter of fact, his whole village was his family now. But Sakura and Sasuke would always be the closest to him, his siblings in heart. And he would wait for the two to find themselves. When they come back, he would make sure that Konoha would be the kind of place that they would never want to leave again.

Suddenly, a soft thud landed near him. Instinctively, he sent his fist flying to the source of sound. A firm grasp held his fist and a low chuckle resounded.

"Hey." A raven haired man greeted him with amusement.

Naruto gasped. "Sasuke-teme!" He immediately pounced on his teammate, much to Sasuke's annoyance. Sasuke's face wrinkled as he tried to pry Naruto off him.

"Dobe." He said, resigned, but you can hear the gentleness in his voice, as if knowing that Naruto would pounce on him beforehand.

Oh well, Naruto thought. Guess I wouldn't have to be alone after all. Sakura, hurry back, we'll be complete soon.

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Sakura was just casually walking through the path. She didn't really have a specific destination in mind, wherever she ended up, then that was where she would be. She thought about the countries: Land of lightning, land of fire, land of earth, land of wind, and land of water. She had friends everywhere, due to her big contribution as one of the leading medic nin during the war. But she vaguely wondered if that is really it in this world.

She had read a lot of books, and there had been legends that those countries only make up the eastern part of the whole world. There are legends about a northern part, an isolated southern part, and the great West. There was not much information on this because for a long time, each part of the world just ignored each other, minding their own business, or atleast that was what the theories say.

The lack of information on the other lands prevented the others from paving their way across the great oceans that surround the Eastern lands. After all, nobody really knew what was beyond those waters. Perhaps the myth about the other lands were true. Or perhaps it would just lead to an unending maze of mist that nobody could pass through. It was said that some braved their way across. But none ever returned again.

Sakura lifted her shoulders, her backpack's contents rattling at the movement. She thought about those legends and wondered if she was brave enough to try to know what it was all about. Nobody said it was forbidden to try and cross the ocean. It was just that nobody talked about it. Maybe nobody was curious enough. Or if they were curious enough, they were not strong enough to finish the travel.

Finally decided, she turned and made her way to the edge of the country, the first point of the said endless ocean.

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The strong wind lashed on her small boat. Whoever gave her the idea to travel alone and mend the ship on her own was incredibly stupid. But because she was the one who accepted the idea, it made her stupid as well. Suicidal too.

Common knowledge stated that she would need a crew to brave a path of water. To travel through the seas back in the eastern lands already demanded the necessity of a crew. But much to her stubbornness, she insisted on a way to travel on her own. Her adventure was indeed dangerous, and she didn't want to pull down anyone else on her crazy quest.

She had enough supplies to last her for a long time so she knew that survival through common necessity would not be a problem to her. She had also met up with an inventor who was at the time creating a self-handled boat, in need of a test subject who would use it as an experiment. It was a magnificent boat, even though it was untested. It looked like a glass box that had a few chakra holes that she could breathe through. Chakra holes, not actual holes. It allowed the boat to be subdued in big waves and not be penetrated with water.

This boat, in Sakura's care, had already been through 2 storms and it had already rolled and rolled in the water. But nevertheless, the construction of the boat allowed Sakura to be as dry as she can be inside, her supplies still intact, held together with chakra strings. As it was a closed box, this boat had no sails. Instead, it could be moved by following the current, but directed and propelled forward with a boost of chakra. This meant that Sakura herself had to spend chakra to move the boat to the direction that she wanted it to go. If her chakra was already at limit, she could drop the anchor and rest until her chakra was restored again.

It was a genius idea for a boat. However, it was untested and not yet allowed to be used in countries. It was a new invention and Sakura was the first test subject. It might be unstable for all they knew. But Sakura really wanted to brave her way into the adventure of discovery so she risked it and accepted the idea of trying on the new boat. The inventor ofcourse was a bit hesitant into allowing his first test subject to sail across the great unknown ocean. She might not return. And if she really didn't, then he wouldn't have any report on the result of the usage of the boat. Selfish as it may sound, he would only lend the boat to Sakura for free for the main purpose of testing it. He needed the results.

But the young pink-haired kunoichi sparkled with excitement for her quest, her determination got to him as she pleaded her cause adorably. Eventually, the inventor finally relented and let her use the boat.

The boat was as effective as the inventor expected. However, what Sakura didn't count on was encountering the dangers of an unknown body of water. Creatures lurked everywhere. And since the boat was made of clear glass, she was like a large neon sign saying "Target Over Here."

She had already encountered 3 creatures that she never heard of. One was a couple of adorable birds that circled around her boat, singing in a melody that she even swayed her head to. Only to realize that the birds' song was were summoning vicious storms and tidal waves. The storm tossed her around for 3 weeks before she realized that it was the circling birds causing it. Because there were no openings in her glass boat, she had no idea how to chase the birds away. Nearing the third week of the storm, she was so green with seasickness that she desperately touched the chakra holes of the boat. Then amazingly, she was able to expel pointed chakra balls out of it which directly hit the birds. As soon as the birds fell to the water, the ocean finally calmed. How she was able to do that, she doesn't know how. She accounted it on the desperation she felt.

The second creature was a giant fish-like monster that swallowed her boat. Not only did it totally swerve her off course, but the stomach of the creature was acid. Her glass boat had been really strong that not even the gigantic waves which caused extreme water pressure could break it. But the inventor probably wasn't prepared to make it acid proof as well.

Sakura panicked as soon as she saw the edges of her boat start to melt. Desperation filled her system once more. Praying for another miracle, she touched the chakra holes again and tried to put all her chakra there. The boat started to glow, really brighlyt that even she herself had to close her eyes. The next thing she knew was that the part of the creature that was touching the boat started to melt. The creature wailed, so loud that Sakura almost let go of the chakra hole, but she forced herself to hold on.

The boat started to get thrashed around as the creature tried to dispel the cause of its pain. Soon, Sakura saw the streaks of sunlight as the monster finally vomited her boat out. The last she saw of it was it swimming away as fast as it could, away from her toxic boat. She let go of the chakra holes with a sigh of relief.

The third creature she encountered was even weirder. She didn't even notice it for some time. It was the color of the water and it looked like water. It floated under her boat and attached itself to the boat. The weird thing about it is that it kept moving her boat so that she felt like the boat was still moving. And because there was nothing in sight in the vast ocean, not even lands or anything and just vast horizons, she honestly didn't notice that her boat had actually stopped moving and was stuck in that certain portion of the ocean because the creature held it down and swayed it as if she was still moving.

She guessed that this is a classic trap to hold her there until she ran out of supplies. It only took her a few days though before she actually noticed it. She was curiously eyeing the chakra holes which saved her life a few times now. The inventor specifically said that it was only meant to let her breath. She didn't know that it can make the boat toxic or that it can expel chakra if she touched it. She wondered if this was unknown to the inventor. She touched them again and immediately, she felt a strange energy disturbance under her boat. More confident about the chakra holes' capacity, she circulated her chakra towards the cause of disturbance. And immediately, the creature under her boat fled away.

Upon inspection, she realized that the holes were nothing more than a ventillation for air and chakra. She realized that perhaps it was her own abilities that saved her. In this situation, there was noone else who would save her. Perhaps it is with that situation that finally forced her abilities to wake up. She was glad that perhaps there was actually more to her than meets the eye. Although to control chakra however she wanted it to was not an ability that she knew she could do.

But her joyous excitement and determination would never prepare her for the last creature that she would encounter. Perhaps this was even the creature which caused all those travellers to never return again.

Sakura peered at the stack of supplies she had left. Wow, I still have so much. She thought as she checked the inventory. She purposely bought a lot because she didn't know how long her voyage would last. And upon calculation and observation, it didn't seem like she was nearing anywhere yet.

She thought about her village back home and how if she was there, she would probably be forced into Ichiraku by Naruto. Then she would be sharing a warm ramen with him. Or maybe she would be just hanging out with her bestfriend Ino, perhaps gossiping about potential hunks in town, or just giggling about random things. Maybe she could even play shogi with Shikamaru, even though she knew she would hopelessly lose anyway. Or she would eat barbecue with Chouji. Or she would tease Hinata about Naruto. She would listen to Shino's deep trivias about his bugs. She would run around with Kiba and Akamaru. She would compare weapons with Tenten. She would jokingly flirt with Lee. Or she would sit by the bench where Sasuke left her and await his return, with romantic dreams of emotional reunion.

She sighed. She missed her little village. But in all honesty, even though she had done nothing but brave across an unknown ocean and escape weird creatures, she was happy that she was finally doing something for herself. Someday, when she returns, she can share these stories to her friends even if she never finds anything here.

Suddenly, her boat started to rack.

Oh no. Another nuisance. She thought as she quickly looked around. She spotted a head of a woman popping out of the water. The eyes of the girl peered at her curiously.

"Hello." The girl said, swimming closer to her. Sakura immediately backed away, cautiously observing the girl.

"Don't be afraid. It's just that I rarely see anyone around here." The girl said sweetly, indicating the open ocean with her arms.

Sakura cleared her throat. "I don't see anyone around here either. How are you here? Is there a land near already?" She quickly looked around, but to no avail. There was still nothing in sight.

"Oh, there's nothing above the water. But plenty below the sea." The girl said, gliding in the water contentedly. Sakura blinked at her, confused.

"Plenty below….what do you mean? Where did you come from? Perhaps you can help me. I need a place to stay, away from these waters." Sakura said, sighing with exhaustion.

The girl merely shook her head. "I live below the sea. Life above here is a mess. Don't you think?" The girl twirled around. Upon Sakura's curious glance, the girl lifted her legs up for Sakura to see. Or at least Sakura thought it was legs.

"You're a fish!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing the tail that the girl has lifted. The upper half of the girl's body was that of a woman, but her lower half, where the legs should have started was a big, long tail.

The girl giggled. "Mermaid. In the upper world, I'm called a mermaid."

Sakura shook her head. "I've never heard of one."

The girl raised her brows. "Well I've never heard of you. And soon…" The girl smiled wickedly. "You'll never know you."

Sakura immediately backed away. "Who are you?" Sakura said in a low calculating voice.

The girl's eyes turned radiant yellow. "My name is Joy. What's yours?"

Sakura thought about it, and decided that there was no harm in saying her name. It earns trust after all. "Sakura."

The moment she said her name, the girl's eyes turned black. Then it turned yellow again. Sakura felt a tingling sensation up her head. But she shook away the feeling, accounting it to the weird feelings she felt for meeting another weird creature.

"Where did you come from?" The girl asked curiously.

Sakura sighed, thinking of her village. "A village far away from here. It is a bright place, with lots of loving people. I've lived all my life there." The girl's eyes turned black, then yellow again. Sakura felt the tingling weirdness again.

"You have a lot of friends?" The girl asked. Then she smiled sadly. "Because I'm always so alone here. I don't have anyone."

Sakura felt like this was just her way of trying to coax an answer from her. But she didn't understand why because she didn't see what was so important with the question.

"I do have a lot of friends. I bet they're all waiting for me." She said.

"Why did you leave then?"

"Adventure. I need to find myself."

"What were you before this?"

"I'm a medic nin, a proud kunoichi." Sakura paused, feeling like the conversation was going nowhere.

"Listen, I have to go. I need to go on and…and…" Sakura blinked. Her mind felt cloudy. What was she going to do again? Why did she need to leave?

"Yes?" The girl asked, smiling wickedly.

"I….I need to do something." She said lamely, her forehead creasing. Her head felt strangely empty.

"You don't need to do anything. What you're doing is that you're coming with me." The girl said, pressing her palms on the glass boat.

"I do?" Sakura asked. This felt wrong. She struggled to remember. The girl laughed.

"Sister. You're confused. You were coming with me. You're just a little sick today. You don't even remember your name."

Sakura scowled indignantly. "Of course I do! You even just asked me that earlier! My name is…my name is…." Sakura gasped. She didn't remember.

"Sweetie. You're confused. Now open this boat and come with me. I'll help you remember. Come over now." The girl said warmly.

Sakura shook her head. "No. I know what I'm doing! I know who I am. I'm…I'm.. Wait, I know what I was going to do… I was going to…to… I know where I came from. I was from….uhmmm…"

The girl sighed. "Darling girl. Come now. There's no use to this."

Sakura clenched her fist. "You were just asking me those damn questions earlier! How could I have forgotten?!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well you have a stronger will than I give you credit for little girl. I never met anyone who was able to battle this confusion. People would usually automatically feel lost and accept my help. Now open this boat and let me help you." The girl licked her lips hungrily, her eyes shifting color again.

Sakura gasped. "That's it! Everytime I answered your question, your eyes change color. I forgot about the answers to everything you asked me, even my name. You were absorbing them away from my memories!"

The girl chuckled. "Clever girl. But now you will never remember them without me. Everything is with me. So now open up."

Sakura saw red. She was tired and exhausted. She didn't remember exactly why she even ventured in this journey but she honestly couldn't deal with this anymore. But at the very least, she atleast remembered her adventure as that wasn't sucked out from her mind. So she touched the boat's chakra holes and poured out all her desperation and exhaustion into it. She screamed, feeling all her power pour out. The mermaid immediately let go of contact with the boat, as if scorched. But before she could hide under the water, chakra strings grew out of the edges of the boat and wrapped themselves around the mermaid. She screeched loudly, almost making Sakura's ears bleed.

Her sweet form transformed from helpless little mermaid into a creature with blazing eyes, shifting colors so fast, her hair going in all directions, as if a strong wind was blowing them. Her skin became so wrinkled, as if she suddenly turned into an old lady. The chakra string started to suck out all the chakra from the mermaid. Sakura could feel it, she could feel the power surging in her. She didn't know how she was doing it, but she knew that she was able to fight for herself for once.

The screech of the mermaid grew louder and louder. Sakura flinched, tempted to let go of the chakra holes and cover her ears. But she held on, knowing that this might be her only to chance to defeat the memory-sucking mermaid. She closed her eyes and forced herself to continue what she was doing.

Until finally, she could no longer sense anyone's presence. When she opened her eyes, bubbles were surrounding her boat. The mermaid was no longer in sight. She let go of the chakra holes and exhaled in relief. She was so tired, as if she played tug of war with the terrifying mermaid.

She felt her memories back in her head, as if she was able to suck back her memories. But she still couldn't remember. She knew that she had to find a way to open her mind up to release the closed memories. But for now, she was contented that the threat is gone. She laid down on the floor her boat exhaustedly and finally let herself drift off to sleep.

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An annoying tapping sound snapped Sakura into consciousness.

Tap tap tap tap

Sakura groaned. Her hands immediately go up to her head, feeling the intense pain.

"She's awake!" A gentle voice said. "Hey, Miss. Are you alright?"

Tap tap tap

"Stop! Please, it hurts." She said, still not opening her eyes.

"Let's just leave." A deep voice said. "She obviously doesn't want help."

The gentle voice tutted in disapproval. "Of course she needs help, James. She's in pain."

The one with the deep voice, grunted, obviously displeased.

"Miss? I'm Calvin. I'm part of the police force. I can help you. Tell us how to open your door." The gentle voice said again.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. Looming by the glass boat was 2 men, 2 god-like ultimately gorgeous men. Sakura had to stop herself from gaping.

One had wide chocolate brown eyes looking at her with concern. His face was pearly white but his cheeks were naturally rosy. She wondered how much redder it would be if he blushed. His golden hair was long, flowing down to his neck, but it was neatly brushed back. His lips was pinkish, full and plump, pouty, as if always asking to be kissed. He was thin, but lean. You know he was strong despite looking gentle. He was not as tall as his companion but he stood defined on his own. He noticed her watching him, so he smiled charmingly at her. Two adorable dimples showed as he smiled with perfect flashing teeth.

"Hi there!" He said kindly. God, he's so pretty. Sakura thought. Calvin, that's what he said his name was. The other man beside Calvin scoffed. She immediately turned her eyes to him. This other man was tall and intimidating. His skin was tan and it looked like his features were permanently fixed in a scowl. But nevertheless, he had thick brows that made him look fiercer, and a perfect nose that was not too pointed nor lumped. He had dark blue eyes, like the color of the ocean at night. His lips were a dark red and was currently turned down in a deep frown. His bronze hair was cropped short, as if it could not be bothered with. Unlike Calvin, he was muscular and intimidatingly big. But he looks strong and sexy in a dark way.

Sakura blinked and snapped herself out of her thoughts.

"Uhmmm…hi?" She said warily. She looked around. Her boat was in a shore somewhere. She was not sure where she was but it looked like she finally hit land. She shakily got on her feet.

"Are you lost? We're on our way to finish a mission. But if you need help, you can tag along with us for a while." Calvin said. The other guy immediately snapped his head to Calvin.

"We can't take her with us! She's going to be be a burden that we would unnecessarily need to watch. We need to focus on our mission!" He said in a booming voice.

Calvin glared back. "We can't leave her here! She's obviously lost and weak. She could die, James!"

The muscles on James' cheeks moved. Sakura knew that he wanted to say that he couldn't care less. But he probably couldn't say that out loud in front of his obviously compassionate teammate.

Sakura didn't want to be a burden. For some reason, being a burden seem to be a mortal sin to her. She couldn't remember why. But she knew she needed help as of the moment. She was absolutely lost and she also couldn't remember anything.

"I won't be a burden. Please, take me with you. I'll do my best to be of assistance." She said softly, moving towards the solid door of the boat. She opened it wide as a show of trust to the 2 men. Calvin smiled widely.

'There, there." He said, supporting her by holding her hand as she stepped out of the glass box.

James rolled his eyes. "You can't even stand on your feet. How are you going to be of assistance."

Sakura glared at him. "Then if it's a matter of succeeding in your mission and leaving me to die, I give you permission to choose the former."

James raised his brows. "That goes without saying."

Sakura bit her lip. This guy was really making her agitated.

"Ignore him, Miss. He's just grumpy today. Or all the time if you think about it."

Sakura gave the sweet guy a small smile.

"So!" Calvin said clapping as they started to go on their way. "What's your name?"

Sakura swallowed nervously. "Uhmmmm….I don't know."

She waited for the angry man to react and press the issue of her being a nuisance. And she didn't have to wait long.

"Ho! See that Callie! This girl is a handful. Let's just leave her here!"

Calvin punched James lightly. "Stop it Jamey. You're going to scare her off." He turned to Sakura. "Okay, miss. I guess I know why you came to us for help. You really are lost. For the time being, we need to call you something."

Calvin looked to the sky, deep in thought. James sighed, as if resigned to the situation. They were passing by a garden when James suddenly spoke up, his voice not as bitter anymore, but still not kind.

"Rose." He said.

"What?" She asked warily.

"Your name is Rose, for now." He said, not looking at her.

Calvin raised his brows. "Why Rose?" He asked curiously.

James pointed to a pink flower inside the garden that they were passing by.

"I see a pink rose. It's close to the color of her pink hair."

Sakura consciously touched her hair. Rose. She thought about it. She watched James stare straight ahead and realized that him naming her might be the start of him accepting her to be with them and not leave her dying alone, even though he might have done so grudgingly.

"Alright!" She said happily. "My name is Rose!"