Author's note: Another update in the same year. Kinda proud of myself for that, though I probably shouldn't be haha. Anyways, I really don't want to abandon this story as I still very much ship NaruSaku, and don't want to let the pairing die in the obscurity of the internet haha. So I'll try my best to finish some more themes and hopefully keep the pairing alive a little bit longer.

As always, these are all either stand-alone chapters, or connect with another theme within the same universe. Example, this chapter is a stand-alone Canon AU, so it won't connect with the other themes. Please read on and enjoy!

Theme 22: Mother Nature

"Sometimes you need to surround yourself with the tranquility
that's all around you in this world
to ever find your answers."

Sakura found herself back again in the little alcove of bright colored daises and gentle looking lilies. She found this alcove that was an assorted garden of sorts years ago while she was still being trained by Tsunade. It was her own secret haven from the world that she found on some secluded part of Konoha's famous dense forests. It was here she would always come to to clear her head. It was here she always came when life was being especially difficult to her and she needed to be away from there, here, anywhere.

She let her head settle back into the warm bark of the giant oak tree she was sitting on. Her vibrant pink hair seemed a duller shade of peach as the shade of the tree kept her cool from Konoha's spring heat. Her eyes seemed to focus back on the flowers swaying back and forth with the flow of the soft wind and she released a deep sigh that trembled a bit as she did so.

She only ever came here when she had troubled thoughts, or stressful situations, or...difficult choices to make. Sakura looked at the flower's little dance with the wind and wished with all her heart that her life could for once be as simple as those of the flowers. For her to just follow the current of the wind and be comforted and content with just that. The kunoichi knew though, that life wasn't that simple and especially her life right now, with everything happening, was far from what she would call simple.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"A forest of illusions?" She asked incredulously. Sakura's green eyes were confused as she stared at her teacher, who was downing her umpteenth cup of sake since that morning.

"Well, that's technically what it is, though it's been given different names throughout its existence." Tsunade grabbed the flask of sake and filled another cup full. "That's just what I've heard it's been called since I first heard of it. It's also what I've called it since I've left that odd forest years ago from my own training."

"You've been there before Sensei?" Sakura asked a bit shocked that she's never known of this in the six years she's been Tsunade's pupil.

The fifth Hokage snorted and chuckled with what appeared to be an undertone of bitterness before she swirled her chair around to stare out of her opened window. "Oh, yes. I've been there. There's no way anyone can forget going to that place..."

Sakura looked on with growing concern, and voiced this out to her teacher in a question. "Sensei...the way you answered me...doesn't give me much reassurance that this is a place I should be going to. So why are you asking me to go?"

Tsunade didn't answer for a few minutes, the only sounds echoing throughout the spacious office being that of her breathing and the Hokage's breathing.

"You need to find your own answers Sakura. Away from here...away from everything distracting you." Tsunade finally answered her, with a tone of voice Sakura had rarely heard from her teacher. It sounded tired, but firm, but sad, all at once. As if this is something she's thought about for awhile now. Maybe she had.

Sakura didn't know how to answer and opted to gently sit down on the chair by the Hokage's desk and wonder what her teacher was trying to say. She wrung her hands together tightly, and her brows furrowed in apprehension. No, no she knew why Tsunade-sensei was telling her this. She knew perfectly why, and maybe that's what was causing her stomach to knot together, and her throat to start constricting as if she couldn't breathe right anymore.

"Is it really that obvious...sensei?" Sakura had asked with a humorless laugh leaving her lips shortly after.

"I...don't know what's going through your mind Sakura. I don't even think you do...but this forest...this place I went to when I was younger...it shows you things. It shows you everything and nothing all at once, it makes you see yourself; all of yourself, even the parts you don't see, and the parts you didn't realize were there."

Tsunade rose from chair and walked around to kneel in front of Sakura's chair and stared up at her pupil with a motherly look Sakura had not seen she was still a Genin. "Naruto, Sasuke, everything about them, everything about you when it comes to them is all jumbled inside your head and you don't know what to do anymore..." She stopped Sakura from arguing with the rise of her hand. "Don't lie to me Sakura. I know the look, I carried that same look for many years myself. I still carry my own regrets because of it."

The Hokage's hands trembled slightly at the last of her words, Sakura, knew instantly that her teacher was recalling Jiraiya-sama. Her green eyes shined with sadness as she grabbed her teacher's hands and slightly squeezed. "Sensei...I understand what it is you're trying to tell me...but..." Her eyes clouded over as she processed what her teacher was implying with this mission she wanted her to take. "I would be gone for two whole years...will that really be the best for me...for them?"

"Your indecisiveness, your doubts, and your fears are all blocking you from seeing what it is you want in life...who you want in life." Tsunade chided her gently, a tone of sadness underlying the woman's voice as she spoke.

"I...I..." Sakura sighed, she had no argument, her teacher was right. "I understand."

Tsunade nodded and rose from her kneeling position, her expression still saddened as she spoke again. "I know it sounds counterproductive. How could you possibly find out whether your heart lies with one man or another when you're so far from them, but...trust me," She placed her hand carefully on the top of Sakura's pink hair. "If you don't do this, then you'll never get a definitive answer, and you'll hurt more people that you care about, and yourself."

Sakura merely nodded, conformed with the fact that Tsunade-sensei was right. She had danced around this subject for far too long. Her love for Naruto, and what she thought was love for Sasuke had to be defined. If she didn't find an answer, then mistakes would be made, irreversible mistakes.

"Do I tell them?" She asked quietly, as she played with her hands, a nervous habit she had recently formed from her shifts at the hospital.

Tsunade sat back down on her chair and pulled out two scrolls and a small brown box. She smiled at her student and shrugged her shoulders. "You leave in five days, so I'll leave that up to you." Her brown eyes glinted with sympathy as she voiced her next words. "Whatever you decide though, I'll support you, and I'll make sure Naruto doesn't complain too much."

Sakura laughed, though it lacked any real feeling to it and her eyes appeared a bit more dulled as she replied. "How do you tell a guy who you think you love and might love you back that you're leaving...and you can't tell him when you're coming back because two years is just too long a time?"

"I don't know dear, if I had that answer for you or any other answer regarding him and them...then I wouldn't need to be sending you to this mission to begin with...now would I?" Tsunade replied quietly, her hands pushing over the items needed for her mission in her direction.

Sakura rose from the chair and her hands clasped the scrolls and box placed in front of her. "Yes, I suppose you're right." She grabbed the items from the desk and bowed to her teacher. "I'll go prepare. Thank you."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sakura's eyes focused back into the present and the wind swirling around her hidden alcove brushed against her pink hair and lifted it to flow with the current. She sighed again and wondered if this decision would really give her the answers she needed; if it would give her peace of mind.

'Too late now I suppose. I hope they won't be too worried…'

The smell of the flowers, of the trees, of the grass all mixed together as she let her little alcove calm her tense senses. Sakura realized that this little part of the forest never seized to keep her calm, and hoped that this forest she was going to would do the same. Hopefully even give her heart and mind the answers she herself couldn't grasp.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Her head titled towards the sound of a loud but welcoming voice as she spotted unruly blonde hair enter her vision and the flowers swirled around a tall figure that landed in her alcove. A wide and relieved grin plastered on his whiskered face, Naruto laughed as he ran towards her.

"I thought I felt your chakra presence here but I wasn't sure cause it's so far from the village!" He exclaimed happily, his form now knelt in front of her as he watched her relaxing against the trunk of a tree. "Sakura-chan! What you doing out here anyway? I thought you were gonna say bye to the teme! He's leaving on that mission of his today." She smiled at his pout and childish glare at knowing his best friend had an important mission before he did.

She shrugged and turned to look past him, to the flowers still swaying with the gentle breeze. "I'm sure he wouldn't realize I wasn't there to say good-bye. It's fine."

Naruto's pout turned into a frown, and his blue eyes gained a glint of worry as he stared at her. His hand ruffled her hair gently and he spoke with concern. "Ne, Sakura-chan...you haven't been yourself for a few days now...everything okay?"

She smiled, of course he knew something was wrong. He always did, and yet she hated that her heart still felt pain with Sasuke's obvious disregard to her and her feelings, while here was her blonde idiot noticing without even trying.

She tugged his hand gently and motioned him to lie next to her. Through all her jumbled thoughts and confusing feelings, this alcove kept her calm. The trees, the flowers, the wind, everything kept her in place, even as she felt him sit next to her and his eyes tried to read her expression.

Her hand tightened around his and she stared out into the beauty that was her little alcove, and she wondered if Naruto will miss her as much as she will miss him. Something in her way of acting must have triggered something in her blonde friend, as his hand tightened around hers and he placed his head on her shoulder, waiting silently for her reply.

The alcove and its flowers continued to sway with the rhythm of the wind and her heart, though it hammered painfully in her chest with love, with sadness, with fear, with conviction; her heart told her this was as it should be. Everything would be okay in the end.

With the wind blowing gently around them, Naruto quietly leaning against her, his all too familiar scent of ramen and clean soap mixing with the flowers around her, she answered back.

"Naruto...I'm going away for awhile. Wait for me while I find an answer to your question."

Naruto's eyes studied her as she continued to look out to her alcove. A look of hurt and sadness passed quickly through him before he turned back to the alcove and squeezed her hand gently.

"...Ah. I'll wait for you. I'll wait as long as you want me to."

End.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
As always, reviews are not expected, but very much appreciated. Thank you.