Sakura sat at the dinner table as her mother fussed about. Time seemed to fly. After a while, she excused herself to go to bed, and felt her mother's loving eyes watch her as she went up the stairs to her bedroom.

When Sakura felt that her mother was asleep, she waited until the clock struck two. Sitting up, Sakura grabbed a bag that she had packed earlier in the night and shouldering it, placed a note upon her desk that said:

"Okaasan -

Don't worry about me. I will be fine.

I love you.

- Sakura"

Sliding open the door to her balcony, Sakura jumped down onto the street and began to walk towards the eastern gate. Every step that she took felt heavy with sorrow. Breathing a deep sigh, she knew that this was something she must do.

As Sakura neared the eastern gate, she came upon Neji who was waiting for her. Stopping next to him, she took his hands in hers.

"Arigatou, Neji," she said with a worried smile. "Please, don't tell anyone, not even Tsunade-sama. I'm scared that if she finds out, even she will come looking for me... As for Naruto, please, take care of him."

Neji nodded. "If you need anything, please do not hesitate to let me know."

Sakura sighed a deep sigh, smiled, and gave him a hug. Holding her hand, Neji walked her to the gate where he had knocked out the two guards at the post.

Waving to him, Sakura then turned to walk up the dirt road away from Konoha, and disappeared into the evening mist.

The next morning was a bright and beautiful day in Konoha. The birds seemed happy and were chirping with glee. The Hokage's office, however, seemed to have a single dark cloud hanging over the sign for fire. Anyone passing by could feel the negative energy emanating from the building.

"Does anyone know why Sakura would leave?" asked Tsunade.

Standing before Tsunade's desk were Kakashi, Jiraiya, Naruto, Lee, and Neji.

"No, Tsunade-sama, we did not walk her back to her home, but there was no indication that she would have reason to leave. Itachi had left her here with us for the same reason as before, and it was unlikely that he would have accepted her if she left on her own accord," said Kakashi.

Tsunade sighed. "I've known Sakura for a few years now. She is not the immature girl she once was, I saw to that myself. She would never leave on a whim... If Sakura left, there must be something she is hiding from us..."

"I'm really worried about her. It's unlike her..." mumbled Shizune with TonTon in her arms.

"Could she have been taken?" asked Jiraiya.

"No," said Tsunade. "The guards at the eastern gate were knocked out and left in peace. It was definitely her that did it. There's no other reason I can find. Her home showed no signs of struggle, and her mother informed me that she had left a note indicating that she had chosen to leave. If that's the case, then we have no right to follow her... perhaps she was too sad that she left..."

As the discussion and speculation continued on, everyone remained silent. Neji however, was looking towards the ground in thought, and his mind drew over the events that took place that night.

In his mind he could see himself coming from behind to take Sakura's place in the fight with Kabuto, and he remembered seeing that there was something wrong with Sakura's chakra flow. It was not until he had reached the southern gate that he had realized it:

Sakura was pregnant.

- The End -

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I had an idea suddenly spring upon me to make it a trilogy, WHICH I'VE ALREADY STARTED AND ADDED!!!! Check it out! ;) Oh, and uh, PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW!!!! I never know if people are even making it to the end because they got bored!!!! Plus it helps my writing mojo... hehehehe.....

- iloveneji44