NaruSaku-
Something About Them
9
I got really lazy on this one, sorry.

Sai lifted the trunk, and Sakura and Ino dumped their luggage in the compartment.
"It feels so weird..." Sakura muttered looking around at the empty parking lot behind the school's gym.
"What does?"
Sakura yelped, realizing she had spoken out loud. Ino and Sai gave her odd looks.
"Nothing. Come on, let's get going."
"Hold it, Sakura." Ino grabbed her arm and spun her around, "Are you sure about this girl?"
"What do you mean? Of course I am! I've made this final, I'm leaving Naruto! No second thoughts, none. Nada...period..." her eyes wandered to the ground in concern of her own well being.
"I never mentioned anything about Naruto." Ino inquired.
"Huh?" Sakura stared wide-eyed at her, and scowled.
Ino rolled her eyes, "So you're one hundred percent sure that you want to leave Naruto. The guy you spent almost everyday with for the past year." She leaned in, "The guy you love."
"...Okay fine! Maybe I am regretting it, but it's all too late!" she yelled, rushing to the driver's seat.
"Too late? Sakura, come on, stop being hard headed. Sai and I aren't holding you back; we aren't forcing you to leave L.A.!"
"Yes, but Gaara and the rest of them are! You saw their expressions after Akatsuki left, they were so mad at me..."
Ino sighed and picked her purse off the roof. She walked over to the other side of the car, "Fine. Okay, I won't stop you."
Sakura watched her friend enter the car with haste, "Hm. Good, cause I won't listen to you."
She swung the door opened and entered the driving seat, and slammed it shut. "Just don't come running to me when you realized you miss him."
Sakura ignored her and searched for the keys. Finally realizing that this wasn't her car, and that Sai wasn't in the back seat yet, she rolled down the window and peered over, "Sai! I need the keys, hurry up and get in."
He beamed at her, wiggling the chain before him, "This is my car, hag. Out."
"Sai..." her voice was stern, "I'm not in a good mood right now, don't make me pummel you. Give me the damn keys."
His smile still rested on his face, "I'm not riding my own car in the backseat."
"Oh shut the hell up and get in!" Ino shrieked.
Sai hid his clenched fist and finally threw the keys to the pink head.
Sakura stubbornly placed the keys into the ignition and paused for a second. Her eyes went out of focus through the windshield.
Naruto...
"I'm being really stupid, aren't I?" she whispered to no one.
Ino distractedly turned her head to Sakura, "Huh? What??
Sakura slumped against the seat, "I just don't know what to do anymore!"
Ino thought this over, "Why...why exactly are you mad at him?"
Sai secured his seatbelt neatly and folded his hands on his lap.
"I...I'm not mad a him." She chose her words carefully, "I'm disappointed that he didn't defend me."
Ino nodded wisely, "And because of that, you don't feel like you need him around anymore, because in the future he might repeat his actions?"
"Well, sort of...I just don't want to get blamed for things I didn't do." Her fingers played with a string of beads hanging on the rear view mirror.
"What is in your heart? Do you solemnly want to leave him?"
The toothy grin, foolish personality, charming looks all replayed her mind.
"No."
"Then-"
"But I do want to leave this life of mine. So bad." Sakura suddenly said, "I want to try abandoning this whole war."
"Sakura," Ino replied anxiously, "You know that's impossible...that no matter what Akatsuki will always find you. Like they always do."
Sakura's mind wandered off a bit. Those words Ino had just muttered recalled some old memories...
'Will always find you...'
"That's not possible."
"What now?"
"The bugs...I forcefully took it out a few months ago. I made Naruto slice me open and take the bug out...Ino!" Sakura jumped and grabbed her shoulders.
Ino screamed and stared at Sakura shockingly, "What!?"
"Bugs!"
"No, no bugs! Gaara took care of that! He made sure each one of us had none in our system!"
Sakura spun her head, "Sai?"
"Remember?" he pointed to his head, "They never made it to me before the explosion."
Taking a deep breath Sakura placed her head on the wheel, "Okay then."
"But I know what you're getting at." Ino said.
The car fell silent, and Sai seriously wondered if they were going anywhere. He checked his clock and watched his life go by slowly without caring to say anything.
"Er, Sakura?" Ino's unsure voice sounded.
"What."
"Who's that?"
Sakura gradually rose up and gazed at the left mirror. A figure was slowly coming closer to them. "Hey...That's-"

Everyone had parted different ways for the day. Only Naruto and Kankuro decided they wanted to go home. Something in Naruto just wanted to confirm if she truly was gone.
Upon entering the house, Kankuro slammed his door to his room and never came out.
The atmosphere confirmed that no one was here for a while, but it didn't stop Naruto from checking. He quietly walked down the hall. The door to their room was slightly open.
His hand extended towards the knob, and as his fingers brushed the handle, he retreated a fraction.
Why, Sakura...
Naruto gritted his teeth and busted open the door. The room was vacant, as he thought.
The bed was made, the cabinets closed all the way, and the curtains pulled back to let the sunlight fall onto the wood floors. It was so peaceful...
It was all wrong.
Naruto was very dismal, walking up to the edge of the bed and running his hand over the fabric of the sheets. He turned toward the closet and silently slid the door.
Her clothes were all gone.
His heart cringed. Biting his lip, he made his way toward the nightstand, where they kept a couple of pictures in frames of each other.
They were gone.
"Shit..." he hissed. It was like she never even existed in this room. "What the hell did I do wrong!?"
Stupid girl...
Naruto was caught by his own words, and then shook his head, just not caring anymore.
He crashed onto the bed and folded his hands behind his head. Fixing his eyes on the ceiling, his mind went over what had happened in the warehouse.
Just then a slight thudding sound came from the distant. Naruto inclined his head up and back down realizing it was nothing.
It grew louder.
"Kankuro?" Naruto called, "What the hell are you doing?" As he expected, no answer.
That's odd...
The thumping got more impatient, and he realized it was coming from the back wall where the window was. He jumped up the bed, and leaned in on the glass.
"Naruto!"
He knew that voice!
"Naruto, over here!"
His eyes widened. How could he miss him, he stood as tall as the tree. Naruto lifted the window and called out.
"Jiraya?!"
Jiraya stood behind the gate with a satisfied smile. He tossed a pebble back and forth between his palm. He had long white hair tied behind his back and a red vest over pale green clothing.
"Yo. Idiot Naruto."

"Jiraya!" Naruto gazed up at his old guardian in the living room of the house. "How? You- the explosion- Pein-!"
"Calm down, kid." Jiraya said, sitting himself on the sofa. "I'll explain everything."
Naruto inspected the old man. He had a streak of red paint running down from his eye to his jaw line on either face. He hadn't changed...
"Tell me, everything." All previous moods and thoughts had erased from his mind at the sight of his alive and kicking guardian.
"First, that girlfriend of yours..."
Naruto sadly glanced down, "She's not here."
"Well, of course she's not! I sent her away."
Naruto raised an eyebrow and gazed skeptically at Jiraya, "What?"
"I sent that man named Kakashi to send her and those friends of hers off to another city." He explained.
Naruto was confused, "Wait...this doesn't make sense...didn't she leave on her own."
"Well, she was. But we had to point her to the right direction, and explain to her what was going on."
"What is going on!?"
"Naruto," he leaned back, "I'm going to make you stronger."
Naruto was silent for a minute, swallowing in what the other just said, "Really?"
"Don't you want to fight in this war with your greatest strength?" he smiled smugly, "Don't you want to protect those you love?"
"So...you're going to train me?" Naruto asked, aghast.
"Yes."
The young blonde jumped in the air with excitement, "Yes! When do we start?"
"As soon as you're ready."
Naruto smiled, thinking up of all the possibilities that could come out of this training. He knew Jiraya was strong; the man was filled with unusual powers. He even had the strength to put up against Pein-
"Wait, if Pain is still alive, and so are you...what happened?"
Jiraya sighed and stared up at the ceiling, "A few minutes into the self destruction, Pein disappeared. I had little time to move, and so I transported myself out of the Prison, summoning myself to the first place I could think of...er, The Grand Canyon."
Naruto gave a wry smile, "You transport?"
"Yeah..."
"So you sent Sakura away...will she come back?"
"Until your training is done. That is if you want her back, and if she wants to come back."
Naruto seriously doubted it. She was angry at him; they had 'broken up'. Perhaps she would forgive him over time...maybe.
"Can we leave now?" Naruto suddenly asked.
"Yes, we can. The faster we get down with this, the faster the down fall of Akatsuki will occur."
And the faster I get to see Sakura again.

"Good-bye, southern California!"
Sakura pressed harder on the pedal and sped through the empty highway of Bakersfield.
Ino giggled, "Thanks to Kakashi, all your doubts are gone."
"Yeah, I was so unsure of myself until he came and told us that its best if we leave. Naruto is training with Jiraya- who is alive- so either way we would have been separated for a while." Sakura exclaimed, turning up the radio.
Sai sighed irritably in the back, "Um, can you not speed? You'll waste gas and ruin my tires, Sakura."
"Don't ruin her mood!" Ino warned. "Emo Sakura is not enjoyable."
"Oh, shut up."
"I don't see anything enjoyable with that hag..." Sai didn't put any effort in lowering his voice. Sakura had it, she let go of the wheel and dived for the boy's neck.
Ino screamed at the top of her lungs, jumping for the wheel, "SAKURA THE CAR!!!"

--

Sakura coughed politely in her hand and leaned back in the passenger seat. Ino grumpily steered the car, cursing her life.
"I should have been the one to drive." Sai said with no emotion.
"Shut up."
Sakura gazed out the window. So Naruto was going into training? She wished she had that chance. She would do anything in her power to get strong and protect everyone.
"Wouldn't it be more convenient if we went to...hm, I don't know, New York?" Ino chirped.
"New York?" Sakura repeated disbelievingly, "You mean the same place that we almost died?!"
"What about the country side?"
"No, I said Seattle!"
"That's just lame! Think about it, we've been pursuing large cities, and each time we get caught. What if we went into villages or small towns where no one has heard of before?" Ino inwardly praised her genius logic.
"Yeah, well...so what. I say Seattle, and last time I checked, you guys followed me. Ha."
"I'm the one with the wheel," Ino smirked, running her hand through the dashboard.
Sakura scowled and turned her head.
It didn't matter. As long as they wouldn't get caught by Akatsuki again. Ino read her thoughts and nodded, "We won't. Us three, we'll stick together till the end no matter what."
Sakura nodded and Sai remained silent in the back.

Without them noticing, the empty smile moved down a few fractions.