Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! There I've said it again! Are ya happy now? Itachi: No, why should I be when what you're really supposed to say is "I don't own Itachi!" Sasuke: Yea and also "I don't own Sasuke!" Me: No! You both belong to me! (starts singing) You belong to me, could it be honey that you're not sure…You belong to me, thought we'd closed the book locked the doors…Both Itachi and Sasuke: Shut up!

Author's Note: I truly wanted to update earlier guys…But I had that stupid driving computer test thingie…

Itachi: Be honest, my dear. Just tell them you failed the test!

Sasuke: Baby blues jaded failed??? Kukukukuku…

Me: Shut up, duck ass!

Itachi and Sasuke: You failed! You failed it!

Me:…….

Sakura had woken up early that morning. She had been in relatively good mood. Sasuke would still sometimes stroll into her mind but so far she had not felt as depressed as that night when Kakashi-sensei dropped off the big news on her.

Was Tsunade-sama really letting ANBU observe Sasuke's every move? Somehow Sakura had never had a friend who was being watched by ANBU before and neither had she been the one being watched-thank god for that! The situation didn't fit right with her at all. Sakura was the pink haired kunoichi who was always a goody two shoes; never did anything wrong, never got into trouble and she never knew anyone who was listed on ANBU's list. People who got listed by the ANBU were usually criminals who were meant to be assassinated. That was the main purpose of ANBU anyway; to kill. Perhaps that was why the ANBU was very deadly. You do not want to go messing around and getting on the ANBU's wrong side. Sakura vaguely remembered about how they got rid of the so-called scums of the earth-they chose the most subtle way to kill a mark. The wrong-doers would usually die silently, caught in some ingenious jutsu or poisoned during dinner…

She tried picturing the stoic Sasuke taking a bite of a slice of freshly cut tomatoes and keeling over as soon as he swallowed the red thing. Sakura shivered. What a way for the cold Uchiha to die…

Such were her thoughts of one of her best friends getting executed. Once they've slit his throat and made sure he was dead they would be rid of the body; probably dump him somewhere in a forgotten cold swamp. No one would know what happened to the Uchiha, no one would know what became of him…None would see him, none would bury him and none would weep for him. He would lie in the swamp forgotten by all; even those who clearly loved him and cared for him. His body would rot and decay but Sakura still thought that even then, he still wouldn't satiate his thirst for revenge. The sheer will power to kill his traitorous brother might be enough to rouse him from the dead; let all decaying cells rejuvenate, the deep wounds heal themselves and let his body rise from the deep waters; from his watery grave just so he could fulfill his ultimate life's goal. That was Sasuke Uchiha. He was a tortured soul trapped in an abyss void of all emotions, where he could feel nothing, see nothing, taste nothing except his very need to avenge. It was so sad. To think that he stood a chance at living a normal life, a life filled with happiness, love and care; a life of pure bliss that he could spread and share with friends and family.

He still had a chance, it was still in his hands to change his destiny but that thought seemed impossible for the pink haired kunoichi. Sasuke would never change his life's goals…He was as determined as an unstoppable raging bull-desperately trying to eliminate his opponents.

Sakura busied herself by making breakfast. She was currently staying at Ino's house. She'd been sleeping there for nearly over two weeks. Sakura had not been living with her parents ever since she turned eighteen. Now she was nineteen and she needed to find a new place to stay.

When she couldn't find anything, she had pleaded with Ino to let her stay at the blond kunoichi's house. Ino lived by herself but Sakura knew she had her past boyfriends coming over almost all the time. Now she was probably itching to have Shikamaru there.

Sakura felt a sweat drop make its way across her forehead. She had been on her knees, pouting and doing the puppy dog eyes at the lusty Ino just so she could stay at Ino's place for a few nights.

- Flashback - -

"Aww! Please Ino!" Sakura pleaded with her best friend. She had clasped both hands together in front her and bowing her head down for the past thirty minutes.

The pink haired kunoichi needed to get her friend to give in. Ino was stubborn but Sakura knew that if she kept at it, the stubborn girl would eventually agree.

"No, Sakura!" Ino said haughtily. She flipped her pale blond hair over her shoulder in agitation. Her house was a private place for her; a place where she had Shikamaru come over and they would be able to get up to all kinds of naughty things. She loved her friend Sakura but this was asking too much in her opinion.

"Please, Ino!" Sakura begged desperately. By this time she was bowing her head over and over again. Her forehead almost touching the ground; sweat pouring out of her head profusely.

They were at a club somewhere deep in town. It was just another one of their favorite clubs where they always went to just so they could release some tension. Ino, Sakura and Ten Ten always hit the clubs when they felt all heated up. Dancing on the crowded dance floor and throwing caution to the wind was a great way to let go of their troubles on their minds. Ino was always there because of past boyfriends who always mistreated her and Sakura was there because of Sasuke's cold indifference drove her mad. Ten Ten went to clubs to dance her head off because she had a crush on Neji but the cold Hyuga was practically obsessed with his shy and submissive cousin, Hinata.

"I'll let you have Shikamaru over! I'll get out of the house if I have to whenever he comes over! Anything, Ino-chaaan! Pleeeaaaasse!"

Ino turned to face her best friend with a skeptical look. She frowned and brought a perfectly manicured fingernail to stroke her chin as she thought about it.

"Hmmm…" she hummed in thought.

"You promise to go out whenever Shika-kun comes over?"

"Yes!" Sakura said swiftly. This is when Sakura had to say all the right things in order to get on Ino's good side.

"You'll leave as soon as you find a place to stay?"

"Hai! Hai!"

Ino tossed her head in anger. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to agree to this but...what the heck, this was Sakura and Sakura always got her way.

"Fine!" Ino seethed, her blue eyes glaring quite fiercely at Sakura, "You can stay at my place but the minute you find a place of your own, you get out immediately, got it?"

"Hai! Hai!" Sakura said as she laughed nervously. Phew! It was such a toughie to get around Ino.

"I'll get out at soon as I get myself a place to stay."

Ino snorted at the response.

"You better, Sakura, or else…!" she warned, her eyes narrowing to almost a pair of slits.

"Kyaaaa!" Sakura squealed in delight, "Arigatou, Ino-chan! I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Ino was caught by surprised as Sakura looped her arms around the blonde's neck and held on tightly.

"Gah! Get off me, forehead girl!" she screamed.

"Oh, shut up Ino-buta!" Sakura replied hotly. She still had her arms around Ino's neck though…

-End of Flashback - -

Sakura smiled to herself as she remembered the conversation. It was more of an argument really.

The fire on the stove crackled slightly as she brought a wet frying pan over it. Cracking open the egg shells, she dropped them into the pan of melted butter one by one and watched as they turned a bright white and the yellow of the yolk darken. The sight of the glorious fried sunny side up eggs made her stomach growl in hunger. Sakura rubbed it gently.

Once she was finished with the eggs, she went over to dining table and sat down.

Sakura gazed into the mug of hot coffee in front of her blankly. Then, she let her eyes wander all over the table. Ino's small dining table was spread out by a plate of newly made waffles, a bowl of strawberries, a jug of cream, butter and jam, and a large bottle of chocolate spread.

The sweet tantalizing aroma of the warm waffles wafted in the air. The smell made Sakura smile a smile of deep longing. Forget Ino and her boyfriends, and forget the damned cold Uchiha too, waffles deserved her full attention at the moment.

The pinkette made a grab at the waffles, piled a few stacks of it on her plate and begun putting on fat dollops of the chocolate spread onto them. She was just about to fill her plate with a mountain of strawberries when she heard a clicking sound behind her.

Sakura whirled around to see her best friend Ino, clicking her tongue at her in disapproval.

"My, my Sakura-chan…You'd better watch the chocolates; that can go straight to your thighs, you know" she said in voice that made her sound like a teacher scolding a naughty student.

Sakura lifted her pink eyebrows as if to dare the bleached blond to stop her. She took a large bite from a crisp chocolate covered waffle, rolled her eyes at the delicious tastes for effect and swallowed; releasing a loud almost orgasmic moan of pleasure.

Ino bit her lip as she watched Sakura's little act.

"Ugh! You do realize that that stuff is chock full of fat, right?" Ino said, turning away and busying herself by pouring a mug of coffee.

"I cooked breakfast so I'm allowed to eat it," Sakura grinned at her devilishly as she popped another generous portion of chocolate drenched waffle into her mouth.

"Whatever…" Ino muttered, rolling her eyes while sipping her coffee.

"Hey, maybe you'll get lucky and all the fats will go to your forehead instead of your body, huh, forehead-girl" Ino teased. She hadn't called Sakura 'forehead-girl' ever since Sasuke left Konoha to join Orochimaru. The bleached blond girl knew the name was an insult that used to hurt the pinkette emotionally but she was only doing some harmless teasing.

"Heh, maybe you'll get lucky and go down with the bath water the next time you have a bath, Ino-buta, at the rate you're going with that diet of yours," Sakura smirked over her mug, "Call that a figure? More like a piece of string!"

Ino opened her mouth for a comeback but was cut short when she heard the door open and Shikamaru walked in.

The lazy cloud watching genius had been given a spare key by Ino two weeks after they had been seeing each other. He came on a regular basis but he had refrained from coming ever since Sakura stayed over. The lazy man didn't want to admit it but he really missed the special moments he and Ino spent together whenever he did make his way to her place.

Ino completely forgot about all the comebacks she was about to say to Sakura at the sight of Shikamaru. She didn't waste any time and jumped off to glomp on her boyfriend.

"Whoa!" Shikamaru cried through kisses, "I should come more often if you're always gonna be like this!"

Wrapping her arms around the genius's neck, Ino placed kisses all over her boyfriend's face. She was also trying to straddle him by the waist but Shikamaru was having none of that yet.

He pulled away from her slowly, panting and his face flushed.

"Shika!" Ino cried excitedly, "Where've you been? You said you were gonna be here at 6! Now it's already 8 and Sakura's awake!" You promised me sex in the morning, mister, and I want it!"

Sakura watched Shikamaru's face darken into a deeper shade of red. His eyes were darting back and forth without clear focus and he opened and closed his mouth in an attempt to speak but failed miserably.

"Well?" Ino demanded her hands on her hips. She tapped her foot impatiently.

"Ino…," Shikamaru began in pleading tones, "I overslept a bit…I didn't mean to, it just sorta happened…"

The lazy genius was slowly begging his hot tempered girlfriend to forgive him for his tardiness. It was a big risk and he usually never got forgiven but it was a risk the brilliant tactician was willing to take. Ino would usually pinch his ear and scold him for hours before involving him in another couple of hours of make out sessions.

He wouldn't have minded it so much either. Over the time he had been friends with Ino, Shikamaru had developed a special way for him to block out anything Ino said when she was in her nagging moods. He could just shut off his ears and pretend he was somewhere else. This took great concentration and willpower but Shikamaru had to do it. He would never survive Ino's mouth and his mother's if he kept on getting in their bad moods and what not. Being human, Shikamaru was bound to make mistake s and he would make them again as well so he knew very well what he was getting into when he decided to date Ino. She was big trouble when it came to her loud gossiping nagging mouth but she was still a pretty good person underneath it all and Shikamaru noticed that. He liked her despite all her, ahem, big flaws.

Today he was hoping that Ino would be a bit better and not nag him as much. Maybe with Sakura being there she'd shut her mouth up a bit.

Shikamaru watched with a heavy heart as his girlfriend's face turned into a scowl.

He sighed…Looks like it was going to be another pinch-my-ears-and-nag-nag-nag time.

Shikamaru braced himself for the onslaught of angry shrieks spewing out of Ino's mouth in full volume directly in his ears. And, yep, sure enough, she was pinching his ears! Ino had taken his left ear in her hand and she was tugging at it furiously all the while screaming words down in his ear.

Sakura watched in pity as Shikamaru's face cringed up in utter torture. Words like "Listen!" and "I thought you cared about me!" and "You're just useless!" and another "Listen to me! Are you listening?" made its way to Sakura's ears but the rest of it was unknown to Sakura because all she could identify was loud shrieking and yelling. At one point during the whole one-sided argument, Sakura could have sworn she heard Ino barking; like a very pissed of dog…

Shaking her and sparing Shikamaru one last look of sympathy, Sakura continued to eat her waffles. She reached out a hand for their local newspaper; Konoha's Daily News with a bored hand.

There really didn't seem to be any really interesting things in the newspaper. A lot of almost everyday things were reported again and Sakura read the paper with a lazy eye.

'Konoha's Streets littered with oversized dog poop…'

Hm, gotta tell Kiba to clean up after Akamaru does his business, Sakura made a mental note. The civilians in Konoha didn't know any better but there were quite a number of people who did know what was going on. Mostly the ones who understood who was the cause of all the large littered poops were ninjas and they knew that it was all thanks to Kiba and his dog, Akamaru.

The Inuzaka's dog was definitely potty trained but it would seem that both master and pet/companion took a pleasure in leaving behind great piles of excrement…They would do it to any place that had people they disliked living there. In fact, the pair very nearly signed up for a death wish when they decided that they're next target would be Sasuke's house.

Sakura had to beg them and bribed them with her famous strawberry cupcakes in order to make sure they didn't go near Sasuke or his house.

Shuddering at the thought of Sasuke reacting to a sight of his house covered in dog shit, Sakura flipped to the next page.

'Girl's bathhouses: No Longer a Safe Place to Bathe', it read.

The title made Sakura scoff. Bathhouses in Konoha hadn't been safe since Jiraiya the pervert Sannin came back from his 'wonderings' and that was years ago. Sakura had caught him peeping in the bathhouses in more than one occasion. At first, Sakura used to punch the life out of the perverted old man but nowadays she'd just wave at him. That man was never going to stop thinking up filthy things in his mind for as long as he lived and no amount of punches was going to change him. She did, however, avoided going to the bathhouses like the plague. Just because she let Jiraiya go on with his perverted antics doesn't mean she was going to be apart of it. Ugh! Imagine if the latest book from the Icha Icha series was going to be about a pink haired heroine who went about screwing every man she came across. Ewwww…

Sakura lingered a little bit more on the page, just long enough to catch the words 'white haired pervert', 'old man' and 'peeping toms'.

The next page made Sakura sit up with a start. It was the ads section for houses and stuff.

Her green eyes scanned the page for something that might have a potential place for her.

Number 1 was really not for her…A big house with a fire place, large kitchen and a huge garden…

Sakura didn't need that kind of space. What she was really looking for was something small and cozy; just good enough for one person. Her first choice would probably be a small little apartment just like Ino's because that was pretty much all she needed. As long as it came with a bathroom, a kitchen and a spare room (in case she had a guest over) then that would be just right for Sakura.

She searched the pages for something promising, scrutinizing over every bit of detail posted in advertisements and frowning at the small letters.

Just when all hope was about to be gone, Sakura landed her green eyes on the ad that offered her just what she desired. Sakura felt her heart leap with joy as she read the details of the house.

It was a small cottage located in the further parts of town and it came with a kitchen, two bathrooms and two rooms. Bingo! The perfect place for her to pack up and move to. It wasn't an apartment like she had imagined it would be but who cared? She liked the sound of it. Plus, the ad even mentioned that the cottage had a view. Sakura loved anything that had a view. Even if the place was completely hideous, if it had a view it would be a couple of steps above from other uglier places. Yes, the view was definitely a bonus.

Sakura smiled happily, sipping a bit more of her coffee as she took in all the contact details of the person she needed to see in order to learn more about the cottage.

The ad told her that if she was interested she could go and meet up with one Sumire Kobayashi at her office some where near the cottage itself, from 9 am to 3pm.

Sakura checked her watch. Right now it was only 8:30 that meant there was still plenty of time, half an hour for her to do what she wanted. She needed to get out and leave the two love birds to get on with their "morning sex". Maybe she could go shopping! That was always a treat and she hadn't done it for quite a while. Tsunade had been giving her a lot of missions lately and it was getting annoying.

Sakura knew she deserved a little bit of shopping time after all the long grueling days of walking back and forth from Konoha to some god forsaken place. The missions weren't all that difficult but Sakura did get into some trouble. There were times when bandits had tried to harm her, rape her even but Sakura could handle the likes of them. They were nothing but weaklings compared to the now nineteen year old and extremely strong kunoichi. She didn't have brute strength but her precise chakra control was what made her develop as a strong and capable kunoichi. Her skills as a medic nin had also grown at a quick pace.

Sakura finished her coffee and peek an eye at Ino and Shikamaru's direction. Her best friend was already locking lips with Shikamaru straddling him by the waist and causing him to fall backwards on the sofa. He didn't seem to mind though as he was already glued to her lips and was kissing her back with equal passion. Sakura suppressed a groan as she watch the hormonal-teenage picture they made. She knew she had to get out now. If she stayed any longer she might see some very unwanted things going.

Without a word to Ino (Ino wouldn't hear her anyway, too absorbed in the kissing), Sakura got up from the table and went out of the apartment.

Maybe now that she had the time, she could buy some new lingerie. Her current ones were all worn out and drenched in sweat.

O o O o O

Shopping bags in her hands Sakura made her way to Sumire's office. She had gone to the mall and bought almost every bra and panties that was her size. Just in case she was sent to do another series of grueling missions, Sakura had stocked up on all the underwear she needed.

She walked past a couple of the shops she was familiar with. Well, the cottage she wanted was probably far away from Tsunade's office but at least it was near all her favorite hang outs. Even the café Sasuke and she always went to after his missions were near the place.

She hummed cheerily. Sakura was growing to like the cottage even more though she hadn't even been in it yet.

Sakura finally came to the building that she was looking for. It was not such a big office but it looked quite promising. The place was clean and the furniture was arranged tastefully. Sakura nodded in approval.

A young woman who looked to be about in her early twenties appeared behind a tall desk. She was dressed in a very chic outfit; her brown hair was cut so perfectly it looked like she was wearing a wig. She wore it short just above her shoulder and she stood straight and tall making her look like a model or a fashion designer. She eyed Sakura coldly one delicate eyebrow raised as if she was inspecting her.

The small sneer that graced her beautifully carved features told Sakura that the woman thought of her as something less than snot dripping at some four year old kid's nose. Sakura didn't like her look and the way she carried herself.

Slipping into a perky and sweet persona, Sakura stepped up in front of her enthusiastically and thrust out her hand that held the ad.

Smiling brightly at the woman and completely ignoring the look of disgust the woman made at her gesture she said, "Hi! I'm here to look at the cottage you posted in the ad."

The woman's sneer grew and she sniffed before answering.

"Yes…" she muttered and turned back to her desk, her back, a cold wall.

Sakura wasn't in the least bit intimidated at her attitude though. Being friends with Sasuke, Sakura was immune to having people not being friendly.

"Well, when can we go see it, Sumire-san?" Sakura asked innocently. A big grin was plastered on her face.

The woman snorted and hissed in annoyance.

"Alright, kid" she said coldly, "But I have to know if you've got any money or not."

Sakura's grin left her face and instead she narrowed her eyes dangerously at Sumire. Money was always the issue with people nowadays. Sakura was getting fed up to the teeth with people like this woman; all they ever cared about was money and they disregarded everything that really mattered like friends or family.

A very grumpy looking Sasuke came into mind and Sakura winced. Damn it, so now she was faced with a female version of Sasuke. And Sasuke all by himself was bad enough.

"I'm a kunoichi, woman, and I'll have you know we get paid a lot!" Sakura said through clenched teeth.

Sumire immediately changed her expression and even had the grace to blush in embarrassment. She ducked her head slightly and apologized humbly. Sumire knew that ninjas were paid in a high amount.

"Forgive me. I was rude," she said her head bowing slightly.

"Damn right you were rude," Sakura muttered darkly, "People like you shouldn't have been born as human beings. You should have been a leech, the way you people suck money out of people…You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

The older woman felt her face burn as her humiliation worsened. She bowed lower than she did before.

"I'll take you to the cottage, miss..?" she inquired lightly.

"Sakura," the pinkette offered, "Sakura Haruno."

"Haruno-san, if you will follow me, I'll take you to the cottage you've inquired about," the brunette walked passed Sakura and held the door open for Sakura to exit. She waited patiently for Sakura to come out.

Sakura followed the women for the next fifteen minutes in silence. Sweat was beading across her forehead and Sakura saw that even the stylish Sumire was looking flushed and panting slightly. The sun was glowing out hot yellow rays that scorched all in its path.

"We're here," Sumire announced. Sakura saw the cottage and thought it was the loveliest thing in the whole wide world. She fell in love with it immediately.

"I see it," Sakura panted.

The cottage was small but made in a pretty design. It was set in a large and wide open space, almost like a garden except nothing was growing besides weeds. The ad had been right. It offered a view and a lovely one too. Sakura was thrilled to her toes when she watched how lovely the small cottage looked like against the bright blue sky.

"I haven't been to this place for almost a year now…" Sumire confessed as she took out a key and unlocked the door.

"The last person who rented wanted to move away so he could start a family. I must admit, it's just mostly for the single people, this place is…"

Sakura listened absently as she took in the interior of the cottage.

Walls solid, thick and painted a soft beige color, the curtains were quite old and tatty but still not quite ugly, and the rooms were small.

Sumire explained where the kitchen and bathrooms were as Sakura watched in awe.

"Well, what do you think, Haruno-san?" Sumire said gently when she finished the quick tour.

Sakura turned and beamed at the older woman.

"I'll take it!" Sakura cried.

"That's good!" Sumire smiled a small smile at Sakura.

"You can come back to my office and we can settle everything there."

Sakura nodded quickly in agreement. The women walked out of the place slowly as Sumire explained the things they had to do first before Sakura could move in.

"Erm," Sakura started, "Sumire-san, I noticed a house next to mine…Who lives there?"

Sumire's mouth quirked a bit but it didn't look like she was about to smile.

"A single mother and her son," she said simply.

"She keeps to herself mostly but I do see the boy from time to time. A pretty looking boy but he's quite hostile. In fact, their both hostile."