Quote of the chapter: "At the end, is regret."

Published through phone so forgive my mistakes

So far, this month has been suckish for me, hby? :(

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          cнαpтer 16

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Days passed ever since the news about Sakura was out. Sasuke's arranged marriage seemed to be trending as well, mixed with positive-but mostly negative-comments from various citizens.

Rumours even spread that these arranged marriage is what kept the famous Sasuke and Sakura from being together. Since both of them belong in the same team and it was odd that both of them had an arranged marriage with someone else, considering the fact that it was practically released on the same time.

Intentionally, team seven was not taking any missions for the past few days due to the recent issues and Tsunade decided that. With the time that the five gained, they had more than enough time to think about their problems.

Kakashi, Sai and Naruto started to earn respect for their female teammate's decision as long as it was not against her will. And for Sasuke, he took Ino's advice and tried to understand Sakura.

Selfish as it may seem, the four boys is not comfortable with Sakura living in Kumogakure for the rest of her life.

Naruto is very positive that Sakura would not be happy without her friends-especially him as a brother.

They still have more than four weeks though. With that, they may even change her mind.

On the other hand, Sasuke was even more silent. It was sort of understandable since he is trapped in an unwanted marriage. His life was basically a broken record and now, his future may be even worse.

Life was just simply unfair.

"So, shall we go?" Sakura asked, a bit uneasy as she clutched the slings of her bag.

She prayed that nothing awkward would happen on the trip.

"Yosh, let's go!" Naruto beamed and he led the way, fastening his pace.

"It's not something to be worked up about." Sasuke stated, staring at the path in front of them while Kakashi supported his remark, bringing out his confidential book.

"Sasuke's right, it's just a messenger mission."

Sakura glanced at Kakashi who was beside her as they walk."Then why did it have to be a four-man squad? And our rank is practically jounin or even higher."

"Yeah, I've been training you know!" Naruto whined childishly and they continued to walk.

"Tsunade-sama told us that this was a C-rank mission. She probably wanted to keep out of trouble, including the incident that happened at the previous mission."

Nodding at the masked teacher, Sakura was determined even though it was a small mission. "Let's do our best then." She sent her gentle smile before hopping from tree to tree.

"Wait up, Sakura-chan!" Naruto jumped to follow his teammate's tracks.

Kakashi grinned and averted his gaze towards the man next to him. "You know what you have to do, be careful." He patted Sasuke's shoulder teasingly then went ahead along with the two.

Sasuke heaved a sigh of defeat, understanding Kakashi's words then left off as well.

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"Thank you for sending this scroll. You may spend the night here or proceed to your journey home, depending on what you want." The latest Tsuchikage dismissed just as the team Kakashi bowed in respect.

It was around eight in the morning when they were strolling around the land of earth.

"Well that was easy." Sakira commented, heading towards the exit of the village.

"There's no action, dattebayo!" The loudmouth pouted as they sprinted into the next village, going home.

It was true, all they did was walk and talk along the way. There were no ambush nor enemies that they have encountered.

The world was more in peace compared to the last time. Their last battle was the ambush on the previous mission. Other than that, basic taijutsu techniques were enough for the simple fights they had since the ANBU squad took the secretive missions.

A whistle caught the team's attention. A couple of men winked and eyed Sakura from.head to toe in a disturbing manner though they received deadly glares from the three companions of the medic while Sakura just rolled her eyes-ignoring the incident.

"Sakura, can I ask you something?"

The pinkette nodded towards her teacher, not in an affronting manner. Even though Kakashi is not technically her teacher anymore, she still has some respect for the man.

Returning his book inside his pocket, he asked once more. "Are you sure about your answer?"

Sakura exhaled as the thoughts drain her mind. She knew that he was pertaining to the Kumogakure's offer and she did told Kakashi that her temporary answer was a 'yes'. "If I tell you, will you be my counselor?"

The edges of Kakashi's lips curved up as he gave his consent.

As Sakura and Kakashi went ahead, chatting about Sakura's plans in the future, Naruto wiggled his eyebrows towards Sasuke who returned a judging look.

"What's your problem?"

"Do it!"

Just then, Naruto's eyes sparkled then he yelled intentionally. "Oi Kaka-sensei, let's spar!"

"Eh?" Kakashi looked back, only to be dragged by Naruto to move forward which left Sasuke and Sakura behind.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's playful act.

An awkward silence echoed their surroundings as they moved ahead.

Sakura parted her lips, but no words came out.

She wanted to say something-just to kill this awkwardness. Thank you? For what? That would be dumb. Sorry? But why should she apologize? Sasuke was the first who practically interoggated her and trespassed her home.

"I'm sorry."

She heard those words though she didn't know if it was for real or her mind was probably tricking her.

"Did you say something?" Sakura could feel a warm palm gripped her shoulder lightly, causing her to swift back.

"I said I'm sorry, Sakura." His eyes showed a hint of worry.

"Why?"

"I was wrong, I just don't want you to make mistakes." Sasuke replied. Thanks to Ino, he put understanding in is thoughts.

Although, Sakura took it as a bad motive. "So you think I'm making a mistake?" She scoffed. Now, her answer was as clear as water. "You're full of pride."

Once Sakura hopped off, leaving Sasuke to irritation as he ruffled his raven hair.

He tried to understand, though he obviously failed.

Maybe because she did not understand his words or she did not let him finish.

To simply put, he just does not want her to get hurt by any other guy. He does not want to see her get hurt-like his mistake before.

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When Sakura calmed down while running off, she wanted to turn back time. She was locked in the room of regret.

She should have accepted the apology, but her emotions took over the control.

But she can do nothing now. If she would turn back and apologize to him, then the situation might go deeper in misunderstanding.

Or maybe she can go back...

She halted and scanned her surroundings to search for any sign of Kakashi or Naruto.

Once she could not find any movement, she turned her heel-only to be grasped by her forearm. She attempted to attack but she was caught of guard when she felt a smack on her neck.

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"Teme!" Naruto dashed with immense speed. "Is Sakura-chan with you?"

"No, she ran away."

"No, no, no, no..." Worry was plastered Naruto's face as he held his head, walking around repeatedly. "This can't be happening."

Sasuke's eyes slightly widen in anger and snatched Naruto's shoulders with much force. "Tell me what happened, Naruto."

Naruto gritted his teeth before looking away to speak. "We think that Sakura might be kidnapped..."

END OF CHAPTER 16

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//PUBLISHED.5.6.15.//

Are the events too fast?

Will be working on the next chap or my new modern sasusaku story (still in drafts//coming soon~) :D

Thanks for reading! Votes and comments give me inspiration to write which means faster updates haha Follow me if you ant to be updated or to be friends ^^

:)

~TheSketcher