Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Breakaway ❯ Rehabilitation I: The Body ( Chapter 6 )

Breakaway

 

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

 

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Chapter 5: Rehabilitation I: The Body.

 

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Crazy Mary

By FM Static

 

Crazy Mary is a slow girl who looks up to no one.

Would do anything for a cold one.

Wishes she could find her way home.

Got the look on her face and the stare of a ray gun.

We walked by everyday

and I wish there was something I could do for her.

 

Maybe if I took a little time to talk then she'd heal a little if she wants to.

She can run but let's teach her how to walk away now.

I'll shake a little if she wants to she'll laugh a little if she needs to.

There's a key to the door that she's hiding behind.

 

She watches the world pass her by like a freight train.

They all call her the same name.

Laughin' as they point and stare at her.

So she cries out to God up in Heaven,

been prayin since she was 11.

For Him to send someone to meet her there.

 

Maybe if I took a little time to talk then she'd heal a little if she wants to.

She can run but let's teach her how to walk away now.

I'll shake a little if she wants to she'll laugh a little if she needs to.

There's a key to the door that she's hiding behind.

 

And no one knows the thoughts, the dreams,

and the ideas she's got and contains inside.

She's broken apart

and her heart is still lookin for somewhere to feel alright.

And no one knows the thoughts, the dreams,

and the ideas she's got and contains inside.

She's broken apart

and her heart is still lookin for somewhere to feel alright.

 

Maybe if I took a little time to talk then she'd heal a little if she wants to.

She can run but let's teach her how to walk away now.

I'll shake a little if she wants to she'll laugh a little if she needs to.

There's a key to the door that she's hiding behind.

 

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Sakura grumbled as she heard someone scurrying about her room in a most unquiet manner. Said person was not only bumbling about with the medical equipment but also was muttering incoherently to themselves.

 

Groaning at the injustice of it all, Sakura reluctantly opened her eyes to reveal the same white room that she had woken up to numerous times before. Giving in to the fact that she was no longer able to sleep, Sakura slowly wriggled her stiff and aching body into a semi-upright position.

 

She'd been in this hospital for over a month now, fading in and out of consciousness from the pain at first, but then dealing with the severe withdrawal of the drug that was used on her. Her skin for the most part had been repaired with no visible scarring from her extreme burns, but it was most definitely mottled, some patches of skin pink, others pale, still others tanned.

 

Her withdrawal had caused her to lose more weight off of her already anorexic body and her inability to function for long before going into convulsions had her joints locking up. But it was this day, she now realized, that she was to dread.

 

The doctors that had been caring for her thought she was ready to start some mild rehabilitation, just enough to maintain her current muscle build before it totally deteriorated. Her joints had also shown signs of collecting water, and her movement was necessary to stave it off until she was fully healed.

 

She turned her apathetic gaze to the urchin that dared to interrupt her only bouts of peace, only to see that he was the doctor in charge of her. She'd expected it to be someone who'd held the same position she did back in Konoha, the go-for, the hospital nerd that was placed in that position to ensure that they never got the chance to excel. But, no, it was the doctor who'd made her addicted to a drug she didn't give him permission to inject her with.

 

The shadow of anger settled over her, but she actually didn't feel it.

 

“Are you here to start rehab?” Sakura asked in droll tone.

 

The man in his lab coat leapt at the sound of her voice, startled. He turned to look at her, his eyes blinking owlishly behind their spectacles. He straightened up and set down whatever it was he had been messing with on a metal tray with a clink.

 

He cleared his throat and pulled his shoulders back in an attempt to look important and professional. Could've fooled her…

 

His hand came up and pushed the spectacles back up to the bridge of his large Romanesque nose.

 

“Yes, we are starting that today. A nurse will be by with a wheelchair to take you to the clinic where you start with learning to walk again. If you are unable to, then they will just work on strengthening your legs until you can walk.”

 

He immediately turned and walked quickly out of the room. Sakura watched until his back disappeared around a corner down the hallway. Turning her head, she glanced at the tray he had been fiddling with and saw a syringe filled with a clear liquid. Beside the syringe sat the bottle which the liquid had been drawn from. She couldn't read the print from where she was sitting so she didn't make the effort to strain to read it. If he was out to kill her while she slept, let him. It would end the misery she was in.

 

If she had been useless before, she didn't even know what to call the state she was currently in. She lifted a mottled arm in front of her face noting how emaciated it was, her finger joints and wrist bones protruding like monuments from the planes of her hand and arm.

 

A steady squeaking was making its way down the hallway along with the light, carefree steps of one of the nurses that she was beginning to be irritated by. Sakura knew it would be the one with bright yellow hair and large purple eyes. This same nurse would always hum some happy tune or another when all Sakura wished for was peace.

 

The nurse walked in with a million-watt, Naruto-ish smile and greeted Sakura.

 

“Good morning! It's time to begin making you all better! How are you feeling on this beautiful day?”

 

All she got in return was a stare vacant of emotion. They sat and stared at each other for a few moments, the blonde's smile slowly starting to fade to a disgruntled look.

 

The nurse finally broke the contact and pushed the wheel chair up next to Sakura's bed, her eyes now fixated upon the light, multicolored tiles on the floor. She always got the willies around the ex-kunoichi, her blank stare seeming to suck all the emotion out of the room leaving only a hopeless despair. The nurse could have sworn that the temperature around the girl dropped a few degrees also.

 

Reaching over, the nurse pulled the blankets off of Sakura and pulled the ex-kunoichi's legs over the side. Sakura helped by placing her hands on the nurse's shoulders as she was lifted and placed into the squeaky wheeled contraption. Once there, Sakura neatly folded her hands in her lap.

 

The nurse was struck by just how old Sakura looked. Her skin was mottled, hair unkempt, thin, her eyes had bags underneath them and her skin just seemed to hang off of her bones. And she was so listless, just lost in a world where death seemed to be looming on the horizon, a death that may come during sleep.

 

Shrugging it off, the nurse started to wheel Sakura out of the room and down the hallway to the rehab room. Once they pulled up in front of the room Sakura snapped out of her daze long enough to glance through the glass on the doors to all the weight equipment sitting inside.

 

All the contraptions that were going to be her further torment in life. This was going to be the next few months of her life. Hadn't she suffered enough already? Paid her dues to karma? She was sure that even Orochimaru and Sasuke didn't have this awful karma. Sakura then proceeded to blank out until someone else disturbed her from her void.

 

The nurse walked around the wheelchair and rapped persistently on the glass until a young man came into view. He glanced at the nurse then at Sakura through the glass before opening the door. The nurse wheeled Sakura into the room which smelled of antiseptic and sweat. Before the blonde left she turned and smiled prettily at the man, batting her eyelashes.

 

“Have fun Tai. I'll see you later!”

 

She giggled, gave a half-wave and walked out quickly, eager to get away from the emotional black hole that was Sakura.

 

The man kneeled in front of Sakura, causing her to snap out of her daze to find out why he had purposefully placed himself in front of the spot she had been staring at. What was revealed to her was an exact replica of Sasuke, only aged at 24 and in possession of blue eyes and a warm disposition. His chin had some three day stubble, adding a rugged aspect to him. He was clad in some well-fitting but still loose khakis and a white polo shirt with the Suna hospital crest on the left breast.

 

“Well Miss, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next few weeks. My name is Hirohito Tai. Pleased to meet you Miss…?”

 

Sakura just stared at him. She'd been in this hospital for a month and still no one knew her name. Hell, no had bothered to ask her for her name. They just referred to her as `Hey you' or `Miss.' And this man was the first to bother. Why did he care when no one else did?

 

After a few seconds pause, Sakura finally answered.

 

“Sakura.”

 

She continued staring at him, and she saw the frown that always appeared on everyone's face when they came within a ten foot radius of her. But he opened his mouth to continue speaking.

 

“Last name?”

 

Sakura paused for a few seconds, wondering why he was making her relive painful moments in her past. A light frown formed on her face and the skin around her eyes tightened almost imperceptibly.

 

“I belong to no house or clan. I was disowned, therefore I do not possess a last name. I am just Sakura. Do you mind if we just get this session over with? I wish you all would just leave me alone, but doesn't look to be happening. Must be the stupid tanuki's fault…”

 

Tai looked taken aback, his mouth hanging open at her words. At her admission of being disowned, wanting to be left alone, and calling the Kazekage a tanuki. He had gotten wind two weeks ago that a female had been carried in unconscious and burned to a crisp by the Kazekage himself and that the Kazekage had taken her care into his own hands until she stabilized enough for the hospital to care for her.

 

He'd also heard that the Kage had staked ownership of her life in return for saving her. He didn't know if this was a contract that both had agreed to, or if the Kage was being selfish as was his habit. Tai looked at her bedraggled, unkempt hair and wondered at its color.

 

No one in Suna possessed a hair color like that, nor anyone he had come across before. Her previous exposure to the sun had bleached the strands exposed, but the under layers were a shade below bubblegum pink. He shook off his preoccupation and decided to comply with her request to get on with the therapy.

 

He stood and walked behind the wheelchair, pushing it over to a set of waist high parallel bars that had padding underneath it on the floor. He parked the wheelchair at one end.

 

“Miss Sakura, I want to see it you can still walk after all this time of being bedridden.” He walked to one side of the parallel bars and talked to her while facing her. “Grasp each bar with a hand and use the bars for support. All I need to see is if you can be mobile with some help or if you will continue to require the wheelchair.

 

Sakura gave one shallow nod and reached forward mechanically with skeletal hands. Her protruding knuckles turned white as they clasped weakly around the wooden bars. With a heave forward, Sakura found herself shaking as both her arms and legs fought to keep her upright. Her joints screamed at the injustice of the strain and gave up within seconds. Sakura found herself face first on the antiseptic smelling blue mat and fought not to gag.

 

Tai was next to her, raving about how she had at least stood for six seconds. Sakura turned her glassy green eyes towards him.

 

“It wasn't that good. Now get me off this floor so we can start with the weights. I just want this torture over with for today so I can go to sleep. Or at least a daze.”

 

Sakura reflected on her inability to sleep anymore. She'd gone the entire past week without sleeping once. The world around her seemed to move that much slower now and she felt more detached than ever before.

 

Tai frowned again but gathered her crumpled form into his arms and placed her back into the wheelchair. He pushed her over to some weight machines next to where the free weights sat stacked on racks. He grabbed the one pound weights and handed them to Sakura.

 

“I want you to do ten reps of arm curls with these, three times. Between each set, take a minute break. It's looking like this is going to be exhausting for you. This therapy is going to take months. After this month you should be able to walk on your own, but you won't be in any condition to do whatever the Kazekage wants you for.”

 

Sakura chose to ignore the notion that Gaara owned her and immediately set about doing her exercise. She turned her head to show Tai that she was ignoring him now and would continue to do so until she had finished all of her exercise.

 

Tai looked a little put out, but he turned and walked over to a connected room that had a window looking out into the rehab room. He sat down behind a small desk piled up with papers and proceeded to sift through and sort them.

 

An exhausting twenty minutes and an extra three sets later, Sakura dropped the one pound weights onto the sterile blue mats with a muffled thud. She turned and looked into the window to see Tai already moving toward her.

 

He nodded to her as he came up.

 

“Good job. I guess that's enough for today tomorrow we'll be working on you legs, maybe even utilize the pool we just got to help you with standing.”

 

Sakura just continued giving him her blank look, hoping to curb his intent to converse with her. She wanted nothing to do with the Sasuke look-alike. It was more of a reminder of her past that she wanted to forget.

 

Tai humphed to himself and shrugged. He walked behind the wheelchair once again and pushed Sakura back to the door leading to the hallway. On the other side, a different, brunette nurse waited to take Sakura back.

 

The nurse opened the door for Tai as he wheeled Sakura out. Once again, Tai had a nurse batting her eyelashes and giggling at him. Sakura ignored this as she changed hands from Tai to the nurse. With a giggled goodbye and a wink, the nurse took off down the hallway with Sakura.

 

Sakura mused silently that it was no surprise that if Tai looked like Sasuke that he'd have all of Suna's women drooling over him…

 

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“Gaara, there a visitor from Konoha here to see you.”

 

Temari's blonde head was stuck through the crack of the door, looking at her younger brother. She realized that this was one of the worst times to bother him about representatives from another ninja village, especially after he had just had to stave off the elder Kage about marrying his daughter, whom he had brought along. Temari almost died upon seeing the girl, for she was wearing clothing that was obviously too small for her and didn't have nearly enough material. Her make up had also been caked on thick to the point that Temari wondered why it didn't crack every time the woman smiled coyly at her younger brother. She truly felt sorry for him and he was in a horrid mood after the whole ordeal, but Konoha was their closest ally.

 

Jade eyes glared up from behind a wooden desk and between ungodly tall piles of paperwork. They spoke of sororicide if the person was not important. Standing up stiffly he walked towards Temari and the door.

 

“Who is it? It better be the Hokage or, pact with Konoha aside, I'm killing them.”

 

Temari nodded her head vigorously in agreement with her pissed brother, but stopped him from storming out of his office with not so gentle shove to his chest.

 

“Take a deep breath Gaara. I know it's been a trying day for you, because it's been one for me too. While you had a stubborn Kage and ugly daughter to entertain, I was staving off both equally tenacious and ugly nins from his country from hitting on me. Uzumaki Naruto is outside waiting for, not the Kazekage, but Gaara of Suna. Now calm down. He seems rather tired, I think he's been having problems of his own.”

 

Gaara calmed hearing that it was Naruto out there and not someone else. In fact, he was in a better mood knowing that it wasn't Tsunade. The woman was unlucky and trouble followed her every step. Trouble also followed Naruto, but at least Naruto was more tolerable and had his respect.

 

Gaara opened the door all the way as Temari stepped away, and walked into his seating area. He was surprised to see that Temari may have under exaggerated her description of how Naruto looked. The bijuu looked absolutely horrible. He had a straggly beard growing, he was dirty and so were his clothes and he looked like he hadn't slept in years.

 

Concerned, Gaara quickly moved to stand in front of the man who had saved him from becoming even more of a monster.

 

“Uzumaki. What brings you to Suna?”

 

Naruto looked up from his seated position on one of the poorly padded chairs in the room. His hands were clasped in front of his face and the smile that appeared didn't quite reach his eyes.

 

“A friend of mine has been missing from Konoha for the past month and a half. She left without telling anyone. She even left most of her possessions behind. I'm not surprised she left though, but I wish she had told me, or even had bothered to say goodbye. I was worried so I've been looking everywhere for just a sign of her. I just want to make sure she's okay.”

 

Alarums immediately went off in Gaara's head as the pink-haired girl popped into his mind. He knew that she had been on Naruto's team, but he didn't know what her name was. He still didn't.

 

Shukaku also reacted badly to this knowledge, a wave of possessiveness sweeping over him. Finding Shukaku's behavior odd and petulant, Gaara ignored it, but decided that he wouldn't tell Naruto about the girl being here. Maybe later, after the ex-kunoichi had repaid her debt to him.

 

Returning his attention to his hurting friend, he shoved that shadow of guilt that rose up in what was left of his conscience to the back of his mind.

 

“My condolences. Who was your friend?”

 

Naruto sighed then answered.

 

“You might have known her as Haruno Sakura, but now she is just Sakura. She's the girl who was on my team back in the day. You should remember because she stood up to you that one time in the forest. Pink hair, green eyes, fairly loud and fiery when her temper came out. She'd been having a very rough time before she left…she'd been having a rough time since she started school at the ninja academy. I just wish she would have told me she was leaving…Hinata's been worried, and so was the doctor she used to work under at the Konoha hospital…”

 

Tears appeared in Naruto's eyes, but he did well in holding them from flowing over. He looked up at Gaara with eyes that spoke of a saddened but stubborn hope.

 

“Please, tell me you've seen her. Tell me she's here in Suna somewhere. She doesn't even have to see me, just put my worries at bay and tell me she's alive and well.”

 

Even the heartless Gaara could not stand up to Naruto's tears. Plus he had said that he wouldn't speak to the girl, just wanted to know if she was alive and breathing. Gaara heaved a sigh and his face softened just a little.

 

Naruto jumped to conclusion and assumed that the sigh either meant Gaara had not seen her, or that Sakura was dead. The tears finally broke free and began to carve molten tracks down the kyuubi's face.

 

Gaara quickly spoke to stop Naruto from further breaking down.

 

“She's here Naruto. Sakura's alive, now stop crying.”

 

Of course, Gaara only got out `now-' before Naruto had leapt up off of the chair and had the Kazekage in a bone crushing bear hug, laughing hysterically.

 

“Thank goodness! Thank you Gaara!! Thank you! Where is she? I want to speak with her!”

 

Naruto, just as quickly as he had initiated the hug, broke loose of it and was idiotically and hyperactively looking underneath each chair, as if he might find his friend there.

 

“Unfortunately Naruto, you may not see her. I found her a month ago passed out on the outskirts of Suna. She had suffered severe dehydration and second degree burns on over fifty percent of her body. She's been bedridden for almost a month. I haven't seen her since she stabilized, but the last report said that she's starting therapy to stop her muscles from atrophying. She shows no emotion and…”

 

Gaara flashed back to her empty eyes glaring at him, begging him to take her life, daring him to, egging him on. It was like torture looking into those eyes. What made it so was that he knew he used to possess those very same eyes, in fact, Naruto had been subject to them. And Gaara knew it would kill Naruto to see that his friend Sakura had them now.

 

Naruto was once again in tears, but did not push Gaara to let him see Sakura. Gaara was not one to lie, though he often omitted certain things. But if he said Sakura was alive, then she was alive and he would live on knowing that she was under Gaara's care.

 

“Thank you Gaara. I'll head back to Konoha now. May I have use of your facilities for some sleep, a bath, and to replenish my supplies?”

 

Gaara nodded to the blonde solemnly.

 

“Naruto, I know this sounds strange, but don't tell anyone that she is here. You can say she's alive, but don't say where. I don't know what caused her to leave Konoha, but I'm going to venture a guess that she doesn't want anyone knowing where she is.”

 

Naruto gave Gaara a sad, knowing, and almost cynical smile.

 

“It wouldn't matter, no one besides me, Hinata, and her old boss noticed that she had left. No one gave a shit about her except us. Did you know that she's begged Tsunade to become her apprentice ever since Sasuke first disappeared? Years of nothing but rejection and malice from everyone around her. I don't blame her for leaving, but I wish she would have seen that I was a friend and that she should have told me she was leaving.”

 

Gaara's non-existent eyebrows rose in surprise. Her whole village had treated her worse than an outcast, they had completely forgotten about her. Now he knew why she was so broken. No one had actually seen­ Sakura in years.

 

Naruto saw the shocked look on Gaara's face and smiled weakly.

 

“There's nothing worse than being looked right through by people who used to love you. At least people saw us and acknowledged out existence, though it was with hatred. She just got indifference. Well, enough about that. I'm sure she'll find what she needs here in Suna. May I please be shown my room? I'm exhausted, famished, and smell.”

 

Gaara nodded and turned to where he knew Temari was lurking behind a corner.

 

“You are too nosy. Hopefully someone will bite it off someday so you'll learn to keep it out of other's business.”

 

The blonde girl walked around the corner revealing herself, not looking in the least sorry about eavesdropping. With an irritating smile to her brother, she turned to Naruto and asked him to follow her outside.

 

Once they left, Gaara walked back into his office musing to himself. A visit to the girl, Sakura, was in order soon.

 

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A few more weeks had passed for Sakura, and she was now able to walk down the hallway on her own for therapy. She was grateful, because now she didn't have to suffer the presence of the bimbo nurses. She had also woken twice to the doctor fiddling with syringe and strange clear liquids. He was much too loud for her to not notice.

 

You'd think he'd smarten up and fill up the stupid needle before coming in to inject her.

 

The second time he'd scurried out of the room, Sakura was strong enough to make it to the counter and look at the label on the bottle. Sodium thiopental. She noted it as an anesthetic and looked at syringe. From self medical study, she ascertained that the amount in the syringe was not meant to kill, just knock her out for a long time.

 

She deduced the doctor's motives for wanting to knock her out. What a sick man, but it wasn't like it would affect her that much emotionally.

 

The last attempt had been ten days ago, and since then Sakura hadn't seen him at all.

 

Her body had returned to its normal weight, but she was still getting barely any sleep and her skin was staying mottled.

 

Tai was still trying to make her engage in conversation, but she would have none of it. He looked too much like someone who had betrayed her for one, but she also didn't have any desire to get to know anyone. She planned on leaving when they released her and seeing if the desert would do what Gaara could not. Such a place was non judgemental and harsh, so she didn't think it would take long to wipe her pathetic existence from the face of this earth.

 

She was currently selecting some clothes to wear for when she was allowed outside for the first time in months. They were also giving her an allowance to purchase more clothing and some personal care items. It was as if they were expecting her to move out, but still return during pre-set times to return for a little more physical therapy with the hippie Sasuke.

 

Taking it as a sign that she would soon be gone, Sakura did not throw up any complaints and simply selected a loose fitting pair of jeans, a plain gray t-shirt that was a little too large on her still slim frame, and some sandals that resembled the ones they had to cut off of her.

 

She shrugged into them and neatly folded her hospital dress, placing it on the bed. She turned around, her now longer hair swaying about her shoulders. Its color was now just as patched together as her skin, the roots a dark pink, while the strands that had been exposed to the sun before were more white, while the under strands were still dark.

 

She was pretty sure she looked like a freak, but she didn't really pay it much mind.

 

She strode out of the room to the front desk, almost groaning as she was greeted with the sight of the blonde nurse sitting behind it. The woman seemed to be smiling in relief and a bit of malicious glee, though Sakura could guess at the motive behind the latter part.

 

“Hello Sakura-san. Sign these papers here and we'll give you your allowance. From here on out you will be staying at the residence of the Kazekage and be under his care until you have repaid your debt for the hospital bills and our Kage's kindness in saving your life.”

 

`Ah, so that's why she's smiling with malicious glee. I'm sorry you can't seem to seduce the Sasuke look-alike into sleeping with you, you bimbo, but no need to think I was purposefully hogging his attention.'

 

Sakura gracefully reached out and took the papers, signing all of them with bothering to check what she was signing. Once finished, she passed the papers back and accepted the envelope of money handed to her.

 

The nurse continued her smile.

 

“Thank you very much. The Kazekage's aide will be here in a few minutes to escort you around Suna for shopping and will then take to you to your new residence. We'll see you in two days for another therapy session. Have a nice day.”

 

Sakura couldn't help but feel that she'd just been mocked somehow. The woman was grinning like a Cheshire cat, the cat who ate the canary. She had to have been mocked, because it was so smug, the way the nurse smiled.

 

Shaking it off, Sakura walked to the front doors and outside to wait Gaara's aide to escort her. The dry, hot air that greeted her spoke of hardship and perseverance. The sun was high in the sky and Sakura could already feel it turning her sensitive skin red from exposure.

 

She watched through the waves rising from the ground as a figure with large blonde hair approached. With ease passing footstep, the figure resolved itself to reveal Temari. Sakura immediately knew that she was Gaara's aide. Who else would stand up to the asshole and tell him to do his work and keep him in line?

 

Temari walked up and nodded to Sakura, not saying a word. As they walked down the road together at a moderate pace, Sakura felt relieved. At least someone would leave her be.

 

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A/N: And end this chapter. This only took me like, four days. I'm proud of myself. -grins- Well, anyways, hope you all enjoyed it.

 

And now, for my lovely and devoted reviewers:

Yokaigurl- patience…don't get too ahead of yourself there. Wait and see. -smiles-

 

Mind At Loss­- Shukaku sure does know what's going on, but he's not gonna tell a soul. -smiles wickedly- And if Sakura didn't suffer, then where would the story go?

 

The warmth of the Afterglow- Glad to see that my wit can actually make people laugh…I'm a rather not funny person in person…boy, that was redundant… (><) And please do stave off the rabid fans. I'm sure many anime character can attest to the crazy things fans try to do to them…And don't worry, my handwriting's nothing to be proud of either…

 

EnV- Maybe she's a bird, maybe not. I only said that her musculature mimicked one.

 

blackXheart- Shukaku wasn't scared, just shocked and surprised into silence. -smiles-

 

Seishi Sairensuno- Good. It's a good pairing to become addicted to. -smiles-

 

DarkAngelB- Maybe she will. I'm not telling so you'll be forced to read. -grins evilly- Thank you for all your compliments. I really enjoy writing this story, though my fingers don't go as fast as my mind does, so some description is lost between that lag time. It's rather irritating… -grrrrs-

 

Super Lucky Tiki Charm- Sasuke is a jerk, so I'm indirectly bringing him back. I'm still unsure what I'm going to do with him though… -ponders-

 

Rhonda21- Don't worry. Gaara will cause Sakura to say many more nasty and degrading things to him in the future. -snickers- These two getting into a fight would be hilarious…

 

Hao'sAnjul- Thank you!

 

Gina01- Thank you!

 

marise-chan- Thank you!

 

SweetAssassin- He is isn't he? I'll have to make him more pigheaded then. Make Temari wish she didn't have a younger brother and actually use her black mail… -laughs maniacally-

 

lil_soybeann- Thank you!

 

The Squabbit- -sighs- No, Inner Sakura isn't super woman either. And, yeah, maybe like the hulk except not as ugly, smaller, and the only thing that's green is her eyes. -smiles-

 

krista- See? See how poor Naruto is suffering? Sakura's not the only one…

 

Marsgoddess1- Well, here's this chapter. I know it took awhile, but my other story needs attention to… -rubs back of head and laughs embarrassedly- But anyways, thank you!

 

Ali-Baba123- Thank you!

 

pilar- Thank you!

 

Flame Unicorn- I find it easier on me to not have a beta, that way I can turn the story out faster. Nothing personal. But thank you for the offer! It was very kind of you. -thumbs up-

 

green24- There, that's not as big of a cliff hanger is it??

 

kaitou angel- Take deeeeeep breathes, it'll be okay. Here's the next chapter.

 

Kikaku- Here it is.

 

Lady-valasia- They're not notes, just recognitions, so ha! -grins- But thank you! Hope this doesn't irritate you more, but I've been known to have an abrasive personality.

 

NekoMercury- Thank you!

 

Human.- Here it is! And no, thank you!

 

Fate's Dice Kyre- Thank you!

 

Icefelis- I hope that I will continue to write well. I hope I do not encounter the accursed and fabled writer's block. I here it breaks bones when you careen head on into it… -sweatdrops-

 

K-chan9- Thank you!

 

BlackAngelBlood- Here ya go!

 

Noyesgirl- Thank you!