a/n: not mine, blah blah.

Ch 2

When it came to prospective hunters, Ibiki was always available. They weren't as common as one might think, so they were always given priority, especially as there was extensive training to be completed before they were paired up and sent out.

While hunters tended to be older, or people who had been orphaned at a young age and couldn't socialize properly, he still never would have believed the Hokage's apprentice would be one knocking on his door. Knowing who she was and who she was connected to, he was prepared to flat out order a psych eval and alert everyone that their favorite medic was in crisis. The look on her face when she walked in made him pause, however. As she carefully outlined the reasons that she believed no one would care that she was gone, and how she had gotten to that desolate point, he had to admit she had done a thorough job of unknowingly alienating herself. While the approval of hunter nins was solely under his jurisdiction due to the dire mental state that necessitated that desire, his first reaction had been to immediately contact the Hokage. This was, after all, her apprentice. But after listening to her, it seemed that once Sakura's skill level had become enough to power its' own momentum, the Hokage had let her responsibilities to the village once again take precedent over her largely self-sufficient student. Understandable, but still contributing to the overall depressing picture.

To be frank, she was the poster child for hunter nins.

There was really no choice on his part; he couldn't let a shinobi with such dead eyes do anything but what was her only option left. And that was to live her life with purpose in solitude. Solitude would give her the peace she was so obviously craving, and being surrounded by people with hope and lives and dreams was killing her spirit. Self-preservation had brought her to him; he could only honor that.

"Before we start your training, there are two choices you must make. One: is there anyone you would like to write a farewell to? Two: upon your death, do you want anyone to be notified, not notified, or for them to have the choice themselves?"

His voice momentarily caught her attention. She could tell it had been altered by the extensive scar tissue on his neck. It was unnaturally deep and sounded like he had been drinking sake all his life. It was harsh and monotone. It was everything she wanted to be, because it was how she felt.

"I have one person to write to, and I won't need to notify him, because he'll know when he's the new Hokage."

6666666666666666666666666666666666

Dear Naruto,

You are the one person that never willfully left me, and I will always remember that.

I do this for me. For peace of mind.

Not because you aren't enough.

I will not be there on the day you become Hokage in body, but I will be there in spirit. Because I know I will always be in your heart. You are going to be a good Hokage, and I am already so, so proud of you.

Don't worry, I am not a short timer. I am finally going to be what I have always been.

Alone.

It is something I take comfort in, because everything in this world except for you has done nothing but hurt me. I will be much safer out here. Where things are simple and true.

Who knows?

Maybe I'll miss you so much that I might even come back.

You are the only reason I would.

You are the brother of my heart. And I love you always.

Sakura

p.s. you are obviously the only person that I am writing to. Shishou will be notified of my status, but I do not think anyone else will miss me, except for the hospital. If someone does ask, I leave it up to your discretion, as I have said the only goodbye that matters to me.

6666666666666666666666666666666666

It would be almost ten months later that Kakashi would ask Naruto if he knew how Sakura-chan was doing. Naruto, having known about the time they had spent together up until Kakashi's new girlfriend, had long since put two and two together and realized that Sakura considered Kakashi to be someone who intentionally left her. He had also found out about the fight she had with Ino.

He had made it his business to figure out how his best friend in the shinobi nations had been driven to become a hunter nin, one of the Hopeless, as they were casually called.

It was a knee-jerk reaction for his eyes to flash red with the righteous anger he felt on his 'sister's' behalf, and though he quickly got it under control, Kakashi saw it and took a reflexive step back. Naruto quickly schooled his expression and carefully gave a monotone response before turning to leave.

"Sakura-chan's been a Hopeless for almost a year now."

He saw Kakashi's eye widen as he turned, and was unsurprised when his arm was harshly pulled to turn him back around to face Kakashi.

"How do you know she's a hunter?" he demanded. Naruto gave a laugh that was cruel and desolate and angry and everything that he by nature was not. He took a firm step closer so that his crystalline blue eyes could bore into Kakashi's single orb.

"I am the only person who hasn't chosen to abandon her. I am the only one Sakura-chan wrote to tell me she was becoming a hunter. She hasn't made any arrangements to notify anyone upon her death, because as Hokage I will already know. And the sad part is that she told me she intends to be a lifer. But Kakashi-sensei?" he paused and took a step back, trying to keep his face impassive.

"They've designated her a short-timer."

Kakashi gasped and leaned against the wall of the building behind him.

Short-timers were given two years tops, on average. And they were assigned that status based on their mental state, considered to be a liability if paired with a lifer.

Chances were, Sakura would never make it to her five year point; she was a dead woman walking.

Naruto turned and continued down the road, calling over his shoulder as an afterthought, "see ya 'round, sensei."