Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just a quick drabble I did.

Seeing Sakura

Sakuras are known for their tragically short life spans. That was the reason my mother named me after them, for their honor she remarked with a smile. She asked me to honor them with my name and strength; she did not want me to follow their life patterns.

But that is fate's way, always a surprise. My life, like a sakura blossom, went so quickly leaving everyone I knew breathless and melancholy.

Maybe my name will stand as a memorial to them now.

&&&

Naruto watched his friend's name being etched onto the dark rock of the memorial stone, helpless and lost, and alone once again. He loved her as a child and continued to love her as a grown man though that love changed as it tends to do. She always called him an idiot, her best friend, and her future Hokage with an ever mocking smile.

She asked him to always be her friend, not to leave her and she would not leave him. She promised to laugh with him for many years to come, but she lied.

She left.

&&&

Sasuke leaned against the panel of his door with crossed arms thinking of her smile and mirth. Of the way she tried so hard to gain his attention as a twelve year old girl. She grew into a strong woman, one of the strongest people he'd ever known.

And like a may fly she disappeared from his life.

A tear splashed on the floor glittering in the last rays of a setting sun.

&&&

Kakashi walked in their favorite grove, the one where he purposed to her, knowing she would understand his absence at her final ceremony. A small smile empty of joy filled under his masked face and for a moment he paused under the sakura blossoms. In the next moment, he pulled down his mask.

He never had the chance to tell her he would marry her without it on.

Now no one else would ever see his face because it was to be her present - his openness.

Lifting up his hand, he bid her his last "Yo" and went his way.

He would never love another like her again.

&&&

"She preserved life," Tsuande said her voice strong yet mind wavering. "And in the end she lost hers."

The crowd of black remained silent and in her mind Tsuande could see her as that twelve-year old girl who had beseeched her for her tutelage. A bitter smirk formed on Tsunade's features - at least she had not wanted to be Hokage. Her heart would not have been able to take it, not that hit.

Tsuande raised her hand in an unspoken goodbye.

"She lived the life as the blossom she was named after, tragically short yet so beautiful and lively. Nevertheless, we must remember that sakuras, though may die shortly after birth, always return to us the next spring."

She smiled as her hand came back to her side.

"And she will return. As the spring comes, so will she with her laughter and desire for life. Her memory and dreams will always return with the sakura blossoms."

&&&

The next spring, one year after her death, Naruto found himself in the company of friends, in love and laughter. He was going to marry Hinata the next spring after that. The spring after that, he would have a little girl. He would name her Sakura.

As the sakura blossoms bloomed, Sasuke saw a woman with red hair fanning a bright fire. She smiled at him with an off-handed type of smirk as if she been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to do. She asked if he would like to help her control the fire and he agreed. He was an Uchiha after all.

And when the first blossom fell, Kakashi remembered her wish for him. Her last wish, and without hesitation walked out into the morning without his mask. A smile could be seen on his face. He never wore his mask again.

The first spring ended and with it came the hope of next year's spring.

Of seeing Sakura.

A/N: It's probably stupid but for some reason I wanted to write it. Blame it on wikipedia dot org because I was reading information on Sakura (I was bored!) and I came upon the facts section and it said something about sakuras being known for the tragic and short lives and it inspired me.

Thanks for reading,
Felix02