Author's notes : Okay wel good feedback from the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this onee !

Chapter 17

Goodbye's are never easy.

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The sun was high in the sky and the forest was empty and quiet. Sakura stood there looking at all of her friends who stood there in front of her. Itachi stood behind Sakura a few feet away. Sakura smiled as Kakashi appeared shortly after they arrived. All had been silent thus far, Sakura didn't know what to say. She was incredibly thankful for what they had done for her and how they had saved her, and not only did they save her but they saved Itachi as well.

Kakashi approached Sakura and Sakura looked up at him. "Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura started. "Thank you so much." she said with a grateful smile. He looked at her jade eyes. "Why did you do it ?" Sakura asked as Kakashi looked at her kind of confused at first and then let out a small sigh. " I couldn't stand by and let another one of my children be taken away from me." Kakashi said with a smile beneathe his mask. Sakura stood there in shock. One of his children ? He thought of her as his child. That meant a lot to her. But then again, she thought of him as a father. She smiled and held back the tears. " How could you do this, how could all of you do this, surely you know what would happen if you were caught.. if you are caught." Sakura said worried. "Sakura, we know. We know all the consequences and are willing to face them." Tenten said stepping forward as everyone else nodded in agreement.

Sakura smiled again. " Where's Ino and Shikamaru?" Sakura asked as she looked around and noticed that two of her friends were missing. "They're exhausted from using their jutsu's and stayed behind. " Kakashi explained. Sakura was a bit saddened at this news, she would've liked to say thank you and goodbye to them before she left.. for good. "This is the last time we will see each other... " Kakashi started as he looked down at his student. Sakura looked up at him. "You two will leave.. and never return. You must get as far away from the fire country as possible. If any of the Konoha ninja see you.. they will kill you. " Kakashi paused. "That includes any of us.." he said almost choking on his words. "I understand Kaka-sensei." she said with a reassuring smile. She stepped to the side and faced all of her friends. " I thank you all so much for saving my life.. and for saving Itachi's as well." she said as Itachi glanced over to them hearing his name.

They stood there for a few minute's in silence before Kakashi stepped forward. "It's time to say goodbye." he said regretfully. Sakura looked up at him and nodded. She stepped to the side fo him and went around to all of her friends giving them heartfilled hugs. Even Neji gave a meaningful hug. Sakura and Sai's hug lastest the longest. She fought hard to keep back all the tears. Finally she stopped at Kakashi. They looked at each other before Kakashi extended his arms and held Sakura. Sakura couldn't hold it in and just began crying into Kakashi's chest. Kakashi closed his eyes and held Sakura tightly not wanting to let her go. They hugged for a few minutes before Kakashi reluctantly pulled back and held Sakura by her shoulders. He looked at her face, she still had tears running down her cheeks. She smiled up at him. She then lifted her arms and untied a necklace that was around her neck. It was a locket shaped like a heart. "Give this to Naruto.. " she said handing it to Kakashi as Kakashi let go of her and took the necklace from her hands. "Tell him..I'm dead." she said as more tears rolled down her cheek. Kakakshi slowly nodded before putting the necklace in a safe spot on his vest.

"Goodbye Kaka-sensei.. " Sakura said as Kakashi looked down at her. "Goodbye.. Sakura." he said. Sakura turned to leave but looked back. Tenten was crying in Neji's arms, and Hinata was crying in Kiba's. The rest of the guys would never admitt it but they too wanted to cry. Kakashi looked back at Sakura as she looked at him. He then leapt into the tree's dissapearing. The rest began to follow. Sai turned to leave but stopped. He looked over to Sakura and walked up to her. He reached into his bag and pulled out a book. "Here." he said handing it to her. "What's this?" she said taking the book. " It's a picture book." he said pausing. " It's about me and my family." he said with a smile before he turned and leapt into the air dissapearing with the others.

Sakura opened the book and looked at the drawings. As she flipped the page it was always something different. There were five characters. One girl and four boys. There were drawings of them fighting each other, them laughing, eating, and just being together. Tears began flowing from Sakura's eyes again. She knew who these people were. It was her, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato. Sakura got to the last page and there was some writing. She began to read.

We may not always get along, and we may not always agree.

But I know I love them and they love me.

They are my family.

The tears began rolling down her face even more now as she closed the book and held it to her chest. She then felt arms around her and she looked up and saw Itachi. He was hugging her. She cried into his chest as he stood there and continued hugging her. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked letting go and looking down at her. She looked up at him and nodded. " Alright, let's go." he said wiping away her tears as she nodded and put the book away. They turned and leapt into the trees heading in the opposite direction from Konoha.

--

He looked around the demolished mess of what he once called home. He walked through the rubble and debre. He looked up as three persons stood in front of him. Three persons who bared a striking resemblence to himself. He looked at them as they all stood looking at him. "What have you done" he said glaring at them. "Only what you ordered us to do, boss." the biggest one spoke. "I never meant for this to happen !" Pein yelled. "You were to teach them a lesson in pain and make them remember who was boss, not kill them !" he yelled. He suddenly grasped his head in pain. "You do not control us anymore.. " one of them said taking a step towards him. "We have figured out how to break free from your control. " another said stepping forward as well. "You're done." the last one spoke. "But.. you can't do this ! Without me you'll die !" Pein yelled still holding his head in pain. "Who said anything about killing you? Oh no, we're going to keep you alive." one of them spoke with a wide grin. The other's began to laugh maniacly. The biggest one bent down and picked up Pein throwing him over his shoulder. He leapt into the air and dissapeared into the forest as the others followed.

--

A few days had passed since they escaped from Pein. Konan enterd Kisame's room to find him cooking. He looked over to her. "Is something wrong ?" he asked. She shook her head no and approached the bed. She sat down and watched him. He was wearing a pink apron with the design of flowers. Konan stared out the window as Kisame continued to cook. By the smell of it, she thought he was cooking some kind of beef.

There was a few minutes of silence when Konan finally spoke. " We need to go back." she said as she continued looking out the window. Kisame stopped stirring the food and looked up at the wall in front of him. "We can't." he said as he continued making the food. "But we have to. Not to stay, just so I could grab a few things." she said looking over at him. "We.. can't." he said once more. Konan was growing angry. "Well why not !" she said standing up. Kisame put down the fork and turned to face her. "Because it's gone ! Everything is gone ! Right before Deidara died he blew up the whole godamned place and now there's nothing there but a bunch of rocks and dead bodies!" he yelled. She stood there staring at him. Kisame took a deep breath and sighed. "Look.. I know you don't want this to be real. I know you don't want it to be true that Pein would do this.. but it is and he did and there's nothing we can do to change that. He's just a powerhungry freak who thinks he can get everyone to obey him." Kisame said in a calmer tone.

He turned back to the food and poured it onto two seperate plates. He walked over to Konan and placed it on the table in front of her. He then took a seat across from her and split apart his chopsticks. "Eat up. You havn't eaten in days, you need your energy." he said as he began eating his beef and rice. Konan sat down and looked at her plate. She ripped apart her chopsticks and began eating the food. Her mind in a totally different place.

--

"OOOOHH ZETSU-SAN IS GOING TO BE PLEASED WITH MEEEE !! " he shouted as he ran towards the base that he had been absent from for over a week as he was away completing a mission. He leapt from the woods and headed towards the waterfal when he noticed what had happend. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. He walked forward through all the debre and rocks. He moved towards a certain area and pulled back a bunch of rocks. He saw a body laying there. He pulled it forwards through the rubble. At first he thought it was Pein, but then he saw who it was. He clutched his hand into a fist. He then stood up dropping the body. He saw something on the ground. He approached it and picked it up. It was the metal piece that surrounded Deidara's left eye. He threw it to the ground and continued walking through the rubble. He saw something very familiar and rushed over to it. He moved some of the debre and saw the body laying under it. It was Zetsu. He stood up and looked around before dissapearing into the forest.

--

They appraoched a small abandoned cabin. Itachi instructed Sakura to wait back while he inspected it to make sure that it was safe. He entered the cabin and came out signalling it was okay to enter. Sakura entered the medium sized cabin and looked around. It wa alright, it was cozy. There was a kitchen through a doorway to the right. And ahead to the left was the entrance to the bedroom. Across from that was the bathroom and another door down was the living room.

Itachi dissapeared into the bedroom and Sakura headed down the hall turning the opposite way. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the book that Sai had given her earlier. She looked at it before placing it down on the counter. She turned on the shower and then looked into the mirror. Her face full of smudged make-up from the tears she cried. Her hair was still up in a neat bun, and she wore the black silk kimono. She began taking off her clothes and setting it to the side. She then took the pins out of her hair and shook her head so her unique pink hair fell upon her shoulders. She turned and stepped into the shower closing the door. The warm water crasing over her body felt good.

She stood in the shower and held her arms over her chest. Her head faced down and she watched the water on the bottom of the tub as it spiraled around the small opening fighitng to get through it. There was white, red and black make-up mixed in with the clear water. She closed her eyes tight and began sobbing as her tears soon joined the liquid spiraling down the drain.

That was it. She was to live with Itachi and never return to the village. How could she never return. It was her home. It was where all the ones she loved lived. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and there was a few moments of silence. The shower door soon slid open and Itachi stood there. He stepped in and closed the door behind him as he looked at Sakura. He cupped his hands around her face and looked into her jade eyes with his dark obsidean ones. He leaned in closer and began kissing her deeply. Right then and there Sakura knew she was home. She was home in his arms, home in his kiss.

--

Cerulean eyes blinked open as he looked around the room. He sighed as he knew he was still in the hospital. He sat up against the back of the bed and stared at the blank white wall. When he suddenly remembered hearing that Sakura was going to be executed, or was it just the drugs ? Either way he had to make sure. He jumped out of the bed and walked towards the door. As soon as he reached to open it the doorknob turned and it opened. Kakashi was standing at the doorway. Naruto looked at him with a semi-smile. "Kakashi sensai ?" he said noticing that something was wrong.

Kakashi didn't say anything at first. He simply looked at Naruto. "Kakashi-sensai, where's Sakura? Is she alright, what happend to her ?" Naruto asked anxiously. "Come with me." Kakashi said turning and exiting the building. Naruto quickly followed. They began walking down the street towards a certain destination. "Where are we going?" Naruto asked impatiently. "We're going to see Sakura." Kakashi said monotonly. Naruto's experssion lit up as he hear this and followed quickly.

They walked over a small hill as the cemetary came into view. Naruto was confused at first. They entered the cemetary and continued walking. Naruto looked around at all the tombstone's. Cemetaries made him feel uncomfortable. What on earth would Sakura be doing in a cemetary? Naruto thought to himself. He looked up and saw all of his friends gathered around in a large group. A smile appeared on his face as he figured that Sakura would be somewhere amongst the group. He ran up and began pushing through them, but there was no sign of the pink haired kunoichi.

He then stopped as he saw Tsunade standing with her head bowed and Ino crouched over crying. Naruto bent down. "Ino, what's wrong?" he said as she lifted her head and Naruto saw what she was crying on. It was a tombstone. Ino moved away from it completely and Naruto saw the name carved into it. Sakura Haruno. Naruto froze where he was standing. He couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe what he saw written in plain sight.

He began shaking his head as he took a step back. "No.. no.. no. " he kept repeating until he backed into Sai. He looked up at Sai as Sai looked down at him. Even Sai had emotion. "No.. this isn't.. it can't be.. wh.. w.." Naruto trailed off. He felt his eyes begin to water as the warm sensation of his hot tears touched his skin and crawled down his face.

"No..No.. .NOO !" he screamed clutching his hands into fists. He looked up at Tsuande . "How could you have let this happen.. " he then looked around at all his friends. " How could any of you let this happen !" he yelled. "How could you let her die! Why didn't you save her ! Why didn't you protect her! Why.. WHYY !" he now screamed drawing blood from his hands from clutching them too tight. "It's my fault.. it's my fault." he said crying more. "I was supposed to protect her.. I was supposed to save her.. I let her die... I LET HER DIIEE !" he yelled falling to his knee's.

"Naruto, it's not your fault." he heard someone say as they put their arm on his shoulder. He looked to the side and recognized it as Kakashi. "Here." Kakashi said holding something in front of Naruto's face. Naruto looked and saw a locket. He reached up and took it. "This was Sakura's. It was her last request that we give it to you." Kakashi said taking a step back. Naruto looked at the locket in his hands as his tears fell. He held it tight as he looked at the tombstone. "I'll never leave.. I promise." Naruto said sitting properly on the ground.

An hour or so passed and some of them had walked away. A few more hours passed and only Kakashi, Naruto, Sai and Tsunade remained. Although she tried to hide it, you could tell that Tsunade was crying. There were tear stains along the side of her face. She sighed and looked up at the setting sun. "I have to go.. " she said turning regretfully to leave. She soon dissapeared as Kakashi sighed and looked down at Naruto then glanced over at Sai. He then turned and began walking away as well. Now only Sai and Naruto remained.

The sun had set and they were still there sitting there in the dark. "Do you ever think.. " Naruto started as Sai looked over at him from where he was sitting. "Do you ever think would it would be like if you were never put into our team. Do you think things would've been different." he asked looked up at Sai. Sai didn't answer at first and thought for a minute. "No, I've never really thought of it. I guess.. things would be different. I certainly wouldn't have met you guys.. and I wouldn't have made my own decsions. " Sai answered looking back up at the sky . "Do you ever think what it would be like if Sasuke wouldn't have left." Sai asked. Naruto nodded. "All the time. If he wouldn't have left we would've all be been best friends. And we would've never went looking for him and this.. this wouldn't have happend." Naruto said clutching his hand into a fist.

"Are you blaming Sasuke for Sakura's death?" Sai asked. Naruto sighed. "Yes.. no.. I don't know. It was my fault." Naruto said looking down at the ground. "And why do you think that ?" Sai asked. " I was supposed to protect her.. I promised I would protect her.. " Naruto explained. "You did a fine job in protecting her. " Sai simply stated. "She's dead. How could I have done a fine job." Naruto said looking at the tombstone. Sai sighed. "Naruto, you protected and saved her all her life. You can always protect her from danger and threats but the one thing you can't protect her from, is from herself. It was her choice to be with Itachi and she knew the consequences of what she did and she was willing to face them. " Sai explained and Naruto remained quiet.

There were a few more moments of silence. "If it was never for you guys, I would've never known what it was like to feel." Sai said breaking the silence. Naruto looked up at him. "What do you mean? " he asked confused. " As you know I was created to have no emotions, no feelings. I was to listen to my sensai's orders and do nothing but what he asked me to. After a while it was a normal thing. I couldn't tell if what I was doing was good or bad, there was no decsion or thinking. It was just finish the mission and return home. " Sai started. " When I was assigned to be a part of you group, things changed. You guys looked at me like a real person. You treated me as a person. Except the odd fight or punch thrown my way. And when I saw how you cared for Sakura and how she cared for you I wanted that.. I wanted to know what it was like.. I wanted to feel it." Sai said. "And now I know." he said with a smile. Except this was a real smile and not one of his fake ones.

Naruto thought for a moment. He never knew that him and Sakura had that much effect on Sai. " You know what I'm going to miss the most. " Sai said " The ruthless beatings?" Naruto said with a smirk. Sai smirked as well. "THAT and her smile.. " he said looking up at the moon. "Why her smile?" Naruto asked. " She had the perfect smile. The one smile that rivaled all mine. And I mean her real smile.It was just so beautiful.. soo.. perfect." Sai said thinking about it. "Hn." Naruto said. " What are you going to miss the most?" Sai asked glancing over at Naruto. He thought for a moment. "Her touch." he answerd. Sai looked over at him. "What?" he said confused. "Her touch." Naruto repeated again. "Whenever I would feel her fingers brush against my skin, or feel her arms around me it just...it just made everything better. I knew that everything was going to be okay when she was there. The feeling of her just being there put me at ease.. made me feel.. loved." Naruto chuckled a bit as Sai looked at him confused. "You know, sometimes I would want to hurt myself purposely just so Sakura would heal it." he said with a smile as he looked down at the locket in his hands and thought about her.

He looked at it for the next little while as they sat in silence. He finally clutched his hand tight and rested his head against the tombstone looking up at the moon. Finally he closed his eyes. Sai layed across a long tombstone and stared at the night sky. He thought for a while before closing his eyes. They were both taken away for the night, their mind filled with dreams and imagination. But they sat with hearts filled with ache and pain.

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Author's notes : THEREE YOU GOO LOVEYS ! Sorry that took soo long ! (L) Well unfortunatly thats going to be it FOR NOW. But don't fret. I AMM going to make a sequel you can bet on that !! (L) I just thought that I would end this story there ! I WILL MAKE THE NEXT ONNE SOOON ! But I was thinking of doing a NARUSAKU fanfic next ? YES NO ? Tell me what you think and if you would be interested ?? ANNND what did you think on this chapter? AND the whole story all together !