Disclaimer: I own nothing relating to Naruto.

What's Left

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Children with shinobi parents never have a fairytale childhood. As a girl, Sakura is learned enough to realize that she was nothing unusual.

She knows Sasuke's parents were murdered when he was young. She knows that Naruto's parents died before he could know them. She knows Tenten lost her mother at a tender age, and that Lee's father was tortured to death in a Rain prison during wartime.

Sakura's mother went MIA when she was three. Her father has been killed in a mission on what happens to be her tenth birthday; she's sure there's some sort of bitter irony in that, but she prefers not to look for it. She is an orphan young, like many others; and at that age she can't help but wonder why she is still alive. Why she, who can barely hit a target with a kunai yet, has outlived two seasoned and brilliant Jonin.

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Children who grow to be shinobi themselves rarely have a happy life, free of loss. And as a teenager, Sakura is worldly enough to know that he pain was no worse than that of others.

She knows Tsunade lost the man she loved in a sea of blood. She knows Kakashi watched his best friend die as a young boy. She knows Gaara was betrayed by the one person who seemed to care, and that Jiraiya had to see his closest companion sink into darkness and never return.

The person Sakura loves with all of her heart, the boy she considers a friend at the very least, leaves all of his connections behind to chase a snake and a bleak future. She loses someone precious, to evil if not to death; and she wonders, if everyone else has lost someone just as important at some point in their lives, why she still feels so isolated and unable to speak of it.

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Shinobi, molded to fit into the harsh reality of their world, never go through life without pain and suffering. And as an adult, Sakura is intelligent enough to know that she isn't the only one going through this.

She knows Neji cried over the death of his fiancée, not a month ago. She knows Ino saw the two people she cared for above all else fall before her eyes. She knows that the difficulties Kurenai had with her pregnancy caught up with her and took her baby before he could even breathe, and that Kiba stumbled across his beloved dog's corpse at the close of the most recent battle.

Sakura didn't see Kakashi die; she only heard the news afterward, that he had died of wounds inflicted by a rogue. She didn't see Sasuke fall either; everyone says that the execution was swift, or that it was for the best that she did not attend, but she still regrets losing the chance to meet those beautiful, haunted dark eyes once more; maybe in that final moment she would have understood him better.

She was allowed the bitter privilege of watching Naruto die. The event of their old teammate's death killed something inside of him; it was only a matter of time before the rest of him caught up to that something.

She visits their graves as often as she can, between Hokage duties and whatnot. And she'll wonder about fate and death and everything else, and why she has outlived so many skilled and loved people. When others come to the cemetery to visit loved ones she'll see the deadened look in their eyes and wonder if she has that look too.

For hours on end, until Sai comes and gently pries her away, Sakura will sit and wonder if she's lucky for surviving, or if what people call luck is only divine punishment; after all, who wants to live alone?

She will think back to all those opportunities, all those times she could have joined those she loved; and she will curse the fact that she is, once again, what is left.

Owari

A/N: Wow, I have no idea whatsoever where that came from. I think the plot bunnies thrive when I'm running on sleep deprivation.