Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the picture used for this story. All rights belong to their rightful owners. I own nothing except the storyline.

A/N: I would love it if you would take the time to leave me a review :) I hope you enjoy the story.

The sun was shining warmly above the village, bathing the streets of Konoha in its soft tender sunlight. Fall was here, peaking its head through the window, with its long colourful cape of fallen leaves trailing behind it, covering everything outside. Despite the ever-smiling autumn sun, a cool wind was blowing, playing tag with the yellow and orange leaves, rustling them, thus creating a melody only it was able to hear and enjoy, making them dance around as they fell from the crowns of the trees.

The group of friends had gathered around the newly engraved tomb stone and a calm but tragic silence hung in the air between them. A sad, serene expression was adorning all of their faces, each wrapped up in his own thoughts surrounding their fallen friend, a person each and every one of them had dearly loved and whose loss now tugged painfully at their hearts.

„I think we need to say something." One of the girls finally said quietly, unconsciously snuggling into her blue scarf as the wind softly blew in her face. „You know, like a last goodbye?"

They all looked at each other, unsure of what to say and who would be the one to say it.

„I know!" Another girl piped up and the others glanced at her questioningly while she continued. „Each one of us will say one word we think best describes her." She said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but her ghost of a smile quickly faded away when she realised she had mistakingly referred to her best friend in the present tense.

„That's a wonderful idea, Ino." A slightly older man voiced and a hum of agreement passed over the group. „I think she would've liked that..." He trailed off and everyone felt their chests clench tightly as the thought of an alternate future, where things had turned out differently, flashed through their minds.

„Okay, I'll start." The girl said quickly, not wanting to handle the grim atmosphere floating around even for a second longer. „Sakura Haruno was..."

„Ino, are you freakng kidding me right now?" Sakura yelled from the closet, making her friend snicker from her half-laid down position on the bed and yell back.

„Come on, forehead! It's not that bad, give it a try! You'll see." Her words were greeted with a low grunt from the pink-haired kunoichi and the sound of fabric rustling.

„Are you sure this is a dress?" She asked, stumbling out of the small room, using both of her hands to pull down at the tight slick fabric of the black dress, which was reaching just above her mid-thighs and, try as she might, she couldn't make it go any lower. „'Cause I'm pretty sure it's a belt." She said, stressing on the frase to make the sarcasm in it impossible to miss.

Her friend simply rolled her eyes.

„I am not going out like this in public! Do you hear me?" Sakura exclaimed, raising her delicate eyebrows and pointing to herself to make her point.

„And why not?" Ino asked with a bored expression on her face. „We're going to a night club, Sakura, not a library. Besides," She added, standing up and smoothing out the creases on her own graffitti dress. "I don't see what the problem is anyway. You look hot."

Sakura just stared at her.

„I look like a hooker." She deadpanned, making Ino's eyebrows shoot up and her mouth fly open.

„Excuse me! That dress is mine!" She yelled indignantly. „And I was nice enough to lend it to you, so, a little respect, if you please!" She said huffing. „Now hurry up or I'm ditching you." Ino announced as she flipped her straight hair over her shoulder and clicked her impossibly high heels out the door, but not before she threw one last glance at her friend who just laughed exasperated and scrambled to put on her high heeled black leather boots before she hurried after her.

„ ... hot!" She finished, grinning wildly, making a small but truly genuine smile cross the faces of the people surrounding her. The crushing sorrow, which felt like dead weight on the shoulders of the members of the group, was not gone, it could never disappear, but the statement made it step aside for a while and give way to other feelings, which hovered around the memory of their pink-haired friend: fondness, endearment, love.

„Perceptive." Another girl added after a moment, her pale eyes softening at the memory.

„Oh, don't worry, Hinata." The jade-eyed girl said, smiling fondly at her friend, trying to ease her distress. „He'll come around, you know how he is." She said, glancing at her whiskered teammate, who was laughing whole-heartedly with Konohamaru, the two having just successfully pranked Jiraya with the Sexy-no-jutsu. „He just needs some time, you know, 'till he figures things out. Alright?" She asked, training her eyes on the Huuyga heiress once again.

Said girl just sighed softly, looking at her hands folded in her lap.

„Sometimes I think he n-never will." She muttered sadly. Then suddenly her gaze snapped up to the other girl alarmed. „But, h-how did you know, Sakura-chan?" Hinata paused and then added quietly. „Is it that obvious?" She asked, clearly worried by the fact that someone else might have noticed her discomfort concerning the foxboy as well.

Sakura was a tactful person, so, of course, she didn't point out to her friend that everyone in the whole village probably knew about her feelings for Naruto. That is, except for Naruto himself.

„Of course not" She smiled reassuringly. „I'm just awesome like that." She laughed, winking at Hinata, who in turn giggled, feeling a lot better than she had a minute ago.

„Do you r-really think he'll come around?" Hinata asked, feeling a little bit more hopeful.

„I'm certain." Her friend answered with a wide bright smile without a moment of hesitation.

She had been right, of course. As always, Hinata thought, as she pressed herself even more into Naruto's chest, while his arms, which were encircling her waist, tightened their hold on her even more.

„Thoughtful." The clear voice of a third girl rang out and she smiled tenderly, as she remembered her last birthday.

„Let's camp out here for the night, what do you think, Tenten?" The medic asked tiredly, as she jumped down from the brach she had been standing on and landed in the small clearing, closely followed by her companion.

„Yeah, it seems alright." Tenten said, glancing up at the darkening sky, which signified they had been travelling for almost 12 hours straight. The two girls quickly set up camp and lit a fire, sitting down next to it to get some well deserved rest. The mission had been a success and now they were on their way back to Konoha. Sadly they couldn't make it there before sunset, so they were forced to stop and camp here for the night, they'd probably be back in the village about tomorrow night. They weren't going to make it in time.

Tenten gave out an almost inaudiable sigh.

„What's wrong, Tenten? Are you alright?" As always, Sakura's medic instincts swiftly kicked in. The other girl shook her head.

„It's nothing, don't worry about it." She waved her hand, dismissing her friend's slightly worried look, which, after hearing this, turned suspicious.

„Tenten?" She drawled out, narrowing her eyes and the weapon mistress clearly heard the unspoken message in them: 'Don't lie to me, I know something's going on. You'd better tell me right now or else...'. Tenten smiled.

„It's nothing. Really. It's just..." She trailed off and Sakura tilted her head questioningly. „I was kind of hoping we'd be back in the village by the end of today. That's all." She said indifferently, trying to brush it off as a small unimportant detail, but her pink friend just smiled knowingly.

„Because it's your birthday tomorrow?" She asked and Tenten looked at her surprised. Sakura smiled and stood up, going to her backpack and digging out something from inside. "Okay, I wasn't going to give you this until tomorrow, but I think you need it more right now." Sakura announced, walking back to her spot by the fire and handing an object wrapped up in a simple cloth to her friend.

„Oh, yeah, I remembered alright." She said, as Tenten unwrapped a beautiful hand-crafted blade with her name engraved on it in pretty cursive letters.

„Sakura, this is..." She was rendered speechless, which was not a very often occurance for the young shinobi, so she just settled for reaching out and wrapping her friend in a bone-crushing hug. „Thank you so much."

„You're welcome." Sakura laughed when she pulled back. „And, oh, look!" She pointed to the full moon illuminating the night sky. „It must be past midnight already." She said and smiled fondly. „Happy birthday, Tenten!"

The brown-haired kunoichi could feel her throat closing up at the happy memory and the awareness that she would never hear her friend's cheerful voice wishing her a 'happy birthday' ever again made her grip the blade in her pocket so hard it almost drew blood.

„She was caring." Said a boy, breaking up the silence in an attempt to get his teammate's mind off of the memories he knew she was getting wrapped up in by the troubled look on her face. That didn't stop him, however, from remembering a certain time when the word he had used to describe the pink-haired girl had somehow appeared inside of his mind when he had watched her take care of the two people who mattered the most to her.

Neji observed quietly the heated sparring match between the two ninja from his spot where he was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He had to admit, those two were really good, but they could get rather reckless in their fighting sometimes, especially when they were battling each other. And that made them a bit sloppy in their techniques, which could lead (and was) to serious injuries, not to mention neither one could over-power the other because they were both so bent on winning and proving their strength that neither one of them was thinking a 100 percent clearly. Their competitiveness was always a factor which prevented them from—

„Boys! Stop it right now! This is getting ridiculous!" A loud feminine voice shouted, cutting off Neji's musings on the fight he was currenty witnessing. Despite the fact that the battle didn't cease immediately, the shinobi could see that both opponents had heard the girl's command loud and clear, as their movements turned a little bit more hesitant.

„I'm serious!" Sakura yelled, as she approached the scene, getting even angrier from the fact that both of her teammates seemed to pay her no mind. She reminded Neji a little bit of Tenten when she was mad at Lee. „Fine." She stated calmly, looking away and throwing her hands up in the air, noticing from the corner of her eye how they both halted, albeit unwillingly. „Go ahead and kill each other, see if I care. Just don't bother coming to me when you need someone to heal you." She said, turning aroung and beginning to walk away, waiting for Naruto to call her out.

„Aww, Sakura-chan!" The foxboy whined behind her back, making her smirk at how well she knew him. „Come on, don't be mad at us." He pleaded and she turned her head around to glance at both of her boys, who were now standing side by side, all battered and beaten up. She sighed at the sight and stepped forward, going up to them.

„Sit." She commanded once she had reached them. „Both of you." She said before letting a small smile adorn her lips and muttering quietly under her breath „What in the world am I going to do with you two?"

The guys readily complied, dropping down onto the grass, partly because they were both so worn out that they were practically ready to collapse and partly because, well, they didn't really feel like disobeying Sakura. Ever. Not that they would ever admit that. Well, at least Sasuke wouldn't.

Sakura did a quick survey of the damage they had done to each other, the medic inside of her quickly taking over, before her hands started glowing in green chakra and she started to heal Naruto first, seeing as his condition was a tiny bit more serious.

„I thought you said you weren't going to heal us, Sakura-chan?" Naruto taunted with a goofy grin on his face, which earned him a sickly sweet smile from the girl in question before she intentionally forced an excessive amount of chakra into the gash on the side of his stomach, causing the boy to hiss out in pain. „Oww! Sakura-chan! What was that for?" He yelled indignantly.

„Oh, I'm sorry!" The medic laughed sweetly as she continued her work. „My bad." She said, with a small smirk, her voice dripping with sarcasm (Neji could swear he glimpsed the slightest hint of a smile in the corner of Uchiha's mouth but, then again, it was gone so quickly he couldn't really be certain).

On that day, at least in Neji's mind, he saw just how deeply a person can care for someone else, even though everyone was different in showing it. And it even made him pay a little bit more attention to the small caring gestures his teammates made for him, like when Tenten would sometimes offer him her water bottle after training or how Lee would spar with him for an hour longer so that Neji could improve a new technique he was trying to perfect.

„Selfless." Another boy stated without a second thought, letting his mind drift off back to the times in the past when he had gotten the opportunity to enjoy the blossom's lovely company.

Lee had decided to go and see Sakura in the hospital. He knew she was working herself to the bone and decided to pay her a visit to maybe make her take a small break, it wasn't healthy for her to not stop in one place all day. Entering the building, he was immediately passed by a pink and white blur, which quickly dissapeared around the corner before he could stop her. He stood there for a couple of minutes, watching as the medic ran around the hospital, tending to various patients and the sight made him smile fondly at her.

Lee couldn't really remember a time when he hadn't been in love with Sakura Haruno. Ever since he had first laid his eyes upon her on that first day of the Chunnin exams, she had fascinated him to no end with her beauty and smarts. Later he had added many other qualities to this list. Then, with time, she had grown into a charming young woman, who any man would be lucky to have and even though she didn't return Lee's feelings he never lost his high regard of her.

And he hadn't used that exact word on a whim either, charming was just right for her. Because there was a lot more to charm than just good looks, just like there was more to her. She wasn't just beautiful, she was much much more. There was a light to her that made people want to be around her, it drew them to her, like moths to a flame, and brought them a little piece of this light as well. That's what had drawn him in too. Her patients in the hospital adored her and always went to her for help even about matters which didn't conern their health. A lot of the boys and men in the village often feigned being sick or hurt just so they could see her.

She always wore a smile on her face, never rude or unkind, always the first one to jump when somebody was in need of help. She often took care of the people around her, forgetting about her own well-being in the process and she would never refuse to help. Even when it was something not quite in her power, she always looked for a way to help in any way she could. Selflessness was in her nature. It was one of the qualities which made her the best medic in the village (and all the others for that matter).

Her presence alone was enough to make Lee (or anyone really) feel better and more at ease and he had once sworn on his ninja pride that no matter what he would protect her with his life.

A sharp pain shot through his chest as the cold grey stone before him bitterly reminded him that he had not been able keep his promise.

„Fierce." Someone else said after a while. His expression was uncharacteristically solemn and his thoughts wandered back to the last time he had hung out with Sakura.

„Oh, come on, baby! Why do you keep turning me down? You're hurting my feelings like this!" Kiba whined, bringing his head down to his hands theatrically, while he leaned over the pinkette's shoulder, standing behind the bench she was currently sitting on. Sakura just made an amused face and shrugged her shoulders carelessly.

„I don't go out with boys who resemble any kind of animal, Kiba, sorry." She said in her most serious voice, or at least she tried to refrain from laughing out loud at yet another one of his fake attempts to get into her pants.

It had become sort of a thing between the two of them for Kiba to hit on her shamelessly and for Sakura to reject him with her most snide remarks. It was never serious, of course, if anything he thought of her as a little sister and they both knew it, but it was fun for them to mess around.

„Aw, come on, now that's just plain mean!" The dogboy gasped, putting his right hand over his heart. „I'm hurt, Sakura, truly, have you no mercy?" He asked gravely, as said girl tried with all her might to keep her growing grin at bay. „And what exactly are you suggesting?" He questioned with a wild gesture of his hand. „That I look like a dog?" His tone was incredulous.

Sakura simply laughed at the unbelieving look on his face and then tried to keep her expression as solemn as she possibly could.

„Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you knew." She deadpanned, with a light shrug of her left shoulder, which caused him to look at her with a positively scandalised look on his face that just made her laugh even harder.

After a second Kiba just grinned and circled the bench, sitting down next to her. He couldn't help thinking she had a very pretty laugh.

Even now, Sakura's ringing laughter filled his ears and echoed all around him, mixing with the sound of the wind singing in the crowns of the trees. Another minute passed, without anyone uttering a word. Everyone was quietly thinking.

„Kind." Said a boy finally. „She was very kind."

„Are you alright, Chouji?" The pink-haired girl asked gently and the boy's head snapped up in the direction of her voice. She was hovering over his bent down form, casting a slim shadow over his body as hers was blocking the setting sun's light from her current position. She was wearing her doctor's coat, which told him that she had just finished her shift for today at the hospital.

„I'm fine, Sakura. I was just thinking…" The boy responded absentmindedly, shifting his gaze back into the nothingness he had been staring at a while ago.

„Well, okay." Sakura said unconvinced, shifting her weight onto her other foot and clutching the paperwork she was bringing home to work on to her chest. „If you're sure." She said gently but with a slight prodding edge to her tone, as if to tell him it was okay to share his worries with her.

Chouji looked at her with doubtful eyes, not sure whether to cave in to her very subtle attempt to coax whatever was bothering him out of him, but she looked so calmly inviting and ready to listen, and besides, he knew he could trust her of all people. Sakura was not a person who would go around, telling people about someone else's troubles. And if he really was to share with someone, she would be the perfect person…Chouji sighed at her managing to talk him into confessing without even trying that hard at all. Must be from dealing with patients with different problems all the time, he thought.

All this time Sakura hadn't moved an inch to leave. She just waited patiently until the boy was ready. She knew how hard and unhealthy it was to keep feelings bottled inside and as a medic (and a deeply caring person in general) she considered it her duty to help people in that regard (and not only). She understood very well the need to vent your troubles and frustrations to a kind ear who was there to really listen and she was always ready to be that ear for anyone who happened to need it. Sensing Chouji's relentment, she took a step forward and crouched down, sitting on the pavement beside him. She waited silently, without making any sort of attempt to rush him, until he finally spoke.

„Do you think I'm…" He hesitated for a moment, pressing his lips together, before adding quietly. „… fat?" He finished without looking at her. Sakura was slightly surprised at this, as she had never taken Chouji for a person who cared about that sort of thing. Besides, although it was true that he had been rather chubby in his childhood, years had treated him kindly. He still looked similar but, as his height had increased drastically, his weight had distributed more evenly. The years of training had also added some muscle and, even though he wasn't exactly slim, there was absolutely no reason to consider himself overweight.

„Why would you think that, Chouji?" She questioned as she furrowed her eyebrows a little, genuine curiosity showing in her voice.

„Well, it's just that…" The boy seemed to struggle for words. „There's this girl I really like," He admitted, a light blush creeping over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. „But I don't think she'll like me back." He finished sadly. At the sight of Sakura's questioning look and the slight cock of her head he continued. „She's, kind of, into tough guys, you know? All built and stuff…" He trailed off, looking away a bit embarrassed.

Sakura simply shook her head at his confession with a small smile on her lips.

„Listen, Chouji," She began confidently. „You are one of the greatest guys I know." She said, her words making him turn his unsure gaze towards her. „If this girl turns you down, then she's an idiot, believe me." The pinkette continued putting her hand on his left shoulder. „And if that's the case, well…" She trailed off looking away, lifting her delicate eyebrows. „Then she most definitely does not deserve to have someone as amazing as you." Sakura finished, looking back at him with a perfectly sincere look on her face. „'Cause, you know, in the end, that's all that matters."

Chouji could feel his throat constricting with feelings. He gently put his larger hand on top of her tinier one, which was still resting on his shoulder, and, shaking his head unbelievingly, with a small smile tugging at his mouth, threw her a look filled with gratitude.

„How do you always know the right thing to say?" He asked, nodding his head at her slightly. Sakura laughed, sliding her hand from underneath his and running it comfortingly down his arm, before gathering her paperwork and standing up.

„I have my moments, you know?" She said cheekily, before giving him a small wave of her hand and turning around, taking the road heading towards her apartment.

Sakura had been the first person besides Shikamaru to reassure him that the right girl would like him for him and not because of his looks. She had been there for him and for that he would never let himself forget her.

„Smart." Shikamaru said after a while, following his teammate's example, remembering a time when he had greatly admired the girl's incredible quick-thinking and analisation skills.

Teams 7 and 10 had been given a joint mission. Their task was simple – to escort an important man who had come to provide vital information for the Hokage back to his own village and deliver him there safe and sound. The Hokage felt that it would be safer if two teams were to take on the mission even though it wasn't a particularly hard one, you know, just to be sure. Everything seemed to be going just fine but somewhere half along the way the ninjas were faced with a threat – a group of ninjas who obviously did not agree with the man's intentions to be on Konoha's side and give out information.

„So now what?" Ino asked, as she and Sakura hid behind the trunk of a tree, each one of them with a kunai in her hand in an attempt to dogde all of the shuriken one of the ninjas had thrown at them. „Any bright ideas, anyone?" She asked just as her shadow-casting teammate landed right next to her closely followed by Chouji. Shikamaru sighed in annoyment.

„I can't trap 'em all with my shadow." He said slumping against the tree as it shook from being hit by a stray fireball. „There's too many of them and they're obviously skilled ninja. They're too fast to get caught in what I'm doing." He exhaled angrily, muttering under his breath. „What a drag."

„Well, so what do we do?" Chouji asked, pulling out a few kunai out of the pouch on his thigh, getting ready to jump out from behind the barricade and join the battle.

Sakura took a quick glance around the tree. Sasuke was currently attacking the ninjas with his fire jutsu while Naruto had taken it upon himself to surrond the man they were escorting from all sides with his clones, while he stood in front of him, guarding him at all times, dodging and countering a lot of attacks himself. She saw Sasuke send an enormous fireball over to the men who weren't fast enough to dodge it completely and one of them even had to take his vest off because it caught on fire. She hid again turning to the others.

„I have an idea." She said, making the others turn to her, listening carefully. „Chouji, you go and help Naruto and Sasuke." She told him and the boy nodded before jumping out and sending a wave of weapons towards two of the ninjas who were currently advancing on Naruto and the man behind him.

„Okay here's the plan." She spoke quickly. „Ino, I'm gonna need you to put that mind-transfering jutsu of yours to use, you see that man over there?" She asked pointing to one of the men who were fighing Sasuke. When Ino nodded, she continued. „That's the leader. He gives out all the signals and commands. Without him, the others would be pretty much useless." She said, looking Ino in the eye. „I'll go out and try to corner him and make him available to you without him noticing. If you can trap him in your mind control and bring him close enough for Shikamaru to trap him with his shadow, everything will be solved." She said, looking over to Shikamaru for approval. His dark eyes reflected that he was going over this plan in his mind and after a second he looked up and nodded at the medic who nodded back. „Alright then, I'm going." She said, making a few hand signs and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Half an hour later, the two teams were back on track, on their way to their original destination.

„There's one thing I don't understand, though." Shikamaru heard Ino say as she jogged up to the other girl, directing her words at her. When Sakura looked at her expectantly, she continued. „How on Earth did you know that guy was the chief? He looked just like the others." The shadow-caster looked over to the pinkette and saw her smile.

„I didn't." She said in her most innocent voice and Ino looked at her increduously.

„…WHAT?" The blonde shouted, making the other boys turn at her sudden outburst. She just looked at them dead calm. „What? Move along. Nothing to see here." She told them off and then turned back to Sakura. „What do you mean you didn't? You just assumed?!" She whispered to her frantically.

„Yeah." The pinkette said simply and laughed at the shock on Ino's face. „Well, not exactly. I mean, I was almost sure." She drawled out smiling. When Ino pointedly raised her eyebrows for her to elaborate, she sighed. „He had a tattoo of a crown on his neck. I saw it when Sasuke sent that fireball over and he had to take his burning vest off. It exposed his neck." The medic shrugged. „A crown usually symbolizes leadership. I just took a wild guess and it paid off." She finished smiling. At that Ino just shook her head and whacked her friend on the arm, muttering quietly „You're crazy."

„I know." Sakura said laughing. „There's no cure for it."

Shikamaru just listened to the girls' conversation without taking his eyes off the rode. Hearing all of this he turned his gaze to glance discreetly at the medic with some admiration. She really was something, he had to admit. He smirked slightly, training his eyes back on the trees.

The shadow-caster remembered that listening to the girls' chatter at the time, he couldn't help admiring the fact that the pinkette had noticed such a small detail, which had played a crucial part in their mission, as it had turned out. She had always been the person he could have an intelligent conversation with, not just because she was very smart, which she definitely was, but also because she was very emotionally intelligent. And now she was gone…

„She was brave." Tsunade's usually strong and booming voice now sounded hollow and defeated. Her eyes were glazed over, staring not at but through the grey stone standing before her, symbolising yet another irremediable loss of a dearly loved person in her life, which suddenly seemed way too long to the blonde woman, now that it had outlasted that of her dear apprentice, her beloved daughter-like Sakura.

„I will go."

The Hokage's eyes turned to stare at the pink-haired woman who stood confidently before her and she could practically read the resolve in the girl's posture. Tsunade sighed tiredly, as she had known this would come.

„Sakura," she began, rubbing her forehead, „This is an extremely dangerous mission, do you understand? It's very tricky, even for a ninja of remarkable skill." The Hokage said, emphasizing the fact that she did not deem her apprentice uncapable of fulfilling the task, but simply worried about the fact that an S-class mission of such importance carried risks she wasn't all too happy to place on the shoulders of the young woman before her.

„I understand." The pinkette responded firmly with a nod of her head. "But it is my duty as a medic to go to the village, despite the danger those men present by surrounding it, and save the lives of the people who still have a chance of being saved, no matter the consequences. Isn't that right, shishou?"

Her last words were spoken in a lower tone, but held such power, Tsunade found herself unable to respond. She knew what Sakura meant by them. She was reminding her of the oath they had both taken as medics to always put other people's lives first, that to save people was their top priority and nothing else mattered more, including their own lives. It was an enormous burden to carry and not many people were capable of such selflessness, that's why medical ninjas were always lacking and were therefore so incredibly valuable.

„Alright then." The Hokage finally said, opening the upper drawer of her desk and searching through the many scrolls inside. Going through them and taking one out from the middle of the pile, she wrote some symbols on it before handing it to Sakura. „Take this. It will be of help." She said and the pinkette nodded before tucking the scroll in her pouch and heading to the door. She had her hand on the doorknob when a voice stopped her at her tracks.

„Sakura," Tsunade called out and watched as the girl paused without turning around, but slightly angled her head towards her teacher. „Just… be careful." She said, unable to keep the motherly tone out of her voice. Sakura just smiled warmly, touched by the concern her shishou was displaying, before letting her smile turn into a cheeky grin.

„Aren't I always?"

Everyone in the group had passed their turn until only three men remained who had not spoken and who had been eerily silent the entire time. They were the closest people the young kunoichi had had in her short 18 years of existence and that made the situation almost unbearingly difficult for them. The remaining members of Team 7. Neither one of them dared speak first, until finally the masked man with the silver hair opened his mouth.

„Good-hearted." Kakashi said, thinking it was his duty to take the lead. He was their Sensei after all, their guide, the one they looked up to, the one they had learned almost everything from, the one who taught, protected and cared for them. Though sometimes, he thought ironically, Sakura managed to take better care of him (hell, better care of all three of them) than he (they) did of her. But he tried. They all did. And it was mutual and that's what made them a team.

"Idiot." Sakura muttered quietly as she dabbed the cotton ball against the side of his face, cleaning the cuts with gentle hands. She rested her forehead on his shoulder, silently thanking him for exposing himself to the weapons just to put her out of harm's way. "Never do that again."

Kakashi just smiled softly, thankful for the mask that was still half-covering his face for he feared showing too much affection, even in front of his student. He was a tough guy after all.

„Don't worry so much, Sakura." He told her as she began pouring green chakra into the largest gash on his forehead. „I'll live." He jested as he felt the cut closing up.

„Yeah, this time." She said jokingly but he could hear the underlying worry in that statement. „Seriously, Sensei," The pinkette began, trying to dismiss her anxiety by focusing on her hands healing him. „Next time…" The medic trailed off, after she was done with the wound, looking at her teacher who was almost like a father to her. „Just stay where you are and let the young people handle it." She finished with a laugh which made her eyes sparkle prettily.

Kakashi's smile just widened beneath the cloth before he too let out a small chuckle.

„I'll be sure to do that. Besides, I've got better things to do than to get involved." He said, patting his pouch where all three of his students knew he always kept a copy of the newest edition of Icha Icha Paradise. The gesture just made Sakura pull a slightly disgusted face, followed by a new ringing of laughter.

The sound of her laugh would haunt him forever, Kakashi realised. He'd never be able to forget it, or rid himself of the memory of it's owner.

„Beautiful." Naruto spoke finally, though it sounded so choked that everybody's hearts clenched painfully. His throat was so constricted it physically hurt, but the worst part was the burning from the unshed tears behind his lids, scorching his eyes unlike any other hellish fire he had ever experienced. He couldn't bear to let himself think about the sweet girl he had lost, for he feared the raging wave of memories and feelings, which would undoubtedly follow, would smite him like a tsunami and drag him to the bottom of a pit from where he would never resurface. His hold on the lovely Huuyga heiress tightened considerably and, feeling his obvious distress, her small hands softly caressed the strong arms around her waist.

"Naruto, I won't bite if you put your hand on my waist." Sakura said as she took the boy's hand and placed it on her hip, while Naruto just smiled back nervously and tried not to trip over his own feet like a fool. „See? It's easy." She said, as they slowly swayed to the music sounding from the radio. She laughed at the creases forming on his forehead; she had never seen him concentrate so hard on anything, not even when he was learning a new jutsu. „Would you relax already?" She told him, smiling broadly and almost immediately felt his tense shoulders relax beneath her fingertips.

„I'm sorry, Sakura-chan." He said sheepishly, lowering his eyes to their feet in a resolve not to step on her toes. „It's just that I've never done this before and I'm really nervous."

„Well, don't worry about it. You're doing just fine. Now twirl." She said, loosening her grip on him, making him do the same and guided his hand in the right direction for him to spin her around before they resumed their original position and continued to sway. „Very good!" She exclaimed with a laugh making the foxboy let out a breath and grin proudly at his accomplishment.

„I'm gonna do fine, right?" He asked after a minute, when the song ended, with an almost non-existant hint of self-doubt in his voice, but Sakura knew him so well she caught it immediately. She looked at his face. It was so uncharacteristic of him to be anything else but his confident self that she found this new side of him incredibly strange. He must really care for her to be this nervous, she thought with a small smile, which he saw and returned right away without knowing what was going on inside her mind.

„Of course, Naruto, you'll be fine." She said, taking a step back and smoothing out the creases of her dress. „Besides," She added as an afterthought, while reaching out to fix the collar of his shirt. „I'm sure Hinata will still love you even if you step on her feet." She finished and he laughed, thinking she was probably right and that he was one lucky bastard to have two such incredible women in his life.

„It's almost time to go." She reminded him, and he glanced at the clock on the wall which read 5:54 PM.

„What about you?" He questioned and Sakura raised a delicate eyebrow. „Is teme picking you up for the carnival or did he manage to get out of it somehow?" He asked with a hint of anger which made the pinkette suppress a grin.

„Yeah, he's taking me, but only because you and Kakashi somehow got him roped into doing it." She told him with a smile and Naruto's face brightened immediately. „Honestly, I don't know how you managed it." She said with a shake of her head, which made the bubblegum curls framing her face bounce.

„Nah, you know that's not true." He said, grinning. „He might've needed a little shove, but teme's no idiot. He knows any man in the village would die to have you as their date to the carnival." Naruto said, cleverly avoiding to add how he had seen Sasuke's Sharingan flash dangerously and his fingers twitch towards the katana strapped to his back when Lee had interrupted Team 7's sparring session a few days ago to ask Sakura to the carnival. After that, he just needed one more little push from Naruto and Kakashi, who, after the pink-haired kunoichi had gone home, casually discussed in his presence how Sakura would probably look striking on Lee's arm, before the Uchiha angrily set off in a puff of smoke. The next day Sakura had seemed so bright and happy, and later, when Naruto had asked her about it, she had confessed that Sasuke was taking her to the spring carnival.

The foxboy smiled to himself at the memory before looking at his female teammate.

„Aaand, once he sees you in this dress…" He trailed off whistling and Sakura laughed bowing her head slightly, a soft blush dusting her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. The long dark red dress she was in was simple, yet very elegant. Her long pink tresses were gathered in an updo with just a couple of strands falling out to frame her face beautifully and she had no make-up on, except for the very light lipgloss. She never did like wearing make-up, he thought tenderly, like a big brother realising that his baby sister was all grown up for the first time, but then again, she doesn't need it anyway, he reasoned. She was absolutely stunning.

„You look beautiful." He said, and she looked up, flashing him a brilliant smile.

„Well, I'll admit, you don't look so bad yourself." She responded, putting her hand on his shoulder and dusting it off. „Now go get the girl. Go!" She said cheerfully, giving him a light shove, making the blond laugh out loud before making a run towards the door. Sakura's clear voice rang out behind him. „Don't keep her waiting."

That night he had finally struck up the courage to kiss Hinata for the first time. He buried his nose in the hair of the lilac girl in his arms thinking about that night, about how happy Sakura had seemed when he had caught a glimpse of her and Sasuke making their way though the crowd towards the carousel. He thought about how he had seen Sasuke smile a genuine smile for the first time since he had returned to the village, as he got dragged by the hand by the young woman in front of him and even though Sakura hadn't witnessed it, Naruto certainly had. The pain in his chest was almost unbearable now.

The Sharingan wielder just stood in silence, unmoving, letting his raven hair blow in the wind, realising it was his turn to speak. Finally, after a long silence, he muttered.

„I need five words."

An exasperated sigh was let out by almost everyone present as the sad mood was ruined (which perhaps wasn't such a bad thing after all) while the blond foxboy just turned his head to stare at his teammate increduously.

„Are you freaking kidding me, teme?" He shouted and the other boy just narrowed his onyx eyes at him slightly while the loud ninja continued, rolling his cerulean ones. „You know, Sakura-chan would so not be surprised that you're ruining the moment!" He exclaimed, throwing one of his hands in the air, gesturing towards his companion and trying to make a point. The dark-haired boy's side-glance turned into a threatening glare, and for a second he considered turning on his Sharingan but that thought was quickly dismissed. They were here for Sakura after all and she never did like the two of them fighting.

„Baka." He said lowly, stuffing his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket, fingering the headband tucked away in there. „To do Sakura justice I need five words." The Uchiha stated calmly, his black bangs falling over his eyes. Just as Naruto was about to retort something, Ino intervened, making the two of them quit their quarrel.

„Alright, alright, enough you two." She said and both boys almost jumped out of their skin at hearing words which sounded so agonizingly familiar that they could both swear they glimpsed a strand of pink hair flash in the wind. „Sasuke, what are your five words?" The blonde asked, turning to the raven, her light blue eyes softening a bit. Every person present knew that no one had suffered more greatly than the Sharingan possessor after Sakura's death (but they all knew better than to mention it).

The boy glanced at the engraving on the stone which read in pretty letters: „SAKURA HARUNO. Beloved daughter, teammate and friend.". A dull ache had found a home in his heart ever since that day, or at least where his heart was supposed to be, and standing in front of the cold grave, he realised with a startle that he had never thought he could ever hurt this much after his clan had been slaughtered. He had been dead wrong. Now, nothing made sense anymore and with a gut-wrenching pain twisting his insides, he discovered that she had been that one piece that made all of the other pieces stick together and without her, the puzzle was not only incomplete – it was completely falling apart. He had fallen apart, although no one would ever know because he would never dare to show it (or so he thought). She had been what he had needed, but it had taken him far too long to realise it. And now she would never know… That tormented him more than anything else. It made him wake up in cold sweat from horrible nightmares, which plagued his nights mercilessly for weeks on end.

He turned his gaze up to the clear blue sky and couldn't help thinking this kind of weather had always been her favourite. She loved autumn. Another thing dawned on him as he realised that he knew all sorts of little things, completely random facts about her, things he didn't even know he knew up until now which were coming back to him in flashes: that she sometimes snorted when she laughed too hard (and while he found that irritating when they were younger, one day all of a sudden he found it very endearing), that she loved baking things for him and Naruto (and while he hated sweets, he secretly liked the chocolate fudge she made because he knew she especially put less sugar in it because of him), that she loved surprises (although the unknown always made her slightly nervous at first) and many other small details which had somehow stuck with him without him knowing it.

Five words, huh? He thought with a small smirk. How could five words ever be enough to describe her? But they would have to do. At least for now. Opening his mouth to utter them, a final memory flashed through his mind, the last memory he had of her.

„Sasuke, hurry!" Sakura yelled as the ninjas closed in on them. He briefly wondered when she had stopped adding the suffix to his name and he felt discomfort when he realised that it bothered him somewhat. He quickly dismissed the thought though as he sped up trying to dodge all the shuriken and paper bombs flying in his direction.

„What are you doing here? This was a solo mission!" She spoke hurriedly, her voice on high alert. „You could get killed!" She exclaimed worriedly, all the while her eyes scanning their surroundings for possible threats coming their way, her right hand never loosening the grip on her kunai.

„So could you." He argued, his dark eyes flashing with anger caused both by the fact that they were slowly being surrounded and by the strong worry beginning to cloud his mind. This was not the time for her to be thinking about his well-being but her own instead. „How could you be so foolish?" He stressed, fully aware of how unlike himself he sounded (at least in his own head) but unable to give it too much thought at the moment. What the hell was she thinking, taking the mission all by herself?! This was way too dangerous for her to go alone. When Naruto had told him about it, it had taken him a total of ten seconds to disappear from under his nose and rush after their pink-haired teammate, ignoring the blond's loud cries echoing behind him.

The pinkette exhaled through her nose, adverting her jade eyes away from him. She really didn't understand him. One moment he was… concerned (?) about her and then the next he was insulting her. She shook her head, bloking out a few flying kunai with her own. He was so frustratingly Sasuke.

„We don't have time for this." She stated, beginning to make seals with her hands. Sasuke wanted to argue but she was right. There were only two of them and the enemy ninja outnumbered them greatly. He turned on his Sharingan and drew out his katana, forcing chakra into the blade, making a step forward. Sharing a determined look and with a quiet understanding between them, the two members of Team 7 jumped up and attacked.

The fight proved to be even more difficult than they imagined. Not only were they outnumbered but the enemy ninja also proved to be incredibly skillful, much to Sasuke's annoyance. Usually he'd prefer a stronger oponent, seeing as it was a good way for him to improve himself, but not here and not now. He sighed in frustration, performing his fireball jutsu, but not before he threw a glance at how Sakura was doing. Thankfully, she was faring well for the moment, despite the clear upper-hand of her opponent. He had to admit, she had developed her skills so much since he had left the village, he had been truly impressed once he had witnessed her improvement (not that he had let it show, of course).

They fought and fought until they were both completely exhausted. Sasuke turned his Sharingan off in order to perserve what little chakra he had left and after a few more attacks he ducked behind a huge rock to catch his breath. After a moment Sakura landed right next to him and leaned back on the rock's cool surface, her breathing heavy and a tad ragged.

„Damn it." She swore breathlessly, pressing a gloved hand to one of the cuts on her thigh to stop the blood which was seeping out. „It's like they're multiplying." She exclaimed, turning her jade eyes to Sasuke, who didn't look any better than her. „What are we going to do?" She asked, embarrassment very lightly underlying her voice because, damn it, he had been right. If she had been alone, she would've been dead by now, there's no way she could've handled this on her own.

„We fight. There's nothing else we can do." He replied, gripping his katana and getting ready to bolt at any moment, fully aware of the fact that they couldn't stay behind their barricade for much longer, unless they wanted to die even faster. Stealing a glimpse of his pink-haired teammate, Sasuke realised with a no-longer-vague feeling of dread in his stomach just how bad a shape they were both in and immediately began strategizing to occupy his mind because otherwise other dark thoughts would begin to seep through, thoughts he didn't want to let in under any circumstances (what if they didn't make it?).

Their hiding time was over and both members of Team 7 jumped out to face their enemy. There was still hope they could defeat them but it was dwindling more and more with every new attack they countered. Maybe he could use the Magnekyo, Sasuke thought, though he doubted he had nearly enough chakra to use even his normal Sharingan, let alone its deadly version. He tried to focus all of his remaining chakra and force it into his irises when a blurry movement caught the corner of his eye.

„SASUKE, WATCH OUT!" Sakura's hysterical voice cut through the air and before he knew it he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Though the real pain and panic flooded his whole body in exactly three seconds, when he managed to get his hazy vision into focus.

Looking down, he saw that the tip of a katana was embedded in his stomach, though the wound was not bad, it was less than a few inches deep, nothing that serious and certainly nothing he hadn't dealt with before. Looking up, however, he noticed why the sword had not gone all the way and stabbed him completely.

In front of him was Sakura, with her back facing him, the sword cutting clean through her upper abdomen, before reaching his own body. She had acted as a barrier between him and the blade, which was only so long.

In that one moment Sasuke knew what true terror felt like. He could feel it coursing through his veins, clawing at his mind, shaking him to the core. He didn't need to be a medic to know that the solar plexus was one of the most vital points of the human body and Sakura currently had a katana piercing right through hers. His hands began shaking as his own blade dropped to the ground with a dull thump. His knees gave out from shock almost at the same time as hers did and they both slid down.

Sasuke's first instinct was to reach out and catch her before she hit the ground. He did so, while simultaniously carefully but quickly removing the tip of the blade from himself and positioning his arms, so he could grasp her without moving the sword that was in her, as that would cause her to bleed out in seconds. She was still alive, Sasuke realised, relief washing over him, but her heart was slowing down drastically and she wouldn't make it very long.

„Sakura." He called out, his voice turning frantic, as he noticed her eyelids flutter closed. „Sakura! Stay awake, damn it!" He shook her gently but firmly and her jade eyes fluttered open again. „Sakura, don't fall asleep!" He told her angrily, not noticing how his voice had turned pleading. The blood seeping out of her wound was an enormous amount now and Sasuke was getting more and more terrified. He had seen a lot of blood in his short life, most of it he had spilled himself, but the colour red had never scared him so much as it did in that moment. His eyes stung and he felt blood trickle down his cheeks, he had overdone it with his Sharingan, but that was the least of his worries right now.

Sakura's eyelids fluttered again, as she struggled to keep her eyes open, and she looked at Sasuke's ghostly pale face. She knew she had no chakra left. She couldn't heal herself as she had done when Sasori had plunged his sword through her. This was it. She smiled slightly. At least her death was not in vain. Dying to protect someone you love, she decided, was not a bad way to go. She wanted to lift her hand and stroke his face, tell him not to worry, but she didn't have the strength. Did he even realise he was crying? She wasn't sure, but she knew that she was getting dragged under, so she used up all of the strength, will, power, chakra and soul she had left and every single fiber of her being to open her mouth and speak. She couldn't die without letting him know first.

„Sasu—ke…-kun…" Sakura gasped out with a huge amount of effort, refusing to go before she could tell him this. Sasuke was clutching her small shattered body, his own wracking with silent sobs, his hands stained with her dark red blood, a colour which he feared would never wash away.

„I'm sorry, Sakura. I failed you." He told her brokenly, bowing his head, not daring to look at her, more angry with himself than he had ever been. Only then did he realise she had finally added the suffix of endearment to his name and his eyes snapped up to hers, only to find them closed once more.

„Sakura!" He yelled, panic seeping through his voice. No… No, no, NO! God, this couldn't really be happening. „SAKURA!"

„I—" The pinkette's beautiful green irises showed themselves again as she struggled to force the words out before it was too late. Sasuke reached out and tenderly stroked her cheek with bloody fingers. „I—I still—love you… Sasuke… kun." She rasped out, smiling weakly at her accomplishment, before letting her eyelids gently flutter closed. Then her whole body went limp.

It was like the world broke in half. Sasuke let out a strangled cry, clutching her lifeless form like a life-line, burying his face and fingers in her long messed-up hair and soaking the parts of her shirt, which were not already dripping with blood, with his tears. Another person he cared about, dead. Gone. And what's worse is that that was the reason he left her behind in the first place, right? So she could be safe in Konoha and not risking her life alongside him in his reckless and dangerous path towards revenge. And yet, he still turned out to be the reason for her death. How twisted and cruel was that?

Looking back on the memory, Sasuke felt the gaping hole in his chest throb with renewed strength and he knew for a fact that it was a torn up wound that would never heal. His dark eyes strayed up to the big cherry blossom tree they had decided to place her grave under and for a fragment of a second he thought he saw a small flicker of light between the branches but as soon as he blinked it was gone. Letting a small, almost unnoticeable smile ghost over his lips, he finally spoke, saying the words he deemed fit.

„The strongest person I knew."

Sasuke cried over her body until he couldn't feel anything anymore, until his tears had dried up and his arms had gone numb from holding her, but he still wouldn't let go, not until the sun had set and the moon had risen, full and pale, beautiful like the girl in his arms.

Only the wind was there to witness the young boy's pain (because, yes, maybe he was a shinobi, maybe he was an Uchiha, maybe he was a killer or a traitor or an avenger or something else entirely, but deep down he was just an eighteen-year-old boy who had lost everyone he had ever loved throughout his life and that's more than anyone should ever have to go through).

And only the stars beared witness to the single confession the young boy had and would ever make, a confession mumbled through tresses of bloody pink hair and fallen upon deaf ears, carried away by the howling of the wind, in hopes that one day perhaps it would reach the jade eyes it was meant for.

„I love you too, Sakura."