Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did there would be a lot more Kakashi. Oh yes a lot more...MUAHAHAHA!!

I apologize ahead of time for my spelling errors. I can't spell to save my own life :

Chapter 1: The Letter

"Why? Why did he leave? Why couldn't I stop him from leaving?" Naruto asked his reflection. He had been standing in his bathroom for ten minutes staring at himself. His face looked tired. He hadn't been sleeping since his return to the village a week ago.

"Why?" Tears were now running down his face.

'He was my best friend and I couldn't save him. How did I not see the darkness that consumed him?' All the memories Naruto had ever had of Sasuke were now being analyzed and dissected. Maybe if he was able to pin point the exact moment he had done Sasuke wrong he would be able to bring him back. Maybe if he had tried harder, or done something different, or said just the right words Sasuke would have never left. But it was all too late now, Sasuke was gone and he might never return. Naruto had lost him, his best friend, his only real friend.

Sakura had been standing behind Naruto for five minutes now. When she walked in she had heard him talking. When she finally found him she noticed he was alone.

'He must have been talking to himself.'

She hadn't seen him in a week. She knew he was avoiding her, and she knew why. He had broken his promise to her. But she knew Naruto; she knew he would never purposely break a promise. She had decided to let him come to her when he was ready, but Tsunade had sent her to deliver a letter to him.

Looking at him now she knew he had been through hell. He wore nothing but his orange pants. Physically he was a shadow of himself. His pants now rested low on his hips, a sign of weight loss. He had a faded scar on the right side of his back. She could see hints of his ribs.

'Has he even eaten since coming back?' Twisting the letter in her hands she made a mental note to make sure he ate before she left. That's when she noticed he was crying.

"Naruto?" she asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Startled, Naruto quickly turned around almost hitting Sakura in the face with his right arm.

"Sakura?"

"Naruto..." She wanted to ask him so many things, and yet she found herself not knowing where to start. So she just stood there staring at him. Naruto lowered his head under her gaze. He couldn't look at her. He had failed her just like he had failed Sasuke. Again he felt the hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto."

"I'm sorry." She barely heard the words. She took hold of his hand and led him to the living room. His hand was cold.

As soon as he sat down on the couch she went to his bedroom. He didn't even notice she was back until he felt the blanket surround his shoulders. He simply started at her feet. She stared at the top of his head. Finally she kneeled in front of him.

"What happened?" There was no malice in her voice. He slowly lifted his gaze to her face. 'She really looks worried.'

"I failed that's what happened." He wasn't ready to talk. He hadn't even told Tsunade what had happened, he let Shikamaru do all the talking. She had tried to get him to talk, but all her efforts were wasted. Talking meant reliving and he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to relive it again.

Sakura saw the internal struggle in his eyes. You didn't have to look too hard to see the pain he was gong through.

"Naruto, I'm not mad at you, no one is. I want to know what happened so I can help you."

"I don't deserve your help."

"Don't say that!" She startled not only Naruto but also herself. She had said that louder then she intended, but she meant it. He had done nothing wrong, and yet here he was punishing himself. It was now her turn to be the strong one.

He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity. 'She cares, she wants to help me. But why?'

"Sakura, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to help me?"

"You are my teammate, and my friend. That's what friends do. I'm worried about you Naruto."

'A friend. She said she's my friend.' He didn't know all the rules when it came to friends, considering he never had any. He felt a small smile come to his lips.

'He's smiling.' She saw his eyes light up a bit. She knew his eyes would never again hold the same warmth and innocence they did before the mission, but even a little bit of warmth was a good thing. She stood up and sat next to him on the couch, "Tsunade sent me over to give you this."

Naruto looked at the letter. His name was written on the front of it, he immediately recognized the handwriting. 'Sasuke?' He took the letter and walked over to the window the blanket slipped off his shoulders and covered his feet. In his hurry to open the letter he almost ripped it in half.

"Naruto,

I know there is nothing I can do to make you forgive me and I don't expect you to. I know now that I was wrong in what I did. You deserve to understand why I did what I did. As you know Itachi killed my whole clan including my parents. They were dead when I walked in the room. It was horrible, I didn't understand why he did what he did. Even now I don't fully comprehend it. I tried to fight him, tried to stop him and I failed. I ended up running down the street crying only to have him catch up to me. He told me that when I had the same eyes as him I should come before him. He told me that in order for me to get those eyes I had to kill my closest friend. I had to kill you, Naruto. From then on the only thing I could think about was revenge. I had to kill him, he would pay for what he did. I was an avenger. I had the chance to kill you but when it came down to it, I couldn't. I couldn't kill you. You were all I had left. He tried to take everything away from me again, like he did before expect this time he was going to do it by my hand. I see that now, I was a puppet in his little game. I will not become his puppet. I will find my own path now. One day I hope to see you again. When that day comes I will take whatever judgment you decide to pass on me.

Uchiha Sasuke"

Naruto stood there stunned. He now understood why Sasuke had gone down a path of revenge. He wondered what he would have done if Mizuki had killed Iruka, if anyone for that matter killed Iruka. He closed his eyes knowing he would have followed the same path as Sasuke. Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts didn't even notice when he started crying.

"Naruto?" For the second time that night Sakura saw Naruto cry. He turned toward her and held out the letter. 'She deserves to know.' She took the letter and read it quietly. When she finished she looked at Naruto. Her face wet with tears.

"Tell me what happened." For the next half hour he told her everything. From the encounter with the Sound Nin's and Kimimaro to Sasuke trying to kill him. When he finished they simply stood there in silence. The silence was finally broken when Naruto asked, "Do you think he'll really come back?"

"He will. He had the opportunity to kill you and he didn't. You saved him the darkness. It's all up to him now to decide what to do."

"I'll wait for him to come back." Sakura smiled at him and nodded. It was decided they would both wait for his return. The three of them had been through too much to simply let it fall to the wayside. That night she slept in his bed as he slept on the floor next to the bed, neither of them wanted to be alone. Naruto told her about the Kyuubi the next morning. She was curious as to why Sasuke had attacked him on the hospital rooftop. When he told her it was because Itachi had been after him because he was the holder of the Kyuubi. He was afraid she would be scared of him, or think he was a monster. But instead she smiled at him saying, "That explains the endless amount of stamina you have." They both shared a laugh. It was only after he confessed about the demon he held that she noticed the way certain people around the village glared at him and how it affected Naruto. He would go from happy go lucky to sad and depressed whenever someone glared at him or whispered demon at him. She felt she understood him better. All he had ever wanted was to be accepted as Naruto and not the monster he held.

For a few weeks Sakura would go over to Naruto's and sleep in his bed while he slept on the floor. But sleeping on the floor was taking its toll on his back, and neither of them wanted to be alone. They decided it would be best if they just simply moved in together. Naruto's apartment was obviously too small, and Sakura's house was also too small to accommodate another person since she lived with her parents. Sakura suggested they move into Sasuke's house. It was big enough for the two of them, even with Sasuke's stuff still there. Tsunade was a bit hesitant to let them take over the Uchiha's house at first, but with Sakura's persistent nagging and Naruto's death glare she eventually gave in. The first week in the house was spent looking around and arranging furniture. They wanted to preserve it as much as they could, but the house was so empty and unwelcoming. In the end they decorated the place so it was more welcoming. Each had their own room and bathroom, although most of their time was spent either in the living room or the kitchen. Naruto was in charge of cleaning and Sakura was in charge of cooking. It was a nice arrangement since Naruto didn't really cook and Sakura hated to clean.

There were certain things though they refused to change in the house. One of those things was Sasuke's room. They didn't change the arrangement of the room at all. The only time either of them entered the room was to dust or to open a window so it wouldn't get too stuffy. They never looked through his things either. The only other thing they didn't change was the Uchiha symbol that was painted next to the front door. Every couple months Naruto would repaint it, hoping that one-day Sasuke would be able to repaint it himself. It wasn't until the end of their first year living together that they started to train. Moving in, decorating and finally settling in to the place took longer then they both expected.

They both trained, and trained hard. Jiraiya helped Naruto hone his skills. Naruto learned how to better control the Kyuubi chakra as well as use it as a weapon like he did when he fought Sasuke. He also learned some new ninjutsu, although he still favored taijutsu and his Kage Bunshin. Kakashi at the same time taught Sakura all he knew about genjutsu. She truly had a gift for it, learning the techniques quickly as well as being able to use then wisely. Sakura even went as far as to ask Shizume to teach her some healing techniques. Sakura knew she would probably never have to use them on Naruto, with the Kyuubi and all, but she didn't want to be rendered useless in battle due to an injury.

They both continued to do missions, and sometimes Kakashi would join them if he had nothing better to do. Every time they left the village all three of them would keep their eyes and ears open for news of Sasuke, and each time they came up empty. It was almost like he had disappeared.

For three years they waited. Sometimes Sakura could hear Naruto crying in his room whispering for his friend to come back. She knew she was his friend but there was only so much she could do for him. It was Sasuke he needed, it was Sasuke who knew him better then she ever could and it was also him that took away Naruto's innocence. Sometimes it would be Naruto who would hear Sakura crying. It crushed him every time he would hear sob. 'If I had brought him back, if I had kept my promise she wouldn't be crying.' He would often wonder if it would be appropriate to go comfort her, but would always decide against it. His presence just might make it worse. Instead what he would do is let her sleep in and make her breakfast in the morning. He did this whenever he heard her cry, and she would smile brightly at him. It was almost like a routine. Almost. As time passed she cried less and less, where as he would simply go train until the sadness was out of his system. Time changes people, and they were no exception.

She noticed the change in Naruto when he had first come back. His eyes were darker, more mature. He had been forced to mature faster then he wanted. He still laughed and joked around, but he was no longer the loud mouth ninja of before. He completed his missions with such precision that at times Sakura wondered if he was even Naruto. Tsunade summed it up best when she told Sakura, "He has seen things and experienced things that we can't even begin to imagine. He was forced to grow-up, but he still manages to light up a room when he walks in."

Sakura had changed as well. She had finally gotten over her inferiority complex. She knew she could never be as strong or as powerful as Naruto or Sasuke, but she had other talents. She was calm, collective and intelligent. Shikamaru would at times come to her for second opinions whenever he was unsure about a certain mission. He knew that he was smarter then her but sometimes her advice could be so insightful that he would wonder how he didn't see that before. She would just smile and say, "Two heads are better then one."

Naruto and Sakura were currently training in the forest. They always trained in the same clearing where they had tried to get the bells from Kakashi. Currently Sakura was trying out a new genjutsu on Naruto that consisted of making the floor move in waves.

"Sakura-chan, can you drop the genjutsu, I think I'm gonna throw up!"

"Oh, sorry Naruto."

"This is the last time I help you." Naruto fell to his knees trying not to spill his breakfast all over the floor. Sakura sat down next to him and smiled at herself. When she first tried the jutsu she had somehow managed to make the ground appear to be wavy but was not able to get them to move. Sakura spent five minutes laughing at Naruto who had tried walking on a floor he perceived to be wavy. She smiled at the memory and looked over at Naruto who at the moment was a lovely shade of green.

"Oh come on, you know you'd help me again."

"Never again." He lied. He looked up just in time to see an Anbu member walking up to them.

"Naruto, the Hokage wishes to see you." Naruto nodded at the Anbu member. With that the Anbu disappeared leaving Sakura and Naruto once again alone.

"I wonder what Tsunade-obaasan wants?" Naruto got up and dusted his pants.

"I'll wait for you back at the house for lunch, ok?"

"Alright." With that Naruto wobbled away.

I know the letter was weird. I rewrote the damn thing like three times. I have to have it in the story or things won't make sense later on. So, what do you think? Good, bad, should I die a firey death??