A/N: This is my newest fic. I am including Naruto in my list of loved animes. I hope that you guys enjoy it. By the way, I am also the author named Kogasangel on other sites, just so that no one will yell at me and accuse me of bad things.
Sakura swayed on her feet and silently cursed that last drink. As she made her way to the old training fields, she bitterly thought about everything in her life that had gone wrong.
Sasuke decided that it was time to begin reviving his clan, and decided on Ino to help him. Never mind that it had been she, Haruno Sakura, who had stood by him and waited patiently for him to glance her way. They announced their wedding date and were currently celebrating with half the village at the local ninja hangout.
Naruto no longer spoke to her, at least unless he had to. It seemed as though all the years of her hitting him and belittling him finally paid off, because now, he no longer bothered her. In fact, after the last incident of her slapping him around, he informed her that he no longer wanted to be around her, and so, began to hang around Hinata.
Hyuuga Hinata had grown beautifully. She was everything that Sakura was not. Patient, sometimes to a fault, kind, gentle, and loving. She was also the head of her clan, and finally gained the respect of her father, though it took her challenging him and defeating him to do so. She had many admirers and seemed so content in the knowledge that she was accepted and had people devoted to her.
Unlike her.
No, her quick temper and freakish strength made her a very dangerous opponent. Kakashi once told her that if she were not careful, she would alienate herself from other people and would be alone. After all, he was an expert in the field.
But, she didn't listen, and now, she stood in the middle of the training fields. Alone.
She didn't know what prompted her to walk to the place where fallen ninja were laid to rest. Perhaps it was because Kakashi always seemed to find peace there. True, the life of a ninja was a short one, but those who died in the heat of battle were regarded as heros.
Slumping down against one of the tombstones, she noticed how quiet the place was and how even the night-time animals seemed to respect the dead by keeping their silence. Looking down at the bottle in her hand, she glared at it and pouted when she realized that it only had a few more drinks in it.
As she felt the warmth of the booze come over her, her eyes fluttered, but then snapped open when a soft voice said, "I don't think that you'll be needing anymore of this tonight."
"Go 'way. I'm thinkin'." Sakura slurred, her eyes trying to focus on the figure before her. When the voice laughed, she huffed.
The voice, which belonged to a male, drew closer and a warm hand encircled her arm. "Come on, let's get you home and you can do your thinking there." He said, his voice kind.
Sakura allowed herself to be lifted and muttered an apology when she stumbled into the man, and allowed him to lead her from the field. Soon, they were at the door of her apartment, and he waited patiently for her to open the door, but when she had trouble finding the keyhole with her key, his cool hand came out and gently took the key from her. He unlocked the door and opened it, and waited for her to stumble in ahead of him.
When she went to turn on the light, he grasped her hand and softly said, "Let's not do that. I'd rather talk to you in the dark, if you don't mind."
"Whatever floats your boat, I guess." Sakura said, but then yanked her head up, swayed a bit, then said, "I hope you're not here to get lucky. I'm not that kind of girl."
It was clear to both of them that her mind was clearing from the alcohol and he smiled. "No, I am not here to get lucky. I just want to talk." He replied, and walked over to sit down on the couch.
When she sat down in the armchair that sat across from him, he calmly asked, "Do you ever wonder what will be put on your tombstone when you die?"
Sakura expected many questions, mostly about why she had been drunk and sitting next to someone's grave, but that question had not crossed her mind.
"Ewww, what in the hell kind of question is that?" She snapped, her green eyes flashing.
The man's head turned to look out of the sliding glass door that separated them from her balcony. "I always wondered what they would say about me. Would they say that I was a good person, that I mattered to someone." He said, his tone even. "I would want to know that someone cared enough about me to put something nice about me, so others would know what kind of person I was."
Sakura felt the beginnings of a massive headache coming on and she reached up to rub her temples. When she lifted her eyes, she noticed that he had turned his head back to her, and noticed that she could only make out the right side of his face.
But, what got her to consider his words was the intense way his eye was focused on her. His face held none of the contempt that others had started to show her, nor did it hold the indifference that Sasuke and Kakashi had when they looked at her.
Knowing that he was waiting for an answer, she looked down and thought for a few moments. Finally, she softly replied, "I guess they would say that I was a bitch. A hateful, jealous, ignorant bitch."
"Why would they say that?" He asked. "You seem like a perfectly normal girl, but a little misguided. I'm guessing that you didn't have much of a role-model as you were growing up."
Feeling the tears form in her eyes, Sakura realized that this man had hit the nail on the head. To be honest, she really didn't know how to act with other people. Her mother and father, both ninjas, died when she had started to train with Kakashi, and he wasn't much of a role-model either.
Tsunade-sensei was quite the gambler and drinker, and had introduced her to a whole new world of mixed drinks.
"No, I suppose I didn't." She returned. "Why do you care?"
The right side of the man's face crinkled up in a grin and for a moment, Sakura had the stray thought that he was handsome.
"Because, I don't want to see you fade away." He said, leaning forward to take her hands in his. "I knew someone once, someone who set his sights on another, who had eyes for someone else, and he did everything in his power to get her to notice him, but it took him dying and going away for her to see just how important he was to her. I don't want you to fade away and not realize just how important you are."
Hot tears fell down Sakura's cheeks as his words echoed in her ears and she pulled her hands away from his to cover her face. How did he know that sometimes at night, she prayed to just disappear? How could he know how much she hurt when she saw that other people had turned from her?
He watched her as she cried, knowing that sometimes, tears do a lot more for a soul that anything else. Pulling her down into his arms, he let her cry, and held her as she sobbed. He didn't offer her half-hearted promises that everything would be okay. He didn't offer to make things better for her. Instead, he did something better by just letting her be weak.
The minutes turned into hours, and found the two people sitting on the couch, side by side. Words were not needed, and it was his silent companionship that she found peace in.
However, he broke the silence when he said, "Uchiha Sasuke was not for you."
Lifting her eyebrow, she asked, "And, you know this how?"
Chuckling, he replied, "Sasuke would have gone after a woman whose family's name held some importance within the village. Your friend, Ino, is the perfect way for him to continue the line that his family had started. But, don't be fooled into thinking that they are happy. I'm sure that behind closed doors, they are anything but."
Sakura's mouth dropped open. She hadn't seen it from that point of view. Of course, Sasuke would need an alliance with another distinguished family, and it was because of the rivalry between him and Hyuuga Neji that prevented him from approaching Hinata. Ino was simply his fall-back, and everyone must know it, including Ino.
The man's face turned towards her and he softly said, "And, your friendship with Naruto has suffered, mostly because you don't know how to deal with uncomfortable situations, other than with violence. However, I think that your feelings towards Naruto have changed, and you simply didn't know how to deal with those, either. And because of it, you have pushed him away from you. People can only take rejection for so long. Then, they give up. I'm guessing that years of you hitting him has made him think that you are not interested in anything but a professional relationship."
Sakura bit her lip and turned her head so that he couldn't see the red blush that crossed her face. Again, he hit her right where she lived and she didn't have anything to say to it.
"You're right." She whispered. "You're right, but too late to be of any help. I chased him away, along with everyone else in my pursuit of Sasuke, and now, I'm not wanted."
"You're wanted," He replied, his tone fond. "You are wanted, and just need to lighten up. Sakura, there are worse things in this world than being gentle and accepting kindness."
"Oh, like what?" She asked, sarcastically.
"Forgotten." He replied, his tone sad. "You could be one of the forgotten. Ninjas who disappear and who fall without anyone remembering them."
Ashamed at her earlier snipe, she took in a deep breath, and softly said, "I-I guess that's true."
As night began to turn to dawn, the man stood up and grinned down at her, the left side of his face still covered by shadows and took his hand when he offered it to her.
"Well, I walked you home, so now it is your turn." He cheerfully said. Leading her to the door, he opened it and waited patiently for her to lock it behind her.
Soon, they were walking a familiar path and Sakura realized that they were walking to the set of graves that Kakashi came to visit everyday.
Looking up at him curiously, she noticed that his eye had moved down to her face and he softly said, "In life, we all make mistakes that we must pay the price for. Pride, Sakura, is the worst price we pay. When pride gets in the way of the words we should say, we end up losing more than just our pride, we lose our hope and dreams. Don't let my mistakes with Rin repeat with you and rob you of a life you can have with someone who can enrich your life and bring you years of happiness."
Sakura's brow wrinkled and she remembered hearing the name, Rin, before. When she looked down at her hand, she found it empty and looked up to find the man leaning against one of the tombstones. A kind smile formed on his lips and he quietly asked, "Would you do me a favor?"
When she nodded, he said, "Tell Kakashi that every day when he comes here, we hear him and his apologies. We know how he feels and miss him just as much. Tell him, he wasn't to blame and that we are safe and happy."
Sakura stared at the man, and then slowly said, "I don't understand. Why don't you tell him?"
"Because, I was given the chance to come back for one night, to help him through something, but you needed me more than he did." He explained. "Your pain cried out to me, as did your loneliness, and I couldn't walk away from you."
"Come back? What are you talking about?" Sakura cried, tears of confusion running swiftly down her face.
The man glanced up at the sky, and noticed that the sky held a pretty blush to it. Turning back to Sakura, he smiled and said, "I would really like to know what happens with you. If you don't mind, come back to visit me. I won't be able to answer you, but know that I will hear you."
"Visit you? I don't even know who you are." Sakura nearly shouted, her body shaking with anger and her confusion growing more and more.
The shadows around the man's face began to disappear, and where his left eye should have been was a black hole, where an eye used to be. He lifted his hand in a wave and softly said, "My name, Haruno Sakura, is Uchiha Obito."
As the sun's rays began to spread across the ground, Obito's smiling face, along with his body, faded and his words echoed in her ears as a parting goodbye.
"It's not your time to fade. Live for yourself...and for us."