There was rain, thunder and lightning, wind whipping around them, regardless of the events playing out between the two men. They considered each other silently, not moving. All one of them could see was childhood memories of a smaller, happier version of the man in front of him. All the other could see was the promise of an end to his goal over the shoulder of the man in front of him. One in the past, stuck in his reminisces. One in the future, grasping for the completion of what he had decided to be his life's purpose.

"Sasuke."

"Naruto."

At once, the two were brought to the same time. The present. They both knew what was going to happen there, and both knew that one of them would die that day. There was no point sizing each other up with test attacks. It would be all or nothing, right here.

"You're in my way, Naruto. It's the only choice." His voice was hardly audible over the howls of the wind.

"You don't have to do this. You can pick a different path," the blonde replied, already knowing his pleas to be futile. The moments they had spent standing still, just… Watching, had been enough to tell him that. Sasuke was gone. This wasn't the same person who he had befriended so many years prior, or even who he had lost to the want of power at age thirteen, ten years before. Hate had overcome him. It was him. There was no way to turn back time and change that.

"No, I can't, Naruto. You and her never understood that. You would have been better off giving up to begin with, instead of chasing me like there was still hope." The words were true, and Naruto could realize that now. He could realize that there would not be another battle. This would be the end of it, one way or another.

"Fine, Sasuke. I won't hold back on you." It took the span of seconds for him to activate the Sage chakra he had grown accustom to in the years after learning the technique, to feel the endless supply of energy that came with it. He was ready. His plan was faultless. Genjutsu was ineffective on him. He had Hiraishin. Rasengan. Total, and complete control over the Kyuubi. Sage Mode. So many advantages that put him ahead of the Uchiha before him, even if the initial strike failed.

"You won't win, Naruto. My hate… It alone is enough to rot you from the inside out. I've finally reached the level I need to finish my destiny. This is one of the las—" His eyes hadn't even had the chance to change into the Sharingan that marked him as part of his clan. He didn't feel the blade of Naruto's kunai pierce his heart, or the warm blood spill out his front. His thin mouth opened a bit, caught mid-sentence. A line of scarlet fell from the corner of his lips, turned pink in seconds by the rain that continued to fall.

"You didn't notice the seal I put on you when you first bumped into me. I was looking for you. I was ready." Naruto's words were strained, and he stood in front of Sasuke unmoving, not making any attempt to save the raven-haired man. His hand was still on the kunai knife, hitched hilt deep. He could see the hate and darkness in Sasuke's eyes dim as the life trickled away, taken by the one the Uchiha had least expected it from.

"How…?" Sasuke mouthed, no sound coming out. His face contorting in an almost painful manner, Naruto wrenched his hand back, yanking the dark blade from the dying man's chest. Blood poured from the gaping wound, splashing onto the blonde as each weak heartbeat pushed more and more scarlet liquid from the deep, ghastly laceration.

But he didn't go down. He stayed standing, despite the seemingly endless amounts of blood that continued to pulse out of him. His eyes were watery, and the empty hate and darkness grew to be replaced with a fear, an utter terror.

"Why, Naruto? Why'd you kill me…? Your best friend…" The voice was not of this Sasuke's. It was younger, and his features grew to accommodate the age turn. He was not a man anymore. The figure in front of Naruto, hands reaching up to feel the wound at his chest, shrunk and convulsed. It was the seven-year old Sasuke, helpless and alone, orphaned and grieving.

Naruto staggered back, horror on his face. What kind of trick was this…? The young Sasuke followed him, feet dragging through the mud and puddles on the ground. The child looked up at Naruto with those helpless eyes, stumbling forward before catching himself on his killer's pants. Bloody hands clenched at the wet fabric, tears running down his face to mix with the red dribbling from his sputtering mouth.

"I-I thought you were my friend, Naruto... I thought you cared about me…" The disbelief was in his dark, onyx eyes, written in the paling young lines of his face. Naruto felt his heart pull, unable to tell himself this wasn't true. It couldn't be. The Kyuubi protected him from Genjutsu now…

"You could have saved me!" Those dark eyes turned accusing, the innocence of one too young to understand shining through. "But you stabbed me! Why, Naruto?"

"I… No! This isn't right!"

"That's right, Naruto. You just killed me. Your best friend. Stabbed me in the chest. You didn't even try to change me again. I was almost better! But you didn't even stop to see it!" The voice grew more and more shrill, the blood from his mouth spewing up to splatter against Naruto's face, burning where it touched.

"B-but, I saw it in your eyes! You… No!" Was he right? Did he just kill Sasuke when his long-standing goal had been so close?

"Maybe you were wrong for once, Naruto. And now my blood is on your hands. All over you. This is your fault, Naruto. It didn't have to end like this, but you didn't think! And now I'm dead. You can't fix it, and—"

Naruto shot up in his bed, hands raised in front of him while his breaths came in short, painful bursts. Pent up frustration and anger created a dull ache in his head and chest, and it took a moment for him to realize that he wasn't in the nightmare anymore. Bending over to rest his face in his hands, he filled his lungs slowly, trying to calm his breathing. A bolt of lightning lit up his room through the uncovered window, the rain slamming against the glass pane rhythmically.

It was the same nightmare as the one from the night before, and the night before that, and all the nights dating back to the day three months before. It was his recollection of Sasuke's death, the guilt and pain he felt twisting his emotions into the god-awful ending.

In reality, he had stabbed Sasuke in the chest before he had even had the chance to activate his bloodline. He had given his former friend that brief explanation on 'how'. Sasuke had been unable to say anything, really. But then he fell. Sasuke fell and died, and Naruto sat next to his body all through the storm until Sakura and Kakashi finally found them, the day after. That had been enough of a nightmare in its self…

And it still was. Whether he was at home, sleeping or just trying to live, or out and about, the weight of Sasuke's death was a constant drag on his thoughts, making him unable to break free of his grief. When he wasn't beating himself up over it, there was another who was doing a pretty damn good job of doing it in his off time.

Was it all that unexpected that Sakura acted hateful towards him? It was well known knowledge that, despite the years that had passed after Sasuke had abandoned them, she had been unable to let go of the feelings she felt for him. She had continued to love Sasuke until his dying day, and continued to show that love with her distance and abandonment of Naruto in a time he needed contact most.

The blonde remembered vividly her reaction when she and Kakashi had found the remnants of the showdown. The sadness on Kakashi's face had been enough to make him look away. But at least his former sensei understood that had needed to be done. Words weren't needed to convey that understanding.

Sakura didn't understand. All she knew was that Sasuke was dead, Naruto had killed him, and it was suddenly all his fault for the agony she felt tear through her chest. After unfreezing from her initial shock, she ran over and shoved him away from the corpse of the Uchiha, like that would help. She pushed him back and back, beating his chest with her fists. Though without the chakra reinforcement, her punches left bruises that both stung his body, and his heart. Kakashi had come up behind her and pulled her away, making her stop. Breaking free of the man's grasp, the grief-stricken kunoichi met Naruto's eyes with an emotion that tore at his heart more than killing Sasuke had.

"Why?" she asked him, the one word enough to bring Naruto to his emotional knees. Turning away from him, she dragged her feet back to Sasuke's body and dropped to her knees beside him, shoulders shaking as the sobs tore out of her throat, cries of pain echoing across the empty sky.

As Naruto sat in his bed, unable to break himself free of his mental prison, the images replayed themselves in his mind over and over and over again. Flashes of blood on his hands, the hate in obsidian eyes fading with the life that took its leave as well, the accusations in both a child and a heartbroken woman. It went further. The burning of a body since nukenin received no proper funeral. The wracking sobs of Sakura as they watched the smoke billow upwards. Her screams directed at him again when the ceremony was over.

"Is it ever going to stop?" There was no one to direct it to, no one there to hear his shout. No one to see the tears that streamed down his face while his breath caught on the hurt and guilt inside. No one there that could make this better, no one to take it back…

No, that wasn't true.

There was one person who could help him get through this. One person who could help him with the guilt in just a few simple words, since she was the cause of it to begin with.

The angry swell of emotions in his chest was an overwhelming drive. Dressed already, Naruto hardly gave his plan a second thought before charging into the rain outside.

…

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood

Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather

The multitudinous seas incarnadine,

Making the green one red."

-Macbeth; Macbeth (2.2.57-60)

…

It was too early to be up.

That was what she told herself every morning when she woke, looking over at the alarm clock on her bed stand, the bright red numbers saying some obscene time. Today, it glowed 2:37 AM at her while she flung her legs over the edge of her bed, and dragged herself to her kitchen. It wasn't healthy, she knew, but it was beyond her control. The deepening lines under her eyes were a good enough testament to that, as well as the increasing protrusion of her bones through her skin. There was no motivation to do anything. Not eat, or sleep… And when she did, she felt like vomiting, or woke up in tears.

Was this what grief did to people? Did everybody react this way, or was it only her?

Maybe it called for special circumstances. The thoughts went through her head for what had to be the hundredth time as the storm thundered and rained outside. She remembered Ino being distraught when Asuma was killed; but never did the blonde kunoichi appear to be… Physically affected, months following. When Jiraiya was killed by Pein, Sakura could recall closing the door to the Hokage's Office behind her quietly, but staying there to listen to the tears and sobs that her shishou decided to shed, and deal with, alone. And in the same breath, there was Naruto's reaction…

Sakura's eyes clenched shut at the thought of the blonde, hoping to stop the tears before they started. Drawing in a shaky breath through her nose, the roseate already knew this morning would be another spent going through a tissue box.

Naruto… Her teammate, her best friend… The only one who had really ever been able to share in her loss, to the same degree. The one who had promised her he would bring back Sasuke.

Yes, he had, in a way…

Dead, with a gaping wound to the chest.

The tears slid down her face, bottom lip quivering before she bit down on it to try and distract herself from the pain in her chest. It had been ten years since Sasuke had left initially, and still she was so hopelessly and incorrigibly in love with him. It had always been a fancy of hers, to wake up to see the handsome, pale features of the Uchiha man staring back at her, lovingly, a reflection of her own emotions.

But that wouldn't happen now. He was dead, and gone, and it was Naruto's fault. She couldn't bring herself to forgive him, or to even listen to him when he pleaded for her to try and understand. It felt horrible, because she knew that if anybody could help her through this… It was Naruto. But her sorrow did not allow her to confide or grieve with the one who had caused it. It left her wanting to never speak with the blonde again, never see him again, never have to go through that constant reminder that her dreams with Sasuke could never come true.

She felt guilty and terrible for doing it to Naruto, yes… But she couldn't bring herself to get past that emotion. That all-consuming misery which made her search a target to direct the pent-up feelings at, in the form of resentment and frustration. The urge to curl up into a ball and rock herself into some sort of comfort almost overcame her, and instead she settled for crossing her arms in front of her, on the kitchen table, burying her face into the soft cloth of her house robe.

Sitting there for a few more moments, the roseate worked on slowing her breathing and calming her thoughts, finding herself succeeding to a degree. Sighing, she stood up and walked to the her coffee maker, pouring herself a mug of it, taking a slight comfort in the routine procedure for her.

The handle of the cup slipped out of her hand as a loud banging started up at the front door. It shattered as it struck the ground, and the roseate cursed. Looking at the time, 3:11, she readjusted the knee-length burgundy housecoat before hurrying to the door. It was most likely an emergency from Tsunade's office, which meant something had gone wrong…

Sakura heard the door open of its own accord before she got there, and froze a bit. No… An emergency would have waited. Already she had her suspicions, and she crossed her hands over her chest. Only three people knew where the spare key was hidden. Only two of them would use the front door. Only one of them would dare come to see her at three in the morning… Bracing her heart before she turned down the corner that led to her home's foyer, she grimaced as her fears were confirmed.

Naruto was standing there, soaked and leaving a puddle of rainwater in her house. She could see the anger on his face, and she knew that he had met his breaking point. The gray-purple lines beneath his eyes reflected hers, and she couldn't help but notice the way his clothes clung wetly to his frame made him seem almost scrawny, whereas the last time she remembered he was still filling out his clothes nicely.

They stood and regarded each other, his breaths coming in raggedly; hers slow and deliberate. She refused to cry in front of him right now. She would be strong, and she would hold her own. She could do that…

"Naruto, what are you doing in my house?" The verdant-eyed woman lifted her chin, practically looking down her nose at the blonde before her. She kept her tone indifferent, like… This was a stranger, not her best friend. Not the man she would have once seen being a daily part of her everyday life, for the rest of her life.

"I need to talk to you." It was almost a shock to hear his voice again. It had been close to two months since the last time he had even tried to get her to 'understand', to forgive him… But time and time again, she had left him unforgiven, and watched as he came close to cracking every time. But forgiving him hadn't been an option. She wasn't ready… She couldn't accept it. Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura gritted her teeth.

"I can't, Naruto. It's 3:11 in the morning, and-"

"Shut up."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she stood her ground. "Naruto, I can't do this right now. I—"

"I don't care, Sakura." His words beat at her ability to keep her composure. He moved forward, closer to her, and she found it almost painful to see the anger and frustration behind the blue eyes she had only ever really seen happy. "I don't care anymore."

Despite her resolve, she found the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes once more. Drawing in a deep breath, she forced them away with her will, not backing down from him still. "This is my house, and I will call somebody to—"

"Bullshit." He seemed almost smug as he said it, and a half smirk took over the frown on his face. He still knew her well enough to know she wouldn't ever bring in somebody else to deal with her problems. But it seemed she would direct the emotions from said problems at people undeserving…

"I need to talk to you, Sakura. Not want. Need. And you're going to listen to me, and you're going to reply. You can't run away from this anymore. I'm sick of chasing after you."

She flinched away from the verbal jabs. It was pretty apparent from his tone that this would be inescapable… Biting her lip, she looked away from his eyes, neither laying claim to her actions, nor defending herself against his accusation. The silence dragged on for a few more seconds before he took a few more steps closer. Glancing up at the deep blue in reflex, she was instantly captured by the sudden softness she saw there. In his eyes, she saw the agony she felt reflected back at her… But his…

His was caused by her and Sasuke… Loneliness that had always been masked in their younger years was remaking its appearance now. The lines of his face were creased with the guilt that weighed down on him. He was hiding nothing from her; he was going to let her see what he felt.

"Naruto…" she whispered, her heart and mind pulling at her soul. On one side, she wanted to make him better. Wanted to comfort him, because she couldn't stand seeing him like this… But on the other, she did want to see him in a similar state as she. Full of grief and sadness and anger at everything. Alone, though neither had to be.

"There was nothing else I could have done, Sakura. He wasn't the same Sasuke that we knew. He was hateful, and he was going to kill me without a second thought if I hadn't—"

"You could have talked him out of it. You have that… That stupid way you have! You could have—"

"I was trying that stupid way for ten years, Sakura! There has to be some sort of semblance of a conscience left for anything said to work," his voice was rising, but so was hers. Her throat was constricting, and the tears ran down her face at an increasing speed. "He had none. There was nothing left of him to save.

"He was gone, in every way. I told him it didn't have to be that way, but do you know what he said in return? I dream about it every night. I have it all memorized, Sakura. It repeats itself every night, every day, in my mind. He said that he couldn't change his path. That we never understood that. He said that we would have been better off, giving up—"

"That's a lie!" she shouted at him, attempting to cut him off once more. But still he continued.

"—on him to begin with, instead of chasing after him. Even he knew it. Everybody else saw it but us, but at least I can see it, now. It's just you, Sakura. Just you, left believing that there was something we could have done-"

"That's not—"

"—but there's nothing, Sakura! You kept thinking that oh, your love would save him. He didn't want your love! He didn't give a shit about us after he left. He didn't give a shit about you, or me, and he would have killed us sooner than cared. Why can't you just see—"

He had plenty of time to react to the punch that was thrown his way. She had stepped forward with her fist raised, sluggish and off-balance in her emotional turnover, and Naruto had no doubt she was looking to hit him hard. The tears that swelled in her eyes turned them red, swollen. Her face was contorted in the hurt and rage he had inspired in her, and he was almost pleased with himself as she lunged at his face.

Almost pleased again at the surprise when he caught it, and didn't shout out as the chakra-empowered punch struck his wet palm squarely, his fingers curling around her hand.

"What…" she whispered, narrowing her puffy eyes at him. He laughed bitterly, dryly. Keeping his grip on her fist, he didn't let go even as she tried to pull away. His hand should have shattered under the power she put into the strike; if he hadn't been expecting it, that was.

"You don't know who I am, anymore, Sakura. You've been too busy pushing me away, and before that… Too busy always looking out for Sasuke. Take the time to open your eyes for once. Stop… Stop being so closed up in your own damn little world." His voice was low, and could have been mistaken as affectionate if not for the stern gleam in his eyes. "Maybe you would understand better.

"Maybe you would understand how I feel about having to do what I did. It's not like I enjoyed it. It kills me inside, knowing that he's gone and it's my doing. It haunts me, every day, every time I try to just sleep. I never would have imagined it would hurt this bad. But I always thought I would have you to help me through it, you know?" The softness in his voice spiked with a choking back of the emotion that threatened to spill over. His eyes pleaded with her, and the hold on her hand lessened, though kept her touching him.

"But instead you abandoned me when I needed you most. I know it's hard, but that doesn't make it okay. And don't try to act like you really want me gone, Sakura. It might actually happen, and then who'll you have left, huh?" Lone tears streaked down his face, mixing with the wetness already there from the rain.

"Naruto…"

Looking away from him, she yanked her fist from his hand, leaving her arms at her sides. Her mouth set itself in a stubborn line, but she had the dignity to raise her chin higher.

"Get out."

Voice strong and lacking of anything short of something akin to annoyance, Sakura watched as his composure fractured before her eyes. Surprise, then a flare of anger in those cerulean depths made her stand on edge. The line of his jaw grew taunt as he gnashed his teeth together, and his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. Taking an audible breath in, he didn't move towards the door.

"Sakura, would you—"

"I said get out, Naruto." Her arms moved to cross themselves across her chest, and she bit the tip of her tongue to try and distract herself from the urge to back down from her demand.

His head fell forward, wet spikes of blonde toppling down to block his face from her view. A long silence stretched between them, and it was right as she was about to repeat the demand again that he looked back up at her. A sad acceptance was in his eyes, the fury from moments before gone.

"I'll go. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you." His voice was empty, neutral. "Goodbye, Sakura." The blonde turned and went to the door, closing it shut behind him as he walked back out into the cold thunderstorm outside.

The roseate woman stood in her antechamber for what felt like an hour, staring at her front door. Although yes, she had told him to leave… It didn't really occur to her that he would do it. And only after he was gone did she realize how close she had been to breaking down.

Moving backwards, bare feet slid across the hardwood floor sluggishly until her back met a wall. Knees trembled as a wave of weakness overtook her, and she slowly slid down until her legs were bent in front of her, and she was sitting on the floor. Resting her forehead on her knees, Sakura let go of every ounce of poise and self-control she had managed to hold onto, and she cried without restraint. Cried for the grief, cried for the pain, and cried for the anger…

But most of all she cried for the loss, because more than anything, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had lost something that she would never be able to get back. And there was no one left to blame but herself.

…

"'Tis very true, my grief lies all within

And these external manners of lament

Are merely shadows to the unseen grief

That swells with silence in the tortured soul."

-King Richard II; Richard II (4. 1. 2288-2291)

…

The rest of her morning had gone by so fast, she could hardly remember how it had started after initially crying herself back to sleep. She had woken up on her floor, curled up into a ball and in complete disarray. The argument hours before struck her like a bomb, and it had taken her awhile to gain enough of her self-control back to realize what she needed to do.

And that was just to talk to Naruto, to sort things out, if only to the point where he knew she still cared. If the crushing pressure she felt in her chest wasn't a good enough indication she needed to at least try and make up with him, the nightmares were. She had been following after him, chasing him, as the ground cracked and rumbled beneath her feet. She remembered screams and flashes of red, and then he was gone from her sight. Though it hadn't been nearly as drastic as the other terrors her subconscious had scavenged up for her 'enjoyment', the foreboding it left in her was enough to send chills down her spine.

Dressing herself and cleaning up, the kunoichi hardly bothered much with her appearance past the basics, out her door in a flurry into the drizzle of rain still leftover from the storm. It took only minutes to get to the blonde's apartment, and despite the lurching of her stomach, she knocked on the door. Upon finding it empty, Sakura changed course, heading towards the Hokage's Tower. If anybody would know where Naruto had gone, Tsunade would, right?

Which was a correct assumption, yes. She was informed that Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai had all been sent out on a reconnaissance mission into a neutral area where Tobi was expected to have made his home base. After practically begging her former master, she was allowed to follow the group, though the reasons why she had been not assigned to the mission to begin with were not disclosed. Disregarding the fact it wasn't usually acceptable for a lone ninja to travel so close to enemy territory, the roseate spent hardly any time packing a travel pack before setting off towards the border town on the edge of Kusa.

…

"Let us go in together

And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.

The time is out of joint—O' cursed spite,

That ever I was born to set it right!"

-Hamlet; Hamlet (1.5.186-189)

…

It was nightfall by the time Sakura had reached the small town that Tsunade had pointed out on the world map. Traveling all day at a rigorous pace had left her exhausted and hardly able to pull together a coherent thought. Lack of sleep, plus the emotional drainage from the earlier hours of the same morning left her body craving for some sort of rest. There was only one inn in the town; knowing Kakashi, he would have directed them to it before allowing them to scout out the area. Night was not when it was the smartest to look around; the scouting could wait until morning.

Walking slowly through the entrance of the small, modest inn, the pink-haired woman ignored the wary stare of the young girl behind the counter, and approached her.

"Is there three shinobi here, now? There's one with a mask and white hair, and two other younger—"

"Sakura?"

Whipping around, she spotted Kakashi as he closed the orange covered book in his hand, and stood up. Though she could only see one of his eyes, his brow was furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing here?" he questioned while she walked towards him, stopping when she was a few feet away.

"I… I need to talk to Naruto." There was no point in lying to her former sensei, and trying to pass it off as she was just tagging along for the mission wouldn't work. Someone volunteering for a mission on their own choice did not look ready to drop on the spot, or as practically frantic as she did. Acknowledging that he would be better off not asking, Kakashi nodded. He knew vaguely of the problems the two remaining members of Team Seven were having, and though it bothered him, he also knew it was not his place to try and fix it. Sakura and Naruto were old enough to fix it themselves.

"I'll get you a room," he told her, raising a hand to pat her shoulder gently before moving on to address the suspicious girl behind the counter. Sakura took a seat at one of the chairs situated in a semi circle around a big table, probably used for playing games of some sort. A small smile quirked the corner of her mouth up. Years ago, if they'd been here, she and Naruto would have probably played some stupid game, and Sai would have insulted both of them regardless of who won…

Where had those times gone? Was it really years? They were all twenty-three now, but it seemed just like yesterday that she was healing the blonde jinchuuriki after he had done something stupid, or trained too hard… Just like yesterday that she was criticizing him for those things, blind to the laughing of her shishou, and their sensei. In all of those times, it was hard to imagine that she had still been longing for Sasuke to return and join them, so she could show how strong she had gotten.

There, sitting on that chair, something that had bothered her for a long time cleared a bit of itself away. Had she really ever been able to maintain that longstanding love that she had believed was in her heart for a decade? Was it even truly possible? Or had she fallen more in love with what Sasuke stood for, what he symbolized? It was because of him that she had tried so hard to grow independent and strong, because she couldn't stop him from abandoning them and causing the hurt he had inflicted upon her, and Naruto… Did it make sense that she had allowed her heart to fool itself into thinking it loved Sasuke when no, not really?

"Here's the key, Sakura."

Kakashi's voice broke her out of the blank-faced stare she was giving to the floor, drawing her attention to him. Blinking, dazed, she caught the ring of silver metal with the bronze-looking key tossed at her, and muttered a thank you. Pulling back out the book he had been reading, he sighed distinctly.

"He should be in his room. It's next to yours," he told her, to which she nodded before standing. Not much more needed to be said. She was here to talk to Naruto, and he was there to do a mission. Despite the fatherly affection he felt for the roseate woman, there were always times when it… Just didn't work. Now was one of those. The thoughtful scowl on her shadow-marked features was enough of an indicator of that.

Sakura was too preoccupied with her own inner conversation to reply much to the Copy Ninja of Konoha. Her epiphany had completely made sense of the emotions she felt now, and how she had felt in the years past… Most especially, the months following Sasuke's death.

Her feet took her down the hallways, and up the stairs. What did this even mean, at this point? Oh, she could tell Naruto that she had treated him like an abomination for nothing? That it had taken all this time for her to realize he was right, everybody was right, and she had put them both through hell just because she couldn't figure out how her own feelings worked? Well… It was the best thing she had, at this point, other than trying to explain that odd, empty feeling in her chest that had opened up after their spat that morning.

Looking down at the room number on her key, her verdant eyes scoured the numbers on the doors before stopping in front of hers. Situated at the very end of a hall, it left no room for error to figure out which one was Naruto's. Curling her toes in her sandals nervously, she stood in the hall for a minute before moving again. But she didn't move to go inside of her own room. Shuffling to his door, her closed fist rose to knock on the wood softly.

"Naruto?" she called softly, not wanting to wake anybody else who might have been in a nearby room. Waiting a minute before knocking again, Sakura felt her hopes drop a little bit more with the lack of a response. It wasn't that surprising, really… She had ignored all of the things he had said to her until after he had decided to up and leave. A day late, and a dollar short… But she knew that Naruto would forgive her. He wasn't the sort to hold grudges, and in that regard, he was a better person than she. He had made it apparent he still cared, right? So he'd find it in his heart to accept the heart-spilling she knew she would be giving to him, and maybe they could try to make things go back to normal.

"Naruto, I'm sorry… I just really need—"

A muffled sound from within halted her words. Brow furrowing, she put her ear against the door to try and hear better. A gagged attempt at her name came from the other side of the wooden barrier, and her nerves went on alert. Grabbing the handle, she tried to open it with no luck; locked. As much as she was usually against vandalizing others' property, her worry and training as a shinobi took over. Concentrating her chakra into her arm, the roseate woman forced the door open with a loud crack as it was ripped from its hinges.

"Naruto?" she called out, glancing around the dark interior of the room, only lit by the dim lights from the hallway she was blocking. Her hand swiped the wall behind her, where a light switch was normally found. By luck an overhead light turned on, bright and blinding her for a moment. Blinking against the glare, the muffled sounds grew louder. Moving into the room slowly, she realized then that the sounds weren't coming from Naruto.

Not that the bound and gagged Sai sitting at the small kitchen table was any testament to that. Rushing to the tied down man's side, she pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Sai, what the hell happened?" she asked him, bending down to look square into his eyes, and make sure he wasn't harmed. Medic as she was, it was her reflex. His eyes were dilated, but that could be because of the odd smell coming from the cloth that had been stuck in his mouth. Other than that… He appeared perfectly fine. No injuries, nothing to show that he had been harmed…

Moving his jaw to loosen it, Sai's bleary eyes tried to focus on Sakura's. Whoever had decided to tie him up did a good job of making sure he wouldn't get out… The knots at his ankles and wrists were tight, but the chemical the cloth had been soaked in was something she recognized after a minute of thought. It paralyzed whoever inhaled it for a few hours after the initial contact; perfect for a hostage situation, really.

"Naruto…" he mumbled. Sakura worked on the ropes that kept him pinned down, and was surprised to see they were designed specifically for ninja captives; chakra-resistant, they prevented the captive from using any sort of jutsu while bound.

"Did Naruto do this?" she asked Sai pensively, throwing the ropes away after she got them off. Hardly able to move his limbs still, he nodded.

"What happened?" Kakashi voiced from behind them, and Sakura looked over her shoulder at the silver-haired man. The breaking down of the door was probably what had gotten his attention… Motioning for him to come closer to them, he glided forward, and stood watching Sai.

"He… Went to the cave…" Sai gritted out, his jaw still locked from the paralysis he had been forced into. Kakashi's eye opened wide, but Sakura could only frown.

"What cave?" she asked, knowing she was obviously out of the loop for this mission. Her former sensei looked at her through the corner of his eye, and she scowled. He seemed almost reluctant to tell her. "Kakashi, what cave?" she asked again, lowly. Although she wasn't a part of the team designated for the assignment, she knew she had every right to know where Naruto had gone. The worry that had been simmering in her stomach upped the fire, turning itself to a slow boil.

"Tobi's hideout is suspected to be around here. The Kyuubi felt the chakra of the other tailed beasts. It pinpointed it to a cave a few miles away, and that's where Naruto went," Kakashi explained. At first the words didn't mean much to Sakura. So Naruto had decided to be the same knucklehead as he always was, and take the initiative to go scout out the cave. Kakashi could tell she didn't fully grasp what Naruto was doing there.

"He isn't just looking, Sakura. He's going to fight Tobi by himself," he told her, his voice sad. The impact of his words sent her reeling, and tears glittered in her eyes. How could he be so stupid? Tobi was the only man left alive that would be able to beat him, and Naruto knew that. If Tobi got a hold of the Kyuubi… The end of the shinobi world would be upon them.

And Naruto would be dead.

"We have to follow him!" she cried out, already moving towards the door. She couldn't let Naruto go and throw his life away like this… There was still a chance that he hadn't gotten there, and maybe he wouldn't do it, or-

Her train of thought was cut off as the ground beneath them shook and rumbled angrily. Reaching out a hand to brace herself against the table, lamps toppled over and glasses shattered as they were shaken off the counter tops.

"It's too late…" Sai murmured softly as the earthquake ended.

"He's already there." Kakashi added on, looking at Sakura. She stood silent, unable to stop the tears from falling. Shaking her head in denial, she started to move out of the room.

"No… We can't give up! We have to go and save him!" Her voice was choked with desperation, and the chaos of the people outside of the room hit her ears as she backed away from Kakashi and Sai. "We have to go. We can't just let him-"

"Sakura. We can't leave until Sai is ready. It'd be stupid to rush into this without a plan-"

"I don't give a damn about your damn plan!" she shouted back at Kakashi, turning her back on the pair. "I'm going. I can't lose Naruto, too…" Her voice grew soft, and she swiped at the tears that crept from her bloodshot eyes. Without another word, she ran out of the room, pushing through the small crowd of people that had gathered in the hall.

…

This is the state of man: today he puts forth

The tender leaves of hopes, tomorrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,

And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,

And then he falls as I do.

-Wolsey; Henry VIII (3. 2. 352-358)

…

It wasn't hard to track down the cave, though she was without any sort of direction. The flare of chakra could be felt for miles around; violent and hateful in nature, the aura that she closed in on sent shivers down her spine. She went as fast as she could, ignoring the ache of her tired and sore muscles, and the urge to just curl up and sob her fears out. Her mind understood she had to be strong, and save Naruto for once.

The lack of light proved to be a major hindrance while she traversed the forested area that separated the border town from the final Akatsuki hideout. With only the crescent moon to guide her through the tree tops, it was either slow down and be accurate, or speed through and miss a step on a branch. Every moment she had to spend seeking a new foot place brought a spark of rage to her; there was no time to be careful, but still she had to be. Drawing closer and closer to the center of the chakra flare, it grew to be hard to tell her fury from the vehemence radiating from what she knew was the battle.

The tree line broke suddenly, forcing her to the ground. Her eyes scoured the mountainside that reached for the night sky, a steep peak full of sheer cliffs and loose rock strips. Breathing heavy, the earth began to shake again; out in the open, there was nowhere to brace herself this time. Falling to her knees, Sakura cried out as a deep, rumbling roar thundered through the empty space.

It reverberated out of the cave that came to her attention as a flare of crimson made it practically a signal. Despite the moving ground, she pushed herself to her feet, stumbling and tripping as she forced herself towards the entrance of the opening. Her ears were ringing from the roar of before, her frontal vision obstructed by a fading flash of red that refused to go away as she blinked.

The shaking of the earth began to quell, and with it went the difficulties she was having moving forward. Ignoring the sharp bite of loose shale as they pierced her palms and knees, the kunoichi refused to be stopped. A desperation pulled at her heart and body, keeping her struggling forward. As the last quake shook, Sakura was coming to the entrance of the cave where a crimson glow was dispersing. It was apparent that the initial tunnel-like structure opened up into a cavernous room, lighted by lamps of black flame. Amaterasu, as she knew it.

Sprinting into the opened area with no heed to her own safety, it wasn't a surprise to see there were craters that littered the floor, and boulders that had presumably dropped from above during the earthquakes were scattered throughout the room. A figure stood hunched at the center of the cave, and it took hardly more than an instant for her to recognize the splash of yellow. Her heart gave a squeeze of relief, and she couldn't keep back the light laughter that bubbled forth. The worry that she had been too late peeled away a bit.

"Naruto!" she called out, but her eyes widened as the strong, tall shape of the blonde toppled over, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Her lips mouthed his name again, but no sound came out. With no heed for her safety, she ran to where he had fallen. Dropping to her knees beside him, she rolled him over so he faced upwards, and the moment she saw the half-opened eyes, she did know. But denial surged through every cell in her body.

An ethereal green glow encompassed her cut and torn hands, and she pressed them to his chest, looking for something that she could heal. Looking down his still body, Sakura didn't notice the tears that had already started, dripping down her nose and off her chin to land on him. His shirt and jacket were torn to reveal his stomach, which was covered in another odd seal, similar to the one that he had flaunted since his academy days… The thought made her laugh, but it came out strangled and led into a sob.

"Naruto, what the hell is that from, huh? I'm going to kick you ass when I get you healed, you know… No holding back, I swear," she mumbled to him, forcing her energy into him. The chakra she forced, however, just kept being sucked into him, with no sign of stopping. She knew what that meant, from hundreds of previous close experiences. There was no hope. The body she was healing would suck away all her chakra until she was dead, while they had been dead the whole time.

But still she kept her hands there, trying to ignore the crushing inevitable that was grinding her chest to pieces.

"Naruto, come on, you idiot… You have to wake up. This place might collapse and I'm not gonna be the one to carry your dead weight out of here." Her voice was soft, and full of the pain that was already beginning to burn at her conscious.

"He's dead, you know."

The voice behind her surprised her enough to make the green glow around her hands disappear as she whipped around to look over her shoulder. Her tear-blurred vision attempted to focus on the plant man that stood a bit of a ways off. He began to walk closer, and circled around she and Naruto before he stood in front of them both.

"Smart one, though. I couldn't believe he beat Tobi like that. Fixed the Kyuubi problem, too." This voice was different; a lighter, more cheerful to the dark and ominous of the other. Sakura felt anger course through her, and the only thing that kept her on her knees was the exhaustion that weighed her down like lead in her veins.

"He can't be dead! The Kyuubi will heal him from the inside, and he'll be fine. That's how-"

"That would be true if the Nine-Tails was still inside of dear blondie-boy, cherry-top." There was the darker voice again… Her eyes narrowed, and disbelief shadowed her face.

"It… It was extracted?" she asked, her voice shaking. If the Kyuubi was extracted… Then there was no chance, and he really was… No, it couldn't have happened. Tobi would be standing over him if it were so, and that second seal…

"Not quite, pinky," commented the lighter voice.

"He tricked Tobi-san. He faked losing the initial battle, and when our leader went to go and extract the bijuu, blondie-boy used the chakra connection between him and Tobi that was established to use some weird jutsu on him. Shiki Fuujin, I think he said." The darker voice said before the lighter took over once more.

"Anyway, so Tobi's soul went all 'wheeeee' and flew into Naruto's body and started battling with the Kyuubi in a eternal duel, like blondie-boy said it would, and then that seal showed up. He stood for a second, but he was already deaaaaad. That's when you came in, and he toppled over and you started doing all that weird stuff to him, even though it's hop-"

"Shut up! No, he… No…" her voice got quieter, and in her mind she knew Zetsu was right. There was no pulse left, no sign of breathing… She knew the nature of the Shiki Fuujin, after studying it under Tsunade, but her heart didn't want to know that Zetsu was right.

"Sad thing, really. He knew he was gonna die when he got in here. Just that look people get. He set it up so he would die. When Tobi-san asked him why he'd come, and he said because he'd already said goodbye, and there was no point anymore, except to beat Tobi." The lighter voice told her.

"Inspirational, if we really cared for things like that," the darker half of the plant-man commented, almost laughing.

But by this point, Sakura was beyond listening to them. Her palms planted firmly on his chest to support her hunched over self, the tears fell freely. Her shoulders shook with the soundless sobs, and all she could think was that this was her fault. And it was… She'd told him to go, hadn't she? He'd taken it so seriously, her rejection, that he'd gone and done this…

Her hand rose to strike down on his lifeless chest. "You bastard!" she shrieked, granting her an odd look from Zetsu. "I didn't get the chance to tell you, damn you… Why, Naruto? Just…"

The anger left as quickly as it had come, and her heart felt beaten and battered. The wall she had built up to protect herself against sorrow imploded in seconds; the light crumbling it had done when Sasuke died was nothing in comparison. As the shakes came stronger and stronger through her body, her arms gave out, and she was left with her arms folded on his torso, her head buried in them. His warm smell, ramen and something spicy, mixed with sweat and blood, still wafted off of him.

She remembered the times where she had gone to him for comfort, just been content to be held by him, and let him protect her. He'd always been there for her, ready to listen, ready to just… Support her. And look what she had done to that, now. Her inability to forgive drove him away… And now it had lost her the best friend she had ever had, and could expect to find. The kunoichi felt torn and shredded, huddled on his body, wishing to everything above that the bright blonde she had grown to love would just come back, that this was all a joke… But she knew it wasn't.

The time lapsed grew to meld into one blur. She couldn't remember when Zetsu left. Couldn't remember when Kakashi and Sai finally got there, reinforcements ready. Couldn't remember them prying her hands away from him, or her shrieks and intensified sobbing as they did it. Couldn't remember them sedating her, or when they brought her and his body back to Konoha. Couldn't remember being put in the hospital by Tsunade, crying into her shishou's shoulder, or being forced to dress in a black dress for his funeral. But she did remember when Sai came to visit her, just before she left to go.

She was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, her hands bandaged still, but the IVs were gone. Staring blankly at the wall, she had been picking the lint off of the black fabric of her dress. Sai had walked in, looking distraught and awkward in the black shirt and pants that didn't show his navel. He looked at her for a minute, but she still didn't acknowledge his presence. Sighing, he stepped forward and set a sealed envelope next to her.

"He left it on his desk, before he left. It's addressed to you. You were just too… Now's the only good time to give it, I guess. I'm sorry, Sakura." The lack of insults was enough for her to realize he was being honest. Despite himself, Sai felt the sorrow bite down on his heart, just as everybody in the village did. He left, leaving her alone one more.

A few minutes passed before her hand reached out to pick up the envelope. On the front, his oddly slanted handwriting scrawled out her name. Flipping it over, she tore it open carefully, making sure not to ruin it. Pulling out the paper slowly, her eyes grazed over the words on the page, and almost instantly the tears started again.

When she was finished, she reread it again, and again. Putting the paper back into the envelope, the roseate went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face before leaving her hospital room, the final words of her best friend tucked into a pocket.

Tsunade escorted her to the funeral, and they stood at the front while the Hokage gave a speech about the blonde's great deeds. He was the hero of the village; he'd stopped Pein seven years before, and now he had trapped Tobi in a eternal battle of wills, just as his father had saved the village from the Kyuubi. She went through the things he had done, good and bad, and by the time she was done tears were running everywhere.

Many more came up to have their say. All of the original Rookie Nine, some of the other teams… The chef from Ichiraku, his former senseis… Everybody had something good to say about the blonde man that had impacted their lives so much. Even those who had just met him passing admired him for what he had done, saving them from the evils of the outside world.

But eventually the words were done being said, and the flowers were done being put on his coffin. People left, and then it was just those who were close to him left. But even they left, after a time, wanting to go and drown their sorrow someplace else. Eventually, it was just Sakura, Kakashi, and Tsunade left.

Naruto had been the closest thing to a brother, a son, a grandson, that any of them had ever had. While Tsunade and Kakashi talked in low voices, Sakura just continued what she had done with the whole time. Staring at the coffin with a blank face. Kakashi was the first to leave, giving Sakura a hug that was never returned before he left.

"Sakura… You should go back to the hospital now." Tsunade nudged her former apprentice lightly, wrapping her arms around the roseate woman. Sakura nodded, but pulled herself away from the blonde Hokage. Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew the letter that Sai had given her that day. She had already memorized it, word for word. Setting it on top of his coffin with the rest of the small mementos and flowers, she allowed herself one more tear in front of him before she went to Tsunade, and huddled into the elder woman's one-arm hug before walking away.

…

"Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard

It seems to me strange that men should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come."

-Caesar; Julius Caesar (2.2.32-37)

…

Fin

…

"If we shadows have offended

Think but this, and all is mended

That you have but slumber'd here

While these visions did appear

And this weak and idle theme…

No more yielding but a dream."

-Puck; A Midsummer's Night Dream (5. 1. 423-428)