Author's Note: Okay, has anyone else been in a funk since Naruto ended? I wasn't ready for it to be over. I know there's the new Gaiden out, and don't get me wrong, I'm cool with seeing the adventures of their kids, it's just…not the same. That and Neji died. Totally not cool.
Alrighty then, here is this chapter. I originally had a different scene playing out back when I first started writing this, but I decided to change some things as I was reading the last part of the war in the manga. I've adjusted the plot of my story to incorporate the best of the rest of the manga development, but overall, the story is still going to be the same.

Sakura halted, an intruder in a moment between brothers. The battle was clearly over, and Itachi and Sasuke were talking.

There was evidence of the fight all over the cave, scorch marks, shrunken, kunai, and bits of skin and snakes. She had just missed the actual action.

There was no way the two could not know she was there, but neither acknowledged her presence. Should she stay? Leave? What would Sasuke want, or better yet, what did Sasuke need?

She stayed rooted to her spot, too far away to overhear their words, but close enough that she felt too close. She also eyed the motionless Kabuto – at least she was pretty sure that was Kabuto – warily. Anything he had a hand in was aimed at two things: obtaining Naruto and corrupting Sasuke.

His most recent attempt to achieve those two goals had left marks on her arm. Had it only been a matter of days since they last saw the snake? More importantly, could this be the last time they would see him? Could the edo tensei be released, and the snake exterminated in just a matter of moments?

It was a lot to hope for, but could she be blamed?

Sakura looked up the moment they stopped speaking. Itachi was resting his forehead on Sasuke's. Sakura's heart caught in her throat. She was quick to forget the reason Sasuke bore so much hatred for the Leaf. He lost his brother, the brother he loved and who loved him. Everything that had been done for the Leaf and torn his life apart.

Itachi straightened and turned his gaze towards her. Sakura felt a blush creeping over her ears and down towards her cheeks. She'd been caught staring. She half expected to be scolded or shooed away, but Itachi smiled at her instead.

"Sakura," he addressed her warmly, as if he had known her a long time, "look after my foolish little brother for me."

"Of course," she nearly stammered, wondering why Sasuke's brother would ask her that. They never officially met, though she fought a jutsu he controlled long-distance with Team Kakashi nearly a year ago. She only knew of him, and very little at that. How did he even know her name?

"I've always kept an eye on my little brother. He cares for you," Itachi said, perhaps somehow reading her mind and granting her an answer, "and you care about him."

Fighting the blush that was rapidly conquering her face, Sakura only nodded, sensing Itachi was wrapping up loose ends before he departed from the land of the living.

Itachi next walked over to Kabuto, making him reveal the hand signs to release the edo tensei. As a glowing light began to envelope his borrowed body, Itachi made his way back to his brother.

Sakura watched as they exchanged their final good-byes, wondering what Itachi could have said that made Sasuke tear up. She felt her own eyes begin to prick with tears, her heart going out to them. She wished things could have been different for them, that it was not the end.

After Itachi's borrowed body fell motionless to the floor and the last of the fluttering paper-like pieces of Itachi's façade disappeared, Sasuke remained motionless, watching the exact spot Itachi's spirit vanished. Sakura didn't know how long to leave him process. Kabuto was still among the living, and sooner rather than later, he would again be moving and up to no good.

She slowly made her way towards him, keeping some distance so he did not feel like she was trying to invade. When she was six feet from him, she stopped, waiting. She would let him take all the time he needed, and keep watch over Kabuto. If Kabuto moved, she would take him out.

"I need you to go and bring Anko here," Sasuke told her, never looking away from the spot his gaze had been fixed to for ten minutes Sakura started and quickly turned to look at him, searching his now emotionless face for answers and finding none.

Sakura's brow creased as a hundred questions and remarks tangled around in her head, each trying to barge its way out of her lips. Taking a calming breath, Sakura shoved the jumbled mess somewhere in the back of her mind and concentrated on being objective. Sasuke might not have been aware of what he was saying, or he could be compromised for all she knew.

"Who?"

Sasuke remained monotone, "The woman who proctored our second test in the Chunnin exams." She tried to make eye contact with him, but he refused to look away from the same spot. Gritting her teeth, Sakura tried to remain calm and in control. Surging through her chest was the desire to shake Sasuke until he looked at her and explained what exactly he was planning. She was probably overeating; it was probably nothing. He must have a good reason. Maybe.

"What if I can't find her, or she does not come willingly," Sakura finally said. She knew exactly where Anko lay in a coma, but the more she played dumb, the more information she could extract from Sasuke.

"I need her to find the truth," Sasuke answered after a long stretch of silence. He finally looked away from the spot and into her eyes, but his carefully crafted emotionless mask was still securely in place.

Sakura clenched and unclenched her fists, letting Sasuke see her frustration. On the inside, she was almost panicking. She couldn't take one more minute of his circling around between this and that. No matter what he decided to do, to stand with the Leaf once more or find something separate, she would always love him and go with him, but she wished he would just pick.

Before the next pause got as long as the first, Sakura made the first step, walking up to him. She could not expect him to do what she would not. "I want you to pick a side Sasuke," she stepped even closer, invading his personal space, "You said you weren't against the Leaf anymore and I believed you, but you have to choose what you are going to do next."

Her voice rose and her body starting shaking ever so slightly, the pressure that had been building inside of her releasing, "Either go back and be a part of the Leaf, or stop skirting around it and find your place somewhere!"

After letting that much out, Sakura began to calm down. She wanted him to know just how much he meant to her, "No matter where you go, I still promise to go with you. No matter what you choose, I will always love you, with all of my heart!"

Sasuke's mask slip ever so slightly just before it happened. She had hit a mark. Her last words echoed Itachi's. He knew what she wanted, and he knew what he had to do first. But he had to let her know something even more important.

Sakura was much too occupied analyzing the slip in his mask to defend herself from what was coming. It happened in a second or less.

One moment they were just staring at each other. One agitated and one annoyingly blank, and the next moment, Sasuke's lips were locked on hers.

She was surprised at first, and stood there going cross-eyed staring at Sasuke's closed eyes.

Then she realized Sasuke was kissing her.

To hades with reason, objectivity, and common sense. Sakura closed her eyes and kissed him back. It wasn't the time, place, or way a shinobi was supposed to kiss, but they weren't shinobi in their moment. They were Sasuke and Sakura, just a girl and a boy.

His lips had been harsh, like a warrior attacking. He had braced himself for resistance and was holding his ground, not advancing or retreating.

When Sakura relaxed into the hands he had on her shoulders and her lips molded to his, the pressure he used relented, and the kiss was gentle and sweet.

They stepped back, though it was a grand total of five seconds from beginning to end, and stared at each other again.

Sakura made the next move, pulling him down towards her and kissing him with all the desperate desire to be reassured of his feelings and intentions still bottled up inside her.

He kissed her back, threading his fingers into her hair with one hand and pulling her body flush against his with the other.

The second kiss was longer; Sakura's lips moved as if in a dance with Sasuke's.

She had heard of warriors being able to deliver feelings with blows, but for her, each angle and move of their kiss communicated the same.

There was anger. There was anger for him leaving. There was anger for her following.

There was fear. The fear of him betraying again. The fear of her getting too close.

There was happiness. Her happiness to be with him. His happiness to have her with him.

There was sadness. There was sadness at the thought of losing him to himself and darkness. There was sadness at the thought of losing her to enemies and his path.

There was hope. Hope that he would never leave again. Hope that she could be a part of his life.

When they broke apart, gasping for breath and dazed, it was Sakura who recovered first. Time and space and everything in between hadn't been important, but now it was. She had her reassurance. She knew what he felt. It was perhaps all she had needed from him all along.

Sasuke on the other hand, had a lot more to think about, much more to recover from.

"Where and when do you want me to bring her," Sakura asked, attempting to fix her disheveled hair. For the briefest of moments, she wondered why she wasn't blushing, but she knew. She wasn't embarrassed and had nothing to hide, that was why.

Sasuke seemed almost startled to hear her voice, but he was his usual self not a second later, "Bring her here. I'll set up camp and take care of Kabuto."

She nodded and was about to leave when his hand on her arm stopped her. "Sakura," he began, then paused, as if searching for words, "Be safe."

Smiling, Sakura leaned towards him and softly touched her lips to his, then whispered in his ear, "You too."

Then she departed and Sasuke turned toward Kabuto.