A/N: One-shot while I work on my other stories.

Theme: shooting star, wishes, Sakura-centric, Team 7, camping


"Star light, star bright.

The first star I see tonight.

I wish I may.

I wish I might.

Have the wish I wish

tonight."


The sound of the ongoing battles were ignored as Sakura stared wistfully at the darkening sky. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful night despite the fact that all wasn't so well on the earth. So she just laid there, staring at the sky. It might have been serene if she was just a girl star gazing. But sadly Sakura was not. She was just a helpless girl fighting in a deadly war. She frowned at that thought. She was always going to be a burden. She struggled to breathe as she remembered a particular mission that Team 7 had completed.

As always, they were forced to esort an esteemed lord back to his home. But as luck would have it, Team 7 had ended up going on another A-ranked mission, courtesy of Naruto. They had been ambushed and she needed saving again. She was supposed to protect the client, but she butchered that as well. She nearly got him killed - "you're not getting paid for this" - and he attacked her even though she had jumped into the path of the enemy's katana. The words "unfit to be a shinobi" echoed in her head.

"True." She mumbled to herself. She would always be a failure and needed someone to clean up her mess. Kakashi-sensei had stepped in - "Then you'll have to make the rest of the way home without us" - and Naruto had glared angrily at their client - "Take that back before I beat you up!" - and Sasuke had grabbed the lord's fist in disgust - "Hitting an injured person is disgraceful" - as she weakly mumbled an apology.


The sky had turned completely dark as Sakura gazed at the stars that were beginning to appear. She smiled softly at their brightness. She recalled that night as they headed back to the village upon completion of the mission.

She had slowed them down and they were forced to camp for the night. She had tried to persuade them otherwise, but Naruto insisted until they relented and agreed. They all had been exhausted, herself the most fatigued, as they set up camp. Sasuke and Naruto had finished first and Sakura was left alone to set up her sleeping bag. It was strangely quiet as she changed her bandages. When they didn't come back, Sakura worried that they had fallen asleep waiting for her to finish. She spotted Sasuke staring at the sky as Naruto laid next to him in the grass. When he spotted her, he flashed her a grin and scooted over. Taking that as an invitation, Sakura walked towards them, but she faltered in her steps. It was her fault that they had to stop in the first place. Naruto, seeing her hesitation, jabbed Sasuke with his elbow and nodded in her direction. Sasuke had raised an eye and glanced at her. He shifted so that there was an even bigger gap between the two boys. Naruto had patted the spot and she had been speechless because they weren't screaming at each other. She remembered squeezing in between them, happy for the silence. She would never forget the stars that night. They glowed so brightly and she was so mesmerized by them that she failed to notice Kakashi crept up behind them and pull out his book. It was calm and peaceful. She had drifted off to sleep. She vaguely recalls seeing a shooting star and wishing for the moment to last forever before losing consciousness.

When she awoke the next day, she was sandwiched between her two boys. She had told them that they needed to camp out more often. Sasuke had scowled and Naruto had to pick a fight with him -"TEME! You were sleeping way too close to Sakura-chan!" - which resulted in trees being knocked down.

So now looking at the beautiful stars before her, Sakura held back her tears. She got her wish, but this wasn't what she wished for. She didn't want to see the night sky that resembled that sky from all those years ago. This wasn't supposed to happen. She had pictured something more joyous and pleasant. She shut her eyes as sobs came out in short gasps. Her heart rate was slowing as she struggled to breathe, blood pooling in her lungs. She tried to fight the darkness that was consuming her. Tears slid down her face as her consciousness left her. Death came silently and it was almost peaceful if it weren't for the fact that her boys were right beside her, bleeding out. In death, this moment would last forever. She had gotten her wish and as everything turned into nothingness, she had one final thought.

Be careful with what you wish for.


FIN~

I hoped you enjoyed reading this. Please give me your feedback.

How was the ending? You'll have to decide for yourself how they got mortally wounded. I like to think that Team 7 never broke up.

Team 7 is just (tragically) beautiful.

And you are beautiful