The blonde haired man took in a shuddering breath as he stepped towards the table. His hands shook as he desperately opened and closed his palms on his thighs, scratching at his jeans.
The only thought going through his head was that the prone form under the sheet on the table could not be who he was here to identify.
He nodded to the woman in her white lab coat, ignoring the hum of the lights above him and the sound of shifting material as the sheet revealed the body down to its collarbone. He breath got caught somewhere in his throat as his eyes narrowed.
The pale skin had a greyish blue hue to it, the girls eyes were closed as she lay there, looking as though she could have been sleeping, her light pink hair was smooth against her head and still slightly damp.
A shaky hand reached upwards as his lips contorted into a frown while he gritted his teeth. His eyes stung as tears welled up. He was suffocating, suffocating in this room as all the light disappeared, tunnel vision zeroing in on the body. Her familiar lips that were almost always curled in a smile now sat straight. He would have thought she was so peaceful were it not for the discolouring around her throat, her puffy, bruised eyes, and scratches adorning her flesh. A strangled sound left his throat as his cerulean orbs blinked quickly, tears flowing freely down his cheeks as his hand made out to mould his palm against her cold, smooth cheek.
"Sakura." He gasped, trying to draw some air into his heavy lungs. He looked up to the woman who looked at him with all the pity in the world, but there was the underlying question there.
Is this her? The woman's eyes asked.
Naruto nodded and swallowed thickly.
"This is Sakura Haruno. Sakura. My best friend. My sister." He whispered, his voice coming out sounding strained and deep. He leant down and planted a kiss on her forehead. The very same forehead she was teased about when they were younger. Naruto watched as the woman placed the sheet back over Sakura's head and he left, feeling as though he was in a dream.
There was no possible way that Sakura was dead. It was unthinkable.
Sakura Haruno, his best friend of twenty-one years, could not be dead. She had made plans to come with him, his fiancé, and some of their other friends to a beach holiday in two months. Sakura Haruno was to be the maid of honour at his wedding, also the best friend of his fiancé Hinata. Sakura Haruno was going to be a doctor and be damn good at it to, having gotten herself a scholarship and extra training under the famous Tsunade, who ran the Konoha hospital. Sakura was going to save lives and give hope and be the saint she was. Sakura Haruno was going to be the godmother to his children and he was going to be there for her forever until they were old and grey and talking about how one of his kids and one of Sakura's had fallen in love and blessed them with many, many, grandchildren. Sakura Haruno was going to live until she was old and wrinkled and happily busying herself taking care of great grandchildren and being called loving names and having experienced an entire life of love happiness. Sakura Haruno was going to grace people with her wide smiles and her sparkling emerald eyes and people would return the sheer joy and warmth she seemed to emit to everyone around her. Sakura Haruno had deserved the world and more. Sakura Haruno deserved to live more than anyone else on earth.
Naruto didn't know how he found himself back in a secluded waiting room where many others had gathered for the news. His best male friend Sasuke Uchiha, who had been his friend for as long as Sakura had, was seated with his hand clasped on his lap, staring at the wall. His onyx eyes dazed and empty, his hair dishevelled as they had all rushed to the hospital at this early hour of 3am. His fiancé, Hinata, had her pearly eyes filled with worry as she chewed her lip, not focusing her eyes on anything for too long. A blonde woman with startling blue eyes leant against a man with hair that was pulled into a ponytail that stuck out like a pineapple on his head.
As Naruto stepped through the door, all four sets of eyes snapped to him. He felt something snap inside of him as he opened his mouth only to have his eyes fill once again with tears. Naruto watched as his beloved took slow steps towards him, her eyes wide and disbelieving.
"Naruto?" She whispered, her hands opening towards him. Naruto fell into her as he dropped to his knees and let out a scream into her shoulder. The muffled, desperate sound only fulfilled the fears of the five people in the room. Hinata chocked a sob as she clutched him, tightly and desperately, Naruto holding her back just as desperately as the gravity of the situation began to sink in for the close-knit group.
Sakura Haruno was gone.
Ino, the blonde wailed and was caught in an embrace by her brunette husband, the loss of one of their best friends destroying their composure. Shikamaru simply held his wife, in a state of total shock. The man had come close to Sakura through his wife, and their friendship bloomed by a shared interest in puzzles. Shikamaru had all the respect in the world for Sakura. He would never see her giggling about something with his wife, or be in an intellectual discussion with her ever again. Ino would never get to gossip with her pink-haired friend, or trade secrets, or have girls nights with her and Hinata. Ino would never see Sakura's face contort into a look of disgust when Ino offered her clothes to wear out, or be graced with the beauty of Sakura when she simply pulled on sweat pants and a tank top and tied her hair back to help Ino around the house. Sakura would never know that Ino had conceived and was looking forward to telling her friend first. The couple shared the loss of a dear friend whom they loved.
Sasuke Uchiha had his hands clenched so tightly that his nails drew blood from his palms. His eyes narrowed and he bit his lip until it bled. He could not accept that his best female friend would no longer grace his presence with a smile or laugh. She would never again come by his house for dinner with Naruto; she would never help his mother with the cooking and tease him about his love of tomatoes. Sakura would never wrap her arms around his waist and smile up at him when she was really happy. Sakura would not be there to celebrate his birthday, and he knew that she had already bought him a present and hidden it in the top drawer of her dresser because she had told him that, just to be annoying. Sakura Haruno had a closer sibling bond with him than his older brother Itachi. Sakura Haruno would never again annoy him with her complaints or teasing or her tears when she was down. Sakura would never yell at him or Naruto for being idiots ever again. Sasuke dropped his head into his hands as he decided that he would give anything, anything, to have Sakura yelling at him right now.
When Sasuke lifted his head, Naruto was standing in front of him, his eyes red and puffy, still crying. Sasuke stood to be grabbed into a hug as the boys, Sakura's brothers, cried for the loss of their sister, the girl who had been the most important person in their lives for so long. The two boys were the only family that Sakura had, since her parents passed when she was only 13, and she had moved in with Naruto and his parents. Naruto and Sasuke were her kin; the only people who saw her grieve her parents. And now they had to deal with the overwhelming loss of their sunshine, their balance. Sakura was the glue that held them together and never got their fights get out of hand. She kept their rivalry civil, and made sure that they always had her attention and love.
They had failed her, as her brothers they were meant to protect her, but some monster took her from them and took the girl who was the light in the two boy's lives for so long. They had been a family of three for so long, with a bond many others could not understand, and it had been ripped from them in an instant.
...
Please Read and Review.
I'm putting my ONLY disclaimer at the bottom of this chapter, because I don't want author notes or disclaimers clogging my story, so this may very well be the only one.
This is my first fan fiction, and I hope you like it, the entire story will develop and will not be this sad, the chapters will change from thrid person point of view and first person, including from Sakura's POV. This is a thriller, and I'm very excited to continue. :)
I apologize for any mistakes and the like, but this is my first fan fiction and it is unbeta'd.
Thank you so much for reading, leaving a review would be awesome!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or anything, only this plot.