A/N: I was listening to the song The Last Night by Skillet and every time I listened to it I couldn't help but think of Sasuke 'saving' Sakura from herself. This is my first one-shot and it took me a few weeks to get it to a decent point. I was told to use more narration but I do character development through more dialogue and actions (though I tried it more towards the end). Anyways, enough of me rambling, enjoy! And don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Skillet or their song The Last Night. I do not Naruto, nor do I want to... I'd rather own Sasuke, or maybe Itachi, Hidan, or- I'm just gonna shut up now...

Nothing Special
"Normal Speaking"
'Thoughts'
Emphasis

The Last Night

Aiko Hirata

Uchiha Sasuke has completed his goal of killing his brother. After he killed Itachi a masked Akatsuki member came and had a talk with Sasuke, offering him the truth about his family's murder and a place in the Akatsuki. Sasuke refused a high position in the evil organization and returned to Konoha. He was given one week of house arrest and six months probation. Finally those six months were up and he was now back on Team 7 with Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi and occasionally Sai and Yamato would show up for training.

So far he hadn't been on any missions out of the village and he wasn't expecting anything soon so he continued training with mostly Naruto but also Kakashi, he never once trained with Sakura since his return. Maybe it was because he was trying to keep his distance from the pink haired Kunoichi or maybe it was because he still saw her as weak. Whatever the reason he still kept his distance, even outside of training. She would try to start up a conversation but he would only respond with one word answers or not answer at all.

Sakura tried to not think about the dark haired man she used to love, she even tried to block her heart from him by putting up a wall, letting no one in, not even her best friend, Ino Yamanaka. Little did anyone know she was slowly but surely breaking to the point of no return, slipping away little-by-little.

It was a clear day, with no clouds. It wasn't too warm and there were no signs that it would rain. It was just about noon and Team 7 had just finished training.

"Well, that's all for today. I have to go see the Hokage, I will see you all tomorrow," said Kakashi as he started walking away. Everyone nodded and started to pack up.

"I need to go check on a few things at the hospital, would either of you like to go to lunch afterwards?" Sakura asked, picking up her bag. She had a smile on her face, but if you knew Sakura at all, you'd know it was completely unreal.

"Teme and I were going to head to Ichiraku's; do you want to join us?" Naruto asked as he stood to face his pink haired teammate. Sakura looked over to Sasuke just in time to see his shoulders stiffen; she knew he didn't want anything to do with her.

"No, it's fine. I have some things I have to do that I completely forgot about, bye Naruto," She said with a sad smile and then turned and walked off.

Naruto let out a sigh of defeat. He knew Sakura had been avoiding him and Sasuke but he wasn't sure why, "You ready, Teme?" Sasuke gave a nod as they started walking towards Naruto's favorite ramen stand.

The next day Naruto and Sasuke were waiting in the training grounds for Sakura and Kakashi to show up. They had only been waiting about 10 minutes when Kakashi appeared and by his side was Yamato, "Yo, sorry to do this to you guys-," He Kakashi was cut off by his loudmouth blond haired student.

"You're actually early! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you feeling okay?" Naruto said as he jumped up from his position on the ground.

"Would you shut it Dobe, he was just about to explain something," Sasuke said this as if he was bored.

"Thank you Sasuke, as I was saying, I hate to do this to you guys but I can't stay to help you train, I am being sent on a mission that will last the rest of the week. So Yamato will be taking my place," the two students present nodded as Kakashi started to look around, "Where is Sakura?" He asked as he continued to look around.

"I don't know, come to think about it I haven't seen her since training yesterday," Naruto said as he looked towards the ground, deep in thought, but then looked up at Kakashi with a smile, "I'm sure she is fine! She could be at the hospital; she did say she had some stuff to do there yesterday."

"I suppose you could be right, if she doesn't show up by the end of the week, go check on her," Kakashi said in an authoritative tone that he rarely ever used. "I will see you both in about a week, please let Sakura know about my mission." With that he was gone in a puff of smoke as Yamato began explaining how training was going to work. But Sasuke wasn't really paying attention, he knew Sakura wouldn't miss training unless it was something important but he pushed his thoughts aside, he shouldn't care about her, right?

The rest of the week went by with still no signs of Sakura and Naruto was starting to get really worried. Finally he had enough of her absence and decided that if she didn't show up to training that day he would go and look for her. He was sitting with Sasuke in the training grounds when a masked Anbu appeared and explained that Yamato requested he tell them they had the day off due to a sudden mission he was being sent on. Sasuke decided train by himself because Naruto explained he was going to look for Sakura.

"I'm going to check the hospital first, are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Naruto was trying to get Sasuke to help him but he kept refusing.

"Why would I want to look for her?" Sasuke asked getting even more irritated that Naruto kept asking him.

"Because she is your teammate and she cares about you as you should care about her," Naruto said, his patience finally snapping. "Fine, I'll go look for her on my own, have fun by yourself Sasuke," He said as he stomped out of the training ground toward Konoha's hospital. Sasuke just started after him, Naruto never called him by his name unless he was truly pissed. He just brushed it off and started his training.

Naruto reached the hospital in just under five minutes and went right to Sakura's office. He knocked on the door and waited a few moments before knocking again. When he still didn't hear a response he opened the door to find her office empty.

That's weird; I wonder if Ino know where she is… Naruto thought as he shut the door to Sakura's office and headed to the closest nurses station where he had seen Ino a few moments ago. Sure enough she was still there. "Hey Ino, have you seen Sakura?" Naruto asked in a calm voice, not in his usual loud annoying voice.

"No, I haven't seen her in a little over a month; I finally have a break from missions and haven't gotten a chance to see her yet. Why, is everything okay?" Ino looked at Naruto's concerned face and couldn't help but feel a little worried herself, Naruto never showed his worry.

"I'm not sure, I have to go talk to Tsunade, I'll see you later," He said quietly before rushing off, leaving a very confused and worried Ino.

"Come in," Came Tsunade's voice before Naruto could even knock on her office door. He opened the door and Tsunade looked up to see the blond ninja looking worried about something. "What's the matter, Naruto, it isn't like you to look so… concerned," She said as she put down her pen, giving Naruto her full attention.

"Is Sakura on a mission?" He asked simply.

Tsunade shook her head, "No, she has called out of the hospital for the past week claiming she is sick. Why?" She was starting to get concerned. Thinking back her pink haired apprentice, who she thought of as a daughter, never missed more than a few days of work before returning, whether she was sick or not. Usually Tsunade had to force Sakura to leave work.

"No reason, thanks!" Naruto said as he turned to leave, still deep in thought. Tsunade just sighed and returned to her work, hoping Naruto could figure out what was wrong with Sakura. She knew Sakura was prone to going into deep depressions, especially since the young Uchiha returned, but she had never been gone more than a few days. She was truly getting worried.

Naruto walked out of the Hokage tower toward... Well he really didn't know where he was going. He was very deep in thought.

Nothing was adding up, Sakura never missed work unless something was seriously wrong. Even when Sasuke returned, she only ever missed a day or two, something wasn't right.

His train of thought broke when he realized where he was, right outside Sakura's apartment building. He quickly entered the building, ran up the stairs and down the hall to Sakura's apartment.

Once there he knocked lightly, after a moment of hesitation to compose himself. He didn't have to wait long until he heard the door unlocking. It opened just a crack, only enough for Sakura to see out but enough for Naruto to know she was only wearing black shorts and a red tank top.

"Sakura-chan, I came to make sure you were alright, since you haven't been to training all week. Do you mind if I come in?" Naruto asked in a quiet, gentle voice.

Suddenly the door opened a little more, just enough to let him inside. Naruto quickly stepped in and made his way to the couch as Sakura closed the door.

Sakura joined her blond teammate on the couch, but she sat on the far side, the furthest away from him. She refused to make eye-contact and instead looked down as she played with the hem of her shirt.

"I'm sorry to have concerned you, I just haven't been feeling… myself," Sakura said, still refusing to look at Naruto.

He just looked over his friend, who he considered a sister. He noticed her hair was a mess and her eyes were really puffy. She also looked really pale and it almost looked like she had lost some weight.

"I just wanted to be sure you were okay. You know we are always here for you. Kakashi-sensei, Ino, Sai, Yamato, and heck even the Teme would be willing to at least listen to you! And of course, I'm always here for you and-and what the hell is that?" Naruto asked, grabbing her wrist and turning it over only to see tons of tiny white, pink and even some red lines going straight across the underside of her forearm, they went all the way up to halfway to her elbow.

"I-it's nothing, Naruto," Sakura said in a small voice, trying to hold back the sudden tears as she pulled her arm out of Naruto's grasp.

Naruto looked at his team-mate, his friend, his family, with wide, sad eyes, "Why? Sakura-chan you-," Sakura suddenly cut him off.

"You should go. I need to rest, I'm suddenly not feeling so well," She said as she got off the couch, moved toward the door and opened it.

Naruto stood and made his way to the door as well; he took a step outside of her apartment then turned around, "Please, think about what you are doing. Too many people love you for you to give up like this."

"I'm sorry Naruto, it's for the best. Goodbye," and with that she closed the door and locked it.

Naruto stood there, looking at the door trying to figure out what to do. He knew that if he reported his findings to Tsunade, Sakura's ninja status would most likely be suspended and she could very well be put into an institution. That was definitely not an option.

There was only one person he could think of that could help, but it would be hard to get him to agree to it. The person was her first, and probably only, love interest, Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto turned and ran as fast as he could to the Uchiha Compound.

"TEME!" Came Naruto's voice as Sasuke was about to walk into his house, he had gotten the Uchiha compound re-opened and was now allowed to live in his old house from his childhood.

He rolled his eyes as he turned to face a frantic-looking Naruto, who was running straight towards him.

"What is it, Dobe?" He said in an irritated tone.

"You have to help! I think Sakura-chan is going to kill herself or-or something! Please, talk to her! Try to talk her down and out of it!" He said in a rush as he grabbed Sasuke's arm and attempted to drag him away, to no avail.

Sasuke stood his ground and once Naruto let go he crossed his arms over his chest, "Why do you think that? And how would me talking to her help?"

"I just got back from her apartment and I saw a ton of cuts on her wrists; some even looked fresh! It looked like she had already been crying a lot and when I asked her about the cuts she kicked me out. She also closed the door in my face after saying, 'It's for the best, goodbye.' If I tell Tsunade-sama she will lose her shinobi status and most likely be put into an institution or something!" With every sentence Naruto's voice grew more and more frantic, but Sasuke still couldn't imagine Sakura being so careless.

"I will talk to her first thing tomorrow morning, okay? It's late and she is probably sleeping by now," Sasuke sighed.

"Promise," Naruto asked as he relaxed slightly.

"Yes, I promise. Goodnight Naruto," With that Sasuke turned and walked into his house as Naruto slowly made his way to his apartment.

Sasuke was laying in his bed, fully awake and deep in thought about what Naruto had told him only a few hours before. He didn't want to believe Sakura would hurt herself like that, but for some reason he couldn't help but feel Naruto was right. Sasuke knew her parents died not long after he left the village but she hadn't shown she was upset about anything after his return, until now that is.

And cutting just didn't seem like something she would do, but why would she do it in the first place? Was it because he was ignoring her and she thought he wanted nothing to do with her? Did she not realize that he was avoiding her because he cared for her but he was afraid she didn't care about him anymore?

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a knock at his front door. He looked at the clock, it read 1am.

'Who would be knocking on my door this late into the night?' Sasuke thought as he got out of bed and made his way to the front door.

He opened it a little too forcefully than he had intended to, due to his irritated state, and glared at the person who dared disturb him.

Suddenly his glare turned into a look of pure concern at the sight in front of him. There stood Sakura, in her full shinobi gear, with a backpack on. Her face was much paler than normal and it looked like she had been crying a lot, she also looked thinner than the last time he saw her.

"I just came to say goodbye, Sasuke-kun. I-I wanted to tell you in person that I will always love you… No matter what has happened or what will happen. I-," She cut herself off as she started to cry. She quickly turned around so Sasuke couldn't see.

Sasuke felt completely horrified inside and seeing her in this state broke his heart. He wasn't sure what she was planning or what to do, "Are-are you alright? Sakura?" He took a step outside the door, closer to her.

"I just didn't want you to see me cry. I'm fine, but I should go now. Goodbye," Sakura said but when she went to walk away she suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her torso.

"I know that's a lie, Sakura. Tell me the truth," Sasuke whispered in her ear. She felt his warm breath caress the skin of her neck and she gave in. She turned around in his arms and sobbed into his bare chest, he hadn't put on a shirt and he tends to sleep without one.

Sasuke gathered his emotionally broken teammate in his arms, walked into his house and closed the door. Then carried her to his living room couch where he sat with Sakura in his lap. They sat there for a good amount of time, until her sobs turned into sniffles. She was still shaking and shuddered with silent sobs but otherwise she had calmed down.

"Sakura, I know everyone may say that being upset is your own doing but I understand where you are coming from. Whoever says to just get over it, they obviously don't know you like I know you. They don't know you at all," Sasuke spoke in a low voice while he rubbed soothing circles on Sakura's back.

"I'm just sick of everyone saying it's only a phase. I've learned to just smile and say I'm fine," Sakura whispered, her face now hidden in the crook of Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke gently took Sakura's face between his hands and looked deep into her eyes. "I knew every time you would do that, it was a lie. I know the night feels so long when everything's wrong, but if you give me a chance… Give me your hand and I will help you hold on tonight… Forever."

With that Sasuke leaned in and gently placed his warm, smooth lips on Sakura's cool, chapped ones.

"It was a kiss to show her that he cared, that he couldn't let her go. It told her not to give up, to keep trying. It wasn't a lustful, passionate kiss, it was gentle and caring.

Once they pulled apart Sasuke looked back into Sakura's emerald eyes. "I won't let you say goodbye, Sakura. I'll be your reason to continue, you'll never have to be alone or away from me." He then kissed her again and she felt him put something on her left ring finger.

She broke the kiss to look at her hand and cried but not because she was upset still, this time it was from overwhelming joy.

"I love you, Sakura… Uchiha Sakura…"