The pouring rain did nothing to cool his temper.
'What gave her the right?'
He had worked so hard, crossing miles of terrain, fighting enemy after enemy, until finally he caught up with his best friend and surrogate brother. They fought, brutally and bitterly. So evenly matched that it seemed the only outcome would be stalemate. But he prevailed in the end. He managed to subdue Sasuke and bring him back to the village, though it was a costly victory. Sasuke would never see again. During the violent explosion that resulted from each shinobi's final jutsu, the blinding flash that resulted overloaded Sasuke's retinas, destroying his ability to ever use his doujutsu again. A terrible fee to pay for being a traitor, but it could have been worse.
No, right now the higher fee had been paid by the one who brought the runaway back to the village.
Naruto.
He now had an ugly scar on his chest from where Sasuke's Chidori nearly destroyed his lung. If it weren't for the demon sealed in his stomach, he would have been dead several times over already. He was still angry; angry and confused about the events that led him to this current moment in his life.
Naruto stood at the top of the Hokage Monument looking down at the village as he contemplated the events of the past, replaying events in his head, and analyzing them in a vain attempt to derive answers from them.
*Several months ago*
Naruto stood there facing the pinkette.
"How could you Naruto? He can never be a ninja again. His life is ruined. Why? WHY!?"
She beat her hands against his chest, angry that Naruto didn't try harder to bring Sasuke back unharmed. As she beat his chest a red splotch began to form in his shirt over his freshly closed wound. He ignored the growing blood stain and focused on the only thing that truly mattered in his life, his desire, his special person, his love interest and other team mate.
"Sakura-chan, I did what I had to do to bring him back." He hesitated a bit before continuing, "He tried to kill me!"
"I don't believe you Naruto." She continued to sob, her hands balled into fists resting against his chest. "I think you were jealous."
Naruto frowned at this.
"I think you wanted to hurt him so that he could no longer be better than you." Her voice was cold and bitter.
Naruto's frown hardened, "Sakura, you don't know what you are talking about. I had no other alternative."
Sakura mumbled something too low for him to hear.
"Sorry Sakura-chan, I missed what you sa-"
"I SAID I HATE YOU!"
Naruto visibly flinched.
"Sakura-chan," he said, slightly shaken by the sudden change in demeanor "Surely you don't mean that?"
"I have never meant anything more in my life." She said resolutely.
"Is this how you feel Sakura-chan? For real?" Tears welled up in his eyes as he waited for her answer.
"Yes." She replied coolly as if she were discussing the weather. "And since you are so good at keeping promises, I want you to make one more for me."
He looked at her, shocked.
She turned her back to him and began to walk away. She only made it a few feet before she stopped and looked back.
"I want you to promise me that you will never bother me again, not even if this world is ending and I am about to die. Never speak to me again, never talk to me, and don't come around anymore. You are dead to me."
Naruto could only nod woodenly.
"It's the promise of a lifetime… Sakura-chan."
*A few weeks after the argument*
True to his word, Naruto never once bothered her, attempt to talk to her. He even went out of his way and changed his entire routine to ensure he would never cross paths with her. Word spread like wildfire among the Konoha rookies. They were all astounded and appalled by Sakura's behavior toward her team mate. It was one thing to be a little angry, but to pretty much demoralize the boy after he had sacrificed so much for her happiness; it was just too much for them to take.
After a week, it wasn't just Naruto that was shutting Sakura out of his life. Surprisingly, Ino soon joined Naruto in avoiding the pinkette after she inquired as to why the boy was giving the pinkette the cold shoulder. She couldn't believe the audacity of her best friend treating her team mate like he was not even human. No one deserved to be treated like Naruto had been. Ino, being the natural crusader, decided that it was too much an injustice to Naruto and the others, who risked their lives to bring the traitor back, to allow this horrendous act to go un-punished. She quickly set about rallying the rest of the rookies into her cause. They were quick to join.
Another few weeks passed. Sakura had noticed the lack of attention. Whenever she went to see Ino at the flower shop, Ino would ask her mother to sit for her at the store and would excuse herself without so much as acknowledging Sakura's presence.
Choji and Shikamaru would simply turn and walk the other way any time they saw her walking toward them out in the village.
Hinata actually had to hold Kiba back when they encountered her in the hall outside the Hokage's Office. They had just returned from a mission and had delivered their report to Tsunade when they unceremoniously bumped into Sakura in the hall. Kiba muttered the word 'bitch' in passing. Naturally Sakura's temper spoke for her and she retorted in the usual manner, with her fists. Akamaru got in the way and ended up taking one of Sakura's punches. The dog was promptly rendered unconscious and Kiba saw red. Had Hinata not intervened Sakura would probably have been killed by the dog loving nin.
Time continued to pass like this. Sakura's friends were distancing themselves more and more from her. At first she didn't really let it get to her. If they wanted to act like children, then let them. But after a while, she started to become lonely. She finally started to go out of her way to try and talk to one of them, or any of them. They avoided her like the plague. Gradually, Sakura began to fall into depression. None of her friends would talk to her or even acknowledge her existence. Even the old man and Ayame at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand would only begrudgingly serve her food with nothing more than a glare as they drop the bill in front of her.
After another week, she began to break down. At first, it was just at home, when she would lay down for bed and wonder to herself why her friends were acting like this. This quickly escalated to public bouts of subtle sobbing when she was blatantly ignored by Ino at the fruit stand one morning. Sakura walked right up to Ino and said 'hello' but the blonde just ignored her, motioned for the vendor, handed him money and then turned and walked away as if Sakura wasn't even there.
Sakura felt as if she had died and her body just hadn't caught on to the fact. Finally one morning, she couldn't take it anymore. She went to Tsunade in a last ditch effort to ask for advice. Tsunade almost considered telling the girl off and asking her to leave, but as the hokage, she needed to see after the wellbeing of EVERY Shinobi under her command, regardless of whether or not she liked that particular Shinobi. She listened to Sakura as the girl recounted the events that she had been experiencing over the last few months. When she was finished, Tsunade just sighed.
"Look Sakura, it's not really that hard to figure out. Everybody knows what happened between you and Naruto. Everyone knows what kind of person you revealed yourself to be. I am honestly surprised that ignoring you is the ONLY thing they have done."
Sakura hung her head. 'I really fucked up'
She looked back up, meeting the hokage's honey brown eyes. "What can I do to fix it? I'm so lonely. No one will talk to me or even acknowledge that I'm alive."
Tsunade shrugged her shoulders, "Honestly, Sakura, I'm not sure if this is fixable. The only thing I can suggest is that you try to talk to Naruto and apologize. Try to make amends. You will be lucky if you even end up on speaking terms though, in my opinion. All I can say is try."
With that, the hokage returned to her paperwork, signifying the end of the conversation, regardless of what Sakura wanted. The girl turned and walked out of the office. Her destination: Naruto's apartment.
*Naruto's Apartment*
It took her longer than she wanted to get there, and at the same time, she didn't want to be there at all. She didn't want to have to face the blonde boy. Before she knew it, she was at his door knocking. At first there was no answer, and she almost lost her courage. She turned to walk away but quickly wheeled back around at the sound of the door yanking open. A face with a head of blonde hair attached to it poked itself out the door, and she quickly recognized the look of curiosity change to the look of disdain as a scowl formed on his face.
"What the hell do you want Haruno?"
Taken aback by the sudden lack of suffix and the formal use of her name, she almost lost her nerve to speak.
"Well?" He said, patience clearly not present at the moment.
He started to close the door when she finally found her voice.
"I'm sorry."
He hesitated, but his scowl deepened.
"Sorry for what? That you didn't berate me and hit me enough? Go peddle your pity-party elsewhere Haruno, I'm not buying."
He slammed the door in her face.
Sakura tried several more times to talk to Naruto throughout the week. Each time she was met with a door slam to the face or a "Leave me the hell alone Haruno" from the other side of the door.
Finally, she encountered him outside his apartment. She was worn from stress and loneliness. She was going to talk to him today or she was going to die trying. She walked up to him as he sat on the head of the 4th hokage at the monument, atop the mountain looking out over the village.
"Naruto, can we please talk?"
At first he ignored her. She expected this. She finally walked around and sat down right in front of him, forcing him to acknowledge her presence. This was it. This was going to be the conversation that would make or break her. She didn't have the fortitude to deal with this depression any longer. It was time everything was out in the air.
"Naruto, please just listen to me-"
"No Haruno." He leveled an Icy glare. "I am done listening. I am done talking. You asked me for a promise. I made that promise and I intend to keep it." He got up and began to walk away.
She was confused at first.
'What promised had he made me?'
Her mind flashed back to the argument they had months ago.
*Flashback*
"I SAID I HATE YOU!"
Naruto visibly flinched.
"Sakura-chan," he said, slightly shaken by the sudden change in demeanor "Surely you don't mean that?"
"I have never meant anything more in my life." She said resolutely.
"Is this how you feel Sakura-chan? For real?" Tears welled up in his eyes as he waited for her answer.
"Yes." She replied coolly as if she were discussing the weather. "And since you are so good at keeping promises, I want you to make one more for me."
He looked at her, shocked.
She turned her back to him and began to walk away. She only made it a few feet before she stopped and looked back.
"I want you to promise me that you will never bother me again, not even if this world is ending and I am about to die. Never speak to me again, never talk to me, and don't come around anymore. You are dead to me."
Naruto could only nod woodenly.
"It's the promise of a lifetime… Sakura-chan."
*End Flashback*
Her hand flew to her mouth as tear sprung from her eyes. She now realized how truly late she was to try and fix her friendship. Tsunade was right; there really wasn't anything she could do now. When Naruto made a promise, it truly was a promise of a lifetime. He fully intended to do exactly as she had asked him. It was at this point that a revelation hit her. She had completely alienated herself from everyone she knew and cared about simply because she was a selfish, uncaring bitch.
She finally stood as well. Her vision blurred as fresh tears streamed down her face.
"Naruto, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." He stopped, but didn't turn, giving her the courtesy of at least hearing what she had to say before he left.
"I can see that I have dealt you nothing but pain. I can see that my existence pains you greatly, even now."
She pulled something from her pocket and laid it on the ground, placing a stone over it so that it wouldn't blow away with the wind. Then she stepped back toward the edge of the monument.
She started to lean backward, sobbing more now that she had cemented her resolve into what she was about to do.
Before she disappeared over the side of the cliff she called out, "Goodbye…Naruto."
Confused, he turned only to see the last few strands of her hair disappear as she fell from the clifftop.
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
He ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down to see Sakura Haruno's broken body on the rocks below. Through his now blurry vision, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. There on the ground, held down by a rock was a picture. He picked it up and brushed the dirt off of it. He began to cry as he looked at the face, that only a few minutes ago was trying to plead with him to listen. That face was now broken at the bottom of the hokage monument, never to be beautiful again. A tear fell from his eye, landing on the photo of team 7. He turned it on its side to let the saline roll off and noticed there was writing on the backside.
"I never said it when I should have. Thank you."
*Present Time*
The rain did nothing to cool his temper.
'What gave her the right'
He had worked so hard.
He had worked so hard in keeping his promise that he let it blind him to the suffering of a girl he had once sworn he would die for. Now she was gone; forever an empty pit in his heart.
The days after Sakura committed suicide Naruto refused to come out of his apartment. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months as Naruto remained mired in his deep depression. He blamed himself of course. Had he swallowed his pride and just listened to the girl, she would still be alive today. Hell, they might have even rekindled their friendship, but his stubborn pride won out and now he was reaping his just reward.
After three months Naruto came out of his apartment. It was the early hours of the morning. He went to the cemetery and sat in front of Sakura's grave. He cried. He cried for hours. He begged her to forgive him for not being a friend when she needed him most. He realized that he had been just as bad as she had been to him. Overcome with grief, he went to the last place that he had spoken to her. He remembered that his last words to her were harsh. Oh how he wished he could take it all back now. He thought back to the very first promise he had ever made to himself regarding the pinkette.
When he first set eyes on her as little kids he was smitten, he swore right then and there he would make her happy for the rest of her life or die trying. She was no longer around to forgive and make happy, all he had now was his life.
He honored her, by giving her the last thing he had.
He jumped.