Disclaimer: The characters and setting of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I am only borrowing for the time. Any characters or plot not found in the series belong to me.

A/N(2): A companion fic to Old History, which should probably be read first in order for this to make sense. I plan for there to be several drabble/one-shots posted in here – essentially snapshots of Sakura's reign. More likely than not, they won't be posted in chronological order, so each will include at the top Sakura's age and the year of her reign it takes place in. I'll also list any additional Japanese vocabulary at the top of each snapshot – there shouldn't be very many per chapter, so I'd rather put it there than at the bottom. And as each will be from a different event, they'll have their own genres listed.

As of this post, the entire story has been edited and revised.

-Rhys

Kleenax Warning!

Sakura's Age: 21

Year of Reign: 5

Genre: Angst

He Was Smiling

Haruno Sakura knew fear, knew pain.

She had trained and lived as a shinobi since she was eight. Her life had been personally threatened more times than she could remember. She had first seen death in its grisly reality when she was twelve, on an incomplete bridge in Nami no Kuni.

She had been witness to Uchiha Sasuke's fall to Orochimaru's cursed seal, and Uzumaki Naruto's plunge into temporary insanity as the Kyuubi was finally fully integrated into its vessel.

She had faced one of Konoha's greatest enemies across a battlefield, all but drained of chakra, staring horrified as his Edo Tensei jutsu summoned four of the greatest shinobi her village had ever produced to do battle with her. She had been pinned to a tree with sand as a prize in a battle between two demons.

She had held her brother with shaking arms as she tried to explain death and why their parents weren't coming home in terms a three-year-old could understand. She had performed a cesarean section on herself and given birth to four sons.

At the age of sixteen they had told her that every member of her genin team was dead, and then taken the mantle of strongest shinobi in the village with every one of her supports knocked out from under her and no one in the world to turn to but a dying village that was desperate for her guidance.

Yes, she knew pain, she knew fear. But never in her life had she been more terrified than she was on that day, standing before the doors to the Konoha General Hospital.

-----

Naruto found his teammate standing amongst the cenotaphs in Memorial Glade, her back to the civilian plaques as she stared dully up at the faces of her predecessors. She held her hands almost absently before her. He didn't think she realized they were trembling.

She was silent for several moments before acknowledging him.

"My brother's blood is on my hands," she whispered.

Naruto flinched.

"He was smiling," she continued hoarsely, not wanting to but needing to speak the words. "It was the first time he was awake since I'd admitted him. I haven't seen those emeralds in a week…He looked at me as I came in, and I put my hand on his chest. And he spoke…he said, 'Looks like I'm gonna be outta here in a few days, huh?'…But I couldn't give him a few days…I didn't have enough time, if only I'd had more time, started sooner…."

She paused to draw a shaky, steadying breath. "He said, 'I wish my window faced the other direction. I want to see them put the finishing touches on your face.' He was smiling…and I stopped his heart…he was smiling, oh, God…"

Naruto wrapped his arms around her as she crumbled, cradling her as she wept and keeping a silent vigil. He knew and hated that there was nothing else he could do while the strongest person he had ever know wept for the only family she had left.

-owari-