Bang.
Sakura stared as he continued to scream at them. Naruto, Kakashi, everyone was trying to hold him back, trying to restrain him, but he couldn't be contained. He was an Uchiha. She shivered as his cold red eyes passed over her. He grinned manically and shot out to her. Feeling his arm tighten around her throat, she gasped quietly.
Bang.
"Stop! All of you stop, or I'll kill her! I will! Watch me!" he screamed at them. Sakura felt her eyes well up with tears. "Don't any of you move!"
"Sakura, talk some sense into him!" yelled Naruto at her. She nodded and, closing her eyes, took a deep breath.
Bang.
"Sasuke, Sasuke, what are you doing?" she asked, then was cut off from going on by his arm squeezing her neck tighter.
"Shut up! Shut up Sakura!" he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. He laughed. "Look at them! Look at them Sakura! See how they're waiting? They're waiting to see if you can talk to me, and when they see you can't, that no one can, they'll come, thinking I won't kill you, but you know I will, don't you? Don't you …"
Bang.
His grip on her tightened and his cheek rubbed against hers. "Sakura," he hissed. Sakura swallowed and tried not to cry out as the sharp blade he was pressing against her throat pierced her skin. She began to freely sob, not caring who saw, not caring that Sasuke, her Sasuke, the one she loved, was holding her tight.
Bang.
Their tears mingled for a moment, then he shivered and whispered, "It is - not my intention - to hurt you." Sakura, trembling in his arms, felt his grip loosen slightly.
"Then…what is your intention?" she whispered back hoarsely. He was still for a moment, then let her go, kicking her forward.
"Alright!" he cried. "I'll be done! You've driven me here, you've driven me to this, with your blindness and idiocy, and now I'm done!" He glared at the assembly of ninjas before him. "One act," he muttered. "One act and then I will be done…" He grinned and pulled out a scroll. Tension building, nobody daring to move, he took the scroll in two hands, bowed gracefully, and ripped it in half.
BANG.
As Sasuke Uchiha rose above the Hidden Leaf Village, seeing his comrades for what might have been the last time, a huge explosion was set off in the most crowded section of the village. All but two of the ninja rushed off to that section…one girl and one boy stayed and stared at the sky.
Sakura Haruno stayed where she was, lying on the ground, sobbing. Sasuke had done this. The Sasuke she had mooned over, the Sasuke who had never cared for her, he had just destroyed the village and killed hundreds of innocent people, and had almost killed her…
Naruto Uzumaki, on the other hand, stood there stonily, staring up into the sky, trying to understand. Sasuke had cracked. He had attacked the village, setting off explosions, killing people, and everyone, every ninja in the village couldn't stop him.
Through all his thoughts, there was one thing he really wondered. Even pondering his life, Sasuke's life, their friendship, throughout it all, all Naruto could really wonder was why? He knew it was his fault – it had to be. He had failed.
He dropped to his knees and screamed to the heavens, "WE LOVED YOU SASUKE! YOU BELONGED HERE..." His face fell into his arms, and, as day faded to dusk, the two remaining members of Team 7 cried for their teammate, their partner, their friend.
Fifteen Years Later
Chapter One
"I expect every one of you to be able to produce an able clone by Monday!" I reminded the students as the filed out of the classroom. Smiling softly, I ignored all the ill-disguised whispers of, "Sakura-sensei is so unfair!" A few of the girls shyly offered me a flower, and I smiled at them and set it on my desk, thanking them. They hurried out to their families and I picked up a stack of papers I needed to read and sign and organize and such, but stopped at a sound at the door. "Come in," I said, amused. Naruto poked his head in and grinned.
"So how many students hate you now?" he asked, stepping in and leaning against the wall. I laughed and rolled my eyes.
"Most of them – but hey, I got a flower!" I said, holding it up. His grin widened and he held up an apple.
"Good for you, but I got an apple," he said, throwing it up and catching it over and over again. I smiled and nodded at him.
"Shut up," I muttered, amused. He shrugged and put the apple away. It was silent for a moment – but not awkwardly. In the fifteen years since we were kids, the feeling of awkwardness had evaporated. I continued to gather some more papers, and when I stood back up again that stupid grin was gone from Naruto's face and he was staring out the window longingly. I raised an eyebrow. "Naruto…" I said, jerking him from his thoughts.
"Oh, sorry…" he paused. "Sakura," he began. "How about we go on a little…mission of sorts?" I raised an eyebrow, smiling.
"What kind of mission?" I asked. He ambled over to me and shrugged.
"Oh I don't know…maybe one that goes to a beach," he said. I let out a little sigh and shook my head.
"You know there's no beaches anywhere near here," I told him, continuing to organize papers. He shrugged.
"That's why it's a mission. We could leave tomorrow, be there in the late afternoon, spend the night there and be back no later than four o'clock Sunday." I paused at this solid reasoning. It made sense, even sounded fun. I glanced at him, and grinned.
"I don't know. Iruka'll be seriously pissed at us if we don't have the squads finished by Monday," I said smartly. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"We're almost finished anyways – just pick them at random," he said, laughing. I smiled slightly as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck. "C'mon Sakura…let's just have a few days off…you…me…the beach…" he whispered. I sighed.
"Okay. I'll go," I relented. He beamed and I laughed at his enthusiasm. "But both you and I have got to do some serious work tonight to get the squad assignments done!" He rolled his eyes and grabbed some papers.
"Alright, these three can go with Kakashi, these are now assigned to Kurenai, and I think Chouji can take care of these," he announced, throwing done papers as he did so. I shook my head.
"You know it's more than that. Let's go – and pick those papers up!" He did as he was told and we walked back to our apartments together, saying a polite hello to whoever said hello to us automatically. Oh, the skills born from being a teacher…
I smiled as we approached our place. We'd been living together for about a year now, and I noticed, almost comically, that Naruto was the one who was keeping the place from falling into a disaster area. What can I say? I'm a natural-born mess-maker.
We sat down at the table together. "Here," he said. "That's my analysis on each and every one of the students. Find some flaw, I dare you." I smiled and opened the folder. There, in his messy scrawl of handwriting, were the student's names and half a page of who they are. I tried not to act surprised, but I was amazed at how in-depth it was. I flipped through a couple of them at first, then grabbed one.
"Kajitsu Hyuuga – determined, short attention span (distracted easily – shiny things must be avoided at all costs). Has possible potential (what Hyuuga doesn't), very patient when tries," I read aloud. "You're great at this, Naruto." He laughed and shrugged.
"I try, I try," he said modestly. I laughed and set the folder down.
"Okay, and here," I said, holding out another folder. "Is my analysis of each of the student's strengths." I handed it to him and he flipped through them.
"Psh, some of this stuff is ridiculous, Sakura," he informed me, shaking my head. I rolled my eyes.
"Well thanks for the encouragement."
"Okay," he began. "I'll sort the kids into squads according to personality and you sort them according to strength level, and then we'll discuss any issues. Alright?" he asked. I nodded. Silently, we started our tasks. I tried to balance out the squads, but not to the extent of our old group – which I'll always remember as a lesson in squad placement more than anything else.
My mind began to wander. Sasuke Uchiha – I hadn't seen him other than in the picture in my room for, what, fifteen years now? I could barely recall what he looked like. But I remember what I was like. A pompous, stuck up jerk. Or maybe that was Sasuke. I'll have to ask Naruto sometime, he remembers every little detail of those times.
I shook my head and quickened my pace. Naruto took his time placing squads, but he was almost finished already. He seriously wanted to go to the beach. I finished in a neutral mood, ignoring the memory of Sasuke and old times resurfacing.
Naruto began to present the squads he had, and I agreed on a few of them, but a couple were outright outrageous. He thought the same of my squads.
Eventually, though, all of them were sorted. Knowing Kakashi, we sorted the toughest and smartest in his squad. He'd try the bell training on them. And if I were nicer, I would probably tip them off.
But we got through it. They should be able to.
By that time it was absolutely finished, it had been another three hours since we left. I laughed, amazed at our pace. "Wow," I said. "That was quick." Naruto grinned.
"We're so hardcore." I laughed and nodded, agreeing. We locked eyes for a moment, then he smiled. "Do you want to go get something to eat?" he asked. I smiled and nodded. He took me by the hand and we went to some small ramen store to have dinner.
Once we had gotten our food, however, Naruto didn't eat. He just stared into his bowl, swirling the contents around.
"What's wrong?" I asked. He looked up, frowning. For a moment, he looked confused, then he shook his head and sighed.
"It's nothing Sakura." He smiled. "Eat up!"
Slightly concerned for him, I nodded and we finished our meal. He held my hand as we leisurely walked around the village, seeing the sights of Konoha at night. The moon was high in the sky when I noticed Naruto was gravitating towards the woods, staring into the distance. I sighed and stopped walking. He didn't even notice.
"Naruto," I said reasonably. He didn't move. "Naruto!" I repeated, squeezing his hand slightly. He turned to look at me, with a look of surprise on her face.
"Oh, hi Sakura."
"What's wrong? I'm not blind, I can see that your head isn't here," I told him, locking my arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around my waist and bit the inside of his lip.
"Okay…it's just…alright, this is going to make me sound like an idiot, but do you realize what day it is?" he asked seriously. I raised an eyebrow.
"Uh…Friday?" I asked.
"Yes, that too, but…fifteen years ago today. Don't tell me you can't even remember the date," he said. I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but I really have no idea what you're talking about," I told him, shrugging. He rolled his eyes.
"Come on…you were always the one who couldn't let it go…" he murmured, turning his head to look back at the forest. I closed my eyes, trying to make the connection, then frowned.
"Sasuke?" I asked. He nodded solemnly. "It's been fifteen years. You still remember the date?" I asked skeptically. He nodded again. "Wow Naruto." He glanced back at me.
"Whatever Sakura."
It was silent for a moment, then I said, "I'm guessing you want to go visit the-"
Without even letting me finish, he let go of my waist and entwined his fingers in mine, strolling off towards the forest. He didn't stumble once on his way, and when we got there he let go of my hand and brushed his fingers across the carving.
It was a tree. There was 'TEAM7 – KAKASHI, NARUTO, SAKURA, SASUKE –FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS' carved into the bark and a picture nestled into the roots of the tree. I smiled as he stared at it.
"…it seems so long ago, doesn't it?" I asked quietly.
"It was a long time ago," said Naruto, unfazed. When we were kids, I never understood the bond between Naruto and Sasuke, but I think I have a little glimpse now. Watching Sasuke leave like that made Naruto feel so helpless, made him realize how much of a failure it was to lose him.
After a moment, I felt a hand on my shoulder and, turning around, I saw our old sensei, Kakashi. He raised an eyebrow towards Naruto and I nodded. We were friends now, no more student-teacher relationship. Age obviously had taken its toll on him, but he was still going on as a sensei, however much we pester him to quit.
I wonder why, after fifteen years, none of us could let it go. We were clinging onto something, I don't know what, but we wouldn't let it slip out of our grasp.
It was silent again, but a different kind of silence than before. Still, it wasn't awkward, but it was loud now. It pressed down on the three of us, accusing us, pointing out what we did wrong. I shivered at the intensity of it all.
"Naruto," I muttered, putting a hand on his back. He turned around and sighed.
"Funny, isn't it," he began, looking between Kakashi and I. "Fifteen years and this thing's still standing."
He meant more than that, but nothing more was said. Eventually, Naruto left with me, after saying goodbye to Kakashi. As we walked back, Naruto had a strange expression on his face. Only in the recent years had that face developed. When we were twelve-year old kids with hopes and dreams, he never had that face on.
Naruto was thinking.
Once we reached our little house (more of an apartment, but the real estate agent insisted we call it a house), Naruto kissed me quickly then muttered about going to turn in the papers to Iruka. I nodded, knowing it was more than that, and stepped into the house, shivering. Although winter wasn't officially supposed to come for a while now, it could get pretty cold. I settled down to read a book until Naruto came back.
In less than a minute, there was a light knock on my door. I got up and frowned, thinking it was Naruto. He has a key; why would he need to knock? I figured it might be some student's parent or something like that.
So I guess that's why I was slightly surprised when I saw Sasuke Uchiha standing on my doorstep. I blinked. "Either I'm dreaming, or someone's playing a really unfunny prank on me," I said, stepping aside and letting him in.
"Neither, Sakura," he said grimly. I laughed.
"Oh no, Naruto, what is this?" I asked. "Do you think showing up as Sasuke will make me respect the way you can't let it go?" Sasuke frowned.
"What?" he asked.
I sighed and said, "Not you, Naruto? Then dang, when did I fall asleep?" I muttered. Sasuke shook his head.
"Sakura Haruno, look at me," he demanded. I did so skeptically. "Tell me, has it been so long you don't even recognize me when I come to you?" I laughed and shook my head.
"Well, Sasuke Uchiha, I recognize you very well, but there's just two things logically wrong with you being here. Number one, you would never talk that much, especially to me. Number two, I believe you're dead. Sorry," I told him, shrugging. He raised an eyebrow.
"I'd never say this much? So you don't remember the day I left?" he asked. I shook my head, grinning.
"Hmm, slightly. I think you scarred me for life, but that's okay. We visited our little memorial to you today but – no offense – I wasn't really thinking memories," I said, still not believing it was the real Sasuke.
He shook his head and said, "Sakura, I suddenly appear, expecting you to faint or at least say you missed me, and all I get is you telling me you think I'm dead and that you didn't even think of me at the memorial you made for me!" I stopped and laughed.
"You know, it is funny, if you think about it." He looked at me, eyes rolling.
"I forgot how annoying you are," he said in a voice that made something inside of me click. I turned to look straight at his face and turned white.
"Oh my God. You're back…" I whispered. He grinned evilly.
"Finally. Yes I am." Trembling, I sat on my bed. He stood there, above me, looking like he was above all humanity. I swallowed and stared at him.
"I thought you were dead," I told him, putting a hand up to my forehead. He shrugged and nodded.
"You've mentioned that."
In half a second, I stood up and, with all the power I had, I slapped him across the face.
With a poof of smoke, he turned into a log.
I sighed and said out loud to basically no one, "Why do I keep mistaking logs for people?" There was a shout outside and I hurtled out of the door. I wrapped my arms around myself, seeing nothing. And then, from out of nowhere, Naruto stormed up to me, threw one arm around my waist and kissed me. My hands went up into his hair and I kissed him passionately back, until, after what felt like forever in heaven, he pulled away and looked, smirking, at someone standing a few yards away, staring stonily at us.
"See," hissed Naruto. "We got over it. We got over you. You hurt us, Sasuke, but we got over it. We're happy now. Not because you left, but because we got on with our lives. Try it. Or, better yet, get a life, instead of crawling back here and expecting us to worship you." I stared at Naruto, eyes wide, then to Sasuke, who was still glaring at us, looking slightly hurt.
"You think I care? You think I care that you, you of all people, took advantage of her when she was still recovering from loving me?" he began. My jaw dropped and I shook my head fiercely.
"I never loved you!" I said, a little too loudly, my grip around Naruto tightening. "Never! And just because you would have done that to me doesn't mean that Naruto would!" Naruto nodded, responding by holding me closer to him.
"Don't drag yourself into this Sakura!" Sasuke screamed at me, turning slightly red. I glared at him.
"Then stop lying to yourself!" I said, wildly improvising. He stared at me for a moment, as if wanting to say something, then looked away. Naruto let out a hollow bark of laughter.
"You disgust me, Sasuke…" he paused for a moment. "Loser." Sasuke looked up, stung. I swallowed and nodded.
"What…" he forced out. "What did I do?"
"What did you do?" I asked, not believing he just said that. I pushed Naruto away gently and stalked up to Sasuke. "Well, for one, you killed people! Innocent people! Parents, children, brothers, sisters, friends!" I hissed.
"Do you even know why?" he asked angrily. I was silent. "You don't! Even after fifteen years, neither one of you has figured out why!"
"You're just like your brother!" said Naruto suddenly. "You did exactly what he did, didn't you? You murdered. You massacred, you're just like him!" Sasuke clenched his teeth and shook his head.
"I am not!" he replied, trembling and clenching his fists. I frowned.
"What do you mean, Naruto?" I demanded sharply. He slipped an arm around me, coming up behind me, and I smirked as he faced Sasuke.
"His brother. Itachi Uchiha. Killed his whole clan. I thought you knew, Sakura," he said, shrugging. My eyes widened.
"Ha! You know nothing about me, my old friends! Nothing!" he said defiantly, as if to prove something. I shook my head and stared at him.
"He hasn't changed, has he Naruto?" I asked, staring straight at Sasuke. He narrowed his eyes and Naruto nodded.
"You're right. Unlike either of us, he's the same as when he left…" He paused. "Snobbish," he began. "Self-centered," he said, punctuating each word with a gentle squeeze of his arms around me. "And pathetic," he finished. Sasuke, flushed, glared at us with poison emanating from his eyes.
For a moment, his eyes flickered red, but he sighed and relented, his shoulders sagging.
"I apologize. You two are right. I did some completely stupid things, I am just like him, I haven't changed, but I had to come back. I missed this place, almost as much as I hated it," he murmured, staring at the ground. I blinked. "Too many years away, away from something I don't even know, but it's just been too long." I stared at the ground.
"You know…you know that neither of us can ever forgive you for what you did to us," muttered Naruto, holding me tighter than ever. I nodded in agreement.
"I do know. I've spent years hating myself, trying to at least glimpse how much you must hate me," replied Sasuke. I shook my head.
"That's just it," I said quietly.
"We don't hate you," finished Naruto. Sasuke looked up, as if we had just hit him with something blunt and heavy. I smiled softly for a moment. "We never hated you, Sasuke. And although we can't forgive the Sasuke we knew, I'm, at least, willing to give this Sasuke another try." I nodded gently and Naruto stepped towards Sasuke. "So what do you say? Should we start over?" Naruto said, holding out his hand.
For a long moment, Sasuke stared at Naruto's hand. Finally, he took it, and smiled. "Thank you." Naruto grinned and nodded.
"No problem, Uchiha."
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Man, this story is from a LONG time ago. I was talking to my sister on deviantArt, when I found this story on my desktop. I read it over, and I was like, holy crap this is pretty good.
I found Naruto channeling Edward Cullen a little in this story, even though I wrote this before I even ever heard of Twilight. I...dislike...Twilight, so this frightens me somewhat. :D
Review, as always. Constructive criticism is like cookies! You never can get enough!