Hey guys! This is just a one shot that I came up with and just had to write down. Hope you enjoy it!

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The sun was shining and it was a cloudless day. One might even go as far as to say it was perfect.

It was far from that.

While the world went on, laughing and enjoying themselves, life had take a complete nose dive for one blonde haired teen as she stood in front of a freshly dug grave. The state of shock she was in since last week still covered her and hovered at the front of her mind.

This wasn't real. No there was no way it actually happened and any moment now her best friend would come running out to her laughing shyly, saying it was all a bad joke that Naruto planned.

Tears rolled down her face. She wasn't going to come. She was lying in a wooden box, buried six feet in the ground. A sob escaped the girl's mouth as reality came crashing down on her like a tidal wave. They'd never go to the mall together or have their Friday night movie marathons. Never talk about how much they hate Naruto's cousin, Karin. She'd never hear her friend complain about how much History was a bitch or about how she couldn't wait until graduation. She would never again get to talk to her about boys and the drama they caused in her life.

No, none of that was ever going to happen again.

The girl was acutely aware of how much she had taken her best friend for granted. She was the one who rushed over at 1am with Ben and Jerry's after a particularly bad break up. The one who listened unbiasedly and held her as she cried, saying that everything was going to be alright. What had the blonde ever done for her? She couldn't remember a single time when she'd gotten a call from her friend asking for help. The girl let out a scream that show cased all her despair and misery. She was her rock to lean on, the one person she knew she could always count on.

Why was life so unfair? Why did she leave her at that party instead of taking her home?

The girl was so lost in thought that she didn't notice when three guys and one girl stopped behind her, looking on with pity and extreme sadness.

"Ino."

Said girl turned around to meet the blank dark eyes of her boyfriend. He still had trouble expressing his emotions, but Ino could see the unshed tears in his eyes. She wasn't the only one hurting because of this.

"Sai. She's really gone. She's gone and she's never coming back."

She felt herself being wrapped up in his arms and more strangled sobs escaped her fragile hold. Sai couldn't imagine what the blonde girl was going through at this moment. He had never had a relationship like the one they had had, though he did feel the gap that she had left. He was proud to say that the girl was a friend of his as much as she was of Ino's. She's the one that helped him discover what feelings and true friendship meant. No one will ever be able to take her place in their lives, no matter how many year may pass.

The two boys behind him cleared their throats and the couple turned, finally acknowledging their presence.

Ino's eyes hardened as they landed on the boys.

"What the hell are you two doing here?!" She screamed at them, the fire of hate and damnation burning bright in her blue eyes.

"Ino, they were her friends too." Sai said trying to placate the girl, but he only succeeded in putting wood on the fire.

"FRIENDS?! They have no right to call themselves that!"

Sai looked from his girlfriend to the two boys who flinched as her words assaulted them while the girl next to them stared at the ground, eyes filled with loss.

Well, one visibly flinched while the other stood there as impassive as ever.

The blonde boy felt the tears that he had been holding back, slip form his blue eyes.

"It...We never...It wasn't supposed to happen." He whispered.

Ino's glare turned murderous.

"Damn straight it never should have happened! That's what's wrong with you Naruto! You never stop to think about how your actions affect the people around you! She should be here right now! She should be on her way to Medical school! But no! She'll never get to live out her dream and it's all your fault!"

Naruto's closed as he accepted the harshness of Ino's words. As mush as they tore his soul apart, he could not hide from the truth in them. It was all his fault that one of his best friends was dead. He was the one who was driving that night, even though he was drunk off his ass. He could remember her trying to talk him out of driving, her green eyes pleading for him to see reason. He had just shoved her into the backseat telling her that she worried too much and calling her a killjoy. If only he'd listened to her, if only he wasn't so pig headed! She was the first person to see him for who he was. It was because of her that he had all the friends he did now. She had helped him fall in love with the girl next to him, the love of his life, Hinata. She had done so much for him and what did he do to repay her?

He caused her death.

Ino stopped yelling at Naruto as he sank to his knees, crying and repeating I'm sorry over and over again to the ground. She then turned her steely gaze to the dark haired male next to him, his impassive face fueling her rage.

"And you! How can you stand there feeling nothing?! Did she not mean anything to you at all?!"

He just stood there, his face a blank slate. If she had known him better, Ino would have seen a rage behind his onyx eyes that matched her own. Of course, no one knew to look for that except for two people in this world. One was currently facing the ground and the other, well...

She was dead.

It was a fact that Sasuke Uchiha was reminded of every day. He no longer saw her face looking at him from her bedroom window, which was across from his. He didn't hear her calling out to him at school anymore or asking him for help in History. He never imagined how empty his life would be without her. Sasuke had admitted to himself that yes, she was indeed a friend of his and he was comfortable with that. Lately he had found himself wanting to be around her more and more, wanting to hear her voice and to see her smile. He wasn't blind. Sasuke saw the way she looked at him, he knew that she was in love with him. At first, it was just an annoyance, her constant fussing and chattering annoyed him to the point that he'd tell her that she was annoying on a daily basis. Now that she was no longer here, Sasuke felt the threads of guilt tug at his heart. She was always there for him. When his parents died and yet again when his brother passed years later, she was there by his side, never wavering or changing. She was his constant in life and Sasuke was certain that if this had never happened, he would have fallen in love with her too. He stood silent for quite some time as Ino cursed him before he snapped.

"Who the hell are you to point fingers? You had a hand in this too Yamanaka. You were the one that left her there so we had to take her home." His tone dripped with venom and he felt faint satisfaction when he saw her eyes widen and her face fall.

That's right, he thought, now its your turn to feel some guilt.

"Don't you dare say that she meant nothing to me. She was my everything and I regret not stopping Naruto from driving every day."

He had never told them this, but she shouldn't have died in that accident. Sasuke was supposed to have died, not her. She protected him, shielded his body with hers. She gave her life for his and he's never be able to repay her for it.

Sasuke didn't notice or feel the tears that trailed down his face as he spoke. The more he thought about her, the more broken he felt. Hinata felt that this was a good time to intervene before things got any uglier.

"Guys stop it. She wouldn't have wanted us to lay blame or fight. She would have wanted us to be there for each other."

Everyone looked at the dark haired girl in shock. She was right though. If she had seen them fighting, she would have bashed their heads together in anger and then proceed to lecture them about friendship.

Ino let out a strangled giggle.

"If she were here right now, she'd be super pissed at us."

Sai nodded.

"She always was the peacekeeper of the group."

Naruto picked himself up off the ground with a shaky smile.

"Although sometimes she was scary as hell."

"She was always there for us when we needed her, wasn't she?" Hinata said quietly.

Sasuke nodded as he looked at the tomb stone that said:

Sakura Haruno

Loving Daughter and Beloved Friend

"Aa. Our little Stone Angel."

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I think what motivated me to write this was that I have recently reconnected with some old friends from high school. I guess it just hit me that sometimes we take our friends for granted. The things they do for us and the way that they understand who we are as a person. What I'm trying to say is don't take your friends for granted. You never know when you may need them. Let me know what you think of this little One shot and leave me a review! I love getting those and hearing you thoughts! Don't forget to check out my other stories too while you are at it!