A/N: This one-shot is a gift for Kirabook and is based on her headcanon: After the War on Tumblr. It takes place immediately post-war and is non-canon. Just imagine that Obito and Madara have already been defeated and Minato and the other past Hokages have already gone. There are some obvious influences from RTN and it's pretty simple plot-wise but I hope you enjoy it! :)

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own or claim ownership of any of the characters used in this story.

Promise

It was the Raikage who made the declaration that the war was over, his deep voice resounding throughout the battlefield as he bellowed out the news. The cheer that followed was almost deafening and even though Naruto was a good distance away from the bulk of the shinobi army, it was loud enough to make him wince.

The war was well and truly done and even though the feeling was somewhat bittersweet, Naruto was glad. Now that the adrenaline of the battle was gone, exhaustion was beginning to sink in and he felt filthy covered in dirt and his own sweat and blood. He surveyed the remains of the battlefield, whistling lowly when he finally took in the amount of damage the surroundings had taken from the battle.

"Looks like they'll really have to redraw the maps, huh?" he said, turning to grin at the man beside him, only to find that he was watching him, his face unreadable. Naruto felt his grin slide right off his face and he sighed deeply.

"We're not really going through with this now, are we?" Naruto asked warily.

Uchiha Sasuke made no reply and remained silent, his dark eyes emotionless as he studied him almost clinically and it was slightly unnerving.

"Do we really have to do this, Sasuke?" Naruto asked wearily. He had hoped of course, but deep down, he knew that this fight was inevitable. "We share the same goal now. There's no reason for us to fight."

"We do not share the same goal," Sasuke contradicted him coolly. "You want to change the shinobi system. I seek to destroy it completely."

Naruto stared at him incredulously.

"What? Why?" he asked, genuinely baffled.

"Don't be naïve, Naruto," Sasuke scoffed. "Do you really think that the villages will remain allies now that the common enemy is gone? Shinobi only know how to fight and kill. Do you really think that centuries of such conditioning will change so easily?"

"I'm not saying that it'll be easy," Naruto said, frustrated. "I know that it won't be easy. But it can be accomplished. I know it can. Besides, how will fighting me solve anything?"

"The first step to peace is to destroy the tailed beasts," Sasuke answered calmly. "They are usually the reason behind the conflict and power imbalances amongst the shinobi. This entire war was because of them. As long as any of them exist, there will always be strife. They must be killed and we can start," –here he looked at Naruto pointedly- "with that abominationinside of you."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists furiously, trying to cool his temper. He knew that blowing his fuse right now wouldn't solve anything. It was a good thing that Kurama wasn't listening in. The kyuubi had been exhausted from the battle and had retreated within him to recuperate. He took a deep breath and was about to respond when someone called out to them.

"Naruto! Sasuke-kun!"

Both men automatically turned at the familiar voice. Naruto felt his heart lurch and his anger dissipated immediately at the sight of Sakura striding quickly towards them. She looked exhausted. There were dirt streaks on her face as well as dark circles under her eyes but her emerald orbs were bright and the edges of her lips were quirked upwards in an exuberant smile. She had her arms outstretched slightly as she neared them and he instantly realised what she was about to do.

Naruto averted his eyes immediately, feeling his heart clench painfully in his chest. He had come to terms with Sakura's feelings for Sasuke long ago, but it didn't make it any less painful and he had no wish to see her embrace the stoic Uchiha, especially right then.

He was caught completely off-guard when he felt something warm crash against him and he grunted in surprise as the force of it caused him to stumble backwards slightly before he caught his balance. Pure shock raced through him when he realised that Sakura was hugging him, her arms wrapped tightly over his back as she pulled him close to her, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"S-Sakura-chan?" He stammered out, hardly daring to believe it.

Sakura said nothing as she tightened her hold on him and after a moment of hesitation, he slowly relaxed as he slid his arms around her, returning the hug.

"Um, Sakura-chan," he began uncertainly, keeping his voice low. "You do know that Sasuke is right over there, right?"

Sakura pulled back far enough to glare up at him, her green eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I know, you idiot," she said crossly. "Are you going to shut up and let me hug you, or are you telling me to back off?"

"No!" Naruto said hastily and he hurriedly pulled her back into his embrace. "Not at all! Hugging is good – hugging is great."

He missed the softening of her eyes and her amused smile as he closed his eyes fleetingly, revelling in the intimacy of the moment as she remained in his arms. Sakura pulled back again all too soon but she didn't release him as she looked up at him, her eyes bright.

"I'm so glad that you're okay," she said, smiling at him softly.

"Me too, Sakura-chan," he responded tenderly, returning the smile.

The moment was cut short when he suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand and instinct took over. Sakura must have sensed the same thing because her eyes widened and in that split second, Naruto grabbed her arm protectively as the two leapt away immediately, narrowly avoiding the black flames that had sprung up right where they had been. They landed a few feet away from where they had been and the black flames burned ominously at their previous position.

The fury that rolled through Naruto was instantaneous and he glared over at Sasuke over his shoulder. Sakura seemed a little shaken as he released her arm but she said nothing as the both of them turned to face the Uchiha. The ominous red of Sasuke's sharingan glinted calculatingly as he watched them with a slight frown.

"What the hell were you doing, Sasuke?" Naruto roared. "You could have killed Sakura-chan!"

"The flames wouldn't have touched her," Sasuke said and in that moment, Naruto utterly despised him for the indifference in his voice. He didn't realise that his whole body was trembling until Sakura laid a hand on his arm, and he calmed down marginally.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura spoke up stiffly, her expression wary.

"Sakura," Sasuke acknowledged, nodding his head at her. "I see that things have truly changed since I left."

He raised his brow at Naruto and the corner of his lips curved into a slight smirk as he looked back at her. Naruto was confused as to what he meant but Sakura flushed slightly, glaring at the dark-haired man.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked tightly, her eyebrows pulled into a tense line as she frowned at him. It almost seemed to Naruto as though she had actually expected something like this to happen and he wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Naruto can't be allowed to live," Sasuke replied without hesitation. "Not if we truly want this system to end."

Naruto could feel Sakura tense up at his words and her hold on his arm tightened slightly.

"End the system?" Sakura frowned. "What are you talking about?"

It was Sasuke's turn to look slightly surprised and he looked to Naruto, who glared back at him stoically.

"So you didn't tell her anything," he stated. Naruto could feel Sakura's questioning look but he shook his head, keeping his gaze trained on Sasuke.

"Naruto, tell me what?" Sakura asked sharply.

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke interjected derisively. "Get out of the way, Sakura. This doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't," Sakura snarled, her eyes flashing angrily. "I don't know what's going on or what you're playing at, Sasuke-kun, but how can you even think of fighting Naruto after everything that has happened? He's the only one who's ever believed in you and stood by you after all that crap you pulled! Now you're saying that you still want to kill him?"

The flicker of uncertainty that flashed in Sasuke's eyes at her words was so brief that Naruto wasn't sure if he had imagined it. Sakura must have seen it as well though, because she took a step forward, releasing her hold on Naruto.

"Please, Sasuke-kun," she implored, her eyes pleading. "Don't do this."

But whatever fleeting moment of doubt Sasuke had had already passed and he narrowed his eyes at her as he took a step forward threateningly, his sharingan bright and piercing.

"Get out of the way," Sasuke repeated, his voice deceptively calm. "I won't ask again."

Naruto didn't know who was more astonished, him or Sasuke, when Sakura moved squarely in front of Naruto and dropped into a defensive stance.

"No," she said firmly as she shook her head resolutely. "I won't allow you to harm Naruto."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said pleadingly. "Don't-"

"I don't want to kill you, Sakura," Sasuke cut in sharply and his eyes were cold and hard. "But understand that if you insist on interfering, I will kill you. Don't be annoying and leave now."

Silence reigned for a moment as they glared at each other and just when Naruto was convinced that Sakura was about to back off, she did something else entirely unexpected.

Sakura smirked at Sasuke and before any of them had any time to react, she drew her arm back, clenching her hand into a tight fist before she punched it to the ground. The force of her punch caused a tremor as the earth cracked beneath their feet and Naruto jumped back instinctively, his arm coming up to protect his face. His eyes watered and he coughed as the dust cloud formed from the flying dirt covered the surrounding area entirely, impairing his vision.

Before he could regain his bearings, someone grabbed his arm and then he was being pulled away. Naruto squinted and he could barely make out the back of Sakura's pink head as she pulled him further along.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing?" Naruto asked while feeling completely bewildered. Of all the possible scenarios he had run through his head when he imagined his fight with Sasuke, this hadn't been in the cards and it was throwing him off completely.

Sakura stopped short in her tracks abruptly and Naruto nearly crashed into her, managing to barely pull back just in time.

"I promised," she said softly, keeping her back to him.

"W-what?"

Sakura turned to face him and he was struck by the resolve in her eyes.

"You made me a promise once that you would bring Sasuke-kun back. But I also promised you years ago that we were going to bring Sasuke back together," she said seriously. "I want to keep my promise, Naruto."

"B-but-"

"No," Sakura said, keeping her gaze steady. "I won't stay out of this. I don't know what happened with Sasuke-kun and I know that there are things that you're keeping from me but I do remember what you said about dying if the two of you fought. Did you really expect me to simply accept that?"

Naruto shook his head at her agitatedly and made to speak when she quickly placed a finger on his lips, silencing him as she glowered at him.

"Don't you dare ask me to sit this one out," she said fiercely, her eyes hard and brows drawn together in a tight line. "I'm done waiting by the side-lines, Naruto. I'm part of this team too. If fighting Sasuke-kun alone means that you both die, then I want to fight too. We can do this together. Please."

Naruto stared at her silently and she returned the favour, her chin coming up stubbornly as she maintained eye contact. He turned his head away after a while, sighing in defeat.

"Alright," he conceded. "But we don't have much time to plan this out," he said, looking around them. The dust cloud that had bought them some time was slowly beginning to settle. Sasuke wouldn't waste his chakra trying to find them in this mess but Naruto knew that the fight would begin the moment the air was clear.

"I already have a plan," Sakura revealed. "I can buy you enough time for you to go into sage mode. I know that you're pretty exhausted and Kurama can't help you out right now, so this is our best chance."

"How are you going to do that?" he asked curiously.

"I have the advantage over the both of you, Naruto," she reasoned. "I still have a fair amount of chakra left whereas the both of you are worn out from the battle - especially you. Sasuke-kun has seen most of your techniques by now. On the other hand, he doesn't know much about my fighting style and techniques and I have quite a few new tricks up my sleeve."

"You do?" Naruto said, and Sakura scowled at the surprise in his voice.

"I haven't been idle, you know," she said, her tone reprimanding. "You and Sasuke-kun may have numerous advantages that I don't, but that doesn't mean that I can't have some specialties of my own too. I'm confident that I can buy you time."

Naruto felt like a complete jerk at that point for doubting her at all and he muttered an apology, scratching the back of his head shamefully.

"Never mind that now," Sakura said impatiently. "Pay attention, we don't have much time."

She began laying out her plan, quickly and briefly explaining the details. It was a simple plan (for which Naruto was grateful) and yet it sounded so unexpectedly effective that even before she was halfway through explaining, he knew that it was going to work. By the time she was done, his eyes were wide with admiration and approval.

"That's brilliant," he said fervently and Sakura beamed at the wonder in his voice.

"We can do this," she said confidently. "Just remember - wait for me to engage him before you try anything else."

Naruto nodded at her in agreement.

Despite everything that was happening, he couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. The last time they had fought side-by-side like this was during the second bell test and that seemed far too long ago.

Just the knowledge that they were going into this together, to fulfil a goal from years before, was enough to make him forget his fatigue and exhaustion.

Feeling a sudden burst of pride and affection for her, Naruto reached out on an impulse and grabbed Sakura's hand, lacing his fingers through hers as he squeezed it gently. Sakura stiffened momentarily in surprise before relaxing as she squeezed his hand reassuringly before letting go.

"Ready, Sakura-chan?" he asked, grinning at her as the thrill of anticipation rushed through him. She looked at him and smiled back, nodding in answer.

"Just so we're clear, you aren't off the hook for keeping stuff from me," she warned him. "You and I are going to have a nice long talk once we kick Sasuke-kun's butt."

"Deal," Naruto said laughingly and the two moved to stand together side-by-side, waiting for the dust to settle.

Reviews are love and would be appreciated. Thanks for reading!