The Last Summer
A Closet Mangaka
Konoha was quiet. The breeze that made the wind chimes sing was missing. The adults that chattered constantly were gone too. The children who ran crazy, pretending to be ninja were gone too. They were exactly like Naruto used to be.
Naruto.
A rose colored head moved along this abandoned town. She lingered along slowly, looking at the ruins of what had been a prestigious town.
She was obviously hurt. There was a slow scarlet stain on her clothes that was becoming increasingly visible. However, she kept going. It seemed crucial that reached wherever she was going.
Soon she stopped in front of an ordinary house, just like all the others on the street. Taking a deep breath (And wincing slightly at the pain of it), she pushed open the door. Slowly, she walked up the stairs and down a hallway. She came to a halt in front of a vibrant pink door.
*Sakura Haruno*
STAY OUT
Her old room. The last safe place she'd had in almost 10 years. For some unknown reason, she had forced herself to come back here. She twisted the cherry blossom shaped doorknob and opened the door.
She walked in and was immediately greeted with a wave of nostalgia. The smell of the perfume she had used so long ago was still lingering in this closed space. She looked around and recognized certain landmarks. The time she spilt her brand new cherry nail polish in the corner? The stain was still there. She looked on her desk and would have started laughing, if it weren't for the pain. Naruto had left his ramen bowl here, right on her desk, almost 10 years ago!
Baka.
She missed that Baka. Her pale, worn out, lips twisted upwards into what technically did qualify as a smile. It quickly faded away as she caught sight of what was hiding behind the ramen bowl.
She walked over and picked up the blue frame. Team 7. That was the last summer. The last summer where we could all stand together and not try to kill each other. Of course, Naruto and Sasuke were always trying to find ways to kill each other.
The last summer we never shed any of our own blood, she corrected. Her eyes traveled to the top as she recognized their jounin leader.
Kakashi Sensei.
She missed the old, annoying, perverted teacher more than she'd ever care to admit. Her mind flashed to the last time she'd seen him. It had been on a battlefield He'd actually removed his entire mask and fought with all he could. It was a fearsome sight to see her teacher fight so strongly. All for nothing. He'd been ripped to pieces and thrown into a lake, over 300 feet below.
She shuddered as she remembered the look on her most respected sensei's face. Until he'd died, all he'd ever thought about was the safety of his students. It was nearly enough to break her heart.
Nearly.
Her eyes traced downwards as they locked on a certain raven haired boy.
Sasuke.
Even his name caused her pain. If it wasn't for him, Sakura would still be that carefree, innocent young girl she had once been. She'd have been the girl on the picture. A girl surrounded by love and affection, with her three favorite guys around her. Of course, they'd always been next to her, just not how she'd wanted them to be.
Sasuke always ran ahead of her. He kept moving forward cruelly, as he watched Sakura follow him. Kakashi always watched from the trees. He had always watched his 3 most headache inducing students. And then there was Naruto.
Her eyes traveled to the right, and they found a boy with hair the color of the sun. She hungrily took in every detail. His clear, blue eyes, his unruly hair, and most of all, his smile. His smile was so wide that it seemed like his face might rip.
Her eyes blurred with tears. It had been so long since she'd seen that smile. Years of pain and constant worry had robbed him of it. And the ironic part? The last time she'd seen it? She didn't want it.
And his eyes. They were no longer those pure, innocent baby blues. They had become tainted with a dull gray tinge. The tears came faster and heavier as she realized that she'd been the one to put the pain and sadness there.
Baka.
He always did everything possible to make sure that the pain he'd felt never touched her. All the way until 24 hours ago, she'd never felt true sadness.
Naruto had breathed his last breath saving her. And with that final breath, he'd also said, "I love you, Sakura-Chan. Always and Forever. Now go knock some of that bullshit out of teme's head." He'd said it with that smile she'd loved so much. The one she hadn't seen in almost 15 years. Then he'd closed his eyes, sealing away those baby blues forever.
By this time, she was full out crying. Why did he of all people have to leave? Why couldn't she have left this god-forsaken planet before him? She would have died in his place, any day of the week. Not only had she lost her guardian, best friend, and brother, Konoha had lost its best Hokage.
She smiled. He'd made it after all. Even though no one believed that he'd be the most powerful person in the land, he'd made it. He'd also secured every single life in the village. They'd all come back in the morning, once they received word that the village was safe and the fighting had stopped. What they wouldn't know was that they'd lost their beloved Hokage and one of the 2nd generations of Sanen.
Make that two.
She was going to die soon too.
Sanen.
She still couldn't believe that she was part of the legendary Sanen. Although it made sense when you thought about it.
Naruto was trained by Jiraya. Sakura was instructed in medicine by Tsunaide. And Sasuke had been controlled by Orochimaru. The 2nd generation was taught by the first.
She smiled as she realized who the 3rd generation would be.
Konohamaru and the rest of Team 14.
"I never realized how bipolar you are. You go from crying to laughing in a matter of minutes." Said a deep husky voice from behind her.
"You'd have to pay attention to someone else besides yourself to notice anything. "She responded bitterly. She didn't need to turn around to know who was there.
He ignored this comment. "How much longer do you have?"
"3 minutes. Maybe 5, if you'd go away."
"You could heal yourself. You could live. Besides, Naruto made it pretty clear that you were going to be the next Hokage."
"Heal myself? I could. But then I'd have to live with you that much longer and away from Naruto that much longer."
"Naruto. Figures everything would come down to him."
"Don't you dare say his name. His entire life was about making me happy and bringing you back to your senses. And in the end? The only thing you did was kill him. How could you? How could you kill your best friend and the only person who thought you deserved to live." She screamed hoarsely.
Sasuke flinched. He knew that killing Naruto had been a mistake, but he'd never intended to kill him. He had been aiming for Sakura, who he knew would heal herself instantaneously. That idiot had gotten in the way and took the full blow of his shot.
"Go away. I don't want my last moments on this planet to be tainted by you. God knows my entire life has been." Sakura whispered wearily.
"Are you sure Naruto was the only one who thought I should be allowed to live?" he suddenly asked with a new note in his voice.
Sakura recognized that note. It only surfaced when he was truly desperate. "Positive." Sasuke flinched. "I always figured you'd go to hell and I'd follow you." He relaxed again.
They were both quite for a while.
"I love you, Sasuke."
"I know. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now."
"You know, every time I wished you would say those three words to me? Naruto would appear out of nowhere and pull me out of my dreamland and tell me he loved me. Then he would apologize for not being you, but he was the only thing keeping me away from all that misery. He was the only thing that kept you human too.
"Yeah, dobe was my one obstacle until the very end."
"I guess he knew we'd end up killing him. Even in the very end. He made sure he blocked you shot at me. He saved me the pain of thinking you really hated me and he saved you the pain of killing the one person who would stick with no matter what."
She smiled weakly as she saw his lips twist upwards too.
They stayed like that for a while.
Then her breath gave out. She gasped and her eyes went wide as she collapsed.
"I… love you Sasuke… Kun."
"I know."
She smiled as she closed her emerald eyes. They never opened again.
After a couple minutes, the raven haired boy slowly moved towards her and knelt beside her. He ran his hand through her hair and sighed.
"I might not go where you are, but this time, I'm chasing after you Sakura. I love you Sakura."
Slowly, he leaned down and kissed her for the first and last time, and ran his own chidori through himself. He didn't even scream, for all he could think about was his own little cherry blossom. As he slipped in to unconsciousness, he saw an angel above him. It was a blonde haired, blue-eyed boy.
"GEEZ! TOOK YOU GUYS LONG ENOUGH!!! I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER STOP TALKING!" he blonde-eyed boy said. "By the way, that was some nice stuff you guys said, was it really true?" he asked while mock crying.
Sasuke smirked. "Not even in your dead dreams, dobe."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Hurry up! You know how Sakura gets when she has to wait."
"Go where?"
"UP THERE! HURRY UP TEME!"
This idiot. First he gets me back in to Konoha unharmed and all charges lifted, now he sends me up instead of down, where I belong.
"TEME! NOW!"
But then again, he DOES owe me for being this irritating.
And that is how the 3 greatest ninja of all time ended. Konoha would find them in the morning and bury them in a burial ground especially made for them. It was where they all had first met. In the playground next to their old elementary school.
Heyyy!!! Its been so long since I wrote!! I've been meaning to have this up since almost AUGUST! Well, I won't promise that all of my other fanfics will updated soon, but I swear I'll try! Oh and, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters! Reviews would be a nice Christmas present! *hint, hint* WELL ANYWAYSSSSSSSS MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH (I am so sorry if I spelled that wrong), HAPPY KWANZA, AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!