The Red Fox

A/N: This is my first one shot story. I hope I do well trying to write everything I need in one chapter.

Regardless, this story relates to 'The Red Fox.' It occurs around a month after the funeral for Naruto and Orion. How does Sakura take the loss of Naruto? She knows he is alive, but can she truly live not knowing when or if he will ever return. What happened to Sasuke? Well, this small one shot describes some of the events after Naruto's supposed death.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto.

*SC* = Scene Change

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

A Blossom's Hope

It has been month. That is how long it has been since his funeral. The days go so slowly since then. A young woman, around the age of sixteen, walks down the streets of Konoha. She wears a simple red blouse and a black mini skirt. Today happens to be one of the days she has off from her work at the hospital. A few months ago, she would be enjoying her walk, talking to people and smiling. However, the young woman walks down the street with a sad expression. Her pink hair waves in the air passing through Konoha. It is her day off, but she prefers to work. It will get her mind off him. The person who cared for her, the person who was always there for her, the person who told her to never give up. If only he was still here.

Haruno Sakura continues her walk down the streets of Konoha. She passes by Ichiraku's Ramen stand. A small smile appears on her face. It has been over a month since she has been here. The last time she was here was with him just before the final war.

'Naruto, I miss you,' thought Sakura.

Sakura decides to enter the ramen stand. She sits down as Ayame walks from the back of the restaurant.

"Oh, Sakura-san," said Ayame. "It has been a while."

"Yes, it has," replied Sakura.

Sakura orders a miso ramen. Ayame starts making the order as her father, Teuchi, helps her. Soon, Sakura's order is ready. Slowly, Sakura begins eating. Tears run down her cheeks as she continues to eat. Sometimes, Naruto smelled like ramen due to the amount he ate.

Suddenly, Sakura feels two arms wrap around her. Who could that be? Sakura stops eating as she lifts her head. She notices Ayame holding onto her.

"I miss him too," said Ayame with tears also running down her cheeks.

"Thank you," said Sakura.

Around ten minutes later, Sakura finishes her food as she pays for the meal and leaves.

Sakura walks by the academy. She has spent so much time at the hospital. She has not had a chance to enjoy the simple things in life. She watches the small children enter the academy after a small practice of simple jutsu outside the building.

Sakura smiles as nostalgia flashes through her mind. She remembers her time chasing Sasuke as Naruto always interfered. If only she did not ignore Naruto, then their relationship could have been longer.

Sakura looks towards the blue sky. There are a few clouds passing through. For some reason, the clouds give her a peace of mind.

'I wonder if this is why Shikamaru always looks at the clouds,' thought Sakura.

Sakura continues her walk as she spots Ino and Choji in the distance. Sakura smiles at her two friends. Ino walks in front of Choji ordering him around as he carries her shopping bags. Ino kisses Choji in the cheek to convince him to continue to follow her. Sakura releases a small giggle at her friend's control manner. Sakura turns around to continue her walk around Konoha.

Ino stops as she turns towards Sakura's former position. Ino sighs as a frown appears on her face. She can only hope Sakura can make it through this hard time.

Sakura happens to stumble upon Neji and Tenten along her small journey. Tenten whispers something to Neji causing him to smirk. Most smirks Neji does are during battle when he is winning against certain opponents. Sakura smiles as she remembers a time when Neji was stubborn and believed himself to be stuck in a fixed fate. It took one person to break him from that state of mind. Naruto opened a new path for Neji.

Sakura continues walking as Neji turns towards her direction. He only hopes Sakura can move on with her life. He has spoken to her a few times. Her words made it seem like Naruto might return one day. No matter what happens, he will be there to help her.

Sakura walks towards the Nara compound. She sees Shikamaru walking out of the complex with Temari by his side. Sakura wonders when Temari arrived to Konoha, but she decides not to think about it. Temari seems to enjoy spending time with Shikamaru. Shikamaru gives a bored look, but Sakura knows deep inside he enjoys his time with Temari. If she can see, so can Temari.

Sakura feels a sting in her heart as she continues to watch couples interact. She decides to leave as soon as possible before she unleashes tears in the middle of the street. The last thing she needs is people surrounding her. Comfort is one thing, but too many people will overwhelm her.

Shikamaru notices Sakura leave. He frowns as he could tell Sakura's emotional distress. Temari place her hand on Shikamaru's shoulder silently telling him she notices the pink hair kunoichi. Shikamaru nods his head telling her he understands. He looks towards Sakura's direction. Sakura is hiding something, but if she does not want to tell anyone, then he will wait until she is ready to speak.

Sakura walks towards the prison of Konoha. She has made her visits quite frequent for the past month due to a certain person, who despite his last minute redemption went to prison.

Sakura stops walking when she hears two familiar voices. She turns to her right noticing Kiba and Hinata walking down the street with Akamaru not far behind them. Hinata, despite moving onto Kiba, still had a few feelings left for Naruto. Naruto's death led to her breaking down emotionally. Kiba was there to help her through the month. Sakura is happy that Hinata has someone for her. If only Naruto could hold onto her with those loving arms of his. However, that is not possible. Sakura returns her attention to her original destination.

Hinata turns her head towards Sakura's direction. She wished Sakura did not lose Naruto. If only Naruto was around, then Sakura would not be in such a horrible condition. Only time will heal wounds. However, some wounds can never truly heal.

*SC*

Sakura walks into the Konoha prison. Two ANBU stop her as she tells them her designated prisoner. They nod as they give her thirty minutes to speak with the prisoner.

After checking Sakura, they allow her to enter the prison cell room. An ANBU walks next to Sakura as she approaches her destination.

"Hey, Sasuke," said Sakura. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, despite the prison," replied Sasuke as he appears from the shadows of the prison cell.

Sasuke has old rags on him for a shirt and pants. His hair is longer due to the lack of cutting it. His eyes show the tire condition he is in, but they also show the determination he has within him.

"Are you okay?" asked Sasuke.

He could tell Sakura continues to suffer from the events from over a month ago. Hell, everybody should continue to feel the effects. So many people died during that war. If only he could prevent it he would, but everything has already occurred.

"I'm fine," replied Sakura with a small smile.

Sasuke studies her reaction. The smile is sad, yet it holds something he did not think she still had, hope. For some reason, Sakura still holds hope within her. Why would she hold it if she lost two important people in her life?

Sasuke gives a genuine smile. Naruto helped her. Even though he is gone, he still gives her hope. Sakura is stronger than Sasuke thought. Then again, he refuses to make the same mistakes he made in the past.

"What have you been doing lately?" asked Sasuke.

Sakura smiles at Sasuke's question. Ever since he returned to Konoha, Sasuke has become open again. It seem like Sasuke really wants to start again. It is too bad that the council decided to send him to prison. Despite Sasuke's last act during the war, it did not clear any of the wrong doings he did beforehand. Luckily, Tsunade managed to convince the council to give Sasuke one year in prison and two years of probation afterwards.

"The typical stuff at the hospital," replied Sakura.

Soon Sakura begins talking about what she did the past week. Sakura smiles as Sasuke listen to her. Four years ago, Sasuke would have ignored her and told her to go away. Now, he listens to her and she is glad Sasuke decided to change. However, without Naruto, nothing is truly complete.

*SC*

Sakura returns to her walk. She decides to visit Tsunade. Normally, Sakura would go to Tsunade to check for work at the hospital, but this time she only wants a friendly visit.

Sakura walks up the door leading to the Hokage's room. She knocks on the door and soon hears Tsunade's voice telling her to enter the room.

The blonde woman known as Tsunade lifts her head to see who entered her room. She raises an eyebrow when she notices Sakura is the person.

"I thought I gave you the day off," said Tsunade.

"I know, but I simply wanted to see you," replied Sakura.

Tsunade stares at Sakura. The elder woman notices Sakura's eyes with a bit of red in them. Tsunade realizes that Sakura must have cried earlier. Tsunade's expression softens as she stands up from her chair and walks towards Sakura. Tsunade hugs Sakura as the pink hair kunoichi speaks.

"I know you miss him," said Tsunade. "So do I."

"Why did he have to leave?" asked Sakura. "He could still be here with us."

Tsunade sighs as she looks at her apprentice as she slowly releases her from her hug.

"Do you still sense him?" asked Tsunade.

"No, it was only that one time," replied Sakura.

During the funeral, Sakura could have sworn she sensed Naruto's chakra. It gave her the feeling of hope. The only person she told this to was Tsunade.

"I would like to say that is impossible since he is dead," started Tsunade. "However, we never found a body. It is possible that he is still alive."

"I know he is," said Sakura. "I can feel it. I don't know how it happened, but at some point we must have linked."

Tsunade looks at Sakura. It is true Naruto's body disappeared. It is a possibility that he faked his own death, but why would he do such a thing? There are people who care for him.

"I don't cry for Naruto's death," said Sakura. "I cry because I miss him and there is nothing I can do to help him."

Tsunade closes her eyes. She wants to believe that Naruto is alive, but why has he not returned? Where is he? If he is alive, then the next moment she sees him she will send him to the hospital for making everyone worry.

"All we can do is hope and wait," said Tsunade.

Sakura thanks Tsunade as she leaves the room and heads towards her next destination. Along the way, she goes through the market where she avoids the numerous people shopping for their grocery.

She notices a young couple around her age. The two people shop together while laughing and having a good time.

Sakura looks on with envy. If only she could have Naruto with her, but he must have left for a reason. Everyone else believes he is dead, but could he not just taken her with him?

Sakura turns around only to bump into somebody.

"Sakura?" questioned the person she bumped into.

"Sorry for bumping into you, Ka-chan. I didn't see you," said Sakura.

"I haven't seen you for a week," said Rin, Sakura's mother.

Rin wears a long plain blue dress reaching her knees. Her long pink hair reaches the lower area of her back.

'I've been busy at the hospital," said Sakura. "This is a day off for me."

Rin looks at Sakura with sad eyes. She knows her daughter has suffered during Naruto and Katsu's death. In the matter of days, Sakura lost her boyfriend and father. Rin lost a potential son-in-law and husband. Rin grabs Sakura's left shoulder as she holds her grocery bags in her left arm.

"I miss them both," said Rin.

Sakura looks at her mother. Naruto might still be alive, but her father Katsu is dead. He will never return to them.

At this point, this makes her feel horrible for not returning to her parent's home. Instead, Sakura locked herself in Naruto's apartment for weeks until Tsunade forced her out. Sakura has since spent her time living in Naruto's apartment.

"I'm sorry Ka-chan," said Sakura.

"What for, dear?" inquired Rin.

"You need me because of To-chan, but I've been away somewhere else," said Sakura.

Rin hugs Sakura dropping her groceries. Rin tells Sakura she does not have to be sorry for anything. The mother and daughter hug as tears run down their cheeks.

Sakura looks up noticing Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai telling people to move away and give Sakura and Rin space.

'Thank you, Kakashi-sensei,' thought Sakura.

*SC*

After Sakura and Rin shed their tears, Sakura decided to head towards her original destination.

Sakura thanked Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai as she headed towards the one place she avoided since the day of Naruto's funeral.

Sakura steps in front of the grave. The grave said 'Haruno Katsu, loving father and husband.'

Sakura begins shedding tears as she places her hands on Katsu's grave.

"To-chan, thank you everything," said Sakura.

It begins raining as a cold breeze picks up in the graveyard. Her father gave his life to save Naruto.

The raindrops run down Sakura's face as her cries begin to stop. She stands up and heads towards another grave. She stares at the grave. She places her hand onto the grave as if she is giving all of her hope to it.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said Sakura as she read the tombstone. "Great hero of our time."

It has been weeks since Sakura felt anything. Even now, she can only hope he is still alive. She can only hope he will return to her.

"Naruto," said Sakura. "I miss you so much. Just give me another sign. Please."

Sakura's left hand holds onto the tombstone as if her life depended on it. Each day her hope falters more as she begins to believe it was all in her imagination.

'Maybe everyone is right,' thought Sakura. 'Maybe, all I felt was in my imagination.'

Sakura releases her hold on the tombstone as she slowly turns around. She continues to allow the rain to run down her cheeks along with her tears.

"I will always love you Naruto," said Sakura to nobody.

Just as Sakura begins to walk away from the grave, she senses a familiar chakra. Sakura turns around towards Naruto's grave as warmth enters her body despite the cold rain.

"What the hell am I thinking doubting him?" inquired Sakura. "Naruto is alive. I will just have to wait until he returns. Don't make me wait too long, Naruto."

Sakura smiles once again as she walks towards the place she calls home with renew hope in her heart.

*SC*

A/N: Well, this is my first one shot. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I tried my best since I am used to spreading a story across multiple chapters. I guess the only thing saving me is the relationship towards 'The Red Fox' story. Anyway, please review and thanks for reading.