I decided that while I have been dealing with a bit of writers block on my story Inferno, I decided to try my hand at another story Idea that came to mind that solely revolves around a relationship development between Naruto and Sakura, after the war with Madara. While this is not likely how the manga will be intended to end, it is how I would prefer events to unfold after. So here is the start to my next story that will be a work in progress while I deal with the lack of imagination and inspiration with Inferno.

All characters are Kishimoto's, I just put them in a story I like. Kishimoto is the man!

Entrust

Sakura was running full speed across the valley floor. Her hands were clenched so tight she felt her nails digging into her palms, but this was trivial compared to the pain that she felt in her heart right now. Her head was swimming with so many emotions over the current situation. So many "what ifs" crossed her mind as she vaulted uprooted trees and debris from the explosion of chakra. She weaved through burning trees, covered in the unmistakable black flames of Amaterasu. She felt two chakra signatures up ahead. One seemed very weak, the other… was almost not even noticeable, and was starting to wane. These chakra signatures were the reason for her current emotional plight.

'Please be OK. Please be OK.'

Sakura repeated this mantra over and over as she made her way to the far end of the utterly destroyed valley floor. She wasn't even sure which person she was more worried for. She reserved special feelings for each of them. Both had their own place in her heart. However, the one that she had once considered nothing more than an annoyance, had somehow managed to move into the deepest reaches of her heart, to a place she never intended him to be. But he was there. Always.

Rain fell from the sky as the clouds passed overhead, a product of one of Sasuke's signature Lightning elemental jutsu. Large droplets of water splashed against her Hitai-ate, sending rivulets of water streaming down her face, mixing with the tears that had formed when she saw the first explosion.

'How could he have been so selfish? He promised we would do this together.'

Sakura wiped the tears and rain from her face and channeled chakra into her legs to pick up the pace. The failing chakra signal was now almost nonexistent. As she neared the two presences, she still could not tell the difference between them.

She was getting closer when she felt the weak one completely disappear. Sakura tripped and fell to her knees in a puddle of mud, falling forward on her palms to stare at her own reflection in a small puddle of water that had started to gather. One of them had just died. After all this time, it finally came down to this, and now she suddenly found a dire lack of resolve to move the few more feet beyond the debris. She wasn't prepared for what she knew she would find on the other side.

'No! I have to be strong. I need to get up… so get UP DAMNIT!'

Sakura stood and moved with new resolve. She vaulted one more downed tree and pushed through a patch of thick brush, drawing a kunai, ready to take on the man who was responsible for killing her friend and faithful team mate. As she burst through the greenery, she came to a complete stop. Her renewed resolve now completely demolished by the scene in front of her. What she expected, what she had prepared herself for, was not what she was met with.

In the center of a deep crater, in the middle of a large bowl of charred earth and tree stumps were two figures, one laying down and unmoving, the other on his knees, cradling the head of the latter.

Sakura's kunai fell from her now slack hand and hit the ground with a dull clang. New tears found their way through the rain water and down her cheeks. She was relieved, and yet she was ashamed. She was relieved that the man that she now cared for more than anything was alive, but ashamed that she didn't have the faith in her team mate that she should have. Her eyes fell on the two most important men in her life. Naruto was leaning over Sasuke's still form, droplets falling from his eyes. He was rocking back and forth, mumbling something she couldn't quite make out.

After a few minutes, Sakura found the strength to get her feet under herself and start walking toward Naruto. She could see that Naruto was crying, and as she got closer she could hear his sobs as he cried over his best friend and the only person he considered a brother. The more he cried, the more her heart twisted in her chest. Naruto wasn't only in her heart… he WAS her heart. When he hurt, she hurt. It was as simple as that. The pain that she was feeling right now must be as close to dying as someone could be without actually dying. Her heart cried out to him, but she remained silent as she knelt down next to him, placing her hand. This was not the time to reveal her feelings to him. Right now, what he needed most was her friendship, and her silence, and to just let him cry. He released his hold on his dead team mate and slumped into the arms of his other best friend and team mate as she pulled him into a tight embrace that said all that needed to be said.

*A Few Days Later

The funeral had less of a turnout than was expected. As a defector of the Leaf Village and an international criminal, Sasuke was no longer entitled to a burial with honors. ANBU took his eyes and incinerated them on site before placing a grave seal on his body, forever locking away secrets his body could reveal, and then unceremoniously dumping him in the mass grave with the rest of the white zetsu army. It was only after the unrelenting protests of Naruto that a headstone was allowed to be placed in the Uchiha district among the rest that were placed there as a result of the traitor's older brother.

Itachi. Naruto wished that things had turned out the way Itachi had wanted. Instead of being the village hero, Sasuke was now less than nothing; a traitor, stricken from the record of Konoha's Shinobi corps, nothing more than a body in a mass grave, forever forgotten, except by two.

Naruto felt a hand close around his own hand. His tear stained blue eyes met equally tear stained jade eyes. No words needed to be said. Naruto reached down with his other hand and placed a bouquet of flowers on Sasuke's headstone. Sakura placed her picture of team seven within the flowers. As she knelt down to arrange the flowers properly, she felt a sudden gust of wind to her left. She turned to find Naruto was nowhere in sight.