K.L.K- something sad is the one-shot for today. I don't know what brought this on, but enjoy.

Sakura- what are the warnings for this story?

K.L.K- MAJOR charecter death, angst, and a bloody situation.

Sakura- rating is...?

K.L.K- T.

Sakura- and the genres?

K.L.K- Angst and tradgedy.

Sakura- she doesn't own, please review at the end of this depressing venture.

Naruto breathed raggedly as he fell to his knees in fatigue. the Akatsuki had caught up to the twenty-year-old, and there was no way to defeat the three that had come after him. the Leader himself, Pein, was tired of waiting for the Bijuu to be extracted from the Uzumaki, and he'd had enough.

all six of the piercinged bodies had come, effectively making the count of enemies rise to eight. no way to survive, no way to get out. trapped like a young mouse in a microwave. his eyes shut as he remembered the hardships of the past years.

Hinata...she'd died a year ago, defending him. she had been carrying thier unborn child, and hadn't told him until her very last breath. Sasuke...he was lost forever, taken over by the snake sannin, Orochimaru, and now led Sound. Kakashi-sensei...he died, he had been killed by Itachi a year or so back. Kiba had killed himself after losing Akamaru six months before, and Shino had commited suicide immidiately after Hinata's death. he'd loved her since he had been placed on a team with her, actually.

Jiraya had been killed by a Akatsuki long before, and the fox-boy had nearly taken his life, but the blasted demon in him prevented it. Tenten, Neji, and the two green spandex wearers... they had died in a cave-in accident in a Akatsuki attack. the akatsuki had survived without a problem. Ino and Choji died in each other's loving arms with a final kiss when they had been pierced through the heart with a single Katana in a Oto attack.

Shikamaru and Temari had been burned to death by Orochimaru in his new body. Kankuro... he had been killed by his own puppets, they'd been turned against him somehow in a fight against a unknown member of Akatsuki. Kurenai had run from Konoha with her son, Asuma, and they had been found, half-eaten by wild animals. Asuma had died long before, making her have grief. Konohamaru and his friends had died defending the village, even as new chunins as they had been. Iruka had died protecting the students in the now-destroyed academy, and his girlfriend Anko had died at the hands of the immortal member Hidan.

Gaara hadn't been seen for well over a year, and they still had him as Kazekage. Sakura...she'd dissapeared two years ago, after Itachi had killed all her relatives and had killed her compainion she had hidden for so many years, a wolf with black fur and silver-mercury eyes. she'd nearly killed herself, but then she simply dissapeared. no trace whatsoever, she was officially declared Missing In Action.

Tsunade had been cutting herself, and Shizune had died two years prior after she had found her little compainion Tonton and her husband Genma dead, she'd sliced her throat with a senbon with a acid-poison that killed her slowly and painfully.

back to the current situation, he opened his eyes, and found himself surrounded. no way to get out, or hide.

"Kyuubi-container," a long-haired Pein spoke, his rinnegan eyes cold. "you will be killed, we have no need for the Bijuu now, and we must destroy them. prepare for your demise."

Itachi went to stab him in the heart with his Katana, but there was a pink and red blur that took the hit. the cureulean blue eyes of the Uzumaki widened. 'no...not her...' his mind was a numb blob, unable to do anything except keep his heart beating and his body in a panicked state, his heart beating a horrified tattoo on the inside of his chest.

"S-Sakura-chan..." he whispered brokenly. blood from her slightly opened mouth dripped onto his shirt. "n-no...n-not y-you too...n-no..." she had protected him, in the same way Iruka had long ago, but this was from a deadly attack.

she cracked a weary smile at him, her eyes starting to lose thier shine. the emerald that they had been had darkened into a grassy-green colour, and her clothes were ragged and torn, her headband had been long-discarded, and was absent from the tangled and dirty matted mess that used to be her bubblegum pink, perky hair that she used to take such pride and embarassment in. her skin was dirty and some spots scarred, she was barefoot and her feet were toughened on the bottoms.

"hey, N...Naruto." she grinned as best she could. "I-I told you that I would protect you with my life...and I've lived up to the promise."

the Akatsuki were still shell shocked.

"S-Sakura-chan...I love you..." the blonde man whispered, eyes glistening with unshed tears and weariness at death, and grief that had long layed dormant.

"I know, Naruto..." she whispered. "you and H-Hinata...you weren't supposed to part so soon... I am sorry... you are like a brother to me...please...promise me to do one thing for me, then my spirit can finally rest in peace, or as much as it can g-get." her eyes were losing thier focus now... she fought to live on, to hang on to the tiny, unravelling thread that had become the life she had once had, that had been a entire tapestry. it had been destroyed, thread by thread till one was left, a weak little thread that somehow stood after so much abuse and attempted cuttings.

her.

"H-Hai Sakura-chan." the whispered shinobi sobbed lightly. "A-Anything."

she smiled at him. "run." she whispered. "L-Live on, Naruto. you are the last Bijuu-container alive still. run for t-the sake of the earth, please." her eyes closed halfway, but they snapped open again.

he looked shocked. "b-b-but S-Sakura-chan--"

"RUN!" she screamed with her last bit of life-energy, and then her heart stopped, and she slumped to the side. when the Akatsuki finally reached the spot ten seconds later, the Uzumaki was long gone, the last words of his adopted Shisuta, his sister, ringing in his ears. but more than the others, a singular word stood out. the word he had heard so many times, from so many different of his precious people as they lost thier lives to protect him.

Run...

that word became a mantra to him, as he dashed through the forest, keeping the promise to the now deseaced Haruno. to live. the word ghosted his mind once more, and he pushed on as it echoed within the spaces of his tortured and weary mind.

Run...

he could only think that word; nothing else. thats what he would live for now. what she and so many others had said to him before thier demise.

Run.

K.L.K- there. please review. I decided to write something to your guys, to read. it popped into ym head, and clawed at my consuiousness until I obeyed the urge. gomen-nasai if it isn't good.

Sakura- I died, huh?

K.L.K- yes. I hate to do so, but it was supposed to happen. no flames. please, please review.