Disclaimer: I do not Naruto and I do not own this Fanfiction. It was written by my sister who gave me permission to post this for you all.

Chapter one

Sasuke felt the colour drain from his face. He knew it; this is where he was going to die. His body was frozen by a Jutsu and he was helpless as he watched the unusual kunai fly at him in its finishing move. He couldn't hear Naruto or Sakura, all his attention was focused on the strange kunai that was heading towards his heart. He felt ashamed really, that he wasn't strong enough. He wasn't strong enough to beat this man. And he so wanted too. He wanted to kill his brother, Itachi, and get his revenge. The only way to prove that he was strong enough was to beat strong opponents. And now, he was going to die, before he could get his revenge. He couldn't fight the jutsu, so he closed his eyes and waited for his end to come. As soon as he had accepted his fate, he felt something push him roughly aside. Surprised, he snapped his eyes open as he stumbled, the jutsu wearing off. To his shock, he saw that is was Naruto who had pushed him out of the way. Sasuke opened his lips to ask Naruto why he did that, then he realised. The Kunais' target was now Naruto, who didn't have enough time to react. His eyes widened in fear.

"Naruto!" He screamed, making his throat sore. Time seemed to go so slowly as the Kunai neared Naruto, who tried to dodge, but to no avail. His eyes widened as it struck him in the chest, ripping his lungs up. It did not hit the heart, but near enough to cause major damage. The kunai stayed lodged within the blonde's body as he shuddered. His legs gave way and he started to fall. Sasuke, horrified, lunged forward and caught the blonde before he could hit the ground. Sasuke held Naruto gently as Sakura ran up to them, her eyes wide in horror.

"Why? You idiot! Why?" Sasuke asked, almost glaring accusingly at the blonde. Naruto gave a little smirk and coughed up blood, saying,

"You should be grateful, teme. I thought -cough- you wanted to -cough- kill your brother."

Sasuke shook his head and said,

"You shouldn't have done that! What about you! Don't you want to be Hokage?"

"Heh. I -cough- will be -cough- Hokage, no matter -cough- what."

His back arched as he hissed in pain. The kunai was no ordinary kunai. It contained poison, the most potent in the world. Naruto didn't stand a chance. Naruto's eyes rolled back as he convulsed, Sasuke clinging almost fearfully onto him. They watched fearfully as Naruto's convulsions became more violent. Naruto then gave one last violent convulsion and lay still in Sasuke's arms. Sasuke was not sure how long it was that he stared at his fallen friend's face. A few seconds? A few Minutes? An hour? He did not notice. All he did notice was how the bright light in Naruto's eyes seemed to dim and then disappear completely. Sasuke felt something wet on his cheek. He lifted his hand to his face and realised that he was crying. He couldn't help it; the only true friend he had ever had was now lying dead in his arms. Sasuke felt so guilty. Naruto shouldn't have sacrificed himself for me, he thought. Sasuke felt a pain in his chest. It ached horribly and he wished for it to disappear, but he knew that it would never leave. It would haunt him for the rest of his life. He then became aware of Sakura sitting beside him, violent sobs wrenching from her as she held one of Naruto's now cold hands.

"What a pitiful thing he is. Why are you crying for him?" asked a voice. Sasuke's head snapped up; he had forgotten their adversary. A growl burst from Sasuke's lips. He wanted to rip this man limp from limp. He wanted blood and he wanted it now. Sasuke gently laid the body of his comrade and friend onto the ground and stood up, bringing Sakura with him.

"Come on Sakura, let's kill this bastard. Make him pay for killing our dobe." Sakura sniffed, and then nodded, pulling out a kunai. The man before the sneered and said,

"What are you going to do? Pester me to death?" Sasuke gave a low roar and charged, surprising the man. Sakura didn't hesitate either, a second behind Sasuke. Sasuke flashed behind the man, drawing a kunai, slashing at him and hearing a satisfying cry as he sliced along the mans back. Sakura then cut one of his arms. Sasuke sneered and continued his merciless butchers' job on the man, blood splattering the ground around them. Soon, Sasuke got bored of playing and appeared in front of the man, with one of the man's own kunai held up. Sasuke smirked and said,

"I think that you should have a taste of your own medicine, don't you think so, Sakura?"

"Yes, he should." She answered almost coldly. The man's eyes widened in fear as Sasuke plunged the kunai into his chest. The man screamed in pain, which turned into a squeal. Sasuke and Sakura watched, in sick fascination, as the man's eyes rolled back into his head, and his body started to convulse. The convulsions became more violent and then the man gave one more jerk, lifting off the ground and then laid a still as Naruto did. Sasuke stared at the body of their opponent, satisfied. He then heard Sakura start to cry again and he looked at her. She had her face buried in her hands as her shoulders shook from her sobs. Sasuke walked around the corpse and took her in his arms, needing her comfort as much as she needed his. She cried on his chest for a while and then Sasuke said softly,

"Come on. We should get back to Naruto. We… we will return his body to Konoha for a proper burial, and not leave him lying in the dirt. He doesn't deserve that." Sakura looked up and him and nodded, sniffing. The turned back and walked towards the location of Naruto. They then stopped when they realised that something was wrong, terribly wrong.

Naruto's body was gone.

Panicked, they looked desperately around the area for the body of their friend. But they found nothing. Then Sakura found his Forehead protector. She gave it to Sasuke. He looked at it. Most of the blue cloth was stained black with blood, and there were a few specks on the metal piece. Sasuke bit his lip, and then sighed sadly. He turned to Sakura and said,

"Come on. We need to go tell the others."

She nodded and started to follow him.

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Sasuke and Sakura made their way towards Konoha as fast as they good, wanting the comfort of their friends. When they reached Konoha, however, they paused, reluctant. How will they react to the blonde's death? Will the others hate them? For not being able to defend Naruto? Eventually, they stopped outside the gates of Konoha, not wanting to step inside. It was several minutes until they had the courage to step into the village, and when they did, all they could think about was their blonde team-mate. Sasuke quickly lead Sakura to the Hokage tower, not wanting to meet the others, not yet anyway. When they entered the building, they asked to speak with the Hokage alone. Shizune looked surprised, but allowed them to. When they entered, they found the blonde woman at the desk, cursing as she signed numerous papers. Sasuke coughed, getting the elders attention. She looked up, annoyed. She blinked when she saw them and said,

"You're back earlier then expected." She then stopped, frowning when she realised that they had a missing team member.

"Where's Naruto?"

"That's why we're here." Sasuke said quietly. Beside him, Sakura gave a dry sob. Tsunade scowled at this.

"What about him?" She asked, almost sharply.

"He's…He's… Oh god Tsunade-sama! He's dead!" Sakura burst out and then hugged herself, shaking slightly under the gaze of the older woman as tears ran down her pale cheeks. The woman turned deathly white. She was silent for a while and said simply,

"Go, now. Please."

Without another word, both left the office into the bustling activity of Konoha, but not before Sasuke placed Naruto's blooded Forehead Protector on the woman's desk. Rumours later went around the village that the Hokage had shut herself in her office, and she was crying. The villagers wondered what had made the blonde Hokage so upset.

Sasuke walked with Sakura, neither of them really noticing where they were going. They then ran into the very people they didn't want to face; the rest of the rookie nine as well as Gai's team. Sasuke was so tempted to turn around and walk away then stay and face his failure as a friend and team-mate. Kiba looked at them, smiling, which fell once he saw their sombre faces. Ino approached them and asked,

"Sasuke-kun, Sakura? Are you alright?"

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Lee asked, looking around for the blonde. Sasuke closed his eyes, willing the pain in his chest to go, to disappear. He found that breathing became very difficult for him. Well, he didn't cry, but Sakura did. The pink haired girl flung herself at Ino, hugging the blonde tight while crying her heart out. The others seemed shocked at this and turned to Sasuke, noticing the pained expression on the Uchiha's face.

"What happened?" Chouji asked, stopping in his eating, concern showing in his voice.

"He's dead." Sakura cried into Ino's shoulder. They paled at this and all looked like as if they were about to cry. Sasuke opened his eyes and looked into the grieving faces of his other friends. Yes, he did consider them friends, but to Sasuke, the only true friend he had was Naruto. And he was now gone, along with his calming presence and Sasuke felt afraid for the first time since becoming a genin, as if the mere presence of the blonde had made him feel safe, secure, and that had been ripped away from him heartlessly.

"How?" Kiba asked softly.

"It's my fault." Sasuke said suddenly. They looked at him, their gaze slightly accusing.

"It's my fault. It should have been me, not him that died. That shot should have been for me! Why did he push me out the way, please answer me, why!" Sasuke pleaded of them, tears in his eyes. The others looked again, but this time they looked sympathetic to the Sharingan wielder's pain. They were all silent for a while and Shino said quietly,

"Naruto would have preferred to die saving his friends. He is that kind of person. Don't let his sacrifice go to waste."

Sasuke nodded, taking those words to heart. He made a promise that day, and that was to always, always look out for his team-mates and friends, no matter what. In memory of Naruto.