Takes place after the rescue Gaara arc. Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all its characters. Enjoy.
The wind blew viciously around her, sending unrelenting armies of sand coursing over her body and through her hair, and she just knew that it would take more then a days worth of pampering to soften her desert roughened skin, to work the tiny grains lodged in her scalp out, but the medical ninja couldn't find it within her to care. She was bruised, cut, exhausted both physically and mentally, trailing behind Team Kakashi and Team Gai as they trudged their way through Wind Country.
Not a day ago Sakura Haruno nearly died.
None of her teammates knew that though. The only witnesses to see her swift greeting with death were gone themselves, and as Sakura reflects back now she thinks it's almost funny. She couldn't help the fleeting realization that her best moments were always forgotten or pushed aside. No one would talk about how weak, crybaby Sakura ran bravely in front of a quickly made friend and took a fatal wound through her stomach.
The kunoichi hurriedly pushed that selfish thought aside into the dark crevices of her mind, where all her bitter thoughts slowly festered.
Noticing that she was wandering too far behind her team (It's fitting, isn't it? A dark voice cruelly reminded her), she picked up her pace until she was side by side with an equally as tired Naruto. It was difficult to see the blonde through the sand being picked up by the heavy winds, but what little she did see of him made the light scar that decorated her abdomen throb, as if reminding her what she fought for in that cave. The small, self-satisfied smile formed unbidden on her chapped lips because for the first time she felt strong, like the true protector she had always striven to be. To honor the moment, the girl made a promise. She would keep her brush of death to herself, a precious secret that was hers alone. She would bury it in a box that lay deep within her mind and take it out whenever she was feeling low, to tell herself that she can be great, that she can save her friends, despite her lack of raw power.
Not a day ago Sakura Haruno nearly died, and the quiet cold that usually surrounded her when she wondered if she could be better than what she was gave way to a welcomed heat, and it had nothing to do with the harsh sun beating down on her. She has never been more proud of herself.
She was walking through the desert winds and tasting its heat when she truly felt alive.
Sakura is a much more complicated character than people give her credit for, and the above is just a small snippet of how I think she felt after she battled Sasori. She has many self confident issues, and I bet this was one of those moments where she truly felt like she was worth something. Poor girl, she needs more moments like these.