Naruko laid in bed awake, staring at the drab ceiling. The bed was cold next to her, she was all alone. Tomorrow's my 18th birthday. She thought to herself but still sleep would not come. She had been in the sand village for the last month. Sasuke had become the Hokage but since she was so well liked and respected Naruko had been chosen as the emissary to work on an new international peace treaty. She had spent the better part of the last 10 months traveling from village to village discussing her plans for the world's future and the future of the shinobi. Five great nations, hordes of smaller ones and they all had to come to an agreement. Her work was not easy and after a long day she would go to bed alone.
Naruko missed Sasuke, missed him with all her might. So she forgot how to sleep. She stared at the ceiling and wished. She wished he was next to her she closed her eyes and imagined him beside her. She remembered his smell, the heat of his body, the sound of his breathing. A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye as she remembered the feel of his hands on her neck while his lips touched her lips. She had been away from him for the last 6 months. Over half of their engagement they had been apart all for the sake of the world. But alone in her room and only to herself she didn't care about the world. All she wanted was him. She wanted to trade the world for one kiss right then, no more waiting, just a simple kiss from Sasuke.
Tomorrow she was going home. She would be 18 and on her way home to the man she loved. Tomorrow night her bed would not be empty and she would not be crying. Six months was a long time to have been away. They exchanged letters everyday, she heard of him from others who had seen him more recently than her but none of it was the same. His hands tangled in her hair, the feel of him, the overpowering presence of the man she loved, they were gone from her life. Things she knew she couldn't live without were gone, bits of her soul had chipped away in despair. Tomorrow it would all come flooding back, tomorrow she would have him back.
She wished her parents could be with her for her birthday. She knew they were always watching over her and that would never change, but it was never the same as having them with her. She hoped they knew about her engagement to Sasuke. She let tears roll down her cheeks. It seemed to her peace was even more difficult than war. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing feeling her breasts rise and fall. She could see the future in her mind. She could see Sasuke with love in his eyes pulling her into a kiss tomorrow. She saw their wedding. Her dress white cut low over her breasts, slim pleats starting below them so the dress flowed when she moved like she was underwater. There would be a flower in her hair and Sasuke would be in a tux smiling like the happiest man in the world. As her mind drifted to their wedding night she was finally claimed by sleep.
The next morning early she said her goodbyes to the sand villagers. Gaara, who she had grown even closer to since staying in the village, hugged her tight and only reluctantly let go. He had chosen to send Temari with her as an escort since he himself couldn't go, though she knew he wished he could. She smiled and waved as she left, Temari by her side. When they were far enough out that the villagers looked like tiny pin pricks on the horizon, Temari spoke quietly. "You know he's in love with you right?" Naruko was shocked and turned to look Temari in the eyes, who continued. "Gaara, He's in love with you."
"He...He can't be..." Naruko muttered more to herself than her companion. "You're telling me you honestly never noticed? You're a bigger idiot than I thought." Naruko began, "I...I'm sorry." She sighed and stared at the horizon. "It's best for everyone I'm going home today." She smiled and looked at Temari, "Shikamaru's going to be happy to see you." To this Temari had no response but blushed a brilliant scarlet.
The girls ran in silence for awhile. But both were smiling with excitement as they neared the edge of the desert. They were one step closer to seeing the men they loved. Each lost in her own thoughts of their upcoming reunions neither noticed the men hiding in the shadows of the trees. Naruko noticed first when they were about 100 meters away. Stopping dead in her tracks, Temari doing the same beside her, "Show yourselves!" She commanded.
Six men stepped out of the trees carrying all manner of weapons. One with a large sword, another an ax, The one in the middle had a crossbow, and all of them came charging toward the two women. Temari jumped in the air to ward them off with a wind attack released from the flip of her fan, while Naruko summoned a bunch of clones wielding giant rasengans. But it was to late, the distraction had worked. The last man emerged from the sand behind Naruko grabbing her head between his large hands.
She could feel her mind get fuzzy, could feel her chakra being sucked out of her so quickly she knew Temari wouldn't be able to make it in time. She watched her clones disappear and her vision blurred. There was nothing she could do, her strength had gone the second he touched her.
As the last of her chakra left her, her last thought was Sasuke.
Sasuke stood on the top of the giant heads of the previous hokage staring at the horizon watching the sun set. Naruko would be home in a few hours to celebrate her 18th birthday with him. He was so excited to give her his gift he didn't know if he could wait any longer. He hated her stubborn refusal to let him send ANBU black ops to watch over her when she traveled. He wanted nothing more than her home safe in his arms. She had been away for so long he had forgotten the scent of her hair and the taste of her lips. He knew he should wait for her but as the last rays of sunlight went behind the horizon his self control waned and he ran off in the direction of his Naruko.
"Leaving the village?" Came Shikamaru's voice from his right. Shikamaru was running along beside him down the streets. "I'm going to get my girl" Sasuke said smiling, "Shouldn't you be wanting to see Tamari as well?" He finished with a laugh at the grumpy look on the other boys face. "Watch the village while I'm away" He shouted back at Shikamaru who had stopped at the village gates.
Naruko blinked her eyes as she laid on the ground. Her head was pounding, ears were ringing and she was terribly disoriented. She pulled her right arm up under her chest as she lay face down on the ground. She tried to push herself up to her knees but was still to dizzy to complete the movement. As she fought to remember which was was up she was painfully aware that nothing in her body seemed right. She was completely out of chakra, she had nothing left to fight with. A kick from her right caught her on the side of her head and knocked her over onto her back. The 7th man, the leader, crouched over her grabbing and lifting her head off the ground by the collar of her signature black and orange jacket. "You think you're the damned queen of the world with your childish idea of 'peace.' What about what I want? What about MY peace? What about my revenge? You want to use your laws to make me powerless to fulfill my revenge. Now you're the one who's powerless." He said sliding a small dagger into her gut.
She coughed up blood as she stared into the man's eyes. They were dark to the soul, like Sasuke's had been, and only death would end their pain. "Suffer, like I suffered." He whispered with menace removing the blade from her body with a sharp twist. She could feel his breath warm against her cheek, and the trickle of blood rolling down from the corner of her mouth as he plunged the blade into her body for a second time. "Heh," she laughed and coughed, her mind drifting away from the pain. She saw Sasuke standing in the darkness ahead of her with his hand held out to her as she reached her hand out to him, a sixth stab ended her dream as darkness consumed her.