Not A Happy Story
Disclaimer: People, if I owned it, do you really think Naruto and Sakura wouldn't be together by now?
Pairing: NaruSaku
Warning: Tearjerker (It's bold and underlined for a reason, folks)
Naruto blinked his non-seeing eyes as rain fell upon his face.
Funny. I didn't know it was raining.
He sighed as the warm droplets caressed his face, then winced as they rolled onto the scratches littering it.
Never knew rain could be so warm, or sting so bad, either. Huh, guess you learn something new everyday.
"Naruto… Naruto, get up… PLEASE, get up."
Sakura-chan? Why's she here? She shouldn't be out in the rain… She couldcatch a cold.
"S-Sa-Sakura-chan?" he managed through numb lips.
"Naruto, save your strength… You have to save your strength so you can get better… Just rest, and I'll heal you, and you'll be fine, you'll see. You'll be fine. You have to be fine."
"Sa-Sakura… Can't see you… Want to see you Sakura-chan…"
He heard a sob as soft flower petals -no, not petals, not petals, Sakura-chan's hands… they've always been so soft, so very, very soft- caressed his face.
"It's your eyes… He-he managed to get your eyes… But don't worry, Naruto, I'll heal those up, too. You'll be able to see perfectly again soon… I promise Naruto, you'll be able to see perfectly, and we'll go out, and I'll let you eat all the ramen you want, and, and… I'll let you buy those ridiculous hats you've been wanting us to get, and we'll go out walking with them, we will, I don't care who sees us anymore, and we'll… and we'll…"
Naruto smiled softly as he listened to Sakura ramble, smiled… even as he felt himself drift away.
"Sakura-chan… I'm dying, aren't I?"
"NO! NO, Naruto, you are NOT dying, you understand me, YOU'RE NOT DYING! You can't die, Naruto, you can't, I won't let you… You just CAN'T."
Gathering all of his strength, including the strength that Sakura was pouring into him with her chakra-covered hands, Naruto raised his own hand and caressed Sakura's cheek.
"I lo-love you, Sa-Sakura-chan. I love… I always have… I always will. Remember that for me, will you Sakura-chan… Re-remember that…"
Naruto grinned his trademark smile as he began to drift off, the memory of Sakura's face strong in his mind. It wasn't as good as actually seeing her… But it was close enough.
"Naruto? NARUTO! NARUTO, NOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Even though he grinned, no longer able to hear, a last worry carried Naruto over.
I hope Sakura-chan goes inside soon… It seems to be raining a lot harder, now.
"Sakura, Sakura, listen to me, you have to let go of him. You have to stop giving him chakra, Sakura, he's gone."
"No! No, I can't stop! He'll be fine, you'll see, he'll be fine… I just have to give him some more, and he'll wake up… Just a little more..."
"Sakura, he's gone. Naruto's gone. You're giving your chakra to a corpse, Sakura… You have to stop. Stop now."
"Don't. Don't you DARE call him that. Don't you DARE. Naruto's not a corpse, he's a human being, and he's coming back, he's coming back… You'll see… He's coming back… I'll MAKE him come back…"
"I want to him to come back as much as you do, Goddamnit, but he's not, Sakura, he's not. He's not coming back, no matter how much chakra you give him. You have to stop, Sakura. You can't bring him back."
"No. No, I can. I can. Just a little more… A little more…"
"Seinoke."
"Yes, maam."
"I want you and your troops to remove Sakura Haruno from the body of Naruto Uzumaki. Do whatever it takes… If she uses much more chakra, then she'll die as well, do you understand?"
"Yes, maam. Right away."
Three weeks later….
13 highly trained Anbu. It had taken 13 highly trained Anbu to drag a chakra-drained girl away from her lover's body… and 5 more to make sure she didn't manage to wrench herself away from them and return to said body. It would have been a remarkable feat of strength… If the accompanying conditions hadn't been so morbid.
Ino kept this fact in mind as she walked closer to her friends form… the form that once again knelt beside Naruto's grave.
"Sakura… You've been at Naruto's grave for the past 24 hours. You have to leave now, Sakura- you're going to make your self sick."
"Can't leave. Can't leave now. He's going to come back… He promised me he'd come back… Can't leave. He might miss me if I do." Sakura's voice was shaky, and far off as if she was somewhere else entirely.
"Sakura, you have to leave. I think you're already sick… You need to go to the hospital to get checked up." Ino frowned as she looked at the girl. Sakura did look sick, with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, trembling and extremely pale.
"Can't leave now, Ino. I can't leave now." She smiled with something less than sanity as she raised her eyes to her friend, "Don't you see, Ino. He's coming back… And this time he's going to take me with him."
Ino looked into Sakura's eyes… and screamed at what she saw there.
Tsunade frowned deeply as she checked Sakura's chart. Supreme chakra depletion, dehydration, starvation, and extremely unstable mental status. If things didn't look up soon… She stopped that thought before it could form.
I… I could have sworn I saw her leave Naruto's grave yesterday. I saw her clearly walk towards her house… So how….
"A disillusionment technique." A voice broke into her thoughts. "She cast a disillusionment technique on herself, and then another to make her appear walking towards home- I saw her cast it, but I just… I just thought she needed time. I think, I think she's been doing that for a long time, though…"
Tsunade turned her gaze toward the girl, who looked like her mental stability wasn't exactly up to par itself.
"We've lost her too, Tsunade-sama. Just like we lost Naruto. I thought… I thought that if we had Sakura, then we could live past losing Naruto… But I was wrong, Tsunade-sama… We've lost her too." Ino lowered her head as she sobbed, her voice broken, and wrapped her arms even tighter around herself. "Oh, God… We've lost her too…"
Turning, Ino ran out the door, ignoring the concerned shouts aimed at her back as she took off towards home.
"Hey, Ino?"
"Yeah, Sakura?"
"Do you… Do you think my foreheads big?"
"What! No Sakura! Why would you think that!"
"Everyone else thinks it is."
"Sakura, you can't go by everyone else thinks! You gotta go by what you think! Understand!"
"But, Ino… I think my foreheads big, too."
--sigh-- "Sakura, you only think your foreheads big, because everyone else says its big. Like I said, you can't go by what everyone else says." --mischievous grin-- "You gotta go by what your friends say! And I say you have a very nice forehead. I also say you should treat me for ice-cream!"
--giggle-- "In-no!"
"Hey, Ino-pig."
"What, forehead-girl?"
"Do you think… do you think we could stop being rivals and go back to being friends? I mean, Sasuke's not even here any more, and, well, he was the reason we were rivals, right? So now that he's gone, we can stop, can't we?"
"What do you mean, stop? …And what happened to the –kun?"
--blush-- "Well, truthfully… I like someone else now."
"What! You have a crush on someone else! What about your never-ending adoration for Sasuke-kun? What happened to you waiting for him forever?"
"I just… Stopped liking him, I guess."
"Just stopped… --shakes head-- Well, I can truthfully say I never saw this one coming. … But if you don't like MY-Sasuke-kun, who do you like?"
--blush-- "None of your business, Ino-pig."
"Ah, ah, ah, Sakura, if you want to prove you're over Sasuke-kun, you're going to have to tell me who you like."
"… Fine. NarutoUzumaki."
"What?"
"NarutoUzumaki."
"Forehead-girl, if you expect me to understand you, you're going to have to speak clearer than that."
"Naruto Uzumaki, goddamnit, there, are you happy now!"
"What! You like Naruto! THE Naruto! The village screw-up, the one everyone hates, the loud-mouthed, moronic-"
"Shut up, INO-PIG! Naruto is NOT a screw-up, everyone only hate him because they were told to, not because of anything he's actually done, yes, he's loud, but that's only to get people to pay attention to him, and how do you think he would have become so strong if he was as stupid as everyone says he is!"
"Geez, Okay, Okay. I'm sorry. You must really like him."
--softly-- "Yeah... yeah, I do."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"So… Friends?"
"Yeah, Sakura, if you want to be than I guess… Friends."
"Sakura…" Ino keened into her pillow. "Kami, please, please, don't let us lose Sakura too. Naruto… even thinking of him is hard, but Sakura… she was my best friend… My best friend."
She buried her head deeper, like a child huddling under the covers, hiding from some imagined fear.
"Kami, I'd do anything, absolutely anything to hear her call me Ino-pig again. Anything. Please Kami, bring her back, make her heal. PLEASE!" Her voice cracked, sounding almost as broken as Sakura's had when Naruto died, "Please."
Sobbing into her pillow, Ino tried futily to push the knowledge that Sakura was just as lost to them as Naruto himself was, far into a distant corner of her mind. To a place where it could be hidden… until she was ready to deal with it.
Five weeks later…
"Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"About the Nine-Tails-boy's death, of course."
"Oh yeah, of course, I heard about that. Great, isn't it? Now we know for sure that Nine-Tails' never going to be able to harm this village again. And I have to tell you, having that boy gone isn't so bad, either. He was a real pain-in-the-ass."
--snicker-- "No kidding. I swear, if I'd of known that the Nine-Tails would die right along with the boy, I would of done him in myself… Still can't believe that the Hokage is treating his death like a hero's passing."
Hinata dug her fingernails into her hand, hard, to prevent herself from doing something she wouldn't regret, yet would get into trouble for.
"Me too. And did you hear about his girl friend… You know, the one they had such trouble dragging away from his body? Man, she's hot. I was thinking of sneaking up on her, you know, when no one's watching, and having my way with her. After being with the Nine-Tails for so long, that girls gotta be wanting a real man."
Hinata made a sound so like a wild animal that the two men turned in surprise, expecting just that.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Miss Hyuuga. I didn't see you there." The first man said with honest surprise, only to step back in fear as her eyes flashed open, Byakugan going full blast.
"How. Dare. You." And with those words Hinata began to do what she'd tried to stop herself from doing… She began to beat the two mean into bloody pulps.
Hinata fidgeted in the chair across from Tsunade's desk.
"Hinata, I know you are going through a tough time right now, many of us are, but may I ask you why you felt the need to openly attack two innocent bystanders, bystanders who are Anbu, outside the supermarket?" Tsunade asked sternly.
"T-They were s-saying things… T-Things about N-Naruto, an-and then S-Sakura… that I felt they should be punished for, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade frowned. "What sort of things, Hinata."
Hinata blinked back the tears in her eyes. "Th-They said that Na-Naruto deserved to di-die, and that-that if they had known that the N-Nine-Tails would die with him, then they wo-would've killed him themselves, and then the fi-first man, he-he said that he was going to g-go to Sa-Sakura and take advantage of her, th-that she would ap-aprecciate a real man in her bed after having the Ni-Nine-Tails in it." She blurted out in a rush.
Tsunade's eyes turned to steal. "I see." Was all she said before turning to her office door. "Shizune, could you come in here for a moment."
Shizune entered.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"
"I want Mr. Haishikoma, and Mr. Shanke transported to Hanshi's care."
Shizune's eyes widened. "But-But Tsunade-sama, their situation are still critical, if you put them under Hanshi-" she said, throwing a quick look towards Hinata.
"I don't care." Tsunade snapped sharply, "Transport them into Hanshi's care. Immediately."
Shizune recovered herself, and bowed deeply. "As you say, Tsunade-sama." She rushed out the door, most likely to carry out her orders.
Tsunade turned back to Hinata with a sigh. "Hinata, I want you to know that while I, in no way, encourage your behavior today, it is your first offense, and thus you will not be punished for it."
Hinata blinked slowly.
"N-No punishment, Ts-Tsunade-sama?" she questioned.
"No. In fact, you may leave now, Hinata, if you like." She said with a smile, noticeably softer than she had been earlier.
"Th-Thank you, Tsunade-sama." She said, rising to go, before pausing at the call of her name.
"Yes?"
"Hinata, do you regret what you did?"
She lowered her eyes. "I-I regret that I have d-disappointed Tsunade-sama and Kureinai-sensei." She turned towards the door. "But no, I do not regret what I did. I only regret that I was stopped before I killed them." She finished firmly before leaving the office.
Tsunade blinked, dumbstruck, at the closing door, before taking a swig of her sake.
"Naruto, what have you done to us all?" She questioned with a sob, lowering her mask now that she was once again alone.
"Damnit." And her sake jug became acquainted with the wall.
"Hey, Hinata-chan!"
Said girl blinked and looked up at the mention of her name, only to look down again with a blush as she saw the blond-haired ninja running toward her.
"H-Hi, Na-Naruto-kun." She greeted shyly.
"Hey, what do you say we go out for Ramen? Your treat?"
Hinata blinked once more as awe took over her expression.
"Y-You wa-want to go o-out wi-with m-m-me?" she questioned squeakily, a full blush taking over her face.
"Sure, why wouldn't I?" Naruto returned with a grin, leaning down closer towards the girl. "After all, you are awfully cute when you blush."
Hinata tried to ignore the tears that swept down her cheeks. She shouldn't cry- crying was for those who were weak, for those who had no strength- but she'd thought, she'd really thought that- that Naruto had finally returned her feelings. Only to have her hopes dashed when Naruto revealed that he only thought of her as a friend. And that he was still in love with, and had in fact formed a relationship with-
"Hinata-chan?"
Speak of the devil, she thought with uncharacteristic bitterness, And she shall appear.
"Yes, Sakura-chan, is there something you need?" Hinata tried, she tried so hard not to let that bitterness shine through –was it really Sakura's fault that Naruto loved her, after all- (she ignored the voice that screamed 'Yes') but failed so miserably that even she winced at the sound of it.
"Hinata-chan, I'm sorry," Sakura said softly, "I'm so, so sorry. I-I never wanted to hurt you, really, I didn't, it's just… I love him so much, Hinata-chan, so very much."
Hinata looked up abruptly and was surprised by not only the sincerity, but also the tears that swam in Sakura's eyes. ('It's a trick!' the voice inside her called angrily) …And yet the other part of her, the larger part… believed her.
"Hinata-chan,"
Hinata stiffened in shock as Sakura's arms wrapped around her in a warm, loving embrace. It was the sort of embrace that one would give a daughter, sister, or dear friend… it was the sort of embrace that Hinata had never received.
"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered into her hair, "So very sorry."
With that, the floodgates broke, and Hinata found herself crying into Sakura's shoulder.
"I love him, too," Hinata cried, pounding at Sakura's back, "I love him, too."
"I know," Sakura whispered, "I know. I'm sorry."
That day was the beginning of her friendship with Sakura… And the gaining of the best and truest sister she had ever had. After Hinata had mourned Naruto, she hadn't stopped, continuing onto her family life, and how she never felt good enough, and how she had no one to turn to. All the while, Sakura had held her, offering condolences and encouragement where needed, allowing Hinata to vent when no one else had. Not only that, but after Hinata was done, and after Sakura and she had said friendly goodbyes concluding another long talk, with less crying, Sakura headed straight over to the Hyuga main house without telling Hinata- and had given her father a talking-to that had managed to cow even the stern, proud man. Whatever Sakura had said during the talk had managed to change him, made him see what no one else had been able to knock into him, and he had begun treating her much more kindly. He had even gotten to the point where he said she was strong, and now went around openly admitting that he was proud to have her as a daughter. Whatever Sakura had said, something Hinata had never been able to get her to reveal, had changed Hinata's life- for the better.
"Sakura-chan…" Hinata whimpered into her knees, "D-Don't leave me too, p-please. Loosing Na-Naruto, that-that was the worst thing I have ever ex-experienced, but loosing you too… Yo-You mi-might as we-well just rip my he-heart out. Pl-Pl-Please-please don't leave me, to-too."
She cried harder as she realized that Sakura wasn't there… there was no warm shoulder for her to cry into, as she'd done so many times since their first talk. There was only the cool of her own flesh, pressing against her skin.
Two weeks later…
"You're an idiot, Haruno."
Sakura smirked with bitter irony as she turned toward the cool voice.
"Hate to break it to you, Neji-san, but I'm in the hospital to recover- not to be insulted."
Neji frowned as he leaned against the doorway.
"Your ripping Hinata into pieces, you know." He said darkly, giving her a glare that would have cowed a lesser woman- maybe even her, if she could have brought herself to care.
"I know," she said, real regret present in her voice. "Tell her… tell her I'm sorry." she whispered softly.
"Tell her yourself." He returned.
Sakura breathed out slowly, trying to find the patience to deal with the elder Hyuuga. He only meant the best, and he really cared for Hinata, she knew. She'd found that out in the talk she'd had with him after confronting Hinata's father. She inwardly smirked as she remembered the look on both of their faces when she'd begun laying into them… if they knew how alike they had looked, it probably would have bothered them for years.
"I can't." She said simply.
"Why not." He snapped.
"I just can't."
Unhappy with her refusal to elaborate, Neji stalked closer to the bed and jerked her face away from the window and towards his own.
"She's not the only one who cares about you, Goddamnit." He snarled darkly, staring into her eyes, letting her see the emotion that lay within them… had lain within them since they had been assigned on mission together to the Sand village, and been force to spend the next two years within each others company.
"I'm sorry," she said, real regret once again making itself known.
Neji made a sound that resembled a lion's roar before abruptly turning away and stalking towards the door. He paused once again in the doorway.
"If you plan on killing yourself, Haruno, you might as well tell me so that I can thrust a kunai through her back. It'd be cleaner." And with that he continued out the door, slamming it behind him on his way out.
Sakura let out another tired breath as she turned her gaze once more towards the window. She knew that Neji's words had been meant to drag her back to the land of the living, meant to make her see what she was doing to everyone with her departure from her life. In a happy story, his words would hit their mark. In a happy story, she would fall in love with him, and continue living. In a happy story, she would stay with Hinata, whom she loved so very much, and Ino who, besides Hinata, was her closest friend. In a happy story, she would be able to move on. But this wasn't a happy story. The truth was… sorry as she was for it, she knew what she was doing to everyone. And she'd lived life once, a good one, but… she just didn't have the strength to return to it if Naruto wasn't there. She sighed as the wind blew by outside her window, ruffling the branches on the cherry tree. Tomorrow, she would be allowed home. Tomorrow, she would put her plan into action.
The Next Day… 6:00 p.m.
"Sa-Sakura-chan? Ar-Are you ho-home? Tsu-Tsunade-sama told me you wo-would be re-released today. Sa-Sakura-chan? I-I brought you a wel-welcome ho-home pre-present."
Hinata nervously inside the house, her hair prickling at the base of her throat. "Sa-Sakura-chan?" she tried once more.
Maybe, maybe I should try Naruto's grave. Yes, that's probably where she is. Eager to leave the house that now disturbed her more than any graveyard ever had, she turned around only to pause as her eyes caught sight of an array of paper lying on a nearby table. Shuddering slightly, Hinata edged toward it eyes widening as she saw a name printed respectively on each piece of paper. Herself, Tsunade, Neji, Sakura's parents, Kakashi, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, and many, many others that had been important to Sakura. Picking up the one with her name, hands trembling so badly she nearly dropped it, Hinata opened the paper and read.
The entire village of Konoha looked up as an unnerving echo of Sakura's protestation at finding Naruto dead rang through the village.
"NOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sakura smirked down at the body that lay at her feet. The body that had once been the killer of her Naruto.
"You never thought I had the strength, did you?" She questioned mockingly, laughing as blood ran from her own flesh onto the ground. Gathering her remaining strength to walk away, so that their blood would not mix, she collapsed several yards from the form.
"You should have learned, Sasuke-bastard. That while a woman scorned has the wrath of hell, a woman who's lover has been killed has ten times that much rage." Her voice was weak, but she knew that barely alive, ghost, he heard her. And she smiled, as she too began to float away.
"Sakura-chan."
Sakura's eyes blinked open slowly. "Nar-Naruto?" she smiled, TRULY smiled, for the first time since his death. She lay in a field of flowers, and had she cared to look around, she would have noticed the beyond-breathtaking landscape, and the gorgeous animals, some of them her old pets, that were scattered about. But she didn't care for any of that. All she cared for was him.
Flinging her arms around him, she whispered with absolute joy, "Naruto."
Smiling, and yet looking sad at the same time, Naruto pushed her away gently. "I wanted you to live, Sakura-chan. I wanted you to live, and have little Sakura-chan babies, and be happy. You should have lived."
Shaking her head, Sakura looked up at him with so much tenderness and love in her gaze, Naruto had to look away to keep being disappointed with her.
"It wasn't worth it, Naruto." She said softly, "Without you beside me… nothing was worth it. Besides, can you honestly say you wouldn't have done the same thing?"
Naruto finally meet her eyes with a wry grin. "Nah, guess not. Should have known you wouldn't have been able to stay away. Can't resist my charm for long, after all, can ya, Sakura-chan?"
"No," She returned to his surprise, "No, I can't."
For the last time, he allowed seriousness to encroach upon their happiness, "Their not gonna have an easy time of it without both of us, you know."
Sakura smiled sadly, "I know. But we'll make it up to them, somehow."
Pushing the sadness as quickly as he had summoned it, Naruto smiled wickedly down at his mate. "Ya know, Sakura-chan, since you refused to have Sakura-chan-babies down there with someone else, I'm just gonna have to make ya do it up here with me." Sweeping HIS Sakura up into his arms, Naruto took off for the home he had made within this literal paradise, the place that they would stay, in happiness and joy, and wait for their friends to join them. So maybe this was a happy story after all. At least, for them.
The End
A/N: Okay, people, so far none of my fics have been flamed – deserved it or not – and I am begging you not to flame this one. I poured my heart and soul into this, cried from beginning to end, and really tried to make it enjoyable for you. So please, no flames. Though the main tragedy in this fic is obviously that of Naruto, I focused this on Sakura, and the heartache that the others would be going through at losing her because I've never really seen a fic where the character was mourned before she died. Despite what you may have been lead to believe, Naruto IS very important to the people within this fic, and they do mourn him, but the mourning is done inbetween-the-lines, so you probably didn't catch it. Anyway, as for what happens to Hinata, Ino, Neji, Tsunade and others who may have cared for Sakura… Well, as Naruto said, they're not gonna have an easy time of it. --cries-- How could I do that to them? --sniff, sniff-- Review people. --blows nose--
P.S. As for the timeline, the weeks after are set where you've stopped reading last, and not from the time Naruto has died.