Naruto stared at the walls of his office. This office seemed cursed, its residents, the Hokages, had a tendency to die defending Konoha, and Naruto the 7th to bare that title was about to do the same. The meeting he just had with his counsel was really unnecessary. He knew when he got the news from his spy in Akatsuki what he would have to do.
"Lord Hokage, I have dire news. Akatsuki is preparing an attack upon Konoha, and the plan to release all eight of the Tailed Beasts they collected to force you to submit."
Naruto quickly called his counselors. Many of them had ideas.
"Perhaps if we strike them now before they finish unsealing the beasts we can stop them." This proposal came from Lee.
"Imposable, they are too far away we could never make it in time to stop them." This came from Shikamaru always the logical one.
"We could pretend to hand Naruto over then rescue him before they abstract the Kyūbi." This from Neji.
"Too dangerous if they get the Kyubi we and the other ninja villages would be powerless to stop them, and even if we were in time they would then proceeded to release their tailed bests in retaliation. " Again from Shikamaru.
A wide variety of plans were thrown out their each one more and more desperate, and each one shot down by Shikamaru.
Finally, Sakura lost her temper, "Then what do you propose we do!" she screamed at Shikamaru. Throughout this entire exchange Naruto kept quit hoping that someone would come up with an idea that would save him from what he knew he had to do.
"He knows what he has to do." Said Shikamaru turning towards Naruto.
These words were a death note to Naruto. If even Shikamaru could not find a way out for him then he was truly doomed. "The tailed beasts must be destroyed once and for all. As long as they exist they are still a threat and even sealed up there will always be someone who wants to use their power for evil, and I'm the only one who can destroy them. I will need to draw upon all of the power of the nine tails and then I will need even more power." With this he turned to Lee, "I need to learn how to open the Inner Gates, all of them."
"But Naruto that would be fatal!" exclaimed Lee.
"There is no other way. If I don't fight with full power I can not hope to win against all of the tailed beasts."
"No, Naruto you can't do this we need you, I need you!" Screamed Sakura. Even in this desperate time those lasts words had reawakened familiar feelings for his teammate. His feeling for her had only grown from when he was first assigned as her teammate, and now even his long coveted title of Hokage seemed of little importance compared to his feelings for her.
With great effort he ignored her and turned to Shikamaru, "Do you have any more ideas on how to make this mission more likely to succeed. Do you think I should take any reinforcements when I go?"
"Yes, please maybe if I'm there I could save!" Screamed Sakura on the edge of tears.
Again she was ignored. "No, to reinforcements. They would certainly die in such a battle, and be of no help. However, there is a way to increase your power by even more." With that he held out his hand to Choji how silently handed him a small box. Shikamaru then handed the pills to Naruto. "These pills are made by the Akimichi clan and if you take all of them it will increase your power by even more. Be warned however that their effect will be just as fatal as opening the gate of death; with the amount of chakra you will release it will be imposable to save you like the 5th did for Choji back when he was a Genin."
"That doesn't matter. Now where should I fight them?" With that he and Shikamaru started poring over maps trying to find the place that would give Naruto the best odds of victory, and the least odds of killing any bystanders. Lee ran off to get a school on opening the final gate while most of the rest of the counsel just sat their occasionally giving input on different locations. Lee returned with the scroll. Opening the 8th gate was actually very easy compared to the others. "Finally some good news, this would save me time training."
With this Sakura snapped. "What do you mean good luck, is it lucky that you will die easer." With that she swept the counsel with her eyes "You can't serious be planning on sending Naruto to die!" No one answered.
"For all my life I wanted to become Hokage. At first I wanted people to recognize me, but when the Third died I learned that being Hokage was not just an award for being strong, but an obligation to use that strength to defend this village." With this Sakura let out a scream and ran from the room with tears flowing down her face. It took everything Naruto had not to chase after her and to comfort her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her it would be alright, but it wouldn't be alright, he was going to die and no words he could say would change that fact, so he reluctantly returned to business. They soon found the perfect place, a narrow pass that would prevent him from being surrounded by all eight of the tailed beasts at once. It was also uninhabited.
The meeting was now over and there was nothing left he could do. He would leave tomorrow. He should be sleeping, but he knew that it would be imposable. He alternated between reviewing the scroll that Lee gave him and looking at the map that Shikamaru gave him. He kept on doing this even though by now they were both memorized.
Then he heard a nock on the door. It was Sakura. Naruto stared at her. He didn't want to see her now he didn't wanted to be remained of anything pleasant he had in his life; however he lacked the will power to send her away. They stared at each other for a few minutes. Then Sakura broke into tears and wrapped her arms around Naruto. "I love you Naruto, oh god how I love you."
Naruto held her and tried to comfort her. "I love you to; I loved you when I first saw you and I loved you more each day."
"Then why must you do this to me? Why must you leave me here alone?"
"You know why. I learned then that you must protect that witch you love. I love this village and all of its inhabitance and I love you most of all, and because of that I can't let anything happen to the village or you. You wouldn't love me if I did anything less."
She didn't respond. She just cried into his solder. When she was done he took her face in his hands and kissed her. He meant it to be just a quick peck on the lips, but she grabbed his head and didn't let go drawing him into a deep passionate kiss. She pushed him into his office and closed the door.
He woke up before her. The memory of that night burned into his mind forever. He looked at her naked form and it took everything he had not to stay with her. He didn't wake her, but just left as quietly as he could.
When Sakura woke up she thought the entire last day had been a dream. Then she realized that she was in Naruto's office and realized that it wasn't a dream. At first this made her happy thinking that at last Naruto and her would be tougher. She then looked around for him and realized he was gone. Then she remembered Akatsuki and Naruto's suicide mission. Lying beside her was a picture. She picked it up and recognized it as the one that was taken when She, Naruto and Sasuke were assigned to team seven together. She turned it over and saw Naruto's scribble on the back.
"Dear Sakura, I know that we will never see each other again. I just want you to know that before I met you I was alone and miserable. All the happiness in my life I found because of you. Last night was the best of my life even better than becoming Hokage. My love will always be with you.
Naruto" After reading this Sakura began to cry.
Naruto sat alone in the mountain pass. He knew that Akatsuki would be here soon. He kept reliving his night with Sakura. He wondered if it would have been better if it never happened. He accepted death the moment he heard the news from the spy. Now though he truly wanted to run away, take Sakura and hide from Akatsuki. Be tougher with her for ever. They could stop being Ninjas and live happily together; however this was not his fate. Now all he had left was a memory that would torturer him as he did what he had to do.
Then he heard it the approach of the beasts. He began to transform. He ate all three of Choji's pill and began to open the eighth gate. He felt power rush through him unlike anything that has ever been experienced before. With this power he was unstoppable. The tailed beasts were no match for his boosted power. They all quickly fell under his unstoppable might. Then he turned his attention the remaining members of Akatsuki quickly killing them as well.
Now the battle was over and he still had a few seconds of life left. His mind again returned to Konoha and Sakura. He realized that it was good that he had the memory of that one night. His last thought could be remembering the happiest time in his life. He said one last thing as he died, "I love you Sakura." With that he died smiling at his memory.
Sakura was setting near the gates of Konoha when she could have sworn she heard Naruto's voice telling her she loved him. Then she knew that he was dead. She began to cry hot tears rolling down her face for everyone to see. She could feel his lasts thoughts. She knew he died while loving her, just as he had lived loving her.
"I love you to Naruto." She whispered as she turned back to the village.