It was light outside instead of dark, the purpose was noble instead of vengeful, and the boy was hope instead of despair, but the situation was completely, totally, heartbreakingly the same. Someone she loved more than life was leaving (again) and there was nothing she could do about it (again). Sakura's heart was breaking, and this time, her best friend wouldn't be around to put it back together.
So she did the only thing she could.
"Jerk! Idiot!" She screamed, eyes filling up with tears, "You promised! You promised you'd stay, you'd be Hokage, you'd make everybody recognize you! You swore to the whole village!" Naruto stood perfectly still; she'd seen him serious before, but never so solemn. Like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. The look on his face made her even angrier.
"What about your ninja way? You built your whole character on that stupid ideal. You never break a promise!" She charged at him, whether to knock him out and drag him home or to hold him close and beg him to stay she couldn't decide. She expected him to move, to block, to attack back, to do something. Instead, he just stared her straight in the eyes, completely unflinching as she came closer and closer with what would surly be an incapacitating punch. At the last moment, she moved slightly to the left and completely shredded a tree older than Konoha. He continued to stand ramrod straight- she sank to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Naruto. You'll be just like Sasuke," she whispered. He said nothing at first so she thought he hadn't heard. Then, carefully, like someone who was approaching a hurt animal, Naruto crouched down beside her.
"Sakura-chan. You don't really believe that?" he asked.
She said nothing, making the ninja sigh. "I'm fulfilling my ninja way as best as I can. I know I promised everyone I'd be Hokage. But I also promised I would do whatever it took to protect the village. And right now… right now that means I have to defy Tsunade's orders and go after Akatsuki. It means I have to leave the village."
"Have to leave the village," Sakura said faintly, painfully aware how like Sasuke he sounded. "You don't have to do anything. Don't go. Stay here, get stronger. For the village. For our team. For me. Please," she begged. She finally looked at him, but his outline was blurred by her tears. Naruto let out something like a moan of pain and hugged Sakura close.
They stayed that way for a few moments until Naruto pulled away and spoke. "You know I'll do anything for you. If you ask me to stay, I will. But Sakura? Please don't ask me to stay. I know I have to do this. You know I have to do this."
And she did know. The pink haired girl knew she had the power to make him stay. But she also knew that she couldn't do that to the village or to him.
"Then let me come with you!" She pleaded, recognizing that she had implored the same thing of their other teammate. She grinned ironically. "I know you better than you think, idiot. You get beat up constantly; a medical nin would be a huge asset to your mission."
A ghost of a smile flitted across Naruto's face in response, even as he shook his head. "No. The village needs you. You're an amazing medic, and a wise person when you aren't all emotional. Even if I succeed, there's still a good chance of war. They'll need you then. They need you now. You shouldn't come Sakura." She noticed that he said "if I succeed" instead of "when I succeed", but let it pass. He stood, and helped her to her feet. "Besides," he smiled, "if I have you here waiting for me, I'll most defiantly come back!" She nodded, eyes downcast. He gave her one last hug.
"Thank-you," he said. He had the stupidity (or insight?) to say the exact same words in the exact same situation as the other boy she loved. He took her pained silence as his cue to leave. Before he took off, however, he said what Sasuke didn't have the courage to say. "I love you."
Sakura stayed in the forest long after she knew he was gone. She stood in perfect silence (perfect agony,) and considered her team mates. They were complete opposites: dark and light, revenge and protection, calculation and spontaneity, hatred and love, avenger and protector.
But then, they were also totally, completely, maddeningly the same. They both were driven, powerful, obsessive, tortured, and, most importantly, they both left (without her). But she thought that maybe, someday, they'd be the same in another way.
Hopefully, they'd both come home.
A/N: :Double takes: I wrote angst?! And not only that, but in the Naruto fandom? (Just to clarify, I really am not a big Naruto fan; it's pretty strange that I'm writing this fic at all actually. I was writing something for Eragon and working on The Scarlet Letter and instead I ended up rambling on this tangent.) I havn't seen enough of the series either, so while I did try and make sure everything was correct, there might be glaring mistakes . I also just wrote it, (therefore it is much more likely to have grammatical errors,) but thought I'd post it becuase it actually turned out OK. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: You'd know if I owned Naruto. Sasuke would be dead, Naruto would have a girl friend who wasn't in love with somebody else and/or extremely shy, and Shikimaru would be hokage. Seriously.