"There are always two choices, Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy."

"Choices"

She stood there in between the destroyed field, the chaos settled and left with a choice that no one should have to make. Sakura glanced back and forth between both her comrades, glancing at the object of her youth and the ray of light that found its way into her heart. Her heart raced as she realized that both were in need of her medical attention. The problem was that she could only save one.

'What should I do?'

It should have been easy to decide. Naruto was the savoir of the world, the future Hokage and peace maker. Sasuke was a crazed lunatic who wanted nothing more than to crush the Hidden Leaf, to murder everyone and anyone in his quest for vengeance. But her feelings of the past and her feelings of the present battled against each other.

'Why is this so hard?'

Sakura's mind remembered the moment she thought that she truly feel 'in love' with Sasuke, the park bench right after Team Seven had formed, the compliment on her forehead. She then remembered what Yamato had said to her, how he saw that there was more than friendship in her eyes and actions towards Naruto.

'My heart is breaking so much.'

Blood was seeping out of both of them, wounds being inches deep, almost to the core. She didn't have much time to decide whom to save. She had to make a choice. Her mind began to process everything that had happened in the last few years, the park bench, Sasuke's betrayal, Naruto's promise, Naruto's departure, his return, her ever confusing emotions growing, Yamato's words, their reunion with Sasuke, her tears as she ran to Naruto in his four-tailed state, Sai's words of Naruto's affection of her, her confession, Naruto's reaction, Sasuke's continual descent into darkness, Naruto saving her life from his hands, the love note from the Shinobi, her thoughts on Sasuke, Naruto's arrival to the battlefield, his sacrifice of his own happiness, his sacrifice of his own life.

Her heart began to beat faster. She knew who she had to save. Sakura ran over towards the person she had come to see not as an annoyance on her life, but as a companion for the rest of her life, a friend she could count on, perhaps something more. Sakura knelt down beside him, her palms glowing green and placed of his chest, healing his serious wounds. She wished that both could have been saved, one would have been executed for his crimes, while the other wallowed in misery. At least she would be able to save him and help in their future days, months and years.

"Sakura…" Naruto whispered trying to move his arms to stop her.

"Don't Naruto, let me do this." Sakura ordered him as she placed his arms back down and began to heal him again.

"Please Sakura. Don't sacrifice your happiness for me." Naruto spoke with a rasp in his voice. "I know that you don't have the same feelings for me as I do for you."

"How can you be so sure Naruto?" Sakura asked as she moved her glowing hands to his head to stop the bleeding from his head wounds.

"Because, because I just know. I see the way you look at me. It isn't the same when you look at him. So please, go heal him." Naruto replied defiantly.

"Naruto, you should know that he won't be allowed to live regardless. He's done too much to be forgiven by anyone. So please, just stop resisting and let me heal you." Sakura pleaded.

"But you still love him don't you?" Naruto rasped out, grasping Sakura's hand to stop it from healing her.

"Naruto, stop." Sakura pleaded as she tried to move her hand from his grasp. "Let me heal you. You are the future of the world, not him."

"Do you still love him?" Naruto asked, not listening to her pleas. Sakura looked into his eyes, his now slightly darkened eyes, begging her to not deny him the answer, his blood stained hair flowing in the air.

"I love you both." Sakura confessed. "I love you both because you both are the closest people to my heart."

"That isn't what I asked." Naruto replied with the thinnest hit of anger in his voice.

"It's the answer that you're getting though Naruto." Sakura replied, forcing his hand back down to the ground. "I love Sasuke because he was the person of my affections, because he showed it to me on the park bench just when we became Team Seven, we he complimented my forehead, when he said…"

"You have such a big forehead, makes me want to kiss it?" Naruto finished her sentence, remembering that day clearly. Sakura's eyes widen at what he had just said.

"Yes, but, how did you…?" Sakura's eyes grew wider as she began to quickly realize. "Naruto, you didn't, did you?"

"Guilty." Naruto coughed up blood, but was able to keep his smile. "Guess you're going to kill me now." He added in for a joke. Sakura's eyes watered as she ripped his hand from hers and placed it on the ground, healing his injuries again.

"No you idiot. But why?" Sakura asked him, placing her hands over his stomach.

"Why what?" Naruto asked not understanding the question.

"Why would you do that?" Sakura cried out. "Why would do such a thing like that? That was when I really began to feel like there was something between myself and Sasuke! That's why I loved him! But now I find out that instead of him, whom I spent my entire time wondering about, that it was you all along?"

"What do you want me to say then? If I had known what was to come, I never would have done that in the first place. We were young Sakura, we didn't know any better. I had such a huge crush on you that I would anything to try and find a way to make you notice me." Naruto groaned as he felt his injuries take effect on him.

"But look at what it did." Sakura whispered. "Why couldn't you simply have shown that affection to me as yourself?"

Now Naruto was mad.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You know as well as I do what the fuck you would have done if I did that! You would have punched me into next week, for no damn reason!" Naruto shouted sitting straight up.

"Naruto, lie back down!" Sakura pleaded with him, noticing that his eyes had darkened further in anger.

"Don't tell me, what to do." Naruto groaned as his wounds caused him horrible pain. "I would have thought that after all this time you would have seen the light of day. You would have seen what Sasuke really was. Or perhaps you would have seen what your 'confession' would have done to me? 'Why couldn't you simply have shown that affection to me as yourself'?" Naruto then added in a mocking tone.

"Naruto, please stop it." Sakura began to weep. "I made mistakes in the past. I know that I made such horrible decisions. I'm trying to change as best as I can. Why do you think I chose to heal you instead of Sasuke?"

"Because, it's your obligation." Naruto replied quietly, before coughing up more blood. Sakura was quick to react as she placed him on her lap and began to heal him again. The tears didn't stop falling from her eyes, each one falling onto the ground.

"It's not my obligation Naruto. It's my choice. I don't want Sasuke back because he isn't the same person anymore. I want you back because I know you better than I know myself. If I had ever found out that it was you who said that to me instead of Sasuke, then perhaps I wouldn't have had such feelings for him." Sakura wiped her eyes dry for the moment.

"But why couldn't you just see me for who I was after the fact?" Naruto spoke. "I saw some of the signs, but you never acted on them."

"What was I supposed to do Naruto? We were in the middle of trying to find Sasuke then having to fight a war. I didn't have time to work out my feelings, but it wasn't like I didn't think about it. I saw the signs myself. I saw it when Yamato tried to tell me that my feelings were more than friendship with you. I saw it when Sai told me how you really felt about me. I didn't just think about Sasuke, I thought about you too." Sakura wiped her eyes again then began to run her fingers through his hair, her chakra nearly drained.

"Then why did you have to hit me so many times? It wasn't like I did anything to hurt you...except for that one time." Naruto's sullied tone gave away his own guilt of attacking her under his Four-Tailed cloak, noticing the light scar on her elbow.

"I don't know Naruto. It may have been because of my own immature nature or my fear of getting close to you." Sakura replied quietly as another one of his deep gashes had been healed.

"You feared me? Because of the Nine-Tails?" Naruto asked her dejectedly. Sakura gasped at his question.

"How can you even think that? I never could hate you for something that you had no control over. I know that you didn't deserve to have suffered like you did, but I take blame in that as well. I didn't comfort you enough when you were sad or down, I didn't treat you as someone that deserved to have all the love in the world, I treated you like a punching bag, because of my own insecurities, because I couldn't admit to myself that there was something there. It's only now that I realize how close you really were to my heart, and now I realize how close to my heart that you really are now." Sakura continued to comb her fingers through his hair.

Naruto felt like the weight of a thousand suns had been lifted, but the weight of guilt weighed five times as much. All this time, he thought that he had been the victim of this. But he never saw how Sakura truly struggled to deal with her own feelings. He saw at times that Sakura did seem confused, but he always thought that she had loved Sasuke more than anyone.

"I feel like such an idiot." Naruto turned his head away, his injuries now healing nicely with the aid of the Kyuubi. Sakura only smiled at his remark as tears continued to fall from her eyes

"You never had parents to teach you the ways of a woman." Sakura replied, stroking her fingers gently along his scalp as her tears fell onto his chest. Naruto smiled as he felt himself ready to fall asleep, before realization took hold over him.

"Sasuke." Naruto sat up quickly. Sakura grasped his arms quickly to try and pull him back down.

"Naruto wait! You're injuries aren't healed completely!" Sakura reminded him. Naruto didn't heed to her warning though.

"I know, but I have to see him. I'm sorry, but I just have to." Naruto stood wobbly to his feet. He felt himself begin to fall back to the ground. Sakura though wasn't going to have that happen as she helped him to his feet again. "Sakura?"

"I know you aren't going to listen to reason, so at least let me help you." She smiled at him; feeling drained herself from her lack of chakra. "Besides, I have to see him one last time." She pulled his arm over her shoulders and helped him along.

Naruto smiled his thanks before they began to walk over to the dying Uchiha. Each footstep felt like the days that had passed since Team Seven had become separated, the trials and tribulations of Naruto and Sakura in each step. Despite the fact that the 4th Shinobi World War had erupted, that Madara had nearly succeeded in ruling the world, that Naruto had almost perished, it had always been about Sasuke. Naruto's view for peace could wait, because it had always been about Team Seven. It was time to end that chapter of their lives.

"So, I guess that you, that you finally beat me, Dobe." Sasuke rasped out as he felt his body begin to shut down.

"You brought that upon yourself. But, I always was going to beat you." Naruto smiled, starting to kneel down with Sakura helping him. Sasuke smiled as blood trickled from his mouth his cheeks, his eyes now losing sight slowly.

"I thought you said that we would die in combat?" Sasuke gasped out as he tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. "But I guess Sakura made it so that you would live."

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but I can't save you, even if I had any chakra to spare. I simply couldn't." Sakura replied sadly, her eyes tearing up again. Sasuke weakly laughed at her response.

"That's fine. I wouldn't want help any way." Sasuke replied, his voice growing weaker. "I guess that the Leaf will continue to be ruled by those demons that call themselves the Village Elders. Pity, I'll see them in hell then."

"You had the right intentions." Naruto spoke. "But you went about it in the worst way. You wanted power; you wanted revenge, a revenge that was falsely justified. Then you wanted to destroy my home, the home that my father and mother protected."

"I wanted power to avenge my clan, I wanted to power because I saw you grow stronger and stronger while I ceased to progress any further." Sasuke spoke of his intentions, something Naruto knew all too well.

"My father was Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage. My mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the Jinchuriki before me. My parent's traits passed down onto me, my father's determination, my mother's blood line, rather her clan's. The Jinchuriki before Mito Uzumaki, wife to Hashirama Senju who became the First Hokage, had her clan's blood line, my clan's blood line. My clan was one of the biggest parts of Konoha's history, and helped in its formation. These traits gave me abilities that would always surpass your own. I see that now, and as much as you don't want to admit it, you know that it's true. I don't like the Elders either, but I'm not going to kill them. I will make them pay for what they did, to both of us, but I won't kill them." Naruto assured him.

"Cold comfort I guess. It figures that your father would be a former Hokage and your mother a Jinchuriki from a clan that had unique blood lines, along with an entire clan behind it. I guess that we were always destined to have this fight." Sasuke spoke back with a chuckle before coughing up more blood. His life grew closer to its end. "What are the chances? But at least I won't die in vain. I know that you'll make due on your promise."

"I promise." Naruto replied, as he felt tears form in his eyes.

"Good, and for what it's worth, I am sorry now that I look back at what I've done. I wonder what would happened if Orochimaru had never placed that Curse Mark on me. I guess it doesn't matter now." Sasuke replied now weak beyond help.

"We know that Sasuke, but at least you were able to see it now." Sakura sobbed quietly as she laid her head on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked on in tears, knowing that his world was going to change again, a change that was going to take many years to heal. The only thing he could be thankful for was that Sasuke was truthful about his apology. He could see it in his eyes. At least now he could live knowing that he was able to save his friend at the last moments of his life.

"Keep living you two and don't stop training Naruto. That Rasengan hit its mark, but it could have been better." Sasuke joked. Naruto began to weep openly.

"I will. I will." Naruto simply replied, tears cascading down his cheeks.

"Well guys, I think my life is just about at its end. I can't hold on anymore." Sasuke smiled weakly. "If you ever decide to name any of your kids after me, I'll be honored."

"I think that can be arranged." Naruto sobbed while smiling, the same for Sakura.

"Good, hopefully I'll see you again in a better place." Sasuke smiled one last time, a smile that neither thought would ever see again. "Until then, see you on the other side Dobe." Sasuke spoke his last phrase before his eyes closed for the last time.

Naruto and Sakura cried as they remained knelt next to their fallen comrade. Later on, as the day started to dwindle into the night, Naruto and Sakura had been able to gather enough strength to make a pyre for Sasuke. Placing his body upon it, they lit it to fire and let Sasuke become one with the element that the Uchiha had been known for. The last of the Uchiha had turned into ashes and been reborn as part of the night, while his two forgotten friends sat on a tree trunk, holding each other as they watched.

The fire had lasted for hours before its last bit of kindle had been burned, Sasuke's body was now gone, the only remnants of the Uchiha clan being the old compound in Konoha. The stars had become brighter for some reason, possibly because of Sasuke's last moment of salvation. Naruto could only wonder if that was true. But now there was the questions of what would happen now, a question Sakura seemed to hear in his thoughts.

"So, what happens now?" Sakura asked who held his hand tight while staring into the night sky. Naruto massaged her hand between her hands.

"I don't know. I'm still trying to cope with Sasuke and what we've come to realize between ourselves." Naruto replied. "What do you think should happen?"

"I think that we should try to be happy." Sakura turned her head to face Naruto. "I think that's what the old Sasuke, the one that was revived in his last moments, would want."

"And what about your feelings towards me?" Naruto asked, trying to keep himself composed and wondering where the future would lead them. Sakura didn't answer him right away, but instead leaned up and press her soft lips to his while raising her hand onto his cheek to show how she felt. Naruto looked at her with his eyes wide as she smiled at him once they separated.

"It took so many years, so many trials, but because of everything that you've done for me, because of your undying faith in me, because you see me as a perfect woman in your eyes, even when I don't think of myself as such, you've given me someone to love. I made my choice, and I thought about it for so long while we watched Sasuke become one with the stars. I understand what I felt for Sasuke was real and yet it wasn't at the same time. Like you said, we were young. While I had feelings for Sasuke, I started to wonder during these last few hours what it would have been like if you had never said that to me while you were henged as Sasuke."

"And what do you think would have happened had Sasuke never left?" Naruto replied, coming back down to earth from his cloud.

"I think that it really doesn't matter. I think things would have run their natural course. I think I would have fallen in love with you even Sasuke had stayed. I don't want to imagine what could have happened; I only want to focus on the here and now." Sakura replied as she felt Naruto's body begin to weigh a little heavier. "Come here and lay down. You need some rest."

Naruto didn't argue as Sakura helped him lay down onto her soft legs.

"Thank you Sakura." He replied as he felt sleep begin to take hold. "But I have to ask, do you regret anything? I don't want to have any lingering doubts in my mind."

Sakura gave him a gentle smiled. She wondered back a bit into her memory of when she was a little girl, seeing a little boy with blond hair swinging on the swing set by himself and thinking to herself that she wanted to go say high, only for her mother to drag her away. She thought about the boy and wondered who he was and thought that he looked kind of cute. Only now so many years later did she realize that boy had become the strongest person that she would ever meet and the boy that found his way into her heart.

"You worked your way into my heart Naruto, long before we were ever Shinobi. I regret nothing." Sakura whispered as she leaned down and kissed his forehead before raking her fingers through his hair, watching as Naruto fell asleep with a smile on his face.

The upcoming months would be hard for both as they began to heal the wounds that they had inflicted on each other from their relationship. But Sakura was going to make sure that she didn't leave any doubts in her mind or Naruto's that she had made the right choice. Meanwhile their sensei watched from afar as he saw his students sit by the prior and could only smile as he saw everything in place.

'Now they're ready to take the future in their hands. My generation has become surpassed.'

Kakashi leapt off into the night, glad to know that Sakura had made the right choice and that Naruto would finally have some of the happiness that he deserved. The future would be safe in his hands as he would soon become Hokage for his heroics, for his accomplishments, for everything that he had done to protect the world and would continue to protect the world. Kakashi smiled as he thought of his own sensei and what he would think of him as he had taught Naruto to harness his element, to guide him to his destiny. His only regret was that he hadn't see it sooner and taught him more of his techniques. Looking back on it, Kakashi could only be honored that he had been Naruto's sensei.

'I hope that you're proud of me Minato-sensei, I know that I'm proud to be your son's sensei, and that I'm proud of him.'

Naruto's dream of Team Seven had indeed come true, if only for a few moments. But for those moments, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had been reunited. Kakashi had watched from the distance but he had been there too. For him, it was about the apprentices of the three Legendary Sannin. And he wouldn't have it any other way as he leaped to the base to inform the others of what happened.

As the night wore on, the stars shined brightly on Naruto and Sakura as she stroked her fingers through his hair, wondering what their future would hold.

'I'll always be by your side Naruto. You fulfilled your promise to me, now I make that promise to you. We'll start to grow closer, we'll become stronger together, we'll have children together. I'm know I'm not taking a leap of faith on those promises, I believe it's what my heart wants now. I thought that I loved Sasuke, but if I did, I grew to love you more, and realized what love really was. I'm glad that I see that now. I love you Naruto, I truly do.'

Sakura watched as Naruto smiled sweetly in his sleep as he rested on her lap. She wondered if he had heard her words, but she smiled, already knowing the answer.

A/N: I had to update this, I felt that more could have been done with it. So glad that I did.

SPOILERS! The main reason I wrote this was because someone asked me what I thought the ending of the manga would be. Now, I don't think it will be exactly like this, but perhaps something similar. If you see the latest chapters, then you've seen Sakura think about Sasuke several times, along with everything else that involves those two, which leads to wonder what's there. At the same time, you wonder about Naruto too because we've seen the signs there too such as Yamato's words, her multiple blushes when Naruto returned, Sai telling her how he feels and of course the infamous confession. My feeling is pretty much what the story says. The basic premise is that Sasuke will more than likely die because honestly, there's no way he could return to Konoha, especially with how far he's fallen into wanting to destroy the Leaf. And let's not forget one of the obvious signs. Kushina and Sakura look pretty similar as do their personalities. Not to mention the scenes where Minato / Naruto save them respectively. It wouldn't bother me if Naruto ended up with Hinata, but in that case, Sakura has to die along with Sasuke and honestly, I don't think that will happen. Anyway, that's enough rambling. Just wanted to write this in response to that question, luckily, it only took me two hours. It may seem generic because there's quite a few of these stories out there, but I never wrote one like this, so I kind of wanted to. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.

I want to state my four main points on this topic. I listed many above, but these to me are the main points of the argument.

For starters, let's look at tendencies in manga / anime. People who usually fight with each other tend to be together. A prime example of this is Inuyasha and Kagome. Who fights the most in Naruto? Naruto and Sakura.

Second, let's look further at Sakura's personality, seems very similar to how Kushina was in her youth, strong headed, abrasive, quick temper, etc. Even the hair itself is unique, pink just being a lighter shade of red.

Third, where Naruto saves Sakura from Sasuke, looks very similar to how Minato saved Kushina, isn't it?

Probably the most notable one is that Minato complimented Kushina's hair, saying it was pretty, thus changing her attitude towards him. Now then, let's wait and see what happens if or when Naruto reveals that he was the one that complimented Sakura's forehead, something that she hates being made fun of.