Naruto Uzumaki panted heavily, looking over at his raven haired comrade Sasuke Uchiha as the two of them felt every muscle in their bodies aching in agony. "It's…over…" Naruto finally choked out, in between ragged breaths and gasps for air as he looked around at the torn apart battlefield. Obito Uchiha, Madara Uchiha and Kaguya, all three of them he and his comrades fought against in this horrendous 4th Great Ninja War, and now it was finally over. Looking down at his right arm, covered in cuts, bruises, scars and burns as he looked at his tattered clothing.

Chuckling weakly, the blond shinobi slowly fell to his knees, as did Sasuke as they both fell. Naruto felt his body aching painfully, his eyelids slowly growing heavier as he looked over at Sasuke, the sound of footsteps echoing through his mind before he would smile weakly. Finally, his eyes closed, he slowly felt himself being pulled into the darkness, his body too beaten up to go on at this moment.

What was only mere moments in the outside world felt like an eternity, eons even, inside Naruto's mind. But for some reason, he could feel a warmth…pushing its way through the darkness and slowly making its way towards him as he began to feel himself being pulled slowly out of the darkness. His eyes which once were heavy slowly began to open, and what he saw had fooled him into thinking it was just a dream, or maybe a bad attempt at a joke from someone.

But he could swear, that at that moment, he felt the soft welcoming lips of the pink haired young woman who he had been chasing since his youth. His eyes fixated on the pink locks of her hair, no longer hindered by her red headband, he could still feel the warmth of her breath on him as she continued to kiss him. When she had finally pulled away, her green eyes were greeted by the young man's warm blue eyes, full of exhaustion yet full of joy that they had survived and even won the battle with the Uchiha and Kaguya.

Smiling, the pink haired young woman tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, looking down at the beaten up spiky, blond haired shinobi as tears pricked the corners of her eyes, one managing to fall as she looked at him. "You idiot…I knew that would wake you up…" she said, Naruto returning her smile with a perplexed expression, though he was far too exhausted to react in the typical animated and overly dramatic fashion he was known for. Instead, he simply looked at her with his blue eyes locked on her lips.

He brought his hand up slowly, touching his lips as if he could still feel Sakura's own lips pressing against his. "Sa…Sakura?" he said, confusing fighting to appear evident in his tired voice. Before he could say another utterance, Sakura lifted her finger to his lips, shaking her head as tears fell from her eyes. "Idiot…save your strength…" she said to him.

Across the battlefield, a lavender eyed young woman watched from a distance. She placed her hand over her heart almost as if she was checking to see if it was still beating, yet this was not the case. She was…shocked. Surprised. And worst of all…heartbroken. She was glad that Naruto was okay, but…to come to see him being kissed by Sakura? Even if Sakura was her friend and comrade she couldn't believe that she would kiss Naruto RIGHT after he had just finished battling.

And she wasn't the only person who saw this either…Sitting up a few meters away, was the raven haired, lone survivor of the Uchiha Clan. He had watched Sakura kiss Naruto, and to say the least…it had an impact on him. Not so much about anything romance related, that much he could care less about. It was…different…far different from anything anyone else could comprehend if he were to tell them.

All this time he had been knowing Naruto, he always saw Naruto as an annoyance, a person who always got in his way…but, he was also his rival. The person he always tried to be better than, but for some reason Naruto always had some sort of a lead on him. And just when the both of them had been put on equal ground, with his Rinnegan and Naruto being given Sixth Paths' power from Hagoromo, the Sage of the Six Paths, here he had to sit up and see Naruto kissing Sakura.

That was it wasn't it? The one thing Naruto had now that he couldn't acquire no matter how much training he does. He slowly reached for his blade, using it as a makeshift crutch to help him stand up, he turned his back towards the two of them, looking over his shoulder at the two before looking away…

Naruto…won…

Those words…those painful words echoed through his mind as he looked ahead and slowly began to walk forward before a heavy hand stopped him from doing so. Standing behind him was Ay, the Raikage, and he didn't seem at all in the mood to be having kind conversation.

"Sasuke…Uchiha…where do you think…you're going?" he asked, his voice as sincere and anger filled as it has always been. His soul piercing eyes met Sasuke's, the man staring the lone survivor down. "I still…have to get you…for what you did to…Bee" he said, his body aching, but apparently not enough to keep from attacking the young raven haired boy.

Just as the man lifted his arm, channeling what little bit his chakra he had remaining in his body into it as he sought to destroy Sasuke once and for all. The male's arm swung towards Sasuke at full force, slicing through the air as the familiar sound of lightning chirped. "Lariat!". A loud thud was heard, Sakura's eyes left wide open as was everyone else's eyes.

The loud thud was then succeeded by the sound of a pained groan, followed by feet sliding backwards on the rugged ground. Sasuke stood there, his own charcoal eyes wide open as he looked at the Raikage, and the now standing blond haired shinobi. Naruto panted heavily, his arms held up in front of himself as a makeshift guard, panting even heavier than before as he stared at the Raikage, far too tired to glare at him the way he wanted to.

"What the hell…are you doing?! I could've finished…that brat off!" Ay said angrily, falling to one knee as he felt himself having barely enough strength to continue standing. "I won't let…you hurt Sasuke…old man" Naruto panted, own body struggling to keep up the façade that he still had energy to go on. Truth was, he just about used up the last of his chakra and energy to rush over as quickly as he did and to block the Raikage's Lariat.

"Why…why do you continue…to protect him? He tried to kill Bee! He even tried to kill you and your comrades! Haven't you suffered enough at his hands?!" the Raikage yelled. "I don't care what he's done! He's still my friend…he's a comrade to the Leaf" Naruto said, gasping futilely to get air into his strained lungs. "Anyone who tries to hurt him…or anyone from the Leaf…I'll knock 'em flat on their butt! Believe it…" he said, finally starting to fall before he felt arms wrapping around his body, warmth enveloping him as he closed his eyes.

Sakura's eyes filled with tears once more at the words and actions of the blond. Even when he has barely able to move, he still was able to put himself in danger's path for the sake of others. Looking up at the raven haired boy she was finally able to see things a bit clearly now. Time and time again, Naruto had been the one putting himself in danger for others, some of the people he didn't even know. Enemies, people from other villages, people who tried to kill him and the others from different villages…he was able to forgive them and make them into his comrades.

But Sasuke? It didn't seem like he changed as much. Naruto was born with the 9 Tails inside his body and because of it everyone hated him. Yet, despite this, he was the kind of person who fought in spite of this. He didn't make up excuses, and this was coming from the girl who always called him an idiot and often mocked his dreams. Sasuke Uchiha…left the village and everyone in it behind, claiming he wanted revenge. He wanted the strength and power he thought he needed to kill his brother Itachi.

And since that day Naruto had been training like crazy to get strong enough to bring Sasuke back to the village. Even when she herself, Sasuke's old teammate from Squad 7, had tried to get Naruto to forget about Sasuke, Naruto refused to and still tried to bring Sasuke out of the darkness. And still…even now…he still had the strength to say that Sasuke was their comrade and fought to protect him with the little bit of energy he had left.

The more she thought about it, the more she thought about how she kept chasing Sasuke for as long as she had been, the more stupid she felt for doing it. Sasuke had been gone, fighting and killing off other shinobi in his quest for revenge. And even after his brother had died he still tried to kill more people. And even…the Leaf Village, his and everyone else who he grew up with's home. She knew that before she had tried to get Naruto to forget about Sasuke with her confession to him, which failed miserably, but…since then, she had been feeling something tugging at her heart…

The more she watched how Naruto fought for the sake of others, the same people who mocked him and his dreams and desire to be accepted, the more the tugging became apparent. And even now the tugging was stronger that it has ever been. Earlier, she had kissed Naruto for the sake of waking him up, and her own way of thanking him for putting his life on the line for everyone the way he did, alongside Sasuke. But…she couldn't help feeling, like there was a deeper meaning to the kiss she gave him.

Like, there was something inside her mind, inside her heart, that made her do it. She knew she could go on telling Naruto he was just delirious from the battle or that he was just lightly under Madara's Tsuki no Me jutsu, but how long would she be able to carry that story along? How long was she going to have to keep fighting these feelings she has for Naruto? Days? Months? Years even?

Sure, she could leave his side and go back to being the old Sakura, the one that chased after Sasuke and ignored Naruto, but what good would that do? Why should she have to chase Sasuke, when Naruto had been by her side from the very beginning? Of course, the old Sakura would have just dropped Naruto and ran over to check on Sasuke, but…she wasn't the old Sasuke chasing Sakura, was she? And this boy…no, this man who she was holding in her arms, wasn't that same annoying goof ball Naruto…that much she knew for sure.

Maybe…just maybe, it was time she left behind her feelings for Sasuke. It wasn't as if she didn't still like him, but…she couldn't continue to ignore how she felt for Naruto. As she saw a few of the people from different villages walking towards one another and celebrating the defeat of Kaguya, she looked down at the blond resting in her arms. Maybe…just maybe…it was time went for the RIGHT guy...