Sakura was lying in puddle of her own blood, starring at the blue sky above her. She had a huge gaping wound in her stomach which was the source of the pooling blood. Her whole body was screaming from pain but she knew where each pain came from. Her hand was severely burned from the chakra that it had met and destroyed. She could feel the scorched skin burning up her whole arm and was praying that her end would come. The wound on her stomach was through and through and she wondered as to why after an impact like that she was still alive:"Maybe this is some kind of punishment." she thought. It had to be, her end was supposed to come the moment Uchiha Madara delivered the blow into her stomach. But no, as if she was driven by some heavenly force she focused the last of her chakra enhanced punches through his chest. The part of his body where the face of the First was imprinted and the source of his power, she could still feel the pumping heart in her hand.
She withdrew her hand and once she realized that she was holding Madara's heart in her hand she squeezed as much as her burned hand would allow. The satisfaction of seeing his face in amazement and pain at the same time was the last feeling imprinted in her mind:"No I can die with the satisfaction that I defeated the one man that threatened to destroy everything I loved." Yes that was what happened. Haruno Sakura had killed Uchiha Madara but she had admitted even in this moment that she wasn't supposed to do that. That fate had belonged to Naruto all along. He was supposed to be the hero. The savior of the shinobi world:"I guess Karma is a bitch." Her alter ego whispered in her mind. She smiled at those words, pain suddenly adding in to that smile. It was even painful to smile but she knew that she had no chance of survival.
She focused on the blue sky once again. The white puffy clouds that were slowly sailing through the blue sky, the rays of the sun glowing and warming her face, somewhere in the distance she could hear the happy song of a bird that made her forget the pain for a moment:"It's a beautiful day filled with hope. I am happy that I shall die on a day like this." She thought as she closed her eyes and with a painful grunt she managed to draw one last breath.
Tsunade checked all of the vitals and scribbled down something in the chart as she went out of the room. Once she was in the hallway she leaned on the door she had just closed and took a deep breath in. The day that Kakashi had brought Sakura in all bloody and unconscious it took her one look to determine that Sakura would not survive the night. If it were a different situation and another shinobi she wouldn't even had tried to save him. But this was Sakura, the student she was most proud of. The student that she had made into a strong female kunoichi, an Amazon like she liked to call her sometimes. Instead she instructed Kakashi:"Follow me. I have to start healing her immediately if we want her to survive. Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"
Kakashi followed Tsunade careful with Sakura in his hands:"They are close behind me. Tsunade I have to tell you something." They entered an operating room where Kakashi slowly placed her on the table:"Whatever it is I am sure it can wait. She has lost a lot of blood and I have to act fast." Tsunade's eyes shot open in amazement when Kakashi caught her hand while she was trying to rip open Sakura's clothes:"No it can't. The reason Sakura is almost dead is because she was the one who killed Uchiha Madara."
The fact that Sakura had killed Madara did not stay a secret. Soon every shinobi learned the story and was praying that their savior would survive her fatal wounds. All of her friends stayed close to her bed whenever they could, hoping she would wake up. Tsunade knew very well that Sakura's life was still hanging on a thread. No matter what she did it was all up to Sakura now, Sakura had to show the will to fight and survive. The Hokage heard footsteps and turned towards the direction they were coming from. Suddenly her face went blank. She hated this part of the day. It was the hours when Sakura's mother Mebuki came to see her only child. And each and every day for a week now Tsunade had to tell the woman that there was no change in Sakura's condition:"Hello Mebuki-san." She greeted while examining the woman's face. Mebuki had big dark circles under her eyes, desperation and sadness clouded her face. Even the way she walking showed the sadness in her heart. Once a proud woman now a shell of her former self Mebuki still dared to hope:"Well is there any change?" Tsunade stood silent for a few moments and she opened her mouth to speak Mebuki beat her to it:"I understand. It's okay, I know it's hard for you to disappoint me every day. From now on a nod will do." And with that she entered the room where her daughter laid in her bed wired to machines and tubes.
The fact Sakura had killed Madara meant the war was over. But there was still work to do so Naruto and all the other shinobi helped with anything they could. Today Naruto was in a very grim mood:"How can things go wrong so fast?" he asked himself. Sakura was in a coma like state. Sasuke was still talking to the Kages trying to prove his innocence and intentions from now. Everyone was asking him about f he had seen Sakura if she was still dead or alive. At one point he and all the others stopped answering question like those. Naruto felt responsible for what had happened to his friend. He vowed to protect her and in the end she ended up helping him. She had saved his life and in the end even did his job by killing Madara. After a few days he had realized that there was nothing he could have done from preventing Sakura killing the Uchiha. It had happened so fast that everything appeared to him like a blur.
Naruto was so deep in his thoughts that for a mute he forgot the job he was doing. He, Kakashi and a couple of other shinobi were clearing out a battlefield. They were gathering weapons and personal belongings of the deceased. If they came across a white Zetsu they would kill him. Kakashi came closer to him and told him in low voice:"Don't dwell on it too much. She wouldn't want us to do this." Naruto squeezed his hands into fists and muttered:"I made her a promise and I couldn't keep it." Kakashi knew how his former student felt because he felt the same. Just remembering Sakura's injured body in his hands made him hollow and filled him desperation. The only thing they could to do now is hope.
Yamanaka Ino was in the hospital room of her best friend. Replacing the already wilted flowers she had brought three days ago with a fresh sakura tree branch. The blossoms had already bloomed and their small petals brought in a fresh scent into the already soaked with the smell of medicine room:"I thought you might like these. Next time I am going to bring you white lilies. I know they are your favorite." She said while being careful not look at Sakura's half bandaged face. Ino felt pain when seeing her friend in this condition. But pain was not the only thing that came to her conciseness when she looked Sakura in this state. Regret also spiked the sour taste n her mouth. Now she regretted all those times she had called Sakura names, even their stupid rivalry for Sasuke. She wanted to erase those moments:"Sakura I don't know if you can hear me right now but I am terribly sorry about everything." She sat in the chair right next to the bed and put her hand in Sakura's undamaged hand. She leaned in so her forehead can touch Sakura's skin. Again Ino was amazed by how cold Sakura's skin felt. Ino was deep in her thoughts but even that didn't prevent her from feeling a light and powerless squeeze on her fingers. He eyes shot wide open and she sat up quickly staring at Sakura's hand:"Come on Sakura don't let me think I imagined it." Then it was like Sakura heard Ino's plead and moved her thumb and slightly caressed Ino's skin. Ino got up letting go of Sakura's hand and went into the hallway almost screaming:"Find Tsunade-sama as quick as possible."
The five Kage were sitting at the round table in the Raikage's tower. They were discussing after war affairs and how it would be best to handle them. Of course Sakura was included in the discussion:"Tsunade-hime how is Haruno Sakura doing?" the Tsutsikage asked while looking straight into her eyes. Tsunade balance her chin on her hands thinking of the best answer to give to him:"She is still alive." The Raikage grunted next to her:"That is very vague of you Tsunade. Just tell us the truth, will the girl survive or not." Tsunade shot him a look of suspicion:"Why do you want to know so badly if she will survive." Mei put her hand on Tsunade's arm and simply said in a soft voice:"She gives hope that we will rebuild our world to be better. We keep telling people she will be okay, but we can't keep lying to them." Tsunade realized where this was going and stood up, shock written on her face she walked away from the table and faced the window:"So you want confirmation from me whether to dig her grave or not." Just as Tsunade was going to insult them Shizune stormed into the room apologizing and bowing in each direction, then she said almost out of breath:"Tsunade-sama you are needed in the hospital there has been a development."