A/N: Merry Christmas!! And if you don't celebrate it, Happy Holidays[Not because I'm insensitive, but because I can't spell the others... :( ... Anyways, this is my present to all of you, whether or not you want it. Enjoy.
Disclaimer!! I don't own Naruto or any other characters from the series...
Plot Disclaimer!! This is not a Christmas story!
I guess I never really knew what to expect when I took that mission. It all seems such a blur, now that I look back on it. I never questioned it, never bothered to wonder, "Would this be my last mission?". But I guess that's what happens when you're a shinobi like me... You're not supposed to question orders. Not supposed to wonder if you were going to die. We shinobi are tools, and nothing more. And that, the fact that we are not supposed to feel... That was my downfall.
Even routine missions can go awry. The simplest recon can go badly. We shinobi are not supposed to have feelings. But I did. I cared. I cared for all of them. My team mates, my comrades, my family, and because of that, I failed. I created my own ending the day I let the first one of them in. The funny thing is, however, that I don't regret it. Not one bit. I don't regret breaking the shinobi rule of having emotions, and worst of all, letting them show. Sure, I may have thrown away my life for theirs, but that no longer matters to me.
And here I lay, dying. It's raining, and I hate it for the cliche. I don't regret dying for them, I only regret not being able to grow old with them. But it is my job to save them, even if it isn't like this. I was destined to save lives, and if this is what it takes, then so be it.
But now... Now I say good-bye. Good-bye to my village. Good-bye to my family. Good-bye to my friends. I wish I didn't have to die. But fate has decided that it was my time to leave this world. And with that, I close my eyes, take my last breath, and feel no more.
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One week later, back in the village of Konoha, Naruto and the rest of the rookie nine, minus one, and their teachers, stood in front of a black casket, in the rain. It had rained non-stop all week. It seemed as if the skies themselves were raining for their fallen comrade. The Hokage, Tsunade, got up on a platform behind the casket and began to speak.
"Today, we are here not only to mourn and pay our respects, but to remember. We are here to remember the life of Haruno Sakura..."
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Le fini.
A/N: Soo? What did you think? Clicky the button and tell me, please.