I do not own Naruto
This story is what I think should have happened in the end. (NaruSaku)
"Shut up… Stupid." Naruto and Sasuke, both with missing arms, are exhausted at the end of their battle.
Sakura jumps in and realizes the state her two teammates are in and rushes to heal them both. No one talks.
Finally, Sasuke works up the courage to speak, "Sakura...I…" He doesn't get to finish because Sakura looks at him angrily. "Don't... I need to concentrate." The three remain in silence while Sakura heals them.
Staring at the sky Naruto begins to think, "I'm ready. I can take it..." He mentally prepares himself for what is to come. In reality he had been expecting it, and had spent an immense amount of time thinking if he could accept and endure the pain that his heart will bear. Sakura can finally pursue a future with his dark-haired teammate. He takes a long deep breath before he falls asleep to the constant hum of Sakura's healing chakra, "After all, as long as she's happy, I'm happy."
Time Skip 3 Months - (Sasuke never leaves the village, Kakashi is made Hokage after Tsunade retires, a funeral is held for those fallen in battle, and village is almost completely rebuilt from Pain's attack)
"Hey Sasuke!" Sakura calls from the entrance to the Hokage Tower. These past few months Sakura has seen an incredible change in Sasuke's personality. He is talking more and has actively been trying to fit in with his old classmates. She also notices that his face seems to brighten up every time he sees her, which makes her to blush softly.
"Hey!" says Sasuke as he walks up to his teammate with a very small grin. "Lady Tsunade is almost done with your new arm!" she says with a smile. "It's amazing how she was is able to use Hashirama's cells to help you and Naruto out!"
Sasuke just stares at Sakura, which causes her to blush. During these 3 months, Sasuke and Sakura have gotten closer. They talk to each other and he has even picked her up from the hospital a couple times to eat. She likes to consider it a date but she knows Sasuke isn't like that. Maybe he's changed though.
"Alright then! Im sure Lady Tsunade is done by now. Lets go!"
She grabs Sasuke's hand and leads him downstairs to the lab where the 5th Hokage has been working on creating the prosthetic arms for Sakura's two teammates. Naruto is already there standing next to Tsunade and looming over her shoulder as she worked. He bombarded her with questions such as, "How did you do this!? Can I eat it!? Does it taste like ramen!? Will you give me an extra finger!? Can you make mine orange!?"
"Seriously, what is this kid's obsession with the color orange?" thought Sasuke.
"Naruto stop distracting Lady Tsunade!" Sakura walks over to him and pulls him by the ear. Tsunade sighs and mentally thanks Sakura for getting the annoying brat, who she considers her younger brother, out of her hair.
"Oww Sakura that really hurts!" Said Naruto as he rubbed his ear. "Naruto be quiet! Your arm is done, and so is yours Sasuke. Now come, lets begin the procedure and put them on."
Time Skip 3 Months - (Naruto and Sasuke finish their rehabilitation)
"FINALLY!" screamed Naruto as he ran out of the Leaf Village's Center for Rehabilitation. "Shut up you idiot." glared Sasuke.
"Hey guys." greeted Sakura. "I see you're done with your last day of rehabilitation."
"Yep! Hey Sakura, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Ichiraku Ramen with me and Sasuke to celebrate us finally being back to 100%!" said Naruto happily. "Sure, why not!" said Sakura with a smile.
"Actually she can't..." said Sasuke. "Why not?" said Naruto and Sakura in unison. "Because Sakura and I have a date right now…" A stunned Sakura stared at Sasuke, her heart beating and smile creeping up her face.
"Y-Yeah." said Sakura nervously. "Sorry Naruto."
Naruto didn't answer her. He observed the two stare at each other for a few seconds before he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away with his head slumped down. Sakura made a mental note to apologize to Naruto again later, but right now she had more important matters to deal with.
Sasuke Uchiha, her first crush and love just asked her out on a date. Well he kind of demanded it but she didn't care. She was happy, and she couldn't believe that THE Sasuke Uchiha was blushing madly right in front of her.
"So where do you want to go?" asked Sasuke. Sakura couldn't even reply much less process what he asked because her heart was too busy dealing with the happiness overload.
Naruto's walk home was long. He trudged on slowly and hung his head low, letting the occasional tear fall to the ground. He was heartbroken. He knew that Sakura and Sasuke would get together eventually, but he never imagined that it would happen so soon.
All he could think about was the future. Sakura and Sasuke would get married, have children, then grow old together before he even had his first kiss (Sasuke and he established that their kiss didn't count and agreed to never speak of the incident ever again). Naruto knew that he could never love anyone other than his pink-haired teammate.
He tried with Hinata by asking her out on date but it ended with him discussing Hinata's love confession, not returning her feelings, and a heartbroken Hyuga. They were still friends though, and he still considered her as one of his precious people.
It wasn't until Naruto looked up that he realized that he wasn't home, but at his old sensei's grave. He stood there staring at it for a few minutes and decided it had been a while since he talked with Ole Pervy Sage. So he sat down and began to pour his heart out just as dark clouds rolled in and let loose their heavy rain.
"...I don't know Pervy Sage. It hurts. It hurts so much right here and I don't know what to do." cried Naruto as he clenched the area of his shirt that covered his heart. "I've been hiding it. I've put up so many masks. I don't even attend the little gatherings of the Rookie 9 and Team Gai because they're always together!
Why do I love her? All she does is cause me pain. Why me, the kid who endured more pain as a child than anyone should in a lifetime, have to endure more!? I know someone has to shoulder this burden but WHY ME!?" He begins to punch the ground as he releases his emotions. "She hasn't even said thank you yet…"
He only starts to calm down when he hears a group toads croaking nearby. He listens, only interrupting the sound of rain and croaking of toads with the occasional sniffle. He doesn't know how much time has passed but he lays on his back, focusing on the blades of grass that ruffle against his neck.
"I think I'm gonna go travel the world like you Pervy Sage, but instead of searching for peace like you I'm gonna go maintain it. I fulfilled your dream for you but I've been hearing rumors that the Village Hidden in the Stone is already causing arguments with the Village Hidden in the Grass. More problems likes this are bound to come up, so I'm gonna go and try to keep the peace." says Naruto solemnly. The rain stops, the sun comes up, and the toads hop in the water with a small splash.
He smiles and gets up, "Alright Pervy Sage, I'll see you when I see you!" exclaimed Naruto with his trademark grin. He decides to go talk to Kakashi Sensei about his departure and holds up a peace sign with his fingers as he walks away from his old sensei with a new goal.
At Sakura's Home At About 10:00pm
"Bye Sasuke thank you!" waved Sakura as she watched her date walk to his home. She enters her house and as soon as the door shuts, "AHH!" yelled Sakura.
"What is it? Are you alright dear?" asked Sakura's mom Mebuki. "Mom, I just went on a date with Sasuke!" said Sakura with glee. "Really? Wow congrats honey. Now be quiet your father his sleeping upstairs."
Sakura rushed to her room and stared at the moon. She couldn't believe the events of today had really happened. That night Sakura went to bed with smile on her face and needless to say she had very pleasant dreams.
Sasuke's Home at about 10:00pm
He was happy. It was such a foreign feeling to him but he accepted it eagerly. Sasuke Uchiha, was actually happy. He lay bed staring at the ceiling and thinking about how blessed he was to have friends like his teammates. Especially Naruto. He would have never been able to finally live his life and pursue his goal of reviving the Uchiha clan without Naruto.
If Naruto hadn't convinced the 5 kage to pardon his mistakes and not send him to prison he'd probably be miserable. He got off the hook with only a 3 year confinement to the village. He knew he deserved worse though.
"I'll have to thank Naruto tomorrow. How annoying." The best part was that he began to grow true feelings for his pink-haired teammate. He still called her annoying sometimes, but he meant it in a friendly way.
He was truly trying to fit back in and live a normal life, and the only person he had to thank was Naruto. "Thank you Naruto." he said softly.
That night Sasuke fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time in a long time, and all he could think about was Sakura.
Sakura's Home
The next morning Sakura woke up to the knocking of someone at the door. She wondered why her parents didn't answer it, then realized that it was almost noon and that her parents left for work already.
She got up and lazily walked to the door. "Alright alright stop knocking, I'm coming!" Sakura opened the door and was greeted by Ino.
"Finally! I've been knocking for 10 minutes!" barked Ino the gossip queen. "Ino? Are you here for gossip? How did you figure out Sasuke and I went on a date?" Asked a groggy Sakura.
"WHAT!? You and Sasuke went on a date!? Details later Forehead, right now you gotta hurry. Naruto is leaving on a 3 year trip! I don't know why he wouldn't say goodbye to you but he's leaving!" wailed Ino.
"What? Naruto is leaving? When did he decide this? He didn't even tell me! Why that knucklehead, when I get a hold of him I'm gonna-"
"You're not gonna do anything unless you catch him, now hurry!" interrupted Ino.
Sakura nodded her head and made a beeline to the village gates hoping she wasn't too late to catch her blonde teammate. "You better have a good explanation for this Naruto. You can't leave. Not you too...Please."
Naruto was all packed. He was ready for this journey. "This is just what I need. Some time away from the village and… and them." said Naruto. "Besides, I gotta go keep the peace."
Naruto was already out of the village when he heard a female voice calling out to him, which made him stop and turn around. There she was, in all her beauty. Pink hair, emerald eyes, and amazing figure. He hated the fact that one look at her made him buzz with love inside. He loved everything about her, the way she controls chakra so perfectly and even her monstrous strength. Sakura Haruno was the only person he could love.
"Hey Sakura. What's up?" said Naruto nonchalantly.
"WHAT'S UP!? How could you even say that!? You're leaving on a 3 year journey and you didn't even come to say goodbye! You can't leave! Team 7 just got back together! C'mon, we're going back to Kakashi Sensei and telling him you're staying!" said a teary eyed Sakura.
She grabbed his hand and tried to pull Naruto but he wouldn't move.
"Sorry I didn't tell you Sakura. I only decided yesterday I was leaving. I have to keep Pervy Sage's dream about having peace in the world. Besides, you have Sasuke, you won't even notice I'm gone…" said Naruto sadly.
"No… you can't leave. Of course I'll notice you've left you're my best friend! Why would you do this to me? Do you hate me? I can't have another one of my teammates leave!" At this point Sakura was crying uncontrollably at the realization that he was serious.
She fell to her knees and begged him to stay, "Please Naruto. Please stay." Naruto squatted down to Sakura and wiped the tears from her face as he stared into her eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll come back stronger than ever! I still have to be Hokage ya know!?" said Naruto with a small smile on his face.
Sakura knew she couldn't deal with another teammate leaving. She looked into his eyes and for the first time thought about how cute Naruto is. She didn't know what to say as she stared into his deep blue eyes, and out of desperation she tackled him to the ground, slammed her lips against his, and kissed him. She needed him to stay, she was pouring all her feelings into this kiss hoping that Naruto would realize how much she meant to him.
He couldn't believe it. One moment she crying on her knees, and now she's kissing him. He knew it wasn't real though. She was desperate. He knew leaving would break her heart, but he couldn't help but deepen the kiss.
So many thoughts were going through his head. "Why is she kissing me? Doesn't she love Sasuke? Sasuke… She loves Sasuke. This kiss doesn't mean anything to her. She just wants me to stay, I'm just an old tool she threw away! She hasn't even thanked me for bringing back Sasuke yet!"
Naruto grabbed her by the shoulders pushed her away, ending the kiss. They stared into each others eyes for a while in silence, Sakura confused and Naruto more heartbroken than ever.
The girl he's loved since as long as he could remember kissed him out of desperation and not love. He couldn't accept this. "I'm sorry, but this journey is important. Thank you for everything Sakura."
He could not work up the courage to scold her for the love lacking kiss, so he kissed her forehead quickly and walked away without looking back, leaving a confused Sakura to stare at him as he walked away into the distance.
My Opinion:
So the Naruto Manga is finally finished. Well, here is my opinion, The ending SUCKED! It was so rushed and I can't believe the author just ended it. I feel like he got bored with the story and decided to just finish it. I HATE the couples.
Sakura and Sasuke: Can Sakura please wake up and realize that Sasuke is just a cold son-of-a-*****?
Choji and Karui:
#1. WTF
#2. Ewwwww
#3. Facepalm
Shikamaru and Temari: Finally he did something right!
Naruto and Hinata: I'm a HUUUUUGE NaruSaku fan and even though I expected this it still makes me angry. Why Hinata, Kishi!? Naruto and Hinata have nothing in common! There were so many things the author just didn't finish! Sakura's confession in the Land of Iron for example. Does Naruto not care? He just lets it slide and they never talk about it? The "charming forehead" thing when Sakura was a genin. I feel like that should have played crucial part in the whole relationship decision. What about all the times Sasuke tried to kill Sakura? Does Sakura not give a crap about that? Even in the end Sakura is alone at home dressed like a stupid maid dusting a shelf, while her "loving Sasuke" is off traveling or something.
This is why I wrote this story. The ending really really unsatisfied me. I genuinely believe Kishimoto got bored with the story and just ended it to be done with it.
Anyways this is my rant. Please note that I have not seen the last Naruto movie and that these comments are purely my opinion. If any of these things were clarified WELL in the movie, then I stand corrected.
Author's Notes:
Hey Everybody! This is my first fanfic and I don't really think I'm a great writer. Hopefully I get better at this, so please leave honest reviews! Have a great day!