Finally finished the first chapter! Hope you like it!

1. Death

A young woman with flowing pink hair, sat by a river side. She took her sandals off and dipped her feet into the river. She looked up into the clear blue sky. So many things were going through her head. She came here to relax and get her mind off of everything.

It had been a year since Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji left on a special mission. They were going to be home in a few days. Everyone in Konoha who knew them couldn't wait for their return. They were assigned to an assassination mission, and they had worked hard on this mission.

Naruto was planning a special party for Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji when they return. Hinata was helping him plan everything and get the guest list ready.

"We should invite Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Chouji, Shino, Lee, and TenTen." Hinata said writing names down on a piece of paper.

"Hai, Hinata-chan." Naruto smiled at his wife. "We almost forgot one more person, though."

Hinata looked at Naruto puzzled. "Who?"

"Sakura-chan, of course!" Naruto chuckled. "She would want to see her husband again, you know!"

"Of course. But…uh… Do you know where she is?" Hinata asked.

"She's probably at the river again. She's been hanging around there ever since Sasuke left. She hasn't been herself lately either." Naruto's face looked concerned.

"You've known her longer than I have. You should go talk to her." Hinata suggested wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Sure." Naruto kissed his wife. "I'll be back, dear."

Naruto sighed as he walked out the door. He didn't know what to say to Sakura. Lately she seemed distant from him. She used to smile all the time, but now she doesn't. She's always in her house or out training by the river. Whatever it is troubling her, Naruto would find out sooner or later from her.

Naruto arrived at the river and saw Sakura sitting at the edge of the river staring at the sky. He walked up behind her and she turned around.

"Naruto, what is it?" Sakura asked looking up at Naruto.

Naruto knelt down to her level. "What's going on, Sakura? What has been going through your head lately?"

"It's…Nothing…" Sakura sighed looking at the grass. "Sasuke's coming home soon. Along with Kakashi-sensei. Exciting, huh?"

"Yeah, but, Sakura, don't change the subject. What is going on with you?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

"You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know that, but I can't tell you this."

"Alright, how about we go have a drink with Hinata and the others?" Naruto smiled.

Sakura nodded and Naruto helped her up. She grabbed her sandals and put them on. They walked to the pub. When they walked in, they saw that everyone was there sitting at a table in the back. Naruto smiled and waved at Hinata. Ino looked away from watching Akamaru and Chouji fight over a baked potato and caught Sakura. She smiled at her and Sakura smiled half-heartedly at her. Naruto told Sakura to come and sit down.

The waitress came by the table and got their orders. Everyone was talking amongst themselves. Sakura seemed shy and wanted to leave, but decided not to. It was hard being around her old friends and not having Sasuke there. It was horrible. She couldn't bear the pain. Everywhere she went brought memories of her and him. Even though in a few days he would return, she couldn't wait any longer for him to return.

Shikamaru looked at Sakura in worry. "Hey, excited about Monday?"

Sakura snapped out of it and came down to Earth. She smiled slightly and nodded.

"So, tomorrow is your one year anniversary being married to Sasuke, huh?" Shikamaru chuckled. "Sorry, he won't be there. Sucks having your anniversary one day before he returns."

Sakura smiled slightly again and felt a tear come down her cheek. It did suck having her and Sasuke's anniversary the day before he returned. She wasn't happy about it. Their first year and he wasn't there for her. Tsunade had sent him, Kakashi, and Neji on the mission the day after they got married. Sakura hated Tsunade for that, because Tsunade knew they got married the day before.

Sasuke, Kakashi, and Neji were on their way home, after their mission. They just crossed The Earth Country border and were within two day's travel to Konohagakure. They were excited about it. And couldn't wait to get home. Only problem was Sasuke had gotten injured during their last battle. The injury had gotten worse over time and would cause serious damage to Sasuke if they didn't rest. Suddenly Sasuke let out a sharp gasp of pain. They all stopped and looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, we need to rest now. Those injuries could get worse then they are." Neji said.

"No, we need to keep going." Sasuke grunted through the pain on this shoulder.

"Sasuke, if we don't do something about your wound you'll end up losing a lot of blood." Kakashi sighed.

"I'll…be…fine. W-we…must…keep going." Sasuke said moving ahead of Kakashi and Neji with hesitation.

Neji and Kakashi looked at each other and sighed.

Suddenly, Sasuke passed out and fell from the trees. Kakashi's quick reflexes caught him in time. They set up camp and tended to Sasuke's wounds. Sasuke was having a rough time staying awake. He was finally out cold and Neji and Kakashi were grateful, for now they could rest and call a medic from Konoha. Within an hour the medic had came and tended to Sasuke. He informed Neji and Kakashi about the state Sasuke was in.

"He must be moved to a hospital as soon as possible." The medic said.

"Will he live?" Kakashi asked.

"He has lost a lot of blood, but if you continue to move from here without stopping you should arrive at Konoha within one and a half hours. He won't make it if you take any longer than that." The medic informed them.

Kakashi and Neji looked at each other. "Thank you." Kakashi shook the medic's hand and the medic departed. "Well, we'd better get going now."

"Right. Should we inform Tsunade-sama, first?" Neji asked.

"I've sent a pigeon already. She should get the message within a half hour."

"Always a step ahead." Neji chuckled.

Kakashi heaved Sasuke over his shoulder. Sasuke woke up, looked around, and passed out again. Kakashi and Neji headed off as fast as they could through the tree branches of the forest.

Tsunade shuffled through the papers on her desk looking for the list of genin assignments. There was a knock on the door of her office.

"Come in." Tsunade shouted as Genma walked in her office holding a folded paper.

"Hokage-sama, this came by pigeon for you." Genma handed Tsunade the paper.

Tsunade unfolded it and took a minute to read it. "This is from Kakashi, and he said that Sasuke is in danger. They will be arriving earlier than they thought they would be."

Tsunade-sama,

We will be arriving sooner than we had expected to as Sasuke has gotten injured. A medic came and checked him. He said that Sasuke will not live unless we get him to a hospital as soon as possible. We will be arriving within the next hour. Don't announce the details until we know for sure if Sasuke will survive. If Sakura ever found this out she couldn't handle it and who knows what she would do. So, for her and everyone else's safety don't announce our arrival.

Kakashi

"He's right you know." Genma chuckled slightly. "Sakura could do drastic things if she ever found this out."

"I know that but what can we do until then? They'll be arriving in…ten minutes!" Tsunade gasped and jumped up from her chair. "Genma, we must get medics at the north gate immediately!"

"Yes, ma'am." Genma left and called as many medics as he could to the north gate and waited for a sign of Kakashi or Neji. Finally after five minutes, a figure could be seen dashing towards the gate. It was Neji. He looked very worried.

"Genma." Neji gasped for air. "Kakashi…has Sasuke. He's two minutes behind me and should be here soon."

"Alright, Neji." Genma nodded.

Soon, Kakashi could be seen carrying a limb figure. When Kakashi reached the gate, the medics rushed to him and took Sasuke. Within minutes they had Sasuke and were headed to the hospital.

Kakashi sighed in relief and looked at Genma. "He sure was heavy." He chuckled. "Sakura hasn't found out has she?"

"No, no one knows of your return besides me, the medics, and Tsunade-sama."

"Good, we don't want any worry." Kakashi smiled.

"I'm going to get a drink from the pub. Want to come with, Kakashi?" Neji asked.

"No, I'm going to watch over Sasuke." Kakashi answered.

"Alright, I'll see you later then." Neji waved good bye to Kakashi and headed to the pub.

He walked into the pub and noticed TenTen at the back table. Luckily everyone was talking amongst themselves; otherwise they would've noticed him. He snuck up behind TenTen, who was facing everyone, and massaged her shoulders. She recognized the touch and gasped turning around.

"Neji!" She jumped up and nearly tackled Neji on to the floor. "You're back! But, why so soon?"

"We got here sooner then we thought. Kakashi miscalculated the time." Neji chuckled.

TenTen was so happy to see him again, that it didn't matter why he was early. "Well whatever happened, I'm so glad you're home!" She kisses him and giggled. After their moment, Neji walked to the table with everyone else and sat down. Everyone noticed him and shouted with joy.

"Neji! Hey!" Lee gleamed.

"Welcome home!" Kiba smiled.

"Arf, arf!" Akamaru barked.

"Hello, Neji!" Ino beamed.

"Hey!" Shikamaru chuckled.

"Neji-chan!" Naruto beamed a bright smile.

"Neji!" Chouji shouted muffled by his stuffed mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Chouji!" Asuma chuckled walking into the pub towards their table. "Ah, Neji, Kakashi told me that you would be here."

"Heh, so you met up with him?" Neji chuckled.

"Yep. How was your trip home?"

"Not too well. As you could've guessed."

"Ah, yes, Kakashi told me everything."

This whole time Sakura's mind was full of thoughts. Neji's back? If he's back…then that means that Sasuke-kun is…

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura jumped up from her seat. Everyone starred at her in confusion. She looked over at Neji. "Sasuke-kun is here, right? Tell me he is here!"

"Yes, he is. At the hospital with Kakashi." Neji answered Sakura.

"Visiting someone?"

"No."

"If he isn't visiting someone then why else would he…oh no! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura ran out the door of the pub and ran to the hospital as fast as she could.

Kakashi was standing in the waiting room, patiently waiting for the doctor to return. He saw Sakura and waved at her. He wasn't expecting her, but he knew that she found out what happened by herself. She was an intelligent girl and could figure anything out.

"Kakashi-sensei, is it true? Has Sasuke-kun been seriously injured?" Sakura desperately asked.

"I'm not 100 sure about everything." Kakashi answered.

"When will we find out?"

"As soon as the doctor returns."

"I can't wait till then, Kakashi-sensei! Tomorrow is our anniversary, he needs to be alive! I can't and won't live without him! I love him so much!" Sakura started to cry and Kakashi embraced her like a father comforting his daughter. They were so close that Kakashi felt like a father to Sakura. He always comforted her when Sasuke wasn't there and kept her company when Sasuke was on missions.

"I have high hopes for him, Sakura. He'll come through, I'm sure of it. Cheer up. He's a strong fighter. Remember the missions we went on together?"

Sakura smiled slightly at the memories from her genin past. "Yeah, Sasuke was always rescuing Naruto. He even risked his life to save him. He sure did teach Haku a lesson." Memories coming back to her was hard and tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"Kakashi-sensei, may I have a word with you?" A doctor asked walking through the waiting room doors.

"Sure. Sakura, I'll be right back." Kakashi walked with the doctor out of the waiting room. Sakura was looking towards them straining to hear what they were saying. Kakashi looked very worried and upset. It was strange for him to be like this. Sakura has never seen him like this before. Kakashi nodded and the doctor left. Kakashi walked towards Sakura with a frown hidden beneath his mask.

"Sakura, bad news." He sighed.

"What? What is it?" Sakura asked. Kakashi held her in his arms.

"Sasuke has passed on. He lost a lot of blood. The medics tried everything they could to save him, but everything they tried failed. I'm sorry, Sakura. I know how much you loved him."

"No! You're wrong! You even said he was a strong fighter! He'll live! He's not dead! He can't be! He has so much to live for! So much to go through with…me…oh Kakashi-sensei! I can't stand this! I won't believe it! I can't!" Sakura nearly shouted, the tears flowing more freely now. She buried her face in Kakashi's chest. Her sobs were muffled.

"Sakura…" Kakashi felt really bad for her. It was true. She did love Sasuke, and he loved her. Now with him gone, Sakura's hopes for the future were shattered. "Sakura, let's get you home. I'll see if Tsunade-sama will allow a special ceremony for Sasuke's funeral, I promise you."

"Arigato, Kakashi-sensei, but I won't be able to sleep tonight…without…him."

"You'll be fine."

"If you say so."

Kakashi escorted Sakura to her house, and said goodnight to her then left.

Sakura got her night gown on and slipped under her covers of her bed…Their bed. She rolled over on her side to look at the empty pillow at which Sasuke would be laying starring into her eyes and having that smile on her face. She imagined him laying there and almost broke out into tears again. She was so heart broken by today that she cried herself to sleep finally.

Poor Sasuke!TTTT I hate doing these but I like the drama and romance in them!

Did you like? Hope so! hehe! Review please!