The Fading Spark
Sakura knelt next to her dead teammate's bodies, crying hard. Naruto was dead, killed by Madara Uchiha's Amaterasu when he refused to submit to the man's will and surrender the Kyūbi. Sai was dead, a katana driven through his heart by Sasuke earlier that month. Kakashi was dead because he stepped between her and Madara's blade. Yamato, lying dead also, having exhausted all his chakra in a futile attempt to destroy their greatest enemy forever near the start of the Fourth War.
Shaking, Sakura straightened up and faced the two Uchiha down, fearlessly glaring them in their Mangekyō Sharingan eyes and raising her fists in a declaration of battle against those who had torn away all she held most precious in the world. There was only one thought in her mind as she faced them; revenge. Revenge for those who had been taken from her, for those who had sacrificed themselves for her and given their lives so that jutsive could prevail.
The two Uchiha scowled and started forwards. Sakura charged.
Pain. Sakura felt two sharp pains blossom on either side of her chest as the two bastards' blades sank into her torso and erupted out of her back in a spray of blood. Raising her head with a defiant smirk all the same, she reached up, knocked Madara's mask aside, and grabbed both Uchiha by their faces.
"Now," she rasped, even as blood flooded her lungs and she coughed red liquid, "We're all going to hell together!"
Two sharp twists, powered by the chakra enhanced strength she had learnt under Tsunade-sama's tutelage, and the last remaining Sharingan eyes on the planet were extinguished as their users' necks snapped like dry twigs.
Sakura staggered back as the hands holding the blades piercing her chest slackened and fell away. Strong hands caught her even as she toppled backwards, and Rock Lee's worried face appeared above her, "Hold on, Sakura-san! We're finding you a medic-nin!"
Sakura smiled, blood trickling down her cheek as Lee wiped it away, "No, Lee-kun. I knew this would happen."
Lee's round black eyes stared down at her in horror as her words hit him, "You knew you were sacrificing yourself?"
Sakura chuckled, coughing up blood a second time, "Yes… And I'm glad I did. Now I can join my family and friends in the afterlife, knowing that I avenged their deaths."
Lee looked into her face, saw the fading spark of life in her eyes, and understood Sakura's resolve. He nodded, wiping more blood away from her mouth, "Rest in peace, Sakura-chan. Say hello to Naruto-san for me."
Sakura blinked once, her sight beginning to leave her as it became harder to breathe, "I… will. Goodbye, Lee-kun."
A faint breath rasped from between her lips, and then she fell silent.
Sakura Haruno had done her duty as a Konoha shinobi; laid down her life to exterminate the greatest threat to mankind in history. She had avenged her team-mates' deaths at the hands of said threat, and now she could rest.
For Sakura Haruno, even as the life left her and her heart ceased its steady thrum, the vitae in her veins slowing to a halt, all she felt was contentment as she watched the light before her eyes grow larger and larger, until it encapsulated her entire range of vision.
"Sakura-chan?"
Sakura turned to look as she saw Naruto walking towards her, flanked by Sai, Kakashi and Yamato. All of them were smiling happily. She almost sobbed as she felt Naruto's arms, so warm and comforting, slide around her neck. "Naruto-kun… I did it. I avenged you."
Naruto's embrace tightened around her briefly, before he twisted slightly, keeping one arm around her shoulders, "Thank you, Sakura. Come on, I want you to meet my parents!"
As Sakura was pulled along by her team-mate, ever excitable and active even in death, she reflected that she had also done her duty to her teacher's legacy. As a member of Team 7, she had brought honour to her death. Honour; such an unfamiliar concept for a girl who had been a ninja all her life, as honour was not in their code. Honour, she had learnt in the Academy, was for the samurai. Not for ninja.
Yet Sakura had succeeded in gaining an honourable death, for herself and her comrades.
The pinkette smiled to herself. She was at peace, for the first time since she had joined the Academy.
She had done her sensei proud.
She had done her team proud.
She had done herself proud.
(A/N: A tad cheesy, I think, yet this was written by a mind deprived of sleep at half past five in the morning. I'm not sure what was pushing me closer to crying, the lack of sleep or writing this. All the same, I hope you enjoyed it.)
(A/N: By the way for those of you who are fans of my three Naruto fics, I have 4.7k words to the next chapter of Kunai, 9.7k to the next chapter of Jutsu (which is being a right pain in the posterior at the moment), and 2.5k to the next chapter of Blade. I don't quite know which one will be updated first, as Kunai sort of has my Muse at the moment. Therefore I will see you when I update one of those three, Leonineus OUT!)