A/N: Yay. My first little fanfiction/drabble/angsty thing. I hope you guys like it. And yes, I hate Sakura, but I wrote about her anyway. Fear me. Muahaha.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Her name was Sakura Haruno.

And she had lost everything.

Sakura had never been one to dwell on the past. But her memories haunted her now, years later. A young woman, mature, responsible - merely a fragment of the shallow girly girl she had once been. She struggled to ignore it; the darkness and pain that threatened to swallow her whole if she gave in, if she grieved - her team, her friends, once innocent and blind to their sins. But they paid the price; them, and not her. Clenched fists slammed down painfully, tears streaked lightly tanned skin. God, why them? It was always them!

Sasuke, a young boy, innocent and trusting. His life torn apart by hate. A half life. An avenger's life. Naruto, shunned forever for a crime he hadn't committed. Loving and caring, yet treated like dirt. Both of them had struggled to survive while Sakura stood, helpless, on the sidelines. She had family. She was loved.

But they were not.

Yet, she couldn't do anything about it. She was weak, useless. It had always been that way. And now, when she wasn't, when she could actually do something...

It was too late.

They were gone.

Sasuke left. Everyone knew that. He left, betrayed them all to avenge his family. But, in Sakura's eyes, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault his life was twisted, destroyed by homicidal hate. And Naruto. Happy, bright, big-hearted Naruto, changed forever. Gone forever. Disappeared, seeking out the one person he cared about more than he cared for himself. They had never found him. Not even a body. He was a fragment of the past.

Forgotten.

But not to Sakura.

She heard them, felt them, remembered them. In her mind she could still hear the playful arguments, the occasional laughter, over and over again like some kind of broken record. At night she tossed and turned, haunted, trying to forget, yet trying not to forget at the same time. Because she loved them.

In the end they had all grown to love each other despite their differences, despite the rivalries. Even Kakashi. But cruel Fate had taken him too - killed on a mission two years ago - and now, Sakura was alone. Horribly alone. Nobody but her. No one to love.

Until one day, she got a note. A new member on Team 7. A new partner.

His name was Sai.

- OWARI -