A/N: Hey! It's me again! Oh yeah, my second story!
Summary: Slight SasuNaru NaruSasu. It's been about a week since Naruto's death. Sakura and Sasuke go to visit his grave. Sometimes it's hard to get up courage.
Lyn: Hi again!
Sasuke: I hate you.
Lyn: Look, I didn't want to kill off Naruto either but I had to. It's a dramatic story!
Sasuke: Sadistic Bitch, you took Naruto away from me.
Lyn: Oh shut up Sasuke! You're making me feel guilty.
Sasuke: Good.
Lyn & Sasuke: -Hears something from the bathroom-
Naruto: -Pops out of nowhere- Hi guys!
Lyn: NARUTO WHAT ARE YOU DOING! You're supposed to be dead!
Sasuke: Yeah Dobe, the dead don't just get up and walk away from their graves.
Naruto: They do when they have to pee.
Lyn: Okay well on with the story!
-Waiting-
Sasuke and Sakura were once again standing in front of the old iron bar gate. This had been the fifth time that they had been here. Sakura looked to Sasuke and counted quietly to ten. "Look Sasuke, we have been here at least five times today. Either you gather up your courage and get in there or I'm going to drag you in there myself! You know I hate coming to the cemetery!"
Sasuke snapped his gaze away from the gates and looked at Sakura with sad eyes. He cracked a half smile. Sakura could easily tell it had been forced. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I know it hurts for you to come here since the death of Ino." He said slightly lowering his smile.
Ino had gotten caught in a fire months before. Sakura had cried for a very long time. Ino was her best friend. She hadn't been around when the fire started so she didn't even get to tell Ino good bye. It still hurt. Sakura had even gone into a mental situation to where she couldn't speak for a week. Ever since her death Sakura never said anything about Ino's death. Everyone understood. She just didn't want to be reminded that she was gone. Naruto on the other hand had died on a mission that Sasuke wasn't on therefore he never got to say good bye either. Though it had only been a week it still hurt like hell to Sasuke.
Sakura frowned and her eyes softened. She brought a comforting hand to Sasuke's shoulder. "If you don't go in there now, the flowers you got earlier will die." She said softly.
Sasuke brought the Lilacs he had picked early that morning to his face. "You're right. Let's go." Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She waited patiently for Sasuke to open the gates but instead saw him looking intently at the gates. Confusion, pain, and denial were in his eyes. Sakura knew that look. It was the same look he had on the other times they had come here earlier today. He was going to run.
Sakura let a low growl escape her lips. "Sasuke, would you stop being an idiot? Just go in there and put the damn flowers on Naruto's grave already! You're making it seem like it's hard!"
Sasuke whirled around to face Sakura. "That's because it is hard! Do you have any idea how it feels to visit the grave of someone you loved? Someone you cared so much for! Someone you would die for?" Once the words escaped his mouth he instantly regretted it. He waited for the screaming and yelling he was sure would come. But it didn't come. She just stood there with her arms limp and head looking down at the ground. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed until she spoke again.
"Of course I know how you feel. I know that it's hard the first few times. I know that it hurts." Sasuke had to strain his ears to hear her. It was unnerving at how soft and calm she spoke. That is until her head shot up and her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "But you have to stop being a coward! You told me at one time that you loved him and that he loved you right?"
"Of course I loved him! I loved him with all my heart! He loved me just as much!" Sasuke nearly screamed. "Then stop stalling! If you really loved him you wouldn't be afraid to visit him at his grave! You need to understand that he is in there and that he won't be coming out of there any time soon! He is waiting for you."
Sasuke looked at her with eyes that shone confusion and hurt. "What do you mean he is waiting for me? I know he is dead I don't need you reminding me." He said harshly.
"I know you know he's dead, but you have to accept that! As for waiting for you, you know as well as I do that you were the reason he kept moving on. It should be obvious to you that he is waiting! He has always waited for you. Waited for you at the bridge, waited at the ramen bar, waited at your house for you to come home, waited for you when you needed time to heal from the whole thing with the curse seal, and he even waited for you when it came to you realizing that you loved him and that he loved you! He has all ways been waiting for you this is nothing different!"
Sasuke looked at her for a long while. A part of him believed her. He tightened his grip on the Lilacs and threw open the gates. He marched into the cemetery with Sakura at his heels. He slowed his pace when he entered an isolated area with only one grave. The area was beautiful. The birds chirping seemed distant yet soothing. Flowers blossomed around the grave while the grass was a crisp green. The air was warm but not suffocating. In one word to Sasuke the place was 'Naruto.' It was beautiful, warm, loving, lonely, and made his heart feel as if a burden had been lifted. He crouched down and laid the flowers down on the grave. He looked up at Sakura. She got the message. With a nod she swirled around and started walking to another part of the cemetery. She would give Sasuke some alone time. Besides she had someone she needed to see as well.
Sasuke stared a moment longer at Sakura's retreating back before he turned back to the grave. He smiled softly and with his left hand he traced the grave lovingly. "I'm sorry. I should have come sooner. I still can't believe you're gone, my sweet Dobe." Sasuke could feel tears starting to burn in the back of his eyes. "I want you to know that I still love you and always will. I've come to realize that right now I won't see you. But I'll see you again. I know you'll still be here." He glanced back to where Sakura once stood. "I've heard from a very reliable source that you're still with me here." He turned back to the grave and smiled a true smile and let the tears slowly slide down his face. "You're here for me."
"Here and waiting."
-Owari-
