She saw them first; they were jut laying there, arms missing and blood running into the river that splashed at their feet.
It was a sad scene, and for a moment Sakura questioned if they had killed each other, but as she ran up to them, she saw their chests just barely rise, making her let out an internal sigh of relief.
She bent down onto her knees, placing her hands just inches from the stubs that had not even begun to heal over. Her chakra flowed from her hands, creating the well-known green hue.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto attempted to whisper as he saw what she was trying to do.
"Quiet, Naruto, you need to save your strength. She looked him dead in the eye, but all he could do was smile slightly and stare back at the sky, watching the sun poke through the gray clouds to reveal itself.
Then Sasuke spoke, and the words he said shocked Sakura.
"I'm sorry." It was blunt, but then again it was who Sasuke Uchiha was, and perhaps that made the pink haired girl happy that he had found the time to apologize to her, and that perhaps he had changed. Then, as quick as the happy thought came into her mind, she remembered all the awful things he had done to her, all the wounds made by his words, the lack of recognition, the murder attempts by his hands, all of it came rushing back to her.
So she stopped herself.
She spoke the truth; she wanted Sasuke to know that he had hurt her, that he had broken her heart in more ways than just love. Psychologically, emotionally, physically; all these were ways in which he had hurt her, and that was something that a simple sorry wasn't going to fix.
She looked him in the eye and just as bluntly as he had apologized, she replied with, "Sorry won't cut it, Sasuke. Not after everything you've done."
Her tone told him why, he knew, he'd done too much, gone too far, hurt her so badly, that he knew he might never be forgiven in her eyes again.
Some how, Sasuke was okay with that, okay with the fact that she had told him off, because he knew he deserved it.
Minutes passed, and before Kakashi and Sakura had known, both of the boys had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, Sakura had only so much chakra to offer after their endeavor in the almost seemingly endless battle, and was unable to heal their wounds completely.
Yet, she was a medic, trained in all forms of first aid.
A quick check of their vitals and a quick bandage job around both their arms to staunch any remaining bleeding allowed the boys to last until they reached the village.
In a brief moment of consciousness, Naruto remembered being placed on his teammate's back, his face resting in the crook of her neck, pink hair brushing against his face as she began to run through the trees. The blonde remembered his sensei saying something to his pink haired teammate, but it was all muffled through his grogginess.
Before he knew it, his eyes became heavy again, seeing colors meshed into blobs and masses of finite detail, leading him back into unconsciousness.
Blues eyes opened up quickly, searching their surroundings for a definite answer of where he was.
His eyes say the white decorum of the room, the only color coming from a table full of flowers across from his, combined with the antiseptic smell of bleach, revealed that this was the place Naruto Uzumaki hated most.
The hospital.
The blonde hastily rose up from his bed, trying to move his feet so that the touched the tiled floor; however, a pain ran through his body, stopping mid-way in his right arm. His left hand went to reach it, only to grasp it partially.
"What the?" the blonde had started, only to look down and remember the consequences of theirfight.
Slowly his eyes followed the path of bandages covering his body, white lines ran down his torso, a patch rested on the back of his remaining hand. Using his surviving hand he felt the bandages wrapping around his head, and running over the bridge of his nose, along with another patch taped to his left eye.
The blonde turned his thought from his injuries to look outside where he heard the commotion of people. They sounded happy, like life had gone back to normal for them. His view consisted of looking out at the hokage stone faces, seeing the sunset slowly falling behind them. The light illuminated the streets with its evening glow, giving a gentle feel to its surroundings.
Am I back in Konoha?
The sliding of the door turned Naruto's attention to the nurse that was entering his room, her face surprised, and a smile adorning her features.
The blonde had to admit that he was slightly disappointed that it wasn't Sakura, but he knew that more than likely she was occupied by the duties that came with being a medic.
"Hey," Naruto started, trying to be friendly.
"Your awake!" she yelled, as if surprised. "Wait here and I'll go tell Sakura!"
As the brown haired woman ran down the halls, he wasn't really sure where he was going to go. It hurt already to just try and sit up.
Oh well, he thought to himself, at least I get to see Sakura-chan.
The day had been long, patients had been wheeled in and out so frequently, and the pink haired woman could hardly keep up. Pulling a hair tie from one of the pockets in her medical coat, she tied her hair into a ponytail to get it out of her face. Thankfully, her shift was going to end in another thirty-minutes, something she was glad for. Quite frankly, her feet hurt, she was tired and she missed her lunch because of some drunk civilian adult who decided it would be fun to show off to his friends and try and climb the hokage faces, only to fall and break his arm.
Then things started to slow down, to look up even. All she had left to do was check-up on Naruto and Sasuke and she would be free to get the much-needed sleep she so desperately needed. At the same time, she was glad to cap off her day by meeting her teammates. Seeing Sasuke and Naruto would be the thing she needed, so she walked to the first one on her list.
Sasuke Uchiha.
For a moment Sakura somewhat regretted heading to his room first, knowing that there was still a slight tension between them, but she knew that she needed to get some things off her chest, to finally work towards something that was more beneficial than the way they were living these past few years.
The walk seemed long, but at the same time it let her sort her thoughts and let her clear her mind.
Then she saw the door.
Here goes nothing, she thought to herself.
Her slender hand went to the handle and pulled it to her right, releasing a slight squeak.
Sasuke looked at her, and she at him, and for the first time in a long time there was no hate in his eyes.
"Didn't think you'd want to see me," the raven haired boy said, moving to sit up.
A full tray of food lay on his lap, the dinner he was supposed to eat, long since cooled.
"Weren't hungry?" she asked, pointing to his food.
"No, it's still as bad as when I was in here last, but I suppose some things never change, do they?"
"I suppose so," Sakura smiled slightly, if somewhat awkwardly, feeling the lull in the conversation.
It stayed that way for several moments, the silence thickening in the room, the awkwardness apparent.
Should she say it?
Yes.
"I need to let you go." It was so blunt from her lips that he almost didn't recognize that it was her, that it was the girl who coward in front of him during the war just a few weeks ago. Now, she was staring at him with her emerald eyes, showing a sternness he never saw towards him.
"What do you mean?" He really had no idea what she was going on about, and to say he showed little interest would be accurate.
"I need to move on with my life, and that includes letting my feelings for you go, their only holding me back, and I can't take that anymore," she paused for a moment, letting it set in with him.
"Hn, you've told me before that you liked me, and I have rejected you twice. Why are you bringing this up again? He was slightly annoyed, but he could see she had something important to say, so he tried to keep his thoughts inside until she was done.
"I think… that for the longest time, I was selfish. I wanted you out of selfishness. I wanted you just like all the other girls, but I wanted to be greedy and take you for myself. Then the feelings of selfishness I had grew into a twelve year old girl's crush, and then something I thought was love. Yet I was wrong. It was never love, only selfishness, always selfishness. I wanted you for myself, but then I realized that I never cared what you thought. I'm sorry, but at the same time I'm not. I only seemed to confess during times of desperation, times of self-centeredness when I knew you were going to leave. And then I realized I know absolutely nothing about you. I know nothing about your history, your past, your brother, your parents, your dreams or inhibitions. I know nothing. I just created this attachment to you out of rumors and who I thought you were, not who you actually were, and that was beyond selfish of me.
"You pushed me to do better physically, to become as strong as you and Naruto, but then emotionally you always tore me down. It's the paradox brought upon the toxicity of who we are to each other. You, seemingly never cared, and I, seemed to care too much. I think that's why I need to let you go, Sasuke Uchiha, whether you care or not."
A silence blanketed the room, and he waited to make sure she was done.
"I don't care, actually, but that shouldn't be a surprise to you. Even if I never really cared for you, I think I'm happy that you're moving on, because I'm not the man you need in your life. You need someone who will support you, throughout all your accomplishments and endeavors. I know nothing about you either, Sakura Haruno, but I thank you for being there in the beginning. I want to thank you for trying to find something in me, but I just think, that in the end, we are two very different people who want two very different things in life. I want to change, but I don't think I can ever earn your trust, fully, again. Not that I deserve it anyway."
This was probably the longest conversation she had had with Sasuke Uchiha, and to say that she could finally let go of him was something she knew they both deserved.
"One more thing, Sasuke." She sounded rather serious in her tone.
"Yeah?"
"If you ever hurt Naruto again, don't think I won't come after you myself and beat you to death, got it?" Her words stung his ears, but he knew she only wanted what was best for Naruto anyway, he noticed that change in her. The way she used to look at him was the way she now looked at Naruto, whether she realized it or not.
"What made you fall in love with me anyway?" He was curious, and had every right to be, this change in attitude was not the girl who declared she loved him all those years ago, no, in fact he could tell she wanted to move on, and for a split second he felt happy for her. Yet, he needed to know why in the first place, why she clung to him in the early years of their team.
"I think it was the first day we became Team Seven, and I was sitting on the bench, the one behind the academy. I was trying to eat my lunch, but instead I was fawning over the idea of you kissing my forehead, as cliché as it sounds. You suddenly appeared out of the trees, and said the very thing I always wanted you to say, 'You have a large and charming forehead, it makes me want to kiss it,' if I recall correctly. Then you sat next to me and slowly leaned in, almost like you were attempting to kiss me. But then, as if you had somewhere else to be, you ran away, complaining about your stomach hurting. I don't know why, but I suppose that's the moment that sticks out to me, the one that turned my selfish crush into a full on obsession. Thinking about it now, it's almost sad really." She sighed and looked at her clipboard, her mind looking lost in the trip down memory lane.
What? I don't remember any of that, he thought to himself. Wait a minute!
Then he remembered how Naruto complained about his stomach that day that brought them all together.
So it was you all along, Naruto, you were always chasing her. The Uchiha smirked slightly, getting ready to tell her the truth of it all. He hoped he didn't break her heart, but now it seemed irrelevant after she just told him she was over him.
"Sakura, the truth is that it wasn't I who—"
The sound of a tapping on the door caused both of them to look its way. Sakura walked over and saw the face of one of the nurses, happily smiling.
"It's Naruto, Sakura, he woke up!"
"Already? Thank you, Midori, I'll make sure to check up on him in a second."
The Nurse nodded and left, closing the door as she went.
"What were you saying, Sasuke?" She looked back at him, placing her clipboard under her arm, and putting her hand into the pockets of her lab coat.
"Nothing, just go tell Naruto I said 'hi' for me, okay?" He trained his vision to look back out the window, watching the sunset beginning to take form.
She'll learn about it eventually, he thought to himself.
"You're not going to come?" Sakura was somewhat shocked, thinking the Uchiha would like to see friend awake.
"No, maybe later. He's usually so rowdy when he wakes up, I don't need that at this time of day." His excuse was lame at best, but then again, Sasuke Uchiha had e never been a good liar.
"Well, suit yourself then. I'll stop by tomorrow to check your arm." She turned to walk out the door, opening the squeaky, gray door.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
Several moments passed after the nurse left and when he heard the heels of another woman. They were paced with quick strides that reverberated down the hallway, then stopped right in front of his door.
It opened to reveal a pink head of hair, and a face he knew all to well.
"Sakura-chan," he beamed as he said her name, trying to get up to greet her. Alas, his wounds prevented him from moving completely, and he grimaced in pain.
"Idiot, don't move! You should know better than that!" His pink haired teammate scorned. She walked quickly up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, trying to make him lay back down. "You've only been out for a few days, let your body recover."
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, it just stings a little." He tried to fight off the pain, but he knew why he wasn't completely healed yet. Kurama had yet to wake up form his own slumber, still trying to recover chakra from the final battle.
"I've told you once, I've told you before, you need to be more careful." Sakura looked him over to make sure that none of his wounds had reopened, but a certain scar that poked through some of the bandages caught her eye, something she thought had certainly healed up.
There, on Naruto's left rib cage, was the scar where her hand reached for his heart, where she tried to keep him alive through her will to see his dream come into fruition.
"Hey, are you okay, Sakura-chan?" he was puzzled as to why she was looking at his ribs, wondering if there was something wrong with them.
"N-nothing, just making sure you didn't bust open a seem is all." She stood up straight, trying to find something to change the topic. Out of the corner of her eye she say the triage of flowers littering the table in the corner of the room, slowly trickling down onto the floor, surrounding it.
"Seems you've acquired quite the admirers, ay, Naruto?" The blonde looked to where her eyes were looking, seeing the colorful array of flowers. Some of them carried signs that said 'get well soon', 'thank you' and the like, making Naruto realize that one of his goals had been realized. He was finally acknowledged, and a sudden feeling of appreciation came over him.
He was taken from his thought when he heard "thank you."
He looked up at Sakura again, not sure why she was thanking him.
"Thank you for bringing Sasuke back. You didn't have to, but you did, and I appreciate that." The pink haired girl walked over to the window, opening it up, letting the warm afternoon air gently glide its way into the room. She looked back at him, seeing him open his mouth to speak.
"Well of course, Sakura-chan, I had to keep my promise of a lifetime, right? I can't become a great hokage if I can't do that now can I?" He smiled at her, watching the way her hair flowed in the wind that entered the room, almost tantalizingly.
She smiled back, and then looked back out the window to see the hues of pinks, yellows, reds and oranges permeating the evening sky, leading into the sunset.
How beautiful, she thought, enjoying the way the colors complimented each other so well.
"I suppose you were always stubborn, even after all these years, and even after I told you to stop chasing after Sasuke, you still did. You believed in him when everyone else had given up. I think more than anything, that's what Sasuke needed, and I'm glad to see it pay off." She looked back to him, stepping away from the window.
"Part of it was for you, too, Sakura. I know how much he means to you." Sakura could hear a little bit of sadness in the inflection of his voice, but she walked over and stood next to his bed, looking him the eyes.
"Thank you, Naruto, but I never truly understood Sasuke like you do. I was selfish to ask that promise of you, and I was selfish to love someone I never understood, " Sakura said, standing from her chair. "I think I've moved on, and found someone who I actually understand."
Now Naruto was curious. Who was this man she had taken a liking too? Was he nice to her? Did he treat her right?
He hoped so.
After all that Sasuke had done to Sakura, he was glad that she was moving on, that perhaps she could find someone that could truly make her happy, even if that wasn't himself.
"As long as he makes you happy and respects you for who you are, I'm okay with that," the blonde said sincerely. He smiled at her, giving her one of his famous Naruto grins.
She looked at him for a long minute, taking in his features, the way his hair slightly moved from the breeze cascading through the room, the way the corners of his mouth expanded across his face, and the way his eyes closed when he did so. It was perfect, really. Something she had grown to love about him.
"I think he's pretty great, but I suppose you'll have to see for your self one day, right?" She turned around and walked towards the door, placing her hand on the handle when she got there.
"Hey, wait! Who is he, if you don't mind me asking?" The blonde's curiosity was peaked, and he wanted to know, but Sakura simply shook her head and smiled lightly.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? We'll talk about what were going to do with that missing arm of yours." She opened the door, noticing it's slight squeak as she did so.
"Oh, c'mon, Sakura! Just a hint, please?" He was on the edge of his seat, but he eased off, knowing he would have time to pry another day.
"Bye, Naruto, sleep well tonight." She smiled as she went into the hallway.
"You too, Sakura-chan."
The door closed.
And with that, she was gone.
The next morning, Naruto awoke to the mid-day sun beaming through the trees in his window, now closed, which Naruto deduced was from another nurse.
Next to his bed lied a single daffodil in a glass container on his nightstand, fresh and new. A small get well soon card lay next to the vase, signed Sakura.
It was not like the other ones he had received from the villagers, all potted plants and flowers in bundles by the dozens. No, this one was alone, but it still had beauty and magnificence in its lone figure, where as the others only had beauty in numbers.
His door sliding open swayed his thought to the person entering, making him try and sit up—a much easier feat today than yesterday.
"Hey, Sakura-chan," he greeted her, smiling.
"You'll never guess what I brought you today for lunch?" Her expression kept him guessing for a minute, but he knew, because anyone who knows Naruto Uzumaki knows of his first love.
"Ramen?" Naruto guessed, hoping it was as such.
"I saw Teuchi on my lunch break today, and he told me to give you this, saying it was your favorite. Plus, I know you haven't had any in a while, so why not celebrate a little, right?" The pinked haired girl said, she smiled as she moved the food tray by his bed over his lap, and then placed the bowl on it. Her fingers delicately moved to the cover and took it off the bowl, releasing the steam that had been collecting inside.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan. You didn't have to go through all that for me." He smiled as he looked at the noodles in the broth, garnished with a few slices of pork and naruto on top.
"Don't worry about it, it was Teuchi's idea anyway." She grabbed his chopsticks and broke them in half, placing them next to his bowl. "I'm going to have to go and continue my shift, but enjoy, okay?"
"I will!" Naruto exclaimed, his left hand darting toward the chopsticks, picking them up and readying them to dig into his ramen.
Unfortunately, Naruto was not left-handed. He struggled to the hold the chopsticks properly as he tried to take his first bites of his beloved ramen.
It ended in failure.
The noodles fell from the wooden sticks, splashing hot broth in his face, and causing him to yell out an, "ouch!"
Sakura noticed this, and took the chopsticks from his hand, chuckling a little at the display. She pulled up a seat that had been leaning against the wall and brought it close to the bed
"Here, let me help you," she spoke, grabbing noodles for him.
"But don't you need to get back to work?" he said worried, hoping she wouldn't be reprimanded by Tsunade.
"It's fine, what kind of person would I be if I let you starve?" She pulled the noodles from the bowl, moving them towards Naruto's mouth.
Naruto blushed lightly, staring at her face as she attempted to feed him.
Is this real? Is Sakura-chan really going to feed me?
He opened his mouth, still blushing, thoughts askew.
Yet, just as all those months ago, Sakura feeding Naruto was not fated to be.
Tsunade came in; the door slammed into the wall and yelled, "There you are!"
Naruto and Sakura were startled, leading to the regrettable spilling of his ramen over his lap and onto his legs from the flinching of his lower body.
The steaming hot broth seeped in, hurting him somewhat. His pants were now drenched.
"Ooo… sorry, brat. I came to find Sakura, but it seems she was, um, well, busy." Tsunade said as she smiled, trying to infer something at the end. Neither of them caught it; however, both preoccupied with the warm broth permeating the blonde boy's clothes.
"Careful, Naruto! Uh, let me go get you a change of pants." Quickly Sakura got up, the chair sliding back a few feet, then ran to the closest. Standing on the tips of her toes in order to grab the spare pants from the top shelf, she prevailed and ran them back to the blonde.
"You'll need to take them off," the pink haired girl said, as she turned around, away from him, and held out her arm to give them to the boy behind her.
He stood up, using his only hand to try and pull them down, only to fail.
"Umm, Sakura?"
"Yes?" she answered back, still turned away, her face red.
"I think I'm going to need some help."
"Oh geese, I'm sorry, Naruto, I totally forgot about your arm! Um, I'll just close my eyes and then I'll pull them down and then turn back around and then that should work right?" She tried to hide the awkwardness in her voice, but she knew she was failing.
"Okay, whatever works best for you, Sakura-chan."
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah!"
Hastily Sakura turned around and pulled them down, then just as quickly turned back around.
It seemed; however, that a dirty thought or two entered her mind.
I wonder what type of boxers he's wearing today? Her inner self wondered. I wonder if it's those ones with the frogs on them, or perhaps the ones that have the swirls on the butt? Why not just turn around and get a quick peek, hmmm?
You will not tempt me! I shouldn't even be thinking about that right now! Sakura yelled back.
Oh, please. Then why are you blushing?
Shut up!
"Hey, Sakura-chan?" She heard Naruto say, tapping her shoulder to get her attention.
Sakura turned around, but, by chance of fate, some of the ramen's broth had fallen onto the floor, making her shoes slip from under her. The inevitable fall afterwards had her tumbling toward Naruto, toppling him to the ground.
By the time they had stopped falling, she was straddling him. Her face was close to his, both of them feeling the breath of the other on their faces. Her emerald eyes stared into his sapphire blue, looking into the depths of them. If she had the choice, she would have never looked away, but a coughing coming from the doorway caused the two of them to bring their attention towards the fifth hokage.
"Well, I see you two have been doing okay, anything you'd like to tell me?" The older blonde woman had really enjoyed the nervous show that was the two of these people. She was curious, wondering when the two of them were finally going to stop tiptoeing around the subject and just go out already. She cared for her student and Naruto very dearly, but she didn't want her to be like her and Jiraiya, she wanted them to find each other before it was too late, before fate tore them away from each other, before what they had was gone.
"Uh… um, no! It's not what you think! We… um… I … uh, sorry, Lady Tsunade, it won't happen again, I promise!" Sakura said nervously, not sure what to make of the situation. The pink haired girl stood up immediately, leaning down afterwards to help Naruto off the floor.
"Well, anyway, I came to look for you, Sakura. I have the results of the test we've run on the cells and the reformation of them into arms for Naruto and Sasuke." She suddenly became very articulate with her words, something Sakura knew all to well.
"So it will work?" Sakura beamed, smiling at her teacher.
"It appears so. I must admit that it was great thinking on you part, Sakura. Using Hashirama's DNA with the information you gathered on the Zetsu clones was rather ingenious, something that, while it can only work on Naruto and Sasuke and those with similar DNA, is practical. Good work," Tsunade said proudly, smiling at her student.
"T-thank you, Lady Tsunade." She smiled back, grateful for the compliment.
"What are you talking about? What about me and Sasuke?" Naruto was confused, lost and not knowing what half of what Tsunade said meant, but his curiosity was peaked.
"You didn't tell him, Sakura?" Tsunade sounded somewhat shocked, thinking it would be one of the first things she told Naruto when he woke up.
"Well… not yet. I wasn't sure if the idea would even work, I needed you to double check my notes to make sure everything worked out so that I didn't give either of them false hopes. I don't think I could forgive myself if I told them only for it to be untrue." Sakura said, still looking at her teacher.
"Hmm, you shouldn't doubt yourself so much, Sakura, I've taught you better than that. But you should tell him now, I'm sure he'd like to hear it." Tsunade gestured towards Naruto, making Sakura look to him.
"Uh, well, I found a way to get you your arm back. It just needs time to implement the cells and let them take shape, but within a few weeks you should have a new arm. I mean, only if you want, don't feel pressured, I just thought it would be nice to be able to change yourself and eat your own ramen, you know?" She said somewhat nervously, not knowing how he would take the news.
"You did this for Sasuke and me, Sakura-chan?" The blonde asked.
She shook her head in conformation.
"Thank you," he spoke softly, tears welling up in his eyes.
"No, Naruto, thank you. You've done a lot for me over the years, and I think this is the least I could do to repay you." She stared into his eyes as he sniffled a little, smiling through the snot dripping from his nose.
"No need to get all teary eyed, brat," Tsunade interrupted. "Now about the mess…"
"Oh, I'll clean it up, Lady Tsunade, it was kind of our fault," Sakura spoke. "I'll get the mop and change of sheets for him. No worries!"
"Very well then. Just make sure you get back on your schedule after all this is done. You have long list of patients to check up on." Tsunade said as she exited the room. "See you later."
"Would you like me to help clean the room with you? I could help you get back to your job quicker," The blonde asked, grinning.
"You know, Naruto, I would like that."
Author's Note: If you've made it this far, thank you! Sorry if it starts off kind of slow, but I suppose I would have rather actual build up than shoving two people together for the sake of it (a la Kishimoto). I suppose more than anything I wrote this out of spite. I hated the ending; it left a lot to be desired, and handled the characters so poorly, that I honest to god felt that I had no idea that I was reading the same manga that I had been for nine years. Not to mention The Last, which was just adding shit to more shit. I suppose something I hope to accomplish with this story is to try and fix the mess that was the ending, and restart it from scratch.
While I would have preferred a more open ending to the series pairing wise, so that all the pairing hate could, hopefully, be laid to rest, I will lean this story to my own personal preferences. I'm no expert when it comes to writing, but I'll try to write character directions that make sense from the canon manga up until chapter 698, because after that the series is dead to me, as much as it pains me to say it. Not everyone will end up with someone, because it really seemed to me that everyone after Naruto and Hinata just had one giant marriage circle with who ever was next to them at the time, and I really don't want to repeat that. I really only have plans for two, maybe three, but I'm still toying with the idea. I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with the story, having written an outline with major plot points, with a few smaller ones needing to be ironed out.
Hopefully, chapters will be about 5,000 words, give or take, and be updated every few weeks or so, school allowing. I can't promise a specific release schedule simply because I don't want to make promises I can't keep. I rated this story M for a reason, so if you don't particularly care for some adult situations, then this story probably isn't for you. But overall I hope you guys will enjoy this story, because I really had fun writing it so far.