The snow slowly drifted down landing softly on the ground and immediately turning crimson. It was as if time had slowed to a near impossible rate... The second it had taken for the two boys to ready their attack... The split second that it had taken them to advance upon each other... And the instantaneous moment of impact... All had seemed in slow motion to the emerald eyes watching in horror.
And then, for as long as it seemed to last, it was over just like that.
A silence had fallen upon the world. There were no more sounds of cracking rock as a body was thrown into the wall, or curses echoing in the air as more blood splattered the ground. Or rare, heavy words that were uttered in between attack. All the sounds of the fight, save the one of Sakura's heart pounding in her chest, were gone as she pushed herself off the ground and quickly hurried over to her teammates.
Even now she still considered them her teammates. Even after all that had happened, they would forever be part of Team 7.
The snow began to fall in a greater quantity, even if retaining the same pace. The cold flakes landing on the pink haired girl all going completely unnoticed. She was already numb. The cold flakes landing on the dark haired boy created a thin coat. He would not notice. The cold flakes landing on the blonde haired boy melted on his skin. He was still warm. The cold flakes landing on the torn ground instantly had their innocence tainted. Stained red with blood.
As Sakura collapsed on the ground between Sasuke and Naruto she couldn't believe that it had come down to this. Naruto said that this fight would end with both he and Sasuke dying, but the foolish girl in Sakura had hoped that what Naruto had predicted wouldn't come to pass. But now, it was becoming more clear that the horrible fate of her teammates was indeed going to come true.
She had began to prepare herself for the idea that Sasuke could possibly be past the point of saving and would have to be killed, but never had she even imagined losing Naruto too. Sakura couldn't loose both of them, not at the same time, not ever. Sakura would not let both her teammates slip through her fingers. She would not let all those years of training for a moment like this go to waste. She would not let her emotions make her weak. She would not fail.
However, being able to heal these kinds of wounds was hard. But Sakura had something harder she had to face. She had to choose. Even if Sakura had squeezed every drop of optimism out of her already drained body, she would still not be able to fool herself into thinking she could save both Sasuke and Naruto. Their wounds were already extensive and difficult to treat without the proper medical equipment and stable mindset. If Sakura could manage to heal one of them, then she would consider herself lucky. But healing two, healing both the boys she had created a bond with, was out of the question. And so Sakura was faced with one of the toughest situations that all ninja feared finding themselves in; having to decide which teammate to save.
Flashbacks of the test Kakashi had put them through in order to determine if they were ready to become leaf ninja or not ran through Sakura's mind. At one point Kakashi had held a kunai to Sasuke telling Sakura to kill Naruto, or Sasuke would die. Even then Sakura had found that decision impossible and couldn't believe she would ever be put in a position to make one like that. At that point though, the fangirl in Sakura would have chosen Sasuke's life over Naruto's. She had been devoted to Sasuke, while Naruto was just annoying and got in the way.
But what about now? Was she still so in love with Sasuke that she could choose him over Naruto, even though he had slipped into darkness? Or could she save Naruto, whom she had grown closer to through the years of chasing after Sasuke, and sacrifice the boy she had spent those years chasing, the boy she had loved?
Sakura's heart was tearing in two, but every second she spent deciding, every moment she wasted, both of them lost more blood and came closer to death. She needed to choose now!
Just then Naruto stirred, his eyes opening slowly as he tried to sit up, but realizing that his condition wouldn't allow him too, laid back down and stared at the sky. Sakura looked over at him astonished that he was even conscious and wondering if he knew she was even there. Perhaps it would be better to not alert him of her presence; if she chose to save Sasuke it would make her feel less guilty.
"Sakura..." Naruto said in a strained, but firm voice, not taking his eyes off the darkening sky. "Don't cry... Please."
Sakura frowned a little touching her damp cheek, she hadn't even noticed she had begun to cry, and quickly wiped the tears away. "Naruto, you shouldn't try to talk!" She reprimanded as she usually did when he tried to lessen the seriousness of his wounds. "And I wasn't crying, the snow... is just melting..." She said acknowledging the frozen tears of the sky for the first time.
The corners of Naruto's mouth tilted up a little, starkly contrasting the line of blood running from the corner of his mouth, and he looked over at Sakura with knowing eyes. "If you say so... though the snow flakes in your hair and eyelashes don't seem to be melting." Naruto managed to point out.
In any other situation Sakura might have smacked him for being difficult, but not now. "Naruto..."
Naruto just shook his head and closed his eyes, the smile disappearing from his face. "It's ok Sakura, I know... It's not fair to put you in this situation, but I understand. You have to try... But if you succeed in saving Sasuke, just know that he is farther gone than we could imagine, and even if you reach as far as you can, you still might not be able to truly save him Sakura..."
Sakura's heart tightened hearing this. Naruto was giving her permission to save Sasuke, he knew she would want to save Sasuke over himself. Sakura hated Naruto for being so noble. For once she just wanted him to actually put himself first.
"Naruto don't be silly-"
"Sakura, you're wasting time... Save Sasuke... I couldn't, but maybe you can." Naruto said opening his eyes again and giving Sakura his custom smile. "I know you can do it, you are a strong ninja Sakura, you've always been strong, so don't miss your chance to prove it to the Teme now." He chuckled a little, but ended up wincing and closing his eyes, this time not opening them again.
Sakura had to quickly look away from Naruto as the tears began to spill down her cheeks. Turning away, Sakura's eyes fell upon the motionless Sasuke. He had not come to since he and Naruto attacked each other, and showed no signs of regaining consciousness. Sakura's stomach wrenched as her eyes roamed the familiarity of the stranger who lay in front of her. He still looked mostly the same, though older, with his eyes closed. His hair was still dark and begging for someone to run their hands through it. His pale complexion perfectly completing the muscular build... But Sakura knew that as soon as Sasuke opened his eyes he would become a completely different person. Even as cold and lifeless as he looked now, with his eyes opened he would look even more like a marble statue, blankly staring into her soul. For now though... For now he was the most vulnerable Sakura had ever seen him.
She crawled over to Sasuke and examined his wound. It was just as bad as Naruto's, if not worse. Though both her teammates had formidable attacks and abilities, Sakura was well aware of the effects of the Kyuubi's chakra if wounded by it, and Sasuke was now suffering from them. As helpful the kyuubi's chakra was for Naruto in healing, it was detrimental to Sasuke. Unfortunately even the Kyuubi's chakra would not be enough to save Naruto this time. Towards the end Sasuke had performed some type of jutsu to reach the Kyuubi and seal it's power, leaving Naruto on his own for the time being. And that jutsu may end up being the signature on Naruto's death certificate.
Still, Sakura couldn't help but touch the frozen face of the man she used to love and a tear slid down her cheek. Things shouldn't have come to this. It wasn't supposed to end like this, with Team 7 broken forever. But it had. Leaning over, Sakura stole her first kiss from Sasuke. It was a bittersweet moment under the circumstances, but she had to do it. This was her one opportunity to know what it was like to kiss Sasuke, to do what she had always dreamt of doing. It was naturally a one sided kiss, nothing like she had pictured in her head when she was younger, but still the kiss was with Sasuke and that was enough. Enough for Sakura to come to the realizations that she had been ignoring. And after a moment she pulled away from Sasuke and took a deep breath.
It was time. She had made her decision; she knew who she had to save.
Wasting no more precious moments Sakura set to work on the boy she had chosen. Her hands were a little shaky, and her emotions a little chaotic, but she was not backing down now, she had a mission and she was going to complete it.
The process was slow, painfully and tiringly slow. So much damage had been done to his body that more needed to be healed than Sakura had previously expected. As Sakura felt the exhaustion begin to take over her own body, fear began to take over. Fear that she had waited too long. That she wouldn't be able to save him. That she would be alone.
Sakura steadied her shaking hands again, focussing once more on the task at hand and pushing away her doubts. This was no time for weakness.
Finally, as the torn flesh began to mend itself under the direction of her medical jutsu, Sakura began to let hope make its presence known. She had done all she could do, and hopefully that would be enough. No, she told herself, not hopefully, it would be enough.
Sitting back, Sakura took a heavy breath and wiped away the perspiration that had formed on her forehead. She knew she should check for a pulse or heartbeat to make sure her medical jutsu had worked, but she wasn't ready to know yet. There was always that chance that there would be no sound of life, and she wasn't ready for that realization yet.
Though at that moment, another realization came to Sakura. Team 7 had officially lost its first member. Uneasily, Sakura turned and glanced at the lifeless body of her old teammate, and knew, even without checking for a pulse, that he was no longer there. He was dead, and it was partially her fault. It wasn't that she had inflicted his fatal injuries, but she had chosen to let him die. And that, in its own, would be guilt she would live with the rest of her life.
Sakura used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes to avoid getting the blood that coated them on her face, but still some smeared on her cheek like war paint. Paint for a war between friends who fate had turned into enemies. For a war that would have a loser, and, hopefully, a winner.
A slight movement out of the corner of Sakura's eye made her heart skip a beat as her attention quickly was averted back to the young man she had chosen to save. Her heart sunk a little when she realized that the movement had just been the wind blowing his torn shirt as it began to pick up. Gently Sakura leaned over and brushed away the layer of snow that had begun to blanket him, her hand pausing when she wiped the flakes off of his cheek. Despite the snow, the slight warmth of his skin kindled her hope of his survival, and she leaned her head down against his exposed chest, listening intently.
The moment between heartbeats seemed like an eternity to Sakura, but the slow, steady thump could be heard beating against his chest. Sakura's eyes were soon wet with tears again, but this time she was not ashamed of them as relief flooded through her. He was alive.
As the tears spilled down her cheek, Sakura studied the peaceful face of the boy whose head was now pillowed in her lap. She knew she had made the right decision, and as he woke, jade eyes met blue, and a smile formed on her face.
"I thought I asked you not to cry Sakura..."