Drabble-ish. About Sakura and Naruto, and their chase for Sasuke. Set after ch396, so spoilers. Will possibly (most probably, fwahaha XP) become AU... not that it matters.

I originally intended to write this from Naruto's perspective, about Sasuke. But this says more, and I think Sakura hasn't gotten her due in Shippuden.

So... please enjoy. XD

Sakura had never liked failure, but then, it was inevitable.

She didn't need Kiba's assurances of traces of scent to let her know how cursed close they had been; she didn't need the black fire, dying among the trees, an unmistakable sign; and she didn't need the battle-scarred landscape. She could feelit. Sasuke had become instinctual to her.

Did she still love him? It was so unimportant it was laughable.

So she did laugh – just the faintest breath of laughter, instantly drowned by the rain. She was far too tired to cry, or laugh harder.

And she decided, then and there, to release Naruto from his promise. His promise to bring Sasuke home. He didn't deserve to be bound by it, right?

It was tiring them out, this chase. It was killing them.

And she owed Naruto that much. She owed it to him for being her constant, her rock; but even more, for being the goofy, stupid, loving brother she never had.

Nearer and nearer Sakura drew to Naruto, his face blurred by the rain, until she drew very close. But by that time, she had slowed to a halt.

Naruto's face broke Sakura's already fragile heart. She knew that this infernal chase was draining him, more so than it was draining her, but she had never realized how much.

Naruto looked defeated, and Naruto never looked defeated. Naruto never could be defeated, because of his own unstoppable will, and his unquenchable light, and his strength that seemed to shock even his enemies, even his teachers, even his friends who thought they already knew his limits, but would realize they never could.

But Naruto looked defeated.

And beyond that: he was crying, Sakura was sure of it. It wasn't as though she'd never seen him cry. But she had never seen him cry so brokenly, as though that ever-present Naruto light had been pinched out. And he didn't even seem aware: his eyes! They contained something Sakura couldn't name – part heartbreak, part disappointment, and part something like self-loathing that made Sakura want to comfort Naruto in a way she hadn't wanted to before. Like she wanted to wrap him up in blankets so he couldn't crack anymore.

Because, despite his unending strength, Naruto needed to be protected. And he needed Sakura, she now realized.

Anyone with sense would have said that he needed a real friend to comfort him, but to tell him that Sasuke wouldn't come home, and to help him put himself back together when he realized his best friend was gone, forever.

And Sakura realized, with another fleeting instinct of mirth, how very, very wrong it would be to release Naruto from his promise to her.

She placed a hand on his shoulder; he didn't look up. But it was okay.

Naruto, she said to him silently, I will bring back Sasuke for you. I will follow you to the ends of the earth if it means bringing that boy home. Because you need him.

And the pink-haired shinobi smiled to herself. Don't tell me you wouldn't agree, baka. Two unbroken promises are better than one.

First fic posted, so please review if you are so inclined. (Also, is Sakura OOC? Let me know... thankies P)