Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
She found him sitting on the monument, looking out on a village left in ruins. She could tell he was suffering, blaming himself, and taking all the responsibility for the calamity on his shoulders.
She took a minute to stand there and watch him, waiting for him to notice her and acknowledge her, the least she could do was give him time to finish his thoughts. When he turned to her, the look in his eyes gave her a chill even though it was the height of mid day. She smiled despite it and walked to him, taking a seat next to him and without hesitation laying her head on his shoulder. He stiffened slightly, then relaxed and let his head come to rest on hers. They sat like that for a short time before he spoke.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner Sakura-chan" she watched as his fists clenched and sighed, closing her eyes she reached for him. As her hands closed over his she said quietly, "Baka, this isn't your fault, you couldn't have known what would happen when you left. And we couldn't get in touch with you, you came when you could, you came when we needed you most. You saved so many lives, just by being you. Why would you apologize for that?"
He sat up straighter then, making her raise her head and turn to look at him, still holding her hand he closed his eyes and grit his teeth, squeezing the words out through clenched jaws, "I was almost too late, look at the village. We almost lost Kakashi, we might still lose Tsunade-baa-chan. I was useless, Hinata almost died trying to protect me. I'm not strong enough yet, I have to get stronger, if I can't protect what's dearest to me how can I bring him home."
Sakura's eyes widened, she took a deep breath and tried to think of what to say, she watched as tears slid down the whiskered cheeks and her heart broke. "Please Naruto, don't. You brought back Kakashi-sensei when you talked Nagato into understanding you. Tsunade-sensei is strong she'll pull through, she just needs time and rest. Hinata….Well she explained her reasons for protecting you already" she watched as Naruto flinched. "She's not the only one who wanted to protect you, she was just the only one who was brave enough and physically able to move. I…. I was sure that I would just get in the way, I wanted you to be able to fight without worrying. She was the smarter of us. " Naruto shook his head and Sakura sighed. "This village loves you, Naruto, you're the one who saved us and even before that, the reason so many died was because they respected you and loved you enough not to give you up to Pein when he demanded to know where you were. You are a Konoha Shinobi and part of the village. No one here blames you for anything, you need to let this go and focus on helping with the restoration."
Naruto nodded, "I need to train as well".
Sakura was silent, sitting there she remembered the look on Sasuke's face when they'd found him at Orochimaru's hideout, it struck her now that he was truly lost to them. The promise that she'd asked of Naruto was impossible and selfish even if she intended to help. The weight she'd placed on his shoulders was unforgivable. Looking out over the village she saw what Pein had done and what because of Naruto was occurring now. There were thousands of villagers working that wouldn't be alive now if not for him. She looked at his still stricken features and decided, her eyes hardening that while she might have lost one of her boys she would be damned if she would lose another. She gripped his hand tighter and began to make plans, hopefully when she was done Naruto would be able to forgive her.