He was a boy with paths that all had the same end.

He had heartbreak, a bleak future, and with only one person at his side to keep a promise for the girl he loved. She didn't love him, he was sure, but he just couldn't let go. His sleep was tormented and restless, his times awake a nightmare, and only love could keep him going at this point.

"Naruto?"

Miori's soft whisper aroused him from his deep sleep, and he slowly opened his oceanic blue eyes and the cloudy vision of Miori's lithe form slowly came to focus. She sent a vulnerable smile towards him before looking out onto the horizon. Her knees were drawn to her chest, and her hair flew around her face that was turned away from her body. Standing up, Naruto was even more alarmed that Miori was gasping. Her eyes were wide. Her nostrils flared and her mouth was wide open as she struggled to gain breath.

"Miori-san? Are you okay?"

It was the first time Naruto had added that honorific, and he could tell that Miori had relaxed from it. Her breathing slowly evened out, and Naruto watched with interest as she stood up.

"Hai. I'm a little nervous though." Miori let out a small laugh, and Naruto immediately understood. She had a chance of dying, and her memories may lie unlocked there. It was a lot to deal with. Deep down, Naruto knew it had to be more than that, but he immediately squashed it down.

"Don't be nervous! I'm looking after you!" Naruto pretended to salute, and to his satisfaction, Miori dissolved into giggles. But he could tell she was hysterical, so her emotions weren't exactly in check. He was just as nervous, if not more so. His life was coming to an end and he couldn't stop it, he had left the village he loved, and most of all, Sakura was probably worried sick about him.

She always worried, no matter what was the case. Even if she was selfish, even if she never had her heart in the right place, she always sat on her doorstep or moped a little more than usual when she was worried. It happened a lot when Hinata went away on her mission. It was one of the few moments she let him comfort her. A small smile appeared on his face at the thought, before growing somber once more.

"Come on, Miori." He stuck his hand out to her when she stopped laughing. "We have to face this sooner or later." He grimaced at the thought, but his love and his determination drove him forward to this blockaded path. He would just have to hope it was enough.

"Sakura-chan… you're going to be okay. He's coming home.

--

She was a girl with paths that shot out in all different directions.

She loved two, and she hated and despised herself for it. She had taken so much away from the boy she loved; she had taken much from her best friend, all for the sake of one she could never have.

"Missing…" she murmured, reaching her hand towards the bulletin board that was put up right outside the Hokage's office.

Text describing Naruto's cheery attitude and bright looks was tacked to the board. It was one Tsunade's many ways of accepting missions. If the mission was declared optional, it was posted on the bulletin board. Only a signature was needed to be accepted, however, the ninja had to be of the Jonin rank. Sasuke was optional too, since they both were declared missing and outside the territory, and few would want to drag them back just so they could face more punishment. Not to mention it was too risky; the only reason why they were even up for grabs was because the number of ninja in the village were booming.

Sakura slid her fingers over the paper, closing her eyes as she visualized Naruto's screaming words in her ear, or his begging, or the countless times she punched him into a tree. It was all they really did, time and time again… and strangely, it was more than enough.

Sakura's black funeral dress swept around her legs as the wind slowly picked up its pace. She lifted her hand to her face to block her short hair, and slowly, she turned around to head to the last resting place of Aburame Shino.

She heard footsteps behind her, and she looked behind her to see familiar dark blue hair and pearl gray eyes, and the similar funeral dress. Hinata fell in stride directly next to her, and Sakura let a faint smile cross her features before it dropped off. Hinata's eyes were glazed, but she didn't cry. Her head was down, and her shoulders were hunched over. Sakura could tell the heiress was hurting just as much, if not more, as she was at the moment.

Their walk was as silent as the day. It was like not even birds would dare to make a sound on this solemn day. The wind rustled the leaves on the trees, but it came sparingly, so the sound was rare and indecisive. Sakura's footsteps slowly came to a halt.

The coffin lay there where the Third Hokage and so many other fallen ninja had been laid to rest. Hinata had stopped directly in her tracks, her eyes wide with tears that had yet to fall.

And finally Sakura could only watch as Hinata broke.

The midnight haired girl slowly sank to her knees, obviously not caring if she got the light brown dirt of Konoha's roads on her obsidian dress. Sakura didn't care much either as she dropped even faster to her knees, and she wrapped her arms around Hinata's back fiercely.

Hinata buried her face into Sakura's shoulder, sobbing with everything she had. Sakura rested her chin on Hinata's head hopelessly.

"It's okay, it's okay…" she whispered, fighting her own tears. She swallowed hard as Hinata continued to cry.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-san," she added, hugging her tighter. "I'm so sorry. For everything."

--

"Naruto-kun! It's this way!"

"Hai!"

It had been a while since he visited the lairs that made up the complexity of Otogakure, and he also knew that there were two different places: one outside the territory, one on the inside. Sasuke could be anywhere.

Leaping through the dungeons reminded him vividly of when Sakura was by his side. She had snuck out of the village herself, one of her few shows of strength. Jiraiya had turned it into an official mission, further helping them out. He sighed. Miori, no offense to her, was a cheap replacement, but she would have to do.

He looked over at her, and was immediately struck about how tired she looked. Deep circles marked underneath her eyes, almost as if it was from violence. Her eyes were dull with what seemed to be… lack of sleep?

"Miori-san? Did you sleep at all last night?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Yeah, just fine. I felt like I ran over Fire Country and back though." Miori looked at him curiously, albeit her eyes looked blank and lackluster. "Why?"

"You look like crap." The words just spilled out, and Miori, even though it obviously took effort whacked him hard on the shoulder.

"You are SUCH a guy, Naruto-kun." She rolled her eyes and sprinted off bit by bit. "I don't have time for this."

Naruto easily caught up with her. "Hey, neither do I. I just care about my partner."

"Flattery gets you nowhere, baka." However, Miori was now smiling. Naruto felt a heave in his chest, and he instantly stopped.

"Oh, Kami," Miori moaned, looking away as Naruto started coughing. "I hate that you have to go through this…"

"Flattery gets me everywhere." Naruto shot a smile towards her after he wiped the blood from his mouth. "You wouldn't be so worried otherwise."

He watched in amused satisfaction as Miori rolled her eyes and stood up. "Who wouldn't be worried about someone coughing up blood?" she grumbled, her chocolate eyes flashing before growing monotonous.

Naruto's own eyes darkened, remembering his rough childhood. How he was alone on the swing, how the kids laughed at him without knowing why, how the parents hid their kids from him, how even Sakura ignored him…

"You'd be surprised," he finally replied dryly, continuing the plunge into Otogakure's lair.

Miori said nothing after that, but Naruto noticed with alarm that her fatigue was growing more and more as she ran through. Her pace was beginning to slacken, and Naruto grabbed her wrist.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Once again, Miori didn't reply.

"Miori-san!"

Miori's knees buckled underneath her. Naruto's arm shot out as he caught her just below the chest, and he became alarmed as her breathing turned labored, into panting. Miori's dead weight was leaning against his lower arm, and she finally looked up.

"Sorry," she croaked. "I don't know what's wrong with me…"

"Maybe we should-" Naruto's eyes widened as he cut himself off, because Miori's eyes were starting to roll back in her head.

They both fell to the floor, and Miori began to scream. It was full-throated, loud, but Naruto wasn't even concerned with getting caught. The girl in his arms began to writhe, screaming and her eyes white rimmed with a wild source of feeling.

Naruto was hardly even aware of footsteps littering the silence of the hallway; he was only focused on Miori. He tightened his grip on her, but her body was out of control now, sizing up as if she was in terrible pain.

When he finally noticed, it was too late.

The dark hideout was splashed with blood, and the wailing screams of Miori were cut off with sounds of tearing flesh and splintering bone.

--

Sakura laid her crimson rose on the casket, sighing softly. She took a step back, allowing Hinata to do the same.

The Hyuuga's eyes were still bloodshot from crying, but she followed suit. The funeral was a closed casket, since Shino was in no shape to be viewed by the village. Sakura was glad, because she doubted Hinata would be able to handle it. She already had to live with a fair amount of his gruesome death; it would be inhumane to make her see the results.

They stood with the rest of the village, and Sakura could hear Hinata's choked up breathing as they lowered the coffin into the ground. The sun was shining almost inappropriately. But now, all of the village was somber, for someone so young with so much potential… they'd never see him walk the roads again. None of his collared jacket, his sunglasses hiding all of his facial expressions, or the bugs that made Shino himself. Sakura swallowed hard, it was all too easy to imagine that Hinata could have been in another casket, being buried along with him. Or Chouji. He was going to be okay; he had awoken from his coma, but it was too easy to imagine him in the coffin as well.

The funeral was over, and the crowd was beginning to disperse. Sakura offered her hand to Hinata, and the kunoichi smiled weakly before taking the hand. Sakura slowly lead her off, into the woods.

"I think we should go for a walk," Sakura suggested, gesturing to the trail that marked the middle of the forest. Hinata nodded, and began to limp forward. Sakura easily matched her pace, and she decided it wouldn't be very long. Hinata was still hurt, but the two would need to clear their heads.

They never said one word, but their silence spoke volumes as they continued on. Sakura's eyes closed, letting her instincts lead her through the woods. Hinata's slow footsteps were her guide to how fast she could walk, and her feet turned whenever the road did. This was her home, this was her life.

But it wasn't complete.

However, the wilderness made her feel alive. The chirping of birds was louder here, and she occasionally fluttered her eyes to see deer, or even the occasional squirrel. Her stomach clenched when she saw the crawling of ants, because that reminded her of Shino. Her eyes softly rested closed again, letting her other four senses take over.

Slowly her eyes opened again as the forest cleared into the village they called home. It was empty, since the village's citizens had just begun to come to their houses. Sakura took a deep breath, and Hinata stood with her as they overlooked the somber people. The sun had already set, and the signs of a few stars have already appeared. Hinata's closed eyes told Sakura that she relished the coolness of the night, and Sakura closed her eyes briefly to soak in the cold. It felt so good.

"They're still out there. The ones that attacked us and killed Shino." Hinata turned and looked at Sakura intently.

"Hai. They are." Sakura didn't have to ask what Hinata meant. They were all in grave danger, but not as much as the ninja that were out there now. "Naruto's out there, too. I know."

"So what do we do?" Hinata sounded desperate, and the sound seared into Sakura's heart. She had to swallow hard to stop her voice from cracking. She felt so weak. She couldn't even help her best friend. But… maybe she could. Determination was starting to shake up her systems, like soda, and it was only a matter of time before it exploded. And that's just what she needed at the time.

"I don't know," she whispered, her shoulders trembling with all the stress, all the weakness. Sakura wasn't sure of anything. Not anymore. "I just… don't know."

Hinata looked like she was in agony, but she nodded helplessly. As she had pointed out, it wasn't her task to do and she wasn't in any shape to go anywhere. Sakura had some thinking to do, just like she had been doing, but she needed to go in the right direction. Beating herself up wasn't fixing anything.

"Let's get you home." Sakura finally broke the silence. "You need to get to sleep. You won't be in any shape to do anything if you keep this up. Neither Naruto nor Shino would want to see you like this."

Hinata looked like she wanted to protest, but she obviously didn't have the strength to argue. The pearl-eyed girl let Sakura take her by the wrist and begin to lead her home. Sakura's own thoughts were in turmoil, but they were growing clearer and clearer. With Hinata in so much trouble, and with Naruto needing the one he truly loved, her heart was still bruised and bleeding, but her mind was finally strong.

When she dropStoriesped off Hinata, she clenched her fists and held her head high. The door closing behind her was like a gong going off from behind her, and she immediately started walking.

"I'm not afraid anymore."

Sakura stopped by the bulletin board, the same as the one she visited earlier. She let the wind sweep across her legs again, and let it lift her dress. Slowly, she ripped the paper from the board and headed home.

The day after Shino's funeral, Tsunade finally panicked, and got so angry she threw a chair across the room. Luckily, Sakura wasn't there to see it. But Tsunade nearly drowned herself in sake when she finally slid into the office, because lying on her desk was the missing ninja mission statement with a description of Naruto, and at the bottom was Sakura's hastily scrawled signature.

--

About time she did something, eh?

If you guys are wondering why I'm updating fast, it's because it's summer. I now have a life. It's amazing. I'm now having the time of my life, and I have time to do shit. It's fantastically awesome.

And by the way, about Naruto's side of the story. I don't like giving things away, but since I hate giving my readers a heart attack even more, I'm just going to say this: No one's dead yet. ;)

Other than that, tahtah.