10
Awesome
Tears.
She would spill them, if they meant anything.
But no tears she could spill were enough to cure that.
No tears could replenish the chakra she lacked; no tears could teach her ways to cure that kind of an injury.
So she did what she could.
Sat by his side as the life slowly, mercilessly, left his body.
"Sakura-chan," he said.
"Yes?"
"You're not crying."
She nodded.
"Why?"
She dipped her head. "I spilled enough tears to last a lifetime."
"That's true," he smiled a bit. "Besides, there is nothing to cry about."
"How do you mean that?"
"My life won't go in vain. And my last deed was just awesome."
She had to chuckle, she couldn't stop it.
After all that happened, he was still a kid.
It was… awesome, really, how he could stay light-hearted, hoping, even after his own life slapped him down countless times.
Maybe having a child in your heart was the only way to keep going. Only child could shake it all off.
"I mean… saving the whole village, kicking the bad guy's ass… awesome."
She held his hand in hers. "Yes, Naruto. Awesome."
"Everyone will remember such an awesome fight, won't they? Everyone will remember the man who sacrificed himself for Konoha."
"Yes, Naruto. They will. They won't disrespect you anymore. They will remember you, not as some random guy, but as somebody important. As Uzumaki Naruto. The guy that could have been the greatest Hokage."
Naruto smiled more, despite the pain. "You remember."
"You're hard to forget."
"That's what I've been aiming for. My whole life. For people to remember me."
"They will."
"Tell everyone to remember me as the awesome kick-ass ninja I was, not as the knucklehead everyone saw me as."
Sakura laughed softly. "Naruto, you're really weird. You make me laugh watching my friend and comrade dying."
Naruto coughed out some blood, and his eyes started closing. He was slipping away. Every time now, he could leave for good.
"I'm… just that awesome, Sakura-chan…."
His eyes closed.