If I told you this was only gonna hurt,
If I warned you that the fire's gonna burn, would you walk in?
Would you let me do it first?
Do it all in the name of love...
The Ten-Tails were getting ready to strike them with sharp spears when Hinata went over to protect Naruto.
"This is the end of you! Now die!" Obito exclaimed maliciously.
"No!" Neji yelled as he went over to cover them both with his arms wide open.
A loud scream was echoed through the surroundings when all of a sudden, there was a bright pink barrier shielding everyone and deflecting the weapons away from them.
They gasped in shock after fluttering their eyes to see that they were secured and looked around carefully.
"What?! How is that possible? Who might be…? You…!" Obito yelled vehemently, seething in anger as his eyes landed over to where the figure was standing across from him, puzzling the others in awe. "You're alive?!"
"Well, well, if it isn't Tsunade's most favorite student. I must say, you quitely managed to overcome that agonizing pain you must be feeling when you were dying on your last breath. And here you are. I guess heaven is so kind to spare your poor soul," Madara remarked sarcastically with a sigh.
"Her name is Lady Chiyo and yes, I was given another second chance to live. I'm surprised that you also managed to survive the Edo Tensei yourself," the pink-haired kunoichi stated calmly and jumped down on the ground without breaking eye contact coldly at them while everyone else was staring at her in shock.
"Sakura… Is that really you?" Hinata asked happily as her tears began to fall down on her cheeks.
"Woah, girl. It's like you've woken up from a deep sleep," Tenten said, chuckling and continued on. "I'm glad that you're back. We missed you."
"Yeah. It felt like forever," Kiba said exasperatingly, then smirked gladly at her.
"Sakura!" Ino said, panting breathlessly when she arrived at the scene and hugged her tightly.
The pink-haired kunoichi returned her embrace and smiled warmly at them, then saw Naruto approaching her slowly.
"You're here… But were you gone before?" He asked faintly with a frown.
"Hmm," she hummed in response.
"I see. It's good that you're back and well. I know that you're safe. I just don't want to believe that you were dead for a couple of hours, ya know," the blonde-haired ninja said, chuckling and continued on. "I'm so happy that you're here. How is Lady Chiyo, by the way?"
The pink-haired kunoichi smiled and said. "She's better."
Naruto nodded in understanding and became serious. "Hey, listen. These Uchiha guys. They're not on the same level as us. They're very powerful, especially when they have the Mangekyou and Rinnegan at the same time."
At that moment, the three sand siblings were hovering down to the ground as soon as the sand had disappeared underneath their feet.
"Sakura!" Kankuro and Temari's eyes widened in surprise as they came up running and wrapped their arms around her.
"We missed you!" The four ponytail-haired kunoichi said, chuckling contentedly.
"It's great that you're back!" The purple-faced ninja said, smirking.
"Hmm," the pink-haired kunoichi hummed in response.
"Sakura…" a voice called out gently behind them, then they let go of each other's embrace.
The pink-haired kunoichi blinked her eyes twice when she started to gaze over towards the red-haired Kazekage, who was breathing heavily and looking at her profoundly.
Though, they broke off their eye contact quickly when they both heard another voice calling out her name, revealing the dark-haired ninja and the rest of the Team Hawk's appearance.
"Sakura," he whispered in a husky voice and immediately hugged her, much to Naruto and everyone's bewilderment.
Kankuro and Temari looked at each other until they checked to see the disappointment displayed in their younger brother's face.
"Sasuke…" the pink-haired kunoichi murmured softly against his shoulder after returning the hug shyly.
"I missed you," he said closely to her ear.
"What is that criminal doing here?" Kiba clenched his teeth in annoyance.
"Shh. Just let them be," Tenten hushed him quietly as they continued to watch the two unexpectedly hugging one another.
When Sasuke let her go, he looked at her in guilt with his eyes full of melancholy, saying. "Sakura… I'm so sorry for everything I've caused you. After hearing that you were gone, I started to realize that I do care about you. Your death made me realize that I have feelings towards you."
The pink-haired kunoichi swallowed a hard lump in her throat as her voice croaked out and tears were beginning to form in her eyes dolefully. "I forgive you. But why now? Why tell me this now, Sasuke?"
The dark-haired ninja looked away regretfully and said sincerely. "Because I like you more than just a friend."
The pink-haired kunoichi paused for a moment while she was staring at him and said with a smile. "I like you too."
The others gasped slightly in astonishment, whereas Kankuro and Temari became despondent.
"However, I see you differently," Sakura answered simply and bit her bottom lip.
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and asked. "What do you mean?"
"When we were kids, I was one of those girls who were attracted to you and with you being part of Team 7 made me a lot of happier. We spent so much time together working on some other missions with Naruto and Kakashi until you decided to leave the village. Mostly, you decided to leave us. That was the time when everything we had started to fall apart. Naruto and I were the ones who wouldn't stop chasing after you and we never wanted you to dive into the path of darkness, yet you've chosen it because you had a reason to, which we tried to understand. And I kept hoping that you would change and you did... I kept hoping that you would choose the right path for yourself, but you still didn't. Sasuke, I really meant what I said when I confessed my love for you at that time of your departure. But you've brought enough damage here, yet I still care about you. And it was my fault that I allowed myself," the pink-haired kunoichi explained hoarsely as she was holding her tears back angrily, whereas Naruto and the others were watching them sadly, then she continued on. "You're the person who takes care of people, but you're also the person who hurts them…"
The dark-haired ninja gazed down at her remorsefully and didn't respond back as he continued to listen to her.
"Though, I still believe that there is hope for you because you're my friend and nothing is going to change that. I will never forget what you taught me and... I'm sorry that I don't feel the same anymore because... I'm in love with somebody else," Sakura concluded, much to everyone's shock.
"What?!" They replied in unison.
"Ah?!" Choji exclaimed.
"Huh?!" Kiba yelled vehemently.
Sasuke got startled and was shaking his head in disbelief when he was watching her walk away from him.
The pink-haired kunoichi was taking a few steps towards the red-haired Kazekage, who was staring at her in puzzlement. His heart began to race when she held his hands together before she started to speak up.
"The first time that I met you in the park, you were the only boy who protected me from those kids, who were bullying me and was about to hit me. I was thankful that you were the one who saved me from my loneliness because I didn't have friends at that time. I wasn't there for you when you needed help the most and after seeing you in the chunin exams, I was hurt when I found out that you became cold and dark because of what your father had done to you. He made the monster out of you that everyone had seen in you. But I didn't believe all of that because you are more than just a monster. Despite our shortcomings, we survived through those difficulties and hardships. We spent a lot of time eating our favorite food and other snacks and I wish we could have more moments," she paused for a moment with a chuckle, then continued on with a frown. "But after you got engaged to Katsumi, I started to suppress my feelings because I didn't want to admit that they could be something more than just being friends with you. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I didn't want to ruin what you both have."
The red-haired Kazekage continued to stare at her intensely with his mouth agape and asked. "What are you saying?"
Sakura closed her eyes for a moment until she began to speak out in a shaky tone of her voice. "I love you, Gaara..."
She leaned in closer and wrapped her arms around him in which the red-haired Kazekage gladly returned.
"I love you too," he said genuinely.
Everyone got startled at their words, whereas the leaf squad had their jaws dropped in amazement. Naruto and Lee smiled at them wholeheartedly at the sight of them while Sasuke sighed sadly, but nodded in understanding.
As the two lifted their heads up, they slowly leaned in as their lips pressed against each other passionately, much to the others' loud cheer and whistle.
Kankuro, Temari, and Ino squealed in delight as their tears of joy formed in their eyes.
"My, my, how the two lovebirds have finally reunited. Pathetic," Madara remarked nastily.
Gaara and Sakura let go of each other as the two narrowed their eyes up at them silently.
"Oh yeah! Well, you and that ugly face man are the most pathetic. You both are going down, assholes!" Kiba catcalled them, whereas the rest of the shinobi allies agreed with an angry cry out loud.
"Yeah!" All replied in unison.
"We'll see about that, you wretched souls," Obito sneered.
"This is just the beginning for all of us, then," Naruto smirked coolly once he transformed into the Nine-Tails mode and passed the chakra to everyone to increase their power.
Gaara glanced at Sakura and asked softly. "You alright?"
"I am. I'm ready to fight. Are you?" She asked while looking at him concernedly.
"Hmm," he replied, then he folded his hand with hers as their fingers intertwined admiringly. "Never forget this, Sakura. I promise you I will protect you always until-"
"The day I die…" they both finished the sentence as they stared at one another full of warmth and passion, preparing themselves to finish what must be done.
They will conquer all in the name of love.
TO BE CONTINUED...