Menma: Such an annoyance…

Naruto (Hellfire): Sakura-chan isn't that bad.

Menma: Just because she apologized to you in your fic doesn't change the fact that she's an idiot in mine.

Naruto (Dragoon): I mean, he's got you there Brother. Hopefully things don't get worse between you two in this chapter.

Menma: I bet they will.

Naruto (Reaper): So negative…Enjoy the show everyone!

United I Stand
Chapter Twelve: Of Ice and Pink! A Wonderful Welcome Home

Haruno Sakura had a rough four days.

First was the incident with Menma.

She didn't expect his past, along with Naruto and Naruko's pasts to be as brutal as they were, with her actively participating in making Naruto's a living hell and despite Naruko and Naruto forgiving her, the guilt she was carrying was heavy.

The second thing was her mission. What went from protecting a noble turned into a battle for survival, with her having to take her first life. She felt as if her innocence had been robbed from her.

She knew being a shinobi wouldn't be easy but it to boil down to her life or theirs opened her eyes. She had told Kakashi that she wasn't sure if she wanted to remain a shinobi.

Being the understanding guy that he was, Kakashi gave her the week off of shinobi duties to think things over and while she was glad for this, she felt even more guilt at wanting to leave after one mission.

So now she stood face to face with one of the reasons of her guilt and she knew eventually that she would have to apologize to him but she didn't think it would be so soon.

"We should leave them alone…" She heard Naruko whisper to Naruto and the teal haired girl beside her. The two nodded and Naruko said "Welp, time to hit the old dusty trail. Later Menma, Sakura-chan!"

The three then ran past her at top speed, leaving Menma and her alone.

"M-Menma-san…" Sakura said with a slight stammer before she cleared her throat and began to say "Hello" but only managed to get "He-" out due to Menma walking away from her, his shoulder bumping into hers on the way past, making her stumble back.

Sakura was stunned at the blatant disrespect.

She couldn't even say "Hello" to him without him just walking away? Without thinking, she shouted "Oh how mature of you!"

Menma paused as Sakura continued to yell "I know we parted on terrible terms but that doesn't mean being a dick!"

Menma slowly turned around and asked "What makes you think I want to talk to you?"

Sakura paused.

It was so odd that despite looking like Naruto and Naruko, his attitude made him look so different. Sakura took a deep breath to steady herself before she looked at Menma and said "You don't have to talk to me because all I need you to do is listen."

Menma didn't reply nor move so Sakura took that as a cue to continue.

"I…I just want to apologize for how I acted," Sakura told him. "I said some things that were out of line to intentionally hurt you and that wasn't right of me because you going through your past hurt both Naruto and Naruko as well because it brought up theirs…With me being one that person in Naruto's life that you described in your past…I was an idiot for doing that and I am so sorry."

Menma stared at her for a long time and the confidence that Sakura had built up was slowly crumbling under Menma's cold gaze. After what felt like years to her, Menma finally asked "If I hadn't blown up at you that day, do you think you would have come to this conclusion on your own?"

Sakura blinked in surprise.

"The reason I ask is because when I make a mistake, it doesn't take someone exploding at me to make me realize that I was wrong. I come to that conclusion on my own and then act accordingly," Menma told her. "So with that said, do you think you would have apologized on your own without my interference or would you have continued on if I had said nothing?"

Sakura was silent.

Admittedly, if Menma had stayed silent, she wouldn't be faced with this issue at all and she would still be hurting Naruto and Sai or really, anyone that pissed her off.

Was she that horrible of a person?

"That silence answers my question. Farewell Haruno," Menma said as he turned around and walked away.

Sakura watched him start to walk off and felt anger building up in her heart. He didn't even give her a chance to answer him. "What do you want me to do Menma?!" She shouted as he continued to walk away from her

"Do I have to grovel at your feet and beg for your Oh so important forgiveness?! Do you want me hurt myself to satisfy yourself…Or is it you want me to go out with you? Maybe even kiss you for you to forgive me?!" Menma paused mid-step, which caused a smirk to appear on her face. "Oh, so that made you stop? Me throwing that kiss out there made you stop and want to listen!"

Sakura watched as Menma turned around to look at her seemed to confirm her thoughts.

Feeling emboldened, Sakura shouted "Well you know what?! It doesn't matter how it happened but I saw that I was wrong and I apologized. I don't need to beg, plead or fuck you to get that forgiveness! I have too much on my mind to waste with the fact I fucking killed someone to worry about you anymore so if you don't want to accept that apology then fuck you!"

Menma continued to stare at her before an understanding smile appeared on his face and despite her anger, Sakura felt her knees go weak from it.

Menma walked back towards her and once he stopped in front of her. All of the courage she felt seemed to fade away into the breeze as he observed her for a moment. Finally, he asked "You have killed someone?"

Sakura was confused at the sudden question.

"Y-Yes…It was on my mission…The Noble we were protecting…Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and Sai were fighting and one of the shinobi had gotten past them and was coming straight to me…He leapt in the air with a kunai…He tackled me but I managed to wrestle the kunai out of his hands and stabbed him in the neck…." Sakura explained softly.

"I see…" Menma responded and it was then she saw understanding in his eyes.

Something she never thought she would see before.

"Come with me," Menma said as he began to walk away.

Confused, Sakura followed.

"This is so precious…" Naruko said as she, Fu and Naruto stood at the door to their apartment.

Sitting on the couch sleeping was Hyūga Hinata and all around their apartment was various orange and blue balloons, orange and blue streamers across the walls and there was even a cake on their counter.

"Wow…I wasn't expecting this when we got home," Naruko said to Naruto only to see a warm expression on his face.

"Who is she?" Fu asked Naruko.

"She's a friend of ours that has a crush on Naruto," Naruko replied, leaving out the complex nature of her and Menma being a part of Naruto. "But still…For her to do this was sweet."

Hinata let out a small groan only to squeak in surprise at seeing the trio. "O-Oh, Naruto-kun…Naruko-chan. Welcome home. I-I'm sorry you found me like this. So u-unbecoming…"

Hinata then looked to Fu and said "Oh hello, I-I'm Hyūga Hinata, Heiress to the Hyūga clan."

"I'm Fu…Just Fu…" Fu replied. "Newly minted Konoha Shinobi."

"Wow. W-Welcome to Konoha! Have you guys taken her on a t-tour yet?" Hinata asked.

"Not yet," Naruko replied with a smile. "We were going to rest up before actually looking for you to let you know we're back."

"I-I'm glad," Hinata said with a smile.

"So…What's all of this?" Naruko asked the Hyūga heiress.

"W-Well I figured I'd welcome you all back from your first mission…I-I found out yesterday by Sakura-san, who stopped by to see if you guys returned yet. I figured I'd welcome you all back in a nice way."

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for us…Thank you Hinata-chan," Naruko said with a bow but when she looked to Naruto, he was still staring at her.

'Naruto…What's your deal?' Naruko asked through their link but he didn't answer her. He instead kept his gaze on Hinata.

"I-I just realized, where is Menma-kun?" Hinata asked.

"He's currently talking with Sakura-chan," Naruko said.

Hinata nodded with a pleased smile. "I'm very glad. She was looking forward to speaking to him regarding some matter that occurred between them. Hopefully she cheers up. She was pretty down when I saw her la-"

"Hinata-chan, would you like to go on a date with me?" Naruto asked suddenly, startling everyone in the room.

"Geez, a little warning before you suddenly speak after like five minutes of nothingness?!" Fu exclaimed while Naruko could only laugh.

"A-A-Ah," Hinata stammered out.

"I know it's rather sudden but I was going to ask when we saw you again but seeing you do all this just for us…I couldn't hold back," Naruto admitted with a blush on his face.

"O-Oh," Hinata responded bashfully, her face beat red. "I-I'd love to."

"Really?!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"R-Really…Oh my! I-I have a date with Naruko-kun!" Hinata exclaimed before she slumped back on the couch, unconscious.

"Ah! Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he rushed to her.

Naruko chuckled and looked to Fu and murmured "I believe there was something you were going to give me earlier before we saw those two perverts staring at us…"

Fu blushed and took Naruko's hand and said "Lead the way Naruko-chan…"

"Wow…What a beautiful sight…" Sakura said as she gazed out over the entire village. Menma had led her to the top of the Hokage monument. She wondered why she never thought of coming up here before.

"Naruto showed me this spot," Menma said. "It's become our spot when we need to clear our heads."

"I see…" Sakura whispered. "But why bring me here."

"You said you took a life, right?" Menma asked.

Sakura nodded.

"You probably feel unsure about yourself and your position as a shinobi. You probably feel less pure, right?" Menma asked.

"Y-Yes…How did you know?" Sakura asked curiously.

"It was my birthday. I had just turned five years old, I wasn't allowed to go out on my birthday but I did anyway. I was lonely and I wanted to talk to people. Of course I was ignored and ridiculed. On my way home, a drunk shinobi cornered me in the alleyway. Called me all sorts of cruel names before he tried to murder me. He fell and the kunai slide to my feet. He pulled out another one and came barreling into me. I held up the kunai and he stumbled and fell on top of me. The Kunai I was holding was in his chest. He died," Menma explained.

Sakura gasped out in horror.

He was only five years old and he killed someone…

"Oh Menma…" Sakura breathed out.

"When the village elder came to me, I was covered in his blood. I remember feeling as if something died in my but my elder told me that I was defending myself from someone that intended to do harm to me. I did nothing wrong but I still felt like a monster. I had killed someone…they had family, friends…people that cared. I was just no named orphan and I took away a family member….I felt horrible."

"That's exactly how I feel," Sakura admitted softly.

Everything that Menma had told her, she had felt and it was messing with her.

"But one day, I met a kind old man with long white hair with red lines going down his eyes. He was goofy guy and a pervert but a nice guy. He took the time to talk to me when my elder did not…He said that it's natural to feel that guilt and it is what makes us human. If I didn't feel that, I would become the very monster that I feared I was…But what he said next spoke to me. He said "Kiddo, in my long line of work as a shinobi, death is always there. It could come for me at any time. Whether by an enemies, my own hands or my health. It'll always be there. But just because the shroud of death is around me, doesn't mean I have to become that shroud myself." And I realized what he was trying to say."

"That I don't have to kill my enemies….I can spare them," Sakura summarized.

"Exactly. After we spoke, I made a promise to myself. If I had the ability to, I would never kill again. I know there will be times where I need to break that oath but it helps me remember that killing doesn't make me and unfeeling monster. I can show mercy and you can as well," Menma finished.

"Wow…I-I never thought of it that way," Sakura said. "I actually feel better…But why talk to me about this? You hate me…"

"I dislike you, yes. But that doesn't mean that I'm an unfeeling monster," Menma told her.

"Well…Thank you all the same," Sakura said with a grateful smile.

"I haven't forgiven you, you know?" Menma told her. "I can't…Not yet."

"Why?" Sakura asked softly as the pair looked at the village. "I'm not her…I'm not the one that hurt you so why take it out on me?"

Menma remained quiet for a moment then answered with "Every punch you landed on Naruto told him things about himself. That he was stupid, pathetic, and worthless. You made him feel that he was nothing. You caused him pain that you will never be able to heal with words alone…"

Sakura lowered her head in thought.

"Then…I'll prove it somehow," Sakura whispered. "I'll prove it to you that I mean everything that I said. I don't know how but I will…I promise."

"I look forward to seeing you try Haruno," Menma simply replied.

Rain: And that is the end of this chapter. So Naruto has asked Hinata out on a date after seeing her kind gesture and Sakura and Menma have some sort of understanding but they are far from friends. The next chapter will come soon so until then…

Menma: Hmph

Naruto: Menma…

Menma: See you all next time.