There are so many possible ways to change this story now and i'm having a tough time deciding how to advance it. This chapter is one that i had in my head since i came up with the idea of writing a story where Sasuke dies. Naruto deserves Sakura more then anyone and despite all her outward dislike for him Sakura does actually like our hero.(A quick note: The broken team is back out on the road in this chapter.) Oh yeah... I don't own this stuff.

'It was lonely without him', Naruto thought as he lay in his tent that he had, until recently, shared with Uchiha Sasuke. It was hard for Naruto to admit he missed his rival but every time he tried to deny that he missed him the raven haired boy's last words echoed in his head. He had been concerned for Naruto and that was something that people who hated each other didn't bother feeling or admitting.

After the incident at the bridge Naruto had had a lot of time to think. He had taken a serious look at his life with Team Seven. His thrill at being assigned to a team with Sakura was his first memory, followed closely by the crushing weight of being assigned with Sasuke as well. Meeting Kakashi-sensei and partaking in his training was the next major event. His humiliation during the training and Sasuke's impressiveness had only heightened his hate for the boy who would quickly become his rival.

But as he reviewed his memories he found that as the weeks had passed he had actually gotten sort of attached to the moody boy. Not in a friendly way but in some strange love/hate way. Beating Sasuke became his first goal towards becoming Hokage. Sasuke had actually driven him to better himself because of his superiority. That revelation had hit the blond like a ton of bricks. The fact that Naruto had actually gotten something out of being around the arrogant Uchiha surprised him to no end. When he looked at this last mission to the wave country in the light of this new found knowledge he was surprised to see just how many instances Sasuke had pushed him to do better and vice versa.

'What am I going to do without him?' It was a question Naruto had asked himself a hundred times since that day. Without Sasuke Naruto had no one to seriously motivate him. Sure Kakashi-sensei had ways to motivate him; No food, no rest, or lots of ramen, but they just didn't have the same effect as an arrogant glare or a well deserved verbal barb from Sasuke.

Naruto's thoughts were cut short when a twig snapped outside his tent. His tent flap was pulled back and a dark shadow loomed in the entrance to his tent. In a flash Naruto was up, a kunai pointed at the person's chest. He fumbled around until he found his small flashlight and flipped it on. The person the feeble light revealed was the last person he expected to see.

Sakura was kneeling there in her PJ pants and a large t-shirt. Tears were running down her face in silent streams. Her eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles around them. She hadn't managed to sleep at all since the day Kakashi-sensei had drugged her for fear she would die of exhaustion.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered as he lowered his kunai and stuck it in the ground next to him.

Sakrua sniffed and hugged herself tightly. "Baka Naruto," she whispered quietly. It was the first time Naruto had heard her speak anything but Sasuke's name since the bridge.

He could see she was in a delicate state. For once the blond boy didn't say or do anything. He didn't want her to get more upset then she already was. But what she did surprised and confused him.

Without saying another word Sakura unzipped his large sleeping bag and scrambled in with him.

"Uh, Sakura?" he said as she zipped the bag back up around them. She smelled like the flowers she had been named after. She wrapped her arms around a startled Naruto and began crying into his shoulder.

After a few seconds of this Naruto hesitantly hugged her back and allowed the girl to have her cry. He had dreamed of a moment like this but now that it was here he wished it wasn't happening. 'If Sasuke's death is the only way I can get her to see me as a friend and a competent ninja then I wish she never did. Not at his expense at least.'

Still, he had a duty as a man. He hugged her and patted her hair and tried to calm her. Finally Sakura slept. Shortly afterward Naruto joined her. For the first time in days both of them slept dreamless sleeps.

-------------------------

Kakashi woke early. He always did when he was on a mission. He walked outside and immediately noticed something was wrong. It was the crack of dawn but Sakura's tent flap was already open. He looked inside to find her gone. He checked on Naruto to see if he was gone too and to possibly get him up to look for his missing teammate. But what he found made all his doubts disappear.

Sakura and Naruto were half in, half out of Naruto's sleeping bag. They had apparently gotten too hot during the night and thrown back the cover. Sakura's head was resting on Naruto's chest and her arms were wrapped around him as if he was a teddy bear. Naruto's arms were in turn wrapped around Sakura. The pink haired girl's eyes were, for once, dry of tears but the depressed expression lingered on. Kakashi could see that the girls fingers were digging into Naruto's skin beneath his shirt but the boy apparently didn't mind.

The Jounin smiled, another first for the group since that day, and silently closed the flap of the tent. He'd give them another hour or so of peace. The nightmare that was reality could wait a while yet.

Thanks for the reviews and the positive responses. I apologize to all those Hinata fans out there. Heck i'm one of you...but this one belongs to Sakura. Sorry. If anyone's wondering why i'm writing when i said that my other story would be delayed because of tests...well don't fret. I've had this written for a while. Just a little editing was needed and that doesn't take much time. But you'll have to wait for new stuff for both now. Thanks again.