DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO, NEITHER DO I OWN CLOSE TO THE END BY MOJOFLY. SUE SOMEONE ELSE.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This idea came to me like a hit of a ball on the head! Hehe! Anyway, I've been listening to the song Close to the End by Mojofly repeatedly for quite some time, so I got inspired. WARNING: this is a bit of drama and a lot of V.I.P. DIED in this fic, so don't give me the crap that I didn't warn you. So without any further ado…

Close to the End
Sasuke x Sakura
By: Gensomaden-Saiyuki

Have you ever felt being there
have you ever found the sunshine on your hair
have you been under your skin
have you ever found the beauty from within

Tears fell, drop after drop on the base pavement of a memorial tombstone. There she was again, kneeling in front of a memorial tombstone, weeping. How long had she been there ever since that person had gone away? Many mourned for that person's death indeed; however, she, learning from that person to become stronger, owed a great amount of respect. She couldn't accept the fact that her teacher was no longer there to lead and guide her. She was already twenty-four years old, yet she still needed this dead person? Ridiculous, isn't it?

"Tsunade-sama…" Sakura uttered the name of her mentor, "Why…?"

The Godaime Hokage, the female sanin, the slug-tamer, the greatest medic known to the Land of Fire, Tsunade, was buried six feet under this memorial tombstone, dying at the age of sixty-two.

Like an unfamiliar song
you can hum with all your heart
but you'll never find the words

How?

A war broke out between Konohagakure and Otogakure. Being the Hokage, it was Tsunade's responsibility to protect all citizens of Konoha. She did her responsibility, and alongside her, Sakura, Shizune, Jiraiya, Naruto, Kakashi, many other jounins and ANBUs fought against the Sound, in order to obliterate the 'immortal' Orochimaru once and for all.

But what they didn't expect was that Otogakure would send large battalions to Konoha. A huge genocide took place in both sides: many were killed in Konoha and many were killed in Otogakure as well. Nobody knew that the war would end when the Hokage, Tsunade, mustered all her strength and killed with her, Orochimaru.

At that time, Sakura and Naruto retrieved Tsunade's severely injured old body. Sakura poured out all her strength, all her chakra to heal her master. It was then that Tsunade gave her last wishes: for Sakura to be hailed as the greatest medic after Tsunade, for Naruto to become the Rokudaime Hokage, her successor, and for the innocent lives killed, as well as those who risked their lives for Konoha, be given honors and a proper burial. Before dying, Tsunade smiled at Sakura and held her hand saying that she was the strongest ninja she ever saw and she was honored that Sakura called Tsunade, her 'master', her 'mentor'.

And I don't wanna wake up
without you again
Without you again
Without you again
and I don't wanna wake up
Feeling so close,
Close to the end
Close to the end
Close to the end

"Live and love, Sakura…" Tsunade's cracked voice reverberated through Sakura's ears.

She mourned again over her master's grave.

The war occurred two years ago. Konoha was now a badly damaged village, but Otogakure received the worst battering. Nevertheless, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, the Bird Country, the Tea Country and the Hidden Falls helped Konoha to recuperate from the war. Over six hundred families died in Konoha – children and women included; the hidden shelters were discovered and bombarded, killing most of the evacuees there. Ninety-eight jounins, seventy-five chuunins, eleven genins and one hundred thirty-two ANBUs died in the war. Estimated death rate: two thousand seven hundred twenty. The war wiped out over one-half of Konoha's population, annihilating almost three-fifths of Konoha's ninjas, overall, one-third of the Land of Fire's population… A very inevitable genocide, indeed.

It wasn't only Tsunade who died in the war. Others include: Shizune, Jiraiya, one-fourth of the Hyuuga Clan – inevitably, Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Hanabi died in the war, Hyuuga Hinata was no longer a Hyuuga since she was married to the Rokudaime, having no one else replace than the old man, they disregarded the rules and declared a Branch Family member, Hyuuga Neji, to become the new leader of the Hyuuga Clan, one-third of the Aburame Clan including Aburame Shino, Hatake Kakashi, Yuuhi Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko, Morino Ibiki, Inuzuka Hana, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji and Maito Gai.

Have you ever thought of nothing else
As I wake up each day until the moment I lay my head on my bed
And as I close my eyes and cling to my pillow
Though you're miles away
I still wait for the day that would never come

If it wasn't for someone's betrayal, Otogakure might have won. Sakura pleaded and begged of Orochimaru's other right hand to go back with her. It wasn't asked of her to do this, but she did this when Tsunade was recovering from her recent injuries and it was at that time when the hidden shelters were bombarded. In fact, she almost died convincing him, literally. Yes, believe it or not, she was able to convince Uchiha Sasuke to return to Konoha.

Frustrated at that time when Sakura was already on her knees, at his feet, weeping and begging of him to come back to Konoha, Sasuke told her that he would only go back to Konoha if she disappeared so that no one could bother him anymore. Sakura, really desperate for him to help out Konoha, took out a kunai and struck her own flesh, near her heart, saying that if she has to take her own life to convince Sasuke to save Konoha, she would gladly do so. Sakura was returned to Konoha immediately by Sasuke, albeit shocked from what she did. She drank some special pills and with Tsunade's help she was able to recover in only two days. Then, off to the war she went again.

Like an unfamiliar song
you can hum with all your heart
but you'll never find the words

"Forgive me for showing weakness every time I visit your final resting place, Tsunade-sama…" Sakura foolishly smiled and wiped the tears off her eyes, "I… I can't help it. Many of my friends died in the war, and I can't believe that single war took out all you three legendary sanins. And because of that war, Sasuke-kun returned to Konoha and never turned back, yet it took you away from Konoha, the homeland you so loved."

Then, someone laid a basket of flowers to grace the Godaime's grave. Sakura looked up to see who it was. He wore the famous red-white triangular hat and a Hokage's red-white robe. His eyes closed, his facial features showed honor and gratitude, his two hands pressed together, raised to heaven.

He opened his eyes, and those cerulean blue orbs glistened with tears. He returned his arms to his sides and clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth.

And I don't wanna wake up
without you again
Without you again
Without you again
and I don't wanna wake up
Feeling so close,
Close to the end
Close to the end

"I swear to you, Tsunade-baachan, I'll revive Konoha. I will make your name great, in honor of your death and your sacrifices." Naruto placed a hand over the crystal-pendant necklace given to him by the dead Hokage.

"You know..." Sakura spoke, "being a good enough Hokage is already a tribute to her."

Naruto looked at Sakura who was now standing up.

"Tsunade-sama chose you because she believed you're the only one capable enough in bringing Konoha back to a stable state." Sakura faced Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know this is going to be hard for the both of us. Kakashi-sensei's gone, your mentor, Jiraiya-sama, is gone as well and so is my teacher, my master, Tsunade-sama… Honor them by doing your best, neh, Rokudaime-san?"

The Rokudaime wiped away his tears and smiled, "Please excuse me, I still have to visit Kakashi-sensei's grave and that perverted hermit's grave. See you around, Sakura-chan!"

And off, the Rokudaime walked.

The stars are bound to die
it all makes no sense
I can't take the chance
I don't want to see you go
See you go

"Sakura." A deep masculine voice called.

"One moment please." Sakura replied.

Sakura pressed her hands together and raised them to heaven. She closed her eyes and said her prayers.

She then returned her hands to her sides and opened her eyes, then smiled at the grave of Tsunade-sama, "I'll visit you again sometime, Tsunade-sama."

"Sakura." The deep masculine voice called once again, "This is not healthy anymore."

Sakura turned around and smiled, "Hehe, sorry."

And I don't wanna wake up
without you again
Without you again
Without you again
and I don't wanna wake up
Feeling so close,
Close to the end
Close to the end

Sakura walked towards the owner of the voice and said, "I've said it to you many times before: Tsunade-sama taught me to be stronger, however, I always relied on her to guide me by her wisdom, and until now, I still wanted to call her for help. She taught me to be independent so many times, but I guess I idolized her too much that I relied on her to teach me more… And I ended up just tailing her and living by her words."

"And how many times do I have to tell you that her words will live in you forever?" onyx orbs looked down on her serene emerald ones, "You, being this emotional almost everyday… it's not healthy, and you know that."

She sighed, "Maybe it's just a mood swing."

"No. It's not a mood swing anymore, Sakura. The way things look, this has become a habit." Sasuke strictly said, "You're a medic nin, and you're supposed to know that being too emotionally depressed is bad for a woman bearing a child in her womb."

Close to the end (Without you again, without you again)
Close to the end (Without you again, without you again)

Uchiha Sakura stood on tiptoe and kissed her tall husband, tenderly on the lips.

"Don't worry, our baby will be fine. I'll take care of myself this time, I promise." Sakura smiled as she took the hand of the man she loved for a lifetime and placed it on her slightly bulked womb – she was just three months pregnant, "I'll make it a point that he will not live to see another war. The war that brought you back to me, the same war that took away Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sama and many others… that war will be the last, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke sighed and squeezed the small silky hands of his wife, "We can never really say that the previous war will be the last. If it won't be the last then… I'll protect you, and our child… Sakura, I love you, and I don't want to see you like this."

Close to the end, no

"You're being so out of character recently, Sasuke-kun." Sakura's smile broadened some more, "I love you, too."

Sasuke cupped the side of her face and brushed his lips against hers, "I just… I don't want to see you getting hurt."

Close to the end, no

"I don't want to wake up without you again, you understand?" Sakura hugged Sasuke, "I lost a lot of very important friends already… I don't want to lose you."

Sakura knows that Tsunade is still there to guide her… and all her misery will be close to the end.

Sasuke hugged Sakura back, "I'll be here always."

Oh, without you again…

AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, how do you find it? Yeah, Sasuke was a little OOC in the latter part, but please tell me if it was okay or it was more than a little bit of OOC.

Reviews are highly appreciated!

+Releina Artemis+