Sasuke and Naruto were on their way back to the Hokage tower. Many of the Konoha citizens stared at them as they passed by, but the two didn't care. Sakura and Tsunade were the only two things in their minds.

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto grumbled, "What should we tell Tsunade-sama?"

"That we failed," Sasuke answered coldly. He kept on walking.

Naruto stopped in his tracks. He's talking to me like nothing happened! "Why are you talking to me like nothing happened?" He stopped walking.

Sasuke stopped walking, too. "We have to learn how to cope with a loss, Naruto." With that, he continued walking.

"How could you say that?" Naruto shouted causing citizens to look their way and Sasuke to stop again. "Sakura is our friend and comrade! Yet, you talk about her like she's some sort of THING that's not even worth our efforts!" Tears were running down his face now, yet his face had a look of anger.

"I'll admit it Naruto!" Sasuke yelled all of a sudden, "I'll admit that she was one of my only closest friends and she was a good comrade! I'll also admit that her loss broke me...BIG TIME! So don't you dare say that I talk about her like she's some sort of THING!" He fell on his knees and broke into a sob. "Losing either you or Sakura is like losing my family again!"

Naruto's expression turned into a sad one with a bit of guilt mixed in. So he does care. He just didn't want to talk about it. "Sasuke...hm," Naruto sighed and looked away, "So you cared about her."

"I LOVED her!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, shocked. The same expressions were on the citizens.

"I loved Sakura! I just didn't want to tell her because this exact thing would happen- Itachi would take her away!"

A hand was placed on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke shuddered at the sudden contact.

"Sasuke," a voice soothed. It was none other than Tsunade.

Sasuke turned around and looked up. "Tsunade-sama," he mumbled. He quickly wiped his tears away and stood up, trying to look calm. "We...failed." He held a few tears back as he said those two words.

Tsunade nodded understandingly and motioned Naruto to approach them. "Both of you need to rest," she stated, "You're in no condition to do any missions or trainings."

Sasuke and Naruto bowed with a "Thank You" and walked off somewhere.

"That was embarrassing," Sasuke muttered to Naruto.

"Yeah...for you," Naruto chuckled lightly.

The two best friends were sitting on a branch of a sakura tree at the park. They decided to just hang out over there because it was peaceful and deserted for the moment. They had a small conversation as pink petals slowly descended onto the nearby river.

A flower drifted down on Sasuke head. He felt its light weight and took it in his hand, staring at it thoughtfully. Sakura...

As if reading his mind, Naruto piped, "Sakura." Sasuke looked up at him, confused. "The flower you're holding. It's a sakura. Beautiful isn't it?" He smiled.

Sasuke looked back at the delicate flower and said, "Yeah. It reminds me of...her." He took threw the sakura into the river and closed his eyes. "We'll get her back."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Even if I have to risk my own life!" He balled his hand into a fist and grinned triumphantly.

Sasuke chuckled and looked up. Petals were slowly falling, and so were flowers. The sun's rays reflected the color of the marvelous little flowers, making a shade of pink on his face.

"Awww," Naruto remarked teasingly, "Sasuke's blushing." He laughed.

Sasuke sent him a playful glare and said, "Shut up dobe."


Author's Note: This chapter sucked. Sorry.