Sakura turned her musings inward, debating which anecdote she should share next. The period of time immediately following Kakashi's death had been onerous. But she couldn't skim over it in favor of a happier memory. These children needed to know what they were volunteering for.

This job was not for the faint of heart. As a medic-nin, she knew the reality of their profession better than most. Being a ninja wasn't about the glory.

It was bloody. Painful.

Sakura watched just as many shinobi die on one of her operating tables as she did during the war. With each one she had to remind herself that she could not save everyone, though that task usually fell to one of the boys.

What was most difficult about Kakashi's death for her was that she didn't even have the chance to save him.

"I blamed myself for his death for a long time," she said wistfully, the academy students listening avidly. "But the sun continued to rise despite my suffering."

The pinkette was no longer surprised when Sasuke came to stand alongside her. She gave no sign that she acknowledged him, attention devoted to the newest name engraved on the Memorial Stone. Morbidly, she wondered how many times her sensei had stood where she was and whether or not he wondered when his turn would come or thinking that his name should already be there.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," she whispered brokenly. "I just wanted to help Juugo. I thought my genjutsu would be enough. Instead I brought about the death of one of Konoha's greatest ninja," she bitterly finished.

"And for what? I'm not you or Naruto. I'm nobody important, really. I deserved to die for my stupidity."

Sasuke was suddenly before her, blocking the Memorial Stone from her view. Sakura detachedly observed the stiff manner in which he stood and the narrowing of his eyes. What was Sasuke's anger compared to the guilt that was crushing her. It was certainly within his rights to be angry with her.

Then she was on the ground. Fuzzy feelings of shock and pain broke through the shame. A hand came up to inspect the eye that had been hit. Sakura didn't detect any breaks in the bone, though it would be swollen within the hour.

"Stop wallowing," growled the Uchiha. "Standing before this stone condemning yourself isn't helping anyone, least of all yourself."

"What would you know? Who have you gotten killed?" she screamed at him.

"Plenty," was the caustic rejoinder. "Or did you forget I helped that man wage war against the rest of the world?"

Sakura, who had curled in on herself at his scathing remark, snapped her eyes up to look at him. "Their deaths aren't your fault. Madara would have attacked anyway."

"Kakashi's death wasn't your fault, either."

"But—" her lips trembled and her eyes were wet again.

"Forget what I said. I was wrong." The rosette stared at him, agog. Sasuke never admitted he was wrong. "Kakashi made a choice."

"To die for me."

"To save you," corrected Saske.

Sakura snorted derisively. "What's the difference? He's still dead and it's still my fault."

"Kakashi knew what he was doing. He wasn't ignorant of the damage his Sharingan was causing him. He could have chosen not to confront Juugo. But he didn't. Kakashi chose you. Chose to help you even if it meant he died.

"And now you have to make a choice."

"To what?" she asked softly.

"To continue to indulge your misguided self-pity by staring at a stone for three hours like our lay about sensei or to live. Move on. Don't forget, but don't let it consume you."

Silence stretched between them after Sasuke's speech. Sakura had never pegged him to be a motivational speaker. That was generally Naruto's role.

"Thank you, Sasuke."

"Life continued after that. My guilty conscious wasn't easily assuaged, but with support from the rest of my team and friends I learned to put it behind me. My sensei might have died for me, but that's because he valued his comrades."

Sakura paused to take a sip of the water provided for her. Even at her old age, she still felt guilty that Kakashi had died protecting her. It wasn't something she could get rid of, but she had learned to live with it.

"There is always a chance that you will die for your village. But that does not mean you cannot live today."