Title: Sakura's Home
Author: Winter Ashby (rosweldrmr)
Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I don't own anything about Naruto, this is just for fun and if I did own Naruto I wouldn't have to right this, because I would have a team of very talented people turning this into a saga right now...
Rating: K+
Warning: this not only has spoilers until Manga 270ish, but it's kind of required for you to know what's going on. I use a lot of the Gaara mission, just made it AUish.
Summary: Sakura was kicked out of Konoha five years ago but now has been asked to return… She will meet old friends and be faced with the consequences of her actions. Future AU Sakura centric. No pairings, and you need to be up to date in the manga and series.
Authors Notes: I hope you all like this. The truth is finally revealed.

Chapter 12 - Memories

Then she fell, with a resounding, graceless thud to meet the sopping grass. Her body shook with the racking sobs that emerged from her throat. The world washed away and she was left with a name and memory that she would never want to forget but would dream of time-traveling abilities for the rest of her life. She could feel the sweet reprieve of darkness taking her into its realm. She didn't fight as the world around her dimmed.

But it was the figure in the distance as she slipped into a self-induced meditative state she feared. It seemed like no time had passed as the pretty girl with the dark hair emerged from the tree line.

"Good evening, Hinata-san." Sakura greeted her guest with genuine happiness. The young girl with ravel black hair stands just at the clearing of her make-shift home. It's only a simple cottage, but she makes does with what she has. So she smiles, in the setting sun and greets her warmly as ever.

"Good evening, Sakura-san." Hinata smiles and something lights up in her white eyes. Her jacket swallows her petite form. The coming night brings with it a coming thunderstorm and restless breeze.

"What brings you out this far?" The coming storm brings a cool breeze that picks up their hair and dances it around their faces. Sakura smiles in spite of herself. She doesn't allow herself to smile much anymore, but wholly focuses her attention to training. But she's been alone for so long, she can't help but appreciate the company of another person. She moves aside the hanging straw door of the cottage and invites her fellow kunoichi in.

Hinata slips into the shade of the little home and bows lightly. It doesn't look much better inside though. The fading sun leaks in through gapping holes in the sealing as she looks around and thinks of what to say. "N-no." She nervously purses her two index fingers together, and Sakura can feel her turmoil rising.

"What's wrong, Hinata-san?" The growing sense of unease that Sakura can feel coming from the other woman is not unusual, but still un-welcomed. "Did something happen to Naruto?" It's quite common knowledge amongst the shinobi their age that Hinata has been in love with him for quite some time. But it dawns on Sakura that as nice as it is to have a visitor, Hinata and she were never really all that close; so what would bring her all the way out here?

"No, nothing like that." It always amazes Sakura how one moment she is this timid little creature, so frail you're always concerned that you might break her. But then, an instant later, and usually with the aid of the word 'Naruto' she becomes so strong it makes you step back. Sakura is new at sensing chakra's, but in most of the other shinobi she's known since childhood, it's easy to recognize them and their power level. But with Hinata, there a constant fluxuation, so much so that Sakura is unsure how powerful the young woman has become. "Um, how are you doing out here? It-it must be hard to be alone."

Sakura smiles, she's gotten this question so many times, but it still reminds her that there are people who care about her. "I'm alright, Hinata-san. Thank you for coming. I don't have many visitors these days." She turns her back and begins to pick up some of the scrolls and weapons that are lying around.

"How- how long has it been since…" she doesn't finish, and just like that her chakra drops to nearly nothing. Sakura has never experienced such a shifting strength before.

"Well, he left almost three years ago, so I've been here for one and a half." She doesn't let herself say his name. She hasn't since the day she left her home and her family to practice her jutsu. She'd heard whispers about the elder's growing concern with her research. And she's even been visited by Tsunade, asking her to give up on her jutsu.

"Sakura-san, is it true… what people are saying?" her standing form, just over Sakura's shoulder is apprehensive and unsure. She can feel her power once again begin to rise. "Have you abandoned Konoha to train on this jutsu that takes power from nature?" So there have been rumors. She'd always though there were, but this is the first time she's actually heard them.

"No, I would never abandon Konoha. I'm doing this for the village; I will be able to heal anyone with this jutsu. Don't you see, Hinata-san? I'm going to be able to save him, and then he can come back to Konoha too." Her green eyes sparkle with all the hope that has been driving her for so long. There's almost a manic tone to her voice, like she's trying to convince herself about what she's saying.

"But Sakura-san, the elders say the jutsu is- is-- it's dangerous!" there is a sudden burst of power from the raven haired girl standing in her lonely little cottage. But then it's gone again, drifting on the breeze. "There's been talk about- about ex- expelling you from the village."

This does come as a shock to her. "Why? How could they do that, I would never hurt anyone. Hinata-san, I'm doing this for the good of the village. Think about all the lives I can save, all the good I can do. I'll be more powerful than even Tsunade-sama." Her eyes shine wide with desperation that they other girl missed until that point. The sun is all but gone now so Sakura lights a lantern and places it on the lonely table.

"Is- is that what this- is about, Sakura-san?" her power drops to a minuscule amount and Sakura can practically feel the sadness sweeping off her in waves. "P- Power?" Her last word holds all the pain she refused to let her eyes show. She knows what that quest has cost the village already, and Sakura is sickened by the thought that she could be considered part of that problem.

Sakura can feel her own contempt rising at the implication. "No! I'm doing this to save lives, and if the elders don't approve then let them come here and tell me that I'm not longer a hidden leaf!" She'd never admit it, but there was a tiny part of her that almost broke just then. She could feel her own fears of Sasuke and Naruto coming to fruition in her own mind. "I have no interest in power." She lies remarkably easily to herself.

"Then, please Sakura-san, stop. Naruto is heart broken already. First, Sasuke and then… then the promise he broke. Ple- please, just come home. He needs you. So does Tsunade-sama, and Kakashi-sensei. You don't need to do this; we'll… we'll find another way to save S- Sas- him. But…not like this." Then there is a sudden swooshing sound as all the air in Sakura's lungs leaves her body. She is speechless; she's never heard Hinata talk so much or be so confidant in her entire life.

"Hinata-san." Sakura stood for what felt like a million years as the world continued to spin without her. She felt suddenly so left out, just what had she been missing from her old life. She had a sudden urge to see everyone; she couldn't even remember how long it had been since she was in town. But then the moment passed, and she was left with the suffocating anger that betrayal often carries. "Leave."

Sakura can already feel the growing anger being to mount in the pit of her stomach. Her lonely pain and the fear she's carried beings to bubble over into this new found resentment. "Sak- Sakura-san?" her pale white eyes shrink in distress.

"I said leave! I'll do it on my own! I don't need anyone's help. I'll save him all by myself; I don't need the elder's permission. I'm a medical kunoichi! Now get out! Get out, get out, get out!" she might have been vaguely aware of the similarities she held with a toddler, but she was past worrying about that. She could feel her body begin to draw in power from the earth at her feet. But she was unable to stop it.

Hinata's terrified gaze was fixated on the pink haired comrade in front of her. "Stop! Stop it, Sakura-san!" her timid voice pleaded as she could feel her energy leaving her body. She was pleading for her life. But Sakura realized too late that she didn't have control over the power she pulled in. It was like an avalanche roaring out of control. All she could do was stand there as the world emptied of life around her.

"Run. Run away, Hinata-san! I can't stop it, run!" she shouted past the sloshing of rushing power and dying life all around her. She could feel the familiar chakra fill her body with deafening defeat. She was not in control. "Please, run!" she gave one last desperate plea before the other girl finally gained the courage to jump from her stance only a few feet away and flee.

She made it through the door as the rain began to fall. Sakura watched past the swishing door as the other girl ran for her life. But then her eyes were forced shut as the surge of power filled her lungs. It was nearly suffocating the power that welled up inside her. But she could still feel the power draining from the other girl. She clamped her nails into her fist, drawing blood and pleading desperately with God to stop the flow of power.

She couldn't stop the influx of energy or where it came from; she shook violently as her body began to bubble over with the excess power. It was useless to fight against it. And yet she did, desperately, willingly, and with all the power she still had. A chilling scream escaped her lungs and then there was nothing.

The power stopped, the rain poured and the only one left standing was her. Faster than thoughts could form, she was moving. The rain felt like needles against her skin as she ran towards the fading chakra of her friend. And there, in the clearing, a body lay crumpled on the ground. The unmoving, familiar purple jacket and pale skin was terrifying. She dropped to her knees next to this broken, bleeding, dying girl and took her in her arms.

"Hinata, wake up. Hinata, please!" she pleaded with the passing time and pounding rain to give her a chance to go back and change it. "Please, I didn't mean to. I couldn't control it. Please, please, please." She wasn't sure what she was pleading for. Please don't die, please don't leave her alone, please let her go back, please let time stop, please just let her live. Tears fell with the rain as the white eyes finally opened a fraction and gazed up at pink and pain.

"Sa- Sakura…" the sound of her own name was cut short by the violent ripping sound of her own heart breaking as the blood spilled from her lips, and nose, and eyes. It dripped from her ears and seemed to just seep from everywhere. The cracks of torn flesh that marred her prefect skin were sickening.

"Shhhh, don't talk. It's okay. I'm going to save you, I can save you." She didn't wait to hear the protest that came from the timid ninja but closed her eyes and concentrated the massive amount of chakra now coursing through her body and tried to force it into her fallen comrade. But it was in vein, no matter how hard she pushed or how much chakra she managed to exude, there was no change. "How can this be… how can this be happening? Why can't I heal you?" she cried and began to rock them together in the cold rain.

"Sakura…" Hinata's soft, melodic voice was rippled with pain as it slipped from her bleed lips. But then there were no more words, but motion. Her slender hand was rising and trembling and reaching. It seemed like it took forever for her finger to rest lightly on Sakura's right temple, just at her diamond. She doesn't know what this action means, but she in humbled in the new presence of a dying smile from Hinata.

"This wasn't supposed to happen; it wasn't supposed to do this. I did it to save him. I never meant to hurt you, please, please!" But Sakura was alone; hers was the only heartbeat left in the field of fallen angels and crushed dreams. The smile still graced her lips as she shook the still body of a lifeless woman. "Help me! Please, someone help me!!!" her deafening screams filtered through the rain and echoed off the empty sky. So she sat, holding her broken body and cried like her own pain could turn back time. She held her tight and dreamed of summer days and the little secret glances she'd give Naruto. But that was all over now, she was gone. And Sakura was a murder.