Heaven and Earth
"Sakura."
She blinks, and they are both staring at her. Sasuke, eyes dark and calculating, chopsticks raised. Naruto, noodles comically dangling from his mouth, leaning forward on his stool so he could see her around the Uchiha.
"Sakura," Sasuke repeats, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto mumbles around his noodles.
She laughs, embarrassed, looking down at her own ramen bowl. Her confused reflection looks back. "Sorry guys, I was just thinking. What did you say?"
"That mission," Naruto reminds her. "Do you want to take it?"
Sakura's brow furrows. Behind the counter, Teuchi-san stirs a boiling pot, and Ayame-san hands Naruto another bowl, smiling. "Mission?" she asks faintly.
"To Ame." Sasuke is obviously annoyed—he hates having to repeat himself. But when he tilts his head slightly in her direction, she can also tell he's concerned. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Just fine," she replies, though she is not. In the back of her mind, something is nagging at her. Still, she shakes the feeling off and eats her ramen. "Let's take it."
Naruto whoops, his foxlike grin taking over his entire face. "It's been so long since we've gone on a mission!"
Sakura gets that feeling again, though she doesn't know why. It has been a while since the three of them have done a mission together...
She must zone out again, because when she glances at her teammates, they have finished eating and are in a heated discussion.
"I can hand you your ass on a platter," Naruto growls.
"I'm sure you can, with the Kyuubi helping you," Sasuke says snidely.
The blond bristles. "Even without the Kyuubi I could mop the floor with you. Right, Sakura-chan?"
Ah, another macho pissing contest. Sakura smiles. "With or without the Sharingan?"
Sasuke smirks and Naruto starts to throw a hissy fit. He slams enough money for their meal on the counter and stands from his stool, gritting his teeth. "Teme! You need your stupid eyes to get on the same level as me!"
Sasuke stands as well, glaring. "Keep telling yourself that. Dobe."
Sakura is suddenly hit with so much unexplainable nostalgia that her eyes burn and her smile quivers. She swallows thickly, sliding off of her own stool and following her bickering teammates as they made their way down the road.
"Don't fight it, Sakura."
The sound of the voice makes her stop in her tracks. Her boys keep walking, oblivious. "Kakashi-sensei?" she says, her voice small.
He is behind her, his stance a casual slouch, hands in his pockets. But the look in his visible eye makes her stomach clench in foreboding. "Don't fight it," he says again, voice desperate. "Just go home."
She looks at her teammates again. They have made it a block ahead of her, too involved in their argument to notice that they've left her behind. Their chuunin vests glow under a streetlamp.
Hot tears start a trek down Sakura's face. It has been years since the three of them have gone on a mission together. Years since they've been on the same team, even.
"Sakura," Kakashi pleads. "Go home. Please."
She looks at her surroundings for the first time, the exact same Konoha she grew up with, down to the last pebble. But, she slowly realizes, in being right, it is completely wrong. War has made sure her village no longer looks like this.
"War," she mumbles, thoughts racing wildly.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto calls. He and Sasuke are looking at her, their confused expressions still visible despite the distance.
"Sakura!" Kakashi warns sharply.
Sakura closes her eyes. "Kai."
When she opens them again, she is immediately disoriented. Kakashi's face is too close, the tomoe of his exposed Sharingan spinning desperately. Someone is wailing, the anguish of the sound reverberating all the way to the marrow in her bones, and when she turns her head to look for the source, she realizes it's Hyuuga Hinata, splayed on the ground and completely inconsolable.
There are a lot of people around, shinobi, but it is too loud and too hectic and too many people are crying for anyone to notice Sakura. But Kakashi does, a hand grabbing her face and forcing her to look back into his scarlet eye. "Look at me," he snaps above the din. "Look, dammit!"
And she does, sees the haunted look in his eyes and wonders if hers look the same. But nothing happens, and he lets her go with a choking sound.
"I told you to leave it alone," he whispers brokenly. "Why didn't you leave it alone?"
Woodenly, Sakura lifts her bloodstained hands and clutches his tightly. But when she remembers—two bodies, eyes blue and black and unseeing, and her, too late—she turns her head and is sick all over the grass.
Kakashi is shaking, head in his hands. When she finishes, she is as hollow as he is.
A/N: In case it wasn't clear: Naruto and Sasuke die in the war and Kakashi tries to help Sakura forget by trapping her in a genjutsu. But that's her specialty, so it doesn't work.
I guess that's a wrap! Sorry about finishing on such a depressing note hahaha. But I hope you've enjoyed this series and will check out my other work if you haven't already.
Please let me know what you thought on your way out! It's been real. ^_^