*Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or any related characters*

Sasuke had come to his home village not to return but to destroy. Many of Konoha's shinobi fell by the Uchiha's hand. Naruto came to face him in a desperate attempt to make him end his rampage against what was once his home. The battle between the two friends was intense to say the least. Sasuke seemed to thirst for the blood of his former teammate. He held back nothing. Naruto implored him, but his words fell upon deaf ears.

Sakura wanted to fight at Naruto's side, but the injured needed her. She tried to heal the wounded quickly in order to join the battle.

Sakura reached the scene of the battle just as Naruto's rasengan met flesh and tore a hole through the Uchiha's torso. The two fell to the ground, motionless. Sasuke's last chidori had wreaked havoc on Naruto's body; his flesh seemed ripped at every seam. Blood covered everything in sight.

Sakura looked at the two of them in horror. She rushed to them, chakra already gathering in her hands. She surveyed her two teammates; both were teetering on the verge of death and would need all her chakra to save them both. But the other wounded shinobi had drained her of much of her chakra already. She did not have enough to repair the damage to both; she only had enough to save one. She would have to choose between her teammates. Who would live; who would fall into the reaching hands of death?

With tears pouring from her eyes, she laid her healing hands on her best friend, on Naruto. She cried as she brought Naruto safely back into the land of the living. At the same time, she could feel her first love's chakra fade into oblivion. The medic-nin used her chakra to the point of complete exhaustion. She collapsed between her two teammates.

--

The scene was too horrible for words. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, lay side by side on the blood stained ground. They had at a time long since past, been able to call each other 'friend.' Now a dismal battlefield marked the end of that friendship; the splattered blood that soaked into the soil was not shed by anonymous enemies or unknown aggressors but rather by comrades, best friends. Sakura was told later, that even the Uchiha had been brought to tears in his last moments.

--

Sakura woke up in Konoha's hospital some time later. In the bed next to her lay the still form of Naruto. She could feel his life energy and knew he would pull through. The kunoichi cried and cried. She hated herself for not saving them both. Once again, when it mattered most, she fell short. Had she grown at all or was she still that weak pre-teen that had never been able to act when needed most? Sakura wept harder as she realized she did all within her power to do, but it was not enough. She had grown, but not enough. If only she had been stronger…

--

When Naruto finally came to, he did not ask about Sasuke. He knew he had dealt a killing strike. For a moment, the blonde ninja wished he had died alongside of the man he had once called friend. He hardly thought he could live with the knowledge of what he had done. Naruto did not think he could hate himself more for killing his best friend, but then he noticed the woman in the bed next to him. Sakura. Waves of self loathing washed over him. Tears of distain fell down his face. He let her down. He was too weak to fulfill the promise he had made to her.

--

A funeral was held for the fallen of Konoha, and for the wayward Uchiha. Naruto and Sakura stood side by side, both refusing to shed a tear. The pain was too great; they had become numb.

The remnant of Team 7 found themselves in familiar training grounds after the funeral. At that moment the two allowed themselves to crumble and succumb to their pent up emotions. They wept together, bitter tears of failure, loss, and guilt. They had held onto each other during those moments. Sakura cried into Naruto chest as he held her tight.

After that day, Naruto carefully and deliberately removed himself from the life of his last teammate.