Er, Hello? *hides behind an Umbrella* please don't hurt me :P I know that I haven't updated in a...REALLY long time and I apologize for that. University had my hands full and I've had an accident...of sorts... Anyways, I'm back :P and here's a new chapter!!

This isn't the last part (again) because I didn't have the time to continue it. Tomorrow, I will be in the hospital having surgery on my Knee...long story...let's leave it at that. Please forgive my late update!

At long last, here's chapter 13!!

Same Disclaimer

Random Though: Hospital...doctors...not good.............

Sasuke and Naruto both looked down at the three graves with thoughtful expressions, staring as well at the flowers Sakura had placed a few minutes ago. Sasuke closed his eyes and silently prayed for the Haruno family.

"Do you think she made her choice?" Naruto asked. Both boys had been standing on the branch of a tree for an hour, staring down at their pink-haired teammate crying her eyes out. They both itched to stop suppressing their chakra and make their presence known, but they both saw the look of determination on her face later on and they knew something has changed. Sasuke sighed and dug his hands back into his pockets, shrugging nonchalantly.

Naruto gave his prayer to the Haruno family and then left along with his best friend and rival.

A few kilometers away stood two figures, each with their own smirks on.

They will attack tonight.

The only evidence someone was there a few seconds ago was the whirl of the wind and the hiss of a snake.

After Sakura changed her clothes and trained for a few hours, she arrived at her favorite place to eat. She smiled once she saw the dango store full of people who were happily gobbling down her favorite sweets. She took a seat and waited for someone to take her order, for she was famished.

Once the owner of the store saw the pink-haired medic nin, he gave his usual smile and walked towards her eagerly, she was after all his favorite customer.

"Good evening Sakura! It's been a while since you came here. Are you going to order the usual?" Yoshi, the owner, asked. Sakura smiled and nodded her head in enthusiasm.

"Yes please. I've been training a lot recently and you can say that I am starving!" Yoshi smiled and went to start with her order as Sakura sighed and looked around at all the families sitting together.

She decided a long time ago to stop pondering on "what could have been" whenever she saw families together, for it did her no good to reminisce back to the good old days. Looking to her left, she saw a young girl smiling at her and once they had eye contact, the little brown-haired girl grinned wider and waved her hand. Sakura absentmindedly smiled back and waved a bit for the girl before her order came up. For a moment, she thought the owner confused her order with someone else's for he had added some more dango to her dish. She looked at Yoshi with a confused expression and the old man winked at his favorite customer.

"Young girls like you need lots of sugar…doing what you do" Yoshi said and disappeared into the crowd, not wanting to hear her protests. Shrugging, she started consuming her late dinner and tried to chew her dango slowly instead of finishing them all in one bite. Once done with her first stick, she went to get another until she felt two figures standing behind. She didn't have to look back to know that they were Sasuke and Naruto, for she had their chakra essence imprinted in her head and so she waited for them to make their first move.

Seconds later, she saw the both of them take a seat on either side of her and take one stick of her extra dango. She glanced at both seventeen-year-olds and wondered why they were here, but remembering what today was, she gave them a small smile and started consuming her dinner, with them.

They stayed like that for several minutes, no one daring to talk since this had been their first encounter together for a couple of weeks now. However, Naruto just couldn't stay silent and was about to voice his concerns and troubles when they all heard a huge explosion resounding all around Konoha. The next thing Sakura knew, she was avoiding getting crushed by the building and before she and the rest of her boys could leave the store, they started carrying all the civilians to safety and finally managed to clear and save their lives.

"Is anyone else missing?!" Naruto yelled in between the crowd, looking frantically for his teammates and relaxing once he saw them all by his side in the next second. Sasuke stared out at Konoha and narrowed his eyes once he saw all the damage that has been done until now.

"It seems we are under attack, we should go to the Hokage right now" he said and disappeared along with his teammates.

Tsunade's serious expression made everyone in the room highly tense, but she wasted no time in that.

"Chuunin and Genins should evacuate all the citizens of Konoha to safety and be on alert, it's the sound village we're dealing with and Orochimaru is involved. Jounins should go to the battlefield right away and fight with the others. Scatter!" She glared at Team 7, silently ordering them to stay as everyone started leaving.

Sasuke clenched his fist once he knew that Orochimaru was involved in all this and his teammates glanced at one another worriedly.

"You three, please be careful. You are their target after all" she said with a sigh and looked outside her office, where her beloved Konoha is slowly getting destroyed by sound, but she would have none of that. Turning back to Team 7, she stood up.

"You are to fight for your village with your life. Now go get them and this time, kill him for real." She yelled and the three disappeared before she could even blink. There was no point in telling them to hide or run away because she doubted they would do so. Orochimaru was looking for them anyway and he probably won't show up until he found what he's looking for.

"Where do you think he's hiding?" Naruto asked as they glided through the rubles and dead bodies (thankfully most of them were the bodies of the sound ninjas). Sasuke smirked at them and Sakura smiled, she already knew what he would say.

"To the Uchiha compound" he whispered and all of them blended with the darkness of the alley.

Once they arrived into the empty compound, Sasuke signaled his teammates to spread out and they both nodded, disappearing into the shadows swiftly without so much as a hiss. Naruto and Sakura both knew every corner and turn, since they used this scenery during their training in order to enhance their chakra control.

Sakura was just about ready to go back to her team when he sensed a dangerous chakra nearing her at an alarming rate. Before the Kunai could nick her, she managed to counter it with her own and with her insane strength, punch her attacker in the gut. The sound of ribs breaking implanted a smirk on the cherry blossom's face as she saw her attacker pass through several buildings and finally crash in front of the wall separating the Uchiha Compound to the rest of Konoha.

Within seconds, she stood to face her attacker a few feet away and was able to meet her boys once they heard the commotion.

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" she heard Naruto yell out as he ran towards her. She nodded and turned her attention back to the silver-haired ninja currently slumped on the ground and chuckling, as if he wasn't thrown through numerous houses and got the living daylights punched out of him.

"Kabuto, where is he?!" Sasuke said, his murderous aura appeared suddenly as he glared down at the medic-nin.

"I'm surprised Sakura-chan was able to sense my presence so quickly. I admit that I have underestimated her for a minute there." Kabuto said.

Sasuke stared at the sound ninja, getting the feeling that something was wrong. However, it didn't take him long to know why as he let out a soft gasp.

Instantly, he grabbed the back collar of both his teammates and pulled them forcefully with him backwards.

"Teme! What the hell!?" Naruto yelled out, but stopped when he heard Kabuto start laughing again and standing up casually, cracking his neck and rubbing his shoulders. Right then, just before their eyes, Kabuto's started changing, until Orochimaru himself stood before them.

"Hello Sasuke-kun, I'm glad you still remember your master. It pleases me greatly" The Snake-Sannin smirked and licked his lips.

Sasuke glared back and was about to retort to shove his comment up his ass when Sakura and Naruto growled and stood in front of him, blocking the snake bastard from his view.

"The day this will happen will be when Hell freezes over!" Naruto roared and Sakura followed then.

"So take your comment and SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!" She yelled, surprising the hell out of the Uchiha. However, it seemed that this was all it took to turn Orochimaru's smirk to an enraged snarl.

"Watch your tongues brats, I will have what I came for" and with incredible speed, launched snakes towards Team 7, who jumped out of the way just in time and spread out.

"Scary Sakura-chan" a figure whispered in her ear and this time, she didn't have the chance to block his attacks. This time, it was her who crashed into a building and hardly had any time for recovery before she started blocking the real Kabuto's attacks.

On and on it went, with Sakura trying to land a hit on Kabuto and the other way around. The most important thing a medic-nin should do was learn how to dodge and they were both perfect at it. However, one single mistake and the other would be dead.

Come on. Please God, give me an opening, please please please! Sakura begged as she blocked what would have been a painful kick and twisted backwards in order to keep a small distance.

The moment she landed on her feet, she unexpectedly appeared right in front of him to deliver a punch. Unfortunately, Kabuto was able to duck his head in the last second. At that same second, she finally got what she wished for, an opening.

YES!

Without wasting her precious chance, Sakura dipped her head down and delivered a chakra-filled kick towards Kabuto's stomach, kicking him ruthlessly into the air. Taking this advantage, she jumped higher up and got the pleasure of seeing his fearful face before she punched it, breaking some bones in the process.

SHANNAROOO! Inner Sakura yelled as she gave the final kick towards Kabuto's spine once he landed on the cold ground, rendering him finally dead. Kabuto was dead.

Sakura's leg wobbled under her weight and it soon gave up on her. It was then she realized how tired and wounded she was and how heavily she was panting from the battle she just fought. Slowly, she crawled towards the dead body and checked for any pulse to assure his death. Thankfully, he had no pulse and she hurriedly got away from him, crying from relief and exhaustion. She had used a huge amount of her chakra to fight him off and it was a miracle that she was able to see that last opening he gave, or else she would have been dead instead.

Gathering her courage and what's left of her strength, she stood up and limped her way towards her teammates. She didn't know if they were able to defeat Orochimaru yet, she hoped they did because she didn't know what she would do if she found their dead body somewhere.

NO! Don't think like that! They can defeat him! She thought and pushed herself to run towards the battle scene. What made her heart stop was that she could only feel one chakra signature. If one of her boys was alive, what about the other one? Or is it…?

Once she took the turn, she was surprised from all the chaos that happened in the area. Her battle with Kabuto was so distracting that she couldn't even risk losing focus and look at their battle.

"Sakura…" she heard a hoarse voice whisper somewhere between the rubbles. That voice was so familiar it hurt.

"Sasuke? SASUKE!" she yelled once she saw his body being pinned by huge, pointy boulders. Her hands trembled as she tossed the boulders away with her strength and hurriedly pulled her teammate out of the rubbles.

"Sasuke, can you hear me? Sasuke!" Sakura yelled, but he wasn't responding, just looking at her with intense eyes that stole her breath away. Without waiting further, she pumped the rest of her chakra into him to see what was wrong. Her breath hitched when she saw how much damage his chest has gone through. Four broken ribs, one of them has punctured his lung. However, she sighed in relief once she felt that his heart has been untouched and proceeded to heal him.

"Sasuke! You can't die on me now! I…I CHOSE YOU! I CHOOSE YOU! Sasuke!" She screamed at his face as tears streamed down hers.

Yes, she would have chosen him from the beginning, but she was afraid to do so, for the sake of the team…for the sake of Naruto…

Her healing chakra started slowly ebbing away, but she kept on pushing her chakra to come out. It was then she felt a familiar figure sit beside her, smiling. The Jinchuuriki placed his hand over Sakura's and once that happened, the fading, green orb grew in size and tripled in power, allowing Sakura to be able to heal the Uchiha Survivor easily. She stared at her best friend with tears in her eyes, silently apologizing for her decision, but Naruto just shook his head and proceeded to stand up and dust his pants, his body already healed from the Kyuubi's powers.

"Naruto?" Sakura questioned, not pausing in healing the broken Uchiha. Naruto smiled down at her and just by looking at his eyes, she could see how much he was hurt, how broken he was as well.

"I'll go see if everyone else is okay. It seems that we won this battle" He said softly and disappeared with a puff of smoke. The only thing that could be heard in the empty compound was Sakura's sobs and the soft humming of her chakra.

They were finally able to kill the Snake sannin and his followers, but on what cost? Sakura did not know.

A few minutes later, she felt a hand on her and a silent demand for her to stop. It wasn't until a moment later did she realize that it was Sasuke who has been telling her to stop for the last couple of minutes, but her brain was so drained and tired to process anything altogether.

"Sakura…you're killing yourself…stop" Sasuke's voice cut her off her depressing thoughts and the only time she looked down at him was when he caressed her cheek gently. She stopped leaking out her healing chakra as she stared at his beautiful form.

Sasuke was alive, he made it. He was safe.

That thought alone made her ecstatic and couldn't help but pull him towards her tightly and kiss every part of his face, except his lips. She was just too emotional at this moment and she knew that she had made the right choice, no matter how much it will change the team dynamic. As long as she was with Sasuke and he was with her, everything would be fine.

Sasuke couldn't remember feeling so warm, safe, and happy at the same time. Every kiss Sakura gave him made his heart skip a beat and for a second, he didn't know what to do to calm his precious cherry blossom. His eyes softened when he saw her shivering form over his, crying and kissing him like her life depended on it. He hated to see her that way. However, one sentence that came from her made him regain most of his sanity, most of his need for life.

"Sasuke-kun…I love you so much" Sakura whispered after taking in a shaky breath and brushing away his hair from his beautiful face.

Yes, she didn't have any regrets.

With all the strength his beaten body had, Sasuke was able to tower over her and force her to sit on his lap. Before Sakura could act on her own, Sasuke had her in his arms, being the one who was now holding her tightly against his chest.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, unsure of the reason of his current action. He didn't let her continue, but he pulled her closer to his body, so glad for so many things.

First of all, Orochimaru was dead (really dead this time) and they were, miraculously, alive. Second, they had won the war and they could finally become a little less tense with one another. Lastly, he was just so glad that she agreed to be with him, him out of all people. The only female he ever cared about (after the massacre of his clan) loved him.

It made him feel…special…and alive again. It was as if he was finally breathing and he needed that so badly.

The flames between the sound and Konoha had finally diminished and Konoha stood tall, along with its Hokage and ninjas.

The war was officially over. Tsunade just couldn't be any happier.

A few days later

Konoha has received a huge damage to its houses and most of its training fields, nothing impossible to recover from.

Naruto has been walking around the village, helping out any civilian who wasn't strong enough to lift a boulder or wood and such. He reached team 7's bridge and sighed, staring at his reflection in contemplation. After a few minutes of staring at a pathetic face, he walked a few more feet and sat on a grass field, mulling over everything that had happened.

Sakura chose Sasuke and even though he told himself that he wouldn't be too affected by her decision, his heart couldn't help but stop beating once he saw his two most precious people being intimate with one another. He felt so alone and for the very first time, an outsider in their circle, a third wheel of sorts.

Something wet hit his hand and once he came back to his senses, he felt the tears flowing freely from his cerulean eyes. When he accepted the fact that he was crying, he stopped trying to wash away his tears as he pulled his knee closer to his chest, biting his lips and trying not to cry out.

He clenched his chest, desperate to know if his heart was still alive after all the turmoil. He let out one shaky breath after the other and later, he couldn't hold back the sobs that wracked his body.

He couldn't even stop when he felt a very familiar figure sit right in front of him and another behind him, pushing him to the front. He bit back another sob when the figure behind him separated his hands from his shirt and forcefully wrapped them in the other figure's neck with her insane strength.

"Idiot, crying out so loud for everyone to hear"

The brooding Uchiha then did his part by lifting himself up and carrying the Kyuubi Container on his back while the pink-haired jounin walked right beside them, looking at her sunshine, Naruto, with worry and guilt and rubbing his back to soothe him.

Naruto couldn't even get the strength to lift up his head and he let his team carry him away from the eyes of the public and into somewhere more private.

Once they reached the Uchiha Compound, Sasuke entered the guest room and slowly placed Naruto on the queen-sized bed. The Jinchuuriki then sat in the middle of the bed and attempted to hide his tears by covering his eyes with his golden locks. Sasuke stared at his soaked shirt with disapproval (courtesy of Naruto's endless tears) and sent a meaningful glance at Sakura, telling her that he will leave for a while. Understanding his message, the cherry blossom nodded her head and once the Uchiha left the room, she gathered her strength and courage and crawled into the bed, into Naruto's arms.

The Kyuubi container tensed once his teammate hugged his waist tightly and made herself comfortable in his arms. They both were quiet for a while and Sakura did not dare say anything, letting Naruto talk first.

"Why…not…enough?" she couldn't get all the words Naruto was saying, since he mumbled them through her hair. She lifted her head (trying to ignore those broken, wet blue eyes) and gave him a questioning look. Naruto cleared his throat slowly and stared at the bed sheets.

"Wasn't I enough? Am I just not good enough?" He whispered, tears spilling again and Sakura quickly wiped them away gently with her hands.

"Naruto, stop crying please! This is not you! You…" Naruto wasn't hearing her at all and it was because she didn't answer his question. Angrily, she grabbed his cheek and made him look at her straight in the face. She made sure his attention was all on her when she spoke.

"Don't you EVER let me hear you say this again! You are the best of who you are and you are MORE THAN enough for me. It is I who doesn't deserve someone as good and loving as you…"

Naruto eyes slowly stared into her, as if asking why then, didn't she choose him

"My heart belonged to him a long time ago Naruto, ever since I comforted him in my arms. The moment I saw him so weak in front of me, I promised myself to love him with all my heart."

She slowly wiped away a lone tear with her thumb and smiled.

"You and Sasuke are both the most precious people I have and I love you both the same. It's just that, the kind of love I have for both of you aren't….Do you understand that Naruto? I NEVER meant to leave you and I am never going to."

With that final statement, Naruto let out a shaky breath and nodded, as if finally understanding. However, Sakura didn't leave his face, but kept staring into his eyes, looking deep into his soul, wishing she could just erase all the pain dwelled up in there.

Long, warm arms wrapped themselves around the pink-haired woman and pulled her closer towards him. It was Sakura now who started crying as she hugged her best friend back with everything she could and sobbed in his arms. She was so glad that he now understood. It would take some time for him, but as long as he understood…everything would be fine.

Both Jounins now were sleeping on the large comfy bed; one was satisfied (enough) while the other was in peace now that both her boys were with her once again.

Uchiha Sasuke stepped into the room an hour later and smiled once he saw how both of them looked better once they talked with one another.

He quietly walked towards them, covering them up with a blanket and lay on the other side of the bed.

Tomorrow would be a bright, new day.

Phew, Done :D I really hope you liked it. I also hope I was able to surprise some of you!

Thank you so much for my readers, who helped me get back to writing once I saw their reviews again! I will try to update as soon as I can! I don't know what will happen so I can't make any changes. The last part, Part 4, will come up soon!

Sadbird