Disclaimer~ refer to chapter one
A Friend, A Hero Lost
Sakura's POV
Kohona was a mess, buildings were smashed into pieces, the surrounding grass and trees burnt until there was nothing less but ashes. Injured Shinobi and civilians alike filled the hospital, all of the medical ninjas required to treat them however there was not a single fatality from Sasuke's assault thanks to Naruto's intervention and the efforts of us medical ninjas. However even while treating those injured in the assault my mind stayed on Naruto, a horrible feeling of guilt eating away at my gut, I shouldn't have let him go face Sasuke alone, not after seeing how exhausted and out of chakra he had become holding back Sasuke's Susanoo from destroying the Village Hidden in The Leaves once and for all. My Shishou had finally noticed my distraction, worry reflected in her own hazel eyes for the blonde, and she sent for Kakashi-sensei who had only suffered minor injures to be brought here, that lead to where we were now.
"Kakashi you and Sakura are to head out and track Naruto and provide him backup. I will send out another team as soon as I can gather them but support Naruto until then." Tsunade-sama orders.
"Hai!" Kakashi- sensei and I reply in unison, dipping our heads. I can hear the gratitude and concern in his voice as well, he was worried for Naruto just as much as Tsunade-sama and I. The 5th Hokage nods in reply and my former teacher and I dash out of the hospital towards the woods, pausing before the treeline outside of the village.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" The silver haired man exclaims doing some quick hand signs and nipping his finger before slamming his hand to the ground. There is a small puff of smoke and suddenly Pakkun is there. The small brown dog is quickly ordered to sniff out Naruto, a promise to explain the entire situation on the way given, and we all leap up into the trees, Pakkun leading the way. Kakashi- sensei begins to explain what happened to his faithful summon but I hardly hear him, shivering as raindrops begin to drop from the heavens, soaking me. Rain was a bad omen, I just prayed we weren't too late, that Naruto was alright. We pick up our pace, perhaps my comrades sharing my sense of unease, and soon I can hear a faint roar from before me. The Valley of the End, the place where it had all begun all those years in the past. Where Naruto and Sasuke first truly fought, where Naruto nearly died at Sasuke's hand the first time all thanks to his stupid promise to me. I pick up my pace even faster, racing ahead of Kakashi-sensei, the roar of the waterfall increasing along with two other familiar sounds, the high pitched chirping of Sasuke's Chidori and the screeching sound of Naruto's Rasen Shuriken.
"No..." I whisper, horror filling me. I knew someone was about to die. I reach a clearing before the waterfall and dash onto the stone head of the First Hokage, looking down in horror, shielding my eyes from the rain, as two familiar shapes leap towards each other, each wielding a deadly attack.
"Chidori!"
"Fūton Rasenshuriken!"
The two collide, the shock wave resulting from the contact drowning out my scream and blinding me with a brilliant light. I bring my arms in a cross before my face, struggling to keep my ground, skidding back slightly. When the after effects of the attacks die away and lower my arms and dash forward again, peering over the edge as two forms, one in orange and black bright yellow hair, the other in black with raven hair. I watch, unable to move as both teens are thrown back onto opposite sides of the river below, neither one moving from where they lay...
"Naruto!" I scream, snapping free from my trance. I jump down the statue to where the blonde Shinobi lie unmoving, not even glancing to where my old crush lay. Sasuke no longer mattered to me I realized in shock, my affection had completely turned to Naruto, the one who was always there for me. I kneel beside the jinchūriki, staring in shock and horror at the bloody hole through the center of his chest and his destroyed arm, the charka channels clearly destroyed from the use of his Rasen Shuriken without entering his Sage Mode. I pull the whiskered boy's head into my lap, tears already falling from my eyes, mingling with the rain as both dripped onto his expressionless face. I dimly realize Kakashi and Pakkun landing beside me, both soaked with rain but even with water from the sky I could see Kakashi-sensei's visible eye shedding tears. "Naruto you Baka" I hiss lifting his head up to my shoulder and hugging his limb form tightly. "Why couldn't you just listen to me and wait for backup? Then you would be fine" I sob, bending my neck over his chest, my tears mingling with the blood as I shut my eyes tightly.
"Sa-Sakura- chan..." croaks a voice insanely familiar. But it couldn't be. "Pl-please don't c-cry Sak-ura-chan" I open my eyes to see if it was real and I see an oceanic blue eyes staring back at me, filled with pain.
"Na-Naruto!" I cry out, the tears still leaking from my eyes. "Naruto don't talk I'm going to fix you okay? Just don't speak" I tell him though in my heart I knew it was useless, he if I could save him he would never be a ninja again, his last attack destroying his ability to mold chakra forever. I knew that in itself would kill him. Despite this I gently lay his head back down and concentrate chakra into my palms, casting them in a green glow and holding them over his chest, there was always the slightest chance of a miracle that he would survive and we would somehow find a way to fix his arm.
"Sakura- chan it-it's no use" Naruto says softly, lifting up his uninjured arm slowly and pushing my arms away. "It's al-ready to late f-for me, not ev-en the Kyu-ubi could he-help me now" he informs me, voice low in a whisper as blood leaks from the corner of his mouth. I feel a whole new torrent of tears spring up and I throw my face and arms onto him, sobbing uncontrollably on his chest, ignoring the blood that soaked my arms, face, and hair. Why did he have to die? Hadn't he suffered enough, done enough? He was raised alone and hated yet he still saved the village from Pein and the Shinobi World from the threat of Kabuto and Madara and now he had sacrificed himself to take down Sasuke, Konoha's old remaining threat. I feel an arm wrap around me, patting my back slowly and I know it's Naruto's, he was still trying to comfort me as he died. "I'm so-rry Sak-ura -chan" he whispers causing me to jerk up.
"For what Naruto you have nothing to be sorry for. You saved the village, saved my life many times over. You became a hero worth of the title of Hokge." I reply to him, but he shakes his head, ocean eyes filling with sorrow along with the pain.
"No I fai-led you, I never brou-ght Sasuke b-back like I- I promised" he replies causing me to blink in surprise. He still thought of that stupid promise all these years later as he lay dying because of it?
"Baka!" I exclaim in disbelief. I would have whacked him in the head for being so dimwitted if not for his condition. "I don't give a shit about that traitor Sasuke anymore! He tried to kill me, Kakashi- sensei, all of our friends multiple times over. He tried to destroy our home! He's the reason why you're- you're..." I cut if unable to finish my statement. How I wished I could go back in the past and make it so I never had Naruto make that promise, so I knew better than to care about the Uchiha bastard that would take my best friend from me. "It-it's my fault for making you promise that stupid promise to bring him back! I'm so sorry Naruto!" I respond the rain cleaning the blood from my hair and arms, running in a red tinted stream down my body, mixed with tears.
"No pl-please Sakura-chan, plea-se don't blame you-rself it was my deci-sion!" Naruto says forcefully before falling into a fit of bloody coughing, more of the life sustaining substance covering his face. I go to try to help but he waves me off, bringing it under control. "Please Sak-ura-chan," he continues his voice fading, faint already. "pl-ease prot-ect our home fo-for me" he finishes, gently raising his hand up to wipe away my tears before it falls, landing with a thud on the ground, blue eyes sliding shut as his head tilted to the side.
"No" I whisper brokenly, gripping him by the shoulders and giving him a light shake. "Naruto! Naruto please wake up!" I cry despite knowing it's too late, he was already gone. I hear a choked sob from behind me and I glance to realize we were no longer alone, joined by all of the member of Konhan 11 plus Sai and Yamato , the sob belonging to Hinata as she crashed to the ground in shock. I turn back to Naruto giving the blonde a tight hug, one last tear falling from my eyes and onto his chest. "I promise you Naruto I will protect Konoha with everything I have just like you did." I whisper to him as the rain continued to pound away at me, still clinging to his limp body, hardly registering the sounds of grief and pain from my comrades. He didn't deserve this!
"Sakura let go of Naruto, we need to go back to Konoha and... and tell the village what has occurred." A voice says next to my ear, hands gently trying to pry mine off of Naruto's form. Kakashi-sensei. I don't bother resisting, knowing the Jounin would win in the end no matter what I tried, and he gently pulls me from the rapidly cooling body of my best friend and into surprisingly comfortable arms. I tuck my arms to my chest and let another torrent of tears loose soaking into his chest as he whispered comforting nonsense into my ears as the downpour changed into a drizzle and eventually faded into nothing. My sobs faded with the rain turning into hiccups and then nothing and I pull away from my sensei, thanking him with a look and looking over the others who had come to try and help, but like us, were too late. Hinata knelt where she had felt, Kiba next to her, his arms wrapped around her and her face buried into his chest, Akamaru standing next to the two, pressing against the two for comfort and warmth as Shino stood there resting a hand on Hinata's other shoulder, unsure how to help but still trying. Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, forever a team, comforted each other, all three looking shocked and still in disbelief. Lee-san was crying openly, supporting a still slightly injured Neji who must have insisted on coming, Tenten clinging to Neji's other side, hiding her face in his shoulder. Sai was visibly upset for the first time I can remember, looking totally lost on how to respond and Yamato had knelt next to Naruto, head inclined to the downed ninja. I could hardly believe it, Naruto who had been the biggest nuncience when we were kids , ignored by all, hated even for something he wasn't. Now he was loved, finally on the road to becoming Hokage, his lifelong goal finally within his reach when all his hard work was swept away in an instant by one he still called a friend. My gaze travels over to the other side of the valley where the raven haired shape had not moved. O force myself to my feet, legs shaky, and stumble over to the water, briefly pausing to gather chakra in my feet before walking slowly across the water, ignoring the calls of my comrades to stop. I reach the other side and draw a kunai as a precautionary message against my old crush. I needn't have bothered. The Uchiha, the cause of so much pain in the past years, the cause of my current pain, was clearly gone, clear evidence all over his body of Naruto's devastating last attack.
"Serves you right bastard" I hiss at the limp body, not feeling a speck of grief or sorrow at his demise, it was his fault my best friend was now dead. My past feeling of endearment were finally gone like petals in the wind. Ino joins me, leaving beside her teammates, and her hand slips into mine giving it a small squeeze.
"It's funny isn't it?" The blonde asks softly, from beside me. I look at her from the corner of my eye, but her blue eyes are cast down looking at our former crush, expression unreadable. "When we were young we cut off our friendship for him, becoming fierce rivals to try and win his affection." she continues now turning her face to mine, sorrow clear in the blue depths of her eyes, the corners of which still filed with tears that had yet to join their predecessors sliding down her cheeks. "We were so native back then, thinking he" a snarl enters her voice as she glares down at Sasuke's form. "was more important then our friendship and now I'm glad he's dead. I only wish the price wasn't so high..." Ino finishes, her voice fading back to a whisper. I nod wordlessly, giving her hand a small squeeze back. "So what are we going to do about him anyway?" Ino asks after a moment of silence, a small kick sent to the limp form before us.
"Leave him for the crows" I snarl in response, unable to make myself care the slightest bit more. "I'm sure Tsunade-sama will send the Anbu to deal with him, but I don't want to see his face for a second longer" I reply. My childhood friend nods in agreement and we both head back across the stretch of water, not a single glance sent back. Arriving back on the Fire Country's side of the Valley, Shikamaru steps forward, his gaze soft with grief but filled with a sense of duty known in the lazy Shinobi.
"Is Sasuke...?" he starts uncertainly, an undertone of malice in his voice.I cut him off.
"He's dead" I inform him coldly, Ino nodding in agreement. He nods, stress leaving his and everyone else's features, sorrow and grief dominating their gazes. Kiba stands, helping Hinata up who still sags against him, the poor lavender eyed girl unable to accept her longtime love was gone.
"We need to head back to the village. We all still have injures and we need to inform Hokage-sama of what happened" Neji says, his voice strong but sad, even he was affected by Naruto's death, the blonde's victory over him during the first Chunnin-exams leaving a lasting impression. I nod, wiping away a few more stray tears, noticing Naruto's blood still staining my arms but I couldn't bring myself to care. Kakashi-sensei gently lifts up the bloodied body, though some was washed away by the rain. We crowd around the silver haired jounin, Kiba guiding an inconsolable Hinata, and together we sent back for Kohona our mission officially a failure.
On that sad note please
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~Lakeshine