What Could Have Happened

Author's Note: This story takes place right after the events of the Kage Summit, during the pre-war arc of Shippuden. More precisely, in the time when Kakashi was about to be named the 6th Hokage after Danzo's death, while Tsunade was still on a coma, around the manga chapter 488. Naruto had already told the rest of his friends his decision about Sasuke. The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The first part of the story (beginning four lines) follows the episode 219 from the anime Naruto Shippuden, hence, belongs to Katsuhiko Chiba. No copyright is intended, I'm grateful for the scene he added to the story, not included in the manga.

To make a brief summary, please don't think that given the short first chapter this is just a NaruSaku fanfic. In the next ones, I'll deal with several themes of the Pre War Arc. The second is much longer than the first, and gives an insight to Sakura's parents, their perspective of all the events. The third one, shows Iruka's point of view of the recent events, and his advice to Naruto. The fourth one, is a preview of the fifth that includes Tsunade's awakening. The fifth chapter is probably the most important of this story. A long conversation between Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, Naruto, and Sakura. Contains a huge discussion of all the events from Pain arc, the Kage Summit Arc, and some truth about Naruto's parents (without spoiling Naruto's future encounter with Kushina). The sixth, is a little lighter, shows development of Naruto and Sakura's relationship, his curiosity on his parents, and a closure for Hinata's crush on the protagonist. The seventh deals with the aftermath of Naruto's meeting with the Old Sage Toad, including a nice talk with Tsunade. The eight chapter is the farewell for Naruto who will travel to the paradise island in Kumogakure.

Chapter 1: Things Unsaid

After the meeting with the rest of the Konoha eleven, Naruto and Sakura were walking back through the streets of the village. There were buildings under reconstruction after Pain's assault, but at this hour of the day there were no workers in sight. Naruto intended to go for ramen at Ichiraku, and though he seemed calm when he said this to their friends, Sakura knew his mind was still running on the confrontation with Sasuke. He was with his hands on his nape, while she was walking behind him, still with the white cape she took to the land of Iron.

"Listen, I don't think anyone will be satisfied with the way things stand" Sakura was worried, but Naruto still seemed unfazed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, with his eyes closed.

"About Sasuke" she answered.

"Are you satisfied, Sakura-chan?" he questioned, without stopping the walk.

"I think you have some sort of plan, so... I'm putting my faith in you. But still..." she said, without knowing how to express her doubts.

"What is it?" he asked, finally turning around to see her.

"I was wondering about what you said back then to Sasuke. I was there, you know. I heard you saying that you two would die if you fight each other... What did you mean?" she asked.

"Oh" he sighed. "Well, it's hard to explain, but when I faced Sasuke, I felt that we're basically on the same level... During our last fight, we were really close, and any could have died. But I didn't want to kill him back then, and I don't want to kill him now... This time surely will be different, he is going to come full of hatred and resentment, and I feel that to stop him, I have to take that... and because of that, we might die..." he explained. Yet, he saw her saddened face, and added, "Still, I hope I can make him change his mind and not get to that "

"Are you sure about this? There has to be another way. I mean... What about your dream of becoming Hokage? Kakashi was right about that. What about Iruka? What about all our friends? What about Tsunade? I know she has a lot of faith in you, she trusts you to be Hokage. And she told me Jiraiya did as well... What about me?" Sakura was staring at him, with a sad look on her face.

"Sakura... I meant what I said. I can't be Hokage if I can't save Sasuke... That's something I promised myself years ago. I cannot go back on my words" he said.

"You still don't understand. There's people who care about you. You're the hero of the village!" she sighed, frustrated. "There are a lot of people who need you... I need you" she was worried, and sadness never left her face. She was feeling down lately, since Sai's words, and though she made her decisions and remained strong to do what she had to, nothing came out like she expected. Something was starting to break inside her, again.

"Sakura, I..." he didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought much about all what happened, he did what felt was right, but now he wasn't really sure.

Sakura took a breath, and continued "Naruto, you have to understand... From the moment Chiyo said what would happen if Akatsuki captured you, I started to imagine how would be like if you died. We came back safe after saving Gaara, but then, during the mission at Tenchi bridge, you were gone..." she took a breath. "I was broken to see what you've turned that day. Yamato helped you to get back, but still, I was worried... You trained so hard, fought against Sasuke, Akatsuki, Pain, you pushed yourself, and yet were always in danger. And I can't just keep holding on, see you running to death..." her voice almost broke. "Truth is, I can't stand it if I lose you...", tears began to roll in her face. "I just can't, I love you, even if you don't believe me... And yes, maybe you were right... I still wanted Sasuke. I cared about him, I never forgot how he used to be... and that's why I couldn't... kill him" she said, whispering the last words.

Naruto was stunned. He started to feel guilty, realizing how his decision was affecting Sakura. He also got to think about how it would affect Iruka, Tsunade, Kakashi, and the others. Even if he hoped to avoid that and save Sasuke, he couldn't assure that. And he also realized that Sakura's feelings were not fake. She always was worried about him, remembering that day at the Tenchi bridge, or the reason why she went to the Land of Iron, reminded him what she was saying. But her last words also reminded me of what could have happened.

"What were you thinking back then? I mean... if you had killed Sasuke, you knew I'd find out eventually" he asked.

"I just wanted to finish it... What he did was hurting me, hurting you. I didn't want you risking your life because of him, not anymore... I told you this. And even if you ended up hating me for that, at least you'd be safe... I was trying to save you" she replied, holding back the tears, by remembering everything that happened.

Naruto was startled. He could never guess Sakura's reasons for what she did. He should have known that Sai wasn't very good at reading other people's feelings. Not even himself could understand Sakura many times, and he knew her since they were little.

"Sakura, I... I'm sorry... for everything. I wasn't really thinking about you and everyone else when I faced Sasuke. I guess the memories still weigh on me. And you suffered so much because of him, I never thought... Bringing him back was supposed to make both of us happy" he finally said.

She was looking down. "I know... I guess I really hurted you... I made a mess of everything. Sasuke could have killed me... He wanted to kill me, and Kakashi, and if it wasn't for you... I... deserve this..." she said, struggling to fight back the tears. She turned around, and started to walk away.

Naruto was just standing right there, not knowing what else to say, how to comfort her. He felt guilty because of all the things he said before, for thinking more about Sasuke, for not trusting her. But while seeing her going away, after watching the tears on her face, knowing she was broken, he made a decision.

"Sakura, wait...", he said, and rushed to catch her. He held her in a tight embrace, as she finally broke in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. He took her to a nearby bench, holding her while she cried.

With his arms wrapped around her back, he finally started to realize how serious what happened was. Sasuke really intended to kill Sakura, seriously wanted to kill Kakashi, and attack Konoha. Naruto knew the reason, the truth about Itachi, all about the coup d'etat, and that the masked man was behind everything. But while looking at the broken Sakura, he realized how close he got to losing her. If he had arrived one minute later, or if he had listened to Yamato, she'd be dead. The realization struck him. He felt like waking up from a trance. She was right, he focused so much on saving Sasuke that he became oblivious to all the things he did. Knowing about Itachi didn't justify attempting to kill Sakura, or the innocent people from Konoha. He started pondering what he'd have done, how he'd have reacted if he had arrived late and Sakura was dead. For how long would he justify Sasuke? Before he could keep thinking about all this, he saw that Sakura stopped sobbing. She was looking at him, with swollen eyes.

"Listen, I don't know what's going to happen when Sasuke arrives, if he attacks the village. But I promise that I won't leave you... I'll do my best to come out alive. I'll always be there to protect you... And don't blame yourself for everything, I've made mistakes as well" he said while staring at her green eyes. Then, he leaned on, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Sakura was a bit surprised, but didn't mind. She needed this, after all. His nice gesture felt warm, made her feel safe, so she leaned right on his shoulder.

They stayed there sitting at the bench, for a while. The sun was setting, and she finally broke the silence. "Naruto... can you take me home?"

"Sure" he quietly said. Then, he rose to his feet, slid one arm under her knees, and picked her up. He started walking slowly, making a way towards her home.

AN: Many people, and fans, consider that the Kage Summit was the arc where the storyline started to flake out. The confession scene, the confrontation against Sasuke, Naruto throwing away his dream of becoming Hokage unless he saves Sasuke, raised doubts and questions. I tried to accept as much as possible the events of the manga. But on this point I think it was the key. The fact that Sasuke attempted to kill Sakura was huge. The reactions were not adequate, especially Naruto's. Here I tried to correct that. Someone had to wake him up. Concerning Sakura, being almost murdered by the boy she used to like should not be played down. The manga treated this very lightly. Sakura is a very sensible character, and even if she grew up in Shippuden, such situation has to affect her seriously. That's why I refused to address Sasuke as Sasuke-kun. I feel that Sakura wouldn't use the polite suffix anymore after what he did. Probably I portrayed here as weak as before, but honestly, someone she cared about, the boy she liked, recently grabbed her by the neck and attempted to kill her. More than once, the first one with the chidori that Kakashi deflected. She needed time to recover from the emotional impact. I can only praise Kishimoto for always portraying her face with a saddened dark tone, during all the way back from the Land of Iron. Should be clear, she was holding on. If she cried while healing Karin, then she had to cry even more after the second murder attempt.

Anyway, I hope this first fanfic I got done can come out ok. Naruto is a such powerful story, with so many unexplored parts. A lot of things were left in the air. I'll bring a few more chapters, to complete the story before Naruto had to depart to train with Killer B. I insist, I won't focus only on Naruto and Sakura, though they're the main protagonists of this story. I will also deal with some holes of the original arc to complete it, and develop the characters in a best way. I feel Shippuden needed this back then.