Sakura stared at the mangled bodies of her mother and father, her pink eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "How did it happen?"

The morgue attendant stared at her for a moment before deciding not to spare her the details. His dark irises held the uncomfortable pity of someone who was terribly sorry and also dreadfully awkward with emotions.

"Genjutsu. Yes, in part, anyway. The genjutsu during the invasion caught so many people unaware… It could have happened to anyone. Your parents were unlucky enough to not be in the stands at the time. When a nearby wall collapsed, they were crushed where they'd fallen asleep under the power of the genjutsu… Yes, I'm sure you can see that they indeed were crushed by the wall, actually. Not the genjutsu. There was nothing they could have done."

The weight of the grief inside of her felt like it was compacting as he spoke. He explained the deaths were instantaneous and they likely didn't feel a thing. He was wringing his hands a little bit. She couldn't find it in her to care if he felt uncomfortable. He must have been new to this role, but so was she. She'd never been an orphan before.

"Do you know where it happened?"

"At the edge of the Market District, near Hayazaki's." The attendant paused, scratching at his jaw. His brown sideburns yawned with the motion. "If you want to go see it, you won't be able to miss it."

She wanted to cry. She was desperate to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. All the colour fell away from her as she looked at her father's face, running her thumb over his pink stubble. The coolness of his skin only made her more aware of how hard and lifeless he was.

Sakura turned to her mother and looked at the woman who had raised her. She'd been there for everything— every bruised knee, every scrape, every heartbreak. Now who would hold her when she cried?

She absently reached out and touched her mom's hand. She lifted it, trying to move her fingers so she could hold her hand one last time. The fingers felt like frail branches beneath her grip. Sakura held her mother's hand gingerly, afraid to break the delicate bones. She settled with holding the hand between both of her own hands.

"How should I prepare their funeral? I… I have no other family, I don't know what I… How do you bury someone?"

"As shinobi, your parents' end-of-life preparations will be by covered the village. Also… many ninja and civilians fell to this attack. Nothing like this has ever happened before. So there will be a large ceremony honouring all of them.

"All that you will need to do would be to notify any next of kin. Even those who might not live in the village. Do you have any next of kin? And you'll need to fill out some paperwork in the Hokage tower— your parents should have had a living will as Chunnins. The expiration rate with that rank is quite high so every Chunnin will have been made to execute a living will."

Sakura was silent for a moment, his words echoing through her mind. She noticed the dirt had been removed from undernearth her mother's fingernails. There had always been just a little; she spent most of her time in the garden.

She repressed a chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Who honestly referred to death as 'expiration rate' while talking to someone who just lost everything? "No, I already mentioned I have no other family. There was no clan and I… I'm alone now."

"Well at any rate, someone in the Hokage's office will be sure to help you handle all of your affairs then. I'm sorry for your loss, kunoichi-san." She looked at his face and noticed just how pinched and earnest it was. He meant it.

She bowed, feeling off center as she moved. What did she do now? Where would she go?

Sakura stood there for a moment, entirely unsure of what to do. She heard the awful groan of the gourney as her parents were put back in the wall. "The bodies… what will happen to them?"

"They will be added to the shinobi cemetery. Their names will be added to the stone but their specific plot information will be available only to you."

There was a screech again as the doors slammed shut and Sakura knew she'd never see them again. The thought registered in her brain and then floated away.

"You can't stay here, I'm so sorry. You'll have to wait outside or go somewhere else…"

Sakura bowed again and stumbled outside. It was too bright in the hallway and she squinted, lifting her hand to block the light. She didn't quite know where she was going, but her feet carried her out of the hospital and down the road.

It was like train cars crashing into each other. Her thoughts were mixed and jumbled and a strange sensation had settled over her that felt very much like tv static on the television.

Sakura wandered aimlessly. The thought of going home was truly unbearable. In a blur of activity, she found her way to the Hokage tower. Some no-name chunnin that she'd never met before assisted her with the paperwork for her parents' estate. The home had been left to her, along with a sizable amount of money. Until she became a chunnin herself or turned sixteen it would be afforded to her in small monthly increments. The chunnin squeezed her hand as she left and assured her how proud Mebuki would have been. Sakura had never her mother's friend before and didn't think to get her name before she wandered out of the tower and back into the streets.

Before she knew it she was at the weapons shop, staring at the wall that had come down. The ground looked rusty with blood that someone had tried and failed to clean up. She wondered how long it had had to soak in for it to be so hard to scrub out.

Sakura couldn't do anything other than watch it play out over and over again. She tried to imagine what the moments were like for them. How were they crushed? What knocked the wall over? Who had actually killed her parents?

She only succeeded in scarring herself with the endeavor. All she could see was her parents' bodies thudding to the ground under the debris.

After a while, she flinched back to awareness. Night had fallen. She swayed, unsure of where she should go.

Footsteps pounded on the concrete to her right and she turned her head to the sound. Naruto. Of course.

The smile died on his face as he saw her. She wondered how she looked. What had he seen to make him look like that?

"Sakura-chan! I've been looking for you!"

He thudded to a halt in front of her. He was still shorter than her and had to peer up at her a bit to actually see into her eyes. She saw fear enter his expression in a way she hadn't seen before.

"Are you… Did you get out of the hospital this morning?"

She nodded. Her lips felt like rubbery doors that didn't know how to open, holding her tongue captive.

"Did something happen?"

Sakura stared at him, her dirty hair flapping in the breeze. What could she say? Where did she start?

"Is it too hard to explain?"

A rush of gratitude and her eyes felt hot and prickly. She nodded again. Naruto studied her face again and she felt the panicky air about him thickening.

"Whatever it is, Sakura-Chan, I'm here. I know I'm kinda stupid and don't always say the right thing, but…"

He lurched forward and locked his arms around her like this was his first time comforting someone. Maybe it was. Sakura's shoulders jerked up in discomfort and then she realized how nice it was to be held, even by this dork.

At some point his grip tightened and he whispered to her that it would be okay. Sakura never seen him so scared.

"Do you have somewhere to go?" Naruto pulled back as he asked, his hands resting so gently on her shoulders that she was impressed by the lack of bluster. The pink haired girl shook her head 'no,' marveling in an absent way at how much her neatly sheared off hair moved. She still wasn't used to it.

"I promise I'm not making a move— I don't assume you like me or nothing and I— I won't try anything." He slipped his grimy hand into hers and started leading her down the street. It felt jarring to be touched but comforting to have something draw her out of the shell she kept falling into. "Come stay the night. You can sleep on the bed and I'll take the floor! I know you'd rather it be Sasuke-bastard, but—"

He abruptly stopped speaking when she squeezed his hand. "Right, heh, sorry!"

Naruto's apartment was cluttered, but not as dirty as Sakura had anticipated. She went to the bathroom, zoning out as she peed. She sat a bit longer than she strictly needed to, trying and failing to form coherent thoughts. Different disconnected ideas bounced around her head like waking dreams. She stared at the crack in the paint that ran from the corner of the window ledge down toward the baseboard.

Eventually she stood, pulled up her shorts, and washed her hands. She leaned against the sink as the weight of the day pressed on her. Her emerald green eyes were like broken fragments of pottery and she hardly recognized herself. She didn't like what she saw. The expression on her face was too empty and her eyes were too dark. Her hair was an absolute sight, splaying about in disorganized chunks from her hack job.

Sakura sighed and exited the bathroom. She dropped down into his bed like a bowling ball and flipped the cover up over her. It smelled like a boy in an unpleasant way.

Naruto plopped himself down on the floor and would look over at her every once in a while, trying to check on her without her noticing. She couldn't help but glare at him each time, wanting to not feel like a zoo animal.

Eventually he fell asleep, his soft snores cutting through the overwhelming silence. It was reassuring. She laid down on her stomach and looped her fingers through his, not caring what Ino would say if she knew. It wasn't romantic to her at all, she just needed to not be alone.

Sleep was easier to find than she'd expected.

The sound of whispers roused her from the nothingness of sleep. Disconnected words and phrases filtered through the air and Sakura sat up quickly as she realized she wasn't home.

It didn't take long to remember that she was at Naruto's. She felt sad and ugly and didn't remember why. She saw the picture on his night stand of the first day they'd joined Team 7. Her smile was so big…

It felt like a pressure point in her chest had been triggered as she remembered that her parents were dead and she was alone in the world.

"Happened…. Found her … hasn't said a single thing!"

The broken bits of Naruto's conversation carried over to her. She cringed. She'd have jumped out of the window if she was a better ninja. As it stood, she'd have to walk down the wall of his grimey apartment. Someone really needed to clean the place.

Sakura looked out the window, surprised to see an annoyed looking Sasuke staring up at her from the ground. His eyes narrowed when he saw her, scrutinizing her.

Ah yes, training. She'd missed it. So Kakashi and Sasuke had come to look for Naruto, who'd also missed it. 'I bet they didn't even care if I came…'

It was childish, but she'd never been the first pick for the team and she knew that. Even though Naruto was the dead last she'd been fighting to catch up with him for the last few weeks.

Sakura blinked, looking up from the place she'd been glaring. Sasuke must have moved because she was staring at an empty road.

Her heart skipped a beat, anxious at his sudden disappearance.

She exited Naruto's room, intending to go look for him. Kakashi glanced up at her, eye smiling in her direction. "Let's chat, shall we? Naruto and Sasuke—" said boy entered through the front door "you two stay here. Sakura and I have to catch up."

"Where are you going?" Sasuke demanded.

"That's none of your business!" Kakashi said in a sing-song voice, booping him on the nose as he led Sakura past him and through the doorway. Sakura frowned, but didn't say anything or acknowledge him.

She wondered if he'd felt this way when he'd lost everything. Absently, she realized how annoying all the fangirls must have been. If she'd had the energy to do so, she would have cringed at her own behaviour now that she realized how it must have felt to receive that kind of attention when his whole family had just been murdered.

Kakashi had his book out as they walked, but Sakura knew he wasn't actually reading it. It was just a prop to make her feel less like an ant under a magnifying glass. She was grateful.

"You've never lost someone before." He said it like a statement, a fact.

Sakura nodded, feeling stupid and thankful that he had somehow put two and two together.

"Were you close?"

She nodded again. Looked at her feet. They had a mind of their own. It was obvious he didn't know who it was that had passed, but she supposed he would find out well enough when the ceremony for Sarutobi and all the other fallen comrades was held in two days.

Kakashi didn't say anything else, just kept walking. She kept moving, glancing over at him as they walked. He met her gaze but didn't say anything.

Eventually they stopped moving and Sakura realized it was because she'd stopped. She was staring at the rusty earth again, her head tilted to one side as she considered.

They stood for a moment. Kakashi's hand rested on her shoulder and when she looked over, she realized his book had been put away. He looked at the stain on the ground, the only evidence of her parent's passing.

She didn't know how long she stood there with him, with the carts rolling by and people's loud conversations dully roaring in the background. Eventually, he squeezed her shoulder.

"Time to move, Sakura-Chan. You can't stand here forever. Let's go."

He started walking down the road and she followed after him, studying the back of his arm to the slope of his shoulder. How long had it been just him? His hair was grey but she knew it wasn't from old age.

They walked for a while but she wasn't paying attention. She was wondering what life as a diplomat to Suna would be like. Could she even run away from these feelings? Would they follow her there? It was appealing to think about until she ran into the obstacle of making new friends and the reality of a fresh start meaning no connections. The only person she actually knew in Suna was Gaara and he'd tried to kill her in their last interaction. Would he do that again the next time?

Kakashi, who had been walking in front of her for some time, came to a halt and she all but crashed into him. They'd arrived at the training field. It was better than sitting around all morning but also required some form of motivation that she didn't have at the moment.

Before long, they were throwing kunai and shuriken at targets. Sakura was doing her best, but even on a day when she wasn't emotionally compromised her best wasn't exactly impressive.

When it came time to spar, Naruto was careful with her in a way that she didn't like. He treated her as though she might fall apart if he hit her too hard. Sasuke was aggravated by her apparent lack of enthusiasm and was even more ruthless than usual.

"I don't know what your problem is," he spat, grabbing her by her upper arm. He spun and flipped her over his shoulder and into the ground. "But if you're looking for sympathy you won't get it from me."

Sakura felt frozen on the ground as the pain eked its way through her system. Rage followed quickly after, unbidden. She knew Sasuke was just being Sasuke. He clearly didn't know what was going on. But she was just so angry.

Her chakra buzzed within her and she flipped her weight over the ball of her foot and lunged for him. Her fingers connected with his face and she tackled him to the ground. Her left hand was fisted in his hair and she crushed her other fist into his cheek.

There wasn't any strategy to her attack. She let go of his hair and started to smack her fists down on his head in stabbing motions, as though she was holding a knife. Subconsciously, she channeled chakra into her fists to enhance the strikes.

Sasuke easily flipped her over, his eyes wide with surprise and apprehension. His sharingan frantically spun as he processed. He crunched his eyebrows down over his eyes. Then he smirked.

"Fight me for real, Sakura." He stood up, extended his hand down to her. She stared at it for a moment before accepting it.

Sasuke yanked her onto her feet and then leapt away from her, still smirking at her with an infuriating expression like he knew exactly what she was feeling. How could he know just by looking at her?

Sakura sprinted toward him, her chakra enhanced footsteps churning up the earth. She flung her arm back and then tried to crush him with a haymaker. He quickly dodged and punched her hard on the shoulder, shoving her back.

She angrily forced more of her meager reserves into her limbs, enhancing her speed. She shot out with her hands in savage combo at his chest. He easily blocked her jabs and smacked her hands out of the way to land a hit on her right shoulder.

The Uchiha then retreated to create some more space and she launched herself forward, taking it. The fight continued on with him outfighting her every step up the way.

Her arms were heavy with the exertion and she was running out of chakra. She wasn't ready to quit. It felt way better to be mad than to feel nothing. She tried to punch him again but he easily side swept her attack. Sakura glanced over and she saw Kakashi and Naruto standing off to the side. Kakashi's arms were folded over his chest but Naruto was practically biting his nails.

Sasuke took her moment of distraction to punch her directly in the jaw. She was sent sprawling onto the ground. "Get up."

Sakura tried to kept up and found herself unsteady on her feet. She tried again to push herself up.

"Get up." She tried again to lift herself. She was surprised when he grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her into a standing position before backing up half a step. "Fight me."

She tried to wake her body up with chakra but she was almost out. Still, she went in fast. She faked a jab with her left hand then quickly followed up with a high kick from her right foot. Her foot connected but then her grabbed her ankle and spun around, flinging her towards a tree.

Sakura tried to connect her feet to the tree, but her chakra failed to connect because her reserves were so low. She crashed to the ground, catching most of her weight on her elbows. She tried to push herself up onto her knees but her energy was gone and she couldn't get up again.

The cold metal of a blunted kunai was against her neck, a gentle mercy. "I yield," she grunted. It was the first thing she'd said since she'd been at the morgue and her voice was hoarse with disuse and exertion.

It took a moment to catch her breath. She stared at her hands for a moment before looking up. The reality of what she'd just done caught up with her and she cringed. Before she could even think of apologizing, she saw Sasuke's outstretched hand. She accepted it, letting him help her to her feet.

She thought about apologizing and then decided that getting her butt handed to her in the spar was sorry enough.

"Where did you learn to augment your strikes like that?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his sore jaw.

Sakura thought back to the fight. "I… didn't. I just did it."

"Hn."

Kakashi tutted loudly as they walked over to him. "Sakura, try not to use new techniques on your teammates. It could be dangerous. However, I am proud of you for utilizing that so quickly and succesively."

Sakura flushed a deep red. The only other time he'd complimented had been back in wave when she got to the top of the tree first. Even then, she'd known it was to goad the boys on. This was her first genuine compliment. What a shame to receive it in these circumstances.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan! I've never seen you fight like that. It was… impressive." Naruto gushed, his cheeks pink with admiration. Sakura didn't have the energy to be annoyed by his affection. She wondered how pathetic she had to be for her fit of rage to be confused with skill. She settled for nodding uncertainly.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Kakashi cleared his throat and sent Naruto to spar with Sasuke.

Both of them were all speed and power, though Sasuke was not keeping up with Naruto as well as he usually did. Sakura wondered if that was her fault or if Naruto was just extra punchy after all the close combat training he'd had recently. They hadn't sparred together since before the Chunnin exams.

As they spoke with their fists, Sakura could feel the adrenaline wearing off. She was exhausted and everything was beginning to hurt.

Kakashi stood next to her, silently watching the boys spar. After some time he spoke. "You really were impressive."

"Thank you, sensei."

A/N: Hey y'all! I haven't forgotten my other stuff. :) I'm finally back from being overseas and man it was great. I've read a lot of fanfiction over the years but I haven't come across this premise before. Anything similar has been a way to make us feel bad for Sakura or to make a Mary Sue version of her that isn't even really her anymore. I'd love to consider what it looks like for her to be in this position.

I really am wondering what it will look like. Will Sasuke stick around? Or will he inevitably leave anywaay, creating a bigger rift between the gang? Your guess is as a good as mine.