(A\N: Alright so...guess who's not dead? I'm very sorry for not updating this earlier but my last year of high school kicked my ass and then college proceeded to kick it even harder and then spit on it. I am. SO fucking tired. And barely have time for anything, so I really don't know when I'll be able to update again. I'll try my best to get another chapter soon, since I am a bit more free in April with spring break, but I make no promises. My schedule is a fucking mess, so I really don't know when I will be able to write again. But with that out of the way, here's the newest chapter, enjoy! )

Sakura laughed as she listened to Naruto tell them a joke. It's been a few hours since Karin's little crying session and now their little group was talking in their hospital room. Team 7 was scheduled to leave the hospital this afternoon as they were mostly healed. Sakura couldn't wait to get out and see her parents. They must be worried sick. She was surprised they didn't just barge in already and demanded to see their daughter. She hadn't spent as much time with them recently since she was always busy training and planning what to do with Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. But now that she was done with one snake, maybe she could spend more time with them. She already lost them in Pain's attack, she shouldn't waste the second chance she has. The pinkette was snapped out of her thoughts by Sasuke's voice.

"...I remember Shisui told me a joke once but I can only remember the punchline." said Sasuke. Sakura was surprised to hear him talk about his clan but she supposes her talk with him last night hit really close to home.

"What was the punchline?" asked Karin.

"...Eclipse it."

"How does the man in the moon get his hair cut?" said Sakura.

Sasuke looked at Sakura in surprise. "Yeah, that's it. It's been bothering me since the wave mission."

Everyone laughed at his admission, making Sasuke go red. They continued talking and telling jokes until a nurse entered the room.

"Sakura Haruno? Do you mind coming with us? There is something I would like to talk to you about." said the nurse. Sakura nodded and got out of bed to follow the nurse outside.

...

The occupants of the room stared at the door Sakura just left through. It was weird they wanted to talk to her now, but then again she was a med-nin. Maybe they needed her help on something.

"Why do you think that nurse asked for Sakura-chan?" said Naruto.

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows? They probably needed her for something. She always does complain about how short staffed this place is."

"I doubt they called her in for something like that. Sakura is still very chakra depleted so even if the hospital was as short staffed as she claims, they wouldn't risk giving her CCDS." said Karin.

"CCDS?" asked Naruto and Sasuke.

"Chronic Chakra Depletion Syndrome. It happens when you try to use large quantities of chakra when you're already depleted. It taps in the leftover chakra that remains in your body to keep you alive, the chakra pathways end up permanently damaged and can no longer function properly. As such the person ends up very sickly and weak, most often it leads to death. Its rare but it can still happen. It was most common on med-nins during the war. Since they were the only ones able to bypass the failsafe our bodies have builtin." said Karin. Naruto and Sasuke looked pale and Karin realized her mistake. "But I'm sure nothing like that will happen to Sakura, she's smart enough to know her limits and wouldn't do something like that."

"Karin is right boys. Out of all of us, I'm sure Sakura knows the repercussions of CCDS the most. She will be fine." said Kakashi.

And as if the universe wanted to prove him wrong, a heartbreaking screech was heard from outside. It quickly dissolved into sobs. Naruto and Sasuke jumped in the air, ready to run to the door, but Kakashi stopped them. He went outside to check on his student. Right before the door closed, Naruto, Karin and Sasuke got a glimpse of Sakura. The pinkette was crouched down, one of her hands was in her hair while the other touched her cheek, one of the most shattered expressions painted her face.

...

Kakashi crouched down next to his student and put his hand on her shoulder. A million scenarios ran through his head. What could have happened? Did she actually get CCDS? He doubts that fight could have drained her so much and Sakura is smarter than that but still. He was worried. He already failed Rin, someone who Sakura reminded him of way too much, he couldn't fail her too. If it truly was CCDS then he will personally drag Tsunade back to the village and force her to develop a cure for his student. He will not let her go down like this. Or ever really. He is more than ready to fight the Sage of Six Paths for his kids.

"What happened?" he asked the nurse harshly.

The nurse flinched at his tone. "I...I was told to ask her to come to the morgue to identify the bodies. I didn't- I didn't know nobody told her that her parents were dead-" another wail broke out of Sakura at the nurse's words and Kakashi glared back.

"Would it kill you to have more tact?" said Kakashi before turning to his student in a softer tone. "Come on Sakura, you don't have to see them right now, we can just-"

"No." said Sakura in a tone that felt far more steadier than she looked. "No, I need to...I need to see this for myself."

Kakashi sighed. "Alright, let's get to it then." Kakashi helped Sakura get up and kept an arm around her shoulders to force her against his side. One of Sakura's hands shot up and gripped his flak jacket tightly. The nurse, who Kakashi was 100% reporting to the head of the hospital for her terrible bedside manner, led them to the morgue in relative silence that was broken occasionally by Sakura's sniffs. She led them inside a room where two bodies were stationed, covered by a white cloth.

"Right, this is them. We haven't done an autopsy yet so you may identify them easily-" at Kakashi's murderous glare the nurse shut up immediately and lifted the covers. Sakura sucked in a breath as she stared at the bodies of her parents. They both appeared to have been crushed by falling debris.

"Mama...Papa..." said Sakura in a way that sounded more like a sob.

The nurse nodded. "I see. Thank you for identifying them, now can you sign he-"

But Sakura wasn't listening anymore, she broke away from Kakashi and ran out of the hospital like the Raikage was at her heels.

...

Sakura ran. She ran away because she didn't know how to deal with this. She ran because she was a coward and didn't know to deal with the consequences of her actions. So she ran. She ran far, far away from the hospital and didn't stop until she was inside training ground 22, the place where Tsunade trained her most often.

This is all my fault. They were perfectly fine last time because they weren't even near the arena. But now- Now that I advanced to the last round they came to cheer me on and paid the price. I should have known better. I should have just let Kankurō beat me to a pulp instead...Now they're dead and it's all my fault!

Once she reached the middle of a clearing, Sakura let out a roar filled with pain and grief. Then she punched the ground and created a huge crater, before proceeding to uproot every single tree in her vicinity. Then she took one of said trees and proceed to hit the ground with it until it was nothing but splinters. Ran fifty laps around the training ground before coming back to the crater and punching in the same spot until it created a hole deep and wide enough to fit all of the uprooted trees in it before blowing a Great Fireball so huge it would have made Madara Uchiha proud. Then she released a Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu into the pile of smoldering flames and proceeded to punch the remainder of the trees into oblivion. Then she jumped out of the hole, ran to the nearest tree she could find, uprooting it, throwing it in the hole and then laid down on the grass and proceeded to cry her heart out as she had no more chakra to work with.

She remained there on the grass crying until Kakashi found her. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was her sensei peering down at her.

(A\N: Ok, so I promise, I didn't just kill Sakura's parents for the angst points. This was made to showcase the butterfly effect and it ties down to one of the major plot points that will come in later in this story. Everything I write has a reason my dear readers.)