These pictures are made by Lady GT unless said otherwise.
For me this story was about growing up. Putting away childish things, giving up on Utopian ideals, and ultimately protecting the things that truly mean something in this world.
NS makes sense because it's not love at first sight. This wasn't easy for either of them, it was something that had to develop and build on it's own over time. It started as many things do as Naruto being physically attracted to Sakura. Which lead to him chasing after her, and her rejecting him. Eventually though they became co-workers, which meant obviously they were going to spend more time together. This time they had together developed into a genuine friendship. Which was then test by the challenge of the betrayal of one of their own. This failure brought them closer together though, as they began to have feelings that only made sense to them, which in this case was facing the challenge of seeing a person they both cared about turn evil. The more they tried to save and defend him, the further cutoff they became to the rest of their peers. Which brought them even closer together, which of course developed at time into light flirting, and eventually best freindom between to the two. Eventually they became so important to each other they they both became scared of the idea of losing the other the same way they both lost Sasuke. (Canon wise this was the height of the relationship. I'm reminded of Sakura crying for Naruto to stop fighting so hard and her saying she'd bring back Sasuke for him!)
Now as two best friends who never wanted to lose the one at the expense of the others, they began to fight more for each other. At this point in the journey they aren't sure if they are really fighting to save Sasuke or if it's to stop Sasuke from hurting the other. Challenge after challenge presents themselves, and they continue to face them together over coming each new challenge with the strength of the other beside them. Then for a moment the joking of best friendom slips a bit, and we see something beyond it develop. Which is what should have happened when Naruto came back from Pain and Sakura took him into his her arms in front of the entire village for all to see. At this moment two hearts took the risk of admitting something that was happening between them, and took those first few steps on the path of true love. Afraid, uncertain what to do, but just happy to know that they are in each others lives they continue on their journey.
This isn't a time for long poems, diamond rings, and wedding shopping. This is the time of simple dates, and state fairs. Those few special moments where Naruto and Sakura can forget for a moment that they are warriors, and instead can just be two people with each other. A time far to short because..... (and now we break from canon)
Sasuke returns. The man who originally brought them together is now threatening to completely drive them apart. Threw his actions both of them are forced to deal with the realities of their situation. They are both soldiers in an army trying to defend a terrorist from himself, as he continues to destroy the people, nation and world they love and defend. Even worse, his actions are bringing the other closer and closer to the end of their lives every time they clash. Both Naruto and Sakura face Sasuke alone, and in their own way attempt to bring him from the darkness.
Naruto tries to remind him of the man he was.
Sakura tries to speak to the man she loved, and who she thought he'd be.
Both are forced to face the reality though of the man Sasuke IS. He is a person who will not change, is in complete control of his action, and his one desire is to destroy the system that lead to the genocidal slaughter of his family. No quarter given. None received.
Naruto and Sakura are now faced with the reality of this world. Sasuke will not becoming home. Team 7 will not be coming back. Hatred is blinding him, and he is destroying the innocent lives of people who had nothing to do with the Uchiha Massacre. They can no longer ignore it, Sasuke must die if peace can live again.
Sakura is the one to decide this course first. Knowing that Naruto is to idealistic to see sense, she has to make up her mind about what matters to her. What does she love? What is she living for? What is worth fighting for? What is worth killing for? What is worth dying for? After a ninja named Karui beats up Naruto because he refuses to give up on Sasuke, she steps in and defends the man she loves.
Knowing the arrogance of Sasuke she comes up with a plan that uses his disdain for her, and her talents to her advantage. She's fought a poison master before, Sasori, and she's learned the lesson the he taught. Working with Ino, she begins to gather the ingredients required to make the legendary poison to finally put Sasuke down so he won't hurt himself or anyone else again. At first Ino just thinks they are working on Sasori's poison in order to create more antidotes, but as time goes by Ino begins to feel like something else is really going on. And then Sakura ask her for something that she never thought would happen.
"Would you like to go out tonight with Naruto, Sai, and Me? There's something I need to talk to Naruto about."
Ino of course starts to tease her a bit, and Sakura denies she is falling for Naruto, but she still wants Ino to eventually go her separate way with Sai so Naruto and her can be alone. Ino reluctantly agrees, but feels a bit off about the whole situation.
During the date Naruto is his same silly self, and Sai calls Ino ugly again. Eventually though after Ino and Sai disappear from each other Naruto and Sakura begin talking.
"Naruto?" She says looking down at the ground nervously for a moment.
"Wha.... what is it Sakura-cahn?"
"What I'm about to do you can never talk about again. After this moment in time, it's going to be like it never happened. But for a few... moments... I.... just..."
Without saying a word she then slowly looks up at him, and the two share a first kiss. Quitely, gently, a bit of hunger behind them both but both unwillingly to truly explore it any further. A bit of fear, and in the mind of Sakura perhaps a simple Goodbye if she fails.
Well Naruto is having exciting dreams about kissing Sakura, Sakura is making plans. After looking in on her sleeping parents for a moment, she then gathers her weapons and poisons, before finally looking one final time upon the picture of Team 7. Tears slowly begin to run down her face, she tries to brush them aside but then just allows herself a few moments. Her finger runs slowly against her own image, then it slowly moves over towards Sasuke, before finally resting on the image of the stupid knucklehead. She catches herself laughing at him for a moment, always so jealous. He was always ruining her love life.
As she goes outside she meets up with Shikamaru , Kiba, and Rock Lee. Her conspirators. Shikamaru ask her off handed how Naruto feels about this, and she responds that he doesn't know about it, but he will be safe and that's what matters. Rock Lee ask if they are sure they were ready to do this, and Kiba says it needs to be done. Sakura shakes her head yes and agreement, and Shikamaru smiles and says "Here's the plan."
Catching up to Sasuke a few days later, Sakura makes her move against him. At first she simply tries to speak to him.
"So Sasuke-Kun are you ready to come back?" She ask half jokingly, half hoping that he will just come home and end this nightmare.
"What are you doing her little girl? Still following me around?"
"Yeah. Seems to be my destiny in life. To keep chasing you over and over. First to simply get you home to win your heart, now to stop you and protect what I care about."
"Still pretending we're going to end up together? Surrounded by a white picket fence with a kid? You, me, love dovey, playing house?" Sasuke shows his hand covered in the blood of a recent enemy. "Is that what you want? Your a annoying little girl."
"Yeah. That's all I ever wanted. I wanted to show you that you didn't need to live in the darkness, that their was more to this world then that. That their is a lightness to this all, that we aren't the worst aspects of our personality. That we can change."
"Oh I've changed alright. Day by day I grow stronger, hour by hour I get closer to Itachi. Soon he will be under my blade, and then I will take your precious village and destroy every clan one by one. Just like the Leaf did to the Uchiha. And not just the Ninjas, but the women, the old, and the children. They will all die by my hand, and they will see the truth. The Leaf will pay for what they did to my family." Sasuke then points his sword towards Sakura. "Your pink little head will make a good trophy. I can send it to that brat, tell him I'm coming for him. The Foxes power will be mine. Itachi will die, and this world will never forget the Uchiha name. We were the choosen ones, and I will make this world remember that."
"You won't lay ONE FINGER ON NARUTO!"
The battle then commences. Sakura using a style similar to how Sasori fought, using weapons covered in his poisons. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Rock Lee also try to help but in the end they slowly one by one get beaten back, till all this is left is a beaten Sakura, and a Sasuke who still hasn't been scratched.
Sakura looks around seeing the weakened state of her allies, and tears begin to fill her eyes.
"Going to start crying again? Do you want a kiss before I kill you? It would only be fair since it's what you always wanted." Sasuke says.
"A kiss? Yes. That's what I want above all else. Please just one little kiss Sasuke-kun."
She gets a bit closer to him as he draws his blade. As she walks closer her mind flashes images of her life to her. Her time as a toddler with her parents, her time as a kid with Ino, the way she lovingly used to stare at Sasuke in school, meeting her friends, and then Naruto. The stupid knucklehead Naruto always screwing things up for her. Always getting in the way of her love life. Naruto... the idiot. The fool. The underachiever. The dreamer. The man she loves.
The memory of his lips against her flashes into her mind as she feels the sword pierce her abdomen. She opens her eyes up as Sasuke's crazy stare, and maniacal laughter is infront of her.
"You stupid woman!"
It's then that he realizes it. Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation has finally got him. He can't move, but Shikamaru won't last long, the beating he had taken before already having pushed him to almost complete exhaustion. The sword still inside her abdomen she gets one final look at the boy she first feel in love with. He was completely mad. So much darkness, so much evil, so consumed by the desire for revenge. Even his beauty was tarnished now.
"I'm sorry....."
Sasuke angrily snaps at her "Don't apologize to me woman!"
"...Naruto."
Her hand release the shrunken as it flies threw the air towards him. It plunges into his shoulder. A direct hit. The poison begins to work threw Sasuke's veins well Shikamaru slowly begins to lose control. Sakura slowly starts falling down to the ground Sasuke's sword still piercing her.
"Please.... be safe....Naruto...." Is the last thing she thinks as she passes out.
"SASUKE!!!!!!!" Naruto arrives on the scene! Along with Kakashi, Ino, Yamato, Sai, and Lady Tsunade.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SAKURA!" Tears begin to fill his eyes. With every step he moves towards him the beast within seems to ooze out of him. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR TEAM MATE!!!!"
Obito/Tobi and White Zetsu soon show up standing next to Sasuke, who seems excited to see Naruto.
"Come to save me to have you Naruto? And you brought Kakashi! And that reject you tired replacing me with. Oh and look at this... The Hokage herself. Your to kind to me Naruto."
"Why!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!?!"
Obitio/Tobi injects Sasuke with something presumably an antidote. Although how he knows what's going on exactly is only hinted at. Sasuke brushes him aside though, removes the shiruken stuck in his shoulder and holds it in his hand.
"She came all this way for a kiss. So I gave her one. One she'd never forget." Sasuke says with a laugh.
"IF YOU HURT HER....."
"If? If? IF?!?!?!?! HAHAHAHA!! If he say. If he ask! Poor Naruto. You see Tobi he still doesn't get it. There is no IF here. I killed her. She died by my hand. Like all you Leaf bastards will for what you did. What you did to me. To my parents, to my family! THEY DIED SO YOU ALL WOULD LIVE! Well now it's time for you to pay back the price for that injury, and I'm the only Uchiha who has the right to collect. And Sakura isn't worth even a quarter of an Uchiha warrior."
"SAKURA LOVES YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER?!?!?"
"It was easy. She didn't even try to dodge it. I guess she wanted to make sure she'd hit me with that poison of hers. But you know what really was funny? The last thing she said. I figured it would be some "I love you Sasuke" crap like normal, but no not this time. Can you guess what she said? No? How about you Ino?"
Past Naruto, Ino and Lady Tsunade are working on Sakura the best they can. Yamato is looking at the injuried three boys, well Kakashi looks like he is about to attack at any moment. Ino looks at Sasuke for a moment tears coming down, and Lady Tsunade removes the blade from Sakura's stomach. Blood begins to flow from her to the ground bellow. Ino and Tsunade keep working as Sasuke starts talking again.
"To busy to talk are we Ino? That's ok. I'll hear your screams in a moment when I'm done with this idiot. What she said was "I'm sorry." Can you believe that?"
"Of course she's sorry." Naruto mumbles the Fox's power seeping out of him as he talks. "She loves you! She wanted to save you! She didn't want this!"
"Oh. Oh this is classic. You think so do you?" Sasuke points the shuriken towards Naruto. "It was you she was apologizing too. Not me. It seems, she felt that she had somehow failed you. And do you know what Naruto? She did."
"SASUKE!!!" Naruto starts running towards him, well Sasuke smiles with anticipation. Suddenly Tobi appear between them grabs Sasuke and drags him away well Zetsu stands in front of Naruto.
Tobi tells the swearing Sasuke that now is not the time to fight. Mentioning something about Itachi, well he drags the blood thirsty Sasuke away from the battlefield.
"Calm down Naruto." Kakashi says as he places his hand on Naruto's shoulder. But it doesn't do much to calm him down. Yamato seems to get ready to act but it's not needed. Lady Tsunade has done it, Sakura is back from her injury. And the first word out of her mouth is:
"Naruto...."
The fox disappears, seemingly forced back into Naruto's body as his senses return to him. He turns back to her and leans down towards her as rain starts to fall.
"She's hurt still, but she'll be alright. Had Ino not figured out what was going on, and had we been a minute later.... well I don't want to think about it." The Hokage says and Naruto leans down by her.
"Naruto..... I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry.... I know I said I'd bring him back to you, but we can't keep pretending. We can't.... We can't...."
As Naruto cups her face into his hand, she slowly starts passing out again. Tsunade pulls him up.
"If you want to help her now, get her back to the village. She's lost a lot of blood."
"Granny?"
"Yes?"
"You better save her. Do you hear me?"
"Count on it."
Continued in Part Two.
