Making it Better

Again

Who said that the world could only be pink, gray, black or white? Because he was wrong. All I see is red. Blood and corpses splattered everywhere. The aftermath of a war neither side were able to win. Loneliness is the only thing I can feel. I already cried until my eyes ran dry.

The wind playfully plays with my pink hair, trying to make me smile like I once did. I haven't smiled in a while.

I look around, and stand up from where I had remained unmoving for the past few hours. Swallowing a soldier pill, I start to recollect my friend's bodies. When I'm done, I bury them all. All but fifteen. Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Tenten, Lee, Neji, Yamato, Kakashi and Gaara.

Taking a deep breath, I crystalize the air around them, making beautiful graves with their names engraved. To my right, while the sky cries for me, the water crystalizes and makes a memorial stone; much like the one in Team Seven's training grounds, with each of the fallen shinobi's names. KIA. Killed in the Fourth Shinobi War.

A sad smile crosses my face as I turn to look at my friend's graves, each one with a little symbol just under the name.

Namikase-Uzumaki Naruto

Konoha's symbol.

Only one person deserved to be Hokage, Naruto deserved to accomplish his dream.

Uchiha Sasuke

The "Home" kanji.

After searching for him, begging him to return home, he made us realize, that his friends were his home.

Sai

The kanji for "Emotions".

In the end, no-one could take them from him.

Nara Shikamaru

A cloud.

Because he always wanted to be free like one.

Yamanaka Ino

A flower in full bloom.

Because she bloomed, and left her behind, even though she never thought she did.

Akimichi Chouji

A butterfly.

A deadly one, that learned to see his true beauty.*1

Hyuuga Hinata

An open cage.

Caged but free, she learnt to be strong for herself.

Aburame Shino

The "Friend" kanji.

Because no-one ever thought that he would help them, until he did.

Inuzuka Kiba

Akamaru

Always loyal to his friends as Akamaru was loyal to him, until the end.

Ama Tenten

A kunai.

Kunais serve their masters, but can also cut them, Tenten chose to follow her friends, and protect them with her sharpness.

Rock Lee

Youth.

He always believed in his friend's youth, and Gai did too, because your youth is the time of your life you're supposed to live to the fullest, and he made sure of that.

Hyuuga Neji

A bird perched on a branch.

Being from the branch family, he learned to fly away from them, right to his friends' awaiting hands.

Yamato

A tree.

Because he was as strong as one, and learned that his roots were his family.

Hatake Kakashi

The kanji for "Team".

He lost them once, and he died hoping that he didn't have to lose the second one.

Sabaku no Gaara

A heart.

The universal sign for "Love". His heart had been broken, but he could fix it in time.

Looking away towards the rising sun, its warmth little by little brightening the world, I hear a voice next to me. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Shocked, I notice a woman right beside me, her voice ethereal, as if she was an Angel. She turned and smiled at me, then continued talking. "Sakura, my dear, you've had a harsh life, a life that wasn't supposed to be like that. I go by the name Tenshi, and I am a goddess; I have control over time and space, and everything in between. I'm here to offer you a chance to change your life, so you and your friends live like they were supposed to. I know of your harsh past, of all your suffering, and I am giving you a chance to make it better. Now my child, I can let you change one event in the past, at the sake of risking changing your life as a child."

Only one event, that was too little. I found my voice and as bravely as I could, asked "Can't it be more than one event?" She smiled sadly at me, as if she knew that I was going to ask that. "Yes my child, it can be more than one; however, you need to understand something: if that event will make other people happy, it will have to make you experience something sad in order for balance to be present. Do you still want to change something else?" I nodded. "Then, I'll let you choose your experience, but you need to tell me what do you want to change." I took a deep breath before answering "I feel that if Naruto's parents lived after the attack, and if Kakashi-sensei's teammates lived, life would have been easier, so, in order to make that happen, I think that it would be fair if nightmares plagued my dreams every night, never allowing me to peacefully sleep." Her eyes widened a bit, before she frowned. "You really want to make them happy, don't you?" I didn't have to answer. She sighed, determination shining in her beautiful blue eyes. "Very well, as a little extra help, I'll allow you to bring two persons with you, but let me tell you, that what you have chosen to experience is too much for two events, so tell, if I am correct in guessing, you would wish for your significant other's father to live, don't you?" My jaw dropped to the floor, this was far more than what I was expecting, and I could take someone with me¡ "Thank you¡ how can I repay you?" "There is no need for payback my child, just the persons you want to take with you. I assure you, I will explain them all about this." Without thinking I just told her "Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru."

Then, everything faded to black.

I woke up to light, and to two boys hugging the life out of me.

"Sakura¡ you're awake. Thank God." The voice sounded awfully similar to Neji's, but he was dead.

"Troublesome woman, stop scaring us like that." And that one was Shikamaru's, but, he's also dead.

Am I dreaming? Wait, why did they sound so, childish?

Then and there, everything came back to me, the war, the graves, Tenshi, everything. So, Neji and Shikamaru, and everyone, they're fine, alive. I pull them both into a hug, and start crying tears of joy.