The One Night Henge

Chapter 3

The weather in Konoha was so beautiful this time of year. It was late September, the beginning of fall season. The sun was still shining but the bit of cool air they had made for great temperatures and beautiful scenery. In a few weeks, the leaves would start to turn. It was Saturday again and Sakura was strolling through the local market, stopping at little stands to look at trinkets and such.

One of the stands she passed by had a display of beautiful jewelry. Sakura didn't own much jewelry, she could never justify spending that kind of money on herself for no reason other than because she wanted to. She had always admired how Ino's boyfriends always bought her jewelry for special occasions.

She set her eyes on a necklace with a green pendant on a silver chain that seemed to match her eyes almost exactly. It really was a beautiful necklace but as usual Sakura talked herself out of getting it, by telling herself that the money could be used for more important things.

She sighed and made her way out of the market before she came across anything else to deny herself, she would be late to meet Ino if she didn't leave soon anyways. Meeting up with Ino always brought back memories of other friends too. Some were gone forever like Sasuke, some for a little while like Naruto and some weren't gone at all but might as well be like Kakashi.

As she walked she passed by Ichiraku Ramen, she thought back to the events that tore apart the original Team 7.

When the final battle of the war came, Naruto had faced off against Sasuke for the last time. Naruto, trying to protect the people and the home he loved. Sasuke had been one of those people but, motivated only by hate to destroy everything in his path, had been driven insane by the power of the Rinnegan.

It was just like the fight they had on the roof of the hospital in their Genin days. Only now they were a few years older and much more powerful. Naruto with his Rasenga and Sasuke with his Chidori, they had charged at each other at full speed. Sakura had tried standing between them in hopes of getting one or both of them to stop.

Kakashi had ran towards the three of them clearly intent on putting a stop to the fight. But to Sakura's surprise, instead of tackling one of the boys Kakashi had gone straight for her. Knocking her to the ground just before Naruto and Sasuke collided inburst of wind and lightning. Both hitting their mark in the center of each other's chest.

Both Naruto's and Sasuke's attacks caused fatal injuries to the other. Sakura couldn't save both of them and she had decided to save Naruto, knowing full well that she was essentially leaving Sasuke to die. Kakashi just sat there staring at the three of them wordlessly. Unbeknownst the three of them, he was silently berating and blaming himself for all that had happened.

It was a hard decision to make because Sasuke hadn't been evil; he'd just been lost. The weight of his death fell heavy on all three remaining members of Team 7, and they'd all taken different paths after they returned home.

Naruto had left the village again to once again throw himself into training.

He had felt like a failure for not being able to bring Sasuke back home alive. When he left, he had told Sakura that he needed to do this, that he could never accept the position as Hokage if he didn't. "How can I become Hokage and protect the whole village if I can't even save my best friend?" Naruto had told her, looking more defeated than she had ever seen him before.

That was two years ago. She often wondered when he would come back.

Sakura began working at the hospital full time. She didn't mind it—she preferred the hospital over field work. She had her fill of 'field experience' during the war, and she was happy to stay at the hospital to save lives rather than take them. She took missions when they required a highly skilled medic, but those were far and few between.