A/N: Okay! For those of you who don't know (which is all of you) this is my first fanfiction ever. Please help wherever you see fit, but please don't be too harsh, either. Much love! Here's to chapter one!

Wiping her brow, Haruno Sakura placed the palms of her hands on her bent knees, allowing herself a moment to breathe. Although Sakura was tired, she knew she shouldn't take a break...there was too much she had to get done...too much she had yet to accomplish in today's training. She had been training since before sunrise, as per usual, but her best friend, Uzumaki Naruto, had stopped her around lunch time to eat with him and spar after. As she stood straight once again, she looked around the ground where they had trained together. It was mostly torn to bits, little pieces of earth and bark scattered around the field, trees snapped in half no thanks to her super human strength.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto breathed loudly. "Can we please stop? The sun is setting and I'm starving. You know I can't fight on an empty stomach!"

Sakura giggled at Naruto's whining. She was quite hungry herself, but she couldn't stop now. No, Naruto to could stop now and start again tomorrow, but Naruto exceeded Sakura in skill. Naruto didn't have to worry about being better because he already was. She would not deny that she had grown in the past seven years immensely; she was a member of the ANBU along with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei and surpassed many of the shinobi her age. But, Sakura would not stop until she reached her goal...she would not be the weakest member of the team any longer - she'd just have to eat later.

"You can go, Naruto," Sakura stated. Naruto looked at her wide-eyed and frowned, looking down at the ground and bunching his hands into fists. "You don't need to keep doing this to yourself, you know? They-"

"They are gone, Naruto. I know they can't see me now. But I could have saved them. I could have cured them, but I was too weak and they died. I need to be stronger... I can't let anyone else die from my lack of strength," Sakura stated. Naruto, having heard this story many times before, was becoming annoyed. "Yeah?! Well, that doesn't mean you have to kill yourself training so hard!" he yelled in exasperation.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Sakura enquired. "If I become strong enough, I can bring them to justice. But I'm not strong enough - not yet. I have to work harder everyday to achieve this goal, and if I am to die trying, then so be it." There was a silence that filled the air after she spoke. She didn't notice how tense her body was until she saw blood trickling down her arms from digging her nails so far into her palms.

The sandals on the pavement made a soft 'tap'-ing noise as the young kunoichi ran around the village. It was just before sunrise, and she wanted to find Naruto fast before they were to meet Kakashi-sensei for training. A cloud of dust and dirt formed around her as she skid to a fast hault in front of his apartment. Quietly, so she wouldn't wake any of his neighbors, she walked to the front door and rattled the doorknob - unlocked as usual. Stupid idiot thinks just because he's a ninja that he shouldn't lock his door anymore, her inner personality seethed, but all Sakura could do was smile.

Naruto had been her hero in the last year. He had been gone for two, and though they had both grown in his absence, he gave her the strength and the motivation to become even stronger and she admired him for that more than he could ever understand. She looked up to him and loved him like she would someone in her own family. He had been there through the hard times. Times where she would do nothing but cry on his shoulder, times whenever she would take her anger out on him for not keeping his promise. 'What a fool I am to think he could control someone else's decisions,' she thought to herself. And because of that, today (marking one year since Naruto had come back to Konoha), Sakura was going to honor him and show him how appreciated he was.

She tip-toed inside his apartment and closed the door silently, using her ninja stealth to quietly cross his apartment until she stopped in front of his room. Sakura rolled her eyes when she found Naruto sleeping. He was always such a loud sleeper - and a very...messy? one at that. As she walked to his bed, she made a mental note of the time. She had five minutes until sunrise, that was barely enough. She had to hurry.

"NARUTO! WAKE UP!" she screamed as she jumped on his bed and started shaking him. After yelling and falling off of the bed, Naruto started charging at Sakura before he was awake enough to recognize who she was. He relaxed his body, but soon tensed it up again. "Hey! Who do you think you are barging in someone's house at hours like this anyway?!" He yelled. Sakura couldn't help but giggle, "It was hardly barging. Maybe it'll teach you to keep your door locked. Anything could happen while you're sleeping - you're too vulnerable." Naruto looked away and pouted. He hated whenever she was right. What'd she come here for anyway?! Didn't she know a ninja like him needed a full night's sleep?

"Come with me," Sakura stated. Confused, Naruto just sat still for a minute until Sakura pulled on his arm. "'Come with me,' I said!" Yanking him forward with one arm, she used the other to unhatch the window, and after letting go, she let Naruto follow suit jumping on the roof. "What are we doing here?" He asked, still very confused. 'First, she comes in my house and wakes me up, then she lectures me, and now what does she have planned?!' he thought to himself. "Look at the sky, Naruto," she stated flatly.

When he looked up, he saw the most amazing array of colors. The top of the sky was still a dark blue, almost black, from light not yet having reached it. The bottom half of the sky down to the horizon was a splash of light blues, pinks, oranges, and a small circle of yellow that poked out just as the sun started to ascend over the village. Naruto's jaw dropped at the beauty. Everyone was in their slumber right now, almost awake to start the day of work, but right now was a moment of quiet. He closed his mouth and his eyes as he took in a deep breath. He now knew why this was so important for Sakura to share with him, because this was the most beautiful memory Naruto could think to possess. The sky was beautiful, and the world was quiet and at peace.

"Today marks one year to the day since you've been back," Sakura broke through the silence. When Naruto looked at her quizzically, she held up a finger and continued. "My life before you came back was dark and empty. Sure, there were stars that shone through, but they couldn't take away the darkness...they just added beauty to it. And then you came back, and when you did, you gave light to the darkness and made the sky beautiful again and you took away the darkness, slowly but surely." Sakura turned to her tan, whisker-faced friend as a smile spread across his face. " You saved me. You are my sun, Naruto."

"Please, Sakura-chan." Emerald eyes met crystal blue ones when Sakura was snapped out of her memory as a calloused hand was placed on her shoulder. "Just for tonight...for memory's sake." She grabbed Naruto's hand and smiled. She shouldn't have rejected his offer the first time, she knew she could never say no to him anymore - not after all he had done for her. "I would be more than glad to accompany you to dinner, Naruto."

Sakura had just arrived back from a mission two days prior and was on her way to the hokage's office to turn in her mission report. It was the most beautiful day she had experienced in awhile, so she took this time to wander around the village in the shops and decided to stop by and visit Ino before she made her way to see the Hokage.

As she walked out of the flower shop, she heard Yamanako Ino yell her final farewell to her for the day. She rolled her eyes as she heard the infamous nickname "Forehead" again. She hated that name, but she knew Ino meant well by it. They had been rivals growing up, but they used the nicknames as a way of making fun of it now. Now that certain people were gone, there was no need for cat-fights anymore. Sakura smiled to herself as she realized how much she had grown in the past four years since that day. 'I've matured well. I don't need him anymore,' she thought to herself. 'That was almost believable,' Inner Sakura grumbled.

"Sakura-chan."

"Mm?" She turned around to see Naruto standing in front of her, but for some reason, he wasn't looking as he usually did. He wasn't wearing the wide grin he had always worn and he didn't jump ecstatically at the sight of Sakura. She knew something was off about him, but Naruto was the kind of person who would bring it up on his own if it bothered him enough, so she decided not to say anything about whatever it may be.

"Oi, Naruto! I was just on my way to see Tsunade-sama to give her my mission report. Perhaps you'd like to come with me?" Sakura's eyebrows came together in confusion when Naruto flinched at her words, but still, she kept quiet. "Of course I'll go with you, Sakura-chan. You know I'll always be with you, dattebayo," Naruto said in a serious tone. He walked next to Sakura and embraced her, then started on his way to the Hokage's office with his head down and his hands in his pockets. The entire walk there was silent, and Naruto wouldn't look up from the ground, even upon entering the Hokage's office. Whatever was wrong with him must have really been bugging him...

When Sakura walked in the room she was confused at the sight of Kakashi-sensei, but figured he was just turning in his mission report, as well. "Tsunade-shishou," Sakura greeted as she bowed. "I have my mission report for you."

The Godaime stood and took the report from her and Sakura noticed her shoulders were slumped and her eyes were tear-stained. Wait, now that she looked at Kakashi-sensei, he looked awfully sulky today, too.

"What's going on Shishou?"

"Sakura, have a seat," Tsunade choked. Sakura sat down in a chair in front of her mentor silently, but in her head was war. Thoughts in her mind battling with each other, wondering which one might be the reason for everyone's mood. What could have happened that made everyone around her so melancholy? They had passed their A-Rank mission, shouldn't that be enough reason to be happy? They were all alive and well...

"I had sent Naruto to come get you, but I see that you came on your own. Tell me, Sakura, how was your mis-"

"Tsunade-baa-chan, with all due respect, I think you need to cut the casualities and just tell her what's going on," Naruto interrupted. Usually she would beat him over the head for the disrespectful name and interruption, but today she just closed her eyes and nodded. That worried Sakura. It told her there really was something wrong.

"Sakura, when you got back from your mission, your parents were still in the hospital," Tsunade spoke out. It sounded like it was meant to be a question, but Sakura knew it was a statement. "Yes, Tsunade-sama, but they've been in the hospital for months. What's..."

Sakura's eyes widened as reality struck her. She knew what her shishou was about to tell her, but she didn't want to believe it. "No..."

Naruto walked behind Sakura and put his hand on her shoulder. "Yesterday, when going to check on your parents, the nurse could find no pulse or breath." Tsunade's voice cracked and a tear streamed down her cheek. She hated this part of her job. As she looked into the eyes of her beloved apprentice, one she considered her own daughter, and told her of her deceased parents, she was reminded just how many reasons she had to loath such a postion of power.

"But they were getting healthier. I don't understand..."

"Your parents were pronounced dead yesterday, Sakura. I'm sorry... I did everything I could. I tried my best. I did everything I knew how to do when a situation like this occurs, but there was nothing else I could do to bring them back."

Sakura's lip quivered and her whole body shook, but she wouldn't cry. She wasn't weak anymore, she was a shinobi, and real, strong ninja did not show emotions. She was sure this was no exception. "I see," was all she could croak out without crying. Hatake Kakashi stood to his feet and walked gracefully over to Sakura just as Naruto was pulling her up by her shoulders. "What a cruel world we live in. What terrible rules we teach to the people not to cry or show any emotion because that's not what a real shinobi does: shinobi must be strong," he turned to look at her, his one uncovered eye looking solemnly into her glossy jade eyes. "Anyone can hide their emotions, Sakura. It takes a strong person to show their true self to those they love." And with that last sentence, she finally let go, just like he knew she would.

Tears streamed down her face, sobs ripped from her throat and her body shook uncontrollably as Naruto held her closer than he ever had before. His shirt was soaked from her sorrow, his eyes tear stained and hallow. 'How could I let this happen?' She thought to herself. Her knees had buckled beneath her and had it not been for Naruto's hold on her, Sakura would have doubled over in the fetal position.

'Weak...'

"I... can't... believe this..." she choked between sobs.

'You could have saved them...'

"Sakura-chan, I am so sorry..." was all that Naruto could say. He knew what is was like to be lonely. He lived in absolute lonliness everyday of his life, and his bubble-gum haired friend had helped him on the days when that lonlieness was the worst. But he didn't know the feeling of losing a loved one to death. Sure, there was that time when a certain team member left...but that couldn't be anything compared to this.

'You were too weak to save them...'

As she walked with Naruto to Ichiraku's ramen stand, she heard him talking about the mission he would be leaving on soon and how excited he was. She was lucky, she thought, at that point to have two personalities: one listening to Naruto ramble while the other was stuck deep in thought.

Sakura stopped as she looked up at the sky. It was a dark blue, black color with whisps of the occasional cloud floating by, but all Sakura could notice was the beautiful pale yellow, full moon. A breeze swept across them, picking up sand with it in a cloud, blowing her waist-length hair all around her body, but Sakura didn't notice. She didn't notice Naruto's puzzled gaze in her direction at her sudden stop, and she didn't notice the way her hands clenched into fists.

"That day, Naruto," she began, still looking at the moon. "That day changed my life forever. I will not be the same kunoichi you used to know. I have to become stronger. I refuse to be weak anymore."

He lay awake looking up into the pitch blackness of his quaters. His life goal had already been accomplished, and yet he was feeling heavy-hearted, full of regret. Though he couldn't see anything in the dark abyss, Uchiha Sasuke held his hands just close enough to his face to see their shaking silhouettes, eyes wide in terror. There was no visable blood present, but the stench was forever engraved into his nose, into his memory. Memories of a bloody smile and broken, tremling fingers poking his forehead for the very last time. Uchiha Itachi had tried to protect him, but Sasuke had done it: he had killed his own kin, his own blood. He had ended the very life of the person that he had most looked up to all of those years as a child, he had silenced the voice of the person he loved most. He couldn't take it back, he couldn't undo the things he had done and the decisions he had made.

'But, regardless of reason, he still killed the entire clan. That's a worthy cause of death.' Sasuke thought to himself. But he knew that what he had done would truly follow him for the rest of his life. There would be a lifetime of sleepless nights. Constant memories of happier times and the memory of the day he killed his brother would forever haunt him; he wasn't convinced that even death would stop this deep rooted seed of regret.

'You are an avenger.' His mind played over and over. But that did not ease the pain, and he knew it never quite would. His mother and father, all of his aunts and uncles, never would have wanted this to happen. They always taught about forgiveness. They would never have wanted Sasuke to live the life he was now: an S-ranked criminal in the bingo book with so much blood on his hands he could almost taste it. But what had been done had been done, and he couldn't take it back. Where was he to go now? Everything he'd ever wanted in life had been finished and he felt even emptier than when he'd first started. What Sasuke needed was to start life all over, he decided.

But, what was he to do now? His only other life goal was to revive his clan, but he wasn't the affectionate type. He didn't know much about women, because he'd skipped that phase of being obsessed with them when he was too worried about avenging his clan. The only thing he knew about women, really, was how to get them pregnant. But how was he supposed to do that now? He'd never even been in a relationship with a woman, hell, he'd never even kissed a woman. The new heir of the Uchiha clan needed to be a worthy ninja in battle, and for that to happen, the mother of the child needed to be a worthy enough candidate. He wished his mother was here to help him pick the right woman for him, if there was even one out there at all. He didn't deserve love at this point, and he was almost okay with the thought of just letting the clan die out once he had taken his last breath. How would he share this with someone else? All of this hurt and agony, all of these life choices that he couldn't explain. Nobody could understand him even if they tried.

His mind flashed to a place that he'd long put to rest, and usually he would push the thought from his mind the instant it came up, but tonight he didn't stop himself.

He closed his eyes as he let his mind wander at the thought of his home back in Konohagakure. He thought of the days he had spent there with Itachi. He thought of times when they would walk around the village on sunny days when it was nice to avoid going home to their father. Thoughts of his mother's smile were ever present in his imagination. If he focused really hard, he noticed he could remeber what she smelled like, or the way her arms felt as they tightly embraced him. He could hear his father's stern but loving voice when he was training Sasuke to become a shinobi, and with all of these memories came a lump in his throat. He missed when life was easy and he wished for just one second that he could hear from his mother and father for one last time and remind them just how much he cared for them. Suddenly, a song long forgotten popped into his endlessly wandering mind. It was the song his mother had written for him and had sang to him every night when he was a child, and at the memory of this, Sasuke found enough calm in the storm to lull himself to sleep at the sound of his mother's voice.

Sasuke rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as his eternal clock awoke him. It was just before sunrise, which meant the rest of team Hebi was sleeping. If he went now they wouldn't see him leaving. This was the perfect time. He grabbed his pack and shoved a couple of items in there that he'd set aside whenever he awoke in the middle of the night. As he opened up his window, he took one last look around his room to make sure he'd grabbed everything. He was about to close the window when he paused and suddenly remembered what he had forgotton. The Uchiha dashed to a small cabinet that he kept next to his futon, taking a key out of his pocket, he hurredly unlocked the cabinet, taking all of its contents and putting them neatly into his bag. As he was locking the cabinet, he heard a noise that sounded like footsteps down the hall. As quietly as he could, so that he would not cause any suspisions to arise, the raven-haired shinobi locked the cabinet and ran with incredible speed out of the window, shutting it as silently as possible.

And then he ran. He didn't know where he was running to, or how long he was going to be running. All he knew is it would be long enough for him to come up with a plan; long enough for him to figure out a way live with a purpose. He needed a purpose.

The day had gone by a lot faster than Sasuke thought it would have, and he was surprised that team Hebi hadn't found him yet. He had been masking his chakra, but doing that took chakra, and doing so all day wore him out. The sky was black with stars gleaming across its entire expansion and crickets chirping could be heard in between Sasuke's breaths. The moon shown on his face as he hopped from tree to tree looking for a place to camp. He decided to go a little farther out than necessary just to make sure nobody would find him. Once he found a place he deemed well hidden and safe enough to sleep in, he set up camp and started a fire. Not feeling too hungry, he forced himself to eat some onigiri that he'd packed, knowing that he'd regret it in the morning if he didn't eat now. When he was done eating he lay in his sleeping bag, and though it was only early nighttime, he felt like tonight he would find sleep quicker than the night before. Although he had fallen asleep to the sound of his mother's voice, Sasuke had an awful night's sleep. Tossing and turning, waking up and falling back to sleep. One of the times he awoke, he decided to use it to his advantage and plan ahead. He couldn't believe that he didn't know exactly what he was going to do, but he needed to start somewhere, and he couldn't do that with the rest of team Hebi following him.

Sasuke sat up and reached for his pack, grabbing what he couldn't believe he'd almost forgotten back at his quarters: his headband from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Uchiha heir sat calmly for awhile, thumbing the scratch through the leaf symbol on the forehead protector. He chuckled to himself at the memory of Naruto scratching through it, not because it was particularly funny, but because people would always think he'd done it when he left Konoha. Had Naruto seen this coming all along? Should he have stayed and listened to his friends? Did he let hate get too far into his heart? Sasuke gripped his hand around the forehead protect and slammed his eyes shut. He shouldn't be thinking about these things. He would never let himself think that the answer to any of those pathetic questions was 'yes.' He couldn't make time for people anymore, at least not enough time to make bonds with them again. This was his time, now. Orochimaru and Itachi were dead; he'd done everything he came here for. This chapter was over and it was time to cut all ties, yet again.

A/N: So that's it for the first chapter. Thank you soooo much for reading. Please review! It would mean everything to me! I will have chapter two up very soon!