Disclaimer: I do not own or pretend to own anything Naruto or Naruto related. :D

Now that that has is said, I am going to give another disclaimer. Much more personal. I have watched intermediately Naruto anime and a little of the manga but not much. I do not claim that I know every part of the lore and so I am sorry if I offend anyone with this story. I have never written a Naruto fan fiction at all, so this is my first go at it.

I am a lover of KakaSaku, so already its not going to be correct. However, I will keep most of the basics, twisting from a starting point. Please enjoy the story! :D This will be long (at least I hope it will). I know the first couple of chapters won't be but as I get deeper into the story, I find it harder to find a breaking point. Hehehe. Thats just how I write. Thank you for reading! I know I have big shoes when it comes to the KakaSaku fandom and I hope I do it justice.

Im going to try to update regularly but I know life gets in the way sometimes. And already once I've had to scrap everything I had because I hated it. :) So I am going to do my best to finish it. And that all I can promise you!

Chapter 1:

This was stupid, and an almost embarrassing way to die. It sounded so much grander when they say give your life up for you village. The spectacular war stories. The tales of grandeur and bravery told about you and how you single-handedly saved the entire village from destruction.

Sakura Haruno chewed on the inside of her cheek, for lack of anything better to do. Also, the only thing she was able to do. Why hadn't they just come out and said the truth? It was ugly, messy, smelly, exhausting, painful, embarrassing, and lonely. Your village didn't come rescue you but you give your life to rescue the village.

"Seems like a bad dating relationship," she spat up at the sky.

True, she was proud. Around her she knew were remnants of the battle. She had tripped a couple times over things that were most likely severed legs or arms and she accidently kicked a head somewhere to the east. But there was now a huge crater in the middle of a clearing that probably had body parts littered the ground like flowers in a flowerbed. It had been a huge compound for missing and rogue elite-nin but now there was nothing left of the building but rubble.

She could just imagine how she looked. Her naked body contorted in an awful position upon her collapse. Her hair was probably the color of blood instead of its usual vibrant color. She swore her hand had fallen right next to her, but who knew now. Somewhere along the way, she might have lost her right leg or it had been the first part that went numb from the poison. But now she couldn't feel any part of her body. Sakura sighed.

They say that you think of the ones you love and sometimes your regrets, even remembering, things long forgotten. It was agony. She could feel no pain and every breath could be her last. But she could just be lying for hours, waiting, for the lethal concoctions that were in her body to take affect or the eventual blood loss. A couple people might be angry at her death. Tsunade and Shizune would be down a medic, an ANBU medic, which was no laughing matter. That would be a blow. Naruto and Sasuke were so wrapped up in their own rise to power, and as of late, each other, they wouldn't care too much. She had effectively disappeared out of their lives except for the occasional mending of a broken bone or two. Plus, she had already been gone for five years. Five out of the seven years that was mandated for the elite S-class ANBU mission. Five years and it turned out she wasn't going to be coming back from this one. Just another kunoichi dying in the dirt, alone and naked.

She had gone through hell for this damn mission. Bitterly she wished everyone could see how strong she had actually gotten. Within six months of the mission, she had lost her eyesight and gained her name in the bingo books of every nation. It had been a blow for sure, but in a weird way it had freed her from relying on her eyes. It made her a much better and stronger kunoichi. Every possible trial and tribulation thrown her way she had come out stronger, except this one.

The whole compound had been in an uproar. Turns out another village had sent a nin to infiltrate the compound. It hadn't ended well for him when he was caught flying messages back to his village. Nor did it end well for the nin to the right or left of him. Suspicious by nature, everyone started to second-guess each other. If their leader had been at the compound it probably wouldn't have happened the way it did. All hell broke loose and it was every ninja for himself, or in Sakura's case, herself. Sakura had been sleeping after a mission, naked, and only grabbed her kunai holster. All those years down the drain because of one stupid, inexperienced Sand-nin. As big and chaotic as the fight had grown, Sakura had been the one to finish it. Taking out everyone and everything within a two-mile radius. There had been too many exceptional ninja and not enough chakra; there was never enough chakra.

She took a deep, labored breath as the wind picked up. A second of fresh forest air before the pungent odor of death, fire, and blood settled back into the clearing. Amidst the struggle to breath, Sakura felt a familiar tingle. Someone was approaching; she could pick up their chakra signatures. Who the hell was out this far? They were out in the wilds of Fire Country and close to Sound. No one should have heard the explosions. Were they coming back to see what was left? No, they wouldn't belong to this elite of a group if they were stupid enough to come back. These guys were coming fast, straight for the compound location. Not that there was anything she could do about it at this point.

"Holy shit." One of the ninja stopped, most likely in a tree from the height of his chakra signature, just outside the clearing.

There were three of them. Accent from the one made Sakura realize they were Konoha. Hell, she might have even worked with them before. She hoped she didn't know the one who was retching in the bushes, slightly distant from her teammates. Talk about weak and pitiful kunoichi. This was the smell of power and destruction. She had created this smell, the aftermath of the greatest battle she had ever fought to date. Sakura just wished she had been able to come back from it.