Sakura is trained by Tsunade, but the Hokage is a busy woman. Kakashi also helps her, but he has missions that he needs to go on, especially after the increase of incapacitated shinobi brought on by the invasion from the Chunin Exams. So, when she has nothing to do, she does not just relax; she trains as much as possible. Until she bleeds, because then she can practice her healing and try over again. Until she can barely hold up a kunai, because she needs endurance if she is going to survive long enough to keep her promise.

Maybe, before, when she was naive and hopeful, she would sit back and take a break, but not anymore. The life of a shinobi was shown to her, and she will not back down from it.

She will run fist first into the flames, and come out the other side with only smoke and cinders left behind her. Haruno Sakura will become a name that is respected and feared throughout the nations, and then she will be worthy enough to honor the one that she visits every day.

"Naruto…" Her voice trails off as she brushes her fingertips across the letters that have been carved into cold stone. "...I will bring him home for you."

.

It starts with Sakura following Kakashi as he leaves.

When Sakura goes with Kakashi to see what has happened, she wishes that she had decided to stay back in Konoha.

There is a boy with his chest ripped open, and a faint twitching inside of it that she soon recognizes as his exposed heart. Somehow, he is still breathing. His mouth moves, and both her and their sensei gather close to hear his last words.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my word, Sakura." He coughs, and she can literally see his insides straining to extend his life until he is finished talking. "But… Promise me you'll bring the bastard back? For me; not for anybody else, so please, don't look so guilty." He tries to reach for her, but he is shuddering too much.

She leans down and gives him the kiss that he has always wanted from her. Into his lips, she whispers her oath. "I promise, Naruto."

The last exhale of his lungs tastes like a sun setting over the horizon.

.

Everybody else survives, and that is a miracle. She can only watch as Ino clings to her teammates, sobbing into their shoulders as they try not to do the same.

I could have stopped him, if only… Her mind knows that it is not true, that he would have gone no matter what she had said. Then why do I feel so guilty?

She is sitting alone in the hospital visiting area, and has to stop looking at so many happy and relieved faces before she cries. It's not fair, because Naruto had worked so hard and he had never hesitated to give those same kinds of warm smiles to people. Even after all of the stupid things that were said to him, he smiled.

Sakura is not brave enough to smile for others, let alone herself.

A touch to her shoulder jolts her from her thoughts. Not sure if she wants to be thankful or angry with the person, she just turns around to glance at them with a totally neutral look on her face.

Kakashi looks just as wrecked as she is. The small portion of his face that she can see is enough to tell that he blames himself for this. Guilt practically rolls off of him in waves. She motions for him to sit beside her.

What is left of Team Seven quietly mourns.

.

"I want to learn how to heal." The words come out of her mouth with a false bravado that everybody can see through. An older man with white hair sits in a chair, by the window of the Hokage's office. Sakura thinks that she remembers Naruto talking about him. Jiraiya, that's his name. "I can come back another time."

"You're his teammate." The mane of hair shifts, and Sakura thinks that the tattoos on his face look like tears. She nods. His breath comes out as a shudder. "Okay."

The door does not slam behind him, but she can tell that more force than necessary is used to close it.

Tsunade is tired. Even with her jutsu, she looks older. The bags under her eyes speak louder than any words could. She blames herself too, Sakura realizes. Everybody is blaming themselves, and she hates it. Even though her heart is under constant constraint and guilt pounds through her veins, she knows that it is not anybody's fault.

None of them put a fist straight through Naruto's chest. Her hands clench, and she knows that she wants to be able to break as much as put together. The violence of it does not bother her, not since she kissed a boy who bled for a team that was not there with him.

"Teach me how to fight too." Sakura uses demanding words, but the way they come tumbling out of her mouth is anything but. Soon her voice is nothing but a whisper. "Please. I should have been there to heal him, protect him."

.

(I taught him that jutsu. Sensei, I am so sorry. Obito, Rin, I couldn't save you and I couldn't save sensei's son. I have failed you.)

(I let him go. Dan, Nawaki, he was so much like you. He was going to become Hokage someday, but now he can't.)

(I should have stopped him, I should have fought to make him stay. My crush couldn't save either of their hearts.)

.

The funeral is attended by less than two dozen people. A boy has died by the hand of a comrade, to bring him back to a village that won't even show up to honor his sacrifice.

The service is short, and the grave is marked by only a small rock. Sakura thinks that she heard Tsunade mention that it was to prevent grave desecration, and she wishes for the thousandth that she was only strong enough to stop Sasuke before he even left.

It starts raining, and eventually everyone leaves. All alone in the downpour, Sakura falls to her knees. Her sniffles betray her attempts to keep the tears from falling down her face. Shinobi don't cry!

"It's okay, you know." Kakashi squats down, an umbrella in hand. It covers the both of them, and now she can't hide the mist in her eyes. Looking over at her teacher, she sees that neither can he. "Sometimes, we need to cry. Never become so hard that you can't cry."

He hugs her, and they're both soaking and she is sobbing. It's bone crushing and she knows that her snot is running down what is probably his one good outfit. She can feel his tears staining her shirt just as much.

.

Sakura goes down to the memorial stone, where Naruto's name was carved. It's strange how he said he wanted his name to be on that stone, the first time they were a team. Life's irony is no longer funny to her, nowadays it is more of a cruel joke.

When she gets there, she sees somebody else.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

He turns around, and his eyebrow is raised. "Sakura? What are you doing here?" She points to the memorial, and he nods. Coming to stand beside him, she realizes that he is totally relaxed. He must stand here a lot, and she wonders who he has lost. Many, probably. If this is the fate of a shinobi, then… She will make sure that she can prevent as much of this as possible.

.

They just stand in silence for a long time. Sakura doesn't know what to think, other than apologies. Eventually she starts to tell Naruto things that she thinks he would enjoy hearing; even if she feels ridiculous, it actually helps.

When she finds herself in the same spot two hours later, she knows that she will never yell at Kakashi for being late again.