This is a drabble-ish thing I wrote back in September, and is on my dA, so no, I did not steal this from myself.

Pairing: SasuNaru and/or NaruSasu

Warnings: *See pairing and character death

An Anbu entered her office, but Tsunade thought nothing of it. There was really no reason to, especially since it was such a common occurrence. The Anbu bowed before placing two items on her desk. One was a scroll, so obviously from Naruto, most likely an update about the mission that he was on, and the other a package. Well, the package could wait. The information about the mission was a priority, especially if something had happened.

Hey!

How like the blonde. Not even a proper greeting for a mission update. Sighing, Tsunade just shook her head and continued reading.

The mission was a success, the group that was meant to be annihilated is now gone. Those bastards won't be bothering anyone else since I took care of them!

That boy…no, man now, was always boasting. Tsunade gave a small smile at that. Naruto had grown into quite the adult, not to mention that he had successfully brought the Uchiha back. So many things had happened over the years, but the most surprising had to be the two rivals getting together. However, that didn't happen until they both had been jounin, close to advancing to the ranks of Anbu, so maybe Naruto had proper reason to gloat about his abilities.

Most of the team sent went uninjured, but I'm sorry to say that two will not be returning home.

Her heart clenched slightly at the news. Although she wasn't close to many people, losing anyone on a mission was a loss for the village. Not to say that the information of casualties surprised her, no, she had been expecting something like this to arise.

The first I would like to mention is Uchiha Sasuke.

This news definitely caused the Hokage to freeze. It scared her at how bluntly the statement was put. Naruto had such a bond with the remaining Uchiha that if someone were to threaten one, they would call upon the wrath of the other. The news made her wonder how the blonde was taking the loss.

As I write this, he's slowly dying from internal injuries, and he would inform you himself if his hand hadn't been cut off in the fight. I would end his suffering for him, but I just can't bring myself to do it. As for the second not returning home…that is myself.

Tsunade's blood ran cold. What did Naruto mean by saying that he wasn't returning? Was he just not coming back because of Sasuke dying, was he going to kill himself? It was then that she noticed that she overlooked the splatters of blood on the parchment.

I'm leaving this letter with one of the Anbu returning to the village since I felt that I owed you at least the letter informing you of my passing. The fight caused me to receive some life threatening injuries, and although I could get Kyuubi to heal me…I can't let Sasuke die alone. I'm sorry that I can't come home and bug you anymore, but I can't abandon him either. Tell everyone goodbye for me. I'm too tired to keep writing, so I'll just say goodbye now.

With her hands shaking, Tsunade didn't know what to do or even think at the moment. The sudden news of having Naruto himself inform her of his death was too much. Tears streamed down her face before she glanced back down at the scroll; there was a bit more.

P.S. The content of the package belongs to you again.

What was he talking about? Although she was grieving, Tsunade slowly reached for the package and peeled away the paper surrounding it. When she finally reached what was kept inside, she completely broke down crying.

"Th-that…damn…br-brat! H-how…dare he…s-send this…back?!"

If he had not sent it to her, Tsunade could have pretended, if only for a little bit, that Naruto was still fine. That maybe he was just playing a horrible joke on her. Unfortunately it sealed everything.

Clutched in her hand was the necklace that he won from her.