Shattered Ones

"No!"

His breathing came in painful pants as he tried to control his sobbing. Beside him, stood his sensei, Hatake Kakashi, who was silently staring at his student with a pained expression as he also had a hard time controlling his emotions.

"I have always and will always love you!"

Her voice had been like a soft, desperate whisper. Even though her pain had been great, somehow, she still managed to keep her composure as she spoke her confession to the boy she truly loved for the last time. However near the end, her resolve started to slip as panic set in. Her eyes had widened with fear as she tried unbelievably hard to summon chakra to save him, but it had been a wasted attempt.

"Y-You can't die!" She cried as her tears dripped onto his shocked, bloody face underneath hers.

They had both been badly beaten and were covered in bruises, cuts and other tell-tale signs of their battle. Their bodies had been weakened greatly and the two knew that they didn't have much time left.

However that wasn't the only thing that broke their hearts.

No, it had been the fact that his cold, empty expression had vanished, surprising everyone as he stared up into her emerald green eyes with understanding, sadness, regret and guilt.

"Sakura…" His voice sounded as though he was being strangled, but whether it was from watching the girl in front of him slowly die or something else, Naruto never had a chance to find out.

Naruto clenched his fists tightly as painful sobs shook his entire body. The look in their eyes… the way their eyes stayed connected even as they passed away… it still haunted him. It still hurt just to hear their names or think of them.

"…thank you."

With those simple words, Sakura had completely fallen apart. Despite the katana in her chest that connected to his, she had clung onto him tightly, crying as he too forgot about the pain and returned the embrace for the first time ever. It wasn't what Naruto had expected to see, especially coming from him. There hadn't been any words spoken after that for a couple of seconds, they just led there staring at each other, in silent understanding.

When Naruto's eyes had fallen on the two, it felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest and his world was shattering into tiny pieces. It felt like somebody had thrown ice cold water over him the second he saw them. The two that he had always promised to save and protect, they were dying and there was nothing he could do about it! When he managed to sleep at night, he could still hear Ino's cries of terror and pain as she tried to make her way over to the two, but Tsunade had stopped her with a simple shake of her head. She – a long with the other medics – knew that there was no way to save them now.

"Tsunade-sama, they're dying! I have to help them." Ino cried desperately as she tried to break out of Choji's hold. "We have to save them! Please, help them."

That was when everything started to move in slow motion. Naruto had watched with wide eyes as he raised a shaky hand and wiped away Sakura's tears with his thumb, despite the fact that it had smeared blood across her cheek.

It was the first and last time that Naruto had ever seen Sasuke show any true affection.

"Sasuke," Naruto screamed in horror as time finally returned to normal, "Sakura-chan!"

The Konoha shinobi felt their hearts breaking at the sight before them. Hell, even the other country's shinobi and their Kage had looked close to tears.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, sounding as though it hurt just to breathe. "Why would you give your life to try and save me?"

Sakura's eyes stayed locked onto his as she tried to fight back her tears, "Be-because no… matter what, I will always… always love you!"

His hand moved from the side of her face to her chin as he tried his best to lift his heavy body off of the ground. Seeing what he was trying to do, Sakura smiled weakly and lowered herself further down the blade that connected the two of them until finally, their lips met.

Then just like that, the two fell limp.

Kakashi numbly placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder as animalistic pain filled sobs ripped out of the boy's chest. The others could only watch sadly as he fell to his knees and screamed into the skies to bring his teammates, his best friends, his family back.

It felt like all of his energy had been stolen as Naruto failed to stand up and walk over to them. It had been Hinata that helped the blond up and guided him over to the bodies of his loved ones. The two fell to the ground beside Sasuke and Sakura, finding it difficult to breathe as Naruto sobbed.

When Naruto removed the katana out of their chests, he had to swallow the bile rising in his throat at the feeling of it moving through their bodies. As soon as it was out, Naruto threw it away like it had burned him and raised a shaking hand to move the hair out of Sakura's eyes, only to see that they were closed and she had a small, bloody smile on her face. His eyes turned to Sasuke and Naruto was surprised to find that he, for the first time in a long time, looked peaceful and also had a small smile on his face that was equally as bloody.

It had been one whole year since the deaths of his best friends and the wound on his heart was still raw. Hinata had comforted him and told him that at least they were both happy now and died in each other's arms, but it did little to help. Naruto saw the way they looked at each other and he couldn't help but feel saddened. They were in love, even if Sasuke never admitted it, he loved Sakura. Suddenly, the reasons why she was always the one he thought of to protect first rushed to his mind. Even back then, Sasuke had cared for Sakura more than he cared for anyone else. It was a shame that he never came back and told her, or only just discovered his feelings for her at the last moment when she attempted to save his life by giving her own. Also, despite all the pain Sasuke had caused, Sakura's love for him was unconditional.

Naruto looked up at the sky and smiled through his tears.

At least now they could be together, forever.