a/n: This is a short fan fiction that I made in less than an hour. I was thinking of doing something else but I made this one instead. I hope you guys will like it. I'm sorry for the typos…ENJOY!

Uchiha Sasuke walked slowly into the entrance of Konoha village. It has already been twenty years since he left after defeating his brother Itachi and the rest of Akatsuki with the help of his best friend, Naruto. He left the village after being turned down by Haruno Sakura. He believed that he needed to cleanse his heart and become even stronger to make Sakura say 'yes' to their matrimony.

It's not that Sakura didn't like him; it's just that she didn't want herself to be a burden and a hindrance to Sasuke's searching. He trained and waited for that day to come; he figured that the time was probably now. In truth, he just wanted her so much, her sweet face, her jade eyes and cherry pink hair. He needed her to be with him because he loved her more than anything in the world.

He saw a flock of cranes drinking from a spring. They were very beautiful. Cranes, he played with his thoughts, are birds which are said to live a long time because of magical powers. Cranes also do the most extravagant dance ever, showing their love to their mate. People say that if you make a thousand paper cranes, kami-sama will grant to any wish you wanted. Sasuke remembered Sakura making those paper birds. She told him that the crane was a perfect symbol for their love for one another. Sasuke didn't really like the idea of their love symbolizing anything. He remembered clearly the day when he proposed to the emerald-eyed kunoichi…

"Sakura-chan, Akatsuki has already been defeated…"he said.

"I know…aren't you happy?" she replied.

He nodded and gave a soft smile. "I will be happier if we were-"

She cut his words and said, "I know you want to be more powerful. I know if we were to marry, you will still leave and search for more power…"

She was right. There was still something inside Sasuke that time that still hungered for more power. He was still half-hearted to marry Sakura back then. But now, he has returned…

This man was already different from the boy the teenager that left Konoha nearly two decades ago. His black hair grew longer so that it had to be tied behind his back. He had a sharp stern look in his eyes that took the place of the lonely ebony eyes. Though a small smile could bee seen on his face, it can be concluded that only his lips were smiling; not his eyes. Nevertheless, he was happy that he has returned to Konoha. On his back was the red paper fan. This told that he was the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. He has come back to revive his clan and fulfill his promise to a person from his past.

HER

He recalled his bitter farewell to his loved one.

"Sayonara…" Sasuke said.

"No please, not sayonara…." She wept. "It means 'good bye forever…'"

Sasuke hugged her and whispered, "I'll see you. I will return. I promise. So, please wait for me…"

"But I already be-"

He then left her without another word. She continued weeping. He had a feeling inside her that she will never see him again…

Heavy raindrops were falling from the gray dark sky. The streets were getting muddy. The people were running for cover. Not Sasuke, he walked slowly alley after alley as if he had not left Konoha. He went pass the old academy and the ramen house. He stopped walking when he saw a familiar silver-haired old man wearing a Hokage outfit holding an orange book and a blonde whiskered boy wearing a chounin vest and orange clothing underneath. They walking towards to-

The Cemetery…

He immediately rushed to the two because he knew who they were. The muddy water splashed while he made his way to these to people. It was raining so hard that time that his clothing grew very heavy because of the water. However, he did not mind. He wanted to know if they were fine; if she was all right.

"Hoy, baka Naruto!" Sasuke shouted out to the blonde jounin.

"Hoy, Sasuke! You're still alive!" Naruto replied with so much enthusiasm and joy.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke turned to the silvered haired man and bowed.

"Oh, Sasuke-baka!" Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder. "He isn't Kakashi-sensei. He is Hokage –sama…"

Sasuke didn't pay attention to what Naruto was saying. He was looking for someone; a familiar pink headed kunoichi that goes by the name Haruno Sakura. He was hoping that Sakura might come out from somewhere and then greeting him with tears in her eyes while yelling, "Sasuke-kun, I'm so happy you're back!" Sadly, there was none. He wanted to ask were she was but he was ashamed and besides he didn't want to hurt Naruto's feelings knowing that his best friend had a crush on her.

"You might be wondering why we are going to the cemetery…" the tone of Naruto's voice suddenly changed.

The blonde hair jounin pointed to a tombmarker and engraved on it was this, "Haruno Sakura, a loving daughter, a brave ninja, a good friend…"

"She died three months after you left from leukemia. It turned out that she already had that disease a long time ago…"

He looked at the picture of Sakura resting on the headstone. Beside it were a few waterlogged paper cranes. He took one, a pink one, and placed it inside his pocket. He remembered what Sakura said a long time ago about cranes.

When you make a thousand cranes, kami-sama will give you anything you want…

"How many cranes did Sakura make?" Sasuke asked.

"Nine hundred ninety-nine…" Naruto replied.

Sasuke fell to his knees, but he didn't cry. He brought a box from his pocket. He opened it and said, "This is my wedding gift and parting gift to you…" The box contained a small ring with a diamond and grave around the inside of the ring was the word PHOENIX.

Their love should have been the phoenix not the crane. The crane only lives long, while the phoenix lives forever. It dies and turns into ashes, but it will reborn from those ashes. Their love WAS the phoenix, everlasting. Sadly, only their love could live forever, not them. That fact can't be changed, Sakura is dead.

What was he to do now? He knew he had nothing else to live for, no one else to spend the rest of his life with. What's worse, she died without even his knowing it. She has already gone to a better place. Will he follow her to the better place? Or will he stay here and live the rest of his life in misery?