A single rosette-haired ninja rose from her bed, her face looking mellow even before she opened her forest green eyes. As she rose in a trance-like state, she let out an audible gasp. It was the third time in a row she went to sleep with her battle clothes on – complete with headband, ninja gear, and boots. Sighing, she recalled the added intensity of her training.

Mentally groaning, she realized she hadn't showered in three consecutive days, either – meaning she probably stunk like hell. But even her own demanding protests could not force her to take a shower right now. Making no haste, she took a peek at the clock set on her wall and inwardly cursed herself. She had overslept!

Putting that aside, Sakura gazed forlornly at the battered old photograph of Team 7.

Everyone knew, deep in their hearts, that a lengthy, weary war was coming. The facts began to prove it.

Jiraiya's inexplicable downfall.

Naruto's sudden departure for sage training.

The increased Akatsuki and Sasuke sightings.

The rumor of the missing eight-tails Jinchuuriki, Killer Bee.

As a shinobi, Sakura simply could not stop checking the chakra signatures around her, or even glancing behind her back when shopping for medicinal ingredients.

Simply put, she was scared.

Konoha had been through a war during Sakura's lifetime – a battle between Sunagakure and Konohagakure. The Jounin were plenty, the ANBU flawless, and the citizens were safe and sound. Yet, even then the village was nearly ruined. The coral-haired teen shuddered as she walked into the kitchen of her tiny apartment complex, kneading through the tangled knots in her hair as she burst out the door.

Wars were like tripping over rocks. It was up to you to gather the will and move on, or simply lie on the ground, defeated. Sakura desperately hoped her beloved village, Konoha, would have the strength to move on.

Minutes later, said girl arrived at the Hokage's office only to find Lady Tsunade in a deep conversation with three ANBU. The three tensed, halting their hushed talk and glanced at Sakura, only to have Tsunade wave the ANBU away, muttering a barely audible "We'll discuss it later." As the three poofed away to their respective positions, Sakura raised a questioning eyebrow. Tsunade remained grim and unwavering. Leaning in towards the desk, Tsunade clasped her hands together.

"Tsunade-shishou," Sakura bowed. "I'm sorry, I overslept."

"It's okay. I had other matters to attend to. Besides, didn't I already give you permission yesterday for you to come later?"

Sakura flushed in embarrassment, remembering her shishou's stern words to rest herself for what was to come. "Then, should I head down to the library and finish training the new jutsu you had taught me?"

The instant she had suggested this, Tsunade's honeyed eyes dulled. The kunoichi frowned.

The Godaime let slip a bitter smile as she watched her student brace herself for whatever she was about to say. "No, Sakura, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for a minute." She paused.

"Uhm... Shishou?" Sakura ventured, albeit nervously.

Tsunade Senju let out an exasperated sigh. "I...You see, I've been sending ANBU patrols throughout Konoha's districts, even distributing some past our borders."

Sakura nodded apprehensively, not liking where this was going at all.

"Well… I would've called Naruto over to tell him this too, but anyway… we think Pein, the assumed leader of Akatsuki, is headed toward Konoha. I've no idea how, when, or why we've only been notified just now, but I've been feeling a growing sense of unease today and if it's not him I don't know what is."

The pinkette blanched, stumbling back a step or two, her fists trembling. "No way…" Right now? I knew things were getting tense, but I never anticipated it to be so soon!

Sensing the kunoichi's distress, Tsunade offered a small, encouraging smile. "I've told the ANBU you saw earlier to warn all the civilians and prepare our evacuation site immediately within the faces of the Hokages, just to be safe. Chuunin and Jounin who are supposed to be or are not on missions are excused from going on them at the moment. I'm not the Hokage for nothing, Sakura."

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama… should I assist in getting the Genin and civilians safe and sound if Pein does plan to attack Konoha?"

"Yes. However, if Pein does attack, I would prefer you assist the other Chuunin or work with the medical staff and Katsuyuu. Now, go and prepare yourself. Once you're done, begin rounding up the hardest to move with the other Chuunin – such as the elders, disabled, pregnant mothers, and infants and meet with the others near the Academy. You're my apprentice… I expect great things from you."

Sakura bowed respectfully and walked calmly out the office, a delicate grin tugging at her lips. Only, she missed the grief, fear, and worry threatening to etch onto her beloved shishou's face.

Upon arriving at what she called home, the Haruno girl grabbed some scrolls and weapons as well as some soldier pills and a medicinal kit – all of which she stuffed in a small medical pouch. Just as she was about to leap out of the window, Sakura paused. The old photo of team 7 stared back at her, inviting her to stay. She smiled sadly, standing as still as stone, starting at that symbolic picture for a good minute or two. Then, hesitantly, she raised two fingers, and placed them gingerly on her lips. Slowly and cautiously, she lowered her hand – placing her two fingers on the lips of 12 year-old Sasuke.

An indirect kiss, she thought to herself. How pathetic.

But before she could linger any further, she jumped out of the window, landing on the rooftop of her neighbor, sprinting away into the distance.

Sakura then arrived at the passage where civilians were lead into safety, reassuring the confused elderly and disabled as well as the troubled children with a twinge of regret. No matter how hard she convinced herself, even she doubted the likelihood of Konoha's survival. What – what if Sasuke decided to –

"Oi, - Haruno," a Jounin shouted. "I've got the last few here! Only the shinobi and adult men and women remain. I'll be heading to the borders now."

Sakura nodded, glancing every now and then toward Konoha's gates. After leading a mellow brunette child into the tunnel, she heaved a sigh. "Hey," she directed at a female Chuunin, dressed in hues of turquoise. "do you know how long we've been working?"

The female grunted a quick "around 20 minutes", not bothering to ask why or look at Sakura, who thanked the chuunin and excused herself as she left for the Konoha Academy.

Already most of the Chuunin and Jounin had left by the time Sakura arrived, but thankfully for her, the kunoichi noticed a team of medics, apprentice medics and shinobi medic-nin nearby – among them Ino Yamanaka – already preparing stretchers as beds and a steady supplies of herbs and scrolls. The scene devastated Sakura somewhat. It only added to the weight that was threatening to crash down and let her realize that, no, this wasn't a dream, a bad nightmare. This was reality, coming hard like a chakra-infused punch.

"Ino-pig!" Sakura exclaimed, rushing to her side to embrace each other in a reassuring hug.

"We'll get through this, I promise," Sakura muttered, trying to stay confident for Konoha, her single and only home.

Ino smirked. "Forehead-girl… you were being doubtful again, weren't you?"

A scoff came from the pinkette. "No way… I was just… worried."

The blonde nodded, leading Sakura to the piles of scrolls. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Come on, we're preparing scrolls in the order of their properties – it'll be more efficient for us to heal and make space for others."

A man clad in Akatsuki garb landed gracefully from branch to branch, never faltering in his pace. Konoha simply irritated him. It challenged his theories… not to mention its alliance with the Sand. They did not go through enough pain, and he would grant his gift of pain to them. It was even better than severing Konoha's ties. After all, it was orders from Madara…

Realising that two of his duplicates had noticed several ANBU tracking them, Pein inwardly smirked. They were fools… the whole lot of them. He let them be, deducing them to just a tiny annoyance. In the long run, they would all be dead, anyway. The least they could do now was prolong their own lives by not provoking him.

Even that white haired toad man, Jiraiya, was equally pathetic. He had proclaimed to be all that, too. Yet, the deadly Akatsuki leader could not supress the nagging feeling that rose up inside of himself for his old sensei.

Konoha needed pain.

The man clad in the red-clouded black cloak entered the premises of Konoha, gazing upon the oh-so-pathetic men that called themselves ninja hiding among trees, buildings, and walls, all intently analyzing him and his six Paths.

Immediately, 4 guards of the gate approached with extreme speed only the Sharingan could decipher properly, but it simply didn't matter to Pein. His clone immediately countered them using an inhuman force similar to that of Tsunade's punch - sending the courageous shinobi flying into buildings and trees. This was dismal. Too dismal for Pein to even consider thinking about.

The streets were empty of civilians. It had been obvious that Konoha had taken extra precautions before his arrival. It didn't matter what this village did anymore. Concluding his thoughts, he performed his deadly blow.

It was like a meteor had hit Konohagakure – the village was in ruins.

The job was done. Only…

"Hold it right there," a booming voice rung out with authority. It was a man… no, a kid. Slowly, without emotion, Pein spun around – having direct eye contact with the object of Akatsuki's desire - Naruto Uzumaki.

Just as Sakura and the rest of the medics completed their preparation, an ANBU teleported in front of Sakura, his porcelain Tiger mask gleaming in the intense sunlight.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, her voice raised with worry.

"Akatsuki leader Pein has entered Konoha. Brace yourselves. I will leave the rest to you." the ANBU stated, leaving shattered hopes and uneasy thoughts in the minds of the weary medicinal-nin.

However, no one got the chance, as the ground beneath them shook, completely ruining the buildings that slammed face down into the earth, eliciting several screams of terror.

"Everyone, get as low as possible!" Sakura screamed, taking cover by glueing her limbs to the ground with chakra. Many of the medics in the vicinity did the same.

It was like a big hole had implanted itself right in the heart of Konoha.

"Shoot," Ino muttered, glancing around at the scrolls strewn around the ground. This was not good.

'Not good' was the biggest understatement of the year. Buildings had collided upon each other like dominoes, only each time they made contact, both would dissolve into mighty chunks of rubble that seemed to hoarde the ground like they owned it.

For several minutes, the entire medic team stayed put, only moving to take deep breathes.

Sakura was the first to leave her position. She coughed from the sudden onslaught of dust; beckoning towards the others, she put on a small mask that would cover her mouth.

As the minutes wore on, a number of shinobi injured from Pein's big explosion were carried on stretchers by the rookie medic-nins who scouted all around Konoha. Fortunately, most of them did not receive any fatal injuries, and within minutes Sakura only had to heal broken and cracked bones as well as a few concussions. However, just as Sakura barely heaved a sigh after two hours of painstaking healing, her shadow grew into the form of two merged shadows of two different people.

"Ino–chan? Could you –" Until she froze. This… this was a foreign chakra signature!

A lean, skinny orange-haired man stood, gazing emotionlessly down at Sakura's petite form. She stood there, paralyzed as the man slowly, slowly reached his hand towards Sakura's trembling back. She couldn't move. As the bony hand inched closer and closer, the kunoichi could not flee from her spot. She squeezed her eyes shut, awfully aware of the fact that she could merely escape with a sprint. Yet, it was like the man was restraining her with his chakra.

Until, she heard a deadly screech of "SAKURA!" and a small, delicate thud.

Sakura's ninja instincts finally kicked in, and she leaped back several steps… only to find Ino strewn across the ground, the strange man holding… something in his raised arm. It was like… he had ripped Ino's soul out.

No way… she's not…she's NOT dead…

"INO!" Suddenly she averted her gaze to the silent male, who still had this… ghost like form clenched in his right, outstretched hand.

"You… you BASTARD!" she shrieked, immediately gathering bright blue chakra into her right, gloved hand, and charging forward with no accuracy at all. Any sense of logic she would have had disappeared in a second's time. But… as she sprinted forward with all her might, Sakura hit soft bark instead – creating a perfect, round hole straight through the tree's core.

The Akatsuki-garbed man jumped easily out of the way, both effortlessly and without care. It irritated Sakura to no end, as she glared at him. Taking deep labored breaths, she got ready to punch. Before she could charge, however, The man's eyes widened in shock, and dissolved into dust. She gaped at the sight, spinning around to make sure it was not a genjutsu, even muttering "kai". What on earth happened? This was not the time to dwell on that though, as she then spun around to hear numerous gasps and see several medics rushing to huddle over the blonde's still form.

"GET AWAY!" she screamed, pushing a couple of them aside, not caring how mad she looked at that moment.

Ino wasn't breathing.

Panicking, Sakura forced herself to sit down calmly, and then crouch over to listen to her lifelong friend's heartbeat.

Nothing.

… ghost-like form clenched in his right, outstretched hand.

He had taken Ino's consciousness away.

"No, NO!" the rosette pounded her fists on the packed earth, tears threatening to leak down on her face, to show her weakness.

She couldn't believe it. She had lost her best friend. Immediately, the girl's hands reached over to the blonde kunoichi's heart, her soothing green chakra trying desperately to heal any wounds. But there was none. Her chakra had no effect whatsoever on Ino.

An apprentice of the pinkette smiled dejectedly. "Sakura-san… there's nothing you can do. She saved you."

Sakura stared miserably at Ino's peaceful face, brushing away the excess strands of hair that covered the blonde's shut eyes.

"I-Ino… I'm… I'm sorry…" she wailed, hugging what was left of Ino Yamanaka. "I was weak, yet again. And just like that… I lost you…"

But before Sakura could do anything more, a ninja donning the common green Chuunin vest poofed into view, a relief-filled emotion written all over his features.

"Everyone, head over to the Konoha Gates immediately. Pein has been defeated. Also, Haruno Sakura is requested to come at once to heal Naruto-sama among others."

Her head throbbed and for a moment, she was inclined to punch the man in the face, but a small part of logic that remained in her head realized that Naruto was back. Also, the Chuunin had just used a suffix for Naruto that would probably have never been used unless out of great respect… could Naruto have defeated Pein? It would explain why her friend's murderer, a look-a-like to Pein, vanished so suddenly. Yet, even her foxy-faced friend could not separate her from Ino. Gazing back at Ino, more tears poured out. This is my entire fault. Just one mistake took her life. Anyone who saw me just now wouldn't hesitate to think I was the same pathetic girl from 4 years ago.

"G-give me a minute, and I promise I'll go help to the b-best I can…" she whispered, hiccupping in the process.

Indeed, Sakura was true to her word. After a minute or so, she stood up abruptly, absentmindedly wiping her tears away with her bare hands.

Finally raising her head to stare at the calming, azure sky, her emerald eyes glowing with determination, she smiled.

Though she would never forgive herself for paying the price of Ino's life, she would learn from her mistake…

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, beginning to sprint as fast as her legs could carry her, only stopping to an abrupt halt. 10 feet away, the self-proclaimed Rokudaime stood dejectedly in front of a long deep violet-haired girl, who lay with a sickening blood stain near her lungs.

Hinata…

Upon hearing his female teammate's voice, Naruto looked up and grinned sadly, "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled, and then hurriedly proceeded to heal the Hyuuga heiress. Most of her chakra had been used on attempting to heal Ino as well is the actually injured, but she willed herself to exert all the chakra she had. The blonde, seeing Sakura's distress, placed his hands on Sakura's.

"Here," he muttered. The pinkette immediately felt a new surge of chakra enter her consciousness, and felt it now extremely easy to heal Hinata.

From her judgement, Hinata had been like this for a good thirty minutes or so, and had probably coughed out some blood. Something in the heiress' lungs wasn't allowing Sakura's medic-chakra to enter the body. Even Naruto's amount of chakra did nothing to solve the problem, except help her heal some minor abrasions. Furrowing her eyebrows, Sakura growled to whoever would listen, "She needs the Resuscitation Regeneration Technique!" When no one moved, the kunoichi snapped, "Now!"

As medics gently placed Hinata on a stretcher, said girl barely opened her eyes a crack. "N-Naruto-kun…"

Sakura smiled forlornly. "Don't worry Hinata-chan, it's all over. What's most important right now is your health."

The kunoichi stared at her comrade, watching the slow rise and fall of the heiress' chest as the shadow of her body grew smaller in the distance.

Meanwhile, Naruto was evidently relieved. "I was worried," he admitted, taking a seat on the rubble to allow Sakura's and the Kyuubi's chakra to heal him. "Hinata jumped in and tried to protect me, but I don't know why! I never felt so respected since Sasuke was still –" His face paled, his eyes downcast. "Sorry…"

Sakura visibly frowned at the thought of Sasuke, but then sighed. "Anyway, you'll find out someday. Ask Hinata, okay?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Sure… but… what's the Resu… Resu technique thing?"

The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "It's the same thing they did to heal Neji 3 years ago, after trying to retrieve... him."

"Aa," Naruto muttered. An awkward silence ensued until Naruto heard a distinct cheer. The shinobi was about to ask what was the matter, until Sakura turned around, and grinned.

"Look, Naruto. Konoha loves you."

Naruto was simply shocked, his mouth forming a perfect, round, "o". His eyes watered.

"Everyone…"

Team Taka leaped among treetops and tree branches, among them a raven haired Uchiha. Sasuke glowered at the ruins of what he once called home. A tiny voice resounded in his head. What will you do if everyone is dead? But he shook that from his mind. He only cared for Elders who betrayed his clan. Or did he?

"Karin," he spoke in a monotone voice. "Are there any chakra signatures ahead in Konohagakure?"

The redhead closed her eyes, pausing on her step on the worn-down wood. "Yes… there are several; no wait..." she opened her eyes. "There are a village's worth of people all together in one area near the entrance."

Sasuke scoffed. Probably mourning the deaths of the dead. And he continued on his journey, though in somewhat of a faster pace.

Naruto lay on the sweet dewy grass, facing an upright Sakura. "You know… Kakashi-sensei, Neji, and Tenten, they… they died."

"What?" she stood up, gaping at a serious Naruto. "You're joking! We didn't see them when we celebrated, yeah, but - !"

"… Before you guys arrived, we had a brief funeral for the dead." By now, tiny beads of delicate teardrops had decided to make its way down the ridged whiskers upon Naruto's cheeks. He clawed at the ground harshly, bits of dirt and grass being flung everywhere. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Shh..., Naruto...," she coaxed, patting his back gently. She sighed in relief when he'd calmed down enough to stop harming himself. She pushed away the thoughts in her head that always resurfaced, though, not wanting to consider the fact that he'd already hurt himself and reversed the damage before his medic-nin of a teammate could lay her eyes upon him.

She couldn't help the childish tone that escaped her. "… W-what happened?"

"First it was Ka-kakashi." The blonde took a gulp of fresh air. It took all the restorative and calming chakra Sakura could muster to swell down the effects of the Kyuubi's red chakra that began to overflow. "I don't know what happened, but then Tenten found him and tried to get him to safety… but was attacked, and then she was forced to fight. Neji saved her… but both of them ended up…" he blinked away the hot tears. "They…"

Sakura popped back down on the ground, sniffling. "… Ino died too," she whispered, obtaining a grimace from her hot-blooded confidant. "I thought it'd never happen. But… I won't let Ino's death go to a waste! I'll be stronger!" she proclaimed.

The kyuubi-container stared at the cloudless, azure sky, his cerulean portraying great sadness. "That's… exactly what I'm afraid of…"

"Huh?" What happened to him?

"All we ever do is fight, and kill. When I was twelve, all I wanted was to be the Hokage, to be respected. But now? What's the point of being respected if all I do is to send ninja on missions that bring sadness to other countries? When we are defeated and lose, we mourn. But even if we are happy, there is always someone that receives pain. Those that suffer end up making others suffer as well… and then it starts all over again."

"Naruto… I…" Inside, a part of Sakura's heart felt... to put it simply, broken. An ache spread through her chest like wildfire.

But this wasn't the same kind of heartache as the feelings one got after a breakup, or a rejection from someone you loved. This was like losing the pillar of support that you had relied on for years and years until you didn't even realize it was there anymore, and now it wasn't, leaving her to trip to the ground in agony.

Because for the first time in her life, Naruto couldn't even pretend to be happy. For gods sake, he was even doubting his own dream! When had Naruto ever done that? Never in living memory.

"I wonder if Sasuke is truly happy with his revenge… because all he is doing is spreading his own hate…"

A barely audible thud that could only be heard by shinobi resounded behind them, causing the pair to freeze in their spots.

"Hn."

Simultaneously, emerald and sapphire eyes widened as they heard the all-too-familiar click of someone gripping the hilt of a blade behind them.

This familiar chakra signature…

"Sasuke…" Sakura whispered, daring herself to turn around and see if it was a illusion, after all…

"Sasuke-teme…" Naruto growled, his eyes changing to a blood red state.

"Che… still so emotional." He stole a quick glance at the location of the Hokage's carved faces, activating his Sharingan. The Elders have to be there… Itachi… I'll avenge you…

Naruto, noticing this, snarled at his former teammate. "You are NOT doing anything to the villagers, teme!"

The last Uchiha merely smirked at the blonde, as if saying, Try me, before giving out orders to three oddly coloured hair missing nin. He nodded at a silver headed man clothed in ridiculously tight fabrics who in turn, smirked at Naruto and Sakura, thoroughly irritating Naruto. Sakura, however, bore holes into Sasuke's back, much to Karin's dislike.

"Oi! Pinky!" the digusted redhead snapped. "Sasuke-kun's mine!"

Said girl gaped for a fraction of a second before whizzing her head back to Naruto, trying to tell him with her eyes as best as she could to signify to attack, or just do something that would distract the man before them.

Somehow, Naruto understood in his enraged state, and charged at the nukenin he had spent almost half of his life chasing after.

Kunai clashed against katana, producing a clanging sound that rung in Sakura's ears. She calmed herself down for a moment, focusing her attention entirely on the three nukenin that began to head towards the innermost of Konoha. Giving a final glance at Sasuke, she ran after them.

"Oi, you three… where do you think you guys are going?" Sakura shouted, as boldly as she dared speak. The silver-haired and crimson-haired nin stared back at Sakura, the silver man grinning, and the redhead narrowing her eyes, shouting, "I've had enough just looking at this girl! Suigetsu, Juugo, you guys go, I'll take care of this oversized doll."

It was Sakura's turn to be irritated as she drew a kunai from her weapons holster. "Oversized doll? I'm a Chuunin of Konohagakure, apprentice of the Fifth Hokage!" She threw the kunai with precise accuracy, knowing it would obviously miss. And she was right. The redhead jumped out of the way, scoffing. "Is that all you've got?" Only to realize Sakura was gone. Eyes narrowing, the firehaired girl whizzed her head in all directions. "Hiding is for wimps," she stated, taunting Sakura.

"Look over here, Redhead," came Sakura's voice.

Karin spun around to meet Sakura's jade eyes, about to make a witty comment when she saw the seal Sakura was making.

"Oh no you don't!" She yelled, glaring at Sakura. "I'll –"

But before she could finish, Sakura had put her into the depths of a genjutsu – Sakura's specialty.

A glimpse of a grin lay on Sakura's face before her gazed hardened. Two more...

Sakura glared at the Kakashi-haired man, Suigetsu, who had told his orange-haired companion to go ahead. Completely concealed by the tree, she watched him intently as the man leaned against the fence, heaving a sigh.

"I'm aware you're here, Sasuke's ex-teammate."

Sakura stifled a gasp, and then sighed, jumping out of the branch she was perching on. She stood with dignity in front of Suigetsu.

"What do you want with us?"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Ask Sasuke – that is, if he doesn't kill you -"

He stopped abruptly, and smirked. "Well well well… look who's here, Pinky. Just the man you've been looking for."

Sakura spun around, only to meet face to face with the Sasuke Uchiha.

"What have you done to Naruto!" Sakura bellowed, slightly frantic. Why is Sasuke here? Is he so strong that he could have beaten Naruto without putting up a fight?

"Hn. I'm afraid Naruto wasn't as strong as he boasted to be."

Sakura gaped at Sasuke. And then she growled, rage welling up inside of her, until she lifted up a trembling fist towards Sasuke's pale face.

Only to be stopped by Sasuke, who clenched on to her wrists unmercifully.

"This is for your own good."

The kunoichi widened her forest green eyes, but not for long before Sasuke made a hand seal, causing her eyes to become dull and droopy, until finally… she toppled over.

Sasuke... kun...