Chapter Thirty Nine

"There you are Naruto." Minato smiled seeing his son was leaning against his girlfriend who he showed to love deeply, laughing in front of a roaring fire on a clear night. "Oh-" He spotted her cross the fire drinking a beer sitting beside her two commanders who were bickering with Carver and Raiden. "-Commander Haruno, I wasn't aware you were inside the village."

"Mm...why would you be?" Sakura wondered turning at him. "You're not the Hokage, and she knows I am here."

"Any reason for that?" Minato wondered; Sakura gestured in front of her.

"I was invited to the party."

"Oh?" Minato was surprised, who would want to deal with a woman like Sakura Haruno willingly?

"Yes." TenTen said. "I invited her."

"We all did." Naruto added looking at his father. For the life of him Minato could not understand Naruto's relationship with Sakura.

"That reminds me!" TenTen jumped up, her face flushed showing her drinking. "Sakura!"

"Yes?"

"I was told we were friends!"

"We were."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why were we friends?"

"Do you really want me to walk you through the psychological reasoning behind why people have friends?" Sakura asked causing Carver and Diem to laugh.

"No!" TenTen slurred, "Why are we friends, like what made you like me?"

"What made me like you?" Sakura tilted her head, "What isn't there to like?" Sakura furrowed her brows.

"H-Huh?" TenTen blushed.

"TenTen your awesome." Sakura said.

"N-No I'm not-"

"How not?" Sakura asked, "Your caring but you don't let that be a weakness. You don't let the world hold you back, your free spirited and your love for weapons and hand to hand combat and training is how we bonded and became close friends."

"O-Oh..." TenTen's face was bright red.

"Neji do you want to help me out here?" Sakura called to him sitting in a chair a few feet away. Sakura smirked watching him jump at the sound of his name and TenTen turning to look at him.

"We should fight!" TenTen jumped to her feet.

"Say what now?" Sakura watched TenTen pull on her shoes.

"My doctor said if I do the things I use to do before I lost my memory then maybe I could jog something lose. Maybe sparing with you will kickstart something!"

"I'm all for that-" Sakura said, "-but you have been drinking."

"So?"

"Can you walk in a straight line?" Sakura asked.

"I don't need to walk in a straight line to train!" TenTen laughed, "That's like the easiest way to kill me!"

"That...That isn't what I meant..." Sakura sighed.

"TenTen." Neji said walking over, "Commander Haruno is right, you shouldn't train after you drank this much."

"We won't use weapons then." TenTen shrugged, "What do you say Sakura?"

"Fuck it." Sakura said standing.

"Commander-" Neji breathed.

"She will be fine." Sakura turned to him. "It will be only hand to hand."

"I don't think this is a good idea." Choji muttered eating a bag of mini cookies.

"Sakura maybe Neji is right." Naruto said.

"Then get her to change her mind." Sakura flashed a smile at Neji who turned bright red figuring out this was all a ploy to get him to stand up and take charge over TenTen.

"Yeah-" Diem said reading the room. "-I would get your girlfriend to back down."

"She-She isn't my girlfriend!" Neji snapped.

"Oh really?" Diem said, he sat his beer down on the ground standing. "So, you won't mind if I-"

"Absolutely not!" Neji said taking TenTen's hand and leading her to a different fire, Sakura laughed moving to sit back down.

"Took him long enough." Dawn muttered.

"Right?" Sakura agreed.

"You-You were just trying to get a rise out of Neji?!" Naruto said turning around to watch TenTen stumble as she followed Neji.

"Fighting a drunk person, not that much fun." Sakura shrugged.

"Is your invitation still open for that training session?"

Sakura turned around hearing a deep voice hovering over her head. Sakura licked her lips seeing two eyes gazing down at her with a hard plastered expression. Sakura sighed as she rose to her feet looking at Minato.

"D-Dad?" Naruto quickly got up. "Y-You want to fight Sakura?!"

"I think it would be fun." Minato smiled at his son.

"Fun?" Diem muttered. "Dudes gonna get his ass kicked." Diem said turning around losing interest drinking his beer.

"W-Where is mom!?" Naruto looked around.

"With Tsunade somewhere, so what do you say Commander Haruno?"

"Why not?" Sakura shrugged.

"But why dad?" Naruto wanted to know.

"Not many people can keep up with me." Minato explained, "She did after getting a hole stabbed in her side. I am just curious to see how good the Reaper really is."

"Mm." Sakura hummed following Minato to a clearing away from the fires and drunken people. "You know my nickname."

"Yes." Minato chuckled, "I have learned a lot about you."

"I don't know if I should be flattered or creeped out." Sakura said reaching down to her leg.

"I don't mind using weapons-" Minato said as Raiden and Carver turned on stadium lights so everyone could see, drawing a crowd.

"You don't want me using this one." Sakura said unstrapping her gun from her leg. Minato's eyes widened once he saw the weapon she was removing.

"Why do you have that!?" He called,

"Well-" She said turning to Diem who took it, Minato saw Dawn and Diem also had the same guns strapped to their legs. "-why not?"

"Why do you need guns?" Minato frowned.

"I simply keep up with the times." Sakura shrugged.

"What does that mean?"

"It means...I am just prepared for anything." Sakura smiled not wanting to freak anyone out and ruin the night.

Naruto nervously bit on his nails as he watched his father and Sakura circle each other. Kakashi moved to stand beside Tsunade and Kushina, he shoved his hands in his pockets as his eye locked onto her when Minato leapt forward.

Minato's famous nickname still lives with him, even Kakashi had trouble keeping with his speed as he left a yellow blur in his tracks. Kushina was stunned when she saw Sakura was able to keep up with Minato. Naruto's mother thought back to when she awoke, she remembered Sakura's shoulder was bleeding, her head felt like it was splitting open and then Naruto was there. It just occurred to Kushina that Sakura had to fight her and her husband and keep them at bay until she found a way to free them from being controlled.

"I am impressed." Minato laughed, enjoying the workout.

"Oh?" Sakura wondered as she spun the kunai in her hand and as the two went back to walking in a circle, each waiting for the other to strike.

"Kakashi trained you very well!" Minato was proud of his student.

"Excuse me?" Sakura said turning over her shoulder to look at the masked shinobi.

"He was your sensei before-"

"He was never my sensei." Sakura corrected; how many times was she going to have to say this?

"Of course, he was he trained you-"

"I was placed on his team for a year, where I fell into your sons shadow. He never trained me like he trained Naruto and Sasuke." Sakura locked her eyes on Minato. "He passed me off to Tsuande who did the same."

"I am sure-"

"I used to wonder why they both let me fall through the cracks like they did but now I frankly couldn't give a damn." Sakura shrugged. "When she banished me from this village I had to learn how to fight for myself."

"You were so young how did-"

"Kaguya." Sakura answered, Minato's eyes widened Tsunade told him she had been released but was kept in checked, it was still shocking to hear.

"She is your sensei then?" Minato wondered, personal detailed about the Reaper were like tiny bread crumbles around the world, no one knew anything except war stories.

"No." Sakura laughed amused by that thought.

"No?"

"Kaguya was just the person who put me through hell."

Minato smiled walking over to Sakura and held out his hand, Sakura tilted her head confused.

"It has been awhile since I have had a good fight like that, but I can hear Kushina's stomach growling from here, and she is not a person you want to be around when she gets hungry." Minato laughed, Sakura reached out and shook his hand. "I am sorry I have been so harsh with you, I guess you didn't get the best impression of me."

"Really?" Sakura said causing Minato to laugh, placing his hand on her head ruffling her hair. Sakura's eyes widened not expecting this turn of events.

"Thank you, Commander, for everything you have done for this village and for my son. I hope you and I can be good friends in the future." Minato smiled before turning and walking to his wife.

"I think you just got my dad's approval." Naruto said moving to her side.

"I don't need—I'm not Hinata—whatever." Sakura dropped the conversation hearing Carver and Diem wrestling over the last bag of a flavor of chips. Sakura smiled at the two, Kakashi watched her from beside Guy who was very drunk.

"For a soldier who is adept at killing, her eyes are remarkably soft." He smiled to himself.

"Huh?" Guy turned. "Did you say something Kakashi?" Guy slurred his words.

"Not a thing." Kakashi smiled with his eye.

"Hey Sakura-" Naruto turned; "-can I talk to you?"

"Hm?" She hummed turning from watching the two rolling around on the ground, "About?" Naruto didn't answer he just led them away from the crowd. Sakura sighed, letting her long hair down from the tight hair tie letting her pink hair flow around her as she brought the cold can of beer to her lips, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Naruto laughed blushing a little holding his hands up, "I swear nothing is wrong!"

"Then what do you need to talk to me about?"

"I just...I wanted to apologize."

"For?"

"Inside your office..." Naruto said, "I didn't...I am sorry Sakura."

"Alright-" Sakura sighed, "-this conversation I can tell right now is going to need something stronger." She said holding up the can.

"Huh?"

"I know where Carver likes to keep his good stuff so Raiden can't drink it." A sly smile bloomed across her face as the two made their way to Carver and Raiden's apartment, they had officially taken over the apartment Sakura had borrowed from Tsunade when she first returned to the leaf village.

Sakura had a spare key to their place; she unlocked it and flicked the lights on.

"Do you come here a lot when they are not here?" Naruto wondered how many times she was near without him knowing.

"Not really." Sakura answered.

"Oh." Naruto felt sad knowing that. Sakura went to the bathroom and over the toilet inside the ceiling was Carvers stash. Sakura taught him this trick a long time ago. She walked back out into the living room, finding two glasses and quickly shot hers back knowing she was going to need to be a lot less sober for what Naruto wanted to talk about.

"So, what's up?" She asked sitting on the couch, placing the thick rum bottle on the coffee table.

"I wanted to tell you that I am sorry-"

"For what?"

"In your office-"

"You don't need to apologize to me." Sakura said,

"But I wanted you to hide-"

"Yeah-" Sakura laughed, "-like any sane person would want. Look...I am not saying what I did was justifiable but when you broke into my village you stumble upon a version of me that thought it was years ago and I hated you, I really did."

"I..."

"And it wasn't only because I got banished from the village. I hated you because you were everything I wasn't and still isn't."

"Wh-What?" Naruto breathed, "Sakura, you-your freaking amazing!"

"No, I'm not." Sakura shook her head. "I am the opposite of you, it's why I can understand your father not trusting me. You're the sun and colorful, you can befriend a person with just one smile while I am dark and full of nightmares that terrify people."

"Sakura-"

"It took...a long time for me to accept what I turned into." Sakura said, having never had this conversation with another living person it felt good to get this off her chest and yet annoying at the same time.

"You're not a monster-" Naruto took Sakura's hand, "-I am sorry if while inside your village I reinforced that image of you in your head but you're not! Sakura your everything I dream I will be when I become Hokage, you're so strong when I know I would have crumbled. Your fearless and so wise you're like my own personal all-knowing oracle. I can always count on you to be there for me and have my back!"

"Naruto-"

"No!" He frowned looking into her eyes, "I don't want to hear this from you again! If you want a picture of a monster that Malachite guy is the monster in this story, not you!"

"Alright." Sakura said.

"R-Really?" Naruto said. "That's it?"

"Yup." Sakura nodded.

"Wow I am good at this!" Naruto laughed, "So...how are you...are you like ok with him or...?"

"My Kakashi died." Sakura said with a shrug,

"That can't be all you have to say!"

"What do you want to hear?" Sakura asked, "I'm not over him, I am just going through the emotions and doing what I am supposed to do." She said reaching into her shirt pulling out the long chain that held the ring he gave her and the star charm on the necklace Naruto and Kakashi gave her last Christmas.

"You still have that?" Naruto said reaching over to and touching the necklace.

"Yeah, the chain broke so I added it to this one." Sakura muttered pouring another drink.

"Do you want to talk about that?" Naruto asked pointing to the cup.

"Are you counting my drinks?"

"Um..."

"You lecture me, you count my drinks-" Sakura trailed off, "-you are all the worst parts of a girlfriend."

"I-I am not-"

"I'm not an alcoholic." She cut off Naruto's rant. "I only drink a glass every so often, more today because well...I can see my dead boyfriend walking around with a pulse, and it takes the edge off."

"Edge?" Naruto frowned not understanding this phrase. Sakura looked into the dark liquid inside the glass.

"I have been fighting for a long time...I have been in a lot of wars; stood on battle grounds and it is hard to rip yourself out of that."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head, forgetting that her and Naruto could not bond over war stories, they couldn't even bond over lost lovers anymore because he got his back, hers returned he just wanted nothing to do with her.

"Nothing." Sakura shook her head.

"No." Naruto said taking her hand in his again, "Tell me. I don't understand but try to help me I want too." Sakura studied him for a moment and sighed, taking another drink.

"Even though I am sitting here with you apart of me will always still be trapped on a battleground." Sakura sighed, "When I am alone, I can hear faint sounds of screaming, rather it be children crying over their dead parents or my own soldiers begging me to save them it echos around my head when its quiet."

"Sakura I..." Naruto didn't know what to say, "...go on." Naruto muttered taking a long drink of the rum as he welcomed the burning sensation down his throat.

"If I am not careful and I let my mind drift I can sometimes feel my sword still in my hand I can feel the handle being warm from me wielding it for so long-" Sakura muttered feeling herself getting lost in thought. "-When I close my eyes, I can see the burnt field. I can smell chard bone, God that smell will forever haunt me." Naruto squeezed Sakura's hand seeing she was falling backwards into her memories. She looked over at him, he flashed a grinned and raised his glass.

"Another round?"

"Yeah." She said, Naruto leaned forward grabbing the bottle.

"Have you ever talked to anyone else about this stuff?" Naruto wondered, "Carver or Raiden?"

"No." Sakura said.

"Not even to your own Commanders?"

"They come to me." Sakura muttered a thank you to Naruto for filling her glass. "Not the other way around for advice and counseling on things like this."

"But...if everyone comes to you for help what do you do?"

"Help them?" Sakura answered slowly,

"No!" Naruto laughed, "I mean...you do you go and talk with?"

"No one."

"But that...that doesn't seem right!"

"Yeah well...I did talk to Kakashi when he was alive."

"And that helped?"

"It did." Sakura nodded, "He understood a lot of what I went through, he had a lot of years inside the black ops and kind of knew what to say."

"Do you regret becoming Commander of the Waterfall Village?" Naruto asked, playing with the rim of his glass. "Before Kakashi...you know...it seemed like you kind of didn't want to go back there."

"I don't regret becoming Commander." Sakura said, "I do love my job, I love my village-" a sting shocked through Naruto's heart hearing Sakura love another village other than the leaf village it just didn't seem right. "-I love my soldiers, but I regret training them."

"What?" Naruto frowned not expecting to hear that.

"I wished I never used the training grounds, I wished I never imprinted the way I did on some of those men and women. I twisted them into dark creatures, and I hated that I was the one who did that to them."

"Sakura..." Naruto saw the pain in her eyes.

"That was one thing Kaguya didn't teach me." Sakura smiled, "She taught me how to put this uniform on and how to do my job well but never told me there's no way to get this thing off. I am sitting here with you, but I still feel like I am fighting, and it is utterly exhausting living in this nearly constant state of fight-or-flight and there is no way to turn it off and it just makes me feel so drained."

"Those soldiers aren't on you." Naruto said. "That is on Kaguya-"

"She didn't train them, I did. I ripped them apart and put them back together again. I made them into what they are."

"But Kaguya set you up to fail, she filled that village with rogue and freelance shinobi and made Purgatory then expected you to lead that and just like you said to me! Those shinobi made their choices, they allowed you to do what you did to them."

"I don't know." Sakura breathed feeling tired as she leaned back against the couch.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" Naruto wondered.

"Shoot."

"Was it better?" Naruto asked, Sakura opened her eyes and looked at Naruto confused for a moment.

"No." Sakura answered.

"Huh!?" Naruto leaned forward. "How wouldn't it be better to not remember being with Kakashi? You wouldn't remember your entire relationship with him, you wouldn't recall falling in love with him. You didn't remember how much you loved him and how it crippled you when you watched him die in your arms!"

"And that is why it wasn't worth it." Sakura yawned leaning on her arm.

"H-Huh?"

"Kakashi thought I was strong and so fearless, and it didn't matter how weak I felt he never stopped looking at me like I was the most beautiful person on this earth." Sakura smiled, "Kakashi thought I could do the impossible and he always saw the best in me when I couldn't. Now that Kakashi is gone all I want is to be the person Kakashi thought I was. I am scared to death that I will not measure up to his expectations. But I know now that I would rather have his memory and live with the pain than live without the pain and never remember how he made my heart skip every time he looked at me."

"I don't think you could ever let him down."

"My version of Kakashi isn't here anymore but he still makes me want to be a better person, I truly believe that is why I didn't kill you and your team that day. I believe somewhere inside my head I knew Kakashi would be disappointed in me if I crept into the village, he loved more than himself and tore it down so...yes his memory burns and aches, and some days looking towards tomorrow I have no fucking clue how I can make it, but then I think about him. The man I agreed to marry may have died but I still want to make him proud of me."

"I think he would be very proud of you." Naruto smiled as his face was turning red from the alcohol.

----

The front door slammed open; Sakura looked over seeing a pissed off Raiden who swayed with gravity.

"This is where you went!?" He pointed at her and Naruto who were still on the couch. Naruto clinched the sofa feeling it was rocking back and forth as if it was a ship and the hardwood floor was the swaying sea. Naruto groaned putting his head on the arm of the couch, he got sea sick.

"You got into my shit!?" Carver stepped past Dawn and Diem.

"He made me." Sakura pointed to Naruto.

"I-I did not!"

"He made me talk about emotions and open up." Sakura smirked at Naruto's annoyed face, it was her idea to come here and drink!

"You made Sakura talk about feelings?" Carver laughed plopping on the couch in between them. "Now that's fucked up."

"Well yeah...I did do that..." Naruto muttered feeling drunk.

"You guys drank the entire bottle!" Carver whined.

"It was good too." Sakura smiled leaning her head on the back of the couch.

"You are terrible to me!" Carver said taking her glass as he polished it off.

"What have you all been up too?" Sakura wondered watching her commanders as well as Sasuke sit around the room.

"Nothing." Carver answered for everyone. "Just messing around at the bonfire which you basically missed!"

"Beh." Sakura shrugged,

"We called you like fifty times." Dawn muttered; Sakura tilted her head not feeling her phone go off in her pocket, she pulled it out and saw it had died.

"Oh well-" Sakura sat it on the table.

"What about you?!" Raiden directed to Naruto opening a bag of chips. "We called you too, you never answered so we made sure to get your girlfriend home!"

"What?" Naruto said feeling his pockets, "Where-?" Naruto stood not feeling his phone and began to panic. "I lost it!" Naruto shouted; this would be the fourth one this year!

"Calm down!" Diem waved to the blond, "Sit down and try to remember back to the last place you seen it."

"Um..." Naruto drunkenly fell back onto the couch. "I think I had it when I was in Kakashi Sensei's place..."

"You think or you know?" Dawn asked,

"I don't remember! Sakura got me drunk!"

"I did not, it's not my fault you can't hold your shit." Sakura responded.

"I don't think Kakashi is even home." Carver muttered,

"That masked man with the silver hair was with the very loud ninja." Dawn shivered still hearing Guy's laugh ringing in her ears. "With the black mushroom hair."

"Oh Guy." Carver nodded, "Yeah he was pretty fucked up when we left." He chuckled,

"Looks like you're going to have to wait until morning to get your phone back Naruto." Raiden muffled out with a mouthful of chips as he turned the TV on.

"But..." Naruto turned to Sakura with watery eyes. "...what if Hinata texts me?"

"I am sure she will-"

"I text her goodnight every night!" Naruto whined.

"You are so whipped!" Carver laughed.

"Sakura!" Naruto cried.

"What the fuck do you want me to do?"

"Help me!"

"I don't think I am qualified to give you the amount of help-"

"You know what I mean!" Naruto frowned causing Sakura to laugh, she looked over in the direction of Kakashi's apartment. She did still have a key from when she dated him, if the locks had not been changed since then...she sighed after a couple more minutes of Naruto's staring at her with large puppy eyes.

"What are you going to do?" Sasuke asked seeing her stand. "He isn't there."

"Are you going to break in!?" Raiden gasped,

"Wouldn't be the first time." Sakura sighed, "I'll be back."

"Yay!" Naruto said leaning on Carver who groaned,

"Someone give me their phone." Sakura ordered,

"Huh? Why?"

"So, I can find Naruto's phone." Sakura answered dully. Carver tossed his. She left the apartment and walked over to Kakashi's door, it wasn't hard to pick open a door, but she had a working key, so it was easy to unlock it and walk on in.

She was greeted with his familiar scent as she moved through the darkened living room. Kakashi's apartment was warm and smelt like him, it was making Sakura sleepy as she pulled out Carver's phone, he opened his bedroom door.

The room was shockingly bright, Sakura looked up from the phones screen as she called Naruto. Sakura felt the stunned expression on her face as Kakashi walked out from the bathroom, wearing only a towel that hung dangerously low on his toned waist.

The two stared at each other as Sakura took in his unmasked face, she hadn't seen it since he died. She discovered after that day she had no pictures of him to hold onto. Naruto's phone played inside the bathroom.

"S-" Kakashi quickly turned around, Sakura's eyes scanned over his muscular torso. She rolled her eyes as she walked over towards him.

"Calm down." She said brushing past him, "You have nothing I haven't already seen before." Kakashi's heart fluttered, they had been dating so they meant they would have...Kakashi's felt his face heat up as his eyes trailed along Sakura's body as she found Naruto's dying phone. "I didn't know checking out your so-called student was acceptable." Sakura said turning around feeling his eyes on her.

"I wasn't-"

"Mhm." Sakura replied stepping to leave the room. "I was under the impression you were still out with Guy, sorry." Sakura said over her shoulder,

"How did you get in here?" Kakashi asked, making Sakura smile.

"I am the Reaper." Sakura turned to look at him, he hadn't moved to cover his face which surprised her. "Getting through a wooden door isn't too hard." Kakashi smiled at her cocky answer making her heart flutter seeing that smile on those lips.

Sakura turned on her heel and walking out of the bathroom, her eyes scanned over the bedroom remembering back to all the times she slept in here. Sakura stopped walking seeing her bracelet sitting on his dresser as her breath hitched inside her chest, she mindlessly went to touch her wrist. She could almost feel Kakashi placing it on her while sitting in this room on Christmas day.

What would her version of Kakashi say about all this to her? Sakura furrowed her eyebrows together as she stared at her bracelet. Sakura couldn't believe he would tell her to leave him be, let him live his life without her.

Sakura turned to look at the man who watched her confused. Would he want her to fight for him, if he loved her once surely, he could love her again and that is what Kakashi would want right? Sakura turned moving her way back into the bathroom where Kakashi had turned to continue getting dressed.

TenTen did say that there was a chance her memory could be jogged by doing the repetitive activities she did before she died, maybe there was chance her Kakashi wasn't fully gone. Sakura walked into the steamy room; her eyes locked on his reflection in the mirror.

"Commander-?"

"You don't call me that." Sakura snapped as she moved into him, she gripped his chin forcing him to look at her as she reached up and kissed him. She mashed her lips against his, wrapping her free arm around his neck.

Kakashi was stunned for a moment, before leaning into her kiss. Heat rose into Sakura's cheeks as his tongue lightly entered her mouth, she felt electric sparks pulse through her body.

Kakashi got firmer with her, more determined as he pushed her against the wall feeling more curious as he explored her wet mouth. She tasted like rum and coke, it was delicious to him as he gripped a fist full of her hair firmly as if to keep her from vanishing from his grasp, he took control over the kiss. His hand trailed along her body feeling every curve seeking to chase down that elusive liquid lightning he felt when touching her.

Sakura's heart was racing as her breathing was very deliberately, she moved her hand to the back of his neck and shuddered when Kakashi's hands dipped under her shirt and onto her smooth hot skin.

Kakashi felt like he was in a haze but was careful when he felt the edges of the gauze on her stomach. Kakashi felt so excited, a little nervous as he cupped her breast in her hand and he felt so responsive to her touch.

It felt like he was a teenager again and he was kissing a girl for the very first time, the bundle of nerves and excitement, the chest heaving. Everything around the shinobi and the soldier appeared hazy as their bodies felt hot and thinking was hard to difficult.

"I-" Kakashi opened his eye, looking down at her as his chest quickly rose and fell. "I can't do this." He breathed, "You're my-"

"Do you see any trace of the girl you knew?" Sakura leaned against the wall for support, her knees felt weak as Kakashi backed away from her making her feel cold. Kakashi searched Sakura's blushing face as she pulled her shirt down. "I am not your student; I never really was."

"Sakura-"

"You didn't train me like you trained the others." Sakura laughed, "You only had me a year before passing me off to Tsunade, how can you stand there and try to take credit for who I have become?"

"You think that is what I am doing?" Kakashi questioned, "You think I want to be known as the man who trained the Reaper?" Kakashi's voice turned sourly as Sakura sucked in a breath as a cold pain struck her heart, was this what he truly thought of her?

"Fuck you Kakashi." Sakura breathed anger laced her face as she grabbed Naruto's phone off the sink but before leaving, "There was a time you were proud of who I was, you stood by my side no questions asked." She looked him in the eye, "You wanted everyone to know you were the man fucking the Reaper." She turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Kakashi's apartment.

Naruto woke up with a hangover ready to greet him for the day, he was asleep on Carver and Raiden's couch. Naruto blinked as his head throbbed and his stomach rolled, he saw his phone sitting on the coffee table, but it had died over night. Naruto slowly got up from the couch, moving into the kitchen to get water.

"You look rough." A voice laughed; Naruto turned to glare at Raiden, but he was to tired. "I guess I don't have to ask how your feeling."

"No." Naruto said leaning over the kitchen sink. "Where is everyone?" He noticed the quiet apartment.

"Well Carver is getting dressed, we have training sessions today. Sasuke went home late last night and I have no idea when Sakura, Dawn and Diem left."

"They left?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, they weren't here when Carver got up." Raiden said,

"I don't even remember Sakura coming back from getting my phone."

"You passed out before she did." Raiden chuckled, "You didn't miss anything, we watched some movies and went to sleep."

"I wonder why Sakura didn't wait for us to get up before leaving?" Naruto muttered.

"You know her-" Raiden waved, "-I'm sure she will be back around before we know it."

"Yeah..." Naruto muttered. "Blegh." He gagged quickly hovering over the sink.

"Don't throw up in my sink!" Raiden shouted, "I wash my fucking dishes in there! Go put your head out the window or something!"

"Out the window?" Naruto wanted to laugh but he felt too sick as he groaned swearing to himself to never drink again in his life!