Stumble [Rewrite]

Omake: In Her Time

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!" he screamed. Sasuke was frozen as he stared down at the face of the woman who once told him that she loved him.

"Sa... Sakura?" he mumbled. "No—I didn't—NO! Sakura! Wake up—I'm sorry! I didn't mean—I..."

Kakashi looked away.

::

Tsunade walked up to the entrance of the main infirmary camp and placed her hands on her hips. With the war over, she was able to help out the other medics and heal the shinobi that were injured in the last moments of battle. Sakura was with her as well, but had bolted off a couple of hours ago the moment she heard that Sasuke and Naruto were fighting at the Valley of the End. Now Kakashi was standing before, looking everywhere but her eyes. She smirked.

"What? You found my apprentice?" she asked. Kakashi's gaze sank lower.

"Ho... Hokage-sama..." he began quietly. Tsunade's face dropped instantly.

"What happened, Kakashi?"

He didn't continue, merely turning to look back behind him. Sasuke was walking up the pathway, Naruto lingering slightly behind and carrying something in his arms. Tsunade scowled at the sight of the Uchiha and his blood-stained pants before focusing on what, or who, in this case, Naruto was carrying. Her face slowly twisted into that of pure, unadulterated horror once she saw Sakura's stationary body.

"...She isn't."

"We didn't mean to, Baa-chan," Naruto said as his bottom lip began to quiver. "Sasuke and I were fighting and Sakura-chan... S-Sakura-chan..."

Her tightened his hold on her body and began to sob into her hair. Tsunade wasn't having any of that. Her hands flared a spring green as she placed them on Sakura.

Pulse: None.

"Sakura, you aren't dead."

Breathing: None.

"Sakura, I swear to god!"

Heart: Absent.

"I did not give you permission to die!"

Possibility of survival due to sustained injuries: 0.00%.

"If this is some sick JOKE I'll--"

Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes looking the saddest she had ever seen them. Tsunade heaved in a ragged breath and withdrew her hands. She pressed a hand to her mouth and turned around.

"Take her to the makeshift morgue. We'll send her body back to Konoha along with the others tomorrow morning."

::

Her funeral was so big that it surprised even Sasuke. The remainder of the Konoha 11 attended: Shino, Shikamaru, Tenten, Hinata, and of course, Naruto. Neji, Ino, and Kiba perished in that infirmary camp bombing five years prior. Chouji and Lee both died on the battlefield in the sixth year. Outside of the Konoha 11, Sai was killed on the battlefield in the fifth year due to an ambush against the squad he was a part of. No one from the squad survived.

But aside from the typical people one would expect, many other shinobi, even civilians, attended the funeral as well. Tenten grew intrigued at the sheer amount of people who were attending and approached a teenager who was standing alone in the crowd.

"Quite a lot of people, isn't it?" Tenten remarked quietly. The teenager bobbed her head.

"I knew there would be. I think they're all here for the same reason I am," she replied. Tenten peered at her curiously.

"And what reason would that be?"

"Well... for me, at least, Haruno-sensei saved my life. It was during the attack on Konoha at the beginning of the war. An enormous centipede came after me and my baa-chan and she saved us." She smiled at the memory. "I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for Haruno-sensei. The very least I could do for her is give her my thanks one last time," she said. Tenten ran her eyes through the people. People of all ages and sizes were here. These were all her patients?

'You really are an amazing person, Sakura.'

At night, only Kakashi was left. Naruto had to leave at about sundown. He couldn't bear the sight of Sakura being lowered in her casket that he ran off, tears threatening to fall down his face again. Sasuke had to go with ANBU, as he still wouldn't be pardoned from his actions and had to receive some sort of punishment. But Kakashi...

For hours, he stared at her gravestone. A part of him still couldn't believe that she was gone or that she'd go so far as to run in between two lethal jutsu. He was there-- he could've stopped her if he hadn't let his guard down when she appeared. She could have lived, but...

... but then Naruto and Sasuke would've died.

Kakashi pulled down his mask and ran a hand over his face.

"I let you down, Sakura. I neglected your potential and let you grow up by yourself. You knew that, and yet, you were still kind in your last moments," he sighed. "You didn't need to apologize. I was the one who needed to say sorry. Not you. Especially not you."

He wilted at the thought of her name being one of the many that would be carved in the memorial stone.

"I know it's not my place to ask for a favor, but... tell everyone I'm sorry. Tell Naruto that I believe that he'll become Hokage, and tell Sasuke that I believe one day that he'll be happy. And you, Kakashi..."

Sakura mouthed the words to him before sprinting off.

"... thank you for being my sensei."

Kakashi slumped forward. He didn't think that she'd be one of the ghosts that would haunt him. Rin, even Obito... He pulled himself onto his feet and checked his pocket watch.

12:04 am.

His eyes fell shut as he pushed away the urge to cry.

"Happy Birthday, Haruno Sakura."

::

Edited 1/29/18