Everyone has darkness

The point of view

Next morning. Konohagakure no sato. Sakura's apartment…

Haruno Sakura woke up that day, clinging to something very warm and pleasant. Slowly she opened her eyes…

"Morning, sunshine." Sasuke said smiling and kissed her forehead.

"Mmm… Sasuke… Am I still dreaming?" She asked, still sleepy.

Uchiha chuckled. "Nope." He stated. "We didn't go all the way, but everything else was real."

Now she giggled as well. "You know, for so many years I imagined this moment…" Then her smile suddenly faded.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura frowned. "It's just… I always thought Naruto will always be around to smile for me like he always did…"

The mention of their ex-teammate hit the target.

"Naruto…" Sasuke muttered. "While I was on the run with Orochimaru there were so many things I wanted to say to him…" Sakura looked in his eyes, which were staring somewhere in the ceiling. "You will be laughing…" Uchiha snorted. "But sometimes I even wanted to apologize… apologize for almost killing him back then; when the only thing he wanted was to help me, and the only thing I wanted was to kill my brother and have my revenge…" He stopped.

"But back then, when Naruto did… whatever he did to himself…" Sakura started. "You actually tried to kill him, and… to kill me."

"Years as Orochimaru's student made me colder." Sasuke stated. "I forgot that warm feeling of having someone dear. I thought I must be as heartless as Itachi is… was…" He paused. "But then I learned that back then, at the Valley of the End, Naruto was the one who tried to kill me… and Itachi was the one who saved me… It was… hard to believe."

Sakura leaned on his shoulder. "I understand you." She stated. "Ever since he returned from his so-called training trip, I noticed changes immediately. His stance, speech, confidence, everything… Do you think there is a chance to save him?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Save him?"

The kunoichi hugged him closer. "He… He did horrible things, unforgivable things. But somewhere deep inside I think that mindless destruction and useless killings are not his true goals. So I think maybe… maybe he can be…"

"Saved like I was?" Uchiha asked.

Sakura nodded.

"I don't know, Sakura…" He replied. "Back then I did not want to be… 'saved' as you call it. But I knew what I did was wrong. Naruto? I don't think he believes that what he's doing now is wrong…"

"Yes, but maybe he…" Sakura said, but then she was interrupted by someone knocking on her door. "I'll get it." And with that she got out of bed and did just that.

"Hi, Sak… Oh my god!" Yamanaka Ino shouted. "You could at least put your underwear on!"

Sakura looked down on herself. "Oh dear…"

"Good morning, Ino." Sasuke walked from behind Sakura… wearing boxers to Ino's displeasure, and wrapped a blanket around the pink haired girl.

"Hi, Sasuke… Did I interrupt something?" Ino asked.

"No, you did not." Sasuke stated. "Well, what is it?"

"Oh, right! Get dressed quickly and get into Hokage's office as soon as you can." The blond girl said. "Something terrible has happened…"

Both Sasuke's and Sakura's faces paled.

"What happened?" Uchiha asked.

"I don't know what exactly…" Ino started. "But it somehow linked with Naruto."