I do not own the characters (they are owned by Masashi Kishimoto). in this story Naruto and Sakura are both 20
Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze sat in the living room of the Hokage Mansion at night looking at a photo album of his adventures with Team 7 during his childhood. Ever since the end of the 4th Shinobi World War, he found himself reflecting on his time spent with his friends as a child, in an attempt to help soothe the pain of losing his closest friends in the war.
Naruto had finally managed to kill Obito and the Ten-Tails and put an end to Madara Uchiha's plans with the help of the reincarnated Hokage and the unexpected help of a redeemed Sasuke and Orochimaru and the members of Taka. But saving the world came with a heavy price. Sasuke sacrificed his own life to allow Naruto to finish off Obito and Madara.
When Naruto saw what had happened to his friend he tried to get someone to help him, but Sasuke told Naruto it was too late. Before he died he made Naruto swear to him that he would take care of Sakura for him which Naruto immediately promised to do just as Sasuke died in his arms.
Shortly afterwards a memorial service was held for all those who died during the war. It was a sad time, especially for those who had lost loved ones during the war like Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata and her father Hiashi and especially Sakura who was absolutely devastated at Sasuke's death and looked as though her heart had been absolutely shattered.
Naruto, who was soon named as the Sixth Hokage soon afterwards felt for his teammate. He knew the pain of losing someone close to him as he had lost his godfather shortly before the war began. And as his first act as Hokage, he made sure a memorial stone was erected in the epicenter of Konoha to honor those from Konoha who died in the war. He also made sure Sasuke's body was buried next to his parents as he wanted.
Back in present time, Naruto decided to go and check on Sakura, who he hadn't seen since the memorial services shortly after the end of the war. In fact hardly anyone had seen Sakura since then. Naruto guessed she was keeping herself shut up in her house in grief over Sasuke's death. Knowing this Naruto decided to go and look for Sakura to try and cheer her up.
Soon Naruto arrived at Sakura's house and went up to her window and listened inside. He soon heard what sounded like Sakura crying and he decided to peek inside. What he saw next totally shocked him. Sakura was sitting on the edge of her bed with a kunai in her hands and nasty cuts on her wrists.
Sakura then took the kunai and angled it at her throat and Naruto, immediately realizing what was going on burst through the window and tackled Sakura off the bed, knocking the kunai out of her hand. Sakura struggled to break free of Naruto's grip, but he wouldn't let go of her.
"Naruto, what in the hell are you doing?" Sakura angrily said.
"I'm stopping you from making a stupid mistake." Naruto said just as angrily, pissed off that his friend was trying to take the easy way out in dealing with her pain.
"Naruto, you don't know anything about what I've been going through since Sasuke died, you don't know the grief that's been tearing away at my heart." Sakura tearfully yelled.
"Well that's a bunch of bullshit, because in case you forgotten, I lost my godfather Jiraiya just before the war began, and I was so grief stricken that I didn't want to talk to anyone. Plus I grew up without having any parents and always crying about being alone. So don't tell me I don't know anything about grief Sakura Haruno." Naruto said angrily and that struck Sakura silent.
"That's just like you Naruto, always being positive no matter what the circumstances. I appreciate you trying to lift me up Naruto, but this is the hard truth of life. Face it, it's all destiny, you can't change it. No matter how many times you yell about not giving up, it always ends the way it was supposed to be." Sakura said in a low tone with a sad look on her face.
"ENOUGH!" Naruto yelled before he did something that shocked both Sakura and himself, he gave Sakura a hard slap across the face. This shocked Sakura so much that she couldn't move or say another word.
"I'm sick and tired of your sad puppy dog act Sakura. I can't stand people who pity themselves like this! What the HELL do you mean everything's all destiny Sakura?" Naruto exclaimed after grabbing her shoulders tightly, making her look at him as the rosette-haired kunoichi stared into his angry orbs wide eyed.
"I don't know about you or anybody else, but I forge my own destiny Sakura! All my life I've lived with pain, whether it was the pain of being rejected by the villagers, or the pain of not having any family to rely on. But through it all, the idea of quitting and giving up NEVER crossed my mind! If I thought like you are pitying yourself right now, then I would've been dead a long time ago! Destiny...I HATE that word!" he yelled with gritted teeth while she winced a bit in pain.
"Listen to me Sakura, I'm not going to let you go through this by yourself. I've always been here for you, even when times got really rough, and I'll continue to be here for you. You know why....because I LOVE YOU!" Naruto exclaimed and Sakura sat there with a stunned look on her face at what she just heard.
"You...you love me?" Sakura said in absolute shock.
"Of course I love you, I always have Sakura, that's why I've always been there for you. Think about it: who saved you from Gaara when he went on a rampage during the Chunin Exams? Who save you from getting killed by Sasuke? Who has always been there to protect you from harm? I have." Naruto explained and Sakura was totally at a loss for words.
"I'll NEVER give up on you Sakura-Chan, so don't you give up on me." Naruto said with a look of sympathy on his face and at that moment Sakura lost it and collapsed into Naruto arms crying.