The Hokage watched as people in black gathered around the Hokage Residence. Today was the day, the day that she dreaded the most. Tsunade leaned into her chair and covered her eyes with her arm. ‘Kami-sama… Why her?’ She did not react when the door to her office opened.

“Tsunade-sama, we have to start soon. The villagers are all here,” Shizune watched as her mentor stood up slowly as if she had aged ten more years all of a sudden. Tsunade was not as young as she seemed, and the event of today was a harsh blow on her.

“Let’s go then. Best not let the village wait for their Hokage,” Tsunade walked to the roof of the Hokage Residence to face her village.

She scanned the crowd, spotting familiar faces among the thousands of people below her. Jiraiya, Gaara and his family, Rock Lee standing next to Tenten and Gai, the Hyuuga clan, Aburame Shino with his father, Inuzuka Kiba with his sister and mother, Nara Shikamaru and his parents, Yamanaka Ino and her father, Akimichi Chouji and his father and Uchiha Sasuke partially surrounded by ANBU consisting of Yamato and Sai.

“Tsunade-sama? It’s time to start. The villagers…” Shizune looked at her leader’s face and down at the huge group of people. “Naruto isn’t here, is he? Neither is Hatake-senpai. Do you want me to go get them?”

“There’s no need, Shizune. After all, Kakashi went to get Naruto. They won’t be coming. Let us start. The funeral service… of my beloved disciple…”

“Sakura loved this place, didn’t she?” Kakashi looked up at the tree he was leaning against, perched on top was his student.

“She always came here when she was free. For training, for walks and for remembering…” They were in Team 7’s old training ground. It was Spring and the flowers of the trees in the training ground had bloomed, covering the ground in cherry blossoms. “I remember the one time she agreed to go on a date with me, she brought me here.”

“You’re not going to join the rest for her service, are you? I’ll stay with you if you want.” Kakashi watched as Naruto shook his head with his eyes closed. He did not want Kakashi to see the sadness in his eyes. “It’s your choice. We can go visit her later on, if you want. ”

Yamanaka Ino stood in front of the crowd, declining the offer of going up to join the Hokage on the roof. She cleared her throat. “Sakura was a good friend, a good teammate, a good ally. She would be disappointed at me, I promised her I wouldn’t cry. She wanted me to speak for her, read something that she wrote. So I’ll fulfill her wish. She wrote this haiku herself when we were sitting at her old training ground. Here it is…” Ino took out a piece of folded paper from the pocket of her black skirt and took a deep breath.

                                                   'Sakura petals.
                                           Swirling around in the wind,
                                                 as a passing sight.'

Ino’s voice broke at the last word, she broke down in front of the crowd. The Hokage watched as some of her villagers started to cry. The Hokage watched as family members and friends tried to comfort those who were crying. The Hokage watched, body shaking and tears threating to flow. But she stayed strong, she was the Hokage. Tsunade could not cry, no matter how much she wanted to.

The village was in complete silence. At the old training ground, the only voices heard were that of the Hokage making her speech and Ino reciting the haiku. Kakashi closed his eyes while the meaning of the haiku came to his understanding. How ironic. He felt something wet on his covered cheek and looked up once more. Right there was Naruto, tears leaking out from under his eyelids.

“She’s gone, Kakashi-sensei. Sakura-chan. She’s gone. And she’s not coming back. I promised her not to cry. I guess I suck at keeping my promises. I wanted to bring Sasuke back to see her smiling. But before I could, Sakura-chan… The last thing she told me was to take care, and I forgot to do the same. She went on that mission, and she never came back. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. I didn’t get the chance to tell her how much she meant to me. I didn’t get a chance to tell her how much I love her,” Naruto cried harder while a tear flowed out of Kakashi’s uncovered eye.