Just a quick little one-shot I felt like doing =], occurring right before the battle between Sasuke and Itachi.

(I apologize for any OOC-ness you may encounter in this one-shot beforehand)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters in any way, shape, or form.

She had done it.

She didn't quite know how, but she had found him before the big battle.

Itachi Uchiha

She gripped onto her kunai with both her hands, terrified to the bone, but also determined. She didn't quite understand what she expected from him, but she was here, and she would do something.

Sasuke-kun will not die. Not today.

She was determined to have him live. Because he was her everything, her one true love, her life line.

"Haruno Sakura"

The way he spoke her name made it feel like all the air had been sucked out from her chest. She didn't have the strength to move, and she was sure she had grown paler. She wanted to speak out –lash out furiously. Scream, kick, scratch, claw, slap him… anything would help, really. She wanted to so desperately explain to him how much she hated him –how much she had suffered because of him. How her attempts to get Sasuke to notice her, to accept her for who she was had been completely in vain, all because of the mind-set Itachi had given him. All because of him.

Friends are worthless

Love, even more so pathetic

The only true path to power is through hate.

He had taken from her the very person she had cared for more than life itself, deprived her of the very person she loved. It was all his fault that Sasuke-kun hated her. That he had betrayed Konoha, and had abandoned her, Kakashi and Naruto when times were rough. That no matter how much she had tried, she could never capture Sasuke's attention, let alone heart for even a split second. That because of him, Sasuke was lost to her forever.

But for the life of her, she could not express any of this. She was petrified of the S-Class nukenin, to the point where she felt humiliated, standing before him in that same stance she had used long ago in the Forest of Death, back when she had been too weak to protect her teammates. It didn't help when she began crying, her nerves so racked up that she could barely control the grip on the kunai she held. Just seeing him, so calm and collected (even when he would be walking to the fight of his life, where he would certainly kill his own brother, not that it should matter much to him, seeing as he had already disposed of the rest of his family), where she was straining herself to not fall to her knees and begin crying hysterically, snot flowing out of her nose freely.

Nevertheless, Itachi knew what she was there for.

He knew the kunochi fairly well. Ex-teammate of his brother, in a squad with the copy-cat nin, and the kyuubi container. Apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, excelled in genjutsus and chakra manipulation. No kekkai genkai, no demon, no particular jutsu or move that he should be remotely wary of. She was a kunoichi, perhaps nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps even a little too plain, aside from that exotic hair color, and perhaps boring, compared to the more special ninjas of her time, such as the Hyugas, or the Inuzukas. She came from a civilian household, and had only doned a hitai-ate because of his brother. Very intelligent for her age, rivaling the intellect of the Naras.

Ask anybody, and they would tell you the same thing, at least.

The wind seemed to stop, almost as if time had frozen in its step around them. Seconds felt like minutes. Minutes felt like hours. She didn't know how long she had been standing there, silent tears sliding down her cheeks.

"You are a fool," he finally spoke, his voice echoing through every part of her brain. "What do you plan on doing? Killing me, so I won't fight Sasuke?" he questioned her. "All in hopes of what? For him to return your idiotic feelings for him?"

Something hit Sakura deep as he mentioned her love for her dear Sasuke-kun.

"He will never reciprocate your feelings, kunoichi. You are young and in denial. He is too good for you. Too powerful, too intelligent."

His words felt like they were piercing her very being. Even now, she had hope… that if… just if, after killing Itachi (were he able to do so, anyhow), he would want to reconstruct his clan… and that maybe, just maybe, she would be…

"Forget it Haruno, it is nothing but a far-fetched dream of yours, never to be within reach."

It almost felt like he could read minds.

"Once you come to terms with reality, you'll understand that love like that," he began walking towards her, stopping just as their shoulders brushed past each other, "is nothing but an idiotic fairy-tale you should have out-grown several years ago." He held his breath for a second. "Sasuke will die by my hands today."

And just like that, Sakura dropped to her knees, no longer strong enough to hold in her tears, or hold her legs from giving out. She let out a loud wail, her heart shattering at the thought. "Well then you might as well kill me too! Without Sasuke… without him, my life is no longer worth living too!"

"You are pathetic" his voice boomed throughout the area. "Not even worth killing." He nearly let out a vicious snarl. "You don't even value your own life."

Well then… if he won't do it…

Itachi could read her eyes, see what her thoughts were leading to, as she clutched the kunai in her hand, slowly twisting it and angling it to herself. Before she could even do it though, she fell to the ground unconscious, the kunai falling a few feet from her.

"Foolish kunoichi" and he walked away from her then, seeing Sakura Haruno for the very last time.

And maybe, just maybe, this had been a speech for himself too, to assure himself.

There was nothing left for him in this world.

Sakura was too good for him. Too pure, too powerful, too intelligent for him. How had he, the coldest of shinobi, fallen for her? That power she possessed… the power of love… it had been much too great, even for him.

Alas, the love he felt was fated to be doomed before it even began –before he could even consider it, even. She was a kunoichi of the Leaf, a place where his name might as well be associated with Satan himself. She was young, and innocent, whereas his time on this earth had all but expired now, and where countless of lives, he was burdened with, their blood soaking his hands.

She was loved by everyone, seen as a true diamond in the rough among her peers, always able to cheer everyone up with her charismatic personality.

To him, she was an enigma, one he wished would shine her presence upon him. To bathe in her sunlight, and understand what it was to be happy –that had been the only thing he had ever wanted.

Sakura Haruno was not a fighter.

Sakura Haruno was a lover, a healer –a soul that had nothing but love to give and wished for nothing in return. She was filled with unconditional love for his brother, the person who had always undermined her existence, unconditional love for the kyuubi kid, who, with her by his side was unstoppable, and unconditional love for all her allies, comrades, and friends alike.

He was not among them.

He did not deserve the privilege of being someone special to her. Definitely not as a lover, and definitely not even anything remotely close to a friend.

She hated him. But that was alright, if it meant her having an escape from her problems. Even without him, Sasuke would never have loved her. He never did, and he never will.

Because when it came down to it, they were all fools.

Him even more so, for clinging onto her like a desperate child even as his time came. Him, the noble heir of the Uchiha Clan, mass murderer and fearless, ruthless Akatsuki member.

After all, it was nice to cling and hope, even when you were doomed from the very beginning.

Foolish indeed.

End.

So, just a quick little one-shot describing the situation between itaxsakuxsasu, one-sided itaxsaku and one-sided sasuxsaku

Tell me what you all thought? =D

Any and all feedback is much appreciated!

-Marzyy-chan~~! :))