Beta-ed by 3vil-Sakura

Edited : 22th July 2012

June 2012

Sakura's apartment

They were fighting again.

She tried to hold her sobs as she walked quickly to her bedroom; leaving his figure behind in her cramped living room.

She -They- didn't know when this sick cycle started. She'd ask some questions, he'd blankly respond to her with Hn's and Aa's, she'd get irritated and piss him off, and he'd get annoyed with her. The tension would grow until it exploded; with both of them hurt from the things said, followed by a heart breaking silence. And they never resolved it. By the next day, they'd warmed up again, never mentioned anything about their fights from the day before, as if they were just some nightmare, no need to be mentioned.

And those was their biggest mistakes.

She quickly slammed the door of her bedroom. The window shook slightly from the force of her slam. And she slid down; leaning against the door. Unable to control her emotions anymore, a tear managed to slip down on her porcelain cheek before finally she broke down; pouring her heart out.

And she was unaware of the man in her living room, his hands fisted strongly by his side, his face showed nothing but sorrow and agony.

Hurtful words will hurt your heart, but silence will break it

Ten Months Later

April 2013

Konoha was at war with Madara. The fourth great war, they called it.

They had asked for help from all nations, yet, the middle of the war was taking place in her beloved village, where of course, most of the damage would be on Konoha's side.

"To think that Naruto's first burden would be this war…" Sakura frowned.

Yes, they were some disapprovals from the annoying elders, since they thought Naruto was too young, too inexperienced and too incompetent. They should've realized that they were the ones who were incompetent. But Naruto, being the goofy-wise young man he is, just grinned. Tsunade, upon noticing that grin when they were in a council meeting for this "problem", frowned. Yet, before she could ask what he meant, Naruto stood and voiced his opinion.

"Now, the only thing I need to do is to prove myself through this war and erase your judgement of me like I used to do, ne?" he said cheekily with his trademark thumb in the air.

Gaara, as one of the Kages in the room, just smirked at his old friend's behavior. Some of his old friends, like Shikamaru, as his strategist, Sasuke as his head Beta Captain of the ANBU, and some other powerful ninja such as Kakashi, chuckled at Naruto. Tsunade just face palmed as both of her apprentices giggled lightly. Hell, even the ever emotionally constipated Uchiha Itachi smirked amusingly at his new Hokage.

And so, the war began.

It was to be a very brain-body-breaking war, since it was the undead Uchiha Madara, along with Kabuto and his forbidden edo tensei jutsu they were to go against. But, of course, they'd eventually win like usual, gaining Konoha's peace once more.

Well, not for Sakura anyway.

She knew in the back of her mind, that the time she had agreed to be his girlfriend, the time she fell for him, that she had placed her peace into the palm of his hand. And every second that ticked by, every hour and day, she was scared. Scared of the time, when he would leave her for good, for his demanding clan's pressure of leaving her.

...And it crushed her peace.

What was said that day, she couldn't understand why her chest constricted each time she remembered, when she had anticipated it from the day their fighting cycle started. . . Oh, stupid her, of course it was because she still loved him.

Flashback, Four Months ago, December 2012

She didn't suspect anything when she met him in her bedroom. He was facing her window in his casual clothes, consisting of the Uchiha's usual shirt and black pants.

"Hey, Itachi-kun, what are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission?" Sakura asked happily as she put her pouch on the nightstand and went to hug him from behind.

"Hey, Mr. One Word-kun, answer me." Sakura said teasingly as she buried her face in his strong back. "I missed you, you know..."

Itachi just kept silent until she couldn't take it anymore and released her hold on him.

"Seriously, cat got your tongue, Itachi?" she huffed as she put her hands on her hips.

Slowly Itachi turned around and faced the beautiful kunoichi in front of him.

"Sakura, let's stop this." He said in monotone voice, expressing no ounce of emotion.

"Let's stop what, Itachi?" Sakura frowned, not liking where this would be going.

"Let's stop our relationship."

Unlike all the break up scenarios she had come up with in her mind for the past months, there was no yelling, insulting, and screaming in their break up. But, it was said in such a calm and cold emotion.

Her heart went cold when she registered what he had said. Her mind went numb. Her chest felt shallow and the words had tasted bitter and raw against her tongue. And it still was until now.

"Okay..." Sakura took a deep breath. "But, I just want you to know that... I love you, Itachi." Sakura whispered softly, eyes never gazing into his own, afraid of what she would see.

His posture went rigid for a fraction of a second, too short for any skilled shinobi to notice. But she was Sakura and she could read any Uchiha as good as a book. Especially Itachi.

He nodded slowly. Awkward silence filled the room for a few minutes. She desperately wanted to hug him, beg him to not do this, but she held it in. Held it in her heart, mind and soul. Another moment passed before he finally spoke.

"Goodbye, Sakura."

In a flash, he was gone with the wind, yet she swore she felt a soft kiss on her forehead, accompanied with a small, soft thank you before she broke down and cried within the walls of her bedroom.

She knew she wouldn't have done anything to stop him. She respected his decision of choosing his clan over her. She still respected him, adored him, and even loved him, after what he had done to her was nothing but betrayal. Yet, she knew in the back of her mind, there'd be only one "Itachi" that was able to incite so many intense emotions in her. And she still embraced that fact with a small smile, because, even though he had said goodbye, his true smiles, laughs, and warm gazes would forever be printed into her heart, mind and soul, and they were hers only.

Flashback End

She faced the cloudy, dark sky with one of her hands on her hips. Her ragged breathing was unheard as another bead of sweat fell from her face. Her kunai and medical pouch were strapped tightly around her right thigh and hip. She was wearing her full ANBU gear, which was now tattered, thanks to this monster she was facing. Another disgusting experiments of Orochimaru, or rather his apprentice, Kabuto. She began to pant loudly as the wounds on her left shoulder poured more of her blood onto the ground, worsening her condition.

Even though it was clear that Konoha had the upper hand now, some of them were still too stubborn to admit defeat. They still hoped that their leader, Madara, would win this shitty battle. Last time she saw as she was occupied with her battle as well, Kabuto was dealing with both Sasuke and Naruto, while Madara was dealing with Itachi, seeing Itachi's Susanoo in the air. She didn't know anyone else beside them but she prayed that her friends were alive, and that Itachi would be safe through his battle with Madara. Her concentration was broken when the opponent in front of her spoke.

"My… My… What a skilled kunoichi you are.. If you weren't so loyal to Konoha, I would have recruited you to our side…" he teased with a smirk. He walked slowly to Sakura who had fallen to her knees and depended on her kunai to get up. "To think that you could actually kill me was super hilarious and ridiculous." His speech stopped when he stood right in front of her face. Sakura was on the verge of fainting with the amount of bruises, stabs, and blood loss she had put up with. Her usually neat, pink hair was disarrayed and dirty from the dirt and blood. Her clothes were tattered, she was almost out of chakra and it was not a good situation when her opponent stood right in front of her. He took a good amount of her hair and pulled it to him, making Sakura's jade eyes face his charcoal ones.

"Argh…" Sakura moaned in pain when he strongly pulled her hair.

"Pay attention to me blossom. Don't start daydreaming. Yet." He smirked.

Blossom... he used to call me that too.

"Listen here girl, you, nor any shinobi or kunoichi out there would have the chance to defeat us because we have Madara." he threatened.

Sakura scoffed and she spat at him. He stood emotionlessly and wiped it from his face.

"I love your fire, cherry, but I think I need to tame you a little more. You're that Uchiha prodigy bastard's ex-fiancée, right? I wonder why he left you for some boring and shy as ever Hyuuga. You have all the nice curves," He eyed her cleavage and body, "Your skill is really great and your fiery spirit makes it complete… What made that bastard leave you, huh? Poor… Poor… Sakura. You were gonna be a good kunoichi." With that he let go of her hair and let her fall with a sickening sound to the ground.

"What do you think?" he turned to her almost unconscious body.

"Hell no." Sakura managed to whisper.

"Too bad then." He whispered maniacally before he raised his sword, ready for the final blow.

"Sakura, let's stop."

'Itachi, let's not' was Sakura's last thought before a thin, sharp object pierced her vital organs; making her vision darken.

The last thing she heard was the sound of a thousands bird and wind.

Meanwhile…

"My… My… But I want you to know the taste, Itachi-kun. That horrible taste, when the village you protect with your life, the clan you love so much, gave you nothing but misery. I want you to open your eyes and see, how they take your life and play you like a marionette, how they laugh as you are dying to serve your village, how they force you to leave your precious ones, how they," Madara smirked. "Take your love's precious life." Madara ended as he lay on the cold, hard ground, panting for his life as blood oozed from his eyes and injuries.

"Your talk is nothing more than lies." Itachi answered curtly as he walked slowly to his enemy, sword in hand.

"Hahaha! You'll know soon enough, Itachi-kun. I know how Sakura's presence was taken away from you and now, I'll laugh as Sakura's life is taken from you for once and for all. You think she'll be saved if you arrive on time, or how she'll take no injury as she is forced to hide with the Uchiha females, along with Mikoto, or at least you'll be able to protect her if she's by your side." Madara maniacally laugh as he coughed more blood from his mouth.

"She won't let anyone hinder her from protecting her village." Itachi said coldly. "Any last words?" Itachi mocked as he stood right beside Madara's tattered figure.

"You'll suffer as you realize later that my words are nothing but the truth." Madara mocked.

"Go to hell, Madara." Itachi said for the last time before he killed the man forever.

.

.

The last bit of his Amaterasu had just disappeared before Shisui flickered in front of him, panting with blood smeared on almost all of the front of his uniform. Shisui grabbed his left arm and flickered off, landing in front of the hospital. And he started running dragging Itachi's arm with him. Itachi upon noticing the urgency of the situation, said nothing and started running on his own.

"What's wrong, Shisui?" he asked as he followed, Shisui turned here and there. Finally he found himself in the Intensive Care Unit, where most fatal wounds of shinobi were tended to.

"Heard… From Sasuke's snake… Sakura… Fatal… Dying.." were the only words that managed to escape from Shisui, before Itachi sped in front of him, not realizing that he was still holding his sword in his right hand.

And they arrived at the time where Sakura's bloodied figure was being taken into a surgical room. His otouto and the Hokage stood in front of him as Tsunade pushed both of the men out from the room before the door was shut.

It was only a few seconds, but the scene was crystal clear in his mind. Sakura's bloodied and tattered figure. Sakura's blood everywhere. His precious' maroon life line. Sakura was…

…dying.

And the sword hit the ground with a loud clank.

Not my best shot, I think.

So yeah, I wanted to post this story before I go to… argghhhh… just to be simple, it's going to be hellish. Guys, please pray for me, okay? I'll tell you when I post the 2nd chapter.

This baby is going to be 2/3 shots.. and about TFM, it's halfway done.

:)

R&R ~ Ja !