"Go with them."
It was amazing what three words could do to someone. For Sakura, hearing them while facing Kiba, Sai, and Lee raised more emotions than she was willing to take. She did what she had always done, and pushed them back as far into her subconscious as she could.
"Yes." Was all she said, but her thoughts were far more clouded. Would she now tell Naruto she had forgotten how to hope a long time ago? As she remembered his eager eyes she knew that if she said anything she would further crack his already breaking spirit.
As she remembered Sai's words she knew what she had done to Naruto. The pain she was causing him. The same pain Sasuke was inflicting on her.
Behind her realization of what she had done to Naruto through Sai's words, some part of her had cried for Sasuke. She had thrown it so far into her subconscious she could hardly remember the feeling. She knew what should to be done, for Sasuke and for Naruto.
But she also decided what had to be done for herself. Maybe it would help Sasuke realize what he had done to Naruto. What he had done to her. Maybe it would even help Naruto. This was in fact the perfect opportunity to tell him what she needed to before she did what she had to do.
Travelling was easy. Throwing away her emotions was easy. She had had plenty of practice.
Speaking to Naruto was hard. She faced him with a complete lie, and the most honest thing she had said since pleading with Sasuke to stay. She loved Naruto. She loved Naruto so much for everything he was going to become. But she loved Sasuke even more for everything that he had been. And she couldn't kill him.
Sakura had tried to talk to Naruto, to make him see she wanted to free him of her burdensome feelings, but he wouldn't let go. She should have known- it was just like Naruto to never give up.
She wished she was like that. That she would never give up hope, but everything had gone wrong, and now she couldn't stop what she had to do.
Sakura began the second she left Naruto. She didn't know how long she had, but she needed to move before Sai, Kiba, and Lee revealed why they were really there. What there true message was. What Sasuke's real fate was meant to be.
She knew where he was, she could feel his chakra signature and Danzo's. She travelled swiftly now, but suddenly as she leapt past several large branches and searched for her next foothold, she realized there was nothing there.
She scrambled for balance and managed to land lightly on her feet. She lost a little of her mental stability as she stared, horrified, at the sight before her. There was no forest anymore, everything was leveled and scorched black. It was like something had swept through and turned everything to ash.
The dark scenery stretched for miles around her. Nothing seemed to be alive at first, but suddenly she saw two figures in the center of the mass.
One was standing tall, a mass of electrified chakra shooting from his palm. Sakura followed the line through the body of Danzo, to the tip protruding through the other side.
Sakura knew what had happened before moving. She knew. Sasuke had won. He had gotten revenge. Again.
He was the Avenger, after all. Sakura knew that was all he would ever be but something her heart wondered what would happen after this. She didn't let herself think of the future anymore.
Sakura knew he knew she was there. He had let the modified chidori fade, but he didn't move from his stance, or put away his katana. She shot forward as Danzo's body fell to the ground.
She didn't know what she had expected to see as she stood before him, but what she saw was worse. He was deathly pale, as if he had been sick. His eyes were dull and hollow, with deep lines around them. He was beautiful, and disgusting.
"Sasuke." She didn't mean for her voice to sound like that. Why did it sound so hurt?
"Sakura." The lack of emotion could have caused her physical pain, but she forced the pain to pass through her into some deep unfeeling part of herself. "What are you doing?" It was asked casually, as if nothing she said could change his opinion of her.
She ignored the question and pulled out a scroll. "What I do," She said quietly as she sliced her thumb and trailed her blood down the parchment, "I do for what used to be."
Smoke took the place of the paper, and as it cleared two huge axes became visible in her hands. Sasuke looked at her with a bored expression. "You will die if you try to fight me."
"I know." Green clashed with black. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I couldn't be as strong as you." She whispered before hefting the axes and jumping into action.
She sprinted at him, swinging the axes above her head as she jumped. She had to make it look real, she had to try or he would never take her seriously enough to fight with killing intent. He stood motionless as she diminished the space between them, but as she brought her axes down he disappeared. The blades buried themselves in the ground and Sakura had to abandon them to dodge kunai flying at her from behind.
That she could see the kunai coming and dodge meant that he wasn't taking her seriously yet. She had to push him further. She reached her axes again, but before she could extract them from the ground Sasuke came up behind her. Heat exploded in the side of her head, and only after she hit the ground did she realize he had kicked her. She twisted onto her back and pushed chakra into her feet as she kicked up at him.
She heard a 'tsh' before his boot sunk into her stomach. She choked as her torso was crushed under Sasuke's weight. The pressure was gone the next second, and Sakura took the opportunity to jump to her feet.
He appeared a few feet from her. She reached her hands back and touched the hilts of her axes, but before she could do anything more he disappeared again. She panicked and yanked the axes out of the ground. She knelt and positioned one broadside in front of her and the other broadside behind her. Her hands never left the hilts as she tensed to react.
A barrage of weapons came at her from her right, but she had already slid an axe sideways to deflect them. "Dammit, take me seriously!" She cried, standing again with axes ready.
She saw a flicker of movement from her right, and twisted in time to miss the shuriken. She wasn't fast enough, and it clipped her side. She grimaced as the blood trailed down her side, but she didn't bother to heal it. She was glad she had been hit. When it got harder to defend herself, it meant he was trying harder.
She knew he was moving constantly, she could tell by the different directions he had attacked her from. She needed to bring him in for a close attack. She wanted him to be near her when she took action. She gathered the axes in one hand, and concentrated. She had to act before he realized what she was doing.
She thrust her fist into the ground, and watched as every piece of barren land within a mile of her in every direction exploded upwards. Then, as the scarred land began to fall back to the earth, a dark shape appeared in front of her.
She stared up into his eyes, the horrifyingly dead ones that shocked her to her core. "Why are you here?"
His voice brought her out of her fear and she forced her hand up, kunai aimed at his eye. He caught it easily, and Sakura surged chakra into the hand. He hissed as all of the bones in his hand broke.
She raised the hand with both axes above her head. There wasn't much distance between them, but it was enough for her to get some momentum. With the same arm that was broken Sasuke stopped the attack. He was so close to her now, she couldn't help her moment of hesitation. He held her hand suspended above his head, and with his free hand he brought a kunai up to pierce her stomach.
She came to herself in the last second, twisting sideways and bringing her other chakra-infused hand up to stop him. He flinched away from the hand but didn't attack as she jumped back a few feet away from him. "You're aiming is off." She said with an almost forced tone. "You should try again."
He stared at her wordlessly and she forced herself to keep his gaze. His broken hand was hanging uselessly at his side but with his other hand, he had unsheathed his katana. Suddenly, it started glowing. Birds suddenly began chirping. She could have smiled, or cried. She held her axes ready, as if she planned to block his sword.
Suddenly, the blade extended towards her. She began to swing her axes in front of her, but at the last second, the last moment action could be taken to prevent the blade from piercing her, she did what she had been planning to do all along. She dropped her axes, and let Sasuke kill her.
The blade had been fused with electricity, and as it struck her heart she felt the raw, searing hot pain shock her chest. It drew a ragged shriek from her body before the force disappeared.
She fell to her knees, the shock of pain was enough to disorient her. Still, she recognized the fear she felt, as well as the relief. She was, really, selfish. She wished she wasn't, but she couldn't help it now. The world around her started to blur as she searched for Sasuke's form. She couldn't find him, and as she fell into darkness she felt that it was right. She didn't want to see his uncaring expression before she died. She instead turned to old memories of him, times when he was home with her, and in the light. She felt the ground with her hands, her life now spilling out of her onto the scorched ground as she resigned herself to loneliness and loss.
Then, in the distance, she felt a hand on her shoulder pushing her onto her back. She felt him looking at her, She forced her eyes open and stared into his eyes. They were strange, wider than she expected. He was trying to speak to her but she couldn't hear him.
She closed her eyes, trying to calm her ragged breathing. She would pass on soon. The body couldn't survive without the blood the heart provided. She was aware of warmth around her face. She forced her eyes open as suddenly Sasuke's face came down. She felt something soft and warm on her lips.
She gasped, tears forming as he moved his lips over hers, trying to convey something to her. His warm palms were warming her cheeks, and when tears started falling he moved his thumbs to wipe them away. She forced her weak arm up, and laid her hand in his hair, fisting it so she wouldn't loose her grip.
* * * * * * * * *
Sasuke knew when he felt her hand fall from his hair he didn't have much time left. He caught it gently with his good hand. He felt for a pulse in her wrist. Seconds passed, he stayed completely still, staring at her face, waiting for some sign of life. It felt like his heart had stopped as it waited for some sign that she was still trying to survive.
'Maybe that would bring him back to you. I wish I had the strength, but I couldn't watch him fall into darkness like he did. I couldn't bear it anymore'. He didn't think she had meant to say all of that out loud. This girl, no, this woman. What had she wanted? Did she want him to kill her? He had realized about the same time she had started attack that he didn't want to kill her. But hee had attacked, every time leaving an opportunity to block.
Why did she have to feel so much for him? Why did he still feel for this pathetic girl before her? … But how could he not, after everything she had done.
He felt something. Something weak. Something barely alive. He acted immediately, lifting her from the ground and sprinting through the forest. He didn't care what happened when he got there, he would go back to Konoha. He would do whatever it took to keep her alive.
He didn't want her to die.
He didn't know if he could handle avenging another person who he loved.
Whew! I was paranoid about this story, I've edited it many times and I hope it shows! A lot of the time my work can be a little choppy and I tried to smooth everything out. Let me know how I did please, there's only so much I can see wrong with it as the writer! It was a little dramatic I know, and highly unlikely but I had to write it! It was stuck in my head. Thanks for reading please review, you don't know how much it means to people when they get feedback, good or bad!