The battle had almost been won, and Obito had almost been ready to be taken down. But he knew. The moment the raven-haired ninja felt this sickening aura, he knew that Obito had planned to take the entire battlefield down along with him. Scanning the field, he caught the panicked face of his pink-haired team mate who had arrived earlier to heal him. There was no way Obito could destroy the allied forces at the state he was at right now, but their close proximity to the juubi would definitely mean death.
Without hesitation, he activated his Susanoo and with his infamous speed, he headed towards her before the impact was made. He had stood in front of her, engulfing the both of them in the protective armour of a spiritual warrior. He could only hear her say half of his name before a blinding flash of white had surrounded them.
He had squeezed his eyes in pain before opening them to see the obliterated landscape. He was laying with his stomach to the ground. The last thing he remembered was that the armour of the spiritual warrior surrounding him was disappearing. But then he also remembered his team mate that was also shielded along with him. With a surge of urgency, he tried to push himself off the ground, but collapsed. Despite the burning in his muscles, he tried again. When he got onto his knees, he scanned the devastated remains of the battlefield frantically, his eyes catching a body with pink hair, laying a few feet away from him.
He stood up, biting his lip to distract himself from the throbbing pain in his right ankle. His white shirt been torn, stained with blood, some dirt covered his light skin and there was a steadily bleeding cut on his neck. But that didn't matter to him, because the girl he tried to save wasn't okay. He quickened his footsteps, making him limp faster towards the girl. After seconds that felt like an eternity, he had reached her. He bent down to pick her up, but fell to his knees. Gently scooping her up in his arms, she let out a gasp before opening her eyes. Staggering, he slowly stood up, and walked over to a small area that didn't seem very disturbed by the vicious battle that had taken place just moments ago, and gently laid her down and scanned her for any injuries.
Her clothes were just as torn as his were, and she had a small cut on her cheek just below her eye that was lightly bleeding. The blood gently trickling down her face had reminded him of the last moments of his brother. Fighting away the memory, he continued to examine her. Nothing seemed that serious. But what caught his attention the most was the growing dark red stain staining what was left of her jacket, at the side of her chest. He felt a sinking in his chest, as his heart sped up faster than it already was pounding.
"Sasuke… It's okay." she was cut off by a surge of pain as she raised her hand and rested it on Sasuke's neck. He felt a soothing sensation when he realized what she was doing.
"Stop it. I'll be fine. Heal yourself before worrying about me." He said to her, his voice shaky. Removing her hand with his, he placed it by the source of the bleeding. A small tinge of worry hit him when he couldn't feel her fighting back. He grabbed a kunai out of her pouch and began cutting at her jacket, removing it so she could heal herself. Watching the dim green glow of her healing, he had sighed at the relief that she was still able to do so. He looked at her and was relieved that her green eyes were open and alert, but it alarmed him to see that they didn't shine as bright as they did earlier. He thought that could only mean one thing: She was dying.
The thought struck him as if someone had run him down with his own chidori. He started to feel heavy with grief, but fought it off because he knew that he shouldn't give in to the thought when she was healing herself. She needed help. They needed help.
"Sakura!" he yelled, voice desperate. The green healing aura had stopped. Terror ripped through him. He had experienced this before. "Stay with me!" He begged with a shaky tone to his voice. He scanned the field, searching for life, for anyone who could help them. "I need a medic! I need a medic here now!" He called out. Hearing no response, he leaned over her and began applying pressure on the wound. Fear was coursing through him along with desperation. He had looked at her slowly dulling eyes as she mouthed his name. Rage surged in his veins, rage that was directed at nothing but at everything at the same time. His mind was just in the same state it was when he had found his parents when he was eight. His sanity was slipping through his grasp like tiny grains of sand.
"Sasuke…" She spoke, her voice laced with pain and sorrow. It was her voice that brought him back to sanity. He looked at her, still applying pressure to the gash. "Sasuke." She gasped his name again.
"Stay with me. Please." He almost begged. The Uchiha's breathing quickened with the panic. He was sweating, and his stomach felt like it had butterflies- only their wings were sharp blades slashing through him from the inside. Emotions ran through him like wildfire. He had failed to protect her. The only one that had loved him all those years. She was about to join everyone else that's loved him. Itachi, his parents... He clenched his teeth as tears began to collect in his eyes. Once again, he is about to lose everything.
"I'm dying, aren't I?" her voice shook. He knew she wasn't asking him if she was. He knew that she was telling him to give up. He knew that she was a medic, and she would know if there was any hope.
"Don't say things like that." he whispered. He was going to be alone once more. "Please… Don't."
"I'm so… sorry. I love you… I always have…" She whispered back. He bit his lip as she confessed. He had just come back. He was supposed to return to the village and team seven could be happy again. She was going to be happy again. The worst part was, she didn't even know what she meant to him. She probably thought he hated her because he tried to kill her not once, but twice.
"I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for leaving, I'm sorry for hurting you, trying to kill you…" He trailed off. She smiled the best she could. "And I'm sorry for this." he uttered, his voice low.
"Why are you sorry? Don't blame yourself… Things like this always happen." She rose her shaky hand and gently caressed his face. She was right. It always happened. The ones he cared about would die. But he knew she didn't mean that. He knew she was trying to make her death seem like just another. She was slowly getting weaker. He held one of his hands on hers, smudging blood on his face.
"I couldn't protect you." he shook his head. He let his bangs fall to give a curtain between her eyes and his face. His eyes began watering again, with the warm sting biting at his obsidian orbs. He tried to blink them away, not wanting them to fall. But he couldn't stop them. He turned to her, allowing her to see him in his weakest moment.
"Sasuke…" She breathed. The tears were blurring his vision, but he could still see that her eyes were slowly closing. The light that had shone in them for so long, that very light that had saved him from the darkness in that forest so long ago was about to go out. But she was still breathing. She was still breathing and that's all that mattered to him.
"I need a medic! I need somebody! Anybody!" his voice cracked on the last word as he screamed. He was desperate. Was he being punished? Was he going to watch the last one he loved die? Why her? He lifted his other hand from the wound, seeing the bleeding had slowed down to almost nothing. He almost stopped breathing when he saw the blood on his hands. His hands dropped to his sides in defeat. She was still breathing, but he couldn't do anything to stop it from slowing.
He refused to lift his eyes from her face. He was burning it into his memory. He had to remember her. He had to remember what he had failed to do. But he stopped staring when he saw someone stagger towards them. A blonde haired kumo nin silently crouched down, and began healing her. His dark eyes tense with focus.
He was the second person Sasuke had ever said "thank you" in his entire life.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, that Kumo nin was C. Idk okay, I really like him and I decided to throw him in.