'No' You were out. The chakra left in your body was so low you wouldn't have been able to perform the most simple of jutsus. Your eyes were useless as well, your chakra system couldn't take anymore of the element's power. It was intense. Too intense. You fell to your knees, arms dangling limp at your sides. 'No'

Sasuke walked slowly towards you, kicking over his former teammate, whom you had just burnt to death. But it wasn't your attack that had finished you off. No. Not the chills his scream had sent down your spine, not even the way you could feel his life being burned from his body. No, it was-

"How did you stop it." He was standing in front of you now. "How is it you're still alive." It was a question, though it wasn't voiced that way. One that demanded an answer. You couldn't help but laugh. Of course, he would worry about how his attack had failed. He spun and kicked you in the stomach, sending you flying. Your body bounced across the ground. You finally landed on your stomach, arms still at your side. Your body throbbed. So much pain.

"Don't so this Sasuke." You didn't think he would have been able to hear your voice. Coated in blood and muffled by dirt.

"Since when do ANBU Black Ops beg." He began walking towards you again. "You're pathetic, all the more reason for your village to burn." He nudged you onto your side, squatted down, and spoke "You should be begging for your life. Nothing you can say will stop me from burning that place to the ground."

Nothing you can say? No. You still had to try. 'Your village' You winced as his voiced replayed in your mind. Our village…

"You still haven't answered me. How is it you are still alive." You closed your eyes, willing him not to figure it out. Not to see. Or did you want him to see? You weren't even sure anymore. "Fine."

'Oh no' He began reaching for your mask 'No' "I'm sorry Sasuke...but," He paused, eyes furrowed slightly at your words. Annoyed that you used his name in such an informal matter? Confused by the sound of your voice? You knew what he would be in just a few minutes. That was why you had apologized in advance for the pain this was about to cause him. "Itachi didn't die for this" his hand froze just before your mask. You barely dared to whisper it, "He wouldn't have wanted this for his nii-san"

He kicked you again, but harder. The tree you collided with didn't give as much as the ground had. More blood in your mouth. He walked halfway to you, then stopped, eyes shadowed as he spoke.

"You have no idea what my brother would have wanted." His voice grew dark "They will pay, they will all pay. I will make them all feel what I have felt! Make them truly understand what they forced him to do!"

Tears slid down your face. No other way. No other options. "Please don't do this" He didn't answer you, thinking you pleaded for the village, when you weren't even sure which you cared for more. Them, or him. Did you plead for him to spare their lives? Or did you plead for his pain to end? "Please Sasuke!"

He began walking away. But you already knew. You knew which you would choose. It was your duty. Your sole purpose left in life. Just as you knew what Sasuke would do. He would attack the village. Who knows how many would die before he ran out of chakra. Before he finally fell. Who could get through to him? Were you really the last line of defense? No. Naruto. Naruto was the last hope. But, what if Naruto failed?

How did it come to this? No. No one should have to feel what Sasuke has felt. No one deserved that. Except…

"Kill me." He didn't break stride.

"You're nothing" No, I'm something.

"I'm Senju" He froze. Twice now you had shocked him. "Kill me instead. I am the last. An only child. The last of the bloodline that will become shinobi. The rest have thinned to nothing." More tears, but these were for you "I am the last."

His voice was laced with hatred "It isn't enough-
"Nothing is ever enough!" You coughed blood. Your chest heaved. "If revenge is what you want then kill me. If you wish for death attack the village." You were calling him a coward, and he knew it. His eyes squinted, staring you down. 'What would he choose?' Your death would mean the end of the clan that was the root of the cause for the destruction of his. A clean revenge. Attacking the village meant death, no matter how strong he had become, he was only one man.

He still really didn't realize. who you were. He really had forgotten. Maybe his hatred blinded him, but you doubted it. You were gone from his memory. You shuddered.

"I'm sorry" you whispered it this time for all you hadn't done for him, for everything you regretted not doing. You whispered it as you had always wished to whisper to him, but with different words.

He flickered next to you, moving too quickly for you failing eyes to see. Standing sideways, starring ahead, "Why don't I just do both?"

A cry escaped your lips, your body curling in on reflex. When had he become this?

"Please." You begged. "Please don't do this." 'I know how your brother felt' that's what you wanted to say. 'I know how it feels to sacrifice everything for something you love. Someone you love.' "No one should ever have to live through what you have lived through. Just kill me, and let it end. No one has to know the real reason behind my death, just-" more blood. The coughing burned. "not the village. Not them."

His voice was monotone. "You would die for them. Knowing what they did, you would still die for them."

Your body shook. "It can end with you. Have the strength to end it. Fulfill your revenge, kill me, and spare them the pain you have lived through." Sasuke's eyes burned into your mask.

"Who are you."

Your body shook again. 'I'm no one without you.' It was true. But maybe this way you could help him, and do your duty to the village. So you kept fighting for your death, "They would welcome you back. No matter the circumstances. Naruto has never given up on you." His fists clenched. Your chest did too. " and, neither has Sakura. She would welcome you with, open arms." He smirked. You shook again. A different pain.

"There is nothing for me in Konoha." You couldn't help the small happiness this gave you. Panic followed it. "All the people I cared for are dead. Naruto, Naruto will live on. And…" his fists clenched harder, "she shouldn't have to carry me as a burden."

More pain. This different pain that came from within. But you summoned the little strength you had left, and rolled onto your back. Air…

"It seems, as though you have three options. Destroy me, destroy the village, or-"

you couldn't say it. Sasuke said it for you "both."

Silence.

"Hn," you cringed at his familiar brush off. When was the last time you had heard his voice? "You still haven't answered me. How did you stop my attack, and who are you?"

He glanced down. Why tell him. It will only confuse the matter more.

"I am a Senju. What else matters."

He sighed, and crouched down. Close enough to touch.

"Just tell me your name"

You didn't dare to move, didn't trust your mind to make coherent decisions.

He sighed again, "Fine," stood up "if you so long for death." and unsheathed his katana.

So this was it. You could only die hoping that your blood would be enough to quell his revenge. Would he be quick? If he cut off your head would he look at you face? No. His face filled your vision.

"Did you really love her?" you didn't know why you asked. You never thought he would answer. Just talking to him was like lifting a weight off you chest. But, you couldn't voice the next question. 'Did you love Sakura? 'You couldn't say her name. That thought made you sad, it made you feel weak. So you switched the words, and just kept on thinking out loud. "This girl, who you say carries you as a burden." He paused, katana at his side. Reflectively? You couldn't tell.

"I don't know." You didn't know why he would tell you this, you should be dead already. Maybe there was some hope left. Maybe your death would be enough.

"I never had a chance…" at this you looked over to him. His lips turned up ever so slightly. "she'll be very upset with me. I promised her a fight before…Before I left." It took your mind a moment to sort through the memories. Until finally you saw...

'No'

*FLASHBACK*

"The last thing he said to me before he left was, 'thank-you'. What do you think that means Manami-chan?"

"I don't know Sakura-chan"

*FLASHBACK*

"Just you wait till my Miakigan is full. Then we'll see how strong that Sharingan is!"

A smirk, "Hn, deal."

"NO!" Your fists clenched, scraping at the dirt. Fight the emotion. 'He can't mean me!' It was useless. You were happy…Your mind ached. What should you do. "Sasuke"

"Enough," he picked you up by the neck, his katana still in his left hand, and slammed you into the tree shattering the bark. But you could hardly feel anything anymore. Your hands clung to his arm. So strong 'When did you become so powerful Sasuke?'

"How did you stop my attack." He had that annoyed look in his eyes, like when you were kids and wouldn't tell him a secret.

You laughed.

He punched you across the face. It wasn't all that hard, but it knocked away your mask and bandana. Your previously covered white hair spilled across your face, onto your shoulders, and across his arm. The white was spotted with blood, blood that also dripped down the edges of your mouth. Sasuke froze. Your hair would be a give away, but your eyes, would make it undeniable. You lifted your eyes to his. His Sharingan flickered before your Miakigan, and then faded. There wasn't a scratch on his perfect face. You let your dojutsu fall, revealing your brown eyes to his black ones.

You smiled, ever so slightly.

"It's been too long Sasuke" His grip on your neck loosened. Ever so slightly, but enough. There was only one thing you wanted to do, and what did it matter anyway. You were about to die. Concentrating what little chakra you had left into your back, you pushed yourself against the tree, knocked away his now limp right hand from your neck, and kissed him.