Her dilapidated heart fell to pieces, and she could only watch as her wings were clipped by the only person she could ever want to fly for.
She wasn't stupid. The stars didn't line up right this time. Circumstances were wrong. Coincidences were faked. She was stripped of her skin and loved the feeling.
She wasn't anything but a monster anymore.
That wasn't to say she hadn't loved once upon a time. But she could feel the pillars crashing all around her, threatening to take her to a place where she knew she could never go…
Well, she wasn't going to dodge this time.
"I see that you've moved on," he hissed, his breath slithering across her throat.
She could no longer say yes or no.
"I'm not your whore."
He let go of her waist with his cold, cold hands and looked at her with his eyes so filled with malice…
"Ah. But you could be."
She understood what was implied. God, did she hate him. Her love in this snake's skin.
He was slowly being eaten alive in his insanity, and she was coming with him to hell.
So.
So.
So, is there a way out?
'No,' she thought, 'I asked for this… there will never be a way out.'
Nevertheless, she stepped away from him, into the shadows and into the night. Maybe to look for an escape. Where was the neon red exit sign? He only watched with his cruel snake eyes.
And with that look, she dropped to the floor, clutching her head and laughing lowly. "Hah… hah… I hate them. So much."
His head cocked to the side, a toothy smile stretched onto his pasty, beautiful face. "What?"
"Your dreams."
He's insane.
She's insane.
They make it work, anyway.
She was calm as she walked to the interrogation room; just as calm as the day she had been told she would never be the same.
"Haruno Sakura," said Ibiki, pulling out a chair for her to sit in.
She ducked her head in a shallow thank you, sitting quietly.
"Haruno, you've been charged with the murder of three Konoha Shinobi, their bodies found near the last known residence of Orochimaru. What do you have to say?"
She felt oddly like a child, being reprimanded by a parent for scribbling on the walls or teasing another kid.
"Repercussions," the kunoichi said quietly. "Collateral damage."
Ibiki raised an eyebrow.
"They were about to alert Orochimaru of our location. It was either kill them, or fail the mission."
"Did the other captains agree with you?"
"We didn't exactly have enough time to talk it through."
So much blood on her hands…
"Was there any other alternatives?"
"Did you have to assign Chuunins?" she returned.
He didn't respond, and she didn't have anything left to say.
"Sakura."
She turned around.
Kakashi's one grey eye was darker than usual. "I heard you have another S-rank."
She slowly inclined her head. "Don't tell Naruto."
Silence.
"You aren't just doing this for the sake of the village?" he asked abruptly.
"…Hm?"
"Your looking for a place to die, something to die for, aren't you?"
She smiled bitterly. "Something like you, Kakashi-senpai."
I can't see anymore, Sasuke.
I can't feel my heart beat anymore.
How many years have I been a walking corpse?
How many times have I wished for this…?
Her body was torn, emancipated, bloody. She couldn't move. And although her eyes were open, they were dull and unseeing.
She dies today, with an Uchiha unborn baby in her womb.
Years later, they would remember the girl. That little pink-haired kunoichi who stood as the prime example for why ninja couldn't love, Haruno Sakura. Rule #25. She was buried under the sakura tree in the Uchiha compound. They'd remember the cute little girl who walked around with hearts in her eyes, trailing after a dark-haired brooding boy. That little boy who grew up to be a traitor of the Konoha village, Uchiha Sasuke. He never returned. The romantic people dreamed that it was because he was heartbroken that his lady love and unborn child died. The rest of the people knew it was because he didn't care.
They were a story, but they faded off into a legend, where the only thing that remained was secret whispers of love, betrayal, and insanity.
And lost dreams.