Dark Knight - Sakura ponders on the fate of the man she loves as she recalls how it all began.

Written in 14 – 06 – 2008

I can't believe it. He did it. Sasuke really did it: Uchiha Itachi is dead.

It's very hard for me to believe it, even after hearing that greenish-plant thing report it to the retard with the orange mask. Truth be told… I DON'T want to believe.

Why, you ask? After all, I should be happy, Sasuke accomplished one of his two most important goals, didn't he?

Yes, he did, but I can't be happy for a man who seeks revenge above anything else. Especially not when it implies the death of the man I love the most.

Shocked? You have every reason to be. I HAVE been known to be Sasuke's most faithful fangirl, haven't I? And I was. Really, I was, but my affection was based on false precepts.

When I was very young, even before I met Ino, I was bullied by Ami. She was my neighbor, you see, so we spent an awful lot of time together. In front of our parents, she was the epitome of meekness and kindness, the perfect daughter. As soon as they turned their backs on us she would become the friend I couldn't get rid off. She was stronger than me, prettier… much more perfect…

Back then we attended the same school as the children who remained civilians. It was there we were taught the basics: how to read and write, Mathematics and so on and so forth.

I remember the day I met HIM quite clearly (as much as one can remember such things from our childhood). I had just been beaten by Ami and her crew yet again when HE showed up. A dark knight in dark clothes to save the ugly damsel in distress.

At first, I was so scared of him, of his empty eyes glaring dangerously at my assailants. And his voice… it was like smooth velvet and sharp, cutting blades all at once. Until this day I still can't describe him correctly.

Ami and the others fled as if the Devil himself was chasing them.

The Dark Knight then knelt in front of me and asked me if I was alright. I stared into his amazing onyx eyes, more afraid than I had ever been in my entire, short life. But then he did something that completely took my fear away and replaced it with something I couldn't yet name at that tender age…

…he smiled and I fell in love…

The boy patted my head and told me there was no need to fear him. I nodded worthlessly, willing to agree to everything he said or did.

His eyes held mine in place for the longest time, none of us saying anything, and yet I saw it: as a promise. A promise meant to be broken. 'I will protect you. Always.'

…always…

…always… forever…

Ah, but forever is SUCH a long time…

Less than a minute later I heard voices calling my name worriedly. I turned towards the general direction of where I thought they were coming and shouted to let them know of my whereabouts.

When I turned back my dark angel was gone. I never thanked him, nor I asked for his name, but then again I had been caught in a sort of spell. I couldn't remember much about his appearance except for those scary yet astonishing dark eyes.

A couple of months later I finally began my training as a kunoichi. There, at the academy, I met one Uchiha Sasuke.

By then I already knew Ino, and it was when I told her of my feelings for the young prodigy that I lost her friendship.

If only I had known then that it was not him that I loved… things would have been very different. Ino would have still been my best friend and I wouldn't have acted so embarrassingly fangirlish-ly towards my teammate.

But I was young and impressionable and I didn't know better so when I saw that young boy with eyes as dark as a starless sky I couldn't help but think that I had finally found him, my guardian angel.

The boy grew and his attitude and behavior disappointed me day after day. Nevertheless, I said nothing and never let my faith in him waver. He was my love, my savior, even if he obviously didn't remember that day when he smiled tenderly, and dare I say sadly, at a small girl with bright pink hair too weak to fight against her bullies.

Years passed, we graduated from the academy, we took the chuunin exams and finally… he left…

Yet still my love remained. No matter how many times he hurt me or how mad I was at being left out cold on a bench at night right after pouring my heart out, still I loved him so.

The moment I woke up, right after calling out his name (oh, too late for my voice to reach him), I asked Kami if it was possible that I was wrong, that Sasuke wasn't the boy who saved me that day.

Kami-sama never answered but I never met anyone with eyes like his either. And there's also the matter of his clan's symbol… one of the few things I remember about HIM was that he WAS wearing it…

Maybe I was wrong? Maybe my angel had been killed along with the rest of Sasuke's family?

Or maybe I'm simply crazy, clinging to a memory of so many years ago… I know that if I ever told anyone about my 'small' obsession with those eyes I would certainly be called insane, if not worse!

Still, the memory of those painful eyes filled my dreams and nightmares every single time I closed my eyes, even if only to rest and not to sleep.

I asked the current Hokage, my dear Tsunade-shishou, to train me so I could be stronger. So I could be strong enough to save HIM, like once HE saved me.

Time passed, Naruto returned (so changed and yet still the same, always the same) and Gaara was abducted by the evil organization that preys upon the bijuus, killing the jinchuuriki. Akatsuki, they call themselves. Jiraiya told us everything he knows about them.

Once he heard about Gaara, Naruto rushed to the Godaime and requested that he be sent to save the young Kazekage.

My teacher agreed and sent us on the retrieval mission.

I vaguely remember the journey to Sand, removing poison from Kankurou's body (when did he get so hot?) and get on the move again with a new member of the team.

It was then, when Akatsuki tried to slow us down so they could finish the extraction procedure, that I uncovered the truth.

Uchiha Itachi, as Kakashi-sensei had called him, was Sasuke's older brother and the one that single-handedly whipped out the entire clan from the face of the Earth.

At first, I couldn't believe that this… man… could be the angel who had saved me all those years ago. But there was no denying it, those were the eyes that haunted me throughout my life.

Even the cursed crimson that stared back at me in mute disbelief could not hide the jaded eyes I had loved for so long.

I knew at once that he was my Dark Knight, my Guardian Angel, my savior, my love…

And at that moment I knew he recognized me too, and I have no doubt that I haunted him almost as much as he had haunted me. I saw it clearly when he trapped me inside his clan's damned bloodline limit.

To the others, it passed less than a second, to the both of us more than a lifetime.

He didn't use his Mangekyo Sharingan on me, there was no need to. I'm certain my love was visible to his all seeing eyes, and I dared hope that what I saw in his bloody orbs was at least a spark of fondness towards me.

He smiled briefly during the fight, an almost sadistic smile to the outsiders. To me, a promise. Another promise meant to be broken.

Before he 'died' (it was only a sort of clone after all) I could swear I felt his hand caressing my cheek tenderly as his sweet lips covered mine.

Even though I know it was not real, to me, it was my first kiss.

We left and rescued Gaara's corpse, we fought two other Akatsuki members, killed one and Chiyo-baa-san gave her life to bring the Kazekage back from the dead. Still, my mind never abandoned the thoughts of the elder Uchiha.

We followed a new lead on Sasuke, regrouped, got back home empty-handed… again… and yet when I cried as I watched the falling stars I was mourning for what could have been, should have been, would have been between Itachi and me.

Orochimaru died, two more Akatsuki members were killed and Jiraiya left to find more about the leader of the organization.

We left once again to find both the Akatsuki and Sasuke and his new team.

The two surviving Uchiha's would be facing each other, we heard. I couldn't bear it. I didn't want Sasuke to die, he was my friend and teammate after all, but I also couldn't stand it if Itachi ended up dead. Not now, not when I finally found him!

We hurried and looked for them everywhere until we ended up running into the masked Akatsuki member. We fought him (more like Naruto and Shino did) and yet he suffered no damage.

And then the plant-thing (Zetsu I think it's called) arrived and reported to the other man: the battle is over, Uchiha Itachi is dead.

They disappeared and we ran once again, we had to find both of the Uchiha before the Akatsuki got to them, but when we got to the place we knew they had been fighting in all we found was… nothing…

We're here now. Naruto's upset, looking everywhere for a clue that could lead us to Sasuke. I feel guilty; I should be doing the same. Instead, I am looking for any indication that Itachi may in fact still be alive.

I can feel him. His presence. Weird, isn't it? I only met him twice and only for brief moments. Still, I know I can feel him.

It's time to go. Hinata is calling for us. I sigh. I couldn't find anything after all.

I kneel beside a large pool of blood and send a bit of chakra into it. It's not Sasuke's blood, of that I'm sure (one of the advantages of being a medic-nin, I suppose).

Tears are forming in my eyes but I fight them back. I have a job to do, finding Itachi must wait. I look up at the trees and for a moment I swear I could see a couple of endless dark orbs.

I smile as tears run down my face.

Maybe there is still hope after all…