It was once just a nightmare…

Disclaimer: unfortunately I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters… If only… *signs dreamily*

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Note: (Starting at Naruto manga chapter 485 -end-) it would be easier to read up to this chapter before reading this or it might be a bit confusing, but if you don't want to or cannot be bothered, then I will summarise (but really my summary isn't that good so you may want to just read the real chapters or just read my story without it):

Sasuke has joined the Akatsuki to avenge his brother (who was ordered to kill his clan) by killing, Danzo (which he has), and the village elders. He also aims to destroy Konoha.

Naruto has fort and successfully defeated Pain, which resulted in the village being destroyed, so people are working on repairing it, Inari and Tazuna (who they met when they killed Zabuza – the old man and boy) have come to help with the repairs, as they are both carpenters.

Sai told Sakura she was causing Naruto pain, and Shikamaru told Sakura that they wish to kill Sasuke, so Sakura goes to tell Naruto (who is near the Land Of Iron, to beg the Raikage not to kill Sasuke), but instead of telling him their plan she tells him that she no longer cares about Sasuke and she loves him (Hinata has also confessed), Naruto tells her he hates people who lie to themselves. Sakura then goes and tries to kill Sasuke herself. She tells Sasuke she wants to join him so Sasuke asks her to kill Karin to show how serious she about it. But he tries to kill her, Kakashi saves her, she goes to heal Karin, Kakashi is about to fight Sasuke, Sakura tries to kill Sasuke -again-, Sasuke tries to kill Sakura, Naruto saves the day…. Yada, yada, yada…

The beginning

The light was blinding as the Rasengan and Chidori collided, engulfing the space for what looked like miles. Seeing the danger in getting ensnared in the explosion, Kakashi turned on his heals quickly grabbing Sakura's small hand in his own and pulling her behind the large piece of rock where Karin was slumped in an exhausted, semi-healed, heap. Kakashi's quick action jilted Sakura out of her astonishment of the two teammates, or one teammate and the traitor, and forced her back to reality as they took shelter behind the column.

Sakura's POV

I could feel the heat from the explosion even from behind the shelter of the column, a sudden great feeling of gratitude overcame me that Kakashi managed to snap back into reality when he did, or I would have been toast! I could feel the heat on my skin, but it was different then the kind of sensation you get when near fire, this feeling of burning felt almost as if it were made up of all the negative feelings in the world: hatred, sorrow, regret… Just the being near it made my skin prickle as though thousands of needles were stabbing into my skin. Then, as quickly as it had come, the light ceased to exists and the full weight of what had just occurred fell across my very being; the two people I had grown to love more than anyone in the world had just tried to kill each other, and the results of their battle lay in wait just around the corner. But who has taken the harsh punishment for the team's mistakes? Who has paid with their lives? Has my best friend, who I have come to consider as my brother, taken the altimeter fall for his friend? Or has the traitor who betrayed his village, his teammates, and his friends, just too kill his brother on the belief that that would bring his clan's brutal murder to justice, finally pay for his own mistakes instead of Naruto taking the fall for him? Thousands of questions ran thought my mind at once.

I urged my legs to move, maybe I can heal them, maybe I can still breathe life into them! But somewhere deep within I could feel my heart ache at the knowledge that even if they both came out alive we could never truly be team 7 ever again, we had all changed far too much to return to those happy times when things seemed so complicated, yet where so simple. No, those times will forever be just a memory etched into our very being, a constant reminder of the way things could have been, yet have become so unattainable over time, that remembering is almost painful.

My head was spinning and my legs were shaking uncontrollably, despite the lack of damage I had actually taken- which was very little. However, apparently this time I was the first to regain a piece of mind as Kakashi's eyes seemed to be glazed over and the upper half of his visible face was almost twisted in so many emotions: pain, regret, anger… He was clearly reliving a painful memory, until my attempt to see the outcome of the clash of power snapped him out of his flashback. I slowly moved out from behind the rock, though I still found myself leaning on it for support as I didn't quite trust my legs enough to support my full weight (which isn't even that much) without buckling under the pressure. Kakashi moved to stand next to me, whilst Karin just stayed where she was, clearly making no effort to move, despite her clear interest in who was the victor.

I could just make out two figures, barely standing, from the outside of the smoke, but as the smoke cleared I could see them. They both looked in pretty bad shape; both panting heavily and by the looks of it, low in chakra.

This fight is over, I thought as I moving towards the two boys, only to be stopped by Kakashi's gentle hold on my arm.

"This is their fight now, even with no chakra you know they won't stop until one has achieved their goal," Kakashi's tone was serious, but I didn't want to hear his petty stories about who's fight was who's, I'm part of this team too and wish to be treated as such, and I was just about to voice my opinion on the matter, however, as I turned to face him I could see the frustration in his eyes… He knew exactly how I was feeling, and complaining would only make it harder for the both of us.

"Sasuke, come back with us, or I'll have to drag you back by force," Naruto said firmly although his tone gave away hints of desperation, as though he was pleading for Sasuke to come back. This was all too familiar to me as, I too, had wasted my breath begging for Sasuke's return, with clearly no success.

"I will go back to Konoha, but only to destroy it, only to cause the people pain and bring about their suffering, as they did to me. Naruto, you clearly still don't understand the fact that I will not return, and you cannot make me: you aren't, never were, and never will be, strong enough for me."

"No Sasuke, the only person who doesn't understand is you; I cannot give up on you." And with that said, as if someone had shot some kind of starting pistol that only the two could hear, both began summoning new chakra… I immediately recognised the nine tailed fox's chakra, but the chakra coming from Sasuke was different: it was similar to the chakra the curse mark produces, yet with no physical alterations…

"This power, I thought it was just a myth... But ..." Kakashi muttered, eyes wide with shock,

"What is it?" I asked out of utter curiosity,

"It was rumoured that the Uchiha clan's eyes could be used to turn strong emotions into chakra, yet it was thought virtually impossible that that someone could generate such strong emotions that they can literally turn them into pure chakra," I simply stared in astonishment… Emotion... What are you feeling, Sasuke?

Both chakra signals were powerful, to the point where you could physically see them swirling around my teammates. Both of the chakras appeared to be on the same level, a kind of level unparalleled with anything I had witnessed in my life, but combined... It felt as if time itself had stopped and just waited for this moment, and now it was simply watching the show.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted from deep within me, a pain so great it felt as if my very soul was being ripped from my conscience being in the most painful way possible. The pain was so unbearable that words will not, cannot, and should not be used to describe the kind of pain I was feeling at that very moment... My legs finally gave in and I fell to the ground panting heavily, hoping that air would extinguish the burning feeling I was feeling deep within me, but air didn't stop the flame that was burning me, only fan it making the pain even worse, what was happening to me? Stop the pain, was all I could think, my body and mind screamed for the pain to stop, but it wouldn't. I couldn't breathe at all now; the air wouldn't enter my lungs. My left hand grabbed the area of my shirt above where my heart was, in the desperate attempt to at least take my mind of the growing pain. My right hand balled into a tight fist on the ground, my nails dug into my flesh and a small stream of blood began to flow down my hand on to the floor.

My eyesight began to go fuzzy and I could only just make out the outline of Kakashi, who had knelt down in front of me. The limited eyesight I had began to dim at an alarming rate. Soon I was left in darkness, despite my conscience state. From the pressure on my shoulders I could tell Kakashi had a firm hold on me in an attempt to bring me back to reality.

"Sakura, what's wrong? Sakura?" that was Kakashi's voice, yet it was no more than a whisper now.

I was positive I was still conscious, as I could still feel Kakashi's tight hold on me, the blood dripping down my right hand, and my shirt in my left, yet why could I not see or hear anything?

"SAKURA!" Now I heard that! "SAKURA! Don't resist Sakura" a voice rung out of nowhere. Who... Is this? The voice sounded almost sweet… In a bitter way, yet all the tones suggested evil. "I can stop the pain you have felt for so long... I understand... You..." this voice... Was somehow familiar, as though in the depths of my mind I had heard this voice before... A whisper I thought I hadn't heard, but did... Who is this? Broken laughter… A child's broken laughter rung in my head. I frantically moved my head from side to side in hope it would bring back the light I longed for and reveal who the voice belonged to. "Sakura," my name rung over and over, as though the voice was testing a new sound by rolling it back and forth on its tongue. "He...heeeeeee...hee.." That voice... The already unbearable pain began getting worse and worse, "I can stop it..." The voice echoed... No... Please. Stop... No... My voice broke out in mere gasps. My head throbbed with the ringing of that terrible voice over and over; I grasped my hair in my hands either, side of my head and started to curve over in pain. I could feel Kakashi's strong hold falter for a moment, before I finally welcomed unconsciousness.

Thank you for reading... so what do you think of my first chapter, of my first fanfiction?

please review!

i hope to add the next chapter soon and i may rewrite this one again, but i will keep you posted on my account. ^_^

thanks again

Colour~Of~Crazy