"Tearing Me Apart From the Inside"
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Yosh. Warnings: Seriously very VERY angsty, minor language, character death…. Sasusaku? Sakura-bashing? SUISAKU?? You tell me!
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Uchiha Sasuke stood on the top a cliff overlooking Konoha. A smug smirk covered his features, turning his normally innocent, angelic face to that of a madman.
He watched in delight as building after building was destroyed by the Akatsuki, as this peaceful, quiet village turned into a living hell.
Team Hebi stood behind him, their heads bowed. Suigetsu stepped forward. "Sasuke-sama… are you really okay with this?…"
Sasuke nodded, a fully evil smile taking over his face as Suigetsu backed away from him slowly. "Um… Sasuke-sama, we will… be back at headquarters, okay?" Karin said, taking hold of Juggo and Sui and pulling them into the woods that would lead back to their temporary lodging.
Sasuke stared down at the pathetic village, hoping everyone he knew was down there, lying among the wreckage. Screw them. Screw everyone.
He hated them all. Especially that pompous Naruto and that stupid, annoying Kakashi. There was only one person down there he hoped was still alive.
Haruno Sakura. He wanted to kill her himself. That was all he could think about; it was all he EVER thought about.
That annoying, overly-optimistic smile, her petite body that looked so easily broken, that cherry-blossom pink hair, innocent green eyes… He wanted to break it all apart and leave her, just like six years ago.
He wanted her to beg with him to stop; to say she loved him over and over before ending her life. He wanted her blood. Everywhere.
The more he thought about this plan, the more excited he became. With that, he jumped off the cliff, landing neatly at the bottom, a cloud of dust flying up around him.
He stood erect and looked around himself, pleased with the eerie silence and complete disarray of the village.
He smirked again and began walking. He was sure Akatsuki was done destroying the village by now, because the explosions had stopped.
Suddenly, the heavy grey clouds that had been lingering above gave way and a steady rain started to fall. His smirk turned to a frown as he began his walk.
The roads were littered with bodies and every wall was splattered with blood. Thanks to the rain, the dust, blood, and dirt was being washed away.
The rain could clean the wreckage. But it could not wake the dead from their permanent slumber.
Just then, Sasuke heard that voice-- the one he had been waiting for. "Sa…Sasuke… -kun…. Is… that you?" He clenched and unclenched his fits in anticipation.
"Sakura… Sakura-hime, where are you?" Sasuke called out gently, his voice full of mock concern. "Sasuke- kun… help me…." Sakura moaned back.
"Sakura-hime? Can you tell me where you are?"
"Here, Sasuke-kun…"
Just then, he saw her. Her whole lower body was crushed under a pile of rubble. "Sakura…" Sasuke muttered, surprised with what he saw.
Sakura looked very different than he remembered. She was thinner than she should be. Her hair had grown out partially, brushing her shoulders gently, her skin like porcelain, her eyes looking at him, pleading, full of tears.
Different… beautiful…
"Sasuke-kun… Please help me…"
This was what he had wanted her to look like. He wanted her to be begging him for mercy, dammit, so why wasn't he enjoying it?!
"Sasuke… please! I know you hate me but please… for just once in your life, help me."
He stayed cemented where he stood. Sakura sighed, propping herself up on her elbows, wincing. She leaned forward a little and began to lift rocks off of herself. It wasn't easy going… she looked like she was in a lot of pain.
Eventually she got enough off to be able to drag herself out of the pile. Sasuke's eyes widened. Her legs were…
"Sakura…" he whispered, watching her army crawl to a clear space to examine herself. She turned over, biting her lip as more tears fell down her cheeks. The rain was beginning to turn the dirt to mud, dirtying her already disgusting wounds.
She propped herself up again, prodding at her legs, yelping in pain. "Shit… already beyond repair…" she muttered to herself, getting green chakra flowing through her hands.
Sasuke watched her in amazement and shock. "Sakura… why do you keep trying?"
"Because… I… do not cave anymore."
"But you just said…"
"Yes, I said it was beyond repair. But do you really think that will stop me from trying? I do not give up. I do not run away from my problems. Unlike someone I used know."
Sasuke flinched. "Sakura, don't even bring that u…."
"He was so strong, so amazing. So….. Untouchable. "
"…."
"I loved him…But… I was rejected by him. I would have done anything for him. I would have… died for him."
"…."
"But, even after he left me I kept hope inside that I would see him again. And look, here he is, six f***ing years later, destroying the very village he used to protect."
"Saku…"
"What happened to that boy?"
"Sakura, shut the hell up or so help me….!"
"Or you'll do what?! Leave me? As if I haven't been through that before. Tell me Sasuke, what…. Happened to him?"
"…"
"He died a long time ago, didn't he?"
"…"
"Yes….. He did. Your own silence betrays you. That boy was killed a long time ago by Orochimaru. He was twisted and changed. I don't even see your old self inside you anymore…."
Sakura stood slowly. Her legs were nearly completely healed. The process had taken about five minutes. Her long, pale legs looked just like before, only a few minor cuts and scrapes left. Sasuke was pretty impressed. She had grown into quite the medic.
She walked toward him, a stoic expression on her face. She placed a hand gently on his cheek. "I can't even catch a glimpse." Sasuke stared at her in shock, then a murderous scowl crossed his face, his teeth grinding together. He smacked her hand away.
"Shut up. What makes you think you know anything about me?! You know nothing, bitch! NOTHING!" His fist connected with her porcelain skin, sending her flying into a nearby wall.
"What I do and where I go is my business and MINE ALONE! You have no right to talk to me like this!" He stalked over to her and picked her up by the front of her shirt, tears forming in her emerald pools.
He smashed her into the wall harshly. "Take it BACK! RIGHT NOW!" She gasped out in pain. "GOD DAMMIT TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!"
"Sasuke-sama…." a quiet voice said. It was Suigetsu. He turned around, his Sharingan activating. "WHAT?!" Sui kept his eyes down timidly. "She can't answer you if you're strangling her…"
"Suigetsu, shut up and go aw…." He was cut off when he felt a gentle hand on his own. He turned back to his captive, his eyes wide. Sakura was smiling as tears streamed down her face.
"If killing me… will help you…. To ease your pain, then please just do it…." she said, stroking his hand gently. Suigetsu backed away and began his sprint back toward the hideout. This was Sasuke's fight, not his. But he was glad he followed-- or that beautiful kunoichi might be dead.
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Sasuke turned back toward Sakura once Suigetsu's chakra had gone out of range. "Please, Sasuke. If my life really means so little to you, please just end it… so you can gain a little happiness…" He smashed her against the wall again and she whimpered, hanging limply in his strong hands.
"Why are you all I can think about?! Why is it only YOU that plagues my mind at night?! Why when I think of you do I get so impatient?!" He ground her roughly on the wall, watching blood start to gather on the rough surface.
He then flung her to the ground. She lay there, tears streaming down her face. He climbed over her, pinning her to the ground with her wrists beside her head. "Tell me why!"
"Could it be…. That maybe…. You've fallen in love with me…?"
Sasuke's eyes widened, and for once, he was still. "What…?" Sakura said it a little louder. "Maybe… You've fallen in love with me!" "Shut up…" he choked out, not believing in what he was contemplating.
"Sasuke, please… just look deep inside yourself! What do you feel?! When you see me, when you imagine me, how do you feel inside?! Please, Sasuke! You've always been so closed off to me, so please, here at the end of my life… indulge me just this once!"
Sasuke stared at her for a second, confused. "At… the end of your life?" "It's because…." Her eyes filled with tears. "…. I still love you." "What?!" Sasuke said, his eyes widening.
"Because I love you… I told everyone…. They got mad at me-- didn't want my love for you endangering the village…. So they injected me with a time-released fatal poison. Every few months, a little more is injected into my vitals… within the next few days… I will die."
"Why would you do that for me!?" Sasuke yelled at her.
"I don't want you to be lonely!"
"What?…"
"Sasuke-kun… you're so lonely… I can see it… you're so alone and so broken! I wanted you to come to me, so I could hold you close to me and take away all your sadness. I could be there for you on the cold nights, and time would pass so slowly, like a dream….
But.. You kept pulling away, and eventually you were too far away from me for me to do anything… I tried that last time to bring you back. But of course… what more should I expect from you?"
Sasuke had tears in his eyes, a very uncharacteristic gesture. He suddenly pulled Sakura forward into his arms and fell to his knees, hugging her as tightly as he could. Her arms hung limply at her sides, and bloody scratches covered her back.
"Sakura… forgive me, please, oh Kami… I'm so sorry for everything I've done…."
"You are… already forgiven… Sasuke-kun…"
He gripped her tighter after she so leisurely slipped back into the friendly name ending. "I… You know I can't ever come back here. I have destroyed this place and almost all its inhabitants…"
"You don't have to come back. Just for my last days… take me with you…" Sakura whispered, then brought up her hands slowly to grip the back of his shirt, "…and hold me tightly.". He nodded silently against her hair. "I'll do anything for you…"
Sakura pulled back from him gently. "Then… would you kiss me?" Sakura asked him, staring deep into his dark eyes.
He didn't answer, he merely leaned in toward her slowly. This would be his first kiss he'd ever given someone else or received. He was sure it was the same for her. Their lips met softly; his lips coaxed hers gently, and he could tell at that moment this was how things should have been from the beginning.
He had a brief flash in his mind-- the Uchiha estate, fully rebuilt. Sakura by his side, day and night, her belly round and perfect, ready to have another child. His child. They would have rebuilt his clan together. They could have been happy.
But he was selfish, like his brother. He was like his effin' BROTHER. The one he had worked more than half of his life to kill.
The two broke apart, staring into each other's eyes with wonder. Why did life have to be like this? Sasuke watched as the woman he loved died in his arms. And for the first time in a long time, Uchiha Sasuke cried. He cried his eyes out, until he couldn't see straight.
Life as he knew it was gone.
The woman he loved was gone.
The hopes of the promised future, now redeemable only by dreams.
Sasuke finally stood up, staring up at the dark sky. He knew he had screwed up. He'd screwed up big time. Then, it hit him. He wasn't only selfish like his brother. He was WORSE than his brother. He'd killed the entire village.
He pulled out a kunai and stroked the surface somewhat fondly. "Sakura, my love, wait for me…"
With that, he raised the kunai to have a direct line to his heart. He brought it down with all the force in his body. Feeling it go in deep.
He fell right net to Sakura. His blood pumping out rhythmically. Through all the pain and sorrow, he still managed to smile.
"A future without you… is no future at all."
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Sorry for how emo that was. Arigotou for the read anyway, I really do appreciate the time you took to read my fic. J 3 But you know what I would appreciate even more?! YOU LEAVING A REVIEW!
Really, even a one-word review will do, anything from "Lame" to "Awesome". I really like it when you leave reviews that say what you liked and disliked, but hey, beggars cant be choosers!
This is Griffin, Over-and-Out!!