Withered Black Flower:

By:Terrified of Logic
Beta-ed by the ama-zing Kisa Kisa Yum Yum
With help from the awesome KinkyK and JazzyJ


"Destroy Konoha."

As if agreeing, the waves crashed against the slippery, craggy cliff. The three people behind stood, all saying nothing. Karin had her arms folded across her chest, Juugo and Suigetsu neither smiling or frowning. Neutral to whatever their leader said, awaiting his command. Perhaps it was out of loyalty- who were they kidding; they all knew how strong Uchiha's were. Sasuke was not an exception. The Uchiha clan had made its mark of being intimidating and it had stayed that way for centuries. Sasuke turned to face them, eyes closed and hand on the hilt of Kusanagi.

For one moment it was as if everything had stopped, frozen in time. In that instant a look of peace and serenity glided across Sasuke's features, but in that moment it came it had disappeared. His eyes flew open to appraise each and every member of the newly named 'Team Taka'. The atmosphere grew colder, and it wasn't the damp sea breeze. Karin felt her heart rate speed up, fear and wondrous rapture overtaking her as she gazed at Sasuke's eyes. Juugo and Suigetsu had tensed with looks of surprise and trepidation etched on their faces. Whether Sasuke knew it or not both his eyes had changed; a darker richer crimson than the normal Sharingan and with a very powerful looking design than the ordinary spinning tomoes. It was dark, sinister, seductive and beautiful- a killer. Karin gasped softly, mesmerized. If the others heard it they never acknowledged it.

"I feel... stronger." Sasuke whispered, still staring at his teammate through his new scarlet eyes. His grip on Kusanagi turned vice-like. "This is for you, Aniki."


"Tsunade sama," Sakura said softly, changing the flowers in the vase from daffodils to a pretty pink cosmos, on the bedside table laden with bottles of medicine. Sakura bit back tears as her gaze traveled back to her sensei's face. How could someone so strong and powerful in every way be brought down to her knees in the lowest manner?

Shishou lay still on the bed, breathing shallow but regulated. "Sakura." Tsunade's eyes were still closed but her voice was firm and curt, as if she was not at all affected by the poison which was slowly deteriorating her innards and worse.

Amazing, Sakura marveled. "Yes Shishou?"

"You know what you have to do. I cannot live much longer, a month tops. You will have to be in charge-"

"Shishou, please don't talk like that- I will find the antidote and-" Sakura started, words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Sakura be quiet and let me finish." Sakura fell silent and bit her lip. However, her gloved hands clenched at her sides. She was not the second best medic nin in Konoha for nothing' she would find the antidote.

"When I leave, you are to take care of the hospital and patients. For the moment, you need to create a strategy to protect Konoha. Konoha is your home, protect it like your life."

Sakura couldn't help it, her eyes crinkled up and her lips curled into a pout; all this time she had tears running down her face though Shishou couldn't see it. But now as she hastily fisted the tears, wiping them, she couldn't help but let a sob escape through her lips. "Tsunade-sama!" Sakura hugged her mentor awkwardly, head on her chest, letting the salt water seep through the thin hospital gown. Tsunade-sama was like her second mother and sister. She had taken care of Sakura well, and had taught her so many things. She couldn't bear to think of Shishou dead.

"Sakura." This time it was soft and motherly, full of tenderness and warmth. "Get off me, you're crushing my chest cavity." But she smiled unseeingly at her student. She was always driven by emotion, the one key trait a Shinobi should not have. Sakura snuffled and mumbled an apology. She looked at the clock; it was about to strike eight pm. Her fist clenched even harder. It was almost time.


Seconds ticked by. The second hand was slow and it sounded so loud. The long thin metal rod blurred. One movement to the next, it was as if she was watching the clock drugged and unfocused.

"Tsunade sama!" Shizune's urgent voice and the accompanied sound of her heels clicking on the wooden floors was heard before her face appeared in the Hokage's room.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked, taking a sip from the choko ( the small cup used to drink sake out of) The small pig at Shizune's feet faced her master with a worried look and grunted.

Without any haste, Shizune held out a scroll.

Tsunade put down the cup and took the scroll from her. It was glowing with dark and purple chakra, crackling like electricity. Her gaze narrowed. It had a seal that prevented anyone else from opening it but her. But she frowned; whoever sent this must have had very strong intentions.

Tsunade bit down on her thumb and blood bubbled to the surface from the small wound. One ruby droplet of blood fell from her thumb and landed on the scroll's seal. It shone brightly, but didn't allow her to open it just yet. Drawing the Konoha symbol in blood finally produced the desired result. The scroll transformed in a puff of smoke and lay on the desk, plain white with kanji written in beautiful calligraphy. Twisted lines formed sentences that depicted:

Team Taka and Otokagakure formally declare war on Konohagakure.
Under the influence of perfidy and betrayal.
The attack will commence officially on the eighth day of the eight month, eight PM.

It was signed with the Uchiha crest.

Tsunade read it silently. The moment she took her hand of the scroll it burst into flame. Ashes littered her desk and she swept them carelessly onto the floor. She stood up and faced the window. She touched her neck, where the crystal blue necklace should have been, but wasn't. It had been given to a young youth a long time ago.

"Ne, Shizune... This time, when I bet, I really hope I lose..."


Tsunade said nothing but her face pulled into a small frown. Sakura shook uncontrollably, hands gripping the window sill, staring out into the black of the night. Eight PM was drawing close. Seconds to spare.

Five

Four

Three...

Two...

One...

Sasuke...kun.

For a moment nothing happened. The calm dark village was tranquil, but almost exactly at that moment, the swell of fire rose, and shattered the protecting walls of Konoha. One by one the walls crashed down like dominoes. Sakura stared, tears cascading as she watched the village come to life. Shinobi prepared for the attack leapt from dark corners of the town, from across the roofs and through the streets. The spilled out of the Hokage tower, and as more villagers came to life, panic brewed, fresh as blood spilled from a gaping wound.

"Go...Sakura." Tsunade's voice echoed throughout the small room. Her voice was quiet and was tinged with fatigue.

"Shishou-"

"Go."

And Sakura left without another word. The corners of her lips turned downwards as she broke into a run. Too slow. Opening the closest window she perched on the sill. Summoning chakra to her feet she felt a burst of energy and she disappeared into the black, black night.


Wind whistled through her hair and she could hear it, loud and clear. Orange and red had lit the night sky. Sakura bit her lip as she pivoted off a chimney. Sasuke...kun. Where was he? Why was he doing this...No. Traitor, a disgrace to all Konoha Shinobi.

"Sakura-chan!" A fellow ninja was darting from roof to roof beside her, easily keeping up with her pace. Clad in an orange jumpsuit, his headband cloth was trailing behind him.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, acknowledging him.

"We have to go find Sasuke!" he yelled back. He held two kunai in one hand and deftly threw one to her. She caught it like it was second nature and gripped it by her side.

"Naruto-baka! Is that all you can think about? Sasuke! We have to help our fellow shinobi!" 'We have to protect Konoha,' she added to herself, remembering Tsunade-sama. Sakura knew even though Naruto never said, he missed Sasuke. He was always volunteering to go on search missions that entailed his name and even making missions that were often disproved by the Hokage. But he never ever gave up.

"Sakura-chan! He is our teammate, our friend! We need to help him!" Naruto shouted back, irritation at her unwillingness to look for him evident in his voice. Sakura sighed, giving up; she knew there was no way to change her teammate's mind once it was set.
She braced her feet apart and landed adjacent on a roof and her fingertips dug into the wood leaving dent marks. Without pausing during the entire action, she quickly propelled herself to where Naruto was leaping from and followed him, worried and scared.

They had crossed the smoking and destroyed stone walls of Konoha, and much to Sakura and Naruto's horror, the great Gate had been burnt down with Amaterasu. The one and only Gate that lead in and out of Konoha.

"Impossible," Naruto breathed as they flew into the forest, grasping and grabbing at every other branch. Sakura herself was melancholy; Konoha was being torn apart right before her eyes and she was doing nothing to save it, already disobeying Shishou in a matter of minutes. Tears threatened to fall again, but she set her features in a determined look. Even so, a lone tear slipped and was lost in the air as the body it was once held captive in was gone before it could break its shape. The tear could have been mistaken as a rain drop, falling silently to the forest floor, in a perfect sphere of liquid before it splashed all over a lush green leaf.

"Sakura-chan! I can sense his chakra! Thirty degrees north, seven-hundred and twenty-five meters from our left!" Naruto shouted fifty meters from where she was on her branch.

"Understood!" And she changed direction, her heart racing, not just because of the amount of energy she was exerting, but the fear of meeting a killer and the eagerness to kill him. Sasuke was no longer the stoic, brooding boy she once knew. He could care tenderly, though he rarely showed it to it anyone, but if he really did care he wouldn't be here to destroy everyone who brought him up and cared for him. He was going to kill. Hundreds of innocent people, children, infants. Sakura could not forgive that, no matter what. To destroy life that could bloom and blossom without a second thought was something that repulsed her to no end. This was not Sasuke...kun.

This was the devil.


But there he stood as attractive and statuesque as ever. His shirt was high-necked and his sleeves short, but the garment was completely unzipped to show his chest, billowing in the wind. Sakura couldn't help but notice just how much he had grown in five years. His body was of a man, his face was older than it should have been. But then again, it had always been that way. He had seen too much when he was little. Naivety and innocence was a gift he would never receive.

Sakura and Naruto dropped to the ground not ten meters away from their ex-teammate and immediately assumed a fighting stance. Sakura held her right hand out in front of her, left placed a couple centimeters back, while her legs braced themselves, finding a low center of gravity. She was ready to attack at any given notice. Perhaps even before the notice...

Naruto was the first to speak. He spoke as if there was no time lost between them, and it made Sakura's fist curl but she dare not speak in case she actually lost control of her rage. How could Naruto speak like this? How many nights did she cry over him? How many nights did Naruto go looking for him? Countless. Countless was the answer.

"Hey Sasuke-teme, you came back to Konoha then. It's good to have you back, friend," Naruto said cheerfully with a smile while scratching the back of his head.

"I haven't come back for you. I declared war on Konoha. Now get out of my way." Sasuke said coldly, wind whipping his hair. Sakura shivered' her red vest was not keeping the chill out.

"Na, Sasuke, don't speak like that-"

"I broke my bond with you a long time ago, Naruto. And I still won," Sasuke said a smirk curling his lip. All of a sudden Naruto's bright demeanor disappeared, his eyes narrowing. Sakura knew he didn't want to hurt him but there was no other way.

"Teme, you haven't broken any bond. Come back to Konoha quietly or-"

"Or what? You'll set pathetic Anbu on me?" Sasuke laughed derisively.

"No, I'll just have to kick your ass once more then, eh Teme? How do you like that?" Naruto yelled, cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah? As far as I know, I left you unconscious with a hole through your chest. Yeah, you really did 'kick my ass' as you say." The mocking reply bit back.

"So why did you come back?" Sakura finally spoke up, voice quiet with anger and saturated with hate. She trembled and the kunai in her hand was actually shaking with no control whatsoever.

"I come back to avenge Aniki. His death was a mistake." Neither shinobi could miss the slight sound of affection in the word 'Aniki'. Sakura's heart clenched. What happened between those two? How she had longed to hear that note of affection uttered in her name, from those very lips. But that dream was long gone five years ago.

"So get out of my way." Cold and indifferent once more.

"No!" Naruto yelled. His hands were quick, whipping around each other, creating a small gathering tornado of chakra in his palm. Blue and glowing, it just added to the brewing storm in the air.

"I'm going to bring you back once and for all Sasuke! I should have done this a long time ago. With both these bare hands, I swear I am going to drag you back to Konoha even if its the last thing I do!" With a animalistic roar, Naruto had leapt into the air, Rasengan completed in his right hand, and Sakura did nothing to stop him.

Summoning chakra to her fingers, she gripped the kunai and charged at Sasuke. She threw it whilst in mid air, side dodging him. She knew it would not reach him, but it would force him to move from his current position. Which was exactly what she wanted. Naruto caught the kunai between his teeth and aimed for Sasuke with the Rasengan. His opponent was quickly charging his sword with Chidori, a crackling chakra screaming like one thousand birds.

Sakura aimed rapid fire kicks and punches at the same time, but Sasuke was skilled enough to avoid both shinobi's advances.

Fist collided with fist, and more often than not her thrown punches made contact with air. Infuriating.

"Weak." One word to put her off balance. One single syllable. Rage consumed her body rapidly, boosting her adrenaline rush.

"I. Am. Not. WEAK!" Sakura screamed. A gloved fist infused with ten times the amount of chakra that Rasengan held slammed into the ground creating a fissure that expanded fifty meters in perimeter. All three shinobi leapt into the air to avoid the falling crumbling trees and earth.

Sakura smirked, she saw the look of surprise, no matter how quickly it disappeared, etched on Sasuke's face. She saw it and gleaned some satisfaction from it. Trees continued to fall down in a style of dominoes and splintering pieces of wood flew past her. She drew shuriken, one clasped between each finger, quickly and fired them off. More and more, kunai after kunai. She knew she was just wasting her weapons, but it gave her perverse pleasure as each shuriken ripped a tree apart, effective as a paper bomb.

Maybe she was just thinking irrationally, but Sasuke's word had driven her to a point of insane anger, striving her to prove that she was anything but weak. Never the weak stupid girl driven by love or emotion. This was the true shinobi way. She had grown up since that day, training twice as hard, learning so much from medical and ninjutsu textbooks every night, she had even surpassed the Hokage, though neither would admit it out loud.

She gasped, stomach instantly coiling in fear as the cold glint of metal was pressed against her neck. Her hands were bent behind her back, held together by a vice-like grip. When did that happen?

"Weak. Still weak, and will always be weak," Sasuke murmured against her ear. She felt faint with rage and defeat. He delivered a blow to the small of her back, causing her to fall against the knife. He drew it away just in time, as he watched Sakura fall to the forest floor without the aid of chakra.

In the back of his mind he registered the frantic yells from Naruto. 'Sakura-chan!' He stood still on the branch, the kunai held at angle, causing one drop of blood to roll off.

"Teme!" Naruto snarled. He stood there panting. When he next looked up, his whisker marks were darkening and his eyes were fierce orange, almost red. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as they bled to Mangekyou slowly. A strange aura of dark red chakra, darker than the last time they met, was slowly emanating around Naruto.

Naruto wheezed and clutched his stomach. Sasuke gripped Kusanagi. He knew Naruto was clawing at the burning pain from his seal containing the Nine Tails. Fool, idiot, he was leaving himself open for attack. Or perhaps he trusted Sasuke not to attack him, well he shouldn't! Sasuke growled to himself. But he was faintly curious as to what Naruto would transform to.

And perhaps that was Uchiha Sasuke's biggest mistake. Because the next time he blinked, an orange streak soared over his head, rendering him unconscious as he fell to the forest ground, next to a pink haired kunoichi he knew so well. Darkness was closing in rapidly and he struggled to get up. He wasn't making any progress; in fact, his body hadn't moved at all, disobeying the small shocks of electricity, commands to get up and fight from his brain.

He sensed Naruto drop down and mumble Sakura's name, over and over as he picked her up. He hated how Naruto could relax just after that one move. 'Come back and fight coward,' he had tried to say, but he couldn't move. The pain was too great. He watched dimly as Sakura's head was placed against Naruto's shoulder, as one arm looped the back of her knees, the other arm around her back.

With one scathing look sent in his direction, Naruto leapt into the night air, leaving the Uchiha to berate and curse himself, why he was so goddamn useless, into the dark night.