The tall clock tower stood in front of us, its big hands of time ticking away the seconds. I clutched his hand tightly, my palm starting to sweat. Fear began to invade my mind, crawling up my spine like a cobra. My heart was pounding through my chest, aching to escape from its tight enclosure. Fantasies of what could happen through the doors that stood in front of me clouded my vision. This could be the end of us, or the beginning of an eccentric adventure.
"Sakura?" Naruto asked softly.
I hesitated to answer him. What would happen if he knew how terrified I was? Would he leave me behind and go off on his own?
"Sakura?" he asked again, waving his hand in front of my face wildly.
"Yeah?" I replied, shaking my head back and forth. Naruto placed a hand on my head to stop me; the other he softly touched my cheek. His hands were soft to the touch and warm, the sensation tingling through my skin.
"We'll be fine, you do trust me right?" he asked.
I nodded slowly and tried to smile, contorting my muscles the best I could. He saw right through my failed attempts.
"I'm right here, don't worry." Naruto said smiling gently. It would seem that my discomfort amused him slightly. He took his hand off my head, moving down through my hair, coursing it. I placed mine atop his shoulder, the other around his waist.
"I love you." I said softly.
"I love you too." he replied.
He slowly moved closer to me, our faces almost touching. I closed my eyes and our lips met. It was like an explosion of pleasure and lust all combined into one exact movement. Then, I felt a soft sensation touch my tongue, making my body start to shake. I pulled away and ended the longing for more. His expression was different from what I expected. He smiled softly as he chuckled.
"Let's go." Naruto said. He grabbed my hand and he walked ahead of me. I held on tightly as we walked through the large doors.
It was dark; a couple of torches lit the hallway. The glow made small circles under each light, giving an eerie air about the tower.
"I'm scared Naruto. Let's go back. Please?" I said with a shaky voice. I gripped his hand tighter than before.
"There's nothing to worry about. All we need is to go to the top of the tower. Then we find the gem at the top level and leave. Besides we're almost t-" Naruto's sentence was cut off by darkness. The lights had gone out, it was pitch black. There was no sound, only the creaking of the floor echoed down the hall. I reached to hold onto his arm, but there was only air. He was gone.
"Naruto?" I called out. My voice echoed and bounced off the walls.
"Naruto!" I called out again. This time it was louder and had a touch of nervousness. I was starting to really get worried.
"Naruto, stop playing games. This isn't funny anymore, you know how I get…"
"Who's playing games?" whispered a voice. It was dark, hoarse and had a maniacal tone to it. I whipped around, hoping to hit whoever was there. Nothing was there though, just more air.
"Who's… there?" I asked. My hands tightened into fist as I back up. A small, evil laugh echoed down the hall.
"No one. This is only your imagination my dear." The voice said. I could feel his breath on my neck. Then I hear a small click. All I could do was to start to scream. I tried to run, but a large hand clamped over my mouth. The cold metal met with my temple, pressing ever so lightly not to cause pain.
"Now don't go off screaming here. That wouldn't be a wise choice on your part now would it?" he said, pressing the gun further and harder into my head. Immediately I stopped, for my life was on the line.
"That's a good girl, now be a dear and stand still. If you do that, then I'll let you breathe a second or two." Whoever was behind me, this thing of torture was my only way to live. His voice was smooth, his words gliding off his tongue.
"Do you remember?" he asked. I couldn't answer that at all. Remember? Remember what? Why would I ever remember a horrid person like him?
"Mmph?" I tried to muffle out. He slowly removed his hand, but he still kept it around my neck. He didn't choke me, giving me enough room to breathe slightly.
"Remember?" I choked out, "Remember what? What on earth would I remember about you?"
"That day when you cried over me on the Naruto Bridge? Or how about the day when you stopped me from leaving? Remember now?"
I stood still, hardly even breathing in any air. It couldn't be HIM. The one person who I loathe the most, it just couldn't be.
"No… not you."
"Yes Sakura. Me."
"No! Let me go you- MMPH!"
I started to kick as he clamped his hand over my mouth once again. He dragged me down the hall with brute force. I struggled to get free, squirming under the pressure. The gun still was placed against my head.
"Oh boo hoo. Cry like you've always done. No one's going to save you. You're little friend is already dead you know." he said snickering. I heard him push open a door and walk into another room. He slammed me down into a chair, the gun gleaming in the light from the window. Its tip was pointed square between my eyes, waiting for the bullet to come and end everything.
"It's been too long, too long of a wait for me to just sit here and see you with another guy. Well if I can't have you, no one will. You got that?" he said; rage filling his eyes.
"Sasuke, this is madness! Just stop!!" I shouted at him. Tears streamed down my face as he slowly pulled the trigger. Then out of the darkness Naruto lunged out, knocking the gun out in time. He tackled Sasuke to the ground, pining his arms to the floor. The gun slid under a nearby table, out of sight.
"Get the hell away from her, you bastard." Naruto shouted, struggling to keep him down. Sasuke managed to get his foot under Naruto's chest, catapulting him off. He slammed into the wall, hitting his head hard almost rendering him unconscious. Sasuke jumped to his feet, snickering at him. He slowly walked over to him, taking out a small pocketknife.
"You're pathetic." Sasuke said snickering. He bent over and snickered, fiddling with the knife in his hand. "Always weak and useless."
I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered the gun, the gun that was still here… in this room. I frantically looked around the room, making sure that Sasuke wasn't paying attention. Slowly, I crawled under the table and grabbed it. The gun gleamed in the moonlight.
Sasuke pulled his arm back to strike, the knife shining with a silver light. His pulse raced faster and faster. He had a large evil grin across his face. Naruto slowly came back to consciousness, realizing that Sasuke was there. He smiled and he looked over to me. By this point I had made my way behind Sasuke aiming the gun at the back of his head.
"Don't move…" I said, holding my finger on the trigger. He paused, and then turned around.
"Well, looks like I'm stuck in a situation here… now aren't I?" he said snickering. "But I can fix that right away." Then Sasuke did something I would not expect. He jabbed the knife through his heart, the blood trickling down his shirt. He fell to the ground, motionless. I dropped the gun and ran to Naruto, holding him close.
"Are you okay?" I asked, shaking. I didn't look at him, forcing away tears. I couldn't believe how weak I was.
He smiled as he held me closer, our faces almost touching. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed heavily. I was just glad he was alive.
"I'm fine…" he said. He smiled as he kissed me on the cheek. I started to cry on his shoulder, dampening his shirt.
"I'm sorry I couldn't… I mean…I wanted to help." I tried to choke out between gasps of air. The room was filled with moonlight from the one window, creating an eerie aura about us. Then I felt a sharp pain in my chest, coursing through my whole body. I looked down at my shirt to see a knife pushed into my heart. I clambered off of Naruto to see him snickering at me. He rose off the ground, almost floating. I held the implanted knife in my hand, trying to get it out. It wouldn't budge, more blood pouring out of the wound. I staggered backwards into the table, causing it to fall over. I fell to my knees, doubling over in pain. Naruto just stared at me, cocking his head to the side a bit. It was like I didn't know him at all.
"Well, you're helping now. Just stay there a bit until you see a black light. Then you'll be on your way." he stated. He bent over my body and whispered in my ear. His breath was warm and damp.
"You made a good toy while it lasted Sakura, but it seems as if fate didn't arrange us to be together."
Then, he left through the door. He locked it behind him, not even stopping to look back. I tried to get back up to my feet, screaming at him to come back. Tears were streaming now off of my face. The blood rushed to the floor, creating a pool around me. Sasuke's body lay next to me, combining the pools. His body was cold and white, his face content for the first time. I stared at the door, hoping he would hear my cries for help, but no one arrived to save me. Soon the black light that he had mentioned began to form. It crept into my eyesight, clouding my vision. I lay against the table's leg, my breathing slowly stopping. The last words I could manage were simple.
"I… hate… you."