Author's Note: I don't own Naruto.
A flash of metal was all that she saw. A quick gleam of sunlight as it danced across the cold and deadly blade reflected in her emerald gaze. In an instant she knew the target of the deadly weapon and it was in that instant she knew there was no way of avoiding it. The realization hit her completely like a shot to the stomach or a bolt of lightning through her system and then it was followed by an utter calm, a strange acceptance as the blade ran through her. The force of the blow was still a shock and her eyes widened as they slowly lowered to the handle of the sword. Her green eyes followed the handle, and traveled up the blade to where it had entered her body. She stared at the cold metal, its silver color now becoming coated in the dark crimson color of her own blood. She thought it rather strange that she felt no pain standing there with a sword run through her slender frame. Some working part of her mind recognized that it was probably only shock that was keeping her from feeling the splitting pain that would have been there otherwise.
A strangled noise escaped her lips as the sword was twisted. She coughed, the metallic taste of her own blood in her mouth as she stared unblinking at the masked ninja smiling at her. He gave another twist of his blade and she coughed again, this time causing her blood to trickle out of her mouth and run down her pale skin. She fell to her knees as the blade was jerked out of her. Her delicate hands went and covered the gaping hole that had been left behind by the blade. She watched, somewhat fascinated as her own blood spilled between her fingers, soaking her dress and staining her pale skin. The ninja in front of her raised his blade and she brought her gaze up in time to watch the final strike. She was ready for it but it never came.
A blur orange and the sound of metal clashing with metal. The ninja was soon caught up in a dangerous duel with her teammate. She staggered to her feet, her strength having abandoned her now heavily injured body. She staggered a few steps over to a tree, her feet feeling as if they were weighed down by boulders. Her breathing ragged and coming in shirt gasps, she made it to the tree and turned her back to it. She could feel the bark scrape against her back as she slid down the tree to the ground like it was some sort of lifeline connecting her to the world while death began to creep towards her doorstep.
She focused on the world around her which had begun to blur. She fought off the dark edges of her vision and looked ahead at the scene that lay before her all the while wondering why she was so calm and why she didn't feel the need to fight off the slowly approaching darkness. A flash of dark hair and those red eyes and it suddenly became to clear. She whispered his name from her blood stained lips like a plea, her voice full of the pain that her body would not feel. He was the reason for her calm acceptance and the reason she no felt the need to fight.
She had always loved him. All of these years had past and she still saw his face when she closed her eyes to sleep at night, still heard his voice in her dreams. After everything, even his betrayal and eventual return to the village, she had loved him. She had loved him when he had called her annoying and had gone about ignoring her as much as he could. And even after his return, his continual cold demeanor towards her. No matter what she did, he never cared. He was never going to love her. Tears slipped down her cheeks, even paler now than they usually were. Her bloodstained hands moved from her injury and to her chest, she clutched at her heart, swearing she could feel it break as she accepted that she was never going to know what it felt like to be loved by him. She had waited so long for him and now she realized that she was tired. She didn't have the strength to wait anymore.
She knew now the calm was from the realization that she would no longer be stuck living with the curse of loving someone who would never return that love. If only he had acknowledged her a bit more, then perhaps she would have been able to cherish that and been happy, but there would never be happiness for her when it was obvious that he would never care, could never care about her. Now all that was left to do was to let herself slip away. Never again would she have to feel such an intense pain in her heart, a constant dull ache like there was some sort of gaping whole in the depths of her soul resembling the one here on her body. She sighed in acceptance and embraced the darkness that was surrounding her. Let it come and end her pain, let it take away the loneliness that she knew would never be cured.
The sounds of the battle faded from her ears, she focused on the slow rhythm of her heart as it seemed to echo through the blackness. She felt cold as she slowly began to lose what she was feeling, the cool grass which she sat on, the rough texture of the bark against her back. It was slipping away, she was slipping away and she wasn't fighting it. It was as if she could feel the pain being lifted away. She was free of her unreturned love. It would never haunt her again.
And then through the blackness she felt a feather light touch on her neck, like a small electric shock through her body. No doubt someone trying to find her pulse, which they would faint as it might be. It brought back the feel of the ground beneath her and the tree against her back. Why couldn't they have just let her go? She felt herself slipping back, losing those feelings again, when a hand gripped her bloodied one which had been fisted over her heart. The hand eased hers away and intertwined its fingers with her own. She was pulled back once again.
"Sakura."
She heard him whisper her name. Him, the one who had never loved her, the one who never would. The reason she was so tired, the reason she wanted to simply let go. She heard his voice echo through the darkness and was shocked when it sounded like a plea. Why would he plead for her? He wouldn't. It was some sort of cruel trick her own imagination was playing on her.
"Sakura."
There it was again. His voice, that plea. What did he want from her? He had done more than enough damage to her already. Why was he here, holding her hand? Didn't he know how much it hurt her to be so close to him and knowing that he didn't care what really happened to her in the end?
"Sakura please open your eyes for me."
Why would he ask her to do that? She didn't want to. She wanted to let herself slip away. She wanted to tell him he had no right to ask her to do anything for him. Yet despite it all she complied because it was her curse to love him, her curse to have done anything in the world for him whether or not he felt the same. And so she opened her green eyes to come face to face with him. His dark hair falling in front of his dark eyes which bore into her with an intensity that made her slowly beating heart leap in her chest. His pale face was framed in a layer of darkness that she could no longer shape.
"Sakura I am sorry," he said causing her hear to take another wild leap in her chest. She coughed in pain. Now he was torturing her.
"Can you forgive me? I need you to forgive me," he said his voice a strained whisper in her ears.
Why did he want her forgiveness? And why was he asking for it? He never asked for forgiveness. What was it that she possibly could forgive him for? Yet even if she could not think of a reason, she willingly gave it to him anyway. She would do anything for him.
"Yes I forgive you," she said finally, her voice not even a whisper as it slipped past her blood stained lips. "But," she said though her words were broken as she coughed again. "Why?"
"Because I never told you how I felt. I never let you know how I really feel. I love you Sakura. Can you love me? After everything I put you through can you love me?"
His words caused more tears to spill from her emerald eyes as they fluttered closed. He was asking her to love him. He loved her. How long had she waited for those words and finally they had come. She had a reason to fight now. She clawed at the darkness that was surrounding her. She could fight for him.
"I can love you," she said so quietly that he had to put his ear to her lips to hear her.
"Can you fight for me Sakura? Can you hang on a little longer until Naruto comes back with help? Can you do that for me?"
"I can do it for you," she said softly, as she desperately tried to do what he asked. She would do anything for him. She would fight off this darkness with whatever she had. If he wanted her to fight for him she would. She would fight off death, she would fight off anything in the world for him. He loved her, he really loved her. She could survive for him. But the blackness, it seemed to have settled itself over her. There seemed to be no end to it.
"Sakura can you live for me? I don't want to lose you. Can you stay alive for me," Sasuke whispered, tears now falling down his own pale cheeks. And it wasn't until he felt her hand go limp in his own that he realized for the first time in her life she couldn't do this for him. She couldn't live for him because he had whispered his words to someone already gone.
This is my first one shot and first SakuXSasu story. It isn't very long and I am not sure if it is any good. This story is the result of a bad day in which I started writing and this is what I came up with. Anyway if it is not any good please forgive me, this is my first oneshot attempt and I didn't spend much time on it and it was written at work.