Author's Note: This story takes place around episode 214 of Naruto Shippuden and if you haven't watched it, there will be some heavy spoilers. Basically, this is a 'what-if' fic where we pretend Kakashi never arrived to Sakura's rescue or was just late as usual and Sakura was left alone to deal with Sasuke. I really believe that in that case story might have taken this direction...

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto.

Chasing Shadows

Sasuke was real. He stood still, facing her from the opposite side of the bridge which was all but demolished from his previous battle. His clothes were torn in a few spots and there were two trails of dark blood running down his left cheek, right out of his bloodshot eye.

He looked tired, but Sakura knew his guard wasn't even remotely lowered. His eyes told her he was wary of her, his onyx gaze never leaving her form as she closed the distance between them by crossing to his side of the bridge. She'd told him she wanted to join him and if Sasuke had any opinion of it, he hid it well.

"What's in for me if you come along? What are you plotting?" His voice was deeper than she remembered, almost unrecognizable, tainted with suspicion and malice.

Even his chakra feels different.

Sakura knew what she had to do, her resolve on the matter was unwavering. She'll save him, she had decided. She'd kill him if that's what it takes to stop him from sinking any deeper in that abyss of hatred, that curse of all the Uchiha. She loved him so much she couldn't bear to see him like this.

On the surface, she bravely stepped forward.

"I'm not plotting anything," she said defensively. "Ever since you left the Hidden Leaf, I've regretted not going with you!"

His face was still unchangingly apathetic. When she spoke again, her voice was dripping with sincerity. "I'll do whatever you want. I don't want to have any more regrets."

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed dangerously at her last sentence. Sakura noted that he was much taller than the last time they met. He was looking down at her and the difference in their sizes and power was becoming painfully obvious to her. Her only hope was for him to lower his guard around her and for that she needed to be more than just convincing.

Only his lips moved when he countered her with a question. "And do you know what I want?"

She shook her head. "I don't care. I'll do whatever you ask." She could only guess what was his goal now that he defeated Itachi. At first, they all believe he would come back to Konoha but now she wasn't so sure. He was an international criminal and she still couldn't wrap her head around it. She also knew that Konoha would never accept him back now that he was an Akatsuki. She and Naruto always dreamed about coming back home to the Hidden Leaf, hand in hand with their teammate. Now that dream was just a painful reminder that things could never get back at what they were before. They all had changed.

"I'm going to destroy the Hidden Leaf. That's what I want," he said with cold determination that she heard only when he spoke about getting revenge on his brother in the past. Her mouth popped open but she kept quiet. Sasuke regarded her silently. "Will you be able to betray the Hidden Leaf for me?" He required and the indifference in his tone was like a stab in her heart.

"Yes. If you asked me to." Emerald eyes met onyx ones in what seemed like eternal moment. Then Sasuke slanted his head in the direction of a girl with bright red hair who somehow escaped Sakura's notice until now. She was badly injured and bleeding profusely. If she doesn't get any medical treatment soon, she'll die of a blood loss.

"Then prove it. Finish her off."

Sakura kept her expression even as Sasuke continued on. "Then I'll believe you."

She looked at the girl whose mere breathing seemed like a torture. The slow rise and fall of her back was the only thing indicating she was still alive. Medic-nin in Sakura wanted to run to the girl and see to her wounds. Did Sasuke inflict them upon her?

"Who is she?"

"A member of the group, Taka, which I founded. As you can see, she's useless. You're a medic-nin, right? You can replace her and this will work out just fine."

Sakura's gaze shifted onto him. Not only was he unperturbed by the girl's dire condition but he requested of her to finish her off.

How could he? He's definitely not the old Sasuke. He's completely changed.

She slowly pulled out a kunai out of her pouch and came closer so she was standing above Sasuke's redheaded teammate. It was futile. Sakura knew she couldn't kill her even if her life depended on it. Sakura heard him beside her. "Well, Sakura? You can't do it?" She suddenly felt like she was twelve again, so helpless and scared. He was teasing her, there was a hint of challenge in his voice.

She has nothing to do with this. If I… if I stab Sasuke now… it will all be over.

Her hand was shaking badly now and she gritted her teeth. She won't back out of this. She kept telling herself that it wasn't Sasuke she knew and loved so much. The man standing beside her with expectant look was a stranger. She heard him, anyway. He wanted to destroy their village. When she finally gathered her resolve, she heard the girl's faint gasp. "Stop, Sasuke."

Sakura spun around and only had time to try and dodge Sasuke's Chidori. Her reflexes were good, but she was nowhere as fast as he was. Green eyes widened as she saw undiluted hatred in familiar black orbs. His hand clasped around her neck as he pressed her to a tree, his Chidori mere inches away from her face. So he realized what she was up to, then. However, what surprised her was not his reaction, it was that now his eyed were red and spinning and different than any Sharingan she saw before. When did he obtain the Mangekyou..?

His rough hand seized her neck with more force and Sakura painfully choked. Tears were blurring her vision and she could see there was no way of getting out of this.

"Please, don't," was all she managed to say before he pressed his hand even deeper in her neck and she could almost hear it being crushed.

Surprisingly, he stopped. There was a cold sneer on his lips as he regarded her condescendingly. "Why shouldn't I? You haven't changed a bit, Sakura. You're the same weak, useless girl. There's no purpose in keeping you alive."

Hearing those words from him, after all she'd been through the past few years because she wanted to get stronger so she could find him and bring him back, made her heart clench. It seemed that no matter what she does, she'll always be so far behind them, both Sasuke and Naruto. And if she didn't do something, she was going to be killed at the hands of a person she sacrificed her everything for. Sakura tried to swallow her fear.

"My purpose doesn't necessarily lie with my skills, Sasuke-kun," she said at last. If her eyes weren't fixed on his she would have missed how they widened only for a fraction. It was risky, telling him that. But there was nothing more to lose, he'll kill her. She gulped, her eyes staring at his. "I just want to please you, because… I still love you."

And it wasn't a lie. All she'd done was so she could save him from his darkness. She won't be able to do anything for him if she were dead. What was her dignity in comparison to her life? Just in case he decided to keep her alive, she would find a way to save him.

Sasuke's mouth curled upward in what seemed to be a cruel smirk. Almost, just almost like he couldn't believe what had just left kunoichi's lips. "You really are pathetic. There's no telling how low you'd sink just to save your own skin. I don't need an annoying wench like you, anyway." His voice was unusually raw when he spoke and Sakura's heartbeat was frantic by the time she answered him.

"Please, don't kill me," she whispered. "You can do whatever you want with me, Sasuke-kun, if you spare my life. I couldn't bear to lose you like this."

He watched her for a long time. Crimson pinwheels were slowly spinning in his eyes and it was all Sakura could pay her attention. His eyes, so dangerous and powerful, could kill her in a moment if he wished to. She was completely at his mercy as she waited for him to make a decision. The one regarding her life. She couldn't tell what transpired between them in that infinite minute nor what he saw in her eyes when he finally let out a sigh and his Chidori disappeared. His hand, however, never left her throat, bruising her with his vice grip.

"You'd wish I killed you for what I have in mind. It would be an act of mercy," he said with finality. Sakura's breathing hitched while she processed what he told her. "And you're still willing to completely surrender to me? There won't be coming back after this."

He was giving her a choice, she realized. A choice between death and surrendering to him. He obviously didn't want to just let her go knowing she would probably tell the rest of the teams about his whereabouts and his new eyes. Her decision was made long before he even asked a question.

"Yes. I'm sure."

His hand slipped away from her neck as if it were burning him the whole time. His face was a mask of indifference as he turned away from her and started walking towards the end of the bridge.

"Fine, then."

Sakura figured he expected of her to follow him and after a few seconds she started to hesitantly walk behind him.