Disclaimer:

I do not own Naruto.

Blood is trickling down from her pink hair, dripping down from her chin. Her hair is messy and dirty, and her dress is torn, reveal her deep, bloody wound created by you. Her eyes are shut, and somehow, despite her wounded body and the fact that she is getting paler and paler by the minute, she looks content to you. As if she was sleeping on her comfy bed at home, not sprawling across a battlefield next to her enemy.

You frown at her. You don't want to look at her like this. You try to turn away from her, but your neck is broken. Damn that stupid inhuman strength of hers.

You want to shut your eyes, so that you can escape from her for once, but she wakes up. Her bright, calm green eyes bore into your very core, and somehow you feel guilty and trapped. After all, you are the one who nearly killed her (twice. Or is it more?).

She giggles. Suddenly, she looks just like the old bubbly version of herself, not the grown, matured, cunning and incredibly strong woman who was fighting with you 5 minutes ago. Her giggles turn into coughs of blood. Whipping away the blood from her face with the palm of her hand, she says, pointing at you:

"It's nice to see you finally notice me."

Your frown deepens.

"I can't turn away. You broke my neck."

"Oh, that… Sorry."- She smiles apologetically, and you feel like fidgeting. She moves her body to get closer to you, but she twitches in pain half way. Her wound is torturing her.

"Great jutsu. What does it called?" – She asks, panting.

You give her the name. Scowling because talking pains you, you murmur to her: "Nice punch."

"Thanks." She smiles that smile of hers again, and you feel like something weighs a thousand ton just dropped onto your stomach. She turns away and although you didn't want to look at her before, her action almost makes you want to reach your hand out, grab her and just never let her go again. But you manage not to, and now she fixes her eyes on the cloudless blue summer sky, facing away from you.

"I miss you." – Her words come out in a whisper. You decide to stay still, because you have no idea what to say or how to react. She doesn't seem to mind that, however, and continues:

"Things could have been very different, you know, if you stayed."

She turns to face you. Her eyes are soft and sad, but at the same time calm and strong. You try to turn away again. Then you remember that your neck is broken and you can't turn away from her. Not anymore.

You know she is right. She is always right. Isn't she the one who always has the right answer back in the academy? Things would be very different, if you stayed. You would have trained and competed with Naruto, you would have scowled at Kakashi when he took out his book. You would have felt comfortable, safe, content and happy, even if you will never admit it.

And you would have her.

But you couldn't. Because you are an avenger and although all you ever wanted is to be a normal person, you can't. You are an avenger and you always will be.

At least for this lifetime.

So you look at her in the eyes, those big, expressive, reflective, beautiful forest green eyes of hers, and say your throaty request:

"Would you give me a… second chance?"

Her eyes fill with surprise and fatigue and hurt. She looks down and even though you can't see her, you know that she is crying. Her shoulders vibrate. You swallow as you wait for her to reply.

"It's a bit too late, don't you think?"- She says sarcastically as she gestures to your giant gaping wound and the huge hole on her stomach.

"Not here, not now, but in the afterlife." You murmur to her, feeling like a complete idiot. You don't even believe in things like heaven or hell, but now you ready to believe in any of those stuffs, just to know that you may have a chance to start all over. With her.

She stays still and quiet for so long that you think that your chance is gone. Ever so slowly, she lifts her head up till her eyes meet yours, and then you know that she understands.

"My name…is Sakura."- She says softly, calm and steady.

"I'm Sasuke." Your lips curve into a tiny smile, as the thousand ton rock on your stomach gone.

"See you in the afterlife.". She smiles softly, as her green eyes starting to close and she drifts into an eternal sleep.

You wait until she is finally asleep to pull out the sword and stab yourself.

"See ya."- you murmur.

To look at the one you love, you try to keep your eyes open

.

Note:

This was hard to write. I just didn't know how to express Sasuke's feelings. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought, luckily.

The final line is similar to the final line in "La Joueuse de go", a beautiful novel by Shan Sa. I altered it. Hope that no one will sue me.

I hope that you guys like it. Sasuke's request for a second chance, to me, it's just him wanting to be forgiven. I have a really hard time writing this one-shot, and I really want you guys to tell me if anything is wrong, what could I have done to make this better. So remember to review :).