Happily Sometimes After Chapter 2, a naruto fanfic

This is the second and last chapter of this short story. This story has two alternate endings hence the two chapter titles: a sad ending and a happy ending. You decide which one you think is better or simply skip the sad one if you don't like sad endings. By the way, the sad ending was inspired by the current events in the manga.

Disclaimer: Sasuke is currently an ass…. And I do not own Naruto or any of its affiliations.

Signs of Happy Moments to Come/Not a Happily Ever After

Sakura's POV

I tried. I swear I tried. I attempted to not think about him after that sought after night. I wanted to go back to how things had been before I had seen him, but it was impossible. He would be in every little thought my mind would conjure up with. It was hard to force a smile when I saw our old friends and when I was alone it was still even harder. Getting up or getting dressed, I always felt regret for not following him.

I would work over time in the Konoha Hospital, but I would begin thinking 'is he okay?' I wondered if he had found Itachi. Was he hurt in the fight?

I just couldn't concentrate on anything, much to the point where Lady Tsunade was forced to give me the week off to relax. All this spare time on my hands was useless. I spent it moping around or thinking about Sasuke.

I knew I should just give up on him. He had Karin. I was of no use to him (not that I had ever been). Karin was probably more helpful that's why she was with him. I constantly repeated to myself so I would stop thinking about him.

Every attempt on my part was futile. Full of sadness deep within my heart, I wondered from place to place to find a distraction.

"HEY SAKURA-CHAN!" the one and only hyper-active knuckleheaded ninja yelled from afar.

I tried to smile, but my attempt was pathetic. My feelings were as crystal clear, especially to someone who knew me as well as Naruto. I only hoped he could be as dense as he was with other things when it came to me.

He stopped abruptly in front of me. "I got a plan!"

Darkness, a ninja's best friend. Today, it was going to be my best friend too. I stealthily climbed out of my bedroom window, hoping my mother would not hear or see me. Once down, I ran as fast as I could not bothering to look back. I wanted to get this done. Soon, I would be with Sasuke and then maybe I would stop this meaningless moping.

As soon as I made my way to the Konoha gates, I saw the shadowy figure I expected to see; Naruto. His gaze met my own. His eyes were just as determined to find Sasuke and help him as were my own. If there was any way, any way at all that we could help, we would be there.

"Sakura!" Naruto whispered while smiling carefree. This wasn't any ordinary mission though, it was our own mission. By doing this we'd probably be considered rogue ninja, but at this point it didn't matter. Naruto was out to look for his long lost brother and I for my love; the one person who made me keep on fighting on. Surely, we could all start a new life elsewhere with Sasuke. We were leaving everything for him.

"Do you remember the location?" he asked worriedly as if his life depended on the answer.

"Of course!" I replied nervously for we were about to commit treason for abandoning our home. Hopefully, though Sasuke would still be there. Not much time had passed since Sasuke had sought their help and if they hurried, they would be in time to catch up with Sasuke.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed. Immediately, a serious look overcame his smile. "We will finally be together again- Squad seven."

I nodded knowing that was partly true. Yes, Sasuke would be with us again, but not Kakashi Sensei and we wouldn't be home.

With one last look at the village we were betraying, Naruto and I looked at each other, nodded and made our way to the village Sasuke was headed to for his final confrontation with Itachi.

It was evening when we arrived at the small village where Sasuke was supposed to meet up with his brother. Instantly, Naruto and I split up so we could search for Sasuke all over the village faster. Much to our displeasure, there was no sign of him.

I wanted to cry. Why did this have to happen? I was so determined to help him, but we are too late. Holding my tears back I went in to the last inn in the village, having little hope.

"Excuse me sir?" I called to the man behind the counter.

"Yes dear?" The old wrinkly, but nice looking man responded.

"By any chance, is there a young man around my age with black hair and onyx eyes staying here?"

"Hm…I'm not sure. Many people come and go. The description you just gave me could fit many," the old man said, disappointed that he could not be of any help. "Are there any defining characteristics?"

"He's from the Uchiha clan." I answered shortly. I didn't want anyone to know that it was him we were looking for specifically but given the circumstances, she had to tell him.

"Ah that young man. He was here earlier today but left a few hours before you got here," the old man informed him."Do you know where he headed?" I questioned. My hopes were up once again. I had a lead on him.

"Let's see…" the old man said while trying to remember. "Yes, I heard him and his companions say that they were following someone who was heading toward the country's western border and that…"

I had no time to waste. I had to catch up to Sasuke before he could get any farther. Immediately, I looked for Naruto and found him. After conveying the new information, we once again set off to follow Sasuke.

We were close. I could feel it. My heart was telling me that Sasuke was close to us. A little longer and we'd see him again.

"Sakura? We should rest a bit," Naruto said.

"What?" I asked. I had totally been absorbed in my thoughts that I hadn't been paying attention to Naruto.

"We should rest. If we catch up to Sasuke we won't be of any help to him all tired up," Naruto elaborated. Once in a while, Naruto could come up with good ideas especially if they involved the his friends.

"Fine." I agreed unwillingly. Naruto was right; tired out and with little chakra we'd be unable to be of any help. We would just be burdens to him.

We both took out whatever little food we had left and ate silently. Probably, we were both thinking of ways to help aid in the fight with Itachi. For Sasuke, I was willing to do anything, even take a direct hit for him. The love I felt toward him was no longer the childish crush I used to have on him. Back then, I was more in love with the idea of dating the famous Uchiha prodigy, but now it was real love coming from deep within my heart. When had I truly fallen in love with him? I do not know. All I knew was that I loved him with all my heart and not being with him was worse than being dead.

Naruto yawn and stretch. "I'm going to take a short nap. You should do the same Sakura," Naruto advised.

I nodded, rested my back against a tree, and closed my eyes.

When I awoke, it was still dark, but I felt rested enough to keep going. I looked in Naruto's direction. Still fast asleep. I smiled. He looked so peaceful, smiling even though these were no times to be resting like that. I decided to let him sleep for a bit longer be fore I woke him up to continue our journey.

Squawk!

Suddenly, birds flew out of the direction in which we were traveling. Flapping their wings ardently, they flew away from a certain area.

What could it be? I wondered but instantaneously realization hit me. The fight was beginning. It had to be that. What else could it be at this time?

Without much though, I stood up and rushed toward the site of the commotion without bothering to get Naruto. I was too focused on Sasuke. I had to help him.

As I hastily made my way there, depressing thought kept crossing my mind. What if it was all over already? What if Sasuke was….No! I tried to push those thoughts away.

Naruto and I hadn't been camping afar from the battle ground. I soon arrived at the scene. Not wanting to be noticed, I hid behind a tree and masked my chakra, waiting for the perfect opportunity to help.

The fight went on for what seemed hours. Sasuke and Itachi exchanged blow for blow, jutsu after jutsu. They both seemed to be about equal except that Itachi seemed to be alone and so did Sasuke but I was here for him. Where is his squad I wonder. Surely, they could help some. I quickly came to realize that Sasuke being his prideful self wouldn't want any help and that was why his squad was nowhere in sight. So should I even bother to help? If I did, surely he'd be angry and wouldn't feel like he won the way he wanted to.

I was too busy entranced in thought to pay much attention to the fight and when I finally looked up to see what was happening, I saw Sasuke breathing heavily against a tree and Itachi getting closer and closer to him. It was almost certain; Sasuke was about to lose this fight and Itachi would become the victor.

'This isn't supposed to end like this. I have to do something, but what?' I looked in Itachi's direction once again and I saw him picking up Sasuke's Kusanagi that had been laying on the ground for some time. I knew what was coming and I wasn't about to let Itachi go through with it.

Without another thought, I rushed to the battle field stop Itachi.

Thwack! (1) Drip…drip…

"Ugh!"

Original ending

Blood. Lots of blood.

Like water flowing without restraint, the bright, red liquid flowed freely down my abdomen. I was injured but Sasuke was safe. Itachi would just forget about me and I could just heal myself, but if it had been Sasuke I wouldn't have had the opportunity to heal him which is why I took the hit.

Itachi looked at me with his cold, sharingan eyes then looked toward Sasuke. "I thought the fight was between just you and me. Who is this?" Itachi demanded to know.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered unable to hold his shock back.

"Foolish little brother, this girl will pay for your mistake in bringing her here," Itachi said.

"Ugh!" I groaned in pain as Itachi slowly took the blade covered in blood out of me. I began coughing violently, blood coming out of my mouth along the way. He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against a tree.

"Itachi stop it! She has nothing to do with us. Let her go." Rage began to consume him. Orochimaru's curse mark followed. I hated that thing. It was what had taken Sasuke away from the beginning.

I was suddenly dropped to the ground. All I was able to tell was that Sasuke had dashed toward Itachi and grabbed him to get him away from me. The curse mark had increased his power greatly but knowing that it was power borrowed from that Snake Sannin made my insides churn. Why? Why would he rely on his power? To save me?

The pain was unbearable. I was beginning to lose consciousness. My eyes were closing without my permission and before I knew it, I lost sense of time.

Sasuke's POV

'Why? Why had she been so stupid and gotten in the way?' Sasuke wondered. Sasuke gazed in her direction for a second. She had passed out due to loss of blood. 'Hold on Sakura.'

I knew I had to finish this quickly. The fight had dragged on too long. It was getting to the point that any one of us could make the slightest mistake which would cause our demise.

"Sasuke, your eyes will be mine so that I can achieve greater power." All of a sudden, I saw Itachi cough out blood.

I took advantage of the situation and threw kuanis at him. They came nowhere near him and they were deflected by Itachi's Susanoo. Itachi made his way toward me. I had to do something. Taking out a scroll, I summoned lots of kunais with explosive tags on them. Still no luck.

I made some quick hand signs. "Fire style: fireball jutsu." I blew a fire ball in Itachi's direction. He would be too busy trying to dodge it to see what my real intentions were.

I ran toward my fallen blade-Kusanagi. Itachi was already low on chakra as was I, but unlike him, had something to keep me going, something to fight for. Summoning what little chakra I had, I managed to form a Chidori nagashi and aimed it at Itachi.

Thwack!

Itachi looked at me from the other side of my blade with half closed eyes. He lifted up his hand and poked me in the forehead like the old times, a completely unexpected gesture, but it was over. His torso fell forward and I took Kusanagi out of him.

I walked toward the motionless Sakura. She wasn't moving. Was she…?

Third person POV

The wind blew. Everything seemed so calm like after a long, raging storm.

When someone close to you dies, a part of you dies along with them.- that was why Sasuke never let anyone close to him but he accidentally let her in and now he was paying the price. Sakura's body was still. It seemed to be all over.

Sasuke kneeled down beside her. He removed a strand of hair that covered her face. "Sakura…"

Suddenly, Sakura lifted up her hand and placed it on top his. She managed to form a weak smile and asked, "Is it over?"

"Hn." Sasuke replied.

Weakly, Sakura sat up. Using what chakra she had, she began to heal herself. She then out some bandages out of her bag and wrapped them around wounded areas of Sasuke's body.

"Let's go home Sasuke." Sakura suggested.

"Hn." Sasuke said again. Without further elaboration, Sakura knew that he was agreeing to go back to Konoha. Surely, punishment awaited him, but it would be nothing because he would soon be able to restore his clan. Soon, the Uchiha clan would become one of Konohagakure's strongest clans.

Is the reality we see the only one? Or could there be others? Could you tell when everything looks the same as always? Look around and what do you see? You'll find yourself thinking 'I've seen this before. Today is just like any other.' Sometimes though, you get a glimpse of another reality creeping into yours. A crack appears in your peaceful life; it throws you off guard; makes you rethink things. (2)

Alternate ending (sad ending)

Blood. Lots of blood.

Like water flowing without restraint, the bright, red liquid flowed freely down my left abdomen. I was injured but Sasuke was safe. Itachi would just forget about me and I could just heal myself, but if it had been Sasuke I wouldn't have had the opportunity to heal him which is why I took the hit.

Itachi looked at me with his cold, sharingan eyes then looked toward Sasuke. "I thought the fight was between just you and me. Who is this?" Itachi demanded to know.

"No one. Just a setback." Sasuke said stoically. His cold, indifferent eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, not even to me who had just saved his life. He didn't look like the Sasuke I had been with a few nights ago. This Sasuke was totally different. His thirst for revenge had changed him in a matter of days-no hours.

Truth be told, I expected Sasuke to at least acknowledge that he knew me. What was I to him? Was I, after all, nothing but a burden.

"She must not think so if she just save your pathetic life foolish little brother," Itachi noticed. "But you are right. She is just a setback…to your death." Itachi said while throwing Kusanagi and me aside.

I dropped on my knees. The wound was more painful than I wished. Gathering chakra on my palm, I began to heal myself. Maybe if I helped Sasuke once again, he'd see that I am not just an useless burden.

Suddenly, I was grabbed off the ground. 'Was I too busy healing myself to realize that I was about to be hit? Is Sasuke saving me?' I wondered. Too late did I realize that it was quite the opposite.

"Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" I faintly heard Itachi say.

Sasuke had realized that he would be unable to dodge the jutsu so he was using me as a shield. My eyes widened as I saw the rapidly approaching fire ball. Realizing I wouldn't escape Sasuke's grasp, I gave in and took the attack.

The pain was unbearable. Burn marks covered my entire body. But what hurt the most was what Sasuke had just done even Itachi seemed surprised. I couldn't believe Sasuke had gone this far into the darkness. Tears filled my eyes. 'Sasuke…why?'

I felt Sasuke throw me to the ground. My eyes were beginning to blur. There was no way I could even attempt to heal myself. The pain was too much for me to handle. I couldn't even move.

I saw a blur, probably Sasuke, run toward his blade. "Chidori nagashi!" I heard Sasuke yell and it was all over. Itachi was stabbed by the sword. Itachi was standing for a few moments. I noticed Itachi poking Sasuke on the forehead then falling forward to the ground.

I could no longer keep my eyes open much. They were begging to be closed. My whole body was giving out. I was succumbing to the darkness ahead and I didn't have the strength nor the will to fight it. I had helped. It was over. I saw Sasuke's figure looming over me a few minutes later. There were absolutely no emotions on his face. He looked at me for a while. I probably looked pathetic covered in blood and burn marks. Then, he turned around and walked away.

The pain raced through my body. Burned and stabbed, what a great way to go, I thought. I could take the pain, I could take a few tears now and then and just let them out. I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while. Every now and again, I would pretend I was okay but that's not what got hurts the most was being so close and having so much to say then watching him just walk away. I was never going to know what could have been. He never saw that all I was trying to do was love him. It was hard to deal with the pain of losing him. If I could do it over, I would trade, give all the words that stayed saved in my heart, that I left unspoken.

The wind blew quietly, relentlessly. Rage began to surface. 'Why? Why did I do all this for?' I felt so angry. It had all been for nothing. Nature seemed to laugh at me. It was all going to end for me but it just kept on going like nothing had happened. Would anyone know of my end? Will I just be forgotten for my recklessness?

The last seconds of my life, I spend thinking 'what is going to happen?' Tears began rolling down my cheeks. The last thought that went through my mind was that peaceful smile Naruto had when he was sleeping. "Naruto."

(1) Sorry, I have no idea what a sword stabbing someone sounds like and that's the best I could come up with.

(2) I heard this in an anime called Durarara. I though it fit here…sort of.

Thank you so much for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought! Which ending did you like/would want to really happen?

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