Author's notes: A Sasu/Saku request written for xoxBra's Unrequited Romancexox. Once again a darker tone for this pair, but in light of recent chapters it seems more appropriate. Once again set in the indefinite future. Read and review, don't be shy about requests either! Prompt words are appreciated if possible.

Disclaimer: Nothing I own is nearly as sparkly or grand as Naruto.

Eye of the Storm

They were reunited in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by bodies and muck. The shouts of her friends and his enemies swarmed through the air like Shino's insects, announcing deadly jutsus, registering pain, launching attacks. In a bloodied field in the land of leaves an era was dying, writhing in its death throes like a beast before the hunter.

Sasuke and Sakura were reunited as the world fell apart around them.

She finds him in the darkest corner of this chaotic world they've created, largely untouched by the dirt and grime that seems to cling to her every pore. Even standing in the middle of a hell of his own making, to Sakura he's perfect. She doesn't delude herself with the belief that he is still the boy she loved, but during her reflective moments she is able to admit that she always knew they would end up here, in this place. Sasuke the avenger, who has finally cast off the moral high ground that fit him so badly. Sakura the healer, forever trying to correct the evils that men do to each other.

"Sasuke."

He casts aside his defeated appointment and considers her. "I'll fight you if I need to." She tells him, "But this time I won't let you leave."

The sharingan whirls, black and red vortexes ripping through her and piecing her back together again. "It's been a long time." He says finally.

She stands steady as he approaches, bracing herself for a hidden blade or a burst of fire. Sakura isn't afraid of pain, she's afraid of failure. He reaches her and she glares at him defiantly. "This has to end."

"Yes it does." He agrees, and there's no attack, no new betrayal, no genjutsu.

Sasuke kisses her instead.

Their kiss tastes of blood and sweat, these things not normally associated with romance are nevertheless at the core of their relationship. She clings to him and his hands are in her hair, gripping locks that have been kept short out of necessity and nostalgia for a forgotten moment. Sakura is crying, but doesn't care because by this point he's already seen, and she no longer wants to hide from him. There have been walls between them for a long time and she sure as hell won't resurrect them now.

He pulls away first, rough fingers touch the side of her face in a caress. "Run." He tells her, not letting go just yet. "Run away and don't look back."

"I won't let you leave." It's a vow, a promise, a confession.

"I'll come back." He promises and she knows it to be true. "We'll meet again, on the battlefield."

"Where?" She knows the answer before he speaks it, because if they are always coming from different sides, there in really only one place to meet.

"In the middle."

It breaks her heart, but he's right. They will always steal these moments, cheat death and fate as only a shinobi and kunoichi can. "Someday." She tells him. "Someday we won't have to."

"So be it." He releases her. "For now you must run."

So she runs, sprinting back towards the safety zone, joining the retreating forces around her, not bothering to duck as a massive fire ball roars into the night sky, announcing the simultaneous retreat of the other forces.

Sakura turns back at the border, ignoring his order to not look back. She can't spot him in the chaos but she knows he's safe, retreating with the rest. He's left again, but somehow she can accept it. There will be many more battles to come. Indeed, there's no doubt that this horrific war will escalate into conflict after conflict.

Sakura will come, and she will fight, and she will meet him in the middle.