Eyes of the Devil
Chapter Ten
A broken heart and a dark decision: The end of Eyes of the Devil
Takashi's eyes opened slowly.
His whole body ached. But he had already registered that his injuries had been healed.
He'd have to thank Tsunade someday.
He looked to his right to find a certain silver haired shinobi sitting at his side.
"Inubo… where's Sakura? Is she okay?" He asked weakly.
Inubo smiled.
"You're still putting others before yourself, as usual." He said grimly. "She's fine. Tsunade healed her herself. She knew you'd be pissed if she didn't." he said, smiling bleakly.
"How long have I been out?"
"About two days. And before you ask, Sakura's still out."
"Good…"
"What?" Inubo said, taken aback. "Why is that good?"
Takashi sat slowly up in the bed, leaning against the headboard for support.
"Inubo… It was Kaitsu…" he whispered. Inubo's expression went from alarm to a grim look.
"I know. I could tell from the dark chakra that filled the air."
"Inubo… He told me something…" He began, but was interrupted by Tsunade barging into the room.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" She yelled, anger and annoyance evident in her expression.
"Good to see you to Tsunade…" Takashi muttered weakly.
"YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN COUNTLESS PEOPLE KILLED! WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD COMPELLED YOU TO USE A FORBIDDEN JUUTSU?"
"Tsunade… I…"
"NOT TO MENTION THE DEVASTATION YOUR DUMB ASS CAUSED!!"
"I…"
"AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO SAKURA? SIX RIBS, A BROKEN ARM, TWO FRACTURED VERTEBRAE AND SHES COVERED IN BRUISES! YOU SAID YOU COULD PROTECT HER TAKASHI!" She ranted, enraged by his allowing her student to be injured. Takashi rose; pure rage emanating from him. The room grew cold and his eyes bled silver, and slowly turning gold.
"I COULDN'T GOD DAMN IT! I FAILED! ONCE AGAIN THAT PSYCOTIC FUCK HAS HURT SOMEONE I LOVE AND I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO STOP HIM! I'M A FAILURE! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR? FINE! I'M A FUCK UP!" He yelled, his body trembling. He strode over to the wardrobe and yanked out his clothes and blade and, wearing nothing but a pair of pale pajama bottoms, he leapt out of the window and off into the trees. Off into the soft rain…
Tsunade ran to the window.
"TAKASHI!" She called, but to no avail. He was gone…
"Good job."
Tsunade turned to Inubo. He was sitting there, anger evident in his murderous stare.
"What are you talking about?" She hissed.
"You know as well as I do, maybe even better, what that man's been through. He's been robbed of everyone he loves and he blames himself for each of their deaths. He already hates himself." He growled. He stood and walked over to the door, pausing only to speak one sentence: "You just had to add to the fires didn't you?"
Tsunade bowed her head in shame. Maybe she had been too harsh on him… Too late now… You can't turn back time. If you could, he probably would've by now…
Sakura's eyes opened wearily… She was confused.
Where was Kaitsu? Shouldn't she be dead? And who had called out just before she passed out? And just where in the hell was she?
She kept her eyes closed, backing on her training. She remembered Tsunade telling her that if she was ever in a situation where she didn't know where she was, to keep her eyes closed and continue the façade of unconsciousness and study her environment.
She relaxed as soon as she took one good, deep breath. She was in the hospital. She recognized the hard, acrid scent of rubbing alcohol in the air.
She opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Her world swam and she fell back, not into the mattress, but into a pair of strong arms.
"You need to rest, missy; Hokage's orders."
She looked up to see Inubo standing over her, smiling warmly. He gently lowered her back down onto the soft mattress and sat back down beside her bed.
"Where is Takashi-kun?" She said weakly. Her whole body throbbed with pain every time she tried to move.
"He… he left…" Inubo whispered.
"Where? Why?"
"He… well… Tsunade pushed him to it." He said grimly. "She threw your injuries in his face, blaming him, and he got so pissed he left…"
"But it wasn't his fa…" She began, bolting up in the bed. Her world spun violently and she once again felt her consciousness slipping away. "Tashi-kun…" She whispered weakly before her world went black.
"DAMN IT!!" Takashi yelled. The boulder he was pummeling was finally cracking under his blows. "DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" He yelled as he unleashed his rage on the stone.
It blasted apart with his final blow.
The rubble flew in all directions, spraying him and the surrounding forests in bits of stone.
"GOD DAMN IT!" He yelled. He slammed his fist into the ground, the soft earth and stone blasting into pieces under his strength.
He fell weakly to his knees, shaking.
He looked up to the sky as his anger faded, his eyes diminishing to the same lifeless grey they had been when he accepted death.
It made him sick. How ready he was to die. How much he wanted to accept the dark angel's embrace. He was ready to give up on it all.
"No more…" He whispered.
The soft rain picked up, turning into a downpour.
The cold water drenched him, chilling him to the bone, but he didn't care. All he could think about was what Kaitsu had said. He stood slowly, tilting his head back, allowing the drenching rain to fall on his face.
"How could I do this to her… I'd be no better than him…"
Takashi was in agony. How… how could he explain doing the same thing he'd done to her… making her relive the pain all over again?
But he had no choice…
To protect her... he would commit the one thing he swore he'd never do…
Sakura was awake again, sitting propped up in the bed. The television was on, but she wasn't paying attention to it. Tsunade had come in earlier and told her she would be allowed to leave in an hour, if nothing came back on the x-rays. Now she was looking longingly out the window. She wanted to find him; to thank him for yet again saving her life.
Little did she know… he was about to destroy her…
Takashi was standing in the dim cabin. The only light came from a single candle, flickering in the dim light as he held it before him.
He opened the closet and looked down at the small bundle. He'd been saving them. He'd been saving them and praying he'd never have to wear them again, but those clothes were suited to his fighting style, and he needed any advantage he could get, however small it may be…
He picked it up and started to pack. Inubo appeared behind him.
"I thought you'd be here. Why are you packing those?"
"I have to end it Inubo. Sakura will never be safe, nor will the village, until I do." He said, standing and pulling on the light backpack.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Takashi remained silent and they left the cabin together.
Sakura grinned as she took a deep breath of the fresh air that had funneled in through the open hospital doors.
She'd just been discharged by her sensei (along with an apology for what she'd said to Takashi).
She stepped out into the pouring rain. It was drenching her to the bone.
"SAKURA!"
"Ino?!" Sakura said, looking down the road to see her friend coming towards her.
Takashi and Inubo had just reached the main gate to the village.
"Why'd we come back here?" Inubo asked quietly. "Don't you want to leave without making a fuss?"
Inubo was standing in front of Takashi, just as he'd planned it.
The Uchiha pulled his sword and sheath from his belt. He raised it and struck Inubo, sending him crashing to the soaked cement.
"You little bastard… why?" Inubo gasped as his head swam. He was out before Takashi could answer.
"I'm sorry… my friend… but this is something I must do alone…" He said darkly. "Someone will find you here…"
He turned and began his journey… his journey to that wretched place. No matter how hard he tried, he would always be connected to that place's fate, it seems. But now far more lives are on the line…
"Sakura!" Ino gasped as she came to a halt before her.
"What is it?" Sakura asked, confused by her breathless appearance.
"I just went to see Takashi…" She gasped. "But when I got to the cabin… it was empty! All their stuff was gone! Sakura… I think they're leaving the village!"
"No!" Sakura gasped and they took off, bound for the gate.
Takashi was walking alone in the pouring rain, down the empty road from the village… This road would take him straight there.
"So you're leaving again?"
"Yes. I have no choice…"
Kakashi stepped from behind a tree, his book open; he took care to stay in the cover of the branches for fear of ruining his book.
"Does Sakura know?" He asked; his one visible eye racing across the pages.
"No. That's the way it needs to be…" He said darkly.
"It's sad." Kakashi said; his tone just as dark. "Unlike the stories in this book… the real world has far less happy endings…"
"Yes. This journey could claim my life…" Takashi said, understanding the question, though it was phrased a bit weirdly.
"What about her?"
"Kakashi…" Takashi said, stepping forward.
"Yes?" he asked, looking up from his book.
"If this battle doesn't claim my life, I should return a little over a year from now. Do me a favor… Look after Sakura for me… please…"
"Of course Takashi, but promise me something."
"What?"
Kakashi's bored expression went to deadly serious.
"Don't go getting yourself killed and leave her all alone. The poor girl's been through enough hell already. Promise me you'll come back to the village alive, Takashi."
Takashi smile grimly.
"Forgive me my friend, but that's a promise I can't make…"
And with that Takashi turned and returned to the road.
Kakashi watched him disappear into the veil of the sheets of rain.
"Poor girl… She'll be broken by this…" He said before disappearing into the night.
Sakura was panting as she ran at top speed.
She and Ino had found Inubo unconscious at the gate to the village. Ino had taken him to the hospital while Sakura pressed on.
"No… please god no…" She thought. Tears flew freely down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. "Don't do this to me… please…"
Takashi had stopped. He was standing in the middle of the clearing. The clearing where he'd first met her…
"TAKSAHI!"
He turned. She was running up to him. He turned away. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't see the hurt in her eyes. It was already destroying him to do this to her.
She stopped mere inches behind him.
He could hear her labored breath; hear the cold, harsh air burning at her lungs as she tried to catch her breath. He could smell her salty tears mixing with the rain.
"Takashi…"
He could hear her trying to hold back tears… trying and failing…
"Takashi… Takashi…" She whimpered. Anger began to bubble in her voice. "Look at me!"
He slowly turned to her. He was shocked. She was defiantly angry at him. But she was more upset. She was shaking and she could see her tears mixing with the heavy rain.
"Why… Why would you do this to me?" She whimpered. "WHY?" She begged, weakly pounding her fists against his chest.
He grabbed he arms and crushed her into his chest.
She allowed him to crush her against him. She sobbed in his arms.
"Sakura… you don't understand… I have no choice…"
"THERE'S ALWAYS A CHOICE DAMN IT!!" She yelled. "Takashi… your breaking my heart…" She balled. She was crying violently in his arms now.
"My love… If I don't kill him… he'll kill you… If he hurt you I couldn't… I couldn't…" He choked.
"Tashi-kun… Please… I can't…"
"Sakura… I've no choice… and ever minute I waste here could mean less time to train…"
"You're leaving me to train?"
"Yes, my love. But it's not that simple… If I don't… then I'll never be able to beat him…"
"Then train here… with me!" She begged.
"Sakura!" He growled. Sakura visibly jumped in his arms at his rough tone. "My love…" He whispered; his tone much softer than before. "If I have to protect you… I can never gain the power to kill him. That is why I cannot stay here to train or bring you with me. The path I walk could take my life. If it does, I don't want you to follow me down it… Please... try to understand…"
"NO DAMN IT!" She yelled, sobbing harder.
"Sakura… calm down… please…" he begged. He was in pure agony. It was ripping his heart to shreds to put her through this.
"NO TAKASHI!" she yelled.
"Sakura!" He growled. "That's enough! I have no choice! Do you really thing I want this? It's killing me to do this to you! But if I don't go the whole village will be destroyed!" he said, his tone soft, yet forceful enough to get his point across.
"But Taka…" Sakura began, but was cut short as she felt her consciousness slipping away. Her eyes grew wide. He'd used his Sharingan to put her to sleep. "Tashi-kun… no…" She whispered weakly.
He leaned down and laid a long, soft kiss on her warm, moist lips.
She was slipping when he pulled back.
"Goodbye Sakura… I love you… with all my soul."
And he was gone. To save the village… to save her… he'd left his love behind. He left behind all he had. He'd broken her heart.
Kaitsu… If it took everything he had… even if it took his life… he would kill him!
A/N- And that, readers, is the end of Eyes of the Devil. I hope you enjoyed it, and before you freak out, there will be a sequel! That's right, I'm gonna continue the story before I make the prequel (sorry to all those who had their fingers crossed for it). Check under my profile to see when the sequel is posted.
Oh, and before I forget, thanks to all the fans who've reviewed or simply added my stories to their update lists, and to all those who have followed Takashi's story thus far.
Oh, and please review, peoples!