Forgive me, this took so long... of course I have all you to thank for your reviews.. I was just two reviews short of 130, but you gave me 8 C2's and that is awesome and I hit my 10000 mark yesterday and that was awesome too.
Special thanks: hound of drakness brother o..., Uchiha Sasume, kagome's heart102, Muchiru, cweam and cheese, AlexiaWinters, Tamiko-Chan81, koolerthancool, sharinganblossom212, Yomiko101, kattylin, Noodle-lub-Yooh, Angel Blossoms.
Acknowledgments: sleepykittycat: I just want to say that Sasuke already knew the distinction between the two souls, but I'm glad you liked it. Anything you can say about any chapter is fine with me.
Laura-chan: That's so nice that you had to read it more than once. I don't know anything about Latin, I confess, I looked it up and the winning words went down.
runwithskizzers: Did I mention yet how I want to stick you in my pocket and keep you? I always love your reviews, thank you, for every review you've given me.
baby's breath: I liked that part too, I wanted to show that his wings were so beautiful that it overwhelmed her. I am getting closer to the end, this story is such an effort, you don't know how much.
A/N: I'm thinking maybe three more chapters and I can finally hang up my hat with this story...we'll see. I'm tired and it's late, if I forgot anyone, I'm sorry.
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From heav'n, for ev'n in heav'n his looks and thoughts
were always downward bent
-Paradise Lost
Sakura woke. She did not wake into the world; she woke in a dream. She knew it to be a dream because she could see herself, standing on the edge of a sun-bleached crag.
She was wearing a white dress that wrapped tightly around her body, showing off her pale arms from the shoulders down and exposed her legs from her knees to her toes. She wore no shoes and her hair was in braids and threaded with small silver beads that gave her a regal look.
She watched as night devoured light and a swarm of screeching black winged things filled the sky. When they passed, the sky was red and she now stood in an endless blue sea, surging and breaking with every swell.
The moon was full and misted by black clouds, the wind sang to her, dancing across her face, everything smelled like sweet water.
She could feel the cold metal against her chest and she wondered what it was, she touched it, learned its shape and thought of Sasuke as she squeezed the cross between her fingers.
She took a step back and the water reclined she took a step forward and it rose, she decided walking away was the best way to make the dream end.
The water all but evaporated, leaving moist sand under her feet; she turned and met with the desert and the blowing of hot wind.
The sun stung her eyes like hot white gold. She lowered her head and the scenery was not the only thing to change. Her hair let loose and her dress changed too.
She wore a dress of black satin that tied around her neck and plunged down her chest exposing the scar between her breasts, exposing her arms, exposing her back, hugging her waist and reaching down past her toes. She checked to make sure the cross was still around her neck, it was.
Her name was on the wind, she swallowed and took a deep breath, the desert sky turning red as she stepped away as if to retreat to the cool dream she had left moments ago.
Suddenly she felt something crack and sink under her heel. She looked down to see that she was standing in someone's face, someone's skull.
All at once, the desert became a bone yard, the wind unearthing all the skulls and broken ribcages and other shattered bones that once structured the bodies. She could feel something next to her, invisible, touching her, reaching inside her body.
"Sakura…" it wasn't the wind anymore that carried that deep honeyed voice, she clutched the cross about her neck tighter as if it would shield her from anything and everything. She was not sure that love was enough to save her from her nightmares; he was always a step behind her.
Sakura believed in love, though she never had it until Sasuke, but she believed in evil the way little children believed in the Supreme Being.
Neither good nor evil conquered all, but evil cheated just a little more. She did not have to turn around to know that it was Itachi who was standing behind her.
Itachi slid his arms across both her shoulders, lowered her hand from the necklace, and took the cross between his fingers, learning its shape the way she had.
Pressing his body against hers, he whispered into her ear. "This means nothing, I had you first. You are mine, not his. Mine."
He released the cross and ran his hands across the back of her neck, playing his fingertips in the hollow of her collarbone, he turned her head towards his and she could see hell in his eyes, it was strange that it surprised her considering who he was.
Two things happened when he touched her, she was more aware of her existence than ever before and she felt as though she was dying inside. The contradiction was startling, how he made her feel those things all at once.
"I love the images you conjure up for me…" he turned his gaze and she followed back to the bones scattered all about, blood swelled until her dress floated and swayed. "All your fears, do you know how much knowledge is locked inside here."
Itachi brushed his fingers against her temple and smiled, devilishly. "All the secrets, how the world was created… how it'll end."
Itachi lowered his face over Sakura, letting her see his eyes, his unhappy eyes. His cold breath whispered over her skin, it made her shudder.
They were physically close enough to kiss, it should have been intimate, but it was not, to say it was frightening would be an understatement. No, her fear boiled over the way stew too long cooked would.
Everything began to change the blood faded until they were standing in a dark room with a hexagonal contour. There were no windows, no doorways, and no furniture nothing in the room to make it a room, perhaps a shrine from days long past.
She looked down at the floor and that was when she realized that not only had the scenery changed, but so did she. Her hair was unbound and wavy from the braids and the dress she wore, reflected in the sheen of the black marble floor, was silver and translucent.
Itachi had changed too; he wore a mesh shirt that hid none of his taut, hairless, muscular chest and black slacks tucked into tall black boots. There were no remnants of blood, nothing followed except the cross around her neck.
He leaned in against her, laid a surprisingly gentle kiss to the back of her neck; it made her shiver and want to pull away. "Talk to me, you never say anything." She did not reply. She wanted to get away from him out of the nightmare he claimed she conjured for him when it felt the other way.
The candles flickered to life and the shadows played across the pillars of the empty room. He kissed softly across the bare skin where the neck and shoulders met.
He turned her around and touched her sternum with the pads of his fingers, gently at first but as his look grew more serious he pushed harder and she could hear the bone crack, heard the skin and muscles tear. Blood leaked out and onto his disappearing fingers, blood, not bright red; it was a dark red, almost black in shade.
Sakura could feel Itachi's power, his darkness, and finally, at the end a void as cold and as empty as any evil. Sakura tried not to cry out, she opened her mouth on a silent scream and she closed her eyes.
Tears falling down her cheeks, he continued pushing in until his hand was around that thing inside her that represented Gabriel or was her soul… his hand was gone from the wrist up.
"What- what do you want from me?" she managed to say through broken gulps, gasps and cries. His eyes widen as if he was in awe as if to say: At last, she speaks.
"Nothing… everything… this…" She could feel his hand wrap around her heart, could feel it pulsate rhythmically into his hand. "It's warm and the color of spring, there are blues and greens and pinks… I want to turn it all black and cold, I want you to wear the crown, and I want you by my side… forever. Sharing all those secrets the Master concealed in you. Can't you feel our bond?"
She wanted to wake, and she wanted to do it soon, now if possible, his hand was in her chest. When was the last time she had a dream like this… how much time had passed since their second encounter when this same thing had happened to her, only that time she had been awake. "I can make this much worse for you, Sakura, I can taste your fear, and it's almost tangible. Come to me willingly, no one has to die if you come to me."
Master… or slave? Slave… or master?
That voice, she had heard it so long ago and not so long ago in the dream where Itachi had raped her. For some reason, though she did not understand the question, the voice itself, though haunting, brought her some comfort, like the smell of frash bread from her grandmother's oven.
It was strange to think of her grandmother now, what would that poor woman do if she learned what Sakura had been going through, more than likely she would throw her into a psychiatric ward. She belonged in an asylum, nothing made sense, not this certainly, the fact that she was alive.
Wake up, Sakura…
Sakura was floating in water, warm, warm water. It kept lapping over her breasts and dulling the pain that throbbed there where Itachi's hand had been.
Slowly, carefully she opened her eyes and saw Sasuke hovering over her; she looked down, watching as the water lapped over her by the force of his hand, taking away the blood. The wound slowly closed up on its own.
She met his midnight black eyes again. He was so beautiful it stopped her breath in her throat; it was strange that she was comfortable being naked around him.
His wings were gone, but she could remember them, the white gold and silver hair over the bend of wings that had scared her. She had been scared because it had overwhelmed her.
Never in her life had she believed in things like angels and such, but last night she had made love to one and he had been so beautiful, he was still beautiful nothing could change that.
Finding the will to move, breathe and talk she tried to sit up in the warm water. He pulled back, the water had cleaned away her blood and something else had healed the gash in her chest, but the black bruise tinged purple covered her scar.
She winced a little and he helped her lean against the marble slope of the tub. "I'm… sorry," he said, looking anywhere but at her, she leaned forward and took his hand, he found her gaze again and he touched her face with his other hand.
"What are you sorry about?" she asked squeezing his hand as she pulled her legs in close to her body, using the edge of the tub to cover the rest of her, she was starting to feel embarrassed that she was the only one without clothing on.
"There's nothing I can do about your dreams, I can't protect you from your nightmares." she pressed her forehead to his knuckles and shook her head and looked back at him.
"As long as you're always there to pull me out, there's nothing for you to apologize for, look," she leaned back and touched between her breasts and he looked for a second before looking into her eyes. "There's a nasty bruise, but other than that I'm completely healed."
"Are you in pain?"
"Just when I move." she pulled closer to the edge of the tub so that their faces were level. "What's wrong Sasuke-kun?" Hesitantly he reached down to touch her face. He moved his thumb soothingly across her cheek, back and forth, back and forth, studying her face with eyes filled with concern.
"Sakura, about last night… if I was too rough, if I scared you…"
"No, Sasuke-kun, you were very gentle with me…" she paused and blushed a little unable to hold his gaze when she said, "You were very beautiful." He chuckled and brought their noses close enough to touch and suddenly she kissed him.
Sakura's mouth was a warm softness against his. He pulled her as close to him as he could while minding her bruise, deepening the kiss with all the desperation and need he held for her.
Sasuke let every emotion floor him like a tidal wave drowning him. He wanted to beg her never to let him go. He broke the kiss, but kept his lips next to hers, his eyes barely opened, just watching the blur of her lips from the proximity.
"There's this place," he said softly the words breathed against her mouth. Her scent had changed in the water; vanilla and roses replaced jonquil and strawberries.
She was waiting for him to continue, her fingers pressed a little harder against his nape in her eagerness. "We call it the void. It's dark, but warm and comforting and there's no fear and no doubt and no pain."
"What is it?" she asked, her lips lifting and brushing against his as water ran down from the ends of her hair and onto his hands and down her back into the bathwater.
"It's a place where souls go to be reborn or go back to their current bodies. I had… I always wanted to stay there until… that is, until I met you, Haruno Sakura." he pressed his mouth against hers and she closed her eyes, he had a way of making her forget everything except him and her. The rest of the world could wait.
She whimpered when he pulled away. He was teasing her with the distance he put between them, his lips just out of reach of her own. "I want to stay here and finish this life with you. Please understand, I've only lived my life for one person, so this is hard for me," he then said something in a language she could not understand.
"What does that mean?" she wondered about the language she had never heard before and he smiled at her, holding her face in his hands, his eyes moving along the curve of her upper lip. He kissed her and she could care less what the last words were.
"It's Latin and it means I love you." he kissed her again, taking one hand from her face and reaching for the towel on the floor by his side. "And I do. Here, get out of the tub before the water turns cold." she tried to get out of the water, but her legs would not comply with what her brain was telling them to do.
Sasuke pulled her out, sat her on the edge, wrapped the towel around her, and lifted her up in his arms. He carried her back into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed.
He went to get her a tee shirt and jeans. She got her underwear on and through little whimpers she managed to get the jeans on and the tee shirt too.
Sasuke came back to her side when she got the shirt down over her stomach. He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. "I'm going to go see if Tsunade has something for your pain." she tightened her hold on his hand.
"No, stay with me, I don't want to be alone." he nodded and pried her fingers from over his hand and walked around the bed and got in with her.
She tucked in against his chest; she never liked the sounds of hearts beating but Sasuke's served to soothe her nerves. She blinked and tears fell from her eyes.
"You don't have to be scared Sakura, I know it's not much… but I'm here." She looked up at him and she shook her head.
"No, it is enough, that you're here with me, I love you." she buried her face in his chest, holding onto his shirt. He pushed her head back. "It's the sixth day isn't it?"
"I don't want you to think or worry about that, I know you're the center of all this mess, but I'm going to take care of you and Naruto and Neji and Shino along with everyone else, because you're important to us."
"You mean Gabriel-"
"No, I mean you, Haruno Sakura." he kissed her and she kissed him back, pressing her fingers to his cheek. She was happy… he was not running away from her and he loved her. He was kissing her and there were no memories of him and Gabriel, they were all gone as if she absorbed them all last night in his arms. "Get some rest."
She searched his face. "What if I have another nightmare?"
"Then… I'll be your lifeline." he kissed her as she leaned up, pressed against him, cupping his face and caressing his tongue along hers.
…
Naruto sat down by the lake; he did not know why he was feeling sorry for himself. It was not as if he did not know how Sakura and Sasuke felt about one another.
Written all over their faces were their true feelings, it was clear when they looked at each and they spent all their time worried about one another.
It was ridiculous to think that he even had the slightest chance with her. However, the blow was still direct and he could not help but wish that he were Sasuke instead.
He laughed and brought a leaf down on a couple of swivels and then let it hover in front of his face, it folded around itself crushing until it shredded and fell to the ground below. The color reminded him of Sakura's eyes.
Naruto looked to the ground where Sloth had fallen prey his body… gone. However, where he had landed the ground was charred and barren as if his blood had been acid and the traces when Sasuke's power burnt the earth when he brought the killing blow.
Naruto could not kill Asmodues, but he and Kakashi had managed to wound him so greatly that he lost use in both his arms and now the demon was probably back with Itachi, waiting for his pet Sin, who would not go to him.
Rebirth was for the next millennium; the more Sins wiped out the better the chance for them to protect Sakura was. There it was, everything drew back to her, of course, it did, everything was about her. It was all about her and the power inside her that was growing stronger and stronger, even with the sixth day upon them.
"N-Naruto…" a quiet, soft voice drew his attention away from his thoughts. He turned to see Hinata, such a shy and delicate girl: Humility. "Are you o-okay?" she wondered and came to his side. He sighed, bringing up a leg and wrapping his arms around the knee as he pressed the leg closer to his chest.
"I'm just a little jealous that's all, it'll pass," he said looking back at the water… everything reminded him of Sakura, how could it not, she was one with everything. Hinata moved a little closer until she was right by his side.
"What are you jealous of?" she wondered.
"It's stupid."
"Naruto-kun I'll listen, whatever you have to say…" he looked at her as if she had just lost her mind and then he started laughing, softly at first, just a breath of a chuckle and then it came out as a full blown laugh, he just sat there laughing at what she had just said to him.
"Oh come back, Hinata… I wasn't laughing at you!" he promised when she started to head back to the house. She stopped and turned, her face a bright shade of red. She looked adorable in his honest opinion. She made her way back over to him.
Hinata looked pretty in her white shirt and black khakis, the sun made her hair a bright purple color. "Y-you sounded like you were laughing a-at me."
"Not at all, I was laughing… at the intensity in your voice. I am just jealous of Sasuke-teme… that is all. He's the favorite, he broke the seal… he has Sakura's love and I get to protect her from the sideline."
"Y-you're in love with her." it was not a question. It was a quiet observation. Naruto looked at her lavender eyes that reminded him of Neji.
"I'll get over it."
He looked back towards the water and sighed, he thought the water like his love for Sakura… flowing away from him. Heaven, hell and the world move on, it was fate and so… he had to let Sakura go… how could he hold onto her when she wanted nothing more than to belong to Sasuke?
"N-Naruto-kun… I-" she did not get to finish, one look into his azure eyes and the power of the earth shifting under their feet stopped her words. "W-what was that?"
"I think… Itachi is almost done with the seal."
"I had another dream," she informed him when the earth stilled, a flock of birds shot into the sky out of the trees after the quiver had ceased. "It was of a crown… there were… needles and it was meant for Sakura to wear… If she wears it…"
"What!" Naruto demanded.
"I-I-I don't know, she started changing b-but I-I woke up before I could see it all."
…
Itachi lifted his left hand and looked at it. "Can't you feel our bond?" he asked in a hollow voice to no one in particular.
Darkness was like a wave rising up to meet him, absolute darkness made up of every color that existed like a pool of oil, darkness made of every sight ever seen, every sigh, every scream since time began, the darkness before the light and before the Master.
That darkness was his and soon Sakura would be too.
He closed his bloody hand into a fist and stroked his other hand over Ino's head, over and over, on the warm silk of her golden hair. Her head was in his lap, her arms wrapped around his waist and her body wedged between his legs.
Itachi had drained her, needed to after his encounter with Sakura, the visions she sent him were exhilarating and enervating and when he had touched the glow inside her she had weakened his physical and his mental vitality.
Everything she dreamed for him was… he had no words for it, but her blood reconnected him to those dreams without the exertion. Sakura and Gabriel connected in ways the other girls had never connected to the angel. It was as if they had merged long before his brother and Sakura consummated their 'love'.
Now all he needed was the one girl, he did not have to remove the two sources; Gabriel was gone in Sakura the power now rightfully belonged to her and his power over Sakura was growing stronger yet.
Itachi felt Ino grab the hem of his shirt. "Let me," she whispered, tugging on his shirt, "let me taste her blood, I want to see what the big deal is," she breathed voicelessly, strong enough to move, but still a little weak from his consumption of her power.
Lifting his hand he brought his finger to her bottom lip, she looked up with cloudy blue eyes and opened her mouth, but he pulled away. She groaned; his face void of any emotion. She inclined her head a little, parting her lips again.
He pulled away and she grabbed his wrist, brought his finger to her mouth, and closed around the base, moving her tongue up and down and around his fingers, letting the blood move down her throat. She closed her eyes, assaulted by things she had never in her entire existence seen.
She opened her eyes only to have them fall shut again. She cut his finger with the serrated edges of her teeth and something euphoric overtook her with the mingle of his blood and the blood of Gabriel's vessel.
Itachi decided that she had enough and he pulled his hand away, his finger sliding out of her mouth, wet with her saliva and his blood.
Ino fell out of his lap and onto the marble floor, her hair fanned out to color the black floor. She lifted her arms and ran her fingers through her hair, licking her lips slowly. "What… what was that?" She asked, closing her eyes as if she could hang onto the images she had just seen.
"…the end." he got up, curious about the seal. Everything should be done by now and he wanted to make sure that the spirit was in the center of the seal to ensure the arrival of Leviathan. He left Ino on the floor with her revelation.
…
When Sakura woke, she began to adjust herself accordingly, and then realized that none of her limbs were where she expected them. Her arms folded under one of the pillows and her legs entwined in the sheets. She felt an arm around her waist, a chest pressed slightly to her back.
As Sakura moved, Sasuke shifted closer. Gosh, his arms are heavy. She thought as she tried to move her arms out from under the pillow and roll onto her back. She got her arms free and she moved onto her back, waking Sasuke in the process. He looked up at her, moving his legs against hers, feeling her bare skin against his.
She smiled at him and he smiled back, closing his eyes. Sasuke's naked body against hers kept her warm and felt so right against hers. He nestled closer, "How did you sleep?" he asked, drowsily. His hand came up from her chest and stroked her hair, moving the strands from over her eyes and cheek.
His breathing was slow and deep as if he was drifting back to sleep. She traced his face with her finger, moving from his cheek to his lips. "Better." she said as she caressed the seam of his lips. He lifted his lips and pressed a kiss to the tip of her finger.
After a couple of minutes he started kissing her neck, she closed her eyes, her brain still adrift in the fog of near-sleep. He came to her lips, pressed his body against hers as she rubbed her legs against his. He ran his hands over her curves to the small of her back pressing her closer.
She kept her eyes closed, floating between sleep and waking, savoring the heat of his skin and the smooth skin and taut muscles of his body. There was a fierce rap against the other side of the door stopping them in their actions. Sasuke sighed and made a face, pressing his forehead to hers.
"Hey, get out here, Sasuke!" Sakura watched Sasuke open his eyes and look at her.
"I suppose we have to get up sometime, but I promise when this is all over we'll have a day where all we do is lie in bed." she smiled at that and he kissed her before disentangling his arms and legs from hers. He rolled off the bed and pulled on his boxers and pants.
Sakura fished for her clothes turning to watch Sasuke pull his shirt on, the muscles in his back working. He had model-perfect looks, but then again he was an angel, something that took her a while to grasp then forced to accept it as completely true when wings shot out from his back, speckled with blood and plasma, synovia and lymph.
All of it melted away like water cleansing it, leaving nothing but shimmering glossy hairs and he was so beautiful. He made her feel so wonderful and safe. He turned around just as she got her shirt on and he held out his hand for hers. "Can you move?"
She wondered if he forgot how well she demonstrated her moving ability, but she simply nodded and took his hand, moving over the bed to stand next to him. Suddenly the earth shifted enough to shake the foundations of the house. Sakura fell against Sasuke and he held her, she looked up at him before complete darkness engulfed them.
"Sasuke-kun…?"
"I'm right here." he assured her and suddenly there was a silver glow, bringing light into the room. "Come on." He held fast to her hand and unlocked the door, coming face-to-face with Naruto.
"Something bad is happening, believe it."
"I believe it; we need to get Sakura out of here, now." Sasuke pulled Sakura out of the house, Naruto hot on their trail.
"The Virtues are gone, but the guys are outside and-" they stepped outside, but Naruto was unable to finish his sentence when the earth rolled again. Sasuke pulled Sakura out just as the roof caved in. Naruto jumped back and watched as the wall went down with it. A deep illuminating black light shot from the ground in a large circumference, it spewed like tentacles, turning whatever it touched dead.
"Something is coming, the earth is in pain." Shino said. Sasuke pushed Sakura behind him, his grip on her hand tightening. He was tense, his muscles flexing. Lightning flashed across the sky and now there was a tall longhaired man standing before the Seven Great Angels. Sakura's hand was beginning to hurt.
"Sasuke-kun…"
Sasuke pushed her backwards a little his back meeting her chin as if he were afraid to let her see beyond that. "Mammon." he snarled. She blinked, trying to wrest her hand from his, she swore that if he got any angrier and protective, Sasuke would break her hand.
"Oh, dear, I seem to have ruined the suspense with my appearance, were you expecting your brother?"
"Get the fuck out of here." Sasuke snapped, moving his arm to encircle Sakura's waist, releasing her hand. She rubbed her hand to soothe the aching bones and throbbing muscles.
"I'm surprised you're allowed to talk like that, I thought you were suppose to be mild-mannered, but then again you are the Angel of Fire… so is that her, the little treasure, I hear her blood can bring about the visions of the apocalypse. The very energy in her can actually conclude the end…"
"And I won't let that happen. So fuck off, go back to whatever dank, cold chasm you crawled out of and disappear."
"You're hurting my feelings, Sasuke-kun…"
"I don't give a fuck about your feelings." Mammon chuckled, bowing his head as the smile spread over his face, showing his teeth.
"Sakura-hime, I am Orochimaru, please come with me, Itachi-dono is waiting for you…" Sakura clung to Sasuke and he held her against him. "I see…" Naruto jumped at Orochimaru, the blue and white swirling orb in his hand. Orochimaru lifted his hand and Naruto became suspended in mid-air. "You wish to fly so badly?"
"Naruto-" Neji ran forward but suddenly there was a glowing blue metaphysical chain linking from Naruto to the other's even Sakura. They all fell. Sasuke almost landed on Sakura.
Sakura scrambled back in time, but Sasuke landed on her leg. She gripped at his shirtfront. Naruto was facing the others, standing on weak legs. Sakura watched as Orochimaru stood behind Naruto, his hands pressing to the reckless angel's back. "I give you wings then."
A bloodcurdling scream ripped from the back of his throat and out his mouth as Orochimaru plunged his hands into his back, arching back towards the demon Mammon, in the flash of light Sakura could see the blood soaking down Naruto's back, thick and wet.
No matter how tightly shut his eyes were, tears gushed down his face. Sakura watched as Orochimaru pulled out Naruto's wings. However, there was a reason the chain linked from Naruto to the others. Their wings ripped out as though invisible hands did the pulling.
Sakura felt the pull from her own back, tearing open her skin. She cried, but there was no pain, just a strange tugging sensation, she was crying from the look in Naruto's eyes, so dead as if he had betrayed her and Sasuke and the others gravely.
Sasuke curled in Sakura's lap, his wings stretching and ripping the back of his shirt. He gripped her around the stomach, both as a means to make sure she did not leave his grip and a source of comfort. She stroked his hair as she watched Naruto, his spine bowed as his wings finally came free.
Orochimaru then broke his wings, the snap sounded like lightning hitting the earth. Orochimaru stood back then and Naruto fell backwards onto the ground, falt on his back as his blood began soaking the grass. His breathing was slow and shallow. He moved his gaze down to watch Sakura.
Sakura screamed, unable to see his eyes, she thought he was dead. The thought of his kiss, how he created a dancing wind of leaves to cheer her up, he was a friend, he was dear to her. Power she did not know she had, power that did not belong to her surged through her. Orochimaru looked back at the pond, the water bubbled angrily as if a hot fire were boiling it.
It gulped and gurgled. He looked back at Sakura; a bright light of greens and pinks wash over her, so pale it appeared white. The water shot forward in the shape of giant hand and it engulfed Orochimaru. It sucked him down and he disappeared.
The light vanished and the regular glow of the moon came back. Sakura's eyes clouded over her lashes lowered and she fell back, exhausted. Sasuke tried to sit up, but he had none of the energy to do so. "Sakura…" just then someone jumped over to them, crouching low over Sasuke's face, "You."
"Yes, me," he moved away from Sasuke and put his arms under Sakura's body. "Come with me, Sakura-hime, you're so tired."
Sasuke grabbed his wrist. "Don't."
"And you, Sasuke… you're pathetic." He pulled Sakura out from under Sasuke, looking surprised. "She's so light, like a feather."
"Greed…" Sasuke warned.
"Sorry, the name's Sai. Don't worry Sasuke, this is your void… she's going to let you stay there forever. Goodnight, go to sleep." Darkness enveloped Sasuke then, because the pain was so real…
This chapter I think was the hardest... I actually had to have a dream of the end to continue... I dreamed it last night, of course it was cooler in my dream, much scarier.