Chapter 9

A swarm of butterflies take flight in my stomach, swirling like mad. It's like time has slowed to a halt. His face swims before my eyes. He hasn't changed since the last time I saw him. Maybe grown a bit taller, but that's about it. I don't know how long I stand there, staring, while the rain soaks into my clothes and hair. Moments pass like hours.

He turns his head. He sees me. My lips start to form a smile. But a shadow darkens Sasuke's face and my smile freezes like a flower touched by an early winter's chill. It withers and dies as I realize he's not looking at me, but at the person behind me. I remember Itachi is with me and my heart skips a beat.

"Sakura." The hatred in Sasuke's voice chills me to the bone. "What are you doing?"

With him, he means. What am I doing with Itachi, here. I don't know. I'm too afraid to answer, my lips won't move. Something grabs my hand and I realize it's Itachi, pulling me behind him as he steps forward, concealing me. Protecting me?

"She's my prisoner," Itachi says, his voice equally cold.

I hear the sound of steel and I know Sasuke has drawn his sword. Itachi doesn't move. I peer at Sasuke's group from behind him and see his three companions have stepped back. They've probably been told not to interfere in a situation like this. Sasuke wants Itachi all for himself.

"Not for long," Sasuke says, stepping forward.

"I don't feel like fighting you today, otouto. Maybe some other time."

Itachi's feigned indifference only serves to further inflame Sasuke. His face contorts into a scowl. It makes me step back without even realizing it. How Itachi can maintain appearances when his little brother has that murderous look in his eyes is beyond me.

"I don't care how you feel," Sasuke says.

Three things happen next: Itachi pushes me back. Sasuke leaps forward, sword raised high above his head. In my head, I hear myself asking: "Is that really what you wanted from him?".

A scream catches in my throat as Itachi blocks Sasuke's sword with a kunai.

I'm trembling. I'm afraid. Why?

Sasuke's sword lights up with electricity, but Itachi kicks him in the stomach before it can do him any harm. Sasuke blows a fireball back at him as he flies through the air. Itachi counters it with a water jutsu. They're moving so fast they're almost a blur to the rest of us, who don't have the Sharingan.

I see myself, years ago, running on a hospital roof to stop two boys from hurting each other and my eyes fill with tears. I have tried so hard and yet, here I am, just as powerless. Foolish, weak Sakura, just standing here on the sidelines again, unable to do anything to stop two brothers from killing each other.

Even without attacking himself, Itachi manages to keep Sasuke at bay, but I fear the effort may take a toll on him. Sasuke has turned into a force to be reckoned with. Moments later, I know I'm right, because I see Itachi hesitate as he twists midair, deflecting another one of Sasuke's blows. He lands a bit further away and I catch glimpse of his torn sleeve before he vanishes again, avoiding his brother's incessant attacks.

This is wrong, I scream with every fiber of my being, but no one hears me. No one ever listens. I've been pushed into the background again, ignored. Do something Sakura, I tell myself, but my legs won't move.

I see Itachi land a few feet away from me and Sasuke rushing at him wielding a monstrous Raikiri in his left fist.

"Stop!" I scream. "Stop it this instant!"

Sasuke doesn't stop. My fear turns into pain, into anger, into determination.

I pull out a kunai, mentally kick myself and start running. In a moment I'm right between them. I can see Sasuke coming, an expression of surprise on his face. He's too close to me, he can't stop, can't divert the Raikiri. I think more than anything, he's surprised I would stand between him and his nemesis.

"Listen to me, SHANNAROU!" I shout, and I'm still looking at him as I raise a fist and punch the ground, releasing all the chakra I've been accumulating in that hand.

Itachi moves away in time, but the shockwave sends Sasuke flying backwards as the ground fractures beneath our feet. His Raikiri hits a tree and destroys its trunk, causing it to nearly fall over his teammates. I throw my kunai at Sasuke and pin him to a boulder for good measure, if only to delay him.

I slowly stand up in the middle of the crater I've created, certain that I have everyone's full attention now. Sasuke pulls out the kunai that's restraining him. His eyes are on me.

"What is the meaning of this, Sakura?"

I realize for the first time how much him saying my name sounds more like he's hissing it. Of course, he's mad at me right now. He doesn't understand. I don't blame him. I still don't understand myself.

"I just want you to stop," I tell him.

He cocks his head. Considers my words for a moment. "You're in my way," he says. "Move."

"Is that really what you wanted from him?"

I remember the look in Itachi's eyes when he said 'no'.

Itachi didn't want this. He must have loved Sasuke. Loved his parents as any child would. I still don't have the missing piece in the puzzle that is Itachi, but I know he feels guilty about how Sasuke turned out - the result of his own selfishness, he called it.

At some point, somewhere, something went terribly wrong. I don't believe Itachi is to blame for that. Not anymore.

"No," I tell Sasuke, surprising both him and myself.

I don't have time to thing about it, though, because the moment it's out of my mouth, he jumps at me with the sword drawn and I barely have any time to raise a kunai in my defense. Our weapons kiss with a loud clang and the force of his attack pushes me backwards. I hold my ground. I think this is the second time I've ever been this close to him. The first time was when he left Konoha after knocking me out cold.

"Why are you defending him?" he asks.

I push chakra into my weapon hand and charge with all my power, knocking the sword out of his hand. He realizes he's lost his weapon and makes a step backwards, but I move faster than he thought I would. I feel something warm and liquid land on my face as a red gash appears on his cheek.

"You never listened to me when I talked to you," I tell him with a bitter smile. "I have no reason to listen to you now."

Sasuke looks incredulous at first, then his expression becomes one of unrestrained anger. I've betrayed him, I know. My heart is breaking for him, because he doesn't understand.

My choice, however, is already made.