Reviews:
blackmisery: I don't know if what you just said was a good thing or a bad thing xP. Thx for your review.
Kikyouhater118: LoL, -senses the hatred all around- I will try to kill him ASAP xD. You should change your name from 'Kikyou' to 'Sasuke', it would prove it xP. Thx for your comment
Liaish: Lol. Sasuke is going way down this time. Lee and Neji rock all the way, had to put them in the story because they're two of my fave. Thx for your comment.
Cheese maiden: Sasuke is a bastard. I also had to get Neji and Lee in the story cuz they rock! Inoichi IS a cool dad! After all, he's a member of the Ino-shika-chou!! Thanks for your review.
Joey's-mine: I didn't know if that was long enough or not at that time. I'm glad you liked it, hence the YAY thingy xP. Please continue reading. Thanks for your review.
Kichijutsu no Pare-do: I actually LOVE Toshiro and that scene was the coolest scene in the whole series. Perhaps his attitude kinda got stuck in my head without me knowing it. Thx for your review, glad you liked the story.
Gaara'sbutterfly: SHANNAROOO!! Hell yeah, He needs to be K.I.A.! Thx for you review. Glad you liked it.
Reviewed for 'Please Remember' and had no address to reply to, I hope they read this:
chibi-itachiissooocuute: I agree that Gaara is very OOC in this story, probably everyone is. But at the end, it gets less OOC; please continue reading and thank you very much.
A dude: I'm glad you liked it. Visit my profile. There's a part in the "UPDATE" section that is about "P.R.". Thank you for your review.
I'd like to thank you guys for giving me support all the way. I'd like to thank Liaish for her complementing words. I'm so glad that I managed to make Gaara and Ino a loveable couple and let's all hope they get together in the anime as well
Ooh… and I realized something. In the first Gaara-Sasuke fight in this story, Sasuke's attack was named "Raikiri". Then I realized that THAT was Kakashi-sensei's attack while Sasuke's is called "Chidori". But then again, Raikiri is a developed Chidori so it doesn't matter. Let's say Sasuke managed to improve himself.
Anyways, Enjoy this one…
Previously:
Sasuke kept running till he reached behind Gaara who was facing the other way. He gave himself a great push, screamed and slammed down at the sand shinobi.
"What do you see, Neji-kun?" Lee exclaimed, narrowing his eyes and looking at Neji whose expression was blank.
"This is…" he mumbled, widening his eyes. Lee looked at Sakura before looking back at Neji who was intensely watching the on-going battle.
"Neji-kun, what do you see?!"
That night, chapter 12:
"Neji…" Lee continued, walking closer to his friend. "…are they inside?" Lee asked, receiving a nod from the Hyuuga.
"Yes, and it looks like…" he said, narrowing his eyes, "…Sasuke's winning…"
The sand dust cleared out as Sasuke panted, standing in front of his arch enemy who was face down in the ground.
"How do you like that, Shukaku?!" Sasuke yelled, chuckling. Gaara slammed his hand to the ground and pushed himself up, struggling.
'Ino…' he thought, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on the ground. He inhaled sharply, feeling a sudden pain in the back and abdomen. He looked at the ground, noticing that there were drips of blood beneath him.
"Impossible…" he mumbled, before blood shot out of his mouth. Gaara pushed himself up, panting heavily. The room was quiet, so quiet that only their breaths were heard. Breaking the silence, a couple of footsteps were heard, making Gaara unleash his sand and order it to charge at the door, sealing it shut.
Lee, Sakura and Neji ran as fast as they could towards the entrance, the latter being in the lead. Lee, being the fastest, decided to burst through the main door. He pushed it with full force, but slammed against it, causing him to fall backwards.
"Lee-san!" Sakura said, kneeling next to him. He groaned as his face turned notably red from the contact with the door. "I'm alright" he said, looking up at the door. Neji formed his seal and activated his Kekkei Genkai.
"Gaara's holding the door with his sand. They don't want anyone to interrupt the fight" he said, narrowing his eyes as he watched the fight. Sakura got up and looked at Neji.
"We can't leave them be, they'll kill each other!"
"That's the point…" Lee said, getting up. Sakura turned to face him with a fearsome expression on her face. "…you saw the earlier fight, Sakura-san. They hate each other…" he said, looking at the closed door.
"..It's a fight till the very end."
Sasuke smirked at Gaara's actions as the latter held his palm open towards the door while his sand covered it in a thin, yet strong layer.
"You're not trying to waste your energy on that, are ya? Because if so, the fight will end very soon, and I'm deciding to have a little fun" Sasuke said, running towards Gaara who looked up and used his arms to protect himself.
Sasuke sent his first punch towards Gaara who managed to block it, but Sasuke was too fast as he sent a roundhouse kick towards his left side, causing the sand shinobi to wince and lower his defense, giving Sasuke the opening he needed.
The Uchiha started sending his punches and kicks towards the defenseless Sabaku no Gaara who was known by his 'Zettai Bogyo' 'Ultimate Defense' while the latter was doing his best to prevent being hit. Being without his sand armor, Gaara knew he wasn't gonna ba able to take all the hits.
'I can't lose here. I won't!' Gaara thought, maneuvering from one of Sasuke's punch and giving the latter a huge one in the gut, sending him flying a couple of feet backwards.
Gaara winced, holding his bleeding abdomen and panting heavily while looking at Sasuke who swiftly jumped back up onto his feet, unaffected.
"Is that all you got, Sabaku no Gaara?" he said, stressing on the title. He reached for a couple of Kunai knives from his side-patch and threw them in Gaara's direction. The latter got his Shurikens out and threw them at Sasuke's, blocking them.
Both stood, panting and silent, looking at each other right in the eye. The sound of the kunai knives and the Shurikens penetrating the ground was heard. Sasuke smirked, tossing his head to the side,
"Face the truth, Gaara. Look at you…" he said, causing Gaara to lower his head, moving his vision towards the big gash on his body. "…you're injured, I'm not. Plain logic, don't you think?" Sasuke said, resting a hand on his hip.
Gaara pressed on his wound, trying to stop the blood. Sasuke noticed he was getting notably paler by the second, making him smirk victoriously.
"Why are you fighting me, Sasuke?"
Sasuke's eye twitched at his question, narrowing his eyes. "You're not trying to persuade me out of this fight, are you? Man… and you're supposed to be Sabaku no Gaara, the great fourth Kazekage's son, the ruler of one of the five great villages..." he mocked, receiving a death glare from Gaara.
"…to answer your question…" Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes back at him. "…I'm fighting you to have Ino-chan"
"Why do you want her?"
"Because I love her!"
Gaara winced at the pain in his stomach, but decided to ignore it. "Why don't you let her choose? Doesn't she have the right to do that?" Gaara said in between his clinched teeth. Sasuke shrugged, "She's only being with you because she wants you to take care of the baby. Otherwise, she always followed me, loved me, worshipped me, and wanted to bear my―"
"―Bullshit!" Gaara interrupted, spitting blood in the process. He looked at the ground, trying to hide the pain but failing. He held his sides and groaned a bit loudly, causing Sasuke to murmur something under his breath before chuckling.
"What? The era of the Sandman is already falling down?" Sasuke mocked, throwing his hands to the side as Gaara fell to his knees, panting.
'I can't lose here…I just can't' he thought, closing his eyes. The pounding on the door forced to him to open his eyes as both of the guys moved their vision towards the door.
Lee was trying to break through the door, but the sand was sealing the door very tightly that the door itself cannot be broken.
"Damn it!" Sakura exclaimed, banging her fist against the door, "We can't let them do this!" she said, turning to Neji who was activating his Byakugan.
"They can hear us, they stopped"
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Of course they do! That's why they sealed the freakin' door!" She said, pointing at the door. Neji narrowed his eyes, noticing the smirk on Sasuke's face through the door.
"Your friends are here. Since your condition is…well, shitty, how about letting them in?" Sasuke said, smirking. Gaara looked up at him with his Shukaku eyes, making The Uchiha pause for a moment.
'Now, how in the hell did those eyes get back again? I remember them from the Chuunin exam and from a couple of minutes ago, but I thought Shukaku was removed. Was I mistaken?'
Sasuke smirked, hiding his worry, and took a step backwards, noticing that the sand shinobi in front of him was furious as he lowered his head and pushed himself up.
"This is a fight…" Gaara said, resting his hand on the ground, raising himself a bit and sat on one knee, keeping his head down.
Sasuke smirked, 'So he has the energy to fight?' he thought, looking at Gaara who was kneeling, blood oozing out of his abdomen. He suddenly lifted his head, eyes widened. Sasuke was startled, feeling the anger almost radiate from his eyes.
"…is between you and me!" Gaara exclaimed, reaching out for a Kunai from his side patch and throwing it at Sasuke who managed to block it, almost diverting his attention from Gaara. Once he looked where the latter was, he was no where in sight.
'Kuso…' Sasuke mentally cursed, turning around to find himself face to face with Gaara who gave him a punch square in the face with his left hand, causing him to stumble a couple of feet backwards before quickly regaining his composure.
What Sasuke didn't know is that Gaara was pretty good at Taijutsu. Still, the former had the Sharingan, making him earn the upper hand.
Gaara used his right hand, which was now holding another kunai knife, to attack Sasuke, but the latter already read his moves and used his own Kunai to stop the attack.
"Don't forget that with an injury like yours…" Sasuke said, holding back Gaara's kunai, "…victory is decided" he said, pushing him backwards, causing both to slide a couple of steps back.
Blood was everywhere, Gaara's blood. It looked like he wasn't affected by the injury he took. Sasuke charged at him, screaming and attacking with full force. Gaara managed to dodge some attacks and block some.
'If this fight takes longer than this, I'll be dead. This has to end now!' he thought, holding his hands in front of him, blocking Sasuke's punches and kicks. The latter smirked, giving Gaara a kick that sent him a tumbling couple of feet away. Sasuke did a quick flash-step towards the Shrine, looking at Gaara who was trying his best to stay on his feet.
"Why aren't you using your sand anymore…?" Sasuke asked, walking backwards, closer to what was resting next to the shrine. Gaara looked up, narrowing his eyes at him as he reached for the long object.
"…I see that it's still holding them back" he continued, referring to the sand against the door. Gaara held his abdomen tighter as he felt the world turn around him.
'Damn it, I lost too much blood' he said, shaking his head. He wasn't going to let himself collapse, at least not till the battle is over. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
A familiar ethereal screech made him pause, breath caught in his lungs. He slowly opened his eyes and moved his vision towards the shrine where Sasuke stood with a smirk on his face.
'Where did this come from?' he wondered, looking at what was in Sasuke's hands. In his right hand was a sheath. In his left was a long steel sword, possibly an antique Jian. Gaara could recognize as Kusanagi, which was known as Uchiha Sasuke's favorite type of swords.
"Now…" Sasuke said, twirling the sword professionally in his hand, "…this will end here. I told you to stay out of the way, but you made the choice"
Gaara's eyes widened as the sword started giving a familiar glow, almost an electrical one, reminded him of a certain attack. Sasuke laughed at the look in Gaara's eyes.
'Fear...' he thought, smirking as he merged the power of his Raikiri with the sword, the sword giving a blue electrical glow that illuminated the whole room.
"Shinu!" Sasuke yelled, charging at Gaara who froze in his place. Everything was in slow motion. He knew that he had to do something, he had to dodge it. He had to survive. He couldn't leave her behind; he couldn't leave her with their child alone…
…not with Sasuke in the world...
"Ino…" he mumbled, narrowing his eyes. At that moment, every single memory came back to him, every single word they exchanged, every single tear she shed, every embrace he gave to her.
'…I promised…' he thought, closing his eyes. Sasuke's words rung in his head:
"She's losing it already…"
Gaara gritted his teeth, his body shaking with anger as he balled his hands into fists…
"…You should've seen the look in her eyes when YOU told her that you were leaving..."
He could almost feel the anger that she would carry in her heart, burdening her forever, haunting her for as long as she lived. He knew he had to make things right, he knew he couldn't die at that moment…
"…Her cries reached all the way to the Wind Country"
His nails dug into his own skin, making it bleed as his knuckles turned white. He could feel him, getting closer by the second.
'It's now or never' he thought, concentrating as hard as he could, so hard he could only hear his heart beats, and Sasuke's increasing ones. The Uchiha was clearly nervous, he was scared, more scared than Gaara was.
He suddenly opened his eyes. The sand on the door was released and crawled as fast as it could towards its owner.
"OWARI DA!" Sasuke yelled, thrusting his sword towards Gaara…
…he, for some reason, remembered her voice:
"Yamanaka Ino, that's my name" those were her first words to him as he woke in Konoha hospital after managing to retrieve his student, Matsuri. Gaara nodded slowly, "Yamanaka Ino…" he repeated, noticing the smile on her face. "Don't speak or exhaust yourself. I'm going to take care of you from now on"
He smiled, happy that she was the last person in his thoughts…
He never flinched, even though he felt the sword impale him right to the core, the electrical shock going up and down his spine and throughout his body.
Sasuke halted, eyes widened. "N-No way…" he mumbled, looking at Gaara's standing figure. Blood was dropping to the ground beneath them. Sasuke flinched, as he felt something in his chest…
"…I-Itai…" Sasuke mumbled, wincing, as blood trickled on the side of his mouth. He looked at Gaara who stood as calm as ever, his eyes closed.
Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't, instead, he started coughing uncontrollably. He closed his eyes, feeling a pain in his chest. Gaara smiled and slowly opened his eyes.
"You're right, Uchiha… Sasuke…"
The door burst open, revealing Sakura, Lee and Neji who were trying their best to get inside. Once they saw the scene, their eyes widened.
"…Owari da" Gaara mumbled, coughing out blood as well. Sasuke kept his eyes to the ground before his grip on his Kusanagi loosened and his arm falling to his side.
Gaara winced as the pain increased. The world around him blurred and then darkness took over, making him lose his control over his sand which was impaling Sasuke.
Neji and Lee ran towards Gaara and held him before he hit the ground. Sakura stayed put, eyes widened and tearful as her ex-boyfriend fell to his knee before falling face down to the ground.
"Sakura! We need your help here, we're losing him!" Neji yelled, holding the unconscious Gaara in his arms while Lee was trying to assist Sasuke. Sakura ran towards them, but Neji noticed that she passed him and ran towards Sasuke instead.
"Sasuke-kun!" She yelled, kneeling to his side and holding him in her arms, shaking him.
"Sasuke-kun, wake up, please…" she said, shaking him violently. Neji and Lee exchanged a look before looking back at her.
"Sakura, we need your―"
"―Shut up, Neji!" she yelled, tears strolling down her cheeks as she moved her eyes back to the Uchiha.
"C'mon Sasuke-kun, you can't die, please…" she said, shaking her head. After all he's said and done to her, she loved him still. She probably hated him, but she never wished to see him dead.
She rested her index and middle finger on his pulse point on his neck before pausing, her breath caught in her throat.
'No pulse…'
Neji, noticing the look on Sakura's face, activated his Byakugan and looked at Sasuke's body. He widened his eyes before looking at Lee who waited for one of them to say something.
"He's…" Neji started, looking back at the limb body Sakura was holding on, "…he's dead"
Ino slowly opened her eyes back in reality before shutting them; the bright light from the window was unbearable. Her eyes felt puffy and her head was spinning. She was wondering why, and then it hit her:
"You should've known that I never keep my promises, Ino-chan"
She winced before sobbing lightly, turning around and burying her head in the pillow, screaming her heart out. Though her tears and cries were muffled, her bedroom door suddenly opened, revealing Temari. Ino looked up at her, noticing the look in her eyes.
"Kankurou, she's awake" she turned her head to the side, telling Kankurou to come over. The latter's head popped from the side, a smile on his face.
"Hey, Ino" he said, as they both walked towards her. Ino knew Kankurou was trying to cheer her up, but she wasn't feeling well, not after Gaara tore out her heart and stepped on it.
She got up and wiped the tears away, "Hey guys…" she mumbled, holding back the sobs. Temari sat down on the bed, resting her hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"Your father came by while you were asleep…" Kankurou said as he leaned against the wardrobe, arms crossed. Ino looked up at him with narrowed eyes, "…he said he's going on a mission, and from the look on your face, I don't think he woke you up when he got up here"
Ino's bottom lip quivered as she hugged herself, looking at her bed with tears welling up in her eyes.
Temari and Kankurou looked at each other before looking back at her, as she mumbled something.
"What? I couldn't make that out" Kankurou said, kneeling next to the bed. Ino sobbed and leaned forward, letting the tears fall on her light blue sheet, forming a dark spot.
"He left me…just like Gaara did"
Kankurou and Temari had the same reaction; both looked at the ground, regretting what their brother did. Temari looked up at Ino and smiled.
"Your father didn't leave you, In fact…" she said, gulping, "…he told me to take care of you while he's away. He seemed sorry to leave you at such time" she continued, reassuringly squeezing her shoulder.
"He'll be back once he'll finish that mission, don't worry" Kankurou said, smiling at her. Ino looked up at both of them, eyes red and cheeks puffed, and nodded. "I know, I know" she said, sniffing. Both Temari and Kankurou looked at each other then moved the eyes towards Ino who was getting out of the bed.
"I-Ino…" Temari mumbled, looking at the blonde who had a smile on her face. "It's alright, Temari, I just…" she said, looking at the ground, "…I have to talk to someone"
Lee's eyes widened as he looked back at Sakura who was staring at Sasuke's limb body, tears slowly formed in her eyes.
"Sakura…san…" Lee mumbled, slowly moving towards her as she kept her eyes glued at Sasuke in her arms. Neji kept holding on to Gaara who was unconscious yet breathing sharply.
'The Chakura flow is fading, we're losing him…' Neji thought as he deactivated his Byakugan and moved his eyes to Sakura.
"Sakura, I know it's hard for your but if you don't do something, we're losing Gaara as well…" he said, noticing that the pink-haired Kunoichi was blankly looking at Sasuke before looking at Gaara's bloody body.
"G-Gaara…" she mumbled as Lee held her shoulders, trying to support her. Neji nodded, looking at the badly injured red-haired as he began shivering.
"Damn it, Hurry up, Sakura!" Neji yelled, looking at Sakura who jerked her head up, looking at Neji's eyes with her tearful ones.
"I-I can't…" she mumbled, shaking her head, still holding Sasuke in her arms. Lee narrowed his eyes and held her shoulders tighter.
"Sakura-san, this is your job as a medic-nin, you can't let him die!" Lee said, receiving a hollow look from the girl, her eyes were sad and empty to him. He blinked a couple of times before looking back at Neji.
"There's no time, we have to take him to the hospital"
"With injuries like his, he's not even making it to the hospital!" Neji spat back, losing his patience as Gaara began shaking violently. Neji used his left hand to press on the wound while the right stayed beneath Gaara's neck.
Sakura looked as the two tried their best to keep Gaara alive, while she kept her arms around Sasuke. She looked down at him, his face no longer smirking, and his eyes no longer angry, he was gone. Sakura grimaced,
'Gone…' she thought, caressing his pale cheek. Ironically, he was always pale; he was always like that; silent, calm and distant.
"We're losing him…!"
She heard, making her lift her head towards the two and narrowed her eyes at the scene. It all seemed surreal as Lee was practically yelling at her while Neji's white robes were covered in blood, so were his hands.
"Sakura! We need you here, damn it, put your emotions aside for a moment"
She paused, registering Lee's words. 'I am a medic-nin, my job is to assist the injured shinobi on a mission, and I vowed to do so. I can't stay behind… I can't leave them behind…'
Neji was trying his best to keep Gaara from bleeding while checking his Chakura flow, 'Damn it, it's gradually fading…' he thought, keeping his eyes at the body in front of him. He was startled when he noticed Sakura sit opposed to him and lift her hands over the wounds.
"I'll take care of it, Neji" she said as the familiar green aura appeared around her hands. He nodded and backed off, looking at Sakura as she concentrated hard on her job. He moved his vision towards Sasuke's body, making him narrow his eyes.
"Lee…" he started, causing Lee to divert his vision towards the Hyuuga prodigy. "…this is major, go get Tsunade-sama, NOW!" he said, narrowing his eyes at Lee who nodded and ran as fast as he could out of the building.
Neji kept his eyes on Lee before moving them back to Gaara, narrowing them in hopes that Sakura saves him.
"Damn it…" Sakura cursed, looking up at Neji who shook his head quizzically. "…There's nothing I can do. I'm only delaying the inevitable"
He rushed as fast as he could, earning a couple of horrified look from the passers-by at the sight of his bloody outfit. Yes, he was supposed to be secretive, but he didn't give a damn.
He sprinted towards the Hokage building, passing by Shizune. "Oi, Lee-kun!" she said, but he didn't stop, instead…
"Gomen, Shizune-san…" he said, "…Tsunade-sama!!"
She heard her name being called. A split second later, the door to her office was jerked open.
"Hey, how dare you―"
"―Tsunade-sama, there has been a casualty"
She froze, "Casualty, what do you mean?" she said, getting up. Her eyes widened once she saw Lee's green outfit, smudged with blood.
"Who is it?"
Lee narrowed his eyes and looked at the ground; a hint of regret was in his voice when he said the words he never thought he'd speak
"He's dead..." he said, balling his hands into fists, "…Uchiha Sasuke is dead"
You heard what Lee said, but what's gonna happen to Gaara? And who the hell is the person Ino wants to talk to?
Yeah, I killed Sasuke off. If you don't like it, tell me in your reviews. I might –I said might- think of bringing him back, well, somehow.
This story is nearing its end, I'll try my best to update before I leave, but that's unlikely.
Please review ;)
