I have returned from the dead! Haha, not really, but I'm sure it seems like that to some people.
To be entirely honest, this probably would've been sitting unfinished on my computer for a much longer time unless I hadn't gotten a review today. It was from someone called Dark Vampress who said that they thought I had been killed until they noticed that I had posted (Chapter 13). That gave me the motiviation to finally finish this chapter. So therefore, this chapter is hereby dedicated to Dark Vampress for unintentionally convincing me to finish the story.
Please enjoy and make sure to read the author's note at the very bottom. ITS VERY IMPORTANT!
Disclaimer: for the hundred billionth time, I DON'T OWN NARUTO! Keo and Salina are mine, your welcome to use them if you want AND if you ask me. Magneria is the property of silver-nightstorm.
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"Okay Tobi, we're outta hear…hn."
Salina was broken from her reverie when she heard Deidara open one of the largest windows.
"What are you doing?" she asked, unraveling the chords that remained around her ankles.
"Saving your life, now hurry up, we don't have much time…yeah."
Salina stood up, blood rushing to her head and making her stumble. The blonde steadied her impatiently before snatching her roughly and hiding her under his black cloak.
A split second later, they were moving. Salina had no idea where they were going, but she figured it was better than the imminent death she had just left behind. She thought of Keo and released a deep breath. At least there was a slightly larger chance of her not dying right after they got together.
A thin shaft of light flashed briefly through the opening in Deidara's cloak, allowing Salina to see the seal that was still on her wrist. She automatically moved to tear it off, but a shock went through her when her fingers brushed the edge of it. She bit her lip to hold back a cry of shock in case any noise from her would give them away.
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Sakura paced back in forth in the library anxiously, glancing at the clock every few seconds.
"D-Don't worry Sakura-chan," Hinata said soothingly, "I'm sure that they'll s-save Salina and b-back in no t-time."
"Why did Keo even go? He's just a human like us, isn't he? And Magneria?" Sakura said crossly, venting her worries in any possible outlet.
"He w-was trained as a h-hunter for y-years and Magneria is a werewolf," Hinata informed her before adding, "They'll be f-fine."
The pink-haired girl met her friend's white eyes and sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Neither of the two said anything as they sat beside each other, staring at the blazing sun, sinking below the horizon, reminding them too easily of an hourglass with the sand running out.
Moments later, the double doors of the library burst open and the two whipped around eagerly. But instead of triumphant smiles and cheers, they were greeted by malicious grins. Two figures loomed in the doorway. One had a shock of bloody red hair and brown eyes that held a bored glaze while the other was freakishly tall, with either side of his face being a different color and what appeared to be a Venus fly trap on his head. Both were sheathed in long black cloaks splattered with red clouds.
"Who are you?" Sakura asked warily, grabbing Hinata by the arm and pulling her back, preparing to make a break for it.
"Naruto-kun told me about them," The dark haired girl answered for them, "The one w-with the red hair is Sasori and the g-green one is Z-Zetsu."
"Enough pleasantries," Sasori commented dryly, "Come with us; I don't like to be kept waiting."
In a flash, Zetsu was in front of the two girls, grabbing Sakura by the arms. His long fingers hadn't even coiled around her arms when he bellowed in agony. The jewel on Sakura's charm bracelet seemed to be giving off a sort of strange glow.
Instead of simply letting Sakura go, which didn't seem like something this horrifying creature in front of her would do, Zetsu hurled Sakura into the closest bookcase. She slammed into it and then into the ground. Books clattered around her and Sakura saw that the impact had shattered the small red gem on her wrist that had been her only protection.
The huge green demon was drawing nearer and Sakura's mind couldn't decide on a specific plan of action. Run and get caught, fight back and be killed. Nothing had a desirable outcome.
Zetsu was raising his hand for another blow. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, silently wishing all of her friends goodbye.
But the impact never came.
The cherry blossom pried her eyes open and gaped in horror. Right in front of her, Hinata stood, slumped over. Zetsu pulled his arm back and watched stoically as the petite girl collapsed, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Sakura was vaguely reminded of the dead animal Sasuke had dropped when she discovered that he was a vampire.
Any thought of the two monsters in the library vanished as Sakura turned Hinata on her back. A huge bloody hole had been punched through her stomach and blood was seeping everywhere, through Hinata's clothes, onto the floor, Sakura's hands…
The pale, white eyed girl was already turning cold. The tears began to slide down Sakura's face as she gently closed Hinata's blank eyes and wiped the splatters of blood from her smooth, perfect face.
Hot tears came in a rush now, and Sakura was powerless to stop them. She buried her face in her friend's shoulder. Her dark, lifeless hair brushed at Sakura's forehead and all she could think was why. Why did Hinata have to jump in front of her? Why did she have to die?
"This has gone on long enough. Itachi will be annoyed if we don't bring her back soon," Sasori stated dully.
In the next second, the red haired man pulled Sakura up by her hair. She didn't look at him, instead she fixed her eyes on the empty shell of her friend as Sasori's fist sunk into her abdomen, drowning her in unconsciousness.
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"We should be safe at this distance," Deidara said in a hushed tone.
He unbuttoned his cloak and allowed Salina to step back. As she did so, the young girl inadvertently brushed the seal on her wrist and yelped in pain when the shock raced through her. Deidara, nonplussed, stared at her for a moment before noticing the seal.
"Here," He said, holding her arm out with one hand and pulling out a small vial with the other, "This is dragon's blood…yeah."
Without another word, he popped the cork out of the vial and poured a few drops of the dense red liquid directly on the seal. The thin paper began to smoke where the blood hit it and then burned away completely, as if it had never been there in the first place.
"Thank you," The young girl replied, holding her newly freed wrist and smiling gratefully.
A peculiar silence began to stretch between them, which was closed by a rushing of leaves from the surrounding trees. A second later, Sasuke, Naruto, Magneria, Keo, and Skye stepped into the clearing.
"Salina! You're alright!" Magneria shouted, running up and hugging the old friend she thought she had lost.
Salina blinked, confused by her presence before hugging the shorter girl back. Skye and Naruto soon did the same thing. Once they released her, Salina turned to find Keo and launched herself into his arms. He welcomed her openly, clutching her tightly against him and kissing her shoulder once.
"Deidara… What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded coldly, breaking up the reunion.
"Relax," The blonde replied, "I'm not here to fight you. Tobi and I were the ones who broke Salina out of that hellhole…yeah."
The assembled group looked at Salina, who was clutching Keo's hand tightly, and relaxed some when she nodded in confirmation.
Skye appeared in front of Deidara then, her arms around his neck.
"Thank you," She whispered, finding his lips with hers briefly.
"Happy to help…hn"
"Turned traitor, have you Deidara? Itachi will be interested to hear this."
Attention suddenly spun to Sasori, who was standing on a tree branch with Sakura limp in his arms and Zetsu looming beside him.
At the sight of the pink-haired girl, the tension in the air electrified. Sasuke's eyes turned red and his fangs elongated, a red aura began to emanate from Naruto's skin and his claws and teeth grew, and Magneria bent over, allowing her human form to melt away, revealing her wolf form.
"Give her back, now," Sasuke's voice had a dangerous resonance to it as he spoke.
However, this had no effect on Sasori, who seemed amused before he disappeared with Sakura in a gust of wind.
Sasuke let loose a feral growl and pursued an instant later. Before anyone else could do the same, Zetsu jumped down into their path.
"You'll have to go through me first."
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Sakura awoke to find herself in a high backed chair in front of a long dining table, a voice speaking behind her.
"Really? I guess it was inevitable either way. No matter, he'll just have to die with the rest of them. All of you go take care of those pests. I have my own business here."
Itachi.
A rush of wind passed her as a group of figures whirled through an open window. It was dark now, the full moon was rising.
Sakura desperately wished that the pests Itachi had mentioned weren't her friends.
"I see you're awake. Then I see no point in delaying this any longer."
Icy hands clamped down on Sakura's shoulders from behind and a scream caught in her throat. Her pink hair was brushed away from her neck and, without and warning, two sleek fangs sunk into her skin.
The scream in her throat came loose and escaped as a blood curdling shriek. This was nothing like Sasuke's bite. No pleasure, no ecstasy. Nothing but cold, venomous, hopelessness. It was as if her life were being sucked away and siphoned into Itachi's body. Sakura writhed in excruciation and grabbed at Itachi's head to break free, but he didn't even flinch.
There was a periodic pounding somewhere in the foggy distance, becoming louder and louder. Finally, the crescendo peaked and stopped abruptly. Sakura felt Itachi withdraw from her neck and release his grasp on her, causing her to slide off of the chair and down to the cold tile floor, heaving, trembling, and exhausted.
"Ah, little brother, I was beginning to wonder what had become of you."
"What the hell have you done to her?"
Sasuke's voice echoed in Sakura's mind, slowly bringing her back to a sound state of mind.
"I merely wished to share in the power she can grant our kind. Surely you didn't think that you could keep it all to yourself."
Itachi's voice was cold and smooth. A silver dagger plunged straight through one's very being.
"What are you planning?"
"Isn't it obvious little brother? The Council of Supernaturals is meeting as we speak. If I take them out, no one will be left to take charge but me."
"There is no way that I am going to let that happen," the younger Uchiha growled, taking on a fighting stance.
The elder of the two brothers smirked, "Then by all means, foolish little brother, try and stop me."
Sakura peeked around the chair just as Sasuke lunged for Itachi. The latter grabbed the first by the arm, swung him around, and threw him into the wall. Sakura heard a shattering noise and for the first time, dared to observe her surroundings.
She found that she was in a large dining room, presumably the one belonging to Salina's grandparents' mansion. The floor was tiled with checkered black and white marble. The ceiling was high, decorated by a painted mural and a large crystal chandelier. Opposite the large double doors was a monumental fireplace, decorated with intricate carvings and surrounded on either side by large windows that allowed the moonlight to seep through and bathe the room. On the remaining two walls were large mirrors mounted at least fifteen feet above the ground. The gleam of the moon and the blaze of the fire cast an eerie light throughout the rooms due to the chandelier crystals and the mirrors. One of which Sasuke had just collided with.
Still relatively delirious, Sakura pushed herself up into a feeble sitting position under the table. Before the pinkette could even move towards Sasuke to help him, he was back on his feet.
The fight progressed so quickly that Sakura could barely register any of it. She heard the impacts of the blows but she couldn't see the movements behind them. They were moving too rapidly. One second they were knocking down the chair she had been hiding behind and the next they were on the opposite side of the room. Sasuke managed a punch to Itachi's stomach, causing him to hunch over. He grabbed Itachi and launched him across the room. He slammed into the middle of the banquet table, breaking glasses and knocking over the table settings. Sakura barely managed to roll out from under the table before it collapsed. Sasuke noticed this and his red eyes widened.
"Sakura! Are you alright?"
Sakura rolled over onto all fours before staggering to her feet.
"Yeah, don't worry about me, I'm fi—"
Itachi had stood up again and clamped his hand around Sakura's neck, lifting her a foot off of the ground.
"Better be careful little brother. You don't know your own strength and you almost hurt dear Sakura-chan."
"Let her go. Now."
Sasuke's voice was infuriated and threatening, but his eyes were fixed helplessly on Sakura. One wrong step from him and Itachi would crush her in less than a heartbeat.
The glint in the elder brother's crimson eyes brightened. His grip on Sakura's neck tightened visibly and she grabbed at his wrist, desperately trying to break free. Just when Sakura felt like she was losing herself, Itachi pelted her across the room. She landed hard, bouncing once and sliding into the shattered glass left from the broken mirror.
Sasuke instinctively moved towards Sakura but Itachi seized him by the back of his shirt, pulling him back and slugging him across the face. He tumbled back and hit the ground hard. Sasuke was barely back on his feet when Itachi came back, hitting him consecutively before Sasuke could no longer stand. Despite the strength boost Sakura's blood gave him, Itachi had it too and was naturally stronger to begin with. Sasuke heard Sakura call his name from a distance and he picked his head up, meeting her terrified eyes. Suddenly, the urge to protect her overwhelmed his fatigue and he brought himself to his feet.
The brothers continued fighting more intensely than ever. The clashed in midair; the force pushed them back in opposite directions until they propelled themselves back at each other all over again. The fighting ensued until it came to a rapid, violent standstill.
Itachi had pounded Sasuke into the ground, pressing into Sasuke's back with one knee. One of Sasuke's arms was twisted behind his back and one of Itachi's hands was at Sasuke's throat, ready to pull back in just the right way so that it would snap.
The only thing flashing through Sakura's mind was the heart wrenching fact that Sasuke was about to die. There were no ideas of how to save him or what to do. Not even her subconscious was functioning. It was as if her limbs acted completely separately of her mind when she picked up a large shard of glass and slashed open her arm.
The instant the scent of Sakura's potent blood pierced the air, Itachi lost all control. He released Sasuke and lunged at Sakura, seizing her arm and sucking in the blood as if it were the only thing keeping him alive. He continued that way for a moment before he dropped her arm and stiffened. Falling back, he edged away from Sakura, hacking and clutching at his throat like there was a fire stuck inside of it.
"You bitch! What did you…" Itachi never finished his statement. He was overcome by a fit of choking before collapsing onto the cold tile, motionless.
Sakura and Sasuke stared at the empty remains of what was once Uchiha Itachi. Neither of them knew quite what to say, let alone what happened.
The silence dragged on until the large double doors burst open again, this time revealing the bruised and battered Naruto, Deidara, Tobi, Keo, Salina, Magneria, and Skye.
"Sorry for the hold up, you guys," Magneria chimed, "We would've gotten here faster because Tobi showed up at the last minute to help us, but then Naruto got us all lost in the woods, and whoa…"
The young girl trailed off when she registered the scene before her. Everyone was left to stare in awe.
Warily, Salina stepped forward and nudged Itachi's corpse with her foot. Unable to find the deadly blow, she looked over to Sakura, whose arm was still bleeding profusely.
"That book was right," She murmured, barely loud enough for the assembled group to hear, "Sakura's blood poisoned Itachi the second time he drank it."
Sasuke slowly took in this information before heaving himself off of the ground and making his way towards his dead brother.
"Naruto, gimme a hand here," he ordered.
The blonde fox demon complied immediately and together they picked up Itachi's body and threw it into the fire. His body went up in flames and strangely, was gone in almost an instant.
"That's the last we'll see of him," Sasuke sighed, letting his shoulders sag in relief.
"So what now?" Skye asked as she kneeled next to Sakura, using healing spells to close up Sakura's wounds.
Everyone looked at each other, not sure what to expect or what to say until out of the blue, Sakura gasped.
"Hinata!"
Every head in the room snapped to Sakura, who was starting to break out into sobs.
"What happened to Hinata?" Naruto asked urgently.
"Zetsu and Sasori! They killed her! She was trying to protect me," Sakura explained between sobs. The fact that she had temporarily forgotten about Hinata's death only made remembering it that much worse.
Without any sort of conference, everyone took off for the Uchiha Mansion. Once there, they rushed into the library and froze when they spotted the bloody remains Hinata.
An icy silence strangled the room into a deadlock. While most of the people in the room choked on their tears, Naruto moved forward lifelessly. Gingerly, he lifted Hinata out of the now cold puddle of her own blood and held her close, sobbing into her shoulder.
Shaking, Naruto pulled away to look at the face of his lost love. Tears fell freely from his face and landed on the gaping wound in Hinata's stomach. Everyone was too overwhelmed by grief to notice the peculiar way the moonlight flooding in from the windows was casting an eerie glow onto Hinata's flawless white skin and the tears Naruto was shedding. Very gradually, the light increased in intensity until it blinding everyone in the room. When the glow subsided and the cries of surprise died down, everyone was at a loss trying to explain the bizarre occurrence.
Out of some desperate, fleeting ghost of a hope, Naruto looked back down at Hinata. He was met with the shocking sight of Hinata's wound closing up and her snowy eyes fluttering open.
"N-Naruto?"
The blonde in question was frozen for a moment, before the joy broke onto his face and he crushed his lips to hers happily. Upon registering the new circumstances, everyone broke out into cheers. Skye, Salina, and Tobi tackled the couple, grinning and laughing uncontrollably.
"Does anyone have any idea what just happened?" Sakura asked in disbelief, trying to wipe away the tears that were now leaking out of her eyes due to happiness instead of misery.
Smiling to himself, Keo dug his hands into his pockets and told her, "There have been some researches and studies on the regenerative properties of demon tears, but so far they have been extremely inconclusive. It takes some very special circumstances for there to even be a slight possibility of working, let alone bringing someone back from the edge of death."
"So in short, a miracle," Magneria concluded.
"Basically," Keo said, one corner of his mouth lifting into a peculiar grin.
Suddenly, Salina jumped up to her feet and shouted enthusiastically, "All right! Time to celebrate! Peanut butter sandwiches all around!"
"What the hell is with you and peanut butter sandwiches?" Sakura asked, trying and failing to sound irritated as she leaned into Sasuke's side.
The young witch danced up and looped her arm around Keo's.
"Peanut butter sandwiches are to me what ramen is to Naruto," She explained gleefully.
"That's not true!" Naruto yelled, upset that his addiction to ramen was being challenged.
"You're right," Salina amended, much the amusement of everyone in the room, "I love them more than you love ramen."
"THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT TRUE!"
"Hey! Read the author's not below! Its about the epilogue/sequel!"
END
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Its finished! I have to say, I just couldn't bring myself to kill Hinata, she's just too sweet! Anyway, that pretty much concludes my story. HOWEVER! silver-nightstorm, the creator/person who requested I added Magneria to the story, had a different idea for the ending of this story. So this is my proposition! I don't have any ideas for an epilogue or sequel to this story. SOOOOOO, I am leaving it up to you people! Send me a review with your ideas and, since it will most likely be a long time if I decide to write either an epilogue or a sequel, tell me if you would be willing to write it! I will choose whoever I think will do best and delegate the writing to them.
In addition, there is also the version of the ending that silver-nightstorm imagined. Soooo, message/review telling me if you would like to write that version of the ending, an epilogue, or sequel using her ideas. If she tells me that she does not want to write any of them (I will not permit anyone to write using her version until I hear from her), I will delegate it to someone else, just like I am doing with my version of the ending.
I hope that wasn't too confusing and that you all loved the story (or at least tolerated reading it to the end). I love you all very much for sticking by me, even though I have no idea who any of you are =) And thank you to anyone and everyone who helped me work my way through this story/ inspired me to write. You rock!
Please review,
~seeking fireflies!