Chapter 21
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Of Joy and Sorrow
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Marry me. Two words that sent Sakura's brain into overdrive and shock. She stared at the man above her unable to speak.
"You don't have to answer me yet, I know its impulsive but these last few weeks have made me realise that I can't imagine living without you, I want you by my side Sakura." He said sincerely bending down and kissing her on the forehead. Sakura let her eyes fall shut; the thumping of her adrenaline fueled heart pounded loudly in the silence.
"I have to go, my patrol starts soon but I'll be back later." He said removing a small black box from his pocket and setting it on the table next to her bed.
Once the door to her apartment closed Sakura gingerly got out of her bed and stood in front of the bedside table, afraid to even touch the black box. He wanted her to marry him, Itachi was so unpredictable. She breathed deeply and calmly and reached out wrapping her fingers around the tiny box. With it held in her hands she felt like she was holding the weight of his heart instead and Sakura knew she had her answer without opening it.
Yes. A million times over yes. Perhaps the proposal was made out of impulse because of the impending battle but that didn't matter. She knew before the events with Madara ever happened that she wanted to be with Itachi and no one else. She set the box back down on the bedside table and instead went to shower deciding she would open it once she was fresh and had healed properly.
Pulling off her clothes Sakura stepped into her shower, she only realised then how disgusting she smelled. There was still dust from the avalanche stuck to her hair and dried blood where she had not been fully cleaned in theatre. How Itachi lay next to her with her smelling so bad was a mystery to her. The avalanche however brought back the memory that she had lost her entire team and that was just to Zetsu. If Madara was far more powerful than his loyal minion, then how were they to defeat him?
Itachi would no doubt want to take on Madara himself, she only hoped his pride wouldn't stop him from letting the others help. Madara had a vendetta against the Uchiha family and even more so against Itachi for trying to take him out. The deranged Uchiha had waited this length of time before planning something against the village which only meant that his power had returned enough for him to attack and believe he'd win.
As if the grief of losing her team and potentially losing Itachi didn't haunt her enough, she was reminded of TenTen and how Neji was never found. It's most likely that Neji is dead but TenTen will no doubt hang onto the hope that he's still alive, something far worse to carry.
Sakura felt guilty for feeling happy about Itachi proposing to her amidst all the death and sadness which filled her also. But as a shinobi she was always told to embrace all the happy moments for there is always more sorrow than happiness in the life she led.
The shower tray filled with a grey brown liquid and she stood there for another five minutes until she felt thoroughly cleansed from her previous mission. Stepping out into her tiny bathroom she surveyed her injuries in the mirror, there was nothing too severe but she sat on the cold tiles and began a chant and quickly made five hand seals. A quick healing jutsu to give her back her strength and to help purge the remaining poison in her system. Once she felt more like herself she dressed in her tight black ANBU uniform and prepared herself for a siren that would no doubt soon ring throughout Konoha, alerting everyone to the attack. She was thankful that her parents were safe in hiding but she never even got to say goodbye.
Before leaving her apartment Sakura picked up the black box. She took a deep breath and opened it. Inside was the most exquisite diamond ring she had ever seen. On top was a single diamond that shone brightly as the sun touched it, it sat atop two platinum bands which were interwoven with each other. It was beautiful and she struggled to keep her emotions in check as she put the ring on her finger. It may have been silly to put a ring such as this on before a fight but she couldn't bring herself to remove it. Pulling on her black gloves over the pretty diamond she flexed her fingers, now she was ready for battle.
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Itachi checked in at the Uchiha compound for a quick briefing, he was technically not supposed to be away from the compound under orders but his father looked the other way when his son left in the early hours of the morning.
"Any developments?" asked Itachi stepping into his kitchen which was a buzz with activity.
"Yes, I was just about to summon you. Foreign chakra was sensed just two miles from the gates, our patrols already sent word to the Hokage. It seems he will launch his attack today." Said Fugaku as Itachi nodded.
"I will take on Madara." His son then said forcefully.
"Not without me." Came a voice from the doorway and both turned to look at the younger Uchiha sibling.
"Sasuke he's too pow-"
"Shut the fuck up Itachi. Stop treating me like a baby, I'm stronger than you think, I will fight alongside you." Sasuke said, power behind his words, he was not afraid to speak out in front of his father and brother anymore.
"Fine brother; but you do exactly as I say, there is only one way to take out Madara and it will be using the Sword of Totsuka." Itachi said staring down his brother, attempting to intimidate him to ensure he understood all he would be taking on.
"It's a good thing I awakened the Mangekyou then." Sasuke smirked, Itachi nodded his approval.
"Fair enough, you can stick with me. Does Naruto understand his role?" asked Itachi as he was running over the plans in his head. He and Sasuke would take on Madara, Naruto will track down Black Zetsu and take him out, once Black Zetsu was destroyed the clones will stop being produced. Every other jounin has been assigned into groups to take on the Zetsu clones which Sakura was able to confirm are jounin level fighters.
"Yes, he's prepared. In sage mode it shouldn't take him long to find the source." Sasuke nodded having just returned from Naruto's apartment.
"Good then we should-" a sharp high pitched alarm rang through the village, every one stopped what they were doing and froze. Not long after the alarm finished ringing a tremendous crash was heard and the ground beneath them shook.
"Move." Itachi shouted as they exited the Uchiha manor and headed to take on Madara Uchiha.
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Practically leaping down the stairs of her apartment building Sakura was focused on finding one person. She had to speak to Ino, she hadn't seen her best friend since she got back and she needed to tell someone about her engagement just in case anything was to happen to either of them.
She sprinted through the village not sure exactly where Ino would be, she assumed it would mostly likely be the flower shop where her home was. It didn't take long to reach the shop and Ino smiled seeing her friend through the window.
"Forehead, are you ok?" asked Ino, she had heard that Sakura had been poisoned returning from her mission.
"Yes, my chakra levels aren't fully restored but I'll be able to fight. Are you ready?" she asked as her best friend grinned.
"Of course I am; no white freak is going to overrun my village!"
"Listen there's something else I want to tell you." Said Sakura her excitement bubbling.
"Oh what is it?" Ino smirked sensing gossip was about to fall from her friend's lips. Before Sakura had the chance to speak the chimes above the flower shop door rang and in walked the last person Sakura felt she could face.
"TenTen." Said Ino also unsure of how to deal with her friend. It was no secret now that Neji was missing and TenTen didn't take the news well.
"Hey guys." She said walking into the shop, Sakura couldn't hide her discomfort around the woman she felt like TenTen had come to her for support weeks ago and Sakura hadn't been able to do anything for her.
"How you holding up?" Ino asked trying to be supportive.
"Not so good, Neji was a clone can you believe that. He had me fooled, I didn't even notice a thing and all along he was a Zetsu." TenTen said as Ino placed a hand on her shoulder but alarm bells rang in Sakura's head.
"You didn't suspect a thing?" questioned Sakura and Ino shot her a dirty look for her accusing tone but was even more stunned when Sakura raised her foot and jammed it into TenTen's chest sending her flying through the shop window.
"Sakura, what the hell!" exclaimed Ino when suddenly the sirens went off and where TenTen had fell a white figure stood.
"Clone." Sakura snarled leaping through the broken window and charging for it. She managed to land one good heavily packed chakra punch to the Zetsu's head and it was over.
"Be on your guard Ino, you don't know how many people are fake." She shouted but Ino's face was stricken with horror.
"Sakura." She said and the pink haired kunoichi turned and looked. Coming down the street towards them was at least two-hundred white Zetsu.
"Oh Kami." She breathed.
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It didn't take long for the Uchiha brothers to find the source of the crash. There was a huge glowing warrior made from bones which towered high at the Uchiha lake. The sheer size of it alone was enough to frighten some more inexperienced fighters who had never encountered such sight before.
"Susanoo." Itachi said and Sasuke nodded as the boys finally came into Madaras sight. There were other Uchihas shooting fireballs at the Susanoo but nothing was making a scratch.
"Leave, we will deal with this." Itachi shouted loudly and the others fell back and headed into the village which was quickly being overrun with white Zetsu.
"Itachi." Madara said warmly as if speaking to an old friend. "What a pleasure it is."
"And Sasuke I don't believe we've had the joy of meeting. You can call me Uncle Madara." He chuckled his dark presence overwhelming the Konoha atmosphere.
"Enough, we will settle this now." Itachi growled activating his sharingan.
"Itachi, we really could have avoided this confrontation, if you had of accepted my offer all those years ago." Smirked the elder Uchiha and Sasuke turned to look at his brother.
"What confrontation?"
"Oh my, poor Sasuke left in the dark again." Laughed Madara and Itachi had never felt the desire to kill someone as much in his life.
"Itachi, what is he talking about!" snapped Sasuke irritated by the man in front of them.
"Several years ago, a clone of Madara appeared to me and asked me to leave the village. He wanted me to join him, he tried to convince me that the almost coup d'état of the Uchiha clan was going to happen again. That I would be asked to kill my family and that he would help." Itachi growled but Madara was still grinning.
"And you contemplated it Itachi, didn't you. You weren't such a happy boy several years ago, were you? All the stress of being the poster child of the village and the struggle to keep your family happy, everyone wanted a piece of Itachi."
"That's not true Itachi! You would never think of doing something like that." Sasuke growled knowing Madara was trying to place a wedge between them.
"I'll admit I paused, the coup was a very real possibility at the time and if plans went through I would have been ordered to kill my family, in that he is right, but do you really think I could kill my own family? It took seconds as my katana pierced through your heart. And the same thing will be achieved today!"
"Big talk Itachi but after I destroy you and little Sasuke, I'm going to find that lovely pink haired kunoichi of yours and I will trap her in a genjutsu so powerful not even Shisui Uchihas ocular jutsu could overcome it. Then I will let you die knowing that the love of your life will suffer every day until she dies and you could do nothing to stop it." That was the final words spoken before Itachi's eyes evolved into the powerful mangekyou quickly engulfing his body with Susanoo, it was different to Madaras where his was a bright blue warrior Itachi's was red with the fire of Uchiha. As soon as it was unleashed with a mighty roar it charged at Madara with unrelenting force.
Sasuke activated his Mangekyou, he hadn't fully mastered control of it but it was too late to worry about that now as he too called forth his own Susanoo its large purple ribs one by one circling is body. He charged at Madara the split second after Itachi had impacted the shield Madara held hitting at the same spot. A full powerhouse blow from two Susanoo was enough to crack the shield and Madara stumbled backwards.
He retaliated fast as a giant fireball came soaring towards the brothers. They dodged it and both sent one back, with two powerful Uchiha against one it was clear to see that Madara was struggling. His Susanoo made to lunge for Sasuke, but Itachi lashed out, the powerful arm of his Susanoo deflecting the blow and it gave Sasuke time to counter strike against Madara.
The elder Uchiha was sent soaring backwards across the ground, his Susanoo flicked but suddenly flared and he came at them again. Taking two on one with renewed vigour he was dominating the battle. Blow for blow Madara matched the brothers until Sasuke's concentration wavered ever so slightly and he was struck a heavy blow by the long sword Madara held. Sasuke was sent careening backwards and slammed into the hard ground creating a crater the size of a small house. The battle temporarily paused at the blow.
"Sasuke!" shouted Itachi his eyes keenly on Madara who hung back smirking. There were no sounds coming from where his brother fell.
"Oh dear." Laughed Madara charging forwards his sword glowing ready to strike.
"You will die!" Screamed Itachi lunging with his own blade.
It was a battle of giants for a long time between the two, there would be no touching Madara until he had taken out his Susanoo, it was too powerful and Itachi knew he was hiding behind it. Madara was not strong enough to battle head on, he had been around for too many years now, his body was too old to battle without the power of his Sharingan.
And Itachi knew without his little brothers help, he wouldn't break it.
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Konoha was a sea of white and green, down every street and alley way played out a battle between Zetsu and jounin. Sakura and Ino had stayed together battling against the clones stopping in between with as many injured as they could to help. Her chakra levels still weren't at their full however so she kept the medics instructed on what they were to do.
"I wish Naruto would find the source soon, there coming out of everywhere!" Ino said taking out another Zetsu.
"The only positive thing is that it seems the more of them being produced the weaker they get, there's just more of them." Sakura said assisting a team of medics place a jounin on the trolley.
"True, I need to go team up with Shika and Choji, that was the plan. Can you handle things on your own?" Ino said and Sakura nodded. Sakura had been instructed to maintain section C as lead medic but she couldn't help but participate in the battle there were simply too many enemies.
"I'm fine, you head on."
Sakura and Ino headed in opposite directions and Sakura quickly found herself next to her former sensei. He was battling five Zetsu before Sakura jumped in and with a powerful blow to the head, courtesy of her foot, their numbers decreased to four.
"How nice of you to join." He laughed, the brutality at which she fought would never cease to amaze him.
"Glad to be of assistance." She grinned, knocking out another clone as Kakashi finally dealt with the other three.
"Are you fit to fight?" He questioned, it was only two days ago she had been poisoned and even with resilience to the poison she should still be resting.
"Yea I'm fine, just a little tired." She said but Sakura could feel a toll on her body, she was pushing herself. Just as their conversation finished another eight Zetsu rounded the corner and they were off again.
It was never ending, kick, punch, stomp; all draining too much of her chakra; she switched to her katana although less proficient with it, it was still quicker and less energy consuming.
"Kakashi." Called Sakura tugging her blade free from a lifeless clone. "I can't help but wonder what they're doing here."
"What do you mean, Madara wants revenge on the village." He answered dodging a clone and hitting it back with a kunai.
"I think they're here for something." She said and Kakashi briefly looked at her.
"Where is this coming from?"
"A while ago, I heard Itachi talking in his sleep. It was weird, he wasn't making any sense but he said something about the Uchiha archives, he mumbled Madaras name. I never understood what he was talking about until now." She admitted and she had Kakashis full attention.
"There are old Uchiha archives hidden under the main house at the Uchiha complex. Only an Uchiha would be able to read it, those archives contain information that no one should know, powerful dark genjutsu, secrets lie in there. It would make sense that Madara would want to visit there, I have heard stories of genjutsu that can enable the user to live past death through the body of another. It's probably one of the reasons Madara wanted to come back but there would be no point sending Zetsu to search for it, they don't possess the sharingan, they can't read it." Kakashi said but Sakura wasn't convinced.
"How do I get to them?" she asked and he frowned.
"Sakura, I don't think it's a good idea to go looking for them." He stressed, more Zetsu appeared on the street heading towards them.
"Kakashi, I just need to check!" she pleaded.
"Under the third tatami mat on the seventh row, in the sitting room. Be careful!" He shouted as she took off. Chances were that the Uchiha house was already being guarded but with the fight with Madara taking place over at the compound and Zetsu running everywhere it wouldn't be hard to get inside. Arriving at the complex she stopped dead as the two almighty warriors loomed above near the lake. She had never seen Itachi's Susanoo before and it took her breath away that something so huge and powerful could come from their bloodline. As she made her way toward the house still mesmerised at the battle raging between the giants she was quickly snapped from the fight at the sight of two dead guards lying at the front door.
Sakura calmed her breathing and stepped inside the house. As silently a possible she made her way to the sitting room and the exact mat Kakashi had mentioned was lifted. Sakura performed her jutsu before she went down, she was low on chakra and exhausted. She would have to use the last of her reserves to protect herself once she went down this mat.
Cautiously she went down the stairs and into the hidden chamber. A man with long hair stood looking at the cryptic writing on the wall. Sakura was stunned by the beauty of the room, it was so old, strange symbols carved into every wall, she wouldn't be surprised if this was from the original Uchiha family.
"Impressive, isn't it." The man spoke and Sakura braced herself.
"You shouldn't be here." She said and he turned to face her.
"And neither should you, Sakura." He grinned his red eyes shining in the dim light of the room.
"Madara." She spat gripping her katana tightly.
"Yes, and do you really think you can attack me with that?" he questioned and she glared.
"You're only a clone." She retaliated and he nodded.
"I may only be a clone but I'm still powerful. I don't wish to hurt you Haruno but you seem to be holding me back. I may have no other choice." He snarled and charged at her. Sakura didn't have enough time to move as she was thrown back into the hard rock wall, thanking herself for performing the jutsu before entering. She didn't hurt herself but her energy levels were depleting quickly.
"That talent of yours would have made a lovely addition to my arsenal, pity it's based on medical ninjutsu." He smiled and Sakura pulled herself from the wall wondering what the look upon his face was for.
"Why are you smiling." She demanded and it only made his grin wider.
"Because Sakura you're going to be my first test subject." He laughed and Sakura charged.
"You're a sick fuck." She screamed moving like lightening.
The clone of Madara was indeed tough but his movements were not faster than hers and with every punch he made the next was even weaker. The hold on this clone was weak which led her to believe the real Madara was losing, it gave her hope that Itachi was winning and she made her final strike, katana raised she drove the blade right through his heart pushing his body back until it hit the wall. Sakura looked at the clone but his eyes were still bright and alive, it didn't register with her at first until she fell back unconscious. Her body twisting and screaming in agony.
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Itachi refused to believe that he was losing this battle but his chakra was beginning to dwindle. He had huge reserves and rarely in one fight did he ever reach this limit but the amount Susanoo required was far beyond anything he had ever experienced and the fact that he had been holding it for so long didn't help. He still hadn't heard anything from the pit in where his brother lay and thoughts of Sakura dying floated in his head distracting him. He faltered a step and received a nasty blow to his right arm, blood gushed from the gash but he continued to parry Madaras actions.
Another blow hit him again and forced him backwards and he cursed. This wasn't good, he needed something to break the Susanoo but what? He had nothing else to use and no one else to call for, just as Itachi was losing faith in himself a large screeching, crackling noise emerged from the crater.
Itachi propelled himself backwards as his brother emerged from the hollow ground his arm raised high, a chidori built in his hand and lightening from the sky struck it creating an immense surge of power, from the chidori in his palm grew a dragon. The lightning dragon filled the sky and roared loudly, Itachi was spellbound by the whole thing.
It was amazing, his little brother had grown so much and Itachi hadn't even seen it happening. With a final deafening cry the dragon soared from the skies and hit Madara. Both brothers had to cover their eyes from the intense white light and power that surged from the impact. It felt like time had stopped as everything slowed down. Once the light had dimmed the impact of what had happened was revealed.
Madara lay unmoving in a crater five times the size of that which he sent Sasuke into, his Susanoo completely dispelled and his sharingan gone.
"I was beginning to you think you weren't going to get up." Itachi said looking at his brother with a smile.
"Well I wasn't about to let you have all the glory." Sasuke smirked and his brother placed a hand on his head.
"I'm proud of you Sasuke, now let's finish this." Itachi walked towards the dying Uchiha as Sasuke held back, almost fully drained from what he had done.
"Any last words." Itachi snarled as he stood above Madara, the Sword of Totsuka glowing in his hand.
"Only that even as I die Itachi, I managed to still take something so precious from you. I'll see you again soon." He laughed.
"You bastard." Itachi growled sinking the blade into his heart, Madara was gone but the words hung in the air.
"What did he say?" Sasuke asked walking closer to his brother.
"I need to find Sakura." He said taking off towards the village, there were bodies lying everywhere as he made his way to section C. Thankfully most of them were white Zetsu, his body was aching but he pushed onwards until he saw a mop of silver hair.
"Kakashi!" he shouted and the older jounin turned to looked at him.
"Itachi."
"Where is Sakura?" he demanded and Kakashi grimaced.
"The last I spoke to her she was heading to the Uchiha archives." He said and the look on Itachi's face was something close to horror.
Itachi turned on his heels sprinting back to where he had just passed, his heart hammering in his chest. He smashed through the door of his house and practically jumped down the steps to the chambers beneath the living room. Once inside his heart stopped.
Sakura was lying on the ground, unmoving, in a pool of blood.
Her blood.
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OMG drama alert. Only two more chapters left!
Once again thank you oh so much for the lovely reviews, some of them have been truly touching! Your patience is so greatly appreciated I'll try to get the last couple finished soon :)
flowne xx