Guess what! This is the last chapter!!! Yay... or not... :( I hope this end is somewhat satisfying. Please no flames, I don't want my final reviews to be mean. Alright, I will make a sequel eventually, relax.
Oh yes, and if anyone out there is skittish with gory scenes, watch out.
Sakura dove forward, straight at Kisame. Her speed surpassed his greatly and his smirk widened when he sensed the challenge.
"I forgot how crafty you are, kuniochi!" Kisame shouted, holding the Samehada out in front of him like a shield. Sakura dug her heel into the stone and switched directions, attempting to come at him from the side.
Once again, Kisame used the Samehada to ward her back. Sakura grunted and changed directions once more, leaping against the wall. She scaled the wall part way until she was above his head.
"Coward, you don't see me with a weapon keeping you away," Sakura taunted icily. That comment made Kisame glower and lower his guard slightly, enough for Sakura to get a quick attack in.
Her hand shot out, releasing her hidden weapon. She had positioned herself in the shadows, so the nail wouldn't reflect the light until the last moment, by then it would be too late.
Kisame saw arm whip around, but missed the projectile. Sakura grinned as the iron sliced its way towards her opponent, it was all over.
Sakura was wrong. At the last minute, Kisame threw up the Samehada in a last attempt to stop the nail. He had managed to deflect it slightly off its course, but it still made contact with the criminal.
Kisame clutched his cheek tightly. Blood soon began to drip between his fingers and stain the hem of his sleeve. "You little bitch..." he mumbled between clenched teeth.
Sakura knew it was now or never. He was in pain, and not thinking properly. With two quick leaps, she was in striking range. Even a single kick from Sakura would incapacitate her opponent. Tsunade had taught her well.
Sakura built up chakra in her foot and released it in a violent roundhouse kick. She felt it connect, but not quite the way she wanted it to.
Kisame had a firm hold of her leg, his grip bone-crushing. Sakura cried out in pain as he slowly crunched the bones in her left ankle. She focused her chakra to the slowly disintegrating bones, healing them slightly. She had to break from the hold, or else all of her chakra would be drained trying to heal.
"Hurts a bit, huh kunoichi?" Kisame hissed, still holding his cheek with his free hand.
Sakura stopped healing her ankle, allowing Kisame to crush it completely, rendering her it useless.
"You'll need a damn good healer to fix that, won't you?"
"It's a good thing that that's what I am." Sakura snapped a quick jab at Kisame's left shoulder, snapping his collarbone and causing it to erupt from his flesh in a bloody mess. "Just as I thought, fish bones."
Kisame stumbled back, dropping his arm from his cheek, revealing his face wound. He cried out in pain, splattering blood from the gaping hole in his cheek against the ground.
His cheek had been sliced from lip to cheekbone with the nail still lodged right below his temple.
"You sorry little... I'm gonna kill you."
"It's over Kisame, you're lucky your still conscious," Sakura informed, dropping her arms and looking towards the door.
"It's not over until I say so!" Kisame growled, lunging forward attempting to strike her with the nail he had just ripped from his face. Sakura recoiled in shock, tripping backwards on her bad ankle.
She winced in pain as her feet flew up from underneath her. 'I messed up...' she thought angrily as her head hit the rock wall, rendering her unconscious.
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Sakura opened her eyes slowly, her head throbbing fiercely.
'I'm not dead? At least I hope not.' She thought groggily.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! You're alright!" A familiar voice yelled a few feet from her ear.
"Sakura-chan? Please be okay... how many fingers am I holding up?" Another voice whispered to her. She opened her eyes fully to see Naruto and Deidara crouching by her bed. Deidara was holding up three fingers.
"Three. I'm not blind Deidara-kun, just in pain."
"Yeah... you hit your head pretty hard, un," Deidara nodded, rubbing his own head tenderly, as if imagining her pain.
"You saw that?" Sakura asked warily, not remembering if Deidara and Naruto were even present.
"Your friend broke the door down around that time. I saw it over his shoulder, un."
"Hey, if I didn't I don't think Sakura-chan would be awake now!" Naruto belted out.
"I never said I wasn't grateful for your tailed beast," Deidara smirked at the boy.
"Hey! I was behind all that, not Kyuubi!" Naruto flexed, "See that? Pure ninja genius!"
Sakura chuckled at her old friend. She looked around. She was in Deidara's room, his art bench was pushed up against the wall and the bed was dragged to the center of the room.
"What happened to Kisame?" she asked suddenly, full knowing the answer.
"I took that bastard and ripped his heart out." Naruto said faintly, jaw clenched and eyes dark.
"He wouldn't have lasted much longer anyways, he had lost so much blood, un." Deidara added, trying to give the credit to Sakura.
"Naruto... is this true? You killed him?" Sakura asked, worried. She didn't like to hear that the Kyuubi took control of Naruto.
"He was going to hurt you Sakura-chan, I had to!" Naruto voiced urgently.
"Yes, I am so thankful, but it was me that got you into this whole mess in the first place..." Naruto began to retort, but stopped himself and shook his head and grinned at Sakura. They sat for a moment in silence.
Deidara started fidgeted slightly, then sighed. "You're gonna have to leave now... right?" Naruto nodded to him and Sakura.
"We'll have to get out of this hole within the next ten minutes, or else we risk your teammates catching us."
Sakura considered this for a moment, "Was Kisame telling the truth, that Itachi's dead?"
Naruto began to speak, but was stopped by a glare from Deidara. "Yeah... I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan. His chakra was drained from the cell he was trapped in and... he didn't make it," Deidara told her sadly.
Sakura nodded, her mind a blank. Itachi was... dead? How could one day they be sitting peacefully beneath the stars, enjoying each others presence, then he be dead the next? They were going to be happy together, but as usual, Sakura wasn't allowed to be happy.
She held back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She wasn't supposed to end up with Itachi, she knew that and so did Naruto. "We have to leave now... it's now or never..." her voice cracked slightly as the pain of his death hit her.
So she let the tears flow, who cared if Naruto saw her sorrow? Who cared if Deidara grew jealous of how much she loved Itachi? She had loved him, but now he was gone, what did anything matter?
Sakura screamed out, smashing her fist into the pillow and breaking clean through the bed. "Not you too! Don't be gone... I need you!" She bellowed, her very steps cracking the stone beneath her. Sakura cried out, both Sakuras felt the pain. Her inner self wanted to get revenge, but it had already been carried out.
Deidara grasped her shoulders, "Sakura, please stop... you need to go now, there's not enough time. The genjutsu won't hold much longer, un."
Naruto took Sakura's hand and dashed out of the room. As he reached the seal he turned and nodded to Deidara, "I sure as hell hope we don't meet again, Akatsuki."
"Same to you, jinchuuriki, un. Take care... Sakura," Deidara whispered her name, almost treasuring it, savoring it. It would be under much different circumstances if they were ever to meet again. Deidara waved as the pair slipped under the boulder and stopped to take one last look back.
Sakura glanced at Deidara, giving him a small, wistful smile. Her thoughts were similar to his, but she had a feeling... they would meet again.
"Naruto... what's going to happen to me? The village knows what I've done..."
Naruto stopped and looked her in the eye, "there's nothing tying you to that organization... not anymore. You'll be fine, there's no proof of any sort of betrayal. Plus, you were going to save me, right?" He laughed lightly then took her in his arms.
"I missed you so much, Sakura-chan. Everyone did, I'm sure they'll be so happy to see you back."
Sakura bit her lip and sighed. There was nothing for her back there, but she did have a home back in Konoha. A home and friends who wouldn't judge her for what she had done.
"Alright, Naruto... let's go home." Her heart bled, but she persisted. She had survived heartbreak from one Uchiha, she could do it again. 'At least... I should be able to...'
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"Alright, Itachi-san. Get out of there, we have to wake the others up, un," Deidara murmured, nudging the Uchiha with his foot.
"Sakura... where... is she?" Itachi muttered, stirring into consciousness.
"Don't worry about her, she's not of consequence now. What you do need to worry about is the fact that your partner's dead and everyone else is put out by your genjutsu, un!" Itachi sat up sharply, glaring at Deidara.
"What do you mean, not of consequence? Where. Is. Sakura?"
Deidara sighed, "Don't blame me, I'm just the messenger. Sakura... well Kisame... she's dead, Itachi."
Itachi stood for a moment, then took a deep breath, "I would get out of here if I was you, Deidara-san." Deidara complied, bursting out of the room. Within seconds he could hear the smashing of walls and the crashing of stone.
Itachi had taken Sakura's death much harder than she did his. Itachi hadn't loved anyone since he was very young, and Sakura... well, she was his soul-mate. He was sure of this.
He wiped his bloody knuckles against his cloak, ignoring the pain. He knew that he'd have to explain the circumstances of the deaths to Leader, he had to prepare. He dragged himself to his room and peered around.
It was still dark, but the sun would be rising soon. How would he explain why Sakura died? Just tell him that Kisame went nuts and took her out? But that didn't cover why he didn't kill Kisame and why everyone was under genjutsu. Perhaps it would be easier not to have to explain the situation.
Itachi eyed his katana. How easily he could fall upon that blade and be rid of this cruel world. But that would be giving up. He couldn't do that, not now. That would just prove that he was connected to Sakura, but what would it matter, he'd be dead.
But truly, who knew the extent of the rinnegan's powers? Leader's bizarre doujutsu may very well be able to contact the dead. Who knew? There was only one person close enough to Leader to know anything personal about him, Konan.
How would either Leader or Konan feel if one of them was killed? Would they mourn? Itachi tore himself with these thoughts, submitting himself fully to his emotions. His heart was just another organ in his body, the pain emitting from it should cease eventually. At least, he hoped so.
NO FLAMES! I know you want to, but please contain yourself. I told you, no happy endings so yeah... I'll make a sequel like I said earlier, but not right away. Please tell me what you thought if my story and any suggestions to improve the sequel. Thanks and I love you all so much for your faithful reviewing and encouragement!