I Do Not Own Naruto

Chapter 26

Sai knocked on her door that morning to her shock when she opened it and stared at her teammate and adoptive brother.

"Hey Sai, what's up?" she asked as she stepped aside and he walked in then.

"I am here on official business, Sakura," Sai said.

"Oh," she nodded.

"Where is the Uchiha?"

"He crashed," she admitted as she shut the door behind Sai and walked to her room where Sasuke had crashed an hour ago. He hadn't slept after the evaluations Shikamaru had for his mental state, Tsunade had for his health, and the physical exams he had been having with the Kage assistants. He was exhausted, and with all that came his nightmares, his own twisted darkness which kept him awake to the point of exhaustion. Hesitantly Sakura reached for Sasuke's shoulder, he bolted up, his hand charged and she grabbed his wrist then as he calmed down and stared at her with his dual colored eyes.

"Hey," she smiled at him then.

He groaned as he fell back and she released his wrist as he rubbed his face.

"Hn?"

"Sai's here, it's official business," she announced.

"Aa," he grumbled and then he swung up to his feet. She followed him out of her room as she shut the door behind her and they joined Sai at the table. Her friend gave her a real smile and she smiled back at Sai as she sat beside him. Sasuke sat across from him.

"Hello traitor," Sai smiled.

"Social retard," Sasuke nodded. She frowned at the name calling but didn't tell them both to knock it off, though it was extremely tempting.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked as he leant back in his seat and rubbed his face over.

"Many of the radicles are mounting a plan to attack us during the Kage summit, which you know started earlier this week, to capture you as their leader. Apparently many of them believe that you are Uchiha Madara's incarnation who will lead them," Sai said.

"No," Sasuke said furiously and she sighed then. Of course some whack jobs would come to think of Sasuke as their new Uchiha Madara with him being the last Uchiha and all, also there was his power. Sasuke had grown into his power very well, and now he was probably one of the most lethal, dangerous, and powerful shinobi of their age. This served as a painful reminder as it twisted a small knife in her heart but she ignored it.

"So what are we doing?" Sakura asked.

"The hearing is tomorrow, and I decided that it was time you knew. It is believed that if they strike it will be tomorrow during your hearing, traitor, and we wanted you aware of the possibility," Sai said. He looked blankly at her, and she got the memo from Sai, this was a warning for them for Sasuke not to lose it if there was something to happen.

"Thank you Sai," she smiled.

"You're welcome Ugly," he smiled as he stood up.

"Anything else?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, I have a request of my own, do not destroy the village," Sai said as he left and Sakura sighed as she leant back in her chair and looked at Sasuke who was rubbing his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose then.

"Can you not go to the hearing tomorrow?" he asked her softly and she looked at him. Sasuke wasn't looking at her, his eyes were closed and he seemed to be thinking.

"Why should I not go to the hearing?" she asked coldly as she glared at him. she had already testified her part, again, and she had repeated her offer; and apparently if they didn't put the Uchiha to death they were going to keep the original sentence in place, and they were going to hold her to the deal as well. As scary as that was she didn't care, she wanted to be there to show her support of the Uchiha. She wanted to show he had changed and she wanted them to all look her in the eye and tell her that they saw the change as well, because if they didn't then she was going to knock them all on their asses.

"Sakura, please," he growled out.

"No! I have just as much right to be there too!" she snapped, she didn't spit out that her life was on the line as well as she glared at him.

"I don't want you there!" he snapped and she stared at him with wide eyes as she flinched from his words.

"I don't want you there tomorrow," he admitted softer and she looked at the table as she felt the tears well up again. "I don't want you there if they sentence me to death," he said softly and she looked at him.

"You're a bigger moron than Naruto," she hissed as she stood up and stalked to her room. She didn't give Sasuke a chance to respond as she slammed the door with all her normal strength to get the point across to him. Leaning on the door she closed her eyes as her breath hitched and she sunk to the floor as she refused to cry. There would no crying from her when they had a dinner to go to with Naruto in a few hours.

Still, her breath hitched as her heart twisted up painfully. Biting her lip, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to let what he had asked of her to hurt more than it already did. She had lived with him for four months, she was hopelessly in love with him and all she wanted was to stand beside him to give him all the support she could. But she supposed that this was inevitable, opening her eyes she stared at the ceiling.

Sasuke was forever an independent creature of habit, and he wouldn't want her support.

She should have expected that, despite their friendship.

Sasuke was a bit irritated with himself as he walked through the village with Naruto and Sakura. It was probably his own doing somehow, and he knew that, and he also knew that he hadn't exactly asked her the nicest thing or in the nicest way. But damn it! He wasn't nice!

Chancing a glance at her he saw her smiling as she teased Naruto and the dobe grinning that goofy grin. He frowned a bit but dismissed this as he walked with them.

There was a reason he didn't want Sakura at the hearing tomorrow, and it wasn't even that he didn't want her support. He didn't want her there tomorrow because if he was sentenced to death he didn't want to see her crying, and he didn't want her to know he was crying as well. He didn't care all that much about if he lived or died, but he wanted to at least have the chance at redemption and quite frankly the odds were not stacked in his favor.

The Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage (who aside from giving him a hungry, creepy look) all looked at him with contempt. He knew Kakashi and Gaara were on his side, Kakashi had never given up on him for some reason and Gaara because he had claimed to have redeemed himself as well. Sasuke didn't know if this was true or not. And there was also Mifune who looked at him with indifference.

The tie breaking votes on those six; if there really was a tie, which he doubted there would be; would come from the elders, and they hated his guts so he didn't have a lot of faith that he was getting out of this trial alive.

He did not want Sakura to see him cry when he was sentenced to death. She didn't need to know that he wasn't ready to die without at least trying again. If this had been four months ago he'd have Said go ahead but now… Now it was a little more complicated than that. He also did not feel ready to die anymore, but this was something else he was keeping to himself.

"And I was like, well I didn't eat it, Kurama did!" Naruto laughed.

"I bet Kakashi gave you a thousand years of death jutsu," Sakura sniggered evilly.

"He didn't!" Naruto bellowed and Sasuke smirked a little. "I already was gone!" he laughed.

"So the dobe can learn," Sasuke mused.

"I'm smarter than you think!" Naruto defended.

"That's debatable," Sakura said.

"HEY!" the dobe bellowed and he nodded in agreement with Sakura as they walked.

"Oh, here, an early birthday gift," Sakura smiled as she dug through her bag and pulled out her gift. He had his tucked under his stump and under the cloak. The dobe being oblivious like he was hadn't even noticed yet.

"Wow! Thanks Sakura, that's what good friends do!" Naruto pointedly said as he took the gift, Sasuke was holding the box under the dobe's nose when th dobe turned on him then. "Oh, you're still a terrible friend."

"Aa," he agreed. He was not good at all of this friendship crap. But he was figuring it out and he figured that counted for something. the dobe struggled with taking his box and Sasuke smirked. Sakura smiled, and when he looked at her, she glared at him.

He was going to have to explain himself more than likely.

Internally he swore as they watched the dobe gleefully rip the boxes open.

"Thanks teme! Sakura! I was going to need new clothes!" The dobe gleefully announced as he looked the gear over and the sweatshirt.

"Lemme guess you out grew everything you had, and Pain's Attack took out the rest of your bright wardrobe," Sakura mused blandly.

"Kind of," Naruto grinned.

"Idiot," he said.

"Bastard!"

"Loser."

"Homicidal Antisocial Bastard!"

"Imbecile."

"Pain in the ass!"

"I am willing to knock both your asses to Suna and back if you don't knock it off!" Sakura roared and Naruto flinched, he returned her baleful glare and they continued to Ichiraku's.

The night went smoothly, aside from fangirls; Sasuke forgot how fucking annoying they were, and he was quick to dump the ones who were brave enough to come near him on the dobe; almost literally in the case of one young woman. Sakura was at one point shoved aside, and that was when he had almost lost his temper and all the girls were quick to vamoose as he helped Sakura up. The dobe was oblivious to all this attention though as he chatted through the night.

Sasuke finally got the dobe home and he walked with Sakura in silence.

"I don't not want you there tomorrow, but please don't come," he said.

"You know, after being stuck together for months I'd have thought you'd meant it when you said we were friends!" she snapped as she kicked her door and struggled with the lock. Those words stung and he grabbed her fumbling fingers. She stiffened under his touch then and he deserved that as he thought carefully about what he was to say next.

"It is not that I do not want you there, and you are friend, it is I do not want you to see me sentenced to death," he murmured softly and he felt her relax as she slowly looked up at him.

"I'd be your executioner if you are so either way I'd know," she whispered and he stiffened at her words. She turned to look at him as she leant against the door.

"That was the deal I made with the Kage, and council to keep you alive. If you went rogue I would kill you, and then they could execute me," she admitted and he stared at her.

"So if you die, I die," she muttered.

"Sakura…" he started and she looked up at him.

"I made this choice, I will deal with the consequences of this decision as they come, but if you are to die, then so am I."

"Sakura," he whispered softly and he didn't know if he should be horrified or terrified for her.

"Yeah, so either way it doesn't matter, does it?" she said bitterly with a bitter smile.

"If I die, you die," he said slowly. She just nodded and he rested his brow on hers'. "Why would you offer that?"

"Because, if anyone should kill you it should at least be someone who didn't hate you," she whispered and he stared at her again. This foolish, annoying woman had offered her life up with his; she was a bigger fool than he'd have ever thought.

But he couldn't keep her away then.

"Then come tomorrow," he surrendered.

"Good," she decided and they walked into her apartment. He clung tightly to her that night after she fell into a deep sleep and he cursed her obstinate ways.

Look, I'm binge writing UtDID for a few chapters because I have all the scenes in my head on replay. So I hope you can keep up! ;)

That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Until the Day I Die! =)