WHEREVER YOU ARE

Haruno Sakura, daughter to one of Konoha's heroes. Uchiha Sasuke, Chuunin, who might just be more of a disgrace to his Clan than his brother. Sakura knew going on this mission with him would be a mistake. That she would fall in love with him all over again, and the worst part was - she was right.

Road to Ninja Universe. SasuSaku.

Chapter 22 – Everything I Wanted

"I tried to scream,
But my head was underwater."

Tsunade went over the plan but Sakura barely heard her, she felt cold all over as she stared at Tsunade with wide eyes. It felt like her heart was barely beating. "Hokage?"
Tsunade nodded. She believed in Sakura, that much was obvious. It was also what made this so much more painful. Tsunade, knowing everything she knew about Sakura, still picked her. Out of everyone here.
Sakura's lips pressed into a thin line and her fists clenched at her sides. Tsunade had known that she never wanted to become Hokage. Not ever. She'd lost her parents to that role. And now, Tsunade as well. But as Tsunade looked at her now, her strange eyes filled with so much hope and confidence in Sakura that she couldn't take it.
"I can't do this," she breathed, her chin quivering slightly as she stared directly at Tsunade and everyone around them seemed to fade away for her.
"You were always meant for this." Tsunade told her. "I knew it. And so does every shinobi standing here."
Sakura took a step closer to the barrier. "You know that I never wanted this." she said, her eyes filling with tears again.
"I know." Tsunade murmured. "But I believe in you."
Gai, as unemotional and logical as ever, chose that moment to interrupt. "Whether or not you want it," he said, voice loud and strong, and Sakura turned her head to him. "You are needed. Will you accept?"
Sakura looked around, meeting the eyes of the shinobi around her but all she saw was how their eyes shined with confidence - in her. Sakura swallowed and her lungs felt heavy in her chest. She looked up at Sasuke.
His eyes had that warmth they always had when he looked at her and he dipped his head towards her, "Whatever you decide to do," he spoke lowly so that only she would be able to hear. "I will stand with you."
Sakura closed her eyes, willing the right choice to just magically appear behind her lids.
"We need you, Sakura-san." Gai took a step towards her but Tsunade held up a hand to stop him.
Sasuke reached out and took her hand, giving it a firm squeeze and it gave Sakura had the strength to give them one quick nod. "I'll do it."
Tsunade gave a small smile, just for her, before she turned back to the shinobi. "Then Konoha will now begin its counterattack. I-"
Ino let out a sudden cry. A White Zetsu came out of the ground right behind her, ripping her away from the barrier and breaking the jutsu. Ino was tossed aside and Kiba leapt in, catching her before she hit the ground. Asuma grabbed the Zetsu, breaking its neck easily and throwing the lifeless thing aside with disgust.

But the barrier was falling away now and Tsunade turned, eyes immediately going to Sasuke – her body tight and ready to attack. Sasuke tensed next to Sakura – but it wasn't necessary. Black Zetsu appeared behind Tsunade, who had gone very stiff. "You've been busy, Tsunade-hime." He lifted a kunai with a red tag on it and inserted it into the back of Tsunade's head. Tsunade's entire body jerked, her eyes changing color. It was like she'd become a living doll.
"Kill all of them," Black Zetsu said and there was no hesitation as Tsunade leapt onto Gai, he was quick to counter her though, meeting her blow for blow. Black Zetsu sunk back into the ground underneath them.
Sakura's throat closed up and it took everything in her to push her panic back. You can do this. You have to do this. She knew what she had to do. Tsunade was counting on her. Every shinobi here was counting on her. Sakura took a deep breath. "You all know the plan." She said loudly. "You all know what you need to do."
Gai was still engaging Tsunade, keeping her away from the other shinobi.
"Go!"
The shinobi didn't hesitate. They scattered into the night.
Sakura knew what was coming when she turned to Sasuke. His eyes were already narrowed, as if he knew too. "You need to go help Kakashi with Menma,"
Sasuke shook his head. "No. I know what you're planning, Sakura." He shook his head again. "I…don't want you to have to do that."
Sakura gave him a watery smile. "I'm the only one who can."
"I don't want you to. Minato and Kushina are heading to back Kakashi up. I can stay."
Sakura took his hands but he pulled away, still shaking his head.
"Sasuke. For this to work everyone needs to do what they can. You have to let me do this. Alone."
He didn't move, the stubborn glint in his eyes said he wasn't about to let her send him away.
"Don't make me order you to go." Sakura whispered softly.
Sasuke hesitated. "You wouldn't do that."
"Then trust me." Sakura murmured, pressing her palms to his cheeks. "Please."
Sasuke pulled her into his arms, kissing her hard and fast. Sakura clung to him, the desperate edge of his kiss broke her heart and she pulled him even closer, pouring her fear and pain into that kiss. Sasuke made a sound as if he understood, his fingers pressing into her back as he clung to her. When he finally pulled away it felt like it was too soon. He pressed his forehead against hers, eyes still squeezed shut and then he released her all at once and turned without looking at her. Sakura watched him disappear into the darkness, knowing exactly how hard leaving her now was. But he did. Because she asked him.
Sakura took a deep breath and turned to where Gai was holding Tsunade off. Gai met her gaze over Tsunade's shoulder and Sakura gave him one, sure nod. He looked for a moment as if he would refuse, as if he too did not want her fighting Tsunade but then he nodded back and flipped over Tsunade, who immediately jumped – trying to intercept him. Sakura rushed in, tackling her to the ground and allowing Gai to make his escape. She knew Kurenai and Asuma would be somewhere in the shadows, close by. Waiting until Sakura had immobilized Tsunade so that they could seal her away. For good.
Both of them crashed to the ground and Sakura rolled away and into a crouch. Tsunade got to her feet easily. There was no life in her eyes, none of the kindness or warmth she'd showed Sakura for all those years. None of the sweet smiles or fierce, determined looks. Tsunade rushed at her. There was no recognition or hesitation. She had only a single thought now. To kill. Sakura dodged to the side, but Tsunade turned swiftly sending another punch at her. Hit her. And then another. Hit her. Sakura dodged again. And again. Hit her! Stop hesitating! Sakura screamed, throwing her fist at Tsunade.

She hesitated.

x-x-x-x

Sasuke forced his feet to move. Every part of him wanted to turn back and somehow save Sakura from what she was about to face. But this was what she wanted. And he would give her that. No matter how hard it was for him to leave her behind.

Hidan dropped down from one of the rooftops, his feet touching the ground right in front of Sasuke. "Yo, little Uchiha."
Sasuke nearly groaned. Hidan. God, he fucking loathed Hidan.
Sasuke threw his most hateful glare at him but Hidan simply winked and then mentioned him forward. "You're really going to want to see this." He nodded up ahead, around the building and Sasuke wanted to avoid looking just to annoy him but he moved forward before he could stop himself.

Sasuke froze, his eyes going wide. What…?
Two Susanoo were facing off against each other, right outside the village gate.
One he recognized as his mother's. The other-
"Itachi." Hidan supplied as if he could read Sasuke's thoughts. Sasuke threw another glare at him. Itachi's Susanoo was in the air, swinging a large sword down. Mikoto blocked the blow easily, her own Susanoo throwing a ball of fire at him.
Was this what the Sharingan was truly capable of? Again, Sasuke was forced to face the fact that he'd never really known anything about the clan, or the Sharingan. Whatever training they gave him could never have prepared him for this. What had his parents thought he would do during the coup? Or had they always known he would never side with them and purposefully left him out of it? As always, the bitterness rose in him with a vengeance.
"Are you coming?" Hidan asked, letting out an impatient breath.
"What the hell are you doing here right now anyway?" Sasuke snapped, taking his annoyance out on Hidan.
"Since the Sharingan can be used to subdue the Kyuubi, Itachi asked me to stick around in case you're having trouble with your," he tapped next to his eye, "You know what," Hidan whispered.
"Why would I-" Sasuke cut himself off, thinking about the blood on his hand when he'd used his Sharingan before. It wasn't real. Itachi had placed a genjutsu on his eyes. Wasn't that the plan? To fool their parents into thinking he had the Mangekyou. To protect him? And Sakura?
But the blood…
Sasuke looked back at Hidan who was waiting impatiently. "Can we hurry this up?" Hidan said, "I would love to get back to wooing Sakura."
"I can use my eyes on you." Sasuke almost growled, "If you want."
"As kinky as that sounds, we need to get going." Hidan turned, taking off without waiting and reluctantly, Sasuke followed.

x-x-x-x

Sakura's hesitation cost her.

Tsunade fist connected. Sakura was thrown back, blood flying from her lips as she hit the side of the Hokage Tower hard, grunting on the impact. Trying to push herself, Sakura realized Tsunade was already there – ready with a kick, giving her no time to recover. Sakura barely dodged, rolling to the side as she coughed up more blood. Why can't you hit her? Tears sprang in her eyes as she jumped to her feet, dodging Tsunade's hits. I said I could do this. Sakura grabbed Tsunade's extended arm and shoved her away, pushing Tsunade off of her feet. She hit the ground hard, rolling away a few feet. It isn't her. Not anymore. But all Sakura could see was the Tsunade she knew. Head titled to the side, warm smile on her face. Another hit landed and Sakura cried out, hitting the ground hard. When she opened her eyes, Tsunade's heel was coming down on her. Sakura rolled away again, the heel catching strands of her hair. Sakura's tears sprang free as she continued dodging the hits that just kept coming and coming. She wanted Tsunade to speak to her, to tell it was ok. To tell her she could do this. But Tsunade wasn't there anymore. She probably had no idea what she was doing right now. Sakura narrowly dodged the next attack, sliding away at the last second. But as Tsunade readied another attack, Sakura saw an opening. She had only a second to take it. To attack. Do it. Take her down. Sakura clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

Her hand froze in the space between them and Tsunade's leg caught her in the side, slamming her bad arm against her body. Sakura screamed as her body lifted off the ground and flew back – hitting the ground once, twice, three times before rolling to a stop. A sob heaved out of her as she heard Tsunade running towards her, closing the distance with amazing speed. Please. Tears mixed with her blood on the ground. Please stop. Tsunade didn't stop. Fingers circled Sakura's throat and she was lifted clear off the ground. Sakura wheezed, using her good arm to grasp a kunai from her pouch. She stabbed it into the arm holding her and Tsunade's grip loosened enough from her to drop out. There was no blood or pain on her face as Tsunade ripped the kunai from her arm and tossed it aside. She grabbed a fistful of Sakura's hair and brought her knee up to her face, hard and fast. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she caught Tsunade's leg, and the reached up to the arm holding her hair. She kept a tight hold on both of them, so hard that her fingers broke into papery flesh. And then she struck – Sakura's foot connected with Tsunade's midsection so hard that Tsunade flew several feet away, she slammed into the ground with a revolting sound and slid down the bloodstained road.
Sakura didn't give her a chance to recover, she dropped the arm and the leg that had detached from Tsunade's body and was at her old master's side in an instant. Sakura slammed her fist down into Tsunade's chest with all her might. She was sure she would never, ever forget the sickening crack has her fist went through Tsunade's breast bone. There was no resistance against Sakura's strength. There was no blood. Tsunade's head fell back but those lifeless eyes followed Sakura. Sakura watched her tears drip down onto Tsunade's face. Her body had already began to reconstruct itself. Sakura hit her again to make sure it would take longer for her to put herself back together. And then again, tears running down her face through the blood, dirt and grime. "Don't get up." Sakura cried, "Please."
And then Kurenai was there, a large scroll in her hand. She put a hand on Sakura's shoulder who took a shuddering breath and moved away as quickly as she could so that Kurenai could start the sealing jutsu. Kurenai had been Konoha's sealing jutsu expert for many years. Asuma stood behind her silently, ready to jump in if needed. From the tightness in his jaw, it was clear he'd wanted to jump in earlier. But that hadn't been the plan. Tsunade's lifeless eyes didn't stray from Sakura's face, even as the scroll came around her, covering her entire body. The inscription spread over scroll, finally sealing Tsunade in. Seconds was all it took.
Sakura let out a shuddering breath, and she turned away, her lips shaking. She wanted to fall to her knees and allow her heart to break all over again I can't breathe. I can't do this. I can't-
"Hokage-sama. We need to get to the gate to seal Mikoto immediately." Kurenai said, not without remorse.
Sakura had never felt more tired in her life but reigned her tears in as she squared her shoulders. She scrubbed her palms against her cheeks and turned to Kurenai. "Lead the way."

x-x-x-x

Sorry this chapter is a bit late. I changed it so many times but it's finally ready! Thanks for the rewiews~

Here is a teaser for the next chapter – Void.
"Things won't go the way you want, Itachi." Mikoto hissed, wiping the blood from her mouth. "It's already far too late." And then she ripped her shirt open, bearing her chest to everyone around. Mikoto had been right. It was too late. Whatever information they'd gotten…it hadn't been enough. Because she'd been experimenting on more than just Hashirama's cells."

Thanks for reading!

- Zana-Lee