Pain of Love

Note: *sigh* skewl skewl skewl...tadz all parentz talk bout huh? life sux...i have like dis parent conference thinge w/ me teacher...*parent conference week* -_- so sad! and ta top it off...i think we're getting our GRADEZ there...*shudder* me life...is gonna be a living hell...:P...newayz...enough bout w/ de yammering...now on ta de story!

~*~

Sasuke jerked up, his face suddenly deprived of color. "Sakura?" he whispered uncertainly before scrambling as fast as he could towards her. It had been quite awhile since he'd heard her scream, and for some unknown reason he felt scared. Not for himself, but for Sakura.

Sakura was as weak and fragile as a flower. She needed someone to watch over her, to protect her from the world. After all, it was obvious that she wasn't strong enough. That's why....he always had this urge to protect her, to make her feel safe, to just hold her in his arms.

"Are you alright?" he demanded when he reached her. Sasuke winced when he realized how cold his voice sounded. After spending so much time with the Sound, it was only natural that he would always have his defenses up. He sighed, but he wasn't with the Sound right now....he was with Sakura...

...the one that he...loved...

Sasuke's eyes widened with shock. "No...it's impossible," he retorted mentally, trying to deny all the emotions that were pent up inside of him. "I...can't love her...it's...forbidden." Flashbacks of them together, as kids training to become ninjas. All those times Sakura chased after him...claiming that she loved him. He hadn't understood the concept of love, he'd thought that...it was foolish...a waste of time, but now...he wanted that feeling...more then anything in the world.

..and...she'd thought him that. Sakura had taught him...how to love...

Sasuke ruthlessly shoved the emotions aside. He didn't have the time to deal with them right now. Sakura was in danger...it wasn't exactly the moment to be daydreaming. "Are you alright?" he repeated in a gentler tone, when he realized that Sakura hadn't replied yet. He shakily reached out towards her and grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her slightly. "Sakura?" he whispered nervously.

He frowned, something was wrong with Sakura. Never had he ever seen such an expression on her face, one so filled with guilt, horror and fear. Sasuke followed her empty glaze down to her hands. Blood...so much blood... He forced himself to remain calm to not do anything. Ever since he'd joined the Sound, his hands have been soaked in the blood of the innocent, and the guilty. But...none of it satisfied him, none of it gave him any glory. The only blood that he truly wanted...was right outside...waiting for him...

"Sakura, look at me," he commanded, waiting tensely to see whether or not she heard him.

Slowly, Sakura raised her eyes and met his. Sasuke suppressed a gasp of surprise when he noticed that Sakura's eyes were filled with unshed tears. He watched as a tear dripped down her cheek and fall towards the ground, almost in slow motion.

Sasuke wrapped his arms tightly around Sakura, ignoring the fact that she was pushing away. He just held her, with no hint of seduction, just to...comfort her. With a cry of pain, Sakura threw herself at him and cried....releasing a stream of tears.

"There...there...it's going to alright..." he whispered soothingly, placing his chin in her hair. Never in his life had he ever acted so kind...so gentle...it was as if...he was another person. "I'm here now...don't worry...I won't let anything hurt you..."

Sakura sniffed softly against his chest, too distraught to realize what she was doing. "There's nothing you could do..." she murmured softly. "We're going to die...all of us...there's no hope..."

"What are you talking about..." retorted Sasuke, his eye narrowed suspiciously. "You're always the optimistic one...you're the one who always had hope and dreams. You're always so cheerful," he paused for a moment, "Well...at least you were..."

"You don't understand," whispered Sakura, as if she hadn't heard a thing he'd just said. "He's strong...just too strong...I've never seen anything like it before. I never thought one could be so...CRUEL..."

"What..." began Sasuke, however he was interrupted by Sakura who pointed at the waterfall.

"Look..." she said weakly. "Look in the pool..."

Sasuke shot her a confused look, before shrugging. What could have been scary enough to send Sakura into hysterics? He sighed, and reluctantly pulled away from Sakura. "Alright..." he said calmly, taking a deep breath and walking slowly, but steadily towards the tiny innocent pool.

He knelt down, and stared into it's deep sapphire depths. Sasuke frowned, and squinted slightly. He could have sworn he saw something down there...something...solid. It was being blocked by a batch of lily pads.

Sasuke knew that had to find out what it was, slowly he reached out fueled by temptation and curiosity. His hand lay inches away from the beautiful pearl white flower. So white...so innocent...like as if it'd come right down from heaven. Quickly his hand made contact and tore out the plant.

His dark onyx eyes widened, while he flinched back in horror. Sasuke took a deep breath, and counted to 10. "No...this can't be happening..." he tried to reason with himself, his face a mask of denial. He gathered his courage and looked towards the pond, once again.

Sasuke closed his eyes in pain...and horror. Now he finally understood why Sakura screamed...why Kakashi...was so nervous. He looked down at the dark tortured corpse lying in it's watery grave...bedecked with lily flowers. He leaned closer...and felt his stomach heave...

He recognized the corpse...it was...

...The Hokage....

~*~

Note: hehe...how was tad? truthfully i was thinking of who ta kill off...i seriously had no idea ^^; i'd get flamed like craxy if me killed of naruto, ino, shika, hinata...ect. de list goes on. lol...i even thought bout killing off kakashi...me friend would totally have killed me if i did thad :P

oh ya! de hokage is de old one in my story...since i don't wanna kill of Tsunade...XD after all...i don't think anyonez gonna miss de old dude...*backz away in fear* ba if ya do...don't flame me! :P well...

Check out me other fic:

Touched by an Angel: Shika and Ino are getting married! What happenz when Sasuke is forced to "baby-sit Sakura"? R/R *sigh* me summary sux...newayz...just check it out!

l8ter...and peace out!