Itonami: Enjoy chapter nine! Thank you for all of your reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

Chapter 9

"Sakura, promise me that you won't interrupt." Sasuke said softly, his gaze still focused on his brother.

"But—"

"Promise me!" He hissed, whirling around to catch her tightly by the shoulders. His eyes were a mad, spinning red but they begged her to stay put. She could only nod as her only answer. Sasuke slowly turned to face Itachi again, this time shifting into an offensive pose.

"Long time no see, niisan." Sasuke snarled.

Itachi remained still. But he spoke. "You truly are still foolish, little brother."

Sasuke's eyes flashed furiously at his words. They made his blood boil. "Everything will start and finish here, brother. I will kill you." Instead of seeing a glinting mocking look in Itachi's eyes, there was a spark of challenge.

There was a silent pause as a leaf blew by between them. Itachi also crouched. His lips opened to say only one word. "Come."

The massacre began.

Naruto saw a horde of very unpleasant looking ninjas as his team arrived at the village. He noted with half relief that he could see a shock of pink hair among them. Hinata looked at him and nodded. "Sakura is there and so is Sasuke. It looks like Sasuke is going to face off with Itachi."

The ANBU captain almost went into shock when his team saw the two brothers with Sakura in the background, still trapped in the circle of Akatsuki shinobi.

"Naruto, Akatsuki at six o'clock!" Neji shouted from the back.

"Split up! Hinata, me, Shikamaru, go down there to where Sakura is! The rest hold them back!" Naruto shouted.

Tenten eagerly pulled out several weapons from her vest. Neji took his place beside her to the right as Lee took her left side. "Just like old time, ne, guys?" She asked, keeping her eyes steady on the oncoming force of dark shinobis.

Lee stepped into his taijutsu form, and arm extended forward as if egging them on even more. Neji refaced his Byakugan, as he noted the keen looks on their faces. He almost smiled. "Let's begin, shall we?"

Steel met skin, hands and feet met flesh, as powerful chakra met bodies, and the former genin team started their battle.

Neji started by stopping the flow of chakra in two of the enemies and Tenten took over, bombarding them with weapons they couldn't dodge. Lee took care of business in his own way. Faking kicks this away and that, he landed true iron blows on five of them, breaking several bones in each.

Tenten whirled to block an incoming fumma shuriken with her own and calmly stopped the hazardous spin to it. "Weapons…you can't beat me with weapons." Her voice contained an air of arrogance in them.

The taijutsu kicked two oncoming nin towards his Hyuuga teammate. "Neji, catch!"

Turning around, the Hyuuga stepped into a style close to his Kaiten, but he had modified it, becoming the very first of the Hyuuga Clan to advance a jutsu, earning him the spot as a Main House member. He had only used it twice before in actual combat: Hakkeshou: Kaiten Boufuu, the legendary Hand of the Eight Divinations: Heavenly Spin Windstorm (1). The Kaiten involved his chakra pouring out of his tenketsu, but this time, enhancing the chakra into many jagged sharp tips, he was able to shred up to three opponents into nothing.

Tenten couldn't help but watch Neji perform his jutsu. She remembered being there when Hyuuga Hiashi publicly deactivated the seal on Neji's head and formally allowed him to join the Main House. It had never been done before, but it was rumored that Hiashi had been researching for a way to deactivate the Branch family's seal ever since the Chuunin exams for Neji's sake…and for his deceased brother's memory. Even after all of that, the Hyuuga Clan's leader later privately apologized to his nephew for not being able to actually erase the mark. It was the first time and probably the last time she would see Neji's eyes cloud with tears. That Kaiten Boufuu provided Neji with the ticket out of being stuck in destiny's grasp and he got to honor his father's memory.

Seeing the weapon kunoichi distracted, an Akatsuki charged with senbon needles. Lee saw him coming. "Tenten, pay attention!" He shouted, as he quickly disposed of the foolish ninja. "If you keep this up, the burning youth inside of you will be extinguished!"

Tenten could only roll her eyes.

Naruto's rage took over, his azure eyes transforming into an insane reddish pink, as his fingers became tipped with sharp nails. The lines on his face engraved themselves deeper and his body released a powerful chakra. His fox-enhanced vision gave him a look at Sakura's battered body and Sasuke getting ready to fight. Skillfully and easily knocking aside two Akatsuki, he slashed at what he could reach.

It began to drizzle.

Sasuke was too experienced now to rush headlong into battle recklessly even when the intent to kill the enemy was almost enough to make him go wild. He was surprised when Itachi made the first move. The older Uchiha rushed him with a kunai but Sasuke easily parried the blows, cunning step-siding when he needed to. Both of their Sharingans were activated, each attempting to overpower each other.

Sasuke's hands suddenly made a series of seals that was very recognizable to Itachi. He followed his movements. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Scorching hot flames jetted from their mouths, two giant balls of fire colliding into each to each other that created an explosion. Sasuke moved quickly through the smoke as he waited for the presence of his brother. "Still not enough hate, Sasuke. Hate me like I hated you and your parents." Came the calm, monotone voice of Itachi.

He struck then.

Multiple blows of sly fists knocked the air out of Sasuke's lungs and a kick to his chin sent him flying. He could feel the trickling of blood down his chin as he tasted the tangy flavor of his own blood. Itachi advanced swiftly. Inside his robe, he made a series of seals. Taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly, he created, Okibihiryuu no jutsu, the Fire Dragon no jutsu (2). A huge, long stream of liquid fire spewed out the tip looked like the head of a mighty dragon, and with chakra, it flayed about, trying to engulf Sasuke in its searing hot mouth. The ground was muddy. Sasuke tripped. He fell headfirst on the mud, scraping his knee and elbows as he scrambled to dodge the oncoming attack. The dragon's snapping jaws missed Sasuke by mere inches. The heat burned his skin minutely.

The dragon retreated and the two brothers stood again in the rain.

Sakura watched in complete awe at the sight. She was currently fighting off the enemy with Naruto by her side. The building abhorrence that Sasuke was practically radiating stunned her. She had never known that such anger and fury was dwelling in him. Her pink hair was plastered to her head due to the pounding rain. She focused her attention back to her opponent.

The younger Uchiha sibling did not even flinch when the skies thundered and the heavens opened up, merciless rain beating down on them. It was a sudden and unexpected, but he welcomed it as the water washed off some of the mud and blood from his face. Rainwater slipped down his face and dripped off his chin. The coolness it provided did nothing to cool down the burning loath that Sasuke was feeling.

Itachi provoked his brother once more. "Hate me like I hated you and your parents."

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. "I hate you!" Every fiber of his being screamed out his rage as he felt his brother appear directly behind him with a deadly jutsu prepared but he stabbed Itachi with a kunai, its head buried deep in his flesh. Itachi looked at where the kunai had lodged itself while Sasuke was still holding onto the hilt protruding from his chest. The younger brother was merciless. He jabbed it further and further in his older brother's flesh and it made Itachi cough, blood spattering over his black cloak.

Time itself seemed to stop.

Sasuke's words had rooted the elder Uchiha to the spot, his words triggering something unknown, a kind of pain that he hadnever known. He had never heard the word hate come from his little brother's mouth, and never heard it directed at him with enough hatred to make him stagger back. But Sasuke couldn't stop. He didn't dare to stop. He struck heavily with taijutsu maneuvers, ones that he had learned long ago in Konoha. Itachi struggled out of his shock and managed to block the last few hits to the abdomen.

"I hate you! I hate you!" Sasuke shouted, a pure, blinding frenzy overtaking his control over his body. "I hate you for all you represent in my life! It all stops here!" He hissed dangerously. Again, something felt like it was shot dead in Itachi. He couldn't stop the younger brother from pummeling him with chakra enhanced blows. They were mere dull aches compared to what was going on inside the Uchiha prodigy's body.

Sasuke's backhanded fist lashed out, his punches and kicks becoming even more desperate and forced. He took out another kunai and slashed his niisan's body over and over again, repeating that he hated him, not noticing that blood gushed out everywhere, not noticing that he was literally bathing in his hated brother's blood. Breaths came hard from the rivaling brothers. Someone was calling out to Sasuke in the background very faintly, but he continued, only sheer willpower making him go on. A prick of slight pain touched the side of his neck, and black, flaming marks spreading all over his body as he felt a fresh wave of dark chakra. A maniacal smile spread on his face, giving him an eerie possessed look. Blood is lovely…

"SASUKE, STOP!" Sakura rushed to him, clutching the rampaging Sasuke from behind and something about the scene was familiar. His face turned to meet her tear-stained face, and through his fury he recognized the kunoichi that he had spent his day with, happily and peacefully without the thought of being an avenger or his brother's death. His Sharingan melted away into his normal black color as the curse seal retreated back to where it had been hibernating. "No more, Sasuke. Please, no more."

A feeble cough startled them out of their trance and they both looked down. Sasuke fell to his knees, exhausted from what he had been through. Sakura went down with him, her arms letting go as Sasuke reached out with a shaking hand to touch Itachi's pale skin. He recoiled when he made slight contact as if he had touched something lethal.

Itachi stared at him with lifeless eyes that almost made him shiver. "Did you know, Sasuke, that I never hated you?" - Sasuke's eyes grew wide - "No, I never hated you. I never could hate you." There was a gap of silence filled with disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke growled angrily, a hint of fear seeping into his tone.

The elder Uchiha, the infamous Uchiha Itachi that murdered almost his entire clan could hardly see through his charcoal black eyes. A tear escaped from the corner of one, but the rain made it impossible to be visible. "Run, and cling to life, little brother. Find happiness with Sakura-san and cling to her like life itself." Itachi tried to reach out but found that he couldn't. His arms were cut up beyond recognition. Agonizing pain filled his body like fire and he realized that he wanted to touch Sasuke just once, touch his baby brother like he had before when they were younger. With Herculean strength, he raised one of his deformed arms and just one fingertip brushed against Sasuke's face.

His eyes were going blind. Itachi could barely make out Sakura beside his brother. "Sakura-san?" Sakura almost jumped at his recognition of her. "I know I do not deserve any favors…but I'd like to ask you to do one thing. I'd like to ask if you could look after Sasuke for me. No…not for me, but for him? Could you?" He could see her blurry head nodded up and down. He sighed with relief.

Sasuke grew enraged and desperate. He shook his brother aggressively. "Damn it, Itachi, what the hell are you talking about? Answer me!" Itachi only gave him a ghostly smile that finally looked natural on his face.

"I'm sorry…my foolish little brother."

"Itachi! Damn it!" He shouted, racking the lifeless body. Hot watery liquid from his eyes fell down his face, mingling with the rain. Sasuke slowed and reached a halt in shaking his brother, knowing that his brother was dead. The Uchiha massacre was almost complete. "…Niisan?" Sasuke whispered hoarsely, looking down at Itachi's peaceful face. He inhaled a shuddering breath. "What have I done?" His eyes grew in shock as he took in the full sight of his own trembling, blood stained hands. "What have I done?"

Sakura felt a tidal wave sadness and sympathy for the ninja in front of her. She closed her arms around him and he collapsed into her embrace, his body sliding down in the mud so that he was quietly sobbing into her lap with his arms tightly encircled her tiny waist, clutching to her as if she was life itself. As she held him, she could feel the warmness of his body and his tears. Holding him closer, she cried with him.

Neji supported a limping Tenten while Lee was tying a makeshift splint on his leg. Hinata was weakly sitting in the mud while Shikamaru was tending to her severe wounds. Being only a chuunin, the battle had taken its toll on her. Naruto's power receded as he gazed at his surroundings. Thirty dead bodies belonging to the Akatsuki littered the muddy ground, tinting the brown with a revolting red. Kisame had lasted till the end until Naruto finished it with his Rasengan. His natural blue eyes spotted Sakura and Sasuke together, with the latter in an awkward position on the ground while hugging Sakura's waist. He looked completely wasted.

Not far away from them, Itachi lay dead facing upwards at the sky. Naruto approached Sakura and crouched beside her. "Sakura, you know what we have to do." Sakura's green eyes begged him, pleaded with him as she shook her head in a frightened way and her arms around the missing nin constricted.

His face was set solemnly as his eyes traveled to Sasuke. Naruto almost felt like flinching. "Sakura, you know your duty. If you don't do this, you will have failed as a ninja and you will have failed the village."

"I can't, Naruto. Please…" She implored in a whisper.

"Sakura…" He saw that Sasuke had fallen asleep. His eyes softened. "He's asleep."

Sakura looked surprised at his soft tone and glanced down. His grip around her was still strong, but indeed, he was asleep. Smiling quietly, she ran her hand through his wet, dark hair.

Neji looked very angry at the sight of the former legendary Team 7. Naruto wasn't going to execute Sasuke. He could feel it in his gut. Tenten was about to slip into unconsciousness and Lee had turned away from the sight of Sakura holding Sasuke tenderly.

Naruto made sure Hinata was all right and asked Shikamaru to find an inn. He ran off swiftly, forgetting his laziness for the moment. He came back that he had found an inn empty of people, probably those that escaped before the Akatsuki could kill off all of them. The landlord had offered them a place to stay since he didn't have anyone else to tend to. Shikamaru carried Hinata on his back and Naruto did the same with Sasuke. He was out cold. Sakura would be laughed out loud at the sight the two of them made. Sasuke had grown quite tall, almost as tall as Naruto and the blonde ANBU captain was hunched over significantly at the Uchiha's weight. She could only smile a tiny bit, but it was enough that Naruto noticed and he scowled at her.

"What the hell does he eat?" He growled, as they slowly made progress.

The other ANBUs were quiet and they felt awkward. Tenten had finally just decided that she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and slept in Neji's arms. Sakura walked beside the lumbering Naruto, keeping her eyes on their conditions. She also went around treating slight wounds as well as she could before they reached the inn…or at least offered to. Lee politely declined her healing while Neji coldly turned it down. Shikamaru was too lazy to answer or pull away and she treated him from the painful bruises on his back.

When the inn door opened, Shikamaru quickly went to a bedroom to lay Hinata to rest. Naruto kicked open the door across the hall and half put him down and half dropped him on the mattress. Sakura gave soldier pills to everyone and supervised while the male Hyuuga bandaged Tenten's arms and ankle.

The ANBU medic nin offered to see Lee's wounds again, but he refused once more, this time flaring up her anger. "Rock Lee, I am going to see your leg whether you like it or not. You can kick and scream all you want like an immature child, or you can let me see your leg willingly. Which will it be?" In the end, Sakura ended up healing his leg fully so that the splint was unnecessary.

On the other hand, being stern with Hyuuga Neji didn't quite work. He wouldn't even let her touch Tenten. Sakura exasperatedly threw up her hands and gave up, but planned to at least treat Tenten at night.

She retreated to Sasuke's bedside, taking him out of his wet shirt and asked Naruto to take off his pants. Sakura asked the landlord if he had any spare clothes and he found her a pair of pants and a clean shirt. After Naruto was finished with dressing him, he bid her good night and hurriedly went to Hinata's room.

Sakura took off her shirt and wrapped her body comfortably in a bathrobe provided by the inn. She toweled her hair dry after a shower and seated herself on a chair beside the sleeping Uchiha.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. What will happen tomorrow?" She murmured.

Naruto was worriedly glancing down at Hinata, who was fitfully resting. Sakura had tended to her as best she could. He was relieved to find out that his fiancé was going to make it through. He grasped her limp hand and they were still quite soft and warm. The ANBU captain bit his lip anxiously, eyeing his white fox mask and he sighed wearily. He stripped from his uniform that clung uncomfortably to him from the rain.

He grabbed his pack and pulled out extra set of clothes consisting of standard black jounin pants and his favorite black and orange shirt. He splashed water on his face and asked the innkeeper if he had any coffee. Carrying two steaming cups of coffee a few minutes later, he set one down on the bed stand next to Hinata and took his seat beside her again. Naruto sipped his drink while silently wishing for Hinata's health and her ramen. He scowled at himself, displeased that he could be thinking about food at a time like this.

A knock came at the door. "Naruto, are you sleeping?" Sakura's muffled voice carried through from the other side.

"No, come one in." Naruto said, smelling a delicious aroma.

The tired looking medic carefully opened the door carrying two bowls of kimchi ramen and chopsticks. Naruto's mouth began to water at the sight of food. He eagerly took his and Sakura sat on the other side of Hinata's bed. She gazed at the Hyuuga heir and frowned.

"I should have never asked her to come along. What was I thinking?" She muttered, hardly even touching her food. She had suddenly lost her appetite.

"Come on, Sakura-chan. She'll be all right. You said so yourself. Besides, who else am I going to marry after this?"

Sakura looked shocked. "You're going to ask Hinata?"

Naruto grinned widely, his mouth displaying a few bits of noodles decorating his teeth. "Already did."

She jumped up, almost knocking over her ramen and clapped her hands to her mouth. "Did you really? She said yes? Of course she said yes. When will the wedding be? You will invite me, right? Who's her Maid of Honor? Who's the Best man?"

"Sakura-chan, we haven't decided on anything yet…besides the decision that Neji is my best man."

Sakura gaped at him with her jaw unhinged. "Are you serious? Him? That—that—that—him!" She stuttered, giving up when she failed to turn up with the right word to describe the Hyuuga prodigy.

The blonde ninja in front of him smiled all the more. He leaned back in his chair, his legs stretching out leisurely and wrapped his hands behind his head. He winked broadly. "Uzumaki Hinata…" He sighed dreamily, "It does have a certain ring to it, right?"

Sakura grinned almost as wide as he was, feeling so overwhelmed with happiness and gladness that she didn't know what to do with it. Naruto inclined his head to indicate the full bowl of ramen beside her. "You should eat. It's been…a tough day, ne?"

Up until Itachi's invasion, everything had been wonderful. It had been so perfect that the day had felt like a dream. Now it she faced reality. Uchiha Sasuke was a traitor of the Leaf, a dangerous criminal, former ally with Orochimaru, and in a class of criminal activities by himself. He had unfortunately decided that his power was going to be put to use against the Leaf. It was so unfair that Sakura wanted to cry. But it was completely fair; she read and understood the look in Naruto's eyes: Sasuke would be executed tomorrow.

The medic ninja shuddered, suddenly feeling cold in the warm room, and she wrapped her arms around herself, and excused herself from Naruto's presence after she checked up on Hinata one last time. Retiring to the Sasuke's room, she plopped herself into the chair that she had occupied before.

Sasuke wasn't sleeping very well, and she could see his hands tremble. She grasped one of them, keeping the large strong hands enveloped in hers. The world felt no different even though Itachi was dead. He was dead. Yet nothing changed. They weren't back in Konoha sparring and spending time together, Sasuke was still not smiling, she still felt as vacant as ever. I don't understand. I thought if Sasuke got his revenge, everything would be back to normal. Why isn't it? She angrily thought, bitter that reality wasn't her fantasy.

The sole Uchiha carefully opened his eyes, his eyes hurting from the dim light of the lamp beside the bed. But a certain pink haired woman provided them relief. "Sakura, look at me." His harsh, airy voice grated against the stillness of the air.

Sakura averted her gaze to his quickly then relaxed. "You're awake, Sasuke."

Something in her voice confirmed what he had been suspecting all along. "Will you be there at the execution tomorrow?"

Author's notes:

(1)- Hakkeshou: Kaiten Boufuu, the legendary Hand of the Eight Divinations: Heavenly Spin Windstorm is a move that I made up with my superior creativity… :deathly pause, crickets chirp in the background: Fine, the superior creativity is overdoing it a little, but it is something that I made up. I'm not good with battle scenes, so please forgive me. This is my creation, but you are welcome to use it? X Not that anyone would…T-T I do not care if you want to use it as long as you notify me

(2)- Okibihiryuu no jutsu, the Fire Dragon no jutsu is also a made up jutsu because I couldn't think of anything else to write for the battle scene. I don't even know if the name translates right because I used a really crappy Japanese-English dictionary. I'm not Japanese, (I'm from the little country directly west of the island of Japan. AHJA HANGOOK! XD) so please ridicule me all you want. If you happen to be Japanese or are educated well in the language, please, I request that you tell me what it is I really want to say… Thank you!

Chapter nine is complete! I updated fast! Aren't you proud of me? Don't think this is the end, my friends! It isn't! You haven't forgotten our darling Sannin, Orochimaru, have you? His revenge against the Leaf is thickening! Sasuke…will he be executed? Neji harbors a lot of bitterness and anger against the Uchiha, doesn't he? Well, I'll update when I can once more! I just couldn't stop writing after chapter 8, so… Reviews please! Lots of encouragement and inspiration needed!