An anonymous reviewer said that "why would Sasuke want Sakura if she's already used?" As much as I respect your opinion, I was GRAVELY INSULTED by the statement, having a relationship isn't just about sex you know. Pointing out grammar mistakes or spellings or saying anything about the pacing is okay but saying something that is as shallow and pathetic as that REALLY GETS TO ME. No hard feelings.

Thanks to the lovely people that reviewed especially Tank-san! Goodness, I didn't notice the typos especially the eye thing (scratches back of her head)! Please do read the chapter! And are you interested in being a beta-reader? Thanks!

All chapters were redone and edited for mistakes. If you see any, drop me a line, kay?

Also, I'm thankful for the following who reviewed:

Luv's-lyric

Susakuru

Yuna-Blueo'hara

puppiescute a.k.a. Mic mic

simplee sweet

Tank

Standard Disclaimers apply.

Warning: This chapter is really to put no fine words to it, really bloody. And sadistic. So for the innocent and hapless minds out there, good luck on reading. There is a reason why the fic was M. One of those is clearly presented by the chapter.

When the Snow Melts..

Chapter IV

Culmination

"Is that Sakura?"

Naruto looked at them in disbelief.

Pride could be clearly seen in Akito's amber eyes.

"Onee-san. The one and only."

Confusion was clearly visible on Naruto's eyes as he waited for an explanation.

The other Mist-nin spoke.

"Summoning techniques allow one to summon a beast to aid in fighting. Often times, the beast will exist outside of the summoner's body and that being the case, their chakra would not combine, giving limited control to the summoner. However, a clan in Mist has a different way of doing so."

He gave Sakura and Akito a meaningful look.

"They can allow the beast to occupy the summoners's body, making the two chakra's combined for greater control and power. However, the beast's personality will rise to the surface, and possibly make the summoner loose control. Also, the beast will consume the chakra of the summoner until the last drop. The technique is considered one of the most dangerous and only few, those with nearly perfect chakra control and a stable mind can perform the jutsu. For that reason, only the clan heads of that clan know how to do it.

He stopped to look at everyone, who he noticed was listening attentively to what he was saying.

"The Ryuuzaki clan heads. first, Tsubaki-san, the former matriarch of the Ryuuzaki clan, her eldest son Yukito, the clan patriarch and his fiancée, Sakura-chan. But since there is a new clan patriarch..

His voice drifted off, for the topic of Akito's ascent to the position of clan patriarch was still taboo. His eyes moved to the two blue orbs at the back of Akito's left hand before releasing a sigh.

Not even a single movement was seen in the battlefield. Pink lips were curved up in a smirk revealing two sharp fangs, eyes glinting in sadistic amusement at Kazumi who appears to have temporarily lost the ability to speak. The shinobi's eyes were stuck on the now golden eyed shinobi, showing traces of fear. She finally found her voice and spoke, words flowing with mockery.

"Hmph. I figured you would do this, seeing you can't finish me by yourself. You've always been weak, Sakura. Always hiding behind Yukito. To need to summon a-"

She didn't even finish the sentence as Sakura's left shin made contact with her abdomen, making her slide a few meters back. Blood trickled on the corners of Kazumi's mouth.

"Enough talk."

Before the missing nin could reply, a pair of clawed fingers slashed at her back, creating a deep wound from her shoulder up to the middle. A fist slammed on to her lower back, making her hit the tree located not so near them.

Sakura's orbs were gleaming like molten gold in the darkness, bathed in morbid amusement. She cracked her knuckles which were now covered with Kazumi's blood.

"Is that the best you could do, Kazumi? Such a shame that he didn't have the heart to use this on you. But I'm different do you know that?"

Sakura's voice purred in Kazumi's ear as she moved her hands to entwine on the other's hair before painfully tugging on it.

"Do you know how it feels, bitch? Oh does it hurt?"

She pulled on Kazumi's hair with a stronger force, nearly uprooting it. The missing nin's eyes were closed in pain.

"This is nothing compared to what I'll do to you."

Her cold laughter sent shivers in everyone's spine. Even Akito did not look amused at all.

Kazumi suddenly jerked her body at buried her katana in Sakura's abdomen, only mere centimeters from her chest. Sakura had released her hair and she had used this opportunity to jump back away from the Hunter nin.

The katana had pierced through Sakura's body all the way to her back. Hair covered her eyes and silence reigned once again.

Naruto's loud screams soon followed, along with Sasuke who gathered chakra in his hand to use the chidori.

"Mada."

All eyes turned to look at the other Mist nin, who in the middle of the confusion took his mask off.

Without removing his eyes from the battle scene, Akito spoke.

"You took your mask off, Satoshi."

Eyes of deep ebony turned to look at him, dripping with amusement.

"I wanted to see clearly how Sakura-chan will end it. You can't have all the fun you know."

"Stop calling her Sakura-chan."

Satoshi chuckled and shook his head vigorously.

"SO frickin protective, just like Yuki.."

Naruto looked like he was about to tear something in half

"Aren't you even worried about her? You guys aren't even a bit worried! She's hurt, dammit, are we just going to watch!

Satoshi looked at him wearily while Akito gave him a cold look.

"You just don't get it do you, blondie? That woman over there used to be Konoha ANBU, the captain of a Mist hunter-nin squad, trusted by the Mizukage himself and most of all the mistress of the Ryuuzaki clan. You don't think the battle will be over just because of that scratch?"

"I've had enough"

Sasuke's deep voice got everyone's attention.

"If you aren't going to help her, I will."

Akito looked like he was burned.

"You're someone to talk, Uchiha. You hurt her, probably just as much as Kazumi did. You have some nerve to appear to care about her. Even if you help her, she won't appreciate it. Stay out of her way. You never believed in her. She'll prove you wrong."

Red comas swirled in Sasuke's onyx eyes, anger rising to the surface.

Veins disappeared from around Hyuuga Neji's eyes.

"Her normally calm chakra has become violent, like when Naruto loses control."

Tenten looked helpless at that point, eyes brimming with worry.

At that moment, the wind blew, uncovering her lower face. A smirk was clearly there, as if mocking her opponent. With her blood stained hands, she removed the katana in one quick movement, making more blood flow from the wound.

"Is that it? The extent of what you can do?"

Her porcelain hands now soaked scarlet glowed pale green as it moved towards the wound. Slowly, the blood stopped flowing, and the broken flesh started to mend itself- the handywork of a top class medic-nin. The glow of her hands disappeared slowly revealing her alabaster skin unwounded, not even a scar showing.

Kazumi's eyes darted from one side to another, looking for an escape route.

"You can never escape, I'd hunt you down. I won't stop til your blood coats my hands, til your heart beats, til the time you take your last breath."

Dozens of fireballs came from every direction, all going towards Sakura while Kazumi darted off towards the edge of the field. A wall of water and chakra blocked the attack and like a ghost, Sakura vanished. Ice dug unto Kazumi's back and left thigh, making her stumble forward.

"How do you like it Kazumi?"

"She's playing with her!"

Naruto's panicked cries rang in their ears.

"It's taking over."

Satoshi's voice suddenly became serious, matched by Akito's worried look.

"The wall is weakening."

The Hyuuga genius spoke without any emotion.

"It's near."

Satoshi nodded at Akito's statement, but the others did not understand.

"I won't finish you easily, woman."

Kazumi, sat up, eyes laced with pure disdain.

"You can say that because of the summoned beast. You're too kind Sakura, too nice to become a shinobi."

Sakura tipped her head to the side, as if in thought.

"You still think I am being too kind?"

She grabbed Kazumi's hand, twisting it behind her in a painful grasp. Tears began to show in the missing nin's eyes as the pain coursed through her body.

"Am I still too kind?"

She grabbed a kunai and stabbed Kazumi's arms.

"These arms killed him didn't they?"

She added more force and Kazumi screamed in pain.

Her face looked innocent as she gazed at her in feigned concern.

"Does it hurt?"

She pulled on her arms with so much force, it could come off from the sockets any time.

"Scream Kazumi! Scream!"

Sakura was laughing now, seeming to have lost all sanity.

"Doushite Akamaru?"

Kiba's voice broke the silence

Akamaru was nearly cowering, shivering from fear. His eyes were glued to Sakura's blood soaked figure. Kiba patted his back, smoothing his fur to calm him down.

Akamaru, now a full grown dog-nin barked continuously.

"He says that her chakra is becoming turbulent, spinning out of control. It's too strong."

Akito looked at Satoshi and nodded.

A yellow light surrounded Satoshi's arms as he punched on the chakra wall, creating a small gap. Akito jumped inside and in his top speed, ran towards the petal haired shinobi.

"Damn!"

Naruto attempted to follow Akito but crashed unto the wall again.

"Open it, damn it! Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

The swirling wall of chakra weakened before completely disappearing. Azure locked with Onyx and a look of understanding passed between them. They both sprang to their feet, towards who they believed was the only female member of Team 7.

With a dark smile on her face, Sakura had pushed Kazumi to the ground and jumped on top of a cherry blossom tree. Blue chakra swirling with a dark green emanated from her whole body, radiating increasing power with each passing moment. She had poised her hands in front of her, palms facing out. She looked at her prey, whose eyes were wide in astonishment and fear. She gave her a last smile before letting go of all her chakra.

"Die"

Blue and green light spinning around each other in a form of a dragon blasted from her hands. An inhuman cry, that of a beast echoed on the fields. It swept past her target, chakra hitting all the trees behind Kazumi and still blazing towards the south.

Everything on its path was reduced to mere ashes, creating a path of black as wide as ten meters and going as far as the eyes could reach. Nothing was spared, rocks, even the body of the missing-nin was nowhere to be found.

The deep cerulean of her hair became the color of cherry blossoms in spring. The color of the bright sun orbs faded to sparkling emerald before closing in exhaustion. She was free falling towards the dry earth when a pair of strong arms caught her. Amber eyes gazed at her in concern. Green eyes fluttered opened and for the first time in a long while, conveyed an emotion. It was not happiness but sadness. She touched his cheek, and spoke in a soft, aching voice.

"I'm sorry."

A lone tear escaped her eyes, then another. Soon, tears freely cascaded her face, leaving salty glistening tracks on her face. A drop of water fell from the heavens, landing on her face. Then another. And another.

The heavens wept for her, with her.

Akito secured her in his arms, and walked towards the direction of their comrades.

"It's over onee-san. Just rest."

He placed a chaste peck on her forehead, and at that moment, the world faded into black.

Notes:

I told you it was bloody. Hoped you heeded the warning. It's actually just my second time to write something so dark. Hope I gave you the chills.

Thank you to those who reviewed the fic!

I had to finish the part of Kazumi so as to shed 'some' not all, light on what happened during Sakura's five year disappearance. The rest would be unraveled on a complete flashback chapter. Maybe the sixth or seventh. Or the next.

Some reviewers said that the story is a bit confusing. Haven't you guys pieced it together yet? That's good.

I'd also like to know if the fic is, uhm.. Too angsty? As in there's-no-tomorrow-anymore-everyone-should-just-die angsty? Feedback please.