Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor "Beyond the Last Goodbye" by FINNUGOR

Note: Wow, I'm impressed with myself! I can't believe I got this up so quickly. Oh yeah, go me. I hope you like it.

Chapter II: Sasuke: Beyond the last Goodbye

…Voices fell like the darkness…

It is just getting dark now. I can see it in his eyes, the way the stars reflect off them. They are glossy and black, just what I remember. They are so, so deep now, though. What knowledge does he hold in them?

…Drowned in the dying evening's eerie silence…

My hand is on the ground, to the side of his head. The other holds a shaking kunai pressed firmly to his neck. He looks so strong even now. I can never win with him. Here I am, holding him down with the visible chakra coming from my hand on the ground and threatening his life with the kunai. Still, I am the one frightened.

…Whispers of summer's affections…

I remember how he used to tell me he loved me. When I was feeling down and couldn't seem to win anything. Will he tell me that now? I get my hopes up thinking he will.

…Disappeared into the falling shades of winter…

As much as I contradict my earlier proclamations, I miss him. He seemed to be the only one to see any promise in me. I miss him for that. I miss his stories and his advice. I miss crawling into bed with him when there was a storm and I was afraid. He would never send me away, just pull me close and whisper reassurances in my ear until I fell asleep. I miss that so, so much.


...the noose is tied...and the hangman smiles…

As I feel my strength waning I let go of my hold on the chakra, but the kunai becomes that much closer to slicing his pale skin. Skin that for some reason reminds me of you. As if sensing my unease he lifts one hand to smooth my unruly hair. He smiles for the first time.

…I lost my way, my only way…

"Are you going to finish this or not?" He speaks the words to me as if I am still eight years old and training. I try hard not to crease my brow in confusion. If you'd seen it, you would know what was going through my head.

…I'm beyond the last goodbye…

His obsidian eyes bored into my own. I felt oddly warm looking into them. He wants this. That thought is the only thing registering in my brain. He wants this, and he deserves it. How many times did I tell myself that to kill the many people I already have. I will admit it. I am young, too young to be doing this. We all are. And yet, I want this so much.

…A dead season in a dead world…

How did any of this happen? I ask myself that everyday. Even when I was living far away from you, in that nefarious calamity of a place that seemed to have so many promises for me. I hope you never have to see that place. I hope no one does. Just thinking about it brings unwanted tears to my eyes. I am pulled out of my reverie when I feel a hand brush against the side of my face. I look back down into those eyes I had so hated these last few years. Oddly enough, they look just like mine.

…All hope is lost, faith deprived…

I've noticed something today. I look into his eyes, the same eyes that used to look at me warmly, and I notice it. I look exactly like him. It's sickening, and I almost want to kill myself for it, but there it is. I am so much like him.

…Torn apart and shattered into the ground…

"You might want to get this over with kid." He speaks harshly to me, and I pull his hand away from my face and pin it down. He chuckles slightly.

…No point in gathering what is left…

"You have better business to attend to kid, get this over with." He speaks again. I look at him, openly curious now.

…No use breathing life into something that is dead…

"She's calling for you. Can you not here her screams?" The moment his words reach my ears my eyes go wide. No, I refuse to believe it.

…Time stands still in this surreal moment…

"Sakura." I say your name softly and he nods beneath me.

…That seems to last forever... And for me it will!…

I am on my feet instantly. I run as fast as my feet will allow me to. I run to the one place I know you have gone to.

Note: Honestly, reviewers are my best friends. Sorry if Sasuke seems a little OOC, but given the circumstances I think both men in this chapter have to be slightly OOC. If I did a horrible job on their characters, forgive me.