They both stopped moving.
Sasuke made no sound, bowing his head slightly to obscure his eyes with his bangs. Sakura made no sound, eyes wide and mouth agape.
Then Sasuke coughed, bright red blood spilling down the sides of his mouth. Then Sakura screamed.
As she screamed, from grief, love, and anger, she swung at the undead man. He laughed, dodging her with ease and pulling his blade out of Sasuke.
Sasuke groaned and fell to his knees, hands reaching up to futilely put pressure on the wound.
He turned his eyes to follow Sakura as she recklessly attacked the undead Uchiha. The man was toying with her.
"Run," Sasuke spoke up, struggling to climb back to his feet, "Get out of here Sakura. I'll buy you time."
"Sasuke, stop, you'll aggravate your wound," Sakura paused to warn him, her eyes frightened, "Just keep putting pressure on – "
Madara kicked her under the chin, snapping her head back and cutting off her sentence. She sucked in a breath, fighting against unconsciousness as she saw stars.
"Neither of you are leaving this spot," Madara spoke, giving Sakura no time to recover as he punched her in the chest, sending her flying back.
"S-Sakura," Sasuke cried out, having heard the cracking of her bones, fearing the older man had killed her. He couldn't keep himself upright anymore and fell completely flat on the ground. He kept one hand on his wound and used the other to try to pull himself towards Sakura.
"Pathetic," the undead man said with a sneer.
The first 'Madara,' the living one that they had wounded, appeared then, one hand outstretched toward the undead man. The undead Madara rolled his eyes but tossed the sword to him.
Sasuke could do nothing but try to keep crawling as the living 'Madara' walked toward Sakura. She was somehow still conscious, forcing herself to sit up and healing her chest. He could hear from where he was that she was struggling to breathe properly. Her eyes were on him, worried for his safety and health.
She had always been like that, putting her safety and health concerns on hold for his sake. Like in the forest of death, when she was injured and still potentially in danger if Sasuke did not eliminate the ones who hurt her. Or after the invasion of the Leaf by the Sand and Sound, when she threw herself in between him and Gaara. She always prioritized him in those moments, willing to be in danger and unavenged if it meant he was okay.
He wanted to yell at her again to run, to look out, but he had to keep swallowing the blood filling his mouth so he didn't choke. He didn't know how long he had left, but he was sure it wasn't enough time to recover and protect her.
He pleaded with her with his eyes, begging her to get to safety by any means necessary.
He couldn't bear the thought of watching her die in front of him, unable to save her.
The living 'Madara' seemed to take some sick pleasure in what he was doing and the suffering he was causing Sasuke. He kicked Sakura back down to the ground, stomping on her arms in quick succession to break them when she tried to attack him with chakra scalpels.
Sasuke ground his teeth, redoubling his efforts to reach her, even if all he could do was throw himself on top of her and take the blows.
Blackness pressed in from the edges of his vision, but he refused to give in. He had to make it…
'Madara' bent down to grab her by the neck, hoisting her up so that she dangled in his grip. She tried to kick at him, but her range of motion was limited due to her broken ribs and he held her just far enough away that she could not land a blow.
'Madara' turned then to Sasuke, as if to make sure he was watching, and plunged the katana deep into Sakura's chest.
The moment was captured in vivid detail by his Sharingan, and Sasuke cried out, gurgling on blood as he did so.
His eyes blurred suddenly, and he was confused. He didn't want to see her die in front of him, but he had no explanation for his superior vision suddenly failing. He was surprised a moment later to discover tears were the culprit after he blinked and they slipped down his face.
Her face came back into crystal clear view. He saw the surprise and pain etched in the lines of her face, her eyes hazy and unfocused. She shut her eyes tightly as tears welled up in them, clenching her jaw at the same moment to keep herself from crying out. When her eyes reopened, they were sharp and focused once more, searching for his own.
Their gazes locked. Their expressions conveyed final messages to the other, both on the brink of death and both sorrowful for not saving the other.
Then 'Madara' pulled out the sword and tossed Sakura uncaringly onto the ground.
The undead Uchiha then spoke, having watched the whole affair with boredom, "Are you satisfied now, Obito? Can we take the brat's eyes and summon the statue or is there some other pointless tasks you want me to help you with?"
Sasuke watched 'Obito' frown, and then pull out a kunai, walking away from Sakura and towards him.
"Good," the undead one said with a smile, "I'll start the summoning preparations. Hurry up with those eyes."
The undead man disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, and Sasuke ran through every possible option he had left to throw a wrench in their plans. If he was going to die here anyway, then he should destroy his eyes before this 'Obito' character took them.
Searching for a kunai, he was prepared.
He only hoped he could still finish crawling over to Sakura's body before he died so that he could hold her one last time.
He wondered idly of what Itachi would think about his predicament. Would he be ashamed of him? This was the second time in a week he lay dying on the ground after all. He truly was weak.
He felt a sudden urge to laugh.
Months ago, he was so filled with hatred and power that he thought he was invincible. That somehow his righteous rage would carry him through any obstacle. He had faced the five Kage and defeated Danzo after all. What opponent out there could defeat him after that?
In hindsight, he only managed those feats because of Taka. Without them, he likely would have died before killing Danzo.
Now look at him. Defeated twice by kinsmen more powerful than himself. He couldn't blame Itachi if he was ashamed of him if he was still watching from the pure world.
He was ashamed of how he used both his old teams.
Karin was dead or captured by the Leaf, and Jugo and Suigetsu were scattered now somewhere trying to hide from search parties for their part in attacking the Kage counsel.
The last time Kakashi saw him, he was swearing vengeance on the Leaf and threatening to kill him. Naruto would never know that Sasuke was grateful for all he had done for him, and his unwavering friendship. Sakura was already gone because he failed to save her. He would never have another chance to tell her that he loved her.
He looked past the approaching man, trying to catch a glimpse of Sakura.
He was pleased that he could see her hair at least; he wanted her to be the last thing he ever saw.
Unbidden, he remembered all the times his eyes would seek her and her unique hair out, even against his will.
He remembered their academy days when she was still painfully shy, not able to complete a sentence around him. After meeting her that one day, he found himself looking for her pink hair out of the corner of his eye during class activities.
When they were on the same genin team, it was almost impossible to not look at her. He had to force himself to look anywhere else. Her personality had blossomed from the academy days, and he found he didn't hate it as much as he thought he should have. Her incessant focus on the wrong things genuinely bothered him, but he was secretly pleased to see her progress and learn to focus on things that mattered as he kept an eye on her safety during their missions.
He remembered the night he left for power how he had avoided the routes near places she might be, hoping not to see her pink hair. He remembered the second of hesitation that gripped him when he did see her hair ahead of him, in between him and the village gate.
When she and Naruto found him in Orochimaru's base, he couldn't help himself from looking at her hair and then her face. He traced the lines and compared what he saw then with what he remembered the night he left and gently set her on the bench. He really didn't want to at the time; he wanted so desperately to keep all ties cut with her. He wondered if he would have actually struck her that day when she charged at him if the new captain of the team hadn't intervened.
Even through his haze of hatred for the Leaf in the land of Iron, part of him was glad to see her pink hair approaching. That same part wanted what she was saying to be true, and that part shuddered when he readied his attack to kill her.
Even after she tried to stab him in the back, he focused on her hair as he attacked her a second time. Maybe that was why he hadn't noticed Naruto's approach; he was distracted from trying to push down that part of him that only wanted to protect her.
He remembered only a week ago when he saw her pink hair hanging over him as she worked to save his life. She was so beautiful; she always had been.
Obito was almost in front of him now, perhaps only a few paces from reaching him. It was time.