The Jutsu

Sakura didn't know where they were. Sasuke led, and Sakura followed. She supposed it didn't matter where they performed the jutsu. It just mattered that they did. They practiced until their hand gestures were in sync. Then they continued until they could complete the jutsu with their eyes closed. They kept going until they were perfect. Sasuke would accept nothing less. They slept in the forest in shifts looking into the woods, waiting for someone to come and try to stop them, but no one came.

Sakura kept seeing Kakashi's back as he walked away from her. She kept remembering Itachi's eyes staring at her as if he knew she wasn't ever coming back.

"Do you want to back out?"

Sakura blinked and pulled herself out of the daze she had drifted into. "No." She had come this far. She could do this even though she could see the doubt in Sasuke's eyes. He didn't think she was capable, and it stirred the anger within her.

"Sakura, you have to want this for it to work."

Sakura's lips curled in distaste. "I do want this, Sasuke." She wasn't even sure she could not want it. The world just felt wrong. Only being able to choose Itachi or Kakashi after falling for them both the way she had….

It was like her life was a cosmic joke. "You know that."

Sasuke reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. He wanted to shake her. She could tell he was restraining by the clench of his teeth and the bunching of his biceps. "I know you want it, but do you want it. Enough to let go of all your principles forever?"

Sakura shook her head rapidly. "That's not—"

"That's exactly what we're doing, Sakura, because we both know that this is wrong." Sakura's breath caught at the conviction behind Sasuke's statement. It was a black or white situation. Sasuke knew and acknowledged it. He was forcing her to accept it. He sensed her doubt that mounted every second they lingered. "I, for one, don't care as long as I get what I want. Do you care?" Sakura looked down and away from his piercing gaze. It was such a blend of the two versions of Sasuke that she knew that it was dizzying.

"What do you want?"

Sasuke slid his hands from her shoulders and tilted her chin up. "Answer my question first, Sakura."

"You know I'd be lying if I said I didn't. Doing the right thing is important. It should always be put first."

"So are you backing out? Do you want to stop? Because now is the time, Sakura."

"You're telling me you'd let me walk away?"

Sasuke snorted. "No. I'll never let you go, Sakura. You should know that by now." The finality of his words meant something more profound than the current situation let on. She didn't get a chance to question it because he continued. "But I want you to focus on whether or not you're selfish enough to damn the world. If you can put what you want ahead of everything else, and if you can, I need you to be prepared to face the consequences."

Sakura's heart began to pound rapidly. Her hands grew damp, and she discreetly wiped them on her shorts. "…what are they?"

"It's different for each person, I think. You know what I was in both worlds. You know what I am now. What do you think I lost?" Sakura fell silent because sometimes thinking about him in that world, the one where he lost the Uchiha Clan, she believes he lost his soul. Her heart hurt thinking about the man that he was. "You need to be able to mold the world into reflections of what you want them to be."

"Why does it have to be me? Why can't you do it?"

"Because I've done this before, and we saw how well that turned out. You have better control than I do. You always have. You can do this. You can make it permanent. I think you're the only one who can." Sasuke shifted his hands and cupped her face within them. "I need you, Sakura. I need you more than I've ever needed you. Please, tell me you're just as selfish as I am."

Sakura's eyes slid shut, and her body began to tremble. A tear slid down her cheek and splashed onto Sasuke's hand.

"I am. The gods help us, but I am."

"Then you're ready. Let's begin." Sasuke let out a deep breath and slowly pulled away from her. "This is going to kill us both nearly."

Sakura laughed wetly, not believing a word he said. Sasuke had been able to do this as a child. Why would it nearly kill them when they were much more powerful adults? "What have we ever done that hasn't almost killed us?" Sasuke's lips quirked slightly as he positioned his hands into the Ram symbol. His fingers moved rapidly, and Sakura fell into rhythm with him. Using chakra for the first time to perform the jutsu was a powerful thing. She could understand why Sasuke had made the statement about their impending demise. If they had to split the world more than in half, then it could kill them. The chakra control required had to be precise.

"Ready Sasuke?" Sakura said once she neared the end of her sequence, but Sasuke's fingers only seemed to speed up. That wasn't what they practiced. The sequence should have been done by now, but Sasuke's hands only sped up, and Sakura, unknowingly, was copying his every move. "What's going on?" She demanded.

"Keep going, Sakura. Don't you feel it?"

She felt it. It was like the world was coming apart at the seams around them. It was painful, disconcerting, and disorienting.

"It hurts."

"Fight through it. You can Sakura. No one can do this but you. Focus on what you want. Take that pain and help it shape your reality."

Sakura turned her head, and in the distance, she could see figures rushing towards them. "Sasuke…" Sakura warned.

"Forget about them. They aren't important. What you're doing is the only important thing in this world."

The figures in the distance began to form shapes that Sakura recognized. "Itachi? Kakashi?"

She heard her name on the wind. She wasn't sure which of the men screamed it. They were still too far away to tell. She could see smaller figures with them, and Sakura assumed that they were Kakashi's dogs. They were moving so fast.

"Look at me, Sakura." Sakura's eyes snapped back to Sasuke. His eyes were the eerie red of the Sharingan. "You know what you want." Sakura's eyes drifted back to Itachi and Kakashi's approaching figures. "Take it," Sasuke demanded.

Sakura took.

A/N: I think we have about three chapters until this is complete. O.O

Will I finally complete this monstrous beast of a fic? Only time will tell.