XV||.

WARNING: The following contains a graphic scene including gore! Not a lot to be a concern, but unsuitable for children. Read with caution. If that disturbs you, please do NOT read.

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"Sa...kura…" Sasuke gasped; his eyes hazy when they focused on Sakura holding onto a lit candle. She was holding onto him, sobbing into his chest. He moved to stand up and help her, but jolted when he felt a wave of pain wash over him. "Don't move!" She snapped, her hands alighting with green chakra. "Here, let me heal your wounds…" Seeing as how her chakra alone would do nothing to fully cover the injury, she opted for another trick in the book.

"This is going to hurt a bit. " He remained silent, as she brought out a sewing needle and stitched the cut together. It hurt like hell, but he'd suffer far worse than just a cut. He blinked again, and saw that it was dark out. The shadows covered the moon entirely."Where's Kakashi? And Naruto?" He couldn't help but question, knowing that something had happened to them. But his mind was still fuzzy on what it could possibly be, still having a funny feeling that smething was wrong. "I don't know. I haven't seen them. I'm just happy that you're OK, Sasuke-kun." She soothed, hands splayed on his chest. Her fingers circled his chest and she blushed. "I knew something would happen. You were acting suspicious after training with Kakashi-Sensei. That's why I checked the village gate everyday, so that if I saw you I could try to stop you."

'Hmph, I suppose she is smart, after all.' Slowly, his mind caught up with his body and he remembered. He shoved her off of him and stood up, shadows covering half his face. "...Itachi did it." The fool! He was in his grasp, now. "Huh?" 'Itachi? Who's that? Could it be...that Itachi is his big brother?' Sakura thinks, confused. "It's OK, Sasuke-kun! I'm here for you," She says, wrapping her arms around him lovingly. "Don't. Do that. Again." He said, scooting away from her. She nodded; sadly looking at the one she loved with all her heart. "Here, let me help you." She cooes, just like her mother used to do whenever she was sad. "...Thank you, Sakura." Sasuke states blankly. Her body froze like ice. He stands up and starts walking out the door of his apartment. "I'm leaving the village."

Her eyes widened with horror.

"W - what are you saying? Do you really want to be alone again?" She cried, as Sasuke turned his back on her. He stilled for a second, torn between what to do. "I...I never knew what it was like to be lonely, never knew what it was like to have no parents; to have no family." She sniffled, eyes filling with tears. "I hate it when you're sitting all by yourself. You said so yourself; it hurt." Sasuke bit his lower lip, looking down and clenching his fist. A quiet laugh echoes out of his lips. And then erupts into full out laughter. Doubling over, he cackles madly. Sakura is shocked, never seen him so expressive and so scary all at the same time. "Hn, hn, hn, hn! AHA HA HAHA! Aha haha! Says you…you never understood what it's like. All I feel now is hatred. You...are nothing compared to this vengeance of mine…"

"From here on out, I'm on my own now. Nothing you can say will stop me." He slipped a book bag full of all the supplies he'd need to seek out Danzo, his guide from here on out. He walks outside in the dark with the Haruno following soon after. Not caring for anything else at the moment, she tore off after him. Sakura eyes widened, and she couldn't hold back her feelings anymore. Her brow furrowed, and her small form was shaking in the rain. "I...I love you, Sasuke! With all of my heart!" She admitted; tears trickling down her heart-shaped face. "Naruto likes you, too. And Kakashi-sensei is like a father, so please…"

"I've already lost everything before!" Sasuke snarled, looking at her with narrowed eyes, "That's what I used to think. That if I could protect those dear to me, they would never die. And both of them are already gone because of my carelessness. That's why I'm going to sever those ties between us. And I don't care anymore about our home. You're as good as dead to me."

"W - why?" She choked, as he continued walking off away from the village. She wouldn't let him go just yet. "I won't let you leave, Sasuke-kun." Sakura shouts, pulling out a kunai from her pouch. "And so what?" laughed Sasuke. "You really think you can beat me on prowess alone? I already lost my one and only ...now I can finally be all alone! That's what I want; to be in this darkness forever! You never understood, Sakura. And you never will. You're just like all the other villagers. And now that the full moon is here," His blood eye looked at the Sharingan moon, and it automatically activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. "I'll show you my true power, ten timesfold!" An intense, red aura surrounded him. "SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura screams, her whole body shaking. 'I'm smart, right! Think of a strategy, anything!' she thinks wildly. "SAKURA!" A familiar voice calls out. She spins around; hope flaring in her chest. Finally, someone to stop Sasuke once and for all! Iruka had ran towards them, looking at the situation between Sasuke and Sakura in confusion before breaking into action himself.

"What a letdown. A chuunin and a genin." Sasuke says darkly. "Let's see who dies first."

He easily knocked Haruno aside, and attacked his former sensei head on. The chuunin responded by using self-defense; trying to shove him away from Sakura. "Run, SAKURA!" He called, "Go get the hokage...call help…!" he commanded, narrowly dodging hundreds of kunai flinging at him. It hit the ground instead. The cherry blossom shook her head. "I can't leave you alone! We work together!" She snaps, but didn't even feel strong enough to even stop Sasuke's murderous mode. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Sasuke activated his trademark jutsu, firing fireballs from his mouth. Iruka avoided them, but only barely. 'Why?' Sakura asked herself in tears. 'Why am I so weak…? I want to be strong! Strong enough to stop Sasuke! I can't allow him to leave the village like this!' Her heart wrenched, when a shuriken stabbed Iruka through the chest. The chuunin doubled over in pain. Revenge like none other before surged within her, as green chakra surrounded her body. Crouching down from beside him, her hands hovered over his chest, she healed him with all the energy that she had left. The life in his eyes flickered for a moment, but then died as soon as it came. 'C'mon, c'mon!' She pleaded internally, tears in her eyes. Sasuke smirked, kicking his dying body with a twisted smile. Blood leaked out of his eye as he covered one side of his face.

"Is that all you got?" Sasuke mocked, with a condescending smile. "For someone who's supposedly 'strong' you sure are a weakling." The Uchiha advanced to the Haruno, eyeing her like prey; his killing intent hitting over the top. She was shiverring madly; weak and defenseless. "Maybe if you hadn't healed me, this wouldn't have happened…" He reminded her, frowning down at her.

"What happened to you being just some fangirl of mine? You think you're all that, huh? Who the hell do you think you are?" He snapped, pulling out more kunai to throw. He leaped into the air with taijutsu, and spiralled down at her. She screamed and sprung chakra to her feet, leaping back with the dying body in her hands. Sakura narrowed her green eyes, and forced all of her energy to saving Iruka's life. But, it was almost impossible when Sasuke was trying to cut her off at every chance he got. "That's what I used to think," she says, her green eyes flashing with fury. "but, I've changed! That baka means so much to me, now. I'm not the same person I used to be." Thunder crackled in the background and, soon enough, rain poured down, soaking them all wet. They stood there in the rain, the tension gratifying as Sakura realized she would have to knock some sense into the Uchiha.

"I don't believe you," Sasuke scoffed, "you're still just useless to me."

She grunted; a green aura surrounding her body completely. Merging with her Inner Self; her hair flew upwards and she felt power flowing into her fist. She punched him in the stomach with such force, he was sent flying across the grounds. He stood up shakily, glaring daggers at her. She smirked, crossing her arms. "I am a kunoichi, now. And I CANNOT let you leave like this, Sasuke-kun. That's why I'm trying to stop you."

"I had no reason to kill you before, because I wasn't like my brother, but now...I'll kill you, just like the others!" His eyes flashed red, and in a blink of an eye, he was right in front of her before she could even react. "MANGEKYOU SHARINGAN!" He shouted, and soon her knees gave way and she crumpled to the grass. Her eyelids grew gradually heavier and she soon slept off to slumber land against the corpse of her former sensei.

XXX

Sakura woke up to her village of Konoha. The streets were bare, and the sky was stark red from the sunlight . Wondering how she wound up here, when she was just fighting Sasuke, she walks around curiously like a kid in a candy store. Everything seemed to be in inverse colors, and it was oddly dark.

"Hellooooo?" She calls out, looking for any signs of anybody. But, nay. Everything was barren. She stops once she sees a familiar face pass by. "Hey, Ino, I-!" A snake sword slices through her neck. The Yamanaka is beheaded. The blonde's head falls face-first on the walkway with a cough of blood. Sakura, near delirious, holds the bloody head in her hands and screams, dropping it in an instant.

"Sasuke-kun, you…!"

"This is what happens to those who defy me, Sakura." Sasuke says monotonously. "I will destroy the village, for what they have done to me and my precious person. And someday, I will become the hokage. Following my own path. Not Itachi's. Not Naruto's. Mine." His sword crackles with electricity, and the once sunny day clouds over with dark clouds. 'Naruto…' Sakura thinks with wide eyes; trembling with terror. "See your friends over here? I'll kill them, too. Starting with all of the other teams." Rock Lee, Neji, TenTen, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro...

The snake sword cuts them all in two, and he chidoris the others through their chest. They all die one by one, like fallen domino pieces. And Sakura shakes her head, not believing what she's seeing right now. "NO!" Traumatized, Sakura looks at him with pleading eyes, "Please, don't! Don't kill them, please… I-I'll do anything for you, just don't do it!" She cries into his chest, expecting some sort of empathy. Surely this wasn't what he was, right?

"Are you so selfish, that you don't even care if she died for you? You only liked the thought of us two together!" Sasuke taunted. An insane smile stretches across Sasuke's face. He's holding onto Ino's ponytail and her eyes are like a dead goldfish. And Sakura retches. Throwing up at the side of the road, she can't hold it in anymore. Her face scrunches up in pain, and she can't bear to look at the scene of all her friends dying by the hand of who she thought of as a "friend". "And what about her?" Sasuke side glances at Karin, who appears out of thin air. She is naked, standing as still as a statue. Her eyes are blank as they stare ahead, and Sakura can't even face her without feeling regret. Regret that she couldn't save her. Regret that she wasn't strong enough to protect her friends. Regret that she can't save Sasuke-kun from the darkness."Would you like to see her die, too, just like the rest of them. How do you think it feels? To lose all the people you love more than anything?!"

"I - it hurts…" she sobs, "I hate it, I hate it, Sasuke-kun!" She wailed, in tears. "I...I understand you, now! So, stop this, please!" In response, Sasuke unsheathes his Kusanagi. "SASUKE!" Her voice cracks, and she can't scream anymore. Her voice cracks through the thick air. Her best friend is stabbed through the chest. Along with her mother and father, who are dismembered in a matter of seconds. Sakura can't contain her horror anymore. Hands in her hair, her eyes widen in shock. "The higher you fly," he says, sheathing his sword into it's holder around his purple robe. "The harder you fall." Feeling broken beyond repair, she's left on the ground along with Iruka's dead body. And she can't even move. Move to save him, move to stop her friend.

Sasuke leaves her as easily as that, and the clouds shadow the once Sharingan Moon.

XXX

She sleeps, lost in thoughts and all alone.