Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings: This chapter is shorter than the last two, but still long. This chapter contains incest, yaoi, blood/violence, crude language, some sexuality, homicidal thoughts, references to rape, skewed thoughts on rape, OOC, and as for the canon... you know...

Pairings: ItaSasu, some SasuSaku and ItaSaku, slight ItaKabu and KabuSaku, hints of NaruSaku and SasuNaru

Sakura's eyes lit up as she looked at Sasuke, he was closer to her than she thought he would be. All of the cold emotions that she made him known for were not in his eyes as he gazed upon her. She could only pinpoint pain as he took a step closer. He was feeling remorse for what he was about to do. It didn't have to end like this.

"Sasuke," she breathed, watching his hand grasp his dagger. "You don't have to do what Itachi says, he's using you to kill Naruto," she tightened her grip on her kunai. "I don't know what he's been telling you, but he's has no interest in you. He wants to use you to obtain power for that group of his."

He pulled the dagger out pointing it straight at her. "I didn't come here for you to talk me out of this, Sakura. I chose my path, there's no turning back from the destiny that I've chosen," he glanced at Itachi. "I don't have to do anything that you say anymore, Sakura. I'm no longer on your side."

She shook her head. "Just because you're with him doesn't mean that I can't save you. I will rip you apart before I let you go anywhere with that man," she closed her eyes. "Think of all he did to you, he killed your whole clan without showing any remorse. I'm not going to let that slide over as nicely as you want me to."

He took a step forward, the rain still hitting the ground violently. "Then don't do anything, you were always good at that before. Out of all the times to be a pain in my ass you picked the worst," he held onto his weapon tighter, his sharingan eyes narrowing. "Sakura, this will be the end for you if you don't get away from that bastard."

Kabuto laughed as he looked at Sasuke. "You're already starting to sound like your brother, Sasuke," he looked up at Itachi. "But tell me, are you going to weep like a woman while your best friend dies at your hand? Are you going to attempt to kill yourself with that dagger and take the easy way out?"

Itachi stood idle, resting up against a tree, his eyes fixated on Sakura. All of the words that Kabuto said had no effect on him. He was confident that he was going to win this battle. He knew no matter how hard Sakura and Kabuto tried they were never going to amount to anything. They were the underdogs.

Sasuke scoffed. "Sakura, this is between you and me, I don't want to see Kabuto helping you out or I will have to send Itachi in to finish you both off," he snickered as he walked closer still. "What do you have to say to that, Sakura?"

"You're a bastard," Sakura growled extending her kunai.

"Yeah," Sasuke huffed. "Maybe I am, but I'm a bastard that you wanted to love you. You wanted me to be the one who went off with you. We're you the only one in that hospital who didn't pick up the hints, when I walked down the streets didn't notice the marks on my body, the smell of jasmine? Were you the only one who didn't know that night when he raped me I actually subconsciously wanted it?"

Sakura closed her eyes. "If that's true, Sasuke, then you're just like him. You monster, what about what he did to your clan? Are you going to forgive him for that? How can you love someone who did nothing more than kill everyone that you loved."

Sasuke chuckled. "He doesn't want forgiveness; he always wants me to hate him for what he did. I don't forgive him for that, as much as I'd like to put that behind us I never will be able to. I blame him for my pain."

"Then why do you love him?" Sakura asked reaching into her pouch the sound of weapons rustling. "If he treats you so badly, then why do you bother with him? Why do you go to him for comfort? What is the point of this pain that you're causing yourself?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Why were you trying to get so close to me? Unlike your feelings for me, my feelings for Itachi started a while back. That night that he took everything from me, he broke my heart, he took all of the faith that I wanted to put in him and threw it all away," he narrowed his eyes in anger. "He's a part of me; he's the reason why I live. Isn't that what love is, the person that you can't live without, the person where if they ever died they would end your life forever?"

Sakura pulled her hand out of her pouch, hiding her hand behind her back. "Now I see it, I see that you no longer care about anything. You aren't the Sasuke that I know. That monster behind you has been playing you like a sap. He won't stop tormenting you until you give him everything."

The younger Uchiha looked back at Itachi. "Now?"

Itachi nodded. "Do as you wish, have fun. Just remember," his voice rose in a crescendo of bloodthirsty sadism, his eyes lighting up with a fire that Sasuke had never seen before. "Kabuto is mine."

Sasuke smirked as the rain was easing up on them, the last few drops stating to fall. It's dry enough to use that jutsu now; he took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu," he exhaled sharply, a raging fire rolling toward Sakura. He could hear the chuckling form the sideline as Kabuto allowed a smile to roll across his face. He had done something wrong.

"You think that's going to work, Itachi?" the older Sound ninja stated as he looked over at Itachi. "You don't know that I also taught Sakura some techniques," he turned to her as the fire disappeared, she had dodged the attack. "Sakura, now!"

She complied instantly her hand moving quickly. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw them coming, the senbon that his brother was talking about. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't dodge it, the sound of Itachi's voice in his ears as he felt arms wrap around him, his body becoming limp.

"I've got you," he whispered as they quickly moved out of the way of the needles bringing him to the safety of where they had entered the scene. "Sasuke, are you alright?"

Sasuke nodded shakily. "I think so…" he closed his eyes as Itachi kissed his forehead lightly. "Itachi, this situation has gotten tougher than I wanted it to," he looked over at Sakura. "There's no stopping her."

"Yes," Itachi answered. "There is," he stood up, his scarlet eyes looking straight at the young girl as he started to form visible seals. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu," the flames rolled toward her as she dodged it, in the heat of it all he pulled out one of the senbon from the tree that it was embedding upon. "Dodge this," he threw it with pristine care, hitting her in the left kneecap.

She let out a squeal. "Itachi, I thought that you were different," she looked up at him. "I showed no anger toward you before the second that I found out it was all a lie. I healed you," she watched as he walked closer pulling out a kunai. "I healed you when no one else would."

"And I thank you for that," Itachi smirked evilly. "If it wasn't for you I would have never learned the basis of Mystical Palms. Thanks to you Sakura, I have control over more of the elements of ninja art; you helped me with one of the missing links."

She shook her head trying to move her leg feeling the poison starting to take effect; she could feel her muscles starting to stiffen from the venom. Her breath became labored as Itachi walked closer to her, a grin still on his face. Desperately, she continued to attempt to move, her foot staying in place.

"Sakura," Itachi breathed as he ran a hand across her cheek. "Why is a girl like you always around such horrible people?" he moved to her chin, his eyes filled with a condescending anger. "Why are you always right there to be their slaves?" he pulled her to the tips of her toes taking hold of her chin. "Sakura, I thought you had all of the potential in the world. Now I know that you don't comprehend what potential is," he chuckled lightly moving so close to her, his breath condensing on her skin, the flesh becoming sticky with the traces of saliva. "It's depressing."

"Get off of me," Sakura cursed, her voice full of disgust. "You sick fuck!"

"That mouth of yours is getting dirtier every time that we meet," he breathed moving to her lips, the warmth swirling against hers. "You kissed my brother with this mouth of yours?" he moved closer still to whisper in her ear. "Now you've inherited his vocabulary."

Sasuke chuckled as he watched the sight. "I was waiting for the time when you'd be flirting with other people," he looked at Itachi's lips so close to Sakura's. "You were being too well behaved."

Itachi beamed arrogantly. "After I'm done with her, Sasuke, there won't be any left for you to take back to Konoha," he pressed his lips against hers lightly. "Such a sweet little girl."

"You sick rapist," Sakura scoffed as she looked into his eyes. "What are your intentions with me?"

"I'm going to get you away from Kabuto no matter what I have to do to make that happen," he pulled her higher off of the ground. "Let's see how well you avoid me with one of your legs out of commission."

He threw her out of his hand smiling as he heard the thud up against the hard surface of a tree, his eyes moving to look over at Kabuto, his fingers taking out a kunai. "You're the next one to go down," he moved toward where Sakura was pressed up against a tree holding the kunai tightly. "Sakura, come on, fight me!" he pushed his hand up against her neck pushing her back into the tree. "Do something."

She looked into his eyes. "You're not going to get in the way of our freedom. One day I'll come back for Naruto and then Lord Orochimaru can save us," she tried to move out of his grip. "You and Sasuke won't stand in my way."

"That's where you're wrong," Itachi huffed, his eyes going back to Sasuke. "If we get out of here alive and I feel as though you learned something, the bet from before is still on. However if you learned nothing from this experience and you disgrace me being related to you then I will do nothing."

Sasuke smirked. "I won't disgrace you," he looked at Sakura who was struggling to break free. "Now you're going to see the person who beat Kakashi Hatake in action. Unfortunately for you, you're on the wrong side of this battle. Get away from Kabuto and this can all be resolved."

"Sasuke," she spat. "Just because Itachi tells you that something is right, it doesn't mean that's true. I'm going to show you that. I'm going to show you that this monster that you call your lover is only using you."

Sasuke rose to his feet shakily. "Itachi, get out of the way, this is now between me and Sakura. You go do what you wish to Kabuto. I won't hold anything against you if you kill him."

The older brother backed away. "That's so generous of you, Sasuke, but don't worry about me," he extended his hand for Sasuke as the young boy came closer to him. "Remember Sasuke, I'm not going to let them kill you. If worst comes to worst I'll have to stop your fight and use the mangekyou sharingan to break it up. I pray that I won't need to use that," he pulled Sasuke closer as he grasped the dagger that was in the young boy's hand. "Don't forget Shisui's dagger, it won't fail you, it's a strong weapon, use it well, Sasuke; I leave this up to you."

"Understood," Sasuke answered as Itachi turned away from him walking to Kabuto's side. "It's just you and me now, Sakura. There's no one who can save you, the second that Kabuto steps in so does Itachi, I don't care how strong you think he is, he will fall at Itachi's hand," he pulled out the dagger as he smirked wider. "We'll see who gets Naruto on their side. We'll see which one of us will win."

Kabuto glanced over at Itachi with a smug grin on his face. I don't care how well he's trained this boy; Sakura's hate is stronger than he is. I'm sorry; Itachi, but I've won this round. You've lost for sure.

-----

Naruto clasped his hands together as he closed his eyes, leaning to rest his elbows up against his knees. He had a bad feeling about all that was occurring in his team. He looked through his peripheral vision to look at his sensei who was sitting beside him, glancing in his direction.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked as he sighed.

Naruto's blue eyes widened as he awoke from his trance. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay," he placed a fake smile on his lips.

He looked down at the ground thinking about what all this was about. It was about the monster that was inside of him. Inside him was the spirit that Itachi Uchiha wanted, the reason why he was here in the first place. He was the reason why Itachi was able to come back and take Kakashi out.

"Sensei?" Naruto asked as he looked over at Kakashi. "You said that there were certain people who could reach Itachi, people who could stop him from destroying everything. Are you one of those people?"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, Itachi resents me. I was never able to reach to him, not even when he was a troubled youth. I knew him before he was like this. I knew him when he was a young boy, nothing more than a simple child. He always was so distant from everyone, he didn't trust anyone. He started to lash out at people after a while, and that's when the hate started."

"What did you do to him?" Naruto asked.

"I gave up on him," Kakashi stated as he looked at the young ninja. "Itachi never wanted anyone to give up on him. He always wanted something more, his soul always hungry. Now he's still hungry, feeding on every powerful thing. He's destroying to prove something greater."

"Is that why he hurt Sasuke?" Naruto asked clinging onto his stomach.

Kakashi closed his eye. "There's a lot about Itachi that even I can't answer your questions about. All I know is that he is lost in the darkness, his mind going through a cycle of unbelievable pain. He will never leave this village alone until he gets what he wants."

Naruto sighed. "Me," he took another deep breath. "Will the torment never end? If I allow myself to be at his mercy is there any way that I can end all of the pain before it gets too great?"

Kakashi looked down the hall toward the Hokage's office. "Naruto, there are sometimes in a ninja's life where they are faced with loss. It hurts, it hurts worse than all of the wounds that you've ever experienced put together. When hit with loss, where someone close to you is taken away, there seems like there is nothing that can save you from that horrible fate. But you move on, you find out that maybe the loss was worth it, and the one that you held so dear is finally at peace."

Naruto sighed. "I hope you right, Kakashi, for everyone's sake," he looked down the hall closing his eyes tightly. This is my fault…

-----

Sasuke dodged out of the way of another senbon, fearing the poison that was deep within the needle. He could see what it was doing to Sakura's leg; it was starting to destroy it slowly, the color disappearing with every movement that she struggled to do. Itachi had already started to slow her down for him, now all he had to do was finish the job and drag her back to Konoha.

Senbon after senbon, kick after kick, punch after punch, all of it proved to be nothing more than futile attempts to knock him down. With the sharingan in his eyes he could see everything, he could see the movements before they happened, especially now in her slower state. It was a pleasure to beat her down.

"Have you had enough yet, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, walking toward her his eyes narrowing in anger. "Have you finally opened your eyes to what life is really like? Have you realized that Itachi won't hurt you if you go back to Konoha?"

She shook her head slowly rising off of the ground. "No," she took a deep breath. "Sasuke, you're the one who has the wrong view on this. Itachi is the one who is going to destroy everyone; he's the one who wants to use your power to destroy Naruto. I know about the Akatsuki."

Sasuke pulled his dagger out pointing it down at her. "You have no idea what the Akatsuki is," he moved down to look into her watering eyes. "Sakura, forget the life of being in Kabuto's side and realize that the person that you truly want is me," he stroked her face lightly. "Sakura, I still have feelings of remorse for hurting you, Itachi knows that. He wished that it wouldn't have to come down to this."

"He briefed you well," she rolled her eyes.

Sasuke snickered. "Sakura, this man that you're with is only going to take Naruto's life. The Sound Village is a horrible place; it doesn't know of the word peace, it doesn't know of the word freedom. You go off with Kabuto and not even God will know what happens to you."

Sakura shook her head. "Sasuke, please, this is the last time I'm going to ask you, get rid of Itachi and come off with Kabuto and me."

Itachi laughed from the side. "You think it's that easy?" he looked over at Kabuto. "You've got yourself a dumb girl on your side, Kabuto. You didn't even need to make promises that deeply. She automatically believed you," his ruby eyes narrowed. "How did you pull it off?"

Kabuto laughed gently as he looked over at the younger ninja. "How did you pull off getting Sasuke on your side? Unlike you though I didn't mistreat her, put her in a hospital countless times, almost kill her numerous times, mentally cripple her sensei, and make death threats on her teammates," he snickered. "Shisui would be proud of all that you've done. That boy's a lot like him."

Itachi turned to him biting his lower lip harshly. "Watch what you say."

"Shisui the Mirage, he was a great ninja wasn't he?" Kabuto looked over at Itachi. "If only he lived that night, the Akatsuki would have been proud to have him. Instead they got his incompetent weak cousin," a smirk came to his lips. "If only you were the one who drowned that night."

Itachi scoffed. "The stronger ninja always survives, weak ninja are always going to fall first," he glared at the medical ninja, his eyes narrowing as he curled his hand into a fist. "Just like Sasuke is going to destroy that kunoichi that you picked up, just as I'm going to destroy you, there's no way that you'll win."

The younger ninja's fist moved to meet the flesh of Kabuto's face knocking the glasses off, watching them fall to the ground. He had robbed him of clear vision as he reached into his pouch pulling out the small bottle of liquor.

"I'd say this is going well," he uncapped the bottle pouring a mouthful of liquid into his mouth swallowing it in one gulp. "This is the end for you, Kabuto."

Kabuto looked up at him. "You can take the ninja out of the ANBU, but you can't take the ANBU out of the ninja," he scoffed as he narrowed his eyes. "Still drinking I see. When are you going to drop that habit?"

"Kabuto, you idiot, you don't realize what I'm going to do to you?" he started making hand signs. "We'll see who screams last," he took a deep breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."

The flames from the technique burnt even hotter than the usual fireball, the blaze mixing with the alcohol that was in his mouth, transforming the technique into a blazing inferno. A smirk can across his lips as he watched the med-nin jump out of the way of the attack, right where he wanted him.

"I've got you now!" Itachi breathed pulling out a kunai throwing it straight at him watching his dark eyes widen in shock.

He's trying to get Sakura by herself; he's continuing to distract me so that no harm will come to Sasuke. He's worried about him, there's no question about that now. He moved out of the way of the kunai. "Enough games, Itachi," he pulled out a senbon. "This is the time for you to go down."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Kabuto," Itachi breathed his voice almost monotonous. "There's no way that you can beat me. Not with those senbon that you love so much," he smirked. "Use a technique. Come on. give me something to copy."

Kabuto started making hand signs. "Let's see how well you do when your body starts to give out on you."

Itachi started making the same signs. "I have the basis for Mystical Palms, attacking my body with that technique is only going to embarrass you. So why don't you give up right now?"

Kabuto ran toward him chakra concentrated in his hand. "Take this!"

"Come on, Kabuto, you can do better than that," he threw his hand forward to Kabuto's chest hearing him gag as the muscles were starting to be destroyed. "You think you can beat me like this? You say that you're comparable to Kakashi Hatake, but in reality he put up a better fight, he didn't let me do this."

He grabbed Kabuto's hair twisting him to fall to the ground. "Itachi!" his scalp was burning as he tried to break free from his grip, feeling his grey hairs getting caught in the ring that he desired so deeply. "Let go of me before you regret it."

"I don't regret," Itachi hissed as he pulled out a kunai, kneeling down behind him. "I wonder what Orochimaru would say if you never came back to him? Would he even care? I think I'm doing you a favor. Otherwise you're going to come back empty handed, and he'll hate you. He might even kill you."

"If I die here, it's alright. My body has already fulfilled its purpose to his dream," he looked back at Itachi. "Even if you don't die, I would have slowed you down a little. One by one the Akatsuki will come after you, Orochimaru will send them after you."

Itachi pulled against the ponytail hearing Kabuto gasp out in pain. "The Akatsuki will turn on you the second that the fox dies before they obtain the power on the spirit. That spirit will not get into their hands and my brother will not be a container!"

Sasuke looked over at them. Container?

"Well, you really don't have a choice do you?" Kabuto asked with a smirk on his face feeling the kunai draw closer. "They will come after you no matter how hard you try to defeat them," he slowly moved his hand from the ground. "And they will kill you."

Kabuto's hand grabbed Itachi's ankle sending his chakra through the muscle hearing Itachi let out a muffled cry, he laughed as he felt the kunai leave the side of his neck, the hand on his ponytail becoming tighter as he fell to the ground. The force pulled him back to rest on top of Itachi's body.

"I got your ankle," Kabuto smirked as he looked back at Itachi, seeing the anger in his red eyes. "Oh don't look so angry at me, Itachi," his hand ran along the rain soaked flesh of the younger ninja's cheek. "You can still beat Sakura, no matter how pathetic that you are. Maybe that young boy over there is stronger than you think."

Itachi smirked evilly. "Don't underestimate me," he took a deep breath as he pulled Kabuto's ponytail more moving the kunai to the end. "This ponytail is your downfall, let's get rid of it…"

Sakura looked over at the two who were on the ground. "Kabuto!"

"Itachi?" Sasuke asked as he took a few steps forward. "What are you doing? Quit playing with him and kill him already. The second that he dies is the second that we can bring Sakura back!"

"Quiet, Sasuke," Itachi breathed as he pushed Kabuto away slamming him into a tree, watching the trail of blood being left from the hit, the bark a sickening red. "Stop holding back on Sakura. I'm going to distract Kabuto," he struggled to his feet, his ankle moving painfully as he limped toward the bleeding ninja.

Itachi's hurt, Sasuke breathed as he looked over at Sakura. "Is this your idea of a game, Sakura? Is this how you're going to repay me after all that we've been through."

"What do you care about Team 7?" Sakura asked as she looked at her teammate. "You went off with an Akatsuki insurgent. I went of with the antibody, the one true power that is going to stop Itachi."

"Sakura," he started as he took a few steps toward her. "I have no problem killing you. I told you and Naruto this once: nothing is going to get in my way. No one is going to hurt Itachi, if I cannot kill him, then what makes you think I'll let anyone else do it. He's my goal, I wanted to be the one to kill him, but it only ended in me losing myself. He helped me out of the absolute darkness. Even if I will never be in the light again, he's shown me that there is a way out."

"Isn't that poetic?" Sakura asked as she pulled out a kunai. "You think that all of what he says is the truth? You think he loves you? You think that no matter what happens you're going to bring me back? I'm not going to go back; Kabuto has shown a way for me never to worry about that again."

Sasuke pulled out Shisui's dagger. "Play times over, if you won't listen to reason, then I'll drag you away from Kabuto," he walked toward her pointing the blade in her direction. "Let's see how well you dodge this when you can't even move your leg. That poison was a bad idea," he stood right in front of her looking at the music note on her forehead protector. "Pledged your allegiance to Sound?"

"Just as you did to the Akatsuki," she breathed feeling his hands go through her hair pulling at it gently. "Sasuke, please, listen to reason and come with us. We can come back for Naruto; we can save him from his dark fate."

Sasuke scoffed moving his dagger to Sakura's neck. "It's too late for all of that; it's too late for you to save him. He's going to die no matter which side he's on, there's no hope for him anymore. However, you don't have to die right here if you cooperate."

"Go to Hell," Sakura spat looking at the dagger.

"Maybe later, as of now, you're going to go first," he moved the dagger back pushing it forward to hit her in the back of the head. "Die, Sakura…"

Everything stopped as a pressure wrapped around his wrist, pulling him back from Sakura, the other arm wrapping around his waist dragging him back a few inches. A growl of disproval came from his throat as he opened his eyes seeing Kabuto kneeling behind Sakura facing Sasuke, his eyes free from the glasses burning passionately. Sasuke's eyes ventured to the arm around his waist seeing the fingernails that were still perfectly painted a light violet.

"Itachi?" Sasuke asked trying to break free. "What are you doing?"

"Sasuke," Itachi breathed pulling him away. "Try to control yourself. Try to focus, you're about to fall into a trap. She's going to poison you with that kunai. Do you want to destroy everything that you worked so hard for and kill yourself?"

"It would be worth it," Sasuke snapped breaking free from Itachi's hold on him. "If she isn't going to cooperate then I don't see the point in keeping her alive."

"Killing without reason is not the way that we operate. You were going to throw your life away you idiot," he slapped Sasuke across the face, the dagger falling from his hand landing right in front of Sakura.

Kabuto smirked. "Still living by your weak creed? That's why they kicked you out you know, because you're nothing more than a weakling, someone who doesn't kill on command. You believe in divine command. Unless something tells you inside your body that ending a life is the only way to save your own ass, you let them go. Pathetic, Itachi. You're so weak."

Itachi looked down at the medical ninja. "And you're not weak?" he walked a little closer limping on his right foot, his eyes narrowing in anger. "You're going to regret that, Kabuto."

"Are you going to use genjutsu?" he asked looking up at Itachi.

The younger ninja shook his head. "There are other techniques these eyes can do as well. There's a ninjutsu technique, a technique that I rarely use, the effects of it will probably cause me to be out of commission for the rest of the fight. That doesn't matter though, this technique is fatal."

"Amaterasu?" Kabuto asked his eyes widening. "I should have known you would use that technique," he closed his eyes tightly. "You think that killing me is going to make the problems with the Akatsuki go away? I'm the first of a long line of pain."

Itachi laughed sarcastically. "You caused so much pain, Kabuto."

Sakura looked at her companion who was on the ground looking straight at the dagger that was on the ground. Kabuto, I know he's your fight, but I told you once, that I would have to kill him, she grasped the handle tightly looking up at the two older ninjas, watching as Kabuto started to back away from Itachi. Her heart raced clutching the dagger tightly as she stood up, her knee buckling as she tried to move away from the spot that she was sitting down upon.

"Don't touch him Itachi!" Sakura cried out as she moved toward him, her green eyes burning violently, throwing two senbon at Itachi's leg. Every step ran down both Kabuto and Itachi's spines as she ran closer still the dagger pointed straight at Itachi.

"Sakura!" Kabuto warned, holding his hand out to try and stop her. "Stop!"

She continued to run as she closed her eyes thinking about all of the wrongs that Sasuke and Itachi had caused her, there was nothing that was going to stop her now. Through the smiles that they had given her she couldn't see the trust. She could only see that it was nothing but a grand lie, something to silence her while they continued their plot to destroy Naruto.

"I don't care about what happens to me. Whatever happens happens for a reason, there's no avoiding it once it occurred."

She ran faster. Itachi…

"I have no regrets for what I do. Regret is showing an attachment, attachment is a way to compensate a flaw."

Her hand tightened around the dagger as she blocked out the pleas coming from Kabuto sitting bruised on the ground, his hair disheveled, pulled out of the tie of his ponytail. "Sakura!"

No matter what, I'll, she ran faster still looking into his eyes watching as he froze, his body not moving as he watched her draw closer, his eyes fixated on the dagger.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled from the side his voice almost breaking, he was near tears. "Don't kill him! Please!"

"You're very pretty, you shouldn't be in a thankless job such as this; you could amount to so much more than being on the same team as Kakashi Hatake. You're worth so much more…"

"I will kill you!" she screamed, lunging the dagger forward, hitting flesh, blood spilling onto her hand as she pushed deeper, her eyes closed tightly. She could hear gagging as Kabuto protested, his voice a low growl. All she could hear was Itachi gasp in shock, Kabuto's voice rising into a scream.

"No!"

-----

Naruto opened his eyes in shock as he felt his heart beat faster in his chest, his stomach rumbling violently. He gulped to keep the vomit that was burning in his throat from filling his mouth. Something was wrong. Something had happened out there. He stood from his chair trying to block out the yelling between the Hokage and Kakashi.

Kakashi-sensei is worried about Sasuke; he looked at the door closing his eyes clutching his stomach. There was something wrong with all of this, he never had a feeling like this not since the Land of Waves when he thought that he had lost Sasuke.

It had happened again, he was the one who was left behind while the other two kept on moving. Sakura and Sasuke had both progressed as ninja, both of them truly showing that they were at the top of their class. He was the one who was on the side, there for laughs, there only to lighten the mood. He was weak, he wasn't even able to go out there and retrieve them. He had no power to be proud of.

I wanted to be Hokage? There's no way that can happen anymore. I have to accept it, he moved toward the window closing his eyes a tear rolling down his cheek. "I'm weak," he curled his hand, fisting the fabric of his shirt. "Damn it," through half opened eyes, all he could see was the blur of tears he could see the sun start to come out through the clouds.

"Sasuke, please," he closed his eyes tightly. "Please don't die on me. You made a promise to me as I made a promise to you. I said that I would stay out of the way with you and Itachi," he took a deep breath. "Please Sasuke, please."

"Don't die… promise me that you're going to come out of this all alive. If you think about dying before I do… if you even think about it, I'll… I'll hate you more than I already do."

Naruto closed his eyes tighter as he felt the rays of sun run through his eyes nearly blinding him. "Sasuke…" he could feel his legs start to give out on him. "Please, don't die on me."

Footsteps came up behind him as he fell to the ground his eyes watering even more. "Naruto?" a voice asked. "Are you alright?"

He looked back to see the three genin who were going to go into the woods with him. "Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, don't you guys have parents to go home to?" he looked down at the ground. "In case you guys weren't aware, we got rejected."

"We know," Ino answered.

Naruto placed a hand on the ground. "You don't have to see me like this, no matter how much you guys enjoy making fun of me," he wiped a tear from his eyes. "You're going to be teasing me about this forever, aren't you?"

"No," Ino continued, walking toward him. "I was wondering if I could sit next to you and cry as well," she heard him gasp. "My best friend is out there too and even if she is in the darkness and I can't save her, I know that she'll come back. I mean she has to, everything she knows is here. You're here."

"I don't think Sakura cares about anything," Naruto answered as he looked at the ground. "And as for Sasuke, all he cares about is that asshole brother of his. All he probably wants is to go after him and kill him while he still has the chance."

"Sasuke's always selfish like that," Chouji scoffed. "It makes me sick to be around him. He's always trying to act like he's better than everyone else."

Shikamaru huffed. "He's human, guys, even if he is a pain in the ass, he's still human. He has emotions and he feels as though everything that happened is all because of him. He might hand himself over to Itachi if that's the case."

Naruto looked at the ground pressing his fist against the hard floor. "I hate him! I hate him for everything that he's done; he's making me worry for his life. I don't know what I can do with him. Every time I see him, he's acting like a new person. It's not fair that I'm losing him like this," he closed his eyes starting to sob louder. "It's not fair!"

Ino placed a hand on his back feeling his body move forward. "Shikamaru, he's thinking about it again, he's thinking about hurting himself," she could hear him breathing heavily. "I'm taking him out of here."

Chouji nodded. "I'll help you; we can all take him back to his place."

"Sasuke will probably call as soon as he gets back," Shikamaru continued. "All we have to do is sit with him by the phone and wait. Naruto doesn't want to be alone at times like this."

Naruto felt as Team 10 picked him off of the floor, pulling him toward the door. He looked out at the clouds started to roll across the sky, the ivory masses blocking out the bright rays of the sun. Through the darkness that once clouded the Konoha sky, the light had shone through. It was a new day, a new beginning. This chapter of his saga, Naruto was hit with unbelievable sadness, all of those who were so close to him taken away so harshly. How could he continue to live like this?

He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, falling almost limp up against Shikamaru's shoulder, his tears soaking into the fabric of the other genin's shirt. This was going to take some time to sink in. It was going to take some time to continue to live. He didn't deserve that luxury, not if Sasuke and Sakura never came back.

Author's Note: So I kind of left on a bed note in the fight scene, but I wanted to keep some mystery to it (the n ext chapter won't leave you off like this). I can't guarentee if Itachi's going to survive Sakura's wrath (seeing as the dagger did hit something). So what did you think? Good? Bad? Think Sakura needs to get her ass back to Konoha and stay out of this affair. Honesty is my policy.