Itachi was in a hotel room. He was looking into a mirror in the dark, watching his eyes finally turn back into black, feeling the ache begin to recede. He lightly traced the white line across his neck, a faint scar.

He still couldn't believe what had happened.

Sakura had saved him.

She had brutally ripped open his neck and then saved his life, surprising him twice in one go…

He had never thought his ex-student capable of hurting without hesitation, but he had never hoped she would heal him after attacking him…

He smiled.

He could still feel the cool, tugging sensation of her chakra pulling at the wound, refreshing as always. Out of all the people he'd known, Sakura had always had the cleanest, most gentle chakra he'd ever felt. But now, after meeting her again after so long, that gentle chakra was polluted by an all-consuming hatred, turning it black and twisted.

And yet, underneath all of that, he could still feel her compassion burning through. This girl was amazing. She survived everything he put her through and still retained her humanity, her kind nature.

When she had dropped to her knees, panicking, spreading her hands over his wound, it was like catching a glimpse of the old Sakura he had once known. He had been afraid he'd destroyed that part of her long ago.

But she'd sworn to kill him if she saw him again and Itachi could sense the determination behind her words. She could never hope to kill him, but she'd already proven she could hurt him again and again without even realising it.

He traced the scar again, thinking. Sakura was a good medic. She should have been able to close the wound completely without leaving a scar. And yet, there it was, a pale line right across his throat, now impossible to miss that someone had recently tried to tear his throat out. She'd done it on purpose, leaving the scar to show she had marked him for once, just like the Uchiha brand mark on her arm. The bruises he'd left on her would fade, but Itachi was certain his own scar would stay forever.

He shivered under the light touch of his finger over the potentially fatal wound.

What had he been thinking?

If he'd died by Sakura's hand, Sasuke could never be redeemed – could never kill him and become a hero in Konoha's eyes, saving the Uchiha's reputation…

But he'd felt so guilty. He'd seen the extent of what he had put Sakura through, and could not bear it. His intentions had always been good – keep some happiness for Sasuke alive, keep Sakura safe, redeem Sasuke…

He couldn't escape the knowledge that he had, as Sakura had so angrily informed him, ruined her life. And now she had come closer than even Sasuke had to killing him.

It had taken a while for Itachi to find out who had killed Sasori, partly because he hadn't bothered to ask for a long time, having not been close to him at all. Had it been Kisame… then, he would have cared enough to ask. He and Kisame shared the burden of knowing they had betrayed those closest to them. The only difference was, Kisame embraced the memories of his betrayal and Itachi locked his away in a corner of his mind, and did his best not to think about them.

When the news had spread that Sakura, with the aid of an old kunoichi from Suna, had been the one to kill Sasori, Itachi didn't believe it at first. He just could not connect the teary, kind but ever-so-slightly weak girl with the reason a strong, supposedly immortal shinobi was dead.

But she had ripped the floor from beneath them with one fist, had been able to meet his strength with no effort at all and had proven herself to be impossibly strong.

Now, he could believe she was capable of killing someone as strong as Sasori.

Amazing.

She'd claimed to have a better sensei than him, and it was fairly obvious who that was. The Hokage herself, seeing as Sakura had –to his pleasant surprise – developed into medical type, and had inherited her strength.

When he'd decided to teach Sakura, he'd had the vague idea that she'd know the basics a little earlier than usual, giving her a slight advantage. He'd thought she'd make chuunin, and end up running errands around the village like most people at her level. He had no idea she'd end up apprenticed to one of the Sannin, of all people. He had obviously not given her enough credit.

But, as Itachi put down the mirror and sat on the edge of the hotel bed, he dimly realised he was skirting around the real issue, the recent revelation he'd had concerning Sakura.

He was attracted to her.

His ex-student, whom he had known since she was six years old.

Sakura, the girl who despised him so much she'd break her one rule just for the pleasure of ending his life.

The girl who was deeply in love with his little brother. A love he himself had pushed her towards eagerly, hoping she would be Sasuke's happy ever after.

He rubbed his eyes, disgusted with himself. How immoral had he become?

He needed to see her one more time. This time, he'd tell her everything. He'd convince her, using the Sharingan if he had to, and then she would know how much he cared for her, how he had never stopped caring.

He could only hope her desire to kill him had diminished .

He remembered the promise she'd made to kill him, tracing the scar on his neck and shuddering once more.

For a moment, looking into her hate-filled eyes, he had almost believed she could.

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Sasuke sat a wooden table, hunched over, his face twisted in pain. Bruises blossomed all over his face, and his chin was covered in dried blood. His hands were tied behind his back awkwardly.

An interrogator was sitting opposite him, still pretending to simply be having a civil chat with the prisoner, whereas it was obvious it was merely the prelude to a more violent interrogation, if Sasuke did not cooperate.

"You have to let me see him," Sakura demanded, hands on the glass covering the cell Sasuke was sitting in. She could see him, but he couldn't see her.

There was a softly pulsing seal on his forehead, preventing him from generating even a drop of chakra.

"No, I don't." Tsunade said sternly, "He is a missing nin. He betrayed his village. He has killed people, Sakura. Like any other criminal, he is being questioned and he is not permitted visitors. So, I am sorry, Sakura, but you just can't see him."

"But he's my teammate." Sakura said simply, staring hard at the wounded, scared man who looked so much like her old sensei.

"Not anymore. He is not affiliated with any village. The last kind of connection he had to anyone was Orochimaru. Stop thinking of him as a member of this village, Sakura, because he obviously doesn't."

"What's going to happen to him?" Sakura asked bluntly.

"That depends on the level of his cooperation. If he doesn't respond to verbal interrogation, he will be tortured. If he doesn't provide information, he will likely be executed."

"What?" Sakura stared at her sensei, aghast, "What kind of information are you expecting him to have?"

"Anything on Orochimaru. Anything on his brother. Anything that will justify allowing him to live, Sakura. If he gives us something, I'm sure he'll be pardoned. If he doesn't have any information, then it is up to him. If he shows interest in being redeemed, the Council may consider it."

"What if he doesn't? Tsunade-sama, you don't know him like I do. His pride won't allow him to ask to be let back in the village. This isn't fair."

Tsunade was looking through the glass too, her breath lightly steaming up the clear surface.

"Every criminal in here, Sakura, is someone's ex-teammate gone rogue. Or their brother, or their sister, their mother, their father, their cousin, their aunt, their uncle, their best friend, their partner. Every criminal has to be treated the same. That is fair. What wouldn't be fair would be allowing Sasuke to go free and unpunished for his crimes whilst others suffer for lesser law-breaking. I'm sorry, Sakura, but he will be punished, whether you like it or not. Take comfort in the fact that, if this ends with his death, it will have been his own choice."

"No!" Sakura shouted, the volume of her voice shocking even her. She usually spoke in emotionless, dry tones, except with Anko…. and Itachi.

Inside the cell, Sasuke's head jerked up and he stared right through the glass, still unable to see her.

Tsunade looked outright astonished. In the four years she had known her, Sakura had never once raised her voice to her.

"It is not fair! What about me? I'm a traitor too, aren't I? According to everyone else, I'm just as much of a criminal as Sasuke is! Why aren't I in a cell too? Why wasn't I punished? Nothing about this is fair! I spend four years trying my best to repair my tattered fucking reputation, never making too much of a fuss, no matter how badly I'm treated – do you remember when that jounin 'accidently' burnt me? Did I complain? Did I cry? No! I have spent all this time being nothing but loyal! I had the chance to abandon Konoha and I didn't. I was twelve years old, scared and upset. And I still chose Konoha over him. How much more proof do you need that I am not a traitor? How much longer until those reports you have written about me report something you consider conclusive evidence against me? Maybe I'll be your ex-student, Naruto's ex-teammate, my mother's daughter, the fucking pride and joy of my sensei, stuck in a cell with a seal on my forehead, wondering what I did wrong!" Sakura bellowed, throwing her hands up in despair, growing more and more angry as Tsunade just stood there and took her rage.

"So this is about you, not Sasuke." Tsunade tried to confirm, her hazel eyes worried.

If anything, it made Sakura even angrier. Everything about this sensei was a lie too, wasn't it? The smooth, youthful skin, the clear eyes, the soft, gentle voice, everything hid the fact that underneath, she was just another person who didn't trust Sakura.

"I'm just pointing out that while I'm standing out here with you, despite apparently committing a similar crime to Sasuke, while he's stuck in there, he might even die for it, and it just isn't fair!"

"If you keep crying about what is fair, Sakura, you will continue to sound like a child. You aren't in a cell, because I believed in you. I believed you had merely been tricked by Itachi, that you were innocent all along. I am the only thing keeping you from being just another Sasuke. The Council voted to have you imprisoned, did you know that? I forbid it. I worked hard to keep you free, because I believed in you. Don't make me change my mind."

"I was interrogated, tortured, briefly imprisoned, and only released because they found nothing. Because I wasn't guilty. I was just a stupid little girl. So don't try to make out that I owe my freedom to you. Don't try to hold that against me. I'm not going to stand back and watch Sasuke die. I won't let him die." Sakura snapped, fully aware that Sasuke could hear everything she said.

"Sakura, there is nothing you can do!" Tsunade said, finally raising her voice.

"I said I won't let him die!" Sakura shouted, losing her temper, slamming her fists down on the glass between her and Sasuke.

The glass shattered.

For a split second, Sakura's eyes met Sasuke's, glass showering down upon them, fists still up, anger coursing through her.

"Sakura!" Tsunade shouted, breaking the spell. She seized her student around the middle, trying to pull her back.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out desperately, "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

Sasuke stared back at her, face bruised and shocked. His interrogator was cursing, covered in glass.

"I didn't know who he was!" Sakura said urgently, "He never told me his name! "

He looked down at his lap. He looked up again a second later, a pained, twisted smirk on his face. "I forgive you." He said simply, "Do me a favour? Kill him."

Sakura froze, eyes impossibly wide.

"I will." She said faintly, "I will."

Tsunade finally got a good grip on her, and pulled her backwards, away from Sasuke, her eyes on him the whole time.

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"What were you thinking?" Kakashi asked her after lightly clipping her on the head in reprimand.

Sakura sat at the ramen bar, stirring her cup of noodles endlessly, her mind elsewhere. Sai sat her right, Kakashi on her left. Sai looked as concerned as he could and as usual, Sakura didn't have a clue what Kakashi thought of it all.

"I was thinking one of my closest friends might be executed for a crime most people believe I myself committed four years ago." Sakura replied flatly, not looking at either of them. She wasn't in the mood for their stale concern, or empty words of support.

"In the very unlikely outcome of Sasuke's execution, it would be because he has killed people, Sakura, not just because he betrayed the village." Kakashi folded his arms, ignoring his own bowl of noodles.

"I doubt that he will be executed," Sai agreed with Kakashi, "Tortured extensively, of course." He added as an afterthought.

Sakura ate a mouthful of stale noodles and mused on the topic. Sasuke had been absolutely certain he would die, she knew, otherwise he would never have asked her to kill Itachi for him.

That request… how could she possibly grant it? If, by some miracle, she got her shit together long enough to attack Itachi with full killing intent, how was she supposed to be able to kill him? He was a prodigy, a mass-murdering prodigy whose skill level far surpassed her own.

But she'd said yes immediately, without even needing to think about it. She had already promised she would kill Itachi. It was only a matter of fulfilling her promise.

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The villagers crowded the centre of Konoha, bustling about in the rain like it was any other day, merchants closing up shop, bread hastily being sold, people rushing about here and there in a blur of colour.

Sakura pushed through, eyes seeking the wooden platform, people closing in on her from all sides. Kakashi stood up at the front of the crowd, obviously looking for her. Sai was one of the people she shoved past desperately, ignoring his comforting hand sliding over her arm as she passed him, breaking into a run the moment she had room.

Tsunade stood on the platform, looking about ten years older, sadness etched in every line of her face.

Sasuke was restrained by two Anbu members, his wrists and ankles bound. He had been allowed to choose his own outfit to die in. He wore a dark blue shirt that was too big for him, obviously his father's, with a large Uchiha insignia emblazoned on the front. His bruises stood out lividly on his pale skin, dark, wet hair plastered against his face.

He looked out at the crowd with nothing but a defiant sneer on his face.

Sakura kicked up her pace, finally reaching the platform in a flare of chakra. The chakra flare alerted the people on the platform. Tsunade looked down at her, biting her lip.

Two Anbu dropped down beside her, murmuring placations and holding their hands up, trying to stop her from climbing on the platform.

She was forced to remain in the crowd, her arms held by the Anbu, her eyes fixed on Sasuke.

Over the dizzying roar of the villagers, Sakura shouted, "THIS IS NOT FAIR!"

The people nearest to her gave her funny looks.

Sasuke met her gaze.

She couldn't hear him, but she watched his mouth shape the words, "This is fair."

"What about Naruto!" She bellowed, "What about Kakashi-sensei, what about me? You can't leave us behind!"

"Naruto can live without me." Sasuke said, actually moving closer, the Anbu surprisingly allowing the movement, "So can Kakashi," He said, looking at his old sensei, who looked back at him steadily. He gave him a nod, which was slowly returned, "So can you, Sakura."

"I don't want to!" Sakura shouted back, face screwed up.

Sasuke smirked then, looking every inch his old self. "Still annoying after all this time. I'm going to die, Sakura," He said bluntly, rain dripping down his face, "And you aren't. Live, and kill him. That's what you owe me."

Sakura had no words to say, too many questions and pleas were running through her mind for her to voice. The Anbu held her tighter.

The sky was a murky grey, rain pouring down upon the village. Sakura was soaked down to her bones, shivering, her hands gripping the side of the wooden platform.

She wished for someone, anyone, to come and save Sasuke. Naruto, who would of course be enraged by this, he would come crashing through, his eyes blood-red and vengeful, he would save Sasuke. Itachi, even, for whatever stupid reason he could come up with, Sakura wished with all her heart that a crow would suddenly appear and Itachi would show up to save his little brother.

But of course, he wouldn't.

No one was going to save Sasuke.

He was being forced to his knees, his neck on the block, looking down at her with an enigmatic smirk on his poor, wounded face.

The crowd began to chant, their faces twisted and jeering, some of them spitting on the platform.

Sakura screamed.

No one was coming.

This was really happening.

This was it.

The end.

Just as the axe came down, Sakura's vision went black and the familiar scent of dango surrounded her as the Anbu were ripped away from her.

Anko had pulled the younger girl into her overcoat, blocking her view of Sasuke's death.

Sakura stood shivering, feeling Anko's heat seep through her comfortingly. The older woman's arms wrapped around her.

She could hear the cheers of the crowd.

Sasuke's weak, supressed chakra had been cut off abruptly.

Tsunade was shouting for the crowd to calm down.

Sakura stared at the blackness of the coat surrounding her, shaking uncontrollably, unable to think anything but, "Sasuke is dead."

Sasuke is dead.

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She sat on the wooden, dusty floor, the cloying stench of lilies in the air and her hands pressed together in prayer so tightly it hurt.

She had walked away from Anko, from Kakashi, Sai…. Sasuke. She had walked away blankly, completely expressionless. No one had stopped her. She had slowly, mechanically, walked to the abandoned Uchiha manor, stopping only to buy some lilies from Ino's shop. Ino had been horrified to see her there, asking what had happened, had Sasuke been executed yet, was she OK? Sakura had paid and left without a word, still seeing nothing.

Now she sat and prayed in silence, praying desperately for Sasuke to be at peace, for him to be alright.

She stood up, blowing the candles out. There was no friendly, familiar presence in the air today. No feeling of eyes on her back.

She looked out the window, and dimly registered it was still raining.

She thought she would like to feel the rain on her numb skin, a reassurance that she could still feel.

She stumbled out of the house, thinking only of the soothing water cleansing her, washing away her pain.

It was later now, and there were fewer people on the streets as she walked.

She stopped suddenly after realising she had automatically taken the road that would lead to Konoha's exit. She looked to the side of her and saw the bench Sasuke had left her on, four years ago.

No.

She was shaking again and this was worse than not feeling. This hurt. It clawed at her chest and howled.

She looked up and realised that it had stopped raining.

Her cheeks were newly wet with tears.

She was crying.

People all around her stopped and stared at the traitor girl, the one who never showed emotion, standing in the middle of the street, sobbing brokenheartedly like her world had just ended, falling to her knees.

There was a thin keening sound and Sakura realised it was coming from her. She was kneeling on the wet, dirty pavement in front of a bench, wailing her lament for Sasuke's death.

A hand lightly grasped her elbow and she looked up and saw Naruto.

He was sobbing just like she was, his face crumpled and defeated.

It was too much.

Sakura felt the rage pump inside her, the feeling of absolute outrage and utter fury at the fact that Sasuke was dead.

More hands were grabbing her and she pushed them away blindly, still sobbing, shouting the word, "No!" over and over again until it ceased to make sense to her, was just a vocalisation for her agony.

She was screaming, shoving away the people who were grabbing at her, blind to all around her, throwing her chakra-laden fists around in a panic, crying so hard it hurt, a lump in her throat aching, her breath coming out in gasps.

Naruto was shouting her name and she couldn't even focus on that, could only feel the pain and rage battling inside her.

And then a familiar face entered her vision and she felt a sharp pain in her neck as Tsunade hit her pressure point, knocking her out instantly.

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The hospital room was dark. The restraining straps burned against her chest, arms and legs, laced with chakra to keep her down.

She was still crying, her face pressed into her pillows, the cotton soaking up her tears.

She had never felt more alone or more broken, lying in a darkened hospital room, Sasuke dead and no one around.

She still couldn't quite believe Sasuke was dead. She had pushed through the crowd, fully expecting to climb up onto the platform, deliver a testimony about how Sasuke didn't deserve this, about how he was a member of Team Seven and didn't that count for something?

As the date of his impending execution had approached, Sakura had refused to believe it was the end. She had begged Tsunade over and over to reconsider, to let him live.

In the end, just before the axe had been lifted, she had still believed he would walk away from all of this mess alive, that she would take him to Ichiraku's with Naruto, Sai and Kakashi, and they'd laugh about how badly it could have gone.

The tapping on the window was all she had to warn her before someone stepped into her vision.

A dark swirl of red clouds.

Sakura froze, lying tied down to the bed with no chakra left.

Itachi bent down to peer at her face, and she saw that he was crying.

Shit went doooooown.

Yeah, I killed Sasuke. Didn't feel as good as I thought it would, oddly enough. Probably should have made him go down bitching and moaning, like in life.

After realising I'd neglected one of Sakura's only remaining friends, Ino, I squeezed her in after realising she was plot-relevant any, laughing like a madman. MUAHAHAHAHHAHA!

First day back at uni today. Managed to miss the first lecture of the day cause I'm a sodding hero. Nah, just overslept.

The first day back, and I already have homework. Homework! Insanity, I have fanfictions to write!

Always planned to kill Sasuke in Desert Scar, but it was not to be, seeing as it would have hurt Sakura too much and kinda put a downer on her and Gaara, but felt perfectly happy to do it here.

Anko's nice, isn't she? One of my favourite characters.

Tiny cameo by Naruto, very easy to miss XD

I just can't write that lovable buffoon.

Quick poll for fun: How do you think Kishimoto will end Naruto? Or at least, what do you hope will happen?

No suggestions.