Story: Admitting to Love
Chapter 13: Twist of fate

Kisame knew this was not enough and he sliced the unconscious body in two. With a puff the body disappeared in smoke. Kisame's eyes winded. With more fear he would ever allow himself to feel he searched for the boy. There on a branch, he stood laughing at him.

With an unbelievable speed that must have come out of anger Kisame rushed at the boy. Naruto didn't moved; he just stood there waiting for the blow to come. Kisame's sword cut through his body and again it filled the air with smoke. But this smoke didn't clear up. Kisame, who was hitting himself mentally for falling for the second time in the same trap, tried to look through the thick mist.

He heard some one laughing, but his mind told him it was a trap. So he searched for another body that he finally found after minutes of concentration. He aimed for the shadow of the body, but stopped when he heard a hard yell.

"RASENGAN!" the voice yelled.

Kisame spun around to find the source…it sounded like it came from every direction. When he saw two Naruto's running to him with a blue ball he sliced them…only finding his face being filled with more smoke. More came, he tried to kill them but when he missed one he found out they were just running through him like ghosts and then turned around, to make it look like another attack. He stopped protecting himself and tried to figure out what was going on. When he heard real footsteps he's eyes shot open…only to see it was to late. Naruto pushed the Rasengan in his chest.

"This one was real you dumb ass." Naruto grinned, pushing the Rasengan further in Kisame's chest.

When the Rasengan made a hole into Kisame's body Naruto looked at the result. Kisame kneeled down, facing the ground. Naruto felt sorry but told himself it was his own fault. After Kisame fell on the ground, he fell face up, next to the dead body. The Shadow Clone's with the fake Rasengan's had cut down his chakra.

Looking at the sky he wondered about Hinata. What she was doing, where she was. What she would answer to his question that already haunted his mind since he left Konoha for this mission. He reached with his hand in his pocket and took out a little violet box. Opening it his eyes where blinded with the reflection of the sun on the diamond.

"That's a nice ring." A voice said, coming out of the forest.

"I know." Naruto answered, recognizing his blond teammate.

Ino walked a little tired to the body next to Naruto. She immediately recognized it and gave Naruto a smile, while looking for serious wounds. Knowing him well enough he would not have any or hide them. She still didn't understand why he would do that, but she too did things know one understood, and she did not liked talking about it, so she never asked.

After a discussion with herself for hating to have missed this, what looked like a amazing battle, she looked around, wondering where Sasuke was. Before she even opened her mouth to ask Naruto about him, he nodded and got up.

"Sasuke?" She still needed to ask it. She still held a soft spot for the boy.

"He went after Itachi after he escaped the battle." Naruto grinned, the images of Sasuke finally yelling at the right person went through his mind. He was always the one that got all the flames for something he didn't even did. Sasuke was always mad at him, but now he finally yelled at the right person.

"What? You're not worried?" Ino yelled, what made all the birds leave the area, and Naruto cover his ears.

He grinned again. The feeling he got was strange but he did not got the feeling he should be worried about Sasuke. Something weird was going on.

Sasuke finally found Itachi at a calm river. He rushed into the opening formed by the tree's and the river and faced his brother for the second time. He crossed over the river, seeing a strange but familiar hair color going flowing down with the river. He shacked his head to clear his mind from something he knew he did not want to be remembered off.

"Itachi..." Sasuke sassed as he came closer.

Itachi finally looked up to his little brother, smiled. He had taken care of Sakura the proof he lost a battle to his little brother.

"What are you smiling at?" Sasuke yelled.

He forced his chakra in a blue ball in his hand and ran towards his brother. Itachi stepped out of reach and started laughing. He jumped on a tree branch and leaned his back against the trunk.

Sasuke that felt humiliated needed an explanation for his brother's strange action. Laughing was not something you would see an Uchiha do very of tend. Especially in this family, with it's history.

"You still care about her don't you foolish little brother?" Itachi grinned, now he killed Sakura, Sasuke lost again.

"Shut up about her." Sasuke yelled while trying to hold back some tears.

"And then to think you could meet her today for the last time." Itachi laughed, the hate in his brother would grow even bigger, just like he pleased.

"What? What are you talking about?" Sasuke became confused, was it another trick?

"What already forgot how she looked? That pretty pink hair of her, that sweet smell of Jasmine you would smell when you're around her." He grinned looking down at his brother.

Pink wait pink pink pink. What did I saw when I crossed that river just minutes ago? Was it Sakura? No it can not have been her. She's dead…everyone knows this. He's playing with my mind. She's dead.

"She's dead; you know that, you killed her years ago." He tried to yell but it was not louder then a whisper. As if he would curse himself for saying it.

"Years, Nah, she was here, at my side, but now, yeah……she's dead." Itachi grinned and disappeared.

Sasuke was left alone, he sank to his knees as he hid is face in his hands, shacking it furious, hoping it would make any sense. But then it did. Sakura never died years ago. He knew in his heart this was true, he betrayed her. He stopped searching for her. But why? Why did not she come back to Konoha? No one would hate her; no one would think badly of her. She was kidnapped, or she did not remember.

Suddenly he got up, a little to fast and his mind started spinning. He looked at the river that was flowing down in a calm stream. He needed proof, to see her body. If he really killed her there was one option. He dumped her in the river.

His heart racing and he almost thought it was going to burst out of his chest. After a meditation he learned years ago, he became a little calmer.

His foots sometimes slipped while running down the stream, looking for something pinks.

Naruto was telling the whole story to Ino while they slowly walked into the direction Sasuke disappeared with his brother. Ino was amazed that Sasuke finally spoke his feelings again.

Everyone in Konoha knew the sad story of him and Sakura. And everyone began to think he would never speak his feelings again. It even became a description of how a relation was going. When some one did not tell there feelings, it was said that they then had the Sasuke illness.

Naruto never liked how the villagers talked about the so called illness. He always took it up for Sasuke and even the dead Sakura. But it did not looked like some one really cared.

Naruto was finished and looked questioning at Ino. Ino noticed and made a questioned face in return.

"Do you think she likes it?" He asked with a unsure voice.

"You mean the ring?" She asked but knew he mend the ring.

"Yeah, I bought it a while ago, but every time something comes between." He sighed.

"She would love it." Ino smiled and gave Naruto a little stomp on his shoulder.

Naruto came to her some months ago to ask her how he needed to ask Hinata. Naruto grew up without parents and had never been at a wedding or even saw a proposal. Ino gave him some movies he could watch. He returned them in two day's. Even she could not watch two day's in a row Romances movies, but Naruto seemed to want this so badly he would do anything.

Naruto smiled and they began talking about other things. After awhile she confessed she still had feelings for Sasuke but seemed to have more and more interest in Shikamaru. They stopped to take a break. Ino sat down on a branch and Naruto leaned his back against a trunk nearby.

It was Naruto's time to help. He told her almost everything he knew about Shikamaru. He knew Shikamaru liked Ino too but held that for himself. He was not going to couple them; Ino was smart enough to get him into a date herself. He did encourage her to ask him.

Ino smiled and began to look over the possibilities. If Hinata said yes they would throw a party, and he would be there. This was the perfect opportunity to ask him. After some laughs from them both, and a little teammate fight they continued there way to find Sasuke fighting Itachi.

Both did not felt the feeling they needed to rush things. Although Itachi was stronger then Sasuke there was a chance no one got hurt. Feeling stranger about this Naruto asked if Ino felt the same. She nodded and they both start laughing again. Both were not worried about there teammate. If some one could do it, he would be the one.

He darted around the river, hoping to find nothing. Hoping it was all a lie. The river continued his slow, calm stream down until it reached the sea, he had never seen in his entire life. He wished he went there with Sakura. To see her in her bikini, yelling at Naruto for the sand that flew up when he rushed by to catch the Frisbee Kakashi threw much too hard. Before he knew he was smiling. If only he had confessed it earlier. But he did not; he had to sit on his own blisters.

Slowly coming back to the little mission he assigned himself to, he thought about the battle Naruto was going through. Kisame was a hard opponent but knowing Naruto he would figure something out.

The river became wider; his eyes followed the stream that became rougher. Something black was hidden behind a rock. He blinked his eyes, but found it still there. Carefully he slowed down until he was walking. Did he want to know who this was? Did he want to know if Itachi was lying or not. His heart raced in his chest, he knew for sure everyone in the area could hear it.

Bonk. Bonk. Bonk. Bonk. Bonk. Bonk.

He came closer, he could see naked feet that where blue, a black pant's that hide a thing frame. His eyes moved further up. The arms were full of wounds and bruises. At the sight of the chest he knew it was a she. His heart turned crazy.

Pink

Pink hair stuck to the black fabric of the sleeveless shirt. His eyes hurt at the sight he closed hoping to see someone else face. He slowly opened them again. She remained there, like a lifeless puppet.

His eyes filled with tears, like a rainstorm the tears came rolling down his cheeks. His love, teammate, lied there, lifeless. He could have saved her from his brother. Al these years, he could have found her.

He hit the ground around her. Dead, she was dead. If only he had come seconds earlier. If he had not been so weak to fall for The Thousand Years of Pain, he could have saved her. He failed again.

Looking at the body hoping it would say something or make a move, his whipped of his tears. He graphed her body close to his, and hugged her.

He stayed like this for what looked like ages.

To be continued………………