Author's notes:

Good day everyone.

Hopefully, somebody will still be reading this. Here is the next chapter of my Naruto fic. I'm really sorry that it took so long, but when you're a college student, some things have greater priority. Anyway I hope you like this chapter. After reading, please tell me your comments. The story would only have a couple of chapters left and I want to make a very good ending for it.

On a side note, I'm also planning to do a Gundam Wing/Gundam Seed Destiny crossover. If there's anyone reading this who has read and/or written such fics, could you please give me some advice. If read some on the site, but almost all of them were never finished.

Disclaimer:

The following is a work of fiction using elements not belonging to the author. All such elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities in the story with places, persons, events, and/or other stories by other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.

//\\

It was a day like any other in Konoha, but for a single girl, it was the darkest in her short life. Never had she felt so much emotional stress.

As she drudged through busy village streets, her mind went back to the day before. It was when the boy he loved cast her away in the harshest manner yet. For so long Haruno Sakura had tried to win the heart of Uchiha Sasuke, and for so long the he had rejected her. Still she continued; believing love would conquer all. After her latest rebuff, however, the girl was beginning to question the sense in the pursuit of her unrequited love.

'Maybe I should start looking for another. Nothing is going to happen to me if I keep doing this.'

'Are you nuts?' a voice inside Sakura shouted. 'He's right in front of you! You finally have him in your grasp. It high time you take what's yours, girl.'

'No, it wouldn't matter. He doesn't want to be with me. Why should I even waste my time and energy on someone who doesn't care for me? Maybe it is about time I move on.'

'No way, you do not want to move on. Trust me.'

'How would you know that?'

'Easy girl. I know because I'm you. SHANNARO!!!'

Sakura was so deeply engrossed in her talk with her inner self that she didn't notice someone walking straight in front of her. She was suddenly jerked back into reality when she felt herself collide with someone.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to…" she stopped when she a girl on the road "Ino-pig?"

The blond kunoichi looked up. "Oh, hey, Sakura."

Sakura immediately knew there was something wrong with her friend. Whenever they would meet they would always start with the customary insults. Now, the young Yamanaka isn't even as lively as she used to be.

"Ino, is there something wrong? You don't seem yourself today."

"N…no Sakura, nothing's wrong."

"Don't lie to me, Ino." The pink haired medic-nin said, "I can see something is wrong with you. Tell me so I could help you."

"There's nothing wrong." The blond answered, her voice a bit louder. "Quit poking your big forehead on my life, forehead girl."

The blonde started to walk away. Ino had only taken a few steps away when Sakura's voice rang out again. "It's Shikamaru, isn't it."

The girl immediately stopped. Her companion could see her body trembling subtly. She approached her and wrapped her arms around her.

"C'mon, Ino, let's go find a place to talk."

//\\

Silence.

Shadow.

Solitude.

These were the trademarks of his world. These were his companions during a great deal of his days. These will probably even be his only companions during his last moments.

If the common eye were to look upon Uchiha Sasuke today and how he was three years ago, they would be appalled at how far he had fallen from grace. He was the most gifted child of his class, the one with the most potential. None would expect he will end up in a dark room muttering incoherently to himself.

If a trained eye and a keen mind were to look at him, they would not be too surprised. The clues to this fate were numerous, and the foremost was the Uchiha Massacre.

With the death of his entire family, a great number of important things were taken from the young Sasuke. Foremost of all, he lost the love of a mother, the guiding hand of a father, the companionship and affections of a brother, and the fellowship of family. He was left with no one to guide him as he grew up, none to teach him temperance and patience, none to tell him what was right and wrong.

This also left Sasuke with a great sense of betrayal, since it was his own brother, who robbed him of such invaluable things. This instilled in him the desire for vengeance. This desire would be his drive in life, and it would lead him to ruin. He would be so centered on this end, that to deviate from it or lose track of this path would cause him to lose all sense of purpose and leave him confused.

Another clue to this terrible fate was the actions taken by those around him. When his family died, Sasuke had the sympathy of the entire village…

…and ONLY the sympathy of the entire village.

Sasuke was an orphan, and all he got from the people around him here sympathetic stares and heads bowed and shaking. Not one of them tried to take him in. Not one of the many families and clans of the village offered to adopt the boy. No one, in all his adoring public stepped forward and tried to be the family he lost, not even with the ulterior motive of gaining his bloodline.

All he was an icon, a legend, a tragic celebrity. To the people, the last Uchiha was but a star, as such they treated him like it. Girls would swoon over him. Teachers would always commend his works. Bystanders made known to the boy how they admired him.

This combination of 'sympathetic apathy' and bias towards WHAT he was developed a complex in Sasuke.

He was the best. He was the greatest. No one was above him. No one could come close to him. He had no equal. All others were lesser than him. They were just a waste of his time.

They were not friends, they were fans. They were not comrades, they were stepping stones. They were not love interests, they were hindrances. They smile at him, yet their smiles were hollow. They give him the highest marks, for it was a forgone conclusion. They adored him, but never loved him.

He was superior, so they didn't bother to ask how his life was going. He was better, so they didn't think of taking him in when he needed to be. He had no equal, so they didn't bother truly making friends with him. He was alone, and they left him by himself. He was in pain, and they left to bear it alone. He was sad, and they left him to wallow in his sorrow.

No one cared for him.

No one.

For so long he lived like this, then suddenly, something changed. He encountered someone completely different from those he's met. He met a boy no older than him, with blonde hair, orange clothes, and an outrageous obsession with ramen. The boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto.

The two were the others polar opposite. One was quiet and brooding, the other was loud and obnoxious. One was a genius, the other was a dead last. One was loved, the other was hated.

Even with these contrasts, there was something that linked the two boys. Both grew in sadness and solitude. Both had impressed upon them unwanted attention because of their past. Both were seen for something they were not.

From the moment they met an invisible bond connected the two, though on outside they hated each other's guts. For Naruto, this bond would be one of the strongest he will ever have.

Sasuke at first didn't recognize this bond. He ignored it, and considered it nonsense. But as time went by, he got to know the boy better, and he realized something.

They were the same.

For the first time in so long, the last Uchiha felt something he thought had long disappeared. He felt the ties of family with this young fox-boy. Naruto became important to him, something no one had ever become to Sasuke. Slowly, theses ties extended to others, a certain pink haired kunoichi, for example.

Fate, however, had not been kind to the last Uchiha. So why should it start now?

Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry hid their friendship. Even with this, Naruto acknowledged their bond. Sasuke was a different story. For him his revenge always had the first priority. Even if he considered the blonde as his best friend and a most worthy adversary, it did not take long before he saw him as a threat. He saw how fast his teammate grew in power and he felt threatened by this. He was supposed to be the best, the most powerful, and now a loudmouth idiot was overtaking him.

This is where all those years of apathy and bias would come into play. Sasuke's picture of superiority has been shattered. With his will crumbling, he began to doubt the ability to attain his revenge. As he faltered in his path as an avenger, his mind began to crack. Revenge was all he lived for. Revenge was the reason he existed. Now that he realized how lacking his power was, he was slowly losing his purpose.

Had he been taken in all those years ago, his dark desires would have been mitigate. Had all that he met not have been biased towards him, his obsession for power would not have existed. Had people loved him who he was, instead of what he was, he would have learned to live for something else.

But now it was too late.

The damage has been done.

And it was irreversible.

So obsessed was he for power and revenge, he abandoned his village and deserted his friends. For three years he was a traitor and an enemy. He trained and built up his arsenal. He had cut-off all his attachment so he may focus on what was important. When the time was right, he went out to get his ultimate weapon. The weapon that would guarantee his revenge.

The Mangekyou Sharingan.

To this end, he sent messages to the one person he could give him this. To his pleasure, Naruto came with impeccable timing. They fought in same place they had last fought. Their previous battle was a draw, this time Sasuke was planning it to end differently.

The both of then fought out of sheer determination and desperation. Naruto was determined to bring the wayward Uchiha back and desperate to restore the family he had. Sasuke was determined to attain the power he so long lusted for and desperate not to allow his existence be made meaningless by his opponent.

Both pulled out all their stops. Both gave it their all. And as the dust settled, the avenger lay defeated and the feet of his opponent.

Sasuke knew this was the end. He was prepared to die should he prove no match against the foxboy. Revenge was his purpose in leaving. If he could not defeat Naruto in single combat, what more Itachi. His existence was meaningless. Why then should he continue to take up precious space on this earth.

Naruto, however, had other plans. He knew of the pain and suffering brought by years of solitude and sadness. He knew the anguish of seeing other children go home laughing with their parents while he just stood there and watched. He knew that the only way to be cured of these things is to feel and understand that you are love and are a part of a family.

That was what he did. He reminded Sasuke of the bond of brotherhood they still shared. He reminded him of the bond of love he secretly had with Sakura. He reminded him of the many times and things they shared and how, even though they were not linked by blood, they were a family.

The foxboy's gamble worked. Sasuke saw the error of his ways, surrendered to the leaf genin, and allowed himself to be taken back to Konoha.

A happy ending…

…not quite.

Unbeknownst to the two they had a spectator. Orochimaru followed his insubordinate ward after he left the Sound without his knowledge or permission. He knew Naruto would be an obstacle in his plans, but it has finally come to a point where the obstacle had to be eliminated.

With no other alternative for escape the two gennins had to engage the Otokage. In the middle of the battle Sasuke was knocked out. When he came to, he was horrified to see Naruto hanging by a thread against the attacks of the snake sannin. Immediately he launched himself against the enemy and plunged his Chidori into Orochimaru's chest.

The end result was not what he had expected. Instead of Konoha's most hated enemy, Sasuke killed his blood brother.

And as the last bit of life left Naruto's body, so did sanity leave Sasuke's mind.

He did not want to be like Itachi. In his deranged state he believed what he was doing was not the same as his S-class criminal brother. But now as he looked upon Naruto's cold dead body in his arms, he realized, he had become Itachi.

A murder. A traitor.

So here he sat in the darkness, languishing in his house that was his prison. This would have suited him just fine until a sharp pain shot into his shoulder.

The pain quickly coursed through his body. It shot through his arms and across his torso. He felt like every vein in his body was on fire. He thought he was going to explode with the pain he was feeling.

As suddenly as it began the pain disappeared. Sasuke fell into a sweaty, gasping heap on the floor. His eyes were shut, as if expecting to the torture to return any moment. Nothing came. All that was left was strange sensation on his left shoulder.

Sasuke's body suddenly shot up. His eyes that were closed moment ago were wide open in shock.

"He's here."

//\\

Sakura and Ino were having their little talk at the barbeque restaurant team 10 frequented. More accurately, Ino was wailing her sorrows out as Sakura tried her best to calm the blonde and keep herself from disappearing from embarrassment.

"And then…and then…and then he said he had no time for my ranting. The bastard was just too lazy to say it, but I knew he meant he had no time for ME!"

Ino gave a childish cry before inhaling another serving of rice and barbeque. Sakura should have known better. She just had to bring the blonde wreck to the very place that had the most memories of Shikamaru.

She was about to say something comforting when a scream broke her off. Almost immediately the restaurant emptied to see what the commotion was about. As soon as the pink haired kunoichi stepped out, she was almost hit by the flying body of an ANBU. Looking at the direction it came from, a chill went up and down her spine at what she saw.

A horrifying creature stood at the middle of the road. It looked like a human save for several features. Its skin was grayish-blue and its hair had the color of ash. Its eyes were pools of complete darkness surrounding a yellow center. There was a black, cross-shaped mark running down the bridge of its nose and below the eyes.

These features alone merited fear, but what truly terrified the people were the giant appendages sticking out of its back. They were looked giant hands and functioned as wings. It gave the creature the look and feel of a demon. So stricken by fear was Sakura, that she didn't notice the creature held a resemblance to a certain Konoha prisoner.

At that moment, several jounin and ANBU surrounded the creature. It growled at them and spoke.

"Move! Get out of my way before you get hurt. He's here! I must go to him! I MUST FIND HIM!"

The creature made a move forward. As soon as it took the step the surrounding ninjas through several weighted chains at it. The chains wound themselves around its arms, legs, and neck as the ninja's pulled with all their might. Strangled with its limbs being pulled out of their sockets, the creature fell to its knees and went limp.

Seeing the creature subdued, an ANBU approached with his sword drawn. As he got closer, the creatures head shot up. Arcs of lightning jumped from its skin and skittered along the chains binding it. The ninjas holding the chains cried out in pain as the electricity coursed through their bodies. Feeling his binds loosening, the creature jumped up at the ANBU in front of him and knocked him out with one punch.

Seeing no more opposition, the beast flapped its hand-like wings and began to go airborne. It was just a few meters from the ground when it suddenly stopped and fell to the ground. It tried to move but it found its entire body completely frozen. Behind him, Ino stood with her hands in a familiar position.

"Ninpou: Shinranshin no Jutsu. Don't think you can get away from the two of us that easily, monster."

The beast had only enough time to lift its head before it saw a shadow where he lay. Above him, Sakura flipped in mid-air as she prepared a sky ankle. At the last second before the strike, Ino released her jutsu, as to not get caught in the aftereffects. Sakura struck at her mark, and a cloud of dust erupted.

As the dust settled, it revealed the young Haruno in a split.

"Sakura, did you get it?" Ino shouted.

Sakura's serious face only tightened.

"No."

The dust cloud in front of Sakura parted revealing the beast with a very angry looked on its faced. With a cry it swiped its claws at Sakura. The medic nin quickly leaned back as far as her body's elasticity allowed her, managing the dodge the lethal talons in time. Supporting herself on one hand and twisting her body as she corrected herself, she kicked the beast of its feet and followed it up with a kick to the face as her other leg came around. As soon as her body was off the ground, Sakura back flipped back to Ino.

"This one's fast." the blonde said.

The beast looked at the ninja's before it. Its eyes snapped back and forth between Ino and Sakura before finally resting on Sakura.

"Leave. I don't want to hurt you."

The two ignored it.

"We have to be careful. We don't know what this thing can do."

"No problem. I'll just displace all my anger and frustration at Shikamaru on this one."

Drawing a kunai, Ino charged head long at the beast. Again it tried to swipe at its enemy, but the blonde ducked before the strike could connect. She brought he blade upwards, managing only to splice off a bit of the beast's hair. With one swipe of its wings, it quickly put some distance between it and the kunoichi.

"Oh, no you don't!"

The beast saw Ino pull her hand back as if throwing senbon. It closed its wings in front of it to protect itself. Sure enough, it felt three pricks on the back of its appendage. It drew back its wings to ready itself to lunge, but as soon as it was extended the beast went numb. It fell to its knees as it began to lose all feeling in its body.

"My gift to you." Ino said as she produced a purple flower out of nowhere. "Pretty, isn't it? This flower is also tipped with several plant toxins. Beautiful and deadly, just like me."

It looked at its wings and saw several flowers of the same kind Ino was holding. The beast could only scowl at her.

"Nice one, Ino. Now its my turn."

Holding her hands to her chest, Sakura began to create charka scalpels. Pumping charka into her legs, she launched herself at the beast. The moment she was in striking distance, the young medic nin crisscrossed her glowing hands all over her opponent, severing muscles and ligaments where her hands passed over. As a finishing move, she raised her hands diagonally and brought them down in a crossing motion. The attack was delivered with such force that the beast was thrown of its feet on into a wall.

The two kunoichi stood some distance away. Surely enough, the beast erupted from the debris. This time however, he didn't get far away. With Ino's poison still in effect and Sakura's last attack completely knocking out his muscles, there was nothing much it could besides lay there on the ground.

"Ok, let's finish it off, Sakura."

"Wait, Ino! Something's happening to it."

Sure enough, the monster's form began to change. Its hand-wings and hair began to shrink. Its skin color changed from grey to black. Once its entire body was black, the color began to shrink into several, flame-shaped spots all over its body. The spots began to recede, leaving only the form of a young man. He looked up, onyx eyes looking blankly upon the two kunoichi.

"S…Sasuke?"

Sakura found herself back in the forest of death, looking on helplessly as her beloved was consumed by the cursed seal's chaotic power. Only this time, it was far worse. He has become that monster in the forest once again. Only this time, she knew there was nothing she could do to bring him back.

'Is this how Naruto fell by your hands? How could you, Sasuke. How could you?'

In shock at what she saw, the kunoichi fell to her knees.

"Sakura!"

Seeing her companion fall, Ino quickly went to her side. With the kunoichi occupied, Sasuke began to make his escape. He had hobbled but a few feet when he was beset once again by ANBU. This time he could properly defend himself, and was easily overcome. The captain of the squad that subdued him stepped up to him. The Uchiha eyed the masked face with contempt.

"What are you looking at? Shouldn't you be dragging me back to my house right about now?" he said in an indignant tone.

"No." came the cold reply.

Without knowing why, Sasuke went cold at this answer.

"Uchiha Sauke, under orders of the Hokage, you are now to be executed on the spot."

All were stunned at the statement.

"The Hokage has given us authorization to carry out this sentences should you make any attempt to flee."

At this the ANBU who were holding down Sasuke bent him over so his neck stuck out.

'They're going to kill him…'

The ANBU captain drew out his sword.

'…we can't let them do that…'

The captain held it above his head, ready to strike down.

'…we can't let them take Sasuke away from us…

Sasuke shut his eyes.

…just like how Naruto was taken from us.'

The blade went down upon Sasuke, but before it could touch his bare neck it was caught by a gloved hand. He looked up and was surprised at what he saw.

"Sakura?"

The captain glared at the girl.

"Haruno, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Her response was shattering his blade under her grip and giving him an upper cut. Turning to the other members of the squad, she gave them a warning.

"I won't let you take my teammate away from me. I won't let you kill him!"

With a cry she charged against the elite squad. She caught one blade headed towards her and promptly smashed the attackers masked into his face. Two more came from her rear. She did a quick roundhouse and sent them flying against a wall. The last member came at her with two swords swinging. She dodged the strikes before Sakura sliced the blades with her chakra blades. The Anbu could only look at her broken blades before she was sent flying by Sakura's charka charged punch.

She was about to turn back to Sasuke when she felt a cold chill grip her. She suddenly couldn't control her body anymore.

'Stop this Sakura. I don't want to fight you.'

The young Haruno recognized the voice inside her head.

'Ino. Did you use the Shintenshin technique on me?'

'That's right. And with this I could stop you from doing any more stupid things.'

'Stay out of this Ino, it doesn't concern you.'

'The hell it does. I'm not going to stand by and let my best friend throw away her life. There is no way I'm losing you to this insanity like I did Shikamaru.'

Silence stood between the two.

'Ino, you've been a great friend to me…

…Thank you.'

Just as these last words echoed through Sakura mind, Ino felt a massive psychic wave push her out of the pink-hair's body and back into hers. The push was so strong even her sprawled body flew some distance when her spirit reentered.

With all this done Sakura went to Sasuke. She knelt before him and began to heal his wounds. Silence befell the two. It was only a few moments after that that Sasuke found his voice.

"Sakura, why are you doing this?"

She only gave him her most sweetest of smiles.

"It's ok now, Sasuke. Nobody's going to execute you today. "

A sensation alerted Sakura of a presence behind her. Thinking it was another attacker, she swung around to throw another chakra powered punch. A chill went down her spine when her punched was caught. Only one person could counter her punches in such a way. Looking up, her eyes met with the passive ones of the Hokage.

"Sakura, I'm disappointed at you."

As soon as Tsunade spoke these words she backhanded Sakura into a wall. The girl gave a shrill cry before slumping on the road and passing out.

"Sakura!!!"

Sasuke turned to the Hokage with murder in his eyes and launched himself at her. He never got to land a blow as he was hit in the gut by a chakra powered punch, making him cough out blood. Almost instantly another punch was dealt sending him to where his teammate lay.

The last thing he saw was Sakura's unconscious form before oblivion took him.

//\\

The sun had barely set in the west and the news about the incident had spread all over the village. Most could not believe that such fine ninjas could do such a thing, while other lashed out in fury on what they believed as the 'Kyuubi's corruption' of the minds and bodies of their children. Whatever the feelings of the people, it was decreed that the two criminals, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, would be executed the day after tomorrow.

Jiraiya was walking through the forest alone. An hour ago he was in the tower to talk to Tsunade. As he walked to her office he passed by a wailing woman whom Shizune was trying to calm down. The young nin mouthed 'Haruno' and he immediately understood the woman was Sakura's mother. He tried to talk to his old teammate to change the sentence, at least for Sakura, but she would not have any of it. She then threw him out of the window, literally.

He kept on walking with no knowledge where his feet were taking him. He finally came to a clearing where a young woman stood. A quick glance around and he knew where he was and who she was.

"Good afternoon, Lady Hyuuga."

The girl turned, pale lavender eyes looking at the new arrival.

"Good day, Master Jiraiya."

"Are those for him?" he asked pointing at the bouquet of flower in her arms.

"Yes." She said with a smile.

Turning back, Hinata placed the flowers neatly atop Naruto's grave.

"So it is true. You put flowers on his grave everyday."

"Yes, but usually not this much. I was in a mission and I wasn't able to bring him any during the past days. I'm making it up to him with this bunch."

Jiraiya smiled at this, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind missing some flowers, as long as you visit him as often as you can."

Even if he didn't see it, he knew Hinata was smiling.

"Master Jiraiya, may I ask you something?"

"Hm? What do you want to know, Miss Hinata?"

She turned to him.

"Is it true that Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke fought against our ninjas; that both have been declared traitor and are to be executed?"

Jiraiya's face turned grim. "Yes, that's true."

Hinata lowered her eyes, but raised them again to ask another question.

"May I ask what happened?"

Jiraiya ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He began to tell her what he knew from the reports and what he heard from the ninjas and villagers who were there. As she listened, sadness fell over Hinata's face.

"Ah! What the heck is happening?" Jiraiya cried out after telling his tale, "I don't know what to think anymore."

Hinata remained silent and turned to where her beloved lay.

"He would not have wanted this."

The sannin looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Naruto." Hinata said. "Naruto would not want these things to happen at all. He wanted to bring Sasuke back so he could have his family back. He wanted his old gennin days renewed, with Sasuke and Sakura by his side. He would never have agreed to any trial much less an execution. He believed, no, he knew that Sasuke can be turned from Orochimaru, that he could still be saved, that deep within the black avenger was the sorrowful boy who was his brother."

Jiraiya looked at Hinata skeptically.

"I'm surprised to hear those words from you Miss Hinata. Considering what Sasuke has done, you would be the last person I'd expect to hear those words from."

She gave him a small smile.

"Regardless, whatever you or Naruto believed won't be helping Sasuke. Only Tsunade can revoke the order, but seeing as she is now that would be very impossible. In some ways, she's becoming like him. She suffered through the death of the two most valuable people in her life. Loosing Naruto brought back the pain and it has finally driven her over the edge. She just wants revenge for his death."

A sigh escaped the heiress' lips.

"If only there was another way…"

It was at this point that the two ninja's were joined by a spectator. Small toad appeared from the shrubbery, hopped between the two shinobi, and gave out a small croak. Hinata gave out a small giggle at the creature when she saw Jiraiya. The sannin had a look in his face that was as if something had dawn onto him.

"Lady Hyuuga, I have to leave you now."

At this, the toad sannin disappeared.

//\\

Sasuke looked upon on the wall of his small cell. Judging from how much light was filtering from the small window, it was already late afternoon, nearing dusk. It had only been a short time ago since the decision for execution was made known to him. Had it been some other day, it would not have affected him. Today was different. A stirring on his chest made him look down, and caused a tear to fall the same path others like it traveled.

Resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around, was the sleeping form of Sakura. Never had he imagined he would have to cause the destruction of yet another life before he faced his end. It only pained him to no end to know who was going with him to the grave.

A couple of hours ago the two were thrown into the cell. Sakura had not yet fully recovered from the hit she took from her former master but Sasuke still chose this time to scold her for what she had done. Scolding wouldn't have come close to what he did. So enraged was he that his last living teammate would sacrifice her own life for his behalf. I took him almost all his already devastated will not to hit her out of frustration.

To punctuate his tirade he demanded to know what possessed her to do something that was a blatant disregard of her leader, the laws of her village, and her own life and personal well being.

"We are a team." was her reply, "I just couldn't let you die…"

This answer not only angered him but also saddened him as well. Angered, because she still couldn't get the fact that their team no longer existed, and saddened because that was the same reason his fallen brother gave him. She was about to reprimand her again when she continued her answer.

"…and, because I love you."

This was when the dam broke. Tears and emotion erupted from the Uchiha. He took the girl in his arms and held her tight as if she was going to be taken from him; which she would soon be. He wanted so much to tell her what he felt but found that he couldn't. All he could give her were the same words he used to give her.

"You're…so…annoying."

In any ordinary day Sakura would be hurt at this. Today was different. Not only did Sasuke's body language said otherwise, but the words itself. His voice wasn't emotionless or filled with annoyance, rather they were said with sadness, loss, and, very subtly, affection.

And so they ended up at like this, a doomed couple spending their last moments together. It was only a few minutes ago that a guard informed him of their execution date. It was fortunate that she had fallen asleep, lest the news affect her terribly.

Sasuke on the other hand could not fall asleep. The news made the wheels in his head to turn. He was thinking, planning, strategizing. Looking up again, he saw that the light outside had almost gone out. At this he knew the time was right to begin his final mission.

Moving slowly so as to not to wake her, he moved Sakura to the bed and pulled the blanket to her chest. He knelt beside and began to stroke her hair. If he could, he would spend these last hours with her, but he knew he had to do this. He leaned over her sleeping form and gave her her first, and probably last, kiss. Finally, in what was almost a reenactment of that fateful night, he turned from her sleeping form and walked away.

For the second time, Uchiha Sasuke is going to seek out Orochimaru.