"Hello, Sakura..." said Orochimaru, smiling with malice.
Sakura took a deep breath and stood up straight. So, this was the moment of truth.
"Are you ready to heal me now?" said Orochimaru.
So, he didn't figure it out afterall... thought Sakura.
Sakura thought fast. She didn't know if Orochimaru knew about Sasuke helping her, but she knew that she shouldn't mention anything that would hint to it.
"Still thinking I'm going to just willfully help you, Orochimaru?" said Sakura bravely. "Hmph, you must be joking..."
"Why, such sassy words from someone I could easily kill. Do you think I'd wait around for you to do it willfully?"
Sakura thought she should cement the secrecy of Sasuke's help before engaging in any combat. Taking a defensive stance, Sakura looked side to side.
"Where's Sasuke?" she asked.
"I left him behind," said Orochimaru. "Sasuke was never the one to help me in this endeavor. All he dreams of is revenge... He'd sooner kill you to spite Itachi than get you to help me."
"Well, I'm afraid you were better off letting him kill me, because it looks like you're not going to get my help AND you're going to have Sasuke pissed at you after I die... IF I die, and you'd better pray I do..."
"How wonderful it is that you're so willing to die. I've never seen such enthusiasm... Tell me, Sakura, is this willingness coming from the guilt of having slept with the murderer of the Uchiha clan?"
That remark pissed Sakura off. Clenching her fist she slammed it into the earth, splitting the ground that Orochimaru and Kabuto stood on into a deep crevice. As a piece of rock dropped down in front of her, Sakura gave it kick that sent it flying at Orochimaru. The fight was on.
Sakura was so enraged that she didn't care about what Kabuto was doing. Realizing this, Kabuto stood aside and let Orochimaru do the persuading.
Orochimaru immediately engaged in hand to hand combat with Sakura, which pissed her off even further. The fact that he didn't feel that she was worthy enough to pull out all the stops was insulting.
Getting a hold of his wrist, Sakura slammed Orochimaru to the floor before dealing a deadly blow to the abdomen. The ground beneath him shattered, and as her fist settled into his flesh she could feel that it was not really him.
Bounding backwards, Sakura paused to sense Orochimaru's next move. Pulling out two kunai, Sakura held the blade in her left hand pointing forward, and the one in the right pointing backward. Holding her left out in front and the other behind her, Sakura prepared for his attack from both front and back. Widening her stance, Sakura calmed her breathing until everything fell silent.
The wind brushed the blades of grass and flicked Sakura's hair. She could see from the side of her eye that Kabuto stood well away from the battlefield.
Closing her eyes, Sakura began to feel for Orochimaru's presence because she could not see him.
Fine... she thought. If I can't feel him, then I'll let him come to me.
Relaxing, she let herself open.
Snakes burst forth from the ground beneath Sakura and wrapped themselves around her legs. Suddenly a sword pierced from the ground in front of her and stabbed her through the shoulder. At the other end of it was Orochimaru.
Snaking out of the ground, Orochimaru grinned and twisted the blade, but as soon as he did so, Sakura's body puffed into smoke and revealed that she had used a replacement juitsu. Orochimaru had stabbed a rock.
Kabuto straightened up. He had not seen Sakura perform the juitsu. The level that Sakura was at was far more than he and Orochimaru had expected, and now it was Orochimaru's turn to figure out where Sakura was.
Suddenly there was a bloodcurdling scream. Orochimaru turned to see that Sakura had appeared behind Kabuto and jammed both kunai into Kabuto's shoulderblades. As she pinned him to the earth, she looked over to Orochimaru with bloodthirsty eyes, then twisted the blades in Kabuto's back so that he screamed further. The blood from Kabuto's back shot out and sprayed her face. The look she had was menacing.
Orochimaru's surprise was written all over his face. Sakura's original plan was not to eliminate Orochimaru, she knew she couldn't do it, so she went for the one she could.
Orochimaru had to act quick or his own medical ninja would be taken from him. Sending snakes shooting down the blade of his sword, it shot over to Sakura who moved out of the way before they got to her.
Orochimaru rushed to guard Kabuto, and stared at Sakura with troubled eyes. He had underestimated her.
"So, it looks like I'm going to have to kill you afterall," said Orochimaru.
Sakura didn't answer, she just stared at him with those fiery green eyes. There was nothing more to be said. It was now Sakura's last dance before death.
As Orochimaru stared over to her, he could not help but admire the handywork of Tsunade. Sakura's fearsome eyes and Tsunade-like temperament reminded him of the fall that the Sakura blossoms take when their life is at its end.
Glorious... he muttered.
Orochimaru reached down and pulled the blades out of Kabuto's back. As Kabuto yelled in pain, Orochimaru never took his eyes off of her.
"Heal yourself," ordered Orochimaru.
As Kabuto sat up, he looked over at Sakura, pissed out of his mind.
Orochimaru pointed his sword at Sakura. In turn, Sakura once again took her stance.
Shooting forward Orochimaru stabbed at Sakura. As she ducked out of the way, she slashed at his face with her left hand, slicing his cheek before coming in with a right punch to his jaw.
The effect wasn't as strong. Sakura could feel that her chakra wasn't up to par because of her fight with the rapids. Dismissing this fact as soon as it was realized, Sakura deemed it irrelevant and brought her left fist up for an uppercut.
Orochimaru flew back but sliced at her as he did, and felt it connect. Looking down, Sakura saw that there was now a gaping hole in her shirt. Sakura grabbed at her side in pain, so Orochimaru took the opportunity to strike in her moment of vulnerability, but it was what she wanted.
As Orochimaru lodged at her with his sword, she used the kunai to catch and slide up his blade to bring her arm up to elbow him in the face. Stunned, Orochimaru saw that the place that he had sliced was not bleeding. As Orochimaru flew back once again, Sakura dropped the kunai in her left hand and grabbed the hilt of the sword to disarm him. When she did so, however, a snake shot from Orochimaru's sleeve and wrapped around her left arm.
Recognizing the possibilty of poison, Sakura used the kunai in her right hand to slash off its head before it bit her. Shaking its lifeless body off, Sakura stood back to see that Orochimaru was gone, along with the sword.
Looking around in haste to see if he was coming, she once again found herself faced with silence. Finally she turned and found that Orochimaru's face was two feet from hers.
POW!!
Sakura's head swirled with stars. Orochmaru was furious and had head-butted her in retaliation. As Sakura stumbled backwards, she felt a knee contact her back and she looked up to see that Kabuto had joined the fight. Falling towards the earth, Sakura opened her eyes to see a foot coming towards her face, so she moved her kunai in the way, but the foot missed and smashed the right side of her face instead.
Sakura began slashing blindly in an effort stave off the attacks so that she could stand. When she managed to get up, she punched at Kabuto but missed since her mind was still in a blur. Jumping back, Sakura distanced herself from them to shake things off.
Suddenly a big dog came out of nowhere and lunged at Orochimaru. Punching the dog, Orochimaru sent it tumbling across the ground with a yelp.
"Kakashi!" gasped Sakura, looking into the darkness for the flash of his silver hair.
As another dog leapt at Orochimaru, Sakura wasted no time in attacking Kabuto. Lunging at him, she heard Neji shout.
"Byakuugan!"
Sakura's strikes at Kabuto shoved him back, and immediately Neji stepped in and took over. Taking a deep breath, Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Kisame looking down at her with a proud smile.
Stepping in front of her, Kisame gestured for her to move back, so she trotted away looking over her shoulder. As Kisame guarded her, they ran away from the fight so as to get her out of danger.
"Where's Itachi!?" she asked.
"See for yourself!" shouted Kisame.
As they came to rest a short distance away, Sakura could see that Itachi was now engaged in a heated battle against Orochimaru with Kakashi by his side.
"I'm afraid I'll have to leave you if that Neji fails," said Kisame, watching Neji's battle intently.
As the fight waged on, Orochimaru had his hands full with three Sharingans on his tail.
Now that she thought about it, she could once again see reasoning in Tsunade's choice of her rescuers. Neji had turned out to be the perfect match for Kabuto, and was not only fending off Kabuto's medical skills, but making it more and more difficult for him to do so. One by one, Neji began to hit the chakra points in Kabuto's body, screwing up his chakra flow so that his medical juitsus were less effective. Kabuto wasn't stupid either though, and as they fought, he too was managing to damage Neji's nerves along the way, slowing him down immensely.
"I think it's going to be a matter of who can last longer than the other," said Sakura, observing with a medical eye.
Suddenly however, Kabuto misled Neji and made a dash straight for Sakura. Even through the dark she could still see that he was enraged over her previous offense. The move was so quick that she was stunned for a brief second before realizing she needed to dodge. The attempt was short-lived however, as Sakura saw Kisame's sword rip through the air and blast Kabuto back like it was a baseball bat. Amazed, Sakura saw Kisame's blade churning beneath the bandages, excited from being fed chakra.
Over in Kakashi's corner, the Sharingans proved to have the speed and intuition of the fight, but Orochimaru's forbidden juitsus made it hard for them to deal any life-threatening blows. As the three fought, they soon realized that it was quite an even battle, but that's when the tide changed.
"OROCHIMARU!!"
Sakura heard Naruto's voice ring through the night. Looking all around, Sakura could not see him. Suddenly, out of the sky dropped Naruto and Lee.
"Sakura! Quick! Heal us!!" shouted Naruto, sticking his ankle out to her but keeping his eyes on the fight.
BOOM!!
Sakura saw an explosion set off right where Orochimaru had landed. Apparently Deidara managed to slip in some explosives thanks to the darkness. As a swirl of blue light picked up, everyone turned to see that Jiraiya and Kakashi had teamed up to deliver a Rasengan and Chidori to Orochimaru's body, and as they crashed down in a barage of fearsome energy, it seemed that the fight could be won even though they had missed.
Orochimaru frowned at the situation. He knew that they had lost. His only hope was to once again get away with Kabuto.
This time Kabuto didn't have to be told, he knew the outcome of the battle once Jiraiya and the others arrived. Dodging Neji, Kabuto threw an explosive note attached to a kunai at Neji, before disappearing in the explosion that ensued.
A giant snake burst forth from the ground between Orochimaru and his opponents, and the moment they lost sight of him was the moment he took his leave. As soon as he had escaped, the snake dissipated leaving nothing behind. When the dust settled, Kakashi and the others realized he was gone.
Sakura screamed in anger. She was furious that once again he had managed to get away. Suddenly tearing, she realized that the torment would never end, that she would live her life with that kind of fear.
Collapsing to her knees, Sakura wept in hopelessness. Everyone around her could not say anything, nor did they know what to say, but it was Itachi who knew what to do.
Coming to her side, Itachi kneeled before and put his hands on her. The moment she realized it was him, she fell forward into his embrace and buried her face in his chest. As she sobbed uncontrollably in frustration, she clutched at his cloak and squeezed.
Kisame, knowing how tough it must be for her, looked at the others and walked down the path towards Konoha. The others seeing his face, followed suit.
When Sakura finally calmed down, she looked up at Itachi and wrapped her arms around his neck. Hugging her tenderly, Itachi pushed her back so that he could brush the tear-soaked hair from her face, and began scanning her body for injuries. Being a man of very little words, Itachi merely looked at her with eyes that said it was going to be alright. Standing up, he put his arm around her and led her down the path after the others.
With only the night air and the sound of the crickets surrounding them, Sakrua knew that this was her only chance.
"Itachi..." she said softly. "What do I do now?"
Itachi came to a stop. Pulling her towards him he shielded her with his arms and placed his cheek upon her head. After a moment of silence, he spoke.
"You know what you need to do..."
Sakura leaned back to look at him.
"Please..." she said. "...Please don't leave me again..."
"Sakura... I love you... You know that I would do anything in this world to protect you, but you know that you cannot follow my path. There is too much here for you, and there is too much danger where I am going. You have to stay."
"But..." said Sakura tearing, her breaths becoming short. "I... I just can't live there without you. Being without you is like living in emptiness. I...I just can't!"
Tears began to stream down Sakura's face. She was looking back and forth in a panic as to how she would face this loneliness again.
"Every second that you're gone, I'm thinking about you. After a while, I begin to lose my grasp of you and it feels like I am just... just drowning! The little things... things like what you look like, smell like, feel like, it all begins to disappear after a while and I begin to go crazy!! Everything begins to become nothing and my whole life feels like an empty shell! Please! You cannot leave me here again! I know what lies down that path!" Sakura screamed, pointing towards Konoha. "...but what I don't know lies with you...Please... take me..."
Itachi was tearing, and he didn't even know it. Being away from her broke his heart as well. He remembered living in darkness since he had last left her, and how everything seemed to mean nothing to him without her. She was like a beacon of light that he had found while being lost. She warmed his soul and completed his being.
No... he thought, clenching his fists. I can't let her...
Pulling her in towards him, he squeezed. Sakura could feel his tears falling upon her head and she could feel him trembling.
"Please..." she mumbled from his chest. "Please don't leave me again..."
After a while, Itachi put his hands on her shoulder and pushed her back.
"No..." he said. "You have to go back."
Sakura was silent. The look on his face said that there was no reasoning with him. Taking her hand, Itachi lead her down the path through the darkness.
As the others stood waiting by the southern gate, they soon made out Itachi and Sakura's figures in the moonlight. When the two reached them, they could tell that Sakura had been crying, and most likely not from the fight.
"Kisame, Deidara..." said Itachi.
Kisame and Deidara glanced at Sakura in confusion. After a while, they realized that they were actually going to leave Sakura again this time around, and after a few hesitant steps, they began to make their way back up the path.
Itachi squeezed Sakura's hand before letting go, and walked away after Kisame and Deidara. Not once did Itachi look back. Sakura didn't turn around either. She didn't want the last image of him to be his back, so she simply continued to look down at the ground.
The others around her stood still and watched the scene come to an end. They were all sad for Sakura, but they knew that Itachi did it because he loved her.
Everyone waited until the dark figures of the unlikely allies disappeared. As soon as they did, Kakashi then went and put an arm around Sakura and led her through the gate.
"Sakura-chan... As a man, I understand his decision...But, there is also something else I understand," said Kakashi, leaning down to look her in the eye. "... He'll be back. Like two souls of one heart, one cannot be without the other..."
With that, Kakashi gave a smile, and Sakura's eyes opened in the realization that what he said was true. Giving him a hug, Sakura was greatful to have such a sensei.
"Come on," said Kakashi. "Let's walk you home."
"That's ok, Kakashi-sensei. I can take it from here," said Sakura, trying to give a reassuring smile. Bowing in thanks to the others, she turned and walked down the street back to her home.
The walk back was dark and cold. It was already late, and the streets were practically empty. The quiet ambiance of her hometown left Sakura feeling more empty than ever.
Sakura's heart seemed to have glazed over. She couldn't believe that Itachi had left her again, but at the same time, she could. She thought that she should have seen this coming, and that it was really no surprise at all. It was evident that he did it because he loved her, but somehow she could not find it in her heart to forgive him. She knew that this was still the best decision, but that still didn't stop her from hating him in a way.
As Sakura approached the familiar part of the road where her front door fell just out of the streetlamp's reach, she noticed that there was someone waiting for her.
"Neji?" Sakura asked, confused.
Leaning against the wall was Neji, waiting for her. When he saw her, he stood up and walked to stand before her.
"Sakura... there's something I need to tell you..."