.

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED

stfuSPARKS

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or 'Famous Last Words' by My Chemical Romance :).

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XV.

Famous Last Words

"I am not afraid to keep on living,

I am not afraid to walk this world alone,

Honey if you stay,

I'll be forgiven,

Nothing you can say

Can stop me going home."

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"Naruto!"

Sasuke's shout startled everyone else in the room, but the blond immediately understood what his friend was trying to say. Before anyone could actually stop him, Naruto, who was the closest to the pink haired girl, lunged forwards, knocking the girl over to the floor as Orochimaru's second shot grazed past her.

Sasuke took advantage or the confusion to attack Orochimaru- with one swift motion of his hand, he pulled out his pistol and fired three clean shots at he older man. The bullets embedded themselves straight into the pale man's chest, but to everyone's horror Orochimaru did not even flinch. He simply looked down at his newly inflicted wounds with a look of amusement on his face.

"Sasuke-kun, you know better than to attack me like that." Orochimaru said with a shake of his head. A part of Sasuke noted that he wasn't even bleeding.

"What are you?" Kiba, who had been standing in the shadows to merely observed finally stepped forwards, not being able to ignore all the insanity that was unfolding right before his eyes.

"I spent much of my time studying immortality." Orochimaru said with a hollow laugh. "Although I still haven't found a way to be fully immortal, I have found a way to be almost invincible. My entire body is a vessel- you can't harm me."

"A vessel?" Kiba echoed, wincing. "What the hell have you done to your body?"

Orochimaru did not answer- he simply gave them a smirk, before turning towards the pink haired girl lying on the floor. Naruto worriedly looked at the wound in her shoulder, trying to assess the damage done to her body. She pulled away from him, her face revealing nothing as she got back onto her feet.

"You think you can defeat me by changing your body?" She said with a giggle. "Oh, how naive of you. I could just slice your head off and it would be all over!"

Orochimaru aimed at her again. "I'd like to see you try, Sakura-chan. As long as this gun is in my hands, you can't even get near me."

"I wouldn't be so cocky, Orochimaru."

She jumped into the air as soon as the man opened fire at her, skillfully avoiding every single bullet as she twisted her body in mid-air. She slightly winced as one of the bullets grazed her arm, leaving a small red welt behind on her skin. She gracefully landed behind him, and her hands were glowing green in anticipation as she got ready to slice his head clean off- except he whirled around impossibly fast, shooting the gun at her once again, forcing her to immediately dodge.

Their little game of catch went on as they both tried to kill each other off- but every time she attempted to get close to him, he would fire at her, making it impossible for her to even touch him.

"You're going to run out of bullets sooner or later." She snarled, looking highly irritated.

"Then I'll just have to land a shot in you before I do." Orochimaru replied, a satisfied smirk covering his lips as soon as one of the shots grazed her leg as well.

Sasuke immediately ran over to where Naruto was, helping him up and getting him out of the way before the blond got hit by one of the bullets. "We have to do something right now." He muttered to his friend, who nodded in response. "This whole situation is getting out of control."

They were both about to sprint into action when someone grabbed them by the shouders, effectively pulling them back. "Are you deliberately trying to get yourselves killed?" Deidara hissed angrily. "This isn't your fight. What are you going to do after Orochimaru is dead? How are you going to deal with Inner Sakura?" Both boys remained silent at his onslaught of questions. "That's what I thought." Deidara finally said coldly.

"So do you expect us to just stay still while that guy kills Sakura-chan?" Naruto protested, jerking his shoulder away from the other blond.

"I saw it." Sasuke flatly stated, looking straight into Deidara's lone eye. "It was only for a second, but it was definitely there. Sakura's eyes turned green."

Deidara immediately tensed at his words. "That's impossible." He snarled. "That would mean-"

"That means Sakura-chan is still in there somewhere!" Naruto exclaimed, looking hopeful once again. "That would make sense! Remember how Inner Sakura said that she was always at the back of Sakura's mind, watching? Maybe it's the same for Sakura-chan! Maybe she's still in there somewhere, watching but not being able to do anything!"

"We can still help her." Sasuke said slowly. "If you want to get out of here, we won't stop you- but we won't follow you either."

Deidara shot Sasori an insecure look, and the redhead simply stood still for a moment, not giving him an answer.

"I will stay."

Deidara's blue eye widened at his partner's statement. "Sasori, you know better than anyone else that we've tried everything to help her- we'll never be able to bring her back!"

"That's the thing Deidara- we have tried everything." Sasori said cryptically. "I am not saying that we'll be able to help her, but maybe it was never our job to do. I have faith in them." He glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto.

The long haired blond looked frustrated for a moment. Finally slumping his shoulders, he whirled around towards Itachi. "Get out of here!" He barked. "You and Kisame take the other two brats and start looking for an exit to this hellhole. If you go to Orochimaru's office on the top floor, you might be able to find a way to disable all the security measures that have been activated!"

The elder Uchiha nodded, and motioned for Kisame to follow him. Neji and Kiba simply stood there for a moment, staring at their friends.

"We'll be fine!" Naruto shot them a dashing grin. "We'll take care of things here, so you just find a way for us to get out."

Sasuke silently nodded. "We'll see you later."

Kiba cracked a small grin. "I'll never be able to catch up with you two- you're always so stubborn. Try not to get yourselves killed, alright?"

"We'll try our best as well." Neji quietly said, and with those last words, he and Kiba quickly ran out of the room to follow the other two Akatsuki members. Kabuto stepped forwards, getting ready to follow them when someone stepped out in front of him to block his path.

"Your opponent is me." Sasori coldly said, and with a flick of his hands, his stringed knives were back. Kabuto smirked, puling out a couple of sharp scalpels of his own.

They both rapidly moved, and with a swift clash Sasori's knives had collided with one of the scalpels in Kabuto's hands, effectively knocking it into a corner of the room. Kabuto rapidly took out a couple of needles and carefully aimed them at the strings tied to the tips of Sasori's hands, effectively cutting several strings off. Two of Sasori's knives clattered to the floor.

At the same time, Sakura collapsed onto her knees on the other side of the room. One of her eyes twitched as she held a trembling hand up to the gash on her arm, the one where a bullet had grazed her.

"Not so tough now, are we?" Orochimaru snickered, walking up to her. "It's probably the zirconium circulating around in your blood right now. The zirconium in your blood should act as poison- it'll slow down all your body functions until your heart stops beating. I spent many years waiting to eliminate you, Sakura-chan. You should have realized that I was not going to go down easily."

"Why give us the mission then?" Naruto blurted out, catching Orochimaru's attention. "If you had the means to kill her all along, why did you pay us to do it for you without even letting us know that zirconium was her weakness?"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "You don't understand, Naruto-kun. Three years ago, the six of you thought you could abandon the mission without even asking me. How insolent of you- I considered to kill you off one by one until you were all dead as a form of punishment for showing disrespect for me. But then, an ingenious idea came to my head! I saw the way all of you were devastated when Lee-kun died- what better punishment than to put you on a mission and have you die at Sakura-chan's hands one by one right before your friends?"

"It didn't work though!" Naruto retorted back. "Sakura-chan didn't kill any of us!"

"Indeed." The snake-like man said darkly. "I expected Sakura-chan to use her powers to eliminate you when you would try to eliminate you. I didn't expect her to be so soft on you... and I never thought you would actually befriend her. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated her humanity so much- I didn't think she had it in her."

"So it was all just a ruse from the start." Sasuke said, stepping up. "This whole mission was just an excuse for you to punish us."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would have figured it out sooner, Sasuke-kun. I'm surprised you've only found out now." He smiled once again. "But I guess you were too busy being blinded by Sakura-chan to notice, hm?"

The younger Uchiha immediately tensed at his words.

Sakura was heavily panting now- just like Orochimaru had said, the zirconium in her blood seemed to be affecting her entire body. Her skin was turning pale and her dark red eyes were losing their shine. Inner Sakura grit her teeth, and without hesitating, she dug her thin fingers into the wound in her shoulder to pull out the bullet that was deeply embedded into her skin. Her eyes never wavered as she finally extracted the bullet, as her own blood coated her hands.

"It's too late for that, Sakura-chan." Orochimaru told her. "Even if you got rid of the bullet in your body, its obvious that the zirconium is already circulating in your body. All you have done is delayed your death for a couple of minutes."

"I did not get so far to have everything taken away from me!" Inner Sakura snarled. "I refuse to die! I have not waited all these years just to be killed!"

Orochimaru took a couple of steps towards her. "What can you do? You can't even stand on your own feet anymore. How do you plan to defeat me now, Sakura-chan?"

Inner Sakura looked pained as Orochimaru crouched down so that they were at eye-level. He gently lifted her chin up with one hand and raised his gun to her head with another. "Sakura-chan, we could have done great things." He whispered into her ear, almost sweetly. "It's a real shame, though I can say that I am honored to be the one to take your life." He paused, as his finger rested on the trigger. He looked straight into her eyes, before whispering, "Goodbye, Sakura-chan."

Deidara was too busy trying to distract Kabuto from his partner to reach her in time. "What are you doing!" He screamed at Sasuke, who was simply staring at the scene in front of his eyes. "GO!"

Sasuke was sure that every inch of his body was screaming at him to move- but his feet were planted into the ground. He couldn't even budge- he let fear overcome his entire body for the second time in his life. He wanted to run forwards and save her, but this all too painfully familiar situation was like a stab to the heart.

A picture of a younger version of Itachi standing over their father with a gun briefly flashed in front of his eyes.

Even back then, he hadn't been able to do anything. All he had done was stare as Itachi took the life of their father right before his eyes. He remembered screaming in agony at the mental pain- but he still hadn't moved.

For the second time in his life, Sasuke felt like he was losing the most important person in his life.

Then, the deafening sound of a gunshot filled the room.

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Hidan finally collapsed, as his scythe clattered to the ground next to him. Even through his pain, he forced a satisfied grin onto his face as he stared up at the man who was probably going to kill him within the next minute.

"That was great." He panted out, as his unique violet eyes sparkled under the sky. "I haven't had such a good fucking fight in ages. I have to admit that you're pretty fucking strong."

Kakashi's only visible eye looked slightly amused. "You were a good opponent as well." He admitted.

Hidan chuckled, wincing as he coughed out blood. "So what are you waiting for? Hurry up and kill me." He rasped.

The grey haired man standing over him looked at him strangely for a minute, before shaking his head. "Maybe another day," He said mysteriously, turning away from him. "I don't want to kill you just yet. I want to fight you again in the future, when we'll both be stronger."

"Won't your boss be pissed?" Hidan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If what you said before was true, then I probably won't have a boss by the end of today." Kakashi answered him, putting his weapons back in place. "And I was never loyal to him in the first place. Working for him just worked out to my advantage, that's all."

Hidan looked at him strangely. "How would working for a fucker like that work out to your advantage?" He snorted, looking highly skeptical.

"I just enjoy encounters with strong fighters." Kakashi said, idly standing by as Hidan sat up with a grunt. "Orochimaru lets me take on the strongest opponents. It's much better than just wandering the streets and running into petty criminals who aren't even worth my time."

Hidan could sympathize with that- it was one of his main reasons for being in the Akatsuki after all. He wasn't usually one to follow orders, and he didn't usually share much of their Leader's ideals, but he stuck with it for the mere reason that he could get away with torture and murder quite easily. As long as the Akatsuki could help with that, he saw no reason to leave.

"So what are you going to do now?" Hidan asked him, looking over at his other two unconscious partners.

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know. Look for someone else to work for, I guess."

Hidan slowly got to his feet, looking up at the sky. "I hope you don't mind too much, but I've got shit to take care of elsewhere." He shrugged his cloak back on, using the last of his remaining strength to hoist both Zetsu and Kakuzu onto each shoulder. "Something tells me that Pinky needs our help right now."

Kakashi nodded. "I'll see you again one day. Hopefully we'll both be stronger when I do." He said, and quickly disappeared into the tall abandoned apartment buildings. Hidan grinned, looking quite amused.

"Sure thing, ya bastard."

Supporting both Zetsu and Kakuzu's weights was not easy; it took Hidan longer than he had predicted to reach headquarters again. When he burst through the doors, Shikamaru and Shino did not have encouraging looks on their faces.

"What now?" Hidan groaned, dumping the two limp bodies on the floor. He collapsed onto the couch himself, wincing as he put too much weight on one of his injuries.

"We don't know what's going on." Shikamaru said quietly, shaking his head. "The last time we got any feedback at all, things were getting out of control. Something happened to Sakura's powers and we vaguely heard something that sounded like 'Inner Sakura' before some strange force cut off the connection."

"Fuck, did you just say 'Inner Sakura'?" Hidan asked, frowning. "That's pretty fucking bad. I mean I know I told that Kakashi bastard that it was going to happen, but jesus I was just trying to scare him off! I didn't think that it would actually happen."

Shino and Shikamaru were both looking extremely confused. "Do you mind telling us about Inner Sakura?" Shino asked, taking a seat across him.

Hidan sighed, looking irritated. "Well to put it simply, Sakura started to act a little strange soon after she joined us."

"Strange how?" Shikamaru pressured.

"Well, she was out on a mission one day with Sasori and Deidara- I don't know how it happened exactly, but apparently she lost control of her powers and started to act all psycho and shit, killing whoever got in her way." Hidan said, rubbing his chin. "I wasn't there to witness it, but apparently it was fucking brutal." His eyes slightly lightened up. "I mean I thought it was fucking cool and shit, but... even I have to admit that it's definitely not something Pinky would do."

Shikamaru looked surprised. "She never lost control like that around us," He commented.

"Well fucking duh." Hidan retorted, rolling his eyes. "It's not like she went all out on you like she did when she was with us. She was trying to restrain her powers as much as she could, remember?"

"I carefully observed her for years. I think I would have noticed if she was displaying these strange bursts of power." Shino said calmly.

"Did it ever occur to you that we fucking tried hard to hide any trace of her pscychotic breakdowns?" Hidan shot back. "If we didn't clean up after her messes, people were going to start to suspect. She would attract too much attention, and all sorts of people like Orochimaru... or even fucking worse, would try to get their filthy hands on her. I wouldn't be surprised if the government went after her. We had to make sure that no one would know, and no one is better than the Akatsuki at covering teaces."

"What do you mean when you say that she went 'psycho'?" Shino continued to ask.

Hidan scratched his chin. "Well how can I put it? She was even fucking worse than I was, and she doesn't even believe in Jashin-sama. At least I have an excuse for slaughtering people the way I do. Pinky, on the other hand, would freak out and pretty much become the biggest bitch I've ever seen in my life."

"And what does that have to do with 'Inner Sakura'?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well calm the fuck down and I'll tell you." Hidan shot him a glare. "Whenever she would spazz out, she would act a little... strange. Well besides from the whole bloodthirsty shit- she just acted like a completely different person. She called herself 'Inner Sakura' most of the time. I just thought she was batshit insane."

"Thought?" Shino repeated. "Did something change your mind?"

The silver haired man's expression darkened. "I know I'm not the most sane person in the world. I know I'm fucked up in my own way- but there's no mistaking it. Inner Sakura is definitely another fucking person. You don't have to believe me- but everyone else who's seen her knows it too. You have to actually witness it to believe it. That Inner Sakura thing... whoever she is, she's the most fucked up person I've ever met before. She always used to say that she would make the real Sakura disappear one day... and for some reason I didn't have a hard time believing her."

"Do you think that Inner Sakura made an appearance once again?" Shikamaru asked, looking concerned. "Could that be the reason why they were talking about her right before the connection went dead?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Hidan said, his violet eyes slightly darkening. "Inner Sakura only appears when she forces out too much of her powers. It's been way too long since she actually had the chance to use them properly." He abruptly stood up, wiping away the dried blood on his forehead.

"Where are you going?" Shikamaru skeptically raised an eyebrow. "You're in no condition to go anywhere."

Hidan grit his teeth. "I'm going to fucking check on Pinky, that's what." He hissed back in response. "I'll get rid of that Inner Sakura brat."

"Why would you do that?" Shino quietly asked.

The silver haired Akatsuki member gave them his trademark sadistic smirk.

"There's only room for one psycho in the Akatsuki, and I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon."

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There was a deadly silence in the vast room.

All the fighting had come to a stop.

No one moved, no one spoke.

The only sound that filled the silence was the cold thud of a lifeless body falling to the floor as blood quietly gushed out onto the floor.

Was it finally over?

Orochimaru's body lay cold and lifeless on the floor, as crimson liquid stained his long, black locks of hair splayed out on the dirty floor. It had been a clean shot- the bullet had pierced his head through and through. The bullet, which had exited on the other side of his head, was now embedded into the floor, a cold reminder of the actions that had just taken place.

The hand holding the gun that had killed Orochimaru calmly lowered.

Gaara stood over the dead man, his dark green eyes holding more emotion than anyone had ever seen in them before. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, passion, and much, much more. He slowly pocketed his gun, as his tired eyes glanced over at the pink haired girl slumped over on the floor in front of him.

"You're not Sakura."

Sasuke would never admit it, but he was slightly impressed. He and Naruto had both refused to believe that this wasn't Sakura, even after Deidara had told them countless times. Gaara, however only needed one look and he knew. She hadn't even talked to him yet- all it took for him was one look at her physical appearance.

"Gaara." The girl in front of him breathed. She seemed to momentarily forget about all her pain as she reached a delicate hand to brush his hollow cheek. "Finally... after years..." There was something strange about the way she was talking to him; her tone was completely different than the one she had used with Naruto, Deidara and even Sasuke.

There was something that was heartbreakingly sincere about it.

For the first time ever, he did not react to her touch. Sasuke had been expecting him to jerk back or punch her in the face again, like last time- but he simply let her touch him. After a minute, he finally crouched down and gently raised his own hand to touch hers over his cheek.

"I've always been watching you from the sidelines." Inner Sakura whispered, as tears started to gather in her eyes. "I fell in love with you from the very first moment I saw you. All those years ago, when Sakura was still in full control... I could never reach out to you. Were you still able to feel my presence? Did my feelings somehow reach out to you?" She choked on her own words.

The redhead slowly leaned his forehead onto hers, as tears slid down her cheeks.

"I always knew you were there." Gaara murmured in a deep voice. "Your feelings were always able to reach me."

Naruto silently shuffled over to where Sasuke was standing, trying not to interrupt their moment. "Doesn't this bother you at all?" Naruto whispered worriedly. "I mean Sakura-chan is kinda like your woman and everything."

"No." Sasuke said quietly, his obsidian eyes never leaving the couple crouched on the floor. "If Inner Sakura really is an entirely different person, then it would be perfectly logical for her to fall in love with someone along the way."

"Aa." Deidara finally spoke next to him, looking slightly tired. "The Inner Sakura that was still hidden inside of her all those years ago probably fell in love with Gaara as soon as the real Sakura met him. At the time, Sakura-chan's powers were still dormant, so Inner Sakura had no chances of taking control. She probably watched him from behind an invisible wall for all those years. However, that meant that her feelings for him probably somehow influenced the real Sakura-chan's thinking, and Sakura-chan was unconsciously drawn to him because of that."

Naruto scratched his cheek, looking baffled. "So are you saying that Sakura-chan was never in love with Gaara?"

Deidara shook his head. "It was Inner Sakura who was in love with him all along. Her feelings were just deep enough to influence Sakura-chan."

"So they're meeting for the first time?" Naruto asked, his eyes turning slightly sad.

"Indeed they are." Sasuke murmured.

Inner Sakura choked out a sob.

"I always dreamed of this day." She whispered again, as her eerily beautiful yet sinister red eyes stared into his green ones. "I knew that if I just kept on trying my best, I'd be able to meet you one day. Did I do well?"

"You did your best." Gaara said, after a pause. "That's what counts."

"How did you know I was here?" She asked him, as he wiped away a couple of her tears. "I could never come out to talk to you at the time. I was positive that you didn't know of my existance. No one else ever noticed me."

"I saw it in your eyes." Gaara told her quietly. "Everytime I looked at her, I could somehow see you."

"So does this mean we can finally be together?" She asked him with a broken smile on her face. "Can we stop waiting for the future now?"

Her breathing was becoming more ragged now. The zirconium in her blood was finally starting to numb her body- Sasuke could see her blue veins clearly through her pale skin. "If we don't do something now, she'll die." He said, stepping forwards. "We have to-"

"Wait." Deidara reached his arm out to stop the raven haired boy. "Let them say goodbye."

Gaara pulled away from her and shook his head. "We have to part now," he told her seriously. "You can't stay here."

Her eyes flashed in anger. "Are you saying that you don't want to be with me?" She asked him, looking hurt. "I've been patient for all these years and you're going to reject me now?"

He grabbed her hands and held them tightly. "My only wish is to be by your side." He told her, his green eyes boring into her. "But this isn't supposed to be. You and I are both destined to meet at another time and another place, as different people. Your feelings were strong enough to reach out to me this time, and I have no doubts that you will be able to find me once more, when the time comes."

She let out a broken cry, burying her face into his chest. He quietly stroked her hair with a gentleness that no one had ever seen in him before.

"Do we have to say goodbye?" She whispered, raising her tear-streaked face.

"Only for now."

They could only watch in silence as Gaara dipped his head down to softly brush his lips against hers.

"Now sleep. One day, we will meet again."

Inner Sakura's eyelids slowly started to close as she leaned into his chest once more. "I love you." Her words were nothing but a mere whisper now, momentarily floating in the air before disappearing. "One day... we'll be happy together."

He simply kept on stroking her hair as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

"I'll be waiting for you."

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Today, I woke up in a sea of darkness. Who am I? What am I?

I have no idea of what is going on. I'm so confused- I am trapped in this emptiness, with nothing else. I am completely alone.

I'm so scared... so scared.

What is happening to me?

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The last time I awoke, I was in a sea of darkness. I don't know how much time has passed by, but it feels like it's been an eternity since that time.

Things are not so dark anymore. I can finally see the world- it looks so beautiful. There are so many lively colors and so many different things to discover- but I can't seem to control anything. It feels like I'm simply a spectator, watching but not acting. I think I'm in someone else's body. I wonder if I am a manifestation of her imagination, or if I'm actually a separate entity.

I've caught glimpses of her in the mirror sometimes. She's a pretty twelve year old girl with the strangest pink hair and the saddest green eyes.

I wonder why she's so sad?

Maybe she's lonely, just like me.

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As always, I am not allowed to control Sakura-chan's body.

I merely watch as she lives her life.

I desperately want her to notice me. I can tell she's lonely and I am too- we could keep each other company for the rest of our lives. We wouldn't need anyone else in this world, if only she would finally see that I exist.

How can she not know? I've been inside of her this entire time. Sometimes I try my best to reach out to her, but she remains oblivious.

I keep hoping that one day, she will notice me.

I am selfish- I want her to stay lonely.

That way, when she finally discovers that I am here for her, I will be all she ever needs.

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I have never paid attention to people in Sakura-chan's life before.

They don't matter to me- they shouldn't matter to either.

However, I think I fell in love today.

Sakura-chan was walking by a playground when she turned to look at a lonely red haired boy who looks like he's her age. I think she would've just walked by him if it wasn't for me- but I was suddenly overcome by an inexplicable need to talk to him.

He looked lonely, just like me.

I knew it the moment I saw him- he is my soul mate.

I vigorously wished for her to go talk to him-

Maybe my feelings reached out, because she headed straight towards him.

His name is Gaara.

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I don't understand Sakura-chan. How could she just let Gaara slip away from her?

If I was in control of this body, I would definitely go bring him back myself. I'd make sure he never leaves my side.

I love him so much. She doesn't reall love him- she only stays by his side because I want to. This only proves how powerful my love for him is- sometimes, when he looks straight at Sakura-chan, I wonder if he can sense my presence inside.

Instead, Sakura-chan is wasting her time moping around at home and occasionally talking to some Lee guy. He looks funny. I don't like him much. Why is she wasting her time with him? She should go look for Gaara.

I miss him.

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Sakura-chan was in an accident, and she lost all of her memory.

Silly girl. She doesn't realize that the guy named Sai is the same one who tried to kill her and the one who erased her memories. She just sits there an accepts all the lies he feeds her. It's so frustrating to watch! She trusts people too easily.

She doesn't remember Gaara. That means that I won't be able to see him for awhile.

I'm so angry.

How could she forget Gaara?

If I was the one in control, I would never forget about him.

If only...

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Ever since the accident, Sakura-chan has been starting to discover her powers.

She still doesn't understand that these powers are the only other thing we have in common apart from the body we share. Everyone around her thinks that her powers are so fascinating- none of them realize that she only holds a tenth of our powers.

No one knows that I'm much more powerful than she is.

However, I won't complain. When she uses her powers, I can feel a small rift open up in this endless abyss of darkness.

Just a little more, and I think I'll be able to escape.

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I have never been so grateful for Sakura-chan's friends before.

She has been hanging out with some group called the Akatsuki recently. Today, her blond friend, Deidara, and the redhead, Sasori, took her on a mission.

Things got out of control. Sakura tried to use her powers, but she isn't strong enough yet. She tried to use more than her body will allow- which finally gave me the chance to venture out into the outside world.

The feeling of finally taking over her body was amazing- I can't put it into words.

All this power that I've been keeping bottled up inside of me- I had to use it. The feeling of this immense power finally being put to use was too much- I couldn't help myself.

Killing is so much fun.

I wonder why Sakura-chan's never done it before?

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Sakura-chan has been generous these days.

The more she uses her power, the more I get to take control of her body. I don't think she even realizes it, but her annoying friends at the Akatsuki are starting to realize that I'm not their same Sakura-chan. They call me 'Inner-Sakura'. I guess that will have to do until I finally find a name for myself.

Whatever.

I'm sure that if this keeps on happening, one day I will be able to open the rift to permanently switch places with Sakura-chan. Then she'll be the one forced to watch in the background now. I'll be the one to finally take charge.

Then, I'll finally be able to meet Gaara.

I can't wait.

Until then, I'll just spend more time killing people.

Blood is so beautiful.

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Deidara and Sasori annoyed me today.

So I ripped Deidara's eye out and set Sasori on fire.

It was refreshing.

.

.

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My time is coming soon.

I can feel it.

Finally.

.

.

.

This is probably the last time I will be able to form an actual thought.

I feel so sleepy...

So tired...

It's strange. I've never felt tired before. Even when Sakura-chan slept, I could never do the same.

I thought I was finally going to be free. I thought I could finally venture the outside world, and start a new life for myself. Yet here I am again, trapped in the darkness. .

I was always so lonely...

But I met Gaara.

I finally got to touch him, and talk to him as myself.

He knew- all along, he knew it was me inside Sakura-chan's body. He knew that it was me who loved him, right from the beginning.

My feelings somehow reached out to him, even in the darkness.

He told me that this isn't our time to be together, but he promised me that we'll be together again one day.

He trusts that my heart will reach out to him once again, one day.

Even if I'm back in the darkness once again, I don't mind.

I know that one day...

One day we'll be happy together.

But now...

For now...

I feel so sleepy.

I think I'll close my eyes...

And rest.

.

.

.

.

'Cause I see you lying next to me,

With words I thought I'd never speak,

Awake and unafraid,

Asleep or dead...

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