Disclaimer: You know the deal... Naruto does not belong to me.

Flaming Heart
Chapter 24

There was an uncomfortable feeling swimming inside of him, a hot flame that licked his belly up to his chest. He had noticed his presence not too far from the place he left Sakura, so why was he worrying? Sakura was in good hands now. He was sure that Kakashi-sensei would take good care of her. Sasuke's lips slightly curved upwards as he closed the space between him and the village. His thoughts travelled back to Hanabusa-sama house, to her big green sad eyes. He knew then, what the pink-haired girl really was scared of and it amazed him. It shocked him, even.

She was not scared to die. She was scared that she would have to leave them behind. Leave him behind. Every time he looked at her, he would notice the crucial changes. She was no longer the twelve-year old girl he used to know. She was not weak anymore; in fact, he was inclined to admit that she was stronger in many ways than he was.

The wind seemed to have returned as a soft chill travelled up his spine. He swallowed dry as he stared at the wrenched Konoha's gates. His feet dragged him across the dead streets, his nose twisted at the intense smell of burnt flesh. There was a strange noise behind him, making him spin automatically. Sasuke analyzed his surroundings, his dark eyes switched to crimson ones. After a while, he concluded that there was nothing there.

Sasuke was quite impressed that he found no living soul. The evacuation had been successful and fast. Sometimes Sasuke would see dead people, crushed by some buildings. His crimson eyes widened as he spotted two children. One was half-buried under some detritus with his small chubby arm stretched, his dirty hand held the other child hand, that had died due to the Kyuubi massacre.

Something irked him at that instant. He carried on walking, trying to forget the distressing scene. As he arrived to a small deserted square, Sasuke tilted his head towards the Hokage's stone figures. He remained motionless, his eyes stopping on the fourth Hokage face. There was a warm sensation growing inside him as he stared at the respectful figure, Naruto's father.

"Tsk, who would have thought that dobe had such an important father?" he asked aloud as he turned his back on the stone figures. His eyes noticed the red chakra floating in the sky; the wind seemed to have dragged it from the west. Sasuke took a deep breath as he ran towards west, the training fields.

Sasuke jumped down from a surviving treetop and stared ahead. It felt as if his lungs had been ripped apart, leaving him breathless. His crimson eyes stared at the countless dead shinobi, then slowly the raven-haired boy darted his eyes towards the huge creature. He watched impotently as the Kyuubi swung its nine tails around making enormous craters at the impact. A loud angry roar filled the air and Sasuke felt the earth under his feet tremble. It was as if the earth itself coiled at every impact and trembled of fear.

Suddenly, something completely unexpected blocked Sasuke's view. Sasuke's lips parted as his eyes fell on the gigantic toad. A blond-haired man was standing on the toad back with his arms crossed. Next to the fourth Hokage, Sasuke recognized Jiraiya. Another unexpected thing happened as a giant slug placed itself next to the toad.

The Uchiha legs seemed to refuse to obey to him. Sasuke had his legs glued to the floor and he stood still, simply staring as the Hokage ordered everyone to stay back. Many Shinobi complied at once, while others looked shocked at such command. Others vehemently refused and stood by the toad's side, ready to give their all.

Then something else caught the dark-haired boy completely out of guard. His stomach contorted painfully as he spotted familiar faces emerging from the destroyed forestation, towards the green clearing. Sasuke watched as his own father made his way towards the Hokage.

The Hokage and all the others looked quite surprised as a large part of the Uchiha clan stepped inside the wrecked training field. The Kyuubi seemed to sense something as it started to get more agitated by the minute. The Hokage gave Sasuke's father a quick nod. Sasuke's father nodded as well and turned around to stare at the clan. He shouted some orders, orders that Sasuke could not hear from the place he was standing.

It looked as if the Uchiha's had agreed to help.

Sasuke softly shook his head. He could not just stay there and watch! That was not what he came for. Moreover, he could not allow his family to get hurt or dobe's father. The young Uchiha took a deep breath as he forced his own legs forward. His entire body shook with anxiety; his lower lip trembled with fear. Fear of dying in vain. Everything depended on him now; he had to make sure that he was going to make it.

Sasuke sped up towards the front lines, ignoring the shocked look everyone gave him.

"U-Uchiha?!" Tsunade exclaimed as she held tightly on to her summon. Her eyes displayed shock and confusion. She took a quick look at her surroundings, her eyes widened, as she could not find the pink-haired girl.

The Hokage raised a curious eyebrow and turned to stare at Jiraiya who nodded his head. Therefore, the dark-haired boy was Sasuke. He heard all about him from Jiraiya.

"What the hell?" a few Uchiha nins asked in unison as they noticed that the unknown boy possessed their clan heritage.

A few others seemed to notice the awkward and shocking similarity between the Konoha's chief police and the strange boy.

He had been walking for a while now. He felt strong, physically strong as he carried the pink-haired girl in his arms. He thought of himself as a giant shield and there was nothing now that would make him let go of her. He would shield her against the silly destiny that she had marked for herself. He would make her see that there was still hope and that no one should die. There had been enough deaths already.

"K-Kakashi…"

The silver-haired jounin stopped in his tracks and slowly looked down on the fragile girl in his arms. He watched her look straight back at him with wide, candid, newly opened eyes, opened now with supreme shock.

Kakashi went very white as he stood, and did not move, for he was scared that she would disappear by magic as if he did so. Still, even though he could not move, his eyes were held by hers, and he suffered. He pressed his lips tightly, afraid that he would express loudly the intense pain in his chest.

Sakura swallowed dry as she stared at the uncovered face that she had dreamt about for whole six months. His midnight-blue mask was down and hanging on his neck. She shivered slightly as she became aware of his strong arms around her body. Slowly, she reached forward, trying to break herself free from his captivating eyes.

Her strange movement was an agony to him; it looked like a slow insinuation of a kiss that made something break in his brain. A cold shiver travelled up and down his spine, making him lean forward.

He had her in his arms, and obliterated, found himself kissing her. And it was pure, blenched torture to him, to break away from himself. Sakura was there so small and light and accepting in his arms, like a child, and yet with such a suggestion of embrace, of an everlastingly embrace, that he could not bear it.

Sakura felt her feet touch the ground as Kakashi slowly and gently let her go. Yet, as soon as she touched the ground, his arms were snaked around her waist possessively. A soft moan escaped her lips as she felt his cold touch. She instinctively snuggled closer, burying her face on his chest, listening to his frantic heartbeat.

Kakashi closed his eyes as her hands clutched to his white vestment.

Her heart started to race at the same rhythm as his. She could feel her cold body become warmer as it always did when she was around him.

"Kakashi…"

"Shhh…"

Kakashi pressed her closer; one hand was tightly secured on her back while the other held the back of her head, caressing her hair.

"Kakashi…"

This time he did not say anything to stop her.

"I… I love you,"

Kakashi opened his eyes at her soft whisper. His stomach twisted with a pleasurable feeling, making his heart almost falter.

"Baka," Kakashi whispered back, "I love you too…"

Sakura nodded slowly before she looked up into his mismatched eyes.

"I love you too," Kakashi repeated softly.

There was a silent moment between them, words were not necessary anyway. Kakashi slowly shook his head and held her too tightly making Sakura wince.

"No…" he whispered.

"I…"

"No," He repeated more firmly as he stared deeply at her remorseful her green eyes.

"I have to!" Sakura broke out, squirming to break free from his embrace. A loud sob escaped her lips as part of her wanted to stay still and be with him.

"Sakura-"

"Sasuke... he... h-he... he needs me!"

Kakashi looked as if she had just slapped him across the face. Sakura felt her heart die. It fell to the floor and lay bleeding. The sadness dripped from her eyes, ever so slowly. She tried to be strong, choking down her sobs.

"Sakura… don't you understand?" Sakura raised her eyes and stared back at him with a wondering expression, "He… he wanted to you stay,"

Sakura shook her head in denial, "Sasuke… he c-can't do it all by himself…" she whispered refusing to believe Kakashi's words, "he c-can't…"

Kakashi nodded, accepting her words, "Okay," he said after a while, "then I will have to force you to stay," he finished, hearing her gasp.

Sakura eyes widened at the threat present in his voice. She wriggled again and tried to break free but with no sucess. She cried out as she forced her chakra and delivered a small blow on his chest, causing him to let go and stumble backwards. She closed her eyes as she turned her back on the silver-haired boy. Her legs weighted more than ever as she started to walk away.

"You have to understand… I wouldn't be able to live with myself,"

Kakashi swallowed dry as he shakily stood up. He ran after the pink-haired girl, jumped in mid-air and crashed into her, sending them both rolling on the floor. Each of them fought for dominance. Kakashi found himself straddling the young medic-nin. His hands had her wrists pinned down.

Some of his silver hair fell down, almost covering his eyesight. He watched as her breasts heaved up and down with her accelerating breathing. Tears welled up in her emerald eyes as she stared into his eyes.

Hurting him was like ripping her soul apart.

"I'm not letting you walk away one second time," Kakashi voice came out so broken that Sakura thought she could die right there. She did not need the Kyuubi to finish her off… looking at his saddened eyes, made her beg for instant death.

"P-please…" Sakura pleaded silently. She closed her eyes as she felt his quick breathing in her face.

"I… I'd die if I lose you too," Kakashi said increasing the pressure on her wrists.

Sakura sniffed as tears blurred her vision, "So… S-sorry-" she whispered as tears kept falling.

She was so tired. She was tired of the heartache, of feeling so helpless, of feeling so empty. If only she had stayed in her own time… it would have made things so much easier. There was a hard pang inside her heart as she shook away her awful thoughts. If she had not been this way then she would have never met him, his younger self. She would not know something so precious, something so strong that made her love for Sasuke look tedious, look so false.

"Sorry," Sakura repeated as she bit back a sob. She focused on her chakra once again and managed to get Kakashi off her with brute strength.

Kakashi fell on his back but did not have time to process what happened. He stood up as fast as he could.

Green bright orbs met two different eyes.

The dark eye stared at her, mirroring the amount of agony she was feeling. The crimson eye stared at her free of any emotions. For a brief moment, Sakura forgot how to breathe as his sharingan started to spin.

However, Sakura was faster; she quickly released the upcoming illusion, blocking it from the start, stopping it from trapping her. Kakashi groaned in frustration and tried to catch her gaze once more. Sakura quickly avoided his eyes, lowering her head to the floor.

"I do not belong here, Kakashi," said Sakura. She was quite surprised with the strong tone her voice possessed. She felt a cold feeling travel through her as she remembered Sarutobi wise words.

The third was right. Sakura did not have a place in this time. She needed to perish, so that she could give space for her future self to be born.

"How can you say that?" Kakashi asked, trying to understand the deep meaning of her words.

"If I stay… I will be challenging the natural course of life… I will be ruining time," She answered as she hugged herself in a miserable attempt to warm herself, to make her stop shivering.

Kakashi snorted, "I think you are too late," he took a step closer, "you already have changed so many things… do you actually think that the future will not suffer its consequences?"

Sakura nodded slowly, "You're right," she whispered sadly, "I have changed so much already,"

"Then… then why?"

"Because he is my team mate," Sakura said shortly not daring to look at Kakashi, "and you are my sensei,"

"I'm not your sensei," Kakashi finally spoke, "I am your team mate," he said, nodding as if it would help convincing himself, "You don't have to be afraid of the future Sakura,"

Sakura eyes widened.

"You don't have to throw your life away just because it hurts so much," Kakashi took another step closer. He was glad that he had absolute control over his legs again, "I understand it now,"

"S-stop," Sakura shook her head, stepping backwards as she noticed how close the silver-haired boy was.

"I understand it," he repeated feeling a lot better than before, "I understand why you want to die along with him," Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, "It hurts, Sakura. I know it does and perhaps if I was in your shoes, I'd want the same ending for myself,"

"Stop it!" Sakura pleaded as she shook her head, her hair slowly fell from the black ponytail holder, reaching the middle of her back.

"But if you throw your life away…" Kakashi paused as he stopped right in front of the pink-haired girl. He slowly placed his hands on her cheeks, pulling her face closer to his, "how else are you going to help, to make sure everything is the way it's supposed to be?"

Sakura hands slowly moved upwards. She placed them on top of his large hands. She was trembling so much that she feared that she would stay like that forever. She giggled foolishly at her own thought.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he stared at the woman in front of him.

There were cries filling out the cold air. Many old women refused to walk further giving the genins and chuunins a hard time. They protested, saying that they would not budge, that they could not leave their home behind.

"Look old lady," a young boy said in exasperation, "there is nothing left behind us, the whole village is destroyed,"

The old woman eyes widened as she stared at the young boy. She placed a trembling hand on the boy's shoulder and shook her head.

"M'boy you d-don't understand! M-My husband… he was l-left behind!"

The genin offered her a sympathetic smile, "No one was left behind," he said as he stared at the confused old woman hazel eyes, "If your husband is not with us, then… then he-"

"NO! That- That is not possible!" The old woman shrieked in despair. The young boy held her in place, gritting his teeth together, trying to stop her from falling down, "He… he was right behind me!" she said sadly making the boy feel sorry for her.

"Kenji!" a loud voice echoed from behind him.

"Kenjiro, help me out," Kenji said as he struggled to keep the old woman up.

Kenjiro quickly placed himself right at his twin brother side. He too held the woman in place and both of them started to walk again, the old woman allowed herself to be dragged along. She had her head down; her gray hair was down, covering her tears.

The twins stared at each other; their brown eyes seemed to be sharing the same expression, the same pain. They turned their heads towards east where a lonely red-haired woman walked painfully slow. She had her eyes on the rising sun, her lips seemed to be moving but they could not hear a sound with so many noise.

They watched as one of her hand caressed her engorged belly. A sad feeling took over them, as they knew how much Kushina-san was hurt.

As if she had sensed that she was being watched, she turned her head and met the twins stare. At first, there was nothing. Her features were blank and hard as a statue, but then they relaxed and she smiled. It was not any smile. It was a tender, loving smile, directed at them.

Kenji and Kenjiro were surprised with the unexpected smile. They wondered why people managed to smile during such times. What made them so strong that even during the most painful times, a smile would always be seen?

Kushina was the type that could smile in times of trouble, as their sister and Sakura could. They could gather strength from distress and break any barrier. They could be stronger than the strongest nin, because they possessed such abilities that they could not fully yet understand.

The red-haired woman slowly looked away and darted her eyes towards the rising sun once again. She sighed deeply as her hand felt the baby kick.

"I know sweet-heart… I know…" she whispered as she fought back the tears that she wanted to cry so badly, "Don't worry, mommy is here," she whispered, feeling her throat becoming dry, "I won't let you alone," she smiled softly, feeling rather foolish as she carried on talking with the baby.

"Daddy is coming back," she said after a brief moment of silence, "I know he will," she muttered darkly, "he better be…"

"MOTHER!"

Kushina was startled as a young girl passed by her with wide-open arms. She watched as the child ran towards the distressed woman, whose eyes lightened up as she stared at her daughter.

"KISA! Oh dear! Oh thank Kami!" the mother hugged her daughter and started to kiss the young girl all over her face, "Oh Kami, thank you!"

Finally, the tears that she had been holding started to fall.

"Minato…"

She blinked softly as his lips came crashing down on hers without warning. Sakura felt his hot tongue explore her mouth. The kiss seized passion and fire, with a longing flame that could not be extinguished. She stared at his face, he had his eyes closed, yet she could read his features so easily. He was trying to buy time, to make her stay. Even though it somehow seemed to work for she longed for his touch as well, she wanted to stay in his arms for as long as possible. She wanted to feel one with him once again. She wanted to be his and she wanted him to be hers. However, a small part of her wanted to run towards Sasuke. She could not let him have the burden all for himself.

"And why not?"

Sakura took a deep breath as Kakashi lips parted away from hers. Her inner self-question echoed torturously inside her head.

"Didn't his selfishness bring all of this on you?"

Sakura allowed Kakashi to kiss her once again as she pondered on her inner self-questions.

Yes, he did.

She consented slowly.

However, he did not expect me to be caught in his plan. It was an accident.

Somehow, she expected her inner self to counter argue but she could not hear anything. Slowly, she pushed herself away from Kakashi.

Kakashi was right. Sasuke decided his own path and if he left her behind it was because he wanted her to stay. He wanted to make it up to her somehow. He was going to fulfill his promise to Naruto, he was going to finally have his happy ending and he wanted her to have hers.

"Then…"

"Then?" Kakashi asked, hoping that she would agree with his reckoning.

"Then…" Sakura repeated, "Then I will have to say good-bye," Kakashi waited silently for her to carry on. "I need to tell him good-bye,"

"Sakura…" Kakashi started, feeling something born inside of him, "I don't think there is time-"

"I need to!" she said immediately, "I need to see him one last time," Sakura stopped talking for a while, "Besides... we have to make sure Minato-sensei doesn't do anything stupid,"

Kakashi eyes seemed to have gained instant life, "Does this mean that y-you'll stay?"

"I'm not going anywhere," She answered, nodding her head, "not as long your standing by my side,"

"Then you have to hurry," Kakashi said as he held her hand, "Let's go,"

Sakura closed her eyes as she let Kakashi lead the way. Everything seemed to make sense now and she had to admit that somehow she liked how everything sounded. Everyone would have their own piece of happiness. Even, if her piece of happiness was achieved in the strangest possible way.

She had felt whole again, even if only for a while. She found a second home with people she grow to love and consider as family. She had lost a sister along the way, yet, she still felt home, because there was still someone keeping her trapped. As long as Kakashi was by her side, she should not have to feel intimidated. The consequences of meddling with time seemed so small now as she felt the pressure of his cold hand.

"We're almost there," Kakashi whispered, awaking Sakura to the harsh reality.

Her green eyes stared at the horrible destruction that surrounded them both. The village, her home was completely worn out. With her free hand, Sakura covered her mouth as memories of the day that the Akatsuki assaulted the village played in her mind.
They needed to hurry. They needed to make sure Minato-sensei would be able to survive. Sakura wanted to make sure that Naruto would be able to have someone to be there for him, to change his diapers, to teach him how to cook, to teach him at least some manners.

The Kyuubi roared in fury and swung its nine tails repeatedly. It opened its mouth, more and redder chakra kept leaking out onto the sky.

"W-Where is Sakura?" Tsunade asked at once.

Sasuke did not stop to look at her, "She is fine," it was his only answer as he carried on walking, fighting the urge to stare at hisown father whose prying eyes were firmly set on him.

"Fine…" Tsunade repeated softly, her honey eyes stared at the dark-haired boy as if she was staring at him for the very first time. All the animosity that she had felt before completely died away, "Thank Kami," she added in a soft whisper.

Minato smiled softly as he stared at the dark-haired boy, "Is she with Kakashi?" he asked knowingly.

Sasuke stopped and turned around to look at the blond-haired man. His crimson orbs penetrated Minato's blue ones. It felt weird beyond limits. Sasuke felt exactly as if he was staring at a certain hyperactive boy.

"Yes," Sasuke answered shortly, "Hokage… please leave this to me,"

"Don't be foolish boy!" a tall Uchiha man interfered hotly, "What are you trying to accomplish boy? And who the hell are you? I have never seen your face around!"

"Daisuke, quiet," said a strong cold voice.

Sasuke did not need to turn to look at whom the voice belonged. He remembered it well enough.

"So it's true," the man voice reached Sasuke's ears, a warmth sensation took over his entire body, "Sarutobi… I'll be damn… he was right, as always,"

Sasuke turned his attention back to the Hokage, "If you don't name your son Naruto, Sakura will be unstoppable,"

Minato raised a curious eyebrow as he stared down at the young man. In some way, it was as if he was staring at an aged man who had been mistreated by a cold destiny.

"I cannot let you fight on your own," said Minato, staring directly at Sasuke's red orbs.

"Hn," Sasuke, "I expected as much,"

There was a small smile forming on Sasuke's face as he turned around. He would be able to prove his father how stronger he had become. Even if the man did not possess any memory about him, Sasuke felt happy that he had that chance in his hands. In a way, he would be a hero after all, as his brother wanted him to be. This was his chance to redeem himself.

As soon as Sasuke focused his eyes on the nine-tailed beast, something caught his attention. Right behind the beast stood a dark cloaked figure.

"No…" Sasuke whispered in absolute horror as the figure walked towards the field as if he owned it. The Kyuubi paid no attention to the cloaked-figure.

The dark-haired boy heard Tsunade gasp and Jiraiya ask what was going on. However, what his ears paid more attention to, was his name being shouted in the distance. He took a quick look behind his shoulder and watched as the pink-haired girl ran towards him, her wide green eyes filled with panic and fear.

Sasuke turned back around and cursed aloud before he brought his new shape of Sharingan to use.

"Amaretsu,"

"SASUKE!" Sakura shouted as black flames appeared out of nowhere, blocking any possible access to the young Uchiha. Scared that the pink-haired girl would launch herself towards the black flames, Kakashi quickly pulled her behind, causing them both to fall down.

Sakura quickly bolted upright as a mix of a loud roar and an heartbreaking painful scream filled the now beautiful sunny day.

Several heads turned around as they could hear the loud roar. There was a following silence after everyone started to panic. The genins and chuunins tried to calm everyone down. They were far away from Konoha's borders and that there was no way that the Kyuubi was coming towards them. Some people seemed calmer while others did not believe them one bit.

The twins quickly calmed the old woman down and decided it was for the best if everyone rested for some minutes. They placed her down, next to a large rock and headed towards the other genins.

Suddenly, Kenji spotted Kushina leaning towards a tall tree. She seemed to have trouble in breathing and he hurried towards her.

"Kushina-san! What is the matter?"

The red-haired woman took in a deep breath and stared in horror towards the young boy, she lowered her gaze onto her own legs.
Kenji gasped, his eyes widened at the quantity of blood.

A/N: WOah it seems there is alot of people interested in coming to Japan! Yatta! Kishimoto... you're doomed -inserts evil laugh-

Now on to the story itself, okay, so it wasn't a BIG BIG chapter, but I hope it was big enough. Unfortunately I have the flu so I sneaked out of bed while I was home alone and finished the chapter. Go me! The whole chapter sounded great in my head, and I hope it is okay. I know I have a lot of grammar issue, so I also hope it doesn't bother you that much. My beta has disappeared from the map coz' she's pretty busy, so I have no one to do the "dirty" job. Anyways, all in all i hope you'll review. I love to read your thoughts on the story. As always, Thanks for reading!