Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. Anyway, here it is, so enjoy!
"All of this has gone perfectly so far," Kurushimi thought to himself, a wicked smile plastered to his features. He could see each member of the five groups from all angles. "You're all in a rough position at the moment. Fight yourselves, your comrades, and the ones you love. Either that or refuse to do so. It's your choice. Although, I'd prefer if you didn't disappoint by giving up. Now, entertain me..." A wicked laugh filled the room.
Unknown to the male, a certain swordsman was right outside by the closed door. Kenshi was staring at the floor with his arms crossed, leaning his back against the wall for support. "Kurushimi is losing it. Ever since all of THAT happened, he was never the same again. But now we have the last Uchiha where we want him and it'll all be over once he's dealt with. Where will we go from there? What will we do? Over time, I've lost the need I've had to kill the Uchiha. I should want to, but... Hmph, Kurushimi is right, I'm letting those brats influence me." He pushed off the wall and began walking to no where in particular. "You will pay for your clan's sins, Sasuke Uchiha. If you're not careful, so will your friends. I'll make you watch them scream. I'll force you to look as I kill HER. I'll let you suffer and hear their pleas and crys for mercy. The scene will be much worse than what happened to us back then. That, I can promise you..."
Sasuke and Sakura stared in complete shock and horror at their copies. They were clearly amused, jeering and laughing at the real ones. The imposter Sakura grabbed the real medic's collar and threw her across the entire length of the cave.
"Sak-!" The Uchiha had been forced to halt his speech, having been kicked in the jaw. The force of the kick sent him sailing into the cave wall. He groaned as he crawled to his feet, staring at his counterpart.
"Kid, I'm your worst nightmare," the fake warned, smirking and twirling his chokuto around.
Sasuke let his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan shift into place, unsheathing his chokuto. "We're fighting ourselves?! What's going on?! How did this happen?!" A lightbulb went off. "Perhaps, genjutsu?" He tried to release it, but nothing changed.
A laugh. "You think this an illusion?!" The other male was cackling so hard he had to sheathe his blade. The moment he became silent, the man disappeared.
Sasuke gasped. "I lost him?!" An instant later, he had a hand clenched tightly around his throat. The Uchiha was picked up a foot off the ground and slammed into the damp rock of the cave wall.
"I can assure you," the imposter Sasuke seethed, "that this is very real."
Struggling to breathe, the trapped male quickly copied the view of the environment with his Sharingan for future purposes. This room was the biggest one he had seen so far. There were fewer pillars and they were off to the sides. The ground and walls were uneven and had many places bulging out, almost suggesting that the area had purposefully been designed for a battle. "I wouldn't put it past someone like Kurushimi. Now isn't the time to think about that though." He turned his ominous gaze to the fake who had a hand around his neck. "It's funny. It seems like he's forgotten that I'm holding my chokuto." Finishing his final thought, Sasuke sliced at his attacker's arms, causing the male to release his grip entirely.
The imposter Sasuke brushed dirt off his long sleeves. "Hn, you almost got me. Heh heh heh, I'm basically underestimating MYSELF!" A large, sadistic smile settled on his lips. His right eye took on a blood red coloring. "Let's really fight! With the same abilities, it's time to see which of us is truly the best!" His hand filled with lightning.
The real Sasuke kept his eyes locked on the other as he sheathed his sword. The chirping of a thousand birds filled the entire cave system. They launched themselves at each other and clashed.
Sakura's eyes fluttered open. She shielded them when a bright flash nearly blinded her. After it was gone, she replayed memories in her mind, attempting to comprehend everything that had just occurred. Feet dangled in her face from the ledge directly above where she lay sprawled out. "I wonder which Sasucakes will win."
The medic narrowed her eyes in confusion while rubbing the back of her head. "Sasucakes?" The moment she remembered recent events at the beginning of their battle, her eyes shot wide open. The feet disappeared and her ears caught the small shuffle that meant they were now on the ledge above her head.
"I shouldn't be asking you though, seeing as how you won't live to see it!"
Smash!
The ledge seperated into a million pieces, all launched down towards Sakura's body. The kunoichi did her best to minimize the damage. Before she knew it, the pink haired woman was buried underneath the rubble.
The lookalike was laughing her head off at the sight. "Too easy! I never imagined MYSELF as being so hopelessly weak!"
The real Sakura angrily pushed one hand out of the rubble, slamming it on top of the pile. A few seconds later, she had managed to pull all of her upper body out. "You need to watch what you say around me," she breathed. A smirk crept its way onto her lips. "You of all people should know very well what happens when I get angry!" Forcing chakra to her hands, the ecstatic kunoichi pulled herself out of the loose earth and ran at full speed towards her clone.
The imposter immediately stopped laughing and gasped in surprise. She barely dodged a chakra filled punch, stumbling from the effort.
"Gotcha!" Sakura thought with satisfaction. She pivoted on one heel, elbowing her opponent sharply in the head. Smirking with delight, Sakura watched herself fly into the air and...
Poof! The imposter was gone.
The Haruno narrowed her eyes. "It was THAT easy? No, wait-" Her breathing hitched at the realization. Quickly turning around, she was met by a flash and a kunai knife sinking into her shoulder. Falling to one knee, she didn't have any time to react as a hail storm of kunai and shuriken rained down on her. Crawling aside to escape the first few, the kunoichi gathered enough strength to jump out of the way and land at a safe distance away from her opponent.
"I can't wait to kill you!" the other woman spat. "When I take over as the REAL Sakura Haruno, I'll have Sasucakes all to myself!"
Sakura rolled her eyes and examined the kunai buried in her arm. Rumbling and flashing came from Sasuke's direction. Her copy continued.
"Besides, I would never be a hindrance to my comrades."
She was about to attempt to remove the weapon. Her hand stopped in midair when those words had come out of well, her, mouth.
The enemy smirked with pleasure, knowing that she had hit a soft spot. "You know it as well as I do. You've always been a burden to everybody. Helpless little Sakura, always relying on everyone else to do the work for her. The only reason she joined the academy in the first place was to get close to Sasucakes. All you did back then was get in his way. Even now, that's all you can do."
"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled from nearby. He was currently in a taijutsu battle with himself. The real one that had shouted was pinned face first against a pillar, too distracted by the women's brawl to attempt a counterattack. His opposite was paying quite a bit of attention to them as well. "Sakura, don't listen to her! I've-!"
"Sasuke..." Sakura said, barely loud enough for the rest of the shinobi to hear. She slowly moved to her feet, bangs hiding her facial expression. Everyone gasped in unison when she looked up to reveal a gigantic smirk. The medic made a fist and lightly punched her palm, closing it over the fist. "I didn't plan on listening. You know Sasuke, you're right... I am pretty annoying sometimes!" As soon as the words left her lips, Sakura sped towards her attacker with great determination.
Her clone looked to be unfazed. "You really think that you can beat yourself? No, let me rephrase that," she said, reaching into her bag and placing shuriken in between each of her fingers. "I'm even better than the original!" All of the weapons were thrown at their target.
Sakura pulled the kunai out of her arm without wincing. She dodged or blocked every shuriken without losing a single step. "I can't lose now! Time to really push my limits!" With her last thought, confidence surged through the kunoichi.
The fake sighed and put a hand on her hip. "Fighting myself is such a pain..." For a brief instant, she closed her eyes. As soon as they opened, she was met with a fist to her nose. She screamed and flew backwards, smashing through a pillar and landing roughly into the cave wall.
Sakura grinned in satisfaction as she watched the crash, hunching over in an attempt to catch her breath. "I didn't know I could go that fast... Guess you find out a lot of things when you fight yourself." She launched herself high off the ground and got ready to strike her opponent once again.
Sasuke smirked with pride when he heard another crash and shout, signaling that Sakura had landed her second attack. He grunted when the man pinning him to the pillar pushed his knee further into his back.
"You're overprotective," he whispered into his ear. "You should be worried about yourself right now because it looks like she's doing better than you."
Sasuke managed to get out of the copy's hold and put him in a headlock. He jerked forward to have the other's head slam into a sharp edge on the pillar. He fell to the ground, holding his head and cursing up a storm.
Sasuke took the opportunity to escape onto a high ledge on the other side of the room. The Uchiha crouched down and shuffled into a narrow crack in the wall, panting and looking at his wounds. None were serious, but he had taken a couple of nasty cuts from the other Sasuke's chokuto. He had done damage to the lookalike, but fighting an opponent with the exact same abilities as you is a tough challenge. He glanced around the tiny hiding spot. The only thing that was there besides him was a large crystal in the center. He could hear rumbling and feel the ground tremor, probably from the fight with the Sakuras. "How are we going to beat ourselves? They have the same abilities." Sasuke replayed some of the memories of the fight he had saved with the Sharingan. His opposite was only able to use part of his dojutsu's powers, just like him. "Something's off though. He seemed completely oblivious that I held my chokuto in the beginning of our fight. Also, he's been that way throughout our battle, which means he's not as, aware, as I am." He watched more of their fight. "His speed doesn't match mine either. Does that mean that they aren't true copies?"
Smash!
Sasuke exhaled sharply as a gigantic purple fist broke through the wall and wrapped itself around his body, restricting any movement. Gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut in pain, Sasuke felt the hand pull him out of his hiding spot, crushing the crystal in the process.
The lookalike was standing on the wall next to the hole, blood rushing out of the new wound on his head. "You think smashing my head against a pillar is funny, eh? Let me return the favor!" With this, the Susano'o flung the real Uchiha down across the room.
Sasuke slammed headfirst into one of the pillars. His vision blurred and darkened for a moment. He was lying under what was left of the pillar's top half. A shield of purple had partly formed during his fall, probably saving him from more serious injuries. Nonetheless, blood ran into and around his eyes, followed by agonizing pain throughout his entire body. "H-How did he kn-know where I was? If we r-really have the same abilities, then he sh-shouldn't have seen my chakra n-network..." Anger and determination surged through the disgruntled Uchiha.
Someone towered over him and grabbed the front of his collar. The purple and red of both the Sharingan and Rinnegan clashed with each other in a blazing fury. The attacker with a wicked smile and the original Uchiha gritting his teeth in fury. The male above him glanced at the battling kunoichi. "I should kill you quick and then beat your Sakura. Don't worry, I'll let her live. Then, I'll tell her how you really felt and she will be mine."
Sasuke quickly returned the favor and grasped the male's collar with an iron grip. "Don't you dare touch her!"
The other leaned closer. "Who's gonna stop me?! It's obviously not gonna be you. Do you wanna know why we've been kicking your butts senseless? It's because we are your opposites. We may look like exactly like you, but that's very misleading. See, unlike you, I'm basically the older, better version. The cold, ruthless, murderous Sasuke Uchiha. And Sakura? Her 'counterpart' has the same ideas and objectives as me. That is, to torture our originals and cause terror."
"That's your objective?" Sasuke questioned. "So, they're just playing with us?!" He was growing more livid by the second.
A laugh. "Don't forget what I said about taking Sakura for myself. That opposite thing helps me a lot because I can tell her how you feel without hesitation. Or," the wicked smile grew wider, "I can break her heart. It's not like you haven't done it before."
Sasuke's resistance broke. "SHUT UP!" He pushed his clone off of him and performed the fireball jutsu with lightning quick speed, not giving the other a chance to breathe. Most of his arm was burnt by the fire and he howled in pain, but was shortly silenced when the real Sasuke kicked his midsection, undoubtedly breaking some ribs. Already having the wind knocked out of him, the copy was met with a punch to the jaw, the force of the punch sending him sailing.
Sasuke shook his wrist. "Amaterasu!"
The imposter barely dodged the black flames in time. His response was sending black flames flying towards the original, which he extinguished without twitching. "How did you-?!"
"Are you really this naive?" Sasuke inquired with a smirk. "It appears my theory about them not being true copies was correct. Even an amateur could decipher the obvious fact. We have the same eyes and powers, which means I can easily put my own flames out." He cracked his knuckles. "Now, it's my turn." He watched his lookalike crawl backwards in an attempt to escape. "I'll never let you near Sakura..."
Sakura sliced at her opponent with chakra scalpels. Her copy managed to dodge the first swipe, but the second hit. She jolted back and screamed. "You little..." She recklessly lunged at Sakura.
The real Sakura had just gotten control of the battle again. At this point, she was wondering what it would take to ensure her victory. She had continually worried about how Sasuke was doing. One thing that bothered her a lot though, why had her opponent not taken the chances she had been given to heal herself? Even though the real Sakura had been losing the fight, she had still given the other some damage. That included a large slash across her side that had not stopped bleeding. In fact, she repeatedly held the wound or grunted in pain.
Sakura blocked a punch and caught sight of her lookalike's wounds again. "Does she think that she's going to last long enough? Or is she too prideful? Wait, maybe... Can she even heal at all?" She was so distracted by the thought that she almost earned a knee to the gut. "I have to focus! Even when she's injured, her attacks are quite powerful." The fake missed an uppercut and Sakura took the opportunity to send her foot into the other's side where the large slash was located. She was sent flying into the cave wall, screaming a number of profanities. Sakura leapt far away from her and found a good hiding spot to catch her breath. She was behind a pillar close to a corner of the cave, the only thing in front of her except the wall was a small crystal. The Haruno quickly healed some of her wounds and peeked to the side to see that her counterpart was still on the ground, huffing and panting. The medic breathed a sigh of relief because she knew there was no way her opponent realized where she was.
"Why are you trying so hard Uchiha?! You can't save anyone! Not even yourself!" the fake Sasuke cackled.
The real one skidded to a stop near Sakura's hiding place. She was watching them soundlessly, making sure she was entirely out of the other kunoichi's view. There was a series of purple flashes as the two males battled it out with the swords of their Susano'o. She studied the fight and noticed that something was off about the imposter Uchiha. Sakura couldn't describe it well, but he wasn't as say, skilled, as the real Sasuke. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the damp rock of the pillar.
Bam!
She fell to the ground with debris from the newly broken pillar landing around and on top of her. The Sasukes had brought their fight to a couple feet away from the women. Sakura felt a foot pressing against her skull and glanced up to see, herself?! She was astonished. How could she have possibly known where she was? The copy seemed to notice her shock as she leaned down. "We can see everything!" she announced, grabbing Sakura's leg. A smoke bomb was thrown by the original Sasuke as he disappeared in the concealment. The kunoichi was thrown across the cave, seeing Sasuke hit the wall she was about to smash into. Gritting her teeth and groaning as her back hit, Sakura fell into a small hole located directly in the earth below her.
Sasuke had the wind knocked out of him when Sakura landed on top of his aching body. They were now beneath the main part of the cave, or the battle area. He was resisting the urge to writhe in pain. The Uchiha had fallen on the large crystal that had been placed right under the opening to the small hole in the floor. He felt the broken pieces piercing his back and gritted his teeth. When he had first landed and hit the shards, a tiny burst of something ran through him. It was familiar, but not the feel of the burst. Before the light to the shattered shards of crystal had disappeared, he had seen one do something that made it look extremely familiar.
"I'm sorry," Sakura breathed in his ear, attempting to get up.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he grabbed both of her wrists, rolling over so he was on top of her. Medium sized rocks pelted his back. They were falling because they had been seperated from the wall after the impacts of both shinobi slamming into it. After it was over, most of their bodies were covered in the pile. Sasuke collapsed on top of her, gasping for air and squeezing his eyes shut from pain.
"Sasuke-!"
"Be quiet!" he breathed into her ear while throwing his cloak over what was visible of the rest of their bodies. He slapped one hand over her mouth and copied the action on himself. They were silent and unmoving for a few seconds, Sakura wondering what the problem was.
"You idiot!" the other Sasuke yelled. "Why did you throw her after the area was filled with smoke?!"
"You're calling me an idiot?!" the fake Sakura shouted back. "Who's the one that let their opponent use the smoke bomb?!"
"Just shut up and keep searching! I can't see them anywhere!"
The ninja under the Uchiha furrowed her brow. "They're looking for us?" She recalled her counterpart's words from earlier. "She said that they could see everything... Is it because we're under these rocks and Sasuke's cloak? No, they had enough time to see us before all of that happened. Then what-?"
"Go down there and see if they're hiding!" Sakura ordered.
"Why me?!" Sasuke spat back.
"If you don't, then I'll throw you down there!"
He grumbled and cursed under his breath while stepping to look in the hole. Sasuke and Sakura heard him drop down and land with his feet on either side of their heads. They held their breath and made every effort not to move a muscle. The male above them scanned the area, not bothering to move his position. Finally, he looked up through the hole where the other Haruno stood. "They aren't down here!"
"What?!"
He huffed in annoyance. "I SAID, TH-!"
"I heard what you said you baka!"
He growled and jumped out of the hole. The pair moved away, still arguing and shouting at full volume. Sasuke shoved the cloak off of their heads and tried to shuffle off of Sakura the best he could with all the rubble on top of them. She pushed every rock away and made Sasuke lay on his side, studying his wounds. He moaned quietly at the pain in his back. The Uchiha could feel the blood sliding across his skin and gathering against the edges of the shards.
"We don't have t-time to heal r-right now," he croaked.
"Then what are we supposed to do? We're both injured and one of us can't beat them alone," she replied urgently.
"We're both injured and one of us can't beat them alone," he repeated in his mind. Sasuke gasped. "Sakura, I have an idea."
"Tell me while I take some of these out and heal the wounds," she responded.
He nodded and began to explain. "Have the opposite Sakura's abilities or personality traits been somewhat different?"
"Yes," she replied curiously while gently pulling part of his shirt up.
"The other Sasuke's awareness is significantly lower than my own," he began. That was followed by a grunt when she extracted one of the biggest shards from his back. "Anyway, his intelligence is also at a disadvantage. There are more things to add, but my point is, they aren't exact copies."
A green glow emitted from her hands. "My counterpart appears not to have the healing ability. The things you mentioned also apply to her. But, she said that they could see everything. Obviously, that was a lie if they couldn't find us down here."
"Worry about that later. If they can't see us down here, then we'll use it our advantage. My plan is really simple. Since they aren't perfect copies, I think it will work."
"Think?" Sakura asked while examining another shard embedded in his skin.
His teeth clenched tightly together while she extracted it. "If their intelligence and awareness really is as low as I presume, then we can take both of them out with one move."
Sakura gasped and tugged his shirt down after making sure that the worst wounds had been healed. "A single attack?"
He nodded and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Here's the plan."
Sakura listened to every detail while gazing at a wound on his head.
The fake Sakura threw large rocks left and right while searching in the pile for their enemy. It had recently been broken by her after finding her hiding original. Her partner was currently looking at the section he had recklessly torn apart earlier, a large hole present where the arm of the Susano'o had broken through.
"Where the heck could they possibly be?!" he screamed in frustration. Sakura saw him kick a rock as big as a head through the opening.
"No clue," she responded. "The only places they could be are-"
Whoosh!
She covered her face when a strong gust of wind hit her body. Sasuke hid behind the cover of the cave wall. They both looked in the direction of the disturbance and gasped. The real Sasuke and Sakura stood in the middle of the cave, back to back.
Sasuke's counterpart laughed, his voice echoing throughout the cave from his high position. "Revealing yourselves to us? Ha! The 'originals' really are fools!" He jumped down and faced the other Uchiha. Sakura did the same with the other Haruno.
"What do you say?" she asked with a smirk, adjusting her gloves. "We can take these idiots out with one hit."
He laughed and nodded his head in agreement. The real shinobi did not move, not even twitching. They said nothing in response.
A large purple fist formed in front of the fake. His teammate prepared to land a deadly blow on the original. They rushed forward at the same time. As they neared their opponents, the two ninja back to back still made no sort of movement, showing no sign that they were going to dodge or counterattack. The opposites struck simultaneously, enjoying their victory for a short instant. The Uchiha had already begun to let the Susano'o fade while trying to halt his movement. Their satisfied expressions quickly changed to gasps of a shock when they disappeared with a puff of smoke. The two caught a short glimpse of each other's terrified expressions before Sakura's fist connected with Sasuke's jaw and all that remained of the the fist of the Susano'o smashed into her entire body. The two flew backwards in opposite directions and slammed into the cave walls. The whole area shook and rocks were falling in every direction. This went on for another minute before the room stilled.
"You were right Sasuke," Sakura said as she poked her head out of the hole, "that was way too easy." She jumped out of the opening and waited for him to follow.
Sasuke winced at the pain in his back while he climbed out. "Get your lookalike and I'll get mine. We'll bring them to the middle."
She took a step in the direction of her counterpart who was buried under a pile of rocks. "Do you think it killed them?"
He walked with a slight limp. "Let's find out." Sasuke pushed the top layer of rocks away and saw a hand. The Uchiha kicked and shoved more of the rubble off the male's crushed body. He yanked the man out by his wrist as soon as he made the hole wide enough. Sasuke dragged him by his ankle to the middle of the cave, finding Sakura already waiting for him. They set the two back to back and Sasuke unsheathed his chokuto. "Who are you?"
His copy laughed and had a coughing fit. "I've already said. I'm you."
Sasuke had been convinced that their lookalikes were a different sort of clone. Now he was absolutely positive of it. "Did Kurushimi send you?"
Another chuckle. This time, it was the Sakura. "He didn't have to make us go anywhere. How many times do we have to say that we're you two?"
Sakura glanced at Sasuke and put a hand on her hip. "So how exactly did you just... appear?"
"Don't you remember waking up for a moment and feeling agonizing pain?"
She furrowed her brow.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and held the sword at his counterpart's throat. "It's a jutsu of Kurushimi's, isn't it?"
He smirked and glared at the original. "We've never seen or met Kurushimi. We only know him because there's a presence we feel inside our heads. It's him."
The Uchiha's lips seperated, but no words came out. He had to think about what his next question would be. "You said that you could see us no matter where we were. That's false information because you obviously couldn't a moment ago."
Sakura tilted her head to the side so she could see him from the corner of her eye. "It was luck, that's all."
"You're lying," Sasuke replied cautiously.
"Technically, I'm not."
He stared the fakes down for another instant. "He's watching us, isn't he? That's how you were able to see us, right? Since his presence or whatever is with you, he can show you what he sees."
The two beaten shinobi made no noise. Both Sasuke and Sakura could tell that his inferences were correct by their expressions.
Suddenly, the counterparts' heads shot up to face the originals and they spoke in unison. "Well done. You figured out one of my little tricks."
"Kurushimi?" Sasuke questioned knowingly, unfazed. Sakura flinched at the name.
They chuckled. "Yes."
"This is a variation of the jutsu you used on Kenshi?" he inquired.
"Correct. I'd like the both of you to know that your friends are facing themselves right now as we speak. Some of them haven't been very lucky so far. One more thing. I can also allow them to hear what I can as well."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why would you give us that information?"
The two shrugged in unison. "To frustrate you I guess. The thing that you still need to explain is how I can see and hear most of you're movements."
The air was silent.
The expressions' on the defeated shinobis' faces morphed into very serious ones. "Sasuke, very soon you and your friends will lose this fighting effort that you are trying to throw against me. This will end with you giving yourself up to me. A while ago, you were going to do that anyway, weren't you?"
Sasuke's jaw dropped and his sword slowly lowered.
The clones showed off a pair of smirks. "I don't have any reason to copy your memories again so soon. You can take the time after this to get out of these caves and regroup. I honestly don't care because I know how all of this will end. Until next time, Sasuke." With this, they began to disappear. It looked nearly the same as the way Kenshi had faded. Not even a weapon or drop of blood was left after the process was complete.
Sasuke hesitantly sheathed his chokuto and looked up at his partner, whose features were full of disbelief. "Sakura, don't listen to him. That was a bunch of nonsense. We're not going to lose t-"
"No... Are you really going to give yourself up?"
"Of course not," he quickly answered. "That won't happen."
She sighed. "Never mind that. Sit down so I can heal you."
He nodded. "Let's go down in that small opening. We can discuss things privately."
They traveled back to their intended meeting place. Sakura frowned. "He's probably watching the others if he can see them fighting. I hope they're okay."
"Hn," he grunted in agreement as they hopped into the safe spot. Tons of questions, realizations, and ideas were floating around in his mind. All of it moved to the back of conscience as he sat down and removed his shirt. The only thing that mattered at the moment was them getting a chance to heal and rest.
"This is going to hurt," Sakura cautioned as she gripped a shard embedded deep in his skin. "I didn't notice this one before."
"Go ahead," he said. He couldn't supress his quiet groan of pain when he felt the shard being yanked out of his back. Blood gushed out of the wound and dripped down his skin. He tugged his bandanna off and tossed it on top of his discarded shirt. His breath caught in his throat the moment Sakura's hand came in contact with his skin. He could feel the wound begin to heal and see the faint glow of her chakra reflecting off of the damp walls. Silence filled the area for perhaps an hour before she had extracted the last piece of crystals from his back and healed all of his worst wounds.
Sakura maneuvered around him once she had grabbed some bandages. She expected him to already have his arms lifted, but the male was staring in front of him. "Sasuke?"
No response.
"Sasuke!" she shouted, waving a hand in his face.
He jolted and stared at her in surprise.
"I finished a few minutes ago. Raise your arms."
He obeyed her command, still in shock that he hadn't realized when she was done. It only took half a minute or so for her to wrap the bandages around him. He put on his shirt and watched her heal herself. After all was said and done, they immediately lie down next to each other in an attempt to sleep. However, Sasuke could not get any rest whatsoever. There were too many things he wanted to think about. The main thing on his mind were Kurushimi's words at the conclusion of their battle with the clones. No way Sasuke would ever lose to him. Why would he give himself up? He remembered Sakura's reaction. How could Kurushimi be so sure of that being the outcome to everything?
"I'm never going to give up," he thought. He heard the rhythmic breathing of his sleeping partner. "I have something worth fighting for." That something lay right beside him.
Author's Note: I'm leaving little hints here and there as to how Kurushimi can see and hear their movements. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the support! Also, I'm repeatedly updating my profile now so that you can see how much I have done of the next chapters of my stories. I've got BAD writer's block for next chapter, so that might take a bit for me to write. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!
OTHER UPDATES
So I released a MitsuSara oneshot on Tuesday. Yeah, I'm really random... Lol. That's there if you're interested.
At this moment, I'm around halfway done with the next chapter of Family Struggles.