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.Heaven's Gate: Princess.
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Chapter Twenty: Haruno vs. Karin and Karin's Resolution.
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They moved on. From one post to the other but Haruno showed no sign of wearing out. Sasuke knew Sakura's body was not as fragile as it looked, as he remembered her tour around the big village for the Starry Night Festival.
She commented on every flaw that the ANBUs and the Gods made, and she made her point boldly. Unlike Sakura who always say everything in a nice, polite manner. It was obvious that people didn't like Haruno. Sasuke thought otherwise, he just couldn't believe that he might be falling for her.
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"Found them!"
Sasuke's head snapped around. His eyes widened as he saw Karin on the front line of ten blue-uniformed ninjas.
"Haruno, run!" Sasuke yelled.
Haruno looked at him and stood on her ground. He ran toward her and pushed her lightly.
"I said go!" he said.
Karin screamed as she saw Sasuke's hand on Haruno. She dashed forward and hit Haruno. They both fell onto the ground. Sasuke's eyes widened. He ran toward them and pulled on Karin.
"Karin! Stop!" he yelled. "What on earth are you doing?!"
"Let go of me!" Karin screamed, ignoring the fact that Sasuke was holding her. She turned to the other ninjas. "Get him away from me!"
Sasuke was shocked. It was the first time Karin said that, but at the same time he didn't have time to panic for his pride of having girls in love with him.
"Che!" he spat, he turned to the other ninjas and they started fighting.
"You are dead," Karin turned to Haruno who was still on the ground. She calculated her chakra and grinned with triumph as not much chakra was around. She walked toward her. "I told them I'm going to kill you myself. With this, there'll be no more trouble."
Suddenly, a big gush of chakra came out off Haruno. Karin gasped and took a few steps back, shocked.
"Have you forgotten that I'm a better chakra reader and controller than you are?" Haruno stood up, her back facing Karin. "Well, it's Sakura actually, but whatever…" she muttered to herself.
Karin readied her kunai and was now on a defensive pose.
Haruno turned and Karin froze. Her blue eyes were emotionless; it reminded her of Sasuke before he came to Fire Country.
"What's wrong?" Haruno asked in a mocking tone. "Now you're afraid of me?"
Karin took another step back. She threw the kunai and it slashed Haruno. Haruno looked at the cut and sighed.
"Come on," she said, "I mean seriously, Sakura's body is real nice. You just gave her a scratch."
Sakura's body? Karin frowned as she looked at Haruno. Wait, something's off. The Princess has green eyes. This one has blue… what's going on?
Karin turned to Sasuke and frowned. Sasuke looked back at her, confused.
"She's not the Princess, is she?" Karin said.
Sasuke kicked another ninja on the stomach. He turned back to Karin and was shocked.
"Her eyes are not the same," she said. "And I recall the Princess never speak in a mocking tone."
Sasuke frowned.
"How…" he paused. Karin looked back at him and then sighed.
"Same old Sasuke," she shook her head. "And I thought you love her, but you can't see that she's not the same."
"I can…" he said, looking at her with cold eyes.
"When?" Karin looked back. "After this one here told you?"
"Well Karin," Sasuke punched another ninja. "You're filled with surprises when you live in this country."
"I see," Karin looked away. "Poor Princess."
"What?!" Sasuke's face turned red for a second. More blue-uniformed ninjas came and he had to defend himself.
He thought about what Karin said. It was true; he didn't know that Sakura wasn't Sakura anymore even though he was confused. He… didn't know Sakura well.
But they can't blame me, he thought as he fought off the ninjas. I mean, even Naruto and the others didn't know she's not her anymore… they couldn't blame me. I… what do they expect of me? I never knew Sakura had an inner, even she didn't know. I'm not being ignorant. I just don't know things that others know.
Yeah, it's her fault for locking herself out. She never told me anything. Yeah…
He nodded at the conclusion he just got; that it was Sakura's fault for not opening up to him or anyone else. He loved her more than anything…
But as he watched Haruno fight against Karin, he couldn't help but try to ignore the feeling he felt growing in his chest.
Haruno screamed in frustration as she was unable to use the right amount of chakra to kill Karin. She punched Karin hard and used a big amount of her chakra. Karin's body hit the nearest tree and the tree broke in half. Sasuke turned to Haruno in shock. Haruno was heaving and struggling to breathe. He ran to her and grabbed both of her shoulders.
"You okay?" he asked, worried.
She nodded and grinned at him.
"Yeah," she took a deep breath. "I can finally hit her, did I kill her?"
Sasuke ignored her question and looked at her body that was scratched badly. She was bleeding everywhere.
"We should get you to Ino," he said. She rolled her eyes.
"Her body's not as weak as it looks," she said, walking away. Sasuke caught her wrist and pulled her to him.
"But you are weaker than she was," he told her.
"We don't know where Ino is," Haruno said. "Seriously, come on Sasuke, you're supposed to be taking care of her, not me."
Sasuke looked at her with gentle eyes. "You're still a girl, Haruno."
Oh no, she thought to herself.
Karin groaned and stood up, with much effort. She used her chakra to heal the worse wounds. She looked at the view before her, Sasuke had his hand on Haruno's wrist and he looked as if he was going to kiss her.
For the first time in her life, she figured that Sasuke was not worth it for her. He was always stuck in the middle, always struggling to find the right answer… and always got stuck to what's going on, not remembering what was going on.
She sighed and looked at both of them.
She didn't know who the girl was but she couldn't find herself to hate her, the look in the girl's face was evident that she wasn't in love with Sasuke the way he might be in love with her.
Haruno felt the change in chakra and turned to find Karin healing some of her wounds. Sasuke followed her gaze and sighed at the filthy sight he saw before him.
"Tell Matsuo Tabi to go home, Karin," Sasuke said.
Karin nodded.
"I'm planning to do that," she said. Sasuke frowned, confused.
"I certainly don't expect that," he muttered to himself, but was loud enough for Karin to hear.
"Me neither," she told him. She limped away but then stopped and turned to him.
"What?" Sasuke looked at her.
"I can't believe I said this when I'm supposed to hate her… but I can't anymore now that I know how she's in the same condition as I am," Karin said.
"Karin, what is it?" Sasuke asked, his tone annoyed.
Haruno watched the red-haired girl looked at Sasuke with anger; she frowned as she tried to understand the situation.
"You're doing it again, Sasuke," Karin said. "I've known you for more than six years, I know how you are. I thought you had changed the other day when I came here and saw how much you love the Princess."
Sasuke nodded, now paying more attention.
"But I'm wrong," she said. Sasuke frowned as he tried to guess what her point was. "You're stuck in an intersection again, Sasuke. Between loving her," she gestured to Haruno, "and the Princess… whom nowhere to be found right now…" she sighed. "My point is… I thought you changed when you ignored your mission and decided not to kill her that night. I saw you hug her, look at her with so much love… and I hated her and was impossibly jealous of her ever since. But…"
She paused.
"You're about to hurt her," she said.
"What?!" Sasuke's voice cracked like a whip in the quiet place.
"You're falling for her," Karin said, "like I said before. Continue this and you're going to end up hurting the Princess."
"I would never…" Sasuke was furious.
Karin eyed his hands that were on Haruno's wrist and waist. He followed her gaze and released Haruno at once. Haruno sighed with relieve. She looked at Karin, now understanding what was going on.
I knew coming out is a bad idea, she shook her head slowly.
"You better make your choice, Sasuke," Karin said. "I'll tell Matsuo Tabi that the Princess is nowhere to be found. But Hideyoshi Kuno must be coming as well."
She turned her back on them.
"You better make up your mind and start to be someone who could keep to their commitment that they make in the beginning," she told him. "I swear I couldn't believe I said this, but… I pity the Princess."
She leapt off, leaving Sasuke's jaw slamming all the way to the ground. Haruno sighed at what just happened and sat down on the ground, far from Sasuke.
She dug into her mind, trying to find Sakura. Things were getting bad here, and she certainly didn't want the man Sakura loved fell completely for her.
Dammit, Sakura… where are you?
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Huh? Where am I?
Sakura looked around the empty space. It was all white and she was all alone. The whiteness seemed to go on forever as she couldn't see the end of the place.
Oh, right… I'm dead. I got blown up. Nice.
She sighed.
I'm certainly in Hell… I can't lie back down, I can't walk around. I can't believe this…
"Same old Sasuke,"
Who's that?
"And I thought you love her, but you can't see that she's not the same."
Sasuke? Where is he? Where's Sasuke-kun?
Wait, that's Haruno…
Oh! Now I remember. I ran away from the real life… being irresponsible…
Sakura sighed and tried to lie down but remembered she couldn't.
Can't believe Haruno spent her time in here… so uncomfortable. But I don't want to go back out… in here is certainly better than out there.
Sakura looked up and saw a pair of eyes looked at her.
I know that eyes…
The eyes were looking at her gently.
Sasuke-kun! Can he see me? Does he know I'm not the one controlling the body now?
"You're still a girl, Haruno."
Haruno? He knew! But…
Sakura frowned as she saw how gentle Sasuke was looking at her…
He… isn't looking at me. It's Haruno he's looking at…
Sakura felt a big uncomfortable spasm in her chest. Her hands went to her chest, involuntarily.
It's not possible. He told me he loves me…
She saw the red-haired girl stood up, limping, bleeding. Sakura wanted to heal the girl right then but she was unable to. She was now just a person who was so cowardly that she hid in herself.
It was hard to hear what the girl was saying; it felt as if she was talking through water.
Why on earth is it like this? Did Haruno have my ears blown up?
"You're falling for her," Oh, finally. I wonder what happened before. Why can't I hear it well… maybe she got confused…
"…like I said before. Continue this and you're going to end up hurting the Princess."
Hurting me? Why?...
"You better make your choice, Sasuke," she said. "I'll tell Matsuo Tabi that the Princess is nowhere to be found. But Hideyoshi Kuno must be coming as well."
Oh, she's Matsuo Tabi's underling. She must be Sasuke-kun's teammate then…
"You better make up your mind and start to be someone who could keep to their commitment that they make in the beginning," she told him. "I swear I couldn't believe I said this, but… I pity the Princess."
What is going on? Why… would she pity me? Don't they all want to kill me??
Sakura looked around, confused and desperate.
Suddenly, she heard the mumbled conversation before but now clearly. Sakura's eyes widened as she understood.
Ah… no…
She covered her face and started crying. Crying as she knew that his love for her was fading away.
Sasuke-kun…
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I know you all must be hating me right now for making such a mean chapter :D
I love cliffies, like I told you all beforeee
Well, here's more. And this one is actually impossibly sad and tragic.
I bet you all wonder why I make Sasuke so annoying here. Well, to be honest… as much as I love him and xSasuxSakux I still think this is needed as Sasuke is someone who is impossibly stuck in between things and would usually make the wrong one, like the case where he left Konoha…
Hahahaha, I'm so into this story right now.
I hope you have a good read and sleep while getting pissed. :)
I'm still trying to figure out what should happen next, so please be patient.
And no, I am not a Karin's fan. I don't even know why I make her so wise and all here… hmmm…
Again,
Reviews are appreciated.
PSIt'sRainy.
