We're almost done, guys. There's only one chapter left after this.
Then they passed beneath a light and it lit up their features. I almost collapsed from relief. He had almost reached the table I was hiding beneath.
I used the last bit of energy to crawl out from beneath the table.
"Stop, right there." He said, stopping as well. I did as he asked. I couldn't see his feet. All I could see were his standard issue sandals.
"Who are you?" he asked. I barely had the strength to lift my head. Out of all the things I could've said in that moment the thing that spilled out of my mouth was "Don't you remember me, Itachi Uchiha?"
I heard him breathe my name and then he was running towards me. He caught me before I could collapse. I burst into tears at the feel of his arms around me. I had almost thought he wasn't real, but his touch proved he was.
"You're really here." I said, I reached up and touched his face. I knew Itachi Uchiha wasn't normally one for having his face touched, but I figured he would let it go this one time.
His eyes never left my face. He was looking at me with an unreadable expression. I'm not sure why he was looking at me like that. We'd never really talked to each other before. Maybe, he was just relieved to find me. I was his brother's teammate after all.
Before I could react, his lips were on mine. He pulled away and whispered, "I promised you I'd come back. Here I am."
I was confused. The only who had promised he'd come back was my team… mate…
But as I thought about it more thoroughly, it all made sense. Why Itachi always dealt with me more politely than he would the other girls my age. Why he would sometimes even initiate conversation with me. Because technically we already knew each other.
More tears spilled onto my cheeks. "I'm here. You're ok. You're safe. I won't let you go." Itachi said to me. He kissed my tears away.
When my tears had dribbled to a stop he stood with me in his arms and started walking down the hallway.
He pressed a button on the microphone around his neck. "I have her. We're good to go. We'll meet at the rendezvous."
Itachi took several turns, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him. "Close your eyes." He told me. I did as he asked. Suddenly I felt a cool breeze hit my skin and sunlight warmed my face. Behind my eyelids I could see the glow of the sun. I sighed at the relief of finally being outside once more.
When the light didn't seem so bright I opened my eyes slowly. Everything around me looked so vivid with color. I couldn't believe I had never noticed how bright everything was before.
I looked up at Itachi and noticed how the sun was making his hair light up with different colors of the rainbow. I snagged a lock and rubbed it between my fingers. Had I ever felt something so soft? Not for a very long time…
"I'm going to have to stop you right there." A voice said. I looked over to see Big Blue standing in front of us. He was splattered with blood and was missing his left arm.
"Don't do this." I said to him.
"Sorry, Sakura. I don't have a choice." He replied.
Itachi turned and set me down beneath a tree. "No, please. Let's just run away." I begged him. What if I lost him?
"I have to do this, Sakura." He said, cupping my cheek. He briefly kissed my mouth and then straightened and turned to face Big Blue.
"If you hand over the girl, we don't have to do this." Big Blue told Itachi.
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to take her." Itachi replied.
"You asked for it." Big Blue said with a grin.
Immediately, Big Blue started forming signs. Itachi did the same. He quickly blew out a huge fireball, which was doused by the water dragon Big Blue had produced.
The dragon headed straight for Itachi who dodged out of the way. It dropped suddenly to the ground before it reached me. Big Blue's eyes met mine from across the field and he nodded.
Itachi pulled a katana out of seemingly nowhere and charged Big Blue with it. They fought for several moments. Itachi was more graceful and agile while Big Blue depended more on his brute strength.
They jumped away from each other and Itachi created another fireball. Big Blue dodged. He began forming a long and complicated series of hand signs.
A huge water bubble began rising from the ground. Itachi used his chakra to stand on top of it. When the bubble formed a dome over the landscape, Big Blue started unwrapping the bandages on his sword. Once the last bandages fell from the sword, he thrust the sword into the dome. It immediately came to life and swam straight for Itachi. Then Big Blue, himself, eased into the dome.
He and his sword targeted Itachi and started chasing him around the dome. Itachi had to use several complicated maneuvers to avoid both of them.
I had to get Itachi help. His fire style was useless against so much water. I shakily stood. The protein bar had renewed a little of my chakra, but not much. I would have to get this right on the first try.
I put my hands together and concentrated all my chakra together. I tried to pack it as tightly together as possible so it would explode outwards. When the energy was released I hoped Naruto would notice and come to our aid. He had become more adept at sensing chakra signatures especially that of his teammates'.
When I couldn't make the ball of chakra go any tighter I released the pressure. The chakra blew my hair away from my body for a moment. The flare was nothing compared to what I used to be able to do, but I hoped it was enough.
Unfortunately, my flare had caught someone – or rather something – else's attention.
Big Blue's sword stopped chasing Itachi and swiveled to face me. It started swimming straight for the edge of the bubble, gaining speed the closer it got. I could see Big Blue yell and reach a hand out but his sword never slowed. I didn't have enough time to move out of the way.
My eyes sought out Itachi. He was running as fast as he could towards me. I could see the tightly reined panic on his face.
He launched himself off the dome the same time the sword emerged from it. He tackled it and started wrestling it. I could hear awful growling and tearing noises and then Itachi screamed.
Big Blue emerged from the bubble and pulled his sword away from Itachi. He looked down on him in pity. He lifted his sword.
"Stop!" I yelled. I could already see the blood pooling around Itachi. I moved as quickly as I could to his side. I collapsed to my knees beside him and took in the damage.
Itachi's torso was literally ripped open. I could see his intestines. He was going to die. My eyes met his and I could see that even he realized he was going to die.
"You're not going to die." I told him firmly.
Tsunade had told me about forbidden jutsu once, one with horrible consequences. She told me I could never use it. When I asked why she had shown it for me she said it was for the time when I had no other choice. When the one I loved was about to die and there was no other way to save him.
That was when I knew. I was in love with Itachi. I took a deep breath and began forming hand seals.
"What are you doing, Sakura?" Itachi asked heavily. I wasn't even sure how he could talk.
"Saving you." I replied as my hands began to glow green with healing energy.
"Stop. You don't have enough energy." He said looking at me with wide eyes.
I raised my hands to his chest and began knitting the tissue together. Even his organs had sustained damage.
"Don't do this. You're going to kill yourself!" Itachi argued with me even as I repaired his broken body.
I heard the arrival of the others. Big Blue was still standing over us. "Go, you can't fight all of them." I told him.
"We'll see each other again." he told me.
"No. This is the end." I said with certainty. He left just as the others converged on us.
"Sakura, what happened? Your chakra is dangerously low! You have to stop right now!" Naruto yelled at me. He moved to pull me away but I sent him a look that even the Uchihas would've been jealous of.
"Sakura… you're dying." He said softly.
"What?" Itachi asked.
"She's giving you her life energy." Naruto explained.
"Stop." Itachi said weakly, trying to push me off of him. Even though I was weak I had slightly more strength than he did. I was going to finish this and no one was going to stop me.
"Stop." He begged me. I could hear the tears in his voice. I watched as the last of his skin knit itself together. I ran my hand over the smooth, new skin and smiled proudly.
"All done." I said softly. My heart was starting to slow. I felt so tired. I knew I was dying, but I had saved the love of my life and he was more than worth my life.
I closed my eyes. I felt Itachi's body shaking underneath me. "Shh... it's ok." I tried to say, but nothing came out. I felt all of my aches and pains slowly fade away into nothing. Everything faded away until even the voices were gone. Then I, too, was gone.