We're nearing the end of the story, folks!


In order for one thing to begin, another has to end. For a new life to begin I had to die... but what if that new person is the same just... different? Changed? What if... What if I was right all along and I didn't really die in the shinobi world? What if this was all just some horrible dream and, once I died here, I would wake up from a coma in Konoha?

What if Tokyo wasn't real? What if Haruno wasn't real? What if my Haruno wasn't real? I wondered these things as I lay unconscious, unable to open my eyes and yet unable to block out the sounds of Haruno's fearful screams.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun, please!" she shrieked, "You're going too fast, slow down! Please, Sasuke-kun, just please stop the car! This isn't right!"

Sasuke cackled and I heard the engine roar as it accelerated.

My eyes fluttered open and I looked blearily around me until I remembered where I was. A car, Sasuke's car, speeding down a dark, lonely highway in the middle of nowhere. Tokyo was nowhere to be seen. Where was Tokyo? Were there farther lands? Was Sasuke taking us to these farther lands? Just how far was he taking us and, the question I feared the most was what he planned to do to us.

Sasuke was crazy, that was obvious, but just how crazy was he? Did he plan to kill all three of us just to sate his jealous wrath? Did he love Haruno so much? No, that wasn't it. He couldn't care less about Haruno, it was me he wanted. He hated me, just like in the world of shinobi and he wanted to keep me miserable until my hopefully-untimely death. Yes, he really was crazy.

So, what was I to do? What could I do? Did I just sit back and enjoy the ride, hope for the better side of my brother to win out or did I kill my brother and save Haruno? What did I have more faith in, Sasuke's conscience or Haruno's love?

That was an easy one.

I could feel myself awakening. No, not literally, but spiritually. I found myself thinking like a shinobi would, seeing like a shinobi would, acting like a shinobi would. The first thing I inspected was our surroundings. We were driving way too fast on a deserted highway, moving dangerously close to the edge over a steep ditch in the pouring rain. Okay, that was a very bad place to be, but I didn't allow myself to dwell on it. I had to check everything.

The car was spacious with a light on the ceiling that barely illuminated the area, but it was enough for me to see. Haruno was the only one wearing her seatbelt and thank God she was. If Sasuke had to see her doing it up this late in the game, he would know something was up. So, I turned my eyes a fraction of an inch in her direction and flicked my eyes to the buckle of her seatbelt, tapping it with my finger. She seemed to understand what I meant and didn't dare disobey me.

"I love you," I whispered so softly Sasuke couldn't hear over the humming engine. Haruno probably couldn't hear it, but she seemed to have a gift for reading lips because her eyes widened and tears welled in them. She knew what my plan was.

I tapped the belt buckle once more and gave her a tiny nod and she closed her eyes, whimpering with pain, fear, sorrow, loss and... love.

I think I may have been crying too. I wasn't sure because of the adrenalin roaring through my veins, but I was pretty sure. I loved Haruno, I loved Tokyo, I loved skidooing even if it meant breaking my ankle. I loved waking up to see breakfast-in-bed and Haruno's smiling face. I loved everything about this world, but... but now it was time for me to go.

For the first time in my entire life, I was going to do something unselfish. I was going to sacrifice myself for somebody else... for, how could Haruno's life really begin without another's ending—without Sasuke's ending? Without mine ending?

I slowly slid forward, millimetre by millimetre, inch by inch, taking me a few minutes to manage to get close enough to carry out my plan.

Then, moving as quickly as I would have in the world of shinobi, I lunged forward and wrapped my arm around Sasuke's neck and pulled it tightly against the seat. My younger brother let out a yelp of surprise and then a choked, pain-filled noise as I strangled him.

The car swerved one way and then another way, the right way. As quickly as I could, I let Sasuke go and pushed him forward so that his forehead slammed against the dashboard and his leg let out an automatic reflex from his brain trauma, hitting the break with sudden force.

I gave one last look at Haruno's horror-filled face as I was thrown from my seat, propelled forward and forward, flying through space for what felt like millennia. I then looked forward just as time sped up again and I heard the sound of shattering glass and my head suddenly seemed to cave in. But still I continued to fly until I landed on the cold wet ground.

I coughed, feeling glass digging painfully into my head. I couldn't move, it was hard to breath, I couldn't see anything accept for bright, bright stars all over. How was it possible? How could I see stars through all that rain? How could I feel their glow when I was so certain I would die? Was this Heaven? Was this Heaven's light shining down on me?

I smiled and reached forward. Not physically. No, I still couldn't move, but I could feel something big... my essence—my soul—get sucked from my body, searching for those stars, hoping to touch just one.

I promised myself that the star I touched I would name Sakura and it would be the most beautiful star of them all.

"ITACHI!" Haruno shrieked, but it was too late. I had touched the star and named it Sakura...

And, with that, I died.


A/N: Okay, so I know from past experience that I am going to get A LOT of hate comments about this chapter and all I have to say is bring it on! XDD I can take it! I mean, I think the flow of it is fairly perfect (if not, pretty damn close!) and I really like how it's written, so as long as you don't bash my writing, you can tell me how much you love Itachi and how the two should be together forever! Go ahead! Lay it on me! XP