Wow. For once in my life, I'm speechless... Just... wow. I got 53 reviews in... what? 2 days? And 27 for the last chapter! I don't think I can say thank you enough, and the best I can do is give you the next update. I'll stop talking now, and let you read this chapter :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this story :D
Kill her.
.
.
Kill her.
.
.
It's very simple, Sasuke.
.
.
She's not dead yet.
.
.
Her words are lies, Sasuke.
.
.
All lies.
.
.
She doesn't care for you, Sasuke.
.
.
She wants to hurt you, Sasuke.
.
.
She's lying to you, Sasuke.
.
.
Kill her, Sasuke.
.
.
She's almost dead, Sasuke.
.
.
Just a little more, Sasuke.
.
.
Kill her, Sasuke.
.
.
Kill her, Sasuke.
.
.
Kill her.
.
.
Kill her.
.
.
Kill her!
.
.
"Sasuke… Kun… I… I love… You…"
He dropped to his knees, head in his hands.
.
.
.
.
Kill her, Sasuke.
.
.
.
.
Sasuke… Kun… I… I love… You…
.
.
.
.
Don't stop! Kill her!
.
.
.
.
Sasuke… Kun… I… I love… You…
.
.
.
.
Do you want to be weak, Sasuke?
.
.
.
.
Sasuke… Kun… I… I love… You…
.
.
.
.
"I'm not weak…"
.
.
.
.
Then prove it. Kill her.
.
.
.
.
Sasuke… Kun… I… I love… You…
.
.
.
.
You are weak, Sasuke.
.
.
.
.
"I'm strong enough to overcome your hold on me."
Sakura's eyes slowly opened to see Sasuke sitting across the other side of the room. She rubbed her neck, feeling the pain there and knowing there would be a bruise.
"Sasuke?" She asked, and saw him wince.
"Why won't you add the suffix? Do I mean that little to you?" His voice was soft, breaking. Sakura didn't know what to say. Why didn't she ever add the suffix to the end of his name?
"Because I'm afraid." She whispered.
"Why?"
Sakura worded her next sentence carefully. "The last time I did, it hurt me so much. I'm afraid of being hurt again."
Sasuke shook his head. "The last time you did was just then. I think it saved us both."
Sakura looked at him, her eyes wide.
"Please, don't leave my name as just Sasuke again. Help me believe that I mean something to you."
Sakura slowly moved towards him, making her actions very deliberate, so as not to frighten him. His eyes watched her intently, ready to react to the slightest false move.
She managed to be crouching before him, sitting with her feet tucked under her thighs. She lifted her hand, and ran a light finger down his cheek. He flinched at first at the contact, before closing his eyes and giving into it.
"Did you mean it before?" He asked her. His voice barely masked his emotional turmoil. "When you said that you… You loved me?" He opened his eyes and saw her nodding.
"I meant it with every fibre of my being, Sasuke K… Sasuke Kun. I love you." She smiled softly for him.
"How can you love me when all I ever do is hurt you?" His mind was a mess, barely managing to clutch onto sanity. Sakura was his only life line, and he was so afraid that she would let him go. She was all that was stopping him from falling into the bottomless abyss known as madness. Her smallest action could make or break him, and he knew that she was well aware of that. "Sakura, I… I love you, more than life itself. More than the air I breathe. I keep hurting you, and it kills me on the inside. I don't understand why or how you could love me in return for all the harm I've done to you. It doesn't make sense. I know you are afraid of me, and I don't blame you for it. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me. In fact, I almost expect it. I hardly deserve your love. Not after everything I've done to you. And yet, I'm selfish. I don't deserve your love, but I can't get enough of it. I'm just so… So af…" He took a deep breath. "So afraid… that you'll stop loving me one day, and I don't know how to convince myself that you won't." In truth, he couldn't convince himself that she wouldn't stop loving him, because with all he had done to her, she had every right to leave him and stop loving him. To hate him.
"Then let me prove it." She leant forward, slowly, keeping her eyes focused on his. In the last moment, before her lips touched his, she closed her eyes. Her lips lightly brushed the top of his, hesitant, waiting for his rebuff.
It didn't come.
His eyes closed and he slowly returned her kiss. His hand came up and cupped her cheek, bringing her closer. He could feel her love radiating through her kiss, through her breath, through her heartbeat, which he could feel jumping under his fingertips, and that was all he needed to convince himself. There was no darkness anymore.
Sakura walked before the Elders, confident in her stride.
"My revered Elders, I stand before you today to plead my case for Uchiha Sasuke's life and place in this town. This starts back in December, when I was first kidnapped. All of you have no doubt heard of this, and when I first came back to Konoha, there were a few details I was not at liberty to release. The first is that Uchiha Sasuke was the one who rescued me from Daiko's gang. The second is that he is the one who had saved me from where I was held prisoner. I did not give this information as I had given my word to him. He did not want to be found by Konoha nins, and in gratitude, I promised him to keep his part of my rescue out of my story. So for starters, Uchiha Sasuke has rescued one of your best shinobi. Twice.
"Uchiha Sasuke has also killed three S rank criminals, two of whom were members of the Akutski. The first, his brother: Uchiha Itachi. As you are no doubt aware, Itachi was responsible for the destruction of the Uchiha Clan. Sasuke killed him, with great risk to his life. The second was Deidara, who was responsible for the kidnap of the current Kazekage, Subaku no Gaara. Diedara has put nins from Konoha in danger. For example, Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi. He had killed many people, and Sasuke killed him, putting his life at great risk in the process. The third was Orochimaru, who tried to take over Konoha seven years ago, and also killed the third Hokage. Orochimaru conducted disturbing and inhumane experiments on many people in his quest for power and immortality. Sasuke killed him. Yes, we know that Orochimaru has since been brought back to life, but his lust for destruction and immortality has been subdued because Sasuke has been able to keep him under control. As you are all aware, all three of these men were highly dangerous criminals, and Sasuke eradicated two of them and subdued the third from this world, effectively saving countless lives that would have otherwise have been lost.
"Uchiha Sasuke is also the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan. If you get rid of him, you will have effectively wiped out the last of a powerful bloodline, one who would be vital for Konoha's safety. Uchiha Sasuke is a very important part of Konoha, and the amount of contributions that he has made to Konoha gives him the right to be named a citizen and even a hero of Konoha."
Sakura sat down, hoping that her case would have swayed the Elders. They had eventually decided on Sakura to present the case, as Tsunade was on the jury, Kakashi wouldn't remove his mask to swear to tell the truth, and Naruto would probably let his emotions get in the way of his speech and attack the jury. Sakura was the only one who was close enough to Sasuke to present a case from a personal relations point of view, and could swear truth while showing her whole face.
One of the Elders stood up slowly, and walked to stand in front of Sakura.
"Uchiha Sasuke did indeed kill three dangerous criminals, not for selfless, but for selfish reasons. He killed Orochimaru because he believed that Orochimaru couldn't offer him more power. He killed Diedara to test his own strength, and he killed Itachi in revenge.
"Uchiha Sasuke is known for being impulsive, violent, destructive and arrogant. He has threatened Konohas safety and the safety of its citizens countless times. I believe that I would be right in saying that he has tried to kill you twice. Would that be correct?" He asked Sakura that, and she glared at him.
"A yes, I take it? Sasuke left this village when he was a boy, abandoning Konoha in the name of power. That makes him no better than Orochimaru. Uchiha Sasuke could have easily given Orochimaru and many others information regarding Konohagakure that could potentially put us in danger! He has threatened us, and continues to threaten us while he still lives! Damn his bloodline, I say! We are better off without such bloodthirsty people so close to us! Uchiha Sasuke will bring calamity and anarchy to Konoha if we set him free! His crimes, not only to the village, but also to all of the united lands in general, far outweigh any arguments that may be redeeming. We must rid ourselves of the menace Uchiha Sasuke, lest Konoha spend the rest of its time regretting our failure to act! I propose the ultimate punishment for this demon:
"Death."
Sakura sat nervously at her bench as the jury thought over both cases. She was sure that she had presented a powerful case, but that was in front of many of the people that would have originally ordered Itachi to destroy the Uchihas! Why would they change their minds now? She felt sick, and looked around desperately for a bathroom. Naruto was sitting on her left, fidgeting like crazy, and Kakashi was on her right; not displaying any signs of unease through his actions, but Sakura could tell that he was terrified. Many of their friends were seated behind them: Ino, Sai, Yamato, Lee, Ten Ten, Neji, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Kurenai, just to name a few. None of them wanted Sasuke dead. None of them wanted to watch him die.
The jury stopped muttering and turned to look straight ahead.
"We are ready to vote." An old man wheezed from his seat.
"All those in favour of life, raise your hands," a man with blonde hair and grey eyes said. Around half of the jury raised their hands, and Sakura quickly counted them.
Four hands were in the air.
"All those in favour of death, raise your hand." Sakura counted those hands and could have wept.
Five hands.
Death.
xXx
The same old man stood. To Sakura, it seemed in slow motion.
"We, the jury, have discussed. Our decision is death by lethal injection. Time, in three weeks."
Sakura lowered her eyes. She had failed him.
Three Weeks Later
Naruto walked out of Sasuke's cell, tears in his eyes.
"How could they do this, Sakura Chan? We only just got him back, and now we are going to lose him again!" He quickly walked away from the cell, probably to the comfort of Hinata.
Sakura slowly entered the cell to see Sasuke sitting on his bed, staring into space.
"Sasuke Kun?" She asked quietly, sitting beside him. "I'm so sorry, we tried everything we could. Tsunade was on the jury even! She voted life for you, and she was crying when they announced their decision. Sasuke Kun, I did everything I could. Please forgive me, it just wasn't enough." She had tears in her eyes, but refused to let them fall. I will not cry.
"Sakura, it's alright. I don't blame you." He held her tight against him, and Sakura took comfort in his embrace. She wished that the moment could last forever.
"There's just one thing I regret, Sakura," he said to her quietly, his voice void of emotion. "I regret not fulfilling my last goal. Restoring my clan. Being able to see the next generation of Uchiha's is a sight I'll never be able to see. I'll regret that."
Sakura looked up at him, her eyes wide. "You might not have failed, Sasuke Kun. I think I might be with child again. Yours." She hadn't done a test yet, but she was late in her monthly cycle.
Sasuke's eyes widened in wonder and his hand darted to her stomach. "Take could care of them for me. Let her or him know how much I love them. I know that you will raise them to be fine shinobi." They stayed like that for a long time, wishing that the next day would never come.
But come it did. They watched the sun slither over the horizon and flinched when it fell onto the floor.
"Don't be afraid, Sakura. I'm not." Sasuke whispered to her, savouring every single piece of that point in time.
"I'm not afraid, I just don't want to face the future without you," she murmured back to him.
Sasuke clutched her tighter to himself. "Sakura, I need you to promise me that you will move on. That you won't spend the rest of your life alone. Please, please be happy. I couldn't stand it, knowing that you would be sad purely because I'm no longer there. Promise me that you'll find someone, and that you'll be happy with them."
Sakura looked at him, her eyes glazed. How could she promise him that? He returned her gaze, his eyes smouldering.
"If you refuse to find happiness, then I promise that I'll haunt the shit out of you."
Sakura managed a small smile at his attempt at humour. "I promise I'll try my hardest to be happy. Just don't start haunting me if it doesn't happen immediately."
They heard footsteps, and waited with battered breath when they stopped in front of the door. The door opened.
"Uchiha Sasuke, come with me," said a burly man. He didn't seem surprised by the position in which he found the two. Either that or he didn't care. Sasuke nodded and stood, kissing Sakura on the forehead.
"Live for me. I love you," he told her quietly so that the jailer wouldn't hear them, before brushing his lips over hers, praying that she would understand just how much he loved her with that simple display of affection.
Sasuke sat on the chair, eyes closed. He was scared, but he wouldn't be caught dead admitting that. Strangely, he felt at peace. He had broken free of his inner demons. He had found love. He had found life. That's all he had needed.
He heard someone step into the room, and felt them walk towards him.
He could smell the poison.
The person stepped closer towards him, and squirted the needle a bit.
He felt them hold his arm, and he felt the needle poke through the delicate skin.
He took a deep breath, relishing the sweetness of the air, the taste on his mouth.
Sakura, he thought. Sakura, be safe. Be happy. I love you.
Oh I just love cliff hangers... Especially when I know what's going to happen XD Otherwise, in general, I hate them just as much as the next person :P
Just thought I should let you know that all up there are 27 chapters in this story. So you guys do the math, because I can't be bothered, and know that this story will come to an end soon :'( *cries*
Chapter 24 - Fight
...So here Sakura was, feeling more alone now than ever. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet started to quake. She looked up in shock, and saw that all of the shops and buildings were shaking...
...She ran to the main gates, before coming to a standstill...
...He pointed towards the forest, so that's where Sakura's eyes spun. What she saw horrified her to no end. It was a sight she had hoped to never see again...
Oh, random fact, if you type 'Uchiha' into Microsoft Word, the first option is 'Chihuaha'. I can't tell you how hard I laughed at that. So, in Microsoft terms, Sasuke's name is Sapsucker Chihuaha. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Anyways, time to utilise your UQB (Update Quicker Button) XD