They stared down at Joryoku's lifeless body, their eyes hard and un-forgiving, not even pitying the sight of a lifeless man sprawled out in front of them, blood splattered around his head like a halo.

And that same blood stained the arms and legs of the girl who stood directly above him, dried in some places while still lethargically dripping down her pale skin in others. She didn't bother wiping her arms and legs off as his blood began to mix with her own, darkening the red on her skin. Her spring green eyes were glassy and devoid of humor, a rough hardness casted firmly around her visage.

She examined his body for quite some time, and while she held a deep and throbbing hatred for the man's actions, she couldn't bring herself to feel as much animosity as she should have felt. To anyone else, it would have been a ridiculous reaction. After all, this was the man who murdered Fuu's teammates, the man who took over her mind and who almost made her kill her own teammates, this was the man whom she was supposed to loathe and despise, to wish for his death one hundred times over in a world of agony and chaos.

Yet even if she wanted to, she couldn't, since the body laying before hers wasn't truly him.

"He deserved better than this.." she finally whispered, catching the attention of the male standing beside her, seeing him turn his head in question towards her out of the corner of her eye.

"This body…was never his to use freely…Koichi didn't deserve to be used like this after his death.." she whispered harshly, tears budding in the corners of her eyes, making them sting. She clenched her fists tightly, which sent a sharp throb of pain up her right arm, the ice shards still embedded in her skin contributing to her pain that she decided to ignore all together.

"What do you really look like you bastard?" she asked with venom in her voice. "What possessed you to take on appearances that weren't yours? What gave you the right to steal other people's lives from them? They had friends, family, and you..you just took that all away! Fuu was..she was happy with Koichi and Hanako..and you took them from her..you took Fuu from her home, and all for what? For your new collection of jinchūriki? Well, it's too late..you're done, you're dead..and for your sake I hope that you burn in hell."

She finished her soliloquy with a shaking breath, her eyes ice cold and shining.

Then, she felt a hand gently come to rest on her shoulder, and she sighed, closing her eyes.

"You probably don't understand what I was even saying..do you?" she asked softly.

"I don't need to." he replied evenly.

They stood in silence after that, taking in the quietness of the cave and the light puffs of evaporated breath that escaped their lips each time they breathed. Goosebumps sprouted on her arms, the still chilled air biting into her skin.

"You..never saw his true form?" he asked her, to which she slowly shook her head.

"And, this body that we see now belonged to another?"

"He possesses a sort of kekkei-genkai that allows him to attain different appearances. During our fight he got into my mind and constantly switched forms, picking from our friends back at the village. But if he gets someone's chakra, he's able to retain the appearance of the person he stole it from, he even gets their abilities. He.. gets into your head, then he uses your weaknesses against you.." she said, finishing her sentence with a whisper. "He threatened to kill you and Naruto.."

"And that's why he wanted Naruto.." Sasuke surmised.

Sakura nodded sadly. "And Fuu.."

She closed her eyes once more, squeezing them tightly shut as images of her friends ran through her mind, faces that she had seen contorted into malicious and evil visages thanks to her once alive enemy, feeling her heart begin to pound dangerously as she remembered the intense fear she felt once she thought he had taken all of them as well..

Then, her painful heart stopped entirely as she felt hands press down onto her shoulders, turning her body sharply to her left, allowing her eyes to meet dark onyx ones.

She felt her stomach drop. "Sasuke-kun, wha-"

"It's not your fault."

She stared into his eyes, and suddenly she felt very vulnerable.

She looked down to her side, eyes shining.

"Sakura, it's not-"

"Who are you to say that it isn't my fault?" she snapped weakly, keeping her eyes on the ground. "I just got so infuriated..it feels like I've killed Koichi all over again.."

"But you didn't."

Sakura's eyes were damp, but she refused to cry. She was just incredibly frustrated at herself and at everything that's happened to her in the past twenty four hours. It was all too much.

"And even so.."

Sakura turned back to Sasuke, who was staring at the bloodied body with darkened eyes.

"If you hadn't had fought back like you did, we wouldn't be here right now."

Sakura shook her head. "But-"

Sasuke looked to her, and his cold eyes made Sakura clamp her mouth shut.

"You not only saved yourself, but you saved Fuu. Naruto. Hell, you've saved thousands of others from Joryoku. You've put a stop to something like this ever happening again, so I refuse to let you beat yourself up over this. You're still standing, so continue to."

Sakura was rendered speechless at Sasuke's words, and allowed them to sink in.

Just one inhumane action had created an effect of safety, not only for her friends and Fuu but for others. There were other jinchūriki out there besides Naruto and Fuu, who's to say that they didn't have friends and family that were precious to them. And if she had lost to Joryoku, nothing would stop him from continuing his vicious cycle of killing and possession.

Sakura sighed. "You're right."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "As always."

"Hey!" Sakura said, smirking at him. "Save that talk for Naruto. Speaking of," she said, peering over Sasuke's shoulder "Where is he?"

Sasuke turned to look in the direction that he entered the cave. "Just past there. We were caught in a rock slide and got separated." when he turned back to Sakura and saw the horrified look on her face, he immediately spoke again. "It's okay. He's fine."

"And Fuu?" Sakura pressed, feeling instant relief once he nodded to her. Thank God she and Naruto were alright.

"Let's get out of here, better not keep them waiting." Sasuke said, turning to exit the cave.

Sakura watched him go for a few seconds, her eyes fixated on the crest on his back. She closed her eyes, and secretly thanked whomever had been looking out for her, and for him, thanking that person for keeping her friends safe.

What she would soon find out however, would completely turn her faith upside down.

When Sasuke hadn't heard footsteps behind him, he immediately stopped his gait and looked over his shoulder, catching glimpse of Sakura frozen in the same spot she had been in for the past few minutes, only something was different.

Her eyes were fixated on the dead body beneath her feet, narrowed in an inspective manner. They were glazed over in thought, as if she were solving a difficult problem that has been placed before her. Her lips were spread slightly, her cheeks flushed.

Narrowing his own eyes, he slowly walked back over to Sakura, stopping next to her.

"What is it?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. It's just.." she trailed off slowly, placing her hands on her knees and leaning closer to the body on the ground, her eyes an icy green.

"Just..what?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shook her head and turned to Sasuke. "Something doesn't feel right."

On instinct, Sasuke allowed his eyes to bleed into his sharingan, and he immediately began to examine the body on the ground. His eyes scanned the blood that stained Joryoku's pale skin, enough blood to be deemed as a lethal amount of loss. His chakra network was bone dry, and even if there were the tiniest amount of chakra left in his body, he and Sakura would have picked up on it. All together, he was lifeless. So what did Sakura feel?

Sasuke's answer came in an unexpected way.

Fresh blood suddenly blinded his vision, along with a searing hot pain that blossomed from his chest and shot up to his shoulder. He grunted in pain loudly, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes for a brief second before forcing them open. His body reacted on its own, his legs pushing off of the ground and jumping away to land shakily back on the ground, away from whatever had attacked him so suddenly.

"Sakura!" he exclaimed shakily, clutching his shoulder as his blood continued to flow down his chest in a steady stream. "Are you-"

The air in the cave had seemed to thicken, as to why Sasuke suddenly had trouble breathing. He felt a cold shudder rush down his spine, his heart pumping ice into his blood as his widened eyes landed on Sakura's horrorstruck face, her eyes widened and her pupils shrunken. Her lips were shaken and frozen open, and he watched her eyes slowly travel down to her outstretched right hand, engulfed in waves of frenzied and sharpened chakra, dripping in dark red blood.

He watched Sakura's eyes widen even further, and heard an unsteady gasp escape from her lips, pure and unhealthy horror painted roughly on her features.

For the first time in his life, Sasuke didn't know what was happening.

He took a small step towards Sakura, and was immediately greeted with sharp pain, which he forcefully pushed aside. "Sakura-"

"Don't!" she exclaimed, taking one step back. "Don't come any closer!"

Another hit of pain engulfed his upper body, and he grunted loudly, increasing his grip on his injured shoulder. He never took his eyes off of Sakura, and her expression didn't lessen his pain.

"What's going on?" he asked, taking another step towards her. "Why is your hand-"

"I said don't!" she cried out, tears budding in her eyes, stretching her bloodied arm out and away from her, as if she wanted it to fall off of her body entirely, the chakra scalpel that had engulfed her hand slowly fading away. She threw Sasuke a distressed look that sent his heart into a pounding frenzy.

"You know, I'd listen to her if I were you."

The strange female voice echoed through the cave, making the two teenagers cease their breathing entirely. While Sasuke felt his eyes narrow, he saw Sakura's widen, the tears finally breaking loose from her eyes and dripping down her cheeks in a steady stream.

"No.." she whispered, though loud enough for Sasuke to hear the distress present in her voice.

Light laughter echoed throughout the cave, and Sasuke's eyes were able to make out a shadow that leaned casually against the cave wall, her arms crossed and her blonde hair spilling over he shoulders. Green eyes glowed in the dark, and her lips were curled into a sneer as she slowly straightened out her body and began to walk towards the light. She tossed her hair behind her head lightly, and it fell down to her waist.

Sasuke watched her carefully, reaching down to his side for his fingertips to touch the surface of his weapon. His sharingan eyes bore into her mocking green ones.

Who was she? An enemy? An acquaintance of the enemy?

The girl in question puffed out her cheeks and blew out her breath, clucking her tongue as if she were scolding a small child.

She turned to Sakura, then coyly turned her head towards Sasuke, her eyes mischievous and sly.

"So, Sakura-chan, I finally get to meet the famous Sasuke-kun.." she purred. Her eyes swept all across his body, stopping on the deep gash on his chest that was still dripping blood. "He's even more attractive than I've pictured.

"Tell me," she continued, grabbing Sakura's chin and forcing her to look Sasuke dead in the eyes, her fingernails digging into Sakura's skin. "Which one suits your taste? The real deal, or my interpretation? Personally, I'd go with my version. It's a bit more..clean..wouldn't you agree?"

Sasuke's fingers curled around his kusanagi, the familiar metal of its hilt molding underneath his flesh to accommodate its usage.

"H-How…how are you still alive?" Sakura almost whispered, her voice suddenly harsh and cold, her eyes burning. "You're supposed to be dead.."

The girl closed her eyes and sighed. "Hmmm, I guess I should be, shouldn't I? Isn't it funny how death works sometimes? One minute you're alive, and the next you're.." she trailed off, opening her eyes to stare into Sasuke's cherry-red eyes. "Bleeding."

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he watched the girl continue to dig her fingernails into Sakura's skin, Sakura not doing anything to stop the act. He should've known who this girl was from the start, at that point it was utterly obvious.

The name came easily to his lips, having heard it before from a certain turquoise haired jinchuriki.

"Joryoku."

The girl smiled at Sasuke, then finally dropped her hand from Sakura's chin. "At your service, but I'm surprised you know my name."

Sasuke scoffed, closing his eyes. "You know, it's a bit low of you to be using the body of an innocent girl."

"Dead girl." Joryoku corrected, picking up a strand of her golden hair and rubbing it between her thumb and forefinger. "And I happen to like this body, though I have to say I preferred my previous form. That ice trick of his came in handy."

Sasuke's eyes darted to the bloodied body sprawled on the ground, ice shards glistening in his hair and melting on the ground beside him, the same ones that had embedded themselves into Sakura's arms and legs.

"And I guess I have you to thank for that, Sakura-chan."

The same searing pain that had been ailing Sasuke suddenly throbbed in his chest, and he found himself on his knees, clutching his shoulder in pain. He struggled to keep his eyes opened and un-blurred as he endured the pain, struggling to her back on his feet as the scene before him unveiled.

He watched as Sakura's hand began to glow dangerously with her homemade chakra knife, her hand slowly raising up towards her own neck. The chakra reflected in Sakura's terror filled eyes as she stared at her hand that threatened to cut into her own flesh just as she had done to Sasuke moments ago.

"You killed my favorite body..and because of you I can't use it anymore. And someone has to make up for it."

Sakura's hand inched closer to her neck, and she took a sharp breath as she tried desperately to stretch her head away from her glowing hand, straining her neck.

"What are you doing to her?!" Sasuke hissed in pain.

"And I know just how you can pay me back!" Joryoku said with fake enthusiasm, turning her eyes to Sasuke. "Why don't you go get the two jinchūriki trapped behind those fallen rocks for me? That should be a fair trade, don't you think? Two jinchūriki bodies for me to play with..how wonderful!"

So that was his intention all along..he wanted Naruto and Fuu's bodies for his own personal collection. And he'd used Sakura to lure them here.

"Go to hell." Sakura seethed. "You stay away from them!"

"Now, now. Let's not interrupt. Let's hear what Sasuke-kun has to say on the matter." Joryoku said, turning her eyes on Sasuke, who was struggling to rise up from the ground.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. Naruto and Fuu must have found their way out of the rocks by now, and even if they hadn't, they were most likely diligently plowing their way through. After all, put two jinchūriki together and they could move mountains, not that he would tell her that.

Sasuke's heart pounded when he saw the small stream of blood that began to flow down Sakura's neck and drench the collar of her shirt. She winced in pain as a pair of hands were planted on her shoulders from behind, Joryoku's face peering out next to Sakura's head from her back. Her eyes glimmered mischievously as she waited for Sasuke to speak, her blonde hair spilling onto Sakura's shoulders.

"Well?" she inquired, raising her eyebrows.

Sasuke's eyes began to spin, melting into the six sided red stars of his eternal mangekyo sharingan. There was no way that was going to happen.

Joryoku sighed. "Fine, I can't say I wasn't expecting this anyway..I'll just have to get them myself. But first.." she trailed off, looking to Sakura.

Sasuke barely had any time to predict what would happen next, since it all happened in a flash. Quicker than his sharingan could detect, Sakura's blazing hand dropped from her neck and she dashed towards Sasuke, her right arm crossed in front of her body. At the very last second, Sasuke grabbed both of her wrists as she tried to slash him again, keeping her restrained in her spot, dust swirling around them.

Sakura's horrified eyes bore into Sasuke's her lips parted in shock at what she had just done, her entire body shaking with remorse.

"At first I thought I'd be a little nice and completely take over her mind like last time, but that wouldn't be any fun." Joryoku said, folding her arms and looking extremely pleased with herself. "So, I thought that it would be more appropriate for Sakura-chan to be aware as she kills you. Makes everything more..real."

Sasuke's eyes widened. So that was her plan? To use Sakura to kill him against her will?

"Sasuke-kun.." Sakura said, struggling to keep her body still and not fight against Sasuke's hold on her wrists. "Get away from here..before I hurt you!"

Sasuke felt Sakura slip out of Sasuke's hold as she kicked him painfully in the stomach, blood from his previous wound dripping onto her leg.

Sasuke jumped back, and immediately caught her wrist just before her hand could reach his neck.

"Have you forgotten who you're dealing with?" he asked her with a small smirk on his face.

They looked each other in the eyes before Sakura's body moved again, but not before she shot him a grateful smile.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Damn it! How many of these rocks are there?!" Naruto exclaimed, panting heavily as rubbled rock lay scattered around his feet.

"Too many…way too many." Fuu replied with a raspy voice, her hands on her knees, panting heavily. "But we have to keep going..Sakura and Sasuke-san need us!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Naruto exclaimed, forming the handsign that Fuu had taught him moments ago, allowing his chakra to bubble up once more.

"Alright, one more hit! Let's do this!"

"Right!"

o-o-o-o-o-o

The walls were soaked with their blood, puddles of red liquid scattered among the dust that had been disturbed from the fighting.

Sakura's chest pounded with pain, her heart straining to pump adequate blood through the veins that hadn't been opened by her own hand, the majority of it by accident. She'd purposely twisted her body countless times so that her blazing chakra scalpel would cut into her own skin instead of her forced target, the scalpel that refused to die down.

The old wounds on her face, arms and legs had opened up during her forced fight, her skin dripping in red and searing in pain.

But the physical pain was nothing compared to the pain of the sight before her.

At the last second, she had managed to cut deeper into Sasuke's chest, causing him to scream in pain, a scream she hadn't heard since the Forest of Death, when he'd first gotten his curse mark.

Her hand was drenched in Sasuke's blood, blazing with chakra and hanging limply at her side. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, mixing with the blood smeared on her face.

He was kneeled on the ground, surrounded by a tremendous amount of blood, too much to be taken out of a human's body. She watched as his back heaved up and down heavily, his breaths forced and uneasy. His skin looked so incredibly pale..

He was dying..and she had been the cause of his pain.

Why? Why hadn't she been stronger back in the woods, back when Joryoku first attacked her. If she had been able to defend herself, they wouldn't be in this situation. They'd be back home, back in the village where they would be safe, where they could be a family together as team seven. Naruto's life wouldn't have been threatened, and Sasuke would still be standing before her, unharmed and smirking at her like usual. And she'd smile right back at him, just like she always had. They would be training together, and this time she would have beat him again just like she had last time, right before he had grabbed her and pinned her to that tree where they stared into each other's eyes openly and deeply, alone and shrouded by the shade of the trees. She would be able to look into his passive eyes and see past the stoic and potentially untrustworthy rogue shinobi that the villagers saw him as. She knew better than all of them, she knew him better than all of them, the way it was always supposed to be..

"Oh, Sasuke-kun," Joryoku's mocking voice rang out. "You don't look so hot. Why don't you let Sakura-chan heal you?"

Sakura felt her legs begin to move, and her breath hitched in her throat as she took one step towards Sasuke's shaking body. At the sound of her gasp, he'd raised his head and their eyes met, red on green. She couldn't control the tears that poured out of her eyes, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt herself take another step.

"Please! Stop this!" Sakura yelled, trying to resist her body's controlled setting.

"It's okay, it'll all be over soon." Joryoku whispered, smiling contently.

Sakura shook her head, straining her muscles against their will, creating shaking tremors in her body.

No, please no!

She was getting closer to Sasuke, and she couldn't bear it any longer. This wasn't supposed to happen! None of this was meant to be!

None of it was meant to be..

Sakura stopped in front of Sasuke.

Yes, that's right..it wasn't meant to be..for her to be back in the village with Naruto and Sasuke. She wasn't meant to be safe in that moment, because she was needed where she currently was, where she had been lead. She was meant to have all of this happen to her.

If none of this had happened, she would have never met Fuu. She would have never saved her from the clutches of the evil man who stole the lives and bodies of her friends and teammates. If none of this had ever happened, she wouldn't have cleansed Fuu of the guilt of killing Koichi and Hanako, of her depression of loneliness, of her idea that she would be the only jinchūriki that she would ever come to know. She wouldn't have stood up against Joryoku and vow to rid him from the earth so that none of this would ever happen again. She wouldn't have come to her senses and realize just how important her friends were to her.

She wouldn't have realized how she truly felt, and how his life meant the absolute world to her. And in that moment, she knew what she had to do.

"Finish him."

She raised her blazing hand before her face, staring into her chakra as if it were a bonfire of destruction and death.

She looked down at Sasuke, who had been staring at her intently, his teeth gritted together tightly.

When she smiled warmly at him, his pained expression melted off of his face to one of surprise.

In that moment, she knew that he had figured out what she was about to do, and while his eyes widened and his lips spread apart, she silenced him completely.

"I believe in you."

And she swiped her hand down.

Slitting her own throat.

"I believe in you."

The words were soft and sincere.

Her action was the opposite.

He watched as she brought down her hand, waiting for the glow of her chakra to blind him and end his life with one final slash. He refused to break eye contact with her, even as she was about to end his life against her will.

And her hand went to her throat.

Red blinded Sasuke's vision as his voice clogged up his throat, his eyes widened and his entire body shaking violently. He watched in horror as her blood sprayed out all around them, adding to the red puddles that drenched the cave floor. It soaked the front of her shirt, dripping down into her legs.

She looked at him, and all he saw were empty green eyes, eyes devoid of light and life.

He ignored the searing pain throughout his entire body as he shot up from the ground to catch her as she fell towards him, coughing violently, broken and dying.

His hands shook over her shoulders, his throat bone dry and his lungs refusing to inhale oxygen correctly. He let out small shuddered breaths as her blood began to soak his clothes.

No…..why…this isn't happening!

A million thoughts crashed through his head in a frenzy, yet none of them made any sense.

"I-I'm s-so sorry.."

Sasuke's head shot up, and he gently cupped her face and brought it up to face him. Her eyes were brimming with tears, her breathing shallow and unsteady.

"I..wanted…more time..so much more…than I got…with you.." she choked out.

Sasuke couldn't speak, he couldn't come up with the right words to say to her, the girl who had spared his life by taking her own in its place.

"Why.." he forced out, his voice violently shaking, placing his hands on her shaking shoulders. "Why would you do something like that?! Why would you sacrifice yourself?! And for what?! Sakura, why would you do such a thing like this?!"

Then his breath caught in his throat, and the remaining blood in his body froze over.

She smiled sadly at him, and brought her hand up to his cheek, cupping it delicately before letting it go limp, smearing her blood onto his cold skin.

"It's…because…I..love you.."

Her eyes glazed over, and she fell to the ground.

A/N: *Dodges virtual fruit being thrown* Sorry!

I warned you that it wouldn't be that easy..but what will Sasuke do now?

I only have a few more chapters planned out after this guys..then this story will be put to rest. It's been a wild ride, but it's not done just yet!

See ya next chapter! xx *dodges virtual chair thrown*