Here's the song listing :)
*Highly recommended download for all of em :)*
Chapter 21 – With Me : Sum41
Chapter 22 - Zoom Into Me : Tokio Hotel
Chapter 23 – Leave My Body : Florence and the Machine
Chapter 24 - Spirit Indestructible : Nelly Furtado
Chapter 25 – When It Rains : Paramore
Chapter 26 – Halcyon : Ellie Goudling
Chapter 27 – Act Like a Man : ChianoSky
Chapter 28 – Until It Hurts : Francisca Hall
Chapter 29 - My Blood : Ellie Goulding
Chapter 30 – Winter Sleep : Olivia Lufkin inspi' Reira from NANA.
Stand by Me
Chapter 30 – Winter Sleep
'Will you hold me now? Hold me now, my frozen heart.
Kiss my lips and maybe you can take me to your world for now.
I can't be alone right now.
Will you hold me now? Hold me now, my frozen heart.
Please make it all go away.
Am I ever going to feel myself again?
I hope I will.'
Kakashi dodged left, his feet skimming the surface of the water and sending splatters of it flying. He knew that fighting right now was a mistake. His mind was far too scattered. The revelation of Rin, Obito and himself and Madara's plan, how he'd ultimately manipulated Obito. And then he'd had to watch Sasuke go down. It seemed almost too easy for Madara. For Kakashi, all this meant was that he was nothing more than a failure. He'd failed Rin. He'd failed Obito and now, he'd also failed his precious students. The kunai in his hand was a little shaky, but he held his own, even if all he was doing at the moment was defending. He could see Naruto holding Sasuke up in his peripheral vision. Sakura, though, was nowhere to be seen. The Susano'o swung its curved blade around in an arch, Kakashi snapped to attention, narrowly dodging the attack, but Madara was ready, appearing behind Kakashi, blasting huge flames from his mouth. Kakashi dropped down, letting the water swallow him entirely. He didn't completely escape the attack, the water stung the burns on his arm lightly but he paid no attention to it. There was something in the water not far from him. He could just barely see the dark shape, rising slowly, but with purpose to the surface.
Sakura.
Kakashi kicked forward trying to reach her, but he didn't make it. Sakura surfaced and he pushed himself up just as she disappeared from his vision.
Kakashi reached the top, lifting himself up.
"-kura-chan!" he heard Naruto's cry. Kakashi's head whipped to the side.
Sakura's fist connected with Madara's chest, just as he tried to dodge, and he was sent backwards, flying back faster than Kakashi had ever seen, his back hitting his own statue. A crack split up the side of it and Madara pushed himself to his feet, his eyes on Sakura's face.
The seal on her forehead was glowing, her face covered in tattoo-like spirals.
Sakura kicked off of the water, and as she did her skin changed color. A light grey tone covered her and wings exploded from her back. Not claw-like wings, but more akin to sharply pointed demonic wings.
Kakashi's Sharingan told him the seal on her forehead was burning out. He wasn't sure what that meant, but from the look on her face – so unlike herself – he knew it couldn't mean anything good. What happened to Sasuke must have set her off in the worst way. Kakashi refused to look, refused to acknowledge that Sasuke might be dead.
The blue chakra of his Susano'o had already covered him by the time Sakura reached him. One of the arms reached out for her, but Sakura jumped back, before charging right back in.
"Sakura-chan! No!" Naruto screamed just as the blue hand gripped onto Sakura's head. She made no sound, but even to Kakashi it looked horribly painful. Madara lifted her up. Sakura kicked around roughly, the wings on her back flapped wildly as she tried to escape.
"Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken!" Naruto yelled, letting the jutsu fly. It flew right through the arm holding Sakura up, the chakra withered and seemed to dissolve. The wings held her up, her eyes moving over her enemy. The whites of her eyes were completely black, and the rest enveloped in the same green they always were. The seal on her forehead wasn't gone yet. Kakashi charged forward, he needed to stop her. If anyone needed to survive, it was Sakura. In some strange way, she needed to live. Because Rin couldn't. Kakashi refused to let another girl in his care die. He clenched his fists and charged forward.
x-x-x-x-
Temari opened her eyes to a blurry vision. But she knew exactly where she was. Back at the cells in Konoha and for some reason, all she could think of was Gaara. She had no idea why of all times. But she did. She remembered what had happened when the explosions had hit. Almost instantaneously they had been surrounded by Shadow. Her, with Hinata in her arms. Gaara had arrived, Shikamaru at his rear, and Hinata's cousin supporting them. But somehow, in all the confusion they'd lost each other and the Shadow had taken them.
"You're awake."
Temari turned her head. The Hyuuga girl was in the cell with her, but the look on her face scared the Suna nin. There was a sense of hopelessness there as her pale eyes stared at the ground.
"What happened?"
"Neji-nii-san is dead. I watched them kill him as he was trying to get to us." Hinata told her. "An explosion went off and he tried to protect us from it…but…but…" tears fall from her eyes and Temari pushes herself up.
"Hinata, was it?"
"Y-Yes."
"We don't have time to grieve. We need to escape first." Temari said, looking around as she got to her feet. Four walls of stone. No door. One small barred window at the very top of the back wall.
At least they weren't underground. So breaking the wall seemed like their best bet out of here.
"It's no use." Hinata whispered. "Can't you feel it? They're out there right now. Fighting. Against Madara."
"All the more reason-"
"Don't you see? The outcome of this battle means the future for all of us." Hinata nodded to the window. "The outside is swarming with Madara's men. We won't make it ten feet. We just have to sit here and wait for Naruto-kun to win."
Temari looked at Hinata's face again, and she realized she'd been wrong – it wasn't hopelessness in the Hyuuga girl's face, but worry. Not over the battle, but over the guy she loved.
Temari slid down against the wall. Hinata was right. They could only wait.
"Kankuro, Gaara, Shikamaru," she whispered. "Kankuro, Gaara, Shikamaru."
"What are you doing?" Hinata asked softly.
"I don't know." Temari whispered, her eyes closed tightly. "But it helps."
"Naruto-kun," Hinata began with a smile. "Hanabi, Otou-sama, Kiba-kun and Akamaru, Shino-kun, Kurenai-sensei." the most important people in her life. She felt that saying their names did help. It was like a silent prayer for them to survive.
She wasn't sure if it worked, but it made her feel just a little bit better.
x-x-x-x-
Sakura hit down into the water, creating a wall between them before she jumped back to where Kakashi and Naruto was.
"Kakashi-sensei, do you have any Jutsu that will break his concentration, or disturb his chakra." She asked, but her voice was utterly different. Somehow, her tone matched Sasuke's. The one he'd gotten after defeating Itachi.
"Yes." He answered quickly.
Sakura turned to Naruto, the water was dwindling down quickly now. "If he couldn't use Susano'o, would you be able to defeat him on your own?"
Naruto nodded, his blue eyes determined on Madara's form.
"Kakashi-sensei. Once the jutsu is cast, you should leave. Go to Obito. That's where you need to be right now."
"Sakura, no-"
"This is the way it needs to be. We don't have long now. Once this seal burns out…my power will be gone, and…" she paused. "We just need to do this quickly." Sakura turned to Kakashi. "Ready, Kakashi-sensei?"
To cast the jutsu? Yes. To leave them? He wasn't sure if he could. A part of him needed to go to Obito, to see if he was still alive. Kakashi wasn't sure if he could kill Obito, at one point he was sure it needed to be done. But now, he wondered if killing his friend was really the answer. Now that he knew they'd all be used and manipulated to Madara's will. Kakashi looked at Naruto, who had never given up on Sasuke – not even in his darkest moments and he felt ashamed. The moment that he'd found out that the masked man was Obito, he'd immediately resolved to kill his old friend and took that burden on his shoulders, even after he'd stopped Sakura from trying to kill Sasuke. Kakashi wondered if Minato would have done what he had. But Kakashi knew Minato would never have resulted to killing his own student. Yes, Minato was a wonderful shinobi. He followed the rules and did what needed to be done, but Kakashi couldn't see Minato ever going after them with killing intent.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura snapped, the wall of water finally having fallen.
"My, Kakashi, you seem distracted. Are you wondering if Obito is dead?" Madara taunted with a rumbling laugh. "He shouldn't have long now, by my estimation he'll be dead by nightfall."
The sun had already started going down.
"Now, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, stepping in front of him so Madara couldn't follow the jutsu.
"Kinsei Hakai no Jutsu!"
The sound wave exploded around the clearing, Naruto grabbed at his ears, the chakra at his feet giving out, but Sakura was unaffected mostly. Thanks to the cursed seal. She dived into the water and used her wings to propel her forward. She had less than two minutes to do this. She made it to him in eight seconds and launched herself upward, appearing inside his Susano'o. Her hands had the glow of blue chakra as she slashed at him. Her hit went through his armour and blood splattered from his chest.
Sakura saw him flinch and the strain in one of his eyes. That must be the eye that held his Susano'o. It just had to be.
The sound was fading and she could see him regaining his bearings. She needed to do this in one swipe. Madara reached out for her blindly and Sakura dodged, the warm heat of Susano'o's chakra searing her skin. She pressed on, launching herself at him again, this time aiming for his face. Madara saw her coming and groaned, pushing himself away from her but Sakura, at the last moment, changed her Chakra Scalpel into a precision needle that she could extend at will. And then she slashed over the left side of his face, all the way up to his forehead. There was no chance of missing. Madara lifted his leg and kicked, his foot hitting her abdomen and time was up. The chakra of the cursed seal was sucked back and she could feel the heat of the seal draining from her forehead. She left Susano'o chakra, its sword swinging out and slashing over her chest and stomach before it faded.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, catching her. "You did it."
Slowly, she gave him an unsteady smile, her vision fading and her body had already started to feel numb. "It's up to you now Naruto."
Madara was crumpled, his hand over his eye. His ultimate defence was no more and now they stood a chance. Now, maybe, they could win.
Naruto turned away from Madara, rushing Sakura away from him. He leapt up onto the cliff side, and the moment his feet hit the ground, Sakura saw the form on the ground and even through her blurry vision, she recognized him. She always did.
"Naruto…I-"
"Just stay here Sakura-chan, someone will come. Tsunade-Baa….someone will come." He repeated, setting her down next to their team mate.
"You two take a rest, ok?"
Sakura kept her eyes on Naruto's face, unwilling to see Sasuke just yet.
"I'll wrap this up quickly."
He stood and disappeared. Sakura let out a staggering breath. She couldn't face this yet, even as the life drained from her, she didn't want this. Of all people, she couldn't lose Sasuke. Really lose him. It was one thing to never see him again. Because that was a choice. Losing him like this meant that he would be gone forever. Maybe she'd see him in The Void, but what kind of relationship would that be. Sakura thought of all the time she'd wasted. Wasted doubting him, not believing in him. Being angry and pushing him away. No matter what, she'd always loved him. Despite her faults and his. Even in his worst moment. And now he had to go and get himself killed protecting her.
"Why?" she asked out loud, her voice shaky.
Sakura held her breath, waiting for some kind of answer from him. None came. And she felt something inside of her die. Her heart had already been broken. But this – was different. This was it. The end. The end of Team 7 and the end of her epic love with the boy she'd always wanted.
Eventually, and with great effort, Sakura used her last bit of strength and she turned to Sasuke, lying on her side. Her eyes fixed on his chest, desperately looking for movement but all she saw was blood. Slowly, her eyes drifted to his face. Some might say that he was sleeping, and that he actually looked peaceful, but Sakura had been a med-nin long enough to be able to tell the difference between someone that was sleeping and someone that was actually dead. His skin was always pale, but never this slack. This still.
Sakura let out a horrible breath, and she felt something wet trickle from her lips. She wasn't meant for the cursed seal after all. It had used her up. Her body felt numb, like she couldn't move her limbs, but she was also in excruciating pain, every breath rattled her. She wondered if she would die here with Sasuke and found that she wasn't bothered by it. Sakura felt like she had no regrets, save one. And he was dead next to her. So it didn't matter anymore, but all she wanted was to say it to him one more time. To say it and mean it, to have him hear the words. He didn't even have to say them back. She just wanted him to know. That he wasn't alone and that he always had her, even when he didn't want her.
Slowly, she reached a shaky hand up and began to sluggishly wipe the blood from his lips and chin. She clenched her teeth against the horrible pain when she moved. It was barely wet but she managed to get some of it off of his face.
Sakura heaved herself forward with one hard push, landing half on top of him, her face next to his and then she put her arms around him and cried. Sakura sobbed hard though clenched teeth and she felt her body shake. In the back of her mind she knew her body was going into shock.
"I love you." She whispered. "Just so you know. There may have been moments where I didn't trust you, but I never stopped loving you."
You are everything to me.
The words never left her. Sakura's vision dimmed and slowly, the world around her went dark.
x-x-x-x-
Something, somewhere exploded.
Hinata's head whipped up, towards the window.
Temari jumped up, lifting herself up to see outside. "What is it?" Hinata asked, too afraid to hope.
"I don't know. I can't see anything, but the Shadow are gone."
Hinata's immediate thought was with Naruto. Had he succeeded? Was it over? But something told her that this wasn't Naruto. Something else was going on, but now that they actually had a chance to escape…
"Should we try to get out of here?" Temari asked as if she'd read Hinata's mind. Slowly, Hinata nodded.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, scanning around them while Temari felt along the walls and found it to be solid. All around. With no weak points. Hinata confirmed this with her eyes, but they weren't ready to give up. Not yet.
The ground beneath them shook as the wall began to lower itself. Hinata and Temari both fell into defensive stances. The wall revealed two dark silhouettes, one stepped forward and into the light.
"Shikamaru…" Temari breathed. Wordlessly, he held a hand out to her. She didn't hesitate. She slipped her hand into his.
"What's going on out there?" Temari asked him as Kiba went into the cell to get Hinata, who was listening eagerly for news of Naruto.
"The Kage launched an all-out attack before they went after Madara." Shikamaru explained. "We were set to start the attack five minutes ago."
"Where is Madara?"
Nara shook his head. "Not sure. Either fighting the Kage still, or….if he's defeated them. He's fighting Team 7."
Hinata took a step forward. "What are the chances he's fighting N-Naruto-kun…?"
Shikamaru's eyes shifted away. "Pretty strong." He flicked a cig from the pack into his mouth and Temari grabbed it from his lips with a glare, flicking it aside.
"We need to go and help them!" Hinata said, moving past them but Kiba grabbed her arm. "There's nothing we can do now but follow the mission and believe in them."
Hinata squeezed her eyes shut and stood still for a long moment. "What can I do?"
"Use your Byakugan to free the Shadow from the Genjutsu Madara placed on them," Shikamaru instructed. "We'll cover you."
Hinata nodded stiffly, and the four of them took off into Konoha.
x-x-x-x-
The battle for Konoha lasted well into the night, the shinobi forces had actually been split between Konoha and Kumo, to end as many Shadow as possible with the Hyuuga family on the front lines. Sakura had only heard about this two weeks later, she'd woken up in Konoha hospital. It had been said that she would either die or never be able to use chakra again as a result of the cursed seal, but Tsunade had defied all odds and eventually Sakura had made a full recovery. As she'd laid there, at The Valley of the End, where she was sure she'd die, she'd seen flashes of a dark head and a pig and eventually she'd seen Sasuke. Not in The Void but in a dream.
"Only death can bring change to the world, Sakura." he'd said again and Sakura stared at him. "It didn't have to be your own." She whispered, green eyes clashing with his dark ones. "What am I going to do without you?"
"I never planned to live this long." He told her.
"Had this all been part of your plan? To be killed by Madara in the final battle? Had you sent me to Orochimaru so I wouldn't find out?"
"So you wouldn't give me a reason to live."
Sakura began to tremble then. "I would've tried to make you happy."
Sasuke's eyes closed, a breeze blowing his hair over his face. "Aa."
"Don't do this." She begged.
"Only death can bring change to the world." And then he was gone.
Kakashi, it turned out, hadn't left them during the final battle, he'd sent a clone to find Obito with his ninja hounds. When they'd found him, he had nearly been dead, but managed to speak to Kakashi and used the power of his Rinnegan to cast Rinne Rebirth, reviving everyone who had been killed during the war and aftermath, including Ino, Neji and the five Kage. But not Madara and Sasuke. Maybe Obito had planned it that way, but no one could really ask him since he'd died the moment the Jutsu was completed.
A week after the war had ended, a memorial had been held for everyone who had died as a result of Akatsuki's existence. In Konoha, a statue had been built in the training grounds, and Sakura had found herself there the moment she could walk. Her hands trailed over the smooth, cold surface until she found his name. The truth about the Uchiha massacre had been revealed and Sasuke had been named a war hero. Naruto was still in the hospital, recovering by that time. Sakura visited often enough. Had hadn't cried for Sasuke, not in front of her. Sakura cried the first time she'd gone to visit. Naruto held her in his arms.
"I was so horrible to him." Sakura had cried, thinking of the last time they'd really spoken.
"Sasuke did what he did to protect you. He played the villain just like his brother did."
"I wish he hadn't."
"Me too, Sakura-chan. Me too."
After the cursed seal had burned out completely, Orochimaru's lingering chakra died out and the seal disappeared, cutting off Sakura's connection to The Void and Sasuke, forever. She told herself this was for the best, but really – it wasn't.
Sakura didn't know what to do with herself, within two months she had been ready to resume her duties at the hospital, but Tsunade had advised against it. She had told Sakura she was depressed, which was ridiculous. Sakura told herself she was fine. No matter what anyone else had said. Ino and Kiba got married six months after the end of the war. She was pregnant, but only Sakura knew that. By that time, Sakura still hadn't been allowed to return to active duty.
Soon after, Naruto had officially started his Kage training under Tsunade and he had invited Sakura, Kakashi and Sai to Ichiraku to celebrate. In the end their entire Genin group had shown up, Team Gai, Yamato, Konohamaru and even the Kazekage himself, along with his siblings. Somewhere during the night, Sakura had felt Gaara's eyes on her. She had given him a small smile, and she wasn't sure what he'd seen there, but he had simply inclined his head and moved his eyes from her.
"Sakura-chan! I did it! I'm gonna be Hokage!" Naruto sang, sloshing Ramen broth onto the floor as he did.
Sakura smiled at him before pulling him into a hug. "S-Sakura-chan…!"
"I'm proud of you, Naruto. I always knew you could do it."
He pulled away a little to grin at her.
"Plus, you're really making history here, the first Hokage to still be a Genin." She joked, "I can see it now, Konoha's Hokage taking the Chuunin exams." And for the first time, Sakura laughed.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, but found himself laughing simply because she was.
He thought that maybe, just maybe, they could find some kind of happiness without Sasuke. If only he'd known that Sakura was thinking the exact opposite at that moment.
x-x-x-x
Sorry about no chapter last week, it was my birthday so things were a bit busy. The Epilogue will be up next Monday and Stand By Me will be completed. At some point, I'll reupload all the chapters after checking spelling and grammar and all that but I doubt I'll change anything of the story itself.
Thanks for sticking by me all this time! Love you guys! See you next week for the final chapter.
I've started on a new story called Dark Paradise, if anyone wants to check it out, it is, of course, SasuSaku!
Read and Review please! I'd love to know what you thought.
Zana-Lee
xoxo