CHAPTER RATING: T

Chapter 38: The Final Act, Part III: Nothing to Lose

The blood flowed freely from his new wound. The blood-stained steel glistened with deadly intent in the sunlight. The agony jolted through his being as blood ran down his chin. Naruto coughed, expelling crimson puddles that stained the green Earth. He fell to one knee; opened his palm, and felt the stained grass with his fingers while resting against the ground. Sasuke's grip weakened around the handle of the blade, but Naruto felt it slicing through his midsection with every second that passed. Sakura looked on in horror at the events that were unfolding before here; events that seemed to play in slow motion, but were actually taking place faster than she could react to. Naruto raised his hand, tightly balled it up into a fist, and fiercely struck the ground. The Earth shook with the impact, and enormous cloud of sand shot up, immediately, Sasuke felt something strike his face.

Hard.

It sent him crashing like a skipping stone across the ground into a heaping mound of sand. He let out grunts of anguish, and a final screech of terror as his broken arm dragged behind it, feeling as if it was being torn off.

Naruto fell to his knees, his eyes were tinted in the familiar orange hue, but the markings were beginning to fade; his muscles weakened, and he crumbled before Sakura, the force of his fall pushed the blade out of his body, where it landed next to him, covered in the crimson liquid.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she ran towards him and turned him onto his back. Her hands began to gleam with an emerald hue as she hovered them over the fissure that split his body in half. The wound began to close instantaneously; she gazed upon his expression, scarred with immense pain. "Naruto, can you hear me?" She asked aloud while holding him up. Her heart sunk as she waited for a response.

A response that he never gave.

With a gentle movement, Sakura removed the glove from her right hand and brought it to his neck, with two fingers, she searched for a pulse. It was erratic, and faint. But he was still alive.

She cupped her bare hand over his cheek, and slowly let him down onto the grass. With an intent to kill growing exponentially behind her, she turned to confront Sasuke. She glared at him with surprise; with a swirling purple aura engulfing his body, he held out his hand, and beckoning to the Sword of Kusanagi, who obediently returned to its master. With an open palm, he received the sword…with his disabled arm. Panic shot through Sakura's mind. This demonic presence that he had bargained with…that he had acquired, was the one who was possessing him, and aiding him in moving an arm that had shattered, a physically impossible act. She slid on her glove again, and stood to confront him.

"Sakura, how long has it been?" He smirked. Blood ran down his jaw, and gushed from the wound on his arm, an entire half of his white outfit was stained in dark crimson. With his free hand, Sasuke pointed to the motionless Naruto. "You know that this entire thing is your fault, don't you?" Sakura glared at him with defiance. "You do understand!" He yelled with joyous sarcasm. "He's done so much for you, carried such heavy burdens for you, and his reward, after all the suffering, after all the pain, after all the torment, is death." He smirked with a blood-tainted grin.

Sasuke spat onto the ground, took a step, and charged forward. Sakura readied herself, drawing her fist back, she struck the ground. Fragments of broken earth shot up from the impact as spikes rose from the dirt; with the fragments still suspended in the air, she struck each of them in quick succession, sending them towards him. Stones the size of fists launched themselves towards Sasuke. The ashes from the impact blinded her; with her arms protecting her eyes, she squinted through the dust. When it settled, what she saw unnerved her. Sasuke stood directly in front of her, surrounded by a demonic violet ribcage that served as his protector.

From his feet, like a flash of lightning, a stream of the violet aura moved towards her. Sakura tried her best to move, but her body didn't respond. Her legs were completely numb; it felt as if an invisible force was pushing…as if it was crushing her from all sides. She flinched in pain, and when her eyes opened once more, the aura had moved up her body, and had taken the form of a giant fist, literally holding her like a doll.

"You could have stopped all of this in that hospital room. All you had to say was 'yes'; and all of this could have been avoided." His hand tightened around his blade. "If you had just accepted my feelings, I wouldn't have had to do this…I wouldn't have done this at all. I would have come back to Konoha, and Team Seven would be back together."

Through the agony of being slowly compressed, Sakura began to speak in short desperate breaths.

"I-I couldn't do that…I would never lie to-"

"YOU COULD HAVE JUST SAID THAT YOU LOVED ME!" He shouted. Sakura looked at his expression, and something had changed. Something in his mind…in his heart had gone wrong. "Don't you understand? Naruto is forgiving, he would have forgiven you. He would have let us be together! ALL OF THIS would be different if you had just told me what I wanted to hear."

He reared back the Sword of Kusanagi. "But you don't have to worry anymore; I've realized something…It's better to not have someone to protect, someone to love. It's better to be alone." He glared again towards Naruto's motionless body. "I have nothing to lose. It is my destiny…to be victorious."

The demonic hand began to fade, Sakura was seemingly suspended in the air, and Sasuke drew back his blade, and attacked. He watched Sakura's body fall to the ground as his grasp on her faded.

Truly victorious, he turned and began to walk back towards Karin.

His tracks stopped when he heard the familiar sound of bubbling, it brought back memories of his encounter with Naruto, so long ago. Heat was building behind him, just as he turned to face her, a massive explosion of energy rocked through the entire forest. The leaves began to flicker, and burn; black ash began to blow with the wind, and began to mask the grass, almost turning it into volcanic rock. Sasuke was struck by an invisible shockwave that broke through the air; with his footing gone, he was sent careening into the sand mounds again. He held disbelief in his eyes at what he was seeing. Sakura was advancing towards him, standing tall, with a scarlet cloak that surrounded her body in the shape of a fox.

Panic, something that he had not felt in a long time, set into his mind. Her eyes burned with a fire that he didn't see in her until now…A fire that he didn't think existed within her. Her wounds healed miraculously, the only remnants of them were her sharply torn articles of clothing. He backed away, and fled as quickly as he could.

Sakura brought up her hand, and foremed seals with them in a sequence he had never seen. She presented him with an open palm, facing the sky, as if she were inviting him towards her. He backed away further, still panicked at what he was seeing. Sakura forcefully balled up her hand into a fist. Suddenly, a southern wind began to blow, and like a vortex, it took hold of him, and hurled him towards her. Sakura pulled her arm back, channeled chakra into her fist, and fiercely punched Sasuke's ribs when he came into her sights. With the impact, she heard every single one of them break simultaneously. The fragments shattered into a thousand pieces that caused him to choke on the blood from his internally damaged organs. She held him wither hand, and in one swift motion, delivered a clothesline that caved in his sternum, blood shot form his chest, his bones snapped at the impact.

He landed roughly on the ground while Sakura continued to advance. His glazed over eyes stared blankly into the blue sky. Sakura wrapped her hands around his neck, and brought him above her own height. With her powerful hands, she began to crush his larynx. Sasuke, in one last desperate maneuver, stared into her eyes. Sakura returned his glance, and saw the blood stained petal of the Mangekyō Sharingan, a glance that would trap her insider her own mind, eternally. Another blast of energy emitted from Sakura, sending Sasuke's limp body towards Karin, who came to the aid of the one who had admitted his love for her.

…

Naruto opened his eyes, his entire face was submerged in water, as he opened his eyes, he pushed himself up with his arms. In front of him, the Nine-Tails grinned behind the six gates that were locked together.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto." He grinned widely. Naruto stepped forward with his head low.

"I've failed. I couldn't beat Sasuk. I'm not strong enough…I was never strong enough to beat Sasuke. I couldn't protect Konoha…I couldn't protect Sakura-chan."

The Nine-Tails grinned. "You underestimate yourself. After all these years…You still doubt yourself." His grin grew wider, showing his shining ivory fangs. "What is it that Killer Bee did?" The Nine-Tails paused, then lifted one of his arms, and extended a fist. Naruto looked up in disbelief, and met the Nine-Tails fist with his own.

…

Naruto opened his eyes again, and felt the blood-smothered grass flowing against his face. He opened his eyes, the pain from his wounds began to fade as they closed at an exponentially faster rate. His eye lids were tinted in orange; his natural blue eyes became a dark scarlet, his pupils, flattened by the influence of the Toad Sages, was split in half by a sharp black diamond, resembling a cross.

He moved towards Sakura, and held her in his arms. He picked her up, and placed her a safer distance away.

The Nine-Tails voice echoed through his mind.

"My power…is yours!"