I decided to throw this out for my old readers and apologize for updating so slowly

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Broken

Naruto's eyes narrowed to slits as he rubbed his chin, thinking as Shikamaru and Shiho stared at him. "So? Anything?" asked Shikamaru.

"Mm... I can't relate to any of this" said Naruto.

Shikamaru sighed "There has to be something, Jiraiya wouldn't have left us a code without a key to break it"

Shiho pushed up her glasses "This must've been left for Naruto-kun" she said.

"Mm... there has been something that's been bothering me for awhile." said Naruto.

"What is it" Shikamaru asked, looking hopeful once again.

Naruto pointed at the first character on the top right of Fukasaku's back in the picture. "Why is that the only katakana" said Naruto.

Shikamaru looked at the picture "What are you talking about, that's a number 9 isn't it" said Shikamaru.

"That's what I thought at first but then I realized that it's the Katakana 'Ta'" said Naruto. Shikamaru gave him an odd look.

Shiho spoke up "Naruto-kun would you mind explaining why you think this is a katakana 'Ta' and not the number 9" she said.

"Well, when I was travelling with Ero-sennin, he made me read his novel manuscripts. They were really boring though. I always had trouble with reading the 'Ta' because he always wrote it like that" said Naruto.

"That's it, Jiraiya-sama must've known you'd be able to understand that. This is definitely a code left for you, Naruto-kun" said Shiho.

Shikamaru rubbed his chin "That's true, no one but Naruto would be able to tell the difference. But then… why 'Ta'" said Shikamaru.

"Hm..."

There was a moment of silence before Shikamaru slammed his palms on the table "His novels, Naruto do you remember which of his manuscripts you first read" said Shikamaru, looking expectantly at Naruto.

Naruto thought for a moment then shook his head "It's no use, I've read too many to remember them individually" said Naruto.

Then suddenly the window slid open, everyone looked and found Kakashi standing outside, holding a book up "This is the book you're looking for" it was a statement, not a question. "This is the only book that Jiraiya-sama published that had the word 'Ta' in the title" Kakashi added.

They read the title 'Icha-Icha Tactics'

Naruto pointed at it and shouted "Ah! That's the one!"

Shiho pushed her glasses up "So now we know the key. The rest should be simple; the numbers would probably be the page and the line number. Right then Kakashi-san, turn to page 31 and read the 8th line on that page" said Shiho. Kakashi turned to that page and when he saw the line, he stoned. "R-Read it out?" he stammered. "Yeah! Hurry up, Kakashi-sensei!"

"U-Um"

Meanwhile...

The rain was harsh on them, the cold wind was making their faces numb and their soaking clothes were extra weight. They traveled on the branches, the leaves helped to shield them slightly; just slightly. Sakura landed on a branch and paused there. Her head lifted before coming down in a sneeze. Sasuke looked back at her, a very faint stain of pink on his cheeks. He jumped back to her as she was sniffing with a blocked nose. He pulled out a hood and cloak from his pack and handed it to Sakura. "Put this on"

Sakura smiled and took it gratefully.

They pushed on, just passing Konoha's patrol perimeter. It was then Sakura felt a very familiar chakra nearby. Sasuke's cursed seal began to release itself. And that's where everything started to go downhill.

Orochimaru.

Sasuke missed a step and fell from a tree only to be saved by Sakura. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and her hand to his waist, helping him to stand. Orochimaru appeared before them, standing with a proud smirk on his face. "I came to get you, Sasuke-kun" his deep voice could be heard clearly through the sound of heavy rain drops. Sasuke didn't even look up, he grunted in pain as he struggled to control his seal.

Sakura panicked "Sasuke? Sasuke! What's wrong" Sakura's head snapped up at Orochimaru "What did you do to him!" she snapped angrily at the snake man. Orochimaru chuckled "It's not what I did, it's what I didn't do to him" he smirked at her. Sakura was confused, the weight around her shoulder was increasing, she didn't let go.

"The cursed seal is a very delicate technique and it needs... maintenance" said Orochimaru. Sakura scowled but let Orochimaru continue "The seal unlocks many powers; however it is still a seal. It needs to be released, which is why I asked for Sasuke-kun to join me; so that I may release his level 2. If I don't, the seal is just going to go out of my hands and he's going to naturally lose control" Orochimaru's smirk grew into a sinister grin "And he's going to slaughter anything and everything he sees until he collapses from exhaustion, the only reason why he lasted this long is because of his sharingan's control abilities. But now it's gotten out of his ability to suppress it with his sharingan alone"

Sakura's heart raced, trying to think of way she could help Sasuke. If she doesn't think of something soon, Sasuke was going to return to that killing machine. She could feel his chakra build up to a dangerous extent, this time he really is going to kill her.

The black markings had already covered his body and he slipped out of her hold and fell to the ground. "Sasuke...!"

"Now then... Sasuke-kun. Will you join me? I can make all this pain go away, by the time we're done; you'll be able to feel the difference" chuckled Orochimaru. "I'd rather die" spat Sasuke, his sharingan eyes glaring up at Orochimaru. He remembered how devastated Sakura looked when he had left her the first time, he was not about to make her go through that again.

"Of course you would, but before you die. You're going to kill that little girlfriend of yours" said Orochimaru.

Sasuke's eyes widened because he knew, he was right.

Orochimaru let out a deep chuckle and held out his hand "I'm going to ask you think again, will you come quietly" he said. The thought of joining Orochimaru did sound more pleasant than hurting Sakura with his own hands but knowing the snake sannin, he probably never had the intention of letting Sakura go in the first place. Gathering energy in his lungs, he forced through the burn and spoke "Never" and that was his answer.

Orochimaru frowned "Is that so?" he snorted un-amusedly. "Then have fun cutting up Haruno Sakura" he added manically.

Sasuke's seal throbbed and he cried out in pain. Sakura looked away from Orochimaru for a moment to look at Sasuke, by the time she looked back. He was gone.

Sasuke panted and gripped on to the side of his neck "Sakura" he said breathlessly. "I'm right here, it's okay" she said, gripping on to his other hand. Sasuke shook his head with what control he had left on his body and forced his last conscious words from his body.

"Run"

Her eyes widened as his shriek filled the forest; his body was overflowing with dark chakra so much to the extent of it being suffocating. Then everything went quiet, Sasuke let go of Sakura's hand and stood up. Her eyes followed his limping body then traced to his eyes. "Sa...suke..?" her eyes widened when he pulled his kusanagi on her.

Missing her neck by an inch as she dodged, flipping backwards. She took a step back as he came closer and closer. One step back, two steps and then she ran. He chased.

As she ran, she could feel his chakra coming closer. Creeping up to her on a dangerously close level till she had no choice but to turn back and counter his kusanagi slamming down on her. Her eyes glowed green and a breeze of chakra swept through, she looked down at Sasuke's feet to avoid his eyes.

"Once you've locked blades with me, do not look into my eyes. I will activate my sharingan"

And this time, she can't be fooling around anymore. She kept her eyes glued on his leg and when he gave the slightest twitch of his feet, she let him have it "Fuuton, Kaze Chakra (Wind Technique, Chakra Wind)"

Without forming a hand seal, she built up her chakra and let loose a blast of wind that sent him flying backwards. As soon as his feet was off the branch, she threw her kunai at him before forming a "Fuuton, Atsugai (Wind Technique, Pressure Damage)"

"Stick with long range attacks, preferably Fuuton"

The wind around Sakura began to pick up on speed. Sasuke blocked off the kunai with his kusanagi and before he knew it, Sakura had started an outwards blasting dome of wind that's increasing in size. He scanned the incoming attack with his sharingan, noting down the nearest weak spots were there was an area where the chakra levels are lower than the rest.

When Sasuke came slicing in through her technique, Sakura cut the technique short and flung her kunais at him from bottom to top. Sasuke scattered them with a swing of his blade, the mere force was enough to slow them down and knock them off their track.

"Throw in a vertical manner; you'll be able to stall me for a longer time"

Sakura detonated the paper bombs, covering him in a smokescreen. Though she knew it was useless to even try to blind Sasuke, still it bought her enough time to leap off the tree and run. She wanted to prevent this before she would be forced to kill him. She had to look at the other possibilities of helping him gain back control.

Sakura didn't make far before Sasuke caught up to her again. His speed and strength were increasing as they fought. Sakura's punches were being deflected aside by his Kusanagi, and then she saw it. A very brief opening but she saw it. She managed to land a hit on his left shoulder, he stumbled backwards. Growling darkly as his shoulder went limp. Sakura's blood was seeping through her gloves and dripping to the floor, his kusanagi had cut through her layer of heavily pumped chakra.

"Aim for my left shoulder"

"Sasuke... can you hear me?" she said.

His gripped tightened on his sword and he disappeared. Sakura formed a seal as she ducked down, slamming her palm onto the ground "Doton, Retsudo Tensho (Earth Technique, Earthquake Slam)" The ground around Sakura began to crumbled and shake violently. Sasuke had been so close to decapitating Sakura before he lost his footing and slipped into the cracks.

"Go for my feet, I tend to neglect the possibilities of an attack from the ground"

Sakura ran.

She hid her very trace of chakra and ran as fast as her feet would take her without the use of chakra. Tears streamed down her face as she ran, never in her life had she felt so utterly helpless. She'd fight a beast a million times bigger than her, size up against a battalion of shinobi or even a demon from the underworld- but never Sasuke.

Her eyes widened, she jerked herself to the right and tumbled to the ground as Sasuke's chidori senbon stabbed into the ground where she had just been stepping on. She got up on one knee, teeth clenched as she looked up on the demonic stature of Sasuke. His breaths were loud and his sharingan looked clouded.

He shot down at her from the branch, pulling his kusanagi to point at her but he found himself being launched backwards by an electrifying force. He crashed into a tree, his body smoking. He retaliated immediately, going for Sakura once again. Sakura stood in the middle of her chakra barrier, watching his attempts to tear down her defense with wary eyes.

Watching from the inside as Sasuke lashed out on her barrier, trying to tear it apart. Her body ached with every attack he pulled on her barrier but even she knew that her barrier was impossible to penetrate. She would just have to wait here till her chakra runs out; she prays that Sasuke would collapse before she does.

She took a step towards him. Sasuke continuously slammed the kusanagi blade down on the barrier-Another step. Sasuke unleashed a stream of attacks at her- Another step. Sasuke lit his hand with chidori and slammed his hand onto the barrier one time after another without stopping. Sakura stood three feet away from the inside of the barrier; she reached out her hand to Sasuke.

Sasuke growled with his hand clawed on the barrier, despite the obvious damage the barrier is doing to his hand.

'If it's just for awhile, if I could just touch him'

Sakura's eyes widened and then they went blank. A jolt ran down her spine as she traced the glowing electric light to her own body. Sasuke's Chidori Eiso (Chidori Sharp Spear) had gone right through her, blood leaking out and staining the spear. She coughed a mouthful of blood.

The barrier crumbled and so did Sakura. However he didn't let her body fall, he swung a kick to her stomach and sent her crashing through the forest like a meteor. He went after her, maneuvering through the collapsed trees before finally finding her body crushed beneath a fallen tree. Sakura's fingers twitched as she pushed herself back up.

"Sa...suke"

She managed to get herself out from under the tree and stumbling to her feet. She realized that she could no longer afford to be so naive, she was a shinobi. Her feelings for Sasuke were clouding her judgment—that was unacceptable. When she looked at her situation, she clearly had the upper hand. Compared the usual Sasuke who possessed control over all his movements with beautiful grace, this Sasuke was only halved his potential. His movements were rash and predictable, his chakra was all over the place. Sakura possessed knowledge on all of his weakness. Now all she has to do was use them, if she completely released her seal she would be capable of doing it. She is capable of killing him.

No more regrets.

"Kaiho"

The chains that bounded her down were released. Her eyes glowed fiercely and her body was covering in green chakra. She gripped on to her kunai and went for Sasuke. Each of their attacks collided with a painfully loud clang, equal in strength; they were blowing each other's attacks away.

She locked her kunai with Sasuke's kusanagi with one hand and landed a punch on his left shoulder, this time she made sure to dislocate it. As he shot downwards towards the ground, he flipped himself back and landed on his feet. With a pop, he relocated his shoulder without so much as a wince. He formed his handseals and unleashed a flaming dragon at her. Sakura didn't move, she formed her own seals as well "Fuuton, Kaze Bakufu (Wind Technique, Wind Burst)"

An upwards current shot up in front of Sakura just before the dragon touched her, blowing the attack into the sky. Dark clouds accumulated and the rain stopped, the sky rumbled. Sakura held a seal. "Kaiton, Akaakato Raiu (Release Technique, Flaming Thunderstorm)"

The lightning struck down on the forest at random. Sasuke looked up at the sky, pinpointing when and where each strike will fall and carefully avoiding them as he moved in closer and closer to Sakura. Sakura's eyes narrowed and the next phase struck.

Fireballs rained from the sky like rain, setting the forest ablaze. Once the technique was complete Sakura released the seal and formed more "Doton, Tsuchi no Kei (Earth Technique, Earth's Imprisonment)"

Her eyes shot open and she jumped down from the branch. She came out through the flames and approached a bounded Sasuke who struggled to break free. Sakura looked down at his kusanagi and picked it up. Her eyes were blank as she brought it up to his neck.

"If I really lose control, I want you to kill me"

Teeth clenched, she muttered her apology "I'm sorry"

The kusanagi fell onto the ground with a clang, Sakura released him from the technique. Her chakra had pretty much run out, she had a chance. And she let it go.

Sakura winced as Sasuke's Chidori Nagashi wrapped around her body, paralyzing her as they bounded her. He lifted her off the ground. She looked at him through a hooded gaze. His sharingan tomoes circled and she was suddenly plunged into a dark world. The smell of blood was all she could smell.

She couldn't see- everything was dark. She felt like her body was destroying herself, yet she couldn't cry out in pain or even shed a tear. It felt like an eternity before she could hear again. Her body was still throbbing with pain, she had no idea what had happened. She could hear the rain and the coldness of the water on her skin.

And then she felt his presence.

His kusanagi was once again on her chest. Her lips twitched into a smile as she lifted her hand and found his face. "I love you... Sasuke" her voice faded and her hand fell.

Her body went stiff, and cold.

…

.Drip.

There was something dripping on her face, and it wasn't just the rain.

Tears were dripping from the emotionless eyes of Sasuke. His hands trembled as he held her like how she held him when he was dying. His mind was on self-destruct; his eyes were looking forward and nowhere else. His pupils began to move, looking down on the pale body in his hands. His eyes began to change.

The patterns on his sharingan were changing. The black parts engulfed the red parts before the red finally morphed into a flower shape with a black line six point star in the middle. His marks were suppressed and he returned to normal. He stared down at Sakura's body blankly, not quite knowing what to do. "Sakura" he said.

Back in Konoha...

Itachi's eyes shot open and his heart rate increased, the monitor was beating faster and faster as he sat up, ripping the oxygen mask from his face and panting heavily. Sensors stuck all over his bare chest, his long ponytail let down and sweat clinging on to his forehead as she brought a hand up to his face and covered one of his eyes. "Sasuke...!" he said in a panicked tone.

Back to Sasuke...

"Sakura..."

His eyes widened "Sakura!" he pulled her closer to him. Hands trembling as he kept seeing her blood on them. He picked her up, and then he was gone. He pushed himself as fast as he could go; he was nothing but a streak of colors in the wind.

...

Tsunade had seen many things in her life, but this was the first time she had seen anyone with a body this beaten up and have a heart still beating. It was very faint, but Sakura wasn't dead yet. She had been in the middle of filing some paperwork when a doctor rushed into her office, panting and in his uniform with surgical gloves stained with blood and telling her that she's needed in the emergency room, again. Someone had arrived at the village, running straight for the hospital and shouting for help with a bloody corpse in his hand.

Her blood ran cold when she saw who the emergency patient was.

Her vitals were below the chart and her oxygen circulation was impossible. Tsunade's brows furrowed as she heals her student's wounds. 'Is this the work of Pain...?'

Sasuke stood right outside the emergency room, his body was beaten up as well but all he could think of was Sakura, about how he tortured her, how he felt her life fade in his hands. How her hand slipped out of his.

He placed a filthy hand on the door, his fingers curled up and clawed as he slid to the ground; His voice wavering as he called her name. "Sakura..." his voice sounded almost pathetic.

Kakashi and Naruto arrived, both just as panicked as each other. "Sasuke, what happened!?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke remained where he was. Kakashi knew there is definitely something wrong, Sasuke never knelt in front of people, and he never did anything to make himself look inferior.

"Sasuke!" Naruto gripped his shoulder. Sasuke's head snapped around, eyes wide as he grabbed Naruto by the front and slammed the boy into the wall behind, pressing him upwards as he looked down. "With my own hands..." he muttered hoarsely. "I broke her..." he whimpered.

Naruto and Kakashi's eyes widened.

Next Chapter

"You bastard..."

"Blaming yourself isn't like you"

"Sa...suke..."

"I will escort him myself to the Torture and Interrogation Department"

"No more!"

I know, cliffys are bad for your health but...

:D

I'm sorry, haha, I'll try not to take forever to update.

Try.

See you guys next chapter! Oh and review if you can, It makes me happy.

Random Question of the Chapter!

Who do you think would have the nicest body in Konoha 12?

Ladies, let your imagination go wild. You're welcome.