Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes as Sasuke continued to writhe in pain. "Sasuke-kun," she said concernedly as he held her hand tighter. Then he dropped onto her lap. 'What did that Orochimaru do to you ?' she asked herself, fighting back the tears but failing hopelessly. They cascaded down her cheeks like a waterfall.

Sasuke was in pain. It was because the curse mark was pulsing painfully on his neck plus his plan had gone down the drain. Everything that he had spent hours and hours planning over was now nothing. He had spent several days perfecting his master plan that would save the whole world, that would prevent the Fourth Shinobi War. He hadn't planned on getting the Curse Mark. He continued to struggle as he held Sakura's hand tighter for comfort. 'Make it stop!' he wanted to shout but the agony was too much that he could only groan and shout in pain. Slowly he felt his consciousness slip. The last thing he heard was a concerned shout of "Sasuke-kun!" before everything went black.


Pain. That was all he could feel. And anger. The anger was dark, it wasn't good. He felt something dark pulsing on his neck, the chakra was dark and restrained, fighting to break free. He wanted to open his eyes but he couldn't. Then he heard loud punches and the nauseating sound of beaten flesh. Whoever was beating someone was making him angry. That person deserved to die. Yes, he had to die.

He peeled his eyes open to find himself staring at the sky. It was a clear blue, like there was nothing wrong in all the world. He looked to the side and saw Naruto lying unconscious and then what he might've deemed as his worst nightmare. Sakura was kneeling on the ground covered in dark bruises with her face swollen and bloodied up. She had a bleeding gash on her forehead and a cut on her cheek which was bleeding profusely plus the second degree burns she had obtained. Her hair was short, it wasn't spilling over her shoulders as he had gotten used to. It was cut just above the base of her neck. Her clothes battered and bloodied. Team Ten was standing protectively in front of her, each holding a kunai. Lee was lying on his stomach a few feet away.

However, he couldn't see anything other than Sakura. He didn't notice how Team Ten stood protectively in front of her or how Lee wanted to run over to protect her but couldn't move a muscle. He didn't even see Team Dosu surrounding the Leaf ninja like hungry predators. All he could see was her, Sakura. Seeing her all beaten up like that made something snap inside, the exact same feeling he felt towards Danzo when he discovered that he was the one who ordered the death of his clan. He wanted to kill whoever had done that. He remembered the last moments with her when he was in the future.

"I'm s-sorry…for being s-so reckless."

No, not this time. He wasn't going to watch her get beaten up before his very eyes. He tried to move but his muscles were stiff and numb. ' C'mon! Move! For Sakura,' he yelled at himself inwardly. He couldn't even move his lips. He had to get up, heck, he needed to get up!


Flashback

Sakura was standing beside her two teammates as they recovered from their previous match. They were both sprawled out on the backs, panting heavily, dressed in only their ninja pants and sandals. Sakura towered over them as she pondered whether or not to heal them. She had clearly warned them not to destroy the training grounds since they had made a bet on who had the greatest taijutsu skills between the two of them. Their simple taijutsu match had turned into a deadly battle of ninjutsu and kenjutsu.

As such they had destroyed the training grounds and Sakura used an earth-based jutsu to recreate the grounds. She sometimes wondered how they continued their childish rivalry when they now sixteen-year olds. She was surprised that they went along this well since Sasuke had come back. It had only been a month since he came back but it felt like he had never left. It was perfect, she thought. Everything was just the way they all wanted it to be. Teammates, nothing more, nothing less. Except that her stupid heart had audacity to go on a rampage when she saw him or when they connected eyes or when he said her name.

"I told you guys not to go far with your match," she scolded with a frown. "You practically destroyed the entire area," she added. "Neh, sorry Sakura-chan. I was just trying to prove a point to Sasuke-teme, dattebayo," Naruto said with a cheeky grin. Sasuke snorted. "What's that you bastard? Are you saying I didn't drag your sorry Uchiha ass through the mud when I beat you?" the blonde half- shouted. "You didn't drag anyone through the mud. You just showed how small your pea-sized brain really is," the Uchiha shrugged. "Well then let's have another match-" he was cut short with a kick from Sakura which sent him flying a few feet away. "Don't you ever learn, you baka?!" she seethed, her face red with anger. How he could he just ignore what he had done with his teammate? They had destroyed the entire training grounds.

"Sakura-chan, why are you hitting me? You're supposed to be healing me!" the blonde jinchuriki whined. "Heal yourself. Or maybe ask the Kyuubi to heal you. He's the one who should have the energy to heal a baka like you," she said through clenched teeth. Naruto all but pouted. "Neh, what about the teme?" Naruto asked as he rose into a sitting position. "Hmmm?" she held her chin in deep thought as she debated whether or not to heal him. "Sasuke-kun is strong enough to heal himself. He's Sasuke Uchiha after all," she said with a small smile at the last part. The rest of Naruto's whines drowned out to Sasuke as Sakura's words played in his mind. " Sasuke-kun is strong enough to heal himself. He's Sasuke Uchiha after all."

End of flashback


"Sasuke-kun is strong enough to heal himself. He's Sasuke Uchiha after all."

"He's Sasuke Uchiha after all."

He was Sasuke Uchiha after all. The man who had managed to live most of his life in isolation with no one but himself, the man who thought he had nothing when he had everything, who felt that he was a monster but still had people who loved him like crazy, who unintentionally killed his beloved brother and the girl he loved the most and had gone back in time to save the world.

With a firm resolve, ignoring the burning sensation on his neck and the curse marks which were starting to spread all over his body, Sasuke slowly struggled onto his feet. He staggered towards the battle field. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, relief evident in her voice. "How are you feeling?" the pinkette asked. Sasuke, choosing to ignore her, asked,"Sakura, who did this to you?" Sakura looked at him in confusion. "Who did what?" she whispered, sensing the killing intent coming from Sasuke. "Who beat you to a bloody pulp?" he barked. Sakura could only look in fear. "Sasuke-kun…" she whispered. "I said who the hell did that to you?!" he shouted. Sakura cringed outwardly. She had never seen the Uchiha prodigy lose his cool, not even once. Even Team Ten and Lee seed to be surprised by his sudden outburst.

"I did."

Sasuke turned his head to look at Zaku. 'It's that bastard,' he thought. He smirked. "So it's you," he said he continued to smirk wickedly. Zaku nodded his head arrogantly. 'Let's see what you can do Uchiha,' the Sound him thought. Sasuke didn't need to say anything as the black flame-like marks started to spread all over his body rapidly. He was behind Zaku in an instant. He grabbed his hands and harshly pulled them back like he was pulling elastic, snapping both arms in the process. The Sound genin yelled out loud in pain. Sasuke ruthlessly kicked his back. Zaku found himself flying towards a tree. Before he hit the tree, Sasuke was already in front of him and punched him square in the face. He sent the genin flying through the air a couple of metres away.

He looked on at Team Dosu's shocked faces with a typical Uchiha smirk. "I have so much power," he said to himself out loud as he laughed maniacally. He glared at Zaku. "I'm going to use it to kill you for hurting the person I love the most," he said, body trembling slightly with rage and started walking towards him. He caught a glimpse of Sakura's fear stricken face and the Leaf ninjas' shocked expressions. He chose to ignore them. He slowly made his towards the Sound genin.

'Kill! Kill! Kill!' was all he could hear . 'He has to die. He doesn't deserve to hurt Sakura,' the voice whispered menacingly. Sasuke found himself quickly agreeing with the voice. Just as he was a few metres away from Zaku, he felt arms circle themselves around him and suddenly time seemed to stop.

"Stop! Please... just stop Sasuke-kun."

He could feel Sakura's tears wetting his shirt as she hugged him tighter. Her sobs were the only sound he could hear. The wind blew softly as leaves danced around them. As though some magic spell had been cast on him, Sasuke felt the curse marks subsiding, leaving his skin clear and free of them. He felt strangely at peace. Like as though a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His body released the tension he hadn't realized he had. Sakura was still crying into his shoulder. 'I'm sorry. Please don't cry,' he wanted to say to her but his Uchiha ego kept him from saying anything. He had already said some very dangerous words.

"I'm going to kill you for hurting the person I love the most."

Sasuke slowly eased her arms away from him. Sakura removed them without a hint of protest, sniffing. He turned around to look at Sakura who was looking at the ground, face red, puffy and swollen from crying and fighting. He fought back the urge to hug her and make her forget all this ever happened. She was too innocent for this. "Let's make a deal," Dosu said, breaking the silence that had dawned upon them. "We'll give you our scroll and you can let us go alive," he suggested. "Hn," the Uchiha prodigy replied, glaring at the Sound ninja. Dosu tossed him a scroll before throwing Zaku over his back and jumping away along with their female member. Sasuke looked at the retreating ninjas. His mind was stressing over how to fix his mistake of getting the curse mark.


Sasuke was standing beside his team, who were flanking both his sides. Team Ten, Team Eight, Team Gai and the Sand Siblings among others were there. He also noticed Team Dosu was there as well. Zaku had both of his arms bandaged and in slings. They had arrived a day before the deadline, the team had a day's rest before the third exam. He collapsed as soon as they had entered the Tower, physical and chakra exhaustion taking a heavy toll on his body. He already knew what was going to happen anyways so he didn't care. After their fight with Team Dosu, he had been very quiet, not wanting to answer any questions on his behavior during their last fight. Team Gai had joined him shortly afterwards and Naruto woke up. He complained loudly why he had not been able to participate in the fight against Team Dosu and Sakura shut him up with a bonk on top of his head.

The blonde had asked Sakura why she had cut her hair and she explained that she had wanted a change. Of course, Sasuke knew she had cut her hair to free herself. As they travelled silently through the forest, he pondered whether or not to inform the jounin about Orochimaru. Of course, he didn't want anyone to die but he didn't want to interfere much in this time. At least not yet, he thought. He didn't miss the occasional glances Sakura sent his way and Sasuke couldn't blame her for doing so. He had put up quite a show at their last fight. He had unceremoniously confessed that he considered Sakura dear, not that he loved her, he told himself repeatedly, and had taken Sakura's beating rather too bad. They hadn't said a word to each other and he silently thanked her for that. He wasn't in the mood to chit-chat.

He didn't bother to listen to the jounin who was explaining the rules of the Third Exam. He was going to fight Zaku anyways so pressure zero. He cast a sideways glance at Sakura who seemed to be listening attentively. He looked at Naruto who seemed to be bubbling with excitement. 'Typical Naruto,' he thought. He glanced at the one-tailed jinchuriki. He had to make sure that he didn't lose control before the final exam and at the same time, he had to give the Leaf a heads up on Gaara's condition without raising any suspicions. With that thought in mind, he looked at the jounins and Hokage in front of him.


Hey there. Long time, no update. As you know, I was busy at school. I didn't have to time to update. So how's the story? Are you liking it? I felt as though Sasuke was a bit cheesy in this chapter but then again he's just Sasuke. You never know why he does some stuff.

Read and review.

Tozoonana

AfricanFire