Winter's P.O.V
Trying not to think too much about what I'm actually doing, I brush my dirty blonde hair out of my eyes and pull on Sasuke's cloak. We both managed to walk back, his arm over my shoulders, and he passed out from pain on the dining room table when I was treating his wounds.
Warmth seeps into my skin from Sasuke's black cloak and comforts me, I have to do this, for Sasuke and for everyone else Orochimaru has tormented.
I walk into the dining room and look at Sasuke. He lies so still, so peacefully that I don't want to touch him. His onyx hair is brushed back from his face to reveal a damp, green cloth. His eyes slightly twitch underneath his eyelids and his mouth is slightly parted as he inhales and exhales.
Forming a plan in my head I decide to write Sasuke a letter for when he wakes up, I don't want to leave him and not give him something to remember me by. Pressing the pen to the paper, I begin to write:
Dear Sasuke,
Thank you so much for everything. I can't begin to explain how much you mean to me, you gave me my life back. I hope in some little way I have impacted your life like you have impacted mine.
I'm going to miss you,
Winter xx
Willing myself not to cry I take a deep breath and place my note into his left hand, squeezing it, asking him for his strength in what I'm about to do.
I walk into his bedroom and dig into his closet where he keeps all his weapons. Catching a glint of steel I bring out his long katana, newly sharpened. The blade is ice cold in my hands as I lift it up, feeling the balance.
I see a golden chain hanging in the back of his closet and I pull it out, securing it around my waist.
The plan I had formed was circling around in my head, I could only hope that it would work. Looking back at Sasuke before I walk out the door, his blade in my hand, words catch in my throat. There's so much I want to say to him but will never be able to.
I settle with not saying anything at all, instead, I blow a kiss and glide out the door, melting like a shadow in the night.
******
Comforting myself with memories I let them flash through my head, the time when he slapped me in the face after I insulted him, all our fights, verbal and physical, and some of the more pleasant memories, like the time when I patched him up after Orochimaru hit him or when he read to me, allowing me to lean against him.
I thought Sasuke meant nothing to me but deep down, he means everything. If things were different, I would be back home caring for him, being there for when he wakes up, but that's not the case.
Orochimaru has tormented people for years, taking away people's loved ones and it's time his reign was brought to an end. For Sasuke and for everyone who loves him, Sakura, Naruto and all the rest of his friends, I am going to do it, I'm going to kill Orochimaru.
"So there is a way to kill Orochimaru?"
"It is difficult. A life for a life. If you want to kill Orochimaru, you have to die with him."
A life for a life, for him I'll do it.
I glared at Itachi, "I am not stupid, I know that if I kill Orochimaru, I will have to die as well.
He nodded. "That is true, you have to kill yourself at the same moment you kill him. We have planned for you to stab a long blade through your heart and his heart at the same time." Itachi motioned with his long blade and Deidara muttered,
"Like a kebab stick."
Icy shivers run down my back as Sasuke's blade seems to grow even colder in my hand. I can do this.
Running to Orochimaru's hideout I see the plan in my head, tonight's the night when everyone is moving to the new hideout. Orochimaru would have camped out in his giant tent and to find him all I have to do is follow the trail of delinquents.
As I arrive at the hideout, three men walk out drunk as usual and I recognize them immediately. My grip tightening on Sasuke's blade I reign in my anger so I don't destroy the only leads I have on Orochimaru's whereabouts.
The dark concealing me, I follow the men to my target.
******
Four hours later and my eyes strain to stay open. I can't fight Orochimaru in the utter dark anyway, I should just get some sleep. Hidden from sight I settle down with a clear view of Orochimaru's tent. Behind me the three men are piled on top of each other, their throats slit. Smiling lazily, I fall into a slumber.
******
The sun rises on the horizon and wakes me, clearing everything in my head besides the plan. Taking a deep breath I pick up the dead men's kunai and aim them at Orochimaru's tent. Throwing them they zip through the air and plunge themselves in the tarp, cleanly passing through the tent and out the other side, thudding in the dirt.
Waiting patiently with a predatory smile on my face I watch as Orochimaru walks out of the tent, armed. His long black hair falls flatly and from behind he looks like a woman. Stiffening, he turns around as he senses my presence and his cold, heartless eyes lock with mine.
Orochimaru's lackeys run to him and he motions for them to stay away, this is between us only. Walking out of the trees I purposely shift Sasuke's cloak to reveal the long, deadly blade hanging from my hip. Orochimaru's stare glazes over with realization and he says out loud, "I'm going to enjoy this very much, Winter."
I grab my writing pad and furiously write, 'I've never met someone so eager to meet their death.'
Orochimaru raises his eyebrow in amusement at my inability to speak and replies, "Neither have I. You do know that to kill me it's a life for a life, if you even get that close. Everyone who's tried has failed."
'I'm not everyone,' I glare at him as he reads my words. Walking towards Orochimaru I size him up, he does the same with me.
"You're right, I've never had an attempted assassination from a heartbroken teenage girl."
'What the heck are you talking about?' I scribble, my handwriting barely discernable.
"That is why you're fighting me, right? For Sasuke-Kun?" He must catch my uneasiness because he continues, "When we ambushed him he only said one thing, he wanted a bargain. He bargained that if we killed him we were to not harm you." Sasuke was willing to die for me? My eyes widen and Orochimaru chuckles.
'This isn't about Sasuke.' I lie through my teeth, well, my hand. 'This is about you, your time is over, old man.'
"Liar. You want to kill me to protect your beloved." He says, his hands grazing his weapon. Instinctively, my grip tightens on Sasuke's blade.
'I don't love Sasuke.' My jaw clenches.
"Oh? But he loves you." Even though I know he is lying, for some reason my heart fumbles. Seeing my hesitation, Orochimaru throws a kunai at me.
Dropping the paper back in my pocket I block the kunai with the blade and then at the last second realize the red tags. Leaping away just in time I look back at Orochimaru as where I used to be standing explodes in flames and smoke.
Sakura's P.O.V
Hearing explosions in the distance I stop leaping from the trees and Naruto, Sai and Yamato jump back to me.
"Is everything alright Sakura?" Sai asks his hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah I'm good, but did you hear those explosions?" I question them. We were sent on a rank B mission to stake out Orochimaru's whereabouts and were on our way to where Pakkun, Kakashi's dog, says he could smell the strong scent of blood. But not just any blood, he smelled Sasuke's blood.
Yamato shakes his head as some more explosions sound in the distance. Naruto snaps his head in the direction of the sounds and locks eyes with me. Like we could read each other's minds, we leap toward the noise.
******
Yamato holds us back as we come close to a clearing in the forest. Seeing tents in the distance I realize what we're looking at. "He's moving hideouts! Sasuke could be over there!" I try to get up but Yamato grabs me and then grabs Naruto as a second thought.
"Listen to me. You cannot reveal yourselves under any circumstances whatsoever, even if you see Sasuke. Revealing us would be the death of us. All of Orochimaru's subordinates are over there and we can barely manage to work as a team, nevertheless, fight all of them. You hear me?" Yamato says sternly.
Grudgingly, we all nod and that is when I notice a familiar dark blonde head of hair, fighting one on one with none other than Orochimaru himself.
Winter.
"I know her!" I exclaim, "She's the girl I told you about, the one who knows Sasuke."
Naruto looks at her and murmurs, "She must be strong to go up against Orochimaru alone. We should go help her."
Yamato tightens his grip on Naruto and grits his teeth in exasperation.
"We have to go help her!" Naruto objects, pulling against Yamato.
"No Naruto. We can't." Yamato growls. "Remember what I told you about Orochimaru? He can only be killed if his killer dies at the same time with the same blade. It's a life for a life, so unless you're planning on killing yourself sit your butt down."
We all still as we focus on the long blade that Winter holds. Is she really going to stab herself? An uneasy feeling grows in my stomach as I watch my friend battle to the death.
I've always loved Sasuke and yet, I would never have the guts to do what she is doing right now. She looks so beautiful fighting for Sasuke, even though she might not have feelings for him, she cares about him and she's doing everything she can to protect him.
Why do I feel so guilty?
It should be me fighting, I should be the one protecting my beloved, giving everything for them. It should be me, and not her.
Winter's P.O.V
Stab. Block. Jump. Throw. Repeat.
The fight with Orochimaru was growing tiresome as one couldn't get the advantage of the other. The fight was as equal as the fights with Sasuke.
Sasuke's katana clashes with Orochimaru's knife and sparks fly as the metals grind against each other, "Give up girl," Orochimaru taunts me, his tongue flicking out.
Grunting I push against him with all my power and my force launches him backward. Allowing myself a little bit of triumph I let my guard down and a blade suddenly pushes against my throat.
"Shadow clones. You were never good with them were you?" Orochimaru's voice sounds from behind me.
Confused, I look to see the Orochimaru who I just pushed away from me disappear in a puff of smoke.
"You tried your hardest girl, I'll give you that-"
I stab him in the stomach with one of my own shorter knives and turn away, his knife cutting my neck but not deep enough to be fatal.
Orochimaru grunts in pain and doubles over like he was about to vomit. Instead of vomiting, a head appears out of his mouth and soon a body follows. A new Orochimaru walks toward me, completely healed, no stab wound in sight.
Angry, I prepare to launch myself at Orochimaru again when a voice shouts, "Winter, don't!"
Every muscle in my body freezes as I see Sasuke standing behind Orochimaru. My prey turns around, eyes wide. "I just knew you would turn up soon enough." Orochimaru hums in pleasure, but his words were drowned out as I took in Sasuke.
Sasuke's face is as white as snow as he must have run all the way here after waking up. His eyes search my face and then they rest on my eyes.
I shift my face, 'I need to do this.'
'Why?' He urges, 'Come back with me.'
"Now that is interesting. Non-verbal communication." Orochimaru speaks, impressed.
Sasuke lifts my goodbye letter in his left hand, almost as if he hasn't let it go since I gave it to him. "You gave me my life back as well, and yes you did impact my life, so much that my life is now completely upside down. I need you, Winter, don't do this." My heart warms in the realization that he had answered my letter.
'I'm sorry.' A tear runs down my cheek against my will and Sasuke's eyes burn into mine.
"Without you, I'll be tormented, even more, please don't. I'll stop you." He threatens me.
I knew he would stop me, it's why I came prepared. Forgive me Sasuke.
Walking up to Sasuke I see the relief on his face he reaches out for me but I snap the golden chain from around my waist onto his wrists, bringing him to his knees. His face turns to that of utter confusion and disbelief as I chain him to the nearest tree.
Knowing he's not at his full strength, Sasuke won't be able to break that chain for a while. Turning my back to him, my heart throbbing with pain, I ignore his shouts and face Orochimaru once more.
My heart cracks at the sound of Sasuke trying to snap the chain, I want to reach out to him, hug him, anything... but I can't. Instead, another tear runs down my cheek as I brace myself for the next round.
Orochimaru smiles as three more of him appear, not knowing which one is which I go to stab them all but my legs give out from underneath me.
"Winter please!" I hear Sasuke shout, his voice washing over me.
I exhale but it comes out as a sob as a few more tears threaten to spill. "Dear, dear, girl. You do love him don't you?" Orochimaru brushes away one of my tears with his thumb before I slice his hand off and he disappears in a cloud of smoke.
Another Orochimaru chuckles behind me. "You know girl, you brought this on yourself..." His voice was soft, "You should have just died when you were supposed to." Grinning with cruelty he snapped an arm out quicker than I could see and he stabbed me in the abdomen.
"Winter!"
Falling completely to the ground I cough up blood as I remember:
I was in the Akatsuki training room. The sharp, bitter scent of sweat and body odor filled the room as Pain paced in front of me. Sweat glistened on my forehead and my chest heaved up and down as my lungs tried to grab as much oxygen as possible.
"One more time Winter, you nearly had it." He encouraged, clearly annoyed at how long it was taking me to learn a simple Jutsu. "Focus on the amount of chakra, you're using too much. Hand signs are one thing, chakra control is another."
Once again, I did the signs and focused on my chakra. This time, I succeeded.
Orochimaru leaned over me in my weakened state, a look of disappointment on his face. "We could have been so powerful together you and me, then you had to go and plot my death with the Akatsuki. Shame on you." He nudged me with his shoe and I heaved up another mouthful of blood.
Orochimaru's clones disappear and leave the real him standing. He turns his back on me and walks toward Sasuke who has stopped struggling and was now facing Orochimaru with a look of disgust.
No attention on me, I use my chance and act immediately. The real me jumps out of the bushes behind Sasuke and grabbing my two knives I pin Orochimaru's hands on either side of him on a tree.
Orochimaru stutters in disbelief as he realizes he can no longer make hand signs. He looks over at the Winter lying on the ground in a pool of blood and she disappears in a cloud. "Sh-shadow clone?" He manages. I nod grimly and Sasuke shakes his head muttering no.
I silently thank Pain as I press my back to Orochimaru, ready to end him. Pulling out Sasuke's long katana blade I hover it over my heart and exhale. I can't look at Sasuke if I do I won't be able to kill Orochimaru. Tears no longer on my face, I move the blade toward me.
"WINTER NO!" Sasuke shouts and I shut my eyes, I love you Sasuke.
My heart-shattering in two, I vaguely notice a force pushing me away from Orochimaru as my head cracks against the floor. My ears ringing and my vision blurring, I see Orochimaru slump, a body with their back pressed against his and a long blade through both their hearts.
Who is it? I struggle to see, to open my eyes as I feel myself losing consciousness. Using one last effort my vision clears enough for me to see cherry blossom colored hair, a look of peace on her face as she took my place.
******
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