"Suddenly I grasped what was happening - they were all trying to save me.
I never thought I was worth saving." - Albert Borris, Crash Into Me
Itachi hid himself in a tree's leaves, trying to focus his vision towards the Sound Village. His head was pounding so hard that he thought he may pass out. He put his hand on his forehead.
"Come on, not now." he said under his breath.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to see better but forcing his ocular muscles made his eyes burn.
"Arghhh." he was breathing heavily, trying to calm himself down. "I have to do this. I can't let her..." another pain shot throgh his head, making him sqeeze his eyes shut. "Just for this fight... Then I can rest for eternity if she's safe." he mumbled to himself. It's been so long since he knew her, yet he still couldn't understand why he cared so much or what was that thump in his heart whenever he was worried for her.
His vision adjusted and he observed that the main gate had many guards. Too many. It's like they were expecting rescuers. There were five on the wall and three down in front of the gates. They were all in alert.
Itachi felt a chakra behind him. It was dark and familiar. The blond boy stopped on the branch next to him, looking towards the gates as well. They both wore stern faces.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Why are you here, dattebayo? Why would you want to help Sakura-chan?" the blond asked him calmly, his face not betraying any emotion. Itachi's gaze shifted back to the gates. What could he say? He didn't know why he was doing this either.
"I see you don't talk much. I appreciate your help, unlike the others." Naruto said folding his arms to his chest. "But we gotta make a good plan to get in and I'm not the brightest when it comes to this."
***
Sakura dressed in that beautiful dress that Suigetsu brought her. She analyzed herself from head to toes in the fancy mirror. She giggled.
Karin was watching her smiling. It was unbeliveable that she could giggle after everything and she admired the pinkette for this, for her strenght. The red haired woman thought about how could Sasuke be so cruel to such a fragile creature who made everyone like her.
A sudden explosion shook the entire building, making Sakura stumble. She turned scared towards Karin but she was as shocked as the pinkette.
The door was slammed open and Suigetsu and Juugo ran inside, panicked. They were panting heavily. Suigetsu rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"It's the Jinchuuriki. He found us. He came for her." he told Karin, his eyes looking up through his bangs. The red haired woman pressed her lips in a thin line, thinking intensively. Sakura's eyes widened in shock.
"Naruto..." she whispered, looking nowhere in particular.
"We have to take her from here." Juugo spoke calmly. The pinkette's gaze shot towards him.
"Where's Sasuke?" Karin asked, trying to keep her calm.
"Already downstairs, I assume. He is the only one who can face him."
Karin turned to Sakura with pity in her eyes. She saw her scared and shocked expression. The punkette's body started to tremble uncontrollably at the realization. He was here, to save her. After she betrayed him. He risks his life for her when she doesn't deserve it. She gulped, her eyes becoming teary.
"Come on, now! Hurry!" Suigetsu pushed Karin's shoulder lightly.
"No!" she said gaining everyone's attention.
"What? Karin... What are you talking about?" the white haired man asked confused.
"We are not taking her anywhere." the woman demanded sternly.
An unknown person ran into the room, looking at the four of them who seemed to be in a middle of an argument.
"Someone else came with the Jinchuuriki. An Akatsuki. It's gonna be too dangerous, we gotta take her out of here." he tried to give them the information as fast as he could, panting.
"See? I told you, woman." Suigetsu grabbed Sakura's upper arm harshly, trying to drag her towards the door. She protested.
"Let go of me!" she shouted at him.
"Suigetsu! We are not taking Sasuke's orders anymore. Stop being a mindless puppet for one minute and think. He is torturing her." Karin said putting the accent on torture. "We can't support that. Sasuke was swallowed by darkness."
"Karin is right." Juugo stepped in.
"What? This is ridiculous. Come on, you two can't be serious." the white haired man argued. Sakura's gaze shifted between them.
"Wait..." she spoke for the first time. "I firstly need to retreive something. An important scroll. Do you know where he may keep it?"
Karin rubbed her chin, thinking.
"In the office. There he keeps the important stuff."
Karin passed by Suigetsu and gently grabbed Sakura's wrist. She looked into her hopeful eyes.
"Let's get this done with and set you free." she smiled gently at the pinkette.
The four of them walked through the long corridor until they stopped in front of a huge wooden door. Karin tried to open it but it was locked. It wouldn't budge.
"Damn it!"
"I could break it without the chakra seals." Sakura said sadly, losing all her hope.
"Too early to give up. I may help. Those are dezactivated using Sasuke's chakra. When he tries to tame me, he pumps his chakra into me, mixing it with mine and calming me down. Perhaps my chakra could break them." Juugo spoke calmly.
"You people can't be serious."
The orange haired man grabbed her wrists and concentrated some chakra into his hands. A light blue light surrouded her wrists and she felt the waves of chakra running through her body again. It was so refreshing. She felt so powerful once again.
They all stepped back and watched her approach the door.
"Shanaroooo!" her fist full of chakra made contact with the door, breaking it and making them gasp.
"Wow, what strenght!" Karin breathed while Suigetsu was leaning on the wall, terrified.
She stepped into the dark room, her feet carrying her to the huge wooden desk. She had no time to analyze the rest of the room. Her fingers pulled open forcefully random drawers as she searched through the random documents. Finally, in the last drawer she found it.
***
"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, running towards Sasuke.
"Chidori!" the sound of thousad birds was heard.
"Amaterasu!" Itachi lit a line of black flames in between the two of them, making them stop.
He casually walked in front of Sasuke.
"Why are you here, aniki?" Sasuke asked with venom in his voice. He wasn't pleased about the fact that his brother, who should help him with the revenge, was here to stop him. Despite all his sufferince he was still standing with the village.
"Sasuke... Revenge is not the answer." he answered calmly.
"What do you know about that?" Sasuke shouted "I was left alone because of them." he charged at his older brother but his sword clashed against a kunai that he took out.
"Tch."
Sasuke jumped back. He made some hand seals and breathed fire towards his brother. He knew that to avenge his clan, he had to get past his brother, and this is what he will do. He doesn't want to kill him. He want to kill only Naruto.
Itachi sheltered himself with his Susano. In some seconds, Itachi's foot made contact with Sasuke's face, sending him flying into the closest wall. He hit it roughly, losing his breath for some seconds and falling on the ground. The younger Uchiha coughed some blood as he tried to lift himself up, on his legs. He wore a wicked smirk on his face.
"So this is how it will go..." he activated his Susano.
"I know you can't hold it too much, aniki. You may be smart, but your chakra level is low." he chuckled darkly.
Itachi picked up the sword that Sasuke dropped some minutes ago and set it's blade into the black flames. Naruto stood back and watched in awe how an Akatsuki put his life in danger for Sakura. It was suspicious.
Itachi dodged the hit which was thrown by Susano's fist. He jumped into the air, focusing his chakra on his legs, and standing on the roof. His long hair was hanging. The floor cracked, making the building shake.
Sasuke tried to catch Itachi but he jumoed again on Susano's arm, getting in front of his head, where Sasuke was, and pushing the blade in black flames into Susano's head. The sword pierced through Sasuke's defense, making him sweat. It's pointy end stopped right in front of his face. He lost the control of his Susano. It disappeared, making him fall on the hard ground.
Itachi landed in front of him, taking small steps towards Sasuke who looked unconscious. He grabbed his collar, and lifted him into the air, looking into his half closed eyes. The older Uchiha thought that putting his little brother into Tsukuyomi would give him more time to find Sakura. He wasn't certain that Sasuke won't break it, but it was worth a shot.
Just when he wanted to put his brother into a genjutsu, the agonizing pain from his eyes returned, making his head throb.
"Aghhh!" he put a hand on his eye, breathing slowly. He felt a thick liquid pouring from both of his eyes, feeling them burning and burning his brain with them too. The older Uchiha, dropped his little brother on the floor, falling on his knees and breathing heavily. He couldn't see anything.
Sasuke got up on his legs, stumbling. He activated his chidori, looking down at his hurt brother. His eyes held only hatred and darkness, there was no light or mercy. He could walk over anything to avenge his clan.
"Mother, father..." he whispered.
"Rasen shuriken!" Naruto shouted, throwing his special Rasengan towards Sasuke who was about to pierce through Itachi with his Chidori. He caught his best friend off guard, the Rasengan cutting the avenger's arm.
He screamed in pain and fell on the floor with blood pouring from his arm. He was breathing heavily and his vision blurred feeling his conscience slipping away. Itachi raised his head, looking at the gore scene in front of him. His brother was losing too much blood.
"Sasuke..." he whispered.
Sasuke's eyes moved to his brother. He felt his body cold and numb. He couldn't move.
"I can't let you be swallowed by darkness. Not like that. Not when it's my fault." he crawled towards his little brother. He coughed a few times, spilling blood on the floor. His trembling hand reached a kunai from his pocked.
When he was near Sasuke, he watched him in the eyes. Memories of their childhood flew through his mind, making the cold hearted criminal cry.
"It didn't have to end like this but..." he smiled softly with the image of a certain pink haired kunoichi in his mind. Her bright green eyes and her gentle smile. If he was to die here and now, this is how he wanted to be. With her image in his mind. It was incredible how it could calm him down and forget about his pain and sorrow. "You hurt someone that... I think I care about." he coughed. He felt his throat dry and sore. "Sasuke... This is the end of the Uchiha clan and no matter what, I will love you... Always." he gripped tight the kunai, letting his tears fall on his hand that was about to slaughter his brother. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes shut.
"Itachi, stop!" he heard a familiar voice shouting. He opened his eyes wide but couldn't see anything in the distance. Everything was blurry. But a distinct thing he noticed, something that caught his attention. An unusual colour. Pink.
"Sakura." he whispered.
Her hurried steps carried the kunoichi towards the two, almost lifeless, brothers. Sasuke watched her with sorrow in his eyes, realizing how much he hurt his old team mate. What was he thinking? He was a selfish bastard who only cared about himself. He only hurt a person whose only mistake was to love such a ritten soul. A person who wasted her time and tears on someone insignificant. She had tears in her eyes, making them even brighter. Worry was written all over her face. But something else was present there.. That kind of concern that a person holds only when a loved one is in danger. He remembered this ever since they were 13. But this time, it wasn't directed towards him. His eyes moved to his brother's face and observed that he was shocked to hear her voice.
She stopped near them, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She cried like a little child who was lost from her mother.
"Brothers... Aren't supposed to fight." her voice was trembling.
Karing, Juugo and Suigetsu were watching the terrifing scene in silence and so did Naruto.
The pinkette bent down and analyzed Sasuke's damaged arm. She felt a lump in her throat. No matter how bad he treated her, she couldn't stop caring about him. It wasn't like before, but it was still there.
She started pumping warm chakra into his arm to stop the bleeding. His sorrowful face watched her closely, wondering why didn't she let him die already.
"Sakura... I'm sorry... For everything."
Her eyes were filled again with tears, hearing his words.
"You idiot..." she closed her eyes shut. He didn't dare to say anything more.
*
After she was finished, she got up, turning to Naruto. She smiled softly at him, through tears.
"Sakura-chan..." he whispered.
She ran to him and jumped at his chest hugging him tight. She buried her face into his clothes, letting a cry of pain out. He caressed her hair, his eyes glued on Itachi who was watching them both with a hurt expression. She didn't even aknowledged him.
"You came to save me." she whispered.
"Sakura-chan, Itachi did almost everything."
The pinkette pulled apart and turned towards Itachi. She felt her heart drumming in her chest at a high speed and heat raising in her cheeks. He cared about her. He put himself in danger to save her. She didn't know how she could repay him, but she knew that she had to do something for him.
"Arigato, Itachi-kun." she said softly.
His heart escaped a beat. The older Uchiha nodded slowly.
"Let's go home, Sakura-chan."