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THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED

stfuSPARKS

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters- and I don't own the song or lyrics 'Awake' by Secondhand Serenade either :).

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XVIII.

Awake

"And you're lying real still

But your heartbeat is fast

Just like mine."

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There was a blinding white light, and then-

Nothing.

Sasuke kept his eyes shut, bracing himself for the explosion to hit him. When it didn't come, the first thought that raced through his mind was- had it really been that fast? He had expected his death to be quick, but this was simply ridiculous.

Was he in heaven? He had never been a big believer when it came to the afterworld, but he could still feel the weight of Sakura's limp body in his arms. At least it meant that they were still together. It didn't really make sense though- it wasn't as if either of them had been saints during their lifetime.

"Huh? What happened?"

No, this was definitely not heaven, Sasuke decided. He clearly heard Naruto's voice interrupt the silence- anything that indicated an eternal afterlife with that idiot couldn't possibly considered heaven. Maybe this was purgatory. Sasuke slowly cracked an eye to see his brother, looking curiously at their surroundings.

This was definitely hell. Naruto and Itachi were here. But that didn't make sense either- it couldn't be hell if Sakura was there with him.

It took him a moment to realize the truth.

They were still alive.

Everyone else looked just as shocked as he was. He was startled to see that they were no longer standing inside the lobby of Sound Corporation- because there wasn't a Sound Corporation anymore to begin with. The entire building had collapsed, reduced to a pile of rubble and dust. The sky above them was exposed as Sasuke realized that the building had indeed gone through the self-destruction process- but it still didn't explain why they were alive.

"It's her." Neji whispered, breaking the silence once again. His sharp eyes were fixated above them, onto something that none of them could see. "It's stretched out so thin that it's almost invisible, but it's still there. The red barrier." he carefully explained, and suddenly his gaze snapped towards the pink haired girl in Sasuke's arms. "It has to be her."

They all stood in silence for a second as everyone's eyes turned towards Sakura.

"She's still breathing." Sasuke murmured, feeling the relief wash over his body at the way her chest rose up and back down with every breath she took. His grip on her slightly tightened as he looked around to see that their area had been untouched by the destructive force of the explosion.

Naruto broke into a run, but was shoved aside by Deidara who frantically scrambled to his feet and reached her side with lightning speed. The look in his icy blue eyes could be described as nothing else but pure panic as his sweaty hands found her frail ones.

"Sakura-chan," Deidara shakily whispered, slightly pulling her away from the younger Uchiha. "Sakura-chan, you did it- we're all alive, thanks to you. You can stop now... we're all safe." He choked on his own words before continuing. "You have to stop it! If you keep on abusing your power like that, you'll..."

His voice trailed away.

"She'll what?" Naruto barked, looking alarmed. "Why are you talking like she'll die?"

Deidara cast him an incredulous look. "Are you stupid?" he asked in disbelief. "Sakura-chan's powers are strong, but she's not invincible! Don't you see how weak she is right now? Even for her, creating a barrier to protect us from that kind of explosion is almost impossible! Plus she made sure to cover every single one of us... I'm almost positive that it took a huge toll on her body! If she keeps this barrier activated, the strain will kill her!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as his sudden statement.

She couldn't die, not now.

Not when they had gone through all of that trouble to bring down Sound Corporation.

He pulled her away from Deidara and held her close to his face, so that his lips were barely brushing her earlobe.

"Don't leave me now." he whispered in a broken voice. "You can't do this to me, Sakura."

Nothing changed. She didn't even stir in his arms as the seconds ticked by, with everyone's eyes on her petite little body. Sasuke was about to finally give up, when Neji finally spoke up again.

"It's disappearing." The white eyed boy murmured with a look of pure awe on his face. "The barrier- it's disappearing."

Sasuke felt something akin to hope swell up in his chest as he pulled back to look at Sakura. A pained gasp escaped her lips before her eyes snapped open and one of her hands shot up to snatch his shirt. She took a couple of deep breaths before her bewildered eyes settled on his face.

Her eyes were green.

"Sa... Sasuke..." she gasped out, as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. Her grip on him slightly loosened as she found comfort in his bottomless black eyes. "I..."

"Don't talk." Sasuke interrupted her, gently putting a hand over her mouth. "You'll need that energy to recover. We need to get you back to Shino so that he can find a way to extract the zirconium from your body."

She frantically shook her head, her green eyes panicking. "I don't have enough time, Sasuke." she breathed out, reaching for one of his hands.

"What are you talking about?" he almost snarled, looking furious. "Don't be stupid Sakura, now isn't the right time."

She looked like she was about to say something when another set of coughs racked her body. Sasuke started to get back up onto his feet, when Itachi stopped him by setting a hand onto his shoulder. The younger Uchiha almost snapped at the contact, but tried to reel in his anger for the sake of the pink haired girl in his arms..

"She's right otouto. Time has run out already." Itachi's voice was a mere murmur, but it made everyone shudder all the same.

"What do you mean she ran out of time?" Naruto asked fearfully.

Itachi's cold red eyes briefly flickered over towards the blond for a moment. "Look at her injuries," he finally said with a sigh. "It's impossible for her to recover from those injuries. The zirconium has been in her bloodstream for too long, and she's lost too much blood from the bullet she took to the shoulder. She used too much of her powers to protect us from that explosion- even if we somehow miraculously managed to get the zirconium out, I don't see how she would have enough power to heal herself."

Sasuke's eyes snapped back towards Sakura. "Is this true?" he asked in a low voice, his face eerily blank. He emitted a deep growl when she bit her lip and turned away from him. "Sakura..." he warningly said, as his eyes narrowed.

"You don't have to take me to Shino." she finally looked up into his charcoal black orbs. "I just want to say goodbye before..."

"No you don't!" Sasuke finally snapped, as anger flooded his handsome features. "Don't you even dare say anything of the sort, Sakura. You are not going to say goodbye to anyone because you're not going anywhere. You're staying right here with me- I'm tired of you always accepting death so easily! You should value your life more! Stop being so goddamn selfish- when will you finally realize that the people around you will suffer if you die?"

His words rendered her speechless for a second, as her eyes slightly widened. Sasuke had never told her about his past, but there was an immense amount of unvoiced loss that always surrounded him whenever he was alone. Something about him told her that he had experienced the death of someone close to him before, which made him reluctant to get close to people in the first place.

He was right. She had always risked her life as it was nothing, never thinking about the consequences. Even two years ago, when Deidara had saved her from her suicide attempt, she hadn't been necessarily thinking about anyone else. Deidara, who had been nothing but a stranger to her at the time, had even jumped into the water to save her- and all she had done was get angry at him for doing so.

Barely more than a week ago, when she had almost died- at the time, she thought that she was helping Sasuke and the others. She figured that by dying, she would be relieving them of a burden. She hadn't bothered to think of what Sasuke would actually think- maybe that was what Lee and Idate had tried to tell her when she had been drifting in the lines between life and death.

"Sakura, how would you feel if I was the one who died?" he quietly asked her.

That's when it hit her.

A feeling of immeasurable fear overcame her entire body as she imagined Sasuke dying for a mere fraction of a second. It was only a thought in her head, but the overall notion of him dying and leaving her behind left her absolutely speechless.

This was different from Idate's death. She had definitely been devastated at the time- but she felt like she could still go on with her life. He had been an extremely important figure in her life, so the feeling of emptiness that came with his death was still there- but despite all the mourning and all the tears, it had been a wound that she knew would eventually close.

However, the thought of Sasuke dying made her knees weak and her head blank. She felt like if he died, she would never be able to fully recover from the misery that his loss would bring her.

He was important to her now. So important that her life would no longer have meaning if he disappeared from it.

"I'd want to die as well," she whispered, looking slightly ashamed.

His face immediately softened at her words. "And what makes you think that I'd be any different?" he told her almost gently. "What makes you think that I would be able to live without you?"

She didn't have an answer for him.

"But it's too late." she choked out with a pained expression. "I'm not going to survive these wounds. Deep down, you know it too, Sasuke."

He didn't want to admit it, not in a million years- but he knew she was right. Itachi's words had been true.

"She's running out of time, and fast." Itachi quietly told him.

Her emerald green eyes briefly flickered towards Deidara, who was standing over Sasuke with a heartbroken face. "Deidara..." she whispered, reaching her free hand towards him. This time, Sasuke didn't move to stop her. "Thank you for believing in me when no one else did. I wouldn't be here today without you."

Deidara choked out a laugh, turning his face away from her. "Stop talking like you're leaving forever, stupid. We'll get you patched up in no time and you'll be fine by tomorrow morning. If you're good, I'll even take you out to your favorite sushi restaurant downtown." She couldn't see his face from her position, but she briefly saw him wipe something off his face with his sleeve.

"Yeah..." A sad smile graced her lips. ""You better. You know how much I love that place."

Her breaths were reduced to short pants now, as she shivered in Sasuke's arms.

"Sasuke..." She looked back at him, capturing his full attention. "We'll meet again one day... right?"

Sasuke managed to give her a small smirk through his pain. "What are you talking about? You must be delirious. Didn't you hear what Deidara said back there? You'll be fine by tomorrow morning. Stop being such a pessimist. If you get better soon, I promise to take you to that favorite restaurant of yours every day for a month." His free hand barely ghosted over her bloodstained cheek. "You can rest now."

She smiled one last time.

And stopped breathing.

Sasuke couldn't stop himself this time- he finally let the tears fall.

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"Sasuke!"

Naruto's cry went unheard as an inexplicable rage overcame the Uchiha's body. Sakura's limp body slipped through his arms and roughly dropped onto the ground as he abruptly stood up, clutching his head. A pained scream escaped his lips as his onyx eyes melted into a familiar shade of red for the second time in his life.

"This again?" Deidara asked in disbelief as Sasori immediately pulled him backwards from the imminent danger. They could all only stare in horror as the ugly black markings spread through the entire right side of his body.

"Sasuke-teme, you have to control it!" Naruto shouted, taking a few steps forwards before Kiba immediately grabbed him by the wrist. The blond struggled against his strong grip before whirling around to glare at his friend. "Let go of me Kiba!"

Kiba's sharp eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to get yourself killed Naruto?" he snorted, struggling again the blonde's immense strength. "You may not remember because you weren't in your right mind either, but the last time this happened, Sasuke wasn't exactly too eager to have a conversation with us!"

"So are you saying that we should just let him be?" Naruto asked, his jaw dropping open.

The brunette in front of him shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is that there's nothing we can do for the guy right now. Sakura gave her life to protect us from the explosion, so don't be all rash by putting your life at risk so easily!"

Naruto's blue eyes immediately flashed at hearing the pink haired girl's name. "That's why I have to do this. Sakura-chan would never be able to forgive herself if she knew that Sasuke became like this because of her." His azure eyes looked directly into Kiba's, lacking their usual sparkle. "I'm not going to lose Sasuke-teme now, not after everything we've been through."

Kiba loosened his grip without even realizing it. Naruto shot him one last sad grateful smile before whirling around to run towards his friend.

"Is he crazy?" Kisame sharply asked, making sure to take a couple of steps backwards. Even the huge blue-skinned man couldn't help but feel intimidated by the huge amount of power that was flowing out of the raven haired boy. "He's going to get himself killed!"

The Hyuuga shook his head, his white eyes never leaving Naruto. "No," he slowly said. "Naruto is the only one who can stop Sasuke now. I believe in him."

Deidara shook his head in disbelief once again. "You may believe in him but I sure as hell don't."

They could only watch as the blond finally reached his best friend.

Sasuke's cruel gaze immediately snapped towards him. Naruto couldn't help but shiver at the sheer force behind that stare- he never would have thought that it would be possible, but the power that was emanating from Sasuke's body far surpassed Sakura's. The markings were spreading even further, almost reaching the left side of his body now.

"Teme, you have to stop this." Naruto muttered, placing a hand onto his friend's shoulder. His sky blue eyes never wavered as they stared straight into Sasuke's strange and unique eyes. They were different from Sakura's red eyes- while hers were a shade of bright red, Sasuke's eyes were a darker shade of crimson. Another abnormality that set them apart was the fact that his eyes had three distinct black markings that almost looked like commas.

Sasori's observant eyes did not miss this. "His eyes are different," he stated, never taking his eyes off of the enraged man. "I didn't get the chance to see them up close last time, but now that I'm safely standing at a distance I can tell that his eyes are in no way similar to Sakura's. His eyes are an entire different shade of red... almost similar to Itachi's." With these words, he glanced at the older Uchiha who wasn't standing too far.

Deidara squinted. "He's right!" he exclaimed when he realized his partner's words were true. "They're the same as Itachi's, except his doesn't have those weird black markings around the pupils."

Everyone turned towards the said man for some sort of explanation.

"The Sharingan." Itachi murmured. "That's what it's called."

"How would you know what it's called?" Kisame asked sharply. "Itachi, there's something you're obviously not telling us."

"It's the Uchiha clan's most protected secret." He answered, never taking his eyes off of his little brother. "Once every fifty years, the first born child of the head of the clan will be born with mysterious powers that we have named the 'Sharingan' over time."

Neji looked at him with a questioning glance. "You just said that it's usually the first born child who is born with these powers. If that were to be true, then that would make you the owner of the Sharingan, not Sasuke. Sasuke is clearly the second son, he shouldn't have these powers."

"Perceptive as always, Hyuuga." Itachi said with a nod. "I was indeed supposed to receive the Sharingan, but as you can see, something obviously went wrong. The Sharingan is usually activated later in the years, just like Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto's powers were activated only recently."

"But your eyes were red to begin with." Deidara pointed out, finally catching on. "You're considered to be one of the strongest members of the Akatsuki, but you've never displayed any sort of abnormal powers. What does that mean?"

"You could compare me to a factory defect." Itachi slowly said. "I was supposed to be born with those powers, but something went wrong. I was born with these eyes but was never able to display any of the powers. The rest of my family thought that it was because my powers were too extreme, but when I reached eighteen and my powers still hadn't activated, they knew that it was Sasuke."

There was a tense silence. There was an unvoiced question that ran through all of their heads.

Did all of this have to do with the infamous Uchiha Massacre?

It was as if Itachi had read their minds. "They were going to kill him," he said in quiet voice. "I did what I had to do to protect him."

They all stayed silent- they were all curious of why the Uchiha clan had been planning on killing Sasuke, but they knew better than to press the matters further with the elder Uchiha. The finality in Itachi's voice made it clear that this conversation was over.

"Well how do we stop it?" Kiba adamantly asked, looking back towards the blond. "If we don't do something soon, Naruto's going to be killed and I doubt that your little brother will come out of this unscathed."

The power that was coming from Sasuke was increasing with every minute that passed. Even Naruto was trying to hang on under the sheer pressure of his force, but he was having a hard time as Sasuke shook with anger.

"This is entirely up to them now," the taller raven haired man murmured. "They don't know it right now, but Sasuke and Naruto both have the power to help Sakura."

Deidara was at his throat within seconds. The long haired blond hissed through his teeth as he grabbed Itachi by the collar, staring straight into his red eyes. "Listen you bastard, I don't know what you're trying to get at but it's not funny. Sakura-chan is dead- nothing they can do can fix that now." His eyes narrowed threateningly. "I know that you're an emotionless prick, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are unaffected."

Itachi looked unaffected by Deidara's furious outburst. "I will admit that I am not as affected by all of this as you are, but do you really think that I am the person to crack jokes at a time like this?"

Sasori set a hand on Deidara's shoulder as the blond loosened his grip on Itachi's collar. "He's right," the redhead murmured, nodding his head. "Why don't we try to listen to what he has to say? He has no reason to lie to us about something like that."

"I don't have to explain myself to you." Itachi never broke eye contact with him. "Nothing you can do right now can help. It is entirely up to them now."

Deidara let go of Itachi to glance back at the two younger men who were confronting each other at a distance.

Sasuke's shaking had ceased. Pure anger emanated from his body as he glared right into Naruto's blue eyes.

"It's all up to them now." Itachi repeated, in a lower voice.

Deidara just hoped that they would make the right decision.

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"Sasuke-teme, you have to snap out of this!" Naruto almost shouted desperately, trying not to give in under Sasuke's immense power. The aura around the Uchiha was so heavy that any other normal person would have given in.

Sasuke let out an animalistic growl, as his red eyes darted around to look at his surroundings. Naruto's grip on his shoulder tightened as he felt Sasuke's control over himself slip with every second that passed. "Teme..." he muttered again, wincing. "Do you really think that this is what Sakura-chan would want? Do you think she'd be happy if she knew that she was the cause of this?"

The sound of her name seemed to snap Sasuke's mind back to reality. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second as he stared into Naruto's determined eyes, his black markings slightly receding.

But as fast as it had come, it was gone. Sasuke let out another howl as the black markings stretched across his body once again, almost covering his entire body this time. Naruto didn't have the time to react before Sasuke's hand shot up to grab his arm and twist it. There was a sickening crack and a scream as the blond fell to his knees.

"Teme!" Naruto roared, his patience finally running thin. "Is this what Sakura-chan died for? To have you lose control and harm your own friends?"

"We were never friends," Sasuke snarled viciously. "I never asked you to pity me. I don't need any of you to help me. What do you think that will achieve? Do you think that you'll be able to redeem yourself by trying to save me? Admit it Naruto, you always try to make yourself out to be the good guy but deep inside, you're a monster just like me."

"I never said I was the good guy!" Naruto shouted, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

"But you always act like it." Sasuke sneered in contempt. "It's obvious Naruto, don't even try to deny it. You want to believe that you're not as bad as the rest of us, but deep inside you know that you've done things that you'll never be able to take back either. You try to think that you're the most selfless guy in the world, but don't think that I didn't know that you were only trying to help yourself when you saved me! Or even when you agreed to abandon the mission with me- you didn't do it for Sakura, you only did it so you could feel human one more time."

When Naruto's eyes snapped open, they were bright red.

"Maybe you're right!" Naruto snarled back, standing back onto his feet. The scars on his cheeks once again stretched across his skin to resemble whiskers. His eyes were a shade of bright, angry red, different from both Sakura and Sasuke's eyes. They were more vibrant, more wild. His pupils thinned out into slits, almost making him look animalistic. "Maybe I just saved you and tried to save Sakura-chan because I wanted to feel real once again, but this time it's not like that!"

"I knew it." Sasuke said with a feral grin. "Did you really think you could trick us? You're just as bad as the rest of us, maybe even worse. At least we're sincere about who we are when we're with each other. We don't hide behind a mask like you do, pretending to be good people. We just accept ourselves for who we are, while you still insist on trying to hide it."

Naruto seemed to be completely unfazed by his broken arm now as he glared at his best friend standing in front of him.

"Maybe I was just trying to prove to myself that I'm still human- so what? It's still better than what the rest of you did! You just gave up without even trying in the first place!" Naruto shouted back, as the red aura around him grew bigger. "I'm sorry I'm not content with being a monster, like you are!"

"News flash, dobe." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "The more you try to be human, the weaker you are. You can't survive in this world if you try to be good."

"That's a load of bullshit!" Naruto retorted. "All you care about is getting stronger all the time for your stupid revenge! What are you going to do once you've succeeded in that? You can't go back to living a normal life once you've gone too far."

"Enough with the words," the raven haired man coldly stated. "I'll show you that being stronger is the only way you can survive."

His hand started to crackle with a strange bright blue force that strongly resembled electricity, as the corner of his lips were pulled back into an arrogant smirk

"You leave me no choice, teme." Naruto answered back with a grimace. A vibrant blue sphere formed in between his hands as he brought them together, as if he was gathering all of his energy into that small ball.

They stared at each other for a split second before they finally clashed.

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Naruto's face was a bloody mess as it broke into a grin.

"I have to admit, you're pretty good teme." he panted, laying down on the rubble a couple of meters away from his best friend.

"Same goes to you, dobe. Didn't think you had it in you." Sasuke answered him with a smirk, equally out of breath. He was also on the floor, trying to stop the bleeding from his fresh wound.

They both lay still for a second, not saying a word.

"So I guess we can call this a tie." Naruto chuckled, wiping the blood off of his forehead. His eyes were blue again as he stared up at the infinite sky above them.

"Aa, but it's only for now," the Uchiha answered him. His eyes were once again a shade of ink black. "I'll become more powerful than you one day. It's insulting to think that we're on the same level."

Naruto chuckled. "You never learn your lesson, do you? Just admit it that you'll never be better than me." They were quiet for another moment. "I hope I proved my point, teme. Don't you ever freak out on me like that ever again."

He shifted his gaze over towards Sasuke when he didn't answer. Sasuke was speechlessly staring up at the sky, his face carefully blank. The look in his eyes was completely empty as he breathed in deeply.

"Sakura-chan wouldn't want this." Naruto spoke again, his voice becoming much more quiet. "She would never want you to become like that because of her. Our powers are dangerous, Sasuke-teme. I don't know if you've noticed it, but they're much darker than hers. I don't think we'll ever be able to control it in the way she did."

Sasuke was quiet once again. "Do you think she's finally at peace?" he finally murmured, closing his eyes.

Despite the circumstances of the entire situation, a small smile appeared on Naruto's face as his blue eyes brimmed with unshed tears. "Yeah. Sakura-chan's definitely in a better place now." he answered, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. He really had to stop crying- people were going to give him too much crap if he cried so easily every single time.

Their fight was over. It had lasted for less than a second, but there was an unspoken finality in the air between them. They were best friends for a reason- this was another obstacle that they would be able to overcome together.

"Shit Naruto." Sasuke cursed hoarsely. His cool façade finally broke as his voice betrayed the inner turmoil he felt inside. "After my parents died, I thought I would never be able to grow so close to someone ever again. What am I going to do now that she's gone?

Naruto was speechless as he listened to his best friend open up for the first time in his life. There was something about Sasuke's vulnerability that almost scared him- it just wasn't normal. It made Naruto feel uncomfortable yet extremely sad at the same time.

"You simply move on." Naruto told him quietly. "We honor her memory and move on. That's probably what she would want. It's going to be hard at first, but I know you teme. You're definitely stronger than this. She probably thought so too."

Sasuke shakily got to his feet, ignoring the gaping wound in his shoulder where Naruto's sphere of energy had gotten him. Blood gushed down his torso as he strained his muscles, yet if he felt pain, he didn't show it. He quietly walked back over towards the pink haired girl once again, kneeling by her side. Naruto followed suit, an equally big wound in his abdomen, as a result of Sasuke's attack. He knelt down on the other side.

"What if I can't say goodbye?" Sasuke's tone was carefully flat as he stared into her lifeless green eyes.

"You have no other choice." Naruto told him gently, reaching up a hand to close her eyes. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" he softly spoke again, staring into her relaxed face. "Even with all the blood and dirt, she's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen."

Sasuke managed to weakly snort at him. "You haven't even seen that many girls in your life, dobe." he retorted. "But you're right for once. She's beautiful."

And she was.

Even in death, Sakura's body was almost like a work of art. Her small lithe body was graceful even when she was lying on the ground. Her skin had always been pale to begin with, so it was hard to tell that her heart had stopped beating. Her pink hair splayed out underneath her head- even when it was matted with blood, it was still beautiful.

"She almost looks like she could be sleeping." Naruto whispered, and Sasuke silently agreed.

A couple of meters away from them, Deidara's mouth fell open. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, looking extremely confused. "Weren't they fighting like a second ago? They look like they're getting along just fine now."

Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "That's Naruto and Sasuke for you," he said with a small grin. "You learn to get used to them after awhile. They've been like that since the very beginning- they'll fight to the death one minute, and then they'll go back to being best friends as if nothing ever happened. They're complete opposites, which makes them constantly clash- but in the end, they'll go back to being friends no matter what. It's as if there's a mysterious force pulling them together."

"Sounds familiar." Kisame muttered, shooting both Deidara and Sasori not so subtle glances.

"I don't mean to sound insensible, but shouldn't we be leaving right now?" Sasori asked, blatantly ignoring Kisame's looks. "That explosion was huge, the police are bound to be here soon. All this mess around us if enough to keep us hidden from view for now, but it won't be long until someone looks through all the debris for survivors. How are we going to ever explain this if we get caught?"

Itachi shook his head, as he fixated his gaze among the two younger boys kneeling around the pink haired girl. "Not yet." he murmured. "They still have one more thing to do before we take our leave."

"What are you talking about?" Neji's composure slightly cracked for the first time- the stress of all the events in the past 24 hours was finally getting to him. "There's nothing left to do Uchiha. I'm sorry to sound so blunt but we'll have the time to mourn Sakura's death later, when we're somewhere private."

"You shouldn't speak before you get the facts straight, Hyuuga." Itachi answered bemusedly. "Just watch and you'll understand."

They all turned their gazes towards Naruto and Sasuke.

"What the fuck is that?" Kiba crudely asked, taking a step back in astonishment. No one quite knew how to answer him- they were all too busy being transfixed on the mesmerizing sight before them.

There was a thin layer surrounding the two boys. It was similar to the red and blue barriers that usually appeared around Sakura, except that this time, it was a shade of transparent, pure white. Neither of them seemed to have noticed what was going on around them- both of their gazes were concentrated on the girl.

Sasuke and Naruto's eyes were red again- but this time, the black markings did not appear on Sasuke's body, nor did Naruto's scars lengthen into whiskers. They did not display their usual loss of self-control as they were oblivious to everything that was going on around them.

Sasuke was holding onto one of her hands while Naruto tightly held the other. There was a small trickle of light that was flowing into her body through the contact- it was barely visible but it was still there.

The rest of them could only simply watch in silence as the color flooded back into her cheeks almost agonizingly slowly.

When the white barrier finally faded away after what felt like hours, Sasuke's red eyes darkened into a shade of charcoal black and Naruto's orbs faded into their usual sky blue color. The small light that had appeared at their connected hands finally disappeared, leaving behind no trace as everything returned to normal.

And then-

Sakura opened her eyes again.

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"So are you saying that they somehow transferred their energy into her and revived her?"

Shikamaru looked extremely alert for once, while Shino's face was unreadable behind his dark sunglasses as always. They both sat on the couch back in their headquarters, across from the group who had just returned barely a few minutes ago.

"I know it sounds completely ridiculous, but just hear me out." Kiba enthusiastically told him, flailing his arms around. "So she was definitely dead for at least maybe ten minutes- Naruto and Sasuke both go all crazy, attacking each other and they suddenly make up again. After that, they go sit by her side, and each of them holds one of her hands- some weird white aura surrounds them, and some kind of bright energy flows out of them and into her body. After that, she gets up like nothing happened- she fainted a few seconds later, but her heart was still beating!"

"And you're sure she was definitely dead?" Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow.

The canine boy was starting to look frustrated. "How many times do I have to repeat myself?" he asked with a frown. "She was dead! You can ask any of the others, they were all there to witness it!" He pointed at the group of people behind him.

"Can you confirm this?" Shino asked, turning his head towards Itachi.

"Yes." The older Uchiha confirmed with a nod. "Sakura was heavily wounded during our fight with Orochimaru. He found out about one of her weaknesses- apparently, she is weak against a rare earth metal called zirconium. He had bullets forged of that same material, and succeeded in landing a bullet in her shoulder. In addition to all that blood loss, the zirconium running through her system crippled her powers so that she couldn't heal herself- when the explosion went off, she used up the last of her life energy to force out her powers in an attempt to create a barrier around us to protect everyone. All of that should have killed her. I personally saw her breathing stop when she supposedly died."

"And what happened to Inner Sakura?" Shino inquired. "Hidan told us that she might appear. Did she take no part in this at all?"

The entire group fell silent as Inner Sakura was mentioned. "I don't think we have to worry about Inner Sakura anymore." Sasori quietly told him.

Deidara glanced over towards the closed door of the room where Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were currently resting in. "Orochimaru is dead, Sound Corporation has been destroyed, Sakura-chan is fine and all of us are still alive. I guess we can safely say that it's over now, right?" His blue eyes looked tired, but there was a satisfied look in them. "I have to say, I never liked those two brats to begin with, but I guess they're alright in the end. They protected Sakura-chan with everything they had, so I respect them for that."

There was a moment of silence.

"Let them rest now." Shino finally said, after a few seconds. "They deserve it."

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Sakura's eyes snapped open as she abruptly woke up in a cold sweat.

She felt extremely disoriented for a second as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. When her mind finally registered that she was still alive and breathing, the fog in her brain started to dissipate as she realized that she was in one of the spare rooms in the Akatsuki headquarters. Feeling slightly confused, she tried to move off of the bed she was lying down in, when she realized for the first time that she was not alone; she was trapped between two very familiar and (not to mention) heavy bodies.

She looked to her left to see a familiar shade of raven hair that recently seemed to be capable of making her heart beat faster- he was still fast asleep. To her left, a familiar tuff of blond was slightly stirring as Naruto slowly awoke at her sudden movement. His azure eyes slowly blinked open as he took a couple of seconds of his own to adjust to the new surroundings as well. He looked slightly dazed before his eyes finally focused on the girl sitting up next to him.

"Sak'ra-chan?" he muttered sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "Is that you?

"Yeah, it's me," she whispered, feeling relief wash over her body.

He suddenly bolted up, his eyes widening as he took in her appearance. "Sa...Sakura-chan?" he choked out, looking panic-stricken. "How are you feeling? Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" She blinked back in confusion at the sudden attack of questions. "I thought you were..." His voice trailed away but she knew what he was trying to say.

She shook her head. "I don't know either," she answered softly, lowering her eyes. "I know I was dead, for sure. I don't know how to explain it, but... I just knew. The next thing I know, I'm back here." She winced, looking down at the wound on her shoulder where Orochimaru had shot her- it was carefully wrapped in clean bandages. "As for how I'm feeling... well I still feel like I've been shot but it certainly doesn't feel like I've died and come back to life."

Naruto let out a hoarse laugh, shaking his head. "Sakura-chan, you're seriously the luckiest person I've ever met in my life. I mean who the heck dies twice and comes back to life both times?" He looked incredulous. "But I'm glad you're alive and well."

"What happened Naruto?" Sakura finally whispered, getting to the point. "What happened after I died?"

The blond avoided her gaze, looking at his unconscious best friend instead. "As much as I'd love to be the one to tell you, Sakura-chan, I don't think I'm the right person to ask. You should wait until Sasuke-teme wakes up- I'm sure you guys will want to talk." He stretched his arms out before hopping off the bed and onto his feet. She looked like she was about to protest when Naruto shook his head silencing her before she could even speak a single word. "We'll have plenty of time to talk later, Sakura-chan. As much as I hate to say it, you should stay next to Sasuke's side. He probably has many things he wants to tell you as well."

Sakura simply watched as he gave her one last bright grin, before slipping out the door. He quietly closed the door behind him, making sure not to make any unnecessary sounds that would wake the sleeping Uchiha up.

She turned back towards the sleeping raven haired man observing the smooth planes of his face. He was truly breathtaking, no matter what he was doing- maybe even more so when he was asleep. His face was devoid of its usual glare or smirk for once, and she realized that despite his tough demeanor, he was just a boy like everyone else. It was the first time she had seen him look so vulnerable- he looked so calm when he was asleep, without the usual hidden pain he kept locked inside of him.

She unconsciously brought a hand up to brush his cheek. Her breath was momentarily caught in her throat as his eyes snapped open as soon as her skin came into contact with his. Unlike both Naruto and Sakura, it took him less than a second for him to realize his surroundings, perhaps out of pure habit. When he saw Sakura sitting up next to him, he immediately sat up into an upright position and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Sakura?"

His voice still sounded hoarse from not being able to speak for as long as he had been unconscious. He immediately let go of her when he saw her wince. His eyes looked down to see her bandaged shoulder, and he looked away, looking slightly guilty.

He finally looked back up at her again. "Are we both dead?" he quietly asked, slightly throwing her off guard.

Her eyes slightly widened before she burst into quiet giggles. He looked a bit irritated at her clear amusement at his serious question. "We're not dead, silly," she said, when her chuckles finally died down. "We're both alive and well, and so is Naruto. He woke up right before you did, and went to check up on the others. I think everyone else is fine too."

His face did not falter. "I saw you die though," he told her quietly, his obsidian eyes never looking away from her. "I felt your heartbeat stop. How is it possible that you're still alive?" The slight tone of disbelief in his voice did not escape her.

Sakura softly smiled at him. "I know it's hard to believe, and trust me- I was just as surprised as you were, but I can assure you that we're both alive."

A look of realization suddenly came across his face. "Could it be..." he murmured to himself. She shot him a confused look.

"What happened after I passed out?" She asked him quietly. "I need to know everything, Sasuke."

He hesitated for a moment, but the determined look in her eyes told him that she would not give up until he told ever everything. He also knew that more than anyone else, Sakura had the right to know about everything that had happened.

And so he started to talk. He told her about everything- from Inner Sakura, to Orochimaru's death, to Gaara, to the self-destruction device, to how she had used up the last of her life force to protect them from the explosion, to how she had died, to how he had fought with Naruto, and finally, about the mysterious glow that had emitted from Sasuke and Naruto's bodies and into her.

She was quiet for most of the conversation. To his relief, she did not stop him to ask him about small things or details that he might have left out- she simply listened to what he had to say, her face not changing throughout the entire talk. When he finally finished talking, he waited to see her reaction, something that he couldn't predict for once.

Sasuke was certainly not expecting what she did next.

She closed her eyes and softly held his hands, not speaking for an entire minute. There was a hushed silence as he found himself unable to say anything else as well. He could only stare into her eyes as he waited for her to speak again.

"You saved me, Sasuke."

She opened her eyes again, a look of awe overcoming her pretty features. "I don't know how I didn't notice this as soon as I woke up- but I don't have my powers anymore, Sasuke. Nothing at all."

He looked surprised for a moment. His hand automatically reached for the curse mark that had previously appeared on the back his neck. He couldn't see it, but the look on her face was enough to tell him that it was no longer there either. "Do you think our powers have disappeared because of that?" he asked her quietly.

"Are you disappointed?" she finally asked him, avoiding his question.

Strangely, he found himself not too disappointed at the loss of power. Sure, it had been exhilarating, but only while it had lasted. There was something sinister about those powers that even he did not want to keep around.

"You know Sasuke," she said, with a small but happy smile playing on her lips. "I know this is going to sound ridiculously cheesy, but from the beginning I had a feeling that you were going to be an extremely important person to me. Of course at the time I didn't know if it was going to be in a good way or a bad way- but now I know. It kind of feels like we were brought together by fate, doesn't it?"

He shook his head, confusing her a little. "We weren't brought together by fate," he told her quietly. "We made our own fate."

And then he finally kissed her.

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It took some time, but things gradually started to return to normal.

Well, as normal as it could be when it came to them.

Despite the fact that Sakura had been living with her powers for the past several years, it did not take her much time to get used to living a normal life once again. She had no difficulties in settling back into a life as a completely normal teenage girl, much to her joy. However, the people around her never failed to notice how her brilliant viridian eyes looked like they flashed threateningly red at times when she got extremely angry. It was so fast that no one knew for sure if it was actually there or if it was part of their imagination- but it was something they would never know for sure. It also did not escape them how she still seemed to be much stronger than the average full grown male. For this, many did not stick around to test her patience.

Sasuke's curse mark disappeared without a trace, and so did Naruto's mysterious whisker-like scars on his cheeks. Both of their powers never resurfaced again, and even though no one would ever know what had exactly happened, they had a strong suspicion that their powers disappearing had something to do with the moment when the mysterious white glow had seemingly brought Sakura back to life.

The Akatsuki members had continued on with their usual lives. Sasuke and Itachi hadn't exactly made up, but they had met once and miraculously Sasuke had listened to everything his older brother had to say to him. Their relationship remained slightly strained; however they seemed to have reached an understanding.

The Shinobi had officially disbanded as soon as the whole incident died down. Shikamaru and Kiba had returned to their respective families, and as impossible as it was to fully make amends, they were still working on it. Neji had also returned to his family, and he had taken up the official position as his cousin, Hinata's, protector. Naruto carried on his lifelong dream and opened a ramen stand that became fairly successful- money had never been an issue for him, as long as he was happy.

They never saw Gaara again. No one was sure if the red haired mysterious boy had survived the explosion or not, but Sakura firmly believed that he was still alive as well. Sasuke was never one to believe in false hopes, but he secretly believed that Gaara was still alive as well. Briefly after the incident, the neatly folded picture of a younger version of Sakura and Gaara had showed up at their doorstep- the very one that the red haired boy had carefully hidden behind the picture frame with his siblings.

True to his word, Sai had completely disappeared right before the whole ordeal with Sound Corporation. He returned to the city around two years later, and gradually started to form a real friendship with Sakura, much to Sasuke's displeasure. It was a painfully slow process, but Sakura was patient as even though Sai never quite got there, he still tried hard.

Sakura and Sasuke, on the other hand, both started entirely new lives. Sakura graduated from high school with flying grades once she applied her head to it, and went off to attend a university at a nearby city. She returned home after finally finishing four years of studies- Sasuke eventually returned to the Uchiha compound and took back the business that had previously belonged to his father. He would never admit it, but he patiently waited for her throughout the years. When she finally settled back home, he eventually proposed to her- even though it took him some time due to his immense stubbornness.

Sakura had always dreamed of happy endings and Prince Charmings. She didn't get the royal castle that she had always imagined, and Sasuke was far from the warm and gentle ideal man that she had always wished for-

But when she found herself staring into Sasuke's bottomless obsidian eyes when he told her that he loved her for the first time, she found herself realizing that what she had now was better than anything she had ever dreamed of.

THE END

A/N: Even if I apologize more than a thousand times, it still wouldn't be enough to make up for the fact that I took so long to update. Thank you to everyone who stuck around until the end, and I hope the ending didn't disappoint you too much. Lots of love to all of you.