For someone who had spent his entire life devoted to one purpose, after losing everything and sacrificing everything else, after years of struggling and chasing after things that were always just barely out of his desperate grasp – to die of something completely unrelated before he had even managed to accomplish it seemed entirely pathetic. And to die the way he did was a comical irony.

Maybe he should have been watching where he walked, but he was too immersed in trying to find out which side of the map was up and which side was down to take notice of the coiled and sleeping animal that lay in his path. And naturally, when stepped on, a snake retaliates. Even ones that are supposed to be indentured servants. As he felt the fangs sink into his ankle and the venom release, he froze, rooted to the spot with wide, dumbfounded eyes. It took a moment or two to render, and when it did, his mind was sent into a frenzied panic. The snake had bit him. The poison was fatal.

"Sssorry, Ssssasssuke." It said apologetically, dragging out the 's' in a low hiss. "Refleckssss, you know? Maybe you better watchhh where you walk necksssss time." And then it slithered off and vanished, unwilling to stick around to watch the outcome of its possibly terminal mistake. The map fluttered out of his hand and to the ground below. The snake had bit him. Bit him. Bit him. How was that even possible? They were supposed to be loyal, even if only to the extent that he feared them into it. He was their master. They did not dare bite him!

As he tried to gather his horrified thoughts, a powerful one struck him. He had to do something, otherwise, well. Snake venom was poisonous, after all. But what to do, what to do? The immediate answer dominated his mind. It has to be sucked out, of course. But by who? By me, of course. But he pursed his lips doubtfully. He couldn't quite recall a time where someone had removed the poison from their own veins and saved their own life, it was usually a nearby companion. And unfortunately, he happened to lack those at the very moment. Besides, he was not quite flexible enough to bring his ankle up to his mouth.

He briefly considered a clone, but quickly tossed the notion out of his mind. People don't suck poison out of themselves, and that was that. So instead he raked through his mind hopefully, reviewing briefly over all the basic medical care they had taught him at the academy or that he had picked up in his many years of experience. But all he could come up with was pointless anatomy facts, or the ridiculously long names of rare diseases – nothing that would help him in his current situation. What a waste of his time, learning all of that completely useless junk!

An antidote, then! Wait, we don't have any of those. Well, why not? He worked with deathly poisonous snakes every single bloody day, and he didn't have anything to counteract the effects of their dangerous bite? Why the hell not?? Because they weren't supposed to bite, that's why not. He had figured that they would never dare bite him, the Uchiha Sasuke!

He stood, frantically looking about for anything, grasping inside of his bag, fumbling for things on the ground. Something, anything to help him stop or slow what was inevitably to come. He was so busy trying to stop his death from coming that he did not pause and take the time to fear it or mourn about how much he wished it not to come, not yet, not when he hadn't even... He did not take the time to reflect back or wonder with disdain what would become of him. He didn't even realize it until it was too late.

This was it. This was his end.

The poison spread, and he was dead within minutes.

--

"His scent is getting stronger." Pakkun said, pointing his nose upwards and taking another few sniffs to confirm. "He isn't on the move any longer. He's stopped for some reason. There's something odd about the smell, though." The muzzle around his whiskers wrinkled as he drew his head back with something that looked to be repulse. "Its almost as though... Well, never mind."

Naruto clenched his fists at his side, and Sakura could see the tendons that strained against the tanned skin. His nostrils flared in excitement. She couldn't deny that her pulse too, had started racing, but she kept her anxiousness hidden better than her blond teammate had managed, which took an enormous amount of effort on her part. She would have jumped and cried out in elation if it were not her desire to remain professional and calm. They were in the middle of a dangerous mission. She could not allow herself to let her feelings get the better of her and control her behavior, or they'd never catch him. Sneaking up on Sasuke was near impossible, and would require only the utmost stealth and skill.

"Lead on." Kakashi instructed, dismissing him with a slight sweep of the hand. The dog's short legs carried him easily from tree to tree as he pressed forwards, trailing after the distinct smell of the Uchiha. The team had been composed of seven people, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi in the front – and Sai, Yamato, Hinata and Shikamaru following closely behind as backup. A carefully selected handful of people chosen for what they was sure would be the final Sasuke retrieval mission. This time, they were determined to prevent him from evading them yet again.

Summer was fading into fall, and the leaves on the trees were reddening. The wind began to grow sharper and sting coldly against their faces, and the sky grew cloudier and grayer. Dead and dying branches and twigs crackled and snapped beneath their quickly moving feet as they flew through the forest in pursuit. The orange sun was sinking beneath the distant line of the horizon, and stared directly into their eyes. Sakura breathed in, trying to clear her erratic thoughts. Somewhere beyond those trees he was waiting.

She was a woman, now – twenty one years of age. And even though she had been deprived of his company for long years, he had made such an impact on her that she simply could not forget and could not relent until she was satisfied in knowing that he was safe and sound in Konoha. It had been so long since she had so much as looked upon his blindingly perfect face, heard the deafening sound of his husky voice, basked in the glory of his presence. She was thrilled at the idea of being able to do so once again.

Love him? Yes, she loved him. She had loved him from the moment that she laid eyes on him, and felt it grow from kindled adoration and innocent affection to an overpowering ache that throbbed excruciatingly and consumed her entire body every time she so much as thought his name. Even if it was starting to tear her apart, slowly from the inside out, she would not stop. She had no control over it, and even if she had, she wouldn't want to. She was proud to love him. She wanted to scream it on the rooftops: "I love Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Just through this clearing, now." Pakkun whispered, snapping her out of her daze. He sat on a branch and tensed noticeably. Kakashi followed his suit and paused, holding out a hand and indicating for them to stop. She landed silently on the forest floor below and waited impatiently, holding her breath. But Naruto could no longer contain himself, he shook and trembled, lurching forwards.

"Wait!" Kakashi called, but Naruto paid him no mind and burst unrestrictedly through the trees. "There's something not quite right...!" This was confirmed when the conspicuous orange blob that was Naruto came to an abrupt halt, and even though his face was turned, by his posture she could read his expression. He remained perfectly still in a reverent shock.

Daringly, her body weighed heavily with dread, she stepped forwards apprehensively to see what had caused Naruto to fall into such a fearsome state. Her heart stopped. Her breath was stolen right out of her chest. But only if the sight had really killed her on the spot, and she wasn't forced to let the horrid image imprint itself into her memory forever. There lay the love of her life, first face on the ground, immobile.

While Naruto remained frozen, she stepped forwards precariously, her mind wiped blank and void of anything but numbing shock, and came to his side. She would not reach downwards to feel for a pulse, and she would not look at his chest to check for breathing. She did not want to confirm what she feared more wholesomely than anything else before. The terror gripped her like a great vice, but its hold protected her from the truth that she did not want to admit to herself. "Sasuke?" Her voice came out quietly and wavered like her faith. "What are you doing...?"

There came no reply.

She wasn't even aware that Kakashi was approaching until he knelt at the inanimate boy's side, pressing two fingers against the curve of his exposed neck. He held them there for what seemed like both an eternity and the blink of an eye. It was unearthly silent, so quiet that she could hear Kakashi's restrained gasp. "My god..." He muttered under his breath, shaking head defiantly. "He's... dead."

No. That couldn't be. It wasn't true. She refused to believe it, even though the evidence had been spoken out loud and lay rigid and cold at her feet. Sasuke couldn't die. Not now, not after all they had both been through. He looked fine, with the exception of the ghostly pale skin and blue tint on his agape lips. He looked perfectly fine! He was not bathed in blood, there were no sharp, pointy objects sticking out of his body – so therefore he was quite clearly NOT dead. If the indestructible Uchiha actually did lose his life, it would be in a valiant battle with a formidable enemy. Not just suddenly and out of nowhere, he would not just up and die without any good excuse!

She stared at the motionless body of the man that she was hopelessly in love with a little longer, and then let out a long, agonized scream as reality set in.

She could briefly remember the sounds of Naruto's sobbing, the wild questioning of the remainder of the team as the stumbled across the tragic scene, and the cracking voice of a deeply remorseful Tsunade as she demanded that Sakura calm down before jabbing a sedative inside of her neck.

When she woke up she was hospitalized with nurses tending to her at her bedside. Everything rushed by in a blur like a world that she was not a part of, and she felt isolated and cold. How was it that they continued to move and breath and exist when he did not? She felt as thought he world should have stopped. It seemed entirely unfair that it continued to spin in merciless disregard of what had happened. What had happened? Why was she sitting upright in a bed, her mind in a state of nulled, eerie silence? What had caused the empty feeling in her chest, as though she had lost a part of herself?

Oh, that's right. Death. His death. How unfathomable the concept seemed, even now when she had seen it with her own to eyes. Even though deep down inside of her she knew the heartbreaking truth, her rebellious mind refused to accept it as fact. To her it seemed more possible that any moment he would hop up and laugh until there were tears in his eyes, screaming: "Gotcha!" So instead she buried it deep inside of herself, because she wasn't ready to swallow his undeniable fate just yet. So she could hold onto him, just for a little while longer.

"Sakura?" Tsunade's voice shook her from her mindless stupor. Sakura looked up to meet the eyes of her former mentor, those amber eyes that were so full to the brim with shameless pity that Sakura could not help but feel resentful. She did not need to be tempted towards guilt for placing such an expression on Tsunade's face. The Hokage stood in the door frame, a clip board in one hand and the other resting at her side. "How are you... feeling?"

She sat in silence until she reminded herself that a question requires an answer. "I'm not feeling anything." She replied truthfully. Nothing. She felt as blank as an clean canvas. "Where's Naruto? Is Naruto alright?" She remembered her blond companion and decided to worry about him, something, anything to fill the senselessness. Anything to distract her temporarily, before their conversation progressed into a different topic, one that she was not quite ready for yet.

Tsunade frowned, the corner of her lips turning down thoughtfully, and paused before replying. "He was in hysterics." She said finally. "Hinata managed to calm him down, finally. She's with him now." Sakura nodded dully, mouthing an 'oh' to express her understanding. Tsunade hesitated, and Sakura could tell that she intended to speak further, and she knew what about. There was no doubt that neither of them wanted to speak of it, but it had to be done. "We've brought the body back." Tsunade murmured. "Do you want to take part in the autopsy?"

"No." She replied. "I don't."

And that was that.

--

There was a breathtaking impact as his mother bowled into him, grasping him tightly against her chest and planting kisses all across his perplexed face. "Oh, dear. You poor thing. So young! You're still so young." She cried through her unabashed displays of enthusiastic affection. But he didn't seem to mind so much, because he was still much too startled to care.

"M-mom?" He croaked as she released him, and he got his first glance at his surroundings. Familiar faces. There, and there, and everywhere. Heads were turned towards him, wearing a similar expression of mild interest as they viewed the newcomer with recognition flitting in their eyes. The unmistakable faces that he had seen daily looking up at Hokage mountain, old relatives, and was that the sound five playing cards? At last his gaze rested upon the painfully nostalgic image of his father. "...Dad?"

The thin line that was his father's mouth curled into a slight, but sad smile. Sasuke felt his stomach churn uneasily as the truth sunk into his mind. "I'm...dead?" He whispered, and his eyes darted towards his mother for confirmation. She nodded slowly, reaching up to put a tender hand against his cheek comfortingly. "But I can't be dead. I'm not finished yet. I still have to... I still have to... I still haven't killed him, and I don't have any children!"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Uchiha Mikoto said, bringing her son into a gentle embrace. "But there's no use crying over spilled milk, right?"

"Spilled milt? I'm dead!" He exclaimed, the sound of his voice muffled by his mother's shoulder. She was a good head shorter than he was, and he was bent over awkwardly when he rested his chin reluctantly against the crook of her neck. He was disgruntled by the discovery of his death, but it did not cut off his joy at seeing her again. She ran her fingers through the spikes of dark hair on his head. Even though he was a full grown man who had devoted his life to murder – he could not deny that he still loved his mother.

"It gets better, honestly it does." She promised. "Oh, my boy. I'm so happy to see you again!" She squeezed him and he returned her embrace. "Even if it's not under the best circumstances." Being held by her like this, it reminded him of when he was younger so powerfully that he felt like a child again, desperately seeking comfort in the arms of his mother. He was put to ease so thoroughly that he seemed to forget about the nearby onlookers, until...

There came the sound of a snort of laughter and a chuckle, followed by a teasing call of: "Mommas boy!"

He pulled away instantly, his face flushed, prepared to slaughter whoever had tossed in the comment. (He didn't care if they were already dead, he was going to slaughter them anyway. Doubly dead!) And upon discovering who had, he found he just... couldn't. His mouth hung open furiously for a while longer, before he snapped it shut. "Minato-san, please!" Mikoto gasped embarrassedly.

Despite his obvious personality flaws, Sasuke could not help but feel nothing but respect towards the Yondaime Hokage.

There was something immediately and undoubtedly familiar about that cheeky smile and those ridiculous spikes of canary-yellow hair, but Sasuke didn't make the connection. He stared silently as the tall and impressive man walked forwards and put a friendly hand on his mother's shoulder. "Sorry, Mikoto." He laughed breezily. "You know me, I'm only joking."

His eyes met Sasuke's, and the young Uchiha was rooted to the spot. Those eyes, so full of laughter and mirth, still managed to mirror an incomprehensible maturity and intellect. They commanded awe. He turned towards Sasuke, his grin fading into a knowing smirk. "So, this is the the man up close whose been stirring up so much trouble in my village--,"

"Your village?" The first Hokage repeated incredulously. Namikaze Minato ignored him and continued.

"Well, Uchiha Sasuke, as the unofficial welcoming committee I'd like to welcome you into the afterlife. Hope you enjoy your stay!" And he threw his head back and howled in laughter, as if this was something overly hilarious.