Author's Corner: BRING ON THE FLAMERS! Pssh, hold on, let me get my fire suit. Hell, what am I talking about, nobody reads these damn things anyway. Nor does anyone read this story.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own anything pertaining to Naruto except for maybe a little statue. But that's it.

Sakura was frozen in horror as she watched Hidan drop to his knees.

"NO!" Naruto yelled, desperately trying to force his way into the circle, making his body steam and hiss as it pushed him back.

Jolting her back into reality, she blinked as Hidan's back arched to an almost painful-to-watch degree. Pitch black smoke poured from his mouth.

"YOU HORRIBLE GIRL!" There was no mouth for the voice to come from, but it was loud and clear. It echoed around the clearing as wind began whipping Sakura's hair around her face.

"I SWEAR, I WILL GET YOU BACK. THE ONLY THING THAT WILL BE LEFT OF YOU WHEN I'M DONE IS A PILE OF ASH!" He screamed. The cloud of smoke seemed to form a repulsive black shape. Two glowing white orbs made some semblance of eyes and sent fear racing through her body as it advanced on her.

"Not this time." Sakura's head whipped around at the sound of his voice. Tatsuki, leaning heavily on Hinata, had his hand raised. Someone had managed to get a black pair of pants on him and a thick layer of bandages covered his chest. Jashin's white eyes narrowed in confusion. Before a word could escape him, a blue jet of flame shot from his fingertips. There was an inhuman screech as Jashin's cloud of evil evaporated. Tatsuki collapsed onto Hinata, unconscious once more. Sakura's attention immediately snapped back to Hidan as she heard his body slump to the ground.

"Oh gods, Hidan!" She cried, diving forward to catch him before he crashed face-first into the ground. Tears blurred her vision and no matter how many times she wiped them away, they kept coming back. She turned him onto his side before carefully pulling her blade out of his chest, then rolled him onto his back, his head resting next to her knees. She felt like throwing up. She cupped his face, biting her lip in an attempt not to sob.

"Hidan, no, no, no, no, you can't do this to me! Hidan, you're supposed to be immortal dammit!" She screamed, shaking him lightly. "Stay with me, come on!" A sob escaped her throat. Hidan attempted to say something, but blood came up his throat and swallowed his words. Hidan's eyes rolled up in his head and he fell limp. Sakura shook him again, healing chakra already flaring to life in her hand.

"Please don't leave me, Hidan! Not things were almost okay between us..." Her voice cracked as tears streamed down her face. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Naruto with a grim look on his face. Sakura looked back down at Hidan's expressionless face. Another sob ripped free.

"Sakura-chan..."

"I said... I said that I wouldn't let him die. I swore that I wouldn't let my loved ones die... all over again," she choked out, curling her hands into fists where they held Hidan. She bowed her head, crying shamelessly. She felt Naruto leave her side to check on the rest of the team. Hinata set to work healing whatever injuries that had been caused during the fight. No one even thought of bothering Sakura, who was too busy wallowing in grief to notice the looks Lee, Hinata, Kakashi, and Naruto were sharing with each other. Worried looks.

There was a solemn silence for several minutes. Naruto looked at the lightening sky, then at their team, who was waiting for orders. Finally, he sighed and walked slowly over to Sakura, who was still clutching Hidan's corpse, though her crying had ceased.

"Sakura-chan, we have to go. We'll give Hidan a-"

"No." Sakura snapped. Naruto paused, confusion creasing his brow. "What?" Sakura sniffed and wiped her eyes, sitting up straight.

"No. We're not moving him anywhere. He's going to do it himself. I'm gonna bring him back." She said, her voice hoarse. Naruto's blood ran cold.

"Sakura-chan, you can't do that, you know that's-"

"I don't care!" She yelled, cutting him off. "I swore that no one was dying on my watch tonight, and I'll be damned if Hidan's going to be an exception!" She snapped, whipping her head around to glare at Naruto. "I dare you to try and stop me." She snarled darkly. Naruto backed away, slightly frightened of Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, think of what you're doing! You dying won't be any better than Hidan!" He barked back, his hands curling into fists. He glanced at Kakashi and then nodded at Sakura. Kakashi's head twitched in a small returning nod. He walked forward, entirely planning on knocking her out and taking her back to the Leaf.

Of course plans like that never work.

Sakura's blade burst into a thousand flower petals, swirling around her in a deadly storm. She glared at the five of them, her hands already glowing green.

"Don't you dare stop me." She growled menacingly. "This is my choice and my choice only."

"Sakura, wait! This isn't what you want! We know how hurt you are, but this isn't the right way to go!" Kakashi yelled.

"S-Sakura-san!" Hinata squeaked. Sakura turned her head back towards Hidan, no longer paying attention to what they were saying. She blocked their voices entirely from her head and focused solely on the jutsu necessary to return human to life. She closed her eyes, a stray tear leaking from the corner of her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered to herself. The deadly barrier between her and the team never wavered. No one dared try any high-level jutsu to break past it for fear of harming the pinkette. By then, the four had started panicking. They looked hopelessly at each other.

"Sakura." A bold voice interrupted their thoughts. Everyone jumped and looked at Tatsuki, who was standing, leaning heavily on a tree. Naruto's eyes widened, eyeing the way his bandages darkened with blood with every move he made.

"Tatsuki-san, you shouldn't be moving!" Lee yelped. Tatsuki shook his head and began limping forward, his face twisted in pain but set in determination. His hand stayed curled around his side, and his eyes remained glued to the whirling sphere of deadly blossoms than speed around Sakura at lightning fast speeds. He approached the barrier and stood tall, so close tiny nicks appeared in his bandages and parts of his chest.

"Sakura, let me in." He said, his eyes sharp and dangerous. Sakura stared up at him untrustworthily.

"Why should I?" She replied.

"Because you know I can help." He said. Sakura's eyes widened. She narrowed her eyes at Naruto and the rest as her blades moved to encompass Tatsuki. He stepped forward, no longer prohibited by spinning petals of absolute death. He dropped to his knees next to Hidan. Sakura's petals spun faster, the wind causing their conversation to be muffled. Naruto and Kakashi exchanged a look.

"No! I'm not doing it!" Sakura said, shaking her head furiously. Tatsuki sighed and a wry smile pulled at his lips. He laid one hand on top of hers, squeezing lightly. Sakura opened her eyes, staring sadly at the raven. The pink light from her petal illuminated the shadows of exhaustion under their eyes and the premature aging on their faces from a lifetime of war.

"I don't have much longer to live anyways. I can feel it. Everything I shift, it gets harder and harder to change back. Sometimes, it's so agonizing I wish I were dead." He said, keeping his eyes downcast. Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line to keep them from trembling and giving away how scared she actually was.

"Tatsuki, please don't make me..." Her voice cracked and tears slipped down her cheeks. Tatsuki gave her a crooked smile as he reached forward and brushed them away with his thumb. Sakura let out a shaky breath as she leaned into the touch. All too soon, he pulled away. Tatsuki shrugged one shoulder, a small laugh pushing out of his teeth.

"Hey, I might as well go down being of some use. I'd rather this than passing away in a bed, comatose and feeding off a tube." He said. Despite the circumstances, a tiny smile pulled at Sakura's chapped lips. He folded her hands over hers. The chakra bubbled covering Hidan's chest nearly doubled in size. Tatsuki closed his eyes in concentration.

"When he wakes up... tell Hidan I said thanks for one hell of a final stand." He said, smirking dryly. This time Sakura didn't smile. She just nodded and screwed her eyes shut. She silently prayed for this to work. She poured her chakra into his wound. Her reserved drained incredibly fast. Soon, she didn't have enough to control her petals. Slowly, their speed began decreasing, before they stopped and solidified into her swords once more. Naruto, Kakashi, and Lee immediately surged forward to stop Sakura. By then, Hidan, Sakura, and Tatsuki were all glowing with an eerie green light.

"Sakura-!" Hinata grabbed Naruto by the arm and yanked him back.

"You can't! If you stop them now, you'll only kill all three of them!" She pleaded. Naruto looked back at Hinata, then at Sakura. He sighed and shrugged out of Hinata's grip before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She squeaked and her cheeks flushed red.

"Hinata-chan, when we go home... let's get married." He said, all too casually. It was obvious he had been planning this. Hinata's eyes widened and she began stuttering out a jumble of words. Naruto just smirked humorlessly and leaned his head on top of hers.

"Now we just have to wait and see what happens." He said. Kakashi swore under his breath, turning around and storming into the edge of the forest to slump under the shade of a tree. Lee followed suit. Naruto stayed standing, as did Hinata. They watched the three silently, swallowing a large ball of worry that had lodged itself into his throat.

Sakura forced out the last of her chakra. She was now running on empty. She felt something cold and horrible begin tugging in her gut. With a start, she realized that her very life force was being pulled upon. She felt a brief moment of panic before she got it under control. In fact, it wasn't really tugging that hard. More like the jutsu was just poking around. She opened her eyes and looked up at Tatsuki and saw his face twisting in something between discomfort and pain. She shut her eyes quickly again, unable to bear watching him.

She bent low over Hidan, feeling tears threaten to fall once more. She opened her mouth, closed it, paused, and opened it again.

"Hidan, please come back. I can't lose you, not like this. Please don't leave me..." She whispered hoarsely. Suddenly, she felt a violent jerk on her core. Her first instinct was to cut her flow of almost depleted chakra, but she pushed forward. Spots danced in front of her eyes and she felt tired... So incredibly tired. Her vision went black.

Suddenly, the tugging was gone. Sakura blinked several times to clear her vision. She cut her chakra flow and stared down at Hidan. The only thing left of his fatal wound was a thin, ragged pink scar. Her eyes darted around his face, waiting with baited breath for any kind of sign that she had been successful.

"Hidan?" She whispered. She clutched his shoulders, gnawing on her lower lip tentatively. She shook him lightly. "Hidan?" Nothing. No twitch of an eye, no breathing... Nothing. Sakura bowed her head and let out a shaky breath somewhere between a sob and a sigh.

"Dammit!" She cried, pounding her fist on his chest lightly. She looked over at Tatsuki's limp and unmoving body. "Dammit..." Suddenly, she heard a wheeze. Her heart skipped a beat... or three. She raised her head and stared at Hidan.

"Hidan...?" She questioned, one last time. Hidan's chest suddenly convulsed and a hacking cough escaped his throat. His violet eyes fluttered open, darting around for half a second before locking on her.

"S-Sakura?" He croaked, his voice weak and crackly. Sakura's eyes widened with disbelief. Hidan blinked and stared curiously at her. His eyes flicked to her hair. One hand reached up and his fingers combed lightly through his hair. He cracked a small grin, cupping her face with one hand.

"Great. I take a nap and you go gray." He said. Sakura only then noticed that a large clump of hair had turned pure white, from roots to tip. But that hardly registered in her mind.

"HIDAN!" Sakura yelped, throwing her arms around him, crying and laughing at the same time. Hidan let out a small 'oof!' of surprise but his arm was quick to wind around her waist and his face pressed into her neck.

"Oh gods, Hidan, I thought I lost you! Don't you ever dare pull something like that again, or I swear I'll-" Sakura abruptly cut herself off as she pulled back, wiping her tears away. Hidan rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll kick my ass," he said. Sakura scowled before she grabbed him by his shoulders.

"Just shut up." She sighed. Hidan chuckled as Sakura yanked him forward and eagerly crushed her lips against his. Hidan's fingers brushed through her bangs to the back of her head to hold her there, savoring the sweet moment. They were interrupted by a loud clearing of someone's throat. Sakura snapped back, turning around to face Naruto, who had an eyebrow raised.

"If you're done with your happy reunion..." He gestured to their surroundings, which was littered with dead bodies. "We better get out of here and report back to Konoha." He said. Sakura turned back to Tatsuki and her good mood plummeted. Hidan's face darkened when he noticed Tatsuki's corpse.

"What... did he...?" Hidan drifted off. Sakura wet her lips before pushing herself to her feet. Her legs were shaky underfoot but she managed to keep from collapsing. However, Hidan stayed on the ground, propped on his elbows.

"Hidan, come on," Naruto said, waving his hand. Hidan sighed and shook his head before looking at Naruto with a crooked smirk on his face.

"I can barely hold this, walking seems a little out of my league for now." He said. Naruto groaned before walking over and clasping his hand and pulling him to his feet. He slung an arm over his shoulder, and Sakura took his other side. They stumbled with him to the edge of the forest. Naruto let him slide to the ground against a tree and didn't question it when Sakura sat next to him.

"Let's gather up the bodies and burn them. Wrap Tatsuki up and take him with us." Naruto said. The rest nodded and they went to work, dragging bodies to the middle of the clearing. Sakura sat comfortably between Hidan's legs and his arms settled nicely over her shoulders.

"Sakura..." Hidan mumbled, almost more to himself than anything.

"Hmm?" She replied, tilting her head up to get a glimpse of his face. Hidan yawned and rested his forehead on hers.

"It's gone... my immortality's gone." He said after a long moment of silence. Sakura's eyes widened and she sat up, turning around halfway to give him her full attention. Strangely, he had an odd sort of peaceful smile on his face.

"How do you know?" She asked. Hidan scratched the back of his head and sighed. He met her eyes, remaining silent. His eyes had a light in them that was much too old for him. It was the kind of look you had the accompanied a bone-deep tiredness that remained with you for the rest of your life.

"For one, I feel like shit. And tired. Really, really tired..." He drifted off, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and nuzzling into her neck. Even then, his hold was little more than just draping his arms around her. Sakura frowned but hesitantly relaxed against him once more. Her thumb traced absently along his arm, happy just to be able to feel warm, living skin under her fingers. Not a corpse.

"Well, you're alive." She said, shrugging once shoulder halfheartedly.

"Hn..." He mumbled.

Sakura smiled to herself, grinned. Things were definitely not perfect. They still had Tatsuki's funeral to put together, bodies to burn, paperwork to finish, sleep to catch up on. Things were never completely perfect for anyone. But things were okay, at least for them.

It was the closest to a happily ever after they were going to get, but it was okay.

Author's Corner: I can't believe my baby is so close to being done! Just one last chapter to tie off some loose strings and this MONSTROSITY will be completed! *Cries* I can finally move on with my life _ "

-Kaya Kazaki