Senko: Welcome to…-drumrolls- THE FINAL CHAPTER OF "WORLDS APART"!
I would like to take this moment to sincerely thank all of you wonderful readers and reviewers! I had an original story in mind that I had been thinking about for years and I was thinking about making it into a manga (Senko luffs drawing ;3) but I wasn't sure if it was a good story. Therefore, I changed the story a bit and made it into a fanfic to see how others would like the idea ;D and you guys are just so awesome! 500 plus reviews! I LOVE YOU GUYS! This shows the story might not be that bad lol
Rii.MAYORI: OMG ;D LOL I play on Bera. My mage's ign is AnimeSenko and my bandit is jeiLoxdLtx ;D what's yours? And uhh don't erm…bother to look me up on the ranking o.o; I erm…kinda got taken off the rankings x.X lol
Tari Shiro: OMGGG that motto is the ownage motto!
Hao's Anjul: I think you're awesome o.o; lol
Thequietwriter: You were one, yes ;D one day, I received a review thing from you and checked my reviews lol
ninjaxbunny: Hi! I love you :D LOL cause I think you're awesome you're awesome for giving me food xD
Applely Apple: WOW :D I love your review! xD Ty Ty!
Thanks a bunch to Epitome-of-all-things-Engli…, Wounded Angel, Mistress DragonFlame, …, Lina Mistress of Elements, Gabiuti, BlackElement7, clea everlasting, eaax o o, SweetAssassin, Gothic Saku-chan, Rhonda21, Hikari Adams, Challa, Nenagh24, mahalo4ursupport, Aruxia, Soul of AquaBlue, until-death-comes, RoseMcGee, Sunset Sky, anonymous, CosenAngel, SatuAka, and Queen of the Bobs for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Me no own. Duh.
Final Chapter
Sakura awoke to the low chattering of her fellow teammates and slowly opened her eyes. She pulled herself up and realized that she was back at the hotel. Ino, Naruto, and Neji stood around her; her awakening must have stopped their conversation. She tried to remember what had happened.
"Uh…what happened?" she asked, having failed to remember anything.
"You said some odd stuff over the wireless radio," Neji said. "When we got to where you were, you were unconscious outside a cave or something."
"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto agreed. "And the cave was collapsed and there was this weird guy dead next to you."
"Weird guy dead?" her heartbeat quickened for a moment. A guy dead? Could it be…Itachi? No…it couldn't be. Itachi was too powerful.
"It was the guy we were supposed to investigate or kill," Ino corrected Naruto.
Sakura sighed. She didn't know why Itachi was there and she felt disappointed that she couldn't see him longer…but perhaps what bothered her most was the fact that the enemy had transformed into Sakura as the person Itachi held dear to him. She shook her head. No, it wouldn't make any sense that way. The only Itachi that would ever even consider Sakura in that way…would be the one from the book.
Right?
Nothing was making any sense to her right now. Perhaps…the enemy could read the hearts of all sorts of Itachi? But that couldn't be possible.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice stole Sakura's attention from her thoughts.
"What is it?" Sakura asked.
"I almost forgot to tell you that you were holding this when you were unconscious," he reached into a pocket and brought out a cherry blossom necklace and Sakura's eyes slightly widened at the shock of it.
"Where…did you get that?" Sakura asked, still staring at the necklace in Naruto's hand.
Naruto placed the necklace in front of her. "I told you, you were holding it when you were unconscious. I took it so it wouldn't fall out when we carried you back here."
Sakura remembered vividly the necklace. She had seen it when she passed by some stores with Ino last night.
Flashback
"So then Shika-kun brought me to his favorite cloud gazing place and we lied there together and then guess what! He said he loves me!" Ino squealed, a blush appearing on her face as she recalled the event. Sakura and Ino walked side by side behind Naruto and Neji as the four made their way back to the hotel.
"Oh...that's really nice," Sakura said almost emotionlessly. She was still somewhat depressed and often looked away from Ino, trying to avoid eye contact or looking at Ino's face. No, it wasn't that Ino was ugly. In fact, Sakura had to admit that Ino was the second most beautiful person she knew, Tsunade being the first. It was simply that Ino was such a cheerful person and Sakura found it hard to see such a happy face when she herself felt so dead and alone.
Trying to avoid seeing Ino, even from the corner of her eye, Sakura looked to her right and directed her attention at the line of stores. Something caught her eye, and she stopped to gaze at it.
"And then, " Ino stopped. "Sakura?" Ino turned around to see Sakura looking through a shop's window. She walked over to Sakura. "What's so interesting?"
And there, in the middle of the display section was a beautiful necklace with a small yet cute cherry blossom as the pendant. "That's a pretty necklace, Sakura..." her sentence drifted into an end as she noticed a feeling of sadness wash over Sakura's eyes. Sakura stared at the necklace, remembering the familiarity of it.
End Flashback
She even remembered clearly how it all began.
Flashback
"Yo, Itachi-kun!" Sakura greeted, reminding Itachi of Kakashi.
Itachi blinked as he saw Sakura look up from the scroll she was reading. He had just arrived home and entered his room.
"You're back," he said.
"That's all?" she faked a frown and sulk. "No 'welcome back' or 'how was your trip' at all? Didn't you miss me?"
"When did you get back?"
"Just now, about half an hour ago," she answered, rolling up the scroll and getting up from the floor.
When she got up, she felt a gentle grasp on her hand. Her eyes met with Itachi's for moment before shifting down to their hands. He could tell she was still awkward from yesterday, but was trying hard to put up a comfortable front. His other hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. Sakura stared in awe and disbelief as he put the necklace on her. When he finished, she grabbed the pendant of the necklace and blinked.
"I'm…uh…." She couldn't find the words. "I…you…this necklace…um-"
"I never gave you a birthday present."
End Flashback
"Are you okay, forehead-girl?" Ino asked, waving a hand in front of Sakura's eyes which only saw the necklace. "Uh…well, I don't know what that necklace is. We're gonna go buy some food. Hopefully you…are okay by the time we get back."
"Sakura-chan…?" Naruto quietly asked, but when he received no answer from the pink-haired kunoichi he turned away and followed the figures of Ino and Neji walking out the hotel room.
Kisame sighed. "Itachi, can you at least tell me why you're in such a hurry? We have time; let's relax and have some fun before we go back to report to Leader."
"Keep you're voice down," Itachi said. "And don't question me. We're leaving."
"But Itachi," Kisame began, but was abruptly cut off.
"Start packing. Now," Itachi commanded, not even bothering to look at Kisame but continued to gather his things.
Kisame growled. "ITACHI! What is with you lately!"
Itachi looked up at Kisame. No, it wasn't looking up. It was more like a glare, one of those deadly and cold glares. The kind that clearly tells you 'I am going to kill you.'
The cherry blossom necklace lied on Sakura's lap and her emerald eyes stared at it for what seemed to be an eternity to her. Nothing was making any sense to her and she hated it.
Her vision became cloudy and she realized she was getting teary but trying to be a strong person she forced the tears back and took a deep breath. Was she thinking too much? Or perhaps she wasn't thinking about it enough? How she wished that she was still in the book so none of this would happen…or that she never entered the book in the first place so that she wouldn't feel this way.
She leaned back against the pillow on the bed and closed her eyes. She wanted an answer to everything. She wanted to know what was happening or what had happened. She hated this confusion.
Inwardly, she prayed for a sign.
Any sign.
The room remained silent and the ticking of the clock rang in her ears. Then it was interrupted.
"ITACHI! What is with you lately!"
Her eyes bolted open and she sat up straight. Was she…dreaming? She could have sworn she heard someone calling Itachi from the room next to hers. Thankfully her bed was situated near the wall. She got off the bed and pressed her ear against the wall.
There was a moment of silence between the two Akatsuki members, their eyes staring at one another's.
"I said…" Itachi began, "to not question me."
Kisame took a deep breath, calming himself, and said in a lower voice. "You haven't been yourself lately and it's annoying me. You're acting…too nice. We're Akatsuki; we're strong, powerful, cold, ruthless."
Itachi gave no reply and this only infuriated Kisame more.
Kisame growled. "And today you bought some necklace, some girly little necklace! You're getting too soft!"
There was another silence before Itachi finally answered. "It's just a bad day."
Sakura drew apart from the wall and sat on the edge of the bed. How could she have not realized that he was in the room right next to her? So much time and she hadn't even noticed it. She wondered if the others noticed too.
'Well, we can't blame ourselves for not knowing,' her inner self said. 'After all, Itachi is powerful. He'd conceal his chakra.'
Sakura stared down at the necklace in her hand. What should she do? He was so close to her, only a single wall away. She could…she could stay there and be engulfed in her own sadness. She could keep quiet and remain lost in her confusion. Or…or she could…
She gulped and took a deep breath before walking out of her room, the necklace gripped tightly in the palm of her hand. She turned to the left of the hallway and stopped before the door. She hesitated before bringing her hand up to the door and gently delivering a couple knocks.
There was no answer.
She knocked again, this time slightly louder than the last.
The knocks on the door rang inside Itachi's head and his eyes narrowed. He didn't know what to do. There was no doubt about who was at the door. Since the Byakugan user was gone, the barrier from the previous night had been let down and he could sense her all too familiar chakra that radiated from the door.
"Kisame…" he whispered. "Leave now and I'll follow behind."
Kisame hesitated before turning towards the hotel window, opening it and leaping out.
There was a silence in the room. The knocks seemed to have stopped and Itachi was about to follow behind Kisame when a series of more knocks stole his attention. The knocks were louder and he stopped in his tracks. He inwardly sighed before walking up to the door, his hand on the doorknob ready to open the door.
"Itachi…" her soft voice said from outside.
He stopped and his hand dropped to his side. What was he thinking? He was about to open the door for her. He cursed to himself, turned his back to the door, fell against it and dropped to the ground not knowing what to do. Perhaps he should just leave.
Sakura's fingers gently touched the door and her head leaned against it. She knew he was there. "Itachi, I know you're there."
There was still no answer, but she supposed that was how he was. After all, she couldn't expect for him to reply. What would he say? Greet her? Tell her everything? Tell her what she wanted to hear? Tell her that he loves her? As if.
"Tell me, was it all a dream?" she could hear her own voice beginning to crack. She waited for a while but still there no answer. "Just one word…just one, Itachi."
Just one.
Itachi's back leaned against the door. Just one word, she said. He wanted to say more than just one word, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't want to say anything.
There was a period of silence, just the tension that hung in the atmosphere. Although she said nothing, she didn't need to say anything. He could feel it in her voice, feel it in the quietness of the area…her confusion, her desire to get an answer, her missing him.
But that was why he couldn't answer. He had carried her out of the cave before it collapse and placed her gently on the ground somewhere safe and gave placed the necklace in her hand. His plan was to leave as soon as possible and he'd never see her again. Then he could forget about her and never cross his path with hers ever again. His plan failed thanks to Kisame and he inwardly swore to make Kisame pay.
A minute or two passed by before he could finally bring himself to say anything. "Let's just move on with our lives."
His answer told her everything and she knew that he knew about that other world. That was why he told her to move on with their lives. Yet she wasn't satisfied with that answer. In fact it angered her.
"How can you say that!" she could feel the tears forming inside her eyes. "You'd throw away everything we had like this!"
She waited and when there was no answer from behind that door that hid him from her eyes, she unknowingly banged her fist against the door. "Doesn't it mean anything to you? Don't I mean anything? You're such a different person from who you were! How can you say it so indifferently, as if you don't care!"
She stopped and the tears rolled down her creamy skin. "That's right…it's because you don't care, isn't it?"
It wasn't that he didn't care, but rather it was because he knew he couldn't do something like this. He wasn't the type to come out and confess his own feelings. In addition, he knew she wanted to hear him say those three words but he knew that they would both regret it later. He was Akatsuki and she was the Leaf, the Leaf that he betrayed.
If only…he wasn't Uchiha, Itachi. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have killed his clan. He wouldn't have betrayed the Leaf. He wouldn't have joined Akatsuki. He wouldn't have made Sasuke hate him and swear revenge. He would...have been able to care for her.
But this was reality.
And he was Uchiha, Itachi.
He could hear her soft sobs that echoed throughout the chambers of his heart. Her three words combined with her sobs to leave marks on those chambers. "I miss you…"
Feelings were for the weak. He took a few moments to organize his words before speaking.
"What happened in that other world…should not be brought into this one."
Her sobs only became louder and more intense with those words. She knew perfectly what he meant and those words only made her feel even worse. Those words had reminded her of who she was.
She was a Leaf kunoichi, she was a medic-nin, she was someone who trained under the Godaime, she was a member of Team Seven, she was a friend of Naruto, she was…the one who fell in love with Sasuke.
Such feelings were forbidden in every single aspect and these feelings were only allowed in a world where Itachi had not murdered his family.
She hated it so much and screamed to herself why things had to be this way. Every time she thought her life was going well, when she thought everything felt so correct…something tears her life apart.
When she had gained control of herself again, a small smile adorned her pretty face although the tears were still streaming. "Never forget me."
Itachi brought himself up on his feet again and paused for a moment.
"I won't."
The tears stopped falling. She hadn't expected such an answer and she instantly grabbed hold of the doorknob, opened the door and stormed inside. Much to her disappointment though, there was no one there anymore and the open window didn't go unnoticed to her.
She wanted to see him once more, but those two words of his were enough.
Before her, she realized his shirt lying on the ground. He was packing before she interrupted him and Kisame. Perhaps she had scared him when she so rapidly stormed in that he left.
She dropped down to her knees, took hold of his shirt and engulfed herself in his unforgettable scent. Her tears came again.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's beamed.
Sakura growled. "Naruto! You idiot! This is a hospital, so be quiet!"
"Sorry, sorry," Naruto grinned. "You're shift is over now, right? Let me walk you home."
Sakura sighed. "It's okay. Don't you have a date right now?"
"I was hoping I could quickly walk you home and run and meet up with Hinata-chan?" he said.
She glared at him. "You get your ass to where you're supposed to meet up with Hinata-chan. NOW. I'll be fine," she stated before walking off, followed by Naruto. Once she was out of the hospital, they went in their own opposite directions.
"I'll see you tomorrow!" she could hear his cheerful yell from behind and she smiled as she continued to walk away from him.
It had been a few weeks since that mission and she had recovered. She was now her own happy self. She had taken his shirt with her and wore it to sleep every night. At first, she would cry every night as she recalled events from the book whenever she smelled his scent. However, as the weeks went by her crying stopped.
She realized that everything would be alright. There was nothing wrong with loving him. She knew he wouldn't ever forget her and that was all she could ask for, even though she wished she could be by his side.
This was her life, her destiny.
She had come to put away her selfish desire of being with him in hopes that he'd return to the Leaf. She had come to realize that it was enough to be content with memories. Everything would be kept locked away in her heart and visited in her dreams. No one but they would relive their secret in their minds.
There is a wide gap between worlds and that gap can never ever be filled. Yet in the most impossible way ever, they were able to reach each other. They were...worlds apart.
The End
IMPORTANT
Senko: If you want a sequel, then please say so. OR if you would like an alternate ending, say so and I'll think up of an alternate ending. This is the real ending I had in mind but I know it sucks for a story to end sadly, so yea if you want a sequel or alternate ending please say so ;) ideas and suggestions are much appreciated!
Last note: I am making a doujinshi for "The Devil's Embrace" :P myahahaaa...behold, my crap drawing skills :D
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING! S2 (it's a heart ;O)