She laughed to herself quietly.

Should have seen it coming.

She laughed again, this time a little colder. Her life was filled of 'should haves.' This was just another to add to the ever-increasing list. But it wasn't like she was going to get anytime to add it. She shifted slightly, the blade along with it. She winced as a new wave of pain hit her. Seems like she wasn't going anywhere.

Sakura lifted her head slowly to survey a scene she already knew. Trees had been laid to waste; their limbs twisted and cracked from impact, scorch marks burnt into them. Along with the trees, lay craters of cracked earth littering the area like unwelcome pock marks. Pools of mud squelched under her feet, trying to suck at her feet and pull her under. The pink-haired girl tried hard not to lose her footing and let the blade inch in further because it seemed as if its owner had not intention of letting it go.

Speaking of the owner…

Towering above her stood none other than her dark-haired ex-teammate. His imposing figure was silhouetted by the midday sun at his back, glinting off of his blade and her blood. He held his extended katana with practiced ease, digging it further into Sakura's shoulder, letting more blood ooze out from her wound. She winced slightly, trying to mask the excruciating pain. Involuntary tears streamed down her cheeks as the fire burning through her shoulder increased.

His emotionless voice echoed through her tears

"Something funny, Sakura?"

She gazed up at him, watching his lips twitch into a twisted mockery of a smile. If her body had had the energy to shudder, it would have.

This was not Sasuke.

But she didn't know how many more times she could tell herself that. It didn't really seem to matter. She was going to end up dead anyway.

She lowered her head. She was just so tired. Even if she could have answered, it wouldn't have helped. Instead she was trying to cut through her hazy mind and figure out an exit strategy that would ensure she wouldn't get disembowelled in the process. No luck so far.

The blade shifted again at her non committal reply.

"Where's the Sakura I knew? As weak as she was, she would have given much more of a fight."

Sakura ground her teeth together.

"She buried beside the Sasuke I knew." Her lungs burned as the words tumbled from her lips. She felt herself beginning to lose consciousness from the loss of blood.

She heard him emit a strange laugh.

"No, the Sasuke you knew grew up and opened his eyes"

She chuckled painfully, feeling blood drip past her lips. She would have told him that he was just a slave to his anger, but the air she was going to form the words burnt her lungs, rendering it useless.

He let out another dark chuckle.

"Too bad you won't have time to open yours. But don't worry; Naruto will be joining you soon."

Before she could even consciously process her next move, a snarl unleashed itself from her chewed lips. Gathering her last wisps of chakra in her hand, she grasped the blade protruding into her flesh and ripped it out of her bloodied shoulder. Before Sasuke could react, she formed a fist and slammed it into his chest. Since she had barely any chakra left, it wasn't as effective as she had hoped. But he still flew pretty far, much to her satisfaction. Hands shaking, she reached into the pouch strapped to her back. Pulling out a solider pill, she quickly swallowed it, feeling it stick all the way down.

Immediately she felt her chakra levels lift. It was a temporary fix for a very big problem. She figured from the loss of blood, she only had fifteen minutes of chakra left before she would collapse and, more than likely, die. Quickly, she pushed a pad of gauze on her wound wrapped it quickly. She could see Sasuke getting to his feet a little ways off, swaying slightly. Despite his arrogance, she knew she had inflicted some damage to him during their fight. Sakura knew she was lucky his teammates weren't with him; otherwise the fight would have ended up being much worse.

Dragging her mind out of her thoughts, she quickly spoke up to the boy across the clearing.

"Touch Naruto, and I will kill you Sasuke, even if I die in the process. You are not the Sasuke from team 7, nor will you ever be. "

Sasuke coughed out a laugh

"And how will a dead woman do that?"

Sakura eyes widened as she felt a presence flit behind her. Ducking to avoid a massive blade meant to slice her head off; she somersaulted away from the presence and jumped onto one of the remaining trees branches. Glancing down to her new opponent, she spied none other than Suigetsu, Sasuke's new teammate. Her gaze flitted towards Sasuke, who was getting helped to his feet by a red-haired girl.

Karin.

That left one more.

Hearing an enraged roar behind her, she quickly leaped from her branch just as it was reduced to splinters. Sakura dropped down to the ground, heart racing, palms sweating.

The cavalry had arrived and she was officially screwed.

Just as she was about to throw her last explosive kunai, she heard Sasuke speak out, supported by Karin.

"That is enough. Juugo. Suigetsu. She is mine."

Both men nodded and Sakura noted that Karin sneered at Sasuke's wording. Sakura had no time to wonder about it, as two kunai were sent hurtling towards her. Quickly grabbing a smoke bomb out of her pack, she slammed it onto the ground, smoke enveloping her surroundings. Using it as a diversion, she jumped out of the purple haze and behind a nearby tree. Quickly, she formed hand seals and created a shadow clone. Ordering it to stay behind, she took advantage of her opponent's momentary blindness to make a run for it. Hopefully she would be able to come across a patrol with a medic and get herself out of this mess.

She cursed herself for speaking too soon, spotting Suigetsu's form appear in front of her. Quickly dropping from her branch, just in time to hear the branch shatter from his blade's impact, she panted softly as she crouched on the ground. Sasuke was there again, leaning against Karin as she healed his wounds.

"I thought I told you she was mine, Suigetsu."

Suigetsu sneered, snarling at Sasuke.

"She used a fucking smoke bomb, I hate those things!!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the pale boy.

"Try it again, and I'll kill you."

Suigetsu rolled his eyes at Sasuke's words

"Fine, she's all yours, oh fearless leader"

He sheathed his sword and walked back towards the forest, leaving Karin, Sasuke and Sakura in the enclosure. Sakura began to think up another exit strategy.

Karin's chiding voice entered her mind instead.

"Now now, don't go hurting your brain trying to think of ways to escape. Nobody gets past Sasuke."

Sakura wrinkled her nose at the red-head's comment. She knew that without a doubt that there was no escaping the situation, but the longer she held out, the longer Naruto was safe. Inhaling deeply, shuddering from the pain, she drew a kunai from her pack. Sakura snickered coldly.

"Quite frankly, I don't care if I get past him or not. I'd rather get right in front of him so I can see his face when I sink this knife into him."

She knew the moment those words left her lips that they were a lie. She could never kill him, even after he tried to kill her. She couldn't do that to Naruto, not after all the blonde had done to try to bring him home. She also knew that, as much as she lied to herself, she knew deep down inside, under the scars and resentment, that she still loved him. And she hated herself for it. Steeling herself against the pain coursing through her body, she focused on her forgotten shadow clone and ordered it to seek help. Any help. Gathering her thoughts, she formed the hand seals in her mind and prepared to attack.

"It's no use, Sakura. You're still so weak."

She ground her teeth together at his words, breaking the handle of her kunai. She knew he was egging her on, wanting her to get angry, get stupid. It wasn't going to work. She didn't need him to affirm her strength when he had none himself. But if he was going to fight dirty, so would she.

She let out a scornful laugh

"At least I'll get to see my family when I die. I know you're going straight to hell Sasuke. Your mother must be so proud of her son."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes into a lethal glare. Pushing Karin behind him, he spat out his next words

"Say something like that again, and I'll cut your tongue out."

Sakura smirked at the seething, crimson-eyed boy. Such a mamma's boy. Despite his outwards coldness, Sasuke had always been a slave to his emotions. First, his tunnel vision towards killing his brother, then becoming part of Akatsuki, probably so he could kill someone else. He thought he hid his emotions so well, but Sakura knew better. Those years they spent together as members of team 7 had shown her that he wasn't a cold, calculating machine, but an angry little boy stuck in a powerful body. She quickly drew another kunai to replace her broken one. Looking him straight in the eye, she spoke softly

"Poor thing, it was bad enough that one son turned into a mass-murderer. But you always looked up to your brother, so I guess it was only a matter of time, wasn't it?"

She revelled in the sick sense of schadenfreude that over took her when his face transformed into an ugly snarl. This was probably going to kill her, but at least she put up a fight before she went. Sasuke's lips began to form a scathing retort, but another voice interrupted.

Karin.

"Shut up! You have no idea what he had gone through, you sick bitch. You think you're so high and mighty because you're from Konaha, isn't that right?"

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. Sasuke said nothing. Sakura broke out into a sad smile. She felt her heart break. At one point in time, that would have been her, hiding behind Sasuke, defending him.

She had been replaced.

Suddenly, her chest contracted painfully, forcing her to crumple to the ground in pain, coughing up blood. Her chakra was disappearing at an alarming rate. Her solider pill was wearing off. Faced with the certainty of death, she let herself lay on the cool ground, breathing through fire-filled lungs. She heard the clicking of nin-sandals making their way towards her. She closed her eyes, knowing full well what was to come next. A scene from her past flitted across her eyelids. It was when she and Naruto had surprised Sasuke with a picnic for his birthday. It was the first time she had seen him smile. Her lips twitched upwards as the scene faded. Her eyes opened slowly, seeing Sasuke's dark silhouette above her.

"Goodbye Sakura"

She let one final smile cross her lips.

Dark.

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A/N: I know, I know, kind of dark, lots of plot holes. Oh well, it was fun to write! Working on Genesis, so when I update, it isn't a steaming pile of excrement.

And question that are probably going to be asked:

What is happening? What happened at the end?
Weeell, I like to leave some room for imagination. If you really want a prologue/epilogue, I might squeeze something out.

Reviews are always appreciated