a/n: FUCK , I AM SOOOOOO SORRRY!!! T-T THIS UPDATE HAS COME AT A REALLY BAD TIME FOR ME, AS I AM TOO BUSY TO BE EVEN THINKING OF WRITING THIS; be glad that I take stock of me being an actual terminal insomniac to your own discretion peeps! But I DID mention somewhere and the like that I wouldn't be updating on a sort of regular basis...

Well, anyways, we are underway with the story and moving on to chapter 7. Weird. ANYWAYS, I hope you guys don't hate me for not updating earlier for the much anticipated (I think...?) chapter 6 'Ain't war grand? The cloaked man's true identity'; my excuse is still legit, btw! XD

On with the show; enjoy, and arigato gozaimasu! This chapter is dedicated to my totally psychedelic (in a good way people) friend Jazz, whom has been offering up her advice, her support and her totally awesome and random comments/suggestions/lawl! This is for you, girl; luv ya! ^^ X3

Disclaimer: Why? WHY?! WHY DOES SASUKE HAVE TO DIE?! TT..TT

THIS IS ALL KISHIMOTO-SENSEI'S FAULT!! I HATE YOU!! X{

Jokes, jokes! Sasuke is NOT going to die; he lives with me, so I'd be the first to know! Naruto is the property of Kishimoto-sensei, and all portrayals of characters in this fic are totally OOC; mine in other words. XP

NOTE: LEMON AHEAD; BE ADVISED!

Chapter 7

Takeshi Akio; The Cultivator of Nightmares

"Takeshi... Akio...? Who the hell is that?!" Guy exclaimed haughtily, not quite sure what to make of the situation; Sakura had just offered up the two most sinisterly spoken words she had ever uttered, and Kakashi was currently lost in a genjutsu of some sort. There was absolutely no way in snowy mountains hell that Kakashi would simply conk out, lose himself, in the middle of what could turn out to be the most spectacularly impossible battle of the century, possibly millennia; no siree.

Which left just him, Asuma and Kurenai as the only experienced jonin on the field; Neji may have been one for going on two years now, but he still had a lot of learning to do before he was accepted in amongst the elite league. Whereas the rest of the group had only just been indoctrinated, dubbed with the title of jonin, so they had to really keep an eye out for any loose stunts this 'Takeshi' guy pulled. Turning to the side, Guy watched in horror as his nemesis/rival/friend/comrade fell to his knees, eyes wide and glazed over, body racked with waves of never-ceasing shaking; kneeling down, he pulled Kakashi around to face him, before slapping him senseless, screaming his name manically.

"KAKASHI! SNAP OUTTA IT! IT'S GUY! YA KNOW, YOUR ARCH-NEMESIS! Come on, get with the program you teinousha!"

"It's no use; he won't snap out of it. The genjutsu I cast on him can't be undone by simple means of 'kai release' or bellowing in his ears; nice try though. The only way he'll ever be released is if someone with the will to witness his blood-drenched past goes in and drags him out; that, or you could just kill me." Takeshi stated plainly, a hint of mock humour lacing his voice as he analysed Guy's reaction; his eyes had narrowed into a glare so chilling it could have frozen over all the Hidden Villages in an impenetrable layer of thick ice three times over.

"With pleasure." Was all he said before he charged toward him, fist poised as he disappeared in a blur of movement invisible to the naked eye. Too bad it went noticed by the smirking cloaked man.

Takeshi simply raised his index finger, spinning precariously on his heel, snapping forward with such speed that it made Guy-sensei look like an amateur, resting all his weight on his left leg, before springing back around and slapping the stunned spandex-wearing beast across the cheek with the long, slim appendage, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying into the luscious trees across the clearing, tearing them from their stable ground by their roots as he came to an abrupt stop; Lee had caught his sensei just before he collided with the open cliff face, which would have resulted in serious injury.

Takeshi stood there, smug with his little performance, but annoyed that his fun had been brutally stopped before it hit its' climax; with that, he swivelled back around, letting his deep indigo eyes settle on the figure of the one in which he had so desperately tried to find; long bubblegum pink locks, emerald green eyes, creamy white skin, voluptuous figure. Yes, this was what he had waited for for so long; to see her at her physical peak, her most stunning outer appearance set free upon the world for admirers to gaze at for as long as they desired.

She was definitely easy on the eyes, and never one to fail in meeting standards, his cherry blossom (a/n: yeah, I officially dub this guy a demented out-of-his-mind psychopath!); she was even more beautiful than her mother. But then again, he had always thought that, ever since the day she was born.

Flashback

(Lemon content ahead!)

"—Miyano-kun, we still haven't given her a name—" Amai cut off with a harsh gasp, and Takeshi strained to see what was happening; happening to his beloved, not Miyano's. Amai was, and would always be, his, no matter how persistent that fucking bastard was in keeping her affections.

"Mmmmm.... Acck! Stop that right now! Not in front of the baby—"

"Now is as perfect as any time, Amai-chan."Miyano whispered playfully in her ear as he pushed her down onto the sheets, Takeshi seeing red; it was bad enough that they had had a child together (also the fact that they had had sex on various occasions), but they were about to become intimate, whilst he was watching? But even if he wanted to act he couldn't; after all, he had never actually met Amai in person before.

She was his wallflower, the one thing that brought any light, colour, shine into his dismal and meagre existence; the one thing that held any value and importance in his heart, and here she was, about to fuck another man, like a two-bit whore. But maybe that was what she was; if she couldn't see that what she was really looking for was standing before her, and has always been, then he didn't need her. Her love, her light, her body, none of it; he refused to dedicate himself heart and soul to a woman who would only end up leaving him for the first man she met that resembled her prick of a so-called "husband."

No, he would have to find another woman to set his focus on, someone that he could love in this traitorous whore's place. But where could he find—

"Aaaaahhhh! Miyano-kun! This isn't...! Not now...!"

Takeshi had finally had enough, and completely pressed himself up against the bedroom's window, only to be graced with the sight of Amai stark nude, lying on the crimson sheets as Miyano slid inside her, her face a contorted mask of pure pleasure; the anger that bubbled to the surface only grew as he watched Miyano pull out to meet his wife's soaked entrance, toying with her playfully before sinking back into her, slow and torturous. Amai felt the knot in her chest coil dangerously tight, but was once again left feeling empty, a whiny pout gracing her full lips as she glared at her husband, who seemed to be enjoying her reaction to his refusal; the refusal to end her suffering.

He sat with his erection nudging Amai's drenched folds, sticky fluids coating his member as he prodded playfully, dragged-out moans exiting said woman's throat; if he didn't do something, anything, soon, she was going to spontaneously combust. "Mi....hyah....no...o...-kunnnnnn! One....gai...ONEGAI!" He answered with a fluid, hard thrust, hitting her sore spot and sending immediate trembles up her spine, a loud, choked moan escaping the confines of her throat; by this point, Takeshi was just about ready to holler bloody murder. "Heh. Hit a sensitive spot, ne?" Miyano grunted through his teeth, applying more force to his hips as he sank deeper, her legs raised at an angle so that he had better access; all Amai could do in reply was turn shade of cherry pink, a very pained cry resonating in her chest.

She was close, she could feel it in every pore and fibre of her being, but a sickening knowing that Miyano intended to withhold her release for his own sadistic pleasure was what had Amai nearly in cardiac arrest; he would indefinitely drag this out, torture her, until she could barely breathe anymore. But shockingly enough, with one last strong thrust, she came, a white fire flooding through her bloodstream as her liquids drizzled shamelessly down her inner thighs, and onto the silk beneath their sweat-slicked bodies; after another four hard thrusts, Miyano met his end too, stars of white clouding his vision as he collapsed upon his wife, panting heavily as she ran her fingers through his drenched, dark brown hair, his emerald green eyes glittering with residual lust, ebbing away as he drifted off into a light slumber.

But before Amai could even blink, the sound of a sobbing wail broke through the comfortable silence, an annoyed groan emitted from Miyano as he rolled off of his wife, only to get up and saunter slowly over to where the small white crib was positioned, the cries growing louder the longer it was ignored; sighing with a fatherly fondness, Miyano leaned over, his tall frame making it impossible to pick 'it' up without hurting his back, and stood cradling a small form; a newborn child to be exact.

With bubblegum pink locks that barely came to the nape of the child's neck; Miyano had seemingly forgotten that he stood there completely naked, holding the child expertly in his arms, a small, warm smile imprinted on his face as he watched the child cease its' crying, only to gaze up at the man with big, apple green eyes, several shades lighter than its' father's, whose were deep emerald, not a light shade in any way or form.

A large grin made its' way to the infants lips as it cooed affectionately, giggling when said child's father blew kisses against the warm flesh of its' stomach, Miyano grinning like a love-struck idiot at the child that was now officially known as 'his.' This baby was... his, plain and simple. An impatient "Ahem" was heard, and obliviously Miyano turned to be faced with his tired, sweaty, gorgeous partner whom had a rather nasty scowl on her face; she held her arms out for the child, and with a disappointed sigh, Miyano complied, making his way back to the bed and carefully handing their child to his wife, whom had less experience with children than he did; after all, there had been another point where he had been married, with a child of his own too (a/n: Miyano is roughly six years older than Amai, which isn't too large a difference in some ways, and he only married young because he got his current girlfriend at the time pregnant; in a way, he was making it out as some kind of 'insurance', if you follow).

Tragically, in a twist of fate, they were murdered several years ago, and he looked to Amai for solace; again, it seemed his contradictory self whom swore to never love again, well, did. And look where he is now; back to where he started, though this time, he would protect them both, for sure. Miyano noticed the slight awkwardness that Amai displayed, and with a quiet smile, he gently helped her hold the child correctly, a stubborn pout forming on the eighteen year old woman's face as she 'hmphed!', a faint trace of pink painting her cheeks once again; but she smiled when the child cooed, hands groping at her swollen breasts, all blame resting solely on the aftermath of the birth.

"She's hungry." Miyano chuckled lightly into Amai's ear, nipping at the lobe and playfully sucking on her throat, the heat rising to tickle the back of Amai's neck as he groped the lower part of her left breast with his left hand, the right drifting lower and lower until...?! 'SMACK!' Amai had swatted said man's hand away, cradling the stilled form of her daughter in one arm as she pinned her perverted husband's wandering appendage to his side with the other; without another word, Amai raised the child to her left breast's pink, distended nipple, the young infant's mouth reflexively clamping around the sore, chapped peak.

Amai flinched slightly out of discomfort, both from the pain of her breasts' 'breaking in' period, and from the fact that she was still to get used to that sort of feeling, and embarrassment, as Miyano's eyes were fixed on the child which was currently being breast fed for the first time, his hand still cupping her chest affectionately, raising said hand to stroke his daughter's pink locks. Amai watched the display with a motherly fondness, closing her eyes momentarily; she would have very little time to do this in future, so she would be greedy and take what she could now, living in the moment as best she could.

"We still have to name her you know." Miyano whispered softly, his right hand back on the move toward her lower region, this time Amai too wrapped up and absorbed in her thoughts to prevent it; his index finger slipped passed her curls and rubbed against her vulva impertinently as he nibbled on her shoulder, the wetness between that conservative space known as Amai's thighs once again soaking the sheets as she moaned quietly, as not to startle the child in her embrace.

Her head lolled onto his broad shoulder, his spare arm coming up beneath her arm and over her stomach, her legs spread apart as wide as they could go without hurting her as he inserted said appendage, fore-mentioned woman crying out as loud as she could; this really was too much for her to handle right now. But he wouldn't stop. The pace rapidly picked up, as he added two more fingers to the mix, at even intervals, Amai's chest heaving dangerously as she gasped and thrashed wildly, her body desperately craving, wanting, him again; but his statement had had the desired effect.

"Hah! Hah! We... have... to... name... her... NOW... Mi...hyah....no... mmmm!" She felt the heat rush into her sweaty flushed cheeks as the thread inside her snapped, pulling apart with such force that Amai had to bite down on her lip, drawing blood; the building liquids gushed out, a strangled cry leaving her as she shook violently, not wanting to jolt and therefore frighten her newborn child. Miyano was pleased with the outcome, so he retracted his wandering appendages, now glistening with clear juices, before licking them dry, knowing that Amai was too busy trying not to faint from her high to actually notice; said woman let her eyes fall upon the fore-mentioned infant, still suckling on her sore breast obliviously.

Shifting her weight so that Amai sat in between Miyano's legs against his toned chest, she found herself lulling off to sleep, relaxing into the warm body which was her husband's; just before she completely met the darkness, Miyano whispered something in her ear, fuzzy yet clear, bringing a small smile to her lips.

"Her name... is Sakura..."

And with that, she drowned in a sea of tranquil slumber, Miyano cradling them both in his arms as he stared fondly at his family, then out the window, to where the full moon had just revealed itself from behind the black storm clouds; that was when he noticed it. A dark silhouette bounding toward the trees beyond, only stopping to gaze up at the glowing rock above, a harsh, unexpected howl released from said figure; of what, Miyano didn't know.

Was he in pain? He would never know, even when the day arrived that his life was to be brought to an untimely end, he never figured out why that man had cried out; there were many reasons. The main one was acceptance, and letting go of the one he had given his everything to, and the other was of rage, that he could not take what he wanted, needed, the most; but foremost was pleasure.

Takeshi had just found his new love, target, prey, and this was left unknown to all, his inane manic laughter carried on the dying wind years thereafter.

End of Flashback

The moment Takeshi had laid eyes on Sakura was enough to justify whatever sick reasoning went through his head, even as he gazed at her in a typically male appreciative sort of way, a glint of evil intent lining those deep indigo depths as he continued to stare; Sakura felt her discomfort increase ten-fold as she watched his sickening display of Kami-sama knows what.

From the corner of her eye, the rosette caught a glimpse of her sensei, and fuck did she hate what she was seeing; he was a sickly white, sweat framing his face as he stared off into space, fear evident in his eyes, and what appeared to be... tears? No, that couldn't be... could it...?

Takeshi felt himself twitch; noting the way Sakura looked at the man now crumpled on the ground was infuriating to watch, let alone witness. She was his, and no other man could take her away from him, none.

"You can't save him, you know. It's already too late; the genjutsu on him is one of the most dangerous, lethal in my arsenal, and it could have been, dare I say, a lot worse for him than it is right now. After all, if I wanted to, I could replay me killing his mother's family again and again just for his convenience. Lucky him, ne?"

"You fucking bastard, what have you done?! You killed his mother's family?! How can you be so fucked up?!" Sakura screamed angrily, tears burning paths down her ivory cheeks as she glared at said man, remembering all too well the day Kakashi had told her about how his mother had really died. The day she first recalled Kakashi ever openly shedding tears... hai... he had been crying...

Flashback

"S-Sensei...? What is it..?What's wrong..?" Sakura belted out nervously, the sudden transition from a cheekily smiling sensei to the one which was now sobbing heavily on her shoulder almost too much to take in, to bear; Kakashi gripped Sakura's shoulders with enough force to break them, had she not been as sinewy as she was. Something must have upset him greatly to invoke this as a reaction, consequence, for it. "I remembered... something... that I... never wanted to... never...."

"W-What..? What is it, Kaka-sensei?"

"The night I was born, while my father was away on an S-ranked mission... a group of rogue shinobi came to my mother's home... and slaughtered her family... my mother went into immediate labour when she saw them all lying there, on her former home's floor, dead... it drove her insane for whatever time she had left... I was found... covered in their blood.... The next day allegedly ANBU found the corpses of her relatives scattered all over the outskirts of Konoha... blood splatters everywhere... my ka-san... lost her mind... she carried each and every one of them out there, even though she was having contractions... and left them to be feasted on by scavengers... she died... during labour... cursing those who destroyed her family, ripped them apart..."

And with that, Kakashi cut off, his sobs echoing throughout the frosty winter air, surely heard by those even miles away, his tears glowing silver as they fell in droplets to the ground, a sliver of lightning dispersing into nothingness as it met with the cold surface below, never to be seen again.

End of Flashback

"Ah, so you read the mission reports that outlined her 'cause of death', ne? Quite a tragic case, actually; that she was..." Takeshi muttered in faux sympathy as he turned his glassy gaze toward the trembling form of Sakura's sensei, whom was probably reliving the memory firsthand, repeatedly.

"You fucking bastard! You destroyed the only people he could have ever know, his family! He lost everything after that! You sent your men... to dispose of his mother's relatives...! Why?! What was it achieving, what could you have possibly gained from it?! To see him suffer, like he actually had done something to you personally to deserve this?! Why, you fucking sick sociopath, WHY?!"

"Simple; because his father was a threat to me, and therefore by attacking the things most precious to him whilst he had let his guard down, seemed to be the most efficient and effective means possible in order to prevent him from hindering my plans. So you see, it's nothing personal; in all honesty, I pity the man. He had to endure years of suffering thanks to the lack thereof shown through his stubborn, prideful father, and even more so when said man took his own life. Honestly, too much pressure for a lad of merely six to endure, ne?"

Takeshi retorted without missing a beat, a smile bordering sadistic pleasure tugging at his lips as he stared at Sakura; well, more accurately, her breasts. Sakura felt shivers of utter repulsion making their way down her spine as Takeshi's eyes trailed down to her ass, following every voluptuous curve she had for offer and on display, which was pretty much almost everything.

Her fighting outfit wasn't anything to be called skimpy, slutty, but it couldn't be called modest either; a tight fishnet tank-top adorned her upper torso, her lacy black bra almost completely visible, yet covered by her wine coloured v-neck crop top which stopped just beneath her bust-line, a silver zipper tracing down to the hem. One of the sleeves of the shirt was cut off at her shoulder, cropping and framing her right arm, complimenting the fishnet and gauze wraps that were tightly secured to said limb, completed with a glove cut off at the fingers, bandages wrapped around each slim appendage with much care and precision; there was no strap for Sakura's left arm, the wine coloured vest curving under her arm to meet her back, the empty space covered by the black mesh, more of her bra visible in this particular place.

There was a sleeve hanging from just above her forearm, vaguely resembling Sasuke's (a/n: in the Shippuden, when we first encounter him), except for the fact that it was completely loose around her arm, falling to just above her wrist before flowing around it with several inches of breathing space, a black glove similar to Sai's (a/n: Sai wears gloves that have some fingers cut off, the others completely covered) adorning that particular hand; from there, the rosette wears a pair of short black shorts, ending just above her mid thigh area, more mesh coming down her left leg from under the tight material of her pants.

On her right leg there is black fishnet, only this time it comes up from her ankle, stopping just above her shin (a/n: think of Temari in the Shippuden), black shinobi sandals crossed with high-heels strapped around both of her feet, the left's boot coming up till it was just beneath her kneecap, the other having thick black straps wrapped up and around her right leg; to finish her look, she had a wine coloured skirt adorned with black that was sliced right up both legs' thighs until it met her panty line (a/n: if any of you have ever seen 'W.I.T.C.H.', think of Hay Lin in her Guardian form; that sort of skirt), flowing in between her legs till they met halfway down Sakura's long limbs, thing black strings attaching the skirt together from her hips, silver bells hanging shamelessly from the thin wire threads they were tied to.

All that needed to be added was her headband, which sat in its' traditional spot over the crown of her head, tied beneath her bubblegum pink locks, which flowed behind her in two ponytails similar to her shishou's, and you had the sexiest woman in the entire Leaf Village facing you.

Literally.

The way Takeshi leered made Sakura want to puke, but she withheld the strong urge, remembering her sensei's current predicament, and knelt down beside him, placing her hands gently on both of his shoulders, leaning her head into the crook of his neck as she allowed the familiar green glow of her medical chakra flow into her palms, searching for any signs of weakness, so that she could slip into his mind and drag him out of his stupor; Takeshi looked none too pleased with this development, but before he could even lift one of his slimy fingers (not literally dudes), Lee and the rest of the gathered jonin assembled to block his path, only Kurenai and Hinata remaining behind to defend Sakura as she slipped into her unconscious mentor's mind, rendering her own vessel useless whilst incapacitated.

Fuck was this going to be interesting.

Sasuke stood triumphant above a screeching mini destructive fox, smirk emboldened as he raised his katana, infusing his nature element into the sharpened blade before bringing it down with lightning precision, stabbing the creature till it was rendered immobile, incapable of movement; with this advantage, even as the kyuubi howled in agony, Sasuke closed his eyes, concentrating on nothing in particular, before reopening his onyx orbs.

There, in the very depths of his eyes, was none other than the amaterasu sharingan, and with this transition, searing obsidian flames sprung up, engulfing the clearing in nothing but bottomless black, all cries of pain drowned out by the crusade of the unstoppable fire sprites, continuously spreading until all met the same, unavoidable fate.

Sakura wandered through her sensei's mind, trying to find an opening to enter one of his memories, in the hopes of finding him and persuading fore-mentioned man to return with her back to the world outside of his mind; it was surely not healthy to be cooped up in such a small space twenty-four seven, particularly with such horrifying memories to be your only source of companionship.

The rosette had just forced herself out of a particularly terrifying one; one where Kakashi is on a mission to protect a princess from a foreign country, only to later stumble upon her being tortured ruthlessly, rape being the least of that poor woman's problems.

The mere aftertaste of it left Sakura dry-retching as she all but tore her way out, stumbling blindly through the corridors of his mind, various doors lining each wall of his brain, reminding Sakura of ironically enough the mental institutional wing for the criminally insane that had just recently been opened in Konohagakure's Hospital; what a sick twist of fate to see her sensei's mind so contaminated with white-washed walls, and steel barricades with padlocks for doors.

Though the rosette assumed that this was the result of all of that induced trauma, a defence mechanism to the outside world one might say; Kakashi would never want anyone to access his memories that easily, so this was the result of years of hard focus, mental barriers blocking every possible path. All this was doing for the rosette was increasing her frustration levels, so much so that she even contemplated leaving the man stuck inside his head for the rest of his life, rendered a vegetable; hey, at least he would never have to give up his hospital bed.

But she didn't have the heart to just abandon him; no, she would drag him out by his penis if she had to in order to reclaim her beloved childhood mentor back, before beating him within an inch of his life for making her work so hard just to retrieve him, therefore still putting him in a hospital bed for Kami-sama knows how long; all depends on just how upset and or angry Sakura gets at him once he regains his wits.

Sighing, Sakura continued her rather pointless voyage throughout her sensei's well-protected mind (what, was he afraid of being probed by aliens or something?), praying to whoever would listen to get her and her teacher out of here relatively unharmed (physically at least; as for mental and emotional state of mind...), before the damage is unrepairable, driving Kakashi to the same unfortunate insane state that his dear mother had descended into prior his birth.

"Naruto... wake up...." Said blonde groaned weakly, flinching at the now throbbing pain in his shoulder; what the hell had happened...?

"Urrrnnnnnhh...! T-Teme...? That you...?" Naruto rasped out rather groggily, the pain intensifying as he opened his cerulean eyes, only to be met with Sasuke's obsidian ones, burning with a quiet concern that touched the blonde deeply; then he noticed it.

The clearing that they currently inhabited was charred black, nothing of any commensurate value left with the remains; not even a sliver of brown was traceable in the flame-broken field. "Sasuke....what'd you—?"

"I had no choice; you lost control, gave in to your instincts, to its' instincts. You could have done some serious damage had I not intervened... usuratonkachi..." Sasuke muttered under his breath, turning his head in the opposite direction to hide the faint traces of pink that now dusted them; hai, it was faint, barely visible, but it was there, and Naruto caught light of it. "H-Hey teme... are you... blushing...?"

The implication was enough for Sasuke's glare to immediately snap back onto Naruto, a vein popping on his forehead as he cracked his knuckles in a lethal sort of way; Naruto paled to a deathly white, knowing full-well what Sasuke was about to do. "U-uh, teme, I was joking, JOKING—ARRRRRGHHH, ITAAAAIIIIIII!" His screams of pain echoed and carried with the drifting wind to the very corners of the Land of Howling Confusion and back some.

Sakura continued to saunter along idly, processing everything she had just witnessed; so far, in a quick summation, all the rosette could manage to choke out was that Kakashi had indeed suffered more than any shinobi she had ever known (aside from a certain Uchiha) in her life, more than any person should, and it broke her heart to finally realise why he always seemed to be wearing a mask; it not only hid his face, but all of the emotions that would cross it if one of these memories came to mind.

He hid his face from the world so he could mask his emotions from view; he masked his true self in exchange for a means to obscure his suffering, his inner turmoil. He hid his true self because he wanted to protect those whom had yet to grasp the true meaning of 'pain.'

But most of all.... he wore a mask to protect his students from the horrors of shinobi life; not that it did much good in the end, ne?

As Sasuke pretty much carried Naruto on his back, he allowed himself a moments grace period in which he fell into a light stupor, remembering the events prior to Naruto's transformation back into his usual form.

Flashback

Sasuke panted heavily as the blood flowed freely from the corners of his eyes, leaking down his cheeks and plopping soundlessly to the darkened earth at his feet as he maintained eye contact with the beast affront him; so far, he had had more trouble than he initially thought he would in helping Naruto come to his senses, and transform back. The miniature kyuubi went on a rampage, managing to tear out the lightning infused katana from it's shoulder and sending it right back at Sasuke, whom caught it with ease; what he didn't expect, nor with half as much speed and conviction in it's wounded state as it managed, was the beast to reappear behind him, but this was an easily corrected mistake.

Sasuke simply outwitted the creature and mimicked it's movement, though this time he propelled himself into the sky, doing several long flips and twists before raising his hand into the quickly condensing air, storm clouds reforming at Sasuke's simple action; it seemed he had no choice but to completely immobilise the creature, praying that Naruto would escape relatively unharmed through the attack he was about to perform on the demon below him, and would not hold it against him.

It was, after all, in his best interests. Clenching his fist once, twice, thrice, Sasuke found himself doing the familiar seals for his family's prestigious jutsu; "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Raising his chest into the air, he built the chakra into a thick, condensed ball, puffing up his cheeks momentarily as he craned his neck backwards, before arching his now falling back toward the fast approaching ground, raising his right hand to his mouth, his thumb, index and middle fingers' acting as a guide as he spat the fireball from his mouth, up into the darkened clouds, lighting up the sky in an orangey-yellow flash, inevitably drawing unwanted attention to himself; the mini fox had been searching blindly for his opponent, and when the sudden darkness surrounding lit up in a blaze of scorching orange... well, it's first instinct was to attack, of course.

Building up the chakra in its' cheeks, the fox then used the surrounding air to form a small crimson-black sphere about the same size as a rasengan, before taking said ball of pure chakra into the confines of its' mouth, and raising its' head to let the explosive attack hit.

That is, until a solid wall of something that shared a vague resemblance to... sand?... appeared, blocking the attack and therefore reflecting it right back at the mini demon, shocking the creature and numbing it with nothing but pain; the steely sand then proceeded in grasping the four-tailed beast in its' inescapable hold, inevitably pinning down the now thrashing monster.

Sasuke stared slightly wide-eyed at the sight before him; not only had Gaara saved Naruto's butt, but it appeared that he had also saved Sasuke's as well; the Uchiha crouched on a floating pile of sand, which had caught him before he could make contact with the ground.

Letting out an inaudible sigh of relief, Sasuke then jumped from the solid grains of calcified dirt, landing without making a single sound; from there, he sauntered casually to where Naruto's demon squirmed in utter futility, Sasuke taking a sick sort of sadistic pleasure in watching fore-mentioned creature fight back without any hope whatsoever of escape. It would all be over soon.

"Why did you save my ass?" Sasuke stated bluntly, not wanting to withhold the question any longer than necessary; he really was curious as to what the origins of his answer may be. "Because you are precious to Naruto, and if you are precious to him, then you are so to me as well." Sasuke cocked his head in slight amusement, seeing the inner 'Naruto-admirer' coming out to shine. Gaara ignored the impertinent movement, and continued on as if uninterrupted (not that he had been...).

"Besides, Naruto wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that he had done something that resulted in you having to use your Amaterasu and Kirin on top of that just to deter him; it would leave an adverse impact on him, I expect you know that though, don't you, Sasuke Uchiha?" Said man was now slightly pissed; how did he know the names of jutsu that he had never even seen before...?

"Heh. All the records of your previous fights have been recorded, and so now we have a strong reserve of information about the degree of your ability; which is extremely high, mind you. Expected of an Uchiha elite, I suppose..." Gaara trailed off, allowing Sasuke to indulge in his own over-inflated ego before he stood over the source of all the terrible noise. "Kekekekekekekek! Kyuubi is all tied up!" Shukaku commented in utter amusement, his words drowned out by the soundless approach of one Sasuke Uchiha, whom had temporarily forgotten his quiet ramblings (a/n: more like gloating—I LOVE YOU SASUKE!) and was now ready to turn Naruto back into himself.

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to get familiar with the hum of his Amaterasu, the chakra flowing behind his lids as they flew open, fresh blood burning their mark down Sasuke's ivory cheeks as he made complete eye contact with said topic of former discussion; the effects of this weren't notable at first, but when the black flames made contact with the mini fox completely was when it started to change. At first it just screeched in pain, but slowly the black flames ate through the thickly layered chakra-skin, peeling it away tails and all until all that was left was an unconscious Naruto... that would be killed instantly if those flames even so much as touched his skin; pouring more chakra into his eyes, Sasuke managed to do a reverse summoning, the impossible-to-put-out flames dispersing into an alternate universe, but they were gone.

Panting once again, Sasuke relaxed in relief, knowing that his friend was going to be okay. That is, until a stabbing pain tore its' way through Sasuke's head, bleatingly pounding behind his eyes until he saw red, literally; more blood gushed from his eye sockets as Sasuke made the best attempt to clamp them shut, all failing, as the pain only grew worse by doing so. Gaara knelt beside him (a/n: Sasuke had collapsed suddenly, hands clutching his head in an attempt to soothe the pain), hands resting firmly on his shoulders as he probed for the solution to the problem, something Sasuke couldn't actually see for himself; again, pun intended, as he cannot see anything, at all. That was it; he was now officially blind.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Are you sure you cannot see anything, at all, Sasuke?" Gaara asked evasively, uncomfortable with the situation at hand; why couldn't Naruto wake up and—

"NO!" Sasuke snapped impatiently, having waited a full hour to find out whether or not his sight would come back; it appeared to be the latter. Sighing, Gaara turned to where Naruto lay, still yet to awaken from his unconscious state; if he didn't wake soon... "Will you be staying here, with Naruto...?"

"Tch, what do you think, usuratonkachi?! What, am I gonna simply just waltz off on my merry way and fight, leaving him defenceless? Hn, what the fuck am I supposed to do?! I can't see a fucking thing, and you come out and say something as half-assed as that?! What the fuck, man?!" Sasuke spat angrily, stomping over to where Naruto lay, before he slid to his knees, grabbing the baka by the collar of his ridiculous orange jacket (to which he still wears), and smacking him senseless.

"Naruto! Wake up, dammit! I can't protect you forever you know! Get your useless ass up!" Gaara watched the display in silence for several moments, before finally tiring of the scene, and haphazardly turned on his heel, sauntering casually off into the opposite direction; hearing his sudden exit, Sasuke just had to come out with it.

"Where, may I ask, are you going?"

"To fight a war, Uchiha; try it sometime. It has to be better than abusing your unconscious teammate." Gaara retorted without missing a beat, a bored, blunt tone used to convey his slight annoyance.

When the only response to his witty comment was "Hn", Gaara decided to say his final parting words, unsure at first, but confident thereafter. "Uchiha..." Said man looked to the direction in which the voice came from, indicating that he was indeed listening, but not really caring about what had to be said. That all changed once it was out in the open though.

"You should get Sakura-chan to look at those eyes of yours... she could most likely heal them back to normal, so that your vision is perfect once again. All you have to do s swallow your pride and ask; I'm sure she'd be more than happy to oblige."

And with that, Gaara vanished, the shifting of the wind the only thing to inform Sasuke of this development.

End of Flashback

So now you're probably wondering... how is it that Sasuke is managing to carry someone as heavy as Naruto through the treetops, blind as a drug addict walking around in the sunshine? Well, who knows; Uchiha stubbornness perhaps?

Naruto whimpered every time Sasuke landed on a tree branch with much more force than necessary, a pained smirk gracing the Uchiha's lips; man, this was going to be a painful ride....

Sakura was just about to turn a corner when all of a sudden a flash of silver-white light burst free, spraying the room with a rainbow of colours, transfixing the rosette into a dreamlike stupor; it was the first time in what appeared to be forever since the woman had seen any splashes of colour.

All of Kakashi's memories to date were dismal, grey, sombre, and it only helped in fuelling Sakura's already plummeting mood; why was it that he had no happy memories...? Sakura approached the place where the light had originated, the faint glowing of it lulling Sakura off into a trance as she pulled at the door knob, a ray of static light bathing her as she took her first steps into the room; one thing was for sure.

Sakura was about to find out just why there had been nothing remotely 'happy' in her sensei's memories.

The jonin all gasped in much needed breaths of air, savouring it even though it burned to inhale it into their systems; the fight with Takeshi had spanned out until they were all physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted, too tired to continue their battle; said man stood there, seemingly unfazed even though he had several major injuries adorning his flesh, all courtesy of one very pissed off Neji Hyuuga.

Sweat, blood, more sweat and even more blood lined the battlefield, caked to the ground in some places where it had dried, still running along the grooves of the cracked earth in others, where the blood was still fresh, recently spilt; the most critically injured of the group turned out to be Asuma, whom had literally had a fist-sized hole punched through him by none other than the enigma in the long purple cloak, the blood gushing from his wound.

Ino had desperately tried to heal it, but Asuma was too stubborn to even sit still for a moment and let the poor girl heal his injury; had Sakura been awake... well, that's a different case entirely. So here they all were, so close to passing out, but not quite spent just yet; no, they would not stop the fight until one of them prevailed (which seems odd, seeing as there are like, thirteen on one side, against one foe... oh right... Takeshi is supposed to be extremely powerful, lol!), taking down their enemy for good.

The chances of that weren't very high for this group of elites, no siree... "Let's face it; you are all too weak to defeat me. So if you want to live, then I highly suggest you leave now and do not come back. Let me claim my prize, already." He said it calmly, but the irate annoyance was starting to show, both through his abrupt tone, and posture, which was tense with anticipation, stress; if he didn't take her now, whilst no one was the wiser...

"Like fuck we're just gonna throw in the towel, and hand over one of our teammates, our friends! We are ninja of the Leaf, and damn proud of it!" Neji exclaimed haughtily, venom lacing his voice as he lowered himself into traditional Hyuuga stance. "Hmmm, what to do with you...?"

Takeshi mumbled more to himself than anyone else, contemplating on just how he should obliterate the annoying pest across from him; though he had to admit that the child was good. A prodigy in his own rights, especially seeing as he managed to be the only one to inflict any real damage to him thus far. "I do not go down so easily!" Neji hollered as he disappeared, reappearing nano-seconds later in front of Takeshi, hitting him with a 'Eight trigrams: One Hundred and Twenty-Eight' combo, sending said man into the cliff-face across from them.

It seemed eerily quiet, even to the smug Hyuuga, whom didn't once let his guard down, for the fear of losing his life if he was foolish enough to do so; eventually, from the rubble of the cliff, there stood the mangled, bloody form of Takeshi at his worst, whom had finally grasped the seriousness of this battle. It was to prove that he was indeed worthy of Sakura, in very way and form, and if these people stood in his way, then he really didn't have much choice in the matter; he would just have to kill them.

"Damn... you... getting... in my.... way... of... my cherry blossom... mine... if you don't move... I'm going to have to... kill you then!" Takeshi had finally snapped, and with that, so did his self control; raising his hands, said man making seals so fast that it had the jonins' eyes spinning in their skulls as the man charging toward them lifted his arms, lightning slamming into the ground as a catatonic fluctuation, tearing the earth apart and ripping its' way towards the completely unprepared shinobi; all they could do was watch in mortified horror as the waves of thick static electricity closed in on their ranks, all gathered turning their attention to Sakura and Kakashi, whom were both out of commission.

'FUCK! If we don't—! They'll—!'

But it was already far too late.

The jutsu made indefinite contact, shattering the group and sending them into oblivion, Takeshi still charging, although his destination had changed now that his obstacles had been permanently removed; he was now running towards... the unconscious form of Sakura?!

"She's finally mine! After all of these years! Mine, mine, MINE!"

His manic laughter carried on the long since departed wind, the soulless cries of the dead demanding retribution as he finally arrived to the stilled body of his incessant obsession, the battle cries from afar sounding louder than they should have.

"MINE!"

a/n: Well... this chapter is shorter, but I did my best with what little time I have at the moment... forgive me guys, I really am sorry! T-T

Please review, and I will TRY (particular emphasis on the TRY part) to update sooner! ^ ^

Now I will attempt to get some desperately needed sleep (insomnia does this to people!)!!

Arigato gozaimasu ne! XD

*-Sasukeluva 4eva out-*

Oh, and guys? Please check out some of my new stuff! It would mean the world to me! ^ ^ And I also have a poll on my profile, so please check it out and vote for what you would like for me to do!

('Should there be a sequel to 'Last chance at Love'?)