Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Past Midnight ❯ End ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: Sooooo sorry for the long wait. I was out of the state and had no way to update the story. Really, really sorry. I hope nobody gets upset with the ending…mwuahahaha!!

 

I just realized I made a mistake on the last chapter…hahaha. Whatever. Anyway, it's safe to say that there is major OCC. Blah!

 

Enjoy the last chapter!!

 

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She dared not to move as the frightening aura enveloped her trembling form. She knew who it was by the way he said her name, so suave, so gentle and yet laced with deep anger. It scared her to think that he would come all the way to Konoha just for her. To take her back to the crumbling building, to the stuffy little room that would keep her hidden from the outside world.

 

What would he do this time to her for trying to escape his clutches? Would he simply lock her up like he did the first time, beating her small body and slapping her across the face until she begged and cried from the pain? Or would he simply drag her to the deepest woods, driving her face-first into the soft ground, bending her over to then rape her while others watched silently, thrusting in and out of her and rocking his hips as she screamed for him to stop?

 

For once she wished she were not Haruno Sakura, but a mere ordinary woman.

 

"Sakura," he sauntered towards her, his feet gliding smoothly against the ground. He stopped and frowned when both Sasuke and Naruto immediately jumped from the ground to stand before the already weeping Sakura. His crimson eyes fluttered from the twisted angry look on his little brother's face to Kakashi's form crouched beside Sakura.

 

"Sakura," he gently called to her. She cried harder, her head shaking side to side. The strong smell of sake soaked through her black and pink kimono, which she had accidentally dropped while shaking from fear.

 

Red eyes blazing with maddening anger, "What the fuck are you doing here Itachi?!"

 

The corner of the older Uchiha's mouth quirked slightly in amusement, "What? I'm not allowed to visit my birth village and my little brother?" He asked in mock hurt with a hand resting lightly against his chest.

 

Sasuke scoffed, "What the fuck do you want?"

 

"Clearly you didn't hear me," he mocked as he took a step closer with a thoughtful expression on his face, "...and such vulgar language coming from the last Uchiha heir. Mother and Father would certainly flip in their graves..."

 

Sasuke's eyes widened, hurt swirling in the pit in his stomach as he launched himself towards his brother, kunai clutched in his hand. The older Uchiha evaded the incoming attacks by mere quick and nimble steps back. The corner of his mouth twitched high as he eagerly grabbed his little brother by the elbow, pulled him towards his body and quickly connected his knee to Sasuke's stomach. He dropped down on the soft earth, coughing and clutching his abdomen in pain.

 

Sasuke glared up at his brother a single thought rushing through his mind. What the hell?! I'm one of Konoha's most elite shinobi and I still can't lay a fucking finger on him!

 

Frowning, Itachi let his hand rest briefly on the hilt of his katana feeling a swell of disappointment for Sasuke's performance. He wasn't surprised at all, although he had hoped Sasuke would have at least been a challenge. He tightly grabbed the katana, swinging it out from the case, “It's been…how many years since our last encounter, little brother?” He glared at Sasuke, “Almost twelve years I believe…”

 

Sasuke flicked his pouch open, flinging a set of kunais at Itachi who easily dodged them. Naruto came up from behind with his katana poised deadly, swinging it across Itachi's form, cutting away his flesh in half. The body fell towards the ground in two pieces, rivers of blood following in its wake. Before the body of the older Uchiha could even touch the ground it puffed into leaves.

 

“Damn it!” Naruto swore under his breath as he stole a quick glance at Sakura and Kakashi. He had trouble concentrating on Itachi's location due to Sakura's hysterical crying, but there was nothing he could do to ease her fear. Kakashi was already at her side trying to calm her, even though he was quite unsuccessful at it.

 

Sasuke's yell shook him awake from his thoughts and Naruto quickly dashed to his side as he fought savagely against his brother.

 

“Almost twelve years to train and become stronger and look at you,” he snorted at Sasuke's weak attacks, “you're still as pathetic as you were back then.”

 

Itachi managed to land a hard blow on the distracted Sasuke, his hard fist connecting to his younger brother's jaw and then swayed to the side to catch Naruto off guard to slice him across the abdomen. Pools of blood trickled from Naruto's injury, trailing and staining as it fell to his feet, slowly soaking the ground with red. Enraged, Sasuke flew to his brother once more, his mind completely fogged with revenge.

 

“What's this?” Itachi mocked him causing his anger to grow, “…already upset and not a clue in the world as to why?”

 

Yelling, Sasuke threw a chakra filled punch to his brother, missing him by only a couple of centimeters, “Don't act innocent you asshole! You slaughtered my family!”

 

A dark chuckle erupted from Itachi, his whole frame shaking in amusement. Sasuke stared, not quite understanding and making of his odd behavior. His previous fights with his older brother always included a very calm and collected man not a mocking and eager psychopath. Granted Itachi had always been a psychopath, but for some reason Sasuke was getting an uneasy feeling from the bottom of his gut as they stood off.

 

He laughed, bending over, hands propped up on his knees. He shook his head to the side, back and forth, his hair swaying along with his head's movements. Bringing up a finger to wipe a tear of laughter from his eye, Itachi gave his younger brother a warm and eerie smile, “Is that why you are attacking me?”

 

Shocked and confused, Sasuke could only nod at his brother. Behind him he could still hear Sakura crying, but he tried his best to ignore her. She was a distraction and he knew having her around during this fight would only cause problems.

 

Her reaction to his brother's appearance had confused him a bit, she seemed so strong and independent just moments a go, but now she was just a broken little girl. But was more confusing, and he did not want to admit anything at the moment because he was already scared as it was, was Itachi calling for Sakura.

 

“Odd really. For a moment I thought you were attacking me because of Sakura,” he smiled again.

 

“What?”

 

He felt it again, that same gut wrenching feeling he had every time he knew something bad was about to happen. He looked back at Sakura as she slapped Kakashi's hands away and as she cried harder as Naruto tried to get her to stand and flee the scene.

 

Itachi grinned darkly down at Sasuke, red eyes glittering in pure delight while Sakura's crying grew louder, “Did you know she has the most interesting looking birthmark on the inside of her thigh?”

 

Sasuke froze, his body becoming completely rigid at the realization. It clicked all together in his mind, from Sakura's cold behavior to her secretiveness about her whereabouts. He felt his heart shatter into millions of pieces just thinking about the possibilities that could have happened, the pain she probably went through, while being away from the safety of the village.

 

Missing for a little more than a year after Orochimaru's defeat.

 

The scars.

 

Her fear of sharingan.

 

Everything now made sense to Sasuke. She was taken away from Konoha, forcefully at that, and now his sick-minded brother was back to get her. He clenched his fists hard, his nails biting into the flesh on the inside of his hand. This wasn't about avenging his family anymore….

 

This was about protecting Sakura.

 

“Y-you bastard!” He roared, throwing himself on his brother who still stood chuckling. Catching him off guard, they both tumbled to the ground, Sasuke on top of his older brother. He punched him hard on the face, satisfied with the little trail of blood that trickled down his chin, but the dark victorious smile he openly wore was replaced by a frown when he felt a piercing sensation. Eyes widening, Sasuke stared at his brother in disbelief as a kunai was rammed deeper into his chest. Pools of Sasuke's blood wept from the wound trailing on Itachi's grasp on the kunai, down his hand and arm.

 

“What was that, little brother? You seemed so confident just moments ago. What happened?” He pushed the kunai deeper into his flesh causing him to gag, “Are you upset about Sakura? You shouldn't be, I've been taking good care of her.”

 

He smirked, drops of Sasuke's blood falling on his face. Roughly, Itachi pushed him off making him trip over his own two feet by the sheer force causing him to land a few feet away. Sasuke stared at the kunai lodged in his chest, a numbing sensation creeping over him. The yells from Naruto and Kakashi were left to deaf ears as he carefully touched the weapon. He flinched at the pain that shot through his body as he gently pulled the kunai out, blood gushing out of his wound quickly soaking his shirt.

 

In the background he could hear Naruto's war cry and the clash of weapons, but he slowly realized he couldn't hear Sakura anymore. Worried, he looked around for her and noticed she was gone. Cursing under his breath he swore pain upon Kakashi as he saw him helping Naruto with Itachi instead of protecting Sakura.

 

Naruto was slammed back into a tree trunk by a powerful kick, he clutched at his now slowly closing wound as it sizzled with chakra. Kakashi meanwhile swiftly moved against Itachi, trying his best to find an opening in which to attack the criminal. A little slow at his reaction and Kakashi found himself trapped in Itachi's world. Nervous, he looked around in the bloodstained world looking for an escape.

 

Sasuke looked on as Kakashi screamed in agony, clutching his head tightly before passing out and dropping on the ground. He shakily stood up, coughing a handful of blood, and charged at Itachi. He dodged the kunai that his brother held in his grasp, swerving to the right swiftly he made a quick hand seal. He was on the last sign when he stopped abruptly.

 

Itachi stood calmly, an air of confidence and arrogance surrounding him. He flicked his wrist to the side and Sasuke watched numbly as the kunai flew out of Itachi's grasp to pierce into Sakura's tender flesh. She screamed, falling onto the ground whimpering at the pain that raked from her back. He stood frozen, fear gripping him taking over complete control, as he watched Itachi make his way towards the struggling Sakura.

 

He nudged her with his foot, seeming satisfied with the whimpers of pain and chocked sobs she made, and then harshly kicked her on the side snapping a rib in the process. Choking on her own tears she made no sound as Itachi pulled her up by the hair to roughly pull out the kunai embedded between her shoulder blades. Meanwhile, Sasuke watched horrified as Itachi kept that dark smile tugging on his lips as he whispered into Sakura's ear.

 

“My, my. I thought I had made myself clear a long time a go, Sakura dear,” he taunted in her ear, “If I can't have you, no one will…”

 

Yelling in rage, she slammed a hand on his chest sending an electrifying wave of chakra into his body causing him to drop his hold on her. Regaining his composure he slapped her across the face sending her to the ground once more. Putting his foot on her head he drove her face deep onto the ground, smiling darkly as she clawed at his leg.

 

Sasuke stole a quick glance at Naruto who nodded to him. He tore his gaze away from the blond and his fallen former teacher and quickly charged towards his brother, hand poised for attack. Itachi watched amused as Sasuke made hand signs, his foot still on Sakura's head.

 

The crackling of pure energy tore at his hand and he felt his flesh begin to burn by the chakra that formed in his hand. Distantly he felt Naruto do the same as the blond gathered the rasengan in his hand while making extra copies of himself to surround Itachi.

 

Itachi, composed as ever, stood proudly with the still struggling Sakura under his foot. Sasuke screamed before launching himself to his brother, his hand outstretched as the chidori screeched violently with electricity. In a split second Itachi had kicked Sakura off the ground and up into his arms and used her as a shield when Sasuke's chidori came into contact.

 

Sasuke watched in horror as her eyes widened in fear, his hand going through her body, her blood soaking him completely in red. He didn't notice anything in that instant, not even when his chidori managed to injure his brother nor even when Naruto managed to strike the older Uchiha deadly with his rasengan, except for her frightened pale green eyes and opened mouth coughing up blood.

 

Kakashi staggered towards the blond to aid him in finally defeating the monster. Sasuke flicked his eyes back as Itachi smiled at him in triumph, a dark smile edged on his lips wearily. He mouthed some words along the lines of `pathetic little brother' to Sasuke, who immediately recoiled in anger and fear. He tore his eyes away from the dead Itachi to stare at Sakura. She went limp in his arms and he lowered her onto the ground carefully. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Struggling to breath, she tried to speak but her words were clogged by blood.

 

Choking on a sob, Sasuke nervously looked at her as he grasped her cold hand tightly, “S-sakura…I…I'm so so-sorry…”

 

She smiled a sad little smile up to him and his chest tightened horribly, “Sakura, stay awake for me please. S-stay awake!” He begged, “Stay awake, don't sleep.”

 

He noticed her weary eyes begin to droop, sleep claiming her slowly, “Stay wake, damn it!!” He couldn't loose her just yet she meant everything to him. Without her his life was a joke.

 

Realization hit him hard, his mind already accepting the fact that she was dying and was going to die in his arms yet his heart kept arguing for hope, for her and for his love. Confused and utterly exhausted he smiled that same little sad smile she had given him earlier and gently stroked her hair, running his fingers through her blood soaked pink tresses.

 

“I never gave you my answer,” he murmured softly with tears cascading down his angered flushed cheeks, “…about my wish.”

 

He bent down until their foreheads touched, Sakura tightly engulfed within his arms, “…I would wish for you…”

 

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After coming home covered in blood with a limp Sakura in his arms followed by Kakashi and Naruto who carried the older Uchiha's body was he finally able to feel some sense of peace. That same day, a little bit past midnight, he escaped from the hospital to roam the streets. He found Hyuuga Neji sitting on a concrete bench; idly he wondered if it was the same bench he left Sakura on when they were twelve. He approached him quietly while Neji gazed at him calmly.

 

He spoke, his voice deep and strangely sad, “She was pregnant with your child.” He paused as he took in Sasuke's shocked expression, “I was going to marry her, but she broke off the engagement when she miscarried.”

 

Nodding, Sasuke tore his gaze away from Neji to stare at the shimmering sky. A star twinkled brightly before it trickled along the dark heavens.

 

A shooting star. He mused.

 

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The year had gone by rather quickly for Uchiha Sasuke. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the occasional and sometimes unexpected visits from his worried friends, namely Naruto and Kakashi, which sometimes led to awkward predicaments. They had both offered their help, and he had a feeling they wanted to free load off of him since the opening of the Uchiha district, but he had shooed them away wanting nothing more than to live his life in peace and quiet.

 

He stared at the grave before him. It seemed almost insignificant compared the other graves. He bent down; carefully dropping a bouquet of wild flowers with his left hand while his right calloused hand touched the smooth surface of the small gravestone. He had nothing better to do tonight, except for sleeping but that was impossible at the moment, and he had wanted to avoid going to the party, which was being held in his home. Frustrated, he sighed, bringing his hand to his face rubbing his eyes tiredly. Stealing a quick look at the grave he made his mind up to go back home and greet his guests.

 

Upon entering the Uchiha district he quickly took notice of the bright lights of his home that illuminated half the street. He shook his head, hoping the neighbors would not complain to him in the morning because of the party. Lost in his thoughts he failed to notice he was already standing in front of the house.

 

Luckily for him a happy and eager blond woman greeted him loudly by the door, snapping him out of his thoughts, “Sasuke-kun! Where were you? I was worried sick!” She huffed and pouted prettily at him while the bundle in her arms squirmed slightly.

 

“Sorry about that,” He smiled apologetically to Ino.

 

She beamed up at him rocking the baby back and forth lightly in her embrace trying to calm the soon to be wailing babe. “You hear that sweetheart,” she coed at the baby, “You father knows how to apologize.”

 

Sasuke chuckled, his hands reaching out for the baby as Ino turned around and avoided him playfully. The baby began to wail and Ino immediately sang to him softly, kissing him gently on the forehead several times. Sasuke watched, content and pride swelling in his heart as he heard his baby son calm down.

 

Ino deposited the squirming bundle into his arms, “I have to go to the flower shop. I left the diaper bag over there and you,” she pointed at him, “pretty face, forgot to buy more diapers. You're low on disposable diapers…you know what that means, right?”

 

He sighed, “Yeah. I'll have to use the cloth diapers instead…”

 

“Yep! And there is no way in hell I am going to wash them after little Jr. does his business,” she smiled cheekily as she yelled from a distance away from the house. Sasuke merely waved back oddly enough feeling a little better with her scolding.

 

He weaved through the crowded hallway, passing by a drunken Naruto who kept signing a sappy romance song into one of his son's toys to a bright red Hinata. He walked into his kitchen, finding a horrible mess of dirty dishes, empty liquor bottles scattered around and birthday presents all labeled for him. He sighed again when the bundle in his arms squirmed restlessly and pushed aside the sliding door to step out into the cool air.

 

“It's beautiful out tonight.”

 

“Aa, it is.” He smiled, quietly making his way to the shadowed figure that sat on the wooden porch floor alone. Sitting down he handed the bundle over, “He's hungry.”

 

“Isn't he always.” She remarked heartily as she slowly opened her yukata, slipping it off one shoulder. He watched as she exposed the endless scars adorning her body, and he narrowed his eyes at a particular irregular scar that covered most of her shoulder.

 

“You shouldn't feel guilty,” she replied softly bringing him back from the disturbing thoughts that rushed through his mind. Sasuke watched, amused, as the baby immediately attached himself to her offered breast greedily causing him to chuckle.

 

“What?”

 

He shook his head, waving a hand at her a knowing smirk edged on his lips, “Like father like son, don't you think?”

 

Blushing bright red she slapped him hard on his chest, “Sa-sasuke-kun, you pervert!”

 

Grabbing her hand, he gently tugged on it causing her to snuggle into his expecting arms as the baby complained. She moved around until she was comfortable against his body and then gently pried the baby away from her breast to burp him. He nuzzled her pale hair with his nose, smelling the odd mixture of strawberry and cherry blossom fragrance that only belonged to her.

 

“Sasuke-kun?” He hummed, “Can you…can you describe our son to me?”

 

Blinking his eyes open he gazed at his petite wife, “Aa, I can.”

 

She smiled shyly up at him moving strands of pink hair that tickled her cheek away from her face. Leaning against his chest she listened to Sasuke's deep voice as it slowly claimed her to sleep.

 

She dreamt of a little dark haired boy with bright emerald eyes.

 

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A/N: There's must be a ton of mistakes on this just to let you know so don't yell at me. I will check it out later and correct them, but for now, oh well. I am too damn tired to reread it again and I know all of you have been dying to read the last chapter. Hope you liked it.

 

I'm not really happy with the fight scene, it's kinda crappy. I was in fact going to kill Sakura in the end, but I just couldn't do it. >_<

 

Made you think that Ino was the mom in the beginning, no? hahahaha!

 

AnimEvivvErz - I lurv you! I made Sakura live because of you. She was needed to make beautiful Uchiha babes, lol.