Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Moon On Fire ❯ And You Think It's Over..... ( Chapter 21 )

Chapter 21

And You Think It's Over....

Mizuki had protested mightily when Naruto picked her up and started running hell's speed away from the others but even in his injured state and carrying both her and Sakura, Naruto was far too strong against her struggles. He carried her over his left shoulder backwards while Sakura clung to his right side, riding a distorted piggy back. Consequently Mizuki could see behind them as they ran. She strained to see her friends but the only thing that she could make out besides the leaves and brush they ran rapidly through, was an ever increasing darkness, spreading out all too quickly towards them. Had Sasuke and the other failed already?

"Ummm Naruto-san...." Mizuki said nervously.

"Never mind Mizuki-chan! We're not going back! I promised Sasuke I would get you out of harm's way and that's what I intend to do!" She barely heard Naruto yell over the rush of the wind.

"Well you might not be able to keep that promise if you can't run any faster!" She yelled back loudly. She could not tear her eyes away from the enveloping darkness but saw out of the corner of her eye, Sakura turning around and yelling at Naruto to run faster as well. Naruto, being the strong and yet not always bright ninja that he was, actually slowed down to see what the problem was. When he saw the black bomb racing towards them, his yell outmatched anything that had come from the girls and he took off anew, sprinting for their lives.

Naruto ran for what must have been another ten minutes, trying to ignore Sakura and Mizuki yelling at him to get the ninja lead out and run faster, before realizing that he would likely not be able to outrun the energy carrying the two with him. He needed another plan.

"The cliffs to the East of the village." He thought frantically. "If I can reach them and get down to the bottom quickly, we might stand a chance." He immediately turned to the left and began sprinting faster than ever. But his course change had cost him a precious few seconds and what had been a worrying lead of only 15 or so feet became a frantic lead of only 10. Still he ran, his fiery determination the only thing coaxing his still sore muscles to move. He realized he couldn't hear Mizuki yelling anymore, she had buried her face against his back, no longer able to watch her impending doom close in on her. The thought made him push his legs even harder. "I can see the damn cliffs! I'm almost there! Come on legs do this!" He urged his battered body on, now running almost parallel to the pitch black which threatened to envelope them all. With 5 feet to spare, he burst out of the brush and was running beside the cliff face, looking for a safe way down. At 3 feet he realized there was no safe way to get to the bottom of the cliff. As the dark wave just brushed Mizuki's arm, causing her to cry out in alarm, they were airborne. Naruto had fallen no more than 5 feet when the black bomb flew over where his head had been only seconds before. He could feel the intense energy cause every hair on his body to stand on end. But just as he feared the bomb might drop into the canyon with them, he watched amazed as it flew straight overhead, blotting out the afternoon sun. They had escaped the bomb but they were still falling at a terminal velocity, they no longer had any light by which to see, and Naruto had also let go of Sakura and Mizuki in shock when the lights had gone out. He could hear their helpless cries as they fell away from him. His mind raced. "Gotta break their fall, gotta break their fall!" He flexed his bandaged arm and clasped it with his left arm. Despite the wind rushing his face and the cries of his friends, he concentrated with all his might, focusing chakra through his body, down to his hands. Both his hands. He opened his eyes suddenly as the chakra left his hands in a violent stream, flowing out and down, lighting up the dark chasm a blood drenched red. Naruto blanched when he realized there was only 30 feet left till they hit bottom. "We're not gonna make it!" He thought dismally just as his body hit the wall of soft but hot energy he had sent down moments before. He fell through his mountain of chakra and face planted with a loud "UFF!" Wind knocked out of him, he could only lie there for a few minutes while he coaxed his lungs to expand once more and listened frantically for a sign that Sakura and Mizuki had survived just as he had.

"Naruto!" He heard Sakura's voice approaching him and he smiled, not caring about the dust that flew into his mouth when he did. He felt a tentative hand on his left shoulder turn harder as the hand increased pressure and flipped him over onto his back. No longer lying on his lungs, he was able to breathe more freely and his eyes focused. Mizuki was leaning over him carefully. He could see no dirt on her face, just ceaseless tears of fear, pain and joy at seeing he was alright. He felt Sakura kneel down to his right. He blinked and turned his head and when he did, he realized he could see her quite clearly. The sun was shining brightly into the canyon once more. Itachi's dark chakra bomb was gone.

Only 15 minutes before:

Sasuke heard Naruto sprint off with the girls. He felt at the same time relieved that they would survive and nervous to be letting the only person who knew anything about this deadly jutsu out of his sight. Naruto had said there would be a split second with which to attack. Normally that wouldn't have been an issue. Between his Sharingan and Neji's Byakugan they should have been able to see the build up of energy and time their attack perfectly. But Sasuke didn't need Neji to tell him that, wherever the energy to create this bomb came from, it wasn't visible to any bloodline limit he knew of. As far as any of the desperate team's eyes were concerned, the monster standing before them had no chakra network, no flow, no way of telling what the hell was going on.

"Sasuke" Kakashi's incredulous voice sounded beside him and he had a moment to remember that Kakashi had a Sharingan of his own.

"I know!" Sasuke yelled back. This was impossible! Their one chance could come at any second and they wouldn't know it until it passed! He thought frantically. "Shikamaru!" He yelled to the unseen ninja to his right. "Try binding him with your shadow stitch!"

"Around that stuff? If you haven't noticed that black stuff is making it kind of hard to cast any shadow around here!" Shikamaru yelled back.

"Use this!" Neji yelled and threw a flash bomb to his friend. Shikamaru caught it and threw it right towards Itachi. It went off right in front of him with magnificent intensity, not injuring him in the slightest but creating enough light that Shikamaru was able to send the most powerful shadow he could muster at Itachi. He honestly didn't think it would do anything as he sent it racing so he almost missed the moment when he felt the shadow hit its target. He focused and latched on tight, not sure if it would make a difference but sure as hell not letting go.

Sasuke saw the shadow hit Itachi but nothing changed. Itachi didn't even flinch, he just stood there, eyes closed, calling all the energy he could to gather around him. The wall of black that surrounded his brother grew larger with every moment. Any moment he would release it and his home, his friends, and the woman he loved would be blasted to nothing. What could he do to stop it?

Just as he and no doubt his friends were thinking these desperate thoughts, Itachi's eyes suddenly opened so wide one would think his eyeballs would fall out. Sasuke jerked forward, thinking this was the moment but Itachi wasn't looking at him. He turned his gaze to follow Itachi's and it landed on a second black mass to his left, growing larger and larger as it siphoned off power from the original! Sasuke had to blink several times to process what he was seeing. Tsunade was standing not ten feet away from the group; black power swirling around her, staring Itachi straight in the eyes with a look Sasuke was suddenly glad wasn't directed at him! As her power grew, he could see Itachi's lessening!

Kakashi was frozen dumb by the sudden interruption. Was this going to be another example of the Hokage giving their life to save the village? Naruto had said there was no way to survive this jutsu, even for the caster!

Tsunade must have seen the look on Kakashi's face. She gritted her teeth and yelled, "All of you, away now! Except for Shikamaru. You move to the right but don't you dare let go! I'm going to send this power towards the cliffs for the least damage. The moment I do, close in and finish this bastard for God's sake! Are you really Konoha ninja's or what?" Sasuke found himself on the receiving end of the look he had dreaded earlier and was reminded again why this person was the Hokage. He jumped up and over Itachi with everyone but the cursing Shikamaru who inched his way to his right.

Itachi glared at Tsunade in supreme shock. He had discovered this jutsu from going through Orochimaru's hidden research. How could she have known?

As if reading his mind, Tsunade replied, "Have you forgotten that I grew up with that bastard Orochimaru? And that I was there when his lab was raided? All the secrets you know, I know Itachi. Only don't forget. With age comes wisdom...and more power that you'll ever know!" As she said this last, she extended her right arm out at her side and with a scream of exertion, forced all the energy building up around her through her arm and out her fingertips. The deadly wall of black energy raced from Itachi to her, from her through the quickly annihilated forest, towards the eastern cliffs.

After what felt like an eternity but in reality was only mere seconds, the black energy disappeared. Tsunade collapsed to the ground, exhausted, her visage of youth and beauty eroded by her lack of power. She looked every bit the old woman she really was, but she was alive. So was Itachi, but as Sasuke and the others closed around him, he realized that even if they did nothing, his brother would not last for more than a few minutes. Itachi had collapsed to the ground, his breathing shallow and strained. Shikamaru remained vigilant however, not willing to be surprised by Itachi again. Sasuke knelt beside his brother, feeling better for Shikamaru's shadow stitch even as he realized it was no longer necessary. Itachi wasn't going anywhere fast. He turned his dead eyes to Sasuke's and smiled.

"Well you've done it little brother." His voice rattled in between anguished breaths. "Or rather 'you' haven't done anything have you? You left all the hard work to your girlfriend and your old bag of a Hokage, though I must say, even I didn't see that coming." He coughed as he chuckled and a thin stream of blood ran down his chin.

Sasuke just stared. Itachi's words should have incensed him into cutting his head off right then and there. But seeing his brother in his final pathetic moments, all avenues of life lost to him, Sasuke merely felt pity. And he would not give his brother the satisfaction of a quick and honourable death. He would die in agony as he had made others live.

"Um quick question please." Shikamaru spoke suddenly, causing everyone to jump slightly.

"You can let go now Shikamaru. He's not going anywhere." Kakashi said quietly, standing behind Sasuke.

"Uh not what I was going to ask. Has anyone realized that where Tsunade-sama sent all that deadly energy is the direction Naruto ran off in with the girls?" The question had been innocent enough but the maelstrom it caused made Shikamaru wish he'd said nothing at all.

Sasuke felt his blood run cold as he looked back to where Tsunade was resting on the ground, her eyes wide open, reflecting his horror right back at him. Sasuke jumped to his feet and was instantly behind Gaara who had taken off running just a moment before. They hadn't run 50 yards when they stopped dead at the sight of three figures stumbling towards them. His sense of relief was such that he could barely keep his feet. Even the ever stoic Gaara couldn't keep grin from his face, especially when Naruto saw them alive and waved so enthusiastically that he almost hit Mizuki with his bandaged hand. She shoved his hand out of her face and swiped him on the side of the head for good measure. The three burst out laughing and when they reached the anxious Sasuke and Gaara, Mizuki held up her hands in front of her and said, "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Sasuke would have found time to laugh at her antics but he was just too relieved to see she and his friends had survived. He wiped his face with his hands as Mizuki gave Gaara a bone-crushing hug. They were alive. Itachi was dying, soon to be a threat never again, and they had all survived. He didn't know what God to thank but he was sure whoever was responsible for this amazing fate, they knew how grateful he was. Even more so when Mizuki came to him, her arms outstretched. He went to those arms almost hungrily. He heard her apologetic whispers in his ears and hugged her to him all the tighter in response. He was all too conscious, even in his ecstatic stupor that no matter how tightly he held her, it wasn't enough. He could feel it from her as well, the tighter she held him. It was as though they couldn't be close enough to each other. Once everything had been dealt with, he aimed to fix that problem.

The five friends walked slowly back to the rest of the group, accommodating the injured. Several anbu had revealed themselves and were tending to Tsunade and guarding Itachi like a pack of wolves. Sakura grabbed Naruto and went to help heal Tsunade, as well as apologize for leaving without permission. As Sasuke approached with Mizuki on his arm he heard Kakashi talking to Itachi. "He's still alive? Why? We were gone for more than ten minutes!" Sasuke thought sombrely. He had hoped to spare Mizuki any more of Itachi's disgusting words.

"Give in Itachi." Kakashi prodded. "It's over. Die and have some peace." Kakashi had been confused as to why Itachi insisted on clinging to life when it had pretty much ended more than fifteen minutes before. He heard Sasuke and Mizuki's voices coming up behind him. Itachi's sightless eyes, which had been staring straight up into the sky suddenly blinked and moved to where Sasuke had left Mizuki with Gaara and was now once again kneeling beside him.

Sasuke couldn't say he felt sorry for the pain his brother was obviously in. Every breath was hitched and hollow. Every few minutes his body would shake uncontrollably as Itachi fought to keep from yelling out the pain of fighting his body into a few more minutes of life. Through the pain and ragged breathing Sasuke could tell Itachi was trying to say something. Looking behind him once to make sure Mizuki would not be in earshot, he leaned in to his brother's face.

"Little brother." Itachi wheezed and coughed. "You think you've won....but I won't let it end like this. I will take everything from you with me to hell where I will be waiting for you." He sneered.

"Yeah save us a seat you rat bastard, I'll bring the marshmallows." Mizuki shot out from behind Sasuke. Sasuke grimaced at her. He hadn't wanted her to hear any of that. Mizuki ignored his look. "You're done for! Let it go for crying out loud! What have you got to gain by hanging about in terrible pain?"

Itachi actually grinned and Sasuke saw none of the evil had left his brother, even in his last moments. "Oh but I had to wait for you to come back. You see I have a present for you Mizuki-chan. Think of it as something to remember me by." He wheezed and coughed and more blood ran down his chin but he ignored it." The one thing you need that will make you complete once more. Your name."

"My name?" Mizuki moved closer in spite of herself. It was the one thing about this whole experience she had felt unable to deal with. Her real name. The one he had taken from her when he had planted false memories and stolen what, in effect, made her human.

Sasuke couldn't believe Itachi was going to do something good in his last moments of life and the look on his face confirmed it. A niggling panic started in the back of Sasuke's mind as Mizuki knelt down beside him, beside Itachi.

"Mizuki..." Sasuke started but Mizuki spoke over him.

"What is my name Itachi?" Mizuki all but yelled. "What is it? Tell me now!"

"No Mizuki!" Sasuke yelled. His right arm seemed to move of its own volition towards Mizuki to push her away but he was too late.

"Sayuri......" Itachi muttered and with one final malevolent grin, he died.

"Sayuri." The girl known as Mizuki seemed to roll the name in her mouth, checking to see if it fit. As she completed the last syllable however, her eyes opened impossibly wide and she grabbed her head in what seemed to be intense pain!

"No! No! It can't....No! Stop!" She flung backwards onto the ground, rolled up into a fetal position, clutching her head as though trying to keep it from exploding.

Sasuke leapt towards her, he tried to help her but she screamed when he touched her. He rolled back on his feet, looking utterly terrified and helpless. "What's going on?" He yelled to the others. "What do I do?" Sakura rushed forward and started to apply healing techniques hoping to stop the obvious pain she was in.

Kakashi turned to Neji. "Neji, use your Byakugan, see if you can find out what's happening to her." Neji looked at Kakashi but obliged.

"This can't be!" He said shocked as his eyes roved over her prone body. "Her chakra network...it's back! I mean it's there like it's supposed to be now! It's like it's growing down and out from her head!"

"What? What the hell is going on?" Sasuke looked to Kakashi who looked an awful lot like he had figured it out but said nothing.

All at once the screaming stopped. Sasuke whipped back towards where Sakura was pouring healing chakra into Mizuki. Mizuki's body had relaxed but she had fallen unconscious.

"It's slowing." Neji said. "It was like a burst of energy but it's slowed. In fact she looks completely normal now from what I can tell."

"Alright that's enough!" Tsunade's voice barked from behind the group. "Everyone here to the hospital on the double to be checked out. The anbu will take care of Itachi's corpse. I'll let you decide what is done with the body Sasuke." She looked at him sympathetically as he stood up with Mizuki in his arms. He nodded numbly and leapt off towards Konoha with his friends close behind.

XXX

Sasuke stood alone in front of the pyre that held the burning corpse of his older brother. It had been three days since the battle that had finally ended Itachi's reign of terror in his life. Naruto and Sakura had wanted to be with him but he had insisted on doing this alone. Truth be told he barely registered the fact that the last person in his family was burning to ashes before him. He mind was full of pain and grief but it had little to nothing to do with the sight before him.

She remembered nothing. She had forgotten him.

His eyes squinted shut as the thoughts pressed their way into his mind once more. Mizuki had woken in the hospital not an hour after they had all returned. He had sat by her bedside, ignoring the other medic's entreaties that he be looked at for injuries. Tsunade had come in, her energy levels returned to the point where she could put on her facade of youth once more. She had survived channelling the black energy, despite Naruto's claim that the caster could not. She claimed it was because "that dumb ass Jiraiya wasn't always as good an information gatherer as he thought he was." She smiled at Sasuke reassuringly and was checking some readings when they heard the faintest whimper from the bed. Sasuke stood up immediately and stood over the bed, Tsunade moving to the other side. Mizuki's eyes had opened with a few blinks as she looked from Sasuke to Tsunade. Both wore relieved and reassuring smiles. But Mizuki did not smile back. Sasuke's smile faltered a little bit as she looked at him again with, he realized, an expression of what could only be fear.

"Mizuki?" He ventured cautiously, suddenly sure of what her response would be. Her voice was scratchy but clear and equal parts annoyed and frightened.

"Who?"

Gaara came up so quietly behind the thought immersed Sasuke that when he finally noticed he wasn't alone, he jumped and shot Gaara a rather annoyed look. Gaara ignored it and stood beside him, seeming to study the burning pyre.

"I'm sure you've figured this out but Tsunade has determined that giving Miz... I mean 'Sayuri' back her name completed and released the jutsu Itachi had used to steal her chakra. Releasing this jutsu reverted her mind and body back to a point in time before Itachi had appeared in her life and placed her under the Tsukuyomi. She doesn't recall any of the moves or techniques Itachi had forced into her that day either. How this strange jutsu made her eyes suitable for him to use we still don't know. We'll probably never know. It no longer matters."

"It was his final stab." Sasuke muttered, surprising himself with how bitter he sounded. He could feel all the progress his heart had made the last several days unravelling. "It was his insurance. If he couldn't defeat me and take her eyes then like hell he was going to die peacefully and let us be happy." Sasuke had been unable to see Mizuki after she had woken up and declared that not only did she not love him, she didn't even know who he was. To look in her blank eyes that had once held so much love for him had been too painful. So he had left her to the care of the others, relying on them to keep him informed.

"I have explained to her all that happened. Itachi and the jutsu, though I left the part of what she specifically saw out, her time here, the friendships she made and how she played an integral part in Itachi's downfall." Gaara sighed, looking weary. "She looked at me like I was telling an interesting story, one she'd never heard before."

Sasuke could hear the pain in Gaara's voice. Wrapped up in his own despair, he had forgotten that he wasn't the only one who had come to truly care for the strange girl who had been dumped in their laps, only to change their lives, and was now going to leave them forever. He understood how Gaara felt and, in sharing that, his pain seemed to become the slightest bit easier.

"She's almost back to perfect health." Gaara continued. "Naruto, in all his overbearing cheer, has made friends with her quickly once again." Sasuke hid a smile at that. "He has all but convinced her to stay here in Konoha and start a new life."

Sasuke didn't know what to say to that.

"She said she would have to think about it. And she said she wanted to speak to you first."

"Me?" Sasuke said honestly surprised. "Why me? She made it very clear she doesn't know who I am."

"Perhaps not the way she used to but I've told her as much about you as I have everyone else."

"So she thinks I'm a jerk then?" The retort burst out before Sasuke could stop it. He was only mildly sorry he'd said it.

Gaara hid a small smile. "Even if I had done nothing but bash you to her the last few days, Naruto, Sakura and everyone else have been extolling your virtues to the point where anything bad I could have said would be meaningless anyway."

Sasuke smiled wanly at Gaara. A silent understanding passed between them and they felt no need to say anything more as they stood and watched the last remnants of Itachi burn.

"Um, excuse me." A voice sounded quietly behind them. Gaara turned immediately and smiled but Sasuke had to steel himself before turning to look at her. Mizuki stood before them; looking as nervous as she did the first day he met her. Her hair was down, just barely touching her shoulders and she was wearing the blue dress she had worn when she and Naruto had gone on their "date". Sasuke felt familiar stirrings in his heart and had to look away.

"I will excuse myself. I must prepare for the return journey to the Wind Country. I will speak with you before I leave." He nodded at them both and walked away.

Sasuke felt her step up beside him. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye but she was staring at the fire that slowly but continuously ate Itachi's remains.

"That's him isn't it?" She said quietly but with force in her voice. "The one who started all this. The one who tried to kill me and who took my memories away."

"It is." Sasuke replied simply. He just didn't know what else to say. Having her so close yet treating him like a stranger was unbearable.

She was quiet for several moments and Sasuke was about to excuse himself, unable to stand being so near her anymore when she spoke again.

"Your name is...Sasuke...is that right?" She asked quietly but in the same strong voice.

"And you are Sayuri." Sasuke said, the name feeling strangely inappropriate.

"Yes, although Gaara has told me that my name for the last several days has been Mizuki. He told me quite a story actually. Insane ninja putting me under a spell, trying to take my eyes and kill me, meeting all of you and becoming friends. Especially you. He said you and I were....pretty close. And then meeting in some climactic battle where he was finally killed but I lost all the memories I'd gained over the last several days. Under normal circumstances I would never have believed it."

"Are you saying you do believe it?" Sasuke did look at her then.

"Don't see that I have much choice." She shrugged. "It makes sense actually, it explains some things that I've been feeling." She looked at Sasuke seriously. "I have no idea who you are, despite everything that Gaara and the others have told me. Nothing of what they've said happened strikes as even remotely familiar."

Sasuke wanted to look away but couldn't. Her words were like the last knife twisting in his already broken heart. The urge to run away from her and never look back had never been stronger.

"But it's funny," she continued, not noticing his uneasiness. "Whenever I've thought about you and even more so that I'm standing here now, well, it's stupid really but...I keep getting an image in my head. It just sort of pops in there." She looked away suddenly as though she was embarrassed.

"What is it you see?" Sasuke prodded, not daring to hope.

"Well like I said it's stupid but I get an image of a full moon, surrounded by a ring of fire. It makes absolutely no sense to you does it?"

Sasuke felt himself smile. He saw her relax and smile back at him. Ever so slightly, the weight on his chest seemed to lessen. "Actually, it makes more sense than you'd think." He took one last look at Itachi's funeral pyre and turned away from it. "What say we go have a tea and argue about it?" He said this last expecting her to be shocked at his choice of words but to his happy surprise she considered his words for a moment and then nodded her head, her smile widening.

"Sounds good to me...but you're buying." And with that she walked off ahead of him, up to a bridge that crossed back to the village main. She turned around and gave him an impatient look to follow. He couldn't stop the grin from splitting his face and he didn't want to. He ran up beside her and they settled into a slow walk towards the teashop. As they walked they talked, rather comfortably despite the several sarcastic comments that were tossed back and forth. In spite of every fibre of his being, his cool and detached exterior, his sarcastic and standoffish attitude, his certainty that his heart was made of solid stone that could never be penetrated, Sasuke had fallen head over heels for this girl. And though she may not remember him or their love from before, her heart obviously hadn't forgotten completely and, he told himself, this was a chance to do things over properly from the start. He wouldn't be so callous this time; he wouldn't fight or try to ignore the feelings in his heart. He could be different, they could be different. Even if she did have a different name. He stopped in the middle of the street causing her to look back suddenly, her long loose hair whipping in her face.

"I'm sorry are you having trouble keeping up with the hospital patient?" She smiled cheekily.

Sasuke smiled back just as cheekily. "Not a chance. But you know, whatever may or may not happen between us from this point on I've realized something. I'm never going to get used to calling you Sayuri."

The End