This was originally going to go into Dead Letter Office on my other account, but it holds its own rather nicely. Finished it while listening to 'Cherish' by Ai Otsuka after watching Draw with Me. The song fits very well with this oneshot, but maybe that's only my wishful thinking. Anyway, read and review please. I love reading your reviews. They make me smile and let me know someone likes my stuff.

And another plug, I have an AMV contest on my moodiful819 account. Anyone interested in joining?

Standard disclaimer applied.

His life is pouring out of him in torrents; his vision is fading in and out. Clutching the wound over his heart, he stares at the pink-haired woman slowly raising her hand to heal the gaping wound over her stomach like it's nothing.

Fuck. Fucking fuck and a bunch of other curses he is too dizzy to think of. He has underestimated her. He has underestimated her and it is costing him his life. A chuckle escapes him as he remembers their battle; watching her skip around and fly through the trees like a frightened animal. It was like when they were genin, except now the predator was him.

He was coughing up blood in puddles, the sickening splash reverberating in his ears and feeling his jaw tingle, realizes she is looking at him. "What, Haruno?"

What do you want?

"Don't look at me like that."

Don't look at me like you're sad for me. Laugh at me. Mock me. Make it easier for me to take that I'm dying.

"You're an-n-nnoying."

No, you're not. I am.

He opens his mouth to talk but a dry cough robs him of what he was going to say, too busy spitting out blood. He's seeing spots and can't see anything to the sides of him. Suddenly, she speaks.

"Sasuke-kun…"

"What d-did you c-c-c-call m-m-me?" His tone is annoyed and full of contempt at the old endearment. It is his past and he is beyond that. Suddenly, he has more trouble making out her outline. Crap, his vision was blurring completely now.

"Just let go." Her voice is miserably sad and pained. Stupid bitch was pitying him.

"N-n-never," he spits disjointedly, body shivering and shuddering as his wounds weep crimson. And then, she does the unthinkable…

She hugs him.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispers, the heat of her breath a startling contrast to his frozen skin.

"B-b-because. I am an avenger," he replies shakily.

"But Itachi is dead."

His eyes widen at the sentence. It is true that he is dead, but he has another target, another person he must kill. His family must be avenged. Itachi must be avenged, but a deeper, wiser part of him knows that Itachi would not want this and he is just making excuses to cling to the only life he has ever known.

"Make peace with yourself, Sasuke."

"Never." He can't make peace when he has never known the word. She smiles sadly at him.

"You're still as stubborn as I remember," she says fondly.

"You're still annoying," he counters, bringing a smile to her face.

"I guess I am."

His heartbeat is in his head, pounding fiercely at his temples. He's dizzy and nauseous, but he doesn't want to give up. He can't. Sakura, still holding him, cradles his head and holds his head up.

"Don't touch me."

"You can't stop me," she replies with a bitter chuckle. In her eyes, he can see her pain, her agony, and he wonders why she took this mission in the first place.

You don't deserve this.

As if reading his mind, she smiles. "I do. I failed you, Sasuke. The least I can do for you now is end your suffering."

And with that, she severs the nerves in his neck. His death is quick and painless and the last flickers of life die in his eyes as Sakura cradles the body of her first love to her own, his face upturned to the raining sky.