The warmth and light of the sun are blocked as dark grey clouds maneuver their way through the skies. A light cool breeze brushes over Sasuke as he runs through the streets of Konoha back to Sakura's apartment with high hopes that Karin would still be there. Rushing up the stairs to her apartment, he enters with caution being unable to sense her chakra signature due to the fact his chakra was still bound.

Sasuke finds the living room in the same state it was in after he left with Sakura in his arms, but the only difference is that Karin is no longer laying on top of the shattered coffee table. To be on the same side, he checks the entirety of Sakura's apartment and fails to find her. As he leaves her apartment, something from the couch catches his attention. He picks it up and finds that it is one of the letters he sent Sakura. It is crumbled and bloodly and he doesn't remember it being on the couch when he found Sakura.

Sasuke drops the letter back onto the couch and quickly makes his way out the apartment, realizing that it was Karin who placed the letter on the couch, and it was from that letter that makes him realize that she has no hopes of stopping what she started. He aimlessly runs through the streets of Konoha hoping that she would be walking or even running on them, but he does not find her.

Sasuke recalls that Karin resides in Konoha after the war ended. He concludes that she must be hiding out in her apartment. He takes a couple of long strides forward, but abruptly stops in the middle of the street, looking around in all directions. He didn't know where she lives.

Standing before Kakashi's office door, he doesn't bother knocking, not caring if he is in the middle of an important meeting as he storms in. Sasuke finds Naruto sitting in with of the chairs with Kakashi still sitting at his desk. Naruto's hands are laced against the back of his head and his legs are crossed as he sits slouched in the chair.

"I need to know where Uzumaki Karin resides."

Both Kakashi and Naruto stare at him, drinking in his appearance and Naruto is the one to voice their question aloud.

"Teme, why are you covered in blood?"

Sasuke causally lifts his hands in front of him and looks down at them. They are still covered in blood and so is his shirt that is now stiff from dried blood.

"It's not mine," he informs both his former sensei and teammate.

"Whose blood is it," Kakashi asks, his voice is stern as he pushes Sasuke for an answer.

"And where's Sakura-chan," Naruto adds.

Sasuke sighs knowing he'll have to explain everything to them before he can get his answer that he needs as soon as possible.

"She's in the hospital. I need the add-"

"Hospital," Naruto shouts as he jumps out of his seat, cutting Sasuke off. "Why is Sakura-chan in the hospital?"

Ignoring his blonde friend, Sasuke glares at Kakashi, repeating his question once more, but more sternly than before. Kakashi doesn't blundge as he also wants to know why his former student is in the hospital. He instead cocks an eyebrow for Sasuke to further explain.

"Karin attacked her, that's why I need the address as soon as possible so I can find her in case she goes after Sakura again," Sasuke calmly explains using every ounce of self-control.

Naruto marches past Sasuke as Kakashi rolls back in his chair, standing to his feet as he makes his way towards a filing cabinet. Sasuke grabs Naruto's wrist prompting him to stop beside him.

"Where are you going?"

"Where else does it look I'm going? I'm going to go to Sakura in case she comes back to finish the job," Naruto growls through clenched teeth.

"Ino is watching over Sakura now," Sasuke informs Naruto, dropping his wrist. "I need you to help me look for Karin instead. It'd be faster this way since you can use the rooftops as a vantage point."

Naruto nods his head, determination and confidence shining through his bold, blue eyes.

Kakashi runs a finger over the files, until he finds Karin's. He pulls it out and shuts the drawer before making his way towards the boys.

"I'll send some Anbu around the village to look for her as well. I just hope she didn't leave the village," Kakashi says, handing Sasuke the file.

"What if she did leave the village," Naruto asks as Sasuke opens her file scanning the information for her address.

"She wouldn't," Sasuke answers as he recalls the crumpled letter on the bloody couch. "She's determine to finish what she started." He finds her address, closes her file and hands it back to Kakashi. Sasuke turns and heads out the door with Naruto following closely behind him.

"So, when are you going to tell me why I can't sense your chakra?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes as they jump down the stairs and turn the corner as he tells Naruto the events of the morning.

The sun slowly makes its way towards the horizon creating steaks of captivating hues of orange, pink, and purple in the sky as Sasuke and Naruto make their to the hospital. They've searched for hours under the sun's merciless heat for Karin, but came up empty. Even Karin's apartment yielded no signs as to where she may have gone. The Anbus Kakashi sent out to aid in their search for the red head also failed to find her. One of the Anbus, went back to report to Kakashi while the rest continued to search.

Sasuke and Naruto enter the lobby of the hospital, and Sasuke notes how her blood no longer is scattered on the floor creating a trail to the ICU.

The receptionist peers up at the two boys from behind her desk and glances back down towards a chart to her left. Her eyes lazily trail down the paper until they find what they're looking for.

"302," the woman simply says as she diverts her glance back towards her computer, not looking up at the boys.

Naruto gives his thanks with a nod and brief smile before they turn down the hall towards the stairwell and make their way up to her floor in silence.

Naruto places his hand on the door handle, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for the worse, before he turns the handle. He enters the room with Sasuke right behind him and the sight of Sakura laying unconscious on the hospital bed was a new sight for him.

Though Naruto has been on many missions with Sakura with they were twelve, he has never seen her injured to the point where she had to be bedridden in the hospital. His heart grieves inside his chest as his bold blue eyes consume the sight of her.

Pink hair lays scattered around her head, appearing like an halo which makes her look angelic. She's dressed in a pink hospital gown, with a white blanket over her body. Naruto's glad that they at least gave some colour to her besides giving her back the rosy colour of her skin as her blood rushes underneath her skin.

Ino immediately snaps her head towards the door when she hears them enter and stands to her feet, walking towards them, her eyes searching theirs for good news that she finds none.

Both Sasuke and Naruto can see the hope radiating from her eyes, and they both lower their eyes as they can't give her the good news she desperately wants. As their eyes fall to the floor, Ino's eyes also fall to the ground. She turns around, making her way back to the chair she placed beside Sakura's bed, falling into it.

"She has yet to wake up," Ino mutters, her voice filled with sadness as she reaches out and holds Sakura's hand. She caresses the back of her thumb against her best friend's hand as she watches the falling and rising of her chest.

The boys slowly make their way towards Sakura, standing beside Ino. Up close, Naruto can see that she still looks like the Sakura he knows. Her skin still has a red tint to it as well as her cheeks and lips. She would appear as if she was peacefully sleeping if it wasn't for all the bandages that decorates her arms. Naruto wonders how many more bandages blankets her body, and he clenches his fist with rage at what she had to suffer. He grinds his teeth as rage and anger fuels his rapid beating heart.

"Believe it or not she looked worse." Ino's voice is as hollow as her eyes as she recalls the glimpse she first caught of Sakura as the medic wheeled her down the hall. It was just one glimpse, only for a second, but in that second Ino felt herself lose herself. Her heart came crashing in on itself as her eyes widen in horror, tears already forming. Her blood ran cold throughout her body as she became numb from pain and grieve. Her breathing became just as rushed as her heart thumped in her chest. With her mind on autopilot, she forced her body to turn around and sprint down the hall following after the medics with desperations of wanting to help her best friend.

Naruto saunters towards the other side the bed, keeping his eyes on Sakura the entire time. He takes her hand in his and squeezes. "You're one of the strongest people I know, Sakura-chan, and what you did today, well that just proves it." A smile forms against his lips, but fails to meet his eyes. She truly is one of the strong people he knows after everything she's been through. From the endless years away from Sasuke when they were genin, to the traumatizing fact that he tried to kill her twice, to the long six months she had to endure thinking Sasuke never loved her, when he did, to the fact she fought mercilessly with Death and won; this girl laying before him with pastel pink hair is a force to be reckoned with.

Wavering blue eyes trail their way lazily up her bandaged arm and he notices that her bandages were stained deep red. His eyes jump to Ino as he releases Sakura's hand from his touch.

"Why didn't they heal her all the way," he questions, gesturing to her arm where the blood has dried on the bandages.

Ino doesn't lift her eyes to meet his glance as she answers his question. "Usually in situations like these, we only heal the crucial injuries that a patient sustains. We can't heal them all or else the body would forget how to heal after any sort of injury or the process of healing will be longer."

Naruto nods and turns his attention towards his best friend who had not spoken a word since they entered the hospital. He assumes that it's because he couldn't bear to look at her without feeling rage or guilt knowing that Karin was still out there, probably on the run or planning out her next attack. But that's not the reason.

The reason Sasuke is silent is because he's hypnotized by the silent fall and rising of her chest where her heart beats strongly in her chest. With pride and with love it pumps blood throughout her veins, claiming that it shall not be defeated that easily. Love has not destroyed her unwavering heart, and neither shall Death.

He wants to reach out and touch her, feel the warmth underneath his sweaty palms, feel the rush of her pulse underneath his stained fingertips, feel the softness of her body against his, and feel the gentleness of her emerald gaze upon him.

The last time he saw her was when she was in his embrace. Her heart stilled in her chest from the kunai that pierced and caused her blood to still within her veins. She started to become cool in his arms, as his warmth failed to keep her warm. The green of her eyes had lost their usual gleam as they became dim and empty.

Sasuke craves to see her eyes again. Her glance on him, studying him, drinking in every part of him. He wants to see the love reflecting off her eyes and into his. It's only then that he feels whole.

The door to Sakura's hospital room flies open causing Naruto and Ino to lift their blue eyes towards the door, while Sasuke's glance is still transfixed upon Sakura.

"Visiting hours are now over. Please say your good-byes and follow me to the exit. You may visit again tomorrow during the hours of 3 to 8," the nurse states.

Naruto eyes Sakura one more time, silently vowing to come again tomorrow while Ino closes her eyes and sighs heavily, rising from her chair. Ino squeezes Sakura's hand once more before she turns around and walks out of the room with Naruto follows after her. At the door, Naruto turns around and finds that Sasuke is still standing in the same spot, his gaze still locked on her.

"Teme, come on, you heard the nurse, visiting hours are over. We'll come back tomorrow to see Sakura-chan."

Dark mismatched eyes close and he slowly turns around making his way out of the room. The nurse shuts the door behind them when they all exited Sakura's room and escorts them out of the hospital.

As the hospital door shuts behind them, Sasuke stops walking. "I'm staying." Sasuke simply

Both blondes stop and turn around to stare at Sasuke. Ino cocks a perfectly arched, blonde eyebrow while Naruto frowns and crosses his arms at his chest.

"You may not be able to sense their presence, but there's an Anbu that's guarding Sakura," Naruto explains as he nods his head towards the roof of the hospital where the Anbu is located. I know you're just as worried as we are about her, but I promise she'll be fine," Naruto reassures.

"I don't care." Mismatched eyes lock with pale blue eyes in a silent confrontation. Naruto closes his eyes and sighs, dropping his hands to his side, defeated.

"How are you even going to get in? The nurses definitely wouldn't let you. What are you going to do? Climb the walls," Naruto questions.

"Actually, I am."

"But how? You have you can't use your chakra."

"The paralyzer is starting to wear off."

Naruto nods and starts to turn around to leave with Ino, but Sasuke calls out to Ino causing both of them to pause in their steps again.

"What is it, Sasuke? If you want the antidote to use to get back your chakra, you're out of luck, because it'd take me a while to create, especially with the components she-"

"No, it's not that. I need your help with something," Sasuke says, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Actually, I need both or your help."

The climb to Sakura's room window had been quick and as he summoned all the chakra that emerged from his body into his feet and sprinted up the side of the building. He slips into her room window, shutting it behind him. He takes a step towards her and the way the moonlight shines into the room illuminating her was magical.

Her skin glows from the moonlight. Her hair appears to be a lighter shade of pink which surprisingly suits her well. He makes his way around the bed and towards the chair Ino was sitting in. Sitting in the chair, he slowly reaches for her hand. He lightly brushes his fingers over hers before he intertwines their fingers. He brings their interlocked hands towards his lips, brushing his lips against her hand before placing a fleeting kiss on it.

"I'll be right here beside you," he murmurs against her hand.

The sweet aroma of crisp apples wakes her from her slumber as her pastel pink eyelashes flutter open to reveal emerald eyes. The room she's in is dark, but the window to her right illuminates the room. Beside the window is a table that is positioned right next to her bed with a plate of sliced apples on them. They have been neatly pealed, but some are adorned with bits of red from its skin.

Sakura ponders who could have done that for her, and her mind briefly flickers to a dark haired man with equally dark eyes, but the thought evaporates from her mind when she dismisses it because he would never do something like that for her. She struggles to sit up as her body still aches and pains with every muscle she tries to move.

"Aa, you're awake."

Sakura freezes as the familiarity of his voice saturates into her skin, causing her heart to flutter in her chest. Butterflies are in her stomach as she doesn't know what to say or what to do, because she's afraid that it's all just too good to be true.

She feels the warmth of his callused hand brushing away locks of pink tresses from her face, pushing it behind her ear. Daringly, she turns her head towards him, but before she turns all the way, she feels something sharp and cold pass right through her body, entering through her back and exiting through her chest.

Her breath is knocked out of her as she lowly gasps and places her hand in the area where she feels the weight. Her callosed hand is greeted with warm liquid from the exit wound and she tastes it in her mouth as it travels up her throat.

She shakenly shifts her glance downwards and sees the blade of a sword sticking out of her chest. It is coated with blood, but at the very tip she sees the symbol that ultimately stops her heart from beating.

The Uchiha symbol.

The blade twists abruptly in her chest causing her to wince in pain. A low cry escapes her lips and her eyes well with tears that never falls. She falls onto her bed as her eyes shut and everything goes black.

A gasp falls from her lips as her eyes fly open. Her breathing comes out short and rushed, and her heart thumps violently in her chest as she desperately tries to bring them back to its normal pace. Her eyes register that she is in a room similar to the one of her nightmare, with the window to the right of her and the table beside her bed. Emerald eyes take in the absent sliced apples and she's not sure if she's happy or sadden by this fact. Her eyes then fall on the window that shows the full moon, bright in the night sky.

Sakura closes her eyes as she tries to recall what happened, but her mind is foggy and all she remembers is blood, pain, and being in his arms for what seemed like that last time.

"Sakura," she hears a familiar voice call out to her. "Are you okay? Does anywhere hurt?"

Eyes slowly open as she screams at herself to take deep breaths in and out. The voice is the same as the one in her dream, but this time it is filled to the rim with worry. She cautiously turns her head towards the voice, expecting something to pierce her chest again, but it never happens. No sword protrudes from her chest.

Emerald eyes lock with mismatched eyes. His gaze bores into her, enlightening a spark that dances across her being. She tightly shuts her eyes, thinking this is only a dream and when she opens her eyes again he would no longer be there. Green orbs are visible again as pink eyelashes flutter open and she is still greeted with dark mismatched eyes.

"Sasuke," she crooks as her eyes soften from his glance.

Her voice is hoarse in her throat which causes Sasuke to squeeze her hand. "Hn. How are you feeling?"

Sakura had not noticed that their fingers were laced and she tries to squeeze back his hand to reassure him that she is okay, but her hand lacks strength. Instead she strokes her thumb over his hand. "I'm okay. Just I feel sore and my mind is foggy." Sakura notices that her arms are covered in tight bandages and she feels the same pressure against her legs.

"Go back to sleep," he softly murmurs, "I'll be right here."

"You wouldn't leave?"

"No."

Sakura nods as a bright smile makes its way across her life. Releasing his hand, she rolls over onto her side, diverting her glance towards the moon. She closes her eyes as the need for sleep grows heavy on her eyelids.

Sakura feels the bed dip and an arm drapes over her waist. Her eyes snap open and she finds that Sasuke's hand found her right hand and intertwines their fingers again. The warmth of his chest passes through her thin hospital gown as she feels it radiating against her back. Lifting her head off the bed to look behind her, Sasuke uses the opportunity to place his arm against her pillow so she could rest her head against his arm instead.

"What are you-"

"Shh," he murmurs against her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine. He tugs her closer to him and she relaxes her body against his.

"She's not going to come, is she?" Her voice low in her throat, but it is far from calm. She tries to mask her concern for him in her voice, but she fails horribly as Sasuke can see right through it.

Sasuke wishes he could give her the answer she desperately wants to hear, but he can't because he himself isn't too sure. "If she does, I promise she wouldn't hurt you," he reassures as his lips lightly brush against the back of her neck.

"What about you? I don't want her hurting you again." The memory of the red-head on Sasuke's lap, her hand running up and down his chest causes bile to burn at her throat.

"She wouldn't be able to hurt me either." Sasuke squeezes her hand again and lightly kisses the back of her neck. "Now close your eyes; you need to rest." Sakura complies letting the heaviness of her sleepy eyes lids consume her.

With the moon shining brightly overhead, Karin makes her move. She masks her chakra as she runs through the dense forest as fast as her two legs could take her. The wind rips through her hair and she dodges over roots and ducks under branches effortlessly. Knowing that she killed or attempted to kill one of the most beloved kunoichis of the village, she aware that Anbus were probably searching the village looking for her.

Karin doesn't know if the pinkette survived the blow she inflected upon her. Was it a fatal blow or did she miraculously survive, were all questions Karin needed to know to be satisfied. It's not only the satisfaction of knowing that she got rid of Sakura, but the satisfaction of knowing that she got rid of the Haruno Sakura. The girl who trained and surpassed the legendary sannin Senju Tsunade; the girl with the fist that can demolish anything in its wake, and most importantly the girl that is Sasuke's greatest weakness.

Karin smiles pleasingly to herself, glad that she didn't end up loving Sasuke, since she thinks that love makes you weak and weakness is something she refuses to have. Sakura's weakness was her love for Sasuke that made her unable to detect her presence and the tea that she tainted. Maybe, if she didn't love Sasuke and let her emotions for him run wild she would have been able to detect her, but she quickly brushes that idea off because no way a pink haired, cry baby can ever be stronger than her.

Coming face to face with the village's high wall, she quickly detects if any chakra signatures were around her vicinity. Not being able to sense anything, she quickly sends small amounts of her chakra to her feet as she swiftly scales the wall with ease.

Leaping down from the towering wall, she sticks to the shadows of the street, keeping out of the telltale light of the moon and the streetlights as she cautiously making her way towards the hospital.

Sasuke watches as the moon travels gracefully across the night sky. It glows bright and strong with no clouds in the sky to block its beauty. Sakura had fallen asleep in his arms and he hopes that her dreams are as beautiful as she is. He recalls the way Sakura abruptly gasps into consciousness, her breathing coming in quick burst and he bet her heartrate was just the same. He muses what she had to experience in her dream to cause her to awake so suddenly. This girl has seen and done so much so he knows that an ordinary nightmare could not have that extent of an effect on her.

During the course of the night his chakra returns to him, little by little, but it is still not nearly half of his full chakra. He is able to sense chakra signatures, concentrating mostly on the Anbu on the roof and to feel for any strange signatures that might approach them.

He glances down towards the sleeping girl in his arms and he's grateful that she survived. He wan't sure what he would have done without her. Seeing his family, dead, at his brother's feet as a child was enough to send him swirling out of control with the idea of revenge controlling his every move and thought. But now that he's been set free from revenge's strong clutches he knows that it would have reclaimed him again when he would have went to seek out Karin and put an end to her if he were to lose Sakura.

He is brought out of his thoughts when the Anbu's chakra signature suddenly feel different. Before it was strong, but at the same time dim, being hardly noticeable, but now it's weaker and coming in short bursts. The signature saunters towards the edge of the building and descends the building to the left of the window. Sasuke slowly peels himself away from Sakura, getting out of bed and walk towards the edge of the window, hiding in the shadows.

Karin finds a lone Anbu at the top of the hospital roof. She reaches down towards her leg and pulls out a senbon that she dipped in a normal paralyzer. She jumps from the building she was on onto the hospital's roof, throwing the senbon at the Anbu as he turned around when he sensed her, hitting him directly in his neck. The paralyzer wastes no time taking effect on him, as he tumbles to the ground with Karin landing right beside his body. Karin tries her best to keep her chakra level the same as the Anbu's so she doesn't bring suspicion unto herself. She slowly makes her way towards the edge of the building and summons light bursts of chakra to her feet, making her way down the building.

Knowing that Sakura would be kept on the third floor, which is the floor where all patients that come out of ICU are placed. She knows for a fact that Sakura did indeed survive the attack mainly because of the Anbu guarding the hospital towards a certain edge, instead of standing in the middle of it.

Reaching the third floor window, she peers in and finds the sleep pinkette on her side facing the window. Karin smirks to herself when she finds the room to be empty from anyone inside as she slowly opens the window and slips inside.

When her feet hits the floor she quickly produces a tainted senbon from her left sleeve and stabs it into the arm of the man who grabs her right wrist.

He immediately falls to the floor, not able to move his arms or legs. He peers at her through mismatched eyes that fails to show the intimation and anger he feels running through his body.

"Do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to think that you left the stubborn pink head alone?" She watches as Sasuke continues to stare at her with the same gaze as he screams at his body to move, but it doesn't. "I came prepared this time and I'm not going to take any risks. I'm going to torture her right before your eyes, bring her close to the point of death, but I'm going to make sure there's still some life in her as she watches me do the same thing to you. Then you guys can watch each other, helplessly, to see which one dies first."

She reaches down towards her leg and produces a kunai. She lightly trails her finger across the blade of the knife, and leans down towards him. "Maybe I should roughen you up a bit before I wake her up, so she could be awaken to such a horrendous sight."

Leaning down lower towards him, she trails the kunai against the side of his face causing a thin line of blood emerging from his cheek. "I think that's a great idea," Karin exclaims as she pulls the kunai away from his face and points it towards his chest. "And this will be the last place I'll hit," she taunts, hovering the kunai above his chest as she draws the letter 'x'. "X marks the spot," she chimes with a broad smile.

Karin brings the knife down to mark her spot, but as the kunai makes contact with his black shirt she is tackled to the ground with someone on top of her, pinning her down.

Crimson eyes fall upon her attacker and it's the last person she expected to see.

"What? How? How is this possible?" She questions breathlessly as she wriggles out from under her attacker's weight and pushes them off, sending them flying a couple of feet away from her, landing on their feet.

Her attacker smirks as she watches her from behind emerald eyes like a predator watching her prey. "You underestimated what I'm capable of," she answers as she keeps her eyes locked on Karin.

Karin watches the pinkette with strong distaste as she narrows her eyes at her. She should have still been in bed, asleep, or even if she was wake she shouldn't be able to move with such grace without her body screaming at her or without her knowing.

"I had a feeling you were going to come finish the job and since the antidote was given to me before my heart stopped, it was able to break away at the bounds you had on my chakra. When I first awoke, most of my chakra had returned and now I have a bit more which I used to heal my injuries," Sakura explains as she unwraps the bandages from around her arms to show that they were scar free. The bandages pool at her feet, stained with blood, and there shows to be no wounds on her, as if she was never injured in the first place.

Karin grinds her teeth and clenches her jaw as she gets up off the floor. This was not how her plan was supposed to go. She was supposed to wake Sakura and then quickly paralyze her before she got to have her fun, not engage in hand to hand combat with her. Karin goes over the possible outcomes for their potential battle and notes that they do not look promising for her. Glancing around the room she looks for something that she can use to aid her, and her eyes fall on a paralyzed Sasuke.

She suppresses the smirk she wants to display on her face as she recalls that their greatness weakness is each other. Without warning Karin makes a dash towards Sasuke to use him as a hostage, but Sakura already saw what her aim was. Sakura swiftly moves the couple of feet that separates her from Sasuke and stands in front of him.

Being paralyzed, all Sasuke could see is the bed from the floor, empty. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw how Sakura healed herself as Karin was exuding confidence as she openly revealed her plan to him, not knowing that Sakura was conscious. Karin's cockiness blinded her from sensing Sakura. He watched as she rose from her bed and tackled Karin to the ground before she could mark his skin with her kunai.

All Sasuke can hear is the chatter of women, and their movements, but he can't see them. He isn't worried for Sakura since he knows that she is more than capable to handle the current situation; he just hopes that her body doesn't succumb from all the stress she had to carry throughout the day.

Sakura stands before Sasuke, causing Karin to freeze in her dash. She quickly backs up which causes Sakura to charge at her, her fist aimed for Karin's jaw.

Karin quickly dodges the punch, but is met with a knee to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Recovering just in time, Karin shifts to the right before Sakura's fist makes contact with her face.

Reaching towards her leg, she produces a kunai and throws it while her eyes are locked with emerald, making Sakura believe that the kunai was meant for her when it was meant for Sasuke. The kunai flies to the left of Sakura, but moves quickly, catching it on its trajectory. She quickly spins the kunai around in her fingers and throws it at Karin, hitting her on her right leg's upper thigh.

As Karin whined from pain, Sakura is quick like the wind as she charges towards Karin. Using her right hand she grasps the kunai and pushes it deeper into her leg, while her left leg kicks Karin's feet out from under her, sending them both crashing to the ground.

Karin lands on her back with Sakura on top of her. Sakura quickly grabs Karin's left wrist in her right hand and her right wrist in her left hand and twists it counter clockwise dislocating her wrists from their sockets. The red head screams out in pain as Sakura looms over her.

"How?" Karin angrily yells, her crimson eyes welling with tears. "Love is supposed to make you weak! Look what it did to you and him! The tables are supposed to be turned!"

Sakura lowers her eyes feeling remorse for Karin as she's never whole heartily loved someone so she doesn't know the truth for what love is supposed to do.

"Love doesn't make you weak. Love makes you stronger; it gives you a purpose to live and carry on, to endure and become stronger to protect those you love."

Sasuke can hear Sakura's explanation and the images of his family flashes before in his mind as they were the reason he became stronger. He blamed himself, as a child, that he was too weak and defenceless to protect his clan, so he worked every day to become stronger, to become faster, with the purpose to avenge them.

"Love is not supposed to be a weakness even if you do happen to love too much. Love is supposed to be the fuel of determination and power."

Karin stares at Sakura in wide eye awe. She always thought of love as a curse, a weakness, not a source of admirable determination and strength.

The door to the hospital flies open, and two Anbus enter the room. They don't explain why or how they knew something was wrong since they weren't in the building, but Sakura assumes it's because they found the paralyzed Anbu on the roof. They walk towards Sakura, grabbing Karin by her elbows before Sakura got off her. They place chakra bounds around her wrists and walks towards the doors with her.

"Wait," Sakura cries out, which causes the Anbus to comply, but they don't turn around to face her. "Let a nurse heal her leg and wrists before you lock her up."

They don't say anything, but the Anbu holding Karin's left arm nods and exits the room.

Sakura rushes to Sasuke's side, falling to her knees. She pulls the senbon out of his wrist and her hand briefly glows green as she heals the small puncture.

She rearranges his body properly so that he's laying on the ground and she places her hands above his chest, as they glow green again. Her chakra enters his body and wraps itself around the paralyzer that attached themselves to his cells. With the steady flow of chakra, Sakura releases through her hands, the chakra works away at the paralyzer breaking it down until it was no more.

With Sasuke's body free from the paralyzer, he sits up, just as Sakura loses consciousness. She starts to fall, but Sasuke catches her before she hits the ground. Wrapping her in his arms, he stands and makes his way towards the bed. He gently lays her down, tucking her in before he makes his way to the chair to get some sleep since the threat has been taken care of.

Sakura awakes to white ceilings, and sunlight beating down on her body. The curtains are pulled so that it was blocking her face, but small sliver of lights makes its way through. Her room is quiet, free from any noise and visitors. Her mind is fuzzy and her body is heavy just like her eyelids with the need for more sleep.

The table beside her bed is filled with flowers of all red, white, pink and purple, and there's several "Get Well Soon" cards that litter the table as well as one balloon that fails to stay in one place on the ceiling.

Sakura hears the chatter of voices making their way towards the room and the door soon opens afterwards to reveal Ino and Naruto.

The loud blondes stop mid-sentence when their eyes land upon Sakura's green eyes.

"Oh my god, Forehead, you're finally awake! How do you feel?" She makes her way towards the bed, pulling out her chart from the foot of the bed.

"My head's fuzzy and my body is heavy," she confesses. "How long have I been out?"

"Your head is fuzzy and body is heavy probably because you've been out for three days now," Ino answers as she scribbles away at the chart.

Naruto walks up to the bed and grins brightly. "You slept longer than I ever have." Naruto chuckles which causes Sakura to smile.

"Are you sure about that," Sakura says as she sits up, "because if I recall correctly you were once knocked out for a week." Sakura wears a proud smirk as she crosses her arms at her chest, tilting her head to the side. Naruto's smile falls off his face as he points a finger at Sakura, stuttering to find a perfect comeback, but none comes to him.

"Where's Sasuke," Sakura asks as she looks around the room. She lifts her eyes to Naruto and then to Ino and sees that they share a look before both pair of blue eyes land on her. "Was there something mixed with the paralyzer?" She chokes out, her voice low almost breathless as she imagines his pale lifeless body probably already six feet under with his family.

"No, no, no, Forehead," Ino says, resisting to release a chuckle that is at the tip of her lips. "He had to run an errand and I promise he'll come see you later today." She flashes her a smile that doesn't hide any ulterior meaning behind it. She places the chart back at the foot of the bed, and saunters over to the chair, falling into it.

Naruto stands at the foot of her bed, as he sees Sakura is not assuredly convinced by Ino's words. "He went to Karin's trial. It should be over any time now, and I know for a fact that he'll come here right after," Naruto elaborates to reassure his friend.

Sakura looks at him and nods while a smile dances across her face.

"So, when will I be released?" She diverts her attention towards Ino who is sitting with her legs crossed as her right leg bounces up and down, in a steady rhythm on her left leg.

"I'll say you could be released tomorrow morning or even later tonight."

"How about tonight?" Sakura urges as she smiles brightly at Ino to convince her. She claps her hands together, lacing her fingers and bats her eyelashes at her.

Ino giggles and rolls her eyes saying, "Okay, fine. Tonight."

The sun dips towards the horizon, painting the sky with hues of warm shades. Sasuke makes his way towards the hospital. He had told Naruto and Ino that he would go straight to the hospital after Karin's trail, but instead he made a detour that devoured majority of his time.

Sasuke stops dead in his tracks when he sees Sakura walking in his direction with Ino and Naruto by her side. He sees how the two blondes share worried looks as they tug on her arms to get her to stop, but Sakura is too persistent as she brushes off their arms and continues forward.

Sasuke's eyes widen when he realizes the direction that Sakura is heading in, and he picks up his pace to a jog to meet up with them.

Sakura starts to turn into the street to her left to head home, but hears a voice that isn't Ino's or Naruto's. Sakura stops as well as the two blondes and lifts her head towards the direction of the voice and sees Sasuke jogging towards her.

"Sasuke?" She says with shock since that was the first time she saw him in a long time.

"You got released today?"

"Yeah," she trails on, "I just got discharged, actually and I'm on my way home."

She walks past him as she turns down the street, leaving them.

"Sakura, wait," Sasuke calls after her, but she still continues to walk away from him, prompting him to follow after her.

"Should we follow after them," Naruto asks Ino as he scratches the back of his head.

"Of course not," she exclaims as she narrows her eyes at him. "We'll see them tomorrow." Ino continues walking straight down the path leaving Naruto to watch as his ex-teammates disappear down the road.

"I hope you'll love what he's done, Sakura-chan," Naruto whispers, as he turns and makes his way home.

"Wait, Sakura, please," Sasuke pleads as Sakura stubbornly continues down the empty road. He thinks that she's mad at him because he failed to come visit her when he promised that he would, and he knew that Ino or Naruto had told her that he was planning to as well.

"Whatever it is can you tell me when we get home? I'm tired, I just want to collapse on my bed and sleep for the reminder of the week."

"I can't tell you, I have to show you." This captures Sakura's attention, causing her to stop in the middle of the street, turning around to face him.

"Show me what?"

"Come with me, it'd be easier if you see it with your own eyes." He stretches out his hand towards her. Sakura looks between him and his hand, an inner debate going on in her mind, if she should go with him or let him show her tomorrow.

She slowly stretches out her hand towards his, accepting it. He interlocks their fingers as they walk side by side back up the street in the direction that Ino and Naruto went in.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asks and a yawn escapes her lips.

"You'll see," he says with a smile.

They walk together in silence, for a few minutes until Sasuke stops in front of an apartment complex, causing Sakura to stop as well. The apartment is similar in design to hers, with only four floor like Sakura's apartment, but it's bigger, fancier, and pricey. This was one of the few apartments Sakura visited when she was apartment hunting. She fell completely in love with the floor design of the apartment, but the price had chased her away. Now she stands baffled, hand in hand with Sasuke in front of the building.

"What are we doing here? Are we visiting someone or did you forget something here?"

He walks towards the stairs, climbing them with her directly behind him. He exits off at the second last floor and stops before the door that reads '306.'

Puzzled, Sakura frowns and cocks a pink eyebrow. This causes a chuckle to escape past Sasuke's lips as he releases her hand. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a key and holds it out towards her.

Sakura takes the keys, and surveys them in her hands. It's a single silver key, and Sakura looks up at Sasuke with curious emerald eyes.

Nodding his head towards the door, he takes a step back for her to open it.

Taking a step forward, she places the key in the lock and turns it, hearing the gears turning. Sakura pulls the key out from the lock and twists the doorknob, opening the door.

Sasuke takes a step inside and flicks on the lights with the switch by the door. He turns around when he finds Sakura has not moved from her spot, so he takes her hand, lightly tugging on it, urging her to follow him, and she does.

Inside Sakura sees that the walls are painted an off-white colour. Boxes are stacked along the sides of the wall in front of her, as a light beige couch, with hints of yellow is placed besides the boxes.

"What is this," she asks in awe. The apartment is even prettier than she remembers. The room looks bigger as well as the kitchen that is to the right of her. The hallway in front of her opens up to reveal three doors, instead of the two she has in her apartment.

Sasuke takes a step inside and pulls her along with him. "This," he says turning around to meet her eyes as he stops in the middle of the living room, "is our new apartment."

Sakura's eyes widen and her mouth falls to the floor in complete and utter shock. "What do you mean this is our apartment," she exclaims throwing her hands up in the air. The word our is Sakura's new favourite word that she wants to hear Sasuke say over and over again as it has the power to ignite sparks inside of her.

"It means that is this our apartment," he says with a smile. "I didn't want you returning to your old apartment, so I got Naruto and Ino to help me find a reasonable place for us and to help me pack your things into boxes to move here." Her old place was a mess of broken furniture, and blood splattered. Sasuke didn't want Sakura returning to a place that would hold unwanted memories so he asked Naruto and Ino the night Sakura was admitted into the hospital to help him find a place.

Ino had remembered that Sakura told her that this was her dream apartment, and just to their luck there was a room selling, that was ready for moving in at any time.

"But we can't afford this, especially with your accounts still frozen," Sasuke hisses, her voice filled with shock.

"Actually we can. Though my accounts are still frozen, I managed to take a loan from the accounts to buy it. Plus, in the next week or so my accounts should be ready for me to access so there should be no problem there."

"But, this place is so big! What are we going to do with the extra rooms if we're going to share one." Sakura freezes when she realizes what she implied. She blushes as bright as a tomato as she diverts her glance to the ground, too embarrassed to look Sasuke in the eyes.

Taking a step forward, Sasuke encircles Sakura in his embrace. "In case."

Sakura frowns in his embrace, not understanding what he meant. "In case, what?"

"In case, someone decides to join us."

Sakura leans away from his chest and looks into his eyes for an answer, but she doesn't find any. "Like a sleepover," Sakura suggests.

"Kind of like a sleepover, but a permanent one."

"As much as I like Naruto, he is not going to live with us," Sakura says coldly, which only causes Sasuke to shake his head.

"No, not Naruto. We'll get to see them love and adore them as they grow before our eyes," he hints.

"A pet? But why would a pet need its own room?"

Sasuke sighs with frustration as he can tell that Sakura has no clue what he meant, even with all the hints.

"In case, we have a child or children one day, Sakura," he says bluntly, a blush creeping its way onto his cheeks. "Not now of course, but one day."

Red slowly starts to consume the apples of her cheeks which causes her to lean her head against Sasuke's chest. "One day," she agrees, lowly but with happiness exuding from her voice as she imagines the pitter-patter of a small child with equally dark raven hair and eyes just like Sasuke's.

"Any other problem you have with the apartment?"

"No," she says, shaking her head against her head. "Everything is perfect." She leans away from his chest, meeting his eyes and smiles. She stands on the tip of her toes to kiss his cheek, but he quickly turns his lips towards her, kissing her.

He tightens his hold around her lower back, and Sakura wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down towards her. The kiss deepens which causes Sakura to laces her fingers through his soft, obsidian hair and Sasuke to pull Sakura closer to his body.

Sakura is the first to pull away, breathless, as she tries to catch her breath. She presses her forehead against his, her eyes focused on his lips.

"I don't want to lose you," Sakura confesses as she closes her eyes. "During the last couple of days so many things happened which made me realize that life isn't promised to last forever. But this, us, I don't know if it's selfish for me to admit this, but I want this to last forever."

"You're not going to lose me."

"Nor will you lose me," she answers his unspoken question. "You saw what I did in the past couple of days, nothing can take me away. Not jealously, not Death, not anything. Nothing is strong enough to break the love that connects me to you. Nothing can take me away from you, nothing."

"Thank you," he murmurs against her neck, trailing soft kisses against her neck.

"There will never be a last time when I'm with you," she vows.

"No," he disagrees. "There has to be a last time."

Sakura's eyes widen as she pulls away from Sasuke to look into his eyes, but she discovers that they are shut. "What do you-"

"When I saw you motionless with the inability to move your body, I want that to be the last time. When I saw the kunai in your chest, and as I watched the life disappear from your body, I want that to also be the last time. When I was defenseless to help you fight her, even when I knew you were more than capable to handle her, I want that to be a last time, because like you said, love gives one a purpose to live and carry on, to endure and become stronger to protect those they love, and Sakura you are the reason I want to use my strength against those that attack you or me, because you love me and I want to protect you because you've given me a reason to value my life, because it's not only mine, it's something I share with you."

When Sasuke fails to hear a reply from Sakura, he opens his mismatched eyes and finds that her eyes have widen and her mouth is agape.

Sasuke stole the words from her leaving her speechless. She buries her head back against his chest listening to the beat of his heart.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"I don't want what you said to me when I found your letters to be the last time either."

"That will never be the last time I tell you 'I love you', Sakura." He kisses the crown of her head as she snakes her arms around his waist, her heart beating with a rush of emotions inside her chest.

"I love you too, Sasuke."

a/n: can you believe that it's over!? because i can't. it feels so bittersweet :( when i usually read multi-fics the ending usually doesnt appeal to me bc it's rushed or sometimes its forced. when i read this chapter today there was a bit too much going in on it, but thats my fault lol i hope this chapter lived up to your expectations ! :) thank you for following me on this wonderful journey and i hope you'll join me on with my next multi-chapter fic, Enchanted. If you liked the surprises and mystery that 'The Last Time' had to offer you'll love this one! :) thank you so much! i feel like i can never not saying thank you (idk why its not being linked here, but it's on my profile if you're interested!)

replies to reviews:

guest: i'm so glad it's captured your attention and makes you want to know what happens next! I think i love writing mysteries/plot twists :)

guest: yesssss, i'm going to miss updating for this fic as well ): it's so sad to see it come to a close after two long months D: but im super stoked about Enchanted ;D i've got it all planned out

to whomever the guest is who commented with "you break my heart in a blink of an eye~~" i know you'll probably never see this but i cant believe you commented with lyrics from the song that inspired this series, and i just got so excited for some reason lol ftw