Scheiße

In that very moment she almost looked ethereal.

Almost, because he never associated anything with the word—it was not a part of his vocabulary; it was too innocent and compassionate to ever slip from his tongue. No, he only knew words soiled with anger and hate, but standing there, in front of him, with a village being swallowed by flames as her background, he couldn't think of anything other than ethereal.

He stared, pausing from the adrenaline high and the black spots of ecstasy that clouded his vision every two seconds. He looked composed—because he was; Uchiha Sasuke was never anything that was not composed. His eyes glowed red under his forelocks and against the shadows that cloaked him—black and red.

She stood amidst blood and bodies, the pale skin of her small feet smeared with specks of blood. She wore a white dress and it ruffled with the wind; her hair was short and pink and it fell over her green eyes and stuck to her rosy lips. She didn't blink and she didn't move, but her eyes were dead set on him and nothing else seemed to grab her attention.

He didn't know how long he stood like that, staring with thick indifference. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he took a step forwards, and another, and another until he was full on out walking forwards; a straight line heading straight towards her.

He passed through her and she disappeared.

"Everyone's dead."

Karin stared at a spot to the left of his head, never at him—he disgusted her, he knew. She hated him, but he was equivalent to survival in this new phase of the shinobi world—and that was just it. There wasn't a shinobi world; not anymore. He would make sure of that—little by little everything became ashes at his feet and from it he would build something new.

Something that was his to control and bend and make sure that no older brother was forced to kill his family and destroy his younger brother's life.

And he would be sure there were no blond idiots that wormed their way into his life—and no pink.

Not even a glimpse of pink.

None.

"Suigetsu's bringing everyone back—Suna's gone, just like the rest of them."

But Sasuke wasn't listening, anymore. His eyes were fixated on the image before him—Karin, a hand on her hip head cocked back and the lenses of her glasses shielding her eyes with the glint of sunlight that reflected upon them. She stood next to her—dressed like he last remembered her, red vest and black shorts and ninja boots. Her hair was stuck to her head, strands of pink shimmering red with accumulated blood.

She was bent forwards, head tilted back and feet up on their tippy-toes as she whispered into Karin's ear.

But Karin continued to speak to him—not listening to her—could she even hear her?

Could she even see her?

Sasuke stared, jaw tensing and clenching until it was taut, throat growing dry and Eternal Mangekyo flashing—genjutsu.

It had to be a genjutsu.

It—

She slowly turned to face him; her eyes were as bright and as green as they had been in that moment, where she fell on her knees, in front of him. There was a smile tilting her lips to one side. It wasn't the smile he remembered—it wasn't the smile that Haruno Sakura offered him every chance she could. It wasn't reassuring and it wasn't devoted.

It was wicked—malevolent and filled with mischief.

Her chest was in ribbons and blood continued to seep out, never running out. It splattered onto the ground loudly—splat, splat, splat.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun."

Her voice was like lead—like needles, like nails against the board.

Sasuke stared at her, his brows slowly furrowing with a feeling. Was it confusion—disgust—anger—hate—lust—what?

"Sasuke-kun, the world's pretty." She laughed; it was like listening to his Chidori a million times over—his eardrums felt as if they would shatter, it felt like his ears would bleed him dry. "Everything's on fire; you did always like fire."

His nostrils flared, blank mask cracking at the seams.

"Sasuke? Sasuke, are you even listening to me," Karin was glaring at him, completely annoyed and clueless to what was going on.

Sakura laughed, again, and it took all Sasuke had to not wince. She pet Karin's hair, fondly, drenching the red strands crimson with the blood in her fingers. "Look what I can do, Sasuke-kun."

She was out of sight, leaving nothing but her haunting giggles behind.

The room was dark and with the window open, he could hear the crickets outside; it was annoying and he hated it. He had his eyes closed but his brain was racing; his eyes moved from side to side, under his lids. Sasuke didn't sleep because sleep was for the weak—sleep was for dreamers that liked to be annoyed with images of the past, with voices of those that don't matter ("I love you, Sasuke-kun—I love you with all my heart!").

A breeze made its way into the room, thick curtains flying back before hitting the walls with a hollow thud.

Sasuke's arms turned into gooseflesh and the cold was overpowering; shivers unwillingly ran through his body. His eyes snapped open and in an instance he was staring into green eyes.

She was hovering above him, bleeding onto him. Her blood was thick and cold and sticky as it soiled his gi; a shred of flesh hung down, the tip grazing his chest and throat. Sasuke stared at her, at the blood that began to slide down the corner of her mouth, dangle at the tip of her chin before falling onto his cheek.

Sakura smiled at him.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun." She was whispering, but her voice still stung at his eardrums.

He swallowed, thickly, and tried to ignore the puddle of blood on his chest. "Sakura."

"Ooh," she breathed out, "say it again."

Her eyes were closed.

Sasuke took the time to observe her more closely. Her skin was pasty white—almost translucent and her veins popped out into view, lips almost purple.

"Say it," she repeated. "Sasuke-kun, won't you say it?"

"You're dead."

She raked her nails into the hole in her chest. Sakura stared at him, her eyes growing dull and lifeless. "I am—and whose fault is that, Sasuke-kun?"

He closed his eyes as some of her blood dripped onto his forehead while she shifted.

"Your own."

She looked almost livid, if the dead could even look as such. Mostly, she looked like she wanted to gouge his eyes out and kiss him until he was dead; she was filled with malice, but malice never looked good on her. Never Sakura—she was too innocent.

"Is it really?" she murmured. She clawed at her cheek, leaving angry, blood red trails on the dead skin. "It's okay—I can feel everything, you know. I can feel your heartbeat—it's so beautiful."

Sakura reached over and grabbed his wrist. The contact burned at his skin like acid, he could see the flesh begin to bubble and burst, see the steam of the burning cells rise into the air and disappear in an instance. His eyes were glued onto her cold, bloody fingers around him, watching as she brought it up to her chest.

She paused.

Sasuke swallowed, thickly.

And then she shoved his hand into her gaping wound.

"Can you feel mine?"

She was skipping through his soldiers, pausing to touch and coo at Suigetsu, finger Juugo's hair and stare at him with a taunt—with mischief.

Sasuke felt his nerves begin to go haywire; felt his anger begin to boil as he watched her the entire time, leaving blood and clumps of flesh on the ground. He shifted, in his place, a lot; he ran a hand through his hair and wiped the sweat from his palms against his pants.

She was everywhere and nowhere—she giggled at him when he least expected it and she appeared out of thin air in a blink of an eye.

"Sasuke-kun," she was in front of him. Her eyes were growing white, the only color in them being the black of her pupils. "Sasuke-kun, Naruto says hi!"

Sakura smiled at him, teeth smeared red with blood.

Sasuke tilted his head back, eyes closed, lips slightly parted and hot water pelting at him almost soothingly.

His nerves were numb and his head housed a migraine that was reluctant to leave. It seemed the only place where he could relax—could escape—was in the shower with steam clouding his vision and water massaging his sore muscles. He'd stay in there forever, if he could. But he had orders to give and villages to destroy and—

And dead ex-teammates to avoid.

He tilted his head forwards, leaning his chin against his chest and opened his eyes.

He was covered in blood.

Sasuke's heartbeat raced, his eyes growing wide as he whirled around and looked up at the shower-head.

Blood poured out.

He bit his lip to keep his screams in.

There were giggles echoing everywhere.

His Chidori cried out as it vibrated and sent soothing shocks at his hand and up his arm.

Sasuke's speed was outstanding as he raced through the mass of Ame shinobi, piercing their chests and cutting their torsos in half. Blood splattered at him like the rain falling from the sky—death upon his enemies almost felt relaxing, almost felt soothing.

There were bags under his eyes and his skin was paler than normal; the red of his Mangekyo glowed against his skin and against his dark, messy hair. He looked horrible, skinny, with his gi close to flying off and his sleeveless kimono-like shirt almost engulfing him.

Another cry came, and he was sprinting, a wicked smirk slowly creeping onto his lips.

But then flashes of the past began to blur his visions—

—Naruto—

—Madara—

—Konoha—

—Rasengan—

—Chidori—

—Sakura—

—Blood everywhere—

—"I…I…Sa...'ke…-kun…"—

His agility faltered for a second, but it was enough to get him wounded and the fine line between reality and hallucinations to blend into one.

"Goddamnit, Sasuke," Suigetsu grunted, beheading the shinobis that kept coming towards the distracted man. "Get yer 'ead 'gether, 'fore yer get yer 'ead chopped off!"

Sasuke's eyes flashed towards Suigetsu—violet eyes narrowed and filled with annoyance and slight worry, blood splattered all over him. Sasuke shook his head and unsheathed his chokutō, and disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto says hi!"

There were giggles.

Sasuke raked his fingers through his hair, eyes searching for her, cheeks puffed out with the screams he tried to swallow.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!"

"Where are you," he hissed, his eyes searching.

"Can't you see me, Sasuke-kun?"

"Goddamnit, show yourself, Sakura."

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke whirled around, swirling in place in the middle of his room. His migraine was driving him insane and—

She was in front of him. "Hi, Sasuke-kun. Naruto says hello."

"Shut up," he hissed, eyes flashing and lips curling back in a sneer. "Shut up, Sakura—leave me alone."

"Sasuke-kun," she smiled, her skin was peeling off and her chest continued to bleed. She was all white with purple-blue veins and red blood everywhere. Her hair fell over her dead eyes—those green, almost white, dead eyes. "Sasuke-kun, am I pretty enough now?"

She glided towards him, Sasuke refused to step back. His nerves rattled his limbs and his heartbeat escalated with a rush of adrenaline.

Sakura was pressed against him, and he wondered how he could feel her against him when she was dead and this girl before him was nothing but a hallucination. But there she was, he could feel her and feel her blood and her fingers feathering up his arm.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered, going up on her tippy-toes, even as she hovered mere inches above solid ground, and clenching his hair in her bloody hands. "Sasuke-kun, I want to stay with you forever."

She brought him down against her lips and all Sasuke felt was blood and the taste of death, so powerful, he almost dropped to his knees. He tried to fight her off but her grip was deadly and her physical strength still as intact as it was when she was alive. His fingernails dug into her skin, easily, ripping through the decaying flesh and allowing more blood to flow out of her, freely; his eyes clenched tight, and as he tried to fight his way out of her grip, he found himself kissing her back and holding in the urge to scream in horror and disgust.

Sakura disappeared in an instance, leaving nothing but the taste of blood on his mouth and, "I love you, Sasuke-kun."

He was jumpy as he walked down the darkly dimmed corridor; he looked sick, pale, bruised, and demented. His soldiers watched with wary eyes, wondering when he'll crack—when they'll all be attacked and killed and the reign of terror of Uchiha Sasuke ceased.

But no one dared say anything—attack or leave. Nothing.

An Uchiha was someone to fear, but an insane Uchiha was an entirely different matter.

And Uchiha Sasuke was insane.

So, so, so insane.

He walked into the dining hall of the hideout and froze, mid step.

Sasuke visibly paled as a look of horror and hysteria cracked his mask of cold, manic indifference right off his face.

"What do you want," he roared, causing everyone in the room to stop and stare. "Leave me the hell alone—stop it—stop bothering me! You're… You're so annoying—stay dead. Stay dead!"

His fingers moved blindly and a second later he was engulfing the room in flames. His soldiers tried to escape, and those that failed screamed in agony and pain as they burned to death right where they stood.

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu sprinted towards him, Karin and Juugo at his heels. "Sasuke, quit it—Sasuke, you're going to make a massacre out of them, goddamnit!"

They tackled him to the ground, pinning him in place and trying to sedate him as best they could. But Sasuke was lost in the laughs that echoed in his ears, in the voice that haunted him and the figure that stood above him, in the ceiling.

Sasuke dropped to his knees, the ashes dirtying him upon contact.

The wind blew, ashes and dead leaves and dead laughs and dead, dead, dead curling around him.

"I'm here," he rasped out, tilting his head back, eyes closed and everything growing numb. "I'm here…"

He dropped forwards, one hand holding his body upright and the other fisting as much ashes as it could muster. Konoha was so vulnerable when it was nothing but ash—the will of fire, right? "I'm here… I'm here… I'm here… I'm sorry—I'm sorry. Please… Please…"

Feet materialized in front of him, black ninja boots on alabaster skin. He looked up and she was staring at him, head tilted, lustrous pink hair falling over green eyes and no blood in sight.

"I'm here," he repeated, Sharingan deactivated and dark eyes looking lost with bags under them and deadly pale skin to make them stand out. "I'm here."

She smiled. "I love you, Sasuke-kun."