That time Orochimaru did a good deed

What came before

A/N Because I needed to get this all out. It is as unbeta'd and unperfect as the last one. 

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Gods, why did this happen? How did this happen?

No.

No.

One second she was smiling up at him, more beautiful than the rising sun, and then she was dead. Her blood spilling all over him, pooling around them on the ground.

She was dead.

His Sakura.

His.

No. He could not live without her.

He would not.

He had lost everyone before. Nearly everyone he had ever loved was dead. Then they were thrown through time and everyone he had ever even known was gone too and only in their absence did he truly appreciate how dear they were to him.

She had lost them too.

But they had each other.

And gradually she became another person he loved. Giving her his heart, accepting hers, it had been a slow and terrifying process.

But she loved him and it was impossible not to love her back.

They were supposed to stay together.

She was all he had left.

He wanted...

He had wanted so many things with her.

And now she was...

Her body was limp and warm in his arms as he sobbed over her.

It wasn't fair.

When had his life ever been fair?

Who told him he deserved to be happy? Who gave him hope that his life could ever be anything but heartache and loneliness?

She had.

There was only emptiness now. Only despair now.

His chest felt hollow.

His body was numb.

Clinging to her, pressing his face to hers, Kakashi wanted to die.

He wanted to die.

They could be together in the Pure Lands.

But he couldn't kill himself.

His father had done that and been trapped in limbo.

And besides. She would never forgive him if he did.

The attack had happened so fast. Too fast to even think. Too fast to activate her infinite healing seal and had killed her instantly. But she had seen it first and in that half-heartbeat of time she had stepped in front of him.

How could she have ever thought he would want her to protect him with her life...

As she collapsed into his arms, he'd seen their attacker.

A female shinobi from Suna.

His beloved Sakura would be just another in a long line of war casualties.

They had saved Rin this time. Maybe he was always supposed to lose people he loved in this war. Rin would live, grow up and maybe even love his younger self like she wanted.

But he would be alone.

His love was taken from him.

Why was he so damn impossible to kill?

Why had the Suna nin left him alive with nothing but a cruel smirk?

Why couldn't she have killed both of them?

"Come back...." His voice sounded rough and strange to his ears. "Come back, please." He didn't know if he was talking to the woman he loved or the one that had killed her.

They were supposed to rescue Yamato next.

He'd be escaping Orochimaru soon. Just a little boy. She wanted to find him before Danzō.

She loved so much.

She loved him so much.

Too much.

His eyes snapped open and he stared down at her face. She was gone.

Orochimaru.

He could bring her back, like Minato-sensei.

But that jutsu required...

His face hardened.

He pulled a storage scroll from his hip pouch and released a body scroll. Putting her in a stasis jutsu, he wrapped her in a blanket and stored her in the scroll. He stood, hung the scroll around his shoulders and took off in the direction the Suna nin had gone.

It hadn't taken long to find her.

It was remarkably easy to capture her.

Standing over her, chakra suppressing wire holding her down, he considered her. She had taken everything from him.

He wanted to take from her.

He wanted her to suffer like he was suffering.

She was alone. She had nothing to take.

At least, nothing he wanted.

She whimpered in pain as he stepped on one of her ankles, leaning his weight into it.

Hopefully the reincarnation jutsu would be painful.