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Link: [archiveofourown] and [fanfiction.net]

Chapter 11: Her Second Chance

"Chidori."

Three seconds. She had precisely three seconds to figure out how to survive this.

'Watch his hand, Sakura.' she told herself repeatedly. Ten out of twelve times, she could catch it. When she had her strength. But despite the fact, she believed in herself. Watch his hand.

One.

A high-pitched howling wind came from her right. No... Instead of that damned hand, she watched with wide eyes as a silver blur came barreling towards her. No!

Two.

Horrified, he stood to her front. He didn't have enough chakra in him left to deflect it! What the hell was he thinking!? She couldn't let him do this!

Three.

On instinct, she stepped to his left and spun herself in front of him. False blue met onyx. And before she could do anything else, she felt her body rip apart. She couldn't scream. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't speak. Her nerves burned violently, but despite this, she willed herself to be strong. Through her will of fire, she forced her eyes to stay in his.

'I'll be okay.' she wanted to say, but the words weren't forming. The unbearable, piercing pain in her chest was absolutely blinding and she wanted nothing more than to just give in and close her eyes, but she knew she couldn't. Giving up was not an option. Unable to do anything else, she managed to place a hand on his chest and gave him a heartened smile as she painfully watched the parade of emotions flash behind his despondent, dark eyes.