"No."

"Sasuke-"

"No."

Sakura clenched her fists, her face set in a determined scowl. It made the scar running from the middle of her hairline to the apple of her left cheek twist angrily. Naruto used to say that it made her look fierce and scarier than usual. Sakura always rolled her eyes and told him that he made himself look stupider than usual every time he opened his mouth.

"He can't do it now, Sasuke. Only you can. Would you see all of his work go to waste?"

Sasuke didn't snarl, didn't glare. His gaze stayed fixed on the figure laying in front of him. They had found a small, ramshackle cottage in the dense forests of… wherever they were now. Sasuke had gently, ever so gently, laid their teammate on the only cot in the small structure and sat on a stool by the bed.

That had been a day ago. He hadn't moved ever since, never breaking his vigil.

Naruto's chest rose and fell tremulously. His breathing was ragged, choking on each inhale wetly. The seal now layered over the Yondaime's prevented any sort of action by the Kyuubi to heal his host.

It was almost hysterical. The world was in ruins, most of its population dead or in hiding, and it was all due to Madara's pursuit of the bijuu in an attempt to bring about a false peace. His madness seemed to grow with each failed attempt to capture the last of the jinchuriki, and he seemed to no longer care if there were people left for him to capture in his ultimate genjutsu. He pursued his goal with a single-mindedness that left a path of destruction and death in its wake, only for his plan to be foiled by a seal created twenty-three years prior.

In the end, the Yondaime beat Madara after all. His seal had effectively been designed to never allow Kurama to be removed from his son unwillingly. And boy, had he been unwilling.

Madara has been a bit miffed, one could say.

He was dead now, however. Fuck if that meant anything anymore, what with the whole world being dead.

It hadn't even been satisfying when they had cut him down. He hadn't been fighting much. He hadn't cared anymore. He still deigned to take one last thing, however.

The only thing holding them together.

"The seal wasn't designed for me." Sasuke's voice was quiet, resolute.

Sakura's lips quirked. "Actually, it kinda was."

Sasuke's shoulders tensed. "What," he stated, voice flat, "do you mean?"

Sakura was well past being any sort of intimidated by the (for real this time) last Uchiha. "Naruto didn't design the seal for only himself, Sasuke. It's designed for all of us to be able to use together, or individually."

He took a moment to process this, then gave a slight shrug. "Then you go."

Sakura was quiet, debating. She knew him well enough to have expected something like that. But it couldn't be helped.

She walked to the other side of the cot and sat down on an old crate. Naruto's hand was clammy and damp with sweat. She held it so that it cupped her cheek, gazing down at the features of her most precious person. He would be dead within the next twelve hours. She would stay at his side until the shinigami came to claim him, and then beg him to take her too. She knew it was selfish to be grateful that she would get to rest soon.

"I can't, Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed but didn't leave Naruto's face. "You have just as much chakra as I do, if not more. You've been storing chakra in that seal for years."

"Yes, but I won't live to see the sunrise within a few days." She closed her eyes, taking a breath. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I wasn't sure. I've been running through all the options, examining every inch of my chakra system since we killed Madara. I can't find a way to neutralize the poison that he hit me with. I'm dying quickly. It's rotting my chakra - efficiently."

Sasuke was silent for several seconds, then he let out a breathy laugh. "What a stupid joke," he said bitterly, "for the universe to choose me to be the last of us."

Sakura closed her eyes, breathing slowly. The silence ticked on for some time, neither speaking.

Finally, Sasuke spoke again. "It should have been him."

"Yes, it should have. But there's no use in dwelling on that now." But she knew he would anyway. Dwelling on things might as well be his full time job. Nevertheless, she continued. "You are the only one who can now, and I swear to Kami I will never forgive you if you let all his work go to rot."

Sasuke snorted. "You won't be around long enough to shadow me with your resentment anyway."

Sakura knew he cared about her, despite current evidence to the contrary. They were both just… numb. Their emotions were still there, but muted, as though they lay at the bottom of the sea while Sakura and Sasuke floated at the top, indifferent to the waves crashing over them.

She didn't respond to his remark and they sat in silence as twilight passed and bled into evening. They were still sitting in the same positions when dawn crept over the horizon, the only changes to the scene being the tears dripping off of Sakura's chin, the shortened breaths that Sasuke sucked in, and the stillness of the body laying on the cot in front of them.

"Sasuke," she whispered. "Go."

Sasuke's knuckles were white, his hands clenched together under his chin. She had allowed him enough time. "Sasuke."

Finally, his eyes closed. His breathing smoothed out. He opened them again and stood straight, then leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Naruto's. He whispered something that she didn't quite hear, and then pulled back and made his way to the pile of Naruto's belongings on the opposite side of the shack.

The scroll was small, unobtrusive. The lines were much simpler than she would have thought. Naruto had told her that most things were simpler than people made them to be, and he believed that the reason solutions and inventions were so rare was due to people assuming they had to be complicated to work.

Sasuke stared down at it for a moment, then looked at her. "How do I use it?"

"Just push your chakra into it. Naruto took care of everything else."

His face said that he was doubtful that it would be that simple, but he really didn't have much to lose if it went wrong.

Their eyes met and the world paused. Sakura thought she had made peace with the fact that her story would end here, but in that moment she felt panic punch the air out of her lungs. She could try, right? Maybe... maybe she could go back too? Find Tsunade, see if she could help. It wasn't outrageous. For a moment, not trying seemed like giving up. Finality was terrifying.

But her chakra was corrupted. Using it with the seal could have unknown consequences. She had no idea where Tsunade would be, and if her estimate was right, she would die today. If she tried, it would be selfish. She gripped the hand she was still holding tighter, and nodded at her remaining teammate. She would stay.

Sasuke held her gaze for a moment more, then nodded slightly. She didn't expect or need any fancy words or promises, and he knew that.

With one last, lingering gaze at the man lying beside her, Sasuke placed his palm over the seal he was holding and just like that, he was gone.

Eyes closing, Sakura let out a shuddering breath. She was the last person on earth, and the world felt like it was closing in, a cavernous emptiness moving in to suffocate her.

She had faith, though. Faith in her boys.

Moving carefully, she laid down beside her friend. It was a tight fit, but she managed. In a past life, she would have never imagined she would be so content laying beside a corpse. In this one, she wrapped one arm around it and laid her head on its chest, closing her eyes.

When the darkness came to swallow her, it didn't find a quivering little girl begging for things to be different. Instead, it found a woman at peace, holding her best friend tightly to her side. Death took a step closer.

Then the world disappeared as though it had never existed.