In the few years that Sasuke had left them incomplete, Sakura had imagined and reimagined the details of their reunion. They ranged from unlikely to improbable to 'things that will only happen when Sasuke gets a heart.' She would have liked to smile at the thought but right now the closest she could manage was a grimace.

The situation was dire. Shinobi of all villages were probably under Madara Uchiha's genjutsu. She stared up at the moon, the tomoe compelling her to gaze deeper.

"Sakura."

Something squeezed at her heart. Maybe, it was the sudden surge of memories, of feelings. Maybe, it was the strange way her name mixed with the new wrinkles in his voice, a certain weariness only age can give. Maybe, it was Sakura herself and her incessant, futile attempts at bringing back the boy she knew — the boy she loved.

The only thing she knew was that it was strong enough to tear her gaze to search for Sasuke. His kekkei genkai may have been different but the expression they held were all too familiar. He was looking straight at her but she knew his mind was on the battlefield, making calculations and drafting strategies.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun?" His eyes had widened for a moment but he regained his cool as quickly as he had lost it.

"Kakashi wants us to regroup." They walked in silence back to Naruto and purple hue the landscape was colored in only served to remind them that they were the only ones left awake, the only ones left to fight the war. Sakura shivered at the thought, dread and the cold making her teeth chatter.

She clenched her jaw, weilding her chakra as she would her scalpel, and soothed her muscles and nerves with a small dose of chakra. The relief it brought was shortlived; she broke out in cold sweat, her senses picking up on the impending danger.

"30 paces to your left, 10 kilometers above us. You sense it too, Sakura?"

She nodded as Zetsu's figure got clearer.

"Keep back; I'll scout the area up ahead." She cracked her knuckles and readjusted her headband. She held her hand up to stop Sasuke from following her, effectively cutting off his voice and the upcoming arguement.

"Rendezvous here in 10 minutes." He nicked his thumb, rapidly going through the hand signs of a summoning jutsu, and on his right arm materialized a hawk. "Kakashi and Naruto will be here before then so that we can remain within earshot; be careful."

She smiled slightly. The purple light blinded her and for a moment, she could see a thirteen-year-old Sasuke in the Forbidden Forest standing in front of a weakened Team 7.

"I forgot how protective you were of your teammates." She started towards Zetsu, pushing thoughts of Sasuke and what few happy memories they had to the back of her mind. In the periphery of her view, she saw his head cock to her direction slightly.

That was right about the time a small crack was made on Sasuke's near-impenetrable Susanoo. She knew what would happen the second her body was bathed in the rusty glow of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. She cursed the recklessness at which she had charged her legs with chakra; there was too much momentum to even attempt to stop.

The last thing she saw was Sasuke blotting out the moonlight, his voice barely getting through to her. The genjutsu stopped the chakra flow to her legs, her body skidding to the ground as fatigue plagued her. Slowly, she was being deprived of her senses.

"Sakura, stay with me." Sasuke's voice was almost normal but she could hear the panic seeping into the words. In her last moments of consciousness, Sakura tried to call out to Sasuke.

And then darkness.