You guys are unlucky. My dumbass spilled tea across my keyboard so I had to shut it down and resist turning it on for a few days. I even wrote this chapter on oldschool paper… but that meant I was delayed a week. So if my computer dies in the near future, you know why -hanareader


"You can't go after him, Sakura. You are to stay here until I say otherwise."

Of course this was the first thing she hears.

"What? What do you mean I can't go after him, Kakashi promised me."

Tsunade's attention was elsewhere as if she couldn't acknowledge her to her face, look her in the eyes. She signed a few extra documents without a second blink, mindlessly moving on to the next one.

The conversation was already made one-sided and Sakura had to bite herself to keep control.

"It's a very delicate situation that we've found ourselves in, where our timing becomes crucial. It concerns information not particular to you. Shizune can brief you the specifics but my decision stays final."

"He killed Naruto!"

Tsunade raised her brown eyes.

"Yes, we've already processed the documentation. Sasuke will now be labeled missing nin status across Fire Country."

"Then you're letting him get away!"

"I'm sure I was told you were more mature than this, I haven't done anything."

"Exactly, you haven't."

Tsunade shot from her chair and the desk groaned under the weight of her fists. Two hands that sunk into the wood gradually as the woman held herself back, breathing through her nose carefully. "He and his team," she spat and Sakura flinched. "Hurt a lot of our youngest ninjas, the future of Konoha herself. Not just Naruto."

Her smaller frame fell into itself, curling at the shoulders under the Hokage's hard stare. Her eyes turned away before it could see too much.

"You want me to send out more?"

Her voice was bitter. "No, Hokage-sama."

"What if that was you too?" The woman spoke into the open and Sakura lifted her eyes curiously, blinked.

Tsunade avoided speaking further. "Anyway, we can't afford to divide our forces after him for the second time. Believe me when I say this: now is not the occasion."

"He's going to escape," Sakura simply stated. "He's going to win."

Tsunade glared her down but she stubbornly glared back. Her chin jutted and green eyes glowed bright with fury, she wasn't going to let herself be refused like this when she knew that the Lady Hokage cared for Naruto too. It didn't make any sense. So what if she was disobeying direct orders, this was stupid and Tsunade couldn't cut it otherwise.

Sasuke did something wrong. That made him a criminal. Weren't they supposed to do the right thing, weren't they supposed to protect their own?

Sakura faced her off with silence and she watched as the Hokage grew steadily annoyed, motioning the positioned anbu guards out the room. They bowed in the corner of her eye and Tsunade waved them off before slumping in her seat. Sakura twisted her lip in irritation and the Hokage watched her with cool brown eyes, a cheek rested on a loosely held fist.

She sighed deeply. "What would you have me do, Sakura, tell me."

"We should go after him before it's too late. After enough time has wasted, Sasuke will-"

"Meet with Orochimaru soon, yes. Let's say before that you catch up with him, could you take him?"

Sakura swallowed. "Well."

"Could you?"

"I-"

Tsunade's voice was knowing. She shrugged. "He killed Naruto, as you keep saying."

It hurt to say it, and her mouth mumbled. "…No."

"No is right."

Sakura really hated those words. Why was she so nonchalant about this?

"So? Does that mean we should still let him go? Kakashi-sensei was supposed to be here."

Tsunade spoke quietly. "It's something a lot more than that." She averted her face and her exhaustion was made visible, deep, etched lines along her cheeks and the corners of her eyes. She was tired and Sakura knew she was only making it worse, the more she fought for this the harder it was. But it wasn't about how tired the Hokage was, it was about him.

This was worth it.

"Sasuke is one of the last two Uchiha left, carrying a highly advanced Sharingan. I don't know how else to tell you this but Naruto… Naruto was someone important to him. He was his only friend and Sasuke knew it. Sasuke used it to his advantage." Tsunade sighed heavily until her shoulders slumped and all Sakura could focus on was the words forming on her mouth, the way her chest rose and fell.

"He killed Naruto for a reason. We have evidence that experiencing extreme trauma, such as killing someone close to you evolves those who carry the Sharingan. Their eyes register the trauma and manifest into what is called stage two Sharingan, the Mangekyou. Kakashi and I believe that Sasuke knew this, and killed Naruto for this very purpose."

Her words trailed.

"This upgrade ensures that he'd be on equal terms power-wise with his brother. Even if it's been half a day since encountering him, no one is quite sure just how powerful he is… This situation is a bit unprecedented."

She disagreed.

"Sakura."

Sakura knew Naruto was someone close to her, she could tell in the way the medic sannin treated him over the rest, scolding him and pulling his ear, showing him affection far past courtesy. Despite her varied skillsets, Lady Tsunade wasn't a mothering figure but she could be one even if only for a smile – when Naruto was around. He was gone and the cold exterior was the only thing left, strict Hokage ordering her down. The woman was avoiding her. Hedging. Where was her infamous temper? Sakura clenched her hands behind her back and didn't say a word, she stood stiffly, green eyes glaring at a chip far right of the Hokage desk, lips spread thin.

"Sakura." The woman repeated.

She wasn't loud like Naruto. She was logical. Sakura was a good student, a good follower, and nothing like the individual Naruto was… not the rebel Sasuke was. If it was her death, Naruto wouldn't take this quietly and Sasuke couldn't be tamed. But no matter how she tried she couldn't speak out like her teammates would: she couldn't bow her head and accept this, she couldn't move from her spot. She was stuck in limbo. Tsunade looked at her knowingly, with soft, warm brown eyes and it pissed the hell her off.

She didn't know what to do.

"I know you must be upset."

She grit her teeth and glared.

"Naruto was someone very important to me."

"Then it doesn't make sense!" She outburst, realized, then quieted. "Hokage-sama," she spat belatedly.

"Maybe it doesn't…" The older woman watched her closely and she felt like she was under the glass of a microscope, enclosed and under speculation. Sakura stood her ground while the nerves roiled from her belly to her legs. She didn't know how to proceed from here, this woman was known for her monstrous punches that could take out mountains against anyone that'd cross her wrong.

This same woman was eerily still when she looked through her and all Sakura could do was frown, wonder what was stopping her, where was her grief? She expected more.

"Shizune will escort you out."

Sakura exhaled sharply.

"Maybe after you talk with her you'll understand where I'm coming from." The cold voice was back.

That was it then, was it? Was it? And now her Inner was quiet.

"Sakura." She was already half way to the door, legs heavy and body tense with anger, though she couldn't tell exactly who she was angry at. Any more of this conversation was going to make her snap.

"I hope your view of him doesn't change."

"I thought you were on his side."

She slammed the door on her way out.

Dammit... Dammit…

When the hot tears finally stopped flowing, she wiped her face and knocked her head back against the building walls, thundering at her headache. The hall was empty and Shizune's office was only a couple of doors away but Sakura didn't want to move. She shouldn't have left. She should've fought harder. No excuse was worth it.

Sakura thought she was on his side too.

The hands at her sides hugged tightly and shook, she inhaled for air delicately. Her eyes faced the ceiling, watching the gray dotted thing as if she could avoid her thoughts. But Sakura was guilty as charged regardless of how she saw it, the moment she left the room. She accepted, hesitated, like always. Something that couldn't be taken back.

After too much time had passed, Sakura trudged away from the Hokage doors even as it tore her apart inside.

Shizune's hair was in a ponytail today. Short and tufty at the tips, the single black strands plucked out of the sides and caught her attention. The office paperwork on her desk sorted into tall, individual piles, while a half empty tissue box sat in the middle, barely hidden underneath the paperwork. Sakura guessed the thing, she could see used tissues strewn across her immediate floor. Shizune looked up at her in the eyes, and the emotion Sakura felt halved, the guilt soured, increasing by the second as she watched thin streaks of smudged makeup.

"Naruto's body is still alive." Shizune spoke quietly.

"What?" Sakura's attention caught. For the second time today, her heart skipped beat. She raced closer in a flurry. "Why, why didn't you tell me, he's alive, where-?"

Shizune shook her head sadly and Tonton at her feet whined until she picked the pig up, petting her to calm herself. "No, Naruto himself is gone. But we have reason to believe his body is active and rapidly leaving the country as we speak."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Tsunade must have wanted to avoid telling you herself… dammit." Shizune massaged at the temples of her head, stretching the dark circles underneath her eyes. Tonton whimpered. The woman continued muttering to herself already off into another world until time was wasting, and nobody was telling her anything, and Sakura could feel the fire rushing through her blood again the more the more she ignored her.

The more she ignored Naruto.

Why was no one telling her anything?

"Well?! What the hell do you mean his body is alive, I watched Kakashi seal him, I saw him, I touched him. Are you saying someone stole his body?"

Shizune's voice was low and heavy, her gaze downcast in thought. "No, no one stole his body."

"Then what the hell is going on? Why can't we go after Sasuke?" she demanded.

Shizune looked at her. Her stare was tired and even Tonton crawled away, smaller, her pink form grieved. The air was silent and stuffy, after the rains humidity spread across the town, thickening the smell of dust in her nose and making her throat scratchy. She didn't want to admit there was a lump already there and forming.

"What I'm about to tell you will take a while and is highly classified information, Sakura. Probably more so now than ever." She looked away and Sakura could almost have missed it but she was never wrong.

Guilt. Shizune looked like her; Tsunade must have felt the same.

The last time she demanded to know she ultimately regretted it. The moment she heard was the moment she joined them, and absorbed their excuses. Sakura swallowed thickly and she hesitated but in the end there was no other choice for her to choose. She was silent and Shizune took that as her acceptance.

"Somebody stealing his form is close, though it goes back further than that. Sit down before I begin, about the attack against the Leaf Village that happened over 12 years ago… and the ninetails demon fox, the Kyuubi."

'-all of the major villages will be scrambling to recapture this demon. We don't know how it escaped, but we know for a fact that if Naruto dies Kyuubi is sure to die with him. It was expected that Naruto would be healed and kept alive by the demon's chakra – if solely for this special consideration.'

'Although Sasuke carries the Sharingan we think it's highly unlikely he could master it to the level of controlling another tailed beast. Though others believe otherwise, and he is evidenced as the only one present in the area… there have been no past history of training with seals from him, at least none that we know of.'

'Many don't want to admit that the yondaime's seal may have lost its integrity, though that is one other possibility.'

'We believe, however, that someone was watching… someone else was there. They released the seal, maybe in the hopes of ensuring the demon lives, even as Naruto dies. The Kyuubi seeing the opportunity could have overcome his helper and escaped. Although the image of a demon is very striking, taller than this Hokage building and stronger than the gods… foxes are known to be sly and experts at trickery. Kyuubi must have forgone revenge in favor of his freedom, we believe he assumes Naruto's form rather than the great chakra being he is normally, to help in his escape.'

'We need to get the demon back. Tsunade didn't want to tell you this because Naruto was more than what's inside him. She wanted you to know that. She wanted to show you that. But her hands are tied. All the villages will soon be after this opportunity to claim the tailed beast for their own, not including the Akatsuki. Before anyone else can steal the advantage, we have to focus our efforts on recapture. Not on Naruto. Not on grieving. We can't go after Sasuke.'

'…I'm very sorry, Sakura.'

Sakura knew her sensei was lying when he said capturing Sasuke was their first priority but she didn't know why he even bothered. All she could hear was Kyuubi, Kyuubi, and now that she knew who Kyuubi was it didn't make her feel any better listening to them. Some people were set to whispering, and the only thing of topic was the fox, while Naruto meant nothing.

He could've told her instead of lying to her. He could've been here to tell her himself. She could've watched his face. Maybe then it wouldn't hurt so much to see this.

Kakashi was gone in the morning before she could ask him these questions, and he left without so much as a note or a goodbye. As strongest in the village, he was after the Kyuubi too. Sakura wanted to get to training immediately but she's been placed in the care of Team 10's sensei Kurenai, blatant babysitting if she ever saw it. The genjutsu expert was left behind in the frantic search for the demon while every other experienced ninja was immediately ordered away. Inner Sakura seethed, outer let her eyes wander away from the back of curly dark hair to Team 10's training, to the mass of clouds dominating the sky, the wind sharp and biting at her cheeks.

She was annoyed and her brain was pounding, over the things Shizune said.

'Naruto was more than what's inside him.'

Well then, why the fuck were they after Kyuubi then?

"-you may join us if you'd like."

Kurenai's voice was musical and sweet. It cleanly cut through her thoughts, soft around the edges and seconds away from giving her physical contact, a hug or maybe something hot to drink. Sakura twisted her lips sharply and frowned, she didn't need any coddling.

"No. No thank you," Sakura replied, she shifted her green eyes from that red stare, too much like Sasuke's and knowing.

"If you change your mind." Kurenai said. The kunoichi walked off.

The only ones aware of his passing were the experienced ninja, Shizune had requested of her silence. For now, and she guessed for as long as Kyuubi needed to be recaptured, every one of their original rookie class was to remain ignorant. It hurt to keep herself silent, to stop herself from grieving… her feet brushing against lush green grass and the warm sunlight, it seemed as if everything was mocking her to her face. She was ordered to remain exactly where she was, where Akamaru chirped happily and she could hear Hinata's soft giggles, everyone else was peaceful unknowing.

Her small fists clenched.

She wished she could be that. Kiba and Akamaru were able to heal quickly, she could tell by their excited yipping and the energy they delivered in their practice match. Shino, aware of the healing still required, made his bugs move gentle and considerate when Kiba stumbled.

They were already a better team than what she received, so much so it almost hurt to watch.

So she looked away.

Their third teammate patiently stood by near the trees. Hinata quickly noticed her, and that was the real cold kicker wasn't it, the girl shook in her hands and bowed sharply when she came forward.

"Good morning, S-sakura-san."

She thought to God, if there was one listening anyway… that this was just cruel, Hinata fidgeted with her oversized coat, toying with the coattails and twitching her fingers. She was soft purple and cloying sweetness that it hurt to watch her blush lightly and hide her eyes away.

It was so obvious. This was the girl that liked Naruto.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine," Sakura said stiffly before planting herself in the grass, knees bent and muscles tight. Hinata floundered for a moment before she settled down softly next to her, adjusting her clothes to look neat, though Sakura could see it was mostly nerves and to have something to do with her hands.

"Um. Neji returned yesterday but he's been in bed all day."

"That's good."

"I mean, he'll recover soon! Just, he needs some time. He was glad to help," Her voice rose worried she'd misunderstood something but Sakura didn't care. Hinata was earnest and she blended against the background, though admittedly that wasn't a very nice reason to be near her. She smelled like sweet cream and vanilla, until it was easy to ignore her Inner, and the sun, and the practice match below, even if only for a moment.

Sakura didn't expect the quiet. Maybe it was just a side effect of Naruto not being there, but the weather was plain when she expected a storm, after two of her teammates had left. After she promised her revenge, she expected more, the strong arm of justice to be swift and finished. She didn't expect to wait, all over again.

Didn't she say she was tired of waiting?

"I wanted to help too! I would've helped get Sasuke-san for you."

"No, thanks," she said sharply, though inside she knew she was being a bit much.

There was no reason to be rude. The day Hinata had to try to foster conversation was a sad day indeed.

"Oh. I mean-! You could've done it too, of course. He's your teammate… of course."

Sakura looked at her.

"Um."

"You're really shy aren't you?"

Those eyes were downcast. "Yes. Sorry."

"You don't have to say anything then." Sakura said, though the words were a bit cold. She was feeling the irritation rise under her skin until her mouth spoke, things that she didn't mean. It was a bad feeling when Hinata made herself a convenient target, hands clasped in her lap and dark hair spilling over her eyes.

"Oh, um. Okay."

Well that made her feel worse.

Sakura thought that the girl was a bit weird back in the academy, and Ino did too. She was the only one who didn't have a crush on Sasuke, the only one who didn't wear fashionable clothes or makeup, the only one who didn't talk. Hinata, shy as she was, couldn't relate to those her age, and as a result didn't surround herself with many female friends.

Which was a lot like what she used to be. The thought was something hard to swallow when she looked at her, it was the same crush, the put-upon sweetness, the same shy glances, Sasuke-kun-

And right now it was making her sick.

"Sakura-san?"

Sakura didn't mean to put a damper on her hopes now, sitting next to her. Her hands were lily white and soft, while Sakura's clenched her fists too tightly. She "casually" tore clumps of dirt and grass in her frustration, generating a sharp ripping sound but Hinata was too polite to say anything.

She was too nice, too innocent. She didn't deserve this.

"I meant," Sakura let out a deep breath. "You don't have to make conversation just because I'm sitting here. If it's hard for you," she added. "I get it and I didn't misunderstand, I won't think you're being rude."

Her face went bright red.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I'm not in a particularly good mood today which had nothing to do with you."

She nodded quickly and quietly.

The space was awkward after that.

Rather than piling her apology, Sakura closed her mouth. She sat. Hinata kneeled next to her. The boys kept practicing further off while Kurenai-sensei watched. The girl kept herself Hyuga heir composed and Sakura… some feeling swept up in her until she wanted to break that, the more the silence stretched the more the dangerous name soured in the back of her throat, and she wanted to scream and make it known, wanted this girl to feel how she felt because-

She was just sitting there. Hinata was too much like herself that Sakura thought Inner could overcome, quiet, watching at the sidelines, waiting.

Not searching, avenging, winning.

But that wasn't a fair assessment anyway, to begin with. That didn't match up. It's not like she knew Naruto was dead and even if she did, even if she faced off Tsunade herself…

"Hinata?" Her voice came out rough and scratchy around the edges, fragile. It was heavy with emotion and blurry off her tongue until Sakura had to purse her lips, focus on anything else.

She wanted to say it. I'm sorry, Hinata, he was gone. I'm sorry, Hinata, I told him to go. I'm sorry, Hinata, we can't get Sasuke back because he was the one who killed Naruto, punched a hole through his chest. I'm sorry, Hinata, because now it's forever, he'll never know how you feel.

But she wasn't, was she? She wasn't.

"Hm?" Large, pale eyes turned to her and blinked of dark lashes. Her hair was cut short with only two large pieces to frame her face, round her nose and soften her cheeks. She was cute. Sakura could see Naruto liking her, loving her. Marrying her, even.

Sakura swallowed.

"You really cared for Naruto, didn't you?"

Her skin flared bright pink. "Y-yes!"

Hinata wasn't loud like he was, maybe she too couldn't go immediately after Sasuke but-

That didn't mean she'd ever stop loving Naruto.

"Thank you," Sakura said, and allowed a small smile at the quiet power from her voice. It hurt, because she knew, but nonetheless Sakura meant the words coming out of her mouth. "Thank you. I think he'd like that." Hinata blushed brighter and nodded with enthusiasm before staring down at her lap.

Sakura thought, only idly in that moment, that maybe she won't give up just yet.