The plant sat in patch of sunlight, the leaves glistening. It needed trimming down, dead flowers and stems crept out of the pot, leaves littering the side. The pot was new, the plant was not. A white cat peered over the pot's lip, beginning to warily nibble at a leaf experimentally.

"Yuki!" Sakura chided, heels clattering against the kitchen tiles as she ran over. The cat jumped away, furiously chewing the leaf in an effort to swallow it before Sakura could wrench it away.

"Oh come on…" Sakura muttered, bending down to seize the cat as she jumped from the counter, "This is the third time this week, for the last time, stop eating my plants!" She scowled directly into the cat's face, who scowled back at her.

She hooked a few fingers behind the cat's teeth, ignoring her wriggles to get away, pulling out the remnants of the leaf with a disgusted, "Ew…"

She released Yuki, springing up to wash her hands, covered in cat hair. Yuki was notorious for shedding, too many times had Sakura been forced to apologise to an allergic patient who kept sneezing whenever she came around their ward.

Sakura put her hands on her hip, glaring at the cat, who was now sitting on the windowsill in a dignified pose, licking her paw, as though she hadn't just been assaulted.

"Next time I'll get poisonous flowers and we'll see who's laughing." Sakura grumbled, aware that she was talking to the cat as though she understood her, but not really caring.

She dropped down on the sofa, exhausted. Her feet felt bruised and swollen, her thighs burning from all the stairs she'd had to climb that day, the taste of the stale hospital air stuck in her mouth. She wiped her brow, breathing in deeply, the smell of her plastic gloves still clinging to her hands.

She kicked off her shoes, sighing happily at the satisfying ache in her feet, now freed from the clumpy shoes she was forced to wear. She curled up on the sofa, drawing her legs up, careful not to snag her dark brown tights, resting her head on a cushion.

She closed her eyes, feeling herself sink into sleep quickly, yawning.

"SAKURA-CHAN! ARE YOU HOME?"

Naruto…

Sakura let out a growl of frustration, clawing her way off the sofa and charging over to the front door, her feet aching with every step.

"WHAT?" She snarled, yanking the door open.

Naruto, in full Hokage garb, robes and hat, blinked at her, an Anbu squad lurking down the hall. Lee stood at his side, determinedly staring forward, his posture akin to a highly-trained soldier with a poker shoved where the sun don't shine.

"Sa-Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, his face petrified now that he realised he had incurred Sakura's wrath, "Something's happened."

His tone pulled her out of her sleepy wrath, she now felt as awake as if someone had poured cold water over her. Naruto's face was tight and pale.

"What? What's happened?" She demanded. Who's died? She thought, not daring to voice the question, "Tell me, Naruto!"

He looked at her worried expression and shook his head, "It's… I don't know how to describe it… Good or bad?"

"Well, just come in and tell me!" She said, stepping back and making a sweeping gesture, inviting him into her flat. Yuki made an irritable, grumbling sound and hopped off of the windowsill, wandering to the door to glare at the visitors.

Naruto gave the cat a cheeky grin, "Yuki-sama, can I come in?"

The cat blinked at him disdainfully and then walked off, her tail flicking about angrily.

"Let him do the usual," Naruto begged Sakura, "It's the best part of my job."

Sakura sighed, stepping back even further and nodding.

"Whoo! OK, Lee, go!" Naruto instructed, pointing at the flat.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Lee shouted, flipping over Sakura entirely and landing in a crouch, looking around the room suspiciously.

Lee had been made Naruto's personal bodyguard the moment Naruto was instated as Hokage. Lee had burst with pride. He ran laps for weeks, trying to outrun his excitement.

He rolled over onto his stomach, peering under the sofas. Clearly spotting nothing untoward, he leapt up, somersaulting over to the kitchen, poking Sakura's plants and sniffing around.

"There's nothing in my flat that could harm Naruto." Sakura said flatly, "And get away from my plants, Lee, they're fragile."

Lee looked up, his face buried in some leaves, "My apologies, Sakura-san! I will be careful with your possessions, or I will run ten thousand laps around your flat as punishment –"

"'Kay." Sakura agreed abruptly, eyeing him closely as he handled her largest and best-looking plant.

"Oi, you know Neji told us not to encourage him with those insane punishment things…" Naruto mumbled.

"Fine. Lee, if you break anything I will break a bone in your body that I believe corresponds with the breakage you have caused to my personal property." Sakura smiled at him mischievously.

Lee gave a nervous laugh, putting the pot down as carefully as a new born baby.

Naruto couldn't hide his amusement, but his expression quickly turned sombre, as though he had decided the news was bad after all, "You might want to sit down for this, Sakura-chan."

Lee was caught in a staring match with Yuki, apparently his pride forcing him not to look away as the cat stalked towards him.

Sakura sat on the arm of the sofa, crossing her arms, gazing up at Naruto.

"Go on."

Naruto had never been a serious man, never quite shedding the eager, hyperactive nature he'd cultivated as a kid, but now, standing before her, squirming in his Hokage robes, his bright eyes were grim as they settled on Sakura's worried face.

"Itachi's surrendered to Konoha, we have him in custody." Naruto said bluntly, never one to mince words.

Sakura felt her jaw actually drop, her whole body tingling as the news washed over her, her brain struggling to catch up with the idea of Itachi's capture (surrender?).

She stared at him. Of all the things she'd expected him to say, this was not even close…

Lee knocked over a chair and flinched at the loud bang it made, colliding with the tiles. Sakura didn't even look at him.

"What does this mean for Sasuke-kun?" She asked, fingers covering her mouth in shock.

Naruto shrugged, "I dunno. Could mean he'll come back once he hears – if he hears – and he'll want to fight him or something. Trouble is, Council's insisting he's under our protection, as a prisoner. We can't just kill him or hand him to Sasuke. Hell to pay and all that."

Sakura scowled at the thought of Itachi, the whole reason Sasuke was the way he was, in Konoha, her home town, the place he'd murdered Sasuke's family, the place he'd returned to with the intention of kidnapping Naruto, where he'd tortured his little brother a second time, pushing him over the edge…

"Can't kill him, of course not…" She muttered, thinking hard, "Are you going to tell the citizens about him?"

Naruto gave a little growl of frustration, "No, my hands are tied. I've been outvoted. The Council are 'looking out for his best interests,'" He mimicked, scowling, "If I knew being Hokage would mean being outvoted on every single subject, including litter and pet care, I'd have said stick the job!"

Sakura was still thinking, "This is a good thing. We've got him, no one got hurt, he came without a fight... It's the best case scenario in this situation, definitely. I'm just wondering, why now, why years after Akatsuki dissolved, what's changed?"

Naruto simply shrugged again.

Lee was now petting Yuki, to Sakura's disbelief, the grumpy cat purring as the jounin made cooing noises at her. Lee was forbidden from wearing spandex now, as the Hokage's bodyguard, he was forced to wear a dark blue uniform with strangely old-fashioned flashes of armour – metal at his elbows, guarding his shins, spreading over his shoulders… It meant he creaked when he walked and was restricted from doing his more outrageous stunts. Sakura privately believed the designer had had Lee's exuberance in mind when creating it.

Sakura jumped up and walked past Lee and Yuki's bonding session. She gently teased out the dead flowers from the plant, cutting the stems. "It's you, Naruto." She said quietly, as he came up behind her.

"What is?"

"You've been Hokage for what, six months? That's the change. He's come out of hiding because of you, for some reason."

She filled a glass with warm water and lightly sprinkled it in her plants' soil, careful to avoid spilling too much, not wanting to drown the poor things.

"I don't think it's me." Naruto said, shifting on the spot, looking oddly guilty as he peered around her, looking at her little forest curiously.

Sakura stiffened. She turned, putting the glass down to scowl at Naruto.

His guilty expression increased, "See, Sakura-chan, do you think I'd even be allowed to tell you any of this… if it didn't involve you?"

Her scowl hardened.

He winced, "Itachi's been here for two days… and all he'll say is, 'I want to talk to Haruno Sakura.'"

"No." Sakura snapped, storming past him.

One of the Anbu straightened up, clearly embarrassed, having just petted Yuki, who was content in Lee's arms.

Naruto said enthusiastically, "See! Ha, I knew you wouldn't want to talk to him! Good. I don't want him anywhere near you."

Sakura tapped the sofa arm, deep in thought.

Naruto gazed at her, reading the pained expression on her face.

"Anbu guys, can you clear off for a while? Uh… guard the… Hokage Tower…" He pointed out the door.

The Anbu squad didn't even hesitate, didn't seem to question the wisdom in Naruto's request, the leader merely said, "Right away, Hokage-sama."

They all vanished instantly, the last one hurriedly giving the cat one last stroke before disappearing along with his fellows.

Sakura puffed out her cheeks, pulling her hair up into a pony, securing it with a senbon. She was just so tired… She closed her eyes, putting her head in her hands.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, sounding concerned.

Lee's voice came from over her left shoulder, "Are you feeling well, Sakura-san?"

Yuki's meow sounded questioning, somehow.

"Do I have a choice, though?" She asked, looking up at her Hokage and best friend.

He looked appalled, "Sakura-chan, this is Uchiha Itachi! You don't just have a friendly chat with a mass-murderer!"

"How does he know who I am? Why does he want to speak to me?" Sakura said, musing, "It's not exactly something I can ignore."

"You hate him." Naruto said flatly.

"Of course," She replied sharply, "Do you think this is easy? I want him dead as much as you do. But what if he knows something about Sasuke?"

"What could he know?" Naruto said, exasperated.

"At the very least, he'll have answers about something important. Even if I don't get anywhere, it's important that I try, surely?"

"This isn't some stupid test, Sakura-chan, he's the bastard who killed Sasuke's parents!"

Sakura flinched. Lee looked at Naruto reproachfully.

"I know," She said quietly, "You're right."

There was a quiet knock at the door.

Lee sprang into action, hauling the door open to glare at the intruder like a human guard dog.

Three Anbu members barged past Lee, who let out an outraged, "Hey!" before realising who they were.

Neji pulled his bird mask to the side, his coldly perceptive eyes sweeping over Naruto and Sakura.

"Hokage-sama, it's been reported that you were wandering around the village without a guard." He said pointedly.

"I have my bodyguard, Lee," Naruto actually stuck his tongue out at Neji, whose mouth twitched in faint amusement, "I don't need a creepy Anbu squad. Er, no offence, you guys."

Neji rolled his eyes.

Tenten giggled, the sound hollow behind her mask, "None taken. Hey, Sakura."

Sakura waved absently, "Tenten."

The third member yawned loudly, "Ah… Can we speed this up?" Shikamaru drawled from behind his deer mask.

"Yes, that would be best…" Neji said, coming to stand in front of Sakura, who stared at him coolly, "Sakura-san, your presence has been requested by the Intelligence Division, you are required to attend, if you ignore the summons then you will be subject to –"

"Oh, and Ino said hi." Tenten interrupted Neji's increasingly more wooden speech, "She's tied up interrogating a few bandits, but when she heard we were heading to see you, she wanted to know if you were free tomorrow afternoon."

Sakura thought about it, "I shouldn't have a shift tomorrow, it's my day off. I might get called in, but I'll try to make time for her. Neji, I'm assuming this is about Uchiha Itachi, correct?"

"Correct, and as –"

"Naruto, do I have to go?" Sakura asked hopefully.

Naruto grinned, pretending to think about it, "Hmm… Nope! Neji, Sakura-chan is hereby forbidden from meeting with Uchiha Itachi. Permanently. Um, forever."

"He wants to talk about Sasuke." Neji said tonelessly.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances, hers cautious, his slightly hopeful.

"So he knows something…" Naruto breathed.

"Not necessarily," Shikamaru gave a languid shrug, "If the man really is a psychopath, it's much more likely he wants to taunt those who are closest to Sasuke, pretending to have information whilst digging the knife of his betrayal in further with taunts."

"I can see joining the Anbu's not put a dampener on your sunny personality, Shikamaru." Sakura said dryly.

Shikamaru yawned again and shook his head, "It's hanging out with Ino that does it. Always babbling about how criminals' minds work. She's getting creepy. Like a mini Anko."

"Excellent." Sakura rolled her eyes.

Naruto tapped his chin with one finger, eyes on the ceiling.

"Sakura-chan, can you speak with him please?" He worded it like a question, but Sakura knew his inner-Hokage had come out and it was more like a friendly order.

She felt the eyes of everyone in the room on her.

"If I have to." She said reluctantly.

Lee bounced on the spot, looking highly anxious, "Sakura-san, I don't think –"

"Don't worry, Lee." Neji said, his icy tones thawing into something that almost sounded comforting, "She won't be alone with him at any time and he'll have no way of hurting her."

"I'll be with her." Tenten sounded as though she was smiling, and, quick as a flash, she took a kunai out and started to toss it around, her clever fingers flinging it up and down without a slip, never coming close to dropping the weapon. It was an impressive display of technical skill, and it put Lee at ease.

Naruto was still scowling heavily, an expression Sakura never liked to see on his face.

"I'll do it." Sakura said firmly, "But I'm not a trained interrogator and I was never very good at verbal manipulation, so it's likely I won't get anything out of him."

"We just need him to cooperate at this stage," Neji said, "And for that, we have to give him what he wants."

"And what he wants is you." Shikamaru said vaguely. When he realised everyone was staring at him, he shook his head, "To talk to you," He corrected himself, "he's been very definite about his terms."

Sakura picked up her bag, struggling to get her shoes back on over her swollen, painful feet.

"Put the cat down, Lee." Neji said sternly.

Lee placed Yuki very gently on the ground and looked forlorn.

"Time to go," Tenten said, "Best not to keep His Highness waiting."

"He might massacre us all," Sakura said nastily, "I hear that's one of his bad habits."

"This will not end well." Naruto said glumly.

xxxxxxxx

"Haruno Sakura, requesting permission to enter the holding cell area." Tenten said pleasantly.

The woman at the desk gave Sakura a dubious look, staring at her pink hair.

"Who?" She asked, lip curling contemptuously.

Ouch.

"Former teammate of the Rokudaime and former assistant to the Godaime," Tenten said, her tone a little sharper, "Her presence has been requested by Morino-san."

Oh, Ibiki himself… Sakura felt oddly flattered.

The woman pursed her lips and ran a finger down the papers in front of her, eyes flicking over names and times.

"Haruno Sakura," She said eventually, "Appointment to see Uchiha Itachi, as per request of prisoner. Go through that door, and don't look in any of the other cells. A few of them dislike being watched."

She pointed her pen at a grey, smudged metal door, unremarkable save for the fact that the murderer of Sasuke's family was held within the walls enclosed beyond that door.

"Please remove all weapons, sharp objects, rope, string, blunt objects, heavy objects, high heels –" The woman droned on and on until Tenten waved a hand, indicating she wanted silence. The woman shut up immediately.

Sakura felt envious. She wished she had the ability to command respect with a hand gesture. Tenten shook her head when Sakura looked at her questioningly, wondering whether or not to comply with the woman's aborted orders.

She took a deep breath, her stomach fluttering unpleasantly.

Tenten gave her an encouraging smile, and gestured to let her go first.

She opened the door, her hand shaking. Beyond was a simple, clean corridor. It was plain beyond description, no identifying features or quirks to mark it as anything unique to any other corridor. Doors to cells filled every gap of the walls on either side of the two of them, each one grey and plain, a few scratched and dented.

She and Tenten made their way through the long corridor, heading for the door at the end. Sakura remembered the woman at the desk's advice and kept her eyes firmly on the door in front, avoiding looking into any cells, not wanting to cause a crisis or revolt, which would just be typical of her, really.

She was shaking, which was pathetic and stupid, she'd met killers before, she'd put down Sasori himself, who hadn't exactly been averse to a bit of mass murder at all.

But this was different.

This man was the reason Sasuke was an orphan. He had slowly, methodically, eradicated his entire family, in such a cold, premeditated way, that Sakura could not summon up even a shred of reasoning that could justify what he had done. He'd had no motive whatsoever. She had pored over files, records, reports, everything to do with the Uchiha massacre, and there hadn't been a thing to indicate why the clan's most talented prodigy would do what he did.

He was both the pride of the clan and the end of it.

And he wanted to talk to her.

How did he even know her? They'd met once – except no, that was some kind of jutsu, it hadn't been Itachi at all… So really, they had never even met.

He couldn't have heard of her. Even in Konoha she was simply known as the Hokage's teammate. She hadn't exactly made a name for herself as a chuunin or a nurse. So, how did he know her?

Ugh, it was useless obsessing over it. She'd just freak herself out and refuse to go in the room.

The door at the end of the corridor opened into a large room, pictures of wanted nin from the bingo book plastered on the walls, a few crossed out in red, some doodled on by bored employees. A few people had gathered and were talking in hushed voices.

Tenten bowed deeply when Morino Ibiki walked towards them slowly, his face looking oddly thoughtful.

His eyes landed on Sakura, "Finally," He said, his voice clipped, "Perhaps now he'll cooperate."

"Have you tortured him?" Sakura asked without thinking, blushing the moment she started speaking. Torture had always been something that hadn't quite sat right with her, her morals screamed out against it, but the shinobi part of her knew, deep down, that it was necessary.

Ibiki didn't seem offended, just shook his head, "I will let you in on a little secret, Sakura-san. Torture is only effective when used correctly. Most people will scream out anything they think you want to hear in order to stop the pain. You have to target a weakness, like a family member. A quiet threat against someone they care about, and they usually spill their guts. But Uchiha Itachi has no one. His only living relative wants him dead. He killed the rest. He has undoubtedly been trained to withstand torture, given that he would have learned how in this very building, back when he worked with us. Torture would not accomplish anything, only make him less likely to talk."

Sakura was not exactly used to people talking about torture so casually, nor with such an obvious wealth of knowledge behind their words, so Ibiki's speech was both horrifying and fascinating. The diligent student inside her wanted to take notes.

"Besides," Ibiki shrugged, "He surrendered. There must be something he wants. We won't find it with blades and acid. Words and…" He eyed her with a frown, "charm. That might do it. I've been told he responds well to good manners."

She realised then that she had not bothered changing out of her nurse's uniform, a tight white dress with a black apron tied around the waist, the hem barely covering her thighs. It seemed to cheer up the patients, at least. Sakura wondered how mass murderers typically responded to women clad in tight nurse's outfits. She had a stupid white hat on, for God's sake!

Right, charm. She could be charming. Probably.

Sakura nodded, feeling the blood drain from her face when he suddenly stepped aside and indicated a door to his left, nodding at her, "That is the interrogation room we moved him to this morning. Once you speak with him, if he cooperates, he'll go back to his cell."

Sakura took another deep breath, steeling herself, and began to walk to the door.

She heard Tenten's light tread behind her and took comfort in the knowledge that she would not be alone.

A man stepped forward and unlocked the door for them, smiling at Tenten in greeting.

Sakura tried to stop herself shaking.

Tenten opened the door and gestured for Sakura to step inside, "We'll be watching through here." She said kindly, pointing at a large two-way mirror set in the wall next to the door "He's restrained, don't worry."

Oh.

Great.

She was going in alone.

Suddenly irritated at her lack of backbone, she took two steps and was inside.

There was a long wooden table with two chairs on either side. The room was dark, she could barely see anything.

A man sat, restrained by chakra strings, the glow of chakra painting his face an eerie blue.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties. The brief glimpse Sakura caught of his face in the dark told her he greatly resembled Sasuke. His eyes were closed.

Sakura felt around the wall until she found a switch.

Light flooded the room, and the man's eyes opened.

"Ah," He said, his voice deep and pleasant, "Sakura-san, I presume?"

Sakura fought a shudder and slowly sank into the chair opposite him, keenly feeling the gaze of the others through the mirror.

It took almost a full minute to work up the courage to look him in the eye.

Kakashi had told her about his jutsu, the one that he used to torture his victims for days in their mind, but only seconds in real life. She knew she was being foolish, that there was no way he would be able to use his Sharingan after being apprehended by the authorities, and yet…

Her eyes met his abruptly, a quick connection of green and black, until she looked away just as quickly, her heart racing.

This was Uchiha Itachi sitting before her, smiling politely, waiting for her to speak.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her fists clenched at her sides. A memory swept over her, a vivid, clear recollection, of a day she had spoken with Sasuke.

"You cannot compare leaving a village to massacring your entire family," Sasuke had said sharply, his voice cold and hard, "I never wanted your love. I never encouraged any of you to get attached to me. I just wanted to get strong so I could kill him." The night had been dark and cold, his blade brushing against her throat with every word he spoke, the hand in her hair tight and painful.

She felt white-hot fury leap up within her like a snake provoked into attacking, she wanted to kill this man before her, the man who had caused Sasuke so much pain and yet could simply sit there, smiling and calling her Sakura-san like he had the right to be breathing at all, let alone speaking to her!

She opened her eyes and glared at him, her eyebrows drawn together sharply to the point of pain, her mouth a hard, angry line.

He looked coolly uninterested in her sudden anger, merely tilting his head as he gazed at her, his dark eyes both sealed, kanji written in his irises.

Her bloodlust leaked out as her control slipped, and his eyebrows flickered upwards slightly in mild surprise at the palpable feel of her hatred.

He smirked suddenly, slow and wicked, and she lost control completely.

She touched the table's edge and flipped it, so quickly she did not even realise what she had done until it smashed against the wall, breaking instantly under the force of her blow.

Itachi didn't even flinch, just continued to gaze into her eyes steadily, even as splinters of wood crashed all around him. But his smirk was gone.

"That," She breathed out, her voice harsh and furious, "was for Sasuke-kun."

His lips flickered up into an unreadable smile.

The door flew open and Tenten was on her before she could blink, yanking her hands behind her back, winding chakra string around her wrists tightly.

"Tenten, I didn't mean to –" Sakura tried to say quickly, but the older girl was pulling her from the room by her hands. She had no choice but to stumble backwards, her face red with shame and embarrassment.

Itachi watched her go with a faintly amused expression.

"How interesting," He said nonchalantly, just before Tenten hauled her outside, "You aren't at all how I expected you to be."

The door slammed shut and the enigmatic prisoner disappeared from view before Sakura could spit a reply.

Ibiki loomed over her, glaring angrily.

Damn it.

First impressions always count!

Methinks Sakura didn't do too well there.

Sakura has plants and a cat and is still a chuunin, aged twenty-one. Yes, she knows she's pathetic, please don't poke fun XD

The fact that the entire Interrogation Squad voted for sending in a random, untrained chuunin to talk to Itachi shows 1) how uncooperative he was being and 2) how scary many of them find him!

Wow, I was really not expecting the massive response I got for the first chapter! Kind of scary, yet awesome XD So many reviews!

The three anbu were Shikamaru, Neji and Tenten – Itachi mistakenly believed Neji was female XD

Sakura is not a happy bunny.

Angry!Sakura: ARGH, I SMASH TABLE!

Thrifty!Ibiki: NOOOOO, THAT WAS SOLID OAK, DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THAT WAS?

Can't really see Sakura just sitting down and having a nice chat with Itachi right away :)

First, she must smash things. Like a rite of passage.

Secondly, since this is five years after Shippuden, Sasuke has been AWOL for almost ten years.

Wow.

You can understand Sakura's rage at seeing the cause of his absence now, hopefully XD

Lee's outfit essentially makes him look like a medieval jock, with armour pads, yay! Thought it would suit him.

And yes, Naruto specifically chose Lee to be his bodyguard, out of every ninja in Konoha. Who says you need jutsu to be a strong, splendid ninja?

An anonymous reviewer said this:

Despite the fact that Masashi Kishimoto-san did seemed to forget about Sakura's awesomess and her epic growth, we need to remember that he was her creator people! Yes, he might make her vulnerable at times but if you notice Sakura is one of the most strongest female characters in the manga. Instead of complaining at why Kishimoto doesn't make her any more cooler or epic we should be thankful that he created such wonderful characters to portrait this one of a kind manga. I can't see anyone better who could of done such a great job. At least he chose Sakura to be Naruto's partner and to be just like she is, the person we came to admire a lot. Imagine if Kishimoto would of chosen someone else. I love how he has set up his story well. The manga is called NARUTO and not SAKURA, we need to remember that. Sasuke did change a lot but remember all the things he has gone through. He saw his own patents die by the hand of who he most admired! Imagine it from your point of view! Don't hate on him! _ Oh and in my opinion i love the manga. I can't wait to read more! Also nice story. Just pleased don't make Sakura so awesome that she suddenly turns Hokage! Trust me... i have seen stories like that... - shudders- But i love your story! Keep it up! As well as your other stories!

So here's my reply :)

I understand that Sakura isn't the main character, but I'm complaining about how she never wins the fights she is in, despite previously displaying a high level of skill she no longer seems to have. I just wish she could be the strong Sakura we were promised way back when, in the chuunin exams when she told Sasuke and Naruto to watch her back for once… I hate the way she is backing away from the Sasuke conflict, saying she'll rely on Naruto to sort it out, as though it had nothing to do with her because… well, there is nothing separating Sakura's relationship with Sasuke from his with Naruto, except for her gender and the fact that she loved him. So why should she leave it all to Naruto?

I only want Sakura to be the strong, confident badass she used to be. I'm not talking about suddenly whipping forbidden jutsus out of her arse and beating Madara to death with her little finger, I mean I want her to stop crying and start actually doing things for herself again, like standing up for herself and having a role in resolving the Sasuke conflict!

Ah, man, I feel really sorry for Sasuke and everything that happened to him, but he went through all that trauma and still cared about Team 7/Taka, I only hate the weird new bastard-Sasuke who merrily stabs his friends. I'm guessing he's brainwashed or something…

Thanks for your review, and don't worry, Sakura will definitely not suddenly get Kage-level strong XD

Wow, loooooooooong chapter. Sorry :S Should be a few surprises in the next one!

Quick poll for fun: If you could bring any Naruto character back from the dead permanently, who would it be? (This poll will naturally have spoilers)

A) Asuma

B) Minato

C) Itachi

D) Other! Let me know!