"We have come here to let you go," Fugaku said sternly.

Sakura scoffed and chuckled a little. "Let me go?" She then stopped smiling as she realized that now wasn't the time to joke around.

Mikoto took Sakura's hands into hers. "We...have been quite some unfair adults, haven't we?" She then looked at Itachi sadly before looking at her hands that were mingled with Sakura's. "You need to leave this place. You, Sasuke, and that boy Naruto."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What?" He then looked at Fugaku. "Father? We're not ready, we don't have any clothes, any money—"

"I'm sure...that your uncle is plotting against me."

"Madara?"

"Itachi has been keeping tabs on him for me."

Sasuke then looked at Itachi. "Itachi?"

Itachi closed his eyes and looked at Sakura, who was only ignorant to the family matter.

"Why is this happening all of a sudden?" he muttered.

"To be honest, Madara was my advisor before all this. I never mentioned the peace treaty and the marriage treatment to him. Honestly, I tried to rush it because I wanted to make sure that all the arrangements were finished before he came home."

Mikoto then let go of Sakura's hand and wrapped her around Fugaku's tightly. "Somehow...he found out and came back here. Now he's plotting against us."

Sakura furrowed her brows angrily. "But you're brothers! How can he betray you like that?"

Sasuke momentarily glanced at Itachi, having the feeling that Itachi knew that this was going to happen.

"He's my adoptive brother, actually. When I was 10, my uncle died in the war and my aunt...well...she ran off somewhere and left her sons alone. Those sons were Madara and his real brother, Izuna, but he had also died in a war."

Sakura's mouth slowly but slightly opened in astonishment. "That explains a lot things then..."

"Yes. He's lost three very important people to him and he blames your people."

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "To blame this generation and to let us suffer for his sorrows is not the way to go."

Mikoto sighed. "It's what's made him so dangerous up to this point. The military greatly respect him."

"Why a man like Madara?"

"He's a great general and he's saved the lives of many of his soldiers."

Fugaku sighed heavily and grabbed Sasuke's shoulders.

"We don't have much time."

"I'm not leaving you two!"

"You have to, son, or you can goodbye to a peaceful future between our countries."

Sasuke bit his lip and shook his head. "That's not fair, dad. I don't want to leave you and mother behind."

"I'll be staying behind," Itachi said firmly.

Mikoto nodded. "If he stays, Madara won't become suspicious."

Sakura raised a suspicious brow. "What's Itachi got to do with all this?"

"Not right now, Sakura-sama," Itachi said. "You all need to leave."

Fugaku crossed his arms. "Go to the stables quickly. That's your only ticket out of here."

"Naruto's coming along too right?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto huh. I can tell that he's someone who'd risk his life for you."

Sasuke nodded and then walked over to the door, opening it slowly only to find Naruto waiting outside. "Come in."

Naruto put on a confused expression. "Am I allowed?"

Sasuke nodded and Naruto grinned, but then glanced behind himself.

"You know, I saw a lot of solders running all over the place earlier. Looks serious, but I haven't gotten any orders yet."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he pulled Naruto inside and looked at everyone. "Madara's making his move."

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other then at Sasuke.

"It's time. You all need to go."

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose tightly.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Seems that there's no time to explain," Sakura said, looking at Sasuke's parents who put on a grateful expression for avoiding the topic. She then looked at Itachi. "I don't know what you were doing, but it looks like you did good things."

"Sakura-sama..."

"No need for the honorifics." She then glanced at Sasuke's clothes and then looked down at her own. "It's going to be tough getting outta here. Sasuke and I don't exactly look like normal citizens...I'm going to change." Sakura went inside her walk-in closet and changed immediately.

Naruto groaned. "So no one's going to tell me what's going on...AGAIN."

Sasuke looked down at his clothes. "Well, it's not like I have any clothes at my disposal right now."

Itachi looked at Sasuke then walked over to his dresser. "Sasuke, I have some that might fit you."

Itachi rummaged through his own clothes from the dresser next to Sakura's and gave some to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at the clothes then at his parents. "I can't believe this is happening right now."

"It's our fault," Fugaku sighed. Sasuke kept his gaze on him before moving away and changing.

"How are we going to get past those guards though?" Sakura asked, as she finished dressing herself.

"You won't," Itachi said. He opened the window and then grabbed a thick long rope from under the bed. Thick enough to hold a person's weight up.

Sakura raised her eyebrows in shock. "How long has that been there?"

Itachi didn't answer and finished anchoring the rope as Sasuke scoffed. "You know this was going to happen, didn't you?"

Once again, Itachi ignored all the questions. "One at a time. Hurry. You go first, Naruto. Hit the stables and get two horses. If you get one for all three of you, it'll take too much time. Take the back way. Make sure no one sees you. Madara won't be expecting that you'll be going this way, but just be safe."

Naruto nodded and propped himself around the rope as Itachi put on a glove to prevent rope burns on his dominant hand.

Sakura looked at Itachi as he helped Naruto down the rope.

"You're really staying behind, Itachi?"

Itachi sighed. "Yes, I'm staying behind. You're up, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded and then glanced at Sakura. "You're following right after me, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

"Mm."

Sasuke looked at his parents and his gut started twisting into uncomfortable knots. "When will I see you again?"

"Come on," Itachi said, quickly propping Sasuke on the rope. "No time for small talk."

Sasuke sighed quietly to himself and Mikoto went over to him, kissing him on his forehead. "Be safe."

Sasuke gulped, nodding obediently. He then looked at his father as he sat on the edge of the window. Fugaku nodded to him in assurance. "Goodbye, son."

Sasuke furrowed his brows. "Goodbye?" Itachi quickly pushed Sasuke gently off the edge of the window and Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"Itachi, be careful!" She looked over the window and watched as Sasuke slid down the rope carefully with an annoyed expression.

"You're up," Itachi told her. She nodded and glanced at Mikoto and Fugaku.

Mikoto reached into the pocket of her dress and handed Sakura a heavy purse. "There's some gold in there, just in case."

"Thank you," Sakura said, staring at the pouch. "I wish...that I had gotten to know you better."

They both smiled at her. "Take good care of Sasuke for us."

Sakura huffed slightly. "Will do." Itachi then went over to her and faced her as he started propping the rope around her. She kept his eyes on him as he looked up at her when finished.

"Ready, your highness?"

"If you promise me that you'll see me again."

Itachi chuckled to himself. "Take good care of Sasuke like they said. When you get down, make sure you pull the rest of this rope along. They can't know that you escaped through the window."

She stared deeply into his eyes. "I don't think I've told you this yet but I've told Sasuke...you have the same eyes."

Itachi didn't answer and Sakura gulped, quickly hugging Itachi. "I better see you again."

Itachi smiled and she quickly jumped out. Naruto already brought the two horses and was waiting with Sasuke at the bottom.

Naruto mounted his horse, ready to go. Sasuke was waiting beside the other horse for Sakura.

"How are we going to get past the entrance gates?" Sakura asked, landing her feet on the ground. She then tugged on the rope until Itachi loosened the rope from the foot of her bed. At that, the rope came falling down. Sakura threw the rope in one of the bushes and concealed it.

Naruto held onto the reins and cleared his throat. "Weeeell, the entrance gate isn't the only way in and out of the palace grounds. There's another exit actually, makes it easier for the king and queen to go in and out of the palace as they please without anyone noticing. No one knows it but the royal family and handpicked security detail. Once I lead us out of here, you're leading the way to Linshore, Sakura" Naruto said. He then looked at Sasuke and Sakura up and down. "At least you two look normal. It won't look too suspicious."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. "Sasuke?"

He flinched out of his daze. "What?"

"You okay?"

Sasuke nodded.

"I'll drive the horse."

Sasuke scoffed, "Seriously?"

"You're not in the right state of mind right now."

"I'd rather get my own horse."

Naruto sighed. "That would attract too much attention. We're lucky that this side of the palace has trees to camouflage us but once we keep going further out, we'll be out in the open meaning once we're out there, there'll be no going back. Once we're out of the palace grounds, we're on our own."

Sasuke nodded and Sakura helped herself onto the saddle of the horse as Sasuke sighed in annoyance.

Sakura looked down at him. "You coming?"

He heaved another deep sigh and mounting on the horse, sitting behind her.

"This is going to be hard," he said quietly.

"Yeah, but it'll make do for now. We'll try to find another horse later on," Naruto said.

Sakura looked at the mane of the horse and brushed through it. "This is going to be one tough ride."

In Sakura's old room, Mikoto and Fugaku sighed in relief. "Thank you, Itachi," Mikoto said. "You've been so kind to us even after everything..."

Itachi slid his hands down his face and glanced at the windowsill. He then looked at his parents sadly.

"Father...I don't...I can't..."

Fugaku grabbed the sides of Itachi's head, surprising him, and placed his forehead against his. "You have to do it or it'll be the three of us going down. You need to stay alive."

Mikoto placed a hand on Itachi's cheek. "You are such a kind son. Thank you for protecting Sasuke. I'm proud to have been your mother."

Itachi placed a hand over hers and she backed up and dropped to her knees. Fugaku followed and did the same.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.

"Princess Sakura. Princess Sakura. Please open the door."

"I can't...this is too cruel..." Itachi said quietly.

The pounding on the door got even louder.

"You don't have to look, son." Fugaku muttered.

Itachi walked behind the both of them. His eyes slowly filled with tears as he pulled his gun out slowly.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Thank you," Fugaku said. "This best be worth it. We'll be watching from above."

Mikoto nodded before closing her eyes. "At least this death will be a quick and painless one. We love you, son."

On the grounds, Sakura and the rest of the group already started galloping away on the side of the palace.

BANG! BANG!

The three of them gasped at the slightly muffled noise they turned their heads towards the palace.

"Oh my God..." Sakura muttered.

Sasuke raised his eyes and he kept his eyes behind him. "What the hell was that?"

Naruto gulped and looked at Sakura who also looked at him. It was time to book it out of there. "We have to go."

Sasuke started shaking his head, his face turned white. "No no no, what the hell was that?"

Sakura held onto the reins tightly and lightly kicked the sides of the horse. "Come on!"

Naruto followed suit and the both of them raced off on their horses.

"No! What are you doing?!" Sasuke snapped. "Stop moving or else I'm going to jump off!"

Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to sound louder than the pounding hooves against the ground. "If you jump off, you're going to end up wobbling your way back to palace. Follow your parents' orders. We are not stopping!"

Sasuke clicked his tongue and instinctively buried his face into Sakura's back, lightly tightening his grip around her waist. "Fuck!"

Sakura then felt dampness on her upper back and gripped onto the reins even tighter as anguish swept across their faces.