Hello, everyone! Due to financial craziness, I had to postpone my editor's first job and edit the chapter myself. Nevertheless, here it is! I hope I did well.

What Sakura did next was automatic. Her hands burned with fire she had conjured herself and overcame the flames burning the cherry blossom tree. The forces clashed and roared, engulfing the dark cavern in a hot orange light. Then, as quickly as they had come, they vanished into nothing. All that remained was a circle of ash.

Sakura trembled and looked at her hands. Her skin was black and peeling. What took her back the most was that she didn't notice it was happening. She was so intent on putting out the force that she didn't feel her own flames trying to consume her.

"You can fight fire with fire, Sakura," Kakashi told her once, "but in the end, there are no survivors."

Sakura gritted her teeth. She had never summoned fire her whole life. It was what separated her from the Uchihas, what made her different from the monsters that ruined her life. But now that she utilized their weapon, they weren't so different anymore.

"Is this..."

She trembled.

"...what you wanted? To push me until I become the monster you and your clan made me to be?"

Itachi could only stare at her, speechless. He watched the skin of her hands chip and fall to the ground.

"Well, it's not going to work."

Green light enveloped the injuries. The wounds turned into scars, and the scars turned into a new layer of skin. Itachi didn't understand what he did and what happened after but understood one thing. That cherry blossom tree meant a lot to Sakura, and like his clan did to her loved ones, he burned it down in front of her.

"You can take away everything I have," she hissed, "but I will never ever be like you."

Itachi struggled to stand up, but it was no use. He couldn't stop shaking, even when he was no longer cold. Sakura had a look in her eyes that he recognized on his brother when he broke a promise. But it was worse on Sakura. Sasuke refused to face him. Sakura, on the other hand, looked right at him, like she was seeing him for what he really was.

"Sak—"

"Don't," Sakura shook her head. "Just...please. Leave me alone. I never want to see you again."

Itachi reached out, but Sakura dissolved into a flurry of petals. She rose to the moon and flew away, leaving him with the ashes of his deeds.

~.~

Konoha wasn't active at six o'clock in the morning, but it was alive. A number of restaurants and shops have opened for business. Potential customers ambled the streets for their morning walks as farmers and fishers passed by to deliver produce to the market. Yesterday's storm left behind dark clouds that could pour at any minute. Daylight occasionally broke through the setting, but people wore protective clothing, just in case.

Sakura didn't know she was sleeping until a beam of sunlight reached her room. She was amazed she slept at all, considering the endless time she spent staring into space. She spent twenty years as a civilian doctor adopted by the smartest, strongest, and most inspirational man she had ever known (second to her biological father). Now she was a monster that took three lives and wielded the element of her enemies. What would her parents and step-father think of her? What did she think of herself?

She sat up from her bed and looked at her hands. They didn't look burned but didn't look like they were her own either. Perhaps they had been cut off and replaced with someone else's. Or maybe, Sakura laughed to herself, someone burned them off and replaced them with another's. Wonder who was responsible for that?

Her head cocked when she heard a knock from downstairs. Was it Itachi? Did he have the nerve to return to her house? As bitter as it sounded in her head, she wished she didn't save his life. Leaving behind one of the most dangerous assassins to die would've been the only good deed she could've accomplished.

She swung her legs off the bed and spread her arms to steady herself. Her bare feet tread through rug and wood, making the stairs creak as she descended them. She didn't know what to say to Itachi but knew the words wouldn't be kind. She would most likely yell and curse at him, maybe enough to cause a scene and embarrass him into leaving. Reveal his identity too? Maybe there was a bounty on his head.

Sakura stopped herself there as she stood by the door. What were these horrible thoughts and where did they come from? Did Itachi and his clan succeed? Did they really turn her into a monster?

Sakura opened the door and stopped worrying. Itachi wasn't on the other side. The officer that interrogated her was.

"Good morning, Ms. Hatake," he greeted. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Sakura blinked. "Oh, umm," she stepped aside to create a path. "Go ahead."

The officer gave her another bow and entered. He surveyed the large but almost empty living room before taking a seat on a couch. "We found the bodies of the suspects."

Sakura almost tripped before seating herself. "O-Oh?"

"They matched the profiles we had our sketch artist draw out. Here," the officer opened the folder she didn't notice him carrying. "You can confirm it for us."

Sakura had accepted the folder before her entire body froze. Even as sketches, the murderers made her shiver. "Y-Yes," she managed to say, "that's them."

She shut and almost desperately returned the folder. The officer gave her a sympathetic frown before hiding the file.

"We found them in a crevice filled with the waters of a nearby lake," he continued. "There was a minor earthquake yesterday. We infer that the earth swallowed them while they traveled."

Sakura's expression was hard to decipher. When she didn't say anything, the officer sat up straight.

"We are still looking for your father," he went on. "The search squad that found the suspects left to continue searching for Mr. Hatake. We will alert you when we find anything significant, but feel free to stop by the station to follow up on the search."

"Thank you," Sakura acknowledged.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"Alright," the officer eyed her as he stood up. "I will be on my way."

Sakura stood as well and walked him to the door. She felt his eyes scrutinizing her but continued to avoid eye contact. He was becoming suspicious of her, she sensed. But who cared? She hid the truth from him and everyone else from the very beginning. Now that she had nothing to lose, how else could it hurt her?

She bid a quiet goodbye before closing the door. Her hand lingered at the doorknob as she wondered when she too would exit her house. She supposed she could visit the clinic; but, no. She didn't want to see the damage. She didn't want to see anything.

"There's no point anymore, is there?"

Sakura froze as a voice cooed into her ear.

"You lived a lie to protect everyone and everything you stood for," it continued. "You could always love again but for what? For the truth to take them away again?"

Tears welled in Sakura's eyes.

"You're alone, Sakura, and you always will be. Just accept your fate. It's not like you have a reason to be alive in the first place."

Sakura flinched when a couple hits shook the door. The officer might have forgotten something, she guessed as she opened it. Even if he was already on his way out, her body language wasn't allowing him to take his time.

Now it didn't allow her to move. Though Itachi didn't mean to come off intimidating, his height made him a towering figure.

Sakura stepped back.

"I know you sent me away, and I'm sorry for breaking your wishes," he apologized. Remorse was deep in his voice, but so was a conviction. "I just...want to show you something. After that, you will never see me again."

Sakura didn't know what to say. She wanted to follow through with her plan, though acting it out might not work considering she was still appalled by it; but his last sentence got to her. He was vowing to leave for good. How much had she suffered since the Uchihas came back into her life? Her life was a mess, but what if it was because an Uchiha was still here?

Sakura didn't give him the satisfaction of a verbal answer. She did, however, spot a glint of hope in his eyes when she nodded him to lead the way.

~.~

Itachi seemed to have recovered the boat and oars, for they sailed the familiar tunnel leading to her secret island. The last place Sakura expected to go to was her hideout. The last thing she expected to see was a sapling where her tree used to be.

"I had to seek advice from a farmer," Itachi told her. "Nevertheless, it will grow into a beautiful tree. Just like the one before it."

Sakura clenched a fist. "Why...did you do this?"

"To apologize," he answered. "The cherry blossom tree meant a lot to you, and I burned it down. I'm sorry."

The soil of the sapling was fresh and watered. Sunlight beamed onto the plant, showering it with the light it needed to grow.

"You...are a sick person."

Itachi stiffened.

"Is this how you kill your targets?" Sakura demanded. "Mentally torture them until they WANT you to kill them?"

Itachi gaped. "I'm not trying to torture you."

"Oh, so are you saying you actually feel bad for me?" Sakura suggested. "That you feel any remorse for what you and your clan did to me and my family? Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"No," Itachi shook his head. "You are mistaken."

"I just lost everything I have again!" Sakura screamed. "Killing me as soon as you found me would've been easy but no, you didn't do it! Why? Because you had to punish me for surviving the massacre and maybe hurting your brother! Well, at least he's still alive! And when you come home, you have him and a whole civilization to call you a hero! What do I have? This stupid plant?"

She marched to the sapling and stomped on it. Its thin bark, as well as the stick it holding up, shattered as she smashed them repeatedly. Only when she grew tired did she finally absorb the consequences of her actions. The sapling, an innocent being that meant no harm, was dead. Its young and small petals were beaten and stained on the ground.

"No," Sakura croaked. She fell to the land and shrieked. "No!" Did she take a life again? What was happening to her?

She hid her face in her hands as Itachi approached her. She didn't know what he looked like when he knelt down. She didn't know what to do. She was afraid to do anything.

"I understand if you don't believe me, much less trust me," Itachi said, "but I really am sorry for burning down the tree. I acted rashly and thought that replacing it might make amends. I understand now that it won't."

Sakura said nothing.

"I can't possibly understand the pain you're going through," Itachi went on. "As much as it pains me to admit it, you are right. Not only do I have family and comrades, we ensure that other people lose theirs. We spread fear so we can live in what we define as peace. We're not heroes; we're monsters."

Sakura lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks were slick with tears. She wasn't sure if he was sincere but decided his words were true. She was confident of one thing; that was a start.

"You were aware of my identity and the deeds I had done, yet you saw good in me," Itachi continued. "But when I saw the way you looked at me earlier, I knew I had disappointed you. I couldn't take it. You lost faith in me, just like I did with myself a long time ago. Maybe that was why I accompanied you for so long, why I couldn't let you die nor depart from me. I needed you to believe that I can be better because maybe then... I actually can be."

Sakura took a moment to process his words. Then, when she analyzed them the best she could, asked, "B-But why me? Why do you need me to believe in you?"

"Because you are the very definition of good," he answered. "Everything had been taken away from you, but you would rather die than succumb to bitterness and revenge. You see the good in others because you see the good in yourself. Just knowing you alone had inspired me to do the same. I won't give up until I'm better." He turned to his left, where the broken tree laid. "Even if I fail a few times."

Sakura turned to it as well and cupped her mouth. If what he was saying was true, then not only did he believe she was good, he aspired to do the same with others. Wasn't this what she always wanted? To live the day someone put aside violence for peace?

She stared at Itachi, who stared back. He was paler than usual. His skin was swollen around his eyes and mouth, and his hair was damp and disheveled. She was noting how his clothes were equally wet when she spotted a color outside of his black and white pallet. Red, and it was trickling into the soil.

"You're bleeding."

Itachi followed her gaze to his left arm. He let her pull back his sleeve, which revealed a gash cascading with blood.

"Your stitches opened up," she gasped. "But how?"

Itachi slyly smiled to himself. He must've overexerted himself preparing for the sapling's growth. Sakura deduced this as well and returned to his arm.

"Here," she lifted her hand, "let me heal it."

Itachi flinched when her light ghosted his skin. The force felt like tiny kisses healing him from the cellular level. He watched his wound close to a scar. Then, before he could thank her, fade into new skin.

"Amazing," he breathed out.

Sakura rested her hand on his arm. "Thank you."

"No."

She froze when he took hold of her fingers.

"Thank you," Itachi smiled.

Shivers racked through Sakura's body, concerning him. Then, before he could prepare for it, she launched herself into his arms. Her hair tickled his jaw while her tears soaked his collar.

Itachi remembered a similar situation—when he stopped her from leaping into the precipice. She fought against him at first, like she did today, but when he proved that he supported her by refusing to let go, she held him as tightly as she could.

Maybe this was the good he needed to be better, Itachi returned her embrace. He was tired of pushing people to the edge. For once, he wanted to pull them back and give them a reason to hang on. And who better to do that with than with Sakura, who no longer had anything to hold on to?

Itachi shut his eyes and listened to her whimper.