Two shots rang out across the palace. The guards outside looked at each other in a panic as they tried to break the door down one more time.

"What was that?!" asked Madara, running towards the commotion and accompanied by Obito. He saw the expressions on the guard's faces as they tried to push through and he looked ahead in confusion. Some of the maids who were around also looked just as panicked.

"This is very strange," Obito said. "You think Itachi killed her?"

Madara clicked his tongue. "That wasn't part of the plan...and I don't think he'd do something like that."

Other major commanders and officials also arrived at the scene. Madara slid his hands down his face in frustration as he saw them. Despite his greatly respected reputation around the military, some of them were against his point of view and took sides with the king. Whatever was going to be behind this door would be a pain in the ass to explain.

When the door finally broke down, the guards rushed in but stopped in their tracks in shock. They saw their ruler and his wife face down on the floor, lifeless, with blood pooled around their upper bodies with gunshots evident on the back of the heads. Madara covered his mouth with his hand and then it slid down onto his hip.

"Damn!" he said angrily. He then looked around and noticed that Sakura was nowhere in sight. "Princess Sakura is gone. Find her and bring her to me alive. We need to know what happened here!"

The guards nodded in unison and they dispersed.

"Oh no...King Fugaku...Lady Mikoto," said one of the officials, looking at the bodies with great sadness.

"Please, give me some time to look over my brother's body," Madara said.

"We understand," said a commander, leaving.

He looked at the rest of the officials and commanders as they slowly started trickling away. Some of the men who were there that were a part of his coup, looked just as panicked and confused but Madara couldn't risk talking about the plan with everyone else around.

Madara kneeled over their bodies and Obito closed the door before walking over to Madara. "This makes things a lot easier for us, doesn't it?"

Madara angrily stomped his hands onto the floor. "No! This doesn't! My only voice for the people is gone. The people of Ferravea favor Fugaku over me. I know many of them are against my military ways and have taken a liking to that damn princess who was my only leverage against Linshore and now even she is gone."

Obito watched as Madara stood up and looked over at the bodies again. He then glanced at the open window.

"She must have escaped through there. The guards won't find her in the palace. Ugh, Obito, cover the bodies." He then paused and looked around the room. "Itachi. Where is Itachi?"

Obito shrugged. "He was supposed to be here with Princess Sakura wasn't he? Maybe he escaped as well."

Madara ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it, something must have happened."

"Nothing happened."

Madara and Obito followed the voice and found Itachi at the doorway.

"You," Madara growled, walking up to him in a threatening manner. "What the hell happened here, huh?! You were supposed to be in here!"

"I know. I didn't make it in time because my father wanted to see me. I went to his office but he was gone. I think that he was trying to help Sakura escape."

Madara crossed his arms. "Damn it. That guy was having a change of heart at the last minute and actually bothered to ask you to meet him. Didn't think he was that stubborn!"

Itachi glanced at the covered bodies of his parents and looked away, trying to hide the painful expression on his face.

Obito looked at the bodies then at Madara. "What if you pin their deaths on Sakura? It's perfect. You could assess that she shot them and escaped."

"That won't ever work. The king and queen spoke highly of her and so do our people. Even I know princess Sakura doesn't have the ability to kill in cold blood. We can't pin this on her. We have to come up with a completely different strategy now. If worse comes to worse, they might pin the deaths on me since I have most to gain from their deaths...but fuck, we need to hurry it up. I need to think."

He started pacing around the room. With the king and queen, the next heir would be Sasuke.

"We have to find Sasuke," Madara said. "Go to my quarters, Itachi. Keep yourself hidden. It'd be too suspicious if they find out that the princess's guard is still here. I'll let you know what the next step is."

Itachi nodded and hurried away as Madara waited for news on Sasuke.

Two hours have gone by and still no sight of Sasuke, Sakura, or Naruto. A brief meeting was proposed to discuss what had just happened. However, a verbal war rung out between those loyal to the king and those loyal to Madara.

"You can't blame Madara for this! For all you know, princess Sakura could have done it!"

"This is all too coincidental! He returns and then the king and his wife are dead not long after."

"But King Fugaku and General Madara were like brothers!"

"Ha! So you say. I say Madara ordered a hit on the king and his wife and then targeted prince Sasuke because he was next in line to the throne. It explains why he's also gone missing!"

"That's ridiculous! Where's your proof?!"

"Where's your proof that princess Sakura did it then?!"

Madara, enraged at the accusations and the yelling, stood up abruptly, making the room fall silent.

"Say all you want. Fact of the matter is, the king is dead and so is the queen. We must mourn them properly and then proceed with the search of the prince, his wife, and their bodyguards."

He then looked around the table as some of them shot glares at him.

"Now, some of you may hold something against me but it doesn't change the fact that I indeed next in line to the throne after Sasuke being Fugaku's adoptive brother. You can voice your protests against it to me later, but what needs to be done needs to be done right now. This meeting is now dismissed."

Murmurs and uneasiness filled the room as everyone left the room, leaving Madara and Obito behind. Madara slumped back into the chair.

"What shall be our next course of action?" Obito asked.

"We need a meeting with the coup. Contact them. We need to start plan B."

With these events, there was a great delay in Madara's plans. A grand funeral had to be held, the deaths of the king and the queen had to be investigated, and the search for Sasuke and his group was yet to begin."

With a couple hours head start, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto set up camp for the night. The three were silent for a good while and no one had spoken since they left the palace and after hearing the sounds of the gunshots. Around the firepit, Naruto made, he lazily poked around the kindle and occasionally glanced at Sasuke and Sakura who were both sitting together on the other side of the pit.

Finally breaking the silence, Sakura looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke...listen...about earlier"

"Not now, Sakura. Please."

"...If you want to talk...I just wanted you to know that I'm here. I'm still your wife."

Sasuke looked at her and rubbed his forehead before letting out a scoff. "Don't be serious. That peace arrangement is as good as gone."

Sakura furrowed her brows at him. "Dude, you don't know that yet."

Sasuke stood up, frustrated. "Isn't it obvious though?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I felt it, Sakura. It was like...this feeling...I had. Like a part of me had been ripped away."

Sakura bit her lip as he continued pacing back and forth. "Sasuke...I'm sorry-"

"You should have stopped when we were back there! We all know those shots came from your room and mind you, two gunshots."

"If I had stopped, you would've done something stupid and everything your parents did for us would have been for nothing!"

"You know, for all we know, Itachi could have been the one who fired those shots. He was suspicious from the beginning!"

"You don't know that!"

"How are you still defending him at a time like this?!"

"I've known him since I was eight, Sasuke! I trust him with my life and it looked like your parents did too! I don't know why and it doesn't make sense to me yet, but he's a good man. Your parents knew that too."

Sasuke shook his head. "That's ironic. You don't know a damn thing."

"Then what do you know? Why has he been acting so strange?"

Sasuke stopped pacing and looked at her. "Seriously, what is it with you and him?"

Sakura looked at the ground. "It's not what you think. He's just someone I really respect and owe a great debt to. He's saved my ass on multiple occasions.

"Right," Sasuke scoffed.

"Talking about this is besides the point! What do you know about him? Is there something I don't know?"

"I'll tell you when the time is right. I don't think you're ready to find out."

Sakura groaned. "I can take a few hits."

"I just don't want to talk about it right now."

"...Whatever, I'll get it out of you someday."

"...I think you're denying yourself," he said quietly.

"What?"

"About Itachi."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Look. I'm serious. There's nothing there anymore. He's just someone I really care about and I owe him a lot...I'll admit, I may have liked him at some point, but it's not like that anymore."

Sasuke looked at the ground after she admitted her old feelings for Itachi. "I see."

She looked at him as he sat back down, burying his hands in his hair. Throughout all the madness, Sasuke had lost the energy and the will to do anything.

Naruto, who felt the tension from the other side yelled at them. "You two should rest. We'll head out in the morning. I only managed to get one bedroll because I couldn't find other ones. It'll only be a matter of time before they realize we aren't in the palace. They'll come looking for us."

Sakura looked at the defeated Sasuke and got up, walking over to her horse and taking the bedroll that was strapped to its side. She then went to Sasuke, handing the bedroll over to him. Sasuke just looked at it then at her.

"You should get some sleep...you've been through a lot...and I'm sorry I can't really do much for you. this is all I can do for now, I guess."

He looked at the bedroll again and then raised his hands towards it, only to hold her arm. She looked at him, confused, and he pulled her towards him, catching her by surprise causing her to let go of the bedroll. He hugged her tightly and she sighed to herself, returning the painful hug.

"Yo. What's going on?"

"Fuck. Here you go again. Getting all unnecessarily nice on me."

"Like I said, you've been through a lot."

After Sakura had said that, images of Itachi and his parents flooded into his brain. "...Yeah. I'm really fed up and tired."

"That's why you need to sleep," she chuckled, pulling away from him.

"Thank goodness I have a caring wife, huh?"

Sakura smirked. "I thought you said the agreement was done for?"

"We don't know that yet."

She smiled and stood up, picking up the bedroll and laying it out for Sasuke. He watched her as finished and back down onto the ground.

"All yours," she said proudly.

"I don't think I can sleep at a time like this."

"You need it. You'll need all of your energy tomorrow."

"You need sleep too, don't you? And...a woman shouldn't be sleeping on the dirty ground," he said.

"There's just one bedroll."

"Just sleep next to me."

Sakura scoffed with a light chuckle. "Don't push it."

"I'm serious. We can both fit. You need to drive the horse anyways, don't you? You need proper rest."

She rolled her eyes. "We can switch this time. You drive."

He crawled over to the bedroll and laid on it. He then patted the side next to him. "Just for tonight? I don't think I'll be able to sleep properly."

Sakura sighed. She didn't know what to do with him but he's already been though enough. She didn't want to make him feel any worse. Quietly, she crawled onto the bedroll next to him.

"Just for tonight. I owe you some...you've saved my ass a couple of times before."

Sasuke nodded, laid on his side and rested his head on his arm as she lied next to him, feeling slightly awkward.

"This is weird..." he said quietly.

"You wanted this," she said in an annoying tone, flicking his forehead.

"Well this is what married couples do."

"Yeah, couples who love each other."

"So, you don't love me?" Sasuke teased.

"I don't even like you," she grumbled quietly.

Sasuke chuckled and closed his eyes. She watched as his breaths slowed to a relaxed pace. His facial features and just everything about his physical traits reminded her of Itachi yet again. Whatever that feeling was, she knew it was related to everything going on right now.

"You know, I can feel you staring at me," Sasuke said huskily, eyes still closed.

"Well, you must be dreaming."

"You know...thanks, Sakura. I probably would have regretted going back there if you hadn't kept going the way you did earlier."

"Yeah...just sleep."

He nodded and turned his back to her. "Might make you more comfortable if I slept this way."

Sakura smiled to herself and also turned her back towards him. "Thanks."

"...Yeah. Goodnight."

"...Goodnight. I'm sorry about today and for arguing with you earlier." Sakura grabbed her chest as her heartbeat pounded heavily against her chest with Sasuke next to him. Maybe it was because she hasn't slept next to a guy like this before.

"Yeah...me too." Sasuke then sighed to himself and glanced behind him before looking back ahead and at the ground, thinking if he could actually sleep with her so close to him.

Hullo. Something a little lightening after the dark chapters recently, yeah? Huhu, I suck at chapter names (Lol, bedroll? What kinda chapter name...pls forgive me wahah)

RIP Sasuke's parents.

ALSO, HAVE YOU GUYS READ NARUTO GAIDEN YET? The next chapter should be hella crazy. Anyways, have a good weekend guys!