(A\N: Ok…I know some people are a little confused as to why I am having Tobi as Obito since in the manga he says he is Madara—well, there are several reasons: one, I am a die-hard believer in the Tobi-Obito theory; two, in the manga he says he has the POWER of Madara, not that he is him; and three…I am actually mixing this theory in with the other one. So yes, Madara will be making an appearance to all of you fans of an evil Tobi. :D Ok, enjoy.)

Chapter 19

Casualties of War

"No, no, noooo…" Tobi fell to his knees, still clutching his head. "Tobi is—am I Tobi?—a good boy, Tobi is a good boy."

"Tobi!" They hadn't even noticed her appearance, as Sakura knelt next to the other Akatsuki member. He was going into spasms as she held him, jerking violently as he sobbed, mumbling incoherently.

"…Obito…" Kakashi continued to stare, his legs going out from under him. His vision was still blurring. He'd pass out from blood loss soon, he knew that much. NO! I have to stay awake…to see Obito…

But his body didn't obey him, and he felt himself slump forward in unconsciousness.

Obito...

Ino grabbed Kakashi as he fell, noting his injuries as she quickly healed him up as much as she could. They'd need to get him to the hospital to be completely healed, but she made sure he wasn't in any immediate danger as she turned to look at Sakura and the other Akatsuki member.

"Tobi, what's wrong?"

"I can't remember anything."

Sakura blinked, staring down at the sobbing man in her arms. Did Tobi just speak about himself in the first person? "Tobi—"

"My name isn't Tobi!" Tobi yelled, still clutching his head as tears leaking from his one eye. "My name is Obito! OBITO—Ahhh!" He began writhing in pain once more. "T-t-tobi…"

"It's alright Tobi, it's alright." Sakura soothed, petting his head. She laced chakra into her fingers, and when they touched his scalp they assessed his mind for damage. It was working on overdrive, and Sakura wondered if this was what Tobi had meant when he said he didn't ever want to remember his old life. It was physically painful, as if his mind was trying to force itself not to remember. It was sending his body into small seizures.

Obito? Where had she heard that name before? She paled a bit as she clutched Tobi tighter as he went into another jerking fit. That's right, Kakashi-sensei…his old teammate…could seeing Kakashi in danger have triggered Tobi's memory?

She ran her hands down Tobi's face, pressing them lightly against his temple. His good eye closed and his body relaxed against her. He would do less damage to himself if he was unconscious.

"S-Sakura…" Ino croaked out from where she held onto Kakashi. "Did he…"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me? You're the one who saw it. I didn't." She snapped a bit at her old friend. She was angry that Ino and Sasuke hadn't woken her. What if one of them had gotten severely injured? What if Ino had run out of chakra? What then? They would have been helpless!

Ino swallowed, "Sakura, we didn't want to wake you—"

"Since when did you and Sasuke become my parents?" Sakura snarled, and they both collectively flinched. "I didn't ask you to think of what's best for my interests. The village could have needed me! I could have—"

"You aren't a shinobi of Konoha anymore, Sakura!" Ino shrieked. "So stop trying to take all of Konoha's problems and lay them on your shoulders. We've been capable of defending our village ever since you left, so I don't think you'll make that much of a difference!"

She saw the hurt shining in Sakura's eyes, but she ignored it as the words bubbled to her lips. "You weren't needed for the fight!"

She saw her words strike Sakura like physical blows. Sakura held Tobi closer to her body, as if trying to shield herself. Ino regretted the words instantly. No, no, no! Sakura needed to feel needed. How stupid was she?

"Sakura, I—"

Sakura merely let out a small sniffle before she stood, hoisting Tobi onto her back. "I'm going to take him to a secluded area and heal him, then."

"You should take him to the hospital, Sakura." Neji commented from where he stood, pressing a hand to his bleeding arm.

Sakura shook her head with a wry smile. "No. I shouldn't. It's like Ino said…I'm not a shinobi of Konoha anymore, right? Why should I put an enemy shinobi in your hospital?"

Ino reached out a hand, "That isn't what I meant—"

A lone tear made its way down Sakura's face as she shook her head. "It's ok, Ino. I understand now."

"Don't—" Ino reached out to her, but was stopped as Sakura disappeared with Tobi on her back.

"SAKURA!!!!"

"I'll go find her." Sasuke spoke softly. "Go take Kakashi-sensei to the hospital."

Ino shook her head. "You're needed here, Sasuke. The fight isn't going to end just because one commander was killed."

Sasuke faltered in his steps toward Sakura. Indecision played across his face, before he stiffened and nodded, grabbing a kunai, "You're right Ino…I have to stay and fight."

Ino nodded. "I'll inform Tsunade of what has happened."

"Alright." Sasuke grunted, before he, Neji, Asuma, Anko, Gai, and Ibiki turned back to the oncoming Stone-nin.

"Gai…" Asuma murmured as he dodged a punch and slammed his knife into a man's throat, ripping out his windpipe. "Do you know who Kakashi was talking about when he said Obito?"

Gai nodded as he jumped into the air, deflecting a barrage of kunai. He looked pale and stricken. "I remember Obito. He was Kakashi's teammate…Uchiha Obito."

"You mean…" Anko faltered in her attack for a moment, before gutting the shinobi who came up behind her. She grunted as the man's kunai dug into her shoulder before he died. "That he was the one who gave Hatake his Sharingan?"

"Hai." Gai nodded.

"That man only had one eye." Ibiki commented as he surveyed the group of Stone-nin heading towards them.

"So could he have truly been Obito?" Neji asked the question they were all thinking. There was no answer, as Ibiki clenched his fists.

"I need to go and report to Tsunade-sama…but I don't think I can leave here. You're already down three shinobi: Kurenai and Kakashi were injured and Ino took Kakashi to the hospital. I can't leave you unmanned."

"Go." Anko gave a feral grin. "We'll be fine."

Ibiki nodded before disappearing, leaving the others to face the oncoming wave of Stone-nin.

"W-watch out!" Hinata yelled over the sounds of screams. Sai rolled to the right just in time, as a large mace smashed into the ground where he had once lain. He gritted his teeth in pain as the movement jostled the bone shooting out of his left leg.

He grabbed his paintbrush, running it quickly across the parchment in front of him. He gave a small hiss of pain as the mace came crashing down on his hand, shattering the bone. Blood splayed across the scroll and he heard Hinata scream his name. Pain blinded him for a few moments before he grabbed his sword with his other hand, stabbing it through the stone-nin's arm.

The stone-nin jerked upwards, and Sai felt faint as blood spurted from the crushed lump that was now his right hand. He rolled over, clutching the mangled mess to his side as the stone-nin stumbled backwards, ripping out the sword. One of their own shinobi finished the wounded man off. But it didn't matter.

They were dead. There was no way they were going to make it out of this place alive. They were sandwiched between two Stone-nin forces and there was no way out. He heard the buzz of Shino's bugs and the screams of their victims, but speckles of light dotted his vision as he realized rather offhandedly that he would never use his right hand again.

It is a good thing I'm ambidextrous, he thought dizzily.

The medic-nin of their team knelt next to him. She was an emotional little thing, and he could tell she was sobbing as she stared down at his hand. So…it was a lost cause to save it then…

She was a Chûnin, and she had large doe eyes. He supposed her eyes would have been almost pretty if she wasn't crying. It was the only thing he could really remember about her. She cried all the time. And when he said all the time he meant all the time. He didn't know if she ever stopped crying. Sometimes he wondered if she just went in search of things to cry over.

"Stop it. You're ugly when you cry." Sai muttered. "I'm not dead."

She began to sob harder, and he wondered if she had some kind of emotional attachment to him. They'd been put on several teams before, since she was such a skilled medic-nin. It was rather sad, and he felt a bit sorry for her. He couldn't love anyone, after all.

…especially not someone who reminded him so much of Sakura. Because that would be painful and he couldn't allow that. Besides, he was too emotionless for anyone besides his teammates. He felt nothing. He showed nothing. It was a helpless cause.

"You'll have to cauterize the wound after you cut it off." He spoke softly.

"Wh-what?" She sobbed out, staring at him in horror.

"You have to amputate and cauterize it so I can continue fighting." Sai said levelly. "Hinata-san, Shino-san, and the others cannot hold on without us. Also, you do not have enough chakra reserves to set all of my bones as well as heal the skin, muscles, and blood vessels in my hand. This is easier as well as more efficient."

She stared at him, then down at her own hands. "I-I don't know how to cut it off with ch-chakra."

Sai was starting to get as annoyed as he could without actual emotions. "Then use a kunai."

"B-but!" She began, startled.

"You're too weak to be a shinobi." Sai cut in. "If you cannot cut off my hand then you have no business being a medical ninja." He wasn't being harsh, just truthful. He gave her his fake smile and she continued sobbing as she reached for the knife.

It felt like fire as the blade sliced through flesh. When it struck the bone of his wrists it stopped painfully, and she looked down at him hopelessly. "I'm g-going to h-have to s-saw through it."

Sai nodded.

"Hurry!" Hinata called frantically as she used the rotation technique, sending four Stone-nin flying. "We have to get out of here as quickly as possible. I may have found an open route to Konoha."

"If we move him now he'll bleed out!" The medic panicked.

"Then do as he says and amputate. We don't have time to sit around." Shino's voice was muffled behind his collar as he stood back-to-back with the only remaining Chûnin on their team besides the medic. The other two had been killed earlier on in the battle.

Sai parted his lips in a silent gasp as the blade dug into bone. He would never forget the sound as it sawed through him, separating him from his hand. A one-handed ninja…he wondered how that would work out for him.

He would be less efficient now. That was his only worry, as he felt the heat of her chakra as it sealed his wound. He stared down at the stump that was his right hand a little confusedly. He swore he could still feel his fingers clenching and unclenching around a kunai.

"Let's go!" Hinata yelled, and Sai nodded as the medic-nin helped him stand and they starting running through the forest.

Sakura looked down at Tobi's still form, watching his even breathing as tears dripped down her face.

"It shouldn't bother me." She whispered.

…

…

…

"Why is Sakura-senpai crying? Does Tobi need to give her a hug?"

Sakura blinked a few times, as Tobi smiled at her, sitting up. He lifted up a hand to his face and gave a small panicked glance around the clearing. "Where is Tobi's mask?"

"It broke." Sakura answered. "Tobi…do you remember anything?"

Tobi cocked his head to the side. "…remember what?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but decided against it. His memories seemed to cause him pain. If keeping him ignorant of his past was the only way to keep him from hurting then she'd do it.

"Nothing, Tobi."

She heard a soft woof from behind her and stared in surprise as Chigiri bounded into the clearing, tongue lolling out of his mouth. He tackled her, licking her roughly as his tail wagged.

"I missed you too!" Sakura gave a small laugh as she pushed him off of her. "Do you feel better?"

"Chigiri-san!" Tobi greeted happily. "Were you hurt before?"

Chigiri gave him a lick as well, before his ears perked up. He turned to Sakura and she could almost read his gaze: your friends need you. You should go back to the battle.

"They don't care about me…" She whispered back.

He growled softly.

"Alright." Sakura snapped. "Let's go Tobi. Chigiri says I promised to protect those who are precious to me and he's right. I need to go and fight."

"Alright Sakura-senpai! Let's go!"

Sakura nodded, and they sped off in the direction she had run from earlier.

"So…this is it." Jiraiya murmured as he and Deidara stood in front of a large granite door. "It doesn't look like much, does it?"

"He was never very fashionable, yeah." Deidara commented offhandedly, looking around tensely. "Let's get this over with." He knocked twice, the sound echoing throughout the immense building.

Jiraiya stiffened as silence ensued—before the door began to creak open. It grated on the floor and Jiraiya winced at the sound.

"Come in." Came a deep, guttural voice, and Jiraiya and Deidara hastily complied. They came upon a man sitting on a marble throne in the dimly lit room.

He was a bear of a man, with a sharp beard and deep hazel eyes.

Jiraiya knelt before the throne, as was appropriate. "Thank you for giving us some of your time, Tsuchikage-dono."

The man nodded. "What do you want?"

"We wanted to extend our alliance to Stone!" Deidara butted in enthusiastically.

The Tsuchikage glared, and Deidara shrunk away from him. Jiraiya reprimanded his 'grandson' before he turned to the Tsuchikage once more. "Forgive my grandson. This is his first high-level mission. He is overenthusiastic."

The Tsuchikage nodded, annoyed.

"Tsuchikage-dono…before Grass can extend its alliance to Stone we must know the circumstances around the death of the late Tsuchikage."

The man grunted. "Very well. He was murdered by a powerful sound-nin whose leader believed that Stone needed a new kage."

"And who was this shinobi?"

"I do not know." The Tsuchikage answered truthfully. "But the council agreed that I would be the best choice for the Tsuchikage. It was a choice made by the leader of the sound-nin, I believe."

Jiraiya paled a bit. Could it be…was Orochimaru still alive? "Was their leader a man?"

"No." The Tsuchikage grumbled. "She was a woman. I saw her once."

"What was she like?" Deidara asked curiously, leaning in to hear the answer.

"I do not see why this is important for our alliance, Elder." The Tsuchikage stared suspiciously at Jiraiya. For a second Jiraiya wondered if he saw through his disguise.

"We must know whether or not this person is our ally or not, Tsuchikage-dono. If we can recognize the ninja's name or appearance we can more readily agree to your terms."

This answer seemed to satisfy the Tsuchikage, because he leaned back in his chair. "I see. I do not remember her name. But she was a beautiful young woman with green eyes."

"Green eyes?" Deidara asked.

The Tsuchikage gave a small, almost imperceptible smile. "And she had the most exotically colored hair as well."

"Exotic?"

…

…

…

"Pink."

Sasori closed his eyes as he leaned against his stall. The weight of Gamikichi on his shoulder had become almost nonexistent as he became accustomed to it. The toad was sleeping, snoring loudly in his ear.

Perhaps I should look into my puppet's progress, he thought as he did a few hand signs. As the jutsu was completed, an image began to form behind Sasori's closed eyelids. His puppet looked around the small Stone house, and his ears slowly tuned in on the conversation in the kitchen.

"What's wrong, dear?" The wife was cooking dinner, cutting up some vegetables on the counter. She had her back to the doorway, so that was all he could see from the puppet's vantage point.

He heard a frustrated sigh coming from the woman's husband as he walked into view, then back out. He was pacing.

"The damn new Tsuchikage."

"Dear." His wife whispered, "Don't let the neighbors hear! Who knows what could happen?"

"Sorry." Her husband apologized. "It's just…he's sending us out on this suicide war against Konoha. Even if we win we'll lose so many shinobi we'll be almost completely defenseless. There is nothing that could possibly be gained from this."

"Why is the Tsuchikage ordering you to attack Konoha then?"

Her husband stopped pacing in front of the door before he gave a soft sigh, raking a hand through his hair.

This should be interesting, Sasori thought.

"He isn't even in charge of this war. He's following someone else's orders."

What?

"The council?"

"No."

"…then who?"

Sasori waited, beginning to become impatient with the silence that followed. He was not a patient person, after all.

"I haven't seen her personally, of course. She's said to be extremely strong, a medic-nin. Only the Tsuchikage, the Stone Council, and the Stone army leaders have seen her."

Her? Medic-nin?

His wife gave a small laugh, "Well, it's good to see a woman in charge, at least."

"She's also said to be beautiful." Her husband continued.

"Honey!"

"Well, they say she has extremely beautiful hair, is all. I don't know about the rest of her."

"Oh."

Beautiful hair…it can't be…but I suppose it all makes sense…

Sasori took it relatively well, as he processed all of the information. It had to be Sakura…she was a medic-nin, strong, and her hair had a strange coloring. Also, she had been gone a lot lately…and her chakra levels had been low…

I am disappointed, Haruno-san, Sasori thought, breaking his connection with the doll and slowly standing. Gamikichi hopped a bit on his shoulder, waking up. I had hoped you would have chosen wisely...now you must be eliminated if you are a threat to the Akatsuki.

He decided that Itachi would not be taking it well…and neither would Deidara. Definitely not Deidara.

That was when he sensed his partner, who was now running towards him. Even through the henge Sasori could see Deidara's stricken face, the pain and betrayal that lay in his eyes. Jiraiya looked shaken, but mostly angry.

"So you heard." Sasori spoke calmly.

"It can't be…" Deidara's voice was choked. "It's a lie, right Sasori?"

Sasori shook his head. "Sakura has betrayed the Akatsuki and Konoha and plans to destroy the Leaf Village."

Sasori had never seen Deidara look so lost.

"We need to head to Konoha immediately." Jiraiya said in a level voice.

"Hai." Sasori agreed.

Itachi took a sip of his sake in silence, glaring down at the table. Kisame sat beside him, not liking the uncomfortable silence that hovered over them. Hidan and Kakuzu sat opposite them at the table. Kakuzu seemed fine with the silence, but Hidan was frowning, obviously annoyed.

"This is so fucking stupid!" Hidan finally shouted, slamming his sake cup down. "I'm tired of sitting here and doing absolutely fucking nothing!"

"Shut up." Kakuzu grunted.

"Don't start with me, bastard." Hidan growled.

"Both of you shut it." Kisame snarled. "Leader-sama will send us on missions soon enough. We have to wait for word from Deidara and Sasori."

"That brat Tobi got to go on a mission!" Kakuzu intervened.

"Suck it up and stop complaining like a fucking pussy." Hidan snarled back.

"What was that!?" Kakuzu fumed.

Itachi's hand tightened around his sake cup, and Kisame was sure it was going to shatter when the door slid open and Konan walked inside. She looked a bit shaken—or perhaps furious as she stopped in front of Itachi, eyes narrowed.

"Your bitch is in major trouble, Uchiha."

The room went silent.

Everyone turned to Konan and Itachi. Itachi had stood, and his crimson eyes were fixed on Konan as he gave her a level glare. "Excuse me?" His voice was emotionless, like always.

"That whore of yours—Haruno…." Konan's jaw tightened as she clenched her teeth angrily. "She's been playing us for fools from the beginning."

"Explain." Itachi ordered icily.

"She resurrected Orochimaru." Konan hissed. "She's been amassing forces to destroy us as well as Konoha."

"What the hell!?" Kisame stood as well. "What are you talking about?"

"She has betrayed the Akatsuki. Leader-sama just told me." Konan snarled. "You had best take this up with your bitch, Uchiha—" But it was no use.

He was already gone.

"Dammit!" Kisame roared, rushing after him.

Konan watched them go, face still twisted in anger. As soon as she felt their presences fade, however, her face softened, and a cruel smile formed on her lips. Hidan and Kakuzu watched her confusedly.

She turned to them with a small laugh before she walked out of the room. You were right, Pein…everything is going according to plan.

"Fuck!" Anko hissed as she fell to her knees. A bone pierce through the skin at her kneecap, and she stumbled as she tried to stand. She forced herself up, yelling as she slammed into another stone-nin, dragging her kunai up through his ribcage. Blood soaked her trench coat as she stumbled backwards away from the dying man.

She lost her footing again and fell back, only to be caught by Neji before she fell completely to the ground.

"Thanks Hyuga." She grunted, before Ino appeared beside her, pressing a healing hand to her knee. Ino's chakra was fainter in color now. She'd been healing all of them for a while now and she was almost out of chakra.

"We can't take much more of this…" Asuma groaned as he leaned against one of the only remaining trees in the area. Blood smearing the bark where he pressed against it. "Gai's out of chakra. Uchiha is the only one here who can still do something…damn we need Kakashi."

"No." Neji grunted. "We need someone who can destroy an entire army in seconds."

"Well, Tsunade can't exactly get down here from the hospital." Ino muttered. "She's already running us medic-nin's a little thin. There's barely enough at the hospital to keep it at working capacity."

"Luckily you have me, ne?" Came a voice from behind them.

Ino turned around with a bright smile, "Sakura!" Sakura smiled back softly, and Ino bit her lip, "Hey Sakura, I—"

"It's ok. Don't worry about it." She muttered. "Just heal these guys. Tobi, you stay here and guard them."

"Hai Sakura-senpai!" Tobi saluted her.

Chigiri gave a soft growl in the back of his throat. Sakura looked up, "What is it?" The others watched as she seemed to converse with the large dog, before she looked up and nodded. "Chigiri says he smells some of our allies. They've broken through the Stone line and are headed this way. Several are injured."

"I don't have enough chakra." Ino moaned. "I can barely stand. Sakura, you'll have to heal them."

Sakura nodded. "Alright." She almost froze as the Konoha-nin came into view. "Sai!" He was cradling one hand near his side—and she watched with building horror as she realized there wasn't a hand there anymore, just a stump.

"Sai what…?" She began, but let the medic inside of her take over. "What are his vital signs?" She pointed this question to the young woman who was obviously a medic. The girl seemed frozen in awe at the sight of the Godaime Hokage's legendary apprentice, before she spotted the Akatsuki cloak and shrank away in disgust.

"Tell me, dammit. I don't have time to play around, not with other people's lives on the line." Sakura snapped.

The medic-nin flinched, and Sai was the one who spoke, "Don't worry about her Sakura. She's just stunned."

Sakura nodded as she grabbed Sai's hand, inspecting it. "Good work on the cauterization of the wound, girl." She wasn't trying to sound snippy, but she had taken on the tone that Tsunade had often taken with her when she had taught her.

She saw the young woman stiffen but thought nothing more of it as she continued to inspect Sai. "I can't give you another human hand because the muscles and tendons were severed and I have a limited amount of time…but I can give you a hand structure…" She looked around before she knelt next to a dead Stone-nin. She grabbed a kunai and expertly cut off the man's hand.

"I thought you said you couldn't give him a hand—" The medic-nin stopped talking as Sakura did a quick fire jutsu, burning off the flesh and tissue, leaving nothing but a skeletal hand.

"I can still run chakra through the hand and it will be mobile, so you'll be able to hold weapons and fight. But if I do this jutsu there will be no hope of you ever having a real hand again."

"It is more efficient this way." Sai nodded. "It is fine."

"Very well." Sakura nodded. "You, girl, start healing Hinata."

"I—" The girl opened her mouth to argue.

"Just do it. You're a medic-nin aren't you?"

"Well yes but—"

"Then do your job."

Sakura didn't pay the girl anymore attention as she focused on Sai's hand. "Sit down, Sai. This could make you nauseas."

Sai nodded as he slumped gratefully to the ground. The young woman had apparently decided to help Ino heal Asuma and Hinata. That was at least one less thing for Sakura to worry about.

She closed her eyes, placing a glowing hand at Sai's wrists and another holding the skeletal hand. Around them, Chigiri and Tobi were fighting off the Stone-nin along with Sasuke, Shino, and Neji, who seemed to be the only ones able to fight at the moment.

It seemed like ages later that she opened her eyes to see that she had successfully attached Sai's new 'hand'. He was staring down at the skeletal appendage with a masked gaze.

He tentatively moved a few fingers, his eyes never leaving the bone. "They move well enough."

Sakura nodded. "I'm sorry Sai."

Sai gave her his familiar fake smile, tilting his head to the side. "I can still draw, ne?"

Sakura gave a tremulous smile, before she looked up to where Tobi and the others were hard pressed with the remaining Stone-nin. She clenched her fist. "Alright…time to shatter that Stone offensive line."

The smile she gave was almost feral as she disappeared from Sai's side.

(A\N: Yes, yes, I know that you're all probably angry at me for only giving you hints of what is going to come but…:P I have to live up to my evil reputation don't I? Hehehehe. The next chapter…the confrontation between Sakura and everyone else and…the beginning of the largest battle in the history of Konoha. :)

Sincerely, Lady Hanaka

p.s. If you all want to see some ItaSaku fanart, please look in my gallery...in fact, Judge Gooby did a nice spoiler pic if you all want to see it. Enjoy!)