With the hot summer sun beaming down on his back, Sasuke moved quickly through the trees, subconsciously staying underneath some of the trees with the most shade in order to protect him from the heat. The temperature was boiling and he'd taken his dark, heavy cloak off hours before, yet it had done very little to cool him off.

Of course, slowing his pace or even halting altogether would certainly help to lower his body temperature, but he couldn't even consider doing that. He was so close. Only a few more hours and he'd be walking through the front gates.

Which meant that he could potentially be seeing Sakura and Hana in a few hours as well. The thought of seeing their faces made his chest flutter and caused his legs to propel themselves farther and faster than before.

He was just northwest of Konoha, and had just reached the point where he was beginning to recognize small, insignificant landmarks. There was a set of large boulders seemingly out of place in the middle of the woods where Naruto had tried to climb once and had fallen flat on his back, successfully knocking the wind out of him for a good couple of minutes. They'd been on the way home from a quick mission, and Kakashi had had to carry him the rest of the way, much to his chagrin.

Then there was a small series of trees where the bark was always carved into by villagers and passersby. Names and shapes and proclamations of love etched into the bark of the trees. Sakura had always looked at the trees in awe. He'd always scoffed the idiocy.

The closer he got to the village, the more he was reminded of little bits of his childhood in snapshots and snippets of memories. Memories that, just a few years after, he would've done anything to erase.

Extinguishing the negative thoughts from his mind, he kept running, faster and faster until he was nothing more than a blur in the trees.

But even though he was travelling faster than most could see, he couldn't help but notice the sound of movement nearby. Stopping himself abruptly, having to steady himself against the thick trunk of a tree to cease his momentum, he waited quietly, hoping to hear another sign of life from below. He heard a quick rustling again, accompanied with some quick, hurried footsteps through dead leaves, before the noise died down completely.

He narrowed his eyes, there was someone down there. And they were hiding.

A kunai on hand, he didn't drop himself down to the ground immediately, instead hopping lower and lower through the trees until he was only a few meters off the ground. Peering behind the tree, he watched out of the corner of his eye as the leaves rustled and then died down again.

The moment he turned his body to move around the side of the tree he quickly found himself throwing his body back around the opposite side, to avoid the kunai that was flying towards his head with incredible speed.

Spinning all the way back around the entirety of the tree, he threw himself toward the ground, hitting the ground running, keeping his head low as he pulled out another kunai. With the first one he shot it directly into the bushes, finding himself stopping and hopping backwards suddenly when he saw the weapon get deflected with ease. Shooting to the side he prepared himself to fire another kunai until a body shot out at him, and fast.

Sasuke could only brace himself for the impact as the cloaked body knocked into him, letting out a loud scream as they did so. Just as he landed on his back he lifted an arm, only to have his assailants kunai meet against his own.

And just as their weapons collided, the body on top of him gasped, leaning backwards.

"Sasuke…"

Before he knew what he was doing he'd dropped his weapon, sitting up abruptly, one arm reaching out to cradle the body lying on him, the other reached out to pull the hood back. "Sakura," he breathed out, shocked and relieved all at the same time.

Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly in an embrace. But as she let out a pained yelp at the contact, he withdrew his arms immediately, suddenly concerned.

Unhooking the front of her cloak, he pushed it off of her shoulders and let it fall back on the ground behind her, holding back a gasp as he noted her clothes ripped, torn and completely soaked with blood.

"Sakura," he reached out, holding her bloodied and bruised face in his hands, "what happened? Who did this to you? Where—" he suddenly choked on his own words, his eyes widening as they realized something very important, "where is Hana?"

"I… I…" the few words she could get herself to speak came out as tired, hiccupping sobs. The blood and dirt on her face was smeared with what he could only assume was a mixture of sweat and tears.

As she cried, he kept one arm held loosely around her as he turned around and activated his eternal mangekyou sharingan, scanning the immediate area for any chakra signatures, or any sign of life other than the two of them. His search brought him up empty handed. She was all alone.

"Sakura, where did everyone go?" He grabbed her face again, forcing her to look him in the eye as he leaned closely toward her. "Where is everyone?" he repeated, his voice loud and stern.

His volume seemed to force his words through her hysterical haze as she blinked a few times, finally focusing on him through her tears. "I—they—they're gone," she cried loudly, trying hard to hold in the screams that were threatening to erupt from her mouth. He watched, feeling helpless as she groaned loudly, seemingly forcing the hysteria back down within herself.

"They… what do you mean, gone?" he asked nervously, his fear beginning to rise as dozens of scenarios played out through his head; none of them having a pleasant ending. "Sakura," his voice was loud again, commanding, "where are they?"

"They—we got split up," she forced the words out as quickly as she could through her tears. "We got split up and it was Kakashi and Hanabi and Sai and we got split up and I don't know what happened to Hanabi and Sai and," she inhaled deeply, "and it was him it was the man the mask the green one and Hanabi and Sai were gone and Kakashi—" her voice cracked suddenly, the tears starting fresh, her words more rushed, more hysterical. "He was protecting us and he was fighting he was fighting so hard and and and he and he—" her words started running together as she began to hyperventilate.

"Shh, Sakura, it's okay, you're safe, just… just tell me what happened?" He pleaded, his hands finding hers sitting limply in her lap and gripping them tightly.

"I tried I tried I really did I tried so hard," she cried, her head dropping down, her chin resting against her chest limply, "I tried and it didn't work I couldn't do it! God, I couldn't do it!"

"Sakura, do what? Do what?!"

"I… I…" still crying she leaned back, lifting her head and turning to look back over her shoulder, into the bushes. "He's over there," she whispered brokenly.

Staring at her, not completely understanding what she was talking about, he stood on uneasy legs, looking toward the bushes she had jumped out of. Letting his feet glide forward he felt his steps grow heavier each time his sandals hit the ground.

There was no one around, he knew it for a fact. He'd scanned the area for chakra signatures, there was no way that anyone was—

Suddenly, his feet stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as he stared into the bushes. He could just barely make out the torn, bloody blanket through the leaves. His feet refused to move any closer the moment he saw the pale, sandaled foot, hanging outside of the blanket.

Still, pale, lifeless…

"I couldn't do it," he heard Sakura repeat again behind him. Suddenly, the air around him grew cold, his stomach rising up into his throat, his head growing light, and his heart beating so loudly that the noise was playing in the background of his overwhelmed mind, becoming the rhythmic soundtrack to this nightmare that was unfolding before him.

"I tried so hard," Sakura cried softly, "I tried so hard to save him. I couldn't do it, Sasuke. I couldn't save him."

For some stupid, awful reason, Sasuke forced his feet forward, refusing to stop until he stood directly beside the still body, wrapped tightly in the thin fabric, being shielded from the elements. Reaching forward, some twisted part of his mind laughed at him maniacally.

See?

This is what happens.

This is what you get.

What you deserve.

This is your fault, you know…

You can't protect everyone.

You can't protect anyone at all.

Grabbing a hold of the blanket, he lifted it slightly, just enough to see the gray of his hair, to see the mask that obscured half of his face even in death…

Dropping the blanket abruptly, Sasuke stood up completely straight, watching in horror as his hand shook out of fear… shock… dread…

Hatake Kakashi was dead.

Slowly backing away from the body, he sat beside Sakura abruptly, tearing his eyes away from the body of his teacher. His sensei. One of the only people that had genuinely cared about him. Reaching out without looking, he gripped Sakura's forearm firmly.

"Sakura," he spoke, trying to steady his voice as best as he could. "Where is Hana?"

Amidst her crying Sakura managed to look up at him, giving him a desparate look, her tears never once ceasing. She shook her head hopelessly, letting it fall down once more, and allowing her hair to obscure her face from his sight.

"Sakura," he begged, his grip tightening on her arm, "please. Where is she?" He didn't want to hear her response; he wasn't even sure as to why he was demanding an answer in the first place. Nothing she could say to him would be good, nothing she could say would make his heart break any less, but he had to hear the truth.

Her words were so soft, her voice almost smooth enough to forget that she was crying, but her words were haunting, digging deep inside him and gripping his heart with it's tight, rough, unforgiving grip.

"I don't know."

"We need to get moving," he finally spoke after a full minute of shocked silence. Turning to look at Sakura he found her frozen in place, staring with a blank expression at her hands. "Sakura, we need to get moving, now."

His stern voice seemed to rouse her out of whatever trance she was in. Looking toward him, she dropped her hands back down into her lap and nodded silently, tears still steadily streaming down her face.

"We'll have to move as quickly as possible," he said, trying hard to think about what they were supposed to do next. Getting back to the village was obviously the priority, but he couldn't stop thinking about the dozens of other things he wanted to do.

He needed to find Hana and he wanted to kill that fucking masked assassin and he wanted Sakura to stop crying and he wanted Kakashi to be fucking alive.

Thoughts a jumbled mess he gripped his hair tightly in his hands, shaking his head quickly. No, they needed to get to the village first. For all they knew, Hana could've made it back.

With that tiny sliver of hope, Sasuke grabbed his bag, throwing it onto his back, before turning toward Sakura. Yet as he saw her, still sitting in the same position on the dry forest floor, he started to find himself growing panicked, impatient even.

"Sakura we need to—" storming up to her, he reached out to grab her arm and pull her onto her feet, stopping when he saw her arm hanging at an unnatural angle. "You're hurt. Where are you hurt?"

"My shoulder is dislocated," she informed him in a detached voice, "my left ankle is broken and I have a few cracked ribs. I was stabbed in my leg and severed my femoral artery, but I fixed that before I bled out." She paused, looking back down again at her hands. Her bloody hands. "I've been running low on chakra since last night."

"Here, let me…"

"No," she stopped him by lifting her left hand toward him, "I can walk. I'll be fine. Please just," she bit her lip, trying to hold back another wave of tears, "just get Kakashi, please." Before Sasuke could even open his mouth, she cut him off. "I'm not leaving without him."

Biting his tongue, Sasuke stared back toward the bushes with a tentative look. If he were being honest with himself, he was absolutely terrified at the thought of carrying his old sensei's lifeless body back to the village. But it had to be done. He wasn't about to leave him here either.

It took him about a minute to gather up the courage to lift the body into his arms, but after he did, he refused to look down. He refused to acknowledge the blood-stained blanket or the way his left arm hung out, dangling below the rest of his body.

"I have enough chakra to get back home," Sakura informed him, as he stood beside her. He couldn't help but notice as she worked to keep her eyes from straying toward the body as well.

It was all just too much for them.

The run back toward the village was slow, but it passed by in almost one big blur. He remembered glancing toward Sakura every couple of minutes, to check to see that she was keeping up and that her injuries weren't causing her too much pain.

If they were, then she did a hell of a job covering it up. At one point, as she accidentally knocked her shoulder against the side of a tree; Sasuke almost called out to her, waiting for the pained scream. But when none came, alarms went off in his head. She hadn't even reacted; he wasn't even sure if she could feel the pain at this point.

The moment he felt a group of ninja approach, he tightened his hold on Kakashi's body, not wanting to drop him to retrieve weapons, but deciding that he would do whatever was necessary to keep Sakura safe. Yet the moment he saw the first one jumping through the trees toward them, and as he let his eyes wander toward the Konoha headbands strapped to his forehead, he let out a huge sigh of relief, dropping down to the ground alongside Sakura and waiting for them to approach.

"SAKURA!" He recognized the young ninja with the scarf from the weeks before. Konohamaru, he believed his name was. At first he watched as the boy's expression lit up upon sight of her, yet as his eyes drifted toward Sasuke, he faltered in his steps, his expression falling immediately.

Three ninja trailed behind the dark haired boy, all of them shooting each other panicked glances. All of them had their attention fixed on the body Sasuke held.

"Go tell them that she's here," Konohamaru yelled to the first person he saw, "and quick!" Without a word, one of his teammates took off in a flash, running back toward the village. Sasuke knew that they were still almost a half hour run from the entrance, but it was close enough for him to let at least some semblance of relief to overtake him.

"Th—that's not who I think it is… right Sakura?" the boy's face paled, turning toward the pink-haired woman for some sort of confirmation. "It… it isn't… right?" Eventually his eyes met Sasuke's, and he could see the desperation in his eyes.

"Sakura's injured, please help her get back. I've got…" he still kept his eyes trained upward, not letting his glance waver for a moment, but also not able to say his sensei's name either. "I've got him."

Sakura didn't protest when Konohamaru easily picked her up, being careful of her injuries as Sasuke informed him of them before he'd laid a hand on her. And soon enough, they were off again, traveling almost four times as fast as they had been before, due to Sakura's broken ankle.

The closer they got to the village, the more people Sasuke saw approach. There were about six or seven ninja he'd never seen before that caught sight of them and immediately started heading back to the village along with them. Some trailed behind them, a few led the way. One thing they all had in common was the strict silence they held as they ran.

The first face he recognized was Ino, the second was Lee. The moment his eyes fell upon them he averted his gaze, not wanting to see their horrified looks once they noticed exactly what—or who—it was that he was carrying. He could hear Ino's choked cry as he passed her; Lee's shock was palpable.

And then suddenly there it was, the gates to the village, the entrance to Konoha. He only slowed down his sprint to a jog when he stepped foot in the village, and he only slowed the jog down to a walk when suddenly he was bombarded by ninja.

He saw a few stalk up to him angrily, most likely not happy with seeing the Uchiha back in their village after so long, but before he knew it, Shikamaru was by his side, keeping them all away with a look so severe, he hadn't thought the lazy tactician was even possible of looking so menacing.

"Watch out! Everybody move!"

At the sound of the voice, Sasuke suddenly felt sick to his stomach, stopping his feet abruptly. He finally looked toward Shikamaru, giving him a panicked look. Shikamaru looked away from his face, shaking his head, yet to Sasuke's relief he placed a firm hand on Sasuke's shoulder, keeping it there and not removing it.

He needed all the support, all the stability, he could get.

He wasn't ready to face Naruto. Not like this.

Not with the body of their dead sensei in his arms.

"Shikamaru! Where's Sakura? Where's—"

Watching the ninja clear a path, the moment he saw Naruto, the overwhelming urge to simply start apologizing almost overtook him. The only thing that held him back was the thought that he couldn't have done anything even if he'd tried.

It was pointless to apologize.

Yet, as Naruto walked toward them silently, his expression almost unreadable, Sasuke couldn't just stand there without saying something.

"Naruto," he called out, not loudly, but loud enough to get Naruto to take his eyes off of the body and look Sasuke in the eye. "Sakura is…" looking over his shoulder he watched as Konohamaru approached, Sakura still in his arms, only now she was unconscious, the stress and exhaustion finally taking hold of her.

"Konohamaru, take her to the hospital, now," Naruto ordered quietly as he made his way to them, "we'll follow you there." Watching Konohamaru take off, he looked toward Shikamaru, who still stood beside Sasuke and nodded silently toward him.

Without even communicating a single word, Shikamaru turned and started quietly giving orders to the ninja in the immediate area. Although as the ninja began to disperse, that was when he took note of the amount of civilians that had gathered to witness the scene unfold.

One particular set of bystanders caught his eye; they weren't strictly civilians, but they were dressed in their normal clothes.

He recognized Kurenai immediately, with her natural red eyes and wild, dark hair. It had been years since she'd seen her but the older Jounin had been extremely recognizable even when he was a child. Standing before her, her hands on the child's shoulders, stood her son. The one that had been on Tenten's genin team, the one who he remembered had been best friends with his daughter.

He could only imagine who the child was looking for.

Sasuke tore his eyes away from the boy, trying to dispel his sad, disappointed look from his mind. Yet even though he didn't look at him, he couldn't help but hear as he turned toward his mother and began to speak.

"Mom, where's Hana? I don't see Hana," Sasuke could hear the desperation in the child's voice, "Mom? Where is she?!"

Swallowing thickly, he glued his eyes to Naruto's back and followed quickly behind as they wordlessly made their way deeper into the village. Hardly a minute had passed before they were at the hospital, passing quickly through halls and up and down stairwells. He'd hardly realized they'd stopped moving until Naruto started tugging lightly on his sleeve.

"Sasuke," his voice was heavy with emotion, "you've got to put him down now."

Suddenly paying attention, he took note of the two unrecognizable medical personnel, both of whom wore gloves and surgical masks over their faces. They waited by a metal gurney anxiously, their eyes shifting in between himself and Naruto.

"Ah," with a quick nod Sasuke lowered the body onto the hard cot, quickly tearing his eyes away the moment the weight was out of his arms.

He found himself staring out the door, waiting for Naruto to finish doing whatever he was doing and saying whatever it was he needed to say to the men before leaving.

"We'll take good care of him, Hokage-sama."

Entering the hallway Sasuke inhaled deeply, the panic of the situation starting to eat away at him more and more with each passing minute. Hands shaking, he found himself gripping his hair hard, his fingernails digging deep into his scalp as he tried to steady his thoughts.

"Sasuke," he lifted his head to glance at the whiskered blonde, only to see him with tears in his eyes, "we have to—I mean we can't—" taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Sasuke watched as Naruto tried hard to calm himself. "We have work to do."

Nodding in agreement he turned to follow his friend before another thought stopped him in his tracks, "What about Sakura?"

"Follow me," he called over his shoulder, not breaking his pace.

The trip to her room was short, and they only stayed for a couple minutes, just long enough to see that she was still unconscious. Sasuke watched warily as the old Hokage, the Sannin whose name he couldn't remember at that point in time for some reason, worked over her silently.

He didn't want to leave her side, but with the thought that a legendary Sannin was by her side seemed to curb his fears a bit.

Immediately after exiting her room they were suddenly bombarded by their comrades.

"How is she?" Ino asked, her eyes puffy, tears staining her cheeks.

"She'll be fine," Naruto spoke quickly, "have they returned yet?"

"Not yet," Lee said shifting uneasily where he stood. "I think Shikamaru sent Konohamaru's squad out again to look for them."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, looking from his comrades and then back to the Hokage. "Who…?"

"Where are they?"

Turning his head he watched as Kiba stormed up to the group, his dog trailing behind him timidly. Just behind the pair was Hinata, her face stricken with worry and fear.

"Where are Sai and Hanabi?!" he demanded again. "I heard that—"

"They haven't returned yet," Naruto cut him off, trying to calm the man before he jumped too far ahead to the wrong conclusions. "Only Sasuke and Sakura have."

"Wha—" it was as if that moment he finally took note of Sasuke standing beside him. "I thought you ran off somewhere? Wait, if Sakura's here, then where is the rest of…" his voice slowly trailed off, his eyes widening as he realized that something had gone very, very wrong.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly, inhaling deeply before opening them once more and shaking his head. "We don't know where Sai, Hanabi, or Hana are."

"Where's Kakashi?" Hinata spoke up suddenly, her voice quiet as she studied her husband's expression with a worried expression.

Sasuke felt his fists clench together too tightly, he could feel the way his nails broke the skin on his palms. Before Naruto could reply he'd turned around and left the group of ninja, wordlessly opening the door back up to Sakura's room and closing it softly behind him.

Closing his eyes he leaned backwards against the door, letting out a breath of air as he took a moment to calm his nerves. He didn't need to hear it repeated; the fact that Kakashi was dead. In fact he never wanted to hear those words ever again.

No matter how true they were.

About a minute later he pushed himself off the door and started walking further into the room with quiet, tentative steps. Almost forgetting her presence, he stopped as his eyes wandered toward Sakura's bed and at the fifth Hokage.

The older woman was still leaning over her old student, her hands lit green and her attention completely centered on the woman beneath her. Or at least so he thought.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" she asked, her eyes flickering behind her to give him a quick once-over, before turning back around, "Or are you actually here to do anything?"

Although she'd only looked at him for a few seconds, Sasuke had seen the obvious disdain she held for him in her eyes.

"Is she going to be alright?" He asked after a moment, letting his feet glide further across the tiled floor. Sakura's face was eerily still, calm even in her unconscious state.

"Her injuries are almost completely healed," she informed him in a professional manner, not once looking toward him, "yet she's extremely chakra depleted. She probably won't wake up for quite some time. But knowing Sakura," he could hear the smile in her voice, "she'll probably surprise us and be up by sundown."

He nodded in confirmation, even though he knew she couldn't see him. Watching Sakura from over the woman's shoulder, he bit his lip, nervous despite the Hokage's words. Her skin was still bruised, and stained with blood in certain places; he idly found himself wondering whose blood it was, but once he realized what the answer most likely was, he found himself closing his eyes tightly, trying to dispel the image of Kakashi's body out of his mind.

"If you're going to stay here, make yourself useful," she instructed bitterly, clearly not pleased with the fact that Sasuke was still standing there.

"How can I help?"

"Take the pail by my foot and fill it with warm water from the bathroom. Then grab a towel and bring it back here."

Without confirming he'd heard her words he acted quickly, the task completed in just under a minute. Setting the bucket back at her feet he stood there awkwardly, the cloth held in between his hands still, waiting further instruction.

"You can put that down on the bed," she told him. He watched as her hands hovered over Sakura's neck and face, quickly healing her more shallow wounds. After another minute she paused, the green glow of her hands extinguishing as she turned slightly to look at him. "You can leave now."

He knew she hated him. If it weren't for the fact that he could see it in her eyes, he would've simply been able to feel it in the air; this aura of utter repulsion. He couldn't blame her, after all, it was justified.

But even though he knew she wanted him to leave, he couldn't bring himself to turn himself around and walk away. He just couldn't do it.

Regarding him for a long moment with judgmental eyes, Tsunade turned her nose up at him, facing Sakura once more as she dipped the white towel in the water and began to wipe the dried blood from her body.

"You don't deserve her."

Sasuke bit his lip. "I know."

"You'll never deserve her."

He sighed, inhaling deeply before responding. "I know."

"I don't know why you're still here, Uchiha," she spat his name out as if it were a word that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Finally, without hesitation, he uttered his reply in an even, confident voice.

"I love her."

The room was filled with a thick silence for a long couple of minutes. As he waited for her to say something—anything at this point, really—he couldn't help but feel somewhat lighter. The change was very slight, but it was definitely something; it felt good to say out loud finally. It was relieving in a way.

"Is that so?" she spoke, as if amused by this revelation. "You have a funny way of showing it."

He sighed. "I know you don't like me very much…"

"I actually hate you," she interjected.

"I don't like myself very much either," he admitted with a self-deprecating shake of his head, "but I do love her. And I love Hana. And I'd do anything for them."

He didn't know why he was telling her this. She hated him, and he didn't particularly like her very much either. His only memories where she was included were never good, and he hardly knew a damn thing about her except for that she was a legendary Sannin, a renowned medical ninja, and had been Orochimaru's teammate.

Paired with the knowledge that she had been Sakura's teacher, he knew absolutely nothing about her, whereas she most likely knew many, many things about him, being the last Hokage and all.

"You don't deserve her," she repeated again, her voice quieter this time.

"I know. But I love her," he spoke confidently, his voice slightly louder this time, "and I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to her."

Again, silence took hold, giving Sasuke the opportunity to come down off his bold high, the confidence in his body withering away slightly until he stood behind her, the reality of their situation again dawning on him, causing his shoulders to slump and his head to sink.

"You know," she spoke softly, "I'd go back to Naruto now if I were you," she peered at him out of the corner of her eye, allowing him to see the anger and hatred in her eyes dulled down into an emotion he couldn't quite place. "He probably needs all the help he can get right now."

Taking in the sight before him, allowing his eyes to scan over Sakura's body once more as Tsunade wiped her skin clean, he swallowed the lump in his throat and turned, walking away. She was right, there were things that needed to be taken care of, loved ones to find, and people to kill.

"Sasuke," she spoke as he reached out for the handle of the door, surprising him by using his name. He could hear the grin in her voice, "I'm going to hold you to that."

Opening the door, he knew she meant her words; she would do everything to ensure Sasuke atoned for his sins and made up for all the mistakes he'd made in his life. Although he knew it wasn't necessary for her to attempt to intimidate him like that.

It was already a promise he made to himself. A promise he intended to keep.

A/N: Whether or not you hate me after that chapter is up to you. Either way, just keep an eye out for the next chapter sometime between Christmas and New Years.

And you can always find lots of extras on my Tumblr (the link is on my page). Sneak peaks at Changing Skies chapters days before they're posted, fanfic recommendations, and SasuSaku and NaruHina prompts/one-shots that you won't find anywhere else. Go ahead and check it out and feel free to harass me on there.

As always, please review.