A.N.: This is the last chapter of Arc IV. We are nearing the end of the story, and I'd like to thank you all for the support you've given me during these months. Yep, I'm going to tie up loose ends, I swear! A little thing about this chapter: the switches between past/present tense are done on purpose. You'll see what I mean when you read it (:

Barebones - Arc IV: Raze - Chapter 33: The last Stand

One last breath, one last chance - a moment comes, to win or lose it all.

Truly ironic...

Sakura desperately wants to think that Maru lied all along. She wants to believe that he was lying when the rat (for reasons she couldn't fathom) said he cared. She wants to list all the things he did and didn't do, that could hint at an ulterior motive. But she can't, as much as she desires she would be able to.

Anything, to escape the realisation that this is her reality (because it hurts too much to bear with the thought). That everything has gone so horribly wrong, that the world was always so unfair… that her own friend would have to try to kill her. For the greater good. He didn't say that - but she knows.

And she has never been good with emotional pain. Be it sadness and hurt, be it anger and annoyance - she never could truly suppress them like a good shinobi ought to. She never really wanted to, and now it has come to bite her in the ass once more. She wonders if those words were right: that she's just a little girl playing ninja, ignoring the responsibility that comes with it.

She can try, but she'll never be good, because at her core nothing has really changed. She can kill and heal, fight and protect - but deep down, she is overly aware that it's still the same as it was before. Only her resolution has changed, and as far as that has taken her… it's not enough.

Maru has seen her determination, her suffering. He has watched her struggle and get up, over and over - and he has to know that she has tiptoed around the issue. Not only in the last year, but for a much longer time.

She saw (so, so long ago, in the Forest of Death) that she had to change what she did - but she never changed who she was. It has always been the same, no matter how fierce and fearsome she became: she would still cry far too often, would still give in to her ire.

Always, and forever, Sakura is an emotional person. And now the punishment, the test for her true strength, has arrived.

She could give up. She could let Maru kill her, and Sasuke would be torn apart. Wouldn't that appease the imprints burned on their souls? Wouldn't it mean Konoha would be free?

Since when has she deluded herself into thinking she had a chance at facing the strongest man alive, capable of defeating Naruto and slaughtering a whole army? She's broken. She can't fight like she learned to, she can't heal like she studied for. Chakra, a thing that used to come so naturally for her, is now hard to grasp and control.

If she had to face Sasuke again, she wouldn't be able to look at him and stand her ground. It would be too much.

Her mindscape spreads around her; but it's not hers anymore. No, it's a replica of the battlefield. She can only watch as the moon returns to normalcy - a man subdues the Tailed Beasts, after killing his best friend. Kakashi is already dead. Nothing he could ever do would be able to put a dent in his defenses, but he tried anyway. There wasn't an ounce of hesitation, nor a chance of survival.

Sakura sees herself, standing in horrified silence. She watches Him wake them all up - and execute the Kages as a public display. He doesn't give them a chance, and though they fight back, there is absolutely nothing they can do. He is too strong now, leagues beyond any other human alive.

Gone are the impressive feats that the Alliance, as a whole, could perform together; the massive-scale attacks that the great players of the game could throw around (they're all dead now). Gone are people she loves, including Him - but she is far too deep in a vortex of pain and chaos, disbelieving confusion, to be able to truly understand it.

It's over. None of them can do anything, as he lets out a booming speech about peace - one charged with hatred and distaste for humanity as a whole. He doesn't believe they can achieve anything good on their own: so, for the greater good, he will be the one to guide them from the shadows. No glory, no adoration. It's his task, his duty - and he will fulfill it so there will be no more wars, no more bloodshed.

No one can stop him. No one can do a damn thing.

She can't, either.

Sasuke could have left, after this moment. He could have warned them, and disappeared into the night. He should have. But he didn't, all because of her.

Sakura watches younger herself begin to shake: her state is pitiful, but there are no black marks on her skin. There isn't a haunted look in those eyes, the one that she sees every time she looks at her own reflection. There are tears filled with hurt and a light in her gaze that, even now, she would immediately recognise as blind, undauntable love.

She remembers the cold breeze against her skin, the tiredness plaguing every single one of her muscles. Her unsteady steps, that she tried to make firm without much success. The questions she screamed at his back, each second moving her closer to the moment that would change it all.

She never really expected it to happen this way, though.

"Why are you doing this!? It's insanity!" Naruto would have been the one to scream the words, but he was dead now. The burning feeling that coursed her veins gave her strength. She had known that Sasuke fell to the darkness… but in that instant, she became so painfully aware of how deep he had fallen.

Sakura's lips tremble when she hears the spiel she launched on (she remembers every word, carved painfully in her very soul), the fearless attempt at saving him. Because all she could think about was that he was in a bad place… that he was alone and lost, driven by darkness.

Because her heart ached when she screamed I love you, can't you see that?!

And despite everything, she knew… she didn't want to lose him. She didn't want to watch him lose himself. She had never been able to reach him, had she? But she had to try, she had to-

He turns around, so deceptively slowly. Sakura flinches when she sees those eyes again: they weren't indifferent. Oh, no. They were filled with dementia. Anger, pure hatred. The demons he carried, so awfully close to being unleashed upon the world.

She should have known better.

Time blurs for her: one moment she remembers this is a genjutsu, a punishment for her failures… others, she sees it all through her original perspective again. Past and present… does it matter? After all, the pain she feels is exactly the same.

"You don't understand," he says, voice low and dangerous. You don't understand me, or the world, or shinobi… you don't understand anything. Sakura blinks, because these thoughts are not hers, but she can feel them all the same, like sharp daggers echoing in her mind.

Sakura didn't see the warning. She was entirely oblivious to what it meant. She had foolishly thought that she could argue this and win: that her words would be enough to make him understand her love. That it could all be okay, he just had to… He just had to come back.

She didn't know that he himself had forgotten the way home, that he was just as lost as she.

Her second mistake was to look past him, at the survivors of the war. These brave men and women, who seemed to be just… standing there. Dumbfounded, watching them. It pissed her off.

"What are you all doing?! You have to fight!" she hollers, her throat sore and her voice raw. She must have looked fierce, giving them all hope once more. "Are you just going to stand there and take it?! Aren't you going to do anything?!" It sounded like she was rallying them into a stand against the traitor.

They hadn't known that she was pleading - begging them to help her, to make Sasuke come back and make everything okay. She had relied the task of doing that on Naruto… but he was gone. And she didn't know anything anymore. Deep down, she knew nothing she could do would be enough. She would keep trying, running into the same wall over and over until it broke her, but it wasn't enough.

Ino had thrown the first kunai. It took half a second for the battlefield to explode into chaos, Sasuke gone from his former position, reappeared next to the blonde.

Sakura had gasped in surprise, eyes widening when the Yamanaka was effortlessly defeated. But Sasuke didn't stop. Something in his eyes, that has given her nightmares for months, goes wild. She is the tipping point. She pushes him over the edge, in a desperate effort to do the opposite… and he loses it.

Time freezes, and the torture begins.

He kills some faster than others, but is no less brutal. His murderous aura makes her shiver, charged with the deepest hatred. He hates them all, and he is a hundred percent willing to annihilate them all in order to fulfill his goal.

Insanity isn't pretty. She knows that he ends up losing himself in the fights, and wonders… if it was her fault. It feels like it. Sakura questions if he would have committed the same atrocities, had she not intervened… and she knows that the massacre wouldn't have happened.

You killed us.

Gone. Sasuke was gone. He lost the fight against his inner demons.

She ran to him, tried to stop him… but he got rid of her with shameful ease. Sakura believed that the fact that he hadn't killed her had to mean something. Amaterasu's flames burned everything in sight, torn limbs sticking out of pools of blood, mangled bodies still trying to cling to life, amid screams of agony.

It wasn't until the last survivors were attempting to flee, that he turned around to face her. He had been merely standing there, away from her, and she called out with a weak voice. All she could muster. He was completely drenched in blood, to the point that his clothes stuck to his skin. He looked battered, but he hid the exhaustion well.

She hadn't known that the only thing that kept him standing, that allowed him to cling to life, was the hatred. That he was so close to dying, his rationality consumed by unending rage.

No, Sakura had none of those things in mind. She was merely frozen in place, devoid of the majority of her chakra, of her ability to think and feel, close to a collapse.

"P-please, stop this…" She has begged a thousand times, but he ignored her every single one. The maddening cries of the fight drowned out everything else, even reason. And now that he looks at her, she can't even talk. There is too much in those eyes, things that are scary and painful and wrong.

He had injured her, yes, but so far he had been focusing on targeting other people. And she can't shake off the feeling that it was all because of her. To hurt her, to have an outlet for what she caused… she doesn't know.

Now (and then, too) it's just the two of them. Locked into a tangled, downward spiral. She stepped forward hesitantly, but immediately took a step back when he advanced. There was a grin that wasn't his plastered on his features, predatory and knowing. She was cornered.

Sakura tries to close her eyes, but she can't. She hears herself cut her pleads short, replacing them with screams. She remembers the feeling of every single inch of her body, mutilated beyond recognition; her mind, replaying the massacre with the detail of the Sharingan and flooded with illusions of her worst nightmares - over, and over, and over.

She always knew that he can kill her in an instant, should he wish to do so. But he doesn't, and the torture extended for what felt like hours. Body, mind: nothing escaped that vengeful wrath. Not even her heart.

Sakura remembers how she tries to heal and reach out to him, but he doesn't let her. There is something strange in his eyes, and she reaches out… Maybe, at this point, she knows the end is near; maybe she wants to feel him, or use the last of her strength to try to save him once more.

She can't.

The memories replay in her mindscape at sonic speed, moments blurring into one another. Experiences that don't belong to her, emotions that she never felt. It drowns her in unfathomable pain and sorrow.

The genjutsu is merciless - and she can feel that her vital energy is disappearing, bit by bit. She is literally being consumed by the jutsu, as it tears parts of her spirit and replays them without ever stopping. It's stealing her life, and it will end up devouring her when there isn't more chakra to draw from.

It takes every ounce of her strength to block it out, because her body is responding to the replays as if everything was happening again. She can't find the air for her lungs, as every cut breaks her skin once more. She can't stop her heart from aching painfully, every time Sasuke plunges a fist into her chest.

It happened before, and it happens again: she knows she can't win, but she is physically unable to give up. Because there is no one else who can take the mantle, and as lost as she is… she has to. There is nothing else she could possibly do.

Isn't that how my love for him works?

The undefined voice cuts through all the others, a self-reflecting thought that feels so distant, it might as well belong to a different person. And she considers it: for her, there never was another option, than loving him unconditionally.

What did he ever do to deserve it? When did a child's crush develop into this unyielding determination? When did her admiration, her fascination, become an affection so profound, that after everything that happened she was still unable to kill him?

She can't answer, because she doesn't know. He merely grew on her overtime, her emotions deepening enough that they slipped out of her control. She used to watch him from afar: when he was a good child, alluring because he was cute and kind and seemingly unreachable. A prince in her young eyes, something out of a fairytale.

Because of Ino, she felt a strange inspiration to try and do the impossible. It may have rubbed off on her, it might have been a bout of jealousy and envy, but for once in her life she had wanted to win. She wanted to achieve something, even if that was his care. It hadn't been more than child's play back then, but she had paid attention to him throughout the years.

Always, her mind wasn't set on why, but rather, how she would finally win his heart. Obsession, Maru called it. Interest, she counters; motivation. A goal. Her first step towards becoming the person she is today (or was, before the massacre).

And she loved him. She admired his talent, intellect and skill; she felt intrigued by the mysteries he hid behind a cold façade, she wanted to unravel the secrets of his heart. And lastly, he won her over during their time in Team Seven - when he showed a spark of emotion, of humanity. It proved that he was just like she, and she felt that if she kept trying, eventually she would get to him.

It happened like one develops a liking for coffee; it started like a moment of awe, the first time a person watches the sunrise. When they find their calling, a beauty that takes their breath away and gives them strength to fulfill their desires. It changes them forever, and she could never forget him.

Sakura's original curiosity and shy blushing (when she first saw him, so long ago) needed years to become what it is today. Since the very beginning, he called for her attention and curiosity. Her respect, when he showed what he was capable of. Her wish to give it her all - her inspiration.

It's true that she has been petty and vain because of him, that she betrayed a friend because of it and did mean things - that she lost herself in her interest. But she also learned from him (and from Naruto) what it really means to have a friend, to trust someone and do anything to keep them safe. To never abandon those she loves, no matter how dire the situation or how bleak the hope.

He showed her that he did care, and her love became all-encompassing for all the things that Sasuke Uchiha means. Even after, that one fateful night, he proved he was willing to leave her behind, if it helped achieve his goal. Even then, there was awe at how brave and strong he seemed.

She loves him, because as cold and scary, twisted and broken as he is… Sasuke is amazing. There has never been a moment where she has been able to ignore him, where his smallest action hasn't caused a ripple in her heart.

She loves him, no matter what, because since the beginning he was an anchor for her deepest thoughts and emotions. And she will keep trying, until the bitter end, because it's unfathomable for her to watch him destroy himself and do nothing about it. She cannot lose him, even if he never was hers to begin with.

Even if he will never be. A world without him is one I don't want to live in.

And if she dies… he will be gone too. If she gives up and lets Maru kill her, Sasuke will die. It tears her heart apart, but if it's near impossible to save him… she knows that saving the world too, saving Konoha, is certainly beyond her capabilities.

Yet she can't stand there and do nothing. Not anymore. There is no one else who could do it - she can't watch from the sidelines, and there is no one to best but herself and him. It's up to her now.

She never was good at suppressing emotions, because they dominated her since before the Academy. She has spent so long trying to reach him… As someone who cares about him, and as a ninja of Konoha, she has to fight until the bitter end.

Sakura knows that she could never, ever give up.

Her resolve gives her strength to fight back - and so she starts analysing every bit of data that the genjutsu feeds to her. Every jutsu has a source, thin threads of chakra tying together creation and creator.

The key to diffusing most genjutsu is picking up on the patterns that mark the reality as fake, the subtle cues that even the best users leave a trace of. More complex genjutsu add details (the Sharingan has a level of it that makes their illusions legendary, as practically impossible to break), or numb the senses and mind in order to slow down the target.

Maru's genjutsu, she finds out, is entirely different. It's only when she is under its effect, that she understands why Sasuke fell for it back at the rats' cave. There is no new information implanted in her brain, no false ideas that don't belong to her - and it doesn't come from the rat.

Instead, it's more like an all-encompassing spell that is making her brain relive all those memories - in response, her body reacts just the same as if it was happening in reality. She can't locate the source, so she attempts to disrupt her own chakra manually, as difficult as it is with the presence of the Ningyo.

It wears off, and for a moment her eyes blink back into awareness, the warm light of the sun falling upon her face. The sounds of the forest resume as if they had never been interrupted. She is sprawled on the ground, and every real ache comes back to her.

A breath later, she is assaulted by the genjutsu again - it wraps around her like a blanket, seemingly filling her every pore and sinking through her skin, and she is launched back to the start of the massacre.

She dispels it again, disbelieving of the information she's gathering, but it only lasts an instant before she is pulled down again. Sakura feels dizzy, her energy waning a little bit more with every passing second, but a sense of triumph blooms within her.

The genjutsu isn't coming from Maru… it's coming from all around her, from the energy lingering in the air and the leaves. He is redirecting it, forcing a minimal amount of it into her body and making it press some metaphorical pressure points in her mind. It's doing nothing more than enhance every single one of her senses, though out of control; heightening her awareness to the point that she is losing herself in memories that are too vivid.

It's truly brilliant, basically letting her mind do all the work, and if not for her chakra control she would never have figured it out. Once she does, she starts channeling her own chakra and pushing against the Ningyo, with just enough force to make it constrict.

She disrupts her chakra, expelling the spare and letting the seal do its job. She opens her eyes again, feeling as drained and dizzy as she always does when the Ningyo cuts her off, but back into reality.

And now, she knows what natural chakra feels like. She doesn't dare to stand up yet, knowing that she won't have enough strength for it. As it is, she is barely staying conscious. Instead, she relieves part of the pressure that her chakra is applying against the Ningyo (and thanks several deities for the practice she underwent in knowing exactly how to do this without choking herself), allowing the smallest amount of natural energy to seep through.

It causes a jolt in her heart rate, but it's small enough to maintain it under control. Painstakingly slowly, she starts gathering her own energies and blending them together. It takes far too long to do so, because if she messes this up she could die. She follows through the steps that Katsuyu made sure she remembers, for moving it around her body, bending it to her will and transforming it into usable chakra.

It burns, threatening to devour whatever energy she has left and dissolve her body from the inside out. Just a little bit more…

When she finally has enough, letting it course through her body more freely, Sakura is filled by the most exhilarating sensation: she feels alive, filled with energy and capable of anything and everything. It's intoxicating, filling her senses and heightening her emotions to the point that every single one of them hurts. Sadness and despair mix with courage and love, and it all blurs together, clouding her mind.

It's like liquid fire is coursing through her veins, painful and glorious and corrosive and liberating.

Sakura pushes herself up to her feet, surprised that her aches are dulled and her body feels lighter. She feels that she can do so much more with less chakra, more than she could ever have achieved by control alone.

This is the power that people like Naruto and Minato, Jiraiya and Hashirama wielded. Ages away from being as complete as some of them achieved, but leagues ahead of anything she has ever felt, except perhaps the release of the Yin Seal.

She calculates how long it will last, and is disappointed to find out that she needs to concentrate on gathering the chakra to be able to absorb it. It would still be suicide to do it while in the middle of a fight, but as long as she has a few seconds…

I can do this. She feels tempted to say it aloud, to jump and clap and squeal like a little girl, because for once it feels like her insurmountable obstacles aren't so tall anymore. That there is finally a way for her to break through, and she has earned herself a chance at winning. Sachi's distant voice reminds her that she may or may not be drunk on power, but she doesn't care.

She feels more than hears the buzzing in the air behind her; Maru has a distinctly watery aura to him, she notices. He makes the chakra flow through and around him with a mastery that leaves her in awe. It diminishes the sound of cutting through the atmosphere, barely displacing any energy at all… but she notices it.

Everything around her is vibrating with life, flowing so perfectly and freely that it's almost distracting. Time seems to slow down, as she calculates the trajectory of the rat and crouches down low. He flies overhead, sailing past her in near-silence. Even with her increased reflexes and speed, she just barely manages to stay out of the way.

Sakura doesn't give him a moment (she has to end this fight soon, or her advantage will be lost), darting forward and catching Maru mid-air. He slips between her fingers, his fur cool and giving off the illusion of wetness. Her contact pushes him off-course and makes him fly into a tree. He lands on the bark with elegance, and merely looks at her.

She remains in an awaiting stance, ready to counterattack the moment he decides to strike again. She's ready, more than she has ever been, and there is no fear in her heart. She thinks about Sasuke, and cannot wait to show him what she's capable of. I'll save you.

"You did it, ah. Congratulations," he whispers, and she doesn't miss how hoarse his voice sounds. She catches a hint of amusement in his words.

He jumps down from the tree and walks away, leaving her completely dumbfounded. Sakura blinks a few times, and when he doesn't come back after half a minute, she feels rage flood her every pore.

"What the hell?! SHANNARŌ! COME BACK HERE, YOU JERK!"

"You don't need me, ah," Maru insists, with a tone that suggests a rather significant amount of annoyance at her antics. "You proved yourself, there is no need for us to fight anymore."

But I want to beat you up! However, Sakura doesn't say it, limiting herself to angrily crossing her arms and pouting deeply. She needs to think about this carefully, because Maru is very damn good at dodging, even if it's in a verbal sense.

"You tried to kill me, you owe me," she counters, pretending to not be interested in the rat's work. She is still on the high of senjutsu chakra, and since she isn't burning it in a fight, it will take a while to dissipate. Sakura can't say she dislikes it.

"I also saved your life several times, ah."

The pinkette doesn't feel like giving in, but it's a fair point, so she concedes that argument for the time being. It is already late afternoon, and Maru has affirmed that the only reason he is still here is that he needs to undo the sealwork on Misho.

Sakura was rightfully pissed to know that there was a seal in the kid's eyes. And it has been there since his outburst in Frost Country. Maru nonchalantly commented that it was the best place to hide the ink; by showing his affinity with the rats, Misho became an official part of their so-called family. It was their duty to protect him, hence Maru's interest in the kid.

By extension, that made Sakura one of their people, as she had become the caretaker of Misho and was more than willing to go to great lengths for him. After the outburst in Shimo, Maru placed a seal on him, restrictive of his pathways. It took months of practice, but by now Misho has proven that he can keep it under control.

You care about us, you asshole, don't act like you don't! Sakura is almost amused at how her Inner voice is a lot more rowdy due to the influence of the new chakra, and just barely manages to avoid voicing those thoughts out loud. Fondness, however, fills her heart… Maru did care about them after all, and she can only guess how difficult it must have been for him to accept it.

I just do, ah. Questioning her - as if trying to find the reasoning for his own feelings. He was ready to kill her if it helped, but he gave her every chance to do things right. The slugs had been watching their fight, after all, waiting to intervene if needed be.

"Why now?" she inquires, and then directs her gaze at Katsuyu. "And how could you ally against me?" The slug lets out a small squelch of what could be distress, almost guilty.

"Our King is dead, ah. We have lost our source of strength, so we will have to regroup to make a new one," Maru informs casually. Sakura's jaw goes slack at the revelation, and she is about to formulate another question when he continues. "By the time I become an individual again, ah, you will both be long dead. I am here because Twat needs his connection removed, and you needed a wake-up call, ah."

His apparent weakness, his debilitated state - even the increased frequency of his 'verbal tic' that sounds like a sigh, as if he were running out of breath. Sakura understands now, and it fills her with such strong anguish that her eyes almost tear up. Damn heightening chakra…

"That's so sad!" she blurts out, her voice rather high-pitched, and then she slaps a hand over her mouth, blushing.

"As your current mentor, Sakura, it was necessary to test you," intervenes Katsuyu, softly spoken as usual. "You have progressed immensely fast, but your training is far from over."

The slugs allowed Maru into the Shikkotsu Forest; something about ancient treaties that Sakura had no idea about. Part of her wants to ask about it incessantly (and she curses how easily excited she is right now), but mostly she feels offended and slightly betrayed.

"Don't concern yourself over this, ah," adds Maru, finally turning away from his work. As soon as he is free to move, Misho stretches and lies down on the grass, stiff after a good half an hour of being subjected to sealwork. "This world is careering into true chaos. Ancient beasts are awakening, the flow of natural energy has been disrupted, and your human countries are going to war."

War. It's too soon for the world to be falling into it again, but Sakura can only inquire further, despite the unpleasant feelings it is sure to bring upon her. Maru glances at her, apparently considering if he should tell her, but he finally makes a sound that is suspiciously similar to a sigh and speaks:

"Your dear Uchiha brat, damn him and all his cheaty tricks, is about to push your village into a shithole so deep they might not even come out of it."

A.N.: There you go! This chapter should tie up the majority of Maru's character arc (for the most part) and set in stone Sakura's perspective of Sasuke (some of you mentioned that it was interesting to delve into her side of it, but I had been putting off a true explanation until now). I really hope you can feel her emotions as much as I tried to represent them (even the 'high' she gets out of natural chakra!), because as a character this chapter was a defining point for her.

It also should give you, combined with Interlude II and the flashbacks in other chapters, enough information to piece together how the massacre went down, which had been a big question mark up until now.

Post-ending note: I suppose it counts as a funfact, but Maru is the character who has some of the most particular speech quirks in this story. One of his greatest traits is that air of self-assurance - everything he does or says is perfectly controlled and measured. It makes his jabs a bit more irritating. His 'ah' are supposed to sound a little like a hum, as if he was giving assent to his own sentences. However, he never asks a direct question - instead, he uses this speech quirk, shifting the sound to the end of the sentence with a different tone. A little of his behavior is based on an impish take on Itachi. I hadn't planned for him to be too important, but he was always so much fun to write...

Response to "Mars": it feels like you probably abandoned the story before getting here, since you commented on how slow it was (it's that type of story, so I know it doesn't get any better), but thanks for reviewing anyways! Regarding Sakura, she was more or less in shock and denial, so she didn't feel ready to push for the truth (your point is good, though, even if it's justifiable). The start of the story just kind of required a couple of OCs to fill in the voids left by the canon characters (though Kiri is in canon, I couldn't find minor characters that worked for the other roles, thus the presence of new ones :/).

Thank you all for being 'round (knowing you guys enjoy this story is a huge motivation to keep going, after all), I'll see ya next week!

Cheerps,

Blu.