Exegesis Chapter 22, a naruto fanfic

Summary: What happens next, and the aftermath. Naruto has a mental breakdown. Aratashiki wakes up, and someone else goes to sleep.

Remember the warning about graphic medical descriptions/injuries? Yeah. That is the prevailing warning for this chapter.

"Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chapter 22: I'm Lost in a World That Doesn't Exist

9:53 A.M.

When Naruto arrived, he had asked about Sasuke's whereabouts as his first order of business before they would have their breakfast together. Second in line was the matter of what they were going to eat, of course. His loud entrance drowned out the already faint sound of the bathroom mirror breaking. Sakura had been so absorbed in her cooking efforts that she startled and nearly dropped the donabe full of porridge when Naruto came barging in. Pausing for a moment to set down her cookware before responding to the noisy blonde, Sakura answered that Sasuke had gone to use her restroom upstairs. Her eyebrows furrowed; he had been in there for half an hour, though, she added. There was a beat of silence and before any speculations could be made, they heard the faint but distinct thud of someone collapsing on the second floor of the home.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as everyone tensed in anticipation. Sakura and Naruto exchanged an alarmed glance, and then Naruto was sprinting up the stairs towards the source of the commotion with the pinkette close behind. He bolted towards the closed bathroom door and shook the handle hard enough that it should have broken off, knowing full well that he shouldn't expect it to be unlocked. The scent of iron wafted up towards him from underneath the door, and Naruto began to panic, his heart beating erratically in response to the overwhelming fear and dread that washed over him.

"Sasuke," he shouted, pounding on the door. 'Sasuke!'

"The sword is gone," Sakura said, rushing out of her bedroom. "I knew something was wrong. I knew it. I..."

"Huh? What do you-"

"Shit. Shit! Naruto, move!"

The blonde jumped out of the way just in time for Sakura's fist to connect with the inner edge of wooden door, ripping it from its hinges; before it fell, she caught hold of it and threw it down and out of the way. Upon entering the bathroom Sakura made a strange noise and collapsed onto her knees. Naruto already knew - in a general sense - what she was seeing without having to ask.

"Fuck, oh my god," he said, stepping past Sakura while curses continued to pour from his mouth. "Fuck, Sasuke. Oh god. What the fuck."

The profanity was an involuntary reflex, not intentional, while his brain struggled to process what he was seeing. Naruto knelt down on the other side of Sasuke's body, unconcerned about being dirtied by the blood that was rapidly pooling on the tile floor. His knees folded underneath him when he'd fallen, and his torso was slumped against the wall at an unnatural angle. The expression on his face was entirely too peaceful - eyes closed, mouth slightly opened as if he were only taking a nap. Sasuke's skin was incredibly pale, which made sense given the sheer amount of blood leaking out all around them. His stomach was the hardest part to reconcile, what was left of it at least. Naruto was no expert on anatomy but had enough mind to recognize that the visible parts of Sasuke were not supposed to ever be visible or out in the open. The current state of their friend was not a sight either of them would forget. Never.

"What do we do?" Naruto asked, already reaching for the sword's hilt to throw it out of their way. "Sakrua, what do we do? Is he dead? What do I do? "

Sakura's glazed over eyes suddenly snapped back into focus, and her hands began to glow bright green as they hovered over the wound. Or at least, part of it. Sasuke had jerked the blade out through the side of his abdomen, partially bisecting his torso and disemboweling himself. A method of suicide he had heard of but hadn't yet witnessed herself. Sakura had encountered far more horrific injuries than this on the battlefield - in the anatomical sense - but this was self-inflicted and it was Sasuke, which made it one of the most disturbing things she'd seen thus far in her life. Madara and Obito joined the catastrophe then, both too shocked to say anything, and were commanded by Sakura to go outside and start accosting people for help so that they could hopefully reach Tsunade, Kakashi, or someone else familiar. They would need help transporting his body in this state.

Naruto looked at Sakura expectantly. Desperate for her to say something, anything, to give him guidance.

Thank god she had cleaned the bathroom the day before, Sakura thought - that would minimize the chance of any organs contracting an infection from surface contact.

"I need you…" she faltered for a moment, taking a breath before continuing, "I need you to put everything you can back inside and then hold the wound closed so that I can try and stop the bleeding."

Paling a bit, Naruto nodded in understanding and began trying to piece his friend back together. The sight, smell, and sound of their ordeal was nauseating and almost overwhelming, but for obvious reasons Sasuke's survival was more important than any amount of visceral discomfort.

"Don't worry about placement, Naruto. We'll fix that in surgery - right now I just need to stop whatever bleeding I can and keep the organ tissue from dying."

Naruto finished the task as instructed, staring up at the ceiling to avoid having to watch while he pulled Sasuke's separated abdomen closed, or as close as it could be in that state, and held the halves of his friend together.

He couldn't imagine how Sasuke had even managed all of this without making any noise; the fact that he was able to remain completely silent while maiming himself was more terrifying to Naruto than the visceral horror of the injury. Sure, he'd known that Sasuke was not altogether well in the head and needed psychiatric treatment, but he never imagined that his mental state was this bad. Things like this were supposed to be reserved for the truly insane, and Sasuke was not insane - at least, Naruto didn't think so - which meant that instead, he was broken beyond comprehension. It took every ounce of Naruto's self control not to be consumed by his own despair in that moment.

xxxxxxx

10:07 A.M.

Sakura's hands shook as she scrubbed them clean in the sink of the decontamination room. Her body had been numb with shock since she broke down the door and saw him lying there in a pool of his own blood and...and he had all but bisected himself - oh god oh god oh god - Sakura shoved the image away. Without a doubt it was a ritual suicide, which Madara confirmed for them all; harakiri , an old custom that was really only practiced by the Samurai in the Land of Iron nowadays. It was supposed to be an honorable death, and sickening as it was it did make sense that Sasuke would choose such a method. A cruel irony, after all that had happened during and since the final battle of the war.

"Haruno-hakase," her circulating nurse said, barging into the room. They were in a hurry, every second counted. "We've matched his blood, it's warming up now - the wound has been decontaminated as well. Tsunade-hakase has already begun, are you ready?"

"Yes."

Sasuke's case was a special one, in the sense that it was especially severe. Medical ninjutsu was very powerful, yes, but there were limits - Sakura and Tsunade could regenerate the majority of their own bodies and organs, but this ability did not transfer to others to the same extent. It also did not work on non-living patients, body tissue, or cells, which further pressed them for time. This wasn't a wound they could just pour chakra on and expect to heal properly - the affected internal organs would require extensive reconstruction in order to be saved at all. If that wasn't enough, then….

Pulling her mask over the lower half of her face, Sakura put on her professional face and entered the OR, standing on the opposite side of the operating table from Tsunade. She locked eyes with her mentor and a wave of emotion threatened to spill over the fragile barrier she'd constructed.

"Haruno, start cauterizing so Kangoshi can start his transfusion," Tsunade ordered. "I'm going to begin reconnecting the intestinal arteries."

She had to keep it together and focus as well as she did with any other patient, even though this wasn't just any other patient.

"Hypogastric artery is severed, reconnecting to the common iliac artery now," Tsunade said.

This was Sasuke.

"Renal arteries and veins have been severed. Inferior vena cava has no lesions. Retying into the left kidney. Both organs are intact - right kidney is in end-stage failure. Removing to mitigate shock. Upper digestive tract and associated organs are intact, moving on to assess lower abdominal injuries."

She wouldn't let him die. He couldn't. They could fix this.

"Sigmoid and cecum have been segmented. Appendix is intact. Partial ileal segment located."

Sakura continued her work while Tsunade called out her observations, and the scrub nurse followed along, helping regenerate and reconstruct portions of the intestine - per Tsunade's instruction - before the tissue died and was unable to be salvaged.

"Ascending colon cannot be recovered."

The sword had eviscerated his abdomen and sliced clean through several vertebrae, including the corresponding section of the spinal cord, but the gentle flexing of his diaphragm gave Sakura hope. If he was breathing then he wasn't dead yet.

"Descending colon cannot be recovered."

They started the blood transfusion. Sakura had always wanted to be a surgeon - she was good at it. She'd always thought it would be easy to operate on someone she cared about, she would feel in control, she would be motivated and hyper-focused on saving them.

"Transverse colon cannot be recovered."

His body temperature was a few degrees too low but the new blood would warm him up. Sakura was struggling to focus, she was petrified. Here, participating, she did not have the thin veil of ignorance provided by a waiting room. His prognosis was updated for her in real-time. There was no buffer zone prolonging her optimism.

"Removing excess tissue to try and locate the duodenum and jejunum."

Sakura noticed his diaphragm movement falter and then stop. Well, it became so slow that the movement was too slight for the naked eye. He was about to code - part of her was surprised it had taken this long for him to crash in the first place. She stopped what she was doing and tried to locate a pulse.

"Patient has no pulse. Tear down the drapes and begin compressions," Sakura ordered.

Kangoshi, the circulating nurse, rushed to the intercom, while the scrub nurse removed their obstructions and started performing CPR.

"Rapid response needed in OR 1-0-2, we have a code blue," Kangoshi said before quickly hanging up. "Code blue initiated, I'm going to get the crash cart."

The other nurse continued her chest compressions and Tsunade established an airway by holding Sasuke's forehead down to keep his trachea open. Sakura began preparing an external defibrillator - a brand new technology that hadn't been used much yet, but could be life-saving. It was modeled after lightning-release user techniques. Her mind was racing, and if not for her muscle memory serving as a sort of auto-pilot Sakura would have been completely defunct in that moment.

She didn't realize that she had in fact stopped moving until Ino was leaning around her and prying the shock pads from her hands. After handing them off to a nurse to take over the role, Ino wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulders and guided her into the observation room. She helped Sakura peel off her bloodied gloves and rinse off her hands, and pulled her mask down under her chin so she could breathe more readily. They sat down in two of the chairs near the viewing glass, and Ino turned towards her to speak.

"I'm sorry. Tsunade asked me to take you out of there. It's too emotional of an environment for-"

"Did you see?" Sakura asked. "Did you see what he did?"

"I saw, Sakura," Ino responded.

For a moment they sat in silence.

"It cut through his spine, Ino. Massive bowel devitalization doesn't even cover it, there is almost nothing left, just shredded tissue in various states of cell death."

The atmosphere in the room felt unbearably heavy.

"If we'd gotten to the bathroom even a minute later he would have already bled out. I can't believe he even made it to the hospital."

Ino didn't say anything, reaching over and grabbing Sakura's hand. She immediately clung to the blonde with a death grip, but Ino didn't mind - better for Sakura to break her hand than the walls or some poor nurse.

"I shouldn't have left him alone for so long. I knew something was off, Ino. I knew . We've been researching traumatic stress responses and I knew . After their fight, he told Naruto he was going to off himself. He literally said, "I will just put an end to myself". That he didn't have a reason for living, that when he wasn't feeling nothing he was in agony. That he was just going to burden us. Hell, even before that I had to talk him down from a panic attack right in front of the ten-tails. Caused by a minor genjutsu - a clear trigger. He had a flashback and a panic attack. I also know that he has hardly slept at all since we returned to the village. He participated but was never interested in any of the card games I brought to entertain them in the cell, which he used to love. Always looked anxious and on edge. Never showed any emotion though, his eyes were empty, like they have been since we were children."

She took a breath.

"If our academic work was finished already, then Sasuke would be the textbook example of the kind of patient we are studying. He should have been kept here, in the hospital, but I let them lock him up instead. I knew. I knew and I still said nothing because I...because I was desensitized to it, Ino. Despite all of my training, I saw but didn't acknowledge what was right in front of me. He has been like this for so long , at some point these things stopped being warning signs and just became 'Sasuke' to me."

In the OR, they had given him a shot of adrenaline and were on the fourth round of defibrillator shocks. Everyone in the room knew that it was all for show, for Sakura and for Naruto especially, even though he wasn't watching.

"No one survives that level of physical trauma and organ damage," Sakura said in an even tone.

The activity in the room stopped, and everyone who had been working on resuscitating Sasuke stepped away from the table save for a lone nurse who continued compressions, per protocol. It had been twenty-four minutes since Sakura entered the upstairs bathroom. Less than two hours since they'd all gathered in the plaza. Three hours since the Uchihas were released from their cell. He'd been hers for an hour and it wasn't enough, it was nowhere near enough, it was unacceptable.

Tsunade's back was to them but Sakura could see the hesitation in her shishou's form as she glanced at the clock on the wall. The older woman turned around and looked at Sakura through the glass. It was customary to call the patient's death in front of their family, after receiving the family's approval. Naruto could have been brought in, but he wouldn't...it just wasn't a good idea, and if they brought Kakashi in they would not be able to keep Naruto out as well. So, she locked eyes with her Shisou, and consented to the cessation of revival efforts.

Time of death: 10:17 a.m.

"He didn't even scream, Ino. Sasuke did that to himself without making a sound ." Her voice had raised in both pitch and volume, the barrier finally giving way. "Who does that?"

Quiet sobs shook Sakura's body so violently that she began to fall forward off of the edge of her seat. Ino caught her in her arms and wrapped the pinkette in a tight embrace, helpless while her friend - and a part of herself as well - broke into a thousand mismatched pieces as they sat and cried together on the cold, linoleum floor of the operating theatre.

xxxxxxx

10:20 A.M.

It was not the first time something like this had happened to someone Naruto was close to. Kakashi had died not even half a year ago during Pain's assault. Gaara had died too, when the Akatsuki extracted his Bijuu. He was reliving that nightmare, but this time it was ten times worse and there was no rinnegan-wielding Nagato, no Granny Chiyo, and no last-minute appearance of Hagoromo to bring Sasuke back to life. He was dead. Sasuke was dead on an operating table ten meters away. When they first came to the hospital there was a wall and a barrage of nurses and his sensei and then Yamato between them, and now the veil between life and death was separating them too and there was no amount of chakra, or talk-no-jutsu, or rasengan big enough to break through to Sasuke.

"No, no, no, no, this isn't supposed to happen, everything is going so wrong-"

"Naruto-"

"-it's not supposed to turn out this way!"

Hinata had never seen Naruto in so much pain and she was scared, everyone was scared - of him and what he might do or not do, but also for him. Naruto deserved the truth, but maybe they should have waited for him to calm down before breaking it to him that Sasuke had been declared dead, or found a gentler way to tell him. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, though, Hinata deemed it foolish. There probably wasn't an easier way to give that kind of news. How naive it was of all of them to think that, with the war over, everyone was safe and invincible and undying. That the darkness had passed and they had all made it out unscathed. In reality they weren't even safe from themselves.

Their friends had all come as soon as possible, to be there for Naruto and Sakura, and were in the waiting room at the end of the hallway being given the news as well. Naruto made another break for the operating room and Hinata moved to try and catch him, but Kakashi beat her to it. Kakashi started to say something and was quickly told off by Naruto; the hokage looked beyond tired as he held onto his devastated student. So often in his life Kakashi had lost those he cared about, and now he was losing two more - because the bond between Naruto and Sasuke was so strong and so integral to both of their beings that Naruto might as well have died on that operating table with him.

That was the plan, to either die fighting each other or die fighting alongside one another. Not like this.

"Why didn't you let me help? I could've saved him," Naruto was shouting, "I have my six paths powers, I have the fucking, the Uzumaki bite shit, but you wouldn't even let me try! "

They had called Captain Yamato for backup before arriving at the hospital in case things escalated, but Hinata sincerely hoped that it would not come to that. If Naruto did snap, then attempting to contain him would be futile, anyways.

"Naruto, I understand what you are going through, and I can tell you that this behavior isn't going to make it any easier," Kakashi said. He was as calm-facing as ever, but the man had to have a limit - one that was quickly approaching on the horizon. "You can't blame your-"

Kakashi was cut off when Naruto threw him into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster; fortunately, not enough to break through or seriously injure Kakashi. Hinata was at a loss, and part of her wanted to cry like the old her would have, but she needed to be strong for Naruto. If he gave up then she would just have to keep believing in things for the both of them. She didn't know what to do, but decided it was likely best if she didn't physically intervene before Kakashi and Yamato did. Naruto's fury was palpable and bordering on killing intent, yet there was no sign of the nine-tails, and that in and of itself was a miracle amidst the tragedy unfolding.

"Shut the fuck up, you don't know shit ," Naruto screamed, swinging a fist at the older man.

Unable to stop herself, Hinata hurried over to him and caught hold of his good arm as he removed it from the hole he'd created in the wall. Kakashi had of course gracefully dodged the blow, and now stood a few paces away, muscles tensed in preparation to retaliate if Naruto tried anything while Hinata attempted to reason with him.

"Naruto, please don't do this. It's okay to be angry, but Sasuke wouldn't want-"

It was dumb luck that Neji was on a different floor of the hospital, and thereby not present to witness Naruto shoving Hinata to the floor while spewing anger and vitriol at her. The ensuing fight would have resulted in at least one more death that day. Neji was no match for the nine-tails jinchuriki, not even with all the righteous contempt held for a person who dared to treat and manhandle his cousin - or any of his friends, for that matter - in such an atrocious manner.

"Don't you dare act like you know Sasuke. Have you ever even talked to him, Hinata? Huh?"

The wind was nearly knocked out of Hinata when her back hit the floor; thankfully she was able to brace her neck in time to keep her head from slamming against the tile. Sitting up slowly, Hinata controlled her breathing and cleared any contemptuous feelings from her mind, because she was not the person in that situation who was truly hurting. Hinata kept her chin high and her expression calm, her eyes locked onto Naruto's but refusing to vocally respond. She would rather he let everything out on his own, without risking further provocation.

"No, you haven't. You were too busy hovering around me like a fucking fly!" he shouted, seething. "Living in someone's shadow isn't the same as knowing them, Hinata. Don't kid yourself."

"Big mistake, buddy," Kakashi growled, shoving the blonde from behind to throw him off-balance. "Huge. Yamato!"

The decision to use the OR on the ground level of the hospital had likely been strategic in hindsight, Hinata thought, as she watched thick wooden roots erupt from the ground and wrap around Naruto's limbs, effectively restraining him for the moment. She wasn't hurt, physically or otherwise. Once upon a time she would've cowered, cried, and taken his actions as a deeply personal affront, allowing herself to be completely heartbroken and defeated. But she knew better.

Through no fault of his own, Naruto had been one way for almost their entire lives - he had been Naruto, with Sasuke Uchiha as a constant presence in his life. And now that such an important and pervasive variable had been removed indefinitely, Naruto was someone else. He was someone after , someone without . Hinata was too smart to expect the same treatment she'd received before from an entirely new individual.

Thrashing about like a wild beast within his living cage, it seemed that Naruto really would come apart at the seams. It was a rare thing to witness the total annihilation of someone's character, to watch them begin the descent into madness, and it was disturbing to the others on an almost primal level. Like being in a genjutsu, everything felt fundamentally wrong - but this wasn't a genjutsu, only a terrible, execrable, macabre version of reality that they were forced to live with and confront. Hinata worried that her own mind might break from just watching Naruto experience that very thing.

"Fuck you, Kakashi," Naruto spat. His irises were red, but Kurama seemed otherwise in control of their chakra for the moment. "This is your fault, all of this, our entire miserable lives. You failed Sasuke when you let him leave the village. You didn't do enough, didn't fight for him. Why did you let him leave, Kakashi? You were so ready to kill him after the summit, so are you happy now? Is this what you wanted?"

The man was frozen stiff but otherwise unreadable as he sat back and took it while Naruto unleashed his wrath with shocking vituperation.

"Everyone around you dies, Kakashi. At some point you have to realize that you're the common denominator, you know? You're the fuck-up. Killed the only teammate who actually liked you and the other one, who you left to die under a fucking boulder, watched you do it. He was so mad that he went on a goddamn crusade against the village out of spite. Set Kurama loose after taking him out of my mother while she was giving birth to me . Do you know what happened next, Kakashi? Want to help me finish the story?"

Kakashi stayed quiet, his composure unwavering in what appeared to be an incredible display of self-control. The hospital was deathly silent; their friends stood and watched from the far end of the hallway, none daring to move or say anything lest Naruto turn his torrent of invective on them instead. For some reason, Iruka had shown up with Madara and Obito as well. Hinata's subconscious noted that the two men were no longer missing their eyes, but her conscious mind dismissed the information in light of what was happening in her immediate proximity.

"No? OK, I'll do it all on my own. Don't worry sensei, I'm used to it, you know," Naruto sneered. "Kurama was sent on a rampage that killed a fuck-ton of people. Including my parents, who sacrificed themselves to stop the disaster that the friend who you fucked up caused. Thank you, by the way - because of that, Kurama was sealed inside of me, and I got to grow up being fucking hated by our entire village. Along with the Uchiha clan, actually. In fact, they were so hated, that Itachi Uchiha was ordered to slaughter his entire clan after they started planning a coup d'etat to deal with it all. And Itachi did it! Men, women, children, all murdered by a brainwashed thirteen year old. With the help of your teammate , by the way."

"What?" Kakashi whispered, faltering if only for a moment.

"Yeah, Obito didn't tell you about that part, did he? So, another event in which one of your various fuck ups was the catalyst. But wait, there's more!"

Kakashi's gaze flickered down the hallway, briefly meeting Obito's pained expression before returning to his former student. The realization that he had just looked into Obito's eyes could only mean one thing, and selfishly he hoped it meant that there might be a way to reverse this calamity.

"Not only did you ruin my childhood and cause Itachi to go fucking insane from being forced to murder his own family - after which said insanity inspired Itachi to ruin Sasuke's entire fucking life - but that guy Obito? He helped create the Akatsuki, too. The group led by Nagato, the guy who destroyed our village and killed almost everyone in it, including you, Kakashi, five months ago! Five months ago . But I digress," Naruto said, watching while Kakashi backed himself against the wall as if he needed the physical support in order to maintain his emotional stability.

"Keep going, Naruto. I can take it," he said; not sounding sad, or hurt, or furious, but defeated. Tired.

"You can, huh? Too bad you couldn't take it when the three of us mildly inconvenienced you by existing. Never even bothered to show up to training on time. Even though you'd already fucked up mine and Sasuke's lives by that point, you still couldn't find it in you to give us the incredible luxury of occasional punctuality. Poor Sakura had to deal with our shit while being simultaneously neglected by you - her sensei, her one shot at breaking away from her civilian family and her shitty dad. I bet you don't even know about him, do you? Pathetic. I could go on and on about all of the shit that you caused, but the important takeaway is this, what we're doing right now, why we're doing it." Naruto used his head to gesture around them.

Naruto's eyes were possessed. Not by a demon, or Kurama, or any other outside force, but by his own darkness that he'd battled against for so long. By someone hidden deep within his heart who'd been devoid of positivity for what felt to them like an eternity, and who was perfectly content to have others join them in that miserable state. It was the same look they'd seen in Sasuke's eyes after the Five Kage Summit.

"Kakashi Hatake, congratulations. Today, your cursed existence reached its fuck-up fever pitch when Sasuke Uchiha committed suicide via literal ritual disembowelment inside of Sakura's bathroom," Naruto announced. "That's how he died. Alone, next to the toilet, in a bathroom with pink polka-dot wallpaper, by his own sword."

The blonde paused while the words sunk in, his mouth splitting into a deranged grin.

"Man, I bet you're gutted . Just like Sasuke! Hey, why don't you go join him on Sakura's bathmat? Well, the pieces of him that I couldn't dig out of the fabric. I'm sure he would love the company, you know!"

He began to laugh hysterically at his own sick joke - an irrational, nauseating sound - and thus Naruto had thoroughly disappointed, appalled, and silenced everyone around him with his unprecedented display of everything they thought he was fundamentally incapable of. His was conduct to which no more obloquy could reasonably attach.

Naruto continued to laugh until he was promptly shut up by what was likely the hardest slap he would ever be subject to, courtesy of Sakura Haruno. Her tears were far from being dry - they hadn't ceased their flow, in fact - but regardless she'd found the strength to try and keep her only remaining original teammate from going even further off of the deep end.

The blonde made no attempt to strike back, not even so much as a flinch was given in retaliation. That miniscule action, or lack thereof, was the first thing he'd done so far that genuinely hurt Hinata - that visible confirmation of her inferiority. She'd always wanted to move up from the third spot on Naruto's peer totem-pole and surpass either Sakura or Sasuke. Now that she was technically in second, Hinata regretted ever wishing for such a thing in the first place.

"Pull yourself together, Naruto," Sakura said. "Don't you dare leave me too, you asshole."

"Sakura, I-"

"And don't you ever speak about my father. That comment completely disregarded my privacy and the trust I placed when I confided in you. And you'd better figure out a way to apologize to Kakashi sensei because your information is incomplete at best and your blame is misplaced. Hinata, too. How dare you treat her like that! She died for you five months ago, and one month ago she saved your life. Who do you think you are?"

Sakura managed to accomplish what no one else had been able in the short time since Sasuke was pronounced dead, and Naruto finally started to cry. The roots binding his limbs were retracted, affording him the dignity of collapsing onto the ground and crumpling into a fetal position to muffle his own sobs. Kakashi slid down the wall and joined him on the floor, followed by Sakura.

"I thought he was stronger, Sakura. He took the easy way out, god dammit."

"Don't say that," Sakura whispered.

"Look what he did. I can't believe he's dead, fu-" a sharp intake of breath cut Naruto off as his lungs fought to take in more air. "Why does it hurt so much? Just stop. Please make it stop. Please. This isn't real. It can't be real."

"I know, Naruto," Sakura whispered. "I know."

Naruto screamed, clawing at his hair with his head hovering above his knees. A loud, drawn out expression of pure agony and utter loss. The noise made Sakura whimper, and several of their friends - Hinata included - began to cry. It was such a horrible, terrible sound.

"I loved him. I fucking loved him," Naruto wept. "Sasuke...I'm never going to forgive you."

xxxxxxx

10:20 A.M

Her upper body bolted upright, eyes wide, mouth open and gasping for air as if she had been holding her breath underwater. The unfamiliar room came into focus, drab white walls and fluorescent lights greeting her pupils with a harsh brightness. Looking down at her lap revealed a mess of pads and wires stuck to her arms, head, and chest, an IV fluid drip, and a feeding tube that had been pushed through her nose and down her throat.

Aratashiki ripped out the feeding tube first, followed by the IV. She started peeling off the plethora of sticky tabs but quickly grew impatient and ripped the wires off of them instead. Flinging the blanket off of her legs, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. It took a moment to regain her balance, and then she was striding across the room and throwing open the door.

Panic was consuming her. She didn't know where she was, how long she had been asleep, what had happened after she-

"Neji!" She yelled, spotting him from behind right as he was rounding the corner at the end of the hall.

Neji whirled around in shock. "Ara? Wh- you're awake? You're awake."

Something was wrong; she could feel it in her bones. He didn't look any older, so surely the issue wasn't that she had been asleep for years or anything. But she felt the same sense of dread she'd felt during those harrowing moments when they fought the ten-tails, when Neji had nearly thrown his life away. When she had the nightmare. It seemed like such a long time ago now. And she'd avoided that fate, she thought. She fixed things. Right?

"What happened? Is Kaguya- did they seal her? What day is it, what's happening?" Her questions tumbled out in a near-incomprehensible stream.

"I, um," Neji stammered, beginning to walk towards her. "Fuck."

He walked past her and into the room to dial someone on the intercom, ignoring her questions.

"What happened, Neji?"

Glancing at her, he took a breath and spoke shortly into the wall. "Hello, I- Ino? Thank god. She's awake. Can you bring- yes, my thoughts exactly. Thank you."

Lifting his finger off of the button pressed to speak, Neji took a deep breath; his eyes hadn't yet parted from her own. That was when it hit her. The panic, the dread she was fearing wasn't her own, but that of the people nearby. At that point she intentionally broadened her senses, and was overcome with a profound sense of despair, the source of which took her a moment to recognize. Whatever just occurred had such a great effect on them that it literally altered their chakra signature, but not so much that it was no longer distinct. There was no mistaking this energy.

"Naruto…what happened to Naruto?" she asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha is dead," Neji murmured. "He took his own life less than an hour ago."

That was impossible. Well, no, she thought, not impossible, but that couldn't be right. Sasuke had redeemed himself, she was there when it happened, when he chose to accept their forgiveness and a second chance. They fixed things, she helped them fix things, she made sure they would be able to protect themselves. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Was it her fault? Had she interfered with something she shouldn't have, altered some unforeseen fate? Perhaps she had meddled too much despite her effort not to and ruined things. Naruto - the Naruto she was currently sensing - was not...he didn't have those convictions anymore. The ones that were discussed between them all when she brought them before Hagoromo. Naruto is the only one who could accomplish those things, who could incite that change which would save them from her people.

While she didn't have the literal foresight that her wretched elder brother possessed, Aratashiki could still see very clearly the fact that they were doomed. She'd made a mistake, she should have just sucked it up and fought Kaguya with them anyways. It's not like she would have died. But no, she'd been too focused on not detracting from their personal growth. She didn't understand how or why it led to this, but felt convinced that somehow it had.

The next course of action was obvious for her. There was no other route to take. She knew what would happen if she crossed this line; playing God was playing with fire. But Sasuke Uchiha simply could not die, not now, so what other choice did she have?

xxxxxxx

10:45 A.M.

Madara felt deeply for the young man in front of him as he lashed out at the people he loved the most. He had been in that place before and knew the loss of self very well, and for a moment his heart was breaking all over again for himself, Izuna, and now for Naruto. In a cruel twist of irony, the person who managed to pull Madara back from the brink was now being subjected to a similar fate. Over the past month he'd thought about his life so far, what he wanted to do now, what his future could hold; he'd been unable to reach a conclusion that felt satisfying.

When they'd described Sasuke's injuries to him, however, the purpose of the second life he'd been given and spared for had suddenly become crystal clear to Madara.

He'd finally had his eyes - normal eyes of course, lacking any visual prowess - restored by that strange woman only a few minutes ago. The Otsutsuki, the one Kaguya had expressed fear and reverence for, which still seemed unimaginable to Madara. That woman had yet to even reach her twenties, had a fool's tongue, and apparently lacked the chakra control to keep from burning through it all in a single fight, despite having so much to begin with. How scary could she really be? No matter, let the cowards cower. Weakness disgusted him.

She'd been awfully irritating to deal with just now, too, ranting and raving about how she was personally responsible for screwing up the future of humanity, or some nonsense. It was laughable for her to try and take credit for his bullshit. Not to mention her cousin's hand in it all. However, she had no qualms restoring his and Obito's eyesight, which was a great relief; the girl was too distracted to give pause for thought. She was busy plotting to use - he assumed - the outer path in order to resurrect Sasuke.

It would be unfair to pin the responsibility of saving the day unto her when there was something he himself could do to rectify the unnecessary gash in the fabric of their reality. By her logic, she was 'immortal', so even if bringing him back killed her it wouldn't actually matter. Madara had argued that 'not mattering' was precisely why she could do no such thing. This confused her at first, and understandably so - but thankfully he was able to convince her that this task was his cross to bear, and his alone.

Sasuke's actions today, by Madara's belief, were spurred on in large part by a lack of consequences - something inconsistent with his nonexistent self-worth and immense guilt, causing him to spiral beyond his psychological limit. Therefore the temporary death of an immortal would have no meaning to Sasuke. It would feel inconsequential, and likely would worsen his condition, potentially leading to a repeat situation. Madara had dealt with clansmen who had similar dispositions before; it wasn't a terribly uncommon affliction for an Uchiha. He himself had been afflicted by such thoughts, having been pushed towards suicide after Izuna's death. If not for Zetsu's interference, Madara likely would have followed through.

When Madara began to approach the group in the hallway, the movement served to shake the others out of their stupor by a small amount; not enough to question or stop him, though. There was nothing to fear, anyways. Kneeling next to Naruto and Sakura - the woman had been so kind to him, too kind - and carefully placed a hand on the young man's trembling shoulder, a gentle touch to draw his attention. He had quieted down shortly after letting out that terrible wail.

"I owe you my thanks, Uzumaki Naruto," he said, speaking in a voice so soft that one would scarcely believe it had come from Madara's throat. "Everything is going to be alright."

Naruto looked up at him, confused. "What? How could anything ever be al-"

"You're wrong, by the way. About your sensei. I am the reason that Rin Nohara died in the way that she did, the reason for Obito's madness, the reason Nagato was able to become what he did; I planned those things, and I am responsible for all of it. That man beside you is as much a victim of my actions as you and Sasuke are. I'd hoped to make right what I could, after our discussion. Unfortunately, it seems that I ended up killing you both regardless."

Having said his piece, Madara stood to his feet and stepped around Naruto, making his way towards Tsunade and another vaguely familiar blonde woman. He gave a short bow to the granddaughter of the best friend he'd ever had and asked her if Sasuke's body was in the room behind her, which she confirmed to be true. Madara ignored her protests when he pushed past her and entered the 'theatre' as they'd called it. The name didn't particularly appeal to him, and seemed rather macabre for such a 'sophisticated' society.

Sasuke was mostly covered by a blue linen sheet. Madara briefly lifted the covering in order to see the injuries for himself, his curiosity having won out over better judgement. His gaze did not linger long, however; just as he'd expected, Sasuke's condition was eerily similar to the state his dear brother had been in, albeit a great deal cleaner. Perhaps the two were connected somehow in their terrible fates. Life was so unfair in its lack of reservation for such awful things for people like himself, he thought, who might actually deserve the suffering. It would not do for Sasuke to remain like this. Madara couldn't allow it. Not as the clan head, a close relative, or the person responsible.

On top of the thin sheet, his hands hovered over what remained of Sasuke's abdomen, and a pale blue aura of chakra materialized around them.

"Madara, what are you doing?" Tsunade yelled, entering the room to confront him. "Aren't you on house arrest? You can't just…"

Sakura appeared behind her, arm linked tightly with Naruto's as if he might disappear if she were to let go. His tears had slowed a little bit and his breathing had improved considerably, but when he actually saw Sasuke's body Naruto began to unravel all over again. Clinging onto him with renewed fervor, Sakura braced herself for whatever might come next. What incredible strength, Madara thought, it must take for Sakura to shoulder such profound grief for the both of them.

"That jutsu," Naruto said, his voice sounding hoarse and devoid of vitality. "Madara, how could you possibly know that jutsu?"

Madara hummed as the chakra around his palms burned a deeper azure with each passing moment. "I've been alive for quite a long time, and I did not awaken the rinnegan until I was nearing my natural death, as an old man. Whatever jutsu you think this is, I can assure you it is not that; reanimation techniques like this appear very similar, I imagine."

None in the room responded, their eyes locked onto Sasuke's lifeless form. Kakashi joined the spectators then, followed by Obito, whom Madara noticed immediately tense up. The corners of his lips twitched up ever so slightly.

"Have you had a memory, Obito?" Madara asked. "I used this same technique to revive you as well."

"This isn't going to kill you?" Sakura asked.

"Ah. Obito was not dead that time, believe it or not. At least, not to...this degree. I also did the bare minimum for his survival; restoring his body was too-great a risk to my self preservation at the time." Madara winced; he was nearing the final push. "Unfortunately, I don't foresee my survival after this instance."

They didn't know what to say. Certainly they weren't going to object; whether that was selfish of them, pragmatic, or both was up for debate but altogether irrelevant. There was a sensation of whiplash among the individuals; the world had gone to shit, a terrible reality only just beginning to settle in, and now there was a supposed resolution. A fix, a re-do, the second life-altering twist of the day, and it was only noon. It probably seemed too good to be true.

Maybe it was, but was that alone anything worth complaining about? Certainly not.

As with the changed outcome of the war, this too would not come without consequences, ones that no person could predict; not without some divine power or fuckery, that is. But they could only hope that the consequences would be wholly beneficial.

"I think, perhaps, that this is the rightest thing I've ever had the mind to do, in all of my life. I am grateful for such an opportunity; a man like myself ought never to be so redeemed," Madara lamented. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck, the action near complete. It was such a strange sensation to willingly relinquish one's own life force to the soul of another.

Naruto attempted to thank him, but was unable to find any words. If Madara's intervention was a dream or hallucination of some kind, Naruto didn't want to risk waking up.

Madara didn't mind any of that, however, because it was his belief that he was the last person on Earth who deserved any thanks. This sacrifice wouldn't make everything right. In a way, it was inevitable - a way for the universe to retain balance, rather than some selfless or voluntary decision. The sphere of chakra emanating from Madara's hands was so blue that the color neared on black once it shrunk and disappeared, the last remains of his life force transferring over.

"Thank you for waiting, little brother," Madara said in a strained whisper the moment before his collapse. "I'm coming to see you now."

xxxxxxx

END NOTES: God. Yeah. So that all happened. Writing Naruto's meltdown broke my heart. I just can't picture him acting anything other than completely unhinged in such a situation. And Kakashi...I know that was brutal for him, even if completely misguided, so I apologize for that necessary evil. I'll make it up to you Kakashi.

If you haven't read or heard of The Monkey's Paw, you should look it up, because it has been and will continue to apply to this story - albeit to a less harsh degree. It's basically the idea that certain 'wishes' will have unintended and sometimes disastrous consequences. Kind of like a universal balancing act. The literal, stated-in-the-text meaning of 'The Monkey's Paw' is as follows:

"Fate rules people's lives and those who interfere with fate do so to their sorrow."

So we saved a lot of people, most importantly Neji, Madara, and Obito. Which is great, but not without drawbacks, as we just saw. But I think its kind of bittersweet that Madara got to really, truly redeem himself in a way that was personally fulfilling, by making that sacrifice 'for the younger generation.' Which is a big personal belief of mine, FYI. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite novels and that's a major them in it, but I digress. There will be more angst in the next few chapters while things slowly settle back down. This is obviously going to be a life-changing event for Naruto in particular, and will have important implications for some of the future/current relationships, among other things. I won't guarantee that Naruto fully recovers from this, in the sense of being exactly how he was before.

My goal from the start was to have the canon relationships come about more realistically(read: naruhina and sasusaku, lol) and hoooooo boy, yeah, I'm really committing to it as you can see. ':) No pain no gain.