AN: We're getting places, you guys. Hope you enjoy!

I do not own Naruto

Chapter Seventeen

The full moon shone brightly through the tree branches where Sasuke and Sakura were perched. Sakura sat on the branch examining the note Kei had given her as Sasuke stood next to her, observing their surroundings.

"This is exactly where Kei said to meet," Sakura said, frowning. "But why?" she wondered aloud.

Sakura looked up from the note. They were located at large cliff on a mountain that overlooked the village with no other else around for miles. It simply didn't make sense for Kei to ask her to come here. Besides it being away from witnesses, what other purpose was there?

She frowned and examined the note again. Kei was nowhere to be found. Was he on to them and this was simply a ruse to throw them off his path?

As Sakura was contemplating this, Sasuke mumbled, "There he is."

Sakura's head snapped up to witness Kei coming out of the trees towards an open area with seven children in tow. They surrounded him, shuffling along with their eyes glazed over as if they were following him absentmindedly. Sakura's stomach twisted, knowing they had already become pawns in his game and she only had one antidote left in her possession.

Sensing Sakura's distress, Sasuke spoke up and said, "Don't worry. I'll use my Sharingan to subdue them."

Sakura nodded and frowned as she watched Kei approach the middle of the clearing. "What's he even doing?"

"Ready to find out?" Sasuke asked her.

"Let's do this," she replied. Without further word, she performed the transformation jutsu to turn herself into a child. Tiny Sakura leaped from the branch and landed quietly onto the ground before running towards the clearing.

She didn't bother to hide her presence now, knowing full well that Kei was expecting her. Sakura's feet pounded loudly against the ground, signaling her arrival to the group. Still, the children made no motion that they could hear her and Kei was the only one who lifted his head to acknowledge her presence.

"Ah, there you are," Kei said, smiling at her. He looked around. "Your parents aren't here?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head, the spiky pink locks of her hair whipping around her face. "Dad's not around anymore and Momma had to stay with my sister. She's too sick right now. Momma asked me to bring you back instead."

"Oh," Kei said, his smile fading. "Well... that's unfortunate." He sighed and pushed his glasses up. "I guess you'll do."

Sakura frowned, noting that the children surrounding Kei were now watching her closely. "What're we doing up here?" Sakura asked him, her eyes flickering back up to the man.

Kei made a motion toward Sakura and the children began to close in on her as he said, "You see, the medicine I've created to heal these poor sick children hasn't yet reached perfection. There are many more tests that I need to run before it's complete. I was hoping for an adult this time around but... You do want to help your little sister, right?"

As Kei asked her this, two children grabbed Sakura by her arms and they began to drag her toward him. "Hey!" Sakura cried out. "Let go of me!" She pretended to thrash about as if she was trying to get out of the children's grasp as they pushed her forward.

Kei was bent over a suitcase, pulling out a syringe while the children shoved Sakura to her knees. As he stood, the liquid in the syringe gleaming in the moonlight and the children held her in place. Sakura looked up at the man towering over her, a fearful expression painting her features. He smiled down at her as he said, "This will only hurt for a second."

"D-do you promise?" Sakura whispered, her pink locks hiding her expression as she lowered her head.

"After that, you won't feel a thing."

Sakura giggled and lifted her head slightly to look back up at him. Her brows were furrowed over a dark, determined expression as she said, "Unfortunately for you, I can't promise the same."

Kei didn't have enough time to question her, for tiny Sakura quickly broke out of the children's grasp to land a punch into Kei's gut that was so powerful, it sent him flying across the clearing. Sakura transformed back into her old self as Sasuke leaped down from his hiding place to join her.

A few children dashed to Kei's side as he rose from the ground, wiping blood from his nose. He smiled up at them and pushed his glasses up. "So, you've finally come, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura started, noting how unfazed Kei appeared about the entire situation. It seemed he'd been expecting Sasuke's arrival. Whether he'd discovered the pair were tracking him or some other reason, Sakura was unsure.

"You know who I am?" Sasuke asked.

"I've been waiting for you," Kei said, with a small chuckle. "After all, you're the only man who truly understands me. It's only natural that you would be the one to seek me out."

Sakura felt her blood beginning to boil at this accusation and snapped, "What the hell does that mean?!"

"Sasuke's relationship with his brother, of course," Kei said as if this was obvious. "He killed your family, hm?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Why would that make me understand you?"

Kei sighed and rose from the ground, dusting himself off. "I was always a curious child, fascinated by medical science and experimentation. Science, however, often requires test subjects to advance."

Sasuke bent down to pick up Kei's briefcase from the dirt as he asked, "What does that have to do with me?"

"I never meant to hurt her," Kei said, frowning. "My parents never forgave me for what happened to my little sister. It was just an accident but they didn't care! They drove me out of the house and treated me like I was evil. But you." Kei pointed a finger at the Uchiha, gritting his teeth. "Your brother killed your entire damn clan and now he's somehow hailed as a hero? You committed atrocities and your village accepts you back with open arms! How are your crimes forgiven when mine was an accident?"

"You've been drugging children!" Sakura screamed.

Kei scoffed. "Families are poison. They're a joke that are held together by blood, nothing more. What happens when that blood is gone, I wonder? Besides, I was denied forgiveness long ago."

"What does that have to do with the Infinite Tsukuyomi?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Kei's accusations of him.

"It was the first time I was released from that. The looks of disgust from my village. I had my family back and I was..." Kei looked up at the moon hanging high in the sky. "I was happy." Kei sighed. "But that family wasn't real. It was better than that."

Kei reached out and placed a hand on top of the small brunette girl standing next to him in a strangely affectionate manner. He smiled down at her as he said softly, "I'll rid them of their families and deliver them to a dream world where they will truly be loved, unconditionally."

Seeing this sick, vile man touch this small girl who he'd manipulated beyond belief caused something to snap within Sakura. Without further thought, she rushed at Kei, yelling, "Get your filthy hands off her!"

Sakura flicked open the pouch on her hip and hurled one of her kunai at him. She stopped, eyes widening, as she witnessed the small girl step in front of Kei, prepared to take the blow. Thinking quickly, Sasuke dropped the suitcase with his only hand to grab his shuriken. He launched them towards the kunai, knocking it off its course.

"Damn," Sakura hissed, gritting her teeth as a pool of sweat beaded on her forehead. "What kind of sick monster are you?"

"This world is full of monsters," Kei said, smugly. "Tell me, are you prepared to hurt children?"

Without further word, the children standing motionless next to Sasuke began attempting an attack. Likewise, the three children standing next to Kei rushed at the pair, pulling knives out of their pockets. The pair dodged the children with such ease, that Sakura struggled to believe that this was truly Kei's plan of attack. It seemed far too ridiculous and unlikely to work. Although they were concerned with trying not to hurt the children, they weren't particularly dangerous for two highly trained ninja.

Noticing that Kei was now left open for an attack, Sakura rushed at Kei while Sasuke handled subduing the children with his Sharingan.

Sasuke had already captured two of seven children in his Sharingan, causing them to fall innocently at his feet. As the second was fainting to the ground, a small boy snatched their discarded kunai. Instead of lunging at Sasuke, the boy lifted the knife to his throat and made a move to slash himself open.

Distracted and caught off guard, Sasuke sprang towards the child and managed to halt the movement with the power of his ocular jutsu once the boy looked into Sasuke's eyes. The boy stopped, getting no farther than drawing a trickle of blood before fainting. Amid his distraction, a small pinprick pierced Sasuke's leg, leaving no pain behind. Sasuke made quick work of subduing the other four children before they could attempt the same brash movement that the boy had tried.

Sasuke glanced at his leg and reached down to pull out the weapon, noting it was the same vial Kei kept in his briefcase. He tossed it on the ground, none too concerned by this event. After all, Sasuke had a strong immunity to poisons and had dealt with concoctions far deadlier than those built for small children.

The Uchiha looked to Sakura, noting that Kei was holding his own in his fight against her enough so to prove to Sasuke that Kei had ninja combat training. It was clear, however, that Sakura had the upper hand and the battle would be over momentarily. Not finding any reason to interject, Sasuke opened Kei's suitcase to examine the contents inside. He noted the vials, snuggled safely inside in a neat row. Next, he pulled a stack of papers from inside, that contained blueprints of formulas Kei had been tinkering with to create his poison.

As Sasuke shuffled through the papers, he came upon a document that had a drawing of the Sharingan and information on the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Sasuke furrowed his brow and his eyes skimmed over the words that were growing blurrier. He rubbed at his eyes and blinked hard a few times to clear his eyesight. As Sasuke's vision began to betray him, he was able to discern one last line from the document.

A poison unlike any other, tailored to users of the Sharingan.

Sasuke collapsed to his hands and knees as his hearing began to distort. Everything took on an odd sound as if he was listening to the world underwater. Flashes of blue pierced his vision and a thousand birds hit his ears. His hand was plunging towards Sakura's back and she looked up at him with eyes full of hate.

I've never forgiven you. I will never forgive you!

Naruto's face appeared next and he lifted his finger, pointing in Sasuke's face.

You're a traitor to the Hidden Leaf!

Kakashi and Sakura appeared beside Naruto with the entire village standing behind them.

Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitortraitortraitortraitortraitortraitor!

Sasuke screamed, clutching his head as the poison warped his heart and his mind. It unlocked the part deep inside of him that worried Sakura had never believed in him. Everyone Sasuke had ever cared about had never forgiven him, they hated him, and they wanted him gone. And for that...

Sasuke looked up at Sakura.

They all must die.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said, her head whipping in Sasuke's direction at the sound of his screams.

Sasuke clutched his head and groaned against the ground. During his struggles, Sakura heard the sound of Kei's laughter. She spun around to look at him, a smug expression on his face as he watched the Uchiha struggle.

"What did you do to Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura screamed at the man.

Kei glanced at her, smirking all the while. "Isn't it obvious? I used the drug on him."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But... that's impossible," she mumbled. "Something like that shouldn't affect Sasuke-kun."

"The children were test runs," Kei admitted nonchalantly, as if he was discussing the weather. "Do you know how difficult it is to perform trial runs for a drug tailored to Sharingan users on kids who don't have the Sharingan?" Kei cocked his head to the side, still watching Sasuke fighting his demons. "It seems to have worked well enough, though."

He... He was expecting Sasuke-kun this entire time?

Sakura clenched her fists, resisting the urge to pummel the despicable human in front of her. She needed to keep him talking, to find out as much information as possible.

"What do you need Sasuke-kun for? Resentment? Revenge?"

"Hm..." Kei seemed to consider this as he kept his eye on the Uchiha, more fascinated with the scene unfolding before him than the threat of Sakura. "Both of those sound nice. But what I really need him for is to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"Are you insane?!" Sakura spat the words at him. "You must be stupid, too. Having Sasuke-kun under your control alone won't lead you to the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"No, it won't." Kei shrugged. "But it is one piece of the puzzle." Kei's lips twisted into a sick smile. "Plus, it might be fun to see him kill someone that he loves."

"What?" The hair of Sakura's arm stood on end as she felt the air shift. Her green eyes slid towards Sasuke who was still braced on the ground. Now, however, his head was lifted towards her with glowing red and purple eyes.

Sakura gasped, seeing an expression on Sasuke's face that she'd seen before but had never, not once, been directed solely at her. Sasuke's eyes were full of bloodlust and hate.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

Wordlessly, Sasuke unsheathed his sword and lunged at her. Sakura dodged the first blow, performing a backhand spring, and pulled a kunai from the pouch on her thigh. As she landed, Sakura blocked his next strike with her blade.

"Sasuke-kun! It's me, Sakura!"

Even as she said this, Sakura could see that the light was drained from Sasuke's eyes. He wasn't seeing clearly or understanding the reality of the situation.

Damnit! Sakura thought as she and Sasuke exchanged blows. Sakura's eyes shifted towards Kei who was surveying the situation with a grin of pleasure. Momentarily distracted, she cried out as the hilt of Sasuke's swords struck her in the head and she crashed to the ground.

Kei laughed sadistically. "How does it feel?! How does it feel to have the man you love attack you with killing intent?"

Sakura reached for the antidote tucked safely into her pouch. As Sasuke rushed at her once again, he knocked the antidote out of her hand and pinned her to the hard earth. The force of him pushing her down knocked the wind out of her and Sakura blinked up at the man she loved hovering over her. A flash of him during their training session in this exact position flashed in her mind. But Sasuke's eyes were much different now.

This isn't the man that I know.

Sakura gritted her teeth as she pooled chakra into her lower limbs. "Shannaro!" She screamed as she bucked her hips to flip Sasuke over her head. Quickly, Sakura sprang to her feet and rushed towards the antidote that was on the ground a distance away. As she grew closer and was about to scoop it up, Sasuke appeared in front of her instantaneously, having switched places with the object. His movements were so quick that Sakura was barely able to register the punch to her face. The force of it knocked her a short distance away and she skidded across the earth.

"Please, Sasuke-kun! Don't do this! It's me," Sakura pleaded. But Sasuke wasn't hearing her. It was as if she wasn't speaking to him. Sakura's nails dug into the dirt in frustration as she glanced quickly at Kei. With Sasuke as her opponent, she wouldn't be able to keep her eye on Kei. Luckily, he wasn't making any effort to interfere or escape. Instead, he was simply enjoying the show.

I don't want to hurt Sasuke-kun, but... Sakura stared up at Sasuke who had started taking a few steps towards her.

Sakura halted his movements by delivering an earth-shattering punch to the ground, sending rocks and dust flying everywhere. In the chaos, Sakura scooped up the syringe. Right as the antidote was safely in her possession, Sakura heard a sword cutting through wind and she ducked her head as Sasuke appeared out of the debris. His sword missed her head by inches and cut a few strands of pink hair instead.

Sakura and Sasuke continued to exchange blows, dancing expertly around the battlefield with fluid movements as only two experienced shinobi could. He kept his well-trained eyes on her, never letting the needle come close to his skin. Growing tired of this back-and-forth game, Sasuke sheathed his sword and filled his hand with a ball of lightning.

Sakura faltered, her eyes widening as she remembered the scene on the bridge several years ago. It was a time when Sasuke had been so far gone, that he'd attempted to kill her then as well. Sasuke approached her now, the Chidori in his hand chirping as he glared at her with the eyes of a killer.

"Sasuke-kun, please don't do this! Try to remember!" Sakura cried out.

Not hearing her words, Sasuke crouched slightly, getting ready to spring towards her with his attack.

Desperate now, Sakura screamed, "Please, Sasuke-kun! I love you with all of my heart!"

Sasuke faltered momentarily, blinking as some light began to return to his eyes. Seeing her chance, Sakura took this moment to lunge forward and plunge the syringe into Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke had heard those words before.

"I love you with all of my heart!"

Sakura was 12 years old and begging for him to stay with her in the village as tears rushed down her face.

I love you with all of my heart...

Sasuke hadn't fully understood what that meant back then. But he knew that he was grateful for it. He was grateful to have her love that filled his empty heart, even when he felt that he was undeserving. Sasuke hadn't been sure if he knew what love was anymore. But Sakura gave her love to him freely, regardless of how many times he hurt her or made her cry.

"Sakura-ka..."

Sasuke collapsed to the ground as the antidote began to take effect.

As Sasuke fainted, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the antidote had worked.

"No!" Kei screamed, furious at the turn of events.

Sakura turned fierce green eyes back onto her real opponent and tightened her glove as she moved her sights on him.

Knowing he was losing now; Kei made a mad dash towards his briefcase. As he snatched it up, Sakura created hand signs and performed Katon towards the man to keep him from escaping. As the large ball of fire neared him, Kei smirked and lifted his shirt to reveal paper bombs secured to his chest.

Realizing too little too late that Kei planned to blow himself up rather than being interrogated by the Hidden Leaf, Sakura could only make a mad dash towards Sasuke before the explosion erupted. Sakura activated her Byakugou and threw her body in front of Sasuke's, shielding her face from the impact with her right arm. The blast threw them back and shattered the mountain with incredible force. Rocks crumbled and Sakura's ears rang as the wind whipped at her hair. Sakura blinked hard, attempting to recover her vision from the blast. As she came to, the wind whipped harder around her and her stomach flipped at the sight of the mountain retreating.

She was falling through the air at a height so incredible, any normal person would never be able to survive.

Sakura gasped and looked around until she was finally able to spot Sasuke. He was several feet below her and the ground was approaching at a frightening speed. She straightened her body to minimize the wind resistance in order to catch up to Sasuke who was falling unconscious through the air.

Not fast enough, Sakura thought in frustration. Noticing the big chunks of rock around her, she used the ones nearest her to push off to shoot towards Sasuke like a torpedo. Having finally caught up to him, Sakura wrapped one arm around him.

What can I do? Sakura thought in a panic, knowing they would be reaching the earth in mere moments. Sakura considered summoning Katsuyu but realized her right arm had been blown off in the explosion. She glanced at it, noticing it regenerating slowly using her Byakugou. Realizing that she wouldn't have enough time to let go of Sasuke and perform a summoning before they made an impact with the ground, Sakura did the only thing that she could think to do.

The pink-haired kunoichi clutched Sasuke close to her chest and flipped over to take the full force of the crash. Her back made a solid impact with the ground, the sound of crunching bones filling her ears as the breath was knocked out of her completely. The first thing Sakura registered was the sensation of her ribs breaking and spine cracking. Bones punctured her lungs and blood filled her eyes and mouth.

Everything after that was nothing but black.

When Sasuke came to, all his body felt was pain. It was as if he had been pummeled with bricks in his sleep. He coughed and waved the dust away that was flying around his face, blinking in an effort to clear his vision. He sat up and looked at the sky, noting the mountain above them with rocks still crumbling to the earth.

That's right...

A swell of panic filled Sasuke's gut as his brain caught up to the events that had transpired before he'd lost consciousness. He looked down to find the one person who truly mattered. He was half on top of Sakura who was barely recognizable. Sasuke sucked air through his teeth, his hair bristling on end as he tried to process what was in front of him.

Sakura's once bubble gum pink hair was stained with the blood that was seeping from beneath her body. Her left leg was twisted at an odd angle, her right arm gone at the forearm, and a bone sticking out sharply from her ribcage. Every inch of her was covered in bruises and Sasuke heard a whimper that he thought had escaped her until he realized it was his own voice.

"S-Sakura...ka..." Sasuke choked out as he lifted a shaking hand towards her.

He barely processed the sound of rocks shifting as his instincts told him to look up. A large boulder hurtled towards them and Sasuke reacted by activating his Susanoo as he screamed Sakura's name in pain. The boulder shattered against his armored jutsu, breaking off into pieces around them. Sasuke breathed rapidly as he lifted his hands towards Sakura's chest, pooling green healing chakra in his palms.

But it was useless.

Sasuke knew that the embarrassing level of medical ninjutsu he had learned wouldn't qualify in this situation. Still, he ran his hands over her body in a desperate attempt to heal her, trying to convince himself that it was helping.

"C'mon, Sakura... Don't..." Sasuke gave it everything he could, but nothing other than minor scratches and scars seemed to be mending. After a few minutes, his trembling hands fell away as he cried, "Please don't..."

Sasuke took the broken body of the only woman he'd ever loved into his arms and held her tightly against his chest. There was so much Sasuke had done wrong in his life. There were too many people he'd hurt throughout the years, but none that he regretted more than when he'd hurt Sakura. Even when he finally returned to the village, Sasuke had told himself that he was ready. Yet, Sasuke had still failed to tell the pink-haired kunoichi who ruled his every waking thought exactly how he felt. And now...

"Sasuke-kun... You're... You're heavy."

Sasuke gasped and pulled Sakura away from his chest. As he continued to support her in his arms, Sasuke noted in relief that her green eyes were dazed but still blinking slowly up at him. He choked out a laugh and said disbelievingly, "You're okay?"

Sakura winced. "I don't know what's more painful. Breaking your entire body or the feeling of it slowly mending back together."

The Byakugou, Sasuke thought. He noted that her skin was finally starting to mend.

"It didn't look like you were healing," he said.

"Gotta heal the internal organs first."

Sasuke shook his head, nothing but relief flooding through him. "Annoying woman."

Sakura smiled softly up at him and reached up to cup his cheek. It wasn't until she used her thumb to wipe under his eye that Sasuke realized he'd been crying. Having used the last bit of her strength, Sakura passed out into his arms.

AN: Lmao, I might have shed a few tears at my kitchen table while writing this ending scene. But that's only because I'm a sap and a huge baby. Also, I did want to say that I did some light research on the Byakugou before writing this chapter. My question was, can it be used to regenerate limbs? There's mixed ideas on this, but I came to the conclusion that it could, depending. Considering it can repair organs, bones, flesh, etc. I don't see why not. Besides, at least in the translation I read, Tsunade tells Orochimaru in a panel that "I can regenerate organs and limbs." She also gets chopped in half during the Madara fight (in the manga at least, I can't remember if it happened in the anime.) Basically, I'm just trying to say, please don't come at me on this. I really just used it so I could come to the ending that I chose for this chapter. I've also already read why some people believe it's not possible. If you don't agree, that's fine and fair. I'm not super invested in the intricate aspects of the lore, anyway. I just needed it for plot purposes in my fanfic.