The Last Ones Standing

Chapter 7

"For how long do we pack?" asked Sakura from between the stack of scrolls and a notebook with supply list. "Through how much we take with us now, we are determining when we will need to turn back."

"Assuming it is only the first direction out of six? I don't know. I really don't know what will be the optimal use of our time. Your call. It's chiefly your mission in the end."

"And yours not?" asked Sakura sharply. She didn't like where it was going, as if she was the only one here with a goal. "Did you forget why do we even need to go through it?"

"I didn't forget." She saw Madara tightening his lips, if just a little bit. "I didn't mean it like that. By 'your mission' I meant that you are more emotionally involved. Your stakes are higher. On my stakes there is only the appeasement for my sin. Peace of my soul."

Sakura was filling the page of the notebook with the same swirly pattern over and over again. She was well aware that she is wasting both the paper and the ink, but she couldn't stop. How was she supposed to take such a decision? What if they invest too much time on the first branch while Naruto and Sasuke are waiting for them on some other? And if the turn back prematurely one dimension away from the boys?! The scribbles in the notebook were getting more and more flamboyant. Sakura took a deep breath.

"One year. We take supplies for one year. Meaning we turn back after 6 months, no matter how it looks out there."

Madara nodded. "We can assume that on our way there we will spend a lot of time in certain dimensions – the ones that will be promising. On the way back, we won't need to be doing that. So maybe we can prolong the travel outwards to seven months or so."

"So… How much water per day? And in what kind of containers?"

They spend a good week prepping. Sakura got almost physically sick several times out of anxiety about forgetting something essential. She managed to hold it down, though, she didn't want Madara see her break down under the pressure. He saw her do it enough times already. She didn't want to appear weak in his eyes. And yes, breaking down because she missed her loved ones seemed somehow nobler and more acceptable, even if it was probably all the same for him.

She finally had to face returning to Konoha – some supplies were to had only in a proper settlement. And Konoha, being her turf, was their best option.

Strangely enough, she was rather apathetic seeing the ruin of the village. It was just so far removed from the image of Konoha she carried in her heart. She went through the motions, she localized the hospital and had Madara's Susano'o remove layer after layer of debris while she scavenged for medicines and soldier pills. He didn't comment on her performance but she hoped he was if just a little bit proud of her. Because she was damn proud of herself.

Then there was a local store, where they took all that was still packed; and some well-preserved family house was very convenient when it came to gathering everyday items like pots, blankets, tools and clothes. Sakura thought she remembered the family that lived there. The house was empty, thankfully, its occupants weren't home when the Tsukuyomi struck. There were neither cocoons, nor decomposed bodies to be seen.

She went to see her home. Or rather the place where it stood, because frankly, there weren't any features of neither hers, nor any of the neighbour houses left. Susano'o dug through the rubble, but even though she was on the constant look-out for any familiar items, she didn't spot any. There was no real goodbye to be had.

They traveled to slug dimension and sealed literal tons of various fruit and soft leafy-greens that Katsuyu claimed were edible also for humans. When Madara questioned her judgment, she ensured him that it was what all people trained in Slug Sage Arts used to eat.

Fresh meat they got from dogs' dimension. Sakura insisted on tagging along even though Madara claimed to be completely capable of travelling two dimensions away without her assistance. But the thought that something might happen to him and render them functionally separated was unbearable. Sakura had already hard enough time when he went for his walks along the beach. Not that she missed him. She was just getting paranoid that something will happen and she will be left all alone.

So, she ended up joining the hunt. In retrospect it was a mistake. Does were such beautiful, gentle creatures. Also, seeing flesh getting dissected and dissembled into eating portion was very hard to stomach. She was so used to the view of blood, organs and torn tissues – but her job was always putting things back together. Now she had to stand and watch how a body of a living creature was being portioned into pieces. Cookable pieces. She wondered if hunger would do its job when it came to eating those deer. That meat.

"I want to go to the tree again. I need some form of goodbye."

Now, that they were ready to set off, Sakura was really nervous. They will be leaving for good, leaving so far away that a swift retreat won't be possible if anything goes wrong. There will be no familiar territory to come back to and regroup. And everyone will be left behind.

Madara didn't comment on her request and flew her where she desired. She was grateful for the uncharacteristic lack of snark, even more so as she knew that they were wasting their time. On the former battlefield, surrounded by the cocoons, Sakura planted her palm on the ground and drew a rectangular block up from the soil with Doton technique. When she climbed on top of it, she could sit on the level where Tsunade-sama was hanging in her confine.

"I'll be going now, Shishou," said Sakura quietly. "If everything goes well, I will be back in a year or so… Please, be patient. I… I am working on it. We have a theory now, at least we have a theory," Sakura broke off and swallowed. Swallowing was making her throat hurt. "I never asked you this before, but how did you manage? When you left the village, you left everyone you knew behind as well. Just… how? It's so hard, it's so damn hard to be alone…" Sakura rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. "You had Shizune, you'd say? What would I give to have Shizune with me… But," Sakura squared her shoulders and looked to where Madara was standing – just at the very base of the tree, "out of all people, I will have with me the one who used to be equal to Shodai. He treats me well, also," she added in an afterthought. "So, don't worry about me. I'll be fine, Shishou. Don't worry."

She took off her shoes and walked all the way to the tree, trying to imprint in her memory how the dirt of her homeworld felt under her feet and between her toes. Madara was sitting, propped against the place where the tree's body was growing out of the ground. He lifted his head when she approached.

"Let's go."

They went 'forward'. They passed the gem dimension, their first one. With a painful pang in her chest Sakura remembered how simple everything seemed at the beginning. How she had thought that all they needed to do is to search those 26 dimensions… How far away was this feeling now…

They made a good progress for the first week, covering on average five dimensions per day. In the thirty-ninth layer they found an inhabitable dimension but, unlike the ones closer to their home-world this one held only non-sentient animals. They spend days searching it. With each summoning Sakura pumped all that she had to the point of fainting. She overdid it twice.

They took countless flights with Susano'o, also during the night, in order to spot a campfire if there would have been one. Every evening Madara produced a gigantic marking from the burning ash on the sky. Uchiha fan again, of course, but Sakura didn't comment. She felt too grateful to be petty. The mark was big enough and high enough to be seen from hundreds of kilometers, Madara claimed. After two weeks and searching an entire continent they had to face the reality – the boys weren't there.

Setting off into the maze of dimensions was even more daunting than before.

In the dimension 51, which looked quite promising – rocky and harsh, with thin, arid air, but also with multiple streams of freshwater and some measly vegetation on their banks - they made a strange observation. After Sakura summoned Katsuyu, who failed to detect any human presence, they decided to fly some thousands of kilometers west and check again. They did, and when they re-summoned the slug, Katsuyu seemed very surprised.

"Sakura-chan, why did you summon me already, I thought you wanted to change your location." The slug turned around in confusion, rearranging the landscape in the process. Pity, because Sakura had already spotted a cave up on the rockface that would have been good for overnighting… She liked having a confined space around her – then they could put barrier tags on the walls and she would deem keeping the watch unnecessary. And Madara would have appreciated that cave as well. He was finding her cautiousness, or paranoia - as he was calling it, exaggerated.

"What do you mean, Katsuyu-sama? We've been flying entire day long!" And they've seen only rocks and blue, bluest raging rivers. No higher lifeforms whatsoever.

"I barely came back when you re-summoned me… Can it be that the time flows differently in this dimension? That it goes faster here?"

"Well, it is only beneficial for our cause," interjected Madara eyeing the place where the cave used to be with rather sour expression on his face. He must have noticed it as well. "We will lose less time here."

She kept a notebook of worlds, with detailed descriptions of each and every one. Another notebook with record of their expenditures, all the things they ate and used up during each camp. It helped keep her sanity and gave her something to do in the evenings. Still, after completing all the chores and releasing Katsuyu - that she often called in the smallest version to keep her company – all Sakura felt was gloom.

"How should I go on?" she asked aloud, deciding to disturb the silence and Madara's peace. He for sure wouldn't appreciate her whining, but at some point, she just had to speak up. Else she would go crazy.

"Hope. Don't give up on hope," he answered after a while. "Think about your goal, and hold on to the hope of achieving it."

"My goal? Do you mean rescuing everyone? It only feels like an enormous responsibility, so much too heavy for one small me! I keep thinking I'm not doing enough, that maybe we should have made one more jump today, that maybe we shouldn't have camped in this blue-rocks dimension two days ago because there was another suitable for camping right after it! I only think that I should try harder..."

"No. Don't think about the task. Think about what will happen afterwards - you will get your loved ones back. You will get your life back. The world will be in order once again. Imagine your life, how will it look like when we succeed."

"My life…" Sakura fiddled with her fingers. "Will it not be lying to myself? What if things won't work the way I imagine?"

"Who knows how will it all turn out. I'm not speaking of plausibility. I'm speaking of hope. That's also why I have hard time with it - I find it very difficult to suspend my disbelief."

Sakura looked at him. "Disbelief? You lack belief in our success?"

"I'm generally bad at believing in anything. I tend to take matters in my own hands instead. Which is often a disadvantage, because I lack the support that a certain conviction, certain belief would give me. But you are different, you have it."

"Belief? Yes, I do have belief. I will never, ever stop believing. As long as I can stand up, I will never give up! Just that…"

"…that you sometimes lack strength to stand up?"

Sakura only nodded.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't manage to cultivate this spark inside his chest. But it was enough if she could. He could go on as long as she had hope. As long as there was a future for her. Yes, their goal was recovering the future for the entire mankind. But easy calculation was sobering enough – the space to search was enormous. To keep such hope alive was a folly. But she was capable of such folly. And Madara was sure he could go on forever not to break her hope.

She was holding quite well, all things considered. She was trying so hard to be brave, and it showed.

She was also developing her own coping mechanisms. Scribbling in her notebook. Rearranging their supplies. Re-rearranging their supplies. Most of the evenings she would summon Katsuyu. A small one, size of a rat. The slug would perch on her knee and they would chat. Madara couldn't contribute much because they were either talking about medicine or reminiscing older days. But he had to admit Katsuyu knew many anecdotes, especially about Hashirama's granddaughter. Some of them were actually quite amusing – the woman had a penchant of getting herself in trouble of most humiliating kind. Her life could be a cautionary tale for all young shinobi. Judging from Sakura's shocked and confused reactions those stories were quite some revelations to her.

Nevertheless, Madara did feel a bit excluded at times.

And at other times he felt included, but in a completely wrong way. Because sometimes they would come up with medical issue they wanted to check. And Madara had to serve as an experimental animal. They were both prodding him with their chakra (surprisingly, he liked Katsuyu better, her energy was somehow milder) proving some point to one another. Like now.

"You see, I've told you, the chakra nodes have some form of coiling inside!" exclaimed Sakura from above him, pressing her palm against his ribcage.

"Alright, I feel it as well, but it might be only the nerves, Sakura-chan. You have no proof that those are chakra capillaries!" The slug was sitting on his naked stomach and it was a highly disturbing experience.

"Well, watch. Madara! Activate your chakra!"

Madara sighted heavily and activated his chakra.

"Alright, there is chakra passing through those structures. But watch closer – it's not filling the entire diameter. It is narrower, as if it was surrounded by some liquid…" Katsuyu's chakra went into his Gate of View and spread across his body. "See, it's an open system, like the lymphatic one, it ends up in the tissues! As if it was gathering something from there. "

"But towards the inside of the node the capillary seems full, am I correct?"

"Yes, it does. As if chakra was being amplified… Can it be that the node changes that what it collected from intracellular space into chakra?!

"Katsuyu! It can be a break-through in chakra theory!"

"I am thrilled to be the part of your discoveries, but it's getting late and we haven't even eaten properly." Madara remove Katsuyu carefully from his stomach and sat up. "Can you please continue some other time?"

It was dimension 65 when she failed to summon the slug. She was well rested; it was only their second dimension that day. She tried, and tried and he could see her chakra short-circuiting and discharging in futile bursts.

"I don't know what is happening! I cannot call Katsuyu!" The already-audible tinge of panic in her voice sent a strange sensation down his spine. The slug was very important to her, he knew. It was not only an essential member of their search team – it was also the last bridge to her past life. "I'm doing everything like I did thousands of times before! Am I? Am I?"

"Calm down. You push out your chakra normally, but it discharges into nothing. Try summoning something from a scroll."

When a water canteen popped into existence Sakura's eyes went even wider than before. She stared at him with such fear that his heart clenched. He grabbed her elbow with one hand and the canteen with another. "We jump one dimension back. And there we'll see."

She shook whole when with hesitation she was placing her hands on the ground in the dimension 64. And slumped down to her knees as a small Katsuyu appeared.

"I don't understand…" she said through tears, hugging Katsuyu around the neck. Or the upper part. Or whatever the slug had. "I couldn't summon you, I thought I've lost you as well!"

It took them several jumps back and forth to confirm that Sakura was able to perform Kuchiyose no Jutsu in the 64th layer while in the layer 65 (and 66, and in several side dimensions on the level 65) – not. A positive side effect of this going in circles was Sakura calming down.

"I think that we might have reached the limit of summoning," she said, biting pensively at her last whole fingernail. "Or my limit, at least. I was thinking about it for quite some time, and I think you two should sign a contract." Sakura glimpsed between him and the slug perched at her shoulder. "Your limit might be larger, Madara."

The slug pulled her antennae in – as far as he knew it was a sign of uneasiness. Well, he could have guessed Katsuyu won't be thrilled.

"Not happy about the proposal, Katsuyu-san? The suitor not to your liking?" he quipped.

"Uhm… Madara-sama, you can believe me that I am honoured, however we don't know each other very well yet… Hence my surprise…"

"Katsuyu-sama, I know it is against the traditions of Shikkotsu Forest, but we are in face of a disaster like no other in the history!" interrupted Sakura. "I'm sure you can make an exception for him! Whatever formal requirements you have you can be sure he would have fulfilled them without any problems had he been in correct circumstances! You know he outmatches both me and Shishou by entire levels…"

"It's not only about the raw power, Sakura-chan… But I do recognize the dire straits we are all in."

His limit was 81 levels. In the 82nd one they made a U-turn again for Sakura to say her final goodbyes to the slug.

"You know, I am kind of happy that there is a limit. Even if I will miss her as hell," she said the same evening, slipping into her sleeping bag.

"Really? Why?"

"Because it might be the reason why Fukusaku-sama failed to summon Naruto. I mean, the other reason than Naruto being dead. So actually, I'm really, really happy. Our searches will get more laborious, I know, but… I have more hope now."

The searches indeed became a pain. He never used Susano'o so much in his entire life. Inhabitable dimensions were rare however, maybe one in two dozens qualified for a search. Otherwise it was just endless, black emptiness. No light, no sound, no movement. Even his cave didn't quite prepare him for this.

"Now that Katsuyu is gone we won't have a buffer anymore…" said Sakura one evening. "It is really just you and me. We better not end up killing each other. We need to be honest in all matters, even in awkward and uncomfortable ones, okay? If there will be something that I do that gets under your skin, just tell me. We could start right away! What do I do that irritates you?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying." She got too good in reading him. "I thought we agreed on being honest!"

"I don't remember agreeing. It was just you announcing in big words that we should. Using the word 'we' in a sentence doesn't automatically grant it my blessing."

Sakura pouted.

"But in this particular case, I do agree. So, stop sulking."

Sakura shot him a hurt look. "I'm not sulking. So, if you agree, then start! And don't try wiggling out."

Madara pursed his lips. That she must be so penetrant with those little projects of hers. How was he supposed to phrase a critique and not antagonize her?

"What is it?! Just tell me."

"You move around too much…"

"I… What?"

"You move around. After we set up the camp you cannot keep still. You stand up, go to the packs, come back with a bag, dig in it, return it to the packs. You first bring your blanket, and then you go again and bring your sleeping clothes. And then you remember about the pillow and go for the third time."

"You must be kidding me."

Madara raised his hands defensively. "You asked what irritates me! That is my answer."

Sakura blinked. "But… I am just… living. How is that irritating?"

"You move across my field of view, and it keeps me alerted. It's a reflex. You need to remember that I was alone for a very long time. And the way you go around your business is so inefficient, one could do it quicker, if…"

"Ok, I get it, I get it! I find it weird but I get your point. I'll try to circle around less… But I just don't want to optimize my every movement if I am here supposed to have a break and be regenerating!"

"It isn't really necessary. You started this silly game; I don't require you to adjust." He looked at her and she sent him her best smile. Of course, there was an agenda behind this smile. "So now I am supposed to ask what annoys you in me?"

"You don't want to do it at all?"

She sounded so disappointed. Madara sighted. "Not really. But if it is that important for you… So, what do I do that gets under your skin?"

"Uhm… When you hold me while falling asleep… you tend to like… reinforce your grip. Or move your hand a bit. Or rub a circle with your thumb. And you do it like every thirty seconds."

"Do I? really?"

"Yes! Every time I'm drifting off to sleep, you make those tiny little movements and it wakes me up! I know you don't mean it such a way, but it is just so annoying!"

"I'll try to stop."

It was quieter without Katsuyu. But Sakura didn't give up on her research. She focused her attention on his Sharingan.

"Now activate just your left one."

"I cannot. You either activate both, or not at all."

"Can't you try?"

Holding back a sight he directed his entire chakra into his left eye. It only resulted in a shot of pain. "See, it doesn't work."

"Are you sure you really, honestly tried? Or are you just trying to get me off your back?"

"I am very sure that I tried. And I know you won't get off my back that easily…"

"Alright then." She produced a cloth from her medical bag. "Close your right eye." She bound it in a makeshift eyepatch, and put hands to his skull. "And now activate both."

Madara sighted. And activated his Sharingan. Sakura's chakra was circling in his optical nerves, tingling and mildly irritating him.

"Now Mangekyō."

She was traveling up to his brain and it was difficult to control the urge to just push her out and away. He needed some distraction to get through it. "Why are you so bent on studying it? It's been sixth evening straight…"

"Fifth. Don't exaggerate." She pushed more chakra into his head. "And studying Sharingan, on a living subject that is cooperating so well," she patted him on the shoulder, "it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! There aren't many of you left, you know?"

"Then it makes even less sense. Why to study a functionally extinct kekkei genkai?"

He felt Sakura's chakra wavering inside him. "Maybe it won't go extinct. Maybe Uchiha will be there again. And maybe it will be up to me to fix the problems that will appear. I'd rather be well prepared for the eventuality. Sasuke…" she hesitated. "He is not a patient man," she said in the end. She moved her hands to his temples and her chakra snaked into his eyeballs. What a horrible sensation. "Not like you…"

It was their eleventh jump already. And the eleventh void. Without summoning Katsuyu, Sakura could spare her entire chakra on repairing Madara's system, but they were both close to their limits.

"We shouldn't jump any further. If the next one is hostile, I won't be able to escape," he said apparently thinking exactly along the same lines.

"But there's nothing here! How can we camp here?" Those voids were raising visceral panic in her. She thought that whenever she turned her head something would jump out of the darkness and grab her.

"We just need to get some sleep. Patch me up so I regenerate on my own and let's try to get some rest."

"I cannot. I cannot sleep here!" They were floating in nothingness, there was not even ground under their feet. No up, no down. Nothing.

"You can." Madara pried her fingers open from his elbow and reached to his pouch. "Let's get some food first and then.."

By putting his hand towards his belt he gave her side a slightest shove. She didn't even notice until she was suddenly a meter away from him and floating off in a slow but steady way. "What's happening?" Sakura tried moving back, but there was nothing to prop herself against, nothing to halt her movement. The space between them increased to meter and a half. "Madara!" She extended her arm. "Madara!"

He finally looked up, and realizing what was happening he arched and reached towards her. Too late. Their hands failed to connect by centimeters. They were too far apart. And she was still floating away!

"Madara! Madara!" He was further away with every second.

Part of her brain was overflowing with the most primordial fear she had ever encountered. Worse than facing Demon Brothers when she was twelve, than Gaara in his Shukaku form, worse than the fucking Jūbi.

Another part of her brain remembered that she was a shinobi. She was trained in all the skills necessary for survival. And her greatest asset was her brain. 'Think Sakura, think!'

She dug into her pouch. A scroll fell out and free-floated before her eyes. The food scroll with portions for next two weeks. She dug deeper. Another one, she needed another one! There! Camp supplies scroll! Madara was already good three meters away.

She unsealed the scroll – another seven sub-scrolls popped into existence. She grabbed the first one. Lucky! She got lucky - it was the timber scroll!

She jammed her palm onto the paper. All kinds of pieces of wood surrounded her and floated about. A thick stump of wood hit her on the head. She barely noticed. Frantically, she grabbed the longest plank and pulled at it. Thank gods they didn't have time to cut it! She shifted the plank towards Madara, pushed it with all his force, mindful not to let go of her end. She saw Madara straining and stretching out his arm. His fingertips connected with the board. The moment he made contact, he pumped chakra into his fingers to reinforce his hold.

Sakura breathed in. And again.

"Hold it! Don't let go! I'm coming to you!" He started to haul himself along the plank.

She latched to him when he finally got into her range.

They've lost most of the timber from the scroll until she got herself together. It floated away, she could still see it on the periphery, still clear as there was nothing to obscure the view. However, they managed to recover three out of seven sub-scrolls. The fourth one they fished with a kunai bound to a string. Others were gone.

They unpacked another food scroll and while Madara held her by the belt, she was catching the flying objects and sealing the unnecessary ones back.

When it came to sleeping, Sakura produced a coil of rope out of the supply scroll and looped it around her waist.

"Now you," she said circling the rope around him. And secure knot made her feel good. And the second one even better. She examined her arrangement critically. Now they won't float apart, but how could she sleep suspended in the void?

She unwound a length of rope and closed a tight loop around her ankle. Then she made another one, looser, with a dangling end ready to be tightened up. "Come here," she said pulling the rope connecting her to Madara. She wound her legs around him as if she was straddling him and slipped her other foot through the prepared loop. She tightened it up and cut off the end.

"Are you sure about it?" asked Madara from above her head. "That puts us in a very vulnerable position, if anything happens."

"I'll risk it. I'll rather have this than this emptiness," declared Sakura cutting another length of the rope. "Do you also want some for your hands? That would be nice if you could hold me all the time…" she added seeing him hesitate.

She bound her right wrist and made a ready loop for the left. The long string that would tighten the knot she put between her teeth.

"How will we release it tomorrow if I also have my hands bound?"

"Chakra scalpel," mumbled Sakura biting at the rope. "I can produce it with every finger and I can bend it if I want to. Ready?" she asked pushing another piece of rope into his hand. She embraced him, blindly finding the prepared loop and pulled the rope with her teeth. Her arms came together around him. She angled her head to the side of his chest and registered how he was binding his hands into a knot behind her back.

She embraced him tighter than what the ropes necessitated and closed her eyes. He propped his face on the top of her head and for a moment it seemed to Sakura that he pressed lips to her hair. But maybe she only imagined it.

'Kaguya Cardinal Direction 1, dimension 427. Breathable air and rocky surface, otherwise empty. No light sources, gravity weak but present.' Wrote Sakura in her notebook. She glimpsed up to where Madara was finishing burning out the Uchiha crest. 'Marked. No search.'

"Alright, I've got it," she said grabbing his elbow. "Jump!"

Madara slowly turned his head towards her. "I can't," he said in a strange tone.

"What do you mean you can't? Is something wrong with your eyes?!" Sakura's hands flew towards his face on an instinct. "With your chakra? Did something rip?"

He took her palms and led them down, keeping them in his hands. "No. Everything's fine with my eyes. But there is no 'forward' dimension."

"What?"

"There is nothing there." Madara waved his hand in front of him. "No middle forward, and none of the left-, right-, up- or down-forward dimensions."

Sakura squeezed his hand. "Are you sure? Do you see the ones in our plane?"

"Yes, those are there. The ones behind us as well."

"Can it mean we've reached the end?!" Sakura's vision swam – tears brimmed in her eyes. She didn't even bother to wipe them. "Can it be! Can it be?" The excitement she didn't feel for the longest time, like water on the desert. "Madara! We did it!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "We've reached the end! This thing even has an END!" Grabbing around his neck Sakura jumped, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He hooked his arms under her knees so she didn't fall. Her grin must have been contagious because he beamed back at her. "We did it!" She hugged him with all her force. "Thank you! Thank you so much" Her heart was overflowing with joy. She leaned back to face him and almost gave him a kiss full on the lips. But she realized in time to re-navigate and planted a wet smooch on his cheek instead.

AN: Thanks for reading and please let me know what did you think about this chapter. I am very curious about your impressions! I am especially concerned if the story is progressing fast enough to keep reader's attention...