The Last Ones Standing

Chapter 14

AN: There are (again!) new fanarts for this fic! Go check them out!

kotoffeya . tumblr post / 621380679939342336 / the-funny-moment-in-ch13-the-last-ones-stanfing

victoriacapo . tumblr post / 621431516310962176 / attempt-number-2-olliya

and a beautiful illustration from Jingmcastle (aka xXAonoNYmouSPXx) that is so nsfw that the only way to post it was within the body of Chapter 13 on ao3.

Thank you so much for this wonderful art, Kotoffeya, Victoriacapo and Jingmcastle!

The third branch was shorter than the second one – 614 dimensions. The numbers were still in a manageable range. Sure, the cube was huge, and there was no way to search it whole, but it wasn't completely hopeless.

Coming back, somewhere mid-way home they encountered a streak of several beautiful, inhabitable dimensions in a row. Sakura checked their counterparts on the 'going-away-branch' – indeed, there were two inhabitable, grassy ones, one desert (but with normal sun and atmosphere) and then again one with vegetation and animal life. The theory of clusters seemed to apply not only to voids and deadly dimensions but also to the habitable ones.

That, together with limited size of the lattice was really good news. At least that what Sakura kept telling herself. She would hang onto everything that could be labelled as good news. And it was a joy to camp on the grass and watch a sunset.

The next world was a promising one already at the first glance. They landed in a valley, green with vegetation covering gentle slopes of hills. On the second glance, it got even better – plants were growing in regular hexagonal arrangements around a small watersources made out of stone. Between the hexagons, paths that looked trodden were crisscrossing. They head straight on, until the tree line. The trees where rowing in groups of six as well. It all spoke of deliberate planting. Of civilization. Sakura could barely contain her excitement.

After meandering between the honeycomb fields for half an hour, they found a broader, paved track leading down the valley.

"Jutsu work here. Good," concluded Madara letting a small fireball into the air. "But we retreat the moment we encounter hostilities. We're not wasting chakra on battling entire race. Plus who knows what is kind of techniques or weapons they use."

"Why are you immediately assuming there will be hostilities?! It looks like a peaceful, farming society…"

Below them, down the valley, roofs of small huts snugly fitting one next to another peeked from between the tree branches.

"Why are you automatically assuming peacefulness? Agriculture isn't any proof. Everyone needs to eat."

"You! You are just impossible, always transplanting your worldviews onto others!"

"And here I thought you will appreciate my pacifistic approach. Can nothing that I do please you, woman?"

Sakura huffed, and unpacked her transportation scroll. "Anyhow, if we're going into a civilization, we need means to support ourselves. Without using fuinjutsu in the middle of a village." She summoned daily ratios of food and two backpacks. "We should have something for countertrade… What would they want?" Browsing through a third-level scroll that she retrieved Sakura mused about the most universal tools that would be meaningful for any civilization. Honestly, she had no idea. Knives? But offering an offensive weapon can be badly taken. Ornamental objects? Those were matter of taste, plus she didn't have any. In the end she settled for two glazed bowls – the glaze was really pretty, blue with red-and-white patterns, and a woven leather belt that she had taken because it could double as a strap to a bag.

Keeping their guard up, they entered the village. The faces that peeked through the doors and windows were of golden hue and patterned in fine spots, but otherwise surprisingly human.

"Let me handle this." Sakura pressed her hand against Madara's chest, indicating that he should step back. "Hello! Hello!" she spoke in bright, friendly tone. She was sure that she could as well recite an ancient poem for all it was worth, but Sakura knew it was the tone and body language that mattered. She could only hope that theirs were similar to the ones of the natives. "We come from far, we travelled a long way." She bowed and continued. "Could we make a stop in your village?"

She must have managed alright because couple of villagers stepped out of their houses.

"Could we get something to eat?" Sakura pointed to her mouth. By then the people were already quite close to them. "We would very much appreciate!" She emphasized her plea with another bow.

Half an hour later, they were sitting under a big tree in the middle of the village, finishing bowls of some sort of grain porridge that they got in exchange for the leather belt. They also got a sack of brightly orange fruit and several rectangular pieces of glimmering stones that must have been money. Children were playing next by – it was clear that they had picked out the spot out of curiosity, so Sakura approached them, sat on the ground and started to methodically empty her pouch. One by one children approached - like curious, little animals, and perched around her. Sakura twirled a shuriken around her finger. Then she lightly pierced into her palm and withdrew her hand with exaggerated 'Ouch!'. After she was sure the kids got it, she handed the shuriken to the oldest one.

After they've been done playing with her items, the children brought her toys and presented them to her one by one, explaining in length, or at least that's what she imagined, how one plays with it.

Even if kids' skin was golden and their hair curly and almost metallic copper in colour, they were human, undoubtly human. The first, real human contact since beginning of their quest. Sakura wanted to cry. And to hug and cuddle each and every of those kids.

Evening came and the children went home. Sakura sat by the fire that Madara had started in the meantime. Her cheeks and shoulders were red from the sunburn.

"That's the most promising world so far," she started. "But it's a bleak thought that it took us two and a half years to find the first living civilization…"

"It is."

"I will need to calculate how many worlds we've to been so far, maybe do some statistics… I hope I was consistent with marking which ones were theoretically inhabitable. But it means that starting tomorrow we should start searching Sasuke and Naruto for real! We must figure out the basics of the language." Sakura bit pensively at her nail. "Learn how to say 'I'm looking for'. It would be good to be able to describe them somehow…"

"What makes you think that they are here? Out of all dimensions in this one?"

"Maybe they are travelling through worlds as well? Imagine they've been wandering blindly al that time! They would have surely stayed here, had they ever come across this dimension."

"What are the chances…?"

"Sasuke isn't injured the way you are. Maybe he can span hundreds dimensions a day. And remember, they are not looking for anyone – they are just trying to come back home – and they can tell if it is home from the first minutes withing the dimension. They don't need to invest days and weeks like we do. But if at some point they fell in despair, came to a conclusion they won't find home… Then they would have stayed here… Or, one could mistake this world for our own, if one doesn't know any better… Don't you think?"

"You know your teammates. You can estimate how likely it is." He didn't add: 'and how likely it is that they even defeated the goddess…' Madara decided he won't question her logics any further. Even if it was pointless from the point of view of finding her teammates to invest more time than usually into this dimension, it wasn't pointless for Sakura's well-being. Those were people here; real, living human beings. Sure, they could fly around in Susano'o as usually, lit up couple of fire-signs into the sky and scan this entire world in a span of two weeks at max. But he won't suggest it. If Sakura wants to travel, walk around and ask around like an ordinary person would, then he will only support it. She needed it. More than her bones needed sunlight.

In the evening, when he was peeling these orange fruit - because their skin turned out to be waxy and inedible, Sakura was thinking aloud: "I guess I can figure out how a question should be posed pretty easily with the kids. I can hide some trinkets and have them ask 'where is it?'. Or we can play hide-and-seek…" Her face brightened up with a dreamy glow. Madara could tell that she wanted to play with those children, learning the language irrespectively. "But how will we ask about the boys? Describing them needs a lot of precise wording…"

"How about drawing them?"

"That would be great! But I cannot manage more than stick figures."

"Hmm… Give me some paper that you are willing to spare and I'll try."

She pasted herself to his arm when he was drawing, shouting out random exclaims of praise literally every ten seconds, which altogether, was rather deconcentrating.

"Oh gods! That's amazing! Those are exactly Naruto's eyes! How do you do that?!"

She was squirming from excitement next to him, so Madara decided to treat her last remark as an honest question. Hopefully she would calm down a bit. "It's Sharingan. I remember exactly how something looked if I watched it with Sharingan on. It stays forever, and I can recall it. And then… I don't know, I just know to put those lines…"

"It's amazing!" squealed Sakura. "It's like some magic!"

"Nothing of this sort," he replied handing her two portraits of her boys – each face starting straight out of the paper at the spectator – Uchiha brat with grim expression that wasn't doing any favours to his features, the jinchūriki with his cheesy, too wide grin.

He was always referring to him as 'the jinchūriki', even mentally. He knew very well that the kid's name was Uzumaki Naruto, but he was dead set on applying the same treatment to both of Sakura's teammates. And he refused calling the other one differently than 'Uchiha brat'. He simply couldn't push his name past his lips.

Next day Sakura spent, predictably, playing with the children. They liked her; liked her enough to climb on her, have her carry them on her back, have her swing them around holding them at two freely chosen limbs at time. Madara sat under the tree watching her play. He never heard her laugh so much. He wished they could just stay here.

The evening came and she plopped down breathlessly by the fire he made. "I think I have it! It is something akin to: 'shakuy ese'. At least I hope that that's it. I'll need to check it tomorrow."

"How do you intend to check it?"

"Oh, I know all their names already! And I bet they won't show up all together tomorrow. So, I can ask for the missing ones and see if I get a reasonable answer!"

He just had to return her smile. "And what else did you learn?" he asked passing her a bowl of stew with lots of local vegetables and some of the cured deer meat in it.

"Oh, so much! I know how to say 'hello' and 'goodbye', 'up' and 'down'; I can count until ten; I know the words for tree, sun, house, flower, eyes, nose, hair. I think they really like my hair, you know?"

"Hn," said Madara putting a spoonful of stew in his mouth. He could understand the sentiment.

.

They didn't stay. Two days later, they hit the road. The actual road. Madara couldn't even remember when was the last time he walked a dirt track on his own two legs. In the next village Sakura made good use of her newly acquired knowledge and his sketches. He admired how easily it came to her to approach random strangers with that trustful and cheerful smile and ask them for help.

Predictably, no one saw the boys in this village and in the three next ones down the valley, which in meantime got broader and opened up to a vast plain. Their dirt road became wider and more trodden and in one evening on the horizon they saw a rusty, diffused glow that could come only from city lights.

Sakura was so excited to see the city. From the looks of it, it was huge. Much bigger than the capital of the Land of Fire, it splayed across the entire valley, until the horizon. Before entering, they methodically went through their supplies, separating everything that could be traded, and putting it into the backpacks. Camping won't be an option anymore, they needed money to pay for food and accommodation. Luckily, they had a lot with them. Different kinds of knives and kitchenware, those clothes that Sakura took just in case and she now deemed pretty enough, three of the least favourite swords of Madara. Jewelry and other sentimental trinkets Sakura retrieved from fallen ninja – with heavy heart she decided to give those objects a second, hopefully happier life.

Sakura hoped that the design of their items will be exotic enough to give them a good price. How exactly was she supposed to bargain in an unknown language she didn't know just yet.

Streets' raster was hexagonal and it needed quite some mental adjustment to navigate. Not that they were at the point where they needed any navigation – they just went in and proceeded forwards, until a first market-like open space. There, Sakura went from stand to stand presenting the items for counter-trade. After an hour she managed to sell one leather jacket, a kitchen knife and a silver chain. Her purse was heavy from those shimmering stones.

How should she ask for a tavern or a guesthouse? Sakura sucked at her lower lip, thinking. She touched the hand of the seller that just bought the silver chain from her – an elderly woman, with her impossibly curly hair tied back in a bun – to get her attention again.

"Excuse me," Sakura said in her own language. Words didn't matter, what mattered was communicating the intent. "Shakuy ese a place to sleep?" She folded her hands under her cheek and closed her eyes for a moment. "Shakuy ese?"

The woman considered her with a gentle smile. Then she nodded, and exchanging couple of words with another seller, she left the stand and grabbed at Sakura's elbow talking energetically and gesticulating. She pulled Sakura into one of the streets. Madara followed on their heels.

The woman led them into some form an inn, and led a long and animated conversation with the owner, with a lot of pointing in their direction. Finally, some words were spoken to Sakura, and she recognized numbers. She scrunched her brows – it was too quick. The man repeated and Sakura placed one shimmering stone-plate on the counter. The man fished out several smaller stones from a drawer and presented them to her.

Sakura looked around – the place seemed nice. Clean and cozy. And so lived-in. She raised four fingers and pointed between herself and Madara. "Four," she said recalling the word she learned from the kids, "Four..." She made a pause and folded her palms to the cheek and pushed pebbles back to the owner.

It turned out to be a good choice – their room was on the fifth floor so they had a bit of a view of the city, was not only clean but also pretty – all painted blue and had such a beautiful, intricate pattern on the ceiling. Sakura was apprehensive that she took this decision without consulting with Madara first, but now she could see that he silently approved, as he stretched himself long on a very soft and very bouncy bed. Sakura smiled. Even if four days turn out too long, it will be simple good to be here.

Next days they spent searching the city. Madara drew another set of portraits for himself, and they divided the city into sectors. Acting separately, they were twice as efficient.

On the third day, Sakura was as usually going from one shop to another (in meantime she learned that the sellers were most approachable when it came to listening to her questions) and asking about the boys. Their portraits were permanently in her hand – she didn't bother putting them back to her bag anymore. She was walking already the tenth hour, making only one short break to grab something to eat, and she was so tired. She had to fight hard to keep up her act of a polite, a bit lost stranger in the need of help from the locals. Good that she was approaching their tavern, if her count was correct, she was two blocks away.

She entered a tiny shop full of strange glass ornaments that were so popular in this land – people hung them in their windows and their twirled in the wind making sweet, soft sounds. Sakura waited until the seller was done with the previous customer and presented him two portraits.

"Shakuy ese?" she asked and pointed at the boys' faces. She will be given yet another negation. All she was ever given was shakes of heads and helpless looks. "Shakuy ese?" It was a crackpot idea to perform the search this way. She wondered why Madara didn't insist on flying the Susano'o around and burning the fire signs on the sky just yet. He must have realized the futility of this pursuit already long ago.

A standard headshake. And the words she knew already by heart: "Este ya. Mata se." No, he hasn't seen them. He is sorry.

Sakura smiled, bowed and turned.

And almost collided with the previous customer. An old woman was staring intently at the pictures in her hands.

She said something pointing at Sasuke's portrait. Sakura didn't understand. The woman repeated and nodded encouragingly.

Sakura's heart stopped. The woman talked some more, but she couldn't really hear her. Then she stopped talking and with her thin, wrinkled hand brushed away a tear that rolled down Sakura's cheek. Some more words followed, softer this time, accompanied with smiles. Sakura didn't protest when the woman grabbed her elbow and led her out of the shop. In the rush of adrenaline and emotions Sakura wasn't even registering how many turns and which direction they took. Which was an idiocy, she still needed to find her way back to the tavern. But she couldn't think straight. Could it be? Could it really be? The old woman was chatting, pointing between Sasuke's portrait and Sakura herself and smiling. They entered a plaza and Sakura couldn't breathe.

Old woman gestured at the set of tables arranged in front of an eatery. Sakura narrowed her eyes. The crowd was dense, but in the sea of blond and reddish curls, black, spiky hair stood out like a sore thumb. Her eyes huge, she turned to the old woman. She beamed at her seeing Sakura's recognition and patted her cheek. A new stream of tears flowed from Sakura's eyes. She didn't bother to wipe them. She bowed, folding almost in half. And ran.

Pushing through the guests, bumping her knees against the benches, she ran. She could have pushed a bowl or two off a table as some angry shouts followed her, but she didn't care.

"Sasuke-kun!" she shouted. "Sasuke-kun!"

Like in slow motion, he started to turn. Sakura hit her hip against the table, she wasn't looking where she was going at all, her eyes plastered to the back of black-haired man's head.

"Sasuke!"

He turned.

She froze in place. There were still good ten meters and several tables separating them, but hers was a tunnel vision now.

She was staring straight into Madara's face.

And something in her broke.

She didn't know how he managed to get to so quickly, she didn't even know how long it lasted. The next thing she knew, she was in his embrace, sitting in his lap, sobbing and crying her heart out. He rocked her gently and she wanted only to bury herself inside him and never go out.

He carried her to the tavern and she fell asleep soon afterwards.

.

They left the world soon after this incident. But before they did, they flew around it in Susano'o. From the height Sakura could appreciate even more how beautiful it was. Oh, how she wished they could just stay.

But they burned the bridges – Madara's Susanoo raised panic and turmoil in the villages. People ran screaming, trying to hide in the orchards. Some projectiles were shot in their direction. Sakura could only hope that they were far enough from the ground and Susanoo's glow dense enough that people didn't recognize the faces of those whom they helped now unleashing a monster over their houses.

AN: A bit shorter chapter this time, but I hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. Thank you for reading and please let me know what did you think about it!