Hi readers! Thank you for all the kind feedback last chapter. This chapter is being split into two separate updates as it contains a lot of plot movement which I felt would be better posted in two sections, to allow you a breather between. I hope you enjoy the revelations! Happy reading.

Chapter LIV

A past of pain, a bond broken,

Words of regret left long unspoken.

The enemy's gaze, now awoken,

Beware the snake's corruptive token.

Sakura parried Naruto's deft punch before lunging forward, aiming a measured swing right at his head. Grinning, her friend ducked and suddenly launched himself straight at her, rugby tackling her back onto the cushioned training mats.

Sakura squealed in surprise, finding herself enveloped in a monstrous bear hug, as Naruto rolled her over, cocooning her body from behind, his arms locked firmly around her front midsection.

"N-Naruto!" she spluttered, wriggling in an attempt to weasel free from his strong hold. "Get off me!"

"C'mon, Sakura-chaaan!" he crowed playfully. "You gotta learn how to get out of hugs, too! Never know which creep might try to grab you for one!"

Sakura floundered on her back like a turtle turned on its shell. She knew how to break out of holds where a person snuck up behind her back, but being pulled to the ground with someone holding her from behind, as Naruto had done, was uncharted territory.

She cycled through her training, knowing she had little leverage to break loose in her current position. Summoning her strength, she began to rock left and right with increasing momentum, until she was able to roll them both over onto their left sides. Acting quickly, she kicked against the ground with her feet, pushing up against the mat, until she succeeded in shifting Naruto at an angle awkward enough to force him to release her. She scrambled to her knees and immediately smacked him on the upside of the head as he sat up.

"Ouch! Sakura-chan!" he howled melodramatically. "What was that for?!"

"For the rugby-tackle!" Sakura admonished.

"But Granny Tsunade never taught you that one, right? I was helping you out!" he protested.

"Dork," Sakura rolled her eyes indulgently. They took a seat on the low bench by the basement's northern wall. She accepted Naruto's offer of water, and they sat in silence for a minute, catching their breaths.

It was early Sunday morning, and the delicious smell of breakfast-in-the-making wafted down through the partially open basement door. Naruto had come over to Sakura's house, and finding his friend pummeling a punching-bag, had volunteered to spar with her until Shizune finished preparing breakfast. Tsunade was in her study with Kakashi and Jiraiya, Naruto had informed Sakura; the elder deities were the reason Naruto had been dragged up uncharacteristically early, a fact he'd complained about with great gusto upon arrival.

"You're getting stronger, Sakura-chan," Naruto complimented. "You'll be kicking my ass before long."

"Like I'm not already?" Sakura stuck out her tongue.

"Just a little." Naruto smiled goofily at her. Then he held up his hand, showing her a shallow graze he'd sustained on his right knuckle. "Can you heal this?"

Sakura nodded and placed her palm over his hand, focusing. She felt her inner-chakra network, restricted in its flow but there all the same, respond to her call, and directed its energy to her hand. There she concentrated on the damaged tissue on Naruto's skin and pumped a tiny stream of chakra into the wound, controlling it carefully, mending the edges of the open injury together and sewing the skin. When she drew her hand away, the cut was gone.

Naruto beamed. "That's so cool, Sakura-chan! And you can do this with really limited chakra. Your control is pretty great. You call on it really well, given it's only been three months since you started learning healing." Sakura smiled proudly at the compliment. Naruto added, "But Granny Tsunade told us you already knew how to call on chakra even before she began training you."

"Well, I learnt a lot about it and had a lot of practice while I was in the Underworld. Sasuke taught me about how chakra is used and borrowed…" Sakura began unthinkingly, before her voice trailed off, as she recalled the intense sparring sessions she'd partaken in with the Underworld's King. Intense in all aspects, from the way Sasuke had been a thoroughly unforgiving tutor – right up to the brooding, smoulderingly piercing stares he had given her as he'd watched her every movement like a hawk.

Naruto gave her a look. He then looked away, down at his hands, and said quietly, "That bastard always was a good teacher. I learnt a few combat techniques from him, too, back when we used to spar."

Sakura blinked and turned to face her friend. She saw the opportune moment to ask him what had been weighing on her mind a long time – and now that they were finally alone with nobody else around to disturb them, she knew it was the perfect chance to question him.

Hoping they'd not be interrupted, she asked, "What happened? Between you and Sasuke?"

Naruto's expression, which was usually bright and cheerful, significantly dulled at her words. He was silent. Proceeding carefully, Sakura went on, "It'd probably help me to know. I mean, this is a part of the past I've not really spoken to either of you about."

"Did he ever…" Naruto swallowed and hesitated. "Did he ever say anything about me to you, Sakura-chan?"

"Not really." Sakura shook her head. "I mean not about what happened between you. I just got the impression he doesn't like you very much, but I assumed it was to do with the whole war and how you were both on opposing sides."

"We weren't always." Naruto sighed heavily. He didn't see the harm in telling Sakura. Not now when everyone was being so open with her about everything, though the memory of Sasuke and what had passed between them pained him immensely. He'd never really told her the story before in past lives. They'd never gotten to the point where he could openly discuss it, before Sakura met an untimely death.

"He's my best friend," he confided.

Is, Sakura noted mentally. Not was.

"Well," Naruto released a slightly dejected laugh. "I mean, I still think of him as my best friend. He was like a brother to me back then. I still think of him as family, even if he doesn't feel the same way. He knows me better than anyone – he was always able to read me, and likewise, even when we didn't have much to say."

Sakura listened on with keen interest.

"We used to spar together. My old man taught combat to Kakashi-sensei, who in turn would teach me. Dad was too busy ruling Olympus with my Ma, you see, so I'd spend a lot of time training with Kakashi-sensei." He smiled faintly in recollection. "It all started out with the bell task. One day in our sparring arena, Kakashi-sensei challenged me to retrieve a bell from his waist to build my agility. Sasuke happened to be passing by, and watched me fail a couple times. Being the stuck-up bastard he is, he then boasted that he could get the bell, so Kakashi-sensei invited him to join in."

Sakura felt a small smile dance on her lips. She could imagine Sasuke doing such a thing – he made habit out of proving his points and doing things that made him look infuriatingly cooler than anyone else. He looked really good doing it, too.

"He almost succeeded, even managed to get his fingertips on the bell. In the end though, we both failed," Naruto laughed out loud. "Sasuke was so grumpy at being beaten, he challenged Kakashi-sensei to a swordfight then and there. But I wasn't just gonna sit back and let them go at it without me, so it ended up being a three-way duel. From then on, it became a regular thing. We'd meet up and spar. We'd show off our techniques, teach each other new ones. I'd really look forward to those times." A wistful look passed over Naruto's face. "We weren't from the surface and Underworld then, you know? We weren't from families that had different points of view. We were just normal friends, brothers, fighting like any friends and brothers do…" he trailed off.

Sakura put a hand lightly on her friend's tan arm. "Go on," she encouraged gently.

"We'd hang out a lot. Kakashi-sensei grew so fond of Sasuke, he even once gifted him a set of shuriken he made for him. I think he almost started to see Sasuke like a son; he reminded Kakashi-sensei of when he'd been a younger god. When we weren't sparring with Kakashi-sensei, we'd chariot race wherever our races happened to take us, making bets, arguing, sparring, or just hanging out. Sometimes we'd even pull pranks on Kakashi-sensei; I always managed to drag Sasuke into some kind of mischief he'd later end up trying to pummel me into the dirt for, heh."

"Was that how you first met, the bell test?" Sakura asked curiously.

"No. His dad visited Olympus with Cronus, Sasuke's mother, and older brother. Sasuke was with them. It was when Cronus introduced Sasuke's father to my dad as his successor to the Underworld's throne. That's when we met."

Sakura nodded. Then she asked, "What relation is Cronus to Sasuke, exactly?"

Naruto gave her a confused look. "I dunno, Sakura-chan. Like, his great, great, great grandpa? Give or take a few greats? Or maybe a great, great uncle? He was the founder of their clan, after all. They're related somehow if you go way back, but its many lines down across many generations."

"Hmm," Sakura hummed in understanding.

"Anyway, when Sasuke and I first met, we hated each other at first," Naruto scowled. "My dad told me to make small talk with the asshole while the rest of his family attended some meeting with my parents. So I did, tried to keep him company, to be friendly, offered him a tour of our palace and gardens, but he wasn't interested. He looked bored, like he didn't want to be there, or maybe he was just pissed off that he had to miss out on the meeting. Whatever it was, he was a rude, blunt, stuck-up jerk."

Sakura couldn't help but snort at that. "He still is," she assured her friend. The two shared a brief, amused laugh.

"So after that, I made it my mission to find out what his deal was," Naruto continued. He was now telling his story enthusiastically, with animated expressions that were riveting to watch, as if all this old history had just happened the day before. "I'd bug him on purpose whenever he came to the palace. Then one day, I had enough of him ignoring me, and challenged him to a chariot race. Finally got the bastard's attention – and from then on, we slowly became friends, though he'd never openly admit it. He'd insult me and call me every word for moron under the sun… but as time went on, I knew he started to enjoy hanging out, in his own Sasuke way. He started to call on me, outside of being dragged to Olympus by his family. At festivals, after the formalities were over, we'd always chill out and drink ambrosia together."

Sakura rested her chin on her hand, as Naruto began to pick absently on the bandaging around his left wrist.

"The more time we spent together, the more I slowly began to know more about him. He wasn't easy to get to know, Sakura-chan, even before everything that happened and changed him. The Uchiha were that way, a private family who don't trust outsiders easily. And he was the youngest in a huge family. Once he told me, there weren't any Uchiha his age in his clan. His older brother - Itachi – well, Sasuke adored him, but he was always tied up with the heavy responsibilities their father would rely on him to carry out, so they rarely spent any free time together.

"His cousins were all stationed in the Underworld doing their important duties, too. Sasuke felt like he never really fit in… that he had way too much time to spare because nobody would give him anything challenging to do. A guy as clever as Sasuke is, he'd get frustrated about it. Everyone else had specific gifts and roles, but he was just a guard who patrolled the Underworld. He loved his brother, but resented him too. Because Itachi was gifted and highly praised, would get all the responsibilities, was there in every meeting by their father's side, and Sasuke was left out, didn't get any important missions to do in comparison. He never felt like he was serving his clan much at all."

"He told you all this?" Sakura listened in amazement. "You two must have been really close."

"Like I said," Naruto shrugged. "He became a brother to me. I knew what it was like to be isolated, too. Not like my old man ever let me attend serious meetings, either. Sasuke and I had that in common. We were both angry about it, in our own ways. We just dealt with it differently."

"So you met his older brother, then…" Sakura began, wanting to know more about the mysterious figure that Sasuke had strictly never discussed.

"A few times." Naruto glanced at her. "Itachi was way politer than Sasuke. But also, really quiet. Like, really quiet. Barely said a word, ever, except to their older cousin he used to hang around a lot with. Uh… what was his name…? Hypnos, that was what humans called him. Oh! Yeah! Shisui! That was that guy's name. They'd both go around wearing these fancy masks that hid the top half of their faces. It was kind of creepy, but I guess it had to do with their roles."

"What were their roles?" Sakura pressed.

"Eh." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Why are you so interested in them, anyway? Weren't we talking about my past with Sasuke?"

Sakura shrugged. "Sasuke never really talked about his relationship with his family much. But I saw a portrait with his brother in it and wondered about him."

"They were Hypnos and Thanatos." Naruto supplied. "Sleep and Death. Humans were afraid of them, because they thought one led to the other when people would die in sleep. Must have been because they were known to travel together, too. I think Sasuke was jealous over how much more time Shisui got to spend with his big brother, than he ever-"

"Wait a minute," Sakura interjected. "Death?"

"Oh. Yeah. The Underworld was different back then, Sakura-chan. Nowadays, Sasuke has inherited all the roles of the family members who were lost in the war, pretty much, so he's really powerful. But back then, it was his brother who was responsible for bringing about death. He was, I guess, true death. Kinda like, the grim reaper, or the angel of death in comparison. He was a soul collector. Whereas Hypnos, he was responsible for bringing on sleep."

Sakura felt goose-pimples surface on her bare arms. Suddenly, wearing a T-shirt and leggings didn't seem to be enough clothing for how chilly she oddly felt. Rubbing at her skin, she tried to figure out why that particular information made her feel uncomfortable. But she could find no reason, other than, any mortal would fear true death, and a deity who personally collected souls.

She decided not to ask any further questions about Sasuke's brother or his cousin.

Naruto shrugged, going back to his relationship with Sasuke. "So, I guess that was another reason we became really close, being the same age. We'd always hang out, goof around… you even joined us a few times."

"What did Kor-" Sakura began, before amending awkwardly, "I think of him?" She felt a little apprehensive flutter in her stomach, even as she asked the question.

"Meh," Naruto exhaled disapprovingly. "He was an asshole to you, too. You thought he was a rude, arrogant bastard. I had to kick his ass so many times for that."

Sakura bit back a laugh. She doubted that Naruto had been able to – but she was sure he must've tried.

"So what went wrong?" she wondered.

"Then my dad found out about Cronus's plans to take over the throne at Olympus. The Uchiha had been keeping up appearances, letting us think everything was normal. We'd signed a peace treaty honouring their status as rulers in their own right, of their own Kingdom. We would trade resources with them. They'd gave us gems and powerful horses, we'd give them foods that didn't grow in the Underworld, along with other surface bounties. We had peace for a very long time. But I guess that was just Cronus biding his time. He'd always been bitter over not being chosen to rule Olympus back when a successor to his father was chosen. He never understood how my dad, a much younger god, could be King of all the Gods, when he lacked the Uchiha's bloodline and gifts. You…" Naruto looked at her. "You've seen the Sharingan on Sasuke, right?"

Piercing crimson eyes flashing across her memory. Sakura nodded.

"All Uchiha are born with those eyes. Cronus thought himself superior because of it. Sasuke told me they have to go through some pretty crazy stuff to activate different levels of the Sharingan."

"Huh? What kind of stuff? There are levels?"

"I can't remember if I asked," Naruto shrugged again. "And I'm not the best person to talk about Sharingan levels. You'd be better off asking Kakashi-sensei about that. He has one."

Bewildered, Sakura echoed, "He has one?"

"A Sharingan. That's why he wears the eye-patch, y'know."

"Wait." Sakura gaped. "What? Kakashi-sensei has a Sharingan? But he's not an Uchiha."

"No," Naruto agreed. "He never told me exactly how he got it, just that it was transplanted into his eye when his best friend died."

"Who was his best friend? How did he die? And what? You can transplant a Sharingan into anyone's eye socket?" Sakura's mind was buzzing with questions.

"I don't know who, Sakura-chan. He never talks about it. Maybe you could try asking him? And yeah, Sharingans can be transplanted, though it's creepy if you ask me."

Sakura was scientifically captivated by this revelation and mentally told herself she'd look into it more by asking Kakashi later for more details.

Naruto went on, "We found out that Cronus was able to change people's perceptions using his eye-powers."

"How do you mean?" Sakura frowned.

"Well, the Sharingan, it has hypnotic powers depending on the skill of its wielder. They can like, impose their will on whoever meets their gaze, unless that person trains in how to break out of genjutsu."

Sakura thought of Sasuke's Sharingan, all the times she'd looked into it, only to lose consciousness, or see whatever it was he'd wanted to show her. She'd witnessed first-hand, just how devastatingly powerful the ocular gift was.

"You can train to do that? Withstand genjutsu?" Sakura tilted her head.

"Yeah. You gotta have a talent for it, though," Naruto's cerulean eyes met hers. "Some people are better at it, naturally able to, mentally stronger, that's what Kakashi-sensei told me, anyway. But if the Sharingan user is really powerful, it gets harder to break out of, because they have more layers in their illusions. And if you can't break out of it, then you think that's reality, and what you're seeing and feeling are real."

It was fascinating to hear about. Greatly interested, Sakura made another note to herself to ask her mother about it the next time they trained together.

"Cronus is an old god, a Titan, which means he's a really powerful ancient god. What's more, he's able to influence time within illusions and that's a huge mind-fuck in itself. He was able to use his Sharingan to mess with people's memories back then, to brain-wash people, make them forget things. We think he probably did it to his own clan, made them believe we were the enemy so they'd all march into his crazy war with him."

Sakura's eyes widened. Cronus had the power to erase memories? Was that what he'd done to Sasuke? Was that why Sasuke had no recollection of ever meeting Kore in the past? She almost blurted this out to Naruto – but then realised it'd open up questions about how she remembered that Sasuke had known her before, about her dreams – which came far too close to the subject of Hades and Kore's secret love affair. She swallowed back her question, and replaced it with another.

"He can take memories away? You mean… forever? There's no way to undo it?"

"I dunno much about how it specifically works," Naruto conceded. "But I guess if he can make people think and feel a certain way, and trap them in eternal genjutsu, then only he'd be the one who can undo it with whatever seals he used to set the illusion to begin with."

Sakura's mind whirled to process this new information. Her heart began to canter in her chest. It made absolute sense. That had to be how Sasuke had lost his memories of her! If Kore had been kidnapped, then it seemed likely Cronus had known about her through Hades' relationship with her. And in order to get Sasuke to comply and assist in the war, he'd wiped out the youngest Uchiha's memories and emotions, to ensure he was a perfect, cold-hearted assassin, and to remove any risks of him not cooperating.

What other explanation was there? All the pieces were starting to come together.

She fought back the urge to gasp. Now more than ever, she felt the need to talk to Sasuke. Could it be? Was it possible that Cronus was the one responsible for Sasuke's altered memories? Of course, Sasuke would be none the wiser. He was meant to forget, to think the way Cronus had desired for his descendant to think.

And if that were true, then it made Sasuke as much a victim of the war as she had been, back when she'd been in her original form, before the cycle of reincarnation began.

Then Naruto said something that made her heart thump harder. He echoed her line of thought. "I think that son of a bitch got to Sasuke. He did something to him. I tried to tell everyone that's what must have happened, but nobody believes it."

Feeling breathless, Sakura managed, "You really think that he stole Sasuke's memories? And Sasuke doesn't realise?"

"I don't know that he stole them all. But I do know that Sasuke changed. What he believed in, it changed." Meeting Sakura's gaze directly, her friend explained, "When we first found out about Cronus' plans, I went straight to Sasuke. I was mad, Sakura-chan. I couldn't believe my best friend would take part in a plot to destroy my family. But it made sense. Sasuke… he'd been quieter than usual up to then. And I realised why. He'd known all along about his family's plans, but out of loyalty to them, couldn't tell me about it until I called him out on it and then we fought over it. I finally beat the truth out of him, literally.

"He didn't agree with the war. He worried about what would happen to his clan. He said the clan had first opposed the idea, because we had peace and were thriving, because the human world had a life-death balance at last. The Uchiha were free to come to the surface as and when they liked, there was no trouble. But then, Sasuke said they'd suddenly started to fall in line and back Cronus's plans. They started to support his extreme ideas and began viewing us surface gods as the enemy.

"Cronus was preaching hate, saying that we were repressing them, forcing them to live in the Underworld while we enjoyed the light and freedom of the surface, while we reaped all its favours. That mortals built our temples and prayed to us instead of them." His hands balled into angry fists. "All lies that bastard fed them, to make them hate us. They didn't realise, we needed them more than they needed us. Without an Underworld, the surface would be in chaos, the world a mess."

Sakura exhaled slowly. Sasuke still hated the surface folk until this day. Because of the war and what had happened to his family. But it seemed that his thoughts had been manipulated and altered even before then. And he did not know.

"Sasuke was furious about it because his family had excluded him from their plans again. I told him we had to find a way to stop the war. The dispute was between Cronus and my dad, nobody else had to get involved, and there had to be a way to resolve it without fighting and risking both our families and endangering the lives of humans. Sasuke agreed. We met up a lot of times after, trying to think of a plan, a way to show both sides there could be peace. I didn't tell another soul. I didn't even tell my parents. He kept it quiet too, because if we told anyone else, there was a chance our plan would get back to my dad or Cronus."

"What was your plan?" Sakura had subconsciously leaned forward, fully absorbed in the tale she was hearing.

"To ambush Cronus's chariot along a path we knew he took back to the Underworld, on a day we knew he'd be returning from Olympus."

Sakura gaped at her blond friend. "That was your master plan? For someone who commanded the entire Uchiha army?"

Naruto held up his hands defensively. "I know it sounds crazy, Sakura-chan. But we had help. Sasuke did tell just one other person. The only other person he absolutely trusted, and who we agreed could know."

"His brother…" Sakura whispered.

Naruto nodded. "He said Itachi listened in silence as Sasuke told him. When Sasuke had finished speaking, he simply left the room and vanished. Sasuke didn't know what to think, and panicked to me that Itachi had gone straight to their father to report him. But I told him to wait. A couple days later, Itachi returned to Sasuke's room and handed him a scroll."

"What was in the scroll?" Sakura's head was spinning from the drama of it all.

"It was a powerful sealing jutsu that could detain even a god as mighty as Cronus. Itachi told him there'd come a day when he would need it, and to use it wisely. We took it to mean his brother was on board with the idea of stopping the war, though his hands were tied. He couldn't do anything himself, as closely as he was being watched by Cronus."

"This is insane," Sakura shook her head again, trying to process everything she was discovering.

"That was why we had the confidence to set up the ambush. We had that tool on our side, and Itachi's assurances that it would work. The idea was we'd disable Cronus with it, take him back to the Council and my father, and while he was under the influence of the jutsu, Sasuke could copy whatever technique Cronus had used to brainwash the clan with his own Sharingan, and reverse it so they'd see sense again."

"Wait, the Sharingan can copy things?"

"Sure," Naruto affirmed. "Any jutsu it watches being performed."

"Whoa," Sakura leant back against the wall behind them, medically impressed.

"So that was it. Without the backing of his clan, there's no way Cronus could've gone to war alone. If we'd been able to do that, we could have put Cronus to trial, imprisoned him. There would've been justice without anyone else having to suffer," Naruto finished.

It sounded incredibly risky – but entirely possible if executed carefully and correctly. "So what happened?" Sakura probed.

Naruto's expression darkened. "Sasuke never showed. We'd agreed a time. We'd agreed it weeks before, and not seen each other since then, to avoid raising any suspicions. Sasuke was paranoid that we'd be followed. Cronus had his lackeys everywhere. But Sasuke sent a hawk to confirm he'd be at the agreed spot. We were all set. I went there on the day, and waited. I waited and waited and Cronus passed with his chariot, and still Sasuke didn't show. The scroll. Sasuke had left it with me, to keep anyone from discovering it. I panicked. I thought if Sasuke wasn't showing, I'd have to do it alone. So I tried…"

Sakura gasped in dismay. "Naruto! You went up against him alone?"

"I know, it was stupid, I know!" Naruto squeezed his eyes shut in regret, feeling tears stinging at them, trying to push them angrily back. It seemed like it had been just yesterday that his friend had stood him up, betrayed his trust. It still cut him deeper than any blade could, because he was none the wiser about why now, as he had been back then. "But I was desperate. We had no other chance to pull it off. I tried – I got the scroll open, began to form the seals – but Cronus was too fast. Too strong. There was nobody else there to distract him. I almost lost an arm, and my neck. It was all I could do to get out of there in one piece. It was the scroll that got me out, but I dropped it when he attacked me, and left it behind."

"The scroll?" Sakura was baffled. "You said it was a sealing jutsu."

"That's what I thought!" Naruto held up his hands, just as bewildered. "But when I finally managed to follow all the seals, I was back at Olympus. I don't know how. It all happened so fast. Sasuke must have given me the wrong one and kept the other. Makes sense if he never planned to show up."

"Or," Sakura guessed, "maybe his brother knew what you were doing was suicide, so he gave Sasuke that one to get you out of there?"

Naruto stared at her incredulously, as if the idea had never occurred to him.

"Did you guys open the scroll before that?" Sakura asked.

"We'd looked at it. It had been a sealing one, I'm sure of it. I'm telling you, it must have been switched, somehow."

Sakura remained unconvinced. So many things weren't adding up. Then she said, "Did Sasuke ever explain why he was a no-show?"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "I was so upset when I got dumped back on Olympus, I ended spilling everything to Kakashi-sensei and old hermit Jiraiya. They were both furious at me for not saying anything sooner, for not letting anyone else help. And that bastard Cronus used my attack as more justification to attack us, accusing us of wanting him dead. He used the scroll as proof. I screwed up so bad, Sakura-chan," Naruto's tears were now spilling freely. "I'll never forget the disappointed look in my dad's eyes, when he found out what I'd done. Like he had to try to clean up the mess his idiot son had made. I felt responsible, even though we knew Cronus was going to attack either way, but I'd given him the final excuse he needed, trying to stop him by myself."

Sakura felt horrible for him. It was a thoroughly depressing story.

"The next time I saw Sasuke, was on the battlefield. I couldn't find him at first. I looked everywhere. There were so many bodies, all fighting a war we never even needed to begin. But then I finally saw him, fighting for Cronus…" he gulped, wiping at his eyes. "Sakura-chan, I don't know why he betrayed me. When I confronted him, asked him where he'd been, how we'd agreed we'd not let the war start at all… it was like… it was like he didn't know what I was talking about.

He was furious. At me. Said I'd been stringing him along all that time, trying to get inside information to wipe out the Uchiha on behalf of my dad." Naruto looked aghast. "It was like we weren't friends at all. Like he hadn't known me at all, for all those years of friendship. Like we'd never spent all that time together and I…" he exhaled shakily. "I couldn't understand it. I didn't get it. How could my best friend just change and think that about me? I didn't know how to handle it in the middle of a war. I-I tried to stop him. I didn't want to hurt him. I tried to save him. But once the seal was placed on Cronus, the Underworld took him. I didn't know. I didn't have time to react, Sakura-chan. It happened so fast. Even as those shadowy hands dragged him down below, I tried to reach out to him. But he lashed out at me, blamed me for the death of his family and I never saw him again, until…" his voice trailed off, and he covered his eyes with an arm, struggling to retain his composure.

Sakura's heart sank sadly for him. Until he had come down to the Underworld looking for her.

Sniffling, Naruto wiped at his eyes, and added, "There were so many things that didn't add up. How you went missing, how he knew you were in the Underworld but never let us know. How he abandoned our plan without saying anything. How he suddenly blamed me for trying to screw his family over. He became someone else. It just doesn't make sense. Any of it. And even to this day, he's bitter about it, blames me, when all I wanted, all I ever wanted, was to work with him, to save both sides. But he won't listen. How do you get through to someone who refuses to listen, who won't believe you because it seems his memories are just gone?"

There was a long, depressing silence.

"It sounds like his memories were tampered with, just like you said," Sakura finally supplied, rubbing stressfully at her forehead. "That must be it. There can't be any other explanation if he just changed all of a sudden, just like his clan did. And you're right, how can you make someone believe what they don't even remember?"

"I've tried to find out what happened. I've tried to reason with him, Sakura-chan," Naruto gestured forlornly. "He won't hear it. He won't believe it. And it kills me, not knowing. I just don't know what to do. I can't help but feel…" he looked up at the ceiling helplessly, eyes red-rimmed from withheld tears, "like the Sasuke I know is still in there, somewhere, if only I knew how to help him, how to pull him out of the darkness." A heart-breaking sound of despair left her friend's lips, as he lowered his head and buried his face into both his hands.

Laying a hand against Naruto's back in silent consolation, Sakura could only think of one thing.

That Cronus had surely altered Sasuke's memories, erased them, tampered with them before Sasuke could meet Naruto as he'd agreed to do. That tampering had included all memories of Kore.

And the only one who could restore them, was the monster Cronus himself.

Slowly, the room blurred into sharp focus. Kabuto blinked, staring up at the first thing he saw. A rusted old pipe, dripping trickles of water on the dark ceiling.

Nothing human was capable of seeing such level of enhanced detail in the darkness. But Kabuto could see it down to the finest trail of liquid upon metal. He heaved in a breath, tasting the dampness of the air, mixed with the strange stench of growing spores and unnatural experimentation contained within the illegally-run underground laboratory.

He flexed his hands, felt shackles restrict his movements. He was bound to a metal chair, chains containing him securely within his seat to prevent personal injury and damage to the surrounding area during the duration of his transformation. He licked his dry lips, felt a wet, thin, serpentine tongue flick out, his mortal one altered forever in its form. He knew what it meant, could feel the alien power thrumming through his changed veins, his senses heightened beyond what was naturally possible.

He threw his head back, and laughed manically in the darkness.

It was quite inconvenient, Orochimaru thought, to find himself summoned once more before an individual whose actions had led to the complete decimation of his own clan. Now the one mortals had once named Cronus before time had discarded his name, sat upon the Olympian Throne vacated by his predecessor, Zeus. But Orochimaru knew it brought him no joy, for Cronus was a king without a crown, with no godly power over mortals or immortals alike. He was a prisoner, bound to Olympus by a seal so powerful, they had never found a way to reverse or break it.

It was inconvenient, because Orochimaru had plans to carry out, next steps to navigate on the surface. But he was intelligent enough to know that now was not the time to question his being summoned, and certainly no time to take hasty steps that could awaken the wrath of the individual seated upon the raised, white-marble dais before him. They needed each other's cooperation, and were working toward the same goal, after all – though with entirely different motives and reasons.

"My Lord Uchiha," Orochimaru inclined his head in a display of public respect, referring to the deity by his family name.

"I told you," a deep voice rang out, clear and heavy with disapproval. The authoritative voice of a natural-born leader, used to having his every order obeyed. "To persuade my descendant to work with us. Instead, it appears Sasuke is becoming a hindrance."

Orochimaru smiled mysteriously. "Quite the contrary… Sasssuke's interference raisesss many sussspicions…"

Cronus glowered at him down the barrel of a long, aristocratic nose. "How so? The spores you have grown defy the order of life and death. It is no surprise or anything out of the ordinary that he attacked the creature."

"Yesss," Orochimaru agreed. "But perhaps it was no coincidence that he happened to be keeping watch by Tsunade's home?"

Cronus frowned mildly. "Go on," he gestured for the serpent to continue speaking.

"Tsunade's daughter…" Orochimaru began suggestively. "Isss it not strange that she isss repeatedly ressstored following the demise of her mortal shell?"

One corner of Cronus's lips drew back in a disdainful sneer. "The child is and has always been a mere human recreated in the likeness of the spring goddess I destroyed long ago because her pitiful mother could not cope with the loss. Her life cycle will soon end, like all the other useless creations before her. We have discussed this many times before, serpent. The child dies because Tsunade's creations are imperfect. Without her full power, her creations are temporary, and eventually die. Some have perished after two years. Some after a day. Others after five years, or fifteen. The end result is always the same."

"She hasss lived longer than the othersss," Orochimaru pointed out.

"A mere anomaly," Cronus dismissed. "Besides," his eyes narrowed. "Sasuke would have no reason to have any interest in her. He has no memory of ever encountering her in her past life, or of her ever being abducted to the Underworld. I also saw to that; I ensured that he became the perfect assassin, with no other inconsequential emotions or sympathies for any of the damned surface folk." He looked away, bored with the entire conversation, finding nothing new of interest to discuss.

Orochimaru was silent for a long moment. Then he hissed, "Then perhapsss we should quessstion why it isss he took her to the Underworld?"

Cronus's eyes locked back onto to him, surprise flickering across his dark irises. After a second, he stated, "And where did you hear this? I saw no such thing take place."

"You would not. Recall that Sasssuke hasss the power to cloak his actionsss, if he desires… such isss the power of one who hasss absolute control of the shadesss of the Underworld."

"Who told you?" Cronus demanded impatiently.

"I have received word from a very reliable source," Orochimaru licked his lips gleefully. "One we both know very well." He raised his eyebrows at the ancient deity, whose face registered immediate understanding. "The girl and Tsunade were both absssent from the hospital for monthsss, a fact Kabuto was able to confirm. Perhapsss they were taking a break from the stresses of life. Or perhapsss, it is jussst as so. She wasss taken."

Cronus gripped the arms of his majestic throne tightly, displeased with this news. A whisper of alarm went through his mind, as he recalled the exact, carefully controlled circumstances under which he had arranged for his descendant's memories to be erased. If there was any chance at all that somehow, a trace of memory had been left behind… then Sasuke would know the truth, and then there was no way he could hope to sway the younger deity, or gain his assistance in their master plan.

It couldn't be… he thought. He'd personally overseen the process himself.

Gritting his teeth, he got out, "And for how long was she supposedly taken?"

"My source saysss, several monthsss at leassst. She has jussst recently been returned."

"He has no memory of her, it is simply impossible that he would seek her out after all this time for any other purpose than to slight the surface gods." Cronus shook his head doubtfully. But his mind was racing, already drawing up a next course of action for this unexpected development. He stared into the distance for a minute, lost in deep, calculating thought.

Finally he looked back at the serpent. "Find out why he took her, from your source."

Orochimaru bowed his head dutifully.

"Though it would benefit me to speak with him directly also, without interference," Cronus added, frustrated in his confinement. "But I know the insolent boy. He will not ascend here willingly. Neither can I set foot on the surface. And any vessels we might use, he will slay before I have time to say much. He has always been hot-headed."

"Perhapsss there is another way…" Orochimaru supplied.

Cronus shot him an expectant look. "Well?"

"You cannot sssee him in perssson… but I may provide you with a stronger vessel, which your consciousssness may possess in order to communicate with young Sasssuke for as long as you desire. If he cannot slaughter the vessel, he mussst listen to you."

Next to Orochimaru, a pool of black oozed out of the ground, bubbling like hot sticky tar. It elongated and stretched up, taking the form of an androgynous human with no discernible features – save for sharp, wickedly grinning teeth and blank circular yellow eyes.

"Black Zetsu requiresss some tweaking, but he should be sufficient. He hasss the unique ability to liquidise… so Sasssuke cannot smite Zetsu even when you have finished your discourse with him. He has no heart that Sasssuke can still… kukukuku."

Cronus's eyebrows rose, begrudgingly impressed. Only one deity was capable of that particular ability – to liquidise. He knew Orochimaru had spies everywhere, and contacts in all places. He imagined that his servant had pulled some strings and manipulated the very deity in question into cooperating. He was a master of snake-like whisperings and bartering irresistible trades, after all.

"You are able to command this creature, even without the missing phials?" Cronus questioned. "How?"

"It isss still incomplete. Black and White Zetsssu cannot be used freely and repeatedly until itsss genetic make-up is strengthened with the missing DNA contained within the samples. We mussst make our move against Tsunade and reacquire the missing link. If we do not, I will have to recharge the specimens once more, and that delaysss our plansss significantly."

"You know Tsunade has one in her possession. What are you waiting for? Reacquire it!" Cronus instructed.

"We mussst exercise caution, until we are strong enough to attack, without revealing our weaponsss to our enemy too soon."

"We would lose the element of surprise," Cronus agreed.

"Yesss. And her daughter may hold the key to a replacement… perhapsss she is no mere ordinary human after all…"

"There is no trace of deity in her," Cronus glared. "The child perishes and is created anew each time. Deities do not die of their own accord. She is clearly mortal."

"Perhapsss. But there isss only one way to find out whether she isss as we have alwaysss assumed… why else would young Sasuke take her to hisss Kingdom?"

Cronus blinked in acquiescence. "Her blood."

Orochimaru smirked sinisterly. "A sample will not be too difficult to acquire, consssidering…"

The Uchiha founder met his underling's gaze, and smirked back darkly in mutual understanding. Then he finished, "Arrange my meeting with Sasuke. We must gain his cooperation. He would be a powerful ally to have on the ground."

Orochimaru licked his lips, thinking of the proud young Uchiha, and the incredible power that coursed through his pure, untainted veins. How he hungered to taste such breath-taking power. What a fine vessel Sasuke would make, a superior experimentation specimen.

"We will have hisss cooperation… whether he isss willing or not…" the daemon replied cryptically. "I have a proposssal you may find of great interessst…"

Cronus leaned forward curiously, ready to listen. "Tell me."

Author's note

How the enemy found out about Sakura being in the Underworld is a plot point that will be revealed in due time. It's a big thing, so for now you're meant to wonder who was it?! Next chapter will be posted shortly! Any reviews posted would be greatly appreciated as I'd love to hear your thoughts on the evolving plot.