Quietus

by Seraphina Scribes

When first he laid eyes upon her, he thought her the very personification of spring. He watches, from the depths of shadow; waiting to steal her away from the land of the living. Waiting to make her Queen of the Dead. Hades/Persephone retold. SasuSaku/AU.

70. Chapter 69

A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this next instalment!

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Chapter LXIX

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To live an illusion, within a dream,
With memories altered, layered in disguise,
Where things are not always as they seem,
And truths are naught but pretty lies,
How far can a deceived heart travel?
Carried along the whispering winds of time,
Before Fate's strings begin to unravel,
And the clock begins it countdown chime.

---

Sakura sat on the edge of her bed, staring vacantly into space. She didn't know how much time had passed since they'd returned from their infiltration mission. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there for, lost in the tempestuous storm of overwhelming thoughts and emotions.

Danzo had rendezvoused with them outside the caves and confirmed that Orochimaru's research facility below had been completely destroyed. He had reiterated Jiraiya's words; that regrettably, no trace of Ino had been found by his ANBU squad. Given that Cronus had already earlier confirmed that Ino was no longer on Olympus, the only possible conclusion had to be that she had likely already been killed.

Sakura had heard the words and the cold, harsh truth had shattered her to a million pieces. She had stood with Hinata, weeping inconsolably, struggling to process how her best friend could have been snatched so cruelly from her. The loss had been so sudden. She hadn't seen it coming.

The ANBU had then taken Neji's body to the High Council's hidden base, so that the other councillors could bear witness to evidence of a most heinous crime committed against the surface deities. Hinata, Naruto, Jiraiya and Shikamaru had accompanied Danzo and his soldiers back to the grounds.

Kakashi had transported the rest of them to Tsunade's house. Upon their return, everyone had regrouped as details of the mission and its outcome had been shared. Sakura had been unable to look Inoichi in the eye when Kakashi had explained that they had been unable to locate Ino. The anger and sadness in the room had been palpable as they had all listened to the vicious fate that had befallen Neji.

Sakura blinked, fresh wetness welling in her eyes. She thought of all the happy times she'd spent with Ino over the years. All the stupid arguments they'd had. Ino cheering her on. Rolling her eyes when it came to studying. The way she was always so delighted by anything relating to love. Teaching her to apply makeup, telling her what boys liked. Ino dragging her shopping, knowing full well Sakura preferred to sit quietly with a book, but loved Ino enough to indulge her retail addiction. Ino poking fun at her forehead, slapping face-masks on her made from questionable ingredients. Jumping up and down on her bed with Ino, screaming the words to their favourite songs as Sakura had grown up. Ino braiding her hair. Always being there when Sakura needed honest advice. Sleeping next to her. Hugging Sakura whenever she had a nightmare. Scaring off anybody who bothered or teased her. Ino giving up her own active powers and using everything within her heart to assist in birthing a new body for Kore to continue to exist.

Tears spilled down Sakura's cheeks. From her infancy, the goddess had been by her side. She had even changed forms in her devotion, ensuring that they grew up together. She hadn't simply been Sakura's best friend; Sakura had come to view her as a sister. And she knew, even though she had no recollections - that in each lifetime she had lived before, Ino had doted upon her just as much.

Having to come to terms with and accept the distressing fact that she would never see Ino again – when it was her own final existence - filled Sakura with a sorrow so profound, it was akin to a physical, wrenching ache within her chest. She was stricken. It felt like a part of her had been ripped brutally out from inside her. Like there was a gaping hole in her chest. Ino had always been her strength, her rock. How was she meant to continue without her best friend's sassy jibes, her affectionate teasing, her confidence and strength, her endless support and love?

Lifting her hands forlornly to her face, Sakura sobbed, her entire body shuddering.

So lost was she to the depths of grief, she didn't hear her mother step into her room. Tsunade hesitated by the door, and felt a heaviness overcome her, witnessing her daughter's anguish at losing her closest friend. How could she possibly comfort her? How could she pick her up, at that moment, when her entire body language was so visibly crushed? Sakura had gone through so much over the course of the year. This, perhaps, had been the final straw that had broken the camel's back. So soon after losing Tenten, to be robbed of Ino. She had every right to be so upset.

"Sakura…" Tsunade joined her at the edge of her bed.

Her daughter simply wept harder. "She's gone," she wailed. "Sh-she's gone!"

The fact that they hadn't even been able to find Ino's body made everything so much more painful. There was no closure. Only knowing that she could have indeed been in the research facility – already dead – and if so, then she had been crushed beneath all the rubble. The horror of that was too much for Sakura. She could never forgive herself for failing to find her best friend in time.

"It isn't your fault," Tsunade said urgently. "Sakura! Listen to me. This is Cronus. This is what he is, and what he does- he tears families and friendships apart, uses emotions against you-"

"I want him DEAD!" Sakura screamed. Her mother pulled her into a tight embrace, swallowing at the alarming ferocity of hatred she detected in her daughter's quivering voice. Sakura, who had always been so kind and gentle... to be capable of possessing such intense hate toward someone, to the point that she wished them to cease existing entirely…

It was an indication of just how much she had been forced to change. Tsunade's heart bled for her. For the pain she had been compelled to endure. For the peace of mind she had lost, the moment Sasuke had taken her away to his Kingdom, and every calamity that had befallen her ever since.

"I want him dead," Sakura whimpered, much more quietly, as if the outburst had drained her of all her strength.

Tsunade blinked. Tears of anger burned behind her own eyes. She said nothing else as her daughter sobbed against her, allowing her to mourn. She held her for a very long time, rocking her, offering the only comfort she could.

When it seemed that her daughter had finally spent the freshest round of her tears, Tsunade questioned, " happened at the facility? Kakashi told me that you all got separated when the ground gave way, and that Sai and Shikamaru had sent you ahead, but that they couldn't find you once he caught up to them. They had to leave the tunnels without you. How did you find a way out?"

Sakura blinked dully, cheek resting on her mother's shoulder. Her head throbbed from crying so much. She remembered her unexpected saviour in the tunnels. How he had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, sweeping down to prevent her from being pulverised to death.

She wondered, then, whether she should have said something to him. If she had told him about Ino, would he have listened? Might he have even helped…?

She already knew the answer to that. Sasuke would never help another surface deity. Even so, regret swallowed her up whole. She squeezed her eyes shut in despair, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. When she croaked out her answer, she felt her mother's body tense, heard her sharp intake of surprised breath.

"Sasuke…"

---

Sasuke leant back against the rocky wall of the hut, arms folded, watching as Chiyo bustled about. She was diligently mixing some manner of ingredients together with a pestle and mortar.

His eyes narrowed into displeased slits. Upon returning from the surface and alighting at the Underworld's river bank, he and Suigetsu had reconvened with Jugo and Karin. He had then heard Chiyo's voice in his mind, requesting for him to visit her hut immediately. Sasuke had done so without question, and relinquished hold of the unconscious body they had found at Orochimaru's base in the operating room beside Karin's, into the wise old crone's care.

He recalled being in the tunnels, cruising on Aoda's back with Suigetsu – and the heart-stopping moment a flash of pale pink had snagged hold of his Sharingan gaze as they'd crashed through the tunnels. He'd instantly ordered Suigetsu to go on ahead, paying no heed to the ocean deity's concerned calls of his name as Sasuke had swiftly hopped off Aoda's back and flickered up onto the roof of the tunnel. With anchoring chakra rooting his feet in place, he had hung upside down and waited, his pulse quickening in anticipation.

To his absolute disbelief - and fury - he had realised his eyes had not been deceiving him when a familiar, slender figure came running down the path beneath him a minute later. He had watched as Sakura had raced through the tunnel, arms held above her head, an earthy chakra shield protecting her from falling rubble. He had watched her stumble and fall to the ground, with no surface guardian in sight to assist her. And he had seen the huge boulder that had broken off the wall, and plunged straight down toward her.

Once again, he had been forced to intervene to ensure her safety. He had made swift work of disintegrating the boulder into harmless pieces of small rock – and then, because it was evident that her useless friends were nowhere around to help shield her, he had angrily warped to her himself, grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her to safety.

Had he not gotten her out, she would not have survived.

He was livid. Not only because the surface deities had fucked up twice with her in the space of less than twenty-four hours – but because he, himself, had not had the protective cloak of the Helm of Darkness concealing him from detection. If Orochimaru had chosen that moment to track him – and Sasuke had no doubts that the serpent would have been watching from whatever safe location he'd been holed up in – then he would have seen Sasuke helping Sakura out, and saving her life.

It was why he hadn't dared to speak a word to her. Even the look he had given her – a mere second's worth simply to check she was still in one piece – had been too much of a luxury.

Surely it would raise further questions and suspicions about Sakura and why he would even bother to go out of his way to save her. Especially after what he had told Madara.

Damn it.

He stood, inwardly seething to himself. The girl was clearly an irresistible magnet for danger, it seemed. He still had no idea what had happened that had resulted in her being near-fatally wounded the previous night, when he'd had to activate the seeds to stabilise her. But given what they had discovered in the hideout, his keen mind supposed the events had to be connected somehow, to account for why Sakura was even there to begin with.

Those fools, he silently vented. He had agreed to keep Sakura's life-force stable in the event that she had any further attacks. Her physical welfare and safety otherwise was supposed to be something the surface deities looked after. Why was he having to intercede so often? Did he have to manage everything in his Kingdom, as well as keep an eye on her when she was on the land above?

"This paralysis will not be easy to break," Chiyo stated, drawing the death deity out of his internal musings. "It will take some time, but I believe I can reverse it."

"What happened?" Sasuke questioned, as he watched her administer the brew to the individual lying on the soft fur-rug that had been strewn atop a long wooden table.

"Cronus orchestrated an attack on the surface deities just last night," Chiyo answered. "They had been at the Spring Festival, anticipating that another assault would be made on humans. Instead, they themselves were the targets upon their return. Three of them were taken."

"…" Sasuke blinked, absorbing this news. So that was what had happened to Sakura while he'd been taking down another base? They had been caught in an ambush of sorts?

"Who attacked them?"

What he really wanted to specifically know was – who had hurt Sakura?

"Let me work," Chiyo scolded him lightly. "I need to focus. You may ask this child yourself when they awaken. Take a seat and wait patiently, or leave and return when I summon you."

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed. With that, he pushed away from the wall, and blurred out of sight.

---

"What are you doing here?" Karin demanded suspiciously, noting that Suigetsu was sitting on a boulder by the shoreline, and hadn't yet left the Underworld despite their mission being over. She had thrown a cloak back over her body upon returning, and after healing her wounds and taking time to recover from the ordeal, had resumed to her duties along with Jugo.

The ocean deity sipped on a straw, chugging down water from the cup in his hand. Karin stared at him. Where had he even gotten that blasted cup from? In her mind, nothing about Suigetsu made any sense.

"What's it look like, bitch?" he quipped back. "I'm taking a break."

"I meant," Karin scowled. "Why are you still here?"

Suigetsu cracked an eye open and regarded her. "I'm waiting for His Royal Grouchiness to come back. I need to talk to him about Pinky."

"Pinky?" she echoed dubiously, eyes narrowing distrustfully. "You mean Suckura?"

"Oh, yeah," Suigetsu leaned back against the boulder casually, slurping on his drink. The sound irritated Karin. Her eyebrows twitched. "You'll never guess what. We saw Sakura in the tunnels," he revealed, amethyst eyes twinkling with mischief.

"What?!" Karin gaped. What had she been doing there?

"Uh huh. Man. You should've seen Sasuke. He swept right down to save her. What a fucking hero!" He declared, choosing his words to full effect, to ensure he pissed Karin off to maximum levels.

Karin spluttered, at a loss for words. "Wh- what was she even doing there?" she exclaimed.

"Beats me," Suigetsu shrugged. Then he regarded her coolly a moment – and, in a moment of uncharacteristic seriousness, he said, "Oi. Karin. You need to lay off."

"Excuse me?" she blinked.

"You know you've got no chance with him, right?" Suigetsu levelled. "Stop wasting your life pining over shit you can't have."

Karin's ruby eyes widened. She flushed deeply at the unexpected earnestness of the words. "Wh-what's it to you, asshole?!" she confronted him, her tone too forceful, too flustered. "I can like whoever I want!"

"…" Suigetsu gave her a resigned look. "Yeah. But it won't change the fact he'll never want you. Not in the crazy way you're obsessed with him. Not in any way ever."

"He came to rescue me," Karin folded her arms, glaring pointedly down at the King of the Seas.

"Yeah. Because we're a team, and you just happen to work for him. It's no good to us if that fucking creep kept you, is it?"

Karin looked stubbornly back at him. Suigetsu rolled his eyes.

"If you're reading romantically into everything Sasuke does, then you're fucking stupid," he snorted. "Other than business, that asshole doesn't even see you. But you know who he does look at?" He rose to his feet, and approached the nymph, who glowered up at him. Tilting his head playfully, he grinned, "Sakura. I was with him. I saw it. He'll go out his way to save her. Every. Single. Time. Why do you think that is, huh? You're a dumb bitch most days - but you can't be that blind."

Karin froze at his words. Before passing her, Suigetsu added, "Oh yeah. By the way. That girl we saved from that room?" Leaning into her, he whispered into her left ear, "That was Pinky's best friend. Nice one."

With that, he chuckled, and left a speechless Karin behind to meet Sasuke, who had re-joined them by the shore.

"Sasuke," he greeted the death deity. "Old Hag Chiyo's fixing her up, I guess?"

"Aah," Sasuke confirmed.

"We saw Sakura, too. What do you think happened down there? You think that Madara had monsters attack them again?"

"Maybe," Sasuke answered offhandedly, as they began to walk away from the others and along the shoreline together.

"So, I was thinking. What we just did gives us big leverage if we're summoned to the High Council, right?"

Sasuke tossed him a look, silently conveying for him to get to the point of what he was trying to say.

"Sooo…" Suigetsu took another sip of water, before elaborating, "We've taken down that freak's bases, cast genjutsu to clean up the surface gods' shit, and now we've saved one of them. We should be let off with just a slap on the wrist, right?"

Sasuke blinked. "What's wrong, Suigetsu?" he drawled mockingly. "Worried…?"

"Huh? Me?" Suigetsu's eyes widened. "Why would I be worried? What are they gonna do, even if one goes ahead? Lock us up? They can't do that, right? We're Kings."

Sasuke wasn't so sure. He also wasn't sure why Suigetsu was asking him for reassurance, of all people. Reassuring others wasn't exactly a shining personality trait Sasuke possessed – and in any case, he was concerned only about his own affairs. Suigetsu was not innocent himself. He had agreed to tag along and deserved any punishment that was dished out to him, too, when a trial inevitably occurred.

"So that's it?" Suigetsu went on, when he received no answer. "All of Orochimaru's bases are out?"

"Karin said that was the last," Sasuke affirmed.

Suigetsu drew to a halt. He watched, as the death deity continued to walk on, and added, without looking back at him, "We're done."

He meant that their team had served its purpose. Their agreement had come to an end – and Suigetsu was free to leave.

"Huh?" Suigetsu's brows lifted. "That's it? You mean you're not gonna set your pet Furies on me? Aww. I was hoping for another fight."

"...Get lost," came the curt reply.

Suigetsu chuckled at the admission that he would not be punished any further, and of effectively being ordered to scatter - then the amusement waned. A light frown formed on his brow. He couldn't shake off the feeling that Sasuke knew so much more than he was willing to share. And maybe he knew things that Suigetsu needed to know too. Things about Madara. And Sakura. Things that concerned the world's safety – and by extension, his oceans.

But just because they'd had aligned goals for a while, Suigetsu wasn't misguided enough to believe for a minute, that Sasuke would choose to confide anything to him.

It wasn't like they were friends.

As if, Suigetsu sneered to himself. Sasuke didn't have any friends. And any he did, he screwed over. He'd even screwed over his own family. Wasn't that what Suigetsu had heard with his own two ears?

He still remembered the exact words. Words he had never been able to clarify – but words that had stuck in his mind, all the same.

---

He had been quietly minding his own business, cruising along the tempestuous shoreline of one of his oceans on an exceptionally stormy late afternoon. The skies were an ominous, dark grey, illuminated with the flashing strike of imposing lightning and the angry rumble of thunder. Zeus was perhaps having an off-day, Poseidon mused to himself. But he didn't trouble himself with the surface gods and their affairs. He was content to do precisely as he pleased, to roam freely without the taxing burdens of the court of Olympians and their endless responsibilities. Ever since they had expelled him from his seat on the Olympic Pantheon, he had taken it upon himself to mind his business completely. They'd accused him of always missing meetings, and being too relaxed in his approach to problems they took very seriously. Poseidon had been upset to lose his seat – but he figured that Zeus would ask him back, and request his assistance again - eventually. Until then, the many oceans and seas he governed, and their denizens, were enough to keep him occupied.

A particularly low and aggressive bolt of crackling lightning caused Poseidon to look up as he swam easily through the crashing waves around him. His attention was then diverted by the unexpected sight of two lone individuals who were standing high up on the clifftop overlooking his ocean. He squinted. How odd. Rain lashed down from the squally clouds, and it was hardly the ideal weather for anyone to take a stroll in.

'I wonder what's going on up there', he thought to himself. Being a curious sort of deity, he immediately changed course, taking on liquid form, and effortlessly transported himself to the top of the cliffside, taking shelter within a shallow little puddle of water that had collected in a groove in the wet, muddy earth.

Immediately he heard two voices speaking.

"I think we picked the best spot. I'm sure none of our great grandfather's spies will be mad enough to follow us here in this terrible weather." There was a pause, and then came a light chuckle. "We could use Susano'o to shield ourselves, at least? Your hair's in quite the state, Cousin."

"You are not faring much better," came the quiet, smooth reply.

A sigh. "This is true. We don't want to draw any unwanted attention, so we'll just have to stand here, and suffer miserably together."

Poseidon listened, riveted. He had never heard these voices before. Switching to water droplets that were closer by, he found two cloaked young men, drenched to the bone in rain. They were dressed entirely in black – and he saw the flash of a familiar emblem stitched onto their clothing.

'Uchiha?' He thought to himself, intrigued.

Their colourings certainly confirmed their relation to the feared Underworld dwellers. Dark hair, dark eyes, heavy lashes, and chiselled, handsome features. Multiple earrings adorned both their ears, and they were dressed in what was clearly the clothing of aristocrats.

Their aura was a powerful one. Poseidon felt it hang in the air, charging it with static energy that had nothing to do with the electrifying lightning illuminating the space above them. They were certainly important deities; there could be no mistaking their rank.

"With any luck," the one with the shorter, curlier hair added, "one of Zeus's lightning bolts will strike us both, and we'll be rid of this whole troublesome affair."

Silence met his words. Then, the one with the longer hair murmured, "Apollo was almost caught."

"Yes," the curly haired one said. "Your scroll got him out just in time. It's a good thing we intercepted Hades beforehand. Though – he is now a traitor to his brothers. A back-stabber."

Hades? He had met that deity before. He knew him to be antisocial and cocky. But a traitor? To his brothers? Absorbed, Poseidon continued to listen on.

The one with the longer hair lifted his face up to the sky. He was silent for a long minute. As if he were listening intently to the sound of the falling rain. Or seeking a moment of fleeting solace, as the droplets hit his skin, like liquid cool kisses.

"Itachi," his companion spoke gently. "You know it is too late for us to turn back now."

The one named Itachi closed his eyes, long lashes shielding them from view. As if he were tired. As if he were pained.

"This betrayal hurts me, too," The wavy haired young deity disclosed, and his light voice grew more hoarse. "Having to change things in this way pains me. Sasuke is as much a brother to me as you are. But there is no other way. We have no other choice but to carry on. Our resolve cannot falter now."

Poseidon's eyes widened. These were Hades' brothers? Then they had to be Hypnos and Thanatos of the Uchiha, he was sure of it. But weren't both these deities usually masked? The young men standing before him had markedly unconcealed faces.

He wondered: what had Hades done to backstab these brothers of his?

"Wait…" the curly-haired one said suddenly, tensing. "I sense something… an aura…"

Thanatos's head lowered. His dark eyes immediately opened. They moved in the direction where Suigetsu hid in liquid form.

Taking that as his cue to leave, for he'd heard reports about how powerful and dangerous the Uchiha – and Thanatos in particular - were - Poseidon warped himself immediately back to his ocean.

---

Suigetsu's frown intensified. He'd heard that Sasuke had betrayed his own family. And yet… during the time he'd spent in alliance with him, Sasuke hadn't let any member of his team come to harm. Karin had been a freak slip up, and he'd been quick to rush in and retrieve her. Sasuke had repeatedly protected them on missions. Honourably, in fact. It cast the death deity in an unfamiliar, new light. Suggested that he had positive qualities, too – though they were notoriously difficult to drag out of him.

"Hey, Sasuke…" Suigetsu started hesitantly – and then clamped his mouth shut when the God of the Dead continued to walk away, and didn't acknowledge him any further. "Asshole," he muttered unhappily under his breath.

A moment later, Sasuke vanished from his sight entirely.

---

"You are certain?" Madara leaned forward in his seat.

"There was no mistake. Sasuke-kun specifically returned for the girl," Orochimaru confirmed, sharing the report of the events he had witnessed occur at his hideout.

He had watched, from a remote location, as chaos had ensued in the underground passageways and tunnels. The surface deities believed that they had crushed his facilities entirely. What they did not know was that they had, in fact, only crumbled a disposable part of the facility. The main structure – and all the valuable resources it contained – were very much still safe and intact.

It had been a decoy location, designed to distract them from finding the real base, hidden away in inaccessible tunnels, cut off from all outside access other than to those who served under Orochimaru. They'd taken the captives there and lured the surface deities inside with the intention of collapsing the entire structure onto them, too, as well as killing all three hostages – but had managed only to obtain blood samples from the nymph who served Sasuke, and to transplant one pair of Byakugan eyes, leading to the demise of only the Hyuuga seraph.

Orochimaru and Obito had departed the moment they had sensed the arrival of the surface gods. They hadn't, however, counted on Jiraiya being able to call a summons to get them all out in time – or for Sasuke to have such an impressive summon in the legendary snake, Aoda, too. But clever Orochimaru had ensure that both the Underworld King and the human girl Sakura had come into contact, to confirm their suspicions regarding Sasuke's intentions toward her. Now that they knew he acted to protect her, they would regroup and recalculate their next course of action.

Madara slammed a fist upon the arm-rest of the throne. "I knew it! The boy lied about the girl's significance. Inconceivable, that an Uchiha would assist a daughter of the surface gods!"

"In addition," Orochimaru disclosed. "I have received word that a trial is to take place, in which Sasuke-kun will be called to the surface to answer for his crimesss. Amongst these are his attack on the Olympic Guardian, and kidnapping the girl Sakura."

"Indeed," Madara's eyes narrowed. "And where is this to take place? I need the boy here immediately. The only way we can acquire him is on the surface."

"A hidden location, no doubt," Obito commented.

Madara folded his arms.

"Find it," he ordered harshly. "Track him as soon as he is above ground. That is when we will strike. I want Sasuke and this Sakura brought to me. If she's important enough for even him to expend energy saving, despite her connections to Tsunade – then let's find out what she really is."

---

She was floating. Her body felt weightless, and her mind was drifting. Gradually, a fuzzy warmth began to fill her, and she became aware of softness underneath her fingertips.

Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, to discover cosy firelight dancing upon the underside of a rocky ceiling. She blinked confusedly up at the sight.

Where am I…? She thought groggily, disorientated. What happened…?

"Gently, now, child," a familiar voice spoke to her. "Your body has been through quite the ordeal."

Ino blinked again dazedly. Her eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the light, shifted to her right, to find an elderly face looking down at her.

"Ch-Chiyo-baa-sama…?" she croaked respectfully.

A wrinkled palm was laid against her forehead. Wise old eyes crinkled as the ancient goddess smiled down at the patient she had nursed back to health. "Very good. I was able to reverse the seal's paralysis effects, after all. Here. Drink this. It will help restore your strength."

She accepted the wooden spoon Chiyo raised to her lips, as another supportive hand cradled her head. The hot steaming broth that was poured into her mouth was horribly bitter – but Ino knew better than to spit it out, and swallowed it down with a grimace.

As Chiyo lowered her head to rest back on the softness beneath her, Ino felt the special brew's warmth pass down her throat, and almost immediately chased away the lingering fog in her brain.

"Where am I…?" Ino asked.

"You are safe in my hut, in the heart of the Underworld."

The Underworld?! Ino's eyes widened in alarm. How on earth had she happened to end up there? "Wh-what?" she stammered. Her pulse began to pick up speed, and a sense of dread crept over her. The Underworld was Death's domain! How was it possible that she was in it?

"Tell us what happened, child," Chiyo ordered, moving back to take a seat in the wooden chair beside where Ino lay.

Us…? Ino turned her head, seeking to find who else she meant. Her heart lodged itself into her throat as she soon discovered her answer. She sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening, and immediately her body was coiling with tension.

"You...!" she gasped.

Sasuke Uchiha stood leaning against the wall opposite to where she lay, arms folded across his chest. He was dressed in a black cloak, and piercing, heavy-lashed dark eyes were fixed unreadably onto her. Firelight glinted off his smoky irises, rendering them intense, burning embers that seemed to bore right through her skull. Ino stared at him, stunned. He had always been beautiful – but she could see that he had clearly matured and changed over time. No longer the adolescent god he had once been, but a grown King, with shadows in the angled planes of his handsome face that had never been there before.

It was to be expected, of course. He was the death deity, and King of all the Dead now – no longer the youngest of his clan, but the sole ruler of his Kingdom. Responsibility and loss had surely shaped him into something different entirely. Something colder.

It had been an eternity since she had last seen Hades. The memory of their final meeting crashed through her mind, and she stiffened fearfully. His aura: it was dreadfully dark and powerful. It reminded her all too much of another Uchiha's.

This was the very same god who had abducted her best friend and tied her to the Underworld. The very same god who had broken Kore's heart to begin with.

She realised that her anger toward him had not faded over the millennia apart. At that moment, it was stifling, an inferno that roared to life within her at the mere sight of him. But she was in his realm. That made her completely at his mercy. And it made her mindful of lashing out with her tongue, though the words were deployed on the tip, ready to be hurtled at him like rocks.

"Fear not," Chiyo read her open distress. "He will not harm you. It is under Sasuke's command that you were saved from certain death. He and his team located you just before you were about to have that pretty little heart of yours cut right out."

Ino's eyes darted to the old goddess in muted shock. Sasuke had saved her? She could scarcely believe it. Why would he choose to do such a thing? She glanced back at Sasuke, who still wore the same, frosty, indifferent expression. Then she looked back at Chiyo. Her heart was pounding. However, she trusted the old goddess's words entirely. If she claimed Ino was safe, then she believed it – despite how uncomfortable Sasuke's intent, silent gaze was making her.

Focusing on Chiyo, she slowly sat up, noting that a long woollen grey cloak had been wrapped around her body for warmth. Clutching it tightly around herself, she began thickly, "We were coming back from the Spring Festival. It was me, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji and Sai. On the way we lost control of our cars. We crashed, and when we got out, a cyclops attacked us." She paused.

"Go on," Chiyo prodded.

"We were able to defeat it. But then… then the masked man came. And he- he took Neji and Hinata. He sucked them through some kind of vortex. Then he appeared behind me, and he-" she swallowed in recollection. "He slit my throat, and he stabbed me. He hurt Sakura, too. He was so fast. It all happened so quickly."

Sasuke listened in silence. The masked man? The same one who had attacked him at Olympus, no doubt. The reason why he had the Cursed Seal of Heaven on his arm. He recalled the speed of the man's movements. They had been unprecedented, and caught even Sasuke off guard.

"When I woke up, I was on Olympus," Ino went on. A chill overtook her body. "M-Madara. He questioned me. About Sakura. Chiyo-baa-sama… I think he knows. Or suspects something about her. He wanted to know why she lives and dies and lives over and over, when she's nothing but a mortal. Why we would protect her, and why Tsunade-sama would spend so much energy caring for a child who is sickly and ends up dying anyway."

Chiyo turned her head. She exchanged brief glances with Sasuke. "I see," she said gruffly, before turning back to the Goddess of Love.

Tears prickled at Ino's eyes. Her body began to tremble, as she recalled Madara's Sharingan, blazing into her. "He questioned me, but… something happened." She reached up to touch her throat. "I couldn't speak. His Sharingan was drawing answers out of my mind… I could feel them on the tip of my tongue, but my lips wouldn't form them, and… and my throat started burning, and then…I can't remember what happened."

"To be expected," Chiyo nodded. "After all, a seal is upon you."

A seal? Sasuke's eyebrows drew together lightly to form a light frown. What did Chiyo mean? What manner of seal? Why did Ino have one?

Then Ino's eyes widened as she recalled something else. "The masked man came before I passed out. Madara called him Obito, and-"

There was a sharp intake of breath. Sasuke straightened immediately.

"Obito?" he repeated incredulously, addressing Ino for the first time.

"Yes," she answered tersely, without looking at him. "That's what he said."

Sasuke's eyes flew to Chiyo questioningly. A disturbed expression had fallen upon his face. The masked man had possessed the Sharingan. Sasuke had seen it. And there had only been one Obito in their clan. A user of the technique Kamui – which fit Ino's description of him dragging them through vortexes.

"Obito died before the war," he rejected coldly. He'd only vaguely known the older Uchiha, and had hardly ever interacted with him. The few times he recalled doing so, had always been when Obito had greeted him in the presence of Itachi and Shisui.

Chiyo's lips twisted to form a sardonic smile. "Cronus is a cunning deity. The masked man is indeed Obito. Or at least, his physical shell."

Sasuke stepped forward in thinly-veiled alarm. "How is that possible?" he demanded harshly.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked, eyes wide. "His physical shell?"

"Obito was indeed on the verge of death. It was for that reason he entrusted his Sharingan to his good friend, Kakashi," Chiyo explained. "However, Madara happened upon him and restored him to life. He used Obito's grief over losing the mortal girl he had loved, to break his mind and enslave him to his will. He encased him within a space-time vacuum that would only release him if Cronus's powers were ever to falter. When he became trapped on Olympus, Obito was set free." She glanced across at Sasuke. "He is not the Obito you once knew in childhood. It is in fact questionable, whether he retains any memory at all."

Ino gaped at her, stunned. Sasuke, who was equally as shocked and disturbed by this, felt fresh rage ignite in his chest.

Even now, Madara was manipulating any Uchiha left for him to control? He'd even gone to the lengths of denying Obito his own death and keeping him as a back-up pawn in his arsenal, to use as a puppet to do his bidding while he was trapped on Olympus! Sasuke was disgusted.

"Madara said that he'd… kill Neji and Hinata," Ino's eyes brimmed with tears. "What happened, Chiyo-baa-sama? Were they found? Are they alright? Is Sakura alright?"

"Hinata and Sakura are safe," Chiyo informed her. "Neji regretably has passed on."

Ino's eyes lowered. Her shoulders slumped sadly. "Oh no… Hinata…" she whispered, overcome with a wave of pain and sorrow.

A heavy silence filled the air. Then Chiyo said, "Ino. It is time."

Her blue eyes flew back upwards. "What?"

"You may speak with Sasuke," Chiyo prompted, resting her hands on the top of her staff. "He already knows the truth about Sakura's existence."

Ino was horrified. Surely she didn't mean- but she knew from the severe look on the wise old crone's face, that what she had been so fearful of for so long was precisely what Chiyo meant.

"I can't," she whispered fearfully. "The seal-"

A small, knowing smile played on Chiyo's lips. "You may find the seal denies one Sharingan – but permits another. You have not met since the day of the war. That is no coincidence. Sasuke. Come forward here."

Sasuke, uncertain of what they were even talking about – and disliking it – scowled. He didn't want to have any sort of conversation with Ino. "If she is healed, then it's time she leaves," he remarked icily.

"Hold a moment," Chiyo cast him a look. "There is a silencing seal on Ino. She is forbidden to talk of Sakura's true nature to anyone that was not meant to discover it. When Cronus attempted to extract the information from her, a paralysis seized her body. The seal was designed to protect her from his Sharingan. But you may find yours has the opposite effect."

Sasuke drew forward, eyes bleeding to crimson. Unbidden, his heart began to pound. What was it that Ino knew about Sakura and her past?

Ino squeezed her eyes shut. "No," she said. "Please, Chiyo-baa-san! He told me if I speak a word, I will die-! I can't even tell Sakura-"

He? Sasuke's eyes flicked between both goddesses. He didn't like the way they were speaking, as though he wasn't even in the room with them.

"I assure you," Chiyo answered merrily. "You will not be dying on this day. I know the nature of that seal. It will permit you to speak – with the correct key. Now. Look into his Sharingan."

Ino opened her eyes. Her heart was thundering in her chest. Slowly, she turned her head. Sasuke had come to a stop a short distance from where she sat on the table. Swinging her legs over the edge, she took a deep breath – and then met his eyes.

Intense crimson irises pierced into her. The eye contact was like a detonation. She audibly heard a hiss in her ears, and felt her tongue immediately tingle. It felt strangely lighter. As if a terrible burden had been lifted from it. A wave of dizziness washed over her. She gripped onto the edge of the table, feeling lightheaded and breathless.

Sasuke waited. When she said nothing, he prompted impatiently, "Well?"

Ino exhaled. "Kore…" she started testingly, relieved when her words fell easily, the seal clearly permitting her to talk to Sasuke – just as Chiyo had stated. "Do you remember anything about her at all? Do you remember what you let happen?"

Sasuke's breath stilled. He had not known what he'd been expecting to hear – but the directness of her words made the ground feel like it had fallen away from his feet. Caught off guard, he could only stare at her in silence.

"Do you remember how she was taken to the Underworld and poisoned? Do you remember finding her?" Ino's words grew with emotion and anger, until her voice shook. "She was dying in my arms. You were there. Don't you remember?"

Sasuke's expression was carefully blank – but she saw a flicker of something pass over his eyes.

"You don't…" she exhaled, with a sinking sense of dismay. How heartless. How cruel. There were no emotions on his handsome features. "But you were there! Kore loved you and that love destroyed her! I knew about it, and I was stupid. I swore to protect her secret. I swore to never speak a word to anyone about it, about what went on between you. When you left her, it broke her heart! She died with your name on her lips. You really don't remember?! Or have you just conveniently forgotten?!"

What went on between them. Sakura had tried to tell him – back before she'd realised that she was Kore reborn. He hadn't listened to her back then. And now, here Ino was, reaffirming that he had not only known Kore in the past – but been involved in a relationship with her. Ino's words – Sasuke could hear them – but his mind drew a frightening blank. He had no recollection of Sakura in her past life as Kore. Anytime he thought of her – he saw only the Sakura he knew. His heart pounded. No matter how hard he tried to think, how deeply he scoured every last inch of his mind, his memory failed him.

If he had known Kore - Sakura - in her initial life - and been with her - then... then did that fact also account for why he had been so inexplicably drawn to her again when he had first set sights on her in this life?

The thought was disturbing. He felt his skin crawl, unnerved by the deeply unsettling revelation.

How could he be drawn to something he didn't even remember?

"When I heard you'd taken her, I couldn't understand. I thought maybe you did it out of guilt," Ino wiped at her eyes. "Maybe you recognised her again after so long. Or maybe you were just as cruel as you were back then, looking to toy with her heart before throwing it away!"

Sasuke's teeth clenched indignantly. He was being accused of things he couldn't even defend himself against, because he did not recall them! In his mind, it had never happened.

"I don't know who took her to the Underworld before the war. I wouldn't be surprised if it was you, because you were loyal to your family. But I know that's what forced Zeus to go to war. I know Madara must have found out about her from you, somehow. How else would he have known? Whether you told him, or he followed you – I don't know what happened. But loving you is what got her caught up in everything, and what led to her death! And now…" her hands tightened into fists. "And now this is Sakura's final life cycle! She can't be reborn again, because you've let her eat from those damned seeds, so if she dies this time - she dies for good! And that's on you, Sasuke!"

Final life-cycle. The words reverberated deafeningly inside his skull. Sasuke stared at her, wide-eyed. He didn't know anything of the past. He didn't know what she was talking about. It was disconcerting, to be told of his involvement in something he had no recollections about.

The guilt he felt over affecting Sakura's fate so profoundly multiplied ten-fold. Was it true? That he had really been the reason why the original goddess had been captured?

If she had really loved him - then had he also loved her...? If he had, why had he left her and broken her heart as Ino claimed? So many reeling thoughts spun in his mind. But he did not dare to let even a sliver of emotion register on his face.

Chiyo sat in silence, permitting the exchange. She did not interfere, or add any other details. She let things unfold as they were intended.

"Madara is going to be after her again because of you! His attention would never have been on her again had you not taken her!" Ino released a short, anguished, guilt-ridden sob. "It's my fault she ever set eyes on you at all. I thought it a game to point you out to Kore, but the only games played in the end were by you! And even now, thousands of years later, you've decided her fate! What gives you the right?! Wasn't what you did the first time enough? You… you selfish, heartless-!"

Sasuke's thinly-worn patience snapped.

"Shut up!" He hissed. He could take no more. No more accusations. No more being told of things his past self had supposedly done, which he had no knowledge of doing. He began to turn away, equally as furious at her slandering words. He couldn't even defend himself – because in his mind, none of it had ever happened. "I know nothing about this Kore-"

"You think I'm lying?!" Enraged, Ino reached out unthinkingly, and grabbed his left wrist to stop him drawing back.

It was skin on skin contact.

A searing-white jolt of pain assaulted Sasuke's skull, and he drew in a hitched breath as a vision that Ino's touch projected into him flashed vividly in his mind's eye.

Aphrodite, weeping, holding a grievously wounded girl in her arms. Himself, as he had been before the war, standing over them. And with them, two other individuals.

Two others who wore masks that concealed their faces.

Sasuke couldn't breathe. Another jolt of white showed him something else. His younger, past self, reaching a hand out to the face of a girl with green-gold eyes and pink flushed cheeks, smiling adoringly up at him. Pain exploded again in his skull.

"Ghn..." He slapped a palm against his throbbing forehead in agony. The brief visions then flashed away to blinding white, leaving him winded. A loud, high-pitched whine filled his ringing ears as his vision cleared again. He snatched his wrist roughly back, as if Ino's touch had scalded him with fire.

What… what had he just seen…? He stared at Ino with wide, haunted eyes. Why couldn't he recall it? Why had his brother and cousin been there?

What was happening? He could no longer dismiss it. It had happened. The visions could not be lies. He had been there, with them all. He had known Kore. Why couldn't he remember anything?

The last time he had seen Itachi was when he'd been standing over the bodies of their slaughtered parents. Then why couldn't he recall seeing him afterwards, if Ino's vision was correct?

He was so alarmed, so put out, so completely displaced, that his Sharingan receded entirely of its own accord. Within his chest, his heart was thundering.

Looking down at Ino with disturbed eyes, he got out in a near-whisper, "Who… put the seal on you…?"

A frightened Ino, who was just as startled by what had just occurred between them, opened her mouth to answer – and then froze, as if a terrible pain had overcome her.

"U-Uchiha..." she struggled to get out. "U...chiha..."

Sasuke's pulse raced. Uchiha. Uchiha who...? He felt physically sick as he remembered the two masked gods he had seen from her memories. It couldn't be, he told himself. It couldn't be-!

Then, wordlessly, Ino toppled forward, passing out immediately.

Sasuke, surprised, instinctively caught her by her shoulders before she could hit the floor. He turned his head uncertainly to Chiyo, as Ino slumped against him.

The old goddess was staring steadily back at him.

"What… is this…?" he questioned, struggling to keep his voice from shaking, struggling to retain his composure. "Why did I see Itachi and Shisui?" When she simply continued to gaze at him in silence, he went on, "You know." White-hot fury blazed through his veins, as he erupted, "You know, why won't you say it!?"

Chiyo shook her head. "I am the Goddess of the Crossroads. If I intervene with the will of the Fates, and what is intended – if I reveal things before their time, before their due course unravels – I go against my own purpose, Little King. There are many things I know. It is the price of my gift, a cruel paradox – that I am unable to share this with others."

He gritted his teeth, frustrated.

"The seal will not unlock a second time. You had better take her back to the surface," Chiyo continued calmly. "Then return here. We will speak further. There is something else of importance I must discuss with you."

---

Sakura hadn't slept in over two days. She knew her body was exhausted. She knew her mind was overwhelmed. But anytime she had felt as though she might be close to succumbing to slumber, she had jerked wide awake, with distressing images of injured friends ingrained into her mind and the memory of failing to save Ino haunting her, making respite impossible.

Her head pounded, the headache dull and incessant. She hadn't eaten much. Naruto had visited her. Hinata had sat with her in silence for a while, equally as heart-broken over her loss. Her concerned mother had tried to rouse her. But Sakura had just wanted to be alone.

She sat on the floor beside her bed, knees drawn up to her chest. Night had fallen. It was the eve of her twentieth birthday – and she had never felt so dejected.

Her cell phone illuminated, signalling a new message. She glanced down at it. She'd been looking at her final messages from Ino. It was all she had been doing, reading messages, watching stupid short videos they'd taken together, looking at photos and listening to her friend's chirpy voice notes. She couldn't believe she was gone. Sakura missed her so much already that she felt her chest physically ache.

She lifted the cell screen dully to her eyes.

It was from Ken.

Enjoy your last night as a teen! Don't forget we're taking you out to dinner for your birthday later this week! Can't wait!

She released a stifled sob and hurtled her phone across the room in rage at his ignorance. Even when she knew it wasn't his fault. The cell landed with a dull thud on the floor. Then she buried her head in the cradle of her arms, squeezing her eyes shut. Wishing, that somehow, she could awaken from the dangerous, endless nightmare that her life had become.

She heard a clinking noise. Dismissing it at first, she only looked up when she heard it for a second time. Her head turned, trying to locate its source.

Was that… the window…?

She heard it a third time. Something was being thrown against the glass. It sounded like a stone. She got up to her feet, and moved over to the windowsill. Pushing aside the curtains, she opened the window, and peered out.

Her eyes found nothing in the dimness of the front yard. Then she heard the front door open downstairs – and shocked gasps. She leaned further out the window, straining to see what the fuss was all about – only to catch her breath in disbelief. She was so surprised that she almost leaned too far and fell right out.

A familiar blonde head was slumped on the doorstep outside her house. Sakura released a startled cry and tore away from the window, heart racing, daring to hope. Half running, half tripping down the stairs, she ran to the front door, to find her mother, Shizune and Jiraiya gathered there. On the ground before them was Inoichi.

And in his arms, was a sleeping Ino.

---

He watched from the shadows, as the front door was thrown open, and the figure he had left huddled there was retrieved by her guardian seraph. Other amazed faces appeared around Inoichi, and everyone was suddenly talking all at once.

His eyes then slipped upward, to the window he had pelted with stones to draw Sakura's attention. He saw her lean out – and then almost fall out in shock – before she vanished back inside. He waited. Saw her appear by the front door, a minute later. Her hands lifted to her mouth. She sank to her knees and cried, floored by sheer relief.

He saw how much it meant to her, having her close friend returned, alive and well.

It was the eve of her birthday, he knew. Twenty human years she had lived. How different circumstances were now, from her last birthday, when he had gifted her a bracelet forged from the jewels of his Kingdom.

This year, he supposed he had unintentionally gifted her the safe return of her sister goddess.

Something twisted almost painfully within his chest. A horrible wrenching feeling that disconcerted him greatly.

He swallowed thickly, Ino's hurtled, accusatory words echoing in his mind as his eyes fixed on Sakura's face.

"And now this is Sakura's final life cycle. She can't be reborn again, because you've let her eat from those damned seeds!"

"Kore loved you and that love destroyed her!"

Unable to stand looking at her any longer, he flickered silently back to his Kingdom.

---

Sakura didn't let go of Ino's hand once as she waited for her to wake up. They had taken the girl straight to Sakura's room at her request, and after standing around for a while discussing what might have happened to her, and how she had been returned, the others had finally left to update everyone else about the happy news.

Sakura watched her best friend sleep. Her heart was full, bursting with relief. Her head spun, rebounding emotions taking their toll. All she could think was how? How was Ino restored to them?

When Ino finally began to stir, Sakura's heart leapt with gladness. Tears welled in her eyes. She never wanted Ino to be out of her sight again.

Beautiful blue eyes that Sakura had believed had been lost forever to her, fluttered open. Ino blinked groggily, and then those cherished eyes fixed onto her.

"Sakura…?" she whispered.

"Ino," Sakura got out emotionally. "Oh, Ino, I'm so glad you're alright! No!" she protested, when the goddess made a move to sit up slowly. "No, you rest! I'm here. If there's anything you need- do you want water? Can I get you anything?"

"N-no…" Ino winced. "Just… stop fussing will you? Geeze…"

Sakura couldn't help herself. She let out a choked little laugh as stubborn Ino slowly sat up in bed.

Gripping her hand tightly, Sakura shook her head at her in wonder. "I can't believe it. I thought you were dead!"

"So did I," Ino agreed. Then her eyes narrowed admonishingly at her best friend. "I saw what you did in that fight. Sakura! You can't just throw yourself in like that!"

How very like Ino to scold her, when she herself had surely been on the verge of death.

"I looked everywhere for you," Sakura said tearfully. "We went to the research facility, and when we couldn't find you, Shikamaru, Sai and I went back to check again. But we couldn't. I thought for sure…" her voice clogged. "I thought for sure the building collapsed on you, and that I'd left you behind. I just… you don't know what that did to me-"

Ino squeezed her hand back. "I'm here now," she said softly. "It's alright."

"What happened?" Sakura asked her.

Ino's eyes lowered. "That masked man took me to Olympus. I saw Cronus. He wanted to find out about you."

Sakura's heart jumped. She gasped.

"I didn't tell him anything. I passed out… and I guess… that's when I must have been taken back to the surface."

Sakura shook her head again, nonplussed. "But how did you get out the facility?" she questioned. "We sensed you there, and then your signature just vanished."

Ino was silent. Then her eyes lifted to meet hers directly.

"It was Sasuke," she replied quietly, honestly, though it gave her no pleasure to admit it. "Sasuke saved me."

Sakura's lips parted in astonishment. The air in her lungs stilled. She stared at Ino, stupefied by shock. Then a rush of feeling flooded through her. A warmth she had never experienced before. Gratitude, she vaguely thought it had to be. Or perhaps, just intense relief.

She leaned over, speechless at the revelation, and wrapped her arms around her best friend, hugging her tight.

---

"Be seated," Chiyo instructed him, as Sasuke returned to her hut. He directed a guarded look at her. She wanted him to sit down for this talk? That wasn't a good omen.

Though after everything he had just heard from Ino, he did feel as though he needed it.

"I can stand," he replied offhandedly instead.

"Sit," she insisted, pointing to the wooden chair by the fireplace. Sasuke's eyebrows knotted together. He didn't appreciate being told what to do. Nevertheless, when it became clear that she was quite serious about the matter, he reluctantly moved to the seat and lowered himself into it.

"I saw a vision," he said tensely, addressing what was troubling him the most. "When she took my arm. I saw her with Kore, and I was there. I saw two others with us. My brother and cousin. Did that really happen?"

"It did," Chiyo confirmed. "Though I can say no more of it for now." When Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, she raised a warning finger. "As I have told you. Everything in its intended time. You have found out a truth now. You will soon find out others."

He clenched his fists and fell silent, frustrated by yet more enigmatic words. "Then what do you want?" he demanded sourly.

Chiyo perched in another chair opposite him. Stroking the black cat that lay in her lap, she began, "As you are aware, Sasuke, you have taken actions of late that have incurred serious consequences. In light of this, the High Council will be enforcing a trial, a week hence, in which you will be called to answer for your transgressions."

Sasuke's hands, gripping the arm-rests, tightened. Kakashi had warned him that a trial would be exercised, thanks to the interference of Danzo, one of the Council members. And he had expected as much. After all, he had made many mistakes. Broken many laws - both in the Underworld and on the surface. It had only been a matter of time until he was summoned before the court.

"As I am a member, I thought it prudent to inform you of the charges beforehand – as well as the penalties that will be administered. In order to allow you necessary time to… adjust and prepare yourself."

Sasuke blinked unreadable dark eyes at her. Why would she choose to tell him the punishment beforehand? Why would he need to prepare for them? His suspicions were immediately raised, but he did not voice them. Instead, he waited to see what she would say next.

"Let us begin with the charges," she croaked. "The first of which concerns Sakura Haruno. You are charged with the unlawful abduction of a mortal to your world, and of keeping her hidden beneath the surface for the duration of six months. The crime is made all the more profound given her true nature and the impact this had upon the surface.

The second charge is imprisoning the King of the Oceans, Suigetsu, also for the duration of six months. The third, killing subjects belonging to other deities who sent out summons in search of Sakura. Fourth is placing a seal upon the Messenger God Sai's tongue and manipulated him into silence, so that he would not disclose Sakura's location. Charge five, your abduction and detainment of the seraph Inoichi."

Sasuke's face remained impassive, but he internally winced in recollection. He had almost forgotten that point. But of course Chiyo knew about that. Of course she would choose to add it.

"The sixth charge is the offering of six seeds from the Forbidden Fruit of the Dead, to Sakura who ingested them in ignorance. She was not told of their significance beforehand." She paused, angling a look at him.

Sasuke met her probing gaze steadily. He was silent.

Pursing her thin lips, Chiyo continued, "Charge seven: liaising with Cronus and ascending to Olympus. The eighth, attacking the Olympian Guardian Killer B and stealing a guardian's blade. The ninth, how your actions led to the death of mortals as a result of the imbalance of seasons, due to Sakura's absence from the surface. On all these counts, you will be charged."

She sat back, and sighed. "My, my," she muttered disapprovingly. "These are no light offences, indeed. What a mess you have made of things, Little King." She lifted her hand, and the cat meowed and leapt from her lap. It padded over to Sasuke, whose eyes tracked its movements. When it sat beside his leg, he permitted it to stay there.

The feline looked up at him with expectant eyes, clearly conveying that it wished to be petted.

The death deity's eyebrows drew together as he stared down at Chiyo's pet for a second. Then his gaze slipped dismissively away from it. He turned his attention back to the ancient goddess.

"Suigetsu will also be put to trial with you, as some of your charges match with his." She rested her hands on top of her staff, and raised her eyebrows at him. "It may be advantageous to you, to meet with him beforehand, and arrive at an agreed defence on any overlapping charges."

Defence? The only things Sasuke could offer any justification for related to his attack on Killer B. Speaking about his meeting with Cronus, and that he had exchanged a phial in return for Senju DNA in order to awaken the Rinnegan, would only dig a deeper hole for himself. He inwardly cursed. His list of charges was alarmingly long. He was certainly not looking forward to hearing it read out before an audience.

He felt the cat boldly rub itself against his leg, purring. Having no patience for such a distraction, he shifted his foot, shaking it off. It slunk obediently away, and sat down in front of the fireplace instead, licking its paws.

Having to liaise with Suigetsu on an agreed defence sounded like a nightmare. Sasuke internally vented to himself. He'd rather just take the charges on himself. Suigetsu was unpredictable, and he had no way of controlling what the idiot might say, even if they did agree on things beforehand.

"You have never been called to trial before," Chiyo remarked. "I will explain how the process works. You will be restricted by chakra-negating strings. This is to ensure you remain put as the proceedings take place. A seal will also be placed upon you, to ensure you cannot lie. That does not mean you must speak all you know. You may choose to voice what you wish in your defence, or to remain silent. But you cannot lie."

Sasuke's eyes glinted dangerously. "I will not be bound," he stated indignantly.

"It is not a matter of choice, Little King," Chiyo replied calmly. "Suigetsu will be treated exactly the same. These are the laws of the court that all gods must abide by. I have no issues placing trust in you to abide by the rules of the court, and to ensure the safety of those present. But the rest of the High Council, and the surface deities who will be in attendance, are understandably more nervous about the affair."

The death deity's eyes narrowed at that. "I will not," he repeated heatedly, "be dragged before the surface gods in shackles."

"Chakra strings," Chiyo corrected. "They will bind only your wrists. And you have my word that no manner of dragging you anywhere will occur. You will be treated with dignity and in fairness for the duration of the trial. I will be on the panel, ensuring this."

Sasuke glowered at her. That was little consolation to know. Chiyo was unfazed and continued to explain, "Your charges will be read out collectively. Following this, each one will be addressed in turn, and witnesses will be brought forward to give testimony. The witnesses will be those directly affected by your actions. Sakura will be one of them. Suigetsu will be another. And others. Following their testimony, you will have the opportunity to voice your defence. This will continue, until all charges have been read.

Once the charges are complete, we will move onto points of defence. Again, witnesses will be called to address these points. You have committed many felonies, but you have also amassed actions that will work in your favour to reduce the length of confinement that will be decided upon at the end of the trial. I am also able to vouch some points for you."

Confinement? Sasuke's eyes widened. Fury flared within him – even though he knew it was to be expected, and more than deserved. But how could they possibly lock him up? He had a Kingdom to run!

Chiyo seemed to read his thoughts. "To the penalties. Given that you are the only sole remaining Uchiha able to rule the Underworld, we cannot contain you indefinitely. Nor can we seal off your abilities. The High Council has therefore agreed to find another use for you that will cover a binding duration of no longer than twenty one days. You are able to leave your Kingdom unattended, in the care of your subjects, for that period of time. I will supervise it and ensure all is well."

"Another use?" Sasuke echoed distrustfully. "What are you talking about?"

"Cronus has waged open war upon the surface deities, and by extension, humans, in endangering their lives, as you are well aware. He has broken his end of the pact. As a consequence of this, and in order for them to be able to better protect humans, the High Council has agreed to the removal of the seals on the surface gods."

"…" Sasuke waited. Tension filled his body. He wasn't yet sure where she was heading with her dragging monologue. He half wanted to tell her to hurry up and get to the point, because he had many things he needed to attend to – but knew better than to do so.

"The High Council cannot remove the seals ourselves. To do this, four relics must be retrieved that Zeus hid in different locations across the world. Assembled together, they contain the instructions for the hand-seals that will remove the binds on the surface gods' powers. Four people have been selected to go on this quest-"

Sasuke sucked in a sharp breath and immediately sprang to his feet, his sharp mind finally seeing, all too clearly, where she was going with her words.

"I will not!" he seethed.

"Again. This is no matter of choice-"

"I would sooner relinquish my gifts," Sasuke snarled back, "than assist them in unlocking theirs!"

Chiyo regarded him patiently. She had anticipated such a reaction, of course. "Sasuke," she addressed him directly. "When young Minato scattered the relics, he made them accessible to only four deities."

"That is not my concern," Sasuke dismissed furiously.

"One that commands flame, one that commands lightning. A mortal. And one that commands shadows, and is able to dispel illusions. You may rant all you like. You are the only deity who exists who is able to manipulate darkness. And so it has already been decreed by the Fates that you will go on this quest."

"I won't help them," Sasuke snapped. "I have already had to intervene enough thanks to their incompetence. How many times have I had to save Sakura?" he demanded angrily. "I made an agreement with them which they failed to honour. The trial, stepping in to make up for their shortcomings – none of that was part of the accord!" He then added dangerously, "So why should I honour my part?"

"Because it is the right thing to do," Chiyo replied simply. "Deny her your protection now and the girl will surely die. For all their best efforts, the surface gods are sealed and limited in what they can do. If you take her back from the surface now – the girl will also perish. Is this what you wish for?"

Sasuke's hands curled into tight fists. Using Sakura to force his hand was a low blow. He had heard enough. He began to stalk forward, intending to leave the hut and terminate the conversation, when Chiyo's voice stopped him short.

"Given that Sakura is the mortal on this quest, would it not be within your best interests to be close at hand to ensure her safety?"

He halted, blinking in disbelief. Then he whirled back around to glare at her. "What?" he bit out. Sakura was being sent on this mission? Sakura? Who clearly attracted danger and was vulnerable to getting wounded, or worse! He was beyond livid.

"You will be assigned as her guard. We will have nothing to worry about, with her under your watch," Chiyo declared merrily.

Sasuke came the closest he had ever been to visibly gaping at the ancient goddess. His lips parted in astonishment. For a terrible second, rage rendered him speechless.

Was this a cruel trick? A wicked joke at his expense? Did the Fates seek to make a mockery of him? He had never felt so incensed.

"Her welfare is my responsibility when she is in my Kingdom," he seethed. "Not beyond it."

"If that is so, then why have you been assisting her in their stead? If those were your true feelings, which we both know they are not?"

Her words struck a chord within him, too close for comfort. Why had he assisted? The question made no sense to him. It had been instinctive. Reflexive. When he had sensed her wounds, and when he had spotted her in the tunnels. His body had moved of its own accord. And he hated how much that unsettled him.

"Do not speak to me of feelings," he spat out, hating that even after everything he had been through, he still possessed the damned things. "I will not help them unseal their abilities," he repeated indignantly.

"Your priority and purpose is to ensure Sakura's safety. The locations will be perilous. Minato had to make them so, to ensure only those permitted could gain access to the relics. Kakashi and Naruto are the only other two who will accompany you. You need only assist them in completing their assignment."

Sasuke blinked as his dumbfounded mind registered her words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Kakashi?

Naruto?!

The air flew from his lungs. No. He thought. No. There was absolutely no conceivable way that he could be expected to agree to such an outrageous, degrading and thoroughly unfair sentence. Not least of all because of their bitter history, but because he couldn't envisage being able to walk one metre without wanting to murder Naruto. Kakashi was only slightly more tolerable – and only because he talked less.

"I refuse," he glared. Forced to help the enemy? He couldn't even begin to imagine how smug the surface gods' faces would be.

Chiyo shook her head. "Still so proud. As I have said, this is one of your sentences. It is precisely that you are so averse to this very idea that the High Council agreed to it. You do not have to interact with Naruto or Kakashi at all. Your primary concern is ensuring Sakura's safety, as I have stated."

Sakura. Being in her company again. Travelling together. Having to make sure she didn't do anything reckless. Almost three weeks of it.

"You would make a mockery of me…?" he hissed, eyes glinting deadly crimson, responding to the wrath that burned in his blood. "You would have me help them, the ones who rode out to war against my family?!"

"There is nobody else who can go in your stead," Chiyo repeated. "And perhaps, if you would remove the veil of hatred and pride from your eyes for long enough, you might find that this quest will provide you, too, with answers to questions. More truths that are waiting to be discovered. Have some faith, Little King. The Fates chose you to embark on this quest for a reason. Not to mock you. Perhaps quite the opposite is true. Perhaps this will empower you."

Her words were nonsensical. Sasuke outwardly rejected them. He was fuming - not so much for having to watch Sakura as helping the gods unseal their powers - but could already see that this would all be enforced upon him, whether he liked it or not. Chiyo had the power to warp him out his own world whenever she wished, using the tools the High Council had at their disposal.

"I did not have to tell you the charges and penalties in advance," the old crone croaked. "I chose to do so, in anticipation of your displeasure, and to allow you time to come to terms with it. To make any preparations that are required ahead of your period of absence from your Kingdom. You have no choice in the matter. The only negotiable part of the trial, will be how many days you are to spend in solitary confinement. That will depend on the strength of your points of defence. Otherwise, the quest is set in stone and will be enforced with a binding contract."

"A contract?" Could this sentence be any more patronizing and humiliating?

"It will ensure you cannot abandon your cell and fulfil your responsibilities. Which, simply put, are to secure Sakura's safety, and to offer assistance in any battle situations that may arise."

Her dark irises danced with mirth. Sasuke glowered at her resentfully. He supposed this was all a game in her eyes.

Chiyo sighed heavily. The amused look waned. "I have tried to make arrangements as best I could, to your benefit." She said in earnest. "I have tried my best, to guide you as I can, and where it has been possible for me to do so." Suddenly she looked oddly tired.

Sasuke's jaw clenched tightly. She seriously thought that agreeing to send him off on a wild goose chase around the world with two surface deities he despised and the girl he had bound to his world who also despised him was in his favour? Then she had a skewered sense of what was advantageous to him, he thought to himself grudgingly.

"I have tried," she repeated. "In respect of the wishes of the one who beseeched me to ensure your welfare and survival."

Sasuke drew in a breath. There it was again. Mention of this secret, unknown entity who had requested Chiyo's aid and seemingly asked her to keep an eye on him. She had never told him who it was. It angered him every time she mentioned it. Like he ought to be grateful to this person, somehow, when he had wanted nothing more than to perish as the rest of his kin had in the war.

Instead he had been compelled to live on, taking on a role that had never been his and governing a Kingdom that had been run by many. Because he had been the only one left. Because his mother had wished him to live long enough to avenge them. But the life he was living now was bringing him no nearer to achieving that goal. He was now being forced to help the very ones he loathed in unlocking their own powers. How would that afford him any manner of revenge? It would do quite the contrary. On top of that, he had the issue of Sakura to worry about. His existence was more complicated than ever. The simple days of concerning himself only with himself and the Underworld were long gone.

He still struggled to come to terms with how it had come to this, the exact point where things had started falling out of order.

He wasn't grateful to this secret benefactor. No. He hated them. For sending Chiyo to him. If not for her interference, he would have died, of that he was certain. How dare this unknown saviour dictate the outcome of his life?

Anger made him ask, once more, though he held no hope for receiving any answer, "Who was it."

It wasn't a question. He was certain she wouldn't respond.

Chiyo was silent. Then she said, "We have known each other a long time, Sasuke. I have watched you grow, from the days of your infancy, into a young god who lost everything. Despite this, you persevered. You rose up and changed your powerlessness at losing your kin, into power once you ascended the Underworld's throne. You have become wise – but the blight of hatred still stains your heart. Go on this quest, and perhaps, you will begin to find things are not as they seem."

What was she babbling about? Irritated that she had not responded – even when he had known she would not – he began to turn away to leave again, too unhappy and frustrated at how trapped he felt, at how much he was second guessing everything, to say anything else.

But as he reached the leafy curtain that concealed the entrance to her hut, she spoke fourteen words that made Sasuke feel as though the will to breathe had abandoned his lungs.

"It was Itachi," Chiyo revealed quietly. "It was your brother, who beseeched me to ensure your survival."

Sasuke froze with his back to her. His mind whirred to a deafening halt. Every muscle in his body tensed, as he stood rooted to the spot, staring at the leaves in front of him in abject disbelief.

Itachi? Itachi? His older brother, who had murdered their parents in cold blood – Itachi had asked Chiyo to look out for him?

That didn't make any sense. Why would he care, when he had betrayed Sasuke, and caused him unimaginable pain when he'd taken the decision to slaughter their mother and father? He now wished he had not been told. It was too cruel a truth. A wicked reality that taunted him, rubbed salt in wounds that had never fully healed, no matter how deeply he had tried to bury them.

"Itachi…" he whispered. "Itachi murdered our parents. Why would he…" his voice trailed, as his mind rejected her words. There was no way. No way that his older brother would have requested such a favour, for his sake. That wasn't the Itachi he had proven to be in the end. It had been the Itachi who had fooled Sasuke, and everyone else, into believing he was the gentle, caring older brother and son.

Chiyo was silent. She could see the torment plaguing Sasuke's shoulders. And her heart felt heavy for him. For burdens he had carried, just as Itachi had known he would when he had knelt in desperation before her. It was why he had turned to her for assistance. Out of all other options, his hand forced, he had gone to the only goddess he had known would endure, whom he had felt he could trust with such a personal request.

"Recall his last words to you," she rasped.

Sasuke remembered. He had buried them to the deepest corners of his mind at the time. And in the shock of losing his family, he had not been able to recall them. But now he did. He remembered every word that had never made any sense, that he had spent millennia turning in his thoughts, anguished, angry, bitter and bereft of answers.

"We live bound within the confines of our own perceptions, constantly defining reality according to what we perceive as correct and true."

"But these are such vague concepts, when you consider… that the things we believe to be correct and true - our realities – may all be a mirage."

"You are still a child, Sasuke. There are times when deities must make difficult choices. One day, when you awaken the same eyes; you will understand."

Itachi lied, Sasuke thought silently, bitterly. For he had awoken the Mangekyo, just as Itachi had, and still didn't understand why his brother had done it. Thousands of years of not knowing, made no clearer with the passing of time.

"Perhaps," Chiyo went on cryptically, "There is more reality for you to uncover yet."

Sasuke swallowed. The foundations of his world had once again been shaken. Itachi had wanted him protected. Itachi had wanted him to survive. Why? On top of the revelation of Obito, and confirmation of his past with Kore, seeing Itachi and Shisui standing with him beside Aphrodite and the body she had held… his mind was completely overwhelmed. He felt smothered. Suffocated. Like nothing was in his control anymore, like everything was slipping out from his grasp, like sand between his fingers, no matter how hard he tried to hold onto and direct his own destiny.

Because everything he thought he had known, seemed to be falling apart all around him, leaving only questions, questions, and more questions.

"Why…?" he whispered. Distressing thoughts of his older brother flooded through his mind. Memories. So many memories. His kind eyes. His gentle smiles. All the times he had held him as a child. All the times he had protected him. The summoning seal he had gifted to him, which Sasuke had used not hours earlier. "Why?" he repeated, and this time his voice did shake.

He realised, no matter how much time passed – he could never suppress the foolish longing of his old self, the near-desperate yearning to understand why Itachi had acted as he had.

And that was when Chiyo said it. Words that caused incredible pain to explode anew in his heart.

"Because… you are his little brother."

---

Tsunade stood in the balcony of her room, staring up at the silver moon that shone in the clear night sky. Its colour was duller than usual. She supposed it wasn't a coincidence, given how heartbroken Hinata was over the recent passing of her cousin.

She heard familiar footsteps enter the room behind her. A moment later, Jiraiya joined her, leaning his elbows onto the balcony railings casually. In his hands he held a bottle of sake and a cup. Pouring some of the drink, he offered it to Tsunade.

"You look like you could use a drink, old shrew," he said, thinly-concealed affection laced beneath the age-old moniker he used to address her.

She gave him a warning look, but accepted, as he took a swig from the bottle. They stared up at the sky together in silence.

Ino had been returned to them, and they had all been shocked to discover, upon her regaining consciousness, that it was Sasuke who had saved her from certain death. He'd taken her to Chiyo for healing in the Underworld – before returning her to them.

Naruto, who had up until that moment of discovery been sullen and uncharacteristically quiet following the loss of Neji, had been elated. He'd told them that it was further proof that Sasuke was not in league with the enemy. For why would he ever choose to save one of their own, if he truly was assisting Cronus with his plans?

Tsunade couldn't make sense of it. She could not fathom why Sasuke would seek to help them again, when he had always held such animosity toward the surface deities and the role they had played in the extinction of his clan. She could not understand it, when he had acted in so many other, incriminating ways. He was a contradiction, a clear enigma. She couldn't figure him out – and she had not even yet met him.

He had saved her daughter. More than once. He had saved Ino. He had helped them, indirectly or otherwise. It was thoroughly frustrating. She downed the sake in one go, and handed the cup back to Jiraiya.

As if that revelation hadn't been outrageous enough, Ino had also confirmed that she had seen the crystals encasing Minato and Kushina's forms, and dropped the bombshell that Madara had called the masked man Obito. Kakashi's shock had been absolute. They were all in uproar about how it was even possible that another Uchiha could have survived the war – especially one who Kakashi was certain he had seen die with his own eyes.

They had then discussed the quest to unlock their abilities, confirming who would have to go on it. The trial date for Sasuke and Suigetsu had been set. It would take place the following week – which meant that they all needed to prepare. Particularly those amongst them who would be called as witnesses.

"This news has hit Kakashi hard," Jiraiya stated sombrely. "He's scarcely spoken a word since learning of Obito."

Tsunade folded her arms across her chest. "He has the Sharingan, the same technique, and the same name. How did Madara achieve this?"

"Well," Jiraiya mused. "His element of chaos does afford him influence over space and time itself. The only possible explanation, is that he was somehow able to revive Obito, and bend the planes between dimensions to ensure he did not pass along with the rest of his clan."

Tsunade glanced at him. "Madara can really do that?"

"Madara unsealed," Jiraiya corrected. "But it's certainly like him to keep hidden cards up his damned sleeves. This is the same deity our King and Queen laid down their own lives in order to defeat. If he is ever freed from his confinement, he will be a force to be reckoned with, even if we are all unsealed."

Tsunade turned her eyes back to the night. "The trial will take place soon."

"A curious affair it will be," Jiraiya remarked. "Given Sasuke's contradictory actions as of late."

Tsunade shook her head, unable to wrap her thoughts around it. "What reason would he have to return Ino to us?" she questioned. "Given our history with the Uchiha in the war?"

Jiraiya took another drink from his bottle, and straightened up. After a moment of thought, he decided to say something controversial. "Perhaps it may not be so impossible, after all, for the boy to genuinely care for Sakura's wellbeing…?" he suggested lightly. Tsunade tensed at that. "I certainly doubt he returned her for our benefit otherwise. And given he saved her life twice in succession, too; Sasuke isn't the sort to expend energy needlessly."

"It makes no sense," Tsunade frowned. "Sakura is a surface child. He despises us."

"Well," Jiraiya commented after another pause. "One cannot choose whom they love. If we could, we would surely all save ourselves from great heartbreak."

Tsunade's eyes shifted to regard him in surprise at the unexpected weight behind his words. Their eyes met. For a long moment, they were both silent. Then Jiraiya lifted the bottle to her, in a mock toast – before he hopped easily over the balcony, and disappeared into the night.

---

[Three surface days later]

---

Kenji glanced arbitrarily down at his watch. It was precisely eight thirty in the evening, and he was having a fabulous time. The uptown, classy restaurant they'd booked to celebrate Sakura's birthday belonged to Yuki's uncle, and was always bustling with affluent people. They'd reserved one of the quieter tables by the southern balcony where they could wine and dine in peace. As well as offering better privacy, the spot also afforded a fantastic view of the riverbank far below.

Across the table from him, Sakura looked a vision. She was stunning in a feminine, pastel pink, short-sleeved lace dress. It clung to her figure and grazed mid-thigh in length. She'd teamed it up with a cute, matching cardigan and gold heels. Her long, dusky rose hair had been loosely curled to form soft waves. She had accessorised with an elegant gold and pearl necklace, earrings and bracelet that she'd told him her best friend, Ino, had gifted to her earlier in the day.

Beside him sat Yuki, Hiro and Akito, and on the other side of Sakura were Ino, Naruto, Lee and Shikamaru. Kenji had asked Sakura where her dark-haired friend Hinata was, but Naruto had simply looked sad and answered that she hadn't been feeling up to it. Kenji hadn't pushed the matter any further, but had noticed that even Naruto seemed more subdued than normal.

The conversation had flowed throughout the starter and main-course. They'd just cut Sakura's birthday cake. They all got along well, with friendly banter being exchanged across the table. But Kenji only had eyes for Sakura. The more they got to know one another, the more attracted he grew to her. He found himself mesmerised by the way her beautiful, bright green eyes lit up whenever she smiled, how expressive her lovely features were. But she was much more than just a pretty face, he had discovered. She was kind and compassionate, determined and intelligent, funny and interesting.

They were both passionate about medicine and caring for the environment, which gave them lots to talk about. She was exactly the kind of girl Kenji could see himself falling in love with.

He'd found himself thinking of her a lot. Things had been different after the Winter Ball. They no longer had study sessions alone, and were almost always together in the company of others. Kenji wondered if that was deliberate, and what had made things change, when things had always seemed so easy before then between them. But he hadn't wanted to press the matter, knowing Sakura had lost friends in the incident. He was content to be friends with her, and didn't want to push any further than that. Not unless she was ready.

They were just finishing off dessert, when Sakura reached for some more sake from the glass jug next to the slender vase of flowers arranged in the middle of the table. Kenji had been so engrossed in their discussion about the ethics of switching off life-support machines before families requested it, that it only occurred to him at that moment that she had consumed quite a fair amount.

The fine wine seemed to be getting to her too, for she hiccupped and released a somewhat embarrassed giggle.

"Sorry," she apologised.

"Easy there, junior doc," Kenji said wryly. "Careful it doesn't go to your head."

"I'm not a lightweight, you know," Sakura informed him, and as if to prove her point, downed the entire cup in one gulp – before reaching eagerly for the jug again.

Kenji laughed. "Anyone would think this was the first time you're celebrating with alcohol on your birthday."

"It is," Sakura confessed - then pulled a face. "I can't believe my mother actually agreed to it, but I am twenty, now." She swallowed the second cup – before hiccupping again. She slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening at her date. "Sorry," she muffled another laugh. "I kind of feel like I'm a balloon."

"A balloon?" Kenji poured himself – and her, when she pointed at her empty cup – another glass.

"Hmm. Yeah. Like I'm about to," Sakura gestured vaguely to the clear night sky, "float away." She drank his offering eagerly.

Kenji chuckled, lifting his own cup to his lips. "Then maybe it's time to go a little easy on the sake."

Sakura shrugged. She was absolutely stuffed, and felt pleasantly warm and fuzzy. Her fingertips were tingling.

Ino, who was sitting next to her, reached across the table. "Sakura!" she warned. "Not too much, okay? I promised your mother we'd get home in a semi-respectable state."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. With everything she had been through over the course of the previous few days, how emotionally overwrought she had been, she figured she deserved to let loose. Jiraiya, Asuma, Inoichi and Kakashi were waiting for them outside. Her mother had agreed for her to attend a birthday dinner – but they were taking no chances with being caught unawares and unguarded. Not when Madara had made it clear that he was now suspicious of Sakura and her true identity.

"Looks like we've run out," Kenji shook the empty bottle. "I'll get a waiter to get us some more."

"Wait. I want to try something else," Sakura said. "But, I've never really drunk any of this before. I don't know what else I'd like."

"Oh?" Kenji gave her a look. "Well, we could always go to the bar and sample something."

That sounded like a great idea to Sakura. Informing Ino that they were going to do just that, she got up and walked with Kenji to the bar area. Slipping onto stools, they waited to be served.

"So what do you think?" he prompted, resting his chin in his hand as he gazed appreciatively at her.

"Huh?" Somehow, Sakura had lost track of what they'd been talking about. Semi-drunk, she felt impolite and ashamed of herself. Kenji was a really sweet guy. He was smart and articulate, with a great sense of humour. He was the kind of guy that she knew would treat any girl really well. She just didn't want him getting the wrong signs, but in her present state, she was afraid she would relax too much to be articulate.

Hopefully, she guessed, "You mean what do I think of this place?"

Hadn't she commented on that already, though?

The alcohol was definitely starting to kick in, Kenji thought to himself. He hadn't been sure how much Sakura could stomach.

"Of switching off the machines," he reminded her.

"Oh," she shrugged again. "I think doctors should use their judgement. They should know best. But there are some prettyyy stupid doctors out there though, right? I mean, we all know them. Sometimes in the hospital, I play a game."

Kenji laughed. He could almost imagine her doing so. "Oh yeah? What game is that?"

"What can I get you?" the blond-haired bartender asked, interrupting suddenly.

"Hey, can we sample some drinks?" Kenji asked. "It was her birthday recently, and it's her first time trying cocktails." He gestured to Sakura.

"Oh, is it now!" The bartender grinned. He winked blue eyes at Sakura. "Happy birthday, gorgeous! I'll whip up our house's best mixes. Whichever you like, will be on the house!"

Sakura flushed. "Oh. Thank you!"

"Sure thing. Give me a sec!" He turned away to prepare sample shots for them.

"So, the game you play?" Kenji prompted.

"Spot the clueless doctor." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Some of the on-call ones are horrendous."

"They're probably just sleep deprived," Kenji reasoned kindly.

"Nope." She rubbed contentedly at her stomach. "I'll never be sleep deprived when I'm on-call."

Kenji, who was older than her and knew what night shifts were like, grinned and said, "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's sort of impossible. Night shifts are awful. You end up a complete zombie. You get used to it eventually, but it's always a shock when you first start out."

"Nope. Not me," Sakura shook her head and spread her arms out. "I'll bring my biiig bed and sleep when my supervisor isn't looking."

Kenji burst out laughing. "You have to rota with the other doctors in the ward to get ten minutes of shut eye, Sakura."

"Not me," Sakura repeated. "Wanna know why?"

"Why?" he raised his eyebrows.

She placed her elbows atop the bar and leant forward. "Because…" she declared solemnly, "I'm special."

"Uh huh," Kenji tilted his head. She wasn't usually one to boast, but he kind of liked this more assertive Sakura. "You certainly are," he remarked.

The bartender set down some shots. "Here you go! Five of our best mixes!"

Sakura tried the first. It was bitter and sour – but somehow refreshingly crisp. She swallowed it, feeling her throat burn from the alcohol.

"That's- that's really strong," she winced.

The bartender laughed. "Try the rest. One to five. Pick a number at the end and I'll serve it to you, on the house, as promised!" He then turned to serve another waiting customer.

Sakura downed another shot. She liked this fruity mix much better.

"I'm the most special world in the girl today," she announced.

Kenji smiled in amusement. She was undoubtedly tipsy.

When she reached out for the next shot, however, he pulled it gently out of her grasp.

"I think you've had enough for one night," he winked teasingly.

"Come on," Sakura pouted. "It was my birthday."

"Right," said Kenji. "But have any more glasses and I'm scared you won't be able to walk."

"Aww. Just one," Sakura pleaded, holding up two fingers.

"That's two," he gestured to her hand.

Sakura looked down at her digits in confusion – and giggled. "Huh. What do you mean? It's one. See?" She held up three. "One finger, one thumb, and… uh…" she frowned. "Just one more, okay? Please, Ken?"

"No way. You're out of it enough as it is," Kenji refused. "Besides," he glanced back over his shoulder at the table their friends were sharing an animated debate at. "It's time to go back. Your friend Ino's totally watching us."

"So whaaat?" Sakura drawled. "I can take one more. Come onnn."

"We told your mother we'd make sure you didn't drink too much tonight." Kenji smiled sheepishly. "Seems like I stopped you a little too late."

"Bahhh…" Sakura waved a dismissive hand. "You're no fun…" she rested her chin in her palm and whined, "I just wanted one more. I haven't even… had that much. Just two glasses…" she held up four fingers this time and snickered to herself again.

"Are you serious?" Kenji exclaimed. "I've had three, and you've had at least double that."

"You're just jealous I'm drunk and so are you."

Kenji tried to figure out the sense in that sentence, only to give up.

"The cups are so small," she argued, and held up the shot glass to show him what she meant. Then she slammed it down on the bar table abruptly, with enough force to make the other cups upon it rattle.

"Okay…" Kenji observed. "So we've established that you're definitely a light drinker."

"Say that again," Sakura blinked. "I'm a heavyweight boxer. I'll beat you up."

Kenji bit back another laugh. She was kind of adorable when intoxicated.

"Please," she whinged. "Just one more glass. Hmm?" She reached for another shot, trying to pull puppy dog eyes at him – but failed miserably.

"Sorry, Sakura." He slid the other shots back. "No can do. I wouldn't be a gentleman if I didn't get you back home in one piece."

Sakura huffed. Under the influence and no longer fully aware of her surroundings – or her words – she mumbled grumpily, "Sasuke never told me off when I drank too much."

Kenji raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke? Who's that? A friend of yours?"

Sakura seemed to find this beyond hilarious. She laughed, and Kenji was glad that the music and chatter around them was drowning out everyone's conversations. They'd come to dinner as a group of friends – but at least this way, he could enjoy Sakura's company alone for a bit.

She had every right to let herself go on her birthday. Sakura was always so polite and proper. It was nice to see another, more mischievous side to her.

"Ah…" he smiled in bewilderment. "I take it he isn't…?"

"He's not my friend," she sniggered. "He's… the devil."

"A devil called Sasuke," Kenji echoed, leaning an elbow against the bar. "Gotcha. So, how'd you meet him?"

Sakura leant forward. Lowering her voice dramatically, and clawing her fingers like a monster, she informed him ominously, "In hell."

"Come on," Kenji tossed an unused napkin at her playfully. He was genuinely curious. "I'm serious. I've never heard you mention a Sasuke before."

"I met him in hell," she repeated. "Uhn…" she rested her forehead against her palm for a moment.

"You okay?"

"M'fine," she muttered.

Kenji watched her. "It's not my place to judge, but you're definitely not the kind of girl who would go to hell," he grinned. Then he tried another approach, "So how do you know him? From college?"

"Nooo," she sang. "He's too smart for college. And…" she lifted her head, pressing an index finger to her chin in thought, and scowled, "…too old."

"How old?"

"Huh. Thousands of years…?" She sounded like she was guessing wildly, and gave up. "I dunno."

"A devil called Sasuke, who you met in hell, and he's a thousand years old," Kenji clarified. The description was becoming even more outrageous the more questions he asked. What would she come out with next? Completely entertained, he pressed, "So what's he like, this devilish Sasuke?"

She sighed heavily and looked at him. But her eyes were unfocused. "Hmm. He's…" she licked her lips. "Kind of dreamy…"

"Dreamy?" Surprised, Kenji blinked at her. That wasn't quite what he'd expected - or wanted - to hear…

"Mmm…" Sakura smiled, as if she was lost in a daydream herself. "So handsome… his eyes are just…" she sighed wistfully, letting the description hang in the air.

"Right… your ex-boyfriend, I take it?" Kenji took an educated guess. Who else would she label a handsome devil? It had to be someone who had broken her heart. A high school sweetheart, perhaps. Maybe that was why she was so standoffish? She realised that she was getting closer to Kenji, and had started to pull back because she was too scared to commit to a new relationship?

"No," Sakura suddenly sounded dejected. "He's not my boyfriend. He's a…" she met his eyes and looked lost. Muddled, as if she couldn't quite find the right word in her mind to describe Sasuke. After a few seconds, she managed uncertainly, "He's… he's my…" she shook her head, before finishing, "he's… a king."

"I thought you called him the devil?"

"He's the devil king," Sakura clucked her tongue in exasperation. Why couldn't Kenji keep up? And he called her drunk?

"What?" Kenji smothered back a laugh.

"He's completely dangerous. But," she sighed again. "So smoking hot…"

"Uh huh. Well, that's great." Kenji felt a little uncomfortable – and admittedly somewhat jealous – listening to and watching the way she swooned over this 'Sasuke' character, a man he'd never even met. "Maybe we should move on from this devil king dude…"

"He wanted to keep me with him, you know," Sakura suddenly blurted, appearing oddly serious. "At least, I think he did. But then I hurt him."

"Wait a minute," Kenji was thoroughly perplexed. "You're seriously telling me you used to date some prince in college?"

"No," Sakura frowned. "He's not a prince. He's a king!"

"King Sasuke? From which country? No, wait," he held up a hand. "Let me guess. Hell?"

Sakura stared at him. She seemed to be unable to comprehend what he was saying for a minute. Then she smiled.

"Yeah. Hell. He took me to hell and he threw me into the fire… and then he let me go."

She said it with such sadness in her eyes that Kenji was now certain that she was referring to an ex-boyfriend – albeit in extremely unconventional and highly exaggerated terms. It was the alcohol, he knew, that was responsible. The odds of the enigmatic Sasuke being a devil or a king, or residing in hell, were non-existent.

"So…" he decided to humour her regardless, because he really did want to get a feel of what kinds of guys Sakura was generally into. "This king or whatever, what did he look like? Blond hair? Blue eyes?"

"No…" Sakura replied. Her words were coming out close to slurs at this point, but her description was unexpectedly accurate for someone so intoxicated.

"He's… he's the night. He's made of shadows. Moves like them. Sometimes I think... if I stare into the dark for long enough... I'll find him. But he's never there."

Kenji cleared his throat awkwardly. "He sounds like a shady character," he attempted to joke. When Sakura simply gazed at him, nonplussed, he hastily repeated, "So - what did you say he looked like?"

"He's tall. Has dark hair. These stormy eyes. He never smiles… he's always brooding, never happy… hmmm. I kind of miss…" she seemed to catch herself, and straightened up, looking horrified. "No. Noooo. No way. I don't miss him. He's a jerk. Yeah." She rested her head in her hands again. Her shoulders slumped. "A jerk…" she whispered, almost as if to herself. "I don't know why he saved me… and…"

"A jerk who saved you, huh?" So he had nothing to worry about, really. A loser couldn't be classed as real competition, after all.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "The most arrogant, stubborn, infuriating…" she stopped, fumed for a second, before continuing, "He's the proudest, fiercest, and most impossible… most incredible jerk. He rules that place all on his own, you know."

"What place? Hell?"

"Uh huh."

"You know you're making absolutely no sense, right?" Kenji enquired affectionately.

She hiccupped in response.

"So…" he ventured warily. "If this guy is so incredible, why'd you break up, anyway?"

"Unh. He wasn't my boyfriend. But... we had a big fight. We both… hurt each other. Then he sent me back. And now… now I don't understand...he's confusing."

"Who could ever hate you?" Kenji demanded. "I think you should forget about him, whoever or whatever he was to you. He sounds like a real asshole."

"He was… something else," she began to jumble up her words. "But he..." she whispered, her eyes glazing over. "I think... that he really cared about me. In his own, messed up way, y'know? Hmm? That's funny," she slurred, "I didn't think so back then, but now, when I think about how much I hurt him, too... and that he still helped me…"

Then she looked up again, and grinned brightly, her rapid change in moods further proof that she was totally drunk. Pointing proudly at herself, she announced, "I poisoned him." She pointed to her lips. "I put it right here and he kissed me..." she exhaled unsteadily. "He kissed me so hard."

"Huh?" Kenji's jaw dropped in shock. Had he heard right? But she'd said he hadn't been a boyfriend? Then he told himself she was completely out of it and had to be pulling his leg, for she began to giggle again at his startled expression. He relaxed once more, exhaling a quiet sigh of relief – only to tense for a second time when her laughter abruptly dissolved into emotional, incoherent blubbering.

"Everything okay here?" Ino's voice cut in. Kenji turned his head, to find the blonde smiling politely up at him. She was tipsy too – but not to the extremes that her best friend was.

"Oh, hey. Yeah. Great! Sakura was just telling me all about this devil King called Sasuke, who she met in hell apparently, and who she poisoned-"

Ino's eyes widened. Then she laughed. A bit too loudly. The sound was strained. Almost nervous.

"Ooooh… hahahahaha! Silly Sakura. She gets hysterical when she's drunk. Such a lightweight. I think I'd better get her home."

"So...who is Sasuke, anyway?"

"Nobody," Ino shook her head quickly. "He is absolutely nobody. No-one at all. Just some weird old crush she had. Was totally emo and into dark, depressing things. It was a long time ago, and she's totally drunk, so… forget it, okay? Come on, Sakura," she helped her best friend off the stool. "Time to go!"

"Wait. Let me at least walk you guys out," Kenji frowned in confusion.

"That- that is really sweet of you," Ino smiled tightly. "Like seriously. So sweet. But we need to go. Sakura's had way too much to drink, and her mother is probably going to strangle me. You go on ahead and enjoy the rest of the evening. Sakura's grateful. Thanks so much for arranging this. It was great to hang out, right, Sakura?"

"Mmmhmm. Thank youuu…" Sakura garbled, swaying on her feet.

"Please excuse us," Ino said.

She began to turn away, with Sakura leaning heavily against her. He saw Ino whisper something into her ear.

"But-" Kenji began to protest again.

Ino stopped, and whipped back around. There was a light in her eyes he had never seen before – and Kenji was rather taken aback.

"Hey. You're a really sweet guy. But you need to back off, and quit pushing so much," she warned. "Sakura's single, but she's not available. Okay?" Her face then returned to a smile. "Thanks again for doing this for your friend."

With those harsh words, she and Sakura walked off.

---

An hour later, Sakura lay in bed. Ino and the others had returned her safely home after her birthday dinner. Her head was spinning, the effects of alcohol hitting her hard.

Her mother had put her into bed. She'd heard her admonish Ino for letting Sakura drink a bit too much – which Sakura had found hilarious. She'd still been giggling to herself when her mother had laid a soothing palm to her forehead and pumped healing chakra through her body. It had taken the punishing edge off the headache – but Sakura still felt light-headed.

She'd smiled when her mother – and Ino- had kissed her forehead in turn, and then left the room to allow her to sleep for the night. After that, things had gotten a little hazy. She was certain she hadn't actually fallen asleep though, merely laid in bed, staring into the darkness.

She couldn't remember much about the evening she'd had. They'd shared a nice dinner. She had blown out candles on a birthday cake. She's spoken to Ken and gotten drunk. Then everything had gotten all fuzzy.

Sakura rolled onto her right side, tossing restlessly in bed. She hadn't really been in the mood to celebrate her birthday, after the loss of Neji. But she had given her word to Ken and his friends weeks earlier. And with everything that had happened, it had been too late and rude to cancel, knowing Kenji and his friends had already pre-booked and pre-prepared. Ino had agreed to attend with her, stressing it was just a meal between friends. And so Sakura had agreed. She didn't know that her next year alive was guaranteed on the surface. And she was glad for Ino's return - even though she had felt Hinata's absence at the table. Naruto had only agreed to attend on the grounds that it could be her final birthday, too.

Staring into the dimness of her room, she sighed in agitation, listening to the ticking of the clock. Why was it so loud? Why did the bed covers suddenly feel so restricting? Why couldn't she get comfortable?

And why did sleep keep evading her as of late? Even the previous nights, after Ino had been restored to her and stayed over – Sakura had slept beside her, and been too afraid to close her eyes, terrified that she would open them again to find her best friend gone. She'd managed a few hours at most – certainly not enough to fully replenish her sleep-deprived body.

A cool breeze caressed the bare skin of her arms, causing tiny goose-bumps to surface on her flesh.

Ugh, she internally groaned. She had left the window open again out of habit, and now she was cold, which meant she'd have to get up and close the window, which meant that she'd lose even more sleep.

It was weird. She no longer felt light-headed, but completely sober. When had that happened?

Rolling onto her back again, Sakura stared up at the ceiling in frustration for another long moment. Maybe she was losing her mind. She couldn't carry on sleeping so badly. It was already affecting her concentration and performance. Getting drunk on low sleep had probably not been the smartest of ideas.

But she felt so on edge. What was wrong with her?

You know what's wrong, a voice in her head answered. The voice she didn't want to listen to, but that she could no longer shut out anymore. You've barely managed to sleep since you saw him again. Since you found out he not only saved you, but Ino, too. It's not a coincidence. You can't stop thinking about him, and that's just so stupid-

Resignedly, she sat up, pushing the sheets back, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her room, which had seemed hot earlier, now felt chilly. And her knee-length white night gown didn't exactly afford much warmth.

It's so stupid, because you were doing just fine before you saw him again and-

She cut the thought off, pulling at her loose hair in irritation. Stop it. She didn't want to think anymore. She didn't want to remember how it had felt when their eyes had met again after so many months, all the chaotic, conflicting emotions a mere look had sent cascading like a tumultuous tsunami through her body, washing away all her senses.

She didn't want to think about Sasuke-

A choked gasp escaped her throat, as her eyes fell to the open window. She wasn't alone. A shadow stood silently there, tall, dignified, familiar-

Springing to her feet, a startled Sakura's hand flew to her chest, resting above her heart, which was already pounding deeply, racing riotously within her. An immediate and devastating reaction to his proximity – and one only his proximity alone had the power of commanding. All at once her body was overcome with the familiar prickles of tension she felt whenever he was close. She stared at him, confused, alarmed, at a loss to explain how he could be standing there, watching her. How long had he been there? But he'd given his word, not to initiate any contact and yet there he was and she could scarcely breathe-

"Sasuke…?" she whispered, so quietly, as if afraid that even the slightest noise or wrong movement would dispel the image of him before her eyes. But he remained. Pushed himself slowly away from the wall he'd been leaning against. Stalked toward her unhurriedly like the lethal, calculating predator she knew him to be, his eyes glinting in the darkness. Intense. Otherworldly. Piercing and arresting, endless black vortexes that pulled her inescapably in with no hope of salvation.

Then his voice addressed her, and she was overcome with the reminder, once again, of how it sounded, wrapping around her like seductive dark velvet. Utterly confident. Utterly disarming. With a dangerous edge to its allure, like cold, sharp-edged steel.

"Sakura," he drawled her name, and it sounded like sin upon those proud, wilful lips. He elongated the first vowel, uttering it in a way that no-one else did. She had almost forgotten that voice. Almost forgotten how it affected her.

"Sasuke," she repeated his name in a senseless hush. "What are you doing here? How did you- why are you here?"

Those eyes burned into her as he slunk closer, and her body forgot the cold as he prowled around her, circling noiselessly. As silent as the shades that answered to his call.

"You call to me," he said as he moved behind her. "Every night. In sleep."

Every night? She called his name in sleep? Sakura's heart thundered as he came to a stop, standing toe-to-toe in front of her. So close that she was overwhelmed, her body buzzing from the aura of pure, chaotic static he exuded. Like a livewire, inches from her skin. Or a detonation, ready to ignite. And her body was doused in gasoline.

"Why…?" he intoned.

Why…? She had not even realised she did. But of course, he would hear her. Sleep was as much his domain, as death itself.

Why? The question hung heavily, smothering, in the air between them. She needed but lift her hand slightly and she could touch him.

Why? The question had been haunting her ever since she'd set eyes on him again. And all she'd seen and known in his Kingdom, which she'd tried so hard not to concentrate on since her return, had come flooding back to her. All the unresolved issues. All the uncertainties.

All the emotions.

Why? She knew why. Deep down, she knew it, and no matter what anyone else said, no matter how much Ino had tried to warn her, no matter how much she knew about the past, she couldn't stop it, she couldn't deny it. She had known it the moment Ino had told her he'd saved her.

She lifted her head slightly, her eyes moving from where they had been lowered to the ground, up to find that his face was inches from her own. Her eyes widened. His lips were a mere breath away.

Her gaze locked onto them, as he exhaled quietly once more, so close she could feel the warmth of the air leaving his lips, "Tell me why, Sakura." Still he did not touch her, but he didn't need to. Her entire body was alive and overly aware of him.

"Tell me," his face angled slightly to the right, his eyes smouldering, sanity-stealing, "what you want."

Her heart raced. For a horrifying moment, she couldn't tear her eyes off his lips. She then dragged her eyes back up to his, and blurted out the words. "If I've called you every night, why haven't you answered sooner…?"

His obsidian gaze narrowed at that as he stared aloofly down the barrel of his nose at her. "Why would I?" he answered curtly. "You were in no danger."

"I'm not in danger now," she pointed out. Though her heart begged to differ. It was pounding so fast, she felt it was on the verge of bursting right out of her chest.

"Aren't you," he murmured. "Sakura." It wasn't a question – and something about his tone, and the way it dropped, made her stomach flutter.

They were still inches apart. Stiflingly close, in each other's personal spaces. Neither of them moved a muscle.

"So you heard me…" Sakura said, a soft frown settling over her features. "And you just… ignored me...?"

He was silent. Shameless in his lack of reply. Then he repeated, "What do you want?"

What did she want? She had so many questions for him. Why had he been at the facility? Was everything she had heard about him true? Was he really in contact with Cronus? Why had he attacked a guardian at Olympus? What was the mark he had received? Why had he done all those things, and yet saved her?

But when she spoke next, the words were a hushed whisper, and expressed what was at the forefront of her thoughts. "I… wanted to say, thank you…"

She thought she glimpsed surprise dance across his fathomless eyes – but the look was replaced by indifference again a moment later.

"For…?" he intoned.

"You saved me, Sasuke… the seeds saved me. How can that be…?"

Smoky eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"Then, they can somehow tell you, when I'm hurt…?" she questioned. "You… never told me that the seeds could do any of that."

"I did not get the chance," came the pointed, blunt response. She knew what he meant. That she had simply found out about the seeds and had been so upset at him, she'd not thought to seek clarification before stabbing him in the back.

Sakura drew in a deep breath. "You saved me twice. And… you saved Ino. You brought her back. Why...?"

His dark eyes narrowed. One corner of his lips drew back. A barely there, sardonic sneer. As if he saw great irony in her words - irony Sakura failed to understand.

"You don't know." His response was barely above a whisper. It seemed bitter.

She hesitated, and then lifted her right hand carefully, intending to touch his left arm in a gesture that reflected sincere gratitude. His eyes still held hers, and Sakura thought that there was nobody else in the world who held her gaze the way he did – with such intensity, such rapt attention. "I don't know what's going on with you. I don't know why you were at that base, but I wanted to say that I appreciate what you did, and-"

She saw him tense, as if startled, as her hand drew closer – close enough to touch. But before it could, he stepped swiftly back – and then, before her very eyes, vanished abruptly out of sight.

---

He abruptly severed the connection to her dream, removing himself from it. Gazing down at her, he watched as she slept deeply. After everything he had learned from Chiyo, he had heard her calling to him in sleep once more, and, unable to take it anymore, and thoroughly frustrated, had finally decided to answer the call, to see what the damned annoying girl wanted.

She had wanted to thank him. How so very like Sakura, to be so good. To see so much good in everything. He had been taken by surprise. After their bitter parting at the edge of Tartarus, he never imagined she'd be grateful for anything he did.

It had been a mistake. Even being close to her within the confines of a dream had been a bad idea. When she had lifted a hand to almost touch him, only one thought had entered his mind. That he could not permit it. Simply standing next to her in this way weighed heavily upon him. He remembered Ino's words about the past he had shared with Kore. About how her acquaintance with Hades had ultimately led to her demise. He recalled the visions that had assaulted his mind. If all that had truly happened, then why? Why had he found her again millennia later, when he had no recollection of her, drawn once again to her reincarnation?

Why had he chosen to take her? Gone against his very nature and every vow he had ever made to himself to never allow any weaknesses to detract from his focus ever again?

It couldn't be coincidence. How could it? He was sick to his stomach, thinking about what it might mean, knowing his mind had been altered and emptied of all recollections of her in the past, without knowing why.

If she knew she was Kore, not just a vessel for her as she'd initially believed, then she had to know about their supposed past involvement, yet not remember him, too.

His back hit the wall beside the window, as he watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slumbered. How many nights had he watched over her just like this in the past, before he had abducted her to his world? Back then he'd had no idea what he was getting himself into.

And now, thanks to his actions, Madara's eyes were fixed onto her again. Just like Ino had stated they had been in the past.

His actions had killed her, without recollection, in her past life. Once more, they had doomed her in this one.

The surface gods had struggled to protect her in their sealed states. But the reason why the enemy was fixated on her to begin with, was the result of Sasuke's actions. He had unwittingly brought attention to her when he'd chosen to steal her away.

He hadn't known. He'd not realised, back at the time, just what consequences his actions would have on himself, and most importantly, on her.

He was angry at the sentence that had been decreed to him by Chiyo - but at least one part of it, he did deserve. Watching over Sakura, because he'd been the one to put her in danger to begin with.

Giving her one last, lingering look, he then flickered back to the Underworld, alighting in his bedroom. He discarded the Helm of Darkness and fell back onto the luxurious silk covers of his own, sprawling bed, felt the comfortable mattress sink beneath his weight. A sudden, deep exhaustion overcame his body. Mentally weighed down by the burdens that plagued him, by the unknown presented by his missing memories, he raised a hand to his face, staring up at the underside of the canopy above him as he considered Chiyo's words.

Words that had haunted him the moment he'd heard them.

"It was Itachi. It was your brother, who beseeched me to ensure your survival."

Itachi. Itachi who had murdered their parents. Itachi who had spoken to him of questionable realities. Words he hadn't understood back then.

Again, why? Why would he beseech Chiyo to monitor his wellbeing and survival? Why would he care, when they had parted ways in the manner in which they had?

He recalled the vision Ino's touch had elicited in his mind's eye. His brother had been there with Shisui. They'd seen Kore die, too.

But how? But why? Hadn't they been on the battle field? Why couldn't he remember seeing them? His chest felt tight. Constricted. Everything that he had known. Everything he had always been so sure about. His past. Itachi. All of it was coming undone, leaving him uncertain, like a boat cast out to sea without anchor, no sense of direction, nowhere he could turn to, to find his bearings.

Chiyo could not answer him. He was alone, left with nothing but the torture of his own thoughts, eating him alive from the inside.

Kore. Had his actions truly killed her? Was he the true reason Sakura now suffered? Itachi. Shisui. What had become of them, in the end? Why would they have concerned themselves with Kore's affairs at all...?

Was it a coincidence, or Fate, that both he and Sakura couldn't remember each other back then? Why? Why? So many whys.

His heart felt heavy with his burdens. So heavy that it hurt.

He closed his weary eyes, and subconsciously, as if it could somehow afford him clarity - or perhaps it was a foolish reflection of his desperation to understand - the first two fingers of his left hand lifted to press against his forehead, in a gesture that mirrored what his brother had done to him in affection, in a lifetime long since lost.

---

Author's note

Next chapter will be the long-awaited trial and the start of the Team 7 arc. Thanks for reading!