Sasuke had known Sakura was at her limit. He had seen how drained she was when she and Obito rescued him from the desert. He saw how she struggled in the intense gravity dimension. He saw that she was not going to be able to catch herself after punching Kaguya. Despite all of that, he genuinely thought she was okay, just exhausted. She even spoke to him and squirmed to get down out of his hold like nothing was wrong.
He certainly wasn't complaining that she was leaning her weight against him as the four of them stood in a loose circle.
Naruto was chattering about the tailed beasts' names and personalities, Kakashi nodding his head as he followed along. Sasuke only half-listened, preparing a speech in his mind and choosing his words carefully. The shade of Hogoromo hovered nearby, observing in silence.
Naruto was about to reach out his fist to Sasuke to free those still trapped when Sasuke reluctantly began to speak, not daring to look down into Sakura's eyes lest he chicken out of this discussion.
Now that things were relatively settled down, he had a difficult decision to make. It would be better to make that choice now and begin to execute it than wait until the Allied Army was free to interfere. He knew they weren't going to like what he had to say, but he still wanted to hear from them before he made up his mind. Even if all three turned on him, they would not be able to stop him. Kakashi and Sakura were both too exhausted and wounded to amount to a threat. Naruto, though a great threat, was still not strong enough to defeat him, especially if he took possession of the tailed beasts with his new eye.
"Listen, the three of you, I have a decision to make, and first I truly want to hear what you think," he said as he could feel four sets of eyes burning into him now that he had refused to free the others. He could feel Sakura trembling, and he hoped she wasn't crying. He wasn't brave enough to check. He didn't want to see fear or disappointment of him in her eyes yet.
He continued, "As I see it, I have three options." Naruto, Hogoromo, and Kakashi said nothing, but he knew he had their full attention. Sakura continued to tremble. He wanted to comfort her, but now wasn't the time.
"I can become the true shadow of fire, a Hokage ruling over all the nations, willing and able to do whatever is necessary to ensure peace, even if I must be feared and hated. I can bring an end to the cycle of violence for all shinobi," he barely paused for a breath before launching into the second option, leaving out his thoughts about killing them to be sure they did not stop him.
"I can become the unseen hand of the Hokage, like Danzo was but far greater, doing what must be done without a needless pursuit of power that cost my clan their lives. I may not eliminate the cycle of violence this way, but I could weaken it in favor of Konoha," he could see that Kakashi and Naruto wanted to speak, but he didn't give them a chance, wanting to be done with the whole thing as quickly as possible.
"I can eliminate the most powerful shinobi from all nations, including myself. I may not personally end the cycle of violence, but it would give you left a clean slate. I would entrust you, Naruto and Sakura, to rebuild after me," he was nearly finished and already bracing himself for their backlash, adding one final thing, "Out of these options, I haven't decided."
Sasuke expected Naruto or Sakura to speak first, but it was Kakashi who spoke first, tone deadly serious, "You can't honestly think any of those options are good ones."
It was nothing Sasuke hadn't expected to hear. He continued waiting; there was nothing for him to say yet. He noticed that Sakura's trembling had lessened, and he wondered if it was a good or bad sign. He still hadn't worked up the nerve to look into her eyes yet.
Naruto finally spoke after a storm of emotions had worked through his eyes and he stopped clenching and unclenching his jaw rapidly, "After everything we just went through, after all you saw and felt from the Alliance, you can't be serious! Sasuke, the world is at peace now, there's no reason for you to think that's needed!"
Sasuke struggled to contain himself, of course the dobe would tempt him to lose his cool. He tried not to squeeze Sakura too hard, but he could not stop his body from clenching. He also could not keep the anger out of his voice when he replied quietly, "That alliance will fall apart now that the war is over, and – "
He was silenced when Hogoromo moved suddenly into their circle, Sasuke hesitating now that a new variable was being introduced. What would the sage do? Would he interfere?
Hogoromo said nothing for a moment, staring near Sasuke but not at him, then he asked the small group a question, "Is she alright?"
All attention went to Sakura.
That was the moment Sasuke realized something was truly wrong. He loosened his hold on her and it was like she had no bones, limply falling. He caught her weight before she was in any real danger of hitting the ground, and gently lowered her so that she was laying flat and face-up. Her eyes were open, but hazy.
Kakashi and Naruto leapt forward, both shouting her name at the same moment, "Sakura!"
"Sakura," Sasuke called to her, and her beautiful green orbs focused momentarily on his, "What's wrong? Sakura, what do you need?"
She didn't speak, but he thought she was trying to tell him something with her eyes before she closed them, tears spilling freely down her cheeks to the ground below.
She wasn't trying to say good-bye, was she? She couldn't be…dying. Not now, not after everything…
Yet she did not reopen her eyes when he gently shook her shoulders and continued calling her name. The tears stopped flowing after a few moments, and she was barely breathing the next moment.
Naruto sat across from him, alternating between patting her cheek and patting the top of her head while also calling her name, trying to elicit a response as Sasuke was. Kakashi stepped back, bowing his head. He was resigned to the fact that he was losing yet another precious person.
He was a realist after all, and he knew she was the only medic available. Even if the boys immediately released the tree holding other medics, there was no guarantee what condition they would be in and if they would be any help at all. The only one likely to be able to offer the level of help Sakura needed was their Hokage Tsunade, and she had still been seriously injured herself when she was wrapped up by the tree.
The boys stopped when they felt her stop breathing, and panic set in. Neither knew medical ninjutsu, and they had no supplies with which to try to resuscitate her.
Sasuke felt like his heart was going to stop if hers did. Maybe Obito wasn't completely off-base after all. What world would it be if Sakura wasn't in it?
He started chest compressions, the only thing he knew how to do. He tried to recall what was next…kissing? He couldn't be remembering that right.
Naruto recognized what his friend was doing, leaning back to give him more room to work. Sakura had to come out of this! He had lost too many to this stupid war. If it was the last thing he ever did, Naruto vowed to never let the shinobi nations descend into this type of madness again.
He spared a single moment to think over Sasuke's words…he was talking about murder and suicide. He hadn't known that Sasuke was thinking such things; Naruto also vowed to not allow him to execute those options.
His thoughts circled back to Sakura, and he thought of the many times that she tried to catch up to him and Sasuke. He was so proud of her and the shinobi she had become. Why hadn't he told her that more?
He looked up to Hogoromo, eyes pleading with the Sage. If the man was somehow still in the impure world, surely, he had a little more power left than what he gave to him and Sasuke. Could he use that power to save Sakura?
Hogoromo moved forward, resting a hand on each boy's shoulder. "Stop," he told Sasuke who was single-mindedly giving Sakura chest compressions, glaring at his hands atop her chest lest they betray him by stopping.
Sasuke turned his glare on the Sage. Hogoromo spoke again, "Speak with me first, and I may be able to save her."
At this, Sasuke did stop compressions, almost shouting, "Save her now if you can save her!"
Naruto felt inclined to agree and voiced that opinion. Kakashi perked up for the first time in a long time, eyes narrowed with suspension and disbelief, but hope still evident on his face.
Hogoromo was unfazed, "First tell me your answer Sasuke, what you plan to do now, and then I will do what I can."