Konoha's history was completely altered after the Pein Invasion.

Tsunade, having not fully recovered her chakra levels, was simply low hanging fruit for Danzo and his men, and with her out of the picture, Danzo was able to manipulate his way into becoming the next Hokage. Under his intense regime, the shinobi of Konoha were now his to exploit, pawns in his own personal game of retribution. With receiving word that Uchiha Sasuke was currently his number one threat after discovering the truth behind Itachi's secret mission, Danzo forced many to do his bidding. Whether he held a kunai up to their throat, or those of their loved ones, he always got his way. His dictatorship was not only limited to shinobi, but medical nins as well – Sakura in particular. Danzo originally propositioned Shizune, but with her undying loyalty to Tsunade, refused. As next in line, and student to the former Hokage, Sakura became his next target.

Sakura would never forget that day.

Shortly after lunch ended, she found herself being suddenly grabbed by two masked ANBU members, and hauled off into a dark holding cell. A cell that was enforced with chakra to keep those who were inside, utterly powerless. After the heavy iron door slammed shut, Sakura found her footing and began feeling around in the dark, mapping out her surroundings in her head. Stepping cautiously over towards the nearest wall, she followed it's border until she came to what felt like a large window of some kind.

Immediately banging on the pane of glass in front of her, Sakura shouted for help… but something just didn't feel right. Beginning to panic, Sakura tried repeatedly to bust the glass, hoping it would shatter and she could crawl her way out. But before she could crack the reinforced pane, a small light bulb flickered on. Flinching at the sudden brightness, Sakura let her eyes slowly adjust to the dim light source. She quickly realized the light wasn't coming from her room, it was from the identical room on the other side of the window pane.

Slowly pressing her face up to the glass, she squinted as she tried to focus on the two figures just a few feet from her. As their bodies came into focus, Sakura slumped against the glass in fear, her blood suddenly draining away from her head, all too scared to know what was going on… and why she had to be privy to it.

Although she couldn't hear anything, Sakura tried beating on the glass once more, but no matter how hard she tried, neither of them seemed to notice she was even there. Trying again and again, she just couldn't seem to muster any chakra to her hands. Not only did the cell have chakra suppression, but her pathways had been blocked temporarily by a few swift jabs to her chakra points by one of the ANBU nin during her abduction. At this moment, she was completely helpless. It was all she could do to look on in horror.

Standing in the middle of the room, arms and legs chained to the ceiling and the floor, was Shizune. And standing in front of her, was Danzo.

Sakura could tell she had been put through the wringer, Shizune was barely recognizable, her battered face was bruised and bloodied. With a broken nose, a busted lip, and two black eyes, Sakura's heart ached for her beloved senpai. She didn't deserve this. Beating on the glass once again, Sakura screamed for help as she tried to break through and save her dear friend.

But it was no use.

She stilled as she watched Danzo unsheathe his katana, the air leaving her lungs as a sickening wave of fear washed over her. Using the tip of the blade, the old bastard lifted up Shizune's chin as they exchanged a few heated words, their brief conversation ending when Shizune spat blood directly into his face. Before Sakura could inhale to scream, she watched as Danzo's blade pierced straight through the brunette's chest. Tears fell from her widened eyes as Sakura let out a blood curdling scream. Beating tirelessly on the glass, she willed her chakra to return to her fists, to no avail.

This could not be happening…

Pulling the blade out slowly, Danzo watched as the light left Shizune's eyes, her lifeless head drooping forward as the crimson stain on her chest grew. He had never held any true respect for kunoichi, and as such, didn't bat a lash as he took the life of one with such indifference. Turning his attention towards Sakura now, Danzo slowly walked over to the partition she was pounding upon. Slowly scraping his blade across the glass, he smeared the fresh blood across its surface in front Sakura's trembling face. As the speakers in her room clicked on, she could her the deep rumble of his chuckle as he cleaned the blade with the sleeves of his haori and returned it to its sheath in his cane.

That was it. That was her warning. She knew she could not refuse his offer. Not after that...

Cornered by fear, Sakura became the next pawn in Danzo's army. That day he had forced her into becoming the head of his research and testing facility. Working her to the bone with almost no sleep, Sakura was held hostage. Danzo used her and her abilities to concoct new war grade poisons and tasked her with testing them, sending her prisoner after prisoner to experiment on. She worked tirelessly as his servant on his path towards destruction. When she was allowed time to sleep, it didn't find her anymore. All the faces... the countless faces... had become etched in her memory, haunting her. She wasn't a healer anymore.

She was a coward.

She was a traitor.

She was a murderer.

Holding herself accountable for her weakness, but too scared for her life to do anything about it, she begrudgingly let this continue for...Days? Weeks? Months? She didn't know anymore. What she did know, was that she had lost contact with the outside world, forced to play in this unfair game.

Fearing no end to this tortuous life she now led, she even thought of ending her own life, hoping that would kink up the old man's plan, but she was even too scared to do that. She was a kunoichi, but she held no power anymore… yet again, she felt helpless. But that would all change as soon as her next test subject was delivered to her.

There before her, strapped to her operating table, was the one and only… Uchiha Sasuke.