Sasuke still lay on his bed, face in his pillow huffing and gritting his teeth. She had loved him before, why not now, what was different? He rolled over onto his back and stared at his ceiling. The massacre obviously, her past experiences, the list went on and on. He shook his head. It must be what she said. She had loved him for 16 years and he had constantly rejected her, so she had moved on. He was mad at his other self, but what could he do nothing.
He sat up and left his room for the kitchen. There was a small throbbing pain in his chest. It had started a day or two ago, he couldn't remember, it started as a piercing pain, then a dull throb, now it was just plain annoying. Sakura didn't know what it was. You couldn't die from heartache, could you? He laughed at himself, so stupid.
He had just stepped into the kitchen when a searing white pain flashed through his body and he fell to the floor gripping his chest.
Sasuke tried to call out for help but no sound came out. What the hell was happening. He kicked his legs out and sat down, leaning against the cupboards, taking small shallow breaths.
He couldn't breathe. Sakura, he thought, Sakura I need you. Darkness surrounded the corners of his vision, he slumped over, chin on his chest.
"Sasuke?" Itachi called out to him but he didn't hear. "Sasuke!"
Madara woke first. He could sense them leaving the compound. Sasuke and Itachi were moving fast toward them. Shisui was heading to the market, no to the apartments on the other side of the market. Seems like they decided not to wait till the ass crack of dawn as his flower had put it, they were coming now. Madara still held Sakura in his arms, he didn't like the interruption but it needed to be dealt with.
"Sakura." He kissed her forehead. "We have company love, wake up. You need to get dressed dear."
"Hum?" She hummed in her sleep snuggling closer into his chest.
Madara smiled, she was adorable, and his.
"Wake up love, Itachi and Sasuke are headed this way and you need to get more suitable clothes on. They will be here soon." Madara kissed her lips gently.
"MM, Madara." She mewled, stretching slowly in his arms like a cat.
"I will meet them, you get dressed dear." Madara reluctantly smoothed down her sleeping clothes and got out of bed.
Sakura's eyes fluttered open in the absence of his body heat and she sat up.
"Did you say Sasuke and Itachi are coming?" She asked as there was a soft knock on the door.
"They're here, come out when you once you're dressed, I'm going to see what they need." He left the room.
Sakura got out of bed and stumbled to the closet. What time was it? She pulled a tee shirt and a pair of loose pants from her shelf and put them on under her sleeping kimono.
Madara opened the door to Itachi and Sasuke. Sasuke was slumped in Itachi's arms.
"What happened?" Madara stepped aside to let them into the small apartment.
Obito sat up on the couch and threw the blankets off.
"Madara Uchiha I see what my brother tells me is true, you're back," Itachi said calmly.
"I am, what has happened to the boy?" Madara looked at Sasuke's unresponsive form. Guilt filled his heart.
"Where is Sakura, she needs to tend him, he dropped unconscious while in our kitchen earlier tonight," Itachi asked.
"Here I am." Sakura rushed out of the bedroom to kneel beside Sasuke.
"Sasuke, Sasuke, no, how did this happen?" Her hands glowed green as she ran them over Sasuke's chest. She looked up to Itachi for answers.
Itachi was watching Madara. "He came home upset earlier after spending time here with you. He said he told you he loved you and you told him you loved him like a brother." Itachi stated the facts in his placid unwavering voice.
"I, yes." She said.
Itachi's eyes never left Madara. The man was..smirking? It was faint and it had disappeared shortly after Itachi had noticed, but he had noticed.
"You can't die of a broken heart though. He complained of chest pains earlier and had trouble breathing. I couldn't find anything physically wrong with him though." She continued to run her hands over Sasuke.
"I can't find anything wrong with him now." She frowned.
"Check his chakra pathways Sakura," Itachi said quietly.
Sakura looked up at Itachi, not an entirely unusual request but odd for regular pain and discomfort, and unheard of for someone not known to have been attacked by another nin. She moved her hands to Sasuke's temples and gasped.
"How did you know Itachi, his chakra is swirling in erratic directions disrupting the flow of his blood." She turned to look at the Uchiha heir.
"A hunch." Itachi was looking at Madara. "When did you attain this physical body of yours Madara?"
"Are you accusing me of something, young Uchiha?" Madara said smoothly.
Itachi took in his bare chest, his relaxed stance in Sakura's home as if it were his home. "Yes."
Sakura stood up. "Enough. We need to get him into the bed. Itachi could you." But she was interrupted by Shisui who walked in without knocking.
"I brought a few things so." He paused and took in the tense atmosphere. "What's going on?"
"Do you not knock when entering a lady's home?" Madara glared at Shisui.
Shisui grinned, "Do you not wear a shirt when in a lady's home?"
Obito coughed.
"Oh! Obito I'm so sorry. Uh. This is Obito, Obito, Itachi, Sasuke and Shisui Uchiha, your relatives." She gestured to her boys.
"We need to get Sasuke into a bed." She rose to take Sasuke from Itachi but he started for the bedroom before she could touch him.
Itachi paused in the door of her bedroom and spun around to face Madara. "Were you sleeping with Sakura!"
"What?" Shisui gasped and turned to Sakura.
"Obito was on the couch, and I have slept with all of you on missions, what is the big deal!" She had her hands on her hips. "Itachi put your damn brother in my bed, Shisui, shut your mouth, flies will get in. Madara put a fucking shirt on and everyone get out of my bedroom or I swear I'm going to start knocking heads!" She stomped into her bedroom as everyone left.
"She has quite a fire in her doesn't she, I can see why you like her," Obito said to them grinning.
Sakura ran her hands through her hair and sat on her bed beside Sasuke. She pulled a blanket up and over him smoothing his hair from his face and running her other hand over his chest with healing chakra. "Sasuke, what is happening to you?"
In the Living Room…
"Why were you in Sakura's room with her?" Itachi demanded from Madara.
"How are we able to see you now when we couldn't even hear you before?" Shisui asked staring at him.
"It is none of your business if I sleep with the young woman or if I don't. I have a physical body now because of Sakura." Madara told them as he settled back into an armchair.
"Sakura already introduced him but this is your relative, Obito Uchiha, I brought him back to be part of our family again." Madara waved to Obito on the couch.
"Our family?" Itachi said quietly.
"He is not the man Sakura told you in her time. He is part of our family." Madara said sternly.
Itachi's head snapped up, the normally calm and collected man glared at Madara. "Our family. You are not the Clan Head in this time Madara, do not presume authority."
"Itachi," Shisui warned.
Itachi turned to his cousin. "Beware the ghost who turns into a man cousin, he has to draw his lifeforce from somewhere...or someone."
"You are the clever one aren't you. I see what she sees in you, but she hasn't chosen you, she hasn't chosen anyone as far as I can see." Madara hummed.
"Indra," Itachi said. "Sasuke was born with the mark of Indra. The war she spoke of, Kaguya, you also have the mark of Indra, don't you." It was not a question.
Madara smiled. "Clever boy."
"Ah." Obito hummed from the couch. "I see."
"You too live up tot he stories she has told me." Madara inclined his head to Obito who looked at Madara with new respect.
"She doesn't know does she," Shisui asked. "She would never sacrifice Sasuke for you."
"Are you sure? You might be surprised what someone will do for love, love makes people do things they never thought they would." Madara said quietly.
"She doesn't love you." Itachi's voice was low, dangerous. His chakra swirled around him spreading out like poison.
"You don't belong here," Itachi said to Madara.
"Neither does she," Madara responded evenly.
In Sakura's Bedroom…
"Sakura," Sasuke whispered.
"Sasuke! Oh Sasuke, what happened?"
"I felt like my chest was being stabbed, it was such an intense pain. I wanted to die just so it would end but, I thought of you." He was out of breath.
"Rest, let me tell your brother you are okay, he is in the other room and very worried." She hugged him quickly then made to rise.
"Itachi is here?" He asked.
"Yes, and Shisui, and Madara and Obito, they are in the living room. Who knew my small apartment could hold so many people?" She laughed watching him.
"I'll be right back."
"Wait, Sakura, please." He raised his hand, reaching for her.
She took his hand in both f hers and sat back down on the bed beside him.
"About earlier, I'm sorry." He breathed slowly.
"It's okay Sasuke, don't think about it." She watched his breathing, it was stronger now and she relaxed a bit.
"I meant what I said. I love you. I know you have this other life with me in your heart where I rejected you. It wasn't me though, it wasn't this me. You forgave Madara for what he was, can you not forgive me?" He reached up to cup her face with his hand.
"I am not the same man he was. I have always loved you since we were kids Sakura since you refused to give up your seat for me and glared at me. I had never met anyone so...fiesty, so beautiful." The look in his eyes was too much, she had to look away.
"Sasuke, it's hard. I want to love you but I'm scared. I spent so many years loving you, only to be rejected by you over and over again." She whispered.
"I understand, but I'm not that man. You forgave Madara." He said again.
"Yes, I guess I did. I hadn't even realized it but I guess somewhere along the line I did forgive him."
"Then forgive me, please." He tried to sit up but he couldn't he was still weak but he was starting to feel better.
"I forgive you." She smiled at him and hugged him.
In the Living Room…
Madara gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in. A sharp pain shot through his chest. He looked to the bedroom, his eyes dark.
Itachi laughed. "Looks like Sasuke is awake and they are making up."
Madara glared at him. Obito kept silent but watched the interesting interaction taking place right before his eyes.
So, Obito thought, Madara isn't invincible, but he could be.
"You may be connected to her by that seal on the back of her neck but he is connected to her through two different lifetimes of friendship and family." Itachi continued.
"What do you think she will do when she finds out when she find out the cost of your physical existence." Itachi taunted.
No one had heard her open the door.
"What are you talking about?" She stood in the doorway of her bedroom looking from one face to another.
"Haven't you wondered how Madara has gained a physical form Sakura?" Itachi asked her.
"Well yes but."
"As he grows stronger, Sasuke grows weaker. You and Sasuke shared an emotional moment just now didn't you?" Itachi pushed.
"Yes."
"Madara flinched in pain and gripped the arms to his chair in reaction. For one to live, the other must die." Itachi said bluntly.
"Madara knew it and didn't tell you," Itachi added the last bit glaring at Madara.
"Is that true?" Sakura turned to Madara fists clenched.
"Partially. I was trying to find a substitution for the life force. My chakra, for instance, that is sealed in your diamond at the back of your neck." He looked at her grimacing. "I'm still trying to work it out. Trading your friend's life for mine was never an option for me."
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked him.
"I didn't expect us to get this close...so quickly. It surprised me." He looked uncomfortable and she felt guilty.
"We will talk about this later. Sasuke is asking for you Itachi." She motioned for Itachi to go to his brother.
"This conversation isn't over," Itachi said to Madara as he walked past him to Sakura's bedroom.
"I think it is actually." Madara rose from the chair looking at Sakura. "I'm going out, I'll be back later love. Don't wait up."
She nodded.
"Sakura." Shisui began.
"He isn't a bad man Shisui, I can think of many reasons he didn't tell me. He deserves a second chance, just like Sasuke, just like Itachi." She turned to Obito. "Just like you Obito. Shisui, could you go get Kakashi please, he deserves to know Obito is back." She turned and walked to the kitchen to put on a pot of tea. It was almost dawn. No one was going back to sleep tonight.
"Stop by the market and pick up some eggs on your way back please." She called to him as he shut the door to her apartment. "Hn."
She sighed and set the full pot on the burner.
"Sorry for the drama Obito, I bet this isn't how you wanted your first night back home to go." She laughed a little embarrassed.
"It is just how I remember the family actually." He laughed. "Someone thinks they are being manipulated by someone else, someone protecting someone, glares and possible bloodshed. Very Uchiha." He smiled a slow smile. "I had forgotten, almost."
"You are just as he said you were, Kakashi I mean. He told me about you, in my other time. He would tell me how kind you were, how you would walk little old ladies across the street or carry their groceries home for them." She smiled at him.
Obito blushed and rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed. "Uh, that was a long time ago."
"But it is still there. The kindness, I can see it." She smiled.
"You are just like her, like Rin." He smiled at her, it was a very sweet smile, it transformed his face. He wasn't the evil mastermind or the crazy childlike killer, he was just Obito.
"Kakashi said that once, before, but not here." She smiled and leaned back against her kitchen counter. "He said you loved her deeply, he felt terrible you know, it haunted him for the rest of his life, both of your deaths, he felt responsible, it made him...darker, changed him. Until get got us, his little Genin Team 7." She shook her head.
"We were a bunch of impossible, hopeless misfits. I think that we, I don't know, helped him. Brought back his humanity in a way." She smiled at him again.
Obito could see why Madara was so drawn to this woman, he felt it too. She was sincere to the point of blinding innocence, almost unreal. An enigma.
Itachi walked out of her bedroom and made his way to the kitchen to speak to Sakura quietly. Obito watched the man called Itachi. He leaned into her personal space possessively, he put a hand on her waist and pulled her into a hug, possessively. What interesting dynamics Obito thought. Itachi turned and nodded to him and Obito nodded back politely. Itachi left the apartment after one last look of...longing?, at Sakura.
Sakura poured out three cups of tea. She smiled at Obito as she set one down in front of him taking the other to the bedroom for Sasuke. She returned shortly and sat next to him on the couch. She sipped her tea and sighed a few more times with her eyes closed as he watched. After a time she opened her eyes and looked to the door of her apartment.
"Shisui and Kakashi will be here soon, they just left the market."
Obito took a sip of his tea, "You can sense them?"
"Yes." She took a sip of her tea.
"Remarkable. From what I could tell you are on the farther side of the village closer to the Uchiha compound than the market. That is a fair distance."
"I was not always so talented." She tapped the seal on the back of her neck. "Madara's chakra, it stimulates my own I think and gives me better awareness."
"How interesting. He showed me, in his Tsukiyomi, the past, what I was." He looked down into his cup.
"Who you were. Lost. Lonely." She smiled at him. "It is not who you have to be, who you can be."
"Rin is gone." He said.
"Kakashi is here, we are here." She countered. "I know it is not the same but, like Kakashi, having people around that care can help."
"Perhaps."
"You are already different than the man I knew, he would not have sat here drinking tea with me." She smiled. "He would have killed me already or at least tried to, all the while talking to me in that childlike whimsy voice of Tobi's." She laughed.
"Ah. It was easier to manipulate people when they thought I was an idiot." He grinned.
"Or more fun?" She teased.
"Yes, it was entertaining to be sure." He smiled back at her.
"I'm so happy you are here for Kakashi, he really needs this, you, friends." She smiled again.
Obito was fascinated. Not since Rin had he ever met someone so kind and sincere.
"They're here." She said as Shisui opened the door to her apartment, without knocking again and walked in followed by Kakashi.
"Obito," Kakashi said slowly standing in front of the door.
"Bakashi." Obito grinned.