Response to TheBeauty: I'm starting to feel insulted because I know I DID make Sakura mature, because look at how much she showed Sasuke she has no interest in him, and she's doing everything to protect her friend. That is NOT nothing, much less annoyance. Apparently nothing is ever gonna live up to expectations. The problem is people expect too much only to be disappointed, rather than accepting how it IS. Makes me think they don't appreciate ANYTHING I do for them.

As well, to Ben Walker1: the big deal was that Naru was still shaken up because she was momentarily reminded of what happened with Hinata and Pain. Sasuke, as well, doesn't yet know about the full extent, so that was why he made a supposedly bigger deal. Of course Sakura has the access and the summoning of KatsuyU.

Well, anyway, everyone else who supported, I thank you all so far. :')

Chapter Twenty

Goodbye For Now: Work to Do

"Hey, what did you do to Naru, Uchiha scumbag?" Gamakichi demanded angrily, getting a scoff of disgust as Sasuke reached to wipe his eyes with his free hand. Just what I want to know - but did Sasuke REALLY do that when he just awoke the Mangekyo?

Now she was worried more than ever, because now he would end up going through what his brother still was: over usage well into blindness.

"I didn't do anything, you stupid toad!" Sasuke snapped, at the same time he was releasing himself from level two back into his original self. "I was asking myself the same thing." The orange toad snorted right back, then looked back down at her, though before he could say anything else, there was a commotion which had a flash before their eyes.

Sakura had taken advantage of Sasuke rubbing his eyes, perhaps figuring out what he was going through, and raised a fist to strike him across the face, sending him backwards and taking his sword with him - which also pulled out of her, the pain shooting throughout her body causing her to harshly cry out and fall to her knees, but it didn't last.

Katsuyu cried out herself. "Sakura, my dear, are you all right?!"

"I'm...fine." The pinkette blew from her mouth to get the fallen strands of hair from her face, then fixed it back on Sasuke who stood where he was, some feet away and dismayed that she wasn't dead yet, as well as seeing the cause: the rhombus in her forehead had turned violet-pink, and from it grew black marks that spread throughout the sides of her face as well as downward to her body, vanishing beneath her uniform. "Gonna be my first time to finally use this. I should have waited until a greater conflict, but this is great as far as I am concerned."

This was the first time Naru was seeing what Granny Tsunade had done after being attacked by Orochimaru, though she'd been in painful unconsciousness at the time, so she saw nothing. But then Kurama spoke: Oh, that is something that puts her body and her life at risk despite its purpose, but only if it is reused over and over. Similarly to using the Mangekyo Sharingan many times, which increases the fading light in the eyes.

So if you speed up this jutsu, you shorten your lifespan?

The answer was presented when she saw what happened, and when Sakura released that seal, the markings left the rhombus to go in those directions they spread across her expanses. Steam rose from that spot which was where Sasuke stabbed her. He watched it with that same disbelieved expression. "That jutsu...is the pinnacle of regeneration."

"Correction: it's the focal point of chakra control, but yeah, you're right," Sakura answered. "Right here -" She put a finger to her forehead where the seal was slowly reverting back to the way it was. "- is where I store reserves behind my forehead, for a time like this. This is what I spent the three years after you left training for, thanks to Lady Tsunade's guidance. That means until death, it remains vital to a medical ninja who mastered it, but that's only if you have the best chakra control; Shizune wasn't able to do it. And when I break the seal, the cells divide at an alarming rate, not repairing the old ones but giving new ones in place." Now she put a finger to the spot where her wound was now gone, exposed by the torn vest.

"Except I can only use it if the injuries are severe, like this one. Which means you can drive that sword of yours through me, you can poison me, or anything, but it's useless to kill me."

Damn it, why didn't I remember any of this - that she could do it, and summon Katsuyu with it, too? I guess I freaked too much because of the past that I made such a big deal.

That crow had flown down now, stopping mid-air and pausing right in front of Sasuke's face. He stared at it. And his face stayed as it was even as the bird took flight away, and came to land on Naru's shoulder. She started, baffled, and then she saw the single red orb in its left eye socket - that pattern...it's the Mangekyo.

And that meant...oh, she remembered it now.

The day she was in Itachi's genjutsu, and that crow which he made fly into her mouth - that was it!

"I have shared some of my power with you...though I hope the day when you will have to use it never comes."

Now that she looked closer, she saw that instead of the trio pinwheel that Itachi had, there were four. If it wasn't his, then whose was it...?

"...oh, God."

~o~

Excellent...it's out now.

It finally happened, in this moment and right after his brother ran his sword unintentionally through Sakura - damn it, someone else will curse her for doing that reckless act, but Naru was still getting up and wouldn't have made it - who stopped him from getting to her friend. Her words were crystal clear when she referred to Naru as HER friend and not theirs.

But before all of that, he and the other Akatsuki saw the power of the Curse Mark for the first time - "whoa, un, that MONSTER is your brother?!" Deidara exclaimed in horror. He couldn't have been more right, and even Kisame was aghast. Zetsu was enthralled and mortified, despite seeing many over-the-top disastrous things. Though for their leader...

Sasuke.

If only there was a way to free him of that curse that Orochimaru left on him, but there was one way which meant exhaustion to the limits and possibly near-death.

The show, as Kisame called it, was quite the spectacle, and Itachi could not disagree. He watched as both the summons that were Gamakichi and Katsuyu vanish in great smoke, leaving just the new era of the Three Sannin - though their mentors deserved that title - and that was his cue to appear, standing up from the tree and becoming the flock of crows to fly down and materialize behind his dazed brother.

Sakura, completely healed from the forbidden healing jutsu her master taught her, stared at Sasuke, unable to believe what she had just seen. "What the hell just happened?" she demanded.

Sasuke looked her square in the eye, answering as if sounding like he was still in a trance. He just stood there, face blank but overwhelmed nonetheless.

"The village isn't at fault. Everything happens for a reason, and not every single person has to be the enemy, but I was just too blind to realize it."

His words made her and Naru look on with surprise, and the latter rose to both feet. "Sasuke..." she said, unsure if she was hearing what she thought she heard and unsure if she should believe it at all. But Itachi had every intention of convincing her otherwise - as long as he could get her and Sakura away to explain everything.

"Kisame, Deidara, Zetsu," he shouted, startling his younger sibling as well as the girls, and all three appeared, two of them jumping out from the trees as he had and the other slowly coming up from the ground.

"Itachi," was all the younger Uchiha could say. Meanwhile, the other men awaited their orders.

"All of you, find his team and get them away from the perimeters of this village, and wait for my orders. Sasuke..." His tone hardened. "You'd do well to follow on your promise now that you've realized your mistake. Then the girls or myself won't have to chase after you again to make sure." So that I don't have to be forced to kill you myself.

And looking into Sasuke's eyes meant a similar problem to his own, which also meant a serious discussion that had to come between them.

It's also time to go now that all of this is over.

"Itachi, that crow - why did it come out...?" Naru asked, her friend there to witness while the other men went off to do as he said. Sasuke looked over his shoulder once at them, guilt present, and then forced himself to break the contact. "Whatever it did to Sasuke, you have it to me that day?"

"What are you saying, Naru?" Sakura asked, having never been told of this. She raised an eyebrow. The blonde lowered her gaze.

"It wasn't important. It was nothing that endangered me, but I already kind of had an idea since it finally happened: it was meant to stop Sasuke from attacking our home, if it ever happened. And it worked, but I have no idea what the hell it was, because would a genjutsu really work the way it did, since I never could get him to come to his senses?"

There was no time to finish, because he wanted to get away as soon as possible before any Sand or Leaf Shinobi could come this way. "It's best that I tell you as much as I can now, because I have to go soon," Itachi told them, and her face fell. He was sure her heart was doing the same, too.

"...you're finally leaving again."

"Yes. It was bound to happen, though it was never in stone...and for once, my heart was right all along to believe everything would work out," he admitted, finally smiling broadly to both sides, and Sakura never thought she'd see that. "I'm grateful for you, Naru, for everything, and for doing what you could to save my brother."

Except the final touch had been because of him. "Yeah, about that," she replied, "what was it?"

"I'll keep it short, as I said. It was the ultimate genjutsu that belonged to Shisui Uchiha. To make Sasuke change his ways as a last resort when all other options failed, but you can only use it once. It's nothing compared to anything I possess myself," Itachi explained.

Sakura had no idea how to process all of it, or could it be she was pondering whether or not to recall what he was talking about? She was the protégé of Tsunade, so of course the late Fifth knew of Shisui's accomplishments and abilities in old records - as well as the classified ones. He wouldn't be surprised if the pinkette had access to them as well, but he had no idea if that applied when Danzo had still been in control.

Naru also appeared to figure out what he meant, but she said nothing. She didn't have to. "I see..." was what came out at last, and that was it. "So, in the end, the both of us - and you, too, Sakura - all got to work together instead of just me alone."

He smiled at her and closed his eyes, stepping closer to her and bowing his head so that the forehead touched hers. He spilled everything from his heart and soul.

"We did. Naru, before I leave, I want you to know something: you're my light and everything else, but for now, I have to be out there finishing what I have to, and you do the same. Every night I sleep, I always see your face instead of the dead and the memories of my actions. It's not erased, but has been locked away in favor for something brighter and deserving."

Her eyes were shining, and the tears fell down her cheeks. "Itachi, you're going to make me b-b..." She wasn't able to finish that sentence, but he knew she meant "blubber". Chuckling, he angled his face so that he kissed her lips which hadn't been touched by her salty eye water. She hiccupped then.

"If I lose you for sure out there, then I would rather have no one at all. All I need is my friends and my memories of you. No other man has me since you already have."

Her words were enough to make Sakura turn so pink her skin matched her hair. She was also wiping her eyes of her own floodgates. "Oh, God, you two, that's so beautiful..."

Clearing his throat and feeling freed from internal burdens, Itachi gave his kitsune one more kiss before looking back at the medic. It's time. "Sakura, Naru, get yourselves back before any ANBU or Jounin get here."

There was nothing else to say, since they both knew he would be back as much as he was certain. Maybe not forever, or even a decade, but a few years at most. Until then...

He was gone in a flock of crows before the girls' eyes.

~o~

The revelation hit her to the core, when she remembered in his memories that Danzo stole Shisui's right eye, and the left one he gave to Itachi before he...

...that was it. That eye was SHISUI'S - implanted in the crow.

He said it was a unique, ultimate visual jutsu that was far superior than even the Tsukuyomi or normal genjutsu. He had been given the left eye, and he gave it to HER so that she could use it as a last resort when everything else failed against Sasuke. Part of her was dismayed that such a mind technique could be used against his own brother, but on the other hand, she was glad it worked...but would it stay that way?

Itachi made the others take him away after that, so would she ever see Sasuke again anytime in the future? Time will tell, runt. Just hope it finally cracked that skull of his...

His words continued to be with her, making her heart sing and her tears fall, as he kissed her then in front of Sakura who was still blushing despite what they had done today, in a more positive way than before: "Naru, before I leave, I want you to know something: you're my light and everything else, but for now, I have to be out there finishing what I have to, and you do the same. Every night I sleep, I always see your face instead of the dead and the memories of my actions. It's not erased, but has been locked away in favor for something brighter and deserving."

He came out and said that before her friend - just the three of them. And now Sakura couldn't stop babbling. "If he comes back, if his name is cleared, then you got to make me your maid of honor at your wedding!"

"Sakura, we are nowhere near that yet!"

That meant these things to worry about as they often discussed: this poor village which lost so many people, some buildings that needed reconstruction. Anything of Danzo had to be erased for good, but what could they do about that prison cell up there in his rock face? Where SHE had been?

It was great luck they found their friends, and Naru meant everyone, but Neji was elsewhere. If only Hinata were here. She had to tell them that what happened was she and Sakura found time to speak to Sasuke - but they let him go. Because you couldn't make someone come home when they didn't want to; the real information that he plotted to destroy Konoha would be put aside, unless it sparked again.

That also meant she and Sakura could tell them that Itachi and the Akatsuki helped them. This was a shocker and mild outrage with them, so it took a load of effort to convince them that Itachi wasn't a villain, and there was truth behind the Uchiha massacre, but that would come to light when the village was stable again and Shinobi united.

Of course Kiba barked the most, until he was threatened with a merciless punishment by Sakura. That was enough to make Akamaru whimper behind his master as he could only imagine the results.

Shikamaru, ever the logical one: "Crazy as it sounds, I'm willing to bet it all that there is good reason. We should trust you both like before." His face tightened. "But I don't know about Sasuke."

"Well, the fact he left us all - it means we should just NOT treat him as a criminal since he hasn't done anything like Orochimaru?" Tenten agreed.

It was Sai to speak for her defense, which Naru was grateful for. "You're both right on that. He is still our friend and comrade, he helped this village - though I still don't know much about him myself. Danzo-sama long ago gave me the task to eliminate him, but I didn't for Naru and Sakura's consideration. So, we have no choice but to accept the fact that he is nothing like the Snake Sannin, as well."

Wow, he's really good at convincing everyone. And Ino - look at her, the way she looks at him. That's definitely real love, Kurama. And pride, too.

Damned straight! Seems she's no longer infatuated with him, same as your medic friend.

Yeah, she saw that, too. But then Naru gazed at Lee who was frowning as he wasn't sure if he should believe Sasuke Uchiha had changed for the better, because right now, nothing was still certain, and that was the way of the Shinobi. Then it softened when he looked at Sakura, who in turn made eye contact with him. Her smile at him was genuine, not silly and with stars in her eyes as a preteen.

She was in love with Rock Lee; how could Naru had not seen it before, and why did her friend not hint it? Maybe Sakura didn't know it for sure yet, or she was still focused on independence as well as fixing their home back.

And speaking of which, there was more news, shifting gears so that the talk of Sasuke Uchiha wasn't adding more thorns to their sides. Sakura said so, having known for a while but chose to wait until now.

"There's talk about Kakashi-sensei becoming the next Hokage."

After Itachi's heartfelt words, Naru saying he was going to make her blubber was an homage to a similar thing that transpired at the end of "Forever In Your Arms" by Acherona. :') I love that shot so much that I had not used a "blubber" moment, lol.

So the next chapter will be the finale, and for that as well as right now: anyone who says something critical will get nothing but cold water if not physically. I worked my ass off on this entire story, and the criticism I got from two people recently has been nothing but a waste of time, especially when I did the three-way fight between the former Team Seven for the first time. :O

Frustration aside, reviews appreciated. :D And love, please. More detail too!