Chapter 5.- Anehue.

Sasuke was so fast no one could have been able to stop him, not even if they had wanted. In half a second he was kneeling next to the unconscious woman.

"Izuki…nee-san…" Sasuke called her.

Kakashi didn't know what to say, there was so much pain in the boy's eyes, he had never imagined to see him like that.

"After all she was nothing more than a useless brat too." Itachi said mockingly.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said seriously. "Onegai, take care of my anehue."

Kakashi just nodded as he pulled the unconscious kunoichi's body even closer to him.

"Of Itachi, I'll take care." Sasuke added as he stood up. "You are so gonna pay Itachi, you are gonna pay you ever dared hurt Izuki-nee-san."

And when looking at him in the eyes Itachi found what he had always seen in his mirror, the feeling Itachi always assured his brother lacked and that now reflected a killing intent anyone several miles around would have been able to sense: hatred.

Just a second later Sasuke was already fighting Itachi with such strength it took the older Uchiha aback. Itachi noticed that the anger was giving his brother such a power it was becoming a bit difficult to stop all his attacks that mixed taijutsu, ninjutsu and weaponry. Sasuke let the hate take control, using all his power against the one who had just hurt the one person of his family that had showed some affection for him.

"Naruto-kun, we've got to stop Sasuke-kun." Sakura said suddenly.

"Nani?" Naruto was confused. "Why Sakura-chan? He's doing wonderful right now."

"We must stop him baka!" Sakura insisted. "Before the cursed seal overcomes him."

This made Naruto react, Sakura was right; if Sasuke lost control they would be in serious problems.

Sakura ran as fast as she could right to Itachi, while Naruto ran to Sasuke.

"Shikomishindan no Jutsu!" Sakura attacked directly.

The direct attack left Itachi quite confused, although he could dodge all the needles rather easily; but anyway: Who did this girl believed she was to be attacking him directly?

"Sasuke…" Naruto called.

Sasuke tried to get away from Naruto, to continue his rampage against Itachi.

"Baka! Calm down" Naruto punched him straight in the face. "If you don't concentrate you're gonna lose control over that cursed seal and then who's going to defeat Itachi?"

Naruto words seemed to work even better than his punch, as Sasuke was again on his five senses. And right in time…

"Itai!" Sakura cried out as she was thrown into the air.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled at her.

But before they could even think about a way of helping her Sakura did a single seal with her hands and remained floating in the air.

"To be expected." Kakashi murmured to himself.

"Daijoubu." Sakura assured her teammates. "But I would be better if you would just help me."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded and the three immediately leapt at Itachi.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto made half a dozen clones to have more power of attack.

And while Naruto attacked Itachi with kicks and punches Sasuke took his turn.

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" Sasuke attacked as he threw the big shuriken he had.

Itachi managed to see the shuriken and dodged it, and preventing his brother's attack he got one of Naruto's clones in the course of the second shuriken. But even then, Itachi never expected there would be a third shuriken, he ended with a deep cut in one arm.

And now that Itachi was wounded, Sakura took her turn to attack, she knew it was a dangerous move, and she would need to be very precise:

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! Get down!" Sakura yelled. "Dokugiri no Jutsu!"

From her hands a dark mist emerged, it was the 'Poisonous Mist'. Sasuke recognized the attack immediately and got a hand over his face to prevent himself from breathing it. When seeing him do that Naruto pulled up the neck of his jacket and jumped backwards.

Kakashi too recognized the attack and he immediately held Izuki closer to him and flicked from there to a spot in a nearby tree, where they would be safe.

And while the three shinobis tried not to breathe the poison Sakura prepared her next attack, which, with some luck, would be one of the last.

Itachi finally managed a jutsu to dissipate the fog, and caught Sakura right when she was finishing the preparations.

"Katon: Karyu Endan." Itachi attacked her the moment he saw her.

Sakura closed her eyes, waiting for the attack she knew she couldn't stop. But the attack never came. Instead when Sakura opened her eyes she saw Sasuke had moved her out of the way of the attack, barely escaping it himself, although not unscratched.

"Argg…" Sasuke fell to his knees.

And when Sakura saw his back she almost shrieked. He was badly injured, very serious burns covered most of his back and one arm.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled in panic.

Naruto noticed what was happening and gave it his all to the battle against Itachi, knowing he had to keep the Uchiha occupied so Sakura and Sasuke would be safe.

Sakura immediately laid Sasuke's semi-unconscious body face-down on the ground, and concentrated her chakra on healing his burns.

"Come on Sasuke-kun, come on." Sakura insisted. "You've got to wake up. Naruto-kun is good, but he won't be able to defeat Itachi alone. And I'm not good enough, you are the only one who can defeat him. Onegai."

Sakura concentrated hard all her chakra, she could feel her energies leaving her fast, faster even than when she had healed Izuki, it was likely she would end completely drained, but even then she couldn't fall unconscious until she had finished.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura insisted.

"Sa…Sakura…" Sasuke called.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was really happy to see him awake.

Sakura couldn't finish healing him, it was just too hard, but she knew there was something else she could do.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Fighting Itachi, he won't last much more on his own." Sakura said. "But before you leave I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Take this string." She handed to him the thread she had been holding all along. "Just send a bit of chakra through it and a trap will activate, dozens of strings of chakra will fall around Itachi like a net, closing in around him. That should give you and Naruto enough time to prepare the Chidori and the Rasengan. I'm afraid I'm too tired, and there's not much I will be able to do now."

"You've done enough already Sakura-san."

Sakura smiled when she heard him, she was really happy that he finally saw her as a fighter and not a burden; but there was no time for sentimentalisms right then. She had to finish what she had planned.

"Demo I believe there still is something I can do to help you." Sakura insisted.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

'It is a good thing this jutsu can be done with one-hand seals.' Sakura thought as she did the last. She knew that had Sasuke known what she would be doing he just wouldn't have permitted it. But right then it was more important that he had the energy to finish Itachi off.

"Chakra Tenkou no Jutsu." Sakura said, touching Sasuke in the last moment. "Kubaru!"

The attack, being the opposite from the one Izuki had used against Kisame just a while ago, sent all the remaining chakra Sakura had into Sasuke's body. And as a consequence she immediately fell unconscious.

"Sakura!" Sasuke couldn't help but worry.

But even when he was truly worried, and a bit mad that he hadn't noticed her intentions; he also knew she was right, he had to finish Itachi now.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called. "Get back!"

Naruto didn't complain, he immediately obeyed and jumped back just as he dodged one of Itachi's attacks.

Sasuke sent a bit of chakra by the string Sakura had given him, obtaining the expected results.

"What the hell is this?!" Itachi yelled as he tried breaking the strings, but there were just too many, it seemed as if with each string he managed to cut two more took its place.

Naruto was surprised by the unexpected trap. He turned and saw Sasuke preparing his Chidori, it was obvious the younger Uchiha wanted to end the battle once and for all. And when the blonde boy saw his pink-haired friend laying unconscious in the ground, a few meters away he couldn't help but agree.

Sasuke noticed Naruto's expression at seeing Sakura's unconscious figure; and when Naruto began preparing the Rasengan he could see just how much the blonde boy had improved, doing that attack with only one hand.

"This is for you, Sakura…" Sasuke murmured as he dashed to Itachi.

Naruto began running at the same time.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

And before Itachi had time to really understand what was happening both attacks hit him.

The oldest of the Uchiha didn't even have time to react, he was already dead before he himself knew it.

"Finally…" Sasuke murmured as he dropped to his knees, exhausted. "…It's all over."

And for the first time in so long, he cried.

.---.

Sakura opened her eyes slowly. It took her no time to recognize her surroundings, she was in the hospital.

"Sakura-chan." The kunoichi heard the call of one of his teammates.

"Naruto-kun." Sakura smiled when seeing him. "How are Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei and Hiro…I mean, Izuki-sensei?"

"Kakashi-sensei is fine, his minor injuries are healed already, as are mine and Sasuke's." Naruto answered. "And Sasuke is in the next room, with his sister."

"Is she alright?" Sakura asked straightening up, she tried to stand but a sharp pain in her head made her desist.

"Still unconscious. We don't know when she'll wake."

"Then it must be something bad, she said she never stayed unconscious more than three days."

"Well about that, I really don't know but, how do you know it has already been three days since the battle?"

"Once, during training, I used up all of my chakra trying to make one of the new jutsus, I fell unconscious and didn't wake up until three days later." Remembering this Sakura remembered too something else. "Where's my pouch?"

Naruto gave her both pouches, not knowing which of them she wanted.

Sakura took the one she usually carried on her hip, from it she took two small pills, and with the help of a glass of water that was in the night-table, she drank them.

"What did you just drink?" Naruto asked.

"Special pills." Sakura answered. "They are like soldier pills, except that instead of giving me chakra they give me simple energy, enough for me to be able to stand."

And just as she said her head ceased its spinning and she was capable of standing.

"Anything new around here?" Sakura asked as she took her clothes (which had been washed) from a chair and went into the bathroom to get changed from the hospital robes to her normal ninja attire.

"Not much." Naruto replied as he waited for her. "Tsunade-baa-chan already disposed of the bodies of the two nuke-nins. Ah, and your mom shall be coming any moment."

"Nani?!" Sakura returned to the room. "Naruto! Don't tell me you went and told my mother what really happened?"

"In fact I didn't, Kakashi-sensei did. He said your family would be worried and so he went to tell them you were fine, and should wake up any moment."

"Naruto, I didn't tell my oka-san what our mission truly was about!" now Sakura was really in panic. "She's gonna kill me!"

"I certainly am young girl." A voice said.

A tall woman, with the same pink hair Sakura had but lavender eyes entered the room just in that moment.

"Ohayo Naruto." Sakura's mother added at seeing Naruto.

"Ohayo gozaimasu Haruno-san." Naruto said respectfully.

Incredibly enough Sakura's parents were some of the few adults who treated Naruto with respect, even if at first they believed, just as everyone else, Naruto could be considered a monster because he had the kyuubi, Sakura had told them a lot of things about his blonde teammate, including the fact of the many times he had saved her life.

"Would you be as kind to excuse us Naruto?"

"Hai." Naruto immediately nodded. "Matta ne, Sakura-chan."

As the door closed Sakura sat down on the bed, waiting for what would surely come.

"Why?"

The simple, yet deep question from the Haruno mother surprised the kunoichi, who stopped in her task of getting the tangles off her hair.

"Oka-san…" For a moment Sakura didn't know what to say.

"Why Sakura-chan?" her mother insisted. "I just want to know that. Why didn't you trust in us, in me, enough to tell the truth of this mission?"

"I didn't want you to worry." Sakura finally answered. "I knew how dangerous this mission was, and if you knew then you would worry. And maybe even because of your worry you might have tried to stop me of fulfilling this mission. And I didn't want that. I preferred to think I would have time to explain everything once it was done."

"And what do you believe I would have done had you died?"

"I…I really don't know, I didn't want to think about it."

"You were in grave danger, and I didn't even know. I have to accept it was rather strange for me when you left to the woods to train with that mysterious woman that arrived with the Godaime, and then when on the following week you had this important mission. But anyway, I never believed you capable of hiding something like this from me."

"Gomen ne oka-san. I know this may not be enough but, I had to do it."

"Iie, you didn't. I already talked with Kakashi-sensei. He told me this had to do with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, as well as with that mysterious sensei of yours; I understand why your sensei felt he needed to help, but you…"

"Me kaa-san, me. You say this had to do with Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, and if it has to do with them it obviously has to do with me. If I have learnt something since I graduated it is that my team is above anything and everything else. No matter what the risks are I will never leave my teammates."

Sakura's mother just sighed, she had expected as much; her daughter had really matured a lot in the last year.

"And now that you mentioned my 'mysterious sensei'." Sakura added. "I believe I told you her name was Hirome, but during the battle I learned that wasn't her true name. In truth she is Uchiha Izuki."

"Nani?"

By her mother's tone of voice Sakura could deduce she knew who Uchiha Izuki was.

"Uchiha Izuki?" The mother asked. "You mean…"

"My sister." A male voice finished the sentence.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed happily.

"I came to see how you were Sakura, I now see you're fine." Sasuke commented, he then greeted the other woman. "Ohayo Haruno-san."

"Ohayo Uchiha-san." The woman greeted.

"Daijoubu Sasuke-kun. I'm just a bit tired, nothing to worry." Sakura replied. "In fact I'm more worried for Izuki-sensei. How is she?"

"Still unconscious." Sasuke replied. "Tsunade-sama doesn't know when she'll wake up. It's hard to tell as we don't know what that jutsu she did right before falling unconscious was. And that's what brought me here in the second place, I believe you may know what that jutsu was."

"Ano…" Sakura didn't know how to answer that question.

Sakura's mother could sense this conversation was really serious, and maybe the two teens would prefer to have it privately, so she took her leave, after making her daughter promise she would make it home for dinner.

"You know." Sakura began as she signaled Sasuke to sit down. "I would have never imagined Izuki-sensei could be your sister. I didn't even know you had a sister."

"I do." Sasuke nodded. "A sister I remember I loved deeply when I was small, but I'd believed her to be dead for a long time." He sighed.

"Why didn't you say she was your sister that day when you saw her at the gates?" Sakura asked, and when seeing Sasuke's tired expression she added. "Forgive me if you consider me nosy, or annoying, but I honestly don't understand what could make anyone deny a sister."

"Izuki-nee-san is my anehue, she was the second born." Sasuke explained. "Some have even said our parents just wanted to have two children, that she was going to be the last. Which obviously didn't happen, but that's supposed to be the reason why between her and Itachi is just a difference of two years, while between she and I there's a gap of ten years. Anyway, my sister was always a wonderful fighter, even when not as good as my brother when it came to using weapons, and father always said she didn't try hard enough in her ninjutsu, she was always the best in genjutsu."

Sakura knew that, she had never met anyone who knew so many illusion techniques.

"Izuki-nee-san was a wonderful kunoichi since she was little, following the same steps as my brother." Sasuke continued; he had never talked about his family to anyone, but for some reason he felt comfortable enough now to do it with Sakura. "As you might remember Itachi became gennin when he was seven, mastered the sharingan at 8, became chunin at 10, jounin at 11, and leader of his own ANBU squad at 13. Well, Izuki made everything at the same time, she advanced at his same pace, with the little difference she was two years his junior."

"You mean…" Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I mean Izuki was already a chunnin when she was eight, and a jounin one year later. She had been working as an ANBU for one year when she unexpectedly quitted. In fact this she did it because I had just been born. For what I know Chichihue didn't like that, but she insisted on helping mother take care of me. I'd been told father never praised Izuki-nee-san for everything she achieved, but I in all my life didn't even see him acknowledge her presence. And anyway Izuki-nee-san never complained. When I was one-year-old she began studying to become a medic-nin, and in less than a year she was back in the ANBU as the leader of the Interrogation and Spy Squad, and a medic-nin. Even when she was barely twelve, she was already said to be the best kunoichi. Most of the time she went on mission under our brother's command. In that time I remember everything was perfect. She was so sweet, and caring, and happy. Until something happened when I was six."

"It was when Kenji-kun was killed."

Sasuke didn't seem to like very much being interrupted by their sensei in a conversation he believed was supposed to be private.

'This was supposed to be a private conversation.' The boy was thinking, until he noticed something. 'Since when do I talk about my family to others? and especially to Sakura?'

"You said Kenji-kun? Who is that?" Sakura asked.

"Rikuzo Kenji-san, I believe he was a good friend of my sister, and her teammate along with Itachi-san." Sasuke explained.

"That's right." Kakashi nodded. "Kenji-kun was a very good friend of Izuki-san. They were sent on a special S-class mission. I read the reports: something went wrong just before they had finished the mission, Izuki-san was badly injured and the enemy tried to take her hostage and when that proved too difficult they tried to kill her, but Kenji got in the way. He gave his life to save hers."

"Wasn't Itachi-san in that mission too?" Sakura asked.

"Hai." Kakashi just said that, leaving Sakura to imagine the rest.

"My brother was always one of those who believed achieving the mission was the most important thing, no matter how many lives were lost in the process." Sasuke finished.

'That bastard.' Sakura thought angrily.

"My anehue was never the same after that day." Sasuke continued. "Kenji's death was a heavy burden upon her shoulders. Shortly after that she suddenly left Konoha, leaving us nothing but a message saying that she needed time to put in order her thoughts, to recover the internal peace she so lacked in the moment. We first believed she would return after a few days, I wanted to believe she would be back soon, apologize for ever having left and then everything would go back to the way it was; but that never happened. And then Itachi-san began acting strange, chichihue too seemed to be always mad at him, and that dreadful night…"

Neither Kakashi nor Sakura needed Sasuke to finish the sentence, they knew well enough what had happened that night: the night when everyone on the Uchiha Clan was murdered, everyone except Sasuke and Izuki.

The silent reigned for some minutes until Sasuke spoke again:

"And now Sakura." Sasuke said seriously. "Going back to what I asked you first: Do you or do you not know what that last jutsu my sister did was about?"

"Etto…I do know." Sakura finally answered.

After seeing the two shinobi silently waiting for her to finish saying what she knew, Sakura knew there was no way of avoiding it; she took a deep breath, knowing beforehand neither of them would like what they would be hearing.

"Ok." Sakura sighed before she began. "This jutsu she used, she called it the 'Ultimate Jutsu', this is because she had created it specifically to neutralize Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan. She told me it was really powerful and really risky, she had hoped to never be in need of using it, but as we saw, she had to." She sighed. "She told me that to achieve this jutsu she would need to use all her chakra and mental energy. To do it correctly she would have to risk everything, it was an all or nothing bet; that's why she said she would just do it if it was to save the life of her loved one. She called it: Risei Keturetsu no Jutsu."


So yeah, Sasuke is way OOC, but its justified because of what's happening with his sister. and Sakura...well, lets just say she's maturing thanks to Izuki and others around 'll learn more of what exactly Izuki did to end up in that coma and how she can be helped in the next chapter.