THE TRUTH UNRAVELS

Sakura watched as the man brought in a cat and fixed it a bowl of warm milk.

"Uchiha-san…you're good with cats." She figured she might as well call him something.

"I've always had a fascination with them."

"Tell me about yourself. What else do you like?" She was curious, out of the three identities she saw, this one had to be the real one.

Uchiha-san remained quiet for a while, gently stroking the cat as it ate. "There's nothing to know."

"What's your favorite food? Or maybe color?" Of course, there were more pressing questions, like who he was. But learning anything could help her figure out who he was. Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui were the only known Uchihas she knew off. Maybe they knew him? Maybe Itachi mentioned him before?

"I don't favor anything anymore."

"How did you know Kakashi-Sensei was drinking again?"

"I uhh," Uchiha-san awkwardly began rubbing his head, "The night of the attack, we- he was drinking, he offered me some I guess. I long since gave up the fact that we would ever share a bottle."

The night of the attack? She knew something was happening when she was trying to escape, it would make sense as to why more guards hadn't been around her cell. Was it the Akatuki's doing or just Madara's?

Uchiha-san began talking again, "But you don't- umm there were no casualties. Sensei's son was able to save everyone." Sakura's head snapped up to him. Uchiha-san had been a Konoha ninja.

"I'm glad he saved the village, that's our home ya know."

"Konoha will be destroyed." Madara's eye locked with hers.

There was a pattern she began noticing when Madara appear. It usually had to do with when she was talking to Uchiha-san. Whenever Uchiha-san began relaxing around her and telling her things that would potentially help her figure out his identity, Madara's presence always became known. And like last time, as always it resulted in her ending up unconscious.

….

It had been early one morning when Madara walked into her room and sat on the edge of her bed. Sakura stared wide-eyed at him as the scent of blood finally hit her nose.

She quickly pushed herself up from the bed and placed her hands on his back, slowly letting her chakra enter his system.

"What happened to you?" There was a chance she wouldn't get an answer, but she needed to know if her team found him. If they did then she was close to getting out of here. She couldn't stay here and let her life pass her. Uchiha-San also deserved to have his life free of Madara.

She realized she hadn't learned anything about Madara's plan since coming here. She was the "downfall of the Uchiha brothers," and then what? He wanted the Uchihas dead but what happened after that?

"What do you plan on doing after you're the last Uchiha alive? What's your plan, Madara?"

Madara didn't bother looking at her as he stood- effectively cutting her chakra off before she had a chance to heal him completely. The door shut as he exited her room, leaving Haruno Sakura utterly alone.

…

Tobi was pleasant, a wild card but she enjoyed him over Madara. Though he was useless at figuring out who the man actually was.

Tobi stood in her doorway with his arms crossed, she could tell he was upset.

"What's wrong Tobi?"

"Tobi doesn't like you hanging out with 'Uchiha-san'." He mimicked her, "You like him more than me?"

"I think you're both wonderful individuals. I like you both." Something was telling her to handle this gently. Was there a chance Tobi could make Uchiha-San not come out?

"Liar!" He gasped, spinning around dramatically.

"I'm not lying. How about we play shoji?"

Tobi groaned, throwing his hands to the side, "Shojis so boring."

Sakura walked past him grabbing his hand and leading him into the living room.

"Shoji is fun, I like playing with you." She also liked the fact that Uchiha-san usually came out during times like it.

Not long after the match began Sakura realized she was playing with Uchiha-san. His movies became softer yet more calculated. His breathing evened out and his aura changed.

"Tell me more about the night of the attack."

Uchiha-san hummed as he slowly moved his next piece. "There isn't a lot to tell. It ended with the Akatsuki disbanding. Another flaw to Madara's plan though this won't sway him."

"How can we stop him? I get the feeling you aren't here of your own free will. Tell me what I can do to save us."

Uchiha-san tilted his head back, and a deep chuckle rumbled from his chest as he finally looked at her. "Madara is a man beyond both of us. He's slick, he's conniving, what he wants he gets and it doesn't matter if it takes two decades. He'll wait." Sakura held his gaze as he ranted. Probably the first time voicing his opinion about Madara to someone other than himself. Moving his next piece, he said, "Madara isn't someone you can defeat. He's stronger than me- his willpower is stronger than mine. It doesn't matter if you're on your deathbed after saving your best friend's life- he'll turn you into a villain and you'll watch as you kill everyone you love. Madara is Konoha's worst nightmare."

An unhinge laugh had her jumping to her feet.

"Madara is Konoha's worst nightmare" Madara scoffed, "The entirety of the Nations shall fear me."

Sakura couldn't say anything as her vision blackened.

…

It'd been three days since Sakura last saw Tobi, Uchiha-san, or Madara. Three days of sitting with what she learned. Madara wanted a war. But if the Akatsuki truly disbanded then Madara had no army to start a war. The Great Nations didn't have long before Madara ultimately announced his plans. She had to get word out- no she had to get out of here. And then there was the identity of Uchiha-san. She couldn't know for sure, but his story sounded familiar.

Ok taking what we learned from Uchiha-san, his sensei was a Konoha ninja who had a son. That narrowed it down to a ton, but if Konoha had a hero who would single-handedly save the village she'd bet everything she loved it would be Itachi or Naruto. Fugaku-san got ruled out because he never had a genin team, leaving Minato-sama.

Which opened another can of worms. It would understand why Uchiha-san kept bringing up Kakashi-sensei… "never thought that we would share a drink"? Of course, why would he think that if Obito-san is supposedly dead? "Fuck," she hissed. But it didn't make sense. She couldn't be positive that it was Obito. It didn't add up as to why he wouldn't have gone back home.

Her next question was how did Madara manage to merge himself with 'Obito'. It ruled out multiple personality disorders, and anything psychological. A series of therapy sessions weren't going to cure him. Which made her question if this was the use of genjutsu.

Genjutsu would explain it, but was Madara so powerful that even in death he continued to control Obito?

Sakura mulled over this thought until late at night when Tobi limped into the room.

"You're injured!" Sakura gushed running to his side and instantly starting to heal him.

"I ran into your team." Her eyes snapped up to Obito's.

"I can save you, Obito." he softly laughed, shaking his head no.

"Obito died a long time ago."

"They're not going to stop. My team will come after you until you're dead, but if you let me I can help you. Obito this doesn't have to be how your story ends!" A tense moment of silence passed over them as she watched Obito's eye sift. "Don't let Madara win. You have to repress him, you can't let him control you. Obito you said Madara's willpower was stronger than your own. I think you lied, I think you have the willpower of fire, I think you can overcome Madara. Obito avenge your sensei, avenge the little boy who died saving Kakashi-senesi's life."

"I don't have a choice!" She could tell he was fighting to stay sane. Obito groaned as he pulled his robe off leaving him in a navy blue long-sleeved shirt. He turned around leaving his back facing her.

"Everyone has a choice."

He laughed, pulling his shirt up, "No Sakura-san, the only person who can save me died because of me. There is no saving me, not anymore."

She stared wide-eyed at the complexity of the seal etched onto his back. It looped around his sides, around his neck, and went into the waistline of his pants. The seal was something she'd never seen before- something she'd never thought capable of. It was more complex than Sasuke's, more in-depth than the seal on Naruto's stomach. She'd never seen anything like it.

"I- I've never- I'm not an expert on fuinjutus, but Naruto studied it under master Jiraiya. Naruto can-" she choked when Madara's hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her off her feat.

"I'm keeping you alive for one reason only. It's not so you give birth, I don't need your half-blood-bastard Uchiha. You're alive because the Uchiha brothers will kill themselves for you. Don't take my kindness for weakness." She was forced to look into his eye as her vision darkened. She felt the ground before darkness consumed her.

….

Sakura groaned when she regained consciousness, stepping out of the bed, she stumbled to the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, the bags under her eyes were more pronounced, and there were dark red lines on her throat, where Madara's hands had once been.

There was no way she could redo the seal on Obito's back but she could repress it with another seal until Naruto or Kakashi were able to find a better solution. It wouldn't be a permanent solution but with the right amount of chakra, it should hold for three days. There was no way Madara would let her seal him willingly. If she had the design down it would take her less than 5 minutes to attach the seal to him. That still was too long. If she drew the seal and attached it that way it would take less time but it wouldn't be as effective.

It was all she had. That day she snooped through drawers finding ink and paper before she got to work.

The first thing she did was redraw the seal she saw on Obito's back. She didn't have the full picture but from what she saw she had a good starting point. She wasn't a seal expert at all, she had to think about everything Naruto and Tsunade taught her over the matters, and it still took her hours to remember and draw a suitable recompression seal.

The hardest part was not knowing what the seal on Obito's body did. There was a risk of the seal she drew having the opposite effect, or worse, trapping Obito and leaving Madara or Tobi in his steed. She could potentially make everything worse, and for the life of her, she wished she listened to Naruto's babbles of everything fuinjutus. But she hadn't been creative, while she had excellent chakra control, she lacked the creative skill to come up with complex seals or jutsus. So she stuck to what she knew and made a basic recompression seal, that required just the right amount of chakra to activate. A seal that would potentially have the effect of putting him in a light medically induced comma.

She had one chance not to fuck this up. She meditated on it until she heard Tobi call out he was home. She took a deep breath and grabbed the seal.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she made her way to the living area. Tobi kneeled on the ground petting a cat that had kept coming to the house for food.

"I only have one chance," Sakura thought to herself, willing her feet to move faster, she quickened her pace and grabbed Tobi's shoulder.

"Do you really believe I don't have eyes on your every movement?"

Her hand went through him, the seal fluttering to the ground. She was thrown into the wall as Madara walked closer to her.

"I have been nice to you, allowing you a place to rest your head. Allowed you to get the proper nutrients for your bastard child, and allowed you to satisfy your curiosity about the mystery behind the man in the mask. Haruno I no longer have patience for you."

The way Madara glowered over her, had her questioning her entire existence. Being on Team Seven taught her so much. From putting up with Naruto's last-minute plan. Or following Sasuke-kun's words at the drop of the hat. Getting used to Kakashi-sensei coming hours late but always on time when they need him. Kakashi always told them to look underneath. Or in their words, expect the unexpected.

She wrapped her hand tighter in the chakra thread before pulling her hand close to her chest. Madara's eye slowly widened, as the thread glowed green, signaling it had made contact.

"Goodbye, Madara." Summoning chakra to the seal Madara's body glowed green.

"This won't stop the inevitable," Madara spoke before his body fell back.

Sakura watched as Madara's body hit the ground. His body in a comatose state, she went to the front door and checked the barrier. It was down.

THE TRUTH UNRAVELS

AN: Thank you for all the reviews loves! Enjoy your Friday muah!