It was after a few minutes that Sakura managed to take in the entire scene. Kiba and Hinata were a united front to the west of the garden, Akamaru between them. Neji fought a little to the south of them, his movements almost a blur. Naruto had thrown himself full force into the fight, and the battle cries rose into the night air. Sasuke hopped down from a tree, sword in hand. He looked at Sakura as he wiped it's blade; the body of the lifeless ninja dropped from the branches behind him. Sakura tried to say something, but couldn't. As she watched him, his eyes widened with what looked like fear, and suddenly he was by her side, his hand on her shoulder, his eyes focused on something behind her.

"You let your guard down, Sakura." Was all he said.

A groan from behind her snapped her out of the daze she'd been in, and she immediately turned to deliver the ending punch. Sasuke pulled his sword from the enemy, and walked calmly away towards the rest of the fight. Sakura watched in horror, as the mere child they had just fought with lay on the floor, dead. Who in their right mind would send children on a mission like this?

*

Haru was first to get to the garden. He and Kibou burst through the undergrowth, adopting a defensive stance as soon as their feet hit the paved stones of the Hyuuga central garden. They were swiftly followed by Akane and Akako, with three of Dai's Kage Bunshin. Ichiru entered the garden last, his eyes still adjusting to the Sharingan. The scene was like that out of a horror movie: there were bodies on the floor, and there was blood tainting the ornamental fountain in the middle of the garden's courtyard. In the far corner, a young girl crouched. Her hair was shockingly white, and she appeared to be crying. Ichiru couldn't understand why the adults stood warily a little distance from her, all still defensive, all as if they were about to attack. He took a hesitant step towards them, and then it hit him again; that angry chakra, full of hatred and bloodlust. It was horrible, and it seemed to be emanating from the girl, still crouched in the corner. Kibou whimpered next to Haru, nudging his leg.

"Kibou says that girl's extremely dangerous. He says it hurts his nose to smell her."

Ichiru nodded at his friend, inching his hand towards the kunai pouch tied at his waist. A hand on his told him to stop. Akane was looking at him, her eyes wide and watery. She was scared, Ichiru realised with a jolt of his own fear racking his chest. Suddenly it was a bit difficult to breathe. Who was the girl, and why was she so dangerous?

*

Izanami glared at the ninja from between her fingers. Niisan would not be pleased – she had lost all her troop. They were weaker than she had expected, obviously. She would never admit that she had underestimated the enemy. She growled a little to herself, watching the dog ninja pacing a little way off, the pale eyed woman watching him. There was a bond between them, obviously. And there was a bond between the two pale eyed ones. She scanned the ninja assembled before her, quickly deciding on how each was related to the other. There was the loud blond, who was clearly the Hokage. It seemed he couldn't take his eyes off the pink-haired woman with the large forehead. Another bond. But then there was the Uchiha, standing apart from the main group, warily watching the boundaries of the garden. Ah, yes. The pink-haired woman's eyes consistently slid to look at him, surreptitiously glancing in his direction. Far off, down at the bottom of the garden stood a group of younger ninja, who had just emerged from the undergrowth. Two dog ninja, one male, one female.... they had the terrifying pale orbs for eyes as well. Disgusting half-breeds, Izanami spat on the floor. Next to them was a stocky, pink-haired boy. Well, there were actually four of him, Izanami could not tell which was the real one. And then... Uchiha. It was easy to spot him. He looked like his father, and he looked like Kin; only more handsome, stronger looking. She felt the fizz of a current through her body as her hair bristled and began to change colour. She shuddered, and the transformation slowed until it stopped. She had to keep her cool until she was closer. Now was not the time to lose control.

*

Hinata watched her husband pace up and down, as Neji calmly stared at the crouched girl. It felt like an hour had passed, but it was more like five minutes. The garden was tense as everyone individually assessed the situation. Naruto was murmuring quietly to a Kage Bunshin, which then set off over the rooftops. Sakura walked slowly over to the children, gathering Dai into her arms, and then hitting him on the head.

"Baka! You should have stayed where it was safe!" she said, looking into his eyes.

He grinned back at her, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura's arms were wrapped around nothing. It was then that Dai stepped out from behind the bushes, and the rest of his Kage Bunshin dissolved into thin air. Sakura narrowed her eyes at her son, who looked at the ground sheepishly.

"The fight is mostly over." She said, addressing all four ninja now. "Go back to the mountain. Please?" she added, glancing over her shoulder at the crouching girl.

Ichiru took a step towards her.

"No... Sorry Uzumaki-san, but I'm staying with my father."

Sakura shot an irritated glance at the Uchiha, and then looked away, a lump forming in her throat. He looked so like Sasuke used to, when he was dismissing her. She shook her head slightly, and turned to look at her son.

"Dai, I want you to go home. Find your sister. Just get away from here."

Dai looked at her reproachfully, his stance uneasy. Haru stood shoulder to shoulder with his best friend, looking at Sakura in disbelief.

"You can't expect a chuunin to just 'go home' when his village is under attack. I understand your concern, but don't you think you're over-reacting just a little bit? There's only one girl here... and she looks about twelve anyway."

Everything happened very quickly then. As if coaxed by Haru's words, Izanami leapt to her feet, catching Kiba in a moment of foolish absent-mindedness. Her hair was blood red, her eyes filled with malice, as she extended her claws towards him. Akamaru was there straight away, jumping between his best friend and the girl. Kiba managed to dodge the attack, and the girl, instead of pursuing him, leapt instead at Sasuke, a guttural growl emerging from her cupid's mouth. It was wholly unnatural. Sasuke stepped calmly out of the way, drawing his sword and holding it out to his side. Izanami swung around, her hair whipping across her face, her eyes alight with anger. Her nails grew into fierce talons, longer and sharper than they had been before.

Ichiru let out a gasp of air, and immediately ran towards his father. Strong hands held him back, pushed him towards his friends, overtook him... Sakura was running at Izanami now, her eyes focused on the red-head. Naruto shouted out, but no one heard what he said. Izanami was growling ferociously at her attackers, pacing like a caged animal, looking from each face to the other, still aiming her body at Sasuke. The attack was so fast, most said they were sure it was some form of teleportation. One minute Izanami was cornered, surrounded. The next, she was in front of Sasuke, claws at the ready, diving for his throat. Sakura acted without thinking. There was no time to think, in that split second. She let instincts take hold of her, realising she was the closest, realising it was stupid, but seeing only Sasuke, his dark eyes widened in panic, shock. Fear. She could see the terror in those onyx orbs, and they were focused on her...

She jumped between them as Izanami pulled out a kunai and stabbed it towards Sasuke's chest. Only, it wasn't Sasuke she made contact with. It was Uzumaki Sakura standing there, a look of bemused surprise as she looked down at herself. Izanami faltered, and in that second she was taken down by Neji, a swift blow to the head. Sakura's knees gave way, and someone caught her from behind. She was vaguely aware of voices, raised in worry, in panic. One voice louder than the others, right by her ear.

"Why, Sakura? Why did you do that?"

"Sa...suke." She smiled, trying very hard to open her eyes, knowing that voice anywhere.

Her eyes rolled back in her head, and the voices around her dimmed. But one seemed to echo in her mind, one voice rose above the others to ring in her head.

Sasuke. Sasuke was everywhere in her head. Images of the years they spent in a team together swam in her mind, numbing the pain in her chest. Her laboured breathing became a rhythm for the images, and they flickered quickly into her vision and then away again. Sasuke rolling his eyes at her, telling her to get lost... Sasuke leaving... Sasuke leaving her behind... And then... Naruto.

Her eyes shot open as she coughed. She was aware of two people close to her, one cradling her to their chest. She knew that heartbeat, knew those arms, knew that hand which stroked her face tenderly. Naruto cried as he held her, cried and whispered her name over and over as if it were a mantra. Sakura could hear the sound of crying all around her, but it all blended into the same person, sobbing and mourning. Her hand was being clutched by someone else, hard and crushing. She'd know her son's anger anywhere. How could he be angry with her? She had been a bit stupid, but she'd saved the day, hadn't she? Finally, she'd been that hero. Suddenly, her hand felt numb, and that numbness spread throughout her, dulling all her senses until all she could feel was wetness on her face. She realised she was crying, and she drifted away into the blackness, wondering why everyone was so sad.